The MMA 5 & 1 12.21.11: The 5 &1 Staff Awards Edition
Posted by Stewart Lange on 12.21.2011
Rachelle Leah is your "& 1" Model of the Week, Dana White takes on Scott Coker in a special Vs, Strikeforce kills their heavyweight division while UFC adds a flyweight one, thoughts on the weekend's Strikeforce show and more!
Happy Wednesday everyone! There's really only one way to cure those midweek blues and that's by reading another installment of the MMA 5 & 1! With any luck, you'll be totally sorted for the start of this holiday season and with little more to do than prepare some food and wrap some gifts, you'll have time to dedicate to reading your favorite weekly MMA column with the word "Five" in the title, after of course Wyatt Beougher's Five Quick Rounds. Let's get on with the show, shall we?
I made my 411 Podcast debut this week with Mark Radulich and Jeffrey Harris. Hopefully it was a good show, I can't listen to my own voice but I don't know many people who can. The link to the show is below, so give it a listen!
It's the Evan Rachel Wood mailbag!!
I miss Edith and her luscious boobs jiggling around the octagon.
BigNog WAS the best BJJ HW until this lost. It was definitive and clear that FMir is the superior fighter having won the 1st fight via KTFO then by extreme submission "...of the century..." BigNog knew he was locked up, let his PRIDE get in the way and ended up with a broken arm that was ripped out of his shoulder. Not very smart since that kind of injury is career threatening.
Posted By: TheR (Guest) on December 14, 2011 at 01:42 AM
Yeah, I'd be a bit amazed if Nog makes a full recovery from this injury. I'd rather not see him get back into the cage if this doesn't heal fully.
So happy Torres got fired. He's an asshole and a shit fighter. His fight against Antonio Banuelous was a joke, he had a giant reach advantage and did nothing. Like watching A. Silva vs Laittes.
Posted By: Ryan Haseldine (Guest) on December 14, 2011 at 05:53 AM
His fight with Antonio Banuelous sticks in my throat, particularly as I'd hyped my friends for Torres fighting and they were sorely disappointed, as was I. He made me look stupid too, so whatever. I'm sure he'll be back, but hopefully he doesn't look like crap.
I think I could like this site and column. For something that didn't interest me before I look forward to reading now. Pics are a highlight mind.
Posted By: Guest#5168 (Guest) on December 14, 2011 at 03:39 PM
Hopefully, this will make you start watching a bit of MMA and hopefully enjoy the sport. Even if not, keep reading and looking at the nice pictures :-)
Bas Rutten wins the second Superfight Grand Prix and while I build up to the next Grand Prix, have a very special versus! Who wins? You decide in the comments section!
Missing out this week:
Dana White: Hypocrite- Apparently, rape jokes are funny when he makes them.
Bellator Season Six Build- More Bantamweights join in.
UFC 141 Build Continues- Yes Brock, it will be Dog-Eat-Dog.
Strikeforce Fallout!
Strikeforce close out the year with a bang pop
Saturday saw Strikeforce run their final card of 2011 and I'd be lying if I said the card set the world on fire. The prelims sounded fairly exciting so it's a shame that it wasn't this card that saw Strikeforce debut broadcast the preliminary match ups. The show opened with a fairly entertaining little fight between KJ Noons and Billy Evangelista. Whenever I see Noons, I find it hard to believe that he was a pro-boxer. Sure, he has decent hands but Evangelista was finding a home for his strikes just as easily as KJ. Anyway, Noons took the decision victory. Following up, we had a fight I predicted would be either a whitewash or a bore-fest and it turned out to (almost)be both f those things. Gegard Mousasi took Ovince St. Preux on at his own game- wrestling, and won. He took the first two rounds comfortably and while OSP stole the third round, it was too little to late to save the loss or the fight.
In the co-main event, Cris "Cyborg" Santos didn't help get rid of her "one-woman division" tag as she smashed through top ranked challenger Hiroko Yamanaka in only 16 seconds. Scary. She's now debating dropping down to 135lbs, but in all seriousness, I think she'd find a bigger challenge in the UFC 145lb MENS division. Calls of her to face Ronda Rousey are pretty unfounded, plus, I'd rather Ronda kept her looks for a little while longer at least.
The main event saw UFC-destined Gilbert Melendez show off his confident striking game against Jorge Masvidal. "El Nino" must be frustrated at the fact he's now cleared his division effectively, so is calling for UFC lightweights to move over to take him on. I like the idea, but doubt it will happen. It would make sense, though as guys who may not have look in at the 155lb belt in he UFC for the next few months at least should be taking this opportunity. Guida Vs Melendez 2? I'd watch it......
Finish Of The Week
This is relevant for the next part of the Five!
Dana Hates Silva
Happy Christmas from the Axe Murderer
Not only will we be treated to a season of "The Ultimate Fighter" featuring Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber next year, we're also going to be getting the debut of TUF: Brazil. The coaches for this will be Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact if the two hadn't already met in literally the most one-sided loss in the "Axe Murderers" career.
Now, I'm the biggest Wanderlei mark you'll meet, but this match up could spell the end of his career. Nothing suggests to me that this fight will go any differently than their first meeting, despite it being so long ago. We've seen Silva's chin come and go again, so as a Wanderlei fan, this is a terrifying encounter for me. He may get a lucky shot in and anyone can win in a fight, but seriously, somebody wants to see the end of Silva at the hands of Vitor Belfort.
The 411 MMA Podcast
Remember, I'm in this one! If you think you can understand my Scottish accent, or want to know why Johnny Hendricks made Jeff Harris fall out with me, then click play!
Some people have obviously been listening to the Chael Sonnen guide to Brazil, as all of a sudden, nobody wants to go there anymore. UFC 142, which takes place in a little over three weeks in Rio De Janerio, has seen not one, but THREE call offs in the last week. Paulo Thiago , Stanislav Nedkov, 411 friend Siyar Bahadurzada and most distressingly of all, Rob Broughton (yup) are all now off the card, throwing the event into disarray.
All the fights are now covered, with Gabriel Gonzaga being the biggest name being added to the card. I'm pretty bummed Siyar is now off the card, he's done an interview with Jon Butterfield here on 411 and I've also had dealings with him when I was writing the Superfight, so it was great to see him finally step up to the UFC, but we'll get another chance soon enough, I'm sure.
The card is still being headlined by Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes so hopefully we'll see a fired up Aldo in front of what I'm sure will be a fantastic Brazilian crowd. Aldo hasn't looked himself so far in the UFC, so hopefully he'll come out and decimate the "Alpha Male" product. We can but hope. I'll just be off to watch him destroy Urijah Faber's legs, back in a minute..........
Douche Of The Week
Strikeforce Commentary Team
What the hell was up with these guys on Saturday night? Did Mauro Ranello spill Pat Miletich's Red Bull? Did Ranello hit on the Croatians wife? Were Mauro and Frank Shamrock pulling faces at Pat, telling him every time the broadcast went to a break that Matt Hughes sucks?
Whatever it was, the Strikforce commentary team were on fine argumentative form, with Pat continually snapping at Mauro, Ranello allegedly using the phrase "put it in your mouth, baby" at some point, and Frank Shamrock displaying a worrying lack of knowledge for a former Champion of the sport. Yeah, I can't pick between these three for my Christmas "Douche of the Week"
Flyweights!
Could this man be the first 125lb UFC Champ?
The biggest breaking news from last week was the introduction of a 125lb division in the UFC, which I didn't want to touch on last week, but since things are slow this week, I'll get on it quickly.
I think its great that the UFC is adding yet another division, further strengthening themselves as the worlds Premier MMA organization, but I have to admit, I'd have quite liked them to have spent a bit more time on the 145 and 135lb divisions before adding this one. It has only been a year and there isn't even a fight from each of those divisions televised on each card. A lot of the 135ers are already planning, or have announced to jump down in weight for the Flyweight division, which is fair enough if it's a preferred weight, but I'd honestly prefer to see a bit of stability in the two younger weight classes.
Got a twitter? Click the above links for up to date news from across the 411 spectrum, plus, be sure to follow me for ongoing fun and shenanigans!
No More Heavyweights
Will we see Barnett in the UFC soon?
While the UFC is adding a new division, Strikeforce has announced that after their Heavyweight Grand Prix is over and done with, they will no longer have a division suitable for the big guys. Starting with obviously Alastair Overeem, followed by Fabricio Werdum, we'll soon be having all the Heavyweights in one company and quite honestly, I support the decision. There seems to be a gulf in class when you look down the UFC rankings that somehow involves seeing the likes of Travis Browne in the top 15 UFC Heavyweights. Anyway, Antonio Silva, Sergei Kharitonov and the GP finalists Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett will automatically make 2012 a very easily booked year for the big guys.
Hell, I even read someone on twitter calling for Chad Griggs to take on Stephan Struve. I'll not name and shame them, but I have to admit- it could be a pretty fun fight.
The MMA 5 & 1 Year End Awards!
Since the end of my first year at 411 is drawing near, I figured it would be nice of me to give out some awards to the rest of the writers on the site. Please, feel free to disagree with me in the comments section!
The "Chael Sonnen" Award:For Speaking Your Mind- Wyatt Beougher
The "Papa Shango" Award:The Cursed Fighter Profile- Jon Butterfield
The "Dan Henderson" Award:The Hardworking Veteran- Jeffrey Harris
The "Rich Franklin" Award:For being under appreciated- Robert Winfree
The "Owen Hart" Award:Because he's not getting two awards- Jon Solomon
The "Napoleon" Award:Powerful and French- Alex Watt
The "Irwin R. Schyster" Award:The 411 Go-To guy for numbers- Dan Plunkett
The "Miguel Torres" Award:For Services to my Twitter Feed- Dustin James
The "Cecil Peoples" Award:He's the best FoF judge we have- Todd Bergman
The "Dana White" Award:Give the guy decent, cage side seats already- Scott Kuczkowski
The "Fedor Emelianenko" Award:For always believing in the Heavyweights- Mark Radulich
The "Vince McMahon" Award:'Cause you don't cross the boss- Larry Csonka
Happy Holidays, guys and thanks for all the help and laughs you've all given me since I started here!
I'll be giving out a few more awards next week, I've just not decided that for yet. Look forward to that.
RACHELLE LEAH!!!!!!
The Post-Fight Press Conference
That's it for another week here in the 5 & 1, so I hope you enjoyed the column! Please, leave a comment below and be sure to check some of the other amazing work here on the 411.
Posted By: Vengaboys (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 05:12 AM
Why is nobody talking about the Belfort vs. Rumble match from UFC 142? I think it could be a potential show stealer. I'm a Rumble fan, and I am very curious to see how he fares at a more natural weight.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 11:00 AM
I'm honored to accept the Dan Henderson award. A fitting award named after the greatest fighter of all time.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on December 21, 2011 at 11:07 AM
I actually like Pat on commentary, the other two I can't quite listen to. I've even heard Mauro on a podcast with Dave Lagana and he actually comes off as a fan of MMA and wrestling but damn the dude is horrible to listen to. There is something about Frank Shamrock I just don't like so it was fun to hear Pat put him in his place often.
"Man those numbers were pretty close." -Frank
"How? His had 5 times more power strikes than the other guy." - Pat
"Yeah, but I still think he was doing more damage." Frank
Dana, really just look at the photos.
Posted By: midz (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 02:34 PM
I actually like Pat on commentary, the other two I can't quite listen to. I've even heard Mauro on a podcast with Dave Lagana and he actually comes off as a fan of MMA and wrestling but damn the dude is horrible to listen to. There is something about Frank Shamrock I just don't like so it was fun to hear Pat put him in his place often.
"Man those numbers were pretty close." -Frank
"How? His had 5 times more power strikes than the other guy." - Pat
"Yeah, but I still think he was doing more damage." Frank
Dana, really just look at the photos.
Posted By: midz (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 02:34 PM
Gotta agree, Pat seems to know what he's talking about... Frank seems genuinely clueless, which baffles me.
Posted By: DB (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 05:39 PM
I actually like Pat on commentary, the other two I can't quite listen to. I've even heard Mauro on a podcast with Dave Lagana and he actually comes off as a fan of MMA and wrestling but damn the dude is horrible to listen to. There is something about Frank Shamrock I just don't like so it was fun to hear Pat put him in his place often.
"Man those numbers were pretty close." -Frank
"How? His had 5 times more power strikes than the other guy." - Pat
"Yeah, but I still think he was doing more damage." Frank
Dana, really just look at the photos.
Posted By: midz (Guest) on December 21, 2011 at 02:34 PM
The numbers they were talking about btw, the numbers SHOWING on the screen, were 55-8. To Frank Shamrock those are apparently pretty close values.
Posted By: JK (Guest) on December 22, 2011 at 01:10 AM
Copyright (c) 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
