The Ultimate Writer 01.23.12: UFC on FOX 2 Preview, UFC on FX 1 Results, Top 5 Potential UFC Action Stars, More
Posted by Dustin James on 01.23.2012
411's Dustin James gives his thoughts on Jim Miller's win at UFC on F/X 1, a preview of this weekend's fight between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis and the rest of the UFC on FOX 2 card, the top 5 potential UFC action stars and more!
Welcome back to "THE ULTIMATE WRITER"! As you should be accustomed to by now, I'm your host Dustin James aka "The Ultimate Writer" and I've recently been tearing shit up on NBA 2K12. I decided to create the long lost son of Larry Bird in "My Player" and I got drafted by the Phoenix Suns. Well, the Phoenix Suns blow ass. We are like 7-25 so far, but my player is easily the best player on the team. I'm only ranked a 65 overall, but I'm still averaging almost 30 points, 6 rebounds, and about 6 assists a game. I'm playing so good that I've forced the team to sit Steve Nash and play me in his place. BOOM! TAKE THAT CANADA! Either way, if the Suns don't start improving, I'm going to be forced to ask for a trade where I'll probably end up going to the Charlotte Bobcats and just ending the experiment altogether.
Anyway, enough with the exciting NBA 2K12 talk. I also recently started dabbling back into Saints Row 2 after beating the awesome game that was Saints Row: The Third. I've always been a big fan of the "Grand Theft Auto" series and since GTA hasn't pumped out a good game since Rockstar invaded San Andreas, I've enjoyed the Saints Row trilogy in it's place. I have high hopes for GTA V and I really hope they go back to focusing more on gameplay rather than graphics. The best part about GTA: San Andreas was driving around to all three of the big cities and all the little podunk cities in between. Going back to just Liberty City in GTA IV felt like a step backwards in my opinion. Hopefully Rockstar will rock our faces when they finally release GTA V sometime this eternity.
Well, what do you say we finally move on to the MMA talk?..............
So................
Without any further adieu.........
Like every week.............
Top Stories:
UFC/Strikeforce
UFC on FOX 2 Preview
The UFC returns to FOX with an even bigger show than the first one.....
The UFC returns to prime time television this week with a MASSIVE card on FOX! The first UFC on FOX show was a little odd. The show only featured one fight (a UFC heavyweight title fight between JDS and Cain that I'm sure everyone remembers...) that lasted about a minute. It was kind of a bummer deal for MMA fans who were expecting the UFC's debut on FOX to be historical. Instead, we got stuck watching a "UFC Prime Time" special with a ninety-second fight at the end. This time around though, things are going to be different! Instead of featuring just one highly-anticipated fight, the UFC has booked the second prime time special on FOX to feature three very attractive bouts that I'm sure will have everybody talking on Sunday morning. By the end of next weekend, we should know who's going to be fighting Anderson Silva and Jon "Bones" Jones for their respective titles next. Will Rashad Evans or Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis be next in line to take a crack at "Bones" Jones' UFC light heavyweight title? Will Chael Sonnen get his much-anticipated rematch with Silva or will Michael Bisping creep up and shock the world? Only one way to find out, but until then....here's a preview of what's to come.
UFC on FOX 2 Main Card Preview:
Middleweight Bout:
-Demian Maia (15-3) vs. Chris Weidman (7-0)
Hmmm, a fight featuring two guys with extremely impressive ground games. Something tells me this one could end up turning into a mediocre boxing match rather than a classic MMA bout due to these two canceling each other out on the ground. First of all, mucho respect to Chris Weidman for taking this fight. The undefeated prospect is 3-0 so far in the UFC and is coming off a fantastic win against Tom Lawlor at UFC 139. Weidman signed with the UFC in the beginning of last year and has definitely hit the ground running. He's a two-time division I All-American wrestler with a pretty well-rounded submission game. That's all great and everything, but he just so happens to be squaring off against the guy with arguably the best jiu-jitsu in the UFC in Demian Maia. This fight is hard to pick. On one hand, we've seen Maia have success against wrestlers. He did defeat Chael Sonnen at UFC 95 with a triangle choke after all. Then again, Mark Munoz was able to handle Maia pretty well en route to a decision victory at UFC 131. I honestly don't know how this one is going to pan out, especially considering Weidman took this fight on short notice. I'd like to say it's going to be an all-around classic ground game showcase, but something tells me we are much more likely to get a boring stand-up affair that will make me want to scratch my eyes out. Here's to hoping I'm wrong.....
My pick: Chris Weidman, Decision
Middleweight Bout:
-Chael Sonnen (26-11-1) vs. Michael Bisping (22-3)
Awwwww yes!!! I love this fight. I said back when the UFC announced the Chael Sonnen/Mark Munoz fight that they should have booked Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping because the interest level for that fight is much greater. Somehow, the karma gods ended up working in my favor and we actually get the fight we all wanted in the first place. Personally, I think this one has "SQUASH" written all over it. Yes, Bisping has some great takedown defense and also has some pretty strong hands, but Bisping is a product of British wrestling (YUCK) and he just so happens to be facing the best wrestler in the middleweight division. You want to know how this one's going to pan out? I'm thinking Sonnen will stand with Bisping for about the first minute and a half before he finally takes Bisping down and proceeds to ground-and-pound the crap out of Bisping much like he was doing to Anderson Silva at UFC 117 before Silva shocked the world with that sneaky triangle armbar combination. Ever since 2006, Sonnen is 11-3 in MMA. His only three losses have come via submission and coincidentally, all of the guys that have beat them in that time frame just so happen to be Brazilian. Last I checked, Bisping has yet to submit anyone in his UFC career and he's yet to face a middleweight with the wrestling skills that Sonnen possesses. Bisping's strength in this fight is definitely in his stand-up game. It'd been in his favor to keep the fight standing so at least he has a puncher's chance of knocking out Sonnen. The only thing is, Sonnen has shown that his stand-up is nothing to bat an eye at either. Everyone remembers him knocking Anderson Silva down and if he can put Silva down, he can put Bisping down. I honestly don't see how Bisping wins this fight. I think Sonnen comes out, gets the takedown and uses the "TEAM QUEST" ground-and-pound to earn his way to a decision victory. Perhaps the most interesting part of the night will come in the post-fight interviews. Both Bisping and Sonnen are glorious on the mic and the winner gets a chance to call out the UFC middleweight champion. That alone should make any self-respected MMA fan want to tune into the show this weekend. All I know is, if Bisping wins....we are all going to die a little bit inside.
My pick: Chael Sonnen, Decision
Light Heavyweight Bout:
-Rashad Evans (16-1-1) vs. Phil Davis (9-0)
This is easily the hardest fight to pick so far this year. We have two extremely talented wrestlers facing off with a chance to fight Jon "Bones" Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title. For Rashad Evans, it feels like the guy has been the #1 contender in the light heavyweight division since he lost the title to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98. Since then, he's collected wins over Thiago Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and Tito Ortiz. He's constantly been shafted out of a title fight with "Bones" Jones and he knows that a victory over the undefeated "Mr. Wonderful" will give him what he's wanted for the past two years, another crack at the title. Unfortunately, that's a lot easier said than done. Davis is no joke people. Since arriving in the UFC in 2010, Davis has compiled a record of 5-0 with impressive wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alexander Gustafsson, Brian Stann, and more. Davis has used his superior wrestling skills to control his opponents in the Octagon and it's worked extremely well for him thus far. Unfortunately, he's facing an opponent who's easily the toughest guy he's ever fought. Davis has never faced a wrestler as good as Evans is inside the Octagon. As a matter of fact, Evans' former trainer Greg Jackson summed this fight up perfectly during an interview with Sherdog.com last year:
"I don't think [Davis has what it takes to beat Evans]. I think Rashad's my man and I think that the tools that he has are kind of the strengths of somebody like Phil Davis. Phil Davis is very, very good at staying long and then taking you down and holding you there, but it's almost impossible to hold Rashad on the ground. He's so good at getting up. Even what Phil does best, Rashad does better at getting up. Of course Rashad has better striking. I really feel that Rashad will win, and that's no disrespect to Phil at all. I think he's an amazing fighter and a great guy, but Rashad will always be my guy in that area. I've gotta go with Rashad."
My sentiments exactly. Unfortunately for Davis, he's fighting a better version of himself. There may come a time in the UFC when Davis is a better fighter than Rashad is, but that time is not now. Look for Rashad to pick up the victory this weekend and maybe, just MAYBE, we will finally get to see the much-anticipated fight between Evans and "Bones" Jones before summer time gets here? Hey, a man can dream right?
My pick: Rashad Evans, Decision
And that's that. Much like I mentioned earlier, UFC on FOX 2 is a much better card than the UFC on FOX 1 show was, then again....that card's not that hard to beat out considering it lasted a total of nintey-seconds. With Maia/Weidman, Bisping/Sonnen, and Evans/Davis on the horizon, something tells me this show is going to have a lot more excitement around it, especially knowing that we will likely have two title fights set in stone by the time the night ends. I can't wait for this weekend and if you are a hardcore MMA fan such as myself, I know you are in the same boat. Either way....just give me a showdown between Anderson Silva and whoever wins the Sonnen/Bisping fight, I beg of you!
UFC on FX 1 Results
And the UFC officially makes it's debut on FX.....
UFC on FX 1 is officially in the books. This was an odd UFC show for numerous reasons in my opinion. For example, it's always a little odd watching the UFC on a Friday night. It completely throws me off schedule when we have fights on a weekday because unlike most MMA writers, I have a full-time job that keeps me extremely busy throughout the week and I'm usually dead tired by the time Friday rolls around. This show was also a little weird because I wasn't hearing any hype for it what so ever. As a matter of fact, when I would tell people about it, their first response was usually "why is there a UFC show on FX?" Needless to say, this show had little-to-no-hype at all, but that's what happens when you over-saturate the market like the UFC has done these past few months. When you sandwich a show like "UFC on FX 1" between the awesome show that was UFC 142 and the GUARANTEED awesome show of UFC on FOX 2 next weekend, it's not hard to see why people would miss this show. Either way, that's I'm here. To keep you all informed with the latest happenings in MMA, even the shows that you probably didn't even give two shits about...
UFC on FX 1 Prelim Card Results:
-Nick Denis (11-2) def. Joseph Sandoval (6-2) via KO in Round 1
-Daniel Pineda (16-7) def. Pat Schilling (5-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1
-Fabricio Camoes (14-6-1) def. Tom Hayden (8-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1
-Charlie Brenneman (15-3) def. Daniel Roberts (12-4) via unanimous-decision
-Khabib Nurmagomedov (17-0) def. Kamal Shalorus (7-2-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 3
-Jorge Rivera (20-9) def. Eric Schafer (12-7-2) via TKO in Round 2
UFC on FX Main Card Results:
Heavyweight Bout:
-Pat Barry (7-4) def. Christian Morecraft (7-3) via KO in Round 1
My pick: Pat Barry, TKO, Round 2
Pat Barry is probably the worst best heavyweight fighter in the UFC. Yes, I know that sounds confusing, but that's pretty much the perfect way to describe Barry. Barry started things off a little slow in this fight. He let Morecraft take him down after a failed front kick and Morecraft almost even locked in a rear-naked choke (which was apparently the theme of the night in the prelims....), but somehow Barry finally learned how to defend submissions somewhere and managed to get out of it. It didn't take long though for Morecraft to once again get Barry to the ground. Morecraft was THIS close to sinking in a head and arm choke, but once again, Barry used great submission defense to get out of the hold. The two then decided to start trading punches again (I hate watching Morecraft stand and throw because the stupid "Morecraft" tattoo on his stomach jiggles like a bowl of Jell-O and makes me want to vomit), and that was the worst mistake Morecraft has ever made. Even though he's much taller than Barry and has a significant reach advantage, Morecraft was tagged with a huge shot that put him down for the count! Barry is now 4-4 in the Octagon and if his submission defense is consistently as good as it was tonight, the guy may have turned a new leaf in his MMA career. On the other hand, it was probably more of Morecraft sucking than Barry being good. Morecraft's UFC record drops to 1-3 with this loss and he'll likely be fighting at a high school near you real soon. Them's the breaks.
Bantamweight Bout:
-Mike Easton (12-1) def. Jared Papazian (14-7) via majority-decision
My pick: Mike Easton, submission, Round 2
This fight definitely had it's ups and downs. There would be times when it resembled the awesome Don Frye/Yoshihiro Takayama brawl from years back. Then, there would be times when it resembled a boring "clinch up against the cage and do nothing at all" fight. Unfortunately for these two, my attention was focused on the NBA games that were going down at the time and not so much on the fight itself. If you are itching for a recap of the fight, I'm sure 411's Mark Radulich has you covered.....
Lightweight Bout:
-Josh Neer (33-10-1) def. Duane "Bang" Ludwig (21-12) via submission (guillotine choke) in Round 1
My pick: Josh Neer, Decision
Man, when Josh Neer turns it on.....the guy REALLY turns it on! Much like everyone else, I was expecting this fight to be a war and that's exactly what we got for about the three minutes it lasted. We all know that "Bang" Ludwig has one punch knockout power and when the fight first started, he had Neer reeling from some pretty hard shots. As a matter of fact, Neer had to have the ref stop the fight for a brief moment while he picked up his mouth piece and put it back in (ewwwwww, just imagine all the germs that are on those things when they pick them up and shove them back in their mouth...). However, Neer quickly turned things around when he finally got a single leg on Ludwig and took him to the ground. Once the fight hit the ground, Neer locked on a TIGHT guillotine and someone should have gotten "Bang" Ludwig a binky because he was sleeping like a baby! Neer is now an impressive 2-0 since returning to the UFC and appears to have improved significantly since his second run with the UFC ended in 2009. I'm interested in seeing what Neer can do next time he steps into the Octagon and that's not something I could have said with a straight face a few months ago. As for "Bang", I'm sure the unofficial record holder of the UFC's quickest knockout will get another fight in the Octagon before getting released. Dana loves him some "Bang" Ludwig......
Lightweight Bout:
-Jim Miller (21-3) def. Melvin Guillard (29-10-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1
My pick: Jim Miller, Submission, Round 1
Sometimes I can perfectly predict the outcome of a fight and it surprises me a little. I know I've been writing about MMA for over four years now, but I've never considered myself an expert on the sport......just a really big fan. That's why I still get shocked when I can perfectly predict the outcome of the fight. Then again, I don't know how you didn't see this outcome happening. I certainly warned you about it last week:
"If Guillard has one glaring weakness in his game, it's definitely his submission defense. The dude has nine professional losses, and eight of them have come via submission. And to top it all off, all but one of those submission losses came via some sort of choke. In other words, we know what Jim Miller's game plan should be heading into this fight. Miller has got an excellent ground game and if he doesn't come out and try to get Guillard to the mat immediately, he should get points docked. Personally, I think Miller gets this fight to the ground and ends it quickly. "
And BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! For those of you who didn't see the fight, you didn't miss much. Guillard came out like a man on a mission and was looking to end the fight with a quick TKO. He almost got it after connecting with a few solid shots that definitely rocked Miller. Miller quickly got things turned around though and ended up getting Guillard to the ground. Once the fight hit the ground, it was all over. Miller wrapped up a TIGHT rear-naked choke and Guillard was once again forced to tap out. Guillard now has 10 professional losses in his MMA career and nine of them via submission. He's basically the lightweight version of Chael Sonnen. The good news for fans of Guillard is the guy will likely get another chance to prove himself in the Octagon. His next fight will be a must win though because he has to avoid losing three in a row if he doesn't want to get cut. As for Miller, how about putting him in the cage against Nate Diaz? Both fighters are currently ranked near the top of the lightweight division and you would have an instant challenger to the title no matter who won. Plus, the fight itself would be extremely fun. Sometimes I help make Joe Silva's job a little easier.....
And there we are. The very first UFC on FX show is in the books and I have to say that I personally consider the show a success. The card may not have had a lot of star appeal, but the fights themselves were all pretty awesome. Three out of the four main card fights ended in the first-round, which is insane considering UFC 142 had almost every single one of it's fights ended in the first-round. Is 2012 the year of the first-round finishes in the UFC? Things are sure looking that way. As for the presentation of the show on FX...I liked it. I think Jon Anik is a MUCH better UFC announcer than Mike Goldberg is. Anik actually calls the action and doesn't rely on Kenny Florian to know everything like Goldberg does to Rogan. I'm already pumped up for the next UFC on FX show (the UFC on FUEL TV shows can still kiss my ass though. I recommend NO ONE watching those shows to help us fans who don't have FUEL TV protest....) and you should be as well following the great time we just had at "UFC on FX 1".
All The Other Stuff:
It seems like every week we have a Zuffa fighter failing a drug test and last week was no different. It was revealed last Tuesday that Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal (9-1) had tested positive for the steroid "drostanalone" following his win over Lorenz Larkin (12-1) at Strikeforce "Rockhold vs. Jardine" on January 7. Lawal's punishment has yet to be announced, but one would have to believe the guy is going to be suspended for one-year and his victory over Larkin will be overturned to a "no contest". The ultimate loser in all this though is the fans. For a second straight time, a Strikeforce fighter will have tested positive for a banned substance and once again we all have to act like the fight never happened because "King Mo" decided to cheat. Lawal was supposed to be fighting Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2) for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight title soon, but those plans are expected to be shelved once the NSAC actually announces Lawal's punishment. Once again, bummer deal for the fans....
For those of you who say I'm wrong about the UFC running way too many shows these days, I present to you evidence #1. Zuffa announced last week that the UFC 145 show scheduled for March 24 in Montreal, Canada would actually be delayed. The show already had seven fights scheduled for the card, but the company had a hard time finding a main event for the show so they ultimately decided to postpone the event until April 24 in Atlanta, Georgia (they tried to get another date in Montreal in April but were unsuccessful). This is the very first side effect of the UFC's partnership with FOX. When the deal with FOX was first announced and we found out the UFC would not only run shows on FOX, but on FX and FUEL TV as well....we knew the PPV's would take a hit in some shape or form and it's already begun. There just isn't enough healthy stars in the UFC for the company to run as many shows as they want to. The only good thing to take out all of this is if the UFC is indeed hurting for people to main event shows, we could see Strikeforce fighters like Gilbert Melendez (20-2) and Luke Rockhold (9-1) make the jump over to the UFC as soon as possible....
Strikeforce lightweight Pat "Bam Bam" Healy (26-16) is 6-1 in his last 7 fights and is coming off a big win over Maximo Blanco (8-3-1) at last September's Strikeforce "Barnett vs. Kharitonov" show. Healy will be looking for his fourth straight win in Strikeforce when he takes on Caros Fodor (7-1) at Strikeforce "Tate vs. Rousey" on March 3 in a fight that could end up having title implications in the lightweight division. Fodor is 5-0 since signing with Strikeforce in 2010 and a win over someone like Healy would be just what he needs to get everyone talking about a potential title shot against Gilbert Melendez. Well, look at that. Strikeforce is actually getting themselves quite a nice little lightweight division going on. I'm impressed.....
Sad news for fans of UFC middleweight Jorge Rivera (20-9) as Rivera has decided to retire from MMA following his victory over Eric Schafer (12-7-2) at the UFC on FX 1 show this past weekend. Rivera is an 11-year veteran of MMA who made his UFC debut back in 2003 at UFC 44 where he defeated David Louiseau (20-10) via unanimous-decision. Since then, Rivera has been in and out of the UFC but one thing was always clear, Rivera always came ready for a fight and never put on a half-assed performance. He has a decent 8-7 overall record in the UFC and I'll always remember him as the guy who either gets knocked out, or knocks bitches out. I guess that's a good way to be remembered, right? Anyway, thank you Jorge. It's been a pleasure watching you compete these last few years and may retirement treat you well. Unless we see you again in the future which is always a good possibility....
Other fights announced this week:
-Miguel Torres (40-4) vs. Michael McDonald (14-1): UFC 145
-Maximo Blanco (8-3-1) vs. Marcus Brimage (4-1): UFC 145
Tweet Tweet!
This feature looks at some of the best tweets posted on Twitter by MMA fighters or anyone else connected to the world of MMA.
Courtesy of @KennyFlorian - "People say @arielhelwani & I are the most fashionable guys in MMA. By people I mean me & Ariel Helwani."
Courtesy of @Jon_Anik - "Glad to have first show under my belt. Plenty to improve upon. Thank you all for the support. Means more than you know."
Courtesy of @HypeOrDie - "YAHHH!!! I PLANKED RIGHT ON NOT JOE ROGANS SHOE!!!" [Editor's Note: C'mon now Pat Barry, his name is JON ANIK! How do you not know that?]
Courtesy of @DanaWhite - "Another amazing night!! Thank u Nashville. Thanks to all the fighters INCREDIBLE night on FX! Great job @Jon_Anik & @kennyflorian"
Courtesy of @DanaWhite - "I love the fans going crazy over the FON bonus! I will take care of Easton & Papazian. It's was a tough choice tonight. Great fights!!"
Courtesy of @DUANEBANGCOM - "I cant believe they stopped my fight! BS call. Haha I joke I joke congrats @joshneer"
Courtesy of @ForrestGriffin - "Damn I love the way I look! Smiled at a kid in the store and his mother ran over and grabbed him like he was about to fall off t grandcanyon"
Courtesy of @ForrestGriffin - "It sucks being just smart enough to know your stupid. Fortunately most people on twitter are too stupid to know they're stupid"
Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "Yo @MieshaTate, don't be scared to take a trip to my gym in the hood."
Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "In the gym bright and early, I brought coffee and a bag of ass whoopins for anyone who wants some. Sharing is caring."
Courtesy of @RoyNelsonMMA - "@KingMoFH Your innocent, until proven otherwise. Just cause ur black doesn't mean your guilty, Overeem passed. I say #peemixup"
Courtesy of @SonnenCH - "Spent months training to fight Munoz and now I have to fight a guy who sounds like "PIP" from South Park."
Courtesy of @MayhemMiller - "Mark Whalberg thinks he would have stopped 9/11. I think it's more likely that Al Quiada would have prevented "The Happening.""
Courtesy of @MayhemMiller - "My dream was to skateboard for @airwalk_online but I was only good at beating up kids at the skatepark."
Current Champions:
This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?
Junior dos Santos - UFC Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Cain Velasquez back on November 12, 2011 at UFC on FOX 1
Jon Jones - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua back on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128
Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64
Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83
Frankie Edgar - UFC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from B.J. Penn back on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112
Jose Aldo - UFC Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Mike Brown back on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44
Dominick Cruz - UFC Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Brian Bowles back on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47
Luke Rockhold - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion
Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 10, 2011 at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov
Won the title from Marloes Coenen back on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson
Bibiano Fernandes - DREAM Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Antonio Banuelos back on December 31, 2011 at DREAM 2011 New Year's Eve Fight For Japan.
Hiroyuki Takaya - DREAM Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Bibiano Fernandes back on December 31, 2010 at Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve show.
Shinya Aoki - DREAM Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Joachim Hansen back on October 6, 2009 at DREAM.11
Marius Zaromskis - DREAM Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Jason High back on July 20, 2009 at DREAM.10
Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Tatsuya Mizuno back on September 25, 2010 at DREAM.16
Cole Konrad - Bellator Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Neil Grove back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 29
Christian M'Pumbu - Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Richard Hale back on May 21, 2011 at Bellator 45
Hector Lombard - Bellator Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Jared Hess back on June 19, 2009 at Bellator 12
Ben Askren - Bellator Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Lyman Good back on October 21, 2010 at Bellator 33
Michael Chandler - Bellator Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Eddie Alvarez back on November 19, 2011 at Bellator 58
Joe Warren - Bellator Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Joe Soto back on September 2, 2010 at Bellator 27
Zach Makovsky - Bellator Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Ed West back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 32
Zoila Gurgel - Bellator 115lb Women's Champion
Won the title from Megumi Fujii back on October 28, 2010 at Bellator 34
Random Top 5 List Time!
Here you will see a random top 5 list put together by yours truly. It may be Top 5 submission fighters, Top 5 stand-up fighters or hell, even the Top 5 ways that Anderson Silva could kill you. Seriously, don't mess with that man. He's dangerous.
The Top 5 Potential UFC Action Stars: After a few weeks of being on hiatus, the random top 5 is back! For the record, I'll bring the random top 5 back whenever I can think of a good topic or we have a slow week. With the excitement surrounding Gina Carano's appearance in the movie "Haywire" buzzing around our heads this week, I decided it would be fun to rank the top 5 POTENTIAL action stars currently in the UFC. With Carano's performance actually getting rave reviews, it may only be a matter of time before we see more UFC stars jump into the movie biz, much like former WWE superstar The Rock. That got me to thinking, who in the UFC right now would be an awesome action star? Who on the UFC roster would be convincing enough to make us think that they could actually save an orphanage from a group of evil terrorists? Who on the UFC roster could jump out of an airplane with no parachute only to land on another plane currently being ravaged by terrorists? Well, let's find out shall we?
5. Brian Stann - Brian Stann is already one part hero. The guy's a former U.S. Marine and in case you were wondering....yes, he could kick your ass. I could seriously see Stann being the lead role in a G.I. Joe type movie that shows him as a bad-ass American soldier who takes crap from no one. Stann is also a great speaker and comes off very well on television. If you don't think Stann has what it takes to be an action movie star, how about you tell him that? I'll be sure to laugh at you when he rips your face off your skull.
4. Urijah Faber - Faber may not be the most intimidating dude, but there have been some action stars that aren't exactly scary looking in the past. Faber has charisma and would make an awesome action star in a "little guy kicks all the bad guy's asses" type of movie. Not only that, but the chicks would be all over him, which is also always a bonus for any action star.
3. Lyoto Machida - Lyoto Machida would be awesome as a "quiet-but-extremely-deadly" karate warrior in a new action series. The guy has all the credentials to be a bad ass, and he has a really bland look which makes people think they could take advantage of him...only to be seriously disappointed when he whoops their ass. The proof is in the pictures:
2. Alistair Overeem - I can't think of any other UFC fighter that I would be more frightened to see in a dark alley other than Alistair "I eat horse meat" Overeem. Overeem has already acted a few times and the guy would be perfect in some kind of super hero role. Overeem would also be perfect for the role of a villian in a horror movie, but that's a story for a completely different day.
1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - For those of you who don't know Quinton "Rampage" Jackson from his MMA days, you likely know him from his role as "B.A. Baracus" from "The A-Team" movie. Jackson showed that he has some acting chops in that movie and there's no doubt in my mind that if someone decided to give "Rampage" the lead role in an action movie, he'd kill it. Jackson has tons of charisma, he's got a great look, and the guy has actually been talking about walking away from MMA for sometime now. If there's any one on this list that I could actually see taking over Hollywood, it's "Rampage" Jackson.
Upcoming Events:
Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:
UFC 143 "Diaz vs. Condit" - February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit (for the UFC interim welterweight title)
-Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum
-Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce
-Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway
-Scott Jorgensen vs. Renan Barao
-Ed Herman vs. Clifford Starks
-Matt Riddle vs. Jorge Lopez
-Edwin Figueroa vs. Alex Caceres
-Rafael Natal vs. Michael Kuiper
-Stephen Thompson vs. Dan Stittgen
UFC on FUEL TV 1 - February 15 at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska
-Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez
-Stefan Struve vs. Dave Herman
-Aaron Simpson vs. Ronny Markes
-Jonathan Brookins vs. Vagner Rocha
-Stipe Miocic vs. Philip De Fries
-Ivan Menjivar vs. John Albert
-T.J. Dillashaw vs. Walel Watson
-Buddy Roberts vs. Sean Loeffler
-Justin Salas vs. Anton Kuivanen
-Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Bernardo Magalhaes
UFC 144 "Edgar vs. Henderson" - February 25 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
-Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson (for the UFC lightweight title)
-Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Ryan Bader
-Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
-Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon
-Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt
-Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
-Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee
-Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos
-Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski
-Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell
-Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso
-Leonard Garcia vs. Tiequan Zhang
Strikeforce "Tate vs. Rousey" - March 3 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
-Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey (for the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title)
-Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki
-K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson
-Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis
-Pat Healy vs. Caros Fodor
UFC on FX 2 - March 3 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia
-Martin Kampmann vs. Thiago Alves
-Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (UFC flyweight tournament semifinal)
-Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall (UFC flyweight tournament semifinal)
-Court McGee vs. Constantinos Philippou
-Cole Miller vs. Steven Siler
-Kyle Noke vs. Andrew Craig
-Aaron Rosa vs. James Te Huna
-Mackens Semerzier vs. Robbie Peralta
-T.J. Waldburger vs. Jake Hecht
-Oli Thompson vs. Shawn Jordan
-Anthony Perosh vs. Nick Penner
Video of the Week!
If I have to explain to you what "video of the week" is, than please grab a pencil and stick it in your neck for the benefit of society....
Shit is about to go down this weekend.....
My top 5 MMA Rankings:
These are my current top 5 MMA rankings! I know 411mania.com has their own rankings as a collective unit, but I figured I would list mine for you guys to tear apart each week....
1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
4. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
5. Dan Henderson
Middleweight:
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Yushin Okami
5. Mark Munoz
Welterweight:
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Nick Diaz
3. Josh Koscheck
4. Carlos Condit
5. Jake Ellenberger
Lightweight:
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Ben Henderson
5. Shinya Aoki
Featherweight:
1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Chad Mendes
4. Diego Nunes
5. Pat Curran
Bantamweight:
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Urijah Faber
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Brian Bowles
And that's it for me this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of good MMA, NBA, NFL, and other random crap talk. Trust me, I won't let you down.
All of 411's zones are also on Twitter, so make sure you check it out.....
