The Tap-Out 07.07.06: UFC 61 Preview & More
Posted by Caleb Newby on 07.07.2006
UFC 61 is closing in! "The Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski has his chance reclaim his lost title while Ortiz and Shamrock will finally be able to use fists instead of words! Also, a look back on the recent PRIDE Grand Prix event!
Three months of doing this column. I'm impressed I've been at it this long. It's been fun so far and I hope you've liked it to.
What a great time to be a fan of MMA. There are so many events and shows happening. Last week we talked about the UFN and TUF 3 shows, this week we're going to go over the latest offering from PRIDE as well as preview the upcoming UFC 61 headlined by Arlovski vs. Sylvia and Ortiz vs. Shamrock. Also, while this column usually goes up late in the week, next Monday I am going to try to have this up already to review UFC 61. Maybe make it a little more timely. We'll see how it goes.
PRIDE Grand Prix
The night I watched this was somewhat of a blur. Advanced apologies.
(Results taken directly from MMAweekly)
-Pawel Nastula def. Edson Drago by submission (armbar) at 4:33 of Round 1
-Yoshihiro Nakao def. Lee Eun Su by TKO at 4:16 of Round 1
-Vitor Belfort def. Yoshiki Takahashi by KO at 0:36 of Round 1
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Alistair Overeem by TKO (corner stoppage) at 2:13 of Round 2
-Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos by submission (keylock) at 4:49 of Round 1
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Fabricio Werdum by unanimous decision
Call me crazy but I found this one a little dull. I was fighting sleep already at the time and this match wasn't helping. Congrats Big Nog.
-Wanderlei Silva def. Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO at 9:21 of Round 1
Now I remember these last three bouts clearly. And to think I almost gave in to sleep at this point. How impressive was Silva, and how impressive for the punches he could take was Fujita? Seeing stuff like this just makes me want to see the over-discussed Silva/Liddell matchup more. But, I won't get into that fantasy as enough people do.
-Josh Barnett def. Mark Hunt by submission (kimura) at 2:02 of Round 1
I really like Barnett. In his post fight interview he said that while he felt comfortable striking with Hunt, it made little sense and played into his opponent's strength, so why should he do that? Smart man. Once he took Hunt to the ground Barnett had this baby won. And his in ring comments after the fight of opening up the stitches of his opponents was awesome. Barnett would blow up in the modern day UFC. A fighter with that much charisma and his look would do wonders for the heavyweight division here in the states.
-Mirko Cro Cop def. Hidehiko Yoshida by TKO at 7:38 of Round 1
Dear Lord! Those leg kicks were horrible. It was interesting to watch the decline of Yoshida as the match went on and he started bouncing on one leg more and more, quickly becoming less and less able to traverse the ring. Cro Cop's takedown defense was also top notch. With Nog, Cro Cop, Barnett, and Silva winning, we have one awesome semifinal grouping, predictable or not.
And for the record, I went 8-1 in my picks, yet didn't make the top 3 in the forum pick'em. Why? Because I couldn't figure out the ways they were going to end. Oh well.
UFC 61: Bitter Rivals preview
Gilbert Aldana vs Cheick Kongo
Jeff Monson vs Anthony Perosh
Two highly skilled grapplers here. Will this lead to another snoozefest? Or shall The Snowman electrify the audience? Smart money is on the former.
Drew Fickett vs Kurt Pellegrino
Hermes Franca vs Joe Jordan
Yves Edwards vs Joe Stevenson
Yves will be trying to bounce back in the UFC since he last bout in which he surprisingly lost. Formerly the chosen one to be the new UFC lightweight champion, Yves has the sometimes unmotivated yet highly talented Joe Stevenson. Why do I call Joe unmotivated? Because of some interview I heard him give about 6 months ago or so where he really didn't sound like his head was into the fighting game. Here's to hoping that isn't the case this time around.
Josh Burkman vs Josh Neer
Josh and Josh. I think I like Neer in this one but the Vegas odds tell me it is a close one. Why Neer? Just because what I have seen out of him compared to Burkman lately, simple as that. Sort of a gut feeling, and we know those are reliable.
Dan Christison vs Frank Mir
Ooooo… can Mir finally come back on track and become the fighter he has once been again or is he simply too unmotivated to reach his former heights? Rumors say he is slacking in training, but we should see the truth soon enough.
Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock
Fun for the wrong reasons, mostly because people want to see Shamrock beaten worse than his previous bout with Ortiz. I am especially interested to hear the crowd reaction and see how it has changed from Ortiz's last bout against Forrest. Shamrock winning here really would be the crazy upset that no-one believes can happen. Last UFC event I recall that being the case, we got ourselves a new heavyweight champion. Just saying.
So who do I take? Ortiz of course, who then goes on to fight Liddell (probably) for the LHW title. Talk about a roll reversal for Tito.
Tim Sylvia vs Andrei Arlovski
Oh I can't wait. Oh how I hope Arlovski wins this by KO. But I am REALLY uncertain, yet most of my body tells me that I should stick to taking Andrei in this one. But is Arlovski really only a product of a weak UFC heavyweight division or was his last KO an unfortunate anomaly and bump on the road. Is Sylvia better than pretty much anyone wants to believe or will his trash talking motor be stopped… so many fun questions. Sure, PRIDE has the top guys at heavyweight until proven otherwise, but still, this will be a fun one.
The question I want to see answered is if Arlovski will take this to the ground where is undoubtedly more proficient than Sylvia. I kind of doubt he will though.
Links
Trust me, these are some good articles.
So Andrew this week is talking about Demon Hunter. I don't know much about them other than they probably scream and yell a lot and would scare his child. So no doubt he listens to them with her around anyway. Heck, it would probably scare me too. I'll stick to the Polyphonic Spree, thank you. (just kidding) Discover Demon Hunter here. As a side note, he refused to go on a swing ride at an amusement park the other day, out of fear. It was a swing. Come on.
Mike "Ego" Novak returns previewing the NFL's AFC. While interesting, the real question is if he has the Packers at the bottom of the NFC north next week. He better not… Click me!
What about Brian who wants to fight Tim Sylvia? Well, reader Skip and fellow Packer fan (so you know Skip is good people) suggested that were I to get a hold of Pat Miletich and got Brian to sign a waver form that Pat may consider letting the two of them have a little "friendly exhibition". I took this information to Brian in hopes that it would curb his enthusiasm, yet all that it did was have him call up a pal who trains kickboxing and get a few lessons. That, and a few TiVo'ed Sylvia matches and Brian is convinced that if he can just take Tim down Brian will be able to beat him.
"Why do you say this Brian?" I asked.
"Because I believe I am a better wrestler than he is," Brian responded.
"Brian, seriously, what experience do you have wrestling?" mutual friend Andrew inquired.
"Nothing," Brian stated.
I just sat down and shook my head sadly, unable to find the words.
Remember The Tap-Out! will be early next week with post UFC 61 thoughts and we will get back to some of the latest MMA news once again. Also, find the UFC 61 PICK'EM thread on the forums MMA section to test your knowledge.
