Planet Tapout 12.25.07: IFL World Grand Prix Finals Preview
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 12.25.2007
Merry Christmas everybody! This week in MMA gives the fans a whole lot of fight cards but this week's Planet Tapout previews one you might be forgetting. The IFL World Grand Prix Finals are this Saturday and not only will 411Mania have live coverage of the event, but 411Mania's Lotfi Sariahmed breaks down the entire card! All that plus Miscellaneous Musings and This Week in Fight Picks in the Christmas Day Edition!
Welcome to the MMA column that's a big fan of the holidays. Merry Christmas to all as Planet Tapout is back for a special Christmas Day edition here on 411Mania.com. Hopefully I add some more cheer to your day as I am the man they call Lotfi Sariahmed. No mailbag per say again this week but we do have a comment! Once again for those of you who missed this game last week allow me to explain. At the bottom of the screen just click on post a comment and leave whatever thoughts you want. I'll address them in next week's column. But as always email works as well. The address remains the same at PlanetTapout@gmail.com . Now lets get to the comments.
Mailbag!
A man, who merely tagged his comment as "e", took me to task on my lack of television knowledge among other things with this comment from last week's Planet Tapout.
Did you really say that soon we will be forced to switch to HDTV's? As I'm sure you have been told by now, its cable ready TV's. The FCC wants to free up the broadcast airwaves for emergency frequencies and recently is in talks to put them up for sale as cell phone frequencies as well. BTW this was supposed to happen like ten years ago or something, so still waiting on that. People like their rabbit ears it seems. Also it took UFC a long time to build a profit earning company that already had a fanbase; not a great one but it was there and little competition. HDfights have a long road ahead, they have the tools, question is do they have the long view to keep going and remain steady. They are in a better spot then when Zuffa took over UFC so they got that going for them. HDfights have to look at the world market and the void pride left in the market that UFC has severely underutilized. Biggest mistake Dana and co. has made with that purchase, as they've done nothing with it. As to GSP, Hughes, Serra, why does everyone count Serra out like it's a foregone conclusion that he is going to lose his belt. He's a smart fighter a great coach is experienced and as we've seen enjoys being the underdog. Plus he really is a good fighter. People need to stop treating this guy like he is some bum. I'm sorry Hughes got owned on TUF, period. Who reading would actually want to go and train with Hughes after that if you had a choice between Hughes or Serra. You want to know why Danzig won; Extreme Couture and he shouldn't have been on the show in the first place. No one in the house was in his league. Glen uh I mean Mac should of already had a contract. Not to take anything away from the guy (Mac) in fact quite the opposite.
First of "e" thank you for the comment, now on to your points. I claim ignorance on the HDTV point. All I do is watch the TV, I know very little else about it. I just know football looks awesome on HDTV and I'm not a big fan of the FCC. But thank you for clearing that up for us. As for HDNet Fights and their potential success, I usually wouldn't think twice about it. A lot of these organizations go the way of the WFA and that's the end of it. Rumor has it Gary Shaw and EliteXC are trying to put together what essentially amounts to a freak show tournament with Kimbo Slice and Antonio Silva. Yep, that has legitimate written all over it. Mark Cuban's a legitimate businessman who has surrounded himself with knowledgeable people going into this venture. Maybe I'll be proven wrong down the line but I have confidence he'll be able to do some big things. How soon that comes is anyone's guess but it looks promising so far.
(Shameless Plug Alert—The incomparable Bren Oliver snagged an interview with Cuban that will be up on our site on Wednesday. So make sure you come back for that.)
As for this Serra argument, it's one we could go on for ages about and some people probably already have. But up until this point in his career Serra has had one big win on his resume and it's the shocking knockout over GSP at UFC 69. No one thought he had a chance in that fight and everyone thinks he won't have a chance against either GSP or Hughes in the unification bout. Right or not, he (Serra) has to go back out and prove it wasn't a fluke. And Serra probably wouldn't have it any other way. Hughes and GSP both have stacked resumes compared to Serra and that's why Serra's not getting any love and won't until he beats one of them. As for the whole TUF argument, who made the Finals? Tommy Speer and Mac Danzig, both Team Hughes fighters. I understand Danzig was in another class compared to the rest of the fighters but something has to be said for Speer. On top of that, Danzig was still on Hughes' team so you simply can't disregard him.
Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah or whatever wishes you want to leave, don't be afraid to leave them. Leave a comment at the bottom of the column or send me an email. The address remains PlanetTapout@gmail.com . Now lets move onto Planet Tapout's preview of the IFL World Grand Prix Finals on Saturday.
If you're an MMA organization it's all the rage to have a year-end event. The International Fight League is no different, as it will have its World Grand Prix Finals on Saturday night. It's rewarding five title belts as the IFL's CEO Kurt Otto said, "Come hell or high water." Unfortunately Otto really has meant it when it comes to rewarding these belts. It seems like people are still getting injured on the Grand Prix Semifinals card and the injury bug just continued on with the Finals card. Just look at one of the promotional videos the IFL has circulating for the event.
The five most important words for any fight card: "Fight Card Subject to Change." In the IFL's case, those five words have become a bit of a mantra of late. Despite the troubles, the card the IFL has lined up is still pretty impressive. There are the five title fights, a showcase bout featuring one of the IFL's best fighters NOT fighting for a belt and the return of Tim Kennedy after his loss to Mayhem Miller a little more than two weeks ago. Before we get to the title fights, lets take a look at the prelims.
Rory Markham v. Brett Cooper
This went from a very good prelim fight to one that's become a showcase. Markham was originally set to fight Dan Miller of Renzo Gracie's camp. Miller made an impressive debut against Dave Phillips at the IFL Team Semis choking him out 90 seconds into the first round. Miller would have provided a formidable test for the Miletich product. Unfortunately the injury bug struck him and now this is a fight to show just how good Rory Markham is. Brett Cooper is 6-4 in MMA and coming off a TKO win over Jason Von Flue in the 1st round. Cooper also has a win over IFL vet Conor Heun but Markham is just in a different class. His (Markham's) hands are incredibly powerful and if it weren't for injuries this season he'd be fighting for that welterweight belt. He should easily dispose of Cooper here.
Winner: Rory Markham
Alex Cook v. Marcello Salazar
Here's another bout that's more for the sake of showcase than anything else. Alex Cook will be one of the IFL's newest fighters in the 2008 season, as he will join Ian Freeman's English team. Cook, who trains with the Wolfslair, is 8-5 in MMA but hasn't fought since September of last year. In that fight he lost to "Professor X" Xavier Foupa-Pokam as part of a Cage Rage event. With that said, he makes his return to the ring on Saturday against a man he's already beaten. Marcello Salazar's only loss in MMA (he has a record of 6-1-2) came to Alex Cook back in March of last year. While Cook hasn't fought since September of last year, the layoff hasn't been that much shorter for Salazar. He last fought in January beating Renato Gabardi. The rematch between Salazar and Cook should end similarly to the first with Cook getting the win.
Winner: Alex Cook
Elias Rivera v. Tim Kennedy
Hey everybody, Tim Kennedy's back! After losing to a Top 15 middleweight a little more than two weeks ago, Kennedy is back fighting Elias Rivera who's getting his shot on the big stage. If you saw Kennedy's first round against Mayhem, you know what he can bring to the table. He's more experienced than Rivera and at only 3-2, Rivera just hasn't fought the same competition. Kennedy's whirlwind MMA tour should finish up 1-1 barring some inexplicable flash knockout from the former bare-knuckle fighter (Rivera).
Winner: Tim Kennedy
Now onto the title fights:
Featherweight Title Bout
Wagnney Fabiano v. L.C. Davis
If you hear Kurt Otto explain it, he's doing Fabiano a favor moving him down to 145 as opposed to fighting Horodecki in what would have been the marquee fight at lightweight. The opposite end of the spectrum would tell you he's protecting Horodecki and adding another belt to add spice to the card. As always the truth lies somewhere in between but this is your fight for the 145-lb title Saturday. The Miletich product, Davis, is undefeated in MMA at 9-0. His last bout was a win coming against Conor Heun at the IFL Team Semifinals. Being fortunate enough to be in the arena for that bout, I think it was an odd fight. Davis was clearly better than Heun on the night but he looked unrefined. He's a guy who has some skills, but just isn't on that level yet. So I can't help but think Davis was thrown into this bout against the clearly superior Fabiano because there was just no one else. An undefeated record in the IFL, a tough decision loss to Jeff Curran and a win over Bao Quach put Fabiano miles ahead of Davis in this fight. I'd be interested to see if there will be another featherweight in the IFL that could compete.
Winner and IFL Featherweight Champ: Wagnney Fabiano
Lightweight Title Bout
Chris Horodecki v. Ryan Schultz
We have another rematch in this title bout but certainly not the way the IFL would have liked it. After deciding to create this featherweight title fight, Shad Lierley was supposed to step in and face Horodecki for the belt. It would have been a nice rematch especially given their first fight up in Seattle. But Lierley went down with injury and in stepped John Gunderson. Unfortunately just as quickly as he came in, Gunderson had to go out with injury and now we have Ryan Schultz. To be fair, I will say this. If there were ever a division where the IFL could afford to have an injury, it would be the lightweight division. It's the deepest and strongest division in the IFL and Ryan Schultz is certainly no pushover. He just missed out on making the Grand Prix but still has wins over Savant Young, Aaron Riley and even Roger Huerta back before he got into the IFL. With all that said its hard for me to pick against Horodecki in this bout because quite frankly not much has changed since their first bout.
Winner and IFL Lightweight Champ: Chris Horodecki
Welterweight Title Bout
Delson Heleno v. Jay Hieron
This is a very interesting bout. Heleno is a skilled submission artist and if he gets you to the ground, more often than you're in trouble. While he has the ground aspect covered, Hieron will beat him up standing. So the question becomes whether Hieron can avoid the takedown and if he can't, how effective is his ground game? He has five submission victories to his name but Donnie Liles, Victor Moreno, Amos Sotelo, Fernando Munoz and Jermaine Johnson aren't Delson Heleno. I know Hieron's a tough fighter and I'm very interested to see what his approach will be to "Pe de Chumbo," but I like Heleno to win the belt.
Winner and IFL Welterweight Champ: Delson Heleno
Middleweight Title Bout
Benji Radach v. Matt Horwich
Matt Horwich is a crazy fighter to try and pin down. He's 20-9-1 in MMA and 18 of his wins come by submission and he will not get stopped in a fight. Of his nine losses only three have come before the final bell. His three submission losses have come to Jamal Patterson (twice) and Jason Lambert. So its not as if he lost to no name fighters either. Horwich is very difficult to finish but that's what the #1 seed in this bracket, Benji Radach, will try and do Saturday. Radach has taken the IFL's middleweight division by storm. This will be his sixth fight in 2007 since breaking his jaw in a loss to Chris Leben in 2004. He's undefeated in the IFL and only one of those fights (his first against Ryan McGivern) has gone past the first round. I like Radach to win because I think he has more skills but I think the more interesting question is will Radach finish the fight?
Winner and IFL Middleweight Champ: Benji Radach
Heavyweight Title Bout
Antoine Jaoude v. Roy Nelson
It's a division you don't hear too much about because since the departure of Ben Rothwell, there's not too much there. Jaoude is the quiet favorite coming out of the Ruas camp given his submission acumen and stand-up game. He, like Radach, also debuted this season and is also undefeated in the IFL. While Jaoude is the quiet favorite, Roy Nelson thinks he's the favorite and wants you to think that as well. Nelson was made famous after his tough split decision loss to Ben Rothwell in April. Nelson has since run his mouth saying he should have won and with Rothwell's potential departure from the IFL, he wants to take the top spot as that guy. I interviewed John Gunderson, a teammate of Nelson's on the Lions, before the Grand Prix semifinals and he said Nelson was one of the smartest fighters you'll ever train with and you're always learning something from him. Well, I have yet to pick a real upset on this card and I'm not sold on Jaoude. So Mr. Gunderson, lets hope you're right.
Winner and IFL Heavyweight Champ: Roy Nelson
Don't forget that 411Mania.com will have LIVE coverage of the event from Uncasville, Connecticut on Saturday. Damian Sarcuni and his entourage will be there with your usual PBP and post-game coverage you've come to know and love. So come on back Saturday night.
Miscellaneous Musings!
●So Floyd Mayweather is interested in getting into MMA. Apparently "Pretty Boy" and Mark Cuban made some inroads on Dancing With The Stars and this looks like it has potential. I've already been singing Mark Cuban's praises as a businessman but I'll believe this move when I see it. But if he does do it, this is bigger than just Mayweather v. some random guy. This will be considered the fight that determines which combat sport is superior, MMA or boxing.
●If Liddell loses to Silva by decision, the Iceman will be in a similar situation as Rich Franklin with regard to his standing in the 205-lb. division. If he gets knocked out, and odds say there will be a knockout in this bout, I wouldn't be shocked to see Liddell call it quits.
●I've said it before and I'll say it again; Hughes will lose if he can't take St. Pierre down.
●This UFC 79 card is the very definition of top heavy. There are three fights…that's it. Mind you they are three very captivating fights but the UFC looked at those fights and said, "That's enough. We don't need to do anything else." Are you really that excited about Lister v. Radev?
This Week in Fight Picks!
UFC 79: Nemesis!
Eddie Sanchez over Soa Palelei
Doug Evans over Mark Bocek
Melvin Guillard over Rich Clementi
Manvel Gamburyan over Nate Mohr
Roan Carneiro over Tony DeSouza
Dean Lister over Jordan Radev
Lyoto Machida over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Wanderlei Silva over Chuck Liddell
Georges St. Pierre over Matt Hughes for the Interim Welterweight Title
K-1 Dynamite
Minowa over Zuluzinho
Melvin Manhoef over Yosuke Nishijima
Joachim Hansen over Kazuyuki Miyata
Sergei Kharitonov over Siala Siliga
Kazushi Sakuraba over Masakatsu Funaki
Kid Yamamoto over Rani Yahya
M-1 Global: Yarennoka!
Fedor Emelianenko over Hong Man Choi
Hayato Sakurai over Hidehiko Hasegawa
Tatsuya Kawajiri over Luiz Azeredo
Yoshihiro Akiyama over Kazuo Misaki
Gilbert Melendez over Mitsuhiro Ishida
That's it for this week on Planet Tapout! Make sure you don't forget about the mailbag. Send me your thoughts, recipe ideas and otherwise. The email address is PlanetTapout@gmail.com .
Make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! This week in MMA gives us a bunch of cards. Of course you have the IFL World Grand Prix Finals card. Then there's UFC 79 with Liddell v. Silva and Hughes v. GSP III. Yarennoka's not as good as it could be with the Aoki v. Calvancante bout off the card but we still have a few very good bouts. You have the return of Fedor along with Melendez v. Ishida, Misaki v. Akiyama and Kawajiri v. Azeredo. Don't forget about Kid Yamamoto taking on Rani Yahya on the K-1 Dynamite year-end card either. Merry Christmas and enjoy the fights everyone.
