The Fightin' Stance News 04.05.08: So Many Moments
Posted by Adam Tool on 04.05.2008
The FSN is back with your Fight Night wrap-up, the full rundown on tonight's ShoXC card, big updates on your next DREAM, the revolving-door that is YAMMA, a spotlight on the UFC lightweights, an updated MMA calendar, and who's talking smack this week? Videos, pictures and words, all arranged in just the right order for you.
Welcome to The Fightin' Stance News. I'm your host Adam Tool and before we get to the news I'd like to take a moment and answer some of the mail I got following my 411mania debut last week.
…
That was fun. In today's column we'll:
-preview tonight's edition of ShoXC
-find out what's coming up in DREAM
-try and sort out just who is fighting who at the debut of YAMMA
-ponder the future of the UFC's lightweight division
-look ahead to the next three months of events for your hungry TV
-see a celebrity interview and a great music video
But first…
Rocky Mountain High
Ultimate Fight Night XIII was, in a word, tremendous. Simply put, the entire card from bell to bell provided more action and enjoyment than several events that I have paid to watch. If you missed the show, you can catch a replay on Spike this Tuesday, April 8th starting at 7 pm ET. The event has already been covered on this site by Randy, Larry, and Randy again, so I‘ll keep my thoughts on each fight brief. Plus, there'll be pictures! I can feel your excitement through the computer screen.
Did you blink when the Alexander/Irvin fight started? Too bad for you, but good thing for replay. In the roundtable I predicted a highlight reel knockout in the 1st rd. Unfortunately I figured Houston would be delivering, not receiving, said knockout.
The more I see him fight, the more Nate Diaz reminds me of his brother. He truly does need to get his ass kicked for a bit before he can really turn it on in the cage. As for the "TUF" champion throwing up the double fingers and flexing once his victory was assured? Perhaps he felt slighted by not being in the main event?
Sidenote: does anyone else notice that Diaz has not yet fought in a bout that wasn't aired on Spike? Mac Danzig makes his PPV debut in two weeks, but the season 6 winner is still on basic cable. Also, when are we going to get Diaz vs. Gamburyian II?
Matt Hamill looked like a fighter with something to prove. Tim Boetsch looked like a fighter who was overwhelmed. "The Hammer" got a much needed victory, and proved a lot of his doubters wrong by winning by TKO. One cannot deny that he also has a story that would go over well in the mainstream, if he should get the opportunity to shine.
I still have to wonder what Hamill vs. Bonnar would have been. Anybody else still want to see this fight?
Thiago Alves gave Karo Parisyan all he could handle in the first round, stuffing most of the takedown attempts and landing some nice shots. Also, I don't remember Karo hitting any of his judo throws that he sang about back at UFC 71. Once that knee hit, "The Heat" folded like a spare bed and then ate several clean shots before it was stopped. Good job by Steve Mazzigatti, and a huge win for Thiago Alves.
If there is still any controversy over the end of the fight, remember this: the referee doesn't work for the UFC, he works for the SAC (State Athletic Commission). As such, one of his primary duties is to ensure the fighter's safety. Besides the fighters themselves, nobody else is as close to the action so who are you or I to question if a stoppage was early or not?
Bren posted this on the 411forums and I love it. Not because I dislike Karo. Not at all.
Much like a certain Omaha-native fighter, Anthony Johnson made quite a few new fans after his vicious knockout of Tommy Speer. Will he be able to back it up in his future performances?
I know the advertisers pay the bills, but perhaps they could've taken a few minutes to stop pimping "The Ultimate Fighter" and give us another pre-lim fight? Marcus Aurelio submitted Ryan Jensen in 18 seconds, and they couldn't find time to show it?
Just like that, Frank Edgar shows that he is human after all. I never thought I'd see him sucking wind like he was in the third round.
Meanwhile, Gray Maynard showed flashes of the UFC hall of famer that has been training him during his three-round blanketing of 411mania's #9 ranked lightweight. When was the last time you saw a guy picked up and slammed three times in one round?
A lot of people don't seem to like him for some reason, but who can argue that Kenny Florian isn't fun to watch? Joe Lauzon looked like he might pull it off a few times in the first round, but Kenny just smothered him once the second round started. What does the future hold for "Ken-Flo" now that he has won his last four fights? Funny you should ask…
Kenny Makes The Call
In a post fight interview Kenny Florian announced that he doesn't want to fight the winner of the lightweight championship fight between B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk.
At least, not yet.
Instead Florian called out fellow lightweight contender Roger "El Matador" Huerta. The two were originally offered the fight for this past Wednesday's Fight Night, but Huerta respectfully declined to take a well-deserved break after fighting five times last year. Kenny gave no time-table for the fight, but hopes it will happen later this year.
DREAM Weaver
There's been a lot of new MMA promotions starting up lately, but none of them show as much promise as DREAM, the new organization that's carrying the PRIDE flag for great fights in Japan. However,their first card ended on a sour note when the anticapted matchup between 411mania's #1 lightweight Gesias "JZ" Calvancante and Shinya Aoki ended in a no-contest. If you haven't seen the fight, then please enjoy and I'll meet you after that.
Obviously that's not the ending that fans and promoters wanted, and with both men in the lightweight tournament what would happen next? We know the answer to that question as DREAM 2 on April 29th will now feature a rematch with the winner going on to face Katsuhiko Nagata in the tournament. That's not all, as it was also announced that the lightweight grand prix will have round 2 at DREAM 3, which will be just two weeks later on May 11th. Hopefully the winner of JZ/Aoki will be in good shape after the fight because they are looking at a very quick turnaround. Here's the just announced card.
Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Winner of Calvancante/Aoki
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez
Tatsuya Kawijiri vs. Luis Bascape
It's unfortunate that there are currently no plans to air either of the upcoming DREAM events here stateside, which means fight fans across the country will be watching this event hunched over their computers, after it's already happened. There was talk of HDNet picking them up, but according to my inside sources (okay Bren Oliver and his inside source) there are no plans at this time for the channel to air any DREAM events. HDNet does still have about eighteen hundred other MMA shows, so we can let it slide.
Welcome My Friends to the Sho That Never Ends
Tonight EliteXC and Showtime are putting on edition another night of their showcase series ShoXC, which starts at 11 pm ET for you premium cable receivers out there. If you are like me and can't afford this luxury, then you should check back in here at 411mania because our own Larry Csonka will be covering the event live as it happens. Here's a look at the main card.
Jared Hamman vs. Poai Suganuma
Fabricio Camoes vs. Joe Camacho
Shayna Baszler vs. Keiko Tamai
Giva Santana vs. Matt Lucas
Wilson Reis vs. Doug Evans
Hamman is a rising light-heavyweight with a 9-0 record who's never seen a judge's scorecard. He'll have a tough fight against Suganuma, a Hawaiian state wrestling champ with a well rounded skillset. Camoes is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a 7-4 record in MMA, while Camacho sports a very unflattering record of 10-11-3, including two losses to Joe Stevenson. Baszler has 8 wins, all via submission, all in the first round. Her opponent Tamai is on a five fight losing streak. Santana is one of the most exciting fighters on the card, sporting a 10-0 record with 9 armbar submissions, all of which were in the first round. He'll be taking on Matt Lucas who is 9-0, meaning someone is getting their first loss tonight. Finally, Reis is a 3-0 Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt taking on Evans, who is coming off an 0-2 performance in the UFC last year.
UPDATE: Just before submitting this article Five Oz. Of Pain reported that Wilson Reis is off the card and will be replaced by Bao Quach, who has won his last six fights.
Pit Fighter: Not Just a Crappy Game Anymore
The debut of YAMMA Pit Fighting, the new organization founded by UFC creator Bob Meyrowitz, has gone through more changes than a girl getting ready on a Friday night. See if you can follow me here.
1. YAMMA's debut card is announced. Don Frye is scheduled to face Oleg Taktarov, while Gary Goodridge is scheduled to fight Eric "Butterbean" Esch.
2. Frye pulls out and is replaced by Patrick Smith.
3. Patrick Smith is arrested on March 21st after leading police on a high speed motorcycle chase at speeds of up to 130mph. He is pulled from the card and Taktarov is slated to face Mark Kerr.
4. Goodridge gets knocked out by Mu Bai Choi on March 30th and is suspended for medical reasons for 30 days.
5. Patrick Smith gets reinstated on the card and will now fight "Butterbean" in the night's headlining bout.
In addition to these fights the show will also feature an eight-man heavyweight tournament. The tournament will have modified rules, with the preliminary and semifinal round fights scheduled for one five minute round, and the finals lasting three rounds of three minutes each. As of now, the participants are George Bush, Alexey Oleynik, Sherman Pendergarst, Marcelo Pereira, Ricco Rodrigiez, Tony Sylvester, Chris Tuscherer and Travis Wiuff. However given the brief history of this organization, I think we can expect more changes to the card right up until the event actually starts.
The Last Word on Shamrock vs. Le
I know the fight was seven days ago, but allow me to get the final word on Cung Le's victory over Frank Shamrock. I actually just wanted to show you one thing: the exact moment Shamrock got his arm broken by Le:
credit: Some astute EliteXC photographer
Oh yeah, one more thing.
I think Frank will try and go toe-to-toe with Le and get caught, so I'm going with Le via TKO in round 2. - Me, last week.
Except for the round I nailed it.
UFC Lightweight Division
Yes it's only the second edition of this report and already we have a new feature. In the Spotlight I'll take a good hard look at…whatever. It could be a particular fighter, or a review of a past event, or even just one really great fight. In this debut edition however I'll be breaking down the most dynamic division of the UFC, and pondering the future of the elite group of fighters that call the 155 lbs. weight class their home. Let's start with the man at the top.
UFC Lightweight Champion - B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn
I used the word dynamic above to describe the lightweight division. It also applies really well to their champion. Penn's up and down career has been well-documented, but the guy we're seeing these days is probably the best B.J. that's ever fought in the octagon. He's already said he wants move up in weight to fight GSP again. But first St. Pierre has to get by Serra, while B.J. should be worried about this guy…
Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk
The former lightweight champion and current #1 contender will battle Penn in May at UFC 84. The bad blood between these two started before Penn had even won the title. Sherk says he never lost the belt. Penn says he doesn't want to fight a steroid user. Sherk maintains his innocence and calls Penn a pothead, and so forth. This is arguably the biggest fight ever in the UFC lightweight division, but we can talk more about that next month. If Sherk wins the belt back he may move on to face the man he previously beat for it…
Kenny "Ken-Flo" Florian
When Kenny Florian was on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," few gave him a chance to succeed. Kenny made it to the finale and lost to Diego Sanchez, but then went on to win his next three fights. That led to a match for the then-vacant lightweight title against Sean Sherk. Kenny lost a five round battle, but left his mark in the form of a huge gash on Sherk's head. After taking out Joe Lauzon, Florian is on a four fight win streak, and he has already decided who he wants to fight next…
Roger "El Matador" Huerta
2007 was called the year of the upset, but there was one big constant during the last year in the form of Roger Huerta. In addition to making the cover of Sports Illustrated he fought and won an unprecedented five times in 12 months. If he continues to go undefeated in the UFC there's a good chance he'll be in a title fight by the time 2009 rolls around. His last fight in December was a three round war with Clay Guida that was called "Fight of the Year" by more fans and writers than any other. Speaking of which…
Clay "The Carpenter" Guida
It didn't make it on TV, but "The Carpenter" got back to his winning ways at Fight Night XIII. He took Sammy Schiavo down and pounded him out in the first round, and should be back on the main card next time he steps in the cage. At this point Guida seems to be moving into the dreaded "gatekeeper" role at 155 lbs. He can't break through to the top level of the division, but he still has exciting fights and should have a job in the UFC for some time to come. Wednesday was a good night for Clay, but not so good for our next fighter…
Frank "The Answer" Edgar
When he woke up on Wednesday morning Frank Edgar was undefeated in the UFC and riding a nice wave of momentum to a possible title shot later this year. When he woke up on Thursday he was left wondering what had happened. Edgar had no answers for Gray Maynard's power, and lost all three rounds in a close fight. Like anyone else who has tasted defeat for the first time, Frank will need to go back and work on all aspects of his game in order to re-focus on what he does so well: winning. Like he did against this guy…
Tyson Griffin
You remember him don't you? He was undefeated himself before he stepped in the cage and saw Frank Edgar on the other side. After the loss all of Griffin's momentum swung over to Edgar. Meanwhile Tyson got back on track and has gone 3-0 over Clay Guida, Thiago Thavares and Gleison Tibau. Any potential contender talk would have to include him, but he has to keep winning in this thick division, which has only gotten thicker after season 5 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Which of course leads us right to…
Nate Diaz
Think of all the guys that have won "The Ultimate Fighter," and you'll think of names like Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, Michael Bisping, and Joe Stevenson. All of them are excellent fighters but none of them are like Nate Diaz. Carrying the proud banner of the Gracie family, Nate's got some of the sickest Brazilian jiu-jitsu of anyone that has gone on to fight in the UFC. After forcing the tap from Kurt Pellegrino on Wednesday Nate told Joe Rogan (and Joe Silva) that he wants to step up in competition. Why shouldn't he? You have to admire a fighter that loves a challenge, which brings us to…
Gray "The Bully" Maynard
Gray Maynard was a standout on B.J. Penn's squad during "TUF" 5, but lost to that guy we just talked about, Nate Diaz in the semifinals. After the bizarre no-contest against Rob Emerson at the show's finale, Gray won his next two fights and put in the request to Joe Silva: he wanted to fight Frank Edgar. If you saw the show Wednesday you saw a tremendous performance as the underdog Maynard handed "The Answer" his first loss. For his next appearance I wouldn't be surprised to see Gray taking another step up in competition, which will hopefully have better results than it did for our next fighter…
Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon
Larry and I were the only two members of the staff to pick Lauzon to win in the roundtable. I'm not sure why I picked him, I guess I just saw something in his past fights that led me to believe he would pull out the victory. Even though he lost to Florian, Lauzon showed a lot of skill and a ton of heart, taking everything Florian could dish out and coming close to locking up a submission in the first round. Once Kenny got the mount, Joe tried everything he could to get him off but just couldn't do it. Even though he looks like a kid, Joe showed he can hang with the big boys.
Of course there are other great lightweight fighters in the UFC that we haven't discussed. We should all keep our eyes on "TUF" 6 winner Mac Danzig, Spencer Fisher, Joe Stevenson, Gleison Tibau, Manny Gamburyian, Din Thomas, Marcus Aurelio and Thiago Tavares.
The division will need a few more matches to sort out any potential contenders, but in the meantime allow me to play matchmaker and suggest five fights that should happen sooner than later.
Florian vs. Huerta (winner should be #1 contender)
Griffin vs. Maynard
Diaz vs. Guida
Edgar vs. Gamburyian
Fisher vs. Lauzon
-Ratings for Wednesday night's broadcast on Spike were solid, averaging 1.3 million for "Fight Night" and 1.7 million for the premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter." Once again the UFC performed well with the highly sought after males 18-34 demographic, and they won the night against a Celtics vs. Pacers NBA game on ESPN.
-Fight Night XIII bonuses were handed out in the amount of $20,000 apiece for Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon, who received "Fight of the Night" honors. The "Submission of the Night" went to Nate Diaz for his triangle choke submission of Kurt Pellegrino, while James Irvin won "Knockout of the Night" when he KO'd Houston Alexander.
-More good news for Irvin, he came in at #10 on ESPN's Play Of The Day Wednesday night. Given how rarely the cable giant covers MMA, this is good to see.
-It's being rumored that Roger Huerta could be fighting at UFC 87 in August, which is taking place in Minneapolis, MN. This would make sense since that's where Huerta lives and trains.
-Pete "Drago" Sell (who will be in Matt Serra's corner in two weeks at UFC 83) gave an interview where he said George St. Pierre is "an awesome athlete (with) all the tools to dominate, but he is a mental midget. His mentality is very weak." Sell said he liked GSP, but was upset with the way St. Pierre "flip-flopped" after the loss to Serra.
-UFC President Dana White has officially vetoed the possibility of Anderson Silva fighting Roy Jones Jr. I never gave this idea much of a chance, and it wasn't something I would've wanted to see anyways.
-In high-priced free agent news, EliteXC president Gary Shaw told TAGG Radio that Fedor Emelianenko is requesting $2 million per fight. EXC had already offered Fedor a deal worth approximately $300,000-500,000 per fight, but apparently that's far less than the Russian heavyweight had in mind. Will Fedor ever fight again? At this point who knows.
-In other Emelianenko news, Fedor's little brother Aleks improved his winning streak to 4 on Thursday at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Emelianenko scored a first round TKO over Silvao Santos (1-1).
-A heavyweight showdown of Frank Mir vs. Justin McCully has been announced for UFC 86.
-Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell had some words for rising EliteXC star Kimbo Slice. Earlier this week Chuck told The Sun that, "People talk about (Kimbo) like he's the next great thing when he really hasn't done anything. He's been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street." Well, he does have a point.
I Keep My Pimp Hand Strong
Sure I'm great, but why not check out some of our other fine writers?
Tonight - EliteXC presents ShoXC
Live on Showtime at 11 pm ET
4/11 - YAMMA Pit Fighting
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
4/19 - UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
4/19 - IFL Fight Night - Season Premiere
On Fox Sports Net at 12 m ET
4/29 - DREAM 2 - Middleweight Grand Prix
(no U.S. broadcast at this time)
5/11 - DREAM 3 - Lightweight Grand Prix Rd. 2
(no U.S. broadcast at this time)
5/24 - UFC 84: Ill Will - Penn vs. Sherk
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
5/31 - EliteXC Saturday Night Fights - Premiere
Live on CBS at 9 pm ET
6/1 - WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver
Live on VS. (time TBA)
6/7 - UFC 85: Liddell vs. Evans
On PPV (time TBA)
6/14 - EliteXC: Noons vs. Edwards
Live on Showtime at 10 pm ET
Zach Galifianakis is hilarious, and if you don't know who he is watch this interview with "Superbad" and "Juno" star Michael Cera
A great song by one of my favorite new bands
"Love Is An Unfamiliar Name" by The Duke Spirit
A little light on news this week, but outside of Fight Night there hasn't been much going on. Next week I'll throw the spotlight on a classic UFC event. Which one? I'll give you a hint, it was one of the most watched events in the company's history. Also: other stuff. You'll have to take my word for it. Remember to come back tonight for 411mania's LIVE coverage of ShoXC starting at 11 pm ET. Bren's in on Monday, until next time…
Credit: UFC.com, MMAJunkie.com, Sherdog.com, Fiveouncesofpain.com, MMAWeekly.com, TAGG Radio and 411Mania's own Bren Oliver
