Five Rounds Of News 04.25.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.25.2008
UFC 83 broken down, Chuck Liddell's injury (gruesome picture included), and DREAM facing potential television problems in Japan, along with all the usual goodness you've come to expect from Five Rounds. It's Friday, so kick back and relax with five refreshing rounds of MMA news that are tastier than any beer you could ever imagine. Okay, tastier than most beers you can imagine. Okay, not tastier than beer, but still a good read...
Introduction
Welcome back to the anchor leg of the 411mania.com MMA news reports, YOUR main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds of News. We've got a big edition this week with plenty of news and thoughts coming out of UFC 83, Chuck Liddell's injury, as well as the usual ramblings on the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter. There's lots to get to and there's even going to be time for a look at the next DREAM card, scheduled for next week, so let's get right to things, but first, it's the weekly hockey update!!
On the hockey front, my beloved Red Wings managed to stave off the advances of the eighth-seeded Nashville Predators and win their first-round series in six games. They played a speedy, gritty, tough team in Nashville and held their own against a team that in other years could have caused huge problems for the Red Wings because the Predators have the same template that teams like Calgary and Edmonton have used in past years to dethrone them. The Red Wings played tough and after some shaky goaltending from Dominek Hasek early on, Chris Osgood steadied the team between the pipes and played well in the last two games of the series to seal the deal and send Detroit into the Western Conference Semifinals against the Colorado Avalanche. While the Red Wings and Avalanche have had many blood-spilling battles in the past, most of the players that were stars during those series have gone. This should still be a great series and the fans in both cities will be amped up to a fever pitch, but some of the passion and hatred that used to exist between these two teams is not there as it has been previously, so it might not be quite as fun as some of the other years. My prediction is Detroit in six and I hope that I'm not jinxing them by making it. Now with that spoken on, let's get to the MMA news because the Five Rounds starts NOW!!
Round One
St. Pierre Destroys Serra
Not that he wasn't on it to begin with, but add Georges St. Pierre to the list of guys that I never want to piss off in a hundred lifetimes. It seems like every time he fights with a chip on his shoulder he's unstoppable. In the two fights with Matt Hughes, he was seemingly frustrated at himself because of his "amateur mistake" as he's often called it, getting caught in the armbar that decided the fight. That's not even mentioning the abuse he took from Hughes during one of the Ultimate Fighter seasons, which while a small thing, surely helped to keep Georges motivated along with the fire from the loss. In this fight with Matt Serra, again he was looking to redeem a poor performance previous to this fight and he had a TON of personal motivation after Serra had questioned GSP's heart and insulted his heritage. George St. Pierre stepped into the cage in front of 21,000 of his hometown fans and proceeded to not only serve up a slice of humble pie, but to jam the entire pie, pan and all, down Serra's throat.
This fight was probably one of the most one-sided fights that I've seen in a long time and I'd even consider it more one-sided than the first St. Pierre/Serra fight because at least in that fight Serra got the job done quickly and St. Pierre didn't look too worse for wear after the loss. St. Pierre took his time in this one, using almost ten minutes to completely decimate Serra on every level, leaving him looking like he'd been hit by a truck before finishing him off with devastating knees to the body. It's been said a million times, but Georges St. Pierre is back and I think that the only person that can stop him is himself. If he stays mentally sharp and continues to train and fight with the fire that he's had since the loss to Serra last year, he'll hold that title for as long as he wishes to hold it. I just can't see anyone in the division being able to match-up well against him because of how well-rounded his skills are. If he's in against a wrestler he can keep the fight standing, or even use his own superior wrestling to keep the fight where he wants it, and if he's in against a striker, he can wrestle and ground and pound like he did against Serra, while still doing enough standing up to set up his takedowns.
From here, St. Pierre moves on to face Jon Fitch according to most published reports, though there are rumors swirling that he'd be willing to move up to Middleweight to face Anderson Silva in a superfight for the ages. I'm not sure if it would actually happen or not, but St. Pierre vs. Silva could end up being the biggest fight in the history of MMA and would be the first time that the number one and number two fighters in the pound-for-pound rankings would square off in the ring against each other. Yes, St. Pierre is number two after the way that he destroyed Serra, but Fedor fans remain calm, he can work his way back into that spot with a win over Sylvia in July. Back to St. Pierre and Serra though, it was nice to see that there was the ability to put all the bad blood aside after the fight and have the two shake hands and show some respect with each other. I'm pretty sure that the only reason St. Pierre did it was to avoid having Serra beaten to death outside the arena after the fight, but it was still really cool to see them be able to put their differences aside after the bout. Yet another reason why MMA is one of the greatest sports in the world.
Serra is seemingly on a collision course with another former St. Pierre victim, Matt Hughes, in a fight that was scheduled to happen after the TUF season where they were coaches. We all know how that turned out, but now it appears as if that fight is going to happen and there are rumors that Serra could be getting a third crack at St. Pierre in his home state of New York, possibly at MSG if the UFC is able to finally get some traction and get the Athletic Commission to sanction MMA. I agree with the Serra/Hughes fight, but when it comes to Serra/GSP, I think that Serra would be making a big mistake. He's a lightweight fighter and that's probably where he needs to be in order to make an impact in the UFC from here on out. I would love to see the Hughes fight because of all the hype and bad blood that has been behind that fight, and for that not to get paid off would be a shame. The truth of it though is that Serra is too small to be able to handle another match with GSP and honestly I think he would have just as much trouble against guys like Fitch and maybe even Koscheck. Diego Sanchez has shown the problems that smaller fighters can have in the Welterweight division and he's even a little bigger than Serra is, so the best bet for Serra is to take the big payoff for the fight against Hughes and then drop down to try to make a go of it at lightweight.
I will say again that this was possibly one of the most one-sided and one of the most brutal title fights I have seen, just because of how dominant GSP was for nearly the entire fight. The atmosphere in Montreal was electric and this has moved into top spot as my favorite UFC title fight to watch, moving Couture/Sylvia down to second place. Sure neither of them were back and forth wars, but in terms of being fun to watch, even months later, and being fights that are entertaining almost as much for the atmosphere as the fight itself, you can't really beat either of those fights with a stick. As for the rest of the fairly exciting card, that will come up after the random strikes hit the press.
Random Strikes
You all know the drill by this point folks, so check out my thoughts on all the bits and bites of the week in MMA news.
§ At the conclusion of UFC 83 last night, UFC President Dana White announced which fighters will receive bonuses for their outstanding performances:
Jason MacDonald won KO of the night after knocking out fellow Canadian, Joe Doerksen.
Demian Maia won submission of the night after a brutal triangle choke on Ed Herman.
And finally Jonathan Goulet and Kuniyoshi Hironaka won "fight of the night" honors.
Each fighter will receive a bonus of $75,000.
Good to see the bonuses going huge for such a huge gate and a big crowd. I can't really argue with any of these bonuses and if you haven't seen the Maia/Herman fight, you owe it to yourself to check it out because it was a really good fight.
§ EliteXC's Kimbo Slice has released a video on YouTube responding to Chuck Liddell's recent comments about Kimbo "not having a ground game", and his past online fight videos. The following are quotes from the video, which can be seen below:
"We can always take it back to old-school; that'll work for me, but I still got love for all the MMA fighters, but if you keep on rapping man, I'm going to have to zip it close, baby, because I'm getting tired of the talk.
The next one that has something to say, just see me [directly]. I'll come to your camp, and that's real talk."
Kimbo/Chuck is one of those feuds that isn't a feud and while I can understand why Kimbo would be a little offended, Chuck did raise some valid points in saying that Kimbo hasn't really done anything yet in MMA to be talking all of the shit he's been talking. The one thing I don't like is that Kimbo is almost reverting back to his street-fighting roots by challenging Chuck about coming to his camp. He needs to focus on MMA and not his former backyard brawling days because pretty soon he might be one of the most recognizable stars in MMA because of the CBS exposure. That brings with it a ton of responsibility and I'm hoping that he'll understand the gravity of that.
§ Here are the official results from SportFight 22: Re-Awakening. The show was held last night at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon:
-Damian Dantibo over Jon Krohn via TKO (2nd round)
-Justin Moody over Andrew Pedersen via rear naked choke submission (1st round)
-Josh Bennett over Matt Kovacs via TKO (2nd round)
-Sunia Filikitonga over Thomas Naylor via TKO (1st round)
-Nathan Coy over Jerrod Jones via submission due to strikes (2nd round)
-Lance Wipf over Arley George via TKO (3rd round)
-Dave Jansen over Tommy Truex via TKO (1st round)
-Lyle Beerbohm over Ed Nuno via Unanimous Decision
SportFight Featherweight Championship
-Enoch Wilson over Mike Joy via KO (4th round)
I watched this card and it was a very interesting night of fights and after watching some old PRIDE, it's interesting to see that in Japan, when guys are new to fighting they fall back on wrestling and grappling, while here in the States, guys that are newcomers tend to rely on slugging it out like they're in a barroom on a Saturday night. The main event with Enoch Wilson was a really good fight and Wilson looks like he could be one or two more fights away from moving up to the big time and one of the major promotions. He has all the skills and looked great in this fight.
§ DREAM has announced that they have added Frank Trigg, Taiei Kin, Zelg Galesic, & Dong Sik Yoon to it's Middleweight Grand Prix tournament on April 29th.
Seeing Galesic and Yoon will be fun because it adds two more guys that people who follow international MMA have at least heard of. The Trigg situation is a little trickier though, as you'll see below.
§ During an interview with MMAJunkie, Frank Trigg denied fighting in the upcoming DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix tournament scheduled for April 29th. The following are quotes made by Trigg when asked about fighting on the DREAM 2 card:
"I'm literally sitting in a car right now trying to get to Wrigley Field to throw out a first pitch, I haven't heard anything from [DREAM] in about a week and a half. We started talking about a month ago, but lately, there's been no communication. I really haven't even thought about it lately.
We have no contract, and we have no numbers we're even close to agreeing on."
Trigg also mentioned that he had no interest in fighting for DREAM unless they were being broadcast on HDnet:
"It does no good for my brand as a fighter, broadcaster, writer or for my company Triggonomics, no one would see me."
Apparently DREAM spoke too soon, which is usually the norm for these Japanese promotions as they are less than a week away from the show and there is still no card set in stone and there are still openings in the middleweight tournament. This has always been one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to the Japanese promotions, even going back to PRIDE because they would sell the show rather than the fights, and it would leave everyone wondering right up until the end whether the card would be any good or not. On the Trigg comments, I think that he's got a little bit too big of a head when it comes to his own worth in the MMA world, because he hasn't had a relevant match since he left the UFC. To say that it would hurt his "brand as a fighter, broadcaster, blah blah" is a little much, because it didn't hurt his brand any to be on TNA and associate with pro-wrestling, and believe me MMA people here in the States will see these DREAM fights one way or another so he would still be seen. It sounds a lot more like Trigg might not feel prepared to fight and doesn't want to go all the way out to Japan to lose.
§ The UFC has announced that Rich Clementi will be replacing the injured Rob Emerson at UFC 84. Clementi will be facing Terry Etim on the May 24th card after just earning a victory over Sam Stout at UFC 83. The UFC did not announce what kind of injury Emerson suffered.
It's a shame whenever someone ends up injured, but if there was anyone I wanted to see off of a card, it'd be Rob Emerson, because to me he doesn't deserve a spot in the UFC to begin with. Clementi is fresh off of the decision win over Stout and he's going to have to prepare rather diligently to ensure that he's ready for Etim, although even on short notice I'm picking Clementi. He seems to have a good winning streak going and I don't think he would have much problem with getting Etim down and controlling him on the mat.
§ World Victory Road announced today that top ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett has been added to the May 18th "Sengoku II" show. Barnett last fought at "Sengoku" in March and defeated Hidehiko Yoshida. An opponent has yet to be named.
Yawn. Until he fights in an organization that means something or against someone who is even in the top twenty, it won't mean anything. Barnett hasn't fought in a relevant fight since the 2006 OWGP and he's falling further and further off the map with every passing month.
§ UFC hall-of-famer Ken Shamrock has filed a lawsuit against the UFC, alleging that they breached a two-fight deal that he signed prior to his last fight. Shamrock filed the suit on April 15th in the Nevada State Court.
There's probably still a lot that has to come out in this situation, but it seems like Shamrock feels his contract was breached and the UFC apparently feels like they took all the proper measures to ensure that Shamrock was properly released before he left to fight in Cage Rage as part of the Pro Elite umbrella. It seems like the UFC has as many lawsuits lately as they have live events, and I hope that they have deep pockets to pay all of these legal bills.
§ Top ranked middleweight Matt Lindland will be returning to action for the first time in over a year. On Friday's edition of "Inside MMA", Lindland confirmed that he will be fighting at the July 19th Affliction show which may take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The show is likely to have a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia. Lindland also named Murilo Bustamante and David Terrell as possible opponents.
He might not be the most exciting fighter in the world, but he's one of the best at 185 pounds, so I'll be excited to see Lindland fighting again. It's a shame that neither of his opponents are going to mean anything and that he would be able to beat either Bustamante or Terrell rather easily, but again, it will just be fun to see Lindland back in the ring after such a long layoff. I wonder if he'll have a campaign message on the back of his trunks instead of advertising.
Round Two
The Rest of UFC 83 Broken Down
The rest of the card for UFC 83 was a little bit predictable, but still pretty entertaining, both for the level of crowd interaction (one of the best UFC crowds I've seen in a long time), and because of some of the antics that happened during certain fights. Here's my thoughts on the rest of the main card from Montreal.
Mac Danzig def. Mark Bocek
Danzig, the TUF 6 winner, opened the card against Bocek and completely decimated him with knees. Danzig really bloodied up Bocek with those knees and he even threw a few of them in the style of Yves Edwards, using near flying knees to defend against a single-leg takedown attempt from Bocek. My feed for the fight was in and out for a lot of it, so I can't really comment on a ton of it, but Danzig looked like he wasn't suffering from any hangover of the Ultimate Fighter season and looks ready to try to put together a serious run in the UFC Lightweight division, one of the deepest divisions in all of MMA.
Michael Bisping def. Charles McCarthy
A fight that was probably more exciting than it deserved to be, and a lot of that owes to the crowd, not the first time that they would play a part in making a fight more interesting as you'll see in the next fight. Bisping looked a lot better phsyically at middleweight than he did at light heavyweight and he did well with throwing crisp striking flurries and he totally controlled the pace of the fight. McCarthy waited for his one shot and he came close to grasping it when he ended up nearly locking Bisping up in an armbar for a massive upset. Bisping stayed calm and got free from the hold and a short time later started teeing off on McCarthy with a shit-ton of punches and knees and the fight was ended when McCarthy couldn't continue, looking like he suffered an injury from covering up to avoid all of Bisping's strikes. Bisping was more than ready and I think that this drop down to middleweight was the best thing for him. He still doesn't look like he's going to be in a position to challenge anyone at the top of the division anytime soon, but at least he might have a bit more of a chance than he would have had at light heavyweight. The rumors are floating that Bisping could face another former TUF star in Chris Leben at UFC 85, and that could be a good litmus test for where Bisping will fit in the division right now. As for McCarthy, it's come out that he is going to retire and focus his efforts to training. It will be interesting to see how he makes that transition especially at a bit of a younger age, but I wish him all the best in his new career in MMA.
Nate Quarry def. Kalib Starnes
I can't even begin to discuss this fight and not get angry. After everything that has come out with Starnes claiming a broken foot and various injuries in post-fight interviews and with the UFC releasing Starnes from his contract with rumors that Starnes tanked the fight on purpose to try to gain his release, I'm not quite as angry as I was on Saturday night, but it's still a sore spot. Starnes got on his bike and ran for three rounds, with Quarry chasing after him and landing hard punches whenever he could get close enough. The most entertaining parts of this fight were the crowd booing every time that Starnes appeared on camera and cheering when Quarry appeared, as well as Quarry's late-bout antics where he did a little running man dance and then mocked Starnes' somewhat defensive style before the bell to end the fight. This was also entertaining because it was the first fight that I have EVER seen someone lose with a 30-24 scorecard, and I have to say that I probably would have scored it the same way. The worst part of the fight for me was Starnes' language afterwards when he began using various swears and slurs towards Quarry's corner in an attempt to save some face after his terrible performance in the fight. This isn't the first time that Starnes has had problems with losing his temper in that way on camera and while I admit that the UFC isn't for kids, there's a line of decency and Starnes crossed it with some of his language on Saturday night. I'm kind of glad to see him gone, but I also hope that it's a bit of a wake-up call for him to get his business together and come back stronger down the road.
Rich Franklin def. Travis Lutter
Much in the same way that Franklin took out Jason MacDonald after his first loss to Anderson Silva, he took out Travis Lutter in his return after his second loss against Silva. He looked good in this fight, although he did come dangerously close to getting submitted by an armbar from Lutter midway through the first round. Franklin got a nice escape out of the dangerous hold and from there on in Lutter looked like he was beaten. I don't know if it was a gas tank issue or an issue where Franklin had just punished him and forced him into exhaustion, but again it looked like Lutter wasn't fully prepared to go fifteen minutes. Lutter also ended up released from his contract after this fight and after this performance and the one against Silva, I'd have to agree with it. Again I hope that he can get things back together and be able to get back to the level he was at before those two fights, because he deserves at least one more chance to get things back on track. What can I say, I'm too nice a guy to cut anyone down completely even in situations like this.
All in all, the night was a very entertaining night and one of the better UFC shows for quite some time because the fights were entertaining, either because they were good or they were god-awful, and the crowd was incredibly live and very respectful for the entire night. I especially loved them screaming for knees during the Franklin fight when he was in a great position to punish Lutter with some knee strikes. It showed just how into the fight they were and how excited they were just to be able to see the fights live. Good show and a great crowd = a DVD that I'll have to purchase once it comes out.
MMA Things You NEED To See...
Since his last active fight took place in August of 2005, a lot of people may never have seen Igor Vovchanchyn, or they may have forgotten about just how good a fighter he once was. In my effort to keep one of my favorite all-time fighters in the front of the MMA consciousness, I am offering up nearly eleven minutes of Igor highlights. Enjoy this video as much as I did and remember one of the greatest MMA careers that a lot of people have never heard of.
Igor Vovchanchyn Highlight Video
Round Three
Chuck Liddell Hurt And Out Of UFC 85
After taking a massive hit with the loss of Shogun Rua, the main event for UFC 85 has been essentially crippled with news coming out this week that Chuck Liddell has torn his hamstring and will be out of that fight and out for the foreseeable future. From the Mirko CroCop upset, to the Bisping debacle, to this situation here, it seems like the UFC's cards in England have been snake-bitten. This injury leaves Rashad Evans fighting against James Irvin according to the rumors that have circulated in the past few days, and you'll have to excuse me when I say that that is NOWHERE near a main-event match. Other rumors had the UFC possibly pushing Machida/Ortiz back to the London show, but since the UFC 84 TV ads have been running with that fight on them, I'd say that's a less likely scenario. Michael Bisping is also being rumored to be added to the card because without Liddell, they're obviously going to need some drawing power in the UK and Bisping is pretty much the biggest draw they would have left for the English crowd.
As for the Liddell injury, it happens at a bad time for Liddell as he was finally starting to get back on track with his win over Wanderlei Silva after his two straight losses earlier in 2007. He was possibly one or two wins away from being back in title contention in the somewhat stagnant 205-pound class and now he's going to have to wait until probably UFC 87 or 88 before he's able to come back and fight again, slowing any momentum he would have had coming out of the Silva fight last December. It's not a terrible injury for him, but it's not a great one because Chuck uses his legs for the kicks and the sprawls that he has been known for, so hopefully he'll be able to rehab it and get back at 100%, though the injury right now looks pretty terrible. When it was reported on ufc.com that he was injured and out of the card, the injury looked absolutely horrible and that it could be one that will take a long time for Liddell to be fully recovered from. For those of you who haven't seen the injury yet, here's the picture. Be warned that it's not exactly for the faint of heart since it looks pretty nasty. There's a bit of a space if you're a bit weak-stomached and want to scroll forward...if not check it out.
Not very good huh? Now the other question that this injury raises is Liddell's age as he will be nearly 39 before this injury is healed up enough for him to be able to fight. Was this just a one-time occurrence, or will this be the beginning of injury problems that will begin to crop up due to Liddell's advanced age. Randy Couture has been able to defy the odds to do what he does in his early-40's, but that's a completely different circumstance as Couture has religiously taken care of his body and done what he needs to do to be in top shape at his age while Chuck has....done a little less in that regard. I'm not taking away from his training at all because I've seen him train and he looks like he takes it more seriously than almost anyone that fights. What I am saying is that he's tended to enjoy more than a night or two out and that it more than likely will end up taking a little time off of his career.
I'm hoping that this is just a one-time thing and that he'll be able to heal up and come back strong for another few fights before he ends up retiring because it would be a shame that one of the most popular fighters in MMA history would have to retire on something less than his own terms. After everything that he's given and all of the enjoyment that he's brought to fans around the world, he at least deserves to go out on his own, rather than being forced out by an injury. If I had to guess, I'd say that Chuck is going to come back from this and he'll have a renewed sense of urgency because the injury let him know that there isn't a ton of time left in his career and that he won't be able to fight forever. There are even rumors that he and Shogun will get to have their fight at UFC 87 or 88, and I'm hoping that it can work out that way, because that is a fight, much like the Silva fight that has been rumored on more than one occasion but hasn't happened yet. It's a fight I'd love to see and I'm hoping that it ends up coming to be in the future.
Links In The Cage
Another week, another great line-up of content from the writers here at 411mania.com in the MMA zone. Check out everybody's stuff and be sure to let them know that their hard work is appreciated, they definitely deserve it!
DREAM will be holding their second card, the first in their inaugural Middleweight Grand Prix, next week and it's going to be their big opportunity to be able to begin earning a stronghold in the somewhat oversaturated Japanese MMA market. They are facing some serious problems though after the first card and these problems could end up starting to signal the beginning of the end for the fledgling promotion, though I doubt that it would ever go away entirely.
First up is the same problem that I always have with Japanese cards, the fact that they are so close to the show and there is still no set card and there are fighters that still have no idea who they are facing. To me that is unexcusable and not only disrespectful to the fans, who are expected to pay top dollar without knowing who they'll be seeing, but it's horribly disrespectful to the fighters, who have no idea who they are going to facing and no idea what they need to be training for until days before or in some sad cases even hours before a fight. I'll never give someone a hard time for jumping in at the last minute to replace someone who has had to pull out with an injury, but when a promoter is willingly avoiding telling a fighter who they are going to be fighting, days before the fight is set to take place, it irks me to no end and it's one of the reasons I found the PRIDE shows so frustrating, despite being thoroughly entertained most of the time.
The second problem is a much bigger one as due to the sagging ratings of the first DREAM show, TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) has pulled the show out of the primetime slot that it had been hoping for, instead apparently looking to put the show on a week later on tape delay. Not only will it be delayed, but the show itself will end up being on in an edited form in one-hour installments that are set to have both afternoon and late-night showings. There had been rumblings that TBS had been unhappy with the ratings that FEG's former promotion Hero's had been delivering and the poor ratings for the first DREAM show (fifth out of six broadcast networks in Japan) led to the move, in a signal that perhaps the popularity of MMA may be on the wane in Japan.
It's not all bad news for the promotion as they will shift their efforts to Japanese PPV and as such will be able to show the entire fight card to their fans, rather than having to edit the show down to fit into the two-hour timeslot that TBS was giving them in primetime. PPV isn't anywhere near the factor in Japan that it is here in the United States so this will be a bit of a problem for DREAM in terms of losing out on advertising revenue from the primetime showing, but their hope is that revenues from PPV will be able to make up the difference. It seems as if the rating problems are only affecting FEG's MMA arm, because the kickboxing shows from K-1 and K-1 Max are still drawing the same big numbers that they were previously. One has to wonder if there will be anything that can be done to save the MMA shows in Japan, or if this is the beginning of a new age for MMA in Japan, where it will start to follow more of an American template, with the one-hour highlight shows serving as appetizers to get fans to shell out their money to see full fight cards on PPV. We'll have to see how this all shakes out over the next couple of DREAM cards, but it looks like things are set to change in the Japanese MMA universe and at this point there's no way of knowing whether it's for the better.
Moving on to the fights for a moment, the only intriguing match-up in the opening round of the Middleweight Grand Prix seems to be the fight between Denis Kang and Gegard Mousasi, though seeing Jacare in an MMA environment, as well as the Kiyoshi Tamura/Masakatsu Funaki fight could end up being interesting. The main event and the fight that is going to draw the most attention is the rematch between Shinya Aoki and Gesias Calvancante, to settle their No Contest from DREAM 1 in the middle of March. I expect this fight to go the same way I expected the first fight to go, with Calvancante muscling Aoki around and doing some good work on the feet to pick Aoki apart before Calvancante takes the fight down to try to pound Aoki to a finish. I realize that the mat and jiu-jitsu is Aoki's strong suit, but Calvancante is no slouch with his submission defense and I think that he'll be able to negate anything that Aoki would try to do on the mat, while still being able to pressure and pound on Aoki from the top position.
Random Strikes Part Deux
With the Aoki/Calvancante fight already having been previewed before the first DREAM card, I thought that it might be a good change of pace to check out a couple of fights from the two participants in the other good match-up that is set to take place at DREAM 2 so Random Strikes this week takes a look at Gegard Mousasi and Denis Kang, two fighters who might not be terribly well-known here in the United States, but are two of the best in the world at 185 pounds.
Gegard Mousasi vs. Damir Mirenic - HCF: Title Wave October 19, 2007
Denis Kang vs. Keith Rockel – USMMA 3: Ring Of Fury May 3, 2003
Round Five
The Usual TUF Stuff
The fourth episode of the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter has come and gone, and it's starting to look like a pattern is being set for the season. Here are a few thoughts on things that happened during the episode;
Forrest Coaches Not To Lose Instead Of Going For The Win
I get why he was doing it, but I found it a little disheartening for Forrest to be screaming against Tim going for the armbar with less than a minute in the round because he didn't want Tim to possibly lose the position. Forrest was looking for Tim to ride out the rest of the round and take the decision, and I'm glad that Tim went for it and that Forrest was able to see his mistake in the end. It does kind of set up a little bit of drama because you have to wonder if the rest of Team Forrest saw that and will wonder if he was merely trying to maintain control of the fights or if he was feeling less than confident in Tim's ability to finish. If it's the first one then I can understand why he was doing it and I'm sure the team will too, but if it was the second one then there could be problems later on when Forrest is coaching them and it causes them a little moment of pause. One of the most important things for a fighter to have going into the cage is the confidence of their cornerman, and if they feel like Forrest isn't confident in their abilities then they might not perform as well as they're capable of performing. Something that irked me a little and something to watch for on later episodes of the show.
Team Rampage Could Be In Danger Of The Whitewash
As I said in the beginning episodes, this year looked like there was a good depth of talent that was going to keep the early rounds competitive and avoid the usual things that happen during the preliminary fights where one team ends up railroading the other team. It happened in TUF 3, it happened in TUF 5, it happened in TUF 6 and it looks like it's going to happen here as Team Forrest is 2-0 and has taken out two of Team Rampage's stronger fighters in those two fights. Team Forrest maintains control and it's looking like that control is getting to be the most important thing of the first round of the tournament. If Team Forrest keeps control, this could easily get to 4-0 or 5-0 in short order and if that's how things end up, I'm pretty sure that Rampage will lose his shit and that it could just end up being a clean sweep for Team Forrest. Rampage already looks pretty close to the edge even being 2-0 down, if the preview for next episode is any indication, so add one or two more losses to it and it could be core meltdown time.
Best Preliminary Fights Of Any Season So Far
For the second week in a row and four weeks in a row if we count the two weeks full of the first round fights, the fights in this season of The Ultimate Fighter have been the most entertaining of any of the seasons thus far in my book. The fight on Wednesday night between Tim and Matthew was one of the closest fights I can remember seeing in a preliminary round fight and it was a really good back-and-forth struggle that only ended when Matthew fell back on his wrestling background and ended up getting swallowed up by Tim's jiu-jitsu. Minus those last fifteen seconds, the fight could really have gone either way and it could have ended up in either guy's favor if it had gone to the scorecards, though I think that if it had hit the judges they would have had to end up in a sudden victory round to decide it. I said after watching the first two episodes that this looked like one of the more talented seasons of the show in quite some time, and so far with all of the fights that have happened, it looks like that is coming to pass. I hope the fights continue to be as good as they are through the rest of the season, because those, added to the Rampage, Forrest, and Dana elements would make this one of, if not THE best season since TUF began.
Post Fight Wrap-Up
That does it for me for this week folks. Thanks for coming by and checking out my little slice of the 411mania MMA universe, and be sure to come by next week for a look at the results from the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix's opening round along with everything else that comes about in the next seven days of Mixed Martial Arts news. Until then have a great weekend and we'll see you all next Friday! Good night Springton, there will be no encores!
Be sure to check out my fellow Canuck, Joe Ferraro and his "Showdown" radio show, every Thursday at 10 PM EST, on FAN 590 or the archives of the show at Showdown Entertainment.
Looks like you (and everyone in the MMA blogosphere for that matter) spoke too soon when it came to DREAM.
They've been regulated to a late-hour, tape-delayed, heavily-edited TV timeslot for their second show.
Doesn't bode well for Pride 2.0...
Posted By: Sergio G. Hernandez (Registered) on April 25, 2008 at 02:33 AM
"it didn't hurt his brand any to be on TNA and associate with pro-wrestling"
That was a low shot. I am docking a point without warning for that uninstigated low blow.
Posted By: The Stache! (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
That Igor video is intense. I have never seen anyone swing like that. His punching power is incredible.
Posted By: HBK (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 11:22 AM
VERY valid point RE: Kimbo and the responsibility involved with his exposure. If he keeps acting this way, it will just continue to feed peoples' negative thoughts about MMA.
Posted By: daniel (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Isnt it interesting how everybody thinks that Serra is beneath GSP just because of this last win. Yet nobody is acknowledging the fact the last time Serra fought was in his win against GSP. There was no injury and he had a fight only a few months before. I think Serra/GSP III will really be the tell tale as the Serra I saw fight didnt even look the same as last year. I guess a serious back injury, no fights in between really hurt his performance as he looked gassed relatively quickly. At least GSP had 2 fights between his title loss to be ready and no injuries at the time. At least Serra hasnt fallen back on the above mentioned things for his loss like GSP did....
I think GSP is the better fighter, but he didnt fight the same Serra that he did when he lost the title, that much is plain to see. I would like to see Serra/Hughes and then GSP/Serra III if Serra beats Hughes.
Posted By: TaLoN (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 04:12 PM
But there is no need for GSP/Serra III. GSP is clearly the better fighter the fighter. He dominated both rounds of that fight. GSP basically confirmed what most educated MMA fans thought and that the Serra was win was a fluke.
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on April 27, 2008 at 01:23 AM
First I know its opinion but I dont see how you can rank GSP serra 2 so high for exciting one sided fights. How long have you been watching MMA? Hell the silva franklin fight comes to mind. Some of cung li fights as well and thats this year! Pulver Penn, Hell their were better one sided fight on that card. Really not mention tons of pride stuff. hopefully we will get Hughes serra after and yes I do want to see serra GSP 3. GSP was healthy had great tune up matches, Serra had been out with a major injury and was is first fight back. Serra Knocked GSP out, GSP rode serra for 2 rounds doing some ground and pound and ref stopage to knees to the body? No KO, no submission. Its no excuse I know and I'm not saying GSP shouldnt have won. But a rematch is warranted. As Far as the UF forrest did the right thing and so did tim. Less then a min. left you know you won you have dominate position any good corner would say the same thing. And tim was right in not listening its a non-issue to me forrest wants the guys to win and be healthy. The guy in the cage has to make the desicion in the end though. Rambage should not in a corner though. You have to say more than get up over and over. Like remind them use the cage plant you elbow post post post you know what good corners do. Now when riddle got on top he should have listened and got up. But Rampage should have reconized riddle wasnt going to do that and coached him to pass gaurd or a submission. MMA is much of a mental game as anything else more people need to relize that when they write from their armchairs critzing others for being smart. As I write from my armchair:) critizing others for being smart.
Posted By: gsp serra 3!? (Guest) on April 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM
