Five Rounds Of News 05.02.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.02.2008
The UFC is making roster cuts and Five Rounds has a look at who should be on the chopping block. DREAM 2 results and thoughts, along with the return of El Guapo~! Five Rounds....Be THERE!!
Introduction
Hey there everybody, and welcome to your main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds Of News! Lots to get to this week as DREAM held their second show in Japan, Kimbo and Chuck continued trading verbal bitchslaps back and forth, and UFC 85 got a makeover after injuries decimated the card. I'll be taking an in-depth look at who should be seeing their way out of the Octagon after the UFC has made their rumored roster cuts and this week also features the return of El Guapo Says! There's a whole lot to get to and not much time to squeeze it all in, so no NHL talk this week, but Detroit is up 3-0 in their second-round series and dominating the play, so I think that it's a safe bet to say that I'll be able to talk about them next week. Get ready for action, because YOUR Five Rounds begins right now!!
Round One
The Fallout from DREAM 2
For those of you who aren't wanting the show spoiled, I'm going to speak in generic terms before giving you AMPLE opportunity to scroll down and avoid finding out any of the results. I know how much I hate it when I see something I didn't want to before I can watch something on TV, and I'd hate to be "that guy", so I'll warn you all now, just in case you had plans to see it for the first time on Saturday night on HDNet ("live" coverage provided by yours truly, in case you didn't know). For those of you who stayed up until 4am watching it live on Tuesday night, or for those of you who have seen the fights elsewhere, bear with me for the moment it will take to scroll on down and then check out my thoughts on the entire night of fights, including that thing I never thought I'd see in MMA ever with the wild elephant, the tranquilizer dart and Akiyama at ringside. If you saw the show live, you'll KNOW what I'm talking about. Anyhow...blank space of warning starts now!!
There, that should be good enough, I'd think. The show for me was leaps and bounds better than the first show and had an exciting night of fights. I won't run down the entire card, but I'll give my thoughts on a few of the featured bouts of the evening.
Shinya Aoki def. Gesias Calvancante
A great fight that was everything the first fight should have been. Aoki was in control for most of the bout, and even though he did little with that control, he did enough to earn the victory. Of course, it's all rendered moot now that he's pulled himself from the tournament with a broken bone in his face, sustained when JZ almost stopped Aoki with some blistering stomps and ground and pound, but it is what it is. This was a really good, mostly entertaining fight between two of the best lightweight fighters in the world, and I'd suspect that this isn't the last time that we'll see these two squaring off against each other. I still think that it's a shame that Calvancante had to come back and fight again since the elbows in the first fight were legal, but that horse is long out of the barn.
The problem for DREAM now is that they've successfully firebombed their entire Lightweight Grand Prix by having this fight again because now it appears that neither man will be moving into the next round. Aoki, of course, is injured, but there had been rumblings before the bout took place that if he won and didn't sustain a ton of damage, he still would have pulled out of the next round because of the extremely short two-week turnaround before the next fight. Why have the man fight if he's already talking about pulling out of the tournament before the fight? Pull him from the tournament, allow Calvancante to move on and set up the Aoki/Calvancante showdown after the Grand Prix is over, perhaps allowing for JZ to win the Grand Prix and add even more frosting to the cake. Instead, they have them fight again, Aoki wins but can't continue, JZ is apparently alienated by the DREAM management and has turned down their offers to move on in the tournament and DREAM is two weeks away from the Quarterfinals, with one slot unfilled. Worst case scenario situation for DREAM and another reason why as much as I love Japanese MMA, I can't stand the people that run it sometimes. No long-term vision whatsoever.
Ronaldo Jacare def. Ian Murphy
I felt so sorry for that kid watching this on late Tuesday night. Murphy was introduced and honestly looked so overwhelmed it was almost saddening. Then the fight started and Jacare proceeded to absolutely punish and prison rape the poor guy, beating him up and finishing him with a vicious rear naked choke in a little under four minutes. After that performance, Jacare puts his winning streak up to eight in a row and he's the EASY favorite to take the whole tournament. Thoroughly dominating in every sense of the word and it was a treat to finally see Jacare fight live. I was a fan of his before, but am even more of a fan after his domination of Murphy. Keep your chin up though, Ian, you were beaten by the best and could still have a bright future in MMA if you keep at it. Hoenstly, the only way the kid could have had a worse first fight ever is if he had somehow drawn Fedor in an OWGP. That's about the only way he could have been beaten worse than he was by Jacare.
Gegard Mousasi def. Denis Kang
I don't know what the hell happened with Kang in this fight. He was on top and controlling and doing everything that he needed to do to neutralize Mousasi and it all evaporated right before his eyes. What is the one thing that you should NEVER do to a great jiu-jitsu fighter that is on his back? If you said, stick one arm and your head between his legs to hammerfist him, then get yourself a cookie, because that's EXACTLY WHAT KANG DID!!! He basically gift-wrapped that triangle choke and gave Mousasi an engraved invitation to take it. I don't want to take anything away from Mousasi, but Kang lost this fight all on his own, maybe even before he got into the ring. I don't know what's happened to Denis Kang in his past four fights, but he's 1-3 and he needs to this train back on the track. Granted, he's fighting tougher compeition but he's still having problems on a multitude of levels and may need to look at shaking up his training or something because he's a lot better fighter than his last two efforts indicate. For his part, Mousasi now moves to being a co-favorite in this tournament with Jacare, and he did exactly what he needed to do by hopping all over Kang's blunder and finishing him. Full marks to Mousasi and if we get to see a Mousasi/Jacare final I'd be a happy camper.
Kazushi Sakuraba def. Andrews Nakamura
A fight that was the main event and was a fight that Sakuraba was expected to be able to win fairly easily to move into the second round of the tournament. Sakuraba made his usually flashy and fun entrance, with a Saku in triplicate deal, as all three were wearing the same clothes, the fight gloves and the Saku masks, with the real Sakuraba only revealing himself upon his introduction in the ring. This fight went fairly well as expected, minus one of the sickest ballshots I think I have ever seen in MMA. Sakuraba took a shot to the groin and frankly, if it had been me I'd probably have been spitting one of them out of my mouth. This wasn't a cup-check, or a graze with the top of the foot. This was a shin to the balls and I credit Sakuraba for being tough enough to go on and fight through it. Honestly, when he was in the corner doing the pee-pee dance, I thought sure that we were headed for another controversial main event stoppage in a DREAM show, which would be bad mojo for sure, but Saku gutted it out and finished strong. Sure he may not have looked great, but I still got out of my seat to cheer when he nearly took Nakamura's head off like a bottle cap. It will be interesting to see who he's paired with in the next round since there are obviously fighters that he would like to avoid (Jacare, Mousasi) and fighters that he'd be alright with stepping in against (Galesic, Kin, Dong), so if he gets a good draw, he'll likely be in the semi-finals, but I can't see him winning this tournament without some type of catastrophic occurrence to Jacare, Mousasi, or both.
Again, this was a MUCH better show than the first show was and I am looking forward to seeing it on HDNet in the next couple of days, as well as looking forward to seeing DREAM 3 live from Japan in a couple of weeks. It's a great time to be an MMA fan and I'm hoping that DREAM continues to look more like their second card than their first when they hit the ring again on Mother's Day weekend.
Random Strikes
You all know how this works by now, so let's do it people!
§ Mirko Cro Cop recently announced via his blog that he will squaring off against Jerome LeBanner at the upcoming DREAM 4 show which will take place on June 16 in Saitama, Japan. LeBanner last fought in March of 2006 and scored a KO win over Jimmy Ambriz. Cro Cop last fought at DREAM 1 where he scored a first round KO over Tatsuya Mizuno.
The CroCop rebuilding tour hits its next stage, with Mirko facing off against another guy that's a little bit of a can in MMA circles. LeBanner is a great K-1 kickboxer, but doesn't have any real pedigree in MMA or any big wins, so I'm fully expecting CroCop to be able to handle him and hopefully move on to some tougher competition. It won't be easy by any means, but it's still a win for CroCop in my opinion.
§ MMAWeekly is reporting that Kenny Florian will be facing Roger Huerta at the upcoming UFC 87 show that will be held on August 9th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The winner is expected to get a title shot at the UFC lightweight title.
This should be an awesome fight and it will be fun to see Huerta fighting in front of his "hometown" fans as he trains in Minnesota. It's hard to say who will win this one, but I think that Florian has a great chance of taking Huerta to the mat or getting the fight to the ground somehow and then using both his elbows and his jiu-jitsu to put the fight in his favor. Huerta is the future of the division to be sure, but this could be the type of situation with GSP and his loss to Matt Hughes, which served to help GSP grow as a fighter and strengthened him for his future run at the title.
§ It was announced on Friday's "Inside MMA" that the upcoming debut of the Affliction Brand fight promotion will be named "Banned". The title appears to be a tongue-in-cheek jab at the UFC based on the company's recent ban on the popular brand being worn by fighters at UFC events.
"Affliction: Banned" is scheduled to take place on July 19th in Dallas, TX with a main event featuring former UFC Champion Tim Sylvia taking on the world's top Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. In addition, Matt Lindland has confirmed his participation on the show, a card also rumored to involve names like Josh Barnett, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Ben Rothwell, and Andrei Arlovski.
I get why they did this, but it kind of reeks of desperation to cling to the slightest bit of the UFC's coattails that they could. They seem to be shocked that their company's clothing isn't allowed at UFC events anymore, but that seems almost laughable when you think that it would be akin to a fighter wearing a t-shirt with the IFL or EliteXC logos on them into the Octagon. The UFC isn't going to advertise a rival promotion which makes complete sense, and Affliction is trying to stir the pot a little to get themselves noticed. It's not the worst idea in the world, but do you really want to rattle the cage of the biggest MMA organization in the world before you've even had your first event?
§ MMAJunkie is reporting that Rich Franklin was offered a fight against Dan Henderson at UFC 85. Franklin turned the fight down due to the fact that he just went through a hard training camp in preparation for his fight with Travis Lutter at UFC 83. It's now being reported that a Franklin/Henderson fight is expected to be announced later this year.
This would actually be a fun fight to see happen as both guys are immensely talented and arguably top-five in the Middleweight division. Now, the question is whether this fight would be at 185, where Franklin has no room to move up and Henderson doesn't enjoy fighting, or at 205, where Hendo feels more comfortable and where Franklin is apparently ready to move up to again. At 205, I'd say that Franklin could have the advantage, with Hendo being the man to pick if the fight is down at 185. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing these two get it on sometime before the end of 2008.
§ Jason "Mayhem" Miller has announced that he will be facing Katsuyori Shibata at the upcoming DREAM 3 show on May 11th in Japan. Miller last fought in December for HDNet Fights and won via unanimous decision over Tim Kennedy.
Miller is always fun to watch in the ring, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in Japan and how the Japanese fans will react to him. They tend to love fighters with tons of heart and big personalities and Miller has more than enough of both. Fun times to be had by all and I can't wait to see him on this show on HDNet. He's 8-1 in his last nine fights though, so what more does this guy have to do to end up being brought back to the UFC? The middleweight division needs talent badly, and Mayhem has that and is marketable to boot. Seriously, get this man under contract STAT!!!
Round Two
UFC 85 Slowly Regaining Some Steam...
After injuries to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Chuck Liddell completely destroyed the potential for their main event to headline UFC 85, the event was thought to be in serious trouble and there were even some unsubstantiated rumblings that the show may have been moved to Spike with the main draws off of the card. However, a quartet of UFC stars have stepped up and possibly saved the UFC from one of their worst main events in a long time. I realize that UFC 78 isn't that far in the rear view mirror, but they've managed to avert a disaster of that magnitude with two potentially great fights.
Matt Hughes is coming off of his rather humbling loss at the hands of Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79 and will be stepping into the cage in the main event to face the hot prospect of the welterweight division, Thiago Alves. In the co-main event, Michael Bisping will return to his native country, buoyed by a strong performance in his welterweight debut to face UFC veteran and tough opponent, Chris Leben. What was looking so bleak only seven days ago, now looks like it might at least be salvaged into a decent card. Granted that neither fight is going to capture the imagination like a Liddell/Rua match-up would have, I'd say that this card is actually a little better off now than it was when it was looking like Liddell/Evans was going to be the top draw.
In the main event, Hughes is going to try to show that he is still relevant in the division and that despite being on the downhill side of an amazing career, he's still capable of showing the new dogs an old trick or two. He's on record as saying that he's going to get Matt Serra after this fight, win or lose, but you'd have to imagine that he's going to want to head into that grudge match on a winning note, rather than loser of two in a row and three of four. Alves is going to be looking to show that he belongs on the current path he is on, heading towards the upper level of the welterweight division and possibly with an eye on a title shot in 2009. A huge win over Karo Parisyan has announced Alves' arrival in the upper echelon of the 170 pound class, but it will be up to him to be able to parlay that into another big win over a future UFC Hall-of-Famer to be able to continue that momentum. I don't think he'll be able to do it though, because Matt Hughes is too proud to go into his fight with Serra on two straight losses and he's going to be motivated to show that he still has it. He'll fight the usual fight that he does, taking Alves down and grinding him up against the cage, sending young Thiago back to the drawing board and delaying his rise to the top of the welterweight division for at least another year or so.
The co-main is an intriguing fight as well, because it's essentially going to show which guy will be able to move forward to possibly look at a late 2008 or early 2009 title shot, while the loser is left to wonder where to go from here. Leben is 6-3 and is finally starting to look like a complete fighter and a real threat, as opposed to some guy who just stands and swings. He still stands and swings, but he has a bit tighter technique and is looking to integrate other aspects into his game as well. A win here would put him at 7-3 and with another win against a top-level middleweight, he could see himself nearing the front of the line for a shot at Anderson Silva, as Silva continues to thin out the herd with his elbows and knees. As for Bisping, this is the first real test of his drop down to middleweight. Charles McCarthy certainly wasn't going to be that test, but Leben is a lot tougher fighter than McCarthy is. Leben will stand and bang and has a ton of heart, along with a granite chin and he's going to be tough for Bisping to deal with. The best strategy for Bisping is going to be to get a takedown and keep Leben on his back to avoid being caught by one of Leben's out of nowhere punches.
These fights might not be enough to deliver a huge buyrate like some of these other shows that have happened in the past couple of years, but I think that they'll be enough to fill the seats at the venue and enough to get a decent number of buys on pay-per-view to keep the show from being an utter failure and a total disaster. At least as long as the fights are decent. If they're terrible, expect a whole new round of critics ripping the UFC to shreds for lackluster matchmaking.
El Guapo Says...
El Guapo Says makes a special return this week, hot on the heels of the release of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Why would El Guapo Says need to make a return just because of the release of the biggest video game of the past ten years? Because Bas Rutten is IN Grand Theft Auto IV, in a special segment of the game, a faux television show named The Men's Room which Bas is co-host of. I HAD to share this the second I saw it so I'm going to share it with everyone who hasn't seen it yet.So this week..
El Guapo says!!! You are the boss, or you are the bitch!
Greatest thing I have ever seen. Period
Round Three
Kimbo vs. Liddell Won't Die
The war of words between Kimbo Slice and Chuck Liddell, which I touched on both in last week's Five Rounds, as well as during my stint against Da Boss in Fact or Fiction, continues to rage on with Liddell firing back this past week during an appearance on a Dallas-based radio show. Liddell was quoted as saying;
"All I said is fight to someone real, the only guy he lost to in his street-fight things came into the UFC and lost. Fight a guy that is real and fight a guy... who has a few wins in MMA, and then talk about it.
Before he talks about fighting me, he might want to think about beating somebody that has a winning record. He's an Internet sensation who beat up guys at Taco Bell. Come on. How hard is that to do?
That first fight they had on HDNet, he fought a guy that had been knocked out two times before in less than 30 seconds, and he tapped on his way down in one. That was three fights that he lost in less than 30 seconds. How many guys do you know who's done that?
Talk about a tomato can."
I can't say that I completely disagree with Liddell on this one. It's one thing for a guy like Tito Ortiz or Wanderlei Silva to call out Liddell because they're both proven commodities in the MMA world, and have proven their skills time and time again against the best the sport has to offer. Slice, at this point in his career, has two wins over guys that are nowhere near even the bottom of the heavyweight ladder and another win against a former boxer that technically doesn't count as an MMA match due to some sort of modified rules. I get that Kimbo is feeling like he's on top of the world now with all of the publicity and hype that has surrounded him and the further intensifying of that hype with the upcoming CBS primetime debut. I don't blame him for wanting to start a beef with the guy that is easily the most recognizable star that MMA has produced in the past ten years, because that will help keep his name on the lips of every MMA writer and blogger out there, myself included.
It's smart business for Kimbo because lately no one can say Liddell's name without Kimbo coming up too, but in fighting terms it comes off as a little desperate and a bit of a grab at legitimacy by Kimbo to try and have people associate himself on the level of Liddell in a fighting sense. The only way for Kimbo to attain any legitimacy as a mixed martial artist is to win against tough opponents and he's yet to do that. Liddell was right in saying that Kimbo has fought cans because he has. There's no getting around that fact, or the fact that Kimbo's next fight is against a glorified can as well. Until he can put together at least a couple of wins against guys that aren't total flops, and until he can prove that he has all of the skills necessary to become a force in MMA, I'd suggest that Kimbo continue training with Bas, get better at everything but leave the trash-talking for another day, because there's nothing worse than being the guy that talks trash but can't back it up, and if Liddell and Kimbo fought, Chuck would turn Kimbo into "that guy".
Links In The Cage
I say it every single week and this week is no different. If you're not checking out all the work from these fine folks, you're only hurting yourself, so take the time to peruse. You will NOT be dissapointed.
Being a wrestling fan, I'm used to seeing mass roster cuts at least once or twice a year, where six or eight guys end up getting pillaged and sent to the indies or TNA or God knows where, banished from the Shangri-La that is the WWE. Until now, mixed martial artists had been thought to be safe from feeling a sense of utter dread every time their phones rang. That is, until Dave Meltzer reported that there are plans within the UFC to trim their roster from the current level of around 200 fighters, to somewhere within the 140-160 range, with the focus being on winners and fighters who fight exciting, action fights and push for finishes. Apparently the bulk of the victims may end up coming from the losing side of the untelevised undercard matches for the next few cards, unless the loser puts on the performance of a lifetime while taking said loss. Obviously, some divisions are more stacked with talent than others, but with so many cuts apparently coming, it looks like every division will be feeling the pinch. Let's go through them and see who could be potential candidates for removal, along with a thought or two on the likelihood of their chances are of staying on or making their way out of the UFC. I'm sure there will be disagreements on my picks for who should go, but there are going to have to be some tough choices as they'll be cutting anywhere from 8-10 fighters or more from each division. Also, I apologize if some of these fighters have been released already, but there is no hard and fast set roster anywhere and the UFC's website is seemingly flawed.
Lightweight Division
Melvin Guillard: I thought he had already been cut by the UFC in all honesty, so I'm surprised to see that he's still on the roster, but if he doesn't win his next fight coming up in July, I'd expect him to see his pink slip waiting for him on the stool in the locker room.
Denis Siver: Guillard's opponent for the contest in July, Siver is 1-2 in the UFC and 10-3 everywhere else. Unless he proves otherwise he could be one of those fighters that gets JUST below the main level of play but can't make that one final leap.
Jorge Gurgel: Former Ultimate Fighter cast member and Rich Franklin's trainer and friend, but in the end none of that will help him as he puts on some of the slowest and most methodical fights in the Octagon. He's good, just not great, and not at all exciting, which won't help his cause should he lose to Cole Miller at UFC 85.
Gleison Tibau: The kid has obvious talent, but with a 3-2 record in the Octagon, along with the fact that he just lost to Tyson Griffin, one of the guys near the middle or bottom of the top ten in the division, it might not be long before we see Tibau elsewhere, maybe even in Elite XC with the likes of Yves Edwards and champ KJ Noons.
Nate Mohr: Last seen taking a crippling leg submission from Manny Gamburyan, Mohr has some potential, but potential won't put an ass every eighteen inches and Mohr is 1-2 in his UFC stint, 8-5 overall. If he doesn't get a big win soon, he could face the big, ugly axe.
Sam Stout: "Hands of Stone" is an exciting fighter to be sure and his Fight Night classic with Spencer Fisher could very well be the reason he's employed currently, but being 2-3 does him no favors. He'd have no problems continuing to fight either in TKO or even Strikeforce, so Stout's days may be numbered.
Samy Schiavo: Yes, he was just signed to a contract but losing to the seeming gatekeeper in the division, Clay Guida, has already put him behind the eight-ball. Starting out 0-2 could be disastrous for the Frenchman if he hopes to stay gainfully employed by the UFC.
Rob Emerson: Somewhat worthless as a fighter and should probably be cut even before he's up to fight again. Granted he has a win (somewhat controversial) and a draw (REALLY controversial) in his two fights after TUF, but he just doesn't seem to have enough skills to compete at the top of the division and if they can't compete at the top, why keep them around?
All in all, there isn't anyone here that would be severely missed, and most of these guys would bounce back rather well, either on smaller shows around the country or in one of the UFC's main competitors. Some of them, like Stout, could do really well with some time in the IFL as well. One division down, four to go!
Welterweight Division
Josh Burkman: Another victim of that syndrome where he can perform well against bottom-tier guys, but when he moves up he has big problems. His three losses are nothing to be ashamed of (Fitch, Parisyan and Swick), but if he can't beat any of those guys, why keep him around?
Kuniyoshi Hironaka: 1-3 in the UFC and coming off of a loss to Jonathan Goulet at UFC 83 means that thinks don't look good for the Japanese lightweight. An exciting fighter, but he's lacking the wins that will be needed to survive the UFC's version of Armageddon. Could easily jump over to any of the myriad of Japanese promotions and do well there.
Chris Lytle: I hate to say this because he's been one of my favorite fighters at the lower-level of the welterweight class, but he's 7-7 and doesn't seem like he'll ever be a real threat to anyone in the division. No chance for upward mobility and a .500 record could mean Lytle will be shown the way to the exit before too long.
Paul Taylor: Expect to see quite a few of the unfortunate to possibly end up being guys that were added to the roster for the UFC's trips to England, since a lot of them might not have the talent necessary to stay. Taylor has had exciting fights, but another loss would send him to 1-3 in the Octagon and off to try his hand in another promotion.
Luke Cummo: Along with lots of Europeans, a lot of TUF alums could be on their way out and Cummo might very well be one of them. 3-3 in the UFC with four decisions in six fights isn't the best way to keep your job. The one thing that might save him is that he's 2-1 in his last three with both wins being stoppages.
Kyle Bradley: A flash KO at the hands of Chris Lytle a little over thirty seconds into their fight and Bradley finds himself at the edge of the cliff in my opinion. If his next fight ends in a similar fashion or even with a somewhat slower decision win, expect Bradley to be gone, despite his wealth of potential. Two straight losses could be his kiss of death.
David Bielkheden: He seemed to be a curious signing when it was announced, and after being submitted fairly easily by Diego Sanchez, he could be one more defeat away from heading back to the overseas circuit. Another fighter that could fit well into a Cage Rage or DREAM promotion and come back after putting together some more wins.
Again, none of these guys would be sorely missed and the only two I would feel badly about would be Lytle and Cummo since both guys have a ton of heart and obviously love to fight. It's no fun picking and choosing which guys to cut and they would be two tough ones to have to call into my office to let go. Let's get right to the middleweights!
Middleweight Division
Marvin Eastman: On his second stint with the UFC, his contract that was taken over by the UFC from the WFA is set to expire after his next fight, so unless he puts up a big performance against Drew McFedries, Eastman might be on the outside looking in. He has a name so I don't think he'd have trouble finding work elsewhere, but if he gets cut this time, I'd highly doubt that he'll ever be back in the UFC.
Drew McFedries: Another one of these guys that has potential written all over him, but just can't seem to put it all together for long enough to move up the ladder. His loss to Patrick Cote, while understandable with all of his personal turmoil, was crushing to his career aspirations. A big win against Eastman would help his chances of surviving considerably, so look for him to come all out to finish Marvin in their fight.
Alan Belcher: Belcher had seemingly rounded the corner and appeared to be on his way up the ranks at 185, even being talked of as a potential title contender with another couple of wins in a row, but getting stopped by UFC newcomer Jason Day in the first round has derailed that talk and left Belcher as possibly one of the unfortunate victims. At 24, this wouldn't be the end for Belcher, but the UFC could consider cutting him for now to allow him to grow into even more of a complete fighter.
Kendall Grove: Yes, he's an Ultimate Fighter winner, but he's almost the forgotten TUF winner and if he loses three fights in a row, in spectacular fashion, he'll be sent packing. His next fight against Evan Tanner at the TUF finale will be a HUGE one since the winner will likely get to stay and the loser will be on the next train out of Las Vegas.
Evan Tanner: A great story to come back from all of his personal troubles, but coming back 0-2 will bring out the wolves, no matter how heartwarming your story is. This fight between him and Grove might not be a "big-name" main event, but if they're fighting for their job, it should certainly be an exciting one. Tanner may have had too much of a toll taken from him fighting his demons to have anything left to fight in the cage.
Ivan Salaverry: Cut from the UFC previously, he is another fighter who was brought back into the fold with the purchase of the WFA, and could be on his way back out of the UFC if he's not able to beat touted prospect Rousimar Palhares at UFC 85. Rumors are flying that Salaverry might be contemplating retirement, so this fight could be a moot point and he could be gone no matter the result.
Jeremy Horn: Horn was brought in on short notice to fill in against Nate Marquardt at UFC 81, and is looking two straight losses in the eye if he ends up getting beaten by Dean Lister in their upcoming bout. At this stage in his career, Horn is on the downside and win or lose he will more than likely be gone shortly after the final bell of that contest.
Light Heavyweight Division
Houston Alexander: I know, shocking to see a "bigger" name guy as the first choice, but honestly he's been BADLY exposed in his last two fights and if he's not able to get another big win like his first two UFC fights under his belt quickly, he'll be gone and back to toiling in the Midwest, looking for another shot at the big time. An exciting fighter, but how many losses can he take before it shows how badly he needs to round out his game.
Kazuhiro Nakamura: As much as this pains me to do because the man is responsible for one of my favorite quotes EVER in MMA, Nakamura is expendable. He was brought over after the PRIDE buyout, lost a less than stellar fight to Lyoto Machida at UFC 76, an event I attended that saw the crowd visibly bored during the fight. Add to that his positive drug test and you have a recipe for a release, barring a win over Sokodjou in his next fight.
Eric Schafer: "Ravishing Red" is looking at being 1-3 in the UFC with his next fight if he loses it and he doesn't even have the potential to be a gatekeeper for the division. Even without the next loss he could very well be cut because his style hasn't proven to be terribly exciting in his three fights up to this point.
Tito Ortiz: We all know he's at the end of his contract, we all know the bad blood between him and Dana, and we all know that Ortiz would love to go somewhere else to make big money fighting B-level guys. His time is clearly past and while it would hurt for the UFC to lose him as a draw, they can't keep paying him big money to lose fight after fight.
Jason Lambert: I'm a big fan of Jason's, but after his loss to Wilson Gouveia at UFC 80, he could be hanging by a thread. I thought he had turned the corner with his victory over Babalu, but his upcoming fight against Luiz Cane could end up deciding his fate. I'm pulling for him to win and continue on in the UFC, but if he loses he'd be 1-3 in his last four and that would likely spell the end of his UFC run.
Sokodjou: Granted he has wins over two of the best 205 pound fighters in the world, those seem like a lifetime ago after he got handled and prison raped by Lyoto Machida in their fight. If he can't string together a couple of wins quickly he could be in trouble and end up being labeled a fluke. He should handle Nakamura easily, but it's the fight after that one that will decide his fate in my opinion.
Heavyweight Division
Christian Wellisch: A fighter who is a little on the older side, and despite his 3-1 record in the UFC, doesn't seem to have much potential to move up to the top of the division. If he's unable to get past prospect Shane Carwin in his next fight, I'd expect to see him on the MMA unemployment line.
Antoni Hardonk: 2-2 in the UFC, Hardonk is a great striker, but doesn't appear to have the entire package, and could end up being sent off the roster with a loss or even a lackluster win against Neil Wain. Hardonk is remembered more for his losses than his wins and that's never a good thing when your contract status is in jeopardy.
Justin McCully: A win over the aforementioned Hardonk is worth the spot in cyberspace that this is written on and not much more, so unless McCully wins BIG in his next fight and opens a lot of eyes, I would think that he'll be heading to the smaller circuit of shows for a little more seasoning. The Hardonk fight was terrible and another performance like that would only seal his fate entirely.
Not much to cut from the heavyweight division since it's already been pretty much decimated, but there are probably enough guys to cut from the other divisions that would make up for it.
Seriously, I thought it would be REALLY hard to go through these divisions and get rid of guys, but it wasn't too bad. I'm not saying I enjoy it or that these guys don't deserve success in the sport, just that for one reason or another they may not be able to carry themselves in the Octagon right now, when the UFC is looking for prime performances and exciting fights. It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out in the next few weeks and over the summer, as the cuts could be coming fast and furious.
Random Strikes Part Deux
A little something different for Part Deux this week, as instead of MMA fights, I've decided to throw something in here that was profoundly life-changing for me. Usually as I am writing this column, I'll have some type of music going in the background, either through my mp3 collection, internet radio stations or just random Youtube videos. This week while I was working on the column, I came across one of my favorite memories from my childhood.
Yes, I was only five years old when it happened, but Live Aid is generally thought of as one of the greatest top-to-bottom concerts of all-time, with a galaxy of stars all coming together at the behest of Bob Geldof to try to help rid the world of hunger and poverty. I don't remember anything else from the concert, but I do remember one specific performance, a performance that was eventually voted as the greatest live performance in the history of rock and roll. It led me down the path of musical taste that I still roll down to this day, and I agree that it is possibly the pinnacle of all of the elements of rock and roll. Wonderful melodies, crystal-clear, pitch-perfect vocals, wild guitars, amazing showmanship, audience participation, it's all here, so here in this public forum for all of you, enjoy it or not, is what I view as the greatest 20-minute set in the history of music. Here's Queen perfoming live from Wembley Stadium as part of Live Aid. Enjoy.
Queen at Live Aid: Part One
Queen at Live Aid: Part Two
Queen at Live Aid: Part Three
Round Five
The Usual TUF Stuff
Another episode of The Ultimate Fighter's seventh season is in the books and here's a few random thoughts and musings on this week's episode.
I Want An Xbox 360!!!
Right at the beginning of the episode, Riddle and Credeur give each other their props after the fight, and Credeur says that he's going to pick up an Xbox 360 for Riddle because of how good their fight was and Credeur talked about how he feels like he's a better fighter for having matched up with young Matthew. Riddle is excited as shit and frankly I would be too. I know that as long as I could have some sort of prosthetic made with a hook that would allow me to grasp the controller, Credeur could have taken my arm home with him if it meant me getting an Xbox. So long as I can use my hook to play Guitar Hero, you can have the arm.
Jeremy Is A Douche Sandwich
I'm willing to give guys the benefit of the doubt, but Jeremy was acting like an ass the entire episode and I'm hoping to see the fight coming where Matt will put his fist through Jeremy's face, all the way up to the elbow. First , he acts like an asshole making a comment to Riddle about the Xbox thing, essentially ruining it for the poor kid. Then he acts like an even BIGGER asshole and locks Riddle out of the house before throwing things at Jesse and making another enemy. To top that off, him and Matt already had some minor static so what does Jeremy do to alleviate the situation? He puts lime juice into Matt's chaw!!! Are you retarded Jeremy? Even the rest of your teammates thought this was a bad idea, and yet you still did it anyways. You deserve to get the shit kicked out of you next week because out of all of the obnoxious douches that have been on this show in seven seasons, you're the douchiest.
The Good Fight Streak Ends At Two/The Schneid Continues
The fight at the end of the show between Dante and Brandon was pretty underwhelming and it brought with it, the first controversial decision of this new season. When even the President of the UFC thinks you lost the fight, yet the judges give it to you, you'd better be on your knees and thanking your lucky stars that you're moving on to the next round. Dante got the takedowns and had the control for most of the fight, but Brandon did damage and landed some solid strikes when he was able to get free to throw them. This was the third straight win for Team Forrest, continuing their dominance of the preliminary round, and putting Team Rampage about as far behind the eight ball as they can possibly be pushed. You can tell that Rampage is not used to losing like this because after the decision he went outside and LOST HIS SHIT. This was like Crazy Roman from last season, just with someone famous doing the raging. I don't know if it will do anything to fire up his team, but Rampage is MAD as hell and he's not going to take it anymore!!
Next week is apparently a two-fight week, with one of them being Matt's attempted murder on Jeremy, the douche, so that episode should be a little better. This one was pretty much a wash though as nothing really exciting happened and the fight had nothing to save the show. I do know that Team Rampage had better get themselves together or they could be facing a worse whitewash than Team Hughes got last season. Of course, Team Hughes dominated the final and one of them (Danzig) won the whole thing, so maybe this is all part of Rampage's secret strategy.
Post Fight Wrap-Up
That does it for me this week folks, there's lots of good stuff going this weekend with both DREAM shows, more hockey and hopefully some sunshine and warmth here. I'll be back next week. I'm not sure with what yet, because this upcoming week seems to be a little devoid of events or events to preview, but rest assured I'll come up with something for you all to enjoy, so until then stay safe and have a great weekend folks. 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.
I wouldn't cut Burkman, but send him to the WEC. Condit going to need some new challengers for his title soon. Some of those welterweights mentioned could stay on the Zuffa payroll and benefit the WEC.
One guy whom I would add to that cut list (I haven't seen any news that he was cut) is Alessio Sakara. I don't see what he brings to the UFC to justify a spot other than to get beat. Terry Martin is another guy whom has to be on or near that chopping block. He might benefit if EliteXC picks him up because he is unbeaten outside of the UFC.
It suck for his wallet if he is cut, but Stout is someone whom I could see improving if he fought at smaller shows to where he is brought back.
Posted By: Ryan Mancuso (Registered) on May 01, 2008 at 11:37 PM
Comming from several years in the military where everyone chews and hordes that stuff like gold Id say ruining someones dip is a capitol crime
Posted By: TDR (Guest) on May 01, 2008 at 11:57 PM
That Bas Rutten Video was amazing!
Posted By: Franco (Guest) on May 02, 2008 at 06:27 AM
I’m amazed Melvin Guillard is still on the roster. He wasn’t the same after talking mad shit and then getting owned by Joe Daddy. I’ll be glad to see him go.
I agree with Ryan that a number of these guys could go to WEC and maybe make an impact. At least give some of them the option to drop to a different weight class to see how they do.
Posted By: Kuch (Guest) on May 02, 2008 at 09:35 AM
Good read as always, and great random strike today. Queen is incredible.
Posted By: KSti (Guest) on May 02, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Bisping is a middleweight, Guillard is on the roster but has been fighting at welterweight in smaller promotions in order to get his confidence and record back up to a respectable level.
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on May 02, 2008 at 02:10 PM
1-3 isn't an accurate assessment of how he's done considering the first loss of that stretch (to Misaki) was his second fight on the night of PRIDE Bushido 13. Take the following into account regarding that fight:
1) Kang fought Misaki with a torn right bicep and rotator cuff (right shoulder), suffered during the Gono fight earlier that night
2) he already had a ruptured tendon (right shoulder) leading up to Bushido 13 itself
3) his fiancee was found dead of an overdose about a month before
4) Misaki barely scraped a split decision against a man having to deal with the aforementioned things
Personally, I'd give Kang a pass for that and focus on the 1-2 record since then.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on May 03, 2008 at 05:19 PM
I wouldn't cut Sokodjou - his loss is to a guy who is a win away from a title shot.
Burkman and Lytle have been losing to VERY good fighters, so its hard to cut them; then again they aren't winning a title anytime soon either
I'd like to see UFC develop relationships with other organizations that truly are affiliated minor leagues. That way they can have guys come up for a fight or two; but not really have them under contract.
Stout is a guy who could benefit from splitting time between UFC and somewhere like TKO.
Posted By: Jamie (Guest) on May 03, 2008 at 08:01 PM
i know hendo is game, but he needs to fight someone a little lower on the scales, if and i know it's an if, but if he loses to franklin the average fan is going to start questioning this "dan henderson guy"
Posted By: adam (Guest) on May 03, 2008 at 10:34 PM
