Cardio Freak MMA News Report 5.22.08: UFC 84 Preview

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 05.22.2008

Cardio Freak returns with a HUGE preview of UFC 84: Ill Will. The fate of the Lightweight Division is in the hands of BJ Penn. Can he save the most exciting division from the most boring man in the UFC? Will Tito Ortiz be given mic time whether he wins or loses against Lyoto Machida? Can Wanderlei Silva break his losing streak against Keith Jardine? How hyped am I for this card? Also some thoughts on the latest IFL and WVR shows plus the latest on UFC 85: DOOMED~! It's bigger than the head of Tito Ortiz, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘I'm Not Fuckin Ticketmaster' Lambert.

"The Big4" are upon us, which means a lot of work is ahead for us here at the 411 MMA Zone. As usual I plan on slacking because that's just what I do.

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Big Fights at UFC 84: Ill Will

This Saturday UFC returns to PPV with UFC 84: Ill Will. The card is headline by BJ Penn defending his UFC Lightweight Title against the man who never lost the belt, Sean Sherk. Also on the card, one of the biggest names in MMA, Tito Ortiz, battles undefeated Light Heavyweight Lyoto Machida and Keith Jardine and Wanderlei Silva will slug it out after mixed results against Chuck Liddell.

Promo out of the way, I've heard/seen a few people compare this card to UFC 73: Stacked. The notable similarities are Sean Sherk battling for the Lightweight title and Tito Ortiz fighting an undefeated Light Heavyweight. While there are some parallels between the two cards, I feel that UFC 84 is the stronger of the two, especially when it comes to drawing the casual fans. Tito Ortiz, despite not being in the main event, is the biggest name on this card and was the biggest name last July. BJ Penn is the Anderson Silva of the card as the guy who always has entertaining fights but I think Penn is a bigger name and Sherk is a better contender than Nate Marquardt. Finally, Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva is a much better fight both on paper and to the casuals than Sherk vs. Hermes Franca. Just imagine if Mauricio Rua didn't get injured prior to his fight against Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans didn't have to step up. It was heavily rumored that Thiago Silva (still on the card) would take on Evans.

The title ‘Ill Will' couldn't be more appropriate for such a card. BJ Penn flat out doesn't like Sean Sherk. If you listened to the UFC 84 Conference Call, you could hear Penn continuing to chime in while Sherk was trying to speak. Penn's biggest problem with Sherk is the fact that Sherk cheated and then lied about it. Sherk fires back that BJ Penn is a pothead when he's not training. Whatever the beef might be, they'll settle it this Saturday.

My biggest problem with this fight is that Sean Sherk is in it. Although extremely boring, I can't knock Sherk and his accomplishments in MMA. I can however knock the fact that he cheated, bored the shit out of me in a win, got caught, was stripped of his title after his suspension was reduced from one year to six months, and is now fighting for the belt again. I know he passed his out of competition drug test but to me, Sherk should have had to fight, win, and pass his drug test in order to get this title fight. What's done is done though.

Sean Sherk claims that he wants to show off his hands in this fight but we all know what's going to happen when the fight starts: Sherk is going to try and takedown Penn and go from there. Sherk gets a lot of heat for being boring but after re-watching his fight with Hermes Franca (Yes, I sat through all 25 minutes, bow down), he deserves. Ok, that came out wrong. He deserves that heat but I will give Sherk credit for trying. While Tim Sylvia will clinch and do nothing or use his reach to keep you away while doing nothing, Sherk does have an explosive double leg and he doesn't stay in guard and hold you. Instead, Sherk moves to mount or side control and holds you. He didn't have much trouble passing the guard of Franca and while I feel Penn has a much better guard than Franca, I wouldn't be shocked if Sherk was able to pass. The question is, will Sherk do anything with the better position or will he get the better position to prove he's winning the fight and then just ride out the decision?

I think the biggest question coming into this fight is, can Sherk even take down Penn? We all know Sherk is going to try and try hard to get Penn to the ground but will he have success? Matt Hughes was notorious for having the best takedowns in the Welterweight division and until the 3rd round where BJ broke a rib he couldn't get him down. Hughes was the much bigger man in the fight and Penn was fighting in a higher weight class. Sherk will likely be bigger than Penn come fight time but I don't think it will be as distinct as Hughes over Penn. Penn is incredibly flexible and if he's able to deny the takedown from Sherk and keep the fight on the feet, he holds a superior advantage. Not only that but if Sherk isn't able to get the takedown after the 4th or 5th try he could get frustrated and make a mistake.

If Sherk can get this fight to the ground, it's not out of the question that he could get caught in a submission. Due to his explosive takedowns, Sherk's neck is always there for the taking, as proved by Franca at UFC 73. Sherk is very thick up top though so it's going to be very tough for Penn to finish him with a guillotine. Off his back, you know Penn is going to throw every submission in the book at Sherk. Unfortunately, as mentioned, Sherk doesn't really sit up when he's in a dominant position so it's going to take a huge mental error on the part of Sherk for Penn to be table to catch him.

Penn's best finishing technique is getting his opponents back, locking in the rear naked choke, and forcing his opponent to tap out. If Sherk can takedown Penn and hold him there, it's going to be very tough for Penn to get his back. As mentioned, Sherk is big up top and because of his big stocky build and his strength, he's very tough to sweep. If Penn is going to get the back of Sherk, he'll likely set it up with a punch whether it be standing or from the top.

BJ Penn made an interesting comment on one of the many interviews I've listened to over the past few weeks and that was, "What is Sean Sherk going to do when he's on his back?" That makes me believe that Penn might come out with the Georges St. Pierre strategy expect I don't think BJ is afraid of getting hit. I don't know how strong Sherk's jiu-jitsu game is but my guess is that it's not good enough to catch Penn in a submission if Penn is on top. Penn could very well surprise some people, most notably Sherk, and end up taking Sherk down.

This is obviously a big fight for the Lightweight division but I think it goes beyond the title. This fight determines THE FATE on the Lightweight division. The Lightweight division is considered by many to be the best division in the UFC because every fight is a coin flip and the fighters always have exciting fights. If BJ Penn wins, that trend will likely continue because it's rare that Penn puts on a boring performance. If Sherk wins then all the undercard Lightweight fights will continue to entertain but it may be all for not thanks to Sherk's ability to take the entertainment out of fighters.

For my pick, I'm going to ‘The Prodigy' BJ Penn. I think at 155 BJ Penn is the best BJ Penn we'll ever see and probably the best Lightweight in the world. We all know Sherk is going to shoot on Penn and it's up to Penn to either stop the takedown or quickly get to his feet. I feel he can do that. The deeper this fight goes, the more it favors Sherk. My prediction is that Penn will be able to stifle Sherk with his takedown defense and ground game. In the 3rd round Sherk will finally make a mental mistake on his feet or on the ground, allowing Penn to get his back and sink in the rear naked choke.

Ill Will also holds true with the return of Tito Ortiz. Ortiz will physically battle the undefeated Lyoto Machida but he'll also be battling UFC President Dana White. Although Dana White claims that he's never cheered for a certain fighter but he's cheering for Tito Ortiz to get his ass kicked this Saturday, I think it's more of a win-win situation than Dana leads us to believe. Does he want to see a bloody Ortiz crying after losing to Machida? Of course. But, will he mind if Ortiz pulls out the victory? I don't think so. Because he's been boring in practically all of his UFC wins, he doesn't speak great English (although it's clearly improved after watching the Countdown to UFC 84), and he's not Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida hasn't been given the respect he's earned by UFC management and even fans. White would be hard pressed not to give Machida a title shot or at least a #1 contender's fight if he wins this fight against Ortiz and that doesn't seem like something he wants to do. I would guess that White would rather see Ortiz crying at the end of the fight because then he leaves the company with a loss and is likely given no mic time but I don't think he'll be cursing up a storm and throwing a fit if Ortiz happens to win.

This is a HUGE fight for Tito Ortiz in the mind of a lot of fans. We all know that he'll be leaving the company after this fight and we all know EliteXC and Affliction will be willing to pay him a large sum of money for his services. If he wins and defeats a guy who is a consensus Top 5 fighter and a guy who is undefeated, his stock rises. If he loses and suspicions are kind of confirmed that Ortiz is a shell of his former self then his stock drops. Win or lose, there's no denying that Tito Ortiz doesn't sell some PPVs. BJ Penn is the champion, Sean Sherk is the former champion who never lost, Keith Jardine holds wins over Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva is Wanderlei Silva, and Lyoto Machida is undefeated but Tito Ortiz, the guy who hasn't finished anyone not named Ken Shamrock since Elvis Sinosic in 2001, is the main draw on this card. Love him or hate him, he's only lost to two people in 15 fights since 2000 and those two people are Chuck Liddell (twice) and Randy Couture. Not bad company.

Honestly, I don't think Ortiz has much to lose in this fight. If he loses, what happens? He loses to an undefeated fighter who holds wins over Rich Franklin and BJ Penn, he leaves the company, and he's still going to get paid a ton of money because he is a draw and because a guy like Gary Shaw knows how to protect his draws. He'll get a lot of heat on the message boards and what not saying that he's been overrated for years but he's getting that anyway. A win does a hell of a lot for Tito though. If he wins, he knocks off a Top 5 guy, another company pays him even more money, and he gets to stick it to Dana White. He obviously wants to win but I don't think a loss would be the end of his world and it may even be good for him because he knows where he is in the sport competition wise.

This fight is a lot like Penn vs. Sherk in my eyes. We all know what Ortiz is going to do, it's just a matter of can Machida defend it? Ortiz has mediocre stand up while Machida has some of the most elusive stand up in the game. Machida has fought some of the best guys in the business but he's never fought a wrestler the caliber of Ortiz. Machida has a good guard and a tight ground game but Ortiz doesn't need to pass to a better position in order to do damage. If Ortiz can get the takedown, he could easily batter Machida with elbows from the guard. The problem Ortiz has had in some of his recent fights is that he's shooting for way too far out, making his shots easy to sprawl out of. If he continues that trend in this fight, I see no reason why Machida can't stuff the takedown and keep the fight standing. If you ask Tito though, he'll tell you that he's 100% healthy for the first time in a long time and his takedown will have that explosiveness that it used to. The other thing that will help Ortiz when it comes to getting the takedown is the fact that he's a big Light Heavyweight while Machida is a smaller Light Heavyweight. Maybe Tito doesn't even need to use the double leg because if he's able to get inside, he could easily over power Machida and get the trip takedown. If Machida can't stop the takedown, it's going to be a long night for him.

If he can stop the takedown, it's going to be a long night for Ortiz. Ortiz doesn't have the greatest stand up in the world but it's not horrible either and he has confidence in it, which may end up being his downfall. Ortiz was able to hit Chuck Liddell but that's because Liddell wasn't afraid to stand there, trust his chin, and counter knowing he had the superior power. Machida counters as well but he moves in out and so quick that you can't hit him. If Ortiz decides to get sloppy with his striking, chances are he's going to get caught. Machida doesn't have great power in his hands but if he can keep the fight on the feet, he can easily pick apart Ortiz en route to a decision.

The thing we don't know about Machida is how he reacts to losing. He's never really been beaten up inside the octagon. With Tito Ortiz, you're going to take some punishment. Forrest Griffin took a load of punishment against Ortiz at UFC 59 and it actually woke up Griffin. What's going to happen with Machida? If he eats 4 or 5 elbows is he going to go to his corner and sulk or is he going to be fired up like we saw with Griffin? The other problem I see for Machida is that it's going to be tough for him to win a decision. We saw in the Ortiz/Griffin fight that Griffin was able to sprawl and stop the takedown in the 2nd and 3rd rounds but Ortiz got that final takedown late and that got him the victory. All Ortiz has to do is get a takedown or two a round, avoid maximum damage on the feet, and he'll win the round. Also, what if Ortiz wins the 1st two rounds? How does Machida react to that? As mentioned, he doesn't have KO power in his hands and I don't think he'll be able to submit Ortiz. As much as Machida has proven in his career, there's also a lot that he hasn't proven,

I'm honestly not looking forward to this fight. As mentioned, Machida has been pretty boring in all his UFC fights and I think Ortiz' pre-fight hype and trash talking gets more of a reaction than his actual fight. My guess is that Ortiz will try and prove something by standing early, connect with nothing, and then take it to the ground. Being the bigger fighter I'll say that he gets the takedown and proceeds to do just enough to win the decision in the end. Then the question becomes, will UFC give him mic time if he does win the fight?

Not to get back to the whole Ortiz/White situation but hate it or love it, it's an intriguing situation. Ortiz recently went away from his previous statements, saying that, "I'm open to the idea of staying in the UFC if Dana apologizes." That makes me believe that Ortiz was bluffing this whole time and win or lose, he may indeed stay with the company. Dana and Tito have a relationship a lot like Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan where you just know they hate each other but if they can do business together, they'll put their personal feelings aside and do business. Dana has stated many times that he feels Tito is more of a business man than a fighter at this point in his life and it's tough to argue with that. If Tito wants to do the best business for himself, he's going to have to stay in the UFC. Other companies may pay him more per fight but unless EXC on CBS does a good rating and becomes huge, he's not going to get the publicity that he gets in the UFC in another company. I also think that Ortiz is a lot like Hulk Hogan in the regard that he's afraid to go to another company because it may expose him. Hogan has this larger than life ego where he feels that he's bigger than WWE but he knows that if he goes to a company like TNA and they continue to do a 1.0 rating and 20,000 buyrates, it'll be proven that Hogan isn't the big draw, Hogan combined with WWE is the big draw. If Tito Ortiz goes to another company, it's obvious that he's going to do a smaller number than he would do in the UFC but if it's just a complete flop, it'll be proven that Ortiz isn't the draw, Ortiz and UFC combined are the draw. Also, if Ortiz really wants to be the best fighter (which is questionable right now) then he's got to stay in the UFC. They have a complete lockdown on the Light Heavyweight division and winning a title in another organization really won't mean all that much. If Ortiz wins, I think his head grows larger and leaves the company. If Ortiz loses, I think he swallows his pride and stays with the company.

The final big draw on the card is a Light Heavyweight slugfest between Keith Jardine and Wanderlei Silva. Jardine is almost in the Machida position where he holds wins over former Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and #1 Contender to the Light Heavyweight Title Forrest Griffin but for some reason (likely the loss to Houston Alexander) UFC isn't getting behind him. Wanderlei Silva is a whole different position as he's lost three straight and four could find him in the Middleweight division.

A lot of people took a quote by Dana White out of context thinking that White would actually release Wanderlei Silva if he loses this fight. While no fighter wants to lose four straight, Silva is in no danger of being released. White does nothing but sing the praises of Silva because win or lose, he's always exciting and he always comes to fight. Plus Silva has an out card where he can drop down to Middleweight, likely be given a can just to get him a win, and go from there. Stop fretting everyone ‘The Axe Murderer' is going nowhere.

On paper, this doesn't look like a good match up for Silva. In Japan, Silva made a career by destroying smaller guys and Quinton Jackson. Once he fought a much bigger guy in Cro Cop, he got destroyed. It didn't help that Cro Cop's style was tailor made to beat Silva but that's another story. Henderson was a good match up for Silva size wise but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt because he was sick as a dog the day before the fight. Liddell is a large Light Heavyweight who had a reach advantage and whose style was once again tailored made to beat Silva. He's going to run into a lot of the same problems with Jardine.

Jardine is a large Light Heavyweight who will have the reach advantage against Silva. What Jardine does well is that he uses his leg kicks to take away the explosiveness and power of his opponent's punches. We saw it against Liddell where Chuck didn't quite have that explosiveness in his right hand. You can chalk some of that up to Liddell may be just losing his power but I think you have to chalk a lot of it up to the fact that Jardine just battered him with leg kicks and Liddell never bothered to check them. If Jardine can chop down Silva with leg kicks he's going to take away Silva's power and he's going to set up things with his hands.

The thing that benefits Silva in this fight is his aggressiveness. Jardine had success against Liddell because Liddell likes to counter and Jardine gave him nothing to counter. Houston Alexander beatdown Jardine because he went right at him with nothing to lose. While Silva has a lot more to lose than Houston did, you know Silva is going to come straight at Jardine. If Jardine isn't able to keep Silva at bay with his reach we could see a repeat of UFC 71. An area where I feel that Silva has the advantage is in the clinch. We all know how legendary Silva's knees in the clinch are and Jardine got roughed up pretty bad in the clinch against Houston. The problem for Silva will be getting by Jardine's reach in order to get into the clinch.

I'm sure Silva knows this but if he knocks down Jardine, he's got to pounce on him. In their UFC 79 fight, Liddell went down twice (one was a slip, one you could argue either slip or knockdown) and Silva just stood there, almost stunned that Liddell even went down. Without the soccer kicks and stomps Silva loses one of his primary finishing techniques but he's got to find a way to make up for that. If he knocks down Jardine, he can't just stand there and do nothing. Silva has a blackbelt in jiu-jitsu, so he could finish with a submission on the ground but I wouldn't bet on that. Hell, I'll be shocked if this fight goes to the ground at all considering both men's willingness to strike and their lack of a wrestling game. If it does go to the ground though, the advantage has to go to Silva.

One thing that can't be overlooked is Keith Jardine's trainer, Greg Jackson, and his ability to gameplan for his fighters. Greg Jackson is coming off a big feather in his cap with the gameplanning he had for Georges St. Pierre against Matt Serra. I e Jackson also planned perfectly for Liddell and I expect him to plan perfectly for Silva. Greg Jackson is coming off a big feather in his cap with the gameplanning he had for Georges St. Pierre against Matt Serra. I expect Jardine to bring a great gameplan into this fight against Silva, it's just up to him to execute it and adapt if necessary.

I'm really looking forward to this fight because Wanderlei always brings it and Jardine is no slouch, plus he uses LEG KICKS~! I expect this fight to be nothing more than, "good ole fashion standing there and bangin each other." MMAth tells me that Jardine is going to win because he beat Liddell while Silva lost to Liddell. MMAth sucks. I'm picking Silva to get back on track here. He showed me a lot in the Liddell fight even though lost and I think he's going to come out with a chip on his shoulder in this fight. I feel that even though he's fighting Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine feels disrespected because Griffin is getting the title shot over him and the last time Jardine felt disrespected his mouthpiece went across the octagon. My guess is that Silva comes out aggressive and puts the pressure on Jardine, causing Jardine to break and giving Silva the 2nd round TKO. Win or lose, I just hope Silva cuts a promo after the fight because his accent RULES~!

Quick point: Could you just imagine if Keith Jardine wins this fight? That would mean in back to back fights he would hold wins over arguably the two greatest Light Heavyweights ever. Sure it doesn't seem to mean all that much now with Liddell being 38 and coming off that huge KO by Jackson and Silva coming off three straight loses but it's still a huge accomplishment.

Thiago Silva returns to the octagon after defeating the hype that was Houston Alexander. Silva, originally rumored to battle Rashad Evans, will take on Antonio Mendes, who is making his UFC debut. What a shame it is that things happened how they did with Rashad Evans. It's understandable that he wanted to step up and fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 and it's understandable that UFC wanted him to because he has more name value than Thiago Silva and it was a winnable fight for Chuck. Then Liddell gets hurt and now Evans, who went from fighting an undefeated Thiago Silva to fighting in the main event against Chuck Liddell to now fighting no one. If only it could have been seen that things would happen like this. This card would be HUGE for the Light Heavyweight division and while it still is, it could have been that much bigger. Anyway we are where we are. I know nothing about Mendes other than his 14-2 record and that he's a muy thai fighter. If that's the case then I expect this to be a fun little technical fight on the feet. Mendes also has a few wins by submission so that leads me to believe that he can handle his own on the ground. Is his submission game better than Silva's? I doubt it but you never know. Silva has the octagon experience here but maybe Mendes is one of those guys that comes in with no pressure and rolls through his much more UFC experienced opponent. I'll pick Silva in this one just because I think he's overlooked in the division and I feel that he'll one day be UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Write that down.

Goran Reljic makes his octagon debut with a bit of hype against a tough Wilson Gouveia. Reljic is undefeated in MMA with five of his seven wins coming by submission. Gouveia is riding a four fight win streak and although he's a ground wizard as well, he handled his own against my brother from another mother, Jason Lambert, with a big KO in the 2nd round. I'm pretty excited for this fight and it's a hell of a way to round out the card. Gouveia opened a lot of eyes with his performance against Lambert and a win here likely gets him a shot at one of the top 10 fighters in the division. Reljic is undefeated but hasn't really been tested. I've never seen him fight but the hype around him is that he's slick on the ground and in a division full of strikers and wrestlers, a slick ground game could find him success. I think this is a bad match up for him though. Gouveia is very accomplished in jiu-jitsu and he's showed his power in previous performances. If Reljic can't submit Gouveia, I can't see him getting the better of him on the feet. My guess is that Gouveia's advantage in striking gives him the decision victory with a stalemate on the ground.

That wraps up the main card of UFC 84: Ill Will so lets quickly (I hope) run through the rest of the card.

Kazuhiro Nakamura and Rameau Sokoudjou look to bounce back from losses to Lyoto Machida when they meet on Saturday. Sokoudjou had a lot of hype surrounding him in his fight with Machida has he was coming off of quick knockouts over Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona. Machida was having none of that though as he made Sokoudjou submit in the 2nd round. Nakamura hasn't competed since his loss to Machida as he was suspended for failing a drug test (marijuana). Although his record is 11-7, most of Nakamura's losses have come against top-notch talent. Machida, Henderson, Wanderlei, Shogun, Barnett, and Lil Nog (twice) are the six guys who have handed Nakamura a loss. So basically Nakamura is the mediocre guy who will beat you if you're mediocre or worse but if you're a top guy or you want to be a top guy, you'll beat Nakamura. On one hand I feel that Sokoudjou is a top guy despite his loss to Machida. On the other hand…he trains with Team Quest and we all know that Dana White slips guys facing Team Quest members an extra $75,000 if they win just as a way to stick it to Matt Lindland. Nakamura is a tough guy to finish but I'm going to go with Sokoudjou by second round TKO.

UFC veteran Ivan Salaverry probably makes his final trip to the octagon as he takes on UFC newcomer Rousimar Palhares. Salaverry is 37 and has lost two straight fights so if he loses here don't be shocked to see him released by the organization. Palhares is 16-1 according to UFC.com but only 7-1 according to Sherdog. He trains with Brazilian Top Team so you know he can handle his own on the ground. Salaverry is more of a gatekeeper at this point in his career so if Palhares wants to be considered a threat in a pretty thin Middleweight division, he's going to have to convincingly defeat him. I think Palhares will be able to take the fight to the ground and finish him off late in the 2nd round.

Rich Clementi returns after a no event lay off to battle Terry Etim. Clementi was a late replacement for Rob Emerson and he is coming off a three round war with Sam Stout at UFC 83. First off, you've really got to admire Clementi's brain and heart for taking this fight. He's had just barely a month to train for a new opponent and I'm sure he was right back in the gym after defeating Stout. It was a smart move by Clementi though, if it pays off. With the UFC Lightweight division being so stacked, the more wins you can get, the better. UFC has so many people under contract that it's normally four or five months before you fight again and unless you're a star, you're easily forgotten. Clementi is making sure that fans and management remember him by taking this fight so quickly after his previous one. Both guys are very good on the ground with nine of Etim's ten wins coming by submission and 14 of 31 of Clementi's wins. Clementi showed much improved stand up against Stout, actually winning the decision based on his striking. Etim is a tall and lanky Lightweight who uses his reach on the feet and limbs on the ground. Gleison Tibau was able to control Etim on the ground at UFC 75 but Tibau is a big and strong Lightweight, much more so than Clementi. The biggest thing to watch for in this fight is Terry Etim's toes. Seriously, if this fight goes to the ground, watch how far apart his big toe is compared to the rest of them. This fight has decision written all over it and I'll say Clementi eeks it out.

Jon Koppenhaver is looking to make good on his "Thanks for having a great fight. You needed it because everyone knows we were going to release you" card (I have to find a way to shorten that) when he takes on Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koppenhaver had an awesome fight with Jared Rollins at the TUF7 Finale but lets be honest, he was facing Jared Rollins. I admire the mans heart and that may actually carry him to more wins than he would normally earn but having sat through TUF7 like everyone else, I just never saw it in Koppenhaver. Yoshida is making his octagon debut with some impressive judo credentials. Yoshida likes to use his judo to get his opponent to the ground and then pound them out from there. Yoshida "quit" in his last fight after he took a knee to the groin, rested, and then decided he would take a DQ win. That tells me that he lacks the heart we all know Koppenhaver has. I still don't think he'll amount to much in the UFC and I would love to be proven wrong but I do think this is a good fight for him so I'll say Koppenhaver by TKO in the 3rd.

Another judo practitioner, Dong Hyun Kim, makes his octagon debut against Jason Tan. Tan left the UFC after losing to Marcus Davis but is now back after a decision victory in a smaller organization. Dong is a DEEP veteran with an undefeated record according to UFC.com (Sherdog has him listed with one loss) and some scary power. Tan threw a lot of kicks (mainly to the leg) in his fight against Marcus Davis so I expect to see the same thing in this fight. Davis rocked Tan right before he dropped him and finished him so that makes me think that he has a suspect chin. If that is the case then I think Dong will win this fight with a first round TKO.

And rounding out the card is the final member of the WW(F)E 3(We'll Wrestle (Fight) Everyone), Shane Carwin. Carwin, like Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar, is a hyped wrestler with an undefeated record. Lesnar was unsuccessful in his debut while Cain made short work of his opponent. Carwin will be taking on Christian Wellisch. Wellisch is a mediocre Heavyweight who top guys or future top guys will beat but he'll fare well against mediocre or below fighters. Based on the hype, Carwin may actually be the most well rounded of the WW(F)E3 and if you saw the performances of Lesnar and Cain, that's a scary thought. We know is wrestling will be strong, he has good ground and pound, and he likes to lock in the guillotine choke. I think Carwin will just overwhelm Wellisch en route to a 1st round TKO.

To say I'm hyped for this event would be an under-statement. Forget the fact that this is my first UFC event on the big screen since UFC 79 as that's a personal thing, this card is awesome. Penn vs. Sherk has had unreal hatred and hype behind it, plus it's BJ Penn at 155. Silva vs. Jardine is Wanderlei Fucking Silva against Keith Fucking Jardine. And although Ortiz vs. Machida could be boring, it's still a Tito Ortiz fight and it's last one on his UFC contract. Plus Thiago Silva is a guy I've pegged as a future champion and Reljic could be a surprise or Gouveia could breakout. The Big4 kick off right with UFC 84: Ill Will this Saturday on PPV.

See what I can do without that 4-year drug, alcohol, and sex party called college holding me back? YEAH~!

Playing to Your Strengths

James Irvin has pulled out of his UFC 85: Bedlam fight with Rashad Evans due to a broken foot. Luis Arthur Cane, was scheduled to take the place of Irvin against Evans but Rashad Evans has been pulled from the card altogether. Cane is still scheduled to fight Jason Lambert while Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites is now on the televised card

THIS. CARD. IS. DOOMED. Tomorrow, Matt Hughes will wake up and announce that God told him not to go to London because he can't get a proper farmer's tan.

You know, this is actually a smart move by UFC though. Although I'm not a big Rashad Evans fan, it would be useless to have him fight Luis Arthur Cane and risk his first loss to a guy that could go either way. I thought James Irvin was a bit of a risk but he was coming off an eight second knockout of Houston Alexander so I let it slide. The negative side of this is that Evans is now off the UFC 85 card all together when he could have just stayed on the UFC 84 card against Thiago Silva. The positive side of this is that maybe Evans will fight in September against Chuck Liddell.

Demian Maia will return to the octagon at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy when he takes on Jason MacDonald

Good deal. MacDonald is one of those fighters who is going to beat most guys in the division but for some reason can't beat the top guys. Maia isn't considered a top guy like Franklin and Okami were when they fought MacDonald but I feel that Maia will one day be a top guy. To prove that, he's going to have to defeat a very game MacDonald.

SpikeTV and UFC announced that The Ultimate Finale 7 will be 3 hours long and broadcasted in HD. Here is the latest card:

-Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner

-Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti

-Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens

-Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister

-Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries

-Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett

-Matt Arroyo vs. TBA

-Finalist vs. Finalist

The obvious thing missing from this card is the lack of TUF7 competitors. In every finale they bring back the guys from the house to fight each other and normally if they win or have a good fight they get another UFC fight. I guess UFC saw no potential in a lot of the guys in the house or they're going to spend some time in WEC. The card right now is good for free TV so no complaints there.

Cheick Kongo will battle UFC newcomer Dan Evensen at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy

Lets pray that Kongo decides to actually stand with Evensen instead of taking him to the ground, where he's not good, like he did against Heath Herring. I can't really get excited for Kongo, who was once pegged as the next big thing in the division, because he does nothing for more. I have no clue how he passes a drug test but kudos to him for continuing to do so. Evensen just seems like a bone thrown to Kongo as they try and rebuild their Heavyweight division.

Atlanta is the likely destination for UFC 88 on September 6th

I AM SO THERE~! Atlanta is about a 7-hour drive from North Carolina and September 6th is a week before my birthday (September 15th for those scoring at home) so I think this would make for a pretty awesome gift. I only pray that Chuck Liddell can return for this card and fight either Shogun (hopefully) or Evans. Also, prepare for some heavy bias from me towards this card as fights get announced as I'll try to make every fight seem like the greatest fight ever just because I'll see it live.

Studying Tape



There's BJ Penn kicking some ass as a white belt in a local grappling contest.

Sparring Session

No real verbal wars to speak of except for the usual of Nick Diaz calling out KJ Noons and Tito Ortiz and Dana White going back and fourth.

Underwater Ice Bath

Results from IFL's Mohegan Sun Show:

-John Franchi def. Frank Latina via Submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1

-Aaron Stark def. Lamont Lister via Unanimous Decision

-John Howard def. Nick Calandrino via TKO in Round 3

-Matt Horwich def. Joey Guel via Unanimous Decision

-Josh Souder def. Zac George via TKO in Round 1

-Danillo Villefort def. Mike Massenzio via Submission (knee bar) in Round 1

-Dan Miller def. Ryan McGivern via Submission (knee bar) in Round 1

-Ryan Schultz def. Deividas Taurosevicius via Unanimous Decision

-Roy Nelson def. Brad Imes via TKO in Round 1

Roy Nelson is one BAMF. It sucks that he's in the IFL because if he could get out of the contract and sign with Affliction or UFC then he could do big things. Despite his gut, Nelson has a good jiu-jitsu game and he showed in this fight against Imes that he has some power in his hands. Actually, no, he needs to stay in the IFL. Why? Because when we purchase the company, we're going to make Roy Nelson the biggest star in the world.

We'll market him as ‘The Fat Fedor' and it will get over huge. He'll be everything you love about Fedor but instead of looking like a Russian Cyborg, he looks like a big lovable grizzly bear. We'll even say that it'll be "The Big Grizzly Bear vs. Some Guy". Who doesn't want to see a big grizzly fight? Maybe we'll even have him dressed in a grizzly bear suit so people don't feel ripped off. YES WE CAN~!

Affliction struck a deal with Fox Sports Net to air the preliminary fights of the Affliction: Banned card on July 19th

Good deal for Affliction. I'm not sure how much it's going to help the overall buyrate but it certainly can't hurt it (unless all the preliminary fights suck). It was also noted that Affliction signed Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the brother of (Interim) UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. I think UFC really missed the boat here as Lil Nog would have added another threat in the Light Heavyweight Division (although they don't really need it) and it should have been an easy deal to make considering Big Nog is the champion. I guess there goes the hope that we see Lil Nog on TUF8.

Taking Time Off

Lets move away from fighting for just a bit because I've watched far too many movies over the past week to not give a quick little review of them.

Iron Man: This movie ruled. Robert Downy Jr. played the most awesome Tony Stark ever. I'm not a big comic book fan or anything (I have no clue what "Make Mine Marvel" means) but I've always enjoyed the comic book movies. I'm sure most of you have seen this movie by now but if you haven't go do so.

Baby Mama: This was a good movie for SNL fans and anyone who enjoys an entertaining comedy flick. Amy Poehler's act can grow stale sometimes but I found her to be funny in this movie and I always find Tina Fey funny. I thought it became a little predictable but whatever, most movies are predictable nowadays anyway.

Harold & Kumar 2: If you enjoyed the first one, you'll enjoy this one. I thought the first one was loads better and this movie wasn't even needed but movie companies nowadays just love to do sequels for the sake of doing sequels. The movie had its moments but it's pretty forgettable overall, especially compared to the first one.

What Happens In Vegas: I didn't hate this movie so that's a plus. It's a nice little popcorn flick but that's about it. Pretty much what you see in the preview is what you get. It's not great but I don't think it's as bad as some make it out to be. Kutcher has his niche audience and you know what you get with Diaz. If you've seen everything else, this isn't a bad choice.

Overseas Training

Results from World Victory Road: Sengoku 2:

-Satoru Kitaoka def. Ian James Schaffa via Submission (guillotine choke) in Round 1

-Mike Pyle def. Dan Hornbuckle via Submission (triangle choke) in Round 1

-Eiji Mitsuoka def. Kwang Hee Lee via Submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1

-Jorge Santiago def. Yuki Sasaki via Submission (arm bar) in Round 3

-Yoshihiro Nakao def. Jim York via KO in Round 2

-Kevin Randleman def. Ryo Kawamura via Unanimous Decision

-Roger Gracie def. Yuki Kondo via Submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1

-Josh Barnett def. Jeff Monson via Unanimous Decision

Quite the night of submissions. I thought Josh Barnett looked good, not great, against a tough Jeff Monson. I think if the fight goes another 20 seconds or so, Barnett finishes him with the heel hook. It really was a bad match up for Barnett though as Monson is tough to finish due to his short stocky build and both guys are good friends. We'll see how Barnett looks against Pedro Rizzo as that should be a telling fight. If he dominates and finishes Rizzo like he probably should then he has nothing to worry about and it should set up a Fedor vs. Barnett fight. If he looks like he did in this fight though and he has a tough time with Rizzo, more questions will likely be raised.

Roger Gracie looked strong against the much smaller Yuki Kondo so I don't know how much you can take away from this fight. Gracie obviously has the pedigree to do big things in this sport, it's just a matter of if he wants to or not. Hopefully he fights someone more his size and skill level in one of his next fights and then we can better gauge just how good he is.

Let me recap the Kevin Randleman fight for you: Randleman goes for a big right hand, he gets Kawamura's back on the feet, he goes for the german suplex but doesn't get it, Kawamura's tries for a standing kimura, Randleman turns out of it, rinse and repeat. If you saw one round of this fight, you saw every round of this fight. I'd be happy if I never saw Kevin Randleman again.

Jorge Santiago continues to be on quite the streak. After going 1-2 in the UFC, he's now won 5 straight fights. He was in a bit of trouble early in the fight but he kept his composure and ended up submitting his opponent. Maybe he'll find his way back to the UFC and hopefully he has better luck in his next go round.

Training Partners

Randy Harrison, Adam Tool, Wendell Mitchell, BREN~!, Justin Thomas, and Morgan Marx bring the news.

Alex Mattis breaks down Sherk vs. Penn and Silva vs. Jardine, Ryan Seymour talks Affliction, TUF, and Tito Ortiz, Lofti Sariahmed leaves with a HUGE summer preview, BREN~! presents MMA Fact or Fiction featuring Adam Tool And Brad Imes, and Adam Tool profiles BJ Penn.

Matt McEwen reviews UFC 41: Onslaught featuring a time when Tim Sylvia finished fights while Randy Harrison reviews PRIDE 6 featuring Sakuraba, Kerr, and Ogawa.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That wraps it up for me folks. I return next week with a HUGE review of UFC 84 as well as a preview of EXC on CBS and Faber vs. Pulver. You're now ready to go 5 Rounds with Randy tomorrow. Take care.

Cardio Freak Sources: Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly, MMAWeekly, and MMAMania