Cardio Freak MMA News Report 5.29.08: In The National Spotlight

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 05.29.2008

Cardio Freak is back with another HUGE report. UFC 84 is in the books and many questions were answered. BJ Penn is the top Lightweight in the UFC, Wanderlei Silva is back, and Tito Ortiz may not be done. Plus a preview of EXC on CBS featuring Kimbo Slice in the main event and the biggest fight in WEC history between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber. Also the latest news on UFC 87, DREAM 4, Affliction, and Adrenaline MMA and of course UFC 85: DOOMED~! It's more enigmatic than Keith Jardine, it's Cardio Freak here on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘I Give My Best' Lambert.

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Penn retains 155 crown

There should be no doubt in your mind: BJ Penn is the best Lightweight in the world. He didn't get a chance to show off his world-class ground game but he did show off his world class striking. Sean Sherk had a puzzling gameplan to many but if you saw Jeremy Horn vs. Chuck Liddell at UFC 54: Boiling Point then it made a little bit of sense. Horn's strategy in that fight was to stand with Liddell, tire him out early, and take him out late. Sean Sherk seemed to have the same strategy and actually, it went exactly like Liddell vs. Horn. Horn's strategy seemed great…until he got hit. That's the biggest risk when you try and stand with a striker when your game isn't up to par with theirs. It may tire them out but once you get hit, the damage done to you is a lot worse than them possibly tiring out in the later rounds. BJ Penn connected with jab after jab while Sherk came up short with most of his punches. When Sherk did connect, they seemed powerful, but Penn has a great chin. I think Sherk was doing well in the clinch because his short arms were able to connect with Penn's head but in the pocket, Penn was picking him apart.

Penn finally put Sherk away with a great combo capped off by a huge knee. Sherk crumbled, Penn pounced, and although BJ Penn stopped the fight as the horn went, the ref probably should have stopped the fight when he was initially thinking about it. I don't know if the ref actually stopped the fight or if Penn sold it so well that the fight was just stopped but it was definitely a weird situation at the end there. Again, I think the fight should have been stopped when the ref looked like he was going to stop it but if Sherk really could continue (and to be fair, he didn't put up much of a protest) then I think he got a raw deal.

Many were wrong about Sherk's strategy and we shouldn't have been. Sherk seemed like he wanted to have that "Eff You" Fight instead of fighting his fight. Sherk catches a lot of shit for a lot of reasons but one thing you would never say about him before this fight is, "Sean Sherk is a dumb fighter." I think in this fight, Sean Sherk was a dumb fighter. Sherk knows his limits and before this fight he never over stepped those limits. You knew he was going to take you down, it was just a matter of stopping it and most people couldn't stop it. It's like he had something to prove in this fight and the only thing he proved is that he can take one hell of a beating. Outside of the opening seconds where he half-assed a takedown, he stood up, came up short with most of his hooks, and never changed levels. Sherk stated in the post-fight press conference that, "I wanted to show off my boxing." Good job Sean, good job. Sherk may have gained some fans tonight because he chose to stand and trade instead of taking the fight to the ground and if gaining back fans or gaining new fans is more important than winning to him then good for him. I think the bigger "Eff You" gameplan would have been to try and takedown Penn and grind him out for five rounds. That could have won him the fight and that would have been saying, "You said I couldn't takedown BJ Penn and win without steroids and I did." My hats off to Sean Sherk though. I'm still not a fan of his and he's still on my "Eff Off" List with Tim Sylvia and Karo Parisyan but he at least earned my respect with this fight. I'm sure that means a lot to him.

UFC runs a risk with Sean Sherk now. He's very much in the Rich Franklin position where he can seemingly beat almost everyone in the division except the champion. Now they could still pull the rematch card between Penn and Sherk and I don't think many people would complain because not many complained about Silva vs. Franklin 2 despite the one sided first fight. There were plenty excuses like, "Rich didn't look himself in the first fight, he'll be better prepared this time" heading into the rematch and you could easily make a case that Sherk, while looking perfectly fine, just implemented a bad gameplan and if they fought again, he would actually play to his strength. If they do rematch and Penn wins again then I don't know what UFC does with Sherk.

As for BJ Penn, what can you say? His jab was pinpoint in this fight and the ending knee was beautiful. He didn't looked gassed in this fight although I think trying to stuff the takedown would have burned his cardio faster than continuing to connect with the jab. Penn talked about fighting Georges St. Pierre but I think that's a horrible idea. Don't get me wrong; I would love to see a Penn vs. St. Pierre rematch but BJ Penn at 155 is the best BJ Penn. I'm sure with his new training he'll be fine at 170 because he was fine at 170 when he half-assed his training but the 155 division is so stacked right now that I think he needs to defend the belt some more. The winner of Roger Huerta vs. Kenny Florian is a very interesting match up for Penn and one I want to see. After that fight and after St. Pierre fights Jon Fitch, maybe Penn and St. Pierre get matched up but certainly not before. As I mentioned in the Silva vs. St. Pierre article a few weeks ago, I'm not a fan of champions from different weight classes fighting each other. I just think there's too much of a risk and not enough of a reward.

Did Penn vs. Sherk live up to the hype? It's tough to say. It certainly wasn't the greatest 155 fight ever like the hype stated but then again, who believed that? It was a good fight though. It didn't go like many people expected but maybe that was for the best. Had Penn taken out Sherk early, the cardio questions would still be there. Had Sherk grinded out Penn, the boring chants would have been there. Instead some things were proven in this fight. Penn showed that his cardio is much improved, despite the fact that he wasn't as tested as many thought he would be and Sherk showed that he has strong hands although his reach is going to be a disadvantage. It was a good main event though and I wasn't disappointed.

In the other "bring the house lights down" fight of the night, THE AXE MURDERER RETURNED~! I didn't really get a chance to express my love for Wanderlei Silva after UFC 79: Nemesis because he was fighting Chuck Liddell and my love for Chuck eclipses my love for any other fighter. A lot of love in that previous sentence. Anyway, I love Wanderlei Silva. His accent and mannerisms give him a goofy charisma and this man just loves to fight and he doesn't care who he fights. During the introduction, he gave this goofy smile to the camera and my only thought was, "THIS MAN RULES~!" and rule he did. Everyone knew that the style was going to make this fight. Either Jardine's size and reach was going to be too much for Silva or Silva's aggressiveness was going to be too much for Jardine. We all saw what happened. To say that Wanderlei Silva destroyed Keith Jardine may in fact be an understatement. Wanderlei Silva…murdered Keith Jardine. As the fight ended and Silva celebrated, Jardine laid on the mat almost in a stretcher position and barely moving. The Axe Murderer returned to the form that made him the scariest man in MMA. He rushed Jardine, ate a leg kick, and then knocked him out. On the ground it looked as if he knocked Jardine out cold and then Jardine suddenly came to life, only to be knocked out could again.

Wanderlei Silva is now back in the W column and I couldn't be happier. Not only am I happy that Silva got the victory but I'm happy that he did so in such a quick fashion. He obviously won't be fighting on the June, July, or August card, which means it's possible he'll be on the September card. That of course means that I'll hopefully see Wanderlei Silva live in Atlanta against possibly Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, or Chuck Liddell. I can't even begin to dream about seeing Liddell vs. Silva 2 live but if it happens, I'll likely die from over-marking. I'm getting ahead of myself though. At the post-event press conference, Dana White was asked about Silva dropped to 185 and White responded with, "there's one interesting match-up at 185, there's a bunch at 205" so don't expect Silva to drop down any time soon. I know I soured upon Silva's walk in music at UFC 79 calling it something out of DDR but after hearing it around hockey rinks across the US, I've come around to it. It was certainly better than whatever Jardine was walking out to.

Speaking of Jardine, I don't know what to make of him. It's not a fluke when you beat Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell and there's no shame in losing to Wanderlei Silva but he's got Kendall Grove Syndrome. If you rush him, get inside, and punch him then he's going to fall. It's almost like Jardine breaks if you put any type of pressure on him. In the Griffin and Liddell fights, there was no pressure on him. He was given to Forrest because he had a good showing against Bonnar and he liked to strike. It was figured that Forrest would just out strike him and that obviously didn't happen. He was given to Chuck because they wanted to build Chuck back up and they knew Jardine would strike with him and it was figured that Chuck would just knock him out. That didn't happen. Against Houston Alexander, the pressure was on him to destroy this guy that nobody had heard of and he collapsed. Against Wanderlei Silva, the pressure was on him to beat back-to-back legends and earn a title shot. He collapsed. The next fight will be very interesting for Jardine and where he's at mentally. No matter who he faces, there's going to be pressure on him. It's up to him to beat that pressure and not collapse again.

In the final big fight of the night, Lyoto Machida proved me wrong and stayed unbeaten. Tito Ortiz was undoubtedly bigger than Ortiz but his size and strength was no match for Machida's quickness. Ortiz was obviously frustrated with Machida in the 2nd round but what can you do? Machida buckled Ortiz in the 3rd with beautiful knee and went in for the kill but Ortiz survived. Ortiz may have exposed a hole in Machida's game though as he was able to catch Machida is a triangle choke that almost won him the fight. I think he screwed up when he decided to switch from the triangle to the armbar because as much as Rogan sold it, the armbar never really looked there. I know Ortiz has an underrated ground game that he never likes to use it but there's something to be said about a guy that lets Tito Ortiz catch you in a submission. That something is either: he never thought Ortiz would go for a submission so he just didn't worry about it or he can be caught and finished by an expert BJJ artist.

The talk before and after this fight is that Machida is boring and that this was a boring fight. I ask; you expected something different? I told you it would be a boring fight outside of the hype for Tito Ortiz and it was. Machida is a special kind of boring though. He's not Tim Sylvia boring because when Sylvia fights, he fights more not to lose than to win. Machida fights to win; he just has a boring way of doing so. A lot of fans hate him for it but I can't hate him when it's obvious that he's trying to win fights. It's not like there's any shame in not finishing Tito Ortiz. People are also giving Machida shit for running and "pulling a Kalib Starnes" and that's laughable. Kalib Starnes ran from Nate Quarry when Quarry had his hands down and running after him. When Ortiz dropped his hands in frustration, he got punched in the face. Machida doesn't run, he picks his spots, usually connects with everything he throws, and then moves away. It's not the most exciting style of fighting but the fact that no one has been able to counter it yet makes it pretty effective. Ortiz had his chances in this fight. He was able to grab Machida a couple of times but every time he got his hands around him, Machida was able to either break away or once he was able to take him down. I'm not sure why I continue to doubt Machida other than I'm a moron. The guy is obviously talented, he trains with champions Anderson Silva and Antonio Nogueira, and he's sponsored by Chuck Liddell. I'll likely continue to be a moron and doubt Machida but at least I'm consistent.

The UFC is in a tight situation with Machida now. It's obvious they don't want to push him too hard as evidence by having him fight Sokoudjou at UFC 79 when UFC fans didn't really know Sokoudjou and hardcore fans looked at him as a fluke knockout artist. Now he just fought Tito Ortiz who was fighting his last contractual fight and has been buried by the UFC President in the weeks leading up as a guy who just isn't very good anymore. I don't think they want to give him a title shot but at the same time I don't think they want to risk any of their big contenders (Liddell, Shogun, Silva) against him. I think the safest route to go with him is have him face someone like Thiago Silva, who can beat him because he's that awesome, or Rashad Evans, who I don't think the UFC is completely sold on either. If Machida wins, then it will be tough to deny him a shot at the title or at least a top contender but if he loses then they can put him on the back burner. The great thing about Machida is that he makes a great pro-wrestling heel. The majority of the audience hates this guy because they find him boring. If someone can finally figure him out and beat him, they're going to get a HUGE pop and almost be made into a star, especially if they finish him.

As for Tito Ortiz and his last UFC fight, what can you say? Wrestling fans were throwing around the theory that this fight would be a lot like Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Survivor Series a.k.a. the Montreal Screwjob. And it had everything a pro-wrestling match has, including a ref bump that made even Vince Russo mark out. It almost had a screwjob moment as well. At the end of the 1st round when Machida was pounding on Ortiz, the ref looked awfully close to stopping it and if you didn't hear the horn, you would have thought that he did stop the fight. I was just waiting to hear, "RING THE FUCKING BELL!" from the outside but it never came about it. Thank God.

Where does Tito Ortiz go from here? I said it last week and I'll say it again: "If Ortiz loses I think he swallows his pride and stays with the company." In his post-fight interview, he sure seemed like he was willing to stay if he and Dana could somehow get along. According to live reports, Tito wasn't even supposed to get a post-fight interview but he stayed in the cage and Rogan just talked to him. I'm not completely buying that because if Ortiz just stayed in the cage, knowing he wasn't going to get interviewed, in a type of protest, security would have been all over him. Ortiz also started some controversy at the post-event press conference by trying to hold his own press conference. If there was ever any doubt as to who wears the pants in the Jenna/Tito relationship, we now know. When Ortiz was seemingly willing to leave, Jenna said, "No Tito, you stay. You earned this" and Ortiz stayed. Cooler heads prevailed and Ortiz was a part of the actual UFC post-event press conference where much of the attention was geared towards Dana and Tito.

As I said, I think Ortiz will be back. He may wait and see how EXC on CBS goes and if the company does a strong rating, he'll probably compete there for a while but I'm not even sure they have a Light Heavyweight division. If the EXC on CBS rating tanks, I think there's no way Ortiz goes there, even if they offer him a large amount of money. As I said last week, Ortiz could make more money on a per fight basis in EXC or Affliction but he's not going to get the exposure that he gets in the UFC. Ortiz is adamant that he's still a fighter (at least for 3 more years) and despite Dana's claims, he still wants to be the best. If that's true, the best Light Heavyweights are in the UFC.

Goran Reljic impressed in his UFC debut, knocking off Wilson Gouveia. I thought Reljic could do good things in the division but that Gouveia was a tough match up. Now that he got by Gouveia, I stand by my statement that Reljic could do good things. He showed some good striking in this fight, mainly with a strong high kick. He never set up the high kick and if he had, maybe every one of them wouldn't have been blocked. His offense was based completely from the left side and smarter fighter would have recognized that and adapted their gameplan. For some reason Gouveia didn't do that. I thought this fight would be a stalemate on the ground but that Gouveia would get the better of the striking. Well, the one time it hit the ground, it pretty much was a stalement. Looking back it looks like Gouveia would have been better off on the ground. I guess he fell in love with the idea of knocking guys out after he KOed Jason Lambert and he went away from his bread and butter.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Thiago Silva get dropped by a blocked high kick in his fight against Antonio Mendes. Luckily, Thiago got back up, took down Mendes, mounted him, and pounded him out. Silva has one hell of a mount by the way. If he gets the fight to the ground and mounts you, the ref might as well just call the fight right there. Mendes even tried to give his back a couple of times but Silva just wanted to pound him from the mount. Mendes must have some crazy power in his high kick because Silva blocked it and it still dropped him. Silva showed that he could recover from being knocked down though and maybe it's good that the fight played out like it did. I'm not saying getting knocked down is a good thing but I think it woke up Silva, who could have easily fallen into Keith Jardine Mode in this fight. Mendes may have earned himself another UFC fight just off the high kick but from the moment I saw this man, I wanted him to get his ass kicked. I'm not in a position to make fun of anyone based on appearance even though my mom tells me I look like Johnny Depp but just the shape of Mendes' head and his messed up smile made me think, "I hope Thiago Silva kills this man."

Speaking of killing men, Shane Carwin made his UFC debut by nearly killing Christian Wellisch. I've been really impressed with Carwin and Cain Velasquez in their debuts simply because it seems like they have something to prove. Both guys are known wrestlers but in their octagon debuts, they've stood with their opponents and knocked them out. I know I just harped on Sherk for going away from his basic instinct and standing with BJ Penn but that's a completely different situation. Sherk has never been known for his power while if you listen to anyone in the camp of Carwin or Cain, they'll tell you that they hit like a Mack truck and Sean Sherk was standing with BJ FUCKING PENN not Christian Wellisch or Brad Morris. Both of these men will likely be thrown in there against top competition now since the Heavyweight division is starving for new talent at the top. Hopefully they have better luck than Brock Lesnar.

Rich Clementi continued his winning ways by grinding out a decision against Terry Etim. I don't know if the short layoff effected Clementi but he didn't show much desire to be in this fight. His striking didn't look as strong as it did against Sam Stout and he seemed content of taking down Etim and punching him from the guard. Etim looked a lot better in this fight than he did against Gleison Tibau and I hope he gets one more fight in the UFC before they let him go. As mentioned last week, I think Clementi was smart to take this fight and although he didn't look overly impressive, a win on such a short turnaround can only help him.

Alright, time to eat some crow here because I was dead wrong when it came to Jon Koppenhaver against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Now, while I called it wrong last week in the column and in the UFC 84 Roundtable, I actually changed my pick on UFC Fantasy after hearing more about Yoshida. So while I did look like a fool, I corrected my mistake before it happened. Yoshida looked good in this fight but didn't get a chance to show off his striking. Koppenhaver isn't the most skilled fighter but he showed his heart (or lack of a brain) by passing out instead of tapping out to the beautiful anaconda choke. I was actually waiting for Koppenhaver's arm to fully be raised and begin to drop before he kept it up, waved his finger in the air, and start the babyface comeback but it never happened. What a shame. I don't know how far Yoshida can go at 170 because that division is so deep but he's certainly a welcome addition to the division.

Dong Hun Kim likely knocked Jason Tan back out of the UFC with the quickest elbows you'll ever see. Tito Ortiz throws a lot of elbows in a 25-minute fight; Dong Hyun Kim probably threw more elbows that Ortiz in just over 10 minutes. He threw rapid elbows to the side of the head of Tan in the 1st round and finished Tan off with rapid elbows on the ground in the 3rd round. Tan once again tried to throw a lot of kicks when the fight was standing and Tan once again failed to do any damage with those kicks. He'll likely go back to fighting on smaller shows before UFC gives him another chance. As for Dong, he's another welcome addition to the division and it will be interesting to see how far he goes.

Sokoudjou finally lived up to some of the hype with an impressive knockout of Kazuhiro Nakamura. Nakamura seemed to be walking around ok after the fight but his leg obviously looked in bad shape after being dropped by Sokoudjou. Speaking of legs in bad shape, Sokoudjou's leg seemed to be in bad shape by how it was wrapped it. It didn't seem to affect his performance too much so that's good. I'm not sure if Nakamura will be released by the UFC after another loss just because of his experience and the fact that he makes for a pretty good gatekeeper who has more to his record than, "beat Jeremy Horn" but I wouldn't be shocked if he was released. As for Sokoudjou, he looked a lot more comfortable in this fight than he did against Machida. In the fight with Machida, he looked calm because it looked as if he was hanging out with Nick Diaz before the fight. In this fight, he looked calm because he knew what he had to do and he knew that he could do it. As for calling out Mauricio ‘Shogun' Rua after the fight…ok, he was hanging with Nick Diaz before this fight as well. He's not fighting Shogun in his next fight (although if they want to put it on the September card then I'm all for it) because Shogun will be fighting a Top 6 fighter in his next fight. It's a fight that could happen down the road but Shogun's probably going to have to lose his next fight and Sokoudjou will have to win his next fight.

Finally, Rousimar Palhares earned the Submission of the Night by tapping out veteran Ivan Salaverry with a beautiful arm bar. Palhares was in total control of this fight from start to finish and displayed some excellent BJJ. He got a nice trip takedown into side control, quickly mounted, got the back, battled to get the rear naked choke, and then awesomely transitioned into an arm bar for the victory. It was a good run for Ivan Salaverry but it's got to be time for the man to hang up his gloves. I'm not one to tell a fighter when to retire but Salaverry's heart just doesn't seem into fighting anymore. Everyone claims that a world-class BJJ fighter will be the guy to defeat Anderson Silva but I don't think that man is Palahares. Silva is a lot tougher to takedown than Salaverry and the short stocky build of Palhares won't be able to contend with Silva on the feet. It will be interesting to see how far Palhares can go in the division and this was a nice win for him but lets not get ahead of ourselves. He beat a guy who clearly doesn't want to fight anymore and people are already matching him against Anderson Silva. That either speaks to the skill of Palhares or the quality of the division. I'll got with the latter.

UFC 84: Ill Will was another impressive show from the UFC and they've yet to disappoint on PPV this year. BJ Penn claimed the crown at 155, Wanderlei Silva returned to Axe Murderer form, Lyoto Machida continued his elusiveness, Tito Ortiz actually got to say good-bye, and a slew of fighters were impressive in their debut. It's a quick turnaround for the company as they're back on PPV in less than two weeks. Hopefully UFC 85: DOOMED~! lives up to the expectations set by no one.

Kimbo Slice headlines MMA on a national stage

EliteXC takes center stage this Saturday when they debut on CBS. Unless you count the IFL on MyNetworkTV (and you probably don't) then EXC is the first MMA promotion to have a primetime slot on a major television network. It will be headlined by Kimbo Slice and James Thompson. Two guys with a combined record of 16-8 in professional MMA fights are headlining the first ever primetime MMA event on a major network.

The feeling going into this night is that the show needs to do around a 3.0 for CBS to continue to produce future shows. CBS is really hoping that the show does well in the 18-49 males audience, as that is their target demographic. EXC would really hope to surpass a 4.7 rating, a number set by UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion on SpikeTV last September. To say this is a huge event for EXC and MMA would be an understatement. EXC lost 27 million dollars last year and if the rating tanks on CBS, they likely won't get another show on the network and they'll lose even more money considering they're putting most of their eggs in the CBS basket. It may also prove that UFC is the only game in town and that MMA doesn't draw, UFC draws.

The main headliner is Kimbo Slice, a fighter with a 7-1 street fighting record and 2-0 MMA record. He's gotten a lot of publicity since joining the MMA community thanks in large part to his YouTube backyard brawls. Slice is the guy that fans and fighters either love because of his charisma, knockouts, and seriousness about the sport or they hate because of how he broke into the sport and how he's been protected. As a guy who likes to see geeks get knocked out, I'm a fan of Kimbo. I do think that his drawing power is overrated though. People made a big deal when the numbers camee out for EXC: Street Certified and it showed that 500,000 people watched Kimbo on Showtime. That's big and everything but lets not forget that just weeks prior, 500,000 people PAID to see Brock Lesnar fight. Kimbo Slice might be the biggest non-UFC draw but just how big is he? I guess we'll find out when the rating comes in.

One thing that is proven in the Thompson vs. Slice battle is the jaw of James Thompson. It's proven to be just as dependent as Chris Webber in big games. This fight was obviously set up to give Kimbo another quick win, make him look like the biggest and baddest MMA fighter in the world, and do it in front of their largest audience ever. Thompson proves no threat to Kimbo and Gary Shaw knows this. It's tough to question Shaw's intentions though. Despite a roster filled with MMA and UFC veterans and guys the hardcore fans know, Kimbo Slice is the biggest draw in the company. While the UFC failed to protect Lesnar by throwing him against a former UFC Champion and a style that matched up badly with Lesnar, EXC has fed Kimbo Slice guys where his bushy beard sweats more than him. It's a smart strategy by Shawn for the time being. Eventually though fans are going to want to see Kimbo fight actual competition, especially if they continue to push him as the main event guy.

There's no mystery to this fight. I think Thompson might try a takedown or a clinch but his lack of skill in those departments will make it easy for Kimbo to defend. Thompson is skilled on his feet but it's tough to go toe-to-toe with another striker when his chin is iron and yours is jello. I figure Kimbo knocks him out within the first two minutes, celebrates, and then cuts an awesome promo.

The other big draw on the card is Gina Carano. It's like the Democratic Party now that I think about it. Carano battles Kaitlin Young, a fighter coming off a loss. Like Kimbo, the idea is to push Carano into mainstream superstardom because she's already well known as Crush on American Gladiators, she's the most beautiful fighter since Forrest Griffin, and she's talented. This is a dangerous fight for Carano though because even she's admitted that she hasn't had much time to train due to her previous commitments. Carano is going to want to stand and trade with Young but she showed some submission skills in her last fight and she might takedown Young and submit her. Carano is a muy thai fighter first though and she holds the advantage standing. I'll pick Carano by TKO in the first round.

The rest of the card is filled with some well-known MMA fighters, all of whom like to stand and bang. Robbie Lawler puts the EXC Middleweight Title on the line against Scott Smith in a fight that is sure to deliver a big knockout. Robbie Lawler hasn't fought since last September so you have to wonder if there's going to be any cage rust. He hasn't been off filming The Ultimate Fighter either, he's been in and out of fights with one injury or another. Scott Smith was tentative in his first EXC fight but he got over those jitters in the 2nd round to a deliver a stinging knockout to Kyle Noke. These two guys are going to trade punches, someone is going to fall, and my guess is that it will be Scott Smith.

Brett Rogers, the guy who beats James Thompson in his last fight, is also on the card. He faces ‘Generic Name' Jon Murphy, probably most known for losing to Houston Alexander before it sucked to lose to Houston Alexander. I don't know how many people care about this fight but my guess is it's limited to: the fighters, their camps, and their families. Brett Rogers has a nice look to him and seems to be a good knockout artist but it's going to be tough for him to do anything in EXC with Shaw's protective booking of Kimbo. Jon Murphy doesn't have much going for him so I expect him to be knocked out early.

Finally, Phil Baroni promises to show up for one round as he takes on Joey Villasenor. In a battle of awesome quotes and great moments, I would take Phil Baroni. In a fight that has the potential to last more than five minutes, I've got to take Joey Villasenor. My only problem with Villasenor is that he trains with Greg Jackson and I'm having nightmares about Wanderlei Silva coming into Jackson's camp and murdering everyone the night before they fight. There's also the theory that Jackson fighters can't get over the hump (Georges St. Pierre lost his first fight under Jackson. He's been on a roll since then but he's Georges Fucking St. Pierre) but lets be real, Phil Baroni isn't a hump. He's a mediocre fighter who gets by on more show than talent. I'll take Villasenor with a submission in the 2nd.

Leave it to a boxing promoter to put on a bunch of striking match ups on a MMA show. I'm not knocking it by any means because us Americans love our violence. Fact is, casual and new MMA fans would much rather see a knockout than a slick submission. In a perfect world, every fight would have an ending, every fight would be exciting, Gina Carano would win, and Kimbo Slice would win. The MMA world is not perfect and if it were, it still may not be enough for EXC on CBS to survive. I don't watch much CBS except for March Madness and that's long gone. They ran a good number of promos for the show during March Madness but how many people remember them? I know the programming on CBS pretty well because my parents watch all the shows like How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory and it seems like older people watch those shows and I don't know how many of those people will watch EXC. I think this show comes at a bad time for EXC because CBS isn't running any sporting events. If CBS had some major sporting events running, they could run EXC promos during those games, knowing their target audience (18-49 males) would be watching.

Honestly, I think this show is going to be under the 3.0 mark set by CBS officials. We're just days away from this show and there seems to be no buzz for it. ESPN is putting a little bit of promotion into the show but it's certainly not as much hype as they put into Jackson vs. Liddell and I would say that it's really on par with the hype they give most UFC events and I don't think that ESPN sells many PPVs for UFC. I also think that this event just falls on a bad night. If the San Antonio Spurs win another game against the Los Angeles Lakers then Game 6 will be on Saturday. If the Detroit Red Wings win Game 3 on Wednesday then they'll have a chance to clinch the Stanley Cup on Saturday. I think it's going to be tough for a non-established MMA company to go against two big sporting events and take away viewers. That also creates a problem with sports bars and what they're going to televise. They're also up against Chuck Liddell Night on SpikeTV, which I don't think is that big of a deal but it could take some viewers away. Reports indicate that ticket sales aren't so great for this event and that EXC is offering discounts on tickets in order to fill some seats.

Personally, I'm not all that excited about this card. I'm a big fan of Kimbo Slice and I love to see him beat up geeks but just not in the main event. I think the first Kimbo show was great because he was in the semi-main event while an evenly matched MMA fight headlined the card. The Kimbo vs. Tank card worked because it was New Street Fighter vs. Old Street Fighter with both guys talking shit. This time it's solely Kimbo and no one gives a fuck about James Thompson. I think most of the fights should be good, especially Smith vs. Lawler, but I'm just not all that excited about them.

Faber and Pulver: The Biggest WEC Ever

The biggest fight of the weekend may not be on CBS. Versus is holding another live WEC event but this time instead of stacking the card with two or three title fights, they're putting on one mega fight. Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver clash in what's being dubbed as, "The Greatest Cagefight Ever". I doubt it will be the greatest cagefight ever but it's certainly the biggest WEC fight to date.

From the moment Jens Pulver said he was moving back down to 145 after his loss to BJ Penn, everyone was ready to match him up with Urijah Faber for the WEC Featherweight title. Everyone except WEC that is. They decided to give Faber one more title defense and Pulver one introduction fight on the same card. Pulver defeated Cub Swanson with a darce choke while Faber tapped out Jeff Curran with a guillotine choke. After their victories, everyone knew it would lead to a showdown.

Urijah Faber has been pretty much unstoppable in the WEC and in his career. He's only lost once his entire career and that was to Tyson Griffin. Since that fight he's won 12 straight fights including five in the WEC. Of his 20 wins, only two have gone to a decision. He's widely considered the best Featherweight in the world and for good reason. Jens Pulver comes into this fight undefeated at 145, racking up 8 victories and finishing every fight. He's better known for his time in the UFC as the Lightweight Champion and for defeating BJ Penn when BJ Penn looked unstoppable.

Faber comes into this fight as a heavy favorite and for good reason. He's younger, stronger, and faster than Pulver. In many ways, this is a "passing of the torch" fight although you could easily claim that Faber already has the torch. Faber is a well-rounded fighter so he should be comfortable no matter where the fight takes place. He likes to finish his fights with a guillotine choke so Pulver has to be very weary of that. If this fight hits the ground, the clear advantage goes to Faber. He's a great submission grappler and he spent weeks training with BJ Penn before this fight. Faber is also one of the few guys who can think on his feet. We saw it in a previous fight where he pulled off the jumping knee before Yves Edwards earned a title shot with the same move. Jens Pulver has a very good wrestling background so he'll be tough to takedown. Faber does a good job of using his hands to set up his takedowns though and if Faber gets a hold of you, chances are you're going down. Jens also has an improved ground game but I don't know if it's improved enough to hang with Faber. The one feather in his cap is that it took BJ Penn seven rounds to tap out Jens Pulver. I know if the 2nd round went 3 seconds longer in their first fight that he was likely done but the bell saved him. He has good submission defense but that was a younger Jens Pulver.

Pulver's best shot in this fight is to keep it standing. Faber has good stand up but it's used more to set up his takedowns than anything. He's got decent power but I don't think he has knockout power in his hands like Pulver has in his left hand. Jens has talked about taking this fight into the deep waters, much like he did against BJ Penn. The problem with that is the fact that BJ Penn half-assed his training back then and he thought he won the fight after the 2nd round. Urijah Faber isn't going to gas in the fight like Penn did back then. I like the gameplan Jens has said he's going to implement though. He obviously wants to keep it standing but he said that he wants to get inside, clinch, and dirty box. If he can do that effectively, he could pull out a decision in this fight. Faber has an excellent chin so even if Jens connects with his powerful left hand, it may not knock down Faber. Pulver has the advantage in the experience department. Not only has he had more fights but he's also been in the cage with top guys like BJ Penn and Takanori Gomi.

Prediction: Urijah Faber taps out Jens Pulver in the 3rd round. There's a lot of pressure on these two to deliver a strong showing. It's the most hyped WEC event on Versus and word is that Versus officials are hoping for a 1.0 rating. They're at Arco Arena in Sacramento for this event instead of the lobby of a casino. Versus has been airing excellent promos for this fight, not only during the Stanley Cup Finals but I've also seen some during commercials of other shows I watch, like WWE Raw. They dedicated an hour of TV time before and after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals to air a Countdown Special, much like the UFC shows. The network has gone above and beyond in promoting this fight and now it's up to Faber and Pulver to put on a good showing.

Playing to Your Strengths

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch for the UFC Welterweight Title is scheduled to headline UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. Heath Herring replaces Mark Coleman in a fight against Brock Lesnar

Glad to see the card get a title fight as it would have been a shame if 2 of the 4 summer events went without a 5 round bout. I'm not sure if Coleman's injury almost forced UFC to put this bout on the card or if this was the plan the whole time. My guess is that it was the plan the whole time because I think UFC knew a 44 year old fighter who has been away for nearly two years vs. a fighter coming off a loss and having a 1-1 pro record just wasn't main event caliber. This is also the perfect card to put this fight on because while I don't believe Jon Fitch is a huge draw, I know Georges St. Pierre and Brock Lesnar are huge draws so they should easily make up for the lack of casual fans drawn in by Fitch.

I don't know how much of a threat Jon Fitch is to GSP because GSP has handled every wrestler he's ever faced outside of the first fight with Matt Hughes but in today's MMA, anyone can beat anyone.

Herring replace Coleman could end up being bad news for the UFC. Coleman was looked at as a Hall of Fame fighter with some name value who Lesnar should easily beat in a "Passing of the Torch" fight. Herring won't be that easy victory. If Lesnar truly is "The Next Big Thing" then he should beat Herring but Herring is a gamer. He doesn't have the submission skills of Frank Mir but he's a solid all around fighter. It will probably work out better for the UFC if Lesnar beats Herring over Coleman because Herring is such a gamer and it will show just how for real Lesnar is. If Herring wins though, it puts the company in a tough situation. Herring isn't getting a title shot as long as Nogueira is the champion and Lesnar losing two straight just looks like a waste of money.

Recently Added Fights to Cards

*UFC 87: Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson, Clay Guida vs. Mac Danzig

*The Ultimate Finale 7: Alessio Sakara vs. Rob Yundt

*Ultimate Fight Night 14: Ed Herman vs. Alan Belcher, Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer

UFC 87 is shaping up to be quite the card with the Welterweight Title Fight, Brock Lesnar, Huerta vs. Florian, and now CLAY GUIDA~! Guida vs. Danzig should be a hell of a fight as you know Guida brings it and Danzig's heart will not allow him to lose. I don't care too much about Emerson vs. Gamburyan because I can't stand Gamburyan and I really don't care either way about Emerson. I actually want Gamburyan to win though just because I do think he deserves another shot at Nate Diaz. Sakara vs. Yundt could be a fun battle on the feet but really The Ultimate Finale 7 is doing nothing for me. Ed Herman vs. Alan Belcher could be a fun fight and Herman doesn't have to worry about getting caught with a submission. Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer is a "Loser Leaves the Company" fight as Schafer is returning after already being cut for losing 2 straight in the UFC and Alexander has lost 2 straight so he can't afford another one. Mixed bag of fights there but…CLAY GUIDA~!

UFC 85: DOOMED~! Update:

*Neil Wain is off the card with no reason given. Eddie Sanchez will replace him in his fight against Antonio Hardonk.

*Ryo Chonan is also off the card with no reason given. Kevin Burns replaces him in a bout against Roan Carneiro

I think it's official: No one wants to fight in England. I never want to see Eddie Sanchez fight again after his performance and attitude at UFC 79: Nemesis so I pray Hardonk knocks him out. Chonan being off the card sucks but the fact that Kevin ‘The Fire' Burns (GET IT?!?!?!?!) is replacing him. This card is now filled with awesome nicknames like Kevin ‘The Fire' Burns and Jason ‘Dooms' Day. Awesome stuff.

At the post-event press conference, Dana White said that UFC will be in Hawaii in 2009. The plan is to hold the event in a stadium and headline the show with BJ Penn

BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre at a stadium in Hawaii would be HUGE! I would actually be ok with the idea of Champion vs. Champion if they were doing to do this. Still not a fan of the idea but this is such a good business move that they really can't go wrong. Maybe one of them will lose their belt by then (preferably BJ Penn since he'd be moving up in weight to fight St. Pierre) but if not, it's ok. While I think BJ Penn could sell out the stadium by himself, Penn vs. St. Pierre is the fight that you almost HAVE to do for this event. St. Pierre alone would have sold out Montreal but the fact that he was fighting Matt Serra for the belt made it that much bigger because of the history between those two. St. Pierre vs. Fitch in Montreal still would have done a big number but not nearly as big as GSP vs. Serra. A fight between Penn and Tyson Griffin would sell out the stadium but I don't think the buyrate would be as strong as Penn vs. St. Pierre. But Hawaii isn't until 2009…ATLANTA IS IN SEPTEMBER~!

Studying Tape



There's a nice little highlight of UFC 84: Ill Will and the finishes.

Sparring Session

Gary Shaw and Dana White have gotten into more verbal sparring over the past week. White claimed that BJ Penn could beat Kimbo Slice (and then he'd beat Bob Sapp) and Shaw said Kimbo would KO Penn with one punch

I think Gary Shaw is a moron for the most part and this is one of those times where I'm right. Shaw seems to have this mentality of "Kimbo is 20 times bigger than Penn so he would destroy him" and that's just dumb. Penn would takedown Kimbo and submit him in the first minute of the fight. Scratch that. It would take Penn two minutes to beat Kimbo because Penn has some showman in him so he'd probably stand with Kimbo for a minute just to prove a point. Shaw has done some good things for EliteXC but getting into a verbal war of words with Dana White isn't the smartest thing in the world. Dana is a little kid who is going to get in the last word and if he doesn't get in the last word, he's going to bury you to the point that you can't recover. Shaw is best off ignoring Dana because that will hurt him more than anything.

Underwater Ice Bath

Ben Rothwell announced that he will be fighting Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Banned on July 19th. Adrenaline MMA has Arlovski listed on their website

This announcement was a long time coming. As we all know, this card is stacked with fighters that the hardcore fans know and love. The biggest problem with this event is that they have no TV to build it outside of the preliminary fights on FSN. As good as this card is, I just don't see it doing a good buyrate, which is really a shame. The addition of Arlovski actually makes him the most well-known fighter on the card when it comes to the casual fans. He's not a mega-draw but he could add some additional buys by the time the event rolls around. I hope this is a good showing from Affliction because I already don't think it's going to do a good buyrate and if the actual event sucks, this company is pretty doomed.

HDNet has signed on to air the first three Adrenaline MMA events live. The first event is on June 14th with the main event of Jeff Monson vs. Mike Russow

Good deal for Adrenaline MMA although I don't think anyone cares about the first card. There are some good fighters on the card but when Jeff Monson is your most well known fighter, you're in some trouble. My problem with all these new companies is that no one is signing people to exclusive contracts. All of these promoters want to cross-promote and stuff like that but in the end, it's bad business. It's probably good for fighters because it gives them a chance to fighter in different places and get in more fights but it's bad business for the company. There are just too many problems to run into, the main one being double booking a fighter. EliteXC is starting to smarten up as you know they're not going to let Kimbo Slice fight for another company. I just think it's dumb to loan your talent and pretty much help a competing company out. I don't run a MMA company but when we purchase the IFL (YES WE CAN~!) you can bet that ‘The Big Grizzly Bear' Roy Nelson won't be showing up on Strikeforce.

Taking Time Off

An update on stuff no one cares about except me: I finished 48th on UFC Fantasy for UFC 84: Ill Will with a 9-2 record. With so many people competing in these things I wish they would bump up prizes to the top 100 because I always finish in the top 100 but only cracked the top 20 once. What can you do though? I'm now in 25th overall and have no clue when the season ends but it can't end soon enough. I'm due for an off night in picks and I think UFC 85 will be that night.

I have just discovered something called MMA-Tracker but I see you need some dumb invite. If anyone wants to give your favorite 411Mania columnists an invite and Larry Csonka turns it down, I'll be more than happy to accept. Services (sexual if preferred) will come your way. Just be kind and shoot me an e-mail ([e-mail]). Thanks.

UFC 81: Breaking Point came out on DVD Tuesday and being the UFC DVD addict that I am, I picked it up before work. Having seen all the fights before I mainly get the DVDs as references and for the extras. So for those on the fence about buying the DVD and can't justify spending 15 dollars on a reference item, here's a review of the extras.

UFC 81: Breaking Point Extras

We begin with some highlights from the press conference and nothing happens. Lesnar talks about transitioning from wrestling to MMA and says training is his job. Mir talks about the motorcycle accident and how he doesn't expect things anymore, he just works for him. Very Phil Jackson-esque speech. NOGUEIRA DOES STUFF FOR THE UFC VIDEO GAME~! I think when I'm playing as Nog it'll be the first time ever I don't throw my controller when I'm losing because I know I can pull a submission out of nowhere and win. Tim Sylvia speaks and I almost fall asleep. Something about being an underdog. BROCK LESNAR GETS SCANNED FOR THE UFC VIDEO GAME~! "It looks like I have a boner." Certainly not as large as GSP's.

At the weigh-ins, nothing happens. Mir talks about dealing with Lesnar's size, Nog says the fight will be better than the Super Bowl (he was right until the 4th Quarter), and Sylvia says he gets discouraged when he doesn't finish fights. He's been discouraged a lot these past few years.

Day of the fight and Nog talks about being tight with your team and we get a cameo by ANDERSON SILVA'S TRANSLATOR~! Tim Sylvia just watched his fight against Andrei Arlovski because he just woke up from a nap. Lesnar talks about staying calm before the big fight. Mir talks about the pressure facing Lesnar and how much weight is on his shoulders. "But I guess if anyone's shoulders can handle it, Brock Lesnar's look like they might be able to." MIR SHOWS CHARISMA~!

Lesnar gives a hell of a prediction saying he's going to mount Mir, punch him, take his back, and choke him out. Mir says he worked on his striking a lot for this fight because he know his jiu-jitsu is good and he knows his wrestling won't be better than Lesnar's anyway. In a classy move, Nog puts over Sylvia's stand up. In a egotistical move, Sylvia puts over Sylvia's stand up. Tim Sylvia calls himself, "a cardio machine" and I was ready to strangle him had he said "cardio freak".

Lesnar and Mir talk about the walk ins and say nothing out of the ordinary. They're focused and calm. FRANK MIR DEFEATS BROCK LESNAR~! Mir says that Lesnar had some strong shots on the ground. He claims the kneebar wasn't the greatest. "I ended up doing it 80% right but I just kept saying, ‘I didn't want to get elbowed again so I'm going to rip his knee off.'" CHARISMA~! Dana White comes into Lesnar's locker room and he is the most giddiest mother fucker (I had to swear for Dana) in the world. Seriously, I cannot describe how elated Dana White his as the event that Lesnar LOST! "You had Hughes and Rampage and everybody going, ‘that dude is going to be a fucking monster.'" The best part is Dana White is in this great mood while Lesnar looks like he's about to cry. "Is your knee fucked up?" "It was gonna be." "Yeah I know." AWESOME~!

Sylvia and Nog talk about the walk ins. Nothing exciting. NOG SUBMITS SYLVIA~! Sylvia cries as he walks back to his locker room. Sylvia says he knew everything Nog was going to do but he just got caught. He thanks all 5 of his fans for their support. Nog says, "I played his game for three rounds. He played my game for two minutes and I won." Nog rules. He thanks a bunch of people.

The exchange between Dana White and Brock Lesnar after the fight is enough of a reason to purchase this DVD. Lesnar and Mir are clearly the highlights on the extras as Sylvia is boring even when he talks and Nog doesn't really say much. Good stuff overall.

Overseas Training

DREAM 4 takes place on June 15th. Here is the current card:

Middleweight GP 2nd Round Fights:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Melvin Manhoef
Yoon Dong Sik vs. Gegard Mousasi
Ronaldo Jacare vs. Jason Miller
Kin Taiei vs. Zelg Galesic

Lightweight GP 2nd Round Fight:
Shinya Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata

Grappling Match:
Mirko CroCop vs. Ralek Gracie

Featherweight Fight:
Hideo Tokoro vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Interesting match-ups there. DREAM obviously wanted Sakuraba vs. Tamura but Tamura is out with a finger injury. I think that fight is going to take place on New Years Eve where it will mean more but I could be wrong. Sakuraba is either going to get decapitated by Manhoef or he's going to submit him within minutes. My guess is that he gets him down and submits him. Jacare vs. Miller is the fight I'm most interested just because I picked Jacare to win the whole thing but Miller is going to be a tough guy to finish on the ground. The winner of that fight will win the whole tournament, that's my prediction. The Cro Cop vs. Gracie grappling match is a weird little battle considering Cro Cop is a decorated striker who lacks a ground game and Gracie is a Gracie. I don't think Mirko will win because his submission skills just aren't that good but his submission defense is good enough to probably take this battle to a draw.

Training Partners

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

John Curry gets his ass kicked for the love of the sport. A seriously excellent column with an awesome breakdown of submissions and what it's like to grapple with fighters. Alex Mattis gives a review of UFC 84. Ryan Seymour talks UFC 84 and Mark Coleman being injured. John Curry interviews Matt Hughes. Dustin James profiles Urijah Faber.

Randy Harrison review PRIDE 7 featuring the PRIDE debut of Wanderlei Silva.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That does it for me everyone. I'll be back next week with a look back at EXC on CBS and Faber vs. Pulver. Plus a preview of UFC 85: DOOMED~! It's sure to be another extra-long edition of Cardio Freak so I know everyone is excited. YEAH~! You're now ready to go 5 Rounds with Randy tomorrow. Take care people.

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