The Fightin’ Stance News 06.13.08: Blood On Our Hands

Posted by  on 06.13.2008

The Fightin’ Stance News has a new home on Fridays, and this week’s column is PACKED with content! Come inside for a preview of all three of this weekend’s cards from EliteXC, DREAM and Adrenaline, along with a wrap-up of UFC 85! We’ve also got the latest news on the future of the IFL, Dana’s big announcement and the updated MMA Calendar!



Hello and welcome to the Friday debut of The Fightin' Stance News! My name is Adam Tool and just in case you've never bothered to visit this site on the weekends, allow to make a quick introduction. I have spent the last few months publishing this news report on Saturdays but now with the departure of Randy Harrison I have been given the bump up to this slot. I would like to take a moment to thank Larry not only for bringing me onto the staff, but for giving me this new opportunity. Clearly Larry has never actually read my stuff, but his ignorance is your gain!

It's Friday the 13th but there's no time for any of that nonsense as we've got another huge weekend for MMA featuring not one, not two, not four, but three big events to look forward to. I'll also be sharing some final thoughts and images from this past weekend's UFC 85, but first…



Is This The End?



With the boom of mixed-martial arts in the last few years we've seen a number of new promotions pop-up looking to claim their piece of the ever-expanding market. The problem is that at this point MMA is not yet to the level where it can sustain too many different organizations, and so as a result some of them are going to have to go. Now it looks as though the International Fight League may be on it's way out.

On Tuesday the IFL announced that they would have to cancel their August 15th show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. The card had no announced matches, but it was set to feature the debut of the new six-sided structure dubbed "The Hex." During a conference call IFL CEO and President Jay Larkin stated that the cancellation was made because running the show could put the company in financial jeopardy.

Additionally Larkin stated that the company will need to continue to downsize it's workforce and review contractual obligations with some of their coaches. He did make it clear that they are not planning to cut any fighters from their rosters, and this is not a declaration of bankruptcy.

Since their inception in 2006 the IFL has lost millions of dollars, and reportedly they wouldn't have the necessary funding to continue on through this year. Larkin stated that they are working hard to secure additional financing and bring new partners aboard, but no deals have been made at this time.

While I never much cared for the team-based structure of what is essentially a sport driven by individual accomplishments, I have to give credit to the company for at least trying to do something different. They had been putting on some solid shows recently but at this point it looks unlikely that the IFL will be promoting another event anytime soon, if ever again.

Wait For It…



Yesterday was supposed to be the day we got a big announcement from UFC president Dana White. In comments made to ESPN.com last week White said his announcement would be "blow people's minds," and would serve as an "indicator of where this business is going over the next five years." However the big news will have to wait a few more days as the announcement was rescheduled for this coming Tuesday. In the meantime White has been able to de-bunk several rumors, so we'll hit them one by one.

1. The UFC is not announcing a new TV deal.
2. The company has not signed former boxer Floyd Mayweather.
3. The announcement is not in any way related to the WWE.
4. The UFC is not going to be announcing an IPO and going public.

After these rumors were shot down there was speculation that White was planning to announce new regulations in New York that would bring the UFC to Madison Square Garden for the first time ever. However if that was the case then White will need to come up with a new announcement quick because on Wednesday it was reported that the committee for Tourism, Arts and Sports Development of New York voted down the proposal. However sources within the department pointed out that the bill was not defeated, but had simply been laid aside with plans to revisit it next Wednesday. We should have more on this story next week.

DREAM Weaver



The fastest rising promotion in the land of the rising sun has another show this weekend. DREAM 4 takes place on Sunday, and you can catch it live on HDNet. Of course, with the major time difference that means the live feed will begin at 4 am ET, but if staying up extra-late isn't your thing, there will be a replay Sunday afternoon at 4 pm ET. Here's the card:

Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem vs. Tae Hyun Lee
Alavutdin Gadzhiyev vs. Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira
Hideo Tokoro vs. Darren Uyenoyama
Lightweight Grand Prix Round 2
Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Middleweight Grand Prix Round 2
Zelg "Benkei" Galesic vs. Taiei Kin
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Gegard Mousasi vs. Dong Sik Yoon
Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba vs. "Marvelous" Melvin Manhoef

The centerpiece of this show will be the second round of the middleweight grand prix. Sakuraba will have the love of the Japanese crowd, as the man has been putting on entertaining fights as long as there have been organizations to promote them. However he'll be matched up against the dangerous Manhoef, a guy with 20 (T)KO wins to his credit. Yoon has had an interesting career thus far, losing his first four fights but then coming back to win his next four. Those four wins include two of the men still in the tournament (Galesic and Manhoef), however he has yet to meet Gegard Mousasi who's on an eight fight win streak coming into this bout. A true mixed-martial artist with top-notch striking and excellent submissions, it's easy to see why Mousasi is one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. The fight between "Mayhem" and "Jacare" is certainly my most anticipated match-up, as Miller is one of my favorites and Souza is a very dangerous opponent. Souza has the jiu-jitsu advantage, but Miller is no chump on the ground either. Finally we have Galesic who's already beaten Kin once before. That fight was less than a year ago so there's no reason to think the outcome will be different.

With all the shenanigans surrounding his two fights with JZ Calvancante, I'm sure Aoki would like nothing more than to take care of Nagata quickly so he'll be in good shape for the second round of the lightweight grand prix at DREAM 5. There's no reason to think that won't be the case as Nagata has been unimpressive his whole career, while Aoki is quickly gaining momentum as one of the best lightweights in the world. Tokoro has spent the last few years in K-1, where his career has had ups and downs. His opponent Uyenoyama is still relatively new to the sport, but he did compete in Strikeforce earlier this year where he went 2-0. Ferreira has won 15 of his fights via submission but it won't be easy to avoid the heavy hands of Gadzhiyev, who rarely lets his fights go past the first round. Lee has only had two fights in his career (one in 2006 and one in 2007), while Overeem is a veteran of PRIDE and K-1.

Originally the card was also going to feature a grappling match between Mirko Cro Cop and Ralek Gracie, but Cro Cop has pulled out of the match in order to heal some nagging injuries and prepare for his fight with Jerome LeBanner at next month's DREAM 5 event. I think this is a good move on Cro Cop's part since he's never shown much in the way of submission skills and Ralek is, y'know, a fucking Gracie.

Getting Pumped for Adrenaline



Do you remember M-1 Global? That would be the new promotion that made headlines by signing Fedor Emelianenko, only to have it later revealed the contract was never made official. This left Fedor free to sign with Affliction (where he'll debut next month), and the in the wake of this calamity the new M-1 quietly folded without running a single show. From the ashes of that doomed promotion comes Adrenaline MMA, which has their first event tomorrow night. It'll be airing live on HDNet (I really gotta get on that high-def bandwagon) starting at 9:30 pm ET. The show features a few names you might recognize, and here‘s what to expect on the main card:

Jason Guida vs. Mike Russow
Daiju Takase vs. Terry Martin
Jameel "The Sergeant" Massouh vs. Clay French
Forrest "The Meat Cleaver" Petz vs. Brian Gassaway
Jeff Cox vs. Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski

Guida is the older brother of UFC lightweight Clay Guida, and he takes this fight on extremely short notice after Jeff Monson was forced to pull out. Guida has won his last two, but his overall record is an unimpressive 17-15. Russow is on a five fight win streak, with four of those wins coming via submission. Takase hasn't fought in over two years, since being knocked out by Hector Lombard at X-plosion 13. Martin is on a two fight losing streak, after being beaten by Chris Leben and Marvin Eastman in his last UFC appearances. Massouh went undefeated in his first eleven fights, but has since gone 5-3. French is on a seven fight win streak that he kicked off with a victory over "Ultimate Fighter" 6 champion Mac Danzig. Petz is coming off a brief stint in the UFC where he went 2-3, while his opponent Gassaway is on a three fight win streak. Palaszewski gained a lot of attention from his time in the IFL and will come into this match-up looking to snap a three fight losing streak. Cox is fresh from a brief stint in the UFC, where he went 0-2 against Gleison Tibau and Manny Gamburyan.

Overall the Adrenaline card is pretty under-whelming, especially considering the amount of excellent MMA we've been subjected to in recent weeks. If you have HDNet and nothing to do on Saturday, you might as well check it out. If you have HDNet and/or Showtime, watch the EliteXC card instead.

UFC 85: TAINTED VICTORY

In the weeks leading up to the event, the common joke surrounding UFC 85 was that the event was cursed. Now that the show is over, it's seems that assessment was correct. Controversy was abound throughout the evening, as three of the main card's fights ended leaving more questions than answers.



First off of course, is the main event. Thiago Alves' huge win over Matt Hughes should've been the victory needed to propel the young Brazilian to #1 contender status in the welterweight division. Instead the outcome will need to have an asterisk attached to it, as Alves failed to make the 170 lbs. weight limit and the fight was changed to a catchweight bout. Even though it's unlikely the result would've been different had Alves made weight, there is still a huge question mark hanging over "The Pitbull" since the only way someone can climb the division's ladder is to win fights within that division. As I said in this week's Fact Or Fiction, the UFC will be hesitant to put Thiago in a title fight knowing that he could pull a Lutter and the match-up would need to be changed at the last minute.



Up next we have the fight between Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites. This was a match-up that was scheduled and re-scheduled twice before, and I can't help but wonder what the outcome would've been had it taken place at either of those other times. If you discount the point deductions and look at the fight itself, Marquardt was clearly the winner. However rules are rules, and while the knee to the head in round two was obviously an illegal strike, the point deduction in round three was clearly suspect (although Marquardt‘s piledriver should‘ve cost him another point). This bout did little to determine who was the better fighter, and I think a rematch should be made at the earliest opportunity. Of course the rematch will likely be postponed several times, so look for these two guys to hook up again at UFC 118.



Finally we have the Brandon Vera/Fabricio Werdum bout that opened the show. After watching the fight again I'm inclined to agree with Vera that the stoppage was early. Werdum had a dominant position but Vera was covering up and doing everything he could to get out of there. If you look back at the Kenny Florian/Joe Lauzon bout from Fight Night 13, Florian had the full mount and was raining down punches yet the fight continued for over a minute before it was stopped. In this case I can understand referee Steve Mazzagatti Dan Miragliotta's decision to err on the side of caution, but again I can't help but feel this result did little to really determine who was the better fighter.



Michael Bisping just keeps getting better, and that's a scary prospect for the UFC middleweight division. I don't think he would have much of a chance against the champ, but he is certainly standing tall at the moment. I believe we still need to see Bisping vs. Leben, and I feel "The Count" will have to pick up another win or two before getting the chance to have his face smashed in by the knees of Anderson Silva.



I'm not sure what to think of the bout between Marcus Davis and Mike Swick. Although his performance was much better than the fight against Burkman, Swick still did little to really impress with another decision win. His ground-and-pound left a lot to be desired, and at no point was he in a position to finish the fight. Davis looked sluggish, and showed he still needs to work on his ground game if he wants to crack the upper levels of the welterweight division. If Swick wants to reach that next level I think he'll first need to get past Karo "The Gatekeeper" Parisyan or maybe Diego Sanchez.



Looking at the rest of the card, it's would seem that the night's most exciting match-ups took place before the broadcast started. Like most people picking the winners, I gave Matt Wiman little chance to pull out the victory over Thiago Taveres. So I was certainly surprised to see "Handsome" Matt not only win, but just plain outclass Taveres at every opportunity. After watching the show I proclaimed this bout to be the Fight of the Night, and obviously the UFC agreed as both men won a $50,000 bonus for their performance. Finally Wiman gets to be on a highlight reel that has nothing to do with a flying knee.



I had picked Luis Cane to be victorious over Jason Lambert, but even I was surprised with how impressive his win was. Cane picked Lambert apart in the striking exchanges, and had him floored three times during the fight. Clearly Lambert's chin has been exposed, and I don't think we'll be seeing him in the octagon again. How about Cane vs. Silva (either of the light heavyweight ones) in a battle of bad-ass Brazilians?



Martin Kampmann showed no rust, after being out of action for almost a year. He was a middleweight title contender before the injuries sidelined him, and I believe it will only take one or two more wins for him to get right back into contention. I'd love to see him fight the winner of Cote/Almeida next month, with the winner there being next in line for a shot at Silva.

Overall it wasn't a bad night of fights, but I don't think it can really be looked at as being great considering some of the excellent cards that proceeded it. There won‘t be much time to reflect on the show, as the UFC will be back in action next weekend for the finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" season seven. In addition to the tournament finals the show will be headlined by the "pink slip" fight between Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner.

ELITEXC: RETURN OF THE KING PREVIEWICATION

After their big debut on CBS two weeks ago EliteXC is back to where it all started with another live night of fights on Showtime. To my knowledge this is the first mixed-martial arts card to be named after an Oscar winning film (although the first YAMMA card could‘ve easily been dubbed ‘No Country For Old Men‘). Originally this show was to feature the crowning of the first EliteXC welterweight champion in a bout between Jake Shields and Drew Fickett, but due to injury that fight had to be postponed (again). We still have a title fight to look forward to, along with the returns of Murilo "Ninja" Rua and Nick "Puff, Puff, Give" Diaz.

Main Event: EliteXC Lightweight Championship
KJ Noons © vs. Yves Edwards

The Facts:
-This is the first defense of the EliteXC lightweight belt.
-Unlike most other organizations, EliteXC's lightweight division caps at 160 lbs.
-Noons has six wins, all of which have come via (T)KO.
-Edwards will be competing in his 49th pro fight.
-Edwards is on a three fight win streak.

The Pick: Quick show of hands, how many people picked Noons to beat Diaz for the EliteXC lightweight title last year? That's what I thought. Even though the fight was stopped because of a cut, Noons was dominating the entire first round and he certainly made a lot of fans take notice. Yves Edwards has had his share of fans over the years, with some outstanding performances in the UFC, PRIDE and now EliteXC. Noons will be looking to stand and bang, but Edwards has plenty of ways to win no matter where they end up. This one is tough to call, but I‘m going to go ahead and pick Edwards via submission in round 2.

Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Nick "Diablo" Diaz

The Facts:
-Diaz makes his return to EliteXC after a win over Katsuya Inoue at DREAM 3 last month.
-Corbbrey is on a three fight win streak.
-Diaz lost his last fight in EliteXC, against KJ Noons to crown the company's first lightweight champion.
-Diaz holds a win over current EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler.
-Corbbrey has won six fights by submission, while Diaz has never been submitted.

The Pick: I promised myself I wouldn‘t make any more pot-related jokes at the expense of Nick Diaz, so let‘s just talk about the fight. Diaz has already said he wants a rematch with Noons, calling him a "paper champion." Hopefully Nick‘s not overlooking Corbbrey, who has some great stand-up and Muay Thai to go along with his submission skills. Although if this one goes to the ground I would have to give the edge to Diaz, who has some insane flexibility and a real never-say-die kind of attitude. There‘s a good chance for an upset but I‘ve got to go with Diaz via submission in round 3, and after the fight Nick will be looking for people to join him in his van because he has this song that you totally have to listen to (sorry, I can't help myself).

Tony "The Gun" Bonello vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

The Facts:
-Bonello is undefeated in 18 pro fights (with 1 draw and 1 NC).
-Of those 16 wins, 14 have come via submission.
-Rua has never been submitted, losing only by TKO and decision.
-Rua is 4-1 in his last five fights, with the loss against Robbie Lawler last September.
-Bonello is making his EliteXC debut.

The Pick: I wonder what Murilo‘s career would be like if he wasn‘t constantly associated with his older brother Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Would our opinion of him be lessened, or would he still be able to stand out on his own? Regardless, in this fight we‘ve got two BJJ experts battling for dominance in the EliteXC middleweight division. Bonello has all the hype behind him, but "Ninja" certainly won't be an easy opponent. In this case I'm going to buy into the hype and take Bonello via TKO in round 2.

Wayne Cole vs. Rafael Feijao

The Facts:
-Feijao was discovered by current UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
-Both men originally competed at heavyweight, but have recently made the cut to light heavyweight.
-Cole is on a three fight win streak.
-Cole will be making his EliteXC debut here.

The Pick: This isn‘t easy to call as both men are primarily known for their striking, but they also possess a decent ground game as well. Rafael would seem to be the tougher fighter, and this certainly has the potential to go either way, but in the end I‘m picking Feijao by TKO in round 2.

Dave "Pee-Wee" Herman vs. Ron "H20" Waterman

The Facts:
-Herman is undefeated in 10 pro fights.
-Of those 10 wins, only one has gone past the first round.
-Waterman is on a two fight win streak.
-Waterman has fought in the UFC, PRIDE, WEC and Pancrase, but he'll be making his EliteXC debut here.

The Pick: Herman is a big prospect at heavyweight, and should he be victorious here there are certainly plenty of opportunities for him in the still-developing division in EliteXC. At 42 years old, Waterman will obviously have the experience advantage, but if Herman lives up to the hype I see no reason he can‘t pull off his second win in EliteXC. Therefore I‘m taking Herman by TKO in round 1.

The Undercard:
Kala Kolohe Hose vs. Robert "Bubba" McDaniel
Mark Oshiro vs. Chris Willems
Kaleo "Leo Boy" Kwan vs. Mike Aina
Chris Bernard vs. Lolohea Mahe
PJ Dean vs. Dean Lista

The Facts:
-All of the undercard fights listed above will stream live on ProElite.com.
-Hose is coming off a win over Phil Baroni in March.
-All six of Hose's wins have come via (T)KO.
-McDaniel last fought, and won, three weeks ago.
-Oshiro is on a six fight win streak.
-Willems has been fighting less than a year, and has a 1-1 record.
-Of Kwan's 14 pro fights, nine have gone to decision.
-All six of Aina's losses were by decision, including his last fight with Nick Diaz.
-Bernard is on a two fight losing streak.
-Mahe is undefeated in two pro fights.
-Dean just picked up his first win in March against Eddie Rincon.
-Lista has a unique 1-1-1 record, and his last fight was almost eight months ago.
-Of all the fighters on the undercard, McDaniel is the only one that doesn't live and train in Hawaii.

The Picks:
Kolohe, TKO, Rd. 1
Oshiro, Submission, Rd. 1
Kwan, Decision
Mahe, TKO, Rd. 2
Lista, Submission, Rd. 3



-Fiveouncesofpain.com is reporting that next month's big heavyweight showdown between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia will be contested for some sort of title. In the past Affliction has stated they have no plans to institute championships at this point, leading to speculation that the belt could be a part of some sanctioning body like WAMMA. Hopefully we'll have more details on this story soon.

-UFC Fight Night 14 will take place on September 17th, before the premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter" season 8. The first match-up made official for the show will be a lightweight contest between "TUF" 5 winner Nate Diaz and UFC veteran Josh Neer. There are rumors that the main event for the show will be "TUF" 6 winner Mac Danzig taking on Clay Guida, which was a bout originally rumored for UFC 87.

-Following the success of their first primetime broadcast, EliteXC is now working with CBS to decide the date for their second event. EliteXC would like to put on a show in the fall, headlined by the rematch between Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler. However CBS is hoping to capitalize on the momentum of the first show by following it up in late July.

-Speaking of rematches, it looks as though the middleweight championship fight between Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen will be taking place at WEC 36. Their first fight ended in controversy when Sonnen, who had been dominating the match, protested the referee's stoppage when Filho had him locked in an armbar.

-A big featherweight bout has been added to WEC 35 featuring Cub Swanson vs. Hiroyuki Takaya. Both fighters are coming off of losses earlier this year, as Swanson was quickly submitted by Jens Pulver and Takaya lost to Leonard Garcia. WEC 35 will also feature three title matches.

-On Wednesday it was announced that a match-up between Terry Martin and Vitor Belfort had been added to the undercard of Affliction's debut show next month. However the fight may be up in the air, due to the fact that Belfort was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after failing a drug fest following his bout with Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32 in Las Vegas. While Belfort's suspension ended last July, he did choose to compete in the U.K. for Cage Rage so there could be additional time added to his suspension which would further bar him from fighting in the U.S.

I Keep My Pimp Hand Strong

Sure I'm great, but why not check out some of our other fine writers?

Jeremy Lambert pulls double duty as usual with Cardio Freak News and the Ultimate Fighter Recap.
Dustin James fills you in on our rankings of the Top 10 Lightweights.
Justin Thomas has the latest 411 Fighter Profile for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson .
Reuel Mante focuses on the UFC middleweights in the MMA Spotlight.
It‘s another round of 411 Fact Or Fiction featuring John Curry and yours truly.
Chris Robinson debuts here at 411mania with his new column The Verbal Submission.
Another new member of our staff Jonathan Solomon recaps WEC Wreckage here and here.



6/14 - EliteXC: Return Of The King
Live on Showtime at 10 pm ET

6/14 - Adrenaline MMA
Live on HDNet at 9:30 pm ET

6/15 - DREAM 4 - Middleweight Grand Prix Rd. 2
Live on HDNet at 4 am ET (replay at 4 pm ET)

6/21 - The Ultimate Fighter Finale
Live on Spike at 9 pm ET

6/27 - Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
Live on HDNet at 10:30 ET

7/5 - UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET

7/19 - Affliction: Banned
Live on PPV (time TBA)

7/21 - DREAM 5
On HDNet (time TBA)

8/3 - WEC 35
Live on Versus at 9 pm ET

8/9 - UFC 87: Seek And Destroy
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET



This band released one album and then broke up. It's a shame because they're pretty awesome.
Death From Above 1979 - "Blood On Our Hands"



Courtesy of comedy team Human Giant, it's the sex tape that's shocking everyone:
Will Arnett (of Arrested Development) and Mary-Kate Olsen



And I am spent. Thanks for reading and hopefully you'll have a chance to check out some of the MMA action taking place this weekend. If you can't watch the shows you can always check back here at 411mania, as we'll have coverage of all the weekend's events. Next week we should have more on the UFC's big announcement, as well as a preview of The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Until then…


Credit: MMAJunkie.com, Sherdog.com, Fiveouncesofpain.com, MMAWeekly.com, UFC.com