The Fightin' Stance News 06.27.08: The Time Is Now

Posted by  on 06.27.2008

Another stuffed edition of The Fightin' Stance News is just a click away! This week we've got news on big shows coming up from the UFC and EliteXC, the latest on the future of Matt Hughes, and tons of fight announcements! Adam also previews tonight's card from Strikeforce, gives his final thoughts on The Ultimate Fighter Finale and looks ahead to the rest of the year!



Hello again and welcome to The Fightin' Stance News. As always I'm your host Adam Tool, and once again I've got a jam-packed edition of this report for you. I'll be previewing tonight's card from Strikeforce and looking ahead to the rest of the year. I've also got some final thoughts on the Ultimate Fighter Finale, but first…



Fight Night News Explosion



While Fight Night 14 is quickly filling up for next month, there are already rumors of several fights that will be taking place at Fight Night 15. The show will serve as a lead-in to the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and is expected to take place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska on September 17th.

A lightweight showdown between Mac Danzig and Clay Guida is expected to headline the show. The fight had originally been rumored for UFC 87, but was never officially announced for that card. Danzig is coming off of his win over Mark Bocek at UFC 83, while Guida last fought (and won) against Samy Schiavo on the undercard of Fight Night 13.

Also on the show we may see another lightweight battle between Gray Maynard and Matt Wiman. The two were members of Team Penn on the fifth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and both are coming off of the biggest wins of their careers. Maynard won a decisive victory over Frank Edgar at Fight Night 13, while Wiman scored an impressive knockout over Thiago Tavares at last month's UFC 85.

Another "TUF" 5 alum that's expected to be on the card is that season's champion Nate Diaz. Diaz will step into the octagon against UFC veteran Josh Neer, who's last fight was a decision win over Din Thomas at Fight Night 13. Nate will try to follow the example of his older brother Nick, who submitted Neer back at UFC 62.

One more member of season five that is expected on the show is Joe Lauzon, who will be taking on Kyle Bradley. Both fighters last competed at Fight Night 13 where Lauzon lost in the main event against Kenny Florian, while Bradley was unsuccessful on the undercard against Chris Lytle.

Rounding out the rumored card is a light heavyweight showdown between Houston Alexander and Eric Schafer, as well as a middleweight bout between Ed Herman and Alan Belcher. Alexander has lost two in a row, while Schafer's last loss was against Stephan Bonnar last year at UFC 77. Herman and Belcher are both looking to bounce back from defeat at UFC 83, where Herman was submitted by Demian Maia and Belcher was stopped by Jason Day.

While Fight Night 14 is getting all the attention right now, the next free card from the UFC is shaping up to be pretty awesome in it's own right. Danzig vs. Guida should be an all-out war, while Maynard vs. Wiman will go a long way in determining which of these two young fighters is ready for the next level. Diaz faces arguably his toughest opponent to date, as Neer has the experience and toughness to give anyone trouble. Lauzon should have little trouble with Bradley, while Alexander while likely plough through Schafer. Herman and Belcher is a bit of a toss-up, but I think Herman has the bigger upside.

3 Title Fights On Free TV? Yes Please.



This week EliteXC officially announced the details of their next primetime special on CBS. The second installment of "Saturday Night Fights" will be live from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA, and the network broadcast begins at 9 pm ET. EliteXC's other television partner (and sister company to CBS) Showtime will air a one-hour broadcast of preliminary fights starting at 8 pm ET.

We already knew that the main event for the show would be the EliteXC middleweight championship rematch between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. The announcement also confirmed that the show will feature two more title fights.

Jake Shields, considered by many to be the best welterweight not currently receiving a Zuffa paycheck, will battle Nick "The Goat" Thompson to crown the first EliteXC welterweight champion. Shields had been scheduled to face Drew Fickett for the belt on two separate occasions, but the fight was postponed each time. Now Fickett is seemingly out of the picture and so Thompson comes over from Sengoku where he just fought three weeks ago.

Another new champion will be crowned that night as there will be a bout to determine the first EliteXC heavyweight champion. Currently all we know is that Antonio Silva will be one of the participants, but speculation is running rampant as to who his opponent will be. Right now it looks as though the top name being thrown around is former PRIDE standout Sergei Kharitonov.

For a few days it looked as though the much-hyped rematch between lightweight champ KJ Noons and Nick Diaz would also be on the show, especially once Diaz was pulled from the DREAM 5 card by EliteXC officials. However Diaz will instead be facing Thomas "Wildman" Denny. This is a pretty big letdown considering Diaz was scheduled to face Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for the first DREAM welterweight championship, but it's important to note that Diaz is contracted with EliteXC and not DREAM so they get first priority in his fight-making.

News On Hughes



UFC welterweight Matt Hughes had good news and bad news this week.

The bad news is that Hughes has totally torn his MCL, and partially torn his PCL. According to a post on his personal website Hughes stated, "They really think that the PCL will repair itself and that MCL has a chance of repairing itself. So we're going to hold off on surgery right now." Hughes also stated that he's going to get a second opinion so things may change. Obviously this means Hughes will be on the shelf for a little while, and his grudge match with Matt Serra will have to be pushed back even further.

The good news is that a lawsuit filed against him was dismissed earlier this week. The suit was filed by Jed Leist on March 28, 2007 and cited battery and assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and negligence from Hughes. The case was due to go before a jury next week, but the plaintiff has dropped the charges after the parties settled out of court. Terms of the settlement were not revealed.

Court documents stated that the altercation took place "on or around" October 13, 2006 in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino after UFC 64. It was contended in the suit that Hughes placed the defendant in a hold "as to cause injury or damage" and that Hughes' actions were "unwanted, not consented or authorized" by the defendant. Leist was seeking damages exceeding $10,000 for each charge, along with attorney fees and additional expenses due to "severe humiliation, mental anguish and emotional distress."

An anonymous eyewitness report stated that Leist approached Hughes and asked for a photograph. He also asked Hughes to put him in a rear-naked choke for the photo, and tighten the hold for realism. Reportedly Hughes then walked away, while Leist was rendered nearly unconscious.

Not An End, But A Beginning

The season finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" was an interesting event. There were plenty of questions going into the show, and now we have some answers.



I hate to say it, but I think Evan Tanner's time is up. Anyone that watched Tanner demolish guys like David Terrell, Robbie Lawler, and Phil Baroni knows that the man used to be great. If he would've faced Kendall Grove three years ago the night would've almost certainly ended with Grove staring at the lights. Tanner looked sluggish and more importantly, bored from the moment he entered the arena. I know he's cleaned up now but unfortunately I think his years of hard living have robbed the man of the immense talent he once possessed.



For the first time in seven seasons, the Ultimate Fighter tournament has discovered a true diamond in the rough. I'm not taking anything away from the previous champions, but each of them would've almost certainly found their way into the UFC with or without the show. I mean, Mac Danzig fought in PRIDE for fuck‘s sake. How did that guy not get signed sooner?

Anyways, the point is that for the first time in the show's history they managed to take a guy that had never competed professionally before. They stuck him in this tournament where he had to face all sorts of tough, experienced opponents (and make no mistake, Amir had a rougher path to the championship than most of the previous winners). He not only won, but won convincingly after finishing each and every fight he was in. Amir Sadollah is the reason this show exists: to find new talent and put them on the biggest stage of all.



Diego Sanchez had a rough year in 2007, between losing to Koscheck and Fitch and also battling a severe staph infection. He looked like a new man on Saturday. Before the bell rang the usual Diego-isms were there: the uber-intense staredown, the harnessing of the chi during the introduction. When the fight started though, I was surprised not to see his traditional mad dash to the center. Sanchez looked calmer and more focused than I've seen him before, and I think his time to shine may be now. Who's next? I have an idea, but you'll have to keep reading.



I expected a tough battle between Spencer Fisher and Jeremy Stephens, and that's precisely what I got. Fisher fought a more conservative gameplan, which may be an adjustment he's had to make if he ever wants to get within breathing distance of a title shot again. Stephens showed his toughness for three rounds, and I think it's important to remember that this kid is just 22 years old and will only get better in time.



Much like Amir, Matt Riddle is a guy that came onto the show with no professional fighting experience and a wealth of charisma. And again, the UFC has found a brand new talent with unlimited potential. Riddle was in control of Rivera the entire fight, and had he not tried for that armbar late in the second round I think he would've finished it right there.



Drew McFedries has the kind of power that could break pretty much any man you put in front of him. He's not as young as some of the other guys that fought on Saturday, but I still think there is plenty of potential there. After all, it took UFC light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson almost nine minutes to beat Marvin Eastman, and McFedries did it in just 1:08.


10 in 08

Last week I looked back on the first half of the year. This week I wanted to look forward to the rest of 2008, by naming ten things I want to see before the year is up. This gives me the chance to play fantasy matchmaker, but also I've got a few other things on my mind that I think should happen before year's end.



1. Fedor vs. Arlovski To me this is a much more interesting fight than the one currently headlining Affliction's debut card. Emelianenko would have the chance to prove himself against one of the world's most feared strikers, while Arlovski would have the chance to prove himself against a fighter with dangerous submissions. Hopefully Arlovski left the UFC because he wanted to test himself against better competition. What bigger test could there be than facing the world's greatest heavyweight?

2. Kimbo: Put up or Shut up It's time to take the training wheels off Mr. Shaw. He's either a freak-show ‘special attraction' or he's one of your top heavyweights. You can't have it both ways. Personally I have no desire to see Kimbo lined up against anymore over-the-hill and/or overmatched opponents. Set up a fight with Brett Rogers, Roy Nelson, or maybe even Antonio Silva. If he loses, he loses. From all accounts I've heard a loss can oftentimes be the best thing for a fighter. If he wins, suddenly your pet project gains a little more legitimacy amongst the fans. If you want us to take Kimbo seriously then it's time to put him in the cage with some serious competition. UPDATE: Shortly before submitting this article Jared Shaw was quoted as saying Kimbo vs. Rogers will happen in October.



3. Shogun vs. Machida Apparently the UFC is having trouble finding guys willing to fight Lyoto Machida. While this could be a sign that he's ready for a title shot, I'd like to see him win one more fight against a top-level opponent (which he hasn't done yet in the UFC, sorry Tito fans but it's true). Shogun should be back from injury very soon, and I'm sure he would like to re-assert his dominance in the light heavyweight ranks. To me this fight is most intriguing because I have no idea who would win.

4. Sanchez vs. Alves As I said in my post-UFC 85 coverage, Thiago Alves cannot be the #1 contender yet. His last win was not in the welterweight division, and he needs to prove he can cut weight efficiently before he can be placed in a big main event situation. Diego Sanchez looked to be on his way to a title shot not too long ago, but after his first and second losses he had to regroup and is only now getting back on the winning track. Winning this fight would help both men immensely, as Alves could prove he's ready for his title shot and Sanchez could prove he's truly better than ever before. Again, I picked this fight because I have no idea who the winner would be.



5. Mayhem on CBS EliteXC needs personalities to stand out during their prime-time specials. Fortunately they have access to one of the most charismatic fighters in the world, thanks to their partnership with DREAM. Is there any chance Jason "Mayhem" Miller could fight on a CBS card and not instantly make "Mayhem Monkeys" out of the millions of people watching him? No, there isn't. I'm going to play matchmaker again here and suggest Miller vs. Villasenor with the winner getting the next shot at the EliteXC middleweight belt.

6. Franklin vs. Henderson Please? This is one that's been rumored for awhile, but nothing has been set. Both fighters are in the unfortunate position of having already lost to their division's champion, so a fight between them would do little more than solidify who's #2 in the middleweight ranks. However I feel Henderson would be one of Franklin's toughest opponents to date, and vice versa. Once again it's a fight I want to see because in my head there's no clear favorite.



7. Werdum vs. Carwin I have yet to get my ticket about the Fabricio Werdum bandwagon. He surprised the hell out of me by beating Gonzaga (again) but his win over Vera has a bit of an asterisk next to it. Of course there's also the looming memory of his snooze-fest against Arlovski last year. On the other hand you have Shane Carwin, who is one of the UFC's top prospects for the heavyweight division. I say pit these two against one another and we'll see if Carwin is for real.

8. Urijah Faber in the UFC Let me state first off that I'm not suggesting Faber vacate his WEC featherweight belt. However at this point I don't know who's left in the company to challenge him at 145 lbs. Until a new challenger can be found, why not let "The California Kid" move up into the UFC lightweight ranks? It wouldn't be too much different than letting Anderson Silva fight at light heavyweight, and there are a number of intriguing match-ups just waiting to happen. In addition it would give the guys at Zuffa a chance to put their featherweight golden boy on a much bigger stage.



9. Jardine vs. Sokoudjou After the hype had died down somewhat, Sokoudjou reaffirmed that his skills are for real in a decisive win over Kazuhiro Nakamura. Keith Jardine had a much rougher night, after being flattened in 36 seconds by Wanderlei Silva. Now I think Sokoudjou needs to step up in competition, while Jardine needs to prove that his win over Liddell was no fluke. A fight between these two is a guarantee for fireworks, so I say book it.

10. The Return of Randy Couture Wishful thinking at this point, but a guy can dream can't he?

STRIKEFORCE: MELENDEZ VS. THOMSON PREVIEWICATION

Main Event: Strikeforce World Lightweight Championship
Gilbert "El Niño" Melendez © vs. Josh "The Punk" Thomson

The Facts:
-Melendez is coming off a successful title defense against Gabe Lemley in March.
-Thomson is currently on a six fight win streak.
-Melendez has notable wins over Tatsuya Kawajiri, Clay Guida, and Rumina Sato.
-This is Thomson's first fight since he beat Adam Lynn in September last year.
-The two men have known each other for several years, and trained together in the past.

The Pick: Melendez is currently trying to stake his claim as the best lightweight in the world. He‘s got the tools to do so, as he has trained extensively with Cesar Gracie and the Diaz brothers to hone his jiu-jitsu. Oddly enough most of his wins have come via strikes as he has some fierce ground and pound. Thomson is certainly well-versed in submissions as well, and will hold a slight edge in wrestling ability. As I said above these two have trained together before so they‘ve very familiar with each other‘s strengths and weaknesses. This has the makings for an instant classic, but when it comes down to the man with his hand raised I‘m going with Melendez via TKO in round 3.

Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Championship
Bobby Southworth © vs. Anthony "El Toro" Ruiz

The Facts:
-These two met last November, where Ruiz won by TKO in a non-title fight.
-Ruiz is on a six fight win streak. His last fight was a decision win over Brad Imes in January.
-Southworth was a member of Team Liddell on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

The Pick: Ruiz won this fight before, and I see no reason he can‘t do it again. Yes their first fight was stopped due to a cut, but Southworth wasn‘t exactly dominating things before the stoppage. He hasn‘t shown much growth in his abilities since losing to Stephan Bonnar on season one of the "The Ultimate Fighter," but he does have a chance to win here. Ruiz is a striker that has shown a weakness against submissions, so if Southworth catches him it could be over in a flash. Like I said, I see the result being the same so I'll take Ruiz by TKO in round 2.

Joe "Diesel" Riggs vs. Luke Stewart

The Facts:
-When the card was originally announced Riggs was scheduled to face Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, but visa issues forced Santos to withdraw.
-Additionally, Stewart was originally slated to face Shonie Carter, but Carter was forced to pull out due to an injured hand.
-Because Riggs is a middleweight and Stewart is a welterweight, this fight will be a catchweight bout at 178 lbs.
-This is Riggs' first fight since undergoing back surgery following the loss to Cory Devela in February.
-After starting his career 5-0, Stewart suffered his first loss against Tiki Ghosn in March.

The Pick: This bout is unique, since both competitors were training for different opponents up until about a week ago. Even though his UFC career was less than stellar, it‘s important to note that Riggs still has big power in both hands. Unfortunately he‘s never been very good on the ground, which is where Stewart makes his living. I don‘t think this one will last too long, so I‘m picking Stewart via submission in round 1.

Raymond Daniels vs. Jeremiah Metcalf

The Facts:
-This will be Daniels' professional MMA debut.
-Metcalf is currently on a three fight win streak.
-Metcalf's last fight (against James Terry) was six weeks ago.

The Pick: Daniels enters Strikeforce and the world of MMA with quite a bit of hype. You may have seen some people calling him "the next Cung Le," as both fighters were standouts in kickboxing and other martial-arts competitions before entering MMA. For Daniels to be the next Cung Le he'll first need to rack up a few impressive wins. He's got a good chance to do so against Metcalf, who will be looking for takedowns early and often. Of course every time he shoots he'll be leaving himself open, and there's little doubt that Daniels knows how to use his legs effectively. In the end I'll be taking Daniels via TKO in round 1.

Billy Evangelista vs. Nam Phan

The Facts:
-Evangelista is undefeated in six professional fights.
-Phan is on a two fight win streak.

The Pick: Once again we‘re faced with the classic situation of a striker taking on a grappler. Evangelista has some jiu-jitsu skills but he‘s primarily known for his Muay Thai strikes. Phan will have the edge on the ground, but first he'll have to avoid the dangerous hands and knees of Evangelista to get there. This is a tough one to call but I'm going with Evangelista by TKO in round 3.

Elaina "Beef" Maxwell vs. Miesha Tate

The Facts:
-In four fights Maxwell has faced two opponents, Gina Carano and Michelle Maher.
-Tate's two pro fights were both on the same day, where she went 1-1 in the HOOKnSHOOT tournament.
-Maxwell trains with current Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le.

The Pick: I'll be honest and say I know next to nothing about these women. What can I say, women's MMA just isn't anywhere near the level that the men are. I like Maxwell's nickname and she trains with Cung Le, so that's gotta count for something. Let's go with Maxwell via TKO in round 2.



-UFC 89 has been confirmed for Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena. The show will feature a middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben. The fight had originally been set for UFC 85, but it was postponed due to Leben's legal troubles preventing him from getting a visa in time.

-In extremely exciting possible fight news, Wanderlei Silva's next opponent could be fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva. Rumors point to the fight taking place in October, but nothing has been confirmed yet. If it goes down, this will be the fight of the year. That's right, I'm calling it now.

-Dan Henderson is rumored to be making his return at UFC 88, where he'll face off against newly-signed Rousimar Palhares. Henderson is coming off of back-to-back losses against two of the greatest fighters in the world, but he'll have a tough time with BJJ expert Palhares who made his UFC debut last month where he submitted Ivan Salaverry.

-WEC has added two more fights to their upcoming show on August 3rd. First off is a bantamweight bout between Damacio Page and Brian Bowles. They've also announced a featherweight showdown between Micah Miller and Josh Grispi. WEC 35 will also feature defenses of the lightweight, welterweight, and light heavyweight titles.

-Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le is currently in the midst of filming the Tekken movie, and he recently gave an interview where he hinted that he may be moving away from MMA to focus more on his film career. Le also stated that he is in talks with John Woo about an upcoming project.

-Rumors were circulating earlier this week that EliteXC president Gary Shaw may be on his way out of the company. Those rumors stated that CBS was going to be playing a bigger part in the company's operations and would be removing Shaw following the July 26th show. Now EliteXC vice-president (and Gary's son) Jared Shaw has come out and stated that those reports "have been absolutely erroneous."

-A welterweight bout between "TUF" 2 runner-up Luke Cummo and Tamdan McCorry has been added to UFC 87. Also added to the show is a light heavyweight battle featuring the UFC debut of undefeated former IFL fighter Andre Gusmao and Tomasz Drwal.

-In a recent interview current UFC heavyweight champion (sort of) Randy Couture said that he's picking Forrest Griffin to win over Rampage Jackson next week. Forrest has been training at Xtreme Couture and has made big improvements to his wrestling and jiu-jitsu, according to Couture.

Fightin' Back

When I handed out some mid-year awards last week it led to some interesting feedback, so I thought I'd take a moment to address some of the comments I received.

Clearly Kimbo Slice hatred is still very much in fashion, as WTF and Mike SW both said that Kimbo should've gotten worst fighter of the year instead of James Thompson. Obviously Kimbo isn't one of the best fighters out there, but it's hard to call him the worst when he's won both fights he's had so far in 2008. Thompson lost both of his fights (and as I mentioned, could've won against Kimbo), so he got the top honor.

The picks for fight of the year were probably the most discussed, as WTF suggested Shamrock vs. Le, guest asked why I gave no love to Alvarez vs. Hansen, doy threw out Nogueira vs. Sylvia, and mike suggested Reljic vs. Gouevia and Silva vs. Mendes. All of the above fights were awesome in their own way, and any one of them could've certainly been added into the mix (and in reference to Reljic/Gouevia and Silva/Mendes, I did name UFC 84 best event of the year so far). The three fights I chose were my own personal favorites, and I can hardly blame anyone for disagreeing with them. This year has seen more MMA events than any year previous, so obviously that means there are going to be more fights worthy of recognition.

mike also suggested that Fabricio Werdum get some recognition for how much he's grown as a fighter this year, and while it's hard to disagree, I guess I haven't yet been really blown away by his performances. Maybe it's more due to the fact that the finish of the Vera fight left a real bad taste in my mouth. But I can agree that Werdum in ‘08 > Werdum in ‘07.

homegrowncone had some very nice things to say, but he also said he couldn't understand why I called Jacare/Mayhem a FOTY candidate. I thought the fight provided some excellent drama, as Jacare was working relentlessly for submissions and Miller was defending each one. Everytime they got back to their feet I knew Miller could be a moment away from that big hit that would put Jacare down. While Jacare was clearly the victor, it wasn't like he destroyed Mayhem. Good action and high drama=FOTY candidate in my book.

Thanks to everyone that gave their opinions. I've only been doing this column for about three months now and the feedback I've received has been mostly positive. I don't get paid to do this so a few kind words here and there is a pretty good compensation.

I Keep My Pimp Hand Strong

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

Jeremy Lambert reflects back on season seven of "The Ultimate Fighter" in this week's Cardio Freak News.
Dustin James compiles the 411 Rankings. This week it‘s the Heavyweights.
Dustin also went head-to-head with John Curry in this week‘s Fact or Fiction.
Chris Robinson looks back at the first two season's "TUF" champions in The Verbal Submission.
The latest 411 Fighter Profile was written by some brilliant young member of the staff. This week we look at Andre Arlovski.
Jonathan Solomon recaps the latest episode of WEC Wrekcage.
Finally we have the newest member of our crew, forum favorite Scott Kuczkowski looks at The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of The Ultimate Finale.



Tonight - Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
Live on HDNet at 10:30 pm ET

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

7/19 - Affliction: Banned
Live on PPV at 9 pm ET

7/19 - UFC: Silva vs. Irvin
Live on Spike at 9 pm ET

7/21 - DREAM 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals
Live on HDNet at 4 am ET

7/26 - EliteXC: Unfinished Business
Live on CBS at 9 pm ET

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

9/6 - Adrenaline MMA II
Live on HDNet (time TBA)

9/6 - UFC 88: Breakthrough
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET

9/10 - WEC: Filho vs. Sonnen II
Live on Versus (time TBA)

9/17 - UFC Fight Night 15
Live on Spike (time TBA)



Certainly the saddest news of the week was the passing of a true comedy legend



I posted this video once before, but it seems appropriate to run again in honor of Amir Sodallah
Spoon - "The Underdog"



So ends another edition of The Fightin' Stance News. Thanks for reading, and be sure to come back next week as I'll have a full preview of UFC 86, which is shaping up to be another excellent night of fights. Until then…


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