Eight Sides of Steel 07.27.08
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 07.27.2008
After taking a week of from the column due to power failure, I'm back with news from the fight world, highlights of women knocking each other out, and the return of Gina Carano to the Eight Sides of Steel!
SHOW STOPPERS, MAIN EVENTERS, AND HEADLINES
In a highly anticipated rematch of their May 31 fight, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler successfully defended his EliteXC against Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith at EliteXC's "Unfinished Business" event Saturday Night.
Our newly relocated Casa Del Csonka has the full results here. Not a bad card at all. The women's match was brutal. After a fairly close first round, Chris Cyborg, (how bad ass a name is that?) destroyed Shayna Baszler, who is considered one of the top female fighters in the world. Jake Shields was crowned the first Welterweight champion after a very impressive outing against Nick Thompson. The Lawler/Smith rematch was very good, though it felt a step below their previous encounter.
Fresh off his dominating performance against James Irvin, Anderson Silva will return to the Octagon October 25th and defend his Middleweight championship against Patrick Cote.
As a guy that supported Silva's move to light heavyweight, this fight seems a bit disappointing. No disrespect intended to Mr. Cote, but Cote just doesn't strike me as the sort of fighter that would give Silva a challenge. Many people find Silva's original opponent Yushin Okami, who pulled out because of a hand injury, to be a superior fighter to Cote. Okami may hold a victory over Silva from a few years back, but it was via DQ and since then, Silva is on a seven fight win streak and captured the UFC Middleweight Title. Okami's only loss has been to Rich Franklin, who Silva pretty much can knock out on command and Cote has lost to Chris Leben, another first round KO victim of Silva's. Not liking Cote's chances at all.
After his controversial loss to Kevin Burns at Utlimate Fight Night 14, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson successfully underwent surgery to repair a laceration on his eye and other damage to his retina.
Johnson has been nothing but a class act in the midst of what had to be a painful loss. The good news for fans of his, including yours truly, is that he is cleared to return to the Octagon by September and I know Dana will be anxious to have this potential superstar ready to fight.
Georges St. Pierre has made it clear that he plans to stay with UFC after his contract expires.
GSP is easily one of the top ten Pound for Pound best in the world and unlike with a Tito Ortiz, I can see UFC accommodating his contract demands.
Ironheart Crown, an east coast based MMA organization has recently partnered with American Fight League.
More good news for the AFL. They're doing a good job keeping their name in the news. Whether it's this bit of news, or the signing of Bobby Lashley, I expect AFL to keep growing and succeed where other leagues have failed.
It has been confirmed that WAMMA World Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko will defend his title October 11 against Andrei Arlovski
I know there wasn't much to see, but I hope the "Pitbull" was paying attention to the way Fedor dismantled Sylvia. Arlovsky has lost to Sylvia in the past, but is on a bit of winning streak as of late. I believe he is a much better ground fighter than Sylvia, but will that be enough to fight off the newly crowned WAMMA World Heavyweight Champion? Only time will tell. At the very least, I see Arlovski lasting a lot longer than Sylvia did.
AND IN THIS CORNER
Robbie Lawler winning the EliteXC Middleweight belt form Murilo Rua
With his emphatic win over Scott Smith, and his bold challenge towards Anderson Silva, I thought I'd highlight a bit of his career.
At 15-4 with 1 NC, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler sits high in the middleweight rankings, not having ranked lower than sixth since winning the EliteXC belt back in September 2007. Now that he's dispatched of Scott Smith, it looks like he's ready for another top five opponent. Whomever it may be, I can't wait to see Lawler in action again.
Here he is in action
IN A DAZE
Looks like Tito's first post-UFC bout could be against Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Babalu has called out the Huntington Beach Bad Boy and has previously spoke with Affliction management to sign Tito as soon as possible. Sobral can be an exciting fighter and Tito should have a little gas in his tank. I think he'd match up better against Babalu than any of the higher level Light Heavyweights in UFC.
IN BETWEEN ROUNDS
RANDOM MUSING AND BRUISING
With the ass whooping Chris Cyborg put on Shayna Baszler, I thought I'd post a few more exciting women's matches. Enjoy.
Ashley Sanchez vs Jessica Bednark
Check out that ground work
Nasty Head Drop KO
KO via Head Kick!
Showing Props
Adam Tool's talks domination and devastation in this week's Fighting Stance.
Passing the Guard features Stephen DeAugustino's thoughts on Dream 5 and upcoming fights for both Affliction and UFC.
Ground and Pound specialist John Curry gives us his top 10 pre-fight Stare downs. Nothing like a smooch on the lips to get your opponent's adrenaline pumping.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS
Lord and master of weird Japanese commericials – Bob Sapp!
OFF THE CHAIN AND OUT OF THE CAGE
Thus concludes another scintillating column. We had fun right? Be sure to join the 411mania family for all your MMA needs. I'm Wendell Mitchell and you've just survived another showdown inside the Eight Sides of Steel.
