Passing the Guard 08.09.08: Fedor: Who's Ya Daddy?

Posted by Stephen DeAugustino on 08.09.2008

Two of the biggest controversies in the sport today take another wild turn, and Passing the Guard has you covered! Will Aleksander Emelianenko ever fight in the US? What caused Jackson's downward spiral? More on that inside, plus an detailed look at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy.

Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Passing the Guard, you're best source for MMA news around the net. In this edition, be sure to check out the latest coverage of both the Aleksander Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson incidents, as well as word on Tito as a daddy, Zuffa's move to Japan, and the latest edition to DREAM's growing heavyweight roster. All that and more, plus an in depth look at tonight's card, UFC 87: Seek and Destroy.




Preview


UFC 87


Cheick Kongo Vs. Dan Evensen
After claiming a victory over Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 75, things were looking up for Cheick Kongo. Many rankings saw the Frenchman somewhere in their numbers, and there was some talk about Kongo snagging a title contention match with Nogueira (of course this never materialized). Then Heath Herring came along. Herring managed to put a damper on Kongo's party by taking a split-decision victory from him at UFC 82. Now Kongo will be looking to rectify this blemish with a win over up-and-comer Dan Evensen. Like Kongo, Evensen is an accomplished striker with most of his victories coming by way TKO. Making his UFC debut here, Evensen is a regular over at Gladiator Challenge where he is a heavyweight champion.
Whatever his credentials, Evensen will find it very difficult to put down Kongo. Cheick's striking is prime, and while Evensen has shown some decent submission ability in past fights, he has no where near the grappling skill that Heath Herring has, a man that failed to finish Kongo. Evensen may try to take this to the ground, but it will most likely end up on the feet where Kongo will have the upper hand. My prediction? Kongo by TKO, second round.




Manny Gamburyan Vs. Rob Emerson
Yes, you do know both of these guys from the Ultimate Fighter; Emerson as the guy that had that insane No Contest fight with Gray Maynard during the Finale and Gamburyan as the dude that got injured within 20 seconds of his Finale bout with Nate Diaz. Since then, we haven't been able to see much of either fighter; Emerson has fought once since then, taking a split decision win over Keita Nakamura while Gamburyan has racked up two victories in the same time period.
While we haven't seen a lot of him since his injury, Gamburyan two submission wins are very impressive, along with his record prior to The Ultimate Fighter. It is hard to really say the same for Emerson, who has an overall lukewarm record, and who gave a bland performance on the show. Emerson's style doesn't help him very much in this fight either; known more as a kick boxer, Emerson showed a hole in his submission game when he lost to Nate Diaz. Gamburyan, an excellent judo practitioner, has acquired most of his wins by submission and will not find trouble throwing Emerson to the floor shortly after the bell. Prediction: Gamburyan by submission in the first round.



Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta

Ah, finally. One of the most anticipated fights in the UFC's lightweight division will finally take place at this weekend's event when "KenFlo" goes up against "El Matador" for a shot at the lightweight title. Florian, yet another product of The Ultimate Fighter, has already had his chance to shine in the title spotlight; he fought Sean Sherk for the title back in 2006. Since then, Florian has managed to put together a string of wins that include Din Thomas and Joe Lauzon, which seems to be good enough to place him in title contention once again. However Huerta's recent resume seems to overshadow that just a bit. With 19 consecutive wins (one No Contest thrown in there), Huerta deserves to be here without a doubt. Not only that, but all of Huerta's fights are amazing to watch, with two of his last four being considered fight of the year quality.
Both Huerta and Florian have shown some much improved striking recently, but it is looking like this fight will be fought mostly on the ground, pitting Huerta's ground and pound against Florian's jujitsu. Huerta has shown some solid submission defense in the past with his performances against Garcia and Guida, but in all reality submissions are probably not Huerta's main concern. Of course, we're talking about the "Hell-Bows"; those sharp elbow strikes Florian throws from his closed guard that tend to open cuts and close fights faster than you can say Edwin Dewees. Ever sine Florian began unleashing them after his fight with Sherk, fans have cried fowl throughout the MMA community, but nothing has been said about it and you better believe Florian will be setting them off on Huerta tonight. Question is, can Huerta fight through it? I think Roger is sharp enough to find some way around them. Huerta by Decision.



Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring
After a rough welcome into the UFC, former professional wrestler Brock Lesnar will be coming back for seconds when he takes on Heath Herring Saturday night. Herring had a rather rough start of his own when he came to the UFC; first losing to Jake O'Brien than Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira before his March 1st win over Cheick Kongo. It is hard to imagine either one of these guys getting a title shot anytime soon as Lesnar's MMA career is still in its early stages, and Herring has lost to current champion Nogueira three times already. Despite that, a win here will give either fighter a solid start on their way to such a title fight sometime in the future.
So how is this thing going to go down? Well, as a D1 champion, Lesanr will be looking to do more of the same, which is look for the takedown and pound away until he gets his hand raised. We saw this game plan play out well for Lesnar in his victory over skilled judoka Min Soo Kim, and also saw it explode in his face with his submission loss to former champ Frank Mir. Of course the question is how is Herring going to handle this? You have to figure Heath is expecting the quick takedown attempt; it is just a matter of whether or not Herring can do anything about it. This isn't the first time Herring has faced a great wrestler. Remember his submission win over Tom Erikson way back in Pride 11? Erikson's wrestling is just as good, if not better, than Lesnar's. With that said, Herring should be able to pull off the hard fought submission victory in about the second round.



Jon Fitch Vs. Georges St. Pierre
With a 15-fight win streak that includes Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves, Josh Burkman, and Luigi Fioravanti, there is no doubt that you are looking at the number one contender in Jon Fitch. A former D1 wrestler for Purdue University, Fitch has exploded onto the MMA scene with not only his undefeated record within the UFC, but also his aggressive, relentless wrestling style that has put away opponents again and again. If Fitch were fighting a few years earlier, or in any other promotion on the planet, past or present, you would figure he would have to be the sure favorite, but the fact is he is not. Instead he is up against arguably one of the best fighters to ever grace the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
Georges St. Pierre is by far the best welterweight in the sport today, and rightfully so. BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, Jason Miller, Karo Parisyan; the man has essentially cleared out the entire 170 weight class. Of course, there is that one, pesky blemish on St. Pierre's record; his TKO loss to Matt Serra. Since then, St. Pierre has avenged that loss, and then some, but fans and critics alike still recall it vividly. It is the one fetter that shackles St. Pierre to a wall that keeps him from greatness. A win over Fitch may be the victory he needs to break it.
No matter how favored St. Pierre might be here, the "anything can happen" factor still haunts the native Canadian. If Serra can put down the champion, than why can't the next guy? However in his defense, it looks like "Rush" has gotten past that extremely well. His victories over Koscheck and Hughes were dominating in every sense of the word, and if this current trend continues, we will see an even better performance from Georges this time around. The champion retains his title by TKO, third round.





News

Aleksander Emelianenko still feeling heat from CSAC controversy

Fedor's little brother may not be as all right as he claims. While Emelianenko denied rumors of contracting Hepatitis on his personal page, it seems CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) representative Bill Douglas had something else to add to the matter. Appearing on Figure Four Daily, Douglas had this to say about the matter:

"The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Aleksander) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially licensed denied and that will stand for all of the United States of America".

While Douglas did not go into detail about exactly why this is the case, some strongly believe that it must have something to do with Emelianenko's aforementioned Hepatitis ordeal. Whatever the case, there is truly more to this story than either party is letting on about.

Aleksander has fought in Pride for several years prior to this, earning a spot in the top ten rankings several times throughout his career. Emelianenko, while not very well known stateside, has earned himself a respectable fan base around the world.




Tito Ortiz to become a father

As everyone knows, former UFC champion Tito Ortiz has been dating former porn star Jenna Jameson for well over a year now. However, just recently the couple announced a surprising next step that is taking place within the relationship: a child. As reported by the New York Post, Jameson is now expecting the child of Ortiz. Here is the exact excerpt:

"CONGRATS to Jenna Jameson. The retired porn queen is pregnant with the baby of her boyfriend, UFC champ Tito Ortiz. "She had a bunch of meetings and things planned for Fashion Week, including meetings for her own line, but she's postponed everything," said our source. "She's completely thrilled, this is something she's wanted for a very long time." Jameson miscarried during her marriage to Jay Grdina, whom she divorced in 2006. She also once failed with in vitro. Jameson's assistant didn't return calls and Ortiz's rep had no comment."

While the pregnancy has been kept under wraps for a while, Ortiz did tip off such an occurrence last week in a recent interview with MMARated. After asked about retirement and his future in the sport, the topic of marriage came up. What Ortiz had to say was fairly interesting.

"Wedding bells? No, me and Jenna talked about it; no wedding bells, but we're working on children though." (How's that going?) "Really good. It's fun."




Sherk to return against Griffin

If former lightweight champion Sean Sherk wants to change his title status back to "current", he will have to avoid the up-and-coming guys and take on only the best of the best. At least, that is his outlook on the matter. Sherk revealed his future plans to reclaim the 155 pound belt in a recent interview with MMAWeekly, and it seems he is taking his own advice to heart; Sherk will be going up against Xtreme Couture standout Tyson Griffin at UFC 90 in Chicago.

"I've been real careful with who I'm going to fight. I don't want to fight up-and-coming guys. You start fighting up-and-coming guys and you have to fight more guys to make your way up to the top. I want to fight the best of the best, and that's what I'm doing with this upcoming fight."

The fight has been in the works for quite some time, as both competitors verbally agreed some time ago. However the last of the paper work is coming down the pipe and everything is going smoothly. UFC 90 is scheduled for October 25th, and will also include Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote, and Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez.




Arlovski vs. Barnett announced for next Affliction card

While Andrei Arlovski may have earned his shot at a title belt with his outstanding performance at Affliction: Banned, all it took was a broken hand in 36 seconds to foil the Belarusian's plans. After the July 19 event, officials were looking to give Arlovski a fight with Emelianenko at the next event, however the injuries sustained to the Russians hand in his last outing would go on to prevent such a meeting.



Instead, the promotion will match up Arlovski's impressive performance with another: Josh Barnett, who impressively knocked out Pedro Rizzo late in the second round. The fight will no doubt determine who will be fighting next for Fedor's WAMMA title, but odds are both men will eventually meet the champion at some point in Afflcition.

This news also seems to be put a damper on Arlovski's professional boxing debut, which was suppose to take place on September 13 under an Oscar DeLa Hoya promoted card. Arvloski's camp refused to comment on the situation.





Zuffa looking for help with Japanese media
It is fair to say that after the PrideFC takeover, Zuffa wasn't exactly the changing of the guard the Japanese wanted. After a few failed attempts at organizing a television deal in Japan, UFC president Dana White gave up all together and focused his attention to Mexico and England. Now it seems Zuffa is ready to give another swing at winning over the Japanese, but they are going to need a little help doing it. Posting a job opening on paidcontent.org, White and company are looking for someone that will:

"Managing all aspects of distribution, production, operations and account management of mixed martial arts video content to Japanese based media outlets. Manage content selection and metadata creation, oversee editing, promo production, encoding, distribution and reporting of digital assets. Must be fluent in English and Japanese with excellent verbal and written communication skills in both languages. BA or BS required with a minimum of three years work experience in the field of New Media. Job can be based in Las Vegas or Los Angeles with frequent travel to Japan."

I can imagine Zuffa will need a lot more help than this to get the Japanese market behind the UFC, but at least it is a start. The move is probably a reaction to the rapid success of the DREAM promotion, and the idea of it eventually becoming as competitive as Pride.





Glbert Yvel becomes newest addition to DREAM's heavyweight divison

While it can easily be argued that DREAM's heavyweight division is a bit lacking compared to other rival organizations, the production seems to be trying to balance things out. Recently, the Japan-based promotion was able to sign long time Pride competitor Gilbert Yvel to a three-fight deal, according to Stash Capar of The Fight Network.

No opponent or debut date has been slated as of yet, but Capar also reports that a fight with fellow Dutchman Alistair Overeem is in the works. This comes as a bit of a surprise as it seems Overeem was gunning for DREAM's current heavyweight poster boy Mirko Cro Cop, however word has been circulating that Cro Cop will be facing Japanese antagonist Yoshihiro Akiyama. Perhaps Yvel will be motioned to keep Overeem busy while the Akiyama- Filipović takes place.

Another interesting note on the match up is the fact that among Yvel's long list of impressive victories, Alistair's older brother, Valentijn Overeem, is included twice. This may be the incentive DREAM will use to stir tension and sell the fight.

Yvel has also defeated names like Akira Shoji, Cheick Kongo, Gary Goodridge, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Semmy Schilt.





Jackson's behavior explained by White

It seems the roller coaster ride is finally over, as Quinton Jackson appeared in the public sphere for the first time since his arrest a few weeks back. Jackson stepped out during the pre-fight press conference for UFC 87 this past Thursday, accompanied by boss and UFC president Dana White. While not talking too much about the Rampage situation, White did dwell upon it momentarily and revealed some interesting aspects of the incident not before known.

"They took him in for psychiatric evaluation for over 72 hours. What they came back with was that there was nothing wrong with him mentally; it was physically. He was exhausted. He had severe dehydration. And that caused something called delirium."

What exactly is delirium? According to merck.com: "Delirium is a sudden, fluctuating, and usually reversible disturbance of mental function. It is characterized by inability to pay attention, disorientation, an inability to think clearly, and fluctuations in the level of alertness (consciousness)"

While there are several different causes of delirium, most doctors agree that it is triggered by rapid changes in the body. This can include large changes such as changes in medication to severe illness, but delirium can also result from minor things such as sleep deprivation, dehydration and minor illness

"Apparently they tell us he's over it now," White continued. "He is healthy mentally and physically. He will be back in the UFC soon."





Random Pass
As an MMA writer, I have heard the word "keyboard warrior" thrown around a few times. Sick of such slander, I decided to search the Internets for a training video that would enlighten me on just how difficult it is to become a mixed martial artist, and endow me with a newfound appreciation for the technical beauty of the sport. This video, is not that video.






Well that about wraps up everything for this week. Have a great weekend, enjoy tonight's fights, and thanks for stopping by; you have just Passed the Guard! See ya next week.