Cardio Freak MMA News Report 10.02.08: Turning Up The Heat

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 10.02.2008

Cardio Freak is back with a preview of EliteXC: Heat. Can Shamrock's chin withstand Kimbo's beard (and fists)? How awkward will Roy Nelson and Andrei Arlovski look standing next to each other? And how excited am I to see Gina Carano in person? Plus news on UFC going head to head with Affliction again, Mousasi capitalizing on his GP win, and I reveal how to defeat Anderson Silva. You know you wanna read that. All that and the latest news in the MMA world. It's better than seeing Gina Carano up close, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘In The Ayer' Lambert.

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The Biggest Night in MMA History

This Saturday EliteXC returns to CBS in what very well could be the biggest night in MMA history. And I'll be there. EliteXC was kind enough to accept my credential application so I will be heading Florida by the time many of you read this and I'll be there, not as a fan, but as a media member. Should be exciting.

But enough about me being awesome and going to Florida, just how big is this show? This show is so big…wait, I did that backwards. Screw it. This is a big night for MMA because if the show does well, EliteXC could emerge as a legit #2. If this show flops, EliteXC will essentially be on life support. A solid rating means Showtime purchases the MMA company and gets behind it 100% because they know that MMA can succeed. A floundering rating means EXC will likely be off CBS, maybe off Showtime, and doing PPV with no TV and no real stars if Kimbo and Gina can't draw.

This event is essentially in the hands of Kimbo Slice. Yes he has draws like Ken Shamrock, Gina Carano, and Andrei Arlovski surrounding him but he's the guy that's been pushed, he's the doing all the media, and he's the superstar. He drew the biggest Showtime number with his fight against Tank Abbott and his fight with James Thompson was the peak of EXC on CBS. He's like the quarterback in football. He's going to get all the credit if the show does well and all the blame if the show does poor.

Kimbo takes on Ken Shamrock in the main event in the biggest possible fight EXC could have put on that didn't feature Tito Ortiz. Kimbo is undefeated but has been heavily scrutinized for only beating cans while Shamrock is a MMA legend who has lost his last five fights, all by (T)KO in the first round. There's not much to break down in this fight. That won't stop me from typing 3,000 words about the fight but really, there's not much to say. Kimbo will want to keep the fight standing, Ken will want the fight on the ground. Really, Shamrock's only chance in this fight is to catch Kimbo in some type of leg lock. Kimbo is too big and strong up top to be caught in some type of triangle or armbar so the leg will be the target for Shamrock. The problem for Shamrock will be getting the fight to the ground and keeping it there. Kimbo caught a lot of heat after the Thompson fight for not having a ground game but lets not forget that when he wasn't done, Gus, he had an explosive escape from side control where he basically muscled Thompson off of him. It like when Rey Mysterio pins the Big Show and the Big Show just bench presses him off after a one count. Of course when Kimbo was dead tired, he had o ground defense but at least he can say he's better on the ground than Houston Alexander right? That's got to count for something. In fact, here's a wacky comparison for you:

Kimbo Slice is like the 2007-2008 New England Patriots. Kimbo's right and left hands are the Patriots Tom Brady and Randy Moss. The offense is explosive and the defense is good until worn out. Kimbo's whole game is built around beating you quick and if you can survive the first round, you have a chance. If the Patriots didn't run the score up to 50 points by the half, you had a chance. Teams like the Ravens and Chargers hung around with the Patriots because they were able to survive the first half. James Thompson hung around with Kimbo because he survived the first round. Doubt starts entering the mind of the hyped unstoppable force, fans start believing the other guy/team has a chance, and the other team/guy knows it's not over until it's over. Like the Patriots of last season, Kimbo is in FU mode. He knows people are doubting him and discrediting him so while he can't run up the score, he can knock people out in 30 seconds. It took 19 games for another team to hang around long enough to defeat the Patriots. How long until someone finally hags around long enough to defeat Kimbo?

If there's an award for "Greatest Comparisons that You Never Thought Of" I demand to win it.

I really don't like the chances of Ken Shamrock in this fight. His one hope is to secure some type of leg lock but the big problem will be getting the fight to the ground. Frank Mir was able to knee bar Brock Lesnar because Lesnar took the fight to the ground. Kimbo isn't taking the fight to ground. Shamrock will have to get inside, eat punches, and either secure a takedown or pull guard. Problem is, Ken doesn't have much of a chin at this point in his career. He got knocked down by Sakuraba for Christ sake. That's like being submitted by Houston Alexander. Yikes, two Houston jokes in one fight breakdown. Maybe I have a problem.

Kimbo wins this fight by MURDER KILL~! The MURDER KILL prediction is 0-1 (Lesnar winning by decision doesn't really constitute as murdering or killing) but I have faith in it this time.

In an "Opposite End of the Physical Spectrum" fight, a bearded cave man in great shape takes on a redneck who not only looks like he drank the entire keg himself but looks as if he decided to eat the actual keg as well. I'm of course talking about Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson in a fight I'm really looking forward to.

This is a dangerous fight for Arlovski. His hands are great and mixes a lot of speed with power but Nelson packs a big punch against Arlovski's suspect chin and Nelson has a really good ground game with Arlovski's suspect takedown defense. You hear all the time about "trap games" in sports, well this is a "trap fight" for Arlovski. He's won four straight, he's coming off his most impressive performance since his UFC 40-55 run, a win likely gets him a shot at Fedor Emelianenko, and he's facing a guy whose most recent loss was against the guy Arlovski just beat. If that's not a trap fight then I don't know what is. Even if the best Arlovski ever shows up, this is still a dangerous fight for him because of Nelson's ground skills. For those that don't know, Nelson handled pre-motorcycle accident Frank Mir in a grappling contest. Arlovski comes from a sambo background so he's got some submission skills but his takedown defense is lacking and I don't think he'll be able to submit Nelson off his back or anything. If anything Nelson could takedown Arlovski and just work his ground game en route to a decision.

I'm going to pick the upset here. I don't pick the upset often and when I do it usually fails but I like this match up for Nelson and I can't ignore the trap fight aspect of it. I don't think Nelson will submit Arlovski but I do think he can knock him out or get a decision.

In the only title fight of the night, Jake Shields returns to CBS to take on Paul Daley. Shields has won ten straight fights while Daley has won six straight so this is a battle of winning streaks. This is a striker vs. grappler battle with grappler losing by TKO once in four loses and the striker losing four times in six losses. This is a bad match up for Paul Daley. Daley is a good and exciting fighter but he hasn't faced anyone at the level of Jake Shields. Shields is at best the #2 Welterweight in the world and at worst the #3 Welterweight in the world. Simply put, he's really good. Shields knows his advantage is in his wrestling and submissions, which means he's going to take this fight to the ground quickly and probably secure a submission even quicker. This is a man who made Nick Thompson look like a complete can when in reality Nick Thompson is a top 15 Welterweight in the world. If Paul Daley can keep the fight standing then he has the power and the skill to knockout Shields but I don't think Daley can keep the fight on the feet. His sprawl was mediocre against Sam Morgan, who had no stand up to set up the takedown. I think Shields takes this one quickly with a submission.

In the biggest women's fight in MMA history, Gina Carano takes on Cris Santos. Oh wait, no she doesn't. Gina Carano actually takes on Kelly Kobald who no one knows. Kobald is coming off of two straight losses to Julie Kedzie and Tara Larosa, two of the top female fighters in the world. Kobald is a well-rounded fighter and this is actually a dangerous fight for Carano. Gina is undefeated and the face of women's MMA (although you'll upset her if you tell her that, which means I have to console her) but I'm a little bit worried about this fight for her. Luckily for her she's not under the American Gladiators pressure so she has a chance to concentrate more this time around but I still worry about her ground game. On the feet she's arguably the best striker in the female division but Kobald has some power and could catch her. The thing that makes me like Gina in this fight is the fact that she trains at Xtreme Couture where I'd assume her ground game improves every day and I'm sure they've come up with a great gameplan for her. I'm going to pick Gina mainly because I really want to see Carano vs. Santos but this may fall into that trap fight category. A Kobald win wouldn't shock me but hopefully Gina pulls it out, just so I can see her smile during the post-fight interview.

Kicking off the CBS show will be Murilo "Ninja" Rua, the guy Joe Rogan still believes is in the UFC. Seriously, how could Rogan screw that up? Before "Shogun" vs. Griffin at UFC 76, Rogan talked about how he was so excited to see "Shogun" in the UFC and then he goes on to call him "Ninja" at least five times during the fight. That's like calling Mark Wahlberg, Donnie. Donnie has had a nice career (who doesn't love New Kids on the Block?) but he's no Marky Mark. Maybe Joe Rogan was just excited to name drop the other Rua brother because we all know that Rogan gets a little stiff when he gets to name drop guys like Fedor, Gomi, Aoki, ect… knowing that Dana isn't going to do a thing about it. That's why I love Joe Rogan.

Anyway, Rua will be taking on Benji Radach of IFL fame. Upon viewing Radach's track record, it appears that he doesn't fare too well against high-level competition. I don't think Rua is in many peoples top 10 but he's still a high-level competitor with well-rounded skills. Radach has KO power but a suspect chin. He's never been submitted so he's got that going for him. I think Rua takes this fight simply because he's a better fighter and he'll just outclass Radach.

I'm not going to predict a rating for this show but I hope it does well. The more MMA around, the better and if this show tanks, that will just mean less MMA. I'm not the biggest EXC fan in the world (mainly because of the Shaw's) but I give them credit for putting together a very good card that pleases both the hardcore and casual MMA fans.

If anyone is going to this show, hit me up on the email and we'll meet up so I can brag how I'm sitting cageside.

Playing to Your Strengths

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva is now rumored to be scheduled for UFC 92 on December 27th

In related news: LANE KIFFIN HAS BEEN FIRED~!

Quick point on Al Davis: Is it just me or does he look like the South Park version of Rod Stewart without the wheel chair? I just keep waiting for him to say, "I poop my pants."

Maybe that means UFC 91 will, in fact, be the time and place for Jackson vs. Silva 3. If the fight does indeed go down on the December UFC show then we're looking at card that is potentially headlined by Jackson vs. Silva, Griffin vs. Evans, and Nogueira vs. Mir. Has there ever been a UFC event that was three deep at the top like that? UFC 73 had Ortiz vs. Evans, Silva vs. Marquardt, and Sherk vs. Franca but Evans is a much bigger star now, Silva wasn't the star is he now, Marquardt was relatively under the radar, and no one really cared about Sherk and Franca. UFC 84 had Penn vs. Sherk, Ortiz vs. Machida, and Silva vs. Jardine but Machida wasn't a star and his fight was only a big deal because it was Ortiz' last UFC fight and no one bought Jardine even after his win over Liddell. UFC 87 had Fitch vs. GSP, Lesnar vs. Herring, and Florian vs. Huerta but no casuals were high on Fitch or Herring and Florian vs. Huerta would be more likely to main event a Fight Night than a PPV. Nogueira vs. Mir will have weeks of TUF backing and they're both coming off big wins on a heavily watched PPV, Griffin vs. Evans will have the story of TUF 1 Winner vs. TUF 2 Winner along with both guys coming off the biggest wins of their career and upsets, and Silva vs. Jackson will have the history of their previous two fights and the return of Jackson after his legal troubles. UFC has stated that they want to make their December show their biggest show of the year and they've really done that ever since 2006 with Liddell vs. Ortiz 2.

I would question this move because UFC doesn't normally stack a PPV card like this. All three fights could probably headline a card and do the minimum number of PPV buys (around 300,000 for US events) with a strong undercard. Two big fights sure but never three. The thing is, I don't think UFC will have to give a PPV cut to ½ of the headliners. I don't know for fact but if I had to guess, I would suspect that Mir, Nogueira, and Evans don't get a percentage of the PPV money. I'm sure UFC takes care of them if they're headlining a show but I've never heard about those guys getting any type of PPV cut. That means only Jackson, Silva, and Griffin would get a PPV cut, which means they'd actually be getting off easier than last year where you would have to believe that all four headliners (Hughes, St. Pierre, Liddell, and Silva) got a PPV cut. This is why I never believed Jackson vs. Silva was going to be on the Lesnar vs. Couture card because all four guys not only get a portion of the PPV but they get a pretty nice portion of the PPV buys. That's why you'll likely never see Chuck Liddell and Brock Lesnar on the same card unless they're fighting each other.

UFC announced that UFC 93 will be in Dublin, Ireland on January 17th. Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin will headline the card with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman as the co-main event

Notice that date? It's the same date Affliction wants to run their second show from California. Unfortunately this will be a PPV and not a SpikeTV show. I think it's a mistake to run a live show against Affliction because all they're doing is drawing more attention towards Affliction, just like last time. Running a tapped PPV (like UFC is doing this weekend when UFC 86 airs against EXC on CBS 3) is no big deal but doing a live show head to head just draws attention to the other show. Being on PPV is going to force people to really chose though and chances are they're going to chose UFC because that's the established brand. Even if all the hardcores and half the casuals buy Affliction, 9/10 bars are going to air UFC.

It's also a strong possibility that Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra will be on this card, which makes this event a very strong three deep. I think Serra vs. Hughes should headline the show but there's no need to get into that until it's officially on the card.

As for the fights, they both make a lot of sense. "Shogun" vs. Coleman is a perfect bounce back fight for Rua because he should defeat Coleman and if he does defeat Coleman then it gives him his first UFC win against a Hall of Famer. If Coleman wins then it will give UFC another Randy Couture story although I don't know how far Coleman can go in the 205 division. They can also play up the history of Coleman vs. Rua where Coleman defeated Rua at PRIDE 31 where he broke his arm.

UFC is doing the smart thing by making Franklin vs. Henderson at 205. There's more to gain with either man winning at 205 than if this fight was at 185. At 185, a Henderson win sets up the rematch between him and Anderson Silva but a Franklin loss pretty much means a permanent move to 205 where he'll have to get used to the weight gain again and he moves up after a loss, which is normally the opposite of most people who move down. A Franklin win at 185 does nothing because you can't sell Franklin vs. Silva 3 and the Henderson loss kills that rematch. At 205, it's a win all the way around. If Henderson wins he can still move back to 185 and do the rematch with Silva or take a big fight at 205 while Franklin stays at 205, maybe makes some adjustments, gets more comfortable with the weight, and tries to bounce back. If Franklin wins he earns himself a big fight at 205 (I'm thinking Rashad Evans if he loses to Griffin only because I really want to see TUF Winner vs. TUF Coach in my lifetime) and Henderson just moves back to 185 and knows that that's where he's likely going to stay.

**UPDATE** Affliction announced that they will likely change their January 17th date so they don't run head to head against the UFC. Very smart move by Affliction. Running against a SpikeTV show is one thing but there's no reason to run head to head with a PPV, knowing fans are likely to pick UFC over Affliction. So it looks like Affliction will run January 3, 10, or 24 to avoid a live UFC show. No matter what day they run, I'm sure UFC will air a tapped PPV, likely UFC 91 with Couture vs. Lesnar or UFC 90 if the show ends up being better and they want to continue to make Anderson Silva a star.

Studying Tape



This story behind this is that "Krazy Horse" Bennett was jumped by Chute Box at PRIDE Shockwave 2005 and beaten down. After he recovered, he got up and knocked out Wanderlei Silva. As shown here, he wasn't jumped and that he started the attacked. And if he knocked out Silva immediately after waking up, it must not have been too bad considering Silva went on to defeat Ricardo Arona later in the night.

I just love that the Chute Box guy (Cristiano Marcello) locked in a triangle choke in what you could consider a street fight.

Sparring Session

Frank Trigg had the following to say about Anderson Silva:

"Everyone's so scared of his length and his reach that they stay way the hell outside. They're idiots. That makes no sense. You have to be on the inside. You have to be a Mike Tyson-style boxer against him. He's too elusive to hit in the face. He just has too much movement. You have to work his body. You have to pick him apart. You have to out-point him…. He can't hurt you when you're inside because his punching power is from his length and he has to be outside to kick. You have to take Anderson Silva down and hold him down. You almost have to fight him like B.J. Penn fought Sean Sherk: Constant movement, peppering him with quick shots. It's not difficult to see how to beat Anderson Silva. What's difficult is putting yourself to the task and understanding that the game plan isn't going to be perfect, and when something bad happens, overcoming that bad thing. If you don't think you would win, why the hell are you showing up? Yeah, I think I could win."

If you're a fan of Frank Trigg, you should probably skip ahead.

I really want to like Frank Trigg. He's got enough charisma to be a star, he's a good fighter, and he's a hell of a heel. But things like this (and his poor announcing) are why I can't stand him. Trigg says that Silva can't hurt you from the inside, tell that to Rich Franklin. He got inside of Silva and ate more knees than the carpet when the Hilton's are in town. I like how Trigg states that, "you have to outpoint him" just seconds after saying "you can't hit him in the face." Ask James Irvin what its like to try and pick apart Silva with kicks and such. Taking Silva down and holding him down is about the smartest thing Trigg said in this quote but that's easier said than done. Plus every round starts on the feet so if your plan is to lay and pray, you still have to stand with him at least five time. You can't fight Silva like Penn fought Sherk because it was Sherk's choice to stand. Trigg wants you to get inside on Silva and then says fight like Penn fought Sherk, where Penn stayed on the outside and let Sherk get inside because Penn had the reach advantage.

Why is it that everyone thinks they know how to beat Anderson Silva? I'm not saying he's unbeatable, because no one is unbeatable, but everyone thinks they know how to beat him until they get in there and get destroyed. In fact, I know how to beat Anderson Silva. Here's my super secret formula that I will now reveal to the world on how exactly to beat the best pound for pound fighter in the world:

Like a good pornstar, you fake it. When he hits you, you fall down. He jumps in to try to finish you but you're not really hurt. He's now in your guard with a false sense of security that you're hurt. You then grab one of his long arms and lock in an armbar for the victory.

There you go everyone, that's how you beat Anderson Silva. Next week, if you ask kindly, I'll reveal to you how to beat Fedor.

Underwater Ice Bath

Strikeforce: Payback is this Friday, October 3rd in Broomfield, Colorado. Here is the card:

-Duane "Bang" Ludwig vs. Sammy Morgan
-Frank Trigg vs. Falaniko Vitale
-Pete Spratt vs. Donnie Liles
-Billy Evangelista vs. Luke Caudillo
-Carlos Zevallos vs. Andre Walker
-Michelle Waterson vs. Brandy Nerny

The show will air live on HDNet, which is unfortunate for me because unless my hotel room has HD, I won't be able to catch the show. I think the biggest fight on this card is between Frank Trigg and Falaniko Vitale only because it involves Frank Trigg, a guy who could possibly make a splash at Middleweight if he ends up with Affliction, EliteXC, or UFC. Vitale is a well-traveled veteran who holds wins over Matt Lindland and Yushin Okami although to be fair to Lindland, he lost that fight because he knocked himself out on a slam. Vitale has also lost to Jason Miller, Lindland in a rematch, Robbie Lawler, and Jeremy Horn. It's a fight Trigg should win and likely will win but because I really can't stand Frank Trigg, I hope Vitale wins. The main event could be fun as long as it stays standing but if the Sam Morgan that fought Paul Daley shows up then we're in for nothing but takedowns and Ludwig lying on his back. Morgan actually holds a KO victory over Ludwig so hopefully that gives him a false confidence and reason to trade for the better part of the fight.

Oh yeah, and Michelle Waterson is fighting. Her nickname is the "Karate Hottie". She needs to win, Gina needs to win, and then they can fight each other. In a grappling contest. In the bedroom. Preferably mine.

As with any MMA show, it should be fun night of fights. I'll probably catch some of the fights online maybe on the plane ride back and hopefully I'm not disappointed.

Gegard Mousasi and Vitor Belfort are scheduled to fight on the next Affliction show

This is a risky fight for Affliction. Belfort isn't the star he used to be but he still has some name value while Mousasi is a relative unknown in America. It's smart for Affliction to capitalize on the DREAM Middleweight GP value that comes with Mousasi but Belfort seems like more of a long term star for Affliction (if there is such thing as a long term star for Affliction) while Mousasi could bounce between the US and Japan. I'm also worried that Affliction will heavily overpay for Mousasi just because he won the DREAM Middleweight GP. Not to take anything away from Mousasi but before the GP started I believe only Denis Kang was a top 10 Middleweight (and to his credit, Mousasi defeated Kang) and no one is the true Middleweight champion until they defeat Anderson Silva. Mousasi is a very well-rounded fighter but he's pretty much unknown to most of the audience and likely won't be worth whatever Affliction ponies up for him.

Taking Time Off

I'M GOING TO FLORIDA~! AND MY PARENTS ARE PAYING~! Boy it sucks being broke.

I've also been doing a podcast, which you can check out on podomatic (props to Chris Robinson for the site). It sucks. It's me at midnight every Thursday and Sunday completely unprepared speaking into my MacBook built in microphone. I do it because I have nothing better to do on midnight of those nights.

Training Partners

Adam Tool, Stephen DeAugustino, Chris Robinson, and Morgan Marx bring the news.

Dustin James presents the Light Heavyweight Rankings as voted on by the staff. Larry Csonka gives his take on DREAM 6. Alex Mattis posts a pic of Gina Carano. Matt McEwen debuts in column fashion by looking at UFC ruling the world. Larry Csonka gives his take on ShoXC. Scott Kuczowski profiles Gina Carano. BREN~! presents Fact or Fiction featuring Larry Csonka and Jonathan Solomon. Adam Tool presents Fighter of the Month as voted on by the staff.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That does it for me folks. I'll return next week with a recap of EXC on CBS, which I'll be at live. So you'll get in depth analysis of Gina Carano's hair, Gina Carano's teeth, and Gina Carano's feet. I know you're excited.

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