The Ultimate Writer 11.16.08: Round 7 - The Biggest News of the Week, Top 10 Pro Wrestlers I Would Like To See In MMA, Quick UFC 91 Thoughts, And Lots More
Posted by Dustin James on 11.16.2008
It's the day after the "biggest fight in UFC history!" and it's time once again for "The Ultimate Writer". Join me as I discuss the biggest news of the week, the top 10 pro wrestlers I would like to see in MMA, and so much more......
How are you feeling today? Is everybody a little hungover from the "BIGGEST FIGHT IN UFC HISTORY!!!"?? As you should know already, I wrote this column before the Brock Lesnar/Randy Couture fight last night but if you are interested in hearing some feedback from the fight.....I'm sure Larry Csonka has something for you to read on 411! Let's just hope that Couture did what he always does, and that's pull away with the miracle win. It's just that Brock Lesnar is still such a huge question mark to me that I don't know exactly where to peg him yet. Either way, if Lesnar defeated Couture look for him to face Big Nog to unify the UFC Heavyweight Title next year (assuming Nog beats Mir). It's a great time to be an MMA fan.......
UPDATED QUICK UFC 91 MAIN CARD THOUGHTS:
-Demian Maia over Nate Quarry via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
OK.....now when is Maia's title shot? Seriously, this man is scary.
-Gabriel Gonzaga over Josh Hendricks via TKO in Round 1
Gonzaga is back to looking scary again! Watch out fellow UFC heavyweights!
-Dustin Hazelett over Tamdan McCrory via submission in Round 1
Once again Hazelett shows off his impressive submission skills! That makes me 3-0 on the main card, which is good considering I went 0-4 on the prelim card!
-Kenny Florian over Joe Stevenson via submission in Round 1
WOW! Florian looked really good here and a Florian/Penn match-up is now on the horizon. What's up with every main card fight ending in the first?
-Brock Lesnar over Randy Couture via TKO in Round 2
What can I say? At first I hated the call to stop the fight, but after seeing the replay, I kind of agreed with the stoppage. Couture got beat by Lesnar. Great win for Brock and look out.....this dude's on fire.
Biggest News Item Of The Week:
This feature is self-explanatory. The biggest news item of the week goes here, duh!
News of the week!
Besides UFC 91, there really wasn't a huge news story this week. So I'm going to just throw a lot of random punches at you and fill that head of yours with some useful information. I know a lot of you are probably reading this with a hangover because you attended a massive drunken UFC 91 party.....so I promise to take it easy on you!
Monday:
-On Monday we found out that Denis Kang will make his UFC debut against Alan Belcher at UFC 93 in January. We also found out that Fabricio Werdum and the UFC have parted ways, and that Josh Thomson is injured and is out of his title defense fight against Yves Edwards.
Tuesday:
-Tuesday was a pretty miserable day. We found out that Amir Sadollah was off of the UFC 91 card, and that the UFC has released Jason Lambert. I was excited to see Sadollah fight at UFC 91, but injuries are part of the game. As far as Lambert being released, the guy had potential but when you lose three straight in the UFC....It's time to go elsewhere.
Wednesday:
-On Wednesday it was revealed that Bobby Lashley's first MMA opponent would be Joshua Franklin (WHO?). It will be the MMA debut for both men, but I expect Lashley to squash the guy. If he doesn't, he may want to consider returning to wrestling. We also learned that "JZ" Cavalcante will face Joachim Hansen and Kazushi Sakuraba will face Kiyoshi Tamura at the K-1 Dynamite!! New Year's Eve Show. Two fantastic fights for a card that's already looking solid. Plus we will probably get to see a Mirko Cro Cop/Alistair Overeem rematch! WOOOO!
Thursday:
-Thursday was a pretty big news day. We learned that Dana White was predicting RECORD SETTING #'s for UFC 91 on PPV. It was also revealed that Matt Lindland will face Renato Sobral and Lil Nog will face Vladimir Matyushenko at Affliction 2 "Day Of Reckoning" (which was a fun lil WWE Gamecube game by the way). Not to mention we heard that former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Silva was close to signing with World Victory Road's "Sengoku".
Friday:
-Friday was the BIG day before UFC 91! We had the weigh-ins, and everyone made weight. YAY! We also learned that Dana White was not opposed to promoting a Gina Carano vs. Cris "Cyborg" Santos fight at a possible WEC show. However the big news of the day came from Affliction. They announced that co-owner Todd Beard was resigning from his position amidst a huge controversy involving Kim & Randy Couture.
Saturday:
-UFC 91 went down. DERF?!?!?!
It's all in a name!
In this section I'm going to discuss fighter's with crazy names in MMA. You know you guys have searched Sherdog.com's "Fight Finder" and seen some wacky name that has just jumped off the page at you. Well, in this little section I'm going to grab a name each week and take an in-depth look at that fighter! Trust me, it will be fun.......
This week we will be looking at:
Chris Griffin
Yes, Chris Griffin is not only a cartoon character on the TV show "Family Guy" but in his spare time he is an MMA fighter. Don't believe me? Since making his debut in 2007, Griffin is a solid 3-0 defeating Jason Howell, Doug Dooley, and Brandon Newsome. Now, if only Griffin could defeat his toughest opponent yet.......that damn evil monkey lurking in his closet.
You can check out Chris Griffin's Sherdog profile here.
Where are they now?
This feature looks at fighters who have been inactive for some time. Where exactly have they gone? I don't know and I'm reaching out to you guys to help us find these missing MMA stars......
MISSING
Renzo Gracie
Renzo, Renzo, where for art thou Renzo? Gracie currently has a 3-fight winning streak going with his last loss coming at the hands of BJ Penn in 2005. The last time we saw Renzo compete he "defeated" Frank Shamrock at EliteXC: Destiny back in February of 2007. If anybody lives near Manhattan and stops by the Renzo Gracie Academy, ask him if he ever plans on fighting again. It would just be nice to know......
If you know the whereabouts of Renzo Gracie, please contact Dustin James at sickboyv1@aol.com, or go to his myspace located here.
Random Top 10 List Time!
Here you will see a random top 10 list put together by yours truly. It may be Top 10 submission fighters, Top 10 stand-up fighters, or hell, even Top 10 ways that Anderson Silva could kill you. Seriously, don't mess with that man. He's dangerous.
Top 10 pro wrestlers I would like to see try out for MMA: (this list represents wrestlers that I would love to see try out MMA for either the fact I think they could be good, or I just want to see them get their ass kicked.)
ARE YOU READY?
(This list is in no particular order)
10. Giant Gonzalez/El Gigante - For no other reason than my sheer entertainment.
9. The Undertaker - The Undertaker loves MMA, and MMA would love to see The Undertaker fight. I bet he would learn that a gogoplata is extremely more difficult to put on in an actual fight.
8. CM Punk - So this guy has a martial arts background? Well, let's see it......
7. Kurt Angle - I would just love to hear him quit his yapping, and just finally get knocked out. Let's just hope it wouldn't kill him.
6. Ron Simmons - Simmons has a reputation as a "bad ass". I would love to see how bad ass he could be in the cage.
5. Scott Steiner - The Steiner Brothers are suppose to be some tough mofo's. I'd love to see how tough they truly are, especially the steroid freak known as Scott.
4. Marc Mero - The guy was supposedly a good boxer, plus he's a moron. I'd love to see him get his ass whooped.
3. Dean Malenko - He called himself the man of 1,000 moves.....let's see if he knows some jiu-jitsu!
2. Chris Benoit - This being BEFORE the guy went nuts of course.
1. Shelton Benjamin - Since the moment I laid eyes on Benjamin when he was just a wrestling prospect I thought the guy "had it". He was a natural athlete and was a team mate of Brock Lesnar's at the University of Minnesota. I'm a huge Benjamin fan to this day even though I don't watch much pro wrestling minus WWE 24/7.
Current Champions:
This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?
Brock Lesnar - UFC Heavyweight Champion*NEW
Won the title from Randy Couture back on November 15, 2008 at UFC 91.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria - Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
Won the title from Tim Sylvia back on February 2, 2008 at UFC 81
Forrest Griffin - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson back on July 5, 2008 at UFC 86
Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64
Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83
BJ Penn - UFC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Sean Sherk back on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84
Won the title from Paul Buentello back on November 16, 2007 at Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives
Bobby Southworth - Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Vernon White back on December 8, 2006 at Strikeforce: Triple Threat
Cung Le - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion
Won the title from Frank Shamrock back on March 29, 2008 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le
Josh Thomson - Strikeforce Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Gilbert Melendez back on June 27, 2008 at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 23, 2008 at DREAM 6
Joachim Hansen - DREAM Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Shinya Aoki back on July 21, 2008 at DREAM 5
Carlos Condit - WEC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Mike Pyle back on March 24, 2007 at WEC 26
Jamie Varner - WEC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Rob McCullough back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32
Mike Brown - WEC Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Urijah Faber back on November 5, 2008 at WEC 36
Miguel Torres - WEC Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Chase Beebe back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32
Watch Out For This Guy:
In this feature I will showcase a fighter who I believe is on his way up in the MMA world......
Mark Munoz
You are looking at the UFC's "next big thing". At least, that's what they are hoping for. The former NCAA wrestling All-American/National Champion will be making his WEC return at WEC 37 in December when he faces Ricardo Barros. Munoz is currently 4-0 with his last win coming via TKO over Chuck Grigsby at WEC 34 back in June. Munoz has already signed a contract with the UFC and will be joining the company once the WEC has officially merged it's light heavyweight and middleweight divisions into the UFC. Can he make an impact in the UFC? Stay tuned......
Upcoming Events:
Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:
Strikeforce: Destruction - November 21 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California
-Duane Ludwig vs. Yves Edwards
-Bobby Southworth vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
-Terry Martin vs. Scott Smith
-Joe Riggs vs. Luke Stewart
-Kim Couture vs. Lina Kvokov
-Lemont Davis vs. Brian Schwartz
-Darren Uyenoyama vs. Brad Royster
-Cyrillo Padilha vs. Bobby Stack
-Eric Lawson vs. Tony Johnson
-Jose Palacios vs. Alvin Cacdac
-Nik Theotikos vs. Luke Rockhold
-Jaime Rodriguez vs. Zakary Bucia
-Kurt Osiander vs. Raul Castillo
WEC 37 - December 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia
-Cub Swanson vs. Hirouki Takaya
-Will Ribeiro vs. Brian Bowles
-Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura
-Diego Nunes vs. Josh Grispi
-Bart Palaszewski vs. Alex Karalexis
-Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik
-Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov
-Mark Munoz vs. Ricardo Barros
-Danny Martinez vs. Joseph Benavidez
UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights For The Troops - December 10 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
-Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
-Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet
-Frankie Edgar vs. Matt Wiman
-Luigi Fioravanti vs. Brodie Farber
-Corey Hill vs. Dale Hartt
-Tim Credeur vs. Nate Loughran
-Justin McCully vs. Eddie Sanchez
-Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff
-Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees
-Razak Al-Hussan vs. Steve Cantwell
Adrenaline MMA II - December 11 at the i wireless Center in Moline, Illinois
-Pat Miletich vs. Thomas Denny
-Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Guillen
-Mike Russow vs. Joe McCall
-Gabe Lemley vs. TBA
-Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. TBA
-Ryan McGivern vs. TBA
-Jesse Lennox vs. TBA
-Ramiro Hernandez vs. TBA
-LC Davis vs. TBA
UFC: The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale - December 13 at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Light Heavyweight Finalist #1 vs. Light Heavyweight Finalist #2
-Lightweight Finalist #1 vs. Lightweight Finalist #2
-Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia
-Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns
MMA Motivational Poster Of The Week:
Say what?
Video Of The Week:
This guy is on his way to the UFC......can we say........FINALLY???
Thank you for joining me again for this wonderful column. I hope you continue to read every week and don't forget to check out the other wonderful columns here on 411mania.com, which is updated daily because that's how we roll.
CM Punk has no martial arts training whatsoever. Its just kayfabe bs started by the E to legitimize his striking. He kicks people. He knees people. You don't need to know BJJ to do that.
Posted By: Chico (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Hated the call to stop the fight?
Coulture's head bounced off the mat about 5 hits into it. I thought the ref took too long calling it.
Posted By: Anderson (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 12:34 AM
to all those that doubted Lesnar
HAHA!!!
Posted By: G (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 12:50 AM
Renzo Gracie appeared on Inside MMA a few weeks back promoting the documentary about himself. Not sure if he's fighting anytime soon.
Shelton & Brock broke into pro wrestling about the same time and the word was Shelton was as good if not better than Brock as an amateur. I've always heard if things were legit, Shelton would be one of the toughest guys. Food for thought.
Posted By: Jonathan Solomon (Registered) on November 16, 2008 at 12:51 AM
At first I hated the call to stop the fight, but after seeing the replay, I kind of agreed with the stoppage.
----------------------------------
What did you want, Couture reduced to a vegetable?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4KP6U14gi0
3:04 and on...
Couture blocks NONE OF IT. As soon as his hand even gets near Brock's arm, he gets rolled over and hammered. The referee only allowed it to go on as long as it did to avoid the Tito/Shamrock II complaints, but that beating was starting to get into Thompson/Slice Round 1 territory.
Posted By: William (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 01:45 AM
When I read the title top 10 wrestlers I would like to see in MMA the first I thought of was the Undertaker who I think would have done quite well, of course if he were younger.
The second was Shelton Benjamin who would be awesome in MMA. He was an awesome wrestler in college and he is just an awesome athlete as well. Out of all the wrestlers in WWE right now I think Shelton would definitely succeed the most in MMA.
Posted By: tgs (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 03:25 AM
Quick comment on the random Top 10...
No Charlie Haas? He broke in at the same time as Brock and Shelton and to the bes tof my knowledge is one of the few to hold a win over Brock in the NCAA. Just because the guy is a goof in the "E" doesn't mean he couldn't make the transition. I'd like to see it.
The only other wrestler I think would be interesting would be Bill Goldberg...before his body broke (it's argueable that it was broken befoe he even broke in with WCW). I only throw this out there because as with Undertaker, the man has an interest in MMA, I believe I read at some point he was training for it and quite simply he's seriously intense. This of course would still have to be before he broke down.
Posted By: James Craig (Registered) on November 16, 2008 at 01:13 PM
So nobody else is excited that Anthony Johnson is getting his rematch against Kevin Burns? To me that was the biggest news of this article. If you don't know why just ask any mma nut about the "eye poke of doom" and they'll find a link for ya.
Posted By: guest guest (Guest) on November 16, 2008 at 05:54 PM
Got to agree with the other comments here. You "kinda" agree with the stoppage? Watch it again man and try to count the number of unanswered blows Couture gets. I lost count but it is between 30 and 40 punches, hammer fists and elbows. Granted Lesnar needs to draw back a little and land some solid KO punches rather than his frenzied efforts but there's no way the ref should have allowed that fight to go as long as he did.
Even Dana White admitted at the press conference that it was a very slow stoppage. Randy could hardly stand up after the ref stopped it for goodness sake!
Posted By: Dr Phil (Guest) on November 17, 2008 at 12:49 AM
Wrestlers I'd like to see in MMA
Low-ki vs cung li would love it
Shelton
Hass
Orton he was a marine, why they didnt start a feud over that with cena is beyond belive.
Angle just because he ran his mouth
Big Show whos bigger than brock big show is.
Ok so I couldnt come up with ten wrestler that are active and would have a chance. I dont watch wrestling anymore sooo.
Posted By: Guest#0247 (Guest) on November 17, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Orton's little brother fights MMA- he is still young in the game
Posted By: Guest#9820 (Guest) on November 18, 2008 at 01:16 PM
