The Ultimate Writer 01.26.09: My Thoughts On Affliction, News of the Week, More
Posted by Dustin James on 01.26.2009
It's the Monday debut of "The Ultimate Writer" and we know you are excited! Join 411's Dustin James as he discusses Saturday night's Affliction "Day Of Reckoning" PPV, the week in news, his top 10 most wanted video games of 2009, and much much more. It's all here in the latest edition of "The Ultimate Writer".......
Welcome to the very first Monday edition of "The Ultimate Writer"! I know some of you were disappointed when you logged onto 411mania yesterday and didn't see a new edition of "TUW" on the main page. It's all good though I promise! By writing this on Monday it gives me more time to discuss the Saturday night PPV's among other things. See, I use to write little quick thoughts on the shows and now I can actually provide some in-depth analysis on the PPV's....because that's what you guys ask for! Of course, now I can't discuss WEC 38 because the damn thing decided to run on Sunday, but I'm sure it was entertaining. Now, sit down, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.
Affliction "Day Of Reckoning" Thoughts:
(These will not include the HDNet Prelim fights. I don't have HDNet so I have yet to see these fights)
-Dan Lauzon def. Bobby Green via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
Not a bad way to kick off the show at all. These two were throwing bombs and going all out buck wild.....until Lauzon's junk became a magnet for Green's foot. Seriously, you want to know how to kill any kind of momentum in a fight? By kicking your opponent in the nuts three separate times....giving him three different opportunities to catch his breath. Green didn't look bad here at all and for awhile, I thought he might even score an upset win over Lauzon. That was until Green gave up his back and it was all over. If you take away the nut shots, people would have loved this fight. Still, not a bad way to start the show off at all.
-Paul Buentello def. Kiril Sidellnikov via TKO in Round 3
Say what you want about "Baby Fedor's" performance here, but the man can take a punch. Buentello's striking was far superior to Sidellnikov's and "Baby Fedor" never really gave Buentello problems. When the third round started you just knew that Kiril was going down, it was just a matter of when. But that didn't happen. With just a minute left in the fight, "Baby Fedor" was totally incoherent and couldn't continue. The guy had no clue he was even fighting anymore. This was another entertaining fight and Buentello looked tremendously good by picking apart Sidellnikov and earning his second straight win in Affliction.
-Renato Sobral def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via submission (anaconda choke) in Round 2
What the hell has happened to Sokoudjou? The guy once had so much promise, but it seems if you put him against stiff competition in the United States, you will just be disappointed. So what does Soko do to improve? Does he drop to middleweight? Does he leave Team Quest? Who knows, but something needs to be done. The guy is still young and has a long career ahead of him. Let's hope he gets his shit together. As for the fight, I actually gave the first round to Sokoudjou and was impressed with his performance when he wasn't using the ropes to save his ass. However, in the second round it was all "Babalu". Sokodujou is a lot like the slutty girls in high school....once you get them on their backs, they are screwed. Either way, "Babalu" looks to have improved since his last run in the UFC and we may actually see him return to the Octagon very soon.
-Vitor Belfort def. Matt Lindland via KO in Round 1
Did anyone else actually see this fight? I'm pretty sure I got up to go to the bathroom and then when I came back, Lindland was trying to tackle the medical staff. This was a fantastic KO for Belfort as he could not afford a loss. In case you missed the vicious KO....here it is:
OUCH! I was honestly worried for Lindland after this fight. He was out cold for a few minutes and the medical staff really wanted to carry him out on a stretcher, but "The Law" was not having that! He's an Oregonian and when we get our asses kicked....we will stand up and walk out on our power. Besides me of course seeing as I'm a huge wuss. I really hope for a full recovery by Lindland and let's hope he never considers running for a political office again. See what that can do to your training?
As for Belfort, what's next for him? Perhaps Affliction could sign Paulo Filho and we could see Belfort knock Filho's head off as well? What do you think Paulo?.......
Yes.....he's single fellas
-Josh Barnett def. Gilbert Yvel via submission (strikes) in Round 3
Yvel impressed me here, I won't lie to you. Perhaps Yvel should sit Sokoudjou down and show the man that it is possible for you to defend yourself when your opponent has you on your back. Either way, Barnett was just too big for Yvel and once he got full mount on Yvel, it was always close to being over. Barnett had a few chances early in the fight to finish Yvel, but Herb Dean was letting the two brawl. Barnett picked up the win by making Yvel tap with some vicious ground and pound. Now the big question is, can Barnett defeat Fedor? If you said "yes", do me a favor and stab yourself with a pencil.
-Fedor Emelianenko def. Andrei Arlvoski via KO in Round 1
People actually picked against Fedor in this fight? BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ohhh, surreee Arlvoski was perhaps "winning" the fight until he went for that flying knee in which Fedor responded with a "LIGHTS OUT" punch. But c'mon....Fedor is the most dominant MMA heavyweight ever. How can you really pick against him? Especially if you know ANYTHING about MMA?
Yes, it sure is a thing of beauty......
When will we see Arlovski again? Probably boxing some chumpstain on HBO Boxing's prelim card.
As for anyone who wants to face Fedor now? Well, you know what they say right? When you face an Emelianenko........
Overall, I was impressed with Affliction "Day Of Reckoning". Coming off a disappointing PPV in UFC 93, I was really hoping that Affliction could put on a good show and when it was all said and done....I was satisfied with the PPV. It's obvious that Affliction and EliteXC have a lot in common. And what I mean by that is, they are both promotion's built around one star (EliteXC had Kimbo Slice, Affliction has Fedor) much like the WWF was in 1986-1990 when they built the promotion around Hulkamania. Affliction can not afford to have Fedor lose or even lose Fedor to the UFC. He is their meal ticket. Fedor will walk through Barnett later this year (perhaps in the summer?) and then what's next for him and Affliction? One thing is for sure, the company needs Fedor in order to attract attention. Now, they just need to get him some competition.
The Week That Was:
This feature is self-explanatory. The biggest news items of the week go here, duh!
Monday:
As always, the week started off SLOOOOOW. Perhaps the aftermath of that "PPV" called UFC 93 left a bitter taste in MMA fan's mouths to the point that everyone needed a break? You want to know what happened on Monday? Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante told Tatame.com that he is expected to fight at the DREAM show in April and it won't be against Joachim Hansen. So who will the man fight then? We have already seen "JZ" vs. Shinya Aoki. Eddie Alvarez is booked with Bellator on ESPN Deportes. So will Cavalcante actually face a fellow top 10 lightweight or will he try to improve his winning record by facing a tomato can while he waits for "Hellboy"? Hopefully we will find out sooner rather than later.....
Tuesday:
On Tuesday things really started to heat up! Zuffa announced a grip of future match-ups. What do you say we check them out?
-Brian Stann vs. Krzysztof Soszynski added to UFC 97: Stann is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion and will be a good test for Soszynski who is looking to make a name for himself in the UFC coming off last season's "Ultimate Fighter".
-James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries added to UFC 98: Anyone order a slug fest? If this one ends via submission, I promise I will pay anyone who is reading this right now.....one million dollars.
-Tyson Griffin vs. Rafael dos Anjos added to UFC Fight Night 18: Man, what a shitty deal for dos Anjos. In his UFC debut he gets his head knocked off by Jeremy Stephens, and then the UFC gives him one of the top lightweights in the promotion in Griffin. I'm not a fortune teller, but I see a "UFC Releases Rafael dos Anjos" headline in our future.
-George Roop vs. Dave Kaplan added to UFC 98: This one is a "loser leaves the UFC" fight. If the fight ends up in a boring decision....they both could be cut.
-Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles to headline WEC 40: And the Torres winning streak continues......
Wednesday:
Things picked right back up on Wednesday in Zuffa-land as far as announcing future fights was concerned.....
-Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar added to UFC 98: Good fight here. I just don't see anyway Edgar can defeat Sherk.
-Steve Cantwell vs. Luis Cane added to UFC 97: And Cantwell is named as the replacement for Keith Jardine. The former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion has a REAL test on his hands here. Cane is widely considered a top 10 light heavyweight and is hungry for a title shot.
Also on Wednesday, it was revealed that the reason the UFC went with the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Keith Jardine main event for UFC 96 in March was because Rashad Evans turned down the fight. Apparently Evans is a little banged up after his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 in December. That, and his wife is in the home stretch of her pregnancy and Evans wants to be around for the birth of his child. Can you really blame the guy? Just calm down, order UFC 96 and watch "Rampage" destroy Jardine in the same fashion that Wanderlei Silva did.
We also got some bad news out of Affliction-land. Chris Horodecki was removed from the "Day Of Reckoning" PPV due to the fact that the show ran past his curfew. Bummer deal for us. I was really looking forward to the Horodecki/Dan Lauzon fight on the PPV. Isn't that right Horodecki?......
"I'm this many years old!"
And hey look.....we even got some DREAM news on Wednesday! Former WEC Bantamweight Champion Chase Beebe signed with the Japanese promotion and will be competing in the featherweight tournament in March. "Kid" Yamamoto apparently won't be in the tournament now because he is a celebrity in Japan and therefore doesn't have to fight anymore.
Thursday:
Things started slowing down again on Thursday. Seriously...you know what went down? Well, there was a rumor that the Jason High vs. Jay Hieron fight scheduled for HDNet was going to be moved to the Affliction PPV in place of Horodecki/Lauzon. However, that never panned out and therefore Thursday was completely useless in the world of MMA.
Friday:
On Friday we had the Affliction weigh-ins. Nothing of major note happened. Fedor didn't kill anyone, Gilbert Yvel didn't bite anyone, and everyone got a big laugh at how ginormous Tito Ortiz's head is. Seriously, have you seen that thing? He makes Fedor's head look like a grape.
In SHOCKING news, Amir Sadollah was injured again and was forced to pull out of his scheduled bout with Nick Catone at UFC Fight Night 17. Man, is this guy injury prone or what? He's like the Tracy McGrady of MMA.
Saturday:
Saturday was of course.....Affliction "Day Of Reckoning". For my thoughts on the show, scroll back up.
In other news, the UFC announced that they had released IFL veteran Reese Andy following two consecutive losses in the Octagon. Look for Andy to head to Strikeforce.
The UFC also announced that they had signed Canadian prospect T.J. Grant to a four-fight deal. He will make his UFC debut at UFC 97 in SURPRISE.....Canada. Also, Jason MacDonald was added to the UFC 97 card. MacDonald is trying to set a UFC record by fighting 284,847 times in 3 years.
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
Royce Gracie
Oh yes. Here he is! The man, the myth, the legend, the hall of famer......Royce Gracie! Where has the first face of MMA gone? Last year there were rumors floating around about a possible Gracie comeback to either Sengoku or DREAM in Japan but for some reason...it never panned out. Why? What went wrong? What happened with Royce? WHERE IS ROYCE? The man hasn't fought since June 2, 2007 when he defeated Kazushi Sakuraba. Can Gracie still bring it? Probably not, but it would be worth it to see.
If you know the whereabouts of Royce 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.
My Top 10 Most Wanted Video Games Of 2009: (I'm a HUGE video game fan. So here's a list of my personal top 10 most wanted video games that are coming out in 2009. Now, before you start complaining. I only own an Xbox360 and a Wii so needless to say...this list won't have any PS3 exclusive titles on it seeing as I don't currently own one)
ARE YOU READY?
(This list is in no particular order)
10. Punchout!!/EA Sports Tennis/ - These two Wii titles share the tenth spot. I'm not a massive Wii fan by any means, but I do enjoy the sports games. I truly can't wait for either Punchout!! or EA Sports Tennis. One of the greatest things in life is making your living room reek of sweat.
9. Fight Night Round 4 - It's been years since we have had an updated version of EA's Fight Night and now we are finally getting one. This is a good thing because my current copy of Fight Night Round 3 is on the fritz. Do hurry EA!
8. WWE Legends Of Wrestlemania - As a HUGE WWE fan of the 1980's and 1990's...this game is very appealing to me. Of course, it all depends on the roster. When will they actually announce the complete roster? I'm not sure, but the damn thing had better have Demolition on it.
7. Splinter Cell: Conviction - I'm a huge Splinter Cell fan and I have been waiting for this game for what seems like forever. Let's hope it meets expectations.
6. Mafia II - I'm half Italian, so naturally.....this interests me.
5. The Godfather II - I'm a huge fan of The Godfather movies, and the first Godfather game wasn't bad at all. Let's hope they can keep the trend going.
4. Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Man, I really hope this one is good. I have been dying for a solid Ghostbusters title since I was knee high to a toad stool. PROTON POWER!
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum - People keep saying that this has the potential to be the best Batman game ever. Now, while most Batman games have sucked major ass, this one actually has a lot of promise. Don't let me down Eidos!
2. UFC Undisputed 2009 - Who wasn't expecting this one to be on here?
1. Resident Evil 5 - Well DUH. This one is a no-brainer. If you know me, you know how much I LOVED Resident Evil 4. This one looks just as good, if not better. Can't WAIT!
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
Won the title from Randy Couture back on November 15, 2008 at UFC 91.
Frank Mir - Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
Won the title from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira back on December 27, 2008 at UFC 92
Rashad Evans - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Forrest Griffin back on December 27, 2008 at UFC 92
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 Joe Stevenson back on January 19, 2008 at UFC 80
Won the title from Bobby Southworth back on November 21, 2008 at Strikeforce: Destruction
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
Fedor Emelianenko - WAMMA Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Tim Sylvia back on July 19, 2008 at Affliction "Banned"
Shinya Aoki - WAMMA Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Eddie Alvarez back on December 31, 2008 at FEG FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008
Satoru Kitaoka - Sengoku Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Takanori Gomi back on January 4, 2009 at Sengoku 7
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......
T.J. Grant
You are looking at the UFC's newest welterweight prospect. That would be Canada's own T.J. Grant! Grant just signed himself a four-fight deal with the UFC and is looking to armbar his competition as soon as UFC 97 in April. And when I say "armbar his competition"....I mean it. The guy is 13-2 as a pro with 12 wins via submission (8 via armbar!). The man is lethal on the ground and is riding a four fight win streak (all in 2008) into the UFC. Needless to say, the UFC has high hopes for Grant.
Upcoming Events:
Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:
UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn - January 31 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn (UFC welterweight title)
-Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
-Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
-Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida
-Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
-Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
-Chris Wilson vs. John Howard
-Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
-Thiago Tavares vs. Manny Gamburyan
-Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer
UFC Fight Night 17: Lauzon vs. Franca - February 7 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida
-Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca
-Josh Neer vs. Mac Danzig
-Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
-Matthew Riddle vs. Steve Bruno
-Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
-Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
-Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
-George Sotiropoulos vs. Matt Grice
-Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson - February 21 at The O2 Arena in London, England
-Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson
-Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia
-Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham
-Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
-Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago
-Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
-Troy Mandaloniz vs. Paul Kelly
-Shannon Gugerty vs. Tom Lawson
-Terry Etim vs. Justin Buchholz
-Justin McCully vs. Neil Grove
WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia - March 1 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas
-Mike Brown vs. Leonard Garcia (WEC featherweight title)
-Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson (WEC welterweight title)
-Rob McCullough vs. Marcus Hicks
-Bart Palaszewski vs. Richard Crunkilton
-Mike Budnik vs. John Franchi
UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine - March 7 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
-Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Keith Jardine
-Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Carwin
-Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz
-Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
-Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller
-Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
-Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
-Pete Sell vs. Matt Brown
-Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley
-Ben Saunders vs. To Be Announced
UFC Undisputed 2009 Update:
It's no secret that I'm a huge UFC and video game fan. I currently own an Xbox360 and a Wii, and will gladly take a PS3 if it's offered to me. With that out of the way, I can't WAIT for the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2009 video game. Therefore, "The Ultimate Writer" will be your headquarters for all the updates and news on the upcoming video game!
Will Be Released: Spring of 2009
Platform: Xbox360, PS3
Current Updates: Nothing new this week.
Current roster for UFC Undisputed 2009: (These are the confirmed fighters in the game thus far. The game is rumored to feature over 80 fighters.)
Heavyweight:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Brock Lesnar
Randy Couture
Frank Mir
Light Heavyweight:
Forrest Griffin
Wanderlei Silva
Quinton Jackson
Chuck Liddell
Rashad Evans
Rich Franklin
Middleweight:
Anderson Silva
Amir Sadollah
Michael Bisping
Dan Henderson
Welterweight:
Georges St. Pierre
Jon Fitch
Matt Hughes
Lightweight:
BJ Penn
Roger Huerta
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson
UFC Legends:
Royce Gracie
Non-playable Characters:
Mike Goldberg
Joe Rogan
Bruce Buffer
Mario Yamasaki
"Stitch" Duran
Arianny Celeste
Juanito Ibarra
Current 411mania.com MMA Rankings:
These are the current MMA rankings as voted on by the staff of 411mania.com. You can catch the updated version every Thursday on 411mania.com!
Heavyweight: (last voted on January 6, 2009)
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Andrei Arlovski
3. Josh Barnett
4. Frank Mir
5. Brock Lesnar
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
7. Randy Couture
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Alistair Overeem
10. Cheick Kongo
11. Cain Velasquez
12. Fabricio Werdum
13. Tim Sylvia
14. Aleksander Emelianenko
15. Ben Rothwell
Light Heavyweight: (last voted on January 20, 2009)
1. Rashad Evans
2. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
6. Thiago Silva
7. Keith Jardine
8. Chuck Liddell
9. Wanderlei Silva
10. Luis Cane
11. Rich Franklin
12. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
13. Vladimir Matyushenko
14. Tito Ortiz
15. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Middleweight: (last voted on December 18, 2008)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Robbie Lawler
4. Yushin Okami
5. Matt Lindland
6. Gegard Mousasi
7. Nathan Marquardt
8. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
10. Denis Kang
11. Kazuo Misaki
12. Thales Leites
13. Frank Trigg
14. Michael Bisping
15. Demian Maia
Welterweight: (last voted on December 26, 2008)
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Jake Shields
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Carlos Condit
7. Matt Hughes
8. Mike Swick
9. Diego Sanchez
10. Marcus Davis
11. Dustin Hazelett
12. Matt Serra
13. Karo Parisyan
14. Brock Larson
15. Nick Diaz
Pound For Pound: (last voted on December 30, 2008)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Georges St. Pierre
4. BJ Penn
5. Miguel Torres
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Urijah Faber
8. Rashad Evans
9. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto
10. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
11. Eddie Alvarez
12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
13. Kenny Florian
14. Forrest Griffin
15. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Before we go, I highly recommend you check out the promo video for the upcoming Mike Easton vs. Chase Beebe fight at UWC 5 coming up:
Thanks to UWC's Nate Wilcox for sending that along.....
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.
