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Anybody else see this?
At UFC 129 we saw many historic events. We saw a Steven Seagal kick seal away the career of a legend. We saw the invincible Jose Aldo bleed. Hell, we even saw Georges St. Pierre cement his status as the greatest welterweight in the world.
But the most important thing I saw, was the devastation that could be wreaked upon fighters without reliable corners. At UFC 129 we saw three of Gracie Barra’s stable compete. Each one of them lost…fairly convincingly. Nate Diaz was outclassed by the more well rounded Rory Macdonald. Daniel Roberts was outgrappled by Claude Patrick. And Jake Shields was forced to stand with the greatest welterweight of all time. Each of these men was forced out of there comfort zones and never could seem to find their way back.
And it’s all because Cesar Gracie could not be there. Due to issues with obtaining a visa, the Gracie Barra patriarch could not be allowed into Canada, thus leaving all three of his fighters without the guidance they needed. In his place, were Strikeforce champions Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. Phenomenal fighters in their own right, these two obviously leave something to be desired when it comes to the planning aspect of the fight game. Stockton’s King of Chron, and the Boy Who Became a Man Now Bro, were of no assistance to their teammates.
But I feel they’re not really to blame. Fighters cannot be expected to make the best cornermen. If they were…then there’d be no need for a corner at all. Instead we saw teammates just trying their best to look out for their own; ultimately failing to do so however.
None of the Gracie fighters were finished. So it leads one to wonder how much of a difference Cesar Gracie could have made if he were present. I believe in the Shields, and Diaz fights…it could’ve made a world of difference. And it could’ve made one man champion
There it is. I think the UFC matchmaking powers that be have a deep seated hate for Yoshihiro Akiyama. After an already toughs as nails run through the UFC, it was recently announced that Sexyama is to next fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 123.
Let’s take a look at Akiyama’s run in the UFC.
In his first match, he was pitted against the oft overlooked Alan Belcher. In a hotly contested match, Akiyama walked away with a razor close decision. In what should normally be a welcome to the UFC warm up match, Akiyama was pitted against one of the middleweight class’s dark horses. From there, Akiyama was matched against fan favorite Chris Leben. After building alittle momentum, Leben took this fight on short notice. And while Akiyama looked to be on his way to a clear cut, and dominant decision win the always resilient Leben sealed a hail mary triangle choke late in the fight.
ONe would assume that after his first loss in the octagon, Akiyama would be shown a little pity and be given a slightly more beatable opponent to build his stock in the UFC. Instead they gave him Michael Bisping, the one fighter everyone wants beat. Sadly, for all the hate we lay on Bisping we often forget how good a fighter he really is. And once again Akiyama found himself with another loss on his record.
So what should be done with an international superstar who’s slipping in the rankings? You’d think protect your asset and let him work up the ladder… Instead he was given a former light heavyweight champ with rockets attached to his fists. In spite of recent questionable outings, and a flash loss to Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort is by far the most dangerous man Akiyama has faced.
What’s poor Sexyama have to do to catch a break around here?
With his win over Paul Daley last night, Nick Diaz may finally have earned the legitimacy he has been demanding. Up until his fight with Daley, Diaz had gone through three years and nine fights undefeated. IN that time he won the Strikeforce welterweight champion. He avenged his most recent defeat against KJ Noons. And he’s picked up a lot of finishes…and a lot of fans along the way.
With his impressive streak becoming harder to ignore, many were placing Nick Diaz as one of the un-sung greats of the welterweight division. Nick’s said it himself; he’s overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated. I can’t vouch for those last two, but with the body of work he’s put in over the past few years he’s definitely earned some respect for his work rate.
Many pundits however, weren’t ready to hop on the 209 bandwagon quite yet. They felt DIaz was being hand fed lesser opponents to bolster his record. One could say this is the case for his fights against Muhsin Corbbrey and Thomas Denny. But from there he tangled with the likes of Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, Hayato Sakurai, KJ Noons, and the less scary Cyborg Santos. These men are often described as gatekeepers and journeymen. But they are all dangerous; and on many occasions have all proven they should never be counted out. However, until Diaz faced a legitimate contender many refused to set him on a pedestal.
In steps Paul Daley.
A well traveled veteran with dynamite in his left hand, Daley looked to be the man to upset the Diaz throne. With accurate punches and devastating power, Daley has been able to make potent strikers like Martin Kampmann look like toddlers. With Nick Diaz’s disregard for his own grappling base, many thought the champions propensity to stand and bang would cost him his belt in this fight. With Daley’s kryptonite being submissions it seemed obvious where Diaz’s game plan should take him.
And here comes why we need to all start respecting the shit out of Nick Diaz.
Only one takedown was attempted in the 4:57 of their fight. And Daley went for it. When the opening bell rang, Daley was met center ring with a gums flapping hands dropped Nick Diaz. And surprise surprise…they went at each other. They exchanged punches center ring, across the cage and against it. This fight was engaged entirely on the feet. As everyone expected, it was only a matter of time before Daley landed his patented left hook and dropped the champ. But where the magic began was when Diaz hit the ground. He instantly went to snaking his head to avoid damage and looked to right his ship.
He did. And went straight back to throwing leather. As shocked as many were…it didn’t quite compare to when he got dropped again. Face first. But instead of going the Scott Smith route, and tucking himself in for the night, Diaz just continued to defend and look to right his position. And he did. Then the two went right back against the cage and started swinging once again. But with less than ten seconds left in the fight we see both fighters tangle against the cage, Daley look to separate from Diaz…and then he stumbles and drops to the ground where the champion pounces and steals the finish. Many would say the fight was stopped early, but Big John could clearly see Daley was on loose legs and was flustered finding his stool. Somewhere in that final exchange Nick Diaz landed a powerful, phantom punch that ended the Brit’s hope for a Strikeforce title.
And that’s why we need to give Nick Diaz whatever he wants. He heard our claims that he was going to get cocky and get knocked out trying to stand with Daley. He heard that we all thought his only route to victory was through his ground game. He heard that we all thought if Daley would win, it’d be in the early rounds. And last night he pretty much told us to go fuck ourselves. Diaz, like the cowboy he is, came in hands down, talking shit, got dropped twice, didn’t care, showed Daley who the one with knockout power really was, and then collected his check and bounced.
And with GIlbert Melendez’s impressive win over the Crusher Kawajiri…It’s time we give Gracie Barra the respect it deserves
So we’ve finally gotten confirmation of a highly desired bout. Wanderlei Silva has been campaigning for a fight with CHris Leben for months, and now he’s finally got it. After turning down a chance to fight veteran, and fan favorite Brian Stann, Silva made obvious his desire to fight Leben or Vitor Belfort for a second time. One has to ask…if he turned down Stann for the above stated reason, then does he view Chris Leben as a heel?
With many striker v striker bouts we hear both fighters claim they won’t be afraid to stand toe to toe with their opponents. Many fighters actually mean it when they say this. But as Anthony Johnson displayed…sometimes it’s just a ploy to confuse your opponent.
I doubt this will happen when Leben and Silva meet. Both fighters are true brawlers, and love to throw leather. I’m damn near positive neither fighter would know how to sinch a takedown even if they wanted to.
This FOTY candidate will be sure to not let any fans down
Thiago Silva has always been an interesting figure in the light heavyweight division. His calm, stoic demeanor hides the raging beast that lies beneath. We’ve seen it before. Those sleepy sleepy eyes that act as a prelude to the hurricane of violence that he unleashes upon his opponents. All but two have fallen to his onslaught. Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans both bested Silva; though Evans did not come out unscathed.
In his most recent fight he demolished Brandon Vera and sent him packing from the UFC; though this was not to be permanent. Vera was reinstated into the UFC light heavyweight division after the fight was overturned as a No Contest due to Thiago Silva’s questionable urine tests.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/23038/nsac-thiago-silvas-ufc-125-sample-inconsistent-with-human-urine.mma
In the above article we learn that Silva’s urine sample has come back as non human. While everyone’s concerned with where Silva got the urine sample…I have a different perspective. What if the question isn’t what non-human subject did Silva get the urine from? What if Thiago Silva actually did take the urine test…and just isn’t human? Could the Man Beast really be a Beastman? I’d believe it.
He does seem to show very animal like tendencies. He is calm and collected until fight time. He keeps his media exposure to a minimum, and often stays quiet for press conferences and weigh ins. But when the cage closes and the bell rings: Beast Mode. As if a primal switch is turned on, Thiago Silva reacts like a confronted animal. Just as James Irvin. Or Brandon Vera.
So maybe Thiago Silva’s a werewolf. Or maybe he’s El Chupacabre(I know that’s Mexican but run with it). Do you think further analysis on Silva’s urine sample should be done by athletic drug commissions? Or a eugenics lab?
The fallout of Japan’s earthquake never seems to end. Recently radioactive leaks have been reaching public water supplies.
What does this have to do with MMA? Nothing right now…but in 21 years we may see a breed of Japanese MMmutants equalizing the international playing field.
It’s a known fact that many asian fighters struggle when competing in American organizations. This is due to most international fighters cutting several pounds to compete in weight classes where they can bring a strength advantage. The cultural pride of the Japanese, and other Asian nations, trickles down into their mma mentality. They stay at their walking around weights, and build skills and strength congruent with that. So what happens when they usually cross the seas to fight? They end up looking like Yoshiyuki Yoshida.
In 20 years time, this may not be the case. The weight and strength advantages of American fighters may not be enough to cope with the extra pair of arms, or laser vision of the next breed of Japanese superstars. Soon we will be seeing a day where American fighters will have to don suits of robotic armor in order to cross the seas and compete with Japanese Mutantstars
It’s been few weeks since Japan’s devastating earthquake, and it is still impacting the MMA world. Recently Olympic Judoka Satoshi Ishii had to pull out of his fight with Scott Lighty at the upcoming Strikeforce Challengers event due to an inability to acquire a visa.
This incident should serve as a reminder that the Japanese people are still struggling with the devastation of this disaster. I would hope everyone is doing what’s in their power to help; even if it’s just keeping Japan in your thoughts and prayers.
Here we are guys. Another fight card, and another set of my highly opinionated picks.
I’ll try and cut it down from last time. Too many words that didn’t really say too much.
Leonard Garcia vs Chan Sung Jung- This is the fight I’m possibly most excited for tonight. The first time these two met was a barnburner of epic proportions, ending in a very narrow split decision win for Garcia. I see this fight playing out much the same. After being knocked out by George Roop, Jung’s chin may be suspect enough for Garcia to try and test. But I suspect the Korean Zombie will just give no fucks and throw leather back. This fight is a clear toss up…but I’m looking for the Zombie to be just a little hungrier. Chan Sung Jung by Unanimous Decision
Amir Sadollah vs DaMarques Johnson- A pretty evenly matched welterweight tilt in this fight. There isn’t any real welterweight class implications in this fight, and build up has been lukewarm at it’s hottest. Both fighters have been looking good lately, but I see Sadollah’s more rounded out arsenal taking the fight here. He’ll be able to set up throws from the clinch, after working his muay thai for a little bit. From there he should be able to out grapple Johnson on his way to a win. Amir Sadollah by 2nd Rd Armbar
Dan Hardy vs Anthony Johnson- This is easily the second most exciting fight happening tonight. There’s no doubt about how this fight is going to end. With both of these fighters’ disposition to stand and throw leather, this fight won’t end until someone needs a pillow. Dan Hardy is coming off a quick KO loss to Carlos Condit. Anthony Johnson is on the tail end of a lengthy layoff, and a submission loss to Josh Koscheck. The biggest factor in this fight is going to be Johnson’s weight. Allegedly ballooning up to 230 pounds in his layoff, he will have had to cut 60 pounds to make weight(which he did). If the cut was too much for him, it’s going to be a long sluggish night. But if he comes in with a little bit of energy, Hardy is going to get freight trained. Anthony Johnson by 1st Rd Death Punch
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Phil Davis
I don’t know what Joe Silva has against Lil Nog, but he keeps feeding him a supply of wrestlers. He was presented one gimme in the always game Luiz Cane, but since then it’s been wrestler, wrestler, wrestler. Unfortunately for him, they’ve proven to be his weak point, and Davis looks to be the most dominant wrestler he will face to date. Davis has been on a meteoric rise in his one year in the UFC, often being deemed the next big thing after Jon Jones’ original next big thing. With a dominant wrestling game, creative submissions and striking that’s, well, getting there, Phil Davis looks to be a rising star. Noguiera’s only chance here is to keep this fight standing, which I see Davis taking no part in. This fight will take place predominantly on the ground where Davis will wrestle his way to victory, barring any opportunities he offers up to be submitted. Phil Davis by Unanimous Decision
Another Hathaway lip sighting on MMAJunkie! Dudes definitely glossin’.
Now we can watch those lips, in all their luscious glory, live on Facebook.
