K-1 Fields Dynamite!! Results

Quick Results:

• Gesians Cavalcante vs. Joachim Hansen Cancelled (see below)
• Shinya Aoki def. Eddie Alvarez by Heel Hook in Round 1 (1:32)
• Mirko Cro Cop def. Hong Man Choi by TKO in Round 1
• Kiyoshi Tamura def. Kazushi Sakuraba by Unanimous Decision
• Hayato “Mach” Sakurai def. Katsuyori Shiabata by TKO in Round 1
• Daisuke Nakamura def. Hideo Tokoro by Armbar in Round 1
• Bob Sapp def. Akihito Tanaka by TKO in round 1
• Melvin Manhoef def. Mark Hunt by TKO in round 1 (:18)
• Semmy Schilt def. Siala “Mighty Mo” Siliga by Triangle Choke Round 1
• Ikuhisa Minowa def. Errol Zimmerman

Notes:

• The Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Cavalcante bout was cancelled because of an apparent failed medical test by Joachim Hansen with a possible head injury of some type.  For more info check out Sherdog.com’s Article on The Cancellation
• Gegard Mousasi, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Alistair Overeem all won their respective K-1 rules bouts.

My K-1 Fields Dyanamite!! Predictions

Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Cavalcante

This is a re-match in which Hansen won a close deicision, but many felt Cavalcante should have won.  This is a great match up between two really good lightweights.  Most likely the winner is a consensus top 10 whereas the loser is just outside the top 10.  These guys are evenly matched, but I have to think JZ will pull out the decision here.

Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez

This fight is for the WAMMA lightweight title.  That is dumb because neither guy is the number 1 lightweight in the world.  The number 1 guys is B.J. Penn.  Aoki is my #3 and Alvarez is my #2.  This is the fight that should have been the DREAM lightweight grand prix final.  Aoki has incredible submission skills, but Alvarez has great striking and is very strong.  I think Alvarez will be too strong for Aoki and will win by TKO in round 1.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

For old times sake.  Sakuraba by decision.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Hong Man Choi

Hong Man Choi is 7 foot tall plus some.  That will be a problem for Cro Cop.  Can his head kick reach Choi?  The body kicks will do just fine.  I think Cro Cop wins this fight in round 1 by TKO and we will see him back in the UFC. 

Mark Hunt vs. Melvin Manhoef

Manhoef takes this fight on one days notice replacing Jerome LeBanner who caught the flu.  Manhoef has had a wild year.  He has retired and come out of retirement.  Now he fights a much heavier Mark Hunt.  I think Manhoef has good enough striking to still win this fight.  It will be tough for him though.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo Silaga

Daisuke Nakamura vs. Hideo Tokoro

Some interesting bouts under K-1 rules featuring Alistair Overeem, Gegard Mousasi, and Tatsuya Kawajiri

MMABlog’s Welterweight MMA Rankings

Rank	Name	Organization	Next Fight
1	Georges St. Pierre	UFC	Penn (LW #1) 1/31
2	Jon Fitch	UFC
3	Jake Shields	EliteXC?
4	Josh Koscheck	UFC	Alves (#5), 9/25
5	Thiago Alves	UFC	Koscheck (#4), 9/25
6	Carlos Condit	WEC
7	Diego Sanchez	UFC
8	Karo Parisyan	UFC	1/31
9	Matt Hughes	UFC	Serra (#10) 4/?
10	Matt Serra	UFC	Hughes (#9), 4/?
11	Mike Swick	UFC	Goulet (NR) 12/10
12	Marcus Davis	UFC
13	Hayato Sakurai
14	Nick Thompson	EliteXC?
15	Brock Larson	WEC
16	Chris Lytle	UFC
17	Jay Hieron	Affliction
18	Dustin Hazelett	UFC	McCrory (NR) 11/15
19	Chris Wilson	UFC
20	Yoshiyuki Yoshida	UFC	Koscheck (#4) 12/10
21	Dan Hardy	UFC
22	Ryo Chonan	UFC	Blackburn (NR), 12/27
23	Akihiro Gono	UFC
24	Dong Hyun Kim	UFC
25	Luigi Fiorvanti	UFC	Farber (NR), 12/10

DREAM 6 Quick Results

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals:

Gegard Mousasi def. Melvin Manhoef via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 1:28

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Zelg Galesic via submission (arm-bar) — Round 1, 1:27

Middleweight Grand Prix Finals:

Gegard Mousasi def. Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza via KO (upkick) — Round 1, 2:15

Non-Tournament Bouts:

Alistair Overeem vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic ruled a no-contest due to knees to the groin

Shinya Aoki def. Todd Moore via submission (neck crank) – Round 1

Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Masanori Tonooka via submission (arm-bar) – Round 1

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via unanimous decision

Sergei Kharitonov def. Jimmy Ambriz via submission (strikes) – Round 1

Masakatsu Funaki def. Ikuhisa Minowa via submission (heel hook) – Round 1

Atsushi Yamamoto def. Hideo Tokoro via unanimous decision  

Keita Nakamura def. Adriano Martins via split decision

Andrews Nakahara def. Dong Sik Yoon via TKO (strikes) — Round 2

Best Non-UFC Fighters

Here are the best non-UFC fighters.  This shows where the UFC is stacked and where they lack.  There competition is mainly in Affliction at heavyweight and DREAM at lightweight.  Here are the best non-UFC guys that the UFC should look to sign if possible. 

Rank	Heavyweight	Light Heavy	Middleweight	Welterweight	Lightweight
1	Fedor Emelianenko	Antonio Rogerio Nogueira	Paulo Filho	Jake Shields	Takanori Gomi
2	Andrei Arlovski	Ricardo Arona	Matt Lindland	Carlos Condit	Shinya Aoki
3	Josh Barnett	Rafael Feijao	Robbie Lawler	Jay Hieron	JZ Calvancante
4	Tim Sylvia	Vladimir Matyushenko	Kazuo Misaki	Nick Thompson	Eddie Alvarez
5	Ben Rothwell	Babalu Sobral	Gegard Mousasi	Mach Sakurai	Mitsuhiro Ishida
6	Mirko Cro Cop	Tito Ortiz	Vitor Belfort	Mike Pyle	Joachim Hansen
7	Roy Nelson	Steve Cantwell	“Jacare” de Sousa		Tatsuya Kawajiri
8	Aleks Emelianenko	Brian Stann	Jason Miller		Josh Thomson
9	Antonio Silva		Melvin Manhoef		Gilbert Melendez
10	Alistair Overeem		Murilio Rua		Vitor Ribeiro
11			Cung Le		Jamie Varner
12			Denis Kang		Ryan Schultz
13			Joey Villasenor		KJ Noons
14			Frank Shamrock		Nick Diaz
15			Yoshihiro Akiyama		Caol Uno
16			Jorge Santiago
17			Chael Sonnen

If I Could…

Okay, let me play dreamer for a minute.  If I was employed by the UFC and I could sign 3 guys from each weight class, who would I sign…?

Heavyweight:

• Fedor Emelianenko
• Josh Barnett
• Randy Couture

Also Considered: Roy Nelson, Brett Rogers, and Ben Rothwell

Light Heavyweight:

• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Ricardo Arona
• Valdimir Matyushenko

(Also Considered: Babalu and Brian Stann)

Middleweight:

• Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza
• Paulo Filho
• Robbie Lawler

Also Considered: Lindland and Jason “Mayhem” Miller

Welterweights:

• Jay Hieron
• Jake Shields
• Carlos Condit

Also Considered: Hayato Sakurai and Nick Thompson

Lightweights

• Takanori Gomi
• Gilbert Melendez
• Gesias Calvancante

Also Considered: Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki and Urijah Faber if he would move up

Who Benefited Most From PRIDE’s Collapse?

When PRIDE fell they were clearly the biggest competitors with the UFC, having many of MMA’s top guys.  They had some big time stars. Then PRIDE got into trouble and was bought by Zuffa.  So who benefited the most from PRIDE’s deminse?  There was a mad scramble to sign those guys who were now unemployed. I have been critical of the UFC’s ability to sign top PRIDE guys like Fedor, Gomi, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Arona, Kang, Mousasi, Melendez, etc. However, it looks like the UFC has done great due to PRIDE’s fall.  I ranked the PRIDE guys at the time of their collapse in order of who I would want to sign and the UFC benefited from it.  Now, the guys they have signed haven;t had huge success, but they are popular and will win eventually.  Can you imagine the UFC heavyweight divison without the influx of Nogueira, Werdum, and Herring???  The light heavyweight divison also was greatly boosted with the signings of Shogun, Wanderlei, Dan Henderson, Nakamura, and Sokoudjou.  UFC just struggles to get the lightweights. UFC signed 13 of those guys I listed and they have faired well, this doesn’t even include other guys who came in before the fall of PRIDE like “Rampage” Jackson.  Out of those guys you have some stars now in the UFC, some guys that can draw a crowd and one of them owns the belt (Nogueira).  DREAM and Affliction seemed to clean up what UFC couldn’t sign.  DREAM picked up the ligtweights, signing 8 of those PRIDE guys.  Affliction has a few signings.  So while I am critical of the UFC, let us give Dana and the UFC brass some credit for signing many of the top PRIDE guys.  I still would like to see the best of the best in one place, but it won’t happen, so this puts things into perspective and the UFC did good and benefited the most from PRIDE’s fall.

 

Name	Fight Organization Signed With
Fedor Emelianenko	Affliction
Wanderlei Silva	UFC
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua	UFC
Mirko Cro Cop	UFC (DREAM)
Takanori Gomi	World Victory Road
Dan Henderson	UFC
Josh Barnett	Affliction
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	UFC
Paulo Filho	WEC
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira	HCF
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou	UFC
Ricardo Arona
Gilbert Melendez	Strikeforce
Fabricio Werdum	UFC
Gegard Mousasi	DREAM
Denis Kang	DREAM
Aleksander Emelianenko	Affliction
Marcus Aurelio	UFC
Akihiro Gono	UFC
Kauo Misaki	DREAM
Ricardo Almeida	UFC
Heath Herring	UFC
Joachim Hansen	DREAM
Ryo Chonan	UFC
Kazuhiro Nakamura	UFC
Tatsuya Kawajiri	DREAM
Mitsuhiro Ishida	DREAM
Alistair Overeem	Strikeforce
Kevin Randleman
Phil Baroni	EliteXC
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai	DREAM
Murilio Bustamante
Murilo “Ninja” Rua	EliteXC

UFC’s Competition

I have been critical of Dana White’ abilitiy to sign the free agents in the MMA world.  I think the bottom line is that Dana is unwilling to bend.  I just heard that Jacare, an excellent jiu-jitsu guy signed with DREAM.  The negotions broke down with the UFC because Dana felt they wanted too much money.  Maybe he is right, but nevertheless Jacare is now in a competitong organization.  Furthermore, it seems the UFC fails to sign top notch fighters especailly Japanese guys like Ishida, Ayoki or Sakurai.  There are other top level fighters that the UFC couldn’t sign.  Worse than that there are several top tier guys I don’t know if the UFC even cares about (Jakes Shields, JZ Calvancante, Gilbert Melendez).  He won’t sign Fedor.  He won’t sign Lindand.  In my opinion UFC will never be a monopoly and has some serious competition. With some of the internal problems and some of the UFC stars upset we could see another organization become the “big dog” in MMA.  In my opinion here is UFC’s biggest competitors.

1. EliteXC.  Dana’s feud with Shaw hasn’t helped.  Shaw is a much more typical commissioner than White.  The CBS deal will bring them in a lot of viewers, but will also help all MMA.  They have some stars in EliteXC (Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Cung Le, Robbie Lawler). They are willing to take chances as seen by the future star Kimbo Slice.  They offered Fedor, and may get him.

2. WEC – I know it is Zuffa owned, but they have some great fighters that the UFC should bring over to the UFC.  I don’t know why you have another organization with top level fighters.  They have some great guys that would translate well anywhere (Paulo Filho, Carlos Condit, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, Doug Marshall, Brian Stann, Rob McCullough, Jamie Varner, Chael Sonnen, Leonard Garcia and Jens Pulver)

3. DREAM – Not much competition now, but has some good fighters (Sakurai, Cro Cop, Calvancanti, Ishida, Aoki, Denis Kang, Yamamoto, Joachim Hansen, Eddie Alvarez and Mark Hunt).  The American market is next to nothing though.

4. World Victory Road — Josh Barnett and Takanori Gomi enough said.  A few more big names and they have something good.

5. Strikeforce.  Not great competition, but still have a few guys any monopoly would want (Frank Shamrock, Josh Thompson and Gilbert Melendez)

6. ICON.  They have Jason “Mayhem” Miller and a future star in Kala Hose.

 Right now the UFC is doing fine.  They have a few competitors, but they are still the big leagues.  They have the best fighters.  Some divisions they are better than others.  For example at Light Heavyweight they have a near monopoly and at welterweight they are doing pretty well.  There are several key free agents out there (Fedor, Arlovski, Couture).  If EliteXC or someone else picks up the other guys they can really compete.

Why can’t the UFC Sign Top Fighters?

Why isn’t the UFC able to sign some of the top fighters in the world?  If I was a fighter I would want three things that would determine where I fought.  1. The best money 2. The best competiton 3. The best exposure

If this is the same guidelines others go by why isn’t the UFC signing guys.  The money is there in the UFC.  The competiton is there.  The exposure is no diubt the best.  The UFC flat missed out of Takanori Gomi, who went to World Victory Road.  Why?  I think because he wants to keep winning.  He is scared of the UFC.  He hasn’t done good against UFC fighters.  B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz gave him trouble.  He will blame it on the money or on Dana White, but I think it is his pride.  I do think Dana should be careful because he does rub people the wrong way.  UFC also missed out on Fedor, who apparently was insulted by White.  In loosing Fedor the UFC lost Couture.  You could argue that was Dana White’s biggest mistake ever and really lost out on 3 top 10 heavyweights, because Aleks would have surely followed.  I also wonder why UFC couldn’t ink Antonio Rogeri Nogueira?  Why is Arlovski and Ortiz about to leave? 

I must admit the UFC did well with inking the PRIDE guys.  If I could have given Dana a list of those PRIDE guys to sign here is what it would have been.

Heavyweights:

• Fedor Emelianenko
• Mirko Cro Cop
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• Heath Herring
• Josh Barnett
• Fabricio Werdum
• Aleksander Emelianenko
• Maurico “Shogun” Rua
• Murilio Rua
• Wanderlai Silva
• Ricardo Arona
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Rameau Thierry Sokodjou
• Kazuhiro Nakmura
• Akihiro Gono
• Mitsuhiro Ishida
• Dan Henderson
• Paulo Filho
• Denis Kang
• Takanori Gomi
• Marcus Aurelio
• Hayato Sakurai

UFC has signed 11out of 22of those guys

What to expect in MMA in ’08

• I expect to see new title holders in every division but one and that is the middleweight.  All though Anderson could be challenged by Dan Henderson.  My picks for the title holders: Nogueira, Not sure about lightheavyweight, Anderson Silva, St. Pierre, and B.J. Penn.
• I expect to see a few more fighters signed to UFC contracts.  Highlighting the list: Matt Lindland, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and some other big name surprise
• I expect TUF to be a disappointment with Rampage Jackson getting a lot of camera time saying his crazy off the wall things
• I expect the middleweight division to get tougher
• I expect a few UFC stars to retire (Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin)
• I expect Sean Sherk to get another title shot, but B.J. Penn to beat him badly
• I expect the light heavyweight division to get crazier with guys like Machdia, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, and Shogun in the title mix.
• I expect Chuck Liddell to avenge his loss to Keith Jardine by summer
• I expect that Shogun is still only one fight away from a title shot, I think that my top ten in the lightheavyweight at the top ten at light heavyweight, perhaps not in that order.
• I expect Dan Henderson to try Anderson Silva like he hasn’t been tried in a while
• I expect Jon Fitch, Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Roger Huerta, Matt Lindland, and either Arlovski or Cro Cop to get a title shot. 
• I expect the former PRIDE guys to turn it around in the octagon
• I expect another solid fight from Wanderlai Silva, can you say rematch?
• I expect the Fedor vs. Randy fight to happen
• I expect other organizations to become more of a competition to the UFC
• I expect Dana White to say many more expletives on national television
• I expect TUF alums to suceed this year even more
• I expect Diego Sanchez to drop to lightweight
• I expect Brock Lesnar to be a middle of the road fighter
• I expect Brandon Vera to drop to lightheavyweight
• I expect Bisping to cry when he gets beat in middleweight
• I expect Tito to loose in the Apprentice

UFC Fighter Rankings

Where do fighters rank in the UFC?  I’ve seen all sorts of thoughts on rankings, so I will chime in and give my rankings, which of course are the best and most accurate.  I am using a few guidelines.

• This is strictly UFC, not including fighters not yet signed in UFC from Pride.  For example, Fedor would be on or near the top of the Heavyweight rankings, but he is yet to sign so he is not included
• This is based not on popularity or even record, but purely on who I perceive to be the best fighters
• I am putting the title holders at number one in each weight class, even though they might not be the best in that class, for example, I would not have Matt Serra as the best fighter in his class, but he is the belt holder.
• Some fighters are rising quickly and others are falling quickly (i.e. Tito and Cro Cop)

HEAVYWEIGHTS

1. Randy “The Natural” Couture

2. Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski

3. Gabriel Gonzaga

4. Cheick Kongo

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

6. Tim Sylvia

7. Mirko “Cro Cop”

8. Brandon Vera

9. Frank Mir

10. Jeff Monson 

11. Heath Herring

12. Fabricio Werdum

13. Assuerio Silva

(Note: Fedor, Josh Barnett, and even Aleksander Emelianko may have made the list had they signed. )

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

1. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

3. Dan Henderson

4. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell

5. Wandelai Silva

6. Rashad Evans

7. Houston Alexander

8. Tito Ortiz

9. Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine

10. Forrest Griffin

11. Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira

12. Matt “The Hammer” Hamill

13. Micael Bisping

14. Ryoto Machida

15. Jason Lambert

16. Stephan Bonnar

17. Renato “Babalu” Sorbal

18. Wilson Gouveia

19. Marvin Eastman

(Note: I put Hamill above Bisping because I believe he beat Bisping in their fight.  Even though Bisping got the win, Hammil looked better.)

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

1. Anderson Silva

2. Rich Franklin

3. Yushim Okami

4. Terry Martin

5. Nate Marquardt

6. Dan Henderson

7. Jason MacDonald

8. Patrick Cote 

9. Kalib Starnes

10. Chris Leben

11. Martin Kampmann

12. Thales Leites

13. Ivan Salaverry

14. Nate “Rock” Quarry

15. Evan Tanner

16. Kendall Grove

17. Ed Herman

18. Travis Lutter

19. Dean Lister

20. Alessio Sakara

WELTERWEIGHT:

1. Matt Serra

2. Georges St. Pierre

3. Matt Hughes

4. Diego Sanchez

5. Karo Parisyan

6. Josh Koschek

7. Jon Fitch

8. B.J. Penn

9. Marcus Davis

10. Mike Swick

11. Thiago Alves

12. Josh Burkman

13. Luigi Fioravanti

14. Nick Diaz

15. Chris Lytle

16. Edilberto “Crocota” de Oliveira

17. Jonathan Goulet

LIGHTWEIGHT:

1.  Sean Sherk

2. B.J. Penn

3. Joe “Daddy” Stevenson

4. Roger Huerta

5. Kenny Florian

6. Hermes Franca

7. Nick Diaz

8. Joe Lauzon

9.  Din Thomas

10. Marcus Davis

11. Clay Guida

12. Spencer Fisher

13. Frank Edgar

14. Melvin Guillard

15. Drew Fickett

16. Kurt Pellegrino

17. Terry Etim

18. Tyson Griffin

19. Marcus Aurelio

20. Sam Stout

21. Tiago Tavares

22. Nate Diaz

(Note: I listed to 22 because there are so many quality fighters and the last 12-15 of these guys are not far from one another in ranking,  Some rankings have my number 19 Marcus Aurelio much higher, but come on, whose he gonna bump down?)

 Let the disputing begin.  I’d love to hear comments.  Perhaps I left someone off included someone I shouldn’t have.  Perhaps I have someone overrated or another underrated.  Let me know what you think.