Mid Year MMA Awards

Best Knockout

Honorable Mention: Luis Arthur Cane KO Jason Lambert, Shane Carwin KO Christian Wellish, Murilio Rua TKO Tony Bonello, Matt Wiman KO Thiago Tavares

5. Anthony Johnson KO Tommy Speer

4. Wilson Gouveia KO Jason Lambert

3. Brian Stann KO Doug Marshall

2. James Irvin KO Houston Alexander

1. Wanderlei Silva KO Keith Jardine

Best Submission

Honorable Mention: Antonio Nogueira submits Tim Sylvia by Guillotine, Yoshiyuki Yoshida submits Jon Koppenhaver by Anaconda choke, Nate Diaz submits Kurt Pellegrino, Cole Miller Submits Jorge Gurgel by Triangle Choke

5. Demian Mia Submits Ed Herman by Triangle Choke

4. Frank Mir Submits Brock Lesnar by Kneebar

3. Rousimar Palhares Submits Ivan Salaverry by Armbar

2. Dustin Hazelett Submits Josh Burkman by Armbar

1. Shinya Aoki Submits Katsuhiko Nagata by Aokiplata

Best Fight

Honorable Mention: Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias Calvancante, Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia

4. Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver

3. Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

2. Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin

1. Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda

Best Fight Card

5. WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver

4. UFC 80: Rapid Fire

3. UFC 81: Breaking Point

2. DREAM 4

1. UFC 84: Ill Will

Upset of The Year:

Honorable Mention: Jason Day over Alan Belcher,

5. Thiago Alves over Karo Parisyan

4. Kevin Burns over Roan Carneiro

3. Fabricio Werdum over Gabriel Gonzaga

2. Josh Thomson over Gilbert Melendez

1. Forrest Griffin over Quinton Jackson

Fighter Of The Year:

Honorable Mention: Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre, Diego Sanchez

5. Miguel Torres

4. Forrest Griffin

3. Thiago Alves

2. Shinya Aoki

1. B.J. Penn (2 Impressive wins over Sean Sherk and Joe Stevenson)

Best UFC Newcomer:

Honorable Mention: Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar

5. Rousimar Palhares

4. Dong Hyun Kim

3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

2. Goran Reljic

1. Cain Velasquez

Worst Calls By A Ref. or Judges

5. Forrest Griffin over Quinton Jackson –  Not just that Forrest got the win, but that it was unanimous.  Many, including me scored the fight either a draw or to Jackson

4. Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum- Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight in round 1 when Werdum was mounted on Vera throwing down punches.  There was just 10 seconds remaining and Vera seemed to be defending himself well. 

3. Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites — Leites got the win, but lost the fight.  He lost the fight due to two points taken away from Marquardt.  One point was justified, but the other was due to elbow to the back of the ehad that wasn’t to the back of the head.  I will confess, that another point could have fairly been deducted for an illegal slam, but I hated to see Marquardt get a loss on his record that I feel he won

2. Phantom split decisions — How was Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove a split deicsion?  How was Heath Herring vs Cheick Kongo a split decision?  The right person got the decision, but how was it split?

1. Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson – Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight in the 3rd round while Thompson was still standing and failed to stop it when Thompson was mounted on Kimbo raining down elbows

What’s Next for Urijah Faber?

One question I want to know the answer to is what is next for “The California Kid” Urijah Faber following his strong performance against Jens Pulver.  Faber is by far the best featherweight in the world.  The question is who is he going to fight next.  He has beaten some good opponents in Jeff Curran and now Jens Pulver.  I think there are a couple of options for Faber. 

1.  He could stay in the featherweight divison of the WEC and keep defending his belt.  There are still a few guys he could beat, but I do not know who can compete with him seriously.  Perhaps Cub Swanson or someone else would make sense, but I don’t think it would be much of a fight.  I just don’t know what else he has to prove in the featherweight divison.  The only talent that can compete with him is not in the WEC.

2. He could move up to lightweight in the WEC.  He is big enough to do it and I think would do well.  I think he would destroy guys liek Rob McCullough or Jamei Varner. 

3.  He could move up to lightweight in the UFC.  He has said he would like to avenge his loss to Tyson Griffin, and Tyson is in the UFC.  That would be an interesting fight, which I suspect will be a reality sooner than later.   I would like to see how Faber would stack up against other UFC lightweights.  I think he would do just fine.  I think he could plow through the Roger Huerta’s of the UFC, but some guys would be tough for him.  A B.J. Penn fight would be a smash hit and huge draw from a marketing stand point, but that isn’t likely yet as Penn will probably next fight the Florian vs. Huerta winner and then move up to fight St. Pierre if he still has the belt. I don’t know the logistics of how it would work, but I look for the Faber vs. Griffin fight to happen and I suspect Faber would have to move up to 155 for one fight at least.  Perhaps by the end of the year the UFC will plan a interpromotional fight card with the WEC.  How would you like to see fights like…Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit, Brian Stann vs. Jackson/Liddell/Wanderlei, Faber vs. Tyson Griffin, Paulo Filho vs. Anderson Silva ??

4. He could do some inter promotional fights with other featherweights.  Perhaps a fight with Kid Yamamoto or another top featherweight. 

Faber is young and still has a lot of fight in him.  I don’t know who else he will fight.  To me Faber defending his belt against some other WEC opponent would be a let down from the huge Pulver fight.  Perhaps a Faber vs. Pulver II is possible, but Faber was so dominant that I cannot see the logic behind that.

My Thoughts on WEC 34

 

·         I thought that the show as a whole was very good.  In fact, I feel that it was a stark contrast to EliteXC on CBS Saturday.   The WEC card had little show and focused on the fights.  The fights were great and well worth watching.  All I can say is what a difference a day makes.

·         I thought the show started off a little slow.  The Rob McCullough fight was nothing special.  I really expected to see him come out and look for a knock out, but he didn’t at all.  In fact, I believe that the fight could have been judged for Alexander. 

·         Honestly, I don’t have much to say about the first three fights because they were slightly disappointing

·         However, when Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda fought I was impressed.  That was an incredible fight.  It was technical, it had great striking, and it was action packed.  I was thrilled with that fight.  I predicted Torres to win that fight and I sure didn’t expect Maeda to be such a game opponent.  He has some great striking and one heck of a chin.  That eye sure did look messed up that caused the fight to be stopped!  Miguel Torres proved that he is the best bantamweight around and one of the best pounds for pound fighters in the world.  There will not be anyone who beats Torres at 135 any time soon.  I loved seeing the display of class in defeat from Maeda when he raised the hand in the air of the victorious Miguel Torres.

·         All I can about the Faber vs. Pulver fight is wow!  Perhaps that will be the fight of the year!  It was a five round war.  I have always thought Faber was good and dominant at 145, but now I think he is the most dominant champion around.  His name should be thrown around with Anderson Silva.  Jens Pulver was tougher than I expected.  He took an absolute beating and withstood it.  He would get rocked then just grin and press forward.  Urijah Faber showed he can do more than just ground and pound someone, he has awesome stand up and a powerful right hand, that I cannot believe did not knockout Pulver.  Jens Pulver showed some serious determination.  Also, how about how classy those guys handled themselves throughout the whole process.  They never trash talked, they had nothing but good to say about each other.  All I can say is Urijah Faber is dominant at Featherweight.  He is a top 5 pound for pound guy in the world.  I have no idea how he is only 145.  The question for everyone will be: what is next for Faber?  I don’t see the logic in staying at featherweight in the WEC, he will just keep winning.  He has mentioned the possibility of moving up to avenge his loss to Tyson Griffin.  Urijah Faber dominated the fight, but hats off to Pulver for his enduring a beating.  The guy’s right eye side of his face looked like E.T. when the fight was over.  I scored the fight 50-45, but it was a great fight and Pulver did well against the champ.  One thing is I don’t fully understand why Pulver didn’t utilize that powerful left hand more often.  It shows how awesome Urijah is.  I became a Faber fan last night.   The California Kid is an awesome fighter, well rounded and dominant at his size. 

 

MMA Live Episode Three

What a great show. I wish it would make it on television. Some good commentary here.  Kenny Florian is a pretty good T.V. personality.  He could stick with the UFC for a while and maybe take Rogan’s job.

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more about “MMA Live Episode Three“, posted with vodpod

 

My WEC 34 Predictions

Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver

This is being billed as the biggest fight in WEC history.  I think it is big, but it isn’t that big.  Urijah Faber is one of the stars of the WEC.  Jens Pulver is a near legend.  Urijah Faber is one of the best pound for pound guys in the world.  Jens Pulver has never lost at 145 lbs.  Urijah Faber has dominated the WEC featherweight divison.  Jens Pulver is a former 155 lb. champ.  I think Faber will prove to be too versatile and too much.  The edge goes to Faber because he trained for this fight with B.J. Penn.  Of course we know B.J. Penn recently beat Pulver.  Training with B.J. is a huge advantage because Faber can get advice from a guy who fought Pulver twice.  Pulver may be good and yes he looked good against Cub Swanson, but he isn’t Urijah Faber good.  I am excitied about this fight, but I have to pick Faber to win by submission is round 2. 

Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda

Miguel Torres has quickly become a MMA star.  He is mentioned as also one of the top pound for pound guys.  Maeda seems to be a solid fighter with a great record.  However, the time is now for Torres.  Miguel has an amazing record of 33-1.  This is his first title defense and I don’t expect him to lose it or for it to go to 5 rounds.  Torres is great on the ground.  I expect the height to be a huge advantage and for Torres to submit Maeda in round 3. 

Chuck Grigsby vs. Mark Munoz

Kenneth Alexander vs. Rob McCullough

Rob McCullough lost his belt and he wants it back.  The WEC has had some belt transitions as Doug Marshall, Rob McCullough, and Chase Bebee all lost their belts.  McCullough stands the best chance of getting his back.  I think he will come out and win by TKO or KO in round 1. 

Mike Brown vs. Jeff Curran

Curran is ranked as one of the best in his weight class.  Brown will give him a contest though. He is American Top trained and has beated some good fighters and has fought some of the best.  Curran would lose this, but I will pick Curran to win via unanimous decision.

Chase Beebe vs. Will Ribeiro

Ribeiro can KO people apparently, but I expect Beebe to win by unanimous decision.  He wants a re-match with Torres and will eventually get one.

Tim McKenzie vs. Jeremy Lang

Luis Sapo vs. Alex Serdyukov

Jose Aldo vs. Alexandre Nogueira

Dominick Cruz vs. Charlie Valencia