Many Questions Arise in Wake of UFC 90?

I believe several questions arose in wake of UFC 90.  I will post the questions in poll form so my readers can voice their opinions.

1. 

Personally, I think it is a mix of a few things and none of them involve anything Cote did.  I think Anderson Silva was trying to confuse Cote.  Part of me feels he was playing around and trying to get in a groove.  I really feel that a KO was coming.  He showed flashes of it.  I was highly disappointed with the fight, but stuff happens.  Silva had a game plan and we don’t like it because Cote’s knee blew.  Silva didn’t know that would happen.  Perhaps he planned on becoming more aggressive.  Anyways, as Dana White said, I would hate to be Silva’s next opponent.  I have a feeling he will be fighting sooner than later. 

2. 

Here is my take on it.  I think Thiago Alves is for real.  I was not on his bandwagon, but I think he is a very good strike, however I see two problems.  He is very predictable.  He loved the flying knee and superman punch.  A good striker could give him problems too.  Also, I don’t know how he would do off his back.  I do not know if he could beat either GSP or B.J. Penn.  I am leaning towards Penn winning the super fight on January 31, and I think if B.J. can get Alves down to the ground he can submit him and pound him.  I think style wise both Penn and GSP are tough matchups for anyone.  So, I say he is for real, but he cannot beat GSP or Penn right now.  GSP was impressed with Alves and thinks he may see Thiago after Penn, but Georges better not overlook B.J.

3.

I am not quite on the bandwagon, but I think he could be a solid fighter.  He needs to prove himself more.  I do not know if he is that good or if Werdum just underestimated him.  He has great training and could be a star, but I’d like to see one more fight before I jump on the bandwagon.  I seem to remember a few guys like Houston Alexander and Sokoudjou coming out of nowhere with a couple of big names KO’s and then disappointing.  I don’t think Dos Santos fits into that mold because I think he will be a more well rounded fighter and trains with some of the best.

4.

I think several impressed.  I guess I would have to say that I was impressed with Thiago Alves the most.  He looked very sharp.  I also was impressed with Josh Koscheck in his loss.  He is tough as nails.  I thought Sherk was impressive and showed good stand up.  Of course Dos Santos was impressive as well.  I enjoyed the Miller vs. Horwich fight and think that both are solid fighters.

5.

My answer depends on how literal you take this question.  Most disappointing to me was Anderson Silva.  I expected a KO.  However, it wasn’t all his fault.  The Cote injury was disappointing, but that wasn’t his fault either.  I really expected more out of Aurelio as well.

My UFC 90 Thoughts and Recaps

• I said in my predictions that I nearly did not order UFC 90 and that I changed my mind.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have.  I thought the card was good, but I was disappointed with the main event.  I never thought Cilva vs. Cote was main event worthy.  Patrick Cote was overrated and didn’t deserve a title shot.  What did he do?  He beat Kendall Grove and won a split decision over Ricardo Almeida. 
• The fight between Silva vs. Cote did not go as expected, but not because Cote was good.  He was clearly out of his league, but at times I wondered what Silva was doing.  He was dancing around and messing with Cote.  Perhaps he thought the octagon was some cool name for a new Chicago nightclub.  It looked like Silva vs. Cote was a Dad messing around fighting with his son. 
• The knee injury disappointed me.  I do not question Cote’s heart, but that was a horrible ending and quite frankly I think the UFC should refund  part of those pay per view buys.  That is the problem when everyone tunes in to watch one guy Anderson Silva and the rest of the card is not great.
• Thiago Alves look spectacular.  His striking is so good.  However, I think his weakness is a agressive striker, because when Koscheck really attacked he was on his heels big time. 
• All props to Alves, but love him or hate him Josh Koscheck is one tough dude.  He took this fight on 10 days notice and hung in there with Alves.  He took some vicious shots and kept it up.  I gained respect for Koscheck in this one.
• By the way, what was with Alves’ takedown after the final bell?  Koscheck looked somewhat annoyed.
• Gray Maynard again showed dominant wrestling ability.  He manhandled and bullied Clementi.  I got ticked at the ref for his “come on, let’s go” usage.  They guys were fighting and the ref kept telling them to get busy, but they were fighting for positioning.  I didn’t think it was the most exciting fight, but I enjoyed it.  Maynard is quick on the rise.  He is moving quickly up the ladder.  Perhaps a Sean Sherk fight could be in the future or the loser of the upcoming Florian vs. Stevenson fight.
• How about Junior Dos Santos.  He has to be a popular guy with Dana White right now.  The UFC was really in a pickle with Werdum.  They had a title fight set up for Randy on Novermber 15th against Couture.  They had an interim title fight set up between Mir and Nogueira in December.  Then we can assume that the winners would fight one another in March or April.  Also, Fabricio Werdum had been labeled a number one contender and writen in his contract that a win over dos Santos would guarantee him a title shot.  Dos Santos solved that problem real fast.
• That was a vicious KO by Dos Santos.  He may be the real deal.
• Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk was an exciting fight.  I do not know who earned the win, but it was fight of the night no doubt.

Fight of the Night: Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk

Knockout of the Night: Junior Dos Santos

Submission of the Night: Spencer Fisher

MMABlog’s Lightweight MMA Rankings

Rank	Name	Organization	Next Fight
1	B.J. Penn	UFC	St. Pierre (#1 WW) 1/31
2	Takanori Gomi	World Victory Road	Golyaev (NR), 11/1
3	Shinya Aoki	DREAM
4	Eddie Alvarez	EliteXC?
5	Sean Sherk	UFC	T. Griffin (#15), 9/25
6	Mitsuhiro Ishida	DREAM/Strikeforce
7	Tatsuya Kawajiri	DREAM
8	Kenny Florian	UFC	Stevenson (#10), 11/15
9	Josh Thomson	Strikeforce	Edwards (NR), 11/21
10	Joe Stevenson	UFC	Florian (#8), 11/15
11	Gesias Calvancante	DREAM
12	Joachim Hansen	DREAM
13	Gilbert Melendez	Strikeforce
14	Jamie Varner	WEC
15	Tyson Griffin	UFC	Sherk (#5), 9/25
16	Roger Huerta	UFC
17	Gray Maynard	UFC	Clementi (NR), 9/25
18	Frank Edgar	UFC	Wiman (NR), 12/10
19	Vitor Ribeiro
20	Nate Diaz	UFC
21	K.J. Noons	EliteXC?
22	Joe Lauzon	UFC
23	Nick Diaz	EliteXC
24	Spencer Fisher	UFC	Gugerty (NR), 9/25
25	Caol Uno	DREAM

 

Others Considered: Clay Guida, Hermes Franca, Marcus Aurelio, Jim Miller, Jorge Masvidal , Rich Clementi, Matt Wiman, and Mac Danzig.

My UFC 90 Predictions

I at first glance thought this was the weakest card of 2008.  I honestly was tempted to not order it.  I admit the main event isn’t much, but from top to bottom this has some great fights, especially in the lightweight divison.  My point is this: if you are doubting this card, look at fights like Clementi vs. Maynard and Griffin vs. Sherk to remind you why it is a good card.  The undercard has a few good bouts like Aurelio vs. Franca and Miller vs. Horwich. 

Andreson Silva vs. Patrick Cote

Is anyone really going to pick against Anderson Silva in this fight?  I know in a MMA fight anything can happen and I know that with a guy with heavy hands like Cote that Silva can get caught, but seriously very few will be picking Cote in this one. However, for the gamblers out there perhaps it isn’t a bad idea to put some bread on Cote.  If he somehow wins it would make a good pay day.  Here is the truth about this fight: Cote is not the type of guy that will beat Silva.  Style wise it is a bad match up for Cote.  The guy who can beat Silva will be good at jiu jitsu and good and wrestling and ground and pound, but yet can strike.  Cote is not good on the ground.  I will be shocked if this fight goes past round 1.  I think James Irvin had a better chance of beating Silva than Cote does.  Anyways, I will take the safe bet and pick Silva by TKO in round 1.

Josh Koscheck vs. Thiago Alves

This could be an interesting fight.  The fight was supposed to be Alves vs. Diego Sanchez.  That fight was well hyped.  Many looked forward to the high paced aggressive style of Sanchez vs. the muay thai of Alves.  That would have been a good one.  Let’s give props to Josh Koscheck for stepping in on about 2 weeks notice to fight a very tough opponent.  Say what you want about Koscheck, but he is super talented and always improving and he is always ready to fight.  Here are some of the factors that will come into play in this fight.  First, what will the short notice do to Koscheck?  Will it affect his game plan or his conditioning?  Second, will Alves make weight?  Either way and it could affect him.  He is a huge welterweight and the weight cut could hurt him and drain him.  How will Koscheck approach Alves?  Will he look for the take down and try to out wrestle him or will he stand and bang with him?  I think a combination of the two will work well.  The winner of this fight will get a title shot.  There is a lot riding on this fight.  When it comes down to it I think the size and strength of Alves will be too much for Koscheck and I think that Alves wins in round 2 by TKO, or maybe pulls of a decision.  Koscheck may be smart to try to take this to later rounds in hopes that Alves tires.  I will pick Alves, but root for Koscheck.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior Dos Santos

I don’t know anything about Junior Dos Santos, except that the Brazilian trains with Nogueira and Anderson Silva.  With that said, I think Werdum is one of the best heavyweights in the world, and I think he deserves a title shot.  I hope he gets it.  Quite honestly if Werdum loses here it would clear up a lot of the mess in the UFC Heavyweight divison.  We have the Couture/Lesnar bout for the title and the Nogueira/MIr fight for the interim title.  We can suppose that the winners of those bouts will fight in February or March.   That means Werdum would have to wait until early summer 2009 to get his title shot.  I look for Werdum to win this fight by submission in round 1. 

Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin

What a fight!  I do not know what is in the mind of UFC match maker Joe Silva and Dana White, but it appears that the UFC could be anticipating B.J. Penn to vacate his lightweight title.  It would seem logical that the winner of this fight could face the winner of the Florian/Stevenson fight for the title.  If not Florian gets the next shot with a win.  I’ve thought a lot about this fight and here is my conclusion.  Tyson Griffin is a solid contender, but he has trouble finishing fights.  Sean Sherk is tough as nails and his conditioning is second to none.  Both are great wrestlers and Tyson Griffin will not outwrestle Sean Sherk.  Sean Sherk is very underrated.  He has only lost to the best of the best in his career (B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes).  I think Sherk takes this fight.  However, if Griffin is smart he will take a page out of B.J. Penn’s booka nd box Sean Sherk and utilize a jab.  Griffin has a big advantage in training in one of the best gyms in the nation at Xtreme Couture.  He has training partners like Gray Maynard.  Nevertheless, I pick Sean Sherk to win this by unaimous decision.

Gray Maynard vs. Rich Clementi

Rich Clementi has looked very good lately.  He is so solid of a fighter and is so well roudned that he makes difficult match ups.  Gray Maynard is very good.  He is coming off of a dominant win over Frank Edgar.  Maynard is still underrated, but a win here will catapoult him into the top tier of lightweight contenders and certainly put him into the mix for a title shot.  Clementi has good submissions and he could pull off a submission here, but I look for Maynard to use his boxing and then his take downs to work soem ground and pound.  Maynard will win this one by unaimous decision in what is a fight of the night and fight of the year candidate.

Dan Miller vs. Matt Horwich

The fight of former IFL middleweights.  Dan Miller being the last IFL middleweight champ.  Miller won his UFC debut and was tapped as a replacement for the injured Ricardo Almeida.  This could be a very good fight.  Horwich is a solid fighter, but his ground game will really be tested against Dan Miller.  Horwich has solid ground skills with 18 of his 22 wins coming by way of submission.  Horwich also will have the experience on his side.  They have a common opponent in Ryan McGivern.  McGivern beat Horwich, but Miller beat McGivern.  That doesn’t necessarily translate into victory for Miller, but here I think it will. I think Horwich will do very well at first, but then Miller will get the take down and submit Horwich in round 2.

Hermes Franca vs. Marcus Aurelio

Hermes Franca is a former number 1 contender who has great amounts of experience.  He has great wins over the likes of Nate Diaz, Spencer Fisher, Jamie Varner, Ryan Schultz, and Caol Uno.  However, Franca has lost two in a row to Frank Edgar and Sean Sherk.  Following his steroid suspension Franca has not looked the same.  Aurelio also has a great resume which boasts wins over Rich Clementi and most notably Takanori Gomi.  Aurelio has great jiu jit su and he should have the advtage in this fight.  I think in the end Aurelio is too much for Franca and he wins by submission in round 3. 

Thales Leites vs. Drew McFedries

This fight was supposed to be Leites vs. up and comer Goran Reljic.  That fight was highly anticipated, but this should be pretty good as well.  Leites comes into this fight having won four fights in a row, including a controversial decision win over Nate Marquardt.  McFedries is an exciting fighter who has not lived up to potential.  He is 3-3 in the UFC and seems to have a patetrn of winning every other fight.  He is a late replacement for Reljic who withdrew due to injury.  I think Leites is too good all around and McFedries is not good enough on the ground.  Leites is well rounded and has great submissions.  I thinm he will submit McFedries in round 2 with a easy submission. 

Spencer Fisher vs. Shannon Gugerty

Gugerty made his UFC debut against Dale Hartt and won that match.  He has a 8 fight win streak on the line.  Spencer Fisher is a solid veteran who has been around.  Fisher is 6-3 in the UFC and he looked really good against Jeremy Stephens.  I honestly do not know much about Gugerty, but I have to pick Fisher to win this fight by unaimous decision. 

Pete Sell vs. Josh Burkman

Pete Sell has yet to prove himself in the UFC, and quite honestly I do not know why he is getting this chance.  Nevertheless Josh Burkman has had a solid UFC career and is full of talent.  I think this fight could be exciting and we could see these two go at it.  In the end I pick Burkman to win by decision.

UFC News: Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson at UFC 91

MMAbay is reporting that a match between Joe Stevenson and Kenny Florian is in the works for a November 15th event, probably UFC 91, which is rumored to be held in Florian’s hometown of Boston, Mass.  I do not know how reliable this source is, but it would make sense.  Florian wants to fight again rather than wait around for B.J. Penn.  Joe Stevenson is clearly a top 5 lightweight and would be a good test for Kenny.  A win for Florian would make it impossible to deny him a title shot.  A loss would further confuse the divison, but possibly give way to a guy like Tyson Griffin to take a shot at the belt.  Florian is coming off of a solid win over contender Roger Huerta and Stevenson is coming off of a come from behind victory over Gleison Tibau.

    This event should shape up soon, and some have speculated that a light heavyweight match between Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva is possible here for the main event.  We will wait and see.

UFC News: Sherk vs. Griffin at UFC 90

MMAweekly had been reporting that Sean Sherk will take on Tyson Griffin at UFC 90 on October 25.  This lightweight fight would have huge implications in the divison.  Tyson Griffin, the Xtreme Couture trained fighter is coming of an impressive win over Marcus Aurelio.  Sean Sherk of course is coming off of a loss at UFC 84 to B.J. Penn and is looking to climb back into title contention.  Here is what Sherk had to say…

I’ve been real careful with who I’m going to fight. I don’t want to fight up-and-coming guys. You start fighting up-and-coming guys and you have to fight more guys to make your way up to the top. I want to fight the best of the best, and that’s what I’m doing with this upcoming fight.

I honestly this this is a bad match up for Tyson Griffin.  Tyson has been impressive lately, but Sherk is a tough opponent.  UFC 90 looks to have a decent card, but is still lacking one more big name fight.  It will be headlined witha  middleweight title fight between the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote.  Also, the card will feature a welterweight clash between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves, most likely to determine the number one contender for the welterweight belt.  Recently, two other lightweight matches had been announced: Spencer Fisher vs. Melvin Guillard and Hermes Franca vs. Gleison Tibau.  Also, Fabricio Werdum will try to lock up a title shot with one more win at UFC 90.

BJ Penn Interview

To face the winner of St.Pierre/Fitch?

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UFC News: Hermes Franca vs. Frank Edgar at UFC 87

It appears that the UFC has tapped Hermes Franca to fight Frank Edgar at UFC 87.  We knew Edgar was going to be on the card, but we didn’t know who he would fight.  This should make for an interesting fight.  Both guys are coming off of losses.  Edgar lost his last UFC bout to Sean Sherk and then was suspended for testing positive for a banned substance.  He unlike Sherk didn’t appeal and has been serving his one year suspension.  Edgar is coming off of a loss to Gray Maynard.  Honestly, I am surprised by the match making.  I know Edgar is still considered one of the top guys in the UFC lightweight divison, but I hope Gray Maynard gets a quality next opponent as he has proven to be more than capable.  Regardless this should be a good fight.

Also, it was rumored that Mac Danzig would be fighting Clay Guida at UFC 87, however on his website it says,

Forget what you heard! Mac is NOT fighting at UFC 87, or in August at all! Mac will most likely fight in September, and the fight has not yet been signed.

Could this fight be the headliner of UFN 14?  That would sound like a serious possibility.  Also, it would make more sense than UFC 87 seeing as how there are already two lightweight bouts confirmed for UFC 87, including the super bout between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian and the newly learned Franca vs Edgar fight. 

UFC 84: Ill Will Medical Suspensions

The medical suspensions for UFC 84 were released and there really isn’t anything too surprising.  I was a little surprised that Jardine wasn’t hurt worse than he was following being KO’s by Wanderlei Silva.  I also was shocked that Wilson Gouveia was beat up as bad as he was.  Apparently, Tito could have a broken hand or wrist as well.  I don’t know when he broke it, he certainly didn’t break it hitting Machida.  It is also possibe that Sean Sherk is healthy enough to fight on the UFC 87 card in Minnesota.  Could he be fighting Frankie Edgar on that card?

Sean Sherk — “The Muscle Shark” is suspended until July 9 and there is no contact until June 24 because of a right cheek laceration.

Keith Jardine — “The Dean of Mean” must clear a possible nasal fracture with a doctor or no contest until November 21. His minimum suspension and no contest will last until July 24 and there’s no contact until July 9.

Goran Reljic – The Croatian is suspended until June 24 and there is no contact allowed until June 15.

Wilson Gouveia — The American Top Team-trained fighter sustained nasal and maxillary sinus fractures that need to be cleared by an Ear Nose and Throat ENT specialist, as well as broken ribs that need to be cleared by a doctor, or no contest until November 21. His minimum suspension will last until July 24 and there is no contact allowed until July 9.

Tito Ortiz — “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” must have his left hand and wrist x-rayed and cleared by an orthopedic physician or no contest until November 21. His minimum suspension will last until July 9 and there is no contact allowed June 24 because of a right eyelid laceration.

Antonio Mendes — The Brazilian is suspended until June 24.

Kazuhiro Nakamura — The Japanese Judoka must clear a nasal fracture with a doctor there is no contest until November 21. There is a minimum no contest until July 9 and no contact until June 24.

Terry Etim — The British lightweight is suspend until June 24 and there is no contact allowed until June 15 because of a right cheek laceration.

Jason Tan — Tan must clear a nasal fracture with a doctor or no contest until November 21. There’s a minimum no contest until July 9 and no contact until June 24.

Christian Wellisch — “The Hungarian Nightmare is suspended until June 8 and there’s no contact allowed until June 1

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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UFC 84: Ill Will Thoughts

I have several thoughts about UFC 84: Ill Will.  Here they go…

• I was stoked to see the UFC show so many cards on pay-per view.  I believe 9 fights were aired.  I liked it a lot.  Of course it was because there were notmany drawn out decision fights.  I was gald to see Sokoudjou and Carwin’s fights.  It helps the UFC and their careers to get the attention.
• B.J. Penn looked amazing.  We didn’t even see his jiu-jit su.  He looked crisp in striking.  He was quick and he wore out Sherk with striking.  His cardio looked great too.  B.J. called for the G.S.P. fight and that could be interesting.  Could B.J. hold two belts at the same time?
• I don’t know what Sherk was doing.  After the fight he said he stayed standing because he was doing well striking.  What fight was he watching?  He could’t reach B.J.  He should have used his wrestling more.
• How about the show of class between Penn and Sherk.  After many heated words B.J. hugged Sherk and invited him to train in Hawaii
• Wanderlei is back.  He rocked Jardine.  Jardine was out cold.  And what a classy individual is Wandy.  He is what makes MMA special.  You cannot help but to like him.  He was really concerned for his opponent.  He is humble.  I am a Wanderlei fan.  I will root for a Wanderlei vs. Rampage fight in UFC.  It could happen and the UFC could market it as Rampage’s revenge.  That opens up many scenarios.  If Wandy wins he could get Chuck again for the title.  Still possible he drops down for the Silva vs. Silva match.
• Lyoto Machida was great against Tito.  Some accuse him of running, but he was elusive.  He was smart.  Tito couldn’t hit him.  He was fast.  He picked his shots well against Tito.  Lyoto is the real deal and will get a big fight next.  He beat Tito bad and I am glad.
• Who knows what all realyl went on in the UFC after fight press conference with Tito.  Tito is a loud mouthed jerk. 
• Thiago Silva has a tough chin.  Mendes may be for real, but Thiago is really for real.  He is a top 10 light heavyweight and is in the mix for a title.  He will get a top tier guy next. 
• Goran Reljic looked great.  He can kick hard.  He has KO power.  If he can learn to vary his kicks more he is a contender.  I moved him into my top 15 from that fight.  I’d like to see him vs. Hammil.
• Palhares is a force at middleweight.  What an amazing arm bar!  He better improve his striking though. He should have thrown some punches while trying to sink in that choke.  Nevertheless, oen of the best jiu-jitsu guys in the UFC
• Shane Carwin’s KO of Wellish was sick.  His bread and butter is ground and pound and he didn’t even show it.  He will be a heavyweight force.
• Yoshida looked great against Koppenhaver.  That choke was textbook.  We will see how he does against more serious competition.
• Kim will also be a force at welterweight
• Sokoudjou won…yay!  He didn’t look great, but he won, apparently with a hurt knee.  He called for Shogun, but I hope he doesn’t get him.  I want both those guys to do well in the UFC.  One of them losing would hurt their UFC careers bad.  I’d give Shogun someone like Wilson Gouveia or Stephan Bonnar to get a win under his belt.  And Shogun wants Liddell.
• This may have helped the UFC roster cuts.  Look for Salaverry, Koppenhaver, and Tan to be canned.  Also, Nakamura may be done as could Etim. 

UFC 84 Predictions

Christian Wellish vs. Shane Carwin

Shane Carwin has never left the first round of a fight.  Nate Marquardt touts him highly.  He is rumored to be a great striker and a great grappler and jiu jitsu guy.  He is being hailed as the next big thing in the UFC heavyweight divison.  A win would ruin that for him.  I am not going to bet against Carwin in fact this is one of the fights I feel most comfortable with.  Don’t be shocked to see this one creep onto the pay-per view showing.  My final pick is Shane Carwin by TKO in round 1.

Terry Etim vs. Rich Clementi

Terry Etim is a great submission guy with 9 of his 10 wins coming by submissions. 5 of Rich Clementi’s 12 losses have come via submissions.  The experience would go to Clementi.  Terry Etim hasn’t fought since September.  Rich Clementi just fought in April at UFC 83 when he beat Sam Stout in a split decision.  This is a hard fight to pick because you have to assume that the fight will go on the ground and if it does Etim can submit Clementi quickly.  However, I am going to pick Clementi by ref stoppage in round 2. 

Ivan Salavarry vs. Rousimar Palhares

Ivan Salaverry is very talented, but for some reason hasn’t show all he can do.  He is very well rounded.  Palhares is a relative unkown, but apparently he can submit people because that is how he wins.  I struggled picking this fight because Salaverry may be done.  This is one of those win or go home fights.  I amy regret it but I am going to pick Palhares by submission is round 1. 

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Jason Tan

I have no idea what to say here.  The loser is going to be cut.  Japanese fighters seem to struggle over in the UFC with the exception of Okami.  Maybe Kim is Korean and he will win.  Jason Tan hasn’t beat quality people yet.  However, I am going to pick Jason Tan by unanimous decision.

Jon Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

It comes down to heart and Koppenhaver has heart, but his head is messed up.  I pick Yoshida to win by unanimous decision.

Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes

Mendes has a good record, but Thiago Silva has looked amazing.  I think he is a guy to watch in the UFC.  Silva is 12-0 with 10 wins coming by TKO.  I think Silva is going to KO Mendes in round 2. 

Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic

Gouveia is 4-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming in the TUF 3 Finale to Keith Jardine.  Now, Gouveia in his last fight was nearly KO’d by Jason Lambert, but he camback and won the fight.  Gouveia may want to keep the fight standing and may want to watch for Reljic’s armbar.  Reljic is a Croatian who has trained with Cro Cop.  I don’t know how good he will be, but we will see.  This may be a good fight.  I think Gouveia could easily win this fight, but I am going to pick Reljic by upset win and submission in round 1.

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Sokoujou is still a top ten talent most places.  He is doing some training with Extreme Couture and his guys tend to do very well.  Nakamura has an average record of 11-7, but to his credit his losses have come to Machida, Shogun, Barnett, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.  In other words he has some good wins and some good fights, but struggles against the top tier.  This may be a win or go home fight as well.  I look for Sokoudjou to win this fight by unanimous decison.

Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida

Perhpas this is the fight will all the drama.  Tito is most likely gone from the UFC win or lose.  We know of his bitterness with Dana White.  Tito wants nothing more than to go out with a win as a sign to the UFC that he is still a good fighter.  Dana wants nothing more than Tito to lose badly in this fight.  In fact he has probably given Machida all sorts of incentives if he wins.  Tito claims to be in tip top shape.  However, I have a feeling he has been distracted by talks of where he will fight next, the Apprentice, clothing lines, Jenna, other busisness ventures, did I mention Jenna?  I think in the end Machida is too good.  I wouldn’t want to go to decision against Tito, no fighter has been given more questionable decisions than Tito.  Machida is 12-0 and that against top notch guys.  He holds wins over B.J. Penn, Rich Franklin, Sokoudjou, Nakamura, and David Heath.  I am going to pick Lyoto Machida to win by TKO in round 2. 

Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva

This is set up to be a great fight.  Both these guys are good guys with great records.  The question for me is Wanderlei’s best days behind him?  Jardine in my opinion should be the one coaching TUF and should be the one getting the next title shot.  Jardine beat Liddell and Wanderlei lost to Chuck recently.  So I guess many people with figure that Jardine should easily beat Silva.  Not so fast.  I think Wanderlei’s training and hard word will pay off.  I like Keith Jardine, but I like Wanderlei Silva.  He is a class act and a MMA legend.  I am rooting for him all the way.  A win for Jardine ought to mean title shot.  A loss for Silva and some people are talking he is out of the UFC.  I doubt that yet.  With that said I will pick Wanderlei Silva to win by TKO in round 1.

B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk

If B.J. Penn looks like he did against Joe Stevenson it is good bye Sean Sherk.  I am rooting for B.J.  Sean Sherk is no puch over though.  Sherk has one many fights by ground and pound.  That may be dangerous against the jiu-jitsu of Penn.  Cardio will be a huge factor to me.  Sherk has an awesome record.  Sherk could win this one, but I am going to pick B.J. Penn by submission in round 2. 

Upsets to watch for: Terry Etim over Rich Clementi.  Keith Jardine over Wanderlei Silva.  Wilson Gouveia over Goran Reljic. 

Title Shots Is What I Want

The UFC is busy cutting their rosters because they have too many people under contract.  I can understand that.  However, what I cannot understand is why the belt are not being defended.  I don’t want to see a guy only defend their belt once a year.  I think title shots being delayed by the cotnender and champ coaching TUF has limited the fights. 

The Heavyweights…                                                                                                                                   Right now, Nogueira has the interim title, and won’t defend it until December.  That means there will be no heavyweight title fights until the end of the year.  I would imagine someone will be in line waiting for the next fight…probably the winner of the Vera vs. Werdum fight.  But that isn;t fair to them.  They will have to sit on the sidelines for 8-10 months until March or so of 2009 to get a shot.  That is crap. 

The Light Heavyweights…                                                                                                                  Rampage is one of the most marketable UFC fighters.  He is a good fighter and it is those things combined which got him the gig as a coach on TUF 7.  However, his last fight and title defense was his win over Dan Henderson in December.  He is slated to fight Forrest Griffin in July.  That is ten months between fights.  That is crap.  He better fight one more time this year.  I want the champs to defend their belts and I want contenders to have their shot.

Middleweights…                                                                                                                                    Anderson Silva is the man.  He is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.  He is a beast who has stomped his competiton and tore throught he UFC middleweight divison.  His last fight was his win over Dan Henderson in March.  The UFC has not announced his next fight, but you figure that since the main event cards are set up through August, the best case scenario is that he fights in September probably against Yushin Okami. I’m guessing October or November though, as I suspect the UFC is trying to find someone else besides Okami, but it is going to have to be Okami.  Anderson would then be done for the year.  That isn’t quite as bad as some other divisons, but isn;t what I’d like to see.

Welterweights…                                                                                                                                        Georges St. Pierre just fought, and we have no idea when his next fight is although it will be Jon Fitch.  Again it will be sometimes in the latter part of the year.  That would make two title defenses in 2008 and would not include his December fight with Hughes.  I want to see the best in the UFC fight more, they used to fight every other card.

Lightweights…                                                                                                                                              B.J. Penn has said he would like to fight a few times a year at best, but he has done fairly well as of late.  He beat Joe Stevenson and will fight Sherk on the 24th.  In August Huerta and Florian will fight to determine who gets the next title shot.  I would suspect that the Penn/Sherk winner would fight the Florian/Huerta winner in December or maybe January.  I still want to see more. 

My Solutions…                                                                                                                                                         

1. Have a rankings system.  An objective ranking system not just for MMA, but for the UFC would make clear who the number one cotnender.  A lot of time is taken waiting to see who will get the next shot and sometimes two guys fight for the next title shot.  Those fights to get the title shot could be spaced out not as far from the last title defense so both guys can be ready sooner and one guy isn’t sitting around waiting for a guy to be fresh.                 

2. Change the Ultimate Fighter format.  Right now each season of TUF is being coached by a title holder and the supposed number one contender.  Those guys will coach opposite each other and then fight for the title following the show.  The problem with that is you sit those guys on the sidelines for a while.  For example right now Frank Mir and Minatauro Nogueira know they are coaching TUF 8.  The season will start taping this summer and will begin to air in September.  The show will air through December while everyone waits.  Both fought early this year and neither fought again so as not to mess up the TUF coaching drama of going for the title.  Rather than having a title shot in the drama of TUF, why not have two great fighters with nothing to do with the title.  They could have used Florian and Huerta and built the drama of the winner getting a title shot.  They could have done Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin.  I’d love to see some of those guys on TUF or a guy like Wanderlei Silva. 

Dana needs to take my adivce on this one.  The fans want to see more than anything the title holders defending their belts and they ought to fight 3 times a year. 

                                                                                                                                  

UFC’s Best Divison

I went to HDnet’s fighter rankings and based this on which UFC weight divisons had the most top 20 fighters.  I know there are other ways to judge the best, but this is interesting…

1. Light Heavyweights –  They are stacked in the UFC.  This is where the light heavyweight competition lies.  They have the top 11 (Jackson, Henderson, Griffin, Liddell, Jardine, Machida, Wanderlei, Evans, Thiago Silva, and Sokodjou) guys in the world and 20 of the top 25 guys.  This is a great divison, full of star power.

2. Welterweights – They have 10 of the top 20 (St. Pierre, Fitch, Hughes, Serra, Koscheck, Sanchez, Alves, Parisyan, Davis and Gono), but 8 of the world’s top ten.  They have a near top ten monopoly only missing out on Shields and Condit.  I feel that there are other UFC guys to mention in top 20 talk (Chris Wilson and Chris Lytle), but the divison is strong and has the top tier welterweights in the world.

3. Lightweights – In most rankings the UFC gets cheated in the lightweight divison.  The system I used ranked 8 of their guys as top 20 in the world (Penn, Sherk, Huerta, Stevenson, Florian, Guida, Tyson Griffin, and Gray Maynard).  I know some of those other guys are good, but they are overrated.  Gomi can’t beat UFC guys.  Nick Diaz, B.J. Penn and Marcus Aurelo all beat him.  Aoki, Melendez, Calvancanti and bunch are unproven in my opinion against top guys.  Plus I feel some guys unfairly got left out of rankings.  Where is Marcu Aurelio?  FranK Edgar?  or Joe Lauzon?  or even Nate Diaz?  You mean to tell me Edgar is not a top 20?  This divison is stacked and has more contenders than any UFC divison.  DREAM does have some great lightweights.  I’d love to see a fight card of UFC’s top lightweights against DREAM’s top lightweights.  I think UFC would win easily.

4. Middleweights – They have 7 of the top 20 fighters in the world at this divison (Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Dan Hemderson, Marquardt, Okami, Bisping and Leites.  I put this above heavyweights first of all because I believe there are some guys that could be in the top 20 mix (Quarry, MacDonald, Leben, Cote, Kampmann and Almeida). It still is weak, not because it isn’t deep, but because they can’t find anyone to compete with Anderson Silva.  Anderson Silva is the second reason I put this divison above Heavyweights…enough said.

5. Heavyweights –  They also have 7 of the top 20 fighters in the world at Heavyweight  (Nogueira, Werdum, Gonzaga, Kongo, Vera, Mir and Herring).  Only 3 of those guys are top ten in the world.  All this assumed Arlovski signs with Affiction.  If that happens Affliction will have 6 of the top ten (Fedor, Sylvia, Barnett, Rothwell, Arlovski and Aleksander Emelianenko) plus Pedro Rizzo.  This is a weak divison for the UFC, but they do have some good prospects in Carwin, Lesnar and Velasquez.  This divison was once strong, but since has lost Couture, Cro Cop, Sylvia, Arlovski, and O’Brien.

UFC Fighter I Want to See Fight Soon

The booking of the Arlovski vs. O’Brien fight makes me think about other fighters who havent fought for a while who still aren’t booked for their next fight. 

• Randy Couture- Fedor, Fedor, Fedor!!!  Dana should be seeing green.
• Mirko Cro Cop –  I just like watching hiom fight and want to see him do well.
• Brandon Vera – Disappointing loss to Sylvia.  He should get another big name fighter.
• Mauricio Shogun Rua –  If Shogun wins his next fight he could be in line to fight Forrest Griffin again after he looses to Rampage.
• Keith Jardine –  Liddell vs. Jardine II
• Wanderlai Silva- Is still exciting.  He will geta  top ten type of fighter, maybe Sokoudjou.
• Chuck Liddell –  I always am waiting for the next Liddell fight.  I want a jardine rematch
• Martin Kampmann – Recovering from an injury should be almost ready and is an immediate title threat if he is back at 100%
• Nate Quarry –  He looked real good his last fight.
• Thales Leites – A broke hand made him withdraw from Nate Marquardt. 
• Ryo Chonan – Disappointing loss to Karo, but still a good fighter.
• Matt Hughes – To retire or not to retire?  I am hoping Serra looses and then fights Matt Hughes
• Jon Fitch – Was Scheduled to fight Gono, but Gono got hurt.  Will it be Marcus Davis?
• Frank Edgar
• Hermes Franca