Thoughts on UFC 141

Amazing, amazing card last night, let's do a quick recap of the five fights on the main card.

Hettes/Phan: I was blown away by Hettes' jiu jitsu. He controlled a true jiu jitsu black belt on the ground with ease, threatened with multiple submissions and came close to a Tko win on multiple occasions. The scary part? Hettes is a "mere" purple belt in jiu jitsu. Wow.

                                           

Gustafsson/Matsyushenko: Gustaffson won via TKO set off of a jab.  The problem was Matsyushenko was unable to get inside of the Swede's long reach and had to play the distance game. Hmm, long reach...sound like anyone else in the light heavyweight division?

Fitch/Hendricks: Hard to come to a conclusion in a fight that lasted 12 seconds other than Hendricks has heavy, heavy hands. Fitch will take time off, regroup and make another run. Hendricks  has a 7-1 record in the UFC and will be in title contention soon.

Diaz/Cerrone: What a brawl. I was surprised that Cerrone couldn't  deal with Diaz's volume punching. Both men showed off granite chins and true gameness. Diaz seems to have turned a corner over the last year and will find himself in title contention soon.

Overeem/Lesnar: Odd fight. Lesnar wouldn't commit to a takedown and paid for it via knees and kicks to the body resulting in a win for Overeem. Overeem presents a real threat to Dos Santos in what should be a true striker vs striker matchup. Congratulations to Brock on his retirement, what an amazing and volatile career that consisted of only eight fights.

The main thing I took from last night was the emergence of contenders across all classes. Overeem, Hendricks, Hettes, Gustaffson and Diaz all have a shot at UFC gold in their respective weight classes. Who will capitalize on this and become the next UFC champion?

UFC 141: Shaun's Predictions

Nam Phan vs. Jim Hettes

Phan is known for his hard hitting and stand up. Hettes hasn’t yet shown that he can stand with any of his opponents.  The good news is that all nine of his fights have resulted in a submission victory, so he has proven  to be a serious threat on the ground. Two very different skill sets in this fight. If Phan can keep it standing its his fight to lose.

Prediction: Phan by Round 2 TKO

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Matyushenko brings the experience and Gustafsson brings the speed and stand-up to finish this fight. I see both guys going for it early and swinging for the fences. I’m really looking forward to this fight.

Prediction: Gustafsson by Round 2 TKO 

Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks

Fitch is going for the take-down, its not a matter of if but when. If this becomes a grappling battle then Fitch has the upper hand.  But if Hendricks can keep from being taken down he has a chance.  I just envision a three round grueling decision.

Prediction: Fitch by Unanimous Decision

Nate Diaz vs. Donald Cerrone

Cerrone and Diaz are both submission artists, yet I don’t see this going to the ground. I expect a slug-fest and potentially a fight of the night because I don’t see them finishing each other.

Prediction: Cerrone by Unanimous Decision

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem

When you say Brock Lesnar I see unstoppable double leg take downs. When you say Alistair Overeem I see a vicious striker. If Overeem can stuff the takedown, stay off his back and keep it in the first round, it’s his fight to lose. But I see Lesnar’s explosiveness, wrestling and conditioning being too much of a factor.

Prediction: Lesnar by Round 2 TKO

UFC 141 FIGHT CARD

UFC 141  FIGHT CARD         

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

Manny Gamburyan VS Diego Nunes (FW)

Matt Riddle VS Luis Ramos (WW)

Jacob Volkmann VS Efrain Escudero (LW)

Dong Hyun Kim VS Sean Pierson (WW)

Preliminary Card (Televised)

Anthony Njokuani VS Danny Castillo (LW)

Ross Pearson VS Junior Assuncao (FW)

Main Card (Pay-Per-View)

Nam Phan VS Jim Hettes (FW)

Vladimir Matyushenko VS Alexander Gustafsson (LHW)

Jon Fitch VS Johny Hendricks (WW)

Nate Diaz VS Donald Cerrone (LW)

Brock Lesnar VS Alistair Overeem (HW)

Shake on it: UFC's Diaz won't let Cerrone in his 'comfort zone'

In the often complicated mind of Nate Diaz, Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight rival Donald Cerrone sparked a feud between the two when he dared try to shake his hand.


Diaz wanted no part of the gesture and plans to settle his differences with Cerrone at UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden on Friday night.


It's the type of conflict that often is trumped up to hype fights, but Diaz says he isn't the type to participate in such exercises.


He says what would seem to most to be an innocent gesture was part of what he sees as a growing problem in mixed martial arts.


Everyone wants to be buddies.


"With a lot of these guys, there's like this jock (mentality) going on. They all try to be friends, and they feel comfortable being friends with everybody," Diaz said. "I'm not going to let them get the satisfaction of coming in my comfort zone. I've got to keep them outside. I don't need them trying to figure me out."


The 26-year-old Diaz is notoriously temperamental and is among the most polarizing fighters in MMA. He also is talented and coming off perhaps his best performance to date in dismantling Takanori Gomi in September. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak and came in his first fight back at lightweight after a stretch in the welterweight division.


He and his brother Nick, along with their teammates in the "Skrap Pack," are loyal to a fault to their inner circle and skeptical of most outsiders.


They were central figures in the infamous brawl following a Strikeforce event on CBS in 2010.


The proud native of Stockton, Calif., says the "jock culture" permeating the sport stems from too many wrestlers getting involved. Too many guys are pulling pranks on each other and goofing around. He prefers a purer form of fighting.


Diaz says one of the reasons fighters have tried to be friendly with him is to humanize him as a means to soothe the fears they might have stepping into the cage against someone who might be a little out of his mind.


"Let's just say for a second you're fighting some maniac in the street who has killed 20 people, and crazy as hell, but you get a fair fight with him, and he's like biting his arm off and talking crazy (expletive)," Diaz said. "And then you're going to fight some nice guy who goes to church and comes up and shakes your hand and says, 'Nice to meet you,' and 'Hey, it's going to be a good fight.'


"Who are you going to feel more comfortable fighting? They're trying to put me in a comfort zone. They're trying to make it so they can sleep better at night."


For his part, the 28-year-old Cerrone insists there were no mind games going on when he decided to shake hands with a fellow fighter on that late October day at "The Ultimate Fighter" gym in Las Vegas.


Diaz was talking to Cerrone's close friend, fellow UFC fighter Leonard Garcia, at the time and says Diaz slapped his hand away before walking off. The two had not been scheduled to fight, but Cerrone was offered this bout three days later in the locker room after defeating Dennis Siver on Nov. 29 at Mandalay Bay.


"He is the guy that punks everybody else and gets in everyone else's head, so now what happened? The tables turned, and now I'm in your head, you little (expletive)," Cerrone said of what he considers Diaz's delusions. "It feels good to turn the tables, to think that he came out hard and wanted to be a bully and now I'm bullying him.


"I saw him at the workouts (Tuesday) watching me instead of worrying about what he was doing. He started mumbling and looking around. Good. Sleep on that."


The action almost got started at Wednesday's news conference in the lobby of the MGM Grand when Diaz responded to Cerrone's trash talk by flipping the cowboy hat off his head.


Don't expect any handshakes after Friday's fight, either.


(via Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review Journal, lvrj.com)

UFC 141 Diaz vs Cerrone Face Off

Jon Fitch/Johnny Hendricks breakdown and prediction

13-1-1 is one of the best records and highest winning percentages ever in UFC history. A winning percentage of 86.7%. You may be shocked to find out that this record does not belong to BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes or other well known UFC legends. It belongs to Jon Fitch, former welterweight #1 contender who faces off against Johnny Hendricks this Friday night. Say what you want about his fighting style but it works. I don't personally enjoy his fighting style but the point is moot, Fitch wins. He is not the most exciting fighter to watch but as long as he continues to rack up victories, he will eventually work his way to another title shot.

Fitch last faced off against Penn in February in a #1 contender's match that went to a draw. He later underwent shoulder surgery that has kept him out until now. Hendricks is a two time Division 1 All American champion that has successfully transitioned over to MMA. If you read over the internet and different pieces of analysis, everyone is picking Fitch in a landslide. Vegas is also favoring him at almost 2 to 1. My question is why? Who was the last good wrestler that Fitch faced? Didn't Fitch just have problems with Penn's (a natural lightweight and jiu jitsu fighter) takedowns? Fitch has struggled with good wrestlers in the past. If you look at his last four fights, besides Penn, the guy that gave him the most trouble was Mike Pierce. Pierce is a very good wrestler and Fitch had problems with getting him down. Pierce even clipped Fitch in the waning seconds of the 3rd round in their bout but didn't have enough time to finish him.
Fitch is a very competent fighter on the feet but his gameplan is to take you down, control you and beat you up. If he can't do that, he is forced to stand and trade. Since losing to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87, Fitch has faced Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce, Ben Saunders and Thiago Alves. With due respect to the aforementioned fighters, none of them are known for their takedown defense except for Pierce. Diego Sanchez also gave Fitch a lot of problems in a split decision loss years ago in a decision that could have gone either way. This is not meant to disrespect Fitch or his opponents but to merely look at the type of fighters he has been beating, the type of fighters he has had trouble with and try to establish a pattern.

Another opinion that comes up a lot is that Fitch is the consensus #2 welterweight and would beat anyone not named GSP. Per Sherdog's rankings of the top 10 welterweights (http://www.sherdog.com/news/rankings/5/Sherdog-Official-Mixed-Martial-Arts-Rankings-38355), here is the list: GSP, Fitch, Nick Diaz, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Johnny Hendricks (fighting Fitch on Friday), Martin Kampmann and BJ Penn (fought to a draw in February). Fitch has only fought 2 people on this list (loss to GSP, draw to BJ). Now, COULD he beat all of these guys? Absolutely. HAS he beaten all of these guys? No. If you want to go one step further, Rick Story, Anthony Johnson, Charlie Brenneman, Ben Askren (WW champ in Bellator) and Rory MacDonald are listed from 10-15. Fitch has not faced any of these fighters either. Again, COULD he beat all of these guys? Yes but the point stands that he HAS NOT at this point in time. Granted, rankings mean next to nothing but in this context, he has only faced off against 2 of the current top 15 welterweights. Disclaimer: this isn't revisionist history and not meant to downplay Fitch's past wins. This is about right now and how he would stack up right now against the rest of the division in present time.

If Hendricks can keep this standing, I believe that he can and will land a punch that will hurt Fitch as Hendricks has very heavy hands. The question then becomes can Hendricks keep this standing? The one thing that sticks out in my mind is that Hendricks did have problems with wrestling with Story a year ago in a split decision loss. Hendricks' wrestling has not transitioned to MMA as well as other wrestlers have. But credentials wise, Hendricks is much more decorated than Fitch but you can't count out Fitch's gritty style. I do believe Hendricks is the best wrestler Fitch has faced (with the exception of GSP) and combined with the lengthy layoff and shoulder injury for Fitch, I like Hendricks in this fight.
The prediction: Hendricks wins by TKO.

Fedor vs Satoshi Ishii for New Years Eve

Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) recently put the finishing touches on its massive New Year's Eve fight card from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, for Sat., Dec. 31, 2011.


FieLDS presnts Genki Desu Ka!! will bring fight fans a whopping nine straight hours of mixed martial arts (MMA) action beginning Saturday (Dec. 31) at 1 a.m. ET on HDNet (Friday night into Saturday).


The event, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Satoshi Ishii, will feature a mixture of MMA, K-1, and pro wrestling bouts. In short, there's a little something for everyone.


(via sbnation.com)

Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle funny promo!

via bloodyelbow.com

Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem, intriguing for many reasons..

This week's marquee fight between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem is intriguing for many reasons. First, how will Overeem deal with the takedown? In his last 3 fights (Werdum, Duffee and Rogers), he looked great in each except against Werdum. What was the difference? Werdum was looking for the takedown the entire fight. Overeem was not able to plant his feet and throw due to him worrying about the takedown. Werdum isn't know for his explosive takedowns but guess who is? Lesnar. What's to stop Lesnar from bullying him into the cage, wearing him out for a round and stopping a gassed Overeem in round 2?

This entire fight will be decided in the first 90 seconds. Can Lesnar get a takedown? Can Overeem land something significant before being taken down? Overeem has K-1 credentials (won in 2010) but how will that translate against a wrestler like Brock? Can Brock take a big knee or punch from a K-1 striker? Overeem is obviously a very strong guy but grappling muscles > kickboxing muscles.

The big elephant in the room is all of the distractions that Overeem has had during his training camp leading up to this fight. He had to fly back to Holland due to his ailing mother. At the same time, this caused him to miss a test for PED's (performance enhancing drugs) by the commission. He got everything squared away and was given a conditional license. At the same time, critics wonder why he was given an additional 28 days to take a test. This would give plenty of time for a person to cycle out illegal drugs in their system. PED accusations have actually followed both men but it must be acknowledged neither man has tested positive to this point. Additionally, Overeem did test negative a week ago and will be subjected to 3 random tests in the upcoming 6 months.

Drama aside, 2 great fighters + 2 guys who always look for the finish + 500 plus pounds of muscle = one helluva fight coming up on 12/30.

Dana White UFC 141 Vlog Day 1

Dana White UFC 141 Vlog is a behind the scenes look into UFC 140.

Lesnar vs Overeem at UFC 141

Donald Cerrone on Nate Diaz

"He's got good stand-up, if the fight goes to the ground he's his jiu-jitsu is very good. All that aside? That mother****er is game. If we bumped into each other out in the parking lot and said what's up, we're throwing down. To me, I like that mentality. You can't teach that, they come to fight, and me too. You don't have to be from Stockton to be tough. Come fight night? Let's go mother****er."

Warrior Write-Up

I saw "Warrior"...I thought it was solid and here my thoughts:

1). I like how they put in things for the hardcore fans (Chuck's mohawk, the TapOut guys, Fedor's character, Rampage's power bomb of Arona simulation, the omoplata, kneebars, submission games, etc.)

2). They should have elaborated more on the brothers' bad childhood. Maybe had some scenes showing how bad it was. I felt like, ok, I get you hate your dad but why? 

3). It was cool to see Marquardt and AJ in there. Made the fight scenes seem more real.

4). I didn't like how every fight ended in a sub or KO...should have been some decisions. 

5). I also didn't like how the one brother threw like 50 unanswered punches before the ref stopped it....unnecessary in my opinion and made the sport look unnecessarily violent and dangerous.

6). War Josh Rosenthal!

7). I thought the head trainer did an amazing job. Very believable and seemed like a real trainer.

by Tim Sturdevant

Funny MMA Pics

Funny MMA pics

The Ultimate Fighter Comes To Brazil

Wanderlei Silva will be one of the two coaches on the debut season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil and the UFC recently released a 3:30 video of Silva talking about TUF on the day of the big announcement. Also making appearances in this video are UFC President Dana White, opposing coach Vitor Belfort and Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.


(Via www.bloodyelbow.com)