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

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.

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."