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By Jason Comack  March 1, 2010, at 5:23 pm  We’ve been talking a lot about MMA prospects lately and I think its time we make a certain distinction. Guys like Gian Villante, Ricardo Romero we consider prospects because they are young, relatively new to MMA and aren’t signed by a major organization.
There seems to be a trend right now where people want to rush prospects along. I’m guilty of this. I pine for Romero and Villante to be in the UFC when in truth there’s no harm to them continuing to gain experience fighting in Ring Of Combat.
The rushing of prospects also happens in the UFC. Right now people are clamoring for Ryan Bader to start fighting top ten caliber opponents. Even though Bader is no longer a UFC rookie, it doesn’t mean he isn’t a prospect and it doesn’t mean that he needs to automatically face elite competition.
Let’s compare Bader to other elite prospects. A guy like Cain Velasquez has answered every single question and he’s improved markedly from fight to fight. We saw his chin tested against Kongo, we saw him out box and KO a great boxer with an iron jaw in ‘Nog. We saw him grow, improve his weak spots. The same hasn’t happened with Bader. Against Eric Schafer we learned that Bader really needed to improve his boxing and cardio. Against Jardine we learned Bader really needed to improve his boxing and cardio.
The scouting report on Bader is the same fight to fight. He comes out like a house of fire, with explosive shots in round 1 and after that he tails off. He looks to land a power overhand right and not much else. The Jardine fight played out the same way. He gassed after round 1 (his shots clearly lacked explosiveness in rounds 2 and 3), lost round 2 and KO’d Jardine in the 3rd. Now it was a good victory, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t really out-strike Jardine. He KO’d Jardine with a left hook and he now he joins a long list of fighters to figure out Jardine’s weakness.
Bader is still a wrestler learning how to box and he has obvious power, with time his boxing should improve. What’s worrisome is his cardio. BJ Penn has talked about “not being that IV guy” during weigh-ins and Bader is the poster boy for being “that IV guy.” Is it weight cutting that zaps Baders gas tank? Is it a poor pre-fight training camp that hinders his cardio?
The obvious fight that people want is Bader Vs. the winner of Brandon Vera and Jon Jones. If Vera wins he’s the perfect opponent for Bader, a solid technical striker with great take-down defense. However, if Jones wins that matchup should be avoided at all costs. After the destruction of Matt Hammil it’s easy to speculate Jones would cut through Bader like a hot knife through butter. Why kill one prospect to push ahead another? Couldn’t this easily be avoided?
The other question is if Jones wins in impressive fashion is Bader even a step up in competition for Jones?
I’d rather see Bader fight someone like Vladimir Matyushenko, should he get through Elliot Marshall. It would be another small step up for Bader and it would give him more ring time to get his boxing and cardio in line.
Velasquez was a wrestler who became a very well rounded mixed martial artist. Ryan Bader is a wrestler who is fighting in mixed martial arts. That’s why Cain Velasquez is ready for a title shot and Ryan Bader is very far off.
By Jason Comack February 27, 2010, at 2:01 pm Last night in Wilmington Massachusetts Judo standout Rick Hawn notched his 4th MMA victory. At 33 years old Hawn might be too old to be considered a prospect but despite his age he has serious skills that make you believe he can make it to the next level.
Hawn is one of, if not the, most decorated judo practitioners on the MMA circuit. Check out Hawn’s judo resume.
Olympic Teams: 2004 (Ninth)
World Championship Teams: 2007
Pan American Games Teams: 2007 (Bronze)
Pan American Championship Teams: 2004 (Fifth), 2002 (Bronze), 1999
Hawn confirmed, according to a Sherdog.com report, that his next fight will be March 15th in North Carolina on the Shine Fights PPV, against Braulio Estima. Estima is a renowned submission grappler who will be making his MMA debut. While it’d be better for Hawn to take on more well rounded and experienced opponents it’s good to see him staying very active.
Obligatory Youtube Video:
Cole Konrad has his second career MMA fight tonight as he looks to improve his 1-0 record agaisnt Joel Wyatt and Matrix Fights 1 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Konrad, 25, is a decorated wrestler out of the University Of Minnesota. Konrad, while at the University Of Minnesota won two NCAA titles. The first came during an undefeated junior season of 2006 and he followed that up with another undefeated, title winning performance in 2007.
A decorated wrestler is always a very dangerous MMA fighter no matter how green they are. We’ve seen it with Brock Lesnar, Phil Davis, Muhammad Lawal and Josh Koscheck (in the beginning of his career.) Obviously there’s a whole lot to be intrigued about when talking about Konrad. He’s got the size of a modern day heavyweight, 6′5 265, and trains with a great camp at Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts. For a guy who aspires to be Baby Brock who better to train with.
Obligatory Youtube Video:
Keep a close eye on Hawn and Konrad both have the skill sets to one day be champion.
By Jason Comack February 21, 2010, at 7:31 pm After each major Mixed Martial Arts event, our very own matchmaker, Jason Comack, does his best Joe Silva and breaks down all the possibilities for the fighters who waged war last night in a little feature we like to call: What’s Next?
Mirko Cro-Cop and Wanderlei Silva are easy to pick opponents for. Dana White suggested at the post fight presser that Mirko would fight Ben Rothwell who he was originally intended to face. Considering Mirko took minimal damage and Rothwell just had a stomach bug that fight could happen soon. Keeping Mirko active can’t be a bad thing, especially if he’s training as hard as he claims he is. One fight to also keep an eye on is Mirko/’Nog which will always be a draw overseas even though it doesn’t have the title implications it use to.
At the presser White mentioned the long rumored fight of Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Wanderlei Silva is something they would consider. When Silva learned that Akiyama was campaigning to fight him he perked up and said that he wanted to fight Akiyama. That fight would be a big draw overseas particularly in Japan. I’ve long believed that the UFC was keeping Akiyama as it’s ace in the hole for a Japan card. The UFC brand will never take over in Japan but MMA is gigantic there. Putting Silva/Akiyama on a card might be the only way to get Japanese fight fans interested in a card.
Speaking of Cro-Cop his opponent Anthony Perosh endured himself some UFC goodwill by taking the fight on such short notice. Perosh was well over matched against Mirko but will likely get another shot in the UFC. If and when he does get another fight it will come in the light heavyweight division.
Perosh will likely be used as a “can” to get a fighter that desperately needs a win, a win. Off the bat two names come to mind: Stephan Bonnar and Keith Jardine.
Jardine is on a three fight losing streak, normally the UFC axe would be close to chopping Jardine but I believe he’s firmly safe on the UFC’s roster. Jardine has fought too many top guys and has wins over too many top guys (Griffin and Liddell) to allow him to go to another organization, cough Strikeforce cough. Jardine is the exact kind of gatekeeper that Strikeforce lacks. But in order to keep Jardine’s credibility he needs to face some sub-par competition.
Other then the aforementioned Perosh here’s some light-heavyweights that would make sense for Jardine to fight:
- Brian Stann last fought at UFC 109, so the timing works, where he got dominated by Phil Davis.
- Kyle Kingsbury beat Razak Al-Hassan at UFC 104.
If Jardine can’t beat any of those guys then he doesn’t deserve to be in the UFC.
By Jason Comack February 21, 2010, at 7:03 pm After each major Mixed Martial Arts event, our very own matchmaker, Jason Comack, does his best Joe Silva and breaks down all the possibilities for the fighters who waged war last night in a little feature we like to call: What’s Next?
Igor Pokrajac: Let’s call it like it is. Pokrajac is in the UFC because of his association to one Mirko Cro-Cop. He got his chance and didn’t succeed in two fights. Maybe the UFC keeps Pokrajac around if they get desperate to get someone a win, cough Bonnar cough, otherwise he’s bound for the unemployment line.
James Te-Huna: The local product had an impressive debut at UFC 110. Considered one of the best prospects in Australia there are a few opponents that make sense for Te-Huna.
- James McSweeney doesn’t have a fight booked. The former Ultimate Fighter contestant carries some name value and Te-Huna would be a nice test for him. McSweeney struggles against wrestlers and this fight could get Te-Huna on a winning streak.
- Fighting either the winner of Eric Schafer and Jason Brilz (who meet at UFC Live: Jones/Vera) or Rodney Wallace and Jared Hamman (who meet at UFC 111) would also help separate the fringe prospects.
Goran Reljic: Maybe everyone’s, mine included, expectations were a littttttle high for the Croatian fighter. Reljic dropped a weight class, and after a long layoff he did look somewhat rusty. So maybe he’s not the world beater right now some thought he’d be but he’s still a solid prospect.
Reljic fighting a lower tier middleweight on a loss is his most likely next booking. Reljic needs training time at a real training camp to work on his wrestling.
The loser of Gerald Harris and Mario Miranda would make sense. James Irvin would also make sense if he loses and is not cut by the UFC.
By Jason Comack February 21, 2010, at 4:24 pm After each major Mixed Martial Arts event, our very own matchmaker, Jason Comack, does his best Joe Silva and breaks down all the possibilities for the fighters who waged war last night in a little feature we like to call: What’s Next?
C.B Dollaway: Deciding who Dollaway’s next opponent should be really requires thinking about where C.B. stands in the UFC, He’s 4-2 in the UFC and really should be 6-0. CB’s losses to Amir Sadollah and Tom Lawlor could have easily been avoided with some, or any kind, of jiu-jitsu defense.
BJJ defense was always Dollaway’s Achilles heel and it was good to see him finally get a win over Reljic, a fighter who is proficient on the ground. CB’s a good enough wrestler to take down most opponents and his striking game is finally coming along. At age 26, it seems he might be finally putting things together and might be ready for a step up in competition.
Luckily for CB there are a ton of match-ups that make sense with fighters that are available or fighters that have fights scheduled shortly.
1) Possible, but not likely
Chris Leben and Aaron Simpson meet at UFC 114. You can eliminate these guys as:
1) UFC 114 is too far off
2) Dollaway won’t fight teammate Aaron Simpson.
Mark Munoz and Kendall Grove meet at UFC 112. The timing probably doesn’t work out for Dollaway and the winner of this fight is probably headed towards better competition.
Rousimar Palhares and Tomasz Drawl meet at UFC 111. Both are riding multiple fight win streaks a win by either in this fight would probably earn them a bigger name so I think it’s safe to cross them off the list.
2) Prospect V. Prospect
Gerald Harris and Mario Miranda meet at UFC Fight Night: Gomi vs. Florian. Harris is riding a big win streak and is 1-0 in the UFC. He’s an explosive wrestler who likes to use Rampage-eqsue slams. Miranda is a Brazilian newcomer set to make his UFC debut. He’s currently undefeated, 11-0. I like the idea of the winner of this fight fighting Dollaway as it will help separate the legitimate and fringe prospects in the middleweight division.
3) Fighting an established veteran
If the UFC wants Dollaway to fight an established fighter, and potential get a bigger name win, the winner of Alessio Sakara and James Irvin (who meet at UFC Live: Vera/Jones) or the winner of Nate Quarry and Jorge Rivera (who meet at UFC Fight Night: Gomi/Florian.) Sakara is mainly a kick-boxer who is riding a two fight win streak. Irvin is making his 185 debut after a long layoff. We last saw him getting beheaded by Anderson Silva. Quarry and Rivera are similar fighters. Both are UFC vets and have been up and down but currently ride two fight win streaks.
CB should be able to take any of these guys down at will and grind out a decision.
4) If I were Joe Silva…
Nick Catone: Catone currently doesn’t have a fight scheduled and much like Dollaway has had an up and down UFC career. He’s 2-2 in the UFC and is coming off a win over Jesse Forbes. This is interesting match-up because both fighters have similar skill sets. Both are collegiate wrestlers, with BJJ skills, whose striking games are still evolving. Stylistically it’s a fight that makes sense for both because if there wrestling cancels out it’d force them to actually stand and strike.
So there you have it. I like Dollaway/Catone personally, but I want to hear from you. Leave your opinions in the comments section.
By Jason Comack February 21, 2010, at 1:21 pm After each major Mixed Martial Arts event, our very own matchmaker, Jason Comack, does his best Joe Silva and breaks down all the possibilities for the fighters who waged war last night in a little feature we like to call: What’s Next?
Brian Foster: Showed solid wrestling and was looking good against Lytle before getting caught in a knee-bar. There’s no one in the world who thought Lytle would even attempt a knee bar so it’s not shocking that Foster was caught as off guard as the rest of us. Hopefully he isn’t injured significantly as the lock looked gruesome at first.
As for who he should fight next it depends on his injury status but the loser of Rob Kimmons and Mike Pierce or the loser of Nate Diaz and Rory Markham both would make sense.
Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski: In his own words Bonnar would “like to finish the fight” and it’s hard to disagree with him. The Bonnar/Soszynski decsion is a giant red flag for unregulated MMA. For those that didn’t see the fight it was a very even, exciting brawl that was very close after two-rounds. Most scoring the fight at home saw the fight at one round each. In the 3rd round Bonnar and Soszynski accidentally butted heads. The headbutt opened a giant leaking faucet right in the middle of Bonnar’s head that forced the fight to be stopped. Now this fight should have been ruled a “technical draw.” Much like the Varner/Cerrone fight if there’s an accidental foul that causes the fight to be stopped, the fight is scored from where it was. In this case if it was 19-19 on the judge score cards it would have been a draw. In short, Bonnar got screwed, but it might be the best thing to happen to him.
Bonnar desperately needed a win in this fight and while he didn’t get it he got something that’s almost better. An angle. No one really wanted to see Bonnar fight again, win or lose, but now you have the angle of “well these guys need a rematch because it was a good fight that we never got to see end properly.”
Seems perfect for a PPV under card or Spike TV Prelim fight. A fight that no one really cared about now comes with built in drama. I wouldn’t even consider other options for these fighters.
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