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By Anthony De Franco  February 3, 2010, at 4:42 am  I’m clairvoyant. I must be. Just the other day, I was talking about how Tyson Griffin doesn’t have a fight announced. Now, he’s going to be taking on his training partner Evan Dunham at UFC 115. From Bloody Elbow:
A lightweight showdown pitting the returning Tyson Griffin against the emerging Evan Dunham is on tap for UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Tuesday night said the bout has been agreed to, but not yet signed.
Here is another case for Dana White to use against the wonderful fighters of the American Kickboxing Academy. They refuse to fight each other, which is causing a HUUUGE log jam in the Welterweight division.
As for the fight, Dunham is an impressive 10-0 and coming off a win against Efrain Escudero where he almost broke the TUF 8 winner’s arm. However, he is running into a buzzsaw in Griffin.
Griffin is in the top tier of lightweights right now alongside Frankie Edgar, and Gray Maynard. As a matter of fact, if he doesn’t get hurt, we could be seeing him take on B.J. Penn at UFC 112. I think alot of people have forgotten how good he is in his absence.
Give me Griffin via TKO early.
By Anthony De Franco December 15, 2009, at 4:09 pm Another battle in the burgeoning MMA war that is the Zuffa empire against Strikeforce is going to be fought this Saturday night. In one corner is the empire, bringing us a card without many names but with a decent main event and a couple of rising starts. In the other is little MMA promotion that could, bringing us one of the best prospects in MMA, a lightweight fight that could be one for the ages, and a main event star returning to the cage.
The problem is: Which one should you watch, and which should you DVR? Let’s break it down:
WEC 45
The card is headlined by the return of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone against Ed “9MM” Ratcliff. While Cerrone is a draw in the WEC, he’s really not a high level fighter by any stretch of the imagination. If we put him in the UFC lightweight division, where would he stand? Is he better or worse than a guy like Clay Guida, or an aging Sean Sherk? Let’s go as far to say that just maybe Mac Danzig could beat him. Ratcliff is a knockout artist that no one has really heard of. Could he be a star? Sure. However, he’s more likely to be a comeback fight for Cerrone.
The semi-main has a chance to be a real good fight as Anthony Njokuani tries to get his third consecutive knockout victory against newcomer Chris Hordecki. General Manager Reed Harris said that he has been trying to sign Hordecki for almost three years, so alot is clearly expected of him. However, the best case scenario for the WEC is Njokuani gets an impressive KO and a title shot.
If you are looking for a wildcard fight, check out Joseph Benavidez vs. Rani Yahya. Benavidez is a fast rising prospect out Urijah Faber’s camp, and could make a name for himself with a victory here.
Strikeforce: Evolution
The main on this card is the return of Cung Le. Le is a controversial figure in MMA, because he is one of the few “old” style fighters still being successful. He is a kickboxer, but uses some interesting takedowns and defense from the realm of San Shou. The guy he’s fighting, Scott Smith, is a former Ultimate Fighter Alumni. He’s not quite a can, but he really shouldn’t beat Le. He’s going to try and stand with a guy who broke Frank Shamrock’s arm with a kick. Not a good plan.
The Semi-main might be the best fight of the night. Gilbert Melendez might be the best lightweight that no one has eve heard of. He’s got sick cardio, great wrestling, a Gracie BJJ background, he’s really the complete package. He’s the interim champ, and is looking to unify the title against Josh Thomson. Thomson is a UFC and PRIDE veteran with some of the best wrestling in a division full of wrestlers. Let’s put it this way: Sherdog thinks that he can take B.J. Penn down. He previously defeated Melendez by decision, and this is long anticipated rematch.
The third best fight on this card is the major promotion debut of King Mo, Muhammed Lawal. He’s been touted as the next great heavyweight in MMA, and the world will finally get to see him this weekend. He’s going to move down to 205, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, but will fight Mike Whitehead first. Whitehead is also a TUF alum, but has always had spotty cardio, and just doesn’t have the athleticism to hang with Lawal.
The Verdict
I don’t think there is much of a question here. Strikeforce offers a better card with bigger names. The best fight of the night is on the card, in addition to one of MMA’s up and coming stars. Tune into Showtime on Saturday, and then check out the WEC after Cung Le breaks Scott Smith’s skull.
By Anthony De Franco November 19, 2009, at 4:30 am Another UFC, another American Kickboxing Academy superstar taking to the ring.
It seems like these guys have been everywhere, and they especially dominate the welterweight division. You could make and argument that Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch and Mike Swick are all in the welterweight top ten.
At UFC 106, Koscheck will take to the octagon against some one who alot of people believe is a champ in waiting in Anthony Johnson. Here’s the Dethrone Royalty shirt he’ll be wearing to the cage.
It’s a pretty simple shirt. It’s kinda bad ass though, as their is no cooler logo in all of MMA than the script Dethrone logo that is plastered along the back. Also, whoever came up with the name “Dethrone Royalty” is just freaking brilliant. Awesome name.
MMA Warehouse has it for a cheap-as-hell 24.99.
For More UFC 106 shirts, check out The 3rd String Store.
By Anthony De Franco September 19, 2009, at 8:00 am Kimbo Slice has become one of the hottest names in the MMA universe over the last few weeks. With his appearance on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV set all kinds of records for viewership and all signs point to Kimbo being the reason. Now, TapouT is releasing an entire line of clothing that centers around the Bahamian street fighter. Here’s the first of many to come.
Let’s be honest, people are going to buy this shirt because it has Kimbo’s name on it. It doesn’t have a ton of flashy graphics or anything like that. It’s a gritty looking shirt, and I kinda like it alot. MMA Warehouse has your hookup. The shirt will only run you 23.99.
By Anthony De Franco August 29, 2009, at 11:34 am A little while ago, I floated out a rumor that I heard that Anderson Silva wants to move up to heavyweight and fight Frank Mir. Well, now Frank Mir is telling Sherdog that he would be more than happy to fight the Spider.
Sherdog.com: What was your reaction to the news that Anderson Silva was singling you out?
Frank Mir: It would be a pleasure. It would be like saying you get to go in there and hit Tom Brady. Certain people in our sport have certain abilities, and he’s obviously going to be a legend. He’s never sparred with me, so the only way I can get to work with him is to beat him down in a fight. I look at it as a huge honor.
Sherdog.com: Why do you think they floated your name specifically?
Mir: I think he feels that out of all the heavyweights, I’d be the least likely to shoot on him before anybody else. Stylistically, it’s to his advantage. If he’s going to fight a heavyweight, standing up and trying to pick him apart is probably his best avenue for victory. Which heavyweight is less likely to take him down? I probably have one of the weaker shots in the heavyweight division. Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin — all those guys wrestled in college at high levels. I only wrestled for two years in high school. If you’re going to stop someone’s shot, it’s probably easier to stop mine. I’ve also shown in my last couple of fights that I like to stand up.
There’s alot more to the Q &A, and it’s damn good. It beings up a really interesting question about the possibility of this fight happening. Mir has to go through Chieck Kongo first, but if he did and was able to beat him, and Silva dismantles Dan Henderson, then why not? Silva would have just defended his belt, so there would be no pressure to have him get back in the cage at 185. Mir is no going to get back to the top while Brock Lesnar reigns. Hell, even if he wanted to fight Brock again, name one heavyweight that would provide a better quality win than Anderson Silva?
It’s official. I want to see this fight happen. I’ve given up on trying to convince Anderson Silva to stay at 185. If he’s gonna go up and down in weight, I might as well enjoy it.
By Anthony De Franco July 14, 2009, at 11:21 pm You’ll notice that things look a little bit different. We’ve been through some changes, and of course, with changes come problems. However, the sleek new look is actually more functional, and you’ll find that out tomorrow when we resume with regular posting. For now, you’ll have to settle for this look into what The 3rd String Safety office was like today.
Imagine me as Harvey Birdman, Comack as Peanut (the guy who talks alot), and we’ll call Goldberg Avenger the purple eagle.
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