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By Anthony De Franco  January 15, 2010, at 3:40 pm  About damn time. Here is the full quote from MMA Weekly:
“From what I understand, if I win this fight, I will get the shot,” Marquardt said.
“I think (Belfort’s) a great fighter. I don’t necessarily agree with him getting a shot or whatever, just because he really hasn’t fought at 85,” Marquardt commented. “His first fight in the UFC was at 95, but to be honest it doesn’t really matter too much to me because I’ve got a good fight coming up and to me I’m going to have to fight all those guys anyways, so it doesn’t really matter.”
The fight he is speaking of is not an easy one. He fights Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, in what is probably the most competitive fight of the night. Marquardt is clearly the next best middleweight after Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, and he has had to wait for his shot due to Belfort’s sudden arrival and dismantling of Rich Franklin.
Of course, we know that Marquardt has already lost one to Silva way back in July of 2007. However, don’t underestimate the improvement of Nate The Great since then. He’s 4-1 since than and his loss came in a “controversial” decision to Thales Leites, where he was docked two points.
Well, than how improved can he be if he lost to Leites? Yes. Thank you for the excuse to bust out one of my favorite MMA highlights ever. The Nate Marquardt 10-hit combo KO.
And I haven’t even mentioned the quick KO of previously undefeated Demian Maia.
So, It’s about time for Nate. Some suggest that Silva is ready for a full time move to Light Heavyweight and may just give up the belt after the Belfort fight. The Spider himself has already tagged Nate as his successor at the top of 185, and I would agree with him.
By Jason Comack October 28, 2009, at 1:08 am Josh Koscheck has agreed to step up on short notice to fight a yet to be named opponent at UFC 106.
Confirmation of the fight comes from Koschecks twitter account (@JoshKoscheck)
I got some big fight news for me. I am fighting nov 21 in Vegas. Co main event!!! Haha it’s on baby!!!!about 2 hours ago from Twitterrific
While the opponent has yet to be named the most logical name is Matt Hughes. Hughes hasn’t fought in a while and Koscheck, and everyone else at the American Kickboxing Academy has been consistently calling him out. Hughes also packs the name value to give UFC 106 a much needed star power boost.
More to come when Koshchecks opponent can be confirmed.
By Anthony De Franco October 20, 2009, at 10:51 pm I love the way that most Jet fans are reacting to their team this week. After winning their first three games, every single one of them started thinking Super Bowl. Mark Sanchez was the greatest rookie quarterback of all time, and Rex Ryan was the most brilliant man to ever coach a game of football. This was the season that every Jet fan was waiting for since Joe Willie trotted out of Super Bowl III as the most popular athlete in the world for that one day in 1969.
Now, after three straight losses everyone has jumped off the bandwagon as if it was on fire. They have basically denounced their teams, and started talking about how they wished they were fans of a real football team. They are all doing everything short calling Mark Sanchez a bust.
The reality of the situation is that the 3-0 start clouded the judgment of a fan base whose team has serious holes. The team simply needs improvement in many areas, and they are nowhere ready to win now. In fact, they are probably still a few years away from serious competition, but no one wants hear that.
Why did everyone think that Mark Sanchez wasn’t going to go through his share of growing pains? I’m not suggesting that anyone could have predicted the five interception debacle that was last Sunday afternoon, but did anyone really think that he was going to be perfect the entire season? Looking like Vince Chase from Entourage only gets you so far.
Why did anyone in the world think that Rex Ryan was going to be a perfect head coach in his first season? For all the good he did with the defense in weeks one and two, he hasn’t really done a whole lot since. Kerry Collins spent the second half of the Titans game doing his best impression of Joe Montana, The Saints moved the ball well, Ted Ginn made Darelle Revis look terrible, and this week, the coup de grace, his defense lost to Havard grad Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Why did anyone think that this team would remain in perfect health? After all, this is a club that has one of the league’s thinnest rosters. Now that Kris Jenkins is out for the year with a torn ACL, Sione Pouha is going to be anchoring the most important position in the Jets 3-4 defense. When Lito Sheppard was out, opposing wide receivers were left quivering in fear of Dwight Lowery. Jerricho Cotchery missed time and the Jets had to call Danny Woodhead up to the active roster AND change his position from running back to wide receiver. Every single NFL team is going to deal with injuries, but the ones that are prepared are the ones that contend for championship. Quality depth is just as important as having good starters. The Jets simply don’t have it.
Instead of the Super Bowl team that Gang Green fans thought they had, the Jets are simply another mediocre football team. Sanchez is still a work in progress. Ryan, while an excellent defensive coordinator, is still a first year head coach. Most importantly, the Jets roster is just not set for a push deep into the playoffs.
Rather than leaping off the cliff, Jets fans simply need to see the big picture. Work in progress means that there is potential there. Sanchez will be the franchise QB of the New York Jets. Rex Ryan can be a winning coach with some experience. One more good draft can be enough to get the depth they need.
Just don’t expect the world from this team so quickly, and you won’t be disappointed.
By Anthony De Franco October 16, 2009, at 3:43 pm Get ready to put another shrimp on the barbi, fight fans.
UFC 111 will take place in February in Australia as many have suggested over the last couple of months. The main event will mark Wanderlei Silva’s debut at 185, and return from facial surgery that is supposed to resurrect his career. His opponent will be Japanese pop-icon Yoshihiro Akiyama. The man affectionately known as “Sexy-yama” won his UFC debut in a controversial split decision that this blog felt the judges got very wrong. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Wanderlei Silva, in a video posted to his official YouTube channel on Thursday night, confirmed his next fight would be at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s debut in Australia.
He will face Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 111 when the promotion lands at the Acer Arena in Sydney. Akiyama first mentioned the bout at a recent press conference in Japan touting the UFC’s new “Undisputed” video game.
“I am so happy because it is the first event there,” said Silva with a huge smile across his face. “This is a great honor for me because I fight in the main event in Cologne, Germany, in the first event there, and I’m gonna fight in the first event in Australia.”
Silva (32-10-1) hasn’t fought since Germany in June, where he lost a unanimous decision in a 195-pound catchweight to Rich Franklin. Accruing a 1-3 record since joining the ranks of the UFC, the bout with Akiyama will be Silva’s first at 185 pounds, a move that will put him on a more level playing field with his opposition.
The logic is as follows: Austrailia is close to Japan, right? Silva is a legend is the Far East from his days as PRIDE’s biggest draw. Akiyama is a legend in that part of the world because he’s a pop music sensation in addition to a fighter. (No, I am not kidding.) Let’s just assume that the Japanese, a country full of MMA fans, will make the 10-hour plane trek to get to the Outback.
Personally, I wasn’t that impressed with Akiyama, and I’d expect the Axe murderer to get back on track.
By Anthony De Franco September 3, 2009, at 10:18 pm Well, it looks like Dana White isn’t going to wait for Strikeforce to schedule Fedor’s first fight to have B.J. Penn defend his lightweight title. According to MMA Weekly, Diego Sanchez will get his shot against the Hawaiian on December 12th on Pay-Per-View.
After weeks of speculation, the fight is settled and so is the date.
UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn will fight Diego Sanchez in the co-main event of UFC 107, which also features a battle between The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.
“B.J. is fighting Dec. 12,” UFC president Dana White stated Thursday afternoon in a video blog on BJPenn.com.
White already confirmed the bout a week ago at the UFC 102 pre-fight press conference. At the time, he said there was a chance it would headline an as of yet unannounced third November event that would be neither a pay-per-view nor a Spike TV event, leading to speculation about the oft-rumored network television deal.
Whatever the reason, a third November event has yet to materialize.
White has frequently stated, “Once we get the right offer, we will be on network television.” Apparently the right offer hasn’t yet arrived, or at least not in time for November.
There have long been rumors that whenever Fedor stepped foot into a Strikeforce ring, White and the UFC would counterprogram a huge draw like Penn or Anderson Silva on free TV. Since Silva doesn’t seem to want fight anyone right now, It was assumed that Penn and Sanchez would be the fight headlining that card. Now, You have to wonder what White still has left in the cupboard to counterprogram with. All the champions and big draws are booked through the end of the year.
As for the fight, I still am not a big beleiver in Sanchez. He has a very good ground game as long as he is on top, and showed decent elbows from the bottom in his instant classic bout against Clay Guida, but make no mistake; Penn is not Clay Guida. I wonder if Sanchez will be able to get Penn down, and if he does, Penn will completely neutralize his submission game and maybe even sweep him. B.J. is sharper on the feet as well, and will likely dominate this fight.
By Jordan Lauterbach September 3, 2009, at 3:26 am The wait is finally over. College football starts tonight!
Full picks column coming by Friday night, but here are some quick ones for opening night.
South Carolina vs. N.C State – South Carolina won 34-0 last year. Expect different things this year. South Carolina has a young team with some uncertainty at the quarterback position. NC State’s Russell Wilson threw only one interception last season and is ready to take that next step. If Wilson improves on his 54% completion percentage, he should be able to do that. Also, don’t think 34-0 hasn’t been thrown around a lot this week. Players have pride.
The Pick: NC State
North Texas vs. Ball State – After a season in which he ran for over 1700 yards, Ball State’s Miqual Lewis is the leading returning rusher in the country. Look for him to have a big game
The Pick: Ball State
Utah State vs. Utah – Utah needs every game in what should be a fascinating MWC. They have some uncertainty at quarterback now that Corbin Louks has moved on to Nevada. The jury was still out on whether Louks would win the job anyway, but now Utah is looking at even less experience at quarterback. I think this will hurt them late in the year when they play TCU. However, it won’t make much of a difference tonight.
The Pick: Utah
Oregon vs. Boise State – The game of the night, by far. Maybe the game of the weekend (it’s at least top three). It’s rare that you can say this on the season’s opening night, but this is a really important game. Boise State needs to go undefeated to have a shot at the BCS. Oregon is, by far, the toughest game on the schedule. Kellen Moore had a great season for the Broncos last year and will be just as good, if not better, this season. This will be the first taste of how he meshes with his new group of top receivers (three of Moore’s go to guys in ‘08 are gone for ‘09).
Call me crazy if you’d like, but I think Oregon is overrated. The defense is rebuilding. The head coach, while from inside the program, is new. LeGarrette Blount is really good, but I think the defense will struggle a lot early. Going on the road against the high powered Broncos spells bad news.
The Pick: Boise State
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