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By Anthony De Franco  February 27, 2010, at 6:05 am  Yancy Medeiros defeated Raul Castillo via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
This is a tough fight to get excited about. It’s not that Medeiros did anything wrong, or didn’t impress. It’s that we saw him outstrike a grappler who clearly is not comfortable on his feet whatsoever. However, let’s choose to be positive. He defeated an American Kickboxing Academy member by using effective, if not dominant striking and showed some really nice takedown defense. The only offense that Castillo put together came after a low blow. That should say something.
Saffiedine defeated Terry via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
I’ll say it again: Training with Cung Le might be a mistake. I keep saying that Anthony Johnson needs to get with a real camp if he wants to be a legit contender, and we saw again here that Terry was simply overmatched. Terry has a great highlight reel TKO with a head kick, but against a tougher opponent in Saffiedine, he was peppered with shots throughout and couldn’t get a takedown. Saffiedine looked good, and I like the combination of all the different arts he combined in his attack.
Luke Rockhold defeated Paul Bradley via TKO (Knees to the Body) at 2:24 of round 1.
Rockhold was absolutely dominant. He was winning the standup battle many times over and did it by using impressive counters. The finishing sequence was impressive as he threw a couple of really nice knees against the cage to drop Bradley. Combine this win with some of Luke’s submission wins, and suddenly this is a guy that we really need to start looking at.
Trevor Prangley vs. Karl Amoussou ends by Technical Draw due to accidental eye poke from Prangley at 4:14 of round 1
Everyone is going to get on the referee for this, but it isn’t really his fault. He was a slave to a dumb rule. When someone gets poked in the eye like that, why should they not be allowed five minutes to recover? Is it any different then getting hit with a low blow? After a few minutes, unless you really got gouged, your eye starts to open and you can go on fighting. That was a good fight for four minutes, and it’s a shame that it was stopped because of a stupid rule like that.
Sarah Kaufman defeated Takayo Hashi via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Kaufman was just too strong for Hashi. The reality is that 135 is not a very deep division in women’s MMA. Hashi is a 125 fighter who was fighting up in order to give Kaufman an opponent. Kaufman boxed well throughout the fight, but Hashi simply could not keep up with the Canadian fighter. The problem is going to be finding an opponent for Kaufman. Even Jordan Breen might have to dig deep into the bag of tricks to find one.
By Anthony De Franco January 31, 2010, at 5:00 pm There are a lot of people out there who are hoping that Anderson Silva moves up to light heavyweight. People want the middleweight division to be wide open once again. They want to see championship fights that aren’t decided before the fighters step into the cage.
Here’s a realization: That might not happen even if Silva does leave. Nate Marquardt could be the next dominant UFC champ.
Let’s introduce you to the man before I get into my reasoning. Nate is one of the most accomplished fighters in the middleweight division. Before coming over to the UFC, he was a three-time King of Pancrase. Since coming over, he is 8-2. He fought Silva after going 4-0 in his first four fights, meaning that he is 4-1 after his championship loss. In that one loss to Thales Leites, he was docked a point for kneeing a downed opponent in the head, and another for strikes to the back of the head. Before you think it was a dirty fight, remember that this is the same guy who chose not to strike a knocked out Demian Maia.
Marquardt’s game is a mix of many different disciplines. What really makes him special is his stand-up skill. He is a phenomenal kickboxer, as shown in his highlight reel 10-hit combo against Wilson Gouveia.
He is so technical and has such great power that he is at an advantage on his feet against anyone in the division…except for Silva.
His ground game is nothing to be messed around with either. He has 15 submission victories to his record as well. He has both wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training, and uses both of them extremely well.
Last but not least, there is his camp, which only one of the best in the world. Training at Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico brings the best out in any fighter. When you someone as great as Marquardt, it makes them truly spectacular.
No, Marquardt is not blessed with the same kind of physical gifts that Silva is. However, in the incredibly thin UFC middleweight division, there may not be anything standing between Nate and complete dominance. Look around the division: Who could really beat Nate? He’s fighting Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, and while Chael is a pest, a guy who makes anyone work for a victory, he is not going to beat Marquardt.
Further down the line, he could see Michael Bisping. The Count would want to stand with Nate, and thus be in line for another Dan Henderson-type KO. He could see Alan Belcher, who recently declared himself the greatest fighter of all time. Marquardt would end that thought quickly. Patrick Cote? Tom Lawlor? Aaron Simpson? Nope. Not close. Yushin Okami? Maybe a bit of a matchup problem, but I think it would be hard for him to get Marquardt down. Could Wanderlei Silva beat him? Maybe. It would be interesting to see the two stand and bang, but unless The Axe Murderer can turn back the clock to 2004, I don’t see him winning.
So, we are left with Nate as the unquestioned best fighter in the division. Of course, this is all contingent on Anderson Silva leaving the division.
If he does, Welcome to the Marquardt-era. That was me doing my best Joe Rogan.
By Jason Comack January 21, 2010, at 3:55 pm When the UFC signs an international star I get giddy.
Whenever the UFC signs an international star my friends that are casual MMA fans ask “who is this guy and why should I care?” Usually if you give me 15 minutes acces to Daily Motion and Youtube I can make a pretty convincing case for just about anyone.
Ramapage Jackson? Show the Arona slam. The dominant performance over Liddell (in Pride.) And just about any interview he’s ever done. Like the one where he talks about what he’s going to do when he wins the Pride belt. “When I shit I’m gonna shit with the Pride belt.” Or what about when he said to El Guapo that his strategy was to “whoop that ass.”.
Vitor Belfort? The Phenom. The 8 second KO over Wanderlei. The unfortunate kidnapping of his sister. The highlight reel of KO’s. Easy. Anderson Silva? The entrance to the ring as Michael Jackson. Any of his highlight reel KO’s.
Gomi? Thinking…still thinking. I can’t think of one single achievement in Gomis career that really stands out. He had an epic winning streak but fought his fare share of cans along the way. Does he really have any singular stand out moments?
This was made obvious when they showed Gomi at UFC 108 and the crowd reacted with indifference. Who’s this guy? Oh he’s an old pride lightweight champ. Is he any good? Yea, but he might be past his prime, he’s lost 2 of his last 4 fights. Does he have a shot of beating Penn? No, actually they already fought once and Penn beat him convincingly.
To me this is why the Gomi signing makes no sense. Because the above conversation is the way any MMA fan would describe Gomi to someone who didn’t know who he was.
Why Gomi, why now? Did Dana White get his Japanese lightweights confused? Did he mean to sign Shinya Aoki?
The loigcal answer is simply Gomi is the one that got away. When the UFC and Pride merged Fedor and Gomi were the two fighters that Dana White coveted that he couldn’t get. Now he has a chance to get Gomi and he got him.
The more abstract answer is that the UFC is planning on holding a card in Japan soon. I’m not claiming I have any inside info, I’m just connecting the dots.
Between the Pride stars of old, Machida, Gomi and Sexy-ama the UFC has more then enough talent to appease the Japanese crowd.
Think the Japanese crowd wouldn’t eat up Lesnar vs. ‘Nog? What about Akiyama vs. Anderson or Wanderlei Silva? Machida vs. Jackson? Gomi vs. anyone really? Hell, you can even dig up Mirko Cro-Cops corpse and hope he head kicks someone.
The UFC is dead set on perusing the international market. That much is obvious. First Abu-Dhabi then the world. It only seems logical the UFC would put a card in Japan.
By Anthony De Franco December 22, 2009, at 6:28 pm I’ve watched last Saturday’s Strikeforce card a few times now. Mainly because it was a fantastic card, highlighted by two amazing fights. However, another reason is that I wanted to watch “Jacare” Souza’s impressive victory over Matt Lindland again. After assuring myself of what I originally thought, I know that Jacare deserves a title shot.
In addition to an absurd list of BJJ achievements, he has added a striking game as showcased in this past fight. The biggest knock on guys who have a BJJ base is that they never really develop any kind of boxing or kickboxing to go along with their grappling. As a result, you get guys like Demian Maia leaving themselves open for highlight KO’s at the hands of more well-rounded fighters like Nate Marquardt.
According to the post-fight presser, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker suggested that “Jacare” is in line for a rematch with “Mayhem” Miller whom he was involved in a No Contest with in DREAM. Miller connected with an illegal upkick that opened a cut on Souza’s face that ended the fight. With the advancement in Souza’s game, I don’t expect him to have a problem with the clown prince of MMA.
However, why waste our time by giving him Miller? There is going to be a middleweight title fight between Dan Henderson and current champion Jake Shields. Henderson is a legend on the sport, and will likely defeat Shields, who is a transplanted welterweight. Is there a more exciting match-up for Strikeforce than Hendo v. Jacare? I really don’t think so.
What are you risking by waiting? The only problem is the potential for injury for the title winner. However, if that happens, you just place Jacare against Miller for the number one contendership. Problem solved.
Jacare against Hendo would put an Olympic wrestler against a BJJ master. A good style matchup would pull in fighter, even if I expect Hendo to KO Jacare before it ever gets to the ground. The point is that the fight would make money.
That’s what Strikeforce needs.
By Anthony De Franco December 2, 2009, at 2:46 am Imagine it in the comic book guy voice.
Anyway, I just had to point this out because when I watched it I nearly spontaneously combusted from all the awesomeness.
Awesome.
By Anthony De Franco November 11, 2009, at 7:33 pm The UFC always makes incredible videos to promote their events. This one is focused on the first fight between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, and features an awesome song called “Time For War” by the incomparable LL Cool J.
UFC 105 Undercard Predictions coming later tonight/early Thursday.
UFC 105 Main card predictions coming Thursday Afternoon/Evening.
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