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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 Anthony De Franco February 14, 2010, at 6:11 am In late 2009, the UFC suffered there worst injury plague in their 10-plus year history. They lost main carder after main carder and had to cobble together main events for at least three events. In 2010, we were to see a return to form. After all, that couldn’t happen again could it?
We certainly hope not, but the after the last couple of days, I’m beginning to get worried. First, Vitor Belfort has to pull out of the main event of UFC 112, and now Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is injured and out of UFC on Versus. Pro MMA Now broke the story.
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (8-3) has had to pull out of his highly anticipated March 21 “UFC on Versus” bout with John “Doomsday” Howard (13-4) due to a knee injury. Pro MMA Now (www.prommanow.com) was notified of the bout cancellation this evening from an associate who spoke directly to Howard’s manager.
“Rumble’s” last fight was a second round submission loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 106 in November. “Doomsday” is on a five fight win streak, he is still undefeated (3-0) in the UFC, and is coming off a spectacular come-from-behind knockout win over legendary MMA veteran Dennis Hallman at the “TUF 10 Finale” in December.
Well, there goes another good fight down the tubes. Johnson also pulled out of the TUF 9 Finale against Matt Brown with a knee injury. Here’s hoping that it’s not a lingering problem. Johnson’s last fight was a loss where he was dominanted by top five welterweight Josh Koscheck.
No word yet on who will face Howard at UFC’s first card on Versus.
By Jason Comack February 7, 2010, at 3:33 pm I’ve seen a lot of MMA World Rankings lately and I haven’t found one I 100% agree with. Therefore I’m launching the first ever 3rd String Safety Official MMA World Rankings. Please, hold your applause. These rankings will be fluid and updated after every major MMA card.
Updated 2/8/10
1) Georges St. Pierre (19-2)
I don’t know if GSP’s dominance can really be explained in words. He’s the best wrestler in MMA and that’s the base of his game. However he also has top notch jiu-jitsu and excellent striking. Quite simply GSP is a freakish athlete and I’m not sure anyone will knock him off this perch for quite some time. He’s already dismantled Fitch, Alves and Koscheck. To me GSP has nothing left to prove at 170 pounds. It’s time to see what he can do at 185.
Next up: Dan Hardy, UFC 111
2) Jon Fitch (21-3)
How good is Jon Fitch? He might be one of the top 10 pound for pound fighters in the world and he’s not even the best fighter in his own weight class. Fitch has only lost once, to GSP, in the last seven years. He’s 11-1 in the UFC and holds wins over Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez and Paulo Thiago. His wrestling is amazing, his jiu-jitsu doesn’t get nearly enough credit (he submitted Roan Carneriro) and he can hold his own striking. If it wasn’t for GSP, Jon Fitch would be a superstar.
The only knock on Fitch is that as of late he’s taken a workman-like approach to his fights. He’s fought smart but hasn’t looked to finish fights. While this might keep him in the win column it’ll keep him out of the title picture.
Next up: Thiago Alves, UFC 111
3) Thiago Alves (16-6)
Alves is another guy who curses GSP’s existence everyday. Alves is a huge welterweight with sick striking and great take-down defense. If GSP didn’t exist Alves and Fitch would probably pass the title between each other.
Up Next: Jon Fitch, UFC 111
4) Josh Koscheck (14-4)
It’s amazing that ‘Kos even won a single fight on the Ultimate Fighter. Four years ago he was a wrestler wearing an MMA’s fighters clothing. He was nicknamed the “blanket” by the fans and got a rep as being a lay-n-pray fighter. Since then ‘Kos has evolved into a complete fighter. His take downs are still top notch but he’s developed into a very sound kick boxer. He has a tremendous right hand, ala Dan Henderson, that he might be guilty of loading up on too much. Koscheck is a great athlete and along with GSP, Fitch and Alves form a tier in the welterweight division. After ‘Kos there’s a big gap in talent.
Next up: Paul Daley, UFC 113
5) Paulo Thiago (12-1)
Thiago 2 – AKA 1. Thiago is no fluke. In three of his four UFC fights Thiago has taken on three top welterweights and beat two of them and hung with the other. Thiago sits at 5 in my welterweight rankings but has an unbelievable ceiling. His kick boxing is getting better every fight and he finally is starting to show some technique to go along with his natural power. His ground skills also are top notch and after his text book choke out of Mike Swick has now put the entire division on notice.
Next up: Nothing Scheduled.
6) Dan Hardy (23-6)
Hardy put his name on the map with a serious of impressive wins, including a dominating performance against Mike Swick. Hardy has heavy hands and decent take down defense but that’s about it. Koscheck questioned Hardys legitimacy as a number one contender and I have to say I agree. He doesn’t hold a win over a top welterweight and his fight against Marcus Davis could have gone either way.
Regardless as Matt Serra taught us St. Pierre isn’t invincible and Hardy’s heavy hands can certainly get the job done.
Next up: Georges St. Pierre, UFC 111
7) Nick Diaz (21-7)
Nick Diaz your career and fighting style defies logic. Diaz attacks with these goofy “slap” punches that in theory shouldn’t work yet we’ve seen that his K.O. power in both his hands (see his KO of boxer Robbie Lawler.) His wrestling is average but his jiu-jitsu skills are top notch. The Cesar Gracie black-belt loves to use his BJJ to sweep and take down his opponent (both him and his brother love the standing Kimura.)
Next up: Nothing Scheduled.
8 ) Paul Daley (23-8-2)
Daley is another upstart British fighter. Filling it for Mike Swick he upset Martin Kampman by KO. His encore performance he KO Dustin Hazelett in highlight reel fashion. Much like Hardy “Semtex” has heavy hands that are very fast, solid boxing technique but that’s about it. He has no ground game and not much of a wrestling base. He can knock you out but a smart game plan will neutralize his power.
It feels weird putting a guy in the 8 spot who lost to Nick Thompson by decision just 11 months ago. However, I’m not sure there’s anyone more deserving.
Next up: Josh Koshceck, UFC 113
9) Martin Kampmann (15-3)
Kampmann was in line for a shot at GSP after a narrow win over Carlos Condit. A funny thing happened on the way to a title fight. He got TKO’d against Daley in a questionable stoppage. Kampmann was pressed against the fence and eating blows but he was covering up and never was dropped. It was the rare standing stoppage. Kampmann is a kick boxer by trade but has developed a well rounded game. He’s a dangerous fighter to try to stand and trade with. Just ask Jacob Volkman.
Next up: Ben Saunders, UFC 111
10) Carlos Condit (24-5)
The former WEC champ was on the fast track to a title shot before losing a close fight to Martin Kampmann. Since then Condit rebounded by beating Jake Ellenberger (a win that gets more impressive as we see what a fighter Ellenberger is.) The Natural Born Killer has a well rounded game, mixing in submissions and striking skills.
Next up: Rory MacDonald, UFC 115
Honorable Mention: Jay Hieron, Dan Hornbuckle
Not Ranked: Jake Shields, Matt Hughes, Diego Sanchez
Prospects: John Hathaway, Rick Story, Matt Riddle, Nick Osipczack, Rory MacDonald
By Anthony De Franco February 7, 2010, at 5:38 am As May 25th draws closer, I’m getting more and more pumped for UFC 2010: Undisputed. After last year’s game was awesome, you can only assume that this year’s is going to be even better. IGN.com did a first look at the game this weekend, and I’ll be bringing you the MMA fans view of some of the news.
Let’s get started.
Moments ago, the company ran UFC Undisputed 2010 through its first public match – Mike Swick versus Paulo Thiago – and although the gameplay demo was extremely short, THQ promised and showcased some really good stuff. For starters and piggybacking off of my complaint, the static animations of 2009 are gone. When your fighters are in the prone position or mid-hold, they’re not just sitting there — they’re living and breathing. You’ll see your arm struggle against a hold as you try and break it, there are transitions between takedowns, and – thank the Lord – there are cage moves. This year, if you’re good enough, you’re going to be able to slam coverboy Brock Lesnar up against the chain link and wail on his ribcage.
This is a great thing. The game did have a “rock’em, sock’em robots” feel to it at times because most of animations were stiff. This was especially true in the ground game, as the opponent would stand still during transitions. Besides that, cage work was one of the biggest gripes of players last year. The fact that the fights took place in a cage, but you couldn’t interact with it was a bit ridiculous. Look for things like clinches, flurries against the cage and switching levels for takedowns to be included this year.
You can switch to the southpaw stance if you click in on the right joystick, the fight animations have been quadrupled, the clinch has been reanimated, the number of front submissions have been doubled, there’s a new targeting system, and there are individual submissions like B.J. Penn’s arm trap. Not enough octagon goodness? THQ has added karate, Greco-Roman wrestling, and Sambo fighting styles while doing away with archetypes for fighters – created fighters will now use individual movesets.
All good news once again. Fighters like Rich Franklin will feel more realistic due to the addition of the south paw stance. More of anything is never a bad thing, and more submissions and animations are a really good thing. The same goes for more fighting styles as the original six that were in the game simply weren’t enough. Since they did away with archetypes, I wonder how the new movesets will work. MMA is a sport where everyone knows how to do pretty much everything, just with varying levels of skills and success. Will my boxer not be able to throw muay thai knees? Will a wrestler not be able to use a triangle? Actually, that one kinda makes sense. Still, I’m curious of how that is going to work. Fighter specific animations are cool, but it made Anderson Silva a bitch to play with last year.
It did look sweet – the graphics are no doubt sharper than last year, as sweat clung to the fighters’ chests and blood spurted out as punches rained down on Thiago’s face – but that was about it. To drive home that TV presentation, the match ended with the fighters in the ring in post-fight outfits such as Swick’s “Dethrone Royalty Texas” shirt.
YYEEESSSSS. Call me a dork, but I think that the presentation is so important. Thinks like walkout shirts and banners for the fighters makes it feel more like an actual UFC. Besides, I already shot walking out in the Josh Koscheck UFC 106 walkout shirt.
It wasn’t shown, but a THQ press release makes it sound like UFC Undisputed 2010 is making a serious play for one of the best online fighting games. In this year’s game you’ll apparently be able to form “fight camps and leagues, train like real-life UFC fighters and go online to compete against other camps.” There will be online co-op sparring sessions that dictate your credibility, popularity and the types of sponsorships you get. On top of that, this year’s career mode will include the “Game Is Watching You” system, which will “track every action and use this information to dictate in-game commentary, opponent intelligence and overall career progression.”
This is meaty stuff. The online “camp” system sounds awesome. Sign-ups for The 3rd String Safety camp will come. Since Jason sucks, we’ll need good fighters. Similar to NBA2K10, the game seems to use a dynamic commentary system which should bring your created character to life, which is a breath of fresh air after last year’s game. They barely even mentioned your character last year.
Typically in the world of video games, the first year a sports game comes out is dedicated to getting the gameplay right. THQ did that just about perfectly. The second year is when they add all the features that they wanted to add in year one but didn’t have time. That seems to be the direction that Undisputed is headed.
UFC 2010: Undisputed comes out on May 25th. Yes, my copy is already pre-ordered.
By Anthony De Franco February 7, 2010, at 2:28 am Stock Up
- Chael Sonnen – Fuck. The UFC’s newest super-villian seems to actually have something behind his insane rants. We all knew he could wrestle, but no one expect Nate Marquardt to be taken down so easily. Sonnen said that both the flying knee and the guillotine by Nate almost put him out. Best case scenario: Anderson Silva defeats Vitor Belfort and then ends Sonnen’s life with Muay Thai knees.
- Paulo Thiago – Thiago had Swick timed so quickly that the American Kickboxing Academy student couldn’t land anything. Thiago is no joke in welterweight division, and don’t be surprised if he gives up his police job to start training full-time. For some reason, Jason and I both agree that we see him getting the Paul Daley v. Josh Koscheck winner.
- Randy Couture – Obvious? Listen, we all knew that Randy was going to win this fight. It was designed for him to win. The next big fight at 205 is Machida and Shogun. If Machida wins, don’t be surprised if we see Randy get his shot for another light heavyweight championship.
Stock Down
- Nate Marquardt – My bad. I wrote a whole article about how Nate was the next big thing at 185, and then he loses. The sad part? I still beleive it. Take some time to go and train takedown defense against Georges St. Pierre and then come back in a couple of months. My only concern is that someone like Nate who relies so much on knees and kicks will always be susceptible to takedowns.
- Frank Trigg – It’s been fun Frank. This is likely a career for the Rochester, New York native. He said that he would quit if he was cut from the UFC, and after being knocked out by Matt Serra, he’s likely to be cut. Frank should head back to the broadcast booth. He’s better than most out there right now.
- Mike Swick – That’s two losses in a row for Swick. I think that we’ve seen that Swick just isn’t championship material. While his striking is excellent, he just lacks the overall level of skill necessary to really make a mark at 170. Swick can still carve out a career hanging around the top 10, but don’t expect him to get to the top of the mountain. Leave that to his teammates, Koscheck and Jon Fitch.
By Anthony De Franco January 19, 2010, at 5:57 am Yesterday, Jason discussed the possibility of Diego Sanchez returning to the welterweight division. Now, that Diego has confirmed it, let’s take a look at another lightweight that has decided that he likes to eat too much to fight at 155.
Nate Diaz is not what you think of when you think of a fighter who can afford to move up in weight. He’s long and lanky, but isn’t exactly made of muscle. He isn’t close to the strongest guy at 155. So, how does this make any sense?
Simple. It doesn’t. It’s just another in a long line of bad decisions made by the Diaz family.
Nate is going to get manhandled at 170. He is a BJJ black belt under Cesar Gracie, so we know that his ground game is top notch. However, he still has not developed any sort of stand-up to back it up. He also struggles with his takedown defense, as shown when he fought a stronger man in Melvin Guillard. In fact, if he wasn’t so good off his back, the gameplan against Diaz would always be to take him down and pound him into oblivion.
So, here is my main question: If Guillard is taking him down with ease, how is going to deal with Jon Fitch? or Josh Koscheck? or, god forbid if he got that far, Georges St. Pierre? Is he going to be able to submit any of those guys from his back? Nope. Not only are they some of the best submission defenders in the division, but they all have extensive jiu-jitsu training. St. Pierre is a black belt, Fitch is a black belt in Guerilla jiu-jitsu, and although Koscheck doesn’t have a rank, he trains with Dave Camarillio at American Kickboxing Academy, so you know he knows what he is doing.
Those are the top guys in the division. Could Diaz beat some other welterweight fighters? Maybe. I’ve gone through the whole UFC welterweight crop. Out of those here are the guys Diaz has a shot against: Matt Serra, Phil Baroni (If he can take him down), and Rory Markham. Conveniently, rumors have Diaz taking on Markham at UFC 111.
This makes no sense whatsoever. Diaz will struggle at 170, and be forced back down in weight. However, we all know that Nate doesn’t live in the same reality that the rest of us do. After all, he thinks that Gray Maynard chokes people out.
White belt.
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Breaking Down IGN's First Look of UFC 2010: Undisputed...
As May 25th draws closer, I’m getting more and more pumped for UFC 2010: Undisputed. After last year’s game was awesome, you can only assume that this year’s is going to be even better. IGN.com did a first look at the game this weekend, and I’ll be bringing you the MMA fans view of some of the news.
Let’s get started.
This is a great thing. The game did have a “rock’em, sock’em robots” feel to it at times because most of animations were stiff. This was especially true in the ground game, as the opponent would stand still during transitions. Besides that, cage work was one of the biggest gripes of players last year. The fact that the fights took place in a cage, but you couldn’t interact with it was a bit ridiculous. Look for things like clinches, flurries against the cage and switching levels for takedowns to be included this year.
All good news once again. Fighters like Rich Franklin will feel more realistic due to the addition of the south paw stance. More of anything is never a bad thing, and more submissions and animations are a really good thing. The same goes for more fighting styles as the original six that were in the game simply weren’t enough. Since they did away with archetypes, I wonder how the new movesets will work. MMA is a sport where everyone knows how to do pretty much everything, just with varying levels of skills and success. Will my boxer not be able to throw muay thai knees? Will a wrestler not be able to use a triangle? Actually, that one kinda makes sense. Still, I’m curious of how that is going to work. Fighter specific animations are cool, but it made Anderson Silva a bitch to play with last year.
YYEEESSSSS. Call me a dork, but I think that the presentation is so important. Thinks like walkout shirts and banners for the fighters makes it feel more like an actual UFC. Besides, I already shot walking out in the Josh Koscheck UFC 106 walkout shirt.
This is meaty stuff. The online “camp” system sounds awesome. Sign-ups for The 3rd String Safety camp will come. Since Jason sucks, we’ll need good fighters. Similar to NBA2K10, the game seems to use a dynamic commentary system which should bring your created character to life, which is a breath of fresh air after last year’s game. They barely even mentioned your character last year.
Typically in the world of video games, the first year a sports game comes out is dedicated to getting the gameplay right. THQ did that just about perfectly. The second year is when they add all the features that they wanted to add in year one but didn’t have time. That seems to be the direction that Undisputed is headed.
UFC 2010: Undisputed comes out on May 25th. Yes, my copy is already pre-ordered.
Categories: MMA
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