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By Anthony De Franco  March 20, 2010, at 6:40 am  After fighting Dan Henderson on the upcoming Strikeforce CBS card, Jake Shields will be a free agent win or lose. He does not have a “champions clause” in his contract that states he can’t leave while he is the middleweight champion. Therefore, he is likely to be taking suitors as soon as the 18th of April.
At the front of that line should be Dana White.
Shields is a great fit for the UFC for many reason. The first of which is that he simply a great fighter. He possesses great BJJ, and holds 10 submission victories. However, that is what we expect from someone who holds a black belt under Cesar Gracie. However, what separates him from someone like teammate Nate Diaz is solid standup. He’s not going to blow anyone away on the feet, but he can use his standup to set up takedowns. He’s not just throwing a pawing jab out there, he is doing damage with strikes.
Shields has won twelve in a row, including a victory over overrated personality/underrated fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller in his last fight. That fight was at middleweight, which is not Shields natural weight class. However, since they lacked a star at 185 to put on CBS, they went to a bulked up Shields. The result was Miller being too strong for Shields, and Shields being unable to finish the fight.
If he was able to come to the UFC, Shields could move back down the 170 immediately. In that division there are so many interesting fights for him. He could start near the top of the division because of his previous success the same way we saw Vitor Belfort do. That means that fights with Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Anthony Johnson and more are all options.
Another reason why it’s important that Shields come over is what I’m calling the Dan Hardy theory. After UFC 100, when we were watching the presser and Jason was recovering from Frank Mir’s loss, Jason said that Shields was the only person that he was interested in watching the GSP fight. I told him to calm down, and that he sounded like a Sherdog forum member panicking like that. New contenders pop up all the time.
Enter Dan Hardy. Is Hardy the second best welterweight in the UFC? No. However, since we have seen Fitch, Alves and Koscheck all fight the Canadian wonder already, Hardy gets the bump up. If we are willing to give that shot to Hardy, then we could easily give it to Shields. There is a suddenly interesting opponent for GSP.
Shields is a top-ten welterweight. There is never any problem with adding a top-ten guy to your company. However, Shields’ validity has been put into question because of him not fighting the top talent in his weight class. All that talent is in the UFC.
It’s too good to pass up for both sides.
By Anthony De Franco March 10, 2010, at 10:35 pm With Dominick Cruz winning the Bantamweight title, I beleive that the 135 pound division in the WEC has officially entered the transitional period that the light heavyweight division did when Forrest Griffin defeated Rampage Jackson. There are a few guys who are capable of holding the belt, and I’m not sure that any of them can hold it.
However, if there was a gun to my head, I would say that Joseph Benavidez would be the guy to do it.
Let’s take a look at the two fights from last Saturday that contained the four best fighters in the division.
When Dominick Cruz won his belt, he did so by TKO because of Injury. It wasn’t an injury that Cruz cause by doing an immense about of damage in the cage. Hell, it wasn’t even a freak injury like Patrick Cote suffered against Anderson Silva. It was a pre-existing injury that snuck up on Brian Bowles and bit him in the proverbial ass. He broke his hand knocking out Miguel Torres, and took seven months to heal up. Then, he throws and lands one punch on Cruz and breaks it again. So, are we really going to pretend that Cruz’s victory isn’t somewhat tainted? Yes, he was winning the first two rounds, but he was doing so with a jumpy, twitchy style that just screamed “Punch me in face!” Bowles continued to rush Cruz, and just seemed a second late at all times. If Bowles had connected, you might not be reading this right now.
Now, look at Joseph Benavidez’s fight against Miguel Torres. Look at the way that he snuffed out almost all offense from a guy who was at one time considered the best fighters on the planet. He continually moved forward, landed his offense and put Torres is tough positions. Most importantly, he finished the fight. He pushed Torres up against the cage, pounded him, and opened up a cut that I’m pretty sure that he used a samurai sword to create. Once the cut was open and Torres was off-kilter, Benavidez finished the job with a guillotine. Done. Fight over, all doubts alleviated.
Can you say that about Cruz?
Yes, Cruz does have a victory over Benavidez. However, as everyone always says, fighters change from fight to fight. I beleive that Benavidez is a better fighter than he was WEC 42, and with him training at Team Alpha Male with WEC godfather Urijah Faber, There is no doubt that he is. As for Cruz, he showed us jab-leg kick-escape over and over again. The best thing he did was gameplan for a fighter who wasn’t as athletic as he was.
This is a prediction and like all predictions has a chance of going terribly awry. However, if you told me that Cruz and Benavidez’s rematch was tomorrow, I’d take Benavidez every single time.
By Anthony De Franco March 9, 2010, at 6:42 pm Everyone wondered what was next for Paulo Thiago. After going 2-1 against the American Kickboxing Academy’s welterweight Triumverate, Thiago is considered an elite prospect and someone capable of making a run at Georges St. Pierre’s title. Up next for him will be Danish striker Martin Kampmann, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
“According to sources close to the negotiations, both sides have verbally agreed to the bout and should sign official agreements as early as next week.”
Thiago is coming off a victory over Mike Swick in which he showed good, powerful striking and the ability to finish via submission with a textbook d’arce choke. I’m not quite sold on him yet as a contender for a belt, but I am a beleiver that he can make some noise at the top of the welterweight rankings.
As for Kampmann, I’ve never been quite as high on him. At UFC 103, Paul Daley outstruck a guy who is supposed to be one of the most dangerous welterweight standup fighters in the world. Since then, He guillotined Jacob Volkmann at UFC 108, which proved exactly nothing to me.
Expect Thaigo to continue his assault on the summit of the Welterweight division.
By Anthony De Franco March 8, 2010, at 4:05 pm I’ll save everyone the normal speech about how the WEC fighters are treated like second class citizens because they weigh less than 155 pounds. I’ll skip right to the interesting notes.
- Joseph Benavidez wins the night by making 29,000 in his victory. I was surprised when I saw this, but more power the Joe for getting that money. In a preview of a future article, it’s only a matter of time before Joe is the man at 135.
- Miguel Torres made 26,000 in a loss. This makes me wonder he had a symmetrical win bonus. If he made 52,000 in a victory, that is UFC money right there. This is a good sign.
- Of course, this is the last card before the first WEC PPV, and you all should be ordering it. Remember, PPV revenue means more money for the fighters. Think of them.
Here is the full list:
Televised Card:
Dominick Cruz ($9,000+$9,000=$18,000) def. Brian Bowles ($12,000)
Joseph Benavidez ($14,500+$14,500=$29,000) def. Miguel Torres ($26,000)
Javier Vazquez ($6,000+$6,000=$12,000) def. Jens Pulver ($14,000)
LC Davis ($9,000+$9,000=$18,000) def. Deividas Taurosevicius ($9,000)
Bart Palaszewski ($6,000+$6,000=$12,000) def. Karen Darabedyan ($4,000)
Preliminary Card:
Scott Jorgensen ($8,000+$8,000=$16,000) def. Chad George ($3,000)
Chad Mendes ($4,000+$4,000=$8,000) def. Erik Koch ($3,000)
Anthony Pettis ($3,000+$3,000=$6,000) def. Danny Castillo ($9,500)
Leonard Garcia ($14,000) fought George Roop ($3,000) to a split draw
Fredson Paixao ($2,000+$2,000=$4,000) def. Courtney Buck ($3,000)
Ricardo Lamas ($5,000+$5,000=$10,000) def. Bendy Casimir ($3,000)
By Anthony De Franco March 5, 2010, at 4:44 am Bart Palaszewski vs. Karen Darabedyan
The Fighters: Palaszewski is just 26 years old, but has 44 fights under his belt. Recently, he has gone 2-2 in the WEC. He defeated Anthony Pettis by Split decision in his last fight. He is well rounded, as he has achieved his 31 wins in a variety of ways.
Darabedyan is another of the Armenian judo practitioners that came into the MMA world with Karo Parisyan. Although he is not related to Karo like Manny Gamburyan, he is their training partner. A black belt in Judo, Darabedyan also has a background in Kickboxing and Karate. He is 9-1 in his burgeoning career, and his most recently victory came over the always overrated Razor Rob McCullogh.
The Breakdown: While Palaszewski holds the massive experience edge, he simply doesn’t have a part of his game that really jumps out at you. We’ve seen from Karo that Judo can take you far in MMA, it just won’t ever get you into the elite level. Expect Darabedyan to continue proving his worth.
The Prediction: Darabedyan via unanimous decision
Deividas Taurosevicius vs. LC Davis
The Fighters: Taurosevicius is a pseudo-local for us. He fights out of Copiague, New York, which is like thirty minutes from our hometown. He is 15-3 in his career, with eight of the wins coming by submission. He’s 2-0 in the WEC and is coming off a win against the previously undefeated Mackens Sermerizer.
Davis is a survivor of the former Pat Militech camp with a virtual gaggle of big fight experience. He’s fought in the IFL, for Affliction, and now with the WEC. He’s 15-2 in those fights, and 2-0 in the WEC. He’s coming off consecutive wins against Javier Vasquez and Diego Nunes. And yes, I really wanted to get the world gaggle in there.
The Breakdown: This is a matchup of a wrestler and a BJJ specialist. Naturally, that will probably lead to a boring standup fight. If it does go to the ground, Davis will look to stymie the guard of Taurosevicius and do his damage without getting submitted.
The Prediction: Taurosevicius via submission
Jens Pulver v. Javier Vasquez
The Fighters: Pulver is a legend of the sport and the UFC’s first lightweight champion. He is also a survivor of the Pat Militech camp in Bettendorf, Iowa, but has had harsh words for his former trainer recently. Pulver has lost 8-of-12 and is really fighting on nothing but reputation at this point. Some of the losses are good ones, like the two losses he suffered at the hands of Urijah Faber. However, some of them aren’t so good like the time he was choked out by Josh Grispi. Pulver knows that this is his last chance, and has discussed retiring if he loses.
Vasquez seems to be the place WEC featherweights go when they need a win. He is 0-2 and also likely fighting for his WEC life. He is 17-4 in his career with most of those victories coming by submission.
The Breakdown: I’ve watched a lot of Pulver fights in preparation of this column and I’ve noticed some things. While he’s never had the best boxing technique, it’s almost gotten worse recently. Also, when is the last time that we saw Pulver wrestle? He won’t break that streak against the BJJ skills of Vasquez. The real question is: Does Pulver have anything at all left?
The Prediction: Pulver via TKO
Miguel Angel Torres v. Joseph Benavidez
The Fighters: Until recently, Torres ruled over the bantamweight division with an iron fist. He is well-rounded, and capapable of fighting for an eternity before he gets tired. Unfortantely, that didn’t mean much when he rushed in to finish Brian Bowles and gotten flattened. Now, Torres must climb back into the title picture with a win. He is 37-2, and is still improving his game. He brought in noted Muay Thai trainer Mark DellaGrotte to work with him for this fight.
Benavidez is a pupil of Urijah Faber who is 12-1. His only loss came in a number one contender’s fight against Dominick Cruz. Another energizer bunny of a fighter, his cardio is off the chain. He has won most of his fights by submission, but does have some TKOs to his credit. His last win was over noted BJJ stylist Rani Yahya.
The Breakdown: Torres has taken the “That loss was the best thing that ever happened to me” road and vows to come back stronger than ever. He can win the fight just about anywhere, but I expect his biggest advantage to come on the feet and for his to try and outstrike Benavidez.
The Prediction: Torres via unanimous Decision
Brian Bowles v. Dominick Cruz
The Fighters: Bowles dethroned Torres and shocked the world in his last fight. He also broke his hand on Torres jaw, forcing him out of action. He is 8-0 and looks like just about any middle America wrestler. While he may not look imposing, he is strong as hell for 135, and has imposed his will on his opponents with various skills taught to him by former UFC fighter Rory Singer. In fact, Bowles trains at the gym where Forrest Griffin got his start.
Cruz is 14-1 and 4-0 in the WEC. The majority of his wins have come via decision, but he is a stand up specialist with five T/KOs to his credit. He trains at Alliance MMA alongside UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera. While he does have some wrestling, don’t expect him to go to it much in this one.
The Breakdown: Bowles is a powerhouse. He is so thick for 135 that I can’t really see anyone in the division taking him down. However, he also packs a powerhouse punch. Just ask Torres. Cruz’s only hope is to stick and move for five rounds.
The Prediction: Bowles via TKO
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.
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