Bellator fans are awaiting the highly anticipated heavyweight tournament this fall, but they aren’t the only ones.
“There are some good guys in this tournament,” Bellator heavyweight Ron “The Monster” Sparks said. “Bellator is really starting to bring it out.”
Sparks, an undefeated prospect, says he is excited to get into the cage and kick off the tournament in September. He also said that being undefeated doesn’t wear on his mind.
“I don’t put much stock in it,” he said. “Most guys will tell you that. What they won’t say is that it’s going to happen. You’re going to get that first loss, its MMA, man.”
Sparks also said that he wants to be like Wanderlei Silva when he steps into the cage.
“I just want to go out there and put on a show,” he said. “I really want to be like Wanderlei Silva, just out there knocking heads off. Everybody loves that guy."
Sparks comes into the tournament with seven wins under his belt, six of which he has finished inside the first round. Sparks has only gone the distance once in his short MMA career, a four-round decision win over Jonathan Ivey. The Ivey fight, Sparks said, was his toughest to date.
“I fought a hard four-rounds against Jonathan Ivey. A lot of people just see that, they don’t realize that fight was outside in the blazing sun in 95-degree heat. I can go the distance if I have to.”
The Louisville MMA standout says his current trainer, Jason Y got him into the sport.
“Jason has been doing Mixed Martial Arts since he was five years old,” Sparks said. “He is the most fundamentally sound fighter I have ever seen, he just doesn’t fight.”
Louisville MMA is a small and upcoming gym with not many well-known stars. The faces of Louisville MMA are relative unknown John Foyer, and none other than Ron Sparks.
“I love being looked up to,” he said. “There are a lot of young guys in here, and I love helping them get better, the same that the guys I look up to did for me.”
As for the upcoming tournament as a whole, Sparks said he is really looking forward to seeing all the new talent Bellator has.
“Bellator is here to stay,” he said. “No one else does these exciting tournaments like they do.”
Sparks also spoke highly of the organization itself.
“Bellator really cares about their fighters,” Sparks said. “We are taken care of. We get paid really well, and the [upper management] really cares about our well-being. [Bellator CEO] Bjorn [Rebney] makes me feel like a champ whenever I’m around him,” he said. “He really cares about the lower level fighters like me. I’m trying to move up and Bjorn really makes me want to do that.”
Whoever his next opponent may be, Sparks said he planned to keep the game plan simple: come forward.
“I was always told to strike first,” Sparks said. “I always want to be the aggressor. I’m going to come forward and go in there for the knockout. He better bring it because I’m going to bring it too. Let’s have a great fight.”
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
UFC 134 Preview - Anderson Silva
When Anderson Silva steps into the cage this weekend in his native Brazil he will be facing the only man to defeat him in five years, Yushin Okami. In those five years, Silva has dispatched Chris Leben, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Damian Maia, Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort. There are several things impressive about this streak other than just the simple list of the fighters he has bested.
First, the length of the streak is unprecedented. It is the longest of its kind in the UFC. No fighter has won as many fights in a row, let alone title fights. Silva hasn’t compiled this streak fighting no names and cans; he has done it by destroying every fighter UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva can possibly come up with to throw at him. Every one of the fighters he has faced worked their way up the middleweight ranks only to be sent packing in mere minutes.
The mention of minutes brings up another point, time. The way with which Silva won those fights is absolutely unheard of. By the numbers, Silva has, in that span, eight knockouts and three submissions. Seven of these fights came to a close in the first round and three of them occurred right around the one-minute mark.
The most competition Silva has received in this five-year span was against Chael Sonnen, though some debate what was actually going on during that fight. Sonnen, who some call the worlds best trash talker, made some comments about how useless he thinks Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is, and many people speculate that Silva continually pulling guard is indicative of this. At the same time, Silva did get hit by a few good shots that sent him sprawling. Either way, Silva won the fight and held on to his belt, in a show of how versatile his skills are.It would be quite a tall order to ask Okami to win this fight. In their previous meeting, Okami won by disqualification, not by any legitimacy, as he was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head while grounded. The only reason Okami was even on top of Silva was because Silva failed a triangle choke and was subsequently reversed. Silva-Okami 1 was just as one-sided as any other fight Silva has been in for the last seven years.
Okami should be an interesting match-up for Silva because he is the same height as Silva, and has a two-inch reach advantage, but he simply won’t be. Silva-Okami 2 was decided the night Silva decided to put his foot in Okami’s brain from guard for even thinking that he might beat him. This one should end quickly if Silva acts professionally. We have seen him take it to extreme measures and fool around in the cage delaying the inevitable, but avoiding that, Silva wins by knockout in the first round.
First, the length of the streak is unprecedented. It is the longest of its kind in the UFC. No fighter has won as many fights in a row, let alone title fights. Silva hasn’t compiled this streak fighting no names and cans; he has done it by destroying every fighter UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva can possibly come up with to throw at him. Every one of the fighters he has faced worked their way up the middleweight ranks only to be sent packing in mere minutes.
The mention of minutes brings up another point, time. The way with which Silva won those fights is absolutely unheard of. By the numbers, Silva has, in that span, eight knockouts and three submissions. Seven of these fights came to a close in the first round and three of them occurred right around the one-minute mark.
The most competition Silva has received in this five-year span was against Chael Sonnen, though some debate what was actually going on during that fight. Sonnen, who some call the worlds best trash talker, made some comments about how useless he thinks Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is, and many people speculate that Silva continually pulling guard is indicative of this. At the same time, Silva did get hit by a few good shots that sent him sprawling. Either way, Silva won the fight and held on to his belt, in a show of how versatile his skills are.It would be quite a tall order to ask Okami to win this fight. In their previous meeting, Okami won by disqualification, not by any legitimacy, as he was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head while grounded. The only reason Okami was even on top of Silva was because Silva failed a triangle choke and was subsequently reversed. Silva-Okami 1 was just as one-sided as any other fight Silva has been in for the last seven years.
Okami should be an interesting match-up for Silva because he is the same height as Silva, and has a two-inch reach advantage, but he simply won’t be. Silva-Okami 2 was decided the night Silva decided to put his foot in Okami’s brain from guard for even thinking that he might beat him. This one should end quickly if Silva acts professionally. We have seen him take it to extreme measures and fool around in the cage delaying the inevitable, but avoiding that, Silva wins by knockout in the first round.
UFC 134 Preview - Yushin Okami
Yushin Okami, the last man to defeat the great Anderson Silva, could he possibly the next? The thought brings chills to any MMA fan’s spine. The thought of Anderson Silva not being the UFC’s Middleweight Champion is as strange as it was to think of B.J. Penn not being the UFC Lightweight Champion.
Okami, since he beat Silva via disqualification in 2006 under the Rumble on the Rock promotion, has beaten Mike Swick, Mark Muñoz and Nate Marquardt. Okami also dropped fights to Jake Shields, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Sonnen and Franklin are two fighters that Silva has been able to beat. Franklin was bested by Silva twice.
It can’t really be said that Okami can’t win the big fights because he has lost to some big names, but he has beaten as many as he has lost to. Okami is still a relative unknown, as his only claim to fame is beating Silva by getting knocked out. He has never been a champion, and even though he advanced in the Rumble on the Rock tournament after his win over Silva, he lost to Shields immediately after, crushing his title hopes.
Okami does have a shot at beating Silva, but it is a rather slim one. He has managed to beat elite and strong wrestlers like Muñoz, and Sonnen, and he beat a great striker with an equally great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game in Nate Marquardt. He has the skills and the tools at 6’2’’ to beat someone of Silva’s caliber, but maybe not Silva himself.
Silva is more than his height, weight and skill set. He is Anderson Silva, winner of thirteen straight fights, eight of which were title fights, eight-time winner of UFC Fight Night bonuses, and widely considered the best of all time at any weight. At least half of the fight game, if not more, is mental, and for Okami that’s a lot to swallow before the first punch is even thrown.
Okami will undoubtedly have a more solid game plan than Silva, whose game plan consists of ending the fight as quickly as possible. Okami recently began training with his old foe, Chael Sonnen, the man to have the most success against Silva in his five-year title run. The combination of Sonnen’s hatred for Silva and Okami’s thirst for a title could culminate in a new UFC Middleweight Champion. The game plan that Sonnen develops for Okami could give him the tools to grind out a decision over the champion, but again, it is highly unlikely.
Even though Okami has a two-inch reach advantage, he will start the fight with an uphill climb. To beat a man who can pretend to play a banjo, while still not getting hit, well it hasn’t been done in five years and Okami won’t be the man to do it. Silva wins by knockout in round one.
Okami, since he beat Silva via disqualification in 2006 under the Rumble on the Rock promotion, has beaten Mike Swick, Mark Muñoz and Nate Marquardt. Okami also dropped fights to Jake Shields, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Sonnen and Franklin are two fighters that Silva has been able to beat. Franklin was bested by Silva twice.
It can’t really be said that Okami can’t win the big fights because he has lost to some big names, but he has beaten as many as he has lost to. Okami is still a relative unknown, as his only claim to fame is beating Silva by getting knocked out. He has never been a champion, and even though he advanced in the Rumble on the Rock tournament after his win over Silva, he lost to Shields immediately after, crushing his title hopes.
Okami does have a shot at beating Silva, but it is a rather slim one. He has managed to beat elite and strong wrestlers like Muñoz, and Sonnen, and he beat a great striker with an equally great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game in Nate Marquardt. He has the skills and the tools at 6’2’’ to beat someone of Silva’s caliber, but maybe not Silva himself.
Silva is more than his height, weight and skill set. He is Anderson Silva, winner of thirteen straight fights, eight of which were title fights, eight-time winner of UFC Fight Night bonuses, and widely considered the best of all time at any weight. At least half of the fight game, if not more, is mental, and for Okami that’s a lot to swallow before the first punch is even thrown.
Okami will undoubtedly have a more solid game plan than Silva, whose game plan consists of ending the fight as quickly as possible. Okami recently began training with his old foe, Chael Sonnen, the man to have the most success against Silva in his five-year title run. The combination of Sonnen’s hatred for Silva and Okami’s thirst for a title could culminate in a new UFC Middleweight Champion. The game plan that Sonnen develops for Okami could give him the tools to grind out a decision over the champion, but again, it is highly unlikely.
Even though Okami has a two-inch reach advantage, he will start the fight with an uphill climb. To beat a man who can pretend to play a banjo, while still not getting hit, well it hasn’t been done in five years and Okami won’t be the man to do it. Silva wins by knockout in round one.
Monday, August 15, 2011
UFC Live 5 Preview - Chris Lytle
There are very few professional fighters who have never been knocked unconscious in a Mixed Martial Arts fight, and Chris “Lights Out” Lytle’s lights have shone bright since the dawn of his MMA career.
As one of those fortunate, and skilled few that have avoided such defeat, Lytle has experienced a long MMA career so far, and looks as if he will continue for many years to come. At 36 years old, Lytle holds the record, in a two-way tie with Anderson Silva, for most UFC fight bonuses. “Lights Out” has one Knockout of the Night bonus, two Submission of the Night bonuses and five Fight of the Night bonuses to his credit.
Adding to his credibility as a top level fighter is the fact that he has also never been submitted. All of Lytle’s 18 career defeats have come by decision, save two. The two exceptions were TKO losses due to doctor stoppage because of cuts.
Lytle has faced the who’s who at welterweight, and was a semifinalist on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. Lytle has a pair of impressive wins over Matt Brown, and notched a decision victory over former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra. His losses, really, are more impressive than his wins, and tell the story of who he is as a fighter.
“Lights Out” has faced top welterweights such as Robbie Lawler, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, Nick Diaz, Josh Koscheck and Thiago Alves. He suffered losses to all of them, but the only one that didn’t reach a hard-nosed decision was the Thiago Alves fight where the cage-side doctor stopped it just before the third round. He has been competitive in all of his fights, and a lot of them could have gone the other way with just one more flurry.
His last fight, against Brian Ebersole and his trademark “manscaped” chest hair arrow, he looked tired through the entire fight. It was a rather lackluster performance for the final two rounds. Ebersole tried a few cartwheel kicks, and none landed, but the UFC newcomer did make quite a fool of “Lights Out”. The fight consisted, mainly, of Lytle swinging at air, and Ebersole countering with one wildly painful strike after another.
In his upcoming fight with Dan Hardy, Lytle knows that he has suspect takedown defense, but he also knows that Hardy doesn’t want to risk trying to exploit that. Hardy is going to go for a win, but it has to be an exciting one. Hardy, who is on a three-fight skid, can’t win this fight in a boring lay-and-pray decision. It’s not his style anyway, but Dana White wouldn’t look so favorably upon a boring win for a fighter who really needs to rescue his career.
Hardy is going to be overly aggressive looking for the highlight reel knockout, so if Hardy leads with his familiar left hook, Lytle may be able to catch him with a counter right uppercut and put him to sleep. More than likely, Lytle will try to emulate Georges St-Pierre when he fought Hardy. If Hardy goes in for a power strike, Lytle can get him on his back and put his second-degree black belt skills to work and possibly end the fight with a submission. Hardy has such incredible willpower, as evidenced by the St-Pierre fight, that he probably wont submit until his arm rips off and Lytle starts beating him senseless with it. Lytle will use his technical grappling to keep Hardy’s back to the mat, and will stay busy enough to not get stood up and cruise to a unanimous decision and end Dan Hardy’s run with the UFC.
As one of those fortunate, and skilled few that have avoided such defeat, Lytle has experienced a long MMA career so far, and looks as if he will continue for many years to come. At 36 years old, Lytle holds the record, in a two-way tie with Anderson Silva, for most UFC fight bonuses. “Lights Out” has one Knockout of the Night bonus, two Submission of the Night bonuses and five Fight of the Night bonuses to his credit.
Adding to his credibility as a top level fighter is the fact that he has also never been submitted. All of Lytle’s 18 career defeats have come by decision, save two. The two exceptions were TKO losses due to doctor stoppage because of cuts.
Lytle has faced the who’s who at welterweight, and was a semifinalist on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. Lytle has a pair of impressive wins over Matt Brown, and notched a decision victory over former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra. His losses, really, are more impressive than his wins, and tell the story of who he is as a fighter.
“Lights Out” has faced top welterweights such as Robbie Lawler, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, Nick Diaz, Josh Koscheck and Thiago Alves. He suffered losses to all of them, but the only one that didn’t reach a hard-nosed decision was the Thiago Alves fight where the cage-side doctor stopped it just before the third round. He has been competitive in all of his fights, and a lot of them could have gone the other way with just one more flurry.
His last fight, against Brian Ebersole and his trademark “manscaped” chest hair arrow, he looked tired through the entire fight. It was a rather lackluster performance for the final two rounds. Ebersole tried a few cartwheel kicks, and none landed, but the UFC newcomer did make quite a fool of “Lights Out”. The fight consisted, mainly, of Lytle swinging at air, and Ebersole countering with one wildly painful strike after another.
In his upcoming fight with Dan Hardy, Lytle knows that he has suspect takedown defense, but he also knows that Hardy doesn’t want to risk trying to exploit that. Hardy is going to go for a win, but it has to be an exciting one. Hardy, who is on a three-fight skid, can’t win this fight in a boring lay-and-pray decision. It’s not his style anyway, but Dana White wouldn’t look so favorably upon a boring win for a fighter who really needs to rescue his career.
Hardy is going to be overly aggressive looking for the highlight reel knockout, so if Hardy leads with his familiar left hook, Lytle may be able to catch him with a counter right uppercut and put him to sleep. More than likely, Lytle will try to emulate Georges St-Pierre when he fought Hardy. If Hardy goes in for a power strike, Lytle can get him on his back and put his second-degree black belt skills to work and possibly end the fight with a submission. Hardy has such incredible willpower, as evidenced by the St-Pierre fight, that he probably wont submit until his arm rips off and Lytle starts beating him senseless with it. Lytle will use his technical grappling to keep Hardy’s back to the mat, and will stay busy enough to not get stood up and cruise to a unanimous decision and end Dan Hardy’s run with the UFC.
Dan Hardy - Hero or Villain?
A brash, ill-tempered, powerful English-born fighter with a knack for theatrics, it’s got to be Bisping, right? Wrong. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy is quickly following in the footsteps of fellow Brit, Michael Bisping as he carves out his image as a UFC welterweight.
Hardy, with his flashy red and black Mohawk, and various tattoos, was nominated for “The Most Metal Athlete” by Revolver Magazine, but later lost to American extreme athlete, Shawn White. The mouth that his red mouthguard, adorned with sharp fangs, resides in on fight night is quite a nasty one. Hardy can talk some trash and hold his own in doing so with the big boys like Chael Sonnen, but can he back it up?
If going by his title bout versus the impeccable Georges St-Pierre, it doesn’t seem so. He said that he could, ”Give [St-Pierre] hell when the time comes.” and that St-Pierre’s fan’s would be “very disappointed [the next] morning.”
Anyone who saw the Hardy vs. St-Pierre fight knows that it was an incredible show of heart for Hardy, refusing to tap to several tight submissions, a few of which almost left him without an arm to be raised even if he had won the fight. Hardy had no weapons against St-Pierre, and did little offensively to the champion.
One of his most memorable fights, for the outcome as well as the pre-fight theatrics, was his fight with Marcus Davis. It was the age old clash of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hardy was upset with Davis’ beatdowns of several of his countrymen and openly stated that he did not want Davis in England. As Hardy was a native Brit, he went so far as to call Davis a “fake Irishman” for having not been born in Ireland.
The fight was a back and forth battle that saw Hardy prevail, and afterward he claimed the theatrics were simply to hype the fight and get into his opponent’s head. Davis would not hear it and immediately requested a rematch in Ireland or Boston. The rematch never came to fruition, as Davis was cut from the UFC less than a year later.
Hardy has become known for his theatrics and his mouth, and it isn’t clear yet whether he should really be the one talking trash, but one thing is for sure, he is an exciting draw.
His upcoming fight with Chris Lytle, who is arguably the most exciting fighter in the UFC due to his record 8 Award of The Night bonuses. Five of those awards have been Fight of The Night, and the fight with Hardy could be his sixth, and would make Hardy’s first.
The battle between Hardy and Lytle on Sunday will pan out a lot like Hardy’s title attempt against Georges St-Pierre. Lytle’s superior grappling will prevail. Hardy may not get rag dolled like he did against St-Pierre on the ground, as he moved his camp to Las Vegas to train his grappling skills with Roy Nelson, but the second degree black belt, Lytle will easily win the ground battle. That having been said, Lytle will not win this fight by submission. In similar fashion to the title fight, fans will not see Chris Lytle break Dan Hardy’s will, or his limbs for that matter. Hardy, who is just an average striker, won’t win the standup game in stunning fashion, but he will have a slight edge. The point is moot, because Lytle, a true student of Mixed Martial Arts has taken a page from St-Pierre’s book and will win the fight by controlling “The Outlaw” on the ground en route to a unanimous decision.
The loss would drop “The Outlaw” to 4-4 in the UFC, and would be his fourth straight loss. It may be the last time fans see Dan Hardy in The Octagon, unless he can pull a “Tito” and hang around without a win for five years, which is highly unlikely.
It would be sad to lose Hardy, as the English fan base has only one prominent hero to turn to. The question is whether Hardy is really an English hero or just a British villain. Either way fans will always tune in to see “The Outlaw’s” latest heist.
Hardy, with his flashy red and black Mohawk, and various tattoos, was nominated for “The Most Metal Athlete” by Revolver Magazine, but later lost to American extreme athlete, Shawn White. The mouth that his red mouthguard, adorned with sharp fangs, resides in on fight night is quite a nasty one. Hardy can talk some trash and hold his own in doing so with the big boys like Chael Sonnen, but can he back it up?
If going by his title bout versus the impeccable Georges St-Pierre, it doesn’t seem so. He said that he could, ”Give [St-Pierre] hell when the time comes.” and that St-Pierre’s fan’s would be “very disappointed [the next] morning.”
Anyone who saw the Hardy vs. St-Pierre fight knows that it was an incredible show of heart for Hardy, refusing to tap to several tight submissions, a few of which almost left him without an arm to be raised even if he had won the fight. Hardy had no weapons against St-Pierre, and did little offensively to the champion.
One of his most memorable fights, for the outcome as well as the pre-fight theatrics, was his fight with Marcus Davis. It was the age old clash of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hardy was upset with Davis’ beatdowns of several of his countrymen and openly stated that he did not want Davis in England. As Hardy was a native Brit, he went so far as to call Davis a “fake Irishman” for having not been born in Ireland.
The fight was a back and forth battle that saw Hardy prevail, and afterward he claimed the theatrics were simply to hype the fight and get into his opponent’s head. Davis would not hear it and immediately requested a rematch in Ireland or Boston. The rematch never came to fruition, as Davis was cut from the UFC less than a year later.
Hardy has become known for his theatrics and his mouth, and it isn’t clear yet whether he should really be the one talking trash, but one thing is for sure, he is an exciting draw.
His upcoming fight with Chris Lytle, who is arguably the most exciting fighter in the UFC due to his record 8 Award of The Night bonuses. Five of those awards have been Fight of The Night, and the fight with Hardy could be his sixth, and would make Hardy’s first.
The battle between Hardy and Lytle on Sunday will pan out a lot like Hardy’s title attempt against Georges St-Pierre. Lytle’s superior grappling will prevail. Hardy may not get rag dolled like he did against St-Pierre on the ground, as he moved his camp to Las Vegas to train his grappling skills with Roy Nelson, but the second degree black belt, Lytle will easily win the ground battle. That having been said, Lytle will not win this fight by submission. In similar fashion to the title fight, fans will not see Chris Lytle break Dan Hardy’s will, or his limbs for that matter. Hardy, who is just an average striker, won’t win the standup game in stunning fashion, but he will have a slight edge. The point is moot, because Lytle, a true student of Mixed Martial Arts has taken a page from St-Pierre’s book and will win the fight by controlling “The Outlaw” on the ground en route to a unanimous decision.
The loss would drop “The Outlaw” to 4-4 in the UFC, and would be his fourth straight loss. It may be the last time fans see Dan Hardy in The Octagon, unless he can pull a “Tito” and hang around without a win for five years, which is highly unlikely.
It would be sad to lose Hardy, as the English fan base has only one prominent hero to turn to. The question is whether Hardy is really an English hero or just a British villain. Either way fans will always tune in to see “The Outlaw’s” latest heist.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Hendo
Strikeforce and M-1 Global have partnered to present one of their most impressive cards to date. Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson is sure to bring the fire. The card features two legends, and quite a few up and comers, and will take place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL this Saturday.
Since the purchase of Strikeforce by UFC parent company, Zuffa, LLC, there hasn’t been much excitement about the former UFC competitor. All of the talk about Strikeforce has been centered around merging the UFC and Strikeforce, and about dream matchups between the two organizations’ stars.
The July 30th card features two bouts that fans and the fighters themselves have been talking about for a long time. Fedor Emelianenko versus Dan Henderson is a dream matchup for any MMA fan, and both fighters have been talking about it for some time now. Another of the interesting matchups on the card is undefeated Tyron Woodley versus Paul Daley.
Even the prelims feature some high level fighters, which has been unheard of in Strikeforce. Gisias “JZ” Cavalcante squares off against Bobby Green and Julie Kedzie fights Alexis Davis.
The match with the biggest implications unfortunately gets lost in the shuffle of such a monster card. Marloes Coenen will step up to defend her welterweight title against Miesha Tate, but amid all the other stars, odds are that they will go unnoticed. Thus is the casualty of trying to promote women’s MMA on such a big card.The first matchup on the main card will be Scott Smith versus Tarec Saffiedine. Both California natives are coming off loses, but to high level fighters. Coincidentally, the fighters that Saffiedine and Smith most recently lost to are fighting one another later in the evening. Smith was most recently dispatched by a knockout courtesy of Paul Daley, and Saffiedine dropped a decision to Tyron Woodley.
Smith, the former UFC fighter, has hit a rocky spot in his career but looks to use the somewhat green Saffiedine to launch his career once again. Saffiedine doesn’t look like he is going to let that happen. The Team Quest representative, Saffiedine was able to last three rounds against a welterweight elite in Woodley, and has a very underrated ground game. Saffiedine wins the fight by unanimous decision.
The second most highly anticipated fight on the card comes next. Paul “Semtex” Daley goes toe to toe with Tyron Woodley. Daley is on a road back to the top after being booted from the UFC for a late hit on Josh Koscheck in their title elimination bout in May of 2010. With wins over the aforementioned Scott Smith and BAMMA’s Yuya Shirai, Daley finds himself in the biggest fight of his career aside from the Koscheck fight.
With the Strikeforce welterweight title expected to be relinquished by champion Nick Diaz in order to fight for the UFC Welterweight title, this could very well be Daley’s second title elimination bout.
Tyron Woodley, a former standout wrestler for the University of Missouri, was a teammate of current Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren in college. Woodley has finished five of his eight fights inside the first round. He has never lost in eight professional appearances, and has been campaigning for a title shot for some time. Woodley, in his latest campaign move, wore a shirt to Nick Diaz’s last title defense against Paul Daley that read: “I’ve got next.”
Woodley is incredibly driven, and is excited about the chance to possibly be fighting for the title on Saturday. With Nick Diaz giving up the title, the winner of the fight could possibly be awarded the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight title at the end of the night. Best-case scenario is that the fight ends up being for the title, the worst case is that it is for the right to fight for the title. This is a fight with huge implications either way.
This should be a great fight with a lot of action. Woodley will look to get the fight to the ground, but not desperately. Woodley is bigger than Daley, and has some solid striking skills. If the fight goes to the ground Daley is done for. If Woodley watches Daley’s right hand, and gets in and out with his jab and scores a few takedowns he will win by TKO in the second round.
The next bout on the card is Robbie Lawler versus Tim Kennedy. The fight between the two former middleweight contenders should be a battle of two opposite strengths. Kennedy had better get Lawler on his back early or it will be a short night. Lawler, who has over 80 percent of his wins by knockout, poses a serious threat to Kennedy’s consciousness. Lawler has as much to worry about as Kennedy, though in the grappling department. Lawler is very susceptible to the choke, as he has lost four times because of the submission.
The edge still goes to goes to Lawler in this fight, though by a very slim margin. If he can stay off of his back, and time his onslaughts carefully, he has the tools to end the fight with a crushing knockout early.
The women's welterweight title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate is one shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about Tate other than the fact that she, ironically enough, trains with Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male. Coenen has squared off against elite female fighters like Liz Carmouche and the unstoppable Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. She managed to survive three rounds against Cyborg before failing in her quest to capture the women’s middleweight title, losing by TKO.Coenen is a pure ground specialist, and has the ability to capitalize on any small mistake. Tate is an all around fighter, and this will play right into Coenen’s hands. She isn’t elite in any part of her game, so Coenen will look to get the fight to where she is comfortable and end the fight before Tate has a chance to get into her groove. Coenen wins by choke in the third round.
Finally, all that is left is the most exciting fight of the year, Fedor versus Hendo. Fedor is coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in his illustrious career. Having not lost in the eight-year span from 2001 to 2009, Fedor has been considered the best fighter in the world for a long time. Entering the fight against Hendo he has just been eliminated from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix, a tournament that he was one of the favorites to win. The question that everyone is still trying to figure out is whether Fedor is really past his prime. At 34 years old, it is not out of the question, but the fact that he was so dominant has the MMA community unwilling to believe such things.
Dan Henderson comes into the fight with as many, if not more shining credentials than Fedor. He won the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament, won the PRIDE Welterweight and Middleweight titles, and most recently, captured the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title. The man has belts on belts on belts, to say the least. At 40 years old, it is odd that no one is questioning his ability, but it’s because he is still smashing opponents as he always has. His last win, for the light heavyweight title, was over Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. He won the fight in the third round with his signature right hand.
It truly does appear that Fedor is past his prime whether fans want to believe it or not. His submission loss to Fabricio Werdum was sloppy, and he was battered by Antonio Silva in his last fight. He still has the tools to win this fight, but his game isn’t as sharp and fine tuned as it once was. Dan Henderson, on the other hand hasn’t seemed to lose any power over the years, and his overhand right is as technical as it always was. This fight doesn’t look like it will end up as a technical grappling match, but more of a sloppy slugfest. Dan Henderson will retire the legend of Fedor Emelianenko, and the fighter himself after he scores TKO victory in the second round. It looks like the true “Last Emperor” may be Hendo.
Since the purchase of Strikeforce by UFC parent company, Zuffa, LLC, there hasn’t been much excitement about the former UFC competitor. All of the talk about Strikeforce has been centered around merging the UFC and Strikeforce, and about dream matchups between the two organizations’ stars.
The July 30th card features two bouts that fans and the fighters themselves have been talking about for a long time. Fedor Emelianenko versus Dan Henderson is a dream matchup for any MMA fan, and both fighters have been talking about it for some time now. Another of the interesting matchups on the card is undefeated Tyron Woodley versus Paul Daley.
Even the prelims feature some high level fighters, which has been unheard of in Strikeforce. Gisias “JZ” Cavalcante squares off against Bobby Green and Julie Kedzie fights Alexis Davis.
The match with the biggest implications unfortunately gets lost in the shuffle of such a monster card. Marloes Coenen will step up to defend her welterweight title against Miesha Tate, but amid all the other stars, odds are that they will go unnoticed. Thus is the casualty of trying to promote women’s MMA on such a big card.The first matchup on the main card will be Scott Smith versus Tarec Saffiedine. Both California natives are coming off loses, but to high level fighters. Coincidentally, the fighters that Saffiedine and Smith most recently lost to are fighting one another later in the evening. Smith was most recently dispatched by a knockout courtesy of Paul Daley, and Saffiedine dropped a decision to Tyron Woodley.
Smith, the former UFC fighter, has hit a rocky spot in his career but looks to use the somewhat green Saffiedine to launch his career once again. Saffiedine doesn’t look like he is going to let that happen. The Team Quest representative, Saffiedine was able to last three rounds against a welterweight elite in Woodley, and has a very underrated ground game. Saffiedine wins the fight by unanimous decision.
The second most highly anticipated fight on the card comes next. Paul “Semtex” Daley goes toe to toe with Tyron Woodley. Daley is on a road back to the top after being booted from the UFC for a late hit on Josh Koscheck in their title elimination bout in May of 2010. With wins over the aforementioned Scott Smith and BAMMA’s Yuya Shirai, Daley finds himself in the biggest fight of his career aside from the Koscheck fight.
With the Strikeforce welterweight title expected to be relinquished by champion Nick Diaz in order to fight for the UFC Welterweight title, this could very well be Daley’s second title elimination bout.
Tyron Woodley, a former standout wrestler for the University of Missouri, was a teammate of current Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren in college. Woodley has finished five of his eight fights inside the first round. He has never lost in eight professional appearances, and has been campaigning for a title shot for some time. Woodley, in his latest campaign move, wore a shirt to Nick Diaz’s last title defense against Paul Daley that read: “I’ve got next.”
Woodley is incredibly driven, and is excited about the chance to possibly be fighting for the title on Saturday. With Nick Diaz giving up the title, the winner of the fight could possibly be awarded the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight title at the end of the night. Best-case scenario is that the fight ends up being for the title, the worst case is that it is for the right to fight for the title. This is a fight with huge implications either way.
This should be a great fight with a lot of action. Woodley will look to get the fight to the ground, but not desperately. Woodley is bigger than Daley, and has some solid striking skills. If the fight goes to the ground Daley is done for. If Woodley watches Daley’s right hand, and gets in and out with his jab and scores a few takedowns he will win by TKO in the second round.
The next bout on the card is Robbie Lawler versus Tim Kennedy. The fight between the two former middleweight contenders should be a battle of two opposite strengths. Kennedy had better get Lawler on his back early or it will be a short night. Lawler, who has over 80 percent of his wins by knockout, poses a serious threat to Kennedy’s consciousness. Lawler has as much to worry about as Kennedy, though in the grappling department. Lawler is very susceptible to the choke, as he has lost four times because of the submission.
The edge still goes to goes to Lawler in this fight, though by a very slim margin. If he can stay off of his back, and time his onslaughts carefully, he has the tools to end the fight with a crushing knockout early.
The women's welterweight title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate is one shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about Tate other than the fact that she, ironically enough, trains with Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male. Coenen has squared off against elite female fighters like Liz Carmouche and the unstoppable Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. She managed to survive three rounds against Cyborg before failing in her quest to capture the women’s middleweight title, losing by TKO.Coenen is a pure ground specialist, and has the ability to capitalize on any small mistake. Tate is an all around fighter, and this will play right into Coenen’s hands. She isn’t elite in any part of her game, so Coenen will look to get the fight to where she is comfortable and end the fight before Tate has a chance to get into her groove. Coenen wins by choke in the third round.
Finally, all that is left is the most exciting fight of the year, Fedor versus Hendo. Fedor is coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in his illustrious career. Having not lost in the eight-year span from 2001 to 2009, Fedor has been considered the best fighter in the world for a long time. Entering the fight against Hendo he has just been eliminated from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix, a tournament that he was one of the favorites to win. The question that everyone is still trying to figure out is whether Fedor is really past his prime. At 34 years old, it is not out of the question, but the fact that he was so dominant has the MMA community unwilling to believe such things.
Dan Henderson comes into the fight with as many, if not more shining credentials than Fedor. He won the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament, won the PRIDE Welterweight and Middleweight titles, and most recently, captured the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title. The man has belts on belts on belts, to say the least. At 40 years old, it is odd that no one is questioning his ability, but it’s because he is still smashing opponents as he always has. His last win, for the light heavyweight title, was over Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. He won the fight in the third round with his signature right hand.
It truly does appear that Fedor is past his prime whether fans want to believe it or not. His submission loss to Fabricio Werdum was sloppy, and he was battered by Antonio Silva in his last fight. He still has the tools to win this fight, but his game isn’t as sharp and fine tuned as it once was. Dan Henderson, on the other hand hasn’t seemed to lose any power over the years, and his overhand right is as technical as it always was. This fight doesn’t look like it will end up as a technical grappling match, but more of a sloppy slugfest. Dan Henderson will retire the legend of Fedor Emelianenko, and the fighter himself after he scores TKO victory in the second round. It looks like the true “Last Emperor” may be Hendo.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
UFC 132 - Cruz vs. Faber
When Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz enter the cage on Saturday night, the long awaited rematch will be underway. It seems this match has been years in the making.
Cruz, after losing a featherweight title bout against WEC champ Urijah Faber was seen in his next fight with the WEC as a bantamweight. From a fan’s perspective, it seemed Cruz was retreating to a lower weight class after losing to Faber in less than two minutes.
Faber went on to be the longest reigning WEC Champion in the promotions short history, defending the belt five times until relinquishing the title to Mike Brown in 2008. After a submission of the night victory over the UFC’s first lightweight champion, Jens Pulver, Faber had another title shot against Brown. The rematch ended with Faber on the wrong side of a five-round decision, and Faber was back in the hunt for another shot at his belt.
After yet another submission of the night victory, this time over Raphael Assuncao, Faber was awarded his next shot at the title, this time against reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, José Aldo. As one could guess, with Aldo being labeled “reigning UFC Featherweight Champion” Faber was unsuccessful yet again. The man who was the face of the WEC, and still today the most popular fighter at the weight classes under 155, seemed to have hit a wall in his MMA career.
Meanwhile, Dominick Cruz went on a tear through the WEC’s bantamweight division and captured the title just three years after his loss to Faber for the featherweight title. After snatching the title from Brian Bowles, Cruz went on to defend against two top 5 opponents both of who have close ties to Faber. Joseph Benavidez, a teammate of Faber, and Scott Jorgensen, a close friend and training partner of Faber both dropped decisions to Cruz in 2010. All three of these fighters, Benavidez, Faber and Jorgensen are sponsored by the Urijah Faber created, Form Athletics fight team.
So does Cruz have a personal vendetta against Faber? Slowly dispatching his team, one would think so. Cruz has his sights on the team leader, the man who handed him his only, and quite embarrassing defeat. These two have apparently been on a crash course for a rematch.
Fans anxious for the title fight don’t necessarily have to wait until Saturday night to see the two fighters exchanging shots. “The Dominator” and “The California Kid” have been firing at one another through their Twitter accounts for the past week leading up to fight night. Faber has dubbed Cruz, “The Irritator” and Cruz sent Faber a video making fun of his “butt chin.” Faber, in retribution, fired back by making a video that poked fun at Cruz’s weasel-like chuckle.
A fight with so much hype and trash talk behind it, coupled with a nice back-story is just the main event the UFC has been missing lately. Faber-Cruz 2 for the UFC’s Bantamweight title is sure to deliver. Faber, a slim underdog in the betting world poses a serious threat that Cruz’s other opponents have not. Faber possesses something Jorgensen and Benavidez do not, and that is star power. No Super Mario reference here, Faber’s popularity may not inherently be what wins him the fight, but there is a reason the guy is so popular, and that is what will win him the fight. Fans like to see scrappers, and that is exactly what Faber is. He isn’t afraid to stand and trade with anyone, and he is a very dynamic striker, meaning he is quick and powerful.
Cruz is a different kind of fighter. He is a workhorse. He outworks and outlasts all of his competitors, and his heart is unquestionable. While this isn’t necessarily the recipe for a bad fighter, it isn’t the type that wins over fans. This is not to say that the man with the fans always wins the fights, but fans don’t like losers either. Fans like dynamic strikers that win fights, and that is Urijah Faber.
10 of Cruz’s 17 victories have been by decision, while Faber has finished 20 of his 25 victories. Again a finisher wins over fans. The combination of winning, finishing fights and being a great striker won Urijah Faber his vast fan base and it will win him the title of UFC Bantamweight Champion this Saturday night with a TKO victory in round 2.
Cruz, after losing a featherweight title bout against WEC champ Urijah Faber was seen in his next fight with the WEC as a bantamweight. From a fan’s perspective, it seemed Cruz was retreating to a lower weight class after losing to Faber in less than two minutes.
Faber went on to be the longest reigning WEC Champion in the promotions short history, defending the belt five times until relinquishing the title to Mike Brown in 2008. After a submission of the night victory over the UFC’s first lightweight champion, Jens Pulver, Faber had another title shot against Brown. The rematch ended with Faber on the wrong side of a five-round decision, and Faber was back in the hunt for another shot at his belt.
After yet another submission of the night victory, this time over Raphael Assuncao, Faber was awarded his next shot at the title, this time against reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, José Aldo. As one could guess, with Aldo being labeled “reigning UFC Featherweight Champion” Faber was unsuccessful yet again. The man who was the face of the WEC, and still today the most popular fighter at the weight classes under 155, seemed to have hit a wall in his MMA career.
Meanwhile, Dominick Cruz went on a tear through the WEC’s bantamweight division and captured the title just three years after his loss to Faber for the featherweight title. After snatching the title from Brian Bowles, Cruz went on to defend against two top 5 opponents both of who have close ties to Faber. Joseph Benavidez, a teammate of Faber, and Scott Jorgensen, a close friend and training partner of Faber both dropped decisions to Cruz in 2010. All three of these fighters, Benavidez, Faber and Jorgensen are sponsored by the Urijah Faber created, Form Athletics fight team.
So does Cruz have a personal vendetta against Faber? Slowly dispatching his team, one would think so. Cruz has his sights on the team leader, the man who handed him his only, and quite embarrassing defeat. These two have apparently been on a crash course for a rematch.
Fans anxious for the title fight don’t necessarily have to wait until Saturday night to see the two fighters exchanging shots. “The Dominator” and “The California Kid” have been firing at one another through their Twitter accounts for the past week leading up to fight night. Faber has dubbed Cruz, “The Irritator” and Cruz sent Faber a video making fun of his “butt chin.” Faber, in retribution, fired back by making a video that poked fun at Cruz’s weasel-like chuckle.
A fight with so much hype and trash talk behind it, coupled with a nice back-story is just the main event the UFC has been missing lately. Faber-Cruz 2 for the UFC’s Bantamweight title is sure to deliver. Faber, a slim underdog in the betting world poses a serious threat that Cruz’s other opponents have not. Faber possesses something Jorgensen and Benavidez do not, and that is star power. No Super Mario reference here, Faber’s popularity may not inherently be what wins him the fight, but there is a reason the guy is so popular, and that is what will win him the fight. Fans like to see scrappers, and that is exactly what Faber is. He isn’t afraid to stand and trade with anyone, and he is a very dynamic striker, meaning he is quick and powerful.
Cruz is a different kind of fighter. He is a workhorse. He outworks and outlasts all of his competitors, and his heart is unquestionable. While this isn’t necessarily the recipe for a bad fighter, it isn’t the type that wins over fans. This is not to say that the man with the fans always wins the fights, but fans don’t like losers either. Fans like dynamic strikers that win fights, and that is Urijah Faber.
10 of Cruz’s 17 victories have been by decision, while Faber has finished 20 of his 25 victories. Again a finisher wins over fans. The combination of winning, finishing fights and being a great striker won Urijah Faber his vast fan base and it will win him the title of UFC Bantamweight Champion this Saturday night with a TKO victory in round 2.
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