jiMMA: Making sense of MMA

Bellator is Back!

2012-03-07T10:23:00.001-08:00

Bellator is back with season 6, including tournaments in five weight classes. Most MMA promotions, big and small, are lovable for their own reasons. I love the UFC because it has most of the best fighters and I love the over top American-ness of it. I love to watch any event that HDnet covers so I can hear some Schiavello commentary and local promotions all have charms of their own. Bellator sets itself aside though because its tournament format works for so many reasons. I have previewed Bellator 60 over at MMAplus, but below are some of the reasons this promotion is great.

via mmavalor

Title Shots Are Earned
In Bellator, there is no MMA politics. A fighter cannot do what Chael Sonnen and Ronda Rousey have recently managed to do in the other top American promotions and talk themselves into title shots. To get a title shot in Bellator, you need to win three tournament fights. While this means that popular fighters like Ben Saunders might not get the biggest fights in their division, you can be sure that there is sporting justification for all the match-ups (during tournaments).

Everyone Knows Where They Stand
In Bellator, every fighter and fans knows what is at stake in more or less every match. If it is not a tournament match up, then you are fighting to justify yourself a tournament spot. In the tournament, those who win progress and no one should end up with a title shot without at least a three fight win streak. From a sporting perspective, that is about as fair as it gets.

Tournaments and Seasons Are Exciting

I do get a little bit upset when Bellator is not on during the winter but in reality, I think the seasonal format is great. It means that no only does everyone know what to expect in terms of match ups, we shouldn't be left waiting while fighters and managers wrangle over who to fight or wait for the fight they like. Fights happen when they should (except for the occassional title fight). While the tournaments take away a little of the fighters' security, the all or nothing format makes it incredibly exciting and makes for great performances.

It's not owned by Zuffa
I have nothing against the UFC or Strikeforce, although obviously all organisations have problems. It is great though to watch a show which is refreshingly different in format and production and it gives a little bit of hope that the world of mixed martial arts will not some day be owned and run by the same few people.

That's it then, I love Bellator and I have unashamedly told you why. Sure, I have some gripes about the lack of action for the champions, the weirdness of having a champion of a weight class defeated in that weight class but remaining the champion (Christian M'Pumbu) and fighters would be better placed to teach us submissions than the Bellator girls, but all in all, I am glad Bellator is back.

What do you think? Did I miss something off the list or have ignored some obvious flaws? Hit the comments section below and let me know.

What's Next for Ronda Rousey?

2012-03-04T04:04:00.001-08:00

Ronda Rousey is the new Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, having broken Miesha Tate's arm in the fifth minute of the first round of their title fight. Having won her first four professional bouts by armbar within the first minute, there was some debate over whether Rousey would be able to do the same to the accomplished and experienced Tate.

I was very surprised that Ronda Rousey was able to do to Miesha Tate what she was able to do all her other opponents so far. The only sign that Miesha Tate was the highest caliber opponent she had faced so far was that it took four and a half minutes rather than one and two attempts to lock in a devestating armbar. Strikeforce now have a star for their 135lb champion and the opportunity to really drive forward the division.

The Immediate Future

Next, Ronda Rousey must face Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman was the number one contender to fight Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey stole her place with some Sonnen-esque noise. Kaufman took a page out of Rousey's book and was vocal about her desire for a title fight next, having beaten Alexis Davis. A fight against Kaufman, who has paid her dues and been in place as the number one contender in the division for some time would send the message that this is a division with structure and a long term future.

Long Term

Ronda Rousey is a star. I may not like the way she went about it, but she sold this fight almost single handedly (with just a little help from Bryan Caraway. She will certainly be a draw no matter who she fights. Previous Strikeforce champions have suffered from a lack of opponents. Sctt Coker needs to make sure that Rousey is as busy as possible, fighting regularly around three times a year. This will keep eyes on the division not only for the title fights, but also garnering interest for fights between contenders vying for the top place in the division.

The Division

It is time for Strikeforce to start taking women's fighting seriously. It might be wisest to concentrate on this one division, since they have a good few established fighters there. The organisation needs to secure as many of the top fighters in the weight class as possible and get them fighting regularly, since at the moment women are scattered all over the place finding it tricky to get top level fights.

It is imperative that good fighters like Marloes Coenen are brought back and kept busy at Strikeforce and it will make all the difference if Cybrog Santos can make it down to 135lbs when her suspension is over. With Sarah McMann also making waves outside of Strikeforce, it is time to get her in and slowly build her up towards title contention.

It might have been a shot in the arm to women's MMA to give Rousey this title shot but it is not a sustainable model for developing the division. Given all the attention on the 135lb division now, it must not be squandered. Zuffa have shown that they have the ability to grow divisions by gathering all the best talent exclusively into one organisation for coherent, competitive division where title shots are more often than not earned. Let's hope they will have some influence in making Strikeforce take this approach.

What do you think should be next for Ronda Rousey and the women's bantamweights? Hit the comments section below with who and what should be next.

Kaufman vs Davis Preview

2012-03-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

As Ronda Rousey finds herself fighting for a title in a weight class she has never fought in, the number two fighter in the division finds herself buried on the preliminary card. This might well be the fight that determines who challenger for the title next and exposure on the main card would certainly have helped build the next title fight in the division.

Kaufman must put her disappointment to one side though as she faces an opponent in Alexis Davis, who is well capable of upsetting the apple cart.

via womentalksports

Recent History

Since losing her title to Marloes Coenen in her sole career loss, Kaufman has won twice, once by TKO and once by decision.
Alexis Davis is on three fight win streak including a great performance against Amanda Nunes.

Styles

In recent times Sarah Kaufman has been looking to let her hands go as much as possible and employs a dynamic kick boxing attack. She has strong wrestling and clinch work though and when things do not go her way standing, Kaufman very much has the ability to clinch up and dominate an opponent against the fence. On the ground, she has the power and dominance necessary to pound opponents out, not to mention this slam of Roxanne Modafferi:

Against Amanda Nunes, Davis showed her ability to weather a storm and persevere through adversity. After eating a few heavy punches from Nunes and being dominated for most of the first round, Davis managed to neutralise Nunes' striking by tying her opponent up. Davis is a good all round fighter with decent wrestling and submissions if she ends up on top.

Head to Head

Alexis Davis does not have the power or speed to hang with Sarah Kaufman on the feet. She will need to try and smother Kaufman and, if possible take her to the ground. Kaufman though is a good wrestler and I do not see her being taken down. Should Davis find herself on top, Kaufman will be difficult to pin down and difficult to finish.

Sarah Kaufman's game plan is simple. Overwhelm Davis with powerful strikes and break her will by repeatedly stuffing take down attempts and either disengaging or dominating the clinches. I do not think Davis will be able to withstand a barrage of Kaufman punches to the face and I do not think she will be able control her as well as she did Nunes.

Prediction

Sarah Kaufman by TKO, round 2.

Rousey vs Tate Preview

2012-03-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

Since Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, bought Strikforce last year, there has been a lot of speculation over what will happen to the female divisions. In the past, UFC President Dana White has been adamant that women will never fight in the UFC. White has been known to change his mind and this Saturday Tate and Rousey have the chance to give him food for thought in one of the most high profile and eagerly awaited female fights for years. I broke down the card over at MMAplus, but here is the slightly more opinionated jiMMA version.

I may not have enjoyed the manner of the fights promotion, but there is no doubt that this fight has garnered more interest than any female MMA bout in a long time. On Saturday night, women's mixed martial arts may well take a giant leap towards the spotlight.

via 5thround

Recent History

Miesha Tate is on a six fight win streak, including wins over Hitomi Akano, Soilla Gurgel and Marloes Coenen.
This will be Tate's first title defense since winning the strap.
Ronda Rousey has finished the first four fights of her career by armbar, all within the first minute.

Styles

Miesha Tate is a well rounded fighter with a strong wrestling base, decent striking and good submissions, mostly using these strikes to close distance and set up take downs. Tate has great ability to pressure opponents against the fence and tends to work grueling persistant take downs, rather than explosive ones.

Due to Rousey's early finishes, we have not yet seen her stand up game. She has seemed to flinch when hit but then she has had the composure to find a throw and a submission. She has taken opponents down with ease so far which should come as little surprise as she is an Olympic bronze medalist judoka. Like all fighters with a non-striking background Ronda tells us she has been working on her striking and it is coming along brilliantly.

Head toHead

For Rousey, it is safe to assume that her gameplan remains the same. Her undeniable strength is her judo and she will look to take Miesha down and finish her on the mat. Should Tate decide to and be able to keep things standing, it will be intriguing to see how Rousey's striking has really been coming along. It will also be interesting to see how the weight cut treats her.

Tate has said going in to this fight that wrestling beats Judo everytime but Rousey would beg to differ. Tate might wiser not to clinch witha fighter with hips as strong as Rousey's and with such skillfulthrows. That being said, submitting Tate would no doubt prove a lot tougher than her previous opponents. She may need to leave her comfort zone, refrain fromwrestling and look to pick Rousey apart from distance.

I am surprised at the bookmakers and many pundits siding heavily with Ronda Rousey. While her Olympic background and impressive debut year in the sport show that she should not be ruled out, backing her to win is also a strange decision. She has no experience in an MMA contest against top competition and has never competed at this weight class. Tate on the other hand has defeated some of the best fighters in her division and has been training all aspects of the game together for much longer than Rousey.

I expect Tate to keep enough distance to worry Rousey from the outside and, as the challenger wears down though the fight, begin get the better of clinch exchanges.

Predicition

Miesha Tate by unanimous decision.

Top Five: MMA Comebacks of all time.

2012-02-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

When Tim Boetsch came back from a mauling at the hands of Yushin Okami at UFC 144, Joe Rogan quite understandably lost control and callled it the greatest comeback in MMA history. Now Joe was quick to backtrack on that as he regained his senses, but just which are the best comebacks in MMA history?

Tim Boetsch comes back to beat Yushin Okami via espn

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard III

via lowkick

At UFC 136, Gray Maynard had his second shot at Frankie Edgar's lightweight title, having previously beaten Edgar before he was champion and drawn with him in their second fight. Edgar took extreme punishment in the first round, looking continuously rocked for most of the five minutes. In the second round, Edgar had miraculously recovered and was full of his trademark pep and movement. By round 4 he was completely dominating the stand up and knocked Maynard out with a great right hand. What makes this comeback extra special is that this was a carbon copy of their earlier draw, but this time Edgar got the finish.

Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen

via realwomenandmensmma

This comeback was epic because of what was on the line. Anderson Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world, middleweight champion and at the time of this fight had a winning streak of 12 fights. Chael Sonnen, the upstart challenger provided Silva with one of the toughest tests of his UFC career, rocking the champ with a punch and consistently taking him to the ground. Half way through round 5, on his back and with Sonnen surely dominating the scorecards, Silva locked on a tight triangle choke and submitted Sonnen. The champion survived, his legacy intact.

Pat Barry vs Cheick Kongo

via hov-mma

When Cheick Kongo had been rocked and pounced on by Pat Barry at UFC on Versus 4, the referee would have been forgiven for stopping the fight. As it is, he let it continue a while longer. Kongo staggered around for a while, shot a wobbly double leg attempt and somehow summoned two right hooks to knock Barry out. There was not so much riding on this comeback, but the fact that Kongo was still standing on roller skates when he threw the punches makes it pretty special.

Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera vs Bob Sapp

OK, so Bob Sapp is not exactly an elite opponent but he was around 100 pounds heavier than Noguiera, in a different, crazier MMA era. The big American through Noguiera around the cage, dropping him on his head at one point. The Brazilian hung in there as only he can, absorbing shocking amounts of punishment until towards the end of the fight he took advantage of Sapp's dubious gas tank and found an awesome armbar. Noguiera has made a career of these comebacks, but the Sapp fight is my pick.

Hughes vs Trigg II

via bleacherreport

This was Trigg's second title shot at the invincible Matt Hughes after a fight where he had been well and truly humbled by the champion. Trigg landed a low knee that doubled Hughes over. The referee did not see it and Trigg capitalised by taking Hughes' back. The champ's run appeared to be at an end but, like something out of pro wrestling he made his way out of the position. He the proceeded to boduly carry Trigg across the cage and slam him brutally before ground and pounding and finally choking out the challenger.

Comebacks are truly some of the most exciting events in MMA as we see which fighters have the heart to dig deep and pull something out of nowhere. If I have missed out one of your favourites, hit the comment section below.

5 Questions for... Roxanne Modafferi

2012-02-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

via mmarising

This weekend the US MMA scene is pretty busy with Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate and Martin Kampman vs Thiago Alves headlining Strikeforce and UFC card respectively. Elsewhere though, former training partners and leading 125 pound fighters Roxanne Modafferi and Takayo Hashi fight at in Japan's premier women's MMA organisation at Jewels 18.

Preparing for a fight she really must win, Roxanne Modafferi was kind enough to spare a bit of time to answer five questions from jiMMA.

What was your route into MMA?

-I started Tae Kwon do as a kind for fun and because it looked cool, and got bored, so I wanted to try different styles. I wanted the more challenging full contact, so I tried Judo. I was always very competative in sports. I did team sports in school. After Judo, I did BJJ and kickboxing and wanted to try MMA when my Judo friends introduced me to the UFC.

What is your favourite strike or submission to use in a fight?

I prefer submissions, and like straight arm-bars or triangle chokes.

What does it mean to you to be a fighter?

I want to get stronger mentally and physically. It's always been about how much I can force my body to do. I get injured a lot, so the physical aspect is always a struggle.

What separates you from other fighters at 125lb?

The fact that I haven't won in this weight division yet? (joke) I've always fought at 135 and the two times I dropped to 125, I wasn't successful. I felt weak and over-powered. I'm not sure how else to answer this question.

If you could fight anyone in the world who would it be?

I want rematches against Rosi Sexton, Barb Honchak, and Hitomi Akano.

UFC 144: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Jake Shields Preview

2012-02-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

For both these fighters, UFC 144 represents a chance for redemption but also the chance of losing their job. Before being brought in to the UFC to fight Georges Saint Pierre in Spring last year, Jake Shields was unbeaten in six years. Similarly, Yoshihiro Akiyama was unbeaten in five years before his current three fight skid started with a loss to Chris Leben in 2010. The heavy hands and crafty submissions of Akiyama face off against the American Ju Jutsu of the former Strikeforce champion.

Recent History

Jake Shields is on a two fight losing streak, having previously been a dominant champion over in Strikeforce.
His most recent loss was a shock early knockout at the hands of Jake Ellenberger.
Akiyama has lost three in a row, albeit against stiff competition in Chris Leben, Micheal Bisping and Vitor Belfort.

Styles

Jake Shields makes no secret of his style. He is well and truly a ju jutsu specialist with with a distinguished wrestling background. Until his fight with Ellenberger, it was always assumed he had an unshakable chin too. As well as skills and chin, Shields has indomitable spirit and heart which has helped him push through adversity inside and out of the cage. Shields tends to stay far away from possible from a striking battle and when he is engaged, uses that durability to find a way to a take down.

Yoshihiro Akiyama also has a great chin, albeit recently exposed by Vitor Belfort. He came to the UFC a real fan favorite, with slick submission skills allied to big punches. In the UFC he has failed to shine so far, looking a little cumbersome trying to land big punches against skilled opponents.

via bleacher report

Head to Head

The key to this match up is whether Shields can avoid or survive Akiyama's big right hand. Akiyama has a great Judo background but I still expect Shields to have the advantage in the wrestling and clinch. Shields will want the fight to go to the ground, where he is certainly stronger. That being said, submitting a battle hardened foe like Akiyama will be tricky and we may see some fun scrambles as Shields locks on submissions and Akiyama escapes.

Prediction

Jake Shields decision.

More on UFC 144 at jiMMA:

UFC 144: Rampage vs Bader Preview
UFC 144: Lauzon vs Pettis Preview
UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson Preview

UFC 144: Anthony Pettis vs Joe Lauzon Preview

2012-02-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

Anthony Pettis is well known for one of the most spectacular kicks in MMA history. In late 2010 he defeated Ben Henderson for the WEC Lightweight Title and while Henderson fights for the UFC strap this Saturday, Pettis is looking to squeeze his way into contention with a fight against Joe Lauzon. For his part, Lauzon recently submitted then challenger Melvin Guillard to gain momentum of his own.

Recent History

Since losing to Clay Guida in his UFC debut, Pettis struggled past Jeremy Stephens by split decision.
Lauzon has won three of his last four fights, all by submission.
His most recent outing was an impressive upset win over Melvin Guillard.

via bestofbjj

Styles

It is fair to say that so far Anthony Pettis' showings in the UFC have been disappointing. In the WEC, Pettis was an incredibly entertaining, dynamic fighter with a propensity for finishes. He has submissions, kicks and energy to burn. Against Clay Guida, Pettis showed a slight lack of fight intelligence as struggled to attack from underneath the wrestler, going on to lose a decision. Against Jeremy Stephens, he failed to find his rhythm. On his day, Pettis has wonderfully diverse striking and a good range of submissions.

Joe Lauzon has matured into a very good fighter. He has decent stand up skills, but his real advantage lies in his ability to take advantage of his opponents' mistakes on the ground. If he can continue to minimize his own mistakes, he can certainly make a ase for a title shot in the near future.

Head to Head

A lot in this fight depends on which Pettis shows up. It would be foolish to believe that the Pettis we saw in the WEC is no longer there, or that the fighters he is fighting now are so much better than those he fought before. If he can regain some of the confidence and fluidity in his striking and game plan effectively, he should be able to pick Joe Lauzon apart. Lauzon will be looking to keep the distance at a minimum and shut down Pettis' kicks and movement in an effort to get the fight to the ground. There, he will look to work submissions. He will need to be careful though, as Pettis has plenty of ability on the mat himself.

Prediction

Pettis by decision. I do not think the Pettis of the WEC days will be entirely back, but he will approach this fight with a clear strategy for winning and Lauzon has less ways to win.

More on UFC 144 at jiMMA:

UFC 144: Rampage vs Bader Preview
UFC 144: Shields vs Akiyama Preview
UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson Preview

UFC 144: Henderson vs Edgar Preview

2012-02-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Article first published as UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson Preview on Technorati

Japan holds a special place in the hearts of many fighters and fans as it was the home to some of the best fighters in the sport in the early part of the century. Zuffa (the UFC's parent company) bought Pride in 2007 and the organization was shut down shortly after. The UFC has far surpassed Pride's popularity and heads back to Japan with a great card that blends old Japanese favorites and some of the new faces of MMA.

While Japanese fans may be most looking forward to the return of Rampage Jackson to their shores, The headlining bout is an incredible lightweight title between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

Recent History

Since crossing over to the UFC from he WEC, Ben Henderson has gone 3-0 a run that includes his most recent, incredible fight against Clay Guida.

Frankie Edgar has just come off a peculiar run of fighting the same fighter back to back, twice.

He beat BJ Penn twice in a row and drew with and subsequently knocked out Gray Maynard.

Styles

Ben Henderson is an incredibly well rounded fighter. He possesses unrivaled pace and energy as he showed in his incredible fight against Clay Guida at the inaugural UFC on Fox event. He has brilliant powerful wrestling and diverse striking. Even when he goes to decision it is not for lack of trying to finish his fights, he is always exciting.
Edgar is one of the best offensive boxers in MMA, although his defense has been found wanting on occasion (see his two incredible fights with Gray Maynard). He can be wobbled by big punches but he has the heart and fighting instinct to still be dangerous even when fuzzy headed. For one of the smallest lightweights in the division, Edgar has great power by dint of perfect punching technique and great timing.

Head to Head

I expect Henderson to do everything he can to take this fight to the ground. In Edgar, he is facing an opponent with a clear advantage on the feet and the ground is the safest place for him. This will be easier said than done as Edgar has a wrestling pedigree himself. Before now, few people have been able to withstand Ben Henderson's wrestling though and I expect him to have some success. The big question is whether he can do enough damage to the champ when he gets him down.
Edgar's game plan should be to embroil Henderson into a technical boxing match. The challenger is a competent striker but Edgar has shown himself to be indomitable on his feet against some of the most skilled strikers in the division.

Prediction

This is controversial but I believe Henderson is the real deal. Henderson by unanimous decision.

Other UFC 144 Coverage on jiMMA

UFC 144: Rampage vs Bader Preview
UFC 144: Lauzon vs Pettis Preview

Tate vs Rousey Round Table Reaction: Don't Patronize Us

2012-02-19T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Strikeforce female bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate and the contender for that title, Ronda Rousey sat down with press yesterday to discuss their March 3rd fight. Both women are clearly relishing the limelight and it is wonderful to see women's mixed martial arts firmly in the spotlight. As a fan of women's MMA though, the thing that struck me most was the patronizing attitude both fighters seemed to have towards fans. Tate and Rousey feel that for men to watch women fight, the fighters have to be beautiful enough to catch their eyes. This attitude is also reflected in Stikeforce's marketing of the fight.

On the one hand, it is incredibly heartening to see such a professional production in connection to women's fighting but it is also worrying that we are being asked to watch two beautiful women rather than two brilliant fighters. Female fighters and fans must be fed up with the patronizing idea that these girls can fight, even though they are beautiful women. But watching the video below, it is clear that male fans are being treated in an equally shallow way.

Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate are beautiful women with great presence which is evident both in the Strikeforce promo video and the media event video. They are also just trying to make the most out of an opportunity to make good money out of a sport which most women struggle to pay the bills with. Tate makes the point that clearly most MMA fans are men and that to garner their interest in women's MMA they first need to have their heads turned by pretty female fighters.

I believe it is a mistake to promote this massive fight based on the looks of the athletes rather than their skills as fighters but what irks me most in this is the presumption that men could only be interested in women fighting if they are beautiful. It is unfair and short sighted to cast male MMA fans as meat-headed fools desperate to see either blood or boobs. Regardless of gender, I feel like MMA fans are better than that. MMA fans are fans of fighting and Rousey and Tate are good fighters. That is already very marketable.

I would like to see a new Strikeforce promotional video which features Miesha Tate choking out Marloes Coenen or Ronda Rousey tapping out Julia Budd. Fans of fighting, men or women, will tune in to watch good fighters fight, regardless of how they look.

Hit the comment section below if you think Strikeforce, Tate and Rousey are acting wisely in highlighting the beauty of the combatants or even if you want to agree with me.

Click here for more jiMMA coverage of women's MMA.

UFC 144: Rampage Jackson vs Ryan Bader

2012-02-18T09:33:00.001-08:00

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is one of a few fighters on this card that hark back to the good old days of Pride, when the Japanese promotion led the way in mixed martial arts. A lot has changed since then of course, but there is no doubt that this fight will be eagerly anticipated by the Japanese crowd.

via ESPN

Recent History

Jackson last fought six months ago, losing to current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Ryan Bader came back from a two fight skid to defeat Jason Brilz by knockout at UFC 139.

Styles

It is no secret that Rampage Jackson's biggest asset is his raw punching power. He spends fights looking for the opportunity to land that one right hand that can change any fight. Against Jon Jones, this approach made Jackson look rather one dimensional, which he is not. Jackson is a good boxer with brilliant wrestling ability. In his Pride days, Rampage would brutally slam opponents and execute violent ground and pound, but we do not see that so much anymore. Nowadays, Jackson is using his wrestling stay on his feet and hunt for the knockout finish. His ability to slip or eat punches and counter has more often than not been enough to rely on. In recent years, opponents seem to have grown wise to his approach and Rampage has fought to some controversial decisions, unable to put opponents away.

Ryan Bader also has a very set style. He is a powerful and decorated wrestler with fierce knockout power. In his early UFC career he showed the ability to take opponents down at will and control them for whole fights. While his striking is still rudimentary, he has always possessed the power to finish a fight, if he connects. Bader's biggest weakness in his UFC career has been his inability to make the most of dominant positions on the ground to finish fights.

Head to Head

The set up is perfect, Jackson has great takedown defense and Bader has spectacular attacking wrestling. Both fighters possess the power to end the other guy's night, but Jackson certainly has the technique, not to mention having that power in both hands.

Ryan Bader should be looking to take Rampage down. He is making a mistake if he believes his striking is going to match up with Jackson's and he ought to take this fight to where he feels at home. Bader will want to take care to make the most of any opportunities he gets in that department though, as the longer the fight goes on, the longer Rampage has a chance to finish it.

For his part, Jackson really needs to vary his attack to make himself less predictable. He possesses good leg kicks and that would be a great weapon to chop away the base of this elite wrestler.

Predicition

Rampage will keep it mostly standing and find a home for a bit punch. Jackson by TKO round 2.

More UFC 144 Coverage at jiMMA

UFC 144: Lauzon vs Pettis Preview
UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson Preview

UFC on Fuel: Ellenberger vs Sanchez - Recap

2012-02-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Setting

This was the fight that could catapult Jake Ellenberger into title contention. A sixth win in a row, against a big name like Sanchez, would surely put him in the mix. As for Sanchez, he had some momentum himself having won his last two. He came into the fight looking to steal some of Ellenberger's momentum for himself. It was expected to be an exciting fight with Ellenberger pitting his power against Sanchez' energy and pace.

via heavy.com

The Fight

For the first two rounds, it seemed like Diego Sanchez had lost some of that intensity and pep from his game but that might well have been due to the mastery of distance that Ellenberger showed. During rounds one and two, Ellenberger managed to knock Sanchez down, cut him up and break his nose through a mixture of great counter punching and ground and pound.

Come round three, Sanchez seemed to realise urgency was needed and really found his way into the fight. He managed to cut the face of Jake Ellenberger and smelled blood. Ellenberger took him down but Sanchez showed great awareness to take his back and spent a good minute pounding on him. Round three saw the Sanchez we know and Ellenberger was in serious danger of being finished. Rounds one and two proved Ellenberger has much improved striking (although Kenny Florian's comparisons with Anderson Silva are a bit off the mark) and round three proved his incredible toughness. In the end, Ellenberger won by unanimous decision.

What's Next?

Jake Ellenberger's future really depends on whether Carlos Condit decides to defend his belt rather than waiting for Georges Saint-Pierre to recovery from injury. Should Condit need an opponent, Ellenberger would provide a great test and make a great fight.

Sanchez proved once again that his aggression, conditioning and heart guarantee great fights. This latest derailment probably means his hopes of a title shot are all but over and he will be hanging around squarely in the middle of the division, a fighter the UFC can depend on to deliver.

Other Thoughts on UFC on Fuel

The fight between Ivan Menjivar and John Albert was incredible. I was calling for the referee to stop the fight as Albert was landing repeated knees to the Canadian's head, as Menjivar could only crouch and cover up. As it is, he showed inhuman recovery to regain his composure and sink in the rear naked choke finish.

Phil De Fries seemed to gain a bit false confidence in his striking as he clipped Miocic with a few nice shots. Had he stuck to his strengths and tried to tie his opponent up he might well have lasted longer, but as it is he suffered a knockout loss to the heavy handed American.

While Stefan still looks pretty raw and reckless even after 28 career fights, he is certainly fun to watch. Let's see if he can string together a bit of a run now.

Five Reasons to Watch UFC on Fuel

2012-02-15T03:56:00.002-08:00

This Wednesday night sees the first UFC on Fuel event take place with Jake Ellenberger fighting Diego Sanchez. Somehow, events on smaller channels seem to pass people by, but this on certainly should not.

Here are five reasons why you should not let this one pass you by,

1 - Ellenberger vs Sanchez is going to be great.

For a free card that only a few hundred thousand people will watch, this is a great headliner. Ellenberger and Sanchez are both unstoppable forces in their own ways,

Ellenberger is immensely powerful and Sanchez pushes an incredible pace. Ellenberger's power in striking and wrestling might just be too much for Sanchez, especially combined with Sanchez' exciting style of pressing the action often with reckless abandon

2 - Ellenberger in Title Contention

In the main event, a win for Jake Ellenberger puts him right in the title picture at welterweight. If Carlos Condit decides to defend the interim belt he won against Nick Diaz earlier this month, a victorious Ellenberger might well be his opponent. With the title picture opening up due to Georges Saint-Pierre's injury, a win could put Sanchez within one or two fights of a title shot as well.

3 - There could be fireworks.
There are plenty of fighters on this card with reputations to build and points to prove. Dave Herman vs Philip De Fries is a bout between two heavyweights who have the potential to put on great fights, but who won in ugly fashion last time out. This time, expect these guys to put on a show against Stefan Struve and Stipe Miocic respectively.

Expect Stefan Struve to use all of his six foot eleven frame and kickboxing ability to dismantle Herman, but at the same time expect the same defensive gaps to appear and lead to a wild back and forth fight.

De Fries vs Stipe Miocic is a great stylistic match up. De Fries will need to battle through Miocic's defensive wrestling to get the fight to the ground where we can look forward to some fun scrambles. Miocic is going to look to take De Fries head off with big power strikes.

4 - It is Free
This card is live on free TV, if you have fuel you simply must give it a go. On top of that, I understand that Fuel is having a free trial this week that coincides with event.

5 - Jon Anik and Kenny Florian

While Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg are the iconic voices of the UFC, it is refreshing on occasion to have a different perspective and a dfferent set of cliches and catchphrases to accompany the action.

There you have it, if you have Fuel TV you really ought to find time to watch this even, it is going to be a lot of fun. If you don't have Fuel TV, I am sure you will find a way of watching if you really try.

Check out the weight in video for that final bit of hype and excitement:

Is there a reason I have missed? Are you determined not to bother with this event? Let me know in the comments section.

Jessica Aguilar vs Patricia Vidonic

2012-02-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend leaves another bit of breathing space between UFC events and gives everyone a chance to concentrate on smaller fights and promotions. One great fight to look out for is between Jessica Aguilar and Patricia Vidonic and that goes down as part of Fight Time Promotions 8 in Florida. It does not look like we will be able to catch the fight live on TV (although if anyone knows of a way to do so, please hit the comments section), but this is a fight that you ought to find a way to see.

Jessica Aguilar is currently the consensus ranked number two 115lb fighter in the world and a big name in women's MMA. Unfortunately, given that Bellator, the biggest home of the 115lb division in the US, puts on female fights quite irregularly, Aguilar needs to fill her schedule out with smaller shows. That is great news for Patricia Vidonic though, as she gets the chance to test out her five fight win streak against by far the toughest opponent she is yet to face.

via fighttimepromotions

Recent History

Jessica Aguilar has won 7 of her last 8 fights, only dropping a close split decision to Zoila Gurgel.
Her most recent win was at Bellator 58 against highly ranked Lisa Ellis-Ward.
Patricia Vidonic is on a five fight win streak, with her last three wins coming by submission.

Styles

Jessica Aguilar is a fun fighter to watch. She is a stocky and powerful fighter with technical boxing, powerful takedowns and slick submissions. She is developing noticeably with every fight she takes. Before her loss to Gurgel, she had an indomitably powerful style and produced some great submission and knock out finishes, but since then has become a bit of a decision machine. This is probably a combination of a more careful approach and a step up in competition.

Here's a video of Jessica Aguilar highlights to show the power and aggression she is capable of.

Patricia Vidonic may not have such a big name in women's MMA, but her momentum is certainly growing as she dedicates herself full time to the sport. As you would imagine from a fighter with three submission wins in a row, Patricia has an awesome ground game. In round one of her fight with Lacey Schuckman (check out the video below and follow the links for rounds two and three), Vidonic shows she has a slick, calm guard as she placidly deals with slams and strikes to keep throwing up submissions. The fight involves lots of great scrambles against a clearly powerful opponent and Vidonic deals with it impressively. Her rear naked choke finish was a smooth and opportunistic as you like.

Head to Head

Realistically Aguilar has the advantage in terms of experience, this is by far the sternest test of Vidonic's career. That being said, Vidonic has proven a calm and calculating fighter and may well deal with the pressure and occassion. In terms of skill sets, it just seems like Aguilar has more ways to win. She has learnt recently how to grind out decisions over tough opponents, she has knocked people out with nice boxing and she has a good ground game of her own.

Prediction

Jessica Aguilar by TKO, round 2.

Why watch?

OK, you might not get a chance to watch this one live unless you are really lucky go to the show. You should try and find it after the event somewhere online though, because it promises to be a great fight. When you have a powerful fighter like Aguilar squaring off against a wily fighter like Vidonic fun scrambles often ensue.

As always, if I have made some errors, you believe my predictions wrongs or have anything else to say, hit the comment section below.

UFC on Fuel: Sanchez vs Ellenberger - Preview

2012-02-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

The UFC's first event on Fuel is happening this Wednesday night and features an important bout between Jake Ellengerger and Diego Sanchez. Jake Ellenberger has been making waves in the division and is seen by many as one of the pack pushing for a title shot, should Carlos Condit decide to defend his belt without waiting for the return of Georges Saint-Pierre. Diego Sanchez is an interesting character with a non-stop aggressive style. In recent years he has been battling various demons in his life and his nickname change from "The Nightmare" to "The Dream" is supposed to represent a changed man. Either way, this is one of those fights where to powerful forces collide and the consequence will surely be an explosion.

Recent History

Diego Sanchez has had two Fight of the Night victories in a row, most recently against Martin Kampman.
Ellenberger is on an impressive 5 fight win streak, including a huge scalp in Jake Shields.

Styles

Ellenberger is massive at 170lb. He has an immensely powerful wrestling style and manages to bully most other fighters. In recent years he has shown a diverse and powerful striking skill set too, as we saw with his brutal knockouts of Jake Shields and Mike Pyle.

Diego Sanchez has one of the most famously intense styles of fighting in MMA today. He pushes a pace that almost nobody can deal with and is wild and almost reckless in his aggression. He is on a bit of a decision streak at the moment, going the distance in his last three fights, but his fights are exciting nevertheless. Sanchez is an accomplished wrestler and submission grappler and loves to use those skills to control a fight, but he is just as likely to use his wrestling to keep the fight standing for a brutal scrap.

Head to Head

Jake Ellenberger's nickname is the juggernaut and it is pretty appropriate. When he is moving forward he is nigh on impossible to stop. Sanchez is something of an indomitable force himself and that is what makes this fight so interesting and exciting. Sanchez has an unstoppable pace and intensity and Ellenberger has unstoppable power and physical domination.

With Ellenberger the bigger, stronger fighter, it may well be him who manages to dominate the wrestling and clinching. For Sanchez, the key will be staying on the feet and attempting to pick Ellenberger apart with sharp boxing. That is where Sanchez will have a problem. He loves to move forward and make fights messy. I wonder if he will have the discipline to stay away from Ellenberger's big bombs and powerful wrestling and I wonder whether he has the skills and footwork too.

To me, it seems like Ellenberger is a huge favourite as he is likely to be the one who controls where the fight takes place and the pace of the action. This more or less takes away Sanchez's main advantage.

via mmabay

Prediction

Ellenberger will dominate but Sanchez is tough to put away. Ellenberger by unanimous decision.

As always, if I you disagree or have something to say about these two, hit the comments section below.

Women's Super Flyweight (125lb) Division - Who's who?

2012-02-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks, I am going to sort you all out with a veritable who's who of women's MMA. I am going to take MMA Rising's rankings and give you a run down of who these women are. This will lead up to a piece about the depth, potential and future of women's MMA.

This tim, I am taking a look at the 125lb division. This division is slightly messy for a few reasons. The 115lb and 135lb divisions receive much more attention in the US and Japan, so that many women at 125lb make the decision to go up or down in weight, or to flip flop between divisions. Aside from that, this division suffers from the age old women's MMA problem of not having one promotion with a sustained division. That being said, Cage Warriors FC in the UK is making a significant push with the division. Other than Cage Warriors, you will see these women fight at XFC, Bellator and Freestyle Cage Fighting in the US.

1 - Tara LaRosa (20-2)

Tara LaRosa is the former BodogFight champion at 125lb, until that orgnaisation dissolved. For the past four or five years she has been fighting for a plethora of small organisations, most recently at Shark Fights. She is a viscious, well rounded fighter, who finishes a lot of fights. At the age of 34 and not signed to Bellator which is the American home of the 125lb division, LaRosa will find it hard to keep finding the fights that keep her at the top of the rankings. Her most recent fight was a against a fast fading Carina Damm.

Take a look at the highlight reel below and you'll see that while her relevance might be fading, she is a fighter to watch if you ever get the chance.

2 - Zoila Gurgel (11-1)

In terms of momentum and relevance, in reality Gurgel represents the top of the division. Since losing to Miesha Tate in early 2010 and moving down to 115lb, Gurgel has been on a six fight win streak, beating the likes of Megumi Fujii and Jessica Aguilar and winning the Bellator 115lb title. Her last fight was her first 125lb fight, which she won, against Karina Halinan. She has a background in Tae Kwon Do background which can be seen in her elusive and diverse striking style.

Gurgel has suffered an ACL injury and been sidelined in recent months, but at 26 years old she is in a great position to make a comeback. For the sake of this division, I truly hope she chooses to stay at 125lb, although she may want to move back up to 135lb, a division which is more competitive and popular.

3 - Rosie Sexton (12-2)

Rosie Sexton is a British mixed martial artist with an impressive record. She has only lost to Gina Carano and Zoila Gurgel and has beaten some of the best women in the sport, including Roxanne Modaferri, Tonomi Sunaba and Carina Damm. Rosie came into martial arts trying out various disciplines and has such is pretty comfortable wherever the fight goes, but grappling is her main focus.

She had runs in Bellator and BodogFight and now fights for Cage Warriors FC, based in the UK. She has a fight against number 7 ranked and fellow Brit Aisling Daly coming up. Take a look at Rosie's fight with Sally Krumdiack, where she uses her top control to stfile her opponent and land vicious ground and pound.

4 - Cat Zingano (6-0)

Cat Zingano is unbeaten in her pro MMA career and with her latest two wins coming against big named veterans Carina Damm and Takayo Hashi, she is a serious player in the division. As is the way with this division. she has so far had to find fights at regional shows in the US and like many, has trouble finding the fights to keep herself going.

She is a complete and dangerous fighter with submissions, striking technique and power. Here you can see her knock out Hashi with a slam and a few punches.

5 - Barb Honchak (5-1)

Barb Hanchak is another up and coming fighter suffering from the lack of a promotion will to build and market a sustained 125lb division. Her only loss is at the hands of Cat Zingano and she most recently won impressively against Roxanne Modaferri. She has an impressive grappling game, with an emphasis on control. With exception of the Modaferri fight, she has struggled to use her dominance to finish.

Here you can see her last amateur bout before turning pro and she lost narrowly to fellow top ten ranked Jessica Eye.

6 - Sheila Gaff (9-4-1)

Sheila Gaff is probably the most exciting fighter on the list so far. OK, her record is a little patchy and winning is absolutely what counts, but Gaff finishes fights. In fact, all her career wins have been finishes, including some pretty brutal knockouts. She is a strong, stocky fights with great power both in terms of strikes and wrestling. She love to take the fight to the floor and work submissions.

A German, Sheila last fought at Cage Warriors in the UK and this could be the promotion where she finds regular fights. She is young, powerful and certainly someone with potential to take the division by storm. She will be part of the four woman tournament that Cage Warriors will hold in 2012 to crown their new 125lb champion, her opponent is yet to be announced.

This video of her demolishing number 7 ranked Aisling Daly tells you what you need to know about Sheila Gaff.

7 - Aisling Daley (13-2)

Aisling Daly is yet another European fighter in the top ten of the division, a fact which speaks to the emphasis on this division in the UK's Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and the relative lack of emphasis on the division in the US and Japan. Daly is another aggressive, powerful and exciting fighter. She may not have shown everything she has in the above video, but she certainly has a lot to offer.

She is another young fighter and very busy. Since losing to Gaff, she won three more fights in 2011, making it four fights in 2011. She has had one chance in Bellator, losing to Lisa Ellis-Ward, but has grown considerably since then. Furthermore, the better fighters in this division are fighting in the UK now.

On May 5th, she will fight Rosi Sexton as part of the Cage Warriors 125lb tournament and that will be an awesome fight.

Here you can see Aisling has the heart and endurance to grind out a decision in a grueling and brutal battle.

8 - Sally Krumdiack (9-4)

Sally Krumdiack has fought some of the biggest names in the division, with mixed success. She is a part time mixed martial artist, also working as a personal trainer. That, combined with a lack of opportunities in her native USA, has led to her fighting quite seldom in the last few years. Like most of the women in this division, she has a very mixed style, happy in all areas of a fight. Although she is a champion of two organisations in the US, I would not be surprised to see Sally's career taper out from here.

Sally Krumdiack, via wmmaroundup

9 - Jessica Eye (5-1)

Jessica Eye is an up and coming American fighter, with her only loss coming at the hands of Aisling Daly. She has been a professional for around two years and has managed to stay busy so far in her short career. She has won most her bouts so far by overpowering fighters on the feet and the ground. She has fought once in Bellator but manages to find fights in smaller organisations.

Skip to the 5 minute mark in this video to see Jessica Eye abtter Ashley Nee. Try your best to ignore the incredibly patronising commentators though.

Marianna Kheyfets (5-0)

Marianna Kheyfets represents the new breed of powerful, well rounded and dynamic female mixed martial artists. She gained name recognition in the first of her pro bouts as she choked out Kim Couture. Since then she has continued to fight mostly in XFC against decent opposition, including recently live on HDNet. As such, she is beginning to develop a recongisable name.

Her most recent fight was a TKO victory over Heather Clark. Although the victory was as a result of a doctor's stoppage for an eye swelling shut, Marianna seemed dominant in the stand up. She is brilliant on the ground but has really sharpened up her stand up skills as she showed against Clark. Here you you can see her stealing some of Kim Couture's limelight at XFC 11.

There you have it. As always, the big problem for this division is the distinct lack of a unified division within one promotion. Interestlingly, the promotion with the biggest drive and talent pool is not in the US or Japan, but in the UK. The Cage Warriors FC tournament which begins this May will be exciting and should crown the de facto champion of the division.

As usual, if you disagree with these overviews or if you know someone who ought to be in the list, hit the comment section and share the knowledge.

For a who's who of the women's 115lb division click here

UFC: The Year So Far

2012-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Article first published as UFC: The Year So Far at Technorati

It has been a busy year so far, with an event a week since UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes. Now we have a small amount of time to look back at the highlights.

via prommanow

UFC 142
The first UFC event of 2012 took place in mid January, with Jose Aldo facing the unbeaten Chad Mendes. Aldo ended Mendes' night with a brutal knee, but more memorable was his escape from the cage and into the crowd to celebrate with his fellow Brazilians. On that same card, Anthony Johnson ended his UFC career by failing spectacularly to make the weight cut to 185 pounds, even though this represented a move up in weight classes. He was summarily dismissed by Vitor Belfort and subsequently released by the UFC.

via fightnetwork

UFC on FX 1
Six days later, Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller headlined the UFC first UFC on FX event. In the main event, Guillard reminded everyone that he is a dynamic striker with little or no submission defense. Miller reminded us that he has a granite chin and slick transitions as he recovered from being heavily rocked, took Guillard's back in a scramble and sunk in a rear naked choke. It was later announced that Miller will meet Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 3, probably for a shot at the Lightweight Title. The card was also notable for Pat Barry's spectacular knockout of Christian Morecraft and even more impressive, he managed to escape a few submission attempts.

via mmainterplay

UFC on Fox 2
On January 28th, Rashad Evans fought Phil Davis for the right to face Jon Jones later this year. As many expected her would, Rashad dominated Phil Davis in every aspect of the fight. The co-main event was perhaps more anticipated and was certainly more talked about as Chael Sonnen fought Micheal Bisping for a shot at Anderson Silva's Middleweight Title. The first two rounds were razor thin with the Brit surprising many with his ability to get to his feet after takedowns and control Sonnen against the cage. The third saw Sonnen dominate position on the ground. Sonnen won the match by a controversial decision and the internet exploded with debate. In reality, it was a close fight and a decision in either direction would not have been unfair.

via fightnetwork

UFC 143
The controversy peaked at UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit, where the Interim Welterweight Title was on the line. From one perspective, Condit spent the fight cleverly eluding Diaz with his movement and footwork and landing significant blows and slick combinations. From the other, Diaz pressed the action, chasing Condit around the cage and landing plenty of significant shots in the process. The judges went with the former and Condit is now the interim title holder. Diaz later tested positive for marijuana and stands to be fined and suspended.

What have I missed? Hit the comments section with your highlights of the year so far.

Top Five: Fights To Look Forward To In 2012

2012-02-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

I absolutely do not buy the idea that MMA has become boring or that game plans and fights going to decision have ruined the sport. I have thoroughly enjoyed the year in MMA so far and there are plenty of bouts to anticipate with childlike glee. Here's my top five.

via ufcdogbet

1 - Junior Dos Santos vs Alistair Overeem
Some time this summer, Junior Dos Santos should defend his Heavyweight Title against Alistair Overeem. I should not have to explain why this is going to be great, the only thing that can wrong with this fight is if it is over too quickly. Dos Santos and Overeem are the two best strikers in their division and both come into this fight on the back of great knockout victories. Dos Santos is a boxer with supreme power and Overeem is a kickboxer with brutal knees. They both have the capability to hold their own on the ground, but it is unlikely to go there. This is destined to end with a beautiful knockout.

via 5thround

2 - Ben Henderson vs Frankie Edgar
At the end of this month, the UFC takes a stacked card to Japan and the title fight between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar promises to be great. Edgar will be glad that this guy is not called BJ or Gray as he has fought two opponents in his last four fights. Ben Henderson faces a very different test for the champion with his insane pace and work rate and his powerful wrestling. Edgar is a decent wrestler himself and has some of the best boxing in MMA, should he be able to stand long enough to use it. Those factors, plus the fact that Frankie Edgar has been doing Rocky impressions in his past few fights, mean this is sure to entertain.

via 5thround

3 - Rousey vs Tate
Ronda Rousey talks the talk, on the 3rd of March we will see if she walks the walk. This fight is the most hyped fight in women's MMA since Gina Carano fought Cris Cyborg. There is debate about whether this is too soon for Rousey, but now that it is set it promises to be intriguing. Rousey is an olympic bronze medallist in Judo and has finished her first four MMA fights by armbar in the first minute. Miesha Tate is the newly crowned Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion and on a six fight win streak, including four finishes. Tate has a wrestling background and plenty of MMA experience, Rousey a Judo background and is untested at the top level.

via mmamania

4 - Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans
All being well, this fight should finally go down on April 21st in Atlanta at UFC 145. It has been a while in the making as injuries and schedules got int he way of a fight that needs to happen. Jones and Evans fell out due to friction in their camp over the eventuality of them fighting each other. Ever since, a war of words in the media has built the hype. As Evans put away Phil Davis last month with a dominating performance, he took away the last obstacle between him and Jones. Now let's hope they both make it safely to the cage in April.

via fightmania

5 - Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen
This June, probably in a Brazilian football stadium, Chael Sonnen is (hopefully) getting his rematch with Anderson Silva. In August of 2010, Sonnen came the close to upsetting the great Brazilian before he succumbed to to a triangle choke. A suspension, two wins and a lot of strange ranting later and Sonnen finds himself in a position to have another crack. Was Sonnen's good performance the result of his cheating? Was Anderson Silva out of sorts because of an injury or is Chael really his kryptonite? We should find out later this year.

So, what do you think? Have I left anything out or included fights that you could not care less about? Hit the comment section and let me know.

Tate vs Rousey and Kaufman vs Davis: Come On Strikeforce, Play Fair

2012-02-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate is the first female MMA bout to headline a Strikeforce card since Gina Carano's massive fight against Cris "Cyborg" Santos in 2009. While this is clearly an exciting time for women's MMA there are many issues around the fight's origin and promotion that are to the detriment of the growth of the female divisions. There are many disappointing things about the making and marketing of this fight including the timing, the reasoning and promoting the fight based on looks. As well as the sport and fans missing out, Sarah Kaufman is the clear victim of Strikeforce (and their parent company ZUFFA) grabbing some quick cash from one big fight, rather than carefully and fairly building a sustainable, competitive division.

Sarah Kaufman defeats Miesha Tate in 2009 via unanimous decision (via Sherdog)

Timing

Ronda Rousey is an undeniably talented fighter with a background as an elite athlete elsewhere. Her leap to fight Miesha Tate is not as astronomical as it would be for most fighters with a 4-0 record against mostly lower level opposition. However, she has previously only fought at 145 pounds and it is pretty reasonable to expect her to either fight for the title in her own division or spend some time paying her dues and climbing the ranks in her new division. This is not just about what is fair, but also what it means for the division.

135 pounds is generally considered the strongest division in women's MMA. With Rousey cutting weight to join it and Cyborg Santos sure to follow when her suspension is complete, as well as new talent coming through, it promises to become even stronger. There is a division there to build. By catapulting Rousey through the rankings of her new division, Strikeforce have sent the message that there is no real female 135 pounds division. There are no internal rankings, contender spots nor progress to be made. They have indicated that women's MMA is good for one off super fights that draw big numbers, but not worthy of being promoted properly.

Via mmamount, is Tate vs Rousey being promoted to the detriment of WMMA?

The Rousey vs Tate fight is a good fight. Both combatants have exciting styles and are top athletes. But you ought not to rush a fighter into contendership, you should build them up, nurture them, test them against better opposition and when they have proved ready, you can give them a title shot.

Promotion of looks over skills

As Ronda Rousey spent her time pushing for this fight, she spent most of it openly drawing on the looks of her and her opponent as the selling point. She was worried the fight may never happen and, since a fight between two pretty girls is very marketable, she wanted it to happen as soon as possible. For the future of women's MMA, this seems pretty damning.

As a female fighter, it seems very short sighted to reduce your division to a beautiful sideshow. I understand why Ronda feels the need to make the most out of her career while she can, it just does not reflect well on her female colleagues. There is a great division of fighters there. Tate and Rousey are great athletes, each with their own story and representing wrestling and Judo respectively. That is already marketable.

Finally, it is terrible for the future of the weight class, not to mention astonishingly unfair, that the decision over who gets promoted in a division is based on looks. Unless this is soon put right, no female fighter will know what they fight for from bout to bout, unsure as to whether a prettier girl will take her place. It also means that female MMA will get bogged down deeper in this mire of dependency on looks as women play more and more on their beauty to get noticed.

Sarah Kaufman's Title Shot

Sarah Kaufman was very much in line for a title shot before Ronda Rousey pushed her way to the front of the queue by doing her best Chael Sonnen impression. Kaufman was on an impressive twelve fight win streak, including a win against the current 135 pounds champion Miesha Tate, untill she was beaten by Marloes Coenen. Since then she has won two in a row, the most recent against highly ranked Liz Carmouche. In light of her record, her bouncing back with two wins and her history with Tate, there was a clear reason to give her a title shot. The disappointment for Kaufman when it became clear that Rousey had taken her spot, must have been extraordinary. Here is what she thinks about it all:

Kaufman and Davis' Place On the Card

Adding insult to injury, Kaufman found herself on the same card as the championship bout, but as a preliminary fight. Can you imagine if, upon missing out on his shot at Georges Saint-Pierre, Carlos Condit had fought Josh Kosheck on the undercard? There would have been uproar.

This is not just unfair on Sarah Kaufman. Strikeforce has become the most prominent US promotion for women's mixed martial arts. Its men's divisions are rapidly becoming devalued as, before ZUFFA negotiated a new deal with Showtime, it ferried a lot of the top talent over to the UFC. What Strikeforce has left are some top male fighters in some very shallow divisions and an under promoted but potential-rich female division at 135 pounds.

Having made the decision to put together the Tate vs Rousey fight, Strikeforce had a golden opportunity to showcase a couple of other great fighters from that division and build a new contender for the winner. Instead, they have shown their intention to milk as much as possible from a one off fight between Rousey and Tate and buried another potential star on the preliminary card. This does not show a great commitment to female MMA and that is disappointing. It is also particularly short sighted since Women's MMA could well be Strikeforce's biggest asset going forward.

If you are not sure that these two fighters will put on a show worthy of the main card, check out the videos below.

Here, Sarah Kaufman defeats Roxanne Modaferri with a slam.

Here is Alexis Davis finishing Amanda Nunes in a really fun fight.

Sarah Kaufman was the most obvious choice to challenge Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce 135 pounds title. Ronda Rousey has cleverly talked her way into title contention. Rousey is clearly a great athlete and will probably prove to be a tough and talented fighter. But her quick ascension to title contender in a new weight class is not a good move for the future of her division. Moreover the treatment of Sarah Kaufman then and previously, has shown Strikeforce to be decidedly short sighted, not to mention unfair.

So what do you think? Has Strikeforce been unfair towards Kaufman? Was it a smart move to put together the big Tate vs Rousey fight so soon, or should they have waited? Leave a comment, let me know what you think.

More Women's MMA on JIMMA:

Women's Flyweight (115lb) Division - Who's who?
MMA: There's nowhere to hide from gender equality

UFC Post Fight Press Conference Notes

2012-02-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Below you'll find the complete UFC 143 post fight press conference. These things are relatively long and dry in places, but it's certainly something that's worth having on in the background while you do something else, some interesting insights come up.

Some points of note:

Dana White believes Nick Diaz will eventually be back in the cage.
Sonnen vs Silva II is verbally agreed to go down this June, in Brazil.
Dana White said that Lorenzo Fertita had seen a 2 point reduction (like the one Alex Ceceras suffered in his fight) before in his regulatory background.
Carlos Condit is a funny and articulate guy and makes a great case for why the controversial decision rightly went his way.
Dustin Poirer sobered any title talk for him. He seems to want one more fight before he will feel ready for the step up.
Werdum would love to fight in Sao Poalo Brazil, next.
Talk of a Diaz vs Condit rematch was fairly squashed by both Condit and White.

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Recap

2012-02-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

Article first published as UFC 143: Condit vs Diaz Recap on Technorati.

Setting
This fight was one of the most eagerly anticipated fights in a long time. It came out of the temporarily settling dust of Nick Diaz's feud with Georges Saint Pierre and many see this fight as the more exciting option. Nick Diaz had been on a formidable run, including his recent battering of BJ Penn. Condit was also on a great run with his only loss a narrow decision loss to Martin Kampman. Watching the UFC Countdown and Primetime shows, the tension going into this fight was immense. There was Diaz's awkwardness and suspicion of the cameras and the fact that he clearly gets in to 'bad guy mode' in the run up to a fight. Then there was the stress and anticipation getting to Condit during fight week, where he could not cope with the cameras any longer.

via canada.com

The Fight
Well, the fight well and truly lived up to the billing. It was the aggression and brashness of Diaz versus the discipline and crisp technique of Carlos Condit. The first two rounds saw Diaz the clear aggressor with Condit looking confused but, crucially, still able to get shots off. The next two and a half rounds saw Condit find his rhythm and, still being chased by Diaz and moving well. In spite of a two minute period towards the end of the fifth round where Diaz found his back, Condit took home the decision. I had it very close, with the decision being between the aggressor (Diaz) and the person landing what he wanted to land (Condit). Condit just edged it for me.

In the end, it was the diversity of Condit's attack that really did for Diaz. He could not pin him down and could not match his reach or accuracy, nor could he draw Condit into a brawl, in spite of some pretty high level smack talking.

via ironforgesiron.com

What's Next?
We all know what is next for Carlos Condit. He obviously did not receive a copy of the script as he upsets the Georges Saint Pierre and Nick Diaz storyline. He has previously stated that he would like to defend the belt once before he faces GSP, but the UFC would rather he waited.

As for Diaz, he said he would like to retire from MMA as he does not feel the pay is worth the stress and trauma. That would truly be a loss becomes he seems to have become a big star.

So what do you think, who won that decision? Did Condit run or was that a slick and sensible game plan? Will Diaz retire? Let us know, leave a comment.

Other UFC 143 recaps on Jimma

UFC 143: Werdum vs Nelson Recap
UFC 143: Best of the Rest Recap

UFC 143: Werdum vs Nelson Recap

2012-02-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

Setting
Roy Nelson had developed into something of a gate keeper coming into this fight, but he has aspirations to fight higher up the roster. Well, in this fight he got his wish with a highly ranked and highly though of Fabricio Werdum. These were two Brazilian Ju Jutsu black belts capable of dropping bombs. Nelson had recently halted a two fight skid, defeating Croatian legend Mirko Cro Crop and Werdum was coming off a decision loss to Alistair Overeem. Most gave the submission advantage to Werdum, but there were clear doubts as to whether he could get this fight to the ground. For Nelson, the question was whether or not he could land that big bomb of a right hand.

via mmamania

The Fight
Wow, I really owe Fabricio Werdum an apology. I had assumed this would be a fight between one guy looking to go to the ground and the other looking for one big right. In the end, Werdum looked like a complete, wel rounded mixed martial artist. His stand up was dynamic and clearly powerful enough to do damage to anyone other than the tank, Roy Nelson. For three rounds, Werdum attacked with knees, kicks, a stiff jab and some lovely straight rights. His Thai clinch was incredibly impressive. He basically controlled everything across three rounds, taking every round in a unanimous decision victory.

These GIFs from ironforgesiron.com really tell the story of the fight.

What's Next?
Werdum looked so good in this fight, that the result surely catapults him well up the heavyweight division. He might well line up against a big name like Frank Mir (I would love to see a BJJ battle between those two) or Cain Velasquez.

Nelson looked tough and game, but really offered very little of note in the fight. He has now lost three of his last 4 and I expect him to spend the rest of career putting on fun fights against fighters who will punch him in the face while he looks to land his giant hay-maker. A match up with French kickboxer Cheik Kongo could be great.

Other UFC 143 recaps on Jimma

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Recap
UFC 143: Best of the Rest Recap

UFC 143: Best of the Rest Recap

2012-02-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

Josh Koscheck vs Mike Pierce

Setting
Josh Koscheck could have been forgiven for feeling a little let down to be fighting Mike Pierce at UFC 143. He was supposed to be fighting Carlos Condit before GSP's injury. Instead he was left facing a game, skilled opponent with a much smaller name. To gain new momentum from this bout, Koscheck needed to beat Pierce and beat him well. As for Pierce, this is another opportunity to prove himself against a top level welterweight. He has slipped up against opposition of this calibre in the past, but a win against Koscheck could elevate him well up the pecking order.

via fiveouncesofpain

The Fight
This was a tense and ugly fight. The standup exchange was decidedly close, but it seemed that Pierce managed to land the most significant shots as Koscheck waited to throw a big right hand. That big right hand never really happened and this left plenty of doubt going in to the decision. The difference may well have come from his ability to take Pierce down. He took Pierce down twice, albeit without being able to make anything of it. Koscheck took the decision by a split decision in a fight that could have gone either way.

What's Next?
This is one of those fights that does little for either fighter. Mike Pierce looked gritty, durable and rugged against another top opponent, but he lost again. Maybe he would be a good fight for Jake Shields to take next, should he win in Japan. As for Koscheck, he is still a while away from another shot at the welterweight gold, especially if the belt still belongs to GSP. I would like to see him be the next test for heavy handed wrestler Johny Hendricks.

Renan Barao vs Scott Jorgensen

Setting
Barao came into this fight on a gigantic 27 fight win streak, most recently submitting Brad Pickett. Most saw his dominance of the Brit as his coming out party and there is now considerable hype and momentum behind him. In Jorgensen, he would face a fighter with experience against the highest level of bantamweight fighters. Would Jorgensen's wrestling might well prove to be Barao's kryptonite, or would the Brazilian be dynamic and aggressive enough to overwhelm the American?

via mmaweekly

The Fight
Well, this fight seemed to confirm what everyone had long suspected. Renan Barao is here to stay as a major contender in the bantamweight division and Dominic Cruz had better take notice. He seemed to be a more tamed kind of crazy in this fight as he intelligently controlled the distance with a variety of kicks and a lovely stiff jab. For his part, Jorgensen failed to take the Brazilian down due to the great defense he came up against and in the end resorted to pulling guard. With the Brazilian on top, Jorgensen did enough to stay out of trouble but had nothing to offer offensively. There were some lovely spinning back kicks and combinations as well as a relentless work rate and controlled agression. The Brazilian took the unanimous decision.

What's Next?
As I said, Dominic Cruz had better be ready. I feel like with Pickett and Jorgensen on his resume and his mammoth win streak, Barao is absolutely ready and deserving of a title shot. The only barrier is whether he wants to wait for Cruz and Uriah Fabar to tape the Ultimate Fighter and have their own fight for the title. If he does not want to wait, who wants to risk their own rise to contention against an opponent like Barao?

As for Jorgensen, he looked durable but flummoxed by the creativity and movement of the Brazilian. He suffered the same fate against Dominic Cruz when they fought. It seems like Jorgensen is destined to reside just below the elite at bantamweight. As for who he fights next, we might have to wait and see how the dust settles in that division, including the outcome of the fight between Miguel Torres and Micheal MacDonald.

Other thoughts
Stephen Thompson looked awesome in his UFC debut. Sure, it's his first fight and he might well face opposition can get punches off against him, but it was fun to see a guy stand in an out and out karate stance and land a beautiful kick.

The new UFC intro is absolutely awesome. I really love the concept and the execution and it is nowhere as annoyingly cheesy as the gladiator intro. Finally I can show the UFC to friends right from the beginning of the broadcast.

Video: New UFC pay per view intro.

How impatient was Herb Dean in the Koscheck vs Pierce fight? Seriously, he was stressing me out as a spectator, how must the fighters have felt? If the guys are battling for position, then that counts as work. Some techniques have to be slow, leave them to it.

Did Joe Rogan need to say that the women's bantamweight title fight was going to be the hottest title fight ever? That was annoying. Yes, they are both pretty ladies. But immensely more important is that Miesha Tate is an incredible fighter and Ronda Rousey might well be too. That's going to be a great fight.

Other UFC 143 recaps on Jimma

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Recap
UFC 143: Werdum vs Nelson Recap

UFC 143: Best of the Rest Preview

2012-02-03T05:36:00.000-08:00

UFC 143 is one of the most stacked cards we have seen in a while. It features the biggest fight in the welterweight division for years, a fun heavyweight bout and a fight between super exciting bantamweight. Previews of Diaz vs Condit and Nelson vs Werdum are already out, here we go with two other fights from the main card.

Koscheck vs Pierce

via lasvegassun.com

Recent History

Josh Koscheck has been itching to fight since his TKO win over Matt Hughes at UFC 135 and was originally slated to fight Carlos Condit this weekend.
Mike Pierce has been hovering around this level of opponent for some time without really breaking through.
At UFC on FOX 1, he defeated Paul Bradley by an underwhelming split decision.

Styles

Josh Koscheck is a powerful wrestler who has spent great effort bringing his boxing up to speed. So much so, that for a time he neglected his wrestling. Against Matt Hughes there was little needed for that grappling acumen as he knocked the veteran out in some style. Having only fought once in over 12 months, it is tricky to predict how Koscheck will have developed. He will surely still be a powerful and explosive wrestler capable of taking down most opponents at welterweight, but will he look to utilize powerful boxing too?

Mike Pierce is another heavy handed wrestler and a bit of a decision machine. His hands are sloppier than Koscheck's and his wrestling style more grind than explosion.

Head to Head

To my mind, Koscheck has some of the best MMA wrestling in the UFC and I cannot see Pierce matching him there. In spite of progress in the boxing skills of both guys, neither man is the new Mike Tyson. For that reason, on the feet this could go either way with both men powerful enough to connect with a knockout blow but sloppy enough to let one in.

For that reason, expect to see Koscheck attempt to control Pierce on the mat and work him over with ground and pound. Pierce should employ defensive wrestling and take his chances on the feet.

Predicition

Koscheck by unanimous decision.

Renan Barao vs Scott Jorgensen

via ufcnews.org

Recent History

Barao beat British contender Brad Pickett by first round submission at UFC 138 to extend his winning streak to a formiddable twenty seven fights.
Since losing to Dominic Cruz in December 2010, Jorgensen has looked great against Jeff Curran and Ken Stone.
Given that bantamweight is a relatively shallow division, the winner of this bout could well be close to title shot.

Styles

Before I saw Renan Barao defeat Brad Pickett at UFC 138, I was not sure if this youngster was a legitimate contender or someone with a padded record. That fight proved that the Nova Uniao product has what it takes to destroy top level competition. And destroy is the right word. Barao is well rounded with the capacity to transition from standing to ground, to submissions in the blink of an eye. He has great power and a diversity to his strikes that reminds me of his team mate Jose Aldo. He has the chin and the aggressive mentality to make the most of these characteristics as he takes the chances necessary to land killer blows.

Jorgensen is another exciting and well rounded fighter. He has an explosive kickboxing arsenal and the ability to take the fight to the ground should he need to. In the video below he highlights his wrestling background and he will sure look to employ that to control the Brazilian.

Head to Head

While both fighters are aggressive, powerful and tough with the ability to fight wherever the fight goes, Barao has the advantage in two key areas. He has a fluid and creative approach to all aspects of the game, so that he can take advantage of almost any glimpse of an opening. This aided also by his immense speed.. Jorgensen will find this speed deficit tricky to deal with. The American is in danger of being out thought and out struck.

Prediction

Barao by TKO, round 2.

More UFC 143 Coverage from jiMMA

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Preview

UFC 143: Nelson vs Werdum Preview

2012-02-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

The co main event at UFC 143 will feature two heavyweights with serious questions being asked about where they stand in the division. Roy Nelson was the IFL heavyweight champion and The Ultimate Fighter heavyweights winner. He also possesses what Dana White once called the worst physique in all of professional sports. He will take on Fabricio Werdum, the first guy to halt Fedor Emelianenko's storied run, although some of the sheen was stripped from that when the next two guys did it as well. Nelson's belly (which is still pretty big) combined with his less than stellar 3-2 record so far in the UFC, have led to questions about whether he is making the most of his potential. Fabricio Werdum has hovered around the upper regions of the heavyweight rankings for some time but needs to go on a consistent run of wins against high level opposition before he is near contention.

via prommanow

Recent History

Nelson halted a two fight skid when he beat Croatian legend Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 137 in October last year.
Werdum comes off of a loss to heavyweight number one contender Alistair Overeem in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Styles

On paper, this fight could be a cliche waiting to happen. When two Brazilian Ju Jutsu black belts collide the result is often a stand up war as... etc. Except that Roy Nelson only tends to use his BJJ skill set to flop his formidable belly onto people's faces as part of his gruesome mounted crucifix. With his belly shrinking bit by bit these days, that might not be an option. No, in spite of his grappling credential, Nelson is more of a stand up and brawl kind of fighter. He has huge power and a granite chin, which is pretty handy since his defense has more gaps than a six year olds teeth.

Fabricio Werdum is a BJJ specialist with power in his hands. Unlike Nelson, it feels like Werdum understands his limitations on the feet and is often happiest on the mat. He has big power in his hands too, with knockout wins on his resume. However, when he feels the tide turning in the stand up, he will look to take his opponent down, even pulling guard, to begin working submissions.

Nelson talks about upcoming bout with Werdum amongst other things

Head to head

Expect any of the standing portion of this fight to be some pretty wild, looping hay makers. The difference between the fighters is that half of those will be bouncing off of an oblivious Nelson's head and the other half could well be knocking Werdum down. I imagine Werdum will try to find a way to the ground in this fight, although that will be easier said than done. If it gets there, the ground battle will be pretty intriguing. Werdum has the clear edge since he has been regularly finding submissions in high level MMA bouts, but Nelson is no easy target.

In the end, I see Nelson being the one who can keep the fight where he wants it, on the feet. It will not be the prettiest bout on the card but will have some exciting moments.

Prediction

Nelson by TKO.

More UFC 143 Coverage from jiMMA

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Preview

UFC 143: Best of the Rest Preview

UFC 143 - Diaz vs Condit Preview

2012-02-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

Article first published as UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Preview on Technorati.

This Saturday night one of the most tumultuous build ups in UFC history comes to a head as Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz fight for the Interim Welterweight Title on pay per view. This fight has been some time and drama in the making and in the meantime, Nick Diaz has developed a tremendous (and marketable) feud with Georges Saint-Pierre, who he would meet late this year, should he win.

Via mmaconvert

Recent History

Nick Diaz is currently on an 11 fight win streak, including his recent demolition of UFC legend BJ Penn
Carlos Condit has won 12 of his last 13.
Condit has sat out since July, as he had expected to be fighting GSP in late October, a bout which was cancelled.

Styles

via mmaweekly

Carlos Condit uses his long reach to control distance while he figures his opponents out. His kicks further emphasize his reach advantage over most opponents. When he feels he has his opponent hurt he is ready to let fly with vicious knees, either jumping or in the clinch. While he favors this standing attack, he is no slouch on the ground and absolutely has the ability to finish with submissions.

Nick Diaz is also a rangy fighter, but is much more comfortable trading blows in close quarters, relying mostly on boxing. While his technique and head movement might not be the crispest you can find in MMA, it is the sheer volume of punches he throws which overwhelms his opponents. In his last fight with BJ Penn, Penn could not take advantage of any holes in the Diaz defense since there was no respite from the onslaught he suffered. Nick expertly mixes between medium and high powered shots in order to pace himself. Should this fight make it to the mat, Diaz is a Brazilian Ju Jutsu black belt under Cesar Gracie and a proficient submission artist.

Head to Head

Stylistically, this is one of the most fun fights the UFC has put on for some time. Diaz and Condit both bring immensely well rounded games and unquestionable work rate and endurance, so you can expect this to be high octane for a potential 25 minutes.

These two fighters have similar skill sets, albeit with pretty definitive styles. I expect Condit to try and stay out of prolonged striking exchanges, instead trying to maintain distance and engage on his own terms. For Diaz, the key will be pressuring Condit and get him moving backwards so that he can trap him against the cage fence and barrage him with punches. I don't see this fight going to the ground with both fighters preferring to throw strikes, but if it does Nick Diaz has the better pedigree for submissions.

Predicition

Nick Diaz by a close and enthralling decision.

More UFC 143 Coverage from jiMMA

UFC 143: Nelson vs Werdum Preview

UFC 143: Best of the Rest Preview

MMA - There's nowhere to hide from gender equality.

2012-02-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece called Fighting Gender Equality in which I pointed out the ways in which MMA tends to exclude, demean or undermine women as participants and spectators. Today I would like to turn the article on its head, looking at how MMA has the potential and a lot of the building blocks already in place, to help move feminism forward within sports.

via mmacagedoor

via wordpress

I am a feminist and to be honest, I understand that feminism in sport is small fry compared to the fact that chauvinism clouds every aspect of society. Sport and our attitudes towards athletes will not truly become fair and balanced until society as a whole falls in line with gender equality in a deep way. I absolutely believe that the priority for feminism is to educate people and change perceptions and prejudices.

I do however, feel sports have a role to play. Sporting organisations have the chance to create role models and these role models change perceptions. MMA one of the sports with the best opportunities to change these perceptions. MMA already has split divisions so that ability is given a chance to shine over sheer size and brute strength, so that MMA is already a sport that seems primed to bridge any physical gaps between genders. A fight is also a situation where everything hangs out. If there were any inherent character traits particular to a gender, the ring or cage would be the place to notice. MMA is a sport surrounded by an atmosphere of machismo and bravado, yet at the same time the ideal endeavour to showcase the equality of men and women. That juxtaposition emphasises the point.

Below I will talk through three ways in which I feel MMA in uniquely placed as a sport to promote feminism.

Seperated Divisions

In most sports and indeed, most endeavours, where chauvinism is a factor, one of the largest barriers to equality is the "Women are just physically inferior to men" line. This is a line which tends to lead to some slippery slope of dubious consequences. The most dubious is the fuzzy assertion that physical differences are proof that feminism itself is flawed. "You can't say women are equal, they're not as strong as men".

Because women are inferior in some way, the gender cynics say, they cannot be considered the best athletes. They would never be able to compete with men, they cannot compete for as long as men and they are therefore not as watchable as men and so should not be paid as much as men. Now MMA is in a unique position to blow this argument out of the water. The top three fighters in the world, as recognised by most fans and pundits are currently Anderson Silva (185lbs), Georges Saint-Pierre (170lbs) and Jose Aldo (145lbs). The current heavyweight champion in the sports biggest organisation is Junior Dos Santos, he is well rounded, powerful and weighs around 240lbs. Out of the four fighters mentioned so far, Dos Santos is clearly the one who would win in a fight. But it would be patently absurd for him to fight an opponent two thirds of his size and it would be equally absurd to say that he is a better fighter, merely because his strength and size gives him advantage. No, in mixed martial arts we have weight classes so that people are fighting against others of roughly the same size.

The champs: Clockwise from top left; Anderson Silva,
Georges Saint-Pierre, Jose Aldo and Miesha Tate.
via mmatrainingworkouts, thebiglead, mmamania mixedmartialarts.com

Now, there is no reason why women's divisions cannot be viewed in the same way as other weight classes. It is irrelevant that Miesha Tate (current female bantamweight champion) could not defeat the current male bantamweight champion, they are in different divisions. There is no reason not to rate Tate highly, provided she displays high levels of skill and defeats stiff competition. In other sports, female athletes suffer from constant negative comparisons to men. In MMA, we are accustomed to the fact that people in different divisions are tricky to compare, so women fight other women should not represent lesser competition, just another division.

MMA then, is in a unique position where athletes of both genders could well be considered elite and equatable, regardless of the fact that they won't fight each other.

The Simplicity of a Fight

In a fight there is nowhere that potential gender differences could hide. Any stereotypes that could prove true would prove true here. When you watch and compare top male and female MMA bouts, there is no more obvious environment for showing that men and women ought to be treated equally.

If you watch plenty of mixed martial arts bouts you will see that what a fighter is is clearly defined by both female and male fighters. The problem at the moment is that the majority of fights that even hardcore fans watch are between men, so that men have come to define what a fighter is in their minds. When (I am being quite optimistic here, yes) female MMA comes to prominence, that part of the definition of a fighter will disappear. In fact, it is already starting. At the gym where I train, there is no mention of gender. Men and women train together and there is no holding back. Nor is there any particular celebration of this or any patronising of the female fighters, equality is just a matter of fact.

Watch the clip below of Micheal Schiavello (my favourite MMA commentator) calling Sara McMann (my favourite fighter in her division) and you will see that when watching a fight, gender completely goes out the window. It is hard to watch these athletes compete and think of them as anything other than fighters.

Women Excelling in the Most "Macho" of Endeavours

This is not about women performing well in a male dominated arena or about women proving that they are as good men. It is the fact that men and women have clearly got equal potential in mixed martial arts and, since it is a sport surrounded by macho bravado, there is an obvious dichotomy that would surely be quickly righted should female MMA become prominent.

Let's be clear. The truly brilliant mixed martial artist does not exhibit typical macho behaviour. The macho meat heads are the fighters who get beaten by the hard working, considered and thoughtful artists. The sport of MMA though, basically boils down to a fight, the most basic and elemental physical competition between two human beings possible. This is one of those environments that has traditionally been reserved for men. For one thing, it would be satisfying as a feminist and fight fan for MMA to get its act together. But I also think that when it is clear that gender is not a relevant factor in whether or not you can be a great fighter of all things, it will be easy argue to gender is not a relevant factor in other endeavours.

Conclusions

Strikeforce, home of the most eagerly anticipated female MMA
bout for some time between Miesha Tate (left) and Ronda
Rousey (right) could be the driving force of equality in MMA
Photos via ultimateapocolypse andSherdog

Now, I do not believe a major MMA organisation is ready to come and call itself feminist, or openly push a 'feminist' agenda. That is a scary word that might well be a bridge too far for a sport that still has a largely conservative fan base (but they should use it). However, two organisations in America are already making baby steps in bringing there organisations up to speed. Bellator and Strikeforce (owned by the UFC parent company Zuffa), the number 2 and number 3 MMA organisations in the US a;ready have some of the best female fighters on their rosters. Strikeforce will have two women headlining a main card this March and earning some pretty big money while they are at it. If you are a part of the MMA world you may have some inkling as to why I am not too enthusiastic about Tate vs Rousey as a march towards feminism (expect an article about that later).

The point of this article though, is that it feels inevitable at the moment that as MMA experiences a bit of a push for female fighters and with an organisation in Strikeforce that may well become more and more devoted to housing them, a more equal approach to gender will be unavoidable. For the reasons outlined in the body of this article, in MMA there is nowhere to hide from gender equality.

So what do you think? Is women's MMA destined to grow and equality between men and women in the sport inevitable? Could MMA eventually become a beacon of equality or will it continue to be one of the more divided sports? Let us know, leave a comment.

Here is a link to a related article: Fighting Gender Inequality

Women's Flyweight (115lb) Division - Who's who?

2012-01-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks I am going to sort you all out with a veritable who's who of women's MMA. I am going to take MMA Rising's rankings and give you a run down of who these women are. This will lead up to a piece about the depth, potential and future of female MMA.

I am starting things off with the flyweights, which you will find featured in Bellator in the US and Pancrase and Jewels in Japan as well as smaller promotions everywhere. Like all the female divisions, the ladies flyweights would really benefit from one promotion pushing a stable, competitive division with regular high quality fights for the top girls. When I hear criticism of the depth of female MMA, I wonder if people have taken the trouble to look who's out there, especially with a lot of female fighters plying their trade in Japan and smaller regional shows in the US and Europe. I'm sure that article will come later.

1 - Megumi Fujii (25-1)

Fujii is a veteran of 26 fights, in organisations such as Jewels, Bellator and Shooto. She is primarily a submission fighter with a propensity for armbars. The Japanese fighter has pretty good wrestling ability, despite being relatively small for her division. She overpowers her opponents with general stickiness and technique rather than true power and is absolutely unafraid to pull guard and fight off of her back (see the video below).

Unfortunately for us, it is quite unlikely that at 37 years old, Fujii can be a part of the increasing popularity in female MMA outside of Japan. Since losing in the Bellator women's 115lb tournament final to Zoila Gurgel (now fighting at 125lb) she has fought three times in Japan. I would imagine she would see out her career tearing off arms over there, where it is possible for women to fight regularly at a reasonable level. That's a shame because it would be great to test whether Fujii can hang with the more powerful weight cutting American fighters, like Jessica Aguilar and truly cement her number one status. With that in mind, we could question her position as the divisions top dog by seeing what happened the last time she fought a truly elite fighter in her division:

2 - Jessica Aguilar (12-4-0)

Jessica Aguilar is a fun fighter to watch. The Mexican American is a stocky and powerful boxer who also possesses some slick submission skills and powerful grappling. Like most female fighters, she has moved around, fighting 4 times for Bellator and other smaller promotions. She is developing noticably with every fight she takes and is a clear example of a fighter who would benefit greatly from the opportunity to fight professionally, full time where she could accelerate some of that growth. Her next outing though, will come at Fight Time Promotions 8 against Patricia Vidonic, in a fight you really have to expect she will win.

Here she is in her last outing, patiently and skillfully outpointing the number 4 ranked flyweight Lisa Ellis-Ward:

3 - Ayaka Hamasaki (6-0-0)

Hamasaki is another undersized flyweight from Japan, but it hasn't done her any harm so far in her short career. She is the current Jewels Lightweight (115lb) champion with 5 straight wins in that organisation, winning that title against number 5 ranked Seo Hee Ham. She is a high level judo player and uses that background to dominate and smother opponents. She has the ability to submit but also passable standup skills. She was down to fight Jessica Aguilar a while ago but the fight fell through. It would be great for this division if Bellator can get Hamasaki down for their next 115lb tournament. For now though, look out for her at the next Jewels Event. I don't have any videos for you but here she is with her belt.

4 - Lisa Ellis-Ward (14-7)

We met Lisa Ellis-Ward above due to her recent loss to Jessica Aguilar. Her previous outing was a year before where she lost to number 1 ranked Megumi Fujii. It might well be that Ellis-Ward suffers from the age old WMMA problem of not enough high level fights for her to regularly train, improve and be tested, so that when she does fight the best, she comes up short. She has a submission wrestling attack as you will see in the video of her defeating Stephanie Frausto. She co-owns a gym with her husband and one would hope that the stability that has come from owning a gym will give her a foundation for future improvement. If Bellator cannot put more regular fights on for her, she should look to the regional circuit where alot of the top girls are forced to ply their trade.

5 - Seo Hee Ham (9-5)

We've met Seo Hee Ham before too as she lost out in her chance to take the 115lb Jewels crown from Ayaka Hamasaki. The South Korean has had an up and down career which is understandable as she has fought on some of the biggest stages of female japanese MMA in Jewels, Smackgirl and Deep. Her style is very much kickboxing and she even has a 6-0 record in that discipline. In spite of three kickboxing KOs, she has not been able to transfer that knockout power to MMA as she has found her nine career wins by way of decision. She is a game and dynamic striker but really is susceptible to being taken down, controlled and/or submitted. She is young and as we potentially see female MMA take off, we might hope to see Seo Hee Ham round out her game with some submission and take down defense as well as the ability to throw heavier leather while moving to avoid takedowns.

Here is a video of her outpointing veteran Saori Ishioka at Deep 52:

6 - Mei Yamaguchi (9-3-1)

I will bang on about it, but the Japanese fighters really do benefit from the opportunity to fight high level competition multiple times a year on a decent stage. She has a mixed (hehe) martial arts background having tried her hand at Karate and Brazilian Ju Jutsu and now fighting with a well rounded style. Her most recent loss was to number 5 ranked See Heo Ham but she bounced back at the turn of the year with a decision over gnarly veteran Mika Nagano. Yamaguchi has fought the best with mixed results, beating Sunaba and Takabayashi, while losing out to Yuka Tsuji. Here she is showing off her general martial arts prowess as she shoot boxes the hell out of Odoka Makada.

7 - Kyoko Takabayashi (12-4-1)

Takabayashi has had an eventful career over 17 fights. She has a submission centered attack and has had mixed success with it against top opposition. She has submitted Sunaba and ground out a decision win of Ishioka. However at 30 years old and having not fought for nearly eight months and once in the year proceeding that, her careers appears to be tapering down. Here she is defeating number 10 ranked Tomomi Sunaba:

8 - Yuka Tsuji (23-2-0)

Clearly Tsuji has a hell of a record and a look at that record will show you wins against a veritable who's who of the division. She has defeated Ishioka, Yamaguchi and Anna Michelle Tavares as well as mnay others from all over the world. She has fought at Valkyrie, Smackgirl and most recently Saora Ishioka at Jewels 15. Unfortunately Tsuji is a 37 year old with 3 fights in the last 4 years, has never fought outside of Japan and realistically she will miss out on any future developments in women's MMA.

Tsuji armbarring Erica Montoya

9 - Carla Esparza (6-2)

The American wrestler Carla Esparza has been very active since she made her debut in February of 2010, fighting 8 times. In her short career she has only lost to two of the top girls in the division, who she undoubtedly fought a bit early in her development, Fujii and Aguilar. She is stocky and has a great base and hips which she can use to dominate her opponents and fish for power submissions (she has three victories via rear naked choke). She has a fight coming up in March against Angela Magana who is tough and experienced herself, having defeated Aguilar back in 2009. This fight goes down at MEZ Sports- Pandemonium 6.

Again I am repeating myself, but Esparza will benefit should the opportunity ever arise to train full time for a stable division of top female flyweights. Here she is at XFC 15, facing Felice Herrig. Lucky you, this includes the best commentator in the business, Micheal Schiavello, calling the shots.

10 - Tomomi Sunaba (17-13-1)

With 20 kickboxing bouts and over 30 in MMA, Sunaba is the true meanng of a fighter. Since 2006 she has dedicated herself to a busy mixed martial arts career against some top opposition. Unlike most of the fighters on this list, Sunaba has the ability and power to produce some highlight reel knockouts. Her dynamism, pace and aggression make her one of the most watchable fighters in the division and it is a real shame that at the ripe old age of 35, she could be knocking on the door of retirement pretty soon. That being said, a win in her next outing against the very respectable Saori Ishioka might propel her back up the rankings towards one more fight with one of the bigger names at 115lb.

Here's a video of her highlights, she is the one battering all the other women. Watch especially for the 1:45 mark as she just bullies a girl out of the ring (N.B. That's why cage fighting is safer than fighting in a boxing ring).

There you have it then, a who's who of the 115lb division in female MMA. As you can see, these fighters are scattered around 3 main promotions; Pancrase, Jewels and Bellator and having to pick up fights at smaller shows to fill in the gaps. This latter point is truest for American fighters for whom Bellator does not provide regular enough fights for them to really stay sharp. I would love for one US organisation with some money to get behind this division and put together either a really strong tournament or a whole division, there are plenty of girls hanging around the rankings just below this lot who would really benefit from the guarantee of 2 or 3 fights a year.

If you think any of these girls are not worth a spot in the top ten or if I haven't done them justice in describing them, please comment and I can try and address it. On top of that, any names you think will be big news in the division in the near future, let me know.

For a who's who of the women's 125lb division, click here.

UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs Davis - Recap

2012-01-29T05:59:00.000-08:00

Setting
Phil Davis came into this fight 9-0 and with some big hype behind him. There were comparisons to the other lanky young phenom in the division, Jon Jones. Davis is a very different fighter than Jones though. He has much less fluid striking and a game centered much more around grappling. His opponent, Rashad Evans, came in with an incredible 16-1-1 record against formidable opposition. He was already the number one contender and there was a feeling that this fight existed to give him something to do while he waited for Jones to be available to fight.

via cbc.ca

The Fight
In a fight between two wrestlers, you expect a fair bit of the action to be on the feet as grappling cancels itself out. The start of this fight saw Rashad Evans use his superior movement, speed and footwork completely work over Davis on the feet. The ex-champ punctuated this onslaught with some lovely trips and great top control and transitions. He spent some time punishing Davis in side control and the mounted crucifix.

In short, for five rounds, Davis looked out of his depth. He had the longer reach but showed no awareness of how to use it. Any comparison to Jones looked laughable now as Davis looked stiff, slow and awkward with everything he threw. Evans schooled the younger fighter and all that was missing here was the knockout.

The GIFs below (from ironforgesiron) pretty much tell the story of the fight, although you may want to imagine Rashad hitting Davis in the face a bit too.

What's Next?
Rashad moves on to fight Jon Jones for their long awaited light heavyweight title bout. Be careful what you wish for Rashad.

Davis can take a lot out of this fight as he sees how real top level guys fight. He needs to work not just on his technique but general attitude to striking, he needs to loosen up. He also needs to get used setting up big techniques like takedowns and head kicks/ In this fight he seemed to lunge and swing and Rashad evaded with ease. He also may have seen what it is like to not be able to muscle guys around the cage as he has previously. Back to the drawing board then, and then back to the middle of the pack. Perhaps he should be allowed to be the next person to demolish Tito Ortiz before he retires, thus getting himself back onto the winning track with a bit of hype.

Other Thoughts
Before I saw the press conference, I was a little bit upset that Sonnen did not acknowledge the tough, close fight he had been in with Mike Bisping, instead launching straight into his tired patter. He was a lot more gracious and personable at the post fight presser and that was pleasing.

There are rumblings that UFC on Fox disappointed, but quite frankly that is the risk you take with mixed martial arts. It can go either way. I personally enjoyed the last two bouts and though there was plenty to be said for the prelims on FX too. Maia vs Weidman though, was painful to watch. There is absolutely no excuse for Maia to be gassing out, he is a professional athlete and had all the time in the world to prepare for this fight.

The Fox robots were awesome. My MMA watching buddy thought they were a bit naff, but I loved it. Other than that the Fox production is pretty cool, except that Jon Jones and Randy Couture could not have been more obviously reading their scripts as they talked.

Finally, I am not sure I have ever seen Charles Oliveira's submission. I can't decide if that was great or if he accidentally trapped the guys foot and just sat down on it.

UFC on Fox 2: Sonnen vs Bisping - Recap

2012-01-29T05:43:00.000-08:00

Image from yahoo sports

Setting
This fight came about because Mark Munoz injured his elbow and a spot opened to fight Chael Sonnen for the right to fight Anderson Silva this summer. Mike Bisping was only to happy to fill the it. The talk going in to the fight was all about Sonnen's ability to take people down and Bisping's lack of truly top level opponents thus far. Bisping came into the bout on a four fight win streak and coming off of two TKO finishes. For his part, Sonnen had just run easily through a durable and highly rated fighter in Brian Stann.

The Fight
Straight off the bell Chael Sonnen rushed Mike Bisping, taking him immediately to the floor. He looked super powerful and it seemed like this was a sign of how things might go. The Brit immediately got to his feet and that to and fro of taking down and scrambling up punctuated the next two rounds. In between these takedowns, Bisping lit Sonnen up on his feet, with Sonnen admitting in the post fight press conference that he was severely rocked in the first. Sonnen had his moments in the second round taking The Count's back towards the end. The third round was all Sonnen as he took down and smothered his opponent. He failed to do much damage but stayed in dominant positions for majority of the time. Finally, Bisping finished the round with a takedown of his own and a few sharp, short elbows.

Going to the judges, I was pretty sure Bisping had edged the decision as in his areas of dominance he had landed the most damaging blows. However, there was also a feeling that maybe the judges would weight the takedowns more strongly than Bisping's ability to control Sonnen on the fence and his ability to dominate the striking. As it turns out, the decision went in favour of Sonnen. In the post fight press conference Sonnen made it clear that there was relief when he heard the decision because he knew it could have gone against him.

The two GIFs below do not exactly tell the whole story of the fight, but what they do show though is that Bisping was able to a lot more in this fight than people were expecting in the run up.

What's Next?
Chael Sonnen will fight Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. This will most likely happen this summer in Brazil. No surprises there. As for Bisping, it will be tricky for the UFC to decide what to do with him next. He is coming off of a loss but he lost looking a lot better than most people predicted he would, arguably doing enough to win the decision and at the very least can take a moral victory from this fight ("Moral victories suck," Bisping says). I would love to see him put back in a position to fight a high level opponent, what about Mark Munoz upon his come back for the right to fight the winner of Sonnen vs Silva? Sounds good to me.

GIFs from ironforgesiron.

UFC on Fox 2: Weidman vs Maia - The Recap

2012-01-29T05:01:00.000-08:00

Setting
Chris Weidman went into this fight and undefeated 7-0 and, while he had a lot of hype behind him, a lot of people suspected he may suffer from coming in to this fight on very short notice. Maia on the other hand, is a veteran ju jutsu practitioner who promised that his stand up game has continued to evolve. There was some doubt over whether Weidman could hang with Maia on the ground, in spite of his own considerable grappling credentials and about whether Maia would be too wily and experienced for the up and comer.

via yahoosports

The Fight
In the first round, Weidman just looked bigger, stronger and faster than Maia in every aspect. He got the better of the standing exchanges and any time Maia tried to clinch up without permission, he was tossed aside like a rag doll. At this point, I was pretty excited. OK, it was a shame that my prediction appeared to be completely unfounded, but it was pretty cool to see someone so young dominate a guy of Maia's quality and pedigree. However, into round two and both fighters gassed significantly. Weidman landed some takedowns but really did not manage to do much with his positions. The third round really looked like a pair of amateur heavy weights at the end of a five round war. Hands were low, punches were weak and Maia had his back to Weidman for about 2 seconds on the feet and the American did nothing. The third round was a truly awful performance from both fighters. In the end, Weidman deserved a decision and, since Chris came into the fight off such short notice, the blame for this catastrophe has to be laid at Maia's feet. This GIF (from ironforgesiron) does not quite do justice to the lack of luster in this fight, but you can see a glimpse of the sloppy technique and general weakness that was on display.

What's Next?
Well Weidman stepped up a level in this fight, probably a bit faster than he needed to. He did a good job of grinding out a decision in spite of a tricky last minute weight cut. Next, I would really like to see Weidman go back towards another mid-tier guy. I think there is something to be said for him fighting Bisping, however I would like to see Bisping given another high profile shot given the injustice of his fight's outcome.

For Maia, he really performed very badly here. I am not sure where he goes from here because he is a big name but just does not deserve a top level fighter next.

UFC on Fox 2 - Rashad Evans vs Phil Davis

2012-01-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

Rashad Evans is the number one contender for Jon Jones' Light Heavyweight Title and has been for quite some time. He could have continued to wait for a fight with the champ, realistically some time after April, but opted to stay busy and fight Phil Davis. Davis is an unbeaten youngster, although he has already fought some pretty stiff competition. This main event may be being overshadowed slightly by the co-main event, but it is certainly an intriguing fight featuring one of the UFC's top draws.

via prommanow

Recent History

Evans is on a three fight win streak, although those three fights have spanned nearly two years.
He came back from a long lay-off to demolish Tito Ortiz.
Phil Davis is on a nine fight win streak, which includes five UFC bouts and his most recent win was a unanimous decision over Little Nog nearly a year ago.

Styles

Both these men have strong wrestling backgrounds, which they argued vociferously about at the pre fight press conference, but they have very different styles for MMA. Rashad Evans often looks to use his wrestling to control fights and keep dangerous strikers where he can dominate them. However, more often in recent times he has used wrestling as more of a plan B as he displays an ever evolving, fluid boxing style. He has great movement, the ability to show-boat and draw opponents in and one punch knockout power, which he most famously used to knock Chuck Liddell out.

GIF from SBNation

Phil Davis has everything a good up and coming fighter should have. He has a great base in one the necessary areas of MMA, he has great work ethic and has evolved all areas of his game as he faces stiffer competition. He is, first and foremost, a wrestler. And, for that matter, he has a more decorated wrestling past than Rashad Evans. He has the ability to power people to the ground and use that same power to dominate, stifle and sometimes submit opponents. You can see how Davis' power is used to make the most of submission opportunities in the GIF below showing his one armed Kimura victory over Tim Boetsch.

via campizonemma

Head to Head

Wrestler vs wrestler fights usually end up with two people standing and boxing, as their abilities to grapple cancel each other out. In this fight though, I have to give Rashad a decided edge in the striking, he just has so much more experience and has proved his ability to box with high level strikers.

In fact, I see Rashad using his wrestling ability to attempt to stay on the feet as much as possible, while Phil Davis attempts to take Evans down and gain top control to attempt some funky submissions. Taking a wily old campaigner like Rashad down will inevitably come at the expense of eating some shots and this could well be Davis downfall.

The fight then, will come down to whether or not Davis can get it to the ground and whether Rashad can land damaging blows while it is on the feet.

Prediction

Evans by decision, as he keeps the fight standing and takes Davis apart on the feet.

Why watch?

This is a fight of paramount importance to the division. If Rashad wins, he fights Jon Jones for the title. If Davis wins, he is probably one fight away from a title shot. Other than that, I expect some fun scrambles and the potential for some big punches from Evans.

UFC on FX 2 - Maia vs Weidman Preview

2012-01-27T04:03:00.000-08:00

Damien Maia was originally slated to fight against Micheal Bisping, but an injury to Mark Munoz meant that Bisping was promoted to the co-main event against Chael Sonnen and Damien Maia was left without an opponent. The UFC attempted to set up a contest with Rousimar Palhares, but it was too short notice for the Brazillian and so Weidman stepped up. Somehow, Weidman is a favourite with bookmakers, while many commentators speculate that it may be too soon for rookie to fight someone of Maia's standard.

via Sherdog

Recent History

Weidman is undefeated in his nine pro MMA bouts, with three UFC wins.
His latest have been impressive submission stoppages in the first round.
Maia has won three of his last four, with his loss coming at the hands of Mark Munoz.
Maia has gone the distance in his last four fights, winning four and losing two decisions.

Styles

Damien Maia is a third degree Brazilian Ju Jutsu black belt and has won a plethora of international grappling tournaments. Maia differs from some BJJ converts to MMA in that he has pretty formidable takedowns, so he can get the fight to down where he wants it. He has become a bit of a submission machine and that is largely testament to his ability to take opponents down and work enough to stay on top of them. Maia and his coaches talk alot about his improving boxing and a better all round standing game but in reality that represents plan B. Although rounding off his game if important, Maia will always look to take the fight to where he is better than almost anyone.

Chris Weidman is an up and coming fighter with a lot of hype behind him given his last two wins. As a young fighter, his style is still developing and it is tricky to pin point exactly how he would like to fight, particularly against a BJJ specialist like Maia. Weidman has a strong wrestling background and has so far used that to dominate and control opponents. He talks about a strong grounding in ju jutsu and has of course submitted his last two opponents.

Head to Head

While at the press conference Weidman claimed he was willing to roll with Maia, it seems like it would be foolish to wade into another fighter's strongest skill set. That being said, Weidman has demonstrated good top control and Maia has not submitted someone for a long time, let alone from his back. Should Weidman be able to take Maia down, it might well be his ability to sweep or attack from the bottom that determines the fight.

Standing, I have no idea how the fight goes down. Maia is competent on the feet but almost certainly does not have the kind of power to earn Weidman's respect or knock him out. We are yet to see what Weidman's got with his hands really, especially as his game evolves, but I think this is where the majority of this fight could play out.

Prediction

I reckon the experience and wiliness of Maia should help him keep the fight wherever he feels he has the advantage.

Why watch it?

A chance of an intriguing grappling chess match.

As a treat, here's a GIF that shows off Weidman's power with submissions as he Brabo chokes Tom Lawlor.

Bisping vs Sonnen - It will be close

2012-01-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

When I wrote a piece previewing Mike Bisping's most recent fight against Jason Miller and posted it on Bloodyelbow.com, I got quite a lot of criticism for suggesting the Brit would win pretty easily against a severely under matched opponent. In large parts of the MMA media and online community, it sometimes seems like people's dislike for "The Count" confuses their judgement of his abilities. Well, this weekend at UFC on FOX 2, Bisping has a chance to prove his detractors wrong by defeating a legitimate elite middleweight, before a massive mainstream audience and earn the chance to fight for the title. For Bisping fans like myself, this fight has the feel of being the main event this Saturday.

Picture from MMAmania

Recent History

Bisping is on a 4 fight win streak with his most recent loss coming at the hands of Wanderlei Silva.
He has finished his last 2 fights by TKO.
Sonnen lost to Anderson Silva by triangle at UFC 117 while appearing to be ahead on points, having successfully grounded (but not necessarily pounded) the champ.
Sonnen was suspended for having elevated testosterone levels after the fight but returned with a dominant submission victory over Brian Stann.

Styles

Micheal Bisping gets some stick for just jabbing and moving but there is much more to his approach than that. Those who criticise his style overlook the fact that he does have the right combination of aggression, power and work rate to finish fights (more than 80% of his wins are by TKO or submission) as well as the cardio and endurance to go the distance when necessary. Bisping fights with a very mobile and dynamic Muay Thai. He employs great movement to avoid big punches and avoid being taken down (cue GIFs of Dan Henderson knocking him out at UFC 100). Once people get a hold of him, Bisping has shown that he is tricky to get to the mat and harder to keep there.

One fight that I feel will gives us a clue into Bispings chances against Sonnen was his bout with Rashad Evans, way back at UFC 78, Rashad had some success with taking Bisping down but really struggled to keep the Englishman down or make it pay off. Evans ended up winning a split decision of course and it was some time ago, but there was proof there that Bisping is not the kind of strike-centric fighter who provides fodder for strong wrestlers. In fact, it make have been the fact that Rashad was able to hang with Bisping to some extent on the feet, that helped him sneak the decision.

With Chael Sonnen you know what you will get. He has great wrestling, with an ability to shoot from distance or wrestle Bisping down from the clinch. He is uncommonly gifted at smothering guys so that they cannot work (it took Anderson Silva four and a half rounds). He does not, however, possess great power and, untill the Stann fight, had not demonstrated the ability to submit guys at the top level.

Head to Head
It is absolutely astonishing that Mike Bisping started at 4-1 to win. Sonnen himself has been pretty vocal about the fact that the Count wins fights. Chael Sonnen's record is pretty vocal about the fact that he loses fights. No, this fight represents a step up in class for Bisping since his last few fights but he does belong in this level of fight.

I already said that this fight has the feel of the main event about it. One of the biggest areas of anticipation is around whether Chael can take Bisping down, or more likely, how frequently? After that, how long can he keep the Brit there and can he do any damage? Realistically, a guy like Chael Sonnen will take you down. I feel like this fight will go similarly to Bisping's fight with Rashad Evans, except for the fact that Sonnen does not possess the standup game to present Bisping with problems. "The undisputed, undefeated champ" will be successful in taking Bisping down, but I don't think he will be able to hold him there, much less finish him there. That leaves the bits of the fight in between. I am pretty sure Bisping will comfortably out strike Sonnen and that his movement will keep the fight on the feet long enough for that to matter. The balance in this fight will be between the take downs of Sonnen and the amount of aggression Bisping is able to show on his feet. Oh, with the joker of a possible submission from Bisping from the bottom.

Prediction
I am really unsure, I really think this will be a close decision. I suppose I think Bisping will be a little busier, so I'll go for Bisping by split decision.

Why watch it?
It's one of the strangest, love/hate personalities in the sport against the best fighter Britain has to offer (or the most hated fighter in the UFC, depending on how you look at it).

UFC on FX 1 -The recap

2012-01-22T05:28:00.000-08:00

Right then, the UFC's first outing on FX is in the books and it looks to have been a roaring success. The commentary team of John Anik and Kenny Florian did a solid job, the graphics, music and general production was refreshingly different from other UFC events and the post fight show was worth a look too. Oh, and the fights were spectacular! Let's get straight down to a quick recap of each fight and thoughts on where we go from here. I have also included a few nice GIFs and a video in the Pat Barry section, as I am making no secret of the fact that I have a bit of a soft spot for him.

via tapology.com

Miller vs Guillard

Setting
Both fighters were coming off a momentum crushing loss and this was the chance to regain some of the impetus they had in the middle part of 2011. For Guillard it was his first fight out of a new camp with the Blackzilians and for Jim Miller it was a chance to shake off a disappointing (and perhaps injury marred) performance against Benson Henderson.

The Fight
Jim Miller did his best Chris Leben impression to eat plenty of hard shots, including multiple high knees. He was rocked, dropped but not swarmed as Guillard looked to pace himself, trying to take a more patient approach. Whether or not Miller would have survived a more sustained attack, who knows. He managed to take Guillard down and take his back as the Louisiana fighter attempted to explode to his feet and made short work of sinking in the choke.

via mmamania

What's Next?
For Miller, he can't be too far off a title shot. Melvin Guillard has an obvious weakness which he exploited and he will need to prove himself against one of the top fighters in the division before he will have truly re-taken his former fuel. I would like to see him fight Gray Maynard, Clay Guida or the loser of the lightweight title fight this February.

As for Guillard, he really needs to go into fights with a sensible game plan and learn to be calm on the ground. Getting back to your feet is important, but doing it safely is key. Let's see what Guillard does about his skill set after recovering from this loss, hopefully it will involve a few months in a gi. When he comes back, his two losses see him right back in the middle of the division with plenty of climbing to do again before he is where he wants to be.

Duane Ludwig vs Josh Neer

Setting
Neer was returning for another stint in the UFC and needed a big win to cement his place in the organisation. Duane Ludwig was on a two fight win streak and looking to make that into a dominant run. Ludwig was probably considered the favourite and this was expected to be a standup war.

The Fight
There was no surprise that this fight spent a while on the feet. Ludwig seemed to be taking advantage of his superior technique but Neer switched things up with a single leg take down. Guillard obviously wasn't watching the fight, if he was he would have learned from Ludwig's mistakes as Duance also tried to explode up without taking care of his neck. Neer got the guillotine in deep very quickly and it seemed like Ludwig was out before he had chance to tap.

via bloodyelbow

What's Next?
Realistically, Ludwig sticks around as a respectable fight for up and comers or a fighter who can provide an exciting fight for an undercard. Neer needs a couple more fights at this sort of lower-to mid tier level before we really know if his current win streak is a result of improvements to his game or the step down in his recent opposition.

Mike Easton vs Jared Papazian

Setting
Mike Easton came into this fight with a bit of hype but question marks from some quarters about how good he truly was. Papazian was getting his first chance at the big show, coming in off a great run with a smaller promotion.

The Fight
This fight was very much the blueprint of a what's good about the smaller weight classes. The fight was non stop work and action, with both guys showing great clinch work and gritty boxing from within the pocket. I disagree slightly with the broadcast team at the event, as they claimed this was a great display of skill. Easton himself said after the fight he probably needed to working on slipping some of those punches he ate and that's an understatement. Both guys were willing to take a shot to give one, which is often necessary but it's not a great strategy to go one for one with your opponent. Easton one by dint of his control of the centre of the cage and the greater power in his punches.

via mmamania

What's Next?
Papazian will be back. It's sometimes frustrating to see two up and coming guys square off against each other so that one is inevitably robbed of momentum at an important stage of their career. Jared will probably see himself working undercards for the next few fights as he attempts to build his name up. Easton is a work in progress and while it is perhaps a little early for him, I would enjoy a fight between him a Brad Pickett.

Pat Barry vs Christian Morecraft

Setting
As I said in my preview of UFC on FX 1, it is hard not to like Barry. That being said he came into this fight knowing that while his job might not be on the line, a win would be needed to justify his place in the UFC. He promised an improved awareness on the ground and more stubborn take down defence. For Christian Morecraft, his lower profile probably meant that a loss would cost him a lot more dearly, with a knockout loss to Matt Mitrione 5 months ago still haunting him.

The Fight
The fight started with Barry establishing a nice stiff jab and Morecraft quickly made the wise decision to take things to the floor. There he managed to set up a choke attempt and an arm bar attempt, the first of which Barry resisted and the second of which Barry rolled nicely out of. Back on the feet, Barry slipped and ripped with a lovely left hook which knocked Morecraft out and finished off with unanswered and undefended ground and pound. I am surprised nothing much has been made of the referee there, since it looked like a might late stoppage that cost Morecraft a pretty fuzzy head.

These GIFs of Barry's lovely left hook and nice submission defence probably tell the story of the fight as well as I can.

GIFS via ironforgesiron

Video: Pat Barry talks about his win over Christian Morecraft

What's Next
A lot has been made post fight of Pat Barry's ground game. No, he did not look like James Tony is his ju jutsu coach and he looked good using the correct escape from an armbar. But he is no Frank Mir yet. Let us not get ahead of ourselves, if Barry is waiting to cut his hair till he taps a guy out, he may well end up looking like Clay Guida. It is great though that he now has some awareness and placidity on the ground so that if he ends up going there he has a decent chance of riding it out until he can get back to where he belongs, on his feet. For him, it's back to the middle of the heavyweight division, being used to stack a card with a guaranteed good fight. A rematch with Kongo would be wonderful. As for Christian Morecraft, a 1-3 record in the UFC including two straight losses probably means that he needs to hit the regional circuit, improve and pick up some more steam before he hits the UFC again.

Oh yes, that was a fun card which, in spite of not having fights of great relevance in the upper echelons of the UFC, certainly delivered. Now we've finished this nice little appetiser, we begin the salivation over one of the most delectable non PPV cards the UFC has ever put on. Check back at jiMMA for build up of Chael Sonnen vs Micheal Bisping and Rashad Evans vs Phil Davis as the week goes on. Mark my words, the main course is going to be tasty.

Don't miss ProElite: Da Spyder vs Minowaman this Saturday

2012-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, ProElite: Da Spyder vs Minowaman in Hawaii is going to be great. Any card on HDNet is fun, simply because Micheal Schiavello is the best commentator in MMA. This card pits a Japanese veteran whose fought everywhere, against everyone and at any weight in 92 fights in Minowaman, against an Ultimate Fighter winner in Kendall Grove who is fighting on home turf. It also features the next stage of a heavyweight tournament and an intriguing female Bantamweight bout.

Minowaman (52-32-8) vs Grove (13-9-0-1)

Recent History

Grove was released from the UFC in the middle of last year having gone 1-3 but returned to winning ways in defeating Joe Riggs.
Minowaman had a great 2011 by winning 5 in a row, but none of those fighters could be considered close to Grove's level.

Styles
Kendall Groves' style is by now a little hard to pin down. On the Ultimate Fighter he was able to use long limbs to trouble opponents and score submissions, but when he made his way into the UFC proper, he seemed to lose some of that submission focus. He also has a very capable clinch with great knees and good elbows on the ground. However his later UFC career saw him clearly overwhelmed by opposition who seemed to have more tools than him and he appeared at times flummoxed as to how to deal with them.

Minowaman is a legend of Japanese MMA, fighting often in Openweight categories against much bigger guys. OK, his record makes it clear how sensible that is, but it is still pretty awesome. He has fought against Mrko Cro Cop, Wanderlei Silva, Rampage Jackson and Sakaraba... and lost to them all. He fought and beat the behemoth that is Bob Sapp. His attack is very much submission-centric, basically if can get hold of part of your body he will attempt to break it, pull it off and/or get the tap. He is a great fighter to watch for his ring entrance and all out attack style.

Head to Head
I am not sure I have ever seen Minowaman fight someone his own weight before, so I am not exactly sure how this one will go down. Grove is a capable fighter off of his back and is willing to throw his long limbs up in search of something. Minowaman is not the kind of guy you want on top of you an probably not ideal to be on top of either, since you never know quite what he is going to do. I expect Grove to use his superior Muay Thai to try and keep the Japanese fighter at bay and look to land a knockout blow. I really hope that Minowaman manages to get the fight to the ground at some point though so we can see him reel through a few submission attempts.

Prediction
Grove by unanimous decision.

Why watch?
Fun clash of styles and Minowaman always goes for it.

And here's a video of Minowaman vs Bob Sapp as a treat:

Heavyweight Tournament: Cody Griffin vs Ryan Martinez and Jake Heun vs Richard Odoms

Via worldwidemma

Now, I don't know too much about any of the fighters involved here but I have included a few videos of the fights that got them to the semi finals.

This is the fight where Martinez beat Mark Ellis for his place. He used lovely boxing to hold the centre of the cage and resisted any attempt to take him down, I reckon he will look better against a fighter who actually engages him. His dancing partner Cody Griffin beat Justin Reilly after taking a great big beating and spending most of his time curled up into a ball. He came into the third round and knocked Reilly out out of nowhere.

Jake Huen beat Ed Carpenter here, he spent a good few minutes on the bottom but found the sweep, stood up, knocked Carpenter down and battered him. His opponent, Richard Odoms beat Rod Housley by decision and he looked bloomin' knackered by the end.

These will most likely be a couple of fun but sloppy fights.

Sara McMann (4-0) vs Hitomo Akano (18-8)

Photos via wordpress and sherdog

Recent History

Sara Mcann is coming off of a tough test, winning in her ProElite debut against Hawaiian Raquel Pa'aluhi in a cracking fight.
Akano has bounced back from a loss to Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate with two wins including her latest against Roxanne Modaferri.

Styles

Mcmann is a fun fighter. She comes from a hell of a wrestling background, with silver and bronze medals at world championships. It's no surprise then that she controls the bodies of her opponents with ease. She uses her wrestling with maximum aggression and intensity and is absolutely unafraid to wade in with punches to make it to the clinch. In the Pa'aluhi fight she got herself embroiled in some dangerous exchanges but always had the wrestling to go back to and eventually subbed the Hawaiian.

Akano is a veteran of 26 fights, including bouts with the likes of Miesha Tate and Cyborg Santos. She has a judo base, with the majority of her wins coming by submission fiddly, patient ju jutsu to find finishes; see the video below and scoot to 2:30 for her getting Tate in trouble with a foot lock. She lacks power and guile on the feet and will pose little threat to McMann standing.

Head to Head

In the battle of the wrestling backgrounds, Judo vs American amateur wrestling, I think I give McMann the edge. They are both absolutely accomplished in their arts, it just seems that in her fights so far McMann seems to have translated her wrestling really well to MMA. McMann might be wise not to take advantage of that edge should it exist though, because she may well leave herself vulnerable. This might well be a great opportunity for her to test out the standing part of her game against an opponent unlikely to be able to rock her.

Prediction

McMann via exciting fight with fun scrambles and unamnimous decision

Why watch?

Big take downs, scrambles and sneaky ju jutsu, yes! Here are some videos to whet your appetite.

Mcmann vs Pa'aluhi

Akana vs Tate

There you go then. When you have finished digesting UFC on FX 1, enjoy some fun fights with ProElite.

I just found a really cool video of the story of Minowa's career with a lovely Rocky pep talk. Enjoy.

UFC On FX 1 - Guillard vs Miller

2012-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend sees the first "UFC on FX" of the UFC's new deal with Fox. It will be headlined by Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller, with some other fun fights featured on a main card of 4 bouts, including a Pat Barry fight. I only mention Barry because while Guillard vs Miller is a very deserving main event and a big draw in itself, I am always curiously excited to see the little big man fight, in spite of his decidedly mixed performances. Below are write ups of the fights with my picks.

Guillard vs Millar via mmaconvert

Guillard vs Miller

Recent History

Had things gone differently in the second half of 2011, this could have been for the number one contendership for the UFC Lightweight title. As it is, both fighters are coming off a loss with Guillard having lost to in an upset to Joe Lauzon and Miller having lost to Ben Henderson.
Prior to that Guillard had been on a five fight win streak including viscious knockouts of Evan Durham and Shane Roller.
Jim Miller was on a streak of 7 wins with 4 finishes and a shed load of momentum towards a title shot before losing to Henderson.

Styles

Melvin Guillard is an accomplished wrestler but he does not fit the mould of the plethora of 'wrestler boxers' in the lightweight division. He likes to come out with all guns blazing and brash, if not relatively sloppy stand up game. For fans of Guillard his style can be frustrating. It often seems like he has all the tools to do well but that he lacked the discipline to really put together and stick to a game plan that plays exclusively to his strengths. Perhaps his move from the noted tacticians of Team Jackson in Alberquerque to the Blackzillians in Florida reflects some discomfort with with that approach.

Dan Miller is another accomplished wrestler and crucially, holds a black belt in Brazilian Ju Jutsu. His style is focused more on using his wrestling to dominate and oppress opponents, secure takedowns and finish fights primarily through submissions. Indeed, he has 11 of his 20 career wins from submission. While he demonstrated some brutality with his stand up against Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128, his striking game remains his weakest area.

Head to Head

Both men come into this fight knowing that a win will help them pick up some of the momentum they had before their respective losses. Equally they should be aware that in a hellishly stacked lightweight division, another loss will mean they fall some way down the ladder. Given the characters and styles of the two fighters, think that will lead them to take very different courses of action. Miller will approach the fight more cautiously, looking to keep Guillard on his back and finish by submission if the opportunity presents itself. Melvin though, will come in fired up and looking to take Jim's head off with power punches, and to to fold him over with gut munching knees.

Prediction

In the end it comes down to whether you think Guillard can land the big shots necessary to hurt Miller and whether Miller can take Guillard down and keep him there. I'd put my money on the latter, with Miller taking a slightly ugly decision.

Why watch it?

This fight could propel one guy back into the big leagues of the lightweights.

Duane Ludwig vs Josh Neer

Recent History

After a 4 fight win streak on the amateur circuit Neer earned a come back to the UFC Keith Wisniewski upon his return.
Since returning to welterweight Ludwig is 2-0 and looked impressive in his last outing against Amir Sadallah.

Styles

Ludwig is a kickboxer who holds (finally) the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history. That probably gives away his gameplan going into a fight as much as anything. Having said that, alot of the aggression that marked his regional and Strikeforce career seems to have been lost and Ludwig has become more tentative of late.

Neer is a solid veteran of 43 fights with a well rounded game based on wrestling and striking, with the offensive emphasis on striking.

Head to head

I expect this fight to stay standing for the most part with each fighter looking to knock the other out big punches. I do not expect the greatest technical display of striking we have ever seen in a cage, but it will probably be pretty fun.

Prediction

Neer is on a good run, but Ludwig is a step up from the fighters he has been facing. Ludwig by TKO in round 2.

Why watch it?

Could be fireworks.

Pat Barry vs Christian Morecraft

Recent History

Morecraft has struggled in his 3 UFC fights, going 1-2, most recently being knocked out by Matt Mitrione 6 months ago.
That night Barry was knocked out by a semi conscious Chiek Kongo and more recently was submitted by the giant Stefan Struve.

Styles

Barry makes no bones about his style. From the video below:

My gameplan all the time is to try and punch and kick you, don't worry about me shooting in on you or submitting you, you don't have to worry about that. That's not a secret.

Don't be fooled though. In the same clip, Barry talks about sparring with guys who are bigger and stronger than him in BJJ and wrestling. Sure, Barry is not going to be shooting any double legs or catching Morecraft in any triangles, but he believes he will at least be a bit more savvy going into this fight. Other than than, heavy hands, big kicks and brutal chopping leg kicks, if he can get them off safely.

Morecraft is more well rounded on paper, a decent striker with a solid ground game. Were I a cynical person (and I am) I would suspect that Morecraft had been fed to Barry as someone who will struggle to take him down and struggle to stand with him, in order to give Barry a decent chance of a win and justification for his position in the UFC. After all, Barry is a really popular fighter, because he is so darn lovable.

Head to Head

I might have just covered this above. Morecraft's best chance of a win is to take Barry down and stifle him, looking for a possible submission. If not he had better keep Barry with his back to the fence. In reality though, I see Barry overwhelming him with power and proving tough to topple.

Prediction

Barry by TKO round 1.

Why should I watch it

Pat Barry is a funny guy and it will be heart warming to watch someone really nice knock someone out.

There you have it then. Don't forget that also this weekend there is a Pro Elite card for your delectation, headlining Kendall "The Spider" Grove vs Minowaman, two fighters who I really like. If they weren't enough, it's on HDNet, which means we get the commentary of Micheal Schiavello. Too bad I'm English and will have to wait until someone uploads it for download or HDNet started allowing their fights to be streamed over he net. Anyway, a preview for that will be here by tomorrow.

Wow, Micheal Bisping to fight for number one contendership

2012-01-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

Munoz is injured and out of the FOX fight! Now it's Chael Sonnen vs Mike Bisping jan 28th and the winner will fight Anderson for the title. (Dana White via Twitter)

Bisping vs Sonnen via mixedmartialarts.com

There we have it, Dana White came on Twitter a few hours ago to reveal an injury to Mark Munoz, Chael Sonnen will instead fight Micheal Bisping. Before letting that sink in, let us just spare a thought for Damien Maia who is essentially demoted to a fight with Chris Weidman.

So, Bisping vs Sonnen. This is great news for British MMA fans since it represents a Brits best chance of a shot at a belt since Dan Hardy lost to GSP. A run down and predicitons for the event will appear here in the week leading up to the 28th but for now I will just say that the Sonnen's powerful wrestling and top control will be a stern test for "The Count".

The fight is one of the most hypable fights imaginable. Micheal Bisping is much hated for allegedly spitting in the direction of Jorge Rivera while Chael Sonnen is resembling a pro wrestler more and more every day.

ESPN fighter pay saga: Is UFC's business model good for MMA?

2012-01-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

Over the last week or so the MMA community has been rocked by a hard hitting ESPN expose about fighter pay. OK, in reality the MMA community has struggled to care about a short, slightly one-sided but nevertheless thoughtful piece about fighter pay and the UFC has kept it in the news by banging on about how unfair it is.

Now to summarise the video. ESPN basically made a piece that asks whether the UFC remunerates its fighters fairly, featuring clips from an interview with Lorenzo Fertita. They more or less answer that no they do not, they could pay more to the lower tier fighters. The piece also makes a clear accusation that UFC fighters are not free to talk about pay or unionizing for fear of reprisals.

So far so not particularly contraversial. Following the release of a preview and article about the piece, Dana White stated that the UFC would release their own taping of the full interview. They did that, as well as a response to the video including interviews with some of their most loyal fighters backing them up.

By now most people's interest had been pricked, not really because the story was so exciting (labour disputes are pretty common in sports and this was nowhere near even a dispute, just some hushed reports of minor grumblings) but because it is always fun to see Dana White over excited. The UFC followed that up with a video of the full interview with Lorenzo Fertita. The video is pretty long, but I watched it all and found it quite interesting as Fertita defends the UFC as behaving like a 'good business' and being 'what America is all about'. The UFC is run very successfully as a business, with a focus on the marketability of fighters and performance related pay. This business model is without doubt great for the UFC, but is the UFC's business model good for MMA as a sport?

John Fitch Is Held Back

As fans we are often torn between wanting to see the best fights and wanting to see the best fighters. This in turn leaves a sports business like the UFC in a tricky position. Take Jon Fitch, for example. Until recently, he was the second best welterweight in the world and completely dominant of everyone except Georges Saint-Pierre. However, he has more than his fair share of haters, since many people do not like what they perceive as a wrestling heavy offense with too few strikes and submission attempts from the top. The UFC had to weigh up Fitch's lack of popularity with the fact that he was thought of by almost everybody as by far and away better than the rest of the field and that he was unbeaten in six fights since losing to GSP. Now, a purely sporting organisation would (as far as I can see) have had Fitch fighting for the title before the likes of Dan Hardy. As an organisation focusing on its growth as a business, the UFC left Fitch floating around with a mixed bag of opponents.

Brock Lesnar Is Fast Tracked

Fitch is hardly the only example. Another example of this clash between business and sports development was the fast-fowarding of Brock Lesnar's UFC career. Lesnar was brought into the UFC after just one pro fight and matched up against an experienced top fighter in Frank Mir. He lost but two fights later he was fighting Randy Couture for the heavyweight title. Now, Brock won that title and later defeated Mir and there is no doubting that he was a gifted fighter and at one point one of the best in the heavyweights division. However his career did not contain the tests and paying of dues that other fighters have to go through. He was fast tracked because he would guarantee pay per view buys north of one million. That is another clear example of the business development being at odds with the sport.

Lorenzo Feritita's ESPN Interview and the UFC's Business Mentality

Now we come back to Lorenzo Fertita's ESPN interview about UFC fighter pay. While the levels of fighter pay may or may not be an engaging topic of discussion, the style of payment is much more interesting. I have posted the interview in full here. Feritita does not make too many particularly pressing points, but it is interesting to get a feel of the business side of the UFC and the corporate culture they wish to create.

Fertita comes across as a good guy running a business based on the philosophy he and many other business leaders in the US and around the world thinks works best. He even says at one point "This is what America is all about". Meaning the way he and his brother risked their own capitol and now reap the rewards for having the guts to make the risk and the hard work and vision to pull it off. He was also alluding to the companies scheme of (for the most part) pairing fighter salaries with win bonuses, plus Fight, Submission and Knockout of the Night bonuses and other undisclosed discretionary bonuses. The UFC is like any other business, if you perform then you succeed or, as Fertita puts it "You eat what you kill". Now, while that might be what America is all about, it is not what sports should be about.

I feel like, since the fighters at the bottom of the card take the same risks as the headliners and have heavy expenses like training camps to pay for, they deserve not just a fair rate of pay, but a steady one. Especially when you factor in the likelihood of injuries at any given point, which could lead to not being able to fight and therefore a loss of pay. From a sporting perspective the "...of the Night" bonuses and discretionary bonuses for good performances (where 'good' means 'exciting') reward only those with what the company deems are exciting styles. As a sports fan, that does not seem fair. I would like to see a steady yearly salary, perhaps with win bonuses on top of that.

It seems a bit like a different side of the same story we see with stand ups during periods of inaction in the cage. Now, this is ostensibly because the fight has reached a period of inaction but in reality it comes in response to boos from the crowd, as long periods of ground fighting frustrate some of them, particularly the much coveted casual fan. If the contest was organised with purely sport in mind, then it seems like the fight should take place wherever it lands and that at the end it is judges' places to judge whether or not that constituted stalling or inactivity.

A Union or Fighter's Organisation

At the moment there exists a Mixed Martial Arts Fighters' Association, founded by Rob Masey. This is by no means a union. nor are fighters willing to back it. According to the ESPN report, fighters are reticent to talk about any problems they have with pay deals because they fear sanctions from the UFC. It is fair to assume those worries extend to collective bargaining for pay.

A union exists in most major sports organisations so that the people who provide the entertaining product receive a large enough slice of the financial pie for their efforts. The UFC is different however. They have been clear in the past that they prefer to make the UFC a strong brand, with individual fighters coming second. This makes sense because (as we have seen with Brock Lesnar's retirement and GSP's long lay off) in MMA fighters can come and go and a strong brand minimises the fluctuations that come with fighters of varying popularity. The UFC then, provides a lot of the entertaining product.

Regardless of who does the work though, a union would provide a much needed balance of power. At the moment it seems like the UFC calls the shots in too many aspects of the future of MMA. As Fertita says in the video above, they are the ones lobbying legislators to allow the sport and they had a massive influence in devising the unified rules. Now that they are big enough to attract almost all top tier fighters to their organisation, they control pretty much every aspect of the top level of the sport. A union would give fighters the opportunity to influence their employers on things like medical insurance, year round salaries, training and sparring partners.

Now there are two stumbling blocks to the idea of an MMA union. The first is straight forward; there is little motivation for GSP, Alaistair Overeem, Anderson Silva, etc. to join, because they already enjoy great working conditions. The lower level fights, on the other hand, do not have much sway. If they threaten a walk out, the UFC might well just find someone else. The second is slightly murkier and relates to things alluded to by the ESPN story and the the Fertita brothers' casino business in Las Vegas. The Fertita's casino staffare not members of a union and the management have been accused of discouraging them from joining.. People have also claimed that UFC fighters risk losing their jobs by speaking out about pay and conditions. You can see Fertita chat a bit about unions in the video below (from September last year, but mostly preempting what he said in the uncut video above) but it is also worth searching for the Fertitas and culinary unions on the net. Anyway, Fertita has said that he is absolutely neutral about unions in the UFC and he has said the same about culinary unions too. The difference is that the culinary union in Las Vegas claims that he is being slightly disingenuous. So the union discussion is pretty sketchy to say the least.

So there you have it

The UFC is an incredibly successful business. It is run by some strange but engaging characters with values shared by many other successful businessmen. They also seem to be genuine fans of the sport. However there are a few clear areas, including fighter pay, the way title shots are handed out and the ways fighters are incentivised that show that this way of running a sport impacts upon its fairness and impacts upon the fighters' careers as athletes. It is up for discussion whether these impacts are worth it, since without the UFC we would not have much of a sport to love.

UFC 142 - I told you so, and other thoughts.

2012-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

UFC 142 went down last night with the main event and co main event ending as I predicted (albeit a little quicker than I thought). Having said that it did not take a genius to see how these fights would go. Below I will go through my thoughts on what happened in the two main fights, sympathise a bit with Terry Etim and then make a few contraversial comments about Mario Yamasaki.

Photo from Sportsnet.ca

Aldo Knocks Mendes Out

I absolutely thought that Jose Aldo would be able to nullify Mendes' take downs for the most part, but I had no idea that he would be able to do it so effortlessly, even if he did use one sneaky grab of the fence to keep upright. Then problem for Mendes in this fight was that if you are fighting a well rounded fighter like Aldo and you have only one legitimate route to victory, you are going to quickly become very predictable. That is doubly bad if you fail to implement your game plan. Mendes was frustrated by Aldo's ability to stay up and forgot technique for a moment, diving in recklessly headfirst for a shot and a ate a knee for his troubles. That was the end of that one.

Then it was really fun to watch Jose Aldo burst straight out into the crown and I was a little bit worried at one point because he disappeared and I feared he had drowned in a sea of Brazilian adulation. Luckily the sobering monotony of a Joe Rogan interview via translation brought him round.

Belfort Submits Johnson

Photo from sports.yahoo.com

Going in to the fight, most people were talking about either Old Vitor or whether or not Johnson could weather the early storm and wait for Vitor to gas. Those commentaries look pretty funny now. In reality Johnson's weight cut issues always meant he was going to come into this fight seriously depleted and that is probably why we saw him be so aggressive for the first few minutes. Belfort just played things relatively safe and technical until it kind of seemed like Rumble finished himself off, regardless of the choke Vitor put him in.

Barboza Kicks Etim in the Head

That headline is as unspectacular as this kick was spectacular. I really thought that Rogan and Goldie were over egging Barboza's pudding a little bit, because while Barboza landed some leg kicks, I really did not think Etim looked that troubled. I felt like Etim would go for broke in round 3 as he figured Barboza out. Lucky for me I was watching the fight by myself so no-one heard me shout that at the TV moments before Barboza landed this bomb. Anyway, as much as I love Etim, I was stoked to see this kick and went and demonstrated it for my girlfriend with effortless grace. Ahem.

GIF from mmanation

Contraversial Disqualification of Erick Silva

Here is a video of the fight, look towards the last couple of minutes for the controversy. Oh, and get there quick because no doubt the UFC will force the video of the site in good time. There has been some discussion on what exactly the back of the head means, just exactly when does it merge with the side of the head. Well it is very confusing and there is no clear rule for referees to follow. I am not going into the fairness of the decision, just to say that I think since it is hard to say in a clear cut way whether it was right or not, criticism of the referee is harsh. Now, it is one thing for us fans to moan about referees, but for Joe Rogan to pull the guy up on it in front of thousands of angry Brazilians and a disappointed fighter, was absolutely unprofessional, not to mention mean spirited.

The Future for Anthony Johnson

Photo via espn.go.com

Let's be clear. He was ill when near to his target weight because he attempted to make weight from crazily above his target. Not only that, it has happened twice before. He absolutely ought to be cut and in the future, other organisation should be wary about his ability to come in at his contracted weight.

The featherweight Division

It is easy to say that a division looks when you have one guy who head and shoulders above the rest, look at the middleweight division with Anderson Silva. I think there are plenty of good fighters at 145lbs but Jose Aldo is just something super special. I am not really sure who is there to provide a legitimate challenge for him after Mendes. I wonder how the fight with Frankie Edgar could be made possible. Having said that, I have not made my mind up how Edgar's fight with Ben Henderson is going to go, maybe he will not even be in a position for a champ vs champ super fight.

UFC 142 - I predict a happy Brazilian Crowd!

2012-01-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

Tonight the UFC is heading to Rio for a title fight and an intriguing middleweight (or not if Rumble Johnson has anything to do with it) match up. I spent most of today writing my blog about gender inequality in MMA, but i'd like to get a quick preview out, if only so I can gloat tomorrow about how great my predictions were.

We have already had the UFC's triumphant return to Brazil at UFC 134, but this event till has much of the same buzz. It's packed with Brazillians in relevant fights and even at the weigh-ins, the crowd seemed phenomenal.

Let's get down to picks.

Aldo vs Mendes

Picture via mmafight.com

Mendes' rise has been pretty quick. He is a well decorated collegiate wrestler with improving stand-up and he trains at a great camp in Team Alpha Male. As part of that camp he has a training partner who knows all about Jose Aldo, but I am not sure if that can help him.

Improving stand up is a world away from the stand up of a wrecking machine like Aldo. Mendes' plan has to be to put the champ on his back and keep him there for 25 minutes. Mendes has gone to decision in his last 4 fights and, if he is to win I am sure that is the way he will do it. There is no way he will submit Aldo and Aldo has the wiliness and experience to avoid power shots from the bottom.

Taking down a guy like Aldo is no mean feat either. Sure, Hominick managed it in their fight, but Aldo will have vastly improved his take down defense and if there's one thing he has proved, it is that he is good at any aspect of fighting that he cares to look into. Aldo's tactic has to be to keep it standing and punish take down attempts with knees. Further, he will look to use leg kicks, a la his fight with Faber, to keep Mendes at a distance where his shots (quick as they are) will be less effective. Should it go to the ground, Aldo will be no fish out of water and if I were Mendes, I would not feel safe.

Aldo by TKO 2nd or 3rd round.

Johnson vs Belfort

Picture via cagejunkies

The big story here is that Johnson failed to make weight in a big weigh for this fight, coming in at 197lb, instead of 185lb. Before this news I had the fight at around 50/50, but I now put Vitor favourite, I'll explain why below.

Belfort is coming off the back of a destructive vitory over Yoshihiro Akiyama and he has won 6 of his last 7 with his only loss coming at the hands of Anderson Silva. His blend of powerful and overwhelming striking plus a BJJ base he rarely uses, make him a fearsome opponent. Johnson was a beast at 170lbs and he is a beast at 185lb too. He has great power, great wrestling and has some range with those head kicks. Standing, the power goes to Johnson and the aggression and technique to Belfort. Just as Belfort rarely uses his BJJ acumen, so Anthony Johnson prefers to stand and trade than to take it to the ground. I would put the top control of Johnson vs the ground game of Belfort at rough even too.

The topping point then, is the weight cut. Vitor Belfort seems to have had a pretty healthy weight cut and he will walk into the cage around 200lb tomorrow, rehydrated and with a good meal inside of him. However, having missed weight (apparently due to illness) Johnson has to agree to being below 205lb by the fight tomorrow. This was a shrewd request from the Belfort camp. That means that by tomorrow Johnson can only put on around 8lbs, which means he runs the risk of going into the fight still dehydrated from the weight cut. Expect to see Johnson gas out pretty quickly in the fight and to be lacking some power.

Belfort by TKO 2nd round.

Other thoughts

I am very much looking forward to seeing what Terry Etim can do against tougher opposition but I am somewhat worried about the mean looking Edson Barboza, he is 9-0 and looks dangerous. It should be a pretty good fight with Etim probably looking to avoid clear exchanges and clinches, instead working the outside and possibly taking the fight to the ground where his gnarly submission game should come into play.

I would like to know more about the finances of the UFC and what percentage of their profits go towards fighters in the light of ESPNs recent report.

I am pretty annoyed whenever I see professional sports people out of shape. Whether it be Ben Rothwell or Big Country Nelson coming into fights looking more like Mr. Blobby than Mr. Overeem or fighters missing weight like Anthony Johnson. MMA is a professional sport and if you don't care enough to take care of yourself then you deserve to lose.

UPDATE: It seems like this is how the story of Rumble Johnson missing weight went down. He had a big, big weight cut and managed to get down to within one and a half pounds of his 186lb target but at that point he could not go any further. In fact, he needed emergency treatment to re-hydrate him, hence his 197lb weigh in.

Now, this leads to a few issues which will no doubt be rehashed over the next few days. Is it right for him to fight having received emergency re-hydration the day before the bout? Is it fair that he is allowed to come in at 205, when Belfort has made 185lb? It is a strange old situation.

Fighting Gender Inequality.

2012-01-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

When the UFC's Fox deal went through, you couldn't go five minutes of an MMA obsessed life without hearing about the male 18-34 demographic that Fox and the UFC share as their core market. It is probably not surprising that a sport in which women are continually overlooked, unless in the role of a pretty and clueless gap filler (Strikeforce's Heidi Androl) or ring girls, does not get many female followers. It should be noted that there are a few upstanding female citizens in the MMA world. Karen Bryant is a respected MMA journalist, but shouldn't have had to shake off being motorboated by Rampage Jackson. There are female fighters who attempt to market themselves as fighters rather than lookers, like Sarah Kaufman and, in a change of heart, Miesha Tate.

I love MMA and I feel like since women in MMA are not being taken seriously we are currently being robbed of what could develop into a strong division or set of divisions as female fans and therefore prospective female fighters are no doubt being put off by a sport that gives the impression of being a man's world.

My point then, is that there are plenty of good female fighters who I would really like to see fight more. The general atmosphere of chauvinism in MMA journalism, organisations and among some fans leads to an environment where female fans are discouraged, where female fighters are ignored, ridiculed or forced to market themselves as sexy rather than skilled. If female fighters and women in general are not treated equally in MMA, the sport will be robbed of half its audience and half its potentially great fighters and that is a shame.

After the jump I will focus on six main areas or incidents which highlight the chauvinism in MMA.

Photo from mmamania

Kim Winslow

There is one high profile female referee in MMA, Kim Winslow. Last weekend she controversially took an age to rescue Lorenz Larkin from a pummelling at the hands of King Mo Lawal, when he was clearly finished. Now, King Mo was rightfully upset that she had not stopped the fight earlier as it meant he had to keep going longer than he would have liked, risking the health of a fellow fighter. However, there was a great Bloody Elbow fanpost which made a strong case for the fact that while criticism of Winslow was justified on this occasion, all top tier referee have made high profile errors and it is extremely rare that they incur sustained criticism from fans and journalists. Many people have said that they believe Kim Winslow has no place refereeing in MMA, but the implication of the criticism feels like there is no place for a woman in there with male fighters.

Cyborg

Christine "Cyborg" Santos is the most explosive and athletic fighter in women's MMA. Now, let's just put aside the fact that she was found to have taken weight reducing steroids and yet people still say "In told you she got those massive muscles unnaturally". Before we knew that, the main point people would make about Santos was that she looks and fights like a man. As far as I can tell, the reality is that she fights like a great, aggressive fighter and I do not exactly see what her gender has got to do with it.

Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate

If you did not go and watch the telephone argument between Rousey and Tate on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour, then I strongly suggest that you do. Ronda Rousey has made it pretty clear that, in spite of only having four career fights, albeit with four astonishing arm bar finishes, she should be given a title shot against Miesha Tate. Tate (and Sarah Kaufman who Rousey has pushed past in the queue) feel like Rousey has yet to pay her dues and does not deserve the shot that Strikeforce has now confirmed she will be given. Rousey's reasoning? She is a very beautiful marketable girl and so is Miesha Tate, while Sarah Kaufman is a little bit plain. The Tate vs Rousey fight is going to be a bigger draw.

Of course it is up to Ronda how she wants to market herself, but she has been pretty disrespectful towards her fellow female fighters. I feel like they deserve credit as athletes. I am pretty sure that no one was annoyed that GSP fought BJ Penn twice, even though Penn is short and bald and not going to be able to draw fans in base don his looks. She is also being pretty disrespectful towards her audience. Sure, as I am repeatedly pointing out, MMA is a pretty chavinistic place, but it is not as bad as Rousey seems to think. The fact is that we fans are fans of fights. If attractive scantily clad women is what you are after, there are plenty of places to go to find it, I think the people who tune in to MMA are more interested in fights. She should not assume that we will only be interested in fights if they feature attractive people, after all we watch ugly men fighting all the time.

Ring girls

I am not much of a boxing fan, but I can only assume that the use of ring girls follows in the tradition from boxing. I find it pretty strange when I see it on TV, but found it a bit creepy when I watched a live UFC event to see thousands of men whistling at a lady in her underwear. I feel like if we are going to have ring girls, because it's nice for fans to have someone to rest their eyes on between rounds, maybe we should have ring guys as well, I know quite a few female fans who would be quite chuffed if GSP was a guest Octagon guy.

I know ring girls are not a really big part of MMA, but they are a feature of every promotion and really, I find it a bit weird. This is probably the point I am most shaky on though, because I know that in the US, where the majority of MMA that I watch is held, you guys have cheerleaders and things before sports so maybe it just seems really normal over there. But for me, I don't exactly understand what they're doing there.

"WMMA lacks depth"

How exactly do we know that women's MMA lacks depth? Have the majority of fans and journalists been watching Jewel events in Japan, keeping an eye on the Bellator to watch the women's 115lb and 125lb divisions. In the MMA community people completely overlook any division apart from 145lb and 135lb, but back when the UFC started MMA itself was shallow. The way you find the fighters is by growing the sport.

My point here is that while for men's divisions like the newly added UFC 125lb division, depth isn't an issue because the UFC is willing to put in time to raise the profile of plenty of fighters and create an interest. There is absolutely no reason why the UFC or Strikeforce could not do the same with women's MMA, perhaps beginning with 135lb, where the most famous fighters are. I feel like the reason this is not done is because there is a general lack of consideration of the female fighters as fighters and this is because of the overall mood of chauvinism in MMA.

Male fighters disparaging/pseudo moral comments.

Here is Matt Hughes saying he does not like the idea of women hitting each other, although he is gracious enough to allow women in the army.

Here is Dana White laughing at the idea of women being allowed in the UFC.

These are two videos which are quite shockingly dismissive of a whole gender's worth of athletes. If anyone was this disparaging about female fighters in the gym where I train, they would not be popular.

The point of these two videos is not really that these views are a bit out dated and silly, but rather that they are representative of opinions held by quite a few people within MMA and that they add to the feeling in MMA that women are not respected or welcome.

FInally, here's a video of Donald Cerrone, Uriah Faber, Frank Mir and (I think) Mike Brown chatting about women's MMA. Everyone who speaks makes some pretty good points, but the sensible thinking is pretty much ruined as they fall into giggling about getting female fighters to the ground. And this is a big part of problem, MMA tends to be a bit man's world and I do not think that women can feel all that comfortable within it.

About the future of women's MMA, as a fight fan I am desperate for the women's divisons to properly get off the ground and for the best fighters to be fighting regularly. About MMA in general, I think it is time for people within the sport, especially journalists and promoters who ought to be acting professionally, to welcome women in as fighters, referees and fans with respect and equality. So what do you think, are women put off from being involved in the sport by an atmosphere of chauvinism? Let us know, leave a comment.

Ultimate Fighter Finale: Bisping vs Miller

2011-12-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

This has been really fun few weeks to be a British MMA fan. The Ultimate Fighter reality show is one of my guilty pleasures (although I do spend most of the show hoping that the fights will hurry up and happen) and it has been great fun watching Micheal Bisping play the bad guy a little bit on the show and then read fans boo him on the internet. In fact, that is one of the best things about following Bisping, you are never short of a bit of news or some comments threads to read, because there is always someone ready to have a go at him. Of course, Bisping loves the attention and the higher profile, sponsorship deals and pay that the attention brings. Fair play to him.

Picture from Sodahead.com

Micheal "The Count" Bisping vs Jason "Mayhem" Miller

If you do not know who Mike Bisping is now then you have probably not spent any time anywhere near the MMA bubble for the last few years. He is the UK's biggest MMA star and came into the UFC with a perfect 10-0 professional record by way of The Ultimate Fighter. He spent the beginning of his UFC careers climbing the Light Heavyweight ranks, before losing to Rashad Evans and dropping to Middleweight. Since 2008, he has been hovering around the upper echelons of the Middleweight division whilst suffering setbacks to Dan Henderson's crushing right hand and Wanderlei Silva. He first gained momentum as one of the chief baddies of the UFC while coaching a UK vs USA Ultimate Fighter. Although Bisping has made it quite clear in the past that he thinks that was a bit of a silly premise for the season, he has taken full advantage of his role as the bad guy and played it up to pantomime levels on this season's show. In between his two coaching appearances on TUF, he has garnered more animosity with a pretty abrasive personality and spitting on the ground in the vague direction of Jorge Rivera.

Take away the cartoon bad guy part of him and what is left is a fighter with serious talent who comes into this fight as a massive favorite. Bisping is a striking specialist and his style is much derided by many fans as 'jab and run'. Roughly two thirds of Bisping's twenty-one career wins have come via KO or TKO and although he would be the first to admit he does not have the heaviest hands in the division, his ability to pick fighters apart from the outside means that his strikes can have a heavy cumulative effect. He has survived against fighters with good wrestling and ground games, primarily due to his great take down defense as he showed in his bout with the Matt Hammill, a great wrestler who he was much smaller than.

The "Mayhem" fight is an interesting one for Bisping. He believes he is on the march towards a title show with Anderson Silva but took the TUF gig as a way to continue to improve his profile. This fight then, is a strange one. Miller is a decent pro who has fought all over and has plenty of experience as Bisping details below. However, a fight with Miller could well be lose-lose. It probably does not put him anywhere closer to the fight with Anderson Silva that he craves should he win and a loss could well be devastating given Miller is seen by some as more of personality than a fighter.

Miller is a decent fighter and, despite his media career he has fought some top guys. However, he has not proven himself against a fighter of Bisping's calibre for some time. There is no excuse, even wild optimism from an MMA public that seems to vehemently dislike "The Count", for believing Miller is the more likely victor on Saturday night. Miller's last fight was against a very beleaguered looking Sakuraba (so much a shell of a former self that Miller looked decidedly like a bully when beating him up).

That was over a year ago at Dream 16 and even before that Miller was indulging in a pretty part time schedule. He did look quite good against Jake Shields in a match for the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight title two and a half years ago but clearly Bisping will be less obliging in taking the fight to the ground and is much more menacing standing up.

Miller's game is based around pretty solid, albeit slightly unorthodox, striking and a strong ground game. The missing link is probably wrestling and he will have considerable trouble getting Bisping to the ground. Should he get the Englishman down then submitting the Brit is going to be pretty tricky. It is not for nothing that Bisping has never been submitted in a professional fight. He does a good job of staying away from dangerous positions, is quick to get up and is crafty enough on the ground.

I should note here that Miller is clearly a really sound person and is a well respected fighter even by Bisping. In spite of the heavy editing of the show it is quite clear that there is respect between Bisping and Miller and that the two fighters have enjoyed the over the top rivalry they have created. The reason Miller was able to get a fight at this level for his return to the UFC was because his personality has won him plenty of fans and even as a fan of Bisping, I will be as chuffed as anyone if Miller puts up a peace sign while sitting on top of the Brit. It is just pretty unlikely.

Bisping wins by TKO in round 2 or 3.

KSW 17 - Veterans, World's Strongest Man, prospects and wierd decisions.

2011-11-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

It is really exciting both when there is a nicely hyped European card to watch and when the MMA calender is relatively uncluttered. This weekend we had just Bellator 59 to look out for from the major US promotions, so there was a little bit of room to concentrate on Polish promotion KSW. What's more, since the fights were happening in nearby Poland, here in the UK we could watch MMA without havng to either stay up crazy late or download later and run the risk of hearing the results before we see the fights.

The card featured the novelty of a former strongman, some famous veterans in James Thompson and Thierry Sokoudjou and some interesting prospects, not to mention some seriously odd decisions. Also, I am pretty sure a few of the fights went to decision after just 2 rounds. I watched all the fights all the way through and, while it is quite confusing following proceedings with Polish commentary, I am pretty sure I can can count all the way up to 3 without getting confused. Can anyone let me know if I am going crazy or are some of the KSW fighters a bit lazy?

Picture from Sherdog

Mamed Khalidov vs Jesse Taylor

Picture from mantofight.com

The main event promised much. Jesse Taylor was a late stand in after Paulo Filho was deemed too unreliable to take the fight. He was coming off of a run where his only loss in the last 7 fights had been to Hector Lombard. Mamed "Cannibal" Khalidov came into this fight as arguably the most dangerous fighter on the European circuit. He had only lost one of his last 23 fights and that to Jorge Santiago.

Jesse Taylor is a noted wrestler and after Khalidov shot a jumping knee almost straight from the bell, the American caught his leg and took him down. He surely immediately regretted it though as the Chechen showed a very active guard and looked very dangerous from the bottom. He through his legs up for an arm bar and managed to briefly end up in a mounted triangle. Eventually he initiated a scramble and grabbed a leg to lock in a knee bar. Taylor tapped within seconds and looked in a lot of pain afterwards.

There is not much else to say. The fight was quick, but Khalidov looked seriously good against a solid opponent. He was absolutely unfazed at finding himself on the bottom and transitioned bbetween submission attempts with consumate ease. I really hope we see him make the move to a larger organisation soon so he can be tested against top opposition.

Mariusz Pudzianowski vs James "Colossus" Thompson II

Picture from Sherdog

I watched the first incarnation of this fight as much to see the former World Strongest Man's transition into MMA as to watch James Thompson. Funnily enough, in a promotional video for the fight, Pudzianowski said that he is very confident he has a speed advantage over the Brit. While, I'll admit Thompson is not the quickest guy in MMA, the strong man is hardly Demetrious Johnson either. I was actually quite surprised by the Pole's ability, particularly standing up and wrestling, but he showed his inexperience with a distinct lack of knowledge and composure on the ground.

At KSW 17 Thompson was continuing his recent habit of breaking in novelty fighters, having also fought Kimbo Slice on American on American pay per view. It makes perfect sense for him to take these fights that bring big pay outs while he is in a decidedly rough patch, with 8 of his 14 career losses having come in his last 10 fights.

Round 1 saw Thompson take the Pole down almost immediately and land neatly in side control. He swiftly moved to the mounted crucifix but Pudzianowski showed good wrist control to limit the damage. After being pretty much bullied around on the floor without taking too much damage he was able to get back to his feet. On the feet Pudzianowski managed to land a few leg kicks but other than that both men landed very little of significance.

Round 2 was action packed. Bother fighters came out of the blocks with all guns blazing before Pudzianowski attempted a guillotine. He ended up on the ground with Thompson in his half guard and then mounting him and landing some serious ground and pound. Thompson took his back, got both hooks in but was unable to sink in the choke. After a bit of a scramble and Thompson ending up on top again, the referee stood them up from half guard. The round ended with a scrappy bit of boxing and clinching with Thompson attempting to throw the big Pole but taking himself down in the process, before managing to sweep before the bell.

Now, I wrote that while watching the fight and I have re-read it just to check that the fight I watched has been pretty accurately represented on the screen. I am pretty sure that Thompson won that fight. It was not exactly pretty but he certainly dominated almost every second of the fight. Anyway, the judges chose Pudzianowski in the most controversial decision that I have seen for some time. Shocking. After Marius gave his interview, The Colossus stole the ring announcer's mike and made his feelings absolutely clear saying among other things; "F*cking joke" and "KSW is going down the f*cking toilet". This was the second decision of the night that seemed to heavily favour a Polish fighter when they seemed to have lost to an Englishman, as James Zikic also seemed hard done by in his earlier fight.

Jan Blachnoqicz vs Thierry Sokoudjou

Sokoudjou is a scary looking bloke with a pretty strong CV. He has fought and beat Little Nog, Ricardo Arona and Kazuhiro Nakamura, fighting in Pride, UFC and WEC. More recently he has been fighting all over, including stopping up and coming Polish light heavy weight Jan Blachnoqicz (notable win over Christian M'Pumbu), having leg kicked him so much he could not continue in what had been an entertaining war. The two met again at KSW 17 for Sokoudjou's KSW Light Heavy Weight Title.

Round 1 saw the fight go to the ground early as the Pole pulled guard. He managed to keep the Cameroonian fighter in his guard and the referee was forced to stand them up. In between dangerous looking Sokoudjou flurries, Blachnoqicz was able to earn a couple of take downs that probably won him the round.

At the opening of Round 2 the Pole appeared to rock the African Assassin with a very solid jab, before getting tied up. He then took Sokoudjou down with a double leg but was unable to make any progress and they were stood up. Blachnoqicz then proceeded to dominate the standup, although Sokoudjou did manage to land a couple of very solid leg strikes, despite the Pole's attempts to check them.

In Round 3 the Polish fighter seemed quite tired and was taken down after around a minute. He showed an active guard and, with Sokoudjou unable to make any progress they were stood up. Blachnoqicz managed to knock down the African with another great jab before acheiving a mounted crucifix and then a mount and back mount. He was unable to finish though, winning the fight by unanimous decision.

Sokoudjou is not the bombastic powerful fighter he was in his hey-day but he is certainly no push over. Jan Blachnoqicz will take some real momentum from this win, cementing his place as one of the top Light Heavyweights in Europe at the moment.

Aslambek Saidov vs Rafal Moks

In the opening bout, Aslambek Saidov edged out fellow Pole Rafal Moks by decision, with Saidov dominating on the feet and spending most of the time on top when on the ground, without Moks being able to make anything happen from the bottom.

James Zikic vs Antoni Chmielewski

English journeyman James Zikic squared off against Polish Judo player, Antoni Chmielewski in one of a few rematches to happen on the card, with Zikic having lost the previous fight. In this fight back and forth fight, the most interesting thing was when the ref stopped the fight to rub the fighters down with a towel, bizarre. The Pole won a controversial split decision in a fight where he may have spent more time in top position, but where he ate a lot more shots and took more damage in the stand up.

Maciej Jewtuszco vs Artur Sowinski

Next, former WEC and UFC lightweight Maciej Jewtuszco took on Artur Sowinski. To be honest, I neither know nor can find out anything about Sowinski, but the ring announcer did describe him as the future of the lightweight division and he came out to some pretty cool music. After 10 or 20 seconds of missing with some of the widest windmill punches I have ever seen, Sowinski threw a massive uppercut right onto the chin of the more recognisable Jewtuszco, knocking him out cold.

Matt Horwich vs Michal Materla

Matt Horwich vs Michal Materla featured yet more cool walk out music, the UFC's fighters could really learn a thing or two. The American praised KSW because it pays more than the more famous organisations. I suppose that for a journeyman professional it pays to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Round 1 saw Horwich surprisingly spend most of his time on top of the Ju Jitsu specialist Materla, mostly on the back landing blows and attempting to slide in a choke. In round 2, Materla took the Horwich down and spent 2 minutes on top before the referee stood them up. Horwich took it back to the ground but soon ended up on his back again. After an explosive start, round 3 went to the ground with Materla ending up on top again. In a fight relatively uneventful fight, Materla ground out a decision win.

Picture from Oestroleka.pl

This was a fun card with some interesting fights. Despite Khalidov's great submission win, I suspect the main talking point will be the shocking judges decision that robbed James Thompson. Is there anyone out there brave enough to suggest Pudzianowski won that fight?

Bellator 58 - Bellator should be sharing the UFC's limelight this weekend.

2011-11-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Picture from Five Ounces of Pain

Last week Bellator 57 was a stonking card featuring two tournament finals and some other really fun bouts. I really enjoyed Alexandre Bezerra's heel hook on Doug Evans and the really strange belly of Roger Hawk, he looked a bit like he had been deflated. The highlights of course were the championship fights and Douglas Lima and Alexander Schlemenko won $100,000 each and title shot at Ben Askren and Hector Lombard respectively.

Bellator's tournament format is pretty unique in MMA at the moment and is its main selling point. During a Bellator season a tournament gains momentum and we, the audience, get attached to the fighters who impress us. The organisation comes in for some criticism because the title holders end up defending their belt once or twice a year and then fighting in mostly meaningless feature fights against under matched opponents. The problem arises when like Christian M'Pumbu, the champion loses in a non-title fight. Or, like Ben Askren, the champion is run very close in a controversial decision victory in title shot. The tournament structure rules out rematches and title fights with anyone but season champions.

Those problems do matter and need to be sorted out. The fact remains though, that there is something really satisfying about knowing that the guys fighting for the title have had to fight to get there, not just talk trash about the title holder (a la Sonnen or Diaz). I am looking forward to Eddie Alvarez' title defence against Micheal Chandler this weekend just as much as I am looking forward to seeing Henderson vs Rua and Bowles vs Faber. This leads me to wonder why it is that Bellator usually gets roughly the same amount of viewers as an underwhelming UFC pay-per-view despite being aired free on MTV2. I watch MMA from the UK usually by nefarious means such as downloading, so it is very possible that I am missing something about the mindset of the fight watching (and paying) American public. But, when good cards are available for free on TV, why are people not watching them?

Alvarez vs Chandler

Eddie Alvarez is, according to Sherdog, the sixth best light weight in the world. He stands one place below Shinya Aoki, who he will face in February, provided he wins tonight. He is probably the biggest the asset that Bellator has and I expect this card to produce the best viewer numbers the organisation has seen in a while. Certainly they will be banking on that. Micheal Chandler is undefeated as a pro, having a notable win over Patricky Freire. This promises to be an intriguing fight.

Eddie Alvarez has won his last seven fights since the Aoki loss and completely dominated Bellator's lightweight division. He will come into this fight as the massive favourite. He is a great boxer, training with UFC champion Frankie Edgar, but also has solid wrestling and sprinklink of submission victories among his 22 wins, especially recently. The fact that Alvarez is well rounded and experienced, not to mention riding a massive wave of confidence, is going to make him very difficult to stop. Chandler has heavy hands, but he is without doubt a wrestler. Alvarez will likely struggle to get him off of him should he end up on the bottom and I fully expect him to use his wrestling to keep this fight standing up. On the feet, slick boxing, moving in and out with combinations and using good footwork and head movement to avoid Chandler's more wild striking, should be Alvarez' best plan of attack.

For Chandler's part, he knows where his strength lies. Certainly against a guy like Eddie Alvarez, he can only believe he is superior in one area, that being wrestling. Chandler will come in to this fight not worried about making it pretty, but looking to establish a top position and to grind down the champion (I really think a veteran like Alvarez will be hard to submit). On the feet he absolutely must not stand in front of Alvarez but cut angles and use strikes to set up take down opportunities.

Chandler will not take Alvarez down, at least not repeatedly. On the feet he has nothing to make the champion worry so I think Eddie will take him apart and finally knock him out in round 2.

Lombard vs Prangley

Hector Lombard is unbeaten in an astonishing 24 fights. He is the reigning Bellator middle weight champion, although this will not be a title fight, indeed being a catchweight 195lb fight. His opponent Trevor Prangley is a journeyman fighter who has fought in the UFC, Strikeforce and Dream and holds notable victories over Chael Sonnen and Keith Jardine. This is one of those fights that Bellator's champions reputedly get frustrated with and which MMA fans certainly do. It will almost certainly be a fun fight but does smack of the organisation giving Lombard somebody to beat up to keep him busy until he defends his title against Schlemenko next year.

Hector Lombard has heavy heavy hands and a great highlight reel of knockouts. He also has a very solid judo base, ju jitsu credentials and the ability to fight at a high pace for a sustained period. His last real test was against his next opponent and the only real danger Lombard faces is having looked past this opponent towards his title defence early next year.

Prangley has, of course, a punchers chance of catching Lombard with something but that really is it. Coming off the back of 2 losses and at the age of 39 it would be a surprise to say the least if he caused an upset at Bellator 58. He has solid take downs but will not be able to shift a solid guy like Lombard. He has a solid ground game but the fight will never get there and his hands are nowhere near up to scratch.

Lombard by TKO in round one.

Bellator 58 features an intriguing title match up between a real force to be reckoned with in Eddie Alvarez and new kid on the block Micheal Chandler and the chance to see one of the most dominant fighters (albeit against a certain standard of opponent) in MMA.

Bits and bobs

I cannot make my mind up if Silva vs Le deserves a co main event slot at UFC 139 this weekend. It is no exactly the most relevant fight on the card and has pushed what will be an exciting and meaningful bout between Faber and Bowles down to third billing. On the other hand, it will be really fun to a guy from movies who fights like he is in a movie, fighting against Chris Leben without the chin.

I am not sure why so much of the build up to the headline fight has centered around Henderson being powerful and Rua a bit dithering and old. Henderson is a big strong guy, but he really has limited tools. Rua still has an explosive attack but maybe more of a calm head, is just putting his career back together and looked good knocking out Forest Griffin. I am not sure I fancy either guy for a title shot should they win, but let's not rule Rua out yet.

I suppose everyone has seen this already, but if you have not, take a look at this video of Chael Sonnen being a parody of Chael Sonnen.

UFC on Fox - Did it deliver?

2011-11-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, the latest UFC event featured two brilliant events at the top of the card, each great for their own reasons. It was, as I suspected, a mile a minute war between Henderson and Guida and those guys should feel slightly affronted that their fight didn't receive the promotion or attention it deserved. Having said that, you can't argue that much with a fight that was available for free on Facebook and and I am pretty sure that fight will be aired a few times on some channel in the next few weeks. The title fight? Well that did not last long but for Junior Dos Santos it was enough time to win the Heavyweight Championship and prove his own words prophetic, that if you are a positive person good things will happen to you.

Image from MMAweekly

Velasquez vs Dos Santos

Highlights of the UFC Heavyweight Title fight can be found here.

The fight lasted for all of a minute and UFC execs will potentially be a little disappointed that the fight did not gain the sport a bit more exposure. The fight started with Cain looking pretty comfortable standing with JDS, obviously aiming to pick at him with leg kicks. Junior Dos Santos could be seen stalking Cain, getting his timing and distance and waiting for his opportunity. That opportunity came when Dos Santos connected with an overhand right, just behind Velasquez' ear and the big Mexican was dropped. The Brazilian swarmed and finished Cain off with heavy punches, before the champ could regroup.

Alot the talk of the post fight press conference centered around Velasquez' failure to make any real attempt to take Dos Santos down. Of course Velasquez did not plan get countered while throwing a hefty left hook. He most likely planned to give Dos Santos plenty to think about before taking the shot. After all, the Brazillian has great take down defence and is a great counter striker, you certainly don't want to go in with a predictable game plan. In my previous post about this fight I said that the fight would depend on who could keep this fight in the area of their expertise. I was very surprised to hear Joe Rogan wax lyrical about Velasquez' stand up. I was sure that he would struggle to match a fighter of Dos Santos' boxing calibre on the feet. I just expected the fight to last longer and for Cain to begin getting the fight to ground as Dos Santos tired.

Velasquez is not going anywhere. He did not have enough time here to show the best of himself but it seems very unlikely that he is a much worse fighter than we thought he was a few days ago. He will feed back into the talent pool against one of the top guys, probably sooner rather than later. As for Dos Santos he faces the winner of Overeem and Lesnar next and neither fight will be a walk in the park.

Henderson vs Guida

Image from MMAweekly

This fight was great! Just as with the Miller fight, I had no idea Henderson would be able to stay so dominant over Guida. Guida claimed in the post fight presser that he thought the fight was close but I do not think so. Guida was in it right untill the end and even caught Bendo from time to time but Henderson was the clear winner in each round for me.

The things I liked most about Henderson in this fight were his ability to stuff take downs, beat Clay up on the fence and to spring back up. At times he looked like BJ Penn, punching Guida in the face while hopping on one leg, avoiding the takedown. Against the fence he delivered vicious knees to the stomach that looked frankly horrible. Guida managed to embroil him into a messy, hairy brawl at times, but even then Henderson used the cleaner, crisper striking to take the advantage.

Henderson's fight against Frankie Edgar is going to be great too. It will be interesting to see how he deals with being the scrappier, pluckier striker when faced with Edgar's great boxing. As for Guida he falls back down the pecking order for a little while and looks to climb the ladder again. Maybe him a Miller could fight next?

Bits and bobs

I am really chuffed that the Junior Dos Santos won. He seems a super nice guy and I like his street fighter-esque jump and point before a fight. I prefer MMA when nice guys with great talent succeed and that is what happened in California.

Like many people I am a bit disappointed that Dana White has chosen to question Velasquez' tactics and talk more about the strength of production than he did about the strength of Dos Santos. Dos Santos had just knocked out Cain Velasquez for goodness sake. No-one else had done that before. Sometimes the UFC's spokesman tends to get carried away with promoting the organisation and forgets to promote the fighter.

Finally, I am a little bit concerned about the heavy weight division. In some ways there seem to be more elite fighters at that weight class than ever before, but the worry is that there is a massive gulf between the likes of Pat Barry and Roy Nelson and Alastair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos. There is a top four or six fighters who might well end up fighting each other quite alot in the next few years, I hope the UFC does not use up all its big fights too soon.

Bellator 57 - Write up from http://jim-ma.blogspot.com/

2011-11-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

The current Bellator season is entering into the tournament championship fight faze now and the next few weeks feature some of the most important fights of Bellator's year. For an organisation struggling with attracting viewers as it is, it probably did not want two tournament finales on the same night as a Manny Pacquiao and a massive UFC fight for free. It is what it is though and for anyone with TiVo or a torrents programme Saturday night or Sunday day time are going to be jam pack with great fights. I have already written a preview of UFC on Fox and made my picks and obviously the boxers are only allowed to fight standing up and only with their hands so there is no point in talking about or watching that. Below I have done a run down of the Bellator 57 card, focusing on the tournament championship bouts between Lima and Saunders and Vianna and Schlemenko.

Picture from Fighters.com

Vianna vs Schlemenko

I am very excited about this fight. Vitor Vianna seems like a great prospect and Alexander Schlemenko is an intimidating veteran on a run of some devestating finishes since his decision loss to reigning middleweight kingpin Hector Lombard. That Lombard fight is the Russian's only loss in his last 12 fights. It is interesting that, while in fighting terms Schlemenko is a bit of a granddad, Vianna is five years his elder.

Schlemenko is primarily a stand up fighter with a great chin, a devestating clinch game full of knees and great all round kickboxing. He did pull off a super surprising guillotine choke on Galesic at Bellator 50, but I do not see a repeat of that happening against Vianna. Schlemenko will look to stay on the outside of Vianna and, if Vianna makes the decision to stand and trade given the confidence he has gained from TKOs in two of his last three runouts the Russian will easily evade his attack and make him pay with direct, economical but powerful strikes.

Vitor Vianna trains with Wanderlei Silva and you wonder if in his last few fights he has modelled his striking style on the wild attacks of his sparring partner. Silva has found in his last few fights that attacking with reckless abandon can lead to quite random results. Against a striker of Schlemenko's caliber I think the results are quite predictable, Vianna will be knocked out. Surely Vianna knows this and will try and get the fight to the ground at the earliest opportunity where he has an undeniable advantage. I have not been overly impressed by Vianna's take down ability in the three or four fights I have seen him in and Schlemenko has great defence.

Without the ability to get the fight to the ground this match up should be all about Alexander Schlemenko picking off Vitor Vianna and avoiding big punches. Don't get me wrong, if Vianna somehow takes this fight to the ground he stands a great chance, I just don't see it happening. Schlemenko will knock him out, possibly as early as the first round.

Here is a video of Vianna's only loss to Thiago Silva. It was five years ago so I don't think we can read too much into it, but he has the same trouble with take downs in the beginning of the round as I think he will have with Schlemenko.

Here are his fights against Sam Alvey and Bryan Baker. Particularly in the Baker fight, look out for the wiuld punching that I think Schlemenko will punish at Bellator 57.

Ben Saunders vs Douglas Lima

Picture from MMAmania

To look at Ben Saunders' record you could be forgiven for thiking that he is one of those fighters that had his shot at the big time and blew it at the UFC. The reality though, is that he had a few injuries at the wrong times, including under-performing in TUF 6 due to 'flu and a few dodgy decisions, like the decision to step in to fight John Fitch when preparing for Jake Ellenberger. In Bellator, Saunders has been outspoken in his dekight at the tournament format, where perfromances and wins rather than politics lead to promotion through the ranks. He seems to thriving under the pressure of the knockout setup (as well, it has to be said, from a slightly lower level of opposition). Saunders' background is pretty cool, beginning martial arts training Jeet Kune Do. He has a dynamic striking style, passable wrestling, great top game (including sharp elbows) and looks good off his back.

Douglas Lima is on an 8 fight win streak including three fights in Canada's premier promotion and

two fights in Bellator. At 23 years old, he is technically an up and comer but with 24 fights under his belt he could equally be considered a veteran. The Saunders fight represents a step up in class from anyone he has fought before and, despite his winning streak, this may well be a tough test for the Brazillian. He is a well rounded fighter with high Brazillian Ju Jitsu credentials and viscious Muay Thai. More than half his career wins have come by submission but in recent bouts he has tried to emphasise his improved stand up.

The new and improved “Killer Bee” will find it relatively easy to deal with Lima's stand up and, should it go to the ground I expect to see Saunders on top. Expect to see Lima bloodied up and a TKO in the second round.

Let's not overlook Bellator 57 this weekend. The tournament format offers some relief from the relentless marketing and political machinations that get in the way of the fights that should happen in the UFC. Despite getting pretty low viewing figures, Bellator consistently puts on great shows.