MMA IV 2009 - Fall into New Years.

[Ser Barry]

Oli Thompson is doing mma? Dudes a monster.

He is a bit smaller than he used to be but obviously still enormous. You can see one or both of his fights on youtube. He has beaten Ash Pollard twice who is an ok but very young and raw HW. If ZT pull off the line up they are after for their Tournament in January then Thompson will get a proper test.

[GSP]

"Is this what it's come to for him? Then again, Arlovsky did moonlight on Springer, so what am I really saying? Oh well, it's too bad that Iron Ring couldn't make a encore so he could feel like a star again. What are they suing him for?"

Two amateur mma gym owners were suing him for not showing up to an instructional promotion they had paid good money to advertise. They weren't successful because they had sent him an agreement but he had never signed and returned it. Shonnie's counter suit was also dismissed but he looked pimpin in his black trenchcoat/cape thingy with his diamond studded superman belt buckle, lol. He used the whole opportunity as a product placement commercial (he even has an ENERGY DRINK!). At one point Judge Matthis had to stop him up short saying "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're larger than life".

My buddy always has Judge Mathis on if I stop over to burn one in the late afternoon. That was tv gold.

[Horus Ex Machina]

God I hate Jake Rossen. What's even more annoying about him is his tendancy to relate vague and completely ill thought-out conjectures with the certainty and conceit of a elitist law professor with a doctorate degree. But his bravado doesn't hide the fact that he's a moron when he comes up with ideas like mandatory ground-fighting in MMA to off-set the standup rule. Yeah Jake, lets just do it like chess-boxing; one round of kickboxing followed by one round of grappling. What a joke.

Anyways I always manage to stumble across his blogs since, when you go on the Sherdog site, the stories aren't labeled by writer so I end up reading them first and finding out who wrote them later. Sometimes I read an article with articulate, well-thought out prognostication of the intricacies of strategy, timing, technique and pedigree and usually think to myself, "hmm... this is probably Jordan Breen." And it usually is. It's a shame that he doesn't do more editorials. Then I'll read an article that's full of innuendo, tough-guy talk and bravado but little actual substance and technical application of MMA subtleties but is written with the swagger of someone who just broke down the exact science of applying a twister and think, "this article is total crap, hmm.. must have been written by Jake Rossen."

So I find that Jake has now bloggedabout the possibility of Pudz taking on Aleks Emelianenko. I won't bother you with the actual substance of the article, if there is any, but will say that it offers a definitive opinion, flighty critiques of fight technique with no elucidation, and ends with Pudz drinking protein shake through a wired jaw. Once again Jake, nice breakdown.

Now mind you, I don't think Pudz would win this fight with his experience level, but Jake in the same breath wouldn't be able to differentiate the lack of polish that Pudz showed in his first fight from the lack of polish shown in the striking of countless other MMA fighters who grace the UFC, Strikeforce and countless other promotions. But whatever, Jake is little more than a fan with a press credential. Completely amateurish morons like this who populate the MMA media is one thing that this sport needs to move beyond in order to take that next step. But it is what it is.

[GSP]

Good day for Canadian mma fans. Vancouver got sanctioned and the WEC partnered with Rogers Sportsnet so we finally have a place to watch WEC's live!

Now the UFC hw talk is all about Mir/Carwin for an interim belt. Now that's an intriguing hw match up! I'm split enough that I doubt I make a call on it for Fantasy purposes. Same with Evans/Silva coming up.

[Ser Barry]

I agree about Rossen Horus. I think they invented the Blog idea over there just so they can remove their editorial policy from his posts. They would do better just to drop him.

Mir/Carwin would be tough to call but Evans destroys Silva. Speaking of Fantasy MMA I had forgotten about it. I am off to badly predict Strikeforce.

[Horus Ex Machina]

I agree about Rossen Horus. I think they invented the Blog idea over there just so they can remove their editorial policy from his posts. They would do better just to drop him.

It's sad bc MMA needs more good reporters and to finally have good announcer teams. I like Gus Johnson's potential once he get's familiar with the sport and Joe Rogan knows what he's talking about when he's not schilling. SF would be better served also to replace Frank Shamrock with Pat Miletich and I can't wait until Randy Couture joins the announcer booth full-time but his statements in the past from his lawsuit days tell me that that won't be anytime soon. Contractual issues were a bitch there. Big John was good, but I'd rather see him reffing than commentating and the commission rules are clear that he can't do both. Outside of that announcers pretty much suck in MMA. As for writers, it's even more dire than that. There are alot of guys who do fine work and do try hard, but their efforts are really being put off bc it's obvious that they're trying to keep up with thier less talented contemporaries who are willing to make any statement about everything and it just brings the whole mess down into mediocrity. We need more guys like Jordan Breen, and he at least sticks to his guns and has said that he doesn't need to editorialize everything just for the sake of it. Even if only to stay ahead of the hacks like Rossen.

Speaking of Fantasy MMA I had forgotten about it. I am off to badly predict Strikeforce.

Are you gonna call the WEC too? It gives us chasers a bigger chance to grab top spot. :leaving:

[Horus Ex Machina]

Wow did Cung gas horribly in that fight. Frank Shamrock finally made a good point, Cung wasn't hurting him with his strikes. Cung's strikes don't seem to hurt ppl so much as surprise them. And by the third round, even though he was winning handily, he was walking around like a zombie and knowing the way Smith can power his way through fights that he's losing it seemed like Cung was about to give away this fight. What attrocious cardio by Cung and you have to question Cung's commitment to MMA with the way he gassed at the end. He was maybe a minute or so from an easy decision win. Now I've gotta check out the WEC card that I DVR'd. Congrats to Smith for doing what he does best.

Tuned in just in time to watch Cerrone style on Ed Ratcliffe. I didn't see how Cerrone would lose this one. He made him look silly in that last round, I mean, c'mon what type of pretzel move was that? Anyway amazing dominating grappling.

And I gotta congratulate my boy Anthony Njokuani, he's a fellow Naija from round my neck of tha woods and he's a cool cat if you meet him and he was born for this sport and I'm really happy for him. Big win over Horodecki, who is really accomplished. but I felt he'd style on him.

Melendez and Thompson may have stolen FOTY honors, but Melendez had Thompson's number here and I think that the injury was bothering Thompson alot. I liked seeing Melendez use the jab and and his length to keep Thompson at bay and set up the leg kick. Thompson was off balance from about the second round on. It's nice to see Melendez complete the comeback and move back into the top 10 at 155.

[GSP]

Sounds like Strikeforce was a good card to see tonight. I thought the WEC was spot on as usual.

Congrats to your boy Horus, even if it's gotta come at the expense of my hometown guy, lol. Anthony Njokuani is a giant among lightweights. He's not quite as tall as Cory Hill but he seems significantly meatier (and hopefully less prone to that nasty nasty leg break) and knows how to use that height of his well in the stand up. Hordecki was actually doing all right until he thought he was safely out of range of a Njokuani high kick. He was very wrong. Dangerous guy!

[Horus Ex Machina]

Anthony really just styled on Horodecki which I saw happening if the Hammer couldn't get him on the ground but Chris is really a super fighter and has a real head start in this sport. I was a bit worried for him if it went to a grappling match, but Anthony is waaay too big for alot of lightweights and manages to make that weight despite carrying alot of muscle on his 6'2" frame. He really is a freaky LW specimen. Cory Hill is a good comparison. Alot of us are built like that, long, lean and sinewy. We can carry alot of muscle on a tall frame and still not weigh alot. Those type of guys kill in MMA.

I don't know Mo Lawal personally but he's also from Dallas and he's also a fellow Naija so I'm doubly happy with those two boys. I'm really excited to see some of my ppl out there doing big things. Wale also released what might be the hiphop album of the year out of DC, so it's Naija doing big things in the world hopefully culminating in a World Cup in South Africa for the Super Eagles next summer. BTW this Naija is now in 1st place in both standings on the fantasy MMA page with one event left in the year so please everyone here, that means you Hapakane and Stego, throw down some picks, you won't have enough activity to win but it's all for fun.

Listening to Jordan Breen tonight on "After the Bell" he made a good point that, although Le was winning, he was using way too much flashy offense and scoring with panache and not doing anything that actually worked towards finishing a fight. In the end most of his offense only served to tire himself out. Similar critiques could have been once made of Lyoto with the exception that he was much more conservative with his offense. He might have gone for a fairly interesting-looking roundhouse or a switch kick from time to time, but he didn't rely on them bc those things tend to look good, knock your opponent down, not hurt them and tire you out. Lyoto is a much more cerebral and practical practitioner of the TMA.

[Analu]

What attrocious cardio by Cung and you have to question Cung's commitment to MMA with the way he gassed at the end. He was maybe a minute or so from an easy decision win.

You can't really fault for him for gassing after such a long layoff. It happens to just about every fighter after a long time away, Shogun being the first name that comes to mind. But I wanted to see Cung lose, because I don't think he's serious about being an MMA fighter. I think he's still trying to use it as a springboard to get into movies. So whatever for him. I'm glad he got knocked out.

Melendez and Thompson may have stolen FOTY honors, but Melendez had Thompson's number here and I think that the injury was bothering Thompson alot. I liked seeing Melendez use the jab and and his length to keep Thompson at bay and set up the leg kick. Thompson was off balance from about the second round on. It's nice to see Melendez complete the comeback and move back into the top 10 at 155.

It was a great fight and a war, but I couldn't help but think that BJ would tool both of these guys standing or on the ground.

Haven't had a chance to watch WEC yet, except for the Njokuani-Horodecki fight which I just watched a few minutes ago. Pretty amazing. Really like Njokuani, who I can't recall ever seeing before, and was awesome chasing after Horodecki with that leg kick. Horodecki was really stupid to run away from such an aggressive fighter with his back turned like that, and paid the price.

Gonna try to watch the rest of the WEC fights later today...

BTW this Naija is now in 1st place in both standings on the fantasy MMA page with one event left in the year so please everyone here, that means you Hapakane and Stego, throw down some picks, you won't have enough activity to win but it's all for fun.

I would, but I usualy put a little money down on fights and am superstitious after stating my wagers and losing every time, so no can do for me.

[Horus Ex Machina]

It was a great fight and a war, but I couldn't help but think that BJ would tool both of these guys standing or on the ground.

BJ tools pretty much every lightweight out there, but I guarantee that both of them put up a much better fight than Sanchez did. I also think that Melendez is probably better than Edgar and Maynard. Only Florian is clearly better than he is on the UFC roster. I'd like to see SF pick up JZ, Aoki, Hellboy and get Eddie Alvarez in for a fight bc that would seriously put the non-UFC LWs on the top 10 lists bc I believe that while BJ is clearly the best, much of the rest of the top 10 isn't necessarily who he'll be facing in UFC outside of Florian. The UFC is already gonna have to get creative to challenge him or sign a LW from outside.

I would, but I usualy put a little money down on fights and am superstitious after stating my wagers and losing every time, so no can do for me.

I can understand that. I have similar superstitions about watching sporting events that I place wagers on. I don't, it usually jinxes me. When money's on the line I ain't watching.

[lessthanluke]

Forgive my ignorance but what is a Naija?

[Horus Ex Machina]

Forgive my ignorance but what is a Naija?

Nigerian-American. :smug:

Or just Nigerian. <_<

[lessthanluke]

Nigerian-American. :smug:

Gotcha. I haven't watched the cards yet. Will do so in the week probably.

[GSP]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions Lessthanluke. I was just about to pose that question myself.

[Ken Stone]

I'm surprised that Smith pulled that fight out. I was under the impression that Le specifically picked Smith as his come back opponent, to help shake the ring rust off before moving onto stiffer competition. Guess he was rustier than he realized!

[Horus Ex Machina]

I doubt that Le was doing anything more than fulfilling his obligation to Strikeforce to fight if he isn't doing any movies. Hapakane is right about one thing; he isn't in MMA for the long haul. Strikeforce knew that with their bigger platform, they couldn't put him in against a complete tool and needed someone with name value that he could likely beat. Because Le isn't really in it full blast, it makes sense for SF to find name, but beatable opponents for him and to cash in on his marketability in San Jose. But putting him in fights that move him in the division and set up other matchups is pretty pointless for him.

In fact it was probably even better for Le's plans that he lost here as a win would have probably put him in a position where ppl will expect another step up in competition and perhaps a #1 contender's fight against Jacare, which wouldn't end well for Le. I actually think that he'd have a better chance against Shields than Jacare since Shields isn't gonna KO anybody and has attrocious standup. I could see Le actually using a roundhouse (which he doesn't use enough of) and laying him out. But that only happens 1 out of every 10 times he fights Shields. But the chance is there. So now with the loss, it would almost be expected and acceptable for him to fight a Terry Martin or a Kyle Noke. And he won't be back for another year probably.

BTW Ken, remember to make a pick on the Dynamite card, I'm trying to get everyone we can to pick on that card.

[Oorag]

Wow, two great cards! Some great battles and crazy finishes. Not a boring match in the bunch, I'd say.

It was really odd how that body kick rocked Smith so badly in the first round. He clearly blocked it with his arms. It almost looked like his own fist got pushed up from the kick and hit him in the chin. I wasn't that surprised by Le gassing. He's coming off a long layoff, but he's also 37 years old, and his face looks like hamburger. His expiration date as a fighter is probably drawing near, whatever his plans are for Hollywood.

Glad to see Jacare and Mo didn't slip up against what were basically gatekeepers. I was surprised that Strikeforce didn't seem to be selling them very hard. Maybe they assumed that American audiences wouldn't know them anyway, so it was best to not overstep themselves and let them develop a reputation naturally through their performances. Or maybe they just couldn't spare the broadcast time.

The WEC was also awesome. It's guys like Njokuani that make me think that predictions of Zuffa's demise are greatly exaggerated. For every big name they maddeningly let slip through their fingers, they seem to have a few badass unknowns poised for their time to shine. It's particularly fitting that Njokuani came out against an established name like Horodecki.

[Oorag]

I missed the Pride phenomenon the first time around, so I'm going to go back and watch every Pride event, from its beginning to its fateful end. I just started off my watching spree with Pride 1, the very beginning, and it was pretty interesting.

John Dixson vs Kazunari Murakami: Murakami is apparently a Japanese pro wrestler, while Dixson seems to be a kickboxer or something with no ground game. Murakami takes Dixon to the ground and quickly gets an armbar. I think this was probably a gimme matchup to energize the Japanese audience. First bout of Pride is pretty underwhelming.

Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov: Wow, Goodridge actually looked fit back then, and he gets one of the most brutal KO's I've seen in a while. Taktarov clinches with him and is going for a takedown when he gets tagged in the temple and faceplants, taking two more shots on the ground before the ref stops it. Taktarov leaves unconscious on a stretcher, while Goodridge gets his foot looked at and the camera picks him up gloating, "Sent the fucker out on a stretcher!" Commentators Quadros and Rutten choose not to comment on the remark.

Renzo Gracie vs Akira Shoji: Shoji repeatedly grabs the ropes, even as he's nodding to the ref while being admonished. At one point the ref pulls his right arm out of the ropes, so Shoji hooks his left arm around instead. Apparently Pride has no penalties yet. Later, Renzo has Shoji's back, so Shoji dives through the ropes and sends both of them out of the ring, prompting a start-over with both fighters separated. Boy, the problems with rings literally jumped right out from the very beginning.

Nathan Jones vs Koji Kitao: Jones, the pro wrestler/stuntman faces Kitao, a disgraced sumo wrestler, in Pride's first freak show matchup. It looks like Jones is trying to do an impression of a fighter as he hops around for a bit, then throws some high kicks before the fight falls to the mat and Kitao threatens with a keylock, prompting Jones to quit immediately. I know enough about Pride to expect more of this stuff in the future.

Kimo Leopoldo vs Dan Severn: An incredily tedious fight in which both UFC vets spend almost the entire bout in a terrible kickboxing match. After a rare takedown, a grounded Kimo literally crawls out of the ring in order to force a restart on his feet. Towards the end of the fight, Bas Rutten screams, "Jesus Christ!" in frustration as Kimo squanders a rare opportunity to actually do something. Afterwards, both fighters are showered with boos from the normally reticent Japanese audience. It's really amazing that the sport survived matches like this.

Branko Cikatić vs Ralph White: The event's one kickboxing event ends with the promotion's first soccer kick, and an illegal one at that. White's bald head develops a grotesque lump the size of a whole chicken egg. For some reason, his trainers have to spend 10 minutes repeatedly insisting that the lump is fight-ending and the result of an illegal blow. Finally the refs relent and declare the fight a no contest, though it should have been a DQ.

Rickson Gracie vs Nobuhiko Takada: The legendary Rickson Gracie makes one of his few public appearances in MMA to fight a debuting Japanese pro wrestler. It's just as big a miss-match as it sounds. Rickson follows Takada around the ring like a robot in that weird, stiff stance that Royce Gracie displayed in the first UFCs. Takada runs around the cage until he gets cornered and Gracie gets his back. He grabs the ropes to fight the takedown, so the refs respond by separating them. The commentators scratch their heads at that decision. Once Gracie gets him to the ground, it's over quick.

On the whole, this is a real blast-from-the-past look at MMA in its infancy. After just one event, there's really not much to indicate that this would become the promotion du jour for hardcore MMA fans. I'm looking forward to watching it grow.

[Oorag]

Pride 2 continues to make me amazed that MMA survived its early years. The event features two fights that go 30 minutes or longer with almost no offense at all. These Japanese pro wrestlers don't seem to have any game plan. They don't strike at all, and they don't go for submissions. Their total lack of offense apparently makes them difficult to submit, however, so the fights just drag on and on. The commentators repeatedly suspect that there's some sort of "code of honor" going on that prevents some of the fighters from striking at all. It's quite bizarre.

On the other hand, Sakuraba's first bout in Pride looks amazingly modern. It's quite easy to see why he'll become such a famous fighter in the events ahead. Unfortunately the broadcast doesn't include Mark Kerr's debut, though he won a quick DQ victory over the dirty Branko Cikatić, which makes two fights in a row ended by Cikatić's fouls.