Shot of the Event (UFC 159)

Roy Nelson lands an overhand right on Cheick Kongo for the KO finish

UFC 158 Breakdown

Georges St Pierre VS Nick Diaz

“Stockton Motherf***er!”. The king of talking crap and the Stockton Slap,Nick Diaz. Rarely does a fighter coming off a loss get the opportunity to fight for the title, but when the iron is still hot you should probably strike.

Sporting a record of 26-8,Nick Diaz brawls like no other. He uses his famous Diaz boxing to get the job done,mixing in pot shots with the weak to surprise his opponent. In 2009, Frank Shamrock criticized Diaz boxing from the pre-fight interviews to the body shot that dropped him to the mat.  If you ask him about it today, he’ll praise the style.

The Stockton Native has no fear or common sense, Relentlessly attacking Paul Daley in a 2011 Strikeforce bout  turned boxing match. Diaz punched his way to a TKO after getting dropped earlier in the round. Fighters with the high level ground game that Diaz possesses would NEVER stand with Daley. I guess recklessness prevails sometimes.

Nick Diaz has had trouble with wrestlers in the past. He lost 3 in a row in 2006 to Sanchez,Riggs and Sherk. Nick also lost a split to Karo Parisyan  in ’04. Since his rise to fame in Strikeforce, he has never signed to fight a single wrestler. 5 strikers followed by his UFC re-debut against BJ Penn and a loss to Carlos Condit. Condit was also his first well rounded striker in years and he couldn’t mount much of an offense in 25 minutes seeing as Carlos didn’t stand in front of him. GSP will be the first wrestler he fought since ’06 against Sean Sherk

Georges St. Pierre, The current and most dominant Welterweight Champion ever seen in the UFC. Once fighting like a man possessed, with 14 fights and 10 early finishes, Matt Serra‘s come-from-behind upset victory changed him. After beating Serra in the rematch by TKO, he went on to have 6 of his next 7 fights go to the judges. He was so afraid to risk anything anymore that he traded in his arsenal for a lunging jab and a gymnastics class.

His wrestling is his main weapon these days. Georges‘ wrestling technique is so far above the competition that after the takedown is secured, you can guarantee yourself a couple minutes to grab something from the kitchen. His takedowns are nothing special though, it’s all in his delivery, making you think you’re in a striking match and then shooting on you. Diaz will not have a chance against GSP. Though he plays it safe nowadays, his arsenal of; lunging jabs, superman punches and spinning kicks, should pass the Diaz boxing test. If not, His wrestling will be more than enough to nullify Nick for a unanimous decision. This will be the best beat down GSP has ever given. Let’s just hope Nick Diaz doesn’t fail the Pre-fight drug test and shows up for the fight. This will prove he doesn’t belong in the title picture at WW.

My Prediction : GSP takes this by unanimous decision. GSP WON A UNI DEC

Johny Hendricks VS Carlos Condit

Carlos Condit‘s striking GREATLY improved since his UFC debut. He began putting more power behind his punches, knocking out Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim in back to back wins early in the first round. He gave Georges St Pierre one of the toughest fights of his career in his last outing, won a Fight of the Night award for his performance, kept the best wrestler in the UFC away from side control and even knocked him down with a well placed head kick in the third.

Fear the beard! Johny Hendricks is the definition of one punch power. Known for knocking out Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch in a combined 58 seconds. His only loss is a unanimous decision to Rick Story that showed holes in his wrestling game. Many thought he deserved a shot at GSP after those 58 seconds in the cage but it never came around. Instead, Johny has another obstacle in his path, Carlos Condit.

My Prediction : Carlos Condit takes this either by KO or a 1 sided unanimous decision. HENDRICKS WON A CONTROVERSIAL DECISION AFTER BEING OUTSTRUCK

Jake Ellenberger VS Nate Marquardt

Jake entered the UFC on a low note, losing a split decision to Carlos Condit. He rebounded by knocking out 4 of his next 6 opponents, including the never before finished Jake Shields, and developed a name for himself as a power puncher. Ellenberger goes for the knockout with every single punch he throws. This could be the reason he can’t make it to round 3. He recently suffered a knockout loss at the hands of Martin Kampmann. After a succesful left hook knockdown followed by a barrage of punches, Ellenberger found himself on the receiving end of a guillotine choke attempt that lasted most of the round. Out of gas in round 2, Jake‘s punches didn’t do as much damage. He may have bloodied Kampmann but eventually succumbed to some knees from the thai clinch ending this main event. He rebounded by redeeming one of his losses, beating Jay Heiron by unanimous decision.

Nate Marquardt is 2-2 in his last 4 fights, getting badly beat by Saffiedine and losing a close decison to Yushin Okami. He regained the spotlight with his win against Tyrone Woodley, acquiring the Strikeforce Welterweight Title. He was cut from the UFC for “failing medical requirements” and also popped for nandrolone in his original debut. Though Nate has issues with defending a strong wrestlers takedown, he has the tools to pull this off if he plays it safe, weathering the early storm and taking it into the later rounds. We will have to see if he passes the pre and post fight tests.

My Prediction : Jake Ellenberger finishes this with a TKO before Round 3 ELLENBERGER KO’D MARQUARDT EARLY IN THE 1ST ROUND

UFC 157 Breakdown

Ronda Rousey VS Liz Carmouche

I think this  fight lasts as long as it takes Rousey to get an Over-Under hook. As much as I’d like to see Ronda finished and humbled, Carmouche will be outmatched on the ground and doesn’t have the takedown defense needed to keep it standing. Ronda Rousey has let all the hype go to her head and is not the same person that she started out as. Regardless of my views on her,She still wins this by armbar before the 3 minute mark. making her record 7-0.

Dan Henderson VS Lyoto Machida

This fight is tailor made for Machida. It’s counter striker versus power puncher. There’s one catch though, the power puncher is Dan Henderson. Lyoto Machida’s technical striking should be the answer to winning this. His goal is to keep his distant from Henderson’s right hand and land shots on the move. Lyoto needs to frustrate Dan enough to get him throwing wildly and taking chances. This will open him up for the critical shots and tire him, which is what Machida needs to get a unanimous decision.

Henderson needs to cut Machida off against the cage and keep him there. The chances of this are slim because Lyoto is very elusive and I don’t think Henderson is in the business of game plans. The majority of Dan’s recent opponents have stood in front of him; Shogun,Bisping,Cavalcante,Sobral and Fedor.  I see Dan over relying on his right hand and hoping he lands. There is still a chance that Dan wins with this method because he’s been on the losing end of fights and turned the tides with one.

Machida has KOed 3 men who have never been KOed but I still think he  takes this by unanimous decision.

Urijah Faber VS Ivan Menjivar

Since their respective UFC debuts, Faber has gone 2-2 and Menjivar 4-1. At first glance, Menjivar has had a better time in the UFC. This is not the case, however, Ivan didn’t fight Bantamweight Champions Cruz or Barao. Faber has fought much harder competition since his UFC debut and that will be the deciding factor in this rematch. Their first fight ended with Menjivar kicking Faber in the head while on the ground, resulting in a DQ.

Ivan hasn’t been finished since 2002, where he was KOed by GSP and submitted by Jason Black. Urijah Faber has been KOed twice in his career by Mike Brown in 08 and Tyson Griffin in 05. I see Urijah winning this by decision. I don’t see anywhere Ivan is better than him. I also don’t see either one being able to challenge Cruz though.

Josh Koscheck VS Robbie Lawler

Since Lawler’s Strikeforce debut, he has never had back to back wins and his only impressive moment in 9 Strikeforce bouts was his flying knee KO of Adlan Amagov. He is coming over to the UFC on a loss and is probably part of a plan to get Koscheck back in the win column. Upsets have happened with Josh as the favourite before. He was KO’ed by Paulo Thiago in highlight reel fashion and choked out by Drew Fickett. I see Koscheck using his wrestling to win this by unanimous decision and not  take any chances on the feet with the heavy hitting Lawler.

UFC 156 Recap

Demian Maia fighting at Welterweight

Maia came into his fight with one thing on his mind; submitting Jon Fitch. Fitch has possibly the best sub defense in the world and Demian Maia spend 3 rounds trying to break it. Maia spent 15 minutes clinging to Jon Fitch like extra strength velcro, but it seems Jon Fitch is a safe that can not be cracked. Maia completely nullfied Jon Fitch’s game plan, getting  himself the unanimous decision and is now part of the very few men to beat Jon Fitch.

Alistair Overeem is not a Legend

Bigfoot Silva VS Alistair Overeem was supposed to happen in Strikeforce, but when the fight got pushed forward a week, it interfered in Overeem’s “schedule”. After failing a surprise drug test and hitting a testosterone level of 14:1, Alistair was suspended for a year regardless of “not knowing it was put in his system”. During his suspension, Overeem went on a “Clean Fighter” rant and submitted repeated clean tests. After his suspension was up, this matchup was put together. Overeem came into it with considerably less muscle definition, less punching power and a cocky defense. He was efficiently put in his place with a flurry 25 seconds into round 3. The legend is no more and the UFC’s Top Heavyweights can happily carry on without him. Let’s have Junior Dos Santos check that chin if he wants a comeback fight. Joe Silva, make it happen!

Rashad Evans’ Gameplan

I don’t know what Rashad Evans’ gameplan was, but I assumed he would come in with the same plan Ryan Bader and Phil Davis used to best Nog; striking mixed with constant takedowns. This was not the case. Evans’ boxing was very sloppy and uncoordinated. He tried to counter Rogerio’s jab with his own so many times that Nog started to see it coming. He continuously backed up instead of weaving and ate a bunch of straights for his troubles.

The point of weaving is to get around your opponents strike and leave them wide open for a counter.  There were many opportunities for Rashad to use a weave to close the distance. He chose to once, got inside the pocket, but never capitalized on it.

He went for 3 takedowns that I noticed and did not mix striking into their set up causing them to be very telegraphed and basically stuffed. Huge credit to Rogerio Nogueira for getting a W over Rashad but I’m pretty sure Jon Jones broke his will. The Evans that showed up tonight would’ve been easily KOed by Anderson.

Aldo and Edgar

This Super Fight played out much differently than I had imagined. I expected Jose Aldo to take out Frankie Edgar in the 1st or 2nd round but the uppercut finish never came. Instead, Frankie went toe to toe with Jose Aldo, without the hesitation that other fighters have shown. I expected a split decison but in the Judges’ eyes, Aldo got the better of Edgar for four of the rounds. Four 10-9’s was enough for him to keep his Featherweight Title away from Frankie Edgar. Most thought the fight was much closer than that.

Where does Edgar go after losing his 3rd straight title fight in a row? He could make Featherweight his new home and climb to an Aldo rematch or he could go back to Lightweight. Either way, he was very upset at the post fight interview.  I hope he isn’t contemplating retirement because I can’t think of any Jose Aldo fight where I wasn’t sure if he won or not.

I don’t think many are left for Jose Aldo at Featherweight. I can think of 3 men; Ricardo Lamas, Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung. If Aldo can get past them, he should move to Lightweight.

That’s UFC 156 for you! Here come 157!

One Punch Power

The definition of One Punch Power is to be able to knock your opponent out cold with a single punch. None of this dropping them to one knee trying to finish stuff. I’m talking about one huge right hand that puts them out cold and on their face. A pile of MMA fighters have this quality and it has kept their careers going.

Here’s a list off the top of my head;

Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin, Dan Henderson, Mark Hunt, Chris Leben,Daniel Cormier, Quentin Jackson, Alistair Overeem, Jake Ellenberger, Johnny Hendricks, Glover Teixeira, Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Melvin Guillard and Paul Daley.

The above list have made a career out of their punching power. Dan Henderson, Roy Nelson, Shane Carwin and Vitor Belfort basically just aim their right hand and land the KO. One hit KO power is the only reason these four keep getting the W.

Other fighters with very little KO power such as Edgar,Fitch or Maynard have to rely more so on other techniques rather than the 1 well aimed punch and its had them on the wrong end of some decisions.

The Championship level seems to be all about knockout power. Santos,Jones,Silva,GSP,Henderson,Aldo.

Though GSP and Benson aren’t knocking people out these days, GSP has his lunging jab sending people airbourne and Benson scores plenty of knockdowns. Santos,Jones,Silva and Aldo are all finishers mostly by strikes. Johnny Hendricks isnt in the Champion list but he has knocked out his last 2 opponents in 1 punch. 2 excellent chins in Kampmann and Fitch.One day he might even be champion. You never know.

Do you have punching power?

The Shot of The Event (TUF 16 Finale)

Photo courtesy of http://www.mmaweekly.com

Khabilov finishes Pichel WITH A SUPLEX!

UFC 156 Breakdown

UFC 156 takes place on February 2 in the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

UFC 156 Betting Odds

Jose “Scarface” Aldo -225 VS Frankie “The Answer” Edgar +200

Alistair Overeem VS Antonia “Bigfoot” Silva

Demian Maia VS Jon Fitch

Rashad Evans VS Antonio Nogueira

Jose Aldo VS Frankie Edgar

Frankie Edgar,14-3-1, is the only good thing to come out of Jersey Shore.Edgar has made his Lightweight career by being both the faster man in the octagon and walking around near fight weight. By cutting very little weight,The Answer has had zero problems with cardio and weight cutting but has sacrificed his punching power. Having most of his wins by decision, Frankie is primarily a point fighter, who outworks his opponents for the win. Frankie decided to make the drop to Featherweight after a 2 fight skid against current Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson. Dropping to Featherweight to face Jose Aldo will be the biggest mistake of Edgar’s career.

Whoever created the phrase “Speed kills”, must have known Jose Aldo.  He is a wrecking machine with a shining record of  21-1; his only loss coming from a submission one year into his career. With 15 finishes in 21 bouts and only being in trouble once, Aldo looks like the only direction for him is up. Using flying knees, leg kicks and devastating power, Aldo makes his adversaries look like they belong on the undercard. In Aldo’s last UFC bout, he easily handled top Featherweight and undefeated wrestler, Chad “Money” Mendes.

The betting lines for this UFC Featherweight title fight should be closer to -300 +300. Jose Aldo will use his lightning fast leg kicks to put a dent in Frankie’s explosiveness and pick him apart from there. Edgar also seems susceptible to uppercuts, eating a few during the Maynard 2 and 3 fights, causing the momentum to switch hands. Jose Aldo has very good uppercuts and they are much faster than Gray Maynard’s.  If Mendes couldn’t get a hold of Aldo, I don’t see how Edgar does it. Frankie will no longer have the speed advantage  either because Jose Aldo is the much faster man this time around. Mark my words, Jose Aldo will be the first man to finish Frankie Edgar and it will be nasty.

Alistair Overeem VS Antonio Silva

I can’t find the odds for this bout but I’m assuming Alistair is opening as a huge favorite, probably in the realm of -350. This will be Overeem’s first fight after his suspension. After years of steroid allegations, Alistair failed his first surprise test at a Pre-fight Press conference. He tried to leave the Conference when he was told the test would happen and was told to stay,he fled claiming “He didnt understand” but was stopped on his way out. Alistair ended up hitting a whopping 14:1 testosterone ratio and continued to act surprised throughout the year suspension. To keep his career alive he went on an ” Im a clean fighter” rant and continued to submit tests monthly to prove he was clean. All the tests came back clean but looking at fight Expo pictures,he looks nowhere near the size he was when  he was still “a clean fighter”. That’s the kicker in his fight against Antonio Silva.

Silva is heavily overrated due to his win against Fedor and has lost his last 2 of 3 fights. His strength is his ground game but only because he uses brute force to sink in submissions. He won his last UFC bout because Travis Browne injured his hand and tore his hamstring early in the first. If that hadn’t happened, I believe I wouldn’t be doing this breakdown.

We will see if Alistair still has his same punching power now that he’s a “clean fighter”. I’m picking Overeem to win this by KO. I will have a great time if he gets dropped and stopped by Silva, considering this is a set up for a quick title shot.

Demian Maia VS Jon Fitch

Chances are good that Maia will get the usual Fitch treatment in this one. Unless New Fitch turns up and tries to put on an exciting performance, Demian Maia will be held down and nullified for a boring 15 minutes. If I need to fall asleep in a hurry, I turn on a Jon Fitch fight. Seriously though, if you have a skill that nobody but GSP can stop, keep using it!

Maia has had great success since his drop to the Welterweight Division, finishing both Rick Story and Don Hyun Kim in the first round. He faces Jon Fitch next, A fight I’ve always wanted to see but didn’t think would happen, at UFC 156. Here’s hoping Maia’s top notch Jiu-Jitsu comes through for him and he can have more success in Welterweight then he did at Middleweight. This whole fight comes down to if Fitch makes a small mistake, enough for Demian to capitalize on to get the W. Maia’s striking isnt good enough to finish Fitch and I think Jon is going to look to take this straight to the ground regardless of Maia’s ground accomplishments. Jon Fitch is more than likely going to nullify Maia but I hope Demian pulls something and gets his hand raised.

Rashad Evans VS Antonio Nogueira

Evans VS Nogueira is a mismatch if I ever saw one. Holding a record of 17-2, Rashad Evans is destined for another title shot sometime soon. After winning the Ultimate Fighter 2 as a Heavyweight, Rashad went undefeated and won the Light Heavyweight Title via KO against Forrest Griffin. Evans sadly succumbed to the Light Heavyweight Title curse shortly after, losing the Title in his next fight to Lyoto Machida via KO. Rashad Evans came back to put together unanimous decisions over; Thiago Silva, Quentin Jackson, Phil Davis and stopping Tito Ortiz with body shots. He failed to regain the Light Heavyweight Title from Jon “Bones” Jones in his next fight, losing by unanimous decision after a close first round. I expect Evans to come back even stronger than before.

Antonio Nogueira, currently 5-2 in the UFC, was on a 2 fight skid until finishing Tito Ortiz in the same fashion. He was dominated by Phil Davis, who Evans had no problem with, and lost to Ryan Bader previous to that. Nogueira has had trouble with aggressive wrestlers in the UFC that keep the pressure on and Evans is just that. Rashad Evans wins this fight by unanimous decision.

UFC 156 Breakdown Aldo Edgar Fitch Maia  Overeem Silva Evans Nogueira

Shane Carwin

The champion that should’ve been, Shane Carwin. Carwin jump started his MMA career with 11 Brutal finishes all before the 2:12 mark. His combined in-cage time from his first 11 fights is just over 2 rounds at 10:22. Most fighters take more time in their first fight then Carwin did for the majority of his career.

Shane would face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, Frank Mir, in his 12th MMA bout. Frank Mir, a UFC veteran with 9 of 16 wins coming by submission, had a history of taking his opponents down and breaking their limbs. Mir has even bragged about snapping arms in training camp. I always thought you wouldn’t crank an arm at %100 out of respect for your training partner but I guess that’s just me. Frank had recently put on 25 pounds of muscle in a very short period of time to “close the gap” against the larger heavyweights. This didn’t help. Shane clinched Mir up against the cage and delivered vicious and rapid uppercuts. Mir’s knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. Carwin took his back and continued slamming his 4XL gloves into Frank Mir’s face for one of the latest stoppages I can recall.

After a dominant performance against Mir, Shane Carwin was in the title picture to face Brock Lesnar of WWE fame for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.  This fight wasn’t looking any different then the previous ones. After having his takedown stuffed, Lesnar was nailed with a huge uppercut and knocked backwards following a barrage of punches that sent him to the canvas. Brock then turtled from ground-and-pound for about 3 1/2 minutes while the referee,Josh Rosenthal, told Brock “Stay active” and “Im gonna stop the fight”. With UFC Gold on his mind, Carwin increased his punch frequency to secure the stoppage that was surely to come. It didn’t. The buzzer sounded as Rosenthal continued to warn Lesnar of the stoppage. I remember staring at my television wondering why it wasn’t stopped because it was the most one sided round in history. I would’ve given it a 10-7 for Carwin. Give the man his gold!

Round 2 starts and Shane Carwin is obviously not all there. The “Punch Out” in round 1 had taken a noticeable toll on him. Lesnar smiles and Shane winks before the round commences. Only they know what that was about. The Frank Mir curse kicks in and Shane gets taken down immediately with virtually no resistance. Brock Lesnar’s corner talks him through an arm triangle step by step like he’s 5 years old. Brock Lesnar taps out Carwin and gets up on the cage and begins punching himself in the chin to show he can take a hit. Both of his eyes are cut below and 1 is slightly closed. I still can’t believe this Championship fight for the UFC title wasn’t stopped in the first.

Here’s were injuries make a promising career go a little south.

Shane Carwin would finally get long awaited back surgery, claiming to have been plagued in earlier fights. After a long hiatus, Carwin would finally return but the Beast was no more. Carwin had become much smaller and looked nowhere near as intimidating.

His next and most recent fight to date was against former UFC Champion, Junior Dos Santos. Santos was not the champion at this point but soon would be.

Shane Carwin took the worst beating that I have seen in a long time. He definitely has a chin though. Outpunched 104-22 and knocked down in the 1st round. Carwins face looked like a train wreck at the end of round 3.

That is the last time we’ve seen Shane Carwin in the Octagon. He was a Coach on TUF 16. Set to face Roy Nelson in the Finale until He blew out his knee in training.

Injury after injury, Shane Carwin’s career seems to be dwindling at Age 37.

Get well soon, Shane. Bring the Beast back!

Fight stats Courtesy of http://www.fightmetric.com

Shane Carwin’s post-fight face http://mmastreamed.com/wp-content/uploads/mvbthumbs/img_23151_carwin-face-after-junior-dos-santos-fight.jpg Courtesy of http://www.mmastreamed.com

Shane Carwin’s website http://www.shane-carwin.com

The Shot of The Event (FX 6)

Photo courtesy of http://www.UFC.com

George Sotiropoulos eats a straight right from Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson during the main event on UFC on FX 6.

Hector Lombard

Photo Courtesy of http://www.bleacherreport.com

Hector Lombard has made a name for himself by amassing a 23 fight win streak that ended after leaving Bellator. Some of his wins in the last few years include; Joe Doerkson 43-16, Herbert Goodman 19-11,Kalib Starnes 12-7 and my favourite, Jean Lenogue. He holds a record of
16 wins and 14 losses.

Hector Lombard has one of the largest pad jobs to a record that I have ever seen.To make matters even funnier,he is a showboater during and after his fights.

If you are a Hector Lombard fan, stop reading now. I truly hate this man and this is only going to get worse.

“Lightning” is known to be the kind of sparring partner nobody wants to roll with. Jacob Volkmann recalls a clinch drill with Hector ending in a bloodied nose. Volkmann was shifting Lombard’s head to gain better positioning when a punch came right at his face. When asked why he did it, Hector responded with something close to “You kept moving my head when I was trying to gain control!”. Guess what? Thats how you gain control!

He is known for going WAY too hard in sparring. Hector knocked out Tarec Saffeidine when he was just starting out in MMA. He intentionally goes hard on novices just starting out, causing them injuries. Injuries cause you to drop out of fights which cause you to lose money.

Hector “Lightning” Lombard is a bully who picks on the weak and believes himself to be an Alpha. What happens when a bully meets a bigger bully? They wilt.

When throwing full on punches while sparring with Babula Sobral and Josh Barnett, he was taken down and ended up verbally submitting to strikes. It’s rumoured that Barnett relentlessly hit him for 20 minutes or so from full mount to teach him a lesson. After winning his next fight, Lombard called out Barnett. This was confusing to most, seeing the 70lb weight differential.

The next bully on Lombard’s list is Rousimar Palhares. Set to fight on December 15th. If Palhares can get the takedown, he will most likely make quick work of Lombard with a leg lock he can not stop. With intensity he has never seen. In an octagon he will never win in.  Afterward, he will hopefully be cut from the UFC and fade into obscurity.

Good Riddance

Lombard has won titles in Bellator Championship http://www.bellator.com , Cage Fighting Championship http://www.cfcworld.com.au ,AFC and XFC

Junior Dos Santos

Image courtesy of http://www.ugo.com

When UFC fans think of Dos Santos, they think of ONE thing, punching power. Junior has enough strength behind a single punch to have opponents asking the referee, “What happened?”. Just ask Cain Velasquez. His boxing has placed him at a level above in the UFC’s Heavyweight division.

The Champion has racked up an 8 fight streak since his UFC debut against BJJ Ace, Fabricio Werdum. After finishing Werdum with a vicious uppercut at 1:21, Cigano would go on to put down “The Skyscraper” Stefan Struve 27 seconds faster.

After going on a tear, Santos won the Heavyweight Belt in similar 1st round fashion, dropping Velasquez to the mat with an overhand right and putting him out at 1:04.

The only two people to withstand JDS’s boxing to date are Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin. If you like scary movies, look up Shane’s post-fight face.

Santos didn’t always rely on Elite Boxing and takedown defense. In his 6th professional fight, Junior lost to Joaquim Ferreira by armbar. This has been Cigano’s only loss on record. Fights previous to this loss show Junior taking the fight to the mat for some ground-and-pound and even attempting some submissions of his own.

http://youtu.be/UxCQYX5JwhQ?t=27s   <—JDS LOSS

I think this loss changed Junior Dos Santos. Since the smudge on his record, He has never taken the fight to the ground and has relied on his stellar boxing and takedown defense. This is pure speculation but I think Junior has a massive fear of losing again and probably thinks about that armbar occasionally. The only time he has taken the fight to the ground was in the later rounds against  Shane Carwin after being hit with a few solid shots.

Vitali Klitschko,The WBC Heavyweight Champion, praised Santos’ boxing and compared it to his brother Vladimir’s. This alone is a huge accomplishment. Santos then went on to say “Give me three months, I could beat that guy, man, maybe not easy, but I could knock him out. I watch a lot of fights with Vladimir, and I see a lot of holes”.

Junior Dos Santos is the current reigning UFC Heavyweight champion and should be for years to come. As far as the Klitschko challenge goes, If your winning the 1km dash, don’t assume you’d win the 5.

Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos’ only title win has been the Ultimate Fighting Championship http://www.ufc.com Heavyweight Belt. He holds the current win streak record of 9 and also has 3 Knockout of the Night Bonuses.

Rory Macdonald

Photo Courtesy of http://www.vancouversun.com

Rory Macdonald’s career has been nothing but exciting. Winning his very first fight at just 16 years old at 2:11 by rear-naked-choke, This kid was definitely one to watch for.

9 finishes in 9 fights and Rory was done with the Canadian competition. It was time for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Rory was headed to Fairfax, Virginia to make his UFC debut against Mike Guymon. The fight was no different. Guymon tapped to an armbar at 4:28 in Round 1 leading to another dominant performance by “The Waterboy”.

Macdonald’s next fight would be one to remember. “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit, a Veteran of 29 fights and reigning WEC champion, left behind an 8 fight streak on his way to the UFC.  Im not sure anyone gave “The Waterboy” a chance in this fight. Experience was going to win Carlos this one. Right from the start, this had Fight of The Night written all over it. Rory kept pace with Carlos blow to blow, arguably winning the first 2 rounds. I know it had me on my feet! Round 3 saw Macdonald get tagged and mounted late in the round and eventually succumb to elbows for a TKO loss a mere 7 seconds away from closing time. Rory’s 10 fight win streak had come to an end.

Rory left his gym and came over to Tristar, the home of Welterweight Champion and future Hall of Famer Georges St. Pierre. His all over game improved in leaps and bounds. His nickname changed from “The Waterboy” to “Ares”. A much more fitting title, as the Canadian was disposing of competition in brutal fashion.

His next 3 fights would be the ones to watch. He tossed Nate Diaz around like a child, easily disposed of Mike Pyle with some ground-and-pound and his finish of Che Mills was a combination of speed and accuracy never seen from Macdonald until now. Mills was expectedly no match for the rising star’s high pressure attack and barely made it out of Round 1.

His most recent fight was no different. BJ Penn, though past his prime, still posed a possible threat to the up and comer. Aside from some overhand rights landed by Penn, Ares worked the head and body of Baby Jay with a vast array of kicks, punches and elbows leading to a unanimous decision. This was Rory’s highest profile fight to date and he walked through it with ease.

After the fight, Rory wasted no time calling out Carlos Condit to avenge his loss. A rematch that I hope Condit accepts. Both have improved considerably in the last 2 years.

Rory Macdonald, a soft spoken Mixed Martial Artist, is slowly but surely taking the MMA scene by storm. Fighting out of Kelowna, British Columbia and training in all facets of MMA, Rory has an amazing highlight reel at the young age of 23. If you’ve somehow missed his rise up the ranks or have been living in a cage, check him out!

Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort VS Michael “The Count” Bisping on FX

UFC ON FX 7 Betting Odds

Vitor Belfort -125 VS Michael Bisping -105

The odds might as well be even in this fight. Its Belfort’s 1 punch KO power VS Bisping’s gas tank for this 5 Round War!

Vitor Belfort goes into every fight with the same plan, Land early. Unfortunately, if this doesn’t prevail, he seems to fade. In Belfort’s last 6 fights, he has had 3 stoppages by quick KO, a submission victory over Anthony Johnson and 2 losses to champions Silva and Jones.

Bisping has outworked 7 of his last 10 opponents. Only ever being finished once in his career by Dan Henderson. Every time “The Count” seems deserving of the title picture, He gets dropped down the ladder. Dan Henderson’s right hand, Wanderlei Silva’s relentless attack and the wrestling of Chael Sonnen are responsible. Nevertheless, Michael Bisping is still very much a top contender in the Middleweight division.

I cant make a for sure pick for this fight because it comes down to few things. Either “The Phenom” lands early, capitalizing on  Bisping’s horrible first round head movement. “The Count” survives the early onslaught and has his cardio be the deciding factor in the later rounds.

The possible improvement of Bisping’s jab is a major factor here. Michael Bisping is praised for his jab by the UFC commentators. Unfortunately, it’s not that great. It’s his frequency and accuracy of the jab that wins him fights. A proper jab setup keeps your shoulder and hand high. Michael keeps his hand at mid height and doesn’t tuck his shoulder to block any counter strikes. This is why you will see him get knocked down in the first round by many fighters not touted for their striking game. He also circles to his left during the jab, making the impact of the jab weaker by not planting his feet.  This was blatantly obvious during the Henderson fight. This served as Santos’ demise against Velasquez in their rematch.

Michael Bisping always seems to fail his “step up” to prove himself. If any of the above hasn’t improved, Vitor takes this in the first and Michael “Always Contender never Champ” Bisping drops down the Middleweight ladder once again.

Bisping VS Vitor trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMUvGEoJbbw

RESULTS: Bisping lost in the 2nd round via headkick after barely surviving the first.

UFC 155 Breakdown

UFC 155 Betting Odds

Santos -170 vs Velasquez -130

Belcher +105 vs Okami -135

Junior Dos Santos -170 VS Cain Velasquez -130

This is a rematch for the UFC Heavyweight Title between the Top 2 ranked Heavyweights in the world. The first time these 2 met, Velasquez was the reigning champion. That quickly changed hands at 1:04 in the first round with Dos Santos’ overhand right clipping Cain in the temple and sending him flopping to the canvas.

Though Velasquez was undefeated up to this point, his chin has always been suspect to me since the Cheick Kongo fight. He was dropped to his knees twice and saved by desperation takedowns that closed out the rounds.

I’d go with Santos again. I see no difference in the rematch. Nobody seems to have an answer for Cigano’s boxing and he has a chin that Shane Carwin couldn’t crack.

Alan Belcher +105 VS Yushin Okami -135

The betting odds here have Okami as the favourite but I dont see how. These 2 fought back at UFC 62 but are completely different fighters now so call this a rematch.

Yushin’s last 5 fights have been up and down. Winning a sloppy fight against Mardquart, a split to Munoz and getting toyed with by Anderson Silva (This seems to happen to most). He received a brutal KO from Tim Boetsch early in the 3rd and was saved by the wrestling inexperience of Buddy Roberts after losing the striking battle.

Alan Belcher had a rough skid in ’08 and ’09.  He was KO’ed in the first by Jason Day but went on to win a split decision against Ed Herman and a come from behind victory against Dennis Kang. Neither being impressive victories. Just when things were looking up for “The Talent”,he lost a controversial split against Japanese Superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Heres where I pick Belcher over Okami.

Belcher’s last 4 fights have been a completely different fighter.  He bested Wilson Gouveia with punches late in the first, submitted Patrick Cote and easily handled Jason”The Athlete” Macdonald.

His last fight VS Rousimar Palhares had fight critics thinking it was another drop down the Middleweight ladder for Alan Belcher. Palhares was a -150 and Belcher was +165. The odds were looking good for Alan to fall victim to a nasty kneebar.

Not only did Belcher win but he won in style! When the fight hit the mat, fans were calling for “The Talent” to get up. Not only did he ignore them, He outgrappled and pounded out Rousimar for a TKO victory.

After the fight, Alan called out Anderson Silva. I dont believe Alan is ready for that but I think he will have no problem beating Okami. He’s my Pick.

Jim Miller VS Joe Lauzon

Overall, Id say this will be a pretty good fight. Joe Lauzon is an excellent first round fighter. He held his own on the mat with Sotiropoulis until he faded fast in the second. Joe has great all around game but if he doesnt finish in the first, his gas tank seems to get the better of him. The majority of his more recent wins come in the 1st round or not at all.

Jim Miller is a grinder who wears down opponents with his wrestling. This is both good and bad for Lauzon. Its were Joe wants the fight to go but can he find a hole in Miller’s top game? Jim Miller doesn’t have very good stand up but his intensity on the mat seems to get the job done for most fights. The majority of Miller’s losses come from Current and former Champions,which makes him my Pick.

UFC 155 trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Vh6mIKQp0