After an absolute plethora of fights in a succession of baffling PPV's, we finally tally up the scores and look to the future of MMA in 2008 after we hit the high points of UFC 79 Nemesis, Yarennoka, K-1 Dynamite!, and god help us even the IFL Grand Prix Finals.
The Main Events
Well a god he remains as it took Fedor Emelianenko a predictable 1:54 to submit Hong Man Choi with an armbar. Not much new to see here as Fedor brought the giant down on himself and worked for the armbar early, only to have Choi escape impressively and even land some tough shots to Fedor's dome. Back to the feet and back to the floor as Choi would not escape the armbar again. After the bout Fedor said his management is talking to Randy Couture's people now but he will fight in March and hopefully 3 or 4 times in 2008!
Georges St. Pierre dominated Matt Hughes once again to win their rubber match by forcing Matt to verbally tap to an armbar. Matt was the one taken down and out wrestled as GSP moved from position to position doing whatever he pleased in the fight. In the 2nd, GSP out powered the veteran again taking him to the ground to continue the beating. GSP mounted and looked for a kimura which Matt blocked only to fall into GSP's flawless transition to an armbar in which Hughes called to the ref to stop the fight. GSP looked as though he dispatched "greatest welterweight of all time" with absolute ease as he took off the "Interim" Welterweight Title saying the real belt was around the waist of Matt Serra and that was the belt he wanted.
Kazushi Sakuraba defeated MasakatsuFunaki as expected via 1st round armbar. Not a whole lot of action to speak of in the match so let's talk a little future here. Saku says he still trains with Chute Boxe and wants to fight more in 2008. Presumably, he is speaking of a fight with Rickson Gracie which is supposed to take place next year between the two legends. Though their skills have both deteriorated, you cannot deny the curiosity factor that would bring many fans to watch two of the greatest MMA fighters of all time together for a Dream/Super-Bout!
Chuck Liddell got back in the win column posting a decision win over Wanderlei Silva who showed a lot of heart, and that his limbs are just a bit too short. After an initial feeling out process, Chuck used his range to land often on Silva who swung wildly and could not get into Chuck's grill. Some of the punches really seemed to hurt Wanderlei though he kept coming but his eyes became glassy and his legs lacked their normal pep. In the 2nd, Wanderlei went for broke and actually knocked down Chuck twice in the round, but Chuck kept battling back bloodying the face of Silva and getting in some deadly shots as the round closed. For the final round Chuck had his range and absolutely tee'd off on Silva backing him into the fence and throwing punch after punch which left the crowd wondering when Silva was going to fall. He didn't. The former multi-belt champion never gave up as Liddell began to gas but still landed more and punished Wand as the time ran out. The unanimous victory went to a happy Chuck who jumps back into title contention, while a battered looking Silva graciously thanked the crowd, UFC, & Chuck saying he would be back. Liddell's career now back on track while Silva has lost 3 bouts in a row and looks just like he has been in far too many wars. How much does the Brazilian have left in his fighting career, and who will the UFC put him up against next?
Kid Yamamoto needed 2 whole rounds before he KO'd Rani Yahyi. Yamamoto has quietly become like Fedor with only one blemish on his 17-1 record stemming from a cut. Somebody out there needs to challenge the awesome dominance of this Featherweight (I'm looking at you WEC to put Uriah Faber or Jens Pulver up against this machine).
K-1 Dynamite! Results & Such
Ikuhisa Minowa entertained the crowd as he literally ran from Zulu for 3 rounds before being taken down and pounded out by the near 400 lber. Minowa only 32, has had 73 pro fights and likes to get at least 5 or 6 bouts per year. Is he going for Jeremy Horn's 100 pro fight record, or Dan Severn's shady at best 102 fight record? Dan, who is 54 mind you, fought 8 freaking times last year though never against anyone good. Jeremy Horn at least had the brains to retire so these two maniacs can battle it out, or even better, perhaps fight each other!
"Hellboy" Hanson scored another win and Bobby Ologun embarrassed himself again putting out a pathetic effort against Bob Sapp and someone tell me why either of these guys keep fighting? I mean really, what the hell? Sapp can only fight for 1 round swinging mad crazy like King Hippo, while Ologun has never offered any sort of skill in any of his disconcerting fights. Just stop it. Melvin Manhoef out boxed the Japanese boxer Nishijimi on the floor and beat him silly. 7 fights on a weak ass card as some bouts were cancelled at the last minute but I would be remiss if I didn't point out I predicted 100% of the card correctly. That is probably all I will mention about my picks.
UFC 79 Nemesis Round Up
"Hello, my name is Sokoudjou and I can only fight for 3 and a half minutes before I decide to give up on a fight." With all the hype coming in on Soko, and for him to perform that badly, jesus what a let down. Lyota Machida did his job and got a stoppage so if he isn't in line for a title shot in the UFC something is very wrong. Me gut thinks they'll still make him fight Chuck Liddell or Keith Jardine but he has earned a shot already with a 4-0 record in the UFC and 12-0 for his career. Back to the ass clown who wore the Predator mask to the ring. I hope Dan Henderson (his coach at Team Quest) gives him an absolute beating when they get back to the gym. The guy came out hard and fast and when Lyoto picked him apart with his jabs and dominated him on the ground the guy flat out gave up! You could just see him quit. Team Quest and more importantly Soko's fans should be embarassed for that more than for a loss. Giving your all in defeat is one thing, but when things don't go your way and you just quit like a bitch is quite another.
Rich Clementi beat up Melvin Guillard almost choking him unconscious. Maybe Melvin should not have walked to the center of the Octagon and flipped off Rich before the fight, because then he got owned and when Rich let the choke go he gave Mel the old "suck it" crotch chop and proceeded to call him a "bitch" who "needs to go and learn Ju-Jitsu" while waving goodby an irate Guillard was escorted away. So much for sportsmanship but it was pretty funny. The rest of the show yeilded very little so I move on.
Yarennoka Stuff
Aoki, Sakurai, & Kawajiri all got decision victories as did one Mitsuhiro Ishida. His win is noteable because he was the guy who gave up his Shooto belt to fight Takanori Gomi but was KO'd for his efforts. Now a year later he not only came back with a win, but upset the #2 Lightweight in the world Gilbert Melendez handing him his 1st career loss! The Lightweight rankings are going to be all jacked up now after all of this, but congrats to the gutsy little T-Blood member who showed he is an elite fighter.
Akiyama knocked the dancing Misaki on his ass and when following it up couldn't put him away. He then proceeded to leave himself open at the end of the round allowing Misaki to land the hail mary followed by a kick to the face (on the ground, legal or not in Yarennoka rules? Not sure.) for the KO. Its not over till its over Akiy, pay attention or grease up more.
IFL Grand ( I don't know how grand it was) Prix
Ryan Schultz shocked the IFL world by his brutal destruction of their "posterboy" Chris Horodecki who was previously undefeated. Team Quest got Ryan ready on short notice for a rematch in which he lost the 1st time out. This time it was a beautiful left arm trap, that allowed Schultz to land 11 or so unanswered punches while the ref was sleeping to become the 1st IFL Lightweight Champion!
Let me tell ya, Jesus does love his freak of a fan Matt Horwich. Benji Radach was rocking and rolling all over the kid until the light shined down upon him from the sky and he delivered a KO punch to pull the 2nd upset for the title that evening. Crazy Matt is now your IFL Middleweight Champ and god is good.
Congrats and atta boy to Jay Hieron, who has been trying to climb back to the top after his success peaked at the loss against GSP in 2004. The fan favorite and nice guy finally finished 1st pounding Heleno through round 1 and Delson could not continue for round 2 giving Jay his 1st title as IFL Welterweight Champion. I bet Bas Rutton is still hugging Jay right now.
Roy Nelson is your IFL Heavyweight champ folks, I'll let that sink in a bit. Geez these guys need some decent Heavyweights. Wagnney Fabiano wins the instantly created Featherweight Title while Vladimir Matyushenko had previously won the Light Heavyweight Title. OK, some weak champs in a downright awful tournament but hey, the IFL is growing and changing things up in '08 so we wait and see.
It was an orgy of MMA action in a short span and I'm still not fulfilled. 2008 promises some major matchups (Henderson/A.Silva, Jackson/Griffin), possible dream bouts (Emelianenko/Couture, R.Gracie/Sakuraba), super-star returns (Rickson again as well as Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski, Evan Tanner, & Takanori Gomi who was at the last UFC), and legit promotions (Strikeforce, Bodog Fight, Elite XC, M-1 Global, K-1 Hero's, IFL) all challenging the king UFC for fighters and viewers.
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