I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack MMA Melee 6-24-08

People, stop with the emails and phone calls demanding the site be updated more often. We were bumped off the Internet for a while but are back and ready to delve into the happenings and goings on in the MMA world and catching you up with the semi-relevant information. Herewegoherewegoherewego....

Amir Sadollah won the Ultimate Fighter whatever season # that was with an armbar just like the one he slapped on CB Dolloway the 1st time during the shows semi-finals. CB cried about the stoppage but was informed in the back that tapping once is still a signal of surrender to the ref and still translates into a loss for the frat boy loser. Amir seems like a pretty cool cat but how far he can go in the UFC remains to be seen. Amir earned a whopping $16,000 for the win if'n you are interested.

Diego Sanchez looked like the "Nightmare" of old only with really good striking which he needed as hard headed Luigi Fioravanti stuffed takedown after takedown. Diego was relentless as always and with a beautiful head kick followed by a flying knee and some ground and pound, Luigi was done and Sanchez puts fear back into the Welterweight division. Koscheck, I guarantee he is coming for you.

Drew McFedries put Marvin Eastman down and down hard closing his left eye (R.I.P.) and gaining another impressive TKO win. Spencer Fisher picked up a decision win over the very tough Jeremy Stephens while Dean Lister submitted Jeremy Horn who I imagine will be retiring soon.

Dustin Hazelett and Josh Burkman got "Fight Of The Night" honors which was not aired on TV but can be seen for free on UFC.com! Jorge Gurgel and Rich Franklin are proud poppas of their protege Dustin McClovin Hazelett who is just impressive and does Jiu-Jitsu I have never seen and so so slick. Check this one out.

Jeff Monson wants some headlines as he calls out Kimbo Slice and Gary Shaw for a fight on YouTube but the whole thing came off as kinda lame though in a fight Jeff would demolish Kimbo in 1 round. No way Shaw lets him take this fight but Monson needs a job so its good advertising at least. Kimbo has a date with Brett Rogers next which I'm telling you now, will be Slice's 1st loss.

How about Jake Shields (20-4-1) versus Nick "The Goat" Thompson for the Elite XC Welterweight Title? This is a spectacular match I cannot wait to see between 2 good guys with mucho talent. July 26 on CBS Jake who is the current champ and has won 9 straight will face the former BodogFight Champ (when they were a fighting company) Nick who is riding a 12 fight win streak! Two of the best in the world at this weight class and I am pumped for this one.

Ivan Salaverry has retired and I'm glad.

Anderson "Spider" Silva the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion is bored currently so he is stepping up to Light Heavyweight to face hard punching KO artist James "Sandman" Irvin on July 19th for free on Spike TV as they try to lure people away from the 1st Affliction PPV. If it works and Silva wins, he may face Chuck Liddell soon, but if he fails its back where ya came from. Meanwhile, #1 contender and the man who last defeated Anderson, Yushin Okami has his hands in the air going, "what the fuck?"

Brandon Vera is also dropping down in weight to Light Heavyweight as he has been begged to do for years. A 1st opponent has not yet been named but this will be Vera's proper weight so maybe he can get back on track after 2 straight losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum.

Finally some thoughts on Evan Tanner who lost a split (? how did one judge give it to Evan?) decision to Kendall Grove in the TUF Main Event. Tanner's beard looked great but he did not as Kendall's long reach cut the veteran open and even staggered him with some vicious elbows and knees. Evan fought hard for the takedown, but even when successful, Grove got back to his feet suffering no damage and continued his assault as Tanner looked weary. Now Tanner has lived a rough life, no doubt about that, especially the last two years, but all the people who had a good laugh at his expense remember a couple of things.

• The 37 year old could still kick your ass
• He was a Middleweight Champion in the UFC
• He beat some of the best in the world including Paul Buentello, Heath Herring, Travis Fulton, Ikuhisa Minowa, Robbie Lawler, and David Terrell to name a few.
• He fought successfully at Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, and Middleweight
• The dude has lived an amazing life you should read at his blog http://www.evantanner.net/
• 32-8 What's your professional record?

Evan himself said after the fight that he "felt old," "maybe this is it" and some other derogatory things about himself. Well if he does retire, thanks for the great fights and class warrior. I however, think he has something left to prove to himself, and nothing to anyone else.

Nate Marquardt Pile Drives Thales Leitas!

Sengoku: 3rd Battle Results

I don't know if its the bad names or the bad fights, but World Victory Road is not impressing me yet. Besides Nick Thompson beating the arrogant Mike Costa and Wiuff's surprising KO of "Ironhead" Fujita, this event was boring and full of "who is this guy" fights. Good to see Yoshida get a much needed win but who didn't see that coming against the 100 year old Smith? Frank Trigg and Takanori Gomi return to the next event so maybe it will be better.

Hidehiko Yoshida def. Maurice Smith via submission (neck crank) -- 1, 2:23
Travis Wiuff def. Kazuyuki Fujita via KO (punches) -- 1, 1:24
Kazuo Misaki def. Logan Clark via unanimous decision
Nick Thompson def. Michael Costa via submission (kimura) -- 2, 4:13
Sanae Kikuta def. Chris Rice via submission (arm-bar) -- 2, 3:54
Marcio Cruz def. Mu Bae Choi via submission (rear-naked choke) -- 1, 4:37
Rodrigo Damm def. Jorge Masvidal via TKO (punch) -- 2, 4:38
Fabio Silva def. Yoshiki Takahashi via KO (knee) -- 2, 0:24

UFC 85 Results & Tears

Well glad to know I wasn't the only one who got his ass kicked in the fight picks category (4-7). Thanks to the UnderGround over at MMA.tv for cheering me up on that one. At any rate, the night was full of controversy and odd stoppages. On to the event.

Thiago Alves came in an unacceptable 4 lbs. overweight and then trashed Matt Hughes after he could not get any work done on the mat with Alves after numerous takedowns. Then in the 2nd, a flying knee, a right hand, and a brutal pound out and a bloody Matt Hughes was done! Thiago would have looked impressive if he had not failed to make weight for yet the 2nd time in his career. He whined for a title shot, but I wouldn't let him. For failing again to make weight, make him rematch Karo Parisyan. Their fight was stopped too early last time and would end the controversy. You can't reward failure. As for Hughes (42-7), he would just need one more bout to reach an amazing 50 professional bouts, though pundits are already calling for his retirement and saying he's finished. I "Joe guarantee" you this, once his knee heals that he injured in this bout, he'll be coming for Matt Serra and only then might he retire.

Fabricio Werdum stunned the UK crowd by stopping Brandon Vera in the 1st round though not without controversy. Neither man was doing much until Werdum got the takedown, transitioned to full mount, and began reigning down punches. Vera claims he told the ref he was OK and blocking most of the shots, but referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the contest 15 seconds before the end of the round. Vera immediately got to his feet, obviously unhurt and shocked. His post fight comments have been pulled from all MMA media sites as he has criticized the ref very harshly and is demanding a rematch. He might get one since the UFC Heavyweight Title will not be defended until the end of the next TUF season. We've got time to kill in the Heavyweight division.

Great Britian's own Michael Bisping just steamrolled through Jason Day with takedowns and vicious striking for an easy 1st round win. Impressive for the "Count."

Nathan Marquardt and Thales Leites had an interesting bout which Leites won by penalty. Nate his 1st point when he knee'd the downed Thales in the 2nd round. Then another point was deducted in the 3rd for an illegal elbow to the back of the head which I and the world didn't see. Nice work Herb Dean and even with all this mess I scored it a 27-27 draw. The judges gave it 28-27 for Thales and there really needs to be a rematch here as Nate won this exciting, bloody, and important match. I mean Nate even threw down the 2nd ever pile driver in MMA for shits sake!

Mike Swick beat Marcus Davis halting his 11 fight win streak and boring the fans to death. This fight was just bad and little Marcus just couldn't reach Swick who wrestled him to the floor and punched like a blind child for 3 rounds. You really had to see it to believe it.

Luis Cane knocked Jason Lambert the fuck out possibly ending his UFC career while Kevin Burns, Paul Taylor, Martin Kampmann, and Antoni Hardonk all got wins. The biggest upset of the night came when Matt Wiman who was losing to Thiago Tavares, landed a shocking couple of rights that put Tavares out! Huge win for Wiman that I cannot believe happened.

Please give Marquart and Vera rematches and lets get these refs to a seminar or something so we can get these calls right. Early and just plain wrong stoppages just seem to be happening more and more these days. Thiago Alves doesn't get a title shot and why is it that only in a loss do I still see the respectful and humble Matt Hughes I used to love? "He's a good fighter, he got me, no doubt, I fully expected to win, things didn’t go my way. Thiago came in big, some people told me that he looked bigger than me in the octagon. I didn’t expect that but I also think that had nothing to do with the outcome of the fight. I think Thiago came up with a good game plan. Thiago was very nice after the fight, he seems to be a very good guy. I like that, we’ve always got along good.” -Matt Hughes comments after the fight,

Main Card
Thiago Alves (174) vs. Matt Hughes (170) Thiago fails to make weight for the 2nd time in his career! That is unacceptable and regardless of the fights outcome, the UFC should punish him for more than just a portion of his fight purse. Besides the early leg kicks that Matt will have to time, Alves is in for a long night. Hughes isn't done yet and aims to prove it. He is also a professional who will take the missed weight personally and add a chip to his shoulder.
WINNER-Matt Hughes by TKO round 3

Jason Day (184) vs. Michael Bisping (184) Doomsday comes in on short notice to dethrone the London hero at home. Look for a stand up war, but Bisping is at his weight and going to be jacked up. Fireworks early and often.
WINNER-Mike Bisping by TKO round 2

Mike Swick (170) vs. Marcus Davis (170) "Fight of the Night" ladies and gents. Its the power of Davis versus the speed of Swick. This fight is going to be sick and could turn either way with these two strikers. I call it a 50/50 fight so I'm going with my favorite.
WINNER-Marcus Davis by decision

Thales Leites (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (185) Two top tier Middleweights clash as Leites looks to get a step closer to a title shot while Nate wants a rematch for the strap. I could see Thales getting the upset but Nate just has so much talent in all facets of the game that its just hard to pick against him. This is a ground war and I give a slight edge to Marquardt in stamina and power to turn the tide.
WINNER-Marquardt by decision

Fabricio Werdum (247) vs. Brandon Vera (228) Heavyweights are slim in the UFC so despite a loss last time out for Vera against Tim Sylvia, a win here puts him near the top. Werdum is coming off the shocking, even though it was the 2nd time he beat Gabe, TKO over the once feared Gonzaga. Nice win but his stand up isn't remotely close to Vera's. Expect Werdum to try to take this fight to the floor over and over again ad nauseum and Vera's defense open the door for a TKO win.
WINNER-Brandon Vera in round 2

Preliminary Card
Martin Kampmann (186) vs. Jorge Rivera (185) Bout time Kampmann came back from injury as he is one exciting Middleweight. I cheered the loudest and predicted Rivera's upset win over Kendall Grove but the guy is at the tail end of his career. Still tough and with a good punch, Martin is better all around and will probably try to out gas the veteran.
WINNER-Kampmann by decision

Thiago Tavares (154.5) vs. Matt Wiman (155) Really Matt, is this a fight you should take? The ego master is going to be schooled by the Brazilian "Mini-Belfort." Expect fast action and a fast ending.
WINNER-Tavares by submission round 1

Roan Carneiro (171) vs. Kevin Burns (170) Roan returns and has disappointed but the Brazilian gets the win here against who?
WINNER-Carneiro by submission round 1

Luiz Cane (204) vs. Jason Lambert (205) Slobber knocker folks. Both hit hard and fast but Lambert has a better all around game.
WINNER-Jason Lambert by decision

Jess Liaudin (169) vs. Paul Taylor (169) Hey we both lost to Marcus Davis bu Taylor did better and he's a hometown boy.
WINNER-Paul Taylor

Eddie Sanchez (244) vs. Antoni Hardonk (247) The battle of the awful Heavyweights is on. Hardonk by leg kick I suppose.
WINNER-Hardonk by whatever

MMA Melee: Signings A Plenty

"Tried to tell em." As I had earlier predicted, Andrei Arlovski has officially signed a deal with upstart MMA promotion Affliction. He may not make the 1st event (or he may) but its a done deal and they now have someone for Ben Rothwell and perhaps someday, Fedor Emelianenko to fight.

Mark Hughes has also signed an exclusive fight deal with the UFC. That's Mark, twin brother of Matt Hughes the best Welterweight of all time. Mark fought once before with the UFC winning in November of 2000 by decision. He fought twice after that for Extreme Challenge losing one and winning won in 2001 and 2003. Mark who once won 5 times in a row in 2000 makes his return to full time fighting after fulfilling family and military obligations. No date for his return yet, but Matt wants him on his card when he faces Matt Serra after Thiago Alves.

In even more signings, Tara LaRosa the #1 female fighter in the world has signed with American Fight League as well as former WWE "Professional Wrestler" Bobby Lashley. A two-time NAIA national wrestling champion while at Missouri Valley College, also won two armed-forces titles while serving in the U.S. Army.

A calmer, hungry, and humble Karo Parisyan will be returning to action at UFC 87 after a TKO loss to Thiago Alves kept him just short of that long deserved title shot. "The Heat" promises to be eating right and is more focused than he has ever been after coming in out of shape and losing in embarrassing fashion when he was almost the #1 contender for the Welterweight crown. We shall she what his new dedication produces.

Vitor Belfort has joined up with former rivals Chute Boxe in Brazil. Looking to add more to his repertoire and some new conditioning, "The Phenom" has joined the squad he once hated as a member of the Brazilian Top Team. Then a short stint with Anderson Silva and Antonio Nogueira at Black House didn't mesh and Belfort has found a new home though not a new fight deal that he is looking for.

Tito Ortiz and his former reality TV show boss Donald Trump may be making an appearance at the next Affliction press conference. The announcement will be made at oddly enough Trump Tower where Arlovski will be intro'd and Trump's involvement with Affliction is supposed to be explained. Tito is probably just following cameras around.

Keep in mind that Sengoku will also be this weekend (Sunday) and don't just focus on the UFC 85 event in London.

UFC Light Heavyweight Title Scene

As we await Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs Forrest Griffin some 10 freaking months after he last defended the belt (which is just retarded, thank you TUF), a lot is left to question where the ever revolving Top Contenders rank and who lines up to get the winner? I've got a few answers as always to clean up the Light Heavyweight contender mess.

Chuck Liddell vs Shogun Rua OK, this was supposed to happen this coming weekend but both fighters got hurt and could not participate. So lets put em back together. They are both going to be healed up about the same time and what a great match between 2 of the best strikers in the game who are both near the top of the charts. Had Forrest Griffin not upset Shogun in their bout, he might be on the TUF TV show getting ready for his title shot. Chuck fell to Rampage but after a close split-decision loss to Keith Jardine, defeated Wanderlei Silva in a war! Both men are at the edge of a title shot so hook em up boys and winner becomes #1 contender.

Wanderlei Silva vs Lyoto Machida Everyone loves Machida and his unbeaten record, but his wins have been technical but not exciting for most fans and he hasn't always faced the top competition who could test his karate skills. Wanderlei Silva who held the Pride FC Light Heavyweight Championship for a short 5 years! went on a slump dropping fights to Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, and the aforementioned Liddell. Not to make excuses, but Cro Cop is a Heavyweight, Silva was sick and still fought Hendo, and Chuck, well, Chuck just beat him. This fight forces Machida to fight and I mean fight as Wanderlei just attacks people with abandon. This could prove Machida as the real deal or just another notch on the re surging handle of the "Axe Murderer."

Thiago Silva vs Rashad Evans Yet another undefeated fighter who is sometimes boring and avoids a real fight. Once again, the "other" Silva will force the fight upon him and oh yes, he is undefeated as well. The "0" must go fellas what a fight!

Keith Jardine vs Stephan Bonnar Poor, poor Keith. He's at the top after a win over Forrest Griffin, then gets just smashed by Houston Alexander, defeats one Chuck Liddell, and is then stomped by Wanderlei Silva in 36 seconds. Well, the inconsistency drops this cat down the list a bit and I for one am sick and tired of hearing everyone say he beat Stephan Bonnar and the judges screwed him. Watch it again morons, the "American Psycho" won. So let them rematch and settle it. Bonnar is coming off 2 straight wins and is looking for the big fight to put the spotlight back on his steroid tarnished record. Good fight good night.

So after my great matchmaking the results may change, but for now, here is my current UFC

Light Heavyweight Top 10

1 Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

2 Forrest Griffin

3 Chuck Liddell

4 Shogun Rua

5 Wanderlei Silva

6 Lyoto Machida

7 Thiago Silva

8 Keith Jardine

9 Rashad Evans

10 Stephan Bonnar

Tell Joe Silva he's welcome.

Elite XC VS. WEC

So Elite XC made their national MMA debut on CBS Saturday with a card full of shocking stoppages and all around oddities while WEC held 2 title fights with high caliber fighters and great fights. Guess which one people are talking about today? Kimbo Slice KO'd that huge British guy with the jacked up ear! Well, there was a bit more to all of it than that but barely anyone sniffed the WEC 34 event while whores jiggling along the entrance ramp and a score of just awful music and that Daily Show/ESPN News odd blue and red lighting that seems to be so popular, dilated pupils and captured the viewers in droves as the ratings claim success for Elite XC and CBS.

1st the good. Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler just went to war in their Middleweight Title fight and each seemed able to hurt the other in a pier 6 brawl. The fight was exciting with non-stop action on the feet which the moron crowd still boo'd. Then an accidental eye poke and Scott Smith made the mistake of telling the doctor that he "couldn't see." What he wanted was 5 minutes to recover, but if you tell a Doctor that, they stop the fight before you suffer worse damage. He didn't want to stop fighting but you can't say you are basically blind and expect to continue. A poor choice of words as Smith did wish to continue but once they call a fight it is over. Lawler and Smith will do this again though and this will all just hype it up even more for the rematch benefiting both men and Elite XC as well. By the by, Matt Hughes will be slapping around Lawler in practice for letting Scott off the hook when hurt not only once, but twice. Maybe the bright lights of CBS got to him but I think next time he puts Smith away in the 2nd round.

Also good, Gina Carano defeated Kaitlin Young when the doctors called the fight because her left eye was grotesquely swollen and the doctors thought it could be an orbital fracture and were not taking chances. The bad is that now Young is stating the fight should not have been stopped and she wanted to continue. Dr. Sherry Wulkan who attended to Young ringside, remembered things slightly different. "When we saw Kaitlin in the cage, we were concerned about an orbital fracture. Both she and her corner were grateful that the fight was stopped and actually thanked us for stopping the fight. When she first returned to the dressing room, she said she wasn’t sure why the fight was stopped, but after looking in the mirror, she was glad we did. That is almost a quote verbatim. She said she was overwhelmed and that Carano definitely got the better of her on this occasion." Uh yeah, she did, and that was an out of shape 3 weeks of training Carano. She is not swearing a re-dedication to the sport but we shall see. Missing weight for a fight is a big no, no in the MMA community.

Good to see Joey Villasenor knock the crap outta Phil Baroni as everyone tends to do and at 10-10 professionally, I look forward to seeing Baroni fall into the joke category where Tank Abbott resides. Nice job Joey.

Then there's the Kimbo fight. Ok the stoppage was early I grant you that, but I still think it was about to be over and you cannot come into a fight with cauliflower ear that bad and not expect it to affect you. Damn man drain that shit! If your ear is flopping around like its about to come off of course they are going to stop the fight. On the other hand, Kimbo looked as though he had not learned anything from Bas Rutten on the ground as he had zero defense or offense on bottom. Kimbo was exposed with awful cardio and bad takedown defense as well. We knew ya could punch so this fight didn't do a whole lot for me.

Now Mr. Brett "The Grim" Rogers called it at the press conference saying Kimbo's match was "garbage" leading him and Kimbo to almost get into a snit right there in front of the cameras. Fact is the 7-0 Rogers called out Kimbo in front of everybody and I think he would beat him thus the fight won't happen. Still pretty funny stuff if you saw it. Watch for the IFL's Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson or Paul Buentello to get the next nod for Slice. Paul has the best shot at winning.

Now how about that WEC 34 (crickets......crickets), well you people are stupid. Featherweight Phenom and WEC Champion Uriah Faber 21-1 went to war with the Lightweight Legend known as "Lil Evil" Jens Pulver in a 5 round action filled fight! Faber came to throw with Pulver which is usually a mistake, but the wrestling based "Kid" was just to fast and accurate for the older Jens. Still a great fight from two of the best in the world at 145 lbs. showing amazing technical skill and heart through their 25 minute battle. It was the 1st time Faber has gone 5 rounds and the 1st time Pulver has lost at Featherweight. Now if we could just get Kid Yamamoto versus Uriah Faber we'd really have a show! Great fight people watch it!

How about some upsets you say? Jeff Curran a former #1 Featherweight contender got beaten by Mike Thomas Brown who also holds wins over Yves Edwards and Mark Hominick. This ATT fighter is definitely one to watch and in title contention now! Chase Beebe lost a razor close decision against Will Ribeiro a Brazilian who has only been bested once in his career. Flashy stand up earned him the victory. Mark Munoz at 3-0 gave up almost a foot in height to the more experienced, taller, heavier, and scarier looking Chuck Grigsby 15-3. However, Munoz made his debut count with looping right hands to his downed opponent and a just straight vicious ground and pound out. Close odds but all upsets!

Bantem weight Champion Miguel Torres is just plain sick. 34-1 with 21 submission wins and retains his belt Yoshiro Maeda by swelling his eye shut! Former Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough had more trouble than I had predicted squeaking out a Split-Decision win over the very game Ken Alexander. I thought "Razor" would take him to the shed early for this one.

Pretty damn good card but its also more little fellas and everyone loves the Heavyweights even when its an ugly/sad bout between Slice/Thompson and it only leaves people with more questions. I have no problem with people liking the Elite XC version better than the more skilled though less colorful WEC, I just want people to understand the appeal of both, and give em all a chance. Either way, MMA fans and fighters were the winners Saturday and Sunday with two great cards that bring MMA that much closer to the mainstream and prominence.