"Inside The Mind Of Rampage" by Josh Gross

Josh Gross is the best MMA journalist in the game today. He recently left Sherdog to join Sports Illustrated to cover MMA. His most recent article is "Inside The Mind Of Rampage" a piece on what has gone on recently with the fall of Quinton Jackson. Its a powerful and sometimes sad read about the former Champion who has crashed upon hard times. This must be read!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/josh_gross/07/29/quinton.jackson/index.html

MMA Melee 7/30/08

1st things 1st, the greatest fighter in the world Fedor Emelianenko may have an opponent to try and wrest his new WAMMA Heavywieght Title in the form of Andrei Arlovski. This is definitely what Affliction wants to headline their 2nd event October 11. Arlovski was impressive in his victory over Ben Rothwell but Fedor was more impressive stopping Tim Sylvia in 33 seconds. Though Josh Barnett is ranked higher and had a KO of Pedro Rizzo at the same show, it looks like Andrei has leapfrogged over him for the title shot on popularity alone. The crowd popped huge for Arlovski and only cheered louder for Fedor so Affliction smells money. It may not be the best fight to put together for hardcore MMA fans who know Barnett deserves a shot, but the fledgling company does need to make money so you have 2 high profile warriors who hailed from very close to each other (Arlovski Belarus, Fedor Russia) ready to war over the WAMMA title.

Speaking of Affliction's October card, it seems Tito Ortiz is close to signing with the company where he is expected to debut at said show against Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Babalu said it was a "dream fight" for him and wants it badly. This could be a real interesting fight between to MMA stars.

James "Sandman" Irvin has tested positive for banned painkillers Methadone and Oxymorphone from his destruction at the hands of Anderson Silva. Irvin may not have felt pain in his fight with Silva but he wasn't conscious that long either. Congrats to the NSAC (Nevada State Athletic Commission) for catching another cheater, and for their new policy to try and test fighters year round to make sure fighters are clean! This is a great policy if they can get fighters and promotions to accept the new rules. Irvin has yet to respond to the charges.

Welterweight John Alessio has signed a 3-fight contract with Elite XC, while Fabricio Werdum who has been looking great recently, signed a 5-fight deal with the UFC. IFL Lightweight Champion Ryan Schultz has bolted from the imploding company to sign a deal with Sengoku and may try his luck against Takanori Gomi.

UFC 89 is loading up with talent as Keith Jardine, coming off a loss to Wanderlei Silva is set to fact Brandon Vera who won but looked sloppy against Reese Andy. The weight loss didn't serve Vera well so it will be interesting to see how he does at 205 again against a top fighter like Jardine who is hungry to win after being stopped so quickly in his previous bout.

Also on UFC 89, the undefeateds face each other as Lyoto Machida 13-0 will fight Thiago Silva. Lyoto trains with the Nogueira brothers and Anderson Silva over at Black House while Silva is another Chute Boxe fighter named Silva. Its like Smith over in Brazil I guess. The winner there definitely has a title shot coming at Light Heavyweight!

Mirko Cro Cop has accepted a challenge from Alistair Overeem to a fight but DREAM may have him face their most hated fighter in Yoshihiro Akiyama. Mirko said he would fight either man but to me Overeem, a successful Heavyweight (Strikeforce Champion) and similar kickboxing style would make more sense than Akiyama who is a Middleweight and DREAM just wants a villan (he's the guy who got caught oiling up against Sakuraba) for their most popular fighter.

Brazilian Top Team's tank Ricardo Arona has resurfaced after taking over a year off to be with his family and heal old wounds. He is currently mulling over contracts from almost all the MMA companies as he would be a huge addition to any ones Light Heavyweight roster. He had two great wars with Wanderlei Silva in Pride FC where both men won and has beaten greats like Sakuraba, Dean Lister, Dan Henderson, Jeremy Horn, Alistair Overeem and many more to a commanding resume.

Frank Shamrock is almost ready to return to action after suffering a broken arm at the hands of Cung Le who also took his Strikeforce belt, and has a short list of fights he wants including Robbie Lawler (who just defeated Scott Smith last week and has the Elite XC Middleweight Title) and stepbrother Ken Shamrock. Fighting Ken would sell tickets which seems to be Franks aim these days, but a fight with Lawler could show whether or not Frank can still hang with the top tier Middleweights in the world. Since Cung Le is out of action till 2009, my guess would be the easy fight with big brother to continue running his giant never silent mouth. If Frank is going to keep calling himself an "icon" and such he has to fight some top Middleweights and I'm not sure he could beat any of the Top 10 guys on my rankings.

Elite XC on CBS Results

People ask me, they says hey, are you ever tired of being right all the time? And I says to them, no. Obviously I picked the card 100% correctly but it is actually the fighters who deserve some of the credit today.

Robbie Lawler did what we all knew he would do and that's put Scott Smith away in the 2nd with vicious knees to the body and brutal punching power. Scott is starting to become known as a soft body because he keeps losing when people attack him there. Of course, if Robbie kicked me in the side while I was on the ground I might whince like a girl as well. Tough luck Scott there goes your 15 minutes as he returns to the lower to mid-card status where he belongs and Caveman Lawler looks for his next victim.

Jake Shields took a little over 1 minute to submit Nick "The Goat" Thompson in their title fight that I said would go into the later rounds. I still picked the winner right but Jake snapped Nick's 12 fight winning streak like it and he was nothing. Elite XC is going to open their checkbooks and buy up some Welterweights because they don't have anyone that can hang with Shields.

Nick "Diablo" Diaz went to war with Thomas Denny who responded in kind. A little trash talking before the fight and at the stare down and its on! Ya gotta love the spirit of Diaz who decides to just allow his opponents to punch the crap out of him until they tire, and then move in for the kill. Thomas landed the better shots early in the fight and shockingly Nick was cut open. He never panicked and never changed his game plan as he took and gave big punches. Toward the end of the 1st Denny began to wobble and only the bell saved his ass. In the 2nd Diaz decided to give the roaring fans what they wanted (the crowd was out of control for this fight: notice Kimbo Slice & Gina Carano ringside standing and cheering in the video) which was a Griffin/Bonnar I style fight. In the end, when Nick's hands go up, you go down, as Diaz had some fun taunting the cocky challenger as he put him away with a nice TKO win. Beautiful exciting win but don't do that stand up war thing if you get a rematch with Champ KJ Noons.

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva became the 1st Elite XC Heavyweight Champion and this guy is scary. Granted, Justin Eilers just lost his 2nd title shot that he never deserved and was beaten down like the can he is, but Silva is looking better and better for ATT. The guy is good everywhere and freaking huge! I don't think Kimbo Slice, Brett Rogers, Jon Murphy, or James Thompson are going to be able to take this giants belt away.

Shayna I warned you about the (so called) female Cyborg. Chris Santos was able to not only beat the shit out of poor Baszler, but quit early thinking the fight was stopped (which is should have been Mazagatti), celebrated atop the cage, realized the fight wasn't over, and finally came down and ended the massacre with some KO shots. Poor Shayna's teeth are going to be worse than ever (cheap shot) and they didn't even interview Santos, instead asking Gina Carano about possibly fighting Cyborg in the future. Gina was all for it and all male MMA fans groaned thinking of how Chris will destroy Gina's beautiful face.

Nice card, good fights, and Elite XC will be on Showtime next on August 15th. A special thanks to Sherdog.com for the Nick Diaz picture.

Nick Diaz vs Thomas Denny

Elite XC CBS Saturday Show

EliteXC Middleweight Championship
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith (Rematch) No more dicking around for Robbie this time as he returns against Scott to finish what they started in May before an accidental thumb to the eye ended the exciting slugfest. Smith is tough sure and has "Hands of Stone" but Lawler is a better athlete at a higher level. This time the Champ finishes things in 2.

WINNER-Robbie Lawler by TKO

EliteXC Welterweight Championship
Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson Both of these guys are class acts and great fighters. Nick was the former BodogFight Welterweight Champ until the company folded. The "Goat" rides a 12 fight win streak into the bout where he will look to exchange on the feet rather than enter Shields world on the floor. Jake only has a 9 fight win streak but has fought and beaten much better opponents for years and is one of the best all around Welterweights in the world. My only question is how does Jake win the fight? Expect a great battle none the less as these guys are talented and it will probably go into the later rounds. At the end Shields hand gets raised.

WINNER-Jake Shields by 4th rd. TKO

EliteXC Heavyweight Championship
Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers "Bigfoot" comes in as the giant with only 1 blemish on his record and with the help of American Top Team has become one of the best Heavyweight prospects in the game. Eilers has had a bit of a resurgence in his career but the wrestling based fighter is going to be out matched in almost all areas of the game.

WINNER-Antonio Silva by sub rd.3

Nick "Diablo" Diaz vs. Thomas Denny Nick needs the win over the "Wildman" to get a rematch with Lightweight Champion KJ Noons and this bout aims to please. Expect Denny to throw for the fences early but the Ju-Jitsu of Diaz will put the sturdy veteran back in the loss column.

WINNER-Nick Diaz by submission rd. 2

Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos Why is Shayna fighting a man? Is this some Inter-Gender match or----oh crap that's a chick! Shayna is a nice girl, please run. There is no reason to fight this beast.

WINNER-The Female Cyborg Santos quickly

Wilson Reis vs. Bryan Caraway
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. Travis Galbraith
David Douglas vs. Marlon Matias
Jeremy Freitag vs. Anthony Ruiz
Mike Cook vs. Carl Seumanutafa
Brandon Tarns vs. Drew Montgomery

You are on your own for the rest of the fights here people. This is a very good card for the 2nd CBS show with only 3 freakin' title fights! Elite XC is really putting together some good shows without Kimbo so pay attention. I'm sure he'll be in the crowd so tune in for whatever reason and watch some good action. I said run Shayna!

Eddie Alvarez vs Tatsuya Kawajiri DREAM 5

DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Results=HELLBOY!

Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen came in as an alternate and did what no Lightweight has been able to do, and that is obliterate Shinya Aoki for the 1st DREAM Lightweight Title. Hansen was bounced from the tournament in a previous loss to Eddie Alvarez via decision loss back in May, but Sunday was back as an alternate where he defeated Kultar Gill by submission to become the reserve fighter. Aoki seemed to have Caol Uno tapped out by his patented triangle choke but the Japanese veteran held strong though he never got any offense going to lose via decision to the Grand Prix favorite. Shinya was on to the finals.

Eddie Alvarez hooked up with Japanese bomber Tatsuya Kawajiri for an amazing slugfest fight! It was a Pier 6 brawl (thank you JR) as Kawajiri stopped takedowns early and cut Eddie open below his eye. From there Alvarez unloaded two punches for a knockdown though Tatsuya recovered only to be dropped again by a vicious knee to the belly. The doctors check on Eddie's cut (nice timing) as Kawajiri recovered and proceeded to drop Alvarez to the canvas with a brutal left! All hell broke lose as Eddie got to his feet and both men just threw bones non-stop. Over and over a right/left combo from Alvarez and finally Tatsuya falls to the canvas to be pounded out by the American! What a great fight but it came with a price. The doctors would not allow Eddie to fight in the finals and he withdrew though he protested as much as he could to fight on.

Enter Joachim Hansen vs Shinya Aoki for the finals and the belt. Hansen avoided the ground assault of submissions Aoki is famous for and just straight threw down catching Shinya with a punch that turtled him up and away from his attacker. A few more strikes for good measure and the ref stepped in. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen is now 19-7-1 and holds the DREAM title.

Though I am happy for Hellboy (my tournament pick to win it all from the start I might add), I am sad for Alvarez who probably would have won the thing and deserves a title shot soon. Eddie has snuck under the radar for far too long and is an exciting, solid fighter. The day belongs to Joachim though and Aoki is left wondering what could have been.

Fedor Emelianenko & Anderson Silva Dominate! Affliction & UFC Results

Its always amusing to me when people question the "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko going into a fight. Is he still as good as he was? Is he overrated? Then as always, the guy comes to the ring like he just awoke from a nap and destroys people. After a humble Fedor slowly meandered around the ring before the introduction, the switch flipped after the 1st strike as Fedor swarmed Tim Sylvia grabbing the back of his head for some nice uppercuts after showing his ridiculous speed to punch his way into the big man. Fedor hits Tim, Tim hits the ground, and Emelianko do what he do and chokes him out! 33 seconds later the doubters are quiet with shame. The greatest fighter of all time is back (as if he ever left) and soon Randy Couture will be left in the Russian's wake. How about that ugly ass WAMMA Heavyweight Belt they gave Fedor?

Anderson "Spider" Silva took his time in his bout going a full 61 seconds before he TKO'd James Irvin back to the bottom of the pile where he belongs. Seriously, nobody thought this jobber was going to win but he just got crushed so damn quickly. Silva catches his leg and drops him with a punch that left a huge gash under James right eye. Silva punches the bitch out on the floor and proceeds to do a very nice Muay Thai dance in celebration. Up next, a title defense against Yushin Okami, the last man to defeat Anderson.

Andrei Arlovski was also impressive in his dismantling of the properly overrated Ben Rothwell. Ben is big and has a tough noggin for sure, but flying knees, improved kicking, and beautiful combinations set up the end for the Miletich fighter. The crowd was really behind Andrei, but lets see what happens when the Belarus fighter meets someone the caliber of Josh Barnett or god forbid Fedor. Ben Rothwell has a future date with fellow underachiever Paul Buentello who barely defeated last second replacement and 70 year old punch drunk Gary Goodridge by pathetic decision. The "Battle Of The Big Guys With Big Belly's" comes soon.

Speaking of Josh Barnett, he looked very impressive dicking around with Pedro Rizzo for a minute before delivering the best KO of his career. Barnett is scary and the one man I think can actually put up a fight against Emelianenko. The guy also cuts the best Promo in the biz and is almost more entertaining in the post fight interview than in the actual fight.

Brandon Vera struggled with Reese Andy as he showed 205 may just be too much for the former Heavyweight fighter. Vera looked very skinny and obviously ran out of gas early in the fight. He still had enough to get the decision win and props for calling out the fans to support Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in his time of need. Brandon is a class act and will look much better in his next fight.

As for the rest of the UFC event, Rory Markham stole the show as he rebounded from getting his ass handed to him by Brodie Farber, only to find redemption with a head kick KO that was one of the best and most devastating seen since Cro Cop/Gonzaga. Brodie is scheduled to wake up Tuesday and welcome to the UFC Rory.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson got poked in the eye repeatedly by Kevin Burns who ended the night by sticking his finger so deep into Johnson's eye that it was sick to watch on replay and Anthony could not continue. Then for some unknown reason, the judges awarded the fight to Burns. To Kevins credit he wasn't exactly happy with it either and wasn't trying to cheat. This will set up a nice rematch for both fighters and I fully expect the Athletic Commission to overturn the decision to a NC (no contest) in the coming weeks.

CB Dolloway put a beautiful Peruvian Necktie (how cool of a submission name is that?) on big dumb Jesse Taylor who may be fired from the UFC again. Jesse had some disparaging remarks about Rampage's recent arrests that have been getting him crucified on the net and caught the attention of UFC brass. Genius Jesse continues to embarrass himself at all occasions.

Vitor Belfort took his time but finally took out Terry Martin as his new corner men Randy Couture and Jay Hieron cheered him on. Amazing that Belfort once fought Randy 3 times at Light Heavyweight and is now training exclusively at Xtreme Couture at Middleweight. He looked unsure as always but the set up flying knee and 1-2 punch for the KO were a thing of beauty.

Babalu took out Mike Whitehead in a decision while Lil Nogueira took apart Lion's Den member Edwin Dewees in a 1st round TKO. Mike Pyle also won easily and Mark Hominick took a couple of years to learn how to put a "gimme" triangle choke on Savant Young for the victory. Matt Lindland looked rusty as hell but a win is a win is a sloppy effort. At least the "Law" is back.

Cain Valesquez just beat the piss out of Jake O'Brien and is to be watched at Heavyweight while Frankie Edgar did me proud pulling off the Upset Pick win over Hermes Franca. Frankie is just too fast and his wrestling so superior that he just out points people and makes it look easy. A big win but the kid has to learn to finish fights to be considered in the Lightweight Title hunt.

That's the jist of things and it was a great orgy of MMA this weekend and I haven't even covered the DREAM Grand Prix results yet that ended with a big upset winner! A mighty 15-3 on the picks people tell me I'm not the shit. Get out the credit card I'm going gambling.

Affliction Banned Fight Card

Main Card
"The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko 27-1 vs. Tim "The Maniac" Sylvia 26-5 @ HW Neither of these guys is a joke by any stretch of the imagination. Tim held the UFC Heavyweight Title twice against no joke competition and has a striking and size advantage not to mention zero pressure since nobody expects him to win. Fedor returns to fight a legit Top 10 Heavyweight for the 1st time since Mark over 2 years ago. The USA fans welcomed Fedor with cheers while booing America's own big Tim. Obviously, Fedor uses his Sambo skills to try and take this fight to the floor where Sylvia sucks while Timmay wants to strike and land that KO blow. Anything can happen in the fight game, but Fedor should never be picked against. Don't forget this is for the WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts-which is a "sanctioning organization for professional mixed martial arts, promoting the integrity, legitimacy and longevity of Mixed Martial Arts through unified rule sets and rankings.") Heavyweight Title.
WINNER-Fedor Emelianenko via submission rd.3

Josh Barnett 25-5 vs. Pedro Rizzo 16-7 @ HW Ah, reminds me of the early days of the UFC when these 2 were kings. This actually a rematch from 2001 when Pedro KO'd Barnett at UFC 30. Now many years later, Josh is still a Top 1o guy who has fought some of the best in the world, while Rizzo has struggled to return to prominence. Pedro is coming off 2 nice wins at Art Of War and has the kicking and punching ability to end any fighters night. Barnett is seeking a big win to throw his name in the mix with Fedor and possibly Randy Couture as future opponents. Both men's last fight and win were against Jeff Monson oddly. Josh is just too smart now and has every trick in the book while Pedro is no longer in his heyday. Expect Josh to exchange a few leg kicks but work this fight to the floor where he is far superior.
WINNER-Josh Barnett by decision

Matt "The Law" Lindland 20-5 vs. Fabio Negao 8-3 @ MW Nice of ya to finally fight again Matt after a year and 8 months away from fighting has dropped the one time most feared Middleweight in the world down the rankings. Not entirely his fault as his last gig was with BodogFight who is now deceased and spent time training his students for his IFL team and Oregon based and owned Sportfight promotion. He is also running for public office but jesus he's finally back to fight. Fabio is a well rounded fighter who isn't to be taken lightly but if on his game The Law should handle him in route to victory though I expect a little rust to show.
WINNER-Matt Lindland by decision

Ben Rothwell 33-5 vs. Andrei Arlovski 12-5 @ HW How about Andrei asking Tim Sylvia "how taste my pee pee?" in a recent interview in regards to Tim screwing around with Playboy model and ex-girlfriend Patrycja Mikula? Funny stuff for later but big Ben is taking a large step forward from the weak ass IFL competition to a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and killer striker. Expect Arlovski to be faster, stronger, and better in all facets of the game, though all those traits have failed him before. Rothwell has a punchers chance with some good fists but little else.

WINNER-Andrei Arlovski by TKO

Renato “Babalu” Sobral 29-7 vs. Mike Whitehead 23-6 @ LHW Mikey also takes a big leap forward in competition fighting the feared Babalu. Babs has sick all around game while Mike is good, or at least average everywhere. Sobral is always angry and will be looking to shine after exiting the UFC for choking David Heath into a near living death (see side GIF). Renato is too good to lose to this guy.

WINNER-Babalu by submission

Mike Pyle 16-5-1 vs. J.J. Ambrose 8-1 @ WW Mike is a Xtreme Couture trained submission fighter who has fought some of the best (and lost) as a Welterweight. JJ is also a ground warrior who hasn't lost since his 2nd pro fight. This could be very close but the experience of Pyle should serve him well here.

WINNER-Mike Pyle by decision

Gary Goodridge 23-17-1 (Aleksander Emelianenko is a last minute scratch as he was not given medical clearance and no we don't know why) vs. Paul Buentello 25-10 @ HW Gary is real old, has been hit far too many times, and is taking this fight on 2 days notice. Paul is a "Headhunter" (his nickname) with very fast/accurate hands that will put "Big Daddy" to bed early.

WINNER-Paul Buentello TKO rd.1

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 13-3 vs. Edwin Dewees 35-12 @ LHW Lil Nog comes in one of the best Light Heavyweights in the world though his rep was tarnished with inactivity and a shocking upset loss to Sokoudjou. Edwin Dewees is thrown to the wolves here and is going to be crushed. I'm more sure of this fight than the Buentello/Should Be Retired Goodridge fight.

WINNER-Antonio Nogueira whenever he feels like it

Undercard (FoxSportsNet)
Vitor Belfort 16-8 vs. Terry Martin 17-5 @ MW Vitor Belfort makes his debut at Middleweight after quietly putting together some wins in his "comeback." Terry Martin is a little Mike Tyson in there with sick power and good wrestling though his cardio always seems to fail. Vitor has had cardio issues in the past and without his power and explosiveness I wonder if there is an upset here? Terry has a chin as well and what in recent years would make one confident in Belfort again? How about training with Xtreme Couture and a new weight class?

WINNER-Vitor Belfort by decision

Justin Levens 9-8 vs. Ray Lazama 0-0 @ MW Justin has lost his last 5 fights in a row. Ray is making his debut in pro MMA. Flip a coin people.

Mark Hominick 15-8 vs. Savant Young 8-7 @ FW Mark is a great kickboxer but just god awful on the ground which is about the only place he loses. Savant is a Ju-Jitsu practitioner with an equally unimpressive record. Who imposes their gameplan wins.
WINNER-Hominick by decision?

The entire event will be shown this Saturday night! There are the 3 free bouts on Fox Sports and then the PPV will be 4 hours covering the rest of the roster! This could be the best MMA card of the year so buy it people and enjoy Mixed Martial Arts at its best!

Affliction Banned

UFC Fight Night: Anderson Silva vs James Irvin

The UFC threw this card together for free on Spike TV in order to try and lure away fans from the 1st Affliction PPV this Saturday evening. The card doesn't come close to Affliction's in talent, but hey its free right. My guess is the smart fans will be buying the PPV and taping, Tivoing, or watching the replay of the UFC event.

Middleweight Champion Anderson "Spider" Silva 22-4 vs James "Sandman" Irvin 14-4-1 (in a Light Heavyweight Fight) We all know Irvin only has a "puncher's chance" in this fight. He has shakey cardio, god awful ground game, and is stiff as a board. My guess is he's too slow for Silva who takes his time picking him apart at a distance while maybe trying to take things to the ground at times, and eventually wears Irvin down to TKO him out like all the rest. After this risky move (I say risky because if he is KO'd by that 1 lucky punch, which could happen, he just got beat by a very average fighter and loses his Pound4Pound King status) he returns to defend his belt against Yushin Okami, the last man to beat him! WINNER-Anderson Silva by TKO

Brandon "The Truth" Vera 8-2 vs "Riptide" Reese Andy 7-1 Reese Andy whose name should be Andy Reese (backwards eh?) bolts from the IFL to get his shot in the big game. This wrestling based fighter is shorter and is going to have problems with Vera's reach, speed, technical power striking, oh, and anger. Vera broke his hand in a decision loss to Tim Sylvia and the ref stepped in waaaay too early in his match with Fabricio Werdum so Brandon is looking to make an example of this 35 year old and get back on track to aim for a title and keep a job. The Truth will come out in this one and Andy Reese goes out quick in 1 round. This is also Brandon's 1st attempt at 205 Light Heavyweight but I think it will only make him better in all facets. WINNER-Brandon Vera by KO

Hermes Franca 19-5 vs Frankie Edgar 8-1 Now this is an interesting Lightweight fight. Franca is returning from his steroid suspension and loss to then Champ Sean Sherk. Edgar is coming off his 1st loss in MMA looking to prove himself against a former #1 contender. Franca is the favorite but I see Frankie doing what he do by using that brilliant wrestling to cancel out most of Hermes game to a decision win. Just stay away from those heavy hands and the "Answer" runs away on points. UPSET PICK WINNER-Frankie Edgar

Jake O'Brien 10-2 vs Cain Valesquez 3-0 Well, Jake's back after being fired for losing to Andrei Arlovski. That was a short hiatus. Both of these guys are boring wrestlers but Cain is a little less 1 dimensional with some striking. He gets the nod but needs to impress against a guy who doesn't allow anyone, including himself, to look good. WINNER-Cain V. by decision

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson 4-1 vs Kevin Burns 7-1 Kev, you in trouble. Anthony is sick explosive with just brutal KO ability. Super fast with stamina for days Burns needs to ground Johnson, the only place he has been beaten. A weakness for sure but I don't think Kevin keeps his eyes open long. WINNER-Rumble by TKO

Jesse "Kicked Out Of The UFC For A Minute" Taylor 7-2 vs CB "Runner Up" Dollaway 7-1 Really, what was Jesse kicked out for a month? Damn that TUF show and its losers. In the battle of who cares to slow paced boring kids go at it with someone winning a decision. WINNER-Jesse by retard strength

Rory Markham 15-4 vs Brodie Farber 13-3 Welcome Rory Markham one of my favorite IFL alumni to the UFC. He is an exciting Miletich fighter who loves the stand up war and bleeds in almost every one of his fights. Brodie has a decent record against some good opponents and is more of a submission guy but you don't want to test Rory's chin anyway. I'm pulling for Markham so he gets the nod in this close fight. WINNER-Rory "Marked Up" Markham

Johnny Rees 10-0 vs Nate Loughran 8-0 Johnny boy is an undefeated ground fighter that's about all I know while Nate seems to be his mirror image and someone I also know nothing about. The "O" must go but flip a coin for your pick. WINNER-????????

James Giboo 11-2 vs Brad Blackburn 12-9-1 James "Probably The Sweetest Name I've Heard In A While" Giboo out of Yale (go figure). Brad is an ATT kid with a lot of big name opponents and not a lot to show for it. How can ya not pick a guy named Giboo? WINNER-Giboo Giboo Giboo

Dale Hartt 5-0 vs Shannon Gugerty 10-2 Dale is scary looking while Shannon looks out of Junior High. I betcha this one makes it on TV. I'll just go with my Hartt, get it, Hartt, like Heart. Brilliant writing. WINNER-Hartt

This card is weak, now buy Affliction's PPV and watch this one after when you're piss drunk and stupid.

The UFC To Buy The IFL

The UFC continues to choke out the competition as the failing IFL is to be purchased in the coming days by the Zuffa company. The IFL has struggled with their MMA "team" concept and airing their fights taped instead of live causing very low ratings. The company has tried to re-shuffle their image and rosters for 2008 but instead wound up cancelling events and many fighters have already headed to the exits. Now hemorrhaging money the UFC is swooping in to cancel out a competitor and grab their roster with some exciting talent (Chris Horodecki, Jay Hieron, Bart Palaszewski, Benji Radach, Matt Horwich, Ryan McGivern, Jamal Patterson, and Vladimir Matyushenko, etc.). No word on whether or not the IFL brand will remain as when the UFC bought the WEC and turned it into a minor league type brand but my thought is the rosters will be split up into the WEC and UFC and the IFL will go away forever. With all the money and advertising initially behind it, the IFL just never managed to capture the attention of the MMA world like other promotions. The IFL was only 2 years old. R.I.P. 2006-2008

Quinton Jackson "Rampages" Through California

In very disturbing news, Quinton Rampage Jackson was arrested in California Tuesday after a Police chase and striking several vehicles by Jackson's custom made truck. Jackson ran red lights as well as driving on sidewalks and weaving wildly. He finally surrendered and was taken into custody where Police said he was "very cooperative, but very upset." Dana White flew to California to post the $25,000 bond to release Jackson from jail. Quinton was declared "medically unfit" to be booked and taken to an Orange County hospital. Police said drugs or alcohol were not suspected to have played a role in the arrest but rather a serious depression. No further information is being released at this time.

MMAFO wants to wish Jackson a speedy recovery and hope that something good comes out of this bad situation.

New Fresh Updated MMA Rankings !

The Heavyweights don't move though there was a nice win for Gabriel Gonzalez though it was over Justin "Tomato Can" McCully who will soon be seeking employment. Ya just have to put Forrest Griffin as the #1 Light Heavyweight in the world as Rampage drops just a notch and the rest all close but remaining the same. No Change at Middleweight but Anderson Silva is risking his P4P status with his upcoming Light Heavyweight UFC debut with James "Sandman" Irvin. Jake Shields and Thiago Alves move up the Welterweight Charts while Matt Serra drops because you just can't justify with his record that he could beat any of the guys I put ahead of him. #3 Jake Shields and #10 Nick Thompson have an interesting fight coming up for Elite XC July 26th. I hate to do it, including the prick Josh Thompson to the Lightweights but owning stud Gilbert Melendez (who drops out of the rankings for the 1st time!) and taking his Strikeforce Title was impressive as hell. Not much movement but some important changes none the less and some big fights upcoming!

UFC 86: The 3rd Deciding Round

By now everyone has seen or at least heard about the close 5 round decision that went to Forrest Griffin anointing him the new Light Heavyweight Champion while Quinton "Rampage" Jackson came out the loser. The crowd boo'd the results and the announcers lauded the praises of Griffin's effort while the MMA world seems split in half as to who actually won the fight.

First things first, I scored the contest 48-47 for Rampage to retain the title. Some argue and 2 of the ring side judges did score a 10-8 round in the 2nd for Forrest, though I did not. Even if you do give him the 10-8, the fight then comes out a draw and Jackson keeps the belt. The only real controversy seems to be over that 3rd round. Almost everybody scores the rest the same with Round 1 Rampage, Round 2 Forrest, Round 4 Rampage, and Round 5 Forrest. Again, the 10-8 or 10-9 2nd is a moot point ending the fight in an even less satisfying draw.

So the 3rd round. Rampage avoids those painful leg kicks early on and neither man does much until the 3:40 mark when Quinton blocks a kick and a punch that gains him nothing but was beautiful. At 3:22 Jackson lands a nice combination. 3:05 and Forrest lands his 1st leg kick of the round followed by some misses as Rampage lands some strikes (I believe 2). 2:45 leg kick by Forrest answered by a combo from the Champ. 2:25 area some slight kicks landed by Griffin. 2:04 Rampage lands a jab and an overhand right and the two trade after. 2 punches from Forrest and his best punch (a hook) lands at 1:42. 1:31 Rampage lands 2 head shots followed by an inside leg kick from the challenger. 1:15 a great body shot by Quinton but Griffin lands two jabs. 0:59 Forrest's Superman punch misses but a leg kick does not. 0:30 Rampage backs Griffin up with a chin check then at 0:12 Forrest lands 2 while Quinton comes forward and the two men trade a barrage, 3 land for the Champ and 1 for the challenger who moves away till the end of the round. My count has 15 (meaningful shots) landed by Rampage and 14 by Griffin. Compustrike gives the 3rd 24% strikes by Griffin and 38% by Jackson. Pretty close but I still give the edge to Quinton though it was a damn close round and fight.

The fight total was 33% strikes by Griffin and 49% for Jackson with 64 power strikes by Rampage and 47 by Griffin, though in total Forrest landed more shots in total. The fight is round by round but I just found the numbers interesting. Take em or leave em.

All this being said, and even with the Juanito Ibarra protesting to the Commission, the outcome is in the books and Forrest Griffin is the new Light Heavyweight Champion. I am glad. The guy has grown as a fighter before our eyes beginning as a slug it out tough kid with heart, into a training machine sponging up knowledge in every facet of the game becoming a full rounded Mixed Martial Artist. It is amazing to see a man so humble and seemingly approachable come so far after all he has been through. The pressure of being a TUF Season 1 winner, the bullshit decision loss to Tito Ortiz, and the bad KO loss to Keith Jardine. The guy just went back to the gym with each defeat and learned from it never losing his sense of humor. Forrest knew the fight was close and wants the rematch with Rampage as we all do. Time will tell if the UFC makes it happen but one thing is for sure, the nice guy finally finished 1st!