UFC Fight Night 18 Kampmann vs Condit

Main card
Welterweight bout: Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann I've been wanting Condit to go pro (i.e. UFC) for a while now but does he have to start against Kampmann? The former WEC Welterweight Champion comes in with an 8 fight winning streak and a "I'm a little skinny fuck that is mean as hell and is going to beat the shit outta you" attitude. The "Hitman" is the rapid fire stand up stand out has found his new home as a Welterweight. I just don't see Carlos handling the power striking and but I've been wrong before. Wait, just changed my mind, Condit is going sub him with relentless pressure.

WINNER-Natural Born Killer by above words.
Light Heavyweight bout: Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero After 5 bouts outside the UFC, the ATT's own Carmel returns to pit his wrestling versus last TUF's Winner Darth Bader. The kid has the power and better wrestling to win this so barring a lucky shot or lightning from the sky, Ryan puts away "The Fury" with a grind out win.

WINNER-Darth Bader by TKO Rd.3
Lightweight bout: Tyson Griffin vs. Rafael dos Anjos Fed to the wolves here a bit as Tyson stumbled against former Champ Sean Sherk, but is spades better than the Brazilian who is known for his stunning uppercut of death loss to Jeremy Stephens.

WINNER-Tyson Griffin not by decision!
Lightweight bout: Cole Miller vs. Junie Browning This could really be a good battle. Cole is the lanky J-Lau lookin' ATT member who had to suffer through the TUF house and Allen is the bitch of last year's TUF house. Junie has the power edge and is training with Xtreme Couture and supposedly is serious about fighting. He was quite impressive destroying David Kaplan but this is a better fighter. Watch "Magrino" work his length to take the fight to the floor where he dominates.

WINNER-Cole Miller The Sub

Prelims
Catchweight (158 lb) bout: Gleison Tibau vs. Jeremy Stephens Glee saved his job defeating Rich Clementi who got the pink slip instead, and Stephens is the aforementioned uppercut king who is watching the guy he KO'd on the main card while he toils here in the prelims. Its a crazy business. Tibau's Jiu-Jitsu will cause the end for "Lil Heathen" who has power, but little skill.

WINNER-Tibau by submission Rd.2
Middleweight bout: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich Look for "Bible Thumper" who suffered the debut curse his last time out to grind his way past the Renzo Gracie protege.

WINNER-Matty by decision
Middleweight bout: Tim Credeur vs. Nick Catone The old man surprised me breaking the spirit of Nate Loughran who quit, I mean got injured in their last bout. Nick is the 6-0 striker but I'm actually going to give the edge to the improved striking and as yet unseen Jiu-Jitsu prowess of the veteran.

WINNER-Tim Credeur by decision
Welterweight bout: Brock Larson vs. Jesse Sanders Brock is a scary WEC graduate who is returning to the UFC after a loss to Jon Fitch in 2005. Jesse is a sub stud but has not fought at Brock's level yet.

WINNER-Brock Larson G&P submission
Middleweight bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Nissen Osterneck Another WEC grad Nissan (like the cars) takes on Jorge "Still Shocking The World" Rivera who saved his job by beating glass jawed Kendall Grove but then became headliner Martin Kampman's bitch. I don't know, I want to root for the old timer and I don't really know Ostertag, so flip a coin because you never know what you're going to get with the Conquistador.

WINNER-Jorge by ????????
Middleweight bout: Rob Kimmons vs. Joe Vedepo The "Rosedale Reaper" (what the fuck kinda nickname is that?) faces off against the "Doctor," ok, what the hell, is this fight a joke for April 1st or what?

WINNER-Rosedale Raper
Middleweight bout: Tim McKenzie vs. Aaron Simpson I'll take the "Wrecking Machine" I guess.

WINNER-Timmay
Middleweight bout: Ryan Jensen vs. Steve Steinbeiss This bout has been cancelled.

Don't forget The Ultimate Fighter season who the hell knows at this point begins after the fights pitting Michael Bisping and his Brits vs Dan Henderson and the evil Americans. Chiggida check it oot, unless, its a big joke on us!

Women Of MMA: Elena "Baby Doll" Reid

Elena Reid is a professional female boxer and current WIBA Flyweight champion who fights under the nickname "Baby Doll", as well as beginning to fight in MMA where she is 2-0. She has trained with the likes of Kim Couture and Gina Carano at Xtreme Couture and is getting ready to go full steam into MMA.
“I still do have a title, so I’m obligated with mandatory title defenses, and I wanted to put that behind me before I take off with MMA,” said Elena. “I’ve never stopped training MMA, but with boxing I just wanted to tie up some loose ends and do the things I need to do; and now I’m ready to go full force with my MMA career. We want Michelle Waterson – that’s my goal – I want to fight her because she’s a name in my weight class, and that’s how you get known, you beat the people who are known.”

The "Karate Hottie" vs "Baby Doll", that's a bout worth watching over and over.

"Mayhem" Miller's MTV Show

MMA Melee 3/15/09 Shamrocks, Diaz, Penn, & Cro Cop

Well there's news a plenty this past week with more steroids, Shamrocks, card shuffling, free agent signings, and death.
Frank Mir is injured and out of his title unification rematch with Brock Lesnar at UFC 98. Frank suffered a knee injury in training and had arthroscopic surgery moving the bout to UFC 100 in July. Taking place of the rematch at 98 will be Rashad Evans vs Lyoto Machida for the Light Heavyweight title since Quinton Jackson is "tired" and "over-trained" for his fight with Keith Jardine. Sounds like someone isn't ready to back up their shit talk so the 2 undefeated fighters will face off in what should have been the title fight anyway, since "The Dragon" has reeled off 6 impressive UFC wins in a row.
After publicly stating his interest in bringing Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic back to the UFC in January, Dana White looks to have lost out on the 2006 Grand Prix Champion who is rumored to have signed a 3 fight deal with DREAM including a run in a Heavyweight tournament that may include Alistair Overeem, Semmy Schilt, Fedor Emelianenko, and others.
Heavyweight prospect Brett "The Grim" Rogers has finalized his deal with Strikeforce and will be competing against an as yet unnamed opponent at Shamrock vs Diaz. The 8-0 fighter has wanted to fight Kimbo Slice but since terms have yet to be reached with the street fighter, opponents could possibly be Paul Buentello or maybe even Josh Barnett if Affliction cannot get their next card together soon.
UFC lightweight champ B.J. Penn and his camp have filed a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission against welterweight champ Georges St Pierre. The Penn camp filed a twenty-page document detailing the complaint and outlining the consequences they’d like to see. They just want to see GSP, his trainers, and other as of yet unnamed parties fined $250,000, have the bout result changed to a no contest, suspend the licenses of GSP, Phil Nurse(the greaser), and Greg Jackson, and force GSP to undergo pre-fight showers. Pre-fight showers? Yes, Penn claims GSP "ingested a substance” to make his body especially slippery during the fight via his sweat. OK, I'm not sure about all that but maybe BJ just wants to watch Pierre shower before GSP mounts and pounds him in this supposed rematch. Penn is just making things worse for himself trying to cling to excuses as to why he so thoroughly got his ass kicked.
Frank Shamrock squared off with Nick Diaz to promote their upcoming Strikeforce bout with a lot of sharp words and some middle fingers at the press conference. Frank is always disrespectful with his arrogant "I'm a Legend" bit, and Nick gets angry in an instant, especially if you talk shit to him, while responding with eloquent well rehearsed retorts. Kinda funny to watch but Diaz is already cut for their future fight and notice Frank said he has "never been tapped in MMA." Umm, Masakatsu Funaki and Manabu Yamada both submitted you. Its going to be a circus and I can't wait for the weigh-in. Also announced is Jake Shields goes up 15 lbs. in weight to face Robbie Lawler in May for a non-title bout.
Step brother Ken Shamrock has tested positive for steroids after his quick fight with 400 lb. mass of blubber Ross Clifton (not Andy Kaufman). He claims innocence but three illegal anabolic steroids, norandrosterone, noretiocholanolone and stanozolol were found in his bloodstream. The suspension will take out Ken for a full year making him a spry 47 years old when he is able to return to action. That Tank Abbott fight will just never happen but more importantly, the sad spiral end to Ken's career has hopefully closed for good so we don't see this over hyped pro wrestler embarrass himself any further. I mean obliteration by Tito Ortiz twice in a row, a failed attempt to fight Kimbo Slice and Frank Shamrock, 7-9 overall since 2002, and a failed steroid test, let's call it a career already.
"Baby Fedor" Kiril Sidelnikov has also tested positive for steroids after his recent loss to Paul Buentello at Affliction. Stanozolol was found in his system which he believes came from a nasal spray by accident. The suspension period is retroactive to the conclusion of the bout on January 24 and runs through January 18, 2010. He has been fined $2,500. Fedor Emelianenko is currently beating the piss out of the young fighter in the Red Devil dojo.
Bobby Lashley will now face Jason Guida instead of Ken Shamrock at Roy Jones Jr.'s "March Badness" MMA/boxing hybrid event. Guida, and impressive 17-19 professionally, will be mauled back into obscurity in under 1 round.
So by now, everyone knows Tapout's Charles "Mask" Lewis died in a car accident after racing his Ferrari with a drunken Porsche driver and splitting his car in half around a cement pole. I never liked the Tapout crew, their merch, or their retarded Halloween get ups so I'm not going to pretend to be concerned or saddened by this event. Yes, the guy was a legit fan of the sport and a T-shirt pioneer (for whatever that is worth) but he was also a spoiled adult putting others lives in danger including his girlfriend who was thrown from the car and is still in the hospital. I'm not sorry, and he won't be missed, either half of him.

Mic Battle: Rampage vs Rashad Evans

DREAM 7 Featherweight Tourney Results

Bibiano Fernandes takes Takafumi Otsuka on a decision.
Joe Warren got lucky cutting Chase Beebe for his MMA debut win.
Abel Cullum decisions Akiyo Nishiura.
Mitsuhiro Ishida takes Daisuke Nakamura on a unanimous decision.
Shinya Aoki RNC's David Gardner of course.
Tatsuya Kawajiri subs Ross Ebanez in 1 round.
Yoshiro Maeda upsets Micah Miller by decision.
Hiroyuki Takaya TKO's my lock pick Jong Won Kim.
Masakazu Imanari gets a split decision nod over Atsushi Yamamoto.

Hmmm, 6-3 isn't too bad considering how little I know about Featherweights. "Kid" Yamamoto got the bye for the 2nd round

UFC 96 Results: Rampage, Vera, Carwin, McCrory All Victorious

1st of all give the devil his due, some pretty entertaining fights on a lackluster fight card. This was helped by awful refereeing (again), last second comebacks, just wildly over matched fighters, and a great main event.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson defeats Keith Jardine by Unanimous Decision in a dig in and fight headliner. Let's just stop the drinking game where whenever someone calls Jardine "unorthodox" or "awkward" you drink, and lets just call him a good fighter. The 2 men threw early and I immediately noticed Keith's hands down and boom he's knocked down and eats a lot of punches on his way back to the feet, but toughs it out and recovers. Jardine looks really tired and Rampage shoots in and takes him down! The 2nd saw some good exchanges as both fighters start settling down when with about a minute left, Keith lands huge and hurts Jackson. Both men just throw in a monstrous exchange but the "Dean Of Mean" is gassed and can't finish Quinton. In the final round the 2 run in and collide in the center of the octagon. As the fight ensues Jackson surprises Jardine again with a takedown he was not prepared for. Keith is winning the 3rd on the feet but neither man is hurt now. In the final 30 seconds Rampage turns it on and even knocks down Keith again for the final seconds to steal the round. Close fight but little doubt as to who won and Rampage gets the title shot as Rashad Evans enters the cage and the 2 exchange an entertaining trash talk session for a few moments hyping up their future fight. Pretty damn funny and worth watching.

Shane Carwin was hurt and getting owned by Gabriel Gonzaga when he threw a huge bomb that saved his ass as he KO'd Napao! I hate to say it, but I thought this might happen as the better fighter just got caught by the crushing hands of a 4XL gloved Heavyweight. Had Napao not gone for the takedown when he had Shane rocked, he might have put him away instead of getting caught by a last ditch punch. Move on Mr. Carwin and Gabe is about to take a long road back to relevance.

Matt "What?" Hamill had little trouble with Mark Munoz and head kicked him to sleep in an as always sloppy performance. Mark was out for a long time but walked out of the ring with a neck brace but under his own power. Why the announcers keep referring to Matt's striking as "much improved" when he should be called "Hands Down" Hamill, I have no idea. Yet, Munoz had no stand up at all and no business being in there as he does not look UFC ready. I'm still not impressed with Matt or his oft limited gas tank.

Matt Brown beat the shit outta Pete Sell in a bizarre 1-sided affair. Brown came out and hurt Sell with a superman punch and then just brutalized him. Pete goes down and ref Yves Lavine steps in between the fighters to stop the fight, Sell gets up, and Yves tells the fighters to continue!? Brown looks shocked and continues to assault "Drago" who is falling all around the ring and falls down without a punch! Matt glares at Lavine to stop the fight but he doesn't and Brown punches the helpless fighter until finally Yves stops the madness. Jeezus, that was unnecessary as the normally great referee Yves Lavine screwed this up bad Brown was incredulous at the fight not being stopped and showed good class looking out for the clowned Sell.

Gray Maynard defeats Jim Miller by unanimous decision in the bullying way everyone knew he would. The surprise was Gray did it on the feet, beating and bloodying Jim in a lopsided affair. Nice win for Maynard whose takedown defense looked stellar helping him advance in the stacked Lightweight division.

Tamdan McCrory TKO'd Ryan Madigan with some evil elbows after dominating the fight though he did make a mistake an almost got caught in a leg lock. More on the "Barn Cat" in a moment.

Kendall Grove also got a TKO win against Jason Day in uno rounda. Day needs to drop to Welterweight and I'd like to see a BJ Penn trained Kendall Grove vs Tamdan McCrory in a battle of the lankys. It would be a good next step for both fighters and good luck to Day as he will be cut from the UFC roster by Monday.

A focused Brandon Vera chopped down Mike Patt who obviously is out of his league in the UFC (he'll be joining Day & Munoz on the unemployment line soon). Zero answer for Vera's picture perfect leg kicks who is ready for top tier competition again.

Shane Nelson knocked down Aaron Riley and the ref stopped the fight in an absurd premature stoppage! What the hell was that about? Aaron was fine and has a real case for his soon to be filed complaint with the athletic commission.

Jason Brilz upset Tim Boetsch by decision with a better gas tank and just smothered the "Barbarian."

Tough night for Keith Jardine but if not for the knockdown in the final round this fight could've possibly went his way on the cards. Look for the "Dean" to come back possibly against Forrest Griffin in a rematch next. Lets throw bombs and have Shane "1 Round" Carwin vs Junior Dos Santos! Is Kendall wearing a nicotine patch on his chest, or what is that thing? How about Brandon Vera vs Stephan Bonnar so we can see where both of these 2 confusing fighters stand in the Light Heavyweight division? Not impressed with my 6-4 on the picks but what can ya do with Riley getting screwed, Carwin's lucky strike, and it was worth the loss to watch Sell get humiliated.

MMA Video links (as promised)
http://www.mma-core.com/
http://www.mmalinker.com/
http://mixedmartialartvideos.com/

DREAM 7: Featherweight Grand Prix

DREAM 7: MARCH 8 ON HDNET
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

The Feather and Bantamweights have really impressed me as I dive into this new MMA territory for fight picking. Ultra-exciting fights but I'm new to the low weight game so cut me some slack if I take a beating early. Just a side note here, Japan's fight posters are so far superior than America's.

First Round of Dream Featherweight Tournament:
Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren JW makes his MMA debut after being kicked out of amateur wrestling for the pot, and says, "I want to rip his heart out and eat it. I’m ready for war, and I’m a warrior.” I do love an eloquent fighter going into his 1st fight talking shit to a former WEC Featherweight Champion who has 15 fights, 1o won by submission. You've got gumption kid, and you're gonna lose.
WINNER-Beebe gun by RNC Rd.2
Atsushi Yamamot0 vs. Masakazu Imanari Odd Imanari (I mean come on, those pictures are disturbing) the Japanese "Ashikan Judan" shall take out Yamma.
WINNER-Imanari via leglock by Rd.1
Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura vs. Abel Cullum Cain's brother by points via takedowns.
WINNER-Abel by decision
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller Maeda may have 31 pro fights, but not the all around ability of Micah.
WINNER-Micah by submission Rd.2
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kim Jong Won "Streetfight Bancho" is a helluva nickname but mini-Yoon Dong Sik gets the won (HA!).

WINNER-Jong Won by submission Rd.1
Takafumi Otsuka vs. Bibiano Fernandes Bible comes in at a meager 3-2 professionally, but I did see him fare well against Urijah Faber and I know nothing about Otsuka so....
WINNER-"Flash" Fernandes by decision
Non-Tournament Bouts:
Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner The WAMMA Lightweight Champion gets a veteran served up for an evil triangle.
WINNER-Aoki by submission Rd.1
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ross Ebanez Its a bone throwing competition but ya just can't go against the war survivor, the "Crusher."

WINNER-Kawajiri by TKO Rd.1
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daisuke Nakamura "The Endless Fighter" has submission game for days and despite recent stumbling against Takanori Gomi and Caol Uno, is damn talented at out pointing guys to victory. The U-File fighter rides in on an 8 fight winning streak and 12 of his 19 wins come by submission. Still, I lean toward Ishida, "2008's Submission Of The Year" winner, but don't be shocked if Daisy wins. Both men can pull off the flying armbar so sit back and enjoy.
WINNER-Ishida by decision
*All fights are 1 10 minute 1st round, followed by a final 5 minute 2nd round.

UFC 96 Picks & (spoiler) PPV NOT Worth Buying

The emails have been overpowering this week with requests for my oh so brilliant MMA picks. A little late but back on the job I'll take you through Joe Silva's latest endeavor and pick my shots with the Zuffa tyrant. Though UFC 96 is not a PPV you should shell out money for, there are some interesting match ups and MMA is always fascinating.

Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine Everyone loves to comment on how "awkward" Jardine is and thus his "style" gives people fits. Not so sure about all that. Rampage has just adjusted his game to a whole new level since joining the UFC. Consider his only loss came in a 5 round fight with Forrest Griffin which was a razor thin decision. Keith has been decimated early twice against Wanderlei Silva and the over-hyped Houston Alexander while also losing a close decision to former contender Stephan Bonnar. Rampage can take a lot of punishment if he needs to (look at his record: prior to Griffin, he was only beaten by 2 men since 2002. Durable to say the least and Jardine's chin doesn't have that resume. The Wolfslair made the proper adjustments for the oncoming leg assault the "Dean Of Mean" always brings, so expect a focused and mentally healthy Jackson to eventually take out the tough TUF alum for a proper win.

WINNER-Rampage via TKO Rd.3
Heavyweight bout: Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga 2 very big Heavyweights clash with the winner getting into title contention. "Napao" rose to the top only to be dismantled by then Champion Randy Couture. Gonzaga has the all around game Shane lacks and experience out of the 1st round. Carwin has sick power and is the 2nd coming of Mark Coleman, but strength and wrestling is all he's got. It could turn either way with a punch from Shane, but the percentages lean toward Gabe's experience.

WINNER-Napao by tough decision
Welterweight bout: Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell Here we have 2 guys that don't belong in the UFC. Neither man will ever even ascend to "gatekeeper" status but hey, at least this looks like a loser leaves town match. I wouldn't say "Drago" is reborn at Welterweight, but he is better suited here than as a Middleweight. More game for Drago but Brown is tough so expect a decent slugfest from 2 guys who can't do much else.

WINNER-Pete Sell by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz Wrestler vs wrestler, but Matt has better skills in every department. He should stop Munoz but if not expect an ugly boring bout with spectacular post fight interview.

WINNER-Hamill by decision
Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller As a big time Miller Brothers fan, I hate to see this match up. Jim is tough as they come, but Gray lives up to his nickname of the "Bully" in about every fight. The Xtreme Couture fighter has tight wrestling and his stand up game is coming along but the swing is Maynard's ability to own guys with his power and out work them. Miller will keep the sometimes boring Gray active and create a good strong fight that Jim won't win on the judges card.

WINNER-Gray Maynard by decision
Prelims
Welterweight bout: Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan McCory comes off a tough loss to the uber-talented Dustin Hazelett but has reach, stamina, superior striking and scrambling than his undefeated (5-0) and untested opponent. Write this 1 down for surly nerds everywhere.

WINNER-The Barn Cat by TKO Rd.2
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day I would just like to take the time to say I miss Evan Tanner who had his final fight against douche Grove. Lankey dumb ass glasses wearing Hilo boy wins but I'm praying for a "Doomsday" outta nowhere KO.

WINNER-Spyder by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz The "Barbarian" pillages his way through flabby who I don't know much about save an inflated record (16-1).

WINNER-Bo by TKO Rd.2
Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt The "Truth" has admitted to not training properly, getting arrogant, and looking just dreadful in his last 4 fights of which he has 1 win. Lesson learned, bad for Patt.

WINNER-Brandon Vera by TKO Rd.1
Lightweight bout: Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson Overrated Hilo fighter #2 on the card is no match for the no nonsense Aaron Riley. Shane's only shot is to pull a submission out of his ass and Riley is too experienced.

WINNER-Aaron Riley by straight mauling

Purchasing weak PPV's only allows Zuffa to continue to put them on. Take the night off the watch the event for free on the Internet the next day. I'll link UFC 96 for you.

Shamrock, Lashley, Akiyama, and Cro Cop News!

2 former WWE juggernauts will collide at Roy Jones Jr.s "March Badness" MMA and boxing hybrid show. Bobby Lashley has found an opponent for said PPV in the form of Ken "On A Winning Streak" Shamrock. Ken is coming off his uber-impressive win over Fatty McTubbig, while Bobby won his MMA debut a while back. Shamrock should be giving up around 40 to 50 pounds in weight but has far more experience over the very green Lashley. Early prediction, Bob G&P's the old man into "a living death."

Keep in mind this weekend is Rampage vs Jardine and Gonzaga vs Carwin for UFC 96. This is an awful card and not worth purchasing on PPV. Come on, make the UFC work for it.
Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1) has bolted from the Japanese MMA scene where he was hated for being partially Korean and greasing up against legendary superhero Kazushi Sakuraba for the UFC's Middleweight division. Controversy always follows the "Michael Jackson" of MMA who is just always hated for the most part without reason. The fact is, Akiyama will be a big Middleweight much like Rich Franklin and Nate Marquardt, and will definitely be a contender with his strong striking, submission skills, and high level judo ability.

In mostly hidden and or completely overlooked news, 1 Mirko Cro Cop seems to be headed to UFC 99 for an as yet unnamed opponent! The Croation has not been seen since New Year's Eve when he chopped down Hong Man Choi and then stated he would be taking time off for more knee surgeries. Cro Cop hasn't been seen in the UFC since September of 2007 when he lost a decision to Cheick Kongo and was given his release from Zuffa. The former "2006 Fighter Of The Year" lost 2 of 3 in the UFC and looked overwhelmed against Alistair Overeem in DREAM though illegal nut shots ended their fight in a NC. Mirko like David Hasselhoff is big in Germany so the UFC is obviously looking to capitalize on his star power, but I will be more interested in his opponent and do not forget Cro Cop says this is his last year of fighting before he retires.