Kyle Maynard: No Arms, No Legs, MMA Fighter

For his own safety, should Kyle Maynard be allowed to fight in MMA? He recently held his 1st fight via his own website and lost a 3 round decision. There are a lot of different feelings here so make yours known.

Super Hulk Tournament

In a true Japanese MMA style/spectacle, FEG has announced its second tournament series of 2009. It will be an 8-man Open Weight Grand Prix for DREAM 9 on May 26th. The freak show dubbed the "Super Hulk Tournament" features Super Heavyweights as well as lighter weight class fighters and an infamous rookie making his MMA debut.

• Ikuhisa "Punk" Minowa (41-30-8) vs Bob "The Beast" Sapp (10-3-1) No stranger to the little guy role, the Minowa will be outweighed by around 165 lbs.
• Rameau Sokoudjou (5-4) vs Jan Nortje (2-5) The 6'11' Jan, a former K-1 fighter turned lackluster MMA fighter, will outweigh Soko by around 128 lbs.
• Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs Mark Hunt (5-5) Probably the best 2 fighters matched up, 2008's Fighter Of The Year Gegard has wanted to test the upper weight classes and now gets his chance against the dangerous New Zealand striker.
• Jose Canseco (0-0) vs Hong Man Choi (1-2) Yes that steroid using Baseball moron is looking for more publicity and premature death by stepping in with the "Techno Goliath" who is 7'2' 350 lbs. of kickboxing machine.
  

5 K-1 fighters in the tournament, 1 Middleweight in Minowa, 1 Light Heavyweight in Soko, and who knows what Canseco and the growing Mousasi will weigh by fight time. The rest of the field are all Super Heavyweights as the David vs Goliath Japanese spectacle continues.

UFC 97 Results In....Eh

Anderson Silva defeats Thales Leites by unanimous decision in a heavily boo'd affair. Both fighters snoozed through the 1st round but at the Championship level you don't want to take any chances. Leites actually won the 2nd round taking Anderson to the mat and controlling him well for a time, though he could not secure a submission or land any real damage. Silva stepped things up in the 3rd but Thales kept moving away avoiding the action. The 4th saw Silva now obviously frustrated, land 3 consecutive kicks to the knee which were interesting, as Thales became MMA's Vlade Divac flopping to the floor constantly wanting a ground war that the "Spider" wanted no part of. Interesting to see Anderson Silva drinking a Red Bull (is that even legal?) in his corner before the final round. Again and finally, Anderson landed some but could not put away Leites who seemed happy just to take the Champion the distance. For all the hate and disappointment from MMA fans, Anderson had good sprawls, attacked when he could even punching Leites' foot (which I've never seen before), and tried to make a fight of it but its hard to impress when your opponent is so careful and unwilling to engage. Beautiful line from Mike Goldberg saying about Thales, "he is overwhelmed emotionally." Huh? That's 10 wins in a row for Mr. Silva.

Shogun Rua finally looked in good shape as he and Chuck Liddell had a really entertaining 1 rounder. Both men were the aggressor at times, landed solid strikes, and each got a takedown. Rua just missed a beautiful leg lock but the "Iceman" would have none of it. Shogun came with a left hook that dropped Chuck and Rua dropped hammer fists down until the referee had seen enough. Rua swept in so quickly with the left that Liddell just didn't have time to avoid it

Krzysztof Soszynski took Brian Stann to the floor with a beautiful takedown (almost a slam), moved into half guard and then side control before eventually locking up that kimura he loves tapping out the young prospect. Krzysztof looked in much better shape this time and is so much more comfortable as a Light Heavyweight improving each time out.

Nate "Rock" Quarry just decimated Jason MacDonald with brutal unchecked elbows leaving him in a crimson mask on the floor. The cut was huge and would have stopped the fight if it had been checked by a doctor, but it didn't matter though the ref let the slaughter go on too long. Really good win for Quarry.

Denis Kang got his 1st UFC win with a unanimous decision over "Professor X" while TJ Grant, Eliot Marshall, Sam Stout, Ed Herman, and Luis Cane, also got judges nods. Cheick Kongo beat Antoni Hardonk by TKO but I'm still not impressed and Mark Bocek represented for the redheads with a RNC submission win over the soon to be fired David Bielkheden.

Well, despite the criticism, Anderson Silva keeps rolling along and now Shogun is considered in the hunt for the Light Heavyweight title as Chuck Liddell has lost 4 of his last 5 fights (3 by [T]KO) and finds himself at a crossroads of retiring or trying to continue on much like Wanderlei Silva. How strange that these 2 men's careers have taken similar downward spirals after being so dominant for so many years. Ya gotta love Chuck defending Anderson Silva at the press conference and if you haven't seen it you should! Nate Quarry looked real good but I wouldn't be sending Jason MacDonald home just yet. Look for Hardonk, Bielkheden, Chonan, and possibly Vinny Magalhaes to be on the chopping block. An absolutely dreadful 6-6 on our picks and my sincerest apologies.

UFC 97: Anderson Silva vs Thales Leites

UFC 97 is a damn good card and by far the best event the UFC has put together in 2009. The "Spider" deals with a legit contender, the "Iceman" vs "Shogun" fan favorite match, a great bout between "Rock" and the "Athlete," Denis Kang tries again, a loser leaves town match, and the return of the "Crow" (much deserved I might add).

Main Card
Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites The "Spider" is pissed about his last performance against Patrick Cote, and gets a ridiculous reach advantage. The 14-1 fellow Brazilian got here with a wrong Split-Decision win over Nate Marquardt and a RNC sub over journeyman Drew McFedries going 5-1 in the UFC. The ground is his only prayer but Anderson won't be denied, rising to his feet when grounded and putting away a good challenger early.

WINNER-Anderson Silva by TKO Rd.1
Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua The Iceman is best when he faces aggressive fighters who chase him allowing for counter strikes from odd angles and trained mad for Jiu-Jitsu problems he may face. Rua is that aggressive fighter with questionable cardio and the always fragile surgically repaired knees. This is Chuck's last shot at going to the top and he won't let us down as Shogun finds him on the edge of UFC obscurity.

WINNER-The Iceman by TKO Rd.3
Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk Leg kicks be damned, Kongo is given a guy he should dominate on the feet.

WINNER-Cheick Kongo TKO Rd.2
Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane "Banha" is a Brazilian bomber and Cantwell is the arm breaking last WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. I don't think Steve wants to stand with Luiz but he probably will, thus getting himself out struck and hurt.

WINNER-LAC by TKO Rd.2
Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann The Pollack from Team Quest is a personal fav, but Stann is a heavy, heavy handed prospect learning at Xtreme Couture. The experience is all Sos but people don't usually survive more than a round with Bri guy. Whoever imposes their game wins.

WINNER-The Polish Experiment by submission Rd.1
Prelims
Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães Eliot wanted this fight a while ago and gets his wish against last season's TUF runner-up. Vinny has a questionable chin and Marshall has some damn good Jiu-Jitsu of his own but not at Magal's level.

WINNER-VinMag by submission Rd.1
Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam Kang who inexplicably floundered in his UFC debut last time, now faces "Professor X" a better and absolutely frightening fighter with explosive put em away stand up. The Frenchman matches up really well with Kang who has great game but glaring holes in his defense. Kang has to win and will not fuck around taking X to the floor for the G&P and eventual stoppage.

WINNER-Denis Kang by submission Rd.2
Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry This has to be the "Fight Of The Night" with 2 fighters I really like. Hoping they both do well isn't an issue as they both fight with big hearts every time they step in the Octagon. Jason just has a much better all around game but knows he cannot stay standing with the heavy handed Quarry. On the floor Jason cuts up Nate and attempts many submissions en route to an exciting victory.

WINNER-Jason MacDonald by decision
Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman 3 years for "The Crow" to return to Zuffa's cage, and he's doing it in front of his Canadian comrades. Ed's cardio is questionable but his grappling and submission game are spades above Loiseau. A gritty fight looms but I actually am not going the popular way of the decision and believe Loiseau puts Ed away late with piercing elbows.

WINNER-The Crow by TKO Rd.3
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden The ATT ginger vs the Swede in what I see being a ground war. Bocek will out wrestle Dave who see's his UFC dreams slip away.

WINNER-Ginger Mark by decision
Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant The "Piranha" has been a dismal 1-2 since heading to America and consistently an inconsistent fighter for some time. Teej and his giant forehead are making their debut in the UFC bringing a rather impressive submission game. Ryo has fought the likes of Paulo Filho, Dan Henderson, "Mach" Sakurai, Carlos Newton, and tapped out Mr. Anderson Silva. If Chonan can get out of his slump early, watch him clinch his way to a decision as he has only been submitted 1 time in 24 fights. If not, there may be a changing of the guard and a pink slip for Ryo.

WINNER-Ryo Chonan by decision
Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman I wouldn't say I'm impressed by Wiman, but at least he has some semblance of a ground game which Sam has never learned, thus allowing Matt who knows better than to stand with an elite striker, to take things to the floor for some old fashioned G&P.

WINNER-Matt Wiman by decision

Nick Diaz vs Frank Shamrock Results In Destruction!

When the lights went down and the pyro went up, strange occurrences began at Strikeforce 2.0's Showtime debut. Nick Diaz came out to some boo birds as expected in Frank's hometown and home arena the Shark Tank. But then, Frank Shamrock entered with his hilarious towel over the head bathed in smoke, glorious "look how unbelievable I am entrance." Shamrock could not stop smiling and looking so confident. As the introductions are made, a 1st in MMA as both men are boo'd heavily for the main event (who are the fans rooting for?)! At the staredown, Frank shook his head refusing to touch gloves and almost couldn't contain his laughter as he smiled non-stop at Diaz.

Then the bell rang and I was nervous, sure that 1 punch would crumble Nick at the higher weight than he has ever been ending in a terrible loss. Yet, Diaz came out stalking Frank and talking and talking more shit while they were engaging. Frank continued his huge smile as Diaz took over landing with his long reach and taunting the "Legend" with his hands wide open in the air, or completely at his side. As the round progressed, Frank took a misstep and Diaz took the top position almost securing a keylock for the submission. Shamrock scrambled and back on the feet, Diaz continued with the jab almost always in the face of Frank who could not find the range or mount any offense. The round closed easily for Nick as Frank continued his laughing at the young fighter and seemingly unhurt.

The 2nd round began and it was again Diaz landing a constant flow of technical, though not brutal, strikes as Frank couldn't manage any sort of offense. "Diablo" is relentless as Shamrock's hometown now roars a chant of "Diaz, Diaz," through the arena. Backed into the fence and looking weary, Diaz landed a big left hand that hurt Frank. Now Nick lands yet another brutal body shot though this time Frank goes down! Now on top, Diaz unloads with his most powerful punches of the night reigning down pain and obliterating Shamrock. The ref has to stop the fight and Diaz helps up an embarrassed and thoroughly defeated Shamrock.

Diaz hugs and gives respect to Frank as the beaten veteran slumps onto a stool. Nick was uber respectful saying he did what he had to in order to win (i.e. talking to Frank and getting into his head while showing no fear). Shamrock looks tired and vows to return but actually says, “I give everything to Nick Diaz, I knew he was a dangerous opponent. Nick kicked my ass tonight; there’s no two ways about it. Nick was just the better man. He hit me in the guts, and that was about all the juice I had. I doubled over, and he put a whoopin’ on me.” The "Scrap Pack (Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez, Nate Diaz) " of Cesar Gracie students celebrate with Nick in the ring.

Strikeforce Results & Reverie

Strikeforce 2.0 on Showtime was an especially exciting card with lots of action and shocking endings!

Brett "The Grim" Rogers went to the 2nd round with Ron Humphrey but used the Thai clinch to put away the undefeated Heavyweight. Docked a point in the 1st for hair grabbing, Rogers finally got his range with the BET "Champion" and brutally KO'd him with knees and punches. Rogers now looks to fight either Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, or respected Heavyweight Fabricio Werdum possibly in June. I think either man may prove too difficult for the young 9-0 prospect.

"Femborg" Santos thrashed another Josh Barnett student, as Hitomi Akano really gave a valiant effort but was TKO'd in a lopsided affair. Akano who fights at 130 lbs. normally, fought Christiane (who missed weight due to a "female problem) who had to be around 160 lbs. The crowd cheered every time (and there were many) the camera showed the beautiful Gina Carano who will undoubtedly face Femborg next. Shame on the crowd for booing the 12 year old Hitomi who was fighting what I am guessing is really a shemale.

The "Fight Of The Night" was of course Scott Smith's amazing KO win over Benji Radach. Both men came to bang and both men were knocked down and seemingly out at different times in the 1st round, but kept coming back. In the 2nd, Smith was battered badly by Radach's all around attack as Scott was bloody and seemingly finished. In the 3rd, bleeding heavily and weary, Smith is slammed hard to the canvas. Smith rallies with a right hand and Radach is hurt. Radach retreats and then stops Smith in his tracks with a straight right. Seemingly almost out, Smith a counter right hand bomb that puts Benji out for good! Smith falls in the center of the ring as Radach stumbles groggy to his feet. Amazing fight as the"Cardiac Kid" does it again snatching a victory from immanent defeat pulling out a better comeback than Jesus on Easter!

A nice freakish skinless corpse like graphic of two bodies fighting is shown before the "Interim" Lightweight title fight. Why this is an "Interim" fight is beyond me but hey. Gilbert Melendez do what he do as he takes Rodrigo Damm to the floor and abuses him for the full round. What was unexpected, was the left right combo in the 2nd round that glazed Damm over like "El Nino" was Peter North. Completely unconscious, Rodrigo fought the referee and was out in scary fashion for quite some time as Melendez cracked Damm's egg head. Very impressive.

Pat Miletich stepped in as the color commentator for the event and did a much better job than Frank Shamrock usually does. Is was so nice to hear a well spoken intelligent veteran fighter call the action so well unlike the debacle Tito Ortiz pulled at Affliction. Pat is up there with Frank Mir as the best color commentator in the biz.

Mauro Ranallo is another story. The well rehearsed to the point of annoyance Renallo interviewed Middleweight Champion Cung Le, who proceeded to mangle and brutally rape the English language in an interview that was so hard to listen to you became embarrassed for them. Awful.

The aforementioned Tito Ortiz was in attendance and got into a war of words with Light Heavyweight Champion "Babalu" Sobral and both men had to be separated. Their eventual fight is a long time coming but 1st Renato will defend his title against the very dangerous training partner of Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.

Jake Shields will defend the "Scrap Pack" honor as he goes up in weight to face Robbie Lawler June 6th at the next Strikeforce event. Kevin Randleman has been signed to the same event though hopefully he passes his pre-fight screenings and doesn't bring along fake urine. 9-1 on the picks bitches, and damn I'm happy about the 1 bout I picked wrong!

Strikeforce Champions

• Heavyweight Champion-Alistair Overeem
• Light Heavyweight Champion-Renato "Babalu" Sobral
• Middleweight Champion-Cung Le
• Welterweight Champion-vacant
• Lightweight Champion-Josh Thomson

Strikefore Shamrock vs Diaz Picks

Strikeforce Weigh-in Results:
Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz At a catch weight of 180 lbs., "Diablo" feels pretty confident as MMA's perennial "underdog" with a lot to say to Frank, but I don't like this fight for the Gracie protege. Frank has so much more power on the feet and Diaz will be hard pressed to take down the 36 year old. Even if on the floor, I don't know what kind of trouble Nick can really put the savvy veteran in. I'll always root for Diaz but he has just a bad match up here at a new weight. Look for Shamrock to bust Nick open and work the power shots on the youngster for the win against another Gracie.
WINNER-Shamrock by TKO (cut) Rd.3
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Hitomi Akano Why in the hell Akano took this fight when Santos didn't come close to making weight is beyond me. She has to pray the weak attempt at weight cut slows "Femborg" but I'm guessing the little girl gets pummeled all the way back to Japan.
WINNER-Femborg by TKO Rd.1
Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith This is your "Fight Of The Night" as both men have heavy striking and love to stand and exchange bombs. Radach has a better all around game but if they just keep things on the feet, look for Smith's superior technique to shut down Benji in a barn burner.
WINNER-Scott Smith by decision
Gilbert Melendez vs. Rodrigo Damm Gil is in great shape for what he thought was a shot at his former Lightweight title, but injury pulls Josh Thomson out and egg head here is going to pay for it. Happy Easter melon head.
WINNER-"El Nino" by raging storm
Brett Rogers vs. Ron Humphrey 2 unbeaten heavies throwdown but "The Grim" has reach and size advantage in spades (oops). Brett comes with the thunder and probably calls out Kimbo Slice again.
WINNER-Brett Rogers by decision
Luke Rockhold vs. Buck Meredith 2 Middleweight prospects battle with Buck bringing the Team Quest camp and Luke has a more submission based though both rock, the ground game. WINNER-Puke by decision
Eric Lawson vs. Waylon Kennell Waylon steps up a few levels to face a Strikeforce veteran and the man on the 4 fight winning streak. I'll take....
WINNER-Eric
Raul Castillo vs. Brandon Michaels
WINNER-Raul by following the rules
Zak Bucia vs. James Terry
WINNER-James I guess?
Jeremy Tavares vs. Shingo Kohara 0-3 vs 0-0 pick em how ya want em.
WINNER-Shingo??
Hey is that Mickey Rourke in the crowd?

Aleksander Emelianenko Survives A Scare @ ProFc

Aleksander Emelianenko took a perfect right hand from Ibragim Magomedov at ProFC 5. The lil' bro of Fedor hit the floor but bounced right back up attacking in Red Devil style punishing Ibragim on the floor. Aleks opened a bad cut on Mag which swelled his eye shut and forced a doctor stoppage (TKO/Cut).

"Mach" Sakurai Destroys Shinya Aoki @ DREAM 8

Mach Sakurai destroyed Shinya Aoki at DREAM 8. This bout was at 170lbs. as both men enjoying jumping back and forth between Welterweight and Lightweight. There is actually bad blood between these 2 men for over 3 years but it would all be settled tonight between 2 of Japans favorite superstars. "Mach" did the "gong and dash" which landed him on this back as submission wizard Aoki went to work. He would not have the time to set up as Sakurai blasted him with knees (I love knees on the ground) and punches knocking Shinya unconscious. The old veteran just stomped the new Japanese sensation and continues on in the Welterweight Grand Prix.

Also furthering in the tournament are Jason High, Marius Zaromskis, and Andre Galvao. Hello there Jeff Monson who has now reeled off 6 wins in a row counting his choke out win over the always tough Russian, Sergei Kharitonov. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro raised his Lightweight record to 20-2 being the best Lightweight nobody in the U.S. knows about, and Riki Fukuda bested a struggling "Ninja" Rua by decision.

UFC Fight Night 18 Kampmann Steals A Close One

Martin Kampmann showed a new weapon in his arsenal as he used his wrestling to win round 3 and a Split Decision over Carlos Condit. The "Hitman" surprised the "NBK" with a guillotine that almost tapped the debuting Condit but he struggled free and Carlos cut him deeply under the left eye. Condit never stopped attacking when he could, but was just shut down as Kampmann narrowly out pointed him to victory saying, "“That was a war, he’s a true warrior.”

Tyson Griffin survived a scare when he had his leg contorted backwards causing seemingly little damage but looked painful as hell as he again fought to a decision win over Raphael Dos Anjos. Tyson was content to slug things out after almost being submitted in the 1st, and though he struggled to find the range he landed enough good power shots to leave do doubt who was the winner. 7 out of 8 fights going to decision there Tyson. Just throwing it out there.

Oh sweet Junie Brown showed his lack of heart and courage yet again as a motivated Cole Miller shut up and shut down the big talking hick. Cole showed no respect for Junie's "power" striking as Brown stood still as if in concrete, and allowed Miller to pick him apart and wrap him up in a tight guillotine for the win and a little shit talk on his way to getting his hand raised.

Ryan Bader bored the crap out of everyone looking like a Matt Hamill clone only with better hearing, and laid and prayed his way to lopsided decision win over Carmelo Marrero.
Aaron Simpson got the lone TKO of the night over Tim McKenzie. It took 1 round for Rob Kimmons to tap out Joe Vedepo with a guillotine while veteran Jorge Rivera survived a close Split Decision win over Nissen Osterneck. Tim Credeur continues his UFC winning streak buy submission over Nick Catone and Ricardo Almeida out gamed "Bible Thumper" who has lost his 1st 2 UFC fights. Brock Larson is a Welterweight to watch as he worked Jesse Sanders capturing a dominant RNC. Gleison Tibau and Jeremy Stephens couldn't make weight for their fight but the decision was not close as Tibau dominated.

Interesting little card but a bit disappointing for the most part setting up what could be a really entertaining season of the Ultimate Fighter as the Brits take on the Americans starring Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping vying for a title shot at Anderson Silva! 8-3 on the picks fellas.