Monday, July 27, 2009

MMA Melee: Affliction Fallout & Kimo

Kimo Leopoldo, former UFC Fighter, died of a heart attack last week. Kimo himself was shocked by the news as tabloid website TMZ.com confirmed his death. Turns out, Kimo is alive and well and the idiots at TMZ once again printed a false story without checking their facts. Kimo is currently in California battling his drug demons.
So as Josh Barnett has tested positive for steroids for the 2nd time in his career, he ruined a legitimate #1 Heavyweight vs. the #2 Heavyweight bout, and killed the entire Affliction PPV. The “Babyface Assassin” can now look forward to a career away from his home of the United States, and begin Pro Wrestling in Japan as well as a bevy of “freak fights” he’ll now be forced to take against the likes of Zulu and Giant Silva. You have successfully ruined your career twice. Nice work and enjoy the fact that your legacy is that of a man who tried to cheat in the 2 biggest MMA fights of his life.
It was thought that Vitor Belfort would forgo his fight with Jorge Santiago and face Fedor Emelianenko though the deal was pulled off the table by Affliction officials. I wanted to see the 2 very talented Middleweights who are at a pivotal point in their careers, face each other, but the entire card was cancelled. Santiago is the guy who won the Strikeforce (2007) and DREAM (2008)Middleweight Tournaments and the “Phenom” was riding a 4-fight win streak as well as beginning to dazzle the public once again. Now this potentially brilliant fight goes by the wayside as Vitor is most likely called up to the UFC and what is initially looking to be a fight with Dan Henderson with the winner advancing to fight Anderson “Spider” Silva.
The absence of Affliction now sets up a great opportunity for the odd man out of this whole ordeal, Fedor Emelianenko. M-1 is having their 1st card in the United States in August and as a shareholder and co-promoter, the “Last Emperor” could take a new fight on to help promote his product. Already in training, he would just have to push a bout back around 20 days and find a new opponent. Besides Vitor Belfort, Jeff Monson, Brett Rogers, Paul Buentello, and Bobby Lashley, who were already in the mix to replace Josh Barnett at Affliction, would jump at the opportunity to face the #1 Pound4Pound fighter in the world. What a coup it would be for Fedor and M-1 to launch their product in America with Fedor fighting on the card! How could you not book Seth “The Kimbo Killer” Petruzelli here?
Nick Diaz rematch with Joe Riggs has been cancelled due to “Diesel” having a bad reaction to some prescribed medicine. Possible replacements include Jay Hieron and Phil Baroni. I would personally vote for loudmouth coward KJ Noons to come up in weight and put some action behind his words and finish business with “Diablo” (their 1st fight was called after doctors deemed Diaz’ cuts too severe to continue the bout).
Tito Ortiz was "welcomed back to the UFC" by President Dana White who has apparently resigned his nemesis. The rumor was launched from Mr. White himself on a "Twitter" so "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" is back.
Light Heavyweight Champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral is now defending his belt against Gegard Mousasi at the August 1st Strikeforce card. Originally slated for the Affliction show, the bout was successfully restored in California and let us hope this leads to more "moved" bouts for the fighters.
Affliction is officially dead as Dana White has allowed Tom Atencio to put his T-Shirts back into the UFC store. Expect ads to soon follow and I personally think Dana told Tom if he just scrapped their final PPV, he'd allow him back in. No hard feelings. God these ladies are bitches.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

MMA Rankings

Brock Lesnar moves up in the Heavyweight rankings but still only #3 behind Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko. He's 4-1 and has beaten a can, an aged Randy Couture, a durable Heath Herring and spilt his fights with Mir. Let's not freak out too much over this guy, yet. Frank Mir is #4 but sure to fall quickly as Alistair Overeem is soon to fight Fabricio Werdum in Strikeforce and Randy Couture vs Antonio Nogueira will decide the last standing old timer. Shane Carwin is peeking at the Top 10 rankings.

Light Heavyweights remain the same with little action from the Top 10, and less coming soon thanks to TUF 10 pushing important fights back.

The Middleweights see Michael Bisping fall behind Robbie Lawler at #9 in a division with little movement. You have to punish Mike for the loss, but the division is still pretty obvious, with Dan Henderson back in the mix, Yushin Okami still shut out, and Gegard Mousasi moving up to Light Heavyweight.

The Welterweight Division stays the same, poor Jon Fitch stuck behind GSP, and the soon to be decided #1 contender match between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann will incur movement.

The Lightweights bring little movement as well prompting one to wonder why this update was needed?

Monday, July 13, 2009

UFC 100 Results: Champions Retain!

UFC 100 Results
Shannon Gugerty gets the early guillotine choke on Matt Grice prompting what would be a trend for the evening, me getting predictions dead wrong.
Tom Lawlor got busy quick pulling the upset and choking CB Dollaway into unconsciousness.
The "Donger" Dong Hyun Kim proved to me you should always go with your 1st instinct and not try to pick the upstart T.J. Grant who lost the decision.
Jon "Bones" Jones took out the ultra-boring Jake O'Brien with a nice guillotine choke in the 2nd.
Jim Miller and Mac Danzig stole the show in the "Fight Of The Night" with their bloody, gutsy war. In the end, the damage caused and superior wrestling got the job done for Jimmy via decision.
Mark Coleman defeats Stephan Bonnar by decision and my head is still spinning over this one. Boner, you just let an 85 year old man beat you. Your career is in serious trouble. Congrats to the Hammer I guess.
Yoshihiro Akiyama stole a Split-Decision win over Alan Belcher and his Kim Jong Il tattoo. "Sexyama" looked small compared to the "Talent" who seemed to have his way after the 1st round and even completely closed the eye of the "MJ Of MMA." The judges said nay to Alan and people on the net agree though I'm not sure why.
Dan Henderson absolutely floored Michael Bisping with that damn right hand and then dropped a bomb on his lifeless body. It was an emphatic demise for Mike's ego and Danny looked great and spry as a 25 year old. Just brutality and reality colliding and "Hendo" may yet get that rematch with Anderson Silva.
Georges St. Pierre ran a clinic on Thiago Alves pitching a no hitter decision win. Alves never got in the game and lost every single round. What can you say except GSP is ridiculously good. He even tore his groin in the 3rd and it affected him not. Geez, this guy is so brilliant to watch just out technique people making them look silly. Rumor says the winner of Kampmann/Swick gets the next shot. Neither deserve it, but they will be killed so who cares?
Brock Lesnar showed the class of a champion as he got the TKO on Frank Mir who tried to outstrike Lesnar's hand with his face. Very little effort on his back as Frankie just got school yard bullied and then Brock decided to talk shit when it was all done. What an arrogant ass and don't get things fucked up people, everyone is beatable, and Frank is known for getting stomped in his guard. Sable looks 60.
Jon Fitch came out cold after warming up all night to take the decision win over Paulo Thiago, who I must admit, looked better in this fight he lost, than he did in his win over Josh Koscheck. Jon is the perennial #2 in the division stuck behind GSP.

Pretty good event all things considered, and I got ran over in my picks going a sad 6-5. Hey, the Main Card is what is important right? Seacrest out. A special to Google Blogger for getting these results published so quickly, and with the picture.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Arturo Gatti Found Dead In Brazil

According to reports, Arturo Gatti was found dead in Brazil on Saturday. Former champion Arturo Gatti, who was scheduled to testify in a trial in New York this week in a lawsuit filed against the New York State Athletic commission by former opponent Joey Gamache, has been found dead in northeastern Brazil, according to several reports.
Gatti, 37, was on a second honeymoon with his wife and 10-month-old baby when his blood-stained body was found in an apartment in Porto de Galinhas, the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported.
A police investigation is underway and foul play is suspected, the CBC reported. Gatti was found in his underwear, with blood stains on his neck and the back of his head at about 6 a.m. Saturday morning, according to the the CBC.
Gatti, who was raised in Montreal and was one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, was scheduled to testify in Gamache's trial on a lawsuit charging negligence by the NYSAC at the weigh-in for the Feb. 2000 fight that left Gamache nearly dead from head trauma and with permanent brain damage. Gatti had knocked Gamache down twice in the first round, then rendered him senseless in the second round of their fight at Madison Square Garden. According to Gamache, Gatti was as much as 19 pounds overweight for the 141-pound fight.
"I feel sad, he did a lot for boxing," Gamache said Saturday when he learned of Gatti's death. "He had a lot of memorable fights. People will never forget what he did for boxing."
He started his professional career in 1991 at 19 and won the United States Boxing Association junior lightweight title and successfully defended it twice. He also won the International Boxing Federation's world junior lightweight title.
Gatti (40-9, 31 KOs) was best known for his three Pier 6 brawls with Micky Ward in 2002 and 2003. He fought often at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, where he was a fan favorite.
In his first fight after the Ward trilogy, which he won 2-1, Gatti captured a world title in his second division, winning a decision against Gianluca Branco for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title
.
Gatti would go on to make two successful defenses before losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. by a sixth-round TKO in June 2005. When most pundits thought his career was over, he came back to defeat Thomas Damgaard. But he lost his final two matches, suffering a ninth-round TKO against then welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir in July 2006. That was followed by a loss to former "Contender" star Alfonso Gomez in July 2007

Bisping's Island

UFC 100: Picking The Anniversary

1st off, congratulations to the UFC on their 100th show. For all the criticism, right and wrong directed at Dana White and Zuffa, they have really built the sport well and taken it to a level none of us thought possible. There is always bad and good but really, great job on a fascinating product and continued success.

Main card
Heavyweight Championship Title Unification Bout: (Rematch) Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir The 2 Heavyweight champions collide to decide the true king of the hill in this interesting bout. I want, want, want Frankie to win this, but lightening won't strike twice. Brock throws the ham sized fists and hurts the hurtable Mir. Damn it.
WINNER-Penis tattoo by TKO Rd.3
Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves The most underrated and overlooked bout on the card is absolutely stellar as GSP looks to employ his technically superior ground game against the 1 punch KO power and amazingly brutal leg kicks and flying knee's from UFC's current "Pitbull." It wouldn't really surprise me if Thiago KO'd "Rush" early in the match, but the longer things go, the more frustrated he'll became as GSP scores almost at will in the points category. Patience and protection are key for the Champ as he finds a way to break the will of the massive weight cutting Welterweight stopping him late in the fight.
WINNER-GSP Rd.4 TKO
Middleweight bout: Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping I have wavered back and forth on this 1 for some time, but I just have this feeling its the "Count's" time. Mike's footwork and striking are better but he lacks the power of Dan's brutal right hand and ground game. I'm going with where I placed my bet though I'm not overly confident about it.
WINNER-Bisping by decision via WAR!
Middleweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher The "Talent" faces his toughest test against the "Michael Jackson Of MMA" as Akiyama makes his UFC debut. That alone means I shouldn't pick him but I've got little confidence in Alan who when hurt, tends to wilt under pressure. Yoshi is real tough and good on the scramble as he puts away Burper.
WINNER-Akiyama by submission following beatdown
Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago Say what you will, Thiago was losing against Koscheck and I still don't think there is anyone in the Welterweight division that can defeat the ultra-touch Fitch except for the Champ. Jon bulldogs him like his favorite pet.
WINNER-Fitch by TKO late 3rd
Prelims
Light Heavyweight bout: Mark Coleman vs. Stephan Bonnar Hammer House Rule #1-Fight hard for 1 minute and gas out. Does anyone out of this camp do anything else? Does anyone think "The Hammer" has a shot in hell here save a fluke takedown into a dislocated elbow (i.e.-Shogun Rua)? Me thinks not.
WINNER-Stephan Bonner submission Rd.2
Lightweight bout: Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller 2 really talented Lightweights and coming off losses, Zuffa would be crazy to cut the loser. The Vegan returns after losing to Clay Guida and the younger Miller brother ran into the "Bully" Gray Maynard. I could really see a replay of the Guida/Danzig fight with Jim going Miller time all over his ass.
WINNER-Milla by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien What is up "Bones" Jones the super exciting spinning elbow throwing "man of the moment" style meets the boring ass I will lay on you like a blanked O'Brien. I don't see Jake with any sort of change except the lay n' pray but he'll probably get a back flip axe kick upside his dome.
WINNER-"Bones" by tilt-a-whirl slam
Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim vs. TJ Grant The "Stun Gun" Donger returns against the humble workman TJ. This is a tough 1 to call as TJ will not stop coming with action during the fight, but Kim is far more versed in the game and brings his good Judo. The Donger does seem to fade in fights lacking killer instinct and cardio issues. Lets call the upset for shits and giggles.
UPSET PICK WINNER-TJ Grant by hard fought decision
Middleweight bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor Nice "Just bleed" get up at the weigh-ins but this match was made for CB to continue in the UFC with his frat boy sneer.
WINNER-Dollaway by TKO
Lightweight bout: Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty Its wrestling versus Jiu-Jitsu respectively, and in this coin flip fight I'll take the more offensive wrestler in a spirited "Loser leaves town" bout.
WINNER-Grice by decision

Sunday, July 05, 2009

MMA Classic Photo #5 "Born To Fight"

Can you spot Nick Diaz in this class picture from the 2nd grade? Some people were just born fighters.-MMAFO

MMA MELEE The #1 MMA News Source 7/5/09

Dan Henderson’s striking coach on the 9th season of “TUF” may have landed himself a job in the UFC. Cyrille Diabate told “Inside MMA” he’s in discussions to join the UFC roster. The "Snake" 14-6-1 with a 3-fight winning streak and his last loss was to some guy named "Shogun" Rua in 2006. The 6'6" Light Heavyweight from France has used his length to out strike opponents with that Holland Kickboxing style. He will need to improve his ground game but I'd imagine Team Quest is working with him on that aspect of the game and he would be a nice addition to the Zuffa roster.
Blagoi Ivanov has become world famous after his shocking upset over Fedor Emelianenko in last years Combat Sambo competition. According to Nightmare of Battle, Ivanov will now face Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko in a Korean mixed martial arts contest on Sept. 29. An unwelcome to MMA is waiting in the form of little brother who is a top 10 Heavyweight himself, facing an untested fighter. I find it doubtful that Ivanov will take out the younger Emelianenko but who thought Joe Warren would run through the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and "Kid" Yamamoto? Anything is possible in MMA but it looks like it will be little brother defending big brother's honor in an interesting fight.
Lightweight Roger Huerta has finally been tapped to face Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma on Sept. 16. Huerta was benched after refusing to sign a 5-fight contract with the UFC in order to pursue what has to be a successful acting career. We have all seen how Cung Le, Randy Couture, Bas Rutten, and Chuck Liddell parlayed their MMA careers into Oscar deserving acting performances. "El Matador" last competed in August of last year in a decision loss to Kenny Florian. Looks like matchmaker Joe Silva finally found an opponent they believe can defeat the young prospect and send him away to Hollywood on a loss right before his contract expires. Classy move Zuffa, you treat your fighters well.
Lorenzo Fertitta, the head honcho and part owner of the UFC flew to Zagreb, Croatia with his own private jet to apologize for Dana White's ignorant mouth and try to lure Mirko Cro Cop back to the UFC. Mr. White publicly released a rant on Cro Crop "fucking him" out of an oral contract with the UFC only to find out it was reported by a rumor web site and incorrect. Lorenzo spoke with Mirko for two hours Cro Cop about his desire to fight more frequently, and Filipovic has stated that the UFC heavyweight title is a lifelong dream, though he didn’t want to wait another six months for his next bout. Cro Cop’s value to the UFC has become even more evident with Fertitta himself flying to Croatia. Such a move is almost unprecedented with most deals being handled by UFC president Dana White although it has happened before when "Blaf" screwed up deals with Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.
WEC will crown an interim Lightweight Champion when the promotion makes its first trip to Ohio on September 2. WEC 43 "Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson" will happen at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown. Current Champion Jaime Varner was none to pleased with the news but his broken hand, broken foot, and reportedly blurry vision is expected to keep him out of action for some time to come. Also of note, UFC veteran Spencer "The King" Fisher may be heading to the WEC and would immediately be in the title hunt. Fisher won his last 3 bouts in the UFC but has gotten stale with management who are looking more and more to move mid-tier Lightweight fighters to the WEC. The interim fight between the "Cowboy" and the MMA Lab prospect will be a great fight!
Gilbert Yvel will replace Tim Sylvia against Paul Buentello at Affliction 3 "Trilogy" on August 1 in Anaheim. Yvel (36-13-1) just brutally KO'd former UFC Heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo on Saturday at "Ultimate Chaos" in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was nasty but impressive as Tim sits on the sidelines after his embarrassing 9 second KO loss to Ray Mercer. Perhaps not taking the fight seriously, making a deal to only fight standing with a former professional boxing Champion, and coming in overweight at 310 lbs. wasn't such a good idea.
Former Welterweight standout Drew Fickett continues his fall from grace as he failed his pre-fight physical and was not allowed to compete at Rage in the Cage 129 in Glove, Arizona. Drew came in "legally drunk" after failing a breathalyzer test. The fighter was once much feared but has now lost 6 of his last 7 bouts due to personal demons which he cannot seem to overcome. I am predicting a sad end to this man's career and possibly his life if someone doesn't step in soon.
Brazilian submission ace and 12-time PRIDE veteran Ricardo Arono (13-5) is scheduled to fight for the 1st time in over 2 years according to a new report from the Portuguese-language website SuperLutas.com. According to the report, Arona will face UFC veteran Marvin Eastman on Sept. 12 at Bitetti Combat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A couple of tune-up fights should let us know whether or not the former "BTT Tank" can get back to form unlike teammate Paulo Filho who has seemingly fallen completely apart.
UFC 100 cageside tickets are going for as much as $40,000 so get out your mortgage papers if you wish to go.