The MMA thread (mk1)

[Edward Yee]

Thiago/Swick was fucking brilliant. I am officially on the Paulo Thiago bandwagon (as if I needed anything more than him KOing Koscheck to get me there).

Admit it, you enjoyed the stand-up. Oh, and he looks like Sam the Eagle (of the Muppets), and is STILL a BOPE operator. (Specifically, from BOPE of the Brazilian national capital, and on modified duty -- his commanders are MMA fans.)

A lot of the hype for Marquardt came based off of that fight-stopping "Mortal Kombat" combo at the end of the Gouveia fight.

[weemadando]

OK, it's a bit early, but here's my picks for UFC110, just in case I forget to do them later.

MAIN CARD

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

Big Nog locks a sub late in Rnd1. - Velasquez is a fantastic wrestler, but his striking hasn't been stand out. Big Nog has great boxing still and can end people off his back on the ground, so there's really no safe place for Velasquez.


Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva

Wandy KO rnd1 - I would like to see Bisping win as I think he could probably go on another tear through MW, but at the same time I would love, so very much to see Wandy ragdoll him like he did Rampage. Because seeing Wandy going Godzilla is just one of those things that you would love to see.


George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson

Stevenson by unanimous decision - Poor George, he's getting a serious opponent on a main card fight. I want to say that he's experienced enough to get through this and know that he can probably even sub Stevenson. And I know for certain that he will probably get the biggest cheers on the day (I'm expecting constant STRAYAN chanting). Who knows, maybe he can sub Stevenson. But if I'm honest with myself I'm very worried that Stevenson will just pull through with an albeit active lay-and-pray.


Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

Bader by TKO rnd 2 - Jardine will keep him at range for a while, but Bader will eventually get a shot and Jardine will take a ride. He'll get grinded on and beat up on the bottom for a while, then the round will end. Bader will get a takedown again, even earlier this time and Jardine will get pounded out.


Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell

Cro Cop by KO rnd 1 - If I don't get to see a head kick KO, I think I will cry. Especially if Rothwell just grinds out a tedious decision. The only way this fight is allowed to end is "Right leg - hospital, left leg - cemetary". Expect the masses of Croat expats and immigrants who no doubt will be in attendance to blow the roof of the place if he lands that kick.



PRELIMINARY CARD

Chris Haseman vs. Elvis Sinosic

Sinosic rnd 2 sub - In the rematch that no one asked for, we get to see Sinosic show why he was the gatekeeper for the UFC Light Heavyweight division for a long time, while no one outside of Blitz Magazine readers and obsessive obscure Japanese MMA promotion fans has heard of Haseman.


Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

Bonnar rnd 2 sub - I fully expect Bonnar to be hungry to regain lost pride after the Coleman match, and as a Carlson Gracie team guy, I'm also obliged to pick him. Krzysztof is always in with a chance, but I think that Bonnar has what it takes to catch him.


Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle

Foster by decision - Foster's a wrestler right? Lytle may put him away early, but otherwise this is probably my toilet break fight if it goes the way I'm expecting.

C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic

Reljic rnd 1 KO - I fully expect to see C.B. Dollaway snoring away on the mat for 15 minutes after this fight. As long as Goran can stuff the early takedown or two and get his rhythm, it's going to be a brutal night for Dollaway.

Igor Pokrajac vs. James Te Hunaa

Te Huna rnd 1 KO - As he defeated my Hobart boy Priscus and also Anthony Perosh in the CFC tourney and has been on a bit of a KO bender of late, I'm picking him to put a stop to this one early.

[Edward Yee]

Regarding lost pride... that's Bonnar's own fault for believing that God had told him in a dream to KO Mark Coleman with a spinning crescent kick (or spinning back kick to the head?), causing Bonnar to become obsessed with landing that kick...

[weemadando]

Cain Velasquez doesn't thinks that the guard is dead - I think my chances of seeing a Big Nog sub just went down. I was hoping that it was a wide held belief over at AKA...

[Edward Yee]

You mean the closed guard? Then again, that article has him being told that Fitch had been referring to the bottom game. Would be amusing to see BJ Penn's take on the question, considering that he has a book specifically on the closed guard for jiu-jitsu (as opposed to MMA).

Funny thing is, Shinya Aoki agrees with Fitch, the man who cited him as an exception to the rule.

[Edward Yee]

Also, Vitor Belfort has suffered a shoulder injury and won't be fighting Anderson Silva at UFC 112; MMA celebrity-reporter Ariel Helwani has Sonnen claiming that he'll train for that show in case he's picked to take Belfort's place at that show.

Also, OH GAWD.

[weemadando]

Sonnen can't take the slot - he's on medical suspension until just about hte end of March and you'd be an idiot to take a fight with Silva when you still have a giant cut on your forehead that isn't fully healed. I'd be more inclined to believe that Silva will get another Light Heavyweight who can put him on track to a title shot there.

Martin Kampmann is also out - as he got a massive cut over they eye in training.

And speaking of cuts, say goodbye to Coleman, Trigg, Noyer, Hague and Rolles from the UFC. And Mousasi has cut and run from M-1 Global, probably because he released what a dodgy pack of promoters they are. Let's hope that we get to see him not in Strikeforce soon as he could be a big game changer in the UFC.

[Edward Yee]

Sonnen can't take the slot - he's on medical suspension until just about hte end of March and you'd be an idiot to take a fight with Silva when you still have a giant cut on your forehead that isn't fully healed. I'd be more inclined to believe that Silva will get another Light Heavyweight who can put him on track to a title shot there.

Rumors have Demian Maia being slotted in despite his own upper eyelid laceration, meaning that it'll pretty much come down to whether or not he gets the takedown. At least he'll probably let himself get KO'd rather than butt scoot...

Martin Kampmann is also out - as he got a massive cut over they eye in training.

I saw that shit.

And speaking of cuts, say goodbye to Coleman, Trigg, Noyer, Hague and Rolles from the UFC. And Mousasi has cut and run from M-1 Global, probably because he released what a dodgy pack of promoters they are. Let's hope that we get to see him not in Strikeforce soon as he could be a big game changer in the UFC.

Probably not... he may have left M-1 Global, but I understand that he's still contracted to Strikeforce and DREAM and will take part in the latter's Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. EDIT: According to MMA Junkie, Mousasi's manager Apy Echtein said it was due to a M-1 executive refusing a "lifetime security" deal for Mousasi.

[aerius]

Rumors have Demian Maia being slotted in despite his own upper eyelid laceration, meaning that it'll pretty much come down to whether or not he gets the takedown. At least he'll probably let himself get KO'd rather than butt scoot...

Done like dinner, unless he can pull off a miracle flying scissor leglock.

[Edward Yee]

Done like dinner, unless he can pull off a miracle flying scissor leglock.

UFC.com confirms it... the match-up, not his imminent destruction. Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross explained that according to Keith Kizer (Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director), there's actually no minimum sit-out date on Maia's medical suspension til August 6, so "an ophthalmologist or ocular-plastics doctor" (MMA Mania) can clear him. He also dropped this gem...

Come on -- when we meet I'll have him sign my [Jose] Canseco rookie card. That's it.

Here's Maia from early July 2009, on the Leites debacle both forcing the Marquardt title eliminator and his attitude:

I see myself ready to fight for the belt. I would go at Anderson and it would give him the chance of knocking me out or give me the opportunity to finish the fight. That's what I expect. I'm not saying I will win, but I will fight to end the fight before the judges decision. I want to do an aggressive fight and expose myself more. The UFC were waiting on the result of Anderson-Thales match to see what to do with me. They told me they were planning to give me the chance in August but because of their performance the UFC decided not put Silva in a main event very soon. Then they matched me and Nate Marquardt to find out the next challenger for the belt.

[weemadando]

Suck that Sonnen - the guy who was somersaulted by the guy you just beat gets the title shot before you.

[Edward Yee]

Suck that Sonnen - the guy who was somersaulted by the guy you just beat gets the title shot before you.

In fairness, "the guy who was somersaulted by the guy [Sonnen] just beat" had last (before the somersault) been seen choking Sonnen with his own arm while teabagging him (enough with the Tea Party jokes)...

[weemadando]

Yeah, it's a complex weight division in the UFC middleweight, ain't it? It's like everyone is queueing up to not fight Anderson Silva while at the same time desperately trying to look like they are.

[Edward Yee]

Screw that, I have a better version of what I said above: It's Sonnen's own fault for letting Demian Maia indulge his sexual fetish for suffocating Chael Sonnen with his crotch. [/libel-warding sarcasm]

It's like everyone is queueing up to not fight Anderson Silva while at the same time desperately trying to look like they are.

In fairness, I doubt that Sonnen would run for office just to duck Silva.

This really does highlight though the irony that now the light heavyweight division is the only UFC division that has a clear "worthy" challenger... even if collectively he and the champion may still be as far and away from the rest of their division as the champions of the other divisions are from their own.

[J]

Rumors have Demian Maia being slotted in despite his own upper eyelid laceration, meaning that it'll pretty much come down to whether or not he gets the takedown. At least he'll probably let himself get KO'd rather than butt scoot...

I see the fight going much like this, except poor Maia won't get up for a while.

[Edward Yee]

From TATAME:

"...I’ll go train boxing with Luis Carlos Dorea (Nogueira brothers Boxing coach) for sure. My physical preparation wlll be with (Rafael) Alejarra."

"If I say to you that I’m gonna exchange with [Anderson Silva] I’ll be lying. It’s the same thing if I say he’ll go to the ground with me.

[Edward Yee]

Last-minute update: Sinosic-Haseman isn't happening because Sinosic suffered a shoulder injury, while Anthony Perosh (10-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) replaces the ill Ben Rothwell on a day's notice against Cro Cop.

[Edward Yee]

*sigh* How low has Mirko Cro Cop come that we're actually relieved for Cro Cop to have finished Perosh by cut after the second? (Perosh was allowed to continue for the rest of R2 but it was stopped before the third.) Still, apparently Perosh showed heart despite being outmatched both of the first two rounds and hopefully will get another shot in the UFC, whereas Jardine apparently did well against Bader before getting knocked out of nowhere, his leg bending back the wrong way as he fell... good stop I hear. And amazingly, of all people it's Chris Lytle who kneebarred his opponent.

[aerius]

Just one more for the Pride sweep, go Nog!

It was pretty neat with Wandy checking the time near the end of each round, it's like he was going "hmmm...15 seconds left, I'm gonna blitz the motherfucker and wail on him". 5 more seconds in the 3rd round and Bisping would be seeing stars again.

[Edward Yee]

I heard it ended similarly to Carano-Cyborg and Machida-Silva (Thiago Silva that is) in the sense that people weren't sure whether the stop beat the buzzer... but like Machida-Silva, it decided the fight either way.

War Sotiropoulos? Oh, and Te Huna TKO'd Pokrajac by 3rd round strikes TKO.

Seems we're getting Wanderlei vs. Akiyama... a shame it doesn't look like it'll be in Japan.

[aerius]

Damnit! And holy shit. Cain is a fucking animal.

edit: Just watching the Wanderlei fight again, man, he was that close to soccer kicking Bisping in the head at the end of the 3rd round, then he remembered that you can't do soccer kicks in the UFC. Too bad, Bisping getting soccer kicked and head stomped would've been pretty cool. God I miss Pride rules.

[Edward Yee]

The more that you get hit, the more that you will be. Seems to support Yoshizo Machida's take on the importance of evasion, huh?

[Zadius]

So much for all the people who called Cain pillow hands. Also, Cro Cop isn't back despite his win. His reflexes seemed good, but he's just not pulling the trigger like he used to.

[Edward Yee]

At least he seems to be stalking, which is better than what he was... but yeah, I think the Internet's collectively recanted "pillow hands."

Oh, and have some Wanderlei forgetting that it's not PRIDE rules.

[aerius]

So much for all the people who called Cain pillow hands.

Yeah, you got the Kongo fight to thank for that one. Then he fucking wrecked Rothwell in his next fight and people were still saying pillowhands, nevermind that it took Arlovski 3 rounds of hitting Rothwell with everything he had to knock him out and Arlovski is known for his vicious knockout power.

Also, Cro Cop isn't back despite his win. His reflexes seemed good, but he's just not pulling the trigger like he used to.

His sprawl's good but everything else still sucks. He still doesn't know how to cut off an Octagon and he can barely put a combo together.

Oh, and have some Wanderlei forgetting that it's not PRIDE rules.

You have no idea how much I wish it was Pride rules. Bisping would've been soccer kicked in the head and then you'd see a replay of Wandy's fight against Yuki Kondo. That would've totally made up for Nog's loss.