Bleacher Report - Articles by Shawn Smith

DREAM and Sengoku Announce Partnership for DYNAMITE!!

Shawn Smith — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:08:12 -0500

It’s been rumored for weeks and finally its official: The Dynamite New Years Eve show will be co-promoted between DREAM, K-1 and Sengoku.

The DREAM promotion held a press conference yesterday in Japan and made the official announcement. Sengoku and DREAM were originally slated to be holding separate events, however, Sengoku announced recently they would not be holding their year end show.

The press conference announced one matchup from each promotion. Sengoku announced what will likely be pushed as their main event with Satoshi Ishii taken on Hidehiko Yoshida. Satoshi Ishii is the 2008 Gold Medalist in Judo and Hidehiko Yoshida won the same medal in 1992.

This will be Ishii’s mixed martial arts debut and a lot of pressure will be put on him to produce. It is clear that Sengoku is financially struggling and their top sponsor, Don Quitone, is on the verge of jumping ship to DREAM, which would likely be the end of Sengoku for certain. If Ishii can prove to be a big draw, he could be the saving grace of World Victory Road.

The DREAM fight we knew was going to be taking place on this card is the Super Hulk tournament finals between Sokoudjou vs. Ikuhisa Minowa. Although few have taken the tournament seriously with the lack of top competition, even more turned their back once Mousasi pulled out due to injury. Although neither is a top talent, both are known for putting on explosive fights and this should not be any different.

K-1 as usual will also be taking part in this show. MASATO, one of the most popular K-1 fighters in history, will be having his retirement fight against lethal Dutch striker Andy Souwer. This is the old dog vs. the new guard as Souwer is the present and future of K-1 max and MASATO’s time has passed.

Although only a few fights were announced, many fighters were on hand for the press conference including: Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinya Aoki, Sakurai "Mach" Hayato, Hideo Tokoro, Hiroyuki Takaya, Katsuyori Shibata, Kazuhisa Watanabe, Hidehiko Yoshidau, Kazuo Misaki, Hiroshi Izumi, Sanae Kikuta, Akihiro Gono, Yokota Kazunori, Rui Hirota, Masanori Kanehara, Eiji Mitsuoka, and Nakao "Kiss" Yoshihiro.

Rumors also have it that Eddie Alvarez and UFC fighter Mirco Cro-Cop, could also be a part of the card.

Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri have also been rumored to be fighting, but nothing has been officially announced as of yet.

The card as of right now features:

Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Gold Medalist vs. Gold Medalist)
Masato vs. Andy Souwer (K-1)
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Super Hulk Finals)
Hiroya vs. Japan Masaaki Noiri (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
Tsukasa Fuji vs. Ryuya Kusakabe (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal reserve)

Roger Huerta's Future: Where Will the MMA Free Agent Land?

Shawn Smith — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:55:20 -0500

Open season has begun for the fighting services of Roger Huerta.

Huerta’s last fight, a split-decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16, was the last on his UFC contract, making him now a free agent in the MMA market.

He originally declined a five-fight deal with the UFC back in January to pursue a movie career; however, his recent bout with Maynard re-sparked his love for the fight game. He has now put his movie aspirations on hold in hopes of returning to the cage very soon.

Despite being a free agent, the UFC has the right to match any offer put forth by any other promotion for up to a year, which raises an interesting dilemma for the UFC.

Huerta is coming off of two straight losses and will likely not be in title contention anytime soon. However, with the UFC working diligently to break into the Mexico market, Huerta could be a key addition.

How much would the UFC be willing to pay for a non-contention fighter who could prove to be a huge draw in a new market? Or maybe the better question is how much is Scott Coker willing to pay for one of the UFC’s most popular lightweights?

Huerta's manager, Jeff Clark, told Sherdog.com Huerta has "had a lot of interest from different parties." One would have to assume that this includes Strikeforce.

For a promotion that is trying to break into the mainstream, a fighter as recognizable as Huerta could be a huge addition.

It’s safe to say that Huerta is in a very good spot right now. Either way, his Mexican heritage and mainstream recognition makes him a huge commodity that will result in a hefty payday for this warrior, one way or another.

WEC Featherweight Wagnney Fabiano Dropping Down to Bantamweight

Shawn Smith — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:18:05 -0500

Top five featherweight fighter and Jose Aldo teammate Wagnney Fabiano has decided to make the move from featherweight (145 lbs) to bantamweight (135 lbs).

According to an October interview with Tatame magazine, Fabiano has been thinking about the move since it was announced Aldo would be fighting for the title. Fabiano felt it was in his best interest to move down in weight classes as the promotion will not promote two featherweights who refuse to fight.

Fabiano’s move to bantamweight comes after his stunning upset loss to Mackens Semerizer at WEC 43. Before this, Fabiano was on an eight fight win streak and had a 12-1 overall record heading into the bout.

Although no matchups have been announced as of yet, the former IFL star could be gunning for Nova Uniao's second world championship sooner than later. With the bantamweight division having considerably less title contenders than featherweight, it might not be long before we see this submission magician fighting for a world championship.

Conquering a Brave New World: The Hillary Williams Story

Shawn Smith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:40:27 -0400

With a nickname like “Duff” (get it? Hillary Duff!) one may tend to overlook the accomplishments and tenacity of the new kid on the block Hillary Williams. Although fairly new on the Jiu-Jitsu scene with only three years experience and a purple belt from Roli Delgado, Williams has emerged as a rising female star on the circuit. So...what's the big deal about Hillary Williams?

The big deal is that Hillary Williams is one of the first American stars to emerge in a sport that has been relatively dominated by men since its inception decades ago. The big deal is that Hillary Williams represents the new generation of Jiu-Jitsu practitioners that are doing their best to continue spreading the word about the sport we love.

The big deal is that Hillary Williams will likely be the face of female Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for years to come and a potential role model for any girl out there who’s interested in entering the sport but afraid because of the overwhelming amount of testosterone in the gym.

So whats the big deal you're still asking yourself? Last month, Hillary Williams had the unenviable task of facing the female MMA and grappling icon Megumi Fujii in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Submission Grappling Championships.

Few gave Williams a chance against the legendary competitor and most wrote her off because of her lack of experience on the big stage. To the surprise of most, Williams stunningly defeated Fujii to move on in the tournament.

Although Williams ended up finishing third in the tournament, the victory over Fujii sent shock waves through the grappling circuit and definitively put Williams name on the map as a female grappling up and comer.

So the question is, with so many hotbeds for Jiu-Jitsu around the world, how does a girl from Arkansas decide on Jiu-Jitsu of all the sports available?

“It was quite by accident, actually. As a kid I went to a bunch of hardcore/punk shows and a friend of mine just disintegrated in front of us. He lost 100 pounds in a year, and would rave about something called Brazilian jiu jitsu. I went and tried out a class and was hooked.

"I played softball for 15 years, golf for 10, and volleyball for 7. That much time in sports where the rules are static and most of the 'plays' don't change, and you start to learn all the ins and outs. Every practice was the same, and I felt like I'd reached a peak. BJJ was something completely new and different.

"Every class, every practice, there's something new there waiting for you. It's constantly evolving, with new techniques being brought in and old techniques being modified that you can't really reach the peak knowledge. I loved that it's so hard to be good at.”

Most fighters have nicknames, its just apart of the sport. Some are ferocious, some intimidating and some are down right scary, but yours on the other hand does not fit into any of these categories. Would you kindly explain why you chose “Duff” as your nickname? You don’t seem like the Hillary Duff type.

“Wow, I wish that would go away, haha. Most of the nicknames that stick were never chosen. After my first class, Roli (my coach) had forgotten my name.

"I told him kindly that it was Hillary, and he blurted, 'Oh, like Hillary Duff?' I gave him a look that bluntly said 'go to hell' and the name stuck. Since then random nicknames pop up from time to time (Killary, Mongoose, Paquita, Gringa) but non of them seem to stick.”

We’ve seen you be successful both with and without the Gi (a pink-Gi at that!) Do you have a preference of one over the other?

“I prefer the gi. There are so many more options. So many more beautiful sweeps and subs can arise when you use the gi that the person is too slippery or the grips aren't right with no-gi.

"At the same time, I think I'm better no-gi. I still have a lot of technical holes and my strength and athleticism allows me to get the advantage no-gi.”

Many use a base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a launching pad for future mixed martial arts dreams. You have one amateur MMA fight under your belt which you won via first round submission. Can we expect to see you inside the cage again sometime soon or would you prefer to stick with grappling?

“I enjoyed MMA but my heart is in BJJ. It's really difficult to excel at both aspects of the game, so until I've reached a high goal in BJJ I'll be focusing on it rather than MMA.”

Last month you competed at the bi-annual Abu Dhabi World Submission Grappling Championships in Spain. This is the most prestigious no-gi grappling tournament in the world. Can you tell us a little about the experience of competing on the biggest no-gi stage?

“It was quite terrifying and awe-inspiring. I was on the plane, at lunch, hanging out with, and sharing tatames with the best grapplers in existence. And I did it in under three years, I couldn't believe it. One day I hope to be one of those seasoned veterans, unfazed by the environment and able to think clearly. This time I was incredibly nervous.

"I tried my best to fake that I wasn't, but I was (especially on Sunday) and allowed it to affect my performance. Not to take anything away from my opponents, who are amazing grapplers, but I feel like I could have brought more to the table with a clear head.”

In the first round, you drew Megumi Fujii. For those who do not know, Megumi Fujii is widely considered one of the greatest female grapplers and mixed martial artists on the planet. In your blog, you stated that you were a huge fan of Fujii’s. What was it like to face someone you looked up to and how did you deal with the nerves?

“I had kind of prepared myself, actually. About a month earlier I had sort of figured out the brackets in my head and assumed that I would be paired with Megumi or Kyra early. When I saw that I was with Megumi, I had to pretend that I had no clue who she was, that she was just another girl.

"I went out there with the mentality, 'Okay, I don't have half the technique of her, this probably won't end well for me, but I'm gonna give her hell.' I don't know how to lose, so I went out there super aggressive and it ended up well for me. I was shocked, as anyone who watched the video could tell, but that doesn't change anything about the fact that I look up to Megumi.”

You, of course finished third in the tournament due to a loss to. Despite the third place finish, were you happy with your performance overall?

“I'm happy with my first and third matches, but confused how I let myself get so nervous in my second. That's something that only mat time can cure, so I need to get out there and compete as much as possible.

"I learned a lot of mistakes and I'm very excited that I got the opportunity to see how much technique I lack before I can do well in the top divisions. It was a great learning experience."

The No-Gi World Championships are now less than a month away. Can we expect to see you competing?

“Absolutely. I'll be competing in the blue/purple middleweight division and the absolute, and I've got two golds in site. After that I'll rest until January, give myself a much needed break from competition.”

What else is in the immediate future for you?

“I've got a lot of training trips planned as well, so in the next couple of months I should be in LA, Houston, New Jersey, and Miami.”

I’d like to end the interview by asking a few non-fight related questions to let our readers get to know you better.

Favorite movie? “Big Fish. It reminds me so much of my dad.“

Favorite song/ album? "Charlie Brown Jr. - 'Não Viva em Vão'"

Hobbies outside of competing? “Horseback riding, painting/drawing, learning other languages."

Last but not least, anybody you’d like to thank?

“Matt (Hamilton) and Roli (Delgado), my coaches, because they've supported me through everything and were the most patient teachers and coaches.

"MTX Audio for supporting me immensely since I've gotten their sponsorship, allowing me to compete at Pan Ams, Worlds, and ADCC.

"Gilberto from Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear, Kirik from MixedMartialArts.com, Bill MacPherson, Kipp and the crew from NAGA, Rio Sports Tours, MMA Girls, and Fight Soap for all their help and sponsorship.

"All my homes-away-from home that have opened their doors to me (40 something gyms at this point), especially Renato Tavares, Memphis BJJ, Fight Sports, and BTT Long Beach in the USA and Gama Filho, Nova Geracao, and Akxe in Brazil.”

* Only days after conducting this interview, Hillary Williams received her Brown Belt from her instructors Matt Hamilton and Roli Delgado. On behalf of the Bleacher Report, I’d like to congratulate Hillary on this huge accomplishment.

Five Most Undeserved Title Shots in UFC History

Shawn Smith — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:26:01 -0400

With "Shogun" Rua less than a week away from what many consider an unwarranted title shot agaisnt Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 and Vitor Belfort on the verge of a possibly premature title shot against Anderson Silva at UFC 108, there has never been a better time to list the top five most undeserved title shots in UFC history.

As the UFC and mixed martial arts continues to evolve, the number of elite fighters continues to rise. To become a champion in the modern era takes an amazing amount of talent and an ability to defeat all top contenders. Unfortunately, history has shown us that not all those who receive title shots are entirely worthy.

So what should it take to challenge for a title?

Well-rounded skills? Destruction of all other top contenders? Or perhaps a mediocre record on small shows?

Wait, what?

The UFC has not always been full of elite talent the way it is now. Many times in the past, fighters who have shown little flare for the gold have been given title shots strictly because of lack of challengers.

This list looks at the top five more undeserving contenders in UFC history. It does not take into account how well the challengers did, just what they have done to deserve the title shot.

No. 5 Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Now, I know that “Shogun” did a lot in PRIDE and was one of their top talents near the end of their reign. However, that is not enough to receive a title shot. His 2-1 UFC record which includes a sloppy victory over Mark Coleman and a knockout of an over-the-hill Chuck Liddell have “earned” him a shot at UFC 104 against Lyoto Machida.

This again comes as a result of a lack of contenders. Forrest Griffin was put out of title contention with a dismantling at the hands of Anderson Silva. It seems as though Rua was granted the title shot in exchange for taking the fight against Liddell on short notice.

Rua comes in a heavy underdog, and rightfully so. He has done little to prove himself as a top contender since joining the UFC and, if he cannot show the form of yesteryear, it could be a short night.

No. 4 Matt Serra

With a 3-3 record in his last six UFC encounters, Matt Serra walked into UFC 69 a huge underdog. Few gave him a chance at defeating the new welterweight kingpin and many assumed GSP would walk through Serra.

Someone forgot to inform Serra he was supposed to lose. He walked into the fight with his head held high and full of confidence, and picked apart the young champion to take his throne.

This does not however diminish the fact Serra was not deserving of No. 1 contender status. He won a gameshow with fighters who were not relevant in the title picture and was coming off losses to other, more deserving talents such as Karo Parisyan.

Since then, Serra has coached a season of the Ultimate Fighter, which led to a war of words with Matt Hughes that continued for two years. He lost his rematch with St. Pierre and, earlier this year, lost a unanimous decision to Hughes. Where he goes from here is still in question.

No. 3 Gan McGee

Yeah, I had never heard of him either, but at UFC 44 Gan McGee had his opportunity at the UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia in a battle of the giants. With McGee standing 6’10" and Sylvia at 6’8", this was one of the tallest battle of Goliaths the sport has seen.

With Arlovski’s star still on the rise and Couture recently dropping to light-heavyweight, there was a considerable gap in competition in the heavyweight division. Sylvia was coming off of his destruction of Ricco Rodriguez and it was clear he was in no shape for a rematch. This left Gan McGee (2-0 in the UFC) as the default No. 1 contender.

However, it did not take long to realize that McGee was not on the same level as Sylvia. Less than two minutes into the encounter, “The Giant” had been slain by the “Maine-iac.”

After this fight, McGee never fought in the UFC again. He tested his luck in PRIDE, where he lost two straight fights to Heath Herring and Semmy Schilt.

No. 2 Frank Trigg

That’s right, folks, without ever fighting a single fight for the promotion, Frank Trigg took on Matt Hughes for the UFC Welterweight Championship. Sure, he had a 12-2 record outside of the promotion and sure most of these wins were in impressive fashion, but this does not explain why an unknown fighter could walk into the promotion and main event a PPV.

As with our other non-deservers, the shot was because of a lack of other contenders. Hughes had won five straight fights in the promotion and devastated all of the other competition. Another factor was that two of the other main stars of the weight class (Robbie Lawler and Pat Militech) were training partners with Hughes and therefore unwilling to fight one another.

Trigg showed a valiant heart early in the bout, but it did not take long for Hughes to fend off the attack and put Trigg in a rear naked choke in less than four minutes.

Trigg went on to have other success (and failures) in the promotion before moving onto other promotions. UFC 52 presented “Twinkle Toes” with a second shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship. The rear naked choke again proved to be Trigg’s Achilles heel, and the fight lasted only 11 seconds longer than their first encounter.

No. 1 Gil Castillo

Take your pick at which title shot you’d like to pick apart.

Let’s start with his first. At UFC 33, Gil Castillo took on Dave Menne for the UFC Middleweight Championship. It was his first fight for the promotion and only his sixth professional bout. Castillo went five rounds with the champion but ultimately lost a unanimous decision.

Following this, Castillo dropped down to welterweight, won a unanimous decision over Chris Brennan, and again was thrown into the spotlight against the UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes.

With a 1-1 UFC record and a 6-1 record overall, Gil Castillo entered the cage with Matt Hughes for the Welterweight Championship at UFC 40.

Following the first round, the fight was stopped due to a cut, and Castillo was never seen in the UFC or any other large promotion again.

Honorable Mention:

Brock Lesnar — With a measly 2-1 mma record and a 1-1 UFC record, Brock Lesnar received a title shot against the MMA legend himself, Randy Couture, at UFC 91

Vitor Belfort — A 1-1 return since returning from Pride is what Belfort took into his rematch with Randy Couture at UFC 46.

Travis Lutter — Although he never actually received his title shot, Lutter won his title shot via The Ultimate Fighter with a 2-2 UFC Record. At UFC 73, Lutter missed weight for his title shot and was subsequently destroyed by reigning UFC Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

Jeff Monson — Although Monson had a 4-2 UFC record heading into his title fight with Tim Sylvia at UFC 69, his wins were against lower level talent and he did little to show he was worthy of a title shot.

Gegard Mousasi Out of Super-Hulk: Other Notes from DREAM Press Conference

Shawn Smith — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:05:50 -0400

Gegard Mousasi Out of Super-Hulk, Other Notes from Press Conference

Rumors began yesterday and were confirmed today by DREAM officials that MMA Standout and tournament favorite Gegard Mousasi was officially out of the tournament due to an injury.

M-1 officials gave no details on what Gegard Mousasi injured or how long it will be before we see Mousasi fight again. However, it is being speculated that the injury was suffered during the exhibition match with Fedor Emelianenko at M-1 Breakthrough.

DREAM is currently in the process of searching for a replacement opponent for new tournament favorit Sokoudjou. They stated that those eliminated in the first round will have first dibs on being the replacement opponent.

In other DREAM news, “JZ” Gesias Cavalcante will be in action on the Oct. 6th card against Daisuke Nakamura in a battle on lightweights. “JZ” is coming off losses to Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri and is looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. Cavalcante originally called out Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez but he is unable to partake in the festivities because of his Bellator contract.

The Current DREAM 11 Card looks like this:

· Champ Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki (for DREAM lightweight title)

· Featherweight grand prix finale

· Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Daisuke Nakamura

· Bibiano Fernanders vs. Joe Warren (Featherweight Grand-Prix Semifinal)

· Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro (Featherweight Grand-Prix Semifinal)

· Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (featherweight Grand-Prix Reserve Bout)

· Hong Man Choi vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (Super-Hulk Semifinal)

· Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. TBA (Super-Hulk Semifinal)

Three Reasons Why Kenny Florian Lost to B.J. Penn

Shawn Smith — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:09:30 -0400

1. Mental Breakdown/Momentum Dump

Kenny Florian did a lot of talking before this fight took place. I’m sure by now you have all heard the “B.J. Penn is the master; I’m going to kill the master” spiel that Florian said after his fight with Joe Stevenson last fall.

Although that comment sure got Penn’s attention, it was another comment that got mine. During the countdown show, Florian said he was going to finish Penn in the first round. A comment like this I'm sure put a lot of pressure on Florian and between this and his warrior mindset, the pressure may have been too much.

Florian came out expecting to implement his game plan and tire Penn out, however it quickly became apparent that this was not going to happen. After Penn showed an ability to stop the takedown and strike in the clinch, Florian was left with little else to offer and this was quite a degrading thing to realize part way through a fight.

By the fourth round, the discouragement was clearly evident in Florian’s face. Physically he was not tired, but mentally Florian had nothing left, and this is why Penn took him down and submitted him.

2. Poor Gameplan/You’re Not GSP

No disrespect to Mark Delagrotte or anyone else in Florian’s camp, but his game plan going into this fight was poor. From the outset it was clear that Florian was not looking to strike with Penn and wanted to wear him out along the cage and eventually take him down.

This is the same game plan that Florian’s good friend GSP implemented in January against Penn victoriously, however simply put, Kenny Florian is not Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre is one of the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts. On top of this, he is a large welterweight. These are two things that Kenny Florian does not have. Florian has solid Jiu-Jitsu and amazing Muay-Thai, but his wrestling has proven to be rather weak.

He had absolutely no luck in taking Penn down and quite honestly it barely looked as though he was trying. He never got his hips low and tried to sweep Penn’s legs. He planned on wearing Penn out, but Penn has proven over his last few fights that his cardio is less of a factor than it once was.

3. B.J. Penn Is Just Plain More Skilled/Big Fight Experience

Florian simply could not do anything to hurt Penn throughout the fight. Penn sat back and wore Florian out mentally through his defensive mindset. All it took from Penn was a defensive game plan and striking out of the clinch to wear Florian out and dominate the fight.

Penn used his big fight experience to stay calm even in compromising positions, pick his shots, wear Florian out, and take him down for the submission.

UFC 101: Quick Results and Report

Shawn Smith — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:42:16 -0400

Main Card

· 1. Champ B.J. Penn def. Kenny Florian via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 4, 3:54. Penn retains the lightweight title.

· 2. Champ Anderson Silva def. Forrest Griffin via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:23 (non-title fight).

· 3. Johny Hendricks def. Amir Sadollah via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:29.

· 4. Ricardo Almeida def. Kendall Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

· 5. Kurt Pellgrino def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Preliminary Card

· 6. Aaron Riley def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

· 7. John Howard def. Tamdan McCrory via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

· 8. Alessio Sakara def. Thales Leites via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28).

· 9. Matthew Riddle def. Dan Cramer via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27).

· 10. George Sotiropoulos def. George Roop via submission (kimura) - Round 2, 1:59.

· 11. Jesse Lennox def. Danillo Villefort via TKO (cut) - Round 3, 3:37.

The UFC put on another exciting night of fights at UFC 101: Declaration. Although there was the potential for two huge upsets to take place, neither happened and the two main events went as most people expected.

Anderson Silva defeated Forrest Griffin in one of the most impressive performances ever seen inside the octagon. Silva’s crafty technique and great boxing skills picked apart Griffin’s aggressive style and defeated Griffin with his hands down and popping him with a quick short job, completely demolishing Griffin while walking backwards.

Silva was booed heavily on the way to the ring and mocked the crowd by looking quite concerned during the introductions; however he looked fantastic during the fight. He knocked down Griffin numerous times before finally putting him away with one single, beautiful jab.

In the main event of the evening, Kenny Florian tried to push the pace and wear BJ Penn out, but it proved not to be his night. Florian continuously pushed Penn against the fence and tried to take Penn down. However, with Penn using his fantastic takedown defense he decided when the fight hit the ground and from that point, the fight was academic.

Florian completely abandoned his leg kicking and Muay-Thai advantage and fell right into Penn’s game. Although it was Florian pushing the pace, Penn’s ability to suck Florian into the game and get the rear naked choke was masterful and he proved exactly why he is the No. 1 lightweight in the world not only today, but in the history of mixed martial arts.

In the other fights on the card, Almeida’s takedown ability proved too much for Kendall Grove and was able to control where the fight took place, almost nullifying Grove’s reach throughout the whole fight.

An interesting occurrence took place when Almeida left his arm in and got caught in a deep arm bar during the second round. The arm was hyper extended and Almeida looked to be ready to tap, however he was able to defend and take the unanimous decision.

Two-time National Wrestling Champion Johny Hendricks shocked more than a few people with his :29 second knockout of TUF winner Amir Sadollah. Sadollah rushed in with strikes and got caught with numerous uppercuts before finally falling to the ground. Sadollah was taking shots to the head on the ground but appeared to be coherent and attempting to get up when Dan Mirgliotta stopped the fight somewhat prematurely.

Because of time constraints, Aaron Riley against Shane Nelson was pushed to the main card. Riley used his size and experience to overpower and control Nelson. He was overmatched throughout the fight and took a beating.

Joe Rogan suggesting Shane Nelson moving down to the 145lb division in the WEC and this may not be the worst idea. He is undersized and would be in serious trouble against some of the bigger lightweights in the division such as Sean Sherk.

In the opening bout of the night, “Batman” Kurt Pelligrino was able to secure top control and hold Neer in that position over three rounds to take a unanimous decision victory. Neer proved impressive off of his back throwing up continuous submission attempts but Pelligrino was able to control position and therefore took the fight.

This fight brings up the argument yet again about what is more important in a fight. Should the person on the bottom throwing up constant submission attempts win the round or should the person on top doing nothing take the decision? You decide.

Overall it was a decent night of fights. Silva may have officially secured his spot as top Pound-for-Pound fighter with one of the most impressive performances we’ve ever seen. Penn also looked impressive in sending Florian back the drawing board and further secured himself as the No. 1 lightweight in the world.

Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks: A Well-Rounded Matchup

Shawn Smith — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:06:09 -0400

This Saturday, we will finally see the first fight of Amir Sadollah outside of the Ultimate Fighter tournament. Sadollah brings a strong ground game and some solid stand-up in against a strong wrestler with knockout ability in Johny Hendricks.

Twice previously, Sadollah had fights booked which he could not compete in, but barring any ludicrous accidents between now and then, we will finally see how Sadollah will do against another rising star in the Welterweight Division.

Althought Sadollah states that he is a white belt in Jiu-Jitsu, his past fights have proven this to be false.

On the Ultimate Fighter, he twice defeated C.B Dollaway by armbar and submitted the gritty and tough Matt Brown via triangle. Sadollah also possesses a rather impressive stand-up game as well. He has TKO victories both on the Ultimate Fighter against Gerald Harris and on his amateur record.

He stated in an interview with UFC.com that he also has held WKA Muay-Thai Championships and this would lead one to believe that his stand-up game may be as devastating as his ground game.

Johny Hendricks, however, is no slouch. Hendricks brings some of the most impressive wrestling credentials seen in MMA into this fight and will be looking to put them on display. While attending the University of Oklahoma, Hendricks won back-to-back National Division I Championships in 2005 and 2006 at 165 pounds. He was also the National Wrestling Champion at 160 pounds in high school.

In short, his wrestling is no joke. He held a very impressive record of 56-0 before suffering his first loss and these credentials make his wrestling among the best in the sport.

Although he has only five professional fights, Hendricks has showed a well-rounded game that could take him far in mixed martial arts. He has three Knockout victories, one submission victory, and a decision.

Simply put, Hendricks has the ability to give any member of the UFC’s welterweight division fits and will look to do the same to Sadollah.

With both fighters being so well-rounded it is hard to guess where this fight will take place. One thing that can be assumed is that Hendricks will be the one to choose where the fight takes place.

With such impressive wrestling credentials, Hendricks should be able to take the fight down at will and if it is Sadollah that wants the fight to go down, Hendricks should be able to defend the shot.

Sadollah will likely look to get this fight to the ground and if he can do so, he may be able to submit Hendricks. It’s a well known fact that most wrestlers do poorly from their back, so if Sadollah can get him there it could be a rather miserable night for Hendricks.

On the other hand, Hendricks may look to take the fight down and pound away from top position.

Either way, this should be a very entertaining fight that has loads of both stand-up and ground work.

Where Do Fedor Emelianenko and Strikeforce Go from Here?

Shawn Smith — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:43:48 -0400

Today, Strikeforce announced via press release that they have signed the hottest commodity in the sport, Fedor Emelianenko.

With the signing of Emelianenko, as well as his training partner Gegard Mousasi last week, Strikeforce is well on their way to evening the playing field and taking a bite out of the monopoly-like status UFC currently has over the sport in North America.

Unfortunately, the UFC and Emelianenko negotiations fell apart when they could not agree upon co-promotion. The UFC has declared on numerous occasions that it is not interested in co-promotion, and M-1 has stated that wherever Fedor fights it must be co-promoted as an M-1 event.

Luckily for Strikeforce, this was not a problem. Strikeforce is known for their willingness to co-promote with promotions such as Bodog Fight as well as Elite XC to bring the fans the bouts they want to see between the promotions best talents.

So what does this mean for Strikeforce?

In one fell swoop, Strikeforce signed the top middleweight/light heavyweight prospect in the sport in Gegard Mousasi and now has signed one of, it not the greatest fighter, in mixed martial arts history in Fedor Emelianenko. In doing so, Strikeforce has taken itself from contender to a direct threat to the UFC.

The eyes and ears of the MMA world are now on Strikeforce to see what they do with their new-found talent and how they will expand as a company now that they have Fedor and Elite XC’s deal with CBS.

To properly promote and use the marketing machine that is Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce will need to get their product on CBS, plain and simple. Showtime is not a big enough platform for Emelianenko to be a smart business venture for Strikeforce.

Although the exact details of the contract were not announced, it is safe to say that Fedor required a pretty penny. With the revenue the company will bring in on Showtime, it would likely be an unsuccessful business venture.

Not only does CBS provide a much larger platform for Emelianenko to showcase his abilities, but it also provides Strikeforce with a much better opportunity to make this a successful investment.

What does this mean for Fedor?

Every move that Fedor Emelianenko makes that is not signing a contract with the UFC garner’s mass criticism from MMA fans, and this move will likely prove to be no different. The best heavyweight fighters are in the UFC and until Emelianenko gets into the octagon with Brock Lesnar or Randy Couture he will continue to be criticized.

The move to Strikeforce will do nothing to denounce his protesters. Some fans will argue that with a 30-1 record there is no one else who even comes close to Fedor in terms of greatness, however, UFC fan’s would rebuttal with the fact that until he steps into the octagon against the best the UFC has to offer, he can never truly be the best.

So what exactly does this move mean for Fedor? It means that although he will be facing top 10 talent, he will continue to be criticized. Until he enters the octagon, some people will never be able to accept Fedor as a great heavyweight.

So who are his possible opponents?

Well, some are obvious. Strikeforce heavyweight champion Allister Overeem comes to mind as a possible first choice. Both men were large parts of Pride’s success, however, their paths never crossed in the promotion. Overeem has been out of competition since winning the Strikeforce title in late 2007 and fighting Fedor would be a tough fight to come back to.

We also have recently released UFC and Pride veteran Fabricio Werdum. This ground specialist is coming off of a devastating ear wiggling knockout loss to Junior Dos Santos and was looking forward to a title fight against Overeem on August 15.

However, Overeem injured his hand in a bar fight and was pulled from the card. Werdum may want to put together a few victories before getting in the cage with Emelianenko as this is not an overly appealing fight to fans right now.

Next up is Brett Rogers. This powerful undefeated knockout artist is coming off of a 22 second defeat of former UFC Heavyweight Champion and recent Fedor victim Andrei Arlovski. With less than 10 professional fights, Rogers would be rather inexperienced to step into a cage against the Emelianenko but with the victory over Arlovski and many other impressive victories it could certainly be a compelling fight.

The last heavyweight under Strikeforce contract that could be an interesting fight is Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Although currently suspended for failing a performance enhancing drug test, he could have the well-rounded abilities to test Fedor upon his return.

Like Rogers, Silva is a relatively inexperienced fighter and on top of this does not have any selling power in North America. He would need a few more victories before presenting a Pay Per View worthy adversary for Emelianenko.

Who else?

Following the demise of Affliction there are some heavyweights currently without contracts that could be interesting adversaries to Fedor.

Paul Buentello has been on a roll as of late and had a very impressive performance against Fedor protégé Kirill Sidelnikov. With the victory over Sidelnikov, Strikeforce would have a beautiful story already made to build off of for a potential fight between the two.

Buentello has the punching ability to make the stand-up an uncomfortable place for Fedor and enough experience to make it an exciting fight.

In conclusion, this is a CBS or bust deal for Scott Coker. If they cannot get Fedor on CBS instead of Showtime, the contract he is getting paid will be for not and Coker and crew could be the next victims of the “Fedor Curse.”

Sengoku: Following the Pride Mold Too Closely?

Shawn Smith — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:24:33 -0400

There is no denying the huge impact that Pride FC had on mixed martial arts not only in Japan, but worldwide. Many of the greatest fighters in the world competed for the grand organization and even today almost three years since its destruction, we still see the lasting effects.

Many of today’s stars of the sport went through Pride before becoming top names in the United States such as Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, Antonio Nogueira, Quinton Jackson, and Dan Henderson among many others.

This of course is not to say that Pride did not make its share of mistakes. Sketchy business practices and the lack of regulation both on judging and performance enhancing drugs made Pride the wild west of Mixed Martial Arts for many fighters who were banned or suspended in the United States (such as Josh Barnett).

As we are now seeing, Sengoku is following in the same footsteps. They have been putting on spectacular events highlighting some of the best talent Japan and the world has to offer. Pride was one of the first promotions to allow the lightweights to really shine, not only creating a lightweight championship but a Grand-Prix to showcase 16 of the world’s best.

On top of this, the Bushido events which Pride was famous for constantly brought in world-wide well knock talent such as Yves Edwards and Jens Pulver to take on Japan’s best.

Sengoku is going with even lighter weight classes in showcasing a featherweight grand-prix highlighting some of the best Japanese fighters against their counterparts in the rest of the world. So far the tournament has been spectacular and full of fun entertaining fights.

However as we found out at Sengoku IX, maybe they are following the mold that Pride created a little too closely. In a Japanese vs. Japanese semi-final match, HatsuHioki (a favorite throughout the tournament) dominated Masanori Kanehara and took a unanimous decision victory. After the contest, Hioki had weakness in his arms and legs and numbness in his back, therefore making him incapable of continuing onto the finals.

A reserve bout was held later in the evening where Korean Chan Sung Jung defeated American born Matt Jaggers and therefore should have rightfully taken Hioki’s spot in the finals of the tournament.

However in a mind baffling decision on the part of Sengoku’s management, Japanese Kanehara (who was defeated earlier in the evening) was allowed to move onto the finals of the tournament instead of the Korean Jung therefore making Jung’s fight pointless.

In the other semi-final bout of the evening, Brazilian born Marlon Sandro (another favorite in the tournament) took on Japanese Michihiro Omigawa. Sandro took control of the fight on the feet and was able to pick apart Omigawa throughout the three round fight.

Sandro definitely won the first two rounds with the third round possibly going either way and to everyone’s surprise the Japanese born Omigawa took the decision, therefore setting up a Japanese vs. Japanese fighter therefore guaranteeing a Japanese winner to the tournament.

No explanation as to why Kanehara was chosen to fight in the finals instead of Jung was given, but considering the lack of damage Jung took, its highly unlikely it was injury related.

On top of this, it was announced that on Sengoku’s November card, everyone’s favorite fighter Josh Barnett will be in action against another fighter who was suspended from the CSAC, Antonio Silva.

Sengoku is turning into Pride all over again, and for the fans this is a scary thought.

UFC 101: The Complete Breakdown

Shawn Smith — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:09:45 -0400

Following one of the craziest and most dramatic months in mixed martial arts history, the Ultimate Fighting Championship presents UFC 101: Declaration (Get it? cause it's in Philly!). Affliction has fallen, Dana is pissed (what else is new) and Lesnars drinking Bud, now let’s have some fights already!

Coming off of the insane month that was July, we continue the summer of MMA with another solid card. August brings us events from Sengoku, WEC, Strikeforce and a double dose of the UFC. The biggest and most exciting event of the month takes place August 8 from the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia.

UFC 101: Declaration is headlined by a Lightweight Championship bout between longtime Lightweight King B.J Penn and the up and coming but always dangerous Kenny Florian.

The co-main event of the evening features one of the world’s best pound for pound fighters in Anderson Silva against one of the most popular fighters the UFC has to offer in Forrest Griffin. The event also features a slew of young talent looking to make the best of their opportunities and push themselves towards future title shots.

Jesse Lennox vs Danillo Villefort

With the evaporation of the WEC’s Welterweight division, these two youngsters are reaping the benefits as they will both be making their first appearance on the big stage.

Jesse Lennox comes in with a strong wrestling background and with half of his wins by submission and the other half by kockout, Lennox has proven to be a well rounded fighter.

Although he is a 2002 BJJ World Champion and South American Judo Champion, Villefort has also proven to be well rounded with five wins by submission and also five by knockout.

Both men are coming off of knockout victories at WEC: Varner vs Cerrone and will be looking to continue their winning streaks.

Despite Lennox having a strong submission game, he will want to use his superior wrestling to defend the takedown attempts of Villefort. If he can keep the fight standing this has the potential to be a slugfest, however if Villefort can get the fight to the ground the way he would like then this could certainly be a short fight.

George Roop vs George Sotiropoulus

Two Ultimate Fighter veterans will meet when BJJ Black Belt Sotiropoulus takes on American Wrestler Roop in what could quickly turn into a submission match in a hurry.

Both men made it to the semi-finals of their respective Ultimate Fighter seasons and are now looking to build off of the success they saw on the show.

Sotiropoulus is the fighter known for his ground submission skills with five submission victories; however Roop has also proven to have some ground prowess with four submission victories of his own

The Achilles heel of this fight for Roop is his inability to defend submissions. Three of Roop’s four losses have come via way of submission and with the submission expertise which Sotiropoulus possesses he could put this fight on the mat and make it a short night.

Roop’s key to success will be his ability to use his wrestling and control where the fight takes place. He needs to be able to decide when the fight is going to the ground and be able to make sure he has top position.

Matt Riddle vs Dan Cramer

Again we will see two Ultimate Fighter Season Seven competitors enter the octagon in hopes of working their way towards stardom.

We will see the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu standout in Cramer against the wrestler Riddle in what is a similar matchup to the previous fight on the card.

With both fighters being so incredibly inexperienced (Cramer 1-0-0 and Riddle 2-0-0) it will be interesting to see how they do on the biggest stage either has ever appeared on.

Neither has ever finished a fight so it is hard to say whether or not the fight will stay stood up or whether they will attempt to take the fight to the ground.

Riddle has openly admitted that he began learning Jiu-Jitsu from the BJ Penn book and currently holds a purple belt so he too is no slouch on the ground.

Thales Leites vs Alessio Sakara

After one of the worst Main Event performances in UFC history, Thales Leites looks to bounce back against Middleweight Gatekeeper Alessio Sakara.

With a 4-4 record in the UFC, this is a very important fight for Sakara. A loss could mean that Sakara will be released however a win will automatically make him a contender in the division.

Leites too could have his job on the line, especially if it is a performance similar to UFC 97. He is the definite favourite thanks to victories over top contenders such as Nate Marquardt, but the eyes of the mma world are on him to see if he can bounce back from a dismal performance.

Tamdan McCrory vs John Howard

The “Barn-Cat” Tamden McCrory will be looking to continue his rise to the top of the welterweight division against the super strong and tough John Howard. McCrory has a slight disadvantage on the ground and will likely look to keep the fight standing.

Howard has numerous victories by submission and will look to take the fight down and dominate the ground. This isn’t to say that Howard has no stand-up game. He proved in his UFC debut against Chris Wilson that he can also throw hands.

With a UFC record of 3-2 McCrory will need a victory to keep him relevant in the Welterweight division. A victory by Howard would give him two straight victories in the UFC and a definite level up in competition for his next fight.

In a division with so few title contenders, every victory is so important and this is no more evident than in this encounter. The winner will move on to bigger and better competition while the loser will again struggle to move up in the division.

Shane Nelson vs Aaron Riley

Does anyone remember that early stoppage at UFC 96 which threw Dana White into a rage over poor officiating? Yeah, that was these two guys and at UFC 101 they will throw down again.

Aaron Riley is clearly the veteran in this fight and will try to use his experience against top tier talent as well as his well rounded game to take out the dangerous striker in Shane Nelson

Nelson has most of his victories by decision so will be looking to change this with a high paced fight where he presses the action. Riley on the other hand will probably look to take this fight to the ground and grind on Nelson, weakening him down and picking him apart to finally set up a submission.

Again we see the striker vs grappler match where the difference will be where this fight takes place. As we saw in the first fight, it took Nelson less than a minute to drop Riley before the referee jumped in early. Can he have a repeat performance or will Riley use his veteran tactics to dominate the younger Nelson?

Josh Neer vs Kurt Pelligrino

Finally these two gritty warriors are going to get their chance on the big spotlight of a main card pay per view in what could potentially be the fight of the night.

Both men are submission experts who also like to go in there and slug it out so no matter where this fight goes its going to be an aggressive fast paced matchup.

Pelligrino has put together back to back victories over tough competitors Thiago Tavares and Rob Emerson and will be looking to take the streak to three here. With Neer being the better more technical striker, Pelligrino would be well advised to try and take this fight to the ground and either attempt submissions or ground and pound from the top.

Neer will be looking to keep this fight up and live up to his nickname “The Dentist” and rearrange a few of Pelligrino’s teeth.

Kendall Grove vs Ricardo Almeida

In one of the least talked about but most interesting fights of the night, we will see Ultimate Fighter standout Kendall Grove take on former top contender and Jiu-Jitsu standout Ricardo Almeida which could propel the winner right into title contention.

There is no denying the talent that Kendall Grove has. Since being victorious on The Ultimate Fighter, Grove has trained with Ortiz, Couture, and now Penn and because of this, his talent and potential has continued to go through the roof.

The one problem which has continuously popped up throughout Grove’s UFC career is his lack of ability to take a punch. Luckily for him, it is unlikely that Almeida will test that ability and Grove will have to be more concerned with his continuous submission attempts.

If Grove can use his lanky body to keep Almeida at the end of his punch and avoid takedown attempts and submissions, it is possible for Grove to pullout this upset and put himself right back into title contention, in hopes of a “Spyder” vs “Spider” showdown at some point.

However, if Grove does not use his reach to his advantage and cannot avoid the takedown it will be a very short night for the Hawaiian native.

Amir Sodallah vs Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks comes in as one of the most decorated and successful wrestlers in mixed martial arts history with his all American Status and Two Division 1 championships, not to mention a perfect 5-0 MMA record.

He will not be an easy opponent for Ultimate Fighter winner 2-0 Amir Sodallah. They have always said that there are no easy fights in the UFC, and in Sodallah’s case they are right.

Sodallah states that he is a “Black belt in Sambo but a white belt in Jiu-Jitsu” so Hendricks will likely want to get this fight down and pound away at Sodallah.

He proved he was not a complete slouch on the ground with back to back arm bar victories over C.B Dollaway but it is still likely that the accomplished wrestler will want to take this fight to the ground.

Although it is rarely talked about, Sodollah also has a strong Muay-Thai game which should be avoided, all the more reason for Hendricks to take this fight down. Hendricks has three TKO victories on his record but with such an advantage in the wrestling it only makes sense to not keep this fight where something dangerous could happen.

The game plan for both fighters is simple. Sodollah wants to keep it standing by any means necessary and Hendricks wants to take it down by any means necessary.

Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin

A lot of the talk surrounding this fight isn’t about the fight itself; rather about the reaction Silva will receive following his last performance and the fact that Griffin is one of the most popular fighters currently in the UFC. That is not to say that this fight will not be phenomenal, because it certainly will be.

No one has ever brought the fight to Anderson Silva the way that Griffin will. He will push the pace and look to take the fight out of Silva. It will be Silva’s reaction which determines how this fight will go.

If Silva can deal with the pace Griffin keeps than he should be able to control where the fight takes place. However, if Griffin can throw Silva off of his game with his relentless attack he might be able to cause problems and catch Silva off guard.

It will be interesting to see where this fight takes place as well. Will Griffin want to take the fight to the ground to avoid the lethal Muay-Thai of Silva or will he play with fire hoping to do something that has never been done before and knock Silva out?

Griffin is outmatched on the feet and on the ground and will definitely need to use his relentless pace and stamina to try and outwork and outlast the more technically talented Silva.

UFC Lightweight Championship: B.J Penn (Champion) vs Kenny Florian (Challenger)

A lot of people are writing Kenny Florian off as not a tough test for the greatest lightweight of all time, but if Penn does not take this fight seriously, than Florian will pick him apart and be the new champion of the world.

When looking at the stand-up game we have the solid knees and elbows of Kenny Florian against one of the best boxers in mma in BJ Penn.

Florian will be looking to stick and move against Penn. Land a shot and get away before Penn can catch him with that ultra vicious jab he has made famous. Penn of course will be looking to check the kicks and counter with a jab all night long.

The ground game in this fight is very appealing. Despite BJ Penn being known for his amazing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kenny Florian is also not a dummy on the ground and likely could rival Penn on the mat.

Many people will give Penn a huge advantage on the ground but the fact is that if it goes there, Florian is more than capable of not only defending himself but also getting the fight back up where he has the clean cut advantage.

Because of the amount of drama surrounding our great sport as of late, this card and championship fight is not getting the love it deserves. Florian is more than just a pushover and if Griffin can come in with a good game plan and wear out the amazing Silva we could see two upsets that will again turn the MMA world on its head.

Sengoku 9: Results and Quick Review

Shawn Smith — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:59:22 -0400

*Note: These are just the quick results and a few notes. I will have a more in-depth review of the entire event up very soon!

Quick Results

•Mizuto Hirota def. Satoru Kitaoka via TKO (strikes)—Round Four, 2:50

•Masanori Kanehara def. Michihiro Omigawa via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29 "Must Decision: Omigawa"

•Kazuo Misaki def. Kazuhiro Nakamura via submission (guillotine choke)—Round One, 3:03

•Blagoi Ivanov def. Kazuyuki Fujita via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-29 "Must Decision: Ivanov"

•Dan Hornbuckle def. Akihiro Gono via knockout (kick)—Round Three, 2:50

•Eiji Mitsuoka def. Clay Franch via submission (guillotine choke)—Round One, 1:51

•Yoshihiro Nakao def. Mu Bae Choi via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-29)

•Chan Sung Jung def. Matt Jaggers via submission (triangle choke)—Round Two, 1:25

•Michihiro Omigawa def. Marlon Sandro via split decision (29-30, 30-30 "Must Decision: Omigawa," 30-30 "Must Decision: Omigawa"

•Hatsu Hioki def. Masanori Kanehara via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28)

Quick Review

The Japanese events, which include the semifinals and finals of a tournament, tend to turn into wild and crazy nights in a hurry. Sengoku 9 proved to be no different.

Only weeks ago, we saw Marius Zaromskis shock the mixed martial arts world when he defeated Japanese legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Jason High in a dream matchup to take the Welterweight Grand-Prix Championship.

Sengoku 9 presented quite a few upsets of its own, and provided a few shocking finishes to both the Grand-Prix final and the Lightweight Championship fight.

Despite a victory over Kanehara in their semifinal bout, Hatsu Hioki (a favorite in the tournament) was unable to continue because of numbness in his back and weakness in his arms and legs. It was reported that he was thought to have suffered a concussion, despite a very dominating performance over Kanehara.

Marlon Sandro (the other favorite in the tournament) was also unable to book himself a trip to the finals, as Japanese journeyman Michihiro Omigawa pulled off a shocking split decision victory in what appeared to be Sandro’s fight throughout.

Despite having a reserve bout, in which Chan Sung Jan defeated Matt Jaggers, Kanehara was advanced to the finals of the tournament where he defeated Omigawa via split decision to take the crown. It is assumed that Hioki will be the first to be given a chance to dethrone Kanehara, considering his dominating victory earlier in the night.

Dan Hornbuckle put his name on the proverbial MMA map with a knockout victory of Japanese star Akihiro Gono late in the third round.

In what might have been the biggest shock of the night, Mizuto Hirota stopped Satoru Kitaoka by strikes late in the fourth round to take the Lightweight Championship. Despite a Hirota victory over Ishida in May, Kitaoka was a heavy favorite going into this fight because of his victory over Takanori Gomi in January.

DREAM 10: Complete Review

Shawn Smith — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:35:52 -0400

DREAM 10 took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan this morning in front of a packed house of nearly 20,000 fans. The card delivered exciting action from beginning to end and produced more than a few shocking upsets to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

1. Seichi Ikemoto vs. Tarec Seffiedine

The DEEP Welterweight Champion Seichi Ikemoto took on Team Quest’s Tarec Seffiedine in what was an exciting stand-up encounter to start off the night. Despite numerous attempts at his infamous double punches and axe handle smashes, Ikemoto proved unsuccessful in trying to fend off the attack of Seffiedine.

The Bulgarian Seffiedine dominated the stand-up game and used his wrestling to dictate the pace of the fight. In the dying minutes, Seffiedine took the fight to the ground and was able to mount. Ikemoto was able to fend off the attack in the final minutes but by this point it was too late and Seffiedine took the unanimous decision.

With this victory, Seffiedine became the first Bulgarian to ever win a mixed martial arts fan in Japan.

What’s Next?

Seffiedine looked impressive in his first performance on the big stage. He is a much better striker that most of the fighters we see out of Team Quest. If he continues to work on his killer instinct and his ability to put together combinations, he could be a dominant force at Welterweight.

Welterweight Grand-Prix Semi Final #1

2. Hayato Sakurai vs. Marios Zaromskis

Sakurai came into this fight and the tournament as the heavy favorite to win it all, but as we found out, Marios Zaromskis had other plans. Sakurai looked good early landing solid straight punches every time Zaromskis moved in to strike however the fight quickly took a turn for the worse after two nasty cuts opened up around the left eye of Sakurai.

The cuts opened up quickly and bled heavily, but luckily the referees let the fight continue.

Zaromskis came out with a new intensity in his eyes and put the pressure on Sakurai faking with an overhand left and landing a head kick which put Sakurai on another planet in what could be a contender for knockout of the year.

What’s Next?

Zaromskis considerably raised his stock with this knockout of the Japanese Superstar. He showed an ability to know when to push the pace and when to hold back which is an important part of developing into a great fighter. Zaromskis has the stand-up skills to compete with anyone DREAM has to offer however his ground skills need a lot of work. Luckily, Sakurai did not test this skill and Zaromskis made himself an overnight sensation in Japan.

Michael Schiavello quote of the fight: “This fight has more crosses than the Vatican!”

Welterweight Grand-Prix Semi Final #2

3. Andre Galvao vs. Jason High

Despite only having three fights under his belt (black belt that is), Galvao came in as a heavy favorite to defeat High. Galvao showed early that despite his training with Rafael Cavalcante and Anderson Silva, he still has a long ways to go in terms of stand up and got rocked with a straight from High. High was able to avoid numerous submission attempts including a deep leg lock and rear naked choke to survive the first.

In the second High pushed the pace using his wrestling to keep the fight off of the mat and his striking to nullify Galvao, in the end winning a very close split decision.

After the fight it was clear that Galvao was upset with the decision as he left the ring immediately before returning to congratulate his opponent.

What’s Next?

Galvao has the ground tools to someday dominate DREAM’s welterweight division but as High showed us, he has a lot of holes which need to be filled in before any such event will take place. Continuous training with the most feared striker on the planet in Anderson Silva will make Andre Galvao into a serious force to be reckoned with.

Jason High showed a lot of resilience and heart throughout the first round of the fight by being able to hold on in submission holds, which looked near impossible to escape. The Japanese promotions and their fans appreciate the heart of a fighter almost as much as their win loss record so don’t be surprised to see High in a DREAM ring again sometime soon.

Michael Schiavello quote(s) of the fight: “More chokes than the Heimlich Maneuver”

“Mounted more times than Jenna Haze”

4. Andre Dida vs. Katsunori Kikuno

Despite a great video showing Kikuno’s solid boxing skills and ability to dominate opponents, few gave the DEEP Lightweight Champion a chance against the K-1 level striker in Andre Dida. To go along with the theme of upsets however, Kikuno pulled off another improbable win by baiting Dida into his game and eventually getting him down for the ground and pound victory.

Kikuno came out with a smile that “could make a stripper nervous” and his head held high in what looked like a calling for Dida to knock him out. He moved slow early, to the point where the “Grandparents from Willy Wonka move more with him” but this was simply a trick to lure Dida into his trap and put him down with some of the most vicious ground and pound seen all year.

What’s Next?

In his post-fight speech, Kikuno announced his interest in returning to DREAM and continuing to face big name opponents, more specifically he called out the #2 ranked fighter in the lightweight division, Shinya Aoki. It is unlikely that DREAM would grant such a request without Kikuno putting together a few more victories, but that big goofy smile and chimpanzee style stance might be enough to win over the Japanese fans.

5. Paulo Filho vs. Melvin Manhoef

Next up was the Middleweight match many of the hardcore fans had been anticipating. Paulo Filho returned to action after a bout with depression and painkillers, not to mention one of the most bizarre fights in history against Chael Sonnen, to take on one of the most vicious middleweights in the world today in Melvin Manhoef.

Filho was punished early with Manhoef’s powerful, yet fast hands and after a knee to the head, Filho was literally on the ropes. For a few moments, it looked as though Paulo Filho had not returned to old form

However, Filho survived the early onslaught and was able to get Manhoef to the mat. From here, it took only a few short seconds to wrap Manhoef up and catch him in the all too familiar arm-bar.

What’s next?

Filho looked phenomenal in his showing against Manhoef and if this is a sign of things to come, it will not be long until Filho is once again in the top rankings in the world. The demons he previously had fought appear to be toppled for now.

Manhoef needs to work his ground game and it was never more evident than in this fight. When Filho got a hold of the arm, he had little idea what to do and it was only a matter of seconds before Manhoef was submitted. Everyone knows about his impressive strength and stand-up game; if he could add a ground game to compliment his other areas, Manhoef could as well approach the top of the heap at middleweight.

6. Dong-Sik Yoon vs. Jesse Taylor

Despite the fight only lasting approximately a minute due to a broken ankle for Yoon, Taylor looked impressive. He imposed his will throughout the short fight in similar fashion to the other Team Quest members we have watched over the years.

What’s Next?

Despite a losing record, Yoon is widely considered a good fighter in Japan. It will be interesting to see what this does for Jesse Taylor’s career and whether or not this performance will earn him another chance in DREAM.

7. Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribiero

The “grappling match of the year” turned out to be exactly the opposite of what everyone had expected and rather resembled an amateur kickboxing match. As is common when two fighters of the same discipline meet, their ground skills cancelled each other out and this became a standup fight immediately.

Aoki showed massively improved kicks and even a nice Muay-Thai clinch throughout the fight but was unable to finish Ribiero. Aoki won the fight via unanimous decision. When Aoki asked the fans what they thought of his Muay-Thai skills he was greeted with resounding boo’s from the crowd. It is clear they prefer when the Tobikan Judan takes it to the mat.

What’s Next?

Aoki made it clear after the fight what his plans are for the rest of the year. He made official an October 6th fight against current DREAM Lightweight Champion Joachim Hansen (the third fight between the two, with both winning one of the previous encounters) and a New Years Eve Dynamite fight against Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri. These fights should both prove to be exciting fights and draw large audiences for DREAM.

Welterweight Grand-Prix Final

8. Marius Zaromskis vs. Jason High

When I previously mentioned that the victory over Sakurai made him a hit in Japan overnight, I’m sure winning the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in Japan’s Welterweight Championship did not hurt either. That’s right, the heavy underdog Zaromskis was able to shock the world and take the Welterweight crown.

The fight started with the combatants exchanging strikes with Zaromskis starting to get the better of it before landing a massive head kick which knocked Jason High into next week….maybe even next year. It’s odd that a fighter expected to lose decisively in a tournament comes out and delivers two knock out of the year contenders in the same night but that’s exactly what Zaromskis has done.

What’s Next?

It will be interesting to see what DREAM can offer Zaromskis in the form of competition, as it is one of the weaker divisions in the promotion. Maybe Jesse Taylor’s short performance earned him a title shot or maybe Zaromskis will use the DREAM title as a springboard to bigger and better things, much like Gegard Mousasi did.

DREAM 10 delivered one of the most exciting nights of action of the year. There was not a boring fight in the bunch as all of the fighters came out knowing how important victories are on the big stage of DREAM. The event shall be remembered as the birth of a star and the night of the upset as Zaromskis made himself a name to most mixed martial arts fans overnight.

“Mach” Sakurai Struggles to Make Weight for DREAM 10

Shawn Smith — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:17:14 -0400

It is a good thing for Japanese superstar Hayato Sakurai that Japan does not sanction the weigh-ins of mixed martial arts events as strictly as is done in the United States.

At the DREAM 10 weigh-ins which took place earlier today, Hayoto Sakurai missed weight with both his first…and second weigh-in attempts.

Finally during the third attempt (nearly eight hours after the initial weigh-ins took place) Sakurai was able to make the necessary weight to compete in the tournament.

All the rest of the fighters successfully weighed-in and tomorrow’s card is as follows:

· Finals of the Welterweight Grand-Prix

· Shinya Aoki (153.6 lb./69.8 kg) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (153.8 lb./69.9 kg)

· Jesse Taylor (185.7 lb./84.4 kg) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (186.6 lb./84.8 kg)

· Paulo Filho (184.8 lb./84 kg) vs. Melvin Manhoef (184.4 lb./83.8 kg)

· Andre "Dida" Amade (154 lb./70 kg) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (154 lb./70 kg)

· Andre Galvao (167.2 lb./76 kg) vs. Jason High (167.2 lb./76 kg)+

· Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (167.2 lb./76 kg) vs. Marius Zaromskis (166.8 lb./75.8 kg)

· Tarec Saffiedine (166.8 lb./75.8 kg) vs. Ikemoto Seichi (166.8 lb./75.8 kg) (Tournament Reserve Bout)

For those with HDNET, don’t forget to tune in at 3 a.m (Eastern) for the live DREAM 10 event.

DREAM 11 Moved To October 6th

Shawn Smith — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:47:08 -0400

Gegard Mousasi recently hinted during a radio show that the “Super Hulk” tournament had been moved from September to October.

DREAM representatives have now confirmed that not only has the “Super Hulk” tournament been moved, but the entire event has been pushed back to October 6th.

No reason was given for the move but it has been speculated that the “Super Hulk” tournament was pushed back to allow Mousasi (a favorite in the tournament) time to recover from his Affliction: Trilogy bout with Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

DREAM 11 will also feature the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand-Prix as well as well as the Middleweight title decision match between Jason Miller and Ranaldo Souza.

Vitor Ribiero Has the Chance of a Lifetime: "Shaolin's" Time To Shine

Shawn Smith — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:06:00 -0400

With wins over Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Mitsuhiro Ishida, one would think that Vitor “Shaolin” Ribiero would be a top star in the lightweight division; however, because of layoffs due to injury, he has struggled to keep his name relevant in the mixed martial arts world.

On Jul. 21 at DREAM 10, Ribeiro will take his 20-2-0 record in against the No. 2 ranked lightweight in the world, Shinya Aoki.

If you’re a fan of hardcore knockouts and bloody battles, this is not the fight for you, however if you’re a fan of creative and slick submissions, then this fight is right up your alley.

Whether it’s Neck Crank’s (Todd Moore), Heel Hooks (Eddie Alvarez), or Gogoplata’s (Joachim Hansen, Katsuhiko Nagata), Shinya Aoki has never failed to impress with his submission creativity.

Aoki put himself on the map when he pulled off the Gogoplata against Joachim Hansen and has not looked back since becoming a top five fighter in the world. However, with two losses in the last twelve months, Aoki will need a solid performance to stay near the top of the lightweight division.

While Ribiero is not quite as creative, 13 of his 20 victories have come via way of submission—most of which have come via way or triangle arm bar. Ribiero is coming in with numerous BJJ world championships under his belt (black belt, that is) and nothing to lose.

He is not considered a threat to the top of the division, but a single win over the “Tobikan Judan” can change all that.

Fans of lightweight action, be sure to tune in on Jul. 21 for what should be one of the most technical submission matches of the year!

Upset or Unbeatable? Breaking Down Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves

Shawn Smith — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:17:59 -0400

On July 11, 2009, Canadian kingpin Georges St. Pierre will again enter the octagon in an attempt to defend his UFC Welterweight crown against his most dangerous opponent to date, and with St. Pierre’s resume that’s saying something.

Across the cage from St. Pierre will stand Brazilian Muay Thai specialist Thiago “The Pitbull” Alves.

Currently, St. Pierre sits a top the welterweight division and following his dominating performance against B.J Penn is seen as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The keys to victories for St. Pierre will be to use his well-rounded abilities to force Alves into a fight he does not want to partake in, as well as his relentless pace, which no fighter to date has been able to conquer.

Despite a strong stand-up game, St. Pierre will likely use his superior wrestling to force the fight to the mat with the first opening he sees.

St. Pierre’s kickboxing has come a long way in the last few years, but because Alves possesses such lethal leg kicks, he is not the opponent to try these out on.

Thiago Alves will need to use his ability to block a takedown numerous times throughout this fight. He is a Muay Thai specialist and therefore needs to keep the fight standing to have a chance of defeating St. Pierre.

Alves proved in his October fight against Josh Koscheck and his June encounter against Matt Hughes that he can block shots against some of the best wrestlers in the game.

Whether he can do the same against Georges St. Pierre will be the determining factor in who walks out of this fight victorious.

If Alves is able to punish the legs and body of St. Pierre continuously, much the same way he did against Koscheck and Hughes, he will be able to weaken his opponent, making the shot easier to block.

Difference Makers

Cardio: In all the fights St. Pierre has had in the cage, he has never even slightly shown the smallest hint of fatigue. He always comes into each fight in phenomenal shape and this fight will be no different.

He has on numerous occasions proclaimed Thiago Alves to be the biggest challenge of his career and because of this, its safe to assume St. Pierre will come in the greatest shape of his life.

Thiago Alves however is a mystery in this department. He went three rounds with Koscheck in October and did not looked fatigued in doing so, however, St. Pierre is a whole different kind of beast.

With the pace St. Pierre will continuously push, it will be interesting to see if Alves can keep up or if he gets exhausted and pummeled, as so many of St. Pierre’s other victims have of late.

Ground Game: We know that Alves is an animal when it comes to Muay-Thai, however his ground game is still very suspect and unless it has substantially improved since his previous encounters, it could be his Achilles' heel of the fight.

His two losses inside the octagon have come from a triangle choke courtesy of Spencer Fisher and an up kick from Jon Fitch. It’s safe to say that Alves will do everything in his power to not let those same mistakes happen again.

St. Pierre has never faced a striker as fierce and aggressive as Thiago Alves and if he takes him lightly the way he did against Matt Serra, we will have a new Welterweight Champion.

Fortunately, St. Pierre has matured by leaps and bounds since that time and it is unlikely he will do anything of the sort. Can Alves do what many proclaim is impossible? On July 11 at UFC 100, we will find out.

Champions of The Future Part 2: KOTC and DREAM Veteran Abel Cullum

Shawn Smith — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:25:19 -0400

“Silent But Deadly”: An Interview with Abel Cullum

Thanks to the WEC, DREAM and Sengoku there is a new weight division beginning to emerge. When most people think of this division there are three names that come to mind: Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Urijah Faber, and now Mike Brown.

However, thanks to these three league’s among others many new names are beginning to emerge in this fast paced exciting division. One of those names coming out of the DREAM featherweight grand-prix is “Silent Assasin” Abel Cullum.

Despite being the KOTC flyweight champion, Cullum was relatively unknown before his DREAM debut. He came in and had a solid unanimous decision victory in the first round over Akiyo Nishiura.

The fight that really elevated his level was his fight of the year contender against Hideo Tokoro. In this classic fight both men had each other rocked at numerous times.

On top of this they both had excellent ground position many time resulting in a tight triangle choke on Cullum which looked impossible to escape although he found a way. Cullum is still young but with more experience there is no doubt he will be a force to be reckoned with in the featherweight division.

*editors note: The following interview was done before the Hideo Tokoro fight which Cullum lost via rear naked choke in my personal fight of the year.

Can you explain to your fans how you got into mixed martial arts? At what age did you start training and what motivated you to get into mixed martial arts?

I became a fan of MMA with my dad watching the UFC and pride on tv. Then when I was about 13 my dad and I went to our first live event. I saw competitors around my size and weight which really made me want to compete. So I started training fought my first fight at 18 years old and started the template for Cullum Ground Fighting.

Tell us about “the Silent assassin” nickname?

I was in the locker room, for one of my first fights, and everyone around me was yelling hitting pads and getting all pumped for their fights and I was on the side doing yoga and just taking it easy until my fight came, and I finished Micheal Chupsa in 1min 26sec of the first round (I was the major underdog.) Seeing that my dad gave me the nickname.

You were successful in your most recent fight with Akiyo Nishiura. It was a hard fought battle in where use utilized many submission attempts and you wound up dominating the fight. Can you tell us what you thought of your performance?

I am happy I got the win and will be returning to Japan in May, however I like to finish fights and that was my goal. So I am using that for motivation in this training camp.

What did you know about Nishiura before the fight and did anything in his performance surprise you?

A friend of mine gave me some film on him, so I was prepared for the "Wiki Shuffle" and his heavy right hand. I was surprised by his strength.

You were obviously feeling a lot of emotion after the big win, can you explain that to us?

As a kid growing up it was always my dream to fight in Pride in front of the Japanese fans. Everything from the ring announcers, the production and the fight was so amazing I was just in a place physically and emotionally that I cant even describe.

It was everything I "Dreamed" of and more I thank Dream and everyone who helped get me to this point for this opportunity I can not wait to go back and put on another performance for everyone to enjoy.

What is your preference: Fighting in the United States or Japan?

I love fighting for New Mexico USA and am happy to do it anywhere.

Has DREAM been in contact with about who your likely next opponent will be? Is there a certain opponent you want to fight?

Dream has not, and I would be honored to fight anyone left in this tournament.

You are also the KOTC flyweight champion. Any idea when we will see that title defended next?

I am not to sure right now the focus is 100% this Tournament.

Your jiu-jitsu looked phenomenal against Nishiura. Would you consider your jiu-jitsu the strongest point of your game?

I think the strongest point of my game is being relentless and always looking for the finish, and sometimes that on my feet, others it's on the ground.

Is there a part of your game you consider “weak” or do you consider yourself pretty well rounded?

I think my Ground was real loose and I have a lot to improve in every part of my game.

We like to end with our interviews by giving the readers a chance get to know the fighters beyond just mixed martial arts.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only take:

One movie, what would it be?

Step Brothers

Take one musical artists career complication CD, who would it be?

The Eagles

One video game, what would it be?

Madden

One food/dessert what would it be?

Sushi/and more sushi

One person, who would it be?

My Brother

Thanks again to Abel Cullum for taking the time to sit down and have a conversation wish us.

I would like to give you the chance to thank those that mean the most to your life and your MMA career.

Who are you sending your shout-outs to Abel?

My Gym Cullum Ground Fighting, all of my Coaches and Students, and My Dad brother And Grandma for supporting Me and pushing me through all the times in getting to this point.

Fighter Profile: DREAM Phenom Bibiano "Flash" Fernandes

Shawn Smith — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:50:28 -0400

Most people would associate a nickname like “Flash” with fast hands and quick knockouts; however, Bibiano Fernandes is bringing a whole new dimension to the word.

Fernandes was born in Manaus, Brazil and began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of seventeen. Through his dedication to the sport, he received his black belt in only five short years under Master Osvaldo Alves.

Fernandes began to make his name of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu scene before he even received his black belt with impressive performances against top tier BJJ talent such as Huson Rocha, Ricardo Viera and Marcus Aurelio.

Fernandes continued to improve his skills and show the world his talent on his way to becoming a five time world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion as such competitions as the prestigious Pan-Ams

Fernandes has now made the jump to mixed martial arts, as many Jiu-Jitsu practitioners do and despite his slowly progressing stand up game, “Flash” has garnered much success and acclaim with his only two losses coming against top ranked talent in Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto in only his second and third fight respectively.

His winning record and Jiu-Jitsu resume earned Fernandes a spot in the prestigious DREAM Featherweight Grand-Prix where he has been dominating the competition to date. Takafumi Otsuka proved to be little competition as Bibiano coasted to a unanimous decision.

In his second round match, Fernandes came in as a heavy underdog to leg lock specialist and one of the tournament favourites in Masakazu Imanari. Despite this, Fernandes showed an improved striking game and an ability to avoid Imanari’s attacks on his way to another unanimous decision victory.

The featherweight division in which Fernandes competes is beginning to emerge as maybe the most exciting division in all of mixed martial arts. Companies such as the WEC, Sengoku and DREAM have jumped on the band wagon and began to give these talented fighters the spotlight to showcase their abilities.

Although few in North America follow the DREAM and Sengoku events, the winner is sure to be recognized as one of the top featherweights in the world. A win in this tournament could skyrocket Bibiano Fernandes to the moon and with the favourite’s to win the tournament already eliminated, things are looking good for this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist.

Remember the name, as he could very soon be appearing on a television screen near you.

One Last Stand: The Fireball Kid Returns

Shawn Smith — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:58:58 -0400

Despite the excellent performances from Shooto World Champions Shinichi “BJ” Kojima and Masakatsu Ueda, the big news coming out of this week’s event is the return of the Fireball Kid: Takanori Gomi.

During the “Shooto Tradition 6” event it was announced that former PRIDE Lightweight Kingpin and Shooto Welterweight Champion Takanori Gomi will return to the company where he made his name to take on the current Welterweight Champion Takashi Nakakura on May 5.

The once king of the lightweight division has since fallen from grace and has produced three uninspired performances in a row including a two minute submission loss to Satoru Kitaoka in his last fight.

Gomi has openly admitted that he has lost the spark which once made him a world beater of a fighter. When talking about his last fight against Kitaoka he said “I couldn't do anything. I suppose fans who knew me since PRIDE considered that I looked like a totally different person.

"I don't even know why. I didn't feel any energy in the ring. I hadn't proven myself in the last few fights. I was training, yet everything was fall in apart. I couldn't put together because my training wasn't enough. My skills went down in the last two years.”

If he wants to stay a prominent factor in the mixed martial arts world then Takanori Gomi needs to find that edge again. Gomi knows as well as everyone else that another dismal performance will result in him becoming a non-factor in the lightweight division.

It is make or break time for the Fireball Kid. Is he still a top 10 fighter or is this Gomi’s one last stand?

The Secret to Lyoto Machida and Georges St. Pierre's Success

Shawn Smith — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:54:11 -0400

Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida are two of the most successful mixed martial artists on the planet today. There blend of speed, skill and technique make them in the upper echelon of fighters. But what is the connection between these two combatants? What’s the intermingling thing these fighters have done to make them into the warriors they have become? They have both studied the art of karate. Both Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida’s combat days started as children studying the art vigorously and although it is certainly not the only factor contributing to their success, the studying of this fine art has led both fighters on a path to becoming the greatest fighters in history. To be a top tier mixed martial artist, it takes skills of all sorts. Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing, Muay-Thai are all key components to becoming a world class fighter. Karate on the other hand is rarely associated with mixed martial arts. Few fighters have a background in karate and go on to be successful in mixed martial arts but as we can see from the examples of Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida, the possibility of starting in some form of karate and moving on to become a world class combatant is obviously there. Someone who trains in karate will be provided with all of the essentials to begin their training in mixed martial arts. The wider stance and hand placement are more applicable to mixed martial arts than the more common boxing stance however few fighters take advantage of this because of their lack of training in karate. Along with the stance and hand placement, karate provides the basics for how to throw every variety of punch and kick, and depending on which form of karate you are studying, may also teach elbows and knee strikes. Every other martial arts base starts in karate. You cannot learn another martial art without picking up some part of karate. So why take a branch when you can have the root? Why take a fish when you can have the pond? In this piece I am not arguing that the other martial arts are not important to become a top tier mixed martial artist as they certainly are. However, with karate one finds all the tools necessary to begin a solid training in mixed martial arts. As with any mixed martial artist it takes tools from all disciplines to reach the top, but karate supplies anyone who trains in it with the necessary tools to branch out to other martial arts. It takes a root to grow a true, and karate my friends is the root of all martial arts. With this in mind, I’m going to describe in detail a little bit about the art of karate and how it can benefit you as a martial artist.

Begin Slideshow

Champions of The Future Part 1: WEC and DREAM Veteran Micah Miller

Shawn Smith — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:31:05 -0400

At the ripe young age of 22, it is hard to refer to anyone as a veteran of the sport but with 13 professional bouts under his belt, Micah Miller is well on his way to veteran status.

Micah recently competed in the first round of the DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand-Prix coming up short in a controversial loss to Yoshiro Maeda. Recently I had the pleasure of getting in contact with Micah Miller for a Bleacher Report Exclusive interview! Enjoy!

Hello Micah, I would just like to thank you for doing this interview. Let’s get started

1. First question I have is how did you get into mixed martial arts?

I started wrestling because I didn’t make the basketball team. I wasn’t really a team sport guy anyway so it worked out. I had seen UFC 1 when I was younger but I didn’t understand Jiu-Jitsu like everyone else that watched it so I became bored watching it and left the room.

It wasn’t until I was about 15-years-old until I saw pride 22 championship chaos that I became a fan of the sport. I really got into the sport from then on, and started becoming more educated on the sport. My bro started training with Cam McHargue in Macon, Georgia about a year later, and I followed soon after.

2. You currently train with American Top Team, one of the top mixed martial arts gyms in the world. Can you tell us how this came about and what the experience of training with so many top tier competitors is like?

Being able to train at American top team is truly an honor, and a privilege I don’t take lightly. I moved to south Florida in April 2007 to train and live with my brother Cole (of Ultimate Fighter fame). Training with all of the ATT all-stars is great, because they are constantly pushing you to get better, and they are always willing to teach you something new.

3. Were you a big fan of the sport growing up? And if so who were some of your favorite fighters?

I was a fan first. Kazushi Sakuraba was one of my favorites. he was very creative in the ring and i liked his style. Yves Edwards, Jens Pulver, and B.J Penn were also some fighters that I looked up to.

4. The experience of a first fight can be very intimidating, especially when it comes only two short months after your 19th birthday. Can you tell us about the experience of your first fight?

Well my first fight was two weeks after my 18th birthday. Wrestling season had just ended, so I was in good shape and ready to compete. I wasn’t nervous because I had just been competing for two months prior in wrestling. I have actually been more nervous for some of my pro fights. i went out there and fought another first timer, so it was a good experience for both of us.

5. What goes through your head before a fight? Do you have any special techniques or rituals that you perform?

I just try to clear my mind and relax. I have supreme confidence in my training, so when I get in the ring, I know that I am going to do what I’ve trained to do.

4. Your last fight was at DREAM 7 against Japanese standout Yoshiro Maeda. You came out and represented yourself well showing a lot of great Jiu-Jittsu technique coming close on many submission attempts, and using your rubber guard to nullify much of Maeda’s offense.

Many fans thought that you should have been given the victory in this fight, however, the judge’s decision went to Maeda. Sherdog stated that you dissatisfied with the outcome of the fight and thought that maybe you should have been given the decision because of control. What do you think you could or should have done differently to try and make the decision more decisive in your favor?

I don’t know that I could have done anything to win a decision, maybe be on top more, but that’s just how it goes when you fight a Japanese fighter in Japan. People have been talking about how they thought I did more on the ground, which is true, but I did more on the feet as well. Neither of us landed anything significant, but I landed more punches, kicks, threw some good knees in the Thai clinch, and really had him backing up, especially in the second round.

5. Can you tell us about your experience fighting in Japan and how it compares with fighting in the United States?

Fighting in Japan was a whole new experience for me. I have never been out of the country, so it was a cool opportunity to experience a new culture. The fighters are portrayed as larger than life celebrities over there, and really make you feel special.

6. Which do you prefer?

I like the rules and production in Japan better, but the travel is a pain in the butt!

7. What is next for Micah Miller? Do you have any more fights on your DREAM contract and if not where would you like to fight next?

I may fight somewhere before I fight in dream again, but I have been told that I will be brought back. I feel that I won my last fight, so I want to go to Dream and win by knockout or submission so there is no doubt.

8. Now I thought we’d end with a couple of more personal questions to let the MMA fans of North America get to know you a little bit better:

a) Last movie you saw?

Watchmen. The day before that I saw Revolutionary Road. I like a wide range of movies. Both were good, especially Revolutionary Road.

b) Last song you put on your I-pod?

"Icky Thump" by the White Stripes

c) Last video game you really got into?

I am always into Rock Band, but I have been rocking Spiderman: Web of Shadows here lately.

8. d) What do you do in your spare time? Hobbies?

I am a big sports fan so I like to go to the beach and throw the football. I also like to play basketball. I have a computer that I like to upgrade and tinker with. I cook all the time, but I am really interested in learning how to do it well.

9. One last but vital question. Can you explain the choice to wear long pants in your last fight? Does it have something to do with grip for submission techniques?

It does help with grip a little bit, but I like wearing them for stand up too. I just feel more comfortable in them

Thank you again Micah for the interview.

Butoku MMA Report: Episode 2!

Shawn Smith — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:43:05 -0400

Welcome to the second ever edition of the Butoku Report! Todays article will feature news from the aftermath of DREAM 7, whats been announced so far for DREAM 8 and predictions for the upcoming World Victory Road Featherweight Grand Prix!

First off, I would like to send my condolences to the family of Charles “Mask” Lewis. There is no denying that Lewis and the Tapout brand have done a lot to help the growth of mixed martial arts not only in North America, but around the world.

Tapout has not only promoted a brand for mixed martial arts fans to attach themselves to, but also has sponsored hundreds of fighters who otherwise may not have been given the chance to succeed in the sport.

Those who saw him on the Tapout series or had a chance to meet him in real life know just how fun-loving he was. His love for mixed martial arts was evident and his presence will be missed in the mixed martial arts world.

Now on to the Butoku MMA Report!

Dream 7 Aftermath

Following his dominant victory of “Mr. Hello Japan!” David Gardner, Shinya Aoki stated “I was wondering what he was doing when he raised his hand, but when I heard him say, ‘Hello Japan!’ I thought, ‘No way! What’s with this guy?’ He felt so relaxed, so I knew he was making jokes.

Maybe he thought he was on vacation here in Japan, so I punished him.” Aoki followed this up by saying that “The only thing I have to say is ‘Hello, Japan!’ And that should tell you everything about the fight, I think I’m going to keep saying this for quite a long time.”

Gardner states Boredom as the reason for his little stint. Maybe next time Gardner should be more concerned with getting the victory than introducing himself. If there is one benefit that came out of this fight for Gardner, it is that his name will not be forgotten in Japan for a long time to come.

Despite DREAM 7’s solid attendance (19,528), the television rating was reportedly to be “nightmarishly low” coming in at 2.4 percent. The reason is likely because of the lack of big name stars on the card with only Kawajiri and Aoki being big name fighters in Japan.

It is safe to say that DREAM 8 Welterweight first round card should pull a considerably higher rating with Aoki and Sakurai on the card, as well as JZ Calvancante being rumored.

While we are on the topic of DREAM, two non-tournament bouts were signed for the upcoming event to take place on April 5. DREAM Middleweight semi-finalist Zelg Galesic will return to action against Britain’s Andrews Nakahara.

This fight could prtopel the winner towards title contention. The other fight announced for the event features Japanese fan favorite Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa against wrestling standout Katsuyori Shibata in what should be another classic Minowa brawl for all.

Interestingly enough, the two major stars of the tournament are being reported to meet in the first round. Shinya Aoki is to meet Hayato Sakurai in the first round, which seems like a weird move on the part of DREAM but is likely related to the poor ratings for DREAM 7.

They know they need to produce a large number on the next show and how better to do it than to put the two top stars against each other.

It is also important to note that this is a rematch between these two superstars. Sakurai took their first bout in 2005 via unanimous decision.

Ronaldo Jacare is featured on the poster for the event so is likely to participate in the tournament. To this point, the five fighters announced for the Grand Prix are: Shinya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai, Hideo Tokoro, DJ Taiki, and with his recent victory over Yoon Young Kim, Yuya Shirai adds himself to the tournament.

For those who haven’t got a chance to check out the show yet, keep your eye on HDnet as they ran a replay Saturday night and will likely run it a few more times.

Enough about DREAM, onto World Victory Road!

World Victory Road Featherweight Grand Prix!

We are now only five days away from the beginning of the WVR Featherweight Grand Prix opening round. The WVR GP does not offer the star power of DREAM, other than Hatsu Hioki who is expected to be the poster boy of the tournament.

I was going to offer a quick breakdown of the event but Bleacher writer John Shubert has done just as good of a job as I could have done, so instead I will link you to his article. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/139103-sengoku-7-preview

I will still quickly run down my picks for the Featherweight Grand-Prix:

1. Feather GP: Seiya Kawahara 6-1-0 vs. 6-0-0 Nick Denis

Seiya Kawahara comes in from Pancrase looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss. Denis comes from KOTC. To simply put it, both these fighters like to bang and both finish fights. Expect fireworks in this one.

I’m going to go against Shubert’s pick and go with Kawahara by first round TKO based on the fact that Kawahara has faced slightly better competition and coming off a loss should be hungrier than ever to prove himself.

2. Tetsuya Yamada 3-0-0 vs. 16-1-1 Ronnie Mann Ushiwaka

The records say everything that needs to be said for this fight. Yamada does have a perfect record; however he only has three fights. It’s hard to compare that against a veteran with eighteen fights. First-round submission for Ronnie Mann.

3. Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-1-3 vs. 2-0-0 Jung Chan Sung

Ishiwatari has the veteran status and likes to end fights. Ishiwatari is the favorite and I have no reason to doubt he will win this. I pick Ishiwatari by first round TKO.

4. Masanori Kanehara 11-5-5 vs. 3-5-3 Jong Man Kim

Again we see a fight where the Sengoku officials clearly have a certain fighter in mind that they want to move on. I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t Kim! Despite the records, do not totally count Kim out.

He has fought veterans such as Imanari, and even holds a victory over Atsushi Yamamoto. Despite this, I am still going to go with Kanehara via 1st round submission.

5. Marlon Sandro 12-0-0 vs. 9-4-0 Matt Jaggers

This fight represents one of the more intriguing fights of the first round….basically because there records are somewhat similar. Despite Sandro having the better record, he finishes a lot of his fights via decision unlike Jaggers, who likes to finish his opponents via strikes. I am going to predict the mild upset and take Jaggers via second-round TKO.

6. Michihiro Omigawa 4-7-1 vs. 13-1-0 L.C. Davis

When looking at the records, you are likely to laugh at Omigawa’s chances however it is important to point out that those losses come at the hands of Matt Wiman, Thiago Tavares, JZ Calvancante and Aaron Riley.

Despite this, the up-and-coming Davis should be able to control the pace using his size. I predict a unanimous decision victory for Davis.

7. Hideki Kadowaki 13-8-2 vs. 14-5-0 Nam Phan

Again we see a fighter in Kadowaki whose record may be misleading, however we should point out that some of those losses come at the hands of Hatsu Hioki, Kid Yamamoto and Alexandre Nogueira.

He also holds victories over top tier competition in legend Rumina Sato and top ranked Akitoshi Tamura. Nam Phan on the other hand has also fought a who’s who of lightweights and featherweight.

Three of his five losses have come at the hands of ranked or formerly ranked opponents in Rob McCullough, Josh Thomson and JZ Calvancante. This fight is going to be a war, plain and simple.

Both men excel at submission and it is hard to choose a winner in this one. Phan has to be the favorite in this fight, as he has fought all over the world, but I am going to take Kadowaki by split decision in what should be a ground classic.

8. Hatsu Hioki 17-3-2 vs. 6-0-2 Chris Manuel

Finally on to the main event of the evening. Despite Manuel’s impressive record he has not fought any top competition like his opponent Hioki. Hioki has fought more top names in the division and because of this I will predict a first round submission victory for Hioki.

If you have HDnet, make sure to keep your eye out for this event, as it does feature many up-and-coming Japanese and American mixed martial artists.

Well folks, that’s it for this weeks Butoku report. Be sure to keep your eye on the Bleacher Report, as I will have an exclusive interview with a fighter who took part in the DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand-Prix very soon!

The Butoku Report: Episode One!

Shawn Smith — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:25:51 -0400

Butoku Report
Episode One

What’s that? You think that North American coverage of Japanese Mixed Martial Arts is lacking too? You say you don’t watch Japanese Mixed Martial Arts because it is too hard to keep up with all the fighters? Well as of today that is about to change! Welcome to the first ever edition of the Butoku Report. Every week I will bring you latest news, results, translated interviews and anything else of interest that is happening in the crazycrazy world of Japanese Mixed Martial Arts!

Yoshihiro Akiyama to UFC

The first piece of noteworthy news to discuss would be the UFC signing of K-1 and DREAM standout Yoshihiro Akiyama. At 12-1, Akiyama was certainly on his way to becoming one of the most popular stars the country had seen in a while. With wins over top contenders Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef, Akiyama would have likely been the next contender for Gerard Mousasi’s Middleweight Championship. This is obviously a major blow to the DREAM organization and Japanese MMA as a whole as one of the few rising Japanese stars of the heavier weight classes has now gone to the UFC.

Many are seeing this event as the UFC’s first major attempt in a long time to capture the large Japanese Mixed Martial Art’s fan base. Since the beginning of PRIDE when they were able to sell out the Tokyo Dome, which holds nearly 100,000 people, the popularity of MMA in Japan has fluctuated, hitting a low over the last two to three years. However, with the emergence of DREAM and World Victory Road, the popularity has again begun to rise and it is obvious the UFC wants in on the action.

The thing that makes the Yoshihiro Akiyama signing so much different that other Japanese signings over the last few years, including Akihiro Gono and Kazuhiro Nakajima, is the fact Akiyama is very much prominent in modern day DREAM. When Gono and Nakajima were signed neither was fighting because of the death of PRIDE (R.I.P.) and therefore it only made sense for them to move to the UFC.

Another name the UFC has been trying to get their hands on is 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Judo Gold medalist Satoshi Ishii. He has been spotted at numerous recent UFC events and rumors have run rampant over the last few months about when he will make the leap. What makes this story even more interesting is that Ishii was recently spotted at a Japanese event sporting an M-1 Global Affliction t-shirt (http://www.sponichi.co.jp/battle/news/2009/02/04/KFullNormal20090204034_p.html). What do we make of this? Ishii has stated he wants his MMA career to start in the UFC but as the old expression goes ‘money talks’, so we will keep our eye on this developing story.

Takanori Gomi Interview

Former #1 World Lightweight recently had an interview with Sportsnavi to discuss his lackluster performance against Satoru Kitaoka. Here is a translated version:

—How have you been since your last fight with Satoru Kitaoka?
I though you wanted to asked me about that fight.
—Of course, it would be nice if you tell me about that.
As you saw, I couldn't do anything. I suppose fans who knew me since PRIDE considered that I looked like a totally different person. I don't even know why. I didn't feel any energy in the ring. After the fight, I felt like I was free. I thought I fulfilled my duty.

—Do you mean that you resigned from a representer of the top lightweight fighter?
I suppose so. I hadn't proven myself in the last few fights. I was training, yet everything was falling apart. I couldn't put together because my training wasn't enough. My skills went down in the last two years. I experienced a lot in the last two years. I quit Kiguchi dojo without thinking well, and started my gym. I felt responsibility to take care of my students, and I was passive about my fight. I was just waiting and see who I fought with.

—The title of the tournament was “road to Gomi”
I have no excuse about my performance and my loss. Kitaoka was entirely better than me. I I hope he becomes a great champion and defends his title.

—Kitaoka asked you a rematch in the ring.
I wonder if he still wants the rematch. He completely dominated me. I want him to move forward to bring more fans to Sengoku.

—Did you feel that you got weaker than before?
I admit that I hadn't had enough training. I didn't feel any energy and power. After Misaki's fight, I tried to concentrate and motivate myself. When arriving at the ring, I noticed that I wasn't even sweating and my intensity was getting lower. Right after the fight started, I responded to him well and cut his tackles. Though I was concerned about something, I though I should be fine if I took my time. I appreciated my fans support in that event. However, I was already exhausted mentally when I got there. “Road to Gomi” started half a year ago, but I felt like I was waiting for 10 years. It was extremely long and exhausting.

Takanori Gomi is clearly not in a good place right now. His disappointing performances in his last 2 fights have dropped him out of most top 10 world rankings and have many wondering about the former Pride Bushido Ace’s future. Can he return to prominence or will his inability to train like a world caliber athlete and concentrate on the fight game keep him from returning to form? Time will tell. At this point, it looks as though he will again take some time off before fighting another opponent.

DREAM 7 Quick and Detailed Results

Finally onto last night's first round of the DREAM featherweight Grand-Prix! I will post the quick results and then discuss the points of interest.

1. Bibiano Fernandez defeated Takafumi Otsuka via unanimous decision
2. Joe Warren defeated Chase Beebe by doctor stoppage at the end of the first round.
3. Abel Cullum defeated Akiyo Nishiura via unanimous decision.
4. Mitsuhiro Ishida defeated Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision.
5. Shinya Aoki defeated David Gardner via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in the first round.
6. Tatsuya Kawajiri defeated Ross Ebanez via submission (Rear Naked Choke) in the first round.
7. Yoshiro Maeda defeated Micah Miller via unanimous decision.
8. Hiroyuki Takada defeated Jong Won Kim via TKO (punches) in the second round.
9. Masakazu Imanari defeated Atsushi Yamamoto via split decision.

King of the Cage Bantamweight champion Abel Cullum looked very good against Akiyo Nishiura able to take him down fairly easily and from there was able to put on a Jiu-Jitsu clinic however was unable to finish. Despite his 14-2 record there were many questions about him coming into this fight because of his lack of top-tier talent.

Wrestling standout Joe Warren also put on a very impressive performance in his MMA debut against former WEC Bantamweight Champion Chase Beebe. Despite Beebe also having a background in wrestling, Warren was able to take him down at will numerous times throughout the fight. Beebe proved to have little to offer before having the fight stopped due to a cut. This marks Beebe’s third straight loss and drops his record to 12-4.

“The Endless Warrior” Mitsuhiro Ishida used his wrestling prowess and smooth ground and pound to dominate Pancrase stud Daisuke Nakamura throughout their fight. Despite Nakamura’s numerous kimura attempts, Ishida was able to stay calm under the pressure and use his wrestling to stay on top of a much taller Nakamura to dominate the fight.

Idiotic is the only word that can be used to describe Mike Gardner’s antics against Shinya Aoki. Almost immediately Aoki was able to get Gardner’s back and when the pace of the fight slowed down Gardner decided that it was time to show his courteous side and wave to the fans and shout “Hello, Japan!.” Aoki being the grappling magician he is took this opportunity to get his arm around Gardner’s neck and subsequently tap him out just less than six minutes into the fight. Aoki wasn’t given an opportunity to show off his supposed improved stand-up he got on his trip to Thailand however with the talent pool for the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand-Prix ever thickening its only a matter of time before we see what Aoki can do.

To no one's surprise, Kawajiri had little trouble putting away Ross Ebanez, showing he was in top form and is ready for anything DREAM might throw his way.

Micah Miller looked good in his losing effort to Yoshiro Maeda in a fight which I thought could have gone either way. His rubber guard looked fantastic and with improved striking Miller could be a threat in the featherweight division sooner rather than later.

Finally, onto the main event of the evening featuring the master of the leg lock (sorry Shamrock) Masakazu Imanari against the young up and comer out of Norifumi Yamamoto’s “Krazy Bee” gym Atsushi Yamamoto (no relation despite their almost identical appearance). Yamamoto gave Imanari all he could handle in this scrappy battle. Imanari was able to pull guard a couple times but nothing close to a submission ever took place. Yamamoto rocked Imanari in the first with a nice straight but was unable to finish. The judges gave the bout to Imanari via split decision, although I personally had Yamamoto pulling off the upset because of his top control and ability to out strike Imanari.

Mach Sakurai Interview

DREAM’s website recently had an interview with Welterweight Grand-Prix participant Hayoto “Mach” Sakurai talking about the upcoming tournament and the possibility of a rematch with Shinya Aoki.

—Tell me what you think about participating in the welterweight tournament.
I definitely do my best to win this tournament.

—If you win the tournament, you can instantly get an opportunity to fight for the title.
I was very irritated until this tournament was announced. I understand that Dream had hard time finding and negotiating fighters who fit me. I fought Japanese fighters for a while, so I'm excited to fight foreign fighters.

—Everybody is looking forward to seeing your great performance in this tournament.
I'm self-confidence that I have played the important role in this weight class for long time, so I don't want to lose in this 76 kg weight class.

—How do you describe about the welterweight?
You see both power and speed. This weight class is the most populated and high level, so fights are always exciting and fan to watch.

—What do you think about the Japanese welterweight fighters?
There are many good fighters including Shinya Aoki, Kuniyoshi HIronaka, Hideki Kadoma, Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono. Making one mistake will cause it to lose. That's why many fighters aim at perfection and try to be like GSP. I'm not sure if fans are interested in watching perfect fighters and fights. I entertain fans by making them surprise and exited in fights.

—Are you going to have a special plan for the tournament?
I usually don't have a fight plan, yet I guess I should this time.

—Aoki fights in the tournament. What do you think?
He has built up his experience and brush up his ground techniques since we fought in Shooto. I respect his challenging spirit, yet I think he underestimates the welterweight. In general, It's not easy to switch the weight class. I know the ability of fighters is beyond reason or logic. However, he fought in the lightweight two months ago and move up to the welterweight without preparing enough? It's insane and too optimistic.

—I think fans want to watch Mach vs Aoki.
Yeah? I will fight him if fans request. Honestly, I'm sorry for Aoki to say this, but I have like to waste my time fighting him now because he is the lightweight fighter. I'm here to be a champion in the welterweight. I don't want to be bothered by the lightweight fighter.

—Any message to your fans?
Since Dream started, I had been frustrated because my fights were announced and canceled repeatedly. I want to make advance in this tournament. I don't want to miss this great opportunity. As usual, I do my best.

Wrap It Up!

For those Shooto fans out there, don’t forget that No.1 flyweight and Bantamweight World Champion Shinichi “BJ” Kojima and Shooto Featherweight World Champion Masakatsu Ueda both have world title defenses coming up against Yuki Shoujou and So Tazawa respectively. Those fights will take place at Shooto “Tradition” 4 on March 20.

Also if there are any PRIDE fans left out there, don’t forget to check out Bushido 11 featuring the first round of the PRIDE FC Welterweight Grand-Prix which was released on March 3.

Thank you all for reading. Don’t forget to tune in next week when the article will feature a full preview of the upcoming Sengoku Featherweight Grand Prix as well as my predictions and anything else that may happen in the Japanese MMA world between now and then!

Oragato Mr. Roboto!

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn II: The Breakdown

Shawn Smith — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:29:31 -0500

On January 31st, UFC Welterweight Champion of the World George “Rush” St. Pierre will once again enter the octagon to face former foe and UFC Lightweight Champion “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn.

The first epic battle between these two standout MMA fighters took place on March 4th, 2006 at UFC 58: U.S.A vs Canada. The result was a highly controversial split decision victory for GSP. In this article, I will breakdown the stand-up, ground game and everything in between that could happen in this fight.

The Stand-Up

Although B.J. Penn is well-known for his Jiu-jitsu prowess thanks to being the first American born winner of the World Jiu-jitsu championships, he also has great boxing skills.

In the first fight between GSP and Penn, he displayed this by continually being able to get inside of GSP and landing strikes to the head, however the best example of this striking was the clinic he put on Sean Sherk at UFC 84 in May of 2008. Sherk continually was pressing forward and Penn kept him at bay with his great left jab and used the jab to set up his other combinations which eventually forced the fight to be stopped following the 3rd round.

Famed stand-up instructor Shawn Tompkins recently said of B.J Penn as “I look at B.J. Penn as one of the best boxers in the business. He’s got one of the best jabs around.”

With this high credit, it is impossible to underestimate Penn’s boxing. Unfortunately for Penn however, there is more to MMA than boxing. I have seen many of Penn’s fights and seldom have I ever seen him attempt a kick. This is obviously an advantage for the long legged kyokushin karate student in GSP.

GSP also has proven to have strong stand-up skills, especially in his dismantling of Matt Serra and his beautiful KO of Jay Heiron early in his UFC career. The question will be who can establish the jab early and can Penn get inside while GSP is throwing high kicks throughout?

On The Ground

The ground battle is also very interesting. As I earlier mentioned, Penn is a well establish black-belt in jiu-jitsu so quick submissions are something in which GSP will have to be aware of at all times. GSP trained jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie eventually receiving his black belt as well and as a Gracie; we know that Renzo is one of the best in the world as well.

Although Penn may have a bit of an advantage on the ground, the question remains on whether or not he would ever be able to get GSP there. In the first encounter St. Pierre was able to take Penn down at will numerous times while Penn was never able to do the same.

The question will be whether or not Penn can get GSP to the ground and also if he does, can he keep the wrestling standout down. It is also key to remember how easily Pierre was able to take Division I wrestling standout Josh Koscheck to the mat.

The Intangibles:

The reach

St. Pierre has a 1 inch height advantage and a 3 inch reach advantage.

Stamina

Does Penn have any stamina? Everyone seemed convinced after his destruction of Stevenson and Sherk but neither of those fights went past the 3rd round and neither of them pushed the pace the way St. Pierre will.

On the other hand, I cannot recall a time when I’ve seen St. Pierre even more than a little heavy breathing. The longer this fight goes, the more of an advantage St. Pierre has.

In having to choose a winner for this first epic contest of 2009 (Sorry Hendo and Franklin, your fight just does not matter) I am going to have to go with St. Pierre, if for no other reason that the fact that St. Pierre won the first fight and has by far been the more evolutionary fighter since the first battle between them.

St. Pierre may take a few jabs but he will be able to keep Penn at bay and will be able to stuff any takedowns that are attempted. On the other hand, St. Pierre has numerous options on where to punish Penn.

If things are not working out on the feet he has the option of getting Penn down and holding them there, a luxury which Penn does not possess. This will be without a doubt a fight of the year candidate and I as a mixed martial arts fan cannot wait to witness it.

Top Five UFC Heavyweight Title contenders

Shawn Smith — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:17:25 -0500

UFC Top Five Heavyweight contenders

Here is my take on who should be the top five contenders for Nogueira’s world heavyweight title. You may agree or disagree but leave your comments, complaints, or compliments!

Andrei Arlovsk

I’m not getting why people are saying Werdum should be next in line for a shot at the gold. At UFC 73 he lost to Arlovski via unanimous decision, so why does he deserve a shot at the title first? Granted the match was not overly exciting, a loss is a loss. He is a former champion who, in the last five years, has only lost two fights, both close losses to Tim Sylvia. He has not had a crack at the title since 2006, and deserves a chance to prove himself against Nogueira.

His upcoming fight with youngster Jake O’Brien will prove whether or not he still can produce an exciting fight or if his best days are behind him. It also could be his last fight in the UFC, I’m sure he will be out for the kill.

Match up with Nogueira: Arlovski would no doubt have the advantage on feet. His kickboxing skills would create enough distance to make Nogueira’s striking next to useless. The question would be whether or not Arlovski could keep the fight from going to the ground. If so, he could put Nogueira in a very precarious predicament and would likely defeat him.

Fabricio Werdum

With a big victory over former number one contender Gabriel Gonzaga, Werdum proved his dismal loss to Arlovski was indeed a onetime affair and he is now ready to prove his skills. He had a lot of success in Pride, and is hoping to have similar success in the UFC. His next fight has not yet been announced but many are assuming it will be against the heavyweight champion, Nogueira. Werdum has already suffered a loss to Nogueira in his career via unanimous decision at Critical Countdown Absolute in 2006.

Match up with Nogueira: Both men are known for their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The fighters would not stay on their feet long, and it would come down to which one has the better BJJ skills. Their skills would likely cancel each other out to an extent and comedown to who has the better submissions and submission defence

Tim Sylvia

Although Sylvia just had an opportunity at the title, his elevated status in the UFC will likely give him another shot before anyone else on this list gets a chance. The first fight against Nogueira was a very close encounter that Sylvia could have secured with one or two more solid punches.

Match up with Nogueira: There isn’t much to breakdown as they just had a bout less than a month ago. It is the typical striker vs Jui-Jitsu match up which comes down to a challenge of style. If he had better takedown defence, it is likely that Sylvia could have kept Nogueira off long enough to edge out a victory.

Frank Mir

A big win over the heavily-hyped (and heavily favoured) Brock Lesnar has thrown Mir back into the heavyweight spotlight. After a few miserable performances, Mir needed this victory badly to keep his job in the UFC. With another top 10 victory Mir could find himself with a shot at the title once again.

Match up with Nogueira: Like the match up against Werdum, Nogueira vs Mir would likely come down to who has the better ground game. Nogueira had much better boxing as well as BJJ so Mir would have to try and catch Nogueira off guard to pick up a victory.

Brandon Vera

Three straight victories against Mir, Silva and Eilers had Vera pegged as the next big thing in the UFC. However, a unanimous decision loss to Sylvia in October has pushed him back down the ladder. Vera now needs another top 10 victory in a hurry before everyone forgets who he is. You might be wondering why I put Mir ahead of Vera, considering Brandon Vera defeated Mir just over a year ago. I put Mir ahead because he won his last fight in less than two minutes against a fighter who was expected to defeat him, and Vera lost his last fight in a rather un-aggressive performance.

Match up with Nogueira: Vera would definitely have to keep this fight standing to have any chance. He depends on a solid standing game to finish his opponents, and I struggle to see how he could stay off his back against a submission expert like Nogueira.

Honourable Mention

Gabriel Gonzaga

Gabriel Gonzaga may be at a crossroad in his career. After stunning the MMA world by knocking out Cro-Cop with his own signature head kick, he had fans buzzing. Since then, he has had two decent performances; however both resulted in defeats. He now needs to bounce back with a good win. Someone like Brandon Vera or Cheick Kongo would be a good match up for Gonzaga and could help get him back into a title shot.

Cheick Kongo

Like Gonzaga, Kongo shocked many with his unanimous decision against Cro-Cop. Kongo has a great stand up game which kept Cro-Cop at bay throughout their entire fight. Since entering the UFC, Kongo has only been defeated once and that loss was via split decision. Many underestimate his skills, and another victory against a top ten fighter would put him into a title shot.

Minotauro Nogueira: The Greatest MMA Heavyweight Ever?

Shawn Smith — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:46:39 -0500

With a win on Saturday at UFC 81 against Tim Sylvia, Minotauro Nogueira became the first person to ever hold the heavyweight title in both Pride FC and the UFC.

Surely such a monumental feat should earn him legendary status among fight fans, whether they are for Pride or UFC. But the question is where should Nogueira be placed in the all-time list of heavyweight fighters?

A major factor in trying to decide where to place him all-time has to be his amazing record. Nogueira overall record stands tall at 31-4-1 with two of the losses coming against the No. 1 ranked fighter in the world Feder Emelianenko and another by a split decision loss to Josh Barnett.

When comparing Nogueira, to whom many consider the greatest fighter of all time, there is no comparison. Randy Couture’s 16-8-0 record does not stand up with Nogueira’s considering Couture has half the amount of victories and double the amount of losses. Defeats against people like Mikhail Illoukhine, Valentijm Overeem and even Ricco Rodriguez are scars on Couture’s record which cannot be removed.

Two other top heavyweights whose records can’t compare AND who Nogueira have defeated are Mark Coleman and Josh Barnett. At 15-8-0 and 20-5-0 respectively, neither record can compare with Nogueira’s.

The only other two heavyweights with records that are comparable are Bas Rutten and Fedor Emelianenko. With Rutten only fighting one fight since 1999, he is hardly comparable. Emelianenko has been the thorn in Nogueira’s side throughout his pride career.

Emelianenko twice has defeated Nogueira by unanimous decision and he has yet to return the favor to Fedor.

Although he has not been able to defeat Fedor, Nogueira’s impressive record speaks for itself. No other fighter has defeated and dominated as many top ranked fighters as Nogueira. His impressive list includes Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro-cop, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum, Heath Herring (three times), and Tim Sylvia, among numerous others.

With these key factors, the only possible fighter who could be ranked ahead of Nogueira is, of course, Emelianenko. I believe an argument can even be made for Nogueira to not only be the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the world, but of all time. Emelianenko continuously is fighting second rate fighters and this is tarnishing his legacy.

If Fedor does not start to fight more serious competition, and Nogueira can have a quality title run, there is no doubt in my mind that Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira can be and will be remembered as the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time.

You may disagree with my views, but there is no denying his more than impressive record and the fact that he has never ever been stopped.

Feel free to criticize, compliment or complain! And thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

UFC 81: Preview and Predictions

Shawn Smith — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:28:14 -0500

Chris Lytle (24-15-5) vs Kyle Bradley (13-4)

As a relative unknown to the mainstream MMA community, Kyle Bradley is making his UFC debut against MMA veteran Chris Lytle.

Although Bradley’s record is impressive it is hard to find many names on that list of well-known fighters besides Melvin Guillard, who he successfully defeated two times early in his career. This is Bradley’s chance to make a name for himself against a veteran of the sport.

Chris Lytle, on the other hand, is in need of wins if he ever wants to get a shot at the welterweight title. In his last four UFC fights he is 1-3 including a unanimous decision loss to Matt Hughes and a split decision loss to Matt Serra. In his last fight he was stopped against Thiago Alves.

For Kyle Bradley to win this fight, he will have to keep it on the feet and depend on his knockout power. Chris Lytle will look to take the fight to the ground early and keep it their for the duration of the fight. In the end, I don’t see Bradley being able to counter Lytle’s great ground game; he will end up tapping out.

Prediction: Chris Lytle by submission in the first.

Keita Nakemura (13-2-2) vs Rob Emerson (8-6-1)

Both men have had sketchy starts to their UFC careers. Nakemura has had two decision losses and Emerson had a no contest in his one fight. Both men are known for their great technical ground and, in my opinion, Nakemura will be able to control the mat. Emerson may want to keep this fight on his feet as his hands appear to be more effective than anything we’ve ever seen out of Nakemura.

It should be a close fight all the way, but I don’t see either of them being able to finish.

Prediction: Keita Nakemura by decision.

Marvin Eastman (13-7-1) vs Terry Martin (18-2-0)

Marvin Eastman’s UFC career has been anything but good. Although he has done well on the less prominent MMA circuit, he has yet to win in the UFC. He has victories over prominent fighters like Quinton Jackson and Vernon White, however these fights were almost eight years ago and don’t show the quality those two fighters have evolved into.

Terry Martin is still young like Eastman, but has had prominent wins over Ivan Salaverry and Jorge Rivera. In the end, I can’t see Eastman being able to keep up with the young Martin and he'll eventually be over powered.

Prediction: Terry Martin by KO in the third.

David Heath (7-2-0) vs Tim Boetsch (6-1-0)

This fight is very hard to call. Boetsch is coming in with more international experience, but Heath has more octagon experience. Both are well rounded fighters who could finish the other at any time. Because of familiarity alone I will have to choose Heath.

Prediction: David Heath by submission in the second.

Tyson Griffin (10-1-0) vs Gleison Tibau (15-4-0)

This fight is going to be wild. Every time we see Tyson Griffin enter the octagon it's an absolute slugfest and is almost always the fight of the night. Griffin is a slugger with decent ground skills where Tibau is known for his quality jiu-jitsu, but is also no slough on the feet.

This will be a battle of control. The man who can push the pace of this fight will dominate.

Although I expect a decision victory, this fight will not be boring. I think Tyson’s ground game will be good enough to prevent Tibau’s take down attempts, and when Tibau gets frustrated he will try to box it out with Griffin...which is never a good idea.

Prediction: Tyson Griffin by Decision

Alan Belcher (12-4-0) vs Ricardo Almeida (8-2-0)

Another very hard to call fight. Alan Belcher is a great up-and-coming fighter who, with a few more wins, could see himself in title contention. Almeida has a very impressive resume that includes wins over UFC veteran Eugene Jackson and rising Japanese star Rio Chonan, however his last fight was almost four years ago.

The question is: How much ring rust will Almeida have? And how hard has he trained for these fights?

Belcher stand’s almost four inches taller than Almeida so he will have a decisive reach advantage. Belcher does not, under any circumstances, want to get on the ground with Almeida. If he can keep it on his feet and use his size to keep the distance he should be able to pull out a victory.

Prediction: Alan Belcher by Decision

Jeremy Horn (79-16-5) vs Nate Marquardt (25-7-2)

This is the fight I am looking forward to most—two veterans of the octagon that both want to prove that they still have it. Horn has been in more fights than probably any other fighter in MMA history. In 2003 alone he had 10 fights. He has a very strong ground game that few have been able to conquer.

Marquardt is also a veteran with many impressive victories who is also known for a quality ground game. I don’t expect this fight to stay on the feet for more than a minute or two, and from there I expect it to be a ground chess match.

I hope for Horn’s sake that he takes this fight seriously and knows what Marquardt brings to the table. If Horn is on his game he should have no problem finishing Marquardt by submission.

Prediction: Jeremy Horn by submission in the first.

Frank Mir (10-3-0) vs Brock Lesnar (1-0-0)

This fight will have huge implications in the heavyweight division. I expect the winner to come out as either the No. 1 or No. 2 contender. Lesnar has massive strength and is a former NCAA wrestling champion, while Mir is a proven submission expert.

This is really the battle of the unknown. Nobody really knows how good Lesnar is. He has had one fight that lasted 1:09 against a really minuscule opponent who was put in there to lose. This gives Mir a disadvantage as he really has no idea what to expect.

On the other hand, Lesnar can watch many of Mir’s fights and know exactly what he's looking to do. With a weight difference of almost 30 lbs Lesnar may look to mount Mir and pound him into submission, but I think Mir is too good on the ground to let such a thing happen.

Lesnar will come in like a house of fire, but gas quickly and, when Lesnar is swinging stupidly, Mir will catch him in a submission and put all the UFC’s big plans for Lesnar in the toilet.

Prediction: Frank Mir by submission in the second.

Sorry big guy, I just don't see it happening!

Tim Sylvia (24-3-0) vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (30-4-1)

What a main event this is going to be! Both fighters come in with impressive resumes and both are coming off big wins. Tim Sylvia is known for using his stand up to minimize his opponent’s offence and pushing the pace of a fight until the end.

Nogueira is most known for his amazing ground skills and will look to use them in this fight. Although Sylvia has some ground credentials, if he tries it against Nogueira he will pay.

This will be your classic matchup of striker vs. grappler with whoever can establish themselves early being able to win. Although both are coming off wins, neither of them were impressive. If Nogueira does not have the urgency he used to in pride this fight will go to Sylvia, but if he can come in and storm Sylvia and take the big man down, he will be able to finish the monster and stop the UFC PRIDE streak.

Prediction: Antonio Nogueira by submission in the third.

There ya go, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!