UFC 106 and other thoughts

I was lucky to watch UFC 106. I didn’t know it was on but I figured to watch and rate it…

But I will only rate the final two bouts because these bouts featured three names I’m familiar with. Let’s start with these though:

Quentin “Rampage” Jackson will play Sgt. B. A. Baracus in the film version of the 1980’s action series The A-Team. Joining him in this cast is Liam Neeson as Hannibal Smith, Bradley Cooper as Faceman Peck and Sharlto Copley as Howling Mad Murdock. This is fitting vehicle for Cooper’s mainstream status but I wonder how Rampage will fare. Unlike other A-Team cast members, Mr. T is the most recognizable face in the TV series and TV in general in that era. YOU HAVE TO WONDER how he will pull off such an iconic figure as successfully portrayed by Mr. T.

For some reason though, he was showing his “bad-ass”-ness during The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights edition.

Come to think of it, Kimbo Slice could be a person that can fit the bill.

Josh Koscheck versus Anthony “Rumble” Johnson

I hated Koscheck during TUF. He was a bully. I cheered for Chris Leben even if he lost all of his bouts against this All-American. However, his arrogance makes him a great guy to cheer or hate. I was routing for him to win against Rumble because I don’t really know much about Johnson and I am a huge TUF 1 mark. Johnson was out-trash-talking Koscheck… what the hell?

Anyway, Johnson and Koscheck were getting amped on their match when Rumble’s intensity caused him to hit Kos with a knee to the head when Rumble was sitting down and Kos was kneeling. Kos staggered down and everyone knew that it was illegal and Kos was seen holding his eye. Before the kick, Johnson touched Kos’ eyes which proved a bad setup for the illegal blow. Afterwards the fight continued but Johnson, a recent eye surgery guy, found himself in the receiving end of two accidental eye pokes (Joe Rogan is blaming the handgear at this point). Kos went berserk when the battle went to his wrestling background with him bloodying Rumble. Koscheck, a NCAA wrestling All-American brought the fight to the ground and at 4:47 of the second round, Kos submits Rumble with a rear-naked choke.

We get our usual Koscheck arrogance by telling the crowd that Dan Hardy doesn’t deserve to be a number one contender.

Hmmm…

Forrest Griffin versus Tito Ortiz

We see a clip when Griffin won over Ortiz despite being bloodied. Lots of respect between these two men which makes me wonder if we’ll still see the Huntington Beach Bad Boy of old. Griffin comes out to a Chumbawumba song. Everyone loves one hit wonders. Tito came out with an Eminem song and you can see a blackeye. I will rout for Ortiz if he was facing Mark “The Hammer” Coleman but my bromance for Ultimate Fighter Season 1 contestants makes me mark out for Forrest. Forrest’s kicks proved key for Ortiz to second guess himself. Tito’s strikes are solid but you have to wonder how long will Forrest stand up in this fight. The action could have gone either way in the first round. In the second, while Forrest had his moments, Tito brought him to the ground and gave him a barrage of shots to the head which eventually popped a scar tissue in Forrest’s cheeks. This could have been dominating had not for Griffin’s attempts to frequently set up the triangle. In the third round though, instead of decimating Forrest, it seems like Tito stopped on the offensive! He was waiting for his chance so long that with a minute left in the fight, the judges are sure that Forrest was the worker of the round and Tito had zero attempts to win it.

Again the end of the match was decided with the scorecards with the fan favorite winning it via a split decision. Afterwards, crowd booed Ortiz for making excuses but Griffin grabbed the mic and told the fans to love the guy putting a helluva show. While I love Forrest, HE HAS GUTS (sick and foolish) for grabbing the mic away from Bad Boy. Not unless you have a deathwish, will you do that? Come to think of it, LONG AND PAINFUL DEMISE is what I expect if some random thug tries to pull that stunt on the HUNTINGTON BEACH BAD BOY! Luckily, Forrest and Tito have mutual respect for each other. And yeah, going 2-0 is cool so Forrest asking for more of Ortiz could either be stupid, or merely doing this for the sake of pwning a MMA legend.

Not MMA-related, Charice Pempengco will play one of the leads in the upcoming “Squeakwell” of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Hmmm…

Slice needs to Dice

The Tenth Season of The Ultimate Fighter takes a “slice” from the dark side.

In Episode 1, UFC Prez Dana White shocked everyone by introducing Kevin Ferguson, otherwise known as “Kimbo Slice”, as a contestant.

The 35-year-old former EliteXC champ will be one of the heavyweights featured in this installment. This somewhat took out the rivalry of this season’s coaches which were Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans. Slice was picked second pick overall by Jackson after Evans selected James McSweeney as his top pick.

Slice is a great brawler. He’s like Yogi Bear… and you stole his picnic basket…

… and Booboo.

But the main problem for 6-foot-2, 235-pounder resident from Miami, Florida is he is only a striking and he doesn’t have much of a ground game. Exciting fights could catapult awesome matches but those boring matches could be his death. Actually it will become exciting when his opponent gets him into a submission position that would likely spell the end of this former underground fighter.

Let’s just remember that no one expected Brock Lesnar to become the MMA star that he is since he is a “sports entertainment” guy. Plus, he did defeat someone via submission… but that was an exhibition match that involves former WBO boxing champ Ray Mercer.

Slice got bad rep after the internet star was destroyed fourteen seconds after the start of the match when Seth Petruzelli creamed him in one lucky blow. This match also destroyed EliteXC whose only claim to fame is having the muscle-clad and erstwhile invincible Slice in their organization.

Dana White offered a contract to Slice but he needs to earn this deal through The Ultimate Fighter. White even stated that he will make a TUF strictly for heavyweights so that Kimbo could showcase his wares.

That idea is currently a reality.

Postscript: Kimbo Slice debuts in the TUF octagon (Episode 3) against Roy Nelson. Slice’s team coached by Rampage Jackson has lost two straight duels. A win for Slice could give him more chance to secure the UFC contract.

An early loss will shatter a possible career in the UFC.

Chrisangelo’s Post UFC 100 Blog

Hey guys, it’s been a long while since I wrote an MMA related entry but I sure wouldn’t let history pass by me. Just last weekend, the UFC had their 100th overall numbered event. A card filled with basically three main events, intriguing match ups and lots questions heading to the said event.

The event saw the crowning of Brock Lesnar as the new Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, Georges St.Pierre retaining the UFC Welterweight Title, Henderson shutting Bisping up for good and Akiyama having a pretty “sexy” debut.

Here are some of my thoughts in the event..

Lesnar’s post fight actions overshadows an excellent performance

Disrespectful, arrogant, cocky, douchebag.. Brock Lesnar. Almost every MMA fan were disgusted by Mr. Lesnar’s actions after an amazing victory over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. It’s just sad that those post fight actions almost made everyone forget at how Lesnar physically man handled the former champion for the most part of their short championship match.

Sure, he’s arrogant, he’s cocky, he’s disrespectful.. but he’s legit. Most people would like to hate on him because he’s a former WWE entertainer but UFC 100 could make those nay sayers think again.

As I’ve said, he’s a former 2x NCAA Amateur Wrestling Champion and a former 4 time All American. His short stint in the WWE almost made people forget how good Brock Lesnar is athletically, that performance against Frank should make those people remember Lesnar’s wrestling background.

Just like what happened in their first meeting, Lesnar took control early in the match.. scoring an early takedown and controlling Mir from below. But he’s learned. He’s learned that you won’t win against a legitimate BJJ Black Belt by blasting on all cylinders, you win by picking your spots carefully and learning when to unleash a barrage. And he did exactly that.

Midway through the second round after Lesnar secured another takedown, Brock controlled Mir, picking his spots patiently to make Frank think twice of throwing any submission attempts from the bottom. As soon as Lesnar secured side control and got Frank’s left hand trapped on the side, Lesnar unleashed a barrage of strong punches from the side, leading referee Herb Dean to stop the contest due to Frank’s inability to defend himself.

Now, I wouldn’t go on and put him as the man to beat Fedor Emelianenko, but atleast, right now, I think we could have a decent conversation about the dream match. Fedor’s contract with Affliction will be ending after his match against Josh Barnett in August and Dana White and Zuffa has been having talks with Emelianenko and his management. If things go everyone’s way, then we could be watching a Fedor Emelianenko  vs Brock Lesnar for as near as December this year.

It’s just another day in the office for GSP

Well, we all thought Thiago Alves would be the guy who would finally give St.Pierre some problems but I guess we’re wrong. Georges St.Pierre was again proved to everyone why he’s being considered as one of the best Pound for Pound fighters in the world.

Georges St.Pierre dominated Thiago Alves in a 5 round decision victory, beating Thiago in every aspect of the game.

GSP, who’s being questioned for the way he’s been avoiding the stand up war ever since being upset by Matt Serra two years ago, out struck and out pointed Thiago Alves in the stand up department, landing 149 strikes to Thiago’s 72. St.Pierre also took Alves down at will, securing 10 succesful takedowns in 12 attempts.

And what’s amazing is that, Georges did that with a bloated elbow and a pulled abductor muscle, an injury he had ever since the 3rd round of their fight.

With Georges making every legit WW fighter look like scrubs, I think it’s about time to see Georges move up to 185.

This right here is revenge for Dan Henderson

For weeks, the arrogant Brit Michael Bisping has been running his mouth on Dan Henderson.

Henderson sure made him pay for all the things he said.

Hendo was the aggressor all night long, making Mike backpedal for the most part of the match before landing a solid right hook in the jaw of the Briton midway through the second round then following it up with a clean WWE-esque elbow drop right on down on Bisping’s face.

The match proved that Hendo, as much as we want to talk about his age, still has it. He still has that one dangerous right hand that could knock anyone out cold (Yes, I’m talking to you Anderson) and although he didn’t show it in the match, we must not forget that Dan represented his country in a Greco Roman Wrestling competition in the Olympics.

Watch out Anderson, you still haven’t finished this old guy.

Overall thoughts on the event…

Well things went well. I’d probably give it a 9 out of 10. The matches delivered, Akiyama and Belcher was exciting, Hendo KOing Bisping is something to remember, St.Pierre was fantastic and Lensar gave us all something to talk about. It certainly didn’t disappoint and I give the UFC props for putting up a fantastic card like this one.

Quinton Jackson is the Rampage

There are reasons why Quinton Jackson is called RAMPAGE. One reason is this…

Read more

Chris’ Post-UFC 97 Blog

Two days after another massive event for the UFC in Canada, I’ll be discussing some noteworthy events that happened in the said event.

First up, the one big question that is being asked is.. what on earth happened to Anderson Silva and the main event at UFC 97?

Most fight fans are outraged with the way UFC 97 ended. Anderson Silva, the supposed to be UFC’s smashing machine finished another night with a snoozer. For the second straight time, Anderson danced around the ring, showboated for most of the time and this time, finished with his first decision victory in his UFC career.

Anderson did what he had to do to win, of course, regardless of what the fans and critics says, that was still a dominating performance by Anderson. But when I say dominating, I mean Tim Sylvia-esque dominating. It’s probably not fair and proper to Anderson to compare him to Tim Sylvia but that’s what the 21,000 fans on the Bell Center saw two days ago during the main event.

Sure, Thales Leites should also be blamed for the snoozer mainly because of his uhm.. improper way of trying to get the fight to the ground but we’ve seen them stand toe to toe for most of the time during the fight and Anderson Silva decided to dance around while he could’ve and should’ve attempted to go for the finish.

Another thing why Anderson’s getting so much heat from the fight is his refusal to fight Thales in the ground. I mean, sure Thales Leites is a phenomenal Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter but, Anderson Silva is no Houston Alexander on the ground either. He’s not some one dimensional striker who’s like a fish out of the water in the ground, he’s a legitimate black belt from the Nogueira brothers and he decides to play safe instead of trying to follow through in the ground.

That of which brings most fans into the undying issue of who the best P4P fighter in the world really is. My friend even said that Dana should be embarrassed for hyping up Anderson the way he did because back then, Fedor Emelianenko would go on and destroy fighters in their strengths. Fedor beat Cro Cop standing, unleashed a brutal ground and pound to Big Nog and so on. And that is what Anderson Silva failed to deliver the other night.

To seal the deal, here’s my take on the entire issue.

Should Anderson Silva be blamed for playing it safe in the fight against Leites?

No, absolutely not. It’s Anderson Silva’s decision to fight whatever style of fighting he wants to fight. That’s him fighting in the cage, not me, not you and not the fat guy on the 14^th row that’s booing the fight. If he decides to play it safe and stick to jab, kick combo, that’s his decision.

Does Anderson deserve to get all those boos and negative reactions from the fans and critics alike from that fight?

Unfortunately, yes. That’s the price you pay for hyping up a fighter too much. People paid 49.95$ on PPV or about a thousand bucks to get a good seat live and when that kind of fight happens, expect people to complain. When you’re being hyped as a wrecking machine, as a guy who finishes fights and as the number 1 pound for pound fighter in the world and you end up fighting like that, don’t expect people to react so nice.

Point number 2.. Greasegate 2.0?

Oh boy, if you think the fight was bad, wait til you see this gif.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5992/vdzn2w.gif

If you can’t see the gif, it clearly shows Anderson Silva, wiping his face off, which is fully covered with Vaseline, puts his hands on his body and his back, puts his hands on his face again then puts his hands in his body again.

Now I don’t know about you, but man, that was illegal. And it was more obvious than Georges St.Pierre’s greasegate issue in the fight against Penn.

And unlike GSP’s issue, it wasn’t a trainer’s miscue. It was Anderson Silva himself, taking off some Vaseline in his face then rubbing it all over his body.

Now, I don’t expect this to be as huge as the first one cause I don’t think Leites will make it as big as what BJ Penn did but, as Dana White said.. you do not do that.

I’ll leave it to all of you fight fans to judge whether Silva should be punished for it or not.

Last thing.. is this the last time we’ll ever see the Iceman in the Octagon and is the “Pride” Shogun back for good?

Yes. I think so. I think it’s about time Chuck hangs it. Personally, if you ask I me.. I think he should hang it. He’s not getting younger. His style has already been figured out and fighters are just evolving as the years go by. We’ve seen him struggle against solid strikers and those are the types of fighters that are on the top of the light heavyweight food chain. We’ve seen him kiss the canvass in 3 of his last 5 fights and I’m afraid we’re going to see more of it if he decides to pursue fighting more.

Dana White already said it, Chuck is done. And Chuck, well, he doesn’t disagree at all. During the press conference, Chuck has given some hints that this might very well be his last fight.

Here’s a fun fact.. Chuck Liddell made his MMA debut 11 years ago at UFC 17. The event name? Redemption. 11 years and some 80 PPVs later, we could very well be seeing Chuck fight for one last in UFC 97: Redemption.

Enough with Chuck, let’s discuss his opponent, Mauricio Shogun Rua. After two horrible outings in the UFC, is Mauricio Rua back for good? Is the 2005 Pride 205 Grand Prix Champion back? Certainly, 1 round won’t answer all of our questions but there’s one thing I can assure you, the aura of Mauricio Shogun Rua way back when he was fighting in Japan, was definitely present at the UFC’s last PPV.

This should be a message to all the Light Heavyweights in the UFC.

UFC 94: GSP destroys Penn, retains Welterweight title.

GSP destroys Penn, retains Welterweight title

by Chrisangelo

It was billed as the most epic fight in UFC history ever, an epic fight of champions as the pay per view header would say.. but it turned out to be as one of the most, if not the most lopsided championship matches in MMA history.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) used a perfectly designed gameplan and literally destroyed BJ Penn (13-5-1) in the much anticipated rematch between the two. The first fight occured almost 3 years ago, where in Georges won via a controversial split decision, this time however, no questions will be asked.

St.Pierre mixed it up, using effective wrestling and kickboxing in the first two rounds, before unleashing a brutal ground and pound never seen and done before to a guy like BJ Penn

“My strategy was that he has small shoulders, which is good for hand speed, so I went to make him carry my weight and cause his shoulders to tire,” said St. Pierre “I wanted to start out and make it a wrestling match.”

And he did exactly that. In round 1, GSP started pushing BJ in the fence, attempted several single legs which BJ handled pretty well, landed some knees on the clinch and connecting with several jabs and kicks. In round 2,  St.Pierre finally got BJ in the ground and carnage started from there.

BJ was noticebly bleeding from his nose and from a cut below the eye. In rounds 3 and 4, it was all St.Pierre.

Right after the end of round 4, BJ’s brother Jaydee and the doctors decided to call the fight to a halt after BJ’s fail to response to his cornermen’s questions. Ironic as it was, it was BJ Penn who kept calling St.Pierre “A quitter and a frontrunner” during the Primers.

“I’ve been training for this fight since September so I had a lot of pressure. Last time I fought him I won in a decision, this time I really wanted to take him out and I’m glad that I did it,” said St.Pierre in the post fight interview.

———————

In the co-main event of the evening, Lyoto Machida (14-0) proved that he’s for real and ready for the title shot as he defeated fellow Brazilian and former undefeated fighter Thiago Silva (13-1) in a buzzer beating knock out.

Lyoto was just too quick for the ATT fighter as he landed with solid kicks, quick jabs and takedowns. He knocked down Thiago twice in the match before finishing him off with two solid strikes just as the round ended.

Referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight after Thiago didn’t make it back to his corner after the bell.

“I’m very happy to be here, Thiago is a tough, but today I was better than him” said Machida who should be due for the title shot later this year.

———————

21 year old light heavyweight Jon Jones (8-0) turned heads after a convincing showing against TUF 1 veteran Stephan Bonnar (11-5) using his unorthodox striking and impressive greco-roman wrestling to get a unanimous decision victory with the scores 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.

———————

Karo Parisyan (19-5) shook off back injuries and panic attacks as he outpointed fellow Judoka Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1) in a straight out grappling match, the fight was scored 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 in favor of the Armenian.

———————

In the first bout of the evening, Clay Guida (25-9) squeked out a razor thin victory out of TUF 5 champion Nathan Diaz (10-2)

Clay used his effective wrestling and relentless energy to tire off and avoid Nate’s patented ground game. The fight was scored 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 in favor of Guida

———————

Main Card

• Georges St-Pierre wins by TKO stoppage (Referee) over BJ Penn at 5:00 in the 4th round. St-Pierre retains the UFC welterweight title.
• Lyoto Machida wins by knock out over Thiago Silva at 4:49 in the 1st round.
• Jon Jones wins by unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar.
• Karo Parisyan wins by split decision over Dong Hyun Kim.
• Clay Guida wins by split decision over Nate Diaz.

Preliminary card

• Jon Fitch wins by unanimous decision over Akihiro Gono.
• Thiago Tavares wins by unanimous decision over Manny Gamburyan.
• John Howard wins by split decision over Chris Wilson.
• Jake O’Brien wins by split decision over Christian Wellisch.
• Dan Cramer wins by split decision over Matt Arroyo.

The 10 Most Significant Matches in MMA History

I’ve been planning to write this entry for months now.. but thanks to lots and lots of work, the PBA Games heating up and a lot of procrastination I failed to write one.

Right now, with the help of the guys over at the Sherdog Forums, I’m writing the 10 most influential matches in Mixed Martial Arts History.

Since 10 fights are too short to count all of those fantastic matches that happened in Pride and the UFC.. here are some other fights that didn’t make the list. (Not in order)

Kimbo Slice vs Seth Petruzelli - Alright, I know it’s stupid but it’s just amazing how ONE JAB can take a whole organization down. The Kimbo loss marks the end of the stupid Slice hype and the organization called Elite XC

Matt Hughes vs Royce Gracie - Old school vs New school was the anthem at that time. Matt Hughes, probably the most dominant champion in UFC history takes on the guy the foundation of the early days of the UFC.

Dan Henderson vs Wanderlei Silva - This match marked the first time a fighter has ever held two titles on the same freaking time. Henderson, at that time the 183 pound champion, took on the reigning Pride 205 Champion Wanderlei Silva. Henderson won the match via knockout, being the first and only guy to hold two belts simultaniously.

Randy Couture vs Tito Ortiz - Randy at that time was struggling after losing back to back fights at Heavyweight. Randy then went on and beat Chuck to become the interim champion then defeated Tito to become the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion at that time. This also marked the end of Tito’s 6 fight win streak.

Royce Gracie vs Kimo Leopoldo - This fight showed the significance of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in a big way. You know why? At that time, Royce was being outweighed by about 50-60 pounds.

And now the list…

10) Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs Dan “Hendo” Henderson

UFC 75: Champion vs Champion. Rampage won via Unanimous Decision

Background of the match: This would be Quinton’s first title defense afte taking the belt away from then UFC LHW Kingpin, Chuck Liddell. This would also be Dan Henderson’s first fight, coming into the UFC as the Pride Middleweight Champion.

Why it’s so signifcant: Well basically, this marked the first ever unification of the Pride and the UFC belts. It’s also interesting to note that Rampage at that time was coming off a win against Chuck Liddell and Henderson was coming off a win against Wanderlei Silva. They only happen to be two of the best evers at that division.

Watch here

9) Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz vs Frank “The Legend” Shamrock

UFC 22: Only one can be champion, Shamrock won via Submission in the 4th

Background of the match: Shamrock came in as the king of the 205 division and Tito was one of the hottest prospects at that time.

Why it’s so significant: It’s probably one of the biggest matches in MMA’s dark days. Tito at that time was the word of mouth, with that bad ass cocky persona and incredible wrestling, Tito was already a draw at that time. Frank however, was the dominant champion. It’s a great fight that lived to the hype, showcased Frank as the first ever “Complete Fighter” and halted the hype that the bigger Ortiz had in that time.

Watch here

8) Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock 1

UFC 40: Vendetta, Ortiz won via Round 3 corner stoppage

Background of the match: The bad blood between the two is traced since UFC 18 when Tito defeated Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander. Since then, the two fighters have exchanged heat and in UFC 40, they finally met in the Octagon.

Why it’s so significant: Well, let’s just say that the feud between Ortiz and Shamrock helped the acceptance of MMA in the mainstream media. And the match didn’t disappoint, it drew PPV numbers and had a good gate attendance as well. It also kept the UFC afloat at that time.

7) Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko vs Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

Pride Final Conflict 2005, Fedor won via Unanimous Decision

Background of the match: Fedor was being considered as the best Heavyweight on the planet and Cro Cop was the hot challenger, coming on a 7 fight win streak with all but one being stoppages.

Why it’s so significant: It’s two of the best heavyweights at that time going at it and it’s very rare to see that. This match also cemented Fedor’s legacy as the greatest Heavyweight ever.

6) Tito Ortiz vs Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell 1

UFC 47: It’s on!, Chuck won via 2nd round TKO.

Background of the match: The fight everybody wanted to see ever since the Iceman hype started. Tito at that time was hungry to get the belt back after losing it to Couture. Chuck however, was looking for a shot at Randy again.

Significance of the match: It was probably the biggest fight at that time. Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz.. if you get those guys to fight in the card, you’ll get asses on the arena seats and buys on PPV. It also answered a lot of questions at that time, is Tito scared of Chuck? is the Iceman the next big thing? This also marked the beginning of Chuck Liddell’s awesome run in the UFC.

Watch here

5) Fedor Emelianenko vs Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogeuira 1

Pride 25: Body Blow, Fedor won via Unanimous Decision

Background of the match: At that time, nobody cared about this Russian guy and Big Nog was the best Heavyweight in the world. Oh how things changed..

Significance of the match: As I’ve said, Nogueira was the heavy favorite to win this match and Fedor was just basically another guy on Big Nog’s resume. But that didn’t happen tho, as Fedor unleashed a brutal ground and pound, never done before by any human being on Big Nog, winning a dominating Unanimous Decision and being crowned the second Heavyweight Champion of Pride FC, a belt he held on  to until Pride was bought by Zuffa.

Watch here

4) Forrest Griffin vs Stephan “The American Psycho” Bonnar

The Ultimate Fighter Finale 1, Forrest won via Unanimous Decision

Background of the match: It was the finale of the first ever Ultimate Fighter, nothing special here, just two guys looking for a contract at the big league until…

The significance of the match: Up to now, it’s still known to many as the biggest fight in UFC history. An exciting slugfest of just two guys wanting to get that illustrious UFC contract. This match was the final kick into the UFC’s attempt to get into mainstream. Dana White refers to it as the most important fight in the UFC mainly because, it helped the struggling company into mainstream MMA. This match also invited new fans, many of them.

Watch here

3) Rickson Gracie vs Nobuhiko Takada

Pride 1, Rickson by Armbar in Round 1

Why it’s so significant: I’m not gonna lie and pretend to be a know it all and try to make up some things in this match. So why is it so significant? Well, let’s just say.. there’s no PRIDE FC if this match didn’t happen.

2) Royce Gracie vs Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau

UFC 1, Royce won all fights via Submission

Background of the event: It was the first UFC event, 8 man format tourney, winner gets 50,000 dollars. It’s that simple.

Why it’s so significant: Other than being the first event in the biggest organization in the world, it also showcased the technique called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Fast forward 15 years later, almost every MMA fighter has trained BJJ.

1) Kazushi “The Gracie Hunter” Sakuraba vs Royce Gracie

Pride GP 2000, Saku won via corner stoppage in the sixth round.

Background of the match: It was just another fight in the 2000 GP, except that it has unlimited number of rounds.

Why it’s the most significant fight in MMA history: Well, let’s just put it this way, Sakuraba was the corner stone of Pride FC. He’s a hero to most Japanese MMA fans and Royce was the cornerstone of the first ever UFCs. Up to now, it’s still the longest fight in MMA history (90 minutes) and it showcased two of the most influential fighters at the time being.

Whew, that’s long. That would be it. Thanks for reading.

HooPH MMA: Weighing in on Brock Lesnar

On the night of UFC 91, Brock Lesnar did what seemed to be impossible to say for us fight fans 9 months ago when he got submitted by Frank Mir at UFC 91.

Yes, Brock is now the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

And he did it by knocking out the five time UFC Champion in brutal fashion. A shot to the temple and a barrage of hammer fist and that’s all she wrote. We now have a guy with 4 professional wins as our UFC Heavyweight Champion. And as ironic as it may sound the man that Lesnar beat to become the Champion also won his first title in his 4th professional fight, beating Maurice Smith via majority decision in UFC Japan in 1997.

While to most MMA fans, Lesnar didn’t deserve a shot at the title after beating Heath Herring, he certainly proved to the MMA community that while he technically didn’t deserve to fight for the title, he can beat and he already did beat the Champ. So that proved something about his skills.

Sadly, people still think of Brock Lesnar in Mixed Martial Arts is a joke, mainly because Lesnar fought or acted in World Wrestling Entertainment before. That I think is pretty darn stupid. MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba fought in numerous Pro-Wrestling organizations before becoming one of the most beloved figures in the history of Mixed Martial Arts, what about that huh?

Are we forgetting that Brock is a former National Amateur Wrestling Champion? A former 4 time All American? Has a 106-5 record in the NCAA before being hired by Vinnie Mac. Forget the fact that in his first three fights in the UFC, he has fought Mir (Former Champion) Herring (MMA Vet) and Couture. He’s a pro wrestler and he doesn’t deserve to be here!

Alright, enough with the sarcasm.

At some point, I think the people would realize that Lesnar is for real and is the future of the young UFC HW Division. If you see how he works in his first four fights, beating Herring and Couture in his 3rd and 4th professional fight, imagine how he’ll do in about 2 years. 2 years of working with Greg Nelson’s camp, 2 years of training with Rodrigo Comprido, 2 more years of MMA experience. Imagine that.

With his dick-like tattoo in his chest aside, I’m going to go out and say this guy is going to be unstoppable in 2 years.

Like what Dana White said..

He’s fucking fantastic.

HooPH MMA: UFC 89 Predictions

New layout means new sport entries. That means, I’m finally going to let go of my personal MMA blog (MMA ALL DAY) and will now post my Mixed Martial Arts related entries over here at HooPH under the “other sports” category.

Anyway, UFC 89 is just around the corner and while it isn’t one of the better cards in the UFC this year (name wise) it’s one of the cards that has the closest match ups. Leben vs Bisping, our very own Brandon Vera vs Keith Jardine, Luiz Cane vs Sokoudjou and many more. That’s why I find it interesting. It’s tough to predict cause you really don’t know what to expect.

Anyway here are my predictions for UFC 89

(185) Chris “Crippler” Leben vs Michael “The Count” Bisping

One of the most intriguing matchups I’ve seen in a while. Bisping, a solid well rounded fighter. Has good striking and ground and pound and has looked good ever since making his debut at the Middleweight division against Chainsaw Charles McCarthy. Leben on the other hand is a brawler, a guy with a rock solid chin and heavy hands.

The match could go either way, it’s either Bisping goes for takedowns all night long and try to avoid Leben’s stand up or he’ll try to show off to his hometown folks by trying to stand with Chris. I believe the latter is going to happen and Leben will take this fight via KO.

(205) Brandon “The Truth” Vera vs Keith “Dean of Mean” Jardine

This is a match for two guys who likes to stand. Keith, the kickboxer and Brandon the Muay Thai guy. Brandon didn’t look great in his debut in the LHW division, although he did win against Reese Andy in a boring unanimous decision while on the other hand, Keith Jardine didn’t do any better. He got knocked out (or rape choked as some of my colleagues would say) in 36 seconds by Wanderlei Silva. So definitely, these are two guys who would want to rebound from their previous performances.

The key stretch in this match would be the very first round. Keith, as we’ve seen it, starts slow (EG: against Houston Alexander and Wanderlei Silva) and we all know, Keith is usually on the end of a highlight reel beating if his opponent takes advantage of his slow start. I’m sure Brandon has already watched some of Keith’s matches and will be looking to attack early in the get go.

I say Brandon takes this via KO.

(205) Luiz Cane vs Sokoudjou

Again,  two guys who hits hard and loves to stand and bang. Both will be coming out very aggressive and neither would like to fight on the ground. I say the guy who hits first gets the win here. And why am I thinking it’s going to be Soku? Well, ask Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Sokoudjou via KO

(170) Paul Kelly vs Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis

Davis’ title run was spoiled by AKA’s Mike Swick the last time around as he was taken down and grounded and pounded at will by Swick. Marcus will be looking to rebound from that loss as his takes on Paul Kelly. And if you’ve seen Kelly’s last fight against Paul Taylor, you know he’s going to stand toe to toe with Marcus Davis and that’s not really a bright idea.

Davis via TKO

(170) Chris “Lights out” Lytle vs Paul Taylor

This is going to be the fight of the night. Believe me when I say it. Lytle has crazy KO power and has only been finished twice (And that was via a cut) in about 50 matches.  Like what I said in the Kelly - Davis match above, Taylor is known for standing and banging and will surely try to do the same thing to Chris Lytle. With that being said, I say Lytle takes this via TKO.

I won’t be putting much description to my predictions on the prelims because it’s 3:30 in the morning and I really need to get some sleep. Anyways, here it goes..

(170) Akihiro Gono vs Dan Hardy

Gono via Unanimous Decision

(206+) Shane Carwin vs Neil Wain

Carwin via TKO

(170) David Beilkheden vs Jess Liaudin

Beilkheden via Unanimous Decision

(170) David Baron vs Jim Miller

Baron via Sub

(155) Per Ecklund vs Sammy Schiavo

Ecklund via Sub

(155) Terry Etim vs Sam Stout

Stout via Unanimous Decision

That’s it folks. I’ll be posting my UFC 90 predictions next week. :D