MMA Hot Stuff

Any Publicity Is Not Good Publicity For The UFC Or MMA

You can probably count on both hands the number of times MMA has been on the front of any major media site/newspaper or mentioned on any mainstream news outlet. And yet, it's been on the front of Yahoo a couple of times within the past two days. But sadly, not for the right reasons.

Yes, UFC 100 included Georges St Pierre defending his title (again) and Dan Henderson showcasing that the 38 year old is still on fire by knocking Mike Bisping out cold, that's not what is making the news. While the biggest weekend for the UFC met many milestones such as the first UFC Fan Expo, fastest sell out for a major UFC event, and UFC 100 it's been overshadowed by one specific incident.

Instead we have to continue to hear about the UFC being a 'circus'. Not exactly the adjective I was hoping would be used as a way of describing this last weekend.

I get so frustrated because I see these guys first hand train their butts off. Multiple times a day for hours at a time. Following strict diets, and mastering not just one sport but MANY.  They don't all act like such a fool. In fact that's the exception. The fighters I know personally are some of these most considerate and kind people I've ever met. Sure there are a few knuckleheads out there but aren't some of your own friends knuckleheads? Brock Lesnar is beyond a knucklehead. 

With Frank Mir's face looking like tenderized meat, he walked away the winner in my opinion. Brock didn't use many moves to gain position. He didn't change his guard or control but rather used his size and sort of laid on Mir to hold him down as he punched his face. Sure, it's legal, sure it worked. But when it was said and done and Brock walked away with the "win" Frank gave some undeserved respect to Brock and said semi nice things about him. He out-classed Brock ten fold. As if that was hard to do.

Brock's behavior after beating Frank was disheartening. At first I was disgusted. Then mad. Disappointed. And now I think I'm mad again. Seeing the words "Lesnar's circus antics" on the front page of Yahoo two days later, makes me feel as if his poor choices have set the sport back a few steps in the eyes of people that don't understand the sport. It's not a joke or a circus. It's nothing like WWE, with the exception of Brock Lesnar (aka Nacho Libre ). I've 'talked' to many of you who have told me I'm too harsh on Brock, but I don't think I am. He can apologize but I don't think he's sorry. He's only sorry that Dana White tore him a new ass hole. Remember his behavior after his fight against Heath Herring? Yeah, not classy. And here we are again. History repeating itself. He can apologize but when sponsors start leaving because of the crap he pulled on Saturday hopefully people will see he really isn't more than a 300 lbs WWE guy. What will it take for people to see what a joke he really is? A mask? A folding chair in the cage perhaps?

As someone that spends A LOT of time educating people on the sport, this makes me mad. He's NOT good for the sport. He's a big guy that wrestled and I'm guessing his size was only a benefit even then. I doubt his success was due to his skills. And even if his skills were as good as his college record, I can't see past his personality so it doesn't even matter.

And it also annoys me that everyone is so amped to see him face Fedor. Hello is this thing on... there are plenty of people left in the UFC he hasn't yet fought. I think Shane Carwin or even Cain Velasquez could put him in his place. Both are undefeated and in my opinion more than capable of taking Brock.

 

For those of you that are going to comment or email me saying I'm a bitch, I accept it. Feel free. But just remember, this behavior only means one thing: less overall acceptance as a sport = less advertising money + fewer fans and that means fewer events/fights.

UFC 100 FanExpo - Who will be there?

Today the UFC® confirmed the fighters that will be attending the first ever UFC^® Fan Expo™. The two day expo will be held at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas July 10th and 11th. The fighters that will be at the expo for meet and greets will be UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie and Randy “The Natural” Couture,  and former world champions Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. UFC contenders Kenny Florian, Steve Cantwell, Shane Carwin, Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Dustin Hazelett, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, Joe Lauzon, Junie Browning, Nate Marquardt, Gray Maynard, Karo Parisyan, Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez, Sean Sherk and Mike Swick will also be meeting fans, along with The Ultimate Fighter winners Nate Diaz and Efrain Escudero.

 Fans of the PRIDE Fighting Championships will have the chance to re-live the excitement of Japan’s classic organization as well, with MMA icons Renzo Gracie and Gary Goodridge being joined by “The Texas Crazy Horse”, Heath Herring, and Brazilian superstars Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

And if that’s not enough MMA star power, the premier fighters of the WEC will be on hand to sign autographs, with current champions Miguel Torres, Mike Brown, and Jamie Varner sharing the convention center floor with Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver, Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Donald Cerrone, Leonard Garcia, Ben Henderson, and Alex Karalexis.

For a list of bars/restaurants showing the historic UFC 100 Pay Per View event - check out this link.

UFC 99: Herring out, Kongo in VS Cain Velasquez

The UFC has announcedthat Heath Herring is pulling out of his UFC 99 bout against Cain Velasquez due to injury. The undefeated Velasquez is one of the rising stars of the Heavyweight division and was finally getting the opportunity to prove himself against upper echelon talent and a veteran in Heath Herring.

While it's always a disappointment when one fighter pulls out due to injury and it usually leads to a less appealing match-up with a last minute replacement, the UFC and Velasquez won'tmiss a beat on this one. Cheick Kongo, another rising star in the Heavyweight division, will step in to take Herring's place.

Kongo, who is riding a three fight winning streak, is a legitimate contender in his own right. He did lose a very close split decision to Heath Herring, but he has since greatly improved his wrestling and we know his striking is top notch. He's a beast of a man and should present an interesting match-up for Velasquez. However, the question remains just how much he's improved his wrestling. Herring exposed his lack of wrestling ability,but Velasquez could downright humiliate him in that department.

The good news for the fans? This is a great fight, and we'll get to see if Velasquez is ready to take that next step up the ladder towards the elite in the Heavyweight division. Is Velasquez the real deal like everyone says? We'll get to find out on June 13th!  

UFC 87 Results

Here are the high level results for ya.

GSP vs Fitch

Judges Decision! The official judges see the contest 50-43 and 50-44 (twice) for Georges St. Pierre. It was a great fight. GSP did clearly win/dominate the fight but hats off to Jon. He did a great job against a very tough opponent.

After the fight, as expected GSP called out BJ Penn. While I can't wait to see that fight happen, I would like to throw an idea out to Joe Silva and suggest Jake Shields and GSP meet up at some point!

Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta

Judges decision - unanimous decision winner Florian!

Kenny you continue to look great!

Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring

All three official judges see the bout 30-26 for Brock Lesnar. Wow this was NOT an exciting fight. In fact:

Dear Brock

Congratulations on defeating Heath Herring. No, really. A win is a win. Or is it? You had ONE good punch on the guy. The replays showed the same (one) punch over and over again! And you had at LEAST 15 pounds on him - that was at weigh-ins but who knows how much more you weighed tonight.

You hit him a couple of times, but didn't really rock his house. You had him in every dominating position possible, and didn't do anything with it. You didn't take his back. You didn't choke him out. You weren't even close to getting him in an arm bar.

You just used your weight advantage and laid on him. Lay and wait.

Then after the judges decision -why the hell it even went to judges decision is beyond me - you did the happy dance and a flex as if you had just won a WWE Title Belt. Much like this one here you can buy from Amazon.

No, you're not a big name in the heavyweight class for the UFC. Andrei Arlovski, Randy Couture, Frank Mir - those my friend are big names.

You've got a long ways to go to be a contender for any belt with the UFC or with Amazon. Show some respect to your opponents and fellow fighters. Don't get cocky and learn a legitimate move or two.

UFC 87 SEEK and DESTROY Predictions

This Saturday, Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre defends the UFC® Welterweight Championship at UFC® 87: SEEK AND DESTROY, as number one contender Jon Fitch steps up to take on the newly crowned champion. Then, hometown hero Brock Lesnar returns to the Octagon™ to seek redemption in the Heavyweight Division. Plus, in what could end up being the matchup of the year, lightweight contenders face off as Kenny 'KenFlo' Florian battles Roger 'El Matador' Huerta.

Here are my predictions for the main card.

Georges St-Pierre Vs. Jon Fitch
This is without a doubt going to be a great fight. While GSP has had some perfect match ups, I think this one may surprise people. We'll either see GSP showcase his ability or we'll see Jon push GSP to limits until now unseen.

GSP will enter the fight with a record of 16-2 with some major wins under his belt. Those wins include Matt Serra, Matt Hughes (twice), Josh Koscheck, Bj Penn, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg and Karo Parisyan. His two losses were against Matt Serra and  Matt Hughes.  I need to make the disclaimer that I'm a huge  Matt Serra fan, but having said that his win over GSP was a fluke, in my opinion.  He trains with some big guys and heavy hitters such as Rashad 'Sugar' Evans and Keith "the Dean of Mean" Jardine.

Jon  comes with a record of  19-2 with wins over Chris Wilson, Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves, Alex Serdyukov and Shonie Carter. Jon has a wrestling background (at Purdue) and is a jiu-jitsu black belt.

Fitch began his career at Light-Heavyweight with a record of four wins, two losses, and one No Contest. Understanding that the sport required cross training in the martial arts, Fitch soon left for San Jose, California to train with the American Kickboxing Academy and has been undefeated since.

In his next seven fights, Fitch amassed wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov, and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter – a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded – he earned a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 3, 2005 where Fitch defeated Brock Larson in a middleweight bout.

Soon after, Fitch dropped to the welterweight division and won his next six fights. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti and Diego Sanchez, Fitch was now seen as a welterweight contender. On march 1st, 2008 Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by unanimous decision at UFC 82. This marked his 8th consecutive victory in the UFC, tying the record set by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC. UFC President Dana White has recently praised Fitch's performances inside the Octagon, and indicated that Fitch would fight the winner of the GSP vs Matt Serra Welterweight title fight.

My prediction is this fight will come down to two things. GSPs overall athletic ability and the fact that Jon is known for having a late start, I predict GSP takes this win and continues to hold the belt.

Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring
There's one thing you can say about Brock and that is he's a great and established wrestler. And wrestlers do well in MMA... He wrestled throughout his four years at college (University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship) and at the end of his college career has a record of 106-5 taking some key titles such as two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion.
After college he made a career in the WWE. I'm not going to go into depth with his "titles" while in the WWE because I don't really think much of it. Sorry, but it's true. It's fake.
After leaving the-so-fake-WWE he entered the NFL and "played" for the Minnesota Vikings.
But since entering the world of MMA he has a record of 1-1. He won his first fight against Min Soo Kim, whom Brock defeated by submission (via strikes) in under two minutes of the first round. During his second fight (and first in the UFC) was against Frank Mir. When they met at UFC 81, Lesnar secured an early takedown, but was deducted a point for hitting Mir at the back of the head. Brock this is MMA/UFC not WWE! Following another takedown by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and force a submission at 1:30 of the first round. And the kicker is Brock was paid $250,000 for losing the fight whereas Frank Mir received $80,000.

Heath "the Crazy Horse" comes to us with a record of 28-13. And none of his fights included a folding chair or costumes. To be honest, I'm not quite sure why Brock Lesnar, at 1-1 in his MMA career, is favored over Heath Herring at 28-13. I would be all over this. Heath has fought the best and toughest at heavyweight, and often made it very close. He's on a new strength and conditioning program and is coming off a victory over a very big and strong Cheick Kongo, so he knows how to fight bigger and strong opponents. Herring did have some problems with a wrestler when he lost to Jake O'Brien over a year ago, but I think his experience and toughness will win this fight for him. I don't think Brock has what it takes yet to compete with a veteran like Herring. My predictions for this fight goes to Heath.

Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta
I'm most looking forward to this fight!

KenFlo comes to this fight with a record of 10-3 and is on a four fight winning streak. His three losses are with big name fighters that went to the judges decision with the exception of Diego Sanchez.  As Joe Rogan likes to say, Kenny has elbow strikes that are "razor sharp" and known to leave his opponents bloody and beaten.

Roger "El Matador" Huerta has a record of 25-1-1-1. Since entering the UFC he has won all six of his fights with his latest fight against Clay Guida.

His one and only loss came as a result of a dislocated jaw early in the finals of the SuperBrawl 36 tournament against Ryan Schultz on June 18, 2004, his third match of the day.

This is a tough one to predict, but I'm going to give this to Kenny, and I do think it's going to the judges.

UFC 87: List of bars showing UFC 87. Where will you be?

UFC 87 promises to be an exciting event, whether you're looking forward to GSP VS Fitch, Lesnar VS Herring, or Florian VS Huerta, there's a fight for everyone. Here's a list of bars showing the fight for your viewing pleasure. Don't miss it!

UFC 87: Preview Video

Check out this video preview for UFC 87! I can't wait for Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta to face off!

If I were a betting girl...

Welcome to the first installment of "If I was a betting girl" (which I am by the way... did I mention I won $230 on Forrest's victory over Rampage?)! In this post I'll be discussing the odds on some upcoming fights that I find too hard to resist. Now mind you, when it comes to MMA I like to bet on the underdogs. First off, it makes it more fun and second I find it hard to lay down $100 to win $20 on a sport where anything can happen (see Matt Serra over GSP).

I decided after my win last weekend on Forrest vs Rampage to share my thoughts on upcoming fights for those of you looking for some help in placing your bets.
** These odds were taken from Sportsbook.com on 7/10/09.

Here we go, let's start with the July 19th UFC event feature Anderson Silva:

• Anderson Silva (-600) VS James Irvin (+400) - I have to put some money on Irvin here. This is Anderson Silva's first fight at light-heavyweight, so who knows how he'll adjust to the bigger and stronger opponent. Plus, Irvin is a guy that likes to stand up and bang so he always has a shot at landing something, and, he's got power in those punches. Although standing with Anderson Silva isn't always advised, when it's James Irvin at +400 I'll take some of that action.
• Brandon Vera (-625) VS Reese Andy (+425)- Vera is definitely the favorite in this fight, but Andy is a great wrestler and a very powerful fighter. He's the kind of fighter that could take Vera down, hold him there, and land some decent shots for 3 full rounds. Although it wouldn't make for a very exciting fight, it could produce a victory fo Andy. This is Vera's first fight down at 205, but he was never that big of a heavyweight so I don't see him having a huge size advantage over Andy. I think the odds on this are so skewed because it's Andy's first fight in the UFC, but he's 7-1 with 6 fights in the IFL and was a high caliber NCAA wrestler, so he's no newcomer to competition. If Andy can get the fight to the mat consistently, I think this is a great underdog bet.

On to UFC 87 in August:

• Brock Lesnar (-275) VS Heath Herring (+215)- To be honest, I'm not quite sure why Brock Lesnar, at 1-1 in his MMA career, is favored over Heath Herring at 28-13. I would be all over this. Heath has fought the best and toughest at heavyweight, and often made it very close. He's on a new strength and conditioning program and is coming off a victory over a very big and strong Cheick Kongo, so he knows how to fight bigger and strong opponents. Herring did have some problems with a wrestler when he lost to Jake O'Brien over a year ago, but I think his experience and toughness will win this fight for him. I don't think Brock has what it takes yet to compete with a veteran like Herring.
• GSP (-265) VS John Fitch (+205)- The odds on this one aren't "great" and GSP is the man, showing he can deal with wrestlers in his victory over Josh Koshchek, but I think Fitch has the talent to make this fight really close. For that reason, I wouldn't mind dropping some money on Fitch. This isn't as good of a bet as the others, but a gut feeling.

Affliction: Banned:

• Fedor Emelianeko (-450) VS Tim Sylvia (+300)- Yes, Fedor is considered by many to be the best heavyweight ever, and even the best pound-for-pound fighter ever. But Sylvia has serious reach and a very awkward style. We saw him beat up on Nogueira's face for a few rounds before being caught in a submission, so we know he can cause a fighter fits. Sylvia definitely has the ability to use his jab and create a very slow paced fight on the feet, and thus eake out a boring victory. But a boring victory at -300 when I've got money down is pretty exciting to me. Fedor hasn't fought a quality opponent in about 18 months (disclaimer - Matt Lindland is a quality fighter, but the size difference was a little silly), so look for him to have some rust when it comes to dealing with a quality fighter as awkward as Sylvia.

So there you go, installment #1 and some thoughts on good underdogs to lay some money on. You can let me know what you think by leaving a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bars showing UFC 86

Here's a list of the bars showing UFC 86, Jackson VS Griffin.

Affliction Banned VS UFC Fight Night 14: Anderson Silva makes his light-heavyweight debut!

As many of you know, Affliction is set to make its MMA debut with "Banned" on July 19th from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. They've got a pretty damn good line up for their first promtion, with fighters like Fedor, Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski, Matt Lindland, Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead, Babalu, and Josh Barnett. Not too shabby... oh yeah, and they have "The Donald" as one of their financial backers.

But what kind of company would the UFC be if they didn't offer up some competition? Did you think the UFC was just going to sit back and let Affliction, a clothing company by nature, come in and steal MMA fans away from them? Hell no... So what do they do? They create Ultimate Fight Night 14, scheduled for July 19th from Las Vegas, and (here's the kicker), it's said to be airing for free on SPIKE TV.

Now I know what you're thinking, "I thought UFN 14 was in September", well the word is that will now be called UFN 15, and we'll still get to see Nate Diaz take on Josh Neer. But for now, UFN 14 on July 19th is reported to have some good fights for us MMA fans that like free TV. As reported by MMAJunkie, UFN 14 will feature:

• Anderson "The Spider" Silva VS James "The Sandman" Irvin - More on this below!
• Jake O'Brien VS Cain Velasquez
• Brandon Vera VS Reese Andy
• Anthony Johnson VS Kevin Burns

Not a bad card for an event pulled together at the last minute. But that's clearly the strength of the UFC, they have a number of high quality fighters under contract which they can call on at any time to step up in situations like this.

After tearing through every middleweight fighter put in front of him, the question remained, "What do you do with Anderson Silva?". The only logical thing seemed to be having "the Spider" move up to light-heavyweight to see if his skills really are so amazing that they woudl negate a weight and / or strength advantage of his opponent. Although James Irvin isn't necessarily the dream opponent that we'd all like to see Silva fight (Chuck maybe?), it will be an interesting introduction into the new weight class. Irvin is a heavy hitter with a good chin. He doesn't spend much time on the ground and would much rather stand and trade punches. This plays well for Silva, as we know his striking is probably the best in all of MMA, but his ground game is also great as we saw in his fight with Dan Henderson. So if he gets in trouble on his feet, if he's overpowered by a bigger fighter, he can likely take it to the ground where Irvin isn't as comfortable.

Some of the other fights are quite interesting as well. Click to read more!