MMA Hot Stuff

WEC 46 Predictions and Random Thoughts Like Grizzly Bears

This Sunday, the WEC crew will blow into Sacramento for what feels like Urijah Faber's thirtieth fight at the ARCO arena. I'm kidding but you have to admit the ARCO arena is his second home. In his back yard with the stand filled with his friends from afar. All of that and I'm not even talking about the main event. Who doesn't love watching the California Kid though..? My predictions are below. Winners in green.

Finally, we're going to see the Lightweight title unified. As you may recall, Jamie Varner walked away with a very controversial win over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at WEC 38, when the fight was stopped in the fifth round when Cowboy hit Jamie's temple with an illegal knee while Jamie was down. After given the alloted amount of time to recover, Jamie said he could not continue due to double vision (and a broken hand). Well, that was almost a year ago. Jamie has been recovering and during that time the WEC set up an interim title bought between Cowboy and Ben Henderson. Ben beat Cowboy via unanimous decision (in a pretty rad fight getting them fight of the night bonuses -cha-ching) to win the Interim Lightweight Championship. So here's how I see it. You have Ben (aka Smooth) coming off a spectecular win, and has been training with elite fighters including Kenny Florian and BJ Penn. And we know Jamie likes to throw punches. Although having said that he hasn't been in the cage for almost a year (most likely will be a bit rusty). I expect Ben to take Jamie down early and submit him. I don't foresee this going past the second round. For extra points I expect Ben to get him in a Rear Naked Choke. 

What do we know about Urijah... He doesn't like to lose. And has only lost to one person in the past four years (Mike Brown; twice). He'll be facing Brazilian Raphael Assuncao who has an impressive record of 15-1 (currently on a 6 win winning streak). This very well could turn out to be a great fight but see it going to the ground early. Urijah is coming off that last loss to Mike Brown and has something to prove in front of his home crowd. I see Urijah winning by submission (via something fancy like a guillotine).

Who doesn't love watching guys enter the cage that are undefeated! Well lucky for us because Dave Jansen is just that. Undefeated with a record of 14-0! His last win was against one of my other favorite WEC guys; Richard Crunkilton via unanimous decision. Dave is set to face (also undefeated) Kamal Shalorus; fighting out of Austin TX. Don't mess with Tex. Speaking of don't mess with Tex Kamal is not only a grappling instructor but also partner at American Combat Association. I point this out because Dave has been successful on the ground but this time, if he doesn't get Kamal there he might be in trouble. I'm picking Kamal to win by TKO in the first. I'm anxious to see this fight.

I LOVE fighters that love to fight. That's what I think of when I think of Mike Brown. Well that and grizzly bears for some reason. Mike just fought on the WEC 44 card in November, and lost by TKO to Jose Aldo. Mike's facing a pretty experienced fighter (although making his WEC debut), Anthony Morrison.  When Mike was asked what he thought of Anthony he said he's quick and a hard hitter. He's also coming off a win against Alvin Robinson just weeks ago. For me, it comes down to grizzly bears. Mike will take this. And I have a feeling he's going to show us his redemption by beating Anthony by TKO. Early, I'm saying the end of the first round.

What's the saying, "strike while the iron is hot?" That's exactly what comes to mind when I think of Mackens Semerzier. He just shocked everyone during his WEC debut in October when he submitted Wagnney Fabiano in the first round. Not a bad way to make your debut with the WEC. Well he's back to face Deividas Taurosevicius and he's nothing to laugh at. His record is 11-3 where he also fought on WEC 43 and won via split decision against Javier Vazquez. I'll say I think Mackens is a future contender for the WEC. I expect him to win by submission.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know. Either leave a comment or send me an email. Rachel@mmahotstuff.com

 
 

VERSUS To Air WEC Greatest Knockouts II

Grab your popcorn and beer (hey don't judge me) or set your Tivos, because you're in luck! VERSUS will air WEC’s Greatest Knockouts II on Wednesday, October 7, at 9 p.m. ET! You'll see Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, Jose Aldo plus many other elite WEC fighters showcasing some of the biggest knockouts in the WEC! Sa-weet! Which knockout are you excited to see again?

VERSUS TO AIR HIGH-ENERGY SPECIAL

 WEC’S GREATEST KNOCKOUTS II   

ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, AT 9 P.M. ET

 

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 6, 2009)— VERSUS, the exclusive cable television home of World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC®), will air WEC’s Greatest Knockouts II on Wednesday, October 7, at 9 p.m. ET. The hour-long presentation will feature fight highlights from some of the biggest knockouts in WEC history.

The show will feature fight highlights from August 2008 to the August 2009 match in which Brian Bowles defeated Miguel Torres, one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in MMA, to earn the bantamweight title. Also included are the knock-out fights from Mike Brown’s featherweight title win over Urijah “The California Kid” Faber in November 2008 and Jose Aldo’s amazing eight-second knock-out of veteran Cub Swanson in June 2009.

The show will re-air on Saturday, October 10, at 12 a.m. ET, immediately following the network’s live WEC fight featuring Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone against Ben Henderson in a bout that will crown the interim WEC lightweight champion.  The live fight will air at 10 p.m. ET and will originate from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

The WEC brand is recognized as one of the premier mixed martial arts organizations in the United States. Founded in 2001, the WEC features many of the most prominent athletes in the sport of mixed martial arts today. Owned and operated by WEC Holdings LLC., and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the WEC produces live and taped events annually that are distributed through the Versus network. WEC programming is also available on Fox Sports en Espanol. In addition to its U.S distribution, WEC programming is shown on the TSN network in Canada and Cadena Tres in Mexico. For more information and current WEC fight news, visit wec.tv. World Extreme Cagefighting® and WEC® are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by WEC Holdings, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions and are licensed to WEC Productions, LLC.

VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD) and is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the IndyCar® Series as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing.  The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events and original programs, such as Sports Soup and Sports Jobs with Junior Seau that audiences can't find elsewhere.  VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

 

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Nominations for 2009 World MMA Awards closes on Wednesday

Who do you think was the BreakThrough Fighter of the Year? Best MMA Promotion? 

As a reminder, the nomination stage for the 2009 World MMA Awards closes this Wednesday (tomorrow), Sept. 30. 

The World MMA Awards, which is operated by Fighters Only magazine, is viewed as one of the most prestigious awards for the sport, awarding in 18 different MMA related categories

Nominees will be announced on Oct. 5, and final voting will then run until Dec. 5. Winners will be announced at a Dec. 30 "Oscars-style" black-tie ceremony, which streams live on Versus.com (and throughout January on Versus) from The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 

"Response to the World MMA Awards has been huge this year with thousands of fans worldwide taking part," Fighters Only CEO Rob Hewitt recently stated. "Nominations have been very diverse, and ... most of the categories are still wide open." 

The categories range from Fight of the Year to KO and Submission of the Year to Best MMA Brand and best MMA Media Source. MMA equipment manufactures also vie for a variety of categories. 

But before you place your vote I encourage you to take a minute and think about things. What makes someone the Best Fighter of the Year? Is it the number of wins? Is it the most vicious KnockOut? The biggest upset? Or is it because of heart and dedication?

Another category is Best MMA Journalist. I've thought a lot about this one (for obvious reasons). Always keep in mind the best Journalist may not be the one that breaks every 'story'... Sadly, fact checking has taken a back seat more often than not over being the first to the party. And then there are times the stories are known weeks before the story actually gets out but can't be discussed for confidential reasons. I personally take pride in the fact that while I consider many Fighters (UFC, WEC & Strikeforce) my personal friends, a lot of the information I hear I keep to myself. I'm so proud of what my friends have accomplished and there are times I know the information is just best left unsaid or unwritten. I want them to have time to train in private for a fight before it's publicly announced who their next opponent is. Who do you consider to be a Journalist that writes funny or interesting stories? Gives a different perspective than the 12 other sites that covered the same thing the day before.

So now that I've given you something to think about, please hurry and vote. 

Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/MMAHotStuff

MMAHotStuff Co-Hosted MMAScrapsRadio Guest WEC Mike Brown

This evening I co-hosted on MMAScraps Radio! Special guest was WEC Mike Brown. I was nervous and I'm sure I will only get better (I hope). 

Please show your support by following us at Twitter.com/MMAHotStuff Twitter.com/MMAScraps Twitter.com/MMAScrapsRadio

WEC Brown vs Faber RECAP

I know I know.. this post is way later than I expected given I was actually AT the event. I've been busy working a new project. More on that later.

WEC put on a great event on Sunday. The crowd was everything you'd expect with it being in Sacramento. EVERYONE in the ARCO Arena went crazy for Urijah. If the guy had sneezed they would have cheered for him.

The first fight on the main card was Josh Grispi vs veteran Jens Pulver. The crowd showed love for Jens but it didn't take Josh long to win the fight. He caught Jens in a guillotine choke 0:33 seconds into the first Round. Jens mentioned the possibility of retiring after that loss. Win or lose Jens is one of those fighters that will always draw a crowd.

The second fight on the main card was between Donald Cerrone and James Krause. Cerrone came into the fight as a heavily favorite against newbie Krause. This was Krause's first fight in the WEC. While they did trade some blows standing, it was Cerrone who walked away with a win by rear naked choke in the first round (4:38).

Does anyone out there know the quickest TKO in MMA? Anyone? Because the SHOCKING fight between Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson very well may be the quickest. After they touched gloves Aldo came in with a FLYING KNEE to Swanson's face. Unfortunately for Swanson he also managed to somehow duck into the knee (at least that's what it looked like from my view). Cub immediately went down and crawled into a ball on the mat in what had to be extreme pain. Then Aldo came in and landed a couple punches while Cub was down to seal it. The entire thing took eight seconds. EIGHT. I had just sent my dad a twitter msg as the ref was giving the "obey my command" speech. I said "Dad this will be a good fight, Aldo is great and Cub is one of my favorites in the WEC." Send. Then it was over. I'm sure it was over before my dad had a chance to even read the Direct Msg through Twitter. Then I got one back that said "Ouch." And yes, I agree. Ouch. The crowd immediately started talking about Jose getting the winner between Brown and Faber. We'll see....

THE MAIN EVENT....Defending WEC Featherweight Champ Mike Brown vs Urijah Faber. Again the home town crowd couldn't get enough of the California Kid. The corn rows. The entrance music. And I get it. He's their California Kid from their home town. But the disrespect of Mike Brown was a little surprising. Flipping him off as he walked out. Again I get the enthusiasm, but show the guy a little respect he is a person after all. Okay, sorry, that was the girl in me.

If you didn't have a chance to watch the fight Sunday night and weren't smart enough to record it, VERSUS will be replaying it. It's a must watch fight.

It ended up going all five rounds and the judge's scored it as an unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) but Urijah broke his right hand pretty early on. Even with the broken hand he continued with intense kicks and almost got Mike in a deep choke in the fifth round that got the crowd's hopes up. Brown showed everyone why he's still the WEC Featherweight Champion! To quote a very smart person, "Mike Brown is a man... With that beard, I think he'll kill a bear after he fights Urijah. Enough said.

As of this morning, Urijah was heading into surgery to repair his broken right hand. Oh if you want to see a picture of the xray you're in luck because Urijah twittered it 

Looks like according to his twitter there's a possibility his left hand may be fractured as well.

While Mike is strutting around his living room wearing the belt as I type this, I'm sure we'll see a do-over between these two. Mike Brown vs Urijah Faber III ?

WEC Brown vs Faber II Weigh-Ins Today

Just a friendly reminder the weigh-ins for the WEC Brown vs Faber II fights are happening today and they're FREE and open to the public! Come out and support your favorite fighters as they strip down and get on the scale.

Live at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium at 4pm PT. Doors open at 3:00pm PT.

Can't make it to the weigh-ins? You're in luck because you'll be able to watch the weigh-ins on line - LIVE!

Q&A with the WEC's Bantamweight Champion Miguel Angel Torres and WEC fighter Brian Bowles immediately follows the weigh-in.

For more information go to http://www.ufc.com/live_videos/index.htm

ESPN MMALive

Here's today's ESPN MMALive episode..

Miguel Torres filled in for Kenny but fellow tweeps (twitter peeps) you can still get your Kenny fix by going here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4231291

First up was the big news about Kimbo Slice joining the cast of TUF 10. Seems everyone agrees this is a great move by Dana White by bringing Kimbo on the show. As you may know Dana hasn't been shy about his opinion of Kimbo. Seems to me Kimbo will definitely bring the more casual fans to the sport
and of course us MMA Addicts will tune in to see this one time street fighter YouTube sensation try to prove himself. Also as part of the cast are  four ex NFL players. The loser in this may be Strikeforce for not being able to come to an agreement with Slice. Love him or hate him Slice definitely brings viewers!

Stephan Bonnar via satellite says it shows Kimbo has character by joining TUF cast.  Saying Dana has been critical of Kimbo from he beginning but Kimbo is showing he has character by accepting this challenge from Dana.

We can't forget that Kimbo is coming in with options. He has expressed his desire to box so if this doesn't pan it out he has that back up plan! TUF 10 will debut  Sept 16th.

Also discussed:
Rua and Lyoto may meet in October

This Sunday Mike Brown will defend his title against Urjah Faber. Urijah was on the show via satellite saying he knows Brown is a tough opponent. He said he made one small mistake in their last fight. Migel asked how he expects to win this sunday and Urijah's response was " Anyway. My hands are good and I've proven that before. I can submit guys as well. I'll be bringing my A game."

Also this weekend, Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields will face each other at a catch weight of 182lbs. Robbie was on MMALive via satellite and said he won't leave anything behind. Not impressed or worried about Jake moving up a weight.  Jon Anik picked Jake to win this fight.

Pulse question this week: Is Quinton making the right decision by not fighting Lyoto and coaching on TUF 10?  What are your thoughts?

Buy or Sell - Kimbo will win his first fight on TUF.

Urijah Faber To Throw Ceremonial First Pitch At A's Game

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight star Urijah Faber will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Oakland Athletics versus the Seattle Mariners game on Tuesday, May 26th at 6:55pm PST. Faber, a native of nearby Sacramento will also e on hand to meet A's players and watch WEC fans Dallas Branden, Travis Buck and company take on the Mariners.

As I've reported before, Faber is gearing up for his much anticipated rematch against the WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown which will take place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento on June 7th.
"I'm excited to throw out the first pitch at the A's game," said Faber. "They are a great organization and I'm looking forward to stepping foot on the mound at the Coliseum."

Tickets for the A's vs Mariners game can be purchased at the usual ticket outlets, including the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Box Office, online at oaklandathletics.com, or over the phone by calling (877) 493-BALL (2255).

ESPN MMA Live: UFC 96 / Episode 43

Here's a recap from today's ESPN MMALive:

This weekend UFC 96 from Nationwide Arena (Ohio) Quinton Jackson vs Keith Jardine.

What does Keith need to do: Use his standup. Jardine has been here before. This would be a big win for Keith.
I personally think Keith is always the underdog but surprises people (remember 2007 vs Chuck).

If Rampage wins this fight he'll most likely fight Rashad Evans for the title.

Also on the card is Matt Hamill vs Mark Munoz. Both wrestlers. Should be a good match up. Frank pointed out he thinks Matt is a bit better on his feet than Mark.

As announced UFC 98: Lesnar vs Mir II - Also, on the card Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra. I can't wait for this. For those of you that follow me on a regular basis (and if you don't, you should) you know why this is a much anticipated card for me!

Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira have both verbally agreed to UFC 101.

We are all blessed by Rashad Evans signing an 8 fight contract with the UFC!

If you missed the Mike Brown vs Leanard Garcia fight last week in Corpus Christi it was a fantastic show of Mike Brown retaining his WEC Featherweight Title. After the end he called out Urijah for another match up. Definitely defended in style.

They also got Stephan Bonnar on the phone asking him his opinion of boxer Hasim Rahman taking a shot at MMA.

Kenny and brother/mma coach Keith (hi keith) showed the foot sweep and how to counter it.

watch the rest of the episode here:

WEC: Faber goes down, Garcia dominates, and Filho is crazy

What a night of WEC fights... Most of which seemed to over rather quickly, except of course for the one we all were wishing would mercifully end, but just wouldn't.

We'll recap three fights for you. First, Leonard Garia VS Jens Pulver:

The fighters come out, Garcia looking like the bigger fighter. They exchange a few punches and Garvia throws a few kicks while the fighters feel each other out. Once or twice Garcia retreats quickly as Pulver is looking for his shots. Garcia lands a right hand, and then another one that rocks Pulver. Pulver moves back, shakes his head, wobbles a bit and wipes his nose to check for blood... once he did that, you could feel the end was near, and apparently Garcia felt it too. He moved in with more devastating strikes as Pulver was backed up against the cage. Pulver collapses one leg down and Garcia continues to tee off on him until the ref steps in to stop the fight.

Dominating win for Garcia who states that he wants and deserves a title shot in his post-fight interview.

Next up, Paulo Filho VS Chael Sonnen:

The first round sees Sonnen looking to repeat his game plan from the previous fight. Using his reach, keeping it standing, and stuffing the takedown. Filho attempts the takedown, but Sonnen stuffs it. Filho rolls to his back inviting Sonnen into his guard and the ground game. Sonnen actually considers it, holding the ankles and looking to land strikes. The crowd does not like it as it's not only boring, but everyone has to be wondering what the hell Sonnen is thinking after the ending of the last fight. Round one ends in an uneventful manner, but with Sonnen winning through superior striking as well as controlling the pace.

Round 2 sees more of the same, only this time Sonnen has clearly listened to his corner and backs out each time Filho tries to get him to enter his guard. Another boring round of Sonnen using his reach and superior striking, and Filho using his... well... his... using his... NOTHING.

Round 3, and guess what... more of the same. Only this time, Sonnen actually considers entering Filho's guard at one point, probably more out of pure boredom than anything else. Frank Mir actually states that if Sonnen goes to the ground and gets caught in an armbar, he will attack Sonnen at the gate. Sonnen thinks better of it and continues to keep the fight standing, using his reach and combinations to win the round. The only thing Filho did was make a few lazy attempts at a shot, throw a total of about 4 overhand rights, and talk to an imaginary friend in the cage (no seriously... he kept looking at something and talking to "someone", even Frank Mir asked "who is he talking too? Did you see that? Who is he looking at?").

The funniest moment of the fight came right after the bell at the end of the third round. Sonnen put his hand up to high-five Filho, and when he realized that Filho was completely out of it and had a look as though he didn't even know where he was or what was going on, Sonnen actually ducked and backed away clearly thinking Filho might punch him.

Sonnen wins the fight. It was boring, but not Sonnen's fault. Sonnen followed the game plan to win, and Filho made little to no attempt to engage, win, or even make it respectable. All in all I feel bad for Sonnen who clearly prepared for a 5 round battle for the belt, and had his dream and opportunity stolen away through no fault of his own.

On to the main event, the featherweight title bout... Mike Brown VS Urijah Faber:

The fighters come out and feel each other out. Faber lands a fefw quick shots... he really is quick, with very quick hands. Brown however stays in the pocket and looks for combos. Brown looks to take Faber down with double underhooks but Faber gets away and they end up against the cage. Faber gets a thai clinch and lands a knee while Brown retaliates with a few upper cuts. Brown back Faber up agains the fence, drops to double and gets Faber down. However, Faber pops right back up and fights away. Brown lands a right hand that wobble Faber up agains the fence. Brown approaches and Faber attempts to land a backside elbow, but Brown steps in with a hard right hook that lands right on the money. Faber goes down on his back and Brown follows him down, Faber rolls to his knees, clearly still rocked. Brown lands right hands from underneath, and when Faber doesn't attempt to improve position the ref jumps in and stops the fight.

Mike Brown is your new WEC Featherweight champion.