To anyone who watched the event...it's obvious; Fight For The Troops was a huge success. Somehow, a motley mix of has-beens, no names, and Josh Koscheck provided one of the most entertaining shows in recent memory. Yes, the officiating was awful, but that shouldn't detract from the incredible wins by Cantwell, Kos, and numerous others. For me, the telling moment was after the Koscheck knockout where I could easily hear the crowd through my television. Usually, the front row seats are filled with Rob Schneider and Shaq...and as a result, the fighters might as well be in an empty arena. But with the troops cageside, it was as raucous and wild as imaginable. And that's just what this sport needs: not millionaires riding cageside, but real men who love (and know how) to fight.
Read More...Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
UFC Fight for the Troops Results
Many fighters left last night's "Fight for the Troops" veeery injured. If you missed the action and you like watching gruesome submissions and injuries, then get a copy of it. I was going to post up videos of the injuries, but I couldn't bring myself to do it for those queasy ones out there. Here are quick results though:
* Justin McCully def. Eddie Sanchez via unanimous decision
* Dale Hartt def. Corey Hill via TKO (leg injury) at 0:20 of round 2
* Ben Saunders def. Brandon Wolff via TKO at 1:49 of round 1
* Steve Bruno def. Johnny Rees via submission at 3:44 of round 2
* Luigi Fioravanti def. Brodie Farber via unanimous decision
* Jim Miller def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision
* Tim Credeur def. Nate Loughran via TKO at 5:00 of round 2
* Steve Cantwell def. Razak Al-Hassan via submission at 4:04 of round 1
* Mike Swick def. Jonathan Goulet via TKO at 0:33 of round 1
* Josh Koscheck def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida at via KO at 2:15 of round 1
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
GSP-Penn Winner Gets Thiago Alves
Not surprisingly, Dana White announced that Thiago Alves is next in line to get a shot at the Welterweight Championship, whoever the champion may be.
"He's next in line for a title shot. If GSP beats B.J. Penn, then (Alves) fights GSP. If B.J. Penn wins, then he fights B.J. And then he'd have to defend that title for a while before I let him move up and try to fight Anderson.I say "not surprisingly" because Alves has been unstoppable as of late and he has some big victories under his belt. Alves is 9-2 in the UFC, winning his last 7 fights. He has some big wins, including a decision over Josh Koscheck and knockouts of Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan. Look out for "The Pitbull". Read More...
-Dana White"
Monday, December 8, 2008
Classic Fighter: Rickson Gracie
The Gracie Family is undeniably the most important and innovative family in all of fighting. Helio Gracie is know as the creator of “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu”, which is arguably the most important fighting style of MMA. Royce Gracie won 3 out of the first 4 UFC tournaments and is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. However, there is a more talented Gracie that many people do not know about. Often referred to as “The Greatest Gracie”, Rickson Gracie is undeniably the most talented classic fighter that I’ve seen.
This 8th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu made short work of each of his MMA opponents, submitting all 11 of them. Rickson claims to be undefeated with over 400 victories in Sambo, MMA, Vale Tudo, and various other forms of fighting. We do know that Rickson has at least one loss from the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships. He was defeated by Ron Tripp via uchi-mata in 45 seconds, however he later disputed the result stating that he didn’t know the rules of the fight.
Rickson’s control of the ground game is that of a BJ Penn or a Fedor Emelianenko. His smooth transitions from one idea to another are almost as impressive as his ability to troubleshoot different situations. It seems like he sees Jiu-Jitsu as a chess match. He prepares an attack, his opponent defends, he breaks down his opponents defense, etc…I have the tapes of Vale Tudo Japan 1994 and 1995. The ground dominance that he displayed during those two tournaments is something that I’ve never seen before. Also, his two armbar victories over Nobuhiko Takada in PRIDE are beautiful displays of technique. The patience that Rickson uses in these two fights really defines his style and the style of most Gracies. A lot of fighters try to rush submissions and positions and they actually get themselves into trouble. Rickson stays cool and composed, waits for an opening (which doesn’t take long), and strikes in a devastating manner leaving his opponent absolutely helpless.
Rickson’s last fight was against Masakatsu Funaki in May of 2000. However, the 50-year-old may not be done with fighting. Rickson has often stated that he would return to fighting if the price was right. Over the past few years, Rickson has openly criticized the skills of some of the top MMA fighters in the world, including Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. I would personally pay an ungodly amount of money to see Rickson Gracie fight a Fedor Emelianenko or a Randy Couture (age vs. age?). Also, Lorenzo Feritta has recently stated that he would love to see Rickson Gracie fight in the UFC. Although he’s already 50 years old, we may see this classic fighter in the ring, or cage, again.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
De La Hoya-Pacquiao Video
Hey, I know we're an MMA blog, but any fan of fisticuffs has got to see the 8 round show of destruction put on by one Manny Pacquiao. Our friends over at Cage Potato found the clip.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
WEC 37 Quick Results
MAIN CARD
Miguel Torres def. Manny Tapia via TKO, 3:04 of round 2
Wagnney Fabiano def. Akitoshi Tamura via submission (arm triangle), 4:48 of round 3
Brian Bowles def. Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine choke), 1:11 of round 3
Joseph Benavidez def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
UNDERCARD
Johny Hendricks def. Justin Haskins via TKO, 4:07 of round 2
Mark Munoz def. Ricardo Barros via TKO, 2:26 of round 1
Diego Nunes def. Cole Province via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Bart Palaszewski def. Alex Karalexis via TKO, 3:49 of round 2
Cub Swanson def. Hiroyuki Takaya via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Shane Roller def. Mike Budnik via submission (guillotine choke), 1:01 of round 1
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Ten Predictions For 2009
A great piece by Bloody Elbow, after the jump:
Everyone is playing the predictions game, so here are a few that I think are locks by the end of next year. Since there will be ten thousand posts like this around the blogs at the end of this month, I'll just do it now.
1. Brock Lesnar loses the title: As much as Brock has impressed me, I just don't see how he gets by Nogueira. Nog has made a career of surviving beatings and clawing his way to submission victory. If Brock beats Nog, there are still no easy fights after that, as everyone will be gunning to take him down.
2. Chuck Liddell retires for the first time: Whether or not they change their mind on Chuck fighting Randy, I believe the end is in sight for Chuck Liddell. I say first time because I have no doubt he'll be back for a big return at least once.
3. Affliction goes under: Anyone who reads my work regularly knew this was coming. They are set up to fail, I have my doubts if we'll ever see a third show. Hopefully I'm wrong about this.
4. GSP vs. Anderson Silva headlines UFC 100: I guess you could see this as a prediction for GSP-BJ Penn, but I believe the two men will collide in July for UFC 100.
5. Tito Ortiz returns to the UFC: I think this is virtually a lock. He has no other options and the parties talk all the time.
6. UFC PPV business starts slow and ends hot: The first few PPV shows of 2009 are bare looking. 93 with Henderson and Franklin won't do well, they have nobody for Silva right now for 95, and outside of Hughes-Serra I don't know what they can headine Dayton with. Spring and Summer will then heat up bigtime leading into UFC 100.
7. Randy Couture will not retire: I don't believe he is done, and I don't believe he wants to stop fighting. You can see it in someone's eyes when they just can't get enough of competition, and I think that is where Randy is.
8. Gina Carano will become the top draw of the WEC: She sounds happy with the idea of fighting there, and seeing as Faber is apparently not a draw at all on his own, I think Gina will emerge as the star there. But is it a waste of a superstar on a network that doesn't have the penetration to make stars?
9. Matt Hughes will retire: Not really a bold pick here, I know. But I don't see him wanting to fight as a gatekeeper at 170 even if he manages to beat Serra.
10. The UFC will be in Madison Square Garden: Bob Reilly be damned, this is going to happen. The current battle is greed vs. stupidity, and unlike some I have no doubt that greed ought to and will win.
