UFC 97 Results

UFC 97 marked one of the worst pay per views in recent history, including a title fight so bad that Dana White admitted that it "embarrassed him."

The main event featured young and talented, although fairly unknown, fighters that have not received much exposure. The result, unfortunately, was that many fans felt they did not get their moneys worth.

The show culminated in two main events. First up was Chuck Liddell who, like the Rashad fight, looked strong in the beginning but was ultimately done in by a big punch. I'm a huge Liddell fan so seeing this loss was certainly tough. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who doesn't believe Liddell should retire.

The final bout was a bizarre battle of strategy between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites. Leites was not content to stand with Silva, repeatedly falling to his back, inviting the fellow Brazilian to join him. Meanwhile, Silva toyed with Leites for a good portion of the fight, not trying to finish the challenger but certainly eager to embarrass him.

With Evans/Machida on the horizon and UFC 100 in the distance, the UFC should have multiple opportunities to redeem itself.

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Demian Maia To Get Next Title Shot

Jiu Jitsu virtuoso Demian Maia will get the next middleweight title crack, after Thales Leites, reports Cage Potato:

There's no official date set, but our source says Maia's camp is expecting the bout to take place in late August, which would most likely put it at UFC 102 in Portland, Ore. The middleweight title bout would certainly bolster a card that's rumored to be headlined by Randy Couture returning home to the Pacific Northwest to take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Considering Silva only has five fights left on his contract, it is significant that one is being spent on Maia. The up and coming star is certainly deserving, but he will not provide the big money fight that some other Silva pairings could.

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Liddell-Couture IV?

All of the talk of the A. Silva-Liddell superfight at UFC 95 has now been quieted. UK's The Sun reports that Liddell has now been offered a heavyweight fight with Randy Couture at an event in Germany on June 13th.

This fight would probably draw a ton of attention, as the name recognition of both fighters may be higher than ever. Yes, Chuck Liddell has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. However, he's still probably the most recognizable name in MMA. People will tune in.

Where does this put Anderson Silva? Reports say that he may face one of the losers of the big UFC 92 LHW fights, Forrest Griffin-Rashad Evans or Quinton Jackson-Wanderlei Silva.

Whatever happens, the UFC is doing a great job with keeping these cards exciting. Just when you think that they run out of ideas they come out with unbelievable dream fights. I'm not by any means saying that Liddell-Couture IV would be a dream fight. There is only so much that you can milk a rivalry. With both fighters out of their prime and the fact that this would be their fourth meeting, this fight doesn't excite me as much as Anderson Silva-Liddell does.

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UFC 95: Liddell Vs. Silva?

Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell? It sounds like something you might dream up in the UFC video game, but according to The Sun, it could be a reality. Read more for our analysis on the possibility of this super fight.

In all honesty, I don't see why the UFC would make this fight, other than for one huge payday. Silva would be expected to win for sure, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of -200. And if Silva did win, what would that mean? Since he would be expected to win, the victory would do little for Silva. However, it would delegitimize Liddell (further) and essentially put the cap on The Iceman's career. Yeah, he's gonna have to retire eventually, but do you really want your biggest retail draw to be embarrassed?

On the other hand, a Liddell win could be even more devastating to the UFC. It would take more than a KO of Anderson Silva to thrust Liddell back into title contention, so the only thing they would be doing is destroying their most talented star. Silva has always been the answer to Fedor fans in the pound for pound debate, and a loss would all but hand that title over to the Russian. This is not the fight the UFC wants. Let Silva wait for Bisping or Maia at MW, or let him test the waters against Georges St. Pierre. For Liddell, it's much simpler. Offer him one more shot at Jackson or a fourth fight with Couture.

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Dan Henderson To Stay At Middleweight

In a short phone conversation last night, PRIDE FC Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson told IWF's Ben Zeidler that no matter whether he wins or loses in his UFC 82 bout with Anderson Silva, he will remain at Middleweight for "quite some time."

Many felt that if Henderson lost, he would surely leave the UFC's Middleweight ranks, for which he previously expressed displeasure. But after talking with Dana White and considering the division on his own, he decided to make the jump.

If he wins, the belt, Henderson would obviously stay in the lower weight division in order to defend his new crown. The new news is that even if he loses, he will stay around 185 in order to challenge the best that the division has to offer -- and hopefully get a second crack at Silva.

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UFC 82 Location Revealed

At least PRIDE's 185 pound champion Dan Henderson won't have to suffer losing both his belts in the same calendar year. He'll get to do it early next year against Anderson Silva. Think it can't get worse for Hollywood? Think again. He gets the displeasure of taking on The Spider in what has become his personal home field -- Columbus, Ohio.

Not much to say here. The bout we all knew was going to take place still is, but it's in the place where Anderson Silva dominated hometown hero Rich Franklin. TWICE. If the crowd wasn't enough to boost their hometown favorite, Dan Henderson has no chance. Silva is only a -145 favorite right now, but expect that number to read -200 before the bell rings.

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Henderson To Challenge A. Silva At UFC 82

Ben Zeidler: Do you have any plans to capture the UFC MW belt or do you prefer to fight at 205 lbs now?
Dan Henderson: I think it's up to me. The thing that I'm focused on right now is winning this fight, nothing else, whatever happens after that you know, happens.

With the announcement of Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson booked for UFC 82, it appears that the biggest Middleweight bout in UFC history is about to happen.


MMA Junkie is reporting that Silva vs. Henderson was announced during the UFC 78 press conference:

Light heavyweight Dan Henderson will move down to 185 pounds to challenge UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (20-4 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in March.

The announcement was made during the post-event press conference for UFC 78, which took place Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The championship bout will likely take place at UFC 82. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported, UFC 82 will take place March 1 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The Middleweight title has only seen five champions in its short history, and no bout has ever matched the hype that this one will create. The champion is the most devastating and dominant fighter his division has ever seen. The challenger is PRIDE's former Middleweight and Welterweight champion, who ended his PRIDE career with a stunning KO of legend Wanderlei Silva. Never before have two men of such impressive caliber met under the auspices of a middleweight title fight. Until now.

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IWF Exclusive: The Future Of The UFC

Although we have a set title fight in our sights (Hughes vs. Serra), a slightly deeper look into the ranks of the UFC will give us a more accurate picture of how the sport should shape up over the next six months. While feuds and rivalries culminate in once-a-month events, the sport is built between those events as every member of the roster fights, bargains, and even pleads for a title shot. The following is a look at each division and who is fighting for the title.

Heavyweights: With Andrei Arlovski missing his new contract, Cro Cop dropping fights like he was bought off, and Couture temporarily out of the fight game, the whole division is really up for grabs. It’s unlikely that White would simply award the belt to the winner of an upcoming fight as it wouldn’t make sense for Kongo or Nogueira to receive a title with very little UFC experience under their belts. He could justify giving it to Sylvia as he was the last guy to hold the belt and is fresh off a win, but I doubt he’d give the title to the least marketable guy this side of O.J. Simpson. What is likely is that we’ll see Sylvia take on the Kongo/Nogueira winner in a mini grand prix of sorts. While the best match up for the sport would have been Vera and Kongo, it was spoiled by Sylvia’s yawn-inducing win last month (not that Vera helped to make it exciting, either…). I’d expect to see Nogueira and Sylvia, but the way the UFC’s cookies have been crumbling lately, I’d probably be better off just flipping a coin.

Light Heavyweights: This is obviously the toughest one to call, with the four big names (Liddell, Henderson, Shogun, Wanderlei) being more than one win from a title shot. That leaves us with three guys who can stake a legitimate claim to Rampage’s belt. They are: Keith Jardine, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin. It probably won’t be Jardine, because although he’s knocked out Griffin and beat Liddell, he suffered a brutal KO at the hands of Houston Alexander at UFC 71. And while Machida’s been impressive in his UFC fights (3 for 3), two weren’t on the main telecast and he doesn’t have quite enough name recognition or ability to speak English to warrant being one good punch away from a title. He’ll have to win one or two more before getting any serious consideration. The honor, I would bet, will go to Forrest, who the UFC considers the heir apparent to the holy trinity of ratings that is about to retire (Couture, Liddell, Hughes). He fits in with the tough, common man image that has gained the UFC so much popularity and it looks as though he won’t get that fight against Wanderlei due to an injury he’s harbored for quite some time. With Wanderlei looking to fight sooner and Forrest out until early 2008, I don’t think we’ll see Rampage Jackson in action for another 8 months (see: Matt Serra) at which point he and Griffin should meet for an all out war.

Middleweights: Dana White has suggested that the winner of the Okami/MacDonald could potentially get an automatic title shot, but that seems counterintuitive due to what is logical “MMAth.” With Silva’s dominant second win over Franklin, and Franklin’s win over Okami, who in their right mind would want to see Silva run down the food chain to take on a man who will almost surely beat? I’m aware that Okami technically beat Silva via DQ, but that was nearly two years ago and before Silva rattled off six straight wins against some of the toughest competition around. White is clearly having trouble booking anyone against Silva and until he can sign Filho or Kang, he’s going to have to convince Henderson to drop to 185 and take on Silva. Initially against the idea of dropping weight, Henderson has since warmed up to the idea, but would probably take a warm up before tackling The Spider.

Welterweights: Finally, a simple division. GSP will get an automatic title shot at whoever wins the Hughes-Serra fight. And when Matt Hughes destroys Serra, it’ll set up just the third trilogy in UFC history. Is there much else to say? When the dust settles, however, it is more likely that Karo Parisyan would get the title shot instead of Koscheck or Sanchez, who have spent the last year losing and turning in lackluster performances. The St. Pierre-Parisyan feud is one that we could be seeing for the next five years.

Lightweights: This division isn’t as tough as it is downright bizarre. With the title not stripped from Sherk, who is now out of action for a full year, White has wisely decided to move on and book one their biggest moneymakers, BJ Penn, against Joe Stevenson. This is smart booking as Penn and Stevenson have separated themselves from the rest of the pack of Lightweight fighters. Beyond those two, there’s just a ton of really athletic guys who haven’t made that big of a splash. No outrageous personalities, no huge upsets, just about five guys who are all on the same level. The UFC tried to give a few of them title shots (Franca, Florian), but nothing came of it and buys were weak. This is the smartest play considering the situation of the current champion. If the UFC is going to sign anyone now, I’d say that they need to be looking for Lightweights even before Middleweights. If I were Dana White, I’d be throwing a huge contract at Urijah Faber, the Featherweight champion in the UFC-owned WEC. He’d add some star power and charisma to a division which is garnering less and less interest with each passing day..

With more contract disputes, injuries, and signings than ever before, it’s tough to call the future of a sport as dynamic as Mixed Martial Arts, but this guide should serve as a decent start.

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IWF Fighting Prediction Results

Prior to UFC 77, our three main writers submitted their picks for the event. Let's check back in and see how they did.

Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin
Zeidler: Silva by Decision
Arnold: Silva by KO
Acosta: Silva by TKO
Result: Silva by TKO

Brandon Vera vs. Tim Sylvia
Zeidler: Vera by TKO
Arnold: Vera by TKO
Acosta: Vera by Decision
Result: Sylvia by Decision

Jorge Gurgel vs. Alvin Robinson
Zeidler: Gurgel by Submission
Arnold: Gurgel by Submission
Acosta: Gurgel by KO
Result: Robinson by Decision

Eric Schafer vs. Stephen Bonnar
Zeidler: Bonnar by TKO
Arnold: Bonnar by Decision
Acosta: Bonnar by TKO
Result: Bonnar by TKO

Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher
Zeidler: Starnes by Decision
Arnold: Starnes by Decision
Acosta: Belcher by Decision
Result: Belcher by TKO

Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald
Zeidler: MacDonald by TKO
Arnold: MacDonald by Submission
Acosta: Okami by TKO
Result: Okami by Decision

Ryan Jensen vs. Demian Maia
Zeidler: Maia by Submission
Arnold: Jensen by TKO
Acosta: Jensen by Decision
Result: Maia by Submission

Josh Burkman vs. Forrest Petz
Zeidler: Burkman by Decision
Arnold: Burkman by Decision
Acosta: Burkman by Decision
Result: Burkman by Decision

Matt Grice vs. Jason Black
Zeidler: Black by TKO
Arnold: Black by Submission
Acosta: Black by Submission
Result: Grice by Decision

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UFC 77 Results

A lackluster card in Cincinnati developed into a lackluster event with the majority of the action falling on the undercard, a HW fight that went nowhere, and a carbon copy of Franklin's previous loss to Anderson Silva. Props to UFCMania.com for the fight descriptions.

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin (185-pound limit)

Round one: The crowd is going INSANE for Franklin. Franklin looks clear, calm, and confident. Very composed. Franklin is coming out to “Welcome to the Jungle”. Silva as usual looks calm and ready to attack, hes one scary dude. Both fighters looking for distance. Franklin with leg kick. Franklin with a nice right left combo. Silva gets into the clinch. Franklin with the take down. Silva to the feet but Franklin has a single leg. Back to the clinch up against the fence. Silva with a knee and right. Great spinning side kick to the body by Silva. Silva with two stinging rights!!! Back to the clinch. Silva goes for a sweep then lands a sick knee to the head. Great left by Franklin. Silva with a flying knee. SIlva with a sick left hook!!! HUGE right by Silva!!!! Franklin is DROPPED , BUT THE BELL RINGS AND SAVES HIM!!!!! That would have ended the fight if it wasnt for the bell!!

Round two: Leg kick by Franklin. Leg kick by Silva. Huge knee by Silva. Franklin is in trouble, and another knee to the head that drops Franklin!!! Its over folks!!! Silva once again DOMINATES Rich Franklin and it seemed it was only a matter of time before it was over, Franklin is simply outclassed by Silva and is obviously not on his level.

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Final Result: Anderson Silva defeats Rich Franklin via TKO (Strikes) in Round 2

-end-

Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera (265-pound limit)

Round one: Sylvia does not look to be much bigger than Vera at all which is surprising. They were pretty much eye to eye. Vera clinches immediately. Nice elbow from Vera. Knees from Vera to the ribs. Sylvia with a nice elbow. Another great elbow from SYlvia. Nice body shot from Tim. Vera with a nice elbow. Clinched up against the fence. Both fighters exchanging knees in the clinch. Sylvia with a flurry. Vera with a nice right and leg kicks. Sylvia with another nice knee. Vera with an uppercut. Nice elbow from Vera. Uppercut from Vera. Sylvia with some knees. Thats the bell. A very uneventful round. The whole round was in the clinch and not much action.

Round two: High kick from Vera followed by a great right hand. Vera looking for a sweep, but both fighters are clinched up against the fence AGAIN. The crowd is booing like crazy. So far this is a boring fight. Vera with some knees to the thigh. Vera with a nice elbow. Sylvia with a nice right. AGain back to the clinch against the fence. Sylvia with an inside elbow. Nice knee from Sylvia. Vera with a sweep and a take down!!! Vera in side control. Vera with some knees to the ribs. Shoulders to the face from Vera. HUGE knee to the head from Vera, Levine gives a warning to Vera. WOW Huge body kick from Vera!!! Followed by another HUGE body kick!!!!! Thats the bell, with the take down and kicks Vera has to get that round 10-9.

Round three: Clinch again. Both fighters exchange rights. Sylvia with two nice rights. Clinched up against the fence again. Foot stomps by Vera. Again clinched up against the fence. Only 3 minutes left. Tim with a nice right left combo. Vera with a jab a nice overhand right. Vera with a great leg kick. Sylvia with a nice elbow and has cut Vera. Vera bleeding badly. Clinched against the fence again. Sylvia is raining punches at Vera to close the fight. That round has to go to Sylvia and so does the fight I think. Overall a terribly boring fight. I think this one should prove Vera NEEDS to drop to 205. Vera also states “I broke my hand” as soon as he goes to the corner.

Final Result: Tim Sylvia defeats Brandon Vera via Unanimous Decision

-end-

Stephan Bonnar vs. Eric Schafer (205-pound limit)

Round one: Bonnar with a nice right. Then throws a jab followed by a right. Schafer shoots but cant get the take down and now their both clinched up. Both fighters exchanging knees. Schaffer with a nice right. Bonnar working his jab for distance. Schaffer with two good leg kicks. Schaffer pulls guard. Bonnar looking to posture up and now hes dropping elbows. A great left by Bonnar. Back to the feet both fighters are clinched. Schaffer goes for the take down and gets it. Schaffer has the back now. He has one hook in. Schaffer trying to soften him up with punches. Shcaffer looking to lock in the choke. He looses one of his hooks and Bonnar survives for now. Bonnar turns and is back on top. Thats the round, great submission defense by Bonnar. That round could have gone either way.

Round two: Schafer pulls guard again. Bonnar on top. Bonnar with 2 HUGE rights! Now Bonnar is raining punches down. Hammer fists from Bonnar. Short tight elbows by Bonnar from the top. Bonnar stuck in half guard looking to pass. Bonnar raining some more punches. Bonnar lands two bombs!!! Schaffer is hurt!!! Bonnar looking to finish it!! Thats it! Its over Big John stops it and Bonnar comes away with an impressive win.

Round three:

Final Result: Stephan Bonnar defeats Eric Schaffer via TKO (strikes) in Round 2

-end-

Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher (185-pound limit)

Round one: Starnes goes for the clinch and now Belcher uses a knee and right cross. Both fighters clinched up against the fence. Belcher working knees to the thigh. Kalib with a nice take down but Belcher right back to his feet. Starnes is bleeding on his forehead. Belcher working some nice elbows from the clinch now. Starnes with two nice left hands. Belcher with a flying knee from the clinc and a HUGE elbow. Great leg kick from Belcher and Starnes answers with a fantastic combo landing twoo solid rights in the process. Starnes with two more great rights. Belcher with a HUGE uppercut! Followed by another flying knee!! Starnes is gushing blood from his face!! Both fighters clinched again and Kalib lands two good lefts. Belcher with another nice uppercut and a huge knee. Starnes with a shot but Belcher sprawls out. Leg kick by Belcher and they are extremely powerful. Head kick from Belcher. Starnes with a right to close out the round.

Round two: Starnes has a Marvin Eastman type gash over his right eye. Its a brutal cut. Kalib with a nice right. Belcher answers with a one two combo. Vicious leg kick by Belcher. Starnes lands two great shots and Belcher drops his hands and smiles not a smart move. Belcher is putting on a Mui Thay clinic right now. Ref stops the fight to check the horrible gash on Starnes head. Thats it its over the Doctor stops it due to one of the most vicious cuts ive seen in awhile. You can see his skull through his cut thats how bad it is.

Round three:

Final Result: Alan Belcher defeats Kalib Starnes via TKO (Doctors stoppage due to cut)

-end-

Jorge Gurgel vs. Alvin Robinson (155-pound limit)

Round one: Robinson with a nice right then a scramble. Gurgel ends up on top. Robinson has full guard. Robinson with some nice hammer fists from the bottom. Gurgel with an elbow. Another scramble and Gurgel passes into a side mount. North South control for Gurgel then back to side control. Not much happening other than jockeying for position. Robinson back to full guard. Nice hammer fists by Robinson, but Gurgel back to side control. Gurgel with full mount but he looses it right away and back to side control. Gurgel with a great full mount, but the bell rings before he can use it. Gurgel won that round 10-9 he dominated the ground game the entire round.

Round two: Leg kick by Robinson followed by a nice left. RObinson shoots and with the take down. Gurgel goes for an armbar and Robinson scrambles now Robinson has the back of Gurgel. Gurgel reverses and is now in Robinsons full guard. Gurgel looking to pass. Hes working persistently looking for a mount.Robinson looking for a Omaplata and uses it to reverse positions. Now Robinson is on top in Gurgels full guard, Gurgel looking for an armbar. Robinson raining down some punches. Working some nice hammer fists. Gurgel is cut now. Robinson dropping BOMBS now!!! Gurgel goes for another armbar but its unsuccessful. Robinson doing some major damage from the top, and Gurgels face is bloodied and battered. Robinson gets that round 10-9, and I have to wonder if Gurgel can recover he took some serious damage to his face in that round and then he proceeded to walk to the wrong corner.

Round three: Gurgel is cut on his nose and eye. Robinson with a HUGE take down. Gurgel has full guard. But Robinson is posturing beautifully and dropping some serious punches. Gurgel going for another armbar. Robinson stifles it with some vicious hammer fists. Robinson still dropping bombs and doing some real damage to Gurgels face. Nice elbow from Robinson. Gurgel is breathing heavy and he looks out of gas. Robinson is really dishing out a beating now and just keeps landing unanswered punch after unanswered punch. Robinson passes and has his back now!!! Robinson raining some more bombs on Gurgels face. Thats the bell. Robinson completely dominated the last two rounds and did some serious damage to Gurgels face. Gurgel wobbles to his corner after this fight and I think its obvious Robinson won that fight.

Final Result: Alvin Robinson defeats Jorge Gurgel via Unanimous Decision

Undercard
Yushin Okami defeats Jason MacDonald via Unanimous Decision
Demian Maia defeats Ryan Jensen via Rear Naked Choke in Round 1
Josh Burkman defeats Forrest Petz via Unanimous Decision
Matt Grice defeats Jason Black via Split Decision

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IRISH WHIP FIGHTING EXCLUSIVE: CUNG LE INTERVIEW

I had a chance to speak to one of Strikeforce’s and quickly rising MMA star Cung Le. Holding three bronze medals in San Shou kickboxing, Le started fighting in K-1 and has now broken into the MMA scene. Le has had four spectacular fights, most recently knocking out MMA veteran Tony Frkylund. Le is best known for his sharp striking and San Shou kickboxing. See what Le had to say about facing Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and his talked about matchup against MMA legend Frank Shamrock! An interview by Masson Liang

Masson Liang: How difficult was the transition from San Shou kickboxing to mixed martial arts?
Cung Le: It was not that hard to transition from San Shou to mixed martial arts. I just had to work on my ground and putting it together.

ML: What ultimately made you decide you wanted to transition from your traditional styles to mixed martial arts?
CL: My trainer Javier Mendez talked me into it.

ML: Thus far, you have four incredible knockouts in your MMA career. What do you have to say to critics who question your skills on the ground (BJJ, wrestling, etc.)?
CL: I don't have anything to say to the critics who question my ground game. I will just focus on what I do best and improve on what I need to improve on to be a complete fighter.

ML: Having fought 4 MMA matches now, how would you say your knowledge of submission grapplng and Jiu-jitsu is now? And how much Brazilian Jiu Jitsu do you incorporate into your usual training regimen today?
CL: I have more knowledge every time I step into the cage and into training with the whole MMA game. I love to train and incorporate as much as I could in my regimen.

ML: Who would you say your toughest opponent has been in MMA thus far and why?
CL: It is between Tony and Brian Warren.

ML: You mentioned the possibility of facing Frank Shamrock if both of you won your fights at the last Strikeforce event. Now that you've both come out victorious, what is the status of the fight between you and Frank Shamrock? Any word on that yet?
CL: I think the status of the Frank Shamrock fight will be next year sometime.

ML: We know Strikeforce is fairly leninent when it comes to fighting outside of their organization, do you have any fights outside of Strikeforce lined up yet?
CL: I do not have any fights line up right now.

ML: Is there a possibility of moving to another organization, maybe the UFC or WEC, after your Strikeforce contract expires?
CL: You never know!

ML: How do you think you match up with UFC's current middleweight champion Anderson Silva? or PRIDE's middleweight champion Dan "Dangerous" Henderson?
CL: I don't know how I would match up until I step into the ring with the UFC or Pride Champion. They both are very well rounded and make great fights.

ML: We know you have some interest in acting, is that something you'd pursue after your fighting career?
CL: That is my other focus right now in my career.

ML: Taking a quick look around IrishWhipFighting.com, what do you think of the site?
CL: I like it!

ML: Well Cung, we can't thank you enough for your time, are there any sponsors you'd like to thank? Or any other shout outs you'd like to give?
CL: I would like to thank the Irish Whip fans for all your support!

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Top 10 MMA Beatdowns!

"Styles make fights" seems to be the general consensus for cutthroat action and competitive fights. Well, the same cannot be entirely true for all fights. Every now and then, a poor clash of styles allows fights to be one sided, allowing one fighter to deliver a tremendous can of whoop ass to the other. After a valiant effort to scour for the best ass whoopings, here are my top ten beat downs in PRIDE Fighting Championships/Ultimate Fighting Championships. An article by Masson Liang

Honorable mention:
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianeko vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Kazushi Sakuraba I, II
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Yuki Kondo
Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Enson Inoue

10. GSP vs. Sherk
Before this fight, I would've never imagined someone brutally overpowering Sherk (besides Matt Hughes). That is exactly what former welterweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre did at UFC 56. Throughout the course of the fight, GSP completely neutralized Sherk's greatest weapon: his take downs. With Sherk's take downs out of the picture, St. Pierre picked Sherk apart on the feet and was able to take Sherk down for some casual ground and pound action. GSP almost made Sherk look silly through the rounds as it was called to a stop after what must have, to Sherk, seemed like a never ending onslaught of punches and elbows by "Rush." Georges walked away nearly unscathed for a TKO victory in under three minutes of the second round.

9. Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs. Chris "I Got Crippled" Leben
Anderson Silva figured he'd take a stab outside of "Japan's easy competition," as Leben so foolishly put it. It just so happened that Leben was the first in Silva's cross hairs for his UFC debut. Leben's heavy hands got him nowhere as Silva gave him zero chance whatsoever. Silva did what he does best and threw a series of punches, kicks and knees and took out Leben with ease for the lightning quick knockout victory, lasting only 49 seconds. Silva was 9 for 9 with his strikes during this bout.

8. Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie
This fight was not just another classic beatdown, it also showed a sharp contrast of new school MMA versus the old school. UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, known to win over larger opponents in his early UFC days, failed to do so against Hughes. After a fairly slow start, the match quickly erupted as Hughes took Royce's back and began his lesson on the evolution of mixed martial arts. At one point, Hughes secured an armbar but let it go out of respect and proceeded to pound away on Royce's head for the TKO victory at 4:39 of round number one. Not only was this an utter domination of the UFC Hall of Famer, but it truly showed fans the evolution that MMA has benefited from over the years.

7. Fedor "The Russian Emperor" Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge
From start to finish, this fight was painfully one sided for the Russian Emperor. It looked like a Rodney King video except Fedor stood in for the entire squad of LAPD officers. Fedor kicked off the match by greeting Goodridge's face with what looked like twelve vicious hooks and eight uppercuts to the body. Fedor quickly took it to the ground and showed Goodridge why his ground-and-pound is considered to be the best in the business, as he took the easy win in 1:09 of the first round.

6. Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs. Rich "Ace" Franklin
Coming into this fight, everyone knew Anderson Silva brought a much more polished striking arsenal over the current UFC middleweight champ, Rich "Ace" Franklin. But nobody expected the outcome to be this barbaric. Anderson Silva, a Brazilian Muay Thai champion and PRIDE veteran, outclassed Franklin from the start of the match. Silva blasted away at Franklin's face with punches and kicks only to set-up a barrage of knees that sent Franklin back 32 years into his fetal position. Silva walked away with the win and the belt in under three minutes of the first round. After the rearrangement given to Franklin's nose/face, Anderson Silva gave Picasso a run for his money.

5. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
This fight should certainly quiet naysayers who question why Shogun is ranked as the top light-heavyweight in MMA today. Shogun completely out struck current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson in the same fashion as his famed teammate Wanderlei Silva did. Shogun even found the opportunity to throw one of his flamboyant flying kicks to the head. All in all, Shogun completely dismantled Jackson, teeing off whenever he pleased, even breaking Jackson's ribs. At the tender age of 23, Shogun so elegantly showcased Chute Boxe's most feared striking point (the knees) as he knocked out the UFC
champ in just under five minutes into the first round.

4. Fedor "The Russian Emperor" Emelianenko vs. Mark "The Hammer" Coleman II
Out of the other performances, this was without a doubt one of the more painful ones to watch. It looked like a classic school yard brawl as Fedor made a human punching bag out of Coleman. Outside of holding Fedor on the ring's post and ropes, Coleman just had no answer for the mighty Russian. Fedor dictated the fight the entire time and decided he wanted to go home and watch some TV a minute into the 2nd round as he finished Coleman off with a flawlessly executed arm bar. It was not till after the submission where the most painful part came in. A battered and beat down Coleman sobbed as his two daughters joined him in the ring.

3. Ricardo Arona vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Ricardo Arona shattered one of Japan's greatest idols in this bout, which took place at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005. All of Sakuraba's take down attempts were met with a downpour of knees and strikes from the merciless Arona. Sakuraba had a few decent exchanges on the feet, but Arona had the advantage on the feet and ground throughout the majority of the match. In the end, Sakuraba's heart of a lion was not enough to carry him through this one (though it allowed him to endure a wealth of punishment) and the fight was called to a stop at the end of the second round. Ricardo Arona made Kazushi Sakuraba's face look like one of Jackson Pollack's greatest accomplishments to date and Sakuraba's bloodied up face is still seen floating around Sherdog threads dedicated to most battered faces in a fight.

2. Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz
Leave it up to Randy for the most awe-inspiring wins. Captain America, yet again, shocked the world in his fight against Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight belt. Couture proved to his fans that a decision win doesn't automatically label a fight as boring. Couture overpowered Tito round after round, as he neutralized Ortiz's take down attempts. A superb Greco-Roman wrestler, Couture utilized his skills dominating Tito in the clinch every chance possible. Couture made a rag-doll out of Tito and punished the "bad boy" with a good ol' fashion spanking in the 5th round. Randy "The Natural" Couture ultimately won the title by a lopsided unanimous decision and again proved that age is nothing but a number.

1. Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia
This fight was not only a complete 25 minute domination of the "giant," but it bordered as one of the greatest fights in history. Couture crawled out of retirement at the age of 44, came off of a brutal knockout loss from Chuck Liddell and became the first five-time champion in UFC history after beating Sylvia for the HW title. The UFC hall of famer started the fight out with a thunderous right hand that sent Sylvia straight to the canvas wondering where the hell he was. The rest is history, literally. Couture was relentless on the feet and on the ground as he imposed his will on the giant. "The Natural" pounded his way to victory for a unanimous decision that sent the crowd roaring.

The Lianger

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UFC 77 Card Updates

Two new fights will be complimenting Silva-Franklin II at UFC 77 on October 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The first bout will be with Josh Burkman, which was confirmed by the UFC welterweight himself in a Myspace.com bulletin.
Burkman's bulletin stated:

Fighting October 20th My next fight is gonna be Oct. 20th in Cinncinatti @
UFC 76. I learned alot agasinst Karo and i’ll be at a different level than i’ve
ever been before. Thanks for the messages and support.
Jburk “peoples warrior"

Although Burkman confirmed a fight for Oct. 20, he did not specify an opponent.

Burkman most recently lost to Karo "The Heat" Parisyan at UFC 71 in May, by a unanimous decision.

The second fight to be confirmed for UFC 77 is "The Ultimate Fighter 1" light-heavyweight runner-up Stephan Bonnar versus Eric Schafer.

Schafer, who also made his announcement via Myspace.com bulletin, said this:

Anyways, I got a call this morning from my manager Jeff Curran. Jeff, who just
won his WEC debut on Sunday, told me that the UFC wants me to fight Stephan
Bonnar! Oh snap! Stephan and I shared the same kickboxing coach (Duke Roufus), until Stephan moved out to Vegas a few weeks ago. I would probably rather fight
anyone else to avoid conflicts, but business is business... So it is on! Stephan
is a cool guy, so I guess I will have to generate some false animosity to push
my training sessions. I am jealous that his minivan is a little cooler than my
crappy neon, so I will start there. That dirty SOB!

How's that for some bad blood!

Schafer was originally set to face off against Sean Salmon at UFC 71, but was forced to back out due to a broken rib.

Stephan Bonnar most recently won at UFC 73 against Mike Nickels by rear naked choke, after a nine month hiatus due to a steroid suspension.

Schafer on the other hand, will be adding another fight to his premature UFC career. Schafer's UFC debut was a win against Rob McDonald by an arm triangle choke at UFC 62 but, fell short against Michael Bisping at UFC 66 by TKO.

Headlining UFC 77 is a rematch between current UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.

UFC 77 is set at Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio inside the U.S. Bank Arena.

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Top-Ranked Filho Says Contract Only Included WEC

Undefeated and highly-ranked Paulo Filho recently spoke on his contract with Zuffa, citing that it only included a deal with the WEC and not the UFC. Did Filho get screwed? Is he ducking current champ and friend Anderson Silva? Find out more inside...

Despite Filho's status as one of the top Middleweights, he was only offered a deal with the WEC. Many think that the WEC and UFC are technically the same organization, as they are both owned by Zuffa, but as this example shows us, that isn't completely true. However, Filho is just anxious to start making a name for himself in the U.S. and doesn't seem upset by Zuffa's lack of explanation.

From CBS Sportsline:

Q: When Zuffa first approached you, did they give you a choice between fighting for the UFC or WEC?
PF: No. I wasn’t given a choice. I was offered a chance to fight in the WEC and that’s what I took.

Q: Was any detail provided as to why they wanted you for the WEC as opposed to the UFC?
PF: There was no detail given. The WEC is a huge organization, and I feel it’s one of the best in the world, and right now I think the opportunity for me to be in the WEC is a much better situation. There’s a lot of big names in the UFC, and I don’t have a huge name in the U.S. With the WEC, we’ll both be able to grow together. The WEC and Paulo Filho will be able to grow their names in the U.S. together, and that’s why I feel it’s a better choice for me.

Additionally, many felt that Filho had purposely asked to be placed in the WEC so he wouldn't have to fight his long-time friend and training partner Anderson Silva. Many experts believe that Filho is one of two people (Denis Kang being the other) who have a legitimate shot of taking down Silva. Did Filho duck the UFC deal so he wouldn't have to take on the number 1 Middleweight in the world and risk tarnishing his perfect record? Or did not want to put a cramp in his personal relationship with Silva? Filho says no, to both:

Q: There were reports that one reason why you’re in the WEC is because you’re good friends with current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and don’t want to fight him. Is that correct?
PF: We’re under the same management and we train together. That is true, but that’s not really the case (of why I’m in the WEC) as we chose to go to the WEC because I wanted to. But we are friends and I wouldn’t want to have that fight happen, but if that fight were to happen, then hey, we’d fight and it would be a phenomenal fight and then we’d go out to dinner after.

The Filho-Silva fight would be an absolute war, and Joe Silva (UFC matchmaker) might need to make it happen if Silva runs through Rich Franklin in October. Beyond Silva and Franklin, the UFC Middlewight division is quite week, and by far the weakest in the company. Adding a name like Filho (or free agent Kang) could really add some depth to this division and turn it into the new Heavyweight division.

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UFC 73: What's Next?

In my last post, UFC 73: Quick Results, I didn't really get into the details of what happened at the event, why certain outcomes were noteworthy, and where the UFC and its fighters go from here. I didn't do any of that. But I'll do it now.

Who does Sean Sherk fight next?
A little-known 155 pounder named Masson Liang. Just kidding...actually, I don't know who he's going to fight. Since the Lightweight division is relatively new and unfilled, who is to take the takedown master on while all the Welterweights cut pounds? I don't really need to see a rematch with Florian and Penn seems to be more interested in fighting up a class. BJ is no longer the svelte Hawaiian who took out Caol Uno in 11 seconds. Maybe Nick Diaz or Sports Illustrated cover boy Roger Huerta? It's possible, but there's nothing currently in the works. With 9 events in between Sherk's last two bouts, don't expect a title defense before the New Year.

What happens in Silva-Franklin II?
The same damn thing. But before I get into that, let me just say that I'm ecstatic to have a champion who can hold a belt for more than one defense. I really could've done without a Marqurdt upset and Anderson Silva has made me a very happy man. Now, onto the UFC 76/77 fight between Ace and The Spider. I don't see how it goes any different. Silva's only gotten better and had more experience, he always looks prepared, and boy, can he strike. How does Franklin win this fight? He'd be better off cutting to Welterweight than sticking around in Silva's division for the next half decade.

What do Tito and Evans do now?
Nothing? Maybe? I don't know. If Tito hadn't held the cage, he'd probably have a unanimous decision, but that wouldn't overshadow the fact that Evans was able to hang with Ortiz. Unfortunately, this fight didn't serve its proposed dual purposes: take out the trash of the LHW division and end the bad blood between these two in a bloody and violent fashion. First, the former purpose: instead of leaving us with just one of these fighters to join the pantheon of UFC LHW elites (Rampage, Liddell, Shogun, Hendo), we've got 1 champion and about a million guys who think they deserve a title shot. There's nothing worse than a UFC fighter who thinks he deserves a shot. And now we have six of them. Just throw a Grand Prix tournament already! Now, the second purpose: in an unsuccessful bid to hype up a fight and have it come through, the UFC was left with a lackluster performance which left much to be desired. These guys were supposed to rip into each other like animals! And when they didn't, fans booed. Will we trust the UFC military-industrial promotional complex next month, when they hype up their new God, Josh Koscheck? Probably not. If you havent seen the new UFC 74 website, go there now. Rogan calls Kos "the best athlete in MMA" and "the best at takedowns." Had I known that Rogan was so adept at building people up into something they aren't, I would've had him asking girls out for me all along. "Ben's the best looking guy in the world!" he would say. But next month, when he had someone new to promote, he'd say the same thing about them. That's kind of what this is like. Nate Marquardt (you know, the guy who had "all the tools to beat Anderson Silva") must feel dirty after being fucked so badly by the UFC 73 promoters.

Should Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira be worried?
I don't think so. Sure, he got caught with a HUGE kick, BUT, he wasn't knocked out and he won the fight. I think Big Nog probably underestimated Herring (whom he beat twice in PRIDE) and even admitted that the UFC was the big leagues of MMA (after the fight). He'll need to prepare a little more for the next one, but as far as shaking off those first fight jitters, I think he did a nice job. Similarly, Rampage and Cro Cop seemed a little tentative during their debuts at UFC 67. Rampage followed this with a spectacular second fight whereas Cro Cop got KTFO by Gonzaga. What will happen to Big Nog? It will largely depend on whom he fights, but if I had to place a bet (on the -700 favorite), I'd say he'll be quite all right.

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UFC 73: Silva, Sherk Retain Titles

UFC 73 Stacked certainly had its ups and downs. Labeled "best card in the history of combat sports," it failed to deliver what most fans anticipated so greatly and failed to fulfill the hype that was built around it.

The event took place Saturday, July 7, 2007 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California and had been regarded as UFC's most "stacked" card to date, no pun intended. The cards featured two title fights, one with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and the other with lightweight champion Sean Sherk, both crowned at UFC 64. Last night, they defended their titles against former King of Pancrase Nathan Marquardt and former WEC champion Hermes Franca, respectively. Former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, also seen by many to be the #2 HW in the world, made his UFC debut against Heath Herring, whom he had already defeated twice before in PRIDE. UFC 73 also featured a light heavyweight showdown between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and The Ultimate Fighter 2 heavyweight winner Rashad Evans.

The card was free of upsets, for the most part and had a good balance of TKO/KO's submission victories, decisions and was even complimented with a draw. Here are my quick thoughts on the bigger fights:

Kenny Florian def. Alvin Robinson via Submission (strikes) at 4:30 of Round 1
Alvin Robinson was the more physically gifted fighter in this one, but it did him no good against the ever so tough Kenny Florian. A lean Florian showed crisp striking in the beginning of the round, after landing some sharp punches and knees. About a minute in the fight, it almost began to look like a judo tournament with the two fighters flipping each other like pancakes. Florian's experience in the Octagon and top notch jiu-jitsu skills was apparent as he effectively controlled Robinson on the ground. After some good exchanges, Florian obtained full mount with relative ease. Upon mount position, it was the beginning of the end for the UFC newcomer Robinson, as Florian pounded away with vicious elbow strikes and punches giving Robinson no option but to tap.

Florian has really impressed me lately and his improvement every time he time he steps into the Octagon is awe inspiring. With his impressive win over Mishima at UFC Fight Night 9 and his incredible five round war with the current UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, I only expect to see more great things in the future with Kenny Florian.
All in all, I give this fight 8 out of 10.

Anderson Silva (c) def. Nate Marquardt via TKO (strikes) at 4:50 of Round 1 to retain the MW title
This fight was one of the highlights of the night, next to the Sherk-Franca fight. Anderson Silva made his first official title defense against challenger and Pancrase veteran Nate Marquardt. Early in the match Silva threw what looked to be a kick straight out of a martial arts movie causing him to be taken down by the challenger. The decision wasn’t horrible as Silva was still delivered piercing elbows and punches, punishing the midsection of Marquardt. Marquardt did nothing on the ground and the fighters were brought back to their feet. Silva took advantage of every opening and landed a big straight left hand forcing Marquardt back to the ground. Silva showed a picture perfect sweep gaining him the dominant position where he reigned down crushing blow after blow. Big John McCarthy had seen enough and quickly stopped the fight, saving Marquardt's very life and skull.

This fight just continued to show the Brazilian's dominance in the UFC. Silva's striking of course was, like always, dead on and was able to display his ever-growing jiu-jitsu abilities through his sprawls and sweeps. With the win, Silva is expected to head over to Cincinnati, Ohio and where he will face Rich Franklin, who he took the belt from last October. I don't see Franklin posing a threat to Anderson Silva at all. Silva's ground game is more polished than Franklin and certainly has the edge standing. Silva is a force to be reckoned with and is going to be the middleweight champion for a long, long time.

I give this fight a 9/10!

-Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans fought to a Draw after 5 Rounds (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
There's not much to say about this fight, it was the biggest crock of cow dung to date. This match was maxed out by the hype that was poured into it, with the so called "bad blood" between the two and the little pushing incident they had a few events back. To what was hyped up to be a great fight turned out to be quite the contrary. Ortiz quickly began the bout scoring a double-leg takedown on The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans. Tito did little to Evans as both lay on the canvas. Somewhere in the second round Ortiz held on to the cage preventing a takedown by Evans, costing him a point and in the end costing him the fight. After a tiresome three rounds, the fighter’s fates were left in the hands of the judges, whom unanimously deemed this fight a draw, all scoring it 28-28.

I'm not a big Tito fan, but I really wanted Tito to win this one. For one, Evans' little seizures standing up didn't help his cause. I am of course referring to the annoying hand waving, I guess distraction, Evans kept doing while they were standing. God that pissed me off. As a whole, the fight was frustrating to watch, neither did much to finish the fight and if Tito hadn't gotten that point deducted he would have had this one in his pocket. Oh well, can't win 'em all I suppose, literally. Tito in the post fight talk with Rogan said, "You know, they always say if you ain't cheating, you're not trying." That’s classic.
This fight makes it painfully obvious that Ortiz would have zero chance against current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, who Ortiz is rumored to later face off with. Either way, Tito never fails to make me laugh with his pre and post fight antics and the corny little shirts he wears to the fights.

I give this fight a 4/10!

-Sean Sherk (c) def. Hermes Franca via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Sherk and Franca certainly took the UFC 73 spotlight hands down. It was like watching a bully rob a helpless poor child for his lunch money.
Sean Sherk took no part in Franca's "unorthodox" striking in which he promptly overshadowed and neutralized with his lightning quick hands and unstoppable takedowns. Like many fights, cardio was the golden ticket in this fight.

The round began with an eager Sherk going for the takedown and nearly getting caught in a guillotine choke. Sherk muscled his way out of the choke and the punishment began as the now visibly angered Sherk had his way with the Brazilian challenger. Sherk dictated round after round as he took down and mounted Franca at will. The only silver lining Franca had were the four flush knees Sherk kept eating over and over, one of which nearly knocked out the champ. However, after the first two knees Sherk seemed almost immune to the knee strikes and continued his domination over Franca. The fight became like a broken record, as every round mimicked the previous one. The general breakdown of all five rounds were: Sherk eats a knee from Franca, Franca attempts a guillotine choke, Sherk muscles out, takes him down and proceeds to ground and pound a powerless Franca. It was unfortunate that Sherk wasn't able to finish Franca but, it was undoubtedly a lopsided fight in favor of Sherk and it came as no surprise as Bruce Buffer announced the judges' unanimous decision for UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk.

Sean Sherk's UFC All Access gave fans a glimpse of Sherk's dedication and hard work. Throughout the fight I was just in complete awe at the power and explosiveness of Sherk. I’m convinced that there is no possible way of putting another pound of muscle on a 155-pounder. Sherk’s overwhelming power was evident as he threw Franca around like a rag doll, at one point leg pressing Franca about three feet into the air, and able to impose any position he pleased. The golden ticket in this fight was not only the power difference but as I mentioned earlier, the cardio factor. Franca, though looked in top condition, couldn’t handle Sherk’s constant pressure and gassed quickly through the first two rounds while Sherk looked like he just stepped in the ring at the start of every round.

Sean Sherk seems to be one of the most dominant lightweights to ever hit the scene and aside from B.J. Penn I don't see a single lightweight in the UFC that poses any threat to him. It would definitely be interesting to see “The Prodigy” duke it out with the “Muscle Shark,” but that's for another time and another article! I give the Sherk-Franca fight an 8.5/10!

-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Heath Herring via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
One word summary, WOW. Nogueira, made his UFC debut facing Heath Herring, whom he already holds 2 wins over in PRIDE. A polished striker and top submission artist, Nogueira was dominant through the opening of the fight as he jabbed through Herring's defense and scored multiple takedowns. All was well until Herring decided to pull a Gonzaga and threw a head kick that sent Nogueira to the mat. At this point, I went into cardiac arrest, I thought it was over. As a matter of fact, if it was any other fight it would have been over but, referee Yves Lavine did us all a favor and allowed the fight to continue. Herring however did not take advantage of the situation and backed off allowing Nogueira to fully recover. After Nogueira finally realized he was at a UFC fight and not a Brazilian rave (as Bravo so elegantly put it), he persisted with his jabs at a visibly exhausted Herring. Outside of the heart rattling kick, the fight was one sided for Nogueira as he fought his way to a unanimous decision victory.

My God, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped two beats when Nogueira was knocked down. In Herring's defense, it was a bit unfair that the referee did not call the fight after the kick. If it were any other fight, I'm almost certain it would have been ruled a knockout. Yet, Herring is the only one to blame for not taking advantage of the situation and making the best of it. Herring lacks the killer instinct, the smell of blood that Wanderlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko display in their fights. Nogueira must have had his bowl of Lucky Charms that morning and truly once again showed his undying heart. I'm eager to see more of Nogueira in the Octagon soon.

I give this fight a 7/10, deducting points because of the heart attack and emotional distress it brought me.

So, UFC 73 can't be called the best UFC card ever, but it was surely above average. As far as my predictions go, they weren't too off with the exception of the Sherk-Franca fight, God was I wrong about that one. Sorry?

That's all folks...L-Train OUT.

The Lianger

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Top Strikers of MMA Today

Honorable mention: Melvin Manhoef, Rob McCullough, Mark Hunt, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto

5. Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski
The Pitbull! Though Arlovski last few bouts can’t exactly be considered stellar, I still consider him as one of the greatest strikers in MMA today.

Arlovski is quite the physical specimen, I mean he is absolutely shredded; he has muscles on top of his muscles. Arlovski’s immense power is complemented by his crisp and accurate strikes.

Arlovski is no slouch on the ground. He's an avid practitioner of Sambo. Sambo is a combat spot and self defense system developed in the Soviet Union and greatly resembles mixed martial arts with its blend of judo, jiu-jitsu, and striking techniques. Arlovski has won a European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. He also took a silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship.

Arlovski holds a notable submission victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and a stunning knockout victory of Vladimir Matsyushenko. Arlovski showed his dominant striking skills against Matsyushenko, who he knocked out with a beautifully landed uppercut.

4. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva has been an absolute animal, from his earliest bare-knuckle showdowns in the IVC’s to his PRIDE FC career. Silva is best known for his incredible speed, power, and aggressiveness in the ring.

Wanderlei Silva specializes in Muay-Thai and trains under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil. With 21 of his 31 wins ending by some form of knockout, it’s no surprise that Silva is considered by many to be one of the best strikers in MMA today. Silva’s arsenal consists of knees from the Muay-Thai clinch, soccer kicks, stomping downed opponents and his “wild looping punches.”

Wanderlei Silva has also earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but prefers having his fights ending by way of knockout.

In my opinion, Silva’s greatest fights are his two knockout wins over current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and his first fight with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. I would choose Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson II as one of the greatest fights in all of MMA history to date.

3. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell

Is a description even necessary for The Iceman? Chuck Liddell has to be one of the most accomplished fighters in MMA today. Being MMA’s top celebrity, Chuck Liddell has brought in tons of positive attention towards the UFC.

Liddell’s background began in karate and collegiate wrestling but has grown into almost pure striking. Chuck seems to only utilize his wrestling abilities to avoid being taken down by his opponents. After graduating from college, Chuck began training with current trainer John Hackleman of The Pit in Arroyo Grande, California.

Liddell is most known for his unorthodox style of fighting. Chuck possesses a very wide stance and keeps his hands low most of the time. He's considered to be a counter-puncher and delivers his punches from virtually all angles.

Chuck Liddell possesses deadly punches, kicks, and knees but his most powerful weapon is his ferocious overhand right, which usually gains him his knockout wins. Liddell currently has 13 out of his 20 wins coming by way of knockout. Chuck Liddell holds outstanding wins over some of the best mixed martial artists of today. Tito Ortiz, Renato Sobral, current HW champion Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, and Alistair Overeem are just a few of the countless top contenders Liddell has defeated.

2. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Cro Cop can is seen as the top striker in the MMA business today. He's well known for being in the majority of MMA highlight reels played around the world today. Cro Cop is not only a world class fighter but a Croatian Anti-Terrorist officer and a former member of the Croatian parliament!

Cro Cop is easily known for his most deadly attack, the signature left high kick. Everyone knows it’s coming, but no one can stop it. Cro Cop best describes his kicking prowess as “Right leg, hospital, left leg cemetery,” I couldn’t have summed it up better myself.

Cro Cop’s outstanding striking abilities have given him much success throughout K-1 and PRIDE FC. On September 10, 2006, Cro Cop was the winner of PRIDE FC’s 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix in which he had to face two opponents on the same night. Cro Cop faced feared striker Wanderlei Silva and topped the night off with a submission (due to strikes) win over Josh Barnett. Barnett is considered to be one of MMA’s top heavyweights. Cro Cop currently fights for the UFC.

Before entering professional kickboxing and mixed martial arts, the Croatian Sensation held an amateur boxing record of 40-5 (31 KOs).

Cro Cop’s most renowned wins are over Josh Barnett, Wanderlei Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida in MMA and Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Jerome LeBanner and Mark Hunt in kickboxing.

1. Anderson "The Spider" Silva

And we finally reach the number one spot for strikers in my book, Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Anderson Silva is like a sniper, and his hands and feet are his bullets. Corny? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

Silva is UFC’s current middleweight champion and has been Cage Rage’s longest reigning middleweight champion. Anderson Silva has been successful in PRIDE FC, Shooto, Cage Rage, and Rumble on the Rock and has currently been tearing through the UFC.

Anderson Silva trained in the famous Chute Boxe Academy and left to create the Muay Thai Dream Team and most recently created a new team called Black House with fighters Assuerio Silva, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida and Carlos Barreto.

Anderson Silva is hands down the best Muay Thai practitioner in ALL of MMA. Silva utilizes Muay Thai techniques to the fullest extent with his virtually unstoppable clinch, flying knees, flying elbows, spinning back fists and his dead on kicks and punches. On top of Silva’s deadly arsenal of Muay Thai skills, he possesses an iron chin, best displayed in his bout against Jorge Rivera. Anderson Silva purposely ate numerous punches of Rivera’s on the chin and was not fazed one bit. Silva’s best display of his dominating Muay Thai in the UFC was his fight against Rich Franklin. Fighting for the middleweight belt, Silva completely picked apart Rich Franklin, with his clinch and lethal knees, one of which broke Franklin’s nose. Silva of course walked away victorious and still holds the UFC middleweight belt to this day.

All in all, Anderson Silva has sniper scopes on his hands and feet and is dead on with all his strikes. His deadly precision and top notch striking makes every fight of his a blast to watch. For this reason, I give Silva the number one spot for top strikers in MMA today.

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UFC Spotlight: Anderson Silva

The first time I heard of Anderson Silva, I thought that my friend had meant to say Wanderlei Silva. When he told me that no, there was another fighter with the last name of Silva, I must admit that I felt bad for poor Anderson. No matter how good he became, he'd always be stuck in the shadow of his similarly named predecessor. How wrong I was. Anderson has a title and is in the powerhouse UFC organization while Wanderlei owns no gold, is coming off two straight losses, and is stuck in the quickly-sinking PRIDE ship.

Anderson Silva made his breakout debut at Ultimate Fight Night 5, where he knocked out Chris Leben 49 seconds into the first round. A voting mechanism was put on UFC.com where fans could vote for Silva's next opponent. The fans chose Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin and the rest is history. Silva knocked out Franklin in the first round becoming just the second man to beat Franklin (and the first in over three years).

Fans should expect to hear more about Silva in the upcoming months. Rich Franklin is fighting Yushin Okami at UFC 72, with the winner all but guaranteed a shot at Silva's title. Many news sources, The Irish Whip included, are already reporting that Franklin will get his rematch at UFC 77 in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. With all this recent action attributed to Silva and his opponents, the current Middleweight champ is doing all he can to make UFC's forgotten division remembered once again.

In this week's UFC poll, 60% of respondents believe that Randy Couture will go down as the greatest of the UFC Hall of Famers. 20% answered Royce Gracie, 20% answered Dan Severn, and 0% answered Ken Shamrock. This week's question focuses on the rematch between Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin.

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Who's The Greatest?

Guest article by Thomas Gerbasi:


If 2007 has taught us anything, it's that parity has hit the world of mixed martial arts. And it’s hit hard in a year rife with upsets, from Matt Serra’s stoppage of the seemingly unstoppable Georges St-Pierre to last weekend’s KO win by Gabriel Gonzaga over heavyweight heir apparent Mirko Cro Cop.

So in a sport where, to coin the NFL term, “on any given Sunday” any fighter has the chance to beat another one in the Octagon if everything goes right for him on that night, it makes you appreciate the fighters who are a step above that parity, who have proven that on any given night, you’re going to need your ‘A’ game and nothing less to even have a shot at getting the victory.

Throughout the UFC’s almost 14 year history, there have been a handful of fighters who fit that bill, who have made it to the top of the ladder and have dominated their particular segment of time in the organization. Who was – or is - the greatest, or most dominating, champion in UFC history though?

Let’s find out, breaking it down division by division. And for our discussion here, we will stick to fighters who competed from the time the first UFC Heavyweight Champion - Mark Coleman - was crowned at UFC 12 in 1997.

HEAVYWEIGHTS
There have been ten Heavyweight Champions crowned in the UFC. One, Randy Couture, won the title three times; Tim Sylvia has won the belt twice. Among the other title holders, five champions (Coleman, Bas Rutten, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez, Frank Mir) never successfully defended the belt, with Mo Smith (1), Kevin Randleman (1), and Andrei Arlovski (2) defending their titles, but not for an extended period of time.

That leaves us with Couture and Sylvia. Sylvia holds the UFC record for most heavyweight title defenses with three combined over his two reigns. He is also 3-3 in fights against fellow champions, beating Arlovski (twice) and Rodriguez, while losing to Arlovski, Mir and Couture. And therein lies the edge for ‘The Natural’. While his only two title defenses were against dangerous but underachieving Pedro Rizzo, and has lost his belt to Barnett and Rodriguez, he holds wins over fellow champions Smith, Randleman, and Sylvia, and when the comparisons are thisclose, you’ve got to go with the guy with the 5-2 championship fight record (compared to Sylvia’s 5-3) and the head to head victory. Greatest UFC Heavyweight ever? Randy Couture.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Five UFC Light Heavyweight Champions have ruled over the years, with Tito Ortiz leading the way in defenses with five, while Chuck Liddell and Frank Shamrock are close behind with four each. Randy Couture, a two-time champion, defended his title once technically (he won the interim title by beating Liddell and then beat Ortiz for the full title), with Vitor Belfort never having successfully defended the belt.

Though he’s fallen on hard times recently due to his inability to take out the man currently at the top (Liddell), Ortiz did dominate the 205-pound weight class in the early years after Zuffa took control of the company, making the second highest total of title defenses in UFC history. And there were good fighters in there for ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’, including the man he beat for the title, Wanderlei Silva, and Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, and Vladimir Matyushenko. Some would dismiss the easy wins over Elvis Sinosic and Ken Shamrock, but the fact remains that Ortiz has amassed an impressive body of work en route to a 6-3 title fight record.

A closer look though, shows that against his fellow champions at the weight (and he has fought all of them), Ortiz’ record drops to a paltry 1-4, with his only win coming against Belfort via a close decision. This hurts his all-time standing and leaves us with Liddell and Shamrock. Shamrock, who was champion when the division was called ‘middleweight’, defeated Ortiz, Jeremy Horn, and Igor Zinoviev, but despite his talent, he has to be penalized for dominating what was a weak division compared to the 205-pound weight class of the last few years.

Which brings us to ‘The Iceman’. Liddell, at 37, is as dangerous as he’s ever been, and he shows no signs of slowing down. His title fight record stands at a stellar 5-1 and he holds non-title wins over Ortiz and Belfort, bringing his record against fellow champions to 7-1 if you count his stoppage of former heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman and former middleweight boss Murilo Bustamante. Simply put, at 205, Liddell has proven himself to be the most dominant light heavyweight, not only of this era, but of all-time.

MIDDLEWEIGHTS
The Jan Brady division of MMA has risen from virtual obscurity to its rightful place among the most competitive weight classes in the game. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a Liddell, Hughes,

or Couture to truly give the 185-pounders that one dominating champion
yet. Dave Menne and Evan Tanner didn’t fit the bill, both losing the title in their first defenses. Rich Franklin, with two title defenses before losing his belt to Anderson Silva, came close. Brazilian ground ace Murilo Bustamante had potential to be ‘that guy’ until he left the organization after his lone defense over Matt Lindland. But its the current man on top of the heap, Silva, who may be the one to have a long and dominating reign, especially if he gets through highly regarded Nate Marquardt, a rematch with Franklin, and whoever else the UFC throws at him in the coming months. If he loses his crown before 2007 ends, then it’s back to the drawing board.

WELTERWEIGHTS
After some close races, this is the one no-brainer of the group. In a division filled with quality fighters and quality champions, Matt Hughes stands high above the pack. And it’s a tough pack to get through. Hughes, with seven defenses and two non-title wins over two reigns is the leader, followed by his mentor, Pat Miletich, with three defenses, and the foursome of Carlos Newton, BJ Penn, Georges St-Pierre, and Matt Serra, none of whom have heard Bruce Buffer say “and still UFC Welterweight Champion.”

But when it comes down to it, even with his losses to Penn and GSP (whom he also holds wins over), there is no champion at 170 pounds who has a prayer of competing with Hughes’ resume. Look at the numbers. 9-2 in title fights, with wins over Penn, St-Pierre, Frank Trigg (twice), Sean Sherk, Newton, and Mach Sakurai. He has non-title wins over Royce Gracie, Joe Riggs, and Chris Lytle, and in fights against his fellow champions (including lightweight boss Sherk and former middleweight champ Dave Menne), he is 6-2. St-Pierre’s recent loss to Serra only magnified Hughes accomplishments and how hard it is to stay on top once you get there.

LIGHTWEIGHTS
A tough division to break down, especially given the fact that the lightweight class was dormant in the UFC for close to two years. Call it the curse of Jens Pulver, who left the organization over a contract dispute without ever having lost the belt in the ring, but a post-Pulver tournament to crown a new champion fizzled with a draw in the final between BJ Penn and Caol Uno, and then came the division hiatus from 2004 to 2006. So basically we’re looking at two eras and two champions in Pulver, who reigned in the early part of the Millennium when Zuffa took control of the UFC, and Sherk, the current champion, who has yet to defend his crown. Based on resume at 155 pounds alone, Pulver is the easy winner, just because of his title winning effort over Uno, and his defenses over quality opposition like Penn and Dennis Hallman. Plus, he never lost his title in the ring. Sherk a career-long welterweight, is just getting his feet wet at 155, and if his win over Kenny Florian to take the lightweight belt is any indication, we may have to revisit this discussion in a year’s time. But until Sherk proves himself against the contenders in a stacked division, the most dominating UFC lightweight champion of all-time is ‘Lil Evil’.

There you have it – Couture, Liddell, Hughes, Pulver, and a vacancy at middleweight. Who’s the best though? I think it comes down to Liddell and Hughes.

Chuck Liddell
Overall Record 20-3
Record in Title Fights 5-1
Title Defenses 4 (current)
Record against fellow champions 7-1
Current winning streak – 7 (all by KO or TKO)

Matt Hughes
Overall Record 42-5
Record in Title Fights 9-2
Title Defenses 7 (over two reigns)
Record against fellow champions 6-2
Current winning streak – 1

Too close to call? Most definitely. But in the ‘what have you done for me lately’ world of mixed martial arts, you go with the fighter currently on top, and that man is Chuck Liddell.

Of course, having said that...let the debates begin!

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