2010: The Year of the Powerbomb

Here are the main card results from Watchkalibrun.com. The gif is from Middle Easy the pic is from MMA Fighting.

Main Event

* Shane Del Rosario def. Lolohea Mahe via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:48

* Sarah Kaufman def. Roxanne Modafferi via knockout (slam) – Round 3, 4:45. Sarah Kaufman retains Strikeforce 135lbs. Women’s title.

* Bobby Voelker def. Cory Devela via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

* Mike Kyle def. Ron “Abongo” Humphrey via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:2.

* Caros Fodor def. Thomas Diagne via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

I could have gone 5-0 if I had the guts to go with my head over my heart in the championship bout. Alas my enjoyment of both fighters made that too difficult to deal with. That being said the bar has been set for female fight of the year with Kaufmans first title defense against Roxy Modaferri. It was a tug of war from the opening frame but as the fight wore on it was Kaufmans athleticism that won her the fight.

Most of the fight was spent jockeying for position in the clinch with Roxy threatening with trips and takedowns, one of which she got in the first round. In the second Sarah go to show of her combo punching in a few stand up skirmishes where she clearly had the upper hand. In the third both fighters spent time on their backs. When the challenger Modaferri was in top position she had a hard time advancing or landing strikes against the champion who did her best to not take damage and kept her at bay.

When the tables were turned Kaufman was wary of the threats inherent in the guard of Modaferri and while defending what looked to be the beginning of an submission (probably an armbar). Sarah Kaufman made good on her word to make a statement for being put on bigger cards by hoisting Modaferri off her back and slamming her unconscious. A finish so dramatic that I would venture it and the Zoila Frausto smashing of Rosi Sexton will both be up for knockout of the year.

The rest of the event was entertaining with only one decision in the Fodor vs Diagne fight at the beginning of the main card. An unexpectedly good night of fights from a sleeper of a card that was a gem for anybody who watched it.

Been slacking hardcore recently, so I will just cluster bomb some of the more notable news in mma.

From MMA Junkie

Jon "Bones" Jones

Jon Jones: Heavyweight is an option.

Just four fights into his UFC run, many mixed martial arts fans are already calling for a light heavyweight title shot.

But as Jones prepares for a showdown with veteran grinder Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at August’s UFC on Versus 2 event, the soon-to-be-23-year-old told the crew of ESPN’s “MMA Live” that he’s not necessarily just focused on a 205-pound title. “Bones” might eventually go up to heavyweight, too.

“This training camp has been really tough for me, actually,” Jones said on the most recent episode of “MMA Live.” “I got up to about 231 (pounds) for the first time, and I’ll be 23 on Monday. I feel as if I’m growing into a more adult body.

“Who knows what the future holds for me. I’m always training hard, and I’m going to start to focus more on weightlifting in my off-time. You heavyweights gotta watch out because you never know what’s going to happen.”

This may come as a shock to some but anybody who saw how young and huge Jones was when he made it into the UFC (6′4 & 21 years old) it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think he would outgrow the weight class he started in. If he continues to grow in skill and experience as well as size a move to heavyweight would be seen as a smart one for one of the most promising prospects to enter the sport in years.

From MMA Fighting,

A World Cup sans South America, for shame FEG 2.0

FEG Announces Partnership with PUJI Captital, Declares War With UFC

DREAM and K-1 promoter FEG announced Friday that it is entering a partnership with Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital that could be worth 20 billion yen ($230 million).

K-1 President Sadaharu Tanikawa stressed that FEG had not been sold and in fact it will now be setting its sights much higher.

“This is a declaration of war against the WWE and UFC. From Asia, we will take the world,” Tanikawa stated.

Tanikawa admitted that expansion to American soil would be futile at this stage and under the watchful eye of K-1 creator Kazuyoshi Ishii, they will set their sights on the rest of the world.

“Mr. Ishii is completely supporting us. We won’t stand a chance in the American market so we will spread to the rest of the world.”

….

A call for a drastic change in Japanese MMA has been needed since the collapse of PRIDE, even Tanikawa admitted himself.

“When K-1 and PRIDE were competing against each other, 80% of the martial arts market was in Japan. It is now the opposite and Japan is only 20%. We were worried that Japan would be left behind if we let this continue, it is unacceptable. We needed to change our business model.”

“We’ve let Dana White get a lead on us. Before (Shinya) Aoki beats (Gilbert) Melendez, we must win as promoters.”

With last weeks Dream event we saw Shinya Aoki defend his belt and unofficial title as the best Japanese fighter currently competing in MMA. This victory could also been seen as a defeat or moot point considering how utterly ineffectual Aoki was in his fight against Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez. Dream also seemed to be in a transitional period from its revamped lighter weight clsasses to this weeks announcement, Fight Entertainment Group (FEG) may be making a case for long awaited fanboy fantasy of a vibrant high level mixed martial arts scene reminiscent of the PRIDE glory days.

Alternate Business Model Graphic. From Middleeasy.com

Wishful thinking aside this partnership will have to produce results first before this is taken seriously. Even if the declaration of war against two major organizations (WWE and UFC) was just a figure of speech. The sentiment of wanting to compete at the highest levels promotion wise is very palpable. Until this partnership produces compelling cards it will be seen as another sad story of investors looking to make a quick buck off of the illusory cash cow of mixed martial arts. Both White and McMahon giving a crap about this is unlikely but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they did take this news into consideration.

At the end of the day when combat sports and sports entertainment organizations compete: The fans win.

From Bloody Elbow

Jake Shields is Officially signed to the UFC Unofficially…huh!?!?

It’s official. According to Graciefighter.com, the UFC has signed the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Jake Shields (25-4-1) to a contract. They also announced that the #3 ranked middleweight will drop back down to join the UFC welterweight shark tank:

Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC. After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight.

Jake’s opponent is one of the UFC’s top contenders and will be announced shortly.

Seeing as how there was the Aldo vs Faber photo op with Dana White led to Shields contract not being renegotiated and his belt being put up for an fantabulous 8 man middleweight tournamet that got derailed thanks to The Lone Star State not allowing combat sport tournaments. From MMA Fighting

Strikeforce officials would not comment on the proposed tournament last week, telling MMA Fighting only, “We aren’t doing a tournament there.”

But TDLR administrator Greg Alvarez confirmed to MMA Fighting on Saturday that Strikeforce wanted a one-night, bracket-style tournament for the Houston show, which will air live on Showtime. But Alvarez said that request was denied.

“They asked if it was possible and I told them that when Tough Man was outlawed, the state also did away with tournaments back in 2001,” Alvarez said.

Sec. 2052.254 of Texas’ Combative Sports Occupations Code specifically deals with tournaments. The code states: “An elimination tournament may not be conducted in this state.”

Which led to the subsequent title fight between Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight belt and Shields heading to the UFC.

And lastly, how about some Bobby Lashley news, eh?

From Bloody Elbow.

Bobby Lashley’s opponent at the upcoming Strikeforce show in Houston will be IFL and Rage in the Cage veteran Chad Griggs.

Not much to say here other than “Lashley better not pull out of this fight or risk the mma community completely writing him off”.

That should be enough binge blogging for the day. And now to enjoy a weekend without fights, if that is possible.

Fans and the MMA media are still up in arms over the events of last weekend & rightly so. A main stay of both the top 3 in both the heavyweight division and P4P mma trinity (alongside GSP and Anderson Silva) his loss suffice to say is kind of a big deal. The messianic overtones of Fedor and his mystique have been displayed in the most literal of interpretations.

UFC PPV/Showtime?!? The dream of co-promotion lives on. From Bloody Elbow

Even ESPN got in on the action, albeit incorrectly labeling the event a UFC & Showtime collaboration. Promotional misnomer aside, the idea that something big happened in the world of UFC/MMA/human cockfighting was noticeable even amongst the casuals and passers by.

From the silly to the sobering truth, mma fans will find a way to cope and eventually move on. If anything the upset of upsets brings up to a new revelation of Mr. Emelianenko’s new found humanity, we will no longer assume invincibility and now will have to really analyze his fights. Realistically assessing the threats his opponents pose and vice verca. In the end this fight made Fedor what he always wanted to be seen as a fighter and not a god

Maybe the guy in the corner knows something we don't?

Photo from Sherdog.com

I can’t get enough of this KO, not only does it herald Sandro as one of the elite fighters of the featherweight division. It is just one damn beautiful to behold. Marlon Sandro is the new Sengoku featherweight champion.

From Middleeasy.com

Seeing as how his only loss was a very questionable decision from biased Japanese judging, you could argue it as highly dubious.

Bloody Elbow has a write up of this win and Sandro’s stunning metamorphosis from solid featherweight to nightmarish finisher who just may be the best in the world at 145. That being said he needs to come to the WEC to prove it, even though WEC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo is his campmate. Depending on whether one of the two change weight classes, it may be best for them to rule their roost from different orgs.

Props to Middle Easy, for getting the scoop of scoops.

The regional political council of the party “United Russia” approved the list of candidates for internal party elections – the primaries. In the list of 58 candidates. No less than 10 000 United Russia vote will determine the best, and who will receive the first place in the party list in the upcoming October elections in the Belgorod Regional Duma.

The list of early voting have 24 newcomers who have never participated in elections to the legislature. One of the achievements was the inclusion in the list not only members of United Russia, but also simply to party supporters and even non-party candidates. This is for example the managing director Combine KMA Ruda Vladimir Tom and CEO JBK-1 Yuri Selivanov. They are not only members of the party, but also by working in obldume fourth convocation, not included in the United Russia Duma faction.

Among the most notable candidates, in addition to the deputies (Anatolia Zelikow, Victor Filatov, Vadim Cage, Valeria Skruga, Ivan Kulabuhova, Vladimir Kulikovsky) – a famous athlete Fedor Emelianenko, the new director of Belarusian State Technological University Sergey Glagolev (by the way, non-partisan), director of the Institute of Public and municipal government BSU Alexander Mamatov.

Now fighters and politics are far from a new phenomenon, with such notables like Manny Pacquiao, Matt Lindland and Chael Sonnen providing recent precedent. But its the possibility of this being the end of Fedors career that seems to almost dwarf the announcement of Emelianenko’s political endeavors.

Fedor will be running for a congress seat in Russia for the pro-Kremlin party ‘United Russia’. The party is dominant in the country and holds around 80% of the seats in the senate and Fedor will be representing his region. That’s a fact… Now the accompanied rumor is that after Fedor fulfills the last two fights in his Strikeforce contract, he will retire from MMA.

If this is true the Werdum and possible Overeem fights could be the end of the line for Fedors MMA career. While it will be a somewhat anticlimactic finish, since the possibility of Fedor and M-1 Global ever coming to agreeable terms with Zuffa. Maybe bowing out gracefully is the next best thing.

Last nights Bellator 20 had one of the most gruesome injuries in recent memory. Last season finalist from the middleweight tournament Jared Hess squared off against Elite XC vet Alexander Shlemenko for another shot at 185lb champ Hector Lombard. After dominating the first two rounds with wrestling and sub attempts in efforts to stifle the Russian striker. The 3rd round had Shlemenko desperately looking to finish by trying to time Jared’s takedowns with a knee. The plan worked but not necessarily the way anybody wanted or expected it to.

As Schlemenko connected with the knee Hess buckled awkwardly and crumpled putting his weight on his left knee, dislocating it. Head over to Middle Easy to see a slo motion gif of the horror.

Upon re-watching the fight I think Schlemenko’s 2nd round heelhook may have been the begining of the end of Hess’s knee.

Shoguns Manager and translator Eduardo Alonso breaks down the Machida strategy. By slightly augmenting the pattern from the first fight with the previously established leg kicks. Rua’s camp reviewed tape on the initial bout to look for more openings. By adding a more pervasive boxing offense coupled with low kicks and Shoguns criminally underrated high guard defense, Machida was given no quarter to operate his standard counter striking, the linchpin of his once perfect record.

Goes to show anybody can be defeated, no matter how reportedly invincible they may be.

Before the main event of last weekends UFC, there was a co main event welterweight title eliminator between TUF alum Josh Koscheck and English slugger Paul Daley. Starting with a well documented pre fight war of words the two displayed a spirited dislike for one another. But from the pre fight presser to the weigh ins for the event it was apparent that the online sniping and chastising was masking real and palpable loathing for one another.

Then came the actual fight, which ended up looking like your average striker vs grappler bout with the grappler maintaining dominant position for the entirety of the bout. As far as fights between two top 10 opponents vying for a title shot goes this was still a pretty unremarkable fight all around. It also was the second fight in a row in which an illegal strike (knee to a crouching opponent) grazed the pompadour of Josh Koscheck, who still reacted as if he took the blow flush to the temple and was allowed to recover despite multiple angles of slo-mo replay saying otherwise. But that and the entire fight paled in comparison to the following 10 seconds after the final bell of the bout.

After getting up Paul Daley followed Koscheck to give what most would think was going to be some sort of post fight embrace of good sportsmanship, but what was transpired was thecomplete opposite. Daley struck Koscheck with a cheap shot left hook that was blocked and was immediately separated by the referee Dan Mirgliotta and so began the what now seems to be the end of his career in the UFC

From MMA Junkie,

“He’s done,” White said after the event. “I don’t give a [expletive] if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again.

“There’s no excuse for that. These guys are professional athletes. You don’t ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that, whether you’re frustrated or not. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen because he is a talented guy, and he is one of the best 170-pounders in the world.”

Given a day to rethink his actions and stew in the resentment of his own designs, Daley did the right thing and issued an apology. Here it is in its entirety,

“I’ve had a long flight home to consider my actions and regret the mistake I made on Saturday. I would like to apologise to the UFC and the Athletic Commission for what I’ve done as well as all the fans and sponsors that support me.”

“I would also like to offer my sincerest apologies to Josh Koscheck who did not deserve the cheap shot I threw. He did what he needed to do in order to win the fight and get the job done, and I foolishly reacted to the situation. There is no excuse for my actions and I know what I did was very unprofessional. I was immensely frustrated by a collection of things that took place throughout the fight as well as leading up to it, but I’m certainly not trying to condone or excuse my actions.”

“Josh implemented his game plan perfectly taking me down and staying on top of me for the majority of the fight. I was also frustrated about him claiming (and acting like) I knee’d him in the head on the ground when it was clear for all to see in the video replay that I didn’t connect at all with the knee I threw. Then finally, the verbal abuse Josh hit me with in the final 30 seconds of the fight simply pushed me over the edge and my frustrations came out as I knew I’d lost the fight, was unhappy with my own performance and had then been ridiculed by my opponent to top things off.”

“This is certainly no excuse for my actions; I fully deserve to be punished for what I did and hope that everyone I have disappointed can forgive my rash decision. I feel very disappointed in myself for losing my cool and hope that I am able to address my temperament and bounce back from this low point in my career.”

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed by what I did and hope that together my team and I can get through this issue. It will be a long road back from where I am now to earning the trust and respect of the UFC and the MMA fans that have supported me for so long, I know I’ve let you all down but I’m determined to make it up to you all.”

Now comes the waiting game for any following developments to what seems will be an ongoing process of arbitration and or adjudication for what really happened. Koscheck has admitted to using abusive language which Daley alluded to being the reason why he lashed out. Both the in cage smack talk and post fight blow fall under fouls as stated by the UFC’s rules

24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.

27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.

As cliche as it is two errors of judgment do not inexplicably justify themselves nor do they cancel each other out. What should hopefully transpire is a full review of the incident with suspensions and fines handed to the guilty parties. But a instant life time ban just seems way to reactionary and knee jerk for a major sports organization.

Infinitely more heinous acts have transpired in other major sports leagues from the rampant PED and steroid use in the MLB. NBA stars having altercations involving firearms being drawn. Or the NFL and their having to deal with their stars being accused of sexual assault along with other players convicted of
vehicular manslaughter.

Compared to those incidents a blocked cheap shot may seem negligible, but it should be dealt with in the same manner as any other major sports orgs, by first letting the guilty parties be subjected to the law of the land. After that’s been dealt with then fine, suspended or combine the punishment and when that is done let the athlete redeem themselves and compete.

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in the end in regards to Daleys outburst. People make mistakes but I personally believe if own up to your error make an effort to change and do better, you should be given a second chance.

If I had super slick photoshop skills akin to the guys at Middle Easy I would have made a pic of Sagat with Shoguns head standing over the unconscious body of Machida in a sleeveless gi and a red headband. Or a photo of a knight walking away with a UFC belt with a slayed dragon in the background. Last nights title fight was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as a fan of this sport. Seeing a fighter who I thought got robbed in his first title bout, to go and win the immediate rematch in such decisive and brutal fashion was a thing of beauty.

That and going 4 out of 5 picks didn’t hurt either. All in all here are my shortened thoughts of the event. I will do a more in depth write up after I let Machidas first loss marinate on instant replay loop for about an afternoon or so.

- Kos vs. Daley went just as expected sans submission finish. Paul can defend himself off his back but Koscheck is too good of a wrestler to let a dangerous but one dimensional fighter do anything but struggle off his back for the majority of a fight. This was also the second fight that had Kos getting let off the hook from a phantom knee grazing his fro. The cheap shot after the fight was inexcusable & cost Daley his UFC contract. Dude would only flounder as a gate keeper at best any & will be better served obliterating C level fighters in lower teir orgs anyway. Maybe the Iron Mike comparisons were a curse?

- Kimbo’s performance against Meathead Mitrione had its moments, namely the 1st round triangle attempts. But in the second Matt started laying the leg kicks on him and it was a wrap shortly after some of the worst full mount ground and pound I’ve ever seen. Slice also gets to join Daley in the cut by zuffa pool after his loss, wonder how fast Strikeforce is going to pick these guys up.

- Stephens and Stout put on a pretty damn good fight. I expected the long lay off to effect Stephens but he was getting the best of Stout on most of the exchanges thanks to Stouts lack of defense and head movement. Hands of Stone is a gamer but was clearly outclassed early on. Still wondering which round Stout won, but I guess hometown advantage gets you an instant 10-9 in the 1st.

- Cote damn near beat Alan Belcher, I was getting a bad vibe on my pick viewing all the footage from Cote’s training. Dude looked pretty good and motivated and was in the fight until the 2nd round DDT/faceplant variant and subsequent throttling. Good back and forth brawl either way.

Still very happy with the event and will now go back to watching the Machida bandwagon implode as I read multiple mma forums of fans desperately evacuate. Props to MMA Junkie for the photo of the new champ.

Still a work in progress this sculpture has to be one of the most bizarrely beautiful works of art related to the sport of MMA. By using both the mythical moniker (Minotauro being Portuguese for Minotaur) and battle scared visage of the Pride FC and UFC champ. From artist Ballistyc, the following is his own thoughts and inspiration for this piece

The likeness is based on the Mix Martial Artist,
and former Pride and UFC Heavyweight champion;
Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira

I’ve always loved the look of Rodrigo’s face. He’s got such great character in his features.
The way he wears all his emotions and his history on the surface of his face is just beautiful.
It’s authentic.
It’s like a map of his life.
….and I’ve been meaning to do a modernize interpretation of the Minotaur creature for a while now…..
I figured why not combine the two. I suppose it’s only fitting that I chose
Rodrigo Nogueira since his nickname is ‘Minotauro’.
A beast that roamed the Labyrinths is now a beast that roams the Octagon…

With something this awesome I can’t help but think of the possibilities of what other fighters would look like in works inspired by combining them and their nicknames. Props to Deo Wade & Middle Easy for breaking the news.