tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-331398422024-02-27T20:34:44.393-08:00Free-For-AllOn matters MMA and other stuffPaul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-83182847616722294522014-01-01T07:36:00.002-08:002014-01-01T07:36:54.317-08:00UFC 168: Aftermath…Weidman and Rousey Win, Win Big<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LoEE8800LgykDgePUlH4gN5r4orP5Ovc8-1BKN2BKuLqg8oK57K1gufXXV8Y9hbP6sgTgqCGwftlt0qb0ourkXg3lcmoKQ8X9CGyVdxEliyynRzHmWc5gWby2PSdDX5_dDk43g/s1600/UFC+168_11_weidman_vs_silva_wpmedia.o.canada.com.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LoEE8800LgykDgePUlH4gN5r4orP5Ovc8-1BKN2BKuLqg8oK57K1gufXXV8Y9hbP6sgTgqCGwftlt0qb0ourkXg3lcmoKQ8X9CGyVdxEliyynRzHmWc5gWby2PSdDX5_dDk43g/s400/UFC+168_11_weidman_vs_silva_wpmedia.o.canada.com.png" /></a></div><i>(Image from Wpmedia.o.canada.com)</i><br />
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When God tells you to retire, you better quit. Or He’ll break you! This is a lesson <b>Anderson Silva</b> and horrified MMA fans learned on Sunday. Nobody deserves to have a leg broken especially on pay-per-view. Silva did better when he clowned around against <b>Chris Weidman</b>, only getting knocked out with a left hook to the jaw. This time he had a limb fractured, his tibia and fibula shattered by a well-placed leg kick checked by a better-placed counter that snapped his lower left extremity.<br />
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Two rounds and Weidman defended the middleweight title he took from Silva, uncannily at a near-similar time. In <b>UFC 162</b>, Weidman won in 1:18 of the second round. This time, it took him two seconds less to win in the same round. Again, Silva lovers are saying that Weidman doesn’t deserve the division’s championship belt because of the freak-accident circumstances surrounding the end of the fight. What else do you need Silva-lovers? Another rematch where Weidman will rip Silva’s arm and hit him with it? <br />
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Give it up and sleep off the hangover of the “greatest MMA fighter of all time” hype that <b>Joe Rogan</b> and <b>Dana White </b>will throw at you. <b>Fedor Emelianenko</b> is widely accepted as the best ever of the heavyweight division even though he never fought in the UFC. When <b>Antonio </b>"<b>Bigfoot</b>" <b>Silva</b> and <b>Dan Henderson</b> fucked Fedor up there were demands for a rematch. Just about everyone realized that Fedor was old and his time at the top was over and that’s it.<br />
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It would be better for all concerned to look forward to Weidman’s next fight, maybe against Anderson’s friend, the rejuvenated TRT-powered <b>Vitor Belfort</b>. That should be a smash…sorry…breaking PPV records…sorry again…as North-American Weidman fans and Brazilian fans purchase the right to see either Weidman destroy another Brazilian challenger or the latter getting back the belt for South America. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw4l6U6byKo5W7cFjfGVSdQVH7p8J7gxz6pcAmBUbxdvzofkUpehb0JCG1PQw3z66dAhf17G_yGaKRT-JiTPPqEMTWCY-8Kner5yWRMPT0PmOlKZpdZYN38F3Wxt1tom0ohTpkg/s1600/UFC+168_10_rousey_vs_tate_wpmedia.o.canada.com.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw4l6U6byKo5W7cFjfGVSdQVH7p8J7gxz6pcAmBUbxdvzofkUpehb0JCG1PQw3z66dAhf17G_yGaKRT-JiTPPqEMTWCY-8Kner5yWRMPT0PmOlKZpdZYN38F3Wxt1tom0ohTpkg/s400/UFC+168_10_rousey_vs_tate_wpmedia.o.canada.com.png" /></a></div><i>(Image from Wpmedia.o.canada.com)</i><br />
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Speaking of another American star, this one of the female persuasion, didn’t <b>Ronda Rousey</b> look good beating <b>Miesha Tate</b> for the second time? Rousey had a harder time this time around, unable to put away an opponent in the first round like she did her first seven adversaries. Tate, with the advantage of having fought Rousey once, knew what she had to do to do better. And do better she did. Taking Rousey to the championship rounds with good striking and ground defense, the champ had to dig deep into her expansive bag of submission techniques but still ended up using her favorite – the armbar. Rousey’s transitions on the ground simply sapped Tate’s strength and will as she tapped in 58 seconds of the middle round of the five-canto affair. She earned a combined $150,000 for two bonuses: Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night. Tate can take consolation in her share of the bonus and that she is the first to last more than a round against Rousey.<br />
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Another main-card battle also had its moments when the phenomenal but previously-underrated <b>Travis Browne </b>disposed of veteran and former UFC heavyweight champ, <b>Josh Barnett</b>, with scary elbows to the side of the head with exactly one minute left in the first round. Barnett is a top-10 contender but Browne simply was too smart and fierce for Barnett’s slow-burn methodology. While Barnett once again went to his bread-and-butter wrestling prelude to ground-and-pound or submission, Browne went for the kill with all the strength his 6-feet-7 frame allowed him. Barnett was already out before the referee stepped in to call off Browne. <br />
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Browne has been making a habit of exposing formidable veterans. He also knocked out <b>Gabriel Gonzaga</b> with the same right elbow to the head, although against Barnett, he hit cleaner whereas against Gonzaga he hit the Brazilian with a few strikes to the back of the head. Browne is now the recipient of three straight Knockout of the Night bonuses, the previous one against <b>Alistair Overeem</b>, and perhaps will line himself up for a title fight with another win or two. <br />
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UFC 168 is one of the best year-enders for the MMA-promotion firm, and certainly boasts of the most gruesome injury in a title fight. It does look like the end of the Anderson-Silva era. <b>The Spider </b>has had a great run as champion. Stories have it that he asked his doctor how soon he could start training. OK. Mister Silva, sir, there is a saying for what you plan in Cebuano: Gadaku lang ang hunahuna. Meaning, it’s all in your mind. What do you want, get your left leg broken again or get a matching break on your right leg? Retire gadammit! You don’t need the money. Your legacy won’t change. After all, you beat Chael Sonnen twice. Heheheh. A Prosperous New Year to you, Anderson, and take care of that leg. It’s the only left leg you’ve got! <br />
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Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-83197040693408392602013-09-23T00:34:00.000-07:002013-10-02T19:49:57.659-07:00UFC 165: Jon Jones Scandal – ‘Bones’ Exposed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6xGF0qdJf7m8DyCHzBSIwMqgn5kKsxJSXzhyv2j5NM8FYF0WjqQldHLs2K1FKaLnPtcTVOMck6wOEbathOVybkt4DHGp8pMM_g56kKtR4lcjN5zWo1LUNwdNA8AcS1aKr9U2fg/s1600/UFC+165_Jones+vs+Gustafsson+092213b_httpwww.gannett-cdn.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6xGF0qdJf7m8DyCHzBSIwMqgn5kKsxJSXzhyv2j5NM8FYF0WjqQldHLs2K1FKaLnPtcTVOMck6wOEbathOVybkt4DHGp8pMM_g56kKtR4lcjN5zWo1LUNwdNA8AcS1aKr9U2fg/s320/UFC+165_Jones+vs+Gustafsson+092213b_httpwww.gannett-cdn.com.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
<b>YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY.</b> <i>Jon 'Bones' Jones got busted up worse in one fight, courtesy of Sweden's Alexander 'The Mauler' Gustafsson, than in all of his previous 13 UFC fights put together. Jones won by controversial unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards.</i> (Image from: www.gannett-cdn.com)<br />
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<i><b>FIGHTING</b></i> someone his size, light-heavyweight champion <b>Jon Jones</b> retained (he shouldn’t have) his title while losing a lot of blood and prestige in the MMA community. In the post-fight interview inside the Octagon with color-commentator <b>Joe Rogan</b>, Jones tried to show a brave face despite the numerous cuts on it, referring repeatedly to his “warrior spirit” and referencing Bruce Lee’s “be water” philosophy. There was plenty of water, all right, after a hard-fought bout with all the sweat and blood that both combatants expelled.<br />
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Judges’ decisions have been a sore point in the <b>Ultimate Fighting Championship</b> for a long time. <b>Alexander Gustafsson</b> should have been given the win for the first three rounds at least, with his accurate sniping, fleet-footed defense in the standup battle, and his amazing takedown defense. For the record, the Swede is the first UFC fighter to have taken down Jones, scoring two, while stuffing 10-of-11 takedown attempts by the defending champion.<br />
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Round 4 was clearly won by Jones as his elbow finally landed squarely on a (sitting) ducking Gustaffson, who remarkably survived follow-up strikes by Jones. Round 5 could have gone either way as the candidate for Fight-of-the-Year honors went all five rounds.<br />
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The Air Canada Centre audience made their sentiments known after the winner was announced. All three judges scored it all for Jones (48-47,48-47, and 49-46!). Gustaffson, with good grace, refused to criticize the judges’ decision or said anything suggesting that he got a bum call, only saying that it was an honor for him to fight the champion. <br />
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The end of the first round saw Jones with a familiar look in his mug, the worry etched reminiscent of the way he walked back to his corner after Round 1 when he fought <b>Lyoto Machida</b> in <b>UFC 140</b>. Against Machida his main concern was how to tag the Brazilian; against Gustafsson he had to contend not just with the difficulty of landing a solid strike on the Swede, he also had to avoid <b>The Mauler</b>’s accurate striking. <br />
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The same pattern followed in Rounds 2 and 3. Jones kept missing with his patented spinning elbow, hitting Gustafsson once but merely grazing him. Gustafsson’s defense and chin were superb all throughout the fight. It wasn’t that it was just The Mauler who punished Bones; the defending champion gave as good as he got but the challenger had the edge in the initial three rounds. In Round 4, Gustafsson stayed down low too long, exposing his head on which Jones finally hit with a solid spinning elbow. Jones smelled blood and went for the kill but he couldn’t finish Gustafsson despite a knee, an elbow, punches, and the kitchen sink.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8dy-gnHSgPzNvWr6dmzsyORWLGvHfPz3mucQ7KeogKhTvbgG7L_F9s4QAGLRef1lHmDvy0ZYTyfHnLqI9fGTwIhUItrbn-zhxAAtNGXv-K6TVxyH24pbZCz52fY8_ofh4ONt-Q/s1600/UFC+165_Jones+vs+Gustafsson+092213_httpwww.gannett-cdn.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8dy-gnHSgPzNvWr6dmzsyORWLGvHfPz3mucQ7KeogKhTvbgG7L_F9s4QAGLRef1lHmDvy0ZYTyfHnLqI9fGTwIhUItrbn-zhxAAtNGXv-K6TVxyH24pbZCz52fY8_ofh4ONt-Q/s640/UFC+165_Jones+vs+Gustafsson+092213_httpwww.gannett-cdn.com.jpg" /></a></div><b>YOU KNOW I BEAT YOU, JON.</b> <i>Alexander Gustafsson talks with Jon Jones inside the Octagon after their UFC 165 lightheavyweight championship fight at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.</i>(Image from: www.gannett-cdn.com)<br />
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<b>THIS<i></i></b> is one of those big fights that will almost always have the adjective “controversial” attached to it with people demanding a rematch which will most likely still be a close fight but with Jones more prepared for a beating. Snicker. The last time a rematch was conducted due to the controversy involved; the challenger did in the “undeserving” champion via first-round KO. We know that The Mauler has enough power to do what <b>Mauricio</b> “<b>Shogun</b>”<b> Rua</b> did to his fellow-Brazilian <b>Lyoto</b> “<b>The Dragon</b>” <b>Machida</b>. But will <b>Dana White</b>’s Las-Vegas mafia allow a Gustafsson-Jones II? Of course they will. It’s all about the money after all despite White’s mouthpiece <b>Joe Rogan</b> repeatedly extolling the ultimate virtues of the UFC’s current moneymaker “the greatest talent to ever enter the Octagon” Jones who now has to rethink his ego and his future plans. Yes, plans, as in moving up to the heavyweight division.<br />
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As a 206-and-above pounder, Jones can comfortably allow his weight to balloon on the condition that it doesn’t go beyond 265lbs, and take on the likes of <b>Alistair Overeem</b> who will probably break Jones’ spindly legs like matchstick. Even gatekeeper <b>Frank Mir</b> will give Jones fits should Mir get Jones to the ground or hit him with a punch courtesy of his improved boxing.<br />
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We knew all along that Jones was “dominating” his division because he was fighting below his proper weight, same as the recently dethroned hype-machine <b>Anderson</b> “<b>The Spider</b>” <b>Silva</b>. Jones and Silva are authentically extremely-talented athletes who have brought excitement and loads of income into the UFC, but one of the major reasons they have ruled the ranks is size disparity, their physical edge over majority of their opponents. Silva couldn’t have that against <b>Chris Weidman</b> and paid for it. Sure, Silva shot himself with his kooky taunting ways, too, but at 6-feet-2, the same height as Weidman, he couldn’t look over his opponent. Jones, at 6-4, is actually shorter than Gustafsson officially by an inch. <br />
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The <b>Fertitta</b> brothers are shrewd businessmen whose financial acumen has been honed in the gambling paradise of Vegas. With the ouster of Silva and the relative popularity of <b>Georges St. Pierre</b>, the UFC only has Jones to nurture and milk because of the championship title he holds…but barely. Despite being robbed of a victory, the loss is a moral victory for Gustafsson who confidently declared before the fight that he could beat Jones any day. He did, unfortunately, the judges didn’t see it that way. And for those waiting for the man to beat Jones, Gustafsson is it, disproving the words “NOT QUITE HUMAN” emblazoned on Jones’ <b>Nike</b> sponsored-walkout shirt. <br />
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Many are of the opinion that Jones should not be the UFC light-heavyweight king anymore. In the post-fight press conference, Dana White played it safe after being asked as to who he believed should have gotten the judges’ nod. White cried, “I stopped scoring the fight…” Sure you did, Dana, and if the judges were more enlightened, you would have cried for the right reason. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">There’s only one way to settle this controversy – rematch. <b>Glover Teixeira</b> was promised a shot at whoever won Jones-Gustafsson I, but except for Teixeira and his supporters, everyone would rather have Jones-Gustafsson II as soon as possible. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</div>Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-925446274471059862011-03-19T23:59:00.000-07:002011-03-20T00:28:55.010-07:00Jon Jones TKOs Shogun Rua<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Q8vbN5rMCKUiKmrEMxL-ks56fY6tijmLmUP3jugMjTVkI5kWILuvR5GioeJdkLnQYfjjPuMImHA1TCQwoRHns-pfs2Q95gZXker12ZxBwvPAe7g2RNavomhJL2jgZ1YQOMdi9A/s1600/ufc128poster_cropped.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 399px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Q8vbN5rMCKUiKmrEMxL-ks56fY6tijmLmUP3jugMjTVkI5kWILuvR5GioeJdkLnQYfjjPuMImHA1TCQwoRHns-pfs2Q95gZXker12ZxBwvPAe7g2RNavomhJL2jgZ1YQOMdi9A/s400/ufc128poster_cropped.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586056719290849586" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jones puts Rua in his proper place<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />It was all Bones and it was all Jones as height and youth beat bulk and experience. The physical advantages, more than skills and power, won over damaged goods. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jon Jones</span> is now the toast of MMA much like <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lyoto Machida</span> was after he beat <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rashad Evans</span> for the UFC lightheavyweight title. Machida appeared untouchable and invincible when no one figured out yet how to beat him. Then his compatriot Rua came with a great strategy and all the wiles of his experience and defeated Machida. Jones is where Machida was and it will be a fantastic matchup if the UFC will get the two in the Octagon down the line; that is if Machida prevails over <span style="font-weight:bold;">Randy Couture</span> in <span style="font-weight:bold;">UFC 129</span>.<br /><br />From the onset it was clear that Rua had big problems overcoming the 10.5-inch reach advantage of Jones, who used his left arm to keep the defending champion at bay. Rua was unable to utilize his power and it’s puzzling why he did not push the fight early to neutralize Jones’ length and youthful stamina. Even if the match had gone to five rounds (and it was rather evident that it wouldn’t as Jones had his way with Rua early on with takedowns, strikes and submission attempts) Rua would have been lucky to win a single round. He would have been hard pressed to earn a draw on a single round. So it happened that Jones won by TKO (referee stoppage) in 2:37 of Round 3. <br /><br />If the 29-year-old Rua had come with better strategy and more aggression, he could have caught Jones in a clinch, tripped or taken him down with a quick double-leg but that kind of finesse never has been in Rua’s arsenal anyway. He’s a muay-Thai-style kind of striker who stands in front of his opponent, covers up to defend, and looks for angles to land his shots or simply trade bombs to see who’s the toughest. His mode of attack against Machida in their second fight was probably the best-planned bout of his entire career. So it’s perplexing why his team could not come up with fight plan against a foe who is not as slippery as Machida but has youth, athleticism/skills, and power. <br /><br />Jones at no moment doubted he would not win since Rua hardly put up a fight. Rua looked like the old spent man that he looked like during his first few fights in the UFC. So Jones, 23, becomes the youngest champion ever of the UFC and Rua is now of the oldest to have held the UFC lightheavyweight belt. <br /><br />To paraphrase Mike Goldberg’s oft-mentioned axiom: Youth beats experience when experience doesn’t come with a strategy. Let’s forget a Rashad Evans (who’s older than Rua by two years) title match for Jones. Not another “old man.” It’s rather easy to see how that fight will turn out. If the UFC wants more PPV moolah and a bigger take at the gates but still wants Jones to fight someone much older, it should arrange a superfight between Jones against an old fighter who knows how to use his experience and his available skills: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Anderson Silva</span>. That will be a true war for the ages.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-66573844658128577782011-01-17T14:53:00.000-08:002011-01-17T15:58:28.358-08:00URCC 6: The Prince comes up short in ‘upset’ loss to The One<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbu5eC5uLxIMoR1bHyCPamRoOcDxJY_6zp4MVu8L66hzsTO9dJyccc03FDFGve3MAP8jW5BZqIf-PfdKJy1u5A8AXGdUkEmJnw7Ye-pF3kQybbwnnNj-yIUVbBYLQrZMNfZG7O_Q/s1600/urcc+6+cebu_profile.ak.fbcdn.net.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbu5eC5uLxIMoR1bHyCPamRoOcDxJY_6zp4MVu8L66hzsTO9dJyccc03FDFGve3MAP8jW5BZqIf-PfdKJy1u5A8AXGdUkEmJnw7Ye-pF3kQybbwnnNj-yIUVbBYLQrZMNfZG7O_Q/s320/urcc+6+cebu_profile.ak.fbcdn.net.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563302367919483874" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">(Image from profile.ak.fbcdn.net) </span><br /><br />Friday’s Universal Reality Combat Championship (<span style="font-weight:bold;">URCC</span>) 6 Cebu main event between Lapu-Lapu City’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cary </span>“The Prince” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bullos </span>of SELDEF MMA and Iloilo’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Leonard </span>“The One” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delarmino </span>of Team Capanay is the kind of back-and-forth fight that makes protective men shout: <span style="font-style:italic;">Hide the women and the children!</span><br /><br />It was that intense with hardly 10 seconds of respite at any time in their bantamweight bout. Bullos, confident as ever, started the first round with a smile like he’d just swallowed ambrosia and unleashed a three-punch combo, clinched but lost his balance as Delarmino fell on top of him. Showing his ground skills, Bullos maneuvered a bit before attempting an armbar. Delarmino got away but Bullos took him down and was on a side-mount full-mount transition in no time. <br /><br />Before Bullos could pound Delarmino, the latter performed his own escape and in quick succession there was a side mount, a reversal, a guillotine choke, and an escape. It was the perfect closer to a night of a near-perfect card that matchmaker <span style="font-weight:bold;">Markman Yap</span> put up. It’s difficult to imagine the people behind URCC Cebu coming up with better matches than this. <br /><br />The Bullos-Delarmino bout appeared it was going into a knockout as Bullos demonstrated his superior striking involving bunches of punches and a few spectacular high kicks, a submission victory with his repeated armbar attempts, or a decisive unanimous victory as the SEL-DEF flag carrier kept the pressure on a very durable Delarmino who took all sorts of hits to the head and body. But it didn’t turn out that way as an obviously gassed-out Bullos was running on fumes and his looping punches were not enough to knock out his opponent. <br /><br />As it turned out, it was Delarmino who KOed Bullos before the second round ended with a frontal kick, a knee to the body and two right hooks to Bullos’ head as the latter was already down on his hands and knees, and the referee was called a stoppage after Bullos tapped about the same time his corner threw in the towel. If only Bullos had stayed on until Round 2 had finished, he was an almost-sure winner. This calls to mind the great quote by former UFC light-heavyweight champion Frank Shamrock: “My cardio is my best submission move.”<br /><br />Actually, the Delarmino brothers made it 3-0 as Agustin defeated <span style="font-weight:bold;">Maxilito Yong</span> of Yaw-Yan Musang for the Visayas Flyweight Division championship, and Philip beat <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jhon Edu Torbiso</span> of Jurex Dragon Cebu in their pinweight match, both wins by submission in the first round. <br /><br />Another pinweight fight started URCC 6 with star-potential <span style="font-weight:bold;">Reynan </span>“Flash” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Noblefranca </span>making his MMA debut over a much-older but overmatched <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jessie Tambiling</span> of Bullet Muay Thai. Noblefranca has made a name for himself as a spectacular striker and it was clear enough that he didn’t intend to go to the ground by staying light on his feet in avoiding Tambiling’s awkward punches and kicks. Tambiling barely laid a hand on the Yaw-Yan Ardigma fighter who is 12 years his junior. Noblefranca, on the other hand, early on messed up Tambiling with strikes, one a spinning backfist that caught Tambiling on the right cheek after the older fighter landed a left high kick to Noblefranca's head. Noblefranca knocked Tambiling down on the canvas and followed with more punches until the referee ended the punishment before Round 1 was over and Noblefranca earned his TKO win.<br /><br />Other winners were Yaw-Yan Musang/DEFTAC Cebu’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vaughn Donaire</span> over an outsized but game <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lorde Rey Yamit</span> from Butuan City by tapout via rear-naked choke in the halfway mark of Round 1; DEFTAC Bacolod Fight Club’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Victor Torre</span> over Yaw-Yan Ardigma’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mark Revalde</span> (Submission, Strikes R1); and Yaw-Yan Ardigma/DEFTAC Cebu's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tom Woodfin </span>over <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ricardo Sapno</span> of Beefit Python’s Pit of Davao (Submission, Strikes R1). <br /><br />The main co-event featherweight match between SELDEF MMA’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jimmy Yabo</span> and Cebu MMA’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">George Flansbaum</span>, where 16 years separated the protagonists, was declared No Contest midway through the second round. It mustn’t have been an unwillingness to fight by Yabo and Flansbaum as they did engage in the first round after Flansbaum got a yellow card from the match referee. At the restart, Yabo got the better of the expatriate American with his superior boxing, knocking his opponent down with a left hook to the side of the head. <br /><br />Flansbaum is listed as a purple belt in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brazilian Jiujitsu</span>, in theory is a better grappler, and that’s exactly what he did by repeatedly going for the single-leg takedown, successfully getting Yabo in a rear-naked choke that just couldn’t get past from under the chin to the throat as Yabo survived.<br /><br />The Cebu International Convention Center (<span style="font-weight:bold;">CICC</span>) audience was pumped up for Round 2, but both fighters fought to their strengths and that’s when the problem started. Yabo maintained a wait-and-punch attitude, while Flansbaum waited for his chance to get takedown. Like two armies half a kilometer in front of each other waiting for who blinks first, it got boring and the crowd made the fighters in the ring know it with boos and catcalls. Soon enough another yellow card flashed then followed by a red card. Game over. No contest.<br /><br />We can argue whether the referee’s decision was too harsh or if it was right on time and the fighters deserved to have the match end ignominiously. “Too harsh,” I heard a certain English daily newspaper sports columnist whose name starts with the letter J to my left say softly. Maybe yes, maybe no. But I wouldn’t have minded waiting for another minute to see if one or the other decided to be a fighter and fight like he badly wanted to win.<br /><br />Overall, an MMA night of great fights, an SRO crowd, and like the matches, the best URCC round/ring girls so far. If only they allow fight judges to drink beer on the job. Sigh.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-15620265391066498442010-11-20T10:37:00.000-08:002011-01-17T15:59:23.192-08:00UFC 123: Machida vs Rampage -- The Dragon versus The Ram<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrs_yo3pC4zoK5z5kPhyphenhyphenf5wMbKVW5tZV8WIdMOT-9xzM_Xukq-ifOMApfJ9H62fOVryA63ls8hA42XHuFXcGOKdUMCfI-Wj0arbcfgeJ7KvsEpWD1Yq3dzdWvtDd0tirNDiRsCVg/s1600/UFC+123.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrs_yo3pC4zoK5z5kPhyphenhyphenf5wMbKVW5tZV8WIdMOT-9xzM_Xukq-ifOMApfJ9H62fOVryA63ls8hA42XHuFXcGOKdUMCfI-Wj0arbcfgeJ7KvsEpWD1Yq3dzdWvtDd0tirNDiRsCVg/s400/UFC+123.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541706282555867234" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(Image from cdn.directv.com)</span> <br /><br />Ask any fighter of the difficulties of coming back after a loss and they’ll tell you the same thing: Of course, it’s difficult. <br /><br />Levity is no match for severity, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Quinton “Rampage” Jackson</span></span> are in for some serious time in the Octagon hours from now. The loss that Machida underwent was more damaging than the one Jackson went through. Machida got knocked out in the first round in his defense of his UFC light-heavyweight title against <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mauricio “Shogun” Rua</span>, while Jackson merely lost a three-round decision to Rashad Evans. Both losses were humbling for the former holders of the division title and they must have rethought their strategies for today’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">UFC 123</span> main event. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Machida</span> was under a lot of pressure to prove that he deserved to hold on to the light-heavyweight belt after his unanimous-decision win in UFC 104. That pressure made Machida more aggressive than normal and he paid a steep price by losing his belt and his consciousness courtesy of a Shogun right overhand/hook to the temple. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rampage</span>, on the other hand, got soft after his Hollywood stint and allowed Evans to dictate their UFC 114 tussle with good wrestling and constant takedowns. <br /><br />You could say that Machida has fallen in love with the straight-on attack and knockouts this offensive system produced after successive KO wins over bangers Thiago Silva and Evans. Machida’s mistake was that he took Shogun’s strength and determination lightly after the ex-<span style="font-weight:bold;">Pride middleweight Grand Prix</span> king proved to be a disappointment in his first few fights since jumping over to the UFC. Machida admitted that he knew early on even before signing up with the UFC that he would have to take on Shogun. What he didn’t expect was to get knocked out by his fellow Brazilian.<br /><br />Rampage has dismissed Machida as a “boring” fighter and he has maintained his opinion going into UFC 123. If Rampage really believes that, it could be his undoing. If by boring Rampage means that Machida relies too much on strategy and counter-striking to earn his victories, then Rampage is right. But those are the things that make Machida such a formidable fighter. He is not impatient (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun) and sticks to his bread-and-butter moves (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun). Like another pro-fighter of Asian heritage, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Manny Pacquiao</span>, Machida is quick on his feet and uses a lot of lateral movement in picking his shots. Pacquiao may use way more punches than Machida but they both produce just about the same amount of damage on their opponents: Pacquiao has knocked out 10 of his ring foes since adopting the stick-and-move approach to fighting starting with the Marco Antonio Barrera fight and starting his tutelage under the supreme trainer and strategist Freddie Roach. <br /><br />Machida has always been an elusive fighter since joining MMA and statistics show that (with the exception of the two fights with Shogun). <br /><br />If we limit our appraisal of Machida-Rampage I on their track record especially their past UFC performances, we can easily be tempted to give the fight to Machida who has only one loss on his record (two, arguing that he actually lost to Shogun twice) while Rampage has eight losses to 30 MMA wins. But styles will always make fights, and based on this dictum Rampage has a big chance of beating Machida. <br /><br />The Japanese-Brazilian karateka is a very calculating fighter and can hardly be goaded to go toe to toe. His training dictates him to only go for a strike when his opponent leaves himself open especially after a missed strike of his own. But Rampage does not always leave himself open even after a strike misses or not. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rampage </span>reacts to an attack or an opening. So if Machida comes in with a punch, kick or knee, he has to be very careful not to get caught in the process by a Rampage retaliatory strike. <br /><br />Former middleweight UFC fighter Dan Henderson is superb at hooking or jabbing then stepping back or doing it in one motion, protecting himself from counterstrikes. Machida, on the other hand, looks for an opening, strikes, then pulls back, and only strikes again if his foe is vulnerable enough. The difficult part is knowing when to do this and a split second of hesitation or an opening could be all that Rampage needs to throw a punch or go for a shoot prior to some ground and pound.<br /><br />Machida and Rampage need this win. A victory will not only put them back on the championship picture but better still, boost their confidence that they still matter and belong in the upper echelons of the light-heavyweight lineup.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-8878269614212924042010-11-14T04:48:00.000-08:002010-11-18T22:11:37.174-08:00Pacquiao vs Margarito results: Pacquiao is too good for Margarito, makes boxing history again<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf6zEcrZmeUxrifwWtm-JMPOqkNxY5BmymLPtJhOyPq5qVeVxg_QWjU9UtUka5C5NXrfLhSEYlTS3SEUzxAXchGoaEMa7ZVN83C4Vu4eh4S6XFimpNKQ00Nf2mqRTcDU-GrO0ng/s1600/Manny+Pacquiao_Antonio+Margarito_111410_cbc.ca_4FFA.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf6zEcrZmeUxrifwWtm-JMPOqkNxY5BmymLPtJhOyPq5qVeVxg_QWjU9UtUka5C5NXrfLhSEYlTS3SEUzxAXchGoaEMa7ZVN83C4Vu4eh4S6XFimpNKQ00Nf2mqRTcDU-GrO0ng/s400/Manny+Pacquiao_Antonio+Margarito_111410_cbc.ca_4FFA.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539393248906571810" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;">(Image from cbc.ca)</span><br /><br />All apprehensions of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Manny Pacquiao</span> being too small for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Antonio Margarito</span> vanished even before the first round ended in their WBC super-welterweight title fight Saturday at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cowboys Stadium</span> in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dallas, Texas</span> that Pacquiao won by unanimous decision with the judges scoring it 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110. Pacquiao also won his eighth world boxing title in as many weight categories. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pacquaio</span>’s near-mythic speed and volume punching obviously flustered <span style="font-weight:bold;">Margarito</span>, who at 5-feet-11 and 165 pounds on fight night, looked enormous against Pacquiao’s 5-6 ½ and 146lbs. The next 11 rounds were not much different as Pacquiao took on all of Margarito’s hardest punches even as he methodically destroyed Margarito’s mug and his chances of redemption. The <span style="font-weight:bold;">hand-wraps controversy</span> will forever mar Margarito’s legacy but his hopes of putting a sheen on his tarnished image with a win over the “<span style="font-weight:bold;">Mexicutioner</span>” diminished as the fight progressed. <br /><br />Round 4 could have been the most dominating for Pacquaio as he pummeled Margarito with his arsenal of punches while dancing away from counterattacks. Margarito’s body language looked like that of a defeated man as he walked back to his corner when the bell rang. But that was only a third of the punishment he got. <br /><br />Round 5 showed a reckless Pacquaio who allowed himself to be trapped in the ropes twice, taking on Margarito’s blows but deftly swaying from either side while punching back and eventually escaping. It is not difficult to lure Pacquiao into a toe-to-toe battle even against bigger and theoretically stronger foes as evinced by the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Miguel Cotto</span> fight exactly a year ago, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Saranggani Province</span> congressman from the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Philippines</span> later admitting that he wanted to get a taste of Cotto’s supposedly more formidable power. Pacquiao did get hit by Margarito but the Mexican couldn’t consistently hurt the Filipino.<br /><br />It would be redundant and cruel to go through the fight round for round as they practically resembled each other: Pacquiao either attacking and landing punches or gracefully avoiding being hit or countering after Margarito’s punches landed. It was a night full of frustrations for Margarito, who verbally expressed his confidence before the fight of doing what many of his countrymen have failed to do in the last five years: Put an end to the win streak of the bane of Mexico’s best boxers in the 126lbs-150lbs divisions. <br /><br />Margarito was so confident of beating Pacquiao that he even bet his <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mercedes Benz</span> against his uncle’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jeep</span>. Not only did Margarito lose his car, he lost a lot of blood as Pacquiao cut him below his right eye which also puffed up with a purple hue. <br /><br />Many are still asking why the fight was allowed to consume all of 12 rounds when it should have been stopped without much protestations except from Margarito, of course, four or five rounds earlier. Margarito, as brave as he was, clearly didn’t have much chance of winning at that point and had obviously taken too much of a beating already that by the 11th round Pacquiao looked imploringly at the referee to stop the carnage. Strangely, neither referee <span style="font-weight:bold;">Laurence Cole</span> nor Margarito’s corner with Roberto Garcia at the helm showed much concern and allowed him to finish the fight to the bitter end. <br /><br />Cole, for his part, merely stopped the fight twice to ask Margarito to count how many fingers he raised to determine the state of his eyesight. The warrior that he is, Margarito could have merely made a guess and got it right to be allowed to continue fighting. Never was the ringside physician called to look at Margarito’s injuries and make his recommendations (as limited as our view of the fight was by the hours-delayed telecast and intrusive commercials). <br /><br />At the start of the 12th and final round, Pacquiao, the softhearted humanitarian that he is, said something to Margarito, probably asking him if he could still go on. By that time Margarito was so banged up that Pacquiao clearly pulled his punches, merely letting the minutes tick away until the bell rang.<br /><br />The question in every fight fan’s mind now is: Will <span style="font-weight:bold;">Floyd Mayweather Jr.</span> ever agree to fight Pacquiao, especially after seeing (he did watch the fight, didn’t he?) the present holder of the world’s best pound-four-pound boxer title that Mayweather once owned make mincemeat of the slugger that he (Floyd Jr.) so skillfully avoided fighting in the ring? The answer to that right now is a resounding no. <br /><br />If Mayweather, who loves to tell anyone who still cares to listen that he is the world’s best boxer (throwing his unblemished 41-0 win-loss record at anybody who dares doubt his excellence) wasn’t afraid of Pacquiao, he would have already agreed to sign the contract which stipulated that he gets $40 million besides a share of the pay-per-view money to be generated by the would-have-been richest purse in professional boxing history. There is no arguing the fact: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is afraid of Manny Pacquiao. Another fact-to-be should <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pacquiao-Mayweather I</span> push through: Pacquiao will beat Mayweather.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-55399708904238069452010-11-13T08:20:00.000-08:002010-11-13T08:30:44.362-08:00Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito: PacMan Pacquiao ‘KOs’ Margarito, keeps munching on the competition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPT2dV6kSX0bZp7pg2PDWqOfXRTFK9MiY9Jj4baIxGwJbW_Fk-B1CfGxnYP9p95oNXmYTjbs44tCbHDyIuDEa4isyNc75Fmkj6GMFoGPLZ2xGU_Jc427ALl2fMfIDIaCStnzNO3w/s1600/Manny+Pacquiao+vs.+Antonio+Margarito_rcayao.com.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPT2dV6kSX0bZp7pg2PDWqOfXRTFK9MiY9Jj4baIxGwJbW_Fk-B1CfGxnYP9p95oNXmYTjbs44tCbHDyIuDEa4isyNc75Fmkj6GMFoGPLZ2xGU_Jc427ALl2fMfIDIaCStnzNO3w/s320/Manny+Pacquiao+vs.+Antonio+Margarito_rcayao.com.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539072045550531762" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;">(Image from rccayao.com)</span><br /><br />That’s not the only way for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Manny Pacquiao</span> to beat <span style="font-weight:bold;">Antonio Margarito</span>, but if <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pacquiao</span> wants to bag his eighth world title in the same number of weight classes, he better get rid of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Margarito</span> fast – in three rounds or less. Ironically, Margarito has to do the same if he intends to be the first boxer to give Pacquiao a loss in 12 straight fights.<br /><br />It is doubtful if Margarito can go 12 rounds with the same intensity as Pacquiao especially if according to plan Pacquiao makes the Mexican his moveable feast of a punching bag. If Pacquiao gains enough weight to replenish what he lost cutting down to 144.6 pounds, way below the catchweight of 151lbs., he will still have the speed that he relies on a large part if he stays near enough what he weighed during the weigh-in. <br /><br />Size and length have been the basic keywords in arguments endorsing a Margarito win over the comparatively diminutive Filipino, who at an official 5-feet-6 ½ inches is very short to the Mexican’s 5-11. Margarito also has a six-inch reach advantage.<br /><br />In terms of power, we could give Margarito that considering his size edge, but even though Pacquiao has to crane his neck up to look Margarito in the eye, Pacquiao is no slouch in the power and KO department, amassing a 38-knockout record in 56 bouts, to Margarito’s just as notable 27 KOs in 44 matches. <br /><br />Bigger is not always stronger even in the power-reliant sport of boxing. Speed is just as important in pugilism since you cannot hurt what you cannot hit, and this is where the smaller Pacquiao excels, having those twinkle toes that mocked the also taller (5-10 ½) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Oscar de la Hoya</span> and the just as short as Pacquiao, English crowder-swarmer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ricky Hatton</span>. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">De La Hoya</span> practically had the same six-inch reach advantage when he fought Pacquiao, but that didn’t do him much good, although semi-retired at the time, he was not as frisky and hungry as Margarito is now in light of his one-year suspension for glove padding.<br /><br />Margarito has been tagged the “Tijuana Tornado” for his relentless attack and relatively heavy punches, but his persistence and power may not be enough to neutralize Pacquiao’s competitive power and superior speed and footwork. Pacquiao needs to crowd Margarito, turn the tables on the Mexican who seems to only know one direction: forward. Pacquiao won’t commit the mistake of standing in front of Margarito – a sure way to end up on his back. The clever Filipino long ago learned to run rings around opponents, which made de la Hoya say post-fight that taking on Pacquiao was like fighting several people all at once.<br /><br />Pacquiao’s stamina is legendary, a product of his near-mythic training regimen – more than willing to go another kilometer on road runs, spar several more rounds than required, take a couple more whacks on the abdomen with those sticks, and take on another bigger opponent. His dedication to training and fighting is unquestioned, that skeptics and the envious go to the extent of alleging that he takes illegal performance-enhancing substances. That remains to be proven. In the meantime, we see Pacquiao lay it all out there on the ring, win or lose. He will go for a consecutive dozen victories in a few hours and nothing less of a knockout win over Margarito will please his literally millions of fans all over the world.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-79963803071440785342010-10-23T22:20:00.000-07:002010-10-23T23:03:50.474-07:00UFC 121 results: Cain Velasquez knocks out Brock Lesnar -- Viva Mexico!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVkHuD2pdFP9Wl0NfSbqH5WzFD-70qyXWOwNhvpvidPpWCyV9f5Gb_cv5N7cK33gSTEM7m3lDP9x9qiWDYXXgck2fuHCrc4LTWSDLXBZ2NcxKDCWKC4vq8h9Zq918f5fZZSWoxQ/s1600/Cain+Velasquez_Brock+Lesnar_UFC+121_usatoday.com_Jae+C.+Hong_AP.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVkHuD2pdFP9Wl0NfSbqH5WzFD-70qyXWOwNhvpvidPpWCyV9f5Gb_cv5N7cK33gSTEM7m3lDP9x9qiWDYXXgck2fuHCrc4LTWSDLXBZ2NcxKDCWKC4vq8h9Zq918f5fZZSWoxQ/s320/Cain+Velasquez_Brock+Lesnar_UFC+121_usatoday.com_Jae+C.+Hong_AP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531488847981795842" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Control prevails over brute strength</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(Image from usatoday.com by Jae C. Hong)</span><br /><br />Expect the unexpected, that is a phrase that could best describe <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cain Velasquez</span>’s stunning win over <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brock Lesnar</span>. It doesn’t have anything to do with strategy or mode of attack – both fighters trained for what the other might do. It’s the unexpected manner by which Velasquez grabbed the <span style="font-weight:bold;">UFC heavyweight title</span> from Lesnar: relatively easy. <br /><br />Sure, Velasquez got hurt. Lesnar kneed him and was able to take him down, but Velasquez was never seriously in danger and got back on his feet rather quickly after every fall. <br /><br />The dominance was by Velasquez. He landed the heavier blows and was always in control of his emotions, never let himself be tempted to let go and just pummel Lesnar even when he had the advantage. He definitely picked his shots. Velasquez is notorious for his iron-lung stamina and now he is just as famous for his control and restraint.<br /><br />Lesnar looked intimidating making his entrance into the Octagon with his full beard and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Metallica</span>’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Enter Sandman</span> coming out of the speakers. Velasquez, on the other hand, walked towards the Octagon stoic as usual. No emotion registering on his face. His intro music, in contrast to Lesnar’s heavy-metal menace, was celebratory. It was as if Velasquez was with his posse wading into a crowd at a Mexican fiesta. <br /><br />The crowd made known where its sentiments lay as it cheered lustily for Velasquez during the fighter introductions and booed Lesnar. Accustomed to his heel role in professional wrestling, Lesnar managed to smile even before MC <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bruce Buffer</span> introduced him. <br /><br />In mere seconds from the start of the fight, the fighters clinched. Lesnar kneed Velasquez and took him down. It didn’t take long for Velasquez to get right back up on his feet, but Lesnar quickly pushed him to the fence. Velasquez, with his back securely on the fence, elbowed the side of Lesnar’s head. <br /><br />For almost a minute, Lesnar kept Velasquez on the fence before taking him down. Velasquez got back right up. It was Velasquez’s turn to take down Lesnar who did a Velasquez by getting vertical rather easily but Velasquez again took down Lesnar and got his back.<br /><br />Velasquez kept the pressure and at 2:16 he knocked Lesnar down and proceeded to ground and pound him. He separated but fell down on Lesnar, controlling the bigger fighter with a knee on the chest. <br /><br />Lesnar found a way to stand up at 1:07 but Velasquez hit him again with a solid punch. Lesnar fell while trying to cover up, his face bloodied from a cut below his left eye not counting the other damage Velasquez had inflicted on him. <br /><br />Velasquez didn’t go postal and was still picking his shots even as match referee Herb Dean yelled something to the fighters; probably telling Lesnar to defend himself or he would be forced to stop the fight, which he did at 4:12 of the round.<br /><br />With 48 seconds left and kilograms of oxygen still left in Velasquez’s gas tank, he became the new UFC heavyweight champion.<br /><br />“I trained for a five-round fight...You can’t expect a first round stoppage…Latinos!...We did it, ha!” a jubilant Velasquez said in the post-fight Octagon interview. <br /><br />Joe Rogan also interviewed Lesnar predictably with the crowd booing. Lesnar smiled through the pain, promising he would be back in the gym to train. <br /><br />Lesnar said: “He is a great fighter…What can I say? He was better than me tonight.”<br /><br />Yes, Brock, but you were not expecting that.<br /><br />Other results: <br /><br />• Jon Madsen over Gilbert Yvel (TKO, referee stoppage, Round 1, 1:48)<br />• Chris Camozzi over Dongi Yang (Split Decision, 3 rounds)<br />• Sam Stout over Paul Taylor (SD, 3 rounds)<br />• Daniel Roberts over Michael Guymon (Submission, anaconda choke, R1, 1:13)<br />• Tom Lawlor over Patrick Cote (Unanimous Decision, 3 rounds)<br />• Court McGee over Ryan Jensen (Submission, arm triangle, R3, 1:21)<br />• Brendan Schaub over Gabriel Gonzaga (UD, R3)<br />• Matt Hamill over Tito Ortiz (UD, 3 rounds)<br />• Diego Sanchez over Paulo Thiago (UD, 3 rounds) <br />• Jake Shields over Martin Kampmann (SD, 3 rounds)Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-73734659502032598312010-10-23T13:23:00.000-07:002010-10-23T13:27:06.621-07:00UFC 121 preview: Cain Velasquez looks to do an Abel on Brock Lesnar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkmDxJFHhqzHSnspvrhPQ_vOa0ZKDWFNgujRs5fdTwmeto0H0Z6CjCL8V0XwDbOHa4qlWQu9SBIu36WcvxGQsJF4YeB1kktzmae4v3Y-m2piih1hoZj9n13_HELTAfa9Ee2pecQ/s1600/UFC_121_Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkmDxJFHhqzHSnspvrhPQ_vOa0ZKDWFNgujRs5fdTwmeto0H0Z6CjCL8V0XwDbOHa4qlWQu9SBIu36WcvxGQsJF4YeB1kktzmae4v3Y-m2piih1hoZj9n13_HELTAfa9Ee2pecQ/s320/UFC_121_Poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531340531687923906" /></a><br />They’re not brothers. One is a Mexican American banger who has decent wrestling and grappling skills, has a granite jaw, is definitely smaller but is as tough as any Aztec warrior there ever was.<br /><br />The other is a huge white boy who once did some acting in professional wrestling, has a head full of bricks, has more muscle on him than most overweight people have fat, and is as tough as any WWE product who ventured into MMA. Er, scratch the last one. <br /><br />Cain Velasquez is the underdog in his match with Brock Lesnar in most fight fans’ eyes. Coming in at 6-feet-1 and 244 pounds to Lesnar’s 6-3 and 264 pounds, Velasquez weighs now what Lesnar did in college minus five meals in a week.<br /><br />The size disparity alone makes Lesnar the prohibitive favorite. Considering that Lesnar earned all his past victories by submission through strikes and technical knockouts and possessing such amazing speed for a large man, Velasquez is already counted out as just another victim. <br /><br />Lesnar will naturally want to take the fight to the ground and pound Velasquez senseless unless he taps out verbally or with a hand slamming the mat. But with a strong college wrestling background just like Lesnar, Velasquez (who also has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu) can fight on the ground. Lesnar may have heavier hands but Velasquez has more refined boxing skills. <br /><br />Don’t expect either of them to use too much kicking. It will be feet planted on the ground and letting go of haymakers. Should Lesnar be on the receiving end of fisticuffs, he will use his superior speed and strength to take down Velasquez and try to pound him with those sledgehammer fists of his, or even surprise us again with a submission hold just like he did on Shane Carwin.<br /><br />Lesnar said that he doesn’t expect Velasquez to give him much trouble, pointing out that smaller fighters like Randy Couture and Min-Soo Kim did not pose much of a threat to him before. The trouble is neither Couture nor Kim was as good, strong and young as Velasquez is at present. Both opponents were past their prime when they lost to Lesnar. <br /><br />At 28 and on a hot eight-match win streak (seven by KO), Velasquez is as dangerous a challenger as Carwin was in the first round against Lesnar in UFC 116.<br /><br />The non-garrulous Velasquez (in contrast to the brash and voluble Lesnar) is determined to take away Lesnar’s title. With the resolute look of a killer, wearing those Dethrone shirts and caps should help fortify Velasquez’s goal: Destroy Brock!Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-61418352595399906402010-08-08T13:04:00.000-07:002010-08-09T00:49:30.662-07:00UFC 117: Chael Sonnen grinds his way into near upset of Anderson Silva<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBxTRGENtFA8vi9bCKA2q-98BSGgDMShht-EIV80b0pOeKAxZ5UxXnAocOutB5bLaY-RcUUq6WiIGvtSjNfN-FrbFssbJWSANbrDB_NshXcbToo9UulNwdq3wqAiAy_mOUFq5SQ/s1600/UFC+117_Anderson+Silva_Chael+Sonnen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBxTRGENtFA8vi9bCKA2q-98BSGgDMShht-EIV80b0pOeKAxZ5UxXnAocOutB5bLaY-RcUUq6WiIGvtSjNfN-FrbFssbJWSANbrDB_NshXcbToo9UulNwdq3wqAiAy_mOUFq5SQ/s320/UFC+117_Anderson+Silva_Chael+Sonnen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503134221042191618" /></a> (Image from content.usatoday.com) <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Jon Fitch again shows why he is the most boring top-level MMA fighter</span> <br /><br />Chael Sonnen fights as well as he (trash) talks and gave Anderson Silva more of a beating than he underwent in all of his past 11 UFC bouts. <br /><br />For most of four rounds and a half Sonnen grounded and pounded Silva and was a minute and 50 seconds away from winning the UFC middleweight belt when his tired body was unable to escape from a triangle choke. <br /><br />Sonnen’s right hand tapped once on Silva’s left leg but when Silva let go, Sonnen feigned (or perhaps it was oxygen depletion that caused his confusion) not to have submitted. <br /><br />Sonnen didn’t pretend to be something else. He came in to the Octagon with the reputation of a damn fine wrestler and that’s what he did. He did surprise Silva with some crisp punching, hitting Silva in the very first round with straight lefts that buckled the Brazilian. <br /><br />Then the takedowns and pounding on the ground ensued. Except when Silva tapped out Sonnen in the fifth round, Sonnen’s Greco-Roman wrestling proved better than Silva’s Nogueira Brothers Jiujitsu. <br /><br />While controlling Silva on the ground, Sonnen peppered him with punches, hammer blows, elbows, forearms, even some palms and slaps that you could almost see Silva’s round bald head start to get dented and his brain cells fall into place preventing another clownish behavior like in the Thales Leites and Demian Maia fights. <br /><br />Sonnen is not really a powerful striker. If he had, say, fellow Team Quest Dan Henderson’s force, the fight would not have reached the fifth round and Sonnen would have been the new UFC middleweight king. But such is the way of should, would, and could have beens -- it’s pure speculation. <br /><br />But the dominance with which Sonnen displayed was pure reality. It is proof that to beat a superb striker like Silva, it takes a superb wrestler. Maia’s world-class jiujitsu could not touch Silva. For jujitsu technique to be applied, one has to get hold of an opponent and preferably take the fight to the ground. <br /><br />As capable a grappler Silva is, he favors standup battles. But Sonnen did not grant Silva that luxury. He took Silva to the ground every chance he got. It was Sonnen’s misfortune that he was too tired and got careless in the final minutes of the fight and got caught in a triangle choke. If Sonnen wants to win a rematch with Silva and grab the title, he better learn some (or a lot of) defense against submissions. <br /><br />That is if Vitor Belfort doesn’t beat Silva first. Belfort is like Silva’s mirror image -– they are both Brazilian Jiujitsu black belts who prefer to strike. Belfort has the edge on Silva in the speed department, they are quite even power-wise, but Silva has the savvy advantage. Silva has shown that he can withstand a pounding. Belfort’s chin is still relatively untested. But that is what will make it fun, strikers who will be testing each other out as to who will last.<br /><br />As both Silva and Sonnen tapped gloves before the fight started, it was no surprise that they hugged and shook hands after the fight despite all the jibes Sonnen heaped on Silva. Silva had to show his respect to Sonnen, battered as he was. This was probably the only time that Silva knelt in the Octagon and sincerely felt like showing respect to an opponent and the crowd. Right after ducking a bullet in the form of a 185.5-pound American-bred wrestler, Silva knelt before Sonnen and laid his belt on the ground. <br /><br />The Brazilian striking specialist said in the post-fight interview that he doesn’t bear grudges but he wouldn’t have said it if he had lost. It’s easier to be magnanimous in victory. If he had lost, he would probably would have cursed Sonnen in Portuguese and let his manager Ed Soares do the translating. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">BORING.</span> Jon Fitch is right now the most boring fighter in the UFC. To start with, he doesn’t have much skills. Then all he does is try to take down his opponents and keep them there. He has submitted opponents before. The easy ones. Against an opponent with good defense, all he can do is sneak in a few ineffective punches before the referee starts to get as bored as the audience and stands up both fighters. Fitch’s win over Thiago Alves was a waste of 15 minutes better spent watching Arianny Celeste walk back to her chair outside the Octagon. What Joe Rogan said of Fitch’s fighting style that he fights ugly but it’s beautiful to watch doesn’t make sense. Boring is never beautiful, Joseph.<br /><br />Semi-retired or should-be-retired Matt Hughes, on the other hand, is still worth the pay-per-view fee. At 36 years of age and past his prime, Hughes proved he is still relevant in the welterweight division by choking out BJJ third-degree black belt Ricardo Almeida in 3:15 of the very first round. That earned Hughes Submission of the Night honors and a cool $60,000 extra. But this should not put ideas in Hughes’ head that he can still get back his title. Georges St. Pierre still sits comfortably on the welterweight throne and the pretenders to that throne are guys named Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Mike Swick, Marcus Davis, Dan Hardy, and the aforementioned Fitch and Alves, who could make Hughes feel his age.<br /><br />UFC 117 has one of the best cards this year even though the battle of giants -– Junior dos Santos and Roy Nelson –- didn’t produce a knockout despite all the leather thrown. There’s still five months left before the year ends but Silva vs. Sonnen will be hard to top.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-20532630552210524832010-04-11T12:32:00.000-07:002010-04-11T12:40:34.137-07:00UFC 112: Anderson Silva confirms he is the world’s best MMA showboat and clown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmKFwCckytQiLROkRKLWzIDfPiaNxfYvz1cw0x9WLUOM6g8lWlj4y5gjYb-8E6ZLVXW_AzdEn7fSWaUJTKgAoj7LSmTSmijbfDr4kMZm0fFMqNdSHzCXixWx9JiohTv53p1xhSg/s1600/Anderson+Silva_Spider.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmKFwCckytQiLROkRKLWzIDfPiaNxfYvz1cw0x9WLUOM6g8lWlj4y5gjYb-8E6ZLVXW_AzdEn7fSWaUJTKgAoj7LSmTSmijbfDr4kMZm0fFMqNdSHzCXixWx9JiohTv53p1xhSg/s400/Anderson+Silva_Spider.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458967114952103554" /></a><br />(Image from centurymartialarts.com)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">BJ Penn gets dethroned as lightweight king</span><br /><br />UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva could be bipolar. He certainly fights like he’s got split personalities. One round he looks like he’s indeed the best mixed-martial-arts fighter in the world, the next round he acts like he’s auditioning for The Last Comic Standing with his fists.<br /><br />Yesterday, Silva gave detractors another reason to put him down. While he successfully defended his title against fellow Brazilian Demian Maia, he did it in such an eccentric manner. Silva showed flashes of his brilliance with quick and accurate strikes with his hands and feet but he suddenly decided to ham it up with rubbery torso swaying, doing circles with his arms, going down low with his hands nearly touching the canvas, and running circles around Maia. <br /><br />At one point, Silva even hid behind referee Dan Miragliotta, who stepped to one side and pushed Silva by his shoulder. Miragliotta actually stopped the fight in the fifth round as Silva did everything to avoid making contact with Maia and warned the champion he would deduct a point from him if he kept literally running circles around the frustrated (and by then battered) Maia.<br /><br />This latest weird episode in Silva’s UFC career is not that surprising in light of what he did in UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. Silva also avoided fighting it out with Cote in a good part of the match.<br /><br />Yesterday was Silva’s most bizarre behavior in the UFC. He was not only weird, even worst, he was arrogant and haughty. After connecting with some good punches and kicks on Maia, he seemed to have decided he had done enough to show his superiority and kept on shouting and taunting with gestures at Maia to attack him.<br /><br />Later in the fight, the crowd had enough of Silva’s shenanigans by chanting Maia’s name and then GSP’s (Georges St. Pierre). Silva said pre-fight that he would drop to 170 pounds after the Maia fight to challenge GSP for the welterweight crown. That is the fight many MMA fans would love to see, hoping that the excellent (some even believe is even the better fighter than Silva) Kyokushinkai black belt would be the first UFC warrior to put Silva in his place.<br /><br />It is obvious all this talk about Silva being the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter has gone to the Brazilian’s bald head. Rock stars are constantly warned not to believe in their own press release because it would mess them up. Someone should give a similar warning to Silva.<br /><br />In the co-main event, BJ Penn, another Top 10 PFP MMA fighter, got his lightweight belt snatched by challenger Frankie Edgar. This fight is one proof of the necessity of scoring judges. A fan’s passive view of the fight would create the impression that Penn did enough to retain his title. Sure, Edgar was the more active of the two if you see his prancing and dancing and faking as evidence of being more active. <br /><br />But it did appear that Penn was the more accurate striker and he did manage to stay on his feet most of the fight. Edgar took him down twice. The first time Penn almost instantly got back up and the second time he got Edgar in his guard and got back on his feet without Edgar doing any damage with strikes or submission attempts. <br /><br />The scores were 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 for Edgar. OK, granted that the fight was close and the judges, whose business it is to keep close track of the fight and score it accordingly, actually saw Edgar had the edge and he deserved to win -- but casual observers, those who take their eyes off the fight to say to a friend Did you see that? or get up from the sofa to get more beer from the fridge could not be blamed for believing that Penn should have won.<br /><br />Penn seemed he controlled the fight and whenever he hit Edgar, most of his strikes appeared solid and were more numerous. Anyway, Edgar won and that’s how the judges saw it. Even Penn touched Edgar on the head after the decision was announced. Too bad Joe Rogan did not get Penn’s opinion post fight. <br /><br />As to the welterweight match between two grizzled veterans in Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie: Wow! Hughes still got it. He can still bang and he still has most of his wits about him. Never did Hughes try too many times to take down Gracie and do his patented ground and pound. He knew too well that Gracie is better than him technically on the ground so he did more striking than takedowns. <br /><br />Those leg kicks Hughes landed on Gracie’s left leg did their job. They took out Gracie’s base and he came in close to punch him out. TKO win in the third round for Hughes. But lest Hughes start believing he can capitalize on that win to get back on the title hunt, someone please remind him that he is 36 years old and that his best years are behind him. Knocking out someone seven years older than him and fighting guys 10 years younger than him are too different things. <br /><br />In another middleweight bout, Mark Muñoz showed why he is called the “Filipino Wrecking Machine.” After Kendall Grove pummeled him and almost submitted him twice, he caught the six-inch taller fighter with one heavy punch and added several more heavy punches to force the referee to stop the punishment in the second round. <br /><br />Another Filipino, Brandon Vera, hasn’t had much luck in the UFC lately and still another Filipino, Phillipe Nover, did not have his contract with the UFC renewed -- so it is now up to Muñoz to carry the Philippine flag in the world’s foremost MMA promotion. <br /><br />If Muñoz can improve his defense (meaning, he gets hit less) and learns some submission techniques, he will be a meaner stud and could be one of the five best in his division.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-42865298464847342052010-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:002010-01-04T20:47:52.335-08:00UFC 108: Thiago Silva Nearly Makes Rashad Evans' Sugar Turn Sour<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Evans decisions Silva with superior wrestling (and takedowns)</span></span> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Z_sdfRTf2kyHFkvEG6YrVC-yZRK6e87zs94ZyloPVEZXfLOisQ2npuP2N8Q4xW8b764fVWIxKt5PATNaXvDh3NFwlnpivG4C4_VajNc-rhsoD28U43EzEdeKFWY0HDi9kl3Vrg/s1600-h/UFC+108_Evans-Silva+1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Z_sdfRTf2kyHFkvEG6YrVC-yZRK6e87zs94ZyloPVEZXfLOisQ2npuP2N8Q4xW8b764fVWIxKt5PATNaXvDh3NFwlnpivG4C4_VajNc-rhsoD28U43EzEdeKFWY0HDi9kl3Vrg/s400/UFC+108_Evans-Silva+1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423110888468194626" /></a> (Photo from sherdog.com)<br /><br />The fact of Rashad Evans being a top-class wrestler is inevitably mentioned whenever he fights. But aside from clinching his opponents in between episodes of striking, Evans has been more of a striker than a wrestler/grappler. Not anymore. Evans rediscovered his roots and used this to his full advantage in eking out a unanimous decision victory over Thiago Silva last Sunday. <br /><br />Evans stuck to his game plan and almost got plastered because of it. Evans was quite successful in taking down Silva, unwilling to trade strikes with the taller Chute Boxe specialist and Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt (they both are, Evans earning his rank on the day of their match).<br /><br />It was clear a minute into round one that Evans was not too confident standing up against Silva, who has a two-inch height and half-an-inch reach advantage over him. Evans thrived in rushing towards Silva, going for a single-leg takedown. Silva was smart enough to use the Octagon fence at times to get back up on his feet. But even after being taken down away from the fence, he didn’t have much difficulty getting right back up. <br /><br />Clearly, due to his aggression and numerous successful TD attempts, Evans won both the first two rounds. But Silva’s striking finally caught up with Evans in the final two minutes. <br /><br />Round 1 was typical of the way Evans fought. Not 10 seconds after the horn sounded to start the main event, Evans clinched Silva with a right underhook with the latter’s back on the fence. Silva temporarily had a Thai plum on Evans, pulled him down looking for a Kimura on Evan’s right arm. <br /><br />Evans then transitioned to a double-leg takedown and slammed Silva to the ground. But almost just as quickly, Silva was able to stand up. <br /><br />At the 4:09 mark, Evans again slammed Silva with double-leg TD, moving to side control. Evans got full mount to the excited howl of the crowd. Silva, finally getting lots of chances to show his jiujitsu skills, shrimped out grabbing Evans’ left ankle, using that for leverage to get back up on his feet.<br /><br />They again got into a clinch until the 2:57 mark. Evans landed a weak left elbow to Silva’s head. They separated and traded punches at an even rate while moving towards the middle of the Octagon.<br /><br />Evans walked in to a Silva left knee, but he took down Silva again and got side control. Evans went for north-south. Silva turned, grabbed Evans’ right leg, got on his knees before standing up. Excellent escapes were shown by Silva all throughout the fight, recalling another Thiago (Alves) who was taken down more than 10 times in his championship bout with welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in UFC 100, but had no trouble getting vertical again.<br /><br />It is safe to say that a very good wrestler constantly going for a takedown can neutralize the superior striking skills of a kickboxer or muay Thai specialist. Evans was an NCAA division 1 wrestler, while St. Pierre may not have had as stellar a college sports career, but his wrestling is just as good as Evans’.<br /><br />For an awkward stretch (from 2:12 to 1:48), Evans and Silva simply stood in front of each other doing nothing until Silva initiated some striking with jabs and inside leg kicks. Predictably, Evans rushed in with punches then clinched Silva who was walking back to the fence. Evans got a right arm underhook, maneuvering for position. Silva got hold of Evans' neck, but the former light-heavyweight champion pulled out with 35 seconds left on the clock, exploding with punches.<br /><br />Evans stepped back and hit Silva with a right hook to the body, immediately going for a double-leg TD. Silva fell but had both arms wrapped around the torso of Evans, landing in a sitting position, his back to the fence. In the final 21 seconds, Silva got back on his feet, but Evans pushed him to the fence. With eight seconds remaining, they disengaged, went to Octagon center. Silva ended the round with a left roundhouse to Evans head that fell short.<br /> <br />The rest of the three-round fight went practically the same except for the last two minutes of Round 3 when Silva tagged Evans on the jaw with a left hook and an overhand right, wobbling him. Silva landed one more punch before Evans fell on his hands and knees near the fence. Silva hit Evans on the head with another punch, before the latter somehow got back up on his feet. <br /><br />Silva took his sweet time punching Evans. He landed two uppercuts and showboated by spreading his arms, pushing his head forward, baiting Evans to counter. The takedowns and the struggle to get out from under in the early part of the match took their toll. Silva gassed out and he stood in the middle of the Octagon, hands on his hips, looking spent.<br /><br />With less than a minute left, Silva threw a half-hearted lunging left jab. A few seconds later Evans pinned Silva to the fence in a clinch and they stayed there until the end of the match when Silva pushed off Evans just as the horn sounded.<br /><br />Silva looked frustrated with his business unfinished. He could have knocked out Evans if only there was enough gas left in his tank. <br /><br />The judges were unanimous in handing the victory to Evans on similar 29-28 scores. <br /><br />Evans said in the post-fight interview that he wants Quinton “Rampage” Jackson next. Evans is not careful with what he wishes for. Jackson is potentially more dangerous than Silva and definitely stronger. Evans' wrestling could not be enough to beat Rampage.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-78520326845062844402010-01-04T10:22:00.001-08:002010-01-04T10:40:53.768-08:00UFC 107: Nightmare’s End, Prodigy on the Mend<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">BJ Penn powers past Diego Sanchez</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbFPnqHOTmufuMpJBOIxZta59jO_MAWnB_jZfdoo94Xc2IOw_dN4QGL5NQCB3hPbAGYYbDQTTC3ctXmCJUE38ZT_ozuHEGRgpPH4FhCGahSviGOqwkpbqrjJgH2c4_CqiDxvptw/s1600-h/UFC+107+_Penn_Sanchez.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbFPnqHOTmufuMpJBOIxZta59jO_MAWnB_jZfdoo94Xc2IOw_dN4QGL5NQCB3hPbAGYYbDQTTC3ctXmCJUE38ZT_ozuHEGRgpPH4FhCGahSviGOqwkpbqrjJgH2c4_CqiDxvptw/s400/UFC+107+_Penn_Sanchez.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422956148471960306" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;">(Photo from sherdog.com)</span><br /><br />Apparently, BJ Penn has gotten over the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Georges St. Pierre almost a year ago. Penn has accepted the fact that he is a natural lightweight and that the super fight with St. Pierre at welterweight was at a distinct disadvantage to him and he better put up stakes exclusively at 155 pounds.<br /><br />In UFC 107, Penn legitimized his stranglehold with a just-as-dominant win over Diego Sanchez, the same way St. Pierre put Penn in his place in UFC 94.<br /><br />Just when Jo Rogan finished saying: “Freddie Roach once said that B.J. Penn has the best boxing in MMA,” Penn knocked down Sanchez with an overhand right to the jaw in 4:33 of the first round. Sanchez got up quickly, but Penn had him in a muay Thai plum and kneed him on his mean-face contest-winning mug for another fall. With his left arm around Sanchez’s waist, Penn pummeled Sanchez with fists while “Nightmare’ stayed semi-conscious on all fours probably thinking to himself the punishment he was undergoing wasn’t for real – that it was just a terrible dream he was to wake up from.<br /><br />Sanchez rolled and sought a full guard with his back to the ground. Penn was too smart to get caught in a guard, and too frenzied to knock Sanchez out. Penn stepped to Sanchez’s left and kept striking. Penn wanted to get side control but Sanchez’s butterfly prevented him. <br /><br />At 4:01, the two fighters found themselves on the fence in a north-south position. Sanchez pushed with both feet on the fence while trying to escape, but Penn pushed him back. Sanchez was able to get back on his feet at 3:43 when Penn let go of his hold as he went for punches to the head of Sanchez, who seemingly did not sustain much damage despite the barrage of blows.<br /><br />Penn got back to stalking Sanchez. The challenger’s left roundhouse kick missed Penn by at least a foot, proving that he hadn’t fully recovered yet. <br /><br />At 2:54, Sanchez rushed Penn with hand strikes and a half-assed flying knee, pushing the champion to the fence, getting hold of his right leg but was unable to take Penn down. They disengaged as Sanchez landed a left elbow on Penn’s head.<br /><br />The rest of the first round had Sanchez surviving, but not before getting hit with another right to the head before the bell rang.<br /><br />Rounds 2 to the fateful 5 was more of the same, as Sanchez was intent on getting a takedown and perhaps grounding and pounding or submitting Penn with a choke or armbar or something. Something is the right word for Sanchez, because that’s all he could hope for as Penn clearly showed his superiority.<br /><br />A kick to the head of Sanchez inside the last three minutes of Round 5 produced an obscenely huge cut on the left side of Sanchez’s forehead. It was a good thing referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the beating that Penn was dealing Sanchez to have the latter’s wound checked by the ring doctor who decided Sanchez had enough for the night. Penn by TKO in the 5th.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mir vs. Kongo</span><br /><br />In the undercard, Cheick Kongo paid dearly by keeping his hands down as he ate a left overhand punch to the right jaw that dropped him in only 4:18 of the first round. Mir followed Kongo to the ground where the French kickboxer hit Mir on the rib with a rather weak shin kick followed by a right single-leg takedown attempt. <br /><br />Mir missed with two hooks but trapped Kongo’s neck in a guillotine choke in a half guard. Kongo got back on his feet, but Mir took him down to the ground holding on tight while falling on his back. Referee Herb Dean lifted Kongo's right arm which went limp as he called a stop to the fight at 3:49 of the round.<br /><br />Other results: <br />Jon Fitch over Mike Pierce via Unanimous Decision in 3 rounds; Kenny Florian over Clay Guida, Submission (choke) R2 (2:19); Stefan Struve over Paul Buentello, Majority Decision 3R; Alan Belcher over Wilson Gouveia, Technical Knockout, R1 (3:03); Matt Wiman over Shane Nelson, UD 3R; Johny Hendricks over Ricardo Funch, UD, 3R; Rousimar Palhares over Lucio Linhares, Submission (leglock), 2R (3:21); DaMarques Johnson over Edgar Garcia, Submission (choke) 1R (4:03); TJ Grant over Kevin Burns, TKO, 1R (1:57).Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-52658639724167102352009-12-09T06:35:00.000-08:002009-12-09T08:14:52.447-08:00UFC 107: Penn versus Sanchez<span style="font-weight:bold;">Prodigious Ego Versus Nightmarish Attitude</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94fT4JxvWVJuno5xOjbWMa11tKFHGp-uOdlz9mBT16wrOa8KYedIMRMCt_p28CnbBu1AbihqzHJJwwR-1BV5M3CMSwS1dusDA1cpDAo95O9BTBSehIUsk3B1HOSlYeYr-opzJJQ/s1600-h/UFC+107.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94fT4JxvWVJuno5xOjbWMa11tKFHGp-uOdlz9mBT16wrOa8KYedIMRMCt_p28CnbBu1AbihqzHJJwwR-1BV5M3CMSwS1dusDA1cpDAo95O9BTBSehIUsk3B1HOSlYeYr-opzJJQ/s320/UFC+107.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413247125262452402" /></a> BJ Penn once believed he was the world’s MMA pound-for-pound best fighter, the reason he went on a rather unsuccessful rampage taking on heavier fighters like current Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight king Lyoto Machida. Diego Sanchez once believed he was God’s gift to MMA after racking up a 12-0 win-loss record including his TKO win over Kenny Florian in the Ultimate Fighter 1 Middleweight final in 2005.<br /><br />Ego is no problem with both Penn and Sanchez. Ironically, ego is also their huge problem. A puffed-up opinion of oneself can help someone overachieve, it could also teach one a very valuable albeit costly lesson – you get your ass kicked. It applies to both MMA and real life.<br /><br />On Sunday, the world (the MMA world, at least) will get to see self-image and self-worth take a beating as Penn and Sanchez take on each other in five rounds for the UFC lightweight belt. Penn will be defending the title <br /><br />After another embarrassing foray into the higher ranks with his total domination by UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, Penn gets back to the division where he is most comfortable to try to retain the lightweight title for the fourth time in almost two years. <br /><br />Sanchez also had his humdrum days, losing twice in a row after a very impressive 17-0 W-L start. Penn is seeking validation and redemption, Sanchez is burdened with only one: validation.<br /><br />Many don’t see this fight going the full five-round route. Both fiery fighters are fond of early stoppages, but if the first two rounds won’t go either fighter’s way, this could become a war of attrition that will favor Penn’s Brazilian Jiujitsu expertise and experience. <br /><br />Sanchez has developed a reputation for impatience and great cardio, but don’t let Penn’s pudginess mislead you. The defending champ can go 10 rounds if needed, and he has somehow acquired a passion for training and discipline. He has the edge skills-wise and in athleticism, but Sanchez has a bit of youth on his side. <br /><br />Betting odds have it -300 for Penn and +220 for Sanchez. <br /><br />Penn many have a 5 on his L list, Sanchez just a 2. Sanchez, who is younger than Penn, actually has five more fights than Penn, but Penn has fought better fighters in his career, some he has beaten: Matt Hughes, Caol Uno, Takanori Gomi, Renzo Gracie, Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, the latest being the late-blooming Kenny Florian.<br /><br />Sanchez has had less distinguished foes, Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, Joe Stevenson, and Clay Guida, all who Sanchez defeated only by decision.<br /><br />Knockout and submission wins are far more impressive than mere decisions. Both Penn and Sanchez may have earned reputations for fierceness (especially Sanchez who brings in a mean look into the Octagon, “a rental,” UFC color commentator Joe Rogan once said) but it is Penn who is more accomplished. Sanchez will need all his attitude and his renowned cardio plus physical skills, of course, to put up a good fight. Penn has been steamrolling the opposition in the lightweight division since his recent reign – his last four victories were either by submission or strikes. One could say that Sanchez is hungrier than Penn, having won no significant title except for the welterweight belt in King of the Cage five years ago.<br /><br />To risk embarrassment, allow me a fearless forecast: Penn will win by either submission or knockout in less than five rounds, maybe the third. The only way Sanchez can triumph over Penn is to KO the latter early on or stay away from the Hawaiian for five rounds while sniping from outside with jabs and kicks. But it will be out of character for the Hispanic fighter to get on his bicycle. He has parlayed a well-nurtured reputation for aggression into a well-paying MMA career. Too late to stop now.<br /><br />This is Penn’s fight to lose. On all avenues, Penn has the edge or matches close with Sanchez. Penn is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters (MMA or otherwise) in the last 10 years. He has somehow learned discipline and has gotten serious in his training and set his sights higher. He did go up in weight to take on another pound-for-pound luminary in St. Pierre.<br /><br />No result is for certain in MMA, more so than in boxing or kickboxing. Penn looks to win, but watch out for Sanchez to pull a surprise.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-76724366044661739472009-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:002009-10-31T23:34:37.838-07:00UFC 104: The Dragon’s Soft Underbelly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gyl7qDNU4wrcmhTa2_ctwOMEVbAUXxWJ0X3I5UHxH8XOIYv9n4GSlivrGGLCR5izjJm-Qm37Pc_7sTxKP7q33ST_b6na379roNsqgYRsZxRlwG3Vz-8CnixEFuYHIMcmXtvo6A/s1600-h/UFC+104_Machida+roundhouse+kick.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gyl7qDNU4wrcmhTa2_ctwOMEVbAUXxWJ0X3I5UHxH8XOIYv9n4GSlivrGGLCR5izjJm-Qm37Pc_7sTxKP7q33ST_b6na379roNsqgYRsZxRlwG3Vz-8CnixEFuYHIMcmXtvo6A/s320/UFC+104_Machida+roundhouse+kick.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399019031052404690" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Machida retains light-heavyweight title in controversial decision over Rua</span><br /><br />Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida keeps his light-heavyweight belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua but barely. In five rounds that can either be seen as too close to call so the decision goes to the defending champion, or Dana White has set his mind to make Machida the next rock star of the UFC after Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, so unless Rua knocks Machida out – let the slick Japanese-Brazilian keep his belt.<br /><br />Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida according to hype (parts of which are true) is “very elusive” and virtually “invincible” that for many MMA observers, it has to take a heavyweight like Brock Lesnar or an RPG to beat him. <br /><br />As it turned out, all it took was Shogun. And even that was not enough. <br /><br />“Everybody was expecting him to destroy Shogun like he destroyed Rashad Evans, and he didn’t destroy him,” said Cecil Peoples, one of the three who judged the Machida-Rua fight last Sunday. “It was a close fight. So people think: (Rua) did good. If he did that good, he must have won the fight.”<br /><br />Machida retained his title with a highly-controversial unanimous decision win over Rua. MMA writers and the Internet fan sites are still smoking over arguments as to whether Rua should have been declared the winner. Those who think so are armed with a plethora of arguments and a colored photo of Machida with split upper lip, cuts on the bridge of his nose, blood sprinkled on his mouth and cheeks, and redness on his left torso. <br /><br />MMA forensic experts are eager to show video and photographic evidence of Machida’s supposed defeat. There’s only one problem: the cageside judges don’t agree. It’s their opinion that really matters. Fans can howl until Christmas that Rua got robbed and may even drop their contributions in the kitty to help keep Rua solvent until he gets a rematch. The rematch is justified. It was a close match, there were no knockdowns (a knockout of either fighter would have saved us of all this strife) and UFC president Dana White is of the opinion that Rua rightfully should have been declared the winner and more importantly he announced an immediate rematch.<br /><br />Rua’s loss is not a complete waste. He has made a minor note in MMA history. He is the first losing fighter to move up in the rankings of a pound-for-pound-best list, tying for No.7 in Yahoo! Sports with Miguel Angel Torres, the former WEC Bantamweight champion, himself the loser in his last fight – and he got coldcocked by Brian Bowles, a notch higher above him in the same rankings. <br /><br />Machida-Rua II should be a doozy. Rua has already found the antidote to the poison of Machida’s MMA-flavored karate. Likewise, Machida has realized that he is not untouchable in the cage. Rua could stick to his fruitful if unsuccessful formula, and Machida will surely tweak his strategy. <br /><br />Rua did very well attacking Machida’s legs and staying away from Machida’s vaunted left straight punch and Thai-plum-knee combo. Rua was less successful in defending against Machida’s high kicks and multiple punches to the head, but Shogun more than made up for it with his aggression throughout the fight and accurate striking. <br /><br />It is said that to judge a fight fairly on TV, one must turn off the audio to avoid being prejudiced by the commentators’ commentary. Joe Rogan’s shouts of “oh!” every time Shogun landed a blow on Machida, albeit not that damaging, helped sway TV viewers that Rua was really doing well. Even Mike Goldberg’s “You can just see Shogun looks in better condition, Joe,” helped make the case that Rua performed better than he really did. <br /><br />Judges Peoples and Marcos Rosales gave rounds one, two and three to Machida, while Nelson “Doc” Hamilton had given rounds two, three and four to Machida. The disparity makes naysayers insist that the judges got it wrong for being unable to agree. Albeit they all gave the fight to Machida on similar scores of 48-47.<br /><br />Those who disagree with the UFC 104 judges’ decision are not judges themselves. The judges were specifically chosen for their expertise, for their thorough knowledge of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC is big and rich enough to afford professional judges to go along with professional fighters. They all do this for a living. The fighters hurt each other, while the judges see who gets the edge hurt-wise in the exchanges. The judges don’t get hurt that much unless most everybody disagree with them and accuse them of being in the hip pocket of UFC demi-god Dana White. This is not the first time that UFC judges or judges from other organizations have been accused of being manipulated by executives in rigging matches. As long as there will be fights like Machida-Rua I, the voices will not be stilled. Even then, there is no guarantee that a rematch will settle this issue once and for all, even if a knockout will show who the best light-heavyweight MMA fighter in the world is.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-66894449813347856422009-10-24T05:38:00.000-07:002009-10-24T05:47:10.144-07:00UFC 104: The Dragon versus Shogun<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLj1HjMwMMDK-_8q7sZ0SNyHgpXa5QmZ0aatnsG7IZxACk5ntYkI1y1ZL-m6Dw5K_WioejASErARXlyajp4bL1FCOrsC6X79WfApjYL1u81ekDvgtWTOPaLW6YXClYPVfOAZN1A/s1600-h/UFC+104+poster.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLj1HjMwMMDK-_8q7sZ0SNyHgpXa5QmZ0aatnsG7IZxACk5ntYkI1y1ZL-m6Dw5K_WioejASErARXlyajp4bL1FCOrsC6X79WfApjYL1u81ekDvgtWTOPaLW6YXClYPVfOAZN1A/s320/UFC+104+poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396145380598765346" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Machida’s karate against Rua’s Chute Boxe; this is war</span><br /><br />Lyoto Machida had to fight a fellow Brazilian tough guy to prove he is not a boring fighter. Machida totally dominated and knocked out Thiago Silva in the very first round of UFC 94 with punches. Both Machida and Silva were undefeated at the time. It was Machida who gave Silva his first loss in 15 fights. It was Machida’s 14th straight victory. <br /><br />Tomorrow, Machida will defend his UFC light-heavyweight title for the first time. Machida took the title from another unbeaten fighter, Rashad Evans. It was Machida’s most impressive win in his MMA career. It was a display of aggressive striking against one of the hardest punchers in MMA. Evans didn’t fall without a fight. At least he tried to make a fight of it, standing longer than he had any business staying on his feet while Machida was making his head a speedball. <br /><br />Another Brazilian is matched up against Machida: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who has been inconsistent since jumping from Pride FC to the UFC after the buyout. Rua was once one of the most feared strikers in Pride, winning over such bangers as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona via knockout. Rua is not a bad grappler himself, submitting compatriot Renato “Babalu” Sobral by rear-naked choke, and the freakishly-strong Kevin Randleman by kneebar. <br /><br />Rua can fight standing up or on the ground. But then, Machida is just as versatile, maybe even more so. Machida surprised many after he escaped from Tito Ortiz’s clamped-on triangle choke in the final round of their classic UFC 84 match, winning by unanimous decision.<br /><br />Machida has been on a roll. Rua is just finding his feet. Machida is under pressure to keep his streak alive, while Rua needs to prove that he is still a force to reckon with in the 205-pound division’s top ranks. Rua also has the added pressure of proving that his win over Chuck Liddell in UFC 97 was no fluke, that he simply won over a veteran fighter who was too old and past his prime. <br /><br />“It is funny and surprising to hear people say I beat an old man to get my title shot because these same people, before that fight, were saying I was going to get killed,” Rua said.<br /><br />It is funny to think that Rua claims he is not under any pressure at all. “I think maybe that’s because I fight better when I am not under the pressure, and now all the pressure is off of me and on the champion,” he said. <br /><br />The champion is always under some degree of pressure, but you can never say that the challenger is under less pressure. These are two warriors who make their living hurting other people in an arena. They know they can get hurt seriously or even die. Pressure is always there, no matter how cool they look or claim to be. <br /><br />I wish I could say that the odds are even in this match-up. They are not. Sportsbook has it -500 for Machida and for +300 Rua. That is a rather accurate reading of this fight. <br /><br />Speed:<br />Machida is one of the fastest strikers in MMA in any weight division. That is not to mention his strength. The good thing about Machida’s velocity is that it is not wasted on random quick strikes hoping he gets lucky. He is quick with his hands and with his feet. He only strikes with either punches or kicks when he sees an opening. While Rua is not as quick as Machida. Coming from a muay Thai background, being a Chute Boxe alumnus, Rua is more of an aggressive striker who will rush in with strong strikes with either hands or feet seeking to overwhelm his opponent. That works well with fighters who stand in front of Rua. With a smart opponent like Machida who uses a lot of feet movements for defense and attacks, Rua will have a hard time tagging him.<br />Advantage: Machida<br /><br />Power:<br />You could say both are equally strong. In 15 fights, Machida has had only five knockout wins. In contrast, Rua, has a record of 15 KO wins in 21 bouts. But statistics can be deceptive. Rua’s aggression and reliance on power has earned him such a high knockout rate. Machida is a much more cautious striker. He sticks to his strategy of waiting before pouncing. But his knockout record is enviable. Of the five who suffered KO losses to Machida include such stellar names as Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, Silva, and Evans, Machida’s power has been evident against such formidable opposition. <br />Advantage: Even<br /><br />Stamina:<br />Machida has gone the distance eight times in 15 occasions, reaching the three-round limit nine times overall. He is no stranger to winning by decision. His relative youth, general good health, and splendid training would have allowed him to go two more rounds if needed be. Rua’s staying power, on the other hand, is suspect. Especially in the Mark Coleman fight, he was on the verge of gassing out against a much-older opponent, winning by KO with barely 24 seconds to go in the third and last round. That was a win for Rua, but then again, it was against another of the UFC’s legends, a veteran who had seen better days in the Octagon. Respect for Rua was still not quite unanimous. <br />Advantage: Machida<br /><br />Guile:<br />Hands down, the edge goes to Machida. He is the least-hit fighter in UFC history if not all of MMA. His hybrid karate style, with lots of sidesteps, forward and backward motions that depend on an opponent’s movements have proven so confusing that his foes get frustrated, throwing caution to the wind, abandon their strategy and rush him just to land a blow or try to take him down. But Machida’s arsenal includes a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu, a background in both sumo and muay Thai. He is an extremely well-rounded martial artist. But that hasn’t made him overconfident. He will stick to his strategy of waiting out opponents, only committing to strike if he sees a reason to, decreasing the risk of being countered. You try to take down Machida and he will quickly step back, step to the side, or slide in to evade or throw a straight punch, a kick to the head or body, or even a knee (remember the strike to the abdomen that felled Ortiz?). Avoiding being hit while hitting one’s foe in the cage or ring is a very safe (some say boring) methodology. Machida has mastered this technique. You could say that Rua is the almost complete opposite. From Pride to UFC, Rua has fundamentally maintained an attacking style per the Chute Boxe school of fighting. Rua earned the nasty reputation of savaging downed opponents with stomps and diving punches. His foe might lie on the ground on his back, defending with up-kicks and kicks to the legs, but Rua will simply allow his foe to commit and miss then get back at him with a kick of his own or a strike with his fists or elbows. It is highly improbable that Rua will get Machida in this position.<br />Advantage: Machida<br /><br />If the last two KO wins by Machida are a measure of how he will fight Rua, UFC 104’s light-heavyweight bout will not last five rounds. Or Machida will revert to his usual ways and stay safe from a distance, sniping at Rua, stretching the match to its full period, and try to eke out a decision. But is seems The Dragon has tasted blood and he likes the taste of copper on tongue. Fight fans hope that Shogun will accommodate The Dragon and it will be a fight to the death – so to speak. May the best man win, and may they still have their complete faculties after the fight is done.<br /><br />Let’s get it on, indeed.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-23967496053894968322009-09-23T14:16:00.000-07:002009-09-25T06:54:57.780-07:00Quinton goes on a rampage…quits<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJa0spmzMRm7HA2t1rmY2g8ChHg-BcDGnrSVZj605e8ZI5LSwWEbcSR3_XVcbFDVTuYIQPVJvMrFl8yzbMztczwWuLARXubbSzXe7bu9mDg73S5YLb8U9MB3Kd12q__o8HHf8K0w/s1600-h/quinton+jackson.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJa0spmzMRm7HA2t1rmY2g8ChHg-BcDGnrSVZj605e8ZI5LSwWEbcSR3_XVcbFDVTuYIQPVJvMrFl8yzbMztczwWuLARXubbSzXe7bu9mDg73S5YLb8U9MB3Kd12q__o8HHf8K0w/s320/quinton+jackson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384776570137512162" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jackson leaves MMA for the movies</span><br /><br />Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is not the first UFC fighter who smacked down on the organization. Years ago, Jens “Little Evil” Pulver slammed the UFC for not taking into account his loyalty to the organization despite fighting for it exclusively even though he had offers from other MMA groups. Pulver claimed that the highest amount he ever got paid by the UFC was $60,000; and to think that he was once the lightweight champion. In today’s UFC, that amount is a mere bonus for Fight of the Night.<br /><br />The UFC could justifiably claim to be the savior of mixed martial arts. If Dana White had not convinced the Fertitta brothers to sink millions into buying out the UFC from SEG and developing the organization by taking it to Las Vegas and producing The Ultimate Fighter reality show, MMA would have stayed at best a fringe sport.<br /><br />MMA fans and investors recognize White and the Fertitta brothers’ role in putting MMA on the international sports map, but the hubris that White has maintained – unfairly criticizing competitors and talking his butt off like he’s the god of the sport – has gained him as much vitriol as credit.<br /><br />Jackson’s diatribical statement in his official website has blown the lid off White’s hairless pate. Not many have dared talk back to the great White trash talker. <br /><br />Roger Huerta, another UFC contracted fighter who decided to give the movies a stab, is another victim of White’s machinations. After refusing to extend his contract with the UFC, it is widely believed that Huerta was set up to fight the formidable Gray Maynard. The fact that Huerta lost to Maynard is all the proof some suspicious minds need to confirm their theory that the UFC simply needed to send Huerta out of the organization on a losing note. A risky strategy but if it worked out it would be brilliant. Incidentally, Huerta has also branched out into the movies. He is said to play Matador in the movie version of the video game <span style="font-style:italic;">Tekken</span>.<br /><br />The loss of Jackson will impact not just the big daddy of MMA federations, but the sport as a whole. Despite or because of his loquacious ways, Jackson was one of the sports best envoys. His amusing patter even though sprinkled with plenty of profanity, was and still makes for good PR. It didn’t harm that Jackson was as strong as two welterweights put together and had the courage of Royce Gracie on steroids. Oops! Bad example. Strength and courage are Jackson’s strong suits.<br /><br />So, it was ridiculous for White to order the Big Black Rampage to feign intimidation of Machida. The great Brazilian karate expert might be too fast and crafty for Rampage, but you never know what will happen once Jackson has Machida in his grasp. The fight against Evans would have been explosive. Like two silverbacks vying for the amorous attention of a simian supermodel, Jackson and Evans would have torn each other into shreds in the Octagon like two King Kongs in the African jungle. They hated each other, and still do.<br /><br />White responded to Jackson’s move in atypical manner – he wishes him happy trails instead of mocking him. “He’s acting like a baby,” White said. “He’s acting like a baby right now but he’s a grown man. He wants to be in the movie business? Rampage, good luck to you, man. I hope you make it big — and I’m not being sarcastic because Rampage Jackson is a guy that I do like. But Rampage Jackson is a guy that doesn’t always make the best decisions.”<br /><br />That doesn’t sound so bad does it? By saying this and if he stands by it without adding anything to put his foot in his big mouth, White will come out smelling like freshly-washed jockstraps. <br /><br />Jackson does not deny the good things the UFC has done to his MMA career. “The UFC has done a lot for me, but I think I have done more for them,” Jackson admitted. But if he is really leaving MMA for the movies for whatever reason (Rampage as B.A. Baracus in the <span style="font-style:italic;">The A-Team</span> movie is good casting), it’s his decision. If he later on changes his mind, finding Hollywood or independent cinema just as troublesome and painful as MMA, he should find a promoter willing to take him in and arrange for him to fight again.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-58346490409682897542009-08-30T00:28:00.000-07:002009-09-23T14:29:13.563-07:00Randy Couture versus Father Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieE3NQCgvAdmUH8BKiM2EqziPSGbBOmT8r1u15xrZM21fQGO5RatbnlkEmg1Fm-5A1PYue1ZA0EiUN4Ngnuvjl1StcK74qvad6SLXUTtY1JCreRjf-_IZQxJzwqBzfU-986gNfJA/s1600-h/Nog_Couture.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieE3NQCgvAdmUH8BKiM2EqziPSGbBOmT8r1u15xrZM21fQGO5RatbnlkEmg1Fm-5A1PYue1ZA0EiUN4Ngnuvjl1StcK74qvad6SLXUTtY1JCreRjf-_IZQxJzwqBzfU-986gNfJA/s320/Nog_Couture.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375656702022872434" /></a> If you care for Randy Couture as a person more than as a fighter, you would probably want him to retire from fighting – from mixed martial arts, from wrestling, from boxing, from mere training for a pro fight. Not many 46-year-olds of the earth’s six billion-plus people can do what Couture can (and make hundreds of thousands in the process). But in today’s three-round tussle against ex-Pride heavyweight king and UFC interim champ Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro,” Couture showed more proof (after the KO loss to Brock Lesnar) that he should just be content to watch UFC bouts ringside instead of being the one watched inside the cage. <br /><br />The people usually get it right when predicting the outcome of matches, with 77% picking Couture over Nogueira in an online poll. But Nog had other plans, like taking the fight into the ground whenever he could to go for a submission. <br /><br />Entering the ring with, appropriately enough, the Rolling Stones’ chestnut <span style="font-style:italic;">Gimme Shelter</span>, Nog with his posse in tow including his twin brother Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” and middleweight king Anderson Silva (making the sign of the cross while Nog was being frisked standing on the Harley Davidson logo before entering the Octagon), Minotauro looks relaxed and ready to rumble.<br /><br />Couture, wearing an Everlast baseball cap, walks towards the Octagon with his entrance music (a rather obscure tune, since I didn’t recognize it). It would have been perfect if Couture, as opposed to Nog’s Stones song, would have made his entrance to the music of the Beatles' <span style="font-style:italic;">Helter Skelter</span> or <span style="font-style:italic;">Revolution 1</span> (Couture did revolutionize MMA fighting to a certain degree).<br /><br />Eleven pounds lighter, an inch shorter, and with four inches of shorter reach, Couture looks smaller than Nog, but he has been here before facing bigger opponents. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Round 1</span><br /><br />They keep the fight on their feet in the first minute and 10 seconds, going to the ground only briefly as Couture stands right back up. Nogueira knocks down Couture in 3:01 with punches. Nog goes for an arm-triangle choke, holding it for at least 10 secs, but Captain America amazingly escapes. Couture lands a left uppercut and a right straight. With less than a minute left in the round, they tangle as Couture gets Nog’s back to the fence and they stay there practically doing nothing until the horn sounds to end the round.<br /><br />In Free-For-All’s card it’s Nogueira 10, Couture 9.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Round 2</span><br /><br />At 4:30, Nog catches Couture in a guillotine but Couture struggles loose. Couture takes down Nogueira and finds himself in Nog’s guard. In a wonderfully-executed move, Nog rolls and reverses as Couture defends with a half-guard. Nog gets Couture in a left arm triangle, pulls his left leg for full mount, and punches Couture on the head and ribs. This time, it’s Couture’s turn to perform a great escape as he slips out of the triangle. Couture gets back on his feet as they throw punches at each other, Nog being more accurate. Couture lands two left hooks, <br />Nog retaliates with a right leg kick before the horn sounds.<br /><br />Nogueira 10, Couture 9<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Round 3</span><br /><br />Nog lands good shots on Couture’s head. At 4:25, Nog knocks down Couture again (this time with a beautiful right semi-uppercut) and rains down blows while in Couture’s half-guard. Nogueira pushes Couture to the fence, controlling The Natural with his right arm while striking with his left hand. The referee lets them stay there for some time. At 2:28, Couture gets his right leg on Nog’s shoulder and tries to pull out, but Nog gets Couture’s back and looks to hook <br />in a choke. Couture tries to pull out from under Nog who is on his back too high unable to do a choke. Couture eventually escapes and reverses, is now on the full guard of Nogueira with a little over a minute left. Nog holds on tight to the back of Couture’s neck. In the last two seconds Nog reverses and mounts Couture but the horn sounds to end the match.<br /><br />Nogueira 10, Couture 9.<br /><br />Couture applauds. He could be expressing his approval to both Nog’s performance and his own. They both do deserve to be commend for duking it out unreservedly, going out to win instead of not losing. Nogueira just was too good for Couture today. But lest he entertains notions of challenging Brock Lesnar for the belt, he should not. Couture and Mir tried but were proved wanting. Lesnar needs a challenger who is striker who hits as hard as him and is just as physically imposing. Grapplers are just not good enough to beat Brock.<br /><br />Surprisingly, one judge scored it 29-28 for Couture, while two had it 30-27 for Nogueira.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-90188148533986858602009-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:002009-08-28T10:03:23.612-07:00UFC 102: Mirror Mirror On The Mat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoW1Jd4nweH9qREQs_3LFuaK8C2WqS42CH6uTNINgf-1WbLDuV0jesJHiMm6cUxw6fEubrw_jvIYEKV-3Nmu_RCObYIcXjecG98t94UeKQEDmSgDr93ZwlrVOLOnE1yHKZs1s2Q/s1600-h/UFC_102_poster.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoW1Jd4nweH9qREQs_3LFuaK8C2WqS42CH6uTNINgf-1WbLDuV0jesJHiMm6cUxw6fEubrw_jvIYEKV-3Nmu_RCObYIcXjecG98t94UeKQEDmSgDr93ZwlrVOLOnE1yHKZs1s2Q/s320/UFC_102_poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375061228957892930" /></a>People get older faster in mixed martial arts than in golf. Even if you have 46-year-old Randy Couture, a former two-division champion, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 33, a former Pride FC heavyweight champ duking it out on Sunday, these two with their 79 years put together are mere tots compared to the geezers in golf’s Seniors tours.<br /><br />“Captain America” Couture is not only still healthy, he is ageless, immortal. He will be around for Christ’s Second Coming, if he has his way. The comicbook Captain America may be dead but this Captain America can still stop attacks on his person without the aid of an <br />adamantium-vibranium shield. Nogueira, on the other hand, is almost as indestructible. Run over by a truck at age 11 in Brazil, he spent 11 months in the hospital for an operation and convalescence and ultimately became one of the toughest light-heavyweight/heavyweight MMA warriors on the planet. <br /><br />Sunday’s UFC 102 main event of Couture versus Nogueira is a sort of battle of the ages, with the Octagon smelling of liniment and smelling salts. There is little concern that any or both will undergo cardiac arrest. What every MMA fan is looking forward to is slam-bang technical action from these two veterans. Couture (16-9) is a great wrestler who has developed decent standup striking (“dirty boxing”) skills, while Nogueira (31-5-1) is a splendid Brazilian Jiujitsuka with fantastic submission moves coupled by just as decent striking abilities. They are almost mirror images of themselves stylistically and physically. Couture at 6-feet-2 inches and Nogueira at 6-3 are giants of the MMA game. Aging giants but still imposing. Their three-round tussle should be a doozy. <br /><br />Let’s see how they match up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Speed:</span><br />Neither Couture nor Nogueira is Speedy Gonzalez. None of them will overwhelm their opponents or each other by being seen as blurs. They are more of the wear-you-down types. Couture with his excellent wrestling and dirty boxing, Nogueira with his out-of-this-world jiujitsu and decent boxing. In a sense, they are mirror selves, reflecting on each other their speed or lack of it.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Advantage:</span> Even <br /><br />Power:<br />One would think that Couture with his bulkier look would be stronger. He had no problems taking down the likes of Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Tim Sylvia. If he gets his paws on Nogueira, Minotauro will go down. But then, that’s exactly where Nog wants Couture to be – in his world. A BJJ black belt of Nog’s caliber should have in his arsenal a strong takedown or slam. Likewise, if Nog gets the edge position-wise, he should be able to take Couture down to the ground quickly. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Advantage:</span> Even<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Stamina:</span><br />Couture’s work ethic and conditioning are legendary. He wouldn’t have made it this far in time and stay competitive if he didn’t keep himself constantly in fighting trim. You could probably give him a week’s notice to fight any of the top 10 heavyweights in the world and he wouldn’t bat an eye agreeing. Nog, on the other hand, looks road-torn and weather-beaten more than Couture. They have both been in battles to cripple lesser fighters. It is a testament to their strong stock and discipline that they are still around fighting. But let is give the edge to Couture in this category, just a little. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Advantage:</span> Couture<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Smarts:</span><br />Couture was a world-class Greco-Roman wrestler before he made the switch to the much more demanding MMA field. He transformed himself from a man used to taking the fight to the ground to being able to stay on his feet striking with his fists. He is not exactly a well-rounded fighter (did you ever see Couture knock out an opponent with a kick?) but his three quarters of warrior skills is better than most fighters’ all-around game. Like Madonna, Couture reinvented himself and still surprises many. And he is not known as "The Natural" for nothing. While Nogueira, being a native Brazilian, trained himself (at least by being aware mentally) to fight in all categories. He focused on judo as a child, and added boxing to his repertoire, before concentrating in Brazilian Jiujitsu. He eventually earned black belts in judo and BJJ at 23. Nog knew how to fight and knew how to fight in many modes. This widened his martial horizons early on. Couture didn’t see the necessity to train in other avenues of fighting until his 30s. But considering the results for both fighters, Couture has overachieved – hence smarter. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Advantage:</span> Couture<br /><br />Winning two out of four categories on paper, Couture is set to win their fight. But as we don’t tire of saying: in MMA, <span style="font-style:italic;">on paper</span> is not worth the spit it is written on.<br /><br />Other bouts of note, for Filipino fans at least, are the Brandon Vera- <br />Krzysztof Soszynski light-heavy and Mark Muñoz-Nick Catone middleweight match-ups. Vera and Muñoz are both Filipino-Americans, both are trying to pick up speed after experiencing road bumps. Should they lose tomorrow, the UFC won’t have much reason to look beyond their present contracts. It is drop-your-opponents or your contract gets dropped.<br /><br />In Soszynski, Vera will have not only a heavy-handed striker but also a ground fighter adept at submissions. Vera is a wrestler with modest skills and outstanding kickboxing talent. He will have to avoid being grabbed or taken to the ground. A clinch will be like a kiss of death to Vera. Keeping the fight a stand-up tussle will be to Vera’s advantage despite Soszynski’s power. Vera is quicker and more mobile. He can pick Soszynski apart as long as he doesn’t get tagged early on by one of the latter’s KO punches. Vera will have a very dangerous time figuring out Soszynski.<br /><br />Muñoz (5-1) is a former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler. Catone (7-1) is not as accomplished as Muñoz in his college wrestling career, but he had achieved in the national level. Muñoz, with the moniker “The Philippine Wrecking Machine,” is a strong puncher – if he hits his foe. In his UFC 96, Muñoz earned his title in a reverse manner, by being wrecked by Matt Hamill with a head kick in the first round for a KO loss – the first of his pro MMA career. Muñoz dropped down 20 pounds for tomorrow’s fight. We will find out if it’s the right thing to do. Muñoz has three TKO victories, same as Catone, in keeping with the doppelganger theme of UFC 102. But Catone has more balanced skills judging by his three submission wins. On this we can conjecture that the only way for Muñoz to win is by making sure that he stays on his feet.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-39944521241704527982009-07-11T10:44:00.000-07:002009-07-11T10:50:04.748-07:00UFC 100: A Centennial of Striking, Grappling, and Grounding and Pounding<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8evVvDT1iPKR7ReeEENDn6F3-2PjZnDW0MxGJWjgXQXUHR9aan_uUF1BHtKRLfpS-DS9dB_sliTUpx3nrfLjq6kBqzsxxWGHAQCy70KwcnAqTkCXv2m65offiEOcpc6uhbW8D3w/s1600-h/ufc_100_poster2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8evVvDT1iPKR7ReeEENDn6F3-2PjZnDW0MxGJWjgXQXUHR9aan_uUF1BHtKRLfpS-DS9dB_sliTUpx3nrfLjq6kBqzsxxWGHAQCy70KwcnAqTkCXv2m65offiEOcpc6uhbW8D3w/s400/ufc_100_poster2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357261272165193826" /></a><br /><br />Dan Henderson over Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre over Thiago Alves, and Frank Mir over Brock Lesnar.<br /><br />It’s a wish list not prophecy. <br /><br />Only the divinely-inspired are infallible but that won’t stop anyone from predicting the outcome of anything. The hype leading to the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been as relentless as Wanderlei Silva stalking Kazushi Sakuraba and as Dana White insisting that Anderson Silva is the world’s pound-for-pound best MMA fighter. There have been press conferences, a weigh-in, a top 100 UFC fights series, match-up predictions – lots of MMA on the buffet table – that you just get the urge to come up with your own crystal-ball gazing.<br /><br />Free-For-All’s 10 cents’ worth comes from a fan’s perspective more than from a fight analyst’s point of view. <br /><br />I am biased towards Henderson for his pug and pit-bull approach to fighting. He will try to knock you out as quickly as he can. If he has to use his formidable wrestling skills to do it, he will. But Henderson relies more on his striking than his wrestling, no doubt about that. <br /><br />I also like St. Pierre’s workmanlike attitude and careful strategic preparation for a fight. He will study his opponent and set a plan on how to devastate his foe. His athletic abilities would not matter if his mental approach to the fight game were not at par.<br /><br />I am a sucker for underdog. Mir is smaller and less powerful than Lesnar. More people believe Mir will lose to Lesnar. Mir was gone from MMA for about a year and a half after breaking his knee in a motorcycle accident. He fought again but lost two of his first three comeback fights. He did not quit and won all of his next three fights including a kneebar submission victory over Lesnar and a stunning win by strikes over legendary Brazilian jiujitsu black belt Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. <br /><br />Mir’s rise from the ashes of his terrible accident and discouraging early comeback defeats is inspirational. He was known for his world-class grappling and submissions but has added a standup game to his arsenal. <br /><br />After the bells and whistles, Free-For-All’s look into the future less than 12 hours from now:<br />Henderson will win via knockout in Round 2; GSP by submission in three; and Mir by submission in two. <br /><br />Don’t bet on it.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-73181352963516617692009-05-24T13:26:00.000-07:002009-05-24T13:58:02.128-07:00UFC 98: Enter The Dragon Machida<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NqXKUIQcc-sbUHftT4Ic3eVkFT7KN8f7yh1qSVM2k1WAsgB1C1m82dUbEl9yZ-OFbCXlaZlFfZRpPuRssv2YRuFTXi0lfSasp6_LkeDzIU3oysGn9zNb1g0BKumYZd3Dyg2h2A/s1600-h/Machida+vs+Evans.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NqXKUIQcc-sbUHftT4Ic3eVkFT7KN8f7yh1qSVM2k1WAsgB1C1m82dUbEl9yZ-OFbCXlaZlFfZRpPuRssv2YRuFTXi0lfSasp6_LkeDzIU3oysGn9zNb1g0BKumYZd3Dyg2h2A/s400/Machida+vs+Evans.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339497338841124658" /></a> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Lyoto Machida overwhelms Rashad Evans<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />In one of the most stunning and exciting outcomes in UFC history, the light-heavyweight belt changed hands in just two rounds of a masterful display by the challenger. It wasn’t exactly unexpected as the online voting had something like 63% of the fans of the opinion that Machida would win it against 37% for Evans. <br /><br />Round 1 seemed to confirm people’s belief as in the last minute Machida kicked Evans to the right side of the body and followed up with a straight left punch to the face, knocking down the defending champion. Evans did get up and survived the first round.<br /><br />Besides Machida’s left kick to the body of Evans at 2:00, practically nothing happened in the first three minutes, as both fighters were still probing, waiting for each other to make the first significant attack and counter – which is a big part of both fighters’ styles. <br /><br />At 3:03, Machida struck with a left roundhouse kick to the head of Evans, then Evans came back but missed with left overhand right. <br />At 1:21, Machida let go of a quick left straight punch and right straight that didn’t do any damage. <br /><br />Round 1 obviously went Machida’s way.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5AHMT9pyK4V29tVvcgW0JjGFr-qV6RjDIDwQqHHAHgukmliSmJEUg7Q6GI4XyYXBry29MsBI-0KOiv5zIP_mBThVUPPteWj9fH5X-KgeDwGgHj88Too_-XefTXGb3NOSnuDJvw/s1600-h/UFC+98+poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5AHMT9pyK4V29tVvcgW0JjGFr-qV6RjDIDwQqHHAHgukmliSmJEUg7Q6GI4XyYXBry29MsBI-0KOiv5zIP_mBThVUPPteWj9fH5X-KgeDwGgHj88Too_-XefTXGb3NOSnuDJvw/s400/UFC+98+poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339490401264690546" /></a> In Round 2, both fighters again took some time to warm up. In 3:30, there was an exchange of punches but not many landed. At 2:22, Machida missed with a right frontal kick to the body. At 2:13, a left roundhouse kick to the body by Evans missed. But then, with 1:28 left in the fateful round, a hook to the jaw of Evans started it all. Evans crumpled. Machida got side mount and let go of several right straights to the head of Evans. Evans struggled to get back on his feet and got as far as the Octagon fence where Machida kept abusing him with punches to the head. A right hook to the jaw and a left to the other side knocked Evans senseless, falling on his back like a limp rag doll. <br /><br />If Evans had not fallen properly, there would have been a repeat of the terrible accident that broke Mirko Filipovic’s ankle in UFC 70 when he fell after receiving a right roundhouse kick to the head by Gabriel Gonzaga.<br /><br />The Lyoto Machida legend has been cemented. He had earned the reputation of being the most elusive fighter ever in mixed martial arts. Translation: Hard to hit. Very hard to hit. He has a knack of dealing so much pain while remaining unscathed. Ironically, that also earned him a lot of skeptics and naysayers had a field day sniping at him. They accused him of being afraid to engage in an offensive attack. Until yesterday, that is. <br /><br />Well, Machida’s destruction of Thiago Silva (in one round) and Evans (in two) in succession should cancel out that criticism. Elusiveness equals good defense. And it makes a lot of sense. Why should you get hit in the process of hitting someone? MMA is not Christian charity. It is a black eye for a black eye, a broken tooth for a broken tooth. But if you can avoid getting hurt while beating up on someone, why not take that blessing?<br /><br />Machida is a very quick and powerful striker. His martial-art base being karate, he is a natural striker. Add to his arsenal a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu, sumo and muay Thai training, and maybe also in other arts, make him one well-rounded mugger.<br /><br />Indeed, and if he stays elusive as an eel with the sting of a stingray, it will be sometime before he gives up the UFC lightheavyweight championship belt.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-3561941328610651032008-10-07T21:14:00.000-07:002008-10-08T20:59:32.558-07:00Petruzelli's Turn At 15 Minutes Of Infamy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVS1HheH1opGCRYrBjwLI8INCP95_g3Bnuy5HR8VlU68pGjxjDGCcI-FudkZfA4DPlnWjky1jTOcr7g5qu1yHagGRjDeO77r-xKWC3c17Innhfl2fJgJNO_4XS3xGeSC1GnoGKg/s1600-h/petruzelli_slice_waugh_EliteXC"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVS1HheH1opGCRYrBjwLI8INCP95_g3Bnuy5HR8VlU68pGjxjDGCcI-FudkZfA4DPlnWjky1jTOcr7g5qu1yHagGRjDeO77r-xKWC3c17Innhfl2fJgJNO_4XS3xGeSC1GnoGKg/s400/petruzelli_slice_waugh_EliteXC" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254636011370235090" /></a> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">After Kimbo Sliced Off In 14 seconds</span> <br /><br />Four million three hundred thousand TV viewers saw Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson humiliated in 14 seconds. Talk about 15 minutes of fame and all that transitory glory certain individuals enjoy or suffer from. Mr. Slice had his temporal anomaly, his chance at disproving naysayers and he blew it. But not before cashing in on whatever amount of fame and glory that was available to him...and poor cash-strapped EliteXC. Slice reportedly got $500,000 for his troubles, $200,000 more than what Fedor Emelianenko supposedly got for battering Tim Sylvia in the more credible newbie promotion Affliction MMA's Affliction: Banned heavyweight championship bout. <br /><br />OK, a bit of recent history. Ken Shamrock, once tagged as the World's Most Dangerous Man, was another in a series of tomato cans thrown Slice's way to add to the illusion of his being one of the, if not the, toughest banger out there. Shamrock, is not exactly a worthy opponent to who is supposedly the meanest mother in existence. Shamrock is a mixed martial arts pioneer who helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship what is today the most lucrative MMA organization in the world with reported assets of at least a billion dollars. But having lost all of his last four fights since April 9, 2005, Shamrock at 44, is no spring chicken with everything to gain and nothing to lose in the MMA arena. But, yes, Shamrock had a lot to profit from with a win over Slice. But it wasn't meant to be, as Shamrock was deemed unfit by Florida state fight officials to go up against Slice as Shamrock suffered a cut on his eye during training. His adoptive brother, Frank Shamrock, a former UFC champion who is part of the EliteXC commentators pool, said that he was offered and agreed to take his brother's place but EXC brass realized that Frank was too dangerous an opponent. EXC said that Florida state fight officials did not clear Frank to fight. Frank said it was EXC promoters who blocked the proposal.<br /><br />Whatever the truth of the matter, what is true is that the honor of exposing Slice as purely a product of Internet (particularly YouTube.com) hype went to Seth Petruzelli, a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 2 who was dropped by the UFC after losing to Wilson Gouveia in 39 seconds of Round 2 by submission via guillotine choke in Fight Night 9 on April 5, 2007. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">PINK SPOTS AND STREAKS.</span> As the bell for Round 1 rang, Slice, pumped up by three wins in his short MMA career and at the sight from across the cage of a white boy with bright pink spots and a streak on his hair, rushed to his doom. A weak left jab by Slice at nothing was met by Seth (much easier to type and spell and it alliterates with Kimbo's faux last name) with a right-hand parry and right push-kick and a short right mestiza jab/overhand that missed, even as Seth backed off while maintaining balance. Slice kept on charging, letting go of a right straight that got nowhere. Seth kept him at a distance with another right push kick and the short right jab that landed on the face of Slice, felling him. With Slice down on all fours, Seth hit him on the back of the head with hammer fist. <br /><br />Probably realizing he just did an illegal blow, Seth's next strike was on the right side of Slice's head. Hitting Slice on the shoulder with the next two punches, Seth kept on delivering power punches that made Slice turn and roll on his back, maybe seeking to get Seth in his guard, but Seth was relentlessly striking, forcing referee Troy Waugh to step in between the two fighters, pushing Seth away as a dazed Slice grabbed Waugh's left leg, thinking it was Seth's.<br /><br />It was all right hands. Seth could have fought Slice with his left hand tied behind his back and still knock him out. He was that dominating and he deserved to celebrate like he had just sank a last-second 3-pointer to edge out the other team by a single point in the last game of a best-of-seven basketball championship game, or hit a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth. <br /><br />No, Seth Petruzelli (no <span style="font-style:italic;">e</span>) did not make like Ralph Macchio (no <span style="font-style:italic;">a</span>) in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Karate Kid</span> with a crane stance after referee Troy Waugh stopped the punishment. Seth merely threw away his mouth guard and threw his arms up in celebration as he ran around the cage while Kimbo, half out of his mind, grappled with the referee. And, yes, one of the guys in the commentary booth was right to dig up a <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rocky</span> analogy. Seth Petruzelli was indeed Rocky-like in earning a win over the Apollo Creed-like Kimbo Slice. Not many expected white-boy Seth to pound out black-dude Slice. To distinguish MMA Seth from the Hollywood Rocky, it didn't take Petruzelli 15 minutes of pounding and a bucketful of blood to have the crowd rise to its feet and roar in unison. Fourteen frigging seconds...That's all it took. Even the fading power kicker and puncher Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic might have needed 30 seconds to take out Slice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DOhrykYn-nlS9-jHbYk5JijsGXqgFRD_fH8ljQOSttnTIdarDQKdkfbfzKaMLSCGFDl6l_0W0RvYf20obvjPUfTZThHArQaefh5dld0GAUI4DOVeN0sVU3pUQJhKDYbpfK_eSg/s1600-h/petruzelli_slice_EliteXC"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DOhrykYn-nlS9-jHbYk5JijsGXqgFRD_fH8ljQOSttnTIdarDQKdkfbfzKaMLSCGFDl6l_0W0RvYf20obvjPUfTZThHArQaefh5dld0GAUI4DOVeN0sVU3pUQJhKDYbpfK_eSg/s400/petruzelli_slice_EliteXC" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254636309698210738" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">EXCITING COMMENTARY.</span> If the outcome of the match didn't excite you enough, the fight commentary might have: <br /><br />“And it's about to get serious. Slice quickly across...the fight is over...”<br /><br />“Slice goes down. Slice in trouble. Oh, my goodness. Slice gets pounded out and they stopped it. Rocky, Rocky is here! Seth Petruzelli shocks the world!...Kimbo Slice is shooting on the referee. He is trying to get the referee down...The most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts. Seth Petruzelli!!!...It can happen! Believe!...This is what mixed martial arts is all about. If you have a dream. If you're willing to step into a cage and fight for your life, you!, can be anything you want...Kimbo Slice battered, bruised, bloodied...Seth Petruzelli, a young man from Fort Myers, Florida. His nickname is The Silverback. He came here tonight, found out that he would be the main event. And he has shocked the entire world of mixed martial arts!”<br /><br />Well, shocked is not exactly the word for it. Try, amused. The casual fight fan, brainwashed by EliteXC and CBS' hype machine on the awesomeness of Slice would be stunned immobile on his/her feet or seat at the sight of the largely unknown Petruzelli taking out Slice in less than 20 seconds of the very first round. Who wouldn't, if you had figured out Slice to be the best thing in the fight game since Mike Tyson? Thirty pounds heavier, two inches taller, and with a reach four inches longer, the then undefeated Slice (now 3-1, 2 KOs, 1 submission), on paper, looked like an overmatch for Seth (now 11-4, 9 KOs, 1 submission).<br /><br />Anyone skeptical of Petruzelli's KO win over Slice should be allayed that the former can really hit and hit hard. His MMA win-loss record is rather middling, unimpressive from a Western boxing fan's perspective. But in MMA, a winning record like 11-4 is a badge of honor and respect. Considering that Petruzelli's nine wins before the Slice fight included eight victories by KO and a lone submission, while his four losses were by way of three submissions and a decision, Petruzelli is a decent MMA fighter.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">TRADITIONAL.</span> Like traditional karatekas Lyoto Machida (Shotokan) who looks so cool in the Octagon he makes cool hot, and Georges St. Pierre (Kyokushinkai), Petruzelli (Shito-Ryu) didn't get stuck in his traditional base and explored other avenues of martial arts. Machida has done sumo and Brazilian Jiujitsu, St. Pierre wrestling, Petruzelli kickboxing, all of them are mixed martial artists. <br /><br />Now, the bad news. In an interview, Seth Petruzelli claimed that EliteXC offered him money to stand up and trade punches with Kimbo Slice; meaning, if Seth had any plans of going to the ground to cancel out Slice's assumed advantage on strikes standing up, he better give up that notion for an x amount of cash. As it turned out, Seth did say that he planned to shoot or take down Slice.<br /><br />On The Monsters in Orlando radio show, Seth said: “The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”<br /><br />That is exactly the kind of dubiousness that EliteXC and mixed martial arts in general do not need. Growing by leaps and bounds after the novelty early years of the UFC in the 1990s, MMA has gained fight fans' interest, if not loyalty, for its brutal mystique and general reputation for reality, as opposed to the fantasy of the WWE nee WWF, the UFC of professional wrestling.<br /><br />Critics (read: boxing purists and loyalists) are waiting on the wings to descend on every perceived weakness and fakeness of MMA. Slice-Seth I was hardly rigged: neither did Slice take a dive nor did Seth put a horseshoe in his glove, but that kind of talk plants the seed of distrust in the minds of fight fans.<br /><br />Petruzelli did explain himself right after, saying that he didn't mean to say what people heard on the The Monsters in Orlando. He told yahoo.com MMA writer Dan Wetzel in a phone interview: “What that meant was they offer a Knockout bonus, Submission bonuses, Fight of the Night bonuses. I think it just got misconstrued. <br /><br />“I wanted to have an exciting fight and I wanted the Knockout bonus, so I wanted to keep it standing...They just said, ‘We want to see an exciting fight no matter what happens.’ I took it as I wanted the Knockout bonus.”<br /><br />This suspiciously sounds like backtracking and spin control by a professional fighter pressured by management to turn bull shit into chocolate cake.<br /><br />This is bad news for MMA. But, if bad publicity is good, this is the kind of bad that is very good for MMA. Bad seed can grow into a twisted tree that bears edible sour fruit. Tamarind* anyone?<br /><br />* Tamarindus indica (from the Arabic: تمر هندي tamar hindi = Indian date) is in the family Fabaceae.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-58487381666180934362008-09-09T22:33:00.000-07:002008-09-16T04:10:31.400-07:00UFC 88: Breakjaw<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpY50rhReELwKJPEK2TRXSnC7_ldu0qcA462CWKwafUtYKSXIex9218KLKD6wQMRJxYkdpVXY7rVJEvdP7x0J2-GllSusJFZ02NxEky7bUXRxkWMxBgy8mHdooUZIt661x3xQSw/s1600-h/UFC+88_chuck_liddell_vs_rashad_evans.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpY50rhReELwKJPEK2TRXSnC7_ldu0qcA462CWKwafUtYKSXIex9218KLKD6wQMRJxYkdpVXY7rVJEvdP7x0J2-GllSusJFZ02NxEky7bUXRxkWMxBgy8mHdooUZIt661x3xQSw/s400/UFC+88_chuck_liddell_vs_rashad_evans.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244263907874368306" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Breakthrough for Rashad Evans; maybe Chuck Liddell's career is through</span><br /><br />Polled by sherdog.com on UFC 88: Breakthrough's main-event match of Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, MMA pros Randy Couture and Jaime Fletcher proved to be the most prescient. Couture said pre-fight: “Tough one to pick! Can make a case for either guy, but in my mind, it depends on Evans. We know what Chuck is gonna try to do. Can Evans pull the trigger and push himself and Chuck? That’s the question.” While Fletcher had this to say: “Liddell by KO. Rashad is a good fighter, but Chuck takes chances, is hard to take down and looping punches from weird angles are hard to deal with.”<br /><br />Both were non-committal but came closest to making good predictions. Could Evans pull the trigger and push himself and Chuck? Yes, Evans did pull the trigger and push himself and The Iceman. And what result did this create? Fletcher provides the rest of the answer: Chuck takes chances, is hard to take down and looping punches from weird angles are hard to deal with. Only that it was Evans' looping punches from weird angles that were hard to deal with, giving Liddell possibly the most devastating knockout he ever suffered. <br /><br />Ironically, or prophetically, Liddell had his two-cents' worth: “I don’t tend to take any shots, so he won’t have to show his takedown defense with me. I am planning on striking. We’ll see how he responds.”<br /><br />And boy, did Evans, respond. <br /><br />Evans jabbed, missed, jabbed and missed again. Liddell's jab missed too and almost simultaneously both fighters loaded – Evans with a looping right hand and Liddell with a right uppercut. Evans' punch landed, Liddell's didn't. With full force and his stance perfect for a strong strike, Evans hammered Liddell on the left jaw. The slow-motion replay shows Liddell's head bearing the brunt of what might as well have been a rock on a fist. Liddell fell backward unconscious. Any more strikes after that would have been overkill. <br /><br />Evans tried that particular punch a few times before striking the motherload and mother of all knockouts – the kind where the victim is asleep even before hitting the deck without a pillow and a good-night lullabye. Evans faked with a short left jab and quickly followed with that arcing right bolo punch which found its mark on Liddell's jaw. <br /><br />“Age won’t be a factor in this fight. I feel sharp and I’m ready for Rashad.” Liddell was right on the first one, he indeed looked fit and moved well for a 38-year-old, sadly for him, he was wrong on his second statement. He was sharp but he wasn't ready for that looping right by Evans. Call it a lucky shot, call it carelessness but luck had nothing to do with it. Evans obviously practiced that shot knowing Liddell is a sucker for a quick strong strike. It helped that Evans had Keith Jardine, who knocked down Liddell 12 UFCs ago, giving him tips on how to deal with The Iceman. It helped that Greg Jackson trained Evans. It helped that Liddell is 10 years older than Evans and has taken a lot more damage in a decade of fighting in the UFC. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Good punch.</span> Liddell always had a problem with standing up to a good punch. When Quinton “Rampage” Jackson kayoed him in UFC 71, Rampage's right hook didn't look much but it knocked down The Iceman and eventually he was knocked out with a few more shots on the ground. Rampage's strike is nothing compared to the one-punch bomb that Evans almost decapitated Liddell with. <br /><br />Yes, maybe encroaching middle age and all those knocks on the head in mixed martial arts have something to do with it. That is not to count the time Liddell spent fighting as a kickboxer. <br /><br />The main co-event of the night was the Rich Franklin-Matt Mitchell encounter. It didn't have the fireworks of Liddell-Evans but it had its moments. Strangely, some will remember this fight not for the rare kidney shot that took down Mitchell in Round 3, but for the hearing-impaired (this politically-correct thing can be difficult) Mitchell looking at his cornermen asking for instructions with Franklin just a few feet away ready to pounce on him. Ironically, Franklin won but he looked like he lost with that huge cut under his right eyebrow.<br /><br />This is one of those fights where you start rooting for one fighter but gradually is impressed by the other fighter and end up wishing no one gets hurt. If only a draw could be had for all fights like this.<br /><br />This fight is a breath of fresh air especially with the memory of the bad aftertaste of Mitchell's bout with Michael Bisping in UFC 75, the calling out in the traditional media and in the Internet. This time, Mitchell let his fists do the fighting for him, not his mouth and his manual sign-language skills. After he lost, there was no rancor evident, Mitchell took it like the man that he really is, while Franklin, gentlemanly and a sport that he has always been, consoled his former training partner and said: “Thanks to God I don't have any serious injuries, and thanks to God my opponent doesn't have any serious injuries.”<br /><br />I am not sure, though, if God approves of two grown men fighting for the entertainment (and edification) of thousands of people live in the arena and millions more on TV, while adding to the hundreds of millions in the bank accounts of Dana White and the Fertita brothers.<br /><br />Anyway...we love MMA. Call it a sport, call it sports entertainment like its distant cousin professional wrestling, but one thing millions of God's creatures in hundreds of countries will agree on – this is one fragging bloody affair we don't tire watching month after month if White and the F Bros. had their way. And watch out for Affliction 2! Dang! Randy Couture is back in the UFC! Looks like there won't be a Fedor-Couture I at least until the year ends. The <br /><span style="font-style:italic;"></span> Emelianenko will have to content himself with fighting lesser lights in his chosen organization and for lesser money, we think.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hollywood Dangerous.</span> Oh, before we forget, another of MMA's greatest fighters ever – Dan Henderson – call him Dangerous or Hollywood but one thing's for sure, he will deliver win or lose. He lost both his Pride welterweight and middleweight belts after he made the jump back to the UFC after it bought out Pride FC, but judging by the way Henderson fought a very game but less experienced, less-gifted (meaning, he doesn't have the striking ability of Henderson) and shorter by five inches, Rousimar Palhares, Henderson still has a lot of fight left in him. <br /><br />The Brazilian jiujitsu black-belt Palhares was surprisingly adept with his striking especially with his kicks (marvel at those wheel kicks!) but he was simply outsized (outreached?) by Henderson, who landed the more solid blows while escaping from Palhares' submission attempts. Henderson deserved the Unanimous Decision victory. Palhares may have lost but he proved he deserves to be in the big leagues by lasting three rounds with a future hall of famer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Other results:</span><br />Nate Marquardt over Martin Kampmann by TKO in 1:22 of Round 1. Marquardt overpowered the muay Thai specialist from Sweden with a surprise roundhouse to the side of the head followed up with punches to the head and body, a knee to the head. All Kampmann could do was cover up and wait to be knocked out or for the referee to put a stop to his suffering. The Referee Stoppage came first.<br /><br />Dong Hyung Kim over Matt Brown, Split Decision in 3 rounds. This one was an injustice. Except for a late takedown in the 3rd round by Kim, Brown dominated the fight. An SD is always controversial. “I don't fight for the judges, I fight for a submission and the fans,” Brown took a shot at the men on the table. Kim had his say too: “I will be different next time.” This was a translation, so maybe he meant something else, because if he means he will win decisively next time, we sure hope so.<br /><br />Tim Boetsch over Michael Platt, TKO 2:03 R1. Boetsch misses with a left hook to the head but his right straight/overhand lands squarely on Platt's chin. Platt falls on his back, Boetsch follows up with more strikes. Referee Herb Dean steps in to stop the punishment. <br /><br />“I would like to thank God, without Him none of this is possible,” Boetsch said. A brawler after my own heart, someone who flashes the website nosubmit.com (Jesus Didn't Tap). <br /><br />Kurt Pellegrino over Thiago Tavares, UD. Tavares almost gets armbarred but improbably escapes the hold of Pellegrino. Pellegrino though gets all the judges' nod.<br /><br />Jason “The Athlete” Macdonald over Jason Lambert, Submission Rear-naked choke R2 1:20. Both very good grapplers with Macdonald with the edge on striking but he wins this with a real tight rear-naked choke. The Athlete was in Lambert's guillotine choke twice in the first round but survived with great stamina and high pain-threshold level.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-29998834271607817982008-09-01T02:28:00.000-07:002008-09-02T21:15:49.768-07:00De La Hoya ‘will beat’ Pacquiao<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInJMp55s9AVYekiZF1T0JWlI2JxbsEFpYeKYywnH_3mEhrXLYrumlrwzi_P651bBjPB03PXiJAHN-RFNKN63Aj6iX8yeomdnbXnMtc_adE-JusdsiYyAfvn3Rj6_2eZt_wsgg8A/s1600-h/delahoya_wakee+salud_pacquiao.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInJMp55s9AVYekiZF1T0JWlI2JxbsEFpYeKYywnH_3mEhrXLYrumlrwzi_P651bBjPB03PXiJAHN-RFNKN63Aj6iX8yeomdnbXnMtc_adE-JusdsiYyAfvn3Rj6_2eZt_wsgg8A/s320/delahoya_wakee+salud_pacquiao.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240983580846956850" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">God forbid – PacMan forever but Manny, please, be careful out there, the Golden Boy is one tough hombre</span><br /><br />De La Hoya will beat Pacquiao.<br /><br />That’s the biggest fear in the minds of Filipinos this year, bigger than the fear of the peso-dollar rate not reaching 50-1, bigger than the fear of a resurgent Muslim insurgency in Mindanao, bigger than the fear of killer storms and killer inter-island ships, bigger than the fear of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo somehow finding a way to run for president in 2010, or worse, Joseph “<span style="font-style:italic;">Lalo Tayong Maghihirap Erap</span>” Estrada vying for the same seat, bigger than the fear of the oil, rice, and Iraq-Iran-Afghanistan crisis put together. <br /><br />It’s only boxing but we love it. With too few things to be happy and optimistic about, at least with Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao we have reason to be hopeful. Whoever first dubbed him <span style="font-style:italic;">Pambansang Kama-o</span> or National Fist is a genius. And whoever (everyone has this feeling it was Bob Arum) came up with the idea of pitting little Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao against “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya in a big-money fight is a mercenary. <br /><br />PacMan, at 5-feet-7 or thereabouts and perhaps 150 pounds when not watching his weight, taking on a decidedly taller 5-10 ½ Golden Boy who could naturally balloon to 175lbs when he downs too many tacos and doesn’t scrimp on tequila, is like a wide-eyed first-grader standing up to a polished fourth-grade bully. OK, defiance has its merits, but not when you could get beaten to a pulp. <span style="font-style:italic;">Live to fight another day</span> is way smarter than <span style="font-style:italic;">no guts no glory</span>.<br /><br />Moving up five pounds to 135lbs to pound out a decisive TKO victory over erstwhile WBC lightweight champ David Diaz, Pacquiao was on top of the world, a celebrity in such lofty firmaments that even newly-crowned NBA champions the Boston Celtics mobbed Pacquiao for photo ops. In fighting De La Hoya, Pacquiao will add another 12lbs for their match at 147lb, the heaviest Pacquiao will be as a pro. In some (actually, many) quarters they're saying that the move is ill advised for Pacquiao.<br /><br />Not many will question Pacquiao’s courage and smarts. He did show he could be a sucker to a sly businessman’s promises. And definitely no one will doubt De La Hoya’s business acumen. From being an Olympic boxing gold medalist, media monster, world boxing champion many times over, and a big-time boxing promoter, roll all of these into one and you have Oscar Gonzalez De La Hoya. That’s not to count Grammy-nominated recording star and playboy. <br /><br />The nation of Mexico and the vast Mexican community in the US put De La Hoya on a pedestal, but their breadth of idolatry for Golden Boy pales in comparison to that of Filipinos' hero worship for Pacquiao. PacMan is the kind of national hero that Golden Boy will never be. PacMan bears the expectations and hopes of a whole downtrodden nation, archipelagic and abroad, that clutches at anything that resembles Filipino <span style="font-style:italic;">international achievement</span>. Golden Boy bears the expectations of his accountants. <br /><br />This fight is not about pride, it is about money. Lots of it. How much exactly is up to speculation. We have been fed figures of 65-35 sharing in favor of appropriately enough -- the Golden Boy. A disparity, perhaps, but all things considered including the current US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate, that’s a lot of campaign funds for governor/congressman wannabe PacMan. Whatever De la Hoya wants to do with his share is up to him. We, the “once-great” (remember “this nation can be great again” quip by someone we still remember?) Filipino Malayan race is collectively concerned with our <span style="font-style:italic;">national fist</span>. There are not many like him in supply. In fact, he is the only one we got. Boom-Boom Bautista proved to be a bust and is now reduced to fighting Mexican throwaway boxers that promoters won’t stop advertising as “world-rated” and “one of the best” this and that. AJ Banal was just as big a disappointment as Bautista, so were Rodel Mayol and Z Gorres.<br /><br />PacMan doesn’t grow on trees. He is an aberration, a rebellious gene that fought neighborhood bullies or maybe was a bully himself. He knew he was good with his fists and he built his life on these. He grew up in poverty, worked for a living, learned to warm his stomach on a cup of cheap coffee and just-as-cheap <span style="font-style:italic;">pan de sal</span>.<br /><br />Pancho Villa, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Rolando Navarette, Luisito Espinosa, the list grows of past and present heroes who flirted with the title Greatest Filipino Boxer Of All Time. Some still vie for that honor; some have fallen on the wayside with the footnotes.<br /><br />Manny Pacquiao could still prove to be the best Pinoy pug there ever was -- if he keeps on winning. If he starts losing, starting with De la Hoya, his star will dim and fall just as fast as it rose. We never tire of being told: “Boxers are only as good as their last fight.” <br /><br />Here’s hoping that Pacquiao-De La Hoya I will not be the beginning of the end for our National Fistic Treasure. Go PacMan! Yes, but go with care. <br /><br />P.S. We love you.<br />P.P.S. Win or lose we will always love you…maybe.Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33139842.post-11289297361660769592008-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:002008-08-26T09:31:34.059-07:00Was Kung-Fu Panda the Olympics mascot?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsjhoOdawMi09CIC4k9VYvkaiO9pGgSDTL_1_dOYS54k4xUtCLcZmHexwl4qhlA42Wev88gqYRLAs69j6rkdcFDcUy4k6fA03nYMAH66gqXjdnyjkkJQr0FsqR20mcZnqFzyrzA/s1600-h/KFP+Solo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsjhoOdawMi09CIC4k9VYvkaiO9pGgSDTL_1_dOYS54k4xUtCLcZmHexwl4qhlA42Wev88gqYRLAs69j6rkdcFDcUy4k6fA03nYMAH66gqXjdnyjkkJQr0FsqR20mcZnqFzyrzA/s400/KFP+Solo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238159720501218802" /></a><br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2008 Beijing Summer Games a success, yes!<br /></span> <br />Fittingly enough, the only sporting event I saw in the just-concluded Summer Olympics in Beijing was the US-Spain basketball game in the elimination round -- all 5 minutes or so of the game.<br /><br />I'm not sure why I ignored the games (the way it ignored me, I guess). About three years ago, when Cebu hosted several events in the Southeast Asian Games, I was still with the print media. I had a 4 by 3 inch (thereabouts) official ID with all the trimmings, signatures and photo, but I did not once use it or had someone else use it (substituted photo or not) to enter the games venues, not even the Cebu Coliseum for the pentjak silat martial arts competition.<br /><br />After working for the sports section of a community newspaper for almost a decade, it seemed I reached a saturation point. Or maybe I was just bored. It was too predictable. Only two things could happen (three if you counted a draw), one contestant or team would win and another would lose.<br /><br />Surely, China either made billions or lost a corresponding number of money on the games. What the heck! They were the hosts, and for almost a month, China was the focus of the world stage despite more pressing issues elsewhere in the world -- the never-ending war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the melodrama and comedy of the US presidential campaign, the MILF war in Mindanao, the price of gasoline and pirated DVDs.<br /><br />So, London gets to host the next Summer Olympics. Congratulations and all the luck to you, mates! May you have fewer pseudo-terroristic events and more gold medals (Wow! Britain placed fourth overall this time with 19 golds!) May the notorious but romantic London drizzles and downpours not rain on your parade.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bayan kong Pilipinas</span>? Hey, why not send more than a 15-person contingent to the 2112 Games? Medal or no medal (again), what does it matter? It's how you play the game, right? Wrong! Junket anyone? That's one Filipino sport we always excel in.<br /><br />P.S. John Pages, hey, partner, let's have that beer again sometime, OK?!<br />P.P.S. Sadly, I never got to read much of your colored-page correspondent-in-Beijing columns (no newsprint budget and laziness) but I'm sure you had lots of fun; next time we have beer (light for you, and on you :) naturally, pilsen or Red Horse for me, maybe) you could tell me some of your escapades, er, experiences (place smiley here).Paul Taneohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13502377832314158122noreply@blogger.com0