Upcoming UFC 127 Penn vs. Fitch

Upcoming UFC 127 February 26th, 2011 from Sydney, Australia


There aren't a lot of huge names on this card but a lot of guys on their way up which should make for a pretty great card.


BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch - welterweight
The main event! BJ has recently lost his lightweight belt to Frankie Edgar not once, but also in the instant rematch after the first fight's controversial decision finish. Since that brutal rematch where he was completely dominated, BJ made the switch back up to welterweight and came back with a devastating first round knockout of UFC Hall of Famer, Matt Hughes. I have always found BJ to be very up and down. Some fights he comes out like a beast, fit, energetic, ready to fight and other times it looks like he's nursing a bad hangover and would rather be anywhere but in the cage. I like watching BJ fight when he's on his game but I feel like its so hit and miss with him I don't want to be a fan. Fitch, on the other hand, is always there to fight. He has not lost since challenging GSP for his belt in 2008. Since then he has won five straight fights defeating guys like Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves. I really can't predict how this fight will go because I don't know which BJ will show up. He says he will be stronger than he has ever been but I've heard that before, time will tell Mr. Penn.

Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera - middleweight

No doubt I'm going for Bisping. After his unanimous win over Akiyama in 2010 I like him even more. He seems to be hated and booed everywhere he fights except for in his home country of England. He's definitely a villain of the UFC but he doesn't act like one, I like his style and I'm excited to see him fight again. Maybe since this fight will be on neutral ground for the American and the Brit he won't be as hated. It's not that I don't like Rivera but I just don't see him taking out The Count.

George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver - lightweight

This is a fight I cannot wait to see! Both these guys are making their way steadily up the lightweight ladder. Sotiropoulos has been on a winning streak since 2007 defeating George Roop, Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino and most recently a great submission win over Joe Lauzon. I was really disappointed in that win, I wanted Lauzon to take it but when someone can take out a guy I like in a great way like he did I'm definitely impressed. Siver has won his last two fights, his most recent being a submission victory over Andre Winner. Siver is an impressive fighter and is extremely confident and driven, he wants this win and he wants a title shot. Sotiropolous is a little more laid back in his approach and I do like that about him. I think this will be an intense fight and I really want to see Sotiropoulos take it. 

Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole - welterweight
I'm going with my first instinct and picking Lytle on this one. I have never seen Ebersole fight but he has a ridiculous record. At 46-14-1-1 he has had most of his fights in Australia. This will be his UFC debut. Most of his wins have been either by KO, TKO, or submission so I'm pretty sure this will be a great match against Chris "Lights Out" Lytle who also likes to finish his fights.  It also doesn't hurt that Lytle most recently defeated Matt Serra, a guy I really don't like. I'm hoping both guys come out guns blazing and Lytle gets the win. 


Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi - middleweight
I don't care that Noke is the hometown Aussie, I'm going for Camozzi! Noke was on the 11th season of TUF. On team Liddell, he lost out in the quarterfinals to Kris McRay who went on to win the contract. Camozzi was also selected to be on the 11th season of TUF but after suffering a broken jaw in the preliminary fights he had to be removed from the show (he did not want to leave, it was the decision of Dana White and the production team). He reappeared on the season finale to take out one of the good fighters of the season, James Hammortree. He also won a split decision over Dong Yi Yang (yeah, I definitely don't remember who that is) . Neither of these guys have a lot of UFC experience but I'm excited to see this match up. 


Another fight to note is the middleweight bout between Canadian Nick Ring, who was also on the 11th season of TUF and Riki Fukada, who I know nothing about. This fight is on the undercard so it probably will only be aired as a filler if its really exciting but if I do see it I am definitely rooting for my fellow Canuck. 


Like I said before, this fight doesn't have a lot of big names but it stacked full of great fighters. I'm definitely pumped for this one. Just wish it was free, like most overseas cards are.... just sayin. 

Get all your UFC gear before the fights at the official UFC store >>click here<<

MMA Trailers

The UFC does a great job promoting their fights, one of my favourite commercials of all time, including those hilarious old spice commercials and the budweiser superbowl series, is the promo they had for the GSP vs. Koscheck 2 fight. The following video is from UFC.com

Surfing youtube I came across this guy who makes trailers for various mma events. He doesn't have a whole lot of videos but the ones he has posted I think are really awesome. He cuts them really well, throws on a cool colour edit and chooses great music. He edits in quotes from the fighters and announcers and doesn't seem to be too biased on who he thinks or wants to win (some videos focus more on one fighter but its often the fighter I like so I don't mind). To see all of his videos or subscribe to his channel follow the link below. I've posted a few of my favourites here as well so you can take a look. See the YouTube page >>click here<<.




This first video is for the upcoming fight between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch. Its a pretty big fight for both of these guys, and the video definitely shows its going to be a battle. 

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Here is a fight I'm really looking forward to. If you know me you know I LOVE Randy Couture and if for some whacky reason he was to fight GSP I would probably still cheer for him. He is Captain America, an amazing ambassador and veteran of the sport. He is in his 40s and can still hang with top guys. The video is pretty awesome. 

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The next video is one of my favourites but unfortunately until the end of the newest season of TUF we won't know if this fight will really be happening. Junior Dos Santos will be coaching against Brock Lesnar and the winner of the fight between them will get the title shot against Velasquez, who is currently out on injury which delayed this promoted fight in the first place. No surprise one of my favourite parts of the video is when they show clips of Velasquez completely dominating Lesnar as he is falling backwards and rolling on the mat. 

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This is a great video he did for the GSP vs. Koscheck rematch. Obviously I am biased to anything that involves GSP but this video is really great, I like how he makes Koscheck seem like more of an animalistic "fighter" while GSP is a mixed martial "artist". And I could not agree more. 

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Here is my personal favourite, the preview for the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard lightweight championship rematch. I like the Edgar voice over "You said you were going to destroy me, but you didn't. What are they going to say when I beat you again?" Obviously referring to his fight and rematch against BJ Penn (at which point I was cheering for him). Then Gray comes into the picture saying "That was... my easiest fight. To be honest, I handled him, easy", talking about his first match against Edgar when he won the unanimous decision as clips of him slamming Edgar over and over are shown.  

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Once again, these videos are all posted by the creator on his YouTube page, follow this link to see the rest: See the YouTube page >>click here<<.

Get all your UFC gear at the official UFC Store >>click here<<

UFC 126 Silva vs. Belfort

UFC 126 Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort February 5th, 2011 from Las Vegas, Nevada


So I was completely wrong with all my picks but I am not disappointed at all. The three big fights were very exciting and finally, in my opinion, judged correctly!


Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader - light heavyweight
So I didn't notice before that Jones, only 2" taller than Bader, has a 10.5" reach advantage!! At 84.5" that's nutty, and the longest in the division. He walked into the cage really calm, breathing deep walking around and of course throwing in a nice little cartwheel for the crowd. Jones got the takedown early in the first round but at first Bader had the better position, almost getting Jones in a guillotine. Jones was able to get out of that quickly and move into a north/south position and took his turn almost getting the submission over Bader. Jones lands a nice high kick and easily stuffs Bader's takedown attempt. He finished the round on top landing some rough elbows to Bader's body (which ref Herb Dean has to warn him about, much like his DQ against Matt Hamill for 12-6 elbows). 
The second round showed more of Jones' stand up game. He threw a few combinations and some big leg kicks against Bader. The reach didn't seem to make much of a difference as far as Jones' strategy because most of the damage he did was on the mat but it did seem to affect Bader, he didn't get in too close and a lot of the punches he threw came up short. They end up on the mat towards the end of the second round and Jones is able to grab the guillotine choke and force Bader to tap. During his interview afterwards with Rogan, Jones is really well spoken and was even more excited when it was announced that he would have the next title shot against the current champ, Shogun. Rashad Evans was supposed to have this shot but as he is out with a blown knee, Jones is next in line. That fight will take place next month in New Jersey. In addition to earning the title shot, Jones also got submission of the night for this victory.


Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin - light heavyweight
Great night for the original ultimate fighter, he spent almost the entire first round on top. Franklin did do a good job defending from the bottom but he didn't throw a lot from below and with Griffin being able to get some punches through his guard the first round clearly went to Forrest. The second round was a little bit more even, most of the time they were both on their feet. I still think Griffin took that round as well landed some big punches and also a couple big kicks too. The third round definitely got exciting in the last couple minutes. Griffin got a quick takedown but Franklin was able to get the top position. Both guys were standing and continued to throw right up until the final buzzer. The decision goes to the judges and all three call is 29-28 for Griffin. Franklin and Griffin were goofing around, talking about the fight before even hearing the decision. I think Franklin thought he may have won that fight but after the first two rounds I think the judges made the right call. After the fight Griffin admits he's feeling rusty after taking 14 months off for shoulder surgery. The fight was so back and forth and I don't think I saw it as, as much of a dog fight that is actually was because I like both these fighters so much. When one landed a big kick when I would normally be really excited I also had the same feeling I get when one of the guys I like eats a big kick so the whole thing was cancelling itself out. Not sure that makes any sense but trying to take out any opinion about the fighters themselves, it was a really great matchup. 


Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort - middleweight Championship
HE'S BaaaAAAACK!! This is how I like to see Silva fight!!! During the weigh ins Silva wore a jabawockeez type mask and got right in Belfort's face, finally showing some sort of emotion. I didn't know that Silva had actually trained with Belfort at one point in his career and was a little offended when he was challenged. NOW I'm excited that Silva is the champ and I am looking forward to see his next matchup. As short as this fight was wow it was exiting. The first minute and a bit Silva was pulling his usual routine, not throwing much, just moving around getting a feel for his opponent and the distance. He strarted to clown a bit but as soon as Belfort landed the first combination of a couple nice punches it was on. Belfort was able to get a takedown and has control for just a second. They stood back up and almost immediately Belfort was on his back. Silva landed a crazy front kick right to Belfor'ts jaw and finished with a beautiful KO. This win keeps two records going, 8 title defences and now 14 consecutive wins. Also note worthy this is the first time Belfort has been knocked out. Of course they still had to have the translator there for the post-fight interview and I'm sure he didn't translate everything that Silva said but overall I'm really impressed with this performance.


I have said it before, I don't care if the fighter doesn't finish the fight, as long as they are working the whole time. Most of GSP's fights go the distance but he doesn't clown, he works and fights the entire 25 minutes. Going into this fight for Silva, I didn't feel like he HAD to finish Belfort but I wanted to see him fight and not dance. Lucky enough, we got both, a great fighter turned up in the cage tonight and an exciting finish. Go Silva!

Upcoming UFC 126 Silva vs. Belfort

Upcoming UFC 126 Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort February 5th, 2011 from Las Vegas, Nevada

This really is an INSANE card! There are huge fights. I definitely had a hard time picking my winners for each fight. I can see any of the three I’m about to talk about win fight of the night. This is a sold out event in Las Vegas and it will not disappoint.

Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort - middleweight championship

I wont get too much into my opinion on Anderson Silva, you can read it here on an older post I made about him after his fight against Chael Sonnen in August of 2010 here (Anderson Silva Blog). In recent interviews Silva has said its not about the belt, its about going into the cage and showing what you have. Being an inspiration and good influence to young fighters. When I have voiced my opinion about Silva's showboating some people have said he's the champ, he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. Which made sense as much as I hated it, if you can win a fight by dancing around then go for it, if you're that good then good for you. But now he is saying he wants to be a good influence?!! Maybe his last fight did light a bit of a fire under him. He was completely dominated for four and a half rounds and pulled off the submission victory in the last round. He said it himself, now people can see he is human and he can be hurt. So maybe (fingers crossed) we will see the old Anderson Silva. The one that would dominate and finish guys in one punch. If that Silva shows up and wins I wont be disappointed. One reason being that Dana White has announced that the much anticipated GSP vs. Silva fight could potentially happen this year if both fighters win their next bout; Silva over Belfort and GSP over Jake Shields. I'm not sure if I want to see that fight happen but I can get into that in another post. The fight at hand is going to be a tough one for Silva. Belfort is one of the veterans, he fought on early UFC cards against guys like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture in 2002 and 2004. Since then he hasn't been around a whole lot, and didn't fight in any professional bouts in 2010. But that doesn't make him any less of a threat. He was ridiculous striking power and although he is 2 inches shorter than Silva, his build looks a lot bigger. Either way this fight goes I just want it to be exciting.

Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin - light heavyweight

This is one fight I really really don't want to decide on. I love BOTH of these fighters!! They are both in my top five. Griffin won the first season of TUF in one of the best fights of all time against Stephan Bonnar. He isn't much taller but has quite a bigger build than Franklin. He has said in interviews that he has never been one to control the fight, he is confident in all his abilities to compete where his opponent wants. If he's fighting a boxer, he'll stand and box, if he's fighting a wrestler, they'll be on the mat. Franklin more often takes the fight where he wants it, where he feels his strengths lie against any certain opponent. His most recent fight was a KO win over UFC vet Chuck Liddell in June of 2010. Griffin did not fight at all in 2010 and his three previous fights have been a loss to Anderson SIlva and Rashad Evans and most recently a split decision win over Tito Ortiz. Both Griffin and Franklin have held a belt (Griffin the light heavy belt and Franklin the middle) but have never met in the cage. Rogan describes them as two dogs that have been starring through the cage at each other for a long time. Franklin describes the matchup pretty perfectly "You've got a pretty well rounded with some knockout power on his feet and is very tenacious. And as the fight goes on he fights harder" did he just describe Forrest Griffin or himself? That is exactly what's going to make thisfight so exciting. These aren't just two boxers or two wrestlers or even a wrestler and a boxer, these guys do it all. I feel like this fight will go wherever Franklin wants it and I think that control is what is going to win him the fight. Either way I don’t see this fight being boring by any means and I think it will be over within the first two rounds.

Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader – light heavyweight

Another one where I like both fighters! Bader is a little more traditional in his style while Jones throws crazy spinning elbows and weird combinations. Jones’ only loss was a disqualification for throwing illegal elbows (straight up and down) against Matt Hamill in 2009. Bader is undefeated taking out big names like little Nog (Antonio Rogerio Nogueira) and Keith Jardine. I think that is Bader goes in calm and doesn’t panic when Jones starts jumping around I think he can pull off the win. Here is another one where I will not be disappointed if my pick doesn’t win I just want a good fight.