CFC 6 Friday, October 8th, 2010 at the convention centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
So this was my first CFC experience. My first live MMA experience too. I honestly can't name any of the fighters. I didn't do any background reading and haven't really had any desire to look into them further now. A lot of the fighters had record of 8-9 or 0-3... I understand every fighter has to start somewhere and look at Joe Doerksen, he's not fighting in the UFC and doing not terrible but I'd rather watch once they have established themselves a little bit more.
They had the same sort of ring as the UFC. There were round tables set up around the cage seating about 8-10 people at each. This was the "VIP" area. East side of the ring, past the tables there was general seating. About 20 rows of chairs then bleachers set up. Funny that there were way more VIPs than general admitted people but I'm not too surprised when the CFC only happens 2-3 times a year. We chose to sit front row on the bleachers. Little did we know this would be front row to the most exciting fight of the night.
The first 4 fights were actually pretty eventful. A couple big knockouts and one heavyweight with a pop-eye style I have never seen before. He did the fake out technique. Like in junior high you snap one finger out to the left to distract your opponent while smacking them with your right. Not the most respectful technique but a little funny that it actually worked. He flailed around, not protecting himself at all then would swing at the most random times often at least clipping his opponent. Once again I have no idea who either fighter is. I think it was the second round, the big guy pop-eye was fighting seemed to just get annoyed and knocked the guy out. It was a little weird to see someone so big just drop.
After the intermission the main card started. Here we had a lot of split decisions. Not because the fights were so amazing, but they were so mediocre, it was hard to say what would be awarded more points, attempted takedowns, takedowns followed up with nothing, or big punches that didn't land. I suppose I have been a little spoiled watching so much UFC lately but I really didn't feel like this was even close to the same level. Although I'm sure I would feel different if I had some sort of emotional attachment or even opinion about the fighters. The only opinion I could form was based on their badly bleached hair or awful taste in entrance music. Thats a very short period of time to develop a complex in depth opinion.
The biggest fight may have been the one right in front of us. I still don't know why is started or if it was even resolved but I think I saw about 90% of it. All of the sudden two random dudes were grabbing each others t-shirt collar and swinging like crazy. One girl was chasing after them trying to break them up but being half the size of both of them that wasn't too likely. I have no idea if they were friends of the two involved or just heros trying to help out but a few people jumped in and tried to break it up. One rent-a-cop did run over but all he did was clap as the brawlers and tell them to stop. Obviously didn't do much as one huge guy picked up someone half his size and body slammed him! His head was about two inches from smacking against the floor. Definitely made me very uncomfortable. The big guy ended up on the ground too and while security was leaning over him some other punk came up and kicked him in the face! Not saying he didn't have it coming after what he did but jeeze, let security settle it. The fight eventually broke up and everyone left escorted by... their friends. REALLY? I don't think anyone got kicked out! Interesting that AFTER the scrap teams of more "security" strolled through the area a little more frequently.
I dont remember exactly which fight it was because at this point I was half frazzled by the fight 30 feet away from me and half falling asleep only being kept awake by the shreiking woman (I think) behind me... but woah one of the fighters got out of a leg bar submission thing literally 15 times. I cant decide if that was impressive or stupid of him to walk into it time after time. It was like CFC gumby, his limbs were definitely double jointed.
The highlight of the fights was definitely seeing Herb Dean (one of the most well known, and my favourite ref for the UFC). Saddest part of the night was when they did the draw for who got to take a picture with Herb in the ring and the girl that won ran in and stood next to the announcer! He had to say, uhh I'm not Herb Dean. I hope she was embarrassed!
Overall it was pretty cool to watch. Definitely feels a little bit more barbaric watching it live. Seeing a huge room full of people staring at two guys kicking the stink out of each other in a cage kind of makes me think of the days of the gladiator fights at the colosseum. But never the less, I'd like to see another fight live, preferably with closer seats and with a card I'm more excited about.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Ultimate Fighter Season 12 Episode 4
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
More Bruce Leroy drama, they show clips of him shouting "beat the s**t out of him!" and "f**k him up!” Sevak is not a fan of that and I'm sure he's not the only one, this is not the end of this drama... Later in the episode Sevak calls Leroy disrespectful and he definitely has a point. Lentz agrees, obviously he is a little burned by Leroy because he lost to him but Leroy does act like a 16 year old. Yes you want to cheer on your teammate but is that language really necessary? Other teammates are shouting out tips on technical things they could be doing, trying to help, but just shouting for the sake of hearing their own voice. These guys have to live, eat, train, everything with each other in the same house, there is no point to rub it in people's faces. Once they're out, they are fully aware, even more so because they see the man they lost too moving on. Of course Leroy doesn't take the hint to just shut up, he keeps going, and shouting at Sevak across the table and Sevak yells right back. I really have no idea what the conversation was, it was 98% beeps with some random words thrown in that I don’t really want to understand how they fit. Obviously it gets to Sevak and he jumps up ready to knock Leroy clean out. Phan does stop him in time but I'm not sure he will be able to if it happens again. Leroy mentions there has to be someone in the house everyone loves to hate. He's right but that person is already in every episode, the wonderfully awful coach, Josh Koscheck. Leroy needs to smarten up and show some respect, there is still the wildcard and these guys he's insulting could be right back in the race.
Mike Tyson continues his inspirational talk to team GSP. He says in fighting, its all about confidence, confidence breeds success, success breeds confidence. I completely agree, you can't go into a fight thinking, hmm I don’t know, he's pretty amazing, this could be hard. Especially when its something like mma, if you go in nervous, anxious and not confident you're just going to get plain knocked out. This is kind of how I justify all the trash talking. Some people need to build up the confidence within them, they have to try to convince themselves that they are superior and sometimes that means simply putting the other guy down. Not something I agree with but I can see where they're coming from.
Team GSP announces the fight, Kyle Watson vs. Andy Main. Kyle Watson is Matt Hughes' jui jitsu coach. Oldest (30) vs. youngest (21).Main is also very experienced in jui jitsu. Neither of their fights was really featured in the premiere episode but both did win by submission. Watson talk about his team having confidence in him helps his confidence. The support system is very important and motivation to a fighter. He likes to run the fight, control the pace and where they are whether it be standing or on the mat. Main understands his striking is his weakness. He is extremely focused in working with the trainers both in his striking and in his ground game. Funny how he never mentions the rest of his team or his "coach". The game plan for both fighters seems to be they want to be on top. There is no point in two jui jitsu fighter to keep a fight standing if that is not where they are the strongest. Main seems to want to push the pace a bit more while Watson likes a slower fight.
Koschecks training is the same thing, again. He says that he wants to motivate his team in a positive way but I feel like he constantly does the opposite. He says things like I can't believe we're loosing to GSP, we're loosing to a bunch of nerds that talk like robots, and I don't want to loose to a French guy. I don't like the negative motivation. There is a big difference mentally going into the fight saying "I can't loose" compared to "I will win". Confidence in yourself should be more important than lack of confidence in your opponent. You can only control yourself in the fight. The only good thing I feel like he said toMain was I believe in you. Main even mentions it’s an odd emotional push.
GSP focuses on his team and training and avoids confrontation with Koscheck. He parks by the fire hydrant so they can’t park on either side again. Of course Koscheck has to try to get under his skin in a different way by wearing the tight shorts for training. Koscheck is not impressed with GSPs lack of reaction. Typical bully, he feeds off the reaction and when he doesn't get it, he gets bored. One of GSPs coaches mentions the emotional pressures of the fight. Watson is the "unofficial team captain" andMain knows his team is down 2-0 and there is immense pressure for him to turn it around. The battle isn't only going to be about the stronger fighter physically, but emotionally as well. Watson is very nervous before the fight, GSP tries to help him visualize. Rehearse the entrance so he's prepared for the fight, for the pressure, to make him feel like it’s not the first time he's fighting this fight. Both fighters respect each other, they know they also deserve to be here but neither will allow the other to take the opportunity away from them.
Round 1
Both fighters get a few early punches.Main gets Watson's back and after throwing a few hits to his head doesn’t make much progress as Watson has control of his other arm. They go to the mat and Main is going for the armbar but Watson doesn't give it to him. Main did get a few big kicks while he's on his back, those up kicks look so painful. Main's punches while he was on Watsons back didn’t seem to do a whole lot of damage and with Watson getting the takedown and keeping Main on his back I do think Watson took that round.
Round 2
Main throwing some combinations, chasing Watson around the ring. Watson gets the takedown. You can hear the frustration in Koschecks voice as he continues to yell lets go, and get up to Main form outside the cage. Watson gets his back and manages to move into position for a submission. He grabs the rear naked choke.
After the fight Koscheck says if he had just listened to me he would have won, sweep submit or get off the matt.Main is disappointed in himself. Koscheck says don’t think about it now, they'll talk later. Ortiz did the opposite when he was a coach. As soon as one of his fighters lost yes he would give them a minute to cool off but them immediately went to them and coached. He told them what they did wrong, what they will do next time and how to improve.
GSPs team is very happy with Watson’s performance. Watson is not as happy with his own performance, obviously he did not start off the fight strong but he still got the W and will improve for the next fight.
Kyle Watson wins by submission, rear naked choke. Team GSP still maintains control. All three fights so far have shown my initial top picks pull off the Win.
Next Episode...
Leroy pisses off his own team now
Another guest coach for team GSP
John Fitch comes to see team Koscheck as well as Chuck Liddell
More Bruce Leroy drama, they show clips of him shouting "beat the s**t out of him!" and "f**k him up!” Sevak is not a fan of that and I'm sure he's not the only one, this is not the end of this drama... Later in the episode Sevak calls Leroy disrespectful and he definitely has a point. Lentz agrees, obviously he is a little burned by Leroy because he lost to him but Leroy does act like a 16 year old. Yes you want to cheer on your teammate but is that language really necessary? Other teammates are shouting out tips on technical things they could be doing, trying to help, but just shouting for the sake of hearing their own voice. These guys have to live, eat, train, everything with each other in the same house, there is no point to rub it in people's faces. Once they're out, they are fully aware, even more so because they see the man they lost too moving on. Of course Leroy doesn't take the hint to just shut up, he keeps going, and shouting at Sevak across the table and Sevak yells right back. I really have no idea what the conversation was, it was 98% beeps with some random words thrown in that I don’t really want to understand how they fit. Obviously it gets to Sevak and he jumps up ready to knock Leroy clean out. Phan does stop him in time but I'm not sure he will be able to if it happens again. Leroy mentions there has to be someone in the house everyone loves to hate. He's right but that person is already in every episode, the wonderfully awful coach, Josh Koscheck. Leroy needs to smarten up and show some respect, there is still the wildcard and these guys he's insulting could be right back in the race.
Mike Tyson continues his inspirational talk to team GSP. He says in fighting, its all about confidence, confidence breeds success, success breeds confidence. I completely agree, you can't go into a fight thinking, hmm I don’t know, he's pretty amazing, this could be hard. Especially when its something like mma, if you go in nervous, anxious and not confident you're just going to get plain knocked out. This is kind of how I justify all the trash talking. Some people need to build up the confidence within them, they have to try to convince themselves that they are superior and sometimes that means simply putting the other guy down. Not something I agree with but I can see where they're coming from.
Team GSP announces the fight, Kyle Watson vs. Andy Main. Kyle Watson is Matt Hughes' jui jitsu coach. Oldest (30) vs. youngest (21).
Koschecks training is the same thing, again. He says that he wants to motivate his team in a positive way but I feel like he constantly does the opposite. He says things like I can't believe we're loosing to GSP, we're loosing to a bunch of nerds that talk like robots, and I don't want to loose to a French guy. I don't like the negative motivation. There is a big difference mentally going into the fight saying "I can't loose" compared to "I will win". Confidence in yourself should be more important than lack of confidence in your opponent. You can only control yourself in the fight. The only good thing I feel like he said to
GSP focuses on his team and training and avoids confrontation with Koscheck. He parks by the fire hydrant so they can’t park on either side again. Of course Koscheck has to try to get under his skin in a different way by wearing the tight shorts for training. Koscheck is not impressed with GSPs lack of reaction. Typical bully, he feeds off the reaction and when he doesn't get it, he gets bored. One of GSPs coaches mentions the emotional pressures of the fight. Watson is the "unofficial team captain" and
Round 1
Both fighters get a few early punches.
Round 2
After the fight Koscheck says if he had just listened to me he would have won, sweep submit or get off the matt.
GSPs team is very happy with Watson’s performance. Watson is not as happy with his own performance, obviously he did not start off the fight strong but he still got the W and will improve for the next fight.
Kyle Watson wins by submission, rear naked choke. Team GSP still maintains control. All three fights so far have shown my initial top picks pull off the Win.
Next Episode...
Leroy pisses off his own team now
Another guest coach for team GSP
John Fitch comes to see team Koscheck as well as Chuck Liddell
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Ultimate Fighter Season 12 Episode 3
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The beginning of the episode we see the start of drama within the house, Bruce Leroy will just not shut up about the fight. He keeps talking about how Lentz underestimated him and the first round and a half were all one sided and he would have liked to be watching the comeback blah blah blah. It’s very interesting to see how dynamics change in that house as fights pass. The fighters that loose stay in the house and the ones that win move on to the next round. However the next round could still be 2 weeks away for them. So for that time, the victor can sometimes walk around gloating, feeling no pressure while the loser knows there is only one option left, the wildcard that they have no control over.
GSP brings in silver medalist in Olympic wrestling Gia Sissaouri to help his guys with training. GSP also asks Dana to pull a favour and get in Mike Tyson to talk to his team and specifically to provide some more motivation for Johnson. It might just be the editing but Koschecks team looks lazy as dirt, taking bathroom breaks, giving up because of being sore, getting up slowly. Koscheck gives them a little pep talk but it doesn't sound very motivating to me.
GSP's team announce the next matchup; Michael the Menace Johnson vs. Aaron Wilkinson. The premiere episode didn't really feature Wilkinson's fight so I'm not sure what to expect from him. Johnson has been trying to get on the show for 2-3 years, He's very calm and focused before his fight. To display the focus Koschecks team had, they pull up super close on either side of GSPs car so he can't open the doors to get in. Called himself a "peckerhead" couldn't have put it better myself. I was expecting to see GSP pick up his car with one hand and place it down where he could open the doors properly. Unfortunately that wasn't necessary, he was able to squeak in on the passenger side. Wilkinson feels like he fights to whatever level his opponent brings. Agreed this is a good thing if you're fighting someone good or better than you. But its important to fight 100% to your own ability every time, even when your opponent isn't as talented. Playing competitive sports myself I definitely understand its a lot more difficult to play up when your opponent sucks. But we all know Johnson doesn't suck so I think it will be alright.
Just a little note on accents, GSP kept pronouncing Aaron "Iron" Wilkinson! and They need to use subtitles for the very pale English boy, I thought it was funny
Round 1
Johnson is sticking to the game plan, circling to let right, away from Wilkinson’s strong hand. He gets a big take down in the first minute but doesn't keep it there. By force of habit it looks like he starts circling to the right instead. Lots of leg kicks, a few hard punches and two big take downs. Wilkinson manages a lame takedown against the cage and lands some pretty heavy elbows. I thought Johnson for sure had the round but after that last minute Wilkinson probably sniped it in the end.
Round 2
Mike Tyson cheering your name, that's got to provide motivation for any fighter. He's rooting for Johnson! Johnson definitely listens to his coaches, GSP says knees, he throws knees, GSP says circle right, he circles right, he's definitely a fighter that wants to improve. Wilkinson gets the same takedown against the cage. Throwing the same elbows but this time with three minutes left in the fight. The fighters get back up and Johnson looks very tired. He does manage to step up and finish the round strong.
Round 3
If the judges declare is a draw after the 2nd round it goes to a third. I think Dana must have some sort of say in this, if he wants the third round, he'll say it and he'll get it. If it was a final 2 round fight no third round option I definitely think they would have given it to Wilkinson, he was pushing the pace, trying to get takedowns and the punches he was throwing seemed to be connecting a lot more than Johnson's. But I'm not mad they're going to a third. Johnson just needs to get a little more aggressive. Johnson comes out swinging, looks like the fighter we saw at the premiere, gets Wilkinson to the mat, deals some heavy ground and pound and gets his back to grab the rear naked choke. I think he is lucky he got that third round.
Michael Johnson wins by submission, rear naked choke. GSP's team once again maintains control.
Next Episode
Mike Tyson continues his visit
Koscheck tries to get under GSPs skin again by wearing his tight shorts to their training
Bruce Leroy still doesn't stop talking, looks like he might annoy Sevak to the point of hitting him... out before he even gets to fight?
The beginning of the episode we see the start of drama within the house, Bruce Leroy will just not shut up about the fight. He keeps talking about how Lentz underestimated him and the first round and a half were all one sided and he would have liked to be watching the comeback blah blah blah. It’s very interesting to see how dynamics change in that house as fights pass. The fighters that loose stay in the house and the ones that win move on to the next round. However the next round could still be 2 weeks away for them. So for that time, the victor can sometimes walk around gloating, feeling no pressure while the loser knows there is only one option left, the wildcard that they have no control over.
GSP brings in silver medalist in Olympic wrestling Gia Sissaouri to help his guys with training. GSP also asks Dana to pull a favour and get in Mike Tyson to talk to his team and specifically to provide some more motivation for Johnson. It might just be the editing but Koschecks team looks lazy as dirt, taking bathroom breaks, giving up because of being sore, getting up slowly. Koscheck gives them a little pep talk but it doesn't sound very motivating to me.
GSP's team announce the next matchup; Michael the Menace Johnson vs. Aaron Wilkinson. The premiere episode didn't really feature Wilkinson's fight so I'm not sure what to expect from him. Johnson has been trying to get on the show for 2-3 years, He's very calm and focused before his fight. To display the focus Koschecks team had, they pull up super close on either side of GSPs car so he can't open the doors to get in. Called himself a "peckerhead" couldn't have put it better myself. I was expecting to see GSP pick up his car with one hand and place it down where he could open the doors properly. Unfortunately that wasn't necessary, he was able to squeak in on the passenger side. Wilkinson feels like he fights to whatever level his opponent brings. Agreed this is a good thing if you're fighting someone good or better than you. But its important to fight 100% to your own ability every time, even when your opponent isn't as talented. Playing competitive sports myself I definitely understand its a lot more difficult to play up when your opponent sucks. But we all know Johnson doesn't suck so I think it will be alright.
Just a little note on accents, GSP kept pronouncing Aaron "Iron" Wilkinson! and They need to use subtitles for the very pale English boy, I thought it was funny
Round 1
Johnson is sticking to the game plan, circling to let right, away from Wilkinson’s strong hand. He gets a big take down in the first minute but doesn't keep it there. By force of habit it looks like he starts circling to the right instead. Lots of leg kicks, a few hard punches and two big take downs. Wilkinson manages a lame takedown against the cage and lands some pretty heavy elbows. I thought Johnson for sure had the round but after that last minute Wilkinson probably sniped it in the end.
Round 2
Mike Tyson cheering your name, that's got to provide motivation for any fighter. He's rooting for Johnson! Johnson definitely listens to his coaches, GSP says knees, he throws knees, GSP says circle right, he circles right, he's definitely a fighter that wants to improve. Wilkinson gets the same takedown against the cage. Throwing the same elbows but this time with three minutes left in the fight. The fighters get back up and Johnson looks very tired. He does manage to step up and finish the round strong.
Round 3
If the judges declare is a draw after the 2nd round it goes to a third. I think Dana must have some sort of say in this, if he wants the third round, he'll say it and he'll get it. If it was a final 2 round fight no third round option I definitely think they would have given it to Wilkinson, he was pushing the pace, trying to get takedowns and the punches he was throwing seemed to be connecting a lot more than Johnson's. But I'm not mad they're going to a third. Johnson just needs to get a little more aggressive. Johnson comes out swinging, looks like the fighter we saw at the premiere, gets Wilkinson to the mat, deals some heavy ground and pound and gets his back to grab the rear naked choke. I think he is lucky he got that third round.
Michael Johnson wins by submission, rear naked choke. GSP's team once again maintains control.
Next Episode
Mike Tyson continues his visit
Koscheck tries to get under GSPs skin again by wearing his tight shorts to their training
Bruce Leroy still doesn't stop talking, looks like he might annoy Sevak to the point of hitting him... out before he even gets to fight?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
UFC 119 Mir vs. Cro Cop
UFC 119 Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop September 25th, 2010 Out of Indianapolis Indiana
So I probably should have stuck with my original feeling about this card, boooring... The best fights were the free prelims on spike, I didn't get to see the undercard fights and they didn't even award a knockout of the night. it has taken me so long to get this blog up because I have found it very difficult to find the motivation to even want to write about these fights.
The prelims featured two fights,
Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran - heavyweight
This fight was so good! It was awarded one of the two fights of the night. MItrione or "Meathead" was on the 10th season of the Ultimate Fighter. He was coached by Rashad Evans and lost out in the quarter finals. Before the fight his UFC record was 2-0. I considered it more 1-0, each fighter actually only counting for half a fight. His two wins were against two fellow cast members Marcus "Big Baby" Jones and Kimbo Slice. Although those fights ended by KO and TKO so obviously the guy does have skills. His opponent Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran. He comes from King of the Cage and total combat and before this fight had only three fights in the UFC. The two fighters get in a few big exchanges, both swinging, not looking like they're really defending at that point. The first two rounds are definitely split, one to each fighter and in the last second of the third round they get in another big exchange. The fighters both ended the fight smiling and acknowledging the great battle, thats the way I like to see it end. Meathead gets the unanimous decision in his hometown.
C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen - middleweight
Very early in the first round the two get into an exchange and end up on the mat. Dollaway gets a guillotine choke. He plays it very smart, he doesn't waste his arm strength, just holds it and waits for Doerksen to tire. He gets the open and tightens the choke to win by submission in the first round. Too bad for theManitoba
The rest of the fights were a bit of a snooze fest...
Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens - lightweight
Guillard wins by split decision. I wasn't surprised that it was split but one judge had it 30-27, what?! Stephens without a doubt had the third round.
Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham - lightweight
This fight was pretty crazy. First round Dunham got a huge cut just to the side of his right eye and I mean huge, I'm shocked that the doctor didn't call it. Blood was all over his face, he looked like something out of a horror movie. Sherk kept giving Dunham an open guillotine but for some reason Dunham just couldn't hold it. Sherks neck is just too dang big. It somehow went all three rounds and Sherk grabs the split decision. Again, what?! Sherk got a few takedowns but man if the judges use "aggression" as a scoring factor Dunham definitely ran that fight. The dude has a hole in his head and kept fighting!!
Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle – welterweight
Boooooring, Lytle pretty much runs the fight and tadaa gets the decision win 30-27 from all three judges.
Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueiro - light heavyweight
It was a decent fight, Bader definitely has the first round, knocking Nog down a couple times, landing some big hits. Of course it goes all three rounds and Bader wins unanimous decision 30-27 from all judges. I definitely thought Nog got the second round though so again, what the heck are the judges watching?!
Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop - heavyweight
This fight was awful! I'm not even sure Cro Cop showed up. He hardly threw any kicks, maybe one right leg. The biggest kick came from the ref, Herb Dean when he tapped the guys with his foot before he has to separate them AGAIN! Nobody was impressed with this fight. Joe Rogan starts to say things in the third round like; "It's the fans who lost in this fight", "It looks like they made a silent agreement to keep aggression to a minimum", and "Now is a good time to get you potato chips if you're out!". In the middle of Rogans stand up routine Mir gets a knee that knocks Cro Cop right out. Then when he jumps on him to make sure he's out he misses!! This win was ugly. At least Mir admitted it wasn't a pretty win and I'm so glad they didn't give him knockout of the night even for the only knockout.
Sorry if I made any mistake, I honestly wasn't paying that close attention at some points. So I guess two of my picks won it, 3 should have but what can you do. That's why Dana always says don't leave it up to the judges...
So I probably should have stuck with my original feeling about this card, boooring... The best fights were the free prelims on spike, I didn't get to see the undercard fights and they didn't even award a knockout of the night. it has taken me so long to get this blog up because I have found it very difficult to find the motivation to even want to write about these fights.
The prelims featured two fights,
Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran - heavyweight
This fight was so good! It was awarded one of the two fights of the night. MItrione or "Meathead" was on the 10th season of the Ultimate Fighter. He was coached by Rashad Evans and lost out in the quarter finals. Before the fight his UFC record was 2-0. I considered it more 1-0, each fighter actually only counting for half a fight. His two wins were against two fellow cast members Marcus "Big Baby" Jones and Kimbo Slice. Although those fights ended by KO and TKO so obviously the guy does have skills. His opponent Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran. He comes from King of the Cage and total combat and before this fight had only three fights in the UFC. The two fighters get in a few big exchanges, both swinging, not looking like they're really defending at that point. The first two rounds are definitely split, one to each fighter and in the last second of the third round they get in another big exchange. The fighters both ended the fight smiling and acknowledging the great battle, thats the way I like to see it end. Meathead gets the unanimous decision in his hometown.
C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen - middleweight
Very early in the first round the two get into an exchange and end up on the mat. Dollaway gets a guillotine choke. He plays it very smart, he doesn't waste his arm strength, just holds it and waits for Doerksen to tire. He gets the open and tightens the choke to win by submission in the first round. Too bad for the
The rest of the fights were a bit of a snooze fest...
Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens - lightweight
Guillard wins by split decision. I wasn't surprised that it was split but one judge had it 30-27, what?! Stephens without a doubt had the third round.
Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham - lightweight
This fight was pretty crazy. First round Dunham got a huge cut just to the side of his right eye and I mean huge, I'm shocked that the doctor didn't call it. Blood was all over his face, he looked like something out of a horror movie. Sherk kept giving Dunham an open guillotine but for some reason Dunham just couldn't hold it. Sherks neck is just too dang big. It somehow went all three rounds and Sherk grabs the split decision. Again, what?! Sherk got a few takedowns but man if the judges use "aggression" as a scoring factor Dunham definitely ran that fight. The dude has a hole in his head and kept fighting!!
Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle – welterweight
Boooooring, Lytle pretty much runs the fight and tadaa gets the decision win 30-27 from all three judges.
Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueiro - light heavyweight
It was a decent fight, Bader definitely has the first round, knocking Nog down a couple times, landing some big hits. Of course it goes all three rounds and Bader wins unanimous decision 30-27 from all judges. I definitely thought Nog got the second round though so again, what the heck are the judges watching?!
Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop - heavyweight
This fight was awful! I'm not even sure Cro Cop showed up. He hardly threw any kicks, maybe one right leg. The biggest kick came from the ref, Herb Dean when he tapped the guys with his foot before he has to separate them AGAIN! Nobody was impressed with this fight. Joe Rogan starts to say things in the third round like; "It's the fans who lost in this fight", "It looks like they made a silent agreement to keep aggression to a minimum", and "Now is a good time to get you potato chips if you're out!". In the middle of Rogans stand up routine Mir gets a knee that knocks Cro Cop right out. Then when he jumps on him to make sure he's out he misses!! This win was ugly. At least Mir admitted it wasn't a pretty win and I'm so glad they didn't give him knockout of the night even for the only knockout.
Sorry if I made any mistake, I honestly wasn't paying that close attention at some points. So I guess two of my picks won it, 3 should have but what can you do. That's why Dana always says don't leave it up to the judges...
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Ultimate Fighter Season 12 Episode 2
Wednesday, September 22, 2010.
This episode the fighters move into the enormous mansion. Both teams live in the same house, but without the coaches and trainers. Just your average home, big kitchen with an island, dining room table for 30, 86 bedrooms, huge lap pool, no big deal.
The biggest part of this episode is the team picks. Both coaches have Michael Johnson as their number 1 rank. Obviously somebody gets to pick first so who ever does will likely get Johnson. So the smart guy that he is, GSP decides to trick Koscheck into picking someone else if he happens to get the first choice. Marc Stevens was in the first fight of the premiere episode, he fought for Koscheck in New York
Time to pick, Dana flips the coin and Koscheck wins. This means he gets to pick the first fighter for his team or the first fight matchup. Throughout the season, who ever wins the fight, that team gets to pick the next matchup, so having control of the first fight is very valuable. However with GSP's little trick Koscheck’s gets nervous he is going to loose Stevens and takes the pick instead of the power. He and his team choose Stevens... he fell right into it. What an awesome move, No personality my foot thank you very much. Here are the teams and the order they were chosen;Team GSP
2 Michael Johnson - who mentioned he wanted GSP as his coach in the van on the way over.
4 Jonathan Brookins
6 Spencer Paige
8 Alex
10 Kyle Watson
12 Cody McKenzie
14 Dan Sayers
SICK TEAM!! He has 4 out of my 5 early picks. And in watching the first 20 minutes of the show my opinion of Lentz has changed. Yeah he had a good fight but I'm not a big fan. He smokes, drinks coffee, and doesn’t treat his body very well for being an athlete. Maybe GSP was quick to cross him off because he does have skill but dude is not cool. Not super happy Sayers is on team GSP but maybe he'll tone down the "look I'm a badass" attitude with his coaching.
Team Koscheck
1 Marc Stevens
3 Sevak Magakian
5 Sako Chivitchian
7 Andy
9
11 Aaron Wilkinson
13 Jeffery Lentz
GSP wants to do the opening speech from full metal jacket.
"If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training... you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are pukes! You're the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human f**king beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian sh*t! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn: I am hard, but I am fair!"
He says he plans to let his coaches coach these guy, he's brought in some of the best guys to back him up. He will be more of a training partner. He chose his team not because they were the strongest or had best record. He picks who he knows he can train and help. That's similar to how I pick who I like too, since I don't have a background in mma training I don't always see amazing potential in fighters. So I have to base my decision on their attitudes and how they carry themselves. You can be an amazing fighter but if you have a crummy attitude, you will never improve. 4 out of the 7 fighters on GSP's team I picked as early favourites. McKenzie seems to be a bit of a goober. That’s not always a bad thing to me, he's a just a bit of an oddball, I can see him getting on some people's nerves. Brookins and Paige both won by unanimous decision and Sayers just pulled a punk move that I didn't like in the first round of his fight. They weren't my initial top picks but we'll see what they can do in training.
Koscheck was a fighter on season 1, he knows the routine and how it goes. That may give him a bit of an edge. He believes in "mindless training". His definition of that is you guys show up and train and I'll tell you what to do. Fantastic strategy... Koscheck is all about the win, and I will not loose attitude, GSP takes the approach of I want to make these fighters better. Of course he wants to win, he would be stupid if he wanted to loose but in a competition like this it's about coaching the fighters to be better all around, not only about winning one fight.
Team GSP announces the first fight. Bruce Leroy vs. Jeffrey Lentz. Interesting that it will be two "characters" of the show battling first, one will be out right away. Leroy wanted this fight so GSP gave it to him. Dana mentioned it was an interesting decision to let the fighters pick the fight. I agree but I think it may work. I don't see GSP and his team ever being pushovers, if they don't want a match up, I don't think they would give it to their fighter. However, if they are okay with the match up, even if it’s not their first choice, why not let their guys pick? In their mind I'm sure each fighter has already chosen a guy or two they want to take out and feel like they can. Letting them choose someone they already feel superior to I think will give them confidence in the cage. If a fighter has hand picked his opponent it gives him motivation to beat him. GSP says a fighter motivated to do something is very dangerous. Interesting that this is exactly how I feel about GSP’s fights. When he has had something to prove, like fighting someone he has lost to in the past, he is ridiculous and so powerful.
Leroy got his inspiration to learn martial arts after watching his first Bruce Lee movie. He says he likes to be ready but not tense, calm, but not asleep. He smiles the whole fight because he enjoys it. These two young fighters are both 21, 5'10" tall with a 68" reach. They may look the same that way but on the way to the fight, Lentz is talking about wiping the stupid look off his face, he's angry and aggressive. Leroy looks at the hummingbird outside the window. You can totally see the difference in the fighters attitude towards the fight, I feel like Lentz is just about fighting and Leroy is about the athletic battle. (It makes sense in my head.)
Round 1
The fighters spend most of the time against the cage, not much going on. I definitely think they should have separated these two. They go to the ground and it looks like Leroy was close to a guillotine. Lentz got half takedowns, if that would even count, made Leroy stumble and drop to a knee once or twice. Finally Herb Dean separates them. With the exchange at the end and a takedown the first round goes to Lentz. (Apparently the takedown is called a Judo throw) After the first round it doesn’t look like Leroy is actually that good. I think his character is great but he throws a lot of kicks that don’t go anywhere or do any real damage, he's not super aggressive.
Round 2Starts off the same, Leroy throwing some flashy kicks. But then he surprises me and gets the takedown... but then doesn't seem to do much with it. He end up on his back and gets his legs around Lentz's head in a triangle choke. Lentz is able to slam him. Leroy tightens the triangle and Lentz ends up tapping. After earlier in the night saying he would let his arm break and go to sleep before tapping. So much for that, big talker.
Bruce Leroy wins by triangle choke. Fight 1 goes to team GSP and they maintain control. Then a fighter looses they don't leave the house, it just means they are out of the competition. They still live in the house, they still train and they do have a chance to be picked for the wildcard. I'm very interested to see how this will play out and who will fight next.
Next Episode
Mike Tyson does make his appearance, I was right about something!
Koscheck's team looses focus? What? I would never predict that.... not
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Upcoming UFC 119 Mir vs Cro Cop
UFC 119 Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop September 25th, 2010 Out of Indianapolis , Indiana
First off, Mir and Cro Cop are the main event? Really? REALLY??
UFC 121 is going to be a STACKED card and this is what they give us to kick off fall, I'm not impressed. However the rest of the fights do look like they will be entertaining so we'll see if it makes up for it. After watching the countdown last night, September 20th, on Spike I'm definitely more excited for this card. For those who don't know, the countdown is not a countdown like 10th, 9th, 8th... it’s like a countdown to the fight happening this weekend. It’s called primetime when they do a series over the 3 weeks leading up to the fight.
To clarify, there are two Nogueiras, and they're twins. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a heavyweight fighter (265 lbs) and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is a light heavyweight fighter (205 lbs). This confused the heck out of me! Another note to clarify, there were two winners to the Ultimate Fighter season 8. Two different weight classes were featured in that season so as I mentioned Efrain Escudero fought at fight night 22 and is in the lightweight division. Ryan Bader that will be fighting at UFC 119 won the contract on the 8th season of the ultimate fighter in the light heavyweight division.
Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipovic (Mirko Cro Cop) - heavyweight
Mir was initially supposed to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira but he had to pull out in mid August. So because of his late entry Cro Cop has already stated he doesn’t expect to be 100% but he didn't want to let down the fans or the UFC so he decided to step up. Mir, on the other hand, says he is the healthiest he has been in a long time. Mir has had a history of accidents and injuries he has had to overcome including a huge motorcycle accident in 2004 where he broke his femur and has extensive knee injuries. Cro Cop is short for "Croatian Cop" because he a law enforcement office in Croatia
Mir: Height 6'1" (185 cm) Reach 79.0" (201 cm)
Cro Cop: Height 6'2" (188 cm) Reach 73.0" (185 cm)
Looking at just these stats, Mir will obviously have the reach advantage, 6 inches is a huge difference, however Cro Cop's legs should be considered in his reach because he throw kicks almost as often as punches. For some reason I don't like Mir. I can't exactly put my finger on it but I've never been a big fan. Maybe because he kinda looks like a haggard version of someone I went to high school with that I wasn't a big fan of either. He gained a lot of weight to try to take on Lesnar and Carwin in his last two fights and this time he plans to fight at about 255. We saw in BJ's last fight how much cutting and gaining pounds to make weight can affect a fighter. I figure the opposite would happen if a fighter does not need to adjust anything. He doesn't need to fight at 265 or 270 this time, he can be at a more comfortable but still powerful weight. "When you're big you're still fast in a straight line, you're just aren't fast changing directions". Wise words from him and it definitely makes sense. Watching heavyweight fighters is totally different than watching lightweights. Compare Lesnar to Edgar... Lesnar looks like a big grizzly bear in the cage not moving too quickly while Edgar is jumping and moving around constantly.
Mir always speaks very confidently. He almost makes me have confidence in him, but then I think this is exactly how he spoke before he was destroyed by Lesnar and Carwin. Cro Cop is 27-2 with 20 Knockouts!! He usually fights at about 240. Cro Cop is a ridiculously dangerous striker, both with his arms and with huge kicks. He has zero personality but always goes for the win. He doesn't just barely steal the decision or mess around on the ground, he's out to kill. And when he does win, it’s always, thank you, I happy. Love it! haha! I want Cro Cop to take it. I have no interest in seeing another Mir vs. Lesnar matchup. And I think it would be really interesting to see what Dana does with Mir if he looses to another top guy.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader - light heavyweight
Bader has a hugely successful wrestling background. He is the former teammate of Cain Velasquez (the man challenging Lesnar in October) He was the winner of Ultimate Fighter season 8 under his coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, twin brother of his opponent.
Definitely taking Bader in this one!
Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle - welterweight
I'm taking Chris Lytle for two reasons. The first being I don't want to see another Serra vs. GSP match up, He's had his chance and Lytle hasn't yet. His record is 29-17-5 and he has won his last three fights. The second reason is I just don't like Serra. He helped coach Dan Hardy before his fight against GSP and was talking a lot of trash. Saying he's the only guy to knock out GSP, he knows how he fights, he knows how to beat him blah blah blah. Even though that was three years ago and GSP has since beat him and his little apprentice Hardy.
Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham - lightweight
Sherk used to fight in the welterweight division but has switched to lightweight. He has lost to top fighters GSP, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar. He hasn't fought in over a year and has instead been working as a coach in Minneapolis
The prelim card on Spike features
So after watching countdown I understand why these guys are the main event. With "Brocktober" coming up, the spotlight is on the heavyweights and after Velasquez and Carwin, these two are in line to challenge Lesnar, again.
Monday, September 20, 2010
UFC - Anderson Silva
So here's a little taste of my opinion on Silva. Anderson "The Spider" Silva is Brazilian fighter who has been the UFC Middleweight Champion since he took the belt from Rich Franklin in 2006. He has defended the title 10 times!! A couple times didn't count for different reasons such as his opponent not making weight. But none the less, I take nothing away from his talent. He is an amazing, skilled fighter who has decisively finished fight after fight most often by TKO or KO. His record is something ridiculous like 27-4 while he is undefeated in the UFC! When I first started following the UFC I thought Silva was incredible. His fights usually started the same way, the first round is a little slow, he doesn't throw many punches, just sits back and gets a feel for his opponent. An understandable technique but not the most entertaining.
Before his appearance at 117 my opinion of Silva had greatly changed. It all started with his fight against Thales Leites at UFC 97. It went all 5 rounds and featured the acting debut of Anderson "Showboat" Silva. He danced around the ring like a goof, not an athlete! At UFC 101 he started the first round with the same showboating and dancing then sent a lazy looking knockout punch against Forrest Griffin! After seeing this I figured alright I can deal with the dancing if he is going to finish the fight like this. (Side note, right after the knockout, Griffin got up and ran out of the ring, didn't even wait around to hear the official announcement, everyone thought that was a bitch move, later he announced he wasn't running out of the ring because he was embarrassed, he ran out because his jaw was broken! I still like Griffin.) But then... the exact same thing the happened at 97 occurred at UFC 112 against Demian Maia. The first couple rounds were exciting because I knew the power that SIlva had, he could decide when ever he wanted to end this fight, just like he did with Griffin, it would only take one shot. But to my disappointment he did nothing of the sort, again it went all 5 exhaustingly boring rounds. Every time Maia was knocked down he just laid there, waiting for Silva to do something. (Another little side note, in Maia's most recent fight against Mario Miranda he did the same thing when he was knocked down, snooze and obviously frustrating for his opponent). But anyway, there he went again, showboating and not finishing, I don't have any respect for that. It's not entertaining or exciting and its disrespectful to the sport. Dana White obviously agreed as he left the fight against Maia in Abu Dhabi and handed the belt to Silva's team to put on him. A job he usually does himself. To my knowledge, Dana has never left a fight early.
So at UFC 117 in California I really felt he needed to END the fight. Leading up to the fight Chael Sonnen did a lot of trash talking. Usually I find that arrogant and annoying but the way Sonnen does it I actually find it funny. Mostly because he doesn't attack a fighter personally. I know that doesn't make sense but he says things like "If Brock Lesnar was here right now, I'd take my boot off and throw it at him, and he'd better polish it up before he brings it back to me". He doesn't says things like this guy doesn't deserve to be a fighter or in the UFC. Moving on to the actual fight, Sonnen has been the first fighter in recent history to actually bring a fight to SIlva. He attacked him and took him down time after time. He dominated the first 4 rounds. I was a little nervous he was going to pull a Brock Lesnar and make a silly mistake and fall into a submission. (The way Brock Lesnar did against Frank Mir the first time they fought). Thankfully he did not do that and in the 5th round SIlva decided to show up. It was a pretty even matchup and Silva ended up getting the submission. The stoppage was controversial in itself, it looked like Sonnen tapped once then decided not to and the ref was confused so he started to pull the fighters apart then let them keep going. In the end Sonnen did tap, its not wwe, you don't have to tap three times and if the UFC starts to let fighters tap once and keep going it will just open a big can of worms of faking out and throwing off opponents. So as frustrated I was with the ref and the end result, a win is a win, good for Silva.
Before his appearance at 117 my opinion of Silva had greatly changed. It all started with his fight against Thales Leites at UFC 97. It went all 5 rounds and featured the acting debut of Anderson "Showboat" Silva. He danced around the ring like a goof, not an athlete! At UFC 101 he started the first round with the same showboating and dancing then sent a lazy looking knockout punch against Forrest Griffin! After seeing this I figured alright I can deal with the dancing if he is going to finish the fight like this. (Side note, right after the knockout, Griffin got up and ran out of the ring, didn't even wait around to hear the official announcement, everyone thought that was a bitch move, later he announced he wasn't running out of the ring because he was embarrassed, he ran out because his jaw was broken! I still like Griffin.) But then... the exact same thing the happened at 97 occurred at UFC 112 against Demian Maia. The first couple rounds were exciting because I knew the power that SIlva had, he could decide when ever he wanted to end this fight, just like he did with Griffin, it would only take one shot. But to my disappointment he did nothing of the sort, again it went all 5 exhaustingly boring rounds. Every time Maia was knocked down he just laid there, waiting for Silva to do something. (Another little side note, in Maia's most recent fight against Mario Miranda he did the same thing when he was knocked down, snooze and obviously frustrating for his opponent). But anyway, there he went again, showboating and not finishing, I don't have any respect for that. It's not entertaining or exciting and its disrespectful to the sport. Dana White obviously agreed as he left the fight against Maia in Abu Dhabi and handed the belt to Silva's team to put on him. A job he usually does himself. To my knowledge, Dana has never left a fight early.
So at UFC 117 in California I really felt he needed to END the fight. Leading up to the fight Chael Sonnen did a lot of trash talking. Usually I find that arrogant and annoying but the way Sonnen does it I actually find it funny. Mostly because he doesn't attack a fighter personally. I know that doesn't make sense but he says things like "If Brock Lesnar was here right now, I'd take my boot off and throw it at him, and he'd better polish it up before he brings it back to me". He doesn't says things like this guy doesn't deserve to be a fighter or in the UFC. Moving on to the actual fight, Sonnen has been the first fighter in recent history to actually bring a fight to SIlva. He attacked him and took him down time after time. He dominated the first 4 rounds. I was a little nervous he was going to pull a Brock Lesnar and make a silly mistake and fall into a submission. (The way Brock Lesnar did against Frank Mir the first time they fought). Thankfully he did not do that and in the 5th round SIlva decided to show up. It was a pretty even matchup and Silva ended up getting the submission. The stoppage was controversial in itself, it looked like Sonnen tapped once then decided not to and the ref was confused so he started to pull the fighters apart then let them keep going. In the end Sonnen did tap, its not wwe, you don't have to tap three times and if the UFC starts to let fighters tap once and keep going it will just open a big can of worms of faking out and throwing off opponents. So as frustrated I was with the ref and the end result, a win is a win, good for Silva.
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