Randy Couture showed why wrestling matters in the top of the mixed martial arts world at UFC 118. Couture took former Boxing champion James Toney early in the first round and control the rest of the fight from the top. Using his superior wrestling skills to control Toney on the ground, Couture did not allow the fight to get back to a standing position and methodically worked for a choke. Eventually Toney waved his hand for help and referee Mario Yamasaki called an end to the fight.

Chael Sonnen took the fight to Nate Marquardt at UFC 109. From the bell, Sonnen put Marquardt on the canvas and stayed on top of him in a bruising assault. Marquardt looked stunned by Sonnen’s strategy and despite fighting well from his back, could not overcome the barrage. Marquardt threw a vicious elbow while on his back and opened up Sonnen’s head causing blood to pour out. So much blood came out both men turned a lighter color of red. It was lucky the fight wasn’t stopped.

“He knocked the heck out of me,” Sonnen said. “He knocked me out with a flying knee. He nearly choked me to death in the third round. It was a miserable experience. I’m glad it’s over.”

However, living up to the name of the UFC 109’s “Relentless” title, Sonnen would not be denied. Sonnen controled most of the fight on the cage floor and despite a final desperate and powerful choke by Marquardt near the end of the fight, Sonnen held on and scored a decision. The upset over Marquardt, considered the 2nd best fighter in the middleweight division, puts Sonnen in line for a title shot in the near future.

Rashad Evans is fast and he makes any opponent look like they are in slow motion. However Thiago Silva looked lost in the first two rounds. Rashad Evans game plan was smart and his takedowns were terrific against the powerful Brazillian.

However, I was very disappointed in Silva. Not only did he look lost, but looked beat and disheartened by the end of the second round. Then in the third round he started mimicking Evans bob-and-weave movements and wasting time. Admittedly, he may have thrown Evans off and got in a great punch that wobbled Evans, but he went on mimicking Evans and let the fight end instead of finishing him. Silva just didn’t appear professional to me and lost me as a fan.

Evans and Rampage Jackson need to meet up. That will be a fight I would pay to see.

The biggest winner of UFC 108 has to be Paul Daley. He improved his standing with a knockout win over Dustin Hazelett. Everyone in the bar I was at thought Hazelett (the grappling specialist) would immediately go for a takedown and avoid Daley’s terrific power and striking. However Hazelett chose to stand with Daley and was KO’d fast. Looked like a bad game plan Dustin. Daley is heading fast towards a title shot.

Sam Stout won, but it seemed to me he has no punching power. He must have peppered and pecked Joe Lauzon for 3 rounds, but Stout’s face looked worse and Lauzon just looked out of shape. Stout’s punches seem to need more “whalop”. He could have kept hitting Lauzon for several more rounds and I don’t think we would have seen a knockout.

Junior Dos Santos looks like a monster. Gilbert Yvel is no push-over and Dos Santos put him away. Dos Santos deserves a shot at one of the top guys in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Maybe a fight or two away from a title shot. Who is Fedor Emelianenko fighting next? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, somebody called Werdum.

I am glad to see Strikeforce offer free events on CBS and pay the fighters well. I loved their first show on CBS featuring Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers because Rogers put up a great fight and made the champ work hard for a win.

However, I am not looking forward to Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum match up because Werdum hasn’t shown up in good form or put up a good or even entertaining fight recently. Additionally, he was knocked out cold by Junior Dos-Santos in the UFC and subsequently booted out of the UFC only to wind up in Strikeforce.

Emelianenko must be happy with the money he gets from StrikeForce because if he really wanted to face the top fighters, he would be in the UFC. Period.

I caught UFC 107 at a sports bar in Phoenix, Arizona. There was a good crowd on hand from the beginning of show. Some people even shared their pizza with me!

The first fight between Stefan Struve and Paul Buentello was almost funny. Struve is a 6′11″ guy from Europe and Paul Buetello is 6′2″ but with a giant pot belly and weighed more that Struve. I thought I was watching one of those freak show matches that PRIDE used to have. Anyway, Buentello was by far the better striker, but Struve’s long arms and height seemed to a major challenge to Buentello. I thought Buentello got the better of Struve with his hands, but Struve started pounding Buentello’s leg with long kicks in the 3rd round and edged out a decision victory. I agreed with the judges.

Kenny Florian looked great against Clay Guida in their fight. I thought at first Guida’s relentless attacking style would overwhelm the slower paced technician Florian. However, Guida looked out of control versus Florian. Florian never let Guida’s style get to him, and used a good combination of fists and kicks and nasty elbows to turn Guida into a bloody mess. I thought Guida looked like Gene Simmons of KISS with a red face instead of black & white make-up after the fight. Good call by the doc not to stop the fight early because Guida’s gash was certianly was not stopping him from fighting.

Jon Fitch got a decision win over Mike Pierce in a fight I kind of got bored with. Pierce showed he can take punishment, but didn’t show much flair for fighting until late in the final round. Fitch was showing a nice combination of striking and wrestling skills, but I think he got bored too of beating up on Pierce and let Pierce get some shots in on him in the final round. What is the UFC going to do with Fitch, he’s got a great record, but not good enough to beat GSP and doesn’t fight other AKA fighters, Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick.

Frank Mir looked sensational against Cheick Kongo. He said Kongo’s ground skills suck, and they do, but supposedly that pissed off Kongo. Well, Mir not only knocked Kongo off his feet with one punch but immediately put Kongo to sleep with a powerful choke. The only thing you can say about Kongo is he had enough courage not to tap. I must say, Mir’s new training program made his body look great. His chest and gut looked big and cut, compared with a bit of flab and droop he had before. Mir understands that the big boys, Lesnar and Carwin have an advantage in size and strength and Mir is looking to negate that and win with his superior technique. I think that is a very smart strategy.

Finally, BJ Penn rearranged Diego Sanchez’s face. I thought Sanchez had a chance but he looked insane rather than ready right from the staredown. Sanchez quickly found out he didn’t have the stand-up fighting skills to go toe-to-toe with Penn and kept going for takedowns. But sadly for Sanchez, Penn would not be taken down either. Sanchez kept going for it but was stuffed everytime. I think Sanchez was strong and quick enough to be in the same ring with Penn, but technically, Penn made Sanchez look like he didn’t belong. Sanchez had alot of heart to take the punishment and keep going, but his face looked like a total mess after the fight.

Sears Center, Chicago IL – In a highly anticpiated fight, Fedor Emelianenko knocked out Brett Rogers in the second round with a right cross. Extending the Russian’s amazing MMA record to 31-1-1.

Rogers was a game opponent though, starting the first round by smashing Emelianenko’s nose and creating a bloody mess. Emelianenko
stayed up and calm and tried to control the pace and action. On the ground Emelianenko could not submit Rogers, it seems Rogers strength was too much to overcome to get a submission on the ground.

In the second round, Emelianenko took the initiative and used his outstanding punching power, speed and accuracy to nail Rogers with a devestating right. Rogers curled up on the mat and the referree Big John Macarthy came in to stop the fight as Rogers was seemed defenseless and was in for alot more damage.

Lyoto Machida (L) puts his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua October 24th. I expect this fight to go to Machida. Matter of fact, I am surprised that Shogun was picked to fight Machida so soon. Though Shogun was supposedly a top contender years ago, he lost to Forrest Griffin, and looked slow and off in recent fights. He has one good recent win against Chuck Liddell who lost his past few fights all via knockout. So what chance does Shogun have when even Rashad Evans was bashed my Machida, I say not much. I guess Machida via TKO 2nd Round.

Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) will be fighting November November 7th on CBS Strikeforce. Emelianenko will be facing undefeated Brett Rogers (10-0) at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Fedor Emelianenko is a legend in the MMA world and we look forward to seeing him back in the ring after the Affliction Promotion, which Fedor previously was in, went out of business.

Video – Junior dos Santos vs. Fabricio Werdum

The Brazilian heavyweight fighter Junior dos Santos (January 30, 1984) gained notoriety for a first round knock-out of Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90 (See video above). He has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Purple belt and is the current Brazilian heavyweight kickboxing champion with a record of 18-0. He faces the Croatian Heavyweight kickboxer Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović at UFC 103.

Cro Cop is a living legend in Mixed Marital Arts, known especially for his amazing high leg kick strikes to opponents heads. Cro Cop fought for the PRIDE organization before it was bought out and fighters brought over to the UFC. Cro Cop is still looking for a big victory fighting in the UFC and I expect this fight to be a good one.

Former UFC champion Randy Couture (16-9-0) and ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira (31-5-1) will battle this Saturday night at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon (7pm PT).

Couture’s remarkable career keeps going and going. Even past 40 years of age, he is considered one of the top fighters in the UFC. Couture will be facing a tough veteran of many battles himself in ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, as his 31-5-1 record facing some of the best competion in the PRIDE organization and the UFC speaks for itself. However, even at 33 years of age, Nogueira looked a little burnt out and beat up when he faced a pumped up Frank Mir recently and lost via a stoppage. A win against Couture would certainly improve his standings.

Randy Couture (aka “The Natural”) stands at 6′ 2″ (188 cm), 220 lbs (100 kg).
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (aka “Minotauro”) is 6′ 3″ (191 cm), 240 lbs (109 kg).

I have to say Randy looks in better shape than Nogueira, but Nogueira is famous for taking amazing amounts of punishment and finally sneaking in a nasty submission for a turn-around win.

Randy’s wrestling and dirty boxing skills are well known and he has experience fighting top-class BJJ experts like Nogueira. This author expects Nogueira to try to get Couture to the ground where he’ll have the best chance for a submission. Nogueira looked bad when he tried stand up boxing before and looked bad again when he got knocked around by Mir, so Nogueira’s best hope has to be on the ground.