An excellent move by the UFC, all main events signed going forward will be for 5 rounds. This should help eliminate disappointments like the draw between Fitch VS. Penn as well as generate more excitement for fans.
Great change for the sport! Thanks UFC!
Challenger Jake Shields takes on UFC Champ Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129 on April 30th. Shields is expected to try and take the fight to the ground where he can better use his wrestling and Jujitsu background to “Ground & Pound” or get a submission over St. Pierre. The fight will be in Montreal Canada, and St. Pierre, the Canadian will have a distinct hometown advantage. However, Shields, who has a better fighting record over the past 6 years, may have greater hunger to win because of the lack of fame and respect given to him compared to the UFC Champion.
Vote Here:
UFC 129 Poll - Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields - Who wins?
Total Voters: 2
Loading ...Shields’s suspect stand-up and superior ground game can be seen vividly in this video from his fight with Dan Henderson.
[Strikeforce] Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson
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 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.
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.
Is Deigo Sanchez going to be too big and too strong for Joe “Daddy” Stevenson? This fight will be at 155 pounds, which will be tough for Sanchez to get down to. Stevenson’s most recent loss was against BJ Penn. Watching the above video, I get the feeling Stevenson is more realistic about cutting weight and understands that he seriously needs a win.
Joe Daddy Stevenson will face Diego Sanchez at UFC 95. Joe’s preparation for this fight begins in his new gym in Victorville, California. This should be one of the most action packed fights that the 155 weight-class has ever seen!
UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson
http://95.ufc.com/
Mark’s Predictions: Winners in Blue
MAIN CARD
-Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson
-Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Nate Marquardt
-Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
-Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago
PRELIMINARY CARD
-Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
-Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim
-Shannon Gugerty vs. Tom Lawson
-Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz
-Neil Grove vs. Justin McCully
GETTING MORE LOVE FROM MMA FANS – Fighters who could advance in the mind of the average American MMA fan:
1. Shane Carwin
The Highly Unofficial 2008 UFC Awards – The Newcomers
4 – Shane Carwin – 2-0A Division II national wrestling champion and DII All-American in football, Carwin entered the Octagon with high expectations on his shoulders in May. Two first round wins later (over Christian Wellisch and Neil Wain), and it’s safe to say that he is living up to the hype. But you know what the scariest thing about Carwin is? No, it’s not that all 10 of his fights have ended in 2:11 or less, but that he still works full-time as an engineer in Colorado
Shane Carwin is an undefeated American mixed martial arts fighter who competes in the Heavyweight division of the UFC. Carwin won his first fight in the UFC at UFC 84: Ill Will against Christian Wellisch on May 24, 2008 and in his next fight he comfortably defeated Neil Wain at UFC 89, taking a TKO victory within two minutes. Carwin acted as a sparring partner for Randy Couture leading up to Couture’s UFC Heavyweight title fight against former NCAA wrestling champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar. Carwin will next fight at UFC 96 against Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga.
Carwin is a 2x NCAA Division II Wrestling National Runner-up HWT (1996,1997), NCAA II Wrestling National Champion HWT (1999), 2x NCAA II All-American in Football and Ring of Fire HWT Champion
Shane Carwin wears the largest glove size in UFC history at 5xl. It has been noted by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan that Carwin had to have custom gloves made that are a size larger than those worn by Brock Lesnar.
All of Carwin’s fights have ended in the first round.
