MMA recap – September: UFC on FOX Sports, Bellator, WSOF, fight announcements

I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks, so there’s a lot to catch up on from the world of MMA. Lets waste no time.

UFC Fight Night 28: Bader vs. Texixeira

FIrst up, I left just before the last UFC on FOX even in Brazil, where Glover Teixeira booked a title shot with a win against Ryan Bader.

It was the result pretty much everyone was expecting, but not the manner. Despite Glover getting the first round KO he did not look that impressive and his stock definitely dropped after the fight. He looked sluggish and was wobbled a couple of times by his opponent. He’s going to have to do a lot better against Jon Jones otherwise he’s toast.

The most impressive performance of the night came from Ronaldo Jacaré Souza, who pounded divisional top-five mainstay Yushin Okami. No-one has handled Okami like that and finished him so decisevely apart from Anderson SIlva in the last several years. It was a sure-fire statement that Jacaré is ready for a title shot. The only thing that could stop that is a SIlva win against Chris Weidman will change that, as the pair of Brazilians have shown a reluctance to square off against each other.

The other main attraction of the card also ended in predicatable fashion, as Joseph Benavidez showed of his Joe-jitsu (how cool was that Burce Buffer announcement?) and stomped Jussier ‘Formiga’ Da Silva with strikes in the first frame. The Duane Ludwig-inspired Team Alpha male freight train was in full effect once again.

The rest of the main card was fun, with exciting finishes from newcomers Piotr Hallmann and Ali Bagautinov, while Rafael Natal triumphed over Tor Troeng in typically ramshackle display of sloppy MMA.

Bellator

Bellator kicked off it’s ninth season with two events in a week.

Bellator 98 was headlined by Alexander Schlemenko defending his middleweight strap for the first time against Brett Cooper. The first real shock of the season came when Derek Anderson took a decision over Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire in the quarter finals of the lightweight tournament.

On Friday, the other Pitbull, Patricky’s brother Patricio Freire (confusing eh?) established himself as the clear favourite for the featherweight tournament and a rematch with Pat Curran as he finished Diego Nunes.

No UFC or WEC fighter was able to finish Nunes in the last five years, so this was both shocking and impressive.

World Series of Fighting

Not many people paid much attention to this fifth event from NBC Sports’ MMA promotion because it was on the same night as the biggest boxing fight of the decade.

The wasn’t too much to shout about. Dave Branch established himself as the favourite for the middleweight tournament, proving the WSOF middleweight division isn’t all that. Rolled Gracie also got knocked out, which wasn’t a huge shock.

In the main event Andrei Arlovski got back on the winning track despite taking a trip to the canvas courtesy of Mike Kyle’s hands. He’s never going to shake off his weak chin stigma, but he is beginning to show that he can get back up and fight after taking heavy blows to the dome.

UFC matchmaking

The big announcement came today when Josh Thomson was announced as Anthony Pettis’s first opponent as title holder. The prospect of this fight makes me so happy. Another two endlessly exciting fighters will face off in a five-round fight, and it’s another case of Pettis trying to find a way to finish one of the grittiest fighters around. I won;t bet against him though, because he’s managed it in successive fights against Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson. As a side note, how crazy is it that another former Strikeforce champion will fight a former WEC champion for the UFC belt? Not many people would have predicted this a few years ago.

In the heavyweight division Joe SIlva had an easy job matching winners and losers from two recent big heavyweight fights. FIrsst up, it’s make or break for Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem, who will probably be fighting for their jobs against each other at UFC 167. Their conquerers will fight each other at the mega new year event: UFC 168. Josh Barnett and Travis Browne is an intriguing style match up that will put the winner in a lofty spot in the rankings.

In other UFC 167 news Rashad Evans will fight Chael Sonnen and Rory Macdonald will get the test everyone wants to see against Robbie Lawler. It looks like the UFC matchmakers are having an absurd competition with each other to see just how much they can stack the final two PPV events of the year. I’m happy to watch them try.

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UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader preview

We’re approaching the last hurrah of this blistering week of UFC events. Unfortunately after the highs of the second UFC on FOX card and the outstanding UFC 164, this finale is a low.

It’s not a great card, and that’s probably a symptom of an overload of events and regular trips to Brazil. UK fans became familiar with his type of card a couple of years ago when events in these Isles became packed with British fighters that wer signed primarily as card fillers.

As much as I could sit here and type out a preview of fights like Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng  that have somehow made their way on to the main card I won;t. I’m sure almost every MMA fan other than the super hardcore isn’t exactly perspiring with excitement about the prospect of middleweights from the lower reaches of the (at a rough estimation) top 25 of the division. We can all just hope there could be a few gems from the low-profile undercard fights, and admit that it’s only the top three fights that offer any real divisional relevance.

First up is the top 10 flyweight pairing of Joseph Benavidez and Jussier Formiga.

Formiga rose to the top of the division before the UFC promoted fights in it, beating BJ Kojima in Japan and defending his place in Brazil. He was bested by Ian McCall in California a couple of years ago, but won fight after fight on his way back to America with vastly superior grappling against every opponent. His grappling could not save him against the power of Jon Dodson in his UFC debut though and I think he will encounter similar problems against Benavidez.

This is an excellent style match up for the Team Apha Male standout. His wrestling will be able to keep him out of Formiga’s comfort zone and his natural power combined with all that Duane Ludwig training will present an insurmountable barrier to victory for the Brazilian.

Benavidez was terrifying enough at bantamweight, but against fighters his own size he is even more daunting.

He is the second best 125 pound fighter in the world and can win via knockout or with one of his patented front headlock chokes.

The middleweight co-main event is intriguing. Jacaré Souza is favoured against Yushin Okami, but anyone would be foolish to write off the Japanese former title contender. Jacaré has a more dynamic and dangerous set of tools, but it’s not hard to imagine Okami being able to defend strikes and submissions for three rounds.

It’s possible that Okami will be able to impose a stifling gameplan (which would take a lot of the spectacle out of the fight) and grind his opponent down for a unanimous decision win. If anyone stops this fight it’s the Brazilian, but I could never bet against Okami continuing to simple be one of the most reliably good middleweight ever and do what he needs to do to win in the clinch.

The main event is a tough draw for Ryan Bader. Having built himself back up from losses to Jones, Ortiz and Machida he faces another roadblock to elevating himself into the division’s elite.

Glover Teoxeira’s offensive and defensive grappling combined with KO power is likely to be a potent antidote to the former TUF winner’s powerhouse double-legs and haymaker punches.

Bader does not have a history of standing up to heavy punishment and he is likely to have his chin tested early and often in this fight unless his wrestling as at its sharpest. I predict a KO win for Teixeira, and calls for a title shot in the aftermath.

Main Card

Light Heavyweight – Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader
Middleweight – Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo Souza
Flyweight – Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier Formiga
Lightweight – Francisco Trinaldo vs. Piotr Hallmann
Middleweight – Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
Flyweight – Marcos Vinicius vs. Ali Bagautinov

Prelims

Featherweight – Felipe Arantes vs. Edimilson Souza
Middleweight – Joao Zeferino vs. Elias Silvério
Bantamweight – Lucas Martins vs. Ramiro Hernandez Jr.
Welterweight – Keith Wisniewski vs. Ivan Jorge
Welterweight – Yuri Villefort vs. Sean Spencer

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UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson – results and gifs

Demitrious Johnson gets his hand raised after defending his flyweight title against Jon Dodson

UFC on Fox 6 is in the books, and due to moving hose, I didn’t have time to do a full recap.

You’ll no doubt have heard everything about the event by now, so I’ll just share a couple of thoughts about the fights, and concentrate on highlighting the the coolest things that happened during the course of the evening in animated gif form.

UFC Flyweight Championship – Demetrious Johnson def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

Five competitive rounds that Dodson could have taken the majority of but for his inability to keep pace for the full 25 minutes.

Whether this was because of knees from Johnson that may or may not have been illegal we can’t be sure, and it is surprising that there hasn’t been a little more outrage about this. Either way, this was a fun scrap, and i can definitely see Dodson getting another shot with a few more wins.

More in the full post so that your browser doesn’t totally crash due to gif overload

UFC on FOX 4 Results – Shogun stops Vera, Machida earns title shot

Shogun and Brandon Vera engage during their 4 round war…

… while Lyoto Machida stands over Ryan Bader after knocking him unconscious

As its’ been a couple of days since this event I’ll just give a few brief thoughts on a fantastic evening of combat from Los Angeles. There was not a single fight on the card that disappointed.

Mauricio Rua def. Brandon Vera via TKO at 4:09 of Round 4.

After being counted out by almost everyone, Brandon Vera put on one of the performances of his career to take Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua into the deep waters of the 4th round, but it still wasn’t enough to best the former UFC champion. shogun looked dangerous early on, and one couldn’t help but think that the Shogun of a few years ago would have had ‘The Truth’ out of there within 2 rounds after he connected with several good punches.

Vera battled back in the 2nd and into the 3rd, keeping Shogun on his back, as well as landing to some crisp combinations beginning with some clean straight punches followed up by some nasty leg kicks. Both fighters were exhausted well before the 4th round, leading many observers to criticise their condition. While it is true that these guys may have been fresher in years gone by, the fact that they were pushing a pretty relentless pace contributed enormously to their fatigue.

At the end of the 4th round, the combination of this fatigue and Shogun landing a few lethal shots in a row resulted in Vera falling face down on the mat. Despite the complimentary barrage of ground and pound, no further shots were needed, vera was out.

Lyoto Machida def. Ryan Bader via KO at 1:32 of Round 2.

The co-main event was a much simpler affair, as Lyoto Machida fought pretty much the perfect fight, avoiding the attacks of his opponent, hitting him with kicks and delivering counter punches. Throughout the 1st round, Bader was swinging at air as Machida circled away, and in the 2nd he finally got sloppy enough throwing a right hand that ‘The Dragon’ was able to stop him in his tracks with a counter-right that separated the former TUF winner from his senses.

To the business of title shots. I would certainly agree that Machida is deserving of the shot at Jon Jones as his performance was flawless and I think that he still ha the best chance of beating the seemingly invincible UFC champ. However, I still would expect Jones to beat Machida again (he is probably better suited to a drop to middleweight, but more on that another time), and if Dan Henderson can somehow find a way to take the title, the decision to pull the trigger on giving Machida the title shot, and not leaving room to line up a Hendo/Shogun remautch could cost the UFC millions of dollars

Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via submission (triangle choke) at 2:44 of Round 3 – wins $50,000 sub-of-the-night bonus, both fighters win $50,000 fight-of-the-night bonus.

The deserved winners of the fotn bonus, Varner and Lauzon engaged in a back and forth war for the better part of 3 rounds. Jamie Varner looked to be hitting top form once again as he battered ‘JLau’ with a barrage of thunderous body punches and hooks to the head, though Lauzon seemed relatively unfazed by the attack, and he was able to survive until Varner apparently broke his hand at some point in the 2nd round.

After unfortunate turn, Varner’s punches were probably lacking a bit of the fizz that they previously had, and Lauzon was able to capitalise by firing back, putting the former WEC champ on his arse, and taking his back. The submission (in the gif below) was particularly impressive from Lauzon because it didn’t come from a sustained spell of dominance like he had in round 2. He initiated a scrable after being taken down, and was able to work his right leg over the shoulder during the process of a second take down to secure triangle position. A superb submission attack while he was essentially in mid-air.

Mike Swick def. DaMarques Johnson via KO at 1:20 of Round 2 -wins $50,000 KO-of-the-night-bonus.

What a return for Mike Swick, 30 months out and he wins the KO bonus after coming back from adversity against a tough opponent. DaMarques Johnson threatened in the 1st round, and kept Swick on his back for much of the 2nd half of the round. It seeemed as though he was really feeling the effects of having such a long time out of the cage. But then..

..Swick hit a nice knee-tap as a counter to a kick, and threw a punch mid-takedown that connected as Johnson’s head bounced back off the mat, making him go limp instantly.

And now for a few quick thoughts on the prelims

Nam Phan def. Cole Miller via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

A great little war that lived up to my loft expectations. Phan really deserved the win because of hus superior striking, with his left hooks to the head and body particularly effective weapons

Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado was declared a no decision (doctor’s stoppage due to unintentional eyepoke).

An ugly finish to a fight which was a shame really. Fortunately they are scheduled to rematch at UFC on FX 5 in October

Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi via submission (North-south choke) at 3:15 of Round 1.

Once on tap to contend for the UFc featherweight title, Grispi looks set to be bounced out of the promotion after entering into the ground game of one of the most talented grapplers at 145lbs. A risky move, and one that Rani Yahya took full advantage of.

Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:16 of Round 2.

A much needed win for BJJ specialist DeFries who was able to hurt Thompson on the feet before submitting him. Thompson will probably be bounced from the promotion after this, while the big man from Sunderland improves his UFC record to 2-1.

Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

‘Th Anvil secures himself another chance in the UFC, while Omigawa will probably get his walking papers. Not a bad fight, but probably the least explosive of the night.

John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez via KO at 3:46 of Round 1.

Moraga showed that rare quality in the lighter weight divisions, heavy hands and legitimate KO power. Gomez didn’t get the chance to flex his grappling muscles as he was dispatched in brutal fashion inside the 1st frame. The fledgeling UFC 125 lb class has another prospect to watch out for.

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UFC on FOX 4 Preview

Brandon Vera, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader will all be looking for a rematch with Jon Jones by winning on Saturday night

Not that it makes any difference over here because it’ll be on ESPN as usual, but the the UFC returns to network TV inthe U.S. with UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera this Saturday night. with a 4 fight main card, with 2 of those fights carrying potential title contendership implications. So, without further ado (and ignoring the absurdity of some of the potential opponents for Jon Jones), let’s have a look at these 4 contests that will be providing us with violent entertainment.

Light heavyweight (5 rounds) – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Brandon Vera

Ah the much maligned main event. After allegedly ducking Glover Texieria, Shogun settled on a fight with Brandon Vera, who he viewed as a much more recognisable name with UFC fans. I’m sure he also regarded him as less of a test, as Vera should be defeated fairly easily by the former UFC champion and PRIDE grand-prix champion (he probably would have dealt with Glover pretty handily too, but never mind).

Vera has never really put it together at light heavyweight, and most people thought he only deserved a draw in his victorious return against Elliot Marshall. I still think he is capable of winning fights in the division, but certainly not a fight like this that could supposedly lead to a title fight against one of MMA’s all-time greats.

Shogun is a more powerful striker than Vera, he is stronger in the clinch, and his submissions are more dangerous. The only area where Vera probably has an advantage is with wrestling thanks to his greco-Roman background, but that should be negated by all of the above. ‘the Truth’ can take a licking, so he could stick around for a little while, but it is hard not to imagine Shogun getting some sort of stoppage victory in a 5 round fight.

Light Heavyweight – Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader

Badre looked very competent against a faded Rampage during his last outing in Japan, but he will have his work cut out for him against a dynamic and elusive striker like Machida. I can only imagine ‘The Dragon’s’ evasive in-and-out selcction of straight punches and kicks to be kryptonite for Bader’s rudimentary striking. The TUF 8 champion has the power to hurt anyone, but he will be too slow to catch his opponent, and he is not particularly quick to get out of the way of incoming shots, particularly shot of the kind of velocity that will be thrown by Machida.

Bader’s best chance to win would be to secure a takedown and control his smaller foe, but even then I would have thought that the karate expert will be able to return to his feet, and eventually land some sort of missile on on the American’s chin and clam a T/KO win.

Lightweight – Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner 

This is a tough one to pick. Joe Lauzon tends to annihilate lesser fighters with an aggressive submission attack set up by some competent striking, though he struggles with fighters that are approaching his level. I would have put Jamie Varner in the former category until a couple of months ago when he revived his career with the upset of the year, crushing Edson Barboza, knocking him out in the first round after having a rough time in fights after losing his WEC belt.

This should be competitive, and is a bit of a pick ’em, though I would expect whoever takes the upper hand early will cruise to victory. Both guys like to start quickly and are difficult to finish, but they’re both kind of flaky too. I’ll back Varner to ward off some early heat from Lauzon and start to control the fight, and cruise to a UD win.

Welterweight – Mike Swick vs. DaMarques Johnson

So Mike Swick returns to action for the first time since February 2010 when he lost to Paulo Thiago at UFC 109. just to put that into perspective, back then Jon Jones was coming off a controversial loss to Matt Hammil, BJ Penn had just dispatched Diego Sanchez and was considered unbeatable and the best lightweight ever and Kimbo Slice was undefeated in the UFC.

Really, who knows what is going to happen after such a long period of time off with such serious illness AND injury. If Swick was fighting a few months after his last fight, I would have no hesitation picking him for this fight. He was quick, strong, and came forward with a dangerous attack of boxing and submissions. DaMarques Johnson is the kind of fighter that loses to the kinds of fighters of Swick’s level. However, who know’s how Mike Swick is going to look. He could come out with a fire lit under his backside and blitz the TUF UK vs. USA runner-up inside the first round, he could play it safe and grind out a terrible decision, or he could be completely overwhelmed and be soundly beaten. It’s hard not to root for Swick given his troubles, and I would like to see him capture his form of old, though if pressed I’d imagine he’ll get a boring win.

Prelims

Definately a set of fights to pay attention to, particularly those taking place at 145lbs or below where pairings of fighters will be engaging in some all-out barnburners. Phil Davis might also provide some entertainment as he takes on the undefeated Brazilian Wagner Prado, but the British heavyweights will most probably fight like British heavyweights and provide the least skilled mixed martial arts of the evening. I suppose there’s always the potential for an explosive/appauling finish though, so there’s always a silver lining (of sorts) to even the least appetising of contests.

Featherweight – Cole Miller vs. Nam Phan

Light heavyweight – Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado

Featherweight – Josh Grispi vs. Rani Yahya

Heavyweight – Phil De Fries vs. Oli Thompson

Featherweight – Manny Gamburyan vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Flyweight – Ulysses Gomez vs. John Moraga

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UFC on FOX 4 pre fight interviews

There’s an avalanche of interviews with the major players of UFC on FOX 4 over on MMAFiighting’s youtube channel, but I’ll provide you with a couple of the choice cuts anyway. Lyoto Machida philosophises about returning from a loss, his fight with Ryan Bader and a potential future at middleweight, and Mike Swick talks about his fight with DaMarques Johnson and his long road to recovery from illness and injury.

Seriously, Swick last fought at UFC 109 in February 2010. FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TEN! Mark Coleman was still fighting back then. Goodness gracious.

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Machida/Bader, Browne/Rothwell fights announced. UFC 146 heavyweight shuffle continues

Machida KOs Randy Couture in Toronto

Joe Silva sure has been a busy boy lately. The biggest announcement over the last couple of days is that Lyoto Machida will square off against Ryan Bader at the UFC‘s 4th Fox show in August. It is a shame to see Lyoto take this amount of time off between fights, but at at least his return will be against high level opposition wiith significance for the future of the division. Bader is on a bit of a roll after wins over Jason Brilz and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, though I think he will find it very difficult to continue that run against Machida who may be 1-3 in his last 3 fights, but who is still one of the very best fighters in the world.

In a small twist to this piece of matchmaking, Bloodyelbow.com reported that Machida was considering a fight at middleweight in the absence of any opportunities at 205.

I was ready to fight but the opportunity was not there. The division is lacking, it’s a bit mixed, and I didn’t know, right (who would be my next opponent)? I even had the intention of fighting at 185lbs so I wouldn’t lose the opportunity of keeping busy. I spoke to Ed Soares and (Jorge Guimarães), but they told me to be patient.

…

Look, I’m a guy that usually weighs at most 96kg (211lbs), so I don’t think there would be a problem fighting (at middleweight). My objective is to fight at (205lbs), but to make a fight at middleweight would not be a problem.

Of course, Machida has no real intention of making a run at middleweight for the time being as his mate Anderson Silva still runs things down there. However, as I have stated before, I think that Anderson will be retiring in the near future so that would leave a division open for a new champion. In a world where Jon Jones runs the light-heavyweight division it may be the karateka’s best chance of regaining UFC gold.

In a fairly quick turnaround for both men, UFC 145 victors Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne have also been matched up for the August show on Fox. Rothwell looked focused and in peak condition for the first time in a long while against Brendan Schaub at UFC 145, and seems like an ideal candidate for the still-undefeated Browne. The UFC is still trying to build up the undefeated Browne, and Rothwell is a step up from Chad Griggs, who Browne faced after a of lacklustre performance against Rob Broughton. However, this is certainly not a gimme fight for Browne, as Rothwell has the potential to ruin all but the best heavyweight’s evenings thanks to his ability to take massive amounts  of punishment and fire back with massive amounts of power.

In UFC 146 news, after stepping in to replace Antonio Silva against Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga has now been replaced by Dave ‘Pee Wee’ Herman after the former UFC title contender picked up an injury. The Nelson/Herman match up is bound to be an all out slug-fest that will be as sloppy as it will be entertaining.

On the UFC 146 Jamie Varner will return to the UFC for the first time since 2007 after putting together a 3-1 run outside of Zuffa promotions. He replaces Evan Dunham for a tough fight against Edson Barboza, who is fighting for the fist time since his memorable KO of Terry Etim in Brazil in January. This is a tough task for Varner and I would expect him to be defeated, though he definitely has a chance to upset the Brazilian if he can use his wrestling effectively.

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UFC 144 thoughts

I didn’t manage to do a full recap over the weekend thanks to the abundance of football on TV and work. Its a big fight week this week,, but I thought I’d recap UFC 144 a bit because of the amount of talking points that emerged.

Benson Henderson defeated Edgar via unanimous decision (49–46, 48–47, 49–46) to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

Fair play to Henderson, he looked good and took the belt from Edgar. I thought the fight was tricky to score, and was vacillating between a narrow Edgar win and a draw on the night, though I was sure that the judges were going to score the fight for Henderson. There is no doubt that he was landing the more powerful strikes, but in some of the rounds it was clear to me that Edgar was out-landing him.

I don’t have a massive problem with the decision, though I do think it would be a little harsh not to give Edgar a rematch. The precedent is there for close title fights to happen all over again, and it was set in Edgar’s title reign as he was forced to fight BJ Penn and Gray Maynard twice. Though it might not be fair on Edgar, I would happily see him step aside if it meant the result was Anthony Pettis vs. Ben Henderson II. Though Saturday’s fight was great, I can’t see a rematch stepping things up a notch and truly providing a fight for the ages, though I could see Pettis/Henderson II doing just that. THeir first fight was amazing, and their high-offence styles should allow for a similar outcome should they fight again.

I also wish people would stop pushing for Edgar to drop to 145 pounds. He is one of the best fighters at lightweight (and still THE best in the eyes of those who scored the fight for him), and arguably the best lightweight ever, as he had the same number of defences as the messianic BJ Penn, beating the Hawaiian twice in the process.. I have no doubt he can make his way back to title contendership and beat anyone in the division. Dana White’s assertion that Edgar won the fight, immediately followed by a call to move down in weight was absurd.

Ryan Bader defeated Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

I know Rampage really wanted to fight in Japan, but if your knee is so bad you look even more of a shadow of your former self the fighting should really not be an option. Apart from the slam that sent waves of PRIDE nostalgia through my veins, Rampage looked poor, and allowed Bader to pick up a nice win that will look good on his record.

I am quite surprised Bader didn’t seriously damage his arm here. Kudos for continuing and winning the fight

Mark Hunt defeated Cheick Kongo via TKO (punches) at 2:11 of round 1.

Well I should have seen this coming. Kongo thought he could strike with Hunt, and was made to look like a fool for doing so. The fight that Mark Hunt is now a top 15 heavyweight is heartwarming, but says a lot for the lack of depth in the division

Jake Shields defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

Another fight where differing opinions on the value of offensive output affected peoples scoring of this fight. There is no doubt that Shields landed more strikes, but they were really weak kicks that did not seem to bother Akiyama too much. I gave the edge to Shields because though Akiyama’s output was certainly more explosive (takedowns included) there wasn’t enough of it. I hope Akiyama stays around in the UFC as his fights are always fun, and I think we could have success against mid-tier welterweights. It would also be slightly harsh to cut him, as he has fought increasingly better and higher ranked fighters each time out, despite losing several fights in a row. I can’t fighure out if anyone has ever done that before. Fighters rarely keep fighting stronger opposition when they are winning fights

Tim Boetsch defeated Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) at 0:54 of round 3.

Okami was in complete control for two rounds, and the fight was playing out exactly as I expected until Boetsch went bananas and threw several wild uppercuts that dropped the former title contender. Dana White’s’ advice to fighters is rarely sound, though his comments that every fighter should behave like Boetsch did if they find themselves in that situation was completely right. The man was heading for a clear loss and the only way to win was by KO. If he’d been knocked out trying he would not have lost anything except for a few seconds of consciousness. He had nothing to lose, and he succeeded in stopping Okami, doubled his wage by getting a win bonus and no-doubt recieeved one of the UFC’s famous locker-room-bonuses for such an outstanding performance. Congratulations to Tim Boetsch.

Hatsu Hioki defeated Bart Palazewski via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29–28).

I’m not sure whether Hioki’s improved performance was down to the lack of jet-lag, but he looked his old self on Saturday. His grappling is masterful and could feasibly give José Aldo some problems.

Anthony Pettis defeated Lauzon via KO (head kick & punches) at 1:21 of round 1.

Nothing more to say about this really, I’ll just provide another look at this magnificent act of violence.

On the Undercard

Takanori Gomi won, but looked awful against Eiji Mitsuoka, he was so close to being finished in round 1 by a blown up featherweight.

‘Kid’ Yamamoto can wave goodbye to the UFC. He was fed an average opponent and still lost. Credit to Vaughn Lee to surviving a dangerous situation, though if Kid had thoron in a few uppercuts in his 1,000 hit combo to Lee’s arms he might not have had the chance to recover.

Riki Fukuda easily handled Steve Cantwell, who will be cut from the organisation

Takeya Mizugaki was ripped off against Chris Cariaso. The UFC generously paid him his win-bonus to compensate him. I think Cariaso could do quite well at flyweight.

Tiequan Zhang is not the big hope for Chinese MMa, he is not a quality fighter and his KO loss to Issei Tamura proved that.

UFC 144: Gambling spotlight [UPDATED]

As usual I’ll be taking all odds from Paddy Power, the best site in the UK for betting on MMA.

All odds are correct at time of writing.

A quick look at how I did for the last event, UFC on Fuel: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger (badly). I had advised caution when thinking about betting on the Struve/Herman, and Simpson/Markes fights, but I failed to heed my own advice and cost myself over £100 in winnings.

£10 on Roberts (void), Dillashaw, Miocic, Brookins – returns £24.07

£2 on Simpson, Salas, Simpson, Roberts (void), Brookins, Ellenberger, Dillashaw, Miocic, Menjivar – loss

£10 on Ellenberger on points, Dillashaw on points, Simpson on points – loss

£5 on Miocic by KO, Herman by KO – loss

Total loss £2.93

Now on to this weekend

Underdog value

Joe Lauzon – I expect Anthony Pettis to win this fight, but Joe Lauzon has won as an underdog before, most notably in his UFC début against lightweight legend Jens Pulver, and last time out against Melvin Guillard, who looked like he was on an unstoppable run to the title. Lauzon’s best attribute is his attack from top-control, and if he can gain dominant position he might have a chance. Pettis is hard to hold down, and even harder to submit, but considering the odds of 15/8 it might be worth a look.

Vaughn Lee – When I first saw this match-up between Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto and unknown British bantamweight Vaughn Lee, my mind immediately cast itself back to Kid’s fight with FedericoLopez in DREAM.  Lopez had a 4-2 record from the U.S. regional circuit and was on a 2 fight losing streak. The fight was made to guarantee the Japanese superstar a win after he’d gone 2 fights and over 2 and a half years without tasting victory.  Lee is 11-7 with only one fight in the UFC, and one loss. However, his record may be slightly misleading seeing as three of his losses were in his first three fights.

At this point ‘Kid’ Yamamoto seems to be out of love with MMA. Several sources indicate that he does not train as hard as he should at his own Krazy-Bee gym, and he is surrounded by ‘yes men’ in his camp that don’t push him hard enough.  One can excuse a loss to Demitrious Johnson, as no-one was quite sure about how good ‘Mighty Mouse’ was at that point, but ‘Kid’ was an overwhelming favourite against Darren Uyenoyama, and he blew that too.

‘Kid’ has claimed he has dealt with injuries that affected him in his previous fights, and if that is the case he should whip Lee all over the octagon, so I wouldn’t advise piling too much money money on the underdog seeing as he is only 11/5. He could be part of a pretty sexy accumulator though.

Eiji Mitsuoka – For similar reasons to the Kid fight, don’t count out Mitsuoka. He is a featherweight facing off against a huge lightweight, and heavy favourite in Gomi. However, Gomi is a shadow of the fighter he was when many considered hi one of the bet pound-for-pound fighters in the world back in the PRIDE days. I am still tempted to back Gomi, but I am told that Mitsuoka is a good featherweight, and could have the tools to upset ‘The Fireball Kid’ if he is not on point. At 6/4 he’d be worth putting in a double

Yoshihiro Akiyama – Will Akiyama finally find success at 170 pounds? If he can stop Shield’s takedown and hit him har early, we could have an upset on our hands. At 15/5 or 8/1 by knockout a speculative bet could earn big rewards.

Other Markets

Decisions

Edgar to beat Henderson at 7/5 – Both fighters are apparently impossible to hold down and submit, or be knocked out if previous fights are anything to go by.

Oakmi to beat Boetsch at 4/7 – Okami is a grinder, and only tends to finish  opponents if he completely outclasses them. Boetsch is solid and should be tricky to finish.

Mizugaki to beat Cariaso at 5/6 – Both fighters have gone the distance in all but one of their fights under the Zuffa banner thus far. I can’t see that changing

Pettis to beat Lauzon at 21/10 – Joe Lauzon has never gone the distance in a fight, but I can’t see either men finishing the fight thank’s to each fighter’s durability and submission defence.

Other worthwhile options

Rampage to KO Bader at 17/10

Kongo to KO Hunt at 5/4, or decision at11/5

Hatsu Hioki to submit Palazewski is 6/1! Crazy odds for such a talented grappler. Playing it safer, if you think ‘Bartimus’ can survive and reach a decision odds are 5/4

DO NOT bet against…

Yushin Okami – The Japanese stand out may have had a tough fight in Rio last August as he was knocked out in the second round, but he was facing the best fighter of all time. Anderson Silva appeared to be toying with Okami, and looked to be able to finish him whenever he wanted, but the same can be said for most of The Spider’s other  opponents, including light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin. Okami is exactly the kind of opponent that forced Tim Boetsch to move down in weight. Someone who can out-muscle him and push him against the fence and take him down. Okami is pretty close to light-heavyweight size and should banish many of the memories of his shot at the title on Saturday night. Okami is completely justified as a 2/7 favourite.

My Picks

Once again, its a card where you’re probably going to find most value betting on the favourites in an accumulator of sorts, though I would suggest caution with Shields and Gomi. Despite their value as underdogs I still expect Lee and Lauzon to be defeated.

Accumulator of Hioki, Mizugaki, Okami, Kongo, Rampage, Edgar

Pettis, Mizugaki, Okami and Edgar on points

Hioki by submission

Akiyama by KO

and probably a couple more 4/5 fight accumulators on favourites, let’s see how much I get paid tomorrow.

[UPDATE] I’ve backed both Kongo and Rampage to win by KO. God knows what Rampage missing weight will mean for his performance, and I’m fairly sure Hunt has a chance of knocking out Kongo, but 6/1 odds isn’t bad.

Countdown to UFC 144

No Primetime this time around for the UFC, but there is the old style Countdown show, featuring 4 of the 7 main card fights

IF nothing else, its a great chance to catch up with highlights of the two Edgar vs. Maynard fights from last year, which are two of the best ever.

Its also nice to have some new fighters featured in the Countdown show. When big names like Rahsad, GSP, Frank Mir et al are endlessly recycled over and over these shows get stale. For the first time fans get an insight into Benson Henderson’s formative years (and Korean heritage, which I had no idea about), which proves to be quite interesting.