Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pee Wee Herman Wins Again

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Emerging heavyweight prospect Dave "Pee Wee" Herman recorded a win over Chris Guillen at a King of Kombat event this Saturday. Herman stopped Guillen at 1:36 of the first round, landing shots to put Guillen to his knees, eventually earning the TKO stoppage.

With the win, Herman is now 13-0, with four straight TKO's in 2008. Under the Elite XC banner, Herman defeated Mario Rinaldi, Ron Waterman and Kerry Schall. Now Herman believes he is free of his Elite XC contract, and stated on Inside MMA that he is looking to get one fight deals and a possible fight in Japan.

Herman, at 6'5", 245 pounds, is a towering heavyweight with natural fighting ability. He is the most intriguing heavyweight prospect out there right now with a wrestling pedigree from University of Indiana coupled with a solid Muay Thai game. Herman doesn't like to delve into his background or training in his interviews. After the Schall fight, he basically said he trained with Frank Mir for a week and trained the rest in his garage. An interesting character to say the least that will be making big money soon enough.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

TUF Episode 10 - Roop's Hand

This episode featured the final first round match-up between lightweights John Polakowski and George Roop. Both are good stand-up fighters, but George believed he held the edge on the ground. Unfortunately for George a few days before his fight he got a finger jammed into the fence and it injured his hand.

The episode featured John's affection for hugs and George's injury. John is seen in a montage giving hugs to all members of both teams including the coaching staff. Funny to see John try to give Mir a hug. The hugs even get to tough guy Junie Browning, as Junie says that he likes the guy.

George's injury seems pretty bad as his hand swelled pretty huge. Throughout the episode the hand was either submerged in water or being massaged.

The fight started with one of the oddest things I've ever seen, a hug in the ring instead of the glove touch. I don't even want to see the glove touch, so I'm definately not a fan. Save the hugging for after the fight.

Roop was able to land some high kicks while John tries to work punches inside. When stepping forward, Roop is able to get a takedown. Roop then lands ground and pound before getting John's back. John is able to reverse and throw some ground and pound of his own to close out the round. I gave the round to Roop.

In the second, Roop eats some hard straight punches to the face and looks rattled. Roop begins throwing punches with his bad hand and eventually gets the takedown. From there he locks in a body triangle with John's back and rides out the fight. I thought the round was pretty even. The decision comes back for George Roop.
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(George Roop pictured)

The final four in each bracket are decided next. Not too many surprises as Junie had previously called out Efrain Escudero and Eliot Marshall called out Ryan Bader. They will be showing two fights in the final two episodes.

LW Match-ups-
Junie Browning(Mir) v. Efrain Escudero(Nog)
George Roop(Mir) v. Phillipe Nover(Nog)

LHW Match-ups-
Eliot Marshall(Mir) v. Ryan Bader(Nog)
Vinny Magalhaes(Mir) v. Krzysztof Soszynski(Mir)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WEC 37 Preview

WEC 37 will be playing prior to the Ultimate Fighter doubleheader. The event will feature a match between two of the best 135 pounders in the game with Miguel Torres putting his title on the line against Manny Tapia. Below are the announced bouts.

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

Champ Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia (BW Title)- expect a scrappy and hard fought match between these two young stars. Torres is lightning quick with excellent grappling. He also has a good muay thai game, with dangerous elbows. He has 15 wins in a row with 3 straight in the WEC. His big wins have come over Chase Beebe, Jeff Bedard, Joe Pearson, and Yoshiro Maeda in a fight of the year fight.

Tapia is known for his boxing and ground and pound offense. He will throw wild and powerful strikes, and may look for the big punch against Torres. This will be Tapia's first fight since a knee injury put him on the shelf for 12 months. His big wins have come over Antonio Banuelos, Shad Smith and Brandon Foxworth.

Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro- The winner of this fight will likely move to the number one contender at 135. Bowles is 6-0, going 3-0 in the WEC so far. His three wins in the WEC came over quality fighters in Damacio Page, Marcos Galvao and Charlie Valencia. Ribeiro is 11-1 with a recent split decision win over Chase Beebe.

Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura- Fabiano (10-1) was the IFL's only 145 pound champion. He is extremely fast with a fantastic submission game. He went 6-0 in the IFL with 5 submissions and a KO over Shad Lierley. Tamura is a Shooto veteran with wins over top fighters Takeshi "Lion Takeshi" Inoue and a recent win over Ruminato Sato.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez- Benavidez is a strong prospect with an 8-0 record, with a recent win at Dream 5 over Junya Kudo. Martinez has a record of 12-2, with three straight wins.

Justin Haskins vs. Johny Hendricks- Johny Hendricks is a former NCAA Champion wrestler with lightning fast takedowns. Hendricks won the 2005 and 2006 championships at 165 pounds. He placed second in 2007. Haskins will want to keep the fight standing or look for a submission off his back. Haskins has a 4-1 record. Hendricks is 3-0 with two TKO's and a D'Arce choke victory.

PRELIMS (UN-TELEVISED)

Alex Karalexis vs. Bart Palaszewski- This is IFL star Bart Palaszewski's first bout in the WEC. The hard puncher will be looking for a knockout. Karalexis had three wins in the WEC before losing to Ed 9mm Ratliff.
Ricardo Barros vs. Mark Munoz
Blas Avena vs. Kevin Knabjian
Diego Nunes vs. Cole Province
Cub Swanson vs. Hirouki Takaya
Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik


Miguel Torres Pictures, Images and Photos
(Miguel Torres pictured)

UFC Cutting Fighters Quick

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

UPDATE- Looks like Fitch is back with the organization. I'm guessing that he signed his likeness away to the UFC.

It is being widely reported that the UFC will be cutting Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Cain Valesquez, and various other star fighters from American Kickboxing Academy(AKA). The move has come over a contractual dispute regarding fighter likeness in video games.

Apparently, the UFC came to the fighters and requested that they sign away all rights to their likeness for life to the UFC. If they didn't sign, the existing contracts would be ripped up and the fighters cut. Fitch explained that the would sign away for five years or ten years, but not for life.

Dana White, not pleased with the fighters actions, decided to cut the fighters rather than negotiate.

I find that the move represents a unilateral action by the UFC that will only benefit private shareholders of the organization. The video games, DVD's, and clip shows will continue to make money in perpetuity forever. The fighters will not see a dime of that money under the deal Dana wants to force on them. That deal hardly seems to provide any consideration to the fighters.

Dana's main counter was that Jon Fitch made $169,000 from the title fight with Georges St. Pierre, and that Fitch couldn't get that type of money elsewhere. I think Dana is missing the boat with this argument. It isn't about pay for a fight, it is about the UFC being able to make money over the likeness of a fighter for no compensation.

In video games for the NFL, NBA, and MLB, the players association collects a sum of money from the league for use of the likeness and distribute the money. EA recently had to pay former stars of the NFL over 20 million dollars for using their likeness in video games. In the games, former stars names weren't listed, but the exact height, weight, and number were used.

I believe that fighters that appear in the video games should be paid accordingly. It is simply unfair to allow the UFC to unilaterally collect all the revenue for the game. You aren't fighting in the game with a Dana White character.
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(Jon Fitch pictured)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

UFC 91 Recap

The Brock Lesnar era has officially begun as the behemouth secured his first MMA title in the form of the UFC heavyweight title belt. The card scored a live gate of 4.8 million in a sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I'll keep you posted on the ppv numbers, I believe it will probably break the mma record. I was happy each fight made it to air, as only one fight went to decision. UFC 91 turned out a very good card with exciting fights.
Brock Lesnar Pictures, Images and Photos
(Brock Lesnar pictured)

Matt Brown def Ryan Thomas via Submission (Armbar), R2 0:57
- Ryan Thomas was consistently able to get takedowns on Matt Brown throughout the fight. However, Brown was able to continue to work his submission game and eventually got Ryan Thomas to over commit on the ground. Thomas ended up in a tight armbar, and was unable to slam his way out of it.

Mark Bocek def Alvin Robinson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), R3 3:16- Bocek out grappled Robinson throughout the fight, keeping Robinson in bad positions. Bocek landed hard punches throughout the fight and it was only a matter of time before he locked up the choke after being extremely calm while having Robinson's back.

Jeremy Stephens def Rafael dos Anjos via KO (uppercut), R3 0:39- This was an awesome fight as Stephens came back from after losing the first two rounds. Dos Anjos had Stephens in near submissions. In the third round, Stephens loaded up a massive uppercut that found its mark directly to dos Anjos jaw droppin gthe fighter to the ground.
*Given KO of the night fight bonus.

Aaron Riley def Jorge Gurgel via Decision (Unanimous)-
This fight was shown after the Lesnar v. Couture fight. The fight boiled down to a kickboxing match and both fighters were content to stand and trade. Riley was a little more crisp with his punches, many of which found their mark. Gurgel scored consistently with body and leg kicks. Riley had a couple takedowns and controlled the fight more than Gurgel. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Riley.
*Both fighters awarded fight of the night bonuses.

Demian Maia def Nate Quarry via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), R1 2:13- Maia put on yet another awesome display of ju-jitsu against the hard hitting Nate Quarry. Maia pulled guard, executed a sweep and then eventually got Quarry's back. From there it was only a matter of time before Maia secured the rear naked choke. Maia now has 4 straight submission wins in the UFC and is 9-0 overall. Maia is rumored to be a possible coach for the next TUF reality show.

Gabriel Gonzaga def Josh Hendricks via KO (Punches), R1 1:01-
Gonzaga was just too much for Hendricks in this heavyweight clash. Hendricks and Gonzaga clinched before Gonzaga landed a hook and then put a perfect right straigt to Hendricks to drop him. Gonzaga put a couple more punches before the fight was called. Gonzaga has two straight quick victories since his back to back defeats to Couture and Werdum.

Dustin Hazelett def Tamdan McCrory via Submission (Reverse Armbar), R1 3:59- Hazelett withstood an early McCrory flurry to throw a nice high kick that partially connected. When the fight went to the mat, Hazelett looked slick. Hazelett transitioned from an omaplata to a reverse armbar for the finish. Hazelett stated he wanted to be the top BJJ guy in the 170 pound division. That was Hazelett's second win in a row since a loss to Josh Koscheck. Both came via submission.
*Hazelett awarded submission of the night.

Kenny Florian def Joe Stevenson via Submission (Rear-naked choke), R1 4:03- Florian continued on his dominant run imposing his will on Joe Stevenson. Landing some strikes, Florian was taken down, but got back up. Once up, Florian got his own takedown before delivering a nasty right hand. He next mounted Stevenson and eventually got the rear naked choke. With the victory, Florian has set himself up for a title shot against BJ Penn. Florian now has 6 wins straight in the UFC since a title loss to Sean Sherk. All wins have come via submission or TKO.
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(Pictured Kenny Florian)

Brock Lesnar def Randy Couture via TKO (Punches), R2 3:07- This fight lived up to the hype as it had everyone in the bar I was at on their feet. Lesnar, an NCAA champion in wrestling, has legitimized his status of an elite mixed martial artist with the win. Lesnar used his size to his advantage in the first round, as it appeared Couture was using more energy in the first. Lesnar and Couture each threw knee's from the clinch, but Lesnar landed them more effectively. Couture punched well in the clinch, sneaking a couple in to Lesnar's face.

In the second, Lesnar landed a punch and elbow in the clinch dazing Couture. From there he threw a massive overhand right that hit Couture near the back of the head. Lesnar followed Couture to the ground and unleased about 10 or more hammerfists to the face before the ref stopped the fight. Lesnar captures the UFC HW belt. "I can't believe it" proclaimed the new champ.

*Lesnar will face the winner of Frank Mir v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira next.
*I still can't believe that people don't arrive till the 3rd or 4th fight in Vegas.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

TUF 8 - Krzysztof Style

This episode features a fight between Kyle Kingsbury and Krzysztof Soszynski. Krzysztof is a former fighter from the IFL who holds an armbar victory over Devin Cole and a unanimous decision over Dan Christison at heavyweight. Kingsbury is a former football player for Arizona State University who holds a 7-1 record and has been fighting since June of 2006. Apparently he had only 6 months of ground training before the fight and also came down from heavyweight.

Before the fight, we get to see last week's loser Dave Kaplan hit the bottle. Tom Lawlor and Dave down a bottle of vodka and get a little crazy. Apparently some antics were editted at the last second and that was probably a good idea. Dave says, "I can not be knocked out" and begs Tom to punch him in the face. Finally, Dave is struck in the jaw by Tom and Dave goes completely limp before waking up a few seconds later. Dave still denied being unconscious. Delusional?

Next, the coaches challenge goes down. Mir basically starts hyping himself up again stating that he can beat Nogueira in any contest. Nogueira stated that while soccer is Brazil's number one sport, he was very bad as a kid and never really played. Despite those words, Noguera is physched about winning the 10K for himself and a grand for each of his players. Mir doesn't put much effort in the game and ends up losing to Nogueira who dives after balls and gets into it.

The fight starts and Krzysztof lands a couple punches to Kyle's face. They get to the fence and Kyle lands a couple knees, one of them getting a little close to the cup. After the break-up, the fighters end up in the same position. This time Kyle gets underhooks and gets a takedown. Unfortunately, Kyle doesn't posture quick enough and gets stuck in an armbar.

Kyle takes the loss in stride and tries to pump up his other teammates. Krzysztof meanwhile is icing his injured thumb. He hurt his hand in his first fight and the thumb is still bothering him. We'll see if it affects his performance in the next round.
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Saturday, November 8, 2008

UFC 94 Press Conference: GSP v. Silva Next?

Here is the press conference for UFC 94. Around 6:24 in, Dana White says GSP will get Anderson Silva if he wins. Interesting fight.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

WEC Results - Champions Fall

(FW Champ) Mike Thomas Brown def Urijah Faber via TKO (Punches)- R1, 2:23- The former champ Urijah Faber lost his belt in a quick 145 pound contest. Both fighters looked to exchange from the start infront of the Florida crowd. After a couple exchanges, Brown hit Urijah with a punch to the temple. Urijah was stunned but kept fighting, trying a standing elbow. Unfortunately for Urijah, Brown countered with an uppercut that sent the former champ to the canvas. While on his knees, Urijah wasn't moving and Brown was throwing punches until the ref called it.

"I don't have a lot of knockouts on my record, but I [expletive] hit hard," Brown said. Brown took the belt as tears rolled down his face. It was the biggest win of Brown's solid mma career.

Mike Thomas Brown Pictures, Images and Photos

Chael Sonnen def Paulo Filho via Decision (Unanimous)- Filho came out to a chorus of boo's which didn't stop the entire fight. Filho looked off his came from the start. He tried to shoot in a couple times, but after unsuccessful, was gassed and didn't do much. Filho looked off to his corner and into space. Really boring fight that ended in Chael landing jabs, getting a couple takedowns and kicking Filho's legs as he sat in guard. Chael won 30-27 on all cards.

Leonard Garcia def Jens Pulver via TKO (Punches)- R1, 1:12- The third champ to lose was Jens Pulver who took some vicious strikes from Leonard Garcia. Garcia looked loose as used two quick right hands to stun Pulver. Garcia rushed and laid on the pressure to Pulver as he laid against the fence absorbing punishment until the ref called it.
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Jake Rosholt def Nissen Osterneck via TKO (Punches)- R2, 3:48- Rosholt is an NCAA champ, but still has much to learn in the stand-up game before he goes to the UFC. Rosholt ate punch after punch from Nissen standing, but anytime he got in trouble found a takedown. From his back, Nissen was attempting submissions, but Rosholt was just too strong. This was a back and forth match that made for my favorite of the night. After weathering more punches and getting mount in the second, Rosholt sealed the victory as the fight was called.

Aaron Simpson def David Avellan via KO (punch)- R1, 0:18- The fighters danced before Simpson threw a nasty overhand with all his body striking Avellan in the chin. Avellan was out, but Simpson threw a couple light punches before the ref stepped in. One of the nastier KO's that have been seen in some time.

Not Broadcast
Donald Cerrone def Rob McCullough via unanimous decision
Jose Aldo def Jonathan Brookings via TKO (strikes)- R3, 0:45
Carmelo Marrero def Steve Steinbess via split decision
Danny Castillo def Rafael Dias via TKO (strikes)- R2, 2:54
Rani Yayha def Yoshiro Maeda via sub (guillotine choke)- R1, 3:30

The Lethal Leprechaun - Larry Landry

Exclusive interview - MMA Blaster

Featherweight mixed martial artist Larry Landry pulled off the biggest win of his career October 25, 2008, in a stunning come from behind victory against Shah Bobonis at ICF: Power of Champions at Parris Island, South Carolina. The victory was the biggest of Larry’s mma career and got the hometown crowd whipped up into a frenzy.

Larry was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana before moving to Beaufort South Carolina. With his father in the Marines, Larry moved quite a bit in his childhood. After high school, Larry enlisted in the Navy. While in the Navy, Larry delved into combat sports for the first time picking up boxing. Larry found himself on the Navy boxing team and enjoyed the competition.

After his Navy career, Larry boxed professionally from early 1997 until the end of 1998. Larry had mixed results in his boxing career finishing up with an even 500 record. He beat some tough opponents that turned out to become major stars. Larry fought Dorin Spivey, who won two National Boxing Association featherweight titles, Roberto Nunez, who fought for WBO lightweight championship, and DeMarcus Corley, who fought for the WBC light welterweight titles.

Larry’s boxing career stalled after dropped a controversial decision for the Carolina Boxing Title in which he thought he clearly won. When speaking of some possible corruption in the boxing world, Larry remarked, “Man, there were some times that promoters found guys off the street on the way to the event in order to get their guys wins.”

At this point in his life Larry was working as a firefighter and began to develop serious strength. “I was doing the firefighter competitions that you see on TV,” said Larry. “That is the toughest workout out there is, dragging hoses, ladders, it really tires you out. It really is the best cardio workout.”

While working as a fire fighter, Larry maintained his conditioning and eventually wanted to compete again. He began watching the UFC and became interested. Larry said, “I was living in Atlanta at the time and went to a gym called Knuckle Up Fitness. They knew I had boxed before and that I wanted to compete. They told me weigh-ins were the next day if I was interested. I decided to go for it and fought Micah Miller.”

During his first fight with one day of training under his belt, Larry clinched with Miller, and Miller struck his thumb deep into Larry’s eye. The thumb detached Larry’s cornea from the retina. Despite the injury, Larry went out and fought six fights over the course of the year while basically blind in one eye. In his next fight, Larry injured his hand, specifically breaking the right index finger and middle finger knuckle. When he went to the doctor for the hand, he found himself getting prepped for eye surgery.

Larry was rushed to surgery immediately, and the doctors pulled his eye out of the socket, cleared out scar tissue, and used gas to deflate the eye and put it back in the socket. The surgery left Larry with the ability to see out of the eye. His hand was also fixed and placed in a cast.

With his injuries taken care of, Larry returned to mixed martial arts more focused. He began training harder and trying to get more work done in the gym. When describing his early training, Larry said, “I made a dummy out of sweats and would drill with it. I’d watch UFC tapes and other stuff and try to practice the moves. Regular training just didn’t exist. I would have people hold mitts for me. But I worked hard.”

Larry has since pulled off three victories in a row now, with his latest over Shah Bobonis for the 145 pound ICF title. When asked about the spinning backfist and kick that Larry absorbed, he remarked, “[t]he thing about the spinning backfist is that it is an awkward move. It’s like a superman punch in that it gets you off your rhythm. He got me with that and the high kick. It hit me and I just kept coming, I’m lucky I was biting down on my mouthpiece and my chin was down. I knew Shah was fast and I was trying to cut the cage off. Once I got the fight near the fence, he threw a straight punch and I countered with my right hook. My right hook is quick and short and landed to his temple before he hit me with the straight. After the hook landed he was stunned and I got the takedown and rear naked choke.”

Larry’s fight game has changed dramatically from his first fight until now, he said, “it is night and day. I workout at the Compound gym out here in Oceanside California. Brian has helped a great deal with my ju-jitsu at North County Fight Club. There is a Master Sergeant Jacobs that will come by and work mitts for me on base when I’m not at the gym. I still do cardio by myself in the mornings. I’ll do sprints with a weight vest on and weights on my thighs, pull-ups, weights in a cycle. Sundays I’ll do private jiu-jitsu at Brian’s house. I can roll with purple belts now and prevent the submissions, I might not be able to get them, but I can defend well now.”

When asked about the origins of the nickname Lethal Leprechaun, Larry said, “My Mom’s side of the family is strong Irish and Scottish background. Some buddies started calling me that and it stuck.”

Larry’s wife Tammy has been a constant supporter of his during his mma career. She is an active duty Marine Gunnery Sergeant who has seen time in Iraq. “When she was in Iraq, we only had one kid, now we have two. I had four or five fights when she was gone. It was tough getting everything together, but we got it done," Larry said.

Larry is a strong fighter, and when asked about the strengths of the mma game he said, “my physical strength. I’m as strong as any 21 year old out there. I have good striking and boxing, especially my right hook. I might not be the fastest guy, but I have good reaction time and can explode. I can also take a punch, that can’t be taught.”

Larry wanted to thank sponsors Triumph United, Compound MMA, Brian Whiteaker Ford, Quick and Painful, Mad Beatings and Omega Attire. If anyone is interested in sponsoring Larry, check him out in my top friends on myspace. We should see Larry defend his title early in 2009.

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*Larry in a firefighter competition

Sengoku 6 Results

I'm still trying to locate all the fights from World Victory Road's Sengoku 6. In a shocking upset, Takanori Gomi lost a somewhat controversial split decision to Sergey Golyaev. Jorge Santiago added a second tournment title as he becomes one of the hottest 185 pound fighters outside the UFC. Satoru Kitaoka won the lightweight tournament title.

Jorge Santiago def Kazuhiro Nakamura via TKO- R3, 0:49
Satoru Kitaoka def Kazunori Yokota via unanimous decision
Sergey Golyaev def Takanori Gomi via split decision
Muhammed Lawal def Fabio Silva via TKO- R3, 0:41
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def Moise Rimbon via unanimous decision
Jorge Masvidal def Seung Hwan Bang via unanimous decision
Joe Doerksen def Izuru Takeuchi via TKO- R3, 4:13
Satoru Kitaoka def Eiji Mitsuoka via sub (heel hook)- R1, 1:16
Kazunori Yokota def Mizuto Hirota via unanimous decision
Kazuhiro Nakamura def Yuki Sasaki via unanimous decision
Jorge Santiago def Siyar Bahadurzada via sub (heel hook)- R1, 1:10
Jorge Santiago Pictures, Images and Photos
*Pic of MW Champ Jorge Santiago

Kitaoka vs. Mitsuoka

Santiago v. Bahadurzada

TUF Episode 8 - Oddball Edition

This episode featured a fight between 155 pound fighters Dave Kaplan and Phillipe Nover. What ensued before the fight was one of the more bizarre and crazy displays ever seen on an episode of The Ultimate Fighter.

After seeing a recap of the Vinny Magalhaes victory over Jules Bruchez things go off base. At the house, bored Team Nogueira fighters decide to steal Tom Lawlor's fruit tray. While on the show, fighters can put anything on a wish list for the producers to get. Lawlor keeps asking for his fruit tray, and it is eaten prior to him getting home from practice.

With Lawlor getting more peeved he decides to retaliate. He does so by urinating in his own fruit tray that he recently got. Then Shane Nelson, Vinny and Junie decide to add a little of their own flavor to the tray. On cue, Ryan Bader of Team Nogueira grabs the tray after practice and the team eats it. Lawlor has a good time telling them that there was pee in the tray. While Kyle and Bader don't seem to care, Phillipe is freaking out.

The retailiation, Phillipe has noticed that his sushi he orders keeps getting eaten. Knowing that it is probably Dave Kaplan from Team Mir, he tries to brainstorm a way to get back at him. Kyle Kingsbury figures a good way would be to bust one out on the sushi. Lets just say, Kaplan ate it and threatened to poop in everyone's stuff.

The next Fear Factor like moment came when Phillipe ordered a Filipino and Asian delicacy called Balut for his teammates. It is a fertilized duck egg, just about ready to hatch. Phillipe goes first, eating his Balut and egging on his teammates to try. Of course, Kyle Kingsbury is the first to join in with Bader and others giving it a try. They say it tastes like egg with the dark meat of a chicken.

In between, Junie complains that his team isn't training and tries to give Phillipe some advice going into the bout. If anything, it just gives Phillipe more confidence. Junie is annoyed with Kaplan's self confidence and Kaplan thinking he is smart. Kaplan rattles off capitols of various countries, including Zaire, now known as the Republic of Congo.

Finally, the fight occurs and Phillipe is very impressive. He blasts Kaplan with three unanswered punches, gets the takedown and rear naked choke. Everyone was impressed with his performance, including Dana White, who commented that Phillipe looked like a young version of GSP.

A defeated Dave Kaplan with his eye busted up still thinks he should have won the fight and is a better fighter than Phillipe. To close the show, Mir says, New Zealand, and Kaplan rattles back, Wellington. Now that is deadpan comedy.
Balut Pictures, Images and Photos

Teams are tied with 3 wins each, (Team Mir italics)
Second round LHW- Ryan Bader, Vinny Magalhaes, Eliot Marshall
Second round LW- Phillipe Nover, Efrain Escudero, Junie Browning

Two fights remain in the first round - LHW- Kyle Kingsbury v. Krystof Soszynski and LW- John Polakowski v. George Roop.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Video of the Day - Evinger v. Kedzie

Here is Tonya Evinger v. Julie Kedzie in Elite XC. Elite XC is currently in limbo as their assets will probably be sold soon.

MMA Blaster One Year Old

MMA Blaster has turned one year old and has accumulated over 70,000 hits to date. I'd like to think all the mixed martial artists who have taken time out of their day to do interviews. No matter where my real job takes me, MMA Blaster will live on and add something to the best sport in the world, MMA.
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Saturday, November 1, 2008

UFC 91 Preview

UFC 91 will be held in Las Vegas on November 15, 2008. I'll probably be watching at a local watering hole here in Chicago. With the drawing power of Lesnar and Couture, the ppv buy record for an MMA broadcast will probably be shattered. All fighters made weight with Randy Couture tipping the scales at 220 pounds. Brock Lesnar weighed the max at 265. In the other HW clash, Gabriel Gonzaga came in at 256 while Josh Hendricks came in at 238.

Randy Couture (16-8, 13-5 UFC) vs. Brock Lesnar (2-1, 1-1 UFC)- This is the main event for the UFC Heavyweight title. Couture has been absent from the cage for 14 months while involved in a contract dispute. It is still unclear what Couture will do after this fight as he wants a fight with Fedor.

Couture beat Tim Sylvia to win the HW belt and defeated Gabriel Gonzaga in his title defense. Prior to that fight Couture had lost to Chuck Liddell at 205 pounds in 2006. Couture has been fighting since 1997, winning a four man tournament at UFC 13 in his debut. Couture's big wins have been against Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Pedro Rizzo, Kevin Randleman, Maurice Smith and one victory over Chuck Liddell (2 losses to Liddell).
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Lesnar is a NCAA HW Champion wrestler at the University of Minnesota and placed second in his junior year. Lesnar destroyed Min Soo Kim in his debut with K-1 Hero's(now Dream) with a takedown and ground and pound. He lost his UFC debut to Frank Mir, despite laying a beating on Mir for the first 1:15 of the fight. Unfortunately, Brock got a little overconfident and lost via kneebar. In his last fight he dominated veteran fighter Heath Herring in a decision.

Both fighters are legit wrestlers with power. Couture has a big advantage in terms of experience, but on the flipside is 45 year old and not getting any younger. Couture will look to use dirty boxing in the clinch to win. He will also have to be ready to fight off his back as Lesnar has excellent takedowns.

Lesnar will look to use his speed to get a takedown. From there he has to make his punches count and defend submissions against the cagey veteran. Lesnar will come in with a sizable weight advantage, probably 40+ pounds. Lesnar is also deceptively quick and athletic for his size.
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Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (29-8)- This fight will be for a shot at BJ Penn's 155 pound crown. Expect Florian to try to keep the fight standing where he has been improving his Muay Thai game. Expect Stevenson to attempt to get the fight to the ground where he can try to utilize his ground game. Stevenson received his BJJ black belt recently.
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Florian is on quite a roll in his UFC career since his loss to Sean Sherk for the 155 pound title. He has beaten Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson, Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon and Roger Huerta. Stevenson recently defeated Gleison Tibau via guillotine choke. Stevenson also holds wins over Yves Edwards, Kurt Pellegrino and Melvin Guillard and Luke Cummo in the UFC.
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Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3) vs. Josh Hendricks (15-4)- Gonzaga is coming off a kimura win over Justin McCulley after back to back TKO losses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum. Gonzaga is 5-2 in the UFC with wins over Cro Cop, Carmelo Marrero and Fabiano Scherner. Hendricks is a two-time All American wrestler who has won his past 10 fights. His best wins have come against Todd Brown (4-1) and Steve Conkel (13-4).

Demian Maia (8-0) vs. Nate Quarry (10-2)- This is the classic grappler v. striker match-up. Maia has some of the best BJJ on the planet. He has submission wins over Jason MacDonald, Ed Herman, and Ryan Jensen inside the UFC. Look for Maia to do everything in his power to get the fight to the ground.

Quarry on the other hand will look to keep the fight standing. Quarry is coming off a lackluster win over Kalib Starnes and a KO of Pete Sell. Quarry also has wins over Lodune Sincaid and Shonie Carter on his resume.

Dustin Hazelett (11-4) vs. Tamdan McCrory (9-1)- I'd really like to see this bout make the televised portion of the event. Hazelett is a BJJ black belt who is a master on the ground. He has submissions over Josh Burkman, Steven Lynch and Jonathan Goulet in the UFC. McCrory is a young up and comer, having beat Pete Spratt and Luke Cummo in the UFC.

Undercard

Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Mark Bocek vs. Alvin Robinson
Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas


Nick Catone (5-0) vs. Amir Sadollah (1-0)- Unfortunately, this bout was scratched as Amir Sadollah has a leg infection.

Elite XC Goes Under!

Story by MMA Blaster

It appears that the paperwork has been filed and Elite XC has kicked the proverbial bucket. Their assets will be sold at public auction shortly. I enjoyed the promotion as they had some great fighters and put on a decent card. There are quite a few top free agents that will hit the market in the short term. Here are some of the Elite XC fighter list.

Eddie Alvarez- After his performance in the Dream lightweight tournament, Alvarez will most likely continue to see big paydays in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fight on New Years Eve versus Joachim Hansen. Alvarez is an extremely exciting young fighters with wins over Tatsuya Kawajiri, Joachim Hansen, Andre Amade, Aaron Riley, Derrick Noble, Matt Lee and Ross Ebanez.
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Nick Diaz- Diaz probably wants to remain fighting at a catch-weight of 160. He has many fights he can do in Japan against the aforementioned Alvarez, a rematch with Takanori Gomi in World Victor Road, Shinya Aoki or many others. His brother has been on a roll in the UFC, and it is unlikely the UFC wants to deal with him.


Jake Shields
- Shields already has called out Georges St. Pierre at a press conference after a quick win against Nick Thompson to get the WW Elite XC belt. He may of eaten some punches, but he was also able to finish off Paul Daley in his latest defense. With few good opponents at 170 for Jake to fight, the UFC has intriguing match-ups. Shields holds wins over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Nick Thompson, Mike Pyle, Dave Menne and Hayato Sakurai.
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Dave "Pee Wee" Herman- Herman at (12-0) has destroyed his last three opponents in Elite XC, veterans Mario Rinaldi, Ron Waterman and Kerry Schall. At 6'5", the agile 245 pound heavyweight should be the coveted young heavyweight the UFC desperately needs. Herman could go to the new ESPN league or World Victory Road Sengoku as well.

Brett Rogers- The large 6'5" 265 pound heavyweight throws some heavy hands. At 8-0, it is unknown whether or not he can fight from the ground. He does have knock-out power and could be a big draw one day. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fight in whatever promotion offers the most cash. That could be Sengoku.

Robbie Lawler- The hard hitting Elite XC MW champ would fit in well in a UFC MW class looking for a striker to fight Anderson Silva. Lawler has 6 straight wins including KO victories against Scott Smith, Ninja Rua, Frank Trigg and Joey Villasenor. Strikeforce could also be a possibility for a match-up with Cung Le. Lawler was at the recent UFC 90 event in Chicago.

Antonio Silva- Bigfoot will more command more dollars than the UFC will give to him. He will either choose Affliction for the possible big fights or Sengoku. Silva also has had problems with athletic commissions in the USA, which might be a factor in seeing him go to Japan. Silva has wins over Ricco Rodriguez, Justin Eilers and Cabbage.

Gina Carano- A fight between Carano and Tara LaRosa would be a good fight for women's mma if Carano went to the AFL. Carano has looked impressive in all her 7 victories. 140 is not a good weight class for her. If Affliction starts women's mma, they may also be bidding for Carano's services. Strikeforce has some women on their roster, that might also be a logical choice.
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Kimbo Slice- Kimbo has stated that he wants to fight in Japan. The Japanese love larger than life characters, and Kimbo fits that mold. While Kimbo may not have the best skills in mma, he is a legit draw. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fight in Dream or Sengoku against another larger than life character.
Kimbo Slice Pictures, Images and Photos
AFL