UFC 106 Review

UFC 106: Griffin v. Ortiz took place on 11/21/09 and featured nine bouts making the broadcast on Spike and PPV. Forrest Griffin won a narrow split decision to push himself closer to a title shot. Josh Koscheck also moved closer to a title shot with a victory over the uber athletic Anthony Johnson.

Forrest Griffin def Tito Ortiz via split dec- Forrest and Tito battled for three rounds in this compelling three round fight. Tito and Forrest fought a close first round, with Forrest controlling the stand-up and Tito managing to get one takedown. In the second, Tito was able to take advantage of a takedown to land some elbows, opening up a cut on Forrest.

Never one to shy away from blood, Forrest came alive in the third round. Tito cardio started to falter, or he felt he was up on the scorecards. Forrest landed punches and kicks at will, winning the third round in convincing fashion. With the win, look for Forrest to fight Antonio Noguiera or Thiago Silva if he beats Rashad Evans.
*MMA Blaster readers correctly choose Griffin 44-28.

(Forrest Griffin pictured)

Josh Koscheck def Anthony Johnson via sub (RNC) R2, 4:27- The first round saw Anthony Johnson controlling much of the action and defending takedowns. With Koscheck getting up, still on his knees, Johnson threw and elbow and came through with a hand, grazing Koscheck's eye. The round continued with Johnson looking strong.

In the second, a Koscheck open hand punch sunk fingers into Johnson's eye. Johnson appeared shaken, and didn't return to form. Shortly after getting back into action, Koscheck got a takedown and choked out Johnson with a rear naked choke. Koscheck would like to fight number one contender for the 170 pound division, Dan Hardy.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) R1, 1:56- Nogueira's UFC debut was stellar, as his boxing looked crisp as he systematically picked apart Luiz Cane.

Paulo Thiago def Jacob Volkmann via unanimous dec- Thiago controlled the grappling game and managed to land more strikes to win the decision.

Amir Sadollah def Phil Baroni via unanimous dec- Phil Baroni was able to land some power punches and get a takedown in the first round, but Sadollah dominated the clinch and long distance striking from then on. In the third, Baroni slowed down and Sadollah took advantage, peppering him with strikes and clinch work.

Ben Saunders def Marcus Davis via KO (knees) R1, 3:24- Ben Saunders dominated the fight with the use of his devasting thai clinch. Saunders popped Davis with knees from every direction, eventually sending Davis to the canvas.

Kendall Grove def Jake Rosholt via sub (triangle) R1, 3:59- Rosholt dominated the grappling game, getting take downs and landing heavy right hands and knees. However, Rosholt made a wrong move and landed in a triangle choke.

Brian Foster def Brock Larson via TKO (strikes) R2, 3:25- Larson disappointed again, getting run over by Brian Foster. Foster dominated Larson with a heavy dose of ground and pound in the second, stopping the fight.

Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes declared majority draw
George Sotiropoulos def Jason Dent via submission (armbar) R2, 4:36

Elite XC - CBS Style Preview

Elite XC will debut Saturday May 31st on CBS. The fights will be taking place in Newark, New Jersey. Promoter Gary Shaw expects a sellout. He better also help for weather that keeps people indoors on a Saturday night.

Champ Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Scott Smith (13-4)- This Middleweight championship fight will most likely be another stand-up brawl. Both guys are known for standing and trading. Lawler's background in Miletich Fighting would lead you to believe he may try to bring the fight to the ground.

*Promo pic of Robbie Lawler

Kimbo Slice (2-0) v. James Thompson (14-8)- Kimbo and Thompson will more than likely stand and trade punches. The fighter that is able to land more will win, and from what we have seen of Thompson there is a good chance he is the one going down. He has lost his last two fights by way of KO. Kimbo is coming off KO wins of Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott.


Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)- Gina Carano hasn't fought since September of 2007 and has done two seasons of American Gladiators since. Carano will be cutting to make 140 and Young normally fights at 135, so Carano will probably have a strenght advantage. Carano will likely impose her will and utilize her muay thai background. In her last fight, Young lost in BoDog to Sara Schneider. Carano has beaten four quality opponents in a row in Rosi Sexton, Elaina Maxwell, Julie Kedzie and Tonya Evinger.

*MMA Blaster supports women's mma, and is happy to see women on the main card. I do think that Elite XC should try to get some talent from Japan and have a 140 class and a 120 class. Megumi Fugii and Satoko Shinashi are solid, as well as Tara LaRosa.

Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)- Brett "Grim" Rogers will look to stand and drop bombs on Murphy. Rogers stands 6'5" and just makes th 265 pound cutoff. Murphy will probably give up two to three inches and 20 to thirty pounds to Rogers. The fight will probably result in a KO if Murphy cant take down Grim. In his last fight Rogers knocked out Kimbo's opponent, James Thompson.

Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)- The ever confident Baroni has predicted a knock out victory in the first round. That shouldn't come to a surprise with anyone that is familiar with the New York Bad Ass. Villasenor recently won in Strikeforce against Ryan Jensen (11-4).

Online Fights - proelite.com
Wilson Reis vs. Justin Robbins
Matt Makowski vs. Nick Serra
Carlton Haselrig vs. Carlos Moreno
Jim Bova vs. Chris Liguori
James "Binky" Jones vs. Calvin Kattar

Frank Shamrock - MMA Legend

By MMA Blaster

Frank Shamrock (23-8) has had a long MMA career that has had its ups (11 fight win streak, 5-0 UFC) and downs (3 losses in a row). Frank has held belts in the UFC, Pancrase, Strikeforce (current MW champ), WEC and the WKC submission grappling championship (over Dan Henderson). He was initially trained under his brother Ken Shamrock, but has since moved on to his own gym and has trained some of the best in the world. Unfortunately, his IFL team was disbanded as part of their "revamping" period.



Frank started his career in Pancrase on December 16, 1994, were he beat Bas Rutten (28-4) in his first ever MMA bout. He eventually won the King of Pancrase belt from Minoru Suzuki (28-20) and posted victories over Takafumi Ito (33-26), legend Masakatsu Funaki (38-12), Vernon White (25-32) and other veteren Japanese fighters in Pancrase.

Frank Shamrock entered the UFC winning the Middleweight belt (now LHW) over wrestling olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson (4-2) with an arm bar in 16 seconds. He then slammed undefeated Igor Zinoviev (4-1) into retirement in 22 seconds in his first title defense. He subbed Jeremy Horn (79-16) with a kneebar and beatdown John Lober in his next two defenses. Shamrock defended the belt once more in one of the best fights in MMA history against Tito Ortiz (15-5).

After a disagreement with the UFC, Frank left and fought once in K1 beating Elvis Sinosic. In 2003 Frank came back to win the WEC light heavyweight title in 1:47 with an armbar over Brian Pardoe (12-9). Since his comeback in 2006, Frank looked impressive in his wins against Phil Baroni (10-8) and quick KO of Cesar Gracie. Shamrock did not look very good in his DQ loss to Renzo Gracie.

Highlight Video:




Gif of Frank Shamrock v. Phil Baroni at Strikeforce/Elite XC

World Victory Road's March 5 Card

Many of us are waiting for the next incantation of Pride, and World Victory Road may be it. Their debut is a March 5th fight card being held in the National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokoyo, Japan. In addition to announced bouts, Pride LW champ Takanori Gomi is supposed to fight on the card. (Yes, the Nick Diaz fight counts as a LOSS in MMA Blaster's world). Also, Cyborg Santos (15-11) is rumored to be on the card.

Fight Card so far:
Tanakori Gomi (27-4) vs. Duane Ludwig (16-7)
Kazou Misaki (18-8) v. Siyar Bahadurzada (13-1)
Josh Barnett (20-5) v. Hidehiko Yoshida (7-5)
Phil Baroni (10-8) v. Sanea Kikuta (26-6)


NYBA promo pic