Showing posts with label Rory Markum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rory Markum. Show all posts

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Video of the Day - Markum v. Pyle

Here is Rory Markum v. Mike Pyle from the IFL: Legends which took place on 4/29/06. Markham next fights Nate Diaz at UFC 111.

Monday, February 2, 2009

UFC 95 Preview

UFC 95 will be taking place this Saturday in London, England. Lucky for us fans, the event will be shown live on Spike TV. All fighters made weight and will be ready to go tomorrow.

Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson- The main event pits two TUF champs against eachother in a 155 pound bout. This will be Diego's first match at 155 pounds. I expect Diego to try to keep the fight standing, attempting to utilize his reach advantage. Stevenson will likely try to take the fight to the ground looking for ground and pound.

Sanchez (19-2) has been on a roll beating Luigi Fioravanti and David Bielkheden in his last two bouts. Previous to those bouts, Diego lost two decisions to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, while battling a staff infection that took a chunk out of his leg. Diego has big wins against Kenny Florian, Jorge Santiago, Joe Riggs, Nick Diaz and Karo Parisyan.
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(Diego Sanchez pictured)

Joe Stevenson (29-9) enters this bout needing a win to stay relevant as a contender in the 155 pound division. In his last three bouts he has lost to #1 contender Kenny Florian, beat Gleison Tibau, and lost a title fight with BJ Penn. Stevenson has been fighting since he was 17 and has big wins over Melvin Guillard, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Luke Cummo and Kurt Pellegrino.
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(Joe Stevenson pictured)

Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham- This fight pits hometown English fighter Dan Hardy (20-6) against hard hitting Midwestern brawler Rory Markham (16-4). In Markham's debut, he destroyed Brodie Farbar with the nastiest head kick of 2008. He will be looking to brawl and get the KO of the night. In his 16 wins, he has 11 KO/TKO's and 5 submissions. Markum's big wins have come over Brad Blackburn, Pat Healy and Mike Pyle.
Markham vs Farber Pictures, Images and Photos
(Rory Markham gif)

Dan Hardy is a solid fighter with technically sound stand-up. At 6 feet tall, he usually has a reach advantage when he fights. Hardy won a razor thin split decision over Akihiro Gono in his UFC debut. Hardy's big wins have come over Hidetaka Monma, Chad Reiner and Daniel Weichel.
Dan Hardy Pictures, Images and Photos
Dan Hardy pictured

Wilson Gouveia vs. Nate Marquardt- A win by each of these 185 pound vets would put them that much closer to a potential title shot. Marquardt (27-8-2) is a former King of Pancrase who has gone 6-2 in the UFC. In his last fight he overwelmed Martin Kampmann in a first round TKO. Marquardt has victories over Jeremy Horn, Dean Lister, Joe Doerksen, Kazou Misaki and Yves Edwards. Look for Marquardt to take Gouveia to the mat.
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(Nate Marquardt pictured)

Wilson Gouveia (12-5) started at 205 pounds in the UFC before moving down to the 185 pound division. The American Top Team fighter mainly can strike and has a BJJ blackbelt. Gouveia has 7 submission and 4 (T)KO wins with victories over Jason MacDonald, Jason Lambert, Jon Fitch and Seth Petruzelli in his career.

Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen- This bout would seem to be a grappling war. BJJ blackbelt Demian Maia has made everyone he's fought in the UFC look out of his league. Chael Sonnen is a superb wresler who will probably stand and trade with Maia, using his wrestling to keep the fight standing.

Demian Maia (9-0) has dazzled submitting each of his four UFC opponents. He has wins over Nate Quarry, Jason MacDonald, Ed Herman and Ryan Jensen in the UFC, securing submission of the night honors three times. Maia also won the 2007 ADCC submission grappling 83 KG division.

Chael Sonnen (21-9) has gone 7-1 in his last eight fights beating Paulo Filho in an odd bout in the WEC. Since the 185 pound division dissolved, Chael made the jump to the UFC, his second stint in the promotion. Chael's career has seen him defeat Tim Credeur, Amar Suloev, Trevor Prangley and Jason "Mayhem" Miller.

Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago- TUF 1 alumnus Josh Koscheck (12-3) is coming off a highlight reel KO victory over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Josh is a highly decorated wrestler who has devoted himself to learning the striking game. Koscheck has victories over Diego Sanchez, Dustin Hazelett and Dave Menne in the UFC.

Paul Thiago (10-0) is a relevative unknown in this fight. He has fouht primarily in the Brazilian promotion Jungle Fight. This will be his first fight in the United States. He has 7 submission victories with a win over Luis Dutra Jr.(7-2) and Ferrid Kheder (10-4).

UNDERCARD

Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
Brian Cobb vs. Terry Etim
Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Neil Grove
Evan Dunham vs. Per Eklund

Thursday, January 8, 2009

MMA Blaster 2008 Awards

2008 was an awesome year for mixed martial arts. With the year wrapped, I've got some awards to hand out. They choices were difficult, so if you have any some comments feel free to leave them.

Fighter of the Year (UFC)- Anderson Silva- Anderson remained dominant in 2008 as he defended the MW belt with wins over Dan Henderson and Patrick Cote. He also defeated James Irvin in a match at 205 pounds for three wins in the UFC for 2008. As usual, Anderson did not let any match go to the judges hands. He won over Henderson via rear naked choke, Irvin via nasty KO, and Cote after he injured his knee. It was also nice to see him appear on The Ultimate Fighter Season 8.
Anderson Silva Pictures, Images and Photos
(Anderson Silva pictured)

*Runner-up- Rashad Evans- won twice over top ten opponents, defeating Chuck Liddell via first round KO to get the number one contender spot and then Forrest Griffin via TKO for the LHW belt.
*Runner-up- BJ Penn- won twice over top ten opponents, defeating Joe Stevenson for the LW belt via rear naked choke then Sean Sherk in a great fight where BJ finsihed sending Sherk to the fence and finishing him with knees and punches.
*Runner-up- Georges St. Pierre- won twice in convincing fashion beating Matt Serra to unify the WW belts via 2nd round TKO and defending the belt against Jon Fitch in an epic 5 round decision.

Fighter of the Year Outside UFC- Gegard Mousasi- Mousasi had a busy 2008, winning the Dream middleweight tournament with wins over dangerous striker Melvin Manhoef, world class grappler Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, elite judoka Dong Sik Yoon, and Pride and K-1 vet Denis Kang. Outside Dream, Mousasi claimed victories over Steve Mensing and the gritty veteran Cyborg Santos. With 6 mma wins, Mousasi also won a K-1 rules match over Musashi via first round TKO. Mousasi's 6-0 mma record (3 KO/TKO's, 2 subs and 1 dec) and 1-0 K-1 record for 2008 make him an easy choice for this honor.
Gegard Mousasi Pictures, Images and Photos
(Gegard Mousasi pictured)

Fight of the Year- Cung Le v. Frank Shamrock, Strikeforce, March 29, 2008- The fight was three rounds of non-stop action. Frank kept to his word and preferred to stay on his feet. He attempted a takedown only one time, with the announcers eluding to a possible ACL injury. While standing, Cung got the most of Frank with his assortment of kicks, punches, spinning backfists, and a couple leg catches. The leg catches were very impressive, as Cung caught the leg of a Shamrock high kic and blasted Shamrock's grounded ankle with a sweep kick (reminiscent of San Shou).

Frank was able to land a couple kicks on Cung and was able to close the distance in the third round. When in close, Frank did some damage with punches. However, it was only temporary as Cung was able to break away. Cung's kicks proved too much for Frank in the end as he broke his ulna(forearm) while defending high kicks, not answering the bell in the third. This fight is an absolute must see.
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(Cung Le kick of Frank Shamrock pictured)

Runners Up- Joachim Hansen v. Eddie Alvarez, Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver, Forrest Griffin vs Rampage Jackson, Jon Fitch v. Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn v. Sean Sherk, too many to list.

Submission of the year- Three way tie- Shinya Aoki's mounted gogoplata over Katsuhiko Nagata, Demian Maia's mounted triangle over Ed Herman, and Dustin Hazelett's arm bar over Josh Burkman. All are works of art and should be viewed over and over again. Fight fans will see all three of these guys getting more awesome submissions in 2009.

Runners Up- Marcus Aurelio's armbar over Ryan Roberts, Mitsuhiro Ishida's armbar over Justin Wilcox, C.B. Dollaway's Peruvian Necktie over Jesse Taylor, and Frank Mir's kneebar victory over Brock Lesnar.

KO of the year punch(2-way tie)- Rampage Jackson KO of Wanderlei Silva and Rashad Evans KO of Chuck Liddell. Rampage had lost twice to Wanderlei before this fight via big knockouts. In the first round, Rampage ducked Silva’s blow and unleashed a left hook that crushed Silva directly on the chin, leaving him unconscious.

Rashad Evans was able to get the number one contender status after blasting Liddell into the next hemisphere. Rashad placed a devastating right hand to Liddell's chin while Liddell was throwing an ill advised uppercut.

Runners Up- Jeremy Stephens come from behind uppercut KO of Rapheal Dos Anjos, Wanderlei Silva mauling of Keith Jardine, and Josh Koscheck over Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

KO of the year kick- Rory Markum's high kick KO of Brodie Farber. Rory was losing the fight after being tagged several times by Farber. While backing up, Rory threw the high kick with his shin striking Farber's neck. Farber was out cold.

Runners Up- Anthony Johnson's third round high kick KO of Kevin Burns for revenge from a previous eye poke and Gegard Mousasi's upkick KO of Jacare to win the Dream MW tourney championship.

Top Up and Coming Fighter- Dave "Pee Wee" Herman (13-0). The undefeated heavyweight prospect Herman scored four victories in 2008, including three for the now defunct Elite XC organization. Herman TKO'd Kerry Schall, Ron Waterman, Mario Rinaldi and Chris Guillen. Only Rinaldi was able to get out of the first round. The 6'5" Herman is very athletic and can throw a variety of punches and kicks while possessing a wrestling background from the University of Indiana.

Monday, July 21, 2008

UFC: Silva Strikes Back

UFC's 3 hour broadcast of Ultimate Fight Night was also a fine fight card. Rory Markum pulled out one of the best high kicks in MMA history. CB Dollaway rebounded well as he pulled off the rare Peruvian Necktie submission. The main event also delivered, as Anderson Silva destroyed James Irvin.

Shannon Gugerty def. Dale Hartt via. Submission (Rear-naked choke) R1, 3:33
Brad Blackburn def. James Giboo via TKO (Strikes) R2, 2:29
Nate Loughran def. Johnny Rees via Submission (Triangle choke) R1, 4:21

Rory Markham def. Brodie Farber via KO (Head kick) R1, 1:37- Markum won the knock-out of the night on one of the best high kicks in UFC history. After being on the losing end of a few exchanges, Markum began backing up and eating two more shots. Then out of no-where he launched a high kick that struck Farber in the neck for the instant KO. After it landed, Markum walked away knowing his foe was out and the kick landed solid.

Timothy Credeur def. Cale Yarbrough via TKO (Punches) R1, 1:54- Credeur picked apart Yarbrough with punches, bullying Yarbrough for the win.

CB Dollaway def. Jesse Taylor via Submission (Peruvian neck tie) R1, 3:58- CB Dollaway was able to rebound from his TUF Finals loss. After a failed takedown, CB was able to get Taylor's back trying for a rear naked choke. Eventually, CB was able to get the unusual submission and Jesse was tapping. CB won the submission of the night bonus.

Kevin Burns def. Anthony Johnson via (TKO) R3, 3:35- Unfortunately, this fight ended the wrong way with Anthony Johnson losing via an inadvertent eye poke. In the replay, Burns finger clearly drove deep in Johnson's eye. Burns said he wanted to do the fight again. Apparently, Burns has broke the hand 3 times in 16 months and he only does palm strikes with that hand.

Cain Velasquez def. Jake O'Brien via TKO (Strikes) R1, 2:02- Valasquez was dominant in defending a takedown, getting the dominant position and raining down punches. He knocked O'Brien out.

Frank Edgar def Hermes Franca via Decision (Unanimous)- Edgar was able to win the take down battle for the victory. Edgar was also able to land effective elbow strikes which opened up a cut on Franca's eye. While Franca was able to attempt some submissions, he didn't quite have the energy to get one in the later rounds. One arm bar attempt looked close, but I don't think I'll ever see Edgar tap. He is a very tough customer.

Brandon Vera defReese Andy via Decision (Unanimous)- Vera's first cut to 205 didn't help his cardio. He lost quite a bit of steam quickly in the fight. Andy just didn't have the size or strength as he lost the unanimous decision.

Anderson Silva def James Irvin via KO (Punches) R1, 1:01- Silva punctuated the night with his absolute destruction of James Irvin. "Any little mistake and he makes you pay," stated commentator Joe Rogan.

Silva circled Irvin moving back and forth before shooting leg kicks. When Irvin threw a leg kick, Silva capitalized. He grabbed the leg and punched Irvin square in the face. While he was probably out cold then and there, Silva threw more punches before being pulled away.

In the post fight interview, Silva was very happy as he talked through an interpreter. He stated he would fight in either 185 or 205 pound divisions. In the end, Silva spoke in English thanking the crowd and dedicating the fight to his mom.
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