UFC 100 Preview

UFC 100 has been much anticipated in the martial arts world. There have been rumors swirling around potential new UFC Hall of Fame inductees Chuck Liddell and Charles "Mask" Lewis, as well as the reveal of the official TUF 10 cast. Here is a look at the fights that are scheduled for July 11, 2009 at the Mandalay Events Center. Here is the line-up:

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (HW Title)- Expect some fireworks in this dynamic heavyweight match-up. One of the strongest men in all of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar (3-1, 2-1 UFC) will try to avenge his lone pro loss against elite submission artist Frank Mir (12-3, 10-3 UFC). In the first match-up, Brock Lesnar dropped Mir with a solid right hand, then smothered him with ground and pound.

However, Mir recovered after an ill-advised ref stand-up and next tapped Lesnar out to a knee-bar. Lesnar is the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight wrestling champion and WWE Heavyweight champ. Lesnar smoked judoka Min Soo Kim in his first fight in K-1 Hero's. After the loss to Mir, he destroyed Heath Herring then Randy Couture for the title.

(Brock Lesnar pictured)

Frank Mir was first supposed to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 98, however Mir suffered a knee injury in training. Mir is coming off his best stand-up performance of his career against Antonio Nogueira. Mir captured the UFC HW title previously in an awesome arm breaking arm bar at UFC 48. He has other victories over Wes Sims, Pete Williams and Antoni Hardonk.

(Frank Mir's winning kneebar pictured)

Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (WW Title)- St. Pierre (18-2, 12-2 UFC) has been on a roll since the upset loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69. He turned in dominated the competition rolling off five quality wins against Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, and most recently BJ Penn. Look for GSP to get takedowns and then work ground and pound before a submission.

(Georges St. Pierre pictured)

Thiago Alves (16-3, 9-2 UFC) is a massive 170 pounder who may have a slight strength advantage against GSP. In his last fight, Alves was able to stay off the ground against Josh Koscheck, winning with his stand-up skills. Alves is a power puncher with good knees. His career victories include recent KO's with knees and punches against Karo Parisyan and Matt Hughes.

(Thiago Alves pictured)

Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago
Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher

UNDER CARD

Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman
Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller
Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien
C.B. Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor
Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty
T.J. Grant vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Thiago Alves Title Shot

Dana White has confirmed at a press conference for UFC: Fight for the Troops, that Thiago Alves is the number 1 contender for the welterweight belt. Alves will face the winner of the Georges St. Pierre v. BJ Penn fight which takes place at UFC 94 on January 31, 2009. Alves earned the title shot with seven straight victories in the UFC. The past three have come against top competition in Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koshcheck.

Below is a highlight video.

UFC 90: Silva Chicago Style

The AllState Arena was packed to the gills this Saturday, October 25th, 2008. The sold out crowd that produced a record breaking 2.8 million dollar gate featured some entertaining fights.

I had floor seats with a couple friends and we were delighted to get to meet and greet with Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman and Hermes Franca. Others in attendence were Matt Hughes, Dan Severn, Jeff Samardzija, Clay Guida, Rashad Evans, Georges St. Pierre and other UFC stars.

The Chicago crowd left somewhat dissappointed as there were 6 decisions and 3 to start the show, and a main card bout that featured one of the odder title fights in some time. There weren't as many fans booing as many are making it out to be. It wasn't any different than a Las Vegas, England, Ohio or any other crowd.

Results-

Pete Sell def Josh Burkman via Decision (Unanimous)- Sell looked quick and sharp as he outdueled Burkman. Sell is a guy that could move up the ladder at 170.

Hermes Franca def Marcus Aurelio via Decision (Unanimous)- Hermes ran into Aurelio before the fight even started, creating more buzz about the fight. Unfortunately, it was pretty slow as there was alot of circling and not much action.

Dan Miller def Matt Horwich via Decision (Unanimous)- This fight turned into mainly a grappling match as Miller ground out a unanimous decision.

Spencer Fisher def Shannon Gugerty via Sub (Triangle Choke) R3, 3:56


Thales Leites def Drew McFedries via Sub (Rear Naked choke) R1, 1:18- Leites was able to stop the one-dimensional McFedries with a quick submission.

Sean Sherk def Tyson Griffin via Decision (Unanimous)- This was a pretty entertaining fight as Sherk almost got the victory in the first with a rear naked choke. Sherk controlled the rest of the fight getting takedowns and landing punches.

Junior dos Santos def Fabricio Werdum via TKO (Punches) R1 1:21- This fight ended quickly, with Junior dos Santos crushing Werdum's shot at a top contender spot. Dos Santos used a right uppercut to strike Werdum clean sending him to the canvas.

Gray Maynard def Rich Clementi via Decision (Unanimous)- Maynard frustrated Clementi throughout the fight with superior wrestling. Maynard tried to work ground and pound, but really didn't do much damage.

Thiago Alves def Josh Koscheck via Decision (Unanimous)- Alves dominated the fight from start to finish dropping Koscheck with a left hand in the first. He threw snapping leg kicks throughout the fight keeping Koscheck off balance. Koscheck was tough throughout, occasionally landing shots. Alves however reigned supreme, making it one step closer to a title shot.


Anderson Silva def Patrick Cote via TKO (Injured knee) R3 0:39- Silva and Cote started out tenative with Cote trying to attack Silva with punches. Silva was content to counter, throwing kicks and jabs.

Silva continued to play the counter game circling and throwing power shots. Silva was able to catch Cote with a kick across the jaw and body kicks. Near the end of the round, Anderson was able to get a takedown.

In the third, was bouncing to set up a shot when it looked like his right knee buckled. In a bit of confusion, the fight was called. Many around me were asking what the heck had happened. With 6 fights going to decision and 5 hours of fights, the crowd was not pleased at the result of the main card bout. Anderson did look impressive at stretches, but there was some inactivity. I have a feeling Anderson will put on a nasty display in his next bout.


*All photos taken by MMA Blaster

UFC 90 Preview

I will be at UFC 90 this weekend in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Just a short trip on the blue-line will send me to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont to see one of the best mixed martial artists of all-time, Anderson Silva. Needless to say, I am ecstatic.

MAIN CARD

Anderson Silva (22-4, 7-0 UFC) vs. Patrick Cote (13-4, 4-4 UFC)- MW Title Fight- Anderson Silva is on the most dominating run in UFC history winning the belt in his second UFC fight and defending four times, then beating James Irvin at 205. Not one fight has entered the third round. Rich Franklin's nose has been destroyed twice. Nate Marquardt was dominated, and Dan Henderson choked out. Anderson has displayed some of the finest stand-up skills ever seen in mma fighting.

Cote has a tall task ahead of him if he wants to stomp out the Spider. Cote is on an impressive run, winning five straight with four wins in the UFC. He has beaten Ricardo Almeida, Drew McFedries, Kendall Grove and Scott Smith in the UFC and Jason Day in the Canadian based TKO promotion during that time.

The fight will be a stand-up affair. Cote has a strong chin and will be able to take punches. Cote will have to look to counter and throw his punches with precision, while blocking Anderson's kicks. Silva has the superior ground game, and may use it to take out Cote if eating too many blows.


Thiago Alves (15-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (11-2)- Koscheck is replacing Diego Sanchez who had to withdraw due to injury. Alves is on a big run with 6 victories in the UFC including TKO wins over Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan and Kuniyoshi Hironaka. Koscheck meanwhile has rattled off two wins since his loss to Georges St. Pierre. He looked excellent in his recent wins over Dustin Hazelett and Chris Lytle.

I expect Koscheck to try a takedown to ground and pound as he is a superb wrestler. Alves meanwhile is a devastating striker who will try to keep this one standing. It will be interesting to see how the fight unfolds and the winner will be positioning themselves for a potential shot at the title.

*pic of Thiago Alves

Fabricio Werdum (11-3) vs. Junior dos Santos (7-1)- Poor Fabricio Werdum. With the Lesnar/Couture and Mir/Big Nog match-ups in place, it will likely take Werdum to win this fight and another against one of the aforementioned big four to get a shot at the title. Werdum has quality wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera since his uneventful loss to Andrei Arlovski.

Dos Santos is an unknown fighter hailing from Brazil. All his wins seem to have come in Brazil against quality local fighters. We will see what "Cigano" is made of when he faces Werdum. Werdum has wins against Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Alistair Overeem and Tom Erickson on his resume.

*pic of Werdum

Tyson Griffin (12-1) vs. Sean Sherk (32-3)- Sherk is attempting to rebound from his loss for the title against BJ Penn. The previous fight happened with the dark cloud a failed appeal for a postive Sherk steroid test. Griffin has four straight decision victories in the UFC since his loss to Frankie Edgar. That includes wins over Marcus Aurelio, Thiago Tavares, and Gleison Tibau. Prior to Sherk's loss to Penn, he had won three straight times in the UFC via decision over Hermes Franca, Kenny Florian and Nick Diaz.

Sherk is going to be looking for a takedown and ground and pound. I would expect Griffin to try to keep the fight standing. We could see a lot of clinching from Sherk to wear down his oppoenent.

*pic of Sean Sherk

Rich Clementi (32-12) vs. Gray Maynard (5-0)- Clementi is riding a six fight win streak, with four straight in the UFC over Sam Stout, Anthony Johnson, Melvin Guillard and Terry Etim. Maynard meanwhile has three straight victories in the UFC over Joe Veres, Dennis Siver and Frank Edgard. Expect Maynard to look for the takedown and Clementi to keep the fight standing.

UNDERCARD

Thales Leites vs. Drew McFedries
Spencer Fisher vs. Shannon Gugerty
Matt Horwich vs. Dan Miller
Marcus Aurelio vs. Hermes Franca
Josh Burkman vs. Pete Sell

UFC 85 Preview

Running on the heels of an awesome UFC 84 card, UFC 85 will be hard pressed to top it. The card has had numerous rumors about participants, as certain fighters fell victim to the injury bug. Chuck Liddell was originally supposed to fight Rashad Evans, but suffered a nasty hamstring injury. The card is loaded with Brazilians and quite a few fights have the potential to be very exciting. The weigh-in results just came out, and Thiago Alves failed to make weight.

MAIN CARD
Thiago Alves (174) vs. Matt Hughes (170)
Michael Bisping (184) vs. Jason Day (184)
Marcus Davis (170) vs. Mike Swick (170)
Thales Leites (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (185)
Fabricio Werdum (247) vs. Brandon Vera (228)

SWING BOUT
Martin Kampmann (186) vs. Jorge Rivera (185)

UNDERCARD
Thiago Tavares (154.5) vs. Matt Wiman (155)
Kevin Burns (170) vs. Roan Carneiro (171)
Luiz Cane (204) vs. Jason Lambert (205)
Jess Liaudin (169) vs. Paul Taylor (169)
Antoni Hardonk (247) vs. Eddie Sanchez (244)

*I'm hoping the UFC can get undercard fights broadcast as was the case in UFC 84. A whopping 9 fights were shown.

Ultimate Fight Night 13

The Ultimate Fight Night 13 produced some excellent fights and some great come from behind see-saw battles. The show was basically a UFC pay per view lite. The fights were great, the lite describes the amount fights shown vs. filler and commercials. The multiple interviews, lengthy commercial breaks, and lack of cohesion to the production got annoying. After Diaz and Hammil's fights ended quick it took forever to get to the next fight. After Alves beat Karo, it took forever to get to Speer v. Johnson. With the amount of fights that ended in the second or first round there should have been 8 fights shown instead of 6.

MAIN CARD
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon- Florian via TKO, 3:29 R2- Lauzon may have taken the first round with takedowns, but Kenny was able to land some kicks and elbows. The second round Kenny was able to secure the mount and land punches until the ref was forced to stop the fight.

Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan- Alves via KO (knee to punches), :34 R1- The first round saw Karo and Thiago exchange blows. Joe Rogan talked alot about the mile high altitude. Karo looked to be carrying a little more weight and it didn't help him in this fight. In the second round, Karo took a massive knee to the face. He then took three or four punches from Alves before ref Steve Mazzagati called it.

Afterwards, Karo popped up and was angered at the stoppage. It was obvious on the replay that Karo's knees buckled after the knee and he took at least three punches. In Karo's defense, he did have an arm up attempting to say he was still alright. It may of been a quick stoppage, but Karo shouldn't have let a massive knee crumple him to the ground. Five straight wins for Thiago should put him one behind Jon Fitch for the title. Fitch definately has earned his place with his 8th straight win at UFC 82.

Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill- Hamill via TKO 1:25, R2- Tremendous applause has to be given for Hamill in this one. After trading shots at the start, Hamill was able to take Boetsch down and land a couple glancing blows. After a stand-up, Boetsch picked Hamill apart with front kicks, knees, and punches. A brutal Boetsch knee prompted blood to start pouring from Hamill's mouth. Hamill took alot of punishment before the horn sounded.

After the round we saw that Hamill's lip was actually split basically in two. It looked as if the knee had pushed the lip trough a tooth. The second round looked to be more of the same until Hamill landed a takedown and then a huge flurry. He gave it all he had, and eventually Boetsch just wasn't blocking many punches and the action was called.

Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin- Irvin via KO :08 R1- Irvin landed a superman punch and a few others to get the KO at 8 seconds of the first round.

Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino- Diaz via sub. (triangle) 3:06, R2- Nate Diaz impressed me with his performance in this fight. Diaz took an absolute beating in the first round. Diaz took punches and elbows directly on the chin, side of the head, and to the face. A massive Pellegrino elbow smashed him on the eye and opened up a cut. Diaz gave up his back, but was able to ride out the round. In the second, Diaz looked revitalized. After an attempted slam Diaz transitioned from an extremely non-chalant guillotine attempt to a triangle. Knowing it was sunk deep, Diaz flexed to the crowd and then flashed dual middle fingers. Classy.

Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard - Maynard via UD- Both fighters landed punches in the first, but Maynard won each round with takedowns and a slight advantage while standing.

UNDERCARD

Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer- Tom Speer was absolutely destroyed in his fight. It seemed like punch after punch, kick after kick landed. Johnson popped Speer in the mouth and dropped him like a sack of bricks. Speer laid against the fence for a few seconds.

Marcus Aurelio vs. Ryan Roberts
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Jeff Cox vs. Manny Gamburyan
Samy Schiavo vs. Clay Guida
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos

Ultimate Fight Night and TUF 7 Preview

Ohhhhhh my. There are three hours of Ultimate Fight Night and one hour of TUF 7 on Wednesday night. I can barely contain myself. The best part is that UFN 13 is absolutely stacked, with a card that is probably better than UFC 83(minus GSP v. Serra).



Also, TUF 7 is premiering, with 32 middleweight fighters trying to make it into the TUF house. I really hope they do some sort of seeding for the first round, as there are 16 fighters who either have less than 3 fights or sub 500 records. It would be a shame if two fighters with 5 or 6 wins had to fight in the first round, while two 0-0 guys fought. Scroll down for video on two of the frontrunners, C.B. Dollaway and Gerald Harris.

UFN 13 Lineup:

MAIN CARD
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard - Swing bout - Showdown of two elite wrestlers in MMA. I think this fight will broadcast as Alexander v. Irvin will probably end quick.

UNDERCARD
Marcus Aurelio vs. Ryan Roberts
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Jeff Cox vs. Manny Gamburyan
Samy Schiavo vs. Clay Guida
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer

Chris Lytle v. Thiago Alves UFC 78

Pick by the MMA Blaster

Lytle v. Alves will be a brawl from start to finish. Alves (12-3), ATT, is coming off three straight wins in the UFC after a loss to Jon Fitch. His last win came off Shooto veteren Kuniyoshi Hironoka (11-4). After Alves' win over Tony DeSouza (10-3) Alves was suspended for use of diruetics. His notable wins come over John Alessio (20-10), Jason "Hollywood" Chambers (16-5), Ansar Chalangov (7-3), Derrick Noble (21-10, lost once to Noble), and a split dec over Marcus Davis (13-3).

Lytle (24-15) is a former pro-boxer who mainly got his name after participating in the Ultimate Fighter reality show, season 4. Lytle made the finals where he lost a close decision to Matt Serra. Lytle is coming off two submission victories, once in the UFC against Jason Gilliam (9-2) and one outside the UFC in his native Indiana.

I see both fighters keeping it on their feet and striking. Lytle may try some takedown attempts to search for a submission, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you have seen Alves in the DeSouza fight you know he has a good sprawl. Lytle does have the experience advantage with wins over vets Savant Young (8-6), Ronald Jhun (22-22), Pete Spratt (16-10), Pat Healy (18-12), Kazuo Misaki (18-8) and Aaron Riley (23-10).

My pick - Alves by unanimous decision.


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