UFC 79 Recap

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

UFC 79 was a decent show with mostly one-sided fights. It wasn't nearly as good as the TUF finale, but was far superior to UFC 78. Funny how sometimes free MMA is better than the ppv's. Anyway, here are the quick results.

Georges St. Pierre defeats Matt Hughes via sub (arm-bar) — R2, 4:54
Chuck Liddell defeats Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision
Eddie Sanchez defeats Soa Palelei via TKO (strikes) — R3, 3:24
Lyoto Machida defeats Rameau Sokoudjo via sub (arm-triangle choke) — R2, 4:20
Rich Clementi defeats Melvin Guillard via sub(rear-naked choke) — R1, 4:40
James Irvin defeats Luis Cane via DQ (illegal knee) — R1, 1:51
Manny Gamburyan defeats Nate Mohr via sub(ankle lock) — R1 — 1:31
Dean Lister defeats Jordan Radev via unanimous decision
Roan Carneiro defeats Tony DeSouza via TKO (strikes) — R2, 3:33
Mark Bocek defeats Doug Evans via unanimous decision

GSP v. Hughes- GSP may not have wrestled in college, but he looks like an absolute stud wrestling right now. He out wrestled Koscheck in his last fight, and completely out wrestled Hughes in this one. Every Hughes takedown was thwarted by GSP, and every GSP takedown attempt was successful. GSP owned Hughes up until the armbar.
**Poll Results- MMA Blaster fans voted 22-14 for GSP.

Liddell v. W. Silva- This was an exciting fight even though there were a couple slow spots. I definitely would have liked to see a couple more rounds to this one. The two brawlers exchanged time and time again, and Liddell edged him out in most of the exchanges. Liddell was wobbled, but so was Silva. What sealed the victory for Liddell was the two takedowns. Liddell is back, but I rank one guy slightly ahead of him.
**Poll results- MMA Blaster fans voted 21-20 for Liddell.

Machida v. Sokoudjo- After the one-sided beatdown Machida laid on Sokoudjo, you would have to put him in the title picture. Machida's unorthodox karate style seemed to have Soko off his game. Machida seemed to land anything at will, and also dominated Soko on the ground.
**Poll results- MMA Blaster fans voted 17-9 in favor of Soko, you Machida fans are smart.

Sanchez v. Palelei- This was an extremely boring fight, do not watch this one. Watching this fight made me think that the UFC has to do something to sign some top heavyweights. Coming to mind are BEN ROTHWELL (29-5) and Josh Barnett (21-5). Steal some IFL heavy's.

Clementi v. Guillard- This was a pretty exciting fight as both fighters were running on a hatred for one another. If you look at Clementi's fight record, it is obvious that all his big wins have been via submission or decision. Most of his KO/TKO's have been against lower tier fighters. When the fight went to the ground a couple times, I had a feeling Guillard may be in trouble. Sure enough when Clementi got his back, he was calm and rode it out until an eventual rear naked choke with a body triangle.


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*Sorry there hasn't been a post for awhile, I was up North for the holiday season.

Video of the Day - Mike Tyson

Elite XC Rumored to be Pulling a Tourney Together

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

The website mmascoops.com is reporting that Elite XC is trying to stage a 4 man tournament. While there is no confirmation of this on Elite XC's website, it got me to thinking what the tourney would look like. It is rumored to be an open, no weight limit, tournament with Tank Abbott, Kimbo Slice, Butterbean, and Bob Sapp are supposed to be invited.

The odds of all these four accepting the invite to the rumored tournament is at tops 5%. Tourney's are fun, but I'd like to see Elite XC try to find some better fighters. The only one out of those four I'd expect to show up is Kimbo Slice (under contract). Here are some bio's on these four larger than life personalities:

Kevin Ferguson aka Kimbo Slice (1-0)- Legendary streetfighter turned mixed martial artist. Clips of him KO'ing fools is popular on Youtube. He TKO'd a scared looking Bo Cantrell (10-11) in his debut fight. Kimbo would be the lightest fighter of the group, have the best cardio, but the least experience.



Bob Sapp (9-2)- Sapp was a former pro football player who ventured into MMA. His popularity has been the highest in Japan where he was a pro wrestler, K1 kickboxer, tv star(youtube), and MMA fighter in Pride then K1. Sapp put a beatdown on Bobby Ologun (2-2) overwelming him with huge punches in the first round in K-1 Dynamite. That was his first MMA fight in two years.



Tank Abbott (9-13)- Tank Abbott was a crowd and fan favorite in the early UFC's. In UFC 6, he destroyed John Matua and Paul Varelens and lost an exciting final to Oleg Taktarov. Tank also made it to the final of UU96, where he destroyed Cal Worsham and Steve Nelmark before losing an exciting final against Don Frye. There are rumors that Tank is taking training seriously again, but that has been said before.



Eric "Butterbean" Esch (10-4)- Butterbean was an exciting boxer in his day, having extremely heavy hands. He has fought in Cage Rage and Pride at around 400 pounds. He keylocked the massive Zuluzinho, had a controversial KO stoppage against James Thompson and a win over Cabbage Correia. Cardio is probably the biggest thorn in the side of Butterbean, also getting up from the canvas after a takedown.

Sherk Stripped of Title

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

Recently, Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk (32-2-1) was stripped of his lightweight belt after "sorta" losing his appeal to CSAC. While his suspension was reduced from one year to six months, the fine was upheld, and he wasn't absolved of responsibility for having elevated levels of the anabolic steroid Nandrolone in his body. Even though Sherk was stripped of his title, he will get an immediate title shot against the winner of Stevenson v. Penn.

Sherk blamed the test results on a tainted supplement he took. The supplement was supposedly from the Xyience brand, a brand which used to sponsor Sherk and many UFC fighters. Apparently he went to long lengths to disprove the test results, such as taking a lie detector, but he was not able to overturn the positive test. Apparently, Phil Baroni was confronted with a similar situation. Both fighters were taking an extreme amount of supplements per day.

The sport has to be known as one that is clean. A speculation that MMA fighters are steroid users will only hurt the sports image, and hurt the fighters in the long run. With side effects such as acne, anaphylactic shock, birth defects, kidney failure, blood clotting changes, cardiovascular disease, depression, stunted growth, sexual dysfunction, hair loss, headache, blood pressure changes, liver stress, prostate enlargement, lowering of life expectancy ect, ect, ect, something has to be done to keep the fighters safe.

Steroid use should be frowned upon more by the UFC, and the UFC should set its own penalties for use. The UFC must also take a long look at supplements. Especially ones, (cough-Xyience), that have been known to produce false positives. Maybe, supplements should be banned altogether, or maybe the UFC can produce their own supplement line. Regardless, I would like to see the UFC confront the issue and do their best to rectify the situation for the sake of the sport and the fighters health.

HDNet Fight Reckless Abandon Results

Results HDNet Fights II - MMA Blaster

Marcus Lanier def Lee King via Sub (Armbar) R2, 2:58
Liam McCarty def Jason House TKO (Cut) R3, 3:00
Jay White def Patrick Castillo Sub (Armbar) R1, 0:50
Nissen Osterneck def Freddie Espiricueta Sub (Verbal) R1, 2:37
Corey Mahon def Chris Bowles Sub (Armbar) R2, 4:22
Pete Spratt def Tristan Yunker TKO (Cut) R1, 1:38
Krzysztof Soszynski def Robert Villegas DQ (Refusal to Fight) R2, 3:15
Yves Edwards def Alonzo Martinez Sub (Rear Naked Choke) R2, 3:04
Frank Trigg def Edwin Dewees Sub (Kimura) R1, 1:40
Jason Miller def Tim Kennedy Dec (Unanimous)

The results went squeaky clean for HDNet Fights. They were banking on being able to stage a Trigg v. Miller showdown, and lucky for them both won. Also, ex-UFC fighters Edwards and Spratt won, as well as IFL vet Sosynski. Sosynski was a ripped heavyweight in the IFL and apparently went to 205 for this fight. I'm still trying to track down most of the fights on the internet. Unfortunately, like many out there I don't have HDNet, but my girlfriend and her roommates have it. I covertly set a recording for it, but to my disappointment, it was deleted.

My guess for the HDNet plans
155 title- Yves Edwards (1-0 HDNET, 31-13) v. Corey Mahon (1-0 HDNET, 8-0)
170 title- Pete Spratt (2-0 HDNET, 17-10) v. Drew Fickett (1-0 HDNET, 31-5)
185 title- Frank Trigg (1-0 HDNET, 16-6) v. Mayhem Miller (1-0 HDNET, 20-5)
205 title- Soszynski (1-0 HDNET, 13-8) v. Liam McCarty (2-0 HDNET, 7-4)
HW title- Justin Eilers (1-0 HDNET, 18-6) v. Fedor Emelianenko (26-1) (Mark Cuban can get the deal done) (After Fedor wins he can fight Randy Couture for the belt)


*Frank Trigg promo pic

Video of the Day - Art of War

This video shows highlights of Art of War 6. Will it be the next Pride?

WEC 31 Results

Results WEC 31 - MMA Blaster

Urijah Faber defeats Jeff Curran - RD 2 Guillotine Choke
Jens Pulver defeats Cub Swanson - RD 1 Anaconda Choke
Paulo Filho defeats Chael Sonnen - RD 2 Armbar
Doug Marshal defeats Ariel Gandulla - RD 1 Armbar
Brian Bowles defeats Marcos Galvao - RD 2 TKO
Charlie Valencia defeats Ian McCall - RD 1 Choke
John Alessio defeats Todd Moore - UD
Brian Baker defeats Eric Schambari - SD
Ed "9MM" Ratcliff defeats Alex Karelexis - RD 2 TKO

Overall an exciting show. Faber was probably down until he wobbled Curran and secured the choke. Pulver dominated Swanson, looks like they will be squaring off for the FW title in a couple months.

Sonnen was dominating the fight until Filho he was able to get an armbar. Sonnen was screaming and yelling as the armbar was sunk, and the ref stopped the fight. If you do that, the ref will think you are in pain. Sonnen protested and insists he was saying "no" but his argument fell on deaf ears. The stoppage was not controversial.

I told everyone to watch out for the "9MM" Eric Ratcliff, he TKO'd former TUF contestant Alex Karelexis.


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Alessio v. Moore pic from Sherdog

Shad Lierley Out Of IFL GP

News by the MMA Blaster

Shad Lierley has posted the following in a bulletin on Myspace:

"If you haven't heard I will no longer be fighting Chris in the GP finals due to a broken toe. The toe broke off, and the bone was protruding through the skin. At first I thought I would still be able to fight with the injury, but sometimes it's more important to be a smart fighter than a tough fighter.

The doctor told me there's no amount of Lidocaine that would numb the excruciating pain that I would feel in the fight. He also informed me that no amount of tape could keep the sharp bone from protruding through the skin and tape. Furthermore he said that re-breaking the bone would be the least of my concerns, it would be the likely infections to follow that I'd have to worry about.

I'd like to apologize to everyone that has bought tickets to come see me fight. I'd also like to thank everyone for all their support."

Looks like Shad is out of the 155 pound IFL GP title fight against Chris Horodecki. That must be extreme disappointment to the IFL. Reading that bulletin post however would make me want Shad to err on the side of caution.

The IFL basically inserted Shad into the finals, despite Shad not competing in the first round of the tourney, to try to recapture the "fight of the year" magic. Shad and Horodecki fought in a bout on June 1st of 2007 that was action packed. Shad was 2-1 in the IFL this year and had a case to make the GP.

I wish the best for Shad and hope this injury isn't as nasty as it sounds. "The toe broke off, and the bone was protruding through the skin." That is harsh, get well soon.



It appears that Ryan Schultz is replacing Lierley at the finals. John Gunderson was first rumored as the replacement. Schultz (17-9) lost previously to Horodecki by TKO in the second round on 11/2/06. Schultz is the lone person to hold a win over Roger Huerta (20-1-1).

M1 Global Putting Out a Good Card

Preview by the MMA Blaster

M1 Global has been increasing the number of quality fights on their New Years Eve card. Apparently it will be broadcast on HDNet in the USA and be called "HDNet Fights: Fedor Returns". The event is going by the name "Yarennoka!" in Japan. Many of the old Pride staffers apparently are helping with the event. Here is what the card looks like so far. Asterisks are fights that are confirmed, others are more rumors.

*Tatsuya Kawajiri (19-4)(#4 LW) vs. Luiz Azeredo (11-6)
*Gilbert Melendez (13-0)(#3 LW)v. Mitsuhiro Ishida (14-3)
*Fedor (26-1)(#1 HW)(Pride HW Champ) v. Hong Man Choi (1-0)(I wouldn't be surprised if Choi was replaced)
*Murilo Bustamante (14-6)(ex-UFC MW Champ) v. Makoto Takimoto (3-3) (Olympic Gold Judo)
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (30-7)(#2 LW) v. Hidehiko Hasegawa (14-8)
Kazuo Misaki (18-8)(#8 MW) v. Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1)(#10 MW)- Rumored back on card**.

*Shinja Aoki (11-2)(#5 LW) v. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante (#6 LW)-Now rumored off card.

Also, rumored to possibly show up on the card are Ricardo Arona, Mark Hunt and Joachim Hansen.

The UFC has to look at these fighters as some that they should make an attempt to sign. Misaki and Akiyama would do well in the dwindling UFC middleweight class.

Exciting TUF Finale

Season Six Finale Recap by the MMA Blaster

Anyone who was upset at the uneventful UFC 78 should have been rejoicing after seeing the latest Ultimate Fighter Finale. Season Six wrapped up with a bang with exciting fight after exciting fight. Even though I was a little disappointed at the showing of Tom Speer, the card was great. As you can see by the results there was only one fight that went to a decision and that usually guarantees there were some fireworks. In terms of grades I would give this card an A.

Huerta v. Guida will definately get fight of the year consideration. The fight was an absolute war with Guida beating Huerta pretty bad in the first two rounds. Huerta was able to come back somehow in the third round, a round which he knew he had to do something to finish the fight. He came out with everything he had, hitting Guida with punches and knees that found their mark. Huerta was able to get Guida's back and won with a rear naked choke with just 31 seconds to spare. Because of this victory, Huerta better get a shot at the winner of Stevenson v. Penn.

Full results:

1 Jonathan Goulet defeats Paul Georgieff Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 4:42
2 Roman Mitichyan defeats Dorian Price Submission (Ankle lock) 1 0:23
3 Matt Arroyo defeats John Kolosci Submission (Armbar) 1 4:42
4 Troy Mandaloniz defeats Richie Hightower KO 1 4:20
5 Ben Saunders defeats Daniel Barrera Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
6 George Sotiropoulos defeats Billy Miles Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 1:36
7 Jon Koppenhaver defeats Jared Rollins TKO (Strikes) 3 2:01
8 Mac Danzig defeats Tom Speer Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 2:01
9 Roger Huerta defeats Clay Guida Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3 0:31

Thoughts on the TUF fights

Ben Saunders needs to develop takedown defense because Barrera was able to get takedowns whenever he wanted. Saunders does have potential to be a UFC star with solid kicks, punches, and submission defense and offense.

Sotiropoulos should have taken on a tougher opponent because Billy has little submission defense or striking ability. George outclassed Billy.

Koppenhaver showed heart and determination in a great fight with Jared Rollins. This was a three round battle that went back and forth with J-Roc and War doing damage. After being wobbled, War Machine was able to sweep J-Roc and knock him out cold with elbows and punches with little time left in the third. This was my second favorite fight of the night.

Mandaloniz v. Hightower was a pretty exciting fight. There were times when Hightower was getting the most of the action, but then he was stunned by some huge shots and pounded out by Rude Boy.

Danzig beat Speer just two minutes into the action. Seemed like Tommy may have been a little gun shy being on the big stage for the first time in his fight career. He didn't look like himself and Danzig capitalized.



Photo from Sherdog

Ring of Fire First Round Results

I recently found the results of the Ring of Fire event held in the Philippines posted on Josh Barnett's website. I wrote a previous story about this team event a couple weeks back. The results of the match-up were pretty predictable, but at least the two strongest teams are left. I'll preview the finals match-ups shortly. Here are the results:

Team Shamrock vs. Team Gracie

155lbs
Even Dunham wins by Front Choke over Cleber Luciano
185lbs
Kyacey "Ice Cold" Uscola wins by UD over Jorge "Macaco" Patino
205lbs
Mike Whitehead wins by UD over Daniel Serafian
Heavyweight
Ricco Rodriguez wins by TKO (Low Kicks) over Kevin Filal
Women 130lbs
Tonya Evinger wins by Cross Arm Lock over Kat Alendal

Team Shamrock wins 5-0

Team Barnett vs. Team Gokor

155lbs
Koji Oishi wins by UD over Karen Darabedyan
185lbs
Yuki Kondo wins by UD over August Wallen
205lbs
Renato "Babalu" Sobral wins by Side Choke over Rodney Faverus
Heavyweight
Jeff "The Snowman" Monson wins by UD over Hakim Gouram
Women 130lbs
Ginele Marquez wins by Forfeit

Team Barnett wins 5-0

Female fighter of the night: Tonya Evinger
Male fighter of the night: Yuki Kondo
Fight of the night: Tonya Evinger vs. Kat Alendal

Team Championsip finals in Macau:
Team Barnett vs. Team Shamrock


Photo of Shamrock v. Gracie II found on Photobucket and used incidently to the story

UFC Best of 2007

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

Many of the top fights and highlights of 2007 were shown last night throughout a 3 hour session. A pretty good show, even though certain fights I saw fairly recently. Some aspects of these fights have been blown out of porportion, and I hope to bring us all back to Earth.

Edgar v. Griffin- This was a legit top three in the fights of the year. Some of the best grappling was on display in this contest and it was close. However, Edgar was definately the guy who won the fight. The defining moment of the fight, and the point I realized Edgar was the real deal, was when Griffin sunk in a knee bar. Edgar remained composed, showed heart, never stopped, and then at the end punches Griffin's leg with authority. Both of these guys will fight for a title someday.

Huerta v. Garcia- This was a top two fight of the year. Huerta is the real deal, with his strikes getting the most of Garcia. Garcia has some serious moxy though and is the definition of a scapper. Garcia never stopped his offense and didn't let the beating stop him.

Shogun Rua v. Griffin- Rua fans, it is ok, he did not get completely dominated and this was actually a very good fight. Rua was able to get a takedown's, looked decent on his feet, and just got gassed. Why? Because he had a ligament tear suffered in training and probably didn't get enough cardio work in. When he is healed, I'm sure he will rebound and challenge for the title. The thing to say about Forrest is that he is the real deal and belongs among the top of the UFC 205 division and so does Jardine. This fight got pretty nasty when Shogun opened up a cut near Forrest's hairline, the blood did not phase Forrest.

Cro-Cop v. Gonzaga- The head kick against Cro-Cop was absolutely brutal. The angle of Cro-Cop's foot after the head kick looked alot worse than I remebered.

Salmon v. Evans- Another brutal head kick, perfectly executed. They didn't show the first round last night, but Salmon was winning that fight.

Fisher v. Stout 2- Not as exciting the second time around, Stout definately lost the fight despite getting a couple cuts.

Anderson Silva- Silva is the cream of the crop. If he is on his game he can beat you on his feet or on the ground. Marquard was able to get some takedowns, but took serious punishment from Silva. Franklin was destroyed in the rematch even though it was a better effort by Franklin.

Maynard v. Emerson- I still think that Maynard should have won that fight even though he may or may not have been knocked out. As soon as Emerson hits the mat he was tapping.

Houston Alexander- This guy is a beast and looks absolutley ripped for his fights. If he can develop a better ground game and try to stay off his back he still can be a force. If Alexander's knee connects to your face you will be seeing stars shortly.

Penn v. Pulver- Penn will dominate if he stays at 155. He looked leaner and in better shape for the fight and hammered Pulver. The rear naked choke at the end of the fight was held a touch too long, but I still don't believe it was malicious.

Kenny Florian- Great year for Florian with wins over Mishima (17-6), Alvin Robinson (7-2), and Din Thomas (20-7). All three of those fights was entertaining and he put forth a technical attack.

Rampage- This guy is going to be champ for a long time. While I have seen the replay of the Chuck KO a few times, I didn't remeber the commentary. Apparently Chuck was asking his corner what happened. Liddell did not have a good year (0-2, TKO win over Tito Ortiz 12/30/06).



UFC 145 Division- One thought while watching the program was man, the UFC really needs a 145 class. Really all they have to do is take the guys from the WEC, Urijah Faber, Jeff Curran, Jens Pulver, Cub Swanson not too tough. Leonard Garcia and some of the current UFC 155's could get to 145 and it is probably a more natural weight for them. With the amount of cards the UFC is putting out, they need some more talent.

First MMA Blaster Exclusive - Chuck "the Reverend" Grigsby

I'm pleased to announce that I will be doing an exclusive look at up and coming VCC and MCC light heavyweight champion Chuck "The Reverend" Grigsby (15-3). It should be out in a couple days.