TUF 10, Matt the Rat

This episode of TUF focused on former NFL player Matt Mitrione as he struggles with living in the isolation that is the ultimate fighter house. Matt has lost his temper, tried to play mind games with teammates, and looked completely out of focus.

With Matt acting crazy and the fighters bored, Wes Sims seems to be the guy to liven things up. While clad in a massive black gi, the 6'10" Sims looked to scale the wall as a ninja, and sneak up on Mitrione as he shot some hoops alone. As Sims crept closer, he began hiding in the trees. The secrecy continued until he was right up on Mitrione. Hilarious.

Rampage and Rashad continued to bicker at each other, mocking the KO's that each has suffered in their superb careers. The animosity seems to boil over to practice sessions.

The final fights are announced as Mitrione will fight Scott Junk. That leaves Marcus Jones fighting Mike Wessell in the final fight. In a weird move, Mitrione drops Junk a note, saying that Wessell was scared to fight him. Why did Mitrione completely throw Wessell under the bus? Maybe just trying to play mind games.

As the fight between Junk and Mitrione starts, Mitrione clearly has the advantage in size and reach. Miotrone landing jabs and kicks with effectiveness. The smaller Junk tries to throw a kick, and a Mitrione jab lands square in Junks face. Apparently, Junk was poked in the eye.

Despite having his eyelid inside out, he is peppered by Mitrione. Junk tries to kick, but that is caught by Mitrione who punches Junk again and throws him down. Junk tries for a desperate single and is teed off on by Junk. Near the end of the round, Junk manages a brief flurry.

In the second, Junk manages a takedown, but Mitrione keeps throwing punches. Both fighters run out of gas, barely able to throw punches as they battle until the end of the second. Two judges score it for Mitrione, one scores it a draw.

With the win it is now 7-0 for Rashad. Rampage lives up to his nickname, destroying a door in the gym that is apparently made out of cardboard and toothpicks.

(Matt Mitrione on the Vikings)

2nd Round Qualifiers - Jon Madsen, James McSweeney, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Justin Wren, Darrill Schoonover, Matt Mitrione

UFC 104 - Dragon Fire

I waited to release my review of this event until I watched the Lyoto Machida versus Shogun Rua fight again. After five lackluster but technically impressive fight was won by Lyoto Machida on all three score cards. However, the viewing audience, Joe Rogaine and myself all saw it for Shogun.

Here are the results:

Lyoto Machida def Shogun Rua via unanimous dec- This title fight has turned controversial following all three judges awarding the fight to champion Lyoto Machida with 48-47. Throughout the fight Shogun seemed to land hard leg and body kicks. Machida seemed to back peddle and throw punches.

The body and leg kicks thrown by the more aggressive Rua led to me believing he had won the 1st, 4th and 5th rounds. Rua continually controlled where the fight to place and was consistently showing better aggression. Machida did gets some nice punces in at times, but seemed to never get into rhythem.

Dana White has indicated both fighters have agreed to an immediate rematch. Unfortunately, Machida suffered a laceration to his lip and was suspended without contact for 60 days. Look for the fight to possibly take place in February.
*MMA Blaster readers correctly choose Machida 90-27

Cain Velasquez def Ben Rothwell via TKO (punches) R2, 0:58- Cain Velasquez bullied the larger Ben Rothwell, eventually knocking him senseless in the second round. Velasquez dominated Rothwell with his superior wrestling and power punching from the ground.

The victory would have seemed to earn Cain a title shot. However, champ Brock Lesnar suffered an illness pushing back his fight with Shane Carwin. It appears Velasquez could fight Junior Dos Santos next.

Joe Stevenson def Spencer Fisher via TKO (elbows) R1, 4:03- Joe Stevenson continues his rise back up to the top of his game since joining Team Jackson. The submission grappler knew his best shot at victory would be to get the fight to the ground. Fisher was able to deny Stevenson's takedowns for a little while before succeeding.

Once the fight was on the ground, Stevenson was able to get Fisher's arm trapped in a crucifix, reminiscant of the Roy Nelson versus Kimbo fight. Elbows came in bunches and the ref was forced to stop the fight.

(Joe Stevenson pictured)

Anthony Johnson def Yoshiyuki Yoshida via KO (punch) R1, 0:41- Anthony Johnson sacrificed some pay for missing weight in this contest, but he didn't sacrifice his performance. Johnson briefly attempted to clinch, backed out and crushed Yoshida with a right hand knocking him into another universe and ending the fight.

Pat Barry def Antoni Hardonk by TKO (punches) R2, 2:30- In what turned out to be the fight of the night, Pat Barry and Antoni Hardonk threw down in an absolute battle. Hardonk started the action landing some big leg kicks and big punches. Barry looked to use his quickness, before Barry then was struck deep in the eye by Hardonk.

After a brief injury time out, Barry began to find his range with straight punches. Barry dropped Hardonk with a jab, landing in side mount dropping additional punishment. In the second round, Barry's speed was too much for Hardonk as he dropped him with straight punches before the finisher, a right hand to Hardonk's temple.
*Barry wins Fight of the Night and KO of the Night Bonus

(Pat Barry pictured)

Stefan Struve def Chase Gormley via sub (triangle) R1, 4:04- After the gigantic Struve landed some big kicks, Gormley worked the fight to the ground. From there, the two attempted leg locks. After Struve got top position he worked for a triangle and leaned to his back, getting Gormley to succumb to the choke.
*Struve wins Submission of the Night Bonus

Gleison Tibau def Josh Neer via unanimous dec
Ryan Bader def Eric Schafer by unanimous dec
Chael Sonnen def Yushin Okami via unanimous dec
Jorge Rivera def Rob Kimmons via TKO (punches) R3, 1:53
Kyle Kingsbury def Razak Al-Hassan via split dec

TUF 10 - Darrill Stands Up

In the sixth episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Team Rashad's Darrill Schoonover fights Team Rampage's Zak Jensen. Schoonover (10-0) is a long time martial artist that was active in the Army for two years. Zak Jensen (7-3) is a former Northern Illinois football player and wrestler.

They show a healthy dose of footage of the fighters picking on Zak Jensen, whom Kimbo nicknames "Linderman." Wes Sims decides to craft a betting pool, with fighters picking dates on when he would break down mentally. Zak seems to take a beating in practice at well, finally doing well in the last practice.

Darrill is first shown drinking before practice and then the coaches talking to him about not drinking. Darrill said after the show he actually only drank the first two days, and he didn't fight till the 3rd week. Darrill is a pretty interesting characters, discussing tattoo's he got while drunk.

At practice, Rampage again gets at Darrill, calling him his usual nickname and trying to get under his skin. Darrill gets in Rampages face challenging him to fight at 205, and later saying in the confessional he would have headbutted Rampage, because anything goes in a street fight.

The fight gets off to a bang, as both fighter find their range and Darrill closes in. After getting in a clinch, Darrill unloads multiple knees into Jensen's midsection. As they broke free, Darrill let his hands fly as Jensen swung wildly and Darrill tagged him several times with straight punches.

While dazed, Jensen went for a double leg and eventually got a takedown. Darrill got his right leg up, and instead of defending the upcoming triangle, decided to throw hammerfists. Schoonover worked the triangle deeper as Jensen threw more hammerfists. Eventually, Jensen was choked out and became unresponsive.

With the win, Team Rashad now has 6 straight victories. Rampage's photo exaggerating Team Rashad was met with laughs.

(Darrill Schoonover pictured)

Remaining Fighters:

TEAM RASHAD

Matt Matrione (0-0) - Former NFL Lineman
Mike Wessel (6-1) - UFC Vet

TEAM RAMPAGE

Scott Junk (6-2) - Heavy hands, UFC vet
Marcus Jones (4-1) - Former NFL Defensive End

TEAM RASHAD 6 - TEAM RAMPAGE 0

2nd Round Qualifiers - Jon Madsen, James McSweeney, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Justin Wren, Darrill Schoonover

Video of the Day - Galesic v. Holmes

Here is Zelg Galesic against Michael Holmes from the UK's Cage Rage promotion which took place on 2/4/06. Zelg next fights Kazushi Sakuraba at Dream 12.

Video of the Day - Sakuraba v. Kiselov

Here is Japanese MMA Legend Kazushi Sakuraba fighting Yurij "Playboy" Kiselov from K-1 Hero's which took place on 3/27/09. Sakuraba is set to fight Zelg Galesic at Dream 12 this weekend.

TUF 10 - Wren's Way

The 5th episode of The Ultimate Fighter featured a short and sweet fight to determine yet another 2nd round qualifier. In the elimination bout were UFC veteran Wes Sims (22-2) against the 22 year old Justin Wren (6-1).

In the start of the episode, Wes "Murdock" Sims is seen giving Zak Jensen a hard time. Jensen has become sort of a punching bag this season. The former Northern Illinois football player takes all the jokes in stride. Until a practice clip is shown of Sims triangle choking Jensen out in practice.

Matt Miotrone meanwhile again is drawing attention to himself. Instead of calling out all the proposed fight match-ups, Miotrone now is nursing a shoulder injury. After one practice, the former NFL lineman asked coach Rashad if he could get a cortisone shot. Rashad vehemently denied. Miotrone's injury waxes and wanes as he skips certain practices.

Justin Wren reveals that he is one of the younger participants and comes from a Greco Roman wrestling background. He trains out of TUF 4 winner Travis Lutter's gym in Texas. Wes Sims has many fights under his belt including two with Frank Mir. Sims trains out of Team Hammerhouse, which is led by NCAA champion wrestlers and former UFC champs Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman.

The fight is short and sweet. After a couple ranging jabs land by Sims, Wren works him against the fence. After a denied takedown attempt the fighters break. Wren manages his way back into Sims range, easily gets a body lock takedown and gets into side mount.

From there, Wren locks in a tight arm triangle choke. With Sims arm trapped he refuses to tap. In seconds, ref Herb Dean grabs his free arm. It appears to have life left, but on the second try he is gone. Sims was choked unconscious, but snaps to pretty fast.

(Justin Wren pictured)

Remaining Fighters:

TEAM RASHAD

Darrill Schoonover (10-0) - XFC LHW Champ
Matt Matrione (0-0) - Former NFL Lineman
Mike Wessel (6-1) - UFC Vet

TEAM RAMPAGE

Scott Junk (6-2) - Heavy hands, UFC vet
Marcus Jones (4-1) - Former NFL Defensive End
Zak Jensen (7-3) - Former NIU wrestler/football player

TEAM RASHAD 5 - TEAM RAMPAGE 0

2nd Round Qualifiers - Jon Madsen, James McSweeney, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Justin Wren

ADCC 2009 Results

Here are the results of the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Grappling tournament results. The tournament is regarded as the pinnacle of no-gi grappling events. This years tournament was held in Barcelona, Spain.

The talk of the tournament was Braulio Estima who captured the absolute division and under 88KG crowns. Braulio joins Mario Sperry, Mark Kerr, Ricardo Arona and Roger Gracie as the only grapplers to win their weight division and the absolute division in the same year.

Many MMA stars placed high in this years event. TUF 8 Runner-up Vinny Magalhaes took 3rd in the under 99KG division and the absolute division with several slick submissions. Recent UFC cast-off Fabricio Werdum won the over 99KG division, while UFC vet Jeff Monson took 3rd. On the women's side, Strikeforce Women's Champ Christiane "Cyborg" Santos took 3rd in the over 60KG division.

Womens Under 60KG
1st Luanna Alzuguir
2nd Sayaka Shioda
3rd Hillary Williams
4th Laurence Cousin

Womens Over 60KG
1st Hannette Staack Quadros
2nd Penny Thomas
3rd Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos
4th Rosangela Conceicao

Mens Under 66KG
1st Rafael Mendes
2nd Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles
3rd Ryan Hall
4th Jeff Glover

Mens Under 77KG
1st Pablo Popovitch
2nd Marcelo Garcia
3rd Gregor Gracie
4th Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura

Mens Under 88KG
1st Braulio Estima
2nd Andre Galvao
3rd David Avellan
4th Rafael Lovato Jr.

Mens Under 99KG
1st Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro
2nd Gerardi Rinaldi
3rd Vinny Magalhaes
4th Glover Teixeira

Mens Over 99KG
1st Fabricio Werdum
2nd Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu
3rd Jeff Monson
4th Saulo Ribeiro

Mens Absolute
1st Braulio Estima
2nd Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro
3rd Vinny Magalhaes
4th Gunnar Nelson

Superfight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeated Robert Drysdale

(Over 99KG Champ Fabricio Werdum pictured)

Video of the Day - Askren v. Lewis

Here is rising MMA prospect Ben Askren wrestling in the 2008 US National Finals against Tyrone Lewis. Askren was the 2004 and 2005 NCAA runner-up at 174 pounds and was champion in 2006 and 2007.

He currently has a 3-0 MMA record with a purple belt in BJJ while training under the American Top Team banner.


(Ben Askren pictured)

TUF 10 Ep 4 - Anaconda

This episode of The Ultimate Fighter featured the diverging coaching styles of Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans as they attempt to mold their fighters. We get a good look at the training preparations, strategies and mental aspect of the fight game.

Early on in the show, it is clear that Kimbo Slice would love another shot to get back in the octogan. All it really takes is someone getting hurt for him to come back. Cue in "Big" Marcus Jones sweating like crazy and almost passing out and you could see Kimbo might just have the chance to come back.

Meanwhile, Rashad and his coaches Mike Van Arsdale and Trevor Whitman strategize about upcoming fight picks. We see them ask elite greco wrestler Justin Wren to fight power puncher Scott Junk, Brendan Schaub to fight Demico Rogers and Matt Miotrone to fight Marcus Jones.

That would leave Darrill Schoonover and Mike Wessell to fight either Wes Sims or Zak Jensen. Justin Wren comes back to the room and lets Rashad know that Scott is his best friend in the house and training partner before the show, Rashad takes that into consideration. Obviously, if someone on Rashad's team lost, those picks would go out the window.

When Wren arrives back in his room after training, mysteriously Scott Junk inquires about Justin fighting him. Apparently Matt Miotrone had clued him into all the fight picks that Rashad and the coaches had considered. While Miotrone apologizes for his blunder, Jon Madsen and eventually Rashad wonder if Miotrone is trying to avoid a fight with Marcus Jones.

The match-up is made of Brendan Schaub versus Demico Rogers. During training, Brendan is instructed to use the jab that got him a boxing Gold Gloves championship. Rogers is instructed to take Schaub down and pound him out. Each fighter is hyped up, but Travis Whitman really gets into Schaubs ear, telling him he is the best ever. It is obvious that the mental aspect of the fight game is critical to success in the TUF tournament.

As the fight starts, Brendan looks to use his jab. Demico quickly attempts a couple takedowns which are denied. However, Demico is able to eventually get the takedown. Demico doesn't do much in guard until the ref asks for action. From there, Demico landed a couple big elbows. He stood up and dropped a little more punishment down on Schaub.

With Demico back in guard, he is instructed to pass, and gets in half guard. As soon as Demico rested, Schaub bucked him off and got top position. After a brief scramble, Schaub locked in an anaconda choke for the win near the end of the first round.

(Brendan Schaub pictured)

TEAM RASHAD 4 TEAM RAMPAGE 0

2nd Round Qualifiers - Jon Madsen, James McSweeney, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub

TUF 10 - Big Country

The latest episode of TUF 10 - Heavyweights featured a fight between youtube legend Kimbo Slice and Roy "Big Country" Nelson. The episode featured a nice mix of training and fight footage.

In the lead-in to the fight, Kimbo's training mainly focused on how to get up, how to get off his back and what he would do to get off the ground. Unfortunately for Rampage, he didn't know who Roy Nelson was during evaluations. Now, I'm guessing Rampage has an idea. It seemed Team Rampage coach Tiki Ghosen has his hands full.

Rashad had good things to say about Roy Nelson, who he described as an independent fighter. Roy trains often out of his garage, is self-managed and procures his own sponsorships. At the house, one scene featured Team Rashad intently listening to Roy Nelson talk about a crucifix he liked to use. With the arm trapped, and in half guard, you rain down punches.

Meanwhile, Rashad Evans friend and training parter Keith Jardine showed up. While Rampage was initially cordial to Jardine, Rashad had to start talking trash. That left Rampage bringing out the bad breath jokes and eventually getting into it with Team Rashad fighter James McSweeney.

The fight itself played out how many thought it would. In the first round, the two fighters went through a feeling out process before Nelson got Kimbo up against the cage. He used position to eventually get a trip takedown and get mount. With not much going in mount, Nelson looked for the crucifix, trapped the arm, and began to punch Kimbo's head. With not much damage done, the round ended.

In the second, Kimbo came out firing. He clipped Roy with a couple decent punches, but when he tried a knee, Nelson took advantage. With a knee up, Nelson took Kimbo to the mat again. From there, Nelson got in half-guard and began punching Kimbo again. Ref Herb Dean was forced to stop the fight.

After the fight, the rotund Roy Nelson asked Dana White for a Whopper as he celebrated the victory. While Kimbo felt bad for the loss, he knew he would learn from the experience.

(Roy Nelson pictured)

TEAM RASHAD 3 TEAM RAMPAGE 0

2nd Round Qualifiers - Jon Madsen, James McSweeney, Roy Nelson

UFC 104 Preview

UFC 104 takes place on Saturday, October 24th from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The event will feature a ppv card as well as at least 2 undercard bouts on an hour lead-in segment on Spike TV. If one of the undercard bouts ends in the first round it could make one of the broadcasts.

Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua- The undefeated champ Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida (15-0) will look to defend the title he aquired while violently KO'ed Rashad Evans in the second round of their 205 bout. Shogun (18-3) will look to continue the momentum he has built off a first round KO of Chuck Liddell.

Lyoto Machida and his karate base make a fight with the Brazilian very difficult. Shogun will look to utilize his muay thai, attacking his knees, kicks and elbows. Machida is very elusive and often forces his opponents to lose their cool and rush in, leaving an opening for Machida to pick them apart.

(Lyoto kicking Rashad at UFC 98)

Machida's undefeated run includes wins over Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans. Shogun was a fixture in Pride before coming to the UFC and has victories over Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Alistair Overeem, Rampage Jackson and Kevin Randleman.

(Shogun Rua pictured)

Ben Rothwell vs. Cain Velasquez- Former IFL Heavyweight star Ben Rothwell will take on fast rising Cain Velasquez in a fight that could send Velasquez to a potential title shot. Rothwell would likely need another big time victory.

Cain Velasquez (6-0, 4-0 UFC) has the wrestling advantage, and his best strategy would be to get the fight to the ground and delivering a healthy dose of ground and pound. Velasquez' defeated Cheick Kongo in his last match via decision, while taking a couple big punches. He also has victories over Jake O'Brien and Denis Stojnic.

(Cain Velasquez pictured)

Ben Rothwell (30-6) compiled a 9-0 record while in the IFL, defeating the likes of Roy Nelson, Krzysztof Soszynski, Ricco Rodriguez and Dan Bobish. Look for Rothwell to keep the fight standing, throwing power punches while utilizing his height and weight advantage.

(Ben Rothwell pictured)

MAIN CARD

Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau
Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson
Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

SPIKE TV

Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer
Patrick Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk

UNDERCARD

Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen
Rob Kimmons vs. Jorge Rivera
Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury
Stefan Struve vs. Chase Gormley