Video of the Day - Oyama v. Gassaway

Here is Shungo Oyama fighting Brian Gassaway in the main event of Martial Combat 10 which took place 9/16/10 at Compass Ballroom at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre,Sentosa, Singapore.

Oyama, a 9 year veteran of Pride, K-1 Hero's and Dream, has wins over Renzo Gracie, UFC champ Carlos Newton, kickboxing legend Peter Aerts and Valentijn Overeem.

Gassaway, a 14 year veteran of Pancrase, Shooto, UFC, WEC and Bellator, has wins over Jose Landi-Jons, Joe Slick and Travis Fulton. Fight starts at the 8 minute mark.

Sengoku's Soul of Fight Preview

World Victory Road will pull out all the stops to present their stacked "Sengoku: Soul of Fight" year end show on Dec 30, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan at the Ariake Coliseum. In addition to MMA, there will be various kickboxing and muay thai bouts on the card.

Michael Schiavello will call the HDNet card that sees a main event of Marlon Sandro (17-1, #7 ranked FW) against Hatsu Hioki (22-4, #8 ranked FW) for the 145 pound title. Sandro, a BJJ blackbelt, has three straight KO wins in Sengoku, his last over Masanori Kanehara for the title.

(Marlon Sandro KO over Kanehara)

Hatsu Hioki, a grappling wiz in his own right, has eleven submission wins in his MMA career. Hioki, the taller fighter, will need to work his kicks standing befor trying for a takedown where he can utilize his dominant top game.

(Hatsu Hioki utilizing his top game)

In addition, the welterweight grand prix finale will take place between the last four competitors in Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura and Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu. Exciting fighter Maximo Blanco (7-2) will look for his sixth straight TKO/KO win in a row against Won Sik Park (9-2).

Other notables include 2006 Pride Welterweight GP champ Kazuo Misaki, Women's MMA legend Megumi Fujii, UFC vets Ryo Chonan, Yuki Sasaki and Keita Nakamura, Strikeforce vets Hitomi Akano and Roxanne Modafferi, and exciting Sengoku veterans Masanori Kanehara, Dave Herman and Mamed Khalidov.

MMA fights:

Champ Marlon Sandro v. Hatsu Hioki
Kazuo Misaki v. Mike Seal
Megumi Fujii v. Emi Fujino
Masanori Kanehara v. Yoshiro Maeda
Ryo Chonan v. Taisuke Okuno
Maximo Blanco v. Won Sik Park
Yasubey Enomoto v. Keita Nakamura
Jadamba Narantungalag v. Kazunori Yokota
Mamed Khalidov v. Yuki Sasaki
Dave "Pee Wee" Herman v. Yoshihiro Nakao
Taiyo Nakahara v. Akitoshi Tamura
Manabu Inoue v. Shunichi Shimizu
Hitomi Akano v. Roxanne Modafferi
Mika "Hari" Harigai v. Rin Nakai
Amy Davis v. Misaki Takimoto

Video of the Day - Manhoef v. Misaki

Here is Melvin Manhoef versus Kazou Misaki from K-1 Dynamite which took place on 12/31/09. Manhoef next faces Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce.

Video of the Day - Condit v. Gonzalez

Here is Carlos Condit fighting Isidro Gonzalez at Ring of Fire 19 - Showdown which took place on 9/10/05 in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Condit, who notched a devastating KO victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 120, will fight Chris Lytle at UFC 127.

WEC 53 Finale

The WEC ended its 9 year run with a bang this Thursday night with an instant classic between Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis. In a bout featuring upper level striking, wrestling and submission attempts. The capper was a fifth round Pettis ninja wall kick while using the cage. With the win, WEC champ Pettis will fight the winner of Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar for the UFC title.

MAIN CARD RESULTS

Anthony Pettis def Benson Henderson via unanimous dec
Dominick Cruz def Scott Jorgensen via unanimous dec
Donald Cerrone def Chris Horodecki via sub (triangle) R2, 2:43
Kamal Shalorus def Bart Palaszewski via split dec

PRELIMS

Danny Downes def Tiequan Zhang via unanimous dec
Shane Roller def Jamie Varner via sub (RNC) R1, 3:55
Brad Pickett def Ivan Menjivar via unanimous dec
Eddie Wineland def Ken Stone via KO (slam) R1, 2:11
Danny Castillo def Will Kerr via KO (punches) R1, 1:25
Yuri Alcantara def Ricardo Lamas via KO (punches) R1, 3:26
Renan Barao def Chris Cariaso via sub (RNC) R1, 3:47

Fedor Ready to Fight Anyone

Here is a recent interview Fedor Emelianenko had with friend of MMA Blaster, Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV. The MMA world is anxiously awaiting an announcement on who Fedor will fight next. An interesting opponent is Strikeforce champ and recent K-1 champ Alistair Overeem.

In the interview, Fedor states that he made a small mistake in his fight with Werdum, one that will not happen again. Werdum infamously scored one of the biggest upsets in MMA history with a slick triangle/armbar submission of Fedor at Strikeforce: Werdum v. Fedor on 6/29/10.

While Fedor does not care who he fights next, he states that the UFC will be sorry if he never fights for them. That is true, as I'd really like to see what he can do in the UFC. Unfortunately, it seems like M-1 and Fedor's management group has clashed greatly with UFC brass.


Here is the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Lindland from Bodog Fight which took place 4/14/07.

MMA Judges Must Be Held Accountable

The two judges who gave Garcia the decision over Phan deserve an immediate suspension or firing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Anyone with a functioning set of eyes clearly saw that Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia at the TUF 12 Finale, winning all three rounds.

There have been plenty of controversial decisions throughout the history of MMA. Bisping's decision win over Hamill at UFC 75 was robbery. I had Shogun beating Machida in their first bout at UFC 104. Going back further, most people had Ricco Rodriguez beating Antonio Nogueira at Pride Elimination 2003 and Kevin Randleman defeating Bas Rutten at UFC 20.

However, the decision in Phan versus Garcia trumps them all as every round clearly belonged to Phan. The easiest round to score was the second, where Phan landed cleaner strikes, knocked down Garcia, and got the back. The third round seemed clear, as Phan landed cleaner strikes doing far more damage. Throughout all three rounds, Garcia never seemed to land clean strikes.

In addition, Garcia didn't do much in the last two minutes of the final two rounds. It just seems impossible that a person with the power of sight could score that bout for Garcia. Throwing a punch and it not landing should not score points. Running out of gas should not score points.

Quite simply, NSAC and other athletic commissions need to clean house and get rid of incompetent judges. Decisions that seem outrageous need to be reviewed and the judge making the decision needs to be held accountable. People with actual MMA training and/or fight experience who know what they are watching should be the ones judging fights.

K-1 2010 World Grand Prix Recap

The K-1 Grand Prix played out over two events featuring 16 of the worlds best heavyweight kickboxers. There were some big time KO's during the tournament, especially from the 2010 champ, Alistair Overeem.

1st Round K-1 World GP Tournament Results:

Semmy Schilt def Hesdy Gerges- Split Dec
Mighty Mo def Raul Catinas- Unanimous Dec
Peter Aerts def Ewerton Teixeira- Split Dec
Kyotaro def Jerome LeBanner- DQ (Abandonment)
Daniel Ghita def Errol Zimmerman- KO, 0:18 R2
Gokhan Saki def Freddy Kemayo- TKO, 1:30 R1
Tyrone Spong def Ray Sefo- Unanimous Decision
Alistair Overeem def Ben Edwards- KO, R1

K-1 Results Round of 8:

Peter Aerts def Mighty Mo via KO, R1
Semmy Schilt def Kyotaro via Dec
Gokhan Saki def Daniel Ghita via Dec
Alistair Overeem def Tyrone Spong via Dec

Final 4:

Peter Aerts def Semmy Schilt via Dec
Alistair Overeem def Gokhan Saki via TKO, R1

Final:

Alistair Overeem def Peter Aerts via KO, R1

(Overeem v. Aerts)

2010 MMA Blaster Awards

What a great year of MMA in 2010, which featured numerous titles changing hands, insane submissions, big time KO's and several epic battles. The annual MMA Blaster awards post will be released on January 1st. 

Please email your nominations for the 2010 MMA Blaster Awards to mmablaster@gmail.com or message through facebook/mmablaster. Keep in mind that the timeframe is January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, the full calender year.  You can send in your nominees in any of the following categories:

1. Male Fighter of the Year Zuffa (UFC/WEC)
2. Male Fighter of the Year Outside Zuffa
3. Female Fighter of the Year
4. Fight of the Year
5. Submission of the Year
6. KO of the Year - Kick/Knee
7. KO of the Year - Hands/Elbow
8. Top Up and Coming Prospect Zuffa
9. Top Up and Coming Prospect Outside Zuffa
10. Comeback Fighter of the Year

Past Awards:

2009 Awards - 2009 MMA Blaster Awards
2008 Awards - 2008 MMA Blaster Awards

2010 Highlight Video from Neon Bar Fights

Video of the Day - MMA Backflip Fail

This is the funniest MMA video I've seen in a long, long time. Unfortunately, I don't know who this fighter is, although it took place in the Grachan promotion. Grachan gained some publicity when a fighter knocked out a ref last November.

Video of the Day - Baczynski v. McKenzie

Here is TUF 11's Seth Baczynski fighting WEC/UFC vet Tim McKenzie in Tachi Palace Fights 7 - Deck the Halls, which took place on 12/2/10 at Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California. This fight has an insane comeback finish that certainly isn't for the faint of heart.

Video of the Day - Miller v. DeJesus

Here is Micah Miller fighting Isaac DeJesus at Tachi Palace Fights 7 - Deck the Halls which took place on 12/2/10 at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lenmoore, California.

Dream's Dynamite!! 2010 Preview

Dream's year end Dynamite show will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on December 31st, with a broadcast in North America on HDNet. Main event bouts include title fights between Bibiano Fernandes versus Hiroyuki Takaya and Marius Zaromskis versus Kazushi Sakuraba.

Rising Brazilian star Bibiano Fernandes (8-2, #6 ranked FW) will look to use his quickness and slick takedowns to defeat Hiroyuki "Streetfight Bancho" Takaya (14-8). Takaya has two straight KO's over Chase Beebe and Joachim Hansen in Dream. Expect Takaya to try to keep the fight standing to use his heavy hands.

(Bibiano Fernandes pictured)

The stacked card features four top ten fighters and several legends of MMA. As per usual, the card has it odd fights. Bob Sapp will fight sumo fighter Shinichi Suzukawa in an MMA bout without gloves, thus no closed fist strikes. Shinya Aoki(#4 ranked LW) fights Yuichiro Nagashim in a bout featuring a 3 minute kickboxing round then a 5 minute MMA round. Gegard Mousasi(#10 ranked LHW) and "Wicky" Nishiura will take part in kickboxing bouts.

(Aoki fighting JZ Calvancante)

Satoshi Ishii v. Jerome Le Banner
Sergei Kharitonov s. Tatsuya Mizuno
Alistair Overeem v. Todd Duffee
Bob Sapp v. Shinichi Suzukawa
Champ Bibiano Fernandes v. Hiroyuki Takaya
Champ Marius Zaromskis v. Kazushi Sakuraba
Shinya Aoki v. Yuichiro Nagashim
Tatsuya Kawajiri v. Josh Thomson
Kazuyuki Miyata v. Caol Uno
Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura v. Tetsuya Yamato
Kyotaro Fujimoto v. Gegard Mousasi
Hideo Tokoro v. Kazuhisa Watanabe
Jason High v. Hayato Sakurai
Hiroshi Izumi v. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa
Katsuaki Furuki v. Andy Ologun

UFC 124 - Montreal Madness

UFC 124 will take place on December 11, 2010 featuring a main card bout between UFC 170 pound champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Josh Koscheck. St. Pierre will have the hometown advantage as the event will take place in Montreal, Canada.

Back at UFC 74, St. Pierre (20-2) won a unanimous decision over Koscheck following his upset loss to Matt Serra. St. Pierre used a steady diet of takedowns and ground and pound to win every round. That win catapaulted St. Pierre to his current seven fight win streak. That streak has featured wins against Dan Hardy, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn and Thiago Alves.

(St. Pierre punching Matt Hughes)

Josh Koscheck (15-4) burst onto the MMA scene through the TUF 1 reality series, where he again played the villian, eventually losing to Diego Sanchez. The NCAA wrestling champion is currently riding a three fight win streak, with wins over Paul Daley, Anthony Johnson and Frank Trigg.

(Josh Koscheck pictured)

I expect St. Pierre to stand and trade with Koscheck before looking for the takedown. From the first match-up, Koscheck is definitely aware of St. Pierre's wrestling prowess and no doubt has been concentrating on his takedowns and takedown defense. I wouldn't be surprised to see this fight boil down to a kickboxing match.

In the co-main event, two massive fighters will look to take a step closer to relevence in the heavyweight division. The 6'11" Stefan Struve (20-4) will look to build on his 2nd round comeback KO over Christian Morecraft at UFC 117. The tall Dutch fighter has a decent stand-up game, and long limbs that have helped him secure 14 submission wins.

(Struve's UFC Topps Card)

Sean McCorkle (10-0) has used his internet persona to start a trash talking campaign against Struve. This hype largely has parlayed him into his current fight. The 6'7" fighter has fought mainly in the midwest, sometimes against 300+ pounders in the super heavyweight division. His only UFC appearance resulted in a straight armbar submission of Pride vet Mark Hunt.

MAIN CARD

Georges St-Pierre v Josh Koscheck
Sean McCorkle v Stefan Struve
Jim Miller v Charles Oliveira
Mac Danzig v Joe Stevenson
Thiago Alves v John Howard

PRELIM CARD

Mark Bocek v Dustin Hazelett
Jesse Bongfeldt v Rafael Natal
Sean Pierson v Matthew Riddle
Joe Doerksen v Dan Miller
Ricardo Almeida v T.J. Grant
Pat Audinwood v John Makdessi

TUF 12 Finale Preview

The 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter has delivered some very entertaining fights, nasty submissions and a couple big time KO's. The 28 contestants have been whittled down to the final two fighters, both from Team Georges St. Pierre.

The two hour final episode wrapped Wednesday night with two hard fought fights that ended in decisions. In the first fight, WEC veteran and the ever humble Jonathan Brookins used his dominant wrestling and ground and pound to get a victory over Kyle Watson.

Brookins has shown a quick power double leg and amazing lateral throw over course of season 12. Jonathan Brookins earned his way with a dominant decision over Ran Weathers, then two rear naked choke wins over Sako Chivitchyan and Sevak Magakian.

(Jonathan Brookins Pictured)

In the second bout, Michael Johnson barely squeezed out a split decision win over Team Koscheck's Nam Phan. The fight featured Phan getting the better of the stand-up exchanges, but Johnson getting the better of the grappling. Johnson showed tremendous heart, powering through devastating body shots in the second round.

To get to the final four, Michael Johnson relied heavily on his wrestling to win decisions over Pablo Garza and Bruce Leeroy while getting a rear naked choke win over Aaron Wilkinson.

(Michael Johnson Pictured)

TUF 12 Finale Line-up:

MAIN CARD

Stephan Bonnar v Igor Pokrajac
Jonathan Brookins v Michael Johnson (For TUF 12 Champ)
Kendall Grove v Demian Maia
Rick Story v Johny Hendricks
Leonard Garcia v Nam Phan (Phan from TUF 12)

PRELIM CARD (Select bouts air)

Rich Attonito v Dave Branch
Pablo Garza v Fredson Paixao
Will Campuzano v Nick Pace
Kyle Watson v Sako Chivitchian (TUF 12)
Ian Loveland v Tyler Toner
Cody McKenzie v Aaron Wilkinson (TUF 12)

(TUF 12: Team GSP v. Team Koscheck Cast)

Video of the Day - Chonan v. Okuno

Here is UFC veteran Ryo Chonan fighting Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku - Soul of the Fight which took place 12/30/10 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Fight starts at the 1:27 mark.

Top UFC 100 Fights Snubs

The UFC counted down the supposed list of the 100 top UFC fights of the promotion's illustrious 16 year existence on Spike TV. However, this list is basically a device to publicize and push its video game and current fighters.

Any fighter on the outs with the UFC was not listed unless it is a fight they lost. The best high kick in UFC history, Yves Edwards ridiculous high kick of Josh Thomson, is mysteriously left out. My guess is that it had something to do with Thomson winning the Strikeforce LW Championship.

Regardless, these ten fights are absolute gems in the history of the UFC. Each fight was a war, epitomizing the energy and excitement that is illuminates the top fight promotion in the world.

Top 10 Snubs:

1. Frank Shamrock v. Tito Ortiz at UFC 22- An epic battle for a championship belt that has been the finest fight in the history of the UFC. In the beginning, the brash, young and explosive Ortiz was able to get takedowns and ground and pound. Shamrock worked shots from the bottom position, and eventually wore Ortiz down. During a missed shot in the fourth round, Shamrock pounded Ortiz with punches. An incredible bout that was a comeback and a triumph.

(Frank with 4 UFC belts)

2. Marco Ruas v. Paul Varelens at UFC 7- The brawl in Buffalo featured an epic battle not seen since Royce Gracie v. Kimo. After Marco submitted Larry Cureton and Remco Pardoel, he had to face a giant smashing machine in Paul Varelens. Marco came out in the finale throwing the first effective leg kicks in MMA competiton, reddening the thigh of Varelens. Ruas also threw the first footstomps that looked absolutely nasty. Combine with bare-knuckle punches and after 13 minutes, Varelens was chopped down like a big redwood.

(Ruas throwing a nasty leg kick on Varelans)

3. Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18- An epic battle between two of the elite strikers of the day. The ending of this fight was one of the best technical flurries of all time, as Bas landed all his big punches to get the KO around 14 minutes in.

(Bas Rutten with UFC and Pancrase belts)

4. Yves Edwards v. Josh Thomson at UFC 49- One of the best rounds ever fought, as these two lightweights laid everything on the line. Near the end of the first, a scramble occured and as Thomson threw a spinning backfist, Edwards came out with a jumping/flying kick that landed flush to Thomson's face. By far the best head kick in the history of the UFC.

(Edwards head kick)

5. Dan Severn v. Anthony Macias at UFC 4- While this bout ended in quick fashion, it was the first demonstration of how wrestling could be utilized in mixed martial arts. Severn landed two perfect belly to back suplexes which had the crowd in a hysteria. To finish, Severn used his trademark Severn rear naked choke, torquing Macias' chin towards him. Despite being his debut mixed martial arts fight, Severn dominated.

(Severn with UFC belts)

6. Oleg Taktarov v. Tank Abbott at UFC 6- The finale at UFC 6 was an outstanding battle of striker versus sambo. Both men fought hard in the high altitude of the Rocky Mountains, throwing everything they had. After 17 minutes of straight fighting, Oleg was able to slap a rear naked choke on the Tank. After the victory, Oleg and Tank laid on the canvas unable to get up. Oxygen was needed.

7. Andre "Big Chief" Roberts v. Ron Waterman at UFC 21- These two super-heavyweights threw big leather, with muscle bound Waterman having Roberts all but put away. However, the Native American Roberts was able to pull off a huge upset and comeback, knocking out Waterman after a big right, left, right combo and punches to the stunned Waterman.

8. Goran Reljic v. Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84- This fight featured outstanding kickboxing, as Reljic landed head and body kicks at will with good snap. Near the end of the first, Gouveia came back with flurries of punches. In the second, Gouveia got the most of the stand-up and a takedown. After it was stood back up, Reljic landed a power left, then a barrage of hammerfists for the win.

9. Royce Gracie v. Dan Severn at UFC 4- Severn took Gracie down at will, landing ground and pound shots repeatedly. What happened at the 15 minute mark was a tight triangle choke, the first time it had been seen in UFC competition.

10. Tito Ortiz v. Guy Mezger II at UFC 19- The rematch was fast and furious combination of grappling, striking and submission attempts. Tito came out on top.

MMA Blaster Turns 3!

Thanks everyone for reading! Three years down and plenty more to go. Please bookmark the site, follow and comment.

I want to especially thank fighters Shah Bobonis, Chuck Grigsby, Muhsin Cobbrey, TJ O'Brien, Gerald Harris, Douglas Lima, Larry Landry and Jason Nicholson for interviews and feature stories. If you are a pro fighter looking for some publicity, feel free to email me at mmablaster@gmail.com or hit me up on facebook/mmablaster.

MMA Blaster's top 20 cities for November 2009 through November 2010:

1. London, UK
2. New York, USA
3. Chicago, USA
4. Los Angeles, USA
5. Sydney, AUS
6. Melbourne, AUS
7. San Francisco, USA
8. Houston, USA
9. Toronto, CAN
10. Hamburg, GER
11. Dublin, IRE
12. Manila, PHIL
13. San Diego, USA
14. Las Vegas, USA
15. Los Angeles, USA
16. Calgary, CAN
17. Manchester, UK
18. Honolulu, USA
19. Vancouver, USA
20. Des Moines, USA

Video of the Day - McDonald v. Godfrey

Here is Michael McDonald making his WEC debut against Clint Godfrey at WEC 52, which took place on 11/11/10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner will get a shot at the UFC upon the merger.

Random PED Testing and Punishment Guidelines Needed in the UFC

By MMA BLASTER

With Chael Sonnen's recent positive test for elevated levels of testosterone, the world's largest MMA promotion, the UFC, needs to put its foot down. Fighters under contract should be randomly tested throughout the year by an outside testing agency for performance enhancing drugs. In addition, the UFC needs clear, unambigious punishment guidelines.

Random testing is essential to ensuring that fighters cannot use performance enhancing drugs during competition. All fighters should designate one hour per week in which they could be randomly tested, with at least one test weeks before every fight. That way, fighters cannot plan in advance for drug tests, cycling in and out of steroid use. The tests could be performed through the World Doping Agency.

While state commissions do a good job punishing offenders of their drug policies, the UFC should set up independent punishment guidelines to run alongside these policies. As it stands now, punishment is not uniform with the same offenders suffering different fates – with some fighters cut, some immediately back after suspension, and some on the shelf long after their suspension has ended.

For example, Josh Barnett was cut from the UFC and stripped of his recently won heavyweight title after testing positive for three anabolic steroids after UFC 36. Sean Sherk tested positive for anabolic agents at UFC 73, only to return to competition at UFC 84, less than a year later, fighting for the title. Chris Leben and Stephan Bonnar each returned to competition less than a year after positive tests.

The UFC needs to send a stronger message to its fighters, and prospective fighters, that PED use will not be tolerated. Fighters entering the UFC would know they would have to run a clean camp leading into fights. Fighter health and safety would be better protected with random drug testing.

Video of the Day - BJ Penn Basic Arm Bar

Here is a basic arm bar being demonstrated by BJ Penn. It has been rumored that BJ next fights Matt Hughes at UFC 123.

Video of the Day - Vemola v. Economou

Here is Karlos Vemola fighting Stav Economou in CFC 7 which occured on 7/4/09 in Essex, England.

Karlos will fight Seth Petruzelli at UFC 122 in Germany.

Video of the Day - Ishii v. Shibata

Here is Satoshi Ishii fighting Katsuyori Shibata in the only MMA match of the K-1 World Max 2010 Finals which took place on 11/8/10 in Tokyo, Japan.

Ishii won a 2008 Olympic gold in Judo in Beijing, China in the heavyweight division. He is a 5th dan blackbelt in Judo.

Mark Munoz Ready For Aaron Simpson

The below video features Mark Munoz discussing his upcoming bout with Aaron Simpson with friend of MMA Blaster, Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV.

Mark has been running his own gym in Orange County, California. The NCAA champion wrestler has been training with some elite competition lately, including the Nogueira brothers, Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz, King Mo and plenty others.

Munoz describes Aaron Simpson as a friend, but he is ready for fireworks in the fight. Hopefully, Munoz learned from his mistakes in his fight with Yushin Okami, when he shot from too far out and lost a close split decision.

Video of the Day - Marquardt v. Edwards

Here is Nate Marquardt v. Yves Edwards from the Bas Rutten Invitational which took place on 8/14/99.

Marquardt will fight Yushin Okami for a title shot at UFC 122 today, live on Spike!

Video of the Day - Werdum Back Attack

Here is Fabricio Werdum giving a lecture about submission attacks from your back. Werdum is a second degree BJJ blackbelt with HW ADCC submission grappling championships in 2007 and 2009.

Werdum infamously forced Fedor Emelienenko to tap via triangle choke in Strikeforce in just a minute and nine seconds of the first round. Werdum had his elbow scoped shortly thereafter, and is likely to fight for the Strikeforce title in early 2011.

Video of the Day - Lauzon v. Lauzon

I never post backyard videos, however this one is definitely an exception to the rule. Here is Dan Lauzon fighting his brother Joe Lauzon, apparently in the front yard.

Joe Lauzon fights Melvin Guillard at UFC 136.

Video of the Day - Krauss v. Stetefeld

Here is Pascal "Panzer" Krauss fighting Dominique Stetefeld in La Onda - Fight Night Special 3 in Halberstadt, Germany on 8/23/09.

Krauss will make his UFC debut this weekend at UFC 122 against fellow newcomer Mark Scanlon. Fight starts around the 2:55 mark.

UFC 122- Germany 2 Preview

UFC 122, the UFC's second venture into Germany, will air via tape delay on Spike TV. The main event featuring Yushin Okami fighting Nate Marquardt will play out at Konig Pilsener Arena which seats about 13,000 people.

Yushin Okami has stayed in the United States to train for his upcoming bout with Team Quest, home of top wrestlers Chael Sonnen and Matt Lindland. Marquardt has stuck with his Colorado based training under Trevor Wittman TKO's and Team Jackson.

(Okami punching Rory Singer)

I expect Marquardt, a former King of Pancrase to be the aggressor, looking for takedowns and power punches. Okami will look to clinch and shucking off takedowns while looking to dirty box. Marquardt will look to use his black belt BJJ skills on the mat mixing in devastating ground and pound.

(Marquardt throwing a knee)

Okami has career victories over Mark Muñoz, Jason MacDonald and Evan Tanner. Nate Marquardt has TKO's in the UFC over Demian Maia, Rousimar Palhares and Martin Kampmann.

Jorge Rivera will fight Alessio Sakara in the co-main event. Both fighters are riding three fight win streaks hoping for a #1 contender match in the middleweight division. With each fighter having devastating boxing, expect this fight to play out on the feet. This fight shouldn't go the distance.


MAIN CARD

Nate Marquardt v Yushin Okami
Jorge Rivera v Alessio Sakara
Dennis Siver v Andre Winner
Amir Sadollah v Peter Sobotta
Krzysztof Soszynski v Goran Reljic

PRELIM CARD

Rob Kimmons v Kyle Noke
Alexandre Ferreira v Vladdy Matyushenko
Pascal Krauss v Mark Scanlon
Duane "Bang" Ludwig v Nick Osipczak
Seth Petruzelli v Karlos Vemola
Kris McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha

UFC 123 - Return to Detroit

UFC 123 will mark the UFC's first return to Detroit since the odd UFC 9 event which featured no closed fist strikes. At that time, just about everything else was legal, including having a 400 pound sumo wrestler fight a 185 pounder. Footnote- Mark Hall crushed Koji Kitao in 40 seconds after breaking his nose.

This event will feature a bigtime fight between enigmatic Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida (16-1) and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (30-8). Rampage has promised that he is rejuvinated, hoping to channel his Pride Fighting days when he fought more for the love of the game than the money. Word out of the Machida camp points to Lyoto being extremely focused since his first loss suffered at the hands of Shogun Rua.

Rampage brought raw power and energy to the fight game when he burst on the scene in Pride, slamming and crushing just about everyone in sight. When he came to the UFC, he quickly met Chuck Liddell, knocking out the Iceman and claiming the title. He then became grounded, losing the title in a sluggish performance against Forrest Griffin and an apprehensive performance against Rashad Evans.

(Rampage KO's Liddell in Pride)

Lyoto's rise to stardom came first in the Japanese fighting circuit when he used a head kick and punches to TKO Rich Franklin, choked out K-1 star Michael McDonald and scored a decision win over BJ Penn. He soon came to the UFC, where he notched several decision victories, rarely getting hit. In 2009, Machida came into his own, KO'ing Thiago Silva, then Rashad Evans to capture the title.

(Lyoto Machida)

Look for Machida to use his Shotokan Karate style to keep his distance on Rampage. Rampage will stalk Machida, trying to unload his power punches. Rampage will have to try to cut off angles and get a takedown or two to win the fight. The question is, will he eat too many Machida counter strikes before he can do that.

Penn v. Hughes 3 is the co-main event, and should be as exciting as the previous two bouts the men have split. In the first match-up, Penn (15-7)was able to control Hughes (45-7) and use a rear naked choke to win the fight and the belt in the first round. In the second, Hughes seemed to over-power and out-cardio Penn, using a crucifix and punches in the third round to secure a TKO win.

(BJ Penn)

I expect Matt Hughes to utilize the takedown early and often to try to get the fight to the mat and unleash ground and pound. Hughes will again have the power and wrestling advantage in this fight. Penn will try to keep the fight standing, using his superior striking and keeping the distance. Penn does not want to get in the clinch in this fight. While Penn has the BJJ advantage, I don't think he will be using it other than to get up off his back.

(Matt Hughes)

TUF 5 vet Joe Lauzon fights TUF 6 vet George Sotiropoulos (13-2) in a lightweight scrap for a step closer to a number 1 contender match. Sotiropoulous has been on a tear as of late, using his reach during his stand-up and using excellent control on the ground. George with a perfect 6-0 UFC record has wins over Kurt Pelligrino, Joe Stevenson, Jason Dent and George Roop in his last four fights.

Joe Lauzon (19-5) is a gritty fighter with a solid overall game. When Lauzon is aggressive is when he looks his best. In his last performance, Lauzon absolutely steamrolled Gabe Rudieger. Joe has other UFC wins against Jens Pulver, Jeremy Stephens and Kyle Bradley.

MAIN CARD

Quinton Jackson v Lyoto Machida
Matt Hughes v B.J. Penn
Joe Lauzon v George Sotiropoulos
Tim Boetsch v Phil Davis
Maiquel Falcao v Gerald Harris

SPIKE TV CARD

Matt Brown v Brian Foster
Mark Munoz v Aaron Simpson

PRELIM CARD

Dennis Hallman v Karo Parisyan
Edson Barboza v Mike Lullo
Paul Kelly v T.J. O'Brien
Nik Lentz v Tyson Griffin

Video of the Day - Sass v. Johnson

Paul Sass is a up and coming prospect out of the United Kingdom who recently won his UFC debut via triangle choke against Mark Holst. Here is his MMA debut against Dave Johnson at Cage Gladiators 4, which took place on 8/5/07 in Liverpool, England. Sass is in the white trunks.

Video of the Day - Frausto v. Sexton

Here is Zoila Frausto fighting Rosi Sexton in Bellator 23 which took place on 6/24/10. Frausto knocked Rosi out of her spot in the 115 pound Bellator season 3 women's tournament.  Frausto ended up winning the 1st ever Bellator Women's Championship, handing Megumi Fujii her first ever loss in the 5 round affair.

Video of the Day - Aerts v. Sapp

Here is Bob Sapp fighting Peter Aerts in the 2006 K-1 Grand Prix Round 2 which took place on 6/23/07 in Tokyo, Japan. Aerts has qualified for the 2010 K-1 World Open Weight GP by defeating Ewerton Teixeira.

WEC 52 Preview

In its second to last show, the WEC will feature Urijah Faber fighting Takeya Mizugaki. The event will air live on WEC on Thursday night from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The broadcast should start around 9 PM Eastern on Versus.

There will be more than a few guys fighting for a spot in the organization as it moves to the UFC. Depending on the contract, I expect most of the losers from the premilinary card to be shown the door.

This will be the first time to 135 pound for Faber, who has been a consistently solid draw for the promtion. Expect Faber to look for takedowns and ground and pound early and often, as he should have an advantage grappling.

Urijah Faber was truly one of the fighters who put the WEC on the map since he won the featherweight title in March of 2006 against Cole Escovedo. During a 13 fight win streak from October of 2005 to June of 2008, Faber defended the WEC belt 5 times, including over current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz. Faber has since alternated wins and losses prompting the shift to 135.

(Urijah Faber Pictured)

Takeya Mizugaki will be looking to trade strikes early and often, with his quick and accurate kickboxing. The former Cage Force bantamweight tourney champ and Shooto rookie of the year has WEC wins over BJJ black belts Jeff Curran and Rani Yahya.

MAIN CARD

Urijah Faber vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Chad Mendes vs. Javier Vazquez
Erik Koch vs. Francisco Rivera
Joseph Benavidez vs. Wagnney Fabiano
Demetrious Johnson vs. Damacio Page

PRELIMINARY CARD

Raphael Assuncao vs. L.C. Davis
Edward Faaloloto vs. Anthony Njokuani
Zack Micklewright vs. Dustin Poirier
Clint Godfrey vs. Michael McDonald
Yves Jabouin vs. Brandon Visher
Mackens Semerzier vs. Cub Swanson

What to do with the WEC?

The Zuffa controlled WEC promotion will officially merge with the UFC in the beginning of 2011, most likely at UFC 125. What will happen with the WEC promotion is still up in the air.

The WEC promotion was started in 2001 by Reed Harris and Scott Adams. In its infancy, the promotion had all weightclasses with many notable champions. Frank Shamrock held the light heavyweight belt in 2003 before leaving for Strikeforce, later Scott Smith would vacate the same belt to compete in TUF 4.

The welterweight division has seen Nick Diaz, Shonie Carter, Karo Parisyan, Mike Pyle and Carlos Condit hold the belt. The middleweight belt was held by Chris Leben, Joe Riggs and Paulo Filho. In 2006 Zuffa purschased the WEC, and in 2008 all weights above 155 were merged into the UFC.

I have always been of the contention that the WEC should be an official feeder league or minor league for the UFC with all weight classes. That way, young prospects can get a few fights infront of a TV audience and a larger live crowd. Many prospects go from fighting infront of 1,000 people straight to the UFC and 15,000 plus. It isn't surprising that they get the jitters.

In addition, instead of cutting popular fighters to be picked up by other promotions, they could send them to the WEC to pick up a few wins. That would have been ideal for fighters like Gabriel Gonzaga, Keith Jardine or Pat Cote. Also, TUF competitors not quite ready for the UFC could prove themselves in the WEC.

The most plausible scenario is that the WEC will be shut down for good. The promotion will only exist in WEC wreckage replays on Versus and DVD sales. It is a shame, as the promotion always seemed to make money with reasonable fighter payouts, a solid television deal and good crowds.

Video of the Day - Aerts v. Musashi

Here is Peter Aerts fighting Musashi at the 2006 K-1 World Open Weight Grand Prix in Tokyo, Japan on 12/2/06. Aerts won the K-1 GP Tourney in 1998 and 1995 with K-1 wins over Jerome LeBanner, Ernesto Hoost, Andy Hug and Mike Bernado.

Video of the Day - Velasquez v. Constant

Here is Cain Velasquez fighting Jeremiah Constant in Bodog Fight - Russia which took place on 12/16/06. This was Cain's last fight before coming to the UFC.

Cain destroyed Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 to take the UFC heavyweight title. Fight stats at the 5:15 mark.


Here is a recent Cain Velasquez interview/mobbing with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV.

Video of the Day - Severn v. Smith

Here is Dan Severn fighting Mark "The Bear" Smith in King of the Cage 18 which took place on 11/1/02. Severn, a UFC Hall of Famer, keeps plugging away in the regional MMA circuit with 94 registered wins on Sherdog.com. Severn is a perfect 3-0 in 2010.

Video of the Day - Scanlon v. Reid

Here is Mark Scanlon fighting Mark Reid in OMMAC 7 - Vengeance which took place on 10/2/10 in Liverpool, England. The fight helped propel Scanlon into his first UFC bout, which will occur at UFC 122 against Paul "Panzer" Krauss.

Sonnen Pre-Positive Test Interview

Here is an interview done by friend of MMA Blaster, Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV. The video was filmed the day before the positive steroid test was revealed by the California State Athletic Comission.

In the video, Sonnen makes some usual wild claims, such as nobody who Silva has beaten is still with the UFC, and that Silva told Sonnen his rib hurt during their epic battle at UFC 117. Well, Sonnen, Chris Leben, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt and Forrest Griffin are still in the UFC and close to title contention.

Why would Silva tell Sonnen mid-fight that his rib hurt? Seems like that would be the worst thing you could do, telling your opponent a weakness for him to exploit. Sonnen goes on to call Silva a "dirtbag" and a "bully" who ducked Sonnen for four years. Interesting. Take a look for yourself below.

Bellator Women's Tournament Final Set

Bellator's women's tournament has the finale set for Bellator 34 on October 28th in Hollywood, Florida. Undefeated submission ace Megumi Fujii will take on striker Zoila Frausto.  The tournament has seen Fujii run rough-shot over the field with 2 submissions.  Zoila notched a KO to get into the tourney before notching two decision wins.

Finale Match-up:  Megumi Fujii v. Zoila Frausto

Finalist- Zoila "Warrior Princess" Frausto (10-1, 3-0 BFC)- Zolia earned her way into the Bellator tournament by delivering Rosi Sexton the first KO loss of her career with a nasty knee and punches. Zolia will look to use her Muay Thai striking to get far in the tournament.  Zolia defeated Jessica Pene via unanimous decision in the 1st round. In the second round of the tournament Zoila defeated Jessica Aguilar via a narrow split decision.

Finalist- Megumi Fujii (22-0, 3-0 BFC)- Mega Megu is arguably the best women's submission fighter in the history of MMA with 18 sub victories. The Japanese dynamo already has the best undefeated mark in MMA history at a perfect 22 and 0. Megumi defeated Sara Schneider in her Bellator debut getting her first TKO. In the first round of the tournament, she defeated Carla Esparanza with a 2nd round arm-bar.  In the second round, Megumi repeated history, locking in a fight ending arm-bar against Lisa Ward.

(Megumi Fujii Pictured)

Video of the Day - Hathaway v. Mason

Here is John "Hitman" Hathaway fighting Jack Mason in Cage Rage which took place on 9/20/08 in London, England. Hathaway will face Mike Pyle next at UFC 120.

*Epic slam just before the 4 minute mark.

UFC 120 Preview

UFC 120 - Bisping v. Akiyama will take place in The O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, October 16th. The card could be called Europe v. World, as it has a distinctly international flavor. The fights will be shown in the states for free on Spike TV via tape delay.

The main event features a middle weight match-up between judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama and TUF 3 champ Michael Bisping. Conventional wisdom would tell you that Akiyama will look to get the fight to the floor early and often, while Bisping goes for a big time KO.

(Michael Bisping throwing a kick on Josh Haynes)

In other action, John Hathaway (14-0) is riding a four fight win streak in the UFC, including his latest, a dominant performance against Diego Sanchez. Submission specialist Mike Pyle (19-7) is standing in his way. Pyle has gone 2-2 in the UFC alternating wins and losses. Pyle has 17 submission wins on his resume, including wins over Dan Hornbuckle, Jon Fitch and Chris Wilson.

(Mike Pyle weighing in for Affliction)

MAIN CARD

Yoshihiro Akiyama v. Michael Bisping
Carlos Condit v. Dan Hardy
John Hathaway v. Mike Pyle
Travis Browne v. Cheick Kongo
Claude Patrick v. James Wilks

PRELIMINARY CARD

Cyrille Diabate v. Alexander Gustafsson
Rob Broughton v. Vinicius Kappke de Quieroz
Steve Cantwell v. Stanislav Nedkov
Mark Holst v. Paul Sass
Spencer Fisher v. Kurt Warburton
Fabio Maldonado v. James McSweeney

Bellator HW Tournament Progression

With two rounds of the Bellator HW tournament completed, the finals have been set in stone, with UK's Neil Grove fighting USA's Cole Konrad. The fighters will attempt to be crowned Bellator's first HW champion when they fight at Bellator 32 in two weeks. 

Grove, a heavy handed striker, will likely try to keep the fight standing utilizing his powerful boxing.  Konrad, an upper level wrestler, will continue with the strategy that has got him to the finals.  He'll look to take down Grove and beat on him with ground and pound.

FINALISTS:

Finalist- Neil "Goliath" Grove (10-2)- All 10 wins via TKO/KO, this UK based HW has TKO's over James McSweeney, Robert Berry and James Thompson.  Grove advanced to the second round by TKO'ing UFC veteram Eddie Sanchez in the 1st Round.  In the second round of the tournament, Grove worked over submission specialist Alexey Oleinick with vicious ground and pound, defeating him in the first round.

Advanced- Cole "King" Konrad (6-0)- 2X NCAA champion wrestler, decision victories over John Orr and Patrick Bennett in Bellator. Cole will come in very close to the 265 pound limit and look to use his improving submission and boxing skills. Konrad defeated Rogent Lloret in the 1st round via decision at Bellator 25.  In the second round, Konrad used stiffling takedowns and ground and pound to defeat Damian Grabowski via decision.

Video of the Day - Fujii v. Yoshida

Here is Megumi Fujii, the biggest star in women's MMA in Japan, fighting Masako Yoshida at Shooto - Battle Mix which took place on 1/26/2007 in Tokyo, Japan.

Fujii, will fight Zoila Frausto for the Bellator Women's Championship at Bellator 34.

UFC 119 Results

I have a feeling that UFC 119 won't be going down as one of the better events in the storied promotions history. The undercard largely produced more fireworks than the slower main card.

In pre-lim heavyweight action, Matt Mitrione went toe to toe with Joey Beltran in a three round slugfest. Each fighter was able to land some heavy punches, but Mitrione had better kickboxing, landing solid leg kicks. Mitirione captured his third straight UFC win and first Fight of the Night with the decision victory.

CB Dollaway used his nifty grappling to secure a guillotine choke win on Joe "El Dirte" Doerkson. With the choke not yet secured, CB bided his time, before rolling and cinching the submission forcing the tap. CB earned the submission of the night bonus.

(CB Dollaway Pictured)

The main card, well, I thought Evan Dunham was absolutely robbed against Sean Sherk. While Sherk got better takedowns and ground and pound in the first round, the 2nd and 3rd rounds belonged to Dunham. Dunahm did more damage and landed far more strikes, with Sherk not able to land strikes from top position.

Frank Mir KO'd Cro Cop in the third round of a very slow fight. Ryan Bader used takedowns and ground strikes to take a unanimous decision. Chris Lytle landed the more accurate punches to win a decision over Matt Serra. Melvin Guillard and Jeremy Stephens engaged in a very close stand-up fight with Guillard getting the decision.

Full Results:

Frank Mir def Mirko "Cro Cop" via KO(knee) R3, 4:02
Ryan Bader def Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via unanimous dec
Chris Lytle def Matt Serra via unanimous dec
Sean Sherk def Evan Dunham via split dec
Melvin Guillard def Jeremy Stephens via split dec
C.B. Dollaway def Joe Doerksen via sub(guillotine) R1, 2:13
Matt Mitrione def Joey Beltran via unanimous dec
Thiago Tavares def Pat Audinwood via sub(guillotine) R1, 3:47
Waylon Lowe def Steve Lopez via split dec
T.J. Grant def Julio Paulino via unanimous dec
Sean McCorkle def Mark Hunt via sub, R1, 1:03

Video of the Day - Aldo v. Bigola

Here is WEC champion Jose Aldo's MMA debut against Mario Bigola in Eco Fights which took place on 8/10/2004 in Brazil.

Aldo defends his 145 pound WEC belt against Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51 on September 30, 2010 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Video of the Day - Kikuno v. Hironaka

Here is Katsunori Kikuno fighting Kuniyoshi Hironaka from Dream 13 which took place on 3/22/10 in Yokohama, Japan.

Look for Kikuno to fight in Dream "Dynamite" 2010 on New Years Eve.

TUF 11 - Bruce Lee-Roy

The second episode of the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter featured team selections and the first fight in the second round. The lightweights only season coached by Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck can be seen on Spike TV Wednesdays at 10/9 Cent.

GSP and his team seem to have plenty of tricks up their sleeve, as GSP makes a fake list of picks with Koscheck's former wrestler Marc Stevens at the top. Letting Dana White know that it is strategy, Koscheck forgoes his #1 pick Michael Johnson and takes Stevens. Here is the rest of the draft:

Team Koscheck (Yellow)

1. Marc Stevens (12-5) 4 fight W streak, big KO in opening round
3. Sevak Magakian (8-3) 7 first round sub wins
5. Sako Chivitchian (5-0) Armenian judo fighter
7. Andy Main (4-1) East Coast fighter
9. Nam Phan (15-7) Strikeforce and Sengoku vet
11. Aaron Wilkinson (6-3) UK fighter w/4 sub wins
13. Jeff Lentz (6-1) East Coast fighter w/3 TKO's

Team GSP (Red)

2. Michael Johnson (9-4) Gracie Barra fighter
4. Jonathan Brookins (11-3) WEC veteran, excellent grappler
6. Spencer Paige (5-2) stand-up fighter w/2 head kick KO wins
8. Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres (4-2) flashy fighter from Florida
10. Kyle Watson (12-6) sub specialist out of Hit Squad
12. Cody McKenzie (11-0) 11 submission wins
14. Dane Sayers (7-1) North Dakota fighter

I was a little surprised that Cody McKenzie was not chosen until the 12th pick. McKenzie (11-0) has 11 submission wins on his resume and choked out Amir Killah unconscious in his first round bout.

Writing on his blog, Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres explained that many of the other fighters did not want the first fight due to injuries, he stepped up and asked for Jeff Lentz. Lentz was seen smoking cigerettes and drinking shots the night before the team draft. Arrogantly, Lentz stated that he would never tap to a choke, and rather would go to sleep.

The first round of their match-up saw Jeff Lentz control the first round as he threw some decent high kicks and then pinned Caceres against the fence. With time running out in the round, Lentz nailed a nice hip toss to seal the round.

In the second, Lentz again got Leeroy against the fence, but when he went for another throw, Leeroy was ready. He snuck behind Lentz, but Lentz was able to reverse. From there Leeroy worked for a triangle, controlling an arm and sneaking his legs over. As Lentz went to slam out, Leeroy made the choke tighter, eventually coaxing a tapout.

(Bruce Lee Pictured With Double Numchucks)

TEAM GSP - 1 TEAM KOSCHECK - 0

Advancing to 3rd round- Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres

Antonio McKee Not Quite In UFC Yet

Antonio McKee, a dangerous grappler and cardio freak, is currently riding a 14 fight win streak. In his last fight, McKee defended his MFC lightweight title by crushing Luciano Azevedo with a series of elbow shots to the head. McKee has career victories over Delson Heleno, Carlo Prater and Derrick Noble.

Here he is Antonio speaking to Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, friend of MMA Blaster.

Video of the Day - Tyson v. Scaff

Here is Mike Tyson fighting "Slamming" Sammy Scaff. At the time, Tyson was being groomed for a title shot, entering the fight at 14-0. Scaff ended his career at 21-14, with his biggest victories over Burt Hayes and Bobby Thomas.

TUF 12 - Elimination Round Complete!

The first episode of TUF 12 featured 28 fighters trying to make it into the house. There were some impressive performances from the lightweights, as many are fighting to make it in the UFC. The remaining fighters feature a mix of young upstarts and seasoned vets who have yet to make it to the biggest stage in MMA.

Coaches Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck were seperated by Dana White for the action. Both coaches were scouting the fighters, as they will pick teams next week.

Here is a look at the 14 who made it to the 2nd round:

Cody McKenzie (11-0)- Team Fancy Pants member has 9 straight guillotine wins fighting in the Pacific Northwest. George St. Pierre correctly predicted a McKenzie victory via guillotine as he choked Amir Killah (6-4) unconscious and out of the competition.

Johnathan Brookins (11-3)- Bellator and WEC veteran has wins over Luis Palomino, Stephen Ledbetter, Yves Jabouin and TUF 5's Allen Berubie. Brookins won a dominating decision utilizing his grappling over Ran Weathers (13-7).

Sako Chivitchyan (5-0)- California based Armenian fighter has 3 submission wins. Sako utilized his judo to win a decision over Toby Grear (7-4-1), which was only shown in highlight fashion.

Marc Stevens (12-5)- Ring of Combat veteran is currently on a 4 fight win streak, has fought in 185, 170 and 155 divisions. Marc won his fight quickly, knocking out Iowa fighter T.J. O'Brien (14-3) with a nasty overhand right. Josh Koscheck was formerly an assistant wrestling coach for Mark in Buffalo.

Dane Sayers (7-1)- North Dakota based fighter has 6 first round wins. Sayers, a Cherokee Indian, was involved in the most draining fight of the first round against Ariel Sexton (6-2). The action was back and forth with Sayers, sporting a red mohawk, appearing to be dazed. In the second, he came back and won with a standing rear naked choke. Hopefully Dane gets a break before his next bout.

Spencer Paige (5-2)- The East Coast fighter (also listed at 7-2) doesn't have a recorded MMA fight since 2007, has 2 head kick wins on his resume. Spencer, an admitted stand-up based fighter, fought hard winning a unanimous decision over Steve Magdaleno (6-2).

Andy Main (4-1)- New Jersey based fighter trains with Dan and Jim Miller. Main's fight was shown in highlight fashion, ending in a triangle choke of undefeated Jason Brenton (3-0).

Jeff Lentz (5-1)- New Jersey based lightweight has 3 TKO's and 1 sub on his resume. Lentz laid a ground and pound assault on BJJ fighter Dan Head (6-2), leaving him a bloody and swollen mess.

Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres (4-2)- Florida based fighter is a KOTC and G-Force vet with 2 TKO's and 2 Subs in his 4 wins. Caceres, coming out in his Bruce Lee tracksuit which was featured in Game of Death, laid a whooping on Paul Barrow (3-0). Caceres threw some high flying kicks, but then finished with a nifty rear naked choke.

Mike Johnson (9-4)- Missouri based Gracie Barra fighter. Mike used solid wrestling, big strength and nasty ground and pound to win a decision over Pablo Garza (7-0).

Aaron Wilkinson (6-3)- Fighter from the UK has 4 sub wins. With subtitles in tact, Wilkinson used solid grappling to defeat former Marine Mike Richman via decision.

Kyle Watson (12-6)- Watson (also listed as 15-6) trains out of Matt Hughes' Hit Gym, he currently has a 4 fight win streak, 10 of his wins have come via submission. The BJJ brown belt used his upper level submission skills to submit Joseph Duffy (7-0) in the eliminator.

Sevak Magakian (8-3)- The tall judo fighter has 7 submission wins in the 1st round. Sevak made it into the house with a somewhat surprising decision. While the judo fighter seemed to be in top control for the duration of the fight, his opponent, JJ Ambrose (12-2) nearly finished him with a kimura.

Nam Phan (15-7)- The popular California based fighter is a Strikeforce and Sengoku veteran, with TKO wins over Saad Awad, Hideki Kadowaki and Shad Smith. Nam earned his way into the house with a hard fought win over WEC veteran and former pro rollerblader Mike Budnick (9-4). Nam landed a devastating shot to the liver to drop Budnick.

Video of the Day - Edwards v. Kotani

Here is Yves Edwards fighting Naoyuki Kotani from Euphoria - Road to the Titles which took place on 10/14/04 at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Edwards, a UFC veteran, delivered the best head kick KO in UFC history with a 1st round flying jump kick on Josh Thomson. Edwards defeated John "Guns" Gunderson at UFN 22 in his return to the UFC.

Video of the Day - Josh Barnett to Strikeforce

Here is video of Josh Barnett being interviewed by friend of MMA Blaster, Marcos of Fight Hub TV. Josh plays a little coy regarding his deal with Strikeforce, laying down some jokes. Josh does confirm his IGF pro wrestling match with Tim Sylvia at the end of the month in Japan.


Here is an early Josh Barnett fight against John Marsh in the Superbrawl promotion which occured on 9/7/99.

Video of the Day - Tyson v. Cozad

Here is Mike Tyson in an amateur boxing match against Don Kozad sometime from the early 80's.

Video of the Day - Cro Cop v. Sapp

Here is Bob Sapp fighting Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 on 3/30/03 in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Mirko next fights Frank Mir at UFC 119.

UFC 119 Indy Preview

On September 25, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop will fight in the main event of UFC 119 at the Conseco Fieldhouse. This PPV event will also feature free pre-lim fights on Spike TV.

For Mirko Cro Cop (27-7-2), a win over Frank Mir would be the biggest of his UFC career. Cro Cop, a former K-1 kickboxer, has had a rocky road in the UFC, going 4-3. Cro Cop has defeated the likes of Pat Barry, Anthony Perosh and Eddie Sanchez in the UFC. Expect Cro Cop to be defending the takedown and looking to use his kicks.

(Cro Cop head kick of Wanderlei Silva)

In Pride, Cro Cop was in his prime, winning the 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix with TKO wins over Minowaman, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett. Cro Cop also has KO wins over Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Coleman and Aleksander Emelianenko.

Frank Mir (13-5) is in need of a win to remain relevent in the UFC after dropping his past two high profile contests via TKO to Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar, mixing in submission win against Cheick Kongo. Mir should look to use the same strategy he used against Kongo on Cro Cop, looking for takedowns and submissions early and often.

(Mir knee-bar of Brock Lesnar)

Mir earned fame in the mixed martial arts world for his arm breaking submission of Tim Sylvia to claim the UFC Heavyweight title at UFC 48. After the win, Mir was stripped of his title after a devastating motorcycle accident. Mir's second career defining moment came after kneebarring Brock Lesnar at UFC 81. Mir has other wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the interim UFC title, Pete Williams and Roberto Traven.

Ryan Bader will be fighting Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-main event. Bader, the TUF 8 LHW champ, is an all-american wrestler from Arizona State University. Bader (11-0, 4-0 UFC) has two KO's and two decision wins in his time in the UFC.

(Ryan Bader Promo Pic)

Antonio Nogueira (19-3, 2-0 UFC), aka the Lil Nog, is coming off a controversial split decision win over Jason Brilz. The striker and BJJ blackbelt has KO wins over Alistair Overeem, Luis Cane and Vladdy Matyushenko. His other victories include Dan Henderson, Guy Mezger and Kazushi Sakuraba.

Here is a look at the full line-up of bouts:

MAIN CARD

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic v. Frank Mir
Ryan Bader v. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Chris Lytle v. Matt Serra
Evan Dunham v. Sean Sherk
Melvin Guillard v. Jeremy Stephens

SPIKE PRE-LIMS

C.B. Dollaway v. Joe Doerksen
Joey Beltran v. Matt Mitrione

PRELIMS (Select bouts air on delay if time allows)

Pat Audinwood v. Thiago Tavares
Steve Lopez v. Waylon Lowe
T.J. Grant v. Julio Paulino
Mark Hunt v. Sean McCorkle

Ultimate Fight Night 22 Preview

Ultimate Fight Night 22 will be live on Spike TV on September 15, 2010 from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The event will serve as a lead-in for The Ultimate Fighter season 12.

The main event pits two of the top 185 pounders against each other in Nate Marquardt fighting Rousimar Paulhares. Expect Marquardt (19-9) and Palhares (11-2) to be a grinding fight with each fighter looking for dirty boxing, takedowns and submissions. Marquardt is a former King of Pancrase and UFC title contender with wins over Demian Maia, Martin Kampmann, Kazuo Misaki and Dean Lister.

Rousimar Palhares is a BJJ blackbelt and wizard on the ground. Getting caught in a Palhares leg lock can mean bad things for your ACL. Palhares is 4-1 in the UFC with heel hook wins over Tomasz Drwal and Lucio Linhares, an armbar over Ivan Salaverry and decision over Jeremy Horn.

Efrain Escudero (13-1) came in 4 pounds overweight, stating on Twitter that he had hit a wall while trying to make weight. Escudero, the lightweight champion of TUF season 8, is attempting to bounce back from a loss against Evan Dunham. Efrain has wins over Cole Miller, Dan Lauzon and Phillipe Nover.

(Efrain Escudero Pictured)

His opponent, Charles "do Bronx" Oliveira (13-0) is a lightening fast muay thai and BJJ fighter. Oliveira has used his skills to notch a wicked first round armbar over solid wrestler Darren Elkins in his UFC debut. Oliveira has won 3 or 4 MMA tournaments in his native Brazil.

Here are a look at the full line-up of bouts:

Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares
Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira
Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau
Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson

UNDER CARD

John Gunderson vs. Yves Edwards
Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury
Dave Branch vs. Tomasz Drwal
Rich Attonito vs. Rafael Natal
David Mitchell vs. Anthony Waldburger
Brian Foster vs. Forrest Petz

TUF 12 Coaches and Contestants

On September 15, 2010, the 12th season of TUF will kick off pitting coaches Georges St. Pierre against TUF 1 veteran Josh Koscheck. The lid has been tight on rumors surrounding the show, as barely any names have been leaked.

(GSP punching BJ Penn)

The assistant coach names have all been leaked and are fairly predicatable. St. Pierre has tabbed his striking coach Phil Nurse, John Danaher, Jean-Charles Skarbowsky and Shawn Williams. Koscheck has an AKA heavy presence with Dave Camarillo, Bob Cook, Daniel Cormier and Javier Mendez.

(Josh Koscheck Pictured)

The show will feature 28 lightweight fighters that will be whittled down to 14 making the house. They will again feature the "wildcard" bout in the second round. In TUF 11, Kris McCray won the wildcard bout over Kasey Uscola and made his way to the finals.

TUF 12 Fighters Revealed

UltimateFighter.com

See More: TUF 12

Here is a of contestants:

Cody McKenzie (11-0)- Team Fancy Pants member has 9 straight guillotine wins fighting in the Pacific Northwest.

Mike Richman (7-0)- The former Marine has 5 submissions and 2 TKO's while fighting in Minnesota mostly at 145.

Joseph Duffy (7-0)- The Irish uber prospect started as a kickboxer and has since relied on his BJJ skills to rattle off 6 submission wins. Biggest win over Norman Parke who is currently 11-2.

Sako Chivitchyan (5-0)- California based Armenian fighter has 3 submission wins.

Pablo Garza (6-0)- This North Dakota based fighter is also listed at 7-0, with 5 submission wins.

Jason Brenton (3-0)- Colorado based fighter also listed at 6-0.

Nam Phan (15-7)- The popular California based fighter is a Strikeforce and Sengoku veteran, with TKO wins over Saad Awad, Hideki Kadowaki and Shad Smith.

Johnathan Brookins (11-3)- Bellator and WEC veteran has wins over Luis Palomino, Stephen Ledbetter, Yves Jabouin and TUF 5's Allen Berubie.

TJ O'Brien (14-3)- Iowa based fighter is tall with long limbs he uses for the triangle. TJ has 13 submission wins, 11 via the triangle.

Mike Budnik (9-4)- former pro rollerblader went 1-3 in the WEC beating Greg McIntyre.

Dane Sayers (7-1)- North Dakota based fighter has 6 first round wins.

Marc Stevens (12-5)- Ring of Combat veteran is currently on a 4 fight win streak, has fought in 185, 170 and 155 divisions.

Jeff Lentz (5-1)- New Jersey based lightweight has 3 TKO's and 1 sub on his resume.

Steve Magdaleno (6-2)- Pancrase veteran trains at the VMAT gym with Vladimir Matyushenko. Also listed at 5-1.

Sevak Magakian (8-3)- The tall judo fighter has 7 submission wins in the 1st round.

Toby Grear (7-4)- California based fighter has a victory over IFL/Affliction veteran Brett Cooper.

Kyle Watson (12-6)- Watson trains out of Matt Hughes' Hit Gym, he currently has a 4 fight win streak, 10 of his wins have come via submission.

JJ Ambrose (13-2)- AKA product has fought for Affliction.

Aaron Wilkinson (6-3)- Fighter from the UK has 4 sub wins.

Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres (4-2)- Florida based fighter is a KOTC and G-Force vet with 2 TKO's and 2 Subs in his 4 wins.

Andy Main (4-1)- New Jersey based fighter trains with Dan and Jim Miller.

Spencer Paige (5-2)- East Coast fighter hasn't fought since 2007, has 2 head kick wins on his resume.

Daniel Head (6-2)- Indiana BJJ fighter has 6 first round finishes.

Mike Johnson (9-4)- Missouri based Gracie Barra fighter. Record could be 9-10.

Amir Khillah (6-4)- Jeremy Horn trained fighter has 4 submission wins.

Paul Barrow (3-1)- Florida based fighter out of Gracie Tampa.

Ariel Sexton (6-2)- Canadian figher has never gone to decision, fought mainly in Costa Rica.

Ran Weathers (13-7)- Weathers trains out of Team Jackson in New Mexico.

Sneak Peek: TUF 1201

UltimateFighter.com

See More:  TUF 12 • Georges St Pierre • Josh Koscheck • Dana White

*Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett was originally rumored, but definitely isn't in the cast having fought in June and July. Eric Wisely is also not in the cast having fought in July. Paul Sass (10-0) and Pat Audinwood (9-0) were initially rumored, but were given outright contracts to the UFC.

Video of the Day - Aoki v. Hansen

Here is Shinya Aoki versus Joachim Hansen from Pride Shockwave 2006 which occurred on 12/31/06.

Video of the Day - Alvarez v. Kawajiri

Here is Eddie Alvarez fighting Tatsuya Kawajiri in Dream 5 - Lightweight Grand Prix which took place on 7/21/08 in Osaka, Japan.

Eddie next fights Roger Huerta in a non-title fight at Bellator 33 in Philadelphia, PA.

Video of the Day - Smith v. Edwards

Here is Pat Smith fighting Thomas Edwards in a Sabaki full contact karate match. Patrick Smith (20-15 MMA) was a beast in the old UFC's, compiling a 4-3 UFC record while making it to the finals of UFC 2.

Video of the Day - Goodridge v. Cabbage

Here is Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge fighting Wesley "Cabbage" Correira in the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii. Goodridge would win the 8 man tournament, advancing to the 8 man finals in Japan.

*The bout begins around 2:25.

Video of the Day - Miller v. Phillips

Here is a fight from the defunct IFL between BJJ blackbelt Dan Miller and Dan Phillips which took place on 8/2/07 in East Rutherford, NJ. One of the most brutal guillotine chokes I've ever seen in MMA competition.

Dan Miller next fights John Salter at this weekend's UFC 118.

Video of the Day - Aguilar v. Alvarez

Here is Jessica Aguilar fighting Lynn Alvarez at Bellator 24 which took place on 8/12/10 in Hollywood, Florida.  Bellator airs every Thursday nights on Fox Sports Net and Comcast Sports Net.

Aguilar is in the second round of one of the best women's tournaments of all-time, joining submission ace Megumi Fujii and dangerous muay thai striker Zolia Frausto.

Video of the Day - Lombard v. Goodman

Here is Bellator 185 pound champ Hector Lombard fighting Herbert "Whisper" Goodman to kick off Bellator Season 3 from 8/12/10 in Hollywood, Florida.

Video of the Day - Spinning Kick KO's

Here is karate blackbelt Julian Lewis performing a flawless spinning hook kick in a full contact karate competition that is believed from Holland.


Here is another example:

UFC 118 Preview - Penn v. Edgar

UFC 118 will feature of a well deserved immediate title rematch of Frank Edgar and BJ Penn which will no doubt be as entertaining as the first match. The co-main event harkens back to the roots of MMA, pitting a boxer, James Toney, against a grappler, Randy Couture, in the most interesting bouts of 2010.

In the first fight between BJ Penn and Frank Edgar (12-1, 7-1 UFC) at UFC 112, both fighters were content to stand and trade for five rounds, with Penn stuffing a couple Edgar takedown attempts.

On my scorecard, BJ narrowly took the first two rounds, Edgar narrowly took the last two rounds, and the 3rd round was a toss-up. The judges didn't quite see it that way, giving Edgar the win 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 to become the new champ.  Look for Edgar to box, get in the clinch and attempt the occasional takedown in the rematch.

Frank Edgar's martial arts career started as a wrestler in high school then Clarion University in Pennsylvania where he qualified for the national tournament every year. He went 5-0 outside the UFC, defeating solid fighters Deividas Taurosevičius and Jim Miller before being invited to the UFC. While in the UFC, Edgar has defeated Tyson Griffin, Sean Sherk, Spencer Fisher and Hermes Franca.

BJ Penn (15-6, 11-5 UFC) is a dynamic BJJ blackbelt prodigy and solid striker. Penn famously began training BJJ at the age of 17, learning extremely fast, winning tournament after tournament before getting his black belt in 2000 and winning the world BJJ championship in Brazil.

(BJ Penn Pictured)

BJ went directly to the UFC in 2001, crushing Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno before losing a very close decision to Jens Pulver. After winning additional fights against Matt Serra and Takanori Gomi, Penn came back to the UFC defeating Matt Hughes for the 170 pound title. After some time in K-1 Hero's, Penn came back to win the 155 pound title and defend 3 times. His other career wins have came against Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson and Renzo Gracie.

In the bout between James Toney and Randy Couture, expect things to end quickly with either James Toney tapping to a choke or Randy Couture seeing stars. Couture (18-10) surprisingly has only 3 submissions on his record, but his grappling ability is still second to none. The UFC Hall of Famer and former HW and LHW champion has beat an insane line-up of challengers including Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mark Coleman.

(Randy Couture Pictured)

What can you say about James "Lights Out" Toney? The current IBA and NABO heavyweight champ still has power in his punches and a decent skill set. However, Toney (72-6 in boxing) began his pro boxing career in 1990 and has put many miles on the tank, despite never being knocked out. Toney's signature win maybe when he TKO'd Evander Holyfield in 2003. From recent interviews it doesn't seem like Toney got in a real MMA camp or worked much on grappling in his preparation for the bout.

(James Toney Pictured)

Kenny Florian v. Gray Maynard- This fight will determine the number one contender in the lightweight division. Florian (13-4, 11-3 UFC) will look to use his excellent muay thai to work Maynards legs and keep distance. Florian has wins over Takanori Gomi, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon.

(Kenny Florian Pictured)

Maynard (9-0, 7-0 UFC) will likely look for the clinch and try to dirty box. If Maynard does try to use his wrestling offensively, he will run into a dangerous BJJ blackbelt off the ground. Florian also has solid elbows from the ground to damage Maynard. Maynard has career wins over Nate Diaz, Jim Miller, Roger Huerta and Frank Edgar.

(Gray Maynard punching Roger Huerta)

Demian Maia v. Mario Miranda- This battle of Brazilians will pit BJJ ace Demian Maia (12-2, 6-2 UFC) against solid wreslter Mario Miranda (10-1, 1-1 UFC). Maia will look to set up a takedown to get the fight to the ground where he has a distinct advantage. Look for Miranda to use his wrestling to defend takedowns and keep the fight standing.

Marcus Davis v. Nate Diaz- Hometown hero Marcus Davis (17-6, 9-4 UFC) will look to bring the fight to long and lanky TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz (12-5, 7-3 UFC). Davis, a former pro boxer himself, will look to close the distance and get inside on Diaz. Diaz meanwhile will look to stay on the outside peppering his jab from all angles. If Diaz gets the fight to the ground, expect him to transition to multiple submission attempts.

SPIKE PRELIM BOUTS

Joe Lauzon v. Gabe Ruediger
Nik Lentz v. Andre Winner

UNDERCARD - Quick bouts possibly air on delay

Dan Miller v. John Salter
Nick Osipczak v. Greg Soto
Amilcar Alves v. Mike Pierce

The below video features James Toney's boxing promoter Dan Goosen discussing James Toney v. Randy Couture.