Strikeforce Miami Review

Strikeforce Miami was a great card of stunning comebacks, KO's and fights. Former football player Herschel Walker made a successful mixed martial arts debut, looking jacked up for the fight. However, American brawler Robbie Lawler and the Dutch powerhouse kickboxer Melvin Manhoef were to highlight of the card.

Starting off the night was a bout against talented wrestler Bobby Lashley fighting UFC veteran Wes Sims. After numerous opponents fell through, Wes Sims picked up the fight on less than 10 days notice. The fight ended predictibly, as Lashley was able to get around Wes Sims' ninja moves and pro wrestling "test of strength request" for a takedown. From there, a barrage of ground and pound ended Sims night at 2:06 in the first round.

Robbie Lawler pulled off the biggest come from behind win of the young 2010 MMA season in a stunning punch heard round the world. Melvin Manhoef came out like a wild animal, smashing Lawler's legs with devastating leg kicks that whipped around like a baseball bat.

As Manhoef began to land some combinations and punches, it looked as if Lawler's night was about to be over. Then after Manhoef again whacked Lawler's leg, Lawler came back with a right hand with tremendous power that floored Manhoef. Lawler laid down one more punch before the ref intervened.

Herschel Walker came into his MMA debut against Greg Nagy (1-1) with 6+ months of real MMA training at American Kickboxing Academy, but looked in great shape. Walker won the fight by getting Nagy to the ground and pounding him out. While Walker's footwork and striking looked like a guy making his debut, he showed great heart and conditioning. It is unclear whether Walker will fight again as he said it was up to his trainers.

(Herschel Walker pictured)

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos retained her women's 145 pound belt in a dominating TKO of Marloes Coenen. While Coenen was tough and tried every trick in the book, she lacked the strength to get Cyborg to the ground. While on the ground, Coenen had to work off her back, going for arm-bar attempts.

yborg was able to get the better of the action standing throughout the bout, though Coenen snuck in a couple nice shots landing one to Cyborg's jaw. In the third round, Coenen was hit with too much punishment while grounded and the ref called the fight. Expect Cyborg to fight Erin Toughill next. We could see Coenen go to a 135 pound tournament.

(Cris Cyborg pictured)

Nick Diaz sucessfully won Strikeforce's WW belt as he TKO'd the red hot Marius Zaromskis. Zaromskis came out a little wild looking to hurt Diaz with a big kick. But, Diaz simply used his reach and counter-punched Zaromskis, wobbling him, then locking up a clinch.

Diaz next battered Zaromskis' right legs with knees while pressed up against the fence. After the seperated, Diaz was able to land an uppercut then a short left to put Zaromskis on his back. Shortly thereafter the bout was called and Diaz was awarded the 170 pound belt.

(Nick Diaz pictured)

FULL RESULTS

Nick Diaz def Marius Zaromskis via TKO (strikes) R1, 4:38
Cris "Cyborg" Santos def. Marloes Coenen via TKO (strikes) R3, 3:40
Herschel Walker def Greg Nagy via TKO (strikes) R3, 2:17
Robbie Lawler def Melvin Manhoef via KO (punch) R1, 3:33
Bobby Lashley def Wes Sims via TKO (strikes) R1, 2:06

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS

Jay Hieron def Joe Riggs via unanimous dec
Joe Ray def John Clarke via TKO (strikes) R1, 3:14
David Gomez def Craig Oxley via unanimous dec
Pablo Alfonso def Marcos DaMatta via sub (armbar) R1, 1:47
Hayder Hassan def Ryan Keenan via TKO (strikes) R2, 2:42
John Kelly def Sabah Homasi via sub (RNC) R1, 2:48
Micahel Byrnes def David Zitnik via majority dec

Video of the Day - Wes Sims Post Fight

Here is Wes Sims complaining about the stoppage and Bobby Lashley's thumb to his throat following his loss at Strikeforce: Miami. Sims also stated that he took the fight on less than a weeks notice. Sims claimed that he and Lashley did not have a drug test for the fight, imploring that Lashley was juicing.

KOTC Toryumon Results

Here are the unofficial results of King of the Cage's first trip to Japan. Yamaguchi and Boku captured the jr. flyweight and lightweight KOTC belts.

Mamoru Yamaguchi def Frank Baca via sub (RNC) R2, 1:54
Kotetsu Boku def Tony Hervey via unanimous dec
Toby Imada def Daisuke Hanazawa via TKO (punches) R2, 0:29
Roxanne Modafferi def Molly Helsel via sub (RNC) R2, 3:18
Tatsuya So def Shigeki Matsuda via TKO (punches) R2, 3:48
Shungo Oyama def Mark Wimmer via sub (heel hook) R1, 1:07
Koji Kanechika def "Scary" Jerry Vrbanovic via unanimous dec
Jerry Nelson def Shinsho Anzai via split dec
Zach Hayden def Black Dragon via sub (RNC) R1, 0:29
Tomohiro Adanya def Toyoshi Miyagi via unanimous dec
Shinya Kumawaza def Steve Hecht via sub (armbar) R1, 2:14
Tsuyoshi Tamaki def Bryon Schnell via sub (RNC) R3 2:28
Donald Shaw def Riku Inafuku TKO (punches) R1 2:26

Video of the Day - Caveman v. Goblin

Here is Chase "Caveman" Owen fighting the Goblin from Tenkaichi Fight in Okinawa, Japan. Owen, a marine, was the Tenkaichi Fight Middleweight Champ before vacating the belt when he was stationed back in the United States.

Video of the Day - Minowa v. Lee

Here is Ikuhisa Minowa fighting Kwan Bum Lee in Dream I which took place on 3/15/08. You will see a couple crazy moves in this one.

Video of the Day - Pele v. Emelianenko

Here is Eric Pele fighting Alekander Emelianenko in Bodog Fight: Clash of the Nations from 4/14/07. Aleks, the younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko, has not fought since a victory over Ibragim Magomedov in Pro FC on 3/29/09.

Video of the Day - Gracie Technique

Here is Renzo Gracie demonstrating the guillotine choke. Renzo sunk in a nasty standing guillotine to submit Pat Miletich in the IFL on 9/23/06.

MMA Blaster 2009 Awards

2009 was a great year for mixed martial arts. We saw some devastating KO's, crazy submissions, and entertaining fights. Unlike the sham that is the World MMA Awards, as it should be called UFC awards, these awards look at fights that occur worldwide.

Fighter of the Year Zuffa: Jose Aldo- Jose worked his way up the WEC's 145 pound ladder with ease. His year was highlighted with a stunning TKO of Mike Brown for the title. Jose also KO'd Cub Swanson with a flying knee in 8 seconds and TKO'd Chris Mickle and Rolando Perez.

Runners Up: Anderson Silva, who defended his belt against Thales Leites then KO'd Forrest Griffin. Georges St. Pierre, who won a decision over Thiago Alves, then TKO'd BJ Penn. Lyoto Machida, who had two big time KO's over Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva. However, he got extremely lucky in the Rua fight.

Fighter of the Year Outside Zuffa: Marius Zaromskis- Marius went 4-0 in 2009 winning the Dream Welterweight Grand Prix. The head kick was Zaromskis' weapon of choice, as he annihilated Mach Sakarai, Jason High and Myeon Ho Bae with the devastating strike. In the first round of the tournament, Zaromskis defeated solid veteran Seichi Ikemoto.

Runners Up: Gegard Mousasi who was 4-0 with a submission of Mark Hunt and TKO's over Babalu Sobral, Sokoudjou and Gary Goodridge. Fedor Emelianenko who had two big headlining KO's of Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski.

Fight of the Year: Diego Sanchez v. Clay Guida TUF 9 Finale - This fight was 100% action as both fighters laid everything on the line. Diego threw everything and the kitchen sink at Guida, including a barrage of uppercuts, head kicks, takedowns and ground and pound.

Runners Up: Randy Couture v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mike Brown v. Urijah Faber, Nate Quarry v. Tim Credeur, Donald Cerrone v. Benson Henderson, Abel Cullum v. Hideo Tokoro, Conor Heun v. Jorge Gurgel, David Heath v. Mike Nickels

Knockout of the Year Leg: Dan Hornbuckle's head kick KO of Akhiro Gono at Sengoku 9th Battle. Hornbuckle set up the kick by grabbing Gono's right foot, planting his own left foot and then driving his right shin into Gono's head. Gono dropped like a stone with his neck landing on the rope and his head smashing against the canvas.

Runners Up: Marius Zaromskis' head kick of Jason High for the Dream WW GP title, Marius Zaromskis' head kick and punches over Mach Sakarai, Jose Aldo's knee over Cub Swanson, Dave Herman's seated heel kicks over Jim York

Knockout of the Year- Hands: Fedor Emelianenko's KO of Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning. Andrei Arlovski was winning the stand-up battle early, landing punches and utilizing his height advantage. However, Arlovski got a little cocky and went for a flying knee. He was met with a right hand heard round the world and the one punch sent Arlovski into the astral plane.

Runners Up: Dan Henderson's KO of Michael Bisping, Lyoto Machida's KO of Rashad Evans, Fedor Emelianenko's KO of Brett Rogers, Yahir Reyes's spinning backfist over Estevan Payan

Submission of the Year: Toby Imada's inverted triangle over Jorge Masvidal at Bellator Fighting Championship 4. From a scramble off a misguided Masvidal single, Imada locked in the rare inverted triangle with Masvidal standing, eventually choking him unconscious and sending him to the canvas.

Runners Up: Shinya Aoki's hammerlock over Mizuto Hirota, Demian Maia's triangle over Chael Sonnen, BJ Penn's rear naked choke over Kenny Florian, Naoyuki Kotani's head scissors over Daisuke Nakamura

Top Up and Coming Fighter- Zuffa: Johnny Hendricks- The NCAA champion wrestler went 3-0 in 2009, pushing his record to a perfect 7-0. Hendricks burst on the scene in 2009, TKO'ing TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah in his UFC debut. He also had dominant decision wins over Ricardo Funch in the UFC and Alex Serdyukov in the WEC.

Runner Up: Evan Dunham- The Oregon native went 3-0 in 2009 including 2 victories in the UFC over Marcus Auerelio and Per Eklund. He has 2010 off to a bang with a nasty submission win over TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero. Now has a perfect 10-0 record.

Top Up and Coming Fighter- Outside Zuffa: Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal- King Mo went 4-0 in 2009, TKO'ing Mike Whitehead, Mark Kerr and Yukai Nakao. He also had a dominant decision over Ryo Kawamura. King Mo, who possesses insane athletic ability and wrestling skills, seems poised to take the next step in competition.

Runner Up- Tyron Woodley- former University of Missouri star wrestler went 4-0 in 2009, pushing his record to 6-0. All of his fights ended in submission, including 3 in Strikeforce.

Video of the Day - Buentello v. Cantrell

Here is Paul Buentello fighting Bo Cantrell in King of the Cage - Revenge which took place on 11/14/04. Buentello next fights Cheick Kongo at UFC Versus 1.

Video of the Day - Imada v. Masvidal

Here is the MMA Blaster award winner for Submission of the Year 2009, Toby Imada v. Jorge Masvidal which took place at Bellator Fighting Championships 4 on 5/1/09.

Ultimate Fight Night 20 Results

Ultimate Fight Night 20 might not have delivered in fireworks, but was filled with three entertaining fights. The sold out George Mason crowd was boisterous and loud throughout the night wanting action.

One fighter who delivered was TUF 7 contestant Gerald Harris, who succesfully returned to the UFC with a TKO of previously undefeated John Salter. The 185 pound Harris won the UFC's knockout of the night bonus and is currently riding an 8 fight win streak.

Here are the results:

Gray Maynard def. Nate Diaz via split dec- unfortunately, the main event proved to be the biggest snoozer of them all. Maynard threw many powerful, looping punches throughout the fight, but most didn't land. Diaz couldn't get his short punches through and failed to get the fight to the ground. In the end, Maynard was able to defend Diaz' attacks and land occasional punches to get the win.

It seems that Frank Edgar will face BJ Penn next for the lightweight title in Abu Dhabi. Maynard will likely have to notch another win to get a shot at the title. Maybe a fight with Kenny Florian is in the works.

Evan Dunham def. Efrain Escudero via sub (armbar) R3, 1:59- Escudero dominated in the first round rocking Dunham with punches and getting takedowns with quick groud and pound strikes. It seemed Efrain almost had the ability to close out the fight.

In the third round and pivotal round, Dunham got a takedown and when Efrain tried to roll to escape he got himself in deep trouble. Dunham had Efrain's arm trapped, rolling to a triangle before an armbar. Efrain didn't tap for several seconds making the viewing audience squeemish as Dunham wrench the arm and elbow, eventually coaxing a tapout.
*Dunham wins Submission of the Night.

Aaron Simpson def. Tom Lawlor via split dec- The first round belonged to Tom Lawlor, whose Hulk Hogan like entrance was a breath of fresh air. He landed short left hooks, straights and jabs to dizzy and daze Aaron Simpson.

In the second and third, Simpson may have done more to win. In the third, Simpson was able to out grapple Lawlor, getting his back. However, he didn't inflict much punishment on the fellow wrestler. Scorecards split for Simpson, but I scored it a draw.
*Simpson and Lawlor both win Fight of the Night bouns.

Amir Sadollah def. Brad Blackburn via unanimous dec- Amir peppered Blackburn with a variety of attacks throughout this fight. Blackburn, fresh from shoulder surgery could offer little in response. Amir beat up Blackburn with a big flying knee, front kicks, and a decent ground and pound attack.

DARK FIGHTS

Chris Leben def Jay Silva via unanimous dec
Rick Story def Jesse Lennox via split dec
Thiago Tavares and Nick Lentz declared majority draw
Rory MacDonald def Mike Guymon via sub (armbar) R1, 4:27
Rafael dos Anjos def Kyle Bradley via unanimous dec
Gerald Harris def John Salter via TKO (strikes) R3, 3:24
Nick Catone def Jesse Forbes via split dec

To read a previous interview with Gerald Harris on MMA Blaster, click here!

Video of the Day - Goodridge v. Choi

Here are two big boys going at it. This video is from the K-1 World Grand Prix featuring Hong Man Choi v. Gary Goodridge which took place on 8/5/07. Goodridge looks small at 6'3", 250 compared to the 7'2", 350 pound Choi.

Strikeforce Preview

Showtime will have Strikeforce: Miami live on this Saturday, January 31, 2010. The fights take place at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis- This fight is for the Strikeforce 170 pound title. The brawl places the Stockton California bad boy Nick Diaz (20-7) against Dream 170 pound champ Marius Zaromskis (13-3). Expect Diaz to engage Zaromskis strength, engaging the Zaromskis standing, even though his best strategy would be getting the fight to the ground.

Nick Diaz has been on a roll since he abandonded Elite XC's 160 pound division. The fighter has always been better at 170 and above with his unorthodox stand-up. Diaz has defeated Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler, Frank Shamrock and Josh Neer in his career. The BJJ black belt will have a distinct grappling advantage over Zaromskis.

(Nick Diaz gogoplata win over Takanori Gomi)

Marius Zaromskis has been on a tremendous roll as of late KO'ing his last three opponents via head kick. To take the Dream WW Grand Prix title, he defeated Seichi Ikemoto before using the head kick to take out Mach Sakarai and Jason High in the same night.

(Marius Zaromskis pictured)

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marloes Coenen- This fight will be for the women's 145 pound championship. Cyborg Santos is a beast with her punching and kicking power. Coenen is a decent striker in her own right, but her main advantage is her submission skills.

After losing her first bout, the Brazilian Cyborg (8-1) has won 8 straight, including 6 TKO's and 2 decisions. To win the 145 pound belt, she destroyed America's MMA sweetheart Gina Carano in brutal fashion. Cyborg also has victories over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano and Vanessa Porto. Cyborg has been nearly impossible to take down during that stretch.

(Cyborg Santos pictured)

Marloes Coenen (17-3) is Holland's premier female fighter with 10 years experience, winning 12 of her fights via submission. In her last fight, Coenen flashed her stand-up skills knocking down Roxanne Modafferi before latching on the fight ending arm-bar. Coenen has wins over Yoko Takahashi, Yuuki Kondo and Megumi Yabushita while fighting primarily in Japan.

(Marloes Coenen pictured)

Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef- This fight should be an slugfest with two of the better brawlers in MMA. Melvin Manhoef (24-6) is an awesome K-1 kickboxer, knocking out Kazou Misaki in his last bout in K-1: Dynamite. Manhoef also has KO's over Mark Hunt, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Fabio Silva.

(Melvin Manhoef pictured)

Robbie Lawler (16-5) is a solid brawler in his own right with KO's over Scott Smith, Joey Villasenor, Frank Trigg and Ninja Rua. The bane of each fighter has been the ground game. Lawler may resort to attempting takedowns to get the fight to the ground.

(Robbie Lawler pictured)

Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims- This fight pits rising wrestler Bobby Lashley (5-0) against super tall UFC veteran Wes Sims. Lashley will probably get a quick takedown before administering punishment on the TUF 10 conestent. Wes Sims did not look good at weigh-ins taking the fight on 10 days notice.

Greg Nagy vs. Herschel Walker- This fight pits 47 year old 6th degree Tae Kwon Do blackbelt and former football superstar Hershel Walker (0-0) against the relative unknown Greg Nagy (1-1). Herschel looked absolutley jacked at weigh-ins.

EA SPORTS ONLINE FIGHT

Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs

UNDERCARD

Pablo Alfonso vs. Marcos da Matta
Michael Byrnes vs. David Zitnik
Sabah Homasi vs. John Kelly
David Gomez vs. Craig Oxley
Hayder Hassan vs. Ryan Keenan

K-1 Dynamite Results

K-1 Dynamite: Dream v. Sengoku was an awesome, epic show which went full throttle for nearly 7 hours on HDNet, airing live from Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The annual event featured stars such as Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem.

MMA RESULTS

Hidehiko Yoshida def Satoshi Ishii via unanimous dec- The debut of gold medal judo player Satoshi Ishii followed in the tradition of many Japanese MMA fighters. Throw the inexperienced fighter in with a veteran and see what happens. What happened in this one was Ishii being very tense, eating punches, and not going for a takedown.

Shinya Aoki def Mizuto Hirota via sub (hammerlock) R1, 1:17- This fight ended with the most brutal submission in 2009 and one of the nastiest in MMA history. Allegedly, Hirota had talked smack about Aoki pre-fight. During the fight, Aoki trapped Hirota's arm behind his back as he got a takedown against the ropes.

As Hirota tried to escape, Aoki hit him with mild punches while continuing to work the hammerlock. Aoki cranked the arm more and more before supposedly breaking Hirota's humerus bone. It looked as if Hirota's shoulder was dislocated as well. After the ref jumped in, Aoki added insult to injury by flipping him and the audience the bird.

(Aoki cranking the hammerlock)

Gegard Mousasi def Gary Goodridge via TKO (punches) R1, 1:34- As expected, rising star Gegard Mousasi made quick work of long time MMA vet Gary Goodridge. Gegard quickly went for a double leg takedown, then threw rapid ground and pound until the fight was called.

Alistair Overeem def Kazuyuki Fujita via KO (knee) R1, 1:15- Dutch heavyweight Alistair Overeem made quick work of the mismatched Fujita. A big time knee landed flush to Fujita's eye socket, crumpling him to the canvas. Hopefully, Fujita is ok as the strike looked absolutely brutal.

Ikuhisa Minowa def Sokoudjou via TKO (punch) R3, 3:29- The Minowaman won the Super Hulk tournament with a surprising upset victory over the larger and more athletic Sokoudjou. Minowa looked for takedowns early and often, and when they failed, Minowa fell to guard, then looked for his signature leg locks. In the third round, both fighters seemed a little fatigued and were awarded yellow cards for inactivity. After the second card, Minowa threw a crushing overhand punch which sent Sokoudjou to the floor.

(Minowaman fist pump)

Masanori Kanehara def Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto via unanimous dec- This was a very close fight as both fighters traded punches and kicks from the clinch. Yamamoto gave up a takedown or two which probably gave the fight to Kanehara.

Tatsuya Kawajiri def Kazunori Yokota via unanimous dec- Kawajiri dominated this fight from start to finish with takedowns and submission attempts. Kawajiri nearly had numerous arm bars throughout the fight.

Hideo Tokoro def Jong Man Kim via unanimous dec
Melvin Manhoef def Kazuo Misaki via TKO (punches) R1, 1:49
Akihiro Gono def Hayato "Mach" Sakurai via sub (armbar) R2, 2:56
Michihiro Omigawa def Hiroyuki Takaya via TKO (punches) R1, 2:54
Hiroshi Izumi def Katsuyori Shibata via unanimous dec

K-1 RESULTS

Masato def Andy Souwer via unanimous dec
Masaaki Noiri def Shota Shimada via unanimous dec (KOSHIEN final)
Ray Sefo def Yosuke Nishijima via unanimous dec
Shota Shimada def Katsuki Ishida via majority dec (KOSHIEN semi)
Masaaki Noiri def Hiroya via unanimous dec (KOSHIEN semi)

Zuffa Double Dose Preview

Here are the rumored match-ups for a stacked Sunday and Monday of mixed martial arts actions. WEC has a 155 pound title unification match between Jamie Varner and Benson Henderson on Sunday. The event airs live on Versus Sunday night.

The UFC has a main event of TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz against TUF 5 cast member and currently undefeated Gray Maynard on Monday. The event airs live on Spike Monday night.

Ultimate Fight Night 20

Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard
Evan Dunham vs. Efrain Escudero
Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson
Brad Blackburn vs. Amir Sadollah
Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva
Jesse Lennox vs. Rick Story
Nik Lentz vs. Thiago Tavares
Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald
Kyle Bradley vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Gerald Harris vs. John Salter
Nick Catone vs. Jesse Forbes

(Nate Diaz pictured)

WEC 46

Jamie Varner vs. Benson Henderson
Raphael Assuncao vs. Urijah Faber
Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
Akitoshi Tamura vs. Charlie Valencia
Bryan Caraway vs. Mark Hominick
Wagnney Fabiano vs. Clint Godfrey
George Roop vs. Eddie Wineland
Will Campuzano vs. Coty Wheeler

(Urijah Faber pictured)

Video of the Day - Manhoef v. Karaev

Here is Melvin Manhoef against Ruslan Karaev from K-1 Amsterdam which took place on 6/24/07. Manhoef recently KO'd Kazou Misaki at K-1 Dynamite.