UFC 116 Lesnar v. Carwin Preview

On July 3rd, the MMA world will be shaken up and spit out after two behemouths brawl for the UFC Heavyweight Title. Inside the octogan will be two 265 pound monsters of epic proportion. The winner will be holding a belt and the world #1 rank in the heavyweight division.

Brock Lesnar v. Shane Carwin- This bout will unify the heavyweight title and be the toughest test to date for both fighters. Each fighter is an athletic freak, with massive hands, insane power, and quickness seldom seen for a 265 pound man. The key to each fighter will be avoiding a big punch standing and getting takedowns.

Brock Lesnar (4-1), an NCAA Division 1 HW champ, burst on the scene nearly three years ago in a K-1 bout in Los Angeles. In that fight, Lesnar destroyed Min Soo Kim in just over a minute. He would then enter the UFC to initial lukewarm results. Lesnar was beating up Frank Mir at UFC 81, before a ridiculous stand-up from Steve Mazagatti. Lesnar was then too aggressive and was knee-barred by the BJJ blackbelt.

(Brock Lesnar Pictured)

Lesnar would get his revenge on Mir at UFC 100, getting a big takedown and nasty ground and pound shots. Lesnar earned his way back to the rematch after a three round beating of Heath Herring at UFC 87, and a KO of legend Randy Couture at UFC 91. Look for Lesnar to try to out wrestle Carwin and lay down massive GNP.

Shane Carwin (12-0) has an insane streak of 12 straight wins in the first round. In his last fight, he clubbed Frank Mir at UFC 111, knocking out his foe in just under 4 minutes, his longest fight to date. Carwin also has victories over Gabriel Gonzaga, Christian Wellish and Rex Richards. Carwin will most likely try to out box Lesnar, trying to defend takedowns.

(Shane Carwin Pictured)

Yoshihiro Akiyama v. Chris Leben- Big time props have to be given to Chris Leben (20-6) stepping up and taking this fight on short notice after Wanderlei Silva was forced out with a rib injury. Leben is going to look to brawl in this fight, getting inside on Akiyama. Leben is coming off a big KO win over previously undefeated Aaron Simpson.

Akiyama (13-1), a black belt in Judo and Shotokan Karate, will mostly look to keep his distance with body and leg kicks, before getting the fight to the ground. Akiyama will have a big advantage on the ground, having submission wins over dangerous strikers Melvin Manhoef and Francois Botha. Akiyama has other wins over Alan Belcher and Denis Kang.

(Yoshihiro Akiyama Pictured)

Matt Brown v. Chris Lytle- Expect this fight to be a stand-up war between two solid fighters. Lytle (28-17) is known for his crowd pleasing style and willingness to take risks, and he will in this fight. Lytle is currently riding a two fight win streak over Brian Foster and Kevin Brown.

Matt Brown (11-8) has been improving dramatically since his run of TUF 7. Brown defeated TUF 9 champ James Wilks, Pete Sell and Ryan Thomas before his last fight, a submission loss to Ricardo Almeida. Expect Brown to slug it out, with each fighter having the possibility of snagging a fight of the night bonus.

Stephan Bonnar v. Krzysztof Soszynski
Kurt Pellegrino v. George Sotiropoulos

SPIKE TV CARD

Brendan Schaub v. Chris Tuchscherer
Seth Petruzelli v. Ricardo Romero

UNDERCARD - SELECT FIGHTS AIR IF TIME ALLOWS

Kendall Grove v. Goran Reljic
Dave Branch v. Gerald Harris
Forrest Petz v. Daniel Roberts
Jon Madsen v. Karlos Vemola

UFC 102 Preview

UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira will take place this Saturday, Aug 29, 2009 in Portland, Oregon's Rose Garden. MMA legends Randy Couture and Antonio Nogueira will be looking for a victory to potentially push them into title contention. Meanwhile, Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt are looking to get a crack at the seemingly invincible Anderson Silva. The rest of the card is fairly stacked.

(Randy Couture inducted to the UFC Hall)

MAIN CARD

Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brandon Vera

UNDER CARD

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow
Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague
Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham
Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson


(Demian Maia pictured)

UFC 89 Preview

Here is the confirmed line-up for UFC 89 that will be airing on Spike TV for free this Saturday. Michael Bisping v. Chris Leben is the headlining bout and will more than likely result in a stand-up slugfest. Bisping looked very quick and sharp in his first bout at 185. Leben is known for his brawler mentality, it will definately delight the English crowd if the fightet turns into a brawl.

Televised Card
Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera
Luiz Cane vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor
Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain
Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly

Prelim Card
Akihiro Gono vs. Dan Hardy
David Bielkheden vs. Jess Liaudin
Terry Etim vs. Sam Stout
David Baron vs. Jim Miller
Per Eklund vs. Sammy Schiavo

Anderson the Destroyer - UFC 82 Results

UFC 82 had three pretty great fights and two well fought decisions. I've been able to watch most of the undercard fights on Ultimate MMA Videos, see friend links on the right side. The fight of the night went to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson for good reason. KO of the night went to Chris Leben. Anderson also got the submission of the night. Despite being on the undercard, Arlovski and Diego got quite a reception in Ohio. Here are the results:

Anderson Silva def. Dan Henderson via submission (rear-naked choke) — R2, 4:52 - Dan Henderson was able to win the first round after a body lock takedown and controlling Anderson for the rest of the round. This was accomplished by elbows and short hammerfists to the face, but Anderson looked calm and waited for the bell.

In the second, Anderson landed leg and body kicks to Henderson. Henderson threw punches that failed to meet their mark. They both traded blows before Henderson caught a knee to the head and was taken down. Henderson was dazed and the rear naked choke was sunk forcing Dan to tap. Anderson has secured his legacy as one of the best UFC fighters of all time.
**MMA Blaster pollsters were correct - 29 voted correctly, 25 were wrong!
**MMA Blaster pick correct


Heath Herring def. Cheick Kongo via split decision - After Herring tagged Kongo with a punch to the face, Kongo took Herring down and was controlled the rest of the round. The second and their rounds saw Herring controlling the ground game and winning the split decision.
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Chris Leben def. Alessio Sakara via TKO (strikes) — R1, 3:36 - Sakara seemed to land more punches and have better technique, but Leben landed a powerful left hook that sent Sakara to the canvas, Leben pounced and finished Sakara off for the victory.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Yushin Okami def. Evan Tanner via KO (knee) — R2, 3:00 - After a couple minutes of boxing, Okami was able to knock Tanner to the canvas and then control him for the first round. The second saw Okami work Tanner over in the Thai clinch landing a knee directly to Tanner's head.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Jon Fitch def. Chris Wilson via unanimous decision - Fitch controlled most of the fight by getting more takedowns and controlling the action on the ground. Wilson was able to land some combinations. It was a fairly lackluster fight.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Andrei Arlovski def. Jake O’Brien via TKO (strikes) — R2, 4:17 - O'Brien tried extremely hard for a takedown in the first round, absorbing some punishment before finally getting one. In the second, while pushed against the fence, Arlovski scored a trip takedown from a body lock. From there Arlovski rained down punches before looking at the ref. A couple more shots and the ref stepped in. I originally thought it was a quick stoppage, but O'Brien was definately hurt lying on the ground and didn't look to know where he was afterwards.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Luigi Fioravanti def. Luke Cummo via unanimous decision
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Josh Koscheck def. Dustin Hazelett via TKO (strikes) — R2, 1:24 - After a pretty even first round, Kos overwelmed Hazelett in the second and got the TKO from strikes.
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

Diego Sanchez def. David Bielkheden via submission (strikes) — R1, 4:42 - Diego fired out of the gate getting the takedown and systematically found the mark with his strikes.
**MMA Blaster pick correct

Jorge Gurgel def. John Halverson via unanimous decision
**MMA Blaster pick incorrect

UFC 82 Preview

*All fighters have made weight and are primed and ready to go.

MAIN CARD

MW Champ Anderson Silva (20-4)(5-0 UFC) vs. Pride MW Champ Dan Henderson (22-6, 2-1 UFC)- This match is for the UFC MW Title- Anderson is on an impressive 5-0 streak to start his career in the UFC. He has looked unbeatable in his dismantling of Nate Marquardt, 2X of Rich Franklin, Chris Leben and Travis Lutter in the UFC. The only real blemish was giving up some takedowns to Travis Lutter.



While Dan Henderson lost a unanimous decision to Rampage Jackson in his last UFC bout, many fans seem to forget just how great of a career Henderson brings to the table.

He started his career 9-0 winning three tournaments including UFC 17, Brazil Open 97, and the five match, two night, Rings - King of Kings 99. During that stretch, Dan defeated Carlos Newton, Allen Goes, Gilbert Yvel, Renato Sobral and UFC HW Champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. His other notable victories are over Renzo Gracie, Ninja Rua, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Yuki Kondo, Murilo Bustamante, Akihiro Gono and Kazuo Misaki.



**My pick - Silva via TKO Rd. 3

Heath Herring (27-13, 1-2 UFC) vs. Cheick Kongo (11-3, 3-1 UFC)- These two heavyweight strikers will be throwing some serious leather. Counter punching could get a little boring. If Kongo can win he will get close to getting a shot at the title.

**My pick - Kongo via KO Rd. 2


*Old Kongo HL

Chris Leben (17-4, 7-3 UFC) vs. Alessio Sakara (12-6, 3-3 UFC)- Both will stand and bang and this will more than likely be an exciting affair. I'm hoping for a quick KO so we can see an extra fight from the stacked undercard.

**My pick - Leben TKO Rd. 1

Yushin Okami (20-4, 5-1 UFC) vs. Evan Tanner (34-6, 11-4 UFC)- After two losses in a row in 2005, Tanner fought once in 2006 winning by triangle choke versus Justin Levens at UFC 59. He hasn't fought since. Each of Okami's UFC fights have reached the third round, where Okami usually turns on the heat. Okami's only loss in the UFC was to former title holder Rich Franklin.

**My pick - Okami via decision

Jon Fitch (15-2, 7-0 UFC) vs. Chris Wilson (13-3, 0-0 UFC)- Chris Wilson is a veteren of the IFL and has wins over their WW Champ Jay Hieron and the exciting Rory Markum. Fitch has 14 victories in a row, and has looked excellent in his grappling and his submission game.

**My pick - Fitch via submission Rd. 2

UNDERCARD

Former HW Champ Andrei Arlovski (11-5, 9-4 UFC) vs. Jake O’Brien (10-0, 3-0 UFC)- This is Arlovski's last fight on his contract. Arlovski will be looking to KO or submit O'Brien who hasn't fought since his upset of Heath Herring which was a year ago. I expect to see O'Brien attempt a takedown early and to absorb some punishment.


**My pick - Arlovski via kneebar Rd. 1

Dustin Hazelett (10-3, 3-1 UFC) vs. Josh Koscheck (9-2, 7-2 UFC)- Hazelett has three straight wins in the UFC. Kos will be looking to take Hazelett down and ground and pound a victory.

**My pick - Hazelett via armbar Rd. 3

David Bielkheden (12-5, 0-0 UFC) vs. Diego Sanchez (17-2, 5-2 UFC)-Diego is looking to rebound from two decision losses to Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck.

*Diego in KOTC according to photobucket

**My pick - Sanchez via TKO Rd. 2

Luke Cummo (6-4, 3-2 UFC) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-3, 2-3 UFC)- Cummo and Fioravanti are both looking to take steps up the 170 pound latter.

**My pick - Cummo via armbar Rd. 2

Jorge Gurgel (11-3, 2-2 UFC)vs. John Halverson (16-5, 0-1 UFC)-Halverson's only loss in the UFC was to young star Roger Huerta. Gurgel will look for a submission, while Halverson will more than likely look for a KO.

**My pick - Halverson via KO rd. 3