Video of the Day - Manhoef v. Akiyama

Here is Melvin Manhoef fighting Yoshihiro Akiyama in K1 Hero's 7 which took place on 10/9/06.

Akiyama fights next at UFC 144 this Saturday.

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

Video of the Day - Akiyama v. Okuda

Here is new UFC addition Yoshiro Akiyama fighting Masakatsu Okuda from K-1 Hero's which took place on 11/5/05. Akiyama will be fighting Alan Belcher at UFC 100. Akiyama is a highly decorated judo fighter, who rose to fame after submitting Melvin Manhoef to win the K-1 MW/LHW tournament.

Akiyama will fight Chris Leben at UFC 116.

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 100 Review

UFC 100 proved to be an excellent card as champions Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre dominated their respective opponents to defend their titles. Even though there have been many more than 100 events in UFC history, including Fight Nights and the ever popular UFC 37.5, this card stuck out as one of the best.

Yoshihiro Akiyama def Alan Belcher via Dec (Split)- Akiyama and Belcher slugged it out in the first televised fight of the night. Akiyama seemed to land clean punches and high kicks. Belcher worked the legs with low kicks. Akiyama closed the first by getting dazed by a Belcher punch, then getting a takedown.

In the second it was all Akiyama, as he was able to get a takedown and rain down some solid punches from top position. Belcher was able to get a few leg kicks to close the round. In the third, Belcher scored a nasty superman punch in the third pushing it off the fence. Akiyama wouldn't be deterred as he scored a very close split decision. I gave the fight to Akiyama, taking the first and second rounds.
*Akiyama and Belcher win Fight of the Night bonus.

Dan Henderson def Michael Bisping via KO (Punch) R2, 3:20- Dan Henderson completely destroyed Mike Bisping throughout the fight. In the first round, Henderson was able to stun Bisping with a punch and brutalize him with knees. In the second round, Bisping was circling into Henderson's big right hand. One big one connected, and Bisping was out cold. Henderson threw one extra punch to seal his KO of the night award.
*Henderson wins KO of the Night bonus

Georges St. Pierre def Thiago Alves via Dec (Unanimous)- Georges St. Pierre looked phenomenal in this fight that featured takedowns, ground and pound, and precision striking. In the second round, St. Pierre busted up a couple cuts while getting in shots in the mount position. GSP was also able to get the back of Alves on numerous occasions.

Every round in this fight went to St. Pierre who ran into trouble in the third round. In that round, in the only time St. Pierre went to his back, he injured his groin when Alves attempted to pass guard. In the fourth round break, GSP was heard saying that he pulled his groin. Trainer Greg Jackson said that he didn't care. GSP headed his advice and continued to beat him up to seal the unanimous decision.

(WW Champ Georges St. Pierre pictured)

Brock Lesnar def Frank Mir via TKO (Punches) R2, 1:48- Lesnar was able to get revenge in this much hyped title fight. After Mir pulled out of their proposed bout at UFC 98, then talk serious smack, Lesnar's hatred began to build. Lesnar came to the bout ready for war. Mir looked a little banged up with a completely taped knee and recently drained hematoma.

In the first round, Lesnar was more cautious and focused fighter, as he was able to get a takedown and do damage. He looked to get position on Mir pinning his arm up and throwing punches. He landed numerous shots from the ground to cause serious damage. In the second, Mir had his best chance as he briefly stunned Lesnar with a knee. However, Lesnar was just too much as he clobbered Mir with punches until Herb Dean stopped the fight. Lesnar unifies the HW belts.
*MMA Blaster readers correctly choose Lesnar 104-79.

(HW Champ Brock Lesnar pictured)

Jon Fitch def Paulo Thiago via Dec (Unanimous)- In this fight, squeezed in at the end of the show, Fitch laid a whooping on Paulo Thiago. Fitch consistently scored takedowns, got Thiago's back, and nearly won by TKO as the bell rang.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

Shannon Gugerty def Matt Grice via Sub (Guillotine) R1, 2:36
Dong Hyun Kim def T.J. Grant via Dec (Unanimous)
Jon Jones def Jake O'Brien via Sub(Guillotine) R2, 2:43
Jim Miller def Mac Danzig via Dec (Unanimous)
Mark Coleman def Stephan Bonnar via Dec (Unanimous)
Tom Lawlor def CB Dollaway via Sub (Guillotine) R1, 0:55
*Lawlor wins Submission of the Night Bonus.

UFC 100 Preview

UFC 100 has been much anticipated in the martial arts world. There have been rumors swirling around potential new UFC Hall of Fame inductees Chuck Liddell and Charles "Mask" Lewis, as well as the reveal of the official TUF 10 cast. Here is a look at the fights that are scheduled for July 11, 2009 at the Mandalay Events Center. Here is the line-up:

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (HW Title)- Expect some fireworks in this dynamic heavyweight match-up. One of the strongest men in all of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar (3-1, 2-1 UFC) will try to avenge his lone pro loss against elite submission artist Frank Mir (12-3, 10-3 UFC). In the first match-up, Brock Lesnar dropped Mir with a solid right hand, then smothered him with ground and pound.

However, Mir recovered after an ill-advised ref stand-up and next tapped Lesnar out to a knee-bar. Lesnar is the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight wrestling champion and WWE Heavyweight champ. Lesnar smoked judoka Min Soo Kim in his first fight in K-1 Hero's. After the loss to Mir, he destroyed Heath Herring then Randy Couture for the title.

(Brock Lesnar pictured)

Frank Mir was first supposed to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 98, however Mir suffered a knee injury in training. Mir is coming off his best stand-up performance of his career against Antonio Nogueira. Mir captured the UFC HW title previously in an awesome arm breaking arm bar at UFC 48. He has other victories over Wes Sims, Pete Williams and Antoni Hardonk.

(Frank Mir's winning kneebar pictured)

Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (WW Title)- St. Pierre (18-2, 12-2 UFC) has been on a roll since the upset loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69. He turned in dominated the competition rolling off five quality wins against Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, and most recently BJ Penn. Look for GSP to get takedowns and then work ground and pound before a submission.

(Georges St. Pierre pictured)

Thiago Alves (16-3, 9-2 UFC) is a massive 170 pounder who may have a slight strength advantage against GSP. In his last fight, Alves was able to stay off the ground against Josh Koscheck, winning with his stand-up skills. Alves is a power puncher with good knees. His career victories include recent KO's with knees and punches against Karo Parisyan and Matt Hughes.

(Thiago Alves pictured)

Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago
Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher

UNDER CARD

Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman
Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller
Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien
C.B. Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor
Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty
T.J. Grant vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Video of the Day - Akiyama v. Nagata

Here is Yoshiro Akiyama v. Katsuhiko Nagata from K-1: Hero's 5 which took place on 5/3/06. Akiyama fights Alan Belcher at UFC 100.