UFC 102 Review

UFC 102 from Portland produced some excellent bouts with some under card fights making the main ppv telecast. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and Antonio Noguiera duked it out an in awesome main event fight.

Couture came up short, much to the dismay of the crowd. Look for Noguiera to possibly get a heavyweight title shot against the winner of Lesnar v. Carwin. Couture and Noguiera each won fight of the night bonuses.

Nate Marquardt made another step forward to getting make the top of the 185 pound ladder. He came out and steamrolled previously undefeated BJJ blackbelt Demian Maia in just 21 seconds. Marquardt is looking to either get a title shot with Anderson Silva, or a number one contenders match with Dan Henderson.

While Marquardt won the KO of the night bonus, he had some competition from undercard fighter Todd Duffee. Duffee, standing at a ripped 250 pounds, threw a hard left hand to the chin of 6'4, 260 pound behemouth Tim Hague. The punch sent Hague to the canvas and a few extra shots sealed his fate. The KO took just 7 seconds, claiming the fastest KO in UFC history.

NCAA Champ Jake Rosholt rebounded from his disappointing UFC debut winning the submission of the night bonus. He choked Chris Leben unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the first round.

Another fighter rebounding was Thiago Silva, who knocked Keith Jardine unconscious with a left hook in the first round. Brandon Vera continued his climb up the 205 pound ladder with a decision win over Krzystof Soszynski, who was on a 3 fight win streak in the UFC.

Here is a list of results:

Antonio Nogueira def Randy Couture via unanimous dec
Thiago Silva def Keith Jardine via TKO (strikes) R1, 1:35
Jake Rosholt def Chris Leben via sub (arm triangle) R3, 1:30
Nate Marquardt def Demian Maia via KO (punch) R1, 0:21
Brandon Vera def Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous dec
Aaron Simpson def Ed Herman via TKO (injury) R2, 0:17
Gabriel Gonzaga def Chris Tuchscherer via TKO (punches) R1, 4:27
Mike Russow def Justin McCully via unanimous dec
Todd Duffee def Tim Hague via KO (punches) R1, 0:07
Mark Munoz def Nick Catone via split dec
Evan Dunham def Marcus Aurelio via split dec


(Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pictured)

UFC 94 Preview

UFC 94 kicks off this Saturday, January 31st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The BJ Penn v. GSP fight is being hyped up as the Superbowl of MMA. We will see how the card plays out, hopefully Machida is feeling peppy. All fighters made weight, with former heavyweights Christian Wellish and Jake O'Brien debuting at 205 pounds.

MAIN CARD

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn- This fight is being hyped as the fight of the year. The undisputed king of the 170 pound class versus the king of the 155 pound class. In addition, this is a rematch of a match from UFC 58 where BJ lost a close split decision. I would expect to see GSP go for the takedown early and often. The question in this fight may come down to whether or not BJ can get a submission off his back.

Since a crazy upset loss to Matt Serra, Georges St. Pierre has been on quite a streak. He has outwrestled Josh Koscheck, armbarred Matt Hughes and punished Matt Serra and Jon Fitch since that loss. Georges is an incredible athlete, with suberb striking, cardio and wrestling ability. Georges also holds wins over Jay Hieron, Sean Sherk, Mayhem Miller and Frank Trigg.

(Georges St. Pierre pictured)

Since a disappointing loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 63, BJ Penn reinvented himself at 155, dominating his competition. He won over Jens Pulver following TUF 5, then crushed Joe Stevenson for the interim 155 pound title. He then went on to outstrike and eventually TKO Sean Sherk to unify the 155 pound title. BJ will be looking to strike with GSP and possibly go for a submission. If BJ has one clear advantage, it would be in the submission game. BJ also has wins over Duane Ludwig, Takanori Gomi, and Caol Uno.

(BJ Penn pictured)

Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva- Someone's undefeated status will be loss against in this battle for the number one contender spot at 205 pounds. Machida is a karate and BJJ black-belt who utilizes a countering style that frustrates many opponents. Silva, who owns a great ground game rarely uses it. Silva instead uses his heavy hand to knock his opponents out.

I expect this fight to remain standing, with Machida waiting to capitalize on a Silva mistake. Machida is 13-0 with victories over Rich Franklin, Stephan Bonnar and BJ Penn outside the UFC. He holds wins over Sokoudjou, Tito Ortiz, Kazuhiro Nakamura, David Heath and Sam Hoger inside the UFC.

(Lyoto Machida pictured)

Thiago Silva (13-0) has ten knockouts and two submission wins in his career. He has beaten Antonio Mendes, Houston Alexander, Tomasz Drwal and James Irvin in the UFC. I expect Silva to try to get in close on Machida to throw punches in the clinch.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida

UNDER CARD

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

UFC 78 Picks - Total Card

UFC 78 Picks, by the MMA Blaster

I have previously written about the top three fights in the blog. Instead of posting individually, I've decided to clump the rest together.

Bisping vs. Evans - Evans by Decision
Chonan vs. Parisyan - Parisyan by TKO rd 3
Lytle vs. Alves - Alves by decision

Silva vs. Alexander - Alexander by TKO rd 3- This is the toughest fight to call. It could go either way and the winner will instantly be a top 2-3 contender. I just have a feeling Alexander will continue the momentum and win in a brutal fashion. Thiago, out of team Chute Boxe, has some impressive wins over German Tomasz Drwal (14-2), James Irvin (12-4) and Vitor Vianna (7-1). Alexander has victories over Elite XC vet Jon Murphy (4-2), wins over UFC vets Alessio Sakara (11-5) and Keith Jardine (13-3).

Edgar vs. Fisher - Edgar by decision- This fight will be awesome, probably the fight of the night. I have a feeling that Edgar will pull it out. His gutzy performance against Tyson Griffin made me a huge fan. Fischer is no slouch and it could easily go either way.

Doerksen vs. Herman - Doerksen by ground and pound, rd 3 - Only reason I am giving it to Doerksen is the experience factor. Herman lost by triangle in the previous fight, and I am betting he will be game this time around. Herman is (2-2)in the UFC with two wins in a row. Doerksen is 1-3 in the UFC, last losing to Paulo Filho in the WEC.

Reinhardt vs. Lauzon - Lauzon by TKO, rd 2- Reinhard has mostly fought in smaller shows against, no offense to the Courage Fighting Championships, LOF, EC and KOTC. He has fought many fighters with sub 500 records and 0 fers. Lauzon has fought in the TUF tourney, KO'd Jens Pulver, and beat Brandon Melendez in the TUF finale. I see Lauzon imposing his will and ground and pounding a TKO in the second.

Caudillo vs. Aurelio - Aurelio sub rd 1 -this is by far the easiest fight to call on the card. I think the UFC is building Aurelio up for an eventual title shot.

Gono vs. McCrory - McCrory by decision- Gono has a huge experience edge, but my gut tells me that McCrory is the real deal and can pull this one off.