The MMA thread (mk1)

[Edward Yee]

Apparently the bacterial infection was diverticulitis, he's home now in Alexandria, Minnesota and should be getting tested at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. next week. As for how bad its was...

"He had a hole in his intestine," White said. "The (stuff) was leaking into his stomach. That's what was causing him so much pain. That and he had abscesses.

"The doctor told him he hasn't been right for a year. His immune system has been trying to fight this thing and that's why he was susceptible to getting sick."

[Edward Yee]

So, uhh.... how about "The Best Eva," the "New York Bad Ass"? [/sarcasm]

[aerius]

So, uhh.... how about "The Best Eva," the "New York Bad Ass"? [/sarcasm]

Well, the entrance was pretty good but it was all downhill from there. He was doing well for the first minute as usual, but then he gassed and got tooled for the rest of the fight, as usual. Amir also needs to work on his muay thai clinch more, every time when he had the clinch he was still getting punched and hit, and he didn't pull the head down and swing the guy around by his neck the way the Chute Boxe guys do. When you get the Thai clinch, you need to pinch down hard and swing the guy around to keep him off balance so he can't punch you and at the same time open him up for knees. Anderson Silva shows how this is done in his first fight against Franklin, Wandy & Shogun do the same thing in their fights against Rampage.

Tito got his ass beat again, and his excuses continue. He was taken apart in the standup by Forrest, so much for those claims of "much improved striking", his standup still sucks as much as ever. The 3rd round was great, he got beat up almost as bad as Phil Baroni, that could've been a 10-8 round.

Ben Saunders also impressed, he showed how a muay thai clinch is done, it wasn't Anderson Silva level but he did a decent job of pinching down and putting good hard knees to the face for the KO.

Best part of the night other than Baroni & Tito getting beat was Nogueira putting on a boxing clinic on Cane. All the MMA "experts" were saying how Cane would take apart Nog on the feet, did these idiots forget that Nog had the edge in striking against Shogun in Pride? The dude is a high level striker, Cane and all those 'tards found out about it the hard way. A bit over a minute and Cane was knocked out cold.

[Edward Yee]

Best news is... if Machida retains in May, Ed Soares has admitted that Lil Nog might be willing to fight, however reluctant. If Shogun becomes champion, we get Shogun vs. Lil Nog II.

Odd though for there to be three consecutive light heavyweight main events with weird judging... funny though to see the excuses be thrown right back in Tito's face to the point that Forrest Griffin had to stand up for him... only for Tito to get right back at it with him at the post-fight presser.

[The Spartan]

Odd though for there to be three consecutive light heavyweight main events with weird judging... funny though to see the excuses be thrown right back in Tito's face to the point that Forrest Griffin had to stand up for him... only for Tito to get right back at it with him at the post-fight presser.

That was awfully annoying to hear him making excuses like that. Nonetheless I thought it was a classy move of Griffin to come over and basically tell the crowd to shut up without being a prick about it.

[Edward Yee]

*groan* Gonzaga out due to staph infection... so that's:
* Lesnar down due to a hole in his intestine,
* Carwin out due to his MCL,
* Big Nog out due to staph (and making the decision not to fight on anyway, unlike the time he got finished for the first time in his career),
* Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva to get back into contention (and for Evans, to erase the fact that all he did in 2009 fight-wise was look worthless at 98... Silva already got his chance to look good again)
* Ortiz's damaging himself image-wise with his post-fight words
* Neither Couture, Vera, or Ortiz looking good enough in their last outings to be plausible contenders
* Rampage still busy with The A-Team
* GSP vs. Hardy hopefully not coaching TUF 11, since as it is they're fighting February-March earliest

Oh boy, this isn't the UFC's quarter-of-year... but at least Griffin got over being Anderson'd.

[weemadando]

Lesnar is on the mend, according to the most recent "It's Time" (the Bruce Buffer show on Sherdog), according to the docs Lesnar had only been at about 60% capacity due to illness in the past year and a bit. Contemplate that for a moment if you will. Lesnar has not been at 100% of his physical capacity. In fact, he's only been at just about half. If that is true, then we're going to see Brockzilla reign supreme for a while.

The other heavies being out is just a case of bad timing.

Ortiz is a fucking crybaby who always has an excuse, because it's not like he can just lose a fight all on his own. And a fractured skull coming into the fight? How the fuck did you slip that one past the commission? What a pack of bullshit.

I don't want to see Rampage fight again. I really don't. Not unless it's him fighting in some two-bit promotion in rural Montana to get money for his coke habit (hey, he's in Hollywood now). His schtick is tired and boring and the fact that he's never taken responsibility for his actions in any scenario just drive me mad.

[Edward Yee]

The good news: Velasquez vs. Big Nog has simply been delayed for one show, and will instead take place at UFC 109.
The bad news: That still leaves Junior dos Santos high and dry. Maybe him vs. Todd Duffee to see who gets to eat first, Dana, let me eat?!

Here's just hoping that Brock Lesnar is able to recover enough to continue fighting with at least that 60% of his (former, and hopefully future) potential.

Re: Lil' Nog: Turns out the stat that "2006 South American Games gold medalist and 2007 Pan American Games boxing bronze medalist at 91+ kg" meant more than anyone else gave him credit for. Bloody Elbow actually has a nice little technique write up on Banha's southpaw 'advantage' being completely negated by the opposing southpaw, plus the comments are a consistently good read.

Re: Ortiz... ehhh, at this point I can see him having a legit fractured skull but trying to slip it past the commission anyway just so that he can be on TV and get the sponsorship money, unlike Dustin Hazelett.

By the way, up your alley -- Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman for UFC 110 on February 21 at LHW. War, uhh... okay, I don't know who to WAR for. On the other hand, HOT DAMN.

[weemadando]

The Sinosic v Haseman fight has me yawning a little. Seeing James Te Huna (who destroyed my homeboy Priscus in the CFC LHW tourney) get his Octagon debut is way more exciting.

And yeah, WRT Mariusz, that's a knee ride that would fucking suck. Then again, I've had a 60kg guy who knows how to knee ride do it too me and that hurt beyond belief.

[Edward Yee]

Unfortunately, you get no Sexyama.

[weemadando]

But we do get Bisping, which may be a fair trade. Still... Sexyama.

Maybe we can trade with Japan - we get Sexyama, they keep Michael Schiavello. Forever.

[Edward Yee]

PWNED (Although it was the other way around, leg-wise.)

"If Brock Lesnar is unable to enter the cage again, that's going to give me a hard time," Mir said. "That's been pretty much my drive and focus to go to the gym every day, to change myself and grow as a fighter, is the opportunity to have a rematch with him. To know that there's a slight possibility that that will never happen, that's going to take me [some time] to wrap my head around it."

Speaking of Sexyama... watch for the subsequent minute and fifteen...

re: Schiavello -- yes... yes... YES... YES!!!!

[Edward Yee]

Anyone remember Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver?

[Edward Yee]

Sorry that this is my third consecutive post... but TUF results: Roy Nelson KO'd James McSweeney, and Brendan Schaub TKO'd Marcus Jones.

For the finale Marcus Jones will fight Matt Mitrione (the very guy that went squealer on his team to avoid fighting Jones on the show), while Roy Nelson takes on Schaub for the contract. Frankie Edgar vs. Matt Leach at LW, Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander at the 215 lb. catchweight, and the main event will be the undefeated Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Matt Hamill. For prelims, only one of note to me is that Darrill "Titties" Schoonover will fight James McSweeney at HW in Schoonover's last bout before he deploys to Afghanistan.

Oh, and Rampage is coming back, but as I said over at BE -- with the current LHW scene, he's already dead.

[aerius]

Anyone remember Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver?

From what I heard he's doing porn now.

Other than Hamill and Bones Jones I'm not particularly interested in any of the fights. This season of TUF has soured me, I just don't give a shit about anyone on the show.

[The Spartan]

Only going to comment on names I'm familiar with...

Sorry that this is my third consecutive post... but TUF results: Roy Nelson KO'd James McSweeney, and Brendan Schaub TKO'd Marcus Jones.

That was kind of a shocker to me. I wasn't expecting Nelson to win, nor did I think the Schaub/Jones fight wouldn't last the 1st round.

For the finale Marcus Jones will fight Matt Mitrione

So did Jones decide to keep fighting? In the finale he said he was going to move on?

Roy Nelson takes on Schaub for the contract.

I'm not sure how I feel about this fight. I would not have thought Nelson would have made it to the final and so my read (in no small part due to me relative lack of experience in MMA) is... off.

Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander at the 215 lb. catchweight,

So what's the deal with his knee? Did he finally realize that arthritis isn't going away and that he'll either have to give up or just deal with it?

Oh, and Rampage is coming back, but as I said over at BE -- with the current LHW scene, he's already dead.

What happened to the A-Team movie? Who's he going to fight? After he pussied out of the finale fight against Rashad Evans I figured he'd stick with the movie and 'acting'.

[Edward Yee]

Apparently War Machine is supposed to be doing porn, but right now he's dealing with the fallout that at a birthday party (for a porn actress and for a site webmaster), he was either defending himself from five drunk guys or was pissed at his agent not getting him more work and went buckshit insane. Either way, he slugged out quite a few people at the party. Either way, the details are sketchy, but apparently he's out on bail.

I wouldn't have expected Nelson to win either, but then I remembered James McSweeney's first TUF10 performance, and in a recent interview the Team Rashad assistant coach Greg Jackson attributed some recent losses in the camp to the fighter losing mental discipline. Nevertheless, Roy Nelson is a very experienced grappler (he once outpointed Frank Mir in competition) which helps explain how he got to the crucifix position so easily against both Kimbo and McSweeney, as well as a MMA veteran.

Kimbo weighed in at 212 lb, Alexander at 208 lb, and everyone else also made weight.

Here's Rampage's blog:

Now, I wanted to let my fans know that I'm going to come back to the UFC & finish my contract. Not because the haters are talking shit about me being scared of Rashad or Titties or anybody else. I'm coming back for my fans & to shut Rashad's mouth up & shut Dana's mouth up. Then after that I'm going back to doing movies & I might do a boxing match once a year just to stay in shape. Hate on dis!

I just can't see him making it very far in the LHW at the highest level at this point... Shogun's probably already got his number again.

[Edward Yee]

So uh, the TUF10 Finale happened, and, uh, yeah...

At least Jon Jones is turning his DQ into a positive way more than anyone else in the MMA world right now. And yeah, Roy Nelson earned the KTFO of the Night.

[aerius]

Only saw the Jon Jones and Mark Bocek fights, heard about the Kimbo Slice suplex and another WTF decision but I haven't watched it yet on my DVR.

The Bones Jones fight was pretty sweet, started out fairly even but once Jones got the leg trip throwdown it was a one-sided beating. Jones got frustrated or something when he couldn't get his punches and legal elbows through and went for the downward elbows, I saw it and went "ah shit that's a DQ or no contest" and sure enough he got a DQ. A little more patience and he could've finished off Hamill, bit of a rookie mistake but he's got the right attitude in dealing with it and I think he'll do fine unless Dana gets stupid and cuts him or something.

Bocek fight was cool, it was like watching a lightweight version of Demian Maia go to work. You knew it was over as soon as he got the guy down.

And Chuck & Tito as the next TUF coaches. Fuck yeah, I can't wait to see Tito get his head punched off again. Now Tito can say that he has a legitimate "skull fracture" after the fight.

[weemadando]

BIG COUNTRY!

1) Coming out to Weird Al's "Fat".

2) KTFO Schaub.

3) "I'm gonna go and get some burger king."

This is how fighters should be. It was good to see Forrest laughing his arse off while Rashad looked moody and depressed.

[The Spartan]

That was hilarious. I finally watched it after having DVRed it over the weekend. I do have to wonder what the hell happened to Schoonovers conditioning, though. I was shocked and would not have recognized him had they not told me who it was and shown a picture of him (in the Tale of the Tape) that had been taken earlier.

I was surprised to see Marcus Jones dropped, again. I had though during most of the show that he'd have a pretty decent shot at making a go of UFC. Now, I'm not so sure he should be fighting. Especially against someone like Mitrione who, for all his faults, can throw some bombs with his fists.

The Slice/Alexander fight was a snooze-fest. What the fuck was Alexander doing circling for virtually the entire fight. I mean, I know he was trying to avoid a toe to toe slugfest and all but you need to have a strategy beyond move to the right a lot.

The Nelson/Schaub fight was great. I really enjoyed seeing that. I'm especially impressed with Nelson. I'll admit that I had counted him out because of his, well, let's be honest, ginormous gut, but he uses it to his advantage and he put Schaub to sleep so there you are.

[Edward Yee]

Re: Schoonover's conditioning -- probably why he's planning to use his upcoming tour of duty in Afghanistan to drop to 205.

Even if Marcus Jones can't continue in MMA, there is still submission grappling/BJJ.

KIMBOPLEX

Here's the other reason not to count Nelson out.

Oh, and Dan Henderson is now with Strikeforce... for what that's worth.

[weemadando]

I'd love to see Marcus Jones in ADCC. Fuck his striking, that man should just stick with grappling as he has a real natural talent for it.

And people always forget that Nelson has a seriously BJJ pedigree, it's why he can get dominant position so reliably.

And Henderson going to Strikeforce - no loss there.

[Edward Yee]

Is it an uneducated layman's opinion, or is age less of an issue for going into grappling?

Btw, re: lack of a gas tank among fighters this season... unfortunately, it's not the awesome kind of gassed like Griffin vs. Bonnar I, or this fight where the winner dropped his opponent and got the TKO stoppage before collapsing and the loser, probably out of a mix of exhaustion-induced delirium and instinct (like Kimbo trying to double-leg a ref after Petruzelli TKO'd him), promptly climbed on top and started laying down hammerfists on the winner's belly...

It may be better off from Hendo's own perspective (both for the money) and he may have been promised more frequent fights... but yeah, by now it seems many people have pretty much forgotten the right hand "FOR AMERICA!"

At this time, War Machine is soliciting donations for his legal defense fund.

[weemadando]

Age, strength and conditioning are all still issues, but you are right in that they are much reduced. The main thing is that you don't have to worry about getting KTFO and concussed.