Sorry, for those who read regularly. I've been working with mmaopinion.com, and they've hired me as their first paid writer.
I'll still be working on this site, and posting articles, but I'll also be around there regularly, putting stuff up. So definitely check it out.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Lightheavyweight Rankings
As with my heavyweight rankings, I'm not going to offer reasoning where I don't feel it's needed. This is one of the more complex divisions, as it's been pretty well mixed together since the integration of the UFC and Pride as 205, but I think my rankings are pretty solid, even given the craziness that exists within this division.
1. Quinton Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Lyoto Machida
People will definitely feel as though I have to justify this ranking, but let me start by saying that I think having Keith Jardine ranked as #3 is ridiculous. I am equally upset by the fact that Dean Lister, Houston Alexander (who beat Jardine badly) and Thiago Silva are not ranked, despite having performed much better than the list Sherdog offers. As for ranking Machida at 3 when sherdog doesn't seem to think he's even top 5 material. I'll say that I think his undefeated record is very impressive, while I may not be totally impressed by his win over BJ Penn (something I've talked about before). I see some of his opponents as being serious top guys, especially Sokoudjou and Nakamura, and I feel that he shouldn't be underestimated, as he is one of the most formidable fighters in the division, and far and away the most versatile.
4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Sokoudjou is a warrior. He has stopped two fighters who are the best in the world at what they do and while his loss to Machida has shaken out some of his mystery, I still think he's one of the most interesting fighters. He has serious athleticism and powerful explosiveness. I know people will dispute this ranking, say that a guy who has been finished recently cannot be this high in the rankings. CroCop didn't drop from the top five after his loss to Gonzaga. Barnett didn't drop after his loss to CroCop. That statement is untrue in regards to the world ranking. It's about losing to a respected opponent, and I feel that Machida is both respected and respectable, as is clear in my ranking of him.
5. Thiago Silva
6. Houston Alexander
This is my greatest problem with Sherdog, and it's one that is perpetual, not just because of this one ranking. They do not respect the up and comers. They need to see it far too often before they acknowledge it as a fighting style and not a fluke (as they did before Sokoudjou's fight with Ricardo Arona, and as they have done with dozens of fighters over the last few years), either that or they fall into a trap of believing it is a fighting style when it's an act of fight-specific planning (as they did with CroCop and Gonzaga going into the Couture fight, thinking Gonzaga's striking would be overwhelming). Alexander has been proven. Jardine is now considered a legitimate fighter (and is ranked 3 by Sherdog), but Alexander destroyed him. Alexander is an explosive fighter, as is Silva. These are not guys who bring one solid performance. I am severely disappointed that Thiago Silva is not the next 205 pound contender, but when he is (I don't personally see it as a matter of "if") he will get the opportunity to prove that his viceral style of striking is the real deal, and not just some fluke. Alexander will continue to do the same.
7. Chuck Liddell
8. Keith Jardine
It's clear that I don't care that much that Jardine beat Liddell. The fact is, Jardine has won two fights, and that is the basis most people see to put him in the top 5. That is stupid. He beat Liddell by split decision (meaning one judge gave the other fight to Liddell), but Liddell has a history in this division and has finished more than one opponent, unlike Jardine. I think it's a great disrespect to Liddell to have him ranked so much lower, or even lower at all, that Jardine, given the clear differences in their record and the fact that Jardine barely won that fight. While I think Jardine is higher on the lightheavyweight ladder within the UFC, I think that Liddell deserves a higher ranking.
9. Forrest Griffin
10. Mauricio Rua
I am not sure that I really want Rua to be ranked 10, and I almost put Wanderlei Silva in that spot instead, but I am taking into account the fact that, not long ago, Rua was ranked one. If he can wean himself off of his dependence on the Pride rules, he will be fine, otherwise, he will be in trouble, and may be dropped from the rankings altogether.
1. Quinton Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Lyoto Machida
People will definitely feel as though I have to justify this ranking, but let me start by saying that I think having Keith Jardine ranked as #3 is ridiculous. I am equally upset by the fact that Dean Lister, Houston Alexander (who beat Jardine badly) and Thiago Silva are not ranked, despite having performed much better than the list Sherdog offers. As for ranking Machida at 3 when sherdog doesn't seem to think he's even top 5 material. I'll say that I think his undefeated record is very impressive, while I may not be totally impressed by his win over BJ Penn (something I've talked about before). I see some of his opponents as being serious top guys, especially Sokoudjou and Nakamura, and I feel that he shouldn't be underestimated, as he is one of the most formidable fighters in the division, and far and away the most versatile.
4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Sokoudjou is a warrior. He has stopped two fighters who are the best in the world at what they do and while his loss to Machida has shaken out some of his mystery, I still think he's one of the most interesting fighters. He has serious athleticism and powerful explosiveness. I know people will dispute this ranking, say that a guy who has been finished recently cannot be this high in the rankings. CroCop didn't drop from the top five after his loss to Gonzaga. Barnett didn't drop after his loss to CroCop. That statement is untrue in regards to the world ranking. It's about losing to a respected opponent, and I feel that Machida is both respected and respectable, as is clear in my ranking of him.
5. Thiago Silva
6. Houston Alexander
This is my greatest problem with Sherdog, and it's one that is perpetual, not just because of this one ranking. They do not respect the up and comers. They need to see it far too often before they acknowledge it as a fighting style and not a fluke (as they did before Sokoudjou's fight with Ricardo Arona, and as they have done with dozens of fighters over the last few years), either that or they fall into a trap of believing it is a fighting style when it's an act of fight-specific planning (as they did with CroCop and Gonzaga going into the Couture fight, thinking Gonzaga's striking would be overwhelming). Alexander has been proven. Jardine is now considered a legitimate fighter (and is ranked 3 by Sherdog), but Alexander destroyed him. Alexander is an explosive fighter, as is Silva. These are not guys who bring one solid performance. I am severely disappointed that Thiago Silva is not the next 205 pound contender, but when he is (I don't personally see it as a matter of "if") he will get the opportunity to prove that his viceral style of striking is the real deal, and not just some fluke. Alexander will continue to do the same.
7. Chuck Liddell
8. Keith Jardine
It's clear that I don't care that much that Jardine beat Liddell. The fact is, Jardine has won two fights, and that is the basis most people see to put him in the top 5. That is stupid. He beat Liddell by split decision (meaning one judge gave the other fight to Liddell), but Liddell has a history in this division and has finished more than one opponent, unlike Jardine. I think it's a great disrespect to Liddell to have him ranked so much lower, or even lower at all, that Jardine, given the clear differences in their record and the fact that Jardine barely won that fight. While I think Jardine is higher on the lightheavyweight ladder within the UFC, I think that Liddell deserves a higher ranking.
9. Forrest Griffin
10. Mauricio Rua
I am not sure that I really want Rua to be ranked 10, and I almost put Wanderlei Silva in that spot instead, but I am taking into account the fact that, not long ago, Rua was ranked one. If he can wean himself off of his dependence on the Pride rules, he will be fine, otherwise, he will be in trouble, and may be dropped from the rankings altogether.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Rankings: Just Another Problem I Have With Sherdog
I have lots of issues with the site, and have no problem listing them at length, but their ranking process always confuses me, because so often they seem illogical. I don't agree that a fighter should be removed for inactivity in his weight class, though general inactivity I can understand. It's really just an opinional difference, but it seems strange that Matt Lindland, the best 185 pound fighters in the world, is removed from their rankings because he has had to go up weight classes to look for competition.
Here are my heavyweight rankings (I'll add more as this week goes on). I've offered clarification where I feel its necessary, though there are things (like putting Fedor at #1 among the big men) that I figure you probably have a good handle on.
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Randy Couture
My logic in ranking Nogueira at 2 and Couture at three is based primarily on their performances against Tim Sylvia. Nogueira finished him and Couture, however, I feel it's also important to note that Nogueira has fought a much greater volume of top ten opponents and has done much better against them.
4. Josh Barnett
I'll be honest, I think that the fact that Barnett is not on Sherdog's rankings is fucking ridiculous. Usually I'd put it more eloquently than that, but I think there's really no other way to word my frustration. I respect Barnett as a fighter and don't hold him on a pedestal in the least, and I'm just as frustrated as anyone that he hasn't fought since the buyout, and his imminent return on the Sengoku card will really dictate where I think he falls in the new, scattered heavyweight division. that said, I refuse to rank guys who have much less experience and credibility higher than Barnett, because doing that is ridiculous.
5. Andrei Arlovski
6. Fabricio Werdum
7. Tim Sylvia
My reasoning for ranking Arlovski and Werdum ahead of Sylvia is simple. Werdum has been impressive recently, as has Arlovski, though not in his last fight. Sylvia gets ranked very highly because he beats opponents he should beat, but that's not enough for me to call him a top 5 heavyweight. If Sylvia had really shown up in past fights and I had reason to regard the fight with Nogueira as an anomaly, I would do that, but Sylvia doesn't finish people, and he doesn't even really impress when he sends the fight to the judges. The fact that he is ranked so high by groups like Sherdog really just emphasizes how much crap we are willing to put up with from the former champ before we start questioning his work ethic.
8. Cheick Kongo
9. Gabriel Gonzaga
There are those who are going to wonder why Gonzaga is ranked lower than Kongo, given that Gonzaga finished CroCop and the Frenchman did not. The fact is, Gonzaga has been absolutely destroyed in his last two fights. While there has been alot of talk about the quality of his win over Mirko, it is clear that he is not capable of creating a similarly brilliant performance unless it is fed to him on a one-dimensional platter similar to the Croatian, or a less famous fight like it was in his initial wins over Fabiano Scherner and Carmello Marerro. Kongo may be one dimensional, but he has shown that he can beat a far more diverse level of opponent and, at the very least, has shown growth in his skill set over his last few fights. This is something I have not seen from Gonzaga and, until I do, I will consider Kongo higher, not only in the UFC ladder, but in the world rankings as well
10. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic
In case there is any question of why I included Mirko instead of Ben Rothwell, I will say that I think it's impossible to call Rothwell a top ten fighter when he can't finish Ricco Rodriguez. While I will not dispute the dominance that Rodriguez once had as a fighter, and as one of the greatest groundnpounders the sport has ever seen, I will say that he is not the same fighter, and the fact that Rothwell cannot finish him is disappointing, given that Rodriguez has the cardio of a sumo wrestler (and the physique to match). CroCop may have two painful losses, but I will keep him on the rankings for the same reason I keep Gonzaga on, because he has done incredible things recently and needs only to get back on track. Rothwell still needs to figure out where the track is. As for Rothwell's other wins, people seem to believe that they are extraordinarily impressive, and that's not true. His record is a veritable "Who's that?" of modern MMA, but what can you expect from an IFL division that doesn't really have the finances to get him an awesome opponent.
Those are my thoughts on the current heavyweight divison. I will mention, because I think it's important, that I think both Jeff Monson and Mark Hunt could be on this list, and I considered putting them both ahead of Gonzaga and CroCop. I will probably go back and forth on the issue, but I'd like to see if Hunt is continuing to improve, as he has been over the last few years, and I want to see if Monson has a strong showing against Fedor (as I think that Monson is probably the toughest matchup, stylistically, for Fedor), I don't think he will win, but I think he has the potential to make that a very, very interesting fight, and if he does I will consider him a top ten heavyweight, perhaps even more so than most of the UFC's current top contenders.
Here are my heavyweight rankings (I'll add more as this week goes on). I've offered clarification where I feel its necessary, though there are things (like putting Fedor at #1 among the big men) that I figure you probably have a good handle on.
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Randy Couture
My logic in ranking Nogueira at 2 and Couture at three is based primarily on their performances against Tim Sylvia. Nogueira finished him and Couture, however, I feel it's also important to note that Nogueira has fought a much greater volume of top ten opponents and has done much better against them.
4. Josh Barnett
I'll be honest, I think that the fact that Barnett is not on Sherdog's rankings is fucking ridiculous. Usually I'd put it more eloquently than that, but I think there's really no other way to word my frustration. I respect Barnett as a fighter and don't hold him on a pedestal in the least, and I'm just as frustrated as anyone that he hasn't fought since the buyout, and his imminent return on the Sengoku card will really dictate where I think he falls in the new, scattered heavyweight division. that said, I refuse to rank guys who have much less experience and credibility higher than Barnett, because doing that is ridiculous.
5. Andrei Arlovski
6. Fabricio Werdum
7. Tim Sylvia
My reasoning for ranking Arlovski and Werdum ahead of Sylvia is simple. Werdum has been impressive recently, as has Arlovski, though not in his last fight. Sylvia gets ranked very highly because he beats opponents he should beat, but that's not enough for me to call him a top 5 heavyweight. If Sylvia had really shown up in past fights and I had reason to regard the fight with Nogueira as an anomaly, I would do that, but Sylvia doesn't finish people, and he doesn't even really impress when he sends the fight to the judges. The fact that he is ranked so high by groups like Sherdog really just emphasizes how much crap we are willing to put up with from the former champ before we start questioning his work ethic.
8. Cheick Kongo
9. Gabriel Gonzaga
There are those who are going to wonder why Gonzaga is ranked lower than Kongo, given that Gonzaga finished CroCop and the Frenchman did not. The fact is, Gonzaga has been absolutely destroyed in his last two fights. While there has been alot of talk about the quality of his win over Mirko, it is clear that he is not capable of creating a similarly brilliant performance unless it is fed to him on a one-dimensional platter similar to the Croatian, or a less famous fight like it was in his initial wins over Fabiano Scherner and Carmello Marerro. Kongo may be one dimensional, but he has shown that he can beat a far more diverse level of opponent and, at the very least, has shown growth in his skill set over his last few fights. This is something I have not seen from Gonzaga and, until I do, I will consider Kongo higher, not only in the UFC ladder, but in the world rankings as well
10. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic
In case there is any question of why I included Mirko instead of Ben Rothwell, I will say that I think it's impossible to call Rothwell a top ten fighter when he can't finish Ricco Rodriguez. While I will not dispute the dominance that Rodriguez once had as a fighter, and as one of the greatest groundnpounders the sport has ever seen, I will say that he is not the same fighter, and the fact that Rothwell cannot finish him is disappointing, given that Rodriguez has the cardio of a sumo wrestler (and the physique to match). CroCop may have two painful losses, but I will keep him on the rankings for the same reason I keep Gonzaga on, because he has done incredible things recently and needs only to get back on track. Rothwell still needs to figure out where the track is. As for Rothwell's other wins, people seem to believe that they are extraordinarily impressive, and that's not true. His record is a veritable "Who's that?" of modern MMA, but what can you expect from an IFL division that doesn't really have the finances to get him an awesome opponent.
Those are my thoughts on the current heavyweight divison. I will mention, because I think it's important, that I think both Jeff Monson and Mark Hunt could be on this list, and I considered putting them both ahead of Gonzaga and CroCop. I will probably go back and forth on the issue, but I'd like to see if Hunt is continuing to improve, as he has been over the last few years, and I want to see if Monson has a strong showing against Fedor (as I think that Monson is probably the toughest matchup, stylistically, for Fedor), I don't think he will win, but I think he has the potential to make that a very, very interesting fight, and if he does I will consider him a top ten heavyweight, perhaps even more so than most of the UFC's current top contenders.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Fate and Future of Randy "The Natural" Couture
There are many fighters who get billed as being more skilled than Randy Couture, many who people believe would hand him his ass if they ever stepped in a cage or a ring, but there are few fighters that stir conversation the way that Randy does.
It's been an issue of alot of speculation, since no one seems to offer substantial information on what is actually happening, but Randy's contract with the UFC is, supposedly, terminated.This makes for teh interesting possibility of a matchup between the 43 year old, 5 time UFC champion and former Pride Heavyweight champion and #1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenko and Couture have both sounded excited in recent interviews, as the prospect of a matchup between the UFC hall-of-famer (the only man in the hall who's really at the top of his game) and the greatest heavyweight of this generation.
Many critics dispute Emelianenko's #1 ranking and say that he doesn't fight enough, and he needs more top tier opponents in M-1, and there's little doubt that a win over Couture would shut them up for at least a little while.
Still, the UFC has yet to take down the listing of Couture as their heavyweight champion, and if you go to the UFC website and click the title holders link, Couture's the first man you will see. Whether this is just a failure to update the website or the UFC's way of saying that they still believe Couture is under a contractual obligation, I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone other than Dana White and the rest of the brass really has much of an idea.
That said, I think that we need some information, because it is unfair that the UFC should insist on keeping one of the worlds top heavyweights in perpetual limbo, though they've been doing it with Arlovski's contract negotiations for a long time, so I'm not really sure.
The future of Randy Couture is definitely a subject of alot of interest to fans hoping to see solid fights in this heavyweight division. The most we can do right now is sit, wait and watch to see what has happened and what will happen.
It's been an issue of alot of speculation, since no one seems to offer substantial information on what is actually happening, but Randy's contract with the UFC is, supposedly, terminated.This makes for teh interesting possibility of a matchup between the 43 year old, 5 time UFC champion and former Pride Heavyweight champion and #1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenko and Couture have both sounded excited in recent interviews, as the prospect of a matchup between the UFC hall-of-famer (the only man in the hall who's really at the top of his game) and the greatest heavyweight of this generation.
Many critics dispute Emelianenko's #1 ranking and say that he doesn't fight enough, and he needs more top tier opponents in M-1, and there's little doubt that a win over Couture would shut them up for at least a little while.
Still, the UFC has yet to take down the listing of Couture as their heavyweight champion, and if you go to the UFC website and click the title holders link, Couture's the first man you will see. Whether this is just a failure to update the website or the UFC's way of saying that they still believe Couture is under a contractual obligation, I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone other than Dana White and the rest of the brass really has much of an idea.
That said, I think that we need some information, because it is unfair that the UFC should insist on keeping one of the worlds top heavyweights in perpetual limbo, though they've been doing it with Arlovski's contract negotiations for a long time, so I'm not really sure.
The future of Randy Couture is definitely a subject of alot of interest to fans hoping to see solid fights in this heavyweight division. The most we can do right now is sit, wait and watch to see what has happened and what will happen.
Monday, February 4, 2008
A Note Of Optimism: UFC 82, Sengoku and the Second Coming of the Big Men
My disappoint with the big guys in this division is something that I'm pretty honest about. The fact is, they either haven't been fighting well, or they haven't been fighting at all, and that's really not something that should be coming from the men this sport was built on.
In light of UFC 81, though, we are starting to see that the downplayed expectations of the division may be getting them to fight harder and put on a better show.
The last card featured the big heavyweight matchups between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and the title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia. While both were expected to be terrible by the masses, both proved exciting, with Mir pulling out a win in 1:30 against his clearly submission-retarded opponent and Nogueira catching Sylvia in a guillotine that shocked alot of fans, myself included, who didn't think this fight would end with a big sub.
There is one more fight, though, that I've been looking forward to for some time, and it involves the man who is, in my opinion, far and away the UFC's most exciting heavyweight striker, though his grappling has been notoriously lackluster.
Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring are getting set to square off at UFC 82 as the co-main event with Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva (which is definitely an FOTY candidate in my opinion if both guys bring their A game). Kongo vs Herring isn't just a battle of old school vs new school, and it's not just a battle of styles where one guy is going to swing for the fences and the other is going to try and take this fight to the ground.
Kongo promises to bring the European kickboxing that we've seen him throw out there in every fight, a style reminiscent of the top tier K-1 fighters, not the big single strike style that we've seen from more modern fighters like Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic.
The Frenchmen's kickboxing is some of the best I've seen in the division in a long time, and his size and athleticism only make it that much more impressive that he has developed such extraordinary technical prowess without just trying to fall back to his physical advantages, like we've seen some of the bigger, stronger fighters do.
Herring, on the other hand, is about as well rounded as they come. While he's generally considered a striker, he has a solid ground game and good wrestling. There's definitely a chance that if he ends up in trouble, he will try and take the fight to the ground where he'll look for his experience to give him an edge.
It's going to be a fight, no matter where it ends up. I personally believe that Kongo gets alot of grief for his split decision loss to Marrero, where he showcased a less than perfect ground game, and that has led to a lot of stigma directed towards his ground skills, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that will actually be. But if anyone can take advantage of it, it will be an experienced fighter like Heath Herring.
There's another big heavyweight matchup that has been recently announced that I'm already gearing up for, and that's Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida, which has been put on the main event of the Sengoku card.
Barnett is a world class grappler, with one of the most aggressive submission games and probably the most versatile submission arsenal in the division, and the only comparable submission fighters are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Jeff Monson. Barnett is a wrestling machine with size and power to muscle in submissions that most people would just give up on.
Yoshida is a technical judo warrior with an Olympic gold medal under his belt, and while he's had alot of trouble developing substantial standup, there's no doubt that his judo is solid, and if this fight ends up on the ground, he could make it interesting for Barnett. While Yoshida isn't quite as muscular as his American opposition, he's not a lot smaller, and one of Yoshida's protoge's, Kazuhiro Nakamura, gave Barnett some trouble, escaping from numerous dangerous positions.
I think Barnett is a fantastic fighter and, like many of the mainstream guys, I'll pick him to take this one, but I'm not going to count Yoshida out. He deserves respect as a fighter who can perform under pressure and as a guy who has no problem being the underdog. He hasn't coped well with big, powerful wrestlers in the past, but Barnett's a very different fighter than Rulon Gardner, so we'll see the matchup when the time comes.
It's going to be an interesting few months, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
In light of UFC 81, though, we are starting to see that the downplayed expectations of the division may be getting them to fight harder and put on a better show.
The last card featured the big heavyweight matchups between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and the title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia. While both were expected to be terrible by the masses, both proved exciting, with Mir pulling out a win in 1:30 against his clearly submission-retarded opponent and Nogueira catching Sylvia in a guillotine that shocked alot of fans, myself included, who didn't think this fight would end with a big sub.
There is one more fight, though, that I've been looking forward to for some time, and it involves the man who is, in my opinion, far and away the UFC's most exciting heavyweight striker, though his grappling has been notoriously lackluster.
Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring are getting set to square off at UFC 82 as the co-main event with Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva (which is definitely an FOTY candidate in my opinion if both guys bring their A game). Kongo vs Herring isn't just a battle of old school vs new school, and it's not just a battle of styles where one guy is going to swing for the fences and the other is going to try and take this fight to the ground.
Kongo promises to bring the European kickboxing that we've seen him throw out there in every fight, a style reminiscent of the top tier K-1 fighters, not the big single strike style that we've seen from more modern fighters like Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic.
The Frenchmen's kickboxing is some of the best I've seen in the division in a long time, and his size and athleticism only make it that much more impressive that he has developed such extraordinary technical prowess without just trying to fall back to his physical advantages, like we've seen some of the bigger, stronger fighters do.
Herring, on the other hand, is about as well rounded as they come. While he's generally considered a striker, he has a solid ground game and good wrestling. There's definitely a chance that if he ends up in trouble, he will try and take the fight to the ground where he'll look for his experience to give him an edge.
It's going to be a fight, no matter where it ends up. I personally believe that Kongo gets alot of grief for his split decision loss to Marrero, where he showcased a less than perfect ground game, and that has led to a lot of stigma directed towards his ground skills, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that will actually be. But if anyone can take advantage of it, it will be an experienced fighter like Heath Herring.
There's another big heavyweight matchup that has been recently announced that I'm already gearing up for, and that's Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida, which has been put on the main event of the Sengoku card.
Barnett is a world class grappler, with one of the most aggressive submission games and probably the most versatile submission arsenal in the division, and the only comparable submission fighters are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Jeff Monson. Barnett is a wrestling machine with size and power to muscle in submissions that most people would just give up on.
Yoshida is a technical judo warrior with an Olympic gold medal under his belt, and while he's had alot of trouble developing substantial standup, there's no doubt that his judo is solid, and if this fight ends up on the ground, he could make it interesting for Barnett. While Yoshida isn't quite as muscular as his American opposition, he's not a lot smaller, and one of Yoshida's protoge's, Kazuhiro Nakamura, gave Barnett some trouble, escaping from numerous dangerous positions.
I think Barnett is a fantastic fighter and, like many of the mainstream guys, I'll pick him to take this one, but I'm not going to count Yoshida out. He deserves respect as a fighter who can perform under pressure and as a guy who has no problem being the underdog. He hasn't coped well with big, powerful wrestlers in the past, but Barnett's a very different fighter than Rulon Gardner, so we'll see the matchup when the time comes.
It's going to be an interesting few months, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
UFC 81: A Final Note (Better than Expected)
I'll be honest, the fights that I expected to be bad weren't, and the two men I expected to go to war bored me to sleep.
In spite of the Eastman Martin snoozefest, UFC 81 was a great fight card. Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar with a kneebar in the first round and Anotion Rodrigo Nogueira became UFC heavyweight champion when he choked out Tim Sylvia in the third.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reigned supreme at the top of the card and brought some sparks of hope back the UFC heavyweight division. We can only hope that solid matchups will happen in the near future, though they seem to be absent from many of the upcoming cards, much as they were before this event.
Personally, I'm excited for the next few events, much more so than I was for this one, and this one surpassed expectations. Hopefully the ones approaching will do the same.
In spite of the Eastman Martin snoozefest, UFC 81 was a great fight card. Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar with a kneebar in the first round and Anotion Rodrigo Nogueira became UFC heavyweight champion when he choked out Tim Sylvia in the third.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reigned supreme at the top of the card and brought some sparks of hope back the UFC heavyweight division. We can only hope that solid matchups will happen in the near future, though they seem to be absent from many of the upcoming cards, much as they were before this event.
Personally, I'm excited for the next few events, much more so than I was for this one, and this one surpassed expectations. Hopefully the ones approaching will do the same.
Friday, February 1, 2008
UFC 81: Predictions
I'm actually a little excited for this card, as a whole. There are some fights that I expect to be duds, but there are some that I am very excited to see. My overall view of the fight card:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
I'm going to be more or less an outcast on this one, because I'm thinking Big Tim will pull this out. I've given my reasons throughout the prefight buildup, but to recap, I just don't see Big Nog as being able to take this fight to the ground, and I definitely don't see him pulling this one out on the feet. It probably won't be exciting, but it will be long.
My Pick: Tim Sylvia by Unanimous Decision.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
After watching Lesnar's training on UFC All Access, I've changed my pick a little. Originally I had thought that Mir would finish this fight early by outclassing Mir on the ground, but now I think it will take him a little more time, and I'm a little more skeptical. I think Lesnar could pull this out, as he's more or less untested, but I'm going to go with the safe bet and give it to Frank Mir.
My Pick: Frank Mir by Armbar in the second round
Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt
This may be the most promising fight on the card and while I think that Nate has the skills to win this fight standing up, I don't think he'll be able to handle Horn's experience and versatility. I also think that Horn is a very underrated fighter as a middleweight because he competes up in weight class so much, and so I'm going to give this one to the man from Utah.
My Pick: Jeremy Horn by submission in the third round
The rest are all up in the air, and my reasons for them are based mostly on skill set. I will say that they aren't of a whole lot of interest to me, and I'm a little surprised that some of them ended so high up on the card. I'll give my picks and hopefully they'll speak for themselves.
Ricardo Almieda defeats Rob Yundt by submission off of his back in the first round.
Gleison Tibau pulls out an exciting unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin.
Chris Lytle demolishes Kyle Bradley, hitting him hard on the feet early in the first but finishing him with a submission later in the round.
Marvin Eastman stops Terry Martin late in the third round with a big knee after what proves to be the most exciting fight of the night. Both take serious punishment.
David Heath beats Tim Boetsch in a boring decision that consists mostly of Heath laying on top of his opponent.
Keita Nakamura gets his first UFC win, stopping Rob Emerson with a submission in the second after trading with him in a back and forth first round. Nakamura will probably pull guard to get to the ground, but may get a solid takedown or even land a substantial strike.
This will be an interesting event. I'm not really excited about the heavyweight matchups on this card, except for the prospect of a good fight from Lesnar and Mir, which may or may not happen. I do think that Eastman and Martin will have the fight of the night, and that's a matchup that could go either way, because Martin has serious power and Eastman is a monster. Both have fought at 205 and both hit like trucks.
Hope this event doesn't end up being a dud, but even if it does head in that direction, there are a few fights on the card that will be interesting, and the prospect of a new heavyweight champion keeps the outlook better than it was for that division (though that may not be saying a whole lot).
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
I'm going to be more or less an outcast on this one, because I'm thinking Big Tim will pull this out. I've given my reasons throughout the prefight buildup, but to recap, I just don't see Big Nog as being able to take this fight to the ground, and I definitely don't see him pulling this one out on the feet. It probably won't be exciting, but it will be long.
My Pick: Tim Sylvia by Unanimous Decision.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
After watching Lesnar's training on UFC All Access, I've changed my pick a little. Originally I had thought that Mir would finish this fight early by outclassing Mir on the ground, but now I think it will take him a little more time, and I'm a little more skeptical. I think Lesnar could pull this out, as he's more or less untested, but I'm going to go with the safe bet and give it to Frank Mir.
My Pick: Frank Mir by Armbar in the second round
Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt
This may be the most promising fight on the card and while I think that Nate has the skills to win this fight standing up, I don't think he'll be able to handle Horn's experience and versatility. I also think that Horn is a very underrated fighter as a middleweight because he competes up in weight class so much, and so I'm going to give this one to the man from Utah.
My Pick: Jeremy Horn by submission in the third round
The rest are all up in the air, and my reasons for them are based mostly on skill set. I will say that they aren't of a whole lot of interest to me, and I'm a little surprised that some of them ended so high up on the card. I'll give my picks and hopefully they'll speak for themselves.
Ricardo Almieda defeats Rob Yundt by submission off of his back in the first round.
Gleison Tibau pulls out an exciting unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin.
Chris Lytle demolishes Kyle Bradley, hitting him hard on the feet early in the first but finishing him with a submission later in the round.
Marvin Eastman stops Terry Martin late in the third round with a big knee after what proves to be the most exciting fight of the night. Both take serious punishment.
David Heath beats Tim Boetsch in a boring decision that consists mostly of Heath laying on top of his opponent.
Keita Nakamura gets his first UFC win, stopping Rob Emerson with a submission in the second after trading with him in a back and forth first round. Nakamura will probably pull guard to get to the ground, but may get a solid takedown or even land a substantial strike.
This will be an interesting event. I'm not really excited about the heavyweight matchups on this card, except for the prospect of a good fight from Lesnar and Mir, which may or may not happen. I do think that Eastman and Martin will have the fight of the night, and that's a matchup that could go either way, because Martin has serious power and Eastman is a monster. Both have fought at 205 and both hit like trucks.
Hope this event doesn't end up being a dud, but even if it does head in that direction, there are a few fights on the card that will be interesting, and the prospect of a new heavyweight champion keeps the outlook better than it was for that division (though that may not be saying a whole lot).
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