Inside Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Lyoto Machida

Even with the drop of Matt Serra on the UFC's upcoming UFC 79 card, there are still some promising matchups. Of all of these matches, it seems like the one with the least history might be the most entertaining.

On a card that includes the third installment of Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes and the promising war between striking legends Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell, the most promising looks to be the fight between "The African Assassin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-1-0) and Lyoto Machida (11-0-0).

Machida is an undefeated, promising fighter who has already worked himself into title contention by beating Sam Hoger, David Heath and Kazuhiro Nakamura by decision. His shotokan karate backround is something unconventional in the sport, and presents alot of problems for the very technical strikers in the division.

Sokoudjou, though, is not a conventional striker. He exploded on to the scene in a way that no one expected him to, being signed by Pride Fighting Championships as a stepping stone opponent for the return of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In that fight, Sokoudjou did the unthinkable, and became the first man ever to stop either of the Nogueira brothers, knocking Rogerio out in 23 seconds.

In his second fight, he fought another Pride veteran in Ricardo Arona, who was another ground fighter expected to give Sokoudjou's judo backround a test, but the fight never got that far. Sokoudjou put Arona to sleep at the two minute mark in their fight.

Of all of the matchups on this card (including the dynamic matchup of Hughes v St. Pierre and the much anticipated matchup of Silva v Liddell) Sokoudjou and Machida is going to be the most interesting.

For starters, it is Sokoudjou's first fight in the UFC, and the "Octagon shock" fact has been pretty tough on some of his fellow Pride veterans who have come to the organization. There's the question of whether Machida will be able to capitalize on his surroundings and control Sokoudjou.

Then there is the issue of Machida being the first real standup opponent Sokoudjou has faced on a major event card. After all, Arona and Nogueira were both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters.

It should be an interesting matchup, I'm personally taking Sokoudjou on his ability to finish fights (something that we haven't see from Machida in his last 3 matches), but it will definitely be a war and Machida's karate always makes for an exciting fight.

Tito Ortiz: Sometimes Bad is Good

Of all the fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts, by far the most controversial and most polarized is Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz, and he seems to get attention inside and outside of the cage, regardless of who his opponent is. He's been in open conflict with the Lion's Den, single handedly smashing the upper echelon of the gym and gaining fame and fortune (and a porn-star girlfriend) in the meantime.

At the beginning of his career, Ortiz seemed to be simply a shadow of mixed martial arts heavyweight legends like Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, trying to use the groundnpound style of fighting that the men had perfected. Ortiz made his debut at UFC 13 in the tournament style that was popular during the period.

While Ortiz TKO'd his opening opponent, Wes Albritton, with the explosive groundnpound for which he would become famous later in his career, he dropped his second fight to Guy Mezger when he got caught in a guillotine choke by the more experienced Mezger. (On top of two UFC's matches at UFC's 4 and 5, Mezger had competed in almost twenty matches in Japan's Pancrase organization) The fight would be a lead up to the long standing conflict between Tito and the Lion's Den gym that Mezger represented.

Ortiz took a break after losing to Mezger, partly to recooperate from the mental damage of a loss and partly to really hone his groundnpound and learn to defend submissions like the one that Mezger had caught him in.

Ortiz returned to the sport more than a year later, in December of 1998, to fight Jeremy Screenton in West Coast No Holds Barred. Ortiz TKO'd screenton in 16 seconds, and would quickly be resigned by the UFC.

At this point, Ortiz really began to exploit his charisma, which many credit with helping the expansion of the sport more than anything else. He began to hype his fight with Jerry Bohlander, a teammate of Guy Mezger's, making it an issue of revenge for his loss and verbally attacking Lion's Den coach Ken Shamrock. While the Lion's Den fighters did not take him too seriously, when Ortiz TKO'd Bohlander after fourteen and a half minutes, they started to get a little upset. While Shamrock had yet to become vocal, Mezger took some open offense to Ortiz's comments and requested a fight with Tito.

In Tito's second UFC fight since his return, he hyped up his fight with the Lion's Den even more, and the UFC put together one of the earliest high-profile grudgematches in the sport: the rematch between Tito Ortiz and Guy Mezger. While the hype on paper did little for long time hardcore fans, the new fans that Ortiz managed to bring in with his charisma and open disrespect for much more seasoned fighters left many long term fans hoping Mezger would put him in his place for the second time, and many new fans wondering if this kid from LA was really as tough as he said he was.

The fight with Bohlander was also the debut of what would be one of Tito's many calling cards in later year. His gravedigger finish had already become noticed by some fans, but the addition of the victory t-shirts that would become the subject of alot of arguments among hardcore fans and fans who loved the flare came after Bohlander, when he donned a shirt that said: "I just fucked your ass."

Ortiz finished Mezger even quicker than he had finished Bohlander, cutting near 15 minutes down to around 10 and picking up another TKO on his record.

The t-shirt after this fight read: "Gay Mezger is my bitch." and it pissed Ken Shamrock off enough that he began to address the conflict himself.

In his next fight he would get the opportunity for a really, really dangerous opponent, as he was matched up with UFC middleweight (a title that, at that time, was 205 pounds) champion Frank Shamrock, the blood-brother of Lion's Den leader.

Frank had already become a legend in the Pancrase organization that had really brought his blood-brother into the spotlight and it was a fight that Tito hyped up like it was Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston, saying that it was time for the young up-and-comer to bring the sport into the new age.

The fight, though, didn't go like Ali vs. Liston at all. Shamrock stopped Ortiz with strikes in 4:42 of the fourth round of their title fight.

In what some would call the lone show of respect in Ortiz's career, he put on a Frank Shamrock t-shirt after the fight.

Shamrock left the UFC due to a contract dispute shortly after, vacating his title. Ortiz (the only fighter to last more than one round in the Octagon with Shamrock) was named an immediate contender. His opponent was to be Japanese MMA legend Wanderlei "The Axe-Murderer" Silva, who had started to make a name for himself in the Japanese upstart at the time, the Pride Fighting Championships." Silva had also already had a few fights in the UFC.

Tito beat Silva in what would be the first decision win of Ortiz's career, staying on top of Silva and pounding him with elbows for five rounds.

His next fight would be the beginning of his major tear in the UFC, as he finished Yuki Kondo two mintues into the first with a vicious neck crank.

The t-shirt has become one of the most notable sayings, not just from Ortiz, but in all of MMA: "RESPECT: I don't earn it; I just fucking take it."

Ortiz would continue to dismantle all of the fighters put in front of him as he slammed future 185 pound champion Evan Tanner for a 32 second win and stopped Australian Elvis Sinosic with a cut from his elbows at 3:32 in the first.


Above: Highlight reel of Ortiz in his prime as the lightheavyweight champion.

After Ortiz fought Russian warrior Vladimir Matyushenko, winning against by decision, a match was lined up with Lion's Den head Ken Shamrock. Some of the newer Ortiz fans, who had drawn in with his charisma and explosiveness, didn't know of the old rivalry between the two fighters, but Ortiz made sure to let them know.

Now Tito was the champion and Shamrock was the challenger, but many saw the future UFC Hall-of-Famer Shamrock as a god of mixed martial arts, and some referenced the fight Tito had had with Ken's brother as what would probably end up happening in this fight.

Ortiz would beat Shamrock when his corner threw in the towel at the end of the third round, but it would be Ortiz's last fight in the Octagon for a year.

Severe personal problems forced Ortiz to leave the UFC, and some of the stories are more myth than fact (some involve him wrapping a car around a tree, some involve overdoses and drunk bar fights).

Ortiz returned to the UFC after almost an entire year off in September of 2003 to fight interim champion Randy Couture. Couture was a former heavyweight champion (and currently holds the heavyweight strap) who came down to 205 for different challenges.

Couture would outclass Ortiz in a matchup of a Division I national champion and a Junior college warrior. It was clear that Ortiz was not the same fighter, or at least that the sport had gotten away from him a little bit.

Ortiz would then drop his next fight to another DI wrestler (though not national champion) in Chuck Liddell, when he was stopped for the first time since his fight with Frank Shamrock almost five years before.

His next fight was more of a stepping stone fight then anything else, when Ortiz beat Canadian Patrick "The Predator" Cote.

The UFC then set up a matchup of former champions, matching Ortiz against Brazilian warrior and UFC legend Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort. Belfort made a war of the fight, taking Ortiz the judges scorecards, but two of the judges overruled the third and gave the fight to Ortiz.

After being declared the winner, Ortiz would make the first political statement of his career; his t-shirt didn't insult Belfort (a fighter who had been one of the most dominant in the sport for the prime of his career), instead it read "Bring Home Our Troops!"

Ortiz's next fight would also end in a split decision, when he beat Forrest Griffin in what would prove the most controversial win of Ortiz's career, a decision that is still questioned today.

With the clear impossibility of passing Ortiz off as a serious title contender, regardless of his charisma, the UFC management set up another match with Shamrock. Ortiz won easily.

Though there was some minor controversy that might have been overlooked, Ortiz took another fight with Shamrock, and the third fight resembled the second in an order of deja vu with extra elbows.

While Ortiz's recent career has included a tough second loss to then 205 pound champion Chuck Liddell in his title shot and a draw with Rashad Evans that Ortiz might have won without a point deduction, Ortiz remains one of the greatest champions in the sports history and a definite candidate for the hall-of-fame.

M-1 Announces First Matches For It's New Year's Eve Card

Russian based M-1 Global organization has announced the first two bouts on what looks to be the best card of New Year's Eve, now that the UFC no longer has a title fight occurring on their upcoming card.

The first two bouts were set up when M-1 and K-1 Heroes agreed to cooperate to put together the best card possible, and they have announced that the venue for the fight will be the world class Saitama Super Arena, the home of many Pride Fighting Championship cards over the years. The move is, without a doubt, a move to show the Japanese fans how serious they are about offering a quality product.

The first bout announced was for two time K-1 Lightweight tournament champion Gesias "JZ" Calvancante to take on legendary lightweight and master of the triangle choke Shinya Aoki. While this is a fight between two athletes that most American fight fans don't understand the value of, Calvancante and Aoki are both in good position to move to the top oof the world lightweight rankings, with the liquidation of Pride, the recent loss of former #1 man Takanori Gomi and the steroid scandal surrounding UFC Champion Sean Sherk. It will be a fight that puts even more on the line than just a W or an L, it's also about who is the best 155 pound fighter in this new M-1 organization and, while there is no belt on the line yet, there is alot of value on this fight.

Calvancante is coming off of his second consecutive win of the K-1 Heroes tournament, where he defeated Vitor "Shaolin" Ribiero to take the title. Calvancante is currently sitting at the top of the mountain of K-1's lightweight MMA division.

Aoki has been inactive since his fight with Pride back in April, immediately before the organization was bought out by the UFC. He has, though, fought in DEEP in a grappling match, where he showed the dominance of his Tobukan Judo.

This is more than just a classic grappler/striker matchup, as JZ brings a very interesting style of striking and groundnpound along with some versatility in submissions, and Aoki has shown some improved striking along with one of the two best submission games at 155 pounds. (the other comparable fighter is UFC top contender BJ Penn)

The other fight is Japanese organization DEEP's contribution to the card, of their champion Hidehiko Hasegawa, who will fight MMA staple and veteran of every major organization, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Sakurai is a warrior who's history in the sport intersects with every major organization, and Hasegawa is a fighter who has a great deal of fame in Japan. While Hasegawa's name isn't one American fans hear to often, it's one that is well known in Japanese MMA circles, where DEEP is one of the most established organizations (basically the Japanese equivalent of King of the Cage, or World Extreme Cagefighting).

If the Sakurai v Hasegawa matchup is setting the tone for the undercard of the fight, it is clear that M-1 is serious about rounding up as many top tier fighters as they can from smaller Japanese shows, especially one's like DEEP and K-1, which already have long histories and strong rosters. These could all make for a very solid event, and make it worth throwing a party to watch live MMA in the afternoon so we can catch the New Years Eve card.

Stylized Striking: The Difference Between Muay Thai, Boxing and Brawling

The best part of MMA is it's diversity as a sport, even in it's individual elements there are distinct classes of fighters. Standing up, there are dozens of classifications of strikers, from the old school karate fighters like UFC 1 competitor and runner-up Gerard Gordeau to San Shou masters like Strike Force middleweight Cung Le. Over the years, these fighters have been streamlined to fit a few standard profiles (though some, like Le, are exceptions). Those molds are the Muay Thai striker, the boxer and the brawler. While these can be broken up into even smaller sub-divisions (clinch fighters, counter-punchers, stalkers, etc.) these three basic molds make a pretty solid umbrella for the modern striker.

Some fighters, like Brazilians Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, are viceral Muay Thai strikers, who work well in open range, where they use leg kicks and straight punches to wear opponents down, or in the clinch, where they use knees to their opponents body and head to end fights.




Muay Thai is actually a more recent development than boxing and brawling, coming in when top quality fight coaches like Marco Ruas started using Vale Tudo fighting as a way of employing classic Muay Thai striking techniques, like the thai clinch, knees to the body and shin kicks. Over time Muay Thai and the Vale Tudo (or "anything goes") philosophy has expanded to include stomp kicks to downed opponents and it's current fighter base includes UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.



Boxers started off slow in MMA, being thoroughly dominated as the result of a lack of ground skills, but it was quickly coupled with submission fighting and solid wrestling fundamentals to provide what is really a more street fight realistic style of employing the hands. While it still stays true to many of the technical philosophies of boxing, true boxing has sort of fallen out in MMA with the slowing careers of it's most well known employers, including former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver.



Since the decline in it's use, it has still become an important fact in MMA, especially for ground based fighters who want to improve their head movement and hand skills. While they employ a more open bodied stance to help them deal with leg kicks and stay ready for the takedown, they use many traditional training points and basic drills. Current notable boxing-based strikers in the sport include Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and top UFC heavyweight contender Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.



Brawling has always been a popular style, ever since the rugged earlier days of the sport when it was popularized by one punch warriors like Tank Abbott. While the practical aspect of brawling is questionable, fighters with the ability to take a punch and utilize their heavy hands have always been successful brawlers. It has fallen off the major event cards, because the sport has become more technical, but it is still a staple of smaller shows.



Great brawlers throughout history are easy to find, from the Tank himself to Mike Bourke and Bobby Hoffman, to even lighter weight fighters like Joe "Diesel" Riggs.



The sport will continue to develop and the smaller styles, like the Croatian and Dutch kickboxers, will always have their representatives, but for know the sport's standup seems to be pretty heavily dominated by these three breeds of fighters.

Great Fedor Highlight Reel

For those still questioning what Fedor Emelianenko is about in MMA, I figured that show might be better than tell. This highlight reel does a pretty good job of summing up his fighting style and providing an overview of some of his best moves, though some are left out.



Thanks to Roberto Bardini for putting the video together.

Decisions: The Difference Between Finishing In America and Japan

There are alot of differences between the MMA scene in Western countries (U.S., U.K., Canada...) and in Japan, but beyond the stomp kicks, elbows and crazy entrances, there is a major difference in the way that Japanese fans look at a fight record, particularly a single element of the record: decisions.

In Japan, there is a serious emphasis on finishing opponents, that goes way beyond the $5,000 you see Dana White offer Ultimate Fighter contestants for a finish. In Japan, there is a stigma on fighters who don't finish, and they rarely get any attention, any sponsorships or a title shot.

It's the reason why Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic took off quickly in the Japanese scene (first in K-1, then in Pride), while it took some fighters a little longer to establish themselves. The explosive KO or submission is something that Japanese fans see as absolutely necessary, not just bringing home the W, and a fighter who puts on an exciting fight and loses with a big finish at the end is more likely to be called back than a fighter who postpones defeat with a decision. This is one of the reasons for cult followings developing around fighters with lower records, like Yosuke Nishijima.

Losing by decision is considered more like a draw than an actual loss, and it is one of the reasons why fighters like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who have never been finished, are so revered.

American MMA puts the focus on winning, at whatever cost. A champion has to be very unimpressive to be regarded as a pariah, where as in Japan, a champion who goes to decision once will instantly have his credibility questioned. If Tim Sylvia had been a champion in Pride when he fought Assuerio Silva to get back in line for a title shot after losing his title to Arlovski, the decision would have kept him out of contention and he would have had to take at least one more fight before getting another opportunity to prove himself.

If Sylvia had been unable to finish as a champion, like he was when he won back his title, a Japanese organization might have held a Grand Prix to determine whether he was suited to be a champion, putting him in a situation where he has a very high chance of failure.

It is also the theory behind the "freak matchups" that are more common in Japan. A fighter like Zuluzinho fighting Fedor is normal, because a finish is almost guarunteed. It is expected that a smaller, skilled fighter will either use his agility and skills to finish an opponent quickly, his larger opponent will crush him, or as the fight goes on one of the fighters will fatigue (either the smaller from being worn on by a heavier opponent, or the larger for lack of cardiovascular conditioning). This is where matchups like Butterbean and Minowa or Sapp and Nogueira come from, it isn't the bizarre nature of seeing someone three hundred pounds fight someone way smaller, but, rather, because the fans are hungry to see a finish.

There are exceptions to this rule, but it is a very common part of Japanese and American sport psychology and I don't see it going away any time soon.

Matt Serra Pulls Out Of Fight With Hughes

Current UFC Welterweight champion Matt "The Terra" Serra pulled out of fight with former two time champion Matt Hughes due to a herniated disk in his back. The injury will postpone a fight that got alot of hype from the Ultimate Fighter Reality series, that Hughes and Serra both coached.

Serra is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt under Renzo Gracie and took the UFC title as a serious underdog going into his fight with Georges St. Pierre.

To get the title shot, Serra won the Ultimate Fighter 4, and his ability to capitalize on it has made him a cult icon, a figure of speech and a reference point for any fighter going in as a serious underdog.

Matt Hughes will still fight on the card, though who he will fight is unclear. Jon Fitch has announced that he will not be fighting Hughes, as he will be in Vietnam. The possibility of Hughes fighting Thiago Alves has been brought up, but Alves fought only a few weeks ago at UFC 78, which will make it very difficult for him to get cleared by the gaming commission to fight. Still, it is possible.

The other possibility that has been brought up is that of a third match between St. Pierre and Hughes. It would be a final match, and many were hoping that, like the first two, the final match would in some way involve an undisputed title, not just the possibility of an interim crown.

The UFC 79 card thus far seems to be pretty good, with lightheavyweight main card bouts including the long anticipated fight between Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva along with the anticipated debut of phenomenon Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, when he will fight undefeated Lyoto Machida.

As far as the card right now, a title bout would make it a very interesting card. The possibility of a heavyweight title fight is unlikely this late in the game, but it is a possibility, given how long it has been since champion Randy Couture and contender Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira have fought. Still, that bout looks like it's pending for the spring.

Even without Serra, the card will maintain some dignity with the 205 pound matchups and the possibility of Hughes fighting anyway.

Hopefully Serra will recover quickly so that we can see the fight in the spring.