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Bellator's sixth season is nearing its completion, but there are still a couple of events to go. Tonight offers us a conclusion to the middleweight tournament, a continuation of the welterweight tournament, a bout between who are arguably the world's number one and two female strawweights and a season seven heavyweight tournament qualifying match. Oh, and if you're into prospects, keep an eye out for Andrey Koreshkov. He's arguably the top welterweight prospect outside of Zuffa.
What: Bellator 69
When: Friday, the MTV2-televised card begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday. However, Spike.com will carry the entire fight card beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Where: L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Predictions below for the middleweight tournament final, a welterweight tournament semi-final, a heavyweight tournament qualifier and one additional main card bout.
David Rickels vs. Karl Amoussou
Both guys enter this bout riding a fair amount of momentum, but I'm going to lean towards Amoussou. Either guy is offensive to the point where they don't exercise enough risk management, but Amoussou is naturally bigger and more importantly, has faced and defeated better competition. Amoussou has shown an ability swim in deeper waters and do well enough. I don't discount the ability of Rickels to rise to the occasion. The kid has some decent striking skills and a moderately well-rounded game plus an unflappable belief in himself. I'm just not sure that's enough to get by 'Psycho'.
Pick: Amoussou
Jessica Aguilar vs. Megumi Fujii
Part of me wants to skip the chalk here and go for Aguilar. I actually do think this will be a competitive strawweight bout, but I have a bit of a hard time seeing how Aguilar gets over in this one. If Fujii does what she did against Zoila Gurgel, ok, then Aguilar has a chance. But Aguilar's best skill set is also Fujii's, which was not the case with Gurgel. At 38, Fujii has got to be nearing the end of her career. She's certainly not in her prime anymore. But she's enough of an old war horse to get through this one.
Pick: Fujii
Kevin Asplund vs. Ron Sparks
Neither of these heavyweights are world beaters. Asplund has been fighting against less than quality opposition in the regional circuit and Sparks is probably fighting one step above that. I'll give Sparks the nod here for two reasons. One, despite whatever else he lacks, he packs a monster of a punch. Two, it's impossible to gauge Asplund's abilities against the riff raff he's stepped in the cage against. The only x-factor is Asplund's a very small heavyweight and could have a speed advantage.
Pick: Sparks
Andreas Spang vs. Maiquel Falcao
I tend to think Falcao won't fall prey to Spang's unheralded grappling and will capitalize on Spang's lazy jab. Counterstriking from Brian Rogers nearly cost Spang in his last fight. Falcao is as technically adept as Rogers and certainly a great deal quicker. He's also got the power punching to make anyone in that weight class pay. I hate to go all chalk for these picks and I'm sure I'll pay for it somewhere, but there's a reason tonight's favorites are where they are.
Pick: Falcao
Truthfully, Daniel Cormier's progression as a mixed martial artist has been undervalued. Not only is Cormier unbeaten, he's done it in dominant fashion. Of his nine wins, seven have come via stoppage, with six coming in the first round. No one has yet to even be competitive with him. If he had the same resume in the UFC, he'd be buzzed about as the next big thing, a title challenger waiting in the wings. As it is, he's done it mostly under the radar.
That might change for good on Saturday night.
His Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final opponent Josh Barnett has earned a level of stature and respect that would benefit Cormier if he can pull off the win. If he does, it will put a properly unexpected exclamation point on an utterly unpredictable tournament.
When it began in February 2011, Cormier wasn't even an official entrant. He was an alternate, and not even the first one, as that designation was supposed to go to Shane del Rosario.
But fate stepped in. Zuffa bought Strikeforce, del Rosario was badly injured in a car accident, and Alistair Overeem was cut following an issue with his management.
That left Cormier with a chance to step right into the semifinal, and he blasted his way into the final, knocking out Antonio Silva in a first-round finish last September.
The dominant win put into perspective what a quick study Cormier has been. He came in with a brilliant wrestling resume -- two-time Olympian, international star, and collegiate All-American -- but has done his best work in the standup department.
Those offensive numbers are outstanding. The most significant ones show that while he finds his target, he doesn't often take return fire. According to FightMetric, Cormier lands an average of 3.67 strikes per minute, but is only hit .98 times per minute. That is particularly impressive given that at 5-foot-11 and with a 71-inch reach, he is often at a height and reach disadvantage.
That will again be the case against Barnett, who is 6-foot-3 with a 78-inch reach.
Barnett (31-5) is a very well-rounded fighter. While he's made his bones as a submission artist (he has 17 tapout wins), he's well versed in striking and wrestling as well, skills that have allowed him the versatility to exploit holes in his opponent's game at times.
He has a striking accuracy rate of 48 percent, a tick better than Cormier's. Surprisingly, he's fared far better on takedowns, 58 percent to 27 percent. And he works well in the 50/50 positions.
But Barnett knows where his bread is buttered. He believes himself to be superior to any opponent on the ground, so he's usually insistent on putting the fight on the mat at some point. Barnett does that with his own style, favoring a form of Greco-Roman wrestling that is heavily reliant on body locks and trips.
While Cormier was primarily a freestyle wrestler by training, he's very well schooled in Greco-Roman as well, so Barnett will have his work cut out for him to take the fight down. As mentioned, Barnett has a 58 percent success rate on takedowns, but on the other hand, Cormier has yet to be taken down even a single time in his pro career. That's a point of pride with him, and so it's going to take something overwhelming to get him down.
So a lot of this fight hinges upon whether you believe Barnett can take the fight down. If he can't, then what? One possibility is that Cormier might want to take Barnett down. That though, seems unlikely. Despite his pedigree, he hasn't featured takedowns as a major part of his offense.
So we might be left with a standup fight, or some semblance of one. I think Barnett will exchange, but also try to work Cormier against the fence and look for positions for the takedown. Cormier, who strikes well from close range, is eventually going to find a way to free himself.
Back in the center of the cage, he's grown comfortable with his striking. That's going to happen training at American Kickboxing Academy. While he doesn't necessarily throw together advanced combinations, he pulls off the basics very well, and he has power. In his last fight over Silva, he also showed he was capable of navigating the distance necessary to land that power. Cormier excels in close distance, and because Barnett likes clinches, that could mean trouble.
This is a close fight. Most lines have it as a pick 'em bout for good reason. Barnett knows every trick in the book, but Cormier has a world-class skill, the aptitude to learn, and the ability to put what he's practiced into action. He also has a great training partner in Cain Velasquez, meaning he's been put through the ringer many times, so he won't be overwhelmed by anything Barnett does.
If Barnett can get Cormier on his back, he's capable of finishing. I just don't see him getting it there or keeping it there for long. If Cormier dictates the location of the fight, he'll win by landing the more significant strikes. This wacky tournament seems destined to end in some unexpected way, so Cormier by knockout.
Following his second straight UFC loss, MMA veteran Jeff Curran is afraid he is going to lose to his job.
The 14-year veteran of the sport lost a unanimous decision to Johnny Eduardo on Tuesday night at UFC on FUEL TV 3, and following the bout, he opened up to MMAFighting.com about the harsh reality every fighter in his position faces.
"I am at a huge fear for my job and career with UFC," he said. "Knowing that they don't like to sign older guys past 35 years old due to athletic commission complications, and me nearing 35 in September, being dropped from UFC would mean the end of my career."
Curran said that win or lose on Tuesday night, he had planned to drop down to flyweight. Now, he is afraid he won't get the opportunity to do that following his second straight loss.
"I am determined to get a fight at 125," he said. "I feel the weight cut to 135 isn't even a cut at all. I am a smaller boned guy who has had to stay big over the years and now I can finally see that a lower weight is a chance for me and my time is running short.
"There is a few guys I would like to fight at 125 to have a final shot at proving at the end of the day that I am just a little guy but capable of doing bigger things than I have been able to display. Yasuhiro Urushitani, John Lineker, or even a rematch with KID Yamamoto at 125 would be a perfect fit, if either one of them coming off losses has the (expletive) to test themselves against me these days. Japan, Brazil, USA ... doesn't matter to me. I pray UFC can recognize this and call my management. UFC will at least end up with a war once again. Nothing to lose. I hope the fans get behind me here. I planned on dropping down after a win over Eduardo. I lost the fight but here I am."
Tuesday's loss dropped Curran's record to 33-15-1. His career started in Jan. 1998, and since then he has competed in virtually every major promotion: UFC, WEC, PRIDE, IFL, Strikeforce, and everything in between. His last six losses. dating back to 2008, have come via either split or unanimous decision.
"I gave my life to the sport," he said, "and feel I have had a curse hanging over me and losing decisions has become the norm on beating me. I know that 125 is stiff competition, but nobody has a reach advantage, and that's one of my worst body types to fight: tall and lanky."
The UFC has yet to inform Curran what they'll do with him next.
Back before they agreed to fight each other for the UFC heavyweight title, Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir were supposed to play a video game together. Specifically, they were supposed to play "UFC Undisputed 3" at the MGM Grand before the UFC 141 weigh-ins started, and it was supposed to be nothing more than a fun, yet forgettable public appearance, the kind UFC fighters are expected to make when their employer asks for a favor.
But as I wrote in this Sports Illustrated story this week, the video game showdown never happened, though the story behind it offers some interesting insights into the personalities of both UFC 146 main eventers.
When Mir was told he’d be playing against dos Santos, he did what any intensely competitive person would do: he made it his personal mission to get very, very good at the game. He’d played it before, he said, but only "light-heartedly" with some friends at the house. And for this, light-hearted wasn’t good enough, Mir said.
"So I called up my youngest brother, who is an avid player of video games. I said, ‘Hey, come over and help me improve my skills a little bit.’ Of course I didn’t want to go up there and look silly."
But once dos Santos thought about the UFC’s plan, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be a part of it. This was just a few weeks after Mir had snapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm in Toronto, and as a result he wasn’t exactly Mr. Popularity in Brazil.
"It wasn’t that he beat [Nogueira]," dos Santos explained. "It was that he talked a lot of trash after that fight, saying things that the Brazilian fans considered very disrespectful. I didn’t really want to put myself in a situation that was going to be doing a public appearance with Frank where I knew we were going to be laughing and having a good time. Something like video games is just more of like a hangout scenario, and I thought it might be taken the wrong way by the Brazilian fans."
So dos Santos asked the UFC to get someone else. What about Pat Barry? He liked Barry. Everybody liked Barry. He didn’t mean any disrespect to Mir, he explained, "but Frank Mir has a tendency to talk a lot around his fights," and some of the things he said after breaking Nogueira’s arm were still resonating with Brazilian fans.
But the way Mir sees it, that was all a cover for the "nationalism" of Brazilian fight fans.
"Nogueira’s the one who chose not to tap," he said. "I didn’t tell Nogueira not to tap. And I made no real ill comments toward him. I’d be really curious to [hear] a quote of what I said about Nogueira after the fight that was so disrespectful. I think it’s just the Brazilians being nationalistic and the fact of an American beating a Brazilian at jiu-jitsu, and one of the legends of jiu-jitsu at that. I think that’s the part that stings."
Mir thought he’d always represented jiu-jitsu well and given credit to the Brazilians where it was due, he said. He’d even entertained the idea of fighting down in Brazil, and didn’t think it would be a problem.
"Americans will still cheer for a Brazilian," he said. "They’ll cheer for Georges St-Pierre, who’s Canadian. I guess I realize now that if I went down to Brazil, it wouldn’t be the same there. ...After I realized that dos Santos couldn’t play with me because he didn’t want to upset the Brazilians I thought, wow, am I really that disliked?"
Not by dos Santos, or so the UFC heavyweight champ said. He might not have cared for some of Mir’s comments, but he had nothing against the guy, he said. He claimed he didn’t even mean to insult him when he described him as someone who gives up easily when things aren’t going his way in a fight.
"I think Frank Mir is very good when he sees a chance, when he sees an opening. He knows how to capitalize on his opponents’ mistakes, and he’s a very dangerous fighter. But when he tries to go for a certain technique and it doesn’t work out, I think he gives up easily. That’s what I think. Whether it’s true or not, it doesn’t matter. That’s my opinion."
Not surprisingly, Mir has a different take.
"My last two losses -- to Brock [Lesnar] and Shane Carwin -- in the Brock fight I was losing the whole first round and I still came after him in the second round. I actually stunned him with a flying knee. I was still trying to win the fight, but I was just incapable of doing so. The Shane Carwin fight, that was a bad game plan on my part. I was trying to take him into the later rounds, which was an intelligent idea. I just went about it the wrong way, trying to stall and hang on and hoping that he would get fatigued and wouldn’t have the cardio to go on later. ...I don’t know where I quit. I just took three or four successive blows from Carwin when I was face down on the canvas, trying to go for a kimura. If you want to say Carwin doesn’t hit hard, then I guess you can make that assessment."
For Mir, who turns 33 two days before the fight, this sudden title shot looks a lot like the last best chance at UFC gold. As the heavyweight division adds more fresh young talent, it’s difficult to say how long there will still be a place for guys who were doing this back when the UFC still insisted on naming each event (Mir’s debut, by the way, came at UFC 34: High Voltage, which reminds us how far the UFC has come in terms of graphic design).
Just don’t tell that to Mir, who insists he’s nowhere near done, despite what fans who have been watching him for the past decade might think.
"I think the only reason people assume that is because I started out in the UFC when I was 22," he said. "Sorry, guys. I was successful at a young age and I’ve kept around the top ten now for quite a long time. I don’t see myself going anywhere any time soon."
Rewind to the evening of February 12, 2011, and you'd find Strikeforce on top of the MMA world. In just hours they'd unveil their masterpiece -- an ambitious, star-studded eight-man tourney featuring the most distinguished collection of heavyweight talent money could buy: Emelianenko, Overeem, Barnett, Werdum, Silva, Arlovski and Kharitonov. (And Brett Rogers, but we don't need to bring that up).
In theory, it was genius. If history has proven anything, it's that fight fans love two things -- tournaments and heavyweights. Put them together, and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix was guaranteed to be commercial gold.
But things didn't quite work out that way, and only now, 16 months later, is the tourney finale within our sights. Never mind that it pits the field's least marketable superstar against an injury replacement. The simple fact that we got here is enough. So here's a brief (and utterly bizarre) rundown of how it all went wrong, but still ended up (kind of) alright.
January 2011: Quarterfinal pairings are revealed. Emelianenko vs. Silva. Kharitonov vs. Arlovski. Overeem vs. Werdum. Barnett vs. Rogers. MMA nerds everywhere rejoice.
February 12, 2011: Valentijn Overeem, Chad Griggs and Shane del Rosario blast their way to first-round tourney-reserve victories. Sergei Kharitonov nearly beheads Andrei Arlovski. Then the (expletive) hits the fan. Bigfoot Silva stuns the prohibitive favorite, turning Fedor Emelianenko's face into a bloody mish-mash of Russian regret, and just like that, Strikeforce officials lose their most bankable star. Much hand-wringing ensues.
Early March, 2011: The second leg of the Grand Prix is delayed from April 9 to June 18 in order to give officials "the proper amount of time to promote in one of the country's biggest markets," says CEO Scott Coker.
March 12, 2011: Out of nowhere, Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, stuns the MMA world and purchases Strikeforce. UFC President Dana White ominously declares Strikeforce will "continue to run, business as usual." No one believes him.
May 2011: A tourney-reserve bout between undefeated uber-prospect Del Rosario and Daniel Cormier is scrapped when a drunk driver rear-ends Del Rosario's car in Newport Beach, leaving the fighter out of commission. 40-year-old Jeff Monson hastily takes his place.
June 18, 2011: Griggs and Cormier win their respective tourney-reserve bouts to stay in contention. Josh Barnett embarrasses Brett Rogers (who promptly gets cut and doesn't taste victory again until a 2014 fight against Cabbage Correira). Alistair Overeem outpoints Fabricio Werdum in a downright bizarre fight that actually sees Werdum clasp his hands together and plead for Overeem to follow him to the ground. More hand-wringing ensues.
July 2011: Overeem, the then-Strikeforce heavyweight champion, is inexplicably removed from the tournament and released from the promotion due to a "toe injury" that would prevent him from competing. Cormier is tapped to fill the vacant spot despite having a significantly less impressive résumé than Griggs.
September 6, 2011: Overeem signs with the UFC and is immediately thrown into a blockbuster mega-fight against Brock Lesnar. Giggles can be heard from inside the Zuffa offices.
September 10, 2011: Cormier pulls off the second shocking upset of the tournament, demolishing Silva in less than four minutes but possibly breaking his right hand in the process. Barnett effortlessly submits Kharitonov in the first round. A Cormier-Barnett final is tentatively set.
September 13, 2011: Cormier confirms his right hand is indeed broken from punching his opponent's face. Strikeforce officials push the tourney final to "early 2012."
December 15, 2011: Dana White unleashes his knockout blow, announcing the dissolution of the Strikeforce heavyweight division, effective immediately. Barnett and Cormier are left to man a fast-sinking ship. Silva, Werdum, Griggs, Del Rosario and Lavar Johnson are secretly thrilled.
January 2012: Cormier reveals he may have re-broken his hand. A timetable for the finals remains hazy. Scott Coker is seen sobbing into a gallon of Cherry Garcia Ben & Jerry's.
March 3, 2012: Six months after the semifinals, and more than a year after the tournament began, Strikeforce slates the heavyweight grand prix finale for May 19. Fight fans everywhere are reminded that, oh yeah, Strikeforce has a heavyweight grand prix going on.
May 18, 2012: And now we're here. To quote the Grateful Dead, what a long, strange trip it's been.
But guys, you know what's even crazier? I'm actually really excited for Barnett vs. Cormier. So somehow, in a weird way, maybe this all worked out. (It really didn't. But who's keeping track?)
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier. Preview the long-awaited conclusion to Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix with detailed predictions, undercard dissections and bettings lines.
Mark Hunt injured. A late knee injury forced a devastated Mark Hunt out of his UFC 146 bout against Stefan Struve. Fresh off a victory two weeks ago, upstart bruiser Lavar Johnson jumped at the opportunity to fill the vacant spot.
UFC on FUEL 3 salaries. Donald Cerrone ($60,000) and Amir Sadollah ($48,000) led the charge on the reported payroll from Tuesday's UFC on FUEL 3 fight card.
B.J. Penn not interested in Koscheck. Former UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn shut down rumors of a return bout against Josh Koscheck, instead electing to remain retired.
Bellator 69 weigh-ins. It took a few attempts, but all fighters made weight at Thursday's official Bellator 69 weigh-ins, including middleweight headliners Maiquel Falcao and Andreas Spang.
MEDIA STEW
Daniel Cormier was a relative unknown when he entered the Strikeforce Grand Prix as an injury replacement for Alistair Overeem. But then he went and did this, and hell, now he might be the next heavyweight star.
For anyone who thinks Josh Thomson has no way to beat Gilbert Melendez tomorrow night, it's worth checking out the first leg of the pair's trilogy from back in 2008. (But really, the biggest takeaway from this fight has to be how awesome Bas Rutten is.)
Honestly, Josh Barnett's dominance has been the only reliable part of this tournament.
Gilbert Melendez may have overlooked Josh Thomson the first time they fought. But the second time -- it was all business.
LEAN AND MEAN
Eating heavy and feeling light. Ready to show what a real championship fight looks like. twitpic.com/9m45b6
— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) May 17, 2012#RALLYFORMARKHUNTSKNEE
thank u so much for your support u can understand how gutted i am.but i did not want to give a easy fight to struve,if u want to win
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 17, 2012from me u going to have to come a take that sh t
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 17, 2012thanks alot army i must go cry to my wife about thistalk soon
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 17, 2012AND THAT'S THE END OF THAT
@joshkoscheck I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big (cont) tl.gd/hf1d5v
— BJ PENN (@bjpenndotcom) May 17, 2012THE BOSS IS BACK
All good!!! Thanks everyone
— Dana White (@danawhite) May 17, 2012FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, May 17, 2012):
- UFC 146: Mark Hunt (8-7) out, Lavar Johnson (17-5) in against Stefan Struve (23-5)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today's Fanpost of the Day is a surprising theory from hobbie, though the title may give you an aneurism: Nick Diaz is a Genius
Hobbie's finally lost it. I know that's what most of you are thinking after reading that title. Either that, or I'm a dozen puffs in to one of Nick Diaz's pre-fight "supplement" cigarettes.
No, my mind is clear thank you very much. Well, I did sort of black out a tiny bit between my bowl of breakfast paint chips and my post-shower hit of crystal meth this morning, but that happens most mornings so...whatever. Oh, I also had half and half in my coffee because I was feeling crazy.
But back on topic: I hope your brain has a napkin or old gym sock handy to wipe up, because I'm about to blow your mothaf***in' mind!
Here goes - Nick Diaz is MMA's shrewdest businessman.
"Nick Diaz" and "businessman" in the same sentence!? Am I nuts? Aren't I aware that the only time the word "businessman" ever came out of Nick's mouth was when he said "Mind your own business, man!" to the commission doctor asking about the contents of his urine sample.
Before I can explain the genius of Nick Diaz, let me dispel you of a simple notion that is held sacred in the MMA world: acting like a complete tool is bad for your career. This theory goes that if a fighter doesn't keep obligations, fails drug tests, engages in criminal behaviour, courts as much controversy as possible and generally acts as selfishly as possible, this results in damage to his career.
History - and MMA history especially - shows what hogwash this really is.
Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we'll include it in Monday's post.
Mark Hunt will not return to the Octagon at UFC 146. The heavyweight will be replaced on the UFC 146 fight card by Lavar Johnson, who will face Steven Struve less than two weeks after his last performance at UFC on FOX 3. Find out why Hunt had to drop out and Johnson's thoughts on why he took the fight below.
Mark Hunt has been forced to pull out of his UFC 146 fight against Stefan Struve due to a knee injury, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight. As a result, Struve will now face Lavar Johnson on less than two week's notice.
Johnson last fought just 12 days ago at UFC on FOX 3. He knocked out Pat Barry in the first round of their main card fight.
Hunt, a winner in his last three fights, has enjoyed a career renaissance in the UFC, so much so that there was a strong online movement to get him to replace Alistair Overeem against Junior dos Santos in the UFC 146 main event. As fate would have it, neither Overeem or Hunt will end up fighting on the card after all.
Both Struve and Johnson enter the fighting riding two-fight winnings streaks.
UFC 146, headlined by dos Santos vs. Frank Mir, airs live on pay-per-view on May 26.
UPDATE: UFC has confirmed the news.
Like a lot of fighters, Lavar Johnson usually likes to take a little time to celebrate a win. Nothing major. Just good, decadent food, maybe some adult beverages, and a few days away from the gym to relax and unwind. But after his TKO win over Pat Barry at the UFC on FOX 3 earlier this month, he didn’t celebrate in the typical way. When the UFC called him on Wednesday to ask how he felt about stepping in for an injured Mark Hunt and facing Stefan Struve at UFC 146 next Saturday night, that decision suddenly seemed like a great one.
"Usually I’ll go barbeque, drink some beer and celebrate, but I didn’t even do that this time," Johnson told MMA Fighting. "I’m at a high level right now and I knew I needed to stay on my game. That’s what I’m doing. I’m jumping right back in there and I’m ready to go."
With Hunt sidelined by a knee injury, Johnson now gets a chance to rack up two UFC victories in one month. All he has to do is beat a 6’11" Dutch heavyweight on a week and a half’s notice. It’s the kind of offer that few could have blamed him for turning down, but Johnson described it as an easy decision.
"This is what I get paid to do," he said. "This is what we all do. We train to fight. If I didn’t think I could beat Stefan Struve or anybody else then I wouldn’t be fighting in the UFC, period. I would find a different profession. I’ve got confidence in myself and I think I match up with him good."
At the same time, even Johnson admitted to a little initial concern at the thought of fighting an opponent who’s nearly seven feet tall. There’s almost no time to find a sparring partner who can mimic his height and reach, and even if there were time there still aren’t too many seven-footers hanging out in most fight gyms.
But Johnson said he’s "not really worried" about Struve’s reach (84 inches -- Johnson has it memorized already) or his height, because, as he explained, "I don’t think he really uses his reach, his height. He doesn’t utilize all that. I think I’m faster than him and I hit harder than him, and I’m going to get to him first."
If he does, his bank account will thank him. Johnson has matching Knockout of the Night bonuses from his only two UFC fights so far, and though he’s saving most of the money, he did permit himself the purchase of a new car -- a Chevy Silverado Z71, he said, "four-door, lifted, the whole nine."
At the same time, stepping in on such short notice against an experienced fighter like Struve is far from easy money. While Johnson said he’s injury-free after the Barry fight, he’s watched enough of Struve’s fights to know he has a tough night of work ahead of him.
"You just have to put him to sleep," Johnson said. "That’s the only way to beat him. He’s not going to quit, so I have to hit him on the chin and hit him a bunch of times and put him out."
On this breaking news edition of The MMA (After) Hour we spoke to Mark Hunt, who explained why he was forced to pull out of UFC 146. Hunt talked about the injury, having to pull out of a fight due to an injury for the first time in his career and when he expects to return.
Listen to the interview below or download the audio here.
Strong statement from one of the strongest fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight division.
You can't say Thiago Alves is short on confidence heading into his upcoming fight with stand-up specialist Siyar Bahadurzada at UFC 149 on July 21, 2012. In fact, the Brazilian slugger "guarantees" that he has what it takes to finish "The Killer" when the two face off in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Alves, who at one time was considered one of the most lethal strikers in the 170-pound division, has fallen on tough times since losing to Georges St. Pierre in his lone title shot back at UFC 100. Including that loss, "Pitbull" has compiled a 2-4 record, with one of those victories coming by way of submission.
In fact, the Brazilian's last stoppage victory (via strikes) came at UFC 85 way back in 2008, when he defeated former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes with a beautiful flying knee and a few follow-up punches for good measure.
Whether it be via submission or knockout, Alves tells Tapout Radio that his fight against Bahadurzada will not go to the judges' scorecards.
Check it out:
"I'm very excited. I think it's not a better match-up, but that it's a better fight, because Siyar is coming from a big knockout against Paulo Thiago, and I definitely want to avenge that with a victory for my country, and of course for my camp as well. He has a lot of hype behind him, so I'm very excited to accept this challenge. I feel like I have the edge in experience and in the level of competition. The level of competition he was fighting wasn't the level of the competition that I'm used to fighting. That's definitely going to come into play with this fight. Also, the skill set comes into play. I think I'm a much better fighter everywhere in the game, and July 21, I'm going to go out there and execute it. He comes from a highly decorated striking background, and he's from Golden Glory, but, he's never rolled with the big boys before. The first fight he has in the UFC was too quick. We really don't know what he's made of yet. I'm going to put him to the test, though. I know I'm the better fighter. I know I'm more well rounded. I guarantee this fight won't go the distance. I'm either going to knock him out or I'm going to submit him."
Siyar, who made his long-awaited UFC debut in impressive form by knocking out Paulo Thiago in under a minute at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva, got the call to step in against Alves when "Pitbull's" original opponent, Yoshihiro Akiyama, bowed out with a knee injury.
"The Killer" has yet to be knocked out in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, with his four losses coming by way of submission or decision. On the flip side, he does know a thing or two about swinging heavy leather, knocking out six of his last seven opponents.
In what promises to be an entertaining affair, seeing as how Bahadurzada aims to always do his best Mike Tyson impersonation when he steps inside the cage, both are looking to prove a point.
Alves wants to remind the MMA world that he is still a forced to be reckoned with despite his recent setbacks and Siyar would undoubtedly like to show that his debut was no fluke performance.
Don't blink.
If you're looking for a feel-good story in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA), look no further than the surprising career resurrection of one of the hardest hitting men in the sport, Mark Hunt.
Heading into Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on a five-fight losing streak, the "Super Samoan" failed to make a splash in his debut, losing to Sean McCorkle in the second round of their UFC 119 fight. Surprisingly, Hunt was given an opportunity to redeem himself and narrowly avoided the dreaded pink slip.
Making the most of his opportunity, Hunt has now reeled off three straight victories over Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell and Cheick Kongo. The hard-hitting heavyweight was on such a roll that his loyal fans, "The Army of Doom," hit the Twitter boards and started a rally to the powers that be at Zuffa to allow Mark to step in for Alistair Overeem against UFC heavyweight kingpin Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 on May 26, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Though the support was strong, UFC president Dana White stated, "It ain't going to happen."
Hunt was to remain on the card to take on the towering Stefan Struve in the promotion's first all-heavyweight main card, and in the process, look for his fourth consecutive win and get himself closer to a potential title shot.
One week away from the event, an unfortunate injury to the former K-1 Grand Prix Champion forced him to bow out of his scheduled fight and add yet another crushing blow to the stacked event. With the injury, Lavar Johnson got the call to step in against Struve, leaving Hunt to face the road to recovery.
Speaking on The MMA (After) Hour, the New Zealander talked about the disappointment he feels after making the tough decision to pull out of the fight, which happens to be the first time he's had to do so in his eight year MMA career.
Check it out:
"I am so gutted about this. I never pulled out of any fight, this is the first time ever in my whole career that I actually pulled out of a fight because of an injury. I've never been injured before. I put so much work into this fight, you know? I trained hard, it's just so disappointing for me now. I was going to go and do the fight anyway, I was still trying to tell my mind not to do it. When a fighter goes into the Octagon, the ring, they go in one hundred percent. They go in bazookas, guns and everything. You don't go in there to a fight with a butter knife. If you go in there you're supposed to go a hundred percent. If one fighter goes in there fifty percent, he is giving the other fighter the other fifty percent. So the other fighter is coming in a hundred and fifty percent and you only got fifty percent. So, it doesn't make sense to go in there. I don't think Stefan Struve would have liked to beat me the way I am injured anyway. So, I might as well would have just said, 'Here, take the fight, I don't want it.' It was disappointing to me, I wanted to do the fight, I still want to do the fight but my brain says it's not good. You'll have one kick on the leg and then it will just be a waste of time anyways. So be smart about it and come back a different day and fight. I'm more depressed than anybody. You know, I put so much time, despite of what I was talking about before, I never really trained (like this), I put so much hard work into this and a lot of people put some time into me. I wanted to gout there and prove that I'm a better fighter, but, the Lord has a plan for everyone and I'm just disappointed it happened. It's just the way it is, it's the first time pulling out of a fight with an injury. I could go in there and fight but you won't see much of a fight. Your probably see me get a hurting for three rounds and that's about it. I don't think you want that."
As evidenced by some recent pictures floating around, which you can see here, Hunt did indeed look to be in the best fighting shape of his career.
The heavy-handed brawler revealed that a tear in his meniscus is the root of the problem and though he still wanted to take the fight, people around him convinced him that it would just be better to bow out, recover, and come back one hundred percent.
"The Super Samoan" is now scheduled to undergo surgery to repair his knee and is looking at a couple of months of recovery time.
Upon his return, Hunt says he wouldn't mind facing the winner of the Struve vs. Johnson showdown, both of which could prove to be very intriguing match-ups.
Do you agree?
Strikeforce is ready to (finally) tie a ribbon around its heavyweight grand prix tournament tomorrow night (May 19, 2012) LIVE on Showtime from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
"Barnett vs. Cormier" will feature a headlining heavyweight hoedown between longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Josh Barnett taking on undefeated fight phenom Daniel Cormier in the night's main event. Elsewhere on the card, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez puts his 155-pound title on the line in a rubber match against former division titleholder Josh Thomson.
Remember: MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Sat., May 19, 2012), which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8 p.m. ET with the "Prelim" bouts on Showtime Extreme.
So who keeps themselves relevant on Saturday night?
After the jump, I'll be taking a quick look at all the main card action, as well as provide quick picks for all the undercard match-ups. There's a total of eight fights in all, and best of all, they're available to Showtime subscribers only for free!
Let's get to it.
265 lbs.: Josh Barnett (31-5) vs. Daniel Cormier (9-0)
Nostradumbass predicts: This is one of those bouts, that if I skipped the event and just hit the quick results the next morning, where I would not be surprised to learn that either man came out victorious. While I believe Josh Barnett is the superior fighter, a win for Daniel Cormier would hardly be an upset.
I still won't pick him.
"DC" has a lot of momentum heading into this bout because he was able to stop Antonio Silva via technical knockout last September, but "Bigfoot's" stock was elevated in the wake of his upset win over Fedor Emelianenko a few months prior. Let's not forget this was the same Silva that was knocked out by Eric Pele and floored to the canvas by Mike Kyle, a natural light heavyweight.
I don't want to call his stand-up stiff, but he makes the Tin Man look like Reed Richards.
I'm also not impressed by Danny's unanimous decision win over Jeff Monson. True, "The Snowman" is a grizzled veteran and Abu Dhabi champion, but he also has the wingspan of a shuttlecock and could be the only heavyweight on the roster who's shorter and stubbier than Cormier.
Yes, he's undefeated at 9-0, which ain't too shabby, but go ahead (without looking at his record) and rattle off a couple of his opponent's names and where they've fought.
Uh-huh, that's what I thought.
Barnett is far from perfect, and he faces an Olympian task (literally) of overcoming his enemy's wrestling while forcing the issue himself. I believe he gets it done, because there is very little Cormier can give him that he hasn't already seen in a career that spans 15 years across the world's top promotions.
Both are serviceable strikers, but this fight is decided in the clinch and on the floor.
If this was a collegiate wrestling match, I would have the AKA product all day, but MMA wrestling belongs to Barnett and nobody transitions into submissions, at least in this division, like "The Warmaster" does. Key lock, heel hook, toe hold ... you name it, he can secure it.
I think if Cormier was 23 and not 33, he might be able to stay fresh enough to grind this one out with his aggressive offense, but all things considered, I predict his conditioning (torpedoed by Barnett's defensive wrestling) will fade midway through the fight and he'll likely give away rounds three through five.
Final prediction: Barnett def. Cormier via split decision
155 lbs.: Gilbert Melendez (20-2) vs. Josh Thomson (19-4)
Nostradumbass predicts: Oh cool, these guys are fighting again. I know that's probably an unfair jab since it is a rubber match, but if Gilbert Melendez doesn't care about this fight, why should we?
I think part of that comes from our desire to see "El Nino" crossover to the UFC and make some noise in what could be one of the deepest divisions in all of MMA. Add Eddie Alvarez to that melting pot and well, it's easy to see why "Melendez vs. Thomson III" is not garnering the Showtime network any new subscribers.
Still, it should be an entertaining and fairly competitive fight.
Thomson is a credible threat, but I can't pick him outright because he's the exact same fighter he was when they first met back in 2008, while Melendez has clearly evolved. That was evident in their 2009 rematch and it will become painfully obvious tomorrow night
In fact, don't bother with a scouting report, just compare their respective bouts against Tatsuya Kawajiri.
"El Nino" is the better wrestler, the better striker and will prove in the co-main event he's the rightful champion. The problem is, we knew that already, so expect hellfire and brimstone from the fans in attendance the second this thing stalls on the ground.
Only a highlight reel finish can save these two from a bore of attrition.
Final prediction: Melendez def. Thomson via unanimous decision
205 lbs.: Rafael Cavalcante (11-3) vs. Mike Kyle (19-8-1)
Nostradumbass predicts: Oh cool, these guys are fighting again. I know Strikeforce is going to eventually eliminate its heavyweight division, but when this is your co-main event, you can make an argument the 205-pounders gotta go as well.
Especially with Dan Henderson in the UFC and Muhammed Lawal in Bellapact. Heck, even Lorenz Larkin got the heck outta Dodge.
Anyway, for those who just got to the party, Mike Kyle pasted Rafael Cavalcante at the Strikeforce event in St. Louis back in 2009. "Feijao" was bloated and out-of-shape after a long layoff and got his ass handed to him in a fight he was supposed to win.
Now it's payback time, but will history repeat itself?
Probably not. "MAK" is a powerful fighter and aggressive in his attack, but he's more fire than finesse and I still think the Brazilian is more well-rounded. He made the mental mistake of going punch-for-punch against Dan Henderson and paid the price for it, but was also the first guy to finish off "King Mo" and has 10 of his 11 wins coming by way of (T)KO.
Heavy are the hands that crack the crown.
Kyle has also done his share of winning since their last encounter, with equal success, but I just have a hard time seeing a fully prepared Cavalcante giving this one away. He's the better fighter in every skill set, now he has to go out there and prove it.
I believe he does.
Final prediction: Cavalcante def. Kyle via technical knockout
170 lbs.: Nah-Shon Burrell (8-1) vs. Chris Spang (4-1)
Nostradumbass predicts: I know most hardcore fight fans are too fickle to give Nah-Shon Burrell a second look and casual fans, well, they won't even be watching.
That's unfortunate.
It's hard to build a "one to watch" case for "The Rock-and-Rolla" based on the ugliness that was his split decision win over James Terry earlier this year, but let's not forget he just turned 22 and has less than two years of professional experience.
And he can strike.
Like the Philly fighter, Spang is one of the taller welterweights, measuring in over six feet, but his inability to implement his reach in this fight will be his undoing.
He looked unimpressive in his unanimous decision loss to Ricky Legere Jr. at the "Rockhold vs. Jardine" event back in January and despite beating some decent competition on the regional scene, I expect him to get lit up by Burrell by the end of the first frame.
Final Prediction: Burrell def. Spang via technical knockout
155 lbs.: Gesias Cavalcante (16-4-1) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (12-3-1)
Nostradumbass predicts: Remember back in late 2007 when "JZ" was one of the world's top lightweights? How the mighty have fallen. He's still a dangerous fighter and he was robbed blind against "The Punk." Vallie-Flagg is on a hot streak but when you compare their quality of opposition, well, there's no comparison. Cavalcante by TKO.
205 lbs.: Virgil Zwicker (10-2) vs. Guto Inocente (5-0)
Nostradumbass predicts: I know Filho is supposed to be the big bad Brazilian, who is undefeated and unbreakable and blabbity, blabbity blah, but he's going to get smashed by "Rezdog." Don't tell me that getting pasted by Lavar Johnson is a knock on Zwicker, since that guy can punch his way out of a bank vault.
205 lbs.: Derrick Mehmen (12-4) vs. Gian Villante (9-3)
Nostradumbass predicts: Villante was nearly sent back to Ring of Combat (ROC) after two consecutive losses, but I think he's finally got his groove back following a pair of wins and should outwork the tough (but inconsistent) "Meh"men en route to a unanimous decision victory.
170 lbs.: Quinn Mulhern (17-2) vs. Yuri Villefort (6-0)
Nostradumbass predicts: Villefort is undefeated and has five finishes in six wins, but there is no way I'm picking a guy who hasn't competed in two years against a guy who is 17-2 with 11 submissions. Yuri gasses and Mulhern passes.
That's a wrap, folks.
What do you think? Now it's your turn ... let us have it in the comments section and share your thoughts and picks for tomorrow night's event.
"I just look at who he’s fought in the past, and I look at — you know — I look at who he’s fought in the past, and how I match up with them, and I know that… this should be an easy night for me. On top of that, I trained my ass off. I’m not gonna make this a personal thing with the guy, but at the same time, I’m not gonna pretend to respect him. There’s a stark contrast between me and him. You can see that I’m mentally tough, and I’m a bit of a masochist, so I’ll take the abuse, and go through it. When the going gets tough, this guy quits, and I’m gonna make him quit. I’m going to knock his fart-face off, and I’m going to send him packing. There’s no way around it."
Strikeforce import and former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 14 coach Jason Miller (via UFC.com), who promises he'll quit mixed martial arts (MMA) if he loses to C.B. Dollaway, plans on knocking the "fart-face" right off "The Doberman" when they hook 'em up next week on the undercard of the UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Mir" event on May 26, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "Mayhem" had his face pounded in by Michael Bisping after running out of gas in his Octagon debut last December. He's now promised to redeem himself for that lackluster performance at the expense of Dollaway, or else. Any "Monkeys" out there predicting a career-defining performance from the longtime veteran? Or should we already start planning his retirement party?
It's not often you hear someone who weighs 270 pounds claiming to be "very light and fast."
Then again, it's not often you see an athlete like Antonio Silva, who has to cut weight to make the 265-pound cutoff when weighing in for a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight.
Such will be the case when "Bigfoot" tips the scale next week in "Sin City," as he prepares to take on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez at the UFC 146 pay-per-view (PPV) event on May 26, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Silva was upended by one of Velasquez's teammates, Daniel Cormier, last year in Strikeforce, after "DC" beat him to the punch using his speed and agility, something "Pezao" expects from his opponent next weekend in the co-main event of the "Dos Santos vs. Mir" fight card.
That's why, Silva explains to MMA Fighting, he's employed the services of fight nutritionist Mike Dolce:
"For first time I'm at 270 three weeks out of the fight. Things are going extremely well, I'm very light and fast. We're diametrically opposed. I have jiu-jitsu and he has wrestling. I see his speed and his lightness and I'm trying to counter it. I faced three great opponents in Strikeforce, [Fabricio] Werdum, Fedor, and Arlovski, now I get the chance to face guys like Velasquez. It's a great opportunity the UFC has given me."
Silva was riding the wave of momentum in last year's Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament after putting the screws to former PRIDE deity Fedor Emelianenko; however, that party was crashed by Cormier in the semifinals. All's well that ends well, from a career perspective, as Silva now gets the chance to reinvent himself inside the Octagon.
Against one of the very best heavyweights on the planet.
Who ya' got?
See more on their pending match-up right here.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently put the finishing touches on its upcoming UFC 146 fight card scheduled for the MGM Grand Garden Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, May 26, 2012.
"Dos Santos vs. Mir" will feature an all-heavyweight main card, headlined by a 265-pound title fight that pits reigning champion Junior dos Santos against former division titleholder Frank Mir.
Speaking of former champions, Cain Velasquez will try to rebound from his brutal knockout loss to "Cigano" last November by taking on Strikeforce import and Brazilian "Bigfoot" Antonio Silva. Elsewhere on the card, Shane del Rosario and Lavar Johnson represent the latest additions to the UFC roster taking on Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve, respectively.
And let's not forget about Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman.
UFC 146 promises to be an action-packed card with serious title implications in the heavyweight division. But that's not the only group of combatants looking to right some wrongs in "Sin City."
Check out the rest of the "Dos Santos vs. Mir" fight card and line-up after the jump.
Main Event:
UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir
Main Card (pay-per-view):
265 lbs.: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
265 lbs.: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman
265 lbs.: Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic
265 lbs.: Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve
Preliminary Card (FX Channel):
145 lbs.: Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
155 lbs.: Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner
185 lbs.: Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway
170 lbs.: Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
Preliminary Card (Facebook):
155 lbs.: Paul Sass vs. Jacob Volkmann
205 lbs.: Glover Teixeira vs. Kyle Kingsbury
145 lbs.: Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda
MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Sat., May 26, 2012), which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Facebook and FX.
See you then!
For more on UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Mir" be sure to hit up our event archive right here.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be cutting a few checks this week following its UFC on FUEL TV 3: "Koran Zombie vs. Poirier" broadcast last Tuesday night (May 15, 2012) from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, and figures released from the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation in Virginia tell us who's getting what.
"Cowboy" up.
Donald Cerrone leads the payday way with $60,000 following a lopsided unanimous decision win over Jeremy Stephens. "Lil' Heathen" takes home $24,000 in defeat. Coming in second was former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 champion Amir Sadollah, who banked $48,000 for squeaking past Jorge Lopez ($6,000) via split decision.
That's not all.
The complete list of UFC on FUEL TV 3 payouts and salaries after the jump.
Chan Sung Jung: $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win)
Dustin Poirier: $14,000
Jung def. Poirier via submission
Amir Sadollah: $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win)
Jorge Lopez: $6,000
Sadollah def. Lopez via split decision
Donald Cerrone: $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Jeremy Stephens: $24,000
Cerrone def. Stephens via unanimous decision
Yves Jabouin: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Jeff Hougland: $8,000
Jabouin def. Hougland via unanimous decision
Igor Pokrajac: $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win)
Fabio Maldonado: $11,000
Pokrajac def. Maldonado via unanimous decision
Tom Lawlor: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Jason MacDonald: $19,000
Lawlor def. MacDonald via knockout
Brad Tavares: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Dongi Yang: $12,000
Tavares def. Yang via unanimous decision
Cody McKenzie: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Marcus LeVesseur: $6,000
McKenzie def. LeVesseur via submission
T.J. Grant: $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win)
Carlo Prater: $10,000
Grant def. Prater via unanimous decision
Rafael dos Anjos: $32,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 to win)
Kamal Shalorus: $11,000
Dos Anjos def. Shalorus via submission
Johnny Eduardo: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
Jeff Curran: $8,000
Eduardo def. Curran via unanimous decision
Francisco Rivera: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
Alex Soto: $6,000
Rivera def. Soto via unanimous decision
The total disclosed payroll for UFC on FUEL TV 3 was $481,000.
Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments such as PPV bonuses, among others. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.
For example, the UFC often hands out extra cash for "Fight of the Night," "Knockout of the Night" and "Submission of the Night." To check out these figures for the "Korean Zombie vs. Poirier" event click here.
For complete UFC on FUEL TV 3 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here.
Pic: Jorge Lopez broken hand suffered in the first round of his split decision loss to Amir Sadollah last Tuesday (May 15, 2012) at the UFC on FUEL TV 3 event from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Ouch.
Props: MMA Weekly
Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier goes live this Saturday from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The promotion's alpha-heavyweight will finally be determined in the headlining bout of Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier and the lightweight belt of Gilbert Melendez will be on the line in the last leg of his trilogy with Josh Thomson. Welterweights see action on the main card in the Nah-Shon Burrell (8-1) vs. Chris Spang (4-1) match.
Spang comes from a family of fighters, as his father was a pro-boxer and his brother, Andreas Spang, just knocked out Brian Rogers (on short notice) and faces Maiquel Falcao in the finals of Bellator's Season 6 Middleweight Tournament. The 24-year-old Spang is an undefeated pro-boxer himself (2-0 with 2 KOs) and an understudy of the great Skipper Kelp and John Lewis at J-Sect in Las Vegas. In MMA, he's notched 2 KOs and a single submission and decision. Spang stepped up when Bobby Voelker withdrew from the card with an injury.
Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier - Preliminary Card Dissection
At just 22-years-old, Burrell is building a name as a rising phenom for his exceptional athleticism and natural fighting instincts. He trains out of Philadelphia's Fight Firm and, with less than 2 years of experience, has amassed 6 KO wins and 2 decisions. Burrell has a long and lean physique that's complemented by considerable strength and agility. He was a bit of an unpolished diamond but has now been displaying huge strides with his boxing -- which has become rather sharp and quick -- his defensive grappling and overall fight awareness.
Continued in the full entry.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier
Burrell is typically the rangier fighter in the cage but will encounter an unusual disadvantage in height (6'1" vs. 6'2") and reach (73" vs. 76.5") against Spang. Though Spang only has 5 MMA fights, he will have the more refined kickboxing and grappling arsenal. He started training in the pure striking arts at a young age and has a technical medley of boxing and Muay Thai, and his ground game is deceivingly effective after spending time rolling with BJJ whiz Robert Drysdale.
Both fighters have struggled against wrestling-based opposition, as Burrell just eked out a split decision over the multi-dimensional James Terry that could've gone either way and Spang dropped a unanimous decision to Ricky Legere Jr. in his last. Burrell's god-given gifts will probably give him the wrestling edge; a factor that could be pivotal if he has trouble getting inside on Spang's faraway kicks and fundamental footwork. Striking diversity goes to Spang, who will unleash push kicks and roundhouse kicks to augment his technical boxing; speed and strength goes to Burrell, who is a freakishly athletic specimen.
Spang's short notice in replacing Voelker is likely behind the strong push for Burrell on the betting lines, who ranges between -250 and -300 to win. This along with the imposing physical strength of Burrell and surging momentum of Burrell gives him my vote, but I think Spang is a live dog here. Having the edge in height and reach, in addition to the more technical striking and submission game, is a formidable challenge for Burrell to overcome. If Burrell can't slice his punches through or deal with Spang's distance, he'll be forced to fall back on shooting takedowns from outside, which is not necessarily his bread and butter.
My Prediction: Nah-Shon Burrell by decision.
Poll Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Chris Spang Burrell Spang46 votes | Results
About midway through the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-final between Daniel Cormier and Antonio Silva, Silva attempted something perplexing when he attempted to shoot a straight double leg on Daniel Cormier. Cormier, like any freestyle wrestling world bronze medalist possesses excellent takedown defense, but Cormier's case is special and Silva's misguided take down attempt was particularly futile.
Daniel Cormier happens to be the king of the go-behind. He can proficiently shoot singles and doubles, but these are not the skills that brought him close to amateur wrestling's summit. Daniel may be the best ever at stuffing opponents down and spinning behind them, in fact. he became a world medalist and Olympian based mostly on this distinct ability. Though "going behind" may sound dismissively primitive and it certainly is not the foxiest ways to succeed at wrestling, its effectiveness is undeniable. In an MMA bout, Cormier's incredible go-behind skills pose a big problem for any opponent, particularly those who want to take him down. This could lead to big problems for Josh Barnett, his opponent in Saturday's Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final this Saturday on Showtime.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier
Continue reading after the jump for a closer examination of Cormier's wrestling style and an argument as to why his brand of wrestling may be even better suited for mixed martial arts than Olympic competition.
Daniel Cormier is one of the few truly elite wrestlers I have seen whose choice of a go-to move happened to be the very first move every wrestler learns. On every youngster's first day in a wrestling room, a coach will invariably explain that where a person's head goes, his body will follow. If one is to pull an opponent's head down to the mat, then his body will also drop, and if an opponent drops to shoot, the response is to sprawl and stuff the head, either allows for the first take down most wrestlers can successfully execute, the go behind. There is no takedown more rudimentary, and few, if any, were ever as good at it as Cormier.
He was so good at it that he used it to take down the greatest college wrestler of all time. This is Daniel wrestling Cael Sanderson in the 2001 NCAA 184 lb. finals. (It is interesting to note that in the match immediately before this, Josh Koscheck won his NCAA title and in the match immediately after Mark Munoz earned his national championship) Wrestling does not get any simpler than this. Cormier catches Sanderson leaning forward, snaps his head down to the mat, cross-faces and rotates behind for a take down. This move can be seen repeatedly at any junior varsity wrestling tournament throughout the nation, and here Cormier uses it on folkstyle wrestling's biggest stage and against its biggest star.
On many a wrestling room wall is a poster listing the 7 basic skills of wrestling: penetration, lift, back arch, back step, motion, positioning, and changing levels. This is wrestling on an ontological level. Every single wrestling movement reduces to one of these skills. A great coach once taught me that of all these 7 skills, the most important was positioning. If a wrestler can maintain perfect position, he can never be scored upon. By extension,a wrestler who continuously maintains position only needs his opponent to lose position once to win a match. This is wrestling's version of the "three yards and a cloud of dust" philosophy; he who makes fewer mistakes wins. Daniel took this philosophy to heart. He would beat extremely good wrestlers with an approach both brutal and basic: staying in position throughout a match, when an opponent lowered his head to shoot or he pulled it down by relentless pressure, he would stuff it and and go behind.
I suspect that Daniel's wrestling style harkens back to his origins in Louisiana. Louisiana does not have much of a wrestling culture and those Louisianans that end up coaching wrestling most likely lack a high level of technical sophistication. Coaches can experience success without technical sophistication by teaching rigid adherence to sport's foundational principles, and I suspect that Daniel's early wrestling coaches did just this. Cormier took a bare-bones approach to wrestling, added SEC football scholarship-level athleticism with an intense love of the sport and rose to wrestling's stratosphere: two Olympic berths and a world bronze medal.
This is not to say that Cormier's approach was without technical merit when just the opposite is true. Though going behind a prone opponent seems like such a mundane matter, it requires technical involvement and the application of a variety of methods. Here is a small sampling of the many methods used by Cormier.
This is Daniel, back in his days as Oklahoma State's 184 pounder, wrestling Iowa standout Jessman Smith. Jessman takes a shot and Cormier immediately catches him in his short offense. Cormier initiates the go behind by first pulling Smith forward onto his knees.
Next, Cormier places his head "in the hole", dropping the head behind the opponent's arm far enough that the back of the head is in the ribs. Placing the head on the other side of the opponents arm prevents that arm from being raised to block the go behind.
Pressuring in with the back of the head actually improves the angle and shortens the distance between each wrestler's hip. Daniel finishes with his arm around Jessman's far hip.
The next two go behinds feature Cormier wrestling FILA 2006 wrestler of the year, Georgi Gogshelidze (GG). GG is also holds three World championships medals (one silver, two bronze) and possesses an Olympic bronze medalist as a Georgia (the country) representative. GG won a World championship for Russia in 2001 as well.
Here, Daniel finds himself with a front chestlock on GG. The Georgian is face down on the mats and looking to defend any offense by the American. Cormier lifts and poises to throw GG - but as a means of misdirection. When GG concerns himself with defending the throw, Cormier quickly steps back and spins behind.
In a second go behind against GG, Daniel again has the chest lock. GG refuses to flatten out and walks backwards to defend. This time, Cormier uses his knee the same way he uses his head against Smith in the college GIF above. The knee comes up and blocks the upper arm, while Cormier's weight shifts just right to set up the go-behind.
The knee prevents GG's arm from raising to block just long enough for Cormier to secure a butt drag and pull himself around for the takedown. This series is evidence that Cormier's simple tactics can work on a very high caliber wrestler on the international stage.
However, Daniel has other tricks in his books beyond the head/arm block.
On the right is the finals of a U.S. Open where Cormier is wrestling Nik Fekete. I find it particularly impressive that Nik achieves a Russian control tie with both hand on Daniel's arms and Cormier manages to shuck him all the way to the mat with the arm being "controlled". This demonstrates remarkable power.
Daniel Cormier bolstered his offense with good throwing and tripping ability, as has already demonstrated this in his mixed martial arts career against some of his lower level Strikeforce competition.
These techniques put Cormier's incredible explosiveness on display. Here are two for your enjoyment (admittedly, the second is a finish to a shot, which erodes the point of this piece a bit, but I couldn't resist inserting it).
Unfortunately, the confines of Cormier's skill set are what probably prevented him from standing on top of an Olympic podium (that and some weight issues). While he dominated his weight class domestically for what seemed like forever and spent several years as one the top five wrestlers at his weight in the entire world, he ultimately came up short against his most skilled opponents, particularly those with the words "Russia" or "Iran" written on their backs. These wrestlers were good enough to score on his impressive defense and Daniel's inability to reliably convert leg attacks on the world's very best left him without the means to put the necessary points on the scoreboard.
This was certainly the case against Russia's Khajimurad Gatsalov, possibly the greatest of all time in the 211 pound weight class, in the Athens Olympic semi finals. Here Gatsalov hits a superb knee-pull single off a collar tie on Cormier.
Losing in the Olympic semis is not shameful, nor is losing to a wrestler of the caliber of Gatsalov, but those fans of Cormier the wrestler are left with the keenest disappointment of all, the disappointment of near success. Daniel was very close to ultimate wrestling success; he had enough talent to beat anyone in the world, and to his credit he had actualized most of it. Unfortunately, when it was all said and done, he simply lacked the pure point scoring firepower to consistently create his own offense against the world's best, and this kept him from world or Olympic gold.
When Daniel Cormier walks into the cage against Josh Barnett you will see much of the same skills you saw with him on a wrestling mat, but I believe that his array of skills are even better suited for mixed martial arts than freestyle wrestling. Daniel's skillful trips and throws allow him to bring a fight to the ground without the risk of lowering a level and shooting. Without the need to shoot he will not get out of position and disrupt his world class takedown defense. Finally, Cormier, maybe as much as anyone in the entire world, possesses the ability to turn an opponent's offensive wrestling into take downs of his own. The difference, now that he is in a cage, is that now that Cormier has the offensive firepower that he always needed to consistently score big and win. This firepower packed away in his tightly clenched fists.
Finally, my prediction for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final: Cormier by decision
Mike Riordan is a high school wrestling coach, unsuccessful division one collegiate wrestler, and student of the sport of wrestling. He contributes to Bloody Elbow on matters of collegiate and Olympic wrestling.
Later tonight, Bellator 69 will air on MTV2 and be streaming on Spike.com. We at Bloody Elbow will cover the event live - as well as The Ultimate Fighter - and we welcome you to the best place to hang out and talk MMA for the evening.
The main event fighters, Maiquel Falcao and Andreas Spang, are competing in the Bellator Middleweight tournament semi-finals. Karl Amoussou and David Rickels, the fight just prior, is the other semi-final.
We last saw Falcao in action at Bellator 66, where he took two rounds and a unanimous decision from Vyacheslav Vasilevsky. The bout was fitful in its pace and yielded in most memories to the amazing comeback of Andreas Spang over Brian "The Predator" Rogers in the very next fight.
Spang was in a back and forth first round with Rogers, but lost the round on most unofficial cards. In the second round, Rogers started lighting Spang up with huge punches and backed an obviously hurt Spang against the cage. Spang took the opportunity to launch a Hail Mary left hook and it connected - knocking Rogers down and opening him up for the finish.
After the fight, Falcao and Spang got into a shoving match, which saw Spang fined and warned by the athletic commission for instigating it. Tonight's bout should have an air of emotional intensity - although not nearly as much as the famous Falcao/Leandro Gordo match from Amazon Combat (ask in comments for the full story to that insanity).
Amoussou took out Chris Lozano at Bellator 63 in the first round with rear naked choke obtained after a very nice sweep to top position that made for a nice Judo Chop. Lozano was perhaps stunned by a head kick Amoussou landed just before the fight went to the ground, but "Psycho" Amoussou looked very impressive. His opponent, David "The Caveman" Rickels, made it to the semi-finals by punching out Jordan Smith in 22 seconds. Smith has had a tough time keeping opponents away from his tender chin in the past, but the demolition Rickels put on him was impressive. Amoussou should enjoy a considerable size advantage, but Rickels has powerful punches and could surprise Psycho at an inopportune moment.
Tonight, we also get to see Jessica Aguilar battle Megumi Fujii. Aguilar (13-4) last fought for this promotion at Bellator 58 in November of 2011, but picked up a win against Patricia Vidonic at Fight Time 8 in February of 2012. She is perhaps most notable for being the first victim of the Zoila Gurgel (nee Frausto) judging streak at Bellator 31. Her opponent, Fujii (25-1), is perhaps the single most complete mixed martial artist in the women's game. Her sole loss was to Zoila in October of 2010, a horrendously judged match, and since then, Fujii has won three fights with ease. This fight is being billed as the world's #1 strawweight versus the world's #2 strawweight - and it is exactly that.
If the world was a more just place, Fujii would be undefeated and Aguilar would have already battled her at Bellator 34. This is the bout that should have been and will feature some of the best talent in the world in that division. Fujii is known for her considerable grappling prowess, but has taken to striking for extended periods of time with her opponents. Aguilar will have her work cut out for her in fending off the punches and takedowns enough to implement her own offense.
Related Stories:
Bellator's Jessica Aguilar Comes Out As Bi-Sexual | Mini-Chop: Megumi Fujii's Japanese Mount Armbar | Megumi Fujii Goes 22-0, Best MMA Record Ever? | Judo Chop: Karl Amoussou and the Pendulum/Scissors Sweep | Andrey Koreshkov ranked as #1 Welterweight Prospect in 2012 Scouting Report
The rest of the card is after the jump and a note on a very promising prospect fighting tonight.
Main Card:
Maiquel Falcao (188, then 186 at re-weighing) vs. Andreas Spang (185.8)
David Rickels 170.6) vs. Karl Amoussou (170)
Megumi Fujii (116) vs. Jessica Aguilar (115.6)
Ron Sparks (264.6) vs. Kevin Asplund (239)
Preliminary Card
Shanon Slack (146) vs. Booker Arthur (145.4)
Josh Quayhagen (158.2) vs. Cliff Wright (155.6)
Josh Burns (206) vs. Richard Hale (205.5)
E.J. Brooks (156.6) vs. Kalvin Hackney (156)
Andrey Koreshkov (170.8) vs. Derrick Krantz (170.8)
Mark Holata (250.5) vs. Abe Wagner (248.8)
Why You Should Watch The Preliminary Card:
Andrey Koreshkov is probably the most exciting young gun in the entire sport of MMA right now.
The Bloody Elbow Scouting Report ranked Koreshkov (9-0) as the #1 prospect in the welterweight division back in January. The day after the article appeared, Bellator announced it had signed Koreshkov to a contract. We saw "Spartan" in action at Bellator 63 at the end of March, where he took one minute and twenty six seconds to finish Tiawan Howard (9-9) with a barrage of strikes.
Despite the unexceptional record of Koreshkov's opponents, he truly is special for his incredibly fluid striking. Undeserved hyperbole attached to a prospect can be damaging, but honestly, there are few fighters that throw smoother and more accurate strikes than Koreshkov right now and Anderson Silva is the most prominent of them.
Derrick Krantz is the best opponent Koreshkov has faced thus far and has submission grappling tendencies to boot. This is exactly the type of bout we need to see Koreshkov in to determine just how much hype he rightly deserves.
Amir Sadollah's career has certainly stalled out. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter, Amir has struggled with steps up in competition and, in cases such as this past Saturday night's UFC on Fuel TV 3 card, struggle at times against even middling opposition.
It's been a disappointment for many UFC fans in many ways. After all, Amir won his season of TUF despite never having fought professionally, only having a 4-0 amateur fighting record when he started his time in the house. Beating Gerald Harris, Matt Brown and C.B. Dollaway (twice) to win the competition was a huge moment that seemed to cast Sadollah in the role of a mixed martial arts prodigy.
After beating unheralded Jorge Lopez by controversial, and quite boring, split decision on Saturday, many fans feel they have seen enough of the 31-year-old to write him off. Chad Dundas of ESPN still thinks fans should note the extreme circumstances of Amir's career:
It would be a little like playing a few touch football games, winning a televised punt, pass and kick contest and then, in your late 20s, getting a starting job in the NFL.
Could anyone succeed under those circumstances? Could anyone be reasonably expected to compete? And while they tried to compete, would a bunch of people sit around posting messages on Twitter about what a crappy job they were doing tackling Adrian Peterson? Because that's essentially what happens to Sadollah.
SBN coverage of UFC on FUEL TV 3
Amir does deserve considerable credit for managing an unspectacular, but certainly credible, UFC run that began with no professional experience. But he has been getting top of the line training over the past four years and was put into a prominent spot on Saturday's card (even if Dana suddenly acted as though he had no clue of Amir's position on the card).
To answer Dundas' question: yes, people would sit around criticizing any player on a pro team who was put into an important position and looked incapable of handling it. Especially after four years in the big leagues. Fair or not, there are expectations that come with positions in professional sports.
For me, what is most disappointing is that the Amir who ran through a pretty good TUF cast is struggling all this time later against a guy like Jorge Lopez. There simply were expectations that came along with what Amir had been doing that fans expected him to run through a guy like Lopez four years after the reality show run.
And at 31, it's not as though we can continue pretending that Amir is a young man with infinite time to refine his game. This may simply be as good as he gets, and that is disappointing.
Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey is the current 'It Girl' of Women's MMA, combining her ability to collect arms with that of a savvy social media and publicity presence. With Gina Carano missing in action, the attractive American Olympic Judo Bronze medalist has effortlessly taken the reigns and become the new face of her sport. Her domination of all opponents, including former champion Miesha Tate, will lead some to believe she's the current Pound For Pound Queen and the best in the world.
For many years previously though, a lighter-weight fighter had been competing and winning, amassing 22 wins in a row, with no losses over the course of 6 years. But because of the majority of her fights happening in small promotions, mostly in Japan, and the lack of attention Women's MMA typically gets, not many outside of an Internet literate hardcore knew anything about her.
Megumi Fujii is, as it stands, perhaps the best Women's MMA fighter of all time. The Judo / Sambo / Catch Wrestling Specialist is a submission magician and had a chance to make waves in America in 2010's Bellator 115lbs (Strawweight) Women's Tournament. Two submissions and a TKO got Fujii into the tournament final, but the championship bout with Zoila Frausto-Gurgel was to be her undoing.
Related Stories:
Bellator's Jessica Aguilar Comes Out As Bi-Sexual | Mini-Chop: Megumi Fujii's Japanese Mount Armbar | Roxanne Modafferi vs. Rosi Sexton, and the Continual Fight for WMMA Recognition | Megumi Fujii Ready to Cement Her Legacy at Bellator 34 | Megumi Fujii Goes 22-0, Best MMA Record Ever? | Gina Carano and the Power of Women's MMA
Perhaps wanting to prove she was multi-faceted and a true mixed martial artist, Fujii chose to keep the fight standing and attempt to out-strike her larger Muay Thai specialist opponent. What surprised many, was Fujii was seemingly able to, making it competitive and bloodying and bruising the face of Frausto. Unfortunately the perennial weed that is bad judging reared its ugly head, and many believe Fujii ended up on the bad side of a split-decision. More than the judging though, Fujii's choice of strategy came under the most scrutiny; her tactics even frustrating her coach Josh Barnett. Many questioned why she didn't take the fight to the ground when she had the clear advantage, and could well have finished.
continue reading after the jump.
SBN Bellator 69 Coverage
If Fujii had generated a small amount of buzz from her participation in the tournament, it was almost as quickly forgotten as she returned to compete in Japan. With that loss, Cristiane Santos was heralded as the women's pound for pound best, until at least her PED positive test scandal had her suspended for a year. Meanwhile, Fujii had rattled off another 3 wins making her career record to date 25-1.
Frausto-Gurgel was jubilant in her win over Fujii, but had made it clear she would likely not fight at 115lbs again, preferring to compete in her more natural weight class of 125lbs or higher. Due to time away from the sport as well since getting married, the 115lbs title had to be vacated, and is up for grabs tonight at Bellator 69 when Fujii takes on Jessica Aguilar in a feature fight, who had also suffered a split decision loss for Frausto-Gurgel.
At 38 years old, time could be running out for Fujii to make her mark on the American market. Unfortunately without the might of Zuffa behind her for promotional purposes, she may become ignored due to the historical revisionism that can occur when one super power in promotion dominates the landscape.
Between you and me, she'll always be the best.
Fantastic Megumi Fujii Highlight Video
If this were Brazil, I'd be seriously worried about Chael Sonnen's safety. The outspoken middleweight number one contender is slated to challenge Anderson Silva in Las Vegas, this July for the title, at UFC 148. The Mandalay Bay casino is likely to do Ironman numbers due to the amazing hype leading into this fight.
Now let's get back to why I worry about Chael. In a recent interview with MMA30TV (transcribed by Yahoo Sports), Sonnen has once again lobbed a whammy at Anderson Silva stating,
I don't want his autograph,I want to spit on him. I want everything that he has. I'm jealous and I'm envious. And I will never apologize for that. There can only be one champion, and you have to fight it out. He's not gonna give it up; I'm not going to give it up. We're going to have to fight this thing out and figure it out like men.
With Chael's recent trip to Brazil resulting in pen zapper pranks and heavy security, I can only imagine how this would go over if the bout were to still take place in the originally planned outdoor soccer field arena. The king of smack talk hit a stroke of good luck when the venue changed, and I, for one, am grateful. I am an admitted Sonnen fan, so my hat is off to the UFC for keeping his safety a priority (even though it actually came down to a scheduling issue with the venue).
Chael's big misunderstanding after the jump
One other thing that needs to be addressed is Chael's understanding (or lack thereof) of the rules. As stated in a recent interview with Jim Rome (transcribed by Cage Potato), he laid out his reckoning of the rules:
I tapped. So what I thought is you go to the cards. I win four rounds, he wins that round. Apparently, if you tap, it ends the entire contest, which I was not ever made privy to.
Now I'm fairly certain after clenching victory so closely, only to have it snatched away, Mr. Sonnen has a clear view of the ruleset this time around, and will pay closer attention to the slick ground sorcery that Anderson Silva is notorious for. Tapping is not an option, even if you did win four and a half rounds the first time.
There are still 6 more weeks to go until fight day, so you can be assured the hype is going to be at a feverish pitch, and it couldn't come at a better time for the UFC, considering the recent ratings dips. July 7 can't come fast enough. Here's to hoping it lives up to all our expectations.
A favorite to get a shot against Urijah Faber for the interim UFC Bantamweight title, Michael McDonald will not get his opportunity in July as a hand injury has put him on the shelf.
Wrestling Observer founder Dave Meltzer reported in his Thursday update that UFC president Dana White said McDonald's hand was injured but didn't go into details about the severity or how long he would be out for. Meltzer added that one source told him that McDonald was the favorite to get the nod against Faber.
As of this writing, McDonald had not acknowledged the injury on Twitter. Faber's opponent will be announced on Friday night's edition of The Ultimate Fighter Live. He was to fight UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz in the main event of UFC 148 in Las Vegas on July 7, but Cruz suffered a torn ACL in training and will be out indefinitely.
The leading candidate is Renan Barao, a 25-year-old who is undefeated in 29 straight fights over the past seven years. A WEC transplant, Barao is 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Cole Escovedo, Brad Pickett and Scott Jorgensen. He is scheduled to fight on the July event against Ivan Menjivar.
The long awaited finale for the Heavyweight Grand Prix is upon us, as Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier takes place this Saturday night from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Catch-wrestling connoisseur Josh Barnett meets Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier in the headliner of the 4-piece main card and the 5 preliminary matches listed below will air on Showtime Extreme.
Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg
James Terry vs. Bobby Green
Virgil Zwicker vs. Guto Inocente
Gian Villante vs. Derrick Mehmen
Quinn Mulhern vs. Yuri Villefort
Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg
Once expected to become an undisputed force in the stateside lightweight class, "JZ" Cavalcante (16-4) has hit a rough stretch of road after setting the overseas market afire. The Brazilian drew attention right out of the gate with a commendable 8 wins throughout a 9-fight stretch. The sequence included a submission (1st-round guillotine choke) of Bart Palaszewski and becoming only 1 of 2 fighters to stop the venerable Michihiro Omigawa with strikes (1st-round TKO). The sole defeat was in his 3rd pro-fight; a competitive decision to Joachim Hansen, who had just lost the Shooto welterweight (154-pounds) title to Vitor Ribeiro by submission.
The surge earned Cavalcante a spot on the K-1 Hero's roster and his dominance continued, only with more intensity and against higher-caliber opposition. JZ devoured a who's-who of the Japanese lightweight scene, finishing 6 of his next 7 foes in the 1st round -- and did so with supreme violence. Hiroyuki Takaya, Nam Phan and the aforementioned Ribeiro were all vanquished by TKO while Rani Yahya -- the WEC/UFC fighter and former ADCC World Champion -- and Chute Boxe rep Andre Amado were dealt submission losses. Savvy veteran Caol Uno was the only to survive to a decision.
Cavalcante is a dually (2006 and 2007) crowned champion of the K-1 Hero's Middleweight (154-pounds) Grand Prix and amplified his hype even more with a game decision loss to Masato in a straight kickboxing match. He transferred to the Dream organization in 2008 and things went downhill from there.
Continued in the full entry.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier
In his last 7 turns, Cavalcante has won a measly 2 (split-decisions over Katsunori Kikuno and Bobby Green) with 3 defeats (Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Josh Thomson; all by decision) and 2 No Contests (vs. Aoki for illegal elbows and Justin Wilcox for an inadvertent eye poke). Many things are worth noting from this stretch: JZ was plagued with a number of injuries that hindered him from 2008-2010, the lightweights he lost to undoubtedly represent the most elite competition outside of the UFC and many thought he deserved the nod against Thomson -- which was one of the most controversial decisions of 2010.
Isaac Vallie-Flagg (12-3) is a Greg Jackson welterweight now dropping to lightweight for the first time. Starting his MMA career in pedestrian fashion in 2003, Vallie-Flagg split results in his first 6 turns (all losses were via submission) but has gone undefeated in his last 10 with 9 wins and a draw. He's earned 5 wins via TKO and 3 by submission, holds a purple belt in BJJ and could be a handful at 155.
Despite his momentum and size advantage, this will be an astronomical leap in competition for Vallie-Flagg. He crept by brawler Brian Melancon by split decision in his last outing and was nearly choked out in the opening moments. Cavalcante has a stiff set of hands, wicked knees (especially of the flying variety), a strong clinch with good wrestling and an elaborate, black-belt-level ground game. He might not be the terror he once was, but he's still competitive with top-tier lightweights and should have his way with Vallie-Flagg, standing or on the mat.
My Prediction: JZ Cavalcante by submission.
James Terry (11-4) vs. Bobby "King" Green (17-5)
James Terry is a student of Cung Le who started wrestling at age five and went on to wrestle for Arizona State University. However, he can chain a variety of kickboxing techniques together so fluently that you'd never guess his background is in wrestling. Terry started as welterweight and won 7 of his first 8 matches to get a shot at Tarec Saffiediene in Strikeforce. In the 6 outings since, Terry has dropped to lightweight and won 4, though he's dropped 2 of his last 3 to stiff competition in Caros Fodor and main-card participant Nah-Shon Burrell.
You might recognize the name Bobby Green from a few different places: he's the reigning King of the Cage lightweight champion, he appeared on MTV's Bully Beatdown and petrified his inexperienced "opponent" into quitting in between rounds and he unleashed a confusing but vicious animosity toward Dan Lauzon's groin on the Affliction: Day of Reckoning card. (Green had two-points deducted and lost by 1st-round submission.) Green is a quick and athletic fighter with 8 wins by sub and 7 TKOs. Since the Lauzon fight, Green has won 9 of 12 with losses to legit, A-level competition in "JZ" Cavalcante and the UFC's Tim Means and David Mitchell.
This match up is extremely close on paper and a virtual toss-up. Terry has displayed huge potential with his effective combination of footwork, kickboxing and wrestling, and Green has a similar arsenal and physical stature. Both fighters typically draw from their agility, strength, striking and/or wrestling to pinpoint their opponent's weakness and have been difficult to put away. I can see this one going in either direction but will take the polished kickboxing and pedigreed wrestling of Terry in what could be a great scrap.
My Prediction: James Terry by decision.
Virgil Zwicker (10-2) vs. Guto Inocente (5-0)
Virgil "Rezdog" Zwicker is a Team Quest fighter of Native American descent and a former heavyweight making the drop to 205-pounds for the first time. He was undefeated throughout his first 8 fights, which ended with an impressive TKO over Ovince St. Preux, but has dropped 2 of his last 4, the most recent being a 1st-round knockout loss to Lavar Johnson. Zwicker was always a smaller heavyweight (222-pounds) who relied on quickness and heavy-handed boxing (7 TKO wins, 2 subs), so it will be interesting to see how his size and speed translates to 205.
Carlos Augusto Filho, aka "Guto Inocente," is an undefeated member of the newly formed Blackzilians team with a nice medley of striking and BJJ. Though only 5-fights deep and lacking big-name wins, Inocente is a solid prospect who's long overdue for his stateside debut: he signed with Strikeforce many moons ago (July of 2011) and also turned down a 4-fight deal from the UFC.
Zwicker is a tough cat and will be Inocente's biggest test, but I don't think the drop in weight will help much against the Brazilian, who is a good-sized light-heavy himself (6'3") and a young (25-years-old) up and comer.
My Prediction: Guto Inocente by submission.
Gian Villante (9-3) vs. Derrick Mehmen (12-4)
Villante was a standout wrestler and football player at Hofstra University with hopes for a career in the NFL. He's the current Ring of Combat heavyweight champion and even after 4 appearances in Strikeforce, though both losses were to reputable opposition in Chad Griggs (in the Heavyweight Grand Prix reserve bout) and Lorenz Larkin (back at his intended weight of 205-pounds). Villante is a physical specimen and a banger with 6 TKOs and 2 subs.
"Caveman" Mehmen has also fallen to respectable names in former UFCers Rodney Wallace (decision), David Branch (rear-naked choke) and Mike Ciesnolevic (guillotine choke). Mehmen trains at ATT and is a heavy-handed clubber as well, lacking big-name wins but finishing 9 of 12 by TKO with 2 catches.
Anything could happen with these sluggers. 2 of Villante's 3 losses are by TKO and Mehmen is a beefy 6'4" who will come out swinging. His hands are pretty quick for being such a hulking 205er, but Villante is a little more polished with his boxing and should be able to out-finesse the "Caveman" if he keeps his chin protected.
My Prediction: Gian Villante by decision.
Quinn Mulhern (17-2) vs. Yuri Villefort (6-0)
2010 Bloody Elbow Scouting Report nominees collide here, as former King of the Cage welterweight champ Quinn Mulhern, the #8 prospect, meets the #1 prospect in Yuri Villefort.
Bloody Elbow Scouting Report #1 Welterweight Prospect: Yuri Villefort
Bloody Elbow Scouting Report #8 Welterweight Prospect: Quinn Mulhern
Mulhern is a gangly (6'3") BJJ specialist with submissions accounting for 11 of his 17 wins with 3 TKOs. His only defeats are to UFC-level fighters in Mike Guymon (submission via strikes) and Jason High (decision). Yuri trains with the Blackzilians and is one-time UFCer Danillo Villefort's brother. He's an intriguing concoction of Judo, BJJ and Muay Thai, and just a mean S.O.B. overall. He's finished 5 of his 6 wins with 3 TKOs and 2 submissions.
Mulhern will have an edge in experience -- both in volume and value of competition -- and is fluid on the mat. I see him struggling to match the physical strength and aggressive Thai onslaught of Villefort, who should have the grappling savvy to avoid entanglements on the mat.
My Prediction: Yuri Villefort by TKO.
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