Pictured: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza weighs in for StrikeForce: Houston yesterday. Photo by Esther Lin courtesy of StrikeForce. Total-MMA staff agrees on the result of every bout but Souza vs. Tim Kennedy!

It hasn’t been all smiles under the warm California sun for our friends at StrikeForce. The San Jose-based promotion has taken a few hits in its recent attempts to go “international” — among them, the defection of middleweight champion Jake Shields, an embarassing showing on national TV, and most recently, injury issues with their newly crowned champion Fabricio Werdum. But as the lineup for tonight’s StrikeForce: Houston show illustrates, they still have the roster to put on a strong show.

A light heavyweight title bout which would be a good offering on any ZUFFA show headlines, while the absence of Shields makes way for two of the game’s grittiest to take center stage, to contest the vacated middleweight crown. A solid undercard airs in a webcast on Sherdog.com, including the sublime jiu-jitsu of world champion Andre Galvao against old favorite Jorge Patino.

So maybe sometimes things fall apart… but they still end up okay, at least for this viewer who just wants to catch some good MMA action on a Saturday night!

Tonight’s show is handicapped by Jacob Lawton (JL) and me (TH). Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: “Lion” Takeshi and Hatsu Hioki battle it out. Picture from MMAFighting.com.

It’s hard to believe that half of 2010, and then some, has already passed us by! There have been so many great fights this year; sometimes it all comes off overkill, and sometimes it seems every show rewrites the book. Just last weekend’s UFC brought a memorable comeback from Brock Lesnar against Shane Carwin and yet another clinic from George Sotiropoulos.

But on 30 May at JCB Hall in Tokyo, one bout’s combination of passion and skills stood out — to at least one observer.

This is my “Fight of the Half-Year” for 2010: “Lion” Takeshi Inoue vs. Hatsu Hioki for the Shooto Lightweight Title. Some of you may not be familiar with Shooto. An MMA organization with a more than 20 year history, Shooto has brought so many classic fights in the past, and one that I’ve been happy to rediscover this year. This very show also featured a spirited comeback from Rumina Sato, whose Shooto bout against Caol Uno was often described as the best of the 1990’s.

Hopefully you feel the same. Is it a perfect fight? No. Everyone knows how much I love a bout on the mat and that never developed here. But, nothing else this half year had quite this combination of guts and skill. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it too. At least you may agree that while MMA in Japan may not enjoy the glamor of years past, this bout shows it still has the passion.

Please click here for the video.

Tonight, Strikeforce and M-1 Global offer a huge show for any MMA fan — as the greatest of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, takes on one of the world’s top ten heavyweights in Brazilian jiu-jitsu luminary Fabricio Werdum. The bout will be broadcast live 10 pm EST from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, CA on Showtime, delayed on the West Coast, and likely streamed illegally everywhere else.

Earlier this week, I enjoyed a Fedor Emelianenko interview — and yes, I realize there’s nothing unusual about that. He’s had some classics, like earlier this year where he took some of his fellow sportsmen for “forgetting their flags,” describing his religous faith, and more. His quiet integrity is what makes me a Fedor fan, the qualities that Dave Meltzer references when he dubbed the man the “anti-Brock Lesnar” recently.

But what struck me about this interview, which was sent from Strikeforce’s office and posted on Youtube, was that Fedor Emelianenko, the greatest of all time, appeared almost as burned out as I am about MMA lately. Among other things, he admits he doesn’t enjoy watching MMA fights; and essentially struggles to say anything at all about his opponent.

Still, the fights are on — and they should be well worth watching.

The show will mark the first time the world’s #1 male and female fighters will appear on the same show. There’s still honor in this game.

As Fedor puts it in that very interview, “I do not consider myself to be the strongest fighter or be a very special person… there are a lot of people who pray for me and that’s why I want to be the representative of my country… I just want people to remember me as the honest person, the person who loves his country, his motherland and who glorifies the Orthodox Russia.”

My predictions follow.

Read the rest of this entry »

UFC 115, which will be broadcast live on PPV at 10 pm US EST tonight from GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, was never hailed among ZUFFA’s top shows of the year. The main event of Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz wouldn’t have made sense in 2007 when both were closer to their primes — as Chuck stopped Tito twice in two lopsided bouts in the mid-2000’s. Today, with both in the twilight of their careers, it’s even less palatable. But Ortiz has been replaced by Rich Franklin, offering a bit more compelling a bout — if not much of a more relevant one. A mediocre undercard isn’t much of a help. This would be an interesting UFC Fight Night, but a PPV it ain’t… particularly on a World Cup weekend.

However, two masochistic stateside Total-MMA staff members find themselves drawn to this show. Please join us. So, sit down, enjoy a recommendation from the world’s greatest wine reviewer, Sadat X of Brand Nubian fame, and let’s get down to it!

Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: Renzo Gracie demonstrates how to begin a guard pass at his seminar in Fife, WA last Saturday.

There are a few figures in the MMA world which require no introduction. Fewer still are all but universally admired.

He’s quick to deflect any such praise, instead casting favor to his family and their art which has changed the martial arts world — but Renzo Gracie, who enjoyed his first visit to the Seattle area last Saturday to conduct a jiu-jitsu seminar, may just stand alone to many of us.

After the seminar, the legend smiles his way through requests from area fans — everything from autographs, to questions about technique, to a request for a chokeout. In a brief Total-MMA interview, Renzo laughs as he’s reminded of some of his vintage MMA battles — including a win over the man who helped put the Seattle area on the MMA map, Maurice Smith. In the 1990’s, Bellevue’s Smith had won titles in UFC and Battlecade, and actually released instructional videos marketed as the solution to the Gracie family’s dominance. They eventually met in 1999 in Japan’s RINGS organization.

“He made those videos, ‘How to Beat Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,’ to tell everybody how it’s done!” Renzo laughs. “And, I armlocked him! (laughs) But I love the guy. He’s a great competitor and we were very fortunate to have him in the game.”

Read the rest of this entry »

In the opening pages of his autobiography entitled Why I Fight (released last month by William Morrow/Harper Collins), BJ Penn spends a moment to describe his parents’ background. According to Penn, his father “had a very difficult childhood…I’ve always known it best not to dig for answers.” It’s sadly representative of the book that, with some very noteworthy exceptions, ends up mostly skimming the surface of the champion’s life and legendary career.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: Enson Inoue prepares for training last week, from his official blog at http://blog.goo.ne.jp/enson-inoue/

Tonight (well, actually it’s Sunday in Japan, or early morning US time)
ASTRA launches its first MMA show ever, at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Headlining the event is the retirement bout of Hidehiko Yoshida, against his former pupil Kazuhiro Nakamura and also the return of Enson Inoue, in a bout against New Zealand kickboxer Antz Nansen. Also on the card are the likes of Ryo Chonan, Jorge Masvidal, and a co-main event with Micah Miller against Michihiro Omigawa. The whole show sounds like a heck of a good time, but unfortunately, you’ll have to be in Japan to see it.

While it was initially reported that J-ROCK would offer a webcast of the event (by Sherdog and others), it appears those plans fell through.It would seem a great show for an HDNet to carry here in the US, but sadly all MMA seems overshadowed by ZUFFA, who are offering a WEC PPV. Sadder still, Dave Walsh of HeadKickLegend reports that the event is getting short shrift from Japanese media as well. Seems a lot of us take for granted the massive impact Yoshida had on the MMA scene there — even me. The biggest story for this show to me is the return of Enson Inoue, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking the same thing.

So we’re out of luck regarding watching this event. But Enson’s fans got a big treat this week from Jaser Davari of Swedish MMA site Kimura.se. Davari has assembled the most in-depth English interview to date with the legend, and has published the video in four parts — with a fifth still to come.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: Jake Shields dismantles Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville last night

Strikeforce: Nashville won’t be ranked among the most exciting bell-to-bell action shows of the year 2010, but as the final bell sounded it certainly had offered some interesting results.

The fast rise of “King Mo” Lawal continued with an upset over a tentative Gegard Mousasi. In just his seventh bout, Mo scored takedowns at will and pounded away with shots for a convincing decision victory against a top ten ranked opponent.

The #2 ranked lightweight in the world, Shinya Aoki, was defeated in a slow and methodical bout by a sprawling and brawling Gil Melendez — this, only weeks after the consensus #1 suffered the same fate. Our old friend Dave Walsh at HeadKickLegend commented about the result today, and how difficult it can be to rank Japanese and North American-based fighters together when the rules of engagement differ so much. Personally I like the diversity of style that MMA fans enjoy, but I also see his point.

The main event saw Jake Shields come back from a brutal knockdown to perform a grappling clinic against Dan Henderson, en route to another earning another unanimous decision victory. Shields’ ability to always impose his game, along with Henderson’s advancing age, had caused me to pick him for the unpopular upset here - the first reaction on my Facebook account came “You picked Jake over hendo lol, nooooo way in hell” — and his tenacity mixed with sublime groundwork didn’t let me down. As the final bell rang, it felt like Shields had won over a critic or two, including Frank Shamrock on commentary, and turned a bit of a corner.

Unfortunately, all seems to be forgotten due to what happened after that final bell….

Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: Jake Shields and Dan Henderson square off at the Strikeforce: Nashville weigh-ins yesterday.

Tonight in Music City USA, our good friends from Strikeforce will offer what would appear one of the most intriguing MMA shows of the year. The main features their middleweight champion Jake Shields against former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson in one of the promotion’s most celebrated matches ever. Light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi defends his strap against “King Mo” Lawal, and backing it up will be Shinya Aoki in his debut on US soil against an elite lightweight in Strikeforce’s titlist Gil Melendez.

Simply put, I think this is about as good as we’ll get in 2010. It’s downright criminal that our predictions haven’t already been posted, so let’s get right to it:

Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured: Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie (wearing the “hometown favorite” Manchester City T-shirt) square off at weigh-in for UFC 112.

And… here we go again. UFC 112 will eminate from Abu Dhabi, UAE tonight (that’s Saturday), 10 am PST/1 PM EST, and then be replayed 7 pm PST/10 pm EST. The Brits get it at 6 pm, right? But, it’s Sunday in the Middle East. I think. OK, I don’t know. Confused? Blame the Sheikh who fell in love with jiu-jitsu and made Abu Dhabi an MMA hotbed to attract this show. But be sure to thank him too; the guy has helped bring MMA and grappling to new heights as well. This show, complete with an outdoor arena made especially for the event, will certainly be something to behold.

Whether you choose to enjoy this one with a cold glass of orange juice or just stay off the net and have a beer… here’s to your health.

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