Posted by Jacob Lawton on 16th October 2010
To call tonight’s UFC 120 a stacked card would be a gross overstatement. It is, at best, an average UFC Fight Night card, with a mediocre headliner but for me these faults pale to the fact that it is on my hallowed shores in the UK. Unlike our spoilt American brothers, we cannot afford to toss back any top notch MMA action we get, as it blows around far to rarely.
I will be in London enjoying that atmosphere, and the fights, which, despite lots of doom and gloom from areas of the online MMA community, aren’t actually that bad – former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy looks to rebound against former WEC champ Carlos Condit in a fight that promises to be an absolute war, and top British prospect John Hathaway looks to continue his rise in the 170lbs division hot off his win over Diego Sanchez against tough veteran Mike Pyle…
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 25th September 2010
Pictured: Cro Cop waves to fans at the UFC 119 weigh in yesterday. Picture by Tracy Lee of CombatLifeStyle.com.
Fight night! ZUFFA brings the pain into Indianapolis, IN tonight for UFC 116, another card without a title fight, but a lot of interesting style matches. It’s not a must-see, but it’s got some pop.
The main event features a resurgent Mirko Cro Cop, fresh off what he terms his favorite moment of his storied MMA career in a come-from-behind win over Pat Barry, against perennial UFC contender Frank Mir. Mir has played up a PRIDE vs. UFC angle for the bout, recalling his opponent’s glory days in Japan and how it has bothered him that his own organization was seen as playing second fiddle in those days. But most fans see it as the MMA elite’s most dynamic heavyweight submissions artist vs. the division’s most successful striker… not to mention a quiet and uncontroversial (if cold) martial artist, vs Frank’s “bouncer from Las Vegas” image.
Rodrigo “Minotoro” Noguiera will try to halt the surging career of Ryan Bader on the co-main, and on the undercard, Matt Serra and Chris Lytle will try to eliminate all memories of their horrible bout a few years ago. It’s good stuff. Maybe not great, but worth a look.
Our staff predictions follow. Your comments are welcome! Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 15th September 2010
It would be easy to describe UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares (aka UFC Fight Night 22) as hobbling its way into the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX tonight — with several of its scheduled bouts scratched due to one injury after another. But, it would also be a bit dishonest.
This show, which leads off the new season of Ultimate Fighter, may have lost some of its luster with the loss of such names as Alan Belcher — but it’s also benefitted from some creative shuffling of ZUFFA talent. Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares would be a solid undercard bout for a PPV show; so it’s fair to classify them solid entries for a “free TV” (Cable isn’t free where I live, but whatever) main event. The undercard features some familiar faces like TUF winners Ross Pearson and Efrain Escudero, along with some exciting developing talent like Charles Oliveira.
So many changes occured with this lineup, that I can barely remember the original card. Maybe that’s to its benefit. I didn’t exactly mark this one on the calendar, but the more I look at it, the more I like this show and am looking forward to it.
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 28th August 2010
Pictured: Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn square off at UFC 118 weigh-ins yesterday. Picture from Tracy Lee of CombatLifeStyle.com
The TD Center in Boston takes center stage for one of UFC’s bigger shows of 2010 tonight, as BJ Penn rides into New England to try and take his lightweight crown back from the man who took it from him: Frankie Edgar. UFC 118 also features the MMA debut of James “Lights Out” Toney (I think this is a bad idea, but hey, it’s a free country), squaring off against UFC legend Randy Couture, and a strong undercard to boot — including Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis.
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 31st July 2010
Pictured: Jon Jones, who will face Vladmir Matyushenko in San Diego at tomorrow’s UFC on Versus show.
Fight fans have enjoyed a breakneck pace in 2010, until recent weeks where we’ve gone a month or so without a major MMA show. Call it a quick summer vacation, or time off for good behavior from all that MMA overload of late. But the fight game is finally heating up again — as ZUFFA begins a busy few weeks with UFC on Versus: Jones vs Matyushenko tomorrow night in sunny San Diego, CA.
Offering predictions this week are Total-MMA regular David Bateman (BB) and a returning Jacob Lawton (JL), along with newcomer Brandon Lamb (BL). I’m sitting this one out and working on my tan — along with the bizzare formatting issues that popped up last week (sorry about that!). As always our predictions are for entertainment purposes only, so don’t blame us if you get burned…
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Posted in Total MMA, UFC | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jacob Lawton on 16th July 2010
Pictured: Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben
Chris Leben’s already interesting story took another colossal twist at UFC 116 with his shocking victory against Yoshihiro Akiyama, in a fight he’d taken just two weeks removed from another fight, a victory over Aaron Simpson. And now he’s shot from being a relatively sedate Middleweight journeyman to a potential title contender. Something I find amusing considering he’s lost to (among others) Kalib Starnes, Jake Rosholt and Jason MacDonald, all fighters later cut by the UFC. In this article I’m going to take a look at the MMA career of Chris Leben, and offer my humble two pence about him as a fighter and as a person.
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Posted in Chris Leben, Jacob Lawton, UFC | 1 Comment »
Posted by David Bateman on 10th July 2010
When Dana White describes an event as “the best night of his career”, you know it must be a good one.
UFC 116 will not be forgotten by any MMA fan in a hurry. That tends to happen when two FOTN bonuses are awarded in the same night (to Akiyama v Chris Leben and Krzysztof Soszynski v Stephan Bonnar respectively). Then, there is the not-so-small issue of Brock Lesnar.
It’s the closest thing MMA has to a fairytale. The UFC Heavyweight World Champion becomes unbelievably unwell, near death — then makes a triumphant return against possibly the most dangerous striker in MMA history. Love or loathe him, no one can deny Brock Lesnar the title of number one heavyweight in MMA, and not just because Fedor lost…
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Posted in Akiyama, Brock Lesnar, Chris Leben, David Bateman, George Sotiropoulos, Rankings, Shane Carwin, UFC | 3 Comments »
Posted by Tommy Hackett on 2nd July 2010
Say what you will about Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.
Say that they have only a handful of fights, that they perhaps don’t merit discussion with all time greats like Fedor Emelianenko, that the split screen interview segment hyping the bout recently for the TUF finale was the worst in history. Go ahead. Maybe I’ll join you (comfortably on my couch, and far away from them).
But they’ve made UFC 116, eminating live tomorrow night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a huge event. Despite the loss of Wanderlei Silva (who pulled out due to injured ribs), the show is sold out and Dana White predicts a million PPV buys. Two of the biggest and baddest in our sport’s short history are set like planets waiting to collide, and it looks like the whole world is watching. So who’s coming out on top? Read on…
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Posted in Brock Lesnar, Bryan Belangia, Jacob Lawton, Shane Carwin, UFC | 4 Comments »
Posted by Tommy Hackett on 12th June 2010
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!
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Posted in Bryan Belangia, Tommy Hackett, UFC | 6 Comments »
Posted by Bryan Belangia on 11th June 2010
Rampage and Rashad stare-down at UFC 96
This wrap up comes a little late but the show still deserves its due publicity so here we go.
The main event featured one of the most anticipated grudge matches in UFC history. Rampage has had a problem with Rashad Evans ever since he fought Rampage’s teammate Hector Ramirez back in 2004. Ramirez suffered an injury in a fight the day before and basically fought Evans on one leg. Rampage felt Rashad did a little too much showboating in the fight and let him know about it when Rashad approached him after the fight about training with him. The bad blood started there and continued after Rampage beat Rashad’s teammate Keith Jardine at UFC 96 and continued into The Ultimate Fighter show.
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Posted in Bryan Belangia, Quinton Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, UFC | No Comments »
