GSP will win, again.

If you’ve watched any of the UFC Prime time shows you may have noticed B.J Penn has been talking the type of shit that goes above and beyond normal trash talking. It’s been along the lines of personal attacks and low class insults. It really says a lot about the type of person B.J Penn is. I find it rather curious that a man who was beaten the first time seems to run his mouth like he is undefeated.

GSP will beat Penn again. I really see no way B.J Penn can win except for a Matt Serra type of fluke. Penn has no gas tank, no heart, and no K.O power. GSP is far superior to him on every level of MMA except for maybe Jiu-Jitsu, and frankly I’m not really willing to concede that to Penn either. I don’t understand all the hype around Penn. Can someone please tell me who the fuck has B.J Penn ever beaten? Why is he held in such high regard? Perhaps it’s because he does occasionally show flashes of greatness and great technique. But more often he has show flashes of being a guy who is very good, but not great.

Frankly I don’t expect major fireworks in tonight’s fight. I expect some decent exchanges, I don’t think either fighter will get rocked. I expect GSP to score enough takedowns and GnP to win rounds, and I expect Penn to completely gas by the end of the third or fourth round. Watch their first fight, then watch GSP’s last fight against Fitch and then tell me why exactly Penn will win this one. He won’t…

Fedor=Extremely Overrated

All this talk about Fedor being the best fighter in the world should officially end tonight. Fedor looked slow, out of shape, and he was begging to be knocked out. He got lucky with prayer of a right hand that caught Mr. Hardluck Arlovski in mid air. The UFC should’nt even waste their money on Fedor, he’s simply not worth it.

Now with that said, kudos to Affliction. They put on another very good show. Hopefully they made their ppv numbers and hopefully there will be an Affliction three.

Ultimate 2008. Wandy got what he deserved.

Usually these mega fight cards don’t live up to the hype, especially when you start the night off with Cheick Kongo vs some no name in a battle of intentional nut cracking. Fortunately the first main event quality fight of the night was right after that. We all know the back story of Rampage vs Silva, the brutality, the bloodletting, the hubris. But that was then and this is now. This ain’t Pride, this ain’t Japan, there is no Chute Boxe, and there aren’t anymore refs that are partial to Wanderlei. Speaking of backstory, most hardcore fans were rightfully concerned about what could have happened to Rampage in this fight. Quinton Jackson has had a tremendous amount of turmoil in his life during the past year. From losing the belt in a close match, to going crazy and damn near getting shot by the cops, to leaving his camp and trainer and going to train at Wolf’s Layer  in England of all places. Sum that all up and the signs clearly pointed to him taking another severe thrashing from Wanderlei. But in the end it all worked out for Quinton Jackson in stunning highlight fashion. We can only hope that things in his personal life go this smoothly from here on out.

So where does this leave the once feared “Axe Murderer”? Well, at this point  Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell are in a very similar place in their lives. During their prime they were monsters, they were Mike Tyson-esqe, and a huge draw. But now, the truth is they are simply living off their past reputations and exploits. Today they’re far from their now distant glory days. Conversely while I do believe Rampage has maxed out his talent and potential, he is undeniably a far better fighter than he was in his Pride days. Wanderlei on the other hand continues his downward trend. Yes, he is still a draw, and yes you may still see an occasional glimpse of the old Wanderlei  when he goes “Keith Jardine” upside someone’s head. But the reality is that today, right now, the Wanderlei Silva we are seeing is the one  that was devastatingly knocked out by Crocop, put to sleep by Dan henderson, beat up by Chuck Liddell, and brutally knocked out by Rampage Jackson. It all takes it’s toll, and this ain’t Japan.

How great did Frank Mir look tonight?! Holy shit, I’ve never seen him strike like that before. I didn’t know he even had that in him. It pained me to see a legend like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira look very old, very slow, very vulnerable and very hittable. Going forward it’s exciting to think about the possibilities of what Frank Mir is going to do to that guy from the WWF. If Mir brings that kind of striking against former WWF stunt man Brock Lesnar, then he may do us all a huge favor and rid us of this pox upon the sport of MMA known as Lesnar.

The main event was quite entertaining. Forrest Griffin is a guy that I’ve always had mixed feelings about. I enjoy watching him fight, and I generally like him, but he only beat Rampage by the slimmest of margins and  I don’t think you should be able to win a belt like that. Forrest is a very well rounded mixed martial artist, but the problem is that he is not particularly great at anything. He lacks knock out power, and has shown to be a bit chinny. Despite this, I still think Forrest will be a top three light heavyweight for the duration of his career, and perhaps if the stars align properly he could hold the belt again someday.

So what about the new light heavyweight champion? I don’t know what to make of Rashad. I thought Chuck Liddell would be to much for him, I thought Forrest would pick him apart and out point him. Rashad is very perplexing. I do remember noticing very early on in TUF2 that he had some serious punching power and very unorthodox striking. He has a very strange approach, the dancing, and staying at a distance. But the fact is that no matter how you slice it, Rashad Evans is a bad muthafucker. He is a national champion wrestler, with quick hands and crazy punching power. The guy is undefeated. That pretty much speaks for itself. How stylistically bizarre would an Lyoto Machida vs Rashad Evans fight be, just wrap your mind around that one for a minute.

The fall of Kimbo Slice

Generally I’ve always been a supporter of MMA organizations other than the UFC getting a piece of the prime time spotlight. It’s important for the growth of the sport and it’s an absolute necessity for fighters to have options and opportunities other than in the UFC. Competition is good for the fans and good for the fighters. Now with that said, frankly I’m sick of Elite XC. I’m sick of them constantly hyping their mediocre product. I’m sick of Mauro Runulo’s voice, I’m sick of Gary Shaw, I’m sick of his son (the infamous skala or whatever the fuck his name is) running something he is unqualified to run, I’m sick of Gina “The 160 pound Woman“  Carano being forced down our throats just because she’s semi cute, and most of all I’m sick of Kimbo Slice.

Kimbo Slice is no better than any local developmental MMA fighter making the rounds at some smaller regional show. Yet somehow Kimbo Slice is main eventing MMA events on prime time network TV? Are you fucking kidding me? He’s not even qualified to be one of Chuck Liddell’s or Randy Couture’s sparring partners. Yet Elite XC would have you believe he is on their level of fight acumen and accomplishments. The fact of the matter is Kimbo Slice didn’t even deserve to be above undercard status. He skills don’t warrant anything better than that. He is a developmental fighter. Let him go prove himself at local and regional shows in Florida and in the Southeast. Then let him go prove himself in King of the Cage or Gladiator Challenge. The Kimbo Slice fraud has now been officially exposed by a D level former UFC fighter. No amount of marketing, public relations or hyping can cover up that.

 

UFC 87: I was half right edition

Ok, lets get right to it. In my prefight predictions I picked Roger Huerta to beat and beat up Kenny Florian. Holy dam was I wrong. I’ve always liked Kenny’s game. I’ve always felt that Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu are the best combination for MMA. Florian excels in both and right now I’m going to give Kenny the ultimate complement. Tonight he looked like a smaller, whiter version of Anderson Silva, minus the sadistic killer instinct that Silva possesses. Florians Muay Thai game has gone to another level. His footwork, his creative combinations, and his kicks were too much for Huerta. Roger Huerta was consistently beaten to the punch or kick and never able to cut off Florians footwork and movement. At this point  I would say that Florian is at a level just below BJ Penn and Shawn Sherk. I’m not sure if he can beat either one, but I’d like to see him get a shot at Penn.

Let me give myself some credit where credit is due. Just as I predicted GSP beat John Fitch. As I stated previously Fitch is in an incredibly tough guy, but his stand up is somewhat lacking, and GSP clearly exposed that tonight. What can you say about George St Pierre that hasn’t already been said? Tremendous stand up, phenomenal take down defense, seemly able to get take downs at will, borderline Olympic level wrestling, and an almost black belt level Jiu- Jitsu game. I know BJ Penn wants a shot a GSP, but if I’m Dana White and Joe Silva I say hell no because BJ needs to stay at 155, legitimize and defend that belt, and maybe at the end of 09 he can get a shot at GSP. Right now it does the UFC no good to have their 155 champ get tooled by their 170 champ. Or even worse, what if BJ penn beats GSP and holds the 155 and 170 belts. Does BJ plan on fighting in ever other ppv and defending one of those belts? And by the way, who the hell has BJ beaten a 170 recently? Why does he deserve to jump ahead of Fitch, Koschek, Alves, or Sanchez?

Now in other news, the asshole of the night award goes to Brock Lesner. If you’re looking for someone who is bad for the sport of MMA, look no further than that moron. In his post fight interview he snatched the mic out of Joe Rogan’s hand like this was some kind of fucking WWF pay per view. I won’t buy any pay per view that has Lesnar in the main event. Nor due I have any interest in his next fight. I’m only interested in finding out the results of his drug testing…

GSP, I can’t quit you…

 

Georges St. Pierre. This is one of the few men on earth that totally straight men are totally gay for. During one of his fights last year I can remember one message board discussion in particular on the Sherdog.com forum about how we prefer GSP in his red shorts rather than his blue ones. I still remember that horrible night when GSP lost to Matt Serra, I screamed out NOOOOOOO!!! as he was beaten into submission/TKO. I literally sat there in shock and sadness, visibly shaken. But like a true champion GSP came back and beat the shit out of everyone in his path, and eventually avenged his loss to Serra and regained his title.

Now we fast forward to Saturday night August 9th. Georges St. Pierre will defend his UFC middle weight title against hardcore fan favorite John Fitch. Normally I don’t make pre-fight predictions, but in this case I feel so strongly about the issue that I must go on the record. GSP will beat Fitch. Fitch is an incredibly tough guy and a great wrestler, but Fitch can only win on the ground, his stand up is unimpressive, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Fitch gets TKO’d. 

The other very intriguing fight on this card is Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta. I’m a fan of Florian and I like his game, but Huerta is going to be too much for him. I see two major weaknesses in Florian’s game, first and foremost when he gets hit he tends to go alittle haywire. Huerta will hit him. Secondly, Florian is slick on the ground but I don’t think he is that physically strong and I think Huerta will be able to out muscle him. Frankly I think Huerta is going to beat Kenny up just like Sherk did, but in a slightly different way of course.

The greatest video I’ve ever seen

 

Silva vs Irvin vs Affliction Banned

Saturday night July 19^th was an historic night for the sport of mixed martial arts. The Affliction promotion or organization or t-shirt company or whatever the hell they are showed us that they might have the potential to develop into a legitimate rival and or alternative to the UFC. Affliction delivered us the world’s best fighter Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko fighting against something other than an overmatched under skilled side show freak. (see Hong Man Choi and or Zuluzinho) Fedor’s opponent the former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia was ostensibly supposed to provide the ultimate barometer as to whether or not Fedor was legit or just another Pride wash out.

Basically the fight went like this, Fedor beats the shit out of former UFC champion, Fedor then chokes former UFC champion out. Good night thanks for coming. So, what exactly did we learn from this 30 second display of violence? Well we learned that Fedor actually is equal to or greater than the hype, and the UFC should have paid the man what he is worth. We learned that in about four months from now we’re going to see the biggest fight in the history of mixed martial arts, Couture vs Fedor and it’s not going to happen in the UFC. And frankly that might just be a good thing for the sport of mixed martial arts, the fighters, and the fans.

Oh, in other news the worlds other best pound for pound fighter, UFC middle weight champion Anderson Silva moved up to light heavyweight to continue his brutal and inhumane campaign of performing free facial rearrangement surgery on any willing opponent. Tonight’s victim, James Irvin literally got knocked out with one devastating Silva right hand, and then received several more punches about the head and facial area for his troubles. Oh the violence. What does one say about Anderson Silva? Perfect technique, punching power, and an arsenal of strikes that have thus far proven to be too much for any UFC fighter to deal with. All of this from a man who is seemingly not that imposing. Well, not that imposing until you view what he did to his previous opponents.