Great Weekend in MMA

This past weekend was a spectacular weekend for MMA. This post is basically our "Highlights of the Week" post, which clips/news from UFC 139, Bellator 58, Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers, and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson

UFC 139:

- Since the UFC has that whole copyright bullshit, we have no highlights to show you. But, the last three fights of the night made this card look like one of the best of the year.

- Urijah Faber defeated Brian Bowles via submission with a guillotine choke in round 2 in a faced-paced battle

- Wanderlei Silva defeated Cung Le via TKO (punches) in round 2 in a bout that won FOTN

- Dan Henderson defeated Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in a bout that some are considering to be the greatest fight in UFC history. I strongly, and I repeat, strongly disagree. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome fight, but people are overrating it because of the two legends that were involved. Also, both men gassing towards the end didn't help either. Nonetheless, the fight was still deserving of its FOTN award along with Silva/Le.

Bellator 58:

- In the co-main event, Middleweight champ Hector Lombard defeated Trevor Prangley in a non-title bout via TKO (punches) in round 2. Check it out:

- Michael Chandler defeated former Lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez via submission (rear-naked choke) in round 4 to win the title. Chandler was a definite underdog in this fight and fought through some tough rounds to take the victory. After almost finishing Alvarez in the first round, the former champ came back in the second and third to win both. In the fourth, Chandler rocked Alvarez, mounted him, and eventually locked in a choke. The full fight can be seen here:

Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers:

- Aldan Amagov defeated Anthony Smith via KO (punches) in round 1. This was a fairly sloppy fight, the knockout is pretty flush so I thought I'd post it:

- Ronda Rousey defeated Julia Budd via submission with an absolutely gnarly armbar that dislocated Budd's elbow. This was also Rousey's 4th win of her career, all are by way of armbar. Take a look:

M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson:

- Fedor Emelianenko defeated Jeff Monson via unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-27) and is finally back to his winning ways.

So that's basically a full weekend of highlights/clips. Stay tuned for more KO's of the Week and Submissions of the Week. 

UFC 139 Prediction Results

Arguably one of, if not the best card of 2011. I said from the beginning that this card was one of the best looking cards from top to bottom, and I was correct. The whole card delivered. Lets get straight to the results.

The first fight of the night was a light heavyweight bout between Stephan Bonnar and Kyle Kingsbury, in which Bonnar controlled the fight with effective striking and many takedowns, winning the fight via unanimous decision. Next was a welterweight battle between Martin Kampmann and Rick Story. Story started off fairly well in the first round, but was outclassed on the feet by Kampmann's superior technical striking. It was originally announced as a split decision for Kampmann, but after a correction Kampmann walked away with the unanimous decision victory. The third fight on the night was a bantamweight fight between Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles. Urijah controlled the fight with the striking until he rocked Bowles and sent him down to the canvas. Faber grabbed hold of a tight guillotine, rolled him over, took mount, and obtained the victory. Although I somewhat disagree with it, Faber is the #1 contender for the Bantamweight Championship (again) and will be fighting Dominick Cruz (again).

In the co-main event, legend Wanderlei Silva and Strikeforce vet Cung Le squared off in a middleweight showdown. The first round was won by Le with his effect Tae Kwon Do style. In the second round. Silva swarmed on Le and rocked him against the cage. Le fell on his knees to try to attempt a single-leg on Silva, but wasn't defending himself properly and the fight was stopped. In the main-event, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan Henderson squared off in a fight that will go down in the history books, and one of the best of the year. The first three rounds were dominated by Henderson's effective and powerful striking, rocking Rua a few times. The third round could have arguably given a score of 10-8 for Hendo (although I disagree). The fourth and fifth round were dominated by Shogun, arguably giving the fifth round a score of 10-8 for the Brazilian (although I also disagree). In the end, all three judges scored it 48-47 for your winner, Dan Henderson.

Joe got 5 points, Jon got 4 points, and Vinny and I (Shawn) got 3 points.

Standings: 

Shawn: 104 points

Joe: 93 points

Vinny: 85 points

Jon: 78 points

UFC 139 Predictions

Main Card:

Light Heavyweight: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Dan Henderson

Middleweight: Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le

Bantamweight: Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles

Welterweight: Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story

Light Heavyweight: Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Shawn's Predictions:

Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury: Kingsbury via Decision

Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story: Story via Decision

Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles: Faber via Decision

Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le: Le via TKO
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Dan Henderson: Henderson via Decision


Vinny's Predictions:

Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury: Bonnar via Decision

Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story: Story via Decision

Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles: Faber via Decision

Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le: Le via KO
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Dan Henderson: Rua via KO


Note: Be sure to also check out Bellator 58 tonight on MTV2 and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson tomorrow.

Knockouts Of The Day (UFC on FOX and Bellator 57)

This past Saturday delivered with 2 brand new, spectacular knockouts.

First is from a welterweight matchup for the Tournament Championship at Bellator 57 between UFC vet Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima. The winner of this fight was to go on and face welterweight champ Ben Askren for the title. Lima was featured on our last "Knockout Of The Day" write-up, and here he is again with a "beaut" of a KO. Just 1:21 into round 2, Saunders ducks into a huge right from Lima that sends him down to the canvas. Lima jumps on him and delivers hammer-fists, forcing the ref to stop the fight. Check it out:

As expected, the next knockout comes from the main event of UFC on FOX, where Cain Velasquez battled Junior Dos Santos for the Heavyweight Championship. The fight started with a few basic exchanges on the feet, including a failed takedown by Cain after a front kick from JDS. 1:04 into the very first round, Dos Santos unleashed a huge overhand right to the champ's temple, sending him down. JDS pounced on Cain and finished the fight with strikes and was declared the UFC Heavyweight Champ. Take a look (skip to 4:30 just for the KO):

Stay tuned for more upcoming KO's.

A New Champ: UFC on FOX Prediction Results

UFC's debut on FOX last night surely left its mark. The airing only showed one fight, obviously being the Heavyweight Championship fight, with the prelims airing on Facebook prior to the event. Lets get straight to the results shall we?

In the last preliminary fight, Clay Guida and Ben Henderson came out fast and swinging. In the opening round, Bendo won the majority of the exchanges on the feet and had some nice takedowns. The second round goes similarly, but in the third round, Guida grabs hold of a nice guillotine from the top but could not get the correct position to finish the choke. This round arguably could have gone either way. In the end, Ben Henderson won the fight on all three scorecards and is now in line to fight Frankie Edgar for the Lightweight title in Japan in February.

In the main event, both Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos came out cautious. Cain stuck Junior with some nice punches in the beginning and then failed to complete a takedown after Junior went for a leg kick. At 1:04 of the first round. JDS unloaded a huge overhand right to Velasquez that sent him down on all fours. JDS pounced, and knocked out Cain with strikes on the ground, becoming the new Heavyweight Champion.

Vinny got 3 points, Joe and I (Shawn) got 2 points, and Jon sadly came up with 0 points.

Standings: 

Shawn: 101 points

Joe: 88 points

Vinny: 82 points

Jon: 74 points

UFC on FOX Predictions

For this event we will be doing only 2 fight predictions. One will obviously be the main event between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, the other being the un-televised lightweight bout between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson, because the winner could potentially be the #1 contender for the Lightweight Championship

Main Card:

Heavyweight Championship: Cain Velasquez (c) vs. Junior Dos Santos

Preliminary Card:

Lightweight: Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson

Shawn's Predictions

Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson: Henderson via Decision
Cain Velasquez (c) vs. Junior Dos Santos: Velasquez via Decision


Vinny's Predictions:
Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson: Henderson via Submission
Cain Velasquez (c) vs. Junior Dos Santos: Dos Santos via KO

UFC 138 Prediction Results

For a free card on Spike, this card absolutely delivered. Lets get straight to the results,

In the opening fight, Terry Etim displayed his BJJ and finished Eddie Faaloloto in just 17 seconds with a standing guillotine choke. This victory awarded him Submission of the Night and the 12th submission victory of hi career. In the next fight, kickboxer Cyrille Diabate faced off against veteran Anthony Perosh. In the 2nd round, Perosh submitted Diabate with a rear-naked choke, securing his second win in the UFC. Next on the card was awaited welterweight between Thiago Alves and UFC new-comer Papy Abedi. In the opening round, Abedi displayed his kickboxing by battering Alves. In a quick turn of events, Alves rocked Abedi, took his back and secured a rear-naked choke for the victory. In the second fight of the night, England's own Brad Pickett faced off against highly-touted Renan Barao. In a bout that won Fight of the Night, both men threw bombs in the opening round. The fight was back and forth until it went to the ground, where Barao secured Pickett's back and won via rear-naked choke.

In the main event, Chris Leben faced off against Mark Munoz. Munoz controlled most of the fight with some heavy hands, and he eventually opened up a bad cut above Leben's eye. After the second round, the cut began bleeding profusely and Leben's corner stopped the fight, rewarding Munoz the TKO (corner stoppage) victory.

Finally a main card with all finishes.

I (Shawn) got 5 points, Joe and Jon each got 4 points, and Vinny got 3 points.

Standings:

Shawn: 99 points

Joe: 86 points

Vinny: 79 points

Jon: 74 points

UFC 138 Predictions

Main Card:

Middleweight: Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz

Bantamweight: Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao

Welterweight: Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi

Lightweight: Terry Etim vs. Eddie Faaloloto

Light Heavyweight: Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh

Shawn's Predictions:

Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh: Diabate via TKO

Terry Etim vs. Eddie Faaloloto: Etim via Submission

Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi: Alves via Decision

Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao: Barao via Decision

Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz: Munoz via Decision

UFC 137 Prediction Results

This event was unfortunately plagued a couple changes to the main event, but ended up working out alright. I wasn't able to watch because I was out celebrating "Halloweekend" at college so I'm kinda glad GSP didn't fight, but on the results.

To start off the card, highly-touted Japanese new-comer Hatsu Hioki defeated George Roop via split-decision. This further proves my point that the UFC is the top of the chain when it comes to competition, and that fighters from other organizations like Strikeforce, DREAM, etc, will not preform very well in the UFC. I don't expect him to make a big splash in the FW division. Next on the card was a bout between Scott Jorgensen and UFC-returnee Jeff Curran in which Jorgensen won by unanimous decision. In the 3rd fight of the night, Roy Nelson defeated Mirko Cro Cop by TKO in round 3. As most would expect, Cro Cop retired after this bout. It seems as if he just cant hang with the rest of the HW division anymore. Thanks for all the great years Cro Cop.

In the co-main event Cheick Kongo defeated TUF 10 alum Matt Mitrione via unanimous decision and in the main event, Nick Diaz defeated B.J. Penn via unanimous decision while putting on a boxing clinic. Penn won the 1st round and Diaz definitively won the 2nd and 3rd round, with one judge even giving Nick a 10-8 round. After the fight, B.J. Penn announced this would be his last time inside the octagon. Once again, thanks for all the years inside the octagon B.J.

I (Shawn) got 7 points, Vinny got 5 points, Joe got 4 points, and Jon got 3 points.

Standings:

Shawn: 94 points

Joe: 82 points

Vinny: 76 points

Jon: 70 points