Anderson Silva is just too good.For years now, he has been considered the best pound for pound fighter on the planet and, after his performance at UFC 134 last night, it’s looking like Silva will occupy the P4P throne for a long time still.Silva’s oppo…
For years now, he has been considered the best pound for pound fighter on the planet and, after his performance at UFC 134 last night, it’s looking like Silva will occupy the P4P throne for a long time still.
Silva’s opponent last night was Yushin Okami, a strong grappler that many believed had a good chance of upsetting the UFC’s middleweight champ.
Although he trained with Chael Sonnen for this fight, Okami’s performance looked nothing like when Sonnen fought Silva, as the Japanese fighter was very tentative and hesitant to engage.
Said hesitancy allowed Silva time to figure Okami’s timing, and we all know what happens when Silva gets his opponent’s timing down.
Early in the second round, Silva baited Okami by dropping his hands to his sides and tagged the challenger when he rushed in. Okami fell to the ground, hurt badly, and Silva ended the fight with ground and pound.
Pound for pound rankings are meant to be current, always up to date, and so after every UFC event, a new list must be made.
Taking in the consideration all of the events that transpired last night, here is the new top 25 pound for pound fighters in MMA.
“…and the new UFC middleweight champion of the world, Yushin Okami!”These are the words that UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami is hoping to hear in less than 24 hours, but in order to hear them he will have to defeat the greatest mixed martial …
“…and the new UFC middleweight champion of the world, Yushin Okami!”
These are the words that UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami is hoping to hear in less than 24 hours, but in order to hear them he will have to defeat the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time, Anderson Silva.
Silva and Okami are set to square off in the main event of UFC 134 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which takes place later today.
With 13 straight victories in the UFC, and eight consecutive title defenses, Silva has looked almost unbeatable during his time in MMA‘s most prominent promotion. But he definitely does have some holes in his armor.
So, what does Okami need to do if he wants to beat Silva and become the UFC’s new middleweight champ?
Basically, he needs to do exactly what Chael Sonnen did to Silva at UFC 117, and that is keep the pressure on him.
Too often guys are bewildered by Silva, they just stand in front of him, hesitant, because they’re afraid to engage with him.
This hesitancy allows Silva time to figure out his opponents timing, and is a big part why he has such success on his feet.
Okami needs to be aggressive right out of the gate, and not give Silva any time to figure out his timing.
While using his aggression to keep Silva off balance, Okami needs to drag this fight to the ground, where his greatest advantage will be.
He has to get inside Silva’s range, likely eating a couple punches, and get the fight to the mat before Silva can do any damage in the clinch with his brutal Muay Thai.
The hardest part will likely be getting inside Silva’s range. Okami is an excellent grappler, so once he has a hold of Silva he should be able to take it the ground quickly.
Once on the ground the game plan is simple: Stay busy and don’t get submitted.
This simple strategy almost worked for Sonnen a little over a year ago, and there is no reason it can’t work for Okami at UFC 134.
Sonnen is known for having sub-par submission defense, and it took Silva almost five rounds to submit him.
Okami has never been submitted by anyone, so I think there is a realistic chance that he could roll with Silva for all five rounds without getting caught in anything.
Sonnen has already laid the groundwork for how to beat Silva, and Okami has all the tools to be effective using that same strategy.
Keep the pressure on, get inside, get the takedown and stay on top.
That’s what Okami’s game plan should be for this one and, if he can execute it perfectly, we may very well have a new middleweight champion.
It’s no secret that Chael Sonnen and the country of Brazil don’t have the healthiest relationship.Sonnen has been taking shots at Brazilian fighters since it was announced that he would fight Anderson Silva over a year ago.For the most part, Sonnen ha…
It’s no secret that Chael Sonnen and the country of Brazil don’t have the healthiest relationship.
Sonnen has been taking shots at Brazilian fighters since it was announced that he would fight Anderson Silva over a year ago.
For the most part, Sonnen has been keeping his insults directed towards fighters. In particular, he has focused on members of team Blackhouse, home to notable MMA fighters such as Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Junior Dos Santos.
However, leading into UFC 134, Sonnen made some remarks that were directed towards the citizens of Brazil in particular. It now appears that the citizens of Rio De Janeiro, the location of UFC 134, have taken offense.
MMAfighting.com spoke with the UFC fans in Rio, asking for their thoughts on Sonnen.
To say the least, most were not big fans of the UFC middleweight standout.
“He is very ugly. I don’t like Chael Sonnen,” one fan said. This quote is paraphrased; the fan also had some choice Brazilian words for Sonnen. One can assume those words weren’t exactly complimentary.
“Chael Sonnen is an idiot,” another fan remarked, to the approval of all those around him.
The news isn’t all bad for Sonnen, though. There were a few fans on his side.
“I think he only says things just to show off and to play on the media, but I like him,” another fan insisted.
While there are some Brazilians who have not taken Sonnen’s comments personally, the majority of opinions expressed about him were negative. The word “idiot” was a recurring theme and several fans used profanities that were subsequently bleeped.
It appears as though Sonnen has made the right decision by staying home, rather than traveling to Brazil for UFC 134. Needless to say, he would not have received a warm welcome.
Sonnen was originally intending on attending the event to show support for his good friend Yushin Okami, who will be featured in the main event against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Silva’s title will be on the line.
Ultimately, Sonnen decided not to attend the event because he thought his being there would draw too much attention away from Okami, in what should be the biggest night of his career.
Kenny Florian is set to meet Jose Aldo at UFC 136 in Houston Texas, with the UFC’s Featherweight Championship on the line.This will be Florian’s third crack at UFC gold.He fought Sean Sherk at UFC 64 and BJ Penn at UFC 101, both fights for the UFC Ligh…
Kenny Florian is set to meet Jose Aldo at UFC 136 in Houston Texas, with the UFC’s Featherweight Championship on the line.
This will be Florian’s third crack at UFC gold.
He fought Sean Sherk at UFC 64 and BJ Penn at UFC 101, both fights for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Florian lost both fights, earning himself a reputation for choking in important fights.
At UFC 136, Florian has the chance to shed his reputation as a choke artist and finally achieve his ultimate goal of capturing a UFC championship.
Aldo will be looking to defend his featherweight championship for the fourth consecutive time, while adding another big name to his already impressive resume.
This promises to be a very interesting fight, as both fighters are very talented and well rounded.
Which fighter’s skills will carry them to victory?
“It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes,” said Forrest Griffin, when speaking of his career as a fighter. “One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceive…
“It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes,” said Forrest Griffin, when speaking of his career as a fighter. “One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it.”
Griffin recently took to Yahoo! Sports, blogging about his training and preparations for UFC 134, his perspective of himself as a fighter, and his life outside of mixed martial arts.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has fought once already this year, defeating Rich Franklin at UFC 126, and now he’s scheduled to rematch Mauricio Rua this Saturday in Rio. The two met for the first time at UFC 76, with Griffin winning the fight by rear-naked choke in the third round.
Before the Franklin fight, Griffin had a long lay off and he seems happy to be fighting on a regular basis again.
“This camp is definitely easier coming off a fight, as opposed to my last camp before the fight against Rich Franklin, which came after almost 15 months off. Anytime you think about ring rust and travel and camps back-to-back, it helps not having any bad injuries and being able to train consistently.”
Elaborating on that point, Griffin went on to talk about his training camps in a more general sense.
“I’ve been in the UFC for more than six years, but I ain’t got it figured out when it comes to training and training camps. In fact, I think I’m doing everything wrong and I think for my next fight I’m gonna go somewhere for five or six weeks and see what they do.”
As far as training camps he would like to try out, Griffin mentioned the American Kickboxing Academy as one he would like to look into.
From there, the blog took a bit of a dark turn, as Griffin shared some of his feelings about being a fighter.
“You’d think me not having stuff figured out yet would keep it exciting. Not really. It ain’t been exciting, fresh or fun since 2008. It’s a job, it’s money, and I have a great job, I realize that. Just because it’s work doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do it. You man up and you do your job.”
That might seem like a depressing way of looking at things, but Griffin also made a point of saying that there are perks to competing in the UFC that he really does enjoy.
“I make a lot of money doing this, and I love money and I love the freedom and ability money gives you. I’m having a kid and my kid ain’t gonna ever want for anything. My little brother wants to go to college, so he’s going to college. The only thing that gives my mom pleasure in life is buying stuff off QVC, and I’m gonna pay those bills. I paid my mom’s house off. My wife’s family needs help? I’m gonna take care of that.”
It seems that the take away point of this blog is that Griffin’s heart is no longer in the fight game, or, at the very least, he doesn’t have the same love for it that he used to.
Will Griffin’s apparent lack of motivation have any effect on his performance this weekend against Mauricio Rua?
Tune into UFC 134: Silva vs Okami this Saturday and find out.
UFC 137 is just two months away and, based on the fights that have been announced, it should be one of the most exciting events of 2011—despite being headlined by the decidedly unexciting UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.We all know th…
UFC 137 is just two months away and, based on the fights that have been announced, it should be one of the most exciting events of 2011—despite being headlined by the decidedly unexciting UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.
We all know that making predictions in MMA is a crapshoot; you can never be certain what’s going to happen.
So, what’s the point in playing it safe with your hunches?
Here’s some bold predictions for UFC 137’s main card; if these predictions were sandwiches, they would have chipotle on them.
“…and the new UFC middleweight champion of the world, Yushin Okami!”