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UFC 141 Fight Card: Why Alistair Overeem Will Lose to Brock Lesnar.

At UFC 141, Alistair Overeem will be making his heavily anticipated UFC debut. In his first fight, he will not be given an easy fight, he will be taking on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.Many people have counted out Lesnar due to his inac…

Many people have counted out Lesnar due to his inactivity, but one thing that is for sure, the Lesnar camp has been very quiet, and the small interactions that have come from the camp have had nothing but positives to describe Lesnar, since he is now able to train to his true potential.

Alistair is always a favorite to win, based off of his look alone. He arguably has the best physique in the sport, but that being said, looks can be deceiving.

Since his lackluster performance against Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem has been in the middle of controversy. He was “expected” to KO Werdum, but instead was out-struck and according to fight metric lost the fight, but since Werdum attempted to pull guard many times it gave Overeem the win. In the fight, Overeem gassed very quickly and the whole time was hesitant to attack because he feared the take down.

Overeem has the experience advantage in this fight, but in 47 professional fights, he has only faced top competition 11 times, posting a 3-8 record in that span. Many people credit the submission game of Overeem since he has 19 submission wins, but when those wins are broken down, only one of those wins was against a man worth crediting in that area, and that is Vitor Belfort, but another notable is Igor Vovchanchyn.

Alistair Overeem is the Strikeforce Heavyweight and the K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. He won the Strikeforce belt against Paul Buentello, and only defended it once against Brett Rogers, whom just lost a fight with UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez.

Going into the Grand Prix, Overeem had a 5-4 record and was part of arguably the smallest talent pool in the history of this legendary tourney. Overeem defeated injury-ridden opponents and once the tourney was over, he became a self-proclaimed legend.

Since the Werdum fight, he has left Golden Glory, signed with the UFC, decided to sue Golden Glory, almost not been licensed due to leaving the country to be with his sick mother the day he was set to be drug tested and he almost got pulled from his fight with Lesnar.

Those reasons alone are tough for any man to be able to focus on a fight. The fact that he is in Holland training and not at Xtreme Couture working hard on his wrestling is not a very good thing to do. Throughout his career, Alistair has never faced a wrestler, let alone a man with the size, strength, speed and cardio that Lesnar possesses.

Lately in MMA, there have been some striker vs. wrestler fights. Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann and John Makdessi vs Dennis Hallman. They both ended the same, with the wrestler playing to their strengths and getting the win.

If Lesnar gets Overeem to the ground, it is going to be a long night for Alistair.

In your debut for the biggest company in all of mixed martial arts, the last thing you need is to face a man who’s biggest strength is your biggest weakness, and all of the distractions that Overeem has faced as of late are no help at all.

Lesnar has his new share of legal battles based on hunting charges, but he has elected to have his case postponed until mid-January.

The return of Lesnar and the debut of Overeem. Winner gets Junior Dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Be sure to tune in Friday, December 30, 2011 live on PPV to see who will get themselves one step closer to becoming UFC Champion.

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Chael Sonnen: UFC’s Sonnen Will Get Revenge on Mark Munoz

It is probably safe to say that Chael Sonnen is the most talked about man in MMA. He spent months talking and talking and talking, and it made people tune in.Most said that he was all talk, but in his fight with Anderson Silva, he proved that he was fo…

It is probably safe to say that Chael Sonnen is the most talked about man in MMA. He spent months talking and talking and talking, and it made people tune in.

Most said that he was all talk, but in his fight with Anderson Silva, he proved that he was for real.

After the fight he had a year of troubles, continued talk, and then returned against Brian Stann to impress once again.

He has now put himself in the position to get another shot at Silva, but due to injury he will have to wait. In the meantime he will face Mark Munoz, a man that defeated him in a wrestling match in college.

When you look at wrestling in MMA, it is much different than traditional wrestling. Most wrestling in MMA consists of striking to set up take downs, and once on the ground, solid top control can lead to more strikes and/or a submission.

Comparing both fighters, Munoz got the best of Sonnen in college, but in MMA it should end up differently.

Sonnen is really good at using his boxing to set up his take downs. People usually overlook his boxing and call him one dimensional because he usually wins with his excellent wrestling advantage.

The thing with that is, if something is working, then why change it? Once Sonnen gets a hold of his opponent, he is getting him down. Not many people can say that they can defend a Sonnen take down.

When Munoz faced Leben, he showed that, yes, his wrestling is good, but his take down defense is questionable.

Munoz uses his wrestling, but as of late he has tried to polish his striking so that he will be able to compete against and defeat the bigger names in the division.

Once Leben took Munoz down, Munoz was able to get up relatively quickly, but you must also remember that Leben isn’t a quarter of the wrestler that Sonnen is.

Sonnen has great ground and pound, and his submission game is very underrated. People may laugh when I say his submission game is underrated, but it is true.

His only defeats by submission were to men who were some of the most elite grapplers in the sport, and there is zero shame whatsoever in losing to them.

In order for Munoz to win this fight he must play to his strengths. He must turn this into a wrestling match. If he is still a better wrestler than Sonnen, then he must prove it.

If he can take Sonnen off track early and dominate in the wrestling aspect, keeping Sonnen down and utilizing his top game, then he can get Sonnen into trouble. At the end of the day, no wrestler likes to be on their back.

If Munoz can take Sonnen away from his game plan and make him uncomfortable, then there is no doubt that Munoz will be getting a title shot.

The problem with that is, Munoz was not able to keep Leben down. Munoz is a great wrestler, but in the transition to MMA, that is basic. It’s his improved Muy Thai that can keep it close.

Expect Sonnen to land a nice combo on his feet and press Munoz into the cage setting up his first take down attempt. If Munoz can’t defend it, then it will be a long night for him.

Sonnen has experience on his side, and his cardio is second to none. He should be able to bully Munoz, and do not be surprised if he treats Munoz like he did to Marquardt and Okami.

It will be interesting to see how this will play out, but expect Sonnen to be the victor based on his experience and hunger.

Sonnen wants a rematch with Silva more than anything, and at the rate he is going, there will be no man that can stop him.

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TUF 14 Finale: Why Wanderlei Silva vs Jason "Mayhem" Miller Should Happen Next

At the Ultimate Fighter 14 season finale, coaches Michael Bisping and Jason Miller faced off in what was expected to be a close fight, but cardio issues caused Miller to slow down and Bisping was able to attack and get the TKO win.After the fight, Mill…

At the Ultimate Fighter 14 season finale, coaches Michael Bisping and Jason Miller faced off in what was expected to be a close fight, but cardio issues caused Miller to slow down and Bisping was able to attack and get the TKO win.

After the fight, Miller said that he is ready to put on a show and Dana White was interviewed and said that he didn’t know if Miller would be back.

What should be next for Miller?

He is a money-maker. He has a cult following, and people love him. A fight with Wanderlei Silva would be a great fight for not only Miller, but the fans as well.

Both men kind of train together when Wanderlei heads out to California to train with King’s MMA, but it doesn’t appear that there would be an issue between the two and that it would be a respectful fight. Both men are BJJ Black belts and are exciting to watch.

Silva is coming off of his win against Cung Le at UFC 139, but lost his previous fight to Chris Leben by KO. Miller, coming off of a loss to Bisping, has solidified his status in the middle of the division, and while Wanderlei has the bigger name based off of accomplishments, they are both at about the same position in the division and would make for a perfect showdown.

Both Silva and Miller’s futures are unknown with the organization. The UFC wants Silva to retire, and with his performance at UFC 139, that would not have been a bad fight to go out on, but with the new addition of Miller to the company and with the questions, this fight has so many positives about it.

Yes, it would be bad to be the loser in this fight, but all both men need to stay part of the organization is an exciting fight.

While there is a chance that this fight will not happen, there are a few fights for Miller that could happen. He could face guys like Nick Ring, Tom Lawlor, Steve Cantwell, Dongi Yang, etc.

There is no telling what to expect the UFC to do regarding Miller, but at the end of the day he is a wonderful talent who had an off night. Wanderlei Silva vs Jason Miller in 2012? Sure hope so!

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The Biggest Fight Left for 2011 That the Casual Fan MUST See

When it comes to MMA, the casual fan sees it as UFC. For the last six years, the UFC has dominated the MMA world and put itself as the No. 1 promotion in the sport. While 90 percent of fans are watching on Saturday nights when the UFC puts on its show, there is a small percentage of people that stay up from about 2 a.m. until about 6 to 7 a.m. to catch a Japanese event.

Whether the event was Pride, K-1, Yarennoka, DEEP, Shooto, Pancrase, Sengoku or Dream (I’ve left out One FC until more events are produced), these fans are loyal and will not miss an event.

The year-end show has been a special tradition in the Japanese MMA culture for many years. Fans were treated to legendary fights, whether it was MMA or kickboxing, or whether it was a title fight or a freak show fight.

No matter what, you are always treated to a wonderful show, and something special happens every year.

This year will be no different. After the year end event was in question and many feared it would not take place, it was announced that the event will include bouts that encompass the Dream, K-1 and K-1 Max banners. The event will be titled Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011.

This year, two men will put friendship aside and compete for the Dream Lightweight Championship.

Satoru Kitaoka is the greatest fighter in the world that most fans have never heard of. He holds wins over Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, Kurt Pellegrino, Takanori Gomi and Kazunori Yokota. He is known as the “Catch Wrestling Koala Bear” and is one of the greatest grapplers to have ever come out of Japan.

His opponent, Shinya Aoki, is more known by fans in the United States after a couple of fights in Strikeforce. He is also a grappling ace and most recently has been training with Evolve MMA in Singapore working heavily on his stand up. From what has been shown to the public, it is improving tons.

Kitaoka and Aoki are training partners and know each other’s game very well. This fight will be a fight for pride and honor, displaying some amazing skills and has all of the potential to be one of the greatest fights to have ever taken place at a year-end event.

This is the fight in which you truly do not care who wins because, at the end of the day, it is the fans that win.

One thing that this fight and event will definitely prove is that JMMA is far from dead and that bigger things are coming.

Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 Official fight card

DREAM Lightweight Championship bout: Shinya Aoki (c) vs. Satoru Kitaoka

DREAM Featherweight Championship bout: Hiroyuki Takaya (c) vs. Takeshi Inoue

Featherweight bout: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata

Welterweight bout: Hayato Sakurai vs. Ryo Chonan

Heavyweight bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii

Heavyweight bout: Tim Sylvia vs. Brett Rogers

Women’s bout: Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez

Bantamweight Tournament

Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout: Masakazu Imanari vs. Antonio Banuelos

Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques

Bantamweight Tournament Reserve bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev

Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner of Imanari/Banuelos vs. Winner of Fernandes/Marques

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TUF 14 Finale: Why Chael Sonnen Would Defeat Both Bisping and Miller

At UFC 136, the UFC welcomed back Chael Sonnen, who had been suspended for a year and had his share of legal issues. With all of that behind him, he defeated Brian Stann in the second round by arm triangle choke, afterward calling out the champion Ande…

It was then assumed that Sonnen was the No. 1 contender, and after a weird phase of Anderson’s representatives saying Sonnen didn’t deserve the fight, the UFC announced that Chael was indeed the No. 1 contender. Soon after, Silva ended up injured and out until June.

When that was announced, Sonnen had already said multiple times that he wanted to stay active, and that if someone could beat him, then they deserved the title shot. The UFC soon announced that Sonnen would be facing Mark Munoz at UFC on FOX 2, after Munoz did an interview discussing how they had wrestled each other in the past. At the World MMA Awards, Sonnen stated in an interview that he was not facing Munoz, and without actually saying it, he implied that he would be facing the winner of Michael Bisping vs. Jason Miller in The Ultimate Fighter finale.

Years ago, Sonnen defeated Miller by decision, but neither man is truly the same fighter that they were in that fight, and Sonnen has been wanting a fight with Bisping for a while now.

If Michael Bisping were to win and go on to face Chael Sonnen, this match up would be very bad for him. Bisping does have wrestling, and has decent stand-up, more technique than power. The problem is that Chael has some of the best wrestling in MMA, and his striking is very underrated, and always plays a big role in him setting up his take downs.

Bisping is good at picking his opponents apart, but when the pressure is put on him, it appears that he becomes overwhelmed, ex. vs. Dan Henderson, and vs. Wanderlei Silva. Chael always puts the pressure on and never backs off. This would be a fight where Chael would utilize his striking, and do what he does best and utilize his wrestling and ground and pound handing Bisping a loss.

Many people try to discredit the striking of Sonnen, when in fact he got the best of Silva on the feet when they fought, and before he went to college years ago, he wanted to give up wrestling to focus only on boxing. Him sticking to wrestling was a very wise choice.

If Sonnen were to rematch Miller, this would be the tougher of the two fights. Miller is an excellent grappler, and also has much improved stand up. The problem that Miller has had over the years is that he has always struggled against grapplers that were just a little bit better than him. Sonnen’s wrestling, and his dominate top control would be the difference maker in this fight. Miller would have to land a sub off of his back if he is going to win this fight. Sonnen has had his trouble’s with elite grapplers in his past. People hate on Sonnen for his submission defense, but if you go and see who exactly the losses were too, then odds are the hate would go down just a little bit on that topic.

It would be totally unfair to say that Chael would 100 percent defeat both men, because this is MMA and anything can happen, but when it comes down to it, the Sonnen vs Silva rematch is a must and Chael will do whatever it takes to get that fight.

When Sonnen’s father was on his death bed, he promised him that he would be champion, and defeating one of these two men will put him one step closer to his promise.

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Chael Sonnen Will Not Be Facing Mark Munoz on UFC on FOX 2, According to UFC MW

Many fans were expecting to see Chael Sonnen face Mark Munoz on UFC on FOX 2 card in March, but according to Sonnen that fight will not be taking place. Mark Munoz is on a roll lately that does not look to be stopping anytime soon. Fresh off of hi…

Many fans were expecting to see Chael Sonnen face Mark Munoz on UFC on FOX 2 card in March, but according to Sonnen that fight will not be taking place.

Mark Munoz is on a roll lately that does not look to be stopping anytime soon. Fresh off of his win against Chris Leben at UFC 138, the Filipino Wrecking Machine stated that he was ready for a title shot. Soon after, however, it appeared he would instead meet Chael Sonnen for a shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Chael Sonnen is the only man to push Anderson Silva to his limits. He won the first four rounds, and on some score cards, the fight was scored 40-34 entering Round 5. In the fifth he tapped out after Silva locked in a triangle and after the fight Sonnen was suspended for a year due to abnormally high testosterone levels. After a few court hearings, with his future in possible jeopardy, all his issues were handled and he returned to face Brian Stann.

Sonnen would go on to defeat Stann by arm-triangle in very dominating fashion in his return fight. After the fight he called out Silva for their rematch, but Silva is hurt and my not return until June.

Chael Sonnen hosted the 2011 Fighters Only MMA Awards, and when asked about his upcoming fight with Mark Munoz, in an interview with FIghtHubTV before the show, he replied “I have no fight with Mark Munoz, my next fight will be based on…I don’t know how much I can say, but I will be watching the TV Saturday night. Put it that way.”

That being said, it appears that he would be facing the winner of Bisping vs Miller, with the winner possibly getting a shot at Anderson Silva.