UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down this Saturday, featuring the Cody McKenzie of triangles, Paul “Sassangle” Sass. Only time will tell if the “Sassangle” proves more successful than the “Mckenzietine,” but just in case Paul is one of our many devoted readers out there, we figured we’d let 2009 ADCC double gold medalist, 2011 Superfight Champion, and human Jiu-Jitsu highlight reel Braulio Estima demonstrate one of the many inversions of the triangle.
UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down this Saturday, featuring the Cody McKenzie of triangles, Paul “Sassangle” Sass. Only time will tell if the “Sassangle” proves more successful than the “Mckenzietine,” but just in case Paul is one of our many devoted readers out there, we figured we’d let 2009 ADCC double gold medalist, 2011 Superfight Champion, and human Jiu-Jitsu highlight reel Braulio Estima demonstrate one of the many inversions of the triangle.
This take on the triangle was actually the one that Estima used to defeat current ADCC Under 88kg and Absolute champion Andre Galvao in the 2009 tournament. The choke requires a good deal of speed and precision, as it attacks the opposite side of your opponent’s head than expected. Once completed however, this version of the triangle is arguably more lethal than that of the standard, as it allows you to more easily control your opponents legs and keep them from trying to slam out of the hold.
As a bonus, I’ve also added the second half of the aforementioned 2009 match between Estima and Galvao, as well as a highlight video showcasing some of Estima’s best moves. Enjoy.
As the dust settles from UFC 135, some of us out there must be itching to bet on fights that will not make us look like fools if we are wrong. Lucky for us, redemption lies around the corner, because this Saturday UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down, and the odds are a hell of a lot closer than what we’re used to. Check out the fight odds below, then see if you can stomach our suggestions.
Main Card (courtesy of Best Fight Odds)
Dominick Cruz (-440) vs. Demetrious Johnson (+350)
Anthony Johnson (-180) vs. Charlie Brenneman (+158)
Matt Wiman (-210) vs. Mac Danzig (+175)
Pat Barry (-185) vs. Stefan Struve (+160)
Undercard (Courtesy of MMAValor)
Yves Edwards (-120) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (-120)
Michael Johnson (-240) vs. Paul Sass (+180)
Mike Easton (-130) vs. Jeff Hougland (even)
Shane Roller (-130) vs. T.J. Grant (even)
Josh Neer (-120) vs. Keith Wisniewski (-120)
Joseph Sandoval (-150) vs. Walel Watson (+120)
As the dust settles from UFC 135, some of us out there must be itching to bet on fights that will not make us look like fools if we are wrong. Lucky for us, redemption lies around the corner, because this Saturday UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down, and the odds are a hell of a lot closer than what we’re used to. Check out the fight odds below, then see if you can stomach our suggestions.
Main Card (courtesy of Best Fight Odds)
Dominick Cruz (-440) vs. Demetrious Johnson (+350)
Anthony Johnson (-180) vs. Charlie Brenneman (+158)
Matt Wiman (-210) vs. Mac Danzig (+175)
Pat Barry (-185) vs. Stefan Struve (+160)
Undercard (Courtesy of MMAValor)
Yves Edwards (-120) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (-120)
Michael Johnson (-240) vs. Paul Sass (+180)
Mike Easton (-130) vs. Jeff Hougland (even)
Shane Roller (-130) vs. T.J. Grant (even)
Josh Neer (-120) vs. Keith Wisniewski (-120)
Joseph Sandoval (-150) vs. Walel Watson (+120)
The Main Event: There is no denying the speed and agility of Dominick Cruz’s striking game, but look, judges love takedowns, and if there’s one thing “Mighty Mouse” can do, it’s take the fight to the ground. The champ has a penchant for letting his fights go the distance, and that only increases the likelihood that we will see an upset here, whether deserved or not. I wasn’t convinced; however, by Johnson’s victory over Miguel Torres. He showed excellent submission defense against Torres’ onslaught of attempts, but not much else that proves he can handle someone of “The Dominator’s” caliber. That said, a small bet with those odds won’t bankrupt you if there’s no return.
The Good ‘Dog: Considering most of the undercard fights are a pick ‘em at this point, I’d say your best bet is Charlie Brenneman, who’s recent routing of Rick Story showed that once he gets you down, you stay down. There’s no denying he can’t handle Johnson on the feet, but wrestling based fighters like Josh Koscheck and even the much smaller Rich Clementi were able to take “Rumble” down, so a bet on Brenneman seems pretty solid.
Some of you may be picking Struve for the upset due to Barry’s complete lack of ground game, but the real question here is whether or not Struve will be smart enough to take the fight to the ground. You’d think after his devastating knockout loss to Travis Browne he’d be in a hurry to do so, but if Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson haven’t taught him that lesson already, I don’t know if it can be taught.
Steer Clear: Both Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig have been struggling with consistency as of late. Danzig’s only win of relevance since winning the Ultimate Fighter 6 was his most recent knockout of recent UFC castaway Joe Stevenson. Wiman, on the other hand, has notched a couple impressive victories over Cole Miller and Thiago Tavares but is coming off a close decision loss to Dennis Siver back at UFC 132. Their first fight doesn’t add a ton to the mix, as it was Yves Lavigne’s screw up that ended it in the first place. I’d expect Wiman to take it, but I’m just gunna stay outta this one.
Official CagePotato Parlay: Barry + Brenneman + Edwards + Johnson.
20 bucks will get you a return of $186.46.
(You know who’s lucky I don’t have a time machine? Those damn kids with their skateboards on my sidewalks!)
When he’s not harassing fighters inside the ring or making up false claims about MMA promotions paying him 5 million dollars to attend an event, I’d like to imagine that Larry Merchant is playing Parcheesi in Boca Vista somewhere, just enjoying the fact that time travel doesn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to follow through on some of his outrageous claims. Well, I would be wrong in that assessment, because it turns out Merchant is far too busy talking out his ass at every possible opportunity to even have time for table based games of mental aptitude. In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Merchant responded to Dana White’s claims that he was “senile” and “an embarrassment to HBO” with the following statement, which I can only assume took a fortnight to spit out:
(You know who’s lucky I don’t have a time machine? Those damn kids with their skateboards on my sidewalks!)
When he’s not harassing fighters inside the ring or making up false claims about MMA promotions paying him 5 million dollars to attend an event, I’d like to imagine that Larry Merchant is playing Parcheesi in Boca Vista somewhere, just enjoying the fact that time travel doesn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to follow through on some of his outrageous claims. Well, I would be wrong in that assessment, because it turns out Merchant is far too busy talking out his ass at every possible opportunity to even have time for table based games of mental aptitude. In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Merchant responded to Dana White’s claims that he was “senile” and “an embarrassment to HBO” with the following statement, which I can only assume took a fortnight to spit out:
“Let’s see, anyone who can make a multimillion dollar business out of street fighting has to be respected. My opinion is that anyone is allowed to put up a tent, put on a show, and invite people to come. And obviously he’s had a lot of success. Good for him. I don’t watch it. I don’t get a so-called sport in which you can have a 6-2 record and be called a world champion. I just don’t appreciate the finer points of MMA. It’s a free country. I’m a commentator, and if I’m commenting and observing on others than how can I not be open to others observing and commenting on me?”
Now, I can understand what Merchant is trying to say here, but to refer to MMA as street fighting immediately after witnessing one of the dirtiest finishes to a high profile boxing match in recent history seems a bit…douchey. Not to mention the fact that this is the same man who threatened to kick the winner of said boxing match’s ass just moments after the fight was over. Stay classy, Larry.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
No stranger to brutal throws, “The Barbarian” showcased his “redneck judo” once again this past weekend and impressed a lot of people with his decision win over the previously unbeaten Ring. As further proof of the effectiveness of Judo in MMA, here’s a video of the Cory Devela/Joe Riggs scrap from the Strikeforce: Strikeforce at the Dome event back in 2008, which ended just over a minute in after Devela pulled off a similar throw. Karo Parisyan would be proud. Enjoy.
For those of you who were too busy watching Jon Jones outgun Rampage Jackson to retain his light heavyweight title or Ben Rothwell fall to 0-1 at the hands of Mark Hunt this weekend, you may have overlooked the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships, which transpired in Nottingham, England of all places.
Andre Galvao easily had the best night of the bunch, taking gold in both the Under 88kg and Absolute tournaments, defeating Rousimar Palhares and Pablo Papovitch, respectively. Speaking of “Paul Harris”, he continued to prove that his mind is a fragile, ticking time bomb in his submission victory over David Avellan in their quarterfinal match. Things began to go off the rails when Palhares dove for his signature heel-hook-of-death on Avellan, and continued to crank it after the two rolled out of bounds and the referee yelled for a restart. I’ll let David’s brother Marcos, via his Facebook, explain the rest after the jump:
(As if I needed an excuse to use this photo.)
For those of you who were too busy watching Jon Jones outgun Rampage Jackson to retain his light heavyweight title or Ben Rothwell fall to 0-1 at the hands of Mark Hunt this weekend, you may have overlooked the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships, which transpired in Nottingham, England of all places.
Andre Galvao easily had the best night of the bunch, taking gold in both the Under 88kg and Absolute tournaments, defeating Rousimar Palhares and Pablo Papovitch, respectively. Speaking of “Paul Harris”, he continued to prove that his mind is a fragile, ticking time bomb in his submission victory over David Avellan in their quarterfinal match. Things began to go off the rails when Palhares dove for his signature heel-hook-of-death on Avellan, and continued to crank it after the two rolled out of bounds and the referee yelled for a restart. I’ll let David’s brother Marcos, via his Facebook, explain the rest after the jump:
It was a weird situation right after… Palharas started to celebrate, thinking the match was over, and came over to hug my brother, but as he hugged my brother, he slapped him across the head really hard. So one arm went out for a hug, the other went for a slap on the head (lol). My brother was naturally pissed by the heel hook and the slap.
Palharas seemed genuinely confused, both about his cranking after the ref said stop and by the rejection of his post fight “hug”. I think he was sincerely genuine, I just think he is crazy, like bi-polar or something.
After the restart, Palhares went on to quickly kneebar Avellan, possibly injuring him. And if you aren’t yet convinced that Palhares is a danger to sound minded people across the globe, the oddities continued in his finals match against Andre Galvao, when he was accused of trying to wrench Galvao’s thumb in order to avoid a hold. Personally, I’ve had about enough of this guy’s apparent ignorance to all things legal and holy. He’s like a T-1000 with the brain of Corky from Life Goes On, sent from some horrific future in which appendages are the last form of human resistance.
In other news, Dean Lister made an improbable run to secure the Under 99kg title, finishing Xande Ribeiro and Jaoa Assis with successive leglocks to claim gold. Lister’s age and lack of recent competition had all but killed his chances before the tournament even began, so big ups to “The Boogeyman” for his win. In the Over 99kg finals, former TUF 8 finalist Vinny Magalhaes survived a last minute armbar attempt by Fabricio Werdum to secure a victory on points, besting his two previous bronze medal efforts in the 2009 ADCC Championships.
In the women’s Under 60 kg tournament, Kyra Gracie secured her third ADCC title with a beautiful omaplota/rear naked choke hybrid finish of Michelle Nicolini. The win adds to Kyra’s incredible list of credentials, which includes four World BJJ Championships, five Pan American, Brazilian, and New York State Championships, and one Asiatic BJJ Championship. Damn, girl.
The bad luck streak continued for former Strikeforce Middleweight and 2009 ADCC Superfight Champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who was routed in a tentative 3-0 loss on points to 2009 ADCC double gold winner Braulio Estima. Full results for the event can be found here.
(One of the above people has no clue that Strikeforce Challengers even exists.)
Depending on what kind of MMA fan you are, the Strikeforce Challengers series is either one of the many great ways to scout up and coming talent or one of the many open wounds that is bleeding Strikeforce to death. Regardless, Strikeforce Challengers 19 goes down tonight from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features the likes of Ryan Couture, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High, and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between undefeated Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough. So if you determine whether or not to buy pay-per-views based on the originality of fighter’s nicknames, then this is the card for you.
(One of the above people has no clue that Strikeforce Challengers even exists.)
Depending on what kind of MMA fan you are, the Strikeforce Challengers series is either one of the many great ways to scout up and coming talent or one of the many open wounds that is bleeding Strikeforce to death. Regardless, Strikeforce Challengers 19 goes down tonight from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features the likes of Ryan Couture, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High, and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between undefeated Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough. So if you determine whether or not to buy pay-per-views based on the originality of fighter’s nicknames, then this is the card for you.
Ryan Couture will be looking to erase the memory of his rather revealing loss to Matt Ricehouse back at Challengers 16, taking on 4-1 Wand Fight Team member Maka Watson. Since being ousted from the UFC following a unanimous decision loss to Charlie Brenneman, Jason High has gone on a five fight tear including a nasty technical submission via guillotine over Rudy “Bad News” Bears, and will be looking to continue his hot streak against Todd “Maniac” Moore, who most recently earned a unanimous decision victory over Mike Bronzoulis at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum.
Strikeforce Challengers 19 will be broadcast live (tape delayed on the west coast) on Showtime starting at 11 p.m.
