Author: Jake Martin

Nick Diaz: If This Is the End of the Road, How Will He Be Remembered?

If Nick Diaz’s fight with Carlos Condit is his last, he’ll be remembered as one of the rarest mixed martial artists of all time.Diaz will most likely be remembered as a controversial fighter outside the ring, but he should be remembered for his enterta…

If Nick Diaz‘s fight with Carlos Condit is his last, he’ll be remembered as one of the rarest mixed martial artists of all time.

Diaz will most likely be remembered as a controversial fighter outside the ring, but he should be remembered for his entertaining fights in Pride, Strikeforce, Dream and the UFC.

Fans of MMA that despise Diaz will point to him recently failing a drug test in his fight against Condit, failing another marijuana test in his fight against Takanori Gomi at Pride 33, his hospital fight with Joe Riggs or his melee with K.J. Noons.

And while those are all negative points in Diaz’s career, no one can ever deny that Diaz is one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the sport.

Diaz had a style where he constantly stalked his opponents and made them engage with him, or he would taunt and verbally abuse them. This fighting style produced some amazing fights.

His wars with Diego Sanchez, Robbie Lawler, K.J. Noons, Marius Zaromskis, Evangelista Cyborg, B.J. Penn, Gomi and Paul Daley were unbelievably exciting and if you’re a fan of MMA and haven’t seen them, do yourself a favor and look them up.

I mean think about it. Can you imagine how entertaining a “Best of Nick Diaz DVD” would be? Captivating interviews and all of those fights on one DVD is enough to make any real fan of fighting purchase it.

Perhaps Diaz fans are hoping that fans will remember him as being “as real as it gets,” and remember the great Primetime episodes that revealed him as a person. The shows were so great and the end of the first episode captured Diaz perfectly.

Love him or hate him, we can all admit that Diaz was a fighter that had unlimited cardio, great boxing and an outstanding ground game.

And if his days in MMA are done, the UFC will be losing out on one of the most entertainingly controversial figures to ever grace the Octagon.

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UFC: 10 Fighters We Would Pay to See No Matter What

When it comes to MMA, there are some fighters who are worth the pay-per-view price by themselves.It’s no coincidence that some of the most popular fighters in the sport are the most exciting fighters.With all due respect to Georges St-Pierre and Rashad…

When it comes to MMA, there are some fighters who are worth the pay-per-view price by themselves.

It’s no coincidence that some of the most popular fighters in the sport are the most exciting fighters.

With all due respect to Georges St-Pierre and Rashad Evans, their fights are normally high profiled, but most of the time they fail to leave a lasting effect.

This is a slideshow dedicated to those fighters who have been in some of the most memorable wars in MMA history, and they very rarely let the crowd down.

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Best Finishing Moves in MMA History

The most exciting facet of MMA is the spectacular knockouts and exhilarating submissions, otherwise known as “finishing moves.”No, not the finishing moves that you envision with wrestling and the WWE.When it comes to fighting, there are certain moves …

The most exciting facet of MMA is the spectacular knockouts and exhilarating submissions, otherwise known as “finishing moves.”

No, not the finishing moves that you envision with wrestling and the WWE.

When it comes to fighting, there are certain moves that fighters favor. For example, certain fighters can find a guillotine choke and see it more often than they see an armbar or kimura, while another fighter sees a kimura in every position and always uses it. Simply put, finishing moves are realistic, and are a big part of fighting.

But which spectacular finishing move is the best in MMA history? These are the top finishing moves seen inside the Octagon, and around the world.

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Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen Don’t Stand a Chance in Their Title Shots

Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen don’t stand a chance in their upcoming title bouts.It’s not a slight to Evans and Sonnen, because anyone who’s seen these two perform know that they are fantastic fighters. However, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are nearly …

Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen don’t stand a chance in their upcoming title bouts.

It’s not a slight to Evans and Sonnen, because anyone who’s seen these two perform know that they are fantastic fighters. However, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are nearly perfect.

Evans and Sonnen undeniably possess the tools to beat both fighters, but it simply won’t happen. Starting with the matchup on April 21, Evans and Jones will compete in a somewhat close contest, but Jones’s reach, talent and elusive striking will be too much for Evans.

Everyone knows that Evans has something of a mental edge on Jones from training with him in the past, but that won’t help him. Evans’ best quality is mixing his strikes with his takedowns, but he’s never fought a wrestler of Jones’s caliber.

Jones has faced the likes of Matt Hamill, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ryan Bader and Quintin “Rampage” Jackson, and he’s out-wrestled all of them. I’d argue that Evans is a better MMA wrestler than all of those guys, but the fact that Jones has roughly a 10-inch reach on Evans will play a factor in taking Jones down.

Jones will have such an advantage in the reach department that Evans will have a tough time getting inside and taking the champion down. Thus, Evans will have to stand with Jones, and Jones will pick him apart with his Muay Thai.

Now, onto the other blockbuster title bout this year—Silva vs. Sonnen II. This is the fight that MMA fans have been waiting for since Silva defeated Sonnen in 2010 via triangle choke. Sonnen dominated the champion for four and a half rounds, and Silva pulled off the greatest comeback in MMA history.

If the reports about Silva’s ribs are true leading up to the fight with Sonnen, Sonnen might be in for a long night—or even worse, a short one. The reason I’ve been wanting to see this fight so bad is because I, along with the rest of the MMA community I’m assuming, want two questions answered.

The first question is what I previously mentioned about Silva’s ribs. How hurt was he? And my next question is if Sonnen’s style is Silva’s weakness.

If the answer to the second question is yes, then this article is absolutely irrelevant. That means that preventing a Silva submission, Sonnen is going to pressure Silva and take him down and win a decision. However, if the answer is no, then I have no doubts that Silva will knock Sonnen out.

Silva will be pumped about fighting in front of Brazil, and as soon as he separates from Sonnen and finds his range, another classic Silva knockout shot will be delivered.

This is the way it looks on paper, but then again, if that were always right, why would these fighters ever step inside the Octagon?

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UFC 143 Predictions: Condit vs. Diaz Is Worth Paying PPV Price

Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz is worth the pay-per-view price alone.MMA fans are in for a treat Saturday night when the most exciting fighter in the UFC,  Diaz, battles  Condit for the interim title at UFC 143.Rarely do I advise paying the PPV …

Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz is worth the pay-per-view price alone.

MMA fans are in for a treat Saturday night when the most exciting fighter in the UFC,  Diaz, battles  Condit for the interim title at UFC 143.

Rarely do I advise paying the PPV price for the main event alone, but this is one that is sure to be a Fight of the Year Candidate.

Diaz is currently on an 11-fight winning streak, while Condit is coming off of the two best knockout victories of his career. The state of the welterweight division is on the line and there has been a lot of drama in the division lately.

It all started back in 2011 when Diaz was scheduled to fight Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight championship. However, after missing multiple press conferences, UFC president Dana White decided to nix the fight and make it GSP against Condit for the title.

After that fight was made, Diaz was pitted against Condit’s opponent, B.J. Penn. Shortly after that, GSP pulled out of the fight with an injury. This put Diaz on the main event card against Penn and that’s when chaos ensued.

Diaz and Penn went to war with one another and after winning a unanimous decision, Diaz called out GSP. He did it in such a fashion that GSP, who normally doesn’t do any trash-talking, went to White and told him to make the fight happen. For the first time in his career, it looked like Diaz got underneath the champion’s skin and thus the fight was set to happen February 4.

Then GSP was required to have knee surgery, which brought Condit back into the mix to crown a new interim welterweight champion. The winner of course is set to fight GSP later this year.

Now that the history between these three fighters is out of the way, it’s time to look forward to this more than fascinating main event Saturday night.

Diaz is one of those fighters that is incapable of having a boring fight because of his relentless pace and unparalleled cardio. He’s one of the few men who swam from Alcatraz and he competes in triathlons regularly when he’s not training for a fight.

With his slick boxing and crippling Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Diaz is considered to be one of the best fighters on the planet, but he’s going to be facing an assassin Saturday night.

While Diaz will have the edge as far as the boxing goes, Condit will have the edge when it comes to the kicks and knees. Condit is a fantastic Muay Thai fighter that proved in his bout against Dan Hardy that he has one-punch knockout power.

The real question in this fight is can Condit get the separation he needs to use those knees and kicks on Diaz? Diaz’s little brother Nate proved in his last fight against Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 that a relentless boxing style can indeed nullify a Muay Thai technician.

Both fighters are skilled, both are tough and both are sure to give the fans one heck of a main event. You should never buy a PPV because of the main event alone, but Diaz vs. Condit might be an exception.

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UFC on Fox 2: Grudge Matches Are in the Balance Come Fight Night

The UFC on Fox this Saturday night is the biggest card of the year, because it will decide whether the UFC will have two grudge matches that fans have been anxiously anticipating.When the cage door closes behind Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen, both f…

The UFC on Fox this Saturday night is the biggest card of the year, because it will decide whether the UFC will have two grudge matches that fans have been anxiously anticipating.

When the cage door closes behind Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen, both fighters will have one obstacle in their way before getting their hands on their rival.

For Evans, all he has to do is get past Phil Davis, so he can fulfill his destiny and fight the greatest light heavyweight the UFC has ever seen, Jon Jones. As for Sonnen, he gets a chance to take on Anderson Silva for one of the biggest rematches in UFC history, should he defeat Michael Bisping.

But then again, both fighters will have their hands full with these two opponents. Evans is facing a young up-and-comer in Davis, who just might possess the wrestling skills to take Evan’s No. 1 contendership.

Evans’ wrestling skills in his mind are second to none, but Davis is a four-time NCAA Division I All-American Wrestler and 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion.

If Evans can keep the fight standing, he should have a distinct advantage in striking—as he’s shown with his knockout victories over Sean Salmon and Chuck Liddell, he has some lethal strikes.

But then again, it’s been 10 months since we’ve seen Davis back in the octagon, and he could have improved his striking dramatically since then.

Should Evans get past Davis, the title fight with Jones will be the biggest grudge match for the light heavyweight championship since Chuck Liddell fought Tito Ortiz at UFC 66. Both fighters hate each other, and the fact that both of them have trained with each other and know each other’s tendacies, makes for an exciting clash.

Evans has the best chance of dethroning Jones, and with tremendous buildup, that fight could be one of the biggest of the year.

But make no mistake about it, it wouldn’t be bigger than Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva II. If Sonnen gets past Bisping, the rematch between him and Silva will take place in a soccer stadium in Brazil.

Sonnen is the only fighter to ever really come close to beating Silva in the UFC, and Sonnen was less than three minutes away from winning a decisive victory against Silva.

After Silva slipped on a triangle choke in the fifth round to reclaim his title at UFC 117, Sonnen has fought his way back to challenging for the title after beating Brian Stann at UFC 136 via arm-triangle choke.

Silva’s victory over Sonnen was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in sports and is my favorite fight of all time simply because of the way Silva came back from a dominating performance by Sonnen.

Sonnen talked a lot of trash before the fight, backed it all up and came just short of dethroning Silva. With Bisping, Sonnen needs to take him to the ground and work his ground-and-pound. I believe that’s just what Sonnen will do, and the rematch should be set after Saturday night.

Depending on the outcome of the fights this Saturday, this could be the most exciting year in UFC history. 

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