Author: kmowatt

We were quick to join the internet line handing Kenny Florian his much deserved props earlier this week, after the veteran lightweight cruised through former Pride champ Takanori Gomi at UFC Fight Night, for the third round submission win. “Ken Flo’s” striking was bang on once again, and his ground game, well, we appreciate that Gomi could beat down 99% of the world’s population, but once it hit the mat it wasn’t even close.

What makes Florian’s performance even more impressive, however, is news that the former TUF competitor had bursitis in his right knee heading into the bout. Couldn’t really tell could you? Speaking to the Boston Herald about the injury, Florian stated:

“It was just a matter of dealing with the pain out there,” Florian said. “Once I was out there, I didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel anything.”

“I just listened to my body and I rested when I had to rest,” Florian said. “As much as it killed me to sit on the couch, I had to rest. I was already in tremendous shape. Thank God I was in excellent shape so it wasn’t a factor.”

Damn. That must have been wicked hard (and we say so while doing our poorest impersonation of a Boston accent). So in other words, Florian wasn’t at his best and still rolled out with a win like that…scary.

By now even ‘I only watch Chuck Liddell fight’ fans are aware of the fact that Thiago Alves underwent successful surgery this week in NYC, to correct the irregularity in his brain that punted his scheduled UFC 111 rematch with Jon Fitch (some ‘I only watch Matt Hughes fight’ fans could still be in the wilderness hunting and thus remain unaware). Well, more good news has surfaced this AM as according to a ‘tweet’ from Alves, the punishing fighter has checked out of hospital and is headed back to Florida.

Leaving the hospital going back back to fll! 114 its looking good!!! I’m back soo happy thanks God! And all u guys! Osu!

Crazy. To think last week the MMA world was temporarily concerned about Alves and his future in the sport, and just days later we find out he wants to throw down on May 29^th. Who says technological progress is a bad thing?

Now the question that begs to be asked; any chance Fitch could be ready for UFC 114? It probably won’t happen, but the AKA stud didn’t appear to get injured in his dominant UD win over Ben Saunders (although his rep took more hits as he continues to draw fire for not finishing fights- seems like a common theme lately). Fitch clearly wants another crack at St. Pierre, but Dana White isn’t exactly falling over himself to confirm that fight is he?

Despite being taken down more times than a 4^th string running back, landing no strikes, and nearly having his arms torn asunder by Georges St. Pierre, Dan Hardy has apparently begun his ‘don’t look at me look at him’ campaign, to explain why their UFC 111 bout wasn’t a show stopper. Yes, St. Pierre clearly decided not to mix it up with the British slugger on his feet; he acknowledged afterwards that his game plan was to take Hardy down where he could dominate. Makes sense right? Well, while speaking to MMA Junkie, Dan Hardy criticized GSP’s approach to fighting, which apparently is too much about winning…

“I was saying this in the buildup to the fight – ‘GSP’ doesn’t take risks in his fights anymore,” he said. “He knew that my strength was striking and (within) 17 seconds of the first round, he shot in for a takedown. I think that says a lot about his approach to the fight game. He goes in there to win the fight and keep the belt and not to beat his opponent.”

“You can only fight this way for so long before people start complaining. I think Saturday night highlighted that, and I think a lot of people have started complaining. I don’t know how we’re going to get around it, because as the sport is now, you can do that and win fights.”

Yes, GSP’s performance wasn’t necessarily fall off your seat entertaining, and “The Outlaw” also conceded earlier in the article that he needs to work on his ground skills, but, really, it just seems like the UFC needs to find St. Pierre someone who can actually test him.

Last night’s UFC Fight Night card not only featured the UFC debut of Takanori Gomi, it also included the promotion’s best ever attempt at promoting a ‘reach’ vs. ‘waistline’ contest in the Octagon, namely, the extremely tall and lanky Stefan Struve, with the much shorter and ‘plus sized’ Roy Nelson. Of course, if you watched the fights then you also know that it took Nelson less than a minute to ‘timber’ Struve with a pounding right hand (do lumberjacks also rock mullets?).

In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Nelson was quick to call out James Toney, as the boxing champ seems to be on “Big Country’s” target list. Or is he? Speaking at the press conference after the card (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote) Nelson elaborated on his wish to fight Toney.

“James Toney, it’s one of those fights I’d actually like to see,” Nelson said. “I don’t mind beating up on YouTube guys. I’m cool with that. But for the most part, it’s not really a fight I want to see because I want to fight the best in the world.

“James Toney just because everybody likes to talk about James Toney. I think that would be a good pay-per-view fight.”

Apparently the comment “YouTube guys” wasn’t followed by a cough that sounded a lot like “Kimbo Slice” (you may recall Nelson’s takedown / beat down clinic over Slice during the last season of TUF). So, Nelson wants to fight Toney for exposure and dough, but he knows a win wouldn’t do much for his ranking. Right?

So, after we waxed on about how big a deal Takanori Gomi was in Japan for years, and that further, any MMA fan worth their weight in hot wings should know about “The Fireball Kid’s” resume, if last night was indeed your first time watching Gomi- you might have been thinking ‘meh’? Well, although the bout probably didn’t send anyone into hysterics, Kenny Florian once again demonstrated why he is one of very best at 155. Mr. Florian put on a clinic standing ,and when the bout hit the mat, he kicked right into ‘that’s a wrap’ mode. In other words, it’s pretty understandable that going up against a dude like Florian, Gomi might not have blown anyone’s socks off…

So what’s next for Florian? It wasn’t long ago that he failed to take out the ruling emperor of the lightweight division in BJ Penn, so for now, he’ll have to continue facing other notable contenders on the UFC roster. Well, at last night’s post-fight presser, Florian was asked about his immediate future and in particular, about Gray Maynard. You know, the undefeated, massive wrestler who holds wins over Frankie Edgar,  Roger Huerta and Jim Miller.  Yeah, he’s no slouch. (Thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote)

“Gray Maynard said he wanted to get the winner of this fight,” Florian said. “He’s a tremendous competitor.”

Yes. Mr. Maynard is a tremendous competitor, and due to the fact Florian went on to say he feels “blessed to be able to compete against the best guys in the best organization”, sounds like it could be Gray’s move (or Penn’s, depending on whether or not he beats Edgar, and stays at 155).

Remember back when “Shogun” Rua stopped Chuck Liddell, handing the former champ his 4^th loss in five fights, and Dana White promptly announced that he thought “The Iceman” should retire? Chuck said he was taking a break, did “Dancing with the Stars” and yadda, yadda, yadda, he’s back, coaching TUF and fighting Tito Ortiz (daily rumors that he’s not aside). Guess Liddell just wants to punch an old nemesis one more time, maybe take another fight after, and clock out right? Wrong.

In a new report from MMA Weekly, it sounds like Liddell is maybe looking to do ‘a Randy Couture,’ and make another run at the belt.

“I want to make another run at the title,” said Liddell. “I’m guessing it will take another couple fights, I’m going to have to beat Tito, and beat a couple more guys, and then hopefully a title shot after that.”

Wow. That’s certainly not something that Mr. White would have endorsed last April now is it? But Liddell goes on to say in the report that White has seen Chuck’s renewed dedication to the sport, and that the UFC boss man “feels good” about where he’s at. Now does this mean we’d go bet the chicken coop on Liddell beating “Rampage” Jackson finally or avenging his KTFO loss to Rashad Evans? No. We lost it already when we bet on Chuck beating Keith Jardine. Still, we’re looking forward to seeing “The Iceman” throw down again.