Author: Kyle Symes

UFC on Fox 2: What Must Go Right for Chael Sonnen to Defeat Michael Bisping

Chael Sonnen’s opponent may have changed, but his mission still remains: A rematch with Anderson Silva will happen now if he can get past Michael “The Count” Bisping.Sonnen may have lucked out with Bisping replacing Mark Munoz, as far as the stand up g…

Chael Sonnen’s opponent may have changed, but his mission still remains: A rematch with Anderson Silva will happen now if he can get past Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Sonnen may have lucked out with Bisping replacing Mark Munoz, as far as the stand up game goes.

Munoz isn’t as technical of a striker as Bisping, but Munoz has crazy knockout power in his hands. Bisping doesn’t have the power, which will give Sonnen more opportunities to get the fight to the ground.

It’s no secret that Sonnen will win this fight by taking Bisping to the mat. It’s what Sonnen does once the fight reaches that point that will determine if Sonnen walks out of Chicago with a title shot.

Sonnen has had issues with people submitting him off their backs, and although Bisping is confident he can exploit that weakness, Bisping is no Demian Maia or Jeremy Horn.

We saw in Sonnen’s fight with Brian Stann that he is capable of using his own jiu-jitsu to finish a fight. This could provide a nice wrinkle in his game that will give Bisping something else to think about.

Until the Stann fight, everyone knew what a fight with Sonnen would look like. He was going to take his opponent down and simply out-work them from the top. Constant punches were a trademark of Sonnen’s wrestling game.

But now that we’ve seen Sonnen not only show the ability, but the willingness to take a submission, he has more avenues to success than a three-round decision.

I’m not saying Sonnen is a submission specialist for pulling off a fairly basic move, but it’s nice to see him evolve his game beyond simply takedowns and punches from his opponents’ guard.

That will be key for a Sonnen victory against Bisping. Most people will agree that Sonnen will get Bisping to the mat. He will just have to avoid the silly mistakes he’s made in the past and pass his opponents’ guard.

Fighting a smart fight on the ground will not only give Sonnen a win, but also set up the popular Silva-Sonnen II fight.

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UFC on Fox 2: What Must Go Right for Michael Bisping to Defeat Chael Sonnen

With Mark Munoz’s injury, Michael Bisping has been bumped up to the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 2 event. Bisping is finally within reach of the title shot that he’s been searching for.
However, it won’t be easy, as Bisping has to defeat the consens…

With Mark Munoz’s injury, Michael Bisping has been bumped up to the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 2 event. Bisping is finally within reach of the title shot that he’s been searching for.

However, it won’t be easy, as Bisping has to defeat the consensus No. 2 middleweight in the world in Chael Sonnen. There are a few things that must happen in order for Bisping to spoil a Sonnen-Anderson Silva rematch:

The first will be his foot work.

Bisping will need to implement a hit-and-run tactic and avoid Sonnen. It’s not that Sonnen has knockout power in his hands, but he needs to be a moving target against Sonnen’s takedowns.

By popping Sonnen in the head and body, and preventing him from getting a hold of Bisping, the Brit will frustrate Sonnen.

Although Bisping has showed good striking and will likely make it difficult for Sonnen to take him down, the odds are Bisping will end up on his back at least once during the fight. Bisping isn’t too concerned about that, however.

Chael Sonnen can take me down if he likes, because I know I can submit him off my back. I know I can. That’s his big weakness. I may not have a black belt, but I consider myself a black belt. I’ve been rolling with Jake Shields, Dean Lister and a wash of other world champions. Believe me, if Chael Sonnen takes me down, he better be prepared to get submitted.

 

While Bisping may have confidence in his submission game, I think he forgets who the people submitting Sonnen throughout his career were. Guys like Silva, Demian Maia, Jeremy Horn and Renato Sobral certainly have better ground games than Bisping.

Can Bisping submit Sonnen? Absolutely. But “The Count” shouldn’t count on that being part of his gameplan.

Sonnen is one of the strongest middleweights in the UFC, and his top control is some of the best in the world. Bisping won’t find a lot of room to maneuver with Sonnen on top of him, constantly punching the Brit in the face.

It’s good that Bisping seems to have accepted the fact that he’s going to get taken down, because there’s a very good chance he will.

But Bisping also needs to realize that his greatest chance for victory lies with both fighters standing.

For what Chael Sonnen must do to win, check this out.

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Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos and Why Her Steroid Suspension Severely Hurts WMMA

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was arguably the biggest star in all of women’s MMA. She could see all that fall apart before her eyes following a positive steroid test and resulting suspension. Santos intends to go through the appeal process, but regardless…

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was arguably the biggest star in all of women’s MMA. She could see all that fall apart before her eyes following a positive steroid test and resulting suspension.

Santos intends to go through the appeal process, but regardless of whether she is found innocent, her career, and much more importantly, WMMA will be stained for the foreseeable future.

Most MMA fans know that women deserve their own place in MMA and can generally agree that some of the women in MMA are talented. Many women’s matches are more entertaining than some of the fights between men.

But there’s also another set of fans, perhaps an even larger group, that doesn’t want to see women in MMA. The sport can be rough and some people don’t want to see women fighting each other.

As old-fashioned thinking as that sounds, it represents a large amount of fans in the MMA world.

Fans who don’t want to see women compete in MMA will no doubt use this as billboard material when making their arguments as to why WMMA shouldn’t exist. These fans don’t want women fighting, let alone taking steroids.

I’ve also heard the argument that Santos’s suspension will allow other stars to develop, and that is certainly true. But every fighter at 145 pounds knows that if they were to win the title now, it would be nothing more than an interim title.

Santos is the end-all for women’s MMA.

Like the Royce Gracie of early men’s MMA, fans would agree that she can handle any of the ladies currently competing in the world.

Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey are likely the two fighters who will benefit the most from Santos’s suspension. Rousey certainly knows how to make a headline, and both ladies definitely have the looks to match their talents.

The problem with both women is that they compete in a weight class outside of Santos’s reach.

With all the attention focused on the 135-pound division in WMMA, it will be make-or-break time for the women. Like the heavyweight division in boxing, it’s clear that the 135-pound division will draw the most fan interest for the time being.

Even though “Cyborg” doesn’t compete in this division, people (uneducated ones) will still associate her with the 135-pound division. The lines between weight classes in WMMA are blurred, and a lot of fans don’t associate the women with their weight classes.

When Santos returns from her suspension, however long it may be, she will always have a dark cloud over her head. Like Chael Sonnen with his PED issues, there will always be material for fans to question Santos with.

Unfortunately for Santos, she doesn’t have the career options available like some of the women in MMA. She was born to step in the cage and smash whoever is put in front of her.

Hopefully the American fans keep with the status quo and forgive all trespasses as long as she wins. The quickest way for Santos to get the steroid talk out of people’s mouths is by putting on another dominant performance.

But that will have to wait, as “Cyborg” fights for her credibility along with the credibility of WMMA.

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Strikeforce: Sorting out the Remaining Title Pictures

In case you were unaware, Strikeforce still exists and has weight divisions with title holders. They also have a few divisions that are wide open as the titles are vacant.The heavyweight division may be folding into the UFC, but the rest of the weight …

In case you were unaware, Strikeforce still exists and has weight divisions with title holders. They also have a few divisions that are wide open as the titles are vacant.

The heavyweight division may be folding into the UFC, but the rest of the weight divisions under the Strikeforce banner still have title pictures that need to be cleared up.

Some, like the lightweight division have a clear champion established. Others, like the light heavyweight  division, are currently vacant and need someone to step up.

Prepare to see through the cloudy title pictures and gain some clarity in the Strikeforce weight divisions.

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Creating the Ultimate Joe Rogan Drinking Game

Joe Rogan is certainly one of the most colorful personalities in the UFC, so it would only seem right that we, the MMA fans, created an ultimate Joe Rogan drinking game, right?Luckily, we here at B/R have a pre-set group of rules for drinking during a …

Joe Rogan is certainly one of the most colorful personalities in the UFC, so it would only seem right that we, the MMA fans, created an ultimate Joe Rogan drinking game, right?

Luckily, we here at B/R have a pre-set group of rules for drinking during a UFC broadcast.

To keep things simple, we’ll just create a “Drink __ times every time Joe Rogan says ___” format. Of course, there a few wild cards thrown in to keep things interesting.

Grab a drink, take a seat, plug in the closest UFC show you have on DVD and prepare for a long evening on “The Joe Rogan Drinking Experience.”

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UFC 142: ‘Unprofessional’ Anthony Johnson Should Be Cut from the UFC

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson just can’t cut it. Sure, he’s a great fighter in the Octagon, but it’s his body of work before the fight where the real hard work comes into play. That’s where Johnson can’t cut it. A move up to middleweight was seen as a new b…

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson just can’t cut it. Sure, he’s a great fighter in the Octagon, but it’s his body of work before the fight where the real hard work comes into play. That’s where Johnson can’t cut it.

A move up to middleweight was seen as a new beginning for the Georgia native. Johnson has had a history of missing weight at 170 pounds and was supposed to make his middleweight debut at UFC 142.

Instead, Johnson failed to make weight. It’s not like Johnson missed it by one or two pounds. “Rumble” came in a whopping 12 pounds over the 185-pound weight limit.

Johnson missing weight has led his boss, Dana White, to call into question Johnson’s professionalism.

As a fighter, you are a professional. You are contracted to come in at a certain weight. This is not the first time this has happened with Johnson. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen to him at 170 pounds, and here we are in the same position again. [Belfort] came in like a professional on weight, and Anthony Johnson comes in as a total unprofessional, way overweight. (MMAFighting.com)

“Rumble” came into UFC 142 unprofessionally. He should leave as a non-professional.

The move to 185 pounds was supposed to solve Johnson’s weight cut issues and be a fresh start for him. Instead it’s only made it worse.

It’s clear that the cut to 170 pounds wasn’t the issue. The issue is with Johnson not having any self-discipline.

He may be a source of excitement once the cage door closes, but if he’s not willing to put in the work it takes to get to that point, he shouldn’t be fighting in the UFC.

The fight is the reward for all the hard work and dedication that’s shown in the weeks of training leading up to a fight.

For Johnson, it’s a simple case of no pain, no gain.

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