Michael Hatamoto | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 147: What We Learned from Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow

Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow was supposed to be a clash of styles between a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with budding striking skills against a tough, wrestling-based heavyweight. Instead of trying to drag the fight to the mat, however, Werdum …

The stoppage came at 2:25 of the first round in their UFC 147 bout on Saturday night, and Russow managed to land a few nice left hooks—but nothing else really went his way.

Werdum is a legitimate heavyweight contender again, and he claims he’s ready for a rematch with Junior dos Santos.

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

We’ll remember that Werdum did what he was supposed to do: win as quickly as impossible, while brutally finishing an overmatched Russow. Werdum’s stand-up looked good against Russow, as the Brazilian was able to land shots almost at will—and Russow was unable to mount any significant offensive before he was leveled.

What We Learned About Fabricio Werdum

As he showed against Roy Nelson earlier in the year, Werdum’s striking has improved significantly over the years. He’s working diligently on his Muay Thai, and he has become a much more well-rounded fighter, so he’ll pose a threat to more opponents.

He didn’t need to utilize his strong BJJ game, and his future opponents shouldn’t forget that the ground game is still Werdum’s strength.

What We Learned About Mike Russow

Even though he was finished by Werdum, he was able to walk around the cage just fine after the fight. He’s a tough guy but was essentially sent to the slaughter by the UFC.

What’s Next For Mike Russow

Well, the UFC gave him a chance to step up and topple a top-ranked heavyweight, but he never stood a chance. Russow is a tough fighter with strong wrestling and heavy hands, but he should stay away from fighters in the top 10.

What’s Next For Fabricio Werdum

Werdum called for a rematch against JDS, but JDS needs to rematch Cain Velasquez first. I expect the UFC will give Werdum one more fight before earning a title shot against either JDS or Cain.

It’s a shame Fedor Emelianenko and the UFC couldn’t come to an agreement, because I think a possible rematch between Werdum and Fedor would be a lot of fun. Realistically, if he has to fight again, bring Daniel Cormier over from Strikeforce.

Wait, I said realistically…how about a fight against Frank Mir? I know Mir was just obliterated against JDS, but he’s still a top-level, talented heavyweight. It’d be fun to see how a fight between two excellent grapplers with emerging striking skills would go down.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 147: What We Learned from Marcos Vinicius vs. Wagner Campos

During the second fight of the UFC 147 preliminary card streamed live on Facebook Saturday night, two fighters from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil took to the cage. It’s clear that TUF: Brazil has been a major hit for the UFC, with solid competitio…

During the second fight of the UFC 147 preliminary card streamed live on Facebook Saturday night, two fighters from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil took to the cage. It’s clear that TUF: Brazil has been a major hit for the UFC, with solid competition from legitimate contenders on the show.

Marcos Vinicius Borges Pancini (who also goes by just Marcos Vinicius) and Wagner Campos are both Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belts, so it wasn’t clear whether this would end up being a ground war or striking battle. Throughout the first two rounds, the fight took place both on the feet and on the ground. Campos was able to utilize better BJJ—including dropping Vinicius when he threw a flying knee that left him exposed.

However, the fight was finished on the feet during the third round, with Vinicius able to land a couple of knees to the body. Once Campos was backed up against the cage following the knees, Vinicius was able to land several hard punches that forced referee Herb Dean to step in and save the stunned Campos.

The fight marks Vinicius’ 20th professional win, and all of them have come via stoppage.

What Fans Will Remember From This Fight

Campos’ high-level BJJ skills set him up for success on the ground, but he was unable to finish the head-arm choke in the first round. Meanwhile, Vinicius was able to actually land upkicks and some hammerfists from his back, cutting Campos open, and did what he had to do to survive on the ground.

Vinicius did enough to survive until the third round, where he suddenly decided to go for broke, and threw another flying knee. This time the flying knee landed on the body, and he was able to follow up with another knee and a quick barrage of strikes.

What We Learned About Marcos Vinicius

He’s a BJJ black belt able to grapple with the best of them, as he prevented Campos from ending the fight via submission or ground-and-pound. Entering the third round, he knew he was down in the fight, and came out firing.

I like fighters that understand they need to get after it, and promptly decide that it’s time to fight back. Vinicius is well-rounded, but will still need to work on his striking and wrestling if he hopes to progress through the UFC’s featherweight ranks.

What We Learned About Wagner Campos

Campos was able to control Vinicius on the ground, easily passing the Brazilian fighter’s guard. However, he was unable to finish any submission attempts, and couldn’t utilize ground-and-pound to cause major damage on Vinicius. I’m curious why he was unable to finish the choke during the first round, as it almost looked like he decided to let Vinicius out of it.

He’ll still be able to put most fighters in serious trouble if he can drag it down to the mat, but he seemed to lack a killer instinct required to propel him to the top of the division.

What’s Next For Marcos Vinicius

Get him back into the cage as soon as possible, as he’s 32 years old and may not have a lengthy future ahead of him in the UFC Octagon. Whenever the UFC decides to head back to Brazil, making sure Vinicius is on the card could lead to some great featherweight matchups.

I think a fight against someone like Bart Palaszewski could be fun—Palaszewski is absolutely willing to bring it in the cage, and he would give us a better idea of where Vinicius stands in the UFC featherweight division. If they want to keep him against a Brazilian, perhaps a fight against Hugo Viana would be an ideal matchup.

What’s Next For Wagner Campos

Get back into the gym and work more on his standup defense, as his grappling skills are already at a high level.

Match him up against another one of the TUF: Brazil featherweights, as it’s difficult to see where Campos really stands in the featherweight division. Honestly, I think it’ll depend on who is available to fight, and on what card, as we will have to wait and see how things shape up later this summer.

If not, I’d like to see him fight Mark Hominick, only because I’m curious if Hominick can keep the fight standing and try to turn it into a slugfest.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX 4: Long-Time Gatekeper Clay Guida Looks to Topple Maynard

Clay Guida will meet Gray Maynard during the main event of UFC on FX 4 tomorrow night to help sort out the top of the UFC lightweight division. On the surface, this appears to be a fight designed to give Maynard a tough test en route to a possibl…

Clay Guida will meet Gray Maynard during the main event of UFC on FX 4 tomorrow night to help sort out the top of the UFC lightweight division.

On the surface, this appears to be a fight designed to give Maynard a tough test en route to a possible lightweight title shot. Guida hopes to rebuild momentum after he lost to Ben Henderson in November 2011, again faltering in his chance to break through to a title shot.

Sorry Guida fans, I hate to break it to you, but Maynard is likely going to have his way with the crazy-haired fighter tomorrow night. The 30-year-old won’t get past Maynard during their UFC on FX 4 headline fight but will continue to serve as an elite gatekeeper to fighters looking to work their way towards a higher ranking.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an elite gatekeeper because he’s always in exciting fights and isn’t an easy opponent to control. He has a great personality, an energetic fighting style and has proven to be quite durable since joining the UFC in 2006.

Being a perennial top 10 lightweight isn’t anything to be ashamed of, and if his striking game really is improving. Most lightweights looking to jump up in rank will have problems when they’re in the cage with him.

Even though he’s beaten the likes of Anthony Pettis, Takanori Gomi and Nate Diaz, I don’t think Guida is a serious UFC lightweight division contender—nor will he ever be. It’s a difficult position for him to be in because when people think of gate keepers, they tend to think of fighters who are mid-tier and can’t hang with the best of the best.

However, a “normal” gatekeeper would get handled by either Pettis or Diaz, but Guida was able to pick up wins in both cases.

Since 2007, Guida has only been finished twice—losing to Roger Huerta at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra Finale via rear-naked choke—and to Kenny Florian via rear-naked choke at UFC 107. He’s never been knocked out and can force opponents to suffer with his grappling ability in all rounds of the fight.

Guida is a stiff test for rising lightweight fighters, and a victory against him should help propel the fighter closer to a title shot, and a loss, as Anthony Pettis is learning, will force a climb back up the ladder.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney Showed Hesitancy, Admits Risks of Signing Brett Rogers

Former Strikeforce fighter Brett Rogers will return on Friday night at Bellator 71, when he meets Kevin Asplund in a non-tournament heavyweight fight matchup. Rogers’ MMA career was disrupted after a case of domestic disturbance led to a guilty p…

Former Strikeforce fighter Brett Rogers will return on Friday night at Bellator 71, when he meets Kevin Asplund in a non-tournament heavyweight fight matchup.

Rogers’ MMA career was disrupted after a case of domestic disturbance led to a guilty plea to a felony count of third degree assault in early 2011. Rogers was sentenced to 60 days in jail, but returned to professional MMA in September 2011, where he lost a split decision to Eddie Sanchez in the Titan Fighting Championships promotion.

Strikeforce and the UFC clearly weren’t interested in Rogers after he was eligible to fight, and it was uncertain if he was going to get a chance in another major US MMA organization.

Bellator announced the signing earlier this month, and there was an immediate firestorm of criticism from many MMA fans.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney understands that this was a controversial signing, and had this to say when I recently spoke with him:

“I saw a lot of fan feedback, and I’m always interested in what people are saying. (Rogers) management came to us months ago and started explaining that they felt his life was back on track. He was back with his wife and training. He’s taking care of family matters and his family. Based on his history and recent record, we were a bit stand offish. His management team kept coming to us. I talked to him and heard from about what he’s doing, and how he’s trying to improve his life.”

Instead of trying to be a bouncer or security guard, where Rogers could have ended up in an altercation, he chose a different route, according to Rebney.

“He literally took a job delivering newspapers instead of working security at a club, or a job along those lines.”

Instead, he’ll have a chance to leave that behind and focus on Asplund, a heavy-handed former friend and training partner.

With his wife and family supporting him, Rogers stayed in shape and hopes to prove to MMA fans they can forgive his checkered past.

In his past five fights, Rogers is just 1-4, though lost to the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett and Sanchez. His lone win was a unanimous decision against Ruben Villareal during W-1 MMA 6 in October 2010.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

CWFC 48 Middleweight Tournament Final on Hold After Injury to Victor Cheng

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship has had to rearrange its CWFC middleweight title tournament after contender Victor Cheng withdrew from an expected fight with Pavel Kusch next month. Instead, beaten tournament seminfinalists Faycal Hucin and John Ph…

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship has had to rearrange its CWFC middleweight title tournament after contender Victor Cheng withdrew from an expected fight with Pavel Kusch next month.

Instead, beaten tournament seminfinalists Faycal Hucin and John Phillips will fight, with the winner eligible to jump into the tournament final if Cheng isn’t ready later in the year.

Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan said in a media release (from CWFC’s official website):

“It’s disappointing for everyone to learn of Victor’s injury because he’s certainly earned this title shot with very impressive wins over Matt Gabel and Faycal Hucin.”

The middleweight fight was scheduled for Cage Warriors 48 in London next month, but it has been postponed until CWFC Fight Night 7 in late August. Cheng will have to be medically cleared at the beginning of August to ensure he’s healthy enough to fight on Aug. 30 in Amman, Jordan. Said Boylan:

“I think we’ve given Victor enough time to recover from the injury in question, so hopefully everything will go well for him and his proposed fight with Pavel will go ahead as planned.”

Injuries seem to plague MMA promotions, ranging from small start ups all the way up to the UFC, with fighters training at an increased pace for too long. CWFC is the latest to have to deal with these issues, as the British-based promotion continues to expand its promotion throughout Europe.

It’s good to see CWFC also give the tournament style a try, as Bellator has seen great success by hosting tournaments to help determine champions and potential contenders.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Will Tape TUF Again, Keep It on Friday Evenings

After FX officials publicly discussed being pleased with ratings for the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, the company’s first try at a live season, the UFC has decided to go back to a taped series. TUF will still be shown on FX on Friday ni…

After FX officials publicly discussed being pleased with ratings for the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, the company’s first try at a live season, the UFC has decided to go back to a taped series.

TUF will still be shown on FX on Friday nights but could be moved to a Tuesday or Wednesday if ratings don’t increase. FX officials say their Friday night programming lineup ratings were up and slotted in at No. 2 in the time slot, even with Spike TV launching a counter-programming campaign.

“FX wants to try it again on Friday nights,” UFC President Dana White recently told Yahoo Sports. “But if it’s not up to the standards I’m expecting, I’m pretty sure they’ll give me what I want. But this season was a smash hit home run for them.”

The new season of TUF should air in September and begins filming in just three weeks. It will focus on welterweight fighters, and the UFC is expected to announce coaches soon.

I think it’s a shame the UFC couldn’t better market TUF Live, as the increased focus on fighting instead of in-house dramatics was a refreshing change of pace. Having the fighters in the house fight in a more condensed time frame, however, certainly wasn’t ideal—or necessarily fair—to those advancing in the tournament, such as Michael Chiesa or Al Iaquinta.

How can the UFC change things up?

Matt Ryder believes Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar as TUF coaches could help the brand through a new season of the show. Meanwhile, Ryan Sz wonders if it’s time to have an all female season of the show and whether or not that would be dramatic enough to shake things up.

I think it’s all about the quality of the fighters. If the MMA fans didn’t approve of a live season of the show, then a taped season with better fighters may be in order. For example, Chiesa and Sam Sicilia train with such characters as Cody McKenzie and Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm in Spokane, Washington, yet nothing could be learned about their respective backgrounds as teammates and friends.

Also, I hope the UFC and FX leave the drama for daytime soap operas and focus on the training of fighters. If everything goes well, the UFC can keep TUF on Friday and find success on FX with its taped show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com