By now, you’ve probably heard the big news of the day: Anthony “Hey Yo, Is That My Tummy Rumblin’?” Johnson missed weight today in historic fashion, tipping the scales at 197 pounds. According to some research that I absolutely did not just do, twelve pounds is the most that anyone has ever blown weight anywhere ever, and you can feel free to correct me in the comments. Vitor Belfort has agreed to fight a catchweight at 197, but has asked that Johnson weigh-in again tomorrow at no more than 205.
Now, maybe I’m not shocked by this — but damn brotato, how do you miss — how do you go UP a weight class because you have a nightmare cut at 170 and the boss has said you belong at 185, then proceed to bulk up like you got a call from Vince McMahon?
Serious question: is Anthony Johnson dyslexic with numbers or something? Just checking.
By now, you’ve probably heard the big news of the day: Anthony “Hey Yo, Is That My Tummy Rumblin’?” Johnson missed weight today in historic fashion, tipping the scales at 197 pounds. According to some research that I absolutely did not just do, twelve pounds is the most that anyone has ever blown weight anywhere ever, and you can feel free to correct me in the comments. Vitor Belfort has agreed to fight a catchweight at 197, but has asked that Johnson weigh-in again tomorrow at no more than 205.
Now, maybe I’m not exactly shocked by this — but damn brotato, how do you miss … how do you go UP a weight class because you have a nightmare cut at 170 and the boss has said you belong at 185, then proceed to bulk up like you got a call from Vince McMahon?
Serious question: is Anthony Johnson dyslexic with numbers or something? Just checking.
The downsides are all on Rumble’s side. Dana is already going on record calling him “unprofessional”, which may be code for “black”, but in this case is actually code for “I’m going to fuck him worse than he’s ever been fucked before”. Unless Rumble puts in a Fight of the Night-worthy performance, he will almost certainly lose his job and wind up in StrikeForce, except without their awesome salaries.
First off: bungalow fans rejoice, because this just became a slugfest. Johnson has to know that a methodical, grinding win will result in Dana firing him angrily during the press conference (which Johnson would not be invited to). Johnson is going to have to use his reach and size (ha ha, get it?) to win a stand up fight with Belfort.
Belfort himself comes out of this like a champ, because he can not lose in this situation. He’s stepping up to save the fight, which means he’ll have a job with the UFC through the next two years or four losses (whichever comes first). Should he lose, his record will have an asterisk for all eternity that Johnson was a 250 pound roid-monster in the cage, and if he pulls out a win the internet will explode because Vitor Belfort just knocked out a heavyweight holy shit did you see that, bro!? It’s like UFC 13 again, only in Brazil.
Meanwhile Johnson loses pretty much any way you slice it. He’ll be a visibly larger man in the cage to anyone with rods and cones to rub together, and any win he gets will be tainted. No one is going to be particularly impressed with a quick knockout on a smaller Belfort, and if he actually tries to wrestle Belfort for a decision?
“The Stoic Russian” is a hurtful stereotype, so we didn’t include it. The more you know…..
People complain about “pro-wrestling bullshit” invading MMA, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again: personality will get you places in the fight game. We’ve pointed this out before, like when we advised Jon Fitch on how to ensure a title shot. Some fighters are talked about incessantly on forums, at lunch tables, and in interviews because they’ve managed to capture the interest of fans, and many times it is because of things that they have done or said while not in the cage.
Come on in and let’s talk about archetypes, drama, and personality. Because there’s only so many technique videos out there.
“The Stoic Russian” is a hurtful stereotype, so we didn’t include it. The more you know…..
People complain about “pro-wrestling bullshit” invading MMA, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again: personality will get you places in the fight game. We’ve pointed this out before, like when we advised Jon Fitch on how to ensure a title shot. Some fighters are talked about incessantly on forums, at lunch tables, and in interviews because they’ve managed to capture the interest of fans, and many times it is because of things that they have done or said while not in the cage.
Come on in and let’s talk about archetypes, drama, and personality. Because there’s only so many technique videos out there.
Tank Abbott, Tito Ortiz, So Very Many Others: “The Bad Boy”
When Ortiz began calling himself “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, Tank was all like, “I ain’t dead yet.”
Tito Ortiz pioneered the role of the heel in the UFC, and helped carry the company through lean times with outstanding promotional work, including a long-standing feud with Ken Shamrock‘s Lion’s Den that was better than anything being scripted in the WWE. Then Tito went about as full-on “bad boy” as it gets, by wifing a porn star. Sure, it takes a tough guy to be a champ in the UFC, but sticking your tongue in that particular holiest of holies? That’s some next-level bad boy shit, right there.
Note: It’s popular for fighters to project the bad boy image, but it’s a tough road to walk. James Irvin got himself a bad boy tattoo, and things really haven’t gone well for him. Something to keep in mind.
Note here the difference between “Asshole” and “Heel”. A heel is a dastardly, evil person who hates fans, and basks in the uneven glow of insults and epithets he encounters whenever he performs. An asshole brings Bud Light to a party, snags a Heineken from the fridge, and asks if your sister is DTF … but then he acts offended if anyone acts offended.
Kos and Bisping genuinely believe that they are good guys, and neither of them understand why everyone has such a goddamn problem with them. (See: any episode of TUF in which they appear.) A true asshole is mystified when faced with others’ distate of his assholishness.
I’ll just leave this right here…
“Don’t look at the camera, ‘Page, it makes you look like an asshole.”
Miguel Torres, Tom Lawlor, Jason Miller, et al: The Jester
You’re just jealous because you can’t play dress-up at your job.
Generally active via social media, these jokers engage in various styles of goofiness. Jesters tend to be fond of elaborate fight entrances entrances, featuring choreography, extras, props, and/or elaborate costumes. (Forrest Griffin should get a mention here too, since he was a pretty funny guy until he was perpetually crabby.)
For maximum hilarity, combine “The Jester” with “The Asshole” and agitate.
“My regular training schedule was interrupted briefly after I broke a bone and had it pinned for faster and stronger healing – but now I am right back at full speed, 100% healthy, working like an animal, loving every minute and can feel that my training performance has clearly reached a new career high for me – I am really pumped and ready to go!!” -Jessica Aguilar, on training PicProps: Tom Hill
When you look into Jessica Aguilar’s training regimen, you know that you’re dealing with a dedicated athlete. Her typical schedule is brutal. Her gym, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, is home to elite fighters. Her “personal time” — a couple of hours carved out of the afternoon — are usually spent working, to supplement a fighting income that doesn’t always square with having the best equipment, or a registered dietitian on call, or a hyperbaric chamber in your back yard.
Not that you’ll hear her complain. Aguilar gets by the with help of her sponsors, and she’s quick to point it out. But unlike the usual ham-handed attempts by fighters to plug companies that send them checks, Aguilar comes across as genuinely appreciative of the people and companies who have supported her through lean times. Talk to her for five minutes, and you realize that the positivity and tenacity aren’t marketing points, they’re deeply ingrained character traits. That attitude, the relentless optimism, the rugged determination, have served Aguilar well in her six year career.
Join us after the jump for all of CP’s exclusive interview with Jessica.
“My regular training schedule was interrupted briefly after I broke a bone and had it pinned for faster and stronger healing – but now I am right back at full speed, 100% healthy, working like an animal, loving every minute and can feel that my training performance has clearly reached a new career high for me – I am really pumped and ready to go!!” -Jessica Aguilar, on training PicProps: Tom Hill
When you look into Jessica Aguilar’s training regimen, you know that you’re dealing with a dedicated athlete. Her typical schedule is brutal. Her gym, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, is home to elite fighters. Her “personal time” — a couple of hours carved out of the afternoon — are usually spent working, to supplement a fighting income that doesn’t always square with having the best equipment, or a registered dietitian on call, or a hyperbaric chamber in your back yard.
Not that you’ll hear her complain. Aguilar gets by the with help of her sponsors, and she’s quick to point it out. But unlike the usual ham-handed attempts by fighters to plug companies that send them checks, Aguilar comes across as genuinely appreciative of the people and companies who have supported her through lean times. Talk to her for five minutes, and you realize that the positivity and tenacity aren’t marketing points, they’re deeply ingrained character traits. That attitude, the relentless optimism, the rugged determination, have served Aguilar well in her six year career.
Jessica Aguilar never meant to start a career in MMA. A life-long athlete, a twenty-three year old Aguilar had just moved from Texas to Florida. The story goes that she started training BJJ on a whim after showing up late for her aerobics class one day, and it clicked from day one.
She was a quick study, and her instructors threw her into a NAGA grappling tournament two months after she started rolling. Not long after that, she was approached by a promoter at an amateur competition, asking if she’d take a pro fight. Aguilar, completely ignorant of what she was getting herself into (and expecting to lay down an entrance fee), agreed to take the fight by asking, “Sure, I’ll compete, how much do I pay?”
Aguilar got paid for that first fight she took with almost no training and less experience, and she caught a loss to Lisa Ward. Ward was then, and still is, a top five fighter in the women’s 115 pound division.
Aguilar went on to assemble an 8-3 record before being invited to take part in Bellator’s inaugural women’s tournament. She scored a business-like arm triangle choke on Lynn Alvarez in the first round, moving her ahead in the tournament to fight Zoila Frausto. Frausto won the decision, but this is what the competitors looked like afterwards. Jessica Aguilar, unscratched, smiled and applauded graciously when the decision was announced.
Jag returned quickly to the cage, picking up a submission win over Elsie Henri less than two months after her screw job loss, then a decision win over powerful wrestler Carla Esparza.
A Frausto rematch was planned, then scrapped, when Jag’s recovery from surgery wasn’t proceeding properly. Another opportunity presented itself in the form of another old loss: Lisa Ward. She’s Lisa Ward-Ellis now, but she’s still the same fighter: a top-ranked contender in the weight class with a win over Aguilar back in February 2006. Jag wants to erase that loss, but what she really wants is a shot at the best female fighter in her weight class. Thing is, the current Bellator women’s champ isn’t who she’s talking about: Jag has her sights set on Megumi Fujii.
Alright Nation, we are on the brink of what is possibly the most important event in human history since ever. We stress the word “possibly” in that sentence, so no silly hate mail about Steve Guttenberg inventing the bench press, or whatever. And please, don’t talk to us about the historic impact of the so-called “moon landing”. Everyone knows that the whole Apollo mission was filmed on a sound stage in Arizona.
This historic event will be broadcast live on a major network to a bajillion people, so it’s not even really a contest. Two large men will fight for money and everyone and their Nana can watch; if Jesus shows up tonight in a tuxedo t-shirt we wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. It’s such a huge deal that the UFC is basically giving Fox just the tip to see how it feels, airing just one fight off of a pretty sweet ten-fight lineup.
Come around and hang out with us for all the fights, because you know we’re going to have you covered, Nation. Fights start at 4:45ET on Facebook and FoxSports.com, the big-deal television show kicks off at 9ET.
Oh, and hit “Refresh” frequently, since everyone seems to tell people to do that.
Alright Nation, we are on the brink of what is possibly the most important event in human history since ever. We stress the word “possibly” in that sentence, so no silly hate mail about Steve Guttenberg inventing the bench press, or whatever. And please, don’t talk to us about the historic impact of the so-called “moon landing”. Everyone knows that the whole Apollo mission was filmed on a sound stage in Arizona.
This historic event will be broadcast live on a major network to a bajillion people, so it’s not even really a contest. Two large men will fight for money and everyone and their Nana can watch; if Jesus shows up tonight in a tuxedo t-shirt we wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. It’s such a huge deal that the UFC is basically giving Fox just the tip to see how it feels, airing just one fight off of a pretty sweet ten-fight lineup.
Come around and hang out with us for all the fights, because you know we’re going to have you covered, Nation. Fights start at 4:45ET on Facebook and FoxSports.com, the big-deal television show kicks off at 9ET.
Oh, and hit “Refresh” frequently, since everyone seems to tell people to do that.
Matt “Luke Duke” Lucas vs Aaron Rosa
First round is tentative, with Lucas scoring a easy takedown early. Rosa stands up quickly, and the two spend a couple of minutes clinching. Rosa defends and stays busy with short elbows and punches. Lucas looks slow and tired almost immediately, and spits out his mouthpiece three minutes into the first. With thirty seconds left in the round, Rosa starts putting knees into the mix. No damage, but he’ll take the round.
Second and third rounds look virtually identical, right down to Lucas having issues with his mouthpiece. Rogan has an opinion about that nonsense. Matt Lucas drops his mouthpiece four times during the fight, and referee Big John McCarthy docks him a point in the second. Lucas scores a few takedowns, but he can’t do anything to follow up. Rosa is calm and professional, working offense as Lucas crowds him with knees and elbows, and he takes all three rounds with ease.
The judges have it 28-28, 30-26, and 30-26, giving Aaron Rosa a majority decision over Matt Lucas (whom you’ll not see in the Octagon again any time soon), and there’s a judge who may have a glue-sniffing habit. What the blue hell just happened?
Paul Bradley vs Mike Pierce
These guys have fought once already in the minors, Pierce scored the unanimous decision.
Good action and much more closely contested fight between these two. Pierce appears to get the better of the striking exchanges, and Bradley seems to be more solid in the takedown contests, stuffing Pierce’s attempts and capitalizing on his own. Pierce seems fresher and scores the more visible damage through three rounds.
The judges call it 29-28 Bradley, 30-27 Pierce, and 29-28 Pierce, giving Mike Pierce the split decision win over Paul Bradley in the rematch. It was a close fight, so we can understand how none of the three judges see the fight the same way, but is this a bad sign of things to come?
Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres vs Cole “The Apache Kid” Escovedo
Alex Caceres puts on a striking exhibition in the first round, so he’s definitely getting closer to the final level. Caceres weaves around the vast majority of Escovedo’s offense, while landing front kicks, spinning back fists, and a dope switch kick combo. Escovedo catches a kick close to his man parts with fifteen seconds left in the round, and charges in and lands a high kick, knocking Bruce Leroy off-balance, but the round ends in a flurry before he can mount a comeback. The second round is more of the same, with the Apache Kid looking like he’s in slow motion against the fast and flashy technique of Caceres, who has improved incredibly since last we saw him.
In the third, Caceres even manages a very fun submission chain against the grappling specialist, throwing a triangle-kimura-armbar-omaplata combo that speaks volumes about his progress as a competitor. Escovedo puts in some groundwork, attacking with a submission series of his own, but Bruce Leroy works out of trouble handily. Very, very impressive fight for the twenty three year old. Taimak would be proud.
The judges finally manage to find a consensus, and score the fight 30-27 x3 for Alex Caceres in a unanimous decision win over Cole Escovedo. Expect to see him on the main card next time.
Robbie “Problems” Paralta vs Mackens “Da Menace” Semerzier
Note: Mac Semerzier is coming off a first round RNC victory over Bruce Leroy in March. That kid has developed a ton in six months.
Uh oh. Controversy in the third fight. While it appears that Robbie Paralta lays Semerzier the fuck out in an exchange in the third round, replay shows it’s a clash of heads that rocks him and sends him to his back. Paralta swarms on Semerzier, who hangs on to a single leg and tries to clear the cobwebs. Big John calls it, a TKO victory for Robbie Paralta over Mackens Semerzier at 1:54 into the third, who tries to stand up and protest, but he’s clearly unfit to continue. It’s a shame, since it was a fun fight and we saw it even through the first two rounds.
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs Darren “BC” Uyenoyama
Crazy back in forth action here. First round is all Yamamoto for four minutes on the feet, but Uyenoyama gets it to the ground with less than a minute left in the first. BC works to back mount and a rear naked choke swiftly, and Yamamoto is within seconds of losing consciousness when the round ends. Rogan even thinks he’s out. In the second, Kid blasts Uyenoyama in the face with a nasty left, bloodying his opponent, but suffers a takedown as a result. Yamamoto survives through almost a full round with the submission machine, fending off a serious RNC setup while catching a ton of fists to the torso. Uyenoyama points to the camera in mid-beating. The fight goes the distance, and Uyenoyama puts on a good performance with an aggressive ground game. The judges agree: 30-27 x2 and 20-26 for Darren Uyenoyama over Kid Yamamoto in a unanimous decision victory. Now, #I’mNotNamingNames, but one of these judges has opinions and he doesn’t give a mad fuck what you think.
Clay “Heavy Metal” Harvison vs DeMarques “Darkness” Johnson
Darkness turns out the lights on Heavy Metal with the quickness, landing a left shovel hook and pounding out Harvison for the stoppage. Johnson had time to celebrate the knock down and give ref Herb Dean a chance to stop it, but Herb is all “Dude, whatevs, LOL, kill him” so Darkness throws a few more to convince him. DeMarques Johnson defeats Clay Harvison via TKO (ref’s stoppage due to strikes) at 1:34 of the first round.
Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas vs Kevin Luke “Cub” Swanson
Swanson has a great record in the WEC, but let’s all be honest, we all remember him on the wrong end of a highlight finish vs Jose Aldo. Injury trouble has kept him out of the UFC until tonight. Big John in again on this one.
Swanson turns in his usual hyper-speed performance, and attacks Lamas’ neck hard in the first. Lamas survives a deep guillotine and showboats a bit when Swanson drops it. Lamas fires off a capoeira handspring kick, and Swanson shakes his finger and admonishes Lamas mid-fight for plagiary and swagger jackering. Swanson comes out hard in the second on the feet, and Lamas answers in kind before ducking under for a takedown and scramble. Swanson threatens with an omaplata, misses it, and looks to go back to the feet. Lamas tries for a back mount, and captures Swanson’s head and arm when he tries to spin free. It’s an arm triangle that goes from nasty to lethal as Swanson sunfishes to escape, and Cub is forced to tap. Ricardo Lamas defeats Cub Swanson via submission (arm triangle) at 2:26 of round two.
Really? A dubstep version of “Hotel California”?
“Diamond” Dustin Poirier vs Pablo “The Scarecrow” Garza
True story: CP Nationer Stak40 was talking about how no one can pull off flying submissions anymore, because BJJ isn’t mysterious in modern MMA. Then Pablo Garza did his impression of forced oral copulation (as performed by an octopus) against Yves Jabouin, and Stak changed the subject. True story.
Larry Landless and his Nasty Boyz platinum mohawk are in to ref for this one. (Props to Iskander Neptu.)
Another fun one here: after threatening with a leg lock option in the first round, Garza gets caught by Poirier with a beautiful D’Arce choke in the second. Dustin Poirier defeats Pablo Garza via submission (D’Arce choke) at 1:32 of the second round.
There’s somewhere between three and six hundred UFC-related shows on television right now, and not one of them are showing these fights. I don’t want to live in this world anymore.
Clay “The Carpenter” Guida vs Ben “Smooth” Henderson
Note: Clay Guida is the current WEC Lightweight Champion. Deal with it.
Herb Dean in for this one, which should have been on TV dammit.
Round 1: Clay Guida tries to walk down Henderson right off the bat, and gets caught with a punch off balance and falls forward. Guida pops to his feet and the two exchange 89 blows in three seconds, and Guida drops again. Not hurt badly, Guida’s stance and movement tend top leave him susceptible to knockdowns. They clinch against the cage, and Henderson works a few knees. With a minute left on the clock, Guida catches Bendo with a lunging hook that unhinges Henderson’s legs, and tries to finish off with a guillotine, but Henderson works free and back to the feet. Bendo fires off a few kicks before the buzzer.
Round 2: More clinch work to open the round, with both guys getting their licks in with knees to the body and exchanging fruitless takedowns. Guida narrowly misses a spinning backfist, but suffers a takedown, then fishes for a guillotine. He locks his hands and tries to jump guard, but Henderson blocks his legs. Henderson is no stranger to near submissions and escapes quickly, and takes Guida’s back on the way out. The buzzer sends the fighters to the towels.
Round 3: Guida comes out again with that popcorning boxing style, trying to confuse his opponent. He shoots for a takedown, but Henderson, as he as been able to do for much of the fight, defends it. They clinch against the cage again, and then break and flurry. Henderson shoots the fight down to the canvas again. Guida scrambles, but Henderson secures the back mount and locks a body triangle … disregard that they’re scrambling again. Guida looks for the guilotine again, which leads to back to the scramble, and Bendo comes out over Guida and raining down bombs but the buzzer ends the fight. Damn. These two should keep going for at least two more rounds.
Note to the CP bosses: liveblogging these guys is HARD.
The judges see it 29-28 and 30-27 x2 for Benson Henderson, giving him a unanimous decision win over Clay Guida and setting him up for a shot at Frankie Edgar. I’d buy that for a dollar.
Ok, let’s see what Fox has in store for a UFC show.
* Isn’t that NFL music?
* Brock is asked to analyze Cain Velasquez, which starts out ok, but then they show footage from his asswhooping from Velasquez, at which point Brock asks, “Do we have to watch this?” It’s funny, and as a TV moment, it works.
*Cue the Dos Santos hard-luck upbringing tale.
*Fox is treating this like viewers know nothing about MMA or the fighters. Good move, and yeah, the vibe is very much different than the usual UFC-helmed broadcast.
*Cue the Velasquez hard-luck upbringing tale.
*Pretty sure Rogan shaved for this. He and Glodie both seem to be trying really hard to not fuck up. Or say “fuck” on television, for that matter.
*Uh oh, was the “TapouT Kids” commerical a wise choice?
*Big pop for Cain Velasquez coming in, just like the weigh-ins.
*WE ARE LIVE.
Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos vs Cain Velasquez
Big John McCarthy is the referee, and Bruce Buffer is working it.
Round 1: They come out with probing strikes: Velasquez with a leg kick, Dos Santos tosses out a jab. They exhange again, nothing lands with consequence, and Cain catches a kick and tries to turn it, misses. He snorts and resets.
They exchange jabs, and Velasquez throws the leg kick again. Dos Santos fires off a combo, Cain covers up. Dos Santos hurls a single overhead right and OH SHIT catches the champ behind the ear, sending him to the ground CAIN IS DOWN Dos Santos follows up with some standing hooks and Big John calls it OH THE HUMANITY that was less than one full round and Junior Dos Santos is the new UFC champ.
Dos Santos just beat up on Brown Pride like a Texas judge, which is a joke that works two totally different ways. Again, don’t send me hate mail, i’m illiterate.
Junior Dos Santos defeats Cain Velasquez via Knockout at 1:04 into Round 1.
Dos Santos has POWER in those hands. It messes up your eekulibium, bro. Can’t help but point out commenter Kayo musing six hours ago if “Analise” was foreshadowing of the evening’s events. I’m sorry, did i just blow your mind?
I can’t help but think that anyone who hadn’t watched the undercard fights would probably feel rather cheated by that one fight, but maybe that’s just me. All in all a good night of fights. Leave your comments below, you bastards, and thanks to everyone who hung out with us tonight.
“Man, I just can’t tell you how much stronger I feel since I got my leukocyte count under control, you know? I feel like I could do this all day!” PicProps: Keith Mills for Sherdog
Since we all know that you didn’t watch Bellator last night, how about a recap? Come on inside for accounts of the event, plus videos of the middleweight tournament bouts, courtesy of Zee2TehPee and ArnForgesArn.com — massive props to those guys. Boo boo on the crowd in Hollywood, Florida, which seemed just a little too quick to rain down boos on a good night of fights. Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.
“Man, I just can’t tell you how much stronger I feel since I got my leukocyte count under control, you know? I feel like I could do this all day!” PicProps: Keith Mills for Sherdog
Since we all know that you didn’t watch Bellator last night, how about a recap? Come on inside for accounts of the event, plus videos of the middleweight tournament bouts, courtesy of Zee2TehPee and ArnForgesArn.com – massive props to those guys. Boo boo on the crowd in Hollywood, Florida, which seemed just a little too quick to rain down boos on a good night of fights. Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.
Victor O’Donnell vs Brian Rogers
Man, Victor O’Donnell looks like the little brother of Bronan the Barbarian. Ok, there was a bit of a stoppage controversy on this one, kids, but it’s the kind where you kind of feel bad for everyone involved. Brian Rogers has a streak going of putting a quick smashing on his opponents, so when he wobbles O’Donnell with a headkick and a flurry of hooks, then follows him to the canvas with hammerfists, you can’t really blame referee Troy Waugh for diving it to stop it. Unfortunately, O’Donnell still has plenty of fight left in him, since he was busy establishing guard and wrist control when Waugh waves it off. Brian “The Predator” Rogers scores another TKO victory (referee stoppage due to strikes) at 1:56 in the first, but the crowd turns on him, booing the stoppage. Rogers, who comes off as an extremely nice guy, goes full-on heel with them in the interview. Very strange fight.
Sam Alvey vs Vitor Vianna
Speaking of strange fights, there’s this. Sam Alvey has his model girlfriend in his corner, gloves on and everything. Vitor Vianna has BJJ championships like Joe Johnson has shoes, but he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to take Alvey down and introduce us all to the Portuguese Pretzel Choke. So they stay standing, but neither fighter shows much in the way of killer instinct, and 90% of the action is in the last two minutes of the fight. Alvey moves forward most of the fight, defends takedowns well, and scores some damage on Vianna, but Alvey winds up losing a split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29). The crowd turns on Vianna as well, who seems to have learned English from Wanderlei, if nothing else. Poor fella. Vianna promises better next time, and I hope so.
Bryan Baker vs Jared Hess
The Battle of Dudes Fresh Off of Expensive Surgeries was going to be a lose-lose for me, because I like both of them. Both Baker and Hess had tune-up fights for the tournament, but this would be their first real competition, and it turned out to be a fantastic fight: a really technical grappling exchange with a good tempo. Hess did not look like his pre-surgery self — the limitless gas tank that helped him grind through opponents started to run out by the end of the first, he made quite a few technical errors on the ground, and he did look wobbly and awkward on his feet through the second and third. True to form, though, Hess never quit. The referee stopped the fight because Baker had him back mounted, hooks in, fully extended and dropping big hooks to his cranium region. (Oh, and Baker’s wife still wails like a banshee in the crowd the entire damn fight, and this time she had back-up.) Bryan Baker defeats Jared Hess by TKO (referee stoppage due to ground and pound) at 2:52 of round 3.
Zelg Galesic vs Alexander Shlemenko
Alexander Shlemenko lied to our faces … and I have new respect for him. The Russian whirlwind has expressed open disdain for submission grappling on the ground pretty much anytime someone comes near him with a camera and a translator, and he chases knockouts . Then he comes out to fight Croatian kickboxer Zelg Galesic and goes for a clinch like he’s a heat seeking judo missile. It took less than two minutes for Shlemenko to secure a nasty standing guillotine/neck crank that was right up there with Dan Miller’s. Props to Shlemenko for actually working to improve and roundout his skill set, plus more props for playing it close to the vest. More props on top of that for that monster submission. The big knock against The Storm has been that he was one-dimensional and anyone with some high school wrestling could take him down. If Shlemenko can bring his wrestling and submission defense up to par, suddenly that crazy striking style of his becomes a whole lot scarier. Alexander Shlemenko defeats Zelg Galesic via Submission (Standing Guillotine/Neck Crank) at 1:55 of round 1.
Spike.com Card
Brett Cooper defeats Valdir Araujo via TKO (punches) at 0:35 of round 3.
Radley Martinez defeats Brian van Hoven via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).
Ailton Barbosa defeats Ryan Keenan via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:55 of round 1.
Christian Souza defeats John Kelly via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3).
J.P. Reese defeats Martin Brown via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).
Marcelo Goncalves defeats Dietter Navarro via submission (armbar) at 2:01 of round 1.
Shah Babonis defeats Marcos de Matta via KO (punch) at 2:04 of round 3.
“This hurts me more than it does you.” PicProps: Esther Lin
Bad news for all you rabid Daniel Cormier fans: the big guy confirmed yesterday that his right hand is indeed broken after he used said hand to bludgeon Bigfoot Silva into La-La Land and out of the heavyweight grand prix:
Cormier worked his way from an alternate slot in the Strikeforce GP to a finals matchup with Josh Barnett, but his victories may be all for naught if he doesn’t heal quickly enough.
“This hurts me more than it does you.” PicProps: Esther Lin
Bad news for all you rabid Daniel Cormier fans: the big guy confirmed yesterday that his right hand is indeed broken after he used said hand to bludgeon Bigfoot Silva into La-La Land and out of the heavyweight grand prix:
Cormier worked his way from an alternate slot in the Strikeforce GP to a finals matchup with Josh Barnett, but his victories may be all for naught if he doesn’t heal quickly enough.
MMAJunkie relayed that Scott Coker would like to have Cormier in the finals, but speaking hypothetically, “if Daniel wasn’t available for an extended period of time, [Strikeforce would] consider another opponent” for the final bout of the tourney.
That final bout is tentatively scheduled for sometime early next year, but Strikeforce has shown impatience before with tournament entrants taking time off for injuries, so … paging Chad Griggs?
Totally Looks Like: Sean Kingston
