Tag: Gerald Harris

Early End to First Round Cost Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123

Filed under: UFCMaiquel Falcao has been criticized for his handling of the third round in his UFC 123 win over Gerald Harris, with UFC President Dana White admonishing Falcao that he was wrong to play it safe after winning the first two rounds on the j…

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Maiquel Falcao has been criticized for his handling of the third round in his UFC 123 win over Gerald Harris, with UFC President Dana White admonishing Falcao that he was wrong to play it safe after winning the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards. White said his message to Falcao after the third round was that “This isn’t the Ultimate Staring Competition, it’s the Ultimate Fighting Championship.”

But while it’s true that Falcao was unimpressive in the third round, it’s been widely overlooked that the fight never should have gone to the third round — or even the second round.

In fact, Falcao was about to submit Harris at the end of the first round, but the horn to end the round sounded seven seconds early, depriving Falcao of what almost certainly would have been a first-round submission victory.

Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 123 Edition

(Seriously, who let that mouse into the Octagon? Props: UFC.com)
Here’s what we know: BJ Penn and George Sotiropoulos already have dates at UFC 127 in Australia. Karo Parisyan has been fired (again), and Matt Brown will surely be let go as well …

Bruce Buffer UFC 123 jump
(Seriously, who let that mouse into the Octagon? Props: UFC.com)

Here’s what we know: BJ Penn and George Sotiropoulos already have dates at UFC 127 in Australia. Karo Parisyan has been fired (again), and Matt Brown will surely be let go as well after suffering his third-consecutive submission loss. (Tyson Griffin also lost his third-straight on Saturday, but will remain in the promotion, as the judges’ decision in his fight against Nik Lentz was utter horseshit.) So where do UFC 123‘s other winners and losers go from here? As usual, we have a few suggestions…

Quinton Jackson: This one’s fairly obvious, assuming that nobody really wants to see an immediate rematch between Jackson and Machida. Rampage should get the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 126. The winner of that fight gets a title shot. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Lyoto Machida: Once an unstoppable force in the light-heavyweight division, it’s now been a year and a half since the Dragon has put on a dominant performance against anybody. At this point, the UFC needs to re-build Machida against a mid-level contender. Give him Matt Hamill, who deserves a step up after handling Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz. Alternately, you could throw Machida in against Randy Couture, and see if the Natural’s gift for game-planning can carry him through against the Dragon. Of course, that matchup might not be pointless enough for Randy, so don’t get your hopes up.

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Fighter vs. Writer: UFC 123 Picks With ‘Mr. International’

Filed under: UFCWhen last we left the Fighter vs. Writer series, Gerald Harris came out looking like an absolute genius when he refused to pick a winner in the Jorge Rivera-Alessio Sakara fight. At the time it seemed like a tactical error, but then the…

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When last we left the Fighter vs. Writer series, Gerald Harris came out looking like an absolute genius when he refused to pick a winner in the Jorge Rivera-Alessio Sakara fight. At the time it seemed like a tactical error, but then the fight was called off, Harris got the point and the victory, and I became very sad.

This week I match wits with Shonie Carter, a longtime MMA veteran who recently announced he was hanging up the gloves (more on that soon). “Mr. International” has forgotten more about the fight game than most people will ever know, but can he predict the future?

Find out below, as Shonie and I go head-to-head with our UFC 123 picks.

UFC 123: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCIn at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his pla…

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In at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his played out bad breath jokes – we would have had comedy gold by now. I would have thought the combination of necessity and opportunity would help break some new ground in the field of bad breath jokes. Sort of like the polio vaccine, only much, much less helpful to society.

No such luck so far. Guess that means we’ll have to put our hopes in the fights themselves to entertain us. Let’s start with a look at how oddsmakers think Saturday night’s event will play out, along with some suggestions on where they might be wrong.

Lyoto Machida (-280) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (+220)

Gerald Harris Expecting Fireworks From Brazilian Newcomer at UFC 123

Filed under: UFCWhen Gerald Harris (17-2) looks at Maiquel Falcao (25-3) — the Brazilian Chute Boxe product who he’ll welcome to the Octagon at UFC 123 this Saturday — what he sees is a fighter who is, in his words, “kind of the opposite of me.”

“He…

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When Gerald Harris (17-2) looks at Maiquel Falcao (25-3) — the Brazilian Chute Boxe product who he’ll welcome to the Octagon at UFC 123 this Saturday — what he sees is a fighter who is, in his words, “kind of the opposite of me.”

“He’s coming in there to take your head off, not a lot of technique involved,” Harris told MMA Fighting. “His main strength is trying to stand up and beat you down.”

It just so happens that Harris’ strength is taking guys like that down, often with destructive results. The best example of that came in his last fight at UFC 116, where Harris knocked fellow middleweight Dave Branch out cold with a third-round slam. The finish earned him Knockout of the Night honors, and even landed him on Sportscenter — a distinction that still defines him to many fans.

Fighter vs. Writer: UFC 122 Predictions With Gerald Harris

Filed under: UFCWhen last we left the Fighter vs. Writer series, I came to what I choose to think of as a very respectable draw against Jason “Mayhem” Miller. You could point out that if I hadn’t felt the need to be contrary and pick Martin Kampmann ov…

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When last we left the Fighter vs. Writer series, I came to what I choose to think of as a very respectable draw against Jason “Mayhem” Miller. You could point out that if I hadn’t felt the need to be contrary and pick Martin Kampmann over Jake Shields, I would have won. To that I’d say, ‘You’re right, you jerk. I guess you just know everything, don’t you?’

But rather than dwell on hypothetical conversations that exist only in my head, we move forward to UFC 122 and a fight-picking showdown with former “Ultimate Fighter” contestant and recent Sportscenter highlight-maker Gerald Harris, who took some time out from training for his fight at UFC 123 next weekend to match wits with me.

Unlike Gerald, I haven’t slammed my way on to ESPN (yet), but I feel pretty good about my prognosticating powers this week. That is why I now turn awkwardly toward the “Hurricane” and utter the four most important words in the English language: You wanna do it?