Tag: Matt Brown

UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen — Main Card Results & Commentary


(Personally, I’d stay away from any mortgage service that advertises on Chael Sonnen’s butt-cheeks, but hey, that’s just me. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

The UFC is going all-in for their big debut on FOX Sports 1. Tonight’s UFC Fight Night 26 main card broadcast features a former UFC light-heavyweight champion (Mauricio “Shogun” Rua), a three-time UFC title challenger (Chael Sonnen), a former Strikeforce/DREAM/K-1 champion (Alistair Overeem), a former WEC champ (Urijah Faber), one of the two most bonus-decorated fighters in UFC history (Joe Lauzon), the man responsible for ending the Griggs Era (Travis Browne), an American hero who pre-emptively shattered a terrorist’s nose (John Howard), the owner of the greatest knockout in TUF history (Uriah Hall), and that gritty son of a bitch Matt Brown. If only all UFC card were this stacked and this free.

Handling the main card play-by-play for the UFC’s return to Boston is our man Oliver Chan (aka “O Chan”), who will be hand-delivering “UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen” live results after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and keep the conversation poppin’ in the comments section. Thanks for being here.


(Personally, I’d stay away from any mortgage service that advertises on Chael Sonnen’s butt-cheeks, but hey, that’s just me. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

The UFC is going all-in for their big debut on FOX Sports 1. Tonight’s UFC Fight Night 26 main card broadcast features a former UFC light-heavyweight champion (Mauricio “Shogun” Rua), a three-time UFC title challenger (Chael Sonnen), a former Strikeforce/DREAM/K-1 champion (Alistair Overeem), a former WEC champ (Urijah Faber), one of the two most bonus-decorated fighters in UFC history (Joe Lauzon), the man responsible for ending the Griggs Era (Travis Browne), an American hero who pre-emptively shattered a terrorist’s nose (John Howard), the owner of the greatest knockout in TUF history (Uriah Hall), and that gritty son of a bitch Matt Brown. If only all UFC card were this stacked and this free.

Handling the main card play-by-play for the UFC’s return to Boston is our man Oliver Chan (aka “O Chan”), who will be hand-delivering “UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen” live results after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and keep the conversation poppin’ in the comments section. Thanks for being here.

Please stand by…

Ladies and Gentlemen, Worcester Mass’s very own Oliver “Double Bacon Cheese” Chan returns to his hometown for FS1′s UFC Debut.  And by return home, I mean on my buddy’s couch watching it in Brooklyn.  But I digress… Already we’ve seen some great fights on the prelims, some sick camera angles, Vegas odds, new real-time fight stats, and a :50 second knockout that made me feel dizzy… I don’t know about you, but I’m giddy.

Here’s what we’ve seen thus far:

James Vick def. Ramsey Njem (guillotine, Rd 1 at 0:58)
Ovince St. Preux def. Cody Donovan (KO, Rd 1 at 2:07)
Manvel Gamburyan def. Cole Miller (UD, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Diego Brandao def. Daniel Pineda (UD, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Steven  Siler def. Mike Brown (KO, Rd 1 0:50)
Conor McGregor def. Max Holloway (UD, 30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Michael McDonald def. Brad Pickett (Triangle Choke, Rd 2 3:43)

Now let’s get to the good stuff shall we? Leading off the main card is Joe Lauzon (who has a striking resemblance to Nick Stahl from Sin City) taking on TUF alumnus, Michael Johnson.
My prediction: Lauzon 3rd round submission arm-bar
My buddy’s:  Lauzon 2rd round submission Rear-Naked

Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson

Rd. 1
Johnson and Lauzon square off trading jabs and low kicks.  Both guys circle around the enter of the Octagon.
Johnson lands a hard left to Lauzon.  He goes down, but gets up.  He’s still dazed, a bit wobbly and looking to take Johnson to the ground.  Johnson is aggressive with his follow-up, but Lauzon recovers.  Stat tracker shows Lauzon is just being picked apart by Johnson on the striking department.
Johnson’s combos is just too much for Lauzon.  Johnson knocks Lauzon down again! Lauzon wants Johnson in the guard, but Johnson doesn’t want that.  Johnson continues to t-off on Lauzon knocking him down again and J-Lau is saved by the bell.
My call:  10-9 Johnson

Rd. 2
More circling and squaring off.  J-Lau works Johnson against the cage.   Johnson gets away and the two continue circling.  J-Lau controls the center of the Octagon.  J-Lau looks to have Johnson on the run, but Johnson quickly counters with some tight combinations.  Johnson gets J-Lau against the cage and grinds it out.  J-Lau pushes it off.  Johnson is starting to look a bit gassed out.  The two trade a few more on the center of the ring.  MJ takes down J-Lau and gets some GnP against the cage. He might have sealed up that round with the take-down.

My call: 10-9 Johnson

Rd. 3
Third round starts with MJ circling around J-Lau in the center of the cage.  Johnson throws some combos and leg-kicks.  MJ is starting to pick apart J-Lau with the combos.  Failed take-down attempt by J-Lau.  MJ is just picking J-Lau apart with quick jabs.  J-Lau really needs to step it and get the finish if he wants the win.  Johnson has almost doubled J-Lau’s strikes.  With 30 seconds left, Johnson gets J-Lau on his back and gets some more GnP from J-Lau’s guard.

My call:  MJ 10-9

Official Decision coming up…

Official Decision
30-27, 30-27 and 30-25 in favor of Michael Johnson

And there’s LB and Spaz from 107.3 WAAF.

Next up, John “Doomsday” Howard (aka the all ‘Merican Terrorist Beater-Upper) vs. yet another TUF Alumnus Uriah Hall.  Remember him?

Buddy’s quote of the night: “Howard is so hood, you got to wonder how he started Muay-Thai? He got no tooth!!”

John Howard vs. Uriah Hall
Howard has an excellent beard.  I want one.  Well, I want the ability to grow a beard, but I want that too.  Our ref is Mario Yamasaki

My call:  Doomsday by UD
My buddy’s:  Hall First Round KO

Rd. 1
Uriah hall immediately goes for the take-down.  Interesting move from a fight we thought would be stand-up.   Uriah hall lets Howard stand.  Hall is noticeably taller than Howard.  Howard throws a nice leg-kick.  Hall answers with some tight jabs.  Uriah with a spinning round-house that Howard ducks.  Howard tries to get inside, but Hall holds pushes him back.

The two square off a bit more and circle each other.  Howard gets Hall with a nice shot and pins Hall against the cage.  Hall reverses and goes for a take-down.  Doomsday throws some punches while against the cage.  The two engage in some dirty boxing.

They separate and Doomsday throws another powerful leg-kick and Hall answers with a knee.  Hall goes for a take-down, Howard defends and goes for a single.  Hall is pinned against the cage.  Hall throws a knee and escapes.  Hall goes for a spinning heel-kick and wiffs.  Round ends.
Hall 10-9, but it was close.

Rd. 2
They touch gloves and we’re on.  Hall throws some nice left-kick combos.   Hall is doing a great job managing the distance.  Hall goes for the take-down and Doomsday gets Hall in a guillotine.  Hall gets out and Howard throws a nice combo.  Doomsday has taken control of the pace and now has Hall pinned against the cage and works the take-down.

Hall reverses and now has Doomsday against the cage.  Mario separates them and they square away.  Doomsday catches Hall’s knee and works the single leg with Hall against the cage.

Hall goes for the Kimura and is the two scramble up. Hall has control of Doomsday’s back.  Howard is now looking for the kimura and now Doomsday has Hall on the run.  Howard gets the take-down away from the cage and starts work some rabbit punches and now strong body-shots.  Howard looks to pass the guard and really lands some hard shots.

Round ends, Howard took that one 10-9.

Rd. 3
The two touch gloves and here we go! Hall goes for a take-down, but Doomsday shrugs it of.  Howard wifs on a leg-kick and Hall goes for a fancy spinning kick, but doesn’t really connect.  Doomsday goes for the overhand left, but Hall blocks.  Doomsday goes for a take-down, but Hall shrugs it of. Hall connects with a nice knee.  Hall goes for a take-down and has Doomsday against the cage.  Doomsday throws some light punches against Hall while against the cage.  Mario separates them.

They touch gloves and square off again. Head-kicked blocked by Doomsday.  Hall gets taken down and has Doomsday in the halfguard.  Hall gets to his knees.  They get to the feet, Doomsday has control of Howard’s back.  He’s got the right hook in, but Hall gets Doomsday against the cage and takes him down.  Doomday gets up and Hall has his back.  They separate and Doomsday starts riling up the crowd and now they both agree to just stand-up (I’m guessing).  Hall gets for some weird spin kicking thing, Doomsday does that Hendo diving punch on Bisping thing… and now the two start bro-ing out.

Another close round, I’m going with my home-town guy, 10-9, but I’m thinking either way, we’re looking at a split-decision.

Official Decision
30-27 Howard, 29-28 Hall, 29-28 Howard

I called it.  Welcome back Doomsday.

Next up, we got a guy with a mullet and a guy who will F-you up if you screw with his dip.  We got Mike Pyle vs. Matt Brown.  This is so red-neck I feel the need for some Skoal, Skynard, and ‘Shine… Moonshine.

Quick observation, this “World’s End Movie”… Is this the same thing as “Shaun of the Dead”, but with aliens instead of zombies.

Mike Pyle vs. Matt Brown 
We both got Brown by decision

Rd. 1
They touch gloves and here we go.

Brown chases Pyle with some strong strikes and knocks Pyle down.  He gets one shot in and Pyle is OUT.  A few extra shots and it’s all over.  Hell of a KO by Brown.

Well then, hope you didn’t blink.

Official Decision
Matt Brown, 1st Round KO at 0:29.  And Brown says Pyle is better tan GSP… Interesting.  Rogan doesn’t buy it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but you don’t knock a dude out in :30 and say he’s better than the current Welterweight champ… That’s just my opinion.

And there’s Shawn Thorton.  He’s a Boston Bruin.  He’s awesome.

Shameless plug by Oscar De La Hoya where I think he’s really trying hard to think boxing and cardio-boxing can co-exist.

Next up

Uriajah Faber vs. Iuri/Yuri Alcantara

My prediction Yuri by 3rd Rd RNC
Buddy’s Prediction:  Faber by UD

Rd. 1
They touch gloves and we’re on.  Faber charges and Yuri counters with a nice judo toss.  Gets the mount and works the arm-bar .  Faber loos for the leg-lock  Yuri takes Faber’s back, both hooks in and throwing some nice effective strikes.  Faber canot escape the back.  Yuri is just working Faber.  Faber throwing punches while watching himself on the screen (Patrick Batemen reference).   Faber cannot escape from the back control.  Yuri tries to attack Fabers arm.

Faber gets up and slams Yuri down.  Yuri working the triangle.  Faber passes tinto the third guard.  Staples Yuri’s right leg and works some GnP.  Yuri tries to sweep, but Faber maintains the position and drops bombs.  Yuri recovers the full-guard.  More GnP by Faber.  Here is the U-S-A Chants… Yep, it’s Boston.  I got nothing.

Yuri looks to control Faber from the guard, but Faber is still able to land some strong shots.

Faber stole that round in the end, 10-9

Rd. 2
The two go right at it.  Interesting back-roll by Faber, he recovers and Faber is able to take down Yuri and is in Yuri’s guard against the cage.

Faber looks to pass the guard.  Yuri eats a knee to the chest.  Faber in the half-guard looks for the guillotine.  Yuri replaces the guard.  Faber grinding into Yuri.  Faber gets some elbows in.  This is text-book ground and pound, folks.  Faber stands up and passes the guard.  He starts working guillotine again.  Thus far Faber has out-strucken (is that a word) Yuri 37-1.

While in the half-guard Faber is throwing some strong elbows and stronger punches.  Yuri gets up, but Faber is looking for a Judo takedown.  Faber has Yuri against the cage, they move away, Faber takes him down.  Faber in the guard and continues with the GnP.

If this isn’t a 10-8 round Faber, then we need new judges.

Rd. 3
Faber fakes (?) a take down.  He fakes another take-down and lands an overhand right.  Little scramble, the two continue to square off.  Faber doing some very Guida-esque dancing.  He charges in but Yuri is able to defend.  Yuri with a high kick and Faber blocks.  Faber shoots for the take-down and Yuri sprawls out.  The two continue to circle around.

Faber takes down Yuri.  Yuri sweeps, but Faber maintains control and grinds Yuri against the cage while in the guard.   Faber continues his GnP assault on Yuri.  Yuri looks to control Faber’s left arm.  Faber is able to stand up in Yuri’s open guard.  Faber back in Yuri’s closed guard and continues to grind it out.

Yuri looking for the Oomaplata and Faber defends.  Yuri transitions to the triangle and is back into the oomaplata hold.  Faber steps over and butter-flies Yuri’s arms, he is able to escape and takes control of Yuri’s back and holds him down to end the round.

Solid attempt by Yuri to score a late-minute submission, but Faber has this one 10-9.

Official Decision
Faber gets the UD (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

Faber says he might have some jaw damage. But I’m sure the ladies still love him.

There’s Bob Kraft… Bob, let’s get another Super Bowl, it’s been a while.

Next up, the heavyweights… Not those heavyweights

Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne 

My prediction:  Overeem by 2 RD KO
Buddy’s prediction: Overeem by way of “horse-meat”

If Overeem loses, specifically gets KO’d, I think it’s safe to say we’ll probably see him fighting Anthony “Welterweight” Johnson at the WSOF

Rd. 1
Touch gloves and here we go.  Overeem stalks and gets Brown against the cage with some knees to the body.  Overeem controls Brown, but Brown is able to get Overeem back to the center.

Flying knee by Browne.  Overeem goes for a guillotine attempt.  Overem is getting some hard shots to Browne against the cage.  Strong knee to the Browne.  It looks like Overem got a knee to the the head with Browne’s knee down.  They are both on the feet and Overeem works from the clinch getting solid knees to the body.  Travis Brown is taking some devastating blows by Overeem.

Overeem gets a pretty sloppy take-down but Brown gets up.  Browne goes for a couple front-kicks to the face.  Overeem takes control of Browne against the cage.  Another front-head kick by Browne.  Browne goes for the spinning round-house, but misses.  Browne has Overeem in the clinch, but is against the cage … Another front-kick and Overeem goes DOWN.  Browne gets a couple shots in from the guard, but it is all over!!!!

For those of you who not watching… It looked like this. For those of you not with me right now, here’s our reaction.

Official Decision
Travis Brown 1st Round KO (4:08)

Browne shows much love to Boston.

So is this the last we’ll see of Overeem?

Ladies and gents, we’re coming up to our main-event of the evening.

Chael Sonnen vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

My Prediction:  Shogun 2nd round TKO
Buddy’s Prediction:  Shogun 2nd round mounted guillotine

Chael Sonnen has a pink-ribbon on his shirt.  If you Google Chael Sonnen and Cancer, you get a lot of articles about Lance Armstrong.  Just a random fact I’ll put there.

Buffer is on FIRE tonight.

RD. 1
Herb Dean is our ref for the main-event.

No touch of gloves, Chael goes for the take-down and gets in Shogun’s half-guard.  Shogun gets to the feet and gets Chael down and is in Chael’s butterfly guard.  Chael has one butter fly-hook in and Shogun transitions into the half-guard.  Chael goes for the guillotine.  Shogun gets to his feet and the two clinch up.

Chael gets the take-down and works the GnP from the half-guard.  Shogun is looking to sweep from the half.  Chael flattens out Shoguns shoulders.  Shogun works to get on his side.  Chael continues to work some strikes.  Shogun gets the butterfly hooks in.  The Boo-birds are coming out… As always let’s see you guys do this.

Chael stands up Shogun goes for an upkick.  Chael back in the half-guard and working the strikes.  Chael continues to smother Shogun.  Shogun works to his feet and Chael has a DEEP GUILLOTINE.  Shogun is working the escape… HE TAPS!!! SHOGUN THE BJJ BLACKBELT TAPS!!!!!

Shogun is devastated that he tapped.

Quick observation, Chael has a Mortgage lender website as a sponsor… Do they really know who they are pairing their brand with?

Official Decision
Chael Sonnen wins by tapout via Guillotine (4:46)

Chael shows support for those fighting cancer (since Chael won via BJJ I only feel it appropriate to plug Nick Newell’s favorite charity TapCancerOut)… Shows some of his poetry skills… And as classic Chael does, calls out Wanderlie Silva in his classic fashion.

Despite what Deadspin says, this was a great night of fights.   You go to Boston, you’re guaranteed a good show.  My picks were pretty bad, but I still had fun doing this and hope you all did too.

Don’t forget to check back here for Condit vs. Kampman.

Have a great night all, now I need a beer.

Shogun vs. Sonnen Fight Card: Three Fights You Don’t Want to Miss

With a stacked preliminary card and an even juicier main card, MMA fans have a plethora of tantalizing tilts to look forward to heading into UFC Fight Night 26.
The inaugural event on Fox Sports 1, which will be held at Boston’s TD Garden, will feature…

With a stacked preliminary card and an even juicier main card, MMA fans have a plethora of tantalizing tilts to look forward to heading into UFC Fight Night 26.

The inaugural event on Fox Sports 1, which will be held at Boston’s TD Garden, will feature 13 intriguing scraps, including three that will be aired on Facebook.com. 

Here are three fights you don’t want to miss on this historical night in Beantown. 

 

Begin Slideshow

Quick, Get In Here! Today’s ‘UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen’ Weigh-Ins Are Starting Right Now!

Featuring a lot of dudes with incredibly similar names, the weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen are going down from the TD Garden like five minutes ago, but luckily, CagePotato tech specialist George Maharis has hijacked the weigh-in stream and will now be broadcasting it exclusively through us, so get in here to check out all the results.

Will Chael Sonnen enlighten us with some more of his avant-garde poetic stylings? Will Arianny once again fall under Alistair Overeem’s spell? All this plus fighting the frizzies at 4 p.m. EST.

Featuring a lot of dudes with incredibly similar names, the weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen are going down from the TD Garden like five minutes ago, but luckily, CagePotato tech specialist George Maharis has hijacked the weigh-in stream and will now be broadcasting it exclusively through us, so get in here to check out all the results.

Will Chael Sonnen enlighten us with some more of his avant-garde poetic stylings? Will Arianny once again fall under Alistair Overeem’s spell? All this plus fighting the frizzies at 4 p.m. EST.

Main Card:
Mauricio Rua (205) vs. Chael Sonnen (205)
Travis Browne (236) vs. Alistair Overeem (255.5)
Yuri Alcantara (136) vs. Urijah Faber (135.5)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Mike Pyle (170)
Uriah Hall (184) vs. John Howard (185)
Michael Johnson (156) vs. Joe Lauzon (156)

Preliminary Card:
Michael McDonald (135) vs. Brad Pickett (135.5)
Max Holloway (145) vs. Conor McGregor (146)
Mike Brown (145.5) vs. Steven Siler (145.5)
Diego Brandao (146) vs. Daniel Pineda (144.5)
Manny Gamburyan (145.5) vs. Cole Miller (146)
Cody Donovan (204) vs. Ovince St. Preux (205.5)
Ramsey Nijem (156) vs. James Vick (155)

–J. Jones

Matt Brown Might Just Be the Fighter All Welterweights Should Fear Most

There’s an unmistakable feeling that happens every time Matt Brown steps inside the cage for a fight.
Somebody is probably going to bleed, someone will likely need stitches or a cast when it’s over, and Brown will be there every single time like a viol…

There’s an unmistakable feeling that happens every time Matt Brown steps inside the cage for a fight.

Somebody is probably going to bleed, someone will likely need stitches or a cast when it’s over, and Brown will be there every single time like a violent minister preaching a sermon of mayhem inside the Octagon.

Watching a Matt Brown fight is literally like a Pantera song come to life.

The early ’90s heavy metal band fronted by lead man Phil Anselmo committed unrelenting acts of brutality on the music world when performers like Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey were ruling the Billboard album charts.

Pantera songs weren’t typically radio-friendly or a song you’d ever hear at a club or dance party. No one was reading the lyrics to a Pantera song and looking for a deeper metaphorical connection, and Anselmo’s words weren’t going to be confused for those of Bob Dylan any time soon.

What Pantera songs did was bludgeon you across the face with unrelenting guitar riffs, heavy double-bass slams and straightforward lyrics not really filled with symbolism or hidden meaning.

It wasn’t poetry so much as an unapologetic punch to the teeth, and that describes Brown’s fighting style to perfection. He certainly displays skill and precision every time he fights, but Brown’s “step forward and kill anything that moves” mentality is what has put him on a recent five-fight win streak, with four of them coming by way of knockout or TKO.

Brown isn’t getting paid by the hour, and he knows that whoever is standing across the cage from him is there to beat him and take money out of his pocket and food from his children’s mouths. At that point, Brown becomes an apex predator—it’s kill or be killed, and there is no third option.

“Maybe there’s a little bit of fear, a little bit of hunger, I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s a little bit of that primal nature,” Brown told MMA‘s Great Debate Radio. “Whatever it is, it’s there in me.”

Brown’s special brand of destruction, while unrelenting, could best be described as controlled demolition.

Buildings are falling down, and explosions light up the sky, but the dynamite and thermal charges were all placed strategically to make sure everything crumbles in perfect order. It may be Brown’s best weapon that he appears to just start launching punches and knees at his opponent’s head, but each strike is meant to land on its intended target while doing maximum damage.

To back that up with a few statistics, Brown lands significant strikes at 56.69-percent accuracy—the best average ever in welterweight history. He also happens to have seven knockouts at 170 pounds, which is another UFC record. It’s proof that Brown’s style may look like reckless abandon, but it’s his opponents who are left feeling like they were just in a five-car pile-up when they are done fighting him.

Even when he gets hurt like his last bout against Jordan Mein at UFC on Fox 7, where he was dropped early by the young Canadian, Brown just fires back and continues to battle until he gives everything left in the tank. It’s the kind of no-quit spirit that defines the run that Brown is on currently.

By the way, if you were curious about the end result of the fight with Mein? Brown won by TKO in the second round.

It’s just the way Brown is built, and it makes him one of the most dangerous fighters in the welterweight division. He never wants to win on points and never wants to eke out a close decision. Brown’s methods of victory include either an opponent lying unconscious, unable to defend himself, or the referee ripping him off to stop the carnage.

“I don’t even see how guys can fight boring, like in my mind I can’t even comprehend it. Some fights you see, guys are content to sit back and take it easy and grind out decisions. To me, I want to finish the guy every time, it’s in my nature,” Brown said. “I don’t understand how somebody can be in there and not be thinking that way.

“It’s not a knock against them, like Georges St-Pierre, he doesn’t really finish fights that much, but he’s obviously a very highly skilled guy, and I respect that but I can’t understand that mentality.”

The current five-fight win streak that Brown is riding ties him for third in the division for the longest runs at welterweight, with only champion Georges St-Pierre and current top contender Johny Hendricks besting his mark.

The confidence of winning shines in Brown’s performances, and if he can beat Mike Pyle at UFC Fight Night 26 on Saturday night it’s going to be hard to ignore his attempts to land the kind of fights that will put him in the title picture.

No matter how much anybody else wants to talk about it, Brown refuses to engage in that conversation this close to his fight on Saturday night. To him, Pyle is the best welterweight in the world, and the only fighter that matters right now.

“I try to completely forget about every past fight that I’ve had. I try to look at each fight as my last one,” Brown commented. “Since I started doing that I think I’ve started performing better in the cage. I try not to even think about that I’m on a win streak, or anything like that. Right now, August 17 is the last day of my life. That’s the way I look at it.”

Brown may not be in the top 10 of the welterweight division yet, but if he can do to Pyle what he’s done to four of his last fight opponents, it’s going to be hard to deny him a name like Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann or Rory MacDonald next.

To get there, Brown’s mindset heading into his fight with Pyle could probably be summed up by one particular lyric from Pantera, because that’s all he may need to finish the job: “I ask you please just give us…five minutes alone.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA’s Great Debate Radio: UFC Fight Night 26 Preview, Urijah Faber & Matt Brown

Today’s edition of MMA’s Great Debate Radio focuses on UFC Fight Night 26, with picks and predictions for the entire main card. Plus, we welcome Urijah Faber and Matt Brown as guests.
Faber will drop in to talk about his upcoming fight this weeken…

Today’s edition of MMA‘s Great Debate Radio focuses on UFC Fight Night 26, with picks and predictions for the entire main card. Plus, we welcome Urijah Faber and Matt Brown as guests.

Faber will drop in to talk about his upcoming fight this weekend against Yuri Alcantara, along with a bit of a beef he has with UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson.

Also on today’s show, Matt Brown will discuss his bout against Mike Pyle and his current run in the welterweight division.

Finally, we break down the entire UFC Fight Night 26 main card and give our picks for the fights coming up this weekend in Boston.

 

Today’s debate topics include:

—Who is in the biggest must win situation at UFC Fight Night 26 on Fox Sports 1?

—Fight Pick: Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda

—Fight Pick: Mike Brown vs. Steven Siler

—Do you believe Conor McGregor‘s fight skills can match the hype he’s received thus far in the UFC?

—Fight Pick: Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway

—Fight Pick: Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald

—Fight Pick: Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson

—Fight Pick: Uriah Hall vs. John Howard

—Fight Pick: Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle

—Fight Pick: Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara

—Fight Pick: Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne

—Fight Pick: Chael Sonnen vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

 

This is MMA’s Great Debate Radio for Thursday, August 15, 2013

(If the embeddable player does not work please click HERE to listen to the show. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or listen on Stitcher Radio)

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ben vs. Jared — ‘UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen’ Edition


(Poster via Nixsons.com)

With a UFC event scheduled for this weekend that’s actually worth watching, it’s time for another installment of Ben vs. Jared, in which CagePotato’s founding editor Ben Goldstein and long-suffering staff writer Jared Jones go cabeza-a-cabeza to discuss some of this card’s major themes. For example: Is Shogun vs. Sonnen the most pointless match on the UFC Fight Night 26 main card? Is it safe to board the Matt Brown hype train? Will Joe Lauzon make history again? And is it Yuri or Iuri? Prepare for serious business…

So, Shogun vs. Sonnen at light-heavyweight — what’s at stake here? Anything? Anything at all?

BG: I think Shogun’s career is at stake, for one thing. If he loses to a one-dimensional middleweight (no offense, Chael), it’ll drop his UFC win percentage below .500, and bump him out of the UFC light-heavyweight contender picture, maybe permanently. He’ll enter that twilight stage of his career where he’s just showing up for “fun fights,” still famous enough to headline smaller UFC events in Brazil, but no longer part of the overall conversation. Or, he can just retire and run a gas station like his brother. Neither scenario is ideal, but the one that doesn’t require him to sustain traumatic brain injuries seems a little healthier.

For Chael, this fight is more of a no-lose proposition, just like his previous light-heavyweight appearance against Jon Jones. A win against Shogun would be a career highlight, and a loss just means he goes back to middleweight where he belongs, for a battle against Wanderlei Silva that he’s already trying to hype up. Sonnen has already exited the title picture in two different weight-classes, but I don’t even think that matters to him much anymore. Whether he’s shouting behind a FOX Sports broadcast desk or cutting promos after a fight, the man’s just content to have a microphone.

JJ: Fuuuuuuck no. “Out of the light heavyweight picture?” Shogun has been out of the light-heavyweight picture since the current champion put him out of the light heavyweight picture at UFC 128, and I say that as a Shogun fan. The fact is, Shogun can’t stay healthy, he can’t put a win streak together, and his BADBOY tights are getting more constrictive by the day. Training with Freddie Roach may prolong Rua’s career a year or two longer than he would have lasted without it, but Shogun has got to be about the oldest 31-year-old in MMA. He was just used as a stepping stone for Alexander Gustafsson (unless you honestly thought the UFC was setting him up to be slaughtered by Jones again), so as far as I’m concerned, he IS in the “fun fights” part of his career. Again, Shogun fan talking here.


(Poster via Nixsons.com)

With a UFC event scheduled for this weekend that’s actually worth watching, it’s time for another installment of Ben vs. Jared, in which CagePotato’s founding editor Ben Goldstein and long-suffering staff writer Jared Jones go cabeza-a-cabeza to discuss some of this card’s major themes. For example: Is Shogun vs. Sonnen the most pointless match on the UFC Fight Night 26 main card? Is it safe to board the Matt Brown hype train? Will Joe Lauzon make history again? And is it Yuri or Iuri? Prepare for serious business…

So, Shogun vs. Sonnen at light-heavyweight — what’s at stake here? Anything? Anything at all?

BG: I think Shogun’s career is at stake, for one thing. If he loses to a one-dimensional middleweight (no offense, Chael), it’ll drop his UFC win percentage below .500, and bump him out of the UFC light-heavyweight contender picture, maybe permanently. He’ll enter that twilight stage of his career where he’s just showing up for “fun fights,” still famous enough to headline smaller UFC events in Brazil, but no longer part of the overall conversation. Or, he can just retire and run a gas station like his brother. Neither scenario is ideal, but the one that doesn’t require him to sustain traumatic brain injuries seems a little healthier.

For Chael, this fight is more of a no-lose proposition, just like his previous light-heavyweight appearance against Jon Jones. A win against Shogun would be a career highlight, and a loss just means he goes back to middleweight where he belongs, for a battle against Wanderlei Silva that he’s already trying to hype up. Sonnen has already exited the title picture in two different weight-classes, but I don’t even think that matters to him much anymore. Whether he’s shouting behind a FOX Sports broadcast desk or cutting promos after a fight, the man’s just content to have a microphone.

JJ: Fuuuuuuck no. “Out of the light heavyweight picture?” Shogun has been out of the light-heavyweight picture since the current champion put him out of the light heavyweight picture at UFC 128, and I say that as a Shogun fan. The fact is, Shogun can’t stay healthy, he can’t put a win streak together, and his BADBOY tights are getting more constrictive by the day. Training with Freddie Roach may prolong Rua’s career a year or two longer than he would have lasted without it, but Shogun has got to be about the oldest 31-year-old in MMA. He was just used as a stepping stone for Alexander Gustafsson (unless you honestly thought the UFC was setting him up to be slaughtered by Jones again), so as far as I’m concerned, he IS in the “fun fights” part of his career. Again, Shogun fan talking here.

Don’t get me wrong, I purchased my tickets to “Fight Night” the day they went on sale, because the chance to see a legend like Shogun (among others) throw down before I die is something that is simply too good to pass up. But there’s nothing at stake here other than our entertainment, which I’m sure that Shogun and Sonnen will deliver on like they always do. Shogun is a big enough draw and performs well enough even when he’s off his game to continue fighting mid-to-upper tier guys while occasionally picking up wins until the UFC forces him to stop. His fight with Sonnen is no different, which is why I’ll just be cheering for a good fight while trying not to spill a drop of my $10 cup of Sam Adams come Saturday.

Somehow, Matt Brown has put together one of the most impressive win streaks of any non-champion in the UFC. If he beats Mike Pyle, will we have to start considering him an elite-level welterweight? And how far away would he be from a title shot if that happens?

JJ: At this point, I have no idea what to think about Matt Brown. Honestly, I’m starting to ponder the likelihood that some soul selling is behind his recent run of, well, not luck but something close to it. Three years ago, he was getting submitted by everyone who possessed a decent guillotine, and now he’s on a five-fight killing spree including a beatdown of the highly-touted Jordan Mein? (Don’t. Use. Scanners. Gif.).

The bad news is this: As was the case with Mark Hunt, Matt Brown’s improbable run is going to come to a screeching halt in the near future — specifically, the next time he faces an elite wrestler with a decent chin and good submissions. The good news is that I don’t think Mike Pyle, who is also enjoying some unexpected success as of late, is the man to do it. My prediction: Matt Brown by…murder. Then I say give him the Carlos Condit/Martin Kampmann winner. And as far as naming him an “elite” fighter? Come on, Ben, we both know that the UFC’s totally unbiased ranking system already does that for us. (*gives best “Can you believe this guy?” face*)

BG: Agreed; board this hype-train at your own risk. Look, putting together six wins in a row is a rare feat in the UFC, but I don’t think that beating a seasoned, well-rounded fighter like Mike Pyle would be any more impressive than Brown’s previous thrashings of Jordan Mein and Mike Swick. Brown’s recent streak has a lot to do with matchmaking; he’s had the fortune of being paired up against other bangers who have let Brown turn the fights into ugly brawls. At some point, he’ll have to face the kind of opponents who used to give him a lot of trouble, namely wrestlers and submission artists. Think of the way Dong Hyun Kim and Ricardo Almeida imposed their will on him, or the way four of his five appearances in 2010-2011 ended in submission losses. (All in the second round, by the way. Hopefully he saw Chael’s psychologist about that.)

Bottom line is, Matt Brown still has a long way to go in order to prove himself, even if he rips Pyle apart. A win on Saturday will put him on the title path at 170, where things start to get really hairy. Hendricks, Condit, Ellenberger, Rory Mac, Maia, Kampmann — he’ll have to beat at least two of those guys to punch his ticket to a title shot, and it’s doubtful that any of them will allow the scrappy underdog to turn it into an alley-fight.

If Joe Lauzon wins another end-of-night bonus on Saturday, he will once again break the record for most bonuses earned by a UFC fighter. (He’s currently tied with Anderson Silva at 12.) How likely is Lauzon to pick up a bonus on Saturday, considering his opponent and the rest of the lineup on this card?

BG: Lauzon has won Submission of the Night bonuses in each of his last five victories, and I like his odds for making it six in a row against Michael Johnson. For one thing, Johnson is submittable; Reza Madadi just won a $60,000 bump in April by tapping Johnson with a SOTN-winning d’arce choke, and “The Menace” also fell victim to a Paul Sass heel-hook back in 2011.

Not only does Lauzon hold a significant advantage against Johnson on the mat, the only other submission artists on Saturday’s card who are as dependable as Lauzon are Urijah Faber (6 subs and 4 SOTNs in his last 7 wins) and Cole Miller (6 subs and 3 SOTNs in his last 6 wins), and since Cole is fighting on Facebook, we can pretty much rule him out. So as I see it, it’s basically a coin toss between J-Lau and the California Kid.

Obviously, Lauzon’s chances of scoring one of the other end-of-night bonuses are much lower. It seems virtually impossible that Joe will produce the most impressive knockout on a card that also features Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne, Uriah Hall vs. John Howard, and assorted sluggers like Matt Brown and Conor McGregor. And with so many matchups designed for action on this card, Lauzon vs. Johnson has a ton of potential competition in the Fight of the Night department as well. So let’s hope Lauzon’s night ends with a bonus-worthy submission, because his life is about to get a lot more expensive.

JJ: I hate to agree with you, being that this is a “vs.” piece and all (speaking of which, we should probably come up with some sort of fight-based bet to sweeten the pot a little*), but it’s a well-known fact that I’ve been swingin’ from Lauzon’s gruesome twosome since back in the day. If Deathklok’s “Thunderhorse” could somehow be captured in a human vessel, it would be Joe Lauzon, and I predict he will do nothing less than annihilate Michael Johnson on the 17th. Johnson is in over his head, in enemy territory and is getting subbed in the first round. The only question is whether or not Lauzon will do it with that flying triangle off the cage he’s been practicing. If he does, I am fully prepared to shit bricks.

I similarly see either Brown or Overeem scoring KOTN, McGregor and Holloway possibly picking up FOTN and Lauzon snagging SOTN, either with the aforementioned pants-shitting flying triangle or some form of leg lock. The bank: You can take that to it.

This weekend’s card features Urijah Faber and Uriah Hall. It also features Mike Brown, Matt Brown, and Travis Browne, as well as Michael Johnson, Michael McDonald, and Mike Pyle, and a guy whose name is spelled Yuri or Iuri, depending on which database you’re looking at. How the fuck am I — the casual MMA fan — supposed to keep this all straight?

JJ: Chances are that if you’re the casual fan, you won’t know who half the aforementioned people are until Bruce Buffer is screaming their names with the passion of a thousand suns anyway (on that note, if Rene Rancourt is not brought into the mix, be it for a guest introduction or otherwise, I will find Dana White and uncork the ass whooping of a lifetime upon him for his insolence). I barely know who Yuri Alcantara is, and if you don’t believe me, read this article.

Honestly, this fight card is so stacked with so much talent and awesome matchups that it’s kind of hurting my eyes. If I could find Joe Silva right now, I’d give him a pat on his little head, a gold star for the day and hoist him up like so:

…did that answer your question?

BG: It’s pretty simple if you just memorize this mnemonic poem:

California sunny day
Spell Urijah with a J
Spinning kicks that make you fall
No J in Uriah Hall

“Immortal” says his stomach-tat
That’s the Brown who’s name is Matt
Travis Browne’s near seven-feet high
Mike Brown is the other guy

All these Michaels to keep straight:
“Mayday” is the bantamweight
Mike Pyle, party in the back
Johnson is the one who’s…athletic and explosive

Nobody should have to worry
How to spell “Yuri,” or “Iuri”
We just call him Alcantara
He will be choked out tomorra’

//////////

* BG: Alright, buster. Here are my main card picks: Sonnen, Browne, Faber, Brown, Howard, Lauzon. Post yours in the comments section. We’ll tally ‘em up after the show, and the loser has to get a life-sized tattoo of the winner’s face on their own face. Either that or a Starbucks gift-card.