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British MMA with a Celtic Slant: When Cage Warriors Went to Dublin

British MMA with a Celtic slant is on the agenda as we take a look at the second Cage Warriors’ show in as many weeks; a show which took them to Dublin for Cage Warriors 47, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain. After highlight…

After highlights of the fight which saw Neil Seery defeat Mark Platts with a rear naked choke, it was on to the first full fight of the broadcast, which was a welterweight encounter between David Bielkhden and Cathal Pendred.

Local boy Pendred came forward early on with a series of strikes—a combination which sent the Swede down to the ground. Pendred followed him and unleashed a flurry of blows, and even though it looked like the fight could end, Bielkhden showed great resilience and withstood the attack, recovering enough to take control towards the end of the round with a takedown and a kimura attempt.

Pendred continued his good work into the second round, but once the third round started, it became a more even affair—Bielkhden scoring with an impressive takedown, putting in some nice work on the ground before Pendred came back into the fight with some sound work of his own.

But with neither man able to finish the other, it sent down to the judges, with all three giving their blessings to Pendred.

Women’s action followed as Rosi Sexton faced Aisling Daly in the semifinals of the Flyweight title tournament.

This has to be one of the most technical battles I’ve seen this year. They began their night’s work swinging for the fences before they took the fight to the ground. Sexton chose the ground and pound route until Daly went for an armbar. It looked as if the local girl was going to take the submission win until Sexton managed to escape.

This was pretty much how the fight played out for the next two rounds. Both girls put in tremendous performances, with Daly going for another armbar and a couple of guillotines, Sexton matching here with some impressive takedowns and striking.

Once again the judges were called into action, and this time around the scores were a lot closer as Sexton took the unanimous decision and advancing to the tournament final.

The co-main event saw Dave Hill going up against Conor McGregor for the Featherweight title.

These two certainly didn’t waste any time at the beginning of this one. They began swinging as soon as the fight started until Hill went for a takedown and McGregor pulled guard.

From there we saw an exciting back and forth affair until McGregor took control in the second round. McGregor put in a good stint, and even though Hill managed to escape from his submission attempts and survived the ground and pound, McGregor took Hill’s back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The main event saw D.J. Linderman challenging Mike Hayes for the Heavyweight title.

With the first, third and fourth rounds edited out (I’m guessing not much happened there) we saw Linderman getting off a few good combinations in the second and failing with his takedown attempts, Hayes countering with a few well placed kicks.

Hayes secured his only takedown of the fight in the fifth, taking Linderman’s back late on while his challenger continued with his striking game.

But with neither man able to get the finish, it went down to the judges as Linderman took the title winning unanimous decision.

In conclusion—you’re probably thinking that this guy is going to give this show a glowing review, aren’t you?

Cage Warriors 47 was a bit of a mixed bag, if I’m to be honest. There were some great fights here, particularly the Sexton/Daly encounter (my fight of the night), but the editing out of some of the action, particularly in the heavyweight title fight, was a little disappointing.

It spoiled the flow of the action, and while I understand that the edits were made to fit in with the two hour time slot, it’s perhaps a sign that should really start thinking about releasing their full shows on DVD.

But apart from that criticism, I’m going to give Cage Warriors 47 the thumbs up.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com, as well as my Facebook page at Facebook.com/twoshedsreview.

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UFC 148 Preview: Rickson Gracie, Anderson Silva and an MMA Paradigm Shift

Rickson Gracie, one of the greatest jiu-jitsu artists of this or any time, has laid bare the truth about his art’s efficacy in modern mixed martial arts. And the picture he paints isn’t a pretty one for any of the stalwart fans from Brazil who once cha…

Rickson, who made his reputation spreading his family’s martial system across the world, often selling it at the end of a balled fist, forcing acceptance with a tap, has determined something many of us noted years ago. MMA is no longer about an art. MMA is about the man.

“You may use like 30 percent of jiu-jitsu,” Rickson told Brazil’s Tatame. “You can’t put Royce [Gracie, Rickson’s brother and an early UFC champion] or any other guy only using it… Technology has changed the sport a lot in terms of how much you train, the capacity of losing weight to fight… It’s completely different. You can use many jiu-jitsu things, but the body is your main element.”

The body is you main element. For a sport built on technique, on the principle that a smaller man can beat a larger one with the right tools, this is a paradigm shift of the largest conceivable magnitude.

UFC champions aren’t built with knowledge anymore. There are no more Jeremy Horns, marginal athletes who succeed at the highest levels by being savvier and more skilled than the opposition.

The UFC is an athlete’s game now. Rickson specifically mentions Anderson Silva, who defends his title at UFC 148 against Chael Sonnen, as one of the astounding athletes that didn’t exist in his MMA. Silva and his ilk force a different set of questions for any fighter looking to succeed.

How strong are you? How fast? How much weight can you cut? How easily do you bounce back from that cut? These are physiological factors. And in a sport where you have 15 minutes to succeed or fail, these factors are just as, if not more important than how much you know about fighting.

Of course, Rickson hasn’t completely torn his own legacy to shreds. It’s the time limits, he contends, that have changed the sport so dramatically. “They impose a rhythm to the bout,” is how he explains it, no doubt in delightfully broken English.

In other words, in a world where you fight to the finish, jiu-jitsu is still king. With no artificial time constraints, it’s still possible for pure jiu-jitsu to prevail. Gracie and his contemporaries were playing the long game. In a different atmosphere and environment. With different and more realistic rules.

Rickson Gracie might not have been a champion in today’s MMA. But in the street? With limited rules? With enough time to play his game, spring his traps? Rickson by armbar. Some things never change.

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BJ Penn and 10 UFC Fighters Who Are Better Than Their Record

UFC fighters come and go.Fresh fighters step off the MMA bus all the time, sparking new win streaks while ending others.It’s why the sport continues to thrive.But along the way, through the knockouts, submissions and close decisions that form the machi…

UFC fighters come and go.

Fresh fighters step off the MMA bus all the time, sparking new win streaks while ending others.

It’s why the sport continues to thrive.

But along the way, through the knockouts, submissions and close decisions that form the machine that is the UFC, records are often skewed.

Whether due in part to a fighter’s evolution, the divisional tier he occupies or just a bad year, numbers don’t always equate to the truth.

Here are 10 fighters who are better than what their professional record indicates.

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Brandon Vera: The Beneficiary of Kind Circumstance

Five years ago, UFC heavyweight sensation, Brandon Vera was the toast of the town. He was 4-0 in the UFC, with four brutal stoppages, and had just demolished former champion, Frank Mir. To say Vera’s star was on the rise would be a colossal under…

Five years ago, UFC heavyweight sensation, Brandon Vera was the toast of the town. He was 4-0 in the UFC, with four brutal stoppages, and had just demolished former champion, Frank Mir.

To say Vera’s star was on the rise would be a colossal understatement.

A couple of losses later, and the undersized heavyweight departed the land of gargantuan men for the light-heavyweight division; which is not always a wise move considering that category is populated by semi-gargantuan men who are also quick and athletic.

With that move Vera lost not only his speed advantage, but his confidence and aggression as well.

Just as quickly as he had risen to stardom, he fell out of the sky.

Sure, Vera beat the guys he was supposed to beat, but he fell short against top competition. It was a fight against Thiago Silva that really put a bizarre cherry on top of his stunning descent.

Very was cut after posting three straight losses. But in a peculiar twist, Silva would go on to fail a drug test. He submitted a urinalysis that wasn’t human, and was fined and suspended.

Vera’s loss was changed to a No-Contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was given another chance in the UFC.

He made the most of it by defeating Eliot Marshall in unimpressive fashion–again a guy he was supposed to beat.

Nothing wrong with that. A ‘W’ is a ‘W.’ And normally that would get him another fight against mid-level competition on the undercard. But due to a surprising series of circumstances, Vera will now face former light-heavyweight champion, Shogun Rua in the main event on the UFC on FOX 4.

Not a bad turn of events for a guy who was unemployed just a year ago.

This is Vera’s chance to get back on track.

Shogun is a rough night out for anyone not named “Bones,” but even just a good showing by Vera could get his name back into the general mixed martial arts discourse.

As much as MMA is an unforgiving sport, it’s also a sport where second, even third chances happen all the time. Sure, a fighter can suffer an injury that shelves him for a year. No fight, no pay. But one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain.

It’s because of the UFC’s latest injury bug, which in this particular case claimed Michael Bisping and Brian Stann, that Vera is in this position.

The circumstances that brought him to this place have been happenstance. The rest is up to Vera.

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Michael Bisping Talks About Injury That Knocked Him out of UFC 149

There are certain things a person never wants to hear. Among them are these little gems: “It’s yours, ”“The check’s in the mail,” “Trust me,” “We need to talk” and “Can you step out of the car, please?” If you’re UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, the one thing you certainly don’t want to hear right now is another message letting you know that a fighter has been injured.

The UFC has faced quite the run of injuries as of late. With that in mind, it’s easy to imagine Silva cringing each time he hears his phone ring or receives a text or email alert.

One of the latest fighters who Silva had to find a replacement for was Michael Bisping. The middleweight had been scheduled to face Tim Boetsch at UFC 149, but an injury forced Bisping from the card. Bisping recently spoke to Karyn Bryant about that injury, indicating that he had been having problems with his knee during his training for the Boetsch fight.

An MRI showed that those problems consisted of some lose cartilage as well as a torn meniscus. Long story short, Bisping is in need of surgery and is facing an unknown amount of time on the shelf.

Bisping had hoped that a victory over Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 would have put him in position to face the winner of the upcoming Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen middleweight title bout that is scheduled to headline UFC 148 on July 7. While it’s possible that Bisping could still be considered for that bout after his recovery, it’s also possible that the missed fight with Boetsch will allow someone else to move up and claim the crown of top contender.

One possibility to face the winner of the Silva vs. Sonnen bout could be the winner of the Hector Lombard vs. Boetsch fight, which was put together after Bisping’s injury. Lombard had been booked to face Brian Stann at UFC on FOX 4, but an injury to Stann forced that fight to be scrapped. The Bisping injury allowed the UFC to slot Lombard into Bisping’s spot at UFC 149.

Lombard will make his UFC debut when he faces Boetsch. On the line for Lombard will be a 25-fight unbeaten streak. For his part, Boetsch is on a three-fight winning streak since dropping down to middleweight from light heavyweight, with his last victory being a TKO win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144.

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UFC 148: Why You Should Support Anderson Silva as He Takes on Chael Sonnen

At UFC 148, in one of the most anticipated fights in MMA history, Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will go head-to-head in a grudge match for the ages. However, come fight night, only one of the aforesaid combatants should have the fanzines’ full suppor…

Since the self-proclaimed “American Gangster” inflicted a five-round shellacking of the reigning middleweight titlist, a rematch has been in the works. Hell, a rematch has been inevitable.

That fateful night at UFC 117, Sonnen almost usurped the crown from the perennial champion, but as fate would have it, he succumbed to a triangle armbar in the dying minutes of the final frame.

Las Vegas, Nev. (Rome) will be the setting and the Octagon (Coliseum) is where the drama will play out.

Vae victo (Sonnen).

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