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Frankie Edgar Proves Doubters Wrong, Shows The World He Is One Of The Best

(Photo by Scott Petersen for MMAWeekly.com)
Many critics and fans felt that coming into last nights title bout Frankie Edgar had little chance of defending his title against a man who handled him easily in their first fight. The odds on favorite was Gray Maynard who sported an undefeated record and was the only man […]

(Photo by Scott Petersen for MMAWeekly.com)

Many critics and fans felt that coming into last nights title bout Frankie Edgar had little chance of defending his title against a man who handled him easily in their first fight. The odds on favorite was Gray Maynard who sported an undefeated record and was the only man to defeat Edgar in the past.

One of the main issues was Edgar’s size, he’s smaller than most lightweight fighters which was very evident when compared to Maynard in the octagon last night. Edgar looked so much smaller as if he was a welterweight taking on a light-heavyweight fighter.

The one thing that everyone overlooked, including us here at The MMA News, was Edgar’s heart and his ability to persevere despite whatever the critics had to say about him.

We were almost proven right in the first round as Maynard knocked Edgar down to the mat three times with punches and followed up with two more takedowns. “The Bully” did everything he could in the first five minutes to finish his opponent but Edgar held on.

Even UFC president Dana White noted in a recent video interview that he wouldn’t have faulted Yves Lavigne for stopping the fight in the first, but thankfully Lavigne didn’t do that and we were treated to one of the best fights of the year.

FightMetric scored the total number of strikes in the first round 47 for Maynard and 10 for Edgar but the total at the end of the fight showed anything but a one sided affair. By the end of the fight the total number of strikes thrown were 93 for Maynard and 97 for Edgar. Significant strikes totaled 71 Maynard and 95 Edgar.

Maynard landed the majority of his strikes in the first while Edgar was able to come back and win the later rounds to force the draw. Each fighter scored a total of three takedowns each, but it was Edgar’s ability to stuff Maynard’s attack that helped to make the difference by stopping 17 of 20 attempts, while Maynard stopped 10 of 13.

It’s not to say that Maynard wasn’t deserving of the victory, as there are many points one can argue that would see him with the title, but he was just outshone Saturday night by Edgar.

Edgar didn’t win but he did walk away with the belt and a ton of respect from the MMA community as a whole.

The hype that will now build up to Edgar vs. Maynard III will be monumental and will have fans anxiously awaiting a fight date announcement.

For Maynard it will offer him another chance to take the title, maybe one he should have won but failed to finish when he had the opportunity.

And for Edgar, it will offer him another chance to showcase himself as one of the top lightweights in the world as he faces another opponent again in back-to-back fights.

Three Titles And One Open Challenge, Alistair Overeem Ready For All Takers

Friday night’s victory for Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (34-11) was a bit anti-climactic. Many fans were excited to see “The Demolition Man” back fighting in an MMA match against an opponent with knockout power, but most likely wanted to see how long it would take for the Dutch fighter to dispose of Todd Duffee.
On […]

On the line was the DREAM interim heavyweight championship title, something DREAM officials probably hadn’t planned on doing just yet.

Following his successful bid to capture this years K-1 World Grand Prix title earlier in the month, Overeem lobbied to fight on the Dynamite!! event but only if it would be for the vacant DREAM title. It was a move by the Dutch fighter which left DREAM officials with little option but to find an opponent and put the belt up for the winner. DREAM would have probably preferred to build up a title bout but looked at their options and simply wanted to ride the wave of popularity Overeem is currently enjoying in Japan.

This is one of those rare times when we see a fighter take his destiny into his own hands by pulling the strings by making an organization dance to his tune. Certainly Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko could be used as another example but from what we’ve seen, Fedor seems oblivious to most of what goes on when negotiations are made for him and everything is done in the interest of M-1 Global instead.

With only twenty days from the end of the K-1 World Grand Prix to the night of the Dynamite!! 2010 event, DREAM officials were left scrambling to find an opponent worthy of a DREAM heavyweight title match.

None of the Strikeforce heavyweights were willing to step up on short notice, despite the fact that they are all chasing Overeem for his Strikeforce title. Or maybe none of them stepped up because DREAM didn’t offer enough money, or maybe it was DREAM’s reputation for failing to pay fighters on time, just ask Bob Sapp.

The only two fighters to step up were Bobby Lashley, who apparently asked for a six figure payout, and Todd Duffee who reportedly got payed $60,000 for his 19 seconds of work on Friday night.

If Duffee was looking for a quick payday then he achieved his goal but he’s going to have some hard work ahead of him if he ever wants to return to the octagon. Maybe he looked at the fight as a way to introduce himself to Japanese fans, they are always interested in big men with lots of muscle, maybe they’ll adopt him there?

Right or wrong, Overeem has put himself near the top of the heap as far as popularity goes despite being ranked outside of the World’s top five heavyweight fighters.

It may not have been classy to force DREAM into putting a title on the line but at least Overeem is willing to back up his win by taking on all challengers.

“I’m very proud of becoming the DREAM champion today,” Overeem stated at the post fight press conference. “I’m ready to defend it against anybody, anybody in the World, anybody who is listening. Please come and challenge me in the DREAM ring and I will defeat you.”

So it’s left to the worlds heavyweight fighters to step up and take “The Demolition Man’s” titles away. He’s accomplished all of his goals in 2010 and instead of him chasing after opponents he’ll wait for them to come to him now.

“All my goals for 2010 are met. I became the champion for three organizations Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream. There is nobody who I want to fight, they can come to me. They can challenge me and I will always accept.”

Happy Holidays From The MMA News

We here at The MMA News want to wish all of our readers a Happy Holidays and want to thank you for all of your support over the years that we’ve been providing news on the sport we love.
We sincerely hope that you have gotten an opportunity to spend the time with loved ones as […]

We here at The MMA News want to wish all of our readers a Happy Holidays and want to thank you for all of your support over the years that we’ve been providing news on the sport we love.

We sincerely hope that you have gotten an opportunity to spend the time with loved ones as we will be doing over the Christmas period. Please remember to take a moment to think about those less fortunate than you, as well as those members celebrating the Holidays in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

So enjoy the food, the gym can wait a few more days, have a few drinks, please don’t drink and drive, and have your PVR’s ready for the New year with the Sengoku, Dynamite!! and UFC events just around the corner.

‘Sengoku: Soul of Fight’ is set for Dec. 30th (sorry HDNet will only be airing the show in two parts on Jan. 14th and 21st), with ‘FieLDS Dynamite!! 2010′ show set for New Year’s Eve (which WILL be shown on HDNet), and ‘UFC 125: Resolution’ airing on pay-per-view Jan. 1st.

State Of The Strikeforce Heavyweight Division

On paper the Strikeforce heavyweight division is probably one of the deepest for the promotion with big names like champ Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and Fabricio Werdum, while also including a few strong up-and-comers like Daniel Cormier and Lavar Johnson.
The problem with the entire division is trying to actually book fighters into the […]

The problem with the entire division is trying to actually book fighters into the cage and trying to determine some sort of ranking structure for the division.

In the UFC fans know that the next likely #1 contender will likely be one of three fighters, formers champ Brock Lesnar or Frank Mir, or possibly Shane Carwin who could earn another title shot.

You can’t do that with the Strikeforce division as there are any number of reasons why the logical #1 contender, being Fabricio Werdum, might not get the next title shot.

The recent news that Strikeforce and M-1 Global are working towards signing a bout between Fedor vs. “Bigfoot” Silva seems like the right way to go. Fedor wanted a rematch with Werdum to avenge the only real loss of his career, but it makes more sense for him to fight Silva instead. Strikefroce CEO Scott Coker recently noted that he’d been wanting to book a Fedor vs. Overeem match.

This bout, if it happens, almost feels as if Strikeforce is offering Fedor a chance to fight for the title next by winning, like they are trying to get him into the title fight against Overeem. It would be easy to imagine that both Strikeforce and M-1 Global would push for that fight next with a win, and timewise it makes sense Overeem has already stated he’s looking to defend his title in the Spring.

In our eyes, a loss by Fedor would see him get his rematch with Werdum, while a win would earn him the next title shot. While a win for Silva probably will more likely earn him another fight before seeing a title bout. Facing someone like Cormier or Johnson seems like something Strikeforce would do to keep him occupied.

What about Overeem? His last title defense was against Brett Rogers, who he destroyed in the first round of their fight, and came into the fight after a loss to Fedor. Sure both he and Overeem were to have fought before his loss to the Russian, but getting a title shot after a loss makes little sense.

If Overeem defends his title this year it will likely be the only time he does it as he’s sure to enter next falls K-1 tournament to defend his Grand Prix championship. This leaves him unavailable to defend his title and leaves the entire division in the lurch trying to determine who gets the next title shot, whenever that could come.

There are still so many issues that could pop up with the division that could really throw a wrench into the entire mess.

One issue is M-1’s involvement with the division. Right now they’ve only got one fighter representing their brand in Fedor, whose to say that as part of their negotiations with Strikeforce that they don’t get to insert some of their fighters into the division. Then where does everybody stand if something like that happens?

The Darkhorse question that still remains is the status of “The Baby Faced Assassin” Josh Barnett, ranked highly among the worlds heavyweights. Currently he is still trying to get himself re-licensed after serving a years suspension for a positive steroid test. Once, and if, he can get clearance to fight again, he’ll certainly make an impact among the Strikeforce heavyweights but we’ll just have to keep waiting till that time to find out.

It’s probably easier to throw a dart at a board with photos of all the Strikeforce heavyweights to determine who fights who, instead of trying to put fights together that make sense. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what further drama unfolds in the coming year for the Strikeforce division to see what happens next.

Whats Next For The UFC Welterweight Champ After UFC 124

With what UFC president Dana White is calling “the biggest event in UFC history,” with crowds expected to reach 23,000 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, fans are coming to see reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defend his title for a fifth straight time.
St-Pierre will face Josh Koscheck for the second time in […]

St-Pierre will face Josh Koscheck for the second time in his career and many are predicting a win for the French-Canadian, but memories of the past, GSP vs. Matt Serra bout, prove that any fighter is one punch away from losing.

We at The MMA News want to ask, well “What’s next for the winner?”

Well duh, the obvious answer to that question is a match with former Strikeforce champion and #1 welterweight contender Jake Shields, who earned the title shot after defeating Martin Kampmann at UFC 121. But a match with Shields against either St-Pierre or Koscheck has very different meanings to the 170 lbs division.

Let’s look at what a win by Koscheck would mean for him and the rest of the UFC welterweights.

If Koscheck wins and manages to escape from Montreal in one piece before the fans lynch him, it changes the dynamics of the entire welterweight division. GSP will of course look to regain the title but everyone he’s ever defeated will look for a rematch now that they’ve seen he can be beaten.

For Koscheck a fight with Shields could cost him the title easily. Shields has already beaten a noted wrestler in Dan Henderson, and would likely dominate in a fight with Koscheck. This would open up the entire division offering chances to fighters who thought the title was out of reach, and give the UFC promotion new story lines to splash across the headlines.

A win for St-Pierre solidifies his position as one of, if not the, top pound-for-pound fighter in the World. So where does he go with a win?

For “Rush,” a match with Shields probably poses one of the greatest challenges to his fighting style. None of his past opponents can be truly compared to the style of Shields. Yes he’s fought Jiu-Jitsu fighters like BJ Penn and Matt Hughes, but neither matches Shields wrestling-Jiu-Jitsu base and neither fighter matches his size as Shields is coming down from 185.

The only opponent St-Pierre has faced recently who could compete at 185 was Thiago Alves, but we’ve seen how well the French-Canadian shut him, and Dan Hardy downm in his last two title defenses.

So a challenging fight with Shields could certainly see the title change hands, which if it does, will see both fighters rematching back and forth for the title, as both men will likely dominate the welterweight division.

If St-Pierre defeats Shields, then he’ll have cleaned out the competition at 170 lbs leaving the UFC promotion only one choice and that is to move St-Pierre up to 185 lbs to face Anderson Silva.

Making the fight between St-Pierre and Silva a title bout would be a mistake leaving the UFC with one champion, two belts and likely only two fights a year to defend either one. Making their fight a three round non-title match leaves the doors open for a rematch that could see the title on the line should St-Pierre win the first meeting.

A victorious GSP is always good for business, but at 170 lbs it leaves the UFC with fewer options for fights, making the move to 185 lbs the likely path for the fighter which opens up many options for the UFC to attempt.

Why The MMA News Contributor Jake Daniels Is Picking GSP Over Koscheck

UFC 124 preview – Dec. 6, 2010 – by Jake Daniels
Referencing Wikipedia is apparently the “in” thing, so I’ll get that out of the way right off the top. “Wikipedia.” There. Two votes for Daniels.
I used the popular edited-by-anyone-with-a-keyboard-so-prone-to-error website to find a song about going to Montreal – because I wish I was. […]

UFC 124 preview – Dec. 6, 2010 – by Jake Daniels

Referencing Wikipedia is apparently the “in” thing, so I’ll get that out of the way right off the top. “Wikipedia.” There. Two votes for Daniels.

I used the popular edited-by-anyone-with-a-keyboard-so-prone-to-error website to find a song about going to Montreal – because I wish I was. Unfortunately a lack of travel/salary/lunch budget on the part of my bosses (sic) here at themmanews.com combined with previous commitments will not allow going to La Belle province to hopefully see George St-Pierre beat the actual snot out of Josh Koscheck.

Other than my penchant for seeing St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar win, most nights in the Octagon © I just want to see good fights. Providing the men in the ring are respectful to one another, and keep it within the rules, it generally doesn’t matter to me who gets his hand raised and belly button pointed at by the referee. I rarely pick winners any better than the friends I gamble on the fights with – which is the beauty of MMA.

Having never met either one of the men personally, all I can garner about the personalities of Saturday’s main event combatants is from what I see in interviews, and on TUF. St-Pierre could be a real dick for all we really know – but he comes off as smart, savvy, and charmingly French-Canadian. Koscheck, who will be booed relentlessly at the Bell center this weekend, might be the greatest buddy ever helped you drywall the basement – and bring beer.

What I AM sure of, are a few things; as a GSP fan and proud Canadian I never want to see his face mashed up and bloodied again. I want him to retire on top – whenever he feels the time is right – never having to taste his own blood while watching Dana White present his title belt to another man. I definitely do NOT want Koscheck to be that man.

Koscheck for some reason got under my skin the first time I saw him fight. He reminds me of every bully that ever bullied anyone, anywhere. His hair annoys me. His eyes annoy me. His constant 3-day growth annoys me. His nose… Don’t get me started on his nose.

“The Koss”, as he likes to call himself, also got his ass out-coached and out-classed on TUF by St-Pierre. Both guys who made it to the finale were in GSP’s camp on the show – and Jonathan Brookins and Michael Johnson each demonstrated talent, courage and honor in giving MMA fans a great 3-rounds. (Secretly I was cheering a little more for Brookins, just because he’s such a hippie)

For those reasons – and I may be blowing a shot at getting some home remodeling help here – I just want to see Koscheck’s nose relocated to where his ear used to be.

Oh and for the record, the song I was looking for would either be “Demain matin Montréal m’attend” (“Tomorrow morning Montreal awaits me”) by Michel Tremblay and François Dompierre, or “Je reviendrai à Montréal” (“I will come to Montreal”) by Robert Charlebois. Also Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, Bran Van 3000 and a number of others have songs called “Montreal”… Wikipedia has everything…