Mark Munoz demonstrated he is one of the most vicious and aggressive strikers in the UFC. He may not be the most technical, but Munoz is dynamic and relentless with his powerful striking assault.Like some of the other most effective strikers in the bus…
Mark Munoz demonstrated he is one of the most vicious and aggressive strikers in the UFC. He may not be the most technical, but Munoz is dynamic and relentless with his powerful striking assault.
Like some of the other most effective strikers in the business, Munoz grabs the line between power and aggression, and he wrestles it to the ground like a demon cobra. Then he stomps it into submission and uses it as a lasso to haul in the wild bronco called victory.
This is Mark Munoz and the top 10 most vicious strikers in the UFC.
Last night’s UFC 138 turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining event with each bout on the main card ending in a finish.In the main event of the evening, Mark Munoz went to war with Chris Leben in the UFC’s first ever five-round non-title fight. &nb…
Last night’s UFC 138 turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining event with each bout on the main card ending in a finish.
In the main event of the evening, Mark Munoz went to war with Chris Leben in the UFC’s first ever five-round non-title fight.
The fight, however, would not go the full 25 minutes, as it would only take Munoz two rounds to finish Leben, who was forced to throw in the towel after suffering a huge cut above his eye.
Adding his name to the list of top contenders, here’s how Munoz stacks up with the top five middleweights in MMA.
When we mentioned earlier that Mark Munoz had perhaps jumped the gun when he called out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview, we had no idea how much the execs at Spike TV agreed with us. Turns out, most of you probably never even knew this had happened, because despite the amount of time Spike had to compose the event following it’s actual occurrence, Munoz’s call out of “The Spider” was cut off before we even had the time to process how ridiculous it was. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons that Dana White & Co. are no longer putting up with Spike TV’s bullshit.
In the above video, Munoz states that “I’ve paid my dues in this weight class” and that “I consider [Anderson] a friend, but right now I’d love to get a title shot.” Apparently Munoz believes that if threatening the champ’s wife with sexual harassment and calling him a coward doesn’t work, then maybe a little ass kissing will. And at this point, it’s hard telling what you have to do to get a fight with A. Silva.
So what do you guys think? Is Munoz drinking the wrong Kool-Aid or does he have a point here?
Speaking of Munoz, join us after the jump to see how Leben congratulated “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” on his victory:
When we mentioned earlier that Mark Munoz had perhaps jumped the gun when he called out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview, we had no idea how much the execs at Spike TV agreed with us. Turns out, most of you probably never even knew this had happened, because despite the amount of time Spike had to compose the event following it’s actual occurrence, Munoz’s call out of “The Spider” was cut off before we even had the time to process how ridiculous it was. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons that Dana White & Co. are no longer putting up with Spike TV’s bullshit.
In the above video, Munoz states that “I’ve paid my dues in this weight class” and that “I consider [Anderson] a friend, but right now I’d love to get a title shot.” Apparently Munoz believes that if threatening the champ’s wife with sexual harassment and calling him a coward doesn’t work, then maybe a little ass kissing will. And at this point, it’s hard telling what you have to do to get a fight with A. Silva.
So what do you guys think? Is Munoz drinking the wrong Kool-Aid or does he have a point here?
Speaking of Munoz, join us after the jump to see how Leben congratulated “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” on his victory:
Always the cheeky bastard gentleman, Leben left a candy bar and note for Munoz at the front desk of their hotel, which Munoz tweeted last night. For those of you with vision like mine, the note reads:
Thank you! I think we put on a grate show. Congratulations. 8=D Chris Leben
Crippler, you classy son of a bitch. Your ability to warm our hearts almost makes us overlook your grammatical shortcomings and need for a phallic insignia. On a side note, who knew that Cadbury made anything other than creme filled eggs? Looks like I’m off to FAO Schwarz to further investigate this mystery.
It’s time for a reality check: Thiago Alves has a ground game, a good one. And while people love watching him chop down opponents like trees with his leg kicks, or knock them senseless with well-time punches and elbows, it’s time for him to…
It’s time for a reality check: Thiago Alves has a ground game, a good one.
And while people love watching him chop down opponents like trees with his leg kicks, or knock them senseless with well-time punches and elbows, it’s time for him to start using that ground game to get himself some wins.
Coming into his UFC 138 matchup with Papy Abedi, there was talk that the American Top Team product could be cut with a loss. That’s a remarkable fall from grace for a man who isn’t yet thirty and fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title on the biggest card in UFC history in 2009.
Fortunately, he came out and buzz-sawed Abedi, looking incredibly tight on his feet and far more cerebral than he has in recent losses or uninspiring wins. For Alves to fight anywhere other than the top promotion in the world would be ludicrous, as when he’s on he’s as good as anyone in the game.
However part of that talent is utilizing his slick ground game. It’s not something that’s new, he holds a jiu-jitsu brown belt under the legendary Ricardo Liborio and has for a while. but it’s something that’s new to his MMA game.
Too often in the past, Alves has been pulled into fighting out of his comfort area. He’ll have trouble with opponents who keep him off balance with in-between distance, too far to strike powerfully but close enough to get tied up with and held against the cage. Opponents with good wrestling have posed issues, and while his ability to scramble and get up is as good as anyone at 170, the points are already scored against him when the takedown happens, so his efforts to get up seem less impressive.
Thankfully, in a division heavy on guys who will use wrestling to grind away and win in uninteresting fashion, Thiago Alves is there to make things exciting. It’s a very rare thing that he’ll come to the octagon and not put on an enjoyable performance. However, he needs to temper that excitement with success, which he can do by implementing his grappling game more prominently.
When done properly, jiu-jitsu can be exciting. As MMA grows, people become better educated on the nuances of grappling, and appreciate a guy like Demian Maia as much as they do Anderson Silva. Alves has the unique ability to combine a little bit of both, the vaunted striker with the excellent grappler, and do so excitingly while racking up some wins.
For that reason, it becomes clear that he should be using his ground game a little more.
And if that reason isn’t enough for you? Ask Papy Abedi. He can probably be more convincing than I can.
UFC 138 wound up being one of the better mixed martial arts events of the year, though the main event did not leave everyone in the arena and watching on television with a warm, fuzzy feeling.Mark Munoz was able to get a victory over Chris Leben thanks…
UFC 138 wound up being one of the better mixed martial arts events of the year, though the main event did not leave everyone in the arena and watching on television with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Mark Munoz was able to get a victory over Chris Leben thanks to a stoppage in between the second and third rounds, but it does not warrant Munoz being talked about as a middleweight title contender.
It is easy to understand why Munoz would be talked about as a contender for Anderson Silva: He has won seven of his last eight fights, including four straight, and is finally starting to beat higher-caliber middleweight fighters. However, his resume does not scream No. 1 contender or even No. 2 or 3 for that matter. He can get into the mix with a couple more victories over upper-echelon fighters, but not before then.
Still, that did not stop UFC announcer Joe Rogan from posing the question to Munoz after he was declared the winner thanks to a nasty gash over Leben’s left eye that left him unable to see.
“Anderson Silva is by far the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” Munoz said. “I give him all the respect and honor, but I think I deserve a title shot. I consider him a friend, but right now I would love to get a title shot.”No disrespect to Munoz, who is a good fighter in his own right, but the reason that he is not going to get that shot and Chael Sonnen in all likelihood will is because he knows how to promote a fight.
UFC is as much about shameless self-promotion and building yourself up as it is about performing in the octagon.
Sonnen has the ability to do that. Munoz, clearly, does not. You have to make Dana White and Joe Silva take notice of you if you want a shot.
A victory over Leben is a good start for Munoz, and he could have helped himself a lot more with some gloating and promotion, but instead he just took the win and hopes that someone will pay attention to him.
Munoz’s résumé is far from complete, so he should get into title contention at some point, but he still has a lot left to prove before he gets talked about with the best middleweights that UFC has to offer.
Renan Barao wanted to send an emphatic message to the UFC Bantamweight division in what was his 29th career fight against Brad “One Punch” Pickett. That message was that he was more of a real threat to Dominick Cruz’s UFC Bantamweight Championship titl…
Renan Barao wanted to send an emphatic message to the UFC Bantamweight division in what was his 29th career fight against Brad “One Punch” Pickett. That message was that he was more of a real threat to Dominick Cruz‘s UFC Bantamweight Championship title than people gave him credit for.
Not just anyone could create a slugfest with Pickett, getting the better of him in most of the only exchanges of the bout: Tiger Knee the chin of Pickett a la Sagat from Street Fighter; swarm on him with follow-up punches; and crush the face of Pickett on a rear naked choke attempt.
Barao did all of that against a gamer in the WEC veteran.
The scary thing about the way he handled Pickett throughout the bout is that Barao implemented what is arguably the exact game plan needed to not only immobilize the champion Cruz, but to also neutralize his elusive offense, hurt him badly on the feet and finish him without hesitation.
Barao landed the cleaner shots on the feet and basically outclassed Pickett before finally landing that big knee to drop Pickett and beautifully execute the chin crush that was intended to be a rear naked choke.
So that poses the question:
If Barao could implement that sort of punishment on Pickett, and if he can work some similar magic against either of the last five men to fight Cruz—meaning he draws Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson, or Scott Jorgensen next, and defeats them in a manner not unlike his win over Pickett—what would honestly make us think that Cruz would fare any better against Barao?
The simple truth is that, like him or not, Cruz is good, but on his best day, it may not be enough. Barao can exercise the tools he has to beat Cruz in his own realm and prove that he is in fact better than the champ.
It’s time for a reality check: Thiago Alves has a ground game, a good one.