Tag: UFC 146

UFC 146 Pre-Fight Analysis: Part II

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman One of the long time favorites of MMA fans, Roy Nelson, returns to the octagon to take on Dave Herman. Both men suffered defeat in their previous fight and Nelson.

Roy Nelson

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

One of the long time favorites of MMA fans, Roy Nelson, returns to the octagon to take on Dave Herman. Both men suffered defeat in their previous fight and Nelson has lost three out of his last four with two of those losses coming to the fighters competing for the championship in the night’s headliner. Herman has split his two UFC fights with his loss coming to Stefan Struve, who is also competing on Saturday night’s card.

Nelson’s last several fights have mainly taken place on the feet and his main accomplishment has been proving that he is almost impossible to knock out. He took punches from Junior Dos Santos that no one else has been able to absorb. But a good chin isn’t enough to win fights and losing three out of four isn’t the way to stay in the UFC. Nelson will be fighting for his UFC life on Saturday night and fortunately for him, he will be facing a fighter he is capable of defeating. Expect Nelson to attempt to show the full range of his game on Saturday night as he should have the advantage wherever the fight takes place. Herman will have the height advantage but that’s nothing new for Nelson who will close the distance and throw power punches. Once on the inside, Nelson should look to put Herman on his back and work his submission game. Nelson is excellent from the top position and has the skill set to finish this fight early.

Herman will be looking to improve on his previous performance when he was stopped by Stefan Struve after an uninspiring eight minutes in the octagon. He looked sluggish against Struve and spent most of the fight standing still in front of his opponent eventually paying for his lack of movement by being dropped with an uppercut and finished with ground and pound. Herman is a much better fighter than he showed that night and he should be looking to prove that against Nelson. A win against Nelson would put him back on the right track while a loss would set him back significantly. He will look to keep the fight standing as he won’t want to grapple with his more accomplished opponent. Look for him to use his reach advantage and keep Nelson on the outside with jabs and kicks. If Nelson looks to close the distance, expect Herman to clinch and use his knees. The task is a difficult one but if Herman is focused, he can pull off the upset.

Nelson is favored in this fight at -225 with Herman the underdog at +185. Nelson should be able to pull out a win by outstriking Herman, putting him on his back and looking for submissions. Herman’s best hope is to keep Nelson on the outside and pick him apart with strikes. Unfortunately for Herman, Nelson is almost impossible to knock out so if he wants a victory, he’s going to have to earn it by winning a decision.

Shane Del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

In a battle of undefeated heavyweights, former Strikeforce fighter Shane Del Rosario makes his UFC debut against Stipe Miocic who has two wins in the UFC over Joey Beltran and Philip De Fries. Despite being undefeated thus far in their careers, neither fighter has looked overwhelmingly impressive and this fight will be the biggest test either has faced.

Del Rosario won all three of his Strikeforce fights on Challengers cards over Brandon Cash, Lolohea Mahe and Lavar Johnson. He finished all three fights in the first round showing the ability to close with either strikes or submissions. None of those fighters presented a well rounded game to compete with Del Rosario’s skill set and against Miocic, he’ll be facing a more complete fighter. Miocic showed showed powerful if not technically perfect hands in his previous fight against Philip De Fries. Look for Del Rosario to start by striking with Miocic and try to take advantage of the openings he showed in that fight. But as soon as he feels threatened, expect Rosario to try to get the fight to the ground and work his submission game from the top position.

Miocic will more than likely look to keep the fight on the feet and rely on his boxing to try to earn the victory. Lavar Johnson had Del Rosario in trouble and while Miocic might not have the raw power that Johnson has, he’s more technical and could use that accuracy to finish the fight if he gets an opportunity. He will need to use his wrestling defensively in this fight to keep the fight standing. If he can use leg kicks to slow Rosario and then attack with punches, he’ll have a chance at pulling off the upset.

Del Rosario comes into this fight as the favorite at -200 with Miocic getting +170. Look for Del Rosario to strike early and use the clinch to get Miocic to the ground. Once there, he will attempt to create openings with ground and pound to attack with submissions. Miocic will be looking to do the opposite and keep the fight standing to utilize his boxing. Del Rosario should have the superior all around game and earn the victory but if he gets sloppy on his feet, Miocic could take advantage and steal the win.

Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve

Saturday night’s opening fight will feature a fight that is almost guaranteed not to make it out of the first round as Lavar Johnson’s faces Stefan Struve. This is the type of fight that makes fans wonder if UFC matchmaker Joe Silva is laughing maniacally in a dark office somewhere at the potential train wreck he has set in motion. Struve has shown a propensity to leave his notoriously weak chin up in the air and Johnson has some of the most powerful punches in the division. If Johnson’s fists touch Struve’s chin, this fight will be over.

Struve is one of the most interesting fighters in the heavyweight division. At 6’11,” he is the tallest legitimate fighter in the world and he uses that height to his advantage by kicking his opponents from distances where they can’t even come close to reaching him. He has shown knockout power in his strikes and has an excellent Dutch muay thai game that he has used to finish several UFC fights. He also uses his long legs to his advantage on the ground where he can latch on to chokes from positions where fighters aren’t used to having to defend against them. His height combined with his technique provides a unique challenge for every opponent he face. His one major weakness thus far in his career has been his chin. Once fighters get inside his outrageous reach, they have been able to consistently drop him with punches. To Struve’s credit, he has survived several knockdowns and fought back to earn victories but that will not be a likely outcome on Saturday night. If he wants to defeat Johnson, he needs to avoid the striking game and get this fight to the mat quickly where he has a significant advantage. If he can do that, he should be able to finish with a submission shortly thereafter.

Lavar Johnson has scary power in his hands. He has finished his last two opponents with punches and if Struve decides to engage in a striking match, he will likely face the same fate. Johnson will look to force the issue and go after Struve early in this fight. He has a limited ground game and he will be in trouble if he finds himself grappling with Struve. Expect Johnson to be swinging for Struve’s chin from the opening bell and even if he grazes it, that could be enough to finish the fight. His goal will be to control the octagon and push Struve against the cage where he can use uppercuts and short hooks to drop his opponent and finish the fight.

The bookmakers have this fight at almost a pick ‘em with Struve favored at -125 and Johnson the “underdog” at +105. That’s exactly where the line should be because if Johnson lands a punch, the fight could be over in an instant but if Struve can get the fight to the ground, it could end just as quickly. This fight lends itself to an early finish and both fighters have a distinct route to earning the victory. The outcome will depend on whether Struve can get the fight to the ground before Johnson lands a punch.

Lavar Johnson

UFC 146 Fight Card: Keys to Victory for Cain Velasquez

Saturday will mark former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez’s return to the Octagon after ignominiously losing the title via first-round knockout to Junior Dos Santos. During this landmark card taking place at UFC 146 in Las Vegas, he will face…

Saturday will mark former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez’s return to the Octagon after ignominiously losing the title via first-round knockout to Junior Dos Santos.

During this landmark card taking place at UFC 146 in Las Vegas, he will face-off against Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, who is also coming off a knockout loss in the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament.

Both men have everything to prove, with Velasquez the “heavy” favourite. He was undefeated until his unexpected loss to Dos Santos in November, with many still considering him the number one heavyweight in the world.

So what does he have to do to overcome the acromegalic Silva? Let’s start with where Cain’s AKA teammate Daniel Cormier left off.

 

Out-box Silva

He may be a giant man with a huge reach, but Silva’s stand-up has been left wanting time and time again. Cormier, who entered MMA with a wrestling background and is relatively new to the striking game, was able to drop Bigfoot several times in their match, before putting him away with a mean right toward the end of the first round.

Cormier was six inches shorter than Silva, but was able to get in on the inside and counter him with explosive shots, which the Brazilian had no answer to.

Even against Emelianenko, where Silva had one of his most dominant fights in his career, a few minutes standing and trading with the diminutive Russian left him rushing to take the fight to the mat.

As Velasquez trains alongside Cormier, and has proven knockout power of his own, he would do well to keep the fight standing and try and finish it on his feet.

 

Use his wrestling to keep it standing

Velasquez is a NCAA Division I All-American with some of the best wrestling in MMA. One of the best ways he can use this skill against Silva is to keep the fight standing.

When he’s in trouble, Silva, a BJJ black belt, always tries to take the fight to the mat. He’ll have a tough time bringing Velasquez down if the stand-up starts going against him, giving the former champion the perfect opportunity to dictate where the fight takes place.

With Silva’s high level jiu-jitsu, Velasquez will not want to get involved in a ground skirmish with the big man. He could follow Cormier’s blueprint against Barnett from last week—utilising his wrestling to put Silva on his back when he needs to, disrupting his opponent’s momentum, wearing him down and picking him apart with strikes.

 

Look for the finish

Velasquez has some of the most powerful punches in the division, and Silva has been knocked out twice in his career. We saw the Brazilian’s questionable chin during his fight against Cormier, and you can expect Cain to mete out the same punishment.

But the former champion should be in no rush to finish the fight. Rushing with punches could easily lead to him getting caught like he did against Dos Santos. Velasquez has one of the biggest gas tanks of all heavyweights, and he can go multiple rounds without skipping a heartbeat.

If he sticks to his game and stays patient, the knockout opportunity will come, and it will be lights out for Silva soon enough.

 

Stick to the game plan

Cormier and Velasquez have developed similar styles, which gives Silva a hint as to what to expect on Saturday and Velasquez a blueprint for the finish.

Now it’s a simple case of executing the programme and hoping that Silva learned nothing in the eight months since his last loss. One can hope…

Find out if it all goes to plan on Saturday 10 p.m. ET.

 

For more MMA goodness, check out my blog: The Fight Week

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UFC 146: Stefan ‘Fast-on-the-Ground’ Struve a Dual Threat to Lavar Johnson

Lavar Johnson (17-5) is currently riding an intimidating 100 percent Knockout of the Night rate—receiving the honor and dollars of that award in each of his two fights in his young UFC career. The rising heavyweight prospect will try to make…

Lavar Johnson (17-5) is currently riding an intimidating 100 percent Knockout of the Night rate—receiving the honor and dollars of that award in each of his two fights in his young UFC career. The rising heavyweight prospect will try to make it three in a row against Stefan Struve (23-5) come UFC 146 this Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The more veteran Struve may not only be Johnson’s toughest opponent in the UFC, but of his whole MMA career itself, which boasts of 15 of 17 wins via knockout.

And Struve is not exactly intimidated by fearsome strikers, being a strong striker himself. Don’t let his “mere” six KO wins fool you; three of those were recorded in his last five UFC fights.

Also take note that the last one was over another powerful striker in Dave Herman.

But what could really pose problems for Johnson is Struve’s ground game, with the latter’s 15 wins coming by submission.

And this really is an area of concern for Johnson, who has lost by submission in four of his five losses.

We’ll see this Saturday which fighter will be able to do to the other what he did to their common opponent Pat Barry. Johnson scored a TKO via punches over Barry only last May 5; Struve submitted the same fighter on October of last year.

However, Struve is more versatile and can also hurt and finish opponents with strikes, making him a more dangerous puzzle for Johnson.

Struve claimed in a recent Bleacher Report Productions video interview that, “One of the most important aspects of my game is that I’m pretty quick on the ground. I don’t move like a heavyweight on the ground; I’m more of a middleweight on the ground.”

Not a few fight fans will attest that he’s just being honest.

Recently remeasured as actually having an 84.5-inch reach—tying Jon Jones in having the longest reach in UFC history—Struve looks to add another digit in his win column this weekend, by any means possible.

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Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller: A Tough Interview, but He Gave Some Answers

I’ve written about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for over three years now, interviewing 30 athletes, managers and personalities in the sport over the last year and a half.Some of the interviews went easier than others but, for the…

I’ve written about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for over three years now, interviewing 30 athletes, managers and personalities in the sport over the last year and a half.

Some of the interviews went easier than others but, for the most part, it’s been smooth sailing. Then I met the one guy who didn’t like my style and wasn’t big on cooperation, and that man is Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

“Have your questions like clear and concise and ask them like with confidence,” Miller told me like an upset teacher would tell their student. “If you’re not asking with confidence it really sounds like you’re a guy in his mom’s basement, not an actual writer.”

That’s a sample of some of the kind words Miller had for me.

Usually for a feature piece of the written word, I prefer to have a conversation with the fighter to see where the interview leads us as opposed to having preset questions, but with Miller, that simply wasn’t the case—for the most part.

I say for the most part, because some interesting things were said during our short conversation, so without further adieu, let’s hear what he had to say, besides bashing my “style” or lack thereof.

Despite not wanting to talk about his last fight against Michael Bisping, Miller appears to have taken what UFC president Dana White said after the fight to heart judging by his actions.

White had some harsh words for Miller.

“Some of the punches that were thrown by Mayhem Miller in this fight, you could go to a girls’ Tae Bo class and see better form, better stand-up. It was embarrassing,” White told the media at a press conference shortly after the Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale.

Miller knows his shortcomings against Bisping and has been working to correct them. He made the trek across the Atlantic to go work on his kickboxing in Holland, one of the aspects of his game that looked like it needed work after the fight with Bisping.

“I trained with my Afghan brother Siyar Bahadurzada and I got some amazing training in the art of kickboxing,” Miller said. “I worked with other guys at the Golden Glory gym.”

In terms of kickboxing, there aren’t many better places in the world to learn the art form than the Netherlands. With former K1 champions and greats like Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari and many others, the Netherlands has been a hotbed for great kickboxers.

Bahadurzada recently made his UFC debut against Paulo Thiago at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustaffson vs. Silva. He extended his win streak to 7 with the 42-second knockout victory that had Thiago face down on the canvas.

Highly touted for his striking prowess, Miller couldn’t have trained with a better guy to improve his stand up. Bahadurzada has great striking and he seems to have adapted it well for MMA, which is great for Miller.

Miller doesn’t think very highly of his opponent C.B. Dollaway for UFC 146 this Saturday, that much is clear.

“He’s going to get his a** kicked because he’s not as good as I am at fighting,” Miller said.

Dollaway has a wrestling background, but Miller doesn’t think of him as a wrestler at the moment, in fact, he doesn’t think very highly of Dollaway‘s style at all.

“He’s turned into a kickboxer recently,” Miller said. “A kickboxing grappler, that is what he is. His wrestling, he uses it, but the majority of his fights are these strange kickboxing matches where every once in a while he shoots a take down.”

Dollaway was knocked out in his last two fights, so I’d expect him to revert back to his wrestling, and Miller will be ready for whatever his opponent comes with.

“I’m ready for everything!”

With the way Miller was talking about Dollaway, it seemed as if he was maybe a bit upset with the UFC for relegating him to the under card against a fighter on a two-fight losing streak. I asked Miller if this was the case and he denied being upset with the UFC at all.

“I’m not bitter at them [the UFC] at all, I put on a crap performance and I deserve whatever the hell I get,” Miller said. “I’m going to smash this guy [Dollaway] to show where I deserve to be.”

With a win over Dollaway—which according to Miller is going to be the case come Saturday—where does Miller deserve to be? What should be next?

Jake Shields, 1-1 at welterweight since his loss to current champion Georges St-Pierre has made the decision to move back up to the middleweight division, where he holds notable victories over Dan Henderson and Miller himself.

One would think the rematch between Miller and Shields would make sense should they both win their next fights. Miller even asked him for a rematch in the cage after Shields defeated Dan Henderson, leading to the Strikeforce Nashville brawl between himself and the rest of the scrap pack, which includes the controversial brothers Nick and Nate Diaz.

“He (Shields) doesn’t deserve to fight me, watch what I do to this guy [Dollaway] this weekend and then we’ll write the next chapter in the Mayhem story,” Mayhem said.

It was a bit surprising to hear Miller shrug off the Shields rematch like that. One would figure he’d want to get that loss back, but maybe with his performance this weekend Miller is looking to show himself, fans and the UFC that he has bigger fish to fry in the middleweight division.

We’ll just have to wait and see what Miller does on Saturday against Dollaway before we can speculate on what happens next.

That’s what we managed to talk about during the short time we spent on the phone together with some rough patches in between. Miller trained his butt off for this fight and hasn’t been eating the way he likes, which is testing his patience.

Despite the rocky time, Miller was somewhat apologetic towards the end.

“Good job bro, I hope it comes out good and I am sorry I gave you so much trouble, it’s been a long day.”

Miller also did an interview with MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani today and talked a little bit about his frustration this week and the rough interviews he’s given to a few people.

“I like hearing myself talk, obviously I like to do interviews and what not,” Miller told Helwani. “For this camp I’ve been kind of a jerk, like I’ve done some interviews which I owe you guys an apology, I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a jerk to people.”

I imagine my interview with him is one of those interviews. In any case, maybe with a tweak in my “style” and a little more willingness from Miller we can setup round two.

 

Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team,

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Dos Santos vs Mir: Preview, Odds and Predictions for UFC 146

This Saturday, Junior dos Santos puts his heavyweight championship on the line against Frank Mir at UFC 146, going down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  It’s a good matchup. No two ways about it. Best heavyweight MMA boxer on the plane…

This Saturday, Junior dos Santos puts his heavyweight championship on the line against Frank Mir at UFC 146, going down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. 

It’s a good matchup. No two ways about it. Best heavyweight MMA boxer on the planet? Check. That’s Dos Santos. Best heavyweight submission artist on the planet? That’s Mir. 

The intrigue certainly comes to a head at the top of the card, but the entire lineup is thick with the stuff (despite some card shuffling that may have removed some of the event’s initial luster). So here are betting odds, predictions and pithy info caps for each and every contest at UFC 146.

But wait, you say. Isn’t gambling illegal? Yes, Jimmy, it is. I’m just passing along information here. Know what I’m saying? I’m just giving you some data points. Whatever you do with that data is beyond my scope and ability to discern. Consult local statutes for more information. For entertainment purposes only.

All betting odds retrieved from Bet on Fighting. Not that I’m into that kind of thing.

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Dos Santos vs Mir: JDS Will Foil Mir’s Latest Effort to Regain Heavyweight Title

Since winning the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2008 and subsequently losing a unification match against Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir has attempted to regain the title to no avail.On Saturday, Mir will have yet ano…

Since winning the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2008 and subsequently losing a unification match against Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir has attempted to regain the title to no avail.

On Saturday, Mir will have yet another chance as he takes on Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 146 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. This will be the fifth title match of Mir’s career, and the first since he was knocked out by Shane Carwin in 2010.

Alistair Overeem was originally supposed to receive the title shot after defeating Lesnar and sending him back to the WWE, but Overeem failed his pre-fight drug test. Mir had been scheduled to face Cain Velasquez in the second-to-last match of the night, but he was given a golden opportunity instead.

It could be said that Mir has somewhat of an advantage since dos Santos had been training to fight the bigger, stronger Overeem, but Mir had to change his training regimen as well, so it shouldn’t make a big difference. Dos Santos is coming off a huge knockout win over Velasquez and has a ton of momentum entering Saturday’s bout.

Dos Santos has lost only once in 15 career fights and is currently on a nine-fight winning streak. He has won the majority of his matches with devastating knockouts and will likely look to do the same against Mir. There is no doubt that Mir is a tough customer who poses a threat to dos Santos, but as long as JDS can keep him at bay, he should be fine.

The 16-5 Mir may very well be the best heavyweight submission specialist in the sport as nine of his victories have resulted in his opponent tapping out. He has a vast array of submission maneuvers including the kimura, guillotine choke, triangle choke, arm bar and knee bar.

He has also won Submission of the Year twice, according to UFC.com, so he has a flair for the dramatic and spectacular finish. It is extremely difficult to get dos Santos into a compromising position, though, and Mir figures to find that out the hard way on Saturday.

All five of Mir’s losses have come by way of knockout and he has only gone the distance three times. That means Mir is likely to try to end this one early and that may lead to him opening himself up for yet another dos Santos knockout.

Mir will be a good challenge for dos Santos in his first title defense, but he will fall short yet again in his latest attempt to win back the Heavyweight Championship.

 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

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