What a great card top to bottom. I think the flyweight fights were excellent and I cannot wait for their to be a rematch between Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson. I scored the fight for Ian McCall 29-27. I gave the first round a 10, 10, as I thought Ian excelled with his takedowns and work on the ground, while Demetrious had tagged him a few times on the feet, all and all I didn't believe there was a winner in that round so I scored it 10-10. 2nd Round I thought Demetrious did a much better job using lateral movement and opened up with his striking landing 48 strikes in Round 2 with 35 of them being significant strikes according to Fight Metric which is why I gave Johnson the round 10-9. Round 3 I thought was the most decisive round of all 3, Ian McCall dominated the round landed 83 total strikes with 24 of them being significant. Now I realize some people will argue that 59 strikes not being significant cannot give you a 10-8 round. I would argue it would for these reason: the majority of those strikes were landed when in dominate positions on the ground, Ian was landing enough punches to where the referee was close to stopping the fight late, and Demetrious offered little once he was taken down midway through the third round. A 10-8 is awarded when one fighter dominates another fighter in either the grappling or the striking aspect of that round.
I will get to the other fights in later posts, just wanted to get back into this blog.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
How Good is GSP & UFC 124 Review
We as MMA fans are so demanding of the top fighters that sometimes the expectations we have will never be reached. Georges St. Pierre did something I didn't expect in his UFC 124 Welterweight Title fight vs. Josh Koscheck. He stood and traded strikes with Josh for nearly all 5 rounds. He utilized a jab in MMA to the likes that has never been seen, he hit Josh's right eye so many times that an alien life form was growing and the fight could have been due to the sevarity of it. Georges showed just how much better he is in every aspect of MMA than the next guy. He dominated Josh, yet what was the prevailing theme that MMA fans talked about after the fights? "He didn't finish Koscheck and he didn't make an attempt to finish him."
To those of you that find GSP boring, watch boxing. GSP has the distinct possibility to go down as perhaps the greatest Mixed Martial Artist of all time. He is thoroughly wiping out anyone in his division decisively. He has won 30 consecutive rounds. He has also dominated in every single fight since his loss to Matt Serra back in April 07. When I was watching the fight last Saturday, I did my best paying attention to the emotions I was feeling when GSP would fight. I remember it, watching someone who is so good at what he does, is like watching Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, or Picasso paint the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Georges transitions from Striking to Wrestling flows so well. People complain that Georges doesn't finish fights. While he has had trouble putting fighter's away, let me ask a question: In Georges last 6 fights, has there every been a minute of any of those fights where George did not look in control? Georges has this auora about him that without saying anything his opponents will be beat before they even walk into the Octagon. GSP is as good as Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, and Roy Jones Jr. when they were all in their primes. To those people who do not like watching him fight will be wishing he was still around 2 years after he retires.
UFC Rundown
Here is what I took away from the main card bouts and bouts showed.
First off Dustin Hazelett needs to be cut by the UFC. He has not looked the same since Paul Daley broke his jaw back in January. He is still relatively young so a move down to the regional circuit will not hurt him and he can build up his Jiu-Jitsu and his striking. How good was the Sean Pierson vs. Matt Riddle fight? Those guys kept coming forward for all 3 rounds and props to Riddle who held game after getting rocked in the 1st. Thiago Alves showed vs. John Howard how good he can be when he is in-shape and make weight. Those leg kicks were brutal, Thiago Alves looks better than ever in the Octagon. Where does John Howard go from here? He's lost the last two fights fairly decisively. He's 2-2 in his last 4, which I don't think is automatic pink-slip but I think he will be needing a win next time out to secure his job.
Mac Danzig. Wow. While watching the fights I literally looked down for a second and then I came back up and saw Joe Stevenson face first on the canvas. Mac Danzig did what he needed to survive and keep his Zuffa contract. Joe Stevenson, based upon what Dana White said at the UFC 124 Press Conference sounded like he will not be automatically cut.
I think he's given at least one more UFC fight.
What a performance by Jim Miller. Who saw that Kneebar coming? He deserves a top 5 fight next time out in the lightweight division. Charles Oliveira needs to work on a few things, but with his record being (14-1) and only being 21 years old, he has a lot of time left to get better.
Sean Mccorkle was exposed by Stefan Struve in the co-main event. Everyone was salivating all over Mccorkle, saying he was going to knock out Struve. I didn't buy it for a second. Struve has defeated UFC level competition, with his only two losses coming to top 5 Heavyweights Roy Nelson and #1 Contender Junior Dos Santos. Mccorkle had won fights only in Indianapolis, Indiana and all were at Super Heavyweight with many of his opponents having big guts. Mccorkle does hit hard, but he wasn't ready for a fight vs. Struve.
To those of you that find GSP boring, watch boxing. GSP has the distinct possibility to go down as perhaps the greatest Mixed Martial Artist of all time. He is thoroughly wiping out anyone in his division decisively. He has won 30 consecutive rounds. He has also dominated in every single fight since his loss to Matt Serra back in April 07. When I was watching the fight last Saturday, I did my best paying attention to the emotions I was feeling when GSP would fight. I remember it, watching someone who is so good at what he does, is like watching Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, or Picasso paint the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Georges transitions from Striking to Wrestling flows so well. People complain that Georges doesn't finish fights. While he has had trouble putting fighter's away, let me ask a question: In Georges last 6 fights, has there every been a minute of any of those fights where George did not look in control? Georges has this auora about him that without saying anything his opponents will be beat before they even walk into the Octagon. GSP is as good as Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, and Roy Jones Jr. when they were all in their primes. To those people who do not like watching him fight will be wishing he was still around 2 years after he retires.
UFC Rundown
Here is what I took away from the main card bouts and bouts showed.
First off Dustin Hazelett needs to be cut by the UFC. He has not looked the same since Paul Daley broke his jaw back in January. He is still relatively young so a move down to the regional circuit will not hurt him and he can build up his Jiu-Jitsu and his striking. How good was the Sean Pierson vs. Matt Riddle fight? Those guys kept coming forward for all 3 rounds and props to Riddle who held game after getting rocked in the 1st. Thiago Alves showed vs. John Howard how good he can be when he is in-shape and make weight. Those leg kicks were brutal, Thiago Alves looks better than ever in the Octagon. Where does John Howard go from here? He's lost the last two fights fairly decisively. He's 2-2 in his last 4, which I don't think is automatic pink-slip but I think he will be needing a win next time out to secure his job.
Mac Danzig. Wow. While watching the fights I literally looked down for a second and then I came back up and saw Joe Stevenson face first on the canvas. Mac Danzig did what he needed to survive and keep his Zuffa contract. Joe Stevenson, based upon what Dana White said at the UFC 124 Press Conference sounded like he will not be automatically cut.
I think he's given at least one more UFC fight.
What a performance by Jim Miller. Who saw that Kneebar coming? He deserves a top 5 fight next time out in the lightweight division. Charles Oliveira needs to work on a few things, but with his record being (14-1) and only being 21 years old, he has a lot of time left to get better.
Sean Mccorkle was exposed by Stefan Struve in the co-main event. Everyone was salivating all over Mccorkle, saying he was going to knock out Struve. I didn't buy it for a second. Struve has defeated UFC level competition, with his only two losses coming to top 5 Heavyweights Roy Nelson and #1 Contender Junior Dos Santos. Mccorkle had won fights only in Indianapolis, Indiana and all were at Super Heavyweight with many of his opponents having big guts. Mccorkle does hit hard, but he wasn't ready for a fight vs. Struve.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A solution to MMA Judging controversy????
This isn't the first time MMA judging has come into question over the last oh, 3 years. I think I can provide in my first blog post since September, a reasonable solution to the controversy. First let me tell you know this is not going to recommend.
I don't think a requirement for being a judge is to only be an ex-fighter. While this does help, it certainly shuns off people who have handicaps and are disabled and physically are unable to fight, which never goes over well with the masses so while being a fighter in the past is a bonus, it should not be a requirement.
I think MMA Judges should have, if physically able to, train at a minimum of year in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai or a combination of one discipline that is based in striking and one that is based in Grappling. I think former and current boxing judges Tony Weeks, Adelaide Byrd should also be required to train in it. If they refuse, and they are in good physical condition to do, then their license should be revocated until they do so. In fact in MMA we need judges who are specific to MMA judges and not come from a background in Boxing. I understand when the UFC was first starting to gain support, we needed judges from somewhere and Boxing was a natural crossover. MMA is growing bigger everyday with Events on 6 continents every year and the increased number of eyeballs means the judges, fighters, officials all become under even greater scrutiny when something goes wrong. There is no doubt about, Nam Phan clearly won the fight vs. Leonard Garcia and any argument to the contrary is mis-guided, bias, or incompetent.
I think Keith Kizer's lack of a major response to this or even an admission of there being a problem means this won't be the last time there will be a controversial decision. Bad Decisions are going to happen until Boxing Judges who judge MMA are weeded out or evolve. Boxing is not MMA and MMA is not Boxing. Boxing is a facet of MMA but there is so much more. Here are some things that I could help judges.
1) Make a decision about a fight, stand by it. Even under the most intense scrutiny I think if a judge like NFL, MLB sports officials who make controverisal calls face the music and answer their critics, and can properly back up why they made that call, while we as fans will still disagree, we can appreciate the fact that they stood by their call.
2) Bring some blank paper, and write down keys things that happen each round that support why you gave that round to Fighter A or Fighter B. If say in this case of Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan, you scored his takedowns siginifcantly, write it down. If you scored the knockdown by Nam Phan in the 2nd as significant write it down. in 5 Minute Rounds a lot can happen and sometimes it can be hard to remember it all.
3) MMA Judges and Referees should speak to the MMA media more often. This helps bridge the current perception of even remote forms of corruption.
4) I think we as MMA fans who are tired of seeing such crappy decisions we need to step up and become officials and judges in the sport we love so much. If you have the means to do so and choose not to, then you are part of the problem and not the solution.
5) I think Judges that constantly deliver head scratching decisions need to be relieved of their duties. I am going to pick on Tony Weeks just for a minute. He obviously was one of two who gave Leonard Garcia the win. Here are some other fights that he delivered a head scratcher or two.
Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin UFC 115, He gave the fight to Tyson Griffin.
Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine UFC TUF Finale 11 He scored the fight a draw 28-28.
Antonio Noguiera vs. Jason Brilz UFC 114, He Scored the fight 29-28 for Little Nog
Karen Darabedyan vs. Rob Mccullough WEC 44, He scored the fight 30-27 for Razer Rob.
Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown WEC 41, He scored the fight 48-47 for Mike Brown when both Sherdog and MMAJunkie scored it at all 49-46 for Brown
This shows to me that he has difficulty scoring fights using the MMA 10 point Must system.
He either needs to revamp and evolve or stick to just boxing.
Thanks for taking the time to read please post some feedback if you felt I left something out
I don't think a requirement for being a judge is to only be an ex-fighter. While this does help, it certainly shuns off people who have handicaps and are disabled and physically are unable to fight, which never goes over well with the masses so while being a fighter in the past is a bonus, it should not be a requirement.
I think MMA Judges should have, if physically able to, train at a minimum of year in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai or a combination of one discipline that is based in striking and one that is based in Grappling. I think former and current boxing judges Tony Weeks, Adelaide Byrd should also be required to train in it. If they refuse, and they are in good physical condition to do, then their license should be revocated until they do so. In fact in MMA we need judges who are specific to MMA judges and not come from a background in Boxing. I understand when the UFC was first starting to gain support, we needed judges from somewhere and Boxing was a natural crossover. MMA is growing bigger everyday with Events on 6 continents every year and the increased number of eyeballs means the judges, fighters, officials all become under even greater scrutiny when something goes wrong. There is no doubt about, Nam Phan clearly won the fight vs. Leonard Garcia and any argument to the contrary is mis-guided, bias, or incompetent.
I think Keith Kizer's lack of a major response to this or even an admission of there being a problem means this won't be the last time there will be a controversial decision. Bad Decisions are going to happen until Boxing Judges who judge MMA are weeded out or evolve. Boxing is not MMA and MMA is not Boxing. Boxing is a facet of MMA but there is so much more. Here are some things that I could help judges.
1) Make a decision about a fight, stand by it. Even under the most intense scrutiny I think if a judge like NFL, MLB sports officials who make controverisal calls face the music and answer their critics, and can properly back up why they made that call, while we as fans will still disagree, we can appreciate the fact that they stood by their call.
2) Bring some blank paper, and write down keys things that happen each round that support why you gave that round to Fighter A or Fighter B. If say in this case of Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan, you scored his takedowns siginifcantly, write it down. If you scored the knockdown by Nam Phan in the 2nd as significant write it down. in 5 Minute Rounds a lot can happen and sometimes it can be hard to remember it all.
3) MMA Judges and Referees should speak to the MMA media more often. This helps bridge the current perception of even remote forms of corruption.
4) I think we as MMA fans who are tired of seeing such crappy decisions we need to step up and become officials and judges in the sport we love so much. If you have the means to do so and choose not to, then you are part of the problem and not the solution.
5) I think Judges that constantly deliver head scratching decisions need to be relieved of their duties. I am going to pick on Tony Weeks just for a minute. He obviously was one of two who gave Leonard Garcia the win. Here are some other fights that he delivered a head scratcher or two.
Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin UFC 115, He gave the fight to Tyson Griffin.
Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine UFC TUF Finale 11 He scored the fight a draw 28-28.
Antonio Noguiera vs. Jason Brilz UFC 114, He Scored the fight 29-28 for Little Nog
Karen Darabedyan vs. Rob Mccullough WEC 44, He scored the fight 30-27 for Razer Rob.
Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown WEC 41, He scored the fight 48-47 for Mike Brown when both Sherdog and MMAJunkie scored it at all 49-46 for Brown
This shows to me that he has difficulty scoring fights using the MMA 10 point Must system.
He either needs to revamp and evolve or stick to just boxing.
Thanks for taking the time to read please post some feedback if you felt I left something out
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Chael Sonnen Saga and Stunning UFC Cut
I have held from writing a blog about this for two days to the let dust settle so that way I can go through nothing but the facts.
MMAjunkie.com first reported that Chael Sonnen had failed his post fight drug test from his August 7th fight with Anderson Silva.
Sunday would have been a perfect time to write the blog, but for these stories you have to wait for the facts to come in. According to California State Athletic Commission's executive director George Dodd, "Chael Sonnen tested for well above normal levels of testosterone." On Monday, Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross reported that Chael Sonnen told CSAC he might test positive for an above average amount of testosterone. Here is an interesting fact about CSAC policy: Fighters in California can take (PEDS) Performance Enhancing Drugs if a proper medical justification exists and they fulfill commission guidelines. Now stay with me, If Chael Sonnen admitted to the CSAC that he might test positive why was Sonnen allowed to fight? Rule 303c requires lab to confirm + results before the CSAC can stop a fight. These are the facts of this case, and they are indisputable.
There have been some to argue that elevated level of Testosterone can occur when one is a high level performance athlete, I believe the term is called: overtrained athlete syndrome. As Dr. Johnny Benjamin points out in his recent column @MMAjunkie.com, it does increase the level of testosterone but not to the point of showing up on pre or post fight urine tests. The amount found in Chael Sonnen's system was to the extent of 6-7 times the normal amount. Now for the consequences that Chael faces. He and his camp have said that they plan on appealing this failed drug test at the next CSAC meeting which I believe is November 9th. However what this means for his UFC re-match with Anderson Silva is that it will be put on hold, Chael may never get it back. A similar situation occurred Feburary 13th, 2009 MMA Legend, Ken Shamrock easily defeated his oversized opponent Ross Clifton. After the fight, Ken tested positive for steroids and was banned for a year. Chael faces a similiar fate as I do not see what he can argue that could change the CSAC's mind about suspending and fining him.
According to MMAJunkie.com's latest development about the story, "According to Dodd, Sonnen was flagged first on Sept. 2 after an initial test revealed the presence of a performance-enhancer. A second, more-rigorous test conducted at the UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory confirmed the results. The laboratory is used by the U.S. Olympic Committee and is the world's largest World Anti-Doping Agency-certified facility." There is a possibility for tampering or a mistake, but considering it is used by the highest levels of athletic competition, I would think would be right more times than not.
What can be done to improve our sport to more harshly punish those that test positive. There are several theories that some have come up with it. A) Slap them with a harsh suspension. While suspensions do work, they could always fight overseas in places such as Japan where athletic commissions do not exist. B) My personal favorite, hit 'em where it hurts the most, their wallet. Fine the crap out of them. Instead of the fine being 2,500 for Sonnen make it 25,000. Once fighters' wallets get lighter, they will take a second look at whether the positives outweigh the negatives as far as taking PEDs. It is not the job of the organizations such as the UFC and Strikeforce, it is the Athletic Commissions jobs to get harsher penalties for those who constantly fail their drug tests.
What do ya'll think can be done to squash the continuing problem of athletes trying to beat the system?
What I find funny was that two weeks ago, Chael Sonnen signed up to join Randy Couture's Extreme Couture's supplement line. Fascinating fact that is not being reported right now.
Well thats all I can muster for the Chael Sonnen positive test.........for now.
Last topic
Why was Efrain Escudero cut from the UFC? He was (3-2) in the UFC losses to only Evan Dunham, and Charles Oliveira both future champs in my opinion. He defeated Phillipe Nover, Cole Miller via KO, and Dan Lauzon. I enjoy watching an Efrain Escudero fight. He did miss weight his last fight by 4 pounds. Even with that, was that really enough to let him go. We must not forget he is also a TUF season 8 winner. I think he offers way too many good qualities for him to not be cut. I think if there isn't something else such as an incident that is not being reported right now, then that would make sense. This is a huge loss to the UFC and I hope he becomes successful in all "future endeavors."
Thats all for now,
Happy Hunting.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Reaction to Ultimate Gracie
Wow. What a great documentary. It doesn't seem so long ago that the UFC was Martial Arts vs. Martial Art. Before the UFC 1 grapplers were considered 2nd class martial artists. Grapplers were thought of as inferior to the traditional striking arts such as Taekwondo, Karate, Kickboxing, Boxing among others. For me, watching this documentary took me back, I was only 8 years old when I saw UFC 3 with Kimo vs. Royce Gracie. I couldn't believe what I was watching, I expected this Kimo guy to break Royce Gracie in two. Even though I was only 8, I couldn't fully grasp what I watching until I go to High School and watched it again. As a HS wrestler it amazed me how someone could win a fight off of their back, in what I thought, and many people thought was an inferior position. The first 4 UFCs really opened the eyes of the Martial Art world and saw that if you can take a pure striker to the ground, then you would completely nullify their superior advantage on the feet. What I think was the even more impressive victory than the one over Kimo, was at UFC 4 when he defeated Dan Severn, who outweighed him by 70-80 Pounds. Looking back at that victory opened eyes of many that even wrestlers can be defeated by this new thing called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
As pointed out in the documentary, today nearly every UFC fighter has had some training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu even if its only for defensive purposes. I got the chance to meet Royce Gracie Last year and I am very glad I went. He had an unique aura to him that combined: being an over the top nice guy, with the stoic look of I can whip someone up if needed. Royce Gracie is truly a legend in the sport and so are all of the Gracies for revolutionizing Martial Arts. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as important to Mixed Martial Arts as the forward pass is to American Football. It is not the end all be all but a very important tool. If you get the chance to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, do it, I don't think you will regret it.
UFC FIght Night 22 Review
Wow what a great night of fights
First fight of the night Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller, Miller showed improved standup as he dropped Pearson and immediately cinched in the choke and tapped him. Miller will be a force at 155. Very impressive.
Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau.
Jim Miller just keeps improving. He put in a great display in this fight and I expect nothing but good things from him.
Charles Oliveira vs. Efrain Escudero.
First off, what was with the referee not giving Charles the full five minutes to rest after a low blow? He needs to brush up on his Unified Rules of MMA. I had the fight 19-19 going into the third when after the illegal low blow, Charles came out like a flying banshee, throwing strikes and locking up a standing Rear Naked Choke. Which was just sick. That was the highlight of the night.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Nate Marquardt.
I didn't get to watch this fight until about 30 minutes ago as I was out late last night. I got a ton of tweets about, Nate Greasing and what not. I just thought it was a hell of an escape. Last time I checked MMA fighters are able to shave there legs and get a good sweat before the fights. I will wait to judge. I don't think he greased. Either way, Palhares broke rule #1 of MMA, always protect yourself at all times.
Happy Hunting
First fight of the night Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller, Miller showed improved standup as he dropped Pearson and immediately cinched in the choke and tapped him. Miller will be a force at 155. Very impressive.
Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau.
Jim Miller just keeps improving. He put in a great display in this fight and I expect nothing but good things from him.
Charles Oliveira vs. Efrain Escudero.
First off, what was with the referee not giving Charles the full five minutes to rest after a low blow? He needs to brush up on his Unified Rules of MMA. I had the fight 19-19 going into the third when after the illegal low blow, Charles came out like a flying banshee, throwing strikes and locking up a standing Rear Naked Choke. Which was just sick. That was the highlight of the night.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Nate Marquardt.
I didn't get to watch this fight until about 30 minutes ago as I was out late last night. I got a ton of tweets about, Nate Greasing and what not. I just thought it was a hell of an escape. Last time I checked MMA fighters are able to shave there legs and get a good sweat before the fights. I will wait to judge. I don't think he greased. Either way, Palhares broke rule #1 of MMA, always protect yourself at all times.
Happy Hunting
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Shark Fights Good, Bad
I don't know what can be done about having piss poor officials, but something must be done. There is no reason why that Houston Alexander- Rameau Sokodjou fight should have lasted that much longer due to the amount of damage Rameau was taking. There needs to be a nationwide exam all MMA officials must take in order to be shown to be fully competent. One could have even made an argument for stopping the fight in the first round due to the amount of damage that Houston took in the first round. When UFC Fight Night 22 finishes up tomorrow night, that will be 4 major MMA events in Texas within only a month. We aren't exactly helping our cause with bad officiating in Strikeforce: Houston and last Saturday with Shark Fights. We need better officials in Texas. I am hoping that tomorrow's UFC Fight Night goes off without a hitch and that there won't be any bad officiating. What was with the official that stood Masvidal and Daley up after Daley basically laid there and begged for a stand up. You can't as an official let the fighters sway your decision making, what he should of done was say,"Find a way back up."
Shark Fights did have solid fights on the main card and I thought they were all exciting. How about the commentary team with Bas Rutten and Don Frye? They were awesome I thought, not very politically correct, but I like that. They need to keep those two together for the next Shark Fights, to do otherwise would be a big mistake.
Happy Hunting
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