Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang
September 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Denis Kang, a BJJ Black Belt, seen here getting submitted by a guillotine choke.
As for the Denis Kang vs. Michael Bisping fight, it’s an interesting match up. Both fighters are pretty solid in every aspect of the game. Neither fighter is the best at any specific discipline but they’re both really well rounded. With this being his 45th fight, Denis Kang is the more experienced fighter of the two. Bisping has 20 fights, but half of those have been inside the Octagon.
Normally, that would indicate that he’s been up against some pretty tough competition but in Bisping’s case, that’s not exactly true. Up until recently, Michael Bisping has been extremely protected by the UFC. He’s had a pretty easy run considering that the majority of his fights have been in the light heavyweight division - which is by far the most competitive division that the UFC has.
It was extremely obvious that the UFC wanted him to be successful because they were trying to expand into the U.K market and they wanted Bisping to be the poster boy for the fans to cheer for. Even when he lost, they still gave him the victory. Just watch his fight against Matt Hamill to see what I mean.
Following the USA vs. UK Ultimate Fighter series, they gave Bisping some real competition in Dan Henderson and we all saw how that ended up. Henderson landed a crushing overhand right that knocked Bisping down and then if that wasn’t enough, he followed that up with a jumping hammer fist that knocked him out cold.
I’m not saying that Bisping isn’t a talented fighter because he is. I’m just stating the obvious by saying that he was protected, and now he’s going to get his chance to silence the critics like myself. He’s coming off a hard loss, and it should be interesting to see how he rebounds from it.
Denis Kang is no slouch and he’s a legitimate threat. Back in his PRIDE days, he was touted as the next big thing. However, over his last few fights, it seems like he hasn’t been in the right place mentally. He’s been making some really questionable mistakes that you wouldn’t expect from someone who’s a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Against Gegard Mousasi, he literally fell right into a triangle choke and against Alan Belcher, he got submitted by an elementary guillotine choke. Those sort of things shouldn’t happen to a guy as seasoned as Denis Kang. That being said, he looked great in his last fight against Xavier Poupa-Pokam and I’m expecting the same sort of performance against Bisping.
I’m expecting Denis Kang to be the betting favourite in this one but I imagine it won’t be by very much. This is as close to a toss up as you can get. Bisping has the additional motivation of fighting in front of his home crowd and he’ll be looking to rebound from the most devastating loss of his career. Denis Kang will be looking to make a statement and return to his old winning ways. This should be a good one!
Fedor vs. Rogers
September 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
I’ll say this straight up right now, Fedor Emelianenko is my favourite fighter and he has been for years. I’ll never pick a fighter to beat him but since I’m such a fan, when an opponent is a legitimate threat, I actually get nervous. I’ve always thought that Josh Barnett could potentially pull off the upset and I was pretty concerned about that fight. I still think that Fedor would come out victorious (as he always does), but if there’s anyone out there right now with the tools to beat Fedor, it’s Josh Barnett.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, however you want to look at it - that fight didn’t end up happening. Barnett got busted for steroid use (again), and that eventually lead to the downfall of Affliction as an MMA promotion. They scrambled to get a late replacement for Fedor and one of the options was Brett Rogers, but apparently Rogers wanted 800,000 for the fight. They then offered the fight to Vitor Belfort, who accepted, but due to a lack of interest, that idea was tossed away.
Looking back on it, and considering the dominating performance that Vitor Belfort put on against Rich Franklin, a Vitor Belfort vs. Fedor Emelianenko might have been more entertaining - and perhaps more competitive - than people expected. Well, it didn’t happen but at least now we’re getting the fight against Brett Rogers.
Rogers - who’s also undefeated (I don’t consider Fedor’s “loss” to be a defeat) - is coming off an impressive KO victory against Andrei Arlovski. Knocking out Arlovski in their last fights is a shared similarity between Rogers and Emelianenko. When he dropped Arlovski, Brett Rogers catapulted himself into the top 10 heavyweight rankings and with that, he’s getting the shot of a lifetime against Fedor.
Aside from Arlovski, Brett Rogers hasn’t fought any serious contenders. Now that’s not discrediting his ability as a fighter. Rogers has disposed of every challenger that he’s faced off against. As a matter of fact, he’s a perfect 10 for 10. That’s 10 fights, 10 wins and 10 finishes. He’s been on a tear and knocking everyone out.
However, there’s still so many question marks. He can strike, sure - we’ve seen that. But can he wrestle? How is his BJJ? Can he fight off his back? Can he defend submissions? He’s never been past the second round so how’s his cardio and most importantly, how’s his heart? He hasn’t really been into the deep waters and tested yet so it’s all a mystery at the moment.
Then there’s Fedor. He’s on a 30 fight win streak and despite what Dana White says, he’s knocked off some incredible, legit competitors along the way. He’s proven. He has the heart, he has the skill set - he can really do it all. He can out strike the best strikers (Crocop, Arlovski, Schilt) , out wrestle the best wrestlers (Lindland, Randleman, Coleman) and out grapple the best BJJ guys (Nogueira).
As a matter of fact, I don’t think Fedor has even lost a round since he fought Arona in the Rings promotion almost a decade ago. And even then, striking to the face wasn’t allowed so Fedor wasn’t able to utilize his devastating ground and pound tactics that he’s known for.
Fedor will be the heavy favorite in this fight. However, the mystery surrounding the abilities of Brett Rogers is what makes this fight so interesting. He could be 10-0 right now on his way to a 50-0 career. We just don’t know. He has the KO power to pull off an upset. But whether he can land that shot before he gets clinched up and taken to the ground is a different story. This will be a good one!
Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
September 29, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Shane Carwin did not particularly care for Lesnars post UFC 100 celebration.
They’ve been giving shots back and fourth to each other for quite a while now and it really started after UFC 100 when Shane Carwin basically called out Lesnar for his post-fight antics…
“The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pockets with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a champion, but he has a long way to go before he earns the respect of a CHAMPION. I hate that he disrespected the greatest sporting fans in the world and I can‘t wait to fight him. Really it comes down to respect and I don‘t think that he respects the sport or the fans of this sport. He may be well known, but fame does not equal respect.”
When the UFC heads up their promotion for this fight, I can really see them playing up the classic nice guy vs. bad guy angle. And of course, it didn’t take long for Brock Lesnar to counter with some trash talk of his own…
“Some of the guys he’s beaten (Carwin) aren’t even worth having on your record. He hasn’t fought anybody. He’s fought Gonzaga, so I really think he’s 1-0.”
When questioned about his wrestling background, Lesnar - who’s a Division I champion - followed up with this..
“He’s a tough guy and a wrestler. But he’s a Division II national champion - enough said. I don’t know what he is, 11-0, 10-0, but he’ll have a loss against Brock Lesnar”
And speaking of their wrestling abilities, that’s really where things get interesting here. Up until now, both of these guys have relied on their wrestling ability and clear size and strength advantage to manhandle their opponents. Lesnar will likely have the advantage in size since he has to cut to get down to the 265 pound weight limit and after he makes weight, he bulks up again and usually enters the cage at around 280 pounds the following night.
Carwin, on the other hand, doesn’t cut as much weight as Lesnar does so he’ll likely be the smaller of the two. Cage Potato put together a cool comparison of the two which can be viewed here - Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin.
Carwin has more fights, but he’s finished them all within the first round and because of that, he doesn’t have much ring time in the octagon. Lesnar has spend over half an hour in the octagon - which is more than enough to alleviate the “octagon jitters” that so many inexperienced fighters seem to get.
This fight can really go either way. Lesnar has a slight advantage when it comes to size and he earned his titles at a significantly higher level than Carwin did. That being said, I think that Carwin is big enough, strong enough and skilled enough to prevent himself from being manhandled by Lesnar. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if their size and wrestling ability canceled each other out.
If this ends up coming down to a stand up war, then it’s tough to gauge since we haven’t seem much stand up from either fighter. Lesnar was getting owned in the stand up against Mir and from the looks of his training videos, it looks to be a real weakness of his. Carwin on the other hand can take a shot, as well as dish them out. We saw that in his fight against Gonzaga.
There’s so many question marks in this fight and I’m looking forward to all the questions being answered at UFC 106 in Vegas..
Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera
September 29, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Brandon Vera putting on a striking clinic.
This Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera showdown makes for an interesting clash of styles. There’s a lot of things to consider with this. There’s no doubt that Brandon Vera is the better striker out of the two. Randy Couture can box, but Brandon Vera brings fourth a more versatile attack on his feet due to his Muay Thai expertise. He’s also a couple inches taller than Couture and with those long limbs, I’m pretty sure he’ll have a reach advantage.
Couture got clipped by Lesnar in the stand up, who lets face it - doesn’t really have much of a stand up game at all. There’s no doubt that Brandon Vera is light years ahead of Lesnar when it comes to striking and he’s much, much faster. Add in the fact that Couture is aging and it’s a physiological fact that with age comes slower reaction times. If Vera is to pull out a victory here, it looks as though it’ll come via strikes if anything.
Randy Couture’s main strength is his wrestling. He was a 3 time division 1 all-American and he was a 3 time alternate for the Olympic team (1988, 1992, 1998). He’s extremely strong in the clinch and he’s great at dirty boxing. Against a typical striker, his key to an easy victory would be to just push them against the cage to neutralize their striking or take them down and work his ground and pound.
The thing is, Brandon Vera is no slouch in those disciplines either. He’s an 8 time grapplers quest champion, he trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Lloyd Irvin and he himself has a Greco Roman wrestling background. As a matter of fact, Brandon Vera used to train with Randy Couture at the Olympic training center before he made the transition into mixed martial arts.
I would still give the edge to Randy Couture when it comes to wrestling though. Even against the greatest wrestlers, Couture has never been overwhelmed in his career. He was able to manhandle Garbiel Gonzaga in the clinch and literally gave Tito Ortiz a spanking. I don’t see Couture - who’s only been submitted once in the last decade - tapping out to anything Vera might throw at him either.
So it comes down to this. Couture can box, but Brandon Vera a more well rounded striker. Brandon Vera can wrestle, but Couture is on a whole different level. If Couture doesn’t get knocked out, then I can really see this one going to the judges scorecards. I just hope for Couture’s sake that he’s learned how to check leg kicks after that Pedro Rizzo fight. Apparently he was in therapy for half a year following that fight to get his mobility back.
If these fighters decide to let loose in the middle of the ring, then this will be an awesome fight. But if they just tie each other up for 3 rounds against the cage (which I can sort of see happening), then we may be in for a snooze fest. Should be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Velasquez vs. Rothwell
September 29, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
10 years and 30 wins later, Ben Rothwell finally gets bumped to the big time
A quick analysis of their skill sets indicates that this is the classic striker vs. grappler match up - Ben Rothwell being the striker and Cain Velasquez being the grappler. And that’s not to say that Cain Velasquez can’t strike, I’m sure he can. I mean, he trains out of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) and just look what they’ve done over there with Josh Koscheck and his striking.
I’m just saying that his striking ability has yet to be seen. In his fight with Congo, Cain Velasquez was clearly outmatched on his feet and there were a few exchanges where he nearly got knocked out. He certainly showed that he can take a punch though. He took some big shots and as soon as he did, his instincts kicked in and he immediately shot in for the takedown. He ended up controlling that fight with his wrestling (as he always does) and ended up with his hand raised after 3 hard fought rounds.
I’ve watched most of his fights and they all look pretty much the same. Cain Velasquez just tosses guys around, controls them and just pounds them out. He was even able to do so against Jake O’Brian, who’s a pretty decent wrestler himself. But whether or not he’ll be able to do so against Ben Rothwell is the question.
Ben Rothwell stands 6’5 inches and weighs in at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds. He doesn’t seem like he’d be an easy guy to toss around and if Cain Velasquez is unsuccessful with his take down attempts and both these guys stand and bang, Ben Rothwell will have a huge advantage. Kickboxing is a huge strength for Ben Rothwell. He’s even undefeated in his professional kickboxing career and as for mixed martial arts, 17 of his 30 wins have come by way of a KO.
Looking at the betting odds for this fight, Ben Rothwell is more than a 2-to-1 underdog and to me, that seems like a good bet. He’s the same age as Cain Velasquez, yet he has 30 more fights. He’s a solid striker and striking seems to a “weakness” for Cain Velasquez - if you can even call it that. At 6’5 he’ll likely have a reach advantage and at 265, I don’t see him being easily controlled.
Cain Velasquez was able to “weather the storm” against Congo, and land his takedowns, but Congo is notorious for having weak takedown defence. This is a tough one. I’ve been impressed with Cain Velasquez thus for but I just haven’t seen enough to warrant risking my money on him when I can bet on the bigger, more experienced fighter and triple my money due to the favourable odds (bet 100, walk away with over 300 after a Rothwell victory).
I clearly think Ben Rothwell is a better bet in this fight but I wouldn’t at all by surprised if Cain Velasquez pulled out a victory. He’s being toted by his team mates at AKA s being the “next big thing” so this is his chance to go out and prove it to the world.
Machida vs. Shogun
September 28, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Apparently Shogun fought this fight without a fully functional ACL
And if you re-watch that fight, Shogun was clearly winning the first round. He dominated in that first round actually. He just ended up gassing and what’s when things took a turn for the worse and ultimately, he ended up getting choked out.
In the Coleman fight, which took place a little over a year later, he pulled out a victory but it was a lacklustre performance and once again, he looked as if he didn’t have much in his gas tank. Perhaps he was still having issues with his knee or perhaps he just took Coleman lightly - as a lot of opponents do. I mean, Bonner did and Coleman snuck in a victory against him.
Following the Coleman fight, Shogun fought Chuck Liddell and knocked him out in the first round with a shot that ultimately put an end to the “Iceman’s” fighting career. Shogun was looking more like his old self in that fight but since it ended so quickly, we didn’t get a chance to see his cardio get tested.
We can’t overlook the fact that Shogun is still young (27 years old) and while he went through a bit of a rough patch, we can’t forget how dominant he was in the PRIDE days. I mean, this is a guy who blasted through some of the biggest names in the sport. Rampage Jackson, Alistar Overeem, Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona and Kazuhiro Nakamura - they’ve all been lit up by Shogun in his prime.
And you know what, I think he’s still in his prime. He had a serious knee injury and surgery, he got married, he was distracted - it happens. If Shogun is in the right place mentally and he takes his training camp seriously, I think he may shock the world.
And as for why a Shogun victory would be considered to be a “shock” (seeing as how he was formerly the number 1 ranked light heavyweight in the world), well.. That’s just due to the dominance of Lyoto Machida. Machida is undefeated and he himself has “lit up” some of the biggest names in the sport as well. Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin, BJ Penn and Thiago Silva have all fell victim to the unorthodox fighting style that Machida utilizes.
As for how these two fighters match up, well.. Machida seems to be a counter striker and as we witnessed in the recent Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin fight, counter strikers perform best against aggressive styles - and that’s exactly what Shogun has. Being from Brazil, both fighters are comfortable if the fight hits the ground since they both have backgrounds in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
All things considered, I would say that Lyoto Machida has the edge over Shogun simply because we know that Machida is going to show up prepared and there’s too many question marks surrounding Shogun based on his previous Octagon performances. So, if you just asked me straight up who I think is going to win, I would say Machida. However, if I was betting (given the fact that Shogun is currently a 3-to-1 underdog), I would lay some money on Shogun because at those odds, I think it’s a good bet.
