それは時間です!!!!

Sat., Feb. 25, 2012, marks Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) long-awaited return to Japan when UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson" hits the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The UFC has not been to Japan since Dec. of 2000, way back at UFC 29, and they are celebrating their return in the right way by bringing a card full of potentially action-packed fights to the "Land of the Rising Sun."

Not the least of which is the bout featuring Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields.

While this may not be the fight to determine the next middleweight number one contender, with Akiyama losing his last three and Shields coming up empty in his last two, the fact that both of these competitors could be fighting for their jobs will surely put some pep in their step.

And Shields will no doubt be trying to use his wrestling to get this fight to the ground, where he will look to implement his American Jiu-Jitsu (AJJ) skills to submit "Sexyama."

Lets take a look at how he might get that done.

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Alliteration aside, Stefan Struve's slick submission skills often get overlooked.

Of his 22 career wins, 15 have come by way of tap, nap or snap, and you can safely bet he will looking to add one more name to his long list of victims when he faces fellow heavyweight Dave Herman at UFC on Fuel TV next Wednesday night (Feb. 15, 2012) in Omaha.

Rightfully nicknamed "Skyscraper," the 6'11" Struve makes excellent use of his very long limbs, but not in the way you would normally expect.

Usually, someone so tall would be well advised to use their exceptionally long reach to keep his opponent at bay with jabs and kicks from a distance. Struve, on the other hand, uses his limbs to tangle opponents up in various submissions.

Lets take a look:

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Don't blink.

We all know that big punchers like Chuck Liddell, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem can end a fight at any moment with the dynamite they carry in their hands. Knockouts are easy for everyone to understand and generally happen pretty quickly. While not quite as easy to understand to the budding mixed martial arts (MMA) fan, submissions can happen just as quickly as knockouts, and can be just as (if not more) exciting.

Watching an experienced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) player set up a submission is a lot like watching a spider weave its web. If one is not careful, one will wander right into their own demise.

Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum are two of the best web-spinners in the fight game today, and grappling fans have the pleasure of watching them square off this Sat., Feb. 4, at UFC 143: "Diaz vs. Condit." Just as if two well-known knockout artists were facing off, I suggest as little blinking as possible during this potential grapple-fest.

Here's why:

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UFC on Fox 2 is set to air this Saturday night (Jan. 28, 2012) live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

On the fight card are two of the world's top middleweights: Chael Sonnen and Demian Maia. While they aren't facing off against each other, now is as good a time as any to take a look back at their UFC 95 tilt in February of 2009.

Along with what's changed since then.

We’ve all heard it, and some of us have even said it: "Chael Sonnen has no submission defense." While this is certainly an exaggeration, it cannot be disputed that the majority of Chael’s losses have come via submission and that his submission defense is not exactly the best on the planet.

So when he was matched up against one of the world's most talented Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) blackbelts in Demian Maia, the writing was on the wall. As soon as Chael made a mistake, it would be over quicker than Kalib Starnes could backpedal the 100 meter dash.

But would Maia be able to get Sonnen to the mat? After all, Sonnen is one of the best wrestlers in the sport, and Maia has no wrestling credentials to speak of.

Follow me after the jump to see how it all played out.

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Photo via UFC.com.

Since his addition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster back in October of 2008, Jim Miller has earned himself an impressive nine wins, including three by submission, with only two losses. His two defeats came by decision to Gray Maynard and Ben Henderson. One is a former two-time title challenger, the other is the current number one contender.

Oh, and by the way, the only other loss on his record is to some guy named Frankie Edgar.

With Miller facing off against Melvin Guillard this Friday night (Jan. 20, 2012) in the main event of UFC on FX, for what may be the next number one contender spot, I wanted to break down the most potent weapon for his attack against "The Young Assassin."

The submission.

We'll start with his brilliant kneebar finish at UFC 124, one that derailed a talented young up-and-comer and established Miller as one of the most dangerous opponents in the world at 155-pounds.

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This entire post might seem blatantly obvious to some, redundant to others, or perhaps both. But I wanted to elaborate on a comment MMAmania.com resident Ulf Murphy made about Ben Henderson having "inner peace" which allowed him to persevere through submission attempts and eye-crossing punches. The use of that word really made me stop and think. I have always been in awe of how fighters can stay so composed in the face of adversity.

A lot of people would chalk this up to "experience."

While experience certainly helps with staying calm before, during, and after a fight, this cannot always be credited with the "how" of staying composed. A close friend and training partner of mine, during his third fight ever (remember, no amateur circuit in my state, so your first fight is your first pro fight) got hit with a punch so hard his contact flew out and he dropped to the mat. Just as quick as he fell, he bounced back up and took his opponent down, mounted, worked some nice ground strikes and submitted him with a beautiful armbar.

While this friend of mine had extensive training prior to this fight, it was still only his third pro fight. And the guy he fought was much, much better and more experienced than his first two opponents. He was the main event on that card, being a hometown kid. What I’m trying to get at here is he was under a lot of pressure and there were a lot of people there just for him. He could easily have turtled up and let the fight get stopped after he took that shot. But he didn’t. And here’s why: He knew, inside himself, that he was okay and that he had the ability to win. He was at peace with the situation and himself. There was no struggle there, he was "flowing with the go" as opposed to "going with the flow."

Being at peace with whatever situation you’re in makes it much less frightening.

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Hey guys-I did a fan post a little while back recapping my 2nd professional MMA fight, and I was just recently informed that the company that filmed the fights (CFX) posted them on YouTube. I didnt want to post it there myself, cause I didnt really want the video on YouTube for strategic reasons, but it appears that its out there anyway. And below the vid, it says "This video is unlisted". I tried to search for it using google, and it didnt come up, so hopefully no one else can find it. So I hope you enjoy the video and my thoughts after the jump.

After watching the video I realized that my fanpost made it sound like I looked much better than I did. I apologize for that. I am not at all impressed with my performance, and I welcome any and all criticism that you wanna throw my way. Just know that I'm not posting this vid to boast about my "awesome fighting skills"-I'm doing it cause my fellow maniacs requested it.

This whole experience has given me even more appreciation for the real pros who do this for a living. After watching myself in this fight, it was hard to go back to my gym. Even though I won, I felt like my display made my gym look bad. My striking is much better than the video shows, its actually my bread and butter and I would be so bold as to say its above average when it comes to the talent pool in my area. Which isn't saying much, but still, its better than what you are about to witness.

So here I am, getting down on myself and beating myself up because I dont feel like i preformed to the best of my ability.Yes, I got the sub, but I could have done so much better. Now I'm going to mention a few fights-Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva, Anderson Silva vs Rich Franklin I. Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Rudeiger. GSP vs BJ Penn II. Silva vs. Rampage I and II. The losers of those fights not only lost-they got dominated. They were made to look bad. They took ass whoopings of epic proportions And at that level, no one can be called a bad fighter. I can't imagine how many sleepless nights they had. How many days they hung their heads. People still give Forrest flack for running out of the octagon after Silva beat him like a red-headed step son, but I now understand why he did it. I may not agree with it, but I understand.

I lost once in front of a mere 700 people, then I won in front of roughly the same number of people. Both times unsatisfied with my performances. There is no feeling like the feeling that there is something you didn't finish doing, and you are completely helpless to do anything about it. "Why didn't I throw the Thai 4-count that I had practiced on the heavy bag so many times? Why didn't I throw my jab, left hook to the head, left hook to the liver, rear kick that I landed so many times while sparring? Why didn't I throw a switch kick to the head when his right hand was down so low?" And worst of all, "When I turned him into the cage, why the HELL didn't I separate and throw combinations?!"

And then you have the fights where people work their asses off for 8 or 12 weeks, prepare physically and mentally, step into a cage in front of 17,000 people, plus the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, and they get their asses beat like a 6-year old that broke his mom's favorite china teacup. I cannot fathom what that would feel like. Yet you have people like Rich Franklin, people like Matt Hughes (Think GSP III), Matt Serra (GSP II), and even (forgive me ABM) Brock Lesnar who take these poundings and hold their heads up, give credit to their opponents-even thank them sometimes-and walk out of the arena just as proudly as they walked in.

Ever had a really embarrassing incident happen to you at school/work and dread going back the next day? Remember how bad that felt? Yeah multiply that by a million and I'm guessing you might have an idea of how those guys felt.

Anyway, I apologize for making this so long. I just wanted to throw out a few of my thoughts and experiences that this fight taught me. Not to suggest anyone is unintelligent, but I walk out first, my name is Andrew Keller, I'm wearing the yellow gloves and have the black/camo Sprawl shorts on. And when the fight is over, and I'm laying on my back-the overwhelming rush of emotion right there is indescribable.

I want to laugh, cry, scream, all at the same time. I could never live the life of a full-time fighter, but I am extremely grateful that I've been given the opportunity and the ability to at least participate in the sport that I love so much. I hope you enjoy the video, and I hope that if you are on the fence about competing, you do it. At least once.

This is a recap of my second professional fight. I don’t fight for a living, I fight for a hobby and because I have an insane amount of passion and love for this sport. My first pro fight did NOT go anywhere near the way I wanted it to.

Due to quite a few unforeseen circumstances, I lost to a guy who I definitely should have beaten (not to take anything away from him, I respect anyone who competes) and someone I only fought because I was told he was calling me out.

I was very upset with my performance, I felt like I let down all my friends, family, and most importantly my coach and training partners, so I wanted this fight to be an opportunity to show everyone what I can really do, and to make my coaches proud.

Among my corner men was Pablo Garza, a very good friend of mine, the guy that brought me to my gym, one of the final 28 on this season of TUF (lost a decision to Michael Johnson to get in the house) and the man who will be the first 145 lb fighter to fight under the UFC banner at the TUF Finale when he faces Fredson Paxiao in December.

Pablo is pretty much my idol, so I really wanted to make him proud.

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My thoughts on UFC 112

First and foremost-Frankie Edgar is a beast. I, along with 95% of the MMAMania community thought this was going to be even less of a challenge for BJ than Diego turned out to be. As a the littlest guy in my gym, I always use a lot of footwork and movement to maintain and advantage-since “big power” isn’t an advantage that I can boast.

Speed and accuracy, however, is.

And Frankie proved on Saturday that it can be a bigger advantage than many thought. He fought an amazing battle, and looked just as fresh at 4:30 of round 5 as he did at 0:30 of round 1.

I know there are already questions about Penn’s kneebrace, but the thing that I noticed most was the small spare tire around his waist. He looked in the worst physical condition he has looked at 155 since his destruction of Pulver at the TUF 5 finale.

The two things might be related, but I doubt it. If they are, and he ended up blowing out his knee in training or something like that, I give him mad props. I had to pull out of a fight scheduled for May 8 since I dislocated my hip last week. And I cant even walk without a painful limp, much less do any type of cardio workout or throw a right cross. So if he did tear up his knee, and still step in the cage against Edgar, he has my respect for it.

However, I think the end of the fight is a result of Edgar not being intimidated and sticking to an excellent gameplan.

Hughes made me proud last night. I almost feel as if I’m one of the last of a dying breed when it comes to Hughes fans, judging from the hate I see him getting from the internet community. But I have always been a fan of him, and seeing as how I started following MMA right at the time he choked out Trigg with an amazing standing RNC, he has always had a fan in this fighter.

And last night, he finally got something he has been wanting for a long time-a TKO as a result of his stand-up abilities.

Renzo impressed me with his respect and his heart, but his actual skills displayed during the fight left something for me to be desiered. However, I do very much hope we get to see him against someone like George Sotiropoulos or Joe Daddy before Zuffa decides he’s too old.

Those two fights would make for an amazing grappling exhibition, and I feel like Renzo could make 155 seeing as he looked very small next to Hughes, and made the statement that he had to eat a lot to stay in the welterweight class

Dos Anjos-I have a bone to pick with you. You ruined the bet I placed with a training partner, and once my hip heals up I get to suffer a 10 minute pickle at the hands of the rest of my team.

I thought Etim would be able to have his way with you, but you wouldn’t hear of it. And that armbar was beautiful-couldn’t have been more by-the-book. My hat’s off to you.

Joe Lauzon vs Terry Etim anyone? Or Dos Anjos vs Gomi?

There is a reason I left this fight till last-because the only place it belongs is at the very bottom of a long write up, where it will get as little attention it deserves. Maia earned all of my respect last night, and Silva lost all of it.

I couldn’t care less if a champion stops his contenders in the first 30 seconds, or if he plays it rather safe and out points him to a decision. The champ is the champ, and its his choice of what game plan to use. However, dancing around, hiding behind the ref, swearing at your opponent, mocking your opponent during the fight, then going on camera and repeatedly complaining about how your opponent disrespected you?!

What did Maia say or do before, during, or after the fight that could be seen as disrespectful?

Deciding not to charge forward and swing slow punches while out of range a la Forrest Griffin is NOT disrespecting you. And that’s the only thing I can think of that Silva found disrespectful-Maia refusing to play into Silva’s hands.

But it’s a freaking fight.

I’m a striker myself-if my opponent won the Arnold Classic’s Absolute division, im sure not gonna walk up to him and pull guard as a show of respect. Im gonna respect him by giving him the best challenge I can possibly present. And in Maia’s case-this could only have been done by trying to take the fight to the ground, which he did.

Anderson Silva-as a fan and a fighter, I’m disappointed in your performance. Im not angry-I’m embarrassed and I feel like you disrespected every single person who calls themselves a fan of this amazing sport.

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So for all of you who are wondering about the lunch meeting that i had with Dana White, this fanpost is for you. This is my fist fanpost, so if you see anything that i can do to improve it or any features im not using, feel free to let me know!

Something that i dont think alot of you will realize, unless i say it, is that i am a 5th year college student at the University of North Dakota (Go Fighting Sioux!!!). The reason im a marketing major is because i want to work for the marketing department of the UFC, and i have always admired Dana for what he has done for the sport. I by no means make alot of money, and im not a kid who's parents are putting him through college. Im completely on my own, and this was the first time i had ever gotten on a plane. The sole reason for me going to Vegas was because Dana agreed to take time out of his hectic schedule (and during a fight week even!) to sit down with with this college kid who had a class assignment to take a professional in a field we are interested in out to lunch and have an informational interview. I was very nervous seeing as i was about to meet the man whose carreer i had followed for years, and who has the power to give me the job of my dreams. Making a good, memorable impression was vital, so if i ever got the chance to submit a resume, i would have some sort of foot in the door. Sorry if this sounds a little 'star struck' but it was a big deal for me.

I landed in Vegas at 945 PM local time on sunday night, and my meeting with Dana was the next day (Monday) at 12:30. I got to the Zuffa offices, and it was immediately apparent where i was. 2-46" plasma TV's were showing the replays of UFC 110 and WEC 47. A big cardboard cutout of GSP and Hardy was looming next to the door, and copies of "Fighters Only" and "Fight" magazine were scattered on the lobby coffee table. I walked up to the security gaurd behind the desk and told him i had a 12:30 appt with Mr. White. He looked at me like i had just told him i wanted to slap his mother, but he picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello, there is an andrew keller here saying he has a 12:30 with you? ....oh....ok....yes, of course... *hangs up phone* sure Mr. Keller, just have a seat and he will be right down. can i offer you something to drink?" i said i was fine and proceeded to sit down on the lobby couch and break into a cold, shaky sweat. Soon, I hear someone quickly walking down the steps that lead to the Execuetive offices. Lorenzo freaking Fertitta appears and crosses the lobby into the staff offices, walking with a purpose. Kinda hits me right then, "holy shit, im at the Zuffa offices!" Before long i heard the click-click of heels walking on marble, and a young, attractive female appears walking down the steps.

She waves me over, i stand up and start walking up the steps. she introduces herself as Chari, Dana's personal assistant (this is the woman i've been emailing back and forth for the last 2 weeks to set up the lunch) and apologzies for the wait. She leads me up to these huge, frosted glass double doors, opens one of them, and motions for me to walk in. I enter, and sitting at the end of this long, rectangular table set with fancy plates, glasses, and sliverware on cloth napkins, sits Dana White texting on his phone wearing his trademark t-shirt and blue jeans. Dude looks tired as hell, but stands up with a smile on his face and shakes my hand introducing himself. We sit down and a chef comes in to read the menu for the day (tilapia, mahi-mahi, or ribeye) and we order our lunch and proceed with the meeting.

Dana in person is the exact Dana you see on tv, in interviews, and on video blogs. Straight forward and to the point. ten minutes into the meeting, Marc Ratner (NVAC commissoner) walks in and Dana and Marc discuss the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. Not before Dana introduced us though. About 20 minutes later, Danas assistant pokes her head in the door and tells Dana "I finally got a hold of John, he's on line 1 right now". and Dana replies "nope, tell him i'm busy. i'll have to try to call him back". Im sure that phone call was much more important to the success of his business than an informational meeting with a wide-eyed college kid, but for some reason he decided not to take the call. I have always said this, and this meeting confirmed it for me, but he is not all about the "almighty dollar" as a lot of people think he is. One of the main points he drove home with me was to love what i do. This is not an exact quote, but he said something to the effect of "Yeah the money is cool, I've got plenty of money. But once you have the cool cars and toys, then what? you need to be truly passionate about what you do, otherwise all the fame and the money and the bullshit will make what you do seem like work, and your gonna start hating what you do. Whats the point of having a job and going to work if you hate waking up in the morning?"

I proceed with the assignment and asked him the typical day-in-your-life type questions and things he loves and hates about his job, things he would change, his vision of the future, most important and most detrimental decisons he has made, blah blah blah

 At the end of our meeting, he told me he would take me around and give me a tour of the offices. Which are absolutely sick, by the way. he pokes his head into Craig Borsari's (Senior VP of Operations and Production of the UFC) office, and Craig is on the phone with someone who has good news for Dana. He waves Dana over, hands him the phone, and Dana proceeds to get very excited about whatever just happened. It was pretty sweet to be standing 5 feet away from him as he is getting pumped up about whatever it is that just happened.

We continue with the tour-my favorite part was the gym that was in the building. complete with a boxing ring, weights, a wall of thai pads, 3 different styles of heavy bags, and the matchmaker of the WEC kicking the bag like he's been doing Muay Thai all his life. Thats when Dana tells me "yeah, all of us that work here train so anytime our day gets a little too crappy, we just come up here and work out for a bit". 

We walk past this big conference room, filled with about 7 guys in their early to mid 40's, all in suit jackets, jeans, and dress shoes. Business-casual. Dana apologizes for being late and tells them he just has to finish up something and he will be right in. Then he takes me to where they do pre-fight interviews, and back up to the room where we had lunch. Then he asks if there is anything he can do for me, and I ask him if he minds if i left my resume with him just so he has it on file. "Oh absolutely, leave it with Chari out front and she will make sure it gets looked at". I gave him the UND Fighting Sioux t-shirt i brought for him, and he seemed genuinely impressed/appreciative of it. Chari snapped a picutre of us, Dana gave me the hand-clasp-chest-bump-man hug, and he was off to the meeting that spending time with me had made him late for.

I walked out of the Zuffa building in the most surreal state of mind i've ever been in. I just met the man.

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