SB Nation User Blog: Blackout612

Yves Lavigne Does It Again

Blackout612 — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:44:43 -0000

While no video seems readily available, it's being reported at Sherdog that Yves Lavigne repeated his dubious stop-and-start refereeing performance last night at UFC 98 in the Kyle Bradley vs Phillipe Nover bout.

Kyle Bradley grasped his first Octagon victory in three outings with a controversial first-round TKO against debutante Phillipe Nover in their lightweight bout. Bradley shrugged off Nover’s first takedown attempt, then connected on "The Ultimate Fighter 8" runner-up with a stinging right hand. Reaching for a single leg, Nover slipped forward onto his face. Referee Yves Lavigne stepped in and halted the bout, but backed away when a cognizant Nover rolled onto his back.

With the fight still in play, Bradley landed some glancing blows on the 25-year-old Nover. Lavigne intervened a second time and waved off the bout just as Nover rose to his feet, much to the Brooklyn, N.Y., native’s and the rabid crowd’s disapproval. The official time was 1:03, while replays inside the arena did little to bolster referee Lavigne’s actions.

This is bad. I was a major detractor of Lavigne after his actions at UFC 96 in the Matt Brown vs Pete Sell fight, which took place only two short months ago; suggesting that if he makes a similar error in the future, he should be punished by the athletic commission. I'm interested to see if any video surfaces of this newest instance. If things went down as suggested, something needs to be done. We have to hold our referees accountable to mistakes of this gravity for our sport to grow and be given the credibility it deserves.

GIF by Chris Nelson

Who doesn't love a cartwheel kick KO?

Blackout612 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:20:50 -0000

Who doesn't love a cartwheel kick KO?

"Certainly Dana White thought I was criticizing him, that I was talking bad about his event, but it...

Blackout612 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:06:35 -0000

"Certainly Dana White thought I was criticizing him, that I was talking bad about his event, but it wasn’t. I didn’t want to belittle the athletes of the UFC, that wasn’t my intention", says Arona, asking for a chance to show his value in the octagon. "I never had a direct position from him, I wasn’t contacted by the Ultimate. Dana White could give me an opportunity to know if I’m good or not"

Ricardo Arona responds to Dana White's criticism of his recent comments.

"He had invited me to train at his gym in Las Vegas before this fight had been scheduled. I have...

Blackout612 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:37:28 -0000

"He had invited me to train at his gym in Las Vegas before this fight had been scheduled. I have enormous respect for Wanderlei Silva... I’m always in Vegas and intend to train at his academy after this fight. We’re great fighters but UFC wanted to make this fight."

Rich Franklin suggests to Graciemag that he plans to train with Wanderlei after their UFC 99 headlining bout.

Qualifying the Challenger: Thales Leites

Blackout612 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:34:42 -0000

This article is the first in what may become a regular series. In this article I will evaluate title challengers and qualify them as threats to their opponents. The purpose of this is to illustrate the legitimacy of fighters that may otherwise be overlooked; be it from a lack of public interest, lack of available information, or having a heavy favorite as their opponent. The fact remains that no fighter at this level of competition receives a title shot without a great deal of legitimacy. Today, my subject is Saturday's challenger to Anderson Silva's 185 pound crown; Brazilian BJJ maverick Thales Leites.

At 27 years of age, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and Nova Unaio trained Thales Leites has accumulated an impressive record of 14 wins and only one loss, with key victories over Pele Landi-Jons and Nate Marquardt and his only loss coming at the hands of Martin Kampmann in 2006. Leites, a veteran of Shooto, MARS, Rumble on the Rock and Jungle Fight, is 5-1 in the UFC's octagon. Of his 14 total victories, nine have come by way of submission, with 11 total stoppages.

Offensive Abilities

Possessing great all-around BJJ submission profieciency, Leites' favorite maneuver is widely considered the arm triangle, which he has used to dispatch four of his previous opponents (with armbar ranking second at three total submissions). At times, Leites has flashed powerful standing strikes, through his training in Muay Thai kickboxing, though his technical profieciency has left something to be desired. It is likely that he has spent a lot of time training to overcome his striking deficiencies due to his impending bout with Anderson Silva.

Defensive Abilities

His chin and standing defense are tested, having absorbed and defended blows from vicious strikers such as Landi-Jons, Marquardt and Kampmann, and having never been stopped in a bout. Leites was famously illegally kneed by Nate Marquardt in a controversial June 2008 bout at UFC 85 in London England. Leites absorbed the devestating knee and went on to win a split decision over Marquardt. His BJJ defense is presumed to be excellent, though untested. He is considered to be in elite company among submission specialists in the UFC's middleweight division.

The Road to Victory

Thales is almost entirely unlikely to find a path to the 185 crown by way of striking, as Anderson Silva is without equal in his striking decision-making, accuracy and force. It is likely, however, that he will be forced to use striking to set up his inevitable take down attempts. Possessing a chin and defense proven capable of taking damage, Thales could prove capable of weathering The Spider's opening salvos (and to an increasingly lesser degree, subsequent onslaughts) and somehow coerce him to the mat. In doing so, Leites has the abilities necessary to potentially ensnare Silva in one or several submission attempts, and quite possibly finish him (Silva has been finished by way of submission twice in four career losses). In waging his war on the mat, Leites must use ground and pound striking to soften Silva's submission defense and pass his guard; using Travis Lutter's February 2007 fight with The Spider as a template.

The Road to Failure

Though Leites has superb BJJ and ranks among the top 10 in UFC BJJ-for-MMA skills, in 15 previous career bouts he has not faced an individual with the BJJ skills of Anderson Silva. He has faced some dangerous strikers in his brief career, and still; none the likes of Anderson Silva, who is without parallel. If Leites doesn't approach the standing game defensively (while trading some blows and remaining conservative) and work for a takedown, his night will be brief. Silva is accurate and elusive, so this task is arduous. Additionally, if Leites is expecting the same Anderson Silva that faced Travis Lutter 26 months ago to show up this coming Saturday at UFC 97, he's going to wake up in the hospital wondering what happened. Anderson Silva is a BJJ black belt under the Nogueria's and an obsessive training perfectionist, so Leites should approach the fight expecting that any weaknesses Silva has possessed in the past he has trained to eliminate.

Thales Leites Career Statistics:

Career Win Percentage - 93.3%
UFC Win Percentage - 83.3%

Total Fights won by Submission Percentage - 60%
Total Fights won by Stoppage Percentage - 73.3%

Combined Opponent Win/Loss/Draw Record - 231-147-19
Total Opponent Winning Percentage - 58.2%

Combined UFC Opponent Win/Loss/Draw Record - 81-28-2
UFC Opponent Winning Percentage - 73.3%

Tito Ortiz and Babalu Split Up After Verbal Altercation During Strikeforce

Blackout612 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:38:59 -0000

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas.

MMAnews.com reports:

MMANews.com is on location at Strikeforce tonight and can report that moments ago, Tito Ortiz and Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral exchanged words and had to be seperated before throwing down in the crowd.

This is the first I've seen about Tito and Babalu having to be physically split up during the show. However, it isn't unlikely that the two "worked" the altercation for the sake of marketing a future bout. The story goes on to note that while the camera was fixated on Babalu, he could be seen flipping off Tito, which led to an exchange of words and subsequently moving Babalu to a different part of the facility for the remainder of the program. Of course, Tito could be seeing more money fly out the window if Sobral is unable to get past Feijao this coming June.

UFC: Undisputed Publisher THQ safe for now

Blackout612 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:51:10 -0000

American video game company THQ, publisher of the forthcoming and highly anticipated MMA video game UFC: Undisputed, has succesfully shed over $220 million dollars in costs and salaries, effectively saving them from bankruptcy for the forseeable future.

THQ has a lot of eggs in one basket between three games that are due out in the 2009 fiscal year; Red Faction: Guerrila (due in June), Darksiders: Wrath of War (due in the Fall) and the aforementioned UFC 2009: Undisputed (available May 19th). Additionally, all three titles are already slated for sequels to be developed in close proximity to their releases. The successes or failures of these titles will undoubtedly cast the die for THQ's future viability in the video game marketplace.

For now, UFC 2009: Undisputed is not only assured of its impending release, but UFC 2010 is now likely to see the light of day as well.

Source: Kotaku THQ Successfully Trims $220 Million In People, Costs

EA Sports President Peter Moore suggests Boxing is the Past

Blackout612 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:46:49 -0000

In a report by IGN from EA's Sports' Season Opener event, EA's Peter Moore is asked about his desire to create an MMA title:

"We keep a very close eye on where things like Mixed Martial Arts are going. Obviously we've got Fight Night -- we're incredibly excited about Fight Night -- but boxing, for me, sadly feels like it's the past of fighting and Mixed Martial Arts feels like it's the future of fighting. So when we look at where people's attention is going, that's something we keep a very close eye on."

So in one fell swoop, an individual with very calculated knowledge about sports trends and the President of the largest sports video game publisher in the world, suggests that MMA is the future of combat sports and that EA is interested in creating an MMA title. One could perceive that this is a full confirmation, as Peter Moore is unlikely to be so publicly enthusiastic about MMA without a title in the development pipeline (considering he has a boxing title, Fight Night Round 4, in development).

Furthermore, IGN alludes to the possibility that EA could be making a play for the UFC license. This could be an indication that the terms of the UFC's agreement with THQ are less binding than previously suggested, or conjecture based on THQ's escalating financial woes. No matter, more news about EA's prospective MMA project should emerge by the time the Electronic Entertainment Expo rolls around on June 2nd.

Reminder: DREAM 7 to be aired on HDNet Tomorrow Night at 9:00 PM EST

Blackout612 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:04:41 -0000

HDNet Fights Presents - PREMIERE
HEIWA DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand Prix - Be sure to keep your eyes open for all of the lightning quick action as DREAM kicks off its 2009 season with the 1st Round of the Featherweight Grand Prix. Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, and Micah Miller are among the fighters in the tournament.

For those of us that did not see the fights live and have avoided (most of) the results, HDNet will be airing the event tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EST in its entirety. I know that it hasn't been heavily advertised or mentioned with much regularity, so I thought I'd provide a friendly reminder.

Hello Japan!

UFC 95 Fallout: The 185 Contender Picture

Blackout612 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:34:57 -0000

Ed Soares has recently suggested that Anderson Silva could potentially take a fight at 205 after his fight with Thales Leites at UFC 97 on April 18th. I say Anderson’s window to play around in the Light Heavyweight division has closed.

Anderson’s story over the last year has been a tale of two minds. After suggesting in early 2008 that he was near the end of his fighting career, Silva notified Dana White that he would like to begin fighting with increasing regularity. This lead to two fights in the span of three months; his bloody and brutal KO of James Irvin last July at UFN 14 and the peculiar bout with Cote only three months later at UFC 90. Disappointed in his performance with Cote, Silva was said to have refused several proposed fights from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva in the following months. Soares alleges that Silva has been in the gym every day since the Cote fight, determined to make an example of his next opponent. That unfortunate individual is one Mr. Thales Leites.

I’m prepared to assume, for the sake of this conversation, that Anderson Silva disposes of Leites in convincing fashion. It’s arguable, but let’s save that for another time. James Irvin, Patrick Cote and Thales Leites, while all talented in their own right, are not exactly the group of fighters I’d like to squander Anderson Silva’s remaining fights on (however many that is). And after UFC 95, I’d insist the Spider has too much work to do to consider taking any fights at 205.

The question is; with Anderson taking a fight every three months, how does the 185 division shake out? The five most qualified individuals to face Anderson Silva in this calendar year are as follows;

Yushin "Thunder" Okami

In my mind, Okami is undervalued, immensely talented, and has been due a title shot for some time. This whole scenario would be much easier to sort out if it were Okami, rather than Leites, facing Silva in April (with Leites facing one of the two victorious contenders of 95— preferably a rematch with Nate).

Nate "The Great" Marquardt

Second to him is Marquardt, who has vastly improved since losing to Silva at UFC 73. His well rounded abilities and newly aggressive striking abilities could make him the most qualified contender. Though, that very aggression could also be the death of him in another fight with Silva.

Demian Maia

Demian Maia is next. It could be argued that he deserves a shot above Marquardt. For my money, while his BJJ was as impressive as ever in submitting Chael Sonnen last night at UFC 95, he also exposed the sloppiness of his underdeveloped stand up. Maia continually approached Sonnen with his chin exposed and ate a number of inside jabs early on. One has to deduce that a striker the likes of Anderson Silva wouldn’t let that fly lay idly in his web for long.

Dan "Hollywood" Henderson & Michael "The Count" Bisping

Fourth and fifth are the two coaches of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter; Henderson and Bisping. These two are scheduled to face one another at UFC 100 in July. The victor of this match up would eliminate his opposition from this conversation (for the short term) and perhaps make the case for a quick title shot (with their present marketability being much greater than the other available options).

Does the UFC run the risk of spoiling a top contender in having Maia and Marquardt face one another? If so, what are the alternatives? Who could each man fight, to bide their time, that could still pose some amount of risk and credibility? Should the winner of the Hendo vs Bisping showdown be awarded a shot at The Ultimate? In any scenario, this complicated matter would be made much simpler should Silva decide to fight more often, much as he suggested last year. And I, for one, am thrilled to see so many legitimate options at 185 finally presenting themselves.

I also just came across a poll on this very matter, created by BE user klown, located here.