April 9th saw an instant classic in the Strikeforce main event of Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley. As many fight fans expected, Diaz chose the much harder path and fought to his opponents strengths, beat him at his own game. To touch briefly on the stoppage, the way in which Daley wobbled and fell and then took punches with his hands down justified the decision and made Diaz the first fighter to finish Daley by TKO. The ref is not the timekeeper and in my mind the clock should never have any relevance on referee decisions. So, while Diaz had a distinct advantage on the ground where Daley has been proven weak, the champion stood as he did with previous opponents Santos, Smith and Noons. This goes against what many people think of as "smart game-planning". UFC champion Georges St. Pierre is practically a scientist in the way he specifically plans his strategy to take his opponent to the weakest point in their game and exploit that weakness. Diaz doesn't seem to game-plan at all. He just fights, and he still wins. Paul Daley is the toughest fight Diaz has had in his post Zuffa career and it became his most dominant victory.

Georges St. Pierre will likely remain undefeated at welterweight and he'll do so by taking his opponents where he has the advantage. He'll strike with the grapplers and grapple with the strikers and as with BJ Penn, clinch with those that can do both to wear them out to the point where they are no longer a threat. I love this approach. I marvel at how GSP has brought his skills to a level where he has an answer for every puzzle. Some have criticized the UFC Champion citing him choosing to play it safe and lack of finishes but that does not diminish the fact that the man has only lost twice in 9 years and has brutally avenged both of those losses. He is a future Hall of Famer and a major factor in MMAs current success and one of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time and I feel privileged I've been able to see him fight in person. He is also a gentleman and great for the sport and carries himself as a professional.

Nick Diaz is a fighter. He's late for conference calls and swears at opponents mid fight. He likes a fight and draws his opponents in to the fight. It rarely looks smooth or pretty, it looks pretty dirty actually. While we talk about his ever improving striking it never looks like the polished technique you see in an instructional video. He's like a tazmanian devil and looks more like the whirlwind cloud of dirt and paws one sees in a cartoon dog fight. But consistency is a testament to skill and Diaz is on a 10 fight winning streak. If you can do the same thing time and again then you're obviously good at it and despite my appreciation (and dare I say nerd-like obsession) for skill, strategy and technique, I find it impossible to watch a Nick Diaz fight sitting down.

If you matched up Diaz and St. Pierre, St. Pierre would obviously be a huge favorite and I believe would win 10 times out of 10. I don't think St. Pierre would finish Diaz though. I'm not sure if St. Pierre would finish Paul Daley and if he did, I'd expect it to be a submission or tko on the ground somewhere in the 4th or 5th round. Diaz took a chance and nearly paid for it, but his risk was rewarded. St. Pierre would never finish Daley on the feet (or in the first round) and that is something Diaz will have under his belt the rest of his career. His risks and decisions in the cage do have value in those intangible equations of pound for pound lists and greatest of all time discussions, not to mention fan appreciation and excitement.

So how do you quantify the choices a fighter makes in ranking their skill? Obviously such a factor would come further down the list. Things like number of wins and quality of opponents will always be first. Things like finishes and level of dominance in those wins come afterwards, and lets be honest, subjectivity is ever present in these discussions. Georges St. Pierre right now is without a doubt the greatest welterweight of all time. Nick Diaz is not and may not even be as high on that list as teammate Jake Shields or the ever-winning Jon Fitch but Nick Diaz has something else. What is it? I don't know, but he has it. Call it marketability, call it start power, call it "that certain je ne sais quoi". While GSP is certainly one of the best ever, Nick Diaz is something special in his own way. Can you imagine how different Diaz vs Penn, Diaz vs Koscheck or Diaz vs Hardy would look then the St. Pierre versions of those fights? The thought of those match ups excites me. They don't necessarily mean much in terms of rankings in the division or proving anything about either fighters skill sets but I want to see those fights happen. I'm sure they would be exciting start to finish with swings of momentum and a great finish...by someone, and I don't really care who.

I'm not saying either Champion is better, I'm saying they're different. I'm not even posing a real question. You could ask, "Who is the better fighter?" or "Who is the more exciting fighter?" and you could answer those question based on generally accepted criteria, but those are very shallow questions given the depth of substance both fighters have given to fans and MMA as a whole. Even in your more traditional sports you have your winning athletes/teams and your exciting athletes/teams. Sometimes they're the same. Sometimes one plays it safe, plays to win while the other does it for the challenge, the fans or just does it for themselves. Both are important to a sport and its fans. 

 

via www.ctmmanews.com

CTMMANews.com Exclusive: Ben Saunders Talks his upcoming fight with Matt Lee, Bellator's next Welterweight Tournament and the Influence of Bruce Lee on MMA

via fiveouncesofpain.com

 

CTMMANews had the privilege of talking with Ben Saunders a few days out from his fight with Matt Lee at Bellator 39. Saunders is coming off of his first post-UFC fight, a first round TKO over Elijah Harshbarger, and hopes to extend his win streak this Saturday. Read on for the main points as well as the recorded interview.

When asked by CTMMANews about his new relationship with Bellator, Saunders said "When I signed with Bellator what we're looking at right now is two showcase fights and I will be involved in the Fall welterweight tournament." Saunders, like many fighters, expressed how he enjoys the ability to stay active with Bellator and of course the potential to earn up to $100,000 over a few months."$100,000 is $100,000 man, that's a big payday for anyone and to have the ability to have the chance to make that money but to stay active and get potentially 3 fights in 12 weeks is phenomenal." said Saunders who also mentioned he's never had the chance to have such a long stretch of planned activity in his career. "Having two showcase fights and then a fall tournament really means that I have my year completely planned out for 5 fights. That without a doubt financially is phenomenal and as a fighter just trying to stay active, gain experience and continue to gain fans, put on a show and do what I love to do, which is fight, I've never been in this situation which is great."
When asked about the welterweight division in Bellator, Saunders responded, "The welterweight division is probably one of their most stacked divisions no doubt. There's a lot of tough and competitive competition in that division and I definitely look forward to testing myself."

Saunders is known to tout his Jeet Kun Do background and admiration of Bruce Lee as a main factor in getting him into martial arts competition. "My martial arts background is what helped me become a professional fighter and allow me to actually get paid and compete at a professional level. If it wasn't for Jeet Kun Do I wouldn't have the mindset I have and that is basically to keep an open mind. I don't believe in any style being the best style. That's being closed minded."

"You can knock Tae Kwan Do, you can knock Kung Fu all you want because it might not be that effective in the ring or the cage or from what people have seen but at the end of the day, every style, every technique no matter how unorthodox is effective, it just comes down to if you can practically utilize it in a real live situation." Saunders spoke about how that's what Jeet Kun Do came down to for him was to focus on practically and gave some insight to traditional martial arts practitioners in that if they learn to understand other styles such as Muay Thai, Wrestling and Jiu Jitsu and learn how to defend and counter those attacks, that you can then develop your style to be affective. "It comes down to... are you that good and are you that aware of other styles. It really just comes down to knowledge." Saunders also stated, "I try to utilize simplicity and practicality %100. My style is about brutality and straightforwardness, effectiveness. If it works it works if it doesn't I discard it from my arsenal."

The full recording of our conversation is below. There was some spotty cell coverage in places but a great interview with a great fighter who is really pationate about Martial Arts.

 

Check out our website for the full audio.

Does Reach Matter in MMA?

Let's start off by defining "reach". Currently reach in both Boxing and MMA is measured with arms outstretched from finger tip to finger tip. Whether or not it should be measured that or in a more functional way, say from shoulder to the furthest knuckle, is a topic for another time. So our data compares the "wingspan" of the two athletes. Going forward, we will use the terms of "longer" and "shorter" fighters to refer to their measured reach or wingspan.

 

Before we get to the data, let's look at reach. Firstly in striking, when people talk about a "reach advantage" in striking they are saying the longer fighter is at an advantage because they have a span of X number of inches where they can hit their opponent while being out of reach.


via www.cdn.sherdog.com

In boxing this is a huge advantage and allows a fighter to jab and soften up an opponent while the shorter fighter must use feints and footwork to close the distance to get into striking range while avoiding punches. Oppositely, some fighters like fighting on the inside as that range is an advantage to the shorter reach and if they have the footwork and control to stay at that range, can frustrate the longer fighter. This scenario comes down to controlling range which is a battle of footwork and cutting off the cage. Couture vs Sylvia is a great example of the shorter fighter getting inside and frustrated a longer opponent. Likewise, Torred vs Banuelos is a great example of a longer fighter keeping the shorter fighter on the outside. The difference here though was not in the length of the arm but rather the striking proficiency and footwork to position yourself. So when striking, reach does matter if you have an advantage in keeping the fight on the outside.

 

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

via a323.yahoofs.com

In grappling we often see certain body types excelling at certain techniques. Grapplers with long arms will have an easier time with techniques such as D'arce, Brabo and Arm Triangles as they can connect to the other arm easier. Now, we've seen "lankier" or "taller" fighters excel at armbars or triangle chokes due to long legs. Since all we have for this are measurements on wingspan, we cannot make any claims as to the length of either fighters legs, though usually the longer fighter is the taller fighter. Shorter fighters (meaning a shorter wingspan) are usually harder to armbar based on lining up the hips to the tricep/elbow area and maintaining wrist control while it would be easier for them to armbar or kneebar a taller opponent. "Stockier" fighters can also be harder to choke but again, we cannot make those assumptions when just looking at wingspan. In grappling, reach does matter if you have the knowledge to know how that persons body type lends itself to different techniques.

 

via cdn0.sbnation.com

In the clinch and wrestling, we see shorter fighters often shooting for double legs and taller fighters excelling with trips. In the clinch we also see taller fighters having an advantage of being able to knee more quickly due to the knee having to travel a shorter distance. These are all assumptions we do not have the data to make when just looking at arm length and reach.

 

via clubjameswilks.com

Here is a summary of the data excluding fights between fighters with equal reach;

 

Longer Reach:                    Shorter Reach:

Win: 688                               Wins: 641

        by dec: 231                            by dec: 265

        by sub: 203                            by sub: 174

        by ko: 244                               by ko: 189

 

The raw data shows Longer fighters winning more against Shorter fighters and by Sub or KO with Shorter fighters losing more to taller fighters and when they do win it's mostly by decision.

 

Here is the data for fights where both athletes had the same reach;

 

wins by dec: 73

wins by sub: 45

wins by ko: 37

 

When we know the reach was identical, we can be assured that skill was the deciding factor. I propose that skill is the defining factor even when there is a difference in reach. Looking at these statistics in isolation does not answer the questions of if the winning or losing fighter knew how to use his reach, what was the difference in striking skill level, what was the difference in grappling skill level etc.

 

My conclusion is that a physical asset in and of itself is not useful without the knowledge to harness that asset. Likewise being able to overcome an opponents physical traits pits your knowledge of countering that asset against their knowledge of taking advantage of it. Likewise the knowledge of one of a fighters physical characteristics without being able to asses skill level in the different areas of MMA or compare that to their opponents does not produce a meaningful assessment of that characteristic. Does Reach Matter in MMA? Of course it does, all physical traits of an opponent matter and are to be considered. The real question is, When does reach matter?

 

Credit to alicks for the stat breakdowns as I was too lazy :)

 

RJCT

www.ctmmanews.com

 www.CTMMANews.com breaks down the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament 

"Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this…and totally redeem yourself!"- Dumb and Dumber

Strikeforce, in my mind, has made a lot of mistakes over the past few years. Letting M1 Global bully them around, the "Mayhem" Miller brawl, Brett Rogers fighting for a title coming off of a loss, Fedor not fighting for the title etc. but their proposed Heavyweight tournament is something that has me very excited. They have undoubtedly assembled the 8 best Non-UFC Heavyweight fighters in the world for a single elimination tournament set to play out starting February 12. In addition to the cast of fighters the matchmaking for the first round is well done. As many of these fighters have recently faced each other, they’ve broken things down in a way that starts with fresh matchups, and interesting rematches. Let’s take a look at each fighter and the announced matchups as well as some potential matchups we could see later on in the tournament.

Fedor Emelianenko –The former uncrowned Heavyweight Champion of Strikeforce took a recent blow to his aura of dominance courtesy of Fabricio Werdums submission skills. While many expected an immediate rematch, Emelianenko has been busy renegotiating (re-re-renegotiating?) his contract. Before suffering the first legitimate loss and stoppage of his career many (including myself) had questioned Fedor’s consensus #1 ranking due to inactivity and quality of opponents. This tournament is certainly the way to convincingly reclaim the status he held for so long.

Antonio Silva –Having just survived a close call courtesy of a right hand from the smaller Mike Kyle, Silva is 2-1 in Strikeforce with a win over tournament contender Andrei Arlovski and a decision loss to Fabricio Werdum. With a total record of 15-2 "Bigfoot" is a threat in all areas with a solid ground game, great striking and power.

Andrei Arlovski –A former terror in the Heavyweight division, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Arlovski actually left the UFC on a 3 fight winning streak following losing two in a row to Tim Sylvia in their Title Trilogy. Despite KOing UFC fighters Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell after his departure, Arlovski is on a 3 fight losing streak to tournament contenders Emelianenko, Brett Rogers and Antonio Silva and hasn’t fought since May of 2010. This tournament is a chance at redemption and fans would love to see the Arlovski of old return.

Sergei Kharitonov –Holding the distinction of being the last fighter to defeat Alistair Overeem (and by first round KO), Sergei Kharitonov  is 4-1 in his last 5 fights and is coming off of a first round knockout win at K-1’s Dynamite! New Years show. This was his return to MMA as he had put his career on hold to test himself in kickboxing which saw Kharitonov has go 1-2 in K-1 kickboxing bouts. While not a top favorite to win the tournament, Kharitonov's knockout power makes him a threat in any matchup.

Alistair Overeem –The Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World GP Champion and Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion is 10-1-1 since moving to heavyweight and is riding a 10 fight unbeaten streak (with a NC to Mirko Cro Cop) with 9 first round finishes. Staying very active the MMA fighter has also won the K-1 World GP title, considered to be the ultimate title in kickboxing. He holds wins over Kharitonov and Brett Rogers as well as losses to Werdum and Kharitonov. Given his current dominance over the last 3 years in MMA and Kickboxing, Overeem will be a heavy favorite to win the tournament.

Fabricio Werdum –The former UFC castoff turned Legend Killer looks to continue on the success he saw in ’09 and 2010 after beating Antonio Silva and shocking the world with his first round submission of Emelianenko. He also holds win over Overeem and has losses to Arlovski and Kharitonov. (As you can start to see, the entire tournament holds a "Rock Paper Scissors" feel in terms of who has beaten who in the past which coupled with the recent streaks and development of each fighter makes for some exciting potential rematches)

Josh Barnett –The Black Sheep of MMA’s heavyweight division, "The Babyfaced Assassin" became infamous for his 2009 steroid ban which canceled a much anticipated bout between Barnett and Emelianenko which at the time was considered a fight between the number 1 and 2 heavyweights in the world. He is currently riding a 6 fight winning streak and is a solid threat to any fighter in this tournament. Another distinction is that Barnett has no past fights with any of the tournament fighters unlike the other 7.

Brett Rogers –The Cinderella story of Strikeforce, Rogers’ upset of Andrei Arlovski set up the much hyped meeting with Emelianenko which saw Rogersdo very well in the first round, only to be knocked unconscious by a devastating right hand from Emelianenko. Following the loss, Rogersstrangely found himself with a title shot against the returning Overeem who dominated Rogers, stopping him in the first round. Rogershas since gotten a win outside of Strikeforce, hopefully giving him some much needed confidence heading into the tournament.

Tournament Rankings

In my opinion, the following is how I rank the tournament fighters based on how I see current skillsets matching up and who has the best chance to win the tournament.

1. Alistair Overeem
2. Josh Barnett
3. Fedor Emelianenko
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Sergei Kharitonov
6. Antonio Silva
7. Andrea Arlovski
8. Brett Rogers

The Matchups

Fedor Emelianenko vs Antonio Silva
In one of the more intriguing match ups of the first round, Emelianenko will look to get back his mojo against "Bigfoot". Due to Silva nearly being knocked unconscious in his last fight to a light heavyweight fighting on short notice, this looks to be a favorable match up set up for Fedor. Although Silva posses size, good striking and a good ground game, I expect Fedor's knock out power and skill fighting off of his back to match up well and earn him a knockout in the second or third round.

Andrei Arlovski vs Sergei Kharitonov
Can you say first round knock out? This fight has fireworks written all over it. Both men posses great boxing, hand speed and knockout power. This fight will come down to the chin. Although both have been finished by KO/TKO, Arlovski has suffered the more devastating knockouts recently and specifically by punches to the chin. Kharitonov has been finished with Knees and leg kicks in the past but only once due to punches to the head and that was in a K-1 kickboxing match. Arlovski though is known to through knees and is also well rounded enough to look to take the fight to the ground and threaten with submissions. This could be a quick fight or a tough battle but I'll go with  Kharitonov by KO in the first.

Alistair Overeem vs Fabricio Werdum
If you’re going to have an opening round rematch this is a great one to start with. Both fighters have developed immensely since Werdum submitted Overeem in Pride. With Overeem now fully settled into his heavyweight build and even further developed his striking, I see this fight as a perfect chance for redemption for Overeem. Werdum’s striking has not developed as much as it needs too and Overeem’s takedown defense should keep him out of any submissions. Overeem by KO in the first.

Josh Barnett vs Brett Rogers
A tough fight for Rogers, a tune up fight for Barnett. This is the most lopsided match up I think one could make in the first round without revisiting the Emelianko fight. Barnett has good enough striking backed up by a serious wrestling and submission game that should take him (depending on the match ups of course) to the finals of this tournament. Barnett by submission in the first round.

Second Round Matchups
Winner of Emelianenko vs Silva against winner of Overeem vs Werdum
Winner of Barnett vs Rogers against winner of Arlovski vs Kharitonov

It definitely seems that stylistically Barnett has the easiest road to the finals. Overeem and Fedor while favorites to win their first round match ups will face a tough semifinal match against each other. 

Check back with CTMMANews.com as we’ll continue the breakdowns throughout the tournament.

Since the Evan Dunham vs Sean Sherk fight, I've been snooping around for athletic commision documentation on how the commission tells its judges fights should be judged. This is from New Jersey's judging criteria from the NJAC website;

"1. If the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a round on the canvas, then:
i. Effective grappling is weighed first; and
ii. Effective striking is then weighed"

I found that very interesting, here is the section in it's entirety;

(k) Judges shall use a sliding scale and recognize the length of time the fighters are either standing or on the ground, as follows:

1. If the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a round on the canvas, then:
i. Effective grappling is weighed first; and
ii. Effective striking is then weighed

2. If the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a round standing, then:
1. Effective striking is weighed first; and
2. Effective grappling is then weighed

3. If a round ends with a relatively even amount of standing and canvas fighting, striking and grappling are weighed equally

I read that as, if the fight is on the ground for 2 minutes and 31 seconds or more, whoever grapples most effectively wins the round, if the fight is standing for 2 minutes and 31 seconds or more, whoever was the better striker wins the round. When it reads "grappling is weighed first, striking is then weighed" it appears to be defining anything happening on the ground (submissions, ground strikes and control) as grappling and defining striking as striking on the feet.

I haven't found an accessible version of this for the las vegas commision but they both supposedly share the unified rules with NJ as both are two of the most highly regarded commissions, especially when it comes to MMA. I found this contrary to how I, and I believe most other fans and analysts, think fight's are scored. We all emphasize damage first, followed by aggression and control but this is clearly not how the criteria is outlined by the commissions themselves. I find it hard to put the blame soley on the judges after finding this information because it appears the need to educate officials goes much higher than the judges themselves.

                                                                            Evan Dunham vs Sean Sherk

Evan Dunham has been an underdog throughout his UFC career. He came in against Per Eklund and knocked him out in the first round followed by a split decision win over veteran Marcus Aurelio. In his next fight, Dunham was seen by most as a stepping stone for TUF winner Efrain Escudero. While Escudero rocked Dunham early, Dunham rallied and dominated the second round before securing a brutal armbar less than two minutes into the third. His next fight was a big step up in competition when he took on perennial contender (and Xtreme Couture training partner) Tyson Griffin. While it was a close fight resulting in a split decision, Dunham won and showed he was ready for the next level in competition. His striking and use of his range coupled with great wrestling and scrambling ability put an exclamation point on a win over a top ten opponent (which in my opinion should have been a unanimous decision).

Sean Sherk is an iconic fighter who has fought for the welterweight and lightweight titles, winning the later. He had great success at welterweight and when news surfaced he would drop to lightweight (which seemed impossible due to his muscular figure) people assumed he would dominate the division. That was true for awhile and Sherk used his explosive wrestling and top game to dominate opponents until BJ Penn stopped him in their title fight. Sherk then showed off great boxing skills in a fight against Tyson Griffin where he abandoned his usual wrestling base. That strategy however came back to bite him as he dropped a fight against current champion Frankie Edgar, a fight many thought would be an easy win given the blueprint of being the bigger, better wrestler laid out by Gray Maynard against Edgar. Sherk is now 16 months removed from his last fight due to injuries keeping him sidelined.

This match up would normally ask the question, "Will Sherk go back to his roots and dominate with his wrestling"? However, I believe that even a prime Sean Sherk doing what he does best has a tough fight ahead of him in Evan Dunham. If Sherk chooses to stand, Dunham has quite a reach for a lightweight and throws good straight punches with combination and power. On the ground, Dunham has great Jiu Jitsu, also aided by his long frame. We do know though that Sherk has excellent passing and positional Jiu Jitsu and has dominate BJJ Black Belts on the matt before. The difference with Dunham is that he was a great wrestler before he got his BJJ black belt and has shown great takedowns and takedown defence, making it hard to take him down and harder to keep him down, unless he wants to submit you. The combination of Dunhams significant (in my mind) striking advantage and his well rounded grappling skills make him the favorite in this fight. Sherk has never been submitted though in his UFC career and has only been finished by GSP and BJ Penn  so I'm going with Dunham by decision. 

RJCT www.CTMMANews.com

via www.ctmmanews.com

Had the opportunity to get another interview. Last time was with Bjorn Rebney of Bellator, this time was able to get an interview with Rich Franklin via email. Was weird doing it via email since I didn't have the opportunity to follow up with anything or go deeper. Overall I feel like I could've done a lot better but I'm still just doing this for fun and learning and having the opportunity to ask Rich anything, especially this close to his fight was cool. Hope you enjoy it and any critiques or suggestions are appreciated. If you like it give my site a hit at www.ctmmanews.com

CTMMANews.com: Rich, thanks for taking the time to talk to us so close to your headlining fight against Chuck Lidell at UFC 115.
 
Firstly, we all saw on last weeks TUF episode you coming in to replace Tito Ortiz. Rumors of this were flying across the internet and Twitter long before. You coached the second season from beginning to end, what was your goal coming in as a Coach with only 6 days and one active fighter?

Rich Franklin: I didn't know if Tito was still going to be there when I arrived. I was told he was injured and they needed a someone to step up and fight Chuck. Dana had not decided if Tito was going to stay or not. I didn't know how many fighters I had left...I was walking into the situation blindly.  Ultimately, anytime you undertake something like that, your concern if for you fighter.
 
CTMMANews.com: Overall have you enjoyed your coaching experiences on The Ultimate Fighter? Do you think coaching is something you would pursue in the future?

Rich Franklin: I definitely enjoy the experience working with the guys.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me.  I enjoy helping some of the guys at the gym out now, but it is difficult to commit completely when I am still actively pursuing my own career.
 
CTMMANews.com: In your short time with the fighters on the show, did anyone in particular stand out to as someone to watch for in the future?

Rich Franklin: It would be difficult to assess during the final week when the remainder of my team was out of the competition. Many were injured and the others were focused on helping Kris prepare.
 
CTMMANews.com: We saw in the sneak peek for the next episode that your assistant coaches were Gray Maynard and Forrest Griffin. Have you been training with Xtreme Couture for your upcoming fight or were they brought in by Dana? (If so, who at that camp has been helping you prepare? Have you gained any insight from Randy Couture’s personal experience with fighting Lidell?)

Rich Franklin: I have not been training at Xtreme Couture's, I stayed in Cincinnati with my coaches Rob Radford, Neal Rowe and Jorge Gurgel.  I also worked with Matt Hume before my camp started.  As for the assistant coaches...until I see it on TUF, I don't talk about it. 
 
CTMMANews.com: You’ve stated many times that at this point in your career that you want big fights and this is certainly another big name fight. Obviously you’re focus is on Chuck but where do you think a win here puts you in the division rankings? What are some other fights in the division that interest you stylistically?

Rich Franklin: I am not sure where this fight puts me in the division, and I'm not concerned at this point. I have no great desire to battle any one fighter in particular, I typically do what I am asked by the UFC and God will worry about the details.
 
CTMMANews.com: Normally before a big fight people would be asking about gameplans but with you and Chuck there doesn’t seem to be the same question. The assumption is we’re going to see the unorthodox slugger vs the technical striker. Have you made any adjustments in your camp for Chuck or do you feel your footwork and technique, which has always been your biggest weapon, is the way to win?

Rich Franklin: Well that leaves me to question which one of us is the technical striker.  Adjustments are made for each opponent I face, and I am very confident in the game plan for this fight.
 
CTMMANews.com: In addition to fighting you’ve been doing some acting ranging from commercials to movies. Is something your looking to continue in? Do you have any other future opportunities in the works?

Rich Franklin: Nothing is lined up for future film opportunities yet, but it is something I would be willing to pursue a bit in the future.  Although I have dabbled, fighting is still my focus.
 
CTMMANews.com: Would you like to mention any sponsors you'd like our readers to check out?

Rich Franklin: Everybody associates me with American Fighter (www.AmericanFighter.com), and we have teamed up with Tapout. I work with a supplement company called Star Chem, and I never forget my disabled Vets (www.DAV.org).
 
CTMMANews.com: Good luck on June 12th Rich and thanks again for talking with us

via www.ctmmanews.com

I was able to get press credentials to Bellator XV at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and subsequently get an interview today with Bjorn Rebney. This is from my website www.CTMMANews.com

CTMMANews.com got to talk with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney this evening to discuss Bellator's success and the upcoming Boston show as well as other aspects of their Tournament format and super fights.

 

CTMMANews: Bjorn, big event for Massachusetts and while there's other MMA promotions claiming to be putting on the first major MMA event Bellator will definitely be able to claim that with your upcoming card featuring Eddie Alvarez vs Josh Neer, Roger Huerta vs Pat Curran, a really great night of lightweight fights. I understand it was due to your relationship with Madison Square Garden that you were able to secure the venue in Boston is that correct?

Bjorn Rebney: Yes that's absolutely correct. The folks at MSG reached out to us and were interested in forming an alliance with a Mixed Martial Arts organization and at the time and still to this day New York has not yet given MMA the green light and MSG had total ownership of a spectacular theatre in Chicago called the Chicago Theater and a fairly deeply entrenched strategic alliance with the Wang Theatre in Boston and said "Lets do two events in Boston and two events in Chicago and really kick this thing off". We were coming off the heels of the announcement of our Fox Sports Network deal and our NBC deal and our Telemundo deal and the synergies with there but if it hadn't been for Madison Square Garden this event wouldn't be going on.

CTMMANews: You mentioned your network deal, how many homes does that bring you into?

Bjorn Rebney: It's if not the largest it's close to the largest distribution deal in fighting sports history. We've got 92 million homes that we reach every Thursday night from 8 to 10 pm EST on FSN. We've got another 112 million homes that we reach late night Saturdays with our NBC highlight show. Then we've got another 62 million homes we reach with our Spanish language one hour highlight show on Saturday nights with Telemundo and then another 36 million homes we reach on Saturday nights in prime time at 10 pm with Mundoz which is an English language Latino themed network that is under the NBC umbrella. So cumulatively in terms of available universe we're reaching about 304 million homes in terms of available universe.

CTMMANews: That's incredible and I know on FSN you've increased their ratings on Thursday nights in certain demographics by up to 180%

Bjorn Rebney: It's funny because in all the years I've sat and made presentations to different television networks I've said that good solid MMA programming at a high quality level will really dramatically impact your 18-34 male demo, all the way from 18 to 50 male demo. Until now until we got the numbers back from FSN and NBC we didn't have the hard data to support it but we've really impacted. We're the top rated program on FSN on Thursday nights, we're the top rated program on FSN on Sunday nights, we won the timeslot with our late night NBC shows. It's nice to occasionally be right because I knew that this kind of MMA programming would impact numbers and fortunately we have which is great because numbers don't lie.

CTMMANews: What went into the decision to have your fights Thursday nights? Do you feel like there's a trade-off with not interfering with other MMA shows and while it may hurt your live gate a little it would help your ratings?

Bjorn Rebney: That's a great question. That was absolutely the balance we went through as a team. Fortunately FSN was really excited about the programming and liked what we were bringing with the tournament format and the two full seasons back to back. So the issue was, just what you said, balancing the live gate and what we might lose by being on a Thursday night vs a Friday or Saturday vs the increased ratings of going on a Thursday night. Of course you have The Ultimate Fighter on Wednesday nights and then Friday nights are typically a very difficult night to generate ratings on television and of course Saturday nights you have all the big boxing events and big pay per view etc. So we were trying to find that happy medium where we could still be close enough to the weekend where you could do good gates and get people excited and yet really maximize your numbers. After a lot of different analysis and going back and forth we decided Thursday night and FSN wanted Thursday night as well and thought we could do really well. It's done really well in terms of ratings and as the shows have progressed and as more people are watching we've gradually seen our numbers grow at our live events as well. It will be interesting to see, we've increased week 2 off of week 1, we've increased week 3 off of week 2 so it will be interesting to see how we do in Kansas City on Thursday night. My hope is that we turn our Thursday night into a great live event as well as a great tv night in terms of household ratings across the country but it was a balance, you hit it right on the head

If you want to read the rest of it, you can find it here; http://www.ctmmanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103:exclusive-bellator-ceo-bjorn-rebney-interview&catid=37:blog&Itemid=1

via www.MMAWeekly.com

Whoever said not to put all of your eggs in one basket knows nothing of putting on an MMA card. On Saturday Strikeforce will put on their "UFC 100" equivalent with 3 title fights live on CBS in what is in my opinion the best non-Zuffa card in quite awhile.  The match ups on this card are great as they are meaningful both to the fighters and to the top ten rankings in their divisions. It will be interesting to see how this translates to the casual fans or new fans tuning in on CBS as with 3 title fights, there is the chance of having them all go the full 25 minutes.

Gilbert Melendez vs Shinya Aoki
Current Strikeforce champion and 8th ranked lightweight Gilbert Melendez is coming off of his win over Josh Thompson at Strikeforce: Evolution in December. The win avenged an '08 loss to Thompson and I for one would love to see the rubber match. Shinya Aoki is the Dream lightweight champion and is coming off his controversial submission win over Mizuto Hirota where he dislocated Hirota's shoulder and stood over his beaten opponent while giving a rude hand gesture. I'm sure Strikeforce made it clear that on CBS they will not tolerate that type of behaviour as this is an important card for them.

Gilbert Melendez combines powerful striking and good wrestling and has 10 ko's to his credit. His wrestling looked much improved in his second go around with Thompson as he was able to keep the fight on the feet and out strike his opponent. Aoki on the other hand is a pure submission fighter and an excellent one. He has 14 submission wins, two coming by gogoplata and one by flying triangle mind you, and his creativity and instinct on the ground is second to none. He has though faltered against opponents who can weather his storm of submissions and hit him such as Sakurai and Hansen. Stylistically this is a straightforward fight as Melendez will want to keep it on the feet and Aoki will want to get it to the ground in any way he can. I expect Melendez's wrestling to make the difference and be able to keep the fight standing and get the knockout inside the distance. However, Aoki can grab a leg or arm in a second and Melendez will have to be careful as Aoki is likely to simply pull guard if he can't get a takedown. I'll still stay with Melendez by KO within 3 rounds.

Gegard Mousasi vs Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal
Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi has rocketed up in the rankings since winning the Dream middleweight tournament in 2008 and then a move to light heavyweight in 2009. He comes into this fight riding an impressive 15 fight winning streak with an overall record of 28-2-1. Recently the fighter has gotten attention for his new friend and training partner Georges St. Pierre and fans have drooled at the prospect of such pound-for-pound greats training together. While his 6-0 record pales in comparison to Mousasi's 31 pro fights, Muhammed Lawal is no stranger to competition. Lawal is an elite wrestler and was the favorite to win the 2008 Olympic trials where he was upset by Andy Hrovat in a controversial eliminator match. While being considered the best wrestler in the US from 2007 - 2008, Lawal moved on from the sport and entered his very first pro fight against then 53-11 Travis Wiuff and got the tko victory in the first round.

Mousasi combines a slick ground game with excellent technical boxing and power making him a very well rounded fighter with 17 wins by ko and 9 by submission and has only been to a decision twice in 31 fights. Mousasi is also just as comfortable off of his back as he is on top. He also has a vast amount of experience when compared to his opponent in MMA and has fought and beat elite submission fighters like Ronaldo Souza and elite strikers like Melvin Manhoef. Mousasi is well prepared and has the finishing skills to win wherever the fight may take place. The only weakness is that Lawal will be able to decide where the fight happens due to his wrestling advantage. Mousasi will likely let Lawal decide where the fight takes place and look for the ko when standing and the sub when on the ground.

While not having the extensive MMA background his opponent does, Muhammed Lawal is no stranger to competing on the world stage due to his extensive wrestling background. Lawal knows Olympic level competition and training and I don't think that intangibles like experience will play a part in this fight. While his 6-0 record is not full of big name opponents, Lawal has done his job and finished all but one of his fights. His most impressive wins are his first and last over Wiuff as we mentioned and his last fight being against Mike Whitehead who at the time was coming off an impressive win over Kevin Randleman. Lawal's wrestling and power, both in his slams and hands, have made the difference in his fights as well as his work ethic. Lawal is constantly seeking training with the very best to push himself to the next level which is appropriate since Mousasi is certainly a new level in competition for the wrestler. While Mousasi will have a technical advantage on the feet, Lawal has worked diligently on his stand up to be able to utilize the impressive power he has in his hands and won't be completely outclassed. Lawal has likely taken note of the fact that in Mousasi's last fight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou had some brief success standing with the current champion by being aggressive and will likely look to see if he can do the same. Should that strategy not work, Lawal has the wrestling to take the fight to the matt the second he wants to and as long as he watches out for Mousasi's submission attempts, can keep him there and work his ground and pound. Lawal will also be the bigger fighter, having fought at heavyweight in the past while Mousasi has moved up from middleweight.

When all is said and done, I'm taking the underdog in Lawal to come out with a tko or a decision. Mousasi showed some slight cracks in his stand up against Sokoudjou that I think Lawal can capitalize on and I think Lawals elite wrestling ability, drive and power will make the difference.

See www.ctmmanews.com for my breakdown of Shields and Henderson. Yes I am once again shamelessly plugging my site :)

via www.mmaweekly.com

My post UFC 112 article from my site, www.ctmmanews.com. Pay a visit if you like the article.

This Saturday's UFC 112 event left many fans and pundits with a bad taste in their mouth. The close battle between new lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and former champ BJ Penn was eclipsed by the bizarre antics of Anderson Silva during the main event. I doubt I have to recap as this is the most hotly discussed topic the sport has had in awhile, but after humiliating challenger Demian Maia for two rounds by dancing around with his hands down and following up with dropping the challenger with knees and punches whenever he wanted, Silva spent the last three rounds shrugging his shoulders, running in circles and refusing to engage. Baffled and frustrated fans both in the arena and at home felt mixtures of boredom and frustration as the fight wore on. Even more baffling was Silva's seeming indifference to his actions. During the post fight press conference when asked if he felt fans got their moneys worth Silva said, "you don't think so? ok, unfortunately I'm not here to please everyone, I am here to do my work and my work was well executed". This stance was repeated over and over to every similar question while UFC president Dana White fumed.

 

Again fans were left asking, as we did after both the Cote and Leites fights, what is Anderson Silva thinking? Michael Rome of BloodyElbow.com I believe said it best in answering, "Why should we care?" and he is absolutely right. It does not matter what Anderson Silva is trying to prove, convey or demonstrate. The fact of the matter is he puts on bad fights, does so on purpose and does not feel the need to explain himself to the fans. When someone in an entertainment industry starts thinking they are above the fans and don't need to explain themselves they have forgotten their place. MMA is where it is because of the fans. The growth of the sport has been unprecedented since Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar put on one of the most exciting fights in MMA history on the season finale of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. That fight in particular shows the importance of the fans because as the fight went on, the ratings steadily increased. Friends calling and texting each other that "they had to see this fight" drove both viewership and attention to the sport, a sport that had been resurrected from the brink of extinction. The fans also proved their worth and allegiance as the UFC appeared "recession proof" as the economy plunged but ticket and pay per view sales stayed strong. In a sport where athletes were lucky to make a few hundred dollars, Anderson Silva collected $120,000 just in bonuses at his UFC 101 fight with Forrest Griffin not even counting regular fight pay and sponsorships. That kind of opportunity as a fighter is only available now because of the fans. Let me make myself clear, real fans understand fighting is not easy, we understand there are close fights, we understand not every fight will be a knock out and we understand at this level that closely matched fighters may go to a decision. What fans will not tolerate and subsequently NOT PAY FOR is to watch an incredibly skillful fighter PURPOSEFULLY put on a boring fight and then tell the fans that he was simply doing what he trained to do and we should not criticize. Thankfully, Dana White will tolerate this behavior either.

It remains to be seen what the repercussions of this fiasco will be but rest assured there will be consequences wether we see them or not. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in Dana White's trailer when he talked to Soares (Silva's manager) and Silva. Personally, I'd love to see Silva go down to welterweight and challenge Georges St. Pierre as St. Pierre would not allow Silva the room to play his games and Silva would be fighting every second of that fight. Also, Chael Sonnen is a middleweight contender who's aggressive wrestling game would also force Silva to actually fight. The fact remains however that Silva does not take the sport or the fans seriously for some reason. The resons why are irreleveant and something needs to be done or said before Silva finds himself on an undercard because fans will no longer buy a pay per view where he is the main event.

Now normally this article would end here as all the other fighters on this card gave it their all and went out and performed but there was another situation that night where an MMA figure, when questioned, basically told the MMA community to quiet down. During the BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar fight, people were shocked when the decision was read and one judge scored the fight 50-45 Edgar when the vast majority of people agree that Penn won the first two rounds but most certainly won at least the second round. Now the point of this article is not the Edgar vs Penn fight itself but if you want the cold hard numbers here is the Fight Metric report of the fight; http://fightmetric.com/fights/Edgar-Penn.html. Now while the numbers show Penn winning the third round, I understand that judging is not simply the numbers and subjective criteria like "Aggression" and "Control" come into play and on first viewing I gave the very close third round to Edgar. However, it is not the score itself but Doug Crosby's inane post fight ramblings on the Internet that really set this judging fiasco apart from your run-of-the-mill bad decision.

On the popular MMA forum of The Underground Crosby started his own thread entitled, "The Judging Genius Returns From The Middle East". In this thread he posted a series of one line comments, seemingly talking to himself saying things like "Seems there are hundreds of moaning, howling ghouls in "RVCA" and "Prodigy/Hilo Boy" T-shirts surrounding the building like extras from "Zombieland"...", "Perhaps just announcing my presence is enough for now. Perhaps simply allowing some of you, my faithful friends and fellow MMA devotees, to say what YOU want to say is more....Democratic; more... Enlightened... A behaviour more consistent with a Progressive such as myself" and "May I also mention that I forgive you? For your anger, your insults, and your crassness? NOT all of you....You know who you are.". Now if you were to dig through this heap of scattered and self-righteous thoughts you would see that Crosby's main points of how he scored the fight is that, and I quote again, "And, in my considered opinion, Edgar dictated the tone of the fight, successfully implemented and executed a strategy, landed better strikes, and basically outworked Penn." While I agree those are certainly factors in judging a fight the main criteria of judging a fight is DAMAGE. This is a fight after all isn't it? If a fighter clearly does more damage in a round he should win the round. The other factors certainly come into play, especially in close fights but we must judge a fight as a fight, two men trying to do damage to the other in search of a finish. Crosby wraps up his thesis with this, "And that is an interpretation by a ringside observer with an understanding and appreciation of MMA, who has Judged numerous (hundreds) of fights." The problem with this statement is that unfortunately it does not matter how many fights he has judged because past experience is not a defence for a present case. Most troubling however is the same Silva-esque attitude where he does not feel any obligation or sense of accountability to the fans or community. Again, I fully understand there are criteria to judge in a fight that require interpretation but when it comes down to it Doug Crosby scored the fight incorrectly and owes the fans more than his "well I saw it this way" defense and I hope that back in the states he is held accountable by the Athletic Commissions for how he scores fights or he should not be allowed to judge fights. ESPN's Josh Gross said it best on his Twitter on Monday when he said, "If I'm a mixed martial artist in position to dictate such things, Doug Crosby never judges my fight."

 

While I am fully aware that officials and fighters alike have to deal with their fair share of "armchair quarterbacks" for every decision they make, the actions and subsequent unapologetic attitudes of both Silva and Crosby this week have been inexcusable and weather they think so or not, explanations and apologies are owed to the fans who have supported this sport and given these men the opportunity to make a living at what they love to do. I know there are hundreds who would love to be in their place.

"It was a lucky punch."

This is a phrase you hear usually when someone’s favorite fighter gets knocked out, or when a fighter someone doesn't like wins. Even in an unbiased situation, one might use it when a fighter gets finished when they were on their way to winning a decision, or an underdog pulls off an upset.

Now the meaning behind this phrase is to belittle the skills of the victor and chalk up the win to a "lucky" shot. Now let's look at this honestly without thinking how your friend, favorite fighter or hero lost a fight that from your couch you thought they had no business losing.

When does a fighter throw a punch? A fighter throws a punch when they are trying to inflict damage to their opponent. Has anyone ever thrown a punch thinking, "I really hope this punch doesn't hurt them or knock them out" or "I hope this misses"? I seriously doubt it. Punches may be thrown at different angles for different strategic reasons or to set up another attack but every time you see four knuckles flying at your face it's safe to assume the person owning those knuckles is not trying to make your day better.

So then where does the luck get attributed? Is the person lucky he threw the punch? Well he meant to throw the punch so that isn't it. Intention shows skill, he is doing something he trained to do to damage his opponent. Is he lucky the other guy didn't slip or block it? Well no one gets hit on purpose. That means the opponent that got hit either didn't see it (lack of awareness) or didn't respond properly (lack of skill).

So no matter how you look at it or what the likelihood of that outcome was on paper, when one guy is one the canvas and the other is flexing for the cameras, a knock out shows a skill gap between two fighters.

Article from www.ctmmanews.com

 

 

At UFC 111 Shane Carwin continued his tradition of not letting his opponent see the second round. His 12th consecutive first round stoppage over former champion Frank Mir put him in line for a title unification bout with Brock Lesnar. While this match up was supposed to happen last year, Lesnar couldn't compete due to illness and Carwin took the Interim Title bout with Frank Mir. While this fight could have de-railed Carwins title run, it wound up being another dominant win over his toughest opponent yet and will allow Carwin to go into his fight with Brock with more momentum than he would have previously. Now lets take a look at this impending heavyweight showdown.

As Brock has amassed his 4-1 record using his size and athleticism to negate the large experience gaps he has faced against his opponents so far, Carwin poses a "fair fight" in terms of physical gifts. Carwin stands at 6'5'' to Lesnars 6'3'' according to their profiles on UFC.com. Carwin is also the only fighter in the UFC with bigger hands than Brock. Both fighters needed special sized gloves made for them upon entering the UFC. Also, both men need to cut weight to reach the UFCs heavyweight limit of 265 pounds although it is estimated Brock cuts more and can weigh as much as 280lbs come fight night.

When breaking down this fight on paper, experience seems to set the two apart. Lesnar holds the title with a 4-1 record while Carwins interim title win was his 12th with no defeats. It warrants mentioning that Brocks size and persona vaulted him into the upper echelon of the division early, entering the UFC with only a 1-0 record and facing Frank Mir, Heath Herring, Randy Couture and Mir a second time. Carwin took the more traditional route of climbing the ladder with a steady increase in difficulty of opponents. So while the numbers on the page may indicate a large gap in experience, Lesnar has only known big fights and actually has more competition time than Carwin, whose fights only average 2 minutes in length. In reality, I don't see experience being a defining advantage for either fighter here. 

In terms of fighting style the two are nearly mirror images of each other. Both are strong wrestlers with power in their hands, but this is where we can identify certain advantages for each fighter. Lesnar is the more accomplished wrestler holding an NCAA championship as well as being a two time Big Ten champion. Carwin on the other hand has shown better fundamental boxing and true one punch knockout power. I feel that Carwins edge in the boxing department is a wider gap than Lesnars edge in wrestling, despite Brocks reach advantage. Lesnar has dropped opponents like Herring and Couture, but showed some holes in his defense against Couture as well as in brief moments against Mir. Carwin on the other hand we've seen stay in the pocket and throw good straight punches. Against Gonzaga, we saw Carwin take 3 shots to the chin and though wobbled and taken down, saw him regain composure, get back up and get the KO. We've yet to see Lesnar have to come back from adversity. 

Shane will likely start out aggressive in the standup as that will help set up the clinch against the cage or the takedown. While pure wrestling will favor Brock, throwing hands and having him cover up will present the opportunity for Shane to change levels and score the takedown and finally test Lesnar on his back. Even if Shane cannot get the takedown, the 230lb Randy Couture was able to control Lesnar against the cage and, as Shane showed against Frank Mir, that is a position he's more than comfortable in. If Shane can connect and test Lesnars chin or get top position he can easily come out with the win.

Lesnar will likely look to stand initially but should be able to take the fight to the ground. In the past we've seen that it doesn't take much more than a playground-like shove for Brock to put most fighters on their back. If Brock gets on top, expect a more aggressive attack than he showed against Mir as he won't be worrying about defending submissions. If Brock can get Shane on his back, his size and power are more than enough to earn a stoppage and retain his title.

This fight boils down to who can connect first or who can get on top first. If they stand for any amount of time I don't expect this fight to leave the first round. Should they decide to wrestle we may see the fight hit the second or third. Either way both fighters are big, powerful and aggressive making this Clash of the Titans a great fight to look forward too. The UFC stands to sell a high volume of pay per views as well with this fight so we can expect lots of publicity and a "UFC Primetime" lead in series. When all is said and done, I'm picking Shane Carwin to come out on top with an early KO victory.

If you like this check out my new site www.ctmmanews.com Have some things going where I'll be partnering with some local newspapers in my area where there is no MMA coverage. Hopefully I can help educate people and generate more interest so we can help push for sanctioning in Connecticut.

 

Figured I'd start doing a series on my favorite fighters since kyfm has come up with some great "fighter profile" type articles so here goes.

Since 1999, Chris "Lights Out" Lytle has fought for Pancrase, HOOKnSHOOT, Cage Rage, the WEC and his longtime home now with the UFC where he has been fighting for the past 4 years. With a record of 28-17-5, Lytle has never fought for a major title but has held the HOOKnSHOOT and Cage Rage welterweight titles. He is a 4 time Fight of the Night, one time Knock Out of the Night and two time Submission of the Night bonus winner in the UFC.

Chris Lytle trains in Mixed Martial Arts part time along side being a firefighter in Indianapolis. He started training in 1998, only 6 years after the North American inception of the sport and is still competing at the highest level after 11 years. That amount of time in the sport explains a record with 50 pro MMA fights and a 13-1-1 professional boxing record. While his MMA record can appear underwhelming as far as win-loss ratio, of his 17 losses, 15 were by decision and 2 were via cut. In over 50 fights with some of MMA's best, no one has been able to submit or knock out Chris Lytle.

Lytle's early days in Pancrase saw him take some of his first losses to Jason Delucia and Shonie Carter while fighting to a draw with Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa. His UFC debut was a decision loss against Ben Earwood, a little known MMA fighter who hasn't fought since retiring in 2001 but was a top welterweight at the time. Lytle wouldn't return to the UFC for 3 years untilfighting Robbie Lawler to another decision loss. His first UFC win would come 5 months later (submitting Pete Spratt in between) with a submission of Tiki Goshen that started a great 3 year run for the fighter. From 2004 to 2006 Lytle went 8-2, losing by decision to Karo Parisyan and by cut to Joe Riggs while securing wins over the aforementioned Goshen and Spratt along with Ronald Jhun, Pat Healy and Savant Young leading him to fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter titled "The Comeback". Lytle fought his way to the finals taking out Pete Spratt and Din Thomas before losing in the finale by split decision to Matt Serra in a fight that was somewhat of a stalemate, with Serra pushing Lytle against the cage for most of the fight. Serra went on to score the upset of the century when he knocked out Georges St. Pierre while Lytle suffered a loss to Matt Hughes.

Starting with the Matt Serra loss, Lytle has gone 6-5 over the past four years (one fight being in the UFL) and delivered some of the most exciting fights in the division, as his frequent bonuses will attest to. After the unfortunate early ending to his Fight of the Night with Thiago Alves (which months prior was rumored to instead be a move to the WEC to challenge Carlos Condit for the title), Lytle came out against Kyle Bradley and knocked him out in 33 seconds, earning his KO of the Night award. He said at the time he was going to stop worrying about being technical and just come out and fight. This reinvention produced his second Fight of the Night bonus in a slug fest with Kevin Burns, the close win over Paul Taylor (you guessed it, another Fight of the Night), the much hyped battle with Marcus Davis in Dublin, Ireland (which was shockingly a Fight of the Night winner) and his recent rolling knee bar and Submission of the Night win against up and coming Brian Foster. Mixed in the list of wins was one of the bloodiest fights of 2008 where Lytle was out wrestled and cut open by Josh Koschek. Throughout the fight, Lytle never stopped searching for submissions despite the grotesque amount of blood coming from the cuts on his face. This was the only fight in a 7 fight stretch where Lytle did not win a bonus. Going 6-1 for bonuses in his past 7fights, Lytle has netted himself an extra $275,000 over a roughly 2.5 year span.

Unfortunately, Lytle's weakness being wrestling, we're likely to never see him crack the top tier of the UFC's stacked welterweight  division. However, one would have to imagine that every up and coming welterweight can't help but take a deep breath before accepting a fight with one of the division toughest competitors and fans everywhere can't help but shift a bit closer to the edge of their seat and lean in towards their tv's when "Lights Out" enters the ring because win or lose, you're guaranteed to see an exciting fight.

 UFC 111 is the most stacked fight card since UFC 100. Two title fights and several matchups that are very meaningful to their divisions. Breakdowns are a dime a dozen so I want to focus more on the implications for the future that some of these fights present.

GSP vs Dan Hardy
I'll start by stating that I am assuming GSP wins this fight. I'm assuming he takes Hardy down, passes to side and takes a kimura in the 1st round and proves Hardy doesn't belong in the same cage (I think Hardy vs Paulo Thiago would have been a more reasonable matchup considering division standings although I suppose St. Pierre had to fight somebody). A victory here will leave GSP as the most dominant welterweight of all time, standing atop a completely cleared out division with the only potential contenders looking for rematches in a fight they've already lost. Fitch or Alves make a strong case for the next title shot with Josh Koschek and Paulo Thiago not far behind. While Thiago is the only one of those to not already have a loss to St. Pierre, it's hard to get too excited about the potential match up after Fitch was able to control Thiago on the ground for 3 rounds. Only just now approaching his 30's, there is no end in sight for one of the sports most dominant athletes reign over the welterweight division, and he has (wisely) stated, there is no reason for him to go to middleweight to fight a much larger Anderson Silva.

Mir vs Carwin
Obviously when a title is on the line, the implications are clear. The winner fights Brock Lesnar and no matter who wins, that fight will be huge with either Cawin vs Lesnar being a clash of the two biggest Heavyweights the UFC has ever had (in modern times) or Mir vs Lesnar completing the trilogy that Frank Mir has been able to keep fresh in everyones mind no matter who he is actually scheduled to fight. Either way, the resulting title fight with Brock will headline what is likely to be a huge pay per view card for the UFC and a tough fight for Brock coming off such a long layoff. I will say that as big of a Carwin fan that I am, I have a hard time seeing him beating Mir after a year plus between fights. Both fighters though have dynamic finishing power and like to finish things quickly so don't blink when the bell rings.


Jon Fitch vs Thiago Alves
This fight may not produce a clear cut #1 contender but the winner makes a case at defining himself as the #2 welterweight in the UFC and possibly the world (depending on where you put Jake Shields). If Jon Fitch wins here he likely gets a title shot. If he stops Thiago Alves, then he should definitely get a title shot. Alves on the other hand will need another win or two to get back to the title if he bests Fitch on Saturday. For Alves, a rematch with Koschek or the previsouly scrapped match with Paulo Thiago make for good #1 contenders fights. I am leaning toward Fitch winning in this one as while Thiago lost to GSP at UFC 100, Fitch beat Paulo Thiago and then a tough Mike Pierce while Alves has been on the shelf for 8 months due to injuries.
(visit the MMAJunkie forums for a really great look at ring rust with good hard data)

Nate Diaz vs Rory Markham
I never thought Diaz was a big lightweight so this career move will be interesting. I will attempt a breakdown here and say that, despite Markham not fighting in a year, I struggle to find a way Diaz wins this outside of Markham making a grievous tactical error. I do not see Markham taking Diaz down which eliminates Diaz's triangle and guillotines (both of which are excellent) and I also don't see Nates wrestling allowing him to get the fight to the ground. On the feet, Diaz's boxing doesn't seem to impress judges and lacks finishing power. I expect Markham to keep it on the feet, and while not being able to crack Diaz's strong chin, win a decision by landing the harder strikes throughout the rounds. Should Diaz show either improved wrestling or punching power however, he makes a case that his move up a division was justified. This match up at welterweight is a good first test for Diaz in the division but should he lose, that would put him at 1-4 in his last 5 fights and make it hard for the UFC to justify keeping him on the roster.

I'm also interested to see Ricardo Almeida at welterweight against the always tough and aggressive Matt Brown as well as Saunders vs Ellenberger, both of which should be exciting and high paced fights. I'm glad I got my tickets before they sold out.

 
via MMAWeekly

After Jon Jones casually dismantled Brandon Vera, the talk began of how long until he fought for a title. Some have advocated letting the young fighter take his time to develop while others have said his unique potential warrants the fast lane to top level competition. Dana White however has given us a general time line.

"He's not ready for that," White said. "I'd like to see him get another year under his belt, and in that year, before he got a shot at the title, he'd have to take out Rashad (Evans), 'Rampage' (Jackson), possibly 'Shogun' (Rua) or (Lyoto) Machida, then get the title shot." - Dana White

In the past Jones has normally fought every 5 to 6 months. Given his easy win this past Sunday, one could propose a quicker turn around for his next fight, even with some time off to spend with his family, as Jones has stated is in his immediate plans. Lets say that puts him approximately around July or August. UFC 116 on July 3rd in Vegas is possible and with Brock's proposed return, it would be a high volume pay per view that would provide more exposure for a fighter the UFC is sure to want to promote heavily. In that same vein of promotion, we could also see Jones showcased again for free on UFC on Versus 2 on August 1st. However, deciding weather or not Jones gets put on free tv or a big pay per view card and when the next fight would be will be determined by his opponent.

The next opponent for Jon Jones should be another fighter on a win streak and with name value. Jones took on Vera off of a close loss to Randy Couture (who spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to take Vera down against the cage, something that took Jones only seconds on open canvas) but Vera's name value and the somewhat controversial nature of the loss warranted the match up. White's comments of Jones taking out one of the LHW elite before a title shot and those fighters being already matched up makes any of them an unlikely next opponent as the winners will be up for title shots and the losers will have a hard time coming out unscathed. So who is available for Jones on his way to a #1 contenders fight?

One up and coming fighter who is also coming off a big win is Ryan Bader. A fellow wrestler with a powerful right hand would provide a good stylistic match up and would be a great fight for the fans. This would be an excellent audience-pleaser on a Versus card. Also, Vladimir Matyushenko is a legend and has been on a streak. Jones style would force the methodical Matyushenko to have a more exciting fight than he has lately. My personal favorite potential match up, the winner of Forrest Griffin vs Lil' Nog which makes sense on many levels. Their fight is scheduled for UFC 114 in May, giving Jones 2 months to himself before starting to think about his next fight. Either fighter would be a tough and established opponent where a win would leave Jones a clear path for a #1 contenders fight against one of the top 5 of the division that White mentioned. These two fights puts us just over a year in the future with Jones potentially starting at a title shot no longer as a prospect, but as a clear cut #1 contender.

Refereeing was the hottest topic in MMA not even a month ago. Dana White's critiscism of Steve Mazagatti was all over vlogs and forums with fans weighing in on the issue. Last night however saw some excellent refereeing as Herb Dean and Josh Rosenthal had to make some tough calls and showed that there are refs out there who can handle the pressure and make the hard decisions.

First off was Josh Rosenthal overseeing the Sakara vs Irvin fight. Sakara's left hook hit Irvin in the eye and Irvin winced and fell to the ground holding his eye as Sakara jumped on him. Josh Rosenthal stepped in to what people initially though was a break to check the eye, but was actually the end of the fight. Rosenthal was in position to see the strike and recognized that the fist was closed when it landed. Since it was a legal strike that did the damage rendering Irvin unable to intelligently defend himself, the stoppage was a TKO win for Sakara. A perfect by-the-book call by Rosenthal who did not let the boo's from the crowd or the protestings of the fighters get to him.

The next scenario was not as clear cut but I believe Herb Dean made the best decisions possible during the Kongo vs Buentello contest. I will preface this by saying that Check Kongo needs to tighten up his game as far as fouls go. In this one fight we saw knees to the head of a grounded opponent, 12 to 6 elbows (which wether I like it or not, are currently illegal), a groin shot against the cage unseen by the ref (where Buentello also did not call attention to it aside from a look of pain) and some grabbing of the shorts. Is Kongo lucky he didn't get DQ'd? Maybe, but that result probably wouldn't have pleased the fans or the fighters. There was also a tough call where Kong had Buentello in a front headlock and was throwing knees to the head which were perfectly legal. Buentello then, without changing his body position, placed a hand on the ground to make himself grounded, rendering those same knees illegal. This was a few moments after Kongo had a point taken away for the clearly illegal knees to the head. Herb Dean stopped the action which was correct because the knees were infact illegal. However, he did not deduct a point from Kongo because he said that Buentello was "playing the game". This is why I like that call. For one, he stopped the action when the foul occured which was by-the-book. There is no arguing that Buentello became grounded and received knees to the head. It is absolutely the attacking fighters responsibility to make sure they are throwing legal techniques. Now I like the decision to not deduct a point because after throwing legal knees, he continued to do the same thing that seconds before was perfectly legal. Kongo was not in a position to see the hand change and while it is still his responsibility to do so, it was not technically an intentional foul as the previous knee was where Kongo was in position to see that Buentello was grounded.

Overall, a great night of fights where two of the fights could have ended in controversy, and while still awkward, the better fighters got the W's.

 

Image via ufc.com

Bellator gained notoriety last year with its viral video campaign of highlight submissions and knockouts. They look to build off of that this year by bolstering their roster and securing great network distribution. Bellator is unique as they run a 12 week tournament format season. This unique approach to MMA makes them stand out from the pack, but is not so different that it eclipses the fights themselves. Hardcore fans have always enjoyed tournaments and spanning it over 12 weeks is good for the fighters. Bellator should turn the corner as a major promotion this year as their roster presents the possibilities for some great fights with signings such as Ben Askren and Roger Huerta and current champs Alvarez and Lombard. Their relationship with NBC and FSN will also provide great exposure as the shows benefit from mainstream lead-ins and the tournament format creates storylines fans will want to follow.

With my BloodyElbows account finally being enabled, it's alittle late to do any breakdowns as those are already available in abundance. Today I'll take a quick stab at predicting the bonus winners for Saturday nights fights.

 

Fight of the Night:

While normally with Clay Guida on a card I'd lean towards him, Fight of the Night is likely to go to the main even of Vera and Jones. While Vera has had some less than exciting fights since moving to LHW, Jones will push him and he'll have no choice but to come hard when he gets the chance, much like Randy forced Vera to do in their fight. On the other side of the Octagon, Jones is basically incapable of having a boring fight with his blend of flashy standup and violently breathtaking takedowns. Additionally, this fight could certainly go 3 rounds which usually favors a FOTN bonus as well.

Also on the card, Paul Buentello vs Cheick Kongo is likely to be heavy on the leather. While this one isn't as likely to go three rounds, a boring main event could put these fighters in line for a bonus.

KOTN

Irvin vs Sakara has 1st round KO written all over it and while Buentello vs Kongo also has just as a good a chance to end the same way, the speed of the Middleweights vs the Heavyweights is likely to produce something more highlight reel worthy for the lighter fighters.

SubOTN

Schafer, Pierce or Marshal seem the most likely to pick up a submission on this card. While I wouldn't put some athletically impressive guilotine past Jon Jones, Vera won't be easy to submit. Schafer or Marshal are not only capable off of their backs, but they both have opponents that are likely to make them fight there, making a submission their likely path to victoy. Mike Pierce will likely fight his fight by taking his opponent down and punishing him from the top with strikes, but Pierce is a capable enough grappler that if his ground and pound attack presents the opening for a choke or kimura, he'll take it and crank it.