SB Nation User Blog: ericmunley

UFC Welterweight Tournament

ericmunley — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:08:07 -0000

UFC Welterweight Tournament
St Pierre (1)								Alves (2)



Lytle (16)								Thiago (15)

Davis (8)								Swick (7)



Koscheck (9)								Hardy (10)

Hughes (4)								Fitch (3)



Parisyan (13)								Larson (14)

Serra (5)								Kampmann (6)



Blackburn (12)								Hazelett (11)

Hypothetically speaking, there are some pretty interesting fights there if you go by some general rankings. I'd pay good money to see Kampmann/Hazelett and Davis/Koscheck. If this started today, who ya got? Any upsets? Let me know...

30 Ways You Know You Are A Die Hard MMA Fan

ericmunley — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:03:32 -0000

1. You've stayed up all night to watch a Pride FC or DREAM event that started at 2 am.

2. You get pissed of when you can't hear the UFC event at the bar.

3. Your 5 favorite sports teams are Jackson Submission Fighting, Team Quest, Xtreme Couture, American Top Team and Chute Boxe.

4. You cringe when someone refers to MMA as "ultimate fighting".

5. You won't wear TapouT or Affliction shirts because of all the tools who wear them.

6. You used to rent UFC VHS tapes 10-15 years ago.

7. You remember the old UFC video games and how bad they were.

8. The mention of "Art Jimmerson" makes you burst out in laughter.

9. Your cable bill is always unreasonably high.

10. You think Dana White is an asshole, but love him.

11. You quote MMA betting odds.

12. You've tried Gordon Biersch, Mickey's and XYIENCE energy drinks.

13. You read Bloody Elbow, MMA Junkie, MMA Mania, Sherdog, Fightlinker, Cage Potato, Five Ounces Of Pain and MMA Weekly every day.

14. You like Max Kellerman because he is the only boxing guy who respects MMA.

15. You put your friends/girlfriend/family members in submissions.

16. 1/2 of your wardrobe was bought from MMA Warehouse.

17. You know Cro Cop's last name.

18. You constantly have to explain who Shinya Aoki and "King Mo" are.

19. You are glad Kimbo is gone.

20. You know that Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva can beat up anyone on Earth.

21. You are constantly defending Joe Rogan.

22. You immediatelty don't like NFL, WWE or any other imports into MMA until they prove themselves.

23. You hate post fight interviews.

24. WEC is the best part of your Wednesday night.

25. Annual New Year's Eve MMA events are more important than the superbowl.

26. You wish legitimate MMA websites would get credentialed by the UFC.

27. You respect Nate Quarry.

28. You remember the day Evan Tanner and Charles "Mask" Lewis died.

29. You get excited when MMA bloggers post their predictions for upcoming events.

30. You've typed "WAR ANDERSON SILVA" at least once in your life.

Just something to give you a laugh on this Friday morning. Maybe some of these will bring back memories. Enjoy your Friday, the weekend and UFC 97.

Florian VS. Stevenson

ericmunley — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:22:11 -0000

Although Couture vs. Lesnar is the main event, I think this Lightweight battle could steal the show. This matchup has huge Lightweight title implications. Florian should have gotten a title shot, but Penn is tied up with St. Pierre. He beat Huerta decisively, and has looked to be in top form since his loss to Sean Sherk.

Joe Stevenson just recently received his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Robert Drysdale, which speaks for itself. Drysdale himself has praised Stevenson's BJJ, which is something Kenny Florian has to worry about.

I'm kind of on the fence here. I believe Florian is the better fighter, but his loss to Sean Sherk puts doubt in my mind. Stevenson has a very similar skill set to Sherk, but has better submissions. Florian has a significant edge in striking, but only a slight edge in submission acumin. Joe Daddy has far better wrestling than Florian.

I think if both of these guys were wearing martial arts uniforms in a grappling tournament, I'd give the edge to Stevenson. However, I think Florian is a better MMA fighter than Stevenson...and I'm leaning towards Florian. This fight will be far better and far more competitive than people think, but Florian can't be stopped when he's this hot. I wouldn't be surprised if this fight was stopped by a lethal elbow from Florian off is back.

Yoshiro Maeda

ericmunley — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:06:05 -0000

Looking over one of my favorite sites, BestFightOdds, I see that Yoshiro Maeda and Rani Yahya are at pretty much a dead heat. There is definitely some good money to be made here with a bet on Maeda.

Maeda is extremely experienced and had an absolute war with the best 135 pounder in the world. Yahya is a one dimensional fighter who has lost 3 of his last 5. Although Maeda is coming off of a loss himself, there is no shame losing in that fashion to Miguel Torres. He also finished a very tough Charlie Valencia with a ferocious body kick.

Look for Maeda to steer clear of Yahya's subpar takedown attempts and control him with crisp striking. I wouldn't be shocked if Maeda ended this fight courtesy of a well placed knee on the forehead of a lunging Rani Yahya.

-Eric