STRIKEFORCE: ONE NIGHT TOURNEY 11/16/07 (updated!)

This is a new version of an old review, thanks to 5 new fights falling into my lap that comprised the entire "dark" card. There's a little separation line between new and old stuff. One thing I did do? Change the ratings a little. Buentello/Overeem is now stunningly important and the tattoo artist guy isn't.

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Joe Riggs was supposed to fight in the tourney, but backed out due to some sort of family tragedy, I believe, bringing Sean Salmon from being an alternate to being in the event itself. Poor, poor, Sean Salmon. The tournament fights are 10 minute bouts of two 5 minute rounds.

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DARK MATCHES (reviewed 12/09):

1) DENNIS HALLMAN vs. JEREMIAH METCALF: Metcalf is a solid and loved journeyman. Hallman is a even more solid and more beloved journeyman.

Metcalf throws a superman punch and ends up getting in a guillotine attempt that goes down to the mat. Hallman sweeps him as Metcalf tries to stand and get away by grabbing the heel, they trade standing, Hallman ends up on his back, scissors a leg, and rolls Metcalf into a heel hook. Wow! So much fun. (2)

2) CHRIS DRUMM vs. EVAN ESGUERRA: This is at 145 and I have no idea who they are. 3x3 for rounds.

Its a back and forth grappling battle that ends, unfortunately, with Drumm getting hit in the back of the head and refusing to continue, thus winning a DQ. He has never fought since. (0)

3) ALEX CRISPIM vs. CLINT CORONEL: Coronel gave a good account of himself in a previous fight. Crispim isn't anything special.

Slow fight initally that never really speeds up and seems to show off Coronel's sparring partner mentality. Crispim is able to take him down with prolongued clinches, and Coronel is gassed out in the third as a result. Crispim wins and goes on to lose to John Gunderson. (0)

4) ANTHONY FIGUEROA vs. PETE SABALA: Figueroa I just watched on the Playboy Mansion show.

Exciting fight with Figueroa landing huge blows to Sabala, Sabala looking finished, but then randomly coming back, getting Figueroa down (huge slam in round 2), and so on in repetition. One of the best surprises in forever. I had it in favor of Figueroa and he got the split decision. Highly recommended. (1)

5) ERIC LAWSON vs. JOSH NEAL: Lawson still has a SF contract!

Lawson gets trapped in a triangle attempt very early in the round and ends up surviving it the entire 3 minutes. Neal probably could have forced a tap by transitioning to an armbar, but got greedy. Second round? Lawson drops Neal with a right hand right at the bell, takes his back and wins by rear naked choke. Wow. Really fun stuff too. (1)

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1) SEAN SALMON vs. JORGE SANTIAGO: This entire event was like the "Jorge Santiago Emerges From Obscurity Show." Salmon had been famous for getting leveled by a Rashad Evans high kick. He does not fare much better here, as I'm sure you know.

Not a whole lot to discuss that's not been brought up before everywhere else. Salmon and Santiago sorta throw strikes at long range and Santiago throws a flying knee. Sometime soon after, Salmon is in seizures and urinating himself. (3)

2) FALANIKO VITALE vs. TREVOR PRANGLEY: There was once a time in recent history where Niko still mattered. He has a win over Yushin Okami, even. But when Robbie Lawler obliterated him on the first Icon Sports card back in 2005, his run as a top middleweight ended. It was the first of three consecutive stoppage losses and began a run of 4 losses in 5 fights. Prangley was in a totally different situation, however. Prangley left the UFC after a losses to Chael Sonnen (deserved) and Jeremy Horn (not deserved), and ended up getting his checks written by Bodog. Fighting chiefly for them, Prangley beat a bunch of very solid fighters like Yuki Kondo, Kyacey Uscola, and Andrei Semenov to get him a spot in this tournament as the favorite.

One of the strangest fights you'll ever see for a variety of reasons. The bout itself was exceedingly close, with Vitale doing a good job landing right hands when there was some distance, but Prangley really doing a solid job in the clinch. There was even crisp body punching in what was an almost all standup affair. Midway through round 2, Prangley accidentally poked Vitale in the eye, causing a scratched cornea. The fight went to the judges, and they ruled it a majority draw, forcing ref Marcus Rosales to pick the winner. I felt Prangley was winning overall, and with Vitale unable to continue to the next round, Prangley was given the nod in the fight. (3)

3) LUKE STEWART vs. BRYSON KAMAKA: Kamaka is a Hawaiian Tomato Can. Stewart is another fighter that Strikeforce is being very careful with so as to build up a fanbase regionally for him.

Knee to head from thai clinch, fight over in less than a minute. Stewart is going from that to Riggs. (0)

4) ANTHONY RUIZ vs. BOBBY SOUTHWORTH: Non-title bullshit as Southworth is a champion of some sort for them. I remember Southworth being IFC champ and having fought in PRIDE and thinking, "wow this guy should totally win TUF" and boy that did not happen. I think he's in his late 30s now too.

The first round plays out as Southworth attempts for takedowns and ground control and Ruiz beats him up standing. Ruiz is hardly any sort of world beater, nor does he look the role, but Southworth looks uncoordinated and flat here. He falls down throwing a kick, for instance. Still, Southworth does enough on my card by pushing around Ruiz and holding top control against a guy with no bottom game to win the first round.

Second round is very short. In the standup, Ruiz starts landing shots and Southworth's face is apparently made of tissue paper. He cuts over and under both eyes and is flailing from being hurt. Ruiz takes him down, but the referee prompts a time out to check the cuts. The doctor thinks they are way too bad and Ruiz wins. (1)

5) LEMONT DAVIS vs. BRIAN SCHWARTZ: This is set for three three minute rounds. Schwartz is a popular local kickboxer making his debut.

Nothing about this fight excites or really interests. Schwartz has a history in TKD and likes sidekicks, which in MMA can get you taken down if they don't land. And that's what happens. His sprawl is mediocre at best and Davis, while clearly not any sort of high end fighter or legendary kickboxer, is able to match a lot of what Schwartz does on his feet and mixes in actual ground technique as well. Davis wins a 29-28 decision and most of the fight is booed. (0)

6) ALISTAR OVEREEM vs. PAUL BUENTELLO: I have been very hard on Buentello over the years, and its deserved. The one UFC I've gone to he fought in the main event of and lasted a whopping 15 seconds. He's never show that he's any better than being KOTC Heavyweight champion, which is a title I hope he was handed again. Overeem looks so huge here. I have no idea how he made 205 in PRIDE but he may actually be the naturally bigger man of the two, given how much of Buentello's weight is straight flab.

A beatdown of epic proportions. Buentello's best moment is towards the end of the first when he escapes a cool guillotine attempt with a nice little spin out. Otherwise he is utterly controlled and beaten on like he's a heavyweight punching bag. Overeem sinks a knee about a foot into his sternum and Buentello falls down and taps out in the second round. Overeem was always the best free agent on the market as far as heavyweights go since PRIDE went under, but this put the wax stamp on that. (4)

7) TOURNAMENT FINAL - TREVOR PRANGLEY vs. JORGE SANTIAGO: Prangley comes into the fight a little beat up for that fight with Vitale. Santiago is fresh as a daisy.

Prangley moves slow in the ring, just like a guy who fought two hard rounds would. Santiago pounds him with low kicks and right hands. You gotta set up shots, and Prangley wasn't able to tell where the next punch was gonna come from, leaving his arms out to defend neither. Santiago took full advantage of it and launched a flying knee that landed in Prangley's chest. He just crumbled. Santiago wins and you have to wonder why the UFC isn't interested in a guy knocking people out with flying knees and shit. He's a hell of a lot better a fighter than he was when he fought Belcher or Leben. (3)

8) CUNG LE vs. SAM MORGAN: Sammy Morgan's career highlight reel is like, him getting fucked up.

Ho hum, Cung Le squash match. Le throws a lot of stuff that lands clean and doesn't hurt much, making him like a really flashy version of Guy Mezger and has some cool takedowns and takedown defense. Morgan gets KOed by a body kick and lots of people waive the free Vietnamese flags they were given at the door. I guess I'll give it a (2), since I have no idea what to consider Cung Le internationally at 185.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT(S): Overeem/Buentello. Glorious.

KO OF THE NIGHT(S): Santiago/Salmon. Your average card doesn't have this many impressive KOs by knee, but Santiago/Salmon was a KO of the year contender.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT(S): Hallman/Metcalf

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7.5 out of 10. With the added bouts, there's a new depth to this show. Fun fights amongst the nobodies and monster KOs. This would be a card of the year contender if it was a UFN. Interesting note: The D&R rating went down appreciably with the change in number of fights. Oh well. Another thing I need to work out.

D&R RATING: 30% (20/65)

ShoMMA/Strikeforce Challengers 1 (5/15/2009)

Okay, another review. I've got a lot of these I'm sitting on. This is for the inaugural ShoMMA card, or the rough equivalent of the Shobox series for MMA. Headlining this event in Fresno, CA is Mike Aina/Billy Evangelista. Announcing: Moron Ranallo, Stephen Quadros, and Pat Miletich.

1) BAO QUACH vs. TITO JONES: Jones apparently was trained originally by Roy Jones Sr., and Quach is a longtime gatekeeper in MMA. This is at 145. That's in contrast to Quach's 140lb fights for EliteXC.

Slow, slow fight. In fact, no need to review all 3 rounds. Jones absorbs leg kicks and Quach throws them occasionally. In the third round, Jones shows some gumption and drops him with a right hand twice, and also hurts him with a body shot, but is apparently a terrible finisher. The result? Quach wins a decision. I had this a draw with a 10-8 3rd but can't complain much. Well, apart from 2/3s of the fight (1)

2) AARON ROSA vs. ANTHONY RUIZ: Ruiz I hate watching. Rosa was a prospect who hit hard times.

Wild swinging from both to start, a clinch, and Rosa tries to push off and punch. Ruiz, being a horrible fighter to watch, keeps up the pushing to the cage. Rosa is more exciting and willing to at least risk something to win; He tries to hiptoss Ruiz, and while it doesn't work, he gets him out of position long enough to go for the double and put Ruiz on his back. When there, he easily moves to mount, Ruiz gives his back, and gets choked totally out. (1)

3) LAVAR JOHNSON vs. CARL SEUMANUTAFA: Carl's job is to prove that Samoans can have glass jaws too.

Seumanutafa shoots and gets caught with a uppercut, deading him instantly. Amazing. (1) Johnson is subsequently shot in the stomach during a family reunion and his career could be over.

4) MEISHA TATE vs. SARAH KAUFMAN: I hate writing about women's MMA because I plainly do not care about it. Fabricio Camoes was on the undercard and I missed him to see this.

Both girls swing for the fences without putting their hips into it standing, but Kaufman gets her shots there first. Tate likes takedowns, and is successful in getting one in the second round, which makes the fight close for the third. Both are pretty beat up, but Kaufman perseveres and smashes Tate repeatedly with punches throughout the round, shrugging off takedown attempts, and pulling off the win. I don't rank these.

5) MIKE AINA vs. BILLY EVANGELISTA: Evangelista I've seen before, and he's a decent wrestler/kickboxer hybrid sort. Aina I've seen many more times: He's a tough guy who doesn't do anything necessarily super well, but is competent in many fields at the same time.

Round 1 is a standup fight with both showing lots of respect early on, but Evangelista catching onto being more successful in the clinch than Aina (who is really only landing low kicks on occasion). As a result, he takes the first round. Second is more of the same, but Evangelista scores a takedown, changing the nature of the fight. He lands a lot of ground and pound, and as Aina tries to get up, a knee is thrown. Replay seems to indicate it landed squarely on the shoulder, but Herb Dean thinks it hit the head. Aina claims his jaw hurts, and the fight is ruled a DQ win for Aina. Crowd; Not happy. The commission changed this to a NC. Again, NC = (0).

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Tate/Kaufman

KO OF THE NIGHT: Seumanutafa/Johnson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ruiz/Rosa

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10: Uneventful given the top two bouts status, Johnson argurably being not very special (and then, unfortunately, nearly being killed), Rosa being previously exposed, and Quach not being an elite fighter. Plus, the fights weren't very good except the women's bout. Nothing to go crazy about.

D&R Rating: 25% (3/12)

STRIKEFORCE: PLAYBOY MANSION (9/29/07)

It seems like only yesterday that Strikeforce was a regional show putting on crappy fights. Today, they are a much bigger national promotion putting on fights that aren't so bad but aren't so great either. Thanks to their new association with the folks at Showtime, old Strikeforce events have seen the light of day for HDTV broadcast. Two in particular were shown in the leadup to their last official event of 2009: This event from September of 2007, and the 11/16/07 show that was headlined by Cung Le and the first ever one night tournament in US major commission history. That event I've reviewed already, but the airing on Showtime featured a bevy of new fights previously unaired. As a result, its going to get bumped up as soon as I'm done writing the review. Lots of that, matter of fact. Just wait till you see the review I've got of M-1's 2009 season.

This event was the first held at the Playboy Mansion. Interesting note: the now even more famous Kendra was interviewed by the announce crew for this and mentioned that Hugh only did the event because it was a "hot new thing", not because he liked the sport. He and Kendra both preferred boxing. Announcing the show is Brian Webber and Frank Shamrock.

1) MIGUEL LINHARES vs. ANTHONY FIGUEROA: 3x3 minute rounds for this bantamweight contest between non-names.

Linhares is measured and not overly excited, but robotic with his strikes, throwing good low kicks and pushing punches. Figueroa clinches midway through the round, starts landing some dirty boxing, and down goes Linhares. Fight over. (0)

2) LUKE STEWART vs. SAM LIERA: Stewart was a SF favorite for awhile, being a BJJ artist who like to do tattoos. Liera is a dude who, I think, trained with the Shark Tank.

Stewart throws a high kick and falls down, with Liera following with a right hand. They clinch, Stewart gets a takedown and is quickly passing to side control. Liera proves decent though; he sweeps, is on top in half guard, but himself loses the position and ends up in half guard and later mounted. Stewart postures up and then lands a solid 2 minutes or so of punches to the head before Cecil Peoples thinks that Liera may have had enough. Seriously, these were not defended, and the announcers were aghast. (0)

3) EDDIE MILLIS vs. DANIEL MCWILLIAMS: More 3x3 minute rounds. Didn't bother to see what weight it was.

McWilliams throws terrible punches. Just awful. There's a clinch (shock), McWilliams goes for a guillotine, and Millis pops out and goes for a takedown as McWilliams tries to get away. McWilliams defends, scrambles up and Millis tries to scissor a leg. McWilliams defends it by stacking up, mounts, takes Millis' back, acquires a tap, and the win. Sloppy, awful stuff. (0)

4) ADAM SMITH vs. DEWEY COOPER: Oh, MMA novelty. Cooper is a longtime boxer and kickboxer. For a number of years he called out boxers on various forums as well as a number of top name kickboxers. He never got his money fight; In 2008 he was defeated by an ancient Arthur Williams in a boxing match at the Tachi Palace. He lost the rematch at the same location one year later. Here he is in his short lived MMA career. Smith is a Canadian of no particular note.

Cooper throws low kicks in round one and Smith doesn't know how to check them. That is the story of round 1. The second is more exciting; Smith shoots immediately and eats a right hand. Again he shoots after stumbling back up, and drags down Cooper in a horrid guillotine. Cooper pops out and stands. Smith, after a bad first, is all about trying to close distance; he clinches, drops for a double, and ends up in full mount. Cooper holds on, but nowhere near well enough to justify the standup Smith is forced to do. Close round.

Third and final round: Cooper throws kicks, and Smith wants the clinch. Who knew? Cooper is thrown down, rolls out, and lands a hard right that staggers Smith. Smith still pursues the takedown and again is successful, landing in half guard. The success is shortlived; Very soon after, there's a standup, and Smith is forced to start from scratch. He eats some knees before the takedown, which happens with not enough time left to salvage the round. Cooper wins a unanimous decision. (1)

5) RICHARD DALTON vs. DANIEL PUDER: In what seems like an eternity ago, Kurt Angle was released from his services as a wrestler for the WWE. At that point, he was offered a major money deal with the UFC to participate in a program with Daniel Puder, an MMA fighter turned pro wrestler turned MMA fighter who had nearly torn off one of his limbs in a shocking turn of events of "wrasslin turned real". Angle took a deal to continue wrestling and Puder has since become totally irrelevant, just as Angle is. For the D-Leagues he now inhabits as an undefeated fighter, Puder is not even a marquee attraction. Reality bites, or so I'm told.

Dalton rushes forward for the clinch, and Puder pulls a guillotine attempt. He holds it forever and a day, Dalton never submits, pulls out, and they clinch more. Dalton does get a double at the end, and Puder goes for a straight armbar from the bottom. In the second, Dalton again shoots immediately, ending up inside Puder's half guard. I thought Puder was an amateur wrestler? Oh well. There's no action, the ref stands it up, and Dalton shoots again. After a couple failed attempts to do something with a body lock, he drops for a leg and Puder defends, forcing Dalton to his back, getting the back. He throws a ton of hammerfists to Dalton, setting up his hooks. Dalton scoots out the back, gets up, and we're back to a clinch position. Puder tries another guillotine, Dalton successfully defends it, but another attempt to drop for a single/double ends with more shots to the body. Right now, its 2-0 Puder.

Dalton clinches in the third, Puder goes for a guillotine...wait, isn't this a pattern? Puder throws foot stomps and knees to the leg and head. Puder release, tries to get some separation, and Dalton actually lands a right hand. Uhh, why now? Puder is more or less really tired and not so much hurt, and after a brief stumble around Dalton clinches with him and throws away his shot at winning. The rest of the fight is more clinching with Dalton and Puder trading soft shots that have no chance of ending this fight. Puder wins a unanimous decision. (1)

6) FALANIKO VITALE vs. RON FIELDS: To what length can you talk about MMA in this decade without somehow bringing in Vitale? It seems impossible to me. They fought in Superbrawl before and Vitale easily won. Fields, a longtime journeyman, is unlikely to have a different result here.

Clinch early, Niko takes down Fields, eventually works his way to crucifix and pounds on Fields for about 1:30. Really bad stoppages here tonight. (2)

7) BILL MAHOOD vs. BOBBY SOUTHWORTH: Mahood had a cup of coffee in the UFC and in Bodog. Southworth was a villian on TUF 1 and has stunk up Strikeforce for eternities. Supposedly, he might be on the next TUF. How sad.

Clinch, Mahood drops for the guillotine, Southworth is in half guard, throws some shots, Mahood breaks a rib, cries some, fight is over, Southworth is nonplussed, the fans think it sucks. (2)

8) MATT LEE vs. JORGE MASVIDAL: Poor Lee: Has no idea what is to happen here.

Masvidal doesn't totally outclass Lee standing: That I am shocked about. He takes down Lee, but Lee's back up quickly. Wow! Oh, but Lee eats some elbows and punches in the clinch, and goes down in a heap. Oh well. (2)

9) CLINT CORONEL vs. BILLY EVANGELISTA: Evangelista is a guy Strikeforce loves. Clint Coronel is a dude who trains with Frank Shamrock and should be at 135/145.

Evangelista stalks Coronel around in the first. He doesn't know how to cut off the cage at all, and gets cut on his eye by a shot. No really solid exchanges. Second round is more active with Evangelista looking more wild with his attacks and Coronel countering. Evangelista controls the pace with his low kicks, which are almost never checked. A close round I gave to Evangelista. Final round starts close, but Coronel begins to let the leg kicks slow him. When Billy Evangelista finally shoots, Coronel is totally unprepared. He does scramble up in the final 30 seconds but in his attempt to gain victory is tagged with stronger shots by Evangelista. Its a split decision that Evangelista is given. Mixed reaction from the crowd to the news of the winner. (1)

10) ADAM LYNN vs. JOSH THOMSON: Thomson just fought Gilbert Melendez in a great rematch, and this for him was a tuneup against a nobody.

Lynn shoots and Thomson defends. Okay, look, let's make this brief. Lynn is a game guy but wants none of Thomson standing at distance and in close, he's not effective either. He can't get down Thomson and ends up getting his clock cleaned with a right hand while clinching that drops and essentially finishes him. Nothing to get excited about. (2)

11) JOE RIGGS vs. EUGENE JACKSON: Jackson was a guy I thought was a gold medal wrestler. That guy I confused him with? Appeared on my TV coaching Iowa State's wrestling team. Thank you to Cory and Chris Henderson for setting me straight. This Jackson fought under Militech's tutelage when that meant something. Riggs is famous as a fat man who lost tons of weight and has his nickname tattooed on his torso.

Riggs lands a left hand that hurts Jackson, goes for a rear naked choke and transitions to an armbar, Jackson defends, but ends up on his back again. Riggs rides his back, Jackson turns over into mount, and is bashed out. Ugly fight. (2)

12) GILBERT MELENDEZ vs. TETSUJI KATO: Kato was a fighter from Shooto with a 19-7 record coming in. Melendez was an undefeated phenom of sorts with wins in PRIDE against big, big names. On New Years Eve, he'd lose to Ishida, the first of two major defeats in a 6 month span.

Melendez goes for the takedown immediately, but Kato defends it well. Melendez is getting real low when he looks to strike and shoot, and throws some solid right hands, even if its more athleticism than technique. One of the blows drops Kato, and while he climbs the cage and gets up again, Melendez controls the standup for the remainder of the round, plus has points built from a ground and pound assault. 10-9 Melendez.

Melendez is still outboxing Kato and looks to get him down to the mat to further dominate. Kato is a decent grappler, though, and shrugs off some of the shots. Melendez is very obviously setting up nothing but 1-2 combinations, and they trade briefly, only for Kato to break off the exchanges and shake his right hand. Yikes. Kato has suffered a ton of cuts in the last round or so, having broken his nose and suffering lacerations over both eyes. He recieves some attention from the doc in this round, further importing Melendez's domination to the judges.

Kato has made it to the final round, much to my surprise. He is taken down to half guard briefly, but is able to climb the cage and separate. Melendez overcommits to a strike and Kato briefly secures some control of the back from a standing position, but is unable to drag down Melendez. Melendez does get tagged with some left hooks by Kato late in the round, seemingly showing a weakness later exposed fully by Thomson in their first fight. Melendez wins all three rounds and retains his then perfect record. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Coronel/Evangelista

KO OF THE NIGHT: Masvidal/Lee

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Millis/McWilliams

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Kato was game and so was Coronel, and they brought out some bright spots against then undefeated fighters in an otherwise terrible card on paper. Some interesting stars and notables taking part in fights here. I must admit: I tried watching the webcast live some 3 years ago and fell asleep.

D&R Rating: 28% (17/60)

Maximum Fighting Championship 23: 12/4/09

Another MFC show is now long in the books. With each set of fighter releases by the UFC, they seem to get stronger and stronger, picking up more and more solid but unspectacular fighters to face off against one another. That is obviously present in the matchmaking here: Jason McDonald/Solomon Hutcherson is the co-main, and the main is a bout between two BJJ masters in Thales Leites and Dean Lister.

1) JOE CHRISTOPHER vs. JESSE JUAREZ: Some dudes who are welterweights.

Christopher pulls guard early in this fight and instantly, one must wonder what he even thinks his chances are. Juarez is in a great deal of trouble during a toehold attempt that some terrible refereeing allows him to escape from by basically going through the ropes. Ah, Pancrase style breaks. Except that's not actually legal. From then on, Christopher has issues. He continues to push for leglocks and takes strikes to the face, then is pushed into the corner and is hit with more. Juarez ends the round riding Christopher's back, having cut him with an elbow. Round two is more of the Christopher-trying-to-fight-on-the-ground show, and it ends about as well. Matter of fact, so is round 3. Juarez dominates this fight by defending Christopher's attempts to take dominant positions, riding the guy most of the fight, and hitting him a lot. Unanimous decision for the journeyman Juarez. (0)

2) DWAYNE LEWIS vs. MARVIN EASTMAN: Eastman is starting to get real old now. Lewis is some doofy white guy.

Eastman takes down Lewis early and is in the full guard. Ref moves this to center, and Eastman just lays there throwing some shots. Ref eventually stands these guys up, and to no one's surprise, they clinch. What is surprising is what happens next; they push each other around a little bit, and then Lewis lands a few uppercuts in the clinch. Eastman goes down and Lewis keeps trying to hit him while the referee tries to stop him. Eastman's chin is all shot to pieces. Lewis wants to fight Rob Macdonald, by the way. (1)

3) ART SANTORE vs. BRYAN BAKER: Baker is a WEC vet. Santore is a vet of everything. I mean everything.

I'm not gonna bother doing play by play because, frankly, no one is going to read it for this. Lots of wild standup throughout the fight; Baker is dropped in the first round with a left hook, later throws down Santore after catching a kick and cuts him badly with strikes on the ground. Santore goes for submissions and catches shots to the head. The second nearly doesn't happen due to the cut, but Santore continues to soldier forward and there's tons of back and forth standing. Santore seems to land more early on in the second but is only able to throw arm punches; as the round continues, he ends up getting plastered with punches and drops his mouthpiece. The third starts wild with swinging but eventually falls into a routine of Baker landing more effective blows (even sidekicks) as Santore is gassed but full of heart. Baker wins a wide decision in an entertaining fight. (2)

4) EMANUEL NEWTON vs. RYAN JIMMO: Jimmo lost on TUF a long time ago, Newton never got that far. Here they fight.

Tenative standup to start the fight; Newton jumps in with a combo and clinches, eventually getting a takedown. Jimmo gets back up. Newton again with a trip, and Jimmo is up again. They clinch till the bell. Next round; Clinch all round long. Third round: Clinch, clinch, Jimmo lands a high kick (sorta), Newton clinches again. They do trade a little more, and then they clinch again. Ugly, slow, boring fight that Jimmo wins on account of him throwing some dinky slaps in the clinch. (2)

Before the next fight, highlights are shown of the evening's earlier attractions, including one fight cancelled after someone hurt themselves getting in the ring. Hilarious.

5) JASON MACDONALD vs. SOLOMON HUTCHERSON: Middleweight bout that will, supposedly, give some clarity to MFC's less than thrilling scene at 185.

Macdonald gets a takedown and moves to full mount. This looks ugly. He works a triangle from top control and Hutcherson rolls and then slams his way out. When back on the feet its a clinch that MacDonald singles his way out of, straight to top control. Hutcherson sweeps to half guard, but himself ends up reversed, gives up his back, then is nearly armbarred as the round ends. Hutcherson lands a hard shot that drops Macdonald early in the second and lands some GnP as he tries to sweep to side control. Macdonald gets and elevator sweep, takes Hutcherson's back, and hangs in with a body triangle for awhile before transitioning to the mount/side control and a arm and head triangle choke that doesn't close the show when the bell rings.

After two rounds of escapes from Hutcherson, Hutcherson again drops Macdonald in the third and follows him down...straight into giving his back. Hutcherson turns into full mount instead, bucks out, and is on top. No action occurs, a ref standup happens, and Hutcherson's big chance standing is present again. Macdonald hurts him with a punch, shoots, Hutcherson defends, ends up on top, and Macdonald works rubber guard as the round ends. Clearly, this is Macdonald's fight. Except it ends as a draw. What? (2)

6) DEAN LISTER vs. THALES LEITES: Two former UFC stalwarts against one another after being cut from the promotion. Excitement? A BJJ war? No. Of course not.

Lister shoots the single, pulls guard, and Leites passes to side control, then stands up. Leites then decides to make this a standup fight, with Lister being totally useless standing and getting hit with low kicks. WAIT, DOOT DOOT DOOT NEWSFLASH: They added up the cards wrong and MacDonald won. Oh, isn't that nice. This fight? Oh, well, Lister pulls guard a lot and does nothing when he's on his back. When its standing, Leites lands low kicks. Lister gets cut by an elbow in the third. Terrible fight. Leites wins a UD. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Santore/Baker

KO OF THE NIGHT: Eastman/Lewis

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: N/A

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. So sick of MFC shows; Never live up to whatever low hope you have for them.

D&R Rating: 36%

ULTIMATE GLORY Anniversary (10/17/09)

This is a mixed event held at Amsterdam's Central Rail station. How about that? I'll review only the MMA bouts.

1) HANS STRINGER vs. NILS VAN NOORT: At 205. Stringer is the more well known of the two, having been in the European circuit for awhile.

Van Noort goes for a takedown, ends up on the bottom, but does sweep. And then he is in a triangle. (0)

2) Krista Fleming/Titiana Van Polanen Petel: Women's kickboxing. Doesn't count. Went full 5 under MT rules and Petel clearly won. Fleming was more attractive going in; does that count?

3) JASON JONES vs. HRACHO DARPINYAN: Another light heavyweight bout. This features a guy I've seen an inordinate amount of in Jason Jones from his M-1 bouts.

Jones rushes in and Darpinyan wants a takedown in the clinch. Then there's a low blow to Jones, and we start over. Jones lands a left in that exchange and Darpinyan is DOWN~ and takes a lot of hammerfists, but no, this is not mercifully over. Instead, Darpinyan, while mounted, gets out of that bad spot momentarily, surviving only to be mounted again. He again escapes, and in doing so tries to kick Jones on the ground, hitting him in the head. More importantly, there's a toe in the eye, and chaos for awhile as Jones recovers. The inevitable restart of the longest first ever has Jones with the takedown.

Second round! Darpinyan goes for an Armenian Hiptoss (that is to say, a hiptoss performed by an Armenian) but ends up on the bottom, like Van Noort did in the prior MMA contest. Jones is on top pretty much the entire round, either in full or half guard, until we finally get Darpinyan to do something (a sweep) which leads to him getting beaned with some punches at the bell. Third is no better: Jones with the takedown, Jones with the mount, Jones there virtually the entire round. Darpinyan does nothing but survive. Jones with the UD. (1)

4) Halim Issaoui vs. Ali Gunyar: K-1 rules, 165lbs. Doesn't count. Good fight though. Lots of action. I and the judges gave it to Gunyar for superior kicking.

5) TOMMY DEPRET vs. VINCENT LATOEL: Nothing fight between nothing fighters at 155.

Trading shots early, though mostly single punches. Latouel is hurt, tries for a take down, ends up getting beat up a little. He scrambles up to his feet, and gets thrown down to the mat again for more beatings. Latoel gets back up and lands a couple punches at the end of the round, only to get taken down and almost KOed with a punch as the bell rings. Seconds seals it: Depret sprawls out on a takedown attempt and secures a guillotine. (0)

6) Anderson Silva (the OTHER one) vs. Stefan Leko: K-1 rules. Leko was good a long time ago, now his stomach hangs over his shorts with the saddest muffin top. Silva abuses him, eventually stopping him in the second. Anderson Braddock Silva looks interesting for sure.

7) NIKOLAI ONIKIENKO vs. VALENTIJN OVEREEM: Onikienko's first fight of the year, and its not incidental. How many Valentijn Overeem comebacks must the world endure?

Overeem comes in strong and takes down Onikienko. Too bad Onikienko lands a left hand as Valentijn comes in. That breaks his nose and forces an end to the fight as he quits for the billionth time. (1)

8) Errol Zimmerman vs. Wendell Roche: K-1 rules. Roche gave a good account of himself in this slugout that Zimmerman needed an overtime round to win.

9) RODNEY GLUNDER vs. DION STARING: Both ancient names in Euro MMA. One better than the other.

Staring with a takedown, pass to side control, Kimura. Sounds fast, actually took like 3 minutes. (0)

10) Hesdy Gerges vs. Ruslan Karaev: K-1 rules, infamous mismatch. Karaev is going to the K-1 World Grand Prix and ends up enduring incredible battery at the hands of Gerges, another guy who's lost to Anderson Braddock Silva. Leg kicks demolish Karaev, who somehow stays vertical even as his head bounces around the ring like a pinball off the flippers of Gerges' left and right hands.

11) ROBERT JOCZ vs. SIYAR BAHADURZADA: Jocz is a grappler and Bahadurzada is a kickboxer, really, with more experience too.

Jocz gets takedowns in the first and then its Bahadurzada getting them in the second and third. Little damage is done by anyone in any of these scenarios, and apart from a kimura in the first round by Jocz, no one even comes close to finishing. Bahadurzada wins a dull fight. (1)

12) ALISTAR OVEREEM vs. TONY SYLVESTER: A bizarre matchup. Sylvester is a vet of YAMMA. Overeem is, well.

Overeem just bombs the chunky white guy out with strikes and finishes with the guillotine. Was that the predetermined finish? (3)

13) Semmy Schilt vs. Alexey Ignashov: A K-1 rules bout that would have mattered more 3 years ago. Schilt in a shutout; classic control of distance from Semmy en route to what seems like his billionth win the last 4 years.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Issaoui/Gunyar

KO OF THE NIGHT: Silva/Leko

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Staring/Glunder

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. Waste of Overeem, but expected with the event. Kickboxing was better than the MMA by miles. As an MMA event, it does poorly.

D&R Rating: 17%

M-1 Breakthrough (8/28/09)

I've not stopped with this; Oh no. There will be more to document so that I can toss away these notebooks I store my thoughts in for future analyzing fun action. Or whatever other OCD reasoning I have for trying to keep record of this stuff. This show is a fairly short one eminating from somewhere in Kansas City. Venue isn't that important. I'm sure its listed on Sherdog.

1) DAISUKE NAKAMURA vs. FERRID KHEDER: One thing about old King of the Cage shows is that they would have these wild claims about any Japanese fighter that came over as part of their talent trade with PRIDE (one that worked, unlike the UFC's- go figure). Like, that Daijiro Matsui and Alexander Otsuka had to be good because, hey, the Japanese would never send over a representative that wasn't. Matsui is now forgotten and Otsuka is remembered as having the worst records in MMA history for a guy who fought almost entirely in major promotions.

I say this to preface Nakamura because he is hyped entering here as being good. To be fair, he is not bad, which is better than Matsui or Otsuka. Following his loss to Vitor Ribero in Cage Rage, he actually rattled off 8 consecutive wins; a shocking amount given that prior to that he was effectively a .500 fighter. The opposition was less than stellar, however. Hideo Tokoro was the high point - the low is tough to determine. Racist Stereotype Andy Ologun? The 0-7 Carlos Valeri? Who knows. His opponent on this night is Ferrid Kheder, who comes in 10 lbs over the lightweight limit and loses some cash as a result. He's fought everywhere from Brazil to Belgium, and Costa Rica to Canada. Truly, a journeyman for our times.

Tenative stand up opens the bout, and after a clinch, its Nakamura leading Kheder to the corner and....that's most of the round. Its slow going. When there's separation, Nakamura seems to land more shots like jabs and low kicks because he throws at all. Nakamura lands a few right hands late in the round and he's not even pretending to defend anymore. Kheder leads a comeback early in the 2nd as he starts throwing the left hook, and Nakamura responds with a flying armbar attempts. Kheder defends it well and stands. Nakamura still won't hold his hands up, and a combination of punches and kicks sweeps him off his feet. He scrambles up, gets tagged, tries for another flying armbar (which is like going for nothing but fake field goals when you're out of range for the kicker anyways), and isn't successful. Nakamura lands a right hand, but probably loses this round.

Third and final round: Nakamura is landing much more solidly as the bout turns into a boxing match. A right hand-low kick combo forces Nakamura to turn and give his back. He's suplexed but scrambles up again. The ref gives him a reprieve to fix tape on the glove, and we restart standing with separation. Shots ate traded, Nakamura goes for, yes, another flying armbar, and Khedar tries to lock in an arm triangle in a fast sequence near the final bell. All too little, too late for Khedar. Nakamura by unanimous decision. (1)

2) MICHAEL KITA vs. LLOYD MARSHBANKS: Marshbanks is a tank of a man. He probably weighs as much as a German Panzer. He is also 5'8''. Kita is also a big, big man. Both like the wrasslin' too.

Marshbanks catches a kick, clinches, throws a belly-to-belly, and mounts Kita. Not a good start for Kita. Kita bucks Marshbanks out and stands. Kita defends a shot and punches Marshbanks. And then he punches some more and more. Marshbanks taps for seemingly ever before the ref bothers to do anything about it. Don't hate the guy though; he just won a one night tourney in Russia. Yes! A one night tourney! He KOed Alexiy Olenik and Baga Agaev (and a Sanda fighter with a losing record) to claim the title. (1)

3) ROB BROUGHTON vs. JESSIE GIBBS: For the unofficial title of #1 super heavyweight in the world, IMO. Yeah, its a dead division. So what? In case you don't know, Broughton is a very large wrestler from the UK, a place not known for wrestlers. Gibbs is a very large kickboxer/grappler from the Netherlands.

Broughton clinches early, pushes Gibbs to corner, and Sumo has broken out. Eventually, they are separated. Gibbs trips after a low kick, and Broughton ends up on top in half guard. Gibbs isn't bad though; he sweeps with a kimura into side control, though he's eventually dragged back to half guard for the rest of the round. The second opens with Broughton again going to bring it to the mat. He shoots, there's a bodylock, drops for a single, and Gibbs removes himself from that as well. This is slow. Standup is all one shot at a time. Broughton gets a body lock, and the crowd is boing as he drags this further into the muck. This continues in the third, except that Gibbs is on top some when it does hit the mat. Terrible fight, Gibbs wins, division is still, thankfully, deceased. (1)

4) MIKHAIL ZAYATS vs. LUCIO LINHARES: Middleweight contest between M-1 regulars. Linhares recently signed by UFC; does that spoil this?

Wild punches thrown, Zayats is dropped by a punch, as he tries to rise, he's choked out. (2)

5) JOHN DOYLE vs. KARL AMOUSSOU: Amoussou has been getting lots of creme puffs lately. Here is another.

Doyle gets the takedown and is in full guard. He's throwing blows but totally ineffective when it comes to making them count. Amoussou sweeps him, full mount, punches, Doyle gives his back, and its a rear naked choke. That's a KOTC standard minus needing to sweep to get on top to start with. (1)

At this point, the big selling point for the show, a Judo/Sambo exhibition with Mousasi and Fedor, commences. Its mildly interesting for rolling around.

6) "KING" MUHAMMAD LAWAL vs. MARK KERR: So many things to say. Lawal is a rising star. Furthermore, here is something for you to chew on (since the source is not likely to see me writing this, much less anyone else): Kerr is a late replacement for Don Frye, as a lot of people know. Frye was originally booked but actually cancelled over money issues. Lawal was offered actual opponents to take Frye's place, but responded saying he was taking the fight because he wanted to fight a tomato can. Enter Mark Kerr. The one time surest of sure things was briefly kept out of fighting in this recent comeback attempt when an apparently heart issue showed itself during an EKG during licensing for a fight in Connecticut. The card there was scuttled as a result, and Kerr was even more damaged than before. He's still trucking along here though.

Mo shoots a single, slams Kerr, and then punches his lights out. Pathetic. Kerr then admits its probably time for a new profession. Really? (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Nakamura/Kheder

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kerr/Lawal

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Doyle/Amoussou

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. As far as actual fights go, pretty lousy. The exhibition was nice, but irrelevant. Mark Kerr fighting on a card in this decade guarantees it a low score.

D&R Rating: 27%