Thursday, April 29, 2010

Unconquered 1: November Reign (11/20/09)

Located at Bank United Center. Jay Adams, Din Thomas, and Jen Boronico announcing this show. "Top Level Fights" promised. Big round cage.

1) Felice Herig vs. Michele Gutierrez: Women's bout. I've never been hot on women's MMA, but whatever. Din tells us he's excited to see this after the last bout. What last bout?

FIGHT: Herig Submission Rnd 2. Lots of hugging at the cage, Gutierrez tires and gets taken down. Eventually this leads to an armbar. The most interesting people in this fight are the corner workers - Phil Davis and Kit Cope. (0)

Herig - Superior grappler, nothing jumped out in terms of the standup game from either that was exceptional.

Gutierrez - Seemed to be at a similar level as Herig with standup, but just didn't have the grappling chops to succeed in MMA.

2) Allen Arzeno vs. Patrick Mikesz: International flair, as Mikesz is from the Czech Republic and has a ten lb weight advantage. He's also an ex-hockey player and 35. This match was made because the promoter saw both men in crazy wars previously and thought it would be fun to have them fight each other. I can love that.

FIGHT: Mikesz Submission Rnd 2. Wild Neanderthal stand-up, both guys faces are torn up. The fight goes to the ground by Mikesz both in round 1 and 2, and in the second he finishes Arzeno after some wild rolling with a rear naked choke. (1)

Mikesz: Mikesz is a throw back to when MMA was awesome. I mean, this was not a technical masterpiece, but his voice and demeanor together along with his fighting style...its like Olaf Alonso or something, you know? You can't put your finger on precisely why its so awesome, but it is and you just learn not to ask questions about it. He's got some takedowns that are half decent, his stance is straight kempo, he doesn't jab, and because his hands are so low, he is tagged with right hands with ease. But whatever. He's a great journeyman.

Arzino: Would have won if he could jab, especially as a southpaw. But he couldn't. Being the smaller man didn't help on the mat, where he clearly lacked skills. Didn't really move his hips around at all. Might have been gassed.

3) Joshua Lee vs. Yuri Villefort: Villefort is 18 and brother of Danilo. Lee is late notice and has a 1-7 record. Welterweights.

FIGHT: Villefort TKO Rnd 2. Villefort is just way too much for Lee on the mat and standing. (2)

Villefort: First, the negatives. Lee has too lousy a record to be pushing around Villefort and powering out of submission attempts and bad positions. When Villefort is on top, he should be looking to get to dominant positions and stay there. No reason to leave side control to go for an Anaconda. Just get the job done. Second, his standup was a little shaky. Nothing to spectacular to get excited about, just very basic muay thai.

Now, the positives - he's in a good team. He's very young; only 19. On the mat he's definitely at least good. His takedowns aren't too great, just like a lot of BJJ players, so I can see him being a guy who ends up resorting to pulling guard. Not a fast shot. Good straight right hand dropped Lee, and he followed up and finished.

Lee: Has physical strength and heart, but is currently 2-8 for a reason.

4) Rene Martinez vs. Charlie Champion: Welterweights. Martinez is a street brawler. Flat out. Champion's first bout as a professional. Lots of backne on Champion. Lots. Do they test for synth in Florida? Martinez is touted as a new Kimbo. Oh boy. In fact, they go so far as to say that Kimbo met him and said he has all the necessary tools. For what? To get KOed by a gatekeeper in 14 seconds?

FIGHT: Martinez TKO 1. Champion shoots, nearly loses by guillotine, then gets taken down and beaten up until there's a stoppage. (0)

Martinez: Who knows? He is a big strong guy who can take down a nobody and punch him a lot.

Champion: Is this even really his name? Its probably some 38 year old journeyman who was dodging suspensions.

5) Luis Palomino vs. Rafaek Dias: Dias is an IFL and Bodog vet. Palomino was fun in Bellator. Together, will it be magic?

FIGHT: Palomino TKO Rnd 3. Diaz winning a grappling battle for all 3 rounds, but Palomino is able to get on top late in the 3rd and starts punching. Jorge Alonso steps in as Palomino is trying to get out of the situation with a mere thirteen seconds left. Horrid stoppage. In addition, the ref let Palomino land late shots after the bell in both the first and second rounds. (1)

Palomino: Was dominated the entire fight until the end. His low kicks were decent but didn't do enough to keep Dias off him and repeatedly taking him down. He's got intestinal fortitude, that is for certain.

Dias: Dias doesn't have standup that can stop anyone. Because of that, he's dependent on his grappling totally. He's too easily hit standing to be competitive at the world class level, and his grappling simply isn't so "wow" that he can submit someone like Palomino, much less dominate top echelon wrestlers or BJJ artists on the mat. He's a benchmark.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Arzeno/Mikesz

KO OF THE NIGHT: Martinez/Champion

SUB OF THE NIGHT: Herig/Gutierrez

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out of 10. Most of the fights were boring. The bright spots were an amateurish brawl and an appearance by an elite prospect in Villefort.

D&R Rating 20% (4/20)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Art of Fighting 6 (11/22/09)

From Fightzone TV, another Florida event. The "sequel" to the previously watched AOF event I guess? Ron Yacovetti, Seth Petruzelli, and Jay Adams are announcing this event from the Germain Arena.

1) Jim Alers vs. Freddy Assuncao: Two undefeated prospects fighting just north of the featherweight limit.

FIGHT: Alers Submission Rnd 2. Fairly competent MMA bout by both men featuring ground work and standup. Action on mat slow to develop in round 1. Second round largely standup, though not particularly active. (1)

Alers - Alers showed excellent ring savvy, putting his hand down on the mat when in a front headlock/clinch position in round 2, making Assuncao's knees illegal blows. His takedowns were not necessarily world class, but decent enough for this level of MMA to be successful. Striking was pretty robotic and not at all different from your average MMA fighter. Very few kicks thrown, doesn't look comfortable jabbing, doesn't really give feints or move his head. That'll be an issue with tougher men.

Assuncao - Physically well built fighter, but his takedown defense was generally lacking. he stopped a shot in the second round, but was taken down in the first and ended up tripped up and put in the position for the standing RNC in round 2 when defending another double leg takedown. Striking wasn't anything unbelievable, but at least feinted and was active with his upper body. His movement opened up an opportunity for a superman punch.

2) Ariel Gandulla vs. Shane Primm: Primm was on TUF and Gandulla is an ex-Cuban wrestler who once lost a title fight in the WEC to the guy Zuffa loved who everyone thought might have been white power. Both have moved to 185. Interesting note: Primm is sponsored by the supposedly WP Hoezler Reich clothing here. MMA: Always classy.

FIGHT: Primm Submission Rnd 1. Gandulla was strong in the early part of the round, taking down Primm, but his much older body wore out fast and Primm took control. While ending up on his back late in the round, Primm was able to make lemonade out of lemons and tap him with a triangle. (1)

Primm - Wrestling is still okay at best, not really improved since the Tom Lawler fight much earlier in his career. Standup seems so so but you can't tell against someone who's so singularly talented as Gandulla. Had no problem pulling thai plumb on Gandulla.

Gandulla - Nothing new here. Gandulla got into the sport 10 years too late to make an impact. Strong wrestler, but with an official age as a Cuban import already into his 40s, he's likely even older than that.

3) Brian Fuery vs. Dave Yost: Heavyweight contest. Yost looks all gassed up at 5'11'', 231. Fuery is a more realistic 6'3'' 235. Decent records here. (0)

FIGHT: Yost TKO Round 1. Almost all grappling with Yost being taken down repeatedly, but fighting his way to good positions. When he gets the fight standing toward the end of the first, he hurts Fuery with uppercuts in the clinch, and Fuery basically turns around and gives up, forcing a ref stop.

Yost - Built like Jeff Monson and about the same amount of ink, the big difference is the wrestling. Monson was a Division I wrestler. Yost clearly isn't. He had no takedown defense. He does have powerful punches, and he's capable of escaping bad positions on the mat, but there was nothing about his standup shown here. But in a division full of wrestlers in a sport where wrestling is the dominant art - I mean, does this end well?

Fuery - Has takedowns, doesn't finish all that well on the mat in dominant positions, standup is all question marks.

4) DJ Linderman vs. Mario Rinaldi: Rinaldi is a big boy who had some success in Japan and in smaller MMA promotions in the US. Bodog used him for a little while; not the best in shape ATT product, but not terrible either. Linderman I've never heard of. Rinaldi may have actually gained a lot of weight.

FIGHT: Linderman TKO 3. Simple case of cardio overcoming lack of technique, size, or strength. Similar to Yost/Fuery before it as man outwrestled overcomes and wins by stoppage. (1)

Linderman - Taken down over and over, mounted twice, in danger of submission, eating right hands...its a good thing Rinaldi was running on E with one minute left in round 1. Otherwise there could have been real trouble. Linderman has heart, a decent gastank, and some submission defense skills. He scored the final takedown of the fight, pulling a single leg takedown on Rinaldi that was kind of nice. But again: How does a guy who can't defend Rinaldi's shot get to the next level in MMA?

Rinaldi - Years pass, the story is the same. He can move around on the mat, and in many ways is the superior version of Lloyd Marshbanks. But like Marshbanks, you never get the sense that he's taking this that seriously. His weight is the major indicator; always been in shape, so long as round counts. Maybe its because everyone else is using steroids, but I doubt that's the whole answer. If Rinaldi really put in work, I wouldn't be shocked to find out he's a light heavyweight in disguise.

5) Reggie Orr vs. Crafton Wallace: Middleweight fight. Orr was a TUF reject, Wallace has been around as a part time fighter forever.

FIGHT: Wallace, UD 3. The most important aspect of this fight is Orr's size. Don't let anything else fool you. He used it to put Wallace on his back and sap his strength in the first two rounds, and by the third, Wallace was arm weary and flatfooted. Not terrible technically. (1)

Orr: Repeated takedowns slowed down the fight and Orr ran the pace. Wallace was able to drop Orr in the second but got wild afterwards and almost kneebarred as a result - Not sure if you can give that to Orr or if its a negative for Wallace, but there you go. Good cardio too. When Wallace got tired in the third, Orr was able to hook over his jab.

Wallace: Decent counter punching early, but he was unable to defend the takedown and was worn down by the bigger man. Lots of attempts at rubber guard failed. When Wallace transitioned for armbar attempts in the first and second round, both attempts were thrown off to the side and he absorbed punches. I just don't see what Wallace does at this point in his career to improve.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Alers/Assuncio

KO OF THE NIGHT: Linderman/Rinaldi

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Alers/Assuncao

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. Huge improvement over the last AOF show I had seen in terms of talent presented. Some solid fights. Can't complain too much.

D&R Rating: 16% (4/25)



a new way of doing business

For a long time now, in fact, since the dawn of 2008, I've reviewed "B-Show" level events. And honestly, the practice has grown tiring several times. Recently, I came to the conclusion that I no longer enjoyed top level mixed martial arts. Too many meatheads. Too many lousy fights promoted as classics. The mistakes of boxing repeated endlessly and in astonishing new ways, mixed with the panache of Vince McMahon style prowres. I shant be surprised at these things; just more or less like how I decided that I never wanted to eat McDonalds again because it was crap and haven't since, a recognition that it was somewhat of a waste. For example he X-1 review below only got posted a couple days ago, and yet was typed in March from notes written in February.

In part to question this attitude, I realized I should go back to those on the internet and the few in real life who have been around during various stages of my formative interest in the sport. After talking with them and internal diatribes, this blog is getting some changes. I'm not going to give up on MMA forever - having been watching it since I was a wee child excited over Tank Abbott's obesity powered right hands, it would be tough to totally break it. But I'm no longer at a point where watching major league MMA matters any more. I am what I am: The dude who watches terrible fights. At that level of the "sport", there is still the sense that continued success will bring about a sort of advancement. The belts are all meaningless garbage but at least there's a path they lead to.

More important to this is how I watch fights. So many of my reviews end up being play by plays. No one needs play by plays of bad fights. Nor do quips about the fight afterward reveal anything about the contestants. So, the reviews are changing. Format now:

Names(No longer all in caps because its annoying to type that way): description and background like the old days.

Result and rough description of the type of fight. D&R point system still in effect.

Winner: Strengths, weaknesses.

Loser: What they showed in the contest.

So for the 3 regular readers (Cory, Chris, uh, Lee maybe?), that lays it out. On with the show.