Blackeye Promotions: Rise of the Champions

Okay, another one from Fightzone TV. We've got Jay Adams and Greg Flowers calling this night of fights and I know nothing about it except it looks like it's in a really scummy locale. Okay, so its North Carolina. Greg Flowers just told me so.

1) Wesley Evans vs. Vinny Alberico: Amateur welterweights.

FIGHT: Alberico TKO Rnd 1. Super fast fight. Evans is out from a short right that he walks into and gets pounded out along the cage. Sorta shameful. Looked like he was almost hit with a jab.

2) Matt Tran vs. Shane Tyner: Pro debuts for both at 135. Tran is 5'10''.

FIGHT: Tran Unanimous Decision. Not much of a fight - Tyner gets put on his back over and over, his wrestling being largely ineffective. When it does work in the second, he's still doing nothing but trying to escape kimuras and triangles. Tran's wrestling isn't bad but its not great either. Sorta a decent BJJ guy but not much beyond that. (0)

3) Chris Cain vs. Justin Marks: Bantamweight pro bout. Cain is a guy they want to push, it would seem.

FIGHT: Marks Unanimous Decision. Rashad basically says at the start that he thinks Marks is better than his 4-3 record - he's right. Marks is a submission guy all the way and he's tying up Marks in pretzels. He's not finishing, sure, but he's constantly in dominant positions and putting him in danger. Not much of a wrestler, no striking, Marks is straight BJJ all the way and admits it afterwards; "If that was a jiujitsu tournament, I don't even know how many points that was...if he didn't respect it before, he does now." (0)

4) Dustin Center vs. Jacob Allman: Dudes. Undefeated dudes. Lightweight dudes.

FIGHT: Allman Submission Rnd 1. Allman is a wrestler and that makes him good at guillotines. That's what Joe Rogan told me. Center just gave up the neck in the saddest fashion while inside the guard of Allman after catching a kick and pushing him down. (0)

5) Frank Waszut vs. Johnny Buck: 175lb catchweight main event. Waszut is the GINGER SAMURAI.

FIGHT: Buck TKO Rnd 3. Every round, its the same thing - clinch, Waszut gets taken down/thrown, Buck takes dominant position and punches the shit out of him. This continues until about 2:15 is left in the third and the ref stops it. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Cain/Marks

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Allman/Center

KO OF THE NIGHT: Alberico/Evans

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. Should be renamed "Rise of the Journeymen". Completely skippable.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (6/12/2011)

Skipping a couple episodes to come back to eventually.

1) Chandra Engle vs. Rachel Dovidio:Women's Amateur 135lb fight. Engle is from the dutch enclave of East Grand Rapids, MI. Dovidio is from North Carolina. Pretty amazing that NAAFS is attracting lots of out of state fighters for amateur bouts. Apparently Rachel is also a Marine.

FIGHT: Dovidio . Not a bad showing. Again, with the low amount of talent here in women's MMA, Dovidio kinda runs over Engle and forces her on the defensive at all times. You see better women's fighters (Jessica Eye or Rhonda Rousey, who may be announcing here on color) basically pulling KOTC specials on this level of card. Dovidio can't finish, gets flipped, and even gets taken down in the second. She's better in every way but doesn't show a clear difference in physical talents. Maybe Engle is just a tough, seasoned amateur MMA fighter who's gone through the fires of Michigan nightclub fights. But I feel like this is a fight Dovidio should have dominated. (0)

2) Bill Algeo vs. Aaron Bartow: Lightweight bout. Ammy fight.

FIGHT: Algeo Submission Rnd 1. Just ran over Bartow. Lands looping right hands over the lazy striking of Bartow, gets him down, beats him up, KOTC special with the RNC finish. (0)

3) Chris Lozano vs. Gerric Hayes: Bounce back fight for Lozano. Seems to be a catchweight around 175.

FIGHT: Lozano TKO Rnd 1. Still not a great showing from Lozano, who at one point gives his back and has his belly down on the mat defending a RNC about 30 seconds in. But he keeps himself out of big problems, gets on top, gets the fight stood up, hurts Hayes with a rabbit punch (unintentional) caused by Hayes bending over, and as Hayes tries to duck and stumble away he eats a high kick to the head and is out cold. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. Bounce fight for a mid level guy and some prospect amateur fights that aren't offensively bad. Flat out comical horror response from the Algeo win when the crowd obviously was behind the other guy and went silent.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (5/22/2011)

Missed a couple episodes I think. Oh well. No great loss. Tonight's show is from the 4/16/2011 NAAFS Caged Vengeance 9 card in Cleveland and is headlined by Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian.

1) Curt Lemmon vs. Mark Garcher: Garcher looks all stoked and muscular and Lemmon has fancy trunks with a sorta Spiderman pattern thing going on. Amateur fight among middleweights.

FIGHT: Lemmon TKO Rnd 2. Competitive bout with Garcher being a predictable face forward bruiser and Lemmon being more of a defensive BJJ guy with straighter punches, less of a mean streak, and some cool leg sweeps in the clinch. Garcher's physical strength and gorilla style determination keep him in the fight longer than it probably should have, while Lemmon eventually lands a left hook early on in the second and then follows Garcher to the mat, landing punches until we get a stoppage. Nothing spectacular. (0)

2) Brandon Saling vs. John Fields: Fields is a big lanky black guy and Saling is doing a Chuck Liddell impression in every way imaginable. Middleweight pro bout.

FIGHT: Saling TKO Rnd 1. Both guys suffer eye pokes and there's some sloppy grappling along with lots of power punching. Saling's stuff has more behind it, I would venture to say, and Fields drops like 5 times in this fight from right hands, left hooks, and lots of short uppercuts. He just crumbles time and time again. Eventually he gives his back after one of these crumblings and the RNC is applied with just 2 seconds left. Saling is doing his alpha male thing here and that's OK. Unfortunately he has a lot of defensive liabilities to make it very far in the sport. Fields, who has a .500 record pro and amateur mixed, is clearly going nowhere fast. (0)

3) Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian: Knabjian almost got on TUF. Duell was never invited. Now we have this welterweight attraction.

FIGHT: Duell TKO Rnd 2. Monster KO from a high kick in the second round as Duell times the robotic wrestleboxer Knabjian coming in with a lead right hand. Duell looks much more fluid and competent as a striker - he's going to the body, the head, throwing liver kicks, all that stuff. But he does still pull straight back too often, his chin can be left high, he doesn't have the best balance, and I'm not sure he has anything on his punches. Is he closing his fists fully or just throwing stuff out there to have the handspeed advantage? He didn't dent Knabjian with anything until the kick landed. But land it did. There's a lot of guys I'd like to see Duell in with and some of them are reasonable picks. Meanwhile, there's Knabjian, who is going to be a journeyman or retire. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 6 out of 10. No great fights, but there's some entertainment here, particularly with the main event and some of the sloppy openers.

Fight Time 4 (4/1/2011)

Okay, time for the fourth in of the promotion's events. Main event is Tony Lopez vs. Jeff Monson, which is a pretty good ass fight. Alex Donno and Din Thomas announcing.

1) Harry Holton vs. Jeremie Wilson: Some dudes I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Wilson TKO Rnd 1. Holton gets taken down, laid on in side control, and then gets pounded out with short elbows. Shitty fight. (0)

2) Bruce Bellochi vs. Jesus Rodriguez: Heavyweight bout. Not excited about this either. Rodriguez is an ex-boxer or something with no Boxrec profile.

FIGHT: Bellochi TKO Rnd 1. Early stop I think intended to protect Bellochi, who has some sort of connection to the promoter. He was badly hurt earlier in the first during what was basically a toughman fight. Crap. (0)

3) Jay Ellis vs. Rafael Dias: Dias is a prospect of sorts that I've seen a few times now.

FIGHT: Dias Submission Rnd 1. Another easy, meaningless fight for Dias. He rushes Ellis, slams him, takes the back immediately, and gets a RNC inside of 30 seconds. (1)

4) Roy Bradshaw vs. Mike Bruno: Bradshaw at least has the nickname of "Precious". Sifl N Olly inspired?

FIGHT: Bruno Submission Rnd 1. Headlock or bulldog choke? Who can tell? Point is that it was another non-competitive fight in a fight promotion with lots of them historically. Bruno gets a takedown almost immediately and works to side control. Bradshaw tries to get out and gets grabbed by the head its torqued. (1)

5) Danceton Holcomb vs. Joe Watson: Watson is from ATT. This is really an ATT promotion, so....

FIGHT: Watson TKO Rnd 1. Holcomb throws wild shots and gets countered constantly by the straighter blows of Watson. (1)

6) Jeff Monson vs. Tony Lopez: YOUR MAIN EVENT. A 5 round ISKA MMA title bout. Am I excited to see this? Not really TBH.

FIGHT: Monson Unanimous Decision. Not much to break down in the fight because it was a consistent replay every round of the same thing; Monson shoots, takes down Lopez, gets dominant positions, can't finish, doesn't strike much to set up anything, Lopez breaks loose or changes the position with seconds remaining in the round, bell. The biggest difference was Lopez stopping a shot from Monson in the final couple minutes of the 5th and pancaking him, landing blows while on top of Monson. Did it win him the fight? No. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Holcomb/Watson

KO OF THE NIGHT: Bellochi/Rodriguez

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Dias/Ellis

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Lots of meaningless squashes punctuated by a terrifically dull main event. Skippable in its entirety. Show was so bad it was a month to the day that I started this review that I finished it.

Ultimate Glory: 2010-2011 World Series Finals (/2011

Oh man - true story. Did you know that this tape came back with Mike Miller in his checked bag? Its true. I'm posting that story because no one ever reads this blog in spite of it being practically out in the open, and so its worth noting. More about that in a second. This show features the finals of the United Glory welterweight MMA tourney and then SO MUCH MORE. And by so much more, I mean kickboxing. The version on HDNet has Schiavello and Trigg with overdubbed commentary.

1) Igor Jurkovic vs. Pavel Zhuravlev: Heavyweight kickboxing madness. I'm sure it'll suck but whatever.

FIGHT: Jurkovic KO Rnd 2. Not a very action packed round but Zhuravlev seems to be looking to take a seat on the canvas. Jurkovic helps him by popping him hard early in the second and breaking both his nose and will to fight. Well, not that it even existed early on.

2) Denis Stojnic vs. Mlanden Kujundzic: Stojnic kinda sucks and looks like a roided up European guy. Probably because he is. The other guy is some random Croatian coming in on 2 days notice. Who is? I have no idea.

FIGHT: Stojnic Submission Rnd 1. Ugly grappling fight with both guys pursuing takedowns, no one really getting one except for Stojnic early in the round, and otherwise its all about Stojnic stopping Kujundzic's lousy singles, getting on top, and going for things. There's attempts for heel hooks and chokes and stuff and eventually he uses a head crank to get a RNC sinched in and forces a tap. (1)

3) Errol Zimmerman vs. Mourad Bouzidi: Bouzidi is a aging journeyman who is well skilled and Zimmerman is a lazy but talented kickboxer who should be a lot more than what he is.

FIGHT: Zimmerman Unanimous Decision. Lazy fight from Zimmerman who drops Bouzidi twice with hooks as Bouzidi comes forward, but Zimmerman puts in no serious attempt at ending this fight or even throwing punches most of the time. He looks a bit soft - apparently not training much and fucking Thai chicks is his routine these days. Good for him and shit, but man, he could be so much more.

4) Mark Miller vs. Nicolaj Falin: A little bird who told me the story about Miller bringing the show back in his luggage also was the one who booked him for this show. I guess I won't name him in case anyone actually does see this, but you can probably guess who that is. Anyhow, apparently Golden Glory cheap out on airfare, so Miller ended up taking a wild number of connections to get to Moscow and had a bunch of flights cancel on him. Yikes. But he got there and his luggage arrived with him (along with Mighty Mo) - I guess that would be extra important since he needed the bag to bring back footage for airing in the US. Oh, and another BTW: Get on Golden Glory's case about visas that way you don't have to call Brazilian Godfathers up to help make things happen.

FIGHT: Miller TKO Rnd 1. Most everyone knows about this already because it was a big news story in the MMA blogs. Miller came back from heart surgery and won in about 8 seconds landing a overhand right over a lazy right from Falin that he landed with his eyes closed. Can't do that buddy.

5) Mighty Mo vs. Sergei Kharitonov: Sergei had the big win in the SF tourney, but this bout is a kickboxing fight. Why? I have no idea. Would be better as a MMA fight. Less risk. But then I'm not managing these guys careers, am I? Mo is super fat. Sergei is soft too.

FIGHT: Kharitonov TKO Rnd 1. Man, this was sorta shameful. Kharitonov was hit a couple of times, but that's not really the story. The story is that Sergei did a terrible job using his height advantage, kept going inside with the smaller man and nullifying that advantage, and then won with an uppercut that laid Mo out.

6) Zabid Samedov vs. Ali Cenik: Kickboxing bout with Samedov being a guy notorious for being boring.

FIGHT: Draw. Boring as expected. Samedov probably deserved the decision and this would have gone to a sudden death round in K-1. Oh well. Both guys are small heavyweights and threw a lot of leg kicks. Samedov also ran a lot. The end.

7) Jason Jones vs. Shamil Abdulmuslimov: Jones I'm familiar with from a number of fights over the years. He was a favorite of M-1 for a time, actually. Abdulmuslimov probably fought there too but I can't remember him. Similar W-L records in terms of success.

FIGHT: Jones TKO Rnd 3. Not the most exciting fight. Some back and forth positioning battle BS with Jones often getting takedowns and then getting swept or turned over, and on the bottom he doesn't do a whole lot. Then again, Abdulmuslimov doesn't do much from the top position either. This pattern continues on and on until a standup due to inactivity in Round 3 - Abdulmuslimov shoots for the legs and eats a knee in the face from Jones. He's out cold. (0)

8) Nieky Holzken vs. Artur Kyshenko: This is a really good kickboxing fight among people in K-1 Max classes.

FIGHT: Kyshenko Unanimous Decision. Kyshenko outworks Holzken, lands a good mix of techniques, puffs up Holzken's eye, and so on.

9) Tommy Depret vs. Siyar Bahadurzada: And the finals of the welterweight tourney are at hand. AK-47 looks so old. He probably is!

FIGHT: Bahadurzada KO Rnd 2. Honestly, Bahadurzada looked not that great here. He got on top a couple times and actually pounded Depret out on the mat in the second after dropping him, but his mouth was open early in the second and he was getting landed on a bunch from Depret, who's a lousy striker. Doesn't look at that big as a welterweight either. Depret looked better than he often does, giving Siyar a serious run for his money before gassing out entirely. (2)

10) Gohkan Saki vs. Brice Guidon: Finals of the GG Heavyweight tourney in kickboxing. Saki's a legit talent of course.

FIGHT: Saki Unanimous Decision. He outworks Guidon, who still arm punches his way through fights with no real gumption or effort to win. Saki just cruises, drops Guidon early too.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bahadurzada/Depret

KO OF THE NIGHT: Jones/Abdulmuslimov

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: As an MMA event, 3 out of 10. Just a couple bad fights. Siyar should have punched his ticket to a big show, but he won't last there.

D&R Rating: 20% (3/15) for the MMA portion.

Superior Challenge 7: Rise of the Champions (

I actually have a half of a written report of Superior Challenge 2 from like 2 years ago that I never finished. Thanks to HDNet, I have this show to actually write about in full. Great production values for this show give that it is squarely a second tier event - Sweden's BAMMA, kinda.

1) Andreas Stahl vs. Johan Vanttinen: Swede vs. Finn. Both 3-0. I know nothing about them.

FIGHT: Stahl TKO Rnd 2. Man, this was a matter of time. Stahl stalks Vanttinen with punches and lands them seemingly at will when throwing because Vanttinen just moves straight back and doesn't tuck his chin. Stahl seems to be an OK grappler but nothing about his performance here jumps out at me. (0)

2) Lina Eklund vs. Kristina Talvosaite: Both are debuting as a pro and I think I'll go do the litter instead of paying sole attention to this. 60KG weight limit.

FIGHT: Eklund Submission Rnd 2. Terrible fight. Lots of clinching against the cage, lousy striking, ends when Eklund pulls the switch on Talvosaite after a failed shot by the Lithuanian fighter, takes the back and a choke. Whatever. (0)

3) James Doolan vs. Sirwan Kakai: Swede against Scottish fighter. Doolan has a record of 11-4-2, Kakai is 5-1. Not terrible.

FIGHT: Kakai Submission Rnd 2. Another second round stoppage - Kakai is super small for the bantamweight division but gets some decent takedowns and swings for the fences. Technically nothing spectacular that I saw, but he seems to be a decent athlete. He pulls a guillotine while Doolan was looking to scramble to his feet and forces the tapout. (0)

4) Mohsen Bahari vs. Farshad Farsiani: Lots of muslim immigrants to Scandic nations fighting for YOUR ENTERTAINMENT. Records are not spectacular.

FIGHT: Bahari TKO Rnd 2. Another fight that ends in the second, though this time it was due to Farsiani not making the bell for the start of the round. Bahari looks to land strikes and does so a lot. Farsiani looks to get the clinch and takedowns. He's not all that successful, instead at best stopping or slowing the assault of Bahari's wide punches and otherwise absorbing them while providing not much in terms of resistance. Not much I can take away from Bahari here other than he seems to be too square to be really mobile and stay away from having the clinch slow his attack. (0)

HELLBOY INTERVIEW~. Don't care at this point. 8 years to late to do so.

5) Bruno Carvalho vs. Kyacey Uscola: Holy shit, for real? MW contest.

FIGHT: Carvalho Submission Rnd 2. Uscola is the poor man's Sonnen and like the real thing, he's awful at defending subs. Here against a BJJ black belt, Uscola tries to keep distance and strike but doesn't do a whole lot of damage that way. When he gets near enough to Carvalho to grab, bad things happen. He's almost tapped in a matter of seconds at the end of the first and manages to stupidly shoot at Carvalho and get put on his back with that. While trying to scramble, he ends up giving his back and Carvalho transitions to an armbar and wrenches the shoulder out of the socket. Yikes. Lots of screaming in pain ensues. (1)

URIJAH FABER INTERVIEW~. Also don't give a shit here.

6) Robert Jocz vs. Tor Troeng: European biggish guys.

FIGHT: Troeng Unanimous Decision. Another fairly dull fight. Regional contenders in a "battle of positioning" where few meaningful strikes are thrown or landed, and there are some takedowns done by Troeng. Jocz goes for some halfassed submission attempts here and there and that's about it. The most forgettable MMA fight I can think of. (1)

7) Assan Njie vs. Beslan Isaev: Njie is supposed to be a prospect or something.

FIGHT: Njie Submission Rnd 1. We see Njie immediately shoot and get a monster double and then he works over Isaev some. I'm not really sold on his ability to escape the guard of his opponent, but he's got some healthy skill level on the mat, is never threatened with submissions, and eventually locks up a guillotine on Isaev that ends the fight as Isaev goes out. Njie needs to show that he can do this to legit wrestlers. (1)

8) Daniel Acacio vs. Diego Gonzalez: SC title belt on the line here in the welterweight division. Acacio is now named "The Viking Hunter". Oh, great.

FIGHT: Acacio Unanimous Decision. Thank god, this was only a three round fight, not five. Gonzalez is a chubby slugger guy and Acacio lands a billion leg kicks and punches on him, and also takes him down in every round of the fight and controls him on top after doing so. Acacio looks good here against limited competition, but then I think back as to how he hasn't won a meaningful fight in years. (1)

9) Reza Madadi vs. Rich Clementi: A Rich Clementi fight! Certainly, this will be a thing.

FIGHT: Madadi Unanimous Decision. The guy who isn't No Love wins a belt. Decent fight actually with Madadi winning by getting takedowns and being on top most of the fight, but Clementi made it a good show by pursuing a lot of submission attempts like knee bars and RNCs and the like, which Madadi skillfully avoided. Really cool rolling at points, like Madadi going for a double and Clementi trying to counter with an inverted triangle. (1)

10) Thales Leites vs. Jeremy Horn: Main event for the middleweight strap.

FIGHT: Leites Unanimous Decision. Basically, two guys jab at each other for 13 minutes, and Leites lands a few more jabs. Then he gets a takedown in the 3rd round and wins it by laying on Horn. Overall - do we learn anything new about either? No. Was it entertaining? No. Do either look like they have new wrinkles that change their career path away from "downward arc"? No. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Madadi/Clementi

KO OF THE NIGHT: Stahl/Vanttinen

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Carvalho/Uscola

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of ten. Some aging names alongside some no name = lousy, lousy show. Watch only the Uscola and Clementi fights if interested in anything here.

D&R Rating: 14% (7/50)

Titan Fighting Championships 18 (3/26/2011)

More Titan FC from Kansas City. Watching this made me realize I forgot to watch the last DREAM show. Ooops! Been busy for months.

1) Sean Wilson vs. Deryck Ripley: Battle of irrelevant fighters with bad records: Wilson is 27-15. Ripley 11-19.

FIGHT: Wilson Submission Rnd 1. Kinda goes like you might expect. Wilson gets taken down early but sweeps and starts looking for various locks. He drops for a toe hold and rolls into the lock getting the submission. (0)

2) Joe Wilk vs. Jesse Zeugin: Wilk comes out to the Degeneration X theme.

FIGHT: Wilk Submission Rnd 1. Grinds on Zeugin, gets him down, beats him up, takes the D'arce when Zeugin gives him the head and neck and finishes it. Not much to really say about this. Crowd is all hyped up. Wilk seems to be a decent wrestler. Can't say anything about his stand up. I don't think he's big for the weight class, which could be a problem. (0)

3) Nick Budig vs. Bobby Cooper: Bobby Cooper I have some familiarity with from prior shows. Budig is 5-1 and I know nothing about him.

FIGHT: Cooper Unanimous Decision. Okay, so Cooper beats the hell out of Budig, who has a lot of heart and is much smaller (this is a 175lb catchweight fight, so I can guess who is coming up). But Budig is very wild coming in, doesn't set stuff up, just throws wild right leads or looping left hooks, and ends up taking a lot of punches and kicks as a result. By round 2, he has an eye closed and he's limping in the 3rd. To Budig's credit, he has guts and keeps on coming. He does land on Cooper too, who doesn't move that well in the early going and only seems to pick up lateral movement as Budig slows. Cooper's hands are slow though, and he holds them low, so I think he probably gets trashed when he moves up another level in talent. (0)

4) Jared Rosholt vs. Kirk Grinlinton: Jared Rosholt is a heavyweight and a big ass wrestler who is young in his MMA career. And he's as good a wrestler as his brother. Grinlinton is 2-2. Both look a little "soft" but that's really a way of saying "natural". Also - he's sponsored by U-Haul! I love it.

FIGHT: Rosholt TKO Rnd 1. Seems like Rosholt takes his time and lets Grinlinton get a moment to test his standup ability. Then he shoots the double, gets the takedown, and beats the hell out of his opponent. Just work and experience. Grinlinton didn't keep his distance or commit to shots and got taken down off a left hook. (1)

5) Darryl Cobb vs. Rudy Bears: Rudy Bears I've seen getting drubbed in second tier shows for a long time. Cobb I don't have familiarity with. He did beat Gary Tapusoa who I know.

FIGHT: Bears Submission Rnd 1. Bears and Cobb stand and trade a little - Both guys have their chin up so its a question of who gets cracked first - Cobb does and he drops from a right hand. Bears almost locks in a RNC from a weird side position, but Cobb wriggles out. He's still buzzed, Bears actually gets the back control again, and gets it with a second attempt. (0)

6) Jake Rosholt vs. John Ott: Ott got this fight because he survived a fight with Bobby Lashley. Rosholt was in the UFC or WEC or something and got dropped because he got his ass beat. Oh well.

FIGHT: Ott DQ Rnd 3. What a joke. Ott is beaten senseless for 14 minutes in a fight that should have been stopped for brutal, brutal cuts all over his face that he clearly could not see through and threatened his career. Rosholt actually lets off the gas after that, but Ott finds his way into a knee when he's got a point down and, oh, big surprise, he can't continue. Rosholt loses by DQ and Ott probably should be seriously looked at before getting licensed again. Rosholt didn't really set up the takedowns at all and in the first, Ott actually put his head down and inside, apparently forgetting that he was about to get dragged down and mounted. Mediocrity all around. (1)

7) Brian Davidson vs. Jens Pulver: Jens against a guy with an above .500 record. I know how this story goes.

FIGHT: Davidson Submission Rnd 1. So the internet will argue that Pulver only got submitted. If you didn't watch the fight, that is your take. He gave up the neck because he was turtling from punches to the face, and he spent most of the short fight on wobbly legs or getting hit. He got a nice takedown early but can't pull the trigger on ANYTHING on the mat. Davidson looks good beating a shot wrestler, but its still a shot wrestler. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Cobb/Bears

KO OF THE NIGHT: Rosholt/Grinlinton

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Wilk/Zeugin

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Lots of scrubby fighting, but at least it was short thanks to the stoppages. I feel like there's another Josh Hendricks type heavyweight that made his TV debut here, a failed prospect, and a sad old shot fighter. Not much beyond that.

D&R Rating 11% (4/35)

BIG SHOW PREVIEW FOR UFC 130

I've missed the last couple Bellator cards, so no reviews there. Maybe when I get this spate of travelling and OT working done, it'll happen.

So UFC 130 is happening - the question about the main event is "Can Rampage be motivated enough to win?" That is the only interesting thing. I think 60% of Rampage demolishes 110% of Hammil. Rampage wins by TKO in a fight where the only drama is in the minds of a few hardcore fans like me.

Rick Story is super strong, but Alves is too. Considering that Story has had tough fights with less, I think he gets beaten up here. Safe pick with long time top 5 welter Alves.

Roy Nelson KOs the shit out of Frank Mir. Everyone thinks Nelson is an elite heavyweight afterwards except people who watched Nelson fights prior to TUF.

Browne KOs Struve inside a round.

Santiago KOs Stann. I know Stann hits hard and Santiago's chin is questionable, but c'mon. Santiago is a skilled fighter who's faced better.

Has anyone noticed that Demetrious Johnson got his ranking beating a guy who hadn't had a meaningful win in like 3 years? And by beating Damacio Page, who's fame comes from an episode of the unwatchable shitfest that was Tapout? Miguel Torres is winning a decision and brings the exciting back because he's easily hittable.

Kendall Grove beats the shit out of the Viking Boetsch. Guys moving down like this who were never that good at their original weight rarely work. He'll probably lose a lot of his strength and get KOed.

Tibau and Tractor are both top control guys. Who wins? The guy who is stronger. That's Tibau. Tibau wins.

Other fights I know not enough about both competitors to make a prediction.

Fight Time 3 (2/18/2011)

I wish I could have brought a review of Fight Time 2, but it was not to be. And they want like $1o on Gofightlive. This, meanwhile was on Sun Sports. How nice of them! Alex Donno is announcing along with Din Thomas on color. I also reviewed this whole thing and then Blogger lost it in its outage. Piece of shit.

1) Caleb Archer vs. Aaron Cerda: Rhadi Ferguson is the guest commentator for this bout.

FIGHT: Caleb Archer Unanimous Decision. Not a terrible fight at all. (1)

Archer: Has wild hair and thai boxing shorts, so I know what is gonna happen. He's sorta robotic and slow with his stuff, his thai plumb is pretty good, and he gets hit a ton by Cerda in the first round. To be honest, Archer nearly gets stopped that round and takes a beating that only ends and reverses when a very nervous and overactive Cerda gasses out totally. When that happens, Archer keeps coming forward and grinding on Archer. The more effective blows are thrown by Archer from the second round on, and when someone needs a takedown to enforce their lead in the fight, that man is Archer. I don't think Archer's traditional style of muay thai mixed with some grappling prowess will win him a lot of fights as he moves up the ladder, but he might be in some more fun scraps as time goes on.

Cerda: Karate background as a striker is nice I guess when it works. This is a guy for whom strikes are very fluid. He throws and throws and throws and moves and moves and then, oh, wait, he did too much without doing enough damage and the tank is empty early on. You can't jump around if you aren't setting stuff up or moving to get position. Jumping to jump is a bad idea. Being technically superior and better minded to fight doesn't matter if you don't have the energy to work. Archer survives the first 3 minutes and then starts grinding away.

2) Bruce Bellochi vs. Sid Carlton: Fat heavyweights.

FIGHT: Bruce Bellochi TKO Rnd 1. Fat dudes swinging. One of them wins. Both are gassed. (0)

3) Rafael Dias vs. Chris Ensley: Dias is a prospect, Ensley is not.

FIGHT: Dias Submisson Rnd 1. Mugging as Dias comes right at his man throwing bombs, gets taken down with a headlock into a throw, but reverses position soon enough, gets the mount, and gets an armbar while Ensley tries to escape/gives up. (1)

4) Marcio Armeli vs. Doug Rossi: Dudes.

FIGHT: Armeli TKO Rnd 1. Rossi goes the Carlson Gracie route of flailing and clinching for a takedown. He's flipped straight out of side control and gets kimura'ed in like a grand total of 30 seconds. (1)

5) Hansel Calderon vs. Robb Chadwick: More dudes I don't know.

FIGHT: Calderon TKO Rnd 1. Another mugging with Calderon getting the stop by TKO in 22 seconds after throwing around Chadwick like a rag doll and rushing him. (1)

6) Mike Bruno vs. Avery McPhatter: Some guy against a former noted prospect. I have expectations here, gotta admit.

FIGHT: Bruno Unanimous Decision. I dunno, Bruno gets a lot of takedowns, gets tired, and McPhatter basically gets dominated in top position. He has some success in the third round as Bruno tires out but even then, he's still on the bottom pretty much that whole round too. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Archer/Cerda

KO OF THE NIGHT: Calderon/Chadwick

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Dias/Ensley

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of ten. Some squashes, fat man fight, and a mediocre, boring decision in the main event against irrelevant guys. There's some prospects in bad fights here so that sorta matters but so much of this doesn't.

D&R Rating: 13% (4/30)

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Redemption On The River (2/17/2006)

#7
Redemption On The River (2/17/06)

After another stinker, back to a PPV card. This time it eminates from the Mark Of The Quad Cities in Moline, where the IFL has run twice and is in a pretty serious MMA lovin' area. Lots of stupendous talent on this card to get excited for also and some realy intruiging matchups. Announcers are Eric Apple and JENS. Oh, and Terry Treblecock. Rounds are 3 minutes because we're in Illinois and it is February 2006.

1) BILLY AYASH vs. DENNIS REED: Ayash has a couple bullshit belts and trains with Franklin. Dennis Reed is cited as "growing all sorts of stuff in the background."

Reed gets the takedown and Pulver and Treblecock note that he's really good at getting takedowns and then gassing out after 45 seconds. This is exactly what happens. As he gasses, Ayash is able to get out from underneath, and as they scramble, Reed is plunked out with a right hand to the jaw.

2) MATT JAGGERS vs. JUSTIN ROBBINS: Robbins is 5-0 but naturally the smaller man in this 145lb bout to Jaggers, who is making his pro debut and looks about 12.

This is another short but glorious bout. Jaggers gets the take down and gets in side control. His attempt to move to mount is easily nullified and Robbins gets guard. Not long after comes a triangle attempt, and Jaggers fully elevates Robbins for a power bomb escape. It breaks the hold momentarily but he's so far in it Robbins is able to reapply the triangle before Jaggers can reassess his position and escape.

3) WAYNE WEEMS vs. BART PALASZEWSKI: Its hard to believe that of the two, Weems is the dude who was in UFC. Bartimus will eventually. Or the UFC will collapse like a house of cards. Who knows?

Weems lands a single right hand that breaks Palaszewski's nose. After that, Bartimus turns it up, takes down Weems and beats the living shit out of him as Weems gives up his back and does nothing to defend himself. Short, but its something.

4) JASON REINHARDT vs. MIKE LINDQUIST: Reinhardt was tooled badly in his UFC debut recently and is pretty old. Lindquist is said to be 10-4 coming in.

Reinhardt throws a knee to the nuts early in the fight and is pissed that Lindquist complained and got time, so he takes him down, beats on him a little, and then gets the choke out. Reinhardt is an intense competitor but ridiculously limited strategically. Lindquist has gone 2-11-1 since this fight.

5) CLAY GUIDA vs. TRISTEN YUNKER: Yunker is huge at 6'3'' and Guida is a dude you should damn well know already. Yunker has had a mixed bag of success since being on one of the IFO's shows (though I don't remember his bout with Rob Kimmons) and recently on HDNet Fights losing to Pete Spratt.

Another short fight, but not at all as expected for me, having not looked up the results ahead of time. Yunker goes for the single leg and gets it, picking up Guida and slamming him (though Guida almost pushes off the cage to get a reversal tornado DDT style). Yunker quickly gets the back and both hooks, and though Guida struggles with him for a few seconds, Yunker eventually gets under the chin and wins the fight. Wow.

6) JOHN STRAWN vs. JOE JORDAN: Both men have fought basically all over the place. They don't usually win when they're far from their hometowns though in the midwest.

Mediocre fight for the first two round with Jordan dominant in top position. Round three is a significant change of pace as Jordan decides, for whatever reason, not to engage Strawn for takedowns and control but rather in a Dana White favorite: the pier six standup brawl. Jordan eventually gets the win with a highlight reel KO via looping overhand right. Decent fight though, automatically FOTN thus far because it went past 1 minute.

7) JOEY CLARK vs. BRIAN GASSAWAY: Clark is a pretty experienced local fighter and Brian Gassaway has been in MMA since the dawn of time, initally appearing on awful IFC shows and shit like that.

First round is short but interesting with Joey Clark getting a Sashimi Ippon Mothra (or something) early on and then tries to get a north/south choke. Failing that, he lets it back up to the feet where they clinch up. Gassaway tries to suplex him but doesn't have enough strength and Clark lands back in side control. He holds on there until Gassaway somehow pulls around him and nearly gets a rear naked choke. Round ends pretty soon after.

Rounds 2 and 3 fall into a pattern in which Clark gets the takedown, gets mount, gets bucked off or moves to side control, and then back to mount, and then cycles again. Dull stuff. The crowd boos the end of the fight and Clark gets a unanimous decision. Andrei Arlovski is in the crowd.

8) GIDEON RAY vs. BRENDAN SEGUIN: Ray’s been in pretty much all the big shows and Seguin is making another appearance on these reviews.

First round sees Seguin get the takedown and take top position with Ray against the cage. Not a lot of offense gets put in by Seguin in the dominant position, and with the round winding down, Ray scissors the leg of Seguin and rolls for a kneebar. Seguin defends and Ray does it again, this time going for a heel hook and succeeding.

9) TREVOR BARRETT vs. TERRY MARTIN: Barrett is a career loser and Martin worships Mike Tyson in copying his nickname, towel, and black trunks.

Martin wins by KO in the first round. I’m shocked. He also does get a nice takedown/slam in also.

10) VICTOR MORENO vs. LAVERNE CLARK: Victor Moreno is a mediocre fighter and Laverne Clark is a name those watching for eons should know from the olden days of UFC as a “professional boxer” turned MMA fighter. FUN NOTE: Clark faced 5 future or past world champions as a boxer. He lost to all of them. In fact, he never went the distance with any.

This is actually a pretty fun fight that Clark largely controls. The first round is almost all standup but subsequent ground fighting is primarily consistent with Clark in control on top and Moreno largely ineffective with the guard. Clark also lands some wild shots at times. No worse than most of the UFC’s recent major fights, as Clark wins a 3 round decision.

11) CHARLES “CRAZY HORSE” BENNETT vs. JEFF CURRAN: Intros not necessary.

Short but immensely entertaining. Some decent standup with Bennett throwing body punches that surprised Curran and the two trading slams early with Bennett throwing a SHOOT BACKDROP DRIVER~! No real shock that Bennett gets tapped with an armbar in the first round but it was great while it lasted.

12) SHONIE CARTER vs. JASON BLACK: Another fight where no real introduction is necessary. That always rules.

Another short but unsatisfying fight. Carter and Black tussle in the clinch early, and Carter gets the takedown. In doing so, Black is injured and Carter gets a W. I have to admit in thinking about it that I’m shocked Carter isn’t in the UFC still. He could provide decent tests for young 170lb fighters and he’s someone the crowd can get into.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bennett/Curran - Fun fight, though short. Lots of great action throughout.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Jordan/Strawn - Brutal KO.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ray/Seguin - I'm a sucker for leg locks when they actually happen.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10. Probably the high water mark for these shows. Unfortunately there's 18 to go. Fuuuuuuuck.

BIG SHOW REVIEW WEEK OF 5/7

So this didn't get posted because Blogger was down for like two days. Oh well.

ULTIMATE FIGHTER 13:

Chuck O'Neil wins with a d'arce against Torres, who doesn't do anything but try and wall and stall in fights. Torres just doesn't belong in the top tiers of the sport. Can't check leg kicks, can't throw good punches. O'Neil is no superman either - he's throwing hooks and leaning back while he does it. But he's a better grappler and won. Dominated in top control in the second.

BELLATOR 43:

Rich Bouphanouvong had strong takedowns and nothing else. Not all that effective in GnP, leaves limbs and the head out there. Watch out for that triangle from David Rickles! Oh. Too late.

Vince Lucero was fat and out of shape, ends up on his back and then gets a kimura. Classic strong man submission from Ron Sparks.

Jose Vega shoots on the wrestler Chase Beebe, gets guillotined. Not like Chase didn't go for that 3-4 times in the fight beforehand. Oh. He did. Beebe has now won 6 of his last 7, but hasn't beaten a single meaningful opponent in years. Closest to it was Mike Easton in a lousy decision he lost, but Mike Easton kinda sucks.

Joe Riggs is washed up. What will we tell the papers? Oh, he's still a UFC vet and DANGEROUS. Well, a danger to himself, sure. Baker clobbered him at distance while Riggs could only windmill forwards.

In the welterweight tournament fighter, there were two grapplers tenatively stiking and one wins because he threw about 5 more shots. Rick Hawn landed the best punch of the fight in the second and did so little else in the bout that he ended up losing a split decision that even he admitted he lost. Jay Hieron, meanwhile, is the poor man's GSP. I still think he's fighting hurt. No takedown attempts at all. Only some odd spinning kicks along with the jab for offense. Didn't move very well.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (3/27/2011)

This show is edited from Caged Fury 14, held on 2/26/2011. Decent main event.

1) Bill Algeo vs. Victor Crenshaw: There's a new team Titan in PA. Wonder if they have decent fighters, unlike the other one in OK. Lightweight amateur bout.

FIGHT: Algeo TKO Rnd 2. Sorta an ugly fight. Crenshaw was landing some really good shots and spinning Algeo's head around along with having top control when the fight was on the mat, until a punch partially lands right on Crenshaw's eye. The fight is stopped, doctors check Crenshaw, and they restart. Crenshaw is blinking a ton though, and Algeo gets close, clinches, and takes down Crenshaw, leading to a GnP finish. (0)

2) Tyler Saltsman vs. Isiah Chapman: "The fight we've been waiting for". Who is we? Another bout with a Team Titan guy (Saltsman).

FIGHT: Chapman Unanimous Decision. Close, competitive fight with Saltsman going for takedowns, occasionally getting them, but never being on top long in the first or second. Chapman lands some decent strikes in the standup and that basically wins him the fight. The third is all Saltsman, who gets on top early after being busy to start and picks up the round by controlling the rest of the 3 minute round. Chapman needs to work on his wrestling BIG TIME. (0)

3) Dan Spohn vs. Josh Hendricks: Hendricks was a heavyweight gatekeeper, solid wrestler, and UFC vet. Spahn has a few decent wins in NAAFS' weak 205lb weight class. Kinda interesting fight.

FIGHT: Spohn TKO Rnd 1. Spohn lands some solid blows early in the round and Hendricks is forced to shoot. Spohn ends up on his back, and gets tagged with a elbow or two that opens a bad cut over the left eye, and Spohn wins the fight as a result. Hendricks even seems to have a knee problem as he limps around. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. Decent amateur fights with some skilled guys not embarrassing themselves, and a let down of a main event that still matters.

WEC 5: Halloween Havoc (10/18/2002)

At Tachi Palace in the desert. Jeff Weller (IFC dude and ring announcer for early WECs) is dressed like Gene Simmons. Jesus, old people. This show is 45 minutes long and was included on Bad Breed TV 2.

1) Gabe Ruediger vs. Sam Wells: CAKE.

FIGHT: Wells TKO Rnd 1. Surprised by the outcome, to be honest. Ruediger got an outside trip takedown to start and I was thinking he was gonna walk this. Instead, Wells escapes out the back, slams down Ruediger during a guillotine attempt, and controls him on top. Then after they go back to the standup, Wells lands a few straight punches and Ruediger goes down. (1)

2) Chris Moody vs. Diallo Baza: Baza is from AKA. Fight is at 185.

FIGHT: Baza TKO Rnd 2. Moody rushes Baza at the start and shows his wrestling prowess by getting the fight down (and nearly toppling the cage when he pushes Baza into it). They trade takedowns and position pretty much the entire first round. Moody is completely out of gas after 5 minutes and ends up getting taken down right at the start of the second, and Baza gets to his back. After the RNC doesn't come for a minute and a half, Baza transitions to mount and punches Moody until the ref stops it. Neither guy has really gone anywhere since. (0)

3) Tim Kennedy vs. Mack Brewer: Kennedy at this point was training at The Pit. He also has a black eye. Brewer looks like a schlub and the announcers state he was drinking beer at the weigh in.

FIGHT: Kennedy TKO Rnd 1. KOTC special with Kennedy getting a nice slam off the single at the start and he pounds out Brewer after getting to mount and forcing Brewer to roll to his stomach. (1)

4) Rich Crunkilton vs. Victor Estrada: Crunkilton comes in dressed like Hannibal Lector and no one bothers to keep the camera on him, instead focusing on the scummy ring girls. Estrada is apparently a WEC and IFC vet. Josh Thomson in the corner of Crunkilton.

FIGHT: Crunkilton TKO Rnd 1. Estrada drops Crunkilton early and then goes for a guillotine. Crunkilton slams and later pulls his head out, but Estrada goes for an armbar. Nearly got it too. Crunkilton pulls out from it and then when they are both standing, we have a body lock and Crunkilton does a belly to belly. Estrada lands awkwardly and hurts his ankle, turtles up immediately, and the ref stops it after a couple of shots. Crunkilton shows that his chin is touchable and that he's not that good at preventing subs from the bottom. That came to be important later on in his career. (1)

5) Jeff Bedard vs. Antonio Banuelos: 135lb fight. Banuelos was a big draw in California for a little while. Bedard comes from Colorado and got to fight with the WEC many years later on Versus.

FIGHT: Bedard Submission Rnd 1. Man, Bedard runs over Banuelos. He gets the takedown immediately is in half guard, and then postures up. Banuelos puts his head in for the guillotine and gets tapped in like 30 seconds. (1)

6) Cole Escovedo vs. Philip Perez: Main event time. Escovedo was nearly crippled at one point and made a strong enougn comeback that he fought in Japan's big leagues, incredibly.

FIGHT: Escovedo Submission Rnd 1. Perez gets knocked down with a jab very early, but still goes for the takedown. Clearly, he's a grappler who looks for positional control, but Escovedo is better than that. Cole's not the superior wrestler per se, but he sweeps Perez once and catches him with a triangle later in the round to end it. In between, Escovedo gets back to his feet and lands with the foot when throwing a high kick against Perez. Not that great a fight or anything. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Moody/Baza

KO OF THE NIGHT: Wells/Ruediger

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Escovedo/Perez

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Nonessential fights with prospects who occasionally did things in MMA.

D&R Rating: 20% (6/30)

BIG SHOW REVIEW WEEK OF 5/2

UFC 129:

Pablo Garza looks to be in an entirely different weight class than Yves Jabouin. Pencil legs or not, it seems like this should be a walk in the park. Garza can't check kicks at all though. It doesn't matter here because he pulls into a flying triangle and eventually locks that in to win by submission, but against a bigger, stronger guy, it will be relevant and it will matter.

Makdessi was on a season of TUF that I should have recapped and didn't and now I don't remember anything about it. Oops. So here he fights Kyle Watson and basically dismantles him. Joe Rogan in this fight (along with the Rory MacDonald fight) did a very good job breaking down not only what Makdessi was doing well but why it was working well on Watson, who's chin was vertical and head unmoving. Even dropped Bill Superfoot Wallace's name. Makdessi does very impressive looking kicks, no doubt about it, but he still has a tendency to shuffle straight back when someone comes forward at him, no doubt something that is ingrained from years of point karate. He's also a small guy. No reason to lie about that. People who are that undersized have a tough time competing in a sport filled with powerful, skilled wrestlers.

Daniel Roberts is a top control grappler who throws a lot of arm punches or shots across his body. Against Claude Patrick, he was in deep against a guy who is as skilled a takedown artist, a better striker, and better at submissions. End results: Roberts loses a decision, gets hit in the face a few times, is on his back more than on top, and eats low kicks. Patrick is a skilled all around fighter who doesn't give a star vibe but has consistently strung together wins, sometimes struggling, but still getting Ws against largely an equivalent level of competition. When does he step up?

Ellenberger/Pierson went not entirely as expected. I expected Pierson to be good enough to hang with Ellenberger for a little while. Instead he walked into left hook twice, the second time causing his body to shut off and he sorta topples to the mat.

Menjivar/Valencia was possibly the fight I was most excited for off the main card. Hell, even among fights on the main card I was most excited for it. Instead, it had a cool finish but not much else. Menjivar and Valencia were in the clinch and Menjivar cracks him with a tight thai elbow that blows up Valencia's face. Nothing super fancy, nothing innovative. All effective. All technique.

When we get to Nate Diaz's fight against Rory McDonald, man, how have I ignored that Diaz has a sub .667 record all this time? Seems like he has been more successful given the fight with Gray Maynard and stuff like that. In this fight, I thought McDonald would have a significant disadvantage with Diaz's wild boxing style and grappling. Bzzz. Wrong. What Rory did was nullify Nate's attack by closing the distance and clinching (forcing Diaz to rely on very poor wrestling) any time the bout got to boxing range. Otherwise, it was low kicks, low kicks, low kicks. By the third, Nate had been ground down enough that McDonald, the stronger of the two men, started throwing him around like a rag doll and was on top without fear of submission. Very smart plan. To Nate Diaz's credit, he got some separation and landed blows in the second round, but McDonald stayed composed and would immediately clinch after being hit.

What was Ryan Jensen's gameplan with Jason MacDonald? I have no idea after seeing that. Looks like he thought he'd just bomb him out with wide looping shots. Instead MacDonald shoots, takes him down, and runs a clinic on him en route to an easy triangle win. Jensen needs to get a pink slip. That simple.

Randy Couture: Please stay away from the Octagon. Its not a thing of hatred. You just don't have it anymore. And against Machida, you probably never would have had "it" to begin with. The athleticism is gone and now guys have much superior technique too. Couture was treated like a moving punching bag. All the talk about the brilliant Randy gameplan flew in the face of flatfooted, following Randy Couture of the last two Liddell fights. That's who we got here.

Want to see two overrated lightweights fight one another? Ben Henderson's win against Mark Bocek is your fight. I guess that's not fair because no one that meant anything ranked Bocek, but you have a couple guys with OK wrestling kickboxing and occasionally pummelling and sometimes being on the mat. Henderson's a better athlete with better standup and even though his takedown defense is so-so, that's enough of a combination to prevent Bocek being on top for more than two minutes in the fight. In the interim, Henderson lands better shots and wins rounds or forces the fight down with his strength to having top position. I dunno, I'm not sold on Henderson and until he frequently beats top guys, I never will be.

Jose Aldo's performance in defending his title is not easy to sum up in a single sentence. Was it disappointing? I guess. Its what I expected though. He got hit a lot more in this fight after fighting super busy and fast in the first, and gassed out, even losing the 5th round to the Elephant Man. But my expectations are naturally a low lower than most, who see Aldo as top 3 pound for pound. Aldo got takedowns and had dominant positions on the mat against a guy who has repeatedly been exposed as being lousy off his back or defending submissions. Aldo should have tapped him in the first. Instead, he went for GnP and not even to really pass. Hominick is a known quantity, and beating him for four rounds and then losing the fifth is OK and whatever else, but you gotta take him out to show that you're world class, and he didn't do that. The right hands he landed were fine and hurt Hominick; OK. The elbow caused what should have been a fight ending hematoma. Alright. I don't care. Aldo should have won by armbar 4 minutes in after his takedown midway through the round. He didn't. He even lost the final round and got beat up in doing so. Exposed.

Finally, we arrive at the main event. George St. Pierre's gameplan I understand. Makes sense. Meant that he was so far ahead after 3 that he could coast (as he had to) and win the fight with only one eye against the guy who was argurably the best contender for a world title in two weight classes. But still, I'm bothered that he didn't show another gear and start stringing together combinations and demolishing Shields. Jake never would have had the chance to poke him like that in the 3rd if Shields had taken him out in the second, and it wouldn't have taken much more than throwing a second jab followed by a straight right or uppercut and working the body to drop Shields' hands. Jake did nothing round after round and smiled because, presumably, he won a round and did better therefor than most everyone else GSP has fought since the first Serra fight. I dunno, whatever. No one is gonna care 20 years from now that Shields did incrementally better than Dan Hardy or Thiago Alves.

INSERT NUMETAL INTRO HERE TUF 13

Lew Polley goes home, some jobbers got hurt, and WOW. Who cares.

Tony Ferguson and Justin Edwards kick it off and they went at it. Ferguson throws some solid punches - tighter stuff, good hooks and uppercuts. Edwards wants takedowns and Ferguson keeps busy on his back and gets up. But when Edwards stands out of the guard and looks to try and pass, and he's hit with a heel upkick and Edwards is out. Dana is so stoked at a 4 minute fight. OK, I guess? Ferguson has some of the best creds on the show.

Zach Davis fights Chuck O'Neil in the second fight of the episode. Another fight Dana loved for reasons I cannot ascertain. Davis gets a takedown early and lands some okay shots, gets up to pass, does so, gets swept while going for a kimura, and then locks in a triangle. Apparently Chuck O'Neil is some sort of warrior because he's a grappling warrior. I dunno. He gets picked along with Torres for the wildcard. Hoofuckingray.

PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS:

Last week: 7-3

Overall for 2011: 32-15

Bellator 43:

Rick Hawn shouldn't beat Jay Hieron. I've said it before. He might though given how mediocre Hieron looked in his last fight. I think Hieron has a bad wheel but even with an injury that he's keeping quiet, he should still have good enough striking to outland Hawn on the feet and good enough grappling to keep the fight from going down in any fashion other than Hieron on top.

Joe Riggs is fighting Bryan Baker? Seriously? Baker has lost twice - once was to Chael Sonnen in Magic Juice Sonnen phase. The other is to Alexander Shlemenko, who is a worthy adversary and a long time vet. He's beaten a lot of other solid fighters though - Jeremy Horn, Art Santore, Matt Horwich, Rory Singer, Eric Schambari, Sean Loeffler, Reggie Orr, Jesse Forbes. Some of those guys were never weres, some were pretty OK fighters, but most were well past their best. I can say that confidently about at least 5 of those names. Joe Riggs is a guy past his best. He was stopped on punches in January in a show no one has seen against a guy no one has heard of, and Louis Taylor aside, he hasn't had a win of any real profile since beating Phil Baroni 2 years ago. He hasn't beaten a contending fighter since 2006. Bryan Baker is KOing Riggs back to the little leagues.

Neil Grove should KO Zak Jensen. Much bigger, Jensen can't wrestle, and they'll bang. And it could be terrible.

BIG SHOW REVIEW WEEK OF 4/25

BELLATOR 42:

The world has another Noguiera, except this one is a Luta Livre guy. Luiz Alberto Noguiera's win over Jerod Spoon was a watchable affair, certainly, but not an enthralling one either. Spoon was generally dominated standing because he stayed too far away and didn't move the way he needed to in order to line up Noguiera for his big right. Standup for him was sorta Dan Henderson like, though I suppose Spoon has a better jab and not nearly as good a right hand. Noguiera, meanwhile, sorta pitter pats and didn't do any real damage in the fight, instead cleaning up points with his low kicks and punches.

Christian M'Pumbu was the slight underdog going into this - nearly even odds, actually. He walked this fight against Tim Carpenter instead. Carpenter, at least in my mind, was going to immediately close the distance on the smaller M'Pumbu, clinch, put him on the mat, and grind on him. Instead, he showed zero standup skill by following M'Pumbu around the cage and getting hit with punches until being stopped with a 1-2 combination to the head and an uppercut as Carpenter was falling.

Ronnie Mann's fight against Josh Arocho was basically a waste of time. Already you can see how Mann is outsized here in the US and while he overpowers Arocho with sweeps or takedown defense and murders him with strikes inside the guard, you can't really expect that sort of performance against better fighters. Arocho is a jouneyman at best.

Richard Hale is a much bigger man than DJ Linderman. That I knew. What else did I learn about Richard Hale? Well, he looks a whole lot like Vitali Klitschko and even holds his hands about as high. That means he doesn't. OK, so more info that means something to me - uh, Hale moves straight back with his hands down and has nice kicks. Does this guy have a karate background? He doesn't really keep distance that well and as far as being a grappler is concerned, I feel like he's not a top control sorta guy. He never seems to really overpower people, and he didn't look at any point to purposely get Linderman to the mat. In fact, he's taken down in the second round off a single against a guy who supposedly didn't wrestle at any collegiate level. Possibly not even high school. Linderman is the same brawler sorta guy he's always been but didn't have a guy in front of him who ran out of gas in part because he never really pushed the fight the right way to make it happen. Linderman wins on the color guy's card and not the official judges because, to be honest, the judges did a good job and scored leg kicks for a change instead of jabs and wide right hands that seemed to have very little effect. Linderman spent about 3 minute of the final round on his belly defending the RNC too. Why didn't Hale transition to the armbar? The world shall never know.

BLAHHH ULTIMATE BRAZILIAN FIGHTER THING 13 ICHIBAN

So some stuff happened in the house and I went past all of it because, really, that shit sucks. Mick Bowman and Clay Harvison fought this episode. Harvison I knew nothing about and Bowman will probably win because they wouldn't put a British guy with zero talent on this show. So anyways, the fight: It kinda sucked. Sloppy standup bout in which the ultimate winner (Harvison) gassed out 7 minutes in and yet still won with a largely inactive striking attack. You know how? By fighting a guy who was juking more than jabbing and who wouldn't throw straight punches even when he could land them. Bowman just has no power in his fists and while he's clearly a good grappler on his back, sucks at wrestling and is the sort of guy who probably had success pulling guard against less technically skilled or athletically gifted fighters and tapped them. Internet even says he has three of 7 wins by submission. Maybe that's true? Boxing wise he's not much worse than Harvison if not technically superior, but he lacks mental toughness. But he does, he cries afterwards, and Harvison moves on to the next round.

There's only a couple more fights left for the first round before they do the wild card bout, and Harvison may, thanks to the pure shittiness of the fighters on, get a slot. He can't beat Javier Torres with a gun and probably loses to Len Bentley too based on what I saw here.

PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS

Last week: 0-2

Overall for the year: 25-12

UFC 129:

My heart says Jake Shields. And hey, he is a much bigger guy than a lot of GSP's opposition, and an excellent collegiate wrestler, and a fantastic top control guy willing to stink it out. Doesn't that sound like Jon Fitch? Look how that went. I have to pick GSP like everyone else in the world to take down Shields and grind him out. Or jab him up. Or whatever GSP wants. The big fear for me in GSP losing is that its something like a guillotine that he is caught in shooting.

Speaking of what my heart says - I'll take the bait people have left and say Aldo beats Hominick in spite of me thinking that Aldo's athleticism is hopelessly overrated and that Hominick has the kryptonite to make this interesting in the stand up. Aldo can shoot in and take down Hominick and the fight is over just like that. When you have someone so deficient in an area that you have to hope that the other guy fights stupid, you can't take him unless that person has a long standing history of fighting dumb.

Brilz is younger than V-Mat and wins. Strong wrestling cancels each other out and we get a standup fight that Brilz is unlikely to lose.

Speaking of unlikely to win, Couture isn't winning. Last good counter puncher he faced was Liddell. Sure went well, huh?

Ben Henderson is the guy UFC brass wants to win against Bocek. You can feel it. Why make that fight unless they were looking to build Henderson back up in the UFC over a long period? Size wise, no big advantage for either guy with reach or height. Submission grappling is the big difference here, and Bocek is the best guy Henderson has ever faced. I mean, its him or Saravia, right? I think Bocek loses and it takes the shine off the WEC guys big time.

Nate Diaz/Rory McDonald is a really interesting fight - I feel like McDonald is less skilled but a bigger guy naturally, and size matters. Plus, he went to war with Condit...but Condit does kinda fight to the level of his opposition. So, Diaz by submission.

Can Sean Pierson last long enough against Jake Ellenberger to take advantage of him and win the fight? Answer: No. Ellenberger 29-28. Loses round 3.

Really fast with no descriptions really given: Jason McDonald has been fighting like shit for awhile so he loses to Ryan Jensen and his 7 minute gas tank. Daniel Roberts is in way over his head against Claude Patrick, who they'll get some rub off onto with a stoppage win in front of a Canadian crowd and 7 people watching on Facebook.

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Outlaws (1/21/2006)

Another new one.

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We have moved closer to the future and into the wild and crazy world of 2006(!!!). Unfortunately for me, this is one of those 10,000,000 fights on one card deals and I must battle through, knowing that at the end of this disc, I will arrive at the promised land of Kyacey Uscola and Edwin Dewees beating up shitty fighters. It eminates from a casino in Arizona and Erik Apple is announcing.

1) BRYAN PARDOE vs. RYAN PRAY: Oh shit. This is gonna be bad. Pray is an lumpy independent fighter making his debut, and he sports some racist ink that some of the National Socialist sympathizers that gave that one Aryan Nations dude that fought in KOTC props would adore. Pardoe fought Frank Shamrock. He sucks, but not this bad. KOTC: getting the incredible mismatches started RIGHT AWAY.

The beating is swift. A trading of punches not unlike a junior high fist fight starts it off, and big shock, Pardoe causes Pray to be unsteady. Pardoe takes him down straight into mount, tries a weird toe hold, and eventually pounds him out. Maybe this would have been of value had a public service message been brought with it.

2) DAVID CARRASCO vs. KEITH DIXON: Carrasco is some lumpy looking kid that's like a 170lb version of Paul Buentello. Dixon knows he's not in a commission area so he has a rash guard AND shoes.

This is one of the first fights among no names that really interested me. Carrasco is able to grab takedowns twice off a single leg and an ankle pick and navigates Dixon's guard pretty well. Dixon at one point is able to scramble to his feet after an attempted slam and Carrasco gets the belly to belly and ends up in side control. He eventually takes the mount and rains down elbows until a missed swing actually gets him back in half guard. However, in the shift back, Dixon essentially gives up his right arm and Carrasco transitions into a kimura for the tap out win. He looks like a kid with some potential.

3) JOE CASTILLO vs. LEROY FORNOFF: Castillo supposedly had a previous MMA fight....in 1996, sez Mr. Apple. Fornof looks all of 17, but has apparently fought before. In fact, I've apparently seen him fight before. Damn.

Castillo's Kempo Karate hoodie doesn't fully express what he is. He's really more of a wrestler and goes for multiple takedowns on Fornoff. Fornoff responds with a multitude of submission attempts, all of which he just misses on (he slides off the side with hooks in on an RNC, Castillo pushes the legs off in a triangle choke, so on). Round 2 starts with more prodigious striking from Fornoff that leads to Castillo going down, Fornof getting on top in mount and raining down blows to win. Fornoff is a young kid who's clearly learning all the aspects at once, which is somewhat refreshing, but has come nowhere near close to mastering any of them.

4) JESSE MORENG vs. VICTOR HERNANDEZ: Hernandez' record is a joke. Moreng is a dude that's been on a bunch of KOTC cards.

Moreng basically beats him up, takes his back and chokes him out. Pretty pointless stuff.

5) TRAVIS HOOKE vs. JUSTIN SCOTT: Hooke is really fat and this is his debut. Justin Scott has two first names and thus can never be trusted.

Ghetto Fights level shit. Two totally untrained, untalented dudes throwing punches wildly and then stuff happens. Hooke wins via submission, in fact, with something approximating a rear naked choke. If I could give star ratings to legit contests, -***** here.

6) LUKE HODGES vs. JACOB CHAGOLLA: I think I heard of Hodges before, but who knows. Both guys come into the bout in good shape and that's always a positive thing. Perhaps an interesting bout is about to occur?

One thing I've not really needed to mention until here is the refereeing. Some dude with a slicked back cut is playing referee and he's abyssmal. The first round of this fight was great. Chagolla is a strong wrestler looking for GNP. Hodges is a good thai boxer with surprising submission skills. Chagolla gets a takedown right at the start and is nearly triangled. Lots of transitions and action in the fight, and with about 30 seconds left, Hodges secures an armbar from guard. Chagolla is in the midst of defending it when the referee inexplicably separates them for a standup. I was aghast. Chagolla is tired out now but had he prevented the armbar, he could have gotten Hodges back. Instead, Hodges takes his head and begins bashing knees into it up until the round ends.

The second round is marred by more horrible calls. Hodges again acquires the thai clinch and unloads shots, but in getting close is taken down by Chagolla. Chagolla ends up on top, Hodges against the cage, elevating himself and arm up to punch and then pass to side mount, when the ref again steps in to separate and stand the fighters up. Chagolla should have erased this dude's face with a right hand and gone out in infamy but instead he and Hodges continue to have a bout in which Hodges can ride his back for a minute and accomplish nothing but he gets on top and has about 5 seconds to throw a billion shots or be stood up. Hodges wins the decision in a fight that pissed me off in spite of actual skill being exhibited. I've wished harm in the form of decades of wheelchair bound gruel eating to many competitors in combat sports, however horrible that might be, and I think I've found a new candidate for such strong dislike.

7) GILBERT VELEZ vs. DANIEL MADRID: Dudes making their debut. I think Madrid is still fighting.

Fairly lame fight with Madrid constantly getting takedowns because he's way better on the ground and both guys are worthless standing. Madrid ultimately wins by RNC.

8) ESTEVEZ JONES vs. RYAN POTTER: Jones is some sort of standup fighter dude with a style that, uh, looks straight out of the SAFTA handbook. Potter is a wrestler who trains with Joe Riggs.

Imagine my surprise with this fight, which spent the first 7 minutes or so being an affront to everything I enjoy about MMA. Potter constantly takes down Jones, who is pretty chubby and not at all very good. Oddly, Jones will throw a strike once in awhile that catches the offguard Potter. Potter slams him hard, and Jones somehow hangs on through a ton of punches to get back to his feet and be slammed again. This repeats for the entire first round and most of the second. Until, miraculously, Jones bucks Potter off and stands up, landing a right hand as he does. Potter is badly dazed and a couple punches later, Jones somehow wins.

9) JON KESSLER vs. TONY ROYBAL: Kessler comes out with a black gi and Roybal is backed by David Carrasco.

Short fight. Bad standup at first, Kessler then grabs and gets a takedown, and from there he controls the rest of the fight. Eventually this leads to him getting mount and an armbar to win early in round 1.

10) CHANCE WILLIAMS vs. RON RUMPF: Rumpf is tomato can personified. Williams is the guy tomato cans beat so that they can keep getting fights.

The power of lard causes Williams to land looping shots on Rump and drop him for an early win. Somewhat surprising. At least it was brief.

11) EMANUEL NEWTON vs. JOHN LANSING: Newton has moved on to bigger and better things and Lansing is some dude you've likely not heard of.

Newton and Lansing clinch and Newton picks him up like a ragdoll and throws him to the mat. Lansing, who is clearly a naturally smaller fighter, is rolled on, eventually being stopped by strikes on the ground.

12) JONATHAN WESSON vs. PAUL O'KEEFE: Both men are making their debut. I have no idea on backgrounds of either, but Wesson is a teammate of Estevez Jones so I bet he sucks.

I was right. O'Keefe picks him up and slams the dude, then pounds him. Wesson eventually rolls a little and starts to stand up, but O'Keefe causes him to tap with what looked more like the Million Dollar Dream than an actual RNC. No hooks and both standing. Sad.

13) MATT DELL vs. SEAN CANOVA: Dell is ANOTHER pro debut. Canova is a conditioning coach from SoCal who works with Todd Medina. This bout is so important, the grave nature of the outcome demands it be the 155 POUND SUPERFIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD.

First round is dominated by Canova on the ground. Dell tried defending the takedowns well but Canova was just too good for him. Odd choice by Herb Dean, who is now the ref, to stand the fighters up while Canova had two hooks in on Dell. Canova is slightly winded (Apple talks about breathing problems he's had) and Dell is unable to capitalize because his standup is way behind technically. Second round has Dell shoot early, grab the take down, and he stays there. Eventually Herb Dean comes in to stand them up, but Canova is too tired to stand and the fight ends. Lame.

14) DEL HAWKINS vs. GABE BROCKMIER: Apple is even shocked that he's saying that a guy making his pro debut gets to fight Hawkins for the Gladiator Challenge Super Lightweight title. Yeah, MMA doesn't have a belt problem....

Hawkins laced him up with kicks to start, then picks Brockmier up, hoists around the ring, slams him, gets mount, beats him up. Brockmier is KTFO with elbows to the head from side mount.

15) KYACEY USCOLA vs. ROBERT SARKOZI: Ice Cold, a Bodogfight vet, takes on the relative of the French prime minister? Okay, maybe not. More interesting tag line though, right? Sarkozi's actually from Hungary and has been around awhile and lost to guys people have heard of like Phil Baroni. He also beat Uscola prior to this at a Gladiator Challenge show. REVENGE?

First round is almost all Uscola. Both guys are well rounded guys but Uscola is clearly the better wrestler in pedigree and in the ring and proves it by taking down Sarkozi twice and being almost unshakeable in mount. Second round is a reversal of fortune with a tired Uscola getting taken down, mounted, and beaten on until an unthinkable standup from Herb Dean breaks the action. Sarkozi responds by knocking down Uscola hard with a series of knees that nearly finishes the fight. The second round is all Sarkozi until about 20 seconds remain, when Uscola is able to hip throw Sarkozi and cuts him with an elbow just before the end of the fight. Judges decision goes to Uscola other than the obvious draw that it should have been. Blah.

16) EDWIN DEWEES vs. BUCKLEY ACOSTA: Dewees is a TUF alumni now, which is sorta weird to say. He also bled more than anyone ever on that show, probably. Acosta's bout that got him here with Aaron Brink is reviewed in detail just a couple posts ago in the look at Final Conflict (Show #4).

Acosta rocks Dewees early and drops him against the cage. Dewees is mutifaceted though and locks up an arm. Acosta is able to get out of the armbar attempt by spiking Dewees on his head, but then promptly runs into another submission attempts. This time, Dewees locks up the triangle choke and Acosta taps before the first minute is over.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Hodges/Chagolla - It was marred by awful an awful ref, but so was everything else. Good fight though.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Hawkins/Brockmier - Expected in such a mismatch, but really brutal stuff.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Dewees/Acosta - Really slick armbar attempt gets beaten with a slam, so he follows it with the triangle choke and goes home a winner.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out ot 10. The fights were all covered in shitty reffing and there was so much crap I barely remember the good.

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POSTSCRIPT:

Kyacey Uscola made his way to TUF, got his dick bit by a pitbull, and lost his last two in nothing promotions.

David Carrasco hasn't fought since 2006.

Edwin Dewees has fought sporadically and won 2 of his last 6 in a span of 4 years.

BIG SHOW REVIEW WEEK OF 4/18

Man, so little to review and yet it took me until 12:30AM Friday morning to see anything.

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE DUN DUN DUN DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN #13 EPISODE 4 OR 5 OR SOMETHING

Ramsey Nijem and Charlie Rader are fighting and hey, its the best fight the season has produced thus far on paper! Brock and Co. note that Rader is a state champ wrestler. Hey, that's nice. Nijen wrestled in college with real dudes and ends up dominating the fight. He comes at Rader with wild shots Rader isn't prepared to counter or defend, gets the clinch, gets takedowns, works dirty boxing, and submits him. The editing makes Rader out to be a quitter for the purpose of drama and who cares. Len Bentley leaves because, shit, he did fight his ass off.

BELLATOR 41:

We open with Daniel Straus taking on Kenny Foster - Good win for Straus. Shows solid grappling with some decent shots, good leg kicks, nice judo throws, and gets a guillotine late in the third round. He kept the pace up and wore out Foster against he cage and on the mat, eventually leading to Foster being unable to compete with Straus in the scrambles and leaving his neck out for the submission. Straus looks really good all around. One caveat though - his striking often leaves him super open and Foster got tagged a couple times.

Chad Robichaux is in a superfight! Who? Against Zach Makovsky? Who is a champ? Or something? Both guys with glitzy records at bantam. Who deserves his? Well, Makovsky. Robichaux seems a decent fighter who is hopelessly outsized here and needs to hope for a 125lb weight class to come into existence. Makovsky repeatedly gets takedowns and dominant positions. Sure, Robichaux gets out of some subs, but he gets smashed out with punches. Is that really much better?

Patricio Pitbull Friere and Wilson Reis rematch and we get a pretty interesting fight as a result. Reis and Friere end up in a sort of standup battle most of the time with Friere landing the more effective blows in rounds one and two when the fight would be at a distance. When on the mat, Reis was the technically superior grappler (as expected) and Friere was the physically stronger man (as expected) - what's nice about Friere is that he knows his strengths and works to them. Against a great grappler like Reis, he looks to control the upper body and holds at the waist rather than try to fish for singles and doubles against the cage. Control and wearing down your man is a better option than trying for takedowns you can't get. Thanks to that smart gameplan, Reis ends up eating punches late in the fight and ends up getting highlight reel KOed with a combination against the cage forcing the stoppage. Very good performance from Friere.

Marcos Galvao and Joe Warren end the night in a three round fight. If you haven't heard, this was supposedly a terrible decision that Warren didn't for a second deserve. So let's talk about what I saw in this fight: Both rounds one and two were generally won by Galvao, but were close rounds in which while he appeared to land the more effective shots, Warren was able to force him to the cage repeatedly during takedown attempts and also was able to land straight right hands thanks to Galvao's unchanged interest in moving straight back in the cage with his hands down. That in turn led to takedowns at the end of both rounds, to which Warren was unable to do anything particularly effective. So what do you score these rounds on?

Well, both guys honestly landed a similar number of shots - Unfortunately there are no fightmetric reports, but I do have Compustrike to base what I saw on: In round 1, it was 14-13 landed in favor of Galvao for standing strikes. In round 2, it was 20-15 in favor of Galvao. We're talking tight numbers here. Warren landed the only strikes on the mat in round two (one of which was a clean and effective right hand to the jaw through the guard of Galvao), but in round one, clearly the more effective shots came in the first 30 seconds on the mat as Galvao had Warren turtling up while he wailed away. So who cleanly wins the round? Does Galvao win for having defended takedown attempts over and over or does he lose them for getting tagged with right hands standing while being pushed around and taken down in spots?

I would probably have scored this fight like everyone else - 29-28 Galvao. When I think back to the moments of the fight where someone did the most damage or really hit the highlight reel, I think of Warren diving into 3 flying knees in the second round and Galvao beating the tar out of him in the first minute of the round. Its the highlight reel stuff where everyone goes "oooh" and its not like Warren then went to so comprehensively win the remainder of those rounds that he bounces back in my eyes. If anything, the rest of the round is generally even with only his takedowns to go on. But this was not an easy fight to score, and I can see just about any score in this fight but 30-27 Galvao given Warren's comprehensive top control in the final stanza.

PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS:

Last Week: 2-0

Overall for the Year: 25-10

BELLATOR 42:

Hale is, as I've said in the past, a very big dude. But he's a big dude I know nothing about. He's got submission skills judging from the Fekete fight, but how real are they? Was it a fluke? He's gonna tower over Lindermann, who is a tough guy and is very good at wearing bigger men out. I'm going to predict DJ Linderman by second round KO, being the feel good story of the Bellator tourneys. Hale just isn't going to be more effective with submissions than past Linderman opposition and being so big and cutting so much, he too will tire and feel the pain of looping punches raining on him.

Carpenter is a strong grappler and M'Pumbu is, well, not a great wrestler to be frank. If you can't wrestle, you can't win at a certain level, and this is that level for M'Pumbu. In spite of his cool record and the fact that he looks scary, I have to pick against M'Pumbu and treat this like a heavyweight boxing contest: robotic European can't beat a more dynamic American!

Ronnie Mann is fighting a 6-9 fighter to fill up space on the card. I could say "Hey, I predicted a fight right!" and pick Mann, but that is stupid. Of course Mann is going to win. Like fishing with dynamite.

Raging Wolf 11 (12/30/2010)

Dan Funes (who once sent me a critical email!) and Jen Boronico are announcing this MMA event from Western NY. Main event - Nuri Shakir vs. Tom Egan. Really? Oh, and did I mention its a title fight?

1) Antonio Smith vs. Frank Scalzo: Amateur bout at 145. Scalzo looks like he has a karate background?

FIGHT: Smith Unanimous Decision. Here's the fight in a nutshell; two guys clinch, one goes for an arm in guillotine, doesn't get it, gets controlled on the bottom, loses the round. This is rounds one and two. In rounds three, two guys clinch, the one with the crazy stance drops levels and gets a takedown. Very little happens. They stand, they clinch some more, the fight ends. Scalzo is the one who got the takedown in the 3rd and was on top most of the 2nd, but loses the decision. Why? How? I have no idea. (0)

Ben Saunders and Jonathan Brookins have been paid appearance fees for this event and come into the ring to waive and shit. I read not long ago that Mark Coleman was charging $2K per appearance, so I'm guessing these guys got something similar. Maybe not as good.

2) Chris Robinson vs. TJ Sumler: I feel like I've seen Sumler's name in the past. Survey says: I have! He lost to Allen Arzeno in a amateur title fight. Welterweight bout that has 3 minute rounds - still amateurs?

FIGHT: Sumler TKO Rnd 1. Sumler drops Robinson rushing in with a right hand and gets folded. So Robinson then gets hit square in the back of the head with an illegal shot, stumbles up and gets highlight KOed with a right hand. Ref jumps in and he complains. Sumler moves on. So do I. (0)

3) Luigi Fioravanti vs. Mike Guerin: Luigi is extra fat. Guerin is 10-1 and clearly more built.

FIGHT: Fioravanti Unanimous Decision. (2)

Fioravanti: There's not a lot to be said here about Fioravanti - his hands seemed to be faster, and while he's wide, he can still hit a non-moving target like Guerin's chin. Also, he's still good enough on the mat to stop Guerin from being able to do much in top control aside from throw headbutts. He's calmer in the ring and that helps him have better stamina. I dunno, he's a veteran with some skills but who physically doesn't look the part of a world class fighter and who lacks the results too, this win aside.

Guerin: What I know about Guerin is that he lacks commitment standing, throws straight shots with not a ton of force, has a decent takedown but really can't set it up, and leaves his chin out while he bends over and gives up his height. Uhhh, yeah. I just can't see much long term potential in a middleweight Jonathan Brookins, minus the lateral drop.

4) Nuri Shakir vs. Thomas Egan: YOUR MAIN EVENT for the RW Welterweight title. One guy has a career losing record who won the title against a 3-2 no name. Now he fights s 4-2 fringe name to defend.

FIGHT: Shakir TKO Rnd 3. Egan never answers the bell for the 3rd, stating that the weight cut of 16lbs was so severe, he can't continue. Even Dan Funes is shaking his head. Shakir is still a blown up featherweight who gets multiple takedowns on Egan and controls him by consistently getting the clinch and forcing the fight to the cage rather than exchange with Egan, which is Egan's lone strength. This was a chance for Egan to show that he was ready for the next level, and he's not even close. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Shakir/Egan

KO OF THE NIGHT: Sumler/Robinson

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Sumler has a wicked KO, some boring decisions, a boring decision is cut short by one of the participants having laughably bad cardio.

Cage Wars 9: Staredown (3/9/2008)

Unbelievably, this show that somehow had not seen the light of day before finally makes TV. And what a show it is: Dan Severn is in the main event fighting Colin Robinson. Along with him, other Cage Wars vets like Lee McKibben, Daniel Abrol, and several others.

1) Daniel Abrol vs. Danny Van Bergen: Van Bergen is a european journeyman I'm familiar with from watching M-1. Abrol I've seen fight repeatedly in Cage Wars, and he's almost never very good.

FIGHT: Van Bergen Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special as VB closes distance, gets a big takedown, and works for a kimura. (0)

2) Tom Ahrens vs. Peter Duncan: Duncan sucks but at least puts on a good show. Ahrens defines journeyman and is from the US.

FIGHT: Duncan Unanimous Decision. I feel truly bad trying to give any sort of reasonable breakdown because I didn't pay a ton of attention to this, perhaps the most irrelevant of fights. But it wasn't too bad from what I saw - Ahrens won the first with takedowns and control, but gassed out in the second, was swept by Duncan, and basically Duncan ran shit from there. He bashed up Ahrens with some punches and knees in the third round while also nullifying any sort of offense when stuck on his back, and so he wins the fight. Like I said before about Duncan; not very good, but you like to watch him anyways. (0)

4) Tim Estes vs. Chris Stringer: Estes looks so ridiculously young.

FIGHT: Stringer Unanimous Decision. Again, another fight I tried to pay attention to and couldn't. Estes gets taken down repeatedly and beaten up on the feet, loses every round, and drops a decision. Estes does nothing to threaten Stringer from his back, so the fight is kinda a wash. (0)

5) Lee McKibbin vs. James Head: McKibbin is a guy who does a lot of things not too special, and Head is a guy from the US that looks a lot bigger.

FIGHT: Head Submission Rnd 2. Head gets down McKibbin in the first and does a decent amount of work there. Standing, both guys are hella wild. Second round sees Head being buzzed with a punch, being on his back, and he works for a triangle that he sorta sets up and takes his time with. He gets it though, and that's all that matters. (0)

6) Jimmy Mills vs. Michael Nichol: Mills has a decent overall record and hails from the US. Nichols I know has some sort of grappling background.

FIGHT: Mills Submission Rnd 1. North/South choke ends this after he takes down Nichol very early in the fight and lands a few shots. Its called an anaconda choke, but its clearly not. (0)

7) Colin Robinson vs. Dan Severn: Severn is, at this point, 49 I believe. Robinson had a chance in the UFC that did not go well.

FIGHT: Dan Severn Unanimous Decision. Horrible Dan Severn fight as they all are - he shoots in on Robinson who can't stop the double and can't do anything off his back. Meanwhile, Severn sits in half guard and does nothing round after round. Robinson may have actually won the first landing some punches standing and having Severn in trouble but gave up the second and third. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Ahrens/Duncan

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Mills/Nichol

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. Another lousy Cage Wars show. At leat I can say I've seen more than half of them.

D&R Rating: 6% (2/35)