I recently found Matt Hughes’s blog and started learning about the ex welterweight champ. I was drawn to his good nature and how he was just like alot of other people. From all the SpikeTV coverage and other I wasn’t a big fan of his in the past. He came off as a different character, one that I wasn’t to comfortable with. In short he seemed alot different than who he actually is.

After reading his blog and looking through his website I became a quick fan. Not only is this guy a christian, but he really tries to be a good guy and live a quality life providing for his family. I even found several thing I had in common with the guy. I mean any guy that likes BBQ’ing and shooting guns, com’on?! Right? This is a picture of him off his website shooting his new .50 Caliber Rifle.

That brings me to my main point for this blog. How is he gonna be portrayed in the new TUF 6 season. Is he gonna seem like a prick? I mean against a guy like Serra I am sure some heated discussions will take place, but will SpikeTV make Hughes seem like the bad guy like they seem to in the past? In Matt’s blog he even said he considered quiting during the filming of the TUF season 6 show. Here is a quick quote from a clip on SpikeTV from Serra about Hughes:

“At TUF6 Matt Serra was asked about the upcoming season and he proceeded to praise his most recent opponents (Chris Lytle and Georges St. Pierre) for being great guys. Then said it will be different with Hughes who he called a “dick”. And then added a backhanded compliment to Hughes… “but he is a talented dick!”

Why even show this kind of smack talking? I know I know it is good to drum up tension between fight, but it seems like Hughes always seems like the bad guy. I am not sure why they make portray him this way, but now at lease I am aware of the truth and what could possibly happen in the TUF 6. So look out for the editing of this show and how thing “seem” to be. Matt Hughes is a great guy and I hope the show shows who he really is.

(UPDATE: Marcelo will be fighting on October 28th in Hero’s Korea against Dae Won Kim) Marcelo loses after dominating the the first round, but in the beginning of the first round he caught a couple of punches then a knee that opened up a cut too severe for the fight to continue.

The moment that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fans have waited for is here. BJJ will officially be brought back to life in the MMA world much like Royce Gracie did in MMA’s earliest days. The BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia is going to fight in MMA now. This is going to be epic to see an extremely good BJJ guy go into MMA. There have been a lot of guys go into MMA that have as the commentators like to say, “A Strong Jiu Jitsu Background”. This guy doesn’t just have a strong BJJ background, he has dominated the BJJ world so much in fact that in my opinion he is probably going into MMA for a new challenge. He has won The BJJ World Championships five times and the Abu Dhabi Submission Championships three years. That’s not even counting all his Absolute accomplishments he has racked up over the years. Some of the big names he has beaten that currently compete in MMA are people like Renzo Gracie(where he just flat dominated 0-9), Renato Babalu, Ricco Rodriguez, Kurt Pellegrino and Diego Sanchez. 

Garcia is scheduled to debut with K-1 this September. This guy is a grappling phenomenon. That word is often misused, but in his case it just is not. Marcelo Garcia is planning to fight at 170 pounds. Oh yeah, he is only 25 years old.

Here is the article on Sherdog.com about his new contract
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=7812

Here is his Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Garcia

There is a bunch of good fights coming up in the IFL. I will try to give a good run down on a couple of them. Since alot of these fights didn’t happen because of Injury I will score it on the matchups that actually happened.

Chris Horodecki vs. Bart Palaszewski

I am the most excited about this one. I believe Bart should have one that first fight between them and given Chris his first loss early in the year. Chris kept intentionally falling out of the ring every time he got in trouble and just combo’ed the whole time. Bart was pretty pissed last time that the judges gave it to Chris so he will be fired up to blast Chris in the Jaw. I think Bart is gonna punch Chris into a daze and sink a tight submission on Chris to win.

Jay Hieron vs. Rory Markham

This will be a cool fight between two good punching guys. Pretty even on what they have done and accomplished in there careers. Im really not sure who will win this one, but if I had to guess I would go with Hieron getting a decision.

Savant Young vs. Erik Owings

Savant if fun to watch and has shown some KO power lately. He is stocky and smart enough to keep alive on the ground. Im pretty sure he will probally get Owings in a TKO situation or beat him in a decsion.

Antonio McKee vs. Delson Heleno
(Antonio McKee, Sabres, def. Delson Heleno, Pitbulls, via decision (split), after 3 rounds)

Mckee is a pretty bad dude and is getting much better every fight. I like watching him pick a guy up and twist him in the air like a helicopter before he slams him down. Nice touch. Heleno is pretty bad too, but I think McKee will probally dominate the whole fight and stay out of the submissions like he always does and get the decision on take downs.

Dave Phillips vs. Fabio Leopoldo

I don’t know much about Phillips or much about him, but Leopoldo is fun to watch with his submission attempts. You can hit this guy in the face with everything you got and it won’t break his concentration on trying for a triangle.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jamal Patterson

This one is gonna be so cool to watch. Patterson is strong fast and explosive, but Vladimir is so dimoniating. He is one of the baddest dudes in the IFL and could easily go back to fighting in the UFC and dominate there as well. Im pretty sure he is gonna beat Jamals face in and not go to any judges decision.

Wayne Cole vs. Bryan Vetell
(Bryan Vetell, Pitbulls, def. Wayne Cole, Sabres, via decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds)

I think Vetell is still learning and makes mistake, but could be a decent contender. Cole is a striking machine so I am pretty sure Vetell will get tired and Cole will land one and drop him to the mat.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Ben Rothwell
(Ben Rothwell, Silverbacks, vs. Krzysztof Soszynski, Anacondas, via KO (strikes), 0:13, 1st)

Im pretty sure that Rothwell will take this guy. Is it just me or is Rothwell getting in better shape, but getting slower? Its weird you think he would get more explosive and crazy with more muscle, but it seems like he doesnt have as much explosiveness. Hope he isn’t over training. Probably gonna be TKO late or a decision win for Rothwell.

Nate Marquardt Vs. Anderson Silva
(Anderson Silva defeats Nathan Marquardt via technical knockout in round one)

This fight will be a good title fight for the middleweight class. Silva is very dominant with his strikes and control in the octagon. Nate is a seasoned veteran though and has won every fight in the UFC thus far. Nate said in a recent interview that he thought his stand up was better. He didn’t sound arrogant or of someone being smart, but he said it matter of factly. I hope he is as good as he is confident because he will need it against this KO monster with the last 5 out of 7 of Silva’s fights ending in a TKO/KO. Nate has been doing good lately, but most of his fights going to the judges which can be an indicator of a cautious strategy. This is going to be a tough one to call with Nate’s experience and Silva’s tough hands/knees. Unless Silva makes a mistake and gets submitted by Nate I think the champ will end up winning in the end by way of decision.

Alvin Robinson Vs. Kenny Florian
(Kenny Florian defeats Alvin Robinson via submission strikes)

I know there is a lot of talent on this card so a lot of good fighters will not be on the main card, but I can think of a few that should be in place of this match. Not that Kenny isn’t a killer but I think he is going to walk though Alvin probably with a first round submission.

Rashad Evans Vs. Tito Ortiz
(Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans fight to a draw)

I can’t wait for this one. Tito hasn’t really fought anybody or won in a good way for sometime now. He TKO’ed Ken Shamrock twice, a 43 year old and other than that he has either lost to Chuck or eked out split decisions with Forrest Griffin and Vito Belfort. I really think Rashad is going to make Tito pay for any trash talk he will bringing into the public the week before. You can also bet Tito will probably pull some sort of stunt at the weigh-ins. In my opinion these guys have similar fighting styles so it will be fun to see those styles clash together in the octagon. I am going to go with Rashad Evans in the third round by way of TKO.

Hermes Franca Vs. Sean Sherk
(Sean Sherk defeats Hermes Franca via unanimous decision)

This is going to be another awesome fight I think. Franca is a loose cannon in the Octagon and is a little sloppy. None of his opponents has been able to capitalize on any of his standing mistakes yet and Sherk probably won’t be able to do it since he isn’t the fastest on his feet. The George St.Pierre fight still haunts me with Sherk because he just seemed to let go once Pierre landed a few punches on his head. Franca is a sloppy bomb swinging for the fences striker so Sherk better go in like a dozer and scoop this guy up and try to keep it on the ground. Even though Franca is no slouch on the ground I think Sherk will take him down control some of the fight and Franca will probably bust loose and TKO Sherk with a little ground and pound in the second or third.

Heath Herring Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
(Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira defeats Heath Herring via unanimous decision)

This will be another neat fight. Even though Heath hasn’t showed much in the showmanship category with his last few fights it will be cool to see two ex-PRIDE guys duke it out in the heavyweight class. If Herring trains hard and really wants it bad enough I think he will put on a great show and duke it out with Nogueira. I think there will be a little ground movement, but for the most part it should be a striking war going to the judges. After three round I believe it will end up like they did last time they fought with Nogueira the”Minotauro” getting the decision.

Mike Nickels Vs. Stephan Bonnar
(Stephan Bonnar defeats Mike Nickels via submission (rear naked choke) in round one)

This will probally be a 50/50 good striking with a ground war also between two good submission guys. Both of these guys are tough so I don’t think either of them will go down, but I think Bonnar will eventually overwelhm Nickels and get a submission after Mike makes a mistake. I will have to go with Bonnar going to war, but getting a submission on Mike in the second round.

Mark Bocek Vs. Frank Edgar
(Frank Edgar defeats Mark Bocek via technical knockout strikes in round one)

I think this fight is gonna be fast. These two are super fast fighters with lots of speed. Frank has gotten through the first time UFC jitters and has a very powerful ground game. Mark is also strong on the ground and has been cross training as of late at none other than the great, “Greg Jackson’s” in New Mexico. I hope nothing rubs off on him because I think Frank Edgar is going to catch Mark making an early and land a Guillotine ending this one early in round one.