Who is headlining this event anyways? With the main card being a title fight it weird that most of the posters I see have Mir and Lesnar on them.

 

Tim Sylvia Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

(Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Wins by Submission (Choke) at 1:28 in the 3rd round by guillotine choke.)

The Nogger and the Maine-iac lock horns for the interim belt. Both of these guys had some pretty boring fights in their last octagon appearances. The Nog is safe and good at handling big guys on the ground and Tim is wonderful at clinching guys against a cage. After this fight fans will probably be talking about the penalties that Pride used to do. Anytime a fighter was not pressing the action and being safe the ref would pull out a yellow card and dock 10% of the fighters pay. I hope either of these guys explode their A-game and finish the fight early because since this is a championship fight in could go five rounds. I really hope one of them comes in really wanting it. I know Tim wants it bad, but will he play it safe just to get the belt? Tim was able to stay out of anything Randy and Vera threw at him, but those guys weren’t as good as Nog on the ground. This fight will be a good litmus test for Tim if he ever ends up fighting Mir again. If he can stay out of danger from submission I think he can win a decision on points. I don’t want it to go five rounds so I am hoping for a good ole Sylvia beat down, but given Nogs history of never getting TKO’ed I would have to say Sylvia wins via decision.

Frank Mir Vs. Brock Lesnar
(Frank Mir Wins by Submission (Leg Lock) at 1:30 in the 1st round by ankle lock)
I think this should be the main event. Did UFC get the fights mixed up or something? OK maybe it is right since the main card is a title fight, but this match up to me is more exciting. I am putting up the pic of Mir Vs. Lesnar in protest. Mir is one of my old time favorites. I think he is finally back in his old form. It is also always fun to see an icon from another sport try his hand in MMA or some type of fighting. I don’t believe that the UFC is making a mockery of MMA by letting Lesnar in the Octagon at all. Lesner is a true threat in MMA with his wrestling background and he has also been training hard for the last two year. A lot of MMA guys have been successful in MMA after only training for a short while, but these guys have been without talent. Lesnar obviously has talent in some athletic fashion, but I just don’t think it will be enough to beat Mir. Frank Mir is a student of the sport with a calculating mind for in the ring decisions while being hit. Lesnar hasn’t really been tested in a fight yet. I think Mir will prove to be a temporary gate keeper and knock Lesnar back down the stairs to his training gym. I think Lesnar will prove to be a threat in MMA if he sticks with it, but as of now I will have to say Mir wins via a sneaky submission round one.

Jeremy Horn Vs. Nate Marquardt
(Nate Marquardt Wins by Submission (Choke) at 1:37 in the 2nd round by guillotine choke)
Wow, horn returns into the Octagon against a hard hitter. I think both of these guys will hang with each other for the three rounds for sure. Expect a fun technical fight with some heart. Nate wins via decision.

Rob Yundt Vs. Ricardo Almeida
(Ricardo Almeida Wins by Submission (Choke) at 1:08 in the 1st round by guillotine choke)
Yundt you say? I heard this guy trains with Doug Evans. He has a good MMA record, but no real competition yet as they say. What else do they say? Alemeida is back with the UFC signing a six fight contract. I hope he does well because we will probably be seeing a lot of him. I have no idea what Yundt has or if Almeida still has it. Almeida has beat some good guys and lost against some good guys. Almeida has more to lose in this fight so I think he will fell the wall touching his back and pull out a win. Not sure how, but maybe a decision win for Almeida.

Gleison Tibau Vs. Tyson Griffin
(Tyson Griffin Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round )
Why is this a under-card fight? They could switch this fight with the Yundt fight and I think everybody would be ok with it. Maybe if somebody knocks out someone else on the main card we will get to see it. Griffin is so fun to watch. Lets just forget about this fight and talk about a possible Huerta and Griffin match up? Right wouldn’t this be a fight of all fights? I think if these two locked up Penn would have his hands full with either one. I mean Griffin has beat Guida and so has Huerta. I know there are alot of other guys, but these guys are exciting contenders. To watch them fight would be like watching a championship. Ok back to the real world, Griffin wins via TKO in second.

Eddie Bravo went down to American Top Team to do a BJJ seminar for some of MMA’s elite fighters. Since Marcelo Garcia now trains there Eddie was actually there to help him as well. Here are a couple of pics of Eddie going over some BJJ moves. If I had to take a wild guess I am sure he covered the Twister and the Rubber Guard.

I am pretty sure Eddie would be well pleased if Marcelo added some of Eddie’s moves to Garcia’s deep BJJ arsenal. Maybe that’s what this thumbs up is about.

Source:
http://mma.tv/tuf/index.cfm?ac=ListMessages&PID=1&TID=1207547&FID=1&pc=191

Ok so maybe it is a little late to start a new years resolution, but Brock Lesnar has some pretty high goals.

And Lesnar, 30, said: “I’d like to believe I have the ability to reach the heights of people like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz — I would like to be one of those guys.

So maybe he is a little ambitous, but why shouldn’t he be. He wrestled for real before WWE and he has been training in MMA for a couple of years now. I think a little less talk before his first octagon debut would prove to be smarter, but he is already used to being a star—just not in the octagon yet. Brock is quick to give suggestions to other WWE stars thinking about the transition.

He said: “Any pro wrestlers wanting to make the transition into MMA don’t have the credentials I have as an amateur wrestler — and you need a strong wrestling background to succeed in this sport.”

With the recent talk from Bobby Lashley about MMA, February 2nd will be either a big buffet of humble pie or the start of a big WWE crossover.

Source:http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article727246.ece

It looks like Lesner might be starting a trend. Bobby Lashley—an ECW champion under WWE—is wanting nothing to do with the WWE. He has had a bad fallout with these guys and is considering MMA. I dont know how much practice he has had, but seriously, he reminds me of another Kevin Randleman. He is still fairly young at the age of 32 so he still might have a little time to learn some MMA.

Source:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/341-01242008-1476637.html

Bas is getting deeper into the IFL organization. With this new announcment, it makes me think they will be staying around for a little longer. I hope with the new team strategy, it will help a little more and get the organization a little more marketable.

NEW YORK, January 23, 2008 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) today announced the latest step in its reorganization heading into the 2008 season,
naming Mixed Martial Arts legend, Sebastian “Bas” Rutten, to the newly-created
position of Vice President, Fighter Operations. Rutten, who has been with
the IFL since its inception, as a coach and commentator, will oversee the contact
between the IFL, its current athletes, and other athletes in the sport, as well
as working to create potential future match-ups and cards both internally and
with other organizations. He will report directly to IFL CEO Jay Larkin.

Source:
http://www.ifl.tv/Press-080123-Bas-Rutten.html

Drew McFedries had a stellar KO in his last fight against Jordan Radev. I remember it well because it was a good night of TKO’s, and his was one of the best. Since then, it seems, Drew has been fighting two more fights. One was a staph infection and the other was a loss in his family.

About a month and a half after the victory in Florida, McFedries was
diagnosed with a severe staph infection. He spent more than two weeks in the
hospital and was treated for more than a month on an outpatient basis. He
underwent surgery in which a 10-by-8 inch piece of skin was removed, and his leg
was closed up using more than 50 staples.

Just before Christmas, McFedries’ mother, Agnes McFedries-Kennedy, was
found murdered in an alley in Davenport, Iowa.

“I did think about it, but I think I would be doing myself an injustice,”
he said. “Given the circumstances, I need this both physically and emotionally.
If I didn’t have this, I would break down.”

Hearing stories like this make it impossible to not pull for the guy. I know I will be. It is real life stuff like this that makes these fights look like just a regular old thing to deal with. If Drew can make it through two things like that and still have fight in him, then I don’t think he will be leaving the octagon any time soon.

Source:
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/14023142.html

This should be called TUF Alumni night instead of Fight Night. A lot of the fighters were on past seasons of TUF. Maybe that is part of the UFC plan to bring them up slower in the fight night.

Mike Swick Vs. Josh Burkman
(Mike Swick Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round)
RESULTS: Boy was this fight kinda flat. I think they broke the record for clinch up and having the ref split them up. I think it was like six times. Swick said he cut to much and should have lost more in the days before instead of losing to much gradually. Josh used his power to hold the clinch and basically Swick stuffed every single takedown.

This is gonna be a good fight. Josh had a relentless power in his wrestling and Swick is quick as he likes to say. I think this is the first fight at 170, but I might be wrong. After Swick battled with Okami at 185 he thought twice about competing again at 185. It will be neat to see Swick in this new world. Both of these guys are hard and relentless, but I feel like Swick has more technique when things go bad so I will go with Mike getting a swick-atine in the 2nd.

Patrick Cote Vs. Drew McFedries
(Patrick Cote Wins by Technical Knock Out at 1:44 in the 1st round)
RESULTS: I was really pulling for Drew for all he has been going through. Even Cote mentioned it at the end of the fight. Both of these guys through hard, but Cote had the stronger chin.

Wow this could be a main card easily. I still remember Drew’s KO over Jordan Radev. Cote has knock out power too; just ask Grove. Both of these guys are coming off fights in which they got KO’s in a dominating fashion. I hope Cote is on the comeback, but who knows with Drew’s power. This should be a good stand up battle for sure. I would have to guess and say Cote gets the decision.

Alvin Robinson Vs. Nate Diaz
(Nate Diaz Wins by Submission (Choke) at 3:39 in the 1st round by triangle choke)
RESULTS: I was very impressed with Diaz in this coming out. He came out looking like he put on some muscle. He was more aggressive in this fight and held the dominate position on top more. Alvin should have known better than to lay in the guard of somebody that has long legs, like Diaz. That Triangle was all too easy for Diaz to cinch up. He asked at the end of the fight for some contenders next. I think he is showing signs of good progression.

Ole Nate is, once again, going to battle against a brown belt in jiu jitsu. Both of these guys are great grapplers, so they will probably take a couple of shots and then both go to the ground. My thinking is that they will have an all out war standing up. So, if it happens, thank me for working Murphy’s law in reverse. Diaz via triangle in the first.

Michihiro Omigawa Vs. Thiago Tavares
(Thiago Tavares Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round)
RESULTS: Omigawas strength alone kept many of Tavares’ attacks at bay. Nothing to spectacular in this fight.

Easy one: Thiago Tavares via submission in the first round.

Alberto Crane Vs. Kurt Pellegrino
(Kurt Pellegrino Wins by Technical Knock Out at 1:55 in the 2nd round )
RESULTS: I couldn’t believe that Alberto Crane never even came close to getting a submission. He did get an awesome shin kick to Pellegrino’s head that rocked him hard. If Crane would not have rushed in and fell on top of his guard, he may have been able to finish him off, but instead he got to close to him and Pellegrino was able to tangle him up and stall.

Both of these guys came up through the world renowned BJJ tournaments. I am hoping this will be a BJJ clinic with punching. It will be cool just to see what Crane has learned after his last fight with Huerta. Crane stuck to BJJ only in this fight, and paid the price for it. He did well, putting Huerta in trouble a couple times, but you can’t go into a MMA fight and not throw a punch. Somebody will get submitted in this match for sure. Crane by submission in the third.

Dennis Siver Vs. Gray Maynard
(Gray Maynard Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round )

It will be interesting to see how these men progress with each fight. They show so much potential, but you can see where they lack some of the tools that they will learn with every fight. Maynard via decision.

Jeremy Stephens Vs. Cole Miller
(Jeremy Stephens Wins by Technical Knock Out at 4:44 in the 2nd round)

Another TUF alumni in Cole Miller. This will probably be his toughest fight yet. Stephens is a tough fighter with intensity to match. Cole has super long legs and can put you in trouble if you even get near his guard though. This will probably go to the judges since both of these guys are really good fighters. Since Cole fights more of a counter style I would think Stephens will score more points on take downs and such. Stephens wins via decision.

Joe Veres Vs. Corey Hill
(Corey Hill Wins by Technical Knock Out at 0:37 in the 2nd round )

A new and improved Corey Hill? That is what everyone is saying and I hope they are right. I agree that he improves with every fight. When he was on the TUF show, he was almost starting from scratch. The height difference in the fight is going to be huge with Veres being 5′6″ and Corey at 6′4″. This will be just a learning fight for Corey Veres shouldn’t put him in much danger. Once Corey figures out a strategy mid-fight, he will probably finish with some move that he has been working on. Corey via submission in the 2nd.

Justin Buchholz Vs. Matt Wiman
(Matt Wiman wins by submission (Choke) at 2:56 in the 1st round by rear naked choke)

This is Justin’s first time out in the UFC, but he is no joke at all. He trains with Faber and has ended his last five fights in the first round. Wiman won’t be ready for this dude. Wiman is a serious scrapper though. I really don’t know on this one. Toss up: coin says Justin.

I thought the fight with Manny and Nate in the finale of TUF would have been better without the shoulder injury. It seems as though Manny must be making some remarks lately because Nate doesn’t pull many punches in his statement with Graciefighter.com:

GF: Manny Gamburyan has been looking to get a rematch with you, stating
whenever he can that he only lost because of a shoulder injury. Any
thoughts?

ND: You know up until now I’ve tried to be respectful about him since we
were on the same team and everything but he’s making it hard for me to be that
way. He must have forgotten how our training sessions went in the house. I can
tell you I wasn’t the one getting tapped out and socked up the whole time but if
he’s still holding a grudge and wants to fight me again than let him beat some
guys and work his way back up. He’ll also need to get that operation so he can’t
use that as an excuse again. If he can do that I’ll be happy to fight him again.

Source:
http://www.graciefighter.com/?page=news

Penn has definitely given us several versions of himself over the years as a fighter. Let’s take a look at the main ones.

 

BJ “The Prodigy” Penn - Version 1.0

Remember when this version would run down the plank into the Octagon to let everyone know he was ready to get it on and then run back after the fight was over? This version was ready to start swinging for a K.O. He was young, fit, had hair and a force to be reckoned holding an undefeated record. This guy plowed through Din Thomas with a knee and knocked Caol Uno out in 11 seconds.

 

BJ “Half Way” Penn - Version 2.0

This version had been defeated. This guy still tried to fight the top tier guys, but he didn’t train real hard for the fights. He moved up to a heavier weight class since competing at 155 would mean he would have to train right and eat right. Like Penn said in his recent interview with the UFC, “Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it.” Even with little training this version was able to beat guys like Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi and Renzo Gracie.

 

BJ “The Upgrade” Penn - Version 3.0

This version got new training imposed on him while training for the Jens Pulver fight. This version showed up at the weigh-ins for the Pulver fight and shocked everybody with his new, slim, in-shape look. This version blew through Pulver with ease in every aspect of the fight. This version towered over Joe Stevenson at the UFC 80 weigh-ins with a ripped body and a new look of determination. As Penn states, “Now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.” This version had an epihany and realized, “I said what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?”

 

I guess Penn puts it best when he says, “Something just awoke inside of me where I said ‘what are you doing?” Penn continues. “‘You can beat every one of these people. You’ve been doing it half-assed all this time and it’s time to finally step up and let’s see it. If you can’t, you can’t, but at least you know you tried.’ Words can’t explain how pumped I am about fighting right now. It’s what I am, it’s who I am, and it’s what I want to be.”

 

Source:
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=9508

This fight is said to not happen until the first quarter of 2009. Although I would love to see this fight, watching a year of hype about it kind of reminds me of political elections.

“Oh yeah. Unless I die, it’s going to happen,” the younger Shamrock told MMA Weekly. Frank is a middleweight (185 pounds), and Ken has fought most of his career as a heavyweight, but his most recent bouts have been in the light heavyweight division (205 pounds). Frank revealed that the two will compete at light heavyweight. Frank said, “I do know the weight will be at 205. That’s what Ken wanted. The where doesn’t matter. The when will be the first quarter of 2009. The how will be right hand, left hook, right hand, and then that will be it.”

Source:
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5494&zoneid=13