MMA KOMBAT!

Okay, now this is just perfect! I love Mixed Martial Arts and I love Mortal Kombat, so mixing them together in a single video this well done is just amazing to me! Expertly put together and genuinely funny, this is a treat for any fan of MMA and Mortal Kombat. Thanks very much to lookoutawhale for this presentation! Check it out:

CHUCK LIDDELL RETIRES FOR REAL

It's official. After countless urgings by UFC President Dana White for him to hang up his gloves, Chuck Liddell finally made the decision he thought he'd never have to. A pure competitor by heart, if it weren't for his currently suspect chin, "The Iceman" would have never retired.

TRICKING THE STUNTS OF TRON LEGACY

I recently saw Tron Legacy in Imax 3D and enjoyed it very much. Critics, however, are very divided with it. It, for example, currently holds a 49% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, yet top critic Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars. Some even speculate that, in order to even like the film, you had to have loved the original. I personally do not believe this to be true. While I did see the original film as a child and liked it, I feel that I did not love it enough to make any significant emotions carry over into my enjoyment of the sequel. I simply enjoyed Tron Legacy for its own merits, no more no less. Here's the official trailer:

NEOGEO STATION AWAKENS FIGHTING GAME NOSTALGIA

The NEOGEO Station, featuring many classic SNK arcade games from the 90's, became available to the PSN this month. Being the martial arts media freak that I am, I immediately grabbed up all the fighting games it offered at launch. This includes Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters '94. Check out the official trailer below:

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 TRAILER

The latest title in the popular game franchise, Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is officially coming out for arcades in 2011! Here's the official trailer:

SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4 ARCADE EDITION VIDEOS!

The Arcade Edition of Super Street Fighter 4 came out a few days ago and there have a been a flood of gameplay videos coming out. Check out some of them below!

MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3 DECEMBER 2010 TRAILER

There's a new Marvel vs. Capcom 3 trailer! While it's mostly clips from past trailers, there is some neat new gameplay footage near the end that shows off some cool, new alternate costumes for some of the characters. Check it out!

KRATOS CONFIRMED IN MORTAL KOMBAT!

I'm not a big God of War fan. I've never played any of the games outside of the PSN demo of God of War 3. That said, I think it's a great game series and the addition of its main character to the new Mortal Kombat game is absolutely cool. Check it out!

UFC 125 PICKS

MAIN CARD

1. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard - Gray Maynard
2. Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann - Leben
3. Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva - Vera
4. Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim - Diaz
5. Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi - Guida

GOODBYE, WEC

The WEC has officially left the building, but not without a fond farewell. Its final minutes of life, The Last Extreme Cage Fight, was truly a spectacle to behold, unleashing upon the world not just one of the best fights of the year, but also one of the flashiest strikes in all MMA history:

THE LAST EXTREME CAGE FIGHT

On the evening of December 16, 2010 at the Jobing.com Arena at Glendale Arizona, the Last Extreme Cage Fight occurred. In it, two lightweight fighters entered the cage in order to compete for the chance to be included in the history books, as the last ever WEC lightweight champion. Both fighters knew what was on the line, and they went for it, all out.

UFC 124: JABBING HIS WAY TO VICTORY

Aaaand STILL Welterweight champion of the world! That's right, folks, GSP comes out smiling again, at UFC 124, as I predicted. The fight went the distance and he wins it via unanimous decision.

GSP controlled the entire fight by utilizing his strikes extremely well, primarily his jab. GSP showed true mastery of the technique by controlling the distance the entire time, and landing almost a hundred percent of the time. By the third round, Koscheck's right eye had swollen so badly that, at one point, the fight doctor even seriously considered stopping the match because Kos couldn't see anymore. Herb Dean, thankfully, let the fight go on. Kos is no Daredevil, though, so there was really no way he could have won that fight blind, unless a miracle would occur.

UFC 124 PREDICTIONS

MAIN CARD

1. Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck - St-Pierre
2. Stefan Struve vs. Sean mcCorkle - Struve
3. Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira - Oliveira
4. Joe Stevenson vs. Mac Danzig - Stevenson
5. Thiago Alves vs. John Howard - Alves

Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below!

UFC 123 REVIEW: PHIL DAVIS VS. TIM BOETSCH

ROUND 1

After more than 2 minutes of feeling each other out, Davis takes Boetsch down and attempts an Arm Triangle.  Davis is unable to complete the submission, so lets Boetsch's arm go and rains down some ground and pound instead. It's not the most exciting ground and pound ever seen, but it at least allows Davis to maintain a dominant position over Boetsch and control him for the rest of the round. Despite not showcasing the most exciting match in MMA, though he admittedly try to finish early, Davis easily takes the round because of Octagon control.

UFC 123 REVIEW: GERALD HARRIS VS. MAIQUEL FALCAO

ROUND 1

The round starts out slow, as both fighters patiently circle each other. This process is very typical of almost any mixed martial arts match, but what is not typical is the fact that this lasts for 3 whole minutes. The crowd boos as expected, but there is unfortunately no change in the fighters' demeanor.

UFC 123 REVIEW: GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS VS. JOE LAUZON

Crazy. That's one way this fight could be described. Back and forth incredibly fast striking, nonstop scrambles on the ground, and, at least for me, a very surprising ending. I'm a big fan of both of these fighters and feel that they are true top prospects that will eventually get title shots. I predicted that Lauzon would take this, though. Both look to be about equal on the ground, but I figured that Lauzon has the faster, crisper boxing and footwork, and would be able to outmatch Sotiropoulos that way.

ROUND 1

UFC 123 REVIEW: HUGHES VS. PENN

Wow, just ... wow. I never would have predicted it in a million years. Yup, it's all true. BJ Penn just knocked out Matt Hughes in only 21 seconds. Penn caught him with a right, dropped him, and immediately swarmed on him with some ground and pound. Hughes never knew what hit him and he was out like a light. After he came to, the first thing said he was "what happened?"

UFC 123 REVIEW: RAMPAGE VS. MACHIDA

Fast action, fighters getting knocked down, mind games on the ground; this match had it all! I really like both of these fighters and have been eagerly awaiting this fight. I'm a bigger fan of The Dragon's, though, and it's the primary reason I predicted that he'd take it.

My prediction wasn't all subjective, though. Rampage's primary method of success in the Octagon is getting hold of guys, slamming them, dealing huge ground and pound, or catching them on their feet with just one punch. I was sure that Lyoto's legendary elusiveness would allow him to avoid all that, and that he would be able to slip past Rampage's defenses and either knock him out like he did Rashad, or take him down and submit him somehow.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 10 REVIEW

This episode was surprisingly average, given that there two fights and a mind-boggingly awesome guest appearance. It's still one of the better ones of the season, I suppose.

AARON WILKINSON VS. KYLE WATSON

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 5 REVIEW

John Fitch, who actually appeared in the last episode, is recognized only this time around. He shares that attitude is the most important thing in fighting. It's much better to be an out of shape fighter who listens and has a great attitude, than the best athlete in the world who doesn't listen and has a bad attitude.

Back at the house, the annoying pranks continue. Alex Caceres places bleach in Nam Phan's fabric softener in order to prank Team Koscheck, but his teammate, Micheal Johnson, uses it first and gets seriously pissed off.

UFC 123 PREDICTIONS

MAIN CARD

1. Quinton Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida - Machida
2. Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn - Hughes
3. Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao - Harris
4. Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch - Davis
5. George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon - Lauzon

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 6: THE PRELIMS

SETH PETRUZELLI VS. KARLOS VEMOLA

Vemola's strategy is painfully evident from the very beginning. He wants to take Petruzelli down and use his impressively massive frame to his advantage by raining down ground and pound and finishing the fight.

He charges in like a bull at the sound of the bell and, when he eventually grabs hold of Petruzelli, viciously slams him onto the mat. Petruzelli immediately manages to get back up, though, but Vemola is persistent and just charges in to grab hold once again and slams his opponent to the mat. Petruzelli counters, though, and attempts a Triangle Choke, but is unable to lock it in.

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 5: OSIPCZAK VS. LUDWIG

NICK OSIPCZAK VS. DUANE LUDWIG

The fight starts out as a stand up brawl, but when Ludwig lands an early head kick, Osipczak immediately clinches to recover. Ludwig quickly breaks free, and lands a knee to the head and rocks Osipczak once again. Osipczak can really take since, after two direct hits to the head, he's still standing, though obviously hurt. In fact, he comes back and drops Ludwig with a left hook! Outstanding! Osipczak jumps on Ludwig and rains some ground and pound on him, but is unable to finish.

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 4: SOSZYNSKI VS. RELJIC

KRYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI VS. GORAN RELJIC

The first round starts out as an evenly matched stand up war, where both fighters receive as much as they give. It seems that every time one fighter becomes aggressive and lands a few successful shots, the other pays him in kind instantly. Reljic changes pace and takes Soszynksi down late in the round, though, and winds up almost being submitted by Soszynksi with a Kimura for his troubles. Soszynski is unable to finish, though, and the fight goes on to a second round. Very difficult round to score, but since Reljic got that takedown late in the round, I would think that he won it. 

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 3: SADOLLAH VS. SOBOTTA

AMIR SADOLLAH VS. PETER SOBOTTA

Sadollah comes out very fast and active with his Muay Thai and smartly mixes up his punches and kicks at various levels. Sobotta, obviously outmatched in the striking department, clinches with Sadollah and pins him against the fence every chance he gets.Sobotta attempts to sweep Sadollah several times and get him to the ground, but Sadollah defends well, and keeps the fight standing the entire time. Despite not dealing any damage at all, Sobotta controlled Sadollah on the fence for most of the round, so the judges most probably gave it to him. 

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 2: SIVER VS. WINNER

DENNIS SIVER VS. ANDRE WINNER

This was a great fight, though I wonder greatly why Winner chose his game plan. Dennis Siver is a renowned German kickboxing champion. As such, it would seem that the appropriate plan of attack would be to utilize wrestling to get him down to the ground, control him with some ground and pound, and eventually submit him. Winner is a good enough striker himself, and thus chose to stick to his own personal style, but that, unfortunately, was his undoing.

UFC 122 REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

NATE MARQUARDT VS. YUSHIN OKAMI

I was a bit disappointed in this fight, primarily because it's not one of the most exciting main events in UFC history. Also, despite the fact that both warriors are competing for a title shot, there's no belt on the line yet, so there isn't any tension to add to the lack of action.

WEC 52 REVIEW PART 3: THE PRELIMS

This article only contains one fight as this was the only shown on the live broadcast. Not to worry, though, this fight was so amazing that it deserves a whole review all to itself!

CUB SWANSON VS. MACKENS SEMERZIER

WEC 52 REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

This review features the other fights on the main card. To check out my views on the main and co-main events, go here. For the preliminary fights, go here.

ERIK KOCH VS. FRANCISCO RIVERA 

WEC 52 REVIEW PART 1

I almost missed this one as I had completely forgotten the date, which is why I didn't post my predictions. Good thing I remembered at the last minute, though, because this was certainly another great night of fights, which is pretty typical for the WEC.

THE MAIN EVENT:

URIJAH FABER VS. TAKEYA MIZUGAKI

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 9 REVIEW

This episode features two straight fights, and the first is between Jonathan Brookins and Sako Chivitchian.  Brookings previously won against Sako's close friend and fellow Armenian Sevak Magakian, via a very quickly executed Rear Naked Choke. It's up to Sako to prevent Brookins from ever using that technique against anyone  on his team again, as well as upholding his Armenian pride by avenging his friend's loss.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 4 REVIEW

Iron Mike sticks around and offers Team GSP some words of wisdom. He states that the smarter fighter always wins and that confidence is key, not only in fighting, but in any aspect of life.

Back at the house, Team Koscheck lets loose their sour grapes at Alex Caceres. Apparently, Caceres was yelling all sorts of profanities against Wilkinson during the fight and Team Koscheck took offense to that. Oookay. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. Sure, yelling profanities against another person is a bad thing, but Caceres was essentially just cheering for his team in his own way. And now, just because they lost, Team Koscheck is looking for a scapegoat to vent their anger upon. And better yet, when Caceres gets annoyed at them for talking about him behind his back, Sevak goes into a mindless rage. Team Kosecheck definitely looks like it's being demonized, at least in this episode. Caceres just laughs it off, which is, oddly enough, the mature thing to do.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 3 REVIEW

As promised, Bruce Leroy grows too cocky because of his win against Jeff Lentz and goes off on a tirade of boasting. Pretty boring, though, as nothing really came of it. Back in training, GSP brings in Olympic silver medalist Gia Sissaouri to help train wrestling with his team. Koscheck, meanwhile, senses that his team might not be giving it their all and tells it to them straight.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 2 REVIEW

The fighters move into the house and one of them is quickly highlighted: Jeff Lentz, who lives a stereotypically unhealthy lifestyle despite being a professional fighter. He smokes all day and drinks all night, though still apparently works very well in training, with plenty of gas in the tank and strength in his muscles.

UFC 122 PREDICTIONS

MAIN CARD

1. Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami - Marquardt
2. Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara - Sakara
3. Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner - Siver
4. Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta - Sadollah
5. Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic - Soszynski


Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below!

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 6: THE PRELIMS

COURT MCGEE VS. RYAN JENSEN

I've been a huge fan of Court McGee ever since The Ultimate Fighter 11. This is his first fight after the finale, and you can be sure that I was rooting for him all the way. He faces longtime veteran Ryan Jensen, who has been fighting professionally since 1997.

Jensen's experience shows early when he dominates McGee both standing up and on the ground. He drops McGee with a left early in the first round and controls him easily on the ground afterward. McGee recovers and begins exchanging bravely against the experienced veteran, though. He finds his rhythm and begins mixing up his punches with successful leg kicks, and keeps Jensen off balance.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 5: SCHAUB VS. GONZAGA

I've been a fan of Brendan Schaub ever since his days as a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. He made it to the finals that season but lost against heavy favorite Roy "Big Country" Nelson. He's very much a newcomer to this sport, but has shown genuinely constant improvements every time he steps in the cage. His last two fights prior to this featured some very impressive first round knockouts. His opponent this time, though, Gabriel Gonzaga, is a former top contender who has knockout power in both hands and feet, and is one of the stronger fighters in the division. 

UFC AND WEC TO OFFICIALLY MERGE

Dana White has just announced that the UFC and WEC will officially merge in January, 2011. White states that the timing is just right since the UFC is becoming more and more global, so adding in the other divisions from the WEC (Bantamweight and Featherweight) to make the shows bigger and better would serve only serve to further the organization's current goals. He also states that the Flyweight division (125 lbs) will also be added sometime down the road.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 4: ORTIZ VS. HAMILL

TITO ORTIZ

Tito Ortiz really needs to win again in the UFC. The last time he won a match was back in 2006 when he beat Ken Shamrock. After that, he lost to Chuck Liddell for the second time in a row, got a draw against Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida and then Forrest Griffin, then backed out in his much-hyped rematch against Chuck Liddell, which got him fired from The Ultimate Fighter (Rich Franklin replaced him in that match).

Tito Ortiz has a very established fan base since he was the UFC Light Heavyweight champion for two straight years, defended the belt five times in a row, has been in the sport for 13 years, and is one of the UFC's classic bad boys. I'm one of Tito's big fans, but honestly? If a fighter hasn't won a match in four straight years, your expectations of him kind of dwindle. Kind of really dwindle.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 3: SANCHEZ VS. THIAGO

Diego Sanchez is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC. From his time in The Ultimate Fighter 1, his odd personality and extreme aggression in the cage was, win or lose, always fun to behold. When he was thoroughly dominated by former Lightweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 107, however, something changed in  Diego, and it wasn't good. This was more than evident in his bout against John Hathaway at UFC 114. Diego looked clearly off his game and lacked his trademark aggressiveness. He lost via unanimous decision and the fighter who was previously known to, by far, have one of the toughest mental fortitudes in the organization seemed to have completely lost his edge. It seemed that BJ Penn took much more than a simple victory from Diego that night. 

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 2: SHIELDS VS. KAMPMANN

Jake Shields, former Strikeforce Middleweight champion riding a 15-fight win streak, has finally come to the UFC. Shields has been fighting professionally for over a decade now and is incredibly popular, but fans worldwide have always wondered how he would fare against the cream of the crop of the world's biggest MMA organization, the UFC? UFC 121 answered this question as Shields went up against the ever-dangerous well-rounded fighter Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann.

UFC 121 RESULTS

MAIN CARD

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez - Velasquez by TKO
2. Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann - Shields by split decision 
3. Diego Sanchez vs. Paolo Thiago - Sanchez by unanimous decision
4. Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill - Hamill by unanimous decision
5. Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - Schaub by unanimous decision

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

Lesnar vs. Velasquez is a match that I've been looking forward to for a long, long time now. No offense to UFC 119 and 120. Those had potentially amazing main events and I was genuinely excited for them (though one of them did disappoint, unfortunately), but this one was more special. Not only was there a belt on the line, it was also another great chance to see Brock Lesnar in action, one of the most colorful characters in the UFC, who also has one of the more interesting careers, from gaining the belt at a very accelerated rate, to winning rather decisively against all his recent opponents, to even fight back death itself, Lesnar is always a fighter to look out for, and always justifies the hype (except for his first match against Frank Mir,that is).

UFC 120 RESULTS

MAIN CARD

1. Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama - Bisping by unanimous decision
2. Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit - Condit by KO
3. John Hathaway vs. Mike Pyle - Pyle by unanimous decision
4. Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne - Draw
5. James Wilks vs. Claude Patrick - Patrick by unanimous decision

UFC 119 RESULTS

MAIN CARD:

1. Frank Mir vs. Mirko Flipovic - Mir by KO
2. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader - Bader by unanimous decision
3. Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle - Lytle by unanimous decision
4. Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham - Sherk by split decision
5. Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens - Guillard by split decision 

UFC 121 PREDICTIONS

Heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar defends his title against another extraordinary opponent in the form of Cain Velasquez! A guaranteed MMA classic! Plus, Jake Shields' UFC debut, the return of the Nightmare, The Hybrid's toughest test by far, and a Teacher vs. Student match-up! Looks like another great card!

WELCOME TO "THE WORLD AND MARTIAL ARTS"!

Hello and welcome to my blog about the martial arts! This blog is about how the martial arts are represented in the modern world. Therefore, most of the posts will be about Mixed Martial Arts events, movies, and video games, as these are the most recognizable and most commonly distributed forms of expression that contain martial arts these days.

UFC 119 PREDICTIONS

Cro Cop vs. Mir! Bader vs. Li'l Nog! Serra vs. Lytle: The Rematch! Plus the return of The Muscle Shark and The Young Assasin! A pretty amazing card, if you ask me.

GSP IN THE PHILIPPINES!

Current UFC welterweight champion and TUF 12 coach, Georges "Rush" St-Pierre is visiting the Philippines this week for a meet and greet with fans at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA)'s Music Hall in Pasay City, Philippines, on September 25, 2010 (Friday), starting at 2:30 PM. He will be arriving in the country on September 23 for the 3-day visit. Here's Balls Channel's (the official channel that broadcasts MMA events in the Philippines) official video promotion of the event:

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

COLE MILLER VS. ROSS PEARSON

The first round was a classic stand up brawl, with Cole being the active one, mixing everything up rather well, but with Pearson showing the more refined striking abilities; picking his shots carefully and landing them with crisp precision. Both fighters' game plans were pretty clear late in the round: Pearson wanted to set up Cole for a solid knockout punch, and Cole wanted to get Pearson to the ground and submit him. The first round was rather even, though, and either fighter could have won it.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 1 REVIEW PART 2

Only a select few fights were aired in their entirety. Check out the first part of my review of the first episode of the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter to see what occurred there. This article focuses on the fights that were aired with cuts, and were shown as highlights. What was shown was still pretty impressive, though:

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 1 REVIEW PART 1

The first episode was pretty awesome, as it was literally all about the fights. I'll start by reviewing the fights that were shown on air in their entirety, and then continue with the highlights tomorrow.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

I've been very excited with this matchup for quite a while. Rousimar Palhares is a relative newcomer in the UFC, but has been quickly climbing the ranks because of his outstanding BJJ finishes. His opponent, however, is Nate "The Great" Marquardt, who has been professionally competing for more than ten years, is a former UFC Middleweight top contender, and King of Pancrase. Nate's one of the top guys in the UFC middleweight division, and if Palhares beats him, it could very well mean a top contender position for him in the near future. On the other hand, if Marquardt wins this one, then he could very well be catapulted into top contender status as well, a position so convincingly taken from him by Chael Sonnen at UFC 109.There's a lot riding on this fight, so both fighters are geared up.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES PREDICTIONS

Okay, now that I've published all of my reviews for UFC 118, I think it's a good time to post my predictions for the next UFC event coming next week, UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares:

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 5: THE PRELIMS

LAUZON VS. RUEDIGER

Diaz vs. Davis is my favorite fight of the night (and it was awarded as such), but, aside from Couture's performance against Toney, this is another of my favorite bouts of the evening. Joe Lauzon and Gabe Rueidger are both veterans of The Ultimate Fighter Season 5,but Lauzon had the better performance.

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 4: THE MAIN CARD

DIAZ VS. DAVIS

This match is a real treat for those who like straight-up stand up brawls. And I do mean "brawls", and not "fights", especially considering that it's Nate Diaz we're talking about here. Diaz, who normally competes at lightweight, moves up to welterweight for this bout. Will the increased weight be a disadvantage to him, will it be the other way around, or will it just not make a difference? Considering that he looks much larger than Davis, I'd say he still had the advantage in this fight.

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 3: FLORIAN VS. MAYNARD

Kenny "Kenflo" Florian is one of those fighter's who's definitely better every time he gets in the cage, not because the preview specials or commentators tell you so, but because you can visually tell the difference. Literally every time  he steps into the cage, you can see that he's once again sharpened up his already impressive Muay Thai and BJJ skills. He showed incredible stand up skills and footwork against Japanese phenom Takanori Gomi, and I was looking for him to display a comparable, if not much better performance against Gray "The Bully" Maynard.

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 2: COUTURE VS. TONEY

Who honestly thought this was going to go any other way? In an industry first, current boxing champion James Toney fights UFC fighter Randy Couture in order to see if boxing really is better than MMA, and vice versa. Most people accurately predicted the outcome of this fight the moment it was announced.

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 1: EDGAR VS. PENN

Which side were you on when Frankie Edgar beat the man many proclaimed to be the best lightweight in the history of the sport? Did you believe that Edgar truly won that fight decisively or did BJ just have a very bad night? How did you react when Edgar wanted to fight Gray Maynard and avenge a previous loss rather than give BJ an immediate rematch?

UFC 118 THOUGHTS: PENN VS. PACQUIAO?

Watching the August 20, 2010 episode of Inside MMA, I was hit with a rather interesting thought. Maximum Fighting Championship owner and president Mark Pavelich commented that the UFC 118 match between Randy Couture and James Toney, isn't nearly as good representation as it's supposed to be. This is because both fighters are already in their 40's (Couture is 47 and Toney is 41), which is the age range that many fighters retire at, if they actually make it that far. Pavelich proposed that younger, more relevant fighters of their respective sports be the representatives. He specifically names a Clay Guida / Manny Pacquiao fight. 

UFC 118 PREDICTIONS

Here are my predictions for UFC 118. As usual, I'll keep them short and sweet and leave my actual thoughts for my reviews of the fights.

WEC 50 REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

As I mentioned in the first part of my review of WEC 50, a good majority of the fights in this organization of lighter-weight warriors are composed of wild, nonstop, brutal action for 3 or 5 rounds straight. This is true for the main event, and this is true for most of the main card as well.

WEC 50 REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

I actually only began watching WEC events less than a year ago, so I'm not nearly as familiar with the fighters as I am with the ones from the UFC. Seeing as the organization has reached the magic number 50, though, I feel that it's high time I threw in my own thoughts about this particular MMA organization.

THE EXPENDABLES MOVIE REVIEW

Expectations. That’s what "The Expendables" is all about. It has an air of hype around it that just builds tremendous expectations in certain audience members. It has to, what with some of the “greatest action heroes of all time” all in the same movie. As such, I believe that this is the film’s greatest accomplishment, as well as its greatest failure.

TEKKEN MOVIE REVIEW 2: THE EXTREMELY GEEKY VERSION

You’ve probably already read my general thoughts on the film, but if it not, please check it out first! This review is basically a continuation of the first one, but with added notes that the hardcore Tekken and fighting game fans might want to know. As such, this contains MASSIVE SPOILERS. You have been warned.

TEKKEN MOVIE REVIEW

I recently had the chance to see “Tekken”, the live action adaptation of the very popular video game franchise. I am a huge fan of fighting games, and of course, I love Tekken as well. As one would expect, this is a martial arts movie. I have to stress, however, that this is a low budget effort, and what many would correctly term a “B Movie”. So, if you completely despise these types of flicks, then you know what to expect, and that’s pretty much all of the pieces of this review that you need to read. If, however, the thought of this being a low budget chop-socky affair doesn’t bother you in the least, then read on!

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 7: FINAL THOUGHTS

STRUVE VS. MORECRAFT

Stefan Struve has been known to be a very well rounded fighter in the heavyweight division, with excellent striking and grappling skills. But when he came up against Christian Morecraft, his skills seemed to be just a bit lacking. He clearly lost the first round to the UFC newcomer. “Dominated” would be an understatement. Morecraft quickly gets Struve on the ground and ground and pounds him for nearly 4 straight minutes. Struve has tremendous heart, though. He kept active the entire time by defending every chance he could and throwing submission attempts every once in a while. There were several times when referee Herb Dean seemed very close to stopping it, though, but Struve kept at it and survived until the end of the round.

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 6: FITCH VS. ALVES

Activity level. That’s pretty much what made this fight. During the weigh-in, Thiago Alves supposedly could not make the weight by half a pound and refused to cut it, choosing instead to lose 20% of his purse. With the money he’s currently making with the UFC, that’s a pretty huge sum, and something not a lot of people would agree worth losing over cutting only half a pound. But when you’re willing to lose a tremendous amount of cash just to avoid losing that little weight, you know something’s wrong.

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 5: GUIDA VS. DOS ANJOS

Clay Guida. Wrestler. Striker. Engine with unlimited fuel. Wild man. Carpenter. Dude with extremely crazy hair. He actually reminds me a lot of Blanka from the Street Fighter series by the way he looks and acts, but I digress. Guida is primarily known as a dominant wrestler who likes to grind his opponents out until they have nothing left to give. He literally never runs out of gas. Never. And he goes full steam from the very first bell to the very last. Rafael Dos Anjos, on the other hand, is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert who is also known to possess some incredible Muay Thai. So, he could knock Guida out or possibly submit him.

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 4: HUGHES VS. ALMEIDA

Alright, revenge match time! “You killed my master!” Or rather, “you defeated my master”. After Matt Hughes defeated legendary MMA fighter Renzo Gracie at UFC 112, Ricardo Almeida, one of Gracie’s top students, apparently targeted Hughes and asked specifically for this fight. He seriously wants to avenge the loss of his instructor. Hughes, on the other hand, doesn’t think the same way. He’s not Gracie hunting or bearing a grudge or anything. He just wants to fight and win impressively against whoever the UFC puts in front of him. Just another day in the office.

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 3: NELSON VS. DOS SANTOS

Roy “Big Country” Nelson” is not your average MMA fighter. He is an extraordinarily fat heavyweight that does not look the least bit athletic, yet he comes always fully prepared to fight, has a chin that can take a ton of punishment, has knock out power in both hands, can go three full rounds without seeming to get tired, has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and has years and years of experience in the sport. He was a former champion in a different organization and, after winning the tenth seasonof The Ultimate Fighter, is now steadily climbing the ranks of the UFC heavyweight division.

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 2: SILVA VS. SONNEN

I've already written at length about the hype that culminated into this main event but what actually happened?

Anderson catches Chael very early on in with a straight right, but Chael remains composed, striking back at the champion. The two exchange punches and kicks for a while, and Sonnen does a very impressive roll escape after Silva catches one of his kicks. The crowd cheers for Silva.

Then, the near-unthinkable happens: Sonnen manages to sneak past Silva’s usually impenetrable stand-up defenses and dazes him with a clean left straight punch. Silva backs up, but strikes back at his charging opponent. Silva takes Sonnen to the ground, but the challenger quickly stands up and delivers several more clean punches to the champion’s chin. Oddly enough, Silva wasn’t defending any of them. In fact, he had his hands down.

Then, the story of pretty much the entire fight ensues. Champion wrestler Chael Sonnen manages to take down Anderson Silva and control him there for the rest of the fight, raining down punches and elbows from various positions, similar to what Jon Jones did to Vladimir Matyushenko at the very recent UFC Live 2. In fact, Sonnen seemed so impressive and so brutal with his strikes that I thought he would be able to finish Silva right there. But, man, Silva has a good chin and an incredible heart. He obviously got hurt plenty of time while Sonnen kept bashing his head in, but he never showed any signs of quitting. He kept active as much as possible, by adjusting his guard, throwing elbows, and attempting submissions, but he was never able to truly counter or reverse the challenger. The crowd cheers for Sonnen.

This would, in fact, occur throughout the entire length of the fight, even into the championship rounds. At the beginning of every round, Silva would come out very aggressive, attempting to perhaps finish Sonnen before he could take him down and control him again. Though still impressive with his striking, he was never able to evade Sonnen’s takedowns for long. Even after knocking Sonnen down with a solid right elbow to the face, Silva was still unable to finish him on his feet, and Sonnen still manages to wind up on top on the ground. It shows how extraordinarily impressive and resilient both of these top fighters are.

Then the fifth and final round begins, and Silva doesn’t seem tired at all. Many people doubted his endurance coming into this fight. It was widely speculated that the primary reason he chose to run away from Demian Maia for the last two rounds of his fight against him at the main event of UFC 112 was because his antics and clowning around for three rounds gassed him out. How then would he fare after having been controlled on the ground by Chael Sonnen for almost four entire rounds? Silva slips (he was initially thought to have once again be dazed by one of Sonnen’s punches) early in the round and Sonnen capitalizes by controlling him on the ground once more.

I had actually conceded Chael Sonnen’s victory in my head during the fourth round. Sonnen was on a roll and Silva looked as if he could not do anything about it. So, when the bell rang for the end of the fourth round, I assumed that it was simply going to be the same in the next one, and that Sonnen would win via unanimous decision. Miracle of miracles, Silva manages to submit Sonnen late into the fifth round with a triangle choke. After all those (what seemed like) dozens of submission attempts throughout the entire fight, he managed to land one cleanly.

Sonnen, however, is seen to be complaining to referee Josh Rosenthal for stopping the fight, but the replay clearly shows he tapped Silva’s leg once. Anderson “The Spider” Silva keeps his belt and finally, after perhaps three terribly lackluster defenses, earns it in the hearts and minds of fans all over the globe. Chael Sonnen, though defeated, should have nothing to be ashamed of, as he was clearly the more dominant fighter of the night until the final round. He performed his game plan perfectly, but was just a bit careless in the end. He performed wonderfully as a fighter tonight, and I will relish watching him again in the future. This was a spectacular main event!

Check out the rest of my UFC 117 reviews and drop on over the official UFC website for more amazing photos of the event!

UFC 117 REVIEW PART 1: INTRO TO THE MAIN EVENT

Should Chael Sonnen win? Does Anderson Silva deserve to stay UFC middleweight champion? These thoughts flooded mixed martial arts fans from across the globe for months on end as Chael Sonnen, an extraordinary wrestler who has beaten a who’s who of champions and top contenders in various organizations throughout his professional MMA career began his epic series of verbal tirades against the current middleweight champion of the UFC.

Sonnen, part wrestler, part politician, and all mixed martial artist, had been talking some of the most extreme forms of trash against champion Anderson Silva for months and months on end, partly to hype up the main event, partly to deliver more confidence to himself, and partly because he actually believed the stuff he was spewing. In a recent interview with Ron Kruck on Inside MMA, Sonnen explains that he never once talked trash against Anderson Silva, simply because he defines “talking trash” as making stuff up just to make your opponent look bad. He says that he never once made any of the negative talk he shared with the various media sources up. He says he believes it all to be true, even when he says that Silva could never be taken down before because he was always soaked in baby oil. He even outright calls him a “cheater” for doing so.

Sonnen’s “trash talking” also included calling Anderson Silva a liar, since Silva had signed a contract months before committing to fight then-top contender Demian Maia, at the infamous main event of the very memorable UFC 112. Sonnen says Anderson did not go in there to fight, but to just clown around and waste the fans’ time and money. Though I did not take a lot of what Sonnen said over the past few months very seriously, including the aforementioned baby oil comment, and simply looked at them as comprising a massive hype machine for the much anticipated August event, this one rang a bell with me and many other fans throughout the world.

Dana has gone on record saying that UFC 112was the first time he ever walked out on a UFC main event. He was so disgusted at Silva’s performance that he seriously thought about immediately firing him, or at the very least, make his next fight an untelevised preliminary bout, and simply gave the belt to his manager and walked away. At the post-fight press conference, he promised to the fans that he would definitely make up for it somehow. Fans all over clamored to have Silva’s next bout be offered for free, but Dana and the rest of the UFC higher ups, instead went with the more business-friendly route: picking a top contender who would fight, and fight brutally.

Chael Sonnen is that contender, and he sold his position very well, dividing UFC fans from all over. Pretty much all of the fans agreed that Silva’s last bout was a major disappointment, but they still recognized his amazing fighting capabilities. A lot of Sonnen’s negative arguments were rather convincing, though, and some fans wanted Silva to suffer for his last performance, and maybe even loss his title. Should the title go to the trash-spewing villain or to the major disappointment? Who did you root for?

I was on the Silva camp, simply because, despite the fact that I was overwhelmingly impressed by Sonnen in his fight against Nate “The Great” Marquardt at UFC 109,and was familiar with his credentials, I was still highly confident that Silva’s highly touted skills, which gave him an 11-fight win streak and 7 title defenses in the UFC, and had many calling him the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, would somehow see him through yet again. Personally, I wished for an early knockout a la Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.

You can check out more great photos of UFC 117 over at the official UFC website.

The hype is all well and good, but what actually happened?

UFC LIVE: JONES VS. MATYUSHENKO REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

TYSON GRIFFIN VS. TAKANORI GOMI

This match was an excellent start for the rest of the event, and, strangely enough, slightly mirrored the main event. Takanori Gomi has been professionally competing in MMA for some time now, and he is a legend over in Japan. His UFC debut, however, was under a slightly negative banner when he lost against one of the top lightweights in the organization, Kenny Florian, at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi. Despite that, I predicted that The Fireball Kid would take the loss as another important lesson in MMA and use his vast experience to steadily climb the ranks of the UFC.

How right I was. Tyson Griffin is known as an extraordinary striker, and by all rights, he definitely is. Some people were thinking that he might initiate a similar strategy to Kenny Florian’s, when he out-boxed Gomi during their matchup. Griffin came out swinging almost as soon as the bell rang, and Gomi answered. After only a few exchanges, Gomi landed a clean right hook and face-planted Griffin only a minute into the first round. Griffin complains to referee Jason Herzog that it was an unfair early stoppage, but he was clearly knocked out.




The Fireball Kid lives up to his nickname by finishing the fight extremely quickly and explosively, and proudly earns his first UFC win. During the post-fight interview, he explains to Joe Rogan that his loss against Florian was mostly due to fighting in the US, particularly in a cage, for the first time in his career, but now he’s sure that he’s gotten used to it. Takanori Gomi is definitely a fighter to watch out for in the UFC lightweight division.

JAKE ELLENBERGER VS. JOHN HOWARD

This fight is a classic striker vs. grappler matchup, with Ellenberger known for being an excellent wrestler, and Howard for being a mean striker with instant KO power in any of his limbs. Howard predictably comes out actively striking as much as possible, but after trading with him a bit, Ellenberger takes him down rather easily and controls him for most of the entire first round. Ellenberger stays very active, however, by constantly delivering some insane ground and pound on his opponent. “Doomsday”, however, isn’t one to give up, and stays active on the bottom, though not very aggressive. He manages to stay alive, but fails to reserve the position or deal much damage to his opponent.

At the start of the second round, one could clearly see the damage that Ellenberger has wreaked upon Howard’s face. Howard’s left eye is extremely swollen that it looks almost completely deformed. He definitely cannot see with that eye, and the amount of swelling is most probably affecting the other eye as well.

The second round continues very similarly as the first. Howard strikes very aggressively and even rocks Ellenberger once or twice, but Ellenberger sticks to his wise game plan and takes Howard down and controls him on the ground with his superior wrestling abilities. Referee Herb Dean, at one point, stands them up and has the doctor check Howard’s eye. After the doctor determines that Howard cannot see because of the immense swelling, the referee stops the fight.

Not the most exciting finish (or fight, for that matter) of the evening, but it did show that Ellenberger had the best game plan against Howard and that he executed it perfectly. Though the fight isn’t one of the most exciting in UFC history, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at John Howard’s face. Probably not winning the fight as he originally intended, Ellenberger still proudly accepts the victory against a very tough opponent.

MARK MUNOZ VS. YUSHIN OKAMI 

I picked Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz to win this fight since I thought his bread and butter, taking opponents down and performing vicious ground and pound, would work well against Okami, who is known primarily as a striker. Okami, apparently, thought the same as I did and trained extremely diligently at defending takedowns and combatting elite wrestlers. To this end, he apparently trained with one of the top wrestlers in the middleweight division; a man who had defeated him 10 months prior: Chael Sonnen, as mentioned by color commentator Joe Rogan.

The training was apparently extremely effective, as Okami managed to defend nearly all of Munoz’s takedowns, and when he did get taken down, he would immediately be able to get back to his feet. Okami would then manage to outstrike Munoz, using his range and crisp boxing. This occurred throughout the entire first round and clearly frustrated Munoz, who was never really able to implement his game plan properly.

In the second round, Munoz becomes more aggressive and creatively fakes several of his takedowns. Okami’s sprawls, however, were pretty impenetrable, and are some of the most impressive I’ve ever seen out of any UFC fighter. Munoz did manage to drop Okami with a left hook, but was still unable to follow up with any significant advantage.

The fight goes to a third round and, after all those takedown attempts, Munoz is clearly tired. Okami manages to drop him with a right hook, but Munoz’s tenacity allows him to survive. The match comes to an end with neither fighter able to finish, and Yushin “Thunder” Okami comes out the victor via a split decision.

I was honestly very blown away by how impenetrable Okami’s takedown defenses were, how quickly he managed to get back to his feet and gather distance all the time, and manage to have a full tank of gas until the very end of the fight, which is very surprising, seeing how he was resisting against an elite wrestler of Munoz’s caliber much of the time. As Joe Rogan mentioned, Okami became incredibly serious about training to fight against wrestlers after his loss to Sonnen, and the increase in his abilities is very apparent. Stuffing practically all of Mark Munoz’s takedowns is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but Okami pulled it off beautifully. If he continues to impress in his future fights, I’d love to see him get a title shot.

DARREN ELKINS VS. CHARLES OLIVEIRA

Alright, this isn’t a main card fight, but only one of the prelims was broadcast, and it’s pretty short, so no use creating a separate article for it.
Elkins manages to grab hold of Oliveira almost immediately and viciously slams him onto the ground. Oliveira, however, actually appreciates this by instantly locking a triangle choke on his opponent, and finishes him after only 41 seconds. See, told you it was pretty short.
But, man, those are some really serious BJJ skills right there! To be able to lock on a choke that quickly and tightly? That is really deadly. Charles Oliveira shows that his 12-0 record prior to this fight isn’t just for show, and that he is indeed a factor in the UFC lightweight division.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The main event, Jones vs. Matyushenko, for me, was the true crowning glory of the night, though Gomi’s finish comes in at a very close second. Check out my thoughts on the main event!

Now on to UFC 117! After all that talking, Sonnen better deliver on the action and give us the exciting Anderson Silva fight we’ve all been wanting!

Check out more great pictures of UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko over at the official UFC website!

UFC LIVE: JONES VS. MATYUSHENKO REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

Wow, just … wow. If I had to sum up this fight in only a handful of words, it would be “quick, clean and brutal”. Jon “Bones” Jones clearly does not mess around. Here’s a guy that everyone knew was going to be the next big thing. The question was, how big, and how long until he got there? Jones only had 11 pro fights under his belt before this one, and only 5 of those in the UFC. Regardless, all of them were extremely impressive, including even his only loss against Matt Hamill for the illegal elbows at the Ultimate Finale 10.He was clearly winning that fight until the disqualification occurred. Every time he stepped into the cage, it was a clear step up in competition, and every time, he exceeded all expectations.

Now, it’s time to face The Janitor. Vladimir Matyushenko is a serious veteran of the sport. He’s been fighting professionally since 1997, has 24 wins out of 29, and has fought a lot of talented competition over the years. Some, including myself, actually,  had given this fight too easily to Jones, saying that his youth and athleticism could be more than a match against Matyushenko’s experience.

And they were clearly correct. Jones opens up quickly with a spinning back kick, takes Matysuhenko down, traps him in a mounted crucifix position, rained machine gun elbows on him from the top, and ends the fight only 1:52 into the first round. You want to talk explosive, you talk Jon Jones.

What’s next for this kid? Well, sky’s the limit at this point. If he keeps up this pace, he will definitely get that title shot in the near future, and all eyes will still be on him.


Check out more amazing images from UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko over at the official UFC website!

UFC 117 PREDICTIONS

Alright, here are my predictions for UFC 117. As before, I'll just make this short and sweet and place the actual details of my predictions in my reviews of the fights.

MAIN CARD:

1. Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs. Chael Sonnen - Silva
2. Jon Fitch vs. Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves - Fitch
3. Clay "The Carpenter" Guida vs. Rafael Dos Anjos - Guida
4. Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almedia - Hughes
5. Roy "Big Country Nelson" vs. Junior "Ciganto" Dos Santos - Dos Santos

PRELIMINARY CARD:

1. Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick "The Horror" Story - Hazelett
2. Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis vs. Rodney "Shonuff the Master" Wallace - Davis
3. Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch" vs. Todd "Bulldog" Brown - Boetsch
4. Johnny Hendricks vs. Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman - Hendricks
5. Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve vs. Christian Morecraft - Struve
6. Ben "Killa B" Saunders vs. Dennis "Superman" Hallman - Saunders

What do you think? Agree or disagree? Tell me your thoughts by leaving a comment below!