Sunday, October 31, 2010

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.

Friday, October 29, 2010

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.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

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. 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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.

Monday, October 25, 2010

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


Sunday, October 24, 2010

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).

Saturday, October 23, 2010

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 


Friday, October 22, 2010

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!


Thursday, October 21, 2010

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.