UFC: The Modern Warriors

maudlin career · September 16, 2009

Disclaimer:

Yes, I know I that I had the GLORY Diary going on. To be honest, I enjoyed the hell out of it. The man reason why I stopped updating the Diary was never explained throughout the topic. You see, while all the results seemed cool and the events were considered a success. By the time I got to the last four or five posted shows, I was at least two-million dollars in debt. So let this be a lesson to all who are running Low National or High Regional promotions: Do not hire Gegard Mousasi. Yes, he is without a doubt one of, if not, my favorite fighter. That son of a bitch is just too damn expensive and thus GLORY came to a close.

So was it really dedication…or lack thereof that killed off my GLORY Diary? Yeah, you could say that, but do not for a second think that’s what’s going to happen to my new attempt. I will say this: School is killing my life. Why I decided to take a Chinese, History of Japan, and a Fiction Workshop class all in the same semester is beyond me, so the updates in this Diary will be a little thin, but I’m all for this Diary more than I am anything else. If you like it, just stick with it.

And lastly, yeah this is a UFC Diary, so the lot of you make not like it too much. I know a lot of you like the CornellVerse Diaries as they inspire assloads of creativity. I know the rest of you guys enjoy custom promotions or the lesser known real-world promotions, because it’s that much harder to work for a good diary. I think the same which is why I typically avoid reading UFC or WWE Diaries. However, I decided to start a UFC Save one-night and man, I had some really cool stuff going on.

And that’s why this topic is here. I enjoyed what I was doing with my UFC Save so much that I began to think what you, the Grey Dog Software messageboard, would think about what I was doing with my UFC game. Instead of speculating over how it would be received I began to think of ways to keep you guys up to date with the happenings in my game.

I’ll let you know now, I’m two years ahead in my game. I more or less did UFC 101 the same way it was laid out in real-life, while I made some rather subtle changes to UFC 102. Everything after that is entirely reconstructed. There is no Franklin vs. Belfort, there is no Lesnar vs. Carwin, but there is Silva vs. GSP to close the year.

Instead of going all the way back to UFC 101 and going through every event up until we get to where I’m at (UFC 132), I’d rather just give you a little overview of what has happened in the last two years of the UFC. Think of this as Dana White’s way of tapping into the CornellVerse. He’s expanding past real-world happenings and has seen what the CornellVerse has to offer. He wants to pull you away from your Hassan Fezziks and your GAMMAs and introduce you to Lyoto Machida and the UFC. You are of the CornellVerse, now get acquainted with the real-world MMA industry. Allow Dana White to give you a breakdown of what you’ve been missing in the UFC while you were so busy following ALPHA-1.

maudlin career · September 16, 2009

What You’ve Missed in the UFC

Heavyweight

In July, Brock Lesnar walked away from UFC 100 with an impressive second round stoppage over Frank Mir. The MMA world was on their toes about who they thought could beat the former WWE wrestler. Of course, the popular answer was Fedor Emelianenko, but seeing that he had no interest in fighting in the Octagon, no matter the cost, getting who BlurCat dubs as the best Pound 4 Pound Fighter was next to near impossible. With the unfortunate inability to sign Emelianenko, the Zuffa brass were on their heels to decide who Brock Lesnar would fight next.

At the UFC 102 Press Conference, Dana White announced to those in attendance that the main event between Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would decide who would get the next crack at Brock Lesnar. Though it really came as no surprise, it was at least refreshing to see that the UFC had a set contender for a champion that seemed unbeatable.

Tens of thousands came to Oregon to witness a battle of the century. This fight meant everything to the hardcore MMA fans. You had Antonio Nogueira who, pre-Fedor was considered the top dog of PRIDE. Then you had Randy Couture who is widely considered to be one of the best heavyweights to compete in the division.

Nogueira proved to be a challenge early on in the opening round. He trapped Randy Couture against the cage and began boxing on him. Couture however persevered and shocked the world as he dropped Nogueira with a solid right and then proceeded to rain down on Nogueira with a series of punches. At first it seemed Nogueira was able to defend himself with little trouble, but the more punches that came, the less responsive Nogueira got. With 46 seconds left in the opening round, Randy Couture had given Antonio Nogueira his second TKO in his illustrious career.

With such an impressive victory of Nogueira, not only was Couture guaranteed a rematch with Lesnar, but many considered him to fair better the second time around and UFC 107 would feature the biggest rematch in heavyweight history.

There they stood in mid-December; current champion and former champion; Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. Couture had everything riding in this fight: Reclaiming his title, reclaiming the number one spot in UFC, and most importantly, rejuvenating his MMA career.

From the individual entrances to the pre-fight stare-down, the tension was there. That same tension was a plague that infected fan and journalist alike. The bell sounded and everyone stood from their chairs, their eyes fixated on the cage. Lesnar scored with a solid right, but Couture took it like a champ and took Lesnar off of his feet. The next two minutes featured Couture beating down on Lesnar, before eventually the referee pulled him off. Not only did Couture beat Lesnar, but he demolished him. This victory not only put him in BlurCat’s Pound 4 Pound Rankings, but it earned him the 2009 Fighter of the Year Award.

Meanwhile, it was believed that after knocking out both Junior Dos Santos and Ben Rothwell that Shane Carwin would be the next one to get a fight with Couture. The MMA world was stunned when it was revealed that DREAM signed Carwin to a two-year multi-fight contract the day his contract with UFC expired. This sent Zuffa Inc into an upheaval, but they needed to respond, in an effort to replace Carwin. Two days later it was announced that Dana White had managed to sign Josh Barnett to a five fight deal.

Josh Barnett entered the UFC in January not only defeating, but destroying Cain Velasquez in 1:45 in the first round. Everyone immediately knew then that Barnett would be the next man to take on Randy Couture and sure enough, Dana White announced that the fight would take place in May.

Couture stepped back into the Octagon to take on Josh Barnett in what was considered another big rematch in UFC History. For three rounds straight Barnett dominated Couture, taking him to the ground several. While the many in attendance thought they were going to see a new champion, Couture had different plans.

Barnett took Couture down to the mat for the sixth time in the fight and began pounding away on Couture from the guard. Barnett was tired, but only Couture could sense it. He continued to allow Barnett to swing away, before eventually he wrapped his legs around Barnett and cinched in a triangle choke. Barnett tried his hardest to fight out of it, but he was given no other choice, but to tap.

While Couture was enjoying a three-fight win streak over some high quality talent, a young man by the name of Roger Gracie, the latest prodigy from the Gracie family, was taking the Heavyweight Division by storm. He was the reverse twin of Shane Carwin in that he had so far made all of his opponents tap-out in under 2:45.

His impressive victories didn’t mean he was in way of a title shot, after all, he had only defeated Tim Hague, Justin McCully, Mike Russow, and Mike Wessel. It was finally decided that he needed to take on a top level opponent. As such they placed him in the Octagon against Gabriel Gonzaga, who at that moment was enjoying a five fight win-streak himself. As soon as the bell sounded, Gracie took Gonzaga to the mat and got him to submit via armbar. Dana White didn’t even need to confirm it; Gracie was the new Heavyweight contender.

In the early fall of 2010 Couture and Gracie would meet up. Many had this fight in favor of Couture, but Gracie was developing quite the cult-following. For five rounds, MMA fans took witness to one of the purest grappling exhibitions to ever take place inside the Octagon. Though it wasn’t an amazingly exciting fight by any means, both fighters got to display their jiu-jitsu and wrestling skills immensely.

For five rounds you had Couture trying to wrestle Gracie to the mat, only for Gracie to pull him into guard and take control. There wasn’t a moment in the entire 25 minutes of the fight where it looked like Randy was in firm control of the fight.

The bell sounded to end the fight and both Couture and Gracie embraced in the ring. Bruce Buffer announced the Judges’ Scores and Roger Gracie decisively took the fight 50-47 across the boards. This was huge for UFC for the Heavyweight Division was believed to be the only division that didn’t have a lock-on for top dog. The Lightweight Division had BJ Penn, the Welterweight had GSP, the Middleweight had Anderson Silva, and the Light Heavyweight had Lyoto Machida. With Roger Gracie as the title holder, it was firmly believed that the Heavyweight Division had their first dominant Champion in a long time.

Then enter Kevin Ferguson…better known as Kimbo Slice. Yes the same Kimbo Slice known for his internet fights. The same Kimbo Slice that Dana White claimed would never fight in an Octagon. Well, it just so turns out that Kimbo Slice equals money. And no matter what your personal feelings are, you can’t turn down money when operating a multi-million dollar business.

So Dana White announced at a UFC 2011 FanExpo that Kimbo Slice was coming to the UFC. Kimbo apparently didn’t want easy competition like EliteXC was giving him, and asked for someone that was going to make him test all the new “skills” he had been trying out at the gym. Dana White didn’t disappoint him and gave him Mirko CroCop for his first fight.

As much as people claim not to like Kimbo, the fans came in droves to watch Slice fight with CroCop. CroCop and Kimbo circled around the Octagon while everyone else was at the edge of their seat waiting for the first move. CroCop moved in and a caught a right-hook that earned Kimbo Slice Knock Out of the Night.

Dana White put Kimbo in the ring with Brock Lesnar next. This was a fight that casual fans had been dying for since Brock’s entrance into the MMA world. Brock Lesnar moved in and gave Kimbo Slice his second Knock Out of the Night in only his second fight with the company. To the surprise of everyone, White immediately gave Slice a title match against Roger Gracie.

The BlurCat staff and hardcore fans alike thought this fight would show Kimbo’s lackluster ground skills. This was considered to be Kimbo’s first real fight in the UFC since everyone else he had fought were predominantly strikers. Gracie would take Kimbo to the ground and make him tap.The bell sounded and Kimbo proved that theory wrong by catching Gracie with a right-hook that knocked him off of his feet. Kimbo began dropping bombs and before the referee could stop it, Gracie was already knocked out. That made it three consecutive Knock Out of the Night and the UFC Heavyweight Championship as a consolation prize. Nobody ever thought Kimbo Slice would be representing the UFC’s Heavyweight Division.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes UFC, DREAM, and Sengoku were still at war with one-another. DREAM had managed to make Shane Carwin their biggest asset and Sengoku had managed to sign Rashad Evans to a multi-fight deal. After three years of mild success, Affliction could no longer manage to keep up with the funds and had no option but to close its doors. The second this was announced, Sengoku, UFC, and DREAM went at war over the new pool of free agents. When the smoke cleared, UFC managed to re-sign Andrei Arlovski and finally sign Alistair Overeem to a UFC contract. Since they were supposed to meet at Affliction’s April 2011 show for the Affliction Heavyweight Championship, they fought in the UFC Octagon to decide who would get the next shot at Kimbo Slice instead.

Andrei Arlovski dominated Overeem in the first round and managed a TKO in the second. Arlovski would now be Kimbo’s next opponent in the UFC. At this time, the fans were riding high on Kimbo Slice, thinking his knock-out power would be the one thing to keep him on top in the UFC. Arlovski however, managed to get Kimbo Slice on the ground…something no one else could do…and locked in an armbar to force Slice into tapping out.

With Arlovski as the current champ, it is currently unknown as to who his next opponent will be. Since Roger Gracie got an impressive submission victory over Josh Barnett, many firmly believe another chance at the title is in his favor. While others think that relative UFC newcomer, Todd Duffee, who is enjoying a 4-1 UFC record deserves the next fight.

zackufc · September 16, 2009

Andrei Arlovski champ again YES! I wil be reading and I can't wait for an update.

RBM1 · September 16, 2009

good write up, are you going to do this for every division?

maudlin career · September 16, 2009

What You've Missed in the UFC

Light Heavyweight

After swift knockouts over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida is by and large considered the future of the Light Heavyweight Division if not MMA itself. Dana White would next put him in the Octagon with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 104. Though Rua managed to survive any major onslaught from ‘The Dragon’, he still took a five round Unanimous Decision loss for all of his troubles.

At UFC 105, Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson would meet up to decide who would fight Machida next. In the first round Jackson knocked Evans against the cage and began firing away to win a TKO victory in the first round of the fight. In the post-fight interview, Jackson told Joe Rogan that he was ready to enter the Dragon, and that he would walk away with the Light Heavyweight Championship.

At UFC 109, Jackson entered the dragon, and much like Rua, he walked out with a five round Unanimous Decision lost. This knocked Jackson from the #1 Pound 4 Pound to #4. Many firmly believed that Forrest Griffin, who had just rebounded from his two-fight losing streak by knocking Chuck Liddell out in two minutes flat would get the next attempt at slaying the dragon. Griffin’s camp, however announced that he had suffered an injury during training and would be out for several months. This announcement removed potential encounter between Griffin and Machida from the table.

In the UFC 116: Couture vs. Gracie Post-Fight Press Conference, Randy Couture was asked when he wanted his Heavyweight Title rematch. Couture announced that he didn’t want a Heavyweight Title rematch, and instead told Dana White right then and there that he wanted the next shot at Lyoto Machida. Dana White was stunned and replied by saying that’ll be discussed later. Two days later, it was announced that the two would meet in February 2011. Some considered it Randy Couture’s re-entrance into the Light Heavyweight division. Some considered it to be Lyoto’s chance to prove why he’s the best fighter in the world. Everyone considered it to be a dream match.

February came sooner than many thought. The fans were all over this match. You had your Couture fans thinking he would come out as Light Heavyweight Champion. Then there were the Lyoto fans who thought precision and patience would award Machida with another easy victory.

Couture opened the fight by trying to wrestle with Machida, but Machida slipped away every time. In the third round, Couture finally managed to get Machida against the cage. Machida had other plans and squirmed away from the predicament. With Couture now backed into the cage, Machida began firing away. Couture dropped to one knee and the referee moved in to end the fight. Machida, without a shadow of a doubt, proved that he was the toughest fighter in the UFC.

The fight also turned out to be a second hand blessing; it gave Forrest Griffin just enough time to return to the UFC from his injury. He first had a rematch with Rashad Evans. More than just a title shot was on the line here, this was Evans’s last match before he would leave the UFC for DREAM. Griffin had to retain UFC’s honor.

After a tough 15-minutes of back and forth fighting, Griffin was awarded the split-decision. He told Rogan he was ready for whatever Machida had and wanted to make up for his embarrassing loss against Anderson Silva. The two met in August of that year and Griffin was another fighter who had a chance to enter the dragon only to walk away with a five-round Unanimous Decision loss.

With Randy Couture retiring, Rich Franklin leaving UFC, and Forrest Griffin losing his title match, the question remained: Who can beat Lyoto? #5 Ranked Light Heavyweight Jon Jones thinks he can and after defeating Alexandre Ribeiro in a Title Contention fight, only time will tell.

In addition to that, the Light Heavyweight Division has various other major players. You have the three former contenders in Griffin, Jackson, and Rua looking for a rematch. There’s Wanderlei Silva, who may or may not drop down to Middleweight. Then you have Alexandre Ribeiro who even though lost to Jon Jones, is still considered a prospect of the sport. Then you have relative new-comer, Muhammed Lawal. He defeated Quinton Jackson in his first UFC fight to put an end to the grudge the two have had off cameras. And will be looking to fight Forrest Griffin at UFC 131 on November, 5th in the main event of the night. One would think that with a victory over another top level Light Heavyweight that Lawal could be next in line.

maudlin career · September 16, 2009

What You've Missed in the UFC

Middleweight

To say that Anderson Silva is the superstar of the Middleweight Division is an understatement. He not only destroyed most of the Middleweight competition, but also made top level Light Heavyweights like Forrest Griffin seem like low-tier fighters.

How can you go wrong with Anderson Silva? Simple, you can’t. He’s the hottest thing out there, next to Georges St. Pierre…and if you know anything about those two, you know their respective fans are already arguing about who’s better.

Since Dana White knew that you couldn’t go wrong with Anderson Silva, he simply had one thing to focus on: how to put the best show together for SuperBowl Weekend of 2010. That pretty much answered it. With Georges St. Pierre dismantling Thiago Alves and Anderson Silva dismantling Forrest Griffin every MMA fan in this world had to see who would win a super-fight. Ask enough and you shall receive for in October of 2009, Dana White announced that Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre would meet in a Catchweight SuperFight on SuperBowl Weekend Saturday of 2011.

Nearly 30,000 people filled the arena at UFC 107: The Show and over a million people tuned in at home to see the dream fight between ‘The Spider’ and GSP. From the moment the two fighters made their way to the Octagon until the sounding of the opening bell, fans were on their feet to support their favorite fighter. Anytime you heard cheering for Georges St. Pierre, you had an equal number of fans responding by showing support for Anderson Silva.

The bell sounded and Silva wasted little time in opening up on GSP. GSP hit the ground and Silva stood back letting him stand back up. GSP and Silva then went from one side of the Octagon to the next exchanging strikes before GSP managed to take Silva off of his feet. The fight appeared to be in GSP’s favor, but Silva slipped out and was now standing over GSP. Silva fired away with some vicious punches, and just as many expected the fight to come to an end, GSP managed to grab Silva’s arm and lock in an armbar. Silva tried powering out, but he just couldn’t get out. With GSP adding to the pressure, Silva had no other option but to tap out.

And the arena burst into pandemonium, the age old arguments were put to an end. Every MMA fan got that one fight they had to see before they died, and it delivered. GSP and Silva embraced in the ring and raised each other’s hands. Everyone in attendance got out of their chairs and applauded for delivering one of the best fights the UFC has had in a while.

With the dream-fight over, both Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre would take several months off. While this was taking place, Dan Henderson defeated Nate Marquardt and received a rematch against Anderson Silva. The fight took place at UFC 115 which was aptly named Return of the Spider.

In the opening round, Henderson was all over Silva, slamming him several times on the Octagon, with Silva not getting any chance to unleash any of his potent strikes. The second round opened up and Henderson seemed to want to stay with his game plan. He circled Silva before deciding to grapple in. Silva finally figured out his pattern and caught Henderson with a stiff jab and then began firing away. Henderson was huddled in the cage and so the referee moved in to end the fight. Anderson Silva had not only beaten Henderson for the second time, but ended Henderson’s mythos of never being knocked out or technically knocked out.

While Anderson Silva proved to everyone that he was back, a rumor involving GSP being interested in moving up in weight spread around the MMA circles. Though the report was never confirmed or denied, GSP had a fight with Martin Kampmann lined up and thus it was believed and the Zuffa brass were already looking for Anderson Silva’s next opponent.

Enter Jake Rosholt. Though relatively unknown, the man had a four fight win streak over Chris Leben, Amir Sadollah, Michael Bisping, and Ricardo Almeida. Those are four names that were all at one point associated with being in title contention.

Despite that fact the fans were very vocal about being disappointed with Rosholt being chosen as Silva’s opponent. They deemed him unimpressive and that Anderson Silva would make light work of him in no time. In an interview with BlurCat Rosholt addressed these statements and said that he thinks he’ll stand a good chance against Anderson Silva.

February of 2011, Jake Rosholt and Anderson Silva would meet. The bell sounded and Rosholt immediately took Anderson Silva off of his feet with a nice takedown. He couldn’t capitalize as Anderson Silva immediately scrambled out and ended up back on his feet. Rosholt took this opportunity to bring in some more wrestling and had Silva against the cage. He hit Silva with some decent punches, but Silva managed to power out.

What looked like a fight in Rosholt’s favor was turning the other way. Silva began to play with Rosholt’s lackluster striking ability and succeeded in hitting Rosholt with some decent combos. A straight jab took Rosholt right off of his feet and Anderson went in for the kill. To everyone’s surprise, Rosholt recovered from the punch and managed to hook Silva’s legs to take him down. However, the round was seconds from ending, and as such neither could capitalize.

And that’s how the entire fight went down, 25 minutes of Jake Rosholt taking the best Anderson Silva’s fists had to offer and suffering through them in an effort to get Silva to the ground. Never in Silva’s title run had really had an opponent who could not only go the distance, but could also put up a hell of a fight while doing so. In the end, Anderson Silva managed to pull off 49-48 Unanimous Decision. Even though Rosholt left the Octagon with a loss, he also left with a lot of new fans.

Anderson Silva’s next opponent would be UFC newcomer Robbie Lawler who dismantled Dan Henderson in 2:15 by giving Henderson his second TKO. Because Lawler had beaten Dan Henderson so viciously with his striking, many wondered if he would be able to give Anderson Silva a decent stand-up fight. Not only did Silva knock off of his feet, but Silva followed it up by locking in a heel-hook to get the tap. With three straight victories, Silva was back on top in the BlurCar World Rankings.

Finally, after the rumors surfaced and disappeared only to resurface and disappear. Georges St. Pierre confirmed that he had interest in fighting at Middleweight. Dana White furthered this by announcing that GSP would take on Michael Bisping in a Middleweight fight to headline the 2011 SuperBowl Weekend card.

George St. Pieree made light-work of Bisping and beat him 2:21 of the second round by TKO. GSP immediately told Joe Rogan that he wants another fight with Anderson Silva, this time for his Middleweight Championship. This declaration had the MMA world buzzing all over again.

While millions of people speculated just when this fight would happen, GSP went back to defending his Welterweight Championship while Anderson Silva had two successful fights against Jake Rosholt and Robbie Lawler. Eventually, people believed that it would never happen, but Dana White came forth and announced that the two would have a Middleweight Championship fight on September 17th

Over 20,000 people from all wakes of life traveled to California to witness the match, while over one-million watched it at home. Pandemonium filled the arena once again. This time people firmly believed this fight was in Silva’s favor since he wouldn’t have to cut weight to meet at an agreement with GSP.

And so far they were right. Silva had nullified every takedown attempt that GSP had to offer. GSP got caught with a couple of crisp punches that firmly gave Silva the first round of the fight. In the second round, GSP looked to get Silva against the cage, but Silva wasn’t having it. The two remained on their feet for the rest of the round, and once again, Silva took a round. In the third round GSP and Silva met in the center and fireworks were produced. GSP finally managed to get Silva to the mat. Silva tried fighting out of the guard, but GSP took the opportunity to move to side control and once again cinch in another armbar. Anderson Silva’s Middleweight run was over and GSP did what no man could do before him: hold two major titles at the same time.

No one knows what the future lies for the Middleweight Division. Will Anderson Silva look for a rematch? Or will one of the newer Middleweights like Ronaldo de Souza be looking for a title shot?

maudlin career · September 17, 2009

What You've Missed in the UFC

Welterweight

Georges St. Pierre opened the year of 2010 by fighting and defeating Anderson Silva in what was widely considered to be the ultimate dream fight. Many wondered what would happen next. For instance, would GSP enter into the Middleweight Division to claim Middleweight Gold or would he stick with the Welterweight Division.

Everyone believed to have an answer as GSP rebounded from his fight with Anderson Silva by defending his Welterweight Championship against Martin Kampmann, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck. Needless to say, with the exception of Jon Fitch, neither of the fighters made it through the first round with GSP, whereas Jon Fitch took a fifth round Unanimous Decision loss.

Meanwhile at Ultimate Fight Night: Swick vs. Hughes, Mike Swick made light work of Matt Hughes by securing a second round TKO. It was widely believed that he would be GSP’s next opponent, but Dana White didn’t make any move to confirm it.

The hype and speculation about what would happen in a rematch between GSP and Anderson Silva died down, but no sooner than it did GSP came forth and announced his intention on moving up in weight to challenge Anderson Silva for his Middleweight Championship.

Before that match would come through he would have to take on top Middleweight contender, Michael Bisping, and GSP did just that and managed to defeat Bisping with relative ease. The long awaited rematch between Anderson Silva and GSP was announced for September. September came and the rematch of the century saw GSP not only beat Anderson Silva with a third round submission, but made GSP the only man in UFC history to hold two titles at the same time.

Two days after this, it was announced that GSP would drop his Welterweight Championship and stay at Middleweight. Many were baffled by this decision, but once GSP explained that he had no wish to see-saw his diet to make weights for two different classes all was forgiven. GSP officially declared that he would stay at Middleweight until he lost his Championship. In the event that that occurs, he will then decide if he wants to fight back at Welterweight or not.

With the Welterweight Championship, many wondered what would be done. Two days after it was revealed that GSP was dropping the belt, Dana White announced an eight man tournament between the top ranked UFC Welterweights. The tournament will feature former challengers Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, and Martin Kampmann. To round up the tournament, former Lightweight Champion BJ Penn, WEC Alumni Urijah Faber, and UFC Welterweight prospect Andre Galvao will fill in the rest of the tournament bracket. The tournament will start at UFC 130 and the finals will be held at a future Ultimate Fight Night.

maudlin career · September 17, 2009

What You've Missed in the UFC

Lightweight

After stopping Kenny Florian at UFC: 101, BJ Penn was considered one of the top ranked fighters in the world. There was little speculation as it was already determined that Diego Sanchez would be Penn’s next opponent, after gaining a Split Decision over Clay Guida in one of the best fights of 2009 at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. The two would Co-Headline UFC 106 along with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, making it a must buy PPV.

The two met and there wasn’t a dull moment. Penn was all over Sanchez in the opening rounds with some beautiful striking, but Sanchez managed to absorb Penn’s onslaught, and shock the world by dizzying Penn with an uppercut and gaining a TKO victory late in the fourth round.

Sanchez would have little time to celebrate his reign as his first fight would be just as tough as his fight with Penn: A rematch with Guida who had just defeated Sean Sherk in the first round of their encounter. Their rematch would headline Ultimate Fight Night: Ultimate Showdown in May of 2010 and it didn’t disappoint.

The fight saw the two fighters scrap for the entire 25 minutes. Sanchez was all over Guida until the fifth round, when Guida managed to power Sanchez to the ground. Guida was working his strikes in before looking for a rear naked choke. Before anything could come to fruition, the fight ended and the outcome saw Diego Sanchez take a Unanimous Decision victory.

Zuffa and Dream Stage Entertainment were on the early onset of their war. Dream Stage had fired the first shot by snatching Shane Carwin away from the UFC banner. Despite the fact that it seemed like Zuffa wasn’t looking to retaliate, it was announced in May of 2011 that UFC had signed DREAM Lightweight grappling phenom Shinya Aoki.

UFC 112: Evans vs. Franklin would feature another dream match in the vein of Silva and GSP: Shinya Aoki vs. BJ Penn. Though Aoki was relatively unknown in the states, the hardcore fans finally wanted to settle who the top Lightweight fighter was.

In the first round BJ Penn took control using his supreme striking to keep Aoki at bay. In the second round, Aoki’s judo came through and Penn found himself the victim of several throws at many different moments in the fight. In the third round, Penn and Aoki had an amazing grappling exchange on the ground. Penn looked to be in control, but Aoki would slip out and take mount, only for Penn to reverse the situation and force Aoki in guard. The fight came to an end and was immediately dubbed Fight of the Night by all who had witnessed it. BJ Penn took a hard earned Split Decision victory and would also rematch with Sanchez.

The two would meet in December at UFC 118. Sanchez tried his original tactic, but Penn would not let their last encounter repeat itself. So for five rounds Penn paced himself and never let Sanchez find his rhythm. While the fight wasn’t the most exciting fight the two have had, it did make BJ Penn a two time Lightweight Champion via a five round Unanimous Decision.

Nate Diaz rebounded from his losing streak by defeating notable WEC Lightweight Donald Cerrone. He would then go on to surprisingly beat Shinya Aoki in a three round Unanimous Decision, something not even BJ Penn could do. With these two huge wins, Diaz would get the next crack at BJ Penn.

At UFC 125, the two would meet in the Octagon. Diaz would try to strike with Penn, but was completely outmatched. A few crisp punches from Penn took Diaz to the mat. Penn followed up by locking in a rear naked choke that forced Nate Diaz to tap out in the first round.

Before Strikeforce shutdown in 2009, Josh Thomson had an impressive Lightweight title run. He would then go on to Affliction to win their Lightweight Championship. Winning two Lightweight Championships in two of America’s bigger promotions made Josh Thomson a fighter worth looking at.

2011 marked the second promotion that Thomson had represented as Lightweight Champion that would have to close its doors. Before DREAM or Sengoku could make the signing, UFC managed to get Josh Thomson to represent their promotion. Their idea: Champion vs. Champion. Penn vs. Thomson.

The two met at Ultimate Fight Night: Champions and Penn dominated Thomson for two rounds…or so we thought. Penn tired out in the third round and Thomson took advantaged and locked in a kimura lock to force Penn into tapping. Josh Thomson is the only fighter to hold three major titles in the three largest promotions in America.

As of now, there are no plans for who Thomson will meet in his first defense, especially with BJ Penn now fighting at Welterweight to compete in the Welterweight Tournament, but there are still plenty of people to choose from. For instance, UFC staged the second assault on DREAM by signing Eddie Alvarez, Joachim Hansen, and Takanori Gomi. Alvarez and Gomi have already won their first matches in UFC and will meet each other at UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi. Then there’s Shinya Aoki who managed to get Clay Guida to tap out in three minutes in the first round.

maudlin career · September 17, 2009

Ultimate Fighting Championships: The Modern Warriors

Where We’re At in the Now

We have now found ourselves at Tuesday, September 27th, 2011. Exactly three days after the historic rematch between Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva at UFC 129: Battle of the Century. UFC is now preparing for UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi which will be headlined by Takanori Gomi versus Eddie Alvarez and Urijah Faber vs. Jon Fitch in the opening round of the Welterweight Tournament. Mike Swick and Thiago Alves will also be opening the card which means two opening round Welterweight Tournament fights will be on the card.

The event will be held on October 22nd, 2011 returning to the MMA Capital of America, Nevada. As of now it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a worthy follow up to Battle of the Century, but with Takanori Gomi and Eddie Alvarez topping off the night in what’s already being deemed a war, it’s definitely worth a buy for any huge MMA fan.

Ahead of that, UFC will be making its way to New Jersey for UFC 131: King of the Octagon. The already announced main event fight will be between Muhammed Lawal and Forrest Griffin. Leading into the Light Heavyweight brawl will be Fedor Emelianenko’s brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, taking on the best pure-striker in UFC, Mirko CroCop, in a PRIDE rematch. Andre Galvao vs. Josh Koscheck has also been announced for the card so the Welterweight Tournament seems to be picking up speed already. UFC 131 will take place on November 5th, 2011.

After UFC 131 wraps up, UFC will head back to Nevada for UFC 132 which will feature Cain Velasquez getting his first title shot against Andrei Arlovski. The follow up to the fight will feature Bobby Lashley, who is currently enjoying a three fight win streak taking on Todd Duffee. One could wonder what this will do in terms of title contention. Other than that, no other news has been announced regarding UFC 131.

Other than the main UFC cards, a UFC Fight Night has been announced for December. No official word on the card, however.

Previous Event

UFC 129: Battle of the Century (September 27th, 2011)

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: Dennis Siver defeated Corey Hill via Unanimous Decision (5:00, Round 3)

Welterweight: Dan Hardy defeated Frank Lester via Submission (3:35, Round 2)

Middleweight: Ryan Jensen defeated Nate Quarry via Unanimous Decision (5:00, Round 3)

Lightweight: Melvin Guillard defeated Matt Veach via Knock Out (1:35, Round 3)

Heavyweight: Heath Herring defeated Dillen Michel via Submission (4:57, Round 1)

Main Card

Heavyweight: Gabriel Gonzaga defeated Chris Tuchscherer via Submission (4:52, Round 1)

Lightweight: Frankie Edgar defeated Anthony Pettis via Unanimous Decision (5:00, Round 3)

Light Heavyweight: Jake O’Brien defeated Mauricio Rua via Unanimous Decision (5:00, Round 3)

Heavyweight: Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar via Submission (2:13, Round 2)

Light Heavyweight: Thiago Silva defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via TKO (:26, Round 3)

Middleweight: Georges St. Pierre defeated Anderson Silva via Submission to win the Middleweight Championship (4:55, Round 3)

Next Event

UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi (October 22nd, 2011. Nevada)

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson

Light Heavyweight: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Middleweight: Gerald Harris vs. Goran Reljic

Light Heavyweight: Eliot Marshall vs. Karen Grigoryan

Lightweight: David Baron vs. Donald Cerrone

Main Card

Welterweight: Thiago Alves vs. Mike Swick

Light Heavyweight: Matt Hamill vs. DaMarques Johnson

Heavyweight: Maresuke Maeno vs. Junio Dos Santos

Middleweight: Demian Maia vs. Denis Kang

Welterweight: Urijah Faber vs. Jon Fitch

Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez vs. Takanori Gomi

Announced Events

UFC 131: King of the Octagon (November 5th, 2011. New Jersey)

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: George Roop vs. Josh Neer

Middleweight: Timothy Cool vs. Frederick Pendergarst

Welterweight: Dan Cramer vs. Chris Wilson

Middleweight: Thomas Goodridge vs. Tim Credeur

Heavyweight: Mike Wessel vs. Justin McCully

Main Card

Heavyweight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Cheick Kongo

Light Heavyweight: Aaron Simpson vs. Keith Jardine

Lightweight: Jorge Masvidal vs. Shinya Aoki

Welterweight: Andre Galvao vs. Josh Koscheck

Heavyweight: Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Mirko CroCop

Light Heavyweight: Muhammed Lawal vs. Forrest Griffin

UFC 132 (Date TBA. New Jersey)

Heavyweight: Bobby Lashley vs. Todd Duffee

Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski© vs. Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Championship

Ultimate Fight Night (December. Location TBA)

Card TBA

maudlin career · September 17, 2009

Ultimate Fighting Championships: The Modern Warriors

Current Roster

Heavyweight

Aleksander Emelianenko

Alistair Overeem

Andrei Arlovski©

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Ben Rothwell

Bobby Lashley

Brock Lesnar

Cain Velasquez

Cheick Kongo

Chris Tuchscherer

Dillen Michel

Frank Mir

Gabriel Gonzaga

Heath Herring

Josh Barnett Junior Dos Santos

Justin McCully

Kimbo Slice

Maresuke Maeno

Michael Russow

Mike Wessel

Mirko CroCop

Roger Gracie

Satoshi Ishii

Tim Hague

Todd Duffee

Heavyweight Rankings

1. Andrei Arlovski

2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

3. Roger Gracie

4. Satoshi Ishii

5. Josh Barnett

6. Gabriel Gonzaga

7. Cain Velasquez

8. Frank Mir

9. Alistair Overeem

10. Ben Rothwell

Light Heavyweight

Aaron Simpson

Alexandre Ribeiro

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Brandon Vera

Caremlo Marrero

DeMarques Johnson

Eliot Marshall

Eric Schafer

Forrest Griffin

Hector Ramirez

Jake O’Brien

James Lee

Jon Jones

Karen Grigoryan

Keith Jardine

Krzysztof Soszynski

Kyle Kingsbury

Luis Arthur Cane

Lyoto Machida©

Mark Munoz

Matt Hamill

Mauricio Rua

Muhammaed Lawal

Phil Davis

Quinton Jackson

Razak Al-Hassan

Ryan Bader

Steve Cantwell

Thiago Silva

Tim McKenzie

Wanderlei Silva

Light Heavyweight Rankings

1. Lyoto Machida

2. Muhammed Lawal

3. Forrest Griffin

4. Quinton Jackson

5. Jon Jones

6. Thiago Silva

7. Wanderlei Silva

8. Luis Arthur Cane

9. Alexandre Ribeiro

10. Mauricio Rua

Middleweight

Alan Belcher

Amir Sadollah

Anderson Silva

CB Dollaway

Chris Leben

Dan Henderson

Dan Miller

Demian Maia

Denis Kang

Drew McFedries

Ed Heman

Frederick Pendergarst

Georges St. Pierre©

Gerald Harris

Goran Reljic

Jake Rosholt

James Irvin

Jason Miller

Kendall Grove

Michael Bisping

Mike Massenzio

Nate Marquardt

Nate Quarry

Nick Catone

Patrick Cote

Ricardo Almeida

Rob Kimmons

Robbie Lawler

Ronaldo de Souza

Rousimar Palhares

Ryan Jensen

Sugita Yamanaka

Thales Leites

Thomas Goodridge

Tim Credeur

Timothy Cool

Tom Lawlor

Tomasz Drwal

Wilson Gouveia

Yoshihiro Akiyama

Yushin Okami

Middleweight Rankings

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Anderson Silva

3. Nate Marquardt

4. Michael Bisping

5. Thales Leites

6. Demian Maia

7. Robbie Lawler

8. Yoshihiro Akiyama

9. Yushin Okami

10. Dan Henderson

Welterweight

Andre Galvao

Anthony Johnson

Ben Saunders

BJ Penn

Brad Blackburn

Carlos Condit

Chris Wilson

Dan Cramer

Dan Hardy

Danillo Villefort

Dong Hyun Kim

Dustin Hazelett

Edgar Garcie

Frank Lester

Jake Ellenberger

James Wilks

Jason High

Jesse Lennox

Jesse Sanders

John Hathaway

John Howard

Johny Hendricks

Jon Fitch

Jonathan Goulet

Josh Koscheck

Kevin Burns

Marius Zaromskis

Martin Kampmann

Matt Brown

Matt Hughes

Matt Serra

Mike Pyle

Mike Swick

Nick Osipczak

Norifumi Yamamoto

Paul Taylor

Paulo Thiago

Ricky Story

Rory Markham

Thiago Alves

TJ Grant

Urijah Faber

Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Welterweight Rankings

1. Jon Fitch

2. BJ Penn

3. Josh Koscheck

4. Mike Swick

5. Thiago Alves

6. Urijah Faber

7. Martin Kampmann

8. Andre Galvao

9. Matt Hughes

10. James Wilks

Lightweight

Aaron Riley

Andre Winner

Anthony Pettis

Benson Henderson

Brian Cobb

Cameron Dollar

Clay Guida

Cole Miller

Corey Hill

Daisuke Nakamura

Dale Hartt

David Baron

Dennis Siver

Diego Sanchez

Donald Cerrone

Eddie Alvarez

Efrain Escudero

Frankie Edgar

George Roop

George Sotiropoulos

Gleison Tibau

Gray Maynard

Hermes Franca

Jeremy Stephens

Jim Miller

Joachim Hansen

Joe Lauzon

Joe Stevenson

Jorge Masvidal

Jose Aldo

Josh Neer

Josh Thomson©

Junie Browning

Justin Buchholz

Kenny Florian

Kurt Pellegrino

Kyle Bradley

Mac Danzig

Mark Bocek

Matt Veach

Matt Wiman

Melvin Guillard

Nate Diaz

Paul Kelly

Phillipe Nover

Rafael dos Anjos

Rob Emerson

Roger Huerta

Roli Delgado

Ronnys Torres

Ross Pearson

Sam Stout

Sean Sherk

Shane Nelson

Shannon Gugerty

Shinya Aoki

Spencer Fisher

Takanori Gomi

Thiago Tavares

Tyson Griffin

Lightweight Rankings

1. Eddie Alvarez

2. Josh Thomson

3. Shinya Aoki

4. Jose Aldo

5. Diego Sanchez

6. Joachim Hansen

7. Frankie Edgar

8. Gray Maynard

9. Kenny Florian

10. Roger Huerta

UFC Champions

Heavyweight Champion

Andrei Arlovski

Light Heavyweight Champion

Lyoto Machida

Middleweight Champion

Georges St. Pierre

Welterweight Champion

Vacant

Lightweight Champion

Josh Thomson

UFC Pound 4 Pound Rankings

1. Lyoto Machida

2. Georges St. Pierre

3. Andrei Arlovski

4. Jon Fitch

5. Anderson Silva

6. Eddie Alvarez

7. Josh Thomson

8. Muhammed Lawal

9. Forrest Griffin

10. Nate Marquardt

maudlin career · September 17, 2009

Blurcat MMA News

World News for Week 4 of September

Sengoku 29 Filling Out

World Victory Roadreturns to PPV this October with Sengoku 29; the event will be headlined by Stephan Bonnar vs. Christian M’Pumbu and Jason MacDonald vs. Vitor Belfort. In addition to that, Gilbert Yvel vs. Moise Rimbon, Roan Carneiro vs. Jorge Ortiz, and a Middleweight clash between Kiyoshi Tamura and Andrews Nakahara have all recently been announced for the card. Sengoku 29 will take place on Saturday, October 8th.

‘The Pitbull’ and ‘The Hammer’ on Crackdown

2-Time Current UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski made an appearance on Blurcat’s Radio Network show, Crackdown. On the show, he discussed with Alex Emerson and Gavin Banks how great it felt to be back in UFC, how ecstatic he is that he’s won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in his second fight back, and how he’s been training non-stop for Cain Velasquez. He gave props to Velasquez, citing that his relentless takedowns might present a problem. However, Arlovski revealed that he’s been training with some wrestlers, so he’s looking to nullify Velasquez’s technique.

To wrap up the show, Bellator FC Featherweight Joe Soto sat down with us. Of all the various things he talked about, he mainly expressed that he wished Bellator would create a Featherweight Championship. Soto believes that Bellator has a Featherweight Division just as deep as WEC…and with a professional record of 11-1, it’s hard to disagree.

You can download the Podcast here!

Scott Adams Announces WEC in October

WEC will be hosting its 67th show on Friday, October 28th. We’ve learned that the event will be called WEC 67 and it will also be headlined by a Bantamweight bout between Yoshiro Maeda and Joe Warren. No other news has been announced.

Adrenaline: Robinson vs. Kyle Weigh-Ins a Success

For those of you who don’t keep up with your regional MMA, Adrenaline will be holding a show exactly twenty-four hours from now titled Adrenaline: Robinson vs. Kyle. Tonight the Blurcat staff had a chance to attend the weigh-ins and were happy to report that everyone had made weight. Adrenaline: Robinson vs. Kyle will feature a Heavyweight main event with Colin Robinson taking on Mike Kyle. The lead-up to the fight will be a Lightweight bout between Yves Edwards and Jason Ireland. Be sure to come to Blurcat for the full report.

Somdet and Taitano to Co-Headline WEC 67

Late Friday, Scott Adams announced that in addition to the Yoshiro Maeda and Joe Warren match that Muay Thai artist Rambaa Somdet will be taking on Jesse Taitano at WEC 67: Warren vs. Maeda. Both fighters are undefeated in WEC with Somdet being 4-0 and Taitano being 5-0. This is a big fight for WEC as Scott Adams looks to prove that the WEC Flyweight Division is no joke.

DREAM Looking to Expand Viewership

It’s being reported that Dream Stage Entertainment are currently in negotiations with England based Sky Box Office in an attempt to gain exposure outside of the Japanese market. With UFC and World Victory Road being the only promotions to broadcast events internationally, this is a big move for DREAM. Also, seeing that World Victory Road are only streaming their events online, a move like DREAM securing a British PPV contract could spell big trouble for DREAM’s Japanese rival. We’ll be sure to report with further news as we hear it.

World MMA Event Results

Adrenaline: Robinson vs. Kyle (Thursday, September 22nd. Iowa)

Preliminary Card

Matt Kakowski defeated Josh Haynes via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round.)

Kestutis Smirnovas defeated Jorge Rivera via TKO (:26. First Round)

Main Card

Po’ai Suganuma defeated Ron Fairchild via Knock Out (:38. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Joseph Beneteau defeated Scott Wright via Submission (3:45. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good Fight

Logan Clark defeated Raymond Daniels via Submission (:40. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Yves Edwards defeated Jason Ireland via Submission (2:04. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Mike Kyle defeated Colin Robinson via TKO (2:25. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

DREAM 32 (Sunday, September 25th. Tohoku)

Preliminary Card

Rafael Cavalcante defeated Tim Boetsch via Submission (2:16. Second Round.)

Dong Yi Yang defeated Eddie Sanchez via Split Decision (5:00. Third Round.)

Valentijn Overeem defeated Wesley Correira via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round.)

Scott Jorgensen defeated Marcos Galvado via Knock Out (1:21. First Round.)

Main Card

Siala-Mou Siligia defeated Kiril Sidelnikov via Split Decision (5:00. Third Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Good Fight

Paul Daley defeated Akihiro Gono via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

Phil Baroni defeated Hiromitsu Miura via Knock Out (1:38. First Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Ricardo Arona defeated Rich Franklin via Submission (5:30. First Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Gesias Cavalcante defeated Mike Thomas Brown via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Second Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Poor Fight

UFC News for Week 4 of September

Signings

No new fighters have been signed to represent UFC

Re-Signings

Kevin Burns has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Jesse Lennox has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Wilson Gouveia has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Paul Kelly has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Carmelo Marrero has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Patrick Cote has re-signed a six fight multi-year deal with UFC

Razak Al-Hassan has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

John Hathaway has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Eric Schafer has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Cuts

No fighter has been released from their current UFC contract.

UFC 129 Financial Report

It looks like Zuffa will be up to their nose in money as UFC has been reported as making as much as $4,613,292 in PPV Buyrates alone and an additional $1,673,440 in ticket sales from UFC 129. Seeing that the event was headlined by a rematch between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre for the Middleweight Championship, it was believed that UFC would have a prosperous month, but no one thought they’d make this month. One wonders how this will affect UFC 130 which is headlined by two fighters who have no where near close the name value of GSP and Anderson Silva.

Big…Big Report

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see the post-fight press conference for UFC 129, you missed a huge announcement that might change the UFC Heavyweight Division forever. GSP and Anderson Silva sat on opposite sides of Dana White. Silva was asked by a reporter when he plans to rematch. While everyone was waiting for the official word, Anderson Silva reported that losing this match and the Middleweight Championship was a blessing in disguise because he’s always been interested in moving up in weight and now that he no longer holds the Middleweight Championship, he can finally look to move up weight. Silva furthered his statement by saying he’s going to take eight to nine months off before returning and by that time he hopes to at least be 230 pounds. That’s right, you read correctly: Anderson Silva wants to fight at Heavyweight.

maudlin career · September 18, 2009

Blurcat October MMA News

Scheduled MMA Events in October

PFC 36: Adrenaline Rush (Palace FC. Saturday, October 1st)

RAW Combat: On the Edge (RAW Combat. Sunday, October 2nd)

Sengoku 29 (World Victory Road. Saturday, October 8th)

Bellator FC 34 (Bellator FC. Tuesday, October 18th)

UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi (UFC. Saturday, October 22nd)

WEC 67: Warren vs. Maeda (WEC. Friday, October 28th)

World News for Week 1 of October

The War Wages On

DREAM and UFC are back at war to claim another fighter. After an impressive knock out at DREAM 32, Scott Jorgensen had officially completed his DREAM contract. Dream Stage Entertainment was looking to quietly re-sign the Team Quest fighter, but after Zuffa caught wind of the free-agent status, Jorgensen was immediately contacted about a potential UFC debut. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on what takes place in the coming days.

Adrenaline Announce October Event

As if six events in one month weren’t enough, Monte Cox came forth Wednesday night to announce a new Adrenaline event for October, 29th. The main event will see Doug Marshall in his first Adrenaline Middleweight Championship against David Loiseau. Lightweights Alvin Robinson and Duane Ludwig will be co-headlining the card. The rest of the fights will be announced in the weeks to come.

Warlock Joins American Top Team

‘The Warlock’ Harold Brook looks to break out of the amateur MMA in a major way by joining the American Top Team training camp. The camp has produced notable UFC vets like Bobby Lashley, Todd Duffee, and Thiago Silva.

This is a big move for Harold Brook who already holds a professional record of 6-0 and joining a camp like American Top Team can only further help develop his wrestling skills. Expect to see Brook make a splash in the MMA world in years to come.

PFC Weigh-Ins Tonight!

Five hours from now, Palace FC will be entertaining the California MMA fans with an exciting night of martial arts action with PFC 36: Adrenaline Rush. The fight will be headlined by Featherweights Mark Hominick and Jesse Moreng and Bantamweights Abel Cullum and Daniel Lima. Be sure to check our website tomorrow morning for a detailed report on the event.

MMA Event Results

PFC 36: Adrenaline Rush (Saturday, October 1st)</b

Preliminary Card

Abe Wagner defeated Roy Nelson via Submission (2:14. First Round)

Nathan Coy defeated Luis Sapo via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Main Card

Jim York defeated Rex Richards via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average Fight.

Matt Fiordirosa defeated Tenkei Fujimiya to retain the PFC Featherweight Championship via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average Fight

So Tazawa defeated Justin Robbins to retain the PFC Bantamweight Championship (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Poor Fight

Abel Cullum defeated Daniel Lima via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average Fight

Jesse Moreng defeated Mark Hominick via TKO (4:37. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

UFC News for Week 1 of October

Signings

No new fighters have been signed to represent UFC

Re-Signings

James Lee has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Rob Kimmons has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Bobby Lashley has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Steve Cantwell has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida has re-signed a seven fight multi-year deal with UFC

Dustin Hazelett has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Joe Lauzon has re-signed a five fight multi-year deal with UFC

Rob Emerson has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

Mike Pyle has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

Matt Veach has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

Ronny Torres has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Shannon Gugery has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Mark Bocek has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Mike Massenzio has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Cuts

No fighter has been released from their current UFC contract.

Ryan Bader Leaves Arizona Combat Sports

After suffering four losses in a row in UFC, many believe that Ryan Bader's future with the company could be in jeopardy. Bader, who still has three fights left on his contract, is looking to improve his game by leaving Arizona Combat Sports.

"I like the team there, the guys are like brothers, but I just need to see what else is out there right now." Said Ryan Bader in a recent interview with Blurcat.

A decision like this could be the kind of move that could help Bader improve in the grand scheme of things. No word on where Bader will look to train next, but we'll be sure to keep you posted.

UFC Fighters Join Crackdown Radio

Blurcat Radio Network returned to Blurcat.com this Friday with another episode of Crackdown. This time UFC fighters Wilson Gouveia and John Howard joined Gavin Banks and Alex Emerson. The four discussed a number of things, including who they would like to fight next, what they thought about the exploding MMA scene in Japan with World Victory Road and DREAM growing at exponential rates, and how long they could see themselves in MMA.

All in all it was another fun edition of Crackdown. The Podcast is available here!

maudlin career · September 18, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Alex Emerson’s UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Press Conference Notes & Recap (Tuesday, October 11, 2011)

My 2-Cents

For those of you who have been living under a rock, we are exactly eleven days from UFC’s next big event, UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi. The main event of the night will feature Eddie Alvarez and the former and last PRIDE Lightweight Champion,Takanori Gomi, going at it in what seems to be a three-round war. To go along with the Lightweight Main Event, former WEC superstar and Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber will return to MMA action after a six-month lay-off. Faber, who now fights in the Welterweight Division, will square off with Jon Fitch in the first round of the Welterweight tournament.

With the last UFC event featuring a battle between Anderson Silva and GSP, UFC 130 could turn out to disappoint many people. For one, neither Takanori Gomi nor Eddie Alvarez has the name value that GSP and Anderson Silva do. Secondly, the Welterweight Tournament comprises of five people that GSP has already defeated and thus we wonder just how credible that will make the tournament seem. This event could turn out to hurt UFC in the short-term, but if it helps Gomi or Alvarez propel into a title match, it could have some very long-term benefits.

The major question has been presented: Will UFC 130 do well from a financial stand-point? Personally, I say no. Not many American fans are interested in Gomi or Alvarez, so I could see this one taking a drastic decline in PPV buys. From an event stand-point, though, you’d have to be an idiot not to think that Gomi and Alvarez won’t go to war in the main event.

Press Conference Notes & Recap

-Dana White started off the conference by addressing future plans with the UFC. The previously announced Ultimate Fight Night gets a confirmed date of December 14th of this year. The event will now take place in Indianapolis, Indiana. No fights were announced, but White stated they’re working on delivering a good card. Afterward he states that he feels UFC 130 is an adequate card. He explains the Lightweight Main Event will be a definite highlight reel finish for either fighter. He then explains how important the two Welterweight Opening Round Tournament fights will be in the months to come. He hypes both Junior Dos Santos and Maresuke Maeno by saying he thinks they are future Heavyweight players. He wraps up by saying Denis Kang will be looking to claim Middleweight Championship contention with a victory over the best pure grappler in the sport, Demian Maia.

-Jon Fitch came out and said that this would be his chance to shine. He’s disappointed that Georges St. Pierre won’t be fighting at Welterweight any longer, because he really wants his rematch. He does however say that he feels honored to be selected to participate in the Welterweight Tournament, and promises everyone that he will walk out as the next Welterweight Championship.

-Urijah Faber finally came out of hiding after a sixth month hiatus, and he looks great. For a guy who had just been fighting at Featherweight some sixth or seven months ago, he looked like he naturally belonged in the 170lb division in UFC. He explained that he left WEC mainly for money reasons, but that there are no hard feelings between him, the staff, or any of the fighters there. When asked if he ever saw himself going back to WEC to compete in his natural weight class, he responded by saying that right now his mind was focused on capturing the newly vacated Welterweight Championship.

-Takanori Gomi came out decked in a rather stylish suit. He provided the opening entertainment for the night by posing for those in attendance in various different ways. Once he took his seat, Gomi began speaking to his translator. His translator revealed that Gomi said he had caught word that many were disappointed in the main event, but guaranteed that everyone would walk away with a smile on their face. He said he never lost the PRIDE Lightweight Championship and hopes that a victory over Eddie Alvarez will put him next in line.

-Since Thiago Alves couldn’t make it, Mike Swick was hyping their fight solo. Swick says he knows Alves is a lethal striker, but after his quick TKO victory over Matt Hughes, he feels confident in his own striking ability. Swick says he knows that his opening fight with Alves will be the most talked about fight of the year. Swick promises he will be the next Welterweight Champion.

-Finally, Eddie Alvarez spoke about the main event of UFC 130. He understands that everyone is disappointed, but points out that he and Gomi aren’t jokers. He goes through Gomi’s accolades in MMA and talks about his lethal striking. Alvarez then talks about his stint with DREAM and all the events he headlined in Japan. He more or less was trying to justify why Gomi and Alvarez would make a good main event, and honestly, he did a good job. He says words can’t describe how amazing it feels to know he’s headlining a UFC event.

-The Press Conference wrapped up with a little Q&A and some photo-ops. All in all, Dana White & Co. did a great job of hyping up UFC 130.

maudlin career · September 18, 2009

Blurcat October MMA News

World Headlines for Week 2 of October

-After being dismantled by the hands of Juro Hayami, Renato Sobral has been given a four month medical suspension.

-PFC President Kazushi Sakuraba has announced that the next PFC show will take place Thursday, November 3rd. The event will be held in California. As of now, nothing else has been announced.

-RAW Combat and DREAM to also hold November events.

-Dream Stage Entertainment announces that James Thompson vs. Ibragim Magomedov/Murilo Rua vs. Falaniko Vitale will headline DREAM 33.

-Sengoku 29 weigh-ins are tonight. Be sure to check out our Weigh-In Roundtable with special guest Joe Warren here!

-Be sure to check Blurcat Saturday night for Sengoku 29 results!

World MMA Event Results

RAW Combat: On the Edge ( Sunday, October 2nd)

Main Card

Deividas Taurosevicius defeated Ryan Schults via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

Stephane Vigenault defeated Yves Jabouin via Submission (3:57. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Brendan Barrett defeated Ricardeau Francois via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average Fight

Juro Hayami defeated Renato Sobral via TKO (2:09. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic Fight

Jay Hieron defeated Alex Serdyukov via Submission (3:26. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Sengoku 29 (Saturday, October 8th)

Preliminary Card

Miguel Torres defeated Michihiro Omigawa via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Jess Liaudin defeated Artur Oumakhanov via Submission (4:34. Third Round)

Joe Doerksen defeated Bryan Baker via Submission (3:53. Third Round)

David Douglas defeated Lyle Beerbohm via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Main Card

Andrews Nakahara defeated Kiyoshi Tamura via TKO (:30. Third Round)Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

Moise Rimbon defeated Gilber Yvel via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

Roan Carneiro defeated Jorge Ortiz via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)) Blurcat Verdict: Average Fight

Vitor Belfort defeated Jason MacDonald via TKO (3:13. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great Fight

Stephan Bonnar defeated Christian M’Pumbu via Split Decision. (5:00 Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent Fight

UFC News for Week 2 of October

Signings

Scott Jorgensen has opted out of contractual negotiations with DREAM and has signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC.

Re-Signings

Thiago Silva has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Roger Gracie has re-signed a seven fight multi-year deal with UFC

Nick Catone has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

Ricardo Almeida has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Cuts

UFC have decided not to extend Ryan Jensen’s current contract.

Ryan Bader Finds New Home At Xtreme Couture

Last week we reported that Ryan Bader left Arizona Combat Sports. At the height of this news, no body—Not even Ryan Bader himself—knew what would happen next. We are happy to report that Bader will now be training under the Xtreme Couture banner.

This is a great move for Ryan Bader as he will now be training under the tutelage of MMA Legend Randy Couture, himself. We’re excited to see how this training will help him with his future inside the Octagon.

maudlin career · September 18, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Blurcat’s UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Weigh-In Roundtable

Alex Emerson: Hello all and welcome to another anticipated edition of Weigh-In Roundtable brought to you by none other than the Blurcat Radio Network. I’m Alex Emerson, Blurcat’s Main Editor. Here to join me tonight are Blurcat regulars Tom Bradburn, Gavin Banks, and Stuart Teacher. Our special guest tonight is UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Chuck Liddell. Liddell is great to have you.

Liddell: Thanks, I’m happy to be here.

Emerson: For those who are new to this radio program, I’ll explain it to you. During the night of any respective promotion’s weigh-ins, the Blurcat staff gets together to discuss that promotion’s card and call who we think the winners will be. Twenty-four hours from now, UFC will be hosting it’s 130th event. Chuck, 130th! Can you believe that?

Liddell: It’s crazy to hear you say that, but when I was fighting back at 106 and 97, I knew they’d get there.

Banks: Well before you go any further Emerson, let me ask you: are you excited for the card?

Emerson: I’m personally excited for tomorrow night’s card. Granted, I went to the UFC 130 Press Conference, so my view and input on the event might be different from others.

Teacher: In my opinion, the card seems shallow, especially after what we were presented with at 129.

Liddell: Let me be the first to defend UFC here, after all they did give me my big break. How can you follow up with Silva and Pierre? There’s not a card in this world that could follow that up.

Emerson: Except Liddell and Couture IV.

Liddell: You’re getting on my good side Alex.

Bradburn: I don’t know, I think Gomi and Alvarez have what it takes to close the show. Plus, Faber makes his UFC debut. There are a lot of hardcore fans who have been waiting to see that.

Emerson: Ok then that leads to our game of Weigh-In Round Table:

First Question: Will UFC 130 Be a Success or Failure?

Alex Emerson says:

Personally, I think it’ll be an exciting night of fights. From the opening fight (Alves vs. Swick) until the end (Alvarez vs. Gomi) the entire card is stacked. So that’s my answer. How it will do financially, I don’t know. As of now, I think it’s a Success.

Chuck Liddell says:

UFC rarely disappoints. Even their worst cards are still good. There’s a reason why UFC are still the number one promotion today and that’s because they deliver what the fans want to see. The card itself may not be up to par with UFC 129, but Gomi and Alvarez are going to have a lot of people talking. My verdict: A success.

Gavin Banks says:

You guys are looking at it from an entertainment perspective. If that’s the criteria, I’ll say success too. However, that’s not the criteria. When you are asking if it will succeed or fail you have to take all aspects into account, including financially. As it stands, Eddie Alvarez and Takanori Gomi do not have the name value to bring in the dollars. I’m saying this show will flop.

Stuart Teacher says:

As much as I hate to, I gotta agree with Gav. You can’t stick two semi-popular names in the Octagon and call it a main event. There will be ramifications for this.

Tom Bradburn says:

Again, Gomi and Alvarez are going to tear it up tomorrow night. Plus The California Kid is making his way to PPV. There are a lot of people who want to see that. I'm thinking it'll succeed

The Verdict: Majority says succeed.

Second Question: Thiago Alves vs. Mike Swick?

Chuck Liddell says:

I gotta give this one to Alves. This guy was around when I was still fighting in the UFC and man was he tough as hell. I haven’t been able to keep up with UFC as much as I want to, so I’m not too sure on the entire Welterweight deal, but I understand this is a tournament fight. As I said, it’s been a while since I’ve watched UFC, so I don’t know who’s in the tournament, but I’m calling Thiago Alves as the next Welterweight Champion.

Gavin Banks says:

If you haven’t been watching UFC lately, I guess you didn’t see Mike Swick destroy Matt Huges. I think Mike Swick has proven that he’s a legitimate threat in the Welterweight Division, and is one of only three fighters in the tournament to have not fought GSP. I’m picking Mike Swick.

Alex Emerson says:

Chuck, I know we had a moment a few minutes ago, but I’m going with Swick too. The guy has just looked beyond impressive in his last couple of fights. There’s just no other way of going with this one.

Tom Bradburn says:

Chuck, I think we’re going to be best friends after this, because obviously everyone has forgotten how lethal Thiago Alves is standing up. Do you guys seriously think Swick is going to be able to stand-up with Alves like he did with Hughes? I see Thiago Alves ending Mike Swick in the first round by way of knock out.

Stuart Teacher says:

This is a tough one. Both fighters are dangerous. Why this is even opening UFC 130 is beyond me, because this is a major match. I can’t decide. If I had a gun to my head, I think I’d agree with Tom and Chuck, Alves has lethal hands, lethal feet, and lethal knees. I don’t see Mike Swick making it out of this.

Final Verdict: Majority says Thiago Alves

Third Question: Matt Hammill vs. DeMarques Johnson?

Stuart Teacher says:

Who has Johnson fought lately? In his last three fights, Johnson has only managed to defeat Krzysztof Soszynski. Hammill on the other-hand was on a winning streak up until fighting Luis Arthur Cane. You’d be an idiot to pick DeMarques Johnson

Chuck Liddell says:

I’m not an idiot, so I’m picking Matt Hammill.

Tom Bradburn says:

Not only do I not care about this fight, but I do not think Johnson stands a chance.

Alex Emerson says:

Do I even need to give my prediction?

Gavin Banks says:

Part of me wants to be an ******* and pick DeMarques Johnson, but I’m a big fan of Hammill, so looks like this is a unanimous pick.

Final Verdict: Everyone unanimously says Matt Hammill

Fourth Question: Maresuke Maeno vs. Junior Dos Santos?

Tom Bradburn says:

This fight is going to produce some bombs. Dos Santos is great, but he lost to Bobby Lashley. Then again Maeno suffered a loss to Tuchscherer. This means both fighters will be hungry for that big win, and this fight is that big win. I’m calling an early knock out in favor of Dos Santos.

Gavin Banks says:

Ditto

Chuck Liddell says:

I don’t think Maresuke has yet to fight anyone on the talent level that Dos Santos has. So far Maeno has gotten some easy fights where as all of Dos Santos fight have been wars. I think this will be an easy fight for Dos Santos.

Alex Emerson says:

I’ve seen the guy train. Maresuke is a machine. I think Dos Santos is going in this fight expecting an easy one like all of you guys are saying, but he will be in for one hell of a fight. I’m thinking Maresuke locks in a submission and takes a victory over Dos Santos.

Stuart Teacher says:

If there’s one fight I don’t care about on this card, this is the one. I know it’s going to be a brawl, but I honestly do not care about either one. Mainly because I see Junior Dos Santos taking Maeno to the slaughter house in this one.

Final Verdict: Majority says Junior Dos Santos

Fifth Question: Demian Maia vs. Denis Kang?

Gavin Banks says:

Demian Maia has looked absolutely terrible since returning to UFC. How the guy could go from being the #3 ranked Middleweight in the world to suffering a submission loss to Michael Bisping—I hate that guy—is beyond me. You know what, just because he lost to Bisping, I’m picking Kang!

Alex Emerson says:

I think this will be the fight that puts Demian Maia back on the leader boards. Kang is a tough opponent, but Maia has finally gotten that Octagon rust off of him. Demian Maia is going to walk away with this one.

Chuck Liddell says:

They call Demian Maia the best pure grappler in the sport for a reason. I think we’ll see some of that tomorrow night. So yeah, I’ll pick Maia too.

Stuart Teacher says:

Maia is awful at stand-up, but Kang isn’t a good striker. This will be a good match for Maia as it will allow him to apply his grappling and submissions on Kang and pull of an early victory.

Tom Bradburn says:

I hate Michael Bisping, too, and losing to Michael Bisping is absolutely unforgivable…unless your Matt Hammill because he’s awesome. Since I don’t see Demian Maia using sign language, no offense Hammill, Denis Kang better win!

Final Verdict: Majority says Demian Maia

Sixth Question: Urijah Faber vs. Jon Fitch?

Stuart Teacher says:

Earlier, Chuck said he sees Thiago Alves winning this whole tournament. Well that’s how I feel about Jon Fitch. In all honesty, they pretty much gave him an easy first fight. Don’t get me wrong, Faber is great, but he’s been out of the game for nearly sixth months. Jon Fitch is not a tune-up match. Fitch is walking away with an easy win.

Alex Emerson says:

As I said earlier, I went to the UFC 130 Press-Conference, and Urijah Faber is in great shape. He doesn’t look bulky and, like I mentioned in my Press-Conference notes, he looks like he naturally belongs at Welterweight. I think he’s going to make a return in a big way and get a victory over Fitch.

Gavin Banks says:

California Kid all the way. He simply is one of my favorite fighters. I’m not just saying that because he loves visiting the Blurcat staff…ok maybe I am a little. No seriously though, Emerson is right. Faber looks incredible. You cannot underestimate him.

Chuck Liddell says:

I don’t see how you can pick Faber when thus far, Fitch is one of the only men who was able to push GSP into the distance. Faber is tough, but Fitch is tougher. Now you guys didn’t hear me say this, because it can get me in a lot of trouble, but I think Teacher is right: Fitch got an easy fight.

Tom Bradburn says:

Earlier I said a lot of people have been waiting for a Faber UFC debut. Those same people will be sorely disappointed tomorrow night. Fitch has his name all over this fight. I agree with Teacher, I think Fitch is going to be UFC's next Welterweight Champion.

Final Verdict: Majority says Jon Fitch

Final Question: Takanori Gomi vs. Eddie Alvarez?

Alex Emerson says:

The man had on a kick-ass suit last week. For the suit alone, I’m picking Gomi. No seriously, I understand Alvarez is considered by many to be one of the Pound 4 Pound players, but Gomi is on fire. He seriously will do anything to get the UFC Lightweight Championship and if Alvarez is his only obstacle, things are going to get ugly. I think Gomi will take this one.

Stuart Teacher says:

You mentioned rankings and you know what: Gomi isn’t even in UFC’s Top 10 Lightweights, let alone Pound 4 Pound. With that said, I think Gomi is going to give Alvarez hell, but despite what people think, rankings exist for a reason. Gomi won’t last past the first round with Alvarez.

Chuck Liddell says:

Eddie Alvarez is the toughest man in the Lightweight Division in the UFC and the entire world. There’s my pick.

Gavin Banks says:

You know, even when Gomi was PRIDE Lightweight Champion, he still lost a lot of fights in PRIDE. Ok maybe not a lot, but let’s just say if more of his fights were for the title, he wouldn’t have the honor of being the last Lightweight Champion. Eddie Alvarez is taking this one.

Tom Bradburn says:

I think I’m going to pick Takanori Gomi. After seeing what he did to Stevenson in his UFC debut, I’m convinced that Gomi is for real about being back on top.

Final Verdict: Majority says Eddie Alvarez

Alex Emerson: We hope you enjoyed this edition of Weigh-In Roundtable. Be sure to come back tomorrow night for a full recap of UFC 130. Also, don’t forget to e-mail me your predictions at Emerson-Blurcat@aol.com. Winner will receive a free Blurcat T-shirt signed by Chuck Liddell. Thanks a lot and have a great night!

Full UFC 130: Alvarez vs Gomi Card

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson

Light Heavyweight: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Middleweight: Gerald Harris vs. Goran Reljic

Light Heavyweight: Eliot Marshall vs. Karen Grigoryan

Lightweight: David Baron vs. Donald Cerrone

Main Card

Welterweight: Thiago Alves vs. Mike Swick

Light Heavyweight: Matt Hamill vs. DaMarques Johnson

Heavyweight: Maresuke Maeno vs. Junio Dos Santos

Middleweight: Demian Maia vs. Denis Kang

Welterweight: Urijah Faber vs. Jon Fitch

Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez vs. Takanori Gomi

Be sure to send in your predictions!

maudlin career · September 19, 2009

World Headlines for Week 3 of October (continued)

-Jared Hess and Jorge Santiago join Alex Emerson and Gavin Banks on Monday’s Crackdown

-Joe Soto has signed an exclusive deal with WEC

-Join the Blurcat staff for another edition of Weigh-In Roundtable. This time we will be covering Bellator FC 34. Our special guest of the evening will be Brett Rogers.

-Former UFC fighter Brock Larson has signed a two fight deal with RAW Combat.

-Kaitlin Young and Roy York join Alex Emerson and Gavin Banks on Friday’s Crackdown.

MMA Event Results

Bellator FC 34 (Tuesday, October 18th)

Main Card

Estevan Payan defeated Micah Miller via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Yahir Reyes defeated Shawn Bias via TKO (1:44. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Brett Cooper defeated Omar de la Cruz via Submission (2:45. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic

Dave Herman defeated Tim Sylvia via TKO (4:50. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic

Eric Reynolds defeated Nick Agallar to win the Bellator FC Lightweight Championship

via TKO (1:38. First Round.) Blurcat Verdict: Great

UFC News for Week 3 of October

Signings

No new fighters have been signed to represent UFC

Re-Signings

No fighters have had their contracts extended

Cuts

No fighter has been released from their current UFC contract

Gabriel Gonzaga: I want Silva

UFC Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga conducted a phone interview with Alex Emerson earlier this year. On a wide list of subjects, Gonzaga confirmed that he is currently working on an extension deal. The biggest news however was Gonzaga addressing Anderson Silva’s potential move up to Heavyweight by stating he would love to be Silva’s first opponent.

That could be the perfect Heavyweight entrance for Silva as both fighters are stand-up strikers. It’s been said every time, but Gonzaga could prove to be Silva’s toughest opponent yet. No word on if this will happen or not, but if it does, it will not disappoint.

To get the full interview, click here.

December Fight Night Gets Pushed Back

A previously announced Ultimate Fight Night scheduled for December 14th has instead been pushed back to the following week on December 21st. Fights are still being talked about, but Dana White has stated that he will reveal the headlining fights at the UFC 130 Post-Fight Press Conference

UFC 132 Full Card Announced

UFC 132 has finally come to a complete. In addition to Arlovski vs. Velasquez and Duffee vs. Lashley, Anthony Johnson and Ben Saunders will open up the event, and two additional fights between Hermes Franca and Mac Danzig and Wilson Gouveia and Yoshihiro Akiyama will round up the card. The event will take place on December 3rd in Las Vegas, Nevada. For any further information, including the Preliminaries, check out the UFC schedule here.

UFC 130 Report

The results are in. Was UFC 130 a failure or success? Did Alvarez or Gomi walk out as winner? Who advanced in the Welterweight Tournament? We have all the answers. Find out here!

maudlin career · September 19, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Alex Emerson’s UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Full Report (Saturday, October 22nd)

Tonight is the night that puts all the stories and gossip to rest. After a successful and historic rematch between Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva at UFC 129, many wondered if UFC could properly follow up and deliver a proper card for UFC 130.

The early answer was simple: no. With the announced main event being a Lightweight bout between Eddie Alvarez and Takanori Gomi, many people felt that it was a poor decision on the part of Zuffa. But seriously, let’s think about this: Is there an adequate way to rebound from a big fight between Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva?

That answer is simple, too: no. You cannot get a guaranteed fight of the year between UFC’s biggest stars and then expect UFC to deliver something equal to or better than that. As it stands, if this were UFC 128 or UFC 127, Gomi and Alvarez would be an excellent main event. Honestly, I still think it’s an adequate main event, and as I have said countless times. Gomi and Alvarez will have people talking for the months to come.

With that said, it’s time to deliver the goods. You guys came here to get your UFC 130 results, not to here me babble about fickle fans. Luckily for you, I happened to catch UFC 130 in its entirety. We’ll see just how well UFC 130 did.

UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi (Saturday, October 22nd.)

A vignette opened UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi. Eddie Alvarez appeared on screen first saying that in DREAM he never had a chance to fight Takanori Gomi when they were both fighting for the company. Takanori Gomi then shows up and says that he has been looking forward to this fight since it was announced. Gomi continues to say that he's nervous because he understands the fans are disappointed, but he promises he will knock out Alvarez. The screen switches to Alvarez who says he will beat Takanori Gomi and he will win the UFC Lightweight Championship.

The screen switches to a flashback where 'The California Kid' is holding the WEC Featherweight Championship. Urijah Faber shows up on screen saying that he would love to return after a six-month hiatus and capture the UFC Welterweight Championship. Jon Fitch appears on camera and says that he will be George St. Pierre's successor.

Another flashback shows up where Mike Swick is shown pounding on Matt Hughes to win a TKO victory. The camera then switches to Alves winning destroying to Thiago Alves. Mike Swick says that they both proved to be vicious stand-up fighters by taking out one of the best in the Welterweight Division. Swick also says he's concerned about Thiago's more potent striking game, but says he will see through it. Alves says he's been preparing three months for a war and if Swick doesn't bring it to him, he will bring it to Swick.

"Face the Pain" by Stemm hits the PA system and UFC 130 gets underway. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan welcome MMA fans to another exciting night of fights. The two play by play men run down tonight's card and share their perspective on each fight. Swick and Alves appear on the monitor signaling that the first fight was seconds from beginning.

Welterweight: Thiago Alves vs. Mike Swick

The Fight
Alves opens up the round by hitting Swick with a nice roundhouse kick. Swick doesn’t let the kick discourage him and steps in to exchange some strikes with Alves. Overall, it’s a bad choice for Swick, Alves is completely outgunning him. Because of this, Swick decides to stop to find his rhythm and the two fighters circle around. The round ends with Alves entering a grappling war with Swick in an attempt to get him to the floor. The round ends and both fighters look decent.

Early in the second round, Swick stuns Alves with a right-jab, and Alves has to back pedal. Swick tries to capitalize and force Alves into the cage, but Alves uses this time to hook Swick’s legs and get a takedown. Alves spends most of his time on the ground smothering swick, but this does allow him to recover from the jab. The referee stands them up, to no avail as the round tidily wraps up.

Swick finds his rhythm in the third round and comfortably exchanges punches with Alves. Alves slows Swick’s pacing by chopping at his thigh with a nice kick. Alves rushes in and catches Swick with a knee that sends Swick wobbling into the cage. Alves is looking for that knock out, but Swick isn’t having it. The two exchange leather, but the fight ends up going to the judges.

Once both fighter’s corners calm down, they move to the center of the Octagon so that Bruce Buffer can announce the Judges’ Scores. The judges give the fight a Unanimous score of 29-28 in favor of Thiago Alves.

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Thiago Alves

The Post-Fight
Joe Rogan enters the Octagon and speaks with Thiago Alves first. He congratulates him on a victory and asks who he thought he was fighting next: Faber or Fitch. Alves says he isn’t sure right now, but he will be watching the fight closely in the back so he can do what it takes to win the Welterweight Championship.

The Verdict
Wow, Thiago Alves and Mike Swick went to war in that Octagon. There were a couple of fight ending moments, like the knee from Alves and the second round jab from Swick, but both fighters proved why they are fighting in the UFC. This is a huge win for Thiago Alves. With an impressive win over a competitor like Mike Swick, Alves could very well be the next Welterweight Champion. All in all, I’d say this was a great fight to open the show with.

Light Heavyweight: Matt Hammill vs. DeMarques Johnson

The Fight
Johnson is looking to strike with Hammill, which seems to be the only hope Johnson has of winning this fight as Hammill’s boxing is sloppy. Hammill knows this though and presses Johnson into the cage. Hammill kept Johnson against the cage giving Johnson no hope of breaking out. The referee decides to do Johnson a favor and restart the fight. It was absolutely pointless though as Hammill pushes Johnson right back into the cage. The first round ends with Johnson pinned against the cage.

Johnson opens the second round with a takedown, but Hammill stuffs up and uses it as an opportunity to push Johnson back into the cage. There they are…again…stuffed against the cage…with absolutely nothing going on. Hammill finally throws a couple of small inside bunches. Johnson uses this opportunity to slip behind Hammill. A rear naked choke is coming, but Hammill keeps his chin firmly against Johnson’s wrist. With the submission attempt going no where, Johnson pulls Hammill to the mat. Just when there’s going to be some action in an otherwise stale fight, round two comes to an end.

It’s Hammill’s turn for a takedown, but Johnson manages to fight it and locks up with Hammill in the process. Hammill pushes his weight into Johnson and…yep…you guessed it: Hammill has Johnson against the cage again. At this point in the fight, the fans are booing. I kind of wish Hammill wasn’t deaf; hearing the booing would definitely force him to do something. I’m going to hell for that one. Anyway, since we can’t have things our way though, Hammill and Johnson spent the rest of the round against the cage.

The fighters meet at the center where Bruce Buffer unsurprisingly announces a 30-27 Unanimous Decision for Matt Hammill.

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Matt Hammill

The Post-Fight
One Hammill’s translators must’ve told Hammill how the fans felt about the fight; he apologized and told Joe Rogan that he was disappointed with his performance. He then told Rogan that he was going to spend more time in the gym and promised Las Vegas that when he returned to the Octagon, they would not be disappointed.

The Verdict
I could count how many punches were thrown in this fight with both hands. All would have been forgiven if we received a decent grappling exchange, but all we got was Hammill pinning Johnson into the cage instead. I will have to give Johnson props for actually trying to choke out Hammill, but unfortunately, Hammill fought it. All in all, this was a poor fight.

Heavyweight: Maresuke Maeno vs. Junior Dos Santos

The Fight
Maeno surprisingly takes Santos off of his feet by catching a body kick and pushing him to the ground. Maeno wastes little time in engaging Dos Santos on the ground, but apparently Dos Santos is more than ready for it. No matter how many attempts, Maeno couldn’t get firm control on the ground and thus the referee forced them back on their feet. Maeno wants to get Dos Santos back on the ground and pays the ultimate price! A right hook sends Maeno crashing to the ground. Dos Santos runs in, but Maeno is back up. Maeno and Dos Santos start throwing down! Maeno throws a 3-punch combo, but Dos Santos sees through it and drops Maeno with another right. Maeno survives the punch and scrambles back to his feet and the bell stops the first round brawl.

Maeno goes low and gets Dos Santos off of his feet. Though Maeno manages to hit Dos Santos with a couple of decent punches from half-guard, they’re not going to stop the fight. Maeno cannot get past Dos Santos’s excellent ground defense and the referee brings them back to their feet. Maeno moves in and catches jab flush on the jaw. Maeno’s legs give in and he’s back on the mat. Before Dos Santos can move in, Maeno is back on his feet. I’ll say it now: Maresuke Maeno is one tough son of a bitch! How he managed to survive another round is beyond me.

Maeno and Dos Santos exchange punches, and Maeno is hit cleanly with a right hook. Maeno’s head rolls back and he hits the Octagon hard! Dos Santos looks to capitalize, but there’s no need. Maresuke Maeno is out cold! There’s a highlight reel knock out for Junior Dos Santos!

Winner via Knock Out – Junior Dos Santos (:16. Third Round)

The Post-Fight
Junior Dos Santos had one thing to say: he wants to fight the very best. I’d love to see this guy take on a striker like Cheick Kongo or Gabriel Gonzaga.

The Verdict
Junior Dos Santos looked amazing in this fight. If I recall correctly, I seem to remember giving this fight Maeno. Not only did Junior Dos Santos spoil my prediction, but he destroyed Maresuke Maeno. The fans got their highlight reel knock out, that’s for sure. This was definitely a good fight for UFC.

Middleweight: Demian Maia vs. Denis Kang

The Fight
Kang and Maia displayed a good exchange of grappling with both fighters shooting in for takedowns at several instances in the first round. After failing for at least the fifth time, Maia settles for pushing Kang against the cage. While everyone was expecting another Matt Hammill incident, Maia proved them wrong by grabbing Kang’s right leg trying to trip him to the ground. Kang grabs Maia tightly and pulls his leg away from Maia’s grasp and hooks his arms around Maia’s body. Kang pushes Maia into an adjacent fencing of the cage to end the first round.

Maia and Kang clinch in and push each other around the Octagon. Maia finally manages to win the power struggle and forces Kang into the corner. Maia throws a couple of strikes, but Kang absorbs them. Maia then switches up and looks to take Kang to the ground. Kang hooks his arms under Maia and powers out of the grapple. The two are now pacing around the ring, and due to their wrestling game are both very tired. I can see the fans turning on this fight very quickly, especially with this second round looking like a near clone of Hammill/Johnson. The two clinch in once more, but the bell separates the two.

Kang and Maia clinch in again and the fans are booing. Kang forces Maia into the cage and Maia tries powering out. Maia appears to be the more tired of the two fighters as he cannot get out from the cage. The referee does us all a favor and restarts the fight. The two move around the ring and Kang tries to add some excitement to the fight by hitting an uppercut. Maia moves back in to clinch with Kang, but finds himself backed into the cage. Ladies and gentlemen the good news is that this fight is over. The sad news is we can’t get our 15-minutes of living back.

In the center of the ring, Bruce Buffer announces the Judges’ unanimous scoring of 30-27 to give Denis Kang the victory.

Winner via Unanimous Decision - Denis Kang

Post-Fight
Neither fighter gave a post-fight interview

The Verdict
This was a poor match-up. The only thing I can see this match possibly doing is send Demian Maia back to the list of free agents. To survive Maia’s grappling only proves that Denis Kang has been improving tremendously. I’d like to see this guy fight a couple of top ranked Middleweights and then maybe even possibly getting a Middleweight Championship fight.

Welterweight: Urijah Faber vs. Jon Fitch

The Result
Fitch takes Faber out of his game with an quick takedown. Faber is trying to fight out, but he only succeeds in giving Fitch full mount. Faber covers up and manages to roll to his side. Fitch takes his arm and cinches in an armbar. Faber tries fighting it off, but he has to tap. Holy ****! Jon Fitch is the real deal.

Winner via Submission – Jon Fitch (2:02. First Round.)

Post-Fight
Jon Fitch tells Joe Rogan that he wants that Welterweight Championship. He also states for the millionth time that he wants Georges St. Pierre in a rematch. With a win like that over Urijah Faber, I think he very well could give GSP a run for his money.

Rogan talks to a very emotional Faber. Faber tells Rogan that he did not expect to his first UFC fight as fast as he did and he will be heading back to California to do some serious thinking. Faber says he will be back and it will be soon. He promises that he won’t allow his career in the UFC to end up a disappointment.

The Verdict
Oh my God. Oh my God. Fitch destroyed Faber. Faber didn’t get a sliver of offense in this fight. If Fitch shows up like this in his next fight, Thiago Alves could be in trouble. This was a fantastic win for Jon Fitch.

Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez vs. Takanori Gomi

The Result
Gomi hits a couple of nice jabs and decides to shake things up by shooting in on Alvarez. Alvarez sprawls the attempt and begins firing some vicious hammer-fists to the side of Gomi’s head. Gomi rolls away from Alvarez, but Alvarez follows behind and takes mount. Alvarez fires away on Gomi, but Gomi shows resilience and rolls out. Alvarez hooks takes advantage and has Gomi’s back. He fires off some punches on Gomi, but Gomi manages to cover up. The bell sounds and Gomi survives a first round slaughter.

Gomi looks for an uppercut that could threaten to end the fight. Alvarez slips through and takes Gomi to the mat. Gomi paces himself under Alvarez and manages to pin Alvarez leg. With Alvarez stuck in half-guard an attempt for mount or side control is near impossible. Alvarez looks to pound away on Gomi, but Gomi covers up and manages to scramble back to his feet. The fans are getting into it and Gomi and Alvarez begin to exchange blows. Gomi hits Alvarez with a nice right, but the bell sounds and stops him from firing off.

Gomi is tiring out and as such he isn’t looking to run in there and wildly swing at Alvarez. Alvarez fakes a jab and uses it to grapple with Gomi. Gomi clinches with Alvarez and pulls him toward the cage. Alvarez breaks out and the two circle around. Gomi looks for a low kick, but Alvarez steps away. There’s a left from Alvarez and it looks good, but Alvarez absorbs it and steps in to fire off on Gomi. Gomi is backed against the cage and tries firing back. Both fighters are getting some decent punches, but the bell has sounded. How these two managed to last for 15-minutes is beyond me.

The fighters got to the center of the ring where Bruce Buffer announced a unanimous score of 30-27 for Eddie Alvarez. Takanori Gomi looks down in disappointment, but he accepts the loss, knowing he didn’t do enough to take the win.

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Eddie Alvarez

The Post Fight
Eddie Alvarez hugs Takanori Gomi and tells Rogan that Gomi pushed him to his limits tonight. He looks at Gomi and says whenever he wants a rematch, he’s game to give him one. As far as what’s next for Alvarez, he has no idea. He would like to fight Josh Thomson, but understands that he’s not so high on the pecking order right now. He expresses interest in fighting Diego Sanchez, Shinya Aoki, Gray Maynard, or Joachim Hansen next. Only time will tell for Alvarez.

Gomi says Thank You in broke English. His translator elaborates by saying the most important thing to Gomi was headlining a UFC event. He’s glad he was given the opportunity and hopes he can main event many future events. He shakes hands with Alvarez and leaves the Octagon, allowing Alvarez and his camp to celebrate.

The Verdict
You know, part of me feels disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, Gomi and Alvarez did their thing tonight, but I was really expecting one or the other to get a win in a big way. However, a decision is good for both fighters as neither will have a horrible knock out or submission to affect their mental game when they head back to the gym. However, with a decision win between two guys I thought would destroy each other makes this a pretty average main event, especially with how Dana White had been advertising the fight.

UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Final Verdict:

From a fight perspective, I really enjoyed the show as I’m sure many others did as well. You got a beautiful opening fight between Thiago Alves and Mike Swick, a brutal knock out from Junior Dos Santos, Jon Fitch make Urijah Faber look like a joke, and you got a main event that set the standard for what’s to come in the Lightweight Division.

From a financial stand-point, I can’t see this event going to well. In fact, considering that the follow up card to a show featuring GSP and Anderson Silva saw two beyond boring Decisions and a disappointing main event Decision to end the fight, I can see this event doing awful in terms of money made.

Aside from that, the show was worth watching. The Welterweight Tournament is looking like it’s going to be amazing and again, Junior Dos Santos got a brutal knock out win over Maresuke Maeno. I’d love to see what the UFC will do with Dos Santos after that win, so here’s hoping we see more of him. As always, I’d love to hear what you guys thought about the event. You can send any and all comments and concerns by way of e-mail: Emerson-blurcat@aol.com.

UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Full Card Breakdown

Preliminary Card

Joe Stevenson defeated Spencer Fisher via Submission (3:11. First Round)

Krzysztof Soszysnki defeated Kyle Kingsbury via Submission (4:59. First Round)

Goran Reljic defeated Gerald Harris via Submission (3:50. First Round)

Karen Grigoryan defeated Eliot Marshall via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Donald Cerrone defeated David Baron via Submission (2:50. First Round)

Main Card

Thiago Alves defeated Mike Swick via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Matt Hammill defeated DeMarques Johnson via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Poor

Junior Dos Santos defeated Maresuke Maeno via Knock Out (:16. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Denis Kang defeated Demian Maia via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Poor

Jon Fitch defeated Urijah Faber via Submission (2:02. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic

Eddie Alvarez defeated Takanori Gomi via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average

PoisonedSuperman · September 19, 2009

I LOVE this. Best show writes up on any WWMA Diary ever. I love the personality you have put into this diary! Good luck, keep it coming, I'll be reading!

Jon Fitch is one of my personal favorite fighters glad to see him win, sucks to see Swick lose but he had a good opponent.

Looking forward to reading more of this.

maudlin career · September 19, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Alex Emerson’s UFC 130: Alvarez vs. Gomi Post-Fight Press Conference Report

-The UFC Post-Fight Conference was hosted by Dana White and featured Mike Swick, Thiago Alves, Junior Dos Santos, Denis Kang, Jon Fitch, Urijah Faber, Takanori Gomi, and Eddie Alvarez.

-Dana White starts off by announcing matches for the December Ultimate Fight Night Event. He says Luis Arthur Cane and Wanderlei Silva will be headlining the Indianapolis, Indiana Fight Night, and the final opening round of the Welterweight Tournament between Martin Kampmann and BJ Penn will be the lead in.

He also announces UFC 132 for Superbowl Weekend of January. The event will be held in California and finally feature the Light Heavyweight showdown between Lyoto Machida and Jon Jones. Kimbo Slice will return to the Octagon on that same night to fight MMA Hall of Famer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

-The UFC 130 Post-Fight Conference starts off with Dana White announcing the award bonuses. Thiago Alves and Mike Swick win Fight of the Night. Junior Dos Santos wins Knock Out of the Night. Jon Fitch wins Submission of the Night.

-Alvarez opens up by stating he thought he had a good fight with Gomi, but he wishes he could have ended it sooner, but that Gomi is just one tough fighter. He expresses interest in fighting Diego Sanchez or Shinya Aoki before getting a shot at Josh Thomson.

-Junior Dos Santos says he would like to fight again as soon as possible. He thinks a fight with Ben Rothwell would be a good move and hopes he can get in the Octagon and fight someone of his caliber. Dana White doesn’t comment.

-Urijah Faber says that he’s incredibly disappointed with his performance, and that this will definitely affect him mentally when he goes back to training. He does admit that Fitch was just the better man tonight, but promises that he will have a better outing in his next UFC fight.

-Alves looks to Fitch and says he’s ready for their fight and that he's wanting to avenge his loss.

-Fitch responds by saying it’ll be a classic match up between a striker and grappler, and that he’s not so much worried about Alves’s striking ability.

-Takanori Gomi says after the first round, he knew he lost the fight. He says Alvarez may be one of the toughest opponents he’s ever faced. However, Gomi wants a rematch and he will win. As far as his next fight, Gomi hopes it’s soon.

-Mike Swick isn’t sure what he’s going to do. He says he feels kind of cheated because he originally was the next Welterweight Championship contender and has instead been eliminated in the first round of a tournament to crown the Championship. Swick then says that a loss to Alves says a lot about his potential reign as champion, and thus it was a huge wake-up call.

-A Q & A session follows up and that’s a wrap. See you all UFC 131: King of the Octagon!

maudlin career · September 19, 2009

World Headlines for Week 4 of October

-Kurt Otto announces Bellator FC 35 for November 21st.

-World Victory Road looks to add Ikuhisa Minowa to its roster.

-Roy Nelson and Shayna Baszler join Alex Emerson and Gavin Banks on Wednesday’s Crackdown.

-Allan Goes and Ivan Serati to headline Bellator FC 35

-Sengoku 30 to take place November 25th.

-Join us for WEC 67: Warren vs. Maeda Weigh-In Roundtable. Our special guest will be Anthony Johnson!

-Join us for Adrenaline: Rhino vs. Loiseau Weigh-In Roundtable. Joining us will be Gilbert Melendez!

-WEC 67 results are in! Check them out here!

World MMA Event Results for Week 4

WEC 67: Warren vs. Maeda (Friday, October 28th)

Preliminary Card

Tyson Nam defeated Adrian Wooley via Submission (3:49. Third Round)

LC Davis defeated Antonio Carvalho via TKO (1:11. First Round)

Yasuhiro Uru****ani defeated Denbe Jippensha via Submission (3:03. First Round)

Main Card

Enoch Wilson defeated Erik Koch via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Kajan Johnson defeated Danny Castillo via Submission (1:59. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Richard Crunkilton defeated John Mahlow via Submission (3:16. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Rambaa Somdet defeated Jesse Taitano via Split Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Joe Warren defeated Yoshiro Maeda via Submission (4:57. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Adrenaline: Rhino vs. Loiseau (Saturday, October 29th)

Preliminary Card

Rodney Sapir defeated Vinicius Magalhaes via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Nate Mohr defeated Joe Pearson via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Main Card

Dustin Danes defeated Hector Urbina via Submission (3:37. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Randall Peck defeated Gan McGee via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Emanuel Newton defeated Robert Drysdale via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average

Duane Ludwig defeated Alvin Robinson via Split Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

David Loiseau defeated Doug Marshall to win the Adrenaline Middleweight Championship via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Fifth Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

UFC News for Week 4 of October

Signings

No new fighters have been signed to represent UFC

Re-Signings

Cheick Kongo has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC.

Cuts

No fighter has been released from their current UFC contract

World Victory Road Wants Gonzaga

In a bid to increase their Heavyweight Division, World Victory Road has expressed interest in signing Gabriel Gonzaga to a multi-year deal. We last spoke to Gonzaga a week ago where he revealed that he was currently in the middle of a UFC contract extension. World Victory Road caught word and has apparently offered a HUGE contract to convince Gonzaga to fight overseas. We’ll keep you updated on what happens.

Jon Fitch on the Big Cat Show

Jon Fitch joins Stuart Teacher and David Saint-Claire on the Big Cat Show. He mainly discussed his preparations for a future fight against Alves. He doesn’t know when it’ll happen, but he’s thinking a 2012 spring encounter is the most likely. Teacher somehow managed to convince him to sing the Macarena song. You can download the audio here!

UFC 130 Financial Report

To all those who thought UFC 130 would tank, the numbers are in. The results are shocking to say the least. Despite being considered a disappointment by many, UFC 130 managed to make $4,751,816 on PPV buys and an additional $2,106,215 in ticket sales. It looks like GSP and Anderson Silva managed to bait in new fans and thus UFC 130 got the benefits of increased interest in the current product. This is good news for Zuffa!

Scheduled UFC Events

UFC 131: King of the Octagon (November 5th. New Jersey)

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: George Roop vs. Josh Neer

Middleweight: Timothy Cool vs. Frederick Pendergarst

Welterweight: Dan Cramer vs. Chris Wilson

Middleweight: Thomas Goodridge vs. Tim Credeur

Heavyweight: Mike Wessell vs. Justin McCully

Main Card

Heavyweight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Cheick Kongo

Light Heavyweight: Aaron Simpson vs. Keith Jardine

Lightweight: Shinya Aoki vs. Jorge Masvidal

Welterweight: Andre Galvao vs. Josh Koscheck

Heavyweight: Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Mirko CroCop

Light Heavyweight: Muhammed Lawal vs. Forrest Griffin

UFC 132: Modern Warriors (December 3rd. Nevada)

Preliminary Card

Welterweight: Jake Ellenberger vs. Dan Hardy

Light Heavyweight: Tim McKenzie vs. Hector Ramirez

Lightweight: Aaron Riley vs. Corey Hill

Welterweight: Danillo Villefort vs. Carlos Condit

Heavyweight: Tim Hague vs. Heath Herring

Lightweight: Shannon Gugerty vs. Jose Aldo

Main Card

Welterweight: Anthony Johnson vs. Ben Saunders

Lightweight: Hermes Franca vs. Mac Danzig

Middleweight: Wilson Gouveia vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Heavyweight: Bobby Lashley vs. Todd Duffee

Ultimate Fight Night: Silva vs. Cane (December 21st. Indiana)

Main Card

Welterweight: Martin Kampmann vs. BJ Penn

Light Heavyweight: Wanderlei Silva vs. Luis Arthur Cane

UFC 133: Year of the Dragon (January 7th. California)

Main Card

Heavyweight: Kimbo Slice vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

maudlin career · September 20, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Alex Emerson’s UFC 131: King of the Octagon Press Conference Notes & Recap (Tuesday, October 30, 2011)

My 2-Cents

We are less than a week away from UFC’s latest installment, UFC 131: King of the Octagon. At this event, Mo Lawal returns to the Octagon to face Forrest Griffin. This is a big fight for both individuals. Griffin looks to rebound from his loss to Lyoto Machida and Lawal gets a chance to prove to his skeptics that he’s the real deal.

That’s the main question being presented with this event: is Lawal the real deal. Since coming into the UFC and getting Quinton Jackson as his first opponent, many stated that Lawal would get crushed. We even unanimously gave Quinton Jackson the win at that event’s Weigh-In Roundtable. Lawal proved everyone wrong and picked up an impressive victory over Jackson.

Suddenly, after Lawal beats Jackson, many deem it a fluke while others say Jackson didn’t take the fight seriously enough. Now, at UFC 131, Lawal gets a chance to prove that he is a legitimate Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighter when he takes on Forrest Griffin.

Will Mo Lawal prove that he is legitimate by defeating Forrest Griffin? This is a tough one to call, I’m personally a fan of the guy, and have been since his first fight. Many, for whatever, reason think he’s a joke. Maybe that’s due to his flash entrances he used in Japan. In terms of ability, the guy is a monster. All in all, this will be a great fight to break Lawal into the Top 10.

Press Conference Notes & Report

-Dana White apologizes for holding the Press Conference so late. He acknowledges that the UFC usually holds their pre-fight press conferences a week in advance, but that the UFC schedule has been so hectic, that there had to be a delay.

In terms of the current UFC schedule, White doesn’t have much to add. Ultimate Fight Night gets a full five-card fight. He doesn’t announce any matches, but says Ben Henderson, James Wilks, Brandon Vera, and Ryan Bader will be fighting on the card. White says the full card will be revealed later tonight on the UFC website. No word on UFC 133’s full card.

-Neither Mirko CroCop or Aleksander Emelianenko were in attendance at the press conference. They’re both taking this rematch very seriously. CroCop sees it as a way to goad big brother Fedor into giving him a long-awaited PRIDE rematch. Aleksander wants to avenge his loss to CroCop. This could make for a brutal fight.

-Josh Koscheck says he’s not taking Andre Galvao lightly, as he’s known for his incredible jiu-jitsu work. Koscheck says he’s going to trade in his wrestling and feed Galvao some leather. Kosheck hopes BJ Penn beats Martin Kampmann at Fight Night, because he wants to be the next one to prove Penn can’t hang with the Welterweights.

-Andre Galvao replies and says Koscheck always relies on his wrestling when push comes to shove. Galvao follows up and says this kind of tactic is what’s going to make it an easy fight, as he won’t have to work as hard to get Koscheck on the ground.

-Muhammed Lawal shows up in a suit that rivals Takanori Gomi. He addresses this by saying that after he saw Takanori Gomi come out at the UFC 130 conference, he just simply had to out-dress him. Lawal gets serious for a minute and says Forrest Griffin is tough, but he’s tougher. Lawal is going to prove that he is the real deal in the UFC with this fight.

-Forrest Griffin says he doesn’t understand why people are skeptical of Lawal’s skills, and begins praising him for his wrestling work. Griffin says he’s been doing his homework and will look to get a rematch with Machida.

-Shinya Aoki exchanges some Japanese words with his translator and apparently says that Jorge Masvidal is a young hungry Lightweight, but that he will be in trouble on Saturday. He compliments Masvidal’s skills, but he too wants a Lightweight Title shot and as such his mentality going into the fight will be more aggressive than ever.

-Cheick Kongo says he hopes for a quick win over Satoshi Ishii as he’s generally seen as the underdog going into this one. Satoshi Ishii is still in Japan at the moment and was not available to make a comment.

-Jorge Masvidal says he will beat Shinya Aoki and use his name as a stepping stone to get closer to Josh Thomson. Masvidal firmly believes that this will be the fight that puts Masvidal in the Lightweight Top 10.

-The Press Conference wrapped up with a Q&A session followed by some photo-ops. UFC 131 looks like a solid card.

maudlin career · September 20, 2009

Blurcat.com - Your Number One Source for MMA

Blurcat’s UFC 131: King of the Octagon Weigh-In Roundtable (Friday, November 4th)

Emerson: Greeting Blurcats, I hope you’ve enjoyed your week. Unfortunately for me, I’ve had to work…all week. I don’t know how much of this traveling, talking to top level athletes, and watching events live for almost free I can take. For instance, tonight I have to do another episode of Weigh-In Roundtable with Stuart Teacher, Gavin Banks, Tom Bradburn, and special guest Gina Carano. I hate this job.

Banks: And how in the hell did Bradburn end up sitting next to Carano?

Bradburn: Show some professionalism Gavin. Sorry, Gina, the guys here are immature.

Carano: It’s ok, I’m used to it.

Teacher: Well while Bradburn is over there slobbering, I think it’s time we get to business. We saw how much money UFC 130 made so there’s no need to speculate on if 131 will be a success or failure. I have a different topic to open up the discussion with:

First Question: Is Muhammed Lawal the Real Deal?

Alex Emerson says:

The guy beat Quinton Jackson. If that doesn’t say much about him in terms of fighter quality, I don’t know what does.

Gina Carano says:

Muhammed Lawal is an aggressive wrestler. He took Jackson down at will. Yeah, I’d say he’s definitely legit.

Stuart Teacher says:

I guess I just asked this one to see how you guys felt. Yeah, he beat Quinton Jackson, he’s legit. MMA fans need to stop being so fickle.

Tom Bradburn says:

You know what? I say no. Yes he beat Quinton Jackson, but so what? Anyone can get lucky in their first fight? I don’t want to take anything away from Lawal, but you cannot let one fight determine his future.

Gavin Banks says:

The guy is undefeated Tom. This isn’t his second fight in MMA, he’s been doing this for a while. Muhammed Lawal is going to be a solid Light Heavyweight competitor.

The Verdict: Muhammed Lawal is the real deal.

Second Question: Satoshi Ishii vs. Cheick Kongo?

Gina Carano says:

I don’t know much about either fighter, especially Satoshi Ishii. I know Kongo has been known to upset fighters in the past. I’m thinking the same will happen against Ishii.

Gavin Banks says:

Gina, you’re beautiful, but you’re so so wrong. There’s a reason why Satoshi Ishii’s first fight in the UFC is on the main card against a striker like Cheick Kongo. Kongo is going to get wrecked.

Alex Emerson says:

Yeah, I just don’t see any other way to pick this one. Satoshi Ishii wins this one for sure.

Tom Bradburn says:

I gotta agree with Gina. Cheick Kongo is an upset artist. He’s fighting a relatively unknown Japanese fighter in the UFC and he’s being picked as the loser of this fight? Kongo is going to go into the Octagon looking hungry.

Stuart Teacher says:

Hmmm…I’ll say Ishii by way of submission.

The Verdict: Majority says Satoshi Ishii

Third Question: Aaron Simpson vs. Keith Jardine?

Tom Bradburn says:

This seems simple enough. You’re looking at an easy victory for Jardine.

Gina Carano says:

Yeah he’s right. Keith Jardine is a very competent stand-up fighter. I don’t see this going to well for Simpson.

Stuart Teacher says:

I’m picking Keith Jardine. Terribly mismatched fight by the way, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere.

Alex Emerson says:

If Simpson makes it past the first round, I’ll be surprised.

Gavin Banks says:

Yeah, I’m not picking Aaron Simpson.

The Verdict: The Roundtable unanimously says Keith Jardine

Fourth Question: Shinya Aoki vs. Jorge Masvidal?

Gavin Banks says:

Every time his name comes up, I pick him as my winner. You could put him against Brock Lesnar, and I’d still pick Shinya Aoki. I love that guy’s technique.

Alex Emerson says:

A win like this could be huge for Jorge Masvidal, but Shinya Aoki debut in UFC going to a Split Decision with BJ Penn. Do you seriously think Jorge can last with him?

Gina Carano says:

I gotta stick with the underdog. I’m picking Jorge Masvidal.

Tom Bradburn says:

Sorry Gina, but Masvidal doesn’t stand a chance.

Stuart Teacher says:

There are only a few fighters that I firmly believe can last in the Octagon with Aoki. Masvidal isn’t one of those guys.

The Verdict: Majority says Shinya Aoki.

Fifth Question: Andre Galvao vs. Josh Koscheck?

Gina Carano says:

Josh Koscheck is one of the best Welterweights out there. His wrestling and his improved striking will keep Galvao at bay.

Tom Bradburn says:

Josh Koscheck will be tapping tomorrow night. Galvao’s submission game is slick. It’s really some of the best I’ve seen in the Welterweight Division.

Alex Emerson says:

You know, I actually have Josh Koscheck winning the entire tournament. It’ll be interesting to see how the finals will play out seeing that Fitch and Koscheck are from the same camp.

Gavin Banks says:

We won’t have to worry about that, Galvao is beating Koscheck. I think Galvao is that wild card that none of us have considered as far as this tournament goes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he walked away from the tournament as the winner.

Stuart Teacher says:

That’s going a little too far. Galvao is good, but he’ll be in trouble with Koscheck. I think Koscheck will end the fight in the second round.

The Verdict: Majority says Josh Koscheck

Sixth Question: Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Mirko CroCop

Gavin Banks says:

Someone’s going to die. CroCop has Octagon experience, Emelianenko doesn’t. I hope to God this convinces Fedor to jump on board. I already gave my answer, CroCop by murder.

Stuart Teacher says:

I like that: CroCop by murder.

Gina Carano says:

CroCop has those lethal kicks. If he gets one, consider this a done deal. I’ll agree with CroCop by murder.

Alex Emerson says:

And Gina Carano has joined the dark side, ladies and gentlemen. Before Shane Carwin came along, Aleksander was the top rated fighter in DREAM. If he’s as good now as he was in DREAM, CroCop is in for a long night of hurting. I’m definitely picking Emelianenko.

Tom Bradburn says:

As long as the man is a related to Fedor, I will pick him in every fight he’s in. Aleksander for the win!

Final Verdict: Majority says Mirko CroCop

Final Question: Muhammed Lawal vs. Forrest Griffin?

Stuart Teacher says:

Here’s a new one, I’m saying draw.

Alex Emerson says:

No way, I think I’m going to give Lawal the benefit of the doubt.

Tom Bradburn says:

Forrest Griffin will have his way in this match.

Gina Carano says:

I think I’m going to say Muhammed Lawal.

Gavin Banks says:

I wouldn’t be surprised either way, but I think Lawal is going to edge out a Decision win.

Final Verdict: Majority says Muhammed Lawal

Alex Emerson: That wraps up tonight’s edition of Weigh-In Roundtable. Be sure to come back tomorrow night for a full recap of UFC 131. Also, don’t forget to e-mail me your predictions at Emerson-Blurcat@aol.com. Winner will receive a free Blurcat T-shirt signed by the lovely Gina Carano. See you tomorrow night!

Full UFC 131: King of the Octagon Card

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: George Roop vs. Josh Neer

Middleweight: Timothy Cool vs. Frederick Pendergarst

Welterweight: Dan Cramer vs. Chris Wilson

Middleweight: Thomas Goodridge vs. Tim Credeur

Heavyweight: Mike Wessell vs. Justin McCully

Main Card

Heavyweight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Cheick Kongo

Light Heavyweight: Aaron Simpson vs. Keith Jardine

Lightweight: Shinya Aoki vs. Jorge Masvidal

Welterweight: Andre Galvao vs. Josh Koscheck

Heavyweight: Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Mirko CroCop

Light Heavyweight: Muhammed Lawal vs. Forrest Griffin

maudlin career · September 20, 2009

Blurcat November MMA News

Scheduled MMA Events in November

RAW Combat – Face the Hangman (RAW Combat. Wednesday, November 2nd)

PFC 37: Featured Attraction (Palace FC. Thursday, November 3rd)

DREAM 33 (DREAM. Saturday, November 5th)

UFC 131: King of the Octagon (UFC. Saturday, November 5th)

Bellator 35 (Bellator FC. Monday, November 14th)

Sengoku 30 (World Victory Road. Friday, November 25th)

WEC 68: Takaya vs. Rios (WEC. Friday, November 25th)

World MMA Headlines for Week 1 of November

-WEC 68 main event between Hiroyuki Takaya and Albert Rios may decide who gets next shot at Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.

-At 39 years of age, Jason Black has finally decided to call it quits.

-Dan Lauzon joins Ned Charles and Matt Natchios on Big Cat Show.

-Ikuhisa Minowa has signed a three fight deal with World Victory Road.

-Join us for the RAW Combat: Face the Edge Weigh-In Roundtable. Our special guest for the evening will be Tim Sylvia! Come back for event results tomorrow night!

-Monte Cox announces a last minute Adrenaline event to take place on Saturday, November 26th.

-Join us for the PFC 37: Featured Attraction Weigh-In Roundtable. Our special guest for the evening will be Guy Mezger! Come back for event results tomorrow night!

-Dream Stage Entertainment signs a PPV deal with major Japanese network WOWOW3.

-Join us for the DREAM 33 Weigh-In Roundtable. Tito Ortiz will be the special guest. We’ll discuss how them holding an event on Saturday might hurt UFC’s PPV revenue and as always we’ll run down the card. Come back for event results tomorrow night!

World MMA Event Results

RAW Combat: Face the Hangman (Wednesday, November 2nd)

Main Card

David Faulkner defeated Gideon Ray via TKO (1:39. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Martin Thompson defeated Steve Bosse via Unanimous Decision (5:00. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Very Poor

Rodrigo Damm defeated Paul Rodriguez via Submission (4:03. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Alexandre Ferreira defeated Christian Wellisch via Submission (1:32. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Mike Ciesnolevicz defeated Semmy Schilt via Submission (1:28. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

PFC 37: Featured Attraction (Thursday, November 3rd)

Preliminary Card

Alavutdin Gadzhiyev defeated Terry Martin via Knock Out (1:24. Second Round)

Matt Arroyo defeated Johnny Rees via Submission (4:18. Third Round)

Main Card

Aaron Rosa defeated Brad Morris via Submission (4:27. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Steven Bruno defeated Roman Mitichyan via Submission to retain the PFC Welterweight Championship. (3:35. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

Richie Hightower defeated Ryan Madigan via Submission (3:41. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Joey Villasenor defeated Evangelista Santos via Submission (4:18. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Darrill Schoonover defeated Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via Submission (3:25. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

DREAM 33 (Saturday, November 5th)

Preliminary Card

Zak Jensen defeated Lavar Johnson via TKO (2:20. First Round)

Raphael Assuncao defeated Sergey Golvaev via Submission (4:24. First Round)

James Krause defeated Martin Stapleton via Split Decision (5:00. Second Round)

Victor Meza defeated Marcus Hicks via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Second Round)

Main Card

Brian Bowles defeated Kenji Osawa via Submission (2:46. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Nick Thompson defeated Melvin Manhoef via Submission (3:53. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic

Masanori Kanehara defeated Seung Hwan Bang via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

Murilo Rua defeated Falaniko Vitale via Submission (4:47. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Good

James Thompson defeated Ibragim Magomedov via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Second Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average

UFC News for Week 1 of November

Signings

No new fighters have been signed to fight in UFC

Re-Signings

Gabriel Gonzaga has re-signed a five fight multi-year deal with UFC

Donald Cerrone has re-signed a two fight one-year deal with UFC

Gerald Harris has re-signed a three fight 18-month deal with UFC

Mike Swick has re-signed a five fight multi-year deal with UFC

Cuts

No fighter has been released from their current contract

Ultimate Fight Night Ready To Go

As stated at the UFC 131 Press Conference earlier this afternoon, the Ultimate Fight Night: Silva vs. Cane card has been revealed in its entirety on the UFC website. It looks like the Indianapolis, Indiana natives are going to be in for one exciting night of fights.

To see the full card, click here!

Urijah Faber on Crackdown

After Tyler East wrapped up his phone interview with Gavin Banks and Alex Emerson, Urijah Faber showed up to the Blurcat Radio Network studio to have a sit down with the guys. Faber was all smiles and had some fun with the Blurcat staff. He told Emerson that he’s upset that he’s never been invited to a Weigh-In Roundtable and that he better get invited to one soon. He then gets serious and talks about his loss to Jon Fitch and what he plans to do to prevent that from happening again.

To get the Podcast, click here!

Jason Miller: I’m Ready for Another One

Tom Bradburn got the chance to interview ’Mayhem’ Miller Wednesday night for a Blurcat video exclusive. Miller discussed his time on MTV Reality Show Bully Beatdown and followed it up by talking about how happy he is that he won his UFC return fight. Miller wants to be back in the Octagon by January and hopes he gets to face a top level Middleweight so he can get on the fast track to get a crack at Middleweight Champion GSP.

To see the exclusive video, click here!

UFC 131 Results Are In

Blurcat editor Alex Emerson has wrapped up his full UFC 131 report. Did Mo Lawal prove the skeptics wrong by beating Forrest Griffin? Who advanced in the Welterweight Tournament – Josh Koscheck or Andre Galvao? Was Aleksander Emelianenko and Mirko CroCop the war everyone thought it would be? Get your answers here!

Scheduled UFC Events

UFC 132: Modern Warriors (December 3rd. Nevada)

Preliminary Card

Welterweight: Jake Ellenberger vs. Dan Hardy

Light Heavyweight: Tim McKenzie vs. Hector Ramirez

Lightweight: Aaron Riley vs. Corey Hill

Welterweight: Danillo Villefort vs. Carlos Condit

Heavyweight: Tim Hague vs. Heath Herring

Lightweight: Shannon Gugerty vs. Jose Aldo

Main Card

Welterweight: Anthony Johnson vs. Ben Saunders

Lightweight: Hermes Franca vs. Mac Danzig

Middleweight: Wilson Gouveia vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Heavyweight: Bobby Lashley vs. Todd Duffee

Ultimate Fight Night: Silva vs. Cane (December 21st. Indiana)

Preliminary Card

Welterweight: Jessie Sanders vs. Kevin Burns

Middleweight: Mike Massenzio vs. Drew McFedries

Welterweight: Marius Zaromskis vs. Mike Pyle

Lightweight: Daisuke Nakamura vs. Phillipe Nover

Main Card

Lightweight: Benson Henderson vs. Cole Miller

Welterweight: Jason High vs. James Wilks

Light Heavyweight: Brandon Vera vs. Ryan Bader

Welterweight: Martin Kampmann vs. BJ Penn

Light Heavyweight: Wanderlei Silva vs. Luis Arthur Cane

UFC 133: Year of the Dragon (January 7th. California)

Main Card

Heavyweight: Kimbo Slice vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

maudlin career · September 20, 2009

Alex Emerson’s UFC 131: King of the Octagon Full Report (Saturday, November 5th)

Tonight is going to be a very tense night for Muhammed Lawal. When it was first announced that Lawal signed a deal with UFC, many said his undefeated streak would come to an end. When it was then announced that his first opponent would be Rampage Jackson, those same people thought that Jackson would exploit Lawal’s lack of skill.

Muhammed Lawal proved them all wrong and picked up a Unanimous Decision victory over Quinton Jackson. Instead of the skeptics admitting that they were wrong, they came up with new reasons to hate him: they criticized Lawal for not being able to finish Jackson, they blamed Jackson for not taking this fight seriously, and some even called the win lucky.

Tonight, Lawal has the chance to prove them all wrong, because he’s been given another tough opponent: former Light Heavyweight Champion and contender Forrest Griffin. Griffin lost his last match against Lyoto Machida and thus is looking for any opportunity to get back in the title hunt. A win over Lawal could put him in the right direction.

At UFC 131, they both have something to prove. Will ‘The King’ be able to claim his throne or will Forrest Griffin give a reason for the Lawal skeptics to continue their bashing? I guess it’s time you read ahead and find out for yourself.

UFC 131: King of the Octagon (Saturday, November 5th)

Like usual, a vignette played to the New Jersey audience to get them all hyped up for the stacked card at tonight’s event. First to appear was Muhammed Lawal he really made Forrest Griffin look good by complimenting and citing all of his accolades. For a man as aggressive as he is in the ring, Lawal is a really humble guy. He follows up by saying he needs to prove the skeptics wrong and show that he is the real deal.

Once Lawal fades away from the screen Forrest Griffin shows up. He says he doesn’t want the win to say anything about Lawal’s skills, because he knows you don’t get lucky and beat Rampage. If anything, he hopes beating Lawal will get him back into title contention, because he will beat Machida and Jones.

The main event build-up finishes with Lawal saying he will knock out Griffin he has to. Griffin then wraps it up by saying Muhammed will lose.

Mirko CroCop displays next on the screen and says this is kind of a weird situation for him. He follows it up by saying he’s on the down slope in his career while Aleksander Emelianenko has been picking up a nice winning streak in Japan. CroCop says Emelianenko couldn’t beat him in PRIDE and he won’t beat him in UFC. CroCop needs this win so he can get back into title contention.

Aleksander Emelianenko shows up on screen and says this is his first fight in UFC and that he will avenge his loss to CroCop. Emelianenko says the only guy that has managed to beat him in the last two years is Shane Carwin, and that Mirko CroCop is not Shane Carwin. He promises that things will be nasty in this fight and that he hopes to walk away with CroCop keeled over.

Josh Koscheck appears and promises that he will be the next Welterweight Champion. He doesn’t think Andre Galvao has what it takes to get him to the mat and make him submit. Koscheck says Andre Galvao is a good fighter, but he’s no where near in the same category as himself.

Andre Galvao responds by saying talk is cheap and that Koscheck will leave the Octagon with sore joints. Galvao has been training seriously for this fight and has studied Koscheck fighting. He thinks Koscheck will take it to the ground which will ultimately end the fight.

Jorge Masvidal appears on screen and says beating Shinya Aoki would be huge. He says Nate Diaz has done it, so he knows he can do it too. He hopes that a win over Shinya Aoki will put him higher in the ladder for a title fight.

Shinya Aoki wraps up the vignettes by saying Jorge Masvidal is definitely a feared Lightweight, but that he will be sorely disappointed tonight if he thinks he’s going to win. Aoki intently expresses his desire to become Lightweight Champion and he will not let Jorge Masvidal stand in his way.

The vignettes break away and the camera pans around the arena to the tune of “Face the Pain” by Stemm. The camera finally focuses on Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan who run down tonight’s card. Both commentators do a good job of hyping up the main event and call it an important, historic match for both Lawal and Griffin.

The camera pans backstage and shows Muhammed Lawal in his dressing room going over his striking routine. The camera then switches and shows Forrest Griffin who is jogging in place in one of the corridors. When the camera switches back to the arena, Satoshi Ishii and Cheick Kongo’s fight cards appear on the screen. It looks like the first fight of the night is about to start.

Heavyweight: Satoshi Ishii (6-0) vs. Cheick Kongo (16-8-1)

The Fight
With little trouble, Satoshi Ishii manages to get Cheick Kongo on the ground. Ishii is displaying excellent ground dominance and hits Kongo with several big elbows. Kongo shows resilience though and manages to roll under neath Ishii. Ishii uses this pins Kongo and the Frenchmen is stopped in mid-roll. Ishii slowly progress to side control and hits a punch. Kongo covers up, and Ishii somehow manages to grab and arm for an armbar attempt. There’s no way this can work. Holy ****. Ishii somehow has Kongo locked in an armbar from Kongo’s side and it looks gruesome! Kongo taps!

Winner via Submission – Satoshi Ishii (4:10. First Round)

The Post-Fight
Joe Rogan moves into the Octagon to speak with Ishii. Rogan compliments Ishii and tells him he’s never seen an armbar done like that. Rogan asks Ishii what’s next. Ishii’s translator speaks and says right off the bat that Satoshi Ishii is happy that he had a successful performance in his first American match. The New Jersey audience shows support to that statement with some loud cheering. The translator continues to say that Ishii wants to fight the very best UFC has to offer. I’m thinking a match with Junior Dos Santos might be in working order.

The Verdict
My God, that armbar was gruesome. I think we have a lock-in for the Submission of the Night bonus. Cheick Kongo didn’t get to do anything in this fight. The audience got a first round stoppage and got a stomach turning submission. I’ll say this was a great opening match.

Light Heavyweight: Aaron Simpson (7-1) vs. Keith Jardine (16-9-1)

The Fight
Keith Jardine steps in looking for an early knock-out. He’s swinging for the fences, but Simpson goes low and takes Jardine off of his feet. Jardine tries scooting for guard, but Simpson is showing cat-like reflexes by hopping right into mount. Keith Jardine tries covering up, but Simspon begins delivering punches to Jardine’s body. To counter this, Jardine grabs Simpson’s right hand, and catches a left punch to the jaw. Jardine is stunned and Simpson begins teeing off! Herb Dean runs in to pull Aaron Simpson off. We have our first upset for the night!

Winner via TKO – Aaron Simpson (2:11. First Round)

The Post-Fight
Aaron Simpson is ecstatic and says that he knew he was the underdog going into this fight. Simpson finishes by saying he’s not too concerned for what’s next, he just wants to climb up the ladder and hopes he can one day be in a headline fight for the Light Heavyweight Championship, but until that day comes, he’ll fight whoever they put him in the Octagon with.

The Verdict
I did not see in a million years Aaron Simpson getting a TKO win over Keith Jardine. We’re only two matches in and already the fans have gotten a nasty submission and an explosive TKO. This was both a fantastic fight for the audience and Aaron Simpson.

Lightweight: Shinya Aoki (23-6) vs. Jorge Masvidal (21-7)

The Fight
Masvidal is looking to strike with Aoki and throws a couple of feint jabs that convince Aoki to stay back. Aoki uses Masvidal’s repeated jabs to detect a pattern from the striker. Apparently Aoki finds it out and waits for Masvidal to throw a straight-jab before moving in to grapple with him. Aoki has Masvidal pinned against the cage. Masvidal tries powering out, but finds himself tossed to the mat like a rag-doll. Ladies and gentlemen, that is why they call Aoki a grappling phenom. Aoki patiently waits in Masvidal’s guard looking for a moment to strike. However, the end of the round comes and we have our first fight to go past the first round.

Aoki uncharacteristically opens the second round by catching Masvidal with a body kick. The kick takes Masvidal out of his game, and Aoki is looking to tee-off on Masvidal! Aoki fires off a four punch combo and forces Masvidal against the cage. Masvidal rocks Aoki with an uppercut and follows it by a jab! Someone is going to get knocked out. Aoki hits a straight punch and slips through a slow uppercut from Masvidal and tries to grapple him. Masvidal slips out and hits Aoki on the side of the face with a left. Masvidal looks to move in on Aoki and we have another small stand-up war. Aoki and Masvidal get several clean shots on each other. They finally back away, neither wanting to get knocked out by a counter-punch. The second round ends with the New Jersey audience completely hyped up.

Masvidal manages to stop two takedown attempts from Aoki. Masvidal hits Aoki with a punch and then follows with a kick. Aoki catches the kick and trips Masvidal to the mat! Aoki enters side control and begins looking for a joint. Masvidal rolls out and Aoki takes his back. Masvidal manages to slip away from Aoki and rolls on his back. Aoki tries to follow behind him, but Masvidal hikes his legs up and keeps Aoki in guard. Aoki is trying to advance, but the clock manages to save Masvidal.
Our third fight of the night goes to the Judges and all three score it 29-28 in favor of Shinya Aoki

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Shinya Aoki

The Post-Fight
Shinya Aoki’s translator says Aoki wants Alvarez next. The translator follows up by saying he thinks it’s a fight that both the fans want and that he himself wants. I hope it happens, to be honest.

The Verdict
The third round was a nice ground war, and I gotta give Jorge Masvidal props for managing to hang with Aoki on the ground. In our first fight of the night we definitely got our Submission of the Night. I’m going to go ahead and say that this is the Fight of the Night recipient. However, considering the first two bouts had some decisive victories I can see this fight coming off as an average UFC match, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Welterweight: Andre Galvao (7-1) vs. Josh Koscheck (15-5)

The Fight
It looks like Galvao has called this fight all along: Koscheck shoots in to wrestle with Galvao and Galvao hooks him and pushes him into the cage. Against the cage, Koscheck eats a couple of light punches and Galvao looks for a takedown afterward. Koscheck manages to squirm away from Galvao, but Galvao doesn’t take the bait and as such, doesn’t chase after him. Koscheck misses an uppercut by a wide margin and Galvao shoots in for a takedown. Koscheck back pedals against the cage and uses the fencing to keep him positioned. It doesn’t look like Koscheck is walking away with the first round victory.

Galvao wastes little time in pushing Koscheck against the cage. I think Galvao realizes that Koscheck doesn’t have the tools to beat him. Galvao hits a couple of punches to Koscheck’s midsection and finally manages to trip Koscheck to the ground. I’m thinking Koscheck is about to lose at this moment, but Koscheck proves me wrong by displaying some good ground defense. On several attempts, Galvao tries to attempt some kind of forward movement, but Koscheck is not having it. Another round ends in Galvao’s favor. Koscheck needs to do something or he’s out of this tournament.

Josh Koscheck mentally communicated with me and knocks Galvao off of his feet with an uppercut. Galvao is a tough bastard and firmly waits for Koscheck to attack. Koscheck should have let Galvao stand back up, but he’s feeling the adrenaline high from that uppercut and rushes in to strike on Galvao. Galvao clinches him and locks in a guillotine. Koscheck fires some rabbit punches to Galvao’s midsection, but Galvao is not releasing the submission. Koscheck looks blue in the face, but he isn’t going to tap! Koscheck has managed to survive the third round without tapping out!

At the end of the fight Koscheck embraces Galvao and calls him a tough bastard. The two move to the center of the ring where Bruce Buffer announces the Judges’ unanimous 29-28 scoring in favor of Andre Galvao

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Andre Galvao

The Post-Fight
Galvao says he’s ready for all of them: Penn, Kampmann, Fitch, and Alves, but wishes all of them the best of luck in their tournament fights.

Koscheck says he didn’t know what he was doing out there. He said he thought the uppercut was going to finish Galvao for sure, but when he saw Galvao waiting for him, he lost all train of thought and was looking for the kill. He admits that if the round were five seconds longer that he would have tapped out.

The Verdict
The fight wasn’t too exciting until the very end where both fighters looked like they were seconds away from ending the fight. It looks like Aoki and Masvidal might have some tough competition for fight of the night as I think this might be a solid contender too. Again though, the first round wasn’t too exciting, so I’ll say this another average fight for UFC. However, I do feel that with this win, Andre Galvao is now the official wild-card in this tournament.

Heavyweight: Aleksander Emelianenko (18-6) vs. Mirko CroCop (26-8-2)

The Fight
Emelianenko takes CroCop off of his feet and begins dropping bombs on CroCop. CroCop tries covering up by a hammerfist catches him cleanly on the jaw and CroCop’s hands go down. Emelianenko is murdering CroCop and Yves Lavigne has seen enough. Welcome to the UFC, Aleksander!

Winner via TKO – Aleksander Emelianenko (1:22. First Round)

The Post Fight
Aleksander wants to do what his brother won’t do: Win the UFC Heavyweight Championship. I think the Heavyweights might be in trouble.

The Verdict
Mirko CroCop needs to call it a career. To think a majority of us called this fight CroCop via murder says a lot about where CroCop is going. Emelianenko on the other hand, has an amazing debut in the UFC and I see his career going places. This was a great fight to make up for the previous two decision fights.

Light Heavyweight: Muhammed Lawal (11-0) vs. Forrest Griffin (19-7)

The Fight
King Mo and Griffin circle around the ring to start the fight off. Both fighters have no idea what to expect from the other, and so I expect to see a lot of feeling out from both of them this round. Griffin looks for a jab, and this gives Mo enough incentive to clinch with Griffin and power him against the cage. Griffin doesn’t seem to have an answer at first, and is pinned against the cage as a result. Griffin finally manages to find some strength and ends up being the one pinning Lawal to the cage. Lawal pushes away and the two circle around some more and this round just doesn’t look good for either fighter.

Griffin shoots in low and King Mo pancake sprawls the attempt, the two wrestle back to their feet with Muhammed Lawal pushing Griffin back into the fencing. Griffin somehow wins the power struggle and it’s Lawal who winds up back into the cage. Griffin hits a few punches and Lawal is off-balance. Lawal ends up on the mat with Forrest Griffin in his guard. Though it looks to be advantageous for Griffin, he can’t manage to do anything, but get a few punches in. The best word to describe this fight so far is disappointing.

I’m eating my words as we speak: Griffin and Mo start off the third round swinging. Griffin misses a jab and Lawal hits Griffin with a barrage of bombs. Griffin falls back and lands straight on his ass. Lawal shows amazing finesse and tackles Griffin. Lawal is in mounted on Griffin and the former Light Heavyweight Champion is eating some bombs. Griffin manages to cover up and survives the third round! That’s how you end a fight!

Once the New Jersey crowd calmed down from the fireworks display in the third round, Bruce Buffer came out to announce the Judges’ unanimous scoring of 29-28 in favor of Forrest Griffin.

Winner via Unanimous Decision – Forrest Griffin

The Post Fight
Forrest Griffin thanks his team for making sure he was in the right shape for this fight. He then expresses his wish to get another Light Heavyweight title shot. He calls Muhammed Lawal a tough fighter and says he almost had him in the last round. He wraps up by saying that when he leaves tonight, he’s going to head back to the gym to prepare for whoever he has to fight next. I think Alexandre Ribeiro might be waiting for him next.

Muhammed Lawal tells Joe Rogan that he’s not disappointed in his performance. He said he was nervous in the first two rounds, because he didn’t know what to expect from Griffin. He follows up by saying that once he realized he was losing the fight he had to come out in the third swinging and if he did that from the very beginning he’d be the one leaving tonight with a win. He continues to say that he can’t take anything away from Forrest Griffin because the better man won. He knows the fight won’t get his haters to shut up, but he hopes they’ve at least seen a taste of things to come. He promises that he will be a future Light Heavyweight Champion.

The Verdict
The last round made up for the entire fight. Actually, in retrospect, the first two rounds were ok. The first round was a feeling out process so I can accept that. The second round had some good wrestling with Forrest getting a nice takedown, so that’s pretty good. The third round was an all out war. The third round alone made it a decent show closer. It’s good to see Griffin back on his winning ways, and I have no idea what this going to do mentally for Muhammed Lawal.

UFC 131: King of the Octagon Final Verdict

I’ll just go ahead and say it: the show was good. Griffin has win a big match, and even through losing, Lawal looked impressive. Honestly, the entire card was pure gold. Satoshi Ishii got a gruesome armbar. Josh Koscheck was nearly suffocated by the arms of Andre Galvao. And Aleksander Emelianenko practically killed Mirko CroCop.

It’s hard to say what this does to the UFC Rankings and Championship ladder. I imagine Forrest Griffin might need another fight or two before going against Machida again. I say put him in there with winner of Cane/Silva or give him a fight with Alexandre Ribeiro next. As for Muhammed Lawal, Mauricio Rua and Thiago Silva would make good opponents for him.

I definitely hope we get to see more of Satoshi Ishii. White would be crazy not to give him some spotlight in 2012. And Shinya Aoki had a pretty good win against Masvidal. I think an Aoki/Alvarez match is waiting for us down the line.

As always, be sure to let me know what you thought about the event by e-mailing Emerson-blurcat@aol.com. See you at UFC 132!

UFC 131: King of the Octagon Full Card Breakdown

Preliminary Card

Josh Neer defeated George Roop via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Frederick Pendergarst defeated Timothy Cool via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Dan Cramer defeated Chris Wilson via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Thomas Goodridge defeated Tim Credeur via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round)

Mike Wessel defeated Justin McCully via Split Decision (5:0.. Third Round)

Main Card

Satoshi Ishii defeated Cheick Kong via Submission (4:10. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Aaron Simpson defeated Keith Jardine via TKO (2:11. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Fantastic

Shinya Aoki defeated Jorge Masvidal via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average

Andre Galvao defeated Josh Koscheck via Unanimous Decision (5:00. Third Round) Blurcat Verdict: Average

Aleksander Emelianenko defeated Mirko CroCop via TKO (1:35. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Great

Forrest Griffin defeated Muhammed Lawal via Unanimous Decision (5:00. First Round) Blurcat Verdict: Decent

maudlin career · September 21, 2009

Blurcat.com – Your Number One Source For All Things MMA

Alex Emerson’s UFC 131: King of the Octagon Post-Fight Conference Notes & Report (Saturday. November, 5th)

-Dana White began running down the schedule for UFC and announces that the card for UFC 133: Year of the Dragon has been finalized. He didn’t reveal the entire card, but does announce a Lightweight bout between Joachim Hansen and Clay Guida. The big news of the night was for UFC 134 in February, the acclaimed Superbowl weekend event.

Dana White announces that Anderson Silva claims that he will be able to make at least 215lbs by February and so tt looks like the main event for UFC 134 will be Anderson Silva and Gabriel Gonzaga. In addition to that, Quinton Jackson will also return that night to take on Alexandre Ribeiro. And it finally looks like GSP will get his first Middleweight Championship defense as Jake Rosholt and Nate Marquardt will fight to determine the next contender. UFC 134 looks like it could be an amazing card. White claims the UFC 134 card is complete and both 133 and 134 will be up on the UFC homepage later tonight.

-Once White was done going through the UFC schedule, the UFC 131 bonus awards were handed out. In the Fight of the Night category, both Forrest Griffin and Muhammed Lawal are awarded the bonus. To no surprise, Aleksander Emelianenko wins Knock Out of the Night. Satoshi Ishii wraps up the bonus awards by securing Submission of the Night.

-Satoshi Ishii’s translator speaks up and says that Ishii feels very confident with is place in UFC. He goes on by saying that Ishii loves America and hopes that he can fight here for a long time. Ishii hopes he gets to fight another solid competitor, because he wants to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

-Aleksander Emelianenko’s translator speaks and says that Emelianenko is very proud to avenge his loss in such a quick and decisive fashion. He also says that he wants his next opponent to be even tougher and that everyone in the Heavyweight Division is in trouble. While his translator recites the aforementioned statement, Emelianenko looks over in Ishii’s direction. I think the seed for an Ishii/Emelianenko fight has just been planted.

-Of course, someone asks if Aleksander signing to UFC will increase the chances of seeing Fedor in the Octagon. Dana White responds by saying that he’s satisfied with just having Aleksander.

-Muhammed Lawal says he’s disappointed by his loss, but that Forrest Griffin is tough. He does point out that Griffin didn’t knock him out nor did he make him tap. He thinks that’s at least enough to make him look like a viable fighter.

-Josh Koscheck congratulates Andre Galvao on his win, but says he wishes he could have put more pressure on him from the very beginning. He says that whenever Galvao is game, he wants a rematch.

-Andre Galvao graciously accepts and says that next time it will be for the Welterweight Championship. I guess we know who Andre thinks will win the tournament.

-Shinya Aoki says it plainly: He wants Eddie Alvarez and then he wants Josh Thomson. He’s glad to have a second win in the UFC, and is ready for a title match.

-Aaron Simpson is ecstatic about his win over Jardine. Simpson says he hopes the win will allow him to get a big career making match. Dana White responds by saying he’s definitely considering Simpson’s options. It looks like a fight with Jake O’Brien or Matt Hammill is in Simpson’s foreseeable future.

-Forrest Griffin wraps up the conference by saying that he’s ready for Machida or Jones. He thinks their January meet-up will be one hell of a fight, but he’s ready to reclaim his belt. He knows he’ll need another fight or two before being placed in contention. He thinks a Rampage rematch and an encounter with Thiago Silva will be enough to do the trick.

-A Q&A session ends the conference. That’s a wrap for UFC 131!

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