Eddie Alvarez to Avenge Football Player at Bellator 33

Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez has signed on to face noted football player-hater Roger Huerta in a no-title bout slated for Bellator 33 on October 21st.  Huerta - a veteran of the UFC who once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated - gained widespread notoriety earlier this month for a street altercation that began when ex-Atlanta Falcon linebacker Rashad Bobino punched a female from behind and ended with Bobino on the ground and Huerta kicking his teeth in.  According to a press release, Alvarez had no stake in the infamous fight that occurred on the mean streets of Austin, Texas, but he took great umbrage at Huerta's apparent disdain for American-rules football and its players, and the Philadelphia-based slugger asked for the match-up himself.  Said Bellator Chief Conquistador Bjorn Rebney, "Yes, Pat Curran won the tournament last season and should get Alvarez next.  But this is a, er, vendetta, and Bellator will pursue any angle to sell fights.  Literally, any angle."

Observations from My Couch: Bellator 24 "Hector Lombard Murders Another One"

• Neil Grove looked good wrecking Eddie Sanchez, but Sanchez is like a heavy bag with legs, so it’s not much of an accomplishment.
• For a minute there, I thought Carla Esparza was going to pull off a “Pat Curran” and sprawl-and-brawl Megumi Fujii to death.  Fujii, studette that she is, pulled it off though.
• I don’t what was more painful to see – Frank Mir snapping Tim Sylvia’s arm in half at UFC 48, Corey Hill getting his shin fractured at UFC: “Fight for the Troops”, or Fujii getting interviewed after her Bellator 24 win.  Jesus, that was awful.  Did no one know ahead of time that her English was that bad?
• Jessica Aguilar: tough, but not a looker.
• Bellator seems to be trying their damndest to get Hector Lombard to kill someone in the cage.  And last night he came close.
• Ever since Moosin, I cringe whenever an Yves Edwards’ fight goes to decision.  Thankfully, he got the “W” he deserved.

August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings

The August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites. In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to http://www.independentworldmmarankings.com/.

Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Head Kick Legend).

Note: Paul Daley, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, and Jason Miller are all temporarily ineligible to be ranked due to the fact that they are all currently serving disciplinary suspensions. Daley is serving a disciplinary suspension for punching Josh Koscheck after their fight was over, and all of the other fighters are serving disciplinary suspensions for their roles in the post-fight brawl at the Strikeforce event in Nashville.

Note: Due to the fact that Anderson Silva has said in numerous recent interviews that he plans to stay in the middleweight division for the rest of his career and has no plans to fight in the light heavyweight division anymore, along with the fact that Silva's most recent fights have been at middleweight, Silva has lost his eligibility to be ranked in the light heavyweight division. Unless Silva returns to light heavyweight in the future, he will be eligible to be ranked exclusively in the middleweight division.

August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on August 10, 2010

Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)
1. Brock Lesnar (5-1)
2. Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 No Contest)
3. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
4. Cain Velasquez (8-0)
5. Junior dos Santos (12-1)
6. Shane Carwin (12-1)
7. Alistair Overeem (33-11, 1 No Contest)
8. Frank Mir (13-5)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 No Contest)
10. Antonio Silva (14-2)

Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)
1. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4)
2. Lyoto Machida (16-1)
3. Rashad Evans (15-1-1)
4. Quinton Jackson (30-8)
5. Forrest Griffin (17-6)
6. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (7-0)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-3)
8. Jon Jones (11-1)
9. Gegard Mousasi (29-3-1)
10. Thiago Silva (14-2)

Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva (27-4)
2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)
3. Nathan Marquardt (29-9-2)
4. Dan Henderson (25-8)
5. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
6. Demian Maia (12-2)
7. Yushin Okami (25-5)
8. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (12-2, 1 No Contest)
9. Jorge Santiago (22-8)
10. Robbie Lawler (17-6, 1 No Contest)

Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
2. Jon Fitch (23-3, 1 No Contest)
3. Josh Koscheck (15-4)
4. Thiago Alves (17-7)
5. Dan Hardy (23-7, 1 No Contest)
6. Martin Kampmann (17-3)
7. Matt Hughes (45-7)
8. Paulo Thiago (13-2)
9. Matt Serra (11-6)
10. Mike Swick (14-4)

Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)
1. Frankie Edgar (12-1)
2. B.J. Penn (15-6-1)
3. Kenny Florian (13-4)
4. Shinya Aoki (24-5, 1 No Contest)
5. Eddie Alvarez (20-2)
6. Gray Maynard (9-0, 1 No Contest)
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (26-6-2)
8. George Sotiropoulos (13-2)
9. Evan Dunham (11-0)
10. Ben Henderson (12-1)

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo (17-1)
2. Manny Gamburyan (11-4)
3. Urijah Faber (23-4)
4. Mike Brown (23-6)
5. Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2)
6. Marlon Sandro (17-1)
7. Bibiano Fernandes (8-2)
8. Josh Grispi (14-1)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (11-8-1)
10. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-4)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Dominick Cruz (15-1)
2. Brian Bowles (8-1)
3. Joseph Benavidez (12-1)
4. Miguel Torres (37-3)
5. Scott Jorgensen (10-3)
6. Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2)
7. Damacio Page (15-4)
8. Wagnney Fabiano (14-2)
9. Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2)
10. Rani Yahya (15-6)

The Men's Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody's vote counting more than anybody else's vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters' actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they've actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.


Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

IMG01394.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

A Collection of News Haiku

So much news, so little time to digest it all.  But fear not, as MMA Journalist has the more salient points of what’s going on in the sport today in easy-to-swallow haiku form.  Get zen, people.

• Chael Sonnen’s big mouth/ made 117 huge.  White and/ Silva should thank him.
• Paul Daley got just/ 30 days for punching Josh/ post-fight.  What a joke.
• If you thought Mike Swick/ had bulimia, you were/ wrong.  Close, but still wrong.
• Anderson is out/ for the rest of the year.  The/ reason: CHAEL SONNEN.
• Matt Hughes is out too./  He has to hide in the woods/ and shoot some animals.
• Bellator files suit/ against Zuffa.  Why do that? / Because it sounds cool.

Ridiculous Amount of Female MMA This Week is Ridiculous

First there was Moosin giving us Tara LaRosa vs. Roxanne Modafferi in May.  Then came Bellator, with a few choice female MMA pairings, followed by Strikeforce's Sarah Kaufman/Roxy stunner.  The summer of 2010 has been absolutely killer for those keen watching the ladies throw down, and this week things get kicked into high gear with both Bellator and Strikeforce rocking the women's tournaments.  Bellator is up first on Thursday with the opening round of their 115-pound four-person tourney, and the competitors include top-ranked Megumi Fuji, who will be taking on wrestler Carla Esparza, and Jessica Aguilar, who will be taking on Lynn Alvarez.  Fuji is a shoe-in to take the whole thing, but if we've learned anything from watching these Bellator tournaments it's that no one is immune to getting their ass unexpectedly beaten.  Strikeforce picks up the baton the following night with their one-night 135-pound tournament, and it's packed with big names like Hitomi Akano, Meisha Tate and Carina Damm.  The winner of that little conflagration gets to take on the winner of Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen, so there's tons of weight attached to the outcome.  The bottom line: there's a ridiculous amount of female MMA this week, and it's ridiculous.  Ridiculous!

Observations from My Couch: UFC 117 "Ultimate Heartbreak"

• Roy Nelson is an entertaining dude, but he had nothing for Junior dos Santos.  Senior dos Santos would’ve killed him.
• People always talk about Ricardo Almeida’s jiu-jitsu black belt and accomplishments in the world of submission grappling.  Often overlooked, though, is Matt Hughes’ black belt in wrestling.
• Clay Guida’s hair: so unstoppable, just rubbing it on an opponent’s face elicits a tap out.
• Stefan Struve got a much-needed win on Saturday night.  Against who, I have no idea.  But he got the win.
• Oh boy, I can’t wait for Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves to have another rematch.  There are still so many unanswered questions!
• But for that ultra-last-minute triangle, Chael Sonnen was boldly striding down Champions’ Lane and not stopping for anything.  No one kicks Anderson Silva’s ass like that, and no one can talk so much crap and back it up the way he does.  I would now watch anything – anything – he’s on, including UFC pay-per-views, stints as a coach on TUF, guest commentating gigs for the WEC, paid endorsements for Xyience on late night SpikeTV, and even appearances on daytime soap operas. 
• Silva may still be the champ, but the blueprint is now out there.  His days are numbered.

forJim1Gallicchio.jpg

Photo by veteran fight photog Keith Mills.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

M-1 Global "Selections" Postscript

After a slow summer, M-1 Global really hit this one out of the ballpark.  The venue, some ballroom in Bally's, was packed, and the crowd went nuts over Andrei Kapylou and every other bout that delivered excitement.  Aaron Meisner looked as deadly as ever, and Tom Gallicchio showed that he's been working on his striking - although once he took a few hard shots to the head all that new stuff went out the window and he just went into his usual slug-the-hell-out-of-you mode.  His rear naked choke finish was MONSTER.  Mike Geurin looked great, too, and can take a beating with the best of them, and Plinio Cruz would've won his fight if not for that point deduction for the groin strike.  Can't wait for the next M-1 installment.

IMG01378.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01377.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01376.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01375.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01374.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01373.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01372.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

IMG01371.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Liveblog: M-1 Global Part 5

More heavyweight action, as Kenny Garner of ATT takes on a Russian boxer named Andrei Kapylou of Team Kapylou. Round 1 is all Garner, who absolutely puts the Russian through the grappling ringer, mounting him again and again and even nailing an omoplata. The crowd is nuts over Kapylou, though, and he makes it to Round 2 to land maybe two punches before getting owned on the ground yet again. The beating continues throughout Round 3, and despite possessing the heart of a lion, Kapylou has to watch as the unanimous decision is awarded to Garner. Last bout and it's Gallicchio vs. Meisner. This one starts out with them clinching and throwing knees, and Gallicchio taking one square in the jewel box. Gallicchio takes a breather, and when the fight resumes they simply blast each other. Both are bloody come Round 2. Things get even uglier in the second, with Gallicchio getting a takedown and dropping some leather and Meisner punishing him repeatedly with knees to the body and punches over the top. It's Meisner's show up to this point, but if there's one thing you learn after years of covering Northeast MMA, it's that you can never ever count "Da Tank" out. He comes out in Round 3 and guts out a takedown, and goddamn if he doesn't sink a rear naked choke. The official time of the tap out is 1:45, and it's a storybook ending to a very solid show. Out!

IMG01370.jpg

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed