Friday, December 11, 2009
Liveblog: AFL Part 3
James Hoffman of Team Vendetta and Mike Riley of Taurus MMA are up. Taurus MMA is WEC fighter Deividas Taurosevicius' school, so of course Riley is no stranger to grappling - and it shows when he remains calm when Hoffman attempts a pair of guillotines in the opening round. Round 2 is more of the same, but Hoffman turns up the heat in Round 3, feeding Riley punches until Riley shoots and winds up in a guillotine from which there's no escaping from. Levar Curry of the NJ National Guard enters the cage to take on James Turner of Combat Acadmey in what will be a batle of the big boys. From the outset Turner is all over Curry, wrestling the hell out of him until the 2:26 second mark, when he submits Curry with a rear naked choke. Renzo Gracie Denville fields another fighter in Alex Bruzzese, who's taking on TSMMA's Abel Ekonomakos. Bruzzese makes no bones about wanted to turn this into a grappling match, a fact reinforced by his constant clinching and Ekonomakos blasting him in the face with short punches whenever there's space. Bruzzese takes the split decision when time runs out, but based on who did more damage and who was more effective, Ekonomakos shouldve won.
Liveblog: AFL Part 2
First up is Rob Weiser of Victor's MMA against Dan Arthur of Renzo Gracie Denville. I don't know anything about these two, so I'm just going to make stuff up - like how Weiser is a bounty hunter and Arthur once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Nice, Arthur is coming out to the song from "The Karate Kid". Round 1 has Weiser throwing about 100 1-2 combos and threatening with a kneebar and inverted triangle, but Arthur's superior wrestling has him on top for the most part. Arthur keeps it up in the second round, and eventually snags the textbook armbar. Good showing for the Karate Kid. Next: Rhino Fight Team stud Ken Rivera against TSMMA's Bryan Tapper. Tapper's a member of the new generation of Tiger Schulmann fighter, plucked from the cradle at only a few months old and trained in the combat arts his whole life. Anyway, Rivera comes out strong, firing off leg-kicks and even landing a few jumping side-kicks, while Tapper keeps throwing out his lead hook. Round 2 sees clinching against the cage, Tapper attempting a triangle on the ground and Rivera scoring a knockdown with a flurry. They trade on the feet a little more in the third round, and though Tapper is in it throughout, Rivera is simply quicker with the leather. Rivera takes the unanimous decision.
Liveblog: AFL Part 1
MMA Journalist is cageside for Asylum Fight League's latest installment, which is playing out in the arctic paradise of the Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey. There are 13 fights scheduled, with two title bouts and representatives hailing from such venerable schools as TSMMA, Team Renzo, Pellegrino MMA, Rhino Fight Team and the Garden State Guido Academy. It should be a good night of action. Celebs present include teen heartthrob Lester Caslow, who recently fought Felipe "I really, really love Ben-Gay" Arantes, the Garv and Frosty the Snowman (who likes to hang out in the Raritan Center and just chill).
Predictions for UFC 107: "Ultimate Oh My God BJ Killed Him!"
I don't blame the UFC. After all, they do have contractual obligations to fill and BJ Penn does have to eat. It's just sad, though, that Diego Sanchez - an otherwise tough dude with a ton of skill - is the one being fed to the Hawaiian lightweight champ like a cheap quesadilla. Anyway, Penn vs. Sanchez is headlining UFC 107, and here are some predictions for the event.
- Why is Mike Pierce in the UFC? Oh yeah, so top-level guys like Jon Fitch can get easy paychecks. Go ahead, Jon, you've earned it.
- Paul Buentello by Hurricane Hippo Holler.
- In the Kenny Florian/Clay Guida match-up, one fighter is going to squeak past the other for the split decision. Then they'll promptly be killed by Penn.
- Win or lose, Cheick Kongo is going to walk around wearing his glasses afterwards and look like that dude who slept with your ex-girlfriend when she did a semester abroad. The bitch.
- Sanchez is going to harness the energy of a nearby storm and supercharge himself with bolts of lightning and rumbles of thunder.
- Penn will still kill him.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Local Bouts to Watch This Weekend
This weekend, New Jersey will play host to Asylum Fight League’s latest installment at the Raritan Expo Center, as well as New Breed Fighters’ first foray into the realm of pro MMA bouts at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. Consequently, there are a number of intriguing match-ups between the two cards – a fact that merits a list! Woot!
- James Funaro vs. Mike Fischetti: This AFL pairing pits a reformed Underground Fight League competitor against a Tiger Schulmann MMA up-and-comer. Both are well-rounded and capable of ending fights with submissions or KOs, but the edge in experience definitely goes to BoxFit/Vamos JJ rep Funaro, who’s survived no less than a hundred unsanctioned death matches.
- Jeff Lentz vs. Bryan Danner: This NBF fight is actually a rematch of an amateur bout that Lentz won by decision. Both men can strike and grapple, however, despite a recent loss to Anthony Morrison in a ROC featherweight championship contest, Lentz has simply done and accomplished more in the cage. He should have little trouble getting the “W” out of this one.
- John Sivori vs. Ariel Sepulveda: Sivori was a hot prospect about five years ago, but he fell completely off the radar, and this NBF match-up against Sepulveda is his first one back. If anything, Sivori is a tough-as-nails grappler. Sepulveda has okay grappling, but hits like an SUV doing 140 mph on the Garden State that spins out of control in bad weather. Will Sivori play the role of unsuspecting guardrail?
- Bryan Tapper vs. Kenneth Rivera: TSMMA’s Tapper is a dangerous cat, while Rivera is well-rounded, fought in the UCL years ago, and has had mixed success in New Jersey’s amateur leagues. Who will win in this AFL bout? The hungry kid or the salty veteran? Hey, if I could see the future I’d have won the lottery ten times by now.
- Mark Getto vs. Matt McManmon: This NBF fight has a former Combat in the Cage champ in Getto taking on a total grinder (meaning, when he wins it’s because he’s grinded you into oblivion for the duration) in McManmon. Getto’s tough, but he hasn’t been that active, so watch for that ring rust to be a factor.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
TUF 10 Finale Viewed by 6.8 Billion Humans, Plus Assorted House Pets
The TUF 1o Finale, which featured Roy Nelson knocking out Brendan Schaub to become "The Ultimate Fighter" as well as someone named Kimbo Slice, was viewed by 6.8 billion humans plus an incalculable number of assorted house pets, according to statement released by SpikeTV. Those monumental ratings, encompassing every person currently alive on planet Earth regardless of whether they had access to a television (much less the cable network SpikeTV), make the finale the most-watched installment of the popular series ever (technically, it also makes it the most-watched event in human history). Said SpikeTV producer Neil Grannenberg, "Kimbo! Kimbo! Kimbo! Ahhhhh! Kimbo is the greatest!"
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dan Henderson Officially Signs with Strikeforce; Dana White Officially Declares Him a Has-Been
Dan Henderson, a top-level competitor and famous for simultaneously holding two belts in Pride, signed with Strikeforce today, ending weeks of speculation as to what Dana White thinks about the now former UFC fighter. "Dan signed with them?" said White. "Really? Well, in that case, he sucks. The man is a has-been and not worthy of the UFC. I mean, when he was a part of our roster, he was a serious badass. But not now. No way." Henderson's most recent win was a crushing knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, the culmination of a TUF 9 season that saw the American and the Brit act as opposing coaches. No word yet on Henderson's first opponent in Strikeforce, although it's safe to say White will say that he sucks too.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Observations From My Couch: TUF 10 Finale
- Marcus Jones looked like an NFL player in there. Matt Mitrione looked like an NFL who knew how to throw a punch.
- Yay, Frankie Edgar beat someone with absolutely no ranking in the division. Can he get a damn title shot now? Or does Joe Silva want him to defeat a homeless man and/or a lion?
- Mark Bocek got a win over who? And wait, who is Mark Bocek again?
- Every minute James McSweeney spends in the Octagon is an insult to ROC champ Ricardo Romero, who smoked McSweeney easily right before TUF.
- Given his grappling improvements, that was the best Kimbo Slice we've ever seen. Too bad it was one of the worst fights ever. I think the UFC out-did EliteXC in that they just didn't pay Houston Alexander to stand up, they paid him to run.
- Matt Hamill gets the award for the most battered and broken "winner" to ever leave the Octagon.
- Roy Nelson is now the Ultimate Fighter. And given the depth of the heavyweight division, that should put him in line for a crack at the belt.
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