The MMA Journalist

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

MMA Journalist's Four-Day Forecast

Rain, sleet, snow, sunshine – thanks to the WEC, Bellator and Strikeforce, there’s one heck of a varied MMA weather pattern in store for the next few days. When will you need an umbrella to keep the crapfest from raining down on you? What day will the glare from Stephen Quadros’s demonic smile require SPF 200 sunblock? When does avoiding your TV, going out and hiding under a bush in the park become your best option? Here’s MMA Journalist’s four-day forecast!

Wednesday: WEC 50 rolls into Las Vegas like a cool desert breeze tonight. And like a breeze, you won’t notice it unless you’re paying attention. Why is that? Because the WEC has managed to cultivate a decent number of stars in the lower weight classes and none of them are on the card. Human tornado Dominic Cruz gets to defend his bantamweight belt against Urijah Faber-protégé Joseph Benavidez – and he probably will beat the little dust cloud by decision like he beat him before – and a tough and experienced bit of British fog known as Brad Pickett will turn the Scott Jorgensen picnic into a washout. But who cares? The WEC’s got an A-list, and these guys aren’t on it.
Thursday: Thursday’s Bellator 25 card in Chicago includes a brief ray of sun in the form of Jessica Pena and Zoila Frausto in a 115-pound female tournament quarterfinal bout. Pena is a top-five fighter and Frausto was unranked until last month, when she blasted top 125-pounder Rosi Sexton with a bolt of lightning and took Sexton’s spot in the tournament. Frausto may be hard to predict in terms of whether she’ll bring the rain or just be overcast, but we know damn well she’s capable of thunder now, so this bout is worth watching. Also worth it: Season 2 welterweight tourney runner-up Dan Hornbuckle vs. Brad Blackburn, which pits a submission storm against a smothering mud puddle. The rest of the card, however, includes disaster Cole Konrad and three other scrubs in heavyweight quarterfinal fights. Stay indoors for those.
Friday: Clear and beautiful with no MMA scheduled. Now would be a good time to walk around your neighborhood toting a 1800s Parisian parasol.
Saturday: Strikeforce will hit Houston like an avalanche on Saturday, burying folks in the snow job that is ex-pro wrestler Bobby Lashley vs. no-name Chad Griggs. But those who manage to dig themselves out of the white powder will get treated to the completely irrelevant pairing of Jorge Gurgel and KJ Noons, which will end with Gurgel out-struck, bleeding and TKO’d. Lay-and-pray master Muhammed Lawal (aka “King Mo”) gets to defend his light-heavyweight belt against the hot-and-cold Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante) in what promises to be a fight as exciting as watching ice melt. Yet those who are fans of grappling will most likely be making snow angels when Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza go at it for the middleweight title.

That’s it for the weather. Now, over to Richard for the traffic report. Richard?

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Another Collection of News Haiku

Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun. A society steeped in rich culture, a deep sense of budo, weird food and anime fraught with odd sex. But Japan’s most enduring contribution to the world is the haiku, a terse form of poetry that consists of a five-seven-five pattern of syllables. It is in this way that MMA Journalist will bring you the news today (next week: iambic pentameter!).

An old car, broken/ down, needs lots of work. Such is/ the great Nogueira.
CroCop will step in/ to face Frank Mir. Hooray for/ fighters past their prime!
DREAM still hasn’t paid/ Bibiano Fernandes?/ Bad way to treat champ.
Shane Carwin named in/ steroid case. Steroids? No way! / That’s a big surprise.
Jens Pulver lost to/ some scrub this past weekend. It/ don’t get no sadder.
Tomorrow is a/ WEC and there’s no heat./ They need the Zombie!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Observations from My Couch: Strikeforce Challengers 10 "The One with All the Chicks"

Of all the female fighters we’ve seen in 2010, Maiju Kujala has by far the cutest hairstyle.
Damn, did Hitomi Akano own Carina Damm. (See what I did there?)
Remember when Julian Lennon released his first album and everyone was comparing him to his father, John Lennon? Yeah, Ryan Couture looked okay. Just okay.
Joe Riggs seemed fine for a guy with almost 50 fights and 50 major injuries. But really, did anyone actually tune in to watch Riggs battle a scrub?
For all the ownage Akano perpetrated on Damm earlier in the night, it was Meisha Tate who was unequivocally dominating her in the finals. Does Tate have a chance against champ Sarah Kaufman? Probably not.

Friday, August 13, 2010

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.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

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.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

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!

Monday, August 9, 2010

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.

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Photo by veteran fight photog Keith Mills.
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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.