The Last Word – UFC 109: Relentless – UNDERCARD EDITION!
Your favorite New Jersey Guido is back with his undercard breakdown for Saturday's UFC 109 undercard(main card picks can be seen here.) Now the UFC is giving a pretty solid undercard, including two guaranteed fights on SpikeTV, which has proved to be awesome for both the fans, and the UFC from a business stand point. We've got 4 Ultimate Fighter cast members on the undercard, and the return of the Gracie family to the UFC.
Being that this is the undercard, I'm not going to spend as much time as I did on the main card breakdown. I know you all love my writing almost as much as you love me, so if this bothers you, let me know. I'll put it into consideration next time.
SpikeTV Broadcast
Mac Danzig (18-7-1) vs. Justin Buchholz (8-4)
This is pretty much a loser leaves down match. Both guys are riding consecutive losses in the UFC. Buchholz has one win in the cage, when Corey Hill decided he didn't like his leg the way it was and broke it in horrific fashion. Mac has faced an incredibly tough road since winning the 6th season of the Ultimate Fighter. I personally think he has had a tougher string of opponents tan any other winner on the show. Mark Bocek, Clay Guida, Josh Neer, and Jim Miller. All but one of them is still under contract to the UFC and have winning records in the company as well. Buchholz was butchered and cut open in his last fight against Jeremy Stephens, but showed he is as tough as they come, so he can't be taken lightly, but this is the easiest fight Mac has had in the UFC. Mac is simply better at everything. Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Striking, and everything inbetween.
The Last Word: Mac Danzig by rear naked choke in the second round.
Melvin Guillard (22-8-2) vs. Ronys Torres (14-1)
Oh what a long, strange trip the Melvin Guillard experience is. A man with all the talent in the world, and all the potential in the world, who is simply too stubborn to truly realize his potential. He last fought Nate Diaz, and was doing a great job in the fight, even dropping Diaz. But he made the typical Guillard mistake, gassing because he threw nothing but power punches, and walking into a submission that a blue belt would have seen coming a mile away(wait, isn't Melvin a blue belt?). I regress. Melvin's weakness is his heart, submission defense, cardio, oh, and his submission defense. All but one of his losses is by submission, and amazingly enough, all of those losses but the one to Nate came in the first round. So in comes Ronys Torres. A decorated Jiu-Jitsu black belt, with a good amount of fights under his belt. He's also an extremely large lightweight, claiming he cuts well over 30 pounds to make the 155 mark, which could prove useful against a large fighter like Guillard. Frankly, until this very moment I was going with Torres. That was until I remembered a very important fact headed into this fight. Melvin has enlisted the training of training camp genius Greg Jackson. Melvin has amazing athletic ability and a lot of potential and I think Jackson's camp is the best possible move he could have made. Joe Stevenson hit career lows between 2008-2009, and since joining Jackson's, he's looked better than ever. The UFC jitters will play a factor as well, as Melvin takes the win here.
The Last Word: Melvin Guillard by technical knockout in the second round.
Rob Emerson (8-8-1) vs. Phillipe Nover (9-2-1)
"The lightweight Anderson Silva" is throwing down with the former gang member who supposedly once beat a man so badly he now has brain damage. Frankly, this is a great match up on paper. Both guys like to stand and throw, Emerson being the harder striker and Nover being a bit more techincal. Nover's strength in this fight lies in the ground game, but Emerson does have good takedown defense, so it could become a problem for him. Emerson has been in virtually nothing but entertaining fights, and I don't expect this one to be any different. Lets just hope Phillipe can make it to the cage without fainting. Phillipe gets this one.
The Last Word: Phillipe Nover by unanimous decision.
Brian Stann (8-2) vs. Phil Davis (4-0)
This is the fight I am most excited for on the undercard. I've been a fan of Phil Davis since his wrestling days. Kid is full of energy and has a personality that MMA fans will love. Stann is a guy that is hard to dislike. From his service with the U.S military, to his current charity work, he is a true class act. Stann has looked in his last two fights, notching unanimous decision victroies. Brian is known for his heavy hands, and good takedown defense. He's been working with the previously mentioned Greg Jackson on improving his overall game. Phil Davis is a young prospect who is getting thrown a very tough opponent early in his young career. Basically, Stann needs to keep this fight on the feet to win. It's not as if he's suddenly a black belt off of his back. If Phil Davis wants this fight on the ground, that's what's going to happen. Stann can't stuff his takedowns, maybe once or twice, but not consistently. Davis is one of the truly elite wrestlers making a smooth transition to mixed martial arts. Davis wins this one.
The Last Word: Phil Davis by unanimous decision.
Tim Hague (10-2) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (17-2)
This is most likely another loser leaves town fight. Both are massive, massive heavyweights, coming off losses that were pretty embarrassing. Hague was knocked out in record time by Todd Duffee, while Tushscherer had his nutsack kicked into the upper level seats by Gabriel Gonzaga before finally being stopped by TKO. Frankly, both guys haven't had a chance to show a lot in their with the UFC. Hague did submit Pat Berry at UFC 98, so he does have a submission game. Both guys are big heavyweights, Hague being a bit more athletic and Chris carrying some chub. This fight is very hard to call because of the unknown variables, but I'll go with Hague by superior cardio.
The Last Word: Tim Hague by technical knockout in the second round.
Rolles Gracie (3-0) vs. Joey Beltran (10-3)
As I mentioned in the beginning of my rant, the Gracie family returns to the cage at UFC 109. Rolles was originally set to face Mostapha Al-Turk, but due to visa issues, Al-Turk had to pull out within the last week. So Joey Beltran steps in to take his place at the chance of a lifetime. Beltran is riding high after knocking out Houston Alexander on January 16th. A fight on this short of notice is never good for a guy making his UFC debut. Does he have a chance here? Sure, he hits hard(9 wins by KO or TKO), but I don't like the chances. I know this is also Rolles debut, but he's had time to mentally prepare for stepping onto the biggest stage in mixed martial arts. I expect Rolles to get a takedown early, and give us old Royce Gracie flashbacks.
The Last Word: Rolles Graice by kimura in the first round.
Retired Sumo on his way to MMA? – L0L!1
Props: MMAMania
Reports have been circulating among Japanese media outlets during the last few days that Asashoryu, a recently retired sumo wrestler and one of the most successful yokozunas (sumo wrestlers of the highest rank) ever, may try his hand in Mixed Martial Arts for his post-sumo athletic endeavor.
This is awesome! Not too many sumo's in MMA, and the ones that do suck. This guy will probably suck too, but should make for an interesting addition for DREAM or World Victory Road. Maybe Zulu's looking for a fight, or even Minowa!
The Last Word – UFC 109: Relentless
UFC 109 is this Saturday, which means we get another night of mixed martial arts action, and another night of Zuffa picking from our wallets. We're presented with a card that is solid from bottom to, well, almost the top. There are some fantastic match ups on the card, including two crucial middleweight match ups, and a great welterweight showdown. Then, you get to the main event, and the first thought that comes to my mind is ZzZzZzZzZzZ. The match up just doesn't do anything for me. It makes this otherwise good card look extremely mediocre , and definitely not worth 50 dollars. Sure, it's a fight between two UFC Hall of Famers, but lets be honest, out of all the current UFC Hall of Famers that are still competiting, this is the most boring match up possible. I'd rather watch Dan Severn vs. Royce Gracie two, and I mean that with every fiber in my Italian blood. Either way, lets get into the match ups.
Paulo Thiago (12-1) vs. Mike Swick (14-3):
A fight between two hard hitting welterweight contenders who haven't yet challenged current champion Georges St. Pierre. Dana and Joe Silva will be watching this one with very interested eyes because a win here for either fighter could set them up with a possible number one contender match. Mike Swick was last seen getting jabbed and bullied by Dan Hardy at UFC 105 on his way to a unanimous decision loss, while Paulo Thiago took a hard fought unanimous decision over Jacob Volkmann. Thiago burst onto the scene at UFC 95, showing very heavy hands when he knocked out the heavily favored Josh Koscheck with a perfectly timed uppercut. The Zuffa brass then handed him their favorite red headed step child Jon Fitch, and Thiago was grinded down in typical Jon Fitch fashion. From there he took the previously mentioned decision over Volkmann, and now he gets to complete the skid row of American Kickboxing Academy welterweights. Keep in mind he is also adjusting with opponents, as he was originally scheduled to rematch Josh Koscheck before Kos pulled out with an injury. Thiago has shown heavy hands, but lets not forget he is a highly decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and hi submission game is always dangerous.
The Ultimate Fighter 1's favorite over sized light heavyweight, Mike "Quick" Swick is now at the correct weight, and he was considered a top contender until the loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 105. Swick trains with two elite welterweights at American Kickboxing Academy, it's just a damn shame the fools won't fight each other. Either way, they've managed to do well for themselves without fighting each other, so no need to break that trend until it truly presents itself. Swick holds a 4-1 record in the welterweight division, but the only really impressive victory was over glass jaw'd Goulet. He has a fairly well rounded game, but he banks his entire game around his extremely fast hands. The thing that is most frustrating with Swick is that he has shown almost no technqiue in his striking to go with that speed, so against a polished striker like Hardy, he was exposed. Swick has good takedown defense, and a decent submission game himself.
This match up could go either way honestly. Swick is taking this fight on short notice, but American Kickboxing Academy fighters are known for their always incredible cardio. Thiago has the power to end it with one punch, and Swick has the speed to end it with 4 or 5 punches. Swick is dead set on a rematch with Hardy, in fact, he's channeling his inner Frank Mir and saying a rematch with Hardy is what he wants most. If there's one thing I've learned about Mike Swick, it's that when he's fighting with something on the line, he always fights conservatively. I don't expect that trend to change, as he keeps the distance using his reach, and a more effective clinch game, to take the decision.
The Last Word: Mike Swick by Unanimous Decision
Jose Canseco calls out Herschel Walker, Cesar Gracie camp offers to help.
The call:
The response:
I won't be surprised to see this made part of the main card for a Strikeforce event later this year. Both are well known professional athletes, both extremely new to mixed martial arts, both very close in age , it's a fair fight that could bring in a lot of new fans, sad to say. This should be on CBS too if it goes down. What do you think?
“The Honor Among Champs” – A Genghis Con Video
And he's done it again! Another fucking awesome MMA highlight video by the one of the most famous highlight makers on the web. This latest video chronicles the events leading up to the brutal finish at K-1 Dynamite!! 2009, where that sneaky fucking DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki snapped the arm of SRC lightweight champ Mizuto Hirota, and then flipped him the bird and then stomped around the ring like he's never been brutally owned before. Genghis obviously does a much better job of explaining what I just wrote, so stop reading this and watch his badass video, which can be found on the next page!
Jay Hieron looking for some MMAxpsoure!
"The longer we wait, the juicer it gets. The bigger it'll be. "
Jay Hieron wants to get paid the money he thinks he rates, he wants a "high-profile fight" with a "high-profile guy", for a"high-profile belt "! Give the man his goddamn shot, and start promoting this could-be great rivalry! It's no Mir/Lesnar, it's no Couture/Liddell, but it could be. Both of these guys have the entertaining personalities. Hieron's words speak for themselves, and Nick Diaz just being himself is all personality; just look at his thoughts on MMA and marijuana. Strikeforce has the ability right now to give the fans what they would probably like to see, a legitimate grudge match. Who wouldn't want another one of those?
Don't forget our active forums! Talk about this topic here.
“Strikeforce: Miami” – Post Event Thoughts
Last night Strikeforce made it's inaugural debut for the new year, and as excited as I was to see this event, ultimately I was a bit unsatisfied and I feel that they took a step back from where they were after the last event they put out (which was fucking awesome). The first fight on the main card was the Lashley/Sims bout. I don't know what I was thinking when I said people are too quick to count Sims out, because he's got to be one of the worst fighters competing today. He had a mere week to train for this fight, and it showed. He looked completely out of shape, and got steamrolled only to get up and contest the referee intervention like he always does. While Sims might have an interesting personality, he doesn't have any of the skills required to compete in Strikeforce, much less MMA. Professional wrestling might be the best move for him, but even there I don't think that he'll find success, especially when he looks like he lives of McDonald's.
Following Lashely/Sims was the highly-anticipated middleweight slug-fest between the "Dutch Mike Tyson" Melvin Manhoef, and HIT Squad fighter Robbie Lawler. Nobody expected this fight to go the distance, and many people didn't think Lawler would walk away with the win. After eating a series of kicks and punches, Lawler connected flush to the chin of Manhoef with a perfect right-hand and put him down and out in the first round. It was a great knockout that will no doubt move Lawler back into title contention for Jake Shields' middleweight strap. As for Melvin, well he's entered the top ten glass-jaw rankings, and will probably end up going back to DREAM and smashing some more cans before making his K-1 return later in the year. Either way, I doubt it's the last time we'll see him compete.
Following that quick bout was the Herschel Walker/Random-Can fight. I give Walker credit, he's 47 years old and stepped into the cage to fight another man. Okay, we get it. Now that he's "proved" he's a fighter, lets just end it here and forget all about it. I don't care to ever watch another one of his fights, and I feel that this is what we're going to get every time Strikeforce puts him on a card. I wouldn't be shocked to see Strikeforce feed Walker nothing but cans for the rest of his short MMA career. Herschel himself said recently how he doesn't want to be a champion, and if that's the case, why match him up against legit contenders like Werdum, Rogers, and Fedor? My prediction for Walker's next fight....someone like Bo Cantrell, and don't expect anything more than that.
The Last Word: Strikeforce – ‘Miami’
Welcome to The Last Word; a final look and last minute predictions write-up on upcoming MMA events. This installment as you can see covers the inaugural first event of 2010 for Strikeforce, featuring a two title fights, a freak-show match up, and the professional MMA debut of a retired football great. These are the thoughts of one man, Mr. Dan P., aka Relentless; an east coast asshole and best friend of 'The Situation". So without wasting anymore of your time, here we goooooo!
The Last Word: Strikeforce 'Miami'
Strikeforce is bringing us another great, free night of MMA action. The first two fights of the night leave much to be desired from a hardcore fans stand point, and personally, I don’t give two shits about them. But after those two freakshows, we have some fantastic match-ups that have potential to be incredible from start to finish. The biggest snub of the night is the lack of Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs being on the main card. A fight between two well established fighters, one on the brink of becoming a truly elite welterweight, and one trying to prove he can still hang with the top dogs, gets put on the undercard for a 47 year old guy with schizophrenia and a former WWE wrestler who turned down a great fight with another up and comer in Shane Del Rosario. Either way, this is the card we have for Saturday night, so lets take a look at our fights.
Jay Hieron (18-4) vs. Joe Riggs (32-10)
As I mentioned, this is a big fight for both guys. Hieron was supposed to fight Nick Diaz for the welterweight title a few months back, but Diaz decided the pipe was more important than his paycheck, and didn’t show up for his pre-fight drug testing. Now there’s a whole bunch of controversy about why Hieron is not fighting for the title, some people say he turned down Marius because he wasn’t a name, and Jay claims he was just offered Riggs and nothing else. No matter what the situation is, this is a very good fight between two very tough grizzled vets. Scott Coker has already said that the winner of this fight is most likely to get a title shot.
Riggs is currently riding a four fight win streak, which is pretty incredible because for a few years there “Diesel” was riding a really interesting streak of win, lose, win, lose, win, lose, etc. Joe’s last fight in Strikeforce was against hard hitting Phil Baroni, and he picked Phil apart, out wrestled him, and dominated the entire fight, looking the best he had in years, walking away with a unanimous decision. Riggs has always been known as a guy with all the potential in the world, but he also has some of the worst luck in the world. Pre-fight injuries, weight cutting struggles, the tragic loss of a child, drug abuse, among other things. Hieron is riding high on a 6 fight win streak right now. While he hasn’t fought any world beaters, you can’t really call any of those opponents cans either. Jay trains with an elite camp, and has showed an extremely well rounded game as of late, and has a good mix of submission wins and knockout wins in his career. He has always seemed to come up short in the fights that can push him over the top or to the point where he can be considered elite, and that’s something to consider. Neither guy has a great chin. Both guys have solid cardio, decent stand up, with Riggs having more power. The grappling advantage favors Hieron, but Riggs is no slouch on the ground either. For me, this comes down to Hieron having the better camp, and showing a very good string of consistency lately. Do not sleep on Riggs though, I think if he is healthy, and mentally in check, he can make this is a very fun, interesting, and dangerous fight for Hieron.
The Last Word: Jay Hieron by Unanimous Decision
Last Minute Odds for ‘Strikeforce: Miami’
Props: BestFightOdds
Those odds on Sims are crazy, are people too quick to count him out, especially against a guy who 's fought lackluster competition throughout his short MMA career? I could see Sims on his back locking up a triangle with those long ass legs he has.
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