The Flog!

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 TUF11 Episode 4 seemed to revolve around one fighter, Kyacey Uscola. Not only was Uscola chosen to fight Liddell‘s Rich Attonito, but he was also involved in a major row with Jamie Yager in the house.

Ortiz said that Uscola had good take downs, good take down defense and good submissions. He expected Uscola to continue striking, defend against take downs and get up right away afterward. One of Uscola’s teammates mentioned that Uscola had a good double (which I assume means double leg take down).

Attonito, per Liddell, was a good wrestler, had good shots and good take downs. Due to prior commitments, Liddell would be missing this fight, though.

Before the fight aired, Uscola accused Yager of theft of a shirt. After much cursing on both parts and further arguing in front of Ortiz, it was determined that Yager had had permission to take a “Team Punishment” shirt and had not stolen it. Uscola refused to apologize for the accusation.

Round one of the match between Attonito and Uscola: They began by trading strikes with Attonito succeeding in hitting Uscola sufficiently for Uscola to go to the ground. Some ground and pound followed by Attonito. Then Attonito picked Uscola up and threw him to the ground head first. Quite a frightening take down.

Uscola attempted a Kimura (ude garami), but Attonito flipped over to be on the bottom, causing Uscola to lose the arm bar grip.

Uscola had some side control, threw elbows to Attonito’s gut and when Attonito still had a knee on the mat, applied knees to Attonito’s chest and face. The referee stopped the match immediately.

Attonito was awarded the win by disqualification on Uscola’s part. Amazingly, Uscola spoke to the camera saying that he didn’t respect Attonito as a fighter, when Uscola had performed the illegal and quite dangerous techniques.

Ortiz stomped out of the fight area, ripping a door off the hinges.

Attonito may have won the fight, but he is out of the competition having broken his hand so severely he might require surgery.

The second fight of the episode was between Uscola’s nemesis, Yager, and Charlie Blanchard, from Liddell’s team.

Liddell thought that Blanchard would come out aggressively, that he had great take downs and high kicks and, when on top during ground fighting, Yager would have a hard time getting Blanchard off.

Ortiz said Yager had to circle, circle, circle, throw shots, cover his head and avoid take downs. He thought that this would be an easy win for Yager. Yager, himself, said that he felt he had superior striking. In fact, Yager is five inches taller and had a five inch reach advantage on Blanchard.

Round one began with a take down attempt by Blanchard and then another, with Yager sprawling well to avoid them. Yager did a Superman punch and Blanchard was down. TKO referee stoppage.  

The Ultimate Fighter is on Spike at 10:00 p.m. EST on Wednesdays.

Click here to go to TUF11 Eps. 1 & 2.

Click here to go to TUF11 Ep. 3.

ayjay

April 22, 2010

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 TUF11 Episode 3 had at least one surprise: Chris Camozzi was sent home, having sustained a slight fracture of the jaw during his elimination fight. Dana White was pre-empting a broken jaw by Camozzi’s elimination. Tito Ortiz was then given the opportunity to pick a guy from the eliminated men to come back. He chose Seth Baczynski.

This episode’s fight was between Brad Tavares (Liddell‘s team) and James Hammortree (Ortiz’s team).Yager felt that Tavares was going to win by knock out, while Nick Ring guessed that Hammortree would win by TKO in the second round.

Hammortree, nicknamed “The Sledge”, has a record for the fastest KO in Florida – five seconds. Ortiz was looking for a take down by Hammortree and ground and pound. One of Liddell’s coaches said that Tavares will be “a force to be reckoned with in the UFC”.

Hammortree was the bigger of the two men, two inches taller with a two inch reach advantage. His record was 5 and 1 coming into this fight, whereas Tavares’s record was 4 and 0.

Round one began with a failed take down attempt by Hammortree, Tavares threw his opponent with harai goshiand ended up on Hammortree’s back. He then tried a rear naked choke which failed. Hammortree flipped over and was in Tavares’s half guard.

Tavares used the fence to get up, after which Hammortree tried a take down ending on the bottom again with Tavares on his back. Ortiz kept yelling for Hammortree to get “up, up, up”. Hammortree again managed to get in Tavares’s half guard and then side, but there was a huge gap between their bodies and Tavares was up.

Round two had Hammortree rushing Tavares to the fence. Tavares pushed Hammortree and ended in Hammortree’s guard. Tavares applied a knee to Hammortree’s face. While on the ground Tavares was on his knees with Hammortree on his back. He used the fence to stand up, but Hammortree took him down. While on the bottom, Tavares tried a Kimura (ude garami) for some time. At the bell, Hammortree was in Tavares’s guard and butterfly guard.

The Sudden Victory round began with Tavares’s striking. Hammortree attempted a take down which was stuffed and then Tavares rolled into Hammortree’s half guard. Hammortree applied elbows and achieved full mount. Tavares immediately rolled over and was in control.

While bent over, Hammortree tried a take down; Tavares was holding Hammortree’s arm trying ude garami sporadically.

Unanimous decision in Tavares’s favour.

My thoughts: If Hammortree were a striker (witness his record in Florida), why was he trying so hard to defeat Tavares on the ground? Hammortree was jumping from one technique and position to another very quickly, not giving himself the opportunity to establish control.

Tavares deserved the win. His techniques were solid and competent.

Click here to go to TUF11 Episodes 1 & 2.

Click here to go to TUF11 Ep. 4.

ayjay

April 20, 2010

Rather than go through all the fights, or even the majority, I have one fight in each of these to cover.

At UFC 111, a preliminary fight was shown at the end of the main card to PPV customers. This fight was between Jerod Hamman and Rodney Wallace, light heavyweights who couldn’t look any more different. Hamman is tall, almost spindly, with white, pasty skin. Wallace is a short, overly-muscular black man.

Being so muscular allowed Wallace to put a great deal of weight behind his punches, but he gassed out early as well. In addition, I think having big muscles gets in the way in a sport which allows for fine motor skills when doing some submissions.  

Round one had Wallace connecting with an upper cut against Hamman’s head so strongly that Hamman’s head went up and back like a PEZ dispenser. Hamman accomplished a take down with an uchi mata, though, and didn’t give up after being clobbered severely.

Round two had Hamman doing another uchi mata, better and more strongly than the previous. He is an awkward-looking fighter and one viewer here suggested he was “Forest Gumby”. His techniques were solid, though, and he rolled Wallace over whenever he wanted to as Wallace became more tired. 

Round three had Wallace throwing Hamman withkuchiki taoshi, grabbing a leg after a kick attempt and sweeping out the other leg. A late flourish of strikes by Wallace had Hamman wobbling like Jackie Chan in “The Legend of the Drunken Master“.

Both men did not give up and, although exhausted, Wallace had moments later on in the match in which he fought solidly. The match went to Hamman by unanimous decision.

UFC 112 had Anderson Silva against Demian Maia. I have avoided watching this match until today because Silva’s antics in recent fights have bothered me so much.  Silva’s match inUFC 97 Redemption was boring to watch and I was certain this would be more of the same.

Silva took a minute and a half before he threw a kick, but once he started, he connected with a leg kick and spinning back kick. He then threw strikes and more kicks. Maia was extremely hesitant and followed Silva around the octagon. Silva had his arms down a great deal leaving openings for Maia. The crowd was chanting “Silva!”.

Round two had Silva doing a couple of capoeira movements, then standing still with hands down. Maia rushed at him for take downs, but Silva escaped each time. Silva taunted Maia to fight and then would strike and kick whenever he wanted. Low leg kicks to Maia’s lead leg succeeded each time.

Round three had Silva attacking the lead leg many times and indicated that Maia was completely outclassed: Silva could do whatever he wanted, whenever he tried anything.

Round four had a change in the audience and in Silva: Silva circled the octagon continually and did nothing. The crowd chanted “Maia!” Maia then became frustrated with the constant circling. Chanting of “GSP!” came next. The round ended with a chorus of “Boo!”.

Round five began with Maia’s left eye virtually swollen shut. That did not seem to impact his performance, though, as he did better in this round than any other. Maia’s strikes connected and he tried a couple of take downs. Silva received a warning from the referee about his circling the octagon and not doing anything.

As usual, Silva won and kept his belt. As usual, the fight was boring for the most part: Silva taunts his opponents and then monkeys around; his BJJ opponents pull guard and he avoids the ground. When Silva connects with a strike or kick, the technique is fast and flawless. The problems might be the opponents or perhaps he is no longer interested in being on the receiving end of the punch or kick or ground technique. Silva apologized to the crowd and suggested that he had ring rust from lack of fights. He has apologized before, but his fights are not getting better.

ayjay,

April 20, 2010

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 TUF11 began with more fights (or partial fights) in one hour than we’ve seen to date. For people unfamiliar with MMA, there were good varieties of techniques and skill levels. We also had injuries, lots of blood and a couple of boring bits. All ’round, it was one of the best episodes of The Ultimate Fighter that I’ve seen. Nothing was on long enough to cause me to want to change the channel and there was something new in the next five minute segment.

In episode 1 we had 28 competitors and fourteen fights. Those fourteen winners will be fighting in the next few weeks to come up with the final seven. In order to have eight finalists, the coaches will name the eighth person from among the losers of the previous seven matches.

As for the fights on this night, we had some serious bleeding from a head wound, a broken orbital socket (Victor O’Donnell vs. Chris Camozzi (W)), a popped shoulder (Cleburn Walker vs. Kris McCray (W)), and the worst broken nose I’ve ever seen – flattened and askew -(in a bout between very close friends, Clayton McKinney (W) and Charley Lynch). We had several knock outs: Jamie Yager (W) vs. Ben Stark; Jordan Smith vs. Brad Tavares (W); Jacen Flynn vs. Charles Blanchard (W); and Kyacey Uscola (W) vs. Brent Cooper.

Joe Henle (W) won with a juji gatame against Constantinos Philippou, while we had a few matches that went to decision: Josh Bryant (W) vs. Greg Rebello, Rich Attonito (W) vs. Lyle Steffens, Nick Ring (W) vs. Woody Weatherby, and Kyle Noke (W) vs. Warren Thompson. Court McGee vs. Seth Baczynski went to a third round with McGee winning.

In addition to all that excitement we had a Frenchman, Norman Paraisy, who had said that he wanted to prove that the French were fighters and didn’t deserve the negative comments they always got. He gave up after round one against James Hammortree.

One of the best fights of the night was against Victor O’Donnell and Chris Camozzi. Both men fought well, with Camozzi throwing O’Donnell with harai goshi twice, both times quickly and with precision. O’Donnell continued through the fight with a broken orbital socket, eye mostly shut, a very tough guy.

The first episode of TUF11 was fun and I’m looking to see more of the same.

Episode 2 had the coaches, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, choosing their team members from the winners of the first episode. After all the men were picked, Ortiz mocked Liddell’s choices when talking to his own team, mentioning the size of the guys Liddell had chosen, most of them being 5’9″ or slightly more. Dana White even went up to Liddell and made comments, suggesting that Liddell had the worse team and White couldn’t understand his picks. Liddell saw something in the men he chose and he was happy with his team.

In addition, Liddell got to pick the fighters for the first preliminary bout, naming Kyle Noke from his team to fight against Clayton McKinney from Ortiz’s.

Comments from Liddell and his coaches about Noke were that he had good strikes, kicks, ground game and no weaknesses that they could see. McKinney was a total other animal. He was complaining continually about his shoulder, injured during his elimination fight. He was not relating to anyone in the house and slacked off during training due to his injury. (An MRI found bone bruising, but nothing structural wrong with it.) Ortiz felt that McKinney had never been truly tested before.

During the match, McKinney switched stances a number of times, and had his hands far too low. The men exchanged leg kicks, but seemed hesitant. After a failed take down by McKinney, he ended in Noke’s triangle choke (sankaku jime) and, with perhaps 30 seconds before the choke was on well, did not escape. Tapout. Win by Noke.

McKinney tried to leave the room immediately, but Ortiz and his coaches made him watch an escape from the triangle and then attempt the escape twice. Ortiz really is a fantastic coach. Instead of letting his own disappointment overwhelm him, something we have seen in past coaches on The Ultimate Fighter (Rampage Jackson certainly comes to mind), he spoke positively to McKinney and showed him how to avoid the triangle in the future.

As for mocking Liddell, fight one goes to Liddell.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 TUF11 is on Spike on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST.

Click here to go to TUF11 Episode 3.

Click here to go to TUF11 Ep. 4.

ayjay,

April 10, 2010

Recently a new student in our class has been learning the first group of throws in anticipation of testing for his first belt.  This fellow is not especially tall, but really muscular and strong. The throws which he favours involve big movements – o goshi, koshi guruma, etc. – and which do not involve the little movements of many of the others.

Just because yellow is the first belt level in judo does not mean that the throws are easy. Many of the yellow belt throws are complicated and some may be the last which a student manages to do well. De ashi harai, if done well, is performed when tori sweeps out uke’s leg in the fraction of a second before the foot hits the floor. The throws which require tori to step in closely to uke (o uchi gari and ko uchi gari, for instance) when performed statically involve arm movements and multiple small foot movements. Ippon seoi nage and o goshi must have tori’s body placement just so in order to execute the forward throw properly.

This new student has difficulty with the small foot movements (he compares them to ballet movements). To throw uke with o uchi gari, tori steps in between uke’s feet strongly with his right foot, while pulling himself into uke at the same time. He then brings his back foot up behind the front foot (tee-ing up) in order to become balanced forward. The front foot then reaps uke’s left leg to the right.

These minute foot movements were driving this student to distraction. His gut instinct was to move the front leg and leave the back leg where it was, resulting in a very wide-legged, off-balance stance. In order to sweep the leg, he was even more off-balance (not forward, but backward) and the throw was not strong. It mostly consisted of his pushing uke. Granted, uke hit the floor, but that wasn’t the throw we wanted.

During competitions, throws are not static. Even during class randori, once all the movements have been learned, variations of body position are taken into account and the throw may not be traditional. Even the “push” variation I mentioned above might garner a point.

But, as we are still a judo club, and teach traditional judo (along with variations), students who wish to advance to other belt levels must know the traditional movements for throws and all other techniques.

We have many repetitions to do in order to get this student to learn the correct movements, which do not come naturally to him. When he performed the throw with the correct movements, the throw was strong and powerful. He was also balanced properly after the throw. Unfortunately doing a throw once doesn’t constitute learning it.  Any body movement which is to become muscle memory must be performed many, many times, and then still worked on and perfected.

One of the reasons judo is still an effective martial art is that there is always more to learn. There are variations of techniques which people have developed and are still developing – Judo is constantly evolving. Sometimes these variations are out of necessity because of body type or ability. Sometimes they come from having worked out with someone else and finding yourself in an unusual position and managing to weasel your way out by doing something new.

One of the reasons we love judo, and love teaching, is that we get to learn new stuff, too.

Click here to go to It’s The Little Things – Pt 3

ayjay

January 5, 2010

UFC 108 had somewhat negative comments beforehand due to its headliners. I suppose people wanted really big names for the first UFC in the new year. In reality, most of the fights were first-rate, fast and explosive.

Cole Miller‘s bout against Dan Lauzon resulted in the Submission of the Night. While still in the first round, after some striking, Lauzon used a big left hook to knock Miller down. He eventually climbed on Miller’s back and after some back and forth jockeying for position, Miller had an inverted triangle choke (sankaku jime) and a Kimura (ude garami). Tap out.

A comment about the fight between Mike Pyle and Jake Ellenberger: We have always maintained that you do not want to be on the bottom when doing ground work. The superior position is the top. Even in BJJ, the aim of the guy on the bottom is to get to the top (you get points for sweeping, not for holding someone in your guard). Pyle has a multitude of skills and attempted many techniques when he was on the bottom (except for trying to get out). Joe Rogan kept going on about how skilled Pyle was from the bottom but despite that, Ellenberger eventually pounded Pyle quite solidly near the end of round 1. At the beginning of round 2, Ellenberger blasted a big right, then a knee and Pyle went down. TKO referee stoppage. Being on the bottom should hopefully be a temporary situation and should not be the “go to” position if you want to win a match.

Martin Kampmann‘s bout against Jacob Volkmann had another beautiful submission. Still in the first round, Volkmann was on his knees and Kampmann on his feet in front of Volkmann. Kampmann then reached down under Volkmann’s chin and did a front guillotine just leaning over his back, no legs or anything. Nice.

The match between Jim Miller and Dwayne Ludwig produced a solid Juji Gatame when Miller’s right knocked Ludwig to the ground. Miller went from side to full mount in a couple of seconds and when Ludwig tried to get out, grabbed Ludwig’s arm and straightened his legs, extending Ludwig’s body. Ludwig was on his feet, but Miller lifted his hips to further control Ludwig’s arm and we had tap out.

The fight between Dustin Hazelett and Paul Daley produced probably the first right breakfall which was not used to get out of any hold. Hazelett started the bout with the breakfall, perhaps to throw Daley off. It had nothing to do with the match and didn’t help him avoid Daley’s left hook which took him to the ground.  Daley then jumped on Hazelett and landed a few more shots.  TKO referee stoppage. Knock Out of the Night.

My comment: Daley came in not having made weight: he was two pounds over. Perhaps he shouldn’t be awarded a bonus for Knock Out of the Night. 

Joe Lauzon‘s match against Sam Stout went to decision. Lauzon controlled Stout for the first two minutes, taking him down repeatedly. After that, Stout stuffed most take down attempts. The fight was almost all stand up, with Stout showing great combinations of strikes and elbows, and ending with a kick.

Since his take downs were no longer working, Lauzon pulled guard (which I hate) a couple of times, but Stout got up immediately. Near the end of the third round, Lauzon succeeded with a take down and attempted a front guillotine, but he lost the mount and the choke failed.

Lauzon had never gone the distance before and was exhausted, but continued to move forward and tried to attack.  Stout still had loads of energy and was bouncing around, ending the fight with multiple strikes. Unanimous decision in Stout’s favour. Fight of the Night. 

One comment: Sam Stout listened to his corner and followed the instructions immediately. Fantastic.

Much was made of Gilbert Yvel‘s coming to the UFC for his fight against Junior Dos Santos. He had been at PRIDE, and other organizations, and had a record of 36 wins in 52 starts as a professional. In recent years he has had controversies over poor behaviours in the ring, resulting in his having problems obtaining fighting licenses.

Both these men are BJJ purple belts and win most fights by knock out.

Round 1 had Dos Santos using many combinations and Yvel countering. Dos Santos then countered a strike by Yvel, dropped him, and after he jumped on him for further strikes, the referee intervened. Yvel protested the stoppage, but actually asked the ref if he’d been out.

The guys from PRIDE sure have problems in the UFC. By the way, Dos Santos came in with a “James Thompson ear”, so I was grateful that he was able to end the match so quickly. I certainly didn’t want to see another exploding ear.

Rashad Evans‘ bout against Thiago Silva was to be interesting. They each had had only one loss going in, and to the same man – Lyoto Machida. Both are black belt BJJ guys (Evans just received his earlier in the day), but Silva is a striker and Evans is a college wrestling champion.

From the beginning, Evans controlled where the match was to be. He would take Silva down time and time again. By the middle of the first round, Silva was huffing.

Round 2 had Evans rushing at Silva with strikes and clinching at the fence. Silva applied some knees, but Evans was in control. The audience was booing for some reason. Perhaps they didn’t like the clinches at the fence, but this fight was far more energetic than Randy Couture’s last match, which deserved all the boos.

Round 3 had Silva with hands down taunting Evans to change his game plan. He actually managed to slug Evans a couple of times and Evans backed up, legs wobbling. Unfortunately, Silva was gassed himself and let Evans recover instead of going after him further. Unanimous decision in Evans’ favour, to lots of boos.

I don’t understand why the audience boos during matches in which the competitors are working hard and displaying skill and technique. It may be crowd mentality: if one starts, they all follow suit.

As for this UFC, most of the fights were very good, some even more so (Stout versus Lauzon).

ayjay

January 4, 2010

UFC 107 contained some very strong submissions, stunning knock-outs and so-so fighting:

Frank Mir versus Cheick Kongo – Mir struck Kongo, partially putting Kongo out and then, from his back, applied a front guillotine. Mir had to tell Herb Dean that Kongo was unconscious. Dean lifted one of Kongo’s arms and watched it fall.Hadaka Jime – Front Naked Choke

When Kenny Florian fought Clay Guida, Florian struck a left and right and Guida went down. Florian grapevined him and applied a rear naked choke. Hadaka Jime – Rear Naked Choke

Damarques Johnson almost lost his match against Edgar Garcia when Garcia applied what is commonly called a Peruvian Necktie, a variation of a front guillotine. In this case, Garcia had his head to the floor, face down, and his legs at Johnson’s upper chest. Johnson fought the choke amazingly and managed to escape it. Later in the round, Johnson applied his own choke, Sankaku Jime – Triangle Choke, from the guard. He first up-kicked Garcia’s head, rocking him, and grabbing an arm, did a figure-of-four with the legs and Garcia tapped out. Submission of the Night.

The Knock Out of the Night went to T. J. Grant in his bout against Kevin Burns. Burns came close to knocking Grant out early in the round, but just before the buzzer for the end of round 1, Grant kneed Burns several times and then struck him on the jaw to knock him to the ground. Grant jumped on Burns and struck him four more times.

The B. J. Penn match against Diego Sanchez had the potential for fantastic ground game. Penn almost ended the match seconds on as he rocked Sanchez with a heavy strike, just as Joe Rogan talked about Penn’s striking abilities. He rocked Sanchez again near the end of the round. Sanchez was determined to take Penn to the ground, but Penn stuffed every attempt, and there were many – so many that the audience booed eventually. The single-leg take down attempts were consistently unsuccessful, but Sanchez continued to try them.

By the fifth round, Sanchez had many facial wounds, one of which was a vertical cut on the bottom lip. As with all the other rounds, Sanchez tried the single leg take down. He also dropped, but Penn sprawled his way out of the take down. When standing, Penn threw a kick to Sanchez’s face, striking him on the left forehead. This opened a huge gash, causing blood to gush down his body. TKO referee stoppage.

The Fight of the Night was a slugfest between Alan Belcher and Wilson Gouveia who stood toe-to-toe trading heavy strikes until a right upper cut by Belcher knocked Gouveia out.

My Opinion: If I were awarding the Fight of the Night, I would have given it to Johnson and Garcia. The men showed a variety of skills, standing and ground, were evenly matched and had an exciting bout. After Garcia struck Johnson successfully several times, Johnson actually gave kudos to his opponent during the match. It was fun to watch.

ayjay

December 15, 2009

In a previous article I talked about How To Do Kata Gatame – Shoulder Lock or Hold/Arm Triangle. This article will cover the first Escape from Kata Gatame, a seemingly easy manoeuvre which very few people attempt. 

Assume someone has you in Kata Gatame:

1) Grasp your own trapped arm, with your free hand, at or above the elbow. (Note: you may have to suffer a few seconds with the hold/choke.)

2) Still grasping your arm, push against your opponent’s body with your trapped arm. Simultaneously, bend your knees and “walk” yourself away from your opponent. You will not be moving him if his hold on you is strong, but you will be able to move yourself a bit. This will enable you to generate some space between your trapped arm, your neck, and his shoulder, giving you the opportunity to breathe a little easier and work toward the next part of the escape. In addition, your walking away from him will cause his body to flatten out making it even more difficult for him to continue the ground hold.

3) Now that you have created the small gap between your arm and his trapezoid and shoulder, while continuing to push against your opponent with your previously trapped arm, use your free arm to grab your opponent’s elbow (the elbow of the arm which is under your neck). Vigorously and quickly pull it over your own head to escape. 

4) After you have removed his arm from around your neck, roll into your own ground hold or arm bar (our video shows waki gatame – armpit arm lock).

Click here to see the video of How to Escape from Kata Gatame – Shoulder Lock or Hold/Arm Triangle – Escape #1.

Click here to see the video of Escape #2 from Kata Gatame

ayjay

December 11, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 Finale proved to be a lot of fun – people with differing skill sets and nearly everyone at the top of their game.

If you remember Marcus Jones‘ tirade in the previous episode (click here to go to the details), it came as no surprise that Jones was to fight against Matt Mitrione. This bout was Mitrione’s debut in the UFC; Jones had a record of 4 and 2 coming in. Even though Jones was three inches taller, Mitrione had a two inch reach advantage.

Jones was on the attack from the start, grabbing Mitrione for take down after take down. At one point he attempted a guillotine, but Mitrione escaped. Mitrione, in response to the take downs, used the cage to stand up. In a clinch, Mitrione dealt shoulder shots, a high knee and a knee to the gut. The men traded jabs and the occasional knee, but Jones was the aggressor throughout the round with his many take downs.

Joe Rogan talked a bit about Jones’ stand up style, or lack thereof, and how elementary it was. Jones has been doing MMA for under three years, so everything is new. This limited experience with stand up fighting was a crucial aspect as round two began.  Jones rushed Mitrione and Mitrione did a straight right to Jones’ face. As Jones was falling, he followed up that shot with another. KO.

Frankie Edgar had the next fight against Matt Veach. Edgar is a freestyler and Veach, a brawler, with comparable records (Edgar 10-1, Veach 11-0). Although they were within a pound of each other, Veach looked much bigger, very muscular.

The bout was indicative of Veach’s strength: he picked Edgar up multiple times and slammed him to the floor. All that brute strength had its toll as Veach would take huge breaths when they were separated. Edgar tried his own take downs, but they were stuffed. Edgar went in for strikes, here and there, but Veach’s were far harder.

Round 2 had Veach trying for a single leg take down which Edgar stuffed. Both men used combination strikes until Edgar clipped Veach, causing Veach to drop to the floor. Edgar jumped on him, did some ground and pound and arear naked. Tap out. Fight of the Night.

The weirdest fight of the night was between Kimbo Slice and Houston Alexander. Alexander is known to be an extremely tough opponent, having decimated Keith Jardine in 48 seconds of round 1. Rogan said that Alexander’s tactic was to attack Slice’s lead leg, the one without the cartilage. In order to do this, Alexander circled the octagon, with Slice in the center, for basically the first round. Nothing happened for almost three minutes, save booing and boredom. Slice eventually moved in closer; Alexander did the occasional leg kick to Slice’s lead leg.

At the 2:10 mark, Slice managed a clinch and both men were striking. Slice connected, but Alexander went back to the leg kicks and circling.

Round 2 had Slice getting in closer and accomplishing a take down and full mount. Alexander stood up, but slipped, enabling Slice to grab him and do a huge, frightening body slam. Slice tried for a choke as well. He had another take down and did some ground and pound. When Alexander turned, Slice had his back and grapevined him, trying another choke. Kimbo Slice has some ground techniques. Nice.

All the while that Slice was trying new techniques (new to him), Alexander did the circling and leg kicks. Almost all the kicks were inside, but an outside leg kick in the third round took Slice’s leg out from under him. When on the ground, Slice was in control. Standing, Alexander did his kicks and Slice would come in to strike. Both men were slow to do anything in this round. Slice won by unanimous decision.

Alexander’s tactics to destroy Slice’s leg worked, but made for a boring fight; however, it was fun to see Slice with his new skill sets.

Mark Bocek fought against Joe Brammer in a lightweight match up. Bocek is a BJJ black belt with a record of 7-2 in the octagon. Most of his wins are by submission. Brammer was 7-0-1 coming in to this fight. He is a jeet kune do guy who favours chokes and unorthodox strikes.

Brammer started the match with two big kicks from the southpaw stance. Bocek almost immediately attempted a take down. When he succeeded, he grapevined Brammer in a body triangle. Brammer got to his feet, but Bocek remained on his back, getting his hooks in. Bocek (while on Brammer’s back, hooks still in, back to the cage) then began a rear naked choke. It didn’t look as though the arm was under the chin, but that Brammer’s head was cranked to the side, the jaw was trapped and the Bocek’s arm tightly around. Tap out.  Submission of the Night.

Matt Hammill‘s fight against Jon Jones promised good things: both were collegiate wrestlers (with Hammill on the Olympic team, I believe). Jones came in undefeated with an astounding 8 1/2 inch reach advantage. He also has fantastic spinning back fists and kicks.

Jones began with high head kicks; Hammill answered with low kicks and jabs. Hammill tried a take down, but Jones threw Hammill with an o soto gari, I think. He then had full mount and did some vicious ground and pound, striking from about 18 inches to Hammill’s face. Hammill did not attempt to lift his hips or shrimp out. His nose had a huge gash and blood was flowing into his eyes. As Jones continued the G and P, the referee jumped in to stop him – he had done a downward elbow strike to the face, which in UFC rules is illegal. One point was deducted and then the fight was deemed over as Hammill could not continue. Due to the illegal strike, Jones lost the match due to disqualification. To top it off, Hammill dislocated a shoulder during an exchange.

McSweeney and Schoonover, from The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10, had the next match. McSweeney showed far more abilities than in his fights during The Ultimate Fighter. He tried a rear naked choke when in the grapevine position, ground and pound during one of their sessions on the floor, a huge slam for a take down and strong kicks and knees from standing.  Schoonover is talented, but this was not to be his night. Although Schoonover countered with strikes, knees and kicks, rolled McSweeney, moved constantly when on the ground, McSweeney ended the match by a flying knee, head kick, right hand and knee to the face. Schoonover dropped.  TKO referee stoppage.

The semifinalists of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10, Brendan Schaub and Roy Nelson, had their final bout. Schaub was the taller, by four inches. He had won all his previous matches by knock out. His background is tae kwon do, jiu jitsu and boxing, having been a Golder Gloves champion. Nelson is a black belt in jiu jitsu and the IFL heavyweight champion. His specialty is ground and pound.

The first round began with Nelson attempting a take down. Schaub answered with combos. Nelson did a little ankle throw when in the clinch and ended in Schaub’s half guard. He then tried an ude garami without success.

After Schaub got up, he throw a number of combinations, most connecting. Nelson countered and then threw an overhand right to Schaub’s left temple. Knock out. Knock out of the Night.

Nelson went into The Ultimate Fighter boasting of his abilities, although most of these guys do that. He bragged to White but White was “not impressed” until the semi final bout. Considering that Nelson is so experienced a fighter, despite his girth and his looking out of shape, it isn’t a surprise that he won overall.

ayjay

December 7, 2009

The semi-finals matches for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 were between Roy Nelson and James McSweeney and Brendan Schaub versus Marcus Jones.

Dana White said that Nelson had “impressed himself” with his bouts in The Ultimate Fighter. As for McSweeney, White said he was smaller than Nelson (but who isn’t?), but wants the win more and would outwork Nelson.

Rashad Evans commented that Nelson had pretty good stand up and great ground technique, whereas McSweeney had great stand up and not so great ground work.

Nelson’s preliminary bout had been with Kimbo Slice (click here to go to the article about this fight). His quarter final match was with Justin Wren (click here to go to that match).

McSweeney was at the center of the controversy in this episode. He wrote a derogatory comment on Zak Jensen’s head (Jensen was too trusting) and then blocked the bathroom door when Jensen was inside. Jensen told the camera that he was claustrophobic. When he was released from the bathroom, he went after McSweeney, who promptly put Jensen in a front guillotine.  Jensen is the fellow whom all the others had been picking on, who seems to lack social abilities. They even had a pool as to when he was going to go insane. McSweeney treated him poorly, probably thinking it was all a joke.

Click here to go to the articles about McSweeney’s preliminary and quarter final fights.

The semi-final between Nelson and McSweeney began with McSweeney applying a leg kick and Nelson’s countering with a strike. McSweeney changed stances, fired off kicks and strikes of his own. Nelson then rushed into McSweeney’s guillotine at the fence, but popped his head out.

McSweeney did some jabs and another leg kick and then started showboating, indicating to Nelson that Nelson should strike at his chin. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this. The guy drops his hands, struts about, says, in effect, come on, try it. Well, as in all other cases, Nelson did — he hit McSweeney with a hard right and rocked him.

Nelson then slammed McSweeney to the ground and moved from half guard to side control. He used the same technique that defeated Slice, grabbed the far arm, put his giant, fat belly on the opponent’s upper torso and face, trapped the near arm under a leg and used his fist to apply feeble little punches to the bit of head that’s exposed (generally the top of the guy’s head which he has no ability to defend against)  — in this case twenty-two bops. TKO referee stoppage.

White said that Nelson finally impressed him. After McSweeney’s antics, I’m glad McSweeney lost.

The remaining bout was between Marcus Jones and Brendan Schaub. Both these guys had been professional football players, but approached MMA differently: Jones has only been in MMA for two years and is extremely competent on the ground. He is also bigger than most people. Schaub is a tae kwon do and jiu jitsu guy with strong boxing skills.

Evans talked about Schaub’s “explosive punches” and Schaub said he would just let his punches go on Jones. Jones planned to take Schaub to the ground and do ground and pound.

In both of Schaub’s previous matches, he was taken down and worked from the bottom (click here for Schaub’s matches — preliminary and quarter final). The quarter final match was ugly and he should have been penalized for grabbing of the fence and his opponent’s shorts.

Marcus Jones impressed everyone with his preliminary bout against Wessel and quarter final against Schoonover.

In this semi-final, Jones took Schaub down immediately after a strike. He then went from half guard to full mount. Schaub moved from the bottom, managing to return to half guard and then to get up. A knee by Jones looked as though it would end the match, but Schaub struck out with his right hand and Jones hit the ground. Six shots followed while Jones was on the mat and the match was over.

Rampage Jackson went into the octagon to see to Jones, probably the first time he did that for any of the people on his team. He told the camera that if he had been alone, he might well have wept over the loss.

The finals of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 are on Spike on Saturday, the 5th of December, between Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub.

ayjay

December 4, 2009