The Flog!

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

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

Episode 11 of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 contained the last two quarter finals matches between Matt Mitrione and James McSweeney and Marcus Jones versus Darrill Schoonover.

Although Dana White wanted Kimbo Slice to fight instead of Mitrione, Slice amazingly turned down the fight. His knee is missing cartilage and he refused to have injections to alleviate the pain.

Mitrione spoke with his doctor and told everyone that the doctor had OK’d his fight against McSweeney. Mitrione admitted to the camera that he’d played with McSweeney so that McSweeney wouldn’t know with whom he was fighting until the last minute. Schaub suggested that Mitrione’s unorthodox fighting style warranted some respect.

A major confrontation in this episode revolved around Mitrione: He had inadvertently poked Scott Junk in the eye during their preliminary match. The result was tears to Junk’s retina, requiring surgery. Also the doctor suggested that Junk’s MMA career would be over. When Marcus Jones heard this, he proceeded to go quietly berserk. By the time he saw Mitrione, he looked as though he was about to take Mitrione’s head off. (Mitrione didn’t have a clue what was causing Jones’ outrage, but didn’t back down either.) Jones was irrational and hysterical for some time, eventually calming down, partially due to Jackson‘s comments. (Junk was later given the news that he could fight in two months’ time, although the doctor did not recommend it.)

Dana White felt that Mitrione would win the bout against McSweeney if he fought as he did against Scott Junk. Click here to go to the article containing that fight(Mitrione versus Junk).

Click here to go to the article about McSweeney’s preliminary match with Wes Shivers.

Round 1 began with McSweeney applying a low leg kick. Mitrione followed up with right and left shots. The men were circling one another, with Mitrione looking for the opening. He caught one of McSweeney’s kicks and followed up with multiples strikes.

McSweeney used some combos and tried a take down. Mitrione dropped near the fence and, with McSweeney following him to the ground, attempted a leg lock.

McSweeney had side control and when Mitrione turned over and got up on his knees, McSweeney clung to his back. Mitrione began to stand, but McSweeney had his neck in an hadaka jime. My first comment was, “Don’t you tap out!” and Mitrione did! He didn’t attempt to move McSweeney’s arm or elbow, or his own head. He could have taken a fraction of a second with the choke on to try to escape. Oy.

The last quarter final match was between Marcus Jones and Darrill Schoonover. Jones is four inches taller and has a four inch reach advantage over Schoonover. Schoonover said that his plan was to get up immediately if taken down by Jones.

Click here to go to the article about Schoonover’s preliminary fight.

Click here to go to the article about Marcus Jones’ preliminary fight.

Round 1 had Jones beginning with a leg kick and an immediate take down. He obtained side control without difficulty and shoved his forearm into Schoonover’s face. He then took the leg closer to Schoonover’s head and placed it over Schoonover’s head (an interesting move – your opponent can’t move his head and you are in control of his upper body) and punched his head multiple times. Jones then tried an arm bar (ude garami/Kimura).

All this time Schoonover moved to his knees when able and then his back again. He went from full guard to rubber guard. Strangely, Jones let Schoonover get up and then pounded him on the ground again. Eventually Schoonover’s head bounced on the mat and he was out. Total domination.

Rashad Evans was gracious about Marcus Jones (who wasn’t on his team) and his abilities.  

The quarter finals are completed and now on to the semis for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF 10. The semi-final matches are set between Nelson and McSweeney and Jones and Schaub.

ayjay

December 3, 2009

The quarterfinals of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 began yesterday. In the quarterfinals, we have seven men from Rashad Evans‘ team and one from Quinton Jackson‘s. First up were Roy Nelson against Justin Wren, both Evans’ guys.

Evans was concerned about how to coach these people, who were on the same team, yet fighting each other. He determined that the best solution was not to coach, but to continue to have practice sessions in the different disciplines. Last week, he had tried to get Jackson’s men to come practice with his, but his approach to them was poor, somewhat egocentric, and he put down their coach, so their reaction was to walk away.

Both Nelson and Wren have jiu jitsu backgrounds, with Nelson having earned a black belt in BJJ. He was the IFL heavyweight champion and his record coming into The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 was 13-4.

Wren’s background is Greco-Roman wrestling. He was two-time national champion in high school. Before an injury sidelined him, he trained for the Olympics in Greco-Roman. While injured, he became interested in MMA and now studies with Travis Lutter. He is ten years’ younger than Nelson, and about twenty pounds’ lighter (Nelson tipped the scales at the weigh-in at 264). His record coming into The Ultimate Fighter is 10-1.

Everyone who spoke about the two men mentioned that their skills on the ground were comparable, so they would probably remain standing and slug it out. Dana White was impressed by Wren’s preliminary bout against Wes Sims but was yet to be impressed by Roy Nelson.

During the episode, the drama of Matt Mitrione‘s life continued: his “brain” still hurt (he told someone that his opponent had “rattled” his brain) and he eventually spent the night in the hospital. Afterward, he told Dana White that he still wanted to fight, but White wanted to have the doctor’s approval.

Round 1 of the first quarterfinal bout: Wren was the aggressor from the beginning, going after Nelson with big punches. Nelson rushed Wren to the fence and while in the clinch applied some knees. The referee split them up after no further action.

Both men then battled it out in the center of the ring. Wren began to fatigue at about the 2 1/2 minute mark and had his hands too low. From then on, McSweeney yelled intermittently for Wren to raise his hands. Wren threw lots of wild shots, most of which missed their mark; he expended a great deal of energy with those shots, throwing his whole body into them.

Round 2 began with jabs from Nelson and an outside leg kick from Wren. Wren then used strikes and a kick combo. Nelson continued with the jabs and, when in the clinch, Wren applied a solid elbow.

The round continued with Nelson picking Wren apart, throwing punches right down the middle. Wren’s hands were extremely low and he was exhausted. 

The fight went to decision with the majority going to Nelson. We thought the first round might have been a draw and the second went to Nelson, so it was close.

Nelson has a huge ego and told White that the fight was something for Dana to be excited about. White was again not impressed.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Wednesdays at Spike at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3- Note: Roy Nelson’s preliminary fight was in this episode.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

ayjay

November 12, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 Episode 7 aired yesterday without a fight with Kimbo Slice, despite hints virtually every episode. There was a major kerfuffle between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, such that all their coaches and team members looked very serious and people kept trying to step between them. The argument was a continuance of all the others: Jackson’s beaking off about Evans’s being cocky and Evans’ talking about Jackson’s not being a coach to his team, etc.

The fight of this episode was between Matt Mitrione of Evans’s team and Scott Junk of Jackson’s. Mitrione comes across as a goof and fool, is called “Meathead” by Evans and others, as well as “Rat”, as in ”He’s a rat”. He seems to always be involved in confrontations with other housemates. He played professional football in the NFL before turning to mixed martial arts and training with Chris Lytle and Jake O’Brien. Dana White said that he knew basically nothing about the guy.

Junk, on the other hand, has an MMA record of 6 and 2 and had his team members going on at great length about his abilities and background. He has had one match in the UFC which he took on two weeks’ notice, losing by submission in the first round. Even Dana White said that Junk would win, since he was very tough, will stand up and bang, and can go to the ground.

Round 1 of the match had Mitrione, the inexperienced fighter, catching Junk’s leg three different times to knock Junk down. He followed the knock downs with multiples strikes. Each time, though, he let Junk get up. For the first three minutes or so of the round, Mitrione controlled Junk completely. Junk looked worn out. Eventually Mitrione was tired himself, mouth-breathing, hands very low, and Junk managed a clinch at the fence. Junk just leaned into Mitrione until they broke the clinch. Junk finally got in close to Mitrione and struck many times. As the buzzer sounded, both men just leaned against each other in exhaustion.

Round 2 had Mitrione still drained, breathing through his mouth, hands down by his sides. He accomplished a few low leg kicks, but had feeble jabs. Junk tried to get in closer and managed a take down. While in full guard, Junk applied some strikes, but Mitrione had more punches from the bottom.

They were stood up by the referee. Mitrione threw a body kick, but had his hands very low and got clocked by Junk. Mitrione then was successful with most of his strikes and Junk was barely trying.

Unanimous decision in favour of Matt Mitrione.

This is the seventh match in a row which Jackson’s team has lost. Jackson left the area and smashed apart a door (one of those hollow doors with honeycomb insulation) to the change rooms. White called this fight “awesome” but our reaction here was that it was weird: Junk couldn’t accomplish anything for the first few minutes and got knocked down consistently. Only when Mitrione was tired himself did Junk get in close enough to connect (although there was a significant reach advantage by Mitrione – 7 or 8 inches). Both men had extremely poor cardio and were probably grateful that the match didn’t go to the third round.

The last preliminary fight will be between Michael Wessel and Marcus Jones.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

Ocotber 29, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is close to completion of its preliminary bouts. Yesterday’s fight, the sixth, was between Darrill Schoonover from Rashad Evans‘s team and Zak Jensen from Rampage Jackson‘s. Both these men have had problems in the house: Jensen has alienated or has been alienated by his teammates. He has had problems during training with complaints about his shoulder and has even been knocked out during training.

Schoonover has had a severe drinking problem which we just learned about. Evans felt that Schoonover’s drinking was affecting his training, giving him poor cardio. Schoonover said he would not drink, or drink just a little, or wait until after his first fight. He realized that in order to be able to fight he would have to curtail the alcohol.

In addition to the drinking issue, Schoonover had to contend with Jackson’s mocking his physique by constantly talking about his “titties”. This is not the first time that Jackson mocked a member of Evans’s team: he ridiculed McSweeney‘s English accent several weeks ago. In both cases, the mockery caused confrontations during which Evans placed himself between the two men in order to avert a physical battle. Any attempt by an Ultimate Fighter to hit Jackson would cause the contender to be thrown out of the competition.

One of Jackson’s coaches took the “titties” comments and the mockery to the extreme by having a professional artist paint caricatures of Evans’s team on a poster. While very clever (Schoonover with a push-up bra, Madsen in makeup, Evans as a dancing frog [I think]), the poster was offensive, indicative of Jackson’s disdain for Evans and his team. Evans removed the poster before his team could see it and be distracted by it, but told the men about it, and advised them to retain their focus on the competition.

Jensen’s teammates actually had a pool as to when he was going to go crazy and several of them were trying to break him. Tormenting the man will not help him improve his social skills or mental health.

During Jensen’s training for the elimination match, he was cut severely above the right eye, causing Kimbo Slice to jump with joy in anticipation of replacing Jensen. Jensen, however, said that he would still fight. The training went so well that his coaches felt he would win the bout.

Further to Jackson’s ridicule of Schoonover, he and a coach wrote the word “titties” below Schoonover’s name on the brass plaque of the changing room. This juvenile behaviour was to psych him out, I suppose.

Schoonover, with a background in jiu jitsu, judo and submission grappling, has had ten professional fights and won all ten. Jensen was a collegiate wrestler and football player and has competed in “Tough Man” and Golden Gloves competitions. His record is 7-2 and he has a four inch reach advantage.

The fight began strongly with both men striking, locking up and moving to the fence. Jensen attempted a front guillotine (hadaka jime), but was unsuccessful. Schoonover applied some knees and many strikes.

Jensen took Schoonover down landing in guard and did some ground and pound. Schoonover applied a triangle choke(Sankaku Jime) on Jensen as Jensen was throwing strikes to his head. Schoonover kept the legs tightly around Jensen’s head and even though he seemed not to be interested in controlling Jensen’s arm (or protecting his own face as Jensen threw punches), the choke was effective and Jensen was choked out.

The main difference this week to previous weeks is that Jackson was not depressed. His team has lost every match, six in a row now. Even though they have lost, he is planning further pranks.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike at 10:00 p.m. Wednesdays E.S.T.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 22, 2009

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 followed the antics of Zak Jensen, the problems of Matt Mitrione continuing from last week, and the two fighters who were picked by Evans for the elimination bout.

Jensen succeeded in alienating at least one other person in the house and having all the others laugh at him. In addition, he seemed to lack the ability to interact socially with the other men. Evans said the only things that Jensen had going for him were his size and that he’s a wrestler. He was terrible at training practice and, during one session while doing groundwork, was choked out by a teammate.

Amazingly, Jensen was kept on his back and someone slapped his chest in an attempt bring him to. If you know there is no spinal cord injury, basic first aid would have him turned onto his side with the bottom arm extended and the upper leg over the bottom.

Mitrione complained at great length about his shoulder, wanting to ice it after a training session. Evans kept after him about whether it was injured or was just sore.  Mitrione also wanted a cortisone injection in the shoulder. We saw him throw a football and then promptly complain about his shoulder during training. Some of the teammates suggested that Mitrione wanted to wait as long as possible before his elimination fight and the constant complaining about his shoulder would delay his being named to fight.

Jackson appeared depressed and self-involved about the losses his team had experienced. Going into this episode, his team had yet to win a fight, having lost four in a row.

Rashad Evans picked Justin Wren from his team to fight against Wes Sims from Jackson’s. Wren is a young guy, one of the shortest at 6’3″, with a very strong background in wrestling at the high school and university levels. During a year off to recuperate after an injury, he moved on to MMA. He currently trains with Travis Lutter, but plans to move to Las Vegas to work with Frank Mir. Evans thought that Wren was superior to Sims in all areas.

Sims is much taller (6’10″) and has a six inch reach advantage over Wren. He had planned on professional wrestling until Mark Coleman introduced him to MMA. In 2003 while in the UFC, he lost two matches to Frank Mir. He is far more experienced than Wren with over thirty professional matches, winning twenty-two. Kimbo Slice said that Sims wouldn’t tap out – he’d have to be knocked out or hurt.

Sims’s plan was to “stay long and fight tall”. He told the camera that he was going to crush Wren.

Dana White said he knew very little about Wren, but based on size, thought Sims had the advantage.

Although they are close in weight, with about a ten pound difference, Sims towered over Wren. At the sound of the bell, though, Wren was the aggressor, rushing Sims to push him against the fence. Sims stomped on Wren’s feet and applied a knee. In response, Wren took Sims down. Sims seemed to crumple. Wren immediately had full mount, then moved to the side and placed Sims in a ground hold – kata gatame , shoulder lock or hold or arm triangle. (The following video shows the transition from kesa gatame to kata gatame and might be of interest – kesa to kata.) Sims did not fight the hold at all. Herb Dean went over to him and moved Sims’ left arm to determine whether he was conscious. After a few seconds the arm dropped slowly to his side and he was out.

Once again Jackson did not go to his team member in the octagon. In fact, he left the ring area and went to the locker room to discuss the issues of losing all the matches.

Evans caught up with him and told Jackson that he was being himself – selfish.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 15, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 began last night. This is the season of heavyweights with coaches Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans and, as the top dog, or most-looked-forward-to-individual, Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson). In addition to the size factor, the ages of these people are different from previous seasons: most of these guys are aged from mid-twenties to Slice at the high end at 35.

The guys had two hours only in which to show their skills to the coaches. After the two hours, Jackson and Evans picked their teams. Evans seemed interested in guys who could take direction well and Jackson wanted the biggest fellows.

Jackson picked the first fight – his guy, Abe Wagner, against Jon Madsen from Evans’ team. Madsen is 6′ and 240, whereas Wagner is 6’4″ and 265. Madsen’s background is all wrestling. He started in high school and actually won against Brock Lesnar as a kid. He was a Division 1 national wrestling champion at university as well. He trains with Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawlor.

Wagner’s background is in football and basketball, including being a linebacker in university. He is employed as a mechanical engineer and has studied mixed martial arts since 2005.

Madsen’s game plan was to take Wagner down, since Evans said Wagner’s groundwork experience was lacking. Wagner believed he could win the match, that his jiu jitsu was sufficient to win. He also is decidedly larger than Madsen - four inches taller, twenty-five pounds heavier and a five inch reach advantage.

The match began with Madsen taking Wagner down within seconds. Wagner held on to Madsen tightly, but Madsen delivered punches to Wagner’s kidney and ribs and then did some ground and pound. He opened a huge gash in Wagner’s head from the hair down the forehead and there were puddles of blood everywhere.

Round 2 began in the same way as round 1 – an immediate take down which Wagner did not fight. It was a cheap shot, though, as Wagner reached out to touch gloves and Madsen faked him out, taking him down instead. They were made to stand after a while as nothing happened with either man. Madsen looked gassed, but he easily controlled Wagner.

Most of the round consisted of take downs and closed guards. Jackson screamed, “Abe, get up!” many times in the round, to no avail. Wagner did trap one of Madsen’s legs and threw a knee when told to, but got taken down again.

Unanimous win by Madsen.

Jackson walked out after the match and took responsibility for picking the fight.

As for potential in this season, we have Jackson and Evans arguing continually from start to finish in the episode. Clips from next week’s show indicate that the conflict continues. Kimbo Slice is a target in everyone’s sights, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Will the coaches keep him in reserve to ensure an audience or treat him like any other competitor?

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

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

September 17, 2009

UFC 98 Evans vs Machida had knockouts and tap outs galore.

Sean Sherk fought Frank Edgar for Fight of the Night. Edgar had excellent stamina, moved constantly, attacked with combinations, threw high kicks, feinted punches, and avoided most of Sherk’s punches. Round 1 went to Edgar. Sherk was flat-footed and just followed Edgar around the octagon. Edgar had a five inch reach advantage on Sherk and it was very obvious: Sherk had a hard time connecting. Edgar moved in to attack and then sidled out of the way.

Round 2 had Sherk connecting more, but mostly one-off punches. Edgar had more combos and, again, moved constantly. It was very much a boxing match with few kicks and few takedowns.

Round 3 began by a take down from Sherk in response to punches from Edgar. Edgar got to his feet and had Sherk frustrated again as he missed lots of his strikes. Sherk attempted a take down and ended up with Edgar pulling guard and applying a guillotine right at the bell.

Unanimous decision in Edgar’s favour. Fight of the Night. 

The match between Chael Sonnen and Dan Miller covered loads of ground techniques as Miller spent every opportunity trying submissions. I assume this was because Sonnen loses by submission; however, since Miller was on the bottom when on the ground and the submissions weren’t working, Miller was pummelled for three rounds. Sonnen got out of a very tight guillotine at the beginning of the first round, took Miller down heavily in round 2, applied big punches and elbows, took Miller down again in round 3, and just controlled the match. Miller tried guillotine chokes and other submissions, but Sonnen was victorious. Unanimous decision in Sonnen’s favour.

Drew McFedries came out against Xavier Foupa-Pokam with a knockout at 37 seconds of round 1. Both these men are known for their knockout power and McFedries proved it here. Xavier was out on his feet from the third punch and then another ten or eleven connected before the referee stopped the match. Xavier followed McFedries around the octagon, literally hanging on to his leg, but he was out of it. TKO referee stoppage.

Kryzsztof Soszynski fought against Andre Gusmao in a preliminary bout. Gusmao used some inside leg kicks, one of which caused Soszynski to drop to one knee. Soszynski, in turn, used combos and, for a guy who loves arm bars, threw a straight punch and flattened Gusmao. Knockout.

The co-main event between the Matts – Hughes versus Serra  – came up next. There was non-stop mention of their hate for each other, et cetera, ad nauseum. Hughes wanted to shut Serra up and Serra wanted to do the same. I guess this makes for good television. They didn’t touch gloves and came out aggressively, such that Serra inadvertently headbutted Hughes (or Hughes munched his chin into Serra’s head) and had Hughes on the run for several minutes. Even at the break, Hughes asked his corner if he’d been knocked down. Despite the headbutt, Hughes controlled the round with a strong takedown and choke attempt from grapevine.

Round 2 had Serra connecting with strong punches, but a takedown by Hughes, with his ending in Serra’s guard, had Hughes pounding Serra and controlling him for most of the round. Serra was on the bottom waiting for the right moment or technique and was dominated.

Round 3 had submission attempts by Serra after another take down by Hughes. Serra trapped Hughes’s arm for an oma plata which didn’t quite work and then tried it on the other arm. He then tried a triangle. Standing again, Serra did a take down. Ground and pound followed as well as an attempt at a kimura. Ridiculously, after all the trash talking, they hugged after the match. Unanimous decision in Hughes’s favour.

The other co-main event was next with Rashad Evans against Lyoto Machida. In our boathold we had four people, three of whom picked Machida to win. I’m for the underdog, so I went for Evans. I find Machida’s fighting style, although extremely technical and effective, to be mostly boring. He moves in for the quick attack and then out again, standing with his upper body leaning away from his opponent. It makes him a far more elusive target, but doesn’t make for a fun fight. (To be fair, I do prefer ground techniques, none of which we saw here; I’m also not technically inclined, so the art of finding the right instant to go in is beyond me.) Evans and Machida spent a good deal of the match tapping gloves; in fact, the first two minutes of the first round was just that. This was so boring that, despite writing notes during the match, I had a difficult time keeping the eyes open. Machida was first to connect with a head kick causing Evans to wobble. Later in the round, Machida’s strike took Evans to the ground and Machida jumped on him.

Round 2 had the men at the fence with Machida using combos and Evans countering. Machida then punched Evans multiple times, such that Evans crumpled with his head flopping to the side. Machida is now the UFC light heavyweight champion. The guys on the boat called this the Knockout of the Night, although Soszynski’s was pretty good. The tapping of the gloves and non-connecting for long stretches makes this NOT the fight of the night.

Another preliminary match was between Brock Larson and Mike Pyle. This match contained the Technique of the Night with Larson doing a lovely kata gatame (arm triangle choke) on Pyle, not something one often sees in the UFC.

Canadian Tim Hague, a heavyweight at 265, but spry on his feet, won his match with Pat Barry. He got Barry in a guillotine and rolled over, staying attached, and ending with Barry on the bottom, legs trapped, neck in guillotine. Tap out. Spry indeed.

UFC 98 Evans vs Machida had a good range of techniques and knockouts, a variety of styles and other than the tapping of the gloves in the Evans/Machida fight (reminiscent of Wladimir  Klischko, I think), a good night.

ayjay

May 24, 2009

P.S. Right now, Machida is considered the most effective fighter in the UFC, not having lost any round and not having been taken down by anyone. My gut feeling is that, as with learning how to counter the Gracies, people will learn how to fight Machida’s style. We’ll see people taking karate or some other kicking martial art and having their coaches work out ways to counter Machida’s karate. ayjay, May 25, 2009