2008 MMA Notebook...........

[mlittle]

With the mid-point of 2008 in the rear-view, it is time to look back at the first 6 months of the year and point out IMO the 5 biggest upsets in the UFC this year...............

~~(5)UFC 83, Jason "Dooms" Day vs. Alan Belcher
Going into the fight, you had two rising stars in the 185-lb division in Jason Day, who had made a name for himself in the Canadian MMA circuit w/wins over Patrick Cote, Jonathan Goulet and David Loiseau, and Alan Belcher, who was favored to win.....unfortunately, "Dooms" Day absolutely demolished Belcher, winning by TKO at 3:58 of the 1st round and putting himself squarely in the mix for a future title shot agst. middleweight champion Anderson Silva
~~(4)UFC 86, Forrest Griffin vs. Quentin "Rampage" Jackson
Okay, raise your hand if you thought Forrest Griffin would win over Rampage Jackson........hands?.........anyone?..........Bueller?......most everyone had Rampage as a winner, so it was definitely an upset of the first order when Griffin dominated the five-round fight, using a combination of strikes, leg kicks and the ground game to win a unanimous decision over Rampage and become the UFC's light-heavyweight champion.
~~(3)UFC 82, Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Last year, "The Texas Crazy Horse", Heath Herring, made the upsets list....as the one who was upset; this year, he makes the list for pulling off an upset, in this case defeating Cheick Kongo, who was coming off a victory over Mirko Cro Cop. Although the fight went the full three rounds, it was a split-decision victory for Herring. If Herring can continue his winning ways w/a win over UFC newcomer Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 this August, he could end up being a Top-10 fighter this year.
~~(2)UFC 80, Jorge Rivera vs. Kendall Grove
Jorge Rivera was on a losing streak of sorts going into the fight, having lost his most-recent fight by KO, so no one had him winning versus "da Spider"........unfortunately for "da Spider", Rivera channeled all his pent-up aggression and laid on an absolute beating of Grove, winning by TKO at 1:20 of the 1st round
~~(1)UFC 85--Kevin Burns vs. Roan Carneiro
Some fighters will take fights on short notice.....some will even do well.......Case in point, Kevin Burns, who less than 2 weeks after his last fight, stepped into the Octagon agst. Roan Carneiro and, not only won by submission, but his submission of Carneiro won Burns "Submission of the Night" honors, especially when you consider that Carneiro is a black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That alone earned this upset the top spot.

[mlittle]

Thursday I took a gander down memory lane at 2008's upsets within the UFC at the year's mid-point.....today's its' Knockout Time!


~~(5)UFC 81--Tim Boestch vs. David Heath
Coming in on short notice and defeating David Heath's impressive enough.....it was the way Boetsch did it that earned him a spot on this list; he slammed Heath to the ground and just went to school on the poor guy, ground-n'-poundin' his way to a 1st round TKO
~~(4)UFC Fight Night 13--Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer
Remember the ole' saying, "Speed kills"? Well.....that was in evidence at UFC Fight Night 13 as Johnson took out Speer, a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Hughes vs Serra in less than 60 seconds(51 to be exact), which considering that, going into the fight, Speer was considered to have one of the most granite chins in all of MMA, earned Johnson his place on the list
~~(3)Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves.........[a]vs. Karo Parisyan @ UFC Fight Night 13, vs. Matt Hughes @ UFC 85
You know that saying, "Two for the price of one"? That's how "the Pit Bull", Thiago Alves, earned his spot on this list. In both fights, Alves walked in the underdog and walked out the winner; both Parisyan(1 TKO loss in 30 fights up to then) and Hughes(2 TKO losses in 49 pro fights) were heavy favorites but he isn't called the "Pit Bull" for nothing! Utilizing his striking and stand-up skills in both TKO wins, Alves proved he might not bark much, but last time I checked, pit bulls didn't bark much, if you know what I mean..........
~~(2)UFC 84--Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Given the intricacy and strategms of the MMA fight game, one forgets on occasion that it is a fight we're watching, first of all....Case in point, Wandy's stand-up massacre of Keith "the Dean of Mean" Jardine in just over a half-minute in round 1 of the fight.
~~(1)UFC Fight Night 13--James Irvin vs. Houston Alexander
Eight seconds.......that alone puts this bout at the top spot of the list; they come out to center, touch gloves and BAM!! Irvin throws a 'Superman' punch and it is lights-out for Alexander. Fight over, ladies and gentlemen!!

[mlittle]

In mixed-martial arts fights, a good knockout will make you say, "WHOA!" while a good submission will make you go, "WOW!".......and so it goes with the five best submissions of the year so far in the UFC...........

~~(5)UFC 85--Kevin Burns vs. Roan Carneiro
This fight already made the "Upsets" list of the year so far, but the fact that Burns put a nice submission via. triangle choke agst. a jiu-jitsu blackbelt such as Carneiro earned Burns a second listing so far this year
~~(4)UFC 86--Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel
For 13 or so minutes, Jorge Gurgel had this fight won.......he was leading on two judges' scorecards and should've had at least a split decision win over the tall, lanky Georgian Miller......instead, he made one mistake and Miller, a purple-belt jiu-jitsu fighter, made the black-belt Gurgel pay dearly, winning by submission via. triangle choke
~~(3)UFC 81--Antonio Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
Oh, what a difference a round makes......for the first two rounds, Noguiera tried to stand and fight w/Sylvia and was not doing so well; in the third round, though, he switched gears and took the bigger Sylvia to the ground and that was it, game over via. guillotine choke. As "Minotauro" put it afterward,

I played his game for two rounds (and was losing). He played my game for two minutes and I won.

~~(2)UFC 81--Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
It was IMO some of the best 90 seconds in the sport this year. Lesnar, a former pro wrestler, in his second UFC bout, had taken the former heavyweight champion Mir to the ground early and was starting to dominate the bout when he made a mistake w/an illegal hit. Losing one point was bad enough, but the rest gave Mir enough of a chance to come back, capitalize on a Lesnar mistake and use his ground skills to win via. kneebar
~~(1)Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh BurkmanThe scary thing about Dustin Hazelett isn't that he trains with some of the top fighters in the game, such as Rich "Ace" Franklin and Jorge Gurgel.....it's that, with all his talent, he's only 22yo. And his talent was on full display last month when he submitted Josh Burkman with one of the best armbar submissions ever, an armbar described by Spike TV's MMA analyst Joe Rogan as,

....probably the sweetest armbar I've ever seen in mixed martial arts.

Won't argue with that viewpoint.

[mlittle]

Okay, we've seen the top upsets of the year, the top knockouts of the year and the top submissions of the year.........so what were the top-5 fights of the year up to now?

The five fights that were the best up to now IMO were................
~~UFC 84, Goran Reljic TKO2 over Wilson Gouveia
~~UFC 80, Paul Kelly W3 over Paul Taylor
~~UFC Fight Night 13, Nate Diaz Wsub2 over Kurt Pellegrino
~~UFC 85, Matt Wiman KO2 over Thiago Tavares
~~UFC 86, Forrest Griffin W5 over Quentin Jackson


With that, I know I can't wait for the second-half of the year to begin......as they say in the Octagon, "Bring it ON!"

[mlittle]

....and now, the second half of 2008 begins with UFC Fight Night/Silva vs. Irvin.


~~UNDERCARD FIGHTS.........................
~~(lightweight)Dale Hartt[5-0] vs. Shannon Gugerty[10-2-1]
~~(welterweight)James Giboo[11-2] vs. Brad Blackburn[12-9-1]
~~(middleweight)Nate Loughran[8-0] vs. Johnny Rees[10-0]
~~(welterweight)Brodie Farber[13-3] vs. Rory Markham[15-4]
~~(middleweight)Tim Credeur[10-4] vs. Cale Yarbrough[n/a]
~~(middleweight)Jesse Taylor[7-2] vs. C.B. Dollaway[7-1]
~~(welterweight)Anthony Johnson[4-1] vs. Kevin Burns[4-1]
~~(heavyweight)Cain Velasquez[19-5] vs. Jake O'Brien[10-2]
~~(lightweight)Hermes Franca[19-5] vs. Frank "the Answer" Edgar[8-1]
~~(light heavyweight)Brandon "the Truth" Vera"[8-2] vs. Reese "Riptide" Andy[7-1]
~~MAIN EVENT..........................
~~(light heavyweight)Anderson "the Spider" Silva[22-4] vs. James "the Sandman" Irvin[14-4-1]......this fight presents an interesting set of dichotomies......(1)with only a few top-level opponents(Cote, Bisping, Almeida) left to challenge for the 185-lb. belt, Anderson Silva makes his debut in the 205-lb. division agst. talented striker James Irvin......if Silva wins, (2)expect him to move up to 205 by the end of the year. If Silva should lose to the Sandman, (3)not only does that give Irvin an impressive feather in his own cap, it means that the Spider is indeed, human....and that could enliven the 185-lb division.

[mlittle]

UFC Fight Night 14 Results...................

***UNDERCARD FIGHTS***
~~Hartt vs. Gugerty; Gugerty wins by submission[rear naked choke] at 3:33, 1st round
~~Giboo vs. Blackburn; Blackburn wins by TKO[strikes] at 2:29, 2nd round
~~Loughran vs. Rees; Loughran wins by submission[triangle choke] at 4:21, 1st round
~~Farber vs. Markham; Markham wins by KO at 1:37, 1st round
~~Credeur vs. Yarbrough; Credeur wins by TKO at 1:54, 1st round
~~Taylor vs. Dollaway; Dollaway wins by submission[peruvian neck-tie] at 3:58, 1st round
~~Johnson vs. Burns; Burns wins by TKO[referee stoppage] at 3:35, 3rd round
~~Velasquez vs. O'Brien; Velasquez wins by TKO[strikes] at 2:02, 1st round
~~Franca vs. Edgar; Edgar wins by unanimous decision
~~Vera vs. Andy; Vera wins by unanimous decision
****MAIN EVENT****
~~Silva vs. Irvin; Silva wins by TKO[strikes] at 1:01, 1st round. 61 seconds......that's all Anderson Silva needed to demolish James Irvin; considering that Silva normally fights at the 185-lb. level, if he's this good agst. a veteran fighter like Irvin, then one wonders what everyone in the 205-lb. division must be thinking after this fight. However, don't expect Silva to move up until he finishes out the middleweights, starting with an expected title shot vs. Patrick Cote later this year

[mlittle]

Upcoming MMA Fight Schedule..........................
~~26 July 2008: Elite XC--Lawler vs. Smith II, Stockton Arena, Stockton, Ca.(CBS Sports)
~~3 August 2008: WEC 35, Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, Nv.(Versus)
~~9 August 2008: UFC 87--Seek and Destroy, Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.(Spike PPV)

[mlittle]

Isn't it appropriate that UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, is being held at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Mn.?

With that, here is the fight card for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy..........



UNDERCARD FIGHTS....................
~~(welterweight)Ben Saunders[5-0-2] vs. Ryan Thomas[n/a]
~~(welterweight)Chris Thomas[12-5-1] vs. Steve Bruno[12-3]
~~(light heavyweight)Andre Gusmao[5-0] vs. John Jones[6-0]
~~(heavyweight)Cheick Kongo[21-5-1] vs. Dan "the Viking" Evensen[10-2]
~~(welterweight)Luke Cummo[9-6] vs. Tamdan McCrory[10-1]
~~(middleweight)Jason MacDonald[21-9] vs. Damien Maia[8-0]
~~(lightweight)Manny "the Anvil" Gamburyan[9-3] vs. Rob "the Saint" Emerson[9-6-1]

MAIN UNDERCARD............
~~(lightweight)Kenny "KenFlo" Florian[9-3] vs. Roger "El Matador" Huerta[22-1-1]......this fight has "Fight of the Year potentially written all over it; both fighters have excellent all-around skills and neither has ever had a non-exciting fight, so be prepared.....
~~(heavyweight)Brock Lesnar[1-1] vs. Heath "the Texas Crazy Horse" Herring[29-13-1]......This, by far, is newcomer Lesnar's toughest fight; Herring has reinvigorated his career and is coming off an impressive win over Cheick Kongo earlier this year, while Lesnar is looking to come back after losing to former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir....like Florian/Huerta, this should be an exciting fight

MAIN EVENT..........
UFC Welterweight Championship
--Challenger, Jon Fitch[22-2]
--Champion, Georges "Rush" St. Pierre[16-2]
Now this is what a main event should be, IMO......you have a challenger in Jon Fitch, who's worked his way up the ladder in the 170-lb. division, beating some tough competitors including Luigi Fioravanti and Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez and finally gets a shot at the belt.....on the other hand, you have a fighter in Georges St. Pierre, who's beaten the likes of Matt Hughes, Matt Serra(both Serra and Hughes were past welterweight champions), B.J. Penn(current lightweight champion), Josh Koscheck, Sean Sherk and Karo Parisyan. On paper, this could be a mismatch in favor of GSP, but then again....did anyone really think Forrest Griffin would prevail over Quentin Jackson a couple months back?

[mlittle]

I feel sorry for the judges who sat through UFC 87 this past Saturday....I mean, most of the time, they sit and watch fights end by TKO or submission; who'd thought they'd have to decide most of the night's fights?


UFC 87--Seek and Destroy
Fight Card Results.................................
~~(welterweight)Saunders vs. Thomas; Saunders wins by submission[armbar] at 2:28, 2nd round
~~(welterweight)Wilson vs. Bruno; Wilson wins by unanimous decision
~~(light heavyweight)Gusmao vs. Jones; Jones wins by unanimous decision
~~(heavyweight)Kongo vs. Evensen; Kongo wins by TKO at 4:55, 1st round
~~(welterweight)Cummo vs. McCrory; McCrory wins by unanimous decision
~~(middleweight)MacDonald vs. Maia; Maia wins by submission[choke] at 2:55, 3rd round
~~(lightweight)Gamburyan vs. Emerson; Emerson wins by TKO[strikes]
at 0:12, 1st round

~~(heavyweight)Lesnar vs. Herring....Right from the get-go, Lesnar took the fight to Herring, connecting on a right punch early in round 1 and continuing on all three rounds, using strikes and an effective ground-n'-pound to win an easy unanimous decision. If Lesnar can keep up the effort and work at his submissions, he could very well be a new force in the heavyweight class.
~~(lightweight)Florian vs. Huerta. Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole said it best; both Florian and Huerta showed that they could be lightweight champions eventually in their own rights. On this day, though, it was the Bay Stater, Florian, who won by unanimous decision, continually frustrated the younger Huerta through an varied attack that the "El Matador" simply couldn't handle.

~~MAIN EVENT
UFC Welterweight Championship
--Challenger, Jon Fitch
--Champion, Georges St. Pierre
Its' said every time GSP comes to fight, we see an evolution in his career; if so, this was by far the best GSP anyone's ever seen in his MMA career. Starting with a straight right early on and continuing on, GSP completely dominated Fitch throughout the fight, winning a unanimous decision and retaining his welterweight belt. Next up for the French-Canadian GSP is an all-but announced fight agst. current lightweight champion "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn, considered to be a dream fight in the UFC at present.

[mlittle]

Upcoming MMA Fight Schedule.........................
~~6 Sept. 2008: UFC 88/Liddell vs. Evans, Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.(Spike TV PPV)
~~10 Sept. 2008: WEC 86--Faber vs. Brown, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, Pensacola, Fla.(Versus)
~~17 Sept. 2008: UFC Ultimate Fight Night 15, Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Neb.(Spike TV)
~~20 Sept. 2008: Strikeforce--Misaki vs. Riggs, Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, Ca.(TV tba)

[mlittle]

UFC 88: Breakthrough
Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.
Fight Card.....................


^^^^UNDERCARD FIGHTS^^^^
~~(welterweight)Roan Carneiro[12-7] vs. Ryo Chonan[14-8]
~~(middleweight)Jason "the Punisher" Lambert[23-8] vs. Jason MacDonald[21-10]
~~(welterweight)Dong Hyung Kim[10-0-1] vs. Matt Brown[10-6]
~~(light heavyweight)Tim "the Barbarian" Boetsch[7-2] vs. Michael Patt[15-2]
~~(lightweight)Thiago Tavares[17-2] vs. Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino[17-4]
~~(middleweight)Martin "the Hitman" Kampmann[13-1] vs. Nate "the Great" Marquardt[29-8-2]
~~(middleweight)Dan "Hendo" Henderson[22-7] vs. Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares[17-1]
~~(welterweight)Karo "the Heat" Parisyan[26-5] vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida[10-2]

***MAIN UNDERCARD FIGHT***
~~(light heavyweight)Rich "Ace" Franklin[25-3] vs. Matt "the Hammer" Hamill[6-1]. After fighting in the 185-lb. class for the past few years, former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin moves up in weight to 205, and his first challenge is one of the better wrestlers/grapplers in the sport in Matt Hamill. Whoever can get the advantage on the ground, IMO, should walk away with the victory.

MAIN EVENT.....................
~~(light heavyweight)Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell[21-5] vs. "Sugar" Rashad Evans[16-0-1]. Originally slated for UFC 85 earlier this year, fight fans finally get to see former The Ultimate Fighter heavyweight winner Evans face off against one of the best strikers in the sport in the Iceman. Liddell is coming off a huge win over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 late in 2007, while Evans is coming off a split decision win over Michael Bisping at UFC 78. Both fighters are looking to move up the 205-ladder and a potential title shot vs. current champ Forrest Griffin, so expect a lot of sparks in this fight.

[mlittle]

UFC 88--Breakthrough
Fight Card Results................


***Preliminary Card***
~~(welterweight)Carneiro vs. Chonan; Chonan wins by split decision
~~(middleweight):ambert vs. MacDonald; MacDonald wins by submission[rear naked choke] at 1:20, 2nd round
~~(light heavyweight)Boetsch vs. Patt; Boetsch wins by TKO at 2:03, 1st round
~~(lightweight)Tavares vs. Pellegrino; Pellegrino wins by unanimous decision
~~(welterweight)Kim vs. Brown; Kim wins by split decision
~~(welterweight)Parisyan vs. Yoshida; fight cancelled...reason cited was a back injury suffered by Parisyan

****Main Preliminary Fights****
~~(middleweight)Kampmann vs. Marquardt; Marquardt wins by TKO[strikes] at 1:22, 1st round
~~(middleweight)Henderson vs. Palhares; Henderson wins by unanimous decision
~~(light heavyweight)Franklin vs. Hamill; Franklin wins by TKO at 0:39, 3rd round

^^^MAIN EVENT^^^
~~(light heayweight)Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell vs. "Sugar" Rashad Evans........going into the fight, the word on the street was that the winner would get the first shot at light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin; an Evans uppercut that put Liddell out cold(both fighters were throwing punches at the same time....Evans connected first) resulted in a KO win for Evans and a title shot agst. Griffin, likely towards the beginning of 2009

[mlittle]

UFC Fight Night--Diaz vs. Neer
Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Fight Card.................


****UNDERCARD****
~~(middleweight)Dan Miller[8-1-1] vs. Rob Kimmons[21-3]
~~(middleweight)Drew McFedries[7-3] vs. Mike Massenzio[10-2]
~~(light heavyweight)Jason "Hitman" Britz[15-1-1] vs. Brad Morris[10-3]
~~(lightweight)Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon[15-4] vs. Kyle Bradley[13-5-1]
~~(middleweight)Wilson Gouveia[10-5] vs. Ryan Jensen[13-4]
~~(middleweight)Alessio Sakara[16-7-1] vs. Joe Vedepo[n/a]
~~(light heavyweight)Houston Alexander[8-3-1] vs. Eric Schafer[11-3-2]
~~(middleweight)Ed "Short Fuse" Herman[16-5] vs. Alan "the Talent" Belcher[11-4]
~~(lightweight)Clay "the Carpenter" Guida[23-6] vs. Mac Danzig[19-4-1]

****MAIN EVENT***
~~(lightweight)Nick Diaz[9-2] vs. Josh "the Dentist" Neer[24-6-1]

[mlittle]

UFC Night Fight--Diaz vs. Neer
Fight Card Results(from 17 Sept. 2008)


****UNDERCARD FIGHTS****
~~(middleweight)Miller vs. Kimmons; Miller wins by submission[choke] at 1:27, 1st round
~~(middleweight)McFedries vs. Massenzio; Massenzio wins by submission[arm lock] at 1:28, 1st round
~~(light heavyweight)Brilz vs. Morris; Brilz wins by TKO at 2:54, 2nd round
~~(lightweight)Lauzon vs. Bradley; Lauzon wins by TKO at 1:34, 2nd round
~~(middleweight)Gouveia vs. Jensen; Gouveia wins by submission[arm bar] at 2:04, 2nd round
~~(middleweight)Sakara vs. Vedepo; Sakara wins by KO at 1:27, 1st round

^^^TELEVISED UNDERCARD^^^
~~(light heavyweight)Alexander vs. Schafer; Schafer wins by submission[choke by arm triangle] at 4:53, 1st round
~~(middleweight)Herman vs. Belcher; Belcher wins by unanimous decision
~~(lightweight)Guida vs. Danzig; Guida wins by unanimous decision


MAIN EVENT
UFC Lightweight Division(155-lb. class)
Nate Daiz vs. Josh Neer..........................Diaz wins by split decision over Neer; this was, by all accounts, a tactical fight as both fighters fought to their strengths, similar to the Cote/Almeida bout back in UFC 86.

[mlittle]

Upcoming Fight Schedule.........................
~~18 October 2008: UFC 89--Bisping vs. Leben; National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England(Spike TV w/in the U.S.; PPV elsewhere)
~~25 October 2008: UFC 90--Cote vs. Silva; Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois(Spike PPV)
~~5 Nov. 2008: WEC 35--Faber vs. Brown; Seminole Hard Rock Casino, Hollywood, Fla.(note....rescheduled from 10 Sept.)
~~10 Nov. 2008: EliteXC--Lawler vs. Villasenor; Reno, Nv.(Showtime PPV)
~~15 Nov. 2008: UFC 91--Lesnar vs. Couture; MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nv.(Spike PPV)