(Photo: Sherdog.com)

UFC 109 is in the books and considering the card had no title matches, there were still some very entertaining match-ups.  This was not an easy event to be picking winners with any degree of confidence and the results were certainly varied, with a couple of “upsets”.

 Main Event recap: Mark Coleman (205) VS RandySonnen Couture (205)

The main event between Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman ended up being a little one sided. Sure, both men are Hall of Famers and legends in the sport but Randy has simply been more active and relevant as the sport has developed. 

Couture dominated Coleman within his striking and dirty boxing during round one and although he did get caught once by Coleman while moving inside, he really picked Coleman apart and it just looked like a matter of time as round 1 came to an end.  Round 2 began and Couture gets a takedown, working some ground and pound before taking Coleman’s back and choking him out for the rare submission victory.

Co-Main Event:Chael Sonnen (185) VS Nate Marquardt (186)

The fight started with Chael Sonnen coming right at Marquardt and after a few moments of striking it was takedown time for Sonnen followed up with some solid ground and pound.  This recipe was repeated for most of the fight.  Marquardt was able to threaten a few times with some guillotine attempts (one very close in round 2) and cut Sonnen with a Florian like elbow from his back that had blood everywhere.   just wouldn’t give at all though, and put in a grinding and sold performance.  Marquardt reversed Sonnen in the last 30 seconds of the fight and was pounding on him pretty good but the end result was a unanimous 30-27 decision victory for Sonnen. 

Sonnen will get the winner of Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort while Marquardt is back to work on his gameplan to stay at the top of the division.

Paulo Thiago (170) VS Mike Swick (171):

Mike Swick came to this fight as a replacement for team mate Josh Koscheck who was scheduled to re-match after an upset via KO at the hands of Thiago in his (Thiago’s) UFC debut.  Swick was definitely looking to punish Thiago and exact revenge on behalf of his friend.  Both fighters were respecting the power of the other and Swick had a reach advantage that would allow to to work a bit from the outside. While this was Swick’s tactic in the early stages of the fight, Thiago caught him with a few good, low leg kicks that put him off balance and allowed him to move in to striking distance.  A very even round 1 with Swick edging out Thiago.

The second round shows Swick loosening up a bit with his strikes.  The fighters exchange and Swick rocks Thiago a bit, moving in for the finish. Unfortunately he is a bit sloppy on the way in an Thiago catches him, dropping him on the canvass. Swick tries to pull guard but Thiago is able to work his position into a darce choke and Swick takes a nap in front of the crowd early in round 2.

I can’t help but thinking Swick looked physically better as a middleweight. He only dropped about 10 lbs to make 170, but he just looks so drawn out and seems to lack the real speed and power advantage that he displayed against the competition at 185lbs.  

Dan Miller (185) VS Demian Maia (186):

This fight was interesting to watch in terms of the closeness in skills and the development of each fighter’s game during their time in the UFC, but was somewhat less than a barn burner for the fans.  Miller was able to keep Maia from controlling him when on the ground, basically nullifying what was perceived to be a huge submission advantage to Maia heading into the fight.  The other surprise though was that Maia seems to have taken the brutal KO loss to Marquardt to heart and has cleaned up his striking quite a bit.

Maia outpointed Miller on the feet in a 3 round match, resulting in a unanimous decision victory that had the fans booing a bit, but really wasn’t too bad of a fight when you consider the overall situation.

Frank Trigg (171) VS Matt Serra (169):

Frank Trigg was pretty much outgunned in this fight and as with his last outing against Koscheck, never really got going as far as threatening his opponent. Serra was comfortable standing with Trigg and was able to catch him with a big overhand right to the chin that dropped Trigg mid-way through round 1.  Looks like a ticket out o the organization for Frank Trigg.

Justin Buchholz (156) VS Mac Danzig (156):

Dubbed as a loser leaves fight by Joe Rogan, this was a pretty entertaining bout with both fighter clearly fighting with a sense of urgency and desperation.  While Buchholz is a solid fighter with a ton of grit and heart, Danzig is simply the superior fighter. Danzig secured a unanimous decision victory and may have handed Buchholz his walking papers in the process.

Ronys Torres (156) VS Melvin Guillard (155):

In a battle of big 155r’s, Melvin Guillard was bringing his standard toolkit of striking power, speed and explosiveness against a solid chin and great ground game for Torres.  this was a good match with Guillard really showing some improved maturity as a fighter.  he was able to get off first most of the time while standing and stayed composed and effective when taken down to return to his feet and his strength.  This was not a blow out by any means but Guillard looked good in this one and seems to be on his way to addressing the mental holes in his fight game now that he is training with Greg Jackson.

Bonuses were as follows, with each fighter receiving a $60,000 tip from the UFC for their efforts: 

Read the rest of this entry »

(Image UFC.com)

The weigh ins for UFC 109 were held in Las Vegas this afternoon,  at the Mandalay Bay Event centre, which will host the event tomorrow.  The weigh in have become a minor event over the years and typically a few thousand fans are in attendance to get a glimpse of the fighters in a more intimate setting.  The UFC is one of few sports where the athletes really make an effort to interact with their fans and the weigh-ins are a great opportunity to grab a few autographs(usually after the event) and get a feel for the animosity between fighters a day before they meet in the Octagon.

There were no significant outbursts at the event and all 22 fighters made weight without issue.

 Notes:

• First UFC fight between 2 UFC Hall of Famers - Mark “The Hammer” Coleman vs Randy “The Natural” Couture. 
• Great nickname for UFC heavyweight rookie  Joey “The Mexicutioner”Beltran 
• Tim Hague vs Chris Tuchscherer is a big boy match with both men weighing 263lbs (just under the UFC cap of 265)
• Rob Emerson has gone from fairly clean cut looking a few years ago to heavily tattooed (back of his head? wow!) ust have missed this - check the comparison pick from 2 years ago - same weekend.

Official Weigh In Results from the UFC: 

Main Event
Mark Coleman (205) VS Randy Couture (205)

PPV
Chael Sonnen (185) VS Nate Marquardt (186)
Paulo Thiago (170) VS Mike Swick (171)
Dan Miller (185) VS Demian Maia (186)
Frank Trigg (171) VS Matt Serra (169)

Prelims on Spike
Justin Buchholz (156) VS Mac Danzig (156)
Ronys Torres (156) VS Melvin Guillard (155)

Undercard (may not be broadcast)
Rob Emerson (155) VS Phillipe Nover (155)
Phil Davis (205) VS Brian Stann (205)
Chris Tuchscherer (263) VS Tim Hague (263)
Rolles Gracie (247) VS Joey Beltran (238)

Click below link to view the full Weigh-in Video:     (Check out the picture gallery for the event here)

(Image: UFC.com)

A reminder that Spike TV will be airing the standard countdown show leading up to UFC 109 ‘Relentless’.  The show will focus on the main event fighters and UFC Hall of Fame inductees, Mark ” The Hammer” Coleman and Randy “The Natural” Couture, tracking their training and overall preparation heading into their match on February 6th  in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 The show will air @ 11pm ET/PT, following a third installment of the new series, Best of Pride which presents highlight footage from some of the best fights that entertained fans of the former PRIDE Fighting Championship organization.

The Countdown to UFC 109 show wil re-air on Feb 3rd @ 11pm ET/PT

Full Fightcard for UFC 109 is listed below:

Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout:  Randy Couture vs.  Mark Coleman.
Middleweight bout:  Nate Marquardt vs.  Chael Sonnen
Welterweight bout:  Mike Swick vs.  Paulo Thiago
Middleweight bout:  Demian Maia vs.  Dan Miller
Welterweight bout:  Matt Serra vs.  Frank Trigg

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)
Lightweight bout:  Mac Danzig vs.  Justin Buchholz
Lightweight bout:  Melvin Guillard vs.  Ronnys Torres

Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout:  Phillipe Nover vs.  Rob Emerson
Light Heavyweight bout:  Brian Stann vs.  Phil Davis
Heavyweight bout:  Tim Hague vs.  Chris Tuchscherer
Heavyweight bout:  Mostapha Al-turk vs.  Rolles Gracie

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

In a recent blog entry on Mike Swick’s personal site, he cleared up any rumors regarding his current health status and addressed thoughts about him being on the UFC 89 card in England on October 25th. 

Just to update you and squash some of the rumors going around…
I did undergo elbow surgery last Thursday in Las Vegas. Dr. Steve Sanders and Dr. Colby Young removed some bone fragments as well as bone spurs and also cleaned up my joint. It had been an ongoing problem for a while and caused restricted movement in that arm, so we planned the surgery as soon as possible after my UFC 85 fight.

The surgery was very successful according to Dr. Sanders and he expects my elbow to fully recover back to normal. So far I feel great and am excited to be able to have full range of motion again.

As far as my next fight is concerned, there have been no talks. We will let my arm fully recover, then plan a fight accordingly. There are rumors that I am fighting in October at UFC 89 and they are false. I have not talked with the UFC at all about fighting on that card and don’t see how it could be possible. I am guessing I will return in November/December time frame.

Thanks for all the emails of support, I really appreciate it and will be back as soon as I can to give you guys a great fight!”

Not much to add to that one.  Mike is apparently out of action for a while which has been somewhat of an issue with him in his UFC career to date.  I don’t know that we have seen Swick back to the same style as his early fights with the UFC where his speed and explosiveness devastated his opponents.  Maybe the opponents have gotten that much tougher over the past 3 years, but I will be interested to see a properly healed and motivated Mike Swick get back in the action later this year.

UFC 85 “Bedlam” is fast approaching and on June 7th, the heavily injury plagued fight card will finally be executed in London, England.  The UFC had it’s work cut out for them with this card and although there is no title match in the event, there are a few significant fights in terms of contender rankings.
This card did not have me entirely excited at first but even through the pick and prediction process, has revealed itself as a much better line-up than you see at first glance.

Lets get on with the picks…

Main Event:
Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves

Matt Hughes is a great fighter with a hall of fame career just waiting to be recognized once he retires.  A lot of people think that Matt is past his prime and after dropping back to back matches to GSP and then commenting on his own ability to compete in today’s MMA world, most people had written Hughes off.
Thiago Alves is a young gun looking and dreaming for the kind of success that Hughes has already experienced.  After stringing together a nice win streak including his most recent victory of the very tough Karo Parisyan, Alves has been granted the quickest route to the number 1 contender spot… and that is through Matt Hughes.

Read the rest of this entry »

 (Image:UFC.com)

The traditional pre-event countdown show for UFC 85 ‘Bedlam’ is scheduled to air tonight (June 2nd) on SpikeTV.  Airing at 11pm PT/ET, the show will take viewers on the usual behind the scenes roadtrip with the main card fighters and focus on the specifics of their training routines.  They are usually pretty entertaining shows that work to both build hype for events as well as give more of the human aspect of the fighter’s lives.

The hype part may be key for this event.  With the number of Main Event changes due to injury, the card is set with Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves as top billed fight.  Given that there is no title on the line in this card, perceptions can be that there isn’t much bang for the buck.  The card has certainly been a struggle for the UFC and Joe Silva to keep together and keep interesting, but as we have seen many times in the past, it can be the non-title cards that provide the most action.

If you are on this fence about this event, watch the countdown show and let the UFC media machine convince you it is a must watch card. 

From a personal perspective, I am really interested in Bisping Vs. Day, Davis Vs. Swick, Vera Vs. Werdum, as well as taking in individual performances from Martin Kampmann (returning from a year long injury/rehab), Jason Lambert and the always exciting ground game of Thiago Tavares.

Full Fight Card details are included below:

 Main Event:

Matt Hughes Vs. Thiago Alves 

Main Card: 
Michael Bisping Vs. Jason Day 
Marcus Davis Vs. Mike Swick 
Nate Marquardt Vs. Thales Leites 
Fabricio Werdum Vs. Brandon Vera 

Undercard:
Jorge Rivera Vs. Martin Kampmann 
Matt Wiman Vs. Thiago Tavares 
Roan Carneiro Vs. Kevin Burns 
Luiz Cane Vs. Jason Lambert 
Paul Taylor Vs. Jess Liaudin 
Antoni Hardonk Vs. Eddie Sanchez 

If you can’t catch the first show on tonight, it will re-air Friday @ 2am and Saturday @ 2pm, also on SpikeTV.

(Photos:UFC.com)

This episode seems to be a turning point for this season of The Ultimate Fighter; the drama was more real and the level of fighting seems to be picking up, or at the very least levelling out.??

A primary focus for this episode is a bit of spill over from last week, with a lot of camera time on Mac Danzig, portraying him as a pseudo funny, certainly opinionated and somewhat abrasive guy.?? the pinnacle of the Danzig?experiment is reached after the fighters are given permission to watch the TUF 5 finale.? Blake Bowman, whose lack of seriousness grates on Mac’s nerves, is friends with Cole Miller who takes a TKO win over Andy Wang… who just so happens to be a close friend of Danzig.? Blake shows some contained elation, while Mac can’t seem to contain his frustration and anger at watching his friend take a beating.?? Mac starts some passive aggressive rant about teaching these lanky hicks a lesson,etc… only to find that Blake had already snuck away for a private cheer.? The verbal abuse continues as Mac starts up a conversation with Bowman about the fight.? Mac makes some insulting comments about Cole Miller and can’t handle the witty response from the better verbal combatant that is Bowman.?? Mac then goes off about Bowman not deserving to be in the house and that he is not a real fighter and so on…. and on… and on… then he goes and pouts with his plate of veggies.

In the mean time, more sobering news hits the house as Paul Georgieff receives news of a death in the family.? Paul is weighing the options of staying vs. leaving the show and giving up his opportunity, when Dana White swoops to the rescue and advises that Paul can go to the wake and return to the house…. the only catch; he has to fight first.?? This screws up Matt Hughes’ plan a bit, as he was going to put in Jared Rollins for a sure thing victory.? You see, Hughes the competitor,?isn’t dealing with losing the game to Serra very well.? Hughes is still confident and the deal is done.??Team Hughes put their grappler Paul Georgieff against team Serra’s striker Troy?Mandaloniz?.

Meanwhile, a little fallout from the hissy fit that Danzig?had with Blake Bowman is ramping up.?? Bowman is notably agitated in the house and it doesn’t take much for the other fighters to get?Bowman to spill about the?verbal abuse that he suffered from?Danzig.??Word gets back to Hughes, who is not at all impressed, especially considering the recent run of losses and a heightened expectation for Danzig who is a veteran and assumed to be providing more of a leadership role in the house.??Hughes?shares his concern in fron of?the whole team and leaves it at that, assuming the message has been sent loud and clear.? Mac says nothing, but speaks up for the camera?back at the house… he isn’t planning on apologizing, so who knows where this is going to end up.

A little training and background montage for the two lucky candidates this week, then it’s on to the fighting.???Paul Georgieff, who looks quite solid considering he is a 6′2″ 170lbs, steps in and throws a quality jab and kick against the mush more dangerous striker that is Troy Mandaloniz.? Mandaloniz fires off a couple of shots that scare away Georgieff, and the grappler pulls guard, dragging Troy to the ground.? Georgieff has an active guard from his back and is throwing elbows ala Griffin vs. Ortiz.? He also isolates an arm that he can’t quite get into a Kimura.? Georgieff looks solid on the ground for sure and Troy realizes the problem at hand. Mandaloniz raises up and throws some big punches at Paul while he is on his back.? The shots look pretty dangerous and Paul makes the right decision to get out and on to his feet for a bit.?? The fighters square off again and Paul is looking pretty confident standing with Troy…. until a couple of exchanges go by… and Troy catches Georgieff with a big right that just folds the lanky lad in half.? It is?the?one of the nastiest KO’s I have seen in a TUF episode.

?After the fight, Hughes is pissed?that Georgieff didn’t follow the game plan and decided to?stand with Mandaloniz.? Matt Serra actually is the more encouraging coach to Hughes’ losing fighter, as is Mac Danzig, who probably sees a lot?of Andy Wang in this type of?ground guy striking when he shouldn’t be kind of loss.???

Teaser for next week is focused on Matt Hughes grinding his guys with some viscious training after the loss and really making an issue about it being do or die time for Team Hughes if they are going to? have a shot at dictating the quarter final fights.

All in all not a bad episode, and the fights are only going to get better, so I am looking forward to next week.?? The only bad part will be listening to Serra screaming the same things over and over from his corner again…. man that kills my ears.

?Note: We also got almost 3 minutes into the show without Serra using some expletive(s) to describe Matt Hughes.? He steps it up this time with some borderline language for TV…. I can’t ever recall seeing or hearing the?term “Cock Head” on regular TV?? Wow… all class Matt… all class. ??

?

In a recent post by Sam Caplan at Fiveouncesofpain.com, it appears that the UFC has announced it’s decision to suspend Renato “Babalu” Sobral’s current contract.? The news is fallout from Babalu’s most recent fight on Aug. 25th (UFC 74) where he admitted to intentionally holding a choke on his opponent David Heath after he knew the fighter had tapped.

Criticism regarding Sobral’s actions was widespread in the media and among fighters, so it is no surprise that the UFC would take some action in addition to the cash penalty imposed by the NSAC while the fight was under review.? This is not the first time that a fighter has held a choke longer than what seemed appropriate, or that a fighter was struck several times after clearly losing consciousness… but it is the first time that a fighter has made the mistake of admitting intention in the aftermath.

?The post continues to state that the UFC was not washing their hands of Sobral forever, which is probably a good move, as he is, in my opinion, a talented fighter who simply made a (really) bad decision.? Hopefully this public ostracising will lead to a period of intense introspection and new found focus for Babalu…. or at the very least, let’s hope he learns how to tell a lie.