MMA Passport

MMA News, Fighter Profiles, Mixed Martial Arts Action

Total news: 62
Last news: September 5, 2008 19:45:03

UFC 88 seems to be a card that Dana White threw together to keep the one-time UFC poster boys Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin in the contender picture. Liddell will have his hands full with Rashad Evans, who should be able to control Chuck and win a decision. Liddell is a -260 favorite going in, but I would take the upset in this one.

Rich Franklin, a -230 favorite, should be able to handle Matt Hamill. He’s improved his take-down defense over the last year, and Hamill is essentially a punching bag during any stand-up stage the fight may be in. Look for Rich Franklin to get a TKO or submission via rear naked choke.

Other winners I’m picking include Rousimar Palhares, who brings a lethal BJJ game against the aging Dan Henderson, and Karo Parisyan, who should be able to Judo throw around Yoshiyuki Yoshida with ease.

UFC 88 is set for September 6 at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta. Fighting on the card will be a collection of has-beens, including former UFC poster boy Chuck Liddell (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC). He will fight the undefeated Rashad Evans (11-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC), who should be able to put a beating on Chuck if he doesn’t get the main-event jitters.

The other fights include washed-up former poster boys like Rich Franklin (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and Dan Henderson (22-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC). Franklin will fight fellow Cincinnati native Matt Hamill (4-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in the night’s co-main event. Henderson fights Rousimar Palhares (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

The rest of the card includes:

- Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
- Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt
- Kurt Pellegrino vs. Thiago Tavares
- Tim Boetsch vs. James Lee
- Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim

There are three people at the top of the MMA mountain: Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. For now, thanks to his unanimous victory over Jon Fitch earlier this month at UFC 87, St. Pierre has muscled his counterparts out of the spotlight.

Sherdog’s Jake Rossen has begrudgingly given St. Pierre the nod as the king of the cage, citing his quality and variety of opponents. Emelianenko doesn’t have the UFC promotional machine behind him, and the heavyweight division is pretty thin these days. Silva is ahead of St. Pierre on Sherdog’s most recent pound-for-pound rankings, but those were made two months ago. Rossen prefers GSP’s all-around game and points at Silva’s relative lack of wrestling skills to make his final decision.

We’ll get to see the next chapter on Oct. 25 when Silva headlines UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. Emelianenko has pulled out of the Oct. 11 Affliction event with a hand injury.

There would be no going against the script this time. Saturday’s big UFC 87 pay-per-view had some of the best fights of the year, and the favorite won all three of the marquee matchups.

It started with Kenny Florian (-145) beating Carlos Huerta by decision, winning every round 10-9 in a smart, technical display featuring some hard kicks and takedowns. Later in the evening, Brock Lesnar (-240) supplied the beatdown with another unanimous decision over Heath Herring. Lesnar was dominant, but patient, learning from his mistake in his UFC debut loss to Frank Mir.

The main event topped them all. Georges St. Pierre (-350) was never in danger against Jon Fitch, but the underdog showed a lot of heart and even had some good offense in the second and fourth rounds. In the end, St. Pierre remains the Welterweight champion by unanimous decision. Next up: a likely bout with Lightweight champ B.J. Penn.

The UFC has assembled the largest, deepest roster of MMA talent in the world. But when it comes to the heavyweights, seven of the Top 10 in the Sherdog rankings are plying their trade elsewhere. Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett were all part of last month’s Affliction: Banned event.

Part of the reason for this slowdown is the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, in which interim Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and No. 1 contender Frank Mir are acting as coaches. They won’t meet until December, after the series is done airing. But Emelianenko’s refusal to sign with UFC, and Couture’s subsequent defection, have kept what should be the biggest money fight in MMA out of the Octagon.

Into the breach steps Brock Lesnar. He’s a –230 favorite over Heath Herring (+180) at Saturday’s UFC 87 event in his home state of Minnesota. He’s big, and he’s popular, but is he ready to lead?

The money is piling up behind Georges St. Pierre for next week’s UFC 87: Seek and Destroy at the Target Center in Minneapolis. He’s up from –295 to –340 to beat Jon Fitch and retain the UFC Welterweight title. I predict he’ll do just that, but it’s difficult not to take Fitch at +260. All he’s done is go 8-0 in the octagon.

I have much the same feeling about Brock Lesnar (–270). Yes, he is exactly the kind of person you do not want to find yourself in combat with. But we saw in his UFC debut against Frank Mir that Lesnar needs to work on his defense. It’s enough to make me lean toward Heath Herring (+210) in their heavyweight bout, if only from a value standpoint. Lesnar should still win.

One upset I predict will happen: Roger Huerta (+125) over Kenny Florian (–155). Huerta hasn’t lost an MMA bout in over four years.

Aug. 9 is a little over a week away, but it’s not too early to gaze into the crystal ball for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. As long as the “Octagon Girls” are inside. Mercy.

Welterweight: Georges St. Pierre (champion) vs. Jon Fitch (challenger). St. Pierre is the best there is. Fitch is capable, but moving way up in class.
Prediction: St. Pierre Pick: Fitch (+235)

Lightweight: Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta: Huerta is 6-0 in UFC and battle-tested before that. Florian is the public favorite.
Prediction: Huerta Pick: Huerta (+125)

Heavyweight: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring: Lesnar was beating the tar out of Frank Mir before getting sucked into a kneebar. He needs to prove himself.
Prediction: Lesnar Pick: Herring (+210)

Lightweight: Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson: Odds were pending at press time. I like Gamburyan’s judo background and his attitude.

Middleweight: Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia: Maia’s impressive Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills should overcome the tough Nova Scotia veteran.

They’re pulling out all the stops for this Saturday’s Affliction: Banned show at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Megadeth will be there. So will Michael Buffer. The undercard is being shown on cable for free. And the main event features two of the top heavyweights in the sport: Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.

Emelianenko was the –350 favorite at press time; he’s 28-1-1 in MMA action, with the only loss coming at a RINGS event in 2000 due to a very controversial referee stoppage. Sylvia (+275) is 24-4, with all four losses against top competition while fighting for the UFC Heavyweight title.

That competition level might be the difference in Saturday’s fight. Emelianenko hasn’t really been tested since beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. And this isn’t the first time Sylvia goes into combat as the underdog. He’s got all the betting value in this matchup, but if you ignore the odds, Fedor is the easy pick.

It would be even more shocking if we hadn’t seen it so many times before. Once again, an alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter series has pulled off a major MMA upset. Once again, a big-name fighter from PRIDE has lost in the UFC Octagon. But it’s still strange to see this: Forrest Griffin, Light Heavyweight champion.

Griffin had the fight of his life last Saturday at UFC 86 in Las Vegas, going to the wire with defending champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The fight could have gone either way; in the end, Griffin won a unanimous decision that did not sit well with many fans at Mandalay Bay. A rematch seems inevitable.

Patrick Cote scored an even narrower victory over Ricardo Almeida in Saturday’s second most important bout, winning by split decision. Cote improves to 12-4 in MMA action and moves one step closer to a fight with Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

We’ve missed you, Rampage.

Quinton Jackson will grace the octagon for the first time since September when he faces Forrest Griffin in the main event of UFC 86. Saturday’s big card at Mandalay Bay isn’t as hotly anticipated as you might expect, mainly because of the long layoff that allowed Jackson and Griffin to participate as a coaches in The Ultimate Fighter 7 series.

It also doesn’t help that Griffin is a +215 underdog. Although he upset Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 76, Griffin is expected to have his head handed to him by the indomitable Rampage. It isn’t that Griffin can’t stand up with the best of them – this is all about Jackson. His victories over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson showed the value of Jackson’s training with Juanito Ibarra. Any concerns about Jackson’s work ethic are ancient history now.

Griffin may still be the value pick, but Jackson isn’t likely to lose the Light Heavyweight strap this Saturday.

We’ll get that Chuck Liddell match eventually. The latest attempt to bring “The Iceman” back to the octagon will culminate at UFC 88 on Sept. 6, when Liddell and Rashad Evans are scheduled to meet in the main event at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

This fight was originally supposed to take place at UFC 85. Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua were going to meet, but Evans stepped in for the injured Rua, and then Liddell tore a hamstring. UFC officials scrapped the whole fight at that point.

If things go as planned this time, this will be the first fight of 2008 for both men. Odds had yet to be posted at press time; the popular Liddell figures to be the favorite, but Evans has yet to lose a fight in his MMA career. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 series is 11-0-1 with a win over Michael Bisping and a draw against Tito Ortiz.

Fight fans are looking forward to this Saturday’s finals for UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest“. Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dollaway will square off in the championship match at The Pearl in Las Vegas; Dollaway is the favorite at –160, although he’s lucky even to be in Saturday’s fight. Sadollah upset Dollaway in the semis, but Jesse Taylor lost his spot in the finals after getting drunk and disorderly outside the Palace Station.

UFC will serve up Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove in the main event. Tanner is a heavy –200 chalk even though he hasn’t won a fight since 2006. The former Middleweight champion came out of semi-retirement to sign a four-bout deal with UFC; his return in March was a losing proposition at the hands (and knees) of Yushin Okami. Grove is also trying to get back into the win column after consecutive losses to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

Every athlete’s career has a beginning, a middle and an end. Tito Ortiz looks like he’s close to the end now.

Ortiz was the biggest name in MMA as recently as two years ago. Then he lost a chance to regain the light heavyweight championship versus Chuck Liddell, drew Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida last month at UFC 84. By press time, Ortiz had fallen out of the Top 10 light heavyweights in the world according to the Sherdog rankings.

The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” still has plenty of fight in him at age 33. But you can read the future on the T-shirts Ortiz wears to the octagon; against Machida, the shirt read “I Did It My Way.” This past week, Ortiz claimed in an interview with Maxim that UFC prez Dana White “made the biggest mistake of his career” by letting Ortiz “get away.” Then again, White’s career has yet to peak.

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Is Chuck’s latest injury the last straw?

We all love to see the athletes we admire age gracefully and pick the right moment to retire from their chosen sport. It’s entirely unfair to the athletes themselves, of course. And the pressure to retire sooner rather than later is magnified in combat sports. You can only take so much punishment.

Chuck Liddell’s career looked in grave danger of collapse after he lost to both Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Keith Jardine. Instead, “The Iceman” showed he could still deliver at age 38 when he beat Wanderlei Silva last December.

His next fight will be for big money. It was supposed to be this Saturday in London versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but both fighters had to pull out with injuries – Liddell tore his right hamstring in training. It’s a serious enough injury to once again call into question his future in MMA. But, as Randy Couture has proved, there is life in the octagon after 40.

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The rumors have been floating around for some time but it was made official today at a press conference held at Trump Tower in New York. Donald Trump has purchased a “significant” equity stake in Affliction Entertainment and his first foray into the world of MMA is set to go down on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Aptly named “Affliction Banned“, the main event will feature Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianko (27-1) and former 2-time UFC heavyweight title-holder Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (24-4). Trump also signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski to Affliction Entertainment.

“I have been a fan of professional sports since childhood, and I am particularly impressed by the athleticism, courage, and strength of these disciplined athletes.” said Donald J. Trump. “This particular sport resembles my business style of being fast paced, strategic, and aggressive…remembering to never give up. I am particularly excited to partner with Affliction and become a major player in promotion of MMA; the youngest and fastest growing sport to emerge in the last century.”

“Banned” is also the clothing manufacturer’s debut MMA promotion.

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The UFC knows how to get some bang for their buck. They’re going to pack the Target Center in Minneapolis in August when native son Brock Lesnar takes on Heath Herring in the main event.

Lesnar’s varied resume includes winning the 2000 NCAA wrestling championships as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He had a short but meteoric career as a pro wrestler before trying out for the Minnesota Vikings. When that failed, Lesnar made the switch to K-1 in 2006 before signing a contract with UFC. He was a heavy favorite in his debut against Frank Mir at UFC 81; Lesnar was physically dominant but lost to a surprise Mir kneebar after just 90 seconds.

Lesnar was supposed to fight Mark Coleman at the Target, until the 43-year-old and fellow NCAA wrestling champion injured his knee while training for his comeback fight. Herring’s Sambo style might prove more difficult for Lesnar to deal with.

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B.J. Penn proves he’s the better boxer, striker in UFC 84

By the time he was done with him, B.J. Penn left Sean Sherk’s face completely covered in blood. Ah well, what counts is that Sherk attempted to make a comeback following his suspension for steroid abuse. Turns out that getting cleaned up before this title bout proved ineffective as Sherk (the better wrestler) failed to reclaim the UFC Lightweight Belt from Penn (the better striker and boxer).

“I finished with the lead punch, and I was thinking, it’s got to be finished. I know the time is done in the round but I don’t want to keep beating him like that,” Penn said. “Sean Sherk is a great competitor.”

UFC 84 Main Card Results

Light Heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Silva defeats Mendes by TKO (strikes) at 2:24 of round 1.

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Machida defeats Ortiz by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 30-27.

Light Heavyweight bout: Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Reljic defeats Gouveia by TKO (strikes) at 3:15 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Silva defeats Jardine by KO (punches) at 0:36 of round 1.

Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn VS. Sean Sherk
Penn defeats Sherk by TKO (strikes) at the end of round 3 to retain the UFC Lightweight title.

UFC 85 ‘Bedlam’ goes down on June 7th from London, England and you can get your UFC 85 odds now!

Set to go down Saturday, May 24th (10 p.m. ET on PPV) live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, UFC 84 “Ill Will” promises to deliver huge hits with fans of mixed martial arts. The main event pits UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn against Sean Sherk. So what’s the deal with these guys? Sherk tested positive for steroids awhile back and it cost him his title. Penn has the title and is hell bent on defending it. So yeah, there’s a lot at stake here.

“I see both of these guys as having the potential to win this fight, for sure,” said lightweight contender Kenny Florian. “I don’t think it’s one of those fights where there’s a clearcut winner.

Main Event:
UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn (12-4-1) vs. Sean Sherk (32-2-1)

Main card (televised):
205 lbs.: Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) vs. Keith Jardine (13-3-1)
205 lbs.: Goran Reljic (7-0) vs. Wilson Gouveia (10-4)
205 lbs.: Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) vs. Lyoto Machida (12-0)
205 lbs.: Thiago Silva (12-0) vs. Antonio Mendes (14-2)

Under card (may not be broadcast):
185 lbs.: Rousimar Palhares (7-1) vs. Ivan Salaverry (12-5)
205 lbs.: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-2) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-7)
155 lbs.: Terry Etim (10-1) vs. Rich Clementi (31-12-1)
170 lbs.: Jon Koppenhaver (5-1) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2)
170 lbs.: Dong Hyun Kim (9-1-1) vs. Jason Tan (5-2)
265 lbs.: Shane Carwin (8-0) vs. Christian Wellisch (8-3)

B.J. Penn (-250) is favored to win against Sean Sherk (+200), but this one isn’t going to unfold that easily. Sherk wants his belt back and Penn is going to make it extremely difficult for that to happen. My prediction? Penn by decision.

Being named a coach on The Ultimate Fighter is a sure sign you’ve made it in the UFC. It’s also a great way to sell some pay-per-views.

Season 8 of the ongoing reality series has been announced, and decorated heavyweight fighters Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir will be the coaches. This will be the third year in a row that the coaches are the selling point right up front - this season is called Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.

Conveniently enough, Nogueira and Mir will fight for the Heavyweight title following the conclusion of the series. Nogueira is the “Interim” champion after defeating Tim Sylvia via submission at UFC 81. Mir is the former champion who spoiled Brock Lesnar’s UFC debut at the same show with a first-round kneebar submission. Both Nogueira and Mir were getting pummeled before trapping their opponents, and the crowd was against them. It’s true: Red means green.

One year ago, Mixed Martial Arts was all the rage. UFC had just bought PRIDE, promising fresh matchups in the octagon between the best fighters from the two promotions. Chuck Liddell was on the cover of ESPN The Magazine in anticipation of his bout with PRIDE middleweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. And then Liddell lost. Badly.

How has MMA held up in the year since UFC 71? The sport remains healthy at the top levels, but has taken a step back. Liddell-Jackson earned 675,000 PPV buys; Liddell vs. Keith Jardine at UFC 76 drew 475,000 buyers, and last month’s UFC 83 featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra pulled in 525,000 according to early estimates. Those are still impressive numbers.

Meanwhile, smaller organizations like the International Fight League are trying to stay afloat long enough to capture a piece of the growing MMA media footprint. Their new hexagonal cage is a concession to UFC’s success. Others will follow.