Anderson Silva’s recovery slow, not fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 109 by John Morgan

Randy Couture / UFC.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship presenta UFC 109, desde el Mandalay Bay Events Center de Las Vegas, Nevada

Por primera vez dos miembros del Salón de la Fama UFC, se enfrentan luego de haber sido inducidos

Tanto Randy Couture (17-10) como Mark Coleman (16-9), vienen de la época en que UFC se desarrollaba en un formato de “Torneo de una Noche”, donde para ganar había que derrotar a tres rivales en una sola velada; Couture ganó así UFC 13, mientras Coleman ganó el torneo de UFC 10

Dos ex-campeones de peso completo, ambos de similar edad (46 y 44 años), tendrán frente a frente uno de los últimos encuentros de su brillante carrera, y lo curioso es que será la primera vez que se enfrentan

Originalmente UFC 109 iba a ser encabezado por el duelo Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort, pero tuvo que ser pospuesto debido a que Silva no ha podido recuperarse de su codo

El cartel hasta el momento señala:

1. Light Heavyweight bout: Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture
2. Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg
3. Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
4. Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
5. Heavyweight bout: Rolles Gracie vs. Mostapha Al Turk
6. Lightweight bout: Ronnys Torres vs. Melvin Guillard
7. Lightweight bout: Rob Emerson vs. Phillipe Nover

Forrest Griffin Still Regrets His Loss to Anderson Silva – By Michael David Smith

UFC 106 goes off this weekend without the presence of Heavyweight Champ/shaved gorilla Brock Lesnar. His lack of intestinal fortitude leaves us with a main event devoid of title implications but full of violence.

Main Card:
Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett
Hazelett proves that new Ju Jitsu is superior to old Judo anyday. Parisyan proves that he is an unlikable dick. Karo is too crafty to fall victim to “McLovin”s flying armbars but look for him to get smothered en route to a decision loss. On the bright side this fight cant possibly be worse than his last which literally put me to sleep and got him popped for pain killers.

***Editor’s note: Parisyan pulled out of this fight on account of being a bitch right before the weigh-ins so im counting this as an accutare prediction.

Luis Arthur Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Cane’s stand up has looked sharp of late while Little Nog has been fighting guys whose only fans are their moms. As long as Cane doesn’t try to test his ground game he should manage to connect his fists with Nogueira’s giant head enough times for a TKO.

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni
Sadollah has gotten a raw deal since his Ultimate Fighter win with multiple injuries and an early stoppage loss. There are three things about Baroni that make him a perfect opponent for anyone the UFC is looking to give a popularity boost. 1)Philip, with his 2%body fat and chinstrap beard really does look the part of “New York Bad Ass.” 2)He has been extremely tentative to throw hands recently. 3)He exemplifies the term Douche. Prediction: Sadollah stuns his opponent and finishes him with a rear naked choke and Baroni makes me hate Long Island more than i already do.

Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson
As Joe Rogan’s gravelly voice will no doubt inform us, Josh Koscheck possesess some of the sharpest and most dangerous wrestling in the game. We, the viewers, will have to take him at his word becasue no one ever sees it. Why don’t great wrestlers dance with the one that brung them (i’m looking at you Rashaad. You’re not Sugar Ray Leonard so cut that bobbing and weaving shit out)? The outcome of this fight depends on Koscheck’s choice to go back to his NCAA champ roots or to stand and wing looping punches at a man with an unsettling positive ape index. Expect Kos to frustrate me to no end, while permanently relegating himself to 170 pound gatekeeper. Johnson, in addition to having the better reach, could not get any bigger for the welterweight division unless he cut off an arm before the weigh-ins and had it put back on later. Tension builds until Rumble Johnson’s right hand knocks the third grade out of the guy who still bleaches his hair (seriously? its not 1992.)

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin
Speaking of bleached hair, Tito Ortiz is back after a lengthy contract dispute/back injury/Celebrity Apprentice appearance/hissyfit/stint in therapy to try and get over the fact that the mother of his children is famous for having things put inside of her. Across the cage will be Forrest Griffin who, in my opinion, took unnecissary heat for his loss to Anderson Silva, a program from the machine world. If Forrest wants to cry, im fine with that; he’s still more manly than bacon, sledgehammers, and every actor save Clint Eastwood. Prediction for the Main Event: Griffin’s bottomless gas tank and lumberjack strength helps show Ortiz how MMA works on 2009. Ortiz gets beat up worse than Jenna Jamison’s vagina (yeah, i went there) and Griffin takes the decision.

Other general predictions:

• Promoter Dana White’s HGH use has him looking like the White Barry Bonds
• Ali unconsciously makes an “ahhh” sound when giant, black Rumble Johnson walks out
• I’m wasted by the main event and have to be reminded who won on Sunday
• None of the fights are as entertaining as the 145 pound championship was on Wednesday. Sorry Danny no one cares about athletes under 160 pounds

The aftermath: Well Nogueira starched Cane (did not see that coming) and Koscheck used a new tool ( faking an eye injury) to beat up Big Anthony Johnson. Otherwise I was fairly close. I’ll call it 3 of 5. Being the humble person I am I’ll admit to underestimating Tito’s ground and pound, Baroni’s heart, and Ali’s use of profanity.

Anderson Silva / UFC.com

Las malas noticias para UFC no cesan, Anderson Silva, su campeón de peso medio, y el único peleador que “rivaliza” con Fedor para ser considerado el mejor libra por libra del mundo, podría requerir más tiempo para recuperase de su lesión

De ser esto correcto, la única pelea por un título que UFC podrá presentar durante 3 o 4 meses, será la de BJ Penn (Justamente por eso Dana White busca inventar otra lucha por un título interino de peso completo)
Silva y Vitor Belfort están programados para enfrentarse en UFC 109, el 6 de febrero 2010, pero ya se habla que el encuentro podría ser sustituido por la pelea entre miembros del Salón de la Fama: Randy Couture vs Mark Coleman

Art or sport, that is the question.

MMA, UFC, that’s sport.

So what is art?

Aesthetic manifestation.

You glow.

You figure out how your body is a machine…and turn it on.

You figure out who you are…and you manifest your art.

I figured it out in 1974. Put it all down in my writings.

how to get there.

What it means.

How is its value.

Now, many people would thiknk I wasted my effort.

Today’s kids just want to surf the net,

view the latest bash ‘em up sport.

Well, maybe.

But you would be shocked at how many people respond to my simple question…why do you do the art?

It draws you, man, and some day all those gen Xers stored up in the vid games are going to come up for air.

Will the art be waiting for them?

Yep.

Some day they will actually look at somebody getting their brains bashed out,

and they will say…gee, therre must be a better way. That’s when they are going to look for art, for Aikido instead of wrestling, for tai chi instead of boxing, for a bright grin instead of cauliflower ears.

You think not?

I see them all the time at at the Monster.

Man is alive, and he is getting aliver.

You guys have a glorious day.

Al

On October 27, 2009 Carlos, Giovanni, and Royce Ruffo were asked to be a part of the 2009 World MMA Award show put on by Fighter Only Magazine. The boys filmed skits with the host of the show, comedian John Heffron in Las Vegas at Wanderlei Silva’s gym. In the skits Royce is the “mini me” of Uriah Faber, Giovanni plays Lyoto Machida, and Carlos plays the “mini me” of Anderson Silva. Lots of makeup was required!

The award show will be held at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30, 2009. You can watch it live on Versus.com.

I moved last weekend to my own place. Which is awesome, I love it plenty of space for me to stretch out for the trip into manhood. Unfortunately because of this I missed UFC 105, and since that was the majority of my article today this might be a short SOMMA. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get inspired and keep going only time shall tell.

According to middleeasy.com Brock has what’s called diverticulitis. To me this sounds like one of those diseases that Peter Griffin would say with his gingivitis voice. (circa season 2 I believe) Honestly though I hope he’s ok I’m not a huge Brock fan but he needs to fight in order for the UFC Heavyweight story to continue to develop. Plus death is never something I would wish on someone who merely irritates me. He has to stick around so I can hate on him some more.

So for those of you keeping count at home, Brock, Carwin, and Big Nog are all out of UFC 108. Have no fear though Silva vs. Evans is here. It is now the main event of UFC 108. It’s not a terrible main event at all I’m looking forward to this fight. However I still think Dana needs to have a talk with Mr. Rampage Jackson because at this point the UFC could use all the draws they can get. While you’re at it go get Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski too sign them to one fight contracts and let them win their way back into our hearts.

Vitor Belfort will be fighting Anderson Silva for the belt at UFC 109 or so the rumor is saying. Now he can join the ever growing list of people who aren’t ready for a title shot yet. Yes I’m talking about Dan Hardy. He barely beat Marcus Davis (I don’t really feel like he won the fight) He soundly beat Mike Swick from what I hear however I don’t even think Swick should have been fighting Hardy for the number one contender spot as we have Johnson and Koshchek fighting on Saturday. If Hardy is going to fight anyone it should be Anthony Rumble Johnson if he beats Johnson then he’s ready for GSP. Well then who is GSP going to fight Ronald? He can fight Jon Fitch. Fitch is a tough opponent who deserves a rematch as he put on a great fight with GSP in his last fight with him.

I have to point this out the welterweight division could be in trouble with these match-ups. Since Dan Hardy will be fighting for the title consider this. If Dan Hardy loses, and Swick, Koshchek, Fitch, and Alves all win their next respective fights, then who do they fight next? At this point I think they’d all have the same legitimate claim to the title shot. This may have been poor planning on someone’s part. It may be time for a UFC welterweight grand prix.

We’ve got UFC 106 coming up this week, and we’ve got WEC: Aldo vs. Brown coming up tomorrow. I love Mike Brown as he is a legitimate fighter and has looked impressive against elite opponents. However I’m picking my man Jose Aldo. I’m not even going to explain why. Why, you ask? Simple because I’ve chosen to enjoy this MMA show as a fan and not as an analyst (and because it’s tomorrow and I simply don’t have time to break down the WEC card) however, you can look forward to my picks for UFC 106 on Thursday and Friday and of course a TUF wrap up on Wednesday. Hey maybe I’ll even throw in a bonus WEC wrap up post. Who knows??? Arrrrrrggggghhhhh! All this posting is making me go postal!!!

Well that was corny.

I don’t know if the UFC is putting on the best cards any more.  Frankly, I don’t know if they are even putting on the 2nd best cards right now.  The next few UFC events are mediocre at best.  Granted, it is not all the UFC’s fault.  Injuries have caused them to change their plans on several cards.  Initally UFC 106, 107, and 108 were going to be mega cards.  Now, I don’t know if I will purchase them.

UFC 106 was scheduled to feature a heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, but Lesnar’s prolonged illness forced that to be scrapped.  Now the main event is a re-match of a fight between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.  While both have large fan bases neither has won a significant fight for a while.  This fight was a solid co-main event, but not a good main event.  The card took another hit when the Ricardo Almeida withdrew from his bout with Jon Fitch.  The UFC’s answer…replace it with a fight between Phil Baroni and Amir Sadollah.  Neither guy has shown the skill to be even a mid-level fighter.  Meanwhile a few solid fights remain on the undercard.  Poor decision making by UFC.

UFC 107 was expected to feature a main event of TUF 10 coaches Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans.  That would be a big draw.  However, Jackson elected to play B.A. Baracus in the new A-Team movie rather than fighting Evans.  Not the UFC’s fault.  Their answer…Diego Sanchez vs. B.J. Penn.  I like this fight.  It is main event worthy.  However, the card lacks support.  The Fitch vs. Alves fight was booked for a few days until Alves was forced off with injury.  The Buentello vs. Duffee fight excited me, but Duffee was forced off with injury and replaced by Stefan Struve. I like the Mir vs. Kongo and Florian vs. Guida match ups though.  UFC 107 is worth my money, but I still question the UFC’s replacements.  I don’t get replacing Alves with Mike Pierce.

UFC 108 has been hurt big time.  This was originally going to be AndersonS ilva vs. Vitor Belfort, however Silva will not be recovered from elbow surgery in time.  Then this was supposed to be where Carwin vs. Lesnar was moved, but again the fight has been pushed back.  The UFC did good and found a heavyweight clash with title implications between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  However, serious staph infection has forced Nogueira out of the bout.  Three solid main events down, so what does the UFC do?  Make Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva the main event.  I mean come on.  I like the fight, but not as a main event.  Silva is good and exciting, but is he ready for main events?  This again was a good co-main event, but as the main event I may not order it.  The rest of the card is better than avergae.  Tyson Griffin vs. Jim Miller, Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout, Carlos Condit vs. Paul Daley. However, the card lacks a main event.

The common denominator right now is a lack of main events.  Losing Henderson and Rampage hurt the UFC.  Injuries to champion St. Pierre, Silva, Machida and Lesnar really hurt.  Several main events are on the docket though.  You’ve got Silva vs. Belfort, Lesnar vs. Carwin, Shogun vs. Machida II, St. Pierre vs. Hardy.  Perhaps November-January will stink for the UFC and traditionally big cards like their New Year’s and Super Bowl cards will be less than stellar.  However, with all these fights coming up maybe March-June will be good months. 

The bottom line is Strikeforce is ebating the UFC.  Strikeforce consistenly is putting on better cards.  Would you rather watch Fedor vs. Rogers or Ortiz vs. Griffin?  The crappy buys UFC 106 will get will answer that one.  Even Strikeforce’s Dec. 19th card is better on paper than anything the UFC has coming up.  Sorry UFC, move over Strikeforce and even WEC are putting on better cards than you.  I think they are seeing that the falure to purchase EliteXC was a mistake. 

The solution?  Better matchmaking.  Some managment changes.  Sign Henderson back.  Find better main events.  Stop making fair co-main event fights main events. WEC merger.  A big name signing.  Stop putting fights like Baroni-Sadollah on the main card. 

I have always been a huge UFC guy.  I root for the UFC to do well.  However, I think the UFC is in serious trouble and they may be uprooted as the premeire MMA organization in 2010.

Wow! Lorsqu’on a affaire à un bon combat de boxe, ça rivalise avec n’importe quel bon combat de MMA.

Manny Pacquiao est définitivement le fighter le plus exitant à regarder. Un cardio de la mort qui lui permet de tenir 12 rounds, et ce, même après avoir reçu de très bons coups. Constamment sur l’attaque. De la dynamite dans les deux poings. Très, très, très rapide. Une défensive encore meilleur que ses derniers combats. Intelligent et capable d’anticiper les coups de l’adversaire. Sa façon peu commune de lancer les coups font de lui un adversaire difficile à cerner.

J’ai toujours pensé que Floyd Mayweather Jr. gagnerai contre Manny Pacquiao si l’affrontement venait à se réaliser. Mais après avoir vu le combat d’hier et sa facilité à esquiver les attaques de Cotto, je crois que Pacquiao est maintenant du niveau à Mayweather. Pas aussi talentueux, mais possède l’avantage pour gagner le combat. En plus de cogner solidement, Pacquiao est capable d’encaisser les coups. Est-ce que Floyd peut? Ça reste à prouver.

Si un jour ce combat à lieu, j’espère juste que Dana White et la UFC n’aura pas la mauvais idée de mettre un Georges St-Pierre contre Anderson Silva pour contrer la compétition!

REGARDER LE COMBAT

UFC 106 will be taking place on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be the second UFC PPV this month.

The main event card for this bout will be a rematch between Tito Ortiz (in his first fight back in the UFC) versus Forrest Griffin (who is coming off a loss against Anderson Silva). Tito has been out of the octagon for 18 months. The last time these two were in the ring together was way back in April 2006 at UFC 59 where Ortiz won by split decision.

Ortiz was originally slated to fight Mark Coleman, but Coleman backed out due to a knee injury.

The full fight card and fight promo can be seen after the jump.

UFC 106 Main Card:

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin
Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson
Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni
Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett

UFC 106 Preliminary Card:

Ben Saunders vs. Marcus Davis
Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann
Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt
Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster
Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes
George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent

I like Tito Ortiz, but I will be rooting for Forrest Griffin. I’ve been a fan of him since he was on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. He is coming off a disappointing loss handed to him by Anderson Silva, but I think this fight will be redemption from the first time he faced Ortiz (and was robbed of a win) and redemption from his poor showing at the Silva fight.

Dan Henderson / www.danhenderson.com

Continúa la tensión entre el ex-multi campeón Dan Henderson y UFC
Dana White, presiendete de UFC, ya da por hecho, que Henderson ha firmado con Strikeforce, pues Henderson estuvo en la esquina de Thierry Sokoudjou, durante la función del pasado 7 de noviembre: Fedor vs Rogers. Henderson habla al respecto:

Podríamos lograr un acuerdo o no, sólo estoy esperando a ver que ocurre
No estoy pidiendo ser el tipo mejor pagado de la empresa, sólo espero pelear por la cantidad que merezco

Previamente se comentó que no hubo acuerdo en la renovación de contrato de Henderson con UFC, luego de la victoria que tuvo sobre Micheal Bisping, que lo colocaban como contendiente número 1 al título de Anderson Silva

Le ofrecimos un buen contrato… garantizo que nadie más puede pagar lo que le ofrecimos, pero él quiere más

Dan Henderson es uno de los 5 mejores pesos medios del mundo, y sería sin duda muy apreciado en Strikeforce

Fedor Emelianenko en Nueva York, durante la promoción de Affliction II / afflictionclothing.com/

Fedor encabeza los rankings mundiales MMA correspondientes al 11 de noviembre, de acuerdo a MMAWeekly. Los rankings no sólo toman en cuenta el récord del peleador, si no los oponentes enfrentados

El que Fedor esté en primer lugar no es ninguna novedad, lo que destaca es ver a Anderson Silva en el top 5 de dos divisiones

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (over 205 pounds) – Es de destacar que Cain Velasquez ya está en el número 5 de la tabla, superando a Shane Carwin, además 3 peleadores del rank son de Strikeforce, incluyendo a Brett Rogers, a pesar de su derrota ante Fedor. Rogers no sería un rival fácil para nadie en UFC, a pesar de lo que Dana White diga

1. Best Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Fedor Emelianenko
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Frank Mir
4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
5. Cain Velasquez
6. Randy Couture
7. Junior Dos Santos
8. Brett Rogers
9. Shane Carwin
10. Fabricio Werdum

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit) – En el peso semicompleto, es extraño que Shogun no esté en segundo lugar por encima de Evans, dada la gran pelea dada ante Machida (Evans fue derrotado con relativa facilidad por Machida). Destacar también la posición de Anderson Silva, a pesar de que esta no es su división. El campeón semicompleto Strikeforce, Gegard Mousasi, sube posiciones

• #1 Light Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Lyoto Machida
• 2. Rashad Evans
• 3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• 4. Quinton Jackson
• 5. Anderson Silva
• 6. Gegard Mousasi
• 7. Forrest Griffin
• 8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• 9. Thiago Silva
• 10. Luis Cane

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit) – Anderson Silva es el rey de esta división, pero Vitor Belfort es un rival de mucho peligro

• 1 Middleweight Fighter in the World: Anderson Silva
• 2. Nathan Marquardt
• 3. Vitor Belfort
• 4. Dan Henderson
• 5. Jake Shields
• 6. Robbie Lawler
• 7. Kazuo Misaki
• 8. Yoshihiro Akiyama
• 9. Demian Maia
• 10. Chael Sonnen

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit) – La divisón en la cuál hay mayor dominación, GSP ya ha derrotado a todos sus rivales, va por la segunda ronda

• #1 Welterweight Fighter in the World: Georges St. Pierre
• 2. Jon Fitch
• 3. Thiago Alves
• 4. Josh Koscheck
• 5. Matt Hughes
• 6. Paul Daley
• 7. Martin Kampmann
• 8. Carlos Condit
• 9. Mike Swick
• 10. Marius Zaromskis

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (160 libras) – Diego Sánchez tendrá una gran oportunidad ante BJ Penn en UFC 107

• 1 Lightweight Fighter in the World: B.J. Penn
• 2. Shinya Aoki
• 3. Eddie Alvarez
• 4. Tatsuya Kawajiri
• 5. Kenny Florian
• 6. Joachim Hansen
• 7. Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante
• 8. Frankie Edgar
• 9. Diego Sanchez
• 10. Gray Maynard

FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 libras)

• 1 Featherweight Fighter in the World: Mike Brown
• 2. Urijah Faber
• 3. Jose Aldo
• 4. Raphael Assuncao
• 5. Hatsu Hioki
• 6. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue
• 7. Leonard Garcia
• 8. Wagnney Fabiano
• 9. Bibiano Fernandes
• 10. Marlon Sandro

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 o menos)

• 1 Featherweight Fighter in the World: Brian Bowles
• 2. Miguel Torres
• 3. Masakatsu Ueda
• 4. Takeya Mizugaki
• 5. Akitoshi Tamura
• 6. Dominick Cruz
• 7. Damacio Page
• 8. Will Ribeiro
• 9. Joseph Benavidez
• 10. Rani Yahya

Otherwise known as “The Heavyweight Division in MMA is the worst one”. Look, I’m not saying they’re bad, just that they’re nowhere near complete fighters. Take a look at Bloody Elbow’s Composite Rankings. Look at the LHW division compared to the HW – you have to go really deep before most of the line becomes dry. You’ve got exciting prospects in Luiz Cane and Jon Jones, people who can fight top level fighters at different weight classes like Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin. Hell you’ve got legends like Lidell and Wanderlei next to people who are getting talked about as possible upcoming players for a UFC title shot like Brandon Vera. All this is in the area of 6-18.

In comparison, you’ve got a 3-time roider who’s busy doing pro wrestling at #5 in Barnett; a widely suspected roider in Overeem at #11 tied with a great wrestler with no apparent punching power (Cain Velasquez). The next names in the list are Werdum (no stand-up to speak of), Jeff Monson (same and considering a drop to LHW to be more competitive), and various other people who can be called incomplete, to be very charitable. It is also worth noting that one of the widely acknowledged best, Randy Couture, is also dropping back down to LHW to remain competitive.

It doesn’t help that the widely acknowledged #1 and #2 are in different promotions, leading to endless speculation from fans of both camps. Compare this to other divisions where the UFC has the lion’s share of talent and we can actually get realistic match ups, and you see the Fedor Problem. Sadly, we will probably not get any solution any time soon, but at least we can still enjoy the fights.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has announced UFC Sereies 1 of their Round 5 MMA figurines which will be available at Toys “R” Us for the Christmas holiday.

Initially announced in September, the new line of figurines will include UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, former light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, and belt contenders Kenny Florian and Clay Guida.

The figurines will be available for purchase in North America in the beginning of January.

Previous figurines included Cung Le, Gina Carano, Andrei Arlovski, referee “Big” John McCarthy, Frank Mir, Anotnio Rodrigo Nogueira, Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes, Quinton “Rampage Jackson”, Tito Ortiz, Sean Sherk, Anderson Silva, and Wanderlei Silva.

To check out the company and the other prodcuts they sell check out the Round 5 MMA website.

To celebrate the end of the baseball season, I have a blaster and three loose retails packs of Goodwin Champions. It is quickly becoming my favorite product, maybe even better than Allen and Ginter when it comes to the base cards but A&G stills has better hits.

The loose packs first. Pack 1:
Gerry Lopez- Some surfer dude
Cal Ripken Jr
Adam Wainwright Mini
Ken Griffey Jr.

The Mets Pack:
Carlos Beltran
Justin Morneau
Bobby Orr Mini
Carlos Delgado

Pack 3:
Anderson Silva- !!!
Joe Nathan
Ryan Braun
The Pope- 20th Anniversary

The best of the bunch is easily Anderson Silva who is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. He is so dominant that the UFC has problems finding good challengers for the title and those who do face him end up running away from the octagon. Run, Forrest run! It was truly a weird moment for MMA fans everywhere.

The blaster. Pack 1:
Carlos Zambrano
Cliff Lee
Joe Lewis
Robin Roberts

Pack 2:
Brian Roberts
Dennis Eckersley
Carlos Beltran Mini
CC Sabathia

Pack 3:
Ian Kinsler
Joe Carter
Josh Beckett Mini
Carlos Delgado

Pack 4:
Bo Jackson
Barack Obama
Jair Jurrjens Mini
Stephen Drew

Pack 5:
Joe Mauer
James Shields
Laird Hamilton
Matt Ryan

Pack 6:
David Wright
Chase Utley
Dalai Lama 20th Anniversary
Phil Niekro

Pack 7:
Joe Nathan
Felix Hernandez
Abraham Lincoln
Eli Manning

Pack 8:
Carlos Quentin
Anderson Silva
Roy Oswalt Mini
Gary Sheffield

Pack 9:
Troy Tulowitzki
Chipper Jones
Jeff Samardzija Mini
Jonathan Toews

Pack 10:
Hanley Ramirez
Evan Longoria
Adrian Beltre
Mark Teixeira

Pack 11:
Andy Pettitte
Jose Reyes
Vladimir Guerrero Mini
Derrek Lee

Pack 12:
Gordie Howe
Jon Lester
Mariano Rivera Mini Gypsy Queen
Wayne Gretzky

I got a bunch of Mets, a bunch of doubles and I suspect a bunch of trade bait. Of the doubles, I’m glad I got a pair of Anderson Silvas so I can send one for an autograph TTM. My Goodwin cards are scattered everywhere so I have look for them and organize them to see if I’m close to completing the set or if it is even worth completing. It is likely though that I’ll keep the Mets, the MMA fighters and the players I like and offer the others for trade.

All in all, I like the look/ feel of the product and the choice the non- baseball cards in the base set. To me the non- baseball checklist is actually stronger than Allen and Ginter’s. I like Goodwin Champions a lot better than similar retro/ arts sets like Turkey Red or Goudey but I’m not quite sure if it is better overall than Allen and Ginter just yet. I admit Allen and Ginter is getting a bit old and boring for me and unless Allen and Ginter changes significantly next year, for me it would lose most of its appeal. Maybe I guess opened too much Allen and Ginter the last few years.

It’s Sunday night. The Cowboys won, Brett Favre defended his legacy at Lambeau field, and my fantasy squad is up 28.03 points with my opponent only having Lance Moore left to play. Church went well today, there was a very good sermon. This was a great Sunday all in all.

And now the bad news.

Brock Lesnar got a bad cold so now yet another good fight has been postponed. We won’t be able to see Clash of the Titans until UFC 108. However the good news is that that card is ridiculously good now.

Apparently Soares has some sort of curse that only affects champions he manages. Anderson Silva won’t be fighting Belfort at 108. This isn’t the worst news for the UFC as this will give them time to sign Dan Henderson and stack him on the same card against Marquardt. Two months later we have Silva defending his belt against the Marquardt/Hendo winner. Joe Silva please call me for the details on this one I’m a genius at matchmaking.

On the other hand we won’t be seeing a Machida/Rua rematch anytime soon. Machida will be recovering from surgery on his hand. I’m betting we’ll see this fight in February. Hopefully we can stack this one with GSP as I’m hoping he’ll be healthy by then as well.

So for those of you keeping score at home we have Brock, Lyoto, Anderson, and GSP riding the bench. Only BJ Penn will be defending his belt this year. We’re hoping that the next championship fight will happen at 108 barring any other unforeseen circumstances. When’s the next championship fight after that? It could be a while if BJ Penn gets injured in December.

Somebody needs to stay healthy is all I’m trying to say.

In other news according to MMA scraps Houston Alexander isn’t answering his phone. We’re assuming it’s because he’s tired of the Kimbo speculation, which may or may not have been confirmed. Personally I’m not buying anything until I see it posted on the UFC website. People are still saying that Kimbo fights again on TUF so I’m sure this means he loses on there if they already have him lined up for a fight against Alexander.

I would like to take this moment to point out several exciting fights for Kimbo where he has a chance to shine and even excel. I’m not going to go into it; I just want you to think about it. Pat Barry, Brett Rogers and Cro cop. I’m just saying if the UFC is going to take a risk on Kimbo then they need to think who has little chance of testing his ground game and will look for the knockout. I’d watch any of those fights. Oh, and Chuck Liddell too that one is a win-win for the UFC. Speculate among yourselves, I’ll expound in later articles.

So we’ve got an exciting two weeks in MMA coming up. This week we’ll start with Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. I’ll preview those this week so expect a lot of posts from me in the next two weeks.

Tomorrow I’ll start with the Main card of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers.

Brock Lesnar has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 106 bout with Shane Carwin due to a prolonmged illness.  The heavyweight title fight is expected to be postponed to January 2nd’s UFC 108 fight card.  In the meantime UFC 106 is screwed. 

It appears that the Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin co-main event will take on main event status and if it does it6 will be the first UFC I will not order in a long, long time.  It is the dumbest main event in UFC history.  Griffin lost badly in his last outing and is on a 2 fight losing streak.  Ortiz is coming off of back surgery and he is 0-2-1 in his last three fights and has not won a fight since he beat Ken Shamrock in October of 2006…three years ago.  There is no logic in that fight. Two former light heavyweight champions on their way out and no longer as popular as they once were.  If the UFC thinks that Forrest is the same draw he was prior to his antics after his loss to Anderson Silva he is crazy. 

I am sure some re-shuffling will happen.  Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort will probably be delayed until February due to Silva’s elbow surgery recovery.  And lesnar vs. Carwin will take on the maine vent there.  UFC 108 looks great…really great.

However, UFC 106, which once looked like a very good card now sucks.  First Almeida pulled out of the fight with Jon Fitch and Fitch was moved to UFC 108 against Thiago Alves.  Now Lesnar vs. Carwin is gone.  The event will host an exciting light heavyweight battle between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Luis Cane.  A less than stellar welterweight bout also is on the card between Karo Parisyan and Dustin Hazelett both coming back from long lay offs.

The point is this.  Dana White and Joe Silva find a headliner or I for one will not be watching.  I can promise you that.  Oh yeah, I am not one of those disloyal fickle fans.  But Ortiz vs. Griffin II by itself does not intrest me at all.

Lyoto comemora a vitória sobre Shogun no UFC 104.

Quem esperou até a madrugada de sábado para domingo sabia que algo fora do normal estava para acontecer no UFC 104. Com a disputa dos cinturões dos meios pesados, a luta entre o atual campeão Lyoto Machida Carateca (invicto no evento) e o desafiante Maurício “Shogun” Rua, dono de um Muay Thay excelente, deixaria os fã e torcedores com o coração na mão.

Isso foi um fator predominante nos cinco rounds da disputa. No primeiro round, Machida que era aclamado pelo público, manteve a estratégia abordada em combates anteriores e saiu vencedor, no segundo, jogando no contra ataque, Lyoto conseguiu encaixar bons golpes que lhe garantiram a vitória, no terceiro round, Lyoto começou a apresentar sinais do castigo que o Curitibano Maurício Shogun aplicava em suas pernas, com chutes sempre que era atacado

No quarto round, a pedido de seu corner, Shogun manteve a agressividade encaixando bons golpes e bloqueandos os ataques de Lyoto e saindo vencedor . Quando o gongo soou para o quinto e decisivo round, Shogun continuou o castigo e algo até então raro aconteceu no UFC. Lyoto, que nunca havia sangrado no Octagon, mostrava sinais do castigo imposto, além das fortes dores nas pernas e sua boca que sangrava.

Após 25 minutos frenéticos de trocação, a disputa foi decidida pelos juízes, que deram a vitória a Lyoto Machida por 3×2, provocando certo descontentamento do público que vaiou a decisão. Dentro do Octagon Lyoto, graças às vaias do público, aceitou uma revanche.

Aqui fica nossa torcida para que a luta aconteça logo no UFC.

Assista aqui os cinco rounds deste combate.

Fonte. Graciemag, UFC e Globosat