Casual MMA fans take note; some of the world's best fights happen in the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions of World Extreme Cagefighting.

There’s a lot happening in MMA in the coming weeks with DREAM next Monday on HDnet and Bellator, who just signed Roger Huerta and already has Eddie Alvarez, even getting some television time Thursday nights on FSN starting in April.  The UFC has three cards in a matter of ten days and only one is a pay per view.  The best part? the Versus network and its featured Zuffa owned mixed martial arts promotion WEC, will finally be seen on Direct TV as of this past Monday.  Trust me, it’s worth it.  The last WEC card was scary good but it wasn’t seen that widely so I’m still not sure if their first pay per view card will be their last or not.  Perhaps a lot depends on the kind of promoting Zuffa gets for WEC on Versus when it features the card I’ll talk about in this article.  It is the UFC’s first event on the Versus network and it not only features the sports most dynamic prospect in Jon Jones fighting his toughest competition in Brandon Vera, but it also features three other undeniably explosive fights that will be anything but boring.  Let’s get to the predictions.

UFC Live: Jones Vs. Vera

Preliminary Card

• Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty: It will be nice to see Clay Guida back in action as he is obviously a fan favorite and an easy guy to root for.  Guida is strong, takes amazing punishment, and has some of the best stamina in the sport.  He’s game and when his strength and relentless pace takeover a fight, he wins.  Hiss stand-up isn’t the best at lightweight but he will have more than enough opportunities to take Gugerty to the ground, punish him, and work for a submission.  Prediction:  Guida.
• Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko: Matyushenko has looked very good at light heavyweight and even in his 40s he has adapted and infused some kind of decent striking game.  His ground game is obviously very good and he looks physically stronger than a lot of guys at 205lbs.  Eliot Marshall needs to surprise Vladimir with a fast finish to win here but it’s only likely if Marshall can employ his strong jui-jitsu, which is not an easy task against a stronger wrestling based fighter.  Prediction:  Matyushenko.
• Lightweight bout Duane Ludwig vs. Darren Elkins: You never know here but it certainly appears the UFC is rewarding Ludwig with a lay-up showcase fight for stepping in last minute to get mauled by lightweight beast Jim Miller back in January.  Elkins has only one loss but all his fights are against relatively unknown fighters outside of veteran Gideon Ray, whom he beat in his last fight.  He steps in for Spencer Fisher here and I’m sure he knows this is a huge opportunity.  Ludwig faced some very tough competition over the years and his losses are against names like Takanori Gomi, Tyson Griffin, Josh Thomson, Paul Daley, BJ Penn, and Lyle Beerbohm.  You can’t hold his amount of losses against him with competition like that.  He will very likely take advantage of Elkins lack of experience and finish fast.  Prediction:  Ludwig.
• Welterweight bout: John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts: John “Doomsday” Howard has quietly put together a solid streak of closely contested wins in the UFC.  In my view that would’ve come crashing to a halt if his original opponent Anthony Johnson was fighting, but Johnson got hurt in training so in comes UFC newbie Daniel “Ninja” Roberts and let me tell you something, this match-up is by no means any easier for Howard.  Roberts is a solid prospect who is made for the big stage.  Look for another young guy to come in a make a name for himself.  Prediction:  Roberts.
• Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley: Gormley was getting some hype when Affliction promoted fight cards, but when we finally saw him against some solid competition (Stephen Struve in Gormley’s UFC debut) no one was  impressed.  Schaub seems to have the skill set to get the job done but he still has a lot to prove.  I’m betting he passes this test.  Prediction:  Schaub.
• Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino: Pierce bullied Jon Fitch in the third round of their fight but it wasn’t enough.  He still showed tremendous strength, power, and endurance.  Paulino seems like a solid incoming prospect who can really strike and has a wrestling base to keep it standing.  It will be interesting to see how he handles the other more experienced prospect.  I have a hard time seeing Pierce lose this fight if he fights like he did against Fitch.  He trains with a good camp in Brave Legion so he should actually look even better here.  Prediction:  Pierce.
• Light Heavyweight bout: Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz: Shafer’s striking has improved greatly over his last two fights and he can take punishment like very few in the sport while maintaining a constant threat with his top-notch BJJ.  If Schafer’s upward improvements continue then Brilz can’t beat him no matter where the fight goes.  Prediction:  Schafer.

Main Card

• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello: This fight will be a stand-up strategic war.  Two great kickboxing based MMA veterans try to stick around in the UFC’s ever-improving heavyweight division.  Kongo must be a completely different fighter after losing the way he lost to Frank Mir.  I expect him to come out against Buentello like he did against Mustapha Al Turk and make a huge statement.  He trains with Wolfslair among some top athletes in MMA, so I figure he knows himself for this fight and will have regained his confidence.  Buentello still has very dangerous hands so Kongo may have to resort to a more conservative style.  Either way, he’s coming out strong.  Prediction:  Kongo.
• Middleweight bout: Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin: This fight guarantees we see some of the preliminaries get televised.  Irvin has not fought in a long time and he moves back down to middleweight.  Sakara is a bit of an enigma with huge knockout losses against Chris Leben and Houston Alexander but a more recent hard fought win against Thales Leitas who contended for the title just before that fight.  I think Irvin is the kind of guy that simply doesn’t hesitate to throw until someone is out cold, and I think Sakara is too often the kind of guy that gets knocked out in flurries.  Prediction:  Irvin.
• Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: Junior dos Santos is getting a lot of hype and most of it is deserved, he is a serious heavyweight fighter that doesn’t get the same credit other guys with similar records get.  He hits hard but so does Gonzaga.  Gonzaga is also much bigger and has some outstanding BJJ.  His only really disappointing loss was against Fabricio Werdum who dos Santos destroyed in under two minutes.  I still can’t see why everyone seems to be looking past Gonzaga here.  I expect him to trade with JDS well enough to get a chance to employ his ground game and finish the fight.  Prediction:  Gonzaga.
• Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones: Vera says this fight will be a war and I expect it will be, but more of a Jon “Bones” Jones warfare showcase if Vera shows up like he did against Couture or Jardine.  Vera can’t afford to fight conservatively here but he hasn’t shown any indication of doing more than that since his move to light heavyweight.  He’s still the best fighter Jones has fought so far so it’s a great test.  I expect the 22 year old to come out and entertain us with his flashy and gutsy style of destruction.  Prediction:  Jones.

Gouveia is looking to rebound from his loss to Nate Marquardt. Gouveia had his moments in the clash of talented Middleweights, but ultimately started to tire in the final round. Gouveia is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the world, but his conditioning has always held back his emergence as a legitimate title contender.

Ed Herman will likely look to employ a similar gameplan that led to his win over David Loiseau. He need to use his grappling and conditioning to bring his opponent to the ground and basically outwork him. Herman would be wise not to stand with Gouveia and the best way to avoid do that is putting Gouveia on his back. Herman was set to face Aaron Simpson at Fight Night 19, but had little to gain from a fight with a virtual unknown commodity. Conversely, he could definitely get back in the mix with a win over a respectable name such as Gouviea.

Damarques really shouldn’t have too tough of a time getting through Saturday night, but it will be exciting with him in the cage nonetheless.

The lightweight fight between Ross Pearson and Andre Winner will be exciting, but we may need to turn our subtitles on.

The main card of the night should be excellent as well. I’m excited for both Diego Sanchez and Joe Stephensen to return to the octagon since their bout. Diego fights a game Clay Guida and Joe Daddy will face Nate Diaz.  This should be a great night for the new TUF guys and the old allum fightin on the card too.

________________________________________

UFC 102 Officially Announced

Randy Couture vs Antonio Noguiera
Keith Jardine Vs. Thiago Silva
Chris Leben Vs. Jake Rosholt
Nate Marquardt Vs. Demian Maia
Matt Hamill Vs. Brandon Vera
Wilson Gouveia Vs. James Irvin

More thoughts on the new card to come soon…. can’t wait for Hamill v Vera.

A hard-hitting slugfest was booked for UFC 98, pitting James Irvin and Drew McFedries. Irvin was forced off the card due to an injury, but a striking battle is still in store for McFedries as Xavier Foupa-Pokam has accepted the fight on late notice . McFedries and Foupa-Pokam have made no secret their desire for striking. I wouldn’t be surprised to see “KO of the Night” be handed to the winner of this fight.

McFedries is likely a loss away from being out of the UFC. He’s lost 3 out of his last 4 fights and just looks completely outclassed whenever a fight goes to the ground evidenced by his recent losses Thales Leites and Mike Massenzio. McFedries is always one punch away from winning a fight, but has been haunted by mistakes and being over-aggressive at times. McFedries will not have to worry about being taken down by Foupa-Pokam, so he can finally let his hands go and see who falls first.

Professor X drew a tough matchup in his UFC debut, opposite Denis Kang. Foupa-Pokam had little opportunity to show off his striking because Kang continually hunted for the takedown. Foupa-Pokam’s submission defense was better than first thought, but he won’t have to fret about any submission attempts from McFedries.

source: mmaweekly

Contribute a comment if you want to share your views!

Alexander, Gusmao

Houston Alexander 8 | 4 | 1
Andre Gusmao 5 | 1 | 0

Before entering the UFC, Gusmaou was a Capoeira teacher and an IFL team champion with the Pit Bulls. He came to the league on a four fight winning streak and faced off against Jon Jones at UFC 87.   Jones demonstrated some great greco take downs early. A low knee to Gusmao held the fight up in the first. Gusmao pleaded the case of another low knee in the second, but I couldn’t see it. No points were deducted from Jones. The 2nd round was a close one with some nice striking exchanges and both men swinging for the fences. In the end, Jones aggressiveness threw Gusmao’s rythm off and cost him  the decission. After reviewing a few IFL fights, I’m a little on the fence with Gusmaou. His competition has looked a little weak until the Jones bout.

After making an explosive entrance into the UFC, Alexander has had a dissapointing last three fights. Sometimes you just get caught, as was the case Fight Night 13 against James Irvin. There’s not a whole lot you can derive from an 8 second fight. In his most recent fight against Eric Schafer, Alexander looked to be the superior striker, his ground game just wasnt at the same level as Shafer’s and a bad position led to him being choked out.

Alexander has the experience with twice as many fights, but Gusmao currently enjoys the edge in winning percentage.

Alexander would like to keep this fight on his feet. Gusmao will probably be happy to oblige while working his kicks. This is how they’ve won and lost:

So if you go with the stats (and the odds which are currently 2 to 1) You should choose Andre Gusmao. It looks like the method and round should be the same for both fighters – TKO in the first.

I’m going to go against my better judgment and choose Alexander. I know he’s five years older, and hasn’t shown well in his last three fights. However, I can’t help but remember the Alexander that dominated Keith Jardine. He is also nothing but aggressive and the aggressive Jones seemed to throw Gusmao off. I probably just want The Assassin to win, so that’s the prediction.

Prediction: Houston Alexander | TKO | Round 1 | Min. 2

The Top Contender: Rashad Evans

The Next Tier:

·         Wanderlei Silva

·         Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

·         Lyoto Machida

·         Thiago Silva

·         Rich Franklin

·         Dan Henderson

·         Keith Jardine

·         Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

·         Chuck Liddell

·         Luis Arthur Cane

·         Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

On the Rise: 

·         Luis Arthur Cane

Other Notables:

·         Brandon Vera

·         Mat Hamill

·         Stephan Bonnar

·         Jon Jones

·         Tim Boetsch

·         Steve Cantwell

·         Brian Stann

·         James Irvin

·         Eric Schafer

Scheduled Fights:

·         Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans @ UFC 92 on December 28 (For Title)

·         Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva @ UFC 92 on December 28

·         Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy @ UFC 92 on December 28

·         Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson @ UFC 93 on January

·         Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Mark Coleman @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Andre Gusmao vs. Antonio Mendes @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Ivan Serati vs. Tomasz Drwal @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Jon Jones vs. Stephan Bonnar @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva @ UFC 94 on January 31

Match Ups I’d Like to See:

·         Luis Cane vs. Keith Jardine

·         Brandon Vera vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Other Thoughts:

·         There are rumors of a Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell match up at UFC 95

·         There are a lot of light heavyweight contenders and the match ups are being set.  The winner of Wanderlei vs. Rampage should get the next title shot, although the winner of Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva should be considered as well. 

·         We are waiting for the debut of rumored UFC signee Glover Teixeira who has been having visa troubles in Brazil. 

·         The UFC could sign former EliteXC light heavyweight Rafael Feijao, which would be a big time contender.

·         The UFC has a clear monopoly on the light heavyweight division.  There are only a few fighters worth a  dime in this division not in the UFC (Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ricardo Arona, Tito Ortiz, and Renato “Babalu” Sobral)

·         I looks like two solid light heavyweights have dropped to middleweight in Goran Reljic and Wilson Gouveia

·         The Ultimate Fighter 8 which featured light heavyweights is sure to place a few good fighters in the divison, but it will take time for them to climb the ladder.  Watch out for guys like Ryan Bader, Vinny Magalhes, Kryztof Soszynski, and Eliot Marshall.

·         It is somewhat possible to see Randy Couture take a few fights at light heavyweight and also to see Anderson Silva fight at 205 more often in 2009

Here are my 205′ers.  The UFC clearly has the deepest and best pool of 205 lb fighters.  I only see a couple of non-UFC fighters being top 25 material. 

Also considered: Jon Jones, Tim Boetsch, Bobby Southworth, Mark Coleman (Didn’t include him because he hasn’t fought again.  He probably is top 25 material)

Strike Force (kinda) held their show, Young Guns 3, on September 13th in San Jose, California.

I say kinda because they never got to finish their show because the gate to the cage was broken and it couldn’t be fixed. If this all sounds familiar to you, let me direct you to an earlier Strike Force show which featured a bout between James Irvin and Bobby Southworth.
Southworth locked up Irvin and tried to press him up against the cage as a man standing directly on the other side thought “There ain’t no way they’re gonna push through. Oh shit!”. This resulted in Irvin sustaining an injury and the bout was declared a No Contest.
I chuckled when I heard this and thought “I bet someone got fired for that.”
Apparently not.

James Irvin vs. Bobby Southworth

“So, Mr. Machine. What Makes You Want To Work At This Particular Packing Plant?”

Koppenhaver's attire for a night out.

Koppenhaver oughta start job hunting. What could have surely turned out to be a career ending in the Hall of Fame </sarcasm> has come to an end.
War “Jon Koppenhaver” Machine has been cut from the UFC. War Machine has long been more “fuck up” than “success” in his short career in the UFC.
He got together with his shirtless bros and beat up on a guy at a bar.
He was about to get sued by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling for using the name War Machine when they had a wrestler named War Machine so Koppenhaver legally changed his name to War Machine.
He turned down a fight with a relatively unknown opponent.
And finally he thought he had to right to speculate on Evan Tanner’s death and claim that it was a suicide because Tanner “had nothing” and continued on to pity a man who accomplished more in his 37 years than Koppenhaver could ever accomplishing in 100. Finally, Senor Machina said
“I for damn sure guarantee you that if I’m in my 40s and I didn’t make enough money and I don’t have my own gym to support myself or whatever, I’ll probably kill myself too.”

As if that wasn’t enough Conflict Robot seems to have a bit of an ego. He was offered a fight with tough fighter, and new UFC prospect, Brandon Wolff.
Skirmish Apparatus fills us in:

“I said, ‘Who in the hell is [Brandon] Wolff?’ So, I looked him up and made some phone calls. I’ve got a lot of friends in Hawaii — ‘Rude Boy’ (Troy Mandaloniz), Kendall Grove, my trainer. I got the same thing from everybody. They all said the guy is savage, sick, tough as hell, a really tough fighter and a really tough fight. Basically we all came to the conclusion that I have nothing to gain from the fight. He has no name, no fans other than the guys in Hawaii, and I thought that if I beat him, then no one is really going to care because I beat someone with no name. And if I lose, everyone is going to say I lost to a guy with no name, so I said [expletive] that.

“I want to fight someone with a name. I said, ‘Give me Josh Burkman. Give me Dustin Hazelett. Give me someone with a name.’

“They went back to the UFC, and Joe Silva said, ‘No. That’s the best fight I’ve got for him; take it or leave it. It was kind of threatening — like if I didn’t take it, they’d kick me out of the UFC. So, I was kind of pissed off and decided to play hard ball too. I said I’d wait for another opponent.

“Joe Silva — he was pretty much on a power trip. He was like, ‘I already told you that I already have Wolff for War Machine. I don’t know who he is thinking he’s negotiating with me. You know what? I’m sick of this guy.’ Then he brought up the Evan Tanner thing. ‘He made a dumbass comment on Evan Tanner. He’s not supporting the UFC. You know what? War Machine is cut.’ And they cut me.”

So Mr. Machine believes he can just skip the whole “working your way up” part of MMA stardom and skip right to the good stuff! Well luckily for the fans, he found out that it doesn’t work that way.

Unless of course, you’re Brock Lesnar.

More hilarious shit talking from Shamrock. More greasy beard from Kimbo.

Ken and a buddy catch The View while breaking a sweat.

If you haven’t already heard, Ken Shamrock will be facing Kimbo Slice on October 4th in Elite XC and Ken is pissed.
There have already been threats of leg breaking and names thrown around such as “jabroni”.
Shamrock seems to be hyping a fight like only he can.
Ken has said that he is insulted, having to fight a guy that hasn’t proved anything and who is as inexperienced as Kimbo Slice but it’s hard to say that they aren’t in the same league.
Shamrock’s last win of note was against Dan “The Beast” Severn at UFC 6 in 1995.
With that being said, there is no reason that Ken shouldn’t beat down Slice. His experience has to count for something. He even dropped Tito with a hard right in one of their encounters. If Slice’s cardio problems are still a factor, that and his lack of experience should tell the tale of his first MMA loss.
Keep an eye on this pre-fight hype because this bout is bound to produce a book full of hilarious quotes.
Look for Ken to get worked up and accidentally call Kimbo “Tito”.

WEC Welterweight Champion

I had honestly never thought of Miura as anyone other than that guy that Mayhem Miller kicked in the junk and I figured that Carlos Condit would burn through the Japanese Judoka in the first round but he proved to be an incredibly scrappy and worthy competitior, sweeping the champion out of a full mount multiple times. There were a few moments where Miura looked like he could finish Condit but Condit showed why he was a champion and finished his competition in the fourth. Now the question is “When does Carlos Condit decide to compete in the UFC?” I don’t think he could beat the current UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, but I don’t think many fighters could. I think Carlos Condit could shake up the UFC and it’s only a matter of time before he does.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s Situation Goes From Bad To Worse

Quinton Jackson's official mug shot

Anyone paying attention to Mixed Martial Arts news knows that Quinton Jackson isn’t doing so great. It started when Rampage was the driver in a hit and run. He then had a bit of a chase, was caught and got arrested. Now it’s come out that the woman that was the victim of the hit and run, Holly Griggs, was pregnant and had a miscarriage. If Rampage is losing his shit that bad after losing a title, the news of the death of this couples unborn child can’t bode well in the least for Jackson. The father of the child said this in regards to suing Jackson, “No amount of money will bring back my son.” To say this is a rough patch for Jackson would be an understatement but it’s hard to be sympathetic to Jackson when an innocent bystander has paid such a high price.

Irvin and Levens busted. Who cares?

Irvin and Levens during some of the more defining moments of their careers.

James Irvin got punched in the eye by Anderson Silva.
That’ll make for a bad night for any person.
Later, Irvin tested positive for painkillers. Is it just me or is it always the guy that loses that gets busted for banned substances? Irvin was never significant to any weight class. His claim to fame is being “The Knee Guy” because of the flying knee he pulled out of his ass to KO Terry Martin. Now he’s Anderson Silva’s first victim at Light Heavyweight in the UFC.
But I guess I shouldn’t say that it’s only losers that get busted for banned substances. Sometimes you don’t even have to fight. Marco Rua’s prospect Justin Levens was slated to fight on Affliction’s first ever show. Due to the show running long and basically working out the kinks of running their first show, the last fight of the night got cut and Justin Levens didn’t get to fight. Too bad he had to take a piss test anyway. Levens got busted for painkillers and didn’t even get a chance to compete.
Tough shit.

James Irvin Tests Positive For Banned Substances