MMAFeed Blog

EliteXC Only Lasts Two Rounds

Tue, Oct 21st 2008, 23:44 GMT

There won't be a third round for EliteXC. After a two year run, it appears that EliteXC is closing it's doors. This wasn't a surprise to anybody, it was only a surprise in that it happened so soon. For more on the downfall, read the article Behind the Scenes of ProElite and EliteXC’s Demise.

Being a dedicated fan, I wonder about the fallout of such an event. My immediate reaction is that this is bad for mixed martial arts. There won't be any more Saturday Night Fights. MMA won't have national TV exposure. Worst of all, it may be sometime before we see Gina Carano fight again.

Then again, this might be a good thing for mixed martial arts. The few good fighters that EliteXC had under contract will now migrate to Affliction and the UFC. Fighters might start appreciating the pay they are receiving. Best of all, no more Kimbo hype.

In any case, the fallout will be interesting to watch. Time will tell how this truly impacts mixed martial arts.

Ryan Bader and Junie Browning, Calling Out TUF winners

Thu, Oct 16th 2008, 23:17 GMT

From what I have seen this season, I already have some early favorites to make the finale. Of course there is Ryan Bader who was a legitimate number 1 pick by Coach Nogueira. Then, there is Junie Browning.

Picking Bader probably isn't much of a surprise, but picking Browning is a long shot. For one, he has almost been kicked out of the house twice. Then, there was the jumping over the octagon incident. His biggest challenge may not be winning the fights, but making it to his next fight.

So why Browning? I guess I get that feeling because he is writing blog posts for the UFC website. Why would the UFC pick Junie to write posts if he didn't make it far in the show? They wouldn't. Now, whether he makes the final or not is another question, but I am guessing he does.

Who is your early favorite?

UFC 89: Michael Bisping Vs. Chris Leben

Mon, Oct 13th 2008, 21:56 GMT

We are starting a new feature here at MMAFeed where we have a back and fourth conversation with two of our contributors. The subject for today, why not Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben?

Ryan - I have said it before, but this is a horrible headline event. At least I can cheer against Michael Bisping. Unfortunately I think Bisping will win this one.

Greg - Ryan, you couldn't be more wrong on this one. This will be a great fight and Chris Leben is going to win this fight. Did you see this guys chin? It would take a Mac Truck to knock this guy out.

Ryan - Ah, poor Greg. You are greatly mistaken if you think Bisping will keep this fight standing. Bisping does like to stand, but with Leben he will take this fight to the ground. As Jason McDonald did to Lebel, Bisping will get this fight to the ground and win by choke.

Greg - You have to be kidding me! There is now way this will ever reach the mat. First of all, Bisping will make the mistake of thinking he can stand with Leben. Second, if Bisping does get into trouble on his feet he has to get around Leben's take down defense.

Ryan - You may be right that Bisping will try and stand with Leben, but eventually this fight will end up on the mat. From there, Bisping has a better ground game. Advantage Bisping.

Greg - Let's be real here, Leben is going balls to the wall and will land that first big punch. From there, it's game over for Bisping. Advantage Leben.

Who do you think makes a better argument?

UFC 89: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Thu, Oct 9th 2008, 23:27 GMT

The good thing about UFC 89 is the match ups. They appear to be pretty even across the board. This should translate into some good fights.

The bad thing about UFC 89 is the headlining fight. Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben, you have to be kidding me! I guess that is why they put this one on Spike instead of PPV. Still, I do have some interest in the fight as I love to root against Bisping. Not to mention that Leben is always intertaining. Still, a main event?

The ugly thing about UFC 89, without a doubt, is the lack of star power. The entire card would be an under card for most events. I am puzzled why the UFC put UFC 89 and UFC 90 so close together. I assume there is a good reason, but this compounds the problem of getting good fighters for both events.

There better be some good fights or this will be a bad showing for the UFC. At least it is free...

Junie Browning is an Idiot

Wed, Oct 8th 2008, 23:37 GMT

Junie Browning is an idiot, no doubt about it. Not only is he stupid when drunk, but he tries to fight everybody in the house. To make matters worse for him, half the guys in the house are bigger than him. I like how he always asks for somebody to hit him, well I have a feeling it won't be long before somebody does. You can see most of his drunken rage over on Spike.

The real question I have is why didn't Dana White kick this a-hole out of the house? He never gave a legitimate answer, I have to wonder if the producers asked to keep him on the show for entertainment. The only other thing is that may Dana thinks he has a good shot to win the show. Still, Dana has never sacrificed the UFC's image for a good fighter.

Sorting out winners and losers from "EliteXC: Heat"

Mon, Oct 6th 2008, 19:36 GMT

MMAJunkie wrote a great article about last weekend's Fight Night.

By far, the best line of the article is:

Slice's days as an MMA curiosity are over. He will still be able to sell some tickets, but the loss to Petruzelli, who's never been confused with a truly elite-level fighter, effectively makes Slice just another guy who fights for a living.

MMAJunkie points out that the big winner was Affliction and of course Seth Petruzelli. I tend to agree as I saw the Affliction name everywhere during the show. Also, Andrei Arlovski looked very good once he got going.

As for the losers, there is of course Ken Shamrock who never got his chance at Kimbo Slice. With Kimbo losing, the other big loser has to be EliteXC. Where they go from here is beyond me, but it will be interesting to see how they advertise Slice going forward.

The big losers were Kimbo Slice and EliteXC.

Kimbo Sliced by Seth Petruzelli

Sun, Oct 5th 2008, 23:31 GMT

The EliteXC Heat event was actually pretty entertaining. You can find more on the event here. Of course I watched it with the aid of digital video recorder, so I didn't have to watch all the fluff. For me, the highlights where...

Ken Shamrock out of the main event - This sucked at first, but got all the more interesting when Kimbo lost. By the way, did anybody actually remember that Seth Petruzelli actually was on The Ultimate Fightar 2?
Benji Radach fighting style "facesmasher-fu" (or something like that) - I still can't find a reference to what the hell his fight style was, but he sure looked good kicking the crap out of Murilo Rua.
The weigh-ins - The Kimbo-Shamrock escapade almost looked scripted but Carano getting naked had millions of fans watching.
Seeing Jake Shields fight - Having never seen Shields fight, I was impressed. I can now justify putting him in my rankings.
Andre Arlovski looked aggressive - I don't think the Arlovski of old is back, but he definitely showed some of the signs.

I am still waiting on the fallout from this event. What happens with Kimbo now? Who will Petruzelli fight next? Will pictures of Carano surface? These are the important questions.

Ho-Hum - Another Fight Night

Wed, Sep 17th 2008, 13:24 GMT

OK, so this might be the worst fight night in some time. The main event will feature the the up and coming Nate Diaz. I am not sure this is what Diaz had in mind when he asked for some real competition, lets see if Neer makes this an interesting fight.

Thinking about it, I can't even remember when Neer fought last. He throws with heavy hands, but lets face it Diaz will win. I promised to pick Diaz in his next fight no matter what, so I have faith he will win. If you missed it, I think I have picked Diaz to lose his last 4 fights only to be wrong every time.

The Clay Guida vs. Mac Danzig fight should be good. The only other fighter I am excited about is Houston Alexander. Let's hope he explodes like he did in his first two wins. Another loss for Alexander and the UFC might show him the door. Here is to a good night of fights!

Championship Clause

Wed, Sep 17th 2008, 00:20 GMT

I was reading this article yesterday when I ran across this tidbit.

All UFC contracts have a championship clause, which ties the fighter with the company as long as they hold a company title unless they retire as champion.

This was a surprise to me and it got me thinking about some of the recent contract disputes. Previously, I was under the impression that the UFC wouldn't give a fighter a title shot if they only had one fight remaining on their contract. This would assure that they would stay under contract at least to defend their title.

With the championship clause, I would think that the UFC wouldn't care if a fighter only has one fight left on their contract. The reason being is that they would be bound to the organization as long as they are the title holder. Am I missing something here? What the hell was Randy Coutre thinking when he left the organization? I guess I will have to dig further on this one...

Evans Knocks Out Liddel, Shocks the World

Sun, Sep 14th 2008, 22:57 GMT

Rashad Evans shocked almost everybody with his knockout win over Chuck Liddel at UFC 88. Liddel was clearly winning the fight until Evans landed that blow. For me, it was one of the five best knockouts I have ever seen. The funny thing is, it reminds me of Evan's knockout of Sean Salmon.

I am still surprised at the strategy executed by Rashad Evans. Clearly it was effective, but why he didn't try and take down Liddel still puzzles me. For Evans, it looks like a matchup with Forrest Griffin is on the horizon. If Dana White really wants to make the fans happy, he should make these two the next coaches of The Ultimate Fighter.

Guess Who's Back... Couture to fight Lesnar

Wed, Sep 3rd 2008, 20:24 GMT

Just when you think you have seen it all, Randy Coutrue will fight again in the UFC. After a year of legal hassling, it seems both sides agree the best result is to have Couture fight again in the UFC. To me, this is a clear win for the UFC who was right in the first place.

Interestingly, the big winner in the whole ordeal is Brock Lesnar. He gets a title shot probably one or two wins earlier than he would have otherwise. On the other hand, he has to fight a legend and a fighter that knows how to execute a game plan.

Maybe the big winner isn't Brock Lesnar, but its the fans. We are treated to a very marketable fight and potentially two future fights from Randy Couture. To say the least, this is a very exciting announcement.

Bruce Buffer Owes me a Beer: Part 2

Mon, Aug 11th 2008, 22:42 GMT

As we move on to part two of this story, I should point out that Bruce Buffer still owes me a beer. Maybe someday this story will find him and we can resolve our differences. As I covered in Part One of this saga, we went to the weigh-ins and I was fortunate enough to meet Wanderlei Silva.

Little did we know it, but our day was just getting started. As the waitress brought us our first beer, a few people came walking into the bar. I didn't think much of it, but my friend Tim took only a second to recognize that one of the people was Mark DellaGrotte.

For those of you that don't know, and I am ashamed to admit that I didn't at first either, DellaGrotte is a MMA trainer. Tim made sure to get his attention as he walked-by and he even said hi as he passed. Now, we were pretty excited to see somebody famous walk through the bar, but a little upset for not grabbing him for a picture.

At this point, I don't know if we expected to see anybody else come through, but all of a sudden we started to get that feeling. A couple guys had entered the bar and they were carrying walkie-talkies and scoping out the bar.

Sure enough, a large group was entering the bar from the Target Center side. It was easy enough to spot Brock Lesnar in the group as he was twice as big as the others. As he walked past, I asked him to stop for a quick picture. He was nice enough to pose and shake my hand. I wished him luck and he split for the door.

Now, we knew we were in the right spot. The excitement was building as we thought about who else might come through.

My memory is a little fuzzy at this point, but I know we saw several fighters go through the bar. We were lucky enough to see John Fitch, Kenny Florian and Ben Saunders make there way through. As Saunders passed by, my friend Mike commented that "he looked shorter than he did on TV."

The comment got Saunders attention and he turned around to see who was making the accusations. He saw Mike standing there and tried to make light of the situation by asking whether Mike was standing on the bar stool. When he saw that he wasn't, he laughed and said "oh, I guess not" as he walked away.

The next fighter through the door was none other than Matt Serra. Now, we are not the biggest Matt Serra fans but I have to admit that he was pretty cool. He took time to shake hands and pose for pictures. We decided to go for the group shot minus Greg who took the picture. From left to right the picture shows Ryan, Mike, Matt and Tim.

As this story goes on, you can probably guess who will be coming in toward the end of the story. My encounter with Buffer wasn't bad, but I hope it is making for a good story line. If you have enjoyed the story so far, be sure to post a comment and come back soon to hear the rest of the story.

Bruce Buffer Owes me a Beer: Part 1

Sat, Aug 9th 2008, 11:08 GMT

With the big event only a day away, a few friends and I decided to head down to the Target Center to watch the UFC 87 weigh-ins. We didn't know quite what to expect, but we each had our own ideas what the day might be like. Let me just say, we were all dead wrong.

The anticipation was high as we stood in line. We figured out that the Jon Fitch crew was right in front of us in line and in front of them was the Roger Huerta crew. After about an hour of standing in line, we were finally allowed in to find a seat.

As we sat down, the stadium quickly filled with fans. It was an impressive crowd for mid-day on a Friday. Then, our first sight of one of the fighters. A small crowd, which was quickly turning into a large crowd, was gathering down by the front. Sure enough, there was Wanderlei Silva signing autographs.

It didn't take long for my friend Mike and I to decide to go down. And as luck would have it, we were able to get a few pictures of him.

OK, I know I look a little giddy in the picture, but I have to admit I was excited to meet one of the best fighters in the world. With that out of the way, we headed back to our seats to watch the weigh-ins.

To keep this post somewhat sort, I won't bore you with the details of the weigh-ins. In fact, you can watch them right here thanks to ESPN video. At the very least, skip ahead to see Luke Cummo pose after he is done weighing-in.

With the weigh-ins now over, it was time to head out. After a little deliberation with the crew, I was able to convince them that we should have a beer instead of fighting the traffic. As we walked out of the Target Center, we grabbed a flier that promised cheap beer at NBA City.

Our day seemed to be winding down and we were fairly satisfied. I had gotten to meet Wanderlei Silva, who was actually really friendly and approachable. However, the story doesn't end here. I still have to get to why Bruce Buffer owes me a beer. As you might guess, our day had much more in store than we could have ever imagined...

Bruce Buffer Owes me a Beer: Part 2

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring: UFC 87

Fri, Aug 8th 2008, 00:01 GMT

I still can't get past the Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta fight. I just finished watching the UFC 87 countdown and now I am more excited than ever for it. You can see my post on that fight here. Still, I have to cover a few of the other fights, so here we go.

The Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring fight seems very straightforward to me. Herring will look to land a bomb, probably a head kick but it could aslo be a knee. Lesnar will look to do what he does best, he will look for the takedown and then ground and pound.

Don't expect Lesnar to get caught in a submission like he did against Frank Mir. Herring just doesn't possess those skills. Still, he is very capable of landing that one big kick, just ask Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

I have a feeling that Lesnar will have Herring on the mat in about 10 seconds and pound him out shortly after. Expect this to be a huge win for Lesnar and a fun fight to watch. Goooooo Gophers!

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta: UFC 87

Mon, Aug 4th 2008, 07:48 GMT

The countdown continues as there is only 5 days left until UFC 87, Seek and Destroy. To continue my coverage of the event, I will now take a look at an extremely interesting matchup between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta.

The two best lightweights in the UFC are BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. However, the best of the rest includes Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. I also put Joe Stevenson in this group, but that is a subject for another post. Now, these two will fight to determine the number one contender for the UFC lightweight title.

Kenny Florian made a name for himself on the original Ultimate Fighter. After fighting his way into the finals, he suffered a TKO loss to Diego Sanchez. The loss seemed to make Florian even more focused than before and he went onto win three straight fights.

With the three straight wins, Florian earned himself a title shot against Sean Sherk. Unfortunately for Florian, he wasn't able to deal with the strength of Sherk and lost a unanimous decision. Once again, the loss seemed to focus Florian's efforts more than ever. After the loss, Florian once again went on a win streak reeling off four straight wins.

Florian once again stands on the cusp of his title shot. The man standing in his way is Roger Huerta. A very exiting fighter, Huerta owns and impressive 22-1-1 record (6-0 in the UFC). Huerta gained his notoriety two-fold. First, he appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover. Then, the UFC, trying to cash in on his cover) featured him in five events in 2007.

The exposure was good for Huerta, but he was clearly drained from all the fights. He decided to recover by taking off most of 2008 and the fight with Florian will be his first this year. An interesting side note, Huerta has two fights left on his contract while being only one fight away from the title match. The UFC often won't give the fighter with one fight on his contract a title shot until he signs a new contract. If Huerta wins this fight, we may once again be in a contract freeze until one side caves.

Breaking down this fight is extremely difficult. Both fighters are known for their conditioning, so I don't expect that to be a factor. I have to give Florian the edge with submissions and you can't forget about his dangerous elbows. Huerta brings an energy to all of his fights and probably has the edge in the standup.

The x-factor for Florian has to be his experience. He has fought a much more impressive list of opponents including Sean Sherk, Din Thomas, Chris Leben and Diego Sanchez. He always looks focused and throws those elbows with malicious intent. As much as I like Huerta, I believe Florian will be able to catch Huerta in a submission or land one of those famous elbows. Either way, this should be fun to watch.

Countdown to UFC 87: 10 Days Left

Wed, Jul 30th 2008, 23:35 GMT

Only 10 days left until UFC 87 Seek and Destroy? Where the hell has the summer gone? Well, at least I still have an awesome summer event left, UFC 87.

In many ways, the fans in Minnesota got lucky with the UFC 87 card. The card includes a huge star in George St. Pierre, a local boy in Roger Huerta and local star in Brock Lesnar. Most importantly, the UFC 87 card features a title fight and all around great matchups.

I am definitely most excited about the Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch title fight. St. Pierre is a huge star and is the prototypical UFC fighter. Fitch is also an excellent fighter and deserving of the title shot having won all 8 of his UFC fights.

The other really interesting fight is between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. This fight will surely decide the number one contender in the lightweight division.

With only 10 days left, I still have many things to cover but it is time to start getting excited about UFC 87!

Too much MMA?

Sat, Jul 26th 2008, 10:23 GMT

I know my wife has noticed it and so have some of you. There seems to be a lot more Mixed Martial Arts these days. I remember back about a year ago when I couldn't get enough MMA, but those days seem long gone. With the UFC, EliteXC, DREAM and Affliction events, you can find fights to watch almost every weekend.

To complicate things, the UFC has been airing shows on the same night as EliteXC and Affliction. They are trying to draw away potential viewers with their own events. Case in point was last weeks UFC Fight night which aired on the same night as the "Banned" Affliction event.

The question is whether this is too much MMA? The quick response is a definitive "no." Fans love the ability to turn on the TV almost any weekend and watch fights?

The problem is that the events are losing the appeal of the big show. They are too often and there isn't enough build up. As the events are watered down and the talent is spread across more promotions, there will be a negative effect on the fans.

The real answer lies in the long term growth of the sport. The explosion of mixed martial arts will draw new fans and encourage competition among promotions. This competition will ultimately lead to better events and most likely fewer promotions. So, yes there is too much MMA right now, but it essential for the sport to evolve into a better product. What do you think?

Affliction Banned from Future Promotions

Sun, Jul 20th 2008, 12:47 GMT

OK, the head line is a little misleading, but the production of the "Banned" event was horrible. This might have been expected, but Affliction had a blueprint laid out by the UFC and they just couldn't make it work.

Things that didn't go well...

Time Constraints - The first bout was scrapped due to... time constraints? How do you run out of time when the fights haven't even started?
Energy & Sound - The event lacked real energy early on. Sound could have been a factor. The crowd noise wasn't piped in while the fighters walked in. The transitions from a fight to fight lacked any buildup.
Camera Work - We saw some interesting camera work, during one fighter interview, the camera cut to an announcer where we could see he was getting his makeup applied.

I probably wouldn't have noticed the production values as much if there had been better fights. I had to wait until the Andrei Arlovski fight to finally say we had seen a decent fight and the Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia fight just left me with an empty feeling.

Overall, I have to give Affliction some credit for putting this thing together. They had awesome card (on paper) and delivered MMA fights which is what the fans really want. We got to see Fedor fight a legitimate opponent and he showed his awesome power. Now, lets see what Affliction can do for their sequel.

Before I forget, there were some great lines from the announcers. I don't have them all, but my favorite was "that was a 22 on the wow factor." I still can't figure out what the hell that means. Somebody please explain it to me.

UFC's latest Affliction - The "Banned" Card

Mon, Jul 14th 2008, 22:12 GMT

The UFC must feel threatened by Affliction. Why else would they scramble to put a show up against the the first ever Affliction event? As my friend said, it's almost like the UFC is turning into Microsoft. He may be right, but we will have to wait and see.

Here is the official Banned preview:

I did find it interesting that they never mention the UFC when describing Tim Sylvia. The video does mention the UFC a couple times with their descriptions of Pat Militich and Andre Arlovski. Seems strange that they would leave it out for one fighter and include it for the other two.

I wish I was able to watch either event this weekend, but I can't. I'm betting that most fans tune in to see Fedor Emelianenko fight Tim Sylvia, but who knows. What will you be watching this weekend?

CBS's Poll: Who is the Best MMA Fighter?

Fri, Jul 11th 2008, 00:39 GMT

Who is the best pound for pound MMA fighter of all time? CBS has put together a 32 fighter bracket and is asking readers to decide.

Although interesting, I suspect most people will focus on the legends and the current big names. My early favorites to win this thing are...

Fedor Emelianenko - While he is considered the most dominate fighter in the world, some question the talent he has been fighting lately.
Anderson Silva - Like Fedor, he has dominated his weight class. This begs the question, is the division thin or is he that good?
George St. Pierre - Probably my favorite to win it all, but a loss to Matt Serra really hurts.
Chuck Liddell - The best name recognition of the bunch, but those back to back loses are still fresh in most fans eyes.
Royce Gracie - The legend and most dominate fighter of his era. Still, will the new fans know who he is?

Go check it out and be sure to vote!