A Possible Big Breakthrough for MMA in The Philippines

I happened to chance upon this article on Filipino-American
UFC middleweight Mark Munoz a couple of minutes ago. The article
delved into how much he has improved as an MMA fighter from a
rather one-dimensional wrestler as he prepares to take on C.B.
Dalloway on an upcoming fight card. But as I neared the end of the
article, a possibility struck me with excitement with the thought
of it actually happening in the Philippines.

Apparently, the first international season of the hit reality series “The Ultimate
Fighter” could be shot on our shores. This is in congruence with
the UFC’s desire to establish a foothold in the country. There have
been a couple of UFC media events that were met with great
enthusiasm among local fans: one with Chuck Liddell, and more
recently with UFC Welterweight Champion Goerges St-Pierre.

The Philippine MMA scene is pretty established, with a couple of great
training centers here and there, and an organized league in the
URCC. Our fighters, though mostly competing in the smaller weight
classes, are able to hang with international competition, making
our country a great potential hotbed for world-class MMA talent.
And with the UFC absorbing the WEC and it’s lighter weight classes,
we could one day see even more Filipino talent in the world’s
biggest MMA stage.

Should TUF go ahead and shoot a season in the
Philippines, Mark Munoz has expressed his desire to coach. And if
all goes well, this could break enough ground to pave way for the
UFC hosting a major event in the country.

I’ll try to keep myself updated as to what the latest breakthroughs are. Philippine MMA has
been on the up and up for so long, it’s about time the rest of the
world knows it too.

MMA Roundup: Edgar-Maynard 3, The UFC’s Toronto Plans , And Another Quick Fight For Todd Duffee.

UFC 125 was certainly a suprise.

I wasn’t really planning on watching the main event match between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard due to little personal interest in either fighter. I wasn’t a big Frankie Edgar fan due to him taking the title from BJ Penn in a close fight and decisively beating him during the second go-around. And for some reason, I wasn’t much of a Gray Maynard fan either. But after seeing a solid card that featured Clay Guida taking a submission win over Takanomi Gomi, Brandon Vera getting his nose broken by Thiago Silva, and Brian Stann elevating his profile with a TKO of Chris Leben, I decided to tune into the main event.

I thought it was all over for Frankie Edgar after seeing how Maynard beat him up in the first round. And I was shocked with how quickly he was able to bounce back, winning the second and kept a good pace for the remainder of the fight. I also developed a level of appreciation for the measured, paced striking game that Edgar employs as opposed to a style that throws too many haymakers in search of a knockout, which Maynard used and could somehow have contributed to him slowing down in the later rounds.

The battle was pretty close. And despite Edgar getting blasted multiple times in the first round and him pulling off a rather amazing comeback, the judges found it too close to call a winner, ultimately ruling the contest a draw.

With this result, the UFC decided to call for a third fight. But with medical suspensions slapped on both men, it looks to be a while before the third match goes down.

The stall should have effects on the current pecking order among the UFC lightweights. Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, who won the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) Lightweight Championship from Ben Henderson became the last man to hold the title before the promotion got absorbed by the UFC. A future shot at the UFC belt was promised for the WEC titleholder, but with the draw and the subsequent suspensions, it looks like Mr. Pettis will have to hold out a little longer for his shot at UFC gold.

In the meantime, he can take pride in winning the WEC Lightweight title and in doing so, he managed to pull off one of the best kicks in the history of the sport.

In other UFC news, it was announced that the main event for UFC 129 which will be held in Toronto, will be welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre taking on former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields. Now I’ve mentioned some things already concerning this matchup (check it out HERE), so there really isn’t any need to repeat anything I previously mentioned.

Another thing that’s exciting about the Toronto event is the expected co-main event that should feature former UFC Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight Champion Randy “The Natural” Couture, and another former light-heavyweight champ in Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. This fight looks to be interesting as it brings with it a clash of styles. Couture is known for his freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling skills, as well as putting the pressure and beating down on opponents by pressing them against the cage and dirty-boxing in the clinch. Machida on the other hand, with his elusive, Karate-based counter-attacking style is a rather polarizing figure among fight fans. A casual fan would find his style boring and hardly entertaining, while a serious fan of the sport is able to appreciate it due to the fact that his elusiveness lends itself to getting opponents to chase after him, setting up better striking chances. Whatever kind of fan you are, both this match and the GSP-Shields fight goes down on the 30th of April (USA).

Moving on to the (not-so) Far East, Todd Duffee joined “Dynamite!! 2010″, the year-end card of the Japanese MMA promotion DREAM as a late replacement for Tim Sylvia, who was supposed to take on current Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem. Though the Japanese may make some rather questionable match-ups in the name of entertainment from time to time, it was still a tremendous chance for Duffee to get some of his rep back by taking on one of best heavyweights in the world, and who recently won a K-1 Kickboxing title. Make no mistake, Todd Duffee holds the UFC record for the fastest knockout for beating Tim Hague in just seven seconds. But a loss in his following fight and a supposed attitude problem led to him getting cut by the UFC.

Making steps to elevate his status in the MMA world, he ended up in the rather unenviable position of taking on “The Reem”. And the match ended pretty fast, except it was Duffee who ended up getting beat down. It took Overeem just 19 seconds of the very first round to earn the victory, and once again making fighting look like he’s not even trying by sending Duffee almost totally falling through the ropes after a knee to the body and a couple of hooks.

Here’s the entire match to check out.

And do take a look at 0:05 of the clip. It looks like either Overeem didn’t look too impressed, or he had somewhere to head to after so he decided to just finish it as soon as possible. You be the judge.

Round 2: More Upcoming MMA Fights in 2011

As 2010 comes to a close and with the new year rolling up in a few more days, more and more MMA fights have been announced, giving fight fans around the world reason to tune in come 2011.

With the merger  between the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), what arguably was the best organization in terms of fighters got even better. This is a win-win for both companies, as the UFC gets new weight divisions, and the stars of the WEC such as now-UFC featherweight Champ Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, and company get bigger media exposure for themselves, making it possible to create new stars at the level of the current UFC hotshots. I’ll be making sure to watch their UFC debuts.

With the merger inflated the already-stacked UFC roster, it makes it easier for the organization to cut fighters who repeatedly give uninspiring performances or are mired in losing streaks. If there’s any consolation, this should make each fight a must-win in decisive or convincing fashion.

But it’s not only the UFC that’s making great fights for the new year. Strikeforce and Japanese promotions are making some pretty noteworthy matchups that all deserve a part in another rundown of confirmed and rumored fights for the new year.

Jake Shields, GSP

1. Georges St-Pierre vs Jake Shields (UFC Welterweight Championship)

Talking about GSP and how complete a fighter he is isn’t anything new. He’s got a wide skill set and is always looking to expand his game, much like in his latest outing where time spent training with Freddie Roach gave him an absolute cracker of a jab which he used in abundance against Josh Koscheck. The results were similar to what Manny Pacquiao dished out to Antonio Margarito. With GSP pretty much cleaning out his division, is there anyone who can provide him a challenge? 

Perhaps that guys could be Jake Shields. He jumped to the UFC leaving behind a Strikeforce middleweight championship and carrying with him an impressive win streak along with some solid grappling skills. And although his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann was a bit uneventful with Shields gassing due to weight cut issues, Shields displayed those grappling skills by repeatedly advancing ground positions and showed disregard for lower level grapplers. Being a Cesar Gracie pupil, experts and commentators alike tout his grappling to be among the best in the world. But GSP sure isn’t a slouch on the ground. And if their fight goes that way, this could be a great ground war.

Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos

2. Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos (UFC Heavyweight Title)
When Cain Velasquez fights, he pushes a pretty fast pace. Add some solid wrestling skills, good striking, and a desire to keep getting better and you have the new face of the UFC’s Heavyweight Division who surprised Brock Lesnar with a first round TKO.

Junior Dos Santos on the other hand arguably possesses the best boxing in the UFC’s heavyweight division. And although he tired out in the later rounds of his fight against Roy Nelson, a good hit with those heavy hands could spell trouble for any man.  I hope this one turns out to be an all-out striking war.

3. Fedor Emelianenko vs Antonio Silva (Strikeforce)
For a while, Fedor was touted as the baddest man of the planet. The Russian brought with him a calm air of mystique, a solid Sambo base, and a who’s-who list of MMA big-names he’s demolished over his career. His rep changed when he was submitted in the first round of a fight against UFC castoff Fabricio Werdum. He’ll have a chance to make it back into the discussion of the best fighters in the world when he meets Antonio Silva in  a future Strikeforce event.

Dan Hardy, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson

4. Dan Hardy vs Anthony Johnson (UFC)
This match is looking to be a must-win for both fighters. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy lost a unanimous decision in his UFC Welterweight title fight against GSP and got knocked out in his next fight which was against Carlos Condit. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson on the other hand was dominating his opponents until a step up in competition put him up against Josh Koscheck, who submitted him in the second round. His upcoming match against “The Outlaw” will mark his first time back in the octagon after taking some time off to heal up some injuries. The consequences for either man losing this match could be dire, with WEC-UFC merger making for the possibility of more fighters cut from the roster due to bad streaks or successive uninspiring performances.  Look out for this match to be a possible co-main event on the UFC Fight Night 24 card which is expected to take place in March.

5. Tito Ortiz vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (UFC)
Call it a battle of aging light heavyweights. But make no mistake, despite their getting on in years, both fighters are highly respected and way more than capable of delivering a big fight. Nogueira is coming off a unanimous decision loss to light heavyweight prospect Ryan Bader, while Ortiz is a far cry from his days as the most dominant light heavyweight in the UFC. In his last six fights, the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has gone 1-4-1, with the win happening four years ago against Ken Shamrock. Another loss could indicate that maybe the time has come for Ortiz to move on. This bout between these two elder statesmen of the Light Heavyweight Division will serve as the main event of the previously mentioned UFC Fight Night 24.

6. Nick Diaz vs Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (Strikeforce Welterweight Championship)
This wasn’t the fight that many people wanted to see. Hell, it wasn’t even the other prospective Diaz fight I mentioned in my first rundown of upcoming fights.  But nonetheless, the fight still looks to be a pretty solid match-up. Facing Diaz for Strikeforce gold is a pretty big opportunity for “Cyborg”, who has gone a meager 5-5 in his last 10 fights. While Diaz, who carries with him an eight-fight winning streak dating back to 2008 can prove with a victory over Santos that he’s one of the best welterweights outside the UFC. The fight goes down on Jan. 29 (USA) along with…

7. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs Robbie Lawler (Strikeforce Middleweight Championship)
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has got to be one of the people who has best adapted his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu  and Judo skills for MMA competition. Search him on youtube, and dozens of highlight videos will pop out showing his mat skills, which allowed him to win the then-vacant Strikeforce middleweight championship against Tim Kennedy.
Robbie Lawler’s last fight ended with a highlight reel first-round knockout of Matt Lindland. Although his record may be hardly impressive at 18-16, putting another big finish to his upcoming bout with “Jacare” should more than put to rest any doubters. This fight goes down on January 29 (USA).

8. Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir (UFC)

Now this is a rumor. With no clear word on what the next moves for both fighters, this match-up makes pretty good sense. In his most recent outing, Lesnar lost his heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez, while Frank Mir won his last fight with a third round TKO of Mirko “Cro Cop”. Both men have fought each other before, with each taking a decisive victory over the other. And it’s no surprise that both men really hate each other. This has all the makings to be a great trilogy, so maybe the head honchos of the UFC can just go with their gut feel and make the match for people who love the sport, and not just the mudslingers on the message boards.

With more fights being made, I’ll definitely follow up another rundown as the information makes its way out. In the meantime, I’d like to wish a rather advanced but happy (and safe) new year to all!

Looking into The Future: Some Set and Rumored MMA fights for 2011

Before going into the real subject matter of this post, I just have to say that UFC 124 was nothing short of a great event. It had a great card where matches ended up in some solid finishes, like Mac Danzig’s KO of Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, and some displays of jiu-jitsu prowess coming from Mark Bocek, Jim Miller, and Stefan Struve.

And the title fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck lived up to its billing, but gradually turned into a drubbing as the fight went on. With a technical, crisp and efficient striking display, GSP managed to shut Koscheck’s right eye with stiff jabs (perhaps the result of working with Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach?) and cause welts on his left leg with inside leg kicks. And though Koscheck wasn’t able to do any significant damage to the champion, he was able to stuff some of GSP’s takedown attempts. And on the occasions where GSP got the fight to the ground, Koscheck almost immediately got the fight back to standing.

But in the end, GSP earned the unanimous decision with scores of 50-45.

With a murderer’s row of welterweights cleaned out, what’s next for GSP?

There are a few possibilities as to who can provide him any sort of challenge, but that’s a different slice of thought all on its own. So for now, here’s a look ahead at some fights or rumored to go down in 2011.

1. Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort (UFC Middleweight Championship)
When he’s on his game, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva puts on arguably the most effecient, accurate, and ruthless striking displays in MMA. And on top of that, he’s got a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the Nogueira brothers, the skills of which he recently used in a come-from-behind win over Chael Sonnen.
Belfort on the other hand is a volume striker whose punch rushes can easily overwhelm his opponents, seen most recently in his win over Rich “Ace” Franklin. He’s been in the cage with some of the best in the sport, and he’s no slouch on the ground either.

This fight will headline UFC 126 on Feb 5, 2011

2. BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch (UFC)
BJ Penn rebounded from his two losses to UFC Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar in dramatic fashion with 21-second first round KO of Hall-of-famer Matt Hughes. Perennial welterweight contender Jon Fitch who most recently beat Thiago Alves by decision was on tap to fight Jake Ellenberger, but somehow fell through after Penn’s win over Hughes.
The ground aspect of this fight should be highly interesting, with both fighters having different styles. Penn uses his Jiu-Jitsu skills to seek out submissions, while Fitch with his wrestling base smothers and controls on the ground. Which style works better? We’ll find out at UFC 127.

3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs “Sugar” Rashad Evans (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
This match will mark Rua’s first title defense since taking the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Lyoto Machida by a first round TKO. Evans is a former title holder coming off decision wins over Thiago Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He’s got knockout power in his hands, which came to the forefront in his win over Chuck Liddell. He’s gonna need to bring the heavy shots going up against a absolute muay thai berserker in “Shogun”. Should Rua’s rehab from surgery go according to plan, we could see this battle take place sometime in March.

4. Ryan Bader vs Jon “Bones” Jones (UFC)
Many have lauded the potential that UFC light heavyweight Jon “Bones” Jones has. And he’s looking every bit deserving of the praise as he keeps getting better with every fight. Not bad for a guy who admittedly learned about the sport watching youtube videos (which could maybe explain his unorthodox set of strikes?). However, Jones isn’t the only light heavyweight making solid moves in the division. Ryan Bader won The Ultimate Fighter 8 and since that time has turned himself from a one-dimensional wrestler into a solid mixed martial artist. His 12-0 record can attest to that and he most recently came off a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. These guys could quite possibly be the future of the Light Heavyweight division, and they’re scheduled to fight on the card of a highly stacked UFC 126, featuring the previously-mentioned Silva-Belfort title fight as well as…

5. Forrest Griffin vs Rich Franklin (UFC)
Both guys are former UFC champions. Both guys are coming off some wins over other big names of the sport (Forrest getting the decision over Tito Ortiz, Franklin knocking out Chuck Liddell). This looks to be a great fight, plain and simple. It’s scheduled to be the co-main event of UFC 126.

6. Clay Guida vs Takanori Gomi (UFC)
Clay Guida is one of my favorite fighters because when he comes to fight, he comes to fight. Win or lose, he pushes a pace that never lets up, seen most recently in his win over Rafael Dos Anjos. And he’s making key improvements on his all-around game by working with the Greg Jackson camp, the same camp where fighters like GSP and Rashad Evans train at. His opponent, Takanori Gomi was a star over in Japan during the Pride days. He may have flubbed his UFC debut against Kenny Florian, but came back strong with a knockout of Tyson Griffin. Their match will take place at UFC 125 and has all the makings for Fight of The Night contention.

7. Thiago Silva vs Brandon Vera (UFC)
Rewind the clock back a couple of years, this fight would have been at least a co-main event on any card. But due to both fighters mired in various slumps, this fight was only recently promoted to main card status for UFC 125. With Silva inactive since his loss to Rashad Evans, and Vera getting his face broken by Jon Jones, both fighters should be looking to get back on the winning track come the new year by putting on a striking display that made both men feared competitors of years past.

8. Nick Diaz vs Jason “Mayhem” Miller (Strikeforce)
Nothing set here but the presence of bad blood between these two men is an understatement. A brawl ensued between Miller and then-Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields (with the Diaz brothers in his camp) during one Strikeforce event, and almost came to blows with Nick Diaz during another. Miller wants to fight Diaz so badly, that he’s dedicated a website (and a pretty NSFW yet funny video) to the fact that he thinks Diaz is scared (homie). Hopefully these guys can finally agree on a weight and as cliche as it sounds, leave all the bad blood in the cage.

9. Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley (Strikeforce Welterweight Championship)
With all the stalling going on with the Diaz-Miller fight, Cesar Gracie, Nick Diaz’s manager wants him to defend his title against former UFC welterweight Paul Daley. Sure this is another rumored match, as both men have their sights set on different opponents (Daley called out KJ Noons). But should the Diaz-Miller fight fall through the cracks, this one looks to be quite explosive. With Daley pulling out a highlight reel KO of Scott Smith with his trademark left hook, a fight with Diaz could truly prove if he’s one of the best welterweights outside the UFC.

10. Wanderlei Silva vs Chael Sonnen (UFC)
At this point, this one’s a big rumor. Both men are said to be in talks to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. And true to form, at the end of the season, the coaches will get to fight it out. With Silva successful against Michael Bisping at middleweight, and Sonnen being the man who for almost five rounds overwhelmed Anderson Silva in their title fight before getting caught in a triangle choke, isn’t the mere thought of these two fighting each other great already?

I’m sure there’s tons of other fights already made or in the making for 2011 (GSP-Shields, Cain Velasquez-Junior Dos Santos, UFC Debuts of Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles and “The Korean Zombie) and I wish I could talk about all of them. But all I know is it’s looking to be a great year ahead not only for the UFC, but for mixed martial arts. 

A Firestorm To End The Year.

There’s nothing like a heated rematch to end a solid year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

This Sunday (Philippine time), the main event of UFC 124 features a rematch between welterweight champion Georges St- Pierre (20-2-0) and Josh Koscheck (17-4-0). But this time, with championship gold on the line.

Now, I’m in no position to play the pundit and talk about how each fighter can earn the win come Sunday, nor can I give a detailed breakdown of the areas of strength and weakness for both fighters. I can only talk as a fan of the sport. And I look forward to this match because of the many reasons for it to have the potential to be explosive.

Any casual MMA fan can say how much of a complete fighter GSP is, and how he takes it upon himself to keep improving on the different aspects of his game. He takes training seriously and learns from the masters as well as from his own mistakes. His work ethic and well-rounded skill set has turned him into a dominant figure not only in the UFC welterweight divsion, but in the world of mixed martial arts.

But in a sport where one-trick ponies are left to fall by the wayside, Koscheck hardly remains to be the fighter who GSP took the unanimous decision from in 2007.  By developing a solid striking game to go along with his strong wrestling base, Koscheck has posted some solid victories over high-level opposition to turn himself into a contender to GSP’s championship whose now well-rounded skills are more than capable of backing up his loudmouth personality.

Somewhere alongside the time he spent rounding out his skills, Koscheck managed to give himself a solid “heel” turn. In other words, he became the guy who people love to hate. Both his post-fight interview after beating Paul Daley and his coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter can attest to that. And this makes the buildup for this fight all the more interesting.

But now, with the season wrapped, and the finals done, it’s about time for the coaches to duke it out in a match that on paper has all the makings to be one for the ages.