Thiago Alves injury update

Here's what kept the PitBull out of UFC 111...he needed freakin' brain surgery! Fortunately it went well & he looks to be making a full recovery. Props to the GF for forwarding this to me, I don't read TMZ so I never woulda known.

Fight Night live blogging

Well, sort of. The fight already happened on Tarheel time so I'm watching the replay while I help my girlfriend make dinner. Wasn't too wowed by Ross Pearson's win. Too many Brits, not enough jits! Sounds like one of the Beatles in his post-fight interview.

Whoa, Nate Quarry can take a beating. Talk about being saved by the bell...but Round 2 picks up right where Round 1 left off. I didn't expect that! Tough loss for Quarry, in every sense of the word.

Now it's time for Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve; what my friend Tad has dubbed the "Big & Tall match". I looked up Struve online to make sure I spelled his name right & accidentally found out what happened. Hey what the hell, was there a blackout or something? I went to get a corkscrew & they were on the next fight.

Now for Uno vs Tibau. Well that was quick. Tibau looks like a contender.

Aha, so there was a blackout! Ok now "Skyscraper" Struve vs "Big Country" Nelson is back on. These two look like Laurel & Hardy in boarsdhorts. Struve is sooo much taller than Nelson. And Nelson racks up another KO. My girlfriend says he looks like a guy who won a local contest to be in the UFC. Little does she know that's exactly what he did!

It's the main event. I'm pulling for Gomi because I want to see a rematch with BJ. Round 1 to KenFlo since he landed just about every jab he threw. Round 2 & Gomi looks t-i-r-e-d. Round 3 & just when Gomi is starting to land a few, Florian takes him down. Gomi pulls guard & is looking to stand back up but Florian is looking for the arm triangle. Uh oh, Florian has full mount. Gomi gives up his back. There's the RNC! Gomi taps. Jeez, that was the only groundwork we've seen all night. I suspect Zuffa intentionally booked stand-up guys in deference to the crowd at Bojangles Coliseum.

All in all a decent Fight Night, I suppose. Better than most...

Gracie Barra Arcadia

Gracie Barra Arcadia is up & running; I hit the mats last night & the place looks great...plenty of parking out front, nice & clean inside, mellow vibe & instructors with top-notch belt lineage. If you're looking for jits in the SGV, look no further...

Royce seminar in L.A.

Check it out, people...if you're in the SoCal area, the one & only Royce Gracie has a seminar at UCKA in Los Feliz. $80 a person & there are still a few spots left. Come train with the man who introduced BJJ to America & started the craze that still has us shelling out $50+ for PPVS. Oh & you might even learn a couple things too.



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UFC 111: btw, wtf GSP?

Ok so my waffling on the main event will hurt my average but truth be told, I'll always bet against GSP. I just don't see him as the dominant force that he is. His biggest wins have been over Matt Hughes (let's face it, a fighter in the twilight of his career), Matt Serra (a game-show winner who never really belonged in the cage with him in the first place) & BJ Penn (wrong weight class, buddy...oh & it's illegal to cover yourself in Vaseline). GSP's style has degenerated into a highly technical lay'n'pray. How ironic that GSP has picked up right where Hughes left off! This time, Georges, I was not impressed with your performance.

He said he wanted to make a statement with this fight & that's exactly what he did. Unfortunately for GSP, that statemant was "I'll do what I have to do to keep my belt, even if I have to lay on top of my opponent for 25 minutes". His pathetic submission attempts basically tore down the curtain of illusion that his takedown & guard-passing skills have created. All GSP knows how to do is the minimum; take 'em down, pass their guard, & rough them up. Yes, it's enough to win fights, but without stoppages there can be no P4P aspirations. Not to mention the fact that the other legit P4P contenders (Penn & Silva) showed some balls & stepped up in weight instead of just picking off the latest new faces in their weight class.

I know this can all be construed as fighter-bashing but a) there are tyrannical mods here at EPMMAB to hold me back & b) hey what can I say, the truth hurts. GSP is in no "Rush" to take any chances & that's made him a boring fighter.

update update update update update!

No time for witty banter, here's the lowdown:

Thiago Alves is out, Ben Saunders is in. If Saunders beats Fitch he's getting a shot at GSP, says Dana White. All eyes will be on Saunders & his scary facial hair.

Even if Dan Hardy is a better boxer than BJ (not likely), & he can deal with GSP's Olympic-caliber wrestling (not likely), can he go the distance against a gargantuan welterweight who looks like a heavyweight? Not likely. That's why Dan Hardy is my upset pick of the year!

Akiyama is back, this time against Wandy. My prediction: lots of punching & kicking.

Penn wants to go back up to 170. Why not? 155 is basically a bunch of guys who've either lost to him or lost to guys who've lost to him. And like a fool I'd still pay to see a third fight w/ GSP.

Jesus Christ, 3 of my 4 bullet points involve GSP! That dude is overexposed. Enough about him. Enough about the UFC! Let's talk about KOTC. Here's a little video recap of "Arrival" where everyone gets their two cents in, for better or worse...

Frank Mir vs Roy Nelson officially announced...

...for a Grapplers Quest event that already happened. Sorry, couldn't resist. Here's a clip of two UFC HWs with upcoming fights.



Am I crazy or does Big Country take it to Mir? That's what happens when you don't have a nickname.

I told you so (re: UFC Live on Versus)

So far, so good. I think I did a decent job calling this one.

Jones sent Vera tumbling down the contender ranks, Gonzaga saw stars & well, Kongo really bitched out & let everyone down with that ugly fighting.

I liked what Versus did, gotta catch more WEC events!

Preparing for a slew of UFC events

Let's get right to it & break down the tidal wave of Zuffa-tastic fight cards between now & April 10...

UFC Live: Vera vs Jones
What you need to know: A loss for Vera pretty much takes him out of the title picture for the foreseeable future. A win for Jones puts him in the mix.
Hidden gem on the card: Kongo vs Buentello. This bout will resemble a Toughman contest on PCP. I mean that in a good way.
Easy money: Napao will end up napping on the canvas.


UFC 111: St Pierre vs Hardy
What you need to know: Carwin vs Mir will steal the show.
Hidden gem on the card: Diaz vs Markham; a vintage striker vs grappler matchup.
Easy money: Another pitbull attack.

UFC Fight Night: Florian vs Gomi
What you need to know: A victory for Gomi will probably earn him a shot at Penn. Florian has nothing to gain & everything to lose.
Hidden gem on the card: Ross Pearson vs Dennis Siver. TUF 9 winner vs a striker who's last 4 victories are either by submission or spinning back-kick.
Easy money: Big Country is being fed a little fish.

UFC 112: Invincible
What you need to know: The last 3 fights on the card would all be rock-star main events on their own. For God's sake, people...don't miss this one!
Hidden gem on the card: Weren't you paying attention? The last 3 fights on this card are going to be MMA heaven.
Easy money: A country boy can't survive.

Sheesh, all this and St. Patrick's Day? Life is good...

Pulver rides into the sunset

So much for my dreams of a Pulver - Gomi rematch. After his most recent WEC loss, Jens seems to have set foot in the cage for the last time. Hopefully Zuffa finds some way to keep him around; Jens Pulver deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Remember Me?

Man, I know he's retired & all, but I wish Rickson would come out to L.A. for a seminar.

Strikeforce Lacks Conviction

Is it just me or has Strikeforce royally sucked ever since Gina Carano headed for Hollywood?



Hell, I even watched American goddamn Gladiators when she was on it...



What concerns me is that I don't think Carano will find a way to avenge her loss to Cyborg anywhere on the set of an action movie. Well, maybe if Randy Couture was in the movie, too...

The man in the Mir-ror

I think Frank Mir's unhealthy obsession with Brock Lesnar is going to bite him in the ass when he gets in the cage with Shane Carwin. Yes, Mir has beefed up & looked great against Cheick Kongo, but Carwin is a different animal altogether. While his wrestling credentials may not be as dazzling as Lesnar's (few are), he has a habit of knocking people out in the Octagon & his Marquardt-bestowed purple-belt should provide enough mat sense to avoid any of Mir's hi-jinx...



So Carwin, Mir, Lesnar & Velasquez look to be locked in a crash-course...the one glaring difference between these four is Mir's lack of wrestling pedigree & well, lack of punching power. Let's see if he proves me wrong, but I'm of the humble opinion that Mir will be sitting in the crowd when the HW belts are unified...

Scheduled for demolition?

Alistair Overeem is finally supposed to make his long-overdue return to Strikeforce, where rumor has it he'll defend his belt against Brett Rogers. I think Overeem could be the man to beat Fedor...but if he really does a number on Grim, I wonder if Fedor's camp will get scared & revert to their vodka-fueled demands for a drug test in the hopes of killing the fight. I can also see a real clock-cleaning by Overeem scare Strikeforce into scuttling a matchup with Fedor Emealticketenko.

KOTC "Arrival" fotos

KOTC has posted fotos of the whole "Arrival" card on their website...check it out!



Next time try to catch it person...no matter where you are, they're coming to a venue near you.

Not quite like being there, but...

...here's a little video montage that they play on the big-screens at UFC events. Sometimes you can hear this song in the background when Rogan & Goldie are gabbing. Really fun to see live! But then, when you're at a UFC it's pretty hard to not have fun.

James Toney?! Hey, He's Younger Than Randy Couture

Well this ought to be interesting, since you know the UFC won't pair him up against a grappler for his first couple fights. It's times like this I wax nostalgic for the UFC of old, with the tournament-style brackets pairing up boxers against ninjas. But time marches forward & now we're seeing a motley crew of late-bloomers try their hand in this ever-evolving sport. Accomplished football players, pro-wrestlers & boxers should be just as interesting to watch as TUF whippersnappers...

Keeping up with Jon Jones

Now that Jon "Bones" Jones has made the move to Greg Jackson's camp, I'm really starting to look forward to his fight with Brandon Vera at UFC LIVE on Versus. Early prediction? Jones by split decision. I think this will be tough for Vera, maybe even tougher than his match with Randy; Jones won't be trying to eat up time while clinched against the cage. If anything, this will almost be like Vera fighting a clone of himself...

BJ / Renzo rematch, anyone?

Remember this? Wouldn't it be the shit if we could see a rematch? Not too far-fetched now that Renzo's working for Zuffa again...



Renzo dropping to LW, BJ stepping up to WW...hell, meeting halfway at a catchweight...if Renzo wins, a little shit-talk from the ever-outspoken Renzo could be the perfect catalyst for a second showdown.