Fight Digital

Hello

2015-01-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

This is what I do when I want to write about MMA but have no other outlet it seems.

Available for freelance or otherwise.

Thanks,
John

P.S. I just read through some older posts. Things really have changed, but the more I think about it, its only some of the fighters, everything else is all the same.

Home Again

2011-01-20T03:36:00.000-05:00

It took a while, but I'm finally back at my old stomping grounds: MMA on Tap.

Where it all started pretty much. We're already hard at work with new posts and everything. That's where I'll be for the near future and beyond. My twitter is staying the same, nothing new there.

I'm sure I'll have some random stuff up on here every once and a while, but for an everyday sort of thing, check us out at over at the new (old) joint.

My 2010 MMA Awards

2011-01-16T18:24:00.006-05:00

This is a bit late but I figured I might as well get mine out there just like everyone else. 2010 was an interesting year for MMA. The three previous years had been reserved for change and growth, but 2010's theme was different as the rise of the sport's new blood was ever prevalent.

Without further delay...

Fighter of the Year: Cain Velasquez. His first-round destruction of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 was shocking. No one expected that, and no one expected Velasquez to improve upon that performance, mauling Brock Lesnar in less than five minutes eight months later.
Honorable Mention: Dominick Cruz, Frankie Edgar, Georges St. Pierre

Story of the Year: Questionable judging in MMA. It seems that there were more highly questionable decisions this year than during any other. Nam Phan getting robbed against Leonard Garcia, Sean Sherk's questionable decision over Evan Dunham and Nik Lentz receiving a gift against Tyson Griffin were only some examples of what is quickly becoming a serious problem for the sport.
Honorable Mention: UFC/WEC Merger, Chael Sonnen, Fedor loses

Fight of the Year: Kazuo Misaki vs Jorge Santiago. We were lucky to have a handful of amazing bouts this year, but the five-round rematch between Misaki and Santiago is one for the ages. Both fighters had each other on the verge of defeat multiple times throughout the fight. It's one of the most entertaining battles I've ever witnessed. After the fight, Misaki stated that if the referee hadn't waved off the bout, he may have died had it gone the distance. I believe him.
Honorable Mention: Ben Henderson vs Anthony Pettis, Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen, Chan Sung Jung vs Leonard Garcia.

Knockout of the Year: Robbie Lawler on Melvin Manhoef. If you haven't seen this fight yet, I strongly suggest that you go back and watch it. To say that Manhoef was taking it to Lawler is putting it lightly. Lawler was on the verge of getting seriously hurt, but pulled off of one the most surprising knockouts I've ever seen.
Honorable Mention: Paul Daley on Scott Smith, Matt Hughes on B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit on Dan Hardy

Submission of the Year: Fabricio Werdum on Fedor Emelianenko. Looks like the falling of "The Last Emperor" is going to take home two awards. What else is there to say. Werdum pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all-time against the best to ever lace up the gloves. Period.
Honorable Mention: Anderson Silva on Chael Sonnen, Chris Leben on Yoshihiro Akiyama, Nick Pace on Will Campuzano

Event of the Year: UFC 116. Any event featuring Brock Lesnar is sure to be stacked and filled with must-see fights. Almost every card that he's on delivers, and UFC 116 did just that, featuring Lesnar's come-from-behind submission win over Shane Carwin. Chris Leben's last-minute submission of Yoshihiro Akiyama certainly helped too.
Honorable Mention: WEC 53, UFC 117, Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Chris Leben. An easy pick here. A win over Jay Silva was expected. Dominating Aaron Simpson wasn't. And submitting Yoshirio Akiyama with seconds left, left me jumping for joy. Legal issues and a rumored illness aside, Leben shouldn't let his recent loss to Brian Stann get to him, as whatever he did to prepare for fights in 2010, is exactly what he should continue to do.
Honorable Mention: Hiroyuki Takaya, Keita Nakamura, Stephan Bonnar

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Anthony Pettis. He was already going to be one of my choices for the category, but then he snagged the WEC belt and a once potential title shot in the UFC from Ben Henderson, thanks to the "Showtime Kick", which to be honest, I had no idea was even legal.
Honorable Mention: Evan Dunham, George Sotiropoulos, Phil Davis

Upset of the Year: Fabricio Werdum def. Fedor Emelianenko. Frankie Edgar's back-to-back performances against B.J. Penn will be remembered for years to come, but when the fighter who will be considered the greatest of all-time unofficially goes down for the first time in his storied career, it takes the cake.
Honorable Mention: Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn twice, Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee, Jake Shields def. Dan Henderson.

Camp of the Year: Jackson's MMA. No one camp stood out in 2010. Even with all of their success, members of Greg Jackson's infamous team had their own struggles. Still, the continued success of Georges St. Pierre, the resurgence of Rashad Evans, and the transformation of Carlos Condit, Melvin Guillard and others keeps Albuquerque's best gym at the top.
Honorable Mention: American Kickboxing Academy, Black House, Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

My November 2010 Rankings

2010-11-30T00:44:00.002-05:00

Here are my rankings for the month of November.

Notable movement took place at the top of the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, where Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Yushin Okami each scored crucial wins.

A note on B.J. Penn: Even though his last and next fights are contested at welterweight, I've decided to keep him ranked at 155 lbs until his future becomes a little bit clearer.

HW
1. Cain Velasquez (UFC)
2. Brock Lesnar (UFC)
3. Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce/DREAM)
4. Fabricio Werdum (Strikeforce/DREAM)
5. Shane Carwin (UFC)
6. Frank Mir (UFC)
7. Junior Dos Santos (UFC)
8. Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC)
10. Josh Barnett (Strikeforce/DREAM)

LHW
1. Mauricio Rua (UFC)
3. Rashad Evans (UFC)
3. Quinton Jackson (UFC)
4. Lyoto Machida (UFC)
5. Forrest Griffin (UFC)
6. Ryan Bader (UFC)
7. Rafael Cavalcante (Strikeforce/DREAM)
8. Muhammed Lawal (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Jon Jones (UFC)
10. Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce/DREAM)

MW:
1. Anderson Silva (UFC)
2. Chael Sonnen (UFC)
3. Yushin Okami (UFC)
4. Nate Marquardt (UFC)
5. Dan Henderson (Strikeforce/DREAM)
6. Demian Maia (UFC)
7. Vitor Belfort (UFC)
8. Jorge Santiago (Sengoku)
9. Ronaldo Souza (Strikeforce/DREAM)
10. Michael Bisping (UFC)

WW:
1. Georges St. Pierre (UFC)
2. Jon Fitch (UFC)
3. Jake Shields (UFC)
4. Thiago Alves (UFC)
5. Josh Koscheck (UFC)
6. Carlos Condit (UFC)
7. Martin Kampmann (UFC)
8. Dan Hardy (UFC)
9. Nick Diaz (Strikeforce/DREAM)
10. Paul Daley (Strikeforce/DREAM)

LW:
1. Frankie Edgar (UFC)
2. Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce/DREAM)
3. B.J. Penn (UFC)
4. Shinya Aoki (Strikeforce/DREAM)
5. Eddie Alvarez (Bellator)
6. Gray Maynard (UFC)
7. Kenny Florian (UFC)
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Ben Henderson (WEC)
10. Sean Sherk (UFC)

FW:
1. Jose Aldo (WEC)
2. Manny Gamburyan (WEC)
3. Mike Thomas Brown (WEC)
4. Bibiano Fernandes (WEC)
5. Michihiro Omigawa (Strikeforce/DREAM)
6. Marlon Sandro (Sengoku)
7. Hatsu Hioki (Sengoku)
8. Josh Grispi (WEC)
9. Joe Warren (Bellator)
10. Diego Nunes (WEC)

BW:
1. Dominick Cruz (WEC)
2. Brian Bowles (WEC)
3. Joseph Benavidez (WEC)
4. Scott Jorgensen (WEC)
5. Miguel Torres (WEC)
6. Urijah Faber (WEC)
7. Takeya Mizugaki (WEC)
8. Masakatsu Ueda (Shooto)
9. Rani Yahya (WEC)
10. Wagnney Fabiano (WEC)

Fitch Gets the Shaft Again

2010-11-03T01:43:00.004-04:00

After being promised another UFC welterweight title shot, Jon Fitch has had the opportunity taken away from him. It isn't the first time.

Instead of biding his time and waiting for a second chance at Georges St. Pierre, and or Josh Koscheck, Fitch has, reluctantly I'm sure, agreed to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 in February. Jake Shields, who was less than impressive in a split decision over Martin Kampmann recently, will assume the top contender spot.

I don't have any gripes with Shields receiving a title shot. None. He's been the top welterweight outside of the UFC for a number of years now and his record speaks for itself. He's as worthy a contender as there has ever been to be quite honest.

Assuming St. Pierre dispatches of Koscheck this December, the truth of the matter is that time is running out for Fitch to receive another crack at the Canadian. A win over Shields will mean that St. Pierre has "cleaned out" the UFC's 170 lb. division. TWICE.

No one else on the current UFC roster stands a chance at defeating GSP, nor would even provide a matchup that fans would like to see. The only scenario I can think of is if the UFC were able to bring in Ben Askren. The threat of St. Pierre facing a far better wrestler than he would be interesting to say the least.

With that said, the time for St. Pierre to move up to middleweight is approaching. According to some elite fighters, a permanent move up in weight would require a few years of preparation via weight lifiting and gaining. St. Pierre has been doing that for well over a year now. If Lorenzo Fertitta's recent comments about wanting a superfight between GSP and Anderson Silva as soon as possible, St. Pierre could even be making his 185 lb. debut as soon as next fall.

The one thing that Fitch has going for him is that he continues to clear out the UFC's welterweight division himself at an alarming rate, and his unanimous decision win in a rematch with Thiago Alves this summer was an absolute domination of the Brazilian. Still, Ellenberger represents another surprising step down in opposition, similar to his fights against Ben Saunders and Mike Pierce, albeit those matchups were put together due to Alves' medical problems. Unfortunately, the UFC welterweight division is all booked up or has recently competed at the moment, and Carlos Condit and Chris Lytle are probably on target to meet each other in the near future.

If Fitch wants his shot to come against St. Pierre, he needs to make a statement against Ellenberger, and that would involve finishing his first fight in over four years. It might be the only way to grab the attention of Dana White, Joe Silva and company, who have the power to delay St. Pierre's inevitable move to middleweight, especially if it's for a rematch with Fitch.

My October 2010 MMA Rankings

2010-10-26T22:59:00.001-04:00

Here are my rankings for the month of October. The most interesting thing for me was the shakeup at heavyweight and how others are going to view the top half.

This month's new additions include Michael Bisping, who earned a unanimous decision over Yoshihiro Akiyama and Jake Shields, who officially moved back to the welterweight division with his split decision win over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 this past weekend.

The full set of rankings are after the jump.

HW
1. Cain Velasquez (UFC)
2. Brock Lesnar (UFC)
3. Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce/DREAM)
4. Fabricio Werdum (Strikeforce/DREAM)
5. Shane Carwin (UFC)
6. Frank Mir (UFC)
7. Junior Dos Santos (UFC)
8. Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC)
10. Josh Barnett (Strikeforce/DREAM)

LHW
1. Mauricio Rua (UFC)
2. Lyoto Machida (UFC)
3. Rashad Evans (UFC)
4. Quinton Jackson (UFC)
5. Forrest Griffin (UFC)
6. Ryan Bader (UFC)
7. Rafael Cavalcante (Strikeforce/DREAM)
8. Muhammed Lawal (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Jon Jones (UFC)
10. Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce/DREAM)

MW:
1. Anderson Silva (UFC)
2. Chael Sonnen (UFC)
3. Nate Marquardt (UFC)
4. Dan Henderson (Strikeforce/DREAM)
5. Demian Maia (UFC)
6. Vitor Belfort (UFC)
7. Yushin Okami (UFC)
8. Jorge Santiago (Sengoku)
9. Ronaldo Souza (Strikeforce/DREAM)
10. Michael Bisping (UFC)

WW:
1. Georges St. Pierre (UFC)
2. Jon Fitch (UFC)
3. Jake Shields (UFC)
4. Thiago Alves (UFC)
5. Josh Koscheck (UFC)
6. Carlos Condit (UFC)
7. Martin Kampmann (UFC)
8. Dan Hardy (UFC)
9. Nick Diaz (Strikeforce/DREAM)
10. Paul Daley (Strikeforce/DREAM)

LW:
1. Frankie Edgar (UFC)
2. Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce/DREAM)
3. B.J. Penn (UFC)
4. Shinya Aoki (Strikeforce/DREAM)
5. Eddie Alvarez (Bellator)
6. Gray Maynard (UFC)
7. Kenny Florian (UFC)
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri (Strikeforce/DREAM)
9. Ben Henderson (WEC)
10. Sean Sherk (UFC)

FW:
1. Jose Aldo (WEC)
2. Manny Gamburyan (WEC)
3. Mike Thomas Brown (WEC)
4. Urijah Faber (WEC)
5. Bibiano Fernandes (WEC)
6. Michihiro Omigawa (Strikeforce/DREAM)
7. Marlon Sandro (Sengoku)
8. Hatsu Hioki (Sengoku)
9. Josh Grispi (WEC)
10. Joe Warren (Bellator)

BW:
1. Dominick Cruz (WEC)
2. Brian Bowles (WEC)
3. Joseph Benavidez (WEC)
4. Scott Jorgensen (WEC)
5. Miguel Torres (WEC)
6. Takeya Mizugaki (WEC)
7. Damacio Page (WEC)
8. Masakatsu Ueda (Shooto)
9. Rani Yahya (WEC)
10. Wagnney Fabiano (WEC)

Neither Shamrock Nor White Are Telling the Truth

2010-10-26T17:09:00.003-04:00

The never-ending war of words between UFC President Dana White and the company's former embattled middleweight champion Frank Shamrock has found new life once again.

Long a fixture in the San Jose community, Shamrock has opted to put up shop in Manhattan this coming February in hopes of speeding along the quest to legalize MMA in the state of New York, a venture that has been met with much apprehension among state officials who still believe the sport to be barbaric.

Surprisingly, despite being one of the most active supporters of the cause, Shamrock believes that White is actually the biggest reason why politicians have opposed the process thus far.

"The face of our sport is Dana White and out here in conservative New York, the way people think, bald-headed, tattoo'd, swearing people are just not a good representative of our brand and unfortunately people think that Dana White speaks for MMA, and they're confused," Shamrock told MMA Fanhouse's Ariel Helwani on a recent edition of "The MMA Hour". "They don't know he speaks for the UFC. They think he speaks for the entire sport and [they think] the entire sport is made up of Dana Whites.

"I don't think it's all on him. But we're entering a new era of social media and Dana is a very outspoken figure in every way, mostly with the f-bomb and all that. I'm a martial artist. To me, the art is the most important thing. I don't get the same thing from Dana, that's all."

Shamrock also went on to say that local politicians have hinted to him that White projects an appearance of the sport that they aren't fond of. Needless to say, White didn't take Shamrock's remarks too kindly.

In a response to Helwani last Wednesday, White hurled a string of insults at Shamrock and questioned what he would actually do to help bring MMA to the likes of Madison Square Garden in the near future.

"Frank Shamrock is an irrelevant jackass," White said. "He's a two-faced, lying... I bet he didn't tell you on your radio show that he flew out to my office a month ago to try and make piece with me. He didn't? That's weird."

"You're a two-faced, lying chump Frank Shamrock. That's what you are. You aren't going to do anything. What have you done for mixed martial arts in the last 10 years? What have you done? Nothing. You're just a liar and a guy that's trying to keep himself relevant."

That's some of what has been said. As for my take on things, I feel that both White and Shamrock are two-faced. That's not me throwing insults, that's just saying that both of them are guilty. The pair have been accused of failing to tell the complete truth about certain things, and each other, in the past. It's almost the pot calling the kettle black in a way.

Whether or not Shamrock and White had a conversation a month ago is the only thing that irrelevant. Shamrock has even admitted to it happening, but that's beside the point. The only thing that matters in regards to their feud is that it has to stop. There's no reason for the vendetta to continue on like this, and it's something that goes far beyond Shamrock's allegiances with Strikeforce and Showtime.

Essentially erasing Shamrock from the UFC history books is exactly what I'm talking about. When do you ever hear or read Shamrock being mentioned by a UFC mouthpiece? He remains one of their greatest champions to date and the greatest 205 lb. title holder in company history in the eyes of some. Omitting him from the list of the UFC's greatest fights leading up to UFC 100 last year was disgusting in my eyes.

An immediate UFC Hall-of-Fame induction is needed for Shamrock, Pat Miletich and Tito Ortiz. Strikeforce affiliated or not, and bad blood aside, neglecting to mention Shamrock among the UFC greats is only doing a disservice to this sport and its fans.

There might be hope though. We have to remember that it was just last year when White said that making up with Ortiz could also lead to him mending things with Shamrock. We won't hold our breath.

As far as the issues in New York are concerned, it will be a stretch to see if either the UFC or Shamrock will have a significant impact on the battle. The UFC has yet to stray away from their original strategy that they implemented a few years ago and instead have resorted to attempting to get in bed with the potential next governor of the state instead of trying something new.

Shamrock wanting to push the martial arts side of the sport is all well and good. It might even grab the attention of a select few, but it will most likely turn off those who don't understand what he's talking about. Anyone who saw his interview with ESPN a few years back will no doubt agree.

Michael Bisping Thinks He's One Win Away From a Title Shot... I Think Not

2010-10-17T22:45:00.000-04:00

Forgive Michael Bisping. Fresh off a unanimous decision win over a struggling Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 120 yesterday, Bisping believes that he's only a win away from a title shot against reigning middleweight king Anderson Silva. I'm being serious:

"I want to fight the top guys. Whoever it is, I want to fight the best out there. I think one more win against a real credible opponent, I think that should get me a title fight. ... Ultimately, that's up to the UFC, but I feel I'm growing as a fighter. I said it leading up to the fight. I feel like I'm really maturing now, and everything is coming together in my skillset."

The middleweight division is currently lacking some new contenders, but Bisping's body of work pales in comparison to that of Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, and even Yushin Okami if you wanted to stretch things a bit. All three bouts would be rematches for Silva that make more sense right now than giving a Bisping a shot.

I honestly don't know what is causing me to be so upset about the potential of Bisping as a title challenger more: The fact that he wants to be given a shot after a three wins over Akiyama, Dan Miller and a guy like Demian Maia or that I'm completely underwhelmed by his UFC tenure thus far. Don't get me wrong, Bisping is one of the best fighters to come out of the "TUF" program, but his loss to Rashad Evans at 205 lbs aside, he was left for dead against Dan Henderson and dropped a clear-cut decision to an aging Wanderlei Silva, a fight that he continues to complain about to this day while his case for a rematch continues to dwindle down. His resume at middleweight just doesn't impress me.

With that said, I'm all for Bisping receiving a title shot if he works his way up. However, he's not one fight away and I'm pretty sure the UFC brass is aware of that. Three more wins against the cream of the crop at 185 should do the trick. He's essentially in the same position as Chris Leben and Alan Belcher at the moment.. It's time to separate himself from the pack if he wants to prove his worth. We'll see what happens.

Why Should Strikeforce Sign Dave Bautista?

2010-10-13T02:35:00.000-04:00

The debate concerning whether or not Strikeforce should sign former WWE superstar Dave Bautista continues to rage on. The answer to the question is simple in my mind: he'll bring in viewers, if only for the single event he competes on.

Geno Mrosko says that inking Bautista to a deal would essentially be a giant waste of time (HT: Bloody Elbow):

I don't understand why so many people think signing Bautista would be such a big deal for Strikeforce. Being a pro wrestling blog, we here at Cageside know better than anyone what Bautista brings to the table athletically and it's not much. He's an old man, from a sporting perspective, and he gets injured more often than he doesn't. What exactly is he going to bring to the table? He's never going to reach the upper echelon of the heavyweight division and unless he has a huge impact in terms of ratings, the amount of money he wants them to pay him would represent a huge loss.

I don't think anyone expects Bautista to do much of anything in the sport, so bringing that up as a talking point about why Strikeforce shouldn't sign him is unnecessary. The hype train followed Brock Lesnar because of his collegiate wrestling background. The same can be said somewhat for Bobby Lashley.

Whether or not Strikeforce will take a loss in promoting Bautista won't be known until after it actually takes place, but I'd tend to lean towards the notion that they wouldn't. The promotion's income comes primarily from ticket sales and their partners at Showtime. With the right fighters on a card, Strikeforce can pull in a decent gate just about anywhere. And even though the exact numbers will never be known, it is also common knowledge that monetary support from Showtime likely comes from the number of eyes that flip the channel on for an event. Last weekend's rematch between Nick Diaz and K.J. Noons pulled in approximately 500,000 or so viewers. Pure interest in seeing Bautista step into the cage could easily double that, bringing in more money and new fans for Strikeforce. A win-win situation in my opinion.

UFC 118: Preview and Predictions

2010-08-28T09:54:00.001-04:00

We are three days away from seeing whether or not B.J. Penn can goad Frankie Edgar into a "fight" in order to get his belt back and if James Toney has more than a puncher's chance of defeating Randy Couture. Barring any last-minute injuries or problems, the fight card for UFC 118 is set in stone.

Here's a little preview and some predictions:

Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (UFC Lightweight Title)

Will Edgar be able to pull off yet another upset? I find it hard to think so. While I believe the fight will be close at the start, a refocused and healthy Penn should be able to overwhelm Edgar in the later rounds just as he did to Sean Sherk and Kenny Florian. I'm expecting Penn to mix up his offense a bit more and Edgar to employ a similar gameplan to his original one save a more aggressive approach to brief takedowns. Penn via submission in round three.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney

It still baffles me that some are surprisingly giving Toney more than a puncher's chance in this one, claiming that Couture's increasing age has done a number on his reflexes and timing. In all honesty, a 50-something Couture years removed from the sport would probably beat Toney with ease as well. I'm giving this fight a minute and a half at the most before it's over. Couture will do exactly as he says he will: throw an overhand right, take Toney down and pound him out before sinking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

If the UFC decided to match these two directly after Florian's loss to Penn last summer, I would have likely picked Maynard to grind out a decision. I can't say the same after Florian's performances against Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi. Training with Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans and a wealth of other wrestlers has benefited Florian's age-old wrestling problem greatly. I'm not saying that Florian is going to be taking Maynard down at will, but his accurate striking and solid takedown defense should be enough to hand Maynard his first professional loss.

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda

This was a hard fight to pick. One would think that Maia would take Miranda down and swiftly lock in a submission just as he's done to almost everyone else in the UFC's middleweight division. However, Miranda's style prevents a plethora of problems for Maia, both standing and on the ground. Let it be known that even though he was TKO'd by a streaking Gerald Harris, Miranda is a legit BJJ black belt on the ground. His wrestling is better than Maia's and the ability to stand back up could prove problematic for Maia on the feet. As much as I want to pick Miranda to win a close decision, Maia is more than likely to score a submission with his patented tricks on the mat.

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

My favorite for UFC 118's fight of the night is this matchup. I expect the majority of the bout to take place on the feet, where Diaz's peppering boxing style learned from his older brother will go up against Davis' pro boxing experience and fight-ending power. I expect Davis to win the exchanges on the feet but I feel that Diaz's chin is good enough to absorb some punishment before ultimately getting the fight to the ground where Davis is crafty but not as slick as Diaz, who represents Stockton well with another submission win.

Prelim picks: Joe Lauzon, Nik Lentz, Dan Miller, Nick Oscipzak, and Amilcar Alves. I'll have a recap and thoughts on the event up tomorrow morning/afternoon.

Surprise! Fedor Wants Extension With Strikeforce

2010-08-12T16:28:00.000-04:00

I have to be honest. Once Fedor and M-1's current deal with Strikeforce and Showtime wittled down to a single fight remaining and after hearing Scott Coker's hesitancy to go back to the bargaining table, I thought Fedor to the UFC by next year was a done deal. Looks like I was wrong.

Today comes the news that Emelianenko and his management team are very pleased with the way their relationship with Strikeforce is going and are interested in signing a contract extension that would add 4-6 more fights. On top of that, it looks as if talks between both sides are nearly complete:

The 33-year-old Emelianenko, who has just one fight left on a three-fight contract signed one year ago, has recently voiced a preference for a four-to-six fight extension. The two sides are more than halfway to an agreement, according to M-1 Global director of operations Evgeni Kogan who told MMA Fighting on Thursday that the sides hope to have a deal in place very soon.

"I think the talks are going well," he said. "There are always things to get sorted and ironed out but we are probably two-thirds of the way there. I think that the next fight and the deal overall will be announced at the same time within the next month. We have an [M-1 Selection] event in [Atlantic City,] New Jersey on September 18, and we may be ready to announce by then, hopefully.

Normally, the thought of Fedor easily agreeing to a deal with the UFC would have never even crossed my mind. However outside of Strikeforce, the Russian's options for employment are vastly limited due to his asking price. The UFC and Strikeforce are the only organizations with enough money and reach to be able to secure Fedor's services. While a return to Japan is also a possibility, the heavyweight divisions in DREAM and Sengoku are virtually non-existent. There's no one for Fedor to fight.

Fedor being so willing to extend his deal with Strikeforce is great news for the promotion. Coker and company have nearly started to pull hair out during talks with M-1 and the fact that Vadim Finkelstein and his co-workers approached Strikeforce about an extension first may show that their power at the bargaining table has indeed been severely lowered after Fedor's upset loss to Fabricio Werdum.

Also, it looks as if Fedor doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon, which is great news for all.

Sorting Out The UFC's Suddenly Cramped Middleweight Title Picture

2010-08-12T12:06:00.003-04:00

Let's harken back to earlier this year, specifically the early springtime, when Anderson Silva was preparing to defend his UFC middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, seemingly the only legitimate contender left at 185 lbs inside the Octagon. In fact, things were so barren, that when Belfort went down with an injury, Demian Maia was penciled in as a replacement.

My how things have changed. Chael Sonnen did everyone a favor in upsetting Nate Marquardt and preventing a lackadaisical rematch between Marquardt and Silva. Then Sonnen earned a shot at Silva himself and nearly dethroned the world's pound-for-pound king. (Unless you believe GSP holds that title, like me)

In the meantime, Chris Leben has risen from the dead and reeled off a three-fight win streak that includes impressive wins over Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Wanderlei Silva announced his presence at middleweight in February in beating Michael Bisping, but has been on the shelf ever since while recovering from broken ribs and knee surgery and will be out until next year.

Yushin Okami and Alan Belcher also want to believe that they have some say in how this middleweight title mess is going to play out. The popular opinion at the moment is to either make Silva-Sonnen II right away or match Silva up with a fresh challenger in Belfort. However, Belfort has been waiting nearly a year to fight again and Silva looks to be out of action until early next year.

Jake Rossen believes that the UFC should pair up Sonnen and Belfort to create a clear-cut number one contender. While it seems practical, the UFC would essentially be sacrificing one big-money fight for the other, as the loser of the bout would descend back into mediocrity. It's not everyday that you have more than one challenge a fan wants to see the champion face, especially since said champion already cleaned out his division a long time ago.

If I was Joe Silva, things would play out like this: Sonnen came way too close to beating Silva to not give him an immediate rematch. The fans would love to see it again and I'm sure both Sonnen and Silva want it to take place as well. Ask Sonnen if he wouldn't mind sitting out 4-6 months while Silva's heals up before a rematch. I guarantee he won't put up much a fight. Belfort needs to fight, so give him Okami. That way, the next challenger for the belt is already established as the winners of Silva-Sonnen and Belfort-Okami can meet next summer. A potential rubber match between Silva and Sonnen would be put on hold anyway. The UFC has never matched the same fighters up three times in a row.

As for the others, Belcher is currently healing from a detached retina that may not allow his career to continue. If it does, he should be ready to return at the same time as Wanderlei Silva. Match them up. Leben is enjoying some much-needed time off. So let's see how Maia vs. Mario Miranda and Marquardt vs. Rouismar Palhares play out before giving him anymore assignments.

P.S. Michael Bisping isn't a contender. Why people insist in attempting to match him up against guys climbing the ladder is beyond me. Let him string together a couple of wins before hopping on his bandwagon once again.

Diego Sanchez Reunites With Greg Jackson

2010-08-11T10:50:00.001-04:00

If you haven't already heard, Diego Sanchez announced yesterday that he has once again joined forces with Greg Jackson, who served as Sanchez's primary trainer from the start of his career and well into his original run as a UFC welterweight.

Usually, this would serve as nothing more than your regular filler news for the week, but I find Sanchez's return to Jackson's camp interesting based on the nasty falling out the two had back in the summer of 2007, spurned on by Jackson's decision to take on then welterweight contender Georges St. Pierre. At the time, St. Pierre had been upset and lost his title to Matt Serra and was preparing to bounce back against Josh Koscheck while Sanchez had just suffered his first professional loss to Koscheck earlier in the year, but was still very relevant in the welterweight title picture.

The move angered Sanchez, who immediately left Jackson's training camp and associated himself with Saulo and Xande Ribeiro as well as The Arena gym in San Diego. He obviously felt slighted with Jackson bringing in GSP as Sanchez wasn't even considering a move to lightweight at that point in time.

The entire ordeal bothered me, and still does, for two reasons. One, Jackson and his crew push comradery and loyalty within its limits to the max. Just ask Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt and company. All of the fighters under the Jackson's MMA banner would likely never fight each other and take helping each other for upcoming bouts to the next level. If loyalty is so important, then why was Jackson so quick to bring GSP into the fold, despite Sanchez being a win or two away from a title shot.

Secondly, Sanchez's early success in the UFC served as a platform for Jackson and his system to grow into the successful entity it has become today. During Sanchez's six-fight win streak in the UFC, others started to notice the success of other Jackson-trained fighter such as Joey Villasenor and Keith Jardine and a wealth of fighters from all over soon began to request to learn under the tutelage of Jackson. In my opinion, you don't leave your top pupil hanging out to dry, even if the best welterweight in the world wants to join the fold.

August 2010 MMA Rankings

2010-08-10T17:36:00.001-04:00

Just like almost everyone else who covers this sport, I have my own set of rankings that I update each month as well. Starting next month, I'll have parenthesis to show where a fighter was ranked the previous month, if they were ranked at all that is.

Notable new inclusions this month include rising light heavyweight sensation Jon Jones, who cracks my light heavyweight rankings after his quick domination of Vladimir Matyushenko and UFC hall-of-fame member Matt Hughes, who submitted Ricardo Almeida this past weekend at UFC 117.

Heavyweight

1. Brock Lesnar
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Cain Velasquez
5. Shane Carwin
6. Frank Mir
7. Junior Dos Santos
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
10. Josh Barnett

Light Heavyweight

1. Mauricio Rua
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Rashad Evans
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Forrest Griffin
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
7. Muhammed Lawal
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Rich Franklin
10. Jon Jones

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Jake Shields
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Dan Henderson
6. Demian Maia
7. Vitor Belfort
8. Yushin Okami
9. Jorge Santiago
10. Ronaldo Souza

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Dan Hardy
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Martin Kampmann
7. Paulo Thiago
8. Paul Daley
9. Nick Diaz
10. Matt Hughes

Lightweight

1. Frankie Edgar
2. B.J. Penn
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Eddie Alvarez
6. Kenny Florian
7. Gray Maynard
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Ben Henderson
10. Evan Dunham

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo
2. Manny Gamburyan
3. Mike Brown
4. Urijah Faber
5. Bibiano Fernandes
6. Michihiro Omigawa
7. Hatsu Hioki
8. Marlon Sandro
9. Josh Grispi
10. Diego Nunes

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Miguel Torres
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Damacio Page
7. Takeya Mizugaki
8. Shuichiro Katsumura
9. Masakatsu Ueda
10. Charlie Valencia

Impressions of UFC 117

2010-08-08T04:01:00.002-04:00

UFC 117 was the first major event that I've been able to watch live in quite a while. I'm glad I made the decision to do so. The main card delivered something for every type of fan from a heavyweight slugfest to a tactical ground battle to a come-from-behind victory for the ages. It was nice to see.

- Chael Sonnen backed up his trash talk. Who would have thought he would dominate Anderson Silva over four and a half rounds, let alone a single one at all? Not me. When the fight began, I thought that Sonnen would take the first round similar to how Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter had done to Silva in the past. I had no idea he would continue to do so throughout the rest of the bout. What a heartbreaking loss for Sonnen, but props to Silva for staying focused and aware enough to pull off a last-minute submission. An immediate rematch has to be in order. Sorry, Vitor Belfort.

- Jon Fitch looked great in action while Thiago Alves looked exactly the opposite. Be it the weight cut, ring rust, or another unknown ailment, Alves didn't look himself and allowed Fitch to throw him around the cage like a rag doll for fifteen minutes. Fitch was promised a title shot before the bout, but if Georges St. Pierre is victorious over Josh Koscheck in December, I wouldn't be surprised to see the winner of Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann receive the honors instead. However, you know Dana white is foaming at the mouth to finally pair Fitch and Koscheck together and throw AKA in a frenzy.

- Although I picked Almeida to win, I was ecstatic to see Matt Hughes not only pick up his third straight win, but to choke Almeida, a highly-ranked BJJ black belt, unconscious. I'm very excited to see Hughes back in the welterweight title picture after being left for dead. I guess it's the nostalgia of the whole thing.

- Joe Rogan's comments during Junior Dos Santos' three-round mauling of Roy Nelson were dead-on: the Brazilian needs to mix up his offense. Knees, elbows and kicks would have allowed him to finish Nelson. Throwing nothing but punches obviously did not. Kudos to Nelson, who now has us questioning whether his chin and heart are bigger than his stomach. As for JDS' shot at the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, I unfortunately don't see him having much of a chance against either.

More to come...

Is MMA Considered Mainstream?

2010-07-26T16:08:00.000-04:00

One of the more interesting questions regarding MMA in recent years is whether or not the sport can currently be regarded as "mainstream". The explosion in popularity has continued to gradually increase since the original success of "The Ultimate Fighter", save a possible slump involving the UFC late last year and early this year depending on who you ask.

Sherdog.com's blog is featuring a poll asking whether or not 'MMA has reached mainstream status'. I said no. To me, a sport is mainstream when you could stop almost any average schmoe on the street and hold a conversation with them about a particular sport, team or player. In my opinion, nine out of ten random people would likely follow one of the four major sports and know who LeBron James, Brett Favre and Alex Rodriguez are. I can't say the same for MMA. Brock Lesnar might get half of those people but I have serious doubts about anyone else.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still surprised at the number of people that I find who are semi-knowledgeable about the sport, more so the UFC. But an interest level as high as those have for the NFL and MLB just isn't there at this point. Could it be in the future? That's what some (and Dana White of course) are expecting.

What say you?

Can Hawaii's MMA Scene Be Saved?

2010-07-25T22:04:00.003-04:00

You'll have to circle back to the early to mid 2000's to really grasp ahold of how fruitful the Hawaiian MMA scene really was. Local promoters J.D Penn and T. Jay Thompson were flourishing under their respective Rumble on the Rock and Superbrawl/ICON Sport promotions. Big-time fights (B.J. Penn vs. Takanori Gomi/Renzo Gracie, Robbie Lawler vs. Frank Trigg/Jason Miller) were being put on and fans were eating it up.

Then everything fell apart. Penn and Thompson were both sucked into the mess that became EliteXC and its umbrella of promotions that eventually went under. Injuries and moves to other organizations essentially created a drought of must-fee matchups. On top of that, the state finally opted to regulate the sport at the professional level and began charging a variety of fees that have even the UFC questioning whether or not a trip to Hawaii would even be financially worth it.

At the moment, X-1 seems to be the top Hawaiian show and the organization will attempt to give MMA in the state a little jolt by pitting together UFC and Strikeforce veteran Falaniko Vitale, long considered a star in his homeland, against the last notable name from ICON Sport's final days, powerful slugger Kala Kolohe Hose.

Local news outlets are already calling the bout one of the biggest fights in Hawaii's history. Vitale and Hose are essentially Hawaii's biggest draws outside of B.J. Penn "Mayhem" Miller and Kendall Grove these days, so a bout between the two might be what the area needs to bring back the interest that was once there.

I'm going to try and get in touch with Thompson over the next few days to get his thoughts on the fight as well as what he believes needs to happen to bring back the glory days of Hawaiian MMA.

Here We Go...

2010-07-25T17:51:00.000-04:00

John Chandler here. You might know me from a variety of places. I was the lead writer for MMA on Tap for over three years and I've most recently done some freelance writing for Sherdog.com.

My work has been mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Delaware County Daily Times, Dayton Daily News and Honolulu Advertiser among others. I've also done radio appearances on Sirus 98's "The Fight Show", JarryPark.com, Sherdog's "Beatdown", MMA Weekly's "Sound Off" and ESPN 950 in Philadelphia, my hometown if you haven't already noticed.

Anyway, I've created this little site as an outlet for myself to write about some random things that are going on in the sport. We'll see where it goes.