Farewell Chris Lytle

Last night at UFC Live 5 on Versus, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle submitted Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in the 3rd round via guillotine, in the main event which would turn out to be the 36 year olds final bout. At Saturday’s weigh-ins, Lytle handed UFC president Dana White a letter and White would later read the letter and find out Lytle was going to hang em up after the welterweight tilt with Hardy. Known for his durabilty (Never been knocked out or submitted in 54 career professional fights) and versatility in submissions, Lytle was a “mid-card fighter” who routinely turned in “Fight of the Night” bouts. Lytle ends his career on a high note for multiple reasons: He ends on a win and won 5 of his last 6, and he defeated a former #1 contedor in his last fight. After the bout, Lytle said, “I honestly love fighting. I love fighting for the UFC. I love it probably more than anything in my life, except for one thing and that’s my family.” Lytle was one hell of a fighter and will walk off into the sunset a winner.

Darren

Bones vs Rampage at UFC 135?

UFC Light Heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones is tentatively scheduled to face former champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 in what could be the biggest fight in the 205 lb divisions history. Jones has been smoking his opponents with ease, while Rampage has been racking up wins and adding to his legacy. Jones at 13-1, his only loss being that of a DQ after dominating Matt Hamill, is coming off an injury but in his last fight he dominated one of the greatest fighters we’ve ever seen in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Rampage owns a record of 32-8 with his most recent win being a dominating performance over Matt Hamill in which we seen Rampage’s trademark top notch takedown defense. If this fight does go down, (Contracts have not been signed but both have verbally agreed), we’ll see two of the best go at it in a legend vs legend in the making dream matchup. Can’t wait to see these two lock horns in the middle of the octagon.

 

Darren

UFC 112

Coming this Saturday is UFC 112: Invincible. Two title fights, a future hall of famer, and some solid prospects all are featured on the card. Anderson Silva, who has embarrassed his 185lb opponents, will be fighting brazilian jiujitsu ace Demian Maia in the main event of the evening for the Middleweight Championship. BJ Penn is set to defend his Lightweight belt against Frankie Edgar as the co-main event. Matt Hughes will also be on the card, fighting another Gracie, this time being Renzo Gracie. It should be a great night of fights and I will offer my opinions on the main card as well as my picks.

Kendall Grove vs Mark Munoz: In a Middleweight matchup, “Da Spyder” will take on the “Filipino Wrestling Machine” in a fight to take a step up the 185 ladder. Grove has solid takedown defense and his height and length always provides a problem for his opponents. Munoz has a solid wrestling base and will look to get Grove down and work his ground and pound. I believe this fight will take place mainly on the feet. If it plays out that way then I believe Grove will win this fight as his standup is more solid than Munoz’s. My pick:Grove by decision

Matt Hughes vs Renzo Gracie: Looking to avenge Royce’s loss, Renzo Gracie will be looking to tap out future Hall of Famer Matt Hughes. Hughes isn’t the same man who dominated nearly everyone for so long at 170, but still provides a problem for anyone who steps in the cage with him. Hughes doesn’t like to stand and trade, and even though he’s a jiujitsu specialist, Gracie knows he has a slight advantage on the feet but doesn’t expect to exploit it after stating, “I will beat him with better jiujitsu.” I see this fight hitting the canvas early and often and I see Hughes’ brute strength giving Renzo problems. My pick: Hughes by decision

BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar: Do I need to elaborate much here? BJ Penn is by far the best Lightweight in the world and Frankie Edgar is a solid fighter but is most definately not on par with Penn. I see Penn doing with Edgar what he did with Joe Stevenson and coming out, setting the tone, and then finishing him early. Penn is superior in every aspect of the game and will probably drop him and submit him. My Pick: Penn 2nd round submission

Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia: This fight is a very tricky one for me to pick. On one hand you have arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world, and on the other you have one of the best jiujitsu guys in the world. I think that if the fight goes to the ground then Maia has the definate advantage. No disrespect to Silva’s jiujitsu, but Maia can make black belts look like purple belts with how technically sound his jiujitsu game is. Obviously though if the fight is a stand up war then Silva holds a huge advantage. Its tough to see how this fight plays out but I think Silva will catch Maia mid-fight. My pick: Silva by tko stoppage 3rd round

Darren

UFC 111 preview

UFC 111 is upon us and I must say that this card is a solid card. Whether it’s the two title fights, the big names, the highly anticipated rematch or the number of fighters on winning streaks, this card has alot of hype surrounding it. For me personally, I am taking special interest in the Frank Mir/Shane Carwin fight. Mir is one of my favorite Heavyweights of all-time and Carwin is a guy I love watching fight. This fight could go either way and I believe both have the skill set to topple Brock Lesnar. The main event is George “Rush” St. Pierre defending the Welterweight title against Dan “Outlaw” Hardy. This fight is classic striker vs grappler but Hardy is a tough S.O.B and will look to give the champ some fits. It’s an interesting card and here are my picks for the main card…

John Fitch vs Thiago Alves: In a rematch of the 2006 fight, (Fitch won by 2nd rd TKO), both fighter are looking to get rematches with St. Pierre and this fight will go a long way into seeing who will take a step closer to the top. Alves is definately the better striker in this matchup, with Fitch having the edge in wrestling. I think Alves can keep this fight on the feet and elminate any advantage Fitch would have in this fight. I give this fight to “The Pitbull” by unanimous decision

Ben Saunders vs Jake Ellenberger: In a welterweight matchup, we have Ellenberger who is the most seasoned fighter, and Saunders, the more seasoned Octagon competitor. I think “Killa B” Saunders has a clear advantage over Ellenberger and will look to improve off of his big win over Marcus Davis in his last outing. I give Saunders a TKO stoppage victory in the 1st rd

Frank Mir vs Shane Carwin: In the first of two title fights on the evening, the Interim Heavyweight Championship will be up for grabs as former champ Frank Mir will step in against Shane Carwin. Carwin, a monster in the Octagon, will be looking to obliterate Mir in the first round as he has done to his other opponents. Mir on the other hand will more than likely look to use his unorthodox boxing style to get in close and take the fight to the ground. Mir is the most dangerous on the ground with his outstanding submission skills, but after beating Nog and Kongo on the feet, who’s to say Mir wont stand and trade with Carwin? I think this fight could go either wayas both are supremely dangerous/talented but in the end I think experience will help Mir earn a victory in the 2nd round but submission.

Georges St. Pierre vs Dan Hardy: Now for the main event. Hardy is coming off a big W over Mike Swick and has won 12 of his last 13 with his only loss coming from an accidental kick to the groin. St. Pierre is also on a roll, winning 6 in a row and has defended the Welterweight belt successfully 3 times in a row. Ever since his KO loss to Matt Serra, GSP has chose to take down his opponents and wear them down and out. It has been successful every time so I believe he’ll come in with the same gamplan once again. Hardy on the other hand will be looking to turn GSP’s lights off and knock him out with a big right hand. I think Hardy will be able to put some pressure on GSP but in the end I believe he gets grinded out in the championship rounds and St. Pierre wins in a unanimous decision.

Darren

Jens Pulver to retire?

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=10898&zoneid=13

After suffering a first-round submission loss to Javier “Showtime” Vasquez on Saturday night at WEC 47, Jens Pulver all but told us fans that he’s retiring. Pulver stated, “If you look down at this TapouT shirt, I just want to show you something about it. This is the old Punchout, the old Tyson, the vintage, the authentic… and it’s over.”

Losing his 5th fight in a row, the very first UFC lightweight champion in history, Pulver holds a professional MMA record of 22-13-1 and a professional boxing record of 4-0. Pulver in his prime was known as a heavy handed southpaw who you didn’t want to stand and trade with. Pulver has a long highlight reel of knockouts, from the devistating left hand to John Lewis, or the knockout of Joe Stevenson (still Stevensons only KO loss). Pulver had moved down to 145 after losing to BJ Penn in a rematch of one the greatest fights in UFC history and submitted Cub Swanson easily. But the downfall came quick after that. With losses to Urijah Faber (twice), Leonard Garcia, Josh Grispi and last night to Vasquez, the future Hall of Famer wont go out the way he wanted to but will always be remembered as a legend.

I have met Pulver personally and like 99% of the fighters I know/have met personally, Pulver is one of the coolest,down to earth and humble of them all. Pulver has gave us fans many great memories and I was hoping for another big W from Pulver but it just wasn’t meant to be. Pulver would make a great coach and I hope he decides to train alot of up and comers and he could very well become the next PAt Miletich, his old mentor.

Darren

 

Dan Henderson leaves the UFC; Signs with Strikeforce

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Exclusive-Why-Henderson-Chose-Strikeforce-21378

Dan Henderson signed a 4 fight-16 month deal with Strikeforce, leaving the UFC (again) and going to a rival promotion.In being the first top ranked fighter to do so, Henderson might start a new trend in the MMA world. Henderson was irked at not being picked to fight Anderson Silva and let Dana White and the Fertittas know but to no avail. We’ll see how this career move works for Hendo and hopefully for him and his fans it works out well.

Darren

Kimbo wins in UFC debut

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Slice-Bests-Alexander-in-UFC-Debut-21348

In what was a highly anticipated fight, Kimbo Slice and Houston Alexander fought last night on the Ultimate Fighter finale. It was a very lackluster fight with Alexander circling and leg kicking and Kimbo trying to make a fight out of it. Slice showed improvements in his ground game with a devastating slam and some solid ground and pound but couldnt finish Alexander when he had the chance. Both fighters were gassed by middle of rd 2 and the fight finished with both guys knelt over in exhaustion. Kimbo got the Unanimous decision victory but if he wants to be a UFC fighter he’ll need to work on his cardio.

Darren

Ricardo Arona wins in return; Monson’s streak snapped

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/arona-outpoints-eastman-at-bitetti-combat-4-19656

 

MMA fans had been waiting for a long time to see Ricardo Arona return to the ring and fight again and finally we all got out wish. Standing opposite  of Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman, Arona fought a tough 3 round fight in which he was rocked, twisted his knee, and while shaking off the ring rust, earned the unanimous decision victory. The Pride veteran looks to be dedicated once again and hopefully will be in action soon again.

Jeff “The Snowman” Monson had his 7-fight win streak snapped when Pedro Rizzo earned a Unanimous decision victory over “The Snowman.” After dominating the first round, Rizzo coasted and played defense which irritated the crowd. Rizzo apologized after but nonetheless became the first fighter to defeat Monson twice and ended his 2 fight losing streak.

 

Darren

UFC 102 main card preview

Brandon Vera vs Kryzstof Soszynski- In an interesting matchup we look at two guys fighting to climb up into the contendor ranks. Vera has solid muay thai striking and a decent ground game while Kryzstof is the reverse of him.  The key component of this fight will be Vera trying to handle the unorthodox style of Soszynski. I think Kryzstof will take this fight by decision in what could be either a very entertaining fight or a very boring fight.

Nate Marquardt vs Demain Maia- In what should be a #1 contendors matchup for Anderson Silvas 185 lb title, we have what could be a fight of the year candidate. Maia has unbelievable jiujitsu while Nate is the more well rounded fighter. Anyone who has seen Maia fight, knows exactly what he is going to want to do: take down Marquardt and submit him. Marquardt has the definate advantage on the feet and will want to keep the fight standing. I think we will see an improved striking game from Maia but in the end I see Maia getting the fight to the ground and submitting “Nate the Great” and becoming the #1 contendor.

Jake Rosholt vs Chris Leben- Back from suspension is the iron jawed Chris Leben to take on Jake Rosholt. Rosholt will definately want to get the fight to the ground and test Lebens ground game but Leben is no slouch and will be game if thats where the fight goes. I see Leben however keeping the feet standing and landing one of his trademark left hands for the KO win late in the 1st round.

Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva- Coming off his first professional loss, Thiago Silva will look to get back to his old self by taking Jardine down and pounding him into submission with his superior ground game. One thing about this fight is that Jardine is a tough customer and is very unorthodox which will give Silva fits. I think Jardine will need to use his solid kicks and in-n-out striking strategy to keep Silva guessing and worried about shooting in. I think Jardine wins this fight but in a fast paced unanimous decision.

Main event: Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira- In a fight years in the making with fighters years past their primes, its an intriquing matchup of wrestler vs jiujitsu specialist. Big Nog has had an uncanny ability to withstand a beating and pull out a submission while Randy has been the man who has always come prepared with a great gameplan and has usually had success. Randy has the advantage in the striking and should look to keep the fight on the feet. I think Nog will want to get the fight to the ground but Randy hasnt ever been an easy guy to submit. I think Randy will win a decision and put himself back into the top contendors list in the heavyweight division.

 

Darren

Fedor signs w/ Strikeforce

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/fedor-signs-with-strikeforce-18883?campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_4374378

 

One week after negotiating with the UFC, Fedor struck a deal w/ Strikeforce to compete in their Heavyweight division. This is a big signing for Strikeforce. They already have probably the 2nd best MMA organation, and now they have signed one of the top 3 Pound 4 Pound fighters in the world. Hopefully we’ll get to see Fedor vs Rogers,Werdum, and Overeem. Get ready for the ride.

Darren