Easy Target

It’s easy to hate Ortiz. From the moment he debuted at UFC 13 he seemed to gush arrogance, disrespect and greed. His post victory t-shirts confirmed that his bad boy life was still very much part of his fighting life (the shirts contained ‘I just f****d your ass’ and ‘Respect, I don’t ask for it I just f****n take it’ amongst other statements). He also seemed to endure long periods without fighting due to contract negotiations where wanting more money was his sticking point.

Considering his start in life you’d have to be impressed with Ortiz achievements. His father, while he was around, was the reason his parents became heroin addicts. Frequent bouts of homelessness were only interrupted thanks to his mother’s part-time job as a prostitute. It’s no wonder from the age of 5 Ortiz began to dabble with alcohol and by the 6th grade he’d tried just about every drug but heroin. He joined gangs, burgled houses, stole cars and was a frequent visitor to juvenile and adult correctional facilities.

Beginning a new life

Then he started to wrestle and that led him to fighting. With decent wrestling credentials he dropped out of college to pursue MMA. By his 6th pro fight he received a title shot. By his 7th fight he won the UFC light-heavyweight title. He holds the record for most fights with the UFC (27) and most light-heavyweight title defences (5).

At his peak he was getting paid a million dollars per fight and is one of only a small number of fighters that the UFC has shared pay-per-view revenue with. Ortiz has coached on The Ultimate Fighter twice and he has made more money from his clothing company, Punishment Athletics, than he has from fighting. Not a bad result considering some of his childhood friends are dead or in jail.

Ortiz maybe a little misunderstood. Having trash talked Frank Shamrock in his 1st title shot at UFC 22 he gracefully put on a Shamrock t-shirt after the fight and had Frank autograph it. In his feud with former training partner Chuck Liddell he was cast as the villain. Ortiz was accused if ducking Liddell but he maintains he was trying to get the best deal for him and Chuck in the hope of improving pay conditions for fighters in general.

Rebirth of a bad boy

Opinion seems to have mellowed towards Ortiz in his final run in the UFC. A nickname change from ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ to the more idealistic ‘The People’s Champ’ coincided with his 1st victory in 5 years over Ryan Bader at UFC 132. He seems to have patched up with Dana White too.

After a number of drop-outs he literally saved the UFC 133 card by accepting the fight with Rashad Evans on 4 weeks notice. He didn’t need to take that fight and it also shows where their relationship has improved that White asked him.

Ortiz recently announced that win, lose or draw the final part of the Forrest Griffin trilogy at UFC 148 will be his last fight. To reignite Ortiz as a fan favourite and promote his swan song the UFC asked Ortiz to be the interview subject at the UFC Fight Club Q&A that precedes every event.

UFC Sweden: Fight Club

Ortiz is a natural with the mic in his hand. For the hour he was on stage the crowd loved him. A constant theme when he spoke was ‘hard work and dedication’. Ortiz was always in great shape throughout his career. He credits his physical condition with his lifestyle. “Fighting isn’t just a job to me, it’s a lifestyle.

Everything I do in my life is geared towards fighting”. Part of his training routine was to spend time at altitude in Big Bear Lake, California where Muhammad Ali went to prepare for his I’ll fated fight with Larry Holmes. Ortiz eventually bought a house from ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar de la Hoya he liked it so much up there. “Before my fight with Vitor Belfort he said ‘mountains don’t make champions’. Well, I trained up in Big Bear for that fight and I beat Vitor Belfort and I was the champion.It’s all about hard work and dedication.”

Ortiz accepts that even hard work and dedication can’t reverse father time. As a 15 year veteran of the UFC you can tell in his voice he’s not overwhelmed by the prospect of retirement. He is realistic though. When asked why he’s considering hanging up the 4oz gloves Ortiz is honest about his place in the sport today. “It’s time to move on. Some of these kids coming up are 22, 23, 24. I’m 37. I don’t want to get hurt. I have 3 boys. If I can help some of these fighters coming up that’d be awesome. But you’ve got to put in the hard work and dedication.”

In the event one of his sons follows in his footsteps Ortiz has already cut a deal. “I have this deal with my 9 year old. He really wants to fight in the UFC when he grows up. He’s the Arizona State wrestling champion for his age. So when asks me I say ‘Jacob, what’s the deal? And he’s like ‘ok dad not till I get my masters degree’. My success means I can give my boys the opportunity to go to the best colleges. And hopefully when they get finished with their degree they’ll realise they’re too smart for fighting and could be an attorney or a manager.”

After UFC 148 we may have seen the last of Tito Ortiz in the Octagon. If he does retire, he can look back at a successful career that helped launch the sport of MMA and the UFC. If he wins, don’t be surprised if we haven’t seen the last of ‘The People’s Champion’, Tito Ortiz.

Credit: Fergus Ryan

Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann in the Welterweight Division.

This bout takes place at the TUF 15 finale on June 1st and is a dream for those fans who love an all striking matchup. As is the case in nearly all of his fights, Kampmann is the more accomplished striker in terms of his technique but as Jake Shields can attest, Jake Ellenberger possesses ferocious knockout power. In his last bout with Diego Sanchez, Ellenberger completely dominated the opening two rounds before taking his foot off the gas on the third. The always dogged Sanchez kept pressing meaning that Ellenberger was not as confident of the decision victory as he might have been. He did get the ‘W’ but the lesson will have been learned; you can’t take anything for granted in the Octagon. Kampmann did drop a decision to Sanchez but that was more down to his abandoning a game-plan to strike from distance and frustrate the bullish Sanchez than to any dominance on Sanchez’s part. He landed more strikes and stuffed the majority of Sanchez’s takedowns but still the judges contrived to hand ‘The Dream’ the win after the Dane got sucked into a brawl in the third round. His last fight was an impressive submission win over Thiago Alves where he survived almost three rounds of being bullied by a stronger opponent to take advantage of a momentary lapse and secure a guillotine choke, something that bodes well for him against Ellenberger. I can see this going the distance but do not be surprised if either man pulls out a win in spectacular fashion.
Ivan Mejivar vs. Renan Barao in the Bantamweight Division.

This fight goes down at UFC 148 on July 7th and takes place because Jeff Houghland was pulled from fighting Barao to take on Yves Jabouin whose opponent, Mike Easton, got injured in training. While that is a shame for Easton the result is a potential fight of the year for us fans. The numbers say it all about this fight. Menjivar has finished 18 of 24 career wins while Barao has finished 19 of 28. Barao is on a 28 fight win streak if you discount a No Contest ruling in December of 2007. Even if you don’t, that is still a 17 fight streak. Both fighters are very well rounded, quick and extremely aggressive. Weight could be a deciding factor in this fight. Menjivar drops a lot of weight to make 135 – having once fought at welterweight against GSP and Matt Serra, lightweight and featherweight – and his recent bout against Nick Pace was at a catch-weight of 138lbs after he failed to make weight. Barao on the other hand is a natural bantamweight. Menjivar made weight without issue for his last bout if he does so again for this fight it will be a barnstormer. Expect it to be fast and furious and totally thrilling.

Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva in the Heavyweight Division.

This fight takes place at UFC 146 as part of the all heavyweight card and when ‘Big Country’ and ‘Big Foot’collide, victory for each man becomes essential. Silva is making his UFC debut after being knocked out by Daniel Cormier in his last Strikeforce bout, while Nelson is coming off a disappointing loss to Fabricio Werdum and is 3-3 in his last 6 fights. What will be encouraging for Nelson is that the Cormier fight showed that Silva is susceptible to power shots from a smaller man. Silva had an 11 inch reach advantage over Cormier but was rocked twice before being finished and that will be cut to 9 inches against Nelson who, as we know, owns a thunderous right hand. To be fair to Nelson he has never fought less than the best in the heavyweight division and he will be eager to get a highlight win over a man that has a victory over the legendary Fedor Emilianenko. Silva possesses a range of skills that belie his size and Nelson is known to have an excellent though underutilized ground game. This fight will be exciting where ever it goes.

Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch in the UFC Middleweight Division.

This is the second bout on this list from a stacked UFC 148 card that also sees Rich Franklin take on Cung Le in a return to middleweight and Tito Ortiz take on Forrest Griffin in the main event. This could well be the fight that sees Bisping fighting for the title should he get the win despite his recent loss to Chael Sonnen. Boetsch has been on a tear since dropping to 185 with 3 wins in a row, the most recent a gutsy comeback against Yushin Okami in which he was out-boxed for 2 rounds before launching a ferocious assault with uppercuts in the third. Bisping is a more technical kind of striker and will not fear the wrestling of Tim Boetsch considering the wrestling skills he displayed in his very close decision loss to Chael Sonnen. This fight will be a striking war and could have a huge impact in the middleweight title picture even if only to decide on one fighter for a title eliminator.

Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller in the Lightweight Division.

This bout goes down on May 5th and headlines the UFC on Fox 3 card and to say there will be a mix of skills on display is an understatement. In his last fight against a fancied Donald Cerrone, Diaz was utterly dominant landing over 80% of thrown strikes. He also possesses a brown belt in BJJ. Miller on the other hand is a BJJ black-belt and has finished 15 of his career wins, 3 by KO/TKO and 12 by submission. His 3 losses were all decisions meaning of course he’s never been stopped. And when you consider that the three decision losses came against Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson and Gray Maynard that record is even more impressive. Diaz has moved up and down between the welterweight and lightweight divisions but finally seems to have settled at 155 and Miller will be stiffest test of his overall game to date. Predicting where the fight will go is difficult considering the skill set of each man but no matter what happens, it’s going to be a classic.

Chan Sung-Jung vs. Dustin Poirier in the Featherweight Division.

While every Chan Sung-Jung fight is entertaining, this bout at UFC on Fuel 3 on May 15 is even more exciting because the winner will potentially earn a shot at Jose Aldo. Aldo’s next opponent has yet to be announced but with his next fight scheduled for July 21st then its possible the winner here could be next in line for ‘Scarface.’ Another possible Aldo opponent is Hatsu Hioki who looked extremely dangerous against Bart Palaszewski last time out. But all that aside, this fight is going to be a cracker. Poirier leapt to the fore of the 145 scene when he stepped up to face Josh Grispi who was at the time the featherweight number one contender. Aldo got injured and Poirier was a short-notice replacement and a huge underdog. He completely upset the odds by dominating Grispi on the feet for three rounds and has won three fights since. He is capable of finishing by submission or strikes and has only lost once – via decision – in 13 pro fights. ‘The Korean Zombie’ as we all know is as unpredictable as they come, finishing Leonard Garcia with a ‘twister’ submission in their rematch before knocking out Mark Hominick in just 7 seconds. That last KO came after Jung declared himself the best MMA striker in the world. Any man who refuses to put his hands up is asking for trouble – see his loss to George Roop – but Jung seems to get it done lately anyway. One can only imagine the sort of carnage that would result in a fight between Jung and Aldo.

Che Mills vs. Rory McDonal in the Welterweight Division.

This fight takes place at UFC 145 and sees Mills coming off the back of a vicious knockout of Chris Cope in his UFC debut, improving his record to 14-4. McDonald is coming back from injury having defeated the always tough Mike Pyle back in August. It is a huge step up in competition for Mills but the encouraging thing for him is he really has nothing to lose. MacDonald already has a win over Nate Diaz, was seconds from beating Carlos Condit before Condit shocked him with a late barrage of strikes and is already known as ‘the new GSP.’ Should he beat Mills it won’t raise any eyebrows and the Englishman will have earned valuable experience for his next UFC bout. But, should Mills defeat the Canadian then the 170lb division will be instantly aware there’s a new contender on the block while MacDonald will have to deal with a loss in his first fight in 8 months. Perhaps it’s unfair to put such pressure on such a young fighter but MacDonald has made himself a target by being so impressive in his career so far. There is no doubt he is a future champion but he will have to step carefully around Mills.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve UFC 146 (Hunt by KO I reckon), Evan Dunham vs. Edson Barboza UFC 146, Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le UFC 148, Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva UFC 147.

Alan Keane

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But why was a rematch even considered?  After watching UFC 143’s main event, I scored the fight 3 rounds to 2 in favour of Carlos Condit with Nick Diaz taking the first and last rounds. The stats from the fight show that Diaz landed more punches while Condit landed more kicks and strikes overall. Diaz secured a takedown in the final round and attempted a submission with about one minute to go. Without the benefit of these stats, the score I noted was 48-47 for Condit.

All three judges scored the fight for Condit though they had different scores. When we add in that Condit landed more strikes as well as the fact that he completely stifled the game-plan of the man acknowledged as one of the finest boxers in MMA, the decision makes sense. So again, why the rematch?

As an aside, let us applaud Condit for taking the fight at all when there is no obligation for him to do so. He is it doing it confident in the knowledge that he can beat Diaz again and no doubt he will be motivated by the doubt surrounding the original result. But why is Diaz being accommodated? Is the UFC really afraid of losing Nick Diaz after his bleating about retirement and Condit ‘running’ from him the entire fight? Condit executed the perfect stick-and-move game plan using a cool head and great cardio to excellent effect. He sacrificed his usual explosiveness in favour of a tactic more likely to yield results against a man who hasn’t been knocked out in years.

He did it for five rounds and never became flustered by the constant taunting coming from his opponent. Certainly, Diaz spent the majority of the fight on the front foot but since when does simply walking forward earn you a win? The fight is judged –among other things – on effective aggression. So, while moving forward is certainly a plus, moving forward while being out-struck is not enough. Only once did Diaz manage to land the barrage of body shots against the cage that he is famed for. And that is where Octagon control is also important. Who is to say who had control of the Octagon during the fight?

Diaz walked after Condit who landed his blows and got out of the pocket, forcing Diaz to come after him again. It’s the same plan Dominick Cruz used to beat Urijah Faber and nobody thought to question that result. Considering Condit’s tactics in the fight it would be implausible to suggest Nick Diaz was controlling the Octagon.

After the fight, Diaz said he thought he was winning the fight on the scorecards which is why he didn’t choke out Condit toward the end of the last round. He was certainly in an excellent position having taken Condit’s back with hooks in. But regardless of what he thought the score was on the judge’s cards, why didn’t he didn’t he sink in the choke anyway, if the opportunity was there? Dana White’s mantra as we well know is “don’t leave it in the hands of the judges” and for Diaz to forgo a submission opportunity because he thought he was winning is doing exactly that.

Ultimately that decision cost him the largely empty title of ‘Interim Champion’ and the loss itself will have been what hurt most rather than being awarded a replica of GSP’s belt. To a certain extent I can almost understand why Diaz and his fans (amongst which I count myself) might feel aggrieved. But the fact remains that did not do enough to win the fight. His pace in the early rounds was way off what we usually see from him and even later on he never really got into top gear. Perhaps the anger we saw from him after the bell was directed more at himself. Maybe Caesar Gracie needs to stop defending his every word and action so Diaz can grow up a bit. Either way, unless Condit was guaranteed a title shot at some point in the future, regardless of the outcome on May 5th, the decision to book a rematch with Diaz is harsh on the man who was largely forgotten about in the lead up to UFC 143.

Maybe Condit is so confident of winning again that he sees at a s good way to stay active en-route to GSP. Or perhaps the UFC insisted that it’s two biggest available welterweight stars go at it again while the biggest star of them all recovers from his injury. Whatever the reason, I can’t help but think it’s all a little unfair.

Alan Keane

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In tonight’s/tomorrow morning’s main event, Phil Davis takes on Rashad Evans. In the weeks building up this fight, Rahsad Evans has been doing his level best to goad Phil Davis in an effort to create some ‘bad blood.’ The motive behind this is clear, to provoke Davis into forgoing his wrestling skills in favour of a brawl with a better striker. However ‘Mr. Wonderful’ (named after his cat if you didn’t know) has been less than receptive to Rashad’s prodding. In truth, as was pointed earlier this week by MMA coach John Kavanagh, is the whole bad blood thing really necessary? When two men get in the cage they are going to do their utmost to damage each other in various ways. Is the name calling strictly necessary? Or even relevant? When Rashad accused Davis of not being a ‘real fighter’ and only competing for a pay cheque, Davis shrugged and agreed saying if he wasn’t fighting he’d be pushing a pen. Whatever his motivation for fighting, Rashad needs to remember that up to this point, Davis has done it exceedingly well. I’m sure Evans has some view of himself as an all-conquering wild man who loves to brawl, but if you need proof of the opposite, take a look at his fight with Rampage Jackson.

That aside, in the past weeks both men have commented on the other’s wrestling skills and the edge does go to Davis who as 4 time NCAA Division 1 All American was the more successful amateur competitor. Should it go to the ground, Davis’s weird flexibility and long limbs could well see Rashad in trouble. Again, Evans has the edge in the striking department but Davis does have a reach advantage. Evans will use his speed to try and get inside land a big right hand believing he has the power to put Davis out. I think Davis will want this on the mat as soon as possible, unless of course all the bravado and trash talk has gotten to him. I would dearly love to see Davis use the same move he used to submit Tim Boetsch. In case you missed it, Davis trapped Boetsch’s arm behind his back while on the ground and cranked it up and afterward Joe Rogan christened it the Philmura. It was a wonderful (see what I did there) piece of innovation and demonstrated Davis’s confidence. I like him to win tonight and in a fairly convincing fashion.

Tonight/tomorrow morning Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping meet to decide who will be the next man to face Anderson Silva. Ticket sales reportedly more than doubled when Mark Munoz pulled out and was replaced by Bisping (Chael Sonnen said this so take it with a pinch of salt). Whether that’s an indication of Bisping’s greater popularity or more people wanting to see him get beaten up by Chael Sonnen, it’s hard to say. Either way, it makes for a very interesting fight.

The glaringly obvious key factor in this fight is wrestling. Everyone knows that Chael Sonnen is one of – if not the best – wrestler in MMA. He was an NCAA Division 1 All American and is also a highly decorated Greco-roman wrestler as well as being a backup for the US Olympic team. In short, if he wants to take you down, you go down. Does Michael Bisping have the skills to stuff a takedown of that quality? I think it’s unlikely. Bisping though has one eye on Sonnen’s perceived weakness in submission defence and has said if Sonnen does take him down he will be looking to finish the fight by tap-out. Sonnen has been tapped out several times in the past and in fact 8 of his career losses have been by submission. However these have mostly come against high level grapplers like Demain Maia, Paulo Filho and of course Anderson Silva. Does Bisping have the ground skills to get it done against Sonnen? Consider that Bisping has had not submitted an opponent in six years, largely focusing on his skills as a striker and the obvious conclusion is no. With a high level wrestler like Sonnen on top, it is unlikely- though not inconceivable – that Bisping will find an opening for a submission.

Bisping’s greatest strength, his boxing – will be nullified if Sonnen takes the fight to the mat. Sonnen may well choose to implement the same strategy he used against the heavy-handed Brian Stann and Anderson Silva. While both those fights had different outcomes, Sonnen was dominant on the ground for the overall majority of both. With that in mind, barring a surprise Bisping KO, I’m going for a Sonnen win via submission after a dominating performance.

The other very interesting fight on this card is the precocious Chris Weidman (7-0) taking on Demian Maia with Weidman stepping in to replace Micahel Bisping. Weidman is another decorated wrestler while as we all know Maia is something of a jiu-jitsu wizard. Weidman has already beaten the likes of Tom Lawlor and Alessio Sakara in his short career making it clear that big stage holds no fear for the young man. Maia has showed drastically improved striking in recent fights and gone are the days when he simply waited to pull guard. While Weidman’s last two wins have come by D’arce choke and a standing guillotine he is obviously nowhere near Maia in terms of pure jiu-jitsu,  He is a powerful puncher though and with Maia’s ground skills in mind I think he will try to keep this standing to take a decision. If I had to stick my neck out I’d go for Weidman just because he’s on a roll.

That’s it from me and as always I’m always open to contradiction and/or good-natured abuse. Enjoy the action!

Alan Keane

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Irish fighters Conor McGregor and Aisling Daly both had fantastic years with Conor going 5-0 in 2011 with 4 of those wins coming by first round KO or TKO. Aisling went 3-1 in 2011, recovering from a loss to Sheila Gaff to go on a three fight streak and in the process become Ireland’s first MMA world champion when she won the NAAFS 125lb world title in Ohio. She then fought under the Cage Warriors banner after stepping up on just two weeks notice to submit her opponent in 20 seconds. ‘The Bash’ then returned to Ohio to successfully defend her belt.

The UFC also announced its TUF Brazil show with the coaches to be a seemingly rejuvenated Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, ensuring a further influx of talented Brazilians. 2012 will no doubt be as exciting as 2011. Stars will rise and champions may fall. Here, we take a look at what we might expect in 2012.

Q: Will Jon Jones be beaten?  A: Unlikely.

After dismantling Shogun Rua to win the belt (4 weeks after he submitted Ryan Bader) and then defending his title with ease against Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida, Jones looks more or less untouchable. The next man to try and take his belt will be the winner of Rashad Evans and Phil Davis. Jones will enjoy a significant size advantage over Evans and a skill advantage over Davis in his striking.  While I have no particular liking for either Davis or Evans, I would like to see Davis come out on top in their title eliminator after Evans’s incredibly insensitive and rather stupid remark referring to the Jerry Sandusky case when trying to insult Davis on television. However Evans has more experience and is a former teammate of Jones’s and is likely to put up the better fight. Either way whoever faces Jones in 2012 is likely to be on the wrong end of a beat down.  Lyoto Machida –who knocked out Rashad Evans – was the only man to even remotely trouble the champion last year and we all know how that ended.

Q: Will we see any UFC ‘super-fights’? A: Unlikely.

With GSP sidelined for the first half of 2012 and his first fight upon recovery likely to be the winner of Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and Anderson Silva likely to face the winner of Mark Munoz and Chael Sonnen the chances of GSP facing Silva are slim. The chances of this fight happening in 2013 are just as remote given the depth at 170 these days. Aside from Diaz and Condit there’s Jake Ellenberger and Rory McDonald so GSP will be well stocked for challengers for the foreseeable future. Some people have mooted Silva vs. Jon Jones given the dominance of both men in their respective divisions. Jones probably has to win two or three more fights before this happens however and there is of course the ever present weight issue. Jones is a young man and has already said in two or three year she will probably move to heavy-weight. By the time a super-fight with Silva is realistic possibility in terms of opponents available, Jones will probably not want to cut down and Silva may have retired. It is probably more likely than GSP and Silva however given Silva’s reluctance to cut down from 185 and GSP’s pathological dislike of putting on weight.

Q: Will Chael Sonnen stop talking? A: Not in this lifetime.

The greatest mouth in the world of competitive sport. If accolades were handed out for trash talk, Sonnen would be the most decorated champion of all time. His rants against Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva are now the stuff of legend. The self proclaimed undisputed champion of the world claimed he would have finished Silva faster than Chris Leben did (beating 30 odd seconds would take some doing given his record for finishing) and even went on to call out Jon Jones. Sonnen is simply a publicity machine. So much so that no one even remembers his suspension or the legal difficulty he found himself in. If he gets past Munoz to face Silva again his head might very well explode with the effort of talking himself up, such is the standard he has set in the past. Luckily for the fans, he usually backs it up.

Q: How will female MMA fare in 2012? A: Very well indeed.

If you are a fan of MMA and do not live under a rock you may have heard that the Queen of female MMA Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos was recently found guilty of using anabolic steroids and has been suspended for one year and has forfeited her title. Santos was undoubtedly the biggest star in female MMA  but there is no shortage of fighters willing and able to take up that mantle. And you need look no further than Dublin on May 5^th this year when Rosi Sexton (12-2) and Aisling Daly (13-2) go head to head as part of the Cage Warriors tournament to crown a 125lb champion. Both women are well rounded but possess outstanding grappling skills; 11 of Aisling’s 13 wins have come by stoppage including 3 submissions in her last 3 fights, while 9 of Rosi’s 12 wins have come by stoppage. And if you need any more encouragement, ‘The Bash’ vs. ‘The Surgeon’ just sounds cool. Sheila Gaff will also be competing against a fourth, as yet, unnamed fighter in April. The two winners will meet later in the year to determine the champion.

There is depth at 135 in women’s MMA too. Both Sarah Kauffman and Ronda Roussey are vying for a shot at Miesha Tate’s title. And at 105, Limerick’s very own Catherine Costigan is set to make her Cage Contender debut at Cage Contender 12 on February 25^th. Which leads me to….

Q: How will Irish fighters fare in 2012? A: The near future is bright.

Irish MMA is on the up and up. Conor McGregor is one of the very best in Ireland and Britain at 135 – or 145 as he showed in his last fight. The man they call ‘Notorious’ is fast, strong and breathes confidence. He has just 1 loss on his record -to another outstanding Irish fighter, Wales based Joseph Duffy. As Conor will tell you himself, 2012 will be his year. He will be holding Cage Warriors gold at some point in 2012 and things will only get bigger from there. And, with Straight Blast Gym head coach, John Kavanagh in his corner, Conor will have all the tools he needs to make a serious impact in world MMA. And, as if I need to repeat it, keep an eye on Aisling Daly, who also fights out of SBG. The likes of Brian Moore (another SBG fighter and Fight Hounds blogger) will also look to progress but he has a tricky tasky in the shape of another up-an-comer, Conor Dillon, at Cage Contender 12. Brian had an excellent 2011 making his pro debut in February and going 3-1 with his only loss coming in his most recent fight against top UK fighter Mike Wilkinson. When asked about the fight Brian said; I’m going to put on a good performance  and get the win, simples!  When we asked what to expect from 2012 overall The Pikeman kept it short and replied lots of knockouts! 

Keep an eye out for Decky Dalton too, who fights out of the Progressive Combat Club in Belfast, a tough, grinding fighter who is happy on his feet or on the mat. Making his pro debut in February of 2012 will be Fight Hounds favorite Peter Queally of Waterford MMA. A lightening fast lightweight with excellent striking skills, Peter will be a big noise in the professional ranks in the coming months.

The aforementioned Joseph Duffy will look to get back to winning ways after losing via submission to Ivan Musardo in a fight for the then vacant Cage Warriors title. Duffy’s return to action has been delayed due to a broken hand but as soon as Joseph is fit expect him to go on the mother of all tears through the lightweight ranks. He may even get the opportunity to avenge his TUF loss to Kyle Watson as the American now fights under The Cage Warriors banner. And if you have any doubts whatsoever about the quality of Irish fighters, get yourself a ticket to Cage Contender XII on February 25th in Dublin. It promises to be phenomenal with BJJ black-belt Gunnar Nelson penned to fight in the main event.

Alan Keane.

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A couple of months ago light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin Tweeted, “Rape is the new the missionary.” He explained that he was not calling rape an acceptable act rather he was saying it is now too common in the news.

Yesterday, bantamweight Miguel Torres Tweeted “If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them.”  This is apparently a quote from TV show Workaholics. Torres later changed the Tweet to read “windowless van”. 

Three fighters and three highly controversial statements made over social media. Only one however was giving his marching orders. That’s Miguel Torres who fights at 135lbs. Dana White apparently had the quote read to him in an interview, verified its authenticity and then immediately fired the Chicago native. Rashad Evans was on the end of no disciplinary action for referencing something as equally heinous while Forrest Griffin volunteered at a rape crisis centre to explain his Tweet and kept his job.

So, of the three, why was only Miguel Torres fired? Dana White gave an interview to MMAFighting.com  in which he explained that the Tweet was highly offensive and ridiculous. That as an intelligent individual, Miguel should have known better than to post anything referencing rape, TV show quote or no. And while there is no doubt Torres deserved to be punished for a highly insensitive statement, the lack of consistency in the UFC’s disciplinary policy – if there is one- and the arbitrary nature of the punishments handed out is startling. Because the UFC is not externally regulated all these kinds of decisions fall at the feet of Dana White as president of the company. He has shown himself to be a reasonable man in the past but also he has shown a ruthless streak, firing Nate Marquardt when he failed a pre-fight medical for unusually high testosterone levels. This is the same test that Chael Sonnen failed resulting in his being forced to serve a yearlong suspension.

The only conclusion that I can draw is that the UFC is happy to fire those guys who show ill discipline but whose names won’t be missed on any advertisements. Forrest Griffin is a legend for his Ultimate Fighter war against Stephan Bonnar while Rashad Evans is one of the top light-heavyweights in the world. Both fight in the 205lb marquee division where MMA legends like Rampage Jackson and Chuck Liddell made their names. Both have massive drawing power in terms of tickets sales and PPV sales. Simply put, they make the UFC a lot of money. Equally, if you are a fan of MMA then it’s highly unlikely you don’t know who Chael Sonnen is. But what casual fan will miss Miguel Torres, who fights in a division some might have little interest in and whose last two bouts have been on preliminary cards. And who will miss Nate Marquardt, for so long a nearly-man at 185, who then dropped down to a stacked 170lb division? Answer: no one. The UFC felt it would be no huge loss to them financially to make an example of these guys and did so. Specifically, the firing of Torres, rather than demonstrating a level of political correctness, displays a breath-taking kind of cynicism. I do not know if what he said was from a TV show or not or whether he later changed the wording because he had made a genuine error in how he thought the quote was supposed to read. Perhaps it was directed at certain people who would have gotten the ‘joke’. Regardless, the UFC has shown a lack of consistency and in my eyes has damaged its own credibility. To repeat, there is no doubt that Torres deserved to be punished for what he said but given the precedent set by the lack of punishments meted out to Griffin and Evans, surely a more even handed sentence for Torres would have been a large fine or a suspension for 6 months. If Griffin had been fined or suspended then I could understand Torres being fired but the huge disparity in how these twin situations were handled is confusing.

As a fan of the sport I do not want to see Rashad Evans or Forrest Griffin – or Miguel Torres for that matter – being cut from the UFC. All three have provided plenty of entertainment for us fans. But in the interest of fairness and irrespective of their money-making potential, these three high profile men have to be treated equally by their employer in this somewhat unusual situation. Letting all three go unpunished would be unthinkable.  But punishing just one is grossly unfair.

And just a quick note to all our poker fans in Hungary check out Party Poker.com

Alan Keane.

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Jake Hecht with Boxing Clinic student Sean Tobin

UFC-bound Jake Hecht has thanked Cage Warriors for giving him the opportunity to take his career to the next level. Hecht (10-2-0) signed a four-fight deal with the organisation earlier this month and will make his debut at UFC 140 in Toronto against Rich Attonito on December 10.

The Missouri native has made three Cage Warriors appearances; having been defeated by Che Mills last year, Hecht bounced back in 2011 with impressive wins over Craig White and Michele Verginelli.

“Cage Warriors is one of the biggest and best organisations in Europe,” said Hecht. “They have given me such a great opportunity to grow and continue my success as a fighter.

The opponents I’ve faced in the organisation have been veterans of the game and by beating them it has only helped me to get noticed.”

Hecht, who’s based at the MMA Clinic in Cork, flew to Springfield, Illinois over the weekend to begin preparations for his UFC debut under veteran coach Marc Fiore.

“I’m a well-rounded fighter,” added the 27-year-old. “The way I’ll win this fight is by beating Rich in all areas because he’s very well-rounded too.

But we won’t do much different in preparation. I’ve prepared for big fights before and won. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. My goal now is very simple – to win. Mixing the game up and keeping Rich guessing will be the key to victory for me in this fight.”

Credit: Cagewarriors.com

At 185, Hendo is behind Chael ‘Take The Bass Out Of Your Tone’ Sonnen who we will hopefully see in a rematch with Anderson Silva at some point in the new year. Braggadocio king, Chael seems to have recently revised his offer to leave the UFC should he lose. Anyone who saw his interview with Michael Landsberg on Off The Record might be thinking Chael is regretting making the WWE type offer after realising perhaps that the only similarity between the UFC and the WWE is that occasionally WWE matches take place in a cage. The self proclaimed ‘real’ champion looks to me to be losing his marbles. But then again when you’re nuts to start with it’s probably no surprise. Also in contention at 185 there is Mark Munoz who issued possibly the politest call out ever after his win over Chris Leben. I myself think Munoz needs one more big fight before he gets a title fight and a fight with the winner of Michael Bisping and Mayem Miller would be ideal.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here and before Henderson can consider a title shot in either division he has to get through a revitalised Shogun Rua which most definitely will not be easy. Henderson has said he is not looking beyond Rua because he knows how tough he is after defeating his brother, Ninja Rua, via split decision at Pride 17 almost exactly ten years ago. So, what can we expect from this bout?

Both men are heavy handed. Both can take major punishment and both have knockout power. Henderson however is a world class wrestler who has competed at an Olympic level and won numerous medals in Greco-roman competitions. But then again, Rua is a BJJ black-belt. Who has the advantage? Personally I think Henderson. He has the kind of one punch KO power that will give Rua pause and he should be able to use that hesitation to secure a takedown and inflict the kind of vicious ground and pound that finished off Babalu Sobral. Hendo does have the bad habit though of ignoring his wrestling and simply walking after opponents with his right hand cocked waiting for a chance to let fly. If Rua gets in his face and starts mixing up strikes muay Thai style early in the fight, Hendo could be in trouble. Being thirteen years younger, Rua presumably enjoys a significant speed advantage as well so Hendo will have to be on his toes.

If Hendo fights the right fight, using his wrestling as well as his punching power then he should pull out the win. If he decides to brawl with Shogun then his age-defying winning streak could come to halt. Shogun mixes punches, knees and kicks to devastating effect but he can be out-wrestled as we saw in the Jon Jones fight. Over all, I’m going to pick Henderson but whatever happens this fight will be a war.

Also on this card, Wanderlei Silva takes on Cung Le at 185lbs in what should be a highly entertaining fight. The Axe Murderer vs. Iron Legs. Wow. The wild hands of Silva vs. the flashy, movie friendly Sanshou of Le. This fight could be something straight out of one of Le’s movies if these two decide to let fists and feet fly. Silva will be desperate to prove he is the Silva of old, the man who terrorized Japan, soccer kicking and stomping out all competition. But, lamentably, we know he probably isn’t. Silva has been in too many wars and his body has told him so. Le has the skills to KO Silva and I can see it happening. Le isn’t afraid to stand with heavy hitters; indeed he revenged a knockout loss to Scott Smith with a stunning KO of his own. He downed Smith with a spinning back kick to the body and then finished the fight with punches. Interestingly, he also has some pedigree as wrestler, winning All State titles as a younger man. I can see Le picking Silva apart and knocking him out. Both guys are very likeable fighters so I won’t complain whatever the outcome but I’m going to pick a win for Cung Le.

Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles will compete at 135 for a shot at Dominick Cruz who has beaten both of them in the past. This fight really shows the lack of depth at 135 at the moment. Saying that, Faber didn’t lose by much to Cruz and no doubt he will have something in mind to push the champion even further (let’s not forget Faber did submit Cruz in the WEC) should he get past Bowles. Bowles is a guy who finishes fights though, having only gone the distance once in his career. Faber doesn’t usually go to the judges either so this should end early. ‘The Califonia Kid’ has the added motivation of this being his first fight since losing to Cruz so he will really want to the win to get another crack at the champion. For the simple reason he has momentum behind him though I’m going to pick Bowles by submission. If you disagree, that’s awesome. Well done.

The last fight I’m going to talk about involves one of my favorite fighters; the nutcase that is Martin Kampmann taking on Rick Story at welterweight. Kampmann is a seriously well rounded mixed martial artist who for some bizarre reason likes to fight to the strengths of his opponents. Against Jake Shields he demonstrated a level of skill on the mat that completely blew up Joe Rogan’s claim that Shields was bringing “a whole new level of grappling.” Not to say that Shields isn’t a very skilled individual but rather Joe Rogan needs to relax sometimes.  Shields struggled big time to get ‘The Hitman’ on the mat and when he did he certainly didn’t have it all his own way. Kampmann admits he should have kept the fight standing and knocked Shields out rather than engage in a grappling match. Against Diego Sanchez he got into a brawl when he was clinically picking ‘The Nightmare/Dream’ apart on the feet and ended up losing a ridiculous decision. Using the simplistic barometer of whose face was in what shape to determine a winner, Kampmann had a swollen eye. Sanchez’s face looked like it had been used for target practice during a game of squash. Kampmann was landing at will before losing sight of his goal and accepting Sanchez’s invitiation to fight on his terms in the third round. Thus, the annoying habit MMA judges have of awarding points to the fighter that looks busier prevailed and Kampmann lost. Hopefully, this time, he will see sense and keep this fight standing. Storey is a tough man who can absorb punishment so Kampmann will have to be wary of Story bulling through his punches to get the takedown. I think Kampmann has the skills to win the fight, but he has to keep his focus or he will drop to 0-3 in his last three fights and that would simply be a travesty.

That’s all from me, have a good weekend and enjoy the action.

Alan Keane

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The main event of UFC 138 promises to be a cracker at 185 pounds with Chris Leben bringing his particular brand of fistic chaos into the cage once more against fellow knockout artist Mark Munoz. The ‘Filipino Wrecking Machine’ is just as heavy handed as Leben, as we saw in his last fight against CB Dolloway. He can put guys out in an instant with his canon-like right hand but Leben has a jaw akin to a red-topped rock. Brian Stann essentially had to knock him out three times in their bout because Leben just kept coming. As ‘The Crippler’ says himself, when he gets tagged he goes into auto-pilot, moving forward and swinging until someone drops. More often than not – Brian Stann and Anderson Silva aside – it’s the other guy. If he hits you with the left hand he now calls ‘The Silva Bullet’ it’s usually good night.

Munoz however does have a distinct advantage over Leben on the wrestling side of things being a decorated amateur wrestler. While both guys will want to prove who is the baddest KO artist, Munoz could deploy a safety first strategy and take Leben down to inflict some good old fashioned ground and pound. Leben has improved his ground game considerably – look to his triangle submission of Yoshihiro Akiyama for proof – but there is a difference between submitting an exhausted Akiyama in round three and getting out from under a guy like Munoz. In short this fight will be very interesting. Will Leben come away with his fourth Knockout of the Night bonus or will Munoz add to his three fight win streak?

If I was forced to choose and I was picking with my heart I’d say Leben but if I was choosing with my head I’d say Munoz. I see Munoz taking Leben down and keeping him there. It would simply not make sense to do otherwise when the world knows Leben’s strength lies in his striking. I’ll go for Munoz by decision.

At heavyweight, 7-0 Phil De Fries will make his Octagon debut against the durable Rob Broughton. All of De Fries’ seven wins have come by submission and the jiu-jitsu specialist who holds a purple belt under Rodrigo Cabral will obviously want to take down the experienced Broughton and tap him out. Broughton’s experience will be a key factor and he is no slouch on the ground himself with 5 of his 15 wins coming by submission, but he will probably prefer to stay standing. Does de Fries have the stand-up skills to bang with Broughton (that sounded weird when I read it to myself)? I don’t know. But one would have to give him the advantage on the ground. This fight could take place anywhere but if I had to stick my neck out I’d say De Fries by submission. Why? Again, I don’t know. If you disagree, good for you.

At bantamweight, two phenomenal records collide when Englishman Brad Pickett (21-4) takes on Brazilian Renan Barao (26-1). Pickett holds wins over the likes of Dave Lee and Demetrious Johnson while Barao is riding a 26 fight win streak. Yes, that’s TWENTY-SIX fights. He lost his debut fight and recovered from that by deciding he’d never lose again. Good decision. 12 of those wins came by submission and the loss was a decision. In short, Barao is a scary man. Pickett is quite frightening himself and has 9 submission wins to his credit and has never been knocked out. Both these guys can really fight any way you want so if this fight is even slightly boring I’ll be surprised. I’ll go for Pickett by submission, just for the hell of it.

At welterweight, Thiago Alves takes on UFC newcomer Papy Abedi (8-0). This fight is a huge leap in standard for Abedi who has gone past the second round only once in his eight fights. 5 of his wins have come KO and 2 by submission so he certainly looks for finishes. Does he have the skills to finish Alves? Despite his black belt in Judo I think it’s unlikely. We all know the kind of beast Alves is, his muay Thai being a sight to behold. And in terms of experience his losses have mostly come to elite opponents like GSP and Jon Fitch. I see Alves having too much for Abedi at this point is his career but it will certainly be an exciting fight. I’m going for Alves by KO.

There is another notable fight at 205 when ‘The Snake’ Cyril Diabate (18-7) takes on ‘The Hippo’ Anthony Perosh (11-6). Nature lovers tune in. I’ll pick the striking of Diabate over submission specialist Perosh on this one. Perosh has been knocked out four times in his career and I think Diabate will make it 5.

The other fight on the main card is Terry Etim (14-3) vs. Edward Faaloloto (2-2) at 155. Etim is a submission specialist who practices Luta Livre, a type of submission grappling developed for Vale Tudo and has 11 submissions on his record. Faaloloto dropped a TKO loss to TUF vet Michael Johnson in his last fight and I see him being overwhelmed by Etim’s grappling and submitted early.

That’s it from me and don’t forget UFC 138 starts at 8pm GMT and the prelims are on Facebook.

Alan Keane

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(Photo of Chris Leben and Mark Munoz taken from ufc.com)

Whatever your opinion toward Diaz, or  Penn for that matter, this still promises to be a very exciting fight. Both men are BJJ black-belts, both are excellent boxers and both have experience of holding title gold. However there are two other factors that could well settle this fight. The first is wrestling and the second is cardio.

Penn showed everybody in his fight with Jon Fitch that he is able to hang with this best when it comes to takedowns and in that fight he also showed he is perfectly capable of taking down and keeping down a much bigger man. Diaz may not have the skills necessary to keep the fight standing should Penn decide to take it to the ground. Could Penn employ a strategy of takedown and grind it out to get a decision? He could, but with Diaz being very dangerous off its back it could be unlikely. So, I think we can expect to it to stay largely on the feet and this where that second factor, cardio, comes into play. We all Diaz’s now cardio is absolutely phenomenal. After all, he does triathlons when he’s not training for a fight. We also know he punches in huge bunches, working an opponent’s body if he covers up, thus creating openings up top. Penn on the other hand, is an excellent counter puncher when he’s on the back foot and he also has one punch KO power that I don’t think Diaz can match. On the whole, I think Penn has too much for Diaz but it should still be a phenomenal fight. I see Penn winning by KO or, possibly a more conservative game plan involving boxing on the outside with the occasional takedown thrown in. On the other hand, Penn is just as unpredictable as Diaz (ask Jon Fitch) and we could end up with a no-gi jiu-jitsu bout.

The other big fight on the card is a battle of heavy hitters with Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson and his belly taking on Mirko Crocop and his big left hook. Crocop is not the fighter he was now that he’s pushing forty. A KO loss to Frank Mir and another one to Brandon Schaub in his last two fights means the legendary Croat is probably staring at retirement if he doesn’t pull this one out. Oddly, Nelson too has a loss to Frank Mir in one of his last two fights as well as the decision loss to Junior Dos Santos. In those fights Nelson showed he needs to improve his cardio and that he has a chin like a rock. Ultimately, this will probably be a brawl but Nelson does have the submission skills on the ground should he wish to go there. We know both men have serious KO power and this could end in an instant and should not got three rounds. Despite Crocop’s claims that he wants to show the world ‘the old Crocop,’ I’m going for Nelson by KO, just because he’s brilliant entertainment. The winner of this fight could well face the winner of the next one I’m going to talk about, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo. 

I fancy Mitrione to win this by TKO or possibly decision depending on Kongo’s game plan. Kongo did show a real fighter’s heart in last fight against Pat Barry but I think the ever improving ‘Meathead’ is unlikely to provide such an opening. Mitrione is quick and heavy-handed as well being a technically decent striker. I think he has too much for a confident Cheick Kongo and should win a brawl. A win for ‘Meathead’ will push him that little bit closer to the hallowed ground of  ’in the mix.’ At just 5-0 it might be premature to start calling for a title fight but a win against Kongo and then another in a  big match-up with someone like Travis Browne, or as I said above, the winner of Crocop and Nelson, and Mitrione will be knocking on the door of the elites in the heavyweight division.

Alan Keane.

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