Here is a list of 10 fighters that this fan would like to see ‘bounce back’ in 2008 from losses, poor performances, or NO fights in 2007…In no particular order:
Alistair ‘Demolition Man’ Overeem
Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic
Wanderlei ‘Axe Murderer’ Silva
Andrei ‘Pitbull’ Arlovski
Dennis Kang
Mark Hunt
Josh ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ Barnett
Frank Mir
Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin
Igor ‘Ice Cold’ Vovchanchyn
Does anybody else think it’s completely ridiculous to announce fighters in a match, MAYBE 6 weeks in advance!? Granted we all want to see the best match ups possible and it’s difficult to consistently churn out Grade A fights, but it just isn’t fair to the fighters literally risking their necks! Using the UFC as an example, they determine the name of PPV events and set it in stone way before having the match-ups of the people actually fighting in the PPV. RIP PRIDE, but some of their fights were announced a couple weeks in advance! Granted on reality shows like UFC’s TUF, fighters will only know a week or two in advance who there opponent will be, but these are amateur fighters(except the ‘comeback edition’) trying to ‘make it’ through a reality show. A tournament style PPV is also set up to where the fighters will just have a number of minutes to devise a game plan for a fight.
Obviously the fighters find out before the media, so lets be generous and say they find out about an opponent 8 weeks inadvance, is that enough? That being said, to the rest of the fighters who consider themselves professional athletes, who are capable of devising game plans to cater to their opponents, it’s not fair to inform them of their opponent 8 weeks in advance. Of course most fighters will say they will fight anybody, sometimes not even in their weight class at any time. Many fighters also claim to prepare the same for each fight and that is all very admirable. In my opinion with the rate at which MMA is being considered a main stream sport is evolving, the fighters should also have the same respect given to most other mainstream sports, and given their opponents months, maybe years in advance.
After watching one of the best fights in 2007 and possibly ever in MMA between Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell this past Saturday, I felt very satisfied. In one respect, the Iceman, poster boy for the UFC came back to form and looked more focused than ever. Looking like the dominant Liddell we were used to seeing for so long, a far cry from the lack luster performances against Rampage and Jardine. Chuck was counter punching, landing with pin-point accuracy and even threw in a couple of never seen before take downs! The fight was very exciting from start to finish, but what was the diffence?
From watching “All Access” the UFC, there is no way it was Wanderlei’s training regimine that did not prepare him for victory. So what was the difference in this fight? Chuck’s height/reach advantage? Wanderlei definitely looked much smaller than the Iceman, did the Axe Murderer not cut weight like most UFC fighters do? Why did WANDY not seem to posess that crazy edge that he always brought into the ring, that he seemed to not possess in the cage. I have never seen Wandy come out and ‘respect’ an opponent for so long before fearlessly attacking!
Possibly it was the lack of experience in a cage, rules(elbows) or just plain too much hype got to our beloved Wand. Could the fight have ended differently if Wanderlei landed one of those nasty hay-makers, or got Chuck in the Thai clinch, absolutely. One thing is for sure, and that is Wanderlei will not give any excuses for the loss, and will only praise Chuck for his excellent performance. Regardless of the reason for the outcome of the fight, it was one of the most entertaining fights I’ve ever seen. Both fighters deserve the utmost respect from all fans. Despite losing, Wanderlei won, in that he gained the respect of many US fans in displaying his never give up spirit and iron chin. Obviously the Iceman re-instated his career as one of the best fighters of all time. I can’t wait to see both fighters in action again soon!
The official launch of MMA Joe’s store is TODAY(12/17/07)!!!
This past Saturday(12/8/07) was the season finale of the TUF show season six. The main event of the evening was not between contestants of the show, but between the up and coming Mexican-American Roger Huerta and the always exciting Clay Guida. Some folks touted this battle to be the fight of the year, and when it was all said and done, it came pretty damn close and just might have been.
What made the match such an exemplary duel was the fact that it ended without any question as to who the winner was. The two exchanged heavy blows from the outset, but it seemed that Guida was in full control of the contest on his feet and on the ground. At one point the end was nearly certain for Huerta as he was on the verge of being knocked out in the second, but weathered the storm by grasping Guida tight to survive and eventually submitted Guida in the third.Guida was rattled by a series of punches and knees and eventually succumbed to a rear-naked choke. But in defeat, both fighters came out victorious.This fight meant volumes for both men involved. Huerta is one of the greatest attractions in MMA today, being touted as MMA’s Golden Boy, referring to boxing’s Oscar DeLa Hoya, while Guida is a hellacious fighter trying to make a name for himself in MMA. Well Guida may have lost in front of thousands in a fight viewed by millions, but should be extremely proud of his performance knowing that he lost in possibly the fight of the year and gave it all he had, won over thousands of new fans and guaranteed to return to the UFC.Both fighters showed they have the hearts of a champion, and both came out victorious. I thank and applaud both fighters for their efforts and look forward to witnessing them both compete for years to come.
2007 turned out to be the year of the upset in the world of MMA. Here is the List of the Top 10 BIGGEST upsets in all of MMA in 2007.
10. Fedor Emelianenko(revered as the worlds top ranked HW) having only one fight ALL year.
9. Rameau Sokodju over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
8. Cheick Kongo over Mirko Filipovic
7. Gabriel Gonzaga over Mirko Filipovic
6. Rameau Sokoudjou over Ricardo Arona
5. Keith Jardine over Chuck Liddell/ Matt Serra over George St. Pierre
4. The leading organization in Japan, PRIDE FC was purchased by the UFC
3. Forrest Griffin over Mauricio Rua Shogun
2. Multiple fighters including LW UFC Champ Sean Sherk testing positive for steriods
1. Renato Sobral continuing to choke David Heath after the referee stoppage.
It is very clear that if you step into battle with Kimbo Slice, don’t expect it to last long if you are not prepared to deal with a BEAST. Step back and take a look at this guy and realize he’s a legitimate street fighter, now getting proper MMA training from an elite trainer, Bas Rutten! If Kimbo keeps training with Bas, look out because guys like Bo Cantrell are going to continue to be mere bumps on the road along Kimbo’s way to the top. But can a guy like Kimbo ever make it to the top or will he just be a KO specialist that will never beat A-List fighters?
It took Kimbo all of 19 seconds to blast Cantrell, a seasoned MMA veteran into LaLaLand in his EliteXC debut(Dana you fell asleep on this one). I would like to see Kimbo battle Tank Abbott in an epic battle of Street Fighters in a sanctioned MMA bout. There is no doubt Kimbo has the RAW power, and the mind set to be one of the best. The question is just how much of the battle does power and menatlity count? Fighting is at LEAST 50% mental, and if it’s one thing Kimbo has, it’s the mental edge over most opponents. If he continues to train and improve his all around game, nothing is going to get in his way to the top. Don’t believe me, just youtube some of his past fights and sleep tight. WAR Kimbo!!!
Tommy Speer was dominant. Apparently, eating lots of corn (what do they grow in Minnesota) helps you own people. Koppenhaver fought hard but his only chance was the choke early on. When he couldn’t follow through on that it was over. I can’t wait to see Speer fight again.
By the way, didn’t anyone notice how much Serra liked saying “War Machine”, or “War” or “Machine”? It was getting ridiculous. I couldn’t tell if he just like saying it or whether he was making fun of Koppenhaver.
Welcome to the MMAJOE blog! We sell MMA stuff at mmajoe.com and we’ll use this site to talk about what’s new and also share our thoughts on what’s going down in the world of MMA. Step off.
