Mixed Martial B0nes

UFC 114 kicked us where it counts this Memorial Day Weekend on May 29, 2010.  We finally got to see BA Baracus aka Quintin Rampage Jackson take on Rashad Evans.  As much as a goofball as Rampage is, I kind of wanted him to beat the daylights out of Rashad who seemed all too smug during his stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter.  Unfortunately for BA, he might as well as been stuck up in a plane as that was as comfortable as his outing in the Octagon.  We’ll see if we ever get the two of these guys to fight again.  Dan Lauzon’s troubles did not stay within the family this time, even his family jewels took it on the “chin” when Efrain Escudero pounded him to a defeat.  Maybe he better kiss and make up with his brothers and take his training more seriously?  Amir Sadollah looks to become another in a long line of TUF show winners that consistently disappoint the more they fight.  Anyway, here are the results of this actually star packed event:
No Wanna See You (Not Even For FREE!) Card:

* Middleweight bout:  Jesse Forbes vs.  Ryan Jensen
Jensen choked the fight out of Forbes via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:06 of round 1.

* Lightweight bout:  Aaron Riley vs.  Joe Brammer
Riley fooled the judges and beat up Brammer via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

Spike TV Too Cheap For PPV Fights:

* Lightweight bout:  Efrain Escudero vs.  Dan Lauzon
Escudero fooled the judges and beat up Lauzon via unanimous decision (29–27, 29–27, 29–27). Escudero was deducted 1 point due to repeated kicks to the gonads… OUCH!

* Light Heavyweight bout:  Luiz Cane vs.  Cyrille Diabaté
Diabaté put the hurt on Cane via TKO (strikes) at 2:13 of round 1.

* Welterweight bout:  Amir Sadollah vs.  Dong Hyun Kim
Kim fooled the judges and beat up Sadollah via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

Main PPV and/or Drunk at the Pub Fights:

* Welterweight bout:  Diego Sanchez vs.  John Hathaway
Hathaway fooled the judges and beat up Sanchez via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–26).

* Light Heavyweight bout:  Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs.  Jason Brilz
Nogueira fooled the judges and beat up Brilz via split decision (28–29, 29–28, 29–28).

* Heavyweight bout:  Todd Duffee vs.  Mike Russow
Russow layed the smack down on Duffee via KO (punch) at 2:35 in round 3.

* Lightweight bout:  Melvin Guillard vs.  Waylon Lowe
Guillard put the hurt on Lowe via TKO (strikes) at 3:28 of round 1.

* Middleweight bout:  Michael Bisping vs.  Dan Miller
Bisping fooled the judges and beat up Miller via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–27).

* Light Heavyweight bout:  Quinton Jackson vs.  Rashad Evans
Evans fooled the judges and beat up Jackson via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27).

UFC113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 came to the great province of Quebec in the city of Montreal on May 8, 2010.  Again it was a feature packed event.  After a few lackluster UFC‘s this one looked to fill our bills with MMA goodness.  What we came away with instead was a whooole lot of questions:

Is Lyoto Machida exposed as merely a “karate guy” that can’t hang with real MMA’rs?  This is a conceit by many a fan and many a competitor that Machida had proved wrong time and time again until this bout with Shogun Rua.  Rua just completely took apart Machida and left him a tub of goo on the Octagon floor.

WTF was Paul Daley thinking???!!?  Seeya dude.  Dana is really trying to create a better product so he can sell it to “normal” TV in the future.  That’s Dana White’s ultimate goal: To gain as many fans as the NFL and grab a spot on a regular television network.  That’s not going to happen if you have jackholes, punching people looong after the bell has rung.  Even a complete UFC novice knows not to do that.  So, for now, Daley’s out of the UFC until Dana White says he can come back on.  He had such a great prize to look forward to.  A title shot at GSP and a coaching gig on The Ulimate Fighter!  Quite a bonehead move.

Kimbo’s in the same boat: Out of the UFC for now.  Getting taken apart by “Meathead” Mitrone wasn’t what Dana had in mind for Kimbo in the UFC.  Still, I don’t think one loss should have meant booting out a surefire ratings bonanza like Kimbo out of the organization.  Kimbo will go back to Strikeforce and bump up the ratings again.  Hopefully, with what he’s learned he’ll completely dominate and earn his spot back into the UFC.  Fighters with bigger beefs against Dana have come back and will fight again, see Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz!

Here are your results:

No Wanna See You Card:

* Middleweight bout:  Jason MacDonald vs.  John Salter
Salter put the hurt on MacDonald via TKO (injury) at 2:42 of round 1.

* Welterweight bout:  Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs.  Mike Guymon
Guymon fooled the judges and beat up Yoshida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

* Heavyweight bout:  Tim Hague vs.  Joey Beltran
Beltran fooled the judges and beat up Hague via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28).

* Welterweight bout:  TJ Grant vs.  Johny Hendricks
Hendricks fooled the jugges and beat up Grant via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28).

* Welterweight bout:  Marcus Davis vs.  Jonathan Goulet
Davis put the hurt on Goulet via TKO (punches) at 1:23 of round 2.

* Middleweight bout:  Joe Doerksen vs.  Tom Lawlor
Doerksen choked the fight out of Lawlor via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:10 of round 2.

Main PPV and/or Drunk at the Pub Fights:

* Middleweight bout:  Patrick Côté vs.  Alan Belcher
Belcher choked the fight out of Cote via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:25 of round 2.

* Heavyweight bout:  Kimbo Slice vs.  Matt Mitrione
Mitrione put the hurt on Slice via TKO (punches) at 4:24 of round 2.

* Lightweight bout:  Sam Stout vs.  Jeremy Stephens
Stephens fooled the jugges and beat up Stout via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).

* Welterweight bout:  Josh Koscheck vs.  Paul Daley
Koscheck fooled the jugges and beat up Daley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

* Light Heavyweight Championship bout:  Lyoto Machida (c) vs.  Mauricio Rua
Rua layed the smack down on Machida via KO (punches) at 3:35 of round 1 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

WEC 48: Aldo vs Faber flashed across Pay Per View sets all over the country on April 24, 2010 for the first time.  It showcased the power and the action that is World Extreme Cagefighting to the hard core UFC fans.  It’s success proves that the little guys will provide us with entertainment that is worth paying for.  Unfortunately for us cheapskates, they may have done their jobs too well.  I think seeing the action in these fights will bring up the paydays for these hard working “everymen.”  I like these bouts because they feature the Regular Joe type frames that are walking our streets.  You could see yourself stepping into one of these fights and doing battle.  Of course, you and I would get owned by these guys but it isn’t altogether inconceivable…  I’m glad that Manny Gamburyan did well.  I’ve always thought that he was robbed of much MMA love ever since he lost to Nate Diaz in The Ultimate Fighter 5.  Maybe now the MMA gods will take notice and give him a shot in the big leagues.

Uriah Faber didn’t do too well this bout.  Is it because he’s pushing 30 and at this size that really means that he’s losing a step to the youngsters?  It could be.  Aldo had him in check with his sound kicking technique.  Faber is by no means washed up yet but if he lands on his face a few more times a la  Jens Pulver, it may be time to go into surfing or coaching.  Heavyweights can last well into their 40s because it usually takes brute strength to win their battles while lightweights rely on their blistering speed and flexibility.  You don’t have that in your 30′s and beyond like the 20 year old punks.

So, Yay! and Boo! to a successful WEC or whatever this was 48 because we may not see as many freebie main events in the future or even a WEC.  It’s possible that Dana White and Zuffa will reabsorb the little freaks back into UFC.  We’ll see.  For now, here are your results:

No Wanna See You Card:

* Bantamweight bout:  Takeya Mizugaki vs. Rani Yahya
Mizugaki fooled the judges and beat up Yahya via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28).

Drunk on the Couch or Pub Spike TV Fights:

* Featherweight bout:  Leonard Garcia vs.  Chan Sung Jung
Garcia fooled the judges and beat up Jung via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).

* Lightweight bout:  Alex Karalexis vs.  Anthony Pettis
Pettis choked the fight out of Karalexis via submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:35 in round 2.

* Featherweight bout:  Chad Mendes vs.  Anthony Morrison
Mendes choked the fight out of Morrison via submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:13 of Round 1.

Main PPV and/or Drunk at the Pub Fights:

* Featherweight Championship bout:  Jose Aldo (c) vs.  Urijah Faber
Aldo fooled the judges and beat up Faber via unanimous decision (49–45, 49–45, 50–45) to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship.

* Lightweight Championship bout:  Ben Henderson (c) vs.  Donald Cerrone
Henderson choked the fight out of Cerrone via submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:57 of round 1 to retain the WEC Lightweight Championship.

* Featherweight bout:  Brandon Visher vs.  Tyler Toner
Toner put the hurt on Visher via TKO (Elbows) at 2:36 of Round 1.

* Featherweight bout:  Mike Brown vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Gamburyan layed the smack down on Brown via KO (Punches) at 2:22 of round 1.

* Bantamweight bout: Brad Pickett vs.  Demetrious Johnson
Pickett fooled the judges and beat up Johnson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28).

* Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani vs.  Shane Roller
Roller choked the fight out of Njokuani via submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:21 in round 1.

* Bantamweight bout:  Antonio Banuelos vs.  Scott Jorgensen
Jorgensen fooled the judges and beat up Banuelos via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

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