UFC 141

Quick and to the point today, I got places to be. Good card to finish off the year tomorrow, lets see how it shakes down.

Nam Phan vs. Jim "The Kid" Hettes
featherweight

Hettes is a solid up and comer, but Phan is way too well rounded. He'll pick Hettes apart on the feet and prevent him from getting the fight were he wants it, on the ground. By the third, Hettes will be beaten up, exhausted, and in need of a finish. Phan gets it instead, by a late stoppage or decision, and I think it's the latter.

Phan via Unanimous Decision

Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko vs. Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson
light heavyweight

The grizzled vet against the promising up and comer, but don't count out the old dog in Matyushenko, because taking him lightly is what got Jason Brilz knocked out. Gustafsson is not likely to be done in so easily, and is more than capable of dictating where this fight takes place. A long, lanky 205 pounder, he has power and speed in his hands, and a sneaky good ground game, if Matyushenko manages to get the fight to the ground. It's far from a done deal, but "The Janitor" has a tough road to hoe in this fight, and I see Gustafsson getting the stoppage late in the second.

Gustafsson via TKO, Rd. 2

Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks
welterweight

The perennial second best fighter in the 170 pound division in Fitch makes his return to the Octagon after nearly a year out of it due to injury. He faces a rising star in Hendricks, but with GSP out for the next year, and the welterweight title in his sights, this one is all but academic. Fitch is a massive welterweight, and uses a stifling top game with superb wrestling to grind his opponents out. Hendricks may actually be the better wrestler, and has devastating power in his hands, but he may not have the cardio to outlast Fitch, who has a chin like granite, and loves taking fights into the later rounds. After weathering an early flurry from Hendricks, he will pick his spots and wear him out on his way to another unanimous decision.

Fitch via Unanimous Decision

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz
lightweight

Nearly a shoe in for Fight of the Night, this 155 pound battle is further excited by the fact that these two simply do not like each other. A former title contender in the WEC, Cerrone looks to put a stamp on his debut year in the UFC by winning his fifth straight...this year! Diaz returned to the lightweight division in style by submitting Takanori Gomi after pummeling him on the feet. Cerrone has the better stand up, but Diaz's boxing has improved by leaps and bounds. Diaz is the better grappler, but Cerrone is far from lost on the ground. Cerrone is going to want to stand and bang, and he also has a tendency to get a little wild. He's also shown in the past that he can be submitted, which can be a problem for opponents of the Diaz clan. The stand up war will be tight, but slightly edged by Cerrone, and the real question is how things go if they make it to the mat. Cerrone does just enough to edge out the barest of split decisions, and poises himself for a shot at the lightweight title in 2012.

Cerrone via Split Decision

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem
heavyweight

The winner of this fight is the number one contender, and gets the first shot at newly crowned champion, Junior dos Santos. Lesnar hasn't fought in over a year, and Overeem is making his UFC debut. All that aside, this should be one hell of a fight. Both men top six foot three (Overeem is 6' 5") and weigh in around the top of the 265 pound weight limit, so we have a couple of big boys in the ring. Overeem is a K-1 kickboxing champion, and has brutal knockout power in addition to his striking prowess. He also has surprising submission skills, which usually get dismissed due to his ability on the feet. Lesnar is a genetic beast, with power and speed that simply should not exist in nature. While still improving on the feet, his real strength is on the mat, where he can flex his NCAA National champion wrestling skills, and unleash truly terrifying ground and pound. When Lesnar gets this fight to the ground, it may be all but over. Overeem is going to want to do anything he can to prevent this, and however strong his own ground game may be, fighting off your back with a 290 pound gorilla smashing your face is simply no fun. There will be a lot of feeling out by Overeem, but Lesnar likes to mix things up right away, and may go for the take down right off the bat. If Overeem can fend it off, and start putting the leather on Lesnar, it's going to be a short night for the Minnesotan. I think Brock just can't handle the firepower "Demolition Man" brings, and ends up getting TKO'd in the first. I hope I'm wrong though.....


Overeem via TKO, Rd. 1

MMA and me; day 190/191

With the past few days jiu jitsu classes having been so small, we have been focusing on more specific techniques, and their applications. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we did a lot of work on the knee shield. It's very similar to the action guard, but it is it's own animal entirely. With your opponent in your half guard, take your bottom foot and bring it over their inside leg, so your knee is on the ground, and the foot is propped up with the shin resting on their calf. Bring your top side leg over and step on the blade of your bottom side foot, while bringing your topside knee in tight on the point of their outside hip bone. By pinching your knees together, pressing down on your own foot, and extending your hips, you can control your opponent very well, and they will have a tough time passing your guard. Now, with your bottom side arm, post the elbow to the mat, and frame up the other arm by grabbing it with the bottom side hand. There is no need to push hard, or relax completely, because the whole point of framing up your arms is to prevent your opponent from bowling you over with pressure, and keeping them at bay. As the push into you, bring your top side knee all the way up into their arm pit, and then pummel the same side arm in for an under hook. After claiming the under hook, extend the top side leg, and slip out to back control, keeping the bottom side leg hook in. From back control reach around their back and under their stomach to get both arms around their far arm, suck it in tight and drive them over to the side where there arm was posted, while circling around behind them into side control. From here, you can grab a gift wrap (arm under their head to grab the wrist of their own arm that is wrapped around their neck) and lift them up to a seated position, and rolling them over your posted leg to get back control, and rolling them over your body, back and forth to fully center your chest on their spine, and get both hooks in. You can also get wrist control on their outside arm, pull it away from their body, and then snake your bottom side leg around their neck to set up a triangle by swiveling your hips around to the other side of their body,

We also worked a position if the knee shield gets passed, and they end up in a modified low judo/half guard position on top of you. With your legs still around their now top side leg, and their back facing you, swim your foot under their top side leg and set the hook by putting your boot on, and twisting your leg so the toes are pointed straight up to the ceiling. From here, you have some options; if they base their legs out wide, you can lock your hands together around their body, lift your hooked leg straight up and roll them over your body to either take their back, or clear your bottom side leg, then swing on your hips back away from the leg you cleared and land a triangle. Or, if they don't base out wide, and instead under hook your top side leg, as you swim your foot in to set the hook, reach around their body and gran their wrist that is under hooking your leg. You can use this in a very similar manner to the body lock, but you can also lift the hook up high, and roll them directly backward over yourself to land in a perfect set up to a mounted triangle.

We also worked a great deal of gi chokes which we have gone over before. The main thing to focus on with gi chokes is getting the proper grip, maintaining pressure, and revving the motorcycle grips. Gi jiu jitsu is particularly nasty with chokes, because you can just get totally stuck, and you HAVE to be very meticulous and precise with your movements or you're toast. Well, I'm pretty beat after this week, and I will perhaps be in for a class or maybe two next week, but if I don't make it in, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year everybody!

MMA and me; day 189

Yesterday (Monday) we worked on what I can best describe as filler. Frequently in jiu jitsu, we learn submissions, or transitions, or points on which to focus. Monday we specifically worked on shadow grappling, and more specifically, how to fill the space in between the points. We started out by stretching, and getting our bodies ready, then we went up into a head stand. We held the head stand for a bit, then moved onto rolling down from the head stand, and switching our hips over to a four point position. From there we incorporated a sit out to a switch, and then began utilizing our shoulder rolls from our knees and our butts. From ending on our backsides, we added coming up to our knees and shooting for a couple take downs, spinning on our knees, and shooting for more take downs. We also added swiveling on our hips to prevent our guard from being passed, pivoting on our sacrum (thanks Nikki!) in a long arc to prevent a standing opponent from stepping around the guard. A couple more focal points were added into our shadow grappling; falling into a bridge from a head stand and then quickly switching our hips from the bridge to being on all fours, and escaping from old school side control by utilizing the curly run, or as Amanda calls it (which I totally agree with) the Homer Simpson, where you bridge, turn to your shoulder and head, and then proceed to run around in a circle until you escape from under the side control and take their back. We combined all of the elements together that we worked on today and shadow grappled for the final 10 minutes of class, and the purpose of this was to feel more complete when grappling. A lot of schools focus on specific moves, and don't work on what goes between them. I really like this type of class, because it forces you to be aware of your body and where you're going to next, which is IMMENSELY important during grappling sessions. Thank you Coach for a great class!!

MMA and me; day 188

Yesterday we stressed the importance of stretching. We went over why stretching is important, and how having an above average degree of flexibility can pay off in jiu jitsu, and mma as a whole. We then went through an extremely rigorous hip stretching routine, where we utilized our arms, belts, and for some people (not me!) weights. I do not possess a great deal of flexibility in my hips, yet. I will eventually become a fairly flexible person, because for the goals I have set for myself, I will need it. I intend to begin a small stretching routine, and one of my early New Year's resolutions is to being taking yoga classes. It's going to happen, and I see big things in my future for me in jiu jitsu!

MMA and me; day 187

After getting all stretched out, we went through our shrimping drills, excuse me, hip escape drills, and then went through shoulder rolls, from the backside and from the knees, and knocked out a two minute headstand. We went right into the arm bar/triangle/omoplata drill, and I realized that the higher you keep your hips off the mat during this drill, the easier it is to a) swing your hips around on the arm bar and triangle, and b) pop your hips down to the mat and roll up to the omoplata. We went through two rounds with two different partners, and then worked on the swinging arm bar drill, and the wrist control triangle drill. For the swinging arm bar drill, from an open guard, push off of their hip with the same side foot, and swing your leg as far down to the mat and around their head into an arm bar position, then using your momentum, push off their other hip with your other foot, and swing all the way around to the other side, putting their other arm in an arm bar. It's easiest to cup their elbows while doing this, because it helps prevent them from pulling their arm out, and it helps you keep your hips elevated, and pivot on your shoulder blades. For the triangle drill, grab wrist control from open guard, and peacock their arms out wide, bring one of your knees in tight to your chest, and then slide your foot up around their neck, pulling them in tight with the wrist control, and cutting an angle off to the side to lock in the triangle. Pull your legs out and back into the open guard, and then repeat on the other side, going back and forth, as smoothly as possible. Lastly, we worked on an omoplata drill from the guard. Grab the outside of the tricep with the same side arm, and with the other arm, push on the side of their face away from the arm you have isolated to create space, shrimping to that side and swimming your top side leg over the shoulder, and pinning that wrist in your hip as you come up to your backside. To finish the submission, get your feet behind you, and bring your head to the outside as far as you can, and then bring your whole body around their head in a circular motion for the tap. We went back and forth on each side to finish off class. Awesome fundamentals, and to cap things off, I received my bjj blue belt from my coach at the end of class. I feel that I am just beginning to scratch the surface of potential, and while I am incredibly proud to be promoted, it's only making me more motivated to learn as much as I possibly can!

MMA and me; day 185/186

Another two in one blog today. Last Thursday, we drilled arm bar after arm bar, after arm bar. First, the snap arm bar from side control, where you hook the near side arm, flick your leg side foot up under their head, swing your head side foot around, not over their head, bring that heel in tight to their neck, pinch your knees together as you lean back and with their arm trapped in your elbow pit, pull it toward you and arch your hips until they tap. Next was the arm bar from back mount. With a seat belt grip, heist the under hook up high and bring the over hook to the near side of their head and push it away. Using the heisted under hook as leverage, swing the opposite leg around their head, again, not over, pull the heel in tight with your boot on, pinch your knees together, and pull the arm tight as you extend your hips with their thumb pointed away from your body until they tap. Next was the arm bar from S mount. To get to S mount, push down on either arm from mount (preferably the one on top of the other arm), and as they try to push it back across, shove it further with your hand on that same side, and hold it in place by bringing your chest around and across, then on that same side, bring your knee up to just past the top of their head, and flare your other leg out straight until you're sitting on their chest with your hamstring. From here, under hook their head side arm, and lean across their body to swing your leg around their head, and go through the arm bar checklist for the tap. Lastly, we practiced the step over arm bar from back mount. With your opponent on all fours and you having their back, keep your hooks in tight to their hips, and maintain a seat belt (over/under) grip. Much like the arm bar from back control, you use the over hook to push their head away, and heist the under hook up, but you also step around their head, and roll forward (TUCK YOUR HEAD!) and then extend your hips to help flip them over. Make sure you already have your boot on, head side foot pulled into their neck, and are pinching your knees together. It makes flipping them over much easier, and will get them to tap much quicker. I really like arm bars, and definitely need to be using them more often. If you're in my gym and you read this, a fair heads up, I'll be throwing up A LOT more arm bars! :) Great day of classes!

Yesterday was a lot of getting up off of the bottom. We started out with pummeling drills, first from our knees, and then from our feet. Next, we worked a pummeling drill from the feet to a take down. From the pummel, take your under hook hand, and slide it down their arm to the wrist (keeping in contact the whole time) and pull their arm straight down so their is a gap between their arm and their body. With your other arm, reach through the gap and grab around the back of their tricep. Step around to the back of their legs with your outside leg and grab both hands together around their waist, trapping the near side arm. Keeping your hips perpendicular to theirs, lunge your leg that is behind them far behind you and sit your hips down until you pull them over your front leg, which is bent at the knee. As they fall down, adjust your grip from around their waist to a C block, and end in side control. We worked on pummeling from the guard next, and following under hooks. When pummeling, hip escape (shrimp) to the side of the under hook, and heist it over your head, continuing to ratchet your hips clear of theirs until you can pop your head out and take their back. Another variation on this, is as you hip escape, bring your bottom leg in between their legs, putting your foot on their near side knee, and then using that to help swing your other leg around behind them to sink in your hook and take their back. Lastly, we worked on arm drags and wrist control. With your opponent in your guard, establish inside wrist control, and pull either arm straight out to the side. Shrimp to the same side as that hip, and under hook it with your other arm. Once the arm gets to being completely perpendicular, under hook it with your other arm and heist it over your head to take their back. If you don't get completely squared up to their back with your chest, and don't get the far hook in, just keep dribbling and popping your hips into them until you can clear the leg free and sink the hook to square yourself up. Also, you can either grab a handful of gi, or an under hook to roll them across your body, which will get you to the proper alignment. We also worked an arm drag where you pull the arm across your body (or they reach across your body) and then with your opposite side arm, grab for an under hook and latch on to their tricep or shoulder. Using that pressure, pull them down and pull yourself up to work around to taking their back. Little pops with your hips help clear to a solid position where you can lock in both hooks and get solid back control. Another great day of jiu jitsu at the gym!!

UFC 140

The super short version of predictions is going up, because it's been kind of a busy week. Anyways, here goes nothing

Mark "The Machine" Hominick vs Chan Sung "The Korean Zombie" Jung
featherweight

Jung is a ton of fun to watch, and has heart like few other in the sport. All that being said, Hominick is simply a far better mma fighter. His stand up is about as clean and accurate as you could possibly find, and he's also extremely under rated on the ground. "The Machine" will just pick Jung apart and most likely get an early stoppage in the first or second round in what will very likely be an entertaining fight.

Hominick via TKO, Rd. 2

Claude "The Prince" Patrick vs Brian "Bad Boy" Ebersole
welterweight

Patrick is stepping in on short notice for an injured Rory McDonald, and while Patrick is a fairly exciting fighter in his own right, this will definitely not be the fight it could have been. Ebersole is simply a beast in all aspects of the game. It's easy to under estimate him, due to his wildly unorthodox approach and wacky chest hair, but over sixty professional fights and nearly fifty wins? Ebersole can bring it. Patrick will definitely bring the fight, but as soon as Ebersole gets it to the ground, the fight will be on it's way to being finished. I see Ebersole getting Patrick to tap early in the third, if not before.

Ebersole via submission (rear naked choke) Rd. 3


Tito "The Peoples Champ" Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira
light heavyweight

This fight was supposed to happen at the Fight Night in Seattle back in March, but as an under card on a pay per view, it makes more sense. Both men are coming off losses and are looking to prove they deserve to stay in the UFC. If Ortiz can impose his wrestling game, and avoid getting beat up on the feet, he may be able to eke out a decision victory, but I doubt that will happen. Nogueira is just too good of a boxer, and like his brother, has a very slick ground game. Ortiz will stay competitive, but Nogueira should win a tight, but decisive victory in the eyes of the judges.

Nogueira via Unanimous decision.


Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira
heavyweight

A rematch of a fight that was won by Mir three years ago is the co main event, and should be every bit as exciting as the first one. A decent underdog, Mir surprised Nogueira with his striking, and beat him up on his way to a second round TKO. There were all sorts of speculations about Nogueiras health afterward, and Nogueira himself admitted to being less than fully healthy leading up to the fight. In any event, if Mir can control the stand up like he did before, and keep his somewhat suspect chin away from the Brazilians power shots, he can likely repeat his performance. Nogueira wants to turn the fight into more of a slug fest, and in those exchanges he can definitely come out on top. Their ground games are both fantastic, so I don't expect to see either one submitting the other. Push come to shove, I gotta side with Mir (shocking I know) by late second round stoppage, or a solid decision.

Mir via TKO, Rd. 2

LIGHT HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Champion: Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida

This will just be a very fun fight to watch. Can Jones do what Shogun did and solve the puzzle that is Machida? Can Machida be the first person to really hit and hurt Jones? I honestly think that the patience Machida has shown in the past will reap benefits, but like everyone else, he will have issues with the pterodactyl like wingspan of the champion. Jones also may struggle to get Machida down, despite his impressive array of trips and sweeps, as Machida has a remarkably stout take down defense. I'd like to say that Machida will be able to do what nobody else has done, and really bring the fight to him, but I just don't see it happening. I think we get a very solid five round fight that sees Machida winning maybe a round, but ultimately, Jones continues his dominance with a sound unanimous decision.

Jones via Unanimous Decision

MMA and me; day 184

Triangles, triangles, triangles. That's what we drilled in jiu jitsu. We began the class by shrimping and rolling. We rolled forward and backward, and across our shoulders from our behinds and our knees. After partnering up, we started working the run and roll drill. From all fours with your partner behind you and to the side, you take a few steps forward and then lay your same side shoulder to the mat, and roll across your shoulders. Swing your opposite side leg over your head around their neck, and spin on your shoulders to a perpendicular angle from them, making sure to have your boot on as you bring your leg over the back of their neck. From here, you have three options to secure your position; under hook their near side arm, under hook their near side leg, or reach under their body for a full body lock. The next triangle drill we worked was from full guard. With wrist control, shove one of their wrists to their own waist, and swing your same side leg around their neck, while pushing off their other side hip with your other leg, to get to that same perpendicular position. From here, go through the same checklist; boot on as the leg goes across the neck, push their arm across their face, loop your other leg around the ankle of the leg on their neck, and then go from arm, to leg, to body. The key to the triangle is not the over hooking leg, but the leg over the neck, keeping your boot on, and having their neck as tight into the crook of your knee as possible. If your opponent uses their arm in to block the triangle, bring it up to the side of your head, pull it toward you while driving your carpal bone into the elbow for a cutting arm bar, or pull the arm and press the top side leg straight to get the tap due to the choke. You can also switch leg positions into a reverse triangle, if they posture up with their head, and then pull down on their head while arching your hips. Triangles are everywhere, and for some reason, very satisfying to apply. Thanks to everyone for a great day!

MMA and me; day 183

Yesterday was a very cool day at the gym, because we worked entirely on balance, and pressure. We each got a big bouncy exercise ball, and began by trying to balance on top of them on our knees. We then worked on balancing on one knee, with the other leg straight out. This was a good way to help calm your center of gravity, and really sink your hips in to stay connected. From there we balanced from our butts with legs straight out in front of us. We then moved on to rolling forward and rolling back, keeping the ball in tight to our chest with our arms and knees, and then rolling sideways with a quick re roll. I tried to do the backflip roll, where you start on your butt with your feet on the floor, walk forward and then slide your hips over your head while staying in constant contact with the ball, landing on your feet. Next, we tried to actually stand on the ball, and while I was getting close, I never made it up freely. It's a good thing we had the boxing ringposts to hold ourselves up, because I would have fallen pretty dang hard on my behind, several times, if not. I still got very close though. Our next couple of drills involved standing behind the ball, passing the outside leg over the top, and dropping that same side hip directly onto the ball, and bouncing straight up to stand behind it again. We also jumped up splitting both legs out, bouncing off the ball with our butt back to standing. We followed that up with sprawl drills, with our partner rolling the ball towards us, and sprawling our hips down and back to catch the ball with our chest. Keeping our arms in behind it for under hooks, and dropping our hips all the way to the ground, and bouncing right back up.Lastly, we worked rolling forward to a push up position with the ball under our feet, then raising up to a head stand position with the ball between our legs, and holding it there. This was a little tough, but of all the drills we did, I felt I did best at this one. We finished with fifteen minutes of rolling, and though it's getting better, I still need to improve my pressure from the top side. An awesome class, that really made me work!

MMA and me; day 182

A LONG day at the gym yesterday. Went in early to help get my buddy ready for his fight Saturday, and ended up grappling for almost two hours. A pretty intense session that was a ton of fun, and then it went right into cardio class. (Whoops!)

For cardio we did a whole host of drills that just thoroughly wiped me out. Suffice to say, I had to sit out kickboxing so I could be sure I would survive jiu jitsu.

In Gi class, we worked mostly on getting off of the bottom. We began with bridge dribbles, making sure to keep the hips elevated, and feet flat on the mat while you bounce. We then worked dribble circles, and then bridging and turning drills, finishing up with turning to and holding yourself up on your side, keeping the topside leg extended. Continuing using the bridge and bump to get off the bottom, from bottom mount, we bumped to our hip, pushing away the near knee to slide the bottom knee under it, then immediately shrimp back to the other hip, get a near side under hook, and circle around to the other side and break them down to end in side control with a C block. We also worked escaping from old school side control, which is where the person on top has a C block, and is blocking the near side of the head. Bridge up and turn on your head and shoulder, away from their body, turn your hips, and run away from them on your side until you come around to the far side of their body where you can break them down to the mat. We finished off with fifteen minutes of free rolling, and at this point I was pretty spent, but did my best to push the pace. Very fun day, and I'm quite sore, but happy. Looking forward to see what today brings!

MMA and me; day 181

Last day at the gym before the weekend, and it was a good one. We worked on more escapes from bottom side control, and regaining top position. First, bridging up, and creating space to drop your near side elbow to the mat, and keeping the outside edge of the arm on their hip, while shrimping onto your own hip on that same side, and driving your topside knee across their waist, keeping that boot on around their other hip, and your bottom side leg is straight on the mat. Using the arm on their hip as leverage, straighten your top leg out to bring your other leg through, while bringing your head up to a parallel position with their body and reclaim guard. If you can only get to a butterfly hook with that leg, it's fine. It's preferable in fact, because it's much easier to work a sweep from there. For the sweep, arch your hips to bridge and turn with your butterfly hook as the top side, and make sure to have an under hook with the arm on that side as well. Reach over your head at a 45 degree angle with the under hook as you turn, and extend the butterfly hook to pretty simply flip them to their back, and make sure to pass their legs and end in side control, not ending in half guard. The other sweep from this position we covered, was reclaiming full butterfly guard, and getting under hooks with both arms, and getting the head underneath their chin. From here, clasp your hands behind their back with either a Gable grip, or a hand over hand grip (I like this one because it grinds into their lower back, and it's not exactly comfortable) and extend your legs straight out to essentially bend their body backwards. It's a simple task to roll them to either side, and pass to side control, making sure to avoid half guard. We worked on a couple of reversals from bottom side control next. First was a single under hook, where they have more chest pressure than hip pressure. Bridge to create space, and bring the near side arm into that space like before, but this time, reach it all the way under their waist, and grab the far side of their body. From here, bump your hips, and follow the under hook all the way around their body as you slide out, twisting your hips to help pull yourself out from underneath, and transition around to the other side of their body. From here, it's a simple matter of driving them to their back by reaching across their waist to grab their knee with one hand, and behind them to grab their ankle with the other hand, suck it in to your body while driving your shoulder into them to knock them over, and end in side control. The other reversal, was bumping up to create space, and getting both arms under, continuously bumping the hips to drive the arms through until you have double under hooks across their waist and chest. Keep working until you have your hands on their back, and then brign your knees to your chest and in one motion, explode your hips up while pushing your arms straight back. Swivel your hips to turn to your knees, and keep moving around to the far side of their body, and then drive them to their back to complete the reversal. A great week of classes, and can't wait to get back to it on Monday!

MMA and me; day 180

Yesterday was another day of gi jiu jitsu, and it was fun, and we expanded on more of the things we covered on Tuesday. We started with our shrimping drills, then worked on back and front rolls, and then our shoulder rolls. From there we went to the counter of the counter where your opponent trips you to your butt when you stand up in their guard. From your back, lift their legs up, and arch your hips to further lift their feet off the ground, preventing them from advancing position. Shrimp out your hips to the side, pinching your knees around their legs, and sliding their outside leg over their inside leg. From here, swim your outside arm over their top leg, and under their bottom leg to grab your inside arm in a Gable grip. Pinching your knees together, and using your inside arm on their top leg for leverage, compress their legs together, keeping the grip in tight against your body, until they tap. This is called Breaking the Sticks. From here, you can transition to a toe hold by releasing the Gable grip, sliding your top hand over their free foot, and grabbing that wrist with your other hand, then dropping your head to your hands, and turning your shoulders in an attempt to put their big toe in their butt, until they tap. We worked on another entry to Breaking the Sticks from top side control. Over hook their legs with the arm on that side, and grab the inside of your own leg on the same side as that arm. In one motion, lift their legs and drive that knee under their legs to your foot being flat on the ground, and then reach back to slide their outside leg over the inside leg, and lace your arms over and under like the entry to this position from the previous set. They may try to go limp to avoid the submission, but it leaves their foot exposed to a toe hold, or you can slide the knee under them back to the ground, bring the other knee up around their legs and fall to your side to either put more pressure on the toe hold, or transition to a knee bar by sliding your top side leg in between their legs, pinching your knees around their thigh, keeping your knees into your chest, cupping the heel, and arching your back for the tap. Lastly, we worked on a few different entries to the knee bar from half guard. First, posture up, and step over pass, ending up sitting on their belly, and under hook the leg between your knees, pinch your knees around their thigh, roll to the near side of their body, keeping your butt in tight to their belly, slide your hands up to cup the heel, and arch your back until they tap. The second entry is if they block the step over pass with their arms. As they block it, slide the knee across their belly instead, and go through the same checklist for the knee bar. On this one be careful, because sliding the knee across leaves your foot exposed on their waist, and vulnerable to a toe hold, so use this entry with caution. The last entry, is if they expect you to step over pass. Pass with a back spin to sit on their belly, under hook the knee, pinch the thighs and then roll across their body, keeping the knees in tight, sliding up your hands to the heel, and arching for the tap. If you can't get the tap, swim your outside hand around the foot, trapping it under your arm pit, and arch for a really nasty knee bar. A fantastic day of classes, and I was walking funny afterward, but it was totally worth it.

MMA and me; day 179

Went to work on some more grappling yesterday. First, we worked on the reclaim of guard from bottom side control. Bridge to create a gap you can drive your near side elbow through to the ground, while shrimping to the near side hip, and slipping your top side knee across their waist, and straightening out your bottom side leg. From there, you have created enough space to bring the bottom side leg across the knees and straighten out your upper body to reclaim guard. Next, was a counter you your opponent standing up in your guard. When they stand up, let your butt drop to the ground, pinch your knees together, slide your hands down to their heels, and then push against their waist with your knees, while pulling their heels to drop them to their butt. With their legs on the outside of yours, , slide your hips over one of their legs, while still holding their ankles down. Slide the far side knee across their belly, and quickly slip it through to end in high judo, or side control, just make sure you don't get stuck in half guard. We followed that up with a counter to that counter. When your opponent drops you to your butt, lift their legs up with your hands and bridge. Push their legs off to the side, and pull their outside leg over the inside leg. From here, swim your outside arm over the top leg, and under the bottom leg, and grab a Gable grip with your other arm, keeping the top side arm pressured into the top leg, preferably with the carpal bone. From there, it's a simple matter of pinching your legs together, keeping your arms in tight to your chest, and squeezing while shrugging your shoulders until they tap, it's called "Breaking the Sticks", and it does not feel good! From here, if that doesn't work, you can reach the top hand to the toes of the bottom leg, and switch to a toe hold, trying to drive the toes into the....posterior. Lastly, we worked on a standing S pass to knee bar. Standing over your opponent, instead of moving their legs side to side, move them in a circular motion, and as they move on a downward arc, bring your leg on that side around and over their body, then follow with the other leg so you're standing over the side of their body facing away. Then step in between their legs, and sit down, reaching under their knee with your elbow, and rolling to the near side, pinching around their thigh with your knees, and scooting your butt down their leg towards their belly. From here, slide both legs up to the heel, keeping your knees up by your chest, and then arch your back until they tap. Great day of classes!

MMA and me; day 178

Yesterday we worked on arm bars. First, the snap arm bar from side control, where you hook the near side arm, windshield your waist side leg into the body while leaning over, then ratchet your head side leg around their head, then cinch that heel in tight against the side of their neck, pinch your knees together. As you lean back, make sure you have the arm hooked elbow pit deep, and tight in against your chest, make sure the thumb is pointed up, and extend your hips until they tap. We next worked an S mount arm bar, where from mount, you push one of their arms across their body, and hold it in place with your own chest. Slide the knee on the same side as the arm that you pushed across up just past their head, and swivel so the other leg is straight out, and your are pressing down with all your weight on their chest with your thigh. From here, post a hand on their far side leg to prevent them from getting up, hook their near side arm elbow pit deep, and go through the same checklist for the arm bar as you lean back. Third, we drilled the arm bar from back mount. From back mount, if you get bucked forward, don't post both hands on the mat, instead, get an over/under, or seat belt grip and roll over the shoulder of the over hook, pull them over your body, and then simultaneously push their head away while lifting their near side arm with the under hook to pivot yourself to a position where you can swing the outside leg around their head, and lock in the arm bar. Lastly, we worked a rolling arm bar from the knees, but this could also work from a standing position. In a 50-50 collar tie, switch your grip on the arm from the tricep to the forearm, and roll to the opposite side shoulder, bringing your knee on the collar tie side up to their chest, while swinging the other leg around their head, getting their neck in the crook of your knee, pulling them in tight, then going down the checklist, (boots on, knees pinched, thumb pointing up, or away from your hips, and arch your hips) until they tap. Great day of classes, and I'm back to just about full time now. Got a lot of rust to shake off, but I'm up for the challenge!

MMA and me; day 177

So I only got to the gym once this week, and boxing was another day of fundamentals. I really liked this starting over from the ground up. When I first joined the gym, I knew nothing about the sport of boxing, other than I didn't particularly care for it, but I wanted to learn. Now, with a little over a year under my belt, I'm back at the beginning, but with a better understanding of boxing, and a lot of interest and curiosity for how every little part of the art works. We focused again on the "perfect boxing stance" as coach calls it, and the 50-50, where the weight is evenly distributed between both feet, and there is a light spring in the knees. We also worked a lot of head movement, and slipping punches. When slipping, being closer to your opponent is always better, and when rolling under big looping punches, step off to the side after the roll to change your angle of attack, and come off of theirs. In following your opponent, it's important to not keep your head on the same plane at all times, but instead, dip it as you step, and make sure to always lead with the foot that is in the direction you are going (front-forward, rear-backward, etc..) but make is smooth, and fluid. We finished with 100 push ups, and then it was on to grappling.

We just did a lot of rolling with each other in jiu jitsu. I grappled with Joachim, Alex, and Amanda, mostly. I gotta say, these guys all got a lot better in the several months since I got to work with any of them. I'm super proud of all of my teammates and all the hard work they have been putting in. I know that we will all meet and surpass our goals, and I can't wait to get there!

UFC 139

There are some CRAZY good fights on the UFC's card tonight. So no time to waste!

Stephan "The American Psycho" Bonnar vs. Kyle "Kingsbu" Kingsbury"
light heavyweight

Two gigantic 205 pounders go at it here, and this could be an interesting fight. Kingsbury is on a four fight winning streak, and a win over Bonnar could steer him towards some stiffer competition. Bonnar has strung together a couple of wins after a three fight skid had him on the verge of getting pink slipped. Bonnar is the better fighter, with solid stand up, killer cardio, and an extremely underrated ground game. Kingsbury is one of those fighters who got into MMA due to being a freakishly athletic individual, and has picked up the skills necessary in a very short period of time. This fight comes down to how tough Kingsbury's chin is, and can he grind out Bonnar long enough to eke out a decision, or possibly get a stoppage. Honestly, as tough as Kingsbury is, I think his stand up isn't good enough to faze Bonnar, and he'll have a hard time getting Bonnar to the mat, where he may not have any advantage anyway. Kingsbury is a tough fighter, and an imposing physical specimen to boot, but Bonnar is too well rounded, and I like "The American Psycho" in an exciting three rounder.

Bonnar via Unanimous Decision


Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann vs. Rick "The Horror" Story
welterweight

With both men coming off losses, and Kampmann suffering back to back defeats, there is much to be gained in victory by both men. After scoring a big upset over Thiago Alves, Story seemed posed to break into the top tier of welterweights, but then had his plan derailed by Charlie Brenneman. An excellent wrestler with a chin like granite, and an amazing ability to take fighters out of their comfort zone, Story is a tough match up for any fighter. After a contentious split decision loss to Jake Shields, Kampmann bloodied and battered Diego Sanchez but was on the losing end of another decision. Honestly, he got hosed in that fight, but he comes into this bout with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and is looking to get back on track to a title fight. Kampmann is one of the most precise and technical strikers in the 170 pound division, and backs that up with very good wrestling, outstanding submissions, and a strong chin. His wrestling will likely be enough to stave off take downs from Story, and if that's the case, it's going to be a long night for "The Horror" as his chin is durable, but his striking is just not on the same level as Kampmanns is. Story will be thwarted on take down attempts early, and pay the price for it. He may try to go the route Sanchez did, and try to steal rounds late with flurries and pressure, but by the time it gets to that point, he'll be too far behind on the judges cards for it to matter. Kampmann may get a late stoppage, but it's more likely that he gets the decision nod in another exciting three rounder.

Kampmann via Unanimous Decision


Urijah "The California Kid" Faber vs. Brian Bowles
bantamweight

In a battle to become the next man to challenge Domini Cruz for the bantamweight title, Faber and Bowles will undoubtedly put on a heck of a show. Faber has a motor that doesn't stop, and is extremely creative and innovative with his attacks. Bowles is much more measured, and precise. Bowles probably has the edge in technique, but Faber possesses such a wide arsenal of offense, that it's hard to anticipate exactly what you're going to get when you face him. Both men have a wrestling background, though Fabers is far more extensive. Bowles may be the slightly larger fighter, and definitely has the reach advantage here, and is probably the more heavy handed. This fight will be two tough guys going 110% and trying to force the other to make a mistake first. Both are very talented, but I think the conditioning and all around game of Faber edges out Bowles, and again, it will come down to the judges, but I think they will be divided in their decision.

Faber via Split Decision


Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Cung Le
middleweight

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Le makes his UFC debut against one of the most decorated, and beloved fighters in MMA history in Silva. Le brings an dynamic and exciting striking game to the table, along with a surprising take down defense, which against Wanderlei, probably wont come into play. Silva doesn't try and surprise you, he just comes out as pure, unbridled aggression, and tries to take your head off. I'd be surprised if this fight makes it out of the first round, and down right shocked if it makes it out of the second. Le is very talented on the feet, but he's staring down the barrel of turning forty, and has never been up against the caliber of striker of Silva. "The Axe Murderer" is a road worn fighter himself, and many speculate that it should be his last fight, should he lose. A warrior in the truest sense, Silva will go out, press the action, and deliver a highlight reel quality knock out, and I'm calling it now, KO of the Night for Silva by the end of the second round.

Silva via KO, Rd. 2


Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Dan "Hendo" Henderson
light heavyweight

The main event is a dream match up between two men who are already MMA legends, and looking to be state their case that they should be in the ever expanding pool of contenders for the 205 pound title. After getting manhandled by the champ Jon Jones, Rua rebounded with a thorough dismantling of Forrest Griffin, avenging the loss he suffered to Griffin in his UFC debut. After scoring the Knock Out of the Year against Michael Bisping in 2009, Henderson went on to win the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, and now finds himself back in the UFC, trying to get another shot at UFC gold. Cast in the mold of Randy Couture, Henderson is a cagey vet with outstanding wrestling chops, and a right hand that you really don't want to be on the receiving end of. Rua has a slick Muay Thai based stand up, that blends kicks, punches, and knees together in a whirlwind, and is more than capable of submitting fighters on the ground if it should go there. Can Rua stave off the wrestling and avoid the big shot from Henderson long enough to impose his game plan and chop down the tree of "Hendo"? Rua will need to pick his shots early, and just wear him down, which is when Henderson makes mistakes, and the try to capitalize on what was once, but is no more a stout chin. This will be exciting for sure, but I see Rua pulling away late, and getting a late second, or early third round stoppage.

Rua via TKO, Rd. 2

MMA and me; day 176

Well, another day of class in the books, but I gotta mention something before I get to class. This week was the last week for Coach Troy, who has had other things come up and is moving on to the next stage in life. I would not have developed the appreciation, and love for the sport of boxing, without his influence. Thank you braddah, and I wish you the best in all your endeavors.

So Coach Wise has assumed boxing class teaching duties, and after one day, I know I'm once again going to be working my behind off. We worked the basics, namely chin down, head up, getting the proper stance, and KEEPING THE HANDS UP! A few other details, such as throwing the punches straight out and back, turning the punches over, dropping the knee on the straight punch, and 50-50 weight distribution. We focused on all of this for the entire class, and then worked on a little bit of avoidance and foot work. Namely rolling and circling off, or rolling and stepping through when your opponent throws a big, looping punch. Big things to make sure are paid attention to are staying in contact when you roll and step, since that is a good way of cutting off angles, and power of your opponents punches. We finished off with three minutes of sit ups, and then it was on to grappling.

We worked on a couple of different sweeps from bottom side control. First, bridge up by gathering your feet as close to your bottom as you can, and flat on the ground, then as you drop your butt to the ground, drop your elbow on the same side they are on to the ground, while turning to that side hip and slipping your top side knee across their near hip. Next, extend the top leg, and bring the bottom leg across to reclaim guard, and if it gets stuck in a butterfly hook, instead of making it to full guard, that's okay. From this position, pummel in for an under hook on the same side as your butterfly hook, grab their tricep on the other side and shrimp your butt out while on your hip and sit up, letting your leg which is not in the butterfly hook to lay flat on the mat. From here, rock back, while doing four things with each limb to insure the sweep, Using your arms, which are basically in an over hook/ under hook position, turn their shoulders towards the leg that is flat on the ground, lift up with the butterfly hooking leg, and use the leg on the ground to scissor their leg out from underneath them. Doing all of these together, smoothly, will almost guarantee a sweep to mount. The other sweep from a similar position,but instead of getting a single butterfly hook, swim both legs in for double butterfly hooks. From here, shrimp your butt back, and pummel in for double under hooks. Rock back, kick them off to one side, and swing your hips in to high judo. We also worked the reversal sweep from bottom side control, where you bridge up, and under hook either the hip side arm, or both arms, and switch your hips towards the head to pull yourself out from under them, and end up in a topside position, primed to take their back. Great days of classes, and I'm excited for what the coming weeks will bring!

MMA and me; day 175

A really fun boxing class on Tuesday, so I'll get right into it. First, we opened all of our combos with a step off jab, lead uppercut, jab, straight. It's important to step off with the first jab, so you can set up the uppercut properly, then press forward with the second jab, since you will most likely be knocking your opponent back with the uppercut. The opening combo was the beginning sequence a high catch, and a counter, right turn, double lead hook, straight, left turn double jab. Next we followed up the opening with a touch, where you use your lead hand to gauge distance, and actually touch it to the opponents chin, then fire a straight right down the pipe, roll, counter, and finish with the right turn, double lead hook, straight, left turn, double jab. After working the combo with the touch, we worked another new concept for me, the reach. After the jab, uppercut jab, straight, step off and throw a rear hook to the body, then pull back and throw a hard straight, followed by a roll, counter, and then the same ending. Lastly, we worked the double body catch into the whole combo, remembering to sit straight down, and rock side to side instead of leaning, to catch the punches.We finished up with ab and core drills, and it was time to move on to grappling. First, here are the broken down combos

1) step off 1-5-1-2-high catch-2-3-2-right turn-3-3-2-left turn-1-1
2) step off 1-5-1-2-touch-2-roll-2-3-2-right turn-3-3-2-left turn-1-1
3) step off 1-5-1-2-reach body 4-2-roll-2-3-2-right turn-3-3-2-left turn-1-1
4) step off 1-5-1-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-right turn-3-3-2-left turn-1-1

In jiu jitsu, we worked again on take downs, fluidity, and balance. When shooting take downs from the knees, we worked on flowing from side to side and pulling guard if the take down is unsuccessful. We also drilled on smoothly transitioning from position to position, and never allowing an opponent an opening to either pass your guard, or work for a take down. It's very important to always keep pressure, but don't over extend yourself. We then worked from the stand up on a couple of double leg take downs, first where you wrap up the legs, and then pivot on your knee until they fall to the mat, and then pass around into side control. Second, we worked on a more straight forward take down, where after wrapping up the legs or waist, you slide your rear leg behind their legs, keeping your head tight under their armpit and the side of the rib cage, then drive forward and pass to side control. Lastly, we drilled take downs off of the pummel, which comes in handy when you have your opponent pushed up against the cage, or are pressuring them towards it. After a couple of pummels, just drop your level, and work for that double leg. Fun class, and it's bringing back memories of high school wrestling!

MMA and me; day 174

Ahh kickboxing, how I have missed you. So we worked on some bump drills yesterday. Starting throwing punch combos and working in the kick at the end. First it was just the typical kicks, low 10s and 9s, with an occasional heel kick. Then we started mixing in push kicks, and switch kicks, and different punch set ups. After several rounds, we moved onto working the Thai clinch. We began by doing skippies, which is alternating knees to the body while in the clinch, and also dragging your partner around and then throwing knees. The key things here are keeping your elbows in, and pulling the head in while you throw the knees. We then worked reclaiming the clinch in two ways. First by reaching across the face, and grabbing the shoulder, then with the other hand, pummeling around the back of the neck, and then reaching over and behind the head with the first hand. The other way, was to reach both hands over the clinch, and push your partners chin up, tilting their head back, and walking towards them, until you could swim your hands under the clinch, reclaiming an offensive position. We next moved to a move where you go from the Thai clinch to an under hook with your dominant arm, and hold their head down with your other hand, from there you throw a knee into their leg closest to you, then step through with that leg, and throw a knee to the head with your other leg. Lastly, we worked on legged knee drills for a minute per leg, where for the whole minute, while engaged in the clinch, you throw knees with one leg, not letting it touch the ground. It was quite intense, and then it was onto...


NO GI JIU JITSU!!! Man I love grappling. We mostly worked on take downs, but from so many different positions, and reclaiming better positions when the take down falls through. First, we stretched, which I needed since I have grappled in forever. We then worked on the rhythm and balance of the take down, mostly by staying on our knees and sweeping across the gym, rocking back and forth, then pivoting while still on a knee, and shooting back in the other direction. Next we incorporated grabbing a double, and pivoting for the take down, and then pulling guard. We followed that up with Working the take down drills from a standing position, and then finally, working the drills with a partner. It felt good to go back to my wrestling roots, but I felt rusty as hell. Well, it's gotta start somewhere, and it began yesterday.

MMA and me; day 172/173

Two boxing days last week, and we worked on the same stuff, so here it goes. We began all combos with a jab, straight, and first followed it up with catching a lead hook to the body, countering with a rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, catching a straight up high, countering with a straight, hook, straight, and finishing with a left turn, double jab. Next we went to the other side of the body. After the opening, we caught a rear hook to the body, countered with a lead uppercut, hook, straight, high straight catch, counter with a straight, hook, straight, and finish with a left turn, double jab. We went to both sides of the body next, catching a rear hook to the body, lead hook to the body, countering with a rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, straight, high catching a straight, countering with a straight, hook, straight, and ending with a left turn, double jab. Lastly, we worked both sides separately, catching a lead hook to the body, countering with a rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, then catching a rear hook to the body, countered with a lead uppercut, hook, straight, catching a straight up high, countering with a straight, hook, straight, rolling into a Cuban Slide, where you roll under a lead hook, then slip off to the outside with a replacement step, throw a hook to the body, then straight to the head, and end with a left turn, double jab. Two awesome days of boxing, and as of last night, I'm back in the gym four days, and eight hours a week. So the blog will be back up in full swing. As always, a breakdown of all the combos will follow, and I'll be getting to what we worked last night in a little bit.

1) 1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-high catch 2-2-3-2-left turn-1-1
2) 1-2-catch body 4-5-3-2-high catch 2-2-3-2-left turn-1-1
3) 1-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-left turn-double jab
4) 1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-catch body 4-5-3-2-high catch 2-2-3-2-roll-Cuban Slide-body 3-2-left turn-1-1

UFC on Fox

It's a historical event taking place tonight at the Honda Center in Anaheim. For the first time ever, the UFC will be shown on network television. Not only that, but the main event is going to be for the heavyweight championship, for free! The under card is being streamed online, so that's kind of a bummer. I'll briefly touch on the four main card fights, but will focus on the main event.

Mike Pierce vs. Paul "The Gentleman" Bradley
welterweight

Pierce is a tough kid who has only lost to Jon Fitch, and Johny Hendricks, and has a solid wrestling background with ever improving stand up. Bradley has a very well rounded game, and is looking to prove something after losing his UFC debut. With both fighters sharing a wrestling background, look for most of the action to take place on the feet, and Pierce's experience being the factor. Three rounds later, he gets the judges nod.

Pierce via Unanimous Decision

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Darren "BC" Uyenoyama
bantamweight

A veteran of the sport that was expected to do big things, Yamamoto fell short to former title challenger Demetrious Johnson in his UFC debut. Expect him to right the ship against Uyenoyama, who while being a solid fighter, simply doesn't have the skills or experience to handle Yamamoto. "Kid" is a fantastic wrestler, with very crisp stand up and nasty ground and pound. Uyenoyama has good, but not great skills, and was ostensibly tabbed for an easy win for Yamamoto. This fight will likely not make it out of the second round, as Yamamoto gets his UFC career back on track with a resounding TKO.

Yamamoto via TKO, Rd. 2


Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier vs. Pablo "The Scarecrow" Garza
featherweight

Garza has made big waves since coming over from the WEC with two resounding wins in electric fashion. Poirier has been more workmanlike in his recent wins, but has been impressive nonetheless. Poirier has shown an aptitude for keeping fights where he it benefits most, and taking opponents out of their element. Against Garza, he's going
to want to try and negate the reach advantage of "The Scarecrow", and avoid his nasty submission game. Unfortunately, Garza is very good at nullifying take downs, and is well rounded on the ground, so this could be a long night for Poirier. Garza has too many weapons for "The Diamond" (love the nickname) here, and will probably get a submission late in the second round, or early in the third of what should be a pretty exciting fight.

Garza via submission (Triangle) Rd. 2


Ben "Smooth" Henderson vs. Clay "The Carpenter" Guida
lightweight

Earlier in the week it was announced that the winner of this fight will get the next crack at Frankie Edgar's lightweight title belt, so expect even more fireworks than were already headed our way in this fight. Henderson is coming off two very impressive wins, including an absolute dismantling of the very tough Jim Miller. Guida has been on a tear of his own, having won four straight, with three submissions. This fight will most likely go the distance, and will be fought at an incredibly breakneck pace. Both men have the ability to push the tempo of their fights beyond that of normal men, along with very good wrestling, and incredibly resiliency. Henderson is a bit bigger, has better stand up, and is maybe the most difficult fighter in the UFC to submit. Guida simply does not quit, and has fantastic pressure. This will be the Fight of the Night, and the only bummer about it, is that it wont be shown on television, which is a shame since it will be a sterling example of mixed martial arts that would do the UFC a world of good to bring to the masses. Henderson wins by simply being a better fighter. Three rounds of being able to dictate where the fight takes place will take it's toll on Guida, and "Smooth" gets a close, but decisive victory.

Henderson via Unanimous Decision.


HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Champion: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos

For the first time in over a year, Velasquez will step into the Octagon, and make his first title defense. Dos Santos has been demolishing everyone in his path, and is finally getting his title shot that he won after beating Roy Nelson last year. He put it on the line against the monstrous Shane Carwin, but silenced any doubt that he was the number one contender with a sound thrashing of Carwin. Velasquez took an undefeated record into his title fight with Brock Lesnar, and summarily dismantled the champ in a first round TKO. This fight is going to be very exciting, as these two fighters have been on a collision course for quite some time, and their meeting just so happens to be for the belt.

Velasquez has just nine fights to his resume, but in those nine fights, he's shown the kind of growth and improvement that most fighters gain in a lifetime. An All American wrestler at Arizona State, he made the transition to MMA quite easily, and after only two fights, made his UFC debut. Velasquez blends speed, strength, and solid technique so seamlessly, it's hard to pinpoint any weakness. His stand up improves by leaps and bounds every time he fights, and he's shown a fantastic ability to recover the few times he's been hurt. The big question mark is how has the long layoff affected him? After injuring his shoulder against Lesnar, he needed surgery. Is he back to form, and has the shoulder become a non issue? We'll see when he sets foot in the Octagon tonight.

Dos Santos has been on a tear in the UFC. After knocking out Fabricio Werdum in his debut, Dos Santos has rattled off six straight wins, with four coming by way of stoppage. Supposedly having fantastic ground skills, he should be comfortable if he gets taken down. I say supposedly, because he's never been anywhere but his feet, where he's shown very clean, and powerful boxing, backed up by a staunch take down defense. I'm interested to see how well he does on the ground, because Velasquez is one of the best in the heavyweight division of getting a fight there. That being said, Velasquez hasn't fought anyone with the ability to put together combos like Dos Santos, and will need to be wary on the feet.

Two young bucks charging head long into each other in this fight, and with this being the first time a lot of people will see the UFC, and maybe mixed martial arts as well, they will not be disappointed. Both men are extremely talented, and regardless of outcome, they will both be involved in title fights for the next several years. That being said, I'm slightly leaning towards Dos Santos due to his slightly better stand up, and Velasquez's long layoff. Dos Santos will get the better of the stand up, and be able to avoid being on his back enough to get a TKO finish late in the third round.

Dos Santos via TKO, Rd. 3, and new champion!

UFC 138

Almost forgotten amongst the rest of the UFC cards this month and last, we have a solid card to look forward to tonight.Without further ado, here we go.

Cyrille "The Snake" Diabate vs. Anthony "The Hippo" Perosh
light heavyweight

The Snake takes on The Hippo in a fight that got moved up to the main card after an entertaining fight between Anthony Njokuani and Paul Taylor had to be scrapped due to Taylor being injured in a car accident (He is fine). Diabate is a tall, southpaw striker, and Perosh is a solid grappler, so this is very much a style vs style match up. Both men are a stones throw away from forty, and the loser could very well find themselves looking for a new organization to fight in. Diabate needs to utilize his reach advantage (He is 6'6") and avoid getting taken down as submission defense has been one of his shortcomings. Perosh needs to negate that reach by getting inside and try to get the fight to the mat where he can use his superior grappling to attempt to end the fight via submission. In a fight that is essentially a toss up, I lean towards the grappler, and see Perosh getting a late first round, early second round submission.

Perosh via submission (rear naked choke) Rd. 2


Terry Etim vs. Eddie "Falo" Faaloloto
lightweight

Etim has been on the shelf with injuries for over a year, and had seemed right on the cusp of making a big splash in the lightweight division. Now healthy, he once again finds himself on a card in his native England, ready to begin his assault on the top of the division anew. Faaloloto is very young when it comes to MMA, only having four professional fights to his name. Etim has a solid stand up game, and his lanky frame has made it easy for him to lock up submissions as well. Etim should win this fight fairly easy as Faaloloto doesn't pose a credible threat in any aspect of the game, and will most likely find the referee interceding on his behalf in the middle of the first round.

Etim via TKO, Rd. 1

Thiago "Pitbull" Alves vs. Papy "Makambo" Abedi
welterweight

Alves makes his return to the Octagon after being upset by Rick Story in his last UFC bout. A brutal muay thai striker, with increasingly stout take down defense, Alves looks to return to his head hunting ways that garnered him wins over the likes of Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, and earned him a title shot. Abedi makes his UFC debut after racking up an 8-0 record on smaller shows, with seven of his victories by stoppage. This is his first fight at 170, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the transition, to a lower weight class. Alves is as nasty as they come when focused and on his game, so it will be key to winning for him to fight his game, and not letting Abedi dictate the pace. Expect a lot of feeling out early, and exchanges coming more frequently into the second round, until Alves finally lets his hands and feet go, getting a third round stoppage.

Alves via TKO, Rd.3

Brad "One Punch" Pickett vs. Renan "Barao" Pegado
bantamweight

Former WEC fighter Pickett makes his UFC debut against another solid up and comer in Pegado, who is also had several fights in the other Zuffa organization before the merger. Both men sport impressive records with Pickett standing at 20-5 and Pegado boasting a gaudy 26-1. While Pickett may have faced the tougher opponents, he cannot just expect to win as "Barao" has an extremely tough ground game that Pickett will do well to avoid and keep the fight standing. With wins over Ivan Menjivar, and Demtrious Johnson, Pickett could find himself knocking on the door of title contention with a win here, especially if can live up to his nickname. I see a back and forth battle in this one, with Pickett fending off take downs, and inflicting damage on the feet when he can, and Pegado flicking out leg kicks and attempting to get the fight to the ground so he can utilize his submission and grappling game. After three very tough rounds, Pickett gets his hand raised in a close decision.

Pickett via Split Decision

Chris "The Crippler" Leben vs. Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz
middleweight

The first five round, non title fight main event in UFC history pits two fighters against each other that will almost insure that the fight doesn't last that long. Heck, this fight wouldn't likely make it to a decision if it was a three rounder! Leben is who he is at this point in his career. A solid, if not technical striker with a chin like granite and some of the heaviest shots in the UFC. Munoz continues to improve his stand up, which makes him that much scarier since his wrestling and ground and pound are some of the scariest in any weight class. The deciding factors in this fight will be how long can Leben fend off the take down long enough to exploit the somewhat suspect chin of Munoz, and can Munoz pick his shots on the feet instead of throwing nothing but power shots and avoid the extremely underrated submission game of Leben on the ground. Munoz may want to test his stand up early, but will likely revert to taking Leben down. Neither fighter has stellar cardio, but Leben does have a zombie like ability to continue fighting even when he should have by all accounts, passed out. Against my better judgement, I'm taken Leben by third round stoppage, as he weathers the storm early, and graces us with another classic TKO.

Leben via TKO, Rd. 3

MMA and me; day 171

On Thursday we once again covered defense from the shell position. Not fighting out of the shell, but a few options to utilize if you find yourself against a high volume puncher. We covered the same basics that we did on Tuesday, so I'll list the broken down combos, and some of the things I worked on to help smooth things out.

Mostly I need to work on keeping my hands up, but that's something I know I need to work on, and I also need to not be in a hurry when I roll then turn. I'm trying to hard to make it one fluid motion, which you don't want to do, because it makes it too easy for your opponent to predict where you will end up. As you finish the roll, get set, then make the left turn, and come up with the double hook. The small break in the motion gives your opponent pause, and when you come up after the turn, they've had to relocate you twice.

1) 1-2-jab parry-shoulder catch-hook catch-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
2) 1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
3) 1-2-jab slip-2-3-2-shoulder catch-2-3-2-hook catch-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
4) 1-2-jab slip-straight slip-roll-2-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2

MMA and me; day 170

Well, I kinda dropped the ball the past couple of weeks, but I had some stuff going on in my family that kinda made me put the blog on the back burner for a bit. I'm back now, and will be coming with this silly thing I started on the regular. Yesterday in boxing we worked a lot of head movement, and shell defense. First, we started off with a simple jab, straight, then the shell defense, which is a jab parry, shoulder catch, hook catch. Off of the hook catch, was a roll, and then before coming up, a left turn, and then a double hook, straight as you stand up, then hit a right turn and finish with a straight, hook, straight. Next, after the same opening combo, we blocked a hook to the body, and countered with a rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, then rolled, turned left, came up with the double hook, straight, turned right, straight, hook, straight. Third, was the jab, straight, jab slip, counter, catch 2, and then the finish. Lastly we worked a double slip, roll, counter, and then the roll, left turn, double hook, straight, right turn, counter. We finished with a nice long set of burnouts on the heavy bags, and called it a night.

Broken down here is what we did

1) 1-2-jab parry-shoulder catch-hook catch-2-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
2) 1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
3) 1-2-jab slip-2-3-2-shoulder catch-2-3-2-hook catch-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2
4) 1-2-jab slip-straight slip-roll-2-3-2-roll into a left turn-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2

UFC 137

With the original headliner changed twice now due first to Nick Diaz getting pulled from a title fight due to being Nick Diaz, and then the title fight getting scrapped altogether because champion Georges St. Pierre suffered a knee injury, this card has taken a few hits. Nevertheless, we still have a good fight card ahead of us, and here is what I think is going to go down tonight

Jeff "The Big Frog" Curran vs. Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen
bantamweight

Curran makes his return to the UFC, two weight classes below where he fought for the organization previously, while Jorgensen looks to put his stamp on returning to title contention. Curran is well rounded, but is most well known for his submission game, especially off of his back. Jorgensen is rapidly becoming a very well rounded fighter himself, but still relies on a solid wrestling game backed up by brutal ground and pound. Curran is as tough as they come, and isn't going to be a walk in the park for Jorgensen, but "Young Guns" is too strong, to fast, and has too much top pressure to give Curran any space to work his game. Jorgensen wins a spirited decision, but Curran will definitely make him work for it.

Jorgensen via Unanimous Decision

Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
featherweight

Hioke makes his UFC debut, and will try to back up the impressive record he's amassed fighting over seas. Roop continues to show he is more than the fighter we saw on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter. Hioki has a very strong submission game, but also has sneaky stand up that he uses to set up his bread and butter. Roop, probably the tallest 145 pounder in the UFC, has improved in every fight since coming to the Zuffa organizations. His striking and take down defense have grown by leaps and bounds, and he will give Hioki everything he can handle. I see Hioki being somewhat stifled by the reach of Roop, but eventually getting him to the ground, where Roops 6'1" frame will work against him. Hioki will find a way to get Roop to tap early in the second round in a fairly entertaining fight.

Hioki via Submission, Rd. 2

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy "Big Country" Nelson
heavyweight

In a fight where both men desperately need a win, it figures to come down to who wants it more. Filipovic hasn't been even close to the fighter he was before the UFC, and is staring potential retirement in the face. Nelson has battled criticism of his motivation, and physique, but perhaps he can put to rest at least half of that tonight. On the feet, when motivated, Filipovic has the edge here. Unfortunately he hasn't seemed to have been motivated quite some time, and seems content to back up and let the fight come to him. When moving forward and using punches to set up his devastating kicks, he can be a terror. This coupled with his surprisingly stout ground game make him a fighter not to take lightly, if no longer feared. Nelson is an extremely well rounded fighter, combining strong power in his stand up, with a sophisticated ground game that most take lightly due to his portly appearance. The downside to that, is that Nelson has a fairly deficient offensive take down skill set, and Filipovic has solid take down defense, so this will most likely turn into a stand up fight, which favors the Croatian. A spirited fight early will slow as it progresses, and though Nelson will have spots where he he will look good, Filipovic will outlast him, and perhaps send Nelson out of the UFC in a decision.

Filipovic via Unanimous Decision

Cheick Kongo vs. Matt "Meathead" Mitrione
heavyweight

This fight will most likely be decided on the feet. Now that I have gotten the fairly obvious out of the way, lets move on to the specifics. Kongo is a chiseled beast of a man, with KO power and as he showed in his last fight, a surprising recuperative ability. He hits hard and accurately, and is getting better at stuffing take downs, and getting up off the mat when he does get taken down. Submission defense is still a glaring weakness, but in this fight, it may not come into play at all. With only five career MMA fights to his name, you'd think Mitrione would be at a huge disadvantage here. The fact is, he's a fantastic athlete who is rapidly picking up the game, and each time he steps into the Octagon, he fights a higher caliber fighter, and has finished all but one of his fights via KO or TKO. Kongo is the cleaner striker, but has a suspect chin. Mitrione might hit a bit harder, and has a head like a mountain goat. In a war of attrition, Mitrione is tougher, and in my opinion, harder to lay hands on, and will either win a lopsided decision, or nasty TKO. "Meathead" takes this one, and potentially puts himself in position for a big fight after this.

Mitrione via TKO, Rd. 2

BJ "The Prodigy" Penn vs. Nick Diaz
welterweight

This fight should prove to be the fight of the night as the two veterans lock horns in what may be a number one contender match behind Carlos Condit. Diaz wins and he gets the title fight he originally cost himself by being a knucklehead, and if Penn wins, well, we'll see what Dana White decides. In the stand up department, both men favor boxing, with Penn being the more technically sound, and bigger puncher, and Diaz having the reach advantage, coupled with his high volume "punches in bunches" style. Both men have outstanding chins, and will look to simply batter the other into submission. On the ground, they are both black belts in brazilian jiu jitsu, but with different approaches. Penn uses his ground game to look for sweeps and reversals to gain top position and either pound you out, or take your back and choke you from there. Diaz is more offensively aggressive, looking to grab whatever he can and bend or twist it in a direction it was not intended to be. Neither man has ever been submitted, and I don't see that changing tonight. If Penn is properly motivated, there are few in the world that can stop him. When he isn't, his gas tank betrays him, and a lack of desire is evident. Never one to shy away from a scrap, Diaz can push a pace few can match, and motivation is always there, but can he rise to the occasion, and be the fighter everyone wants him to be? That is where he is deficient, and it my be too much to overcome. This will be a stand up war, and Penn will take advantage of the looping punches that Diaz throws, and score more often than the Stockton native. Diaz will get his shots in, but they wont be enough as Penn wins a wildly entertaining decision, and the challenger after Condit for the 170 pound title will once again be up in the air.

Penn via Unanimous Decision.