Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson

Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson…a match worthy of the title “main event” on any MMA card in the world. On December 27, however, this fight will be third in line of such a title. Many will not know the history between this match-up and why it is so intriguing at this point in both fighters’ careers. For all you TUF noobs that need a bit of background, let me be the first to enlighten you.

November 9, 2003. Pride – Final Conflict 2003. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is slated to face Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell at the Tokyo Dome for a chance to advance to the championship match of an 8-man tournament later that night. Just 3 months before, both fighters had fulfilled their duties in Saitama, Japan, by defeating their first round foes in the tournament. Liddell defeated Allistair Overeem by knockout and Jackson defeated Murilo Bustamante by split decision. Liddell had just been defeated by Randy Couture at UFC 43 but had been on a 9-fight win streak before that. Jackson was riding a 6-fight win streak heading into his bout with Liddell as well. For those who witnessed the near 15-minute beating, we remember a few things. First, UFC President Dana White, who made the trip with Liddell to Japan, saying over and over again “Chuck’s not following our game plan.” Second, how much bigger Chuck’s beer belly appeared in the pale, bright lights of the Pride arena. Third, and in my opinion most importantly, how lost Chuck looked when his looping punches had no effect on his opponent. Rampage consistently hit Chuck with bombs, parried the looping punches, and took Chuck down and pounded him on the ground. Rampage elbowed Chuck’s midsection so frequently and with such force that his corner threw in the towel to prevent him any further damage. Silva, just after the beating, would go on to win a unanimous decision against Judo master Hidehiko Yoshida. And with both of these preliminary fights, the finals were set. Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson.

Although things started off at a decent pace for Rampage, it was soon apparent that Jackson had spent much more energy in his first bout of the night against Liddell than Silva had against Yoshida. A little more than halfway through the first round, Wanderlei grabbed Quinton in a Thai clinch and unloaded enough knees to damage a Mack truck. Rampage folded and Wanderlei was crowned the winner, but how much had their preliminary fights determined the outcome of this fight? Whatever our thoughts were, Wanderlei 1, Rampage 0.

Rampage rebounded with a TKO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa only a month and a half later. 6 months later at Pride Critical Countdown 2004, Quinton defeated Ricardo Arona in what could be the most brutal slam knockout we’ve ever seen in our sport’s short existence. Rampage had moved on from his TKO loss to Wanderlei and seemed to be working toward a rematch with the Axe Murderer. Wanderlei didn’t take any breaks in his schedule either as he also scored a KO victory over Ikuhisa Minowa (2 months after Rampage defeated him) and another KO over Yuki Kondo. The stage was set, both men were primed for another battle and everyone wanted to watch the battle again.

October 31, 2004, not even a year after their first fight, Rampage and the Axe Murderer would go to war again. Rampage fought a smarter fight in the first round as he held Silva on the ground most of the first 10-minute period. At the start of the second, it was quite apparent Wanderlei was ready to unleash hell. Silva landed a punch square on Rampage’s jaw and followed that up with a vicious knee that left Rampage limp, hanging through the ropes. Upon replay, the punch that landed right before the knee looked as if it had removed Rampage’s facial features from his head. With a clean slate and a full tank of gas for both fighters, Silva viciously defeated Jackson, again, and proved to be the dominant fighter in this match-up. Wanderlei 2, Rampage 0.

So here we go again. The third installment of this series brings forth new questions, new arguments, and for one fighter an almost guaranteed shot at the light heavyweight title. If Rampage wins, he proves that he has exercised the demons and once again found his dominance as a fighter. Rampage had looked seemingly invincible since his employment with the UFC and was champion until a gritty Forrest Griffin defeated him by decision. It is quite obvious, at least after that disappointing loss, that Rampage did not train properly for the fight and was having issues before this fight happened. Rampage went on a rampage, literally, after this loss and should consider himself lucky that he’s fighting in a cage and not behind bars this Christmas. Rampage parted ways with Juanito Ibarra and is now training with Michael Bisping at Wolfslair Academy in England.

This will be Silva’s third fight in his UFC welcome back tour. For those who are new to the UFC, Silva had a 1-2 record in the UFC before making his transition to the Pride circuit. He had a win against Tony Petarra at UFC 20, a quick TKO loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC Brazil, and a decision loss to Tito Ortiz for the then middleweight belt at UFC 25 in Japan. Side note: Many of you have seen the gif of Tito running from Wanderlei after getting rocked. As a Tito fan, I beg you to watch the entire fight so you can see Tito take Silva down numerous times, wear him out on the ground, and also score a flash knockout on Wanderlei en route to the victory. Silva’s successful run in Pride allowed him to smoothly transition back to the UFC, although his English did create quite an awkward moment when he declared he wanted to, and I quote, f*&% Chuck. Yes, his fighting is excellent, but the imagery of Wand mounting Chuck is one that leaves me speechless…in a bad way. Silva fought Chuck in an absolute war at UFC 79 and lost a unanimous decision. He then rebounded with a brutal knockout of TUF alum Keith Jardine just 5 months later at UFC 84. Both fighters are likely contenders for the light heavyweight belt with a win so I’m sure they will both come in determined for a win.

I know what all signs lead to, and that is another win for Silva and a perfect record against Jackson. For some reason, though, I feel like Rampage takes this one. I don’t know what it is but Wanderlei just doesn’t seem the same in the octagon. He lacked that spark in the Liddell fight and while he defeated Jardine, I just feel like Rampage will be clicking on all cylinders in this fight. I see Rampage fighting a very smart, controlled fight. Expect him to use two and three punch combinations and then circle away to keep Silva from getting the clinch. Rampage will control the action in the first with striking and keep Silva guessing with some takedown attempts. I think Jackson will then be able to get the fight to the ground and control Silva, neutralize any submission attempts, and inflict some damage with elbows and punches. Don’t expect Silva to go down without a fight, though. I see Silva winning either round 2 or 3 by rocking Quinton and leaving a bit of an impression on the judges. My pick: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Unanimous Decision (29-28).

Frank Mir: Fact or Fiction?

Okay, so it’s been a while. No excuses, no spectacular story, nothing short of my laziness combined with a lack of initiative to get this bad boy up and going again. My roof currently has a sheet of ice on it and about every half an hour or so there’s a pop so loud that it could wake the dead. At first I thought there must have been a raccoon in my attic, but now I’m thinking it’s just the huge sheet of ice melting. Instead of trying to sleep through the sound, I figured why not write a new blog? The Christmas tree is up, the cookies are baked, I just got done watching A Christmas Story, and boy oh boy have there been lots of things happening in the MMA world! Let me first remind you that I am not a paid writer, I only do this for fun. I don’t hold back feelings, I make fun of people all the time, and I only hope that if I meet some of these fighters in person and they’ve read my blog, they spare my life. Seriously.

Frank Mir has been a recent topic of concern in the world of MMA and I thought I’d throw my two pennies out there and see if I can’t stir something up. Let me first tell you that I used to be a huge Frank Mir fan. Of course, in my eyes, how can you root against someone that’s broke Tim Sylvia’s arm and submitted Brock Lesnar? I’ll tell you how…watch this arrogant fella on The Ultimate Fighter and let his true personality ooze through those pearly whites! I always start my blogs with a bit of fact…so on with the truth.

Francisco Santos Mir III was born on May 24, 1979. Frank burst on to the scene with a quick armbar victory against Roberto Traven at UFC 34: High Voltage. Three months later, at UFC 36: Worlds Collide, he made Pete Williams cry uncle with a shoulder lock only 46 seconds into the first round. He was touted as the next big thing and was perceived to be invincible. That was until a very determined Ian Freeman proved that Mir was indeed a man as he TKO’d him late in the first round at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall. Frank was welcomed back to the UFC with some advantageous matchmaking by Joe Silva and quickly submitted a hung over Tank Abbott, and then defeated Wes Sims twice (one by disqualification and one by knockout). His next fight against Tim Sylvia was one of his first true tests and, surprisingly, Mir won. He not only won, he broke Tim Sylvia’s arm…badly. It was one of those “here comes a train wreck but I can’t turn away” moments as you saw Sylvia’s arm snap like a stale piece of bread. Now at this point, Mir was heavyweight champion and I was a huge fan. Then came the accident.

Mir was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he broke his femur. Obviously, this was a serious accident and many believed he would never fight again. He was stripped of his title due to not defending it in a certain amount of time and questions started to arise yet again. After a near 2-year layoff, Mir returned to action with a fight against Marcio “Pe de Pano” Cruz. Cruz roughed Mir up and left him bloody and battered after the fight was called to a halt due to strikes. The comeback was a failure. Mir’s next fight was an absolute joke, and while he won in inconvincible fashion against Dan Christison, people paid more attention to his enormous belly than the win itself. He was nicknamed McMir after this fight as many believed he was on a steady diet of Big Macs and french fries from McDonald’s and was again believed to be on his way out of the UFC. Brandon Vera fought Mir next and while Mir showed up in shape for the fight, the conditioning was not a factor as Brandon Vera annihilated him with his pinpoint striking and TKO’d him one minute into the first round.

Any other fighter would have been cut from the UFC roster after the McDonald’s belly, but the fact that he was asked back AFTER these three performances is absolutely amazing. He returned at UFC 74: Respect and submitted Antoni Hardonk via kimura and actually looked as if he was taking his training seriously again. Although he took a beating from Brock Lesnar and was completely dominated in the fight, he found an opening and capitalized, submitting him with a kneebar in the first. I rooted for Frank Mir in every single one of his fights mentioned above. I’ve always loved the fact that he is a very calm fighter and never let emotions override his mind. Walking into the octagon he has a concentrated glare that always seems to get me fired up. At times I think his calmness has cost him, but it is an admirable trait for a fighter nonetheless.

When Frank was picked as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter I was excited. I thought he and Nog would have a great rivalry and I really believed Mir would be a great coach. I’ve read many articles about Nogueira and even learned all about him in Sam Sheridan’s book which made me a HUGE fan of his. On top of that, his fights in Pride were absolutely legendary and the man fights with heart that is rarely seen in today’s athletes. Nog turned out to be everything I thought he would be. He was a great coach, shared his knowledge, and bonded with his guys and created a family of fighters. Mir, on the other hand, seemed distant and more worried about his hairdo rather than his fighters. I know, I know, I only see what the editors want me to see. I realize this, but plain and simple, no one forced Frank Mir to say the things he did. Talking about the coach’s soccer challenge, I saw a high school jock that was insecure about his self worth. Saying he was one hundred times the athlete of Nogueira is one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a long time. The way he treated his fighters and trained them didn’t even come close to the job Nog did. He just never seemed comfortable in front of the camera and the same calmness that once made him a likable fighter turned him into a heel.

On December 27, when the octagon closes and the bell rings, Frank Mir will find out who the true athlete is. Mir has no gas, sub-par striking, and a good ground game. Nog has great gas, good striking, a great ground game, and most importantly, a lot of grit, determination, and heart. He’s never been submitted or knocked out and I just don’t see Mir being able to do it. I feel that Nog has the upper hand in every aspect of this fight and I don’t see Mir lasting three rounds. Look for Nogueira to rock him on the standup, get a good position on the ground, and pound him out. I call Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira by TKO late in the second round. I hope Nog brings a soccer ball and hands it to Frank after he’s bloody and battered. This will most likely not happen as Nogueira is a class-act and would never shrink to the same level as Mir did to protect his own ego. After Mir is defeated by Nog, I think he gets one more main card fight before sinking to the world of undercard fights and eventually getting cut from the UFC roster. After your lovely arrogance on TUF, I say good riddance. War Nogueira!!!!!

UFC 81: A Review

Coming into Saturday night’s fight card at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, many questions needed to be answered. Had Ricardo Almeida’s four year layoff left him behind the game? Did Jeremy Horn have what it takes to be a top 185 fighter in the UFC? Was Brock Lesnar legit or just hype? Was Tim Sylvia’s goofy ass striking good enough to defeat Minotauro? Many questions were answered, many were left to linger, but the fans were the real winners as this night of fights delivered one helluva punch!

Ricardo Almeida vs Rob Yundt

Originally slated to fight Alan “The Talent” Belcher, Almeida was forced to fight last-minute replacement Rob Yundt when Belcher was sidelined due to a bad case of bronchitis. Yundt, 7-0 in the Alaska Fighting Championship, proved to be outclassed on the ground as Almeida choked him out in a little over a minute with the ever-so-popular guillotine choke. Almeida’s stand up looked a bit shaky but as soon as the fight hit the ground instinct kicked in. Almeida is a very promising fighter that needs perhaps one more tune-up fight before being thrown to the wolves. Interestingly enough, Almeida has a submission victory over Nate Marquardt who was also victorious at UFC 81. Could this be a rematch in the making? I can only hope that Joe Silva listens to reason and lets Almeida get more of the ring rust off. Matching Ricardo against Marquardt right now seems a bit premature and would likely result in an Almeida defeat, turning him into another middleweight fighter with no hype. Ricardo has what it takes to be a top-tier fighter in the middleweight division, but is he up to the task of dethroning Anderson Silva? Only time will tell.

Nate Marquardt vs Jeremy Horn

Nate “The Great” Marquardt showed some crisp striking, good takedowns, and some killer instinct in his submission win over Jeremy Horn Saturday night. Horn has proven himself to be a fighter with heart in many of his wins and even defeats over the years. Who could forget his arm triangle victory over Chuck Liddell which left Chuck unconscious on the octagon at the end of the period? In the rematch, Horn took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’ and didn’t stop fighting until he couldn’t see after taking nearly 20 minutes of brutal stand-up from the former light heavyweight champ. Marquardt proved to be too strong for the veteran as Horn had no answer for any of Marquardt’s many offensive threats. Nate landed combinations at will and pounded Horn on the ground. Horn was mentally defeated in the first round, but was forced to tap in the second due to a tight guillotine choke. With over 100 professional fights, the fight game could be catching up to Horn. He’s lost 3 of his last 4 fights and the talent just keeps getting better. He may need a change in his training or a few months off to contemplate his future. Marquardt, on the other hand, just keeps getting better. His only loss in the last 4 years is to middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Even in his loss, Nate showed great promise against Anderson as he scored some takedowns and landed some shots before getting caught himself. Look for him to fight a couple more times before getting another title shot if his winning streak continues.

Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir

This fight was hyped more than the main event and for good reason. The storyline was a dream for UFC president Dana White. WWE superstar, Minnesota wrestling champion, and physical specimen Brock Lesnar was making his octagon debut against the former heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Was the Frank Mir of old back? Was Lesnar good enough to make it in the UFC? Unfortunately, we didn’t get any concrete answers to those questions. The record books say Frank Mir won by knee bar, but we can only imagine what could have been! A questionable stand up and point deduction by Steve “Porn-stache” Mazzagati tainted the outcome of this fight and unfortunately left some questions unanswered. Plain and simple, Lesnar was putting it to Mir when he was stopped for hitting to the back of the head. A warning I could see. But a stand-up AND a point deduction for one shot? What the hell? Lesnar rocked Mir with a right hand after the stoppage that sent him to the ground and Brock self-admittedly got a little too comfortable. Lesnar showed little submission defense other than being able to muscle his way out of a sloppy arm bar. The knee bar was set up beautifully, but one would think a leg of Lesnar’s size could easily slip out of a submission that was so close to being avoided. Lesnar showed some potential as he took Mir down at will, did some serious damage with his XXXL hands in a little over a minute, and didn’t seem too gassed after the fight. However, he showed vulnerability to submission when he can’t muscle out of it, sloppy stand-up (although it was obviously powerful), and a willingness to tap very quickly. Mir showed that he had heart, his conditioning seemed to be back for the most part, and that if you leave an opening he will take it and make you pay. Mir moves up in the rankings and will look to get a title shot in the near future while Brock will most likely be back in a couple months to fight a lesser opponent. Lesnar is the latest in great catastrophes of Joe Silva’s matchmaking and now has a lovely 1-1 record to boot. Given a couple fights to showcase his nasty ground and pound would have been a great thing for Lesnar. The fans get to drool at potential matchups and Lesnar gets more experience. Now he’s forced to fight down and is many fights from a showcase title fight. Brock showed some good charisma in the post-fight speech and I wish him well in the future. With another win, I look for the UFC to try out a Mir-Nogueira title fight unless Randy comes back. Either of those matchups are headlining bouts and an MMA fan’s dream!

“Minotauro” Nogueira vs Tim Sylvia

I hate Tim Sylvia. Lump me in the 95% of all the other MMA fans that feel the same way. I hate his looks, the way he fights, and most of all the way he talks. Every fight he is in I root against him. This fight was no different as I cheered on Minotauro. After an emotionally draining two rounds, Nogueira was able to take it to his level and submitted Tim with relative ease and prove, once again, why he is one of the best in the world. Much like Forrest Griffin, Minotauro needs to get the living shit kicked out of him before he wakes up and fights. Sylvia rocked him numerous times in the first two rounds but he just refused to give up. The sweep on the ground was a thing of beauty and the quick tap from Sylvia let us know how effective the guillotine choke was. Tim seems to be growing up as his post-fight speech actually made me give him some respect as he credited Nogueira and gave no excuses for the loss. Sylvia spoke about Brock Lesnar and said he had no future in the sport as he didn’t like to get hit and only moved forward for aggressive takedowns. If Randy doesn’t come back to defend his title, could we see Nog vs Mir and Sylvia vs Lesnar? I sure hope not, as I think Nog would beat Mir and Sylvia would beat Lesnar. That puts the UFC in a bad situation as the only fight would be another rematch between Sylvia and Minotauro. Let us hope some other heavyweights get some play and we get some more intriguing matchups before these two happen.

Miscellaneous

Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch was an absolute beast in his win over David Heath. Plain and simple, his knees were brutal and the throw to the fence was nothing short of spectacular. I would love to see him back as a swing fight with another explosive light heavyweight. Chris “Lights Out” Lytle looked crazy good in his TKO victory on Saturday night. Lytle vowed to do nothing but go balls to the wall in every fight from here on out as he wants to concentrate on being exciting. Win or lose, Lytle has made his past few fights in the UFC explosive and Dana White and the Fertitta’s would be crazy to not have him on the main card next time.

The next two months are absolutely stacked with great fights in both fight nights and pay-per-views. This is an exciting time for MMA fans and I can only imagine what's in store in the very near future! Until next time...