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UFC 121: Lesnar vs Velasquez.

This coming Saturday – October 23, reigning UFC Heavyweight Champ Brock Lesnar once again defends his title. Stepping up to the plate will be Mexican fan favourite Cain Velasquez.

Like Shane Carwin before him, Cain is a worthy contender for Lesnar. The Mexican has all the tools to beat the ‘Vanilla Gorilla’. Cain’s got the size, wrestling and boxing ability to get the job done.

My pick is Lesnar, Brock just gets better and better. He showed that versus Carwin, not only does he boast the best wrestling skills, size, strength and speed, now he possesses submissions.

No doubt Cain will be a tough challenge but the dedication of Lesnar plus having the right people around him he can overcome whatever’s put in front of him.

Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann: New comer to the UFC Shields, finally arrives in the octagon this Saturday at UFC 121. The former Strikeforce Middleweight champion enters as a top welterweight contender for St Pierre’s thrown. His relentless ground game could be the undoing of GSP a little further down the line.

Despite Shields being a huge name in MMA, thanks to his exposure on CBS in the States and Bravo in the UK via Strikeforce, he’s still relatively unknown to a lot of UFC fanatics who don’t follow other leagues. Leading up to the bout with Kampmann, the UFC are treating us to a video blog (see UFC youtube channel), following the welterweight contender prepare for the fight on Saturday. A great opportunity to delve into the world of the Zuffa brand signee.

Despite being an unbeaten champion, Shields wasn’t on great terms with Scott Coker’s Strikeforce. Following a win over UFC cast-off Dan Henderson, a brawl ensued, when Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller made an unscheduled appearance in the cage. He was a shoved by Jake’s team mate Gilbert Melendez, then hell broke loose as fellow members of the Caesar Gracie camp including Nick and Nate Diaz waded in.

Aside from the controversy Shields boasts some fantastic grappling skills. He’s a great BJJ guy, who is a threat in all positions not just with guard work, he can dominate just as well on top.

Kampmann is going to want to keep the fight standing, where he has the advantage. Jake is sure to drag the fight to the deck and keep it there, where his BJJ will be too much for Kampmann.

Another interesting match-up booked for UFC 121 is the original Huntington Beach Badboy himself – Tito Ortiz facing Matt ‘The Hammer’ Hammill. These guys were friends on Season 3 of The Ulitmate Fighter. Fellow wrestler Ortiz gave Hammill preferential treatment in training, riling up Brit Mike Bisping.

Ortiz admits Hammill is the better wrestling, whereas Ortiz the former Light-Heavyweight division king enters the octagon with clear experience edge. I’m picking Hammill by decision. I feel Ortiz is on his way out of MMA, being past his prime, however this is his opportunity to prove the pundits wrong, can he do it?

Complete advertised card:

Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez

Welterweight bout: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill

Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Prelims:

Middleweight bout: Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen

Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Tom Lawlor

Welterweight bout: Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts

Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor

Middleweight bout: Chris Camozzi vs. Dong Yi Yang

If you are betting on any of the fights, I recommend Paddy Power, offering a good choice of outcomes. Click the link on bluraymma.com to join Quidco cashback website, where can then click through for Paddy Power. Do this to earn cashback for placing your bet, plus you’ll be supporting bluraymma.com in the process.

Watch UFC 121 live on ESPN, 3am Sunday morning.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC 119 - live on ESPN

Coming to ESPN, Saturday September 25 is UFC 119, a card topped by Frank Mir against Mirko Cro Cop headlining.

This question was posed on a forum regarding the outcome of the marquee match-up:

Considering Mir’s performance against Kongo, does anyone seriously see Cro Cop winning?

Here’s the detailed reply from old school Pride FC fanatic – wandshogun09, Cage Warriors and UKFF forum contributor, he puts forward some valid points in favour of Mirko, see if you agree:

I absolutely 100% see Cro Cop winning this. He’s a bad style match for Mir and I don’t care what anyone says he has a very good chance at beating Frank Mir.

Let’s look at the fight:

Striking

Cro Cop – Whatever anyone says about Mir’s striking against Big Nog, I’m not sold. Nog gave pretty much zero offense in that fight, I could have f***ing out-strike him that night. It was like Mir vs a punching bag, of course he’d look good.

I’ll give Mir his due for the Kongo knockdown. Kongo’s a good striker and rarely gets knocked down with strikes so fair play but can that one strike mean he’s a better striker than a K-1 veteran with tons of KO’s? I don’t think so.

KO Power

Cro Cop – Not even debatable IMO. Cro Cop has finished people with his hands and feet in K-1 and MMA. Mir’s got 2 TKO wins, one over Big Nog and one over Wes Sims. No comparison here.

Sure Cro Cop’s not finishing people like he was in his prime but it can’t seriously be argued that Mir has more knockout power than Cro Cop surely?

Threat with Submissions

Mir – Again not in any way up for debate. Mir’s record speaks for itself, he’s one of the best BJJ practitioners in the HW division and is perhaps the most aggressive BJJ fighter in MMA. If this fight hits the ground I’m under no illusions that Mir will likely finish Cro Cop at some point.

Cro Cop holds only 2 submission victories in his career. He has 2 other wins listed as submissions, both were against Josh Barnett. One was to strikes and the other a freak injury so I’m not gonna count them. Of the actual submission wins using submission moves I’ll admit they’re not that impressive, one was Kevin Randleman, the other Pat Barry. Not exactly Jacare and Maia but still it shows he has some ability there.

Speed

Tie – Not easy to call at this stage. Cro Cop’s obviously nowhere near the speed he was 6/7 years ago but he can still turn it on when he wants to. There were glimpses of his hand speed even in the Pat Barry fight towards the end. His striking combinations are still way ahead of Mir’s IMO.

Mir’s got decent speed himself for a HW and if we count speed in his grappling he’s obviously very slick there.

Wrestling

Obviously neither guy is known for their wrestling. Mir has never shown a great ability with takedowns. While Cro Cop’s never showed takedown ability either he has shown very good defensive wrestling over the years. His sprawl is one of the most well known in the sport, he’s notoriously hard to takedown. Cro Cop has the advantage here for me just because he’s got better defensive wrestling than Mir’s offensive wrestling.

Stamina

Cro Cop again.Again neither guy is known for being cardio machines but Mirko has gone the distance many times including in Pride with the 10 minute first round. Cro Cop’s also proved dangerous late in fights whereas Mir is always dangerous early but often fades as the fight wears on. Mir’s cardio has been shite his whole career and him f***ing around with his weight the last couple of years won’t have done him any favours.

Cro Cop has taken this fight on short notice though so maybe his stamina won’t be up to much either.

Jiu-Jitsu

Again Mir easy. There’s no comparison, he’s leagues ahead of Cro Cop on the ground.

Chin/Recovery

Cro Cop – Sure he’s been KO’d a few times but look at the shots that did it. That Gonzaga headkick would’ve KO’d a f***ing Hippo. Mir on the other hand gets dropped fairly regularly and has been stopped by Marcio Cruz with strikes who’s not exactly a striker.

Heart

Slightly Cro Cop – I can see where people could question both guys here.     Cro Cop did give up against Dos Santos but against Pat Barry he showed a lot of guts to fight through after a disaster of a first round. People can say whatever about Barry letting him off the hook and while I agree he should have went for the finish it still says something that Mirko hung in there and pulled out a win. He’s also survived a 20 minute ground and pound demolition from Fedor and never quit.

Mir has quit in nearly ALL of his losses in MMA. Go back and watch the fights he lost and pretty much each time you’ll see him get tagged drop to the ground, turtle up and hold on for dear life offering no resistance just praying the ref will step in and stop it. Saying that he did come back from that motorcycle crash so all credit to him for that, that shows heart in itself but in actual fights he seems to wilt under pressure as soon as things get rough.

I’ve set myself up for embarrassment there if Mir does pull off an early sub haven’t I?

Although I’ve favoured Cro Cop in almost all categories I’m not completely writing off Mir’s chances. He’s a dangerous fighter (especially early) and I’m not even totally discounting his chances of doing well on the feet. I’m just offering a counter to what seems to be the general feeling that Mir is gonna smoke Cro Cop. I just don’t see it.

I think people are overrating Mir way too much to be honest.

Prediction: Cro Cop by KO/TKO, Round 2.

There we have it, do you agree or disagree? Who are you betting on? Mir or Mirko?

I recommend Paddy Power to bet on UFC fights online, there’s also Bet365 and William Hill are worth a look.

Advertised fight card:

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Frank Mir

Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra

Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk

PRELIMS:

C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen

Joey Beltran vs. Matt Mitrione

Pat Audinwood vs. Thiago Tavares

Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe

T.J. Grant vs. Julio Paulino

Mark Hunt vs. Sean McCorkle

Watch UFC 119 exclusively on ESPN in the UK.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 & Couture vs Toney

The bank holiday weekend is here! While many are travelling to the seaside or music festivals, Saturday August 28, 2010 is a huge date for fight fans, who will be glued to their sets when the action kicks off in the earlier hours of Sunday morning.

Not only will BJ Penn get a chance of redemption against Frankie Edgar in a return contest for the lightweight belt, but Zuffa are also treating us to a boxer versus mixed martial artist co-main event match-up -- Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture against boxing champ James Toney.

I’m agreeing with Tom Watson, who picks BJ Penn as the winner, in his bout with defending lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. If Penn is in tip top condition and chooses the right game plan he’s the man getting his hand raised by the referee. BJ needs to go in for the finish earlier on, Edgar is a durable fighter, with great cardio, whereas Penn has to drop quite a bit of weight to make the cut to 155 lbs.

The co-main event old school style boxer vs wrestler bout, pitting UFC Hall of Famer Couture against heavyweight boxing champ Toney has got UFC 118 a lot of mainstream attention. Toney is the highest profile heavyweight pro-boxer to challenge a veteran mixed martial artist.

According to the boxing and MMA competitors quoted in Gareth A Davies article most agree Couture is the likely winner, due to Toney’s lack of MMA experience. Randy’s tactics have got to include getting the boxer to the ground and tapping him out. If he plays his usual game of holding his opponent against the fence and dirty-boxing, it may be his undoing against a boxer of Toney’s pedigree, who’ll trade punches in the clinch and may knock out the former UFC Light-heavyweight and Heavyweight title-holder.

Another bout I’m looking forward to is Marcus Davis facing off against Nate Diaz. Diaz one my favourites from The Ultimate Fighter, has got fantastic Jiu Jitsu and some underrated boxing. Davis is known for his stand-up, but don’t underestimate him on the canvas either. Diaz versus Davis looks to be a damn good scrap. My pick is Diaz by tap-out.

Watch the weigh ins video with interviews.

The advertised card:

TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts is the location, see UFC 118 LIVE exclusively on ESPN in the UK.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Karate Kid - Lyoto Machida

Thinking of having a punt on Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida tonight? Check out website iFight365.com  who have  an awesome deal with book makers Paddy Power.  Oh and don’t forget to buy me a beer if you rake in the cash.

Follow the link, it looks like a great offer:

Fight365.com have teamed up with leading online bookmaker Paddy Power to give all visitors to the website a free £20 bet on UFC 104 tonight.

Even better, to qualify for the bet, you only have to wager £10, meaning Paddy Power are offering you double your money!

UFC 104 tonight – get a free £20 bet

http://www.ifight365.com/2009/10/ufc-104-tonight-get-a-free-20-bet/

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com