MMA Fightline is reporting that Dana White does have plans to re-sign, not resign, well-known fighters Andre Arlovski and Josh Koscheck. Did the recent EliteXC/CBS deal scare Dana White into re-signing fighters that he may have dropped earlier this year? After the news broke that EliteXC has temporarily filled the void of MMA on prime time television, other organizations like the IFL are praising Gary Shaw and his organization for making a move in the right direction. Other guys, like Dana White, are probably not so happy with rival organization. Here’s the full short article.

Amid confusion about the status of UFC fighters Andrei Arlovski and Josh Koscheck, Dana White has recently announced the he plans to resign the two of them. Arlovski’s career has been in limbo since UFC 70 when he last fought to a snoozer decision win over Fabricio Werdum. The Belrusian fighter’s next fight is this Saturday against Jake O’Brien.

Welterweight contender Josh Koscheck who is also on the UFC 82 undercard will also be resigned as well.

“When I want a guy, I’ll get it done,” said Dana White.

About Arlovski, Dana White had this to say, “Andrei’s a guy that I want, so I think we’ll get it done,” he said.

I guess White wanted to get it done now before Arlovski gets a bid from another organization after his final fight on Saturday night. Nothing would make White and the UFC look worse than losing a fighter to the newest contendor on television, EliteXC. It’s bad enough that Arlovski has been patiently waiting to fight again after his decision win over Fabricio Werdum during UFC 70. Although Arlovski did manage to grab the decision over Werdum, fans were not happy with the fight overall as boos echoed throughout the arena in Manchester.

I expect to see other fighters to be re-signed by the UFC before they can be scooped up by rivals EliteXC, IFL, and M-1 later this year. With the IFL premiering their new format tonight on HDNet Fights, MMA fans may finally have a choice when it comes to watching MMA on a weekly basis. Bad for the UFC, good for everyone else.

Bud Light is one of the most popular brands of beer in the world. It is known for the Bud Bowl, Real Men of Genius, and now the first beer to step into the cage. Yesterday the UFC announced that the King of Beers, Anheuser- Busch, will make Bud Light their newest and most exclusive sponsor. The UFC could have announced a future fight or a new television deal, but the addition of this beer sponsor is a huge deal for the beer company as well as the UFC.

Annually, beer companies spend millions of dollars advertising. Last year alone they sponsored the most popular NASCAR driver, had some of the funniest Super Bowl commercials, and could be seen in almost every professional sports complex in America. Annually, the Bud Light creator is responsible for almost half of the beer sales in the U.S. Take this into the cage, and the UFC may have the top sponsor needed to put them and the sport of MMA in the forefront of american sports.

If it were a fight between Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor and Bud Light, Bud light just completed a knock out similar to that of Rampage over the Iceman. Mickey’s is almost certain to lose it’s sponsorship with time considering Bud Light is on a different playing field. The UFC will eventually have to decide between the two beer sponsors. If or when this happens, Mickey’s has less of a chance than a Tito and Shamrock rematch. Bud Light is part of a monstrous corporate company that would smash Mickey’s in a fight of sponsors.

In my opinion this is a giant step in the right direction for the UFC and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Most of the media has said that the UFC needs a major sponsor and this is about as big as it gets. Not only will this open doors for the UFC in commercials, but it also opens the door for large companies such as Nike, Under Armor, Sony, or another top notch sponsor to come along. In the future we may see a Nike MMA clothing line, a Chuck Liddell Gatorade flavor, or even a Rich Franklin Math for Dummies Book. A large sponsor would bring larger demographics to the sport. It could create an influx of new fans and viewers that thinks of the sport as barbaric. In their minds, if Nike is a UFC sponsor, how barbaric can MMA be?

Only a day after StrikeForce inked a deal with CBS, the UFC announced the huge addition of the Anheuser-Busch beer Bud Light as an amazing turn of events for the UFC. If the UFC can capitalize on this move, then they will open some incredible doors for other companies to step forward in the future. It may be a matter of time before Chuck has a Bud Light symbol on his Iceman shorts. The move gives the UFC and the WEC a major sponsor in the addition of Harley Davidson. The UFC is the show of shows in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. They currently have the most talent, the most exposure, and they have solidified the best sponsors. I look for more big time sponsors in the future for the UFC.

If they like watching people get punched in the face.

Raghu Nath recently gave a pretty good look at the hype package and inserted some of his picks. I’m not going to really look at the hype behind the fights, because the UFC will do plenty of that themselves. Instead, here’s what I think’s going down, from the bottom of the card to the top.

John Halverson vs. Jorge Gurgel

This is, in my mind, a classic Jiu-Jitsu vs. Striker matchup, but since Gurgel has shown an incredible inability to finish throughout his career, I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, and pick the BJJ blackbelt to lose. While part of this is just to mix this up, I really think that if Halverson comes out swinging, as he’s expected to, he could land a short that puts Gurgel out. Otherwise, he’ll probably drop a decision.

My Pick: Halverson via TKO, Round 1

David Bielkheden vs. Diego Sanchez

There’s very little knowledge about Bielkheden, but what little I do know has endeared him to me alot. That, and the fact that Sanchez has dropped two straight without really showing serious signs of recovery from the initial loss to Josh Koscheck via decision. While both of his losses were to pin-down fighters with great wrestling backgrounds, I think that Bielkheden is going to make this a fight off of his back. The Swede’s BJJ blackbelt and training with Brazilian Top Team make this fight interesting if it hits the floor. Still, I think that Sanchez’s standup will take this fight as it wears on.

My Pick: Sanchez by KO, Round 3

Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Koscheck

As someone who’s trained with Kos, and knows what the AKA camp is capable of under the instruction of the Camarillo’s and their many talented 170 pound fighters, I think that Kos is not getting the credit he deserves. I won’t take anything away from Hazelett, as his submission game is very good, but Koscheck is a national champion wrestler, and that NCAA background plays a huge roll in his physical power and his ability to control opponents on the ground. Bar a Drew Fickett-esque come from behind victory, I don’t see Hazelett winning this match, and I see Kos controlling it on the ground

My Pick: Koscheck by Unanimous Decision (Bring Pillows)

Luigi Fiorovanti vs. Luke Cummo

I refuse to underestimate the power of Fiorovanti’s camp, as the ATT guys are complete warriors, and the coaching staff contains one of the best grapplers in the world, Jeff Monson. I don’t know how Cummo expects to deal with that, and though he’s got a great camp with the Serra Jiu-Jitsu guys and kickboxing genius Ray Luongo, I don’t see Cummo being able to pull this one out, as he has alot of trouble fighting off of the bottom.

My Pick: Fiorovanti by TKO, Round 2

Jake O’Brien vs. Andrei Arlovski

Andrei Arlovski is fighting a wrestler who barely beat a badly injured, Octagon shocked Heath Herring. Not to mention that Andrei has something to prove, since his unimpressive performance against Fabricio Werdum. If this fight stays on the feet, expect Andrei to do alot of punching and O’Brien to do alot of falling down. If it goes to the ground, do not forget that Andrei Arlovski has a submission game, he’s a serious Sambo fighter. Still, don’t hold your breath for Andrei to pull out a submission, I’m sure he’d much rather punch O’Brien in the mouth.

My Pick: Andrei Arlovski by KO, Round 1 (The Big Dog is back)

Chris Wilson vs. Jon Fitch

I won’t write off Chris Wilson. He might be a great fighter and certainly has a solid submission game, but the fact is, he wasn’t called into this fight because people expected him to win. Fitch is supposed to beat Wilson down and advance his rank in the 170 pound division, by posting his 8th straight win and finishing an opponent, ideally in impressive fashion. That is what I expect him to do, because, while Wilson can catch a submission off the bottom, I don’t expect he will on a wrestler like Fitch, who’s been proven to have serious heart when it comes to fighting through submissions.

My Pick: Jon Fitch by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 2 (Round 1 will be exciting, as like the fight with Roan Carniero, but the ending will be similar, too)

Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner

Both of these men are underrated submission fighters. Tanner has one of the most wicked triangles in the sport and Okami almost finished Rich Franklin with a kimura when they fought. That said, it really comes down to a battle of size against experience. Okami is a huge dude, and Tanner has alot of experience in this sport, and against alot of incredible fighters, include his middleweight title win over David Terrell. Personally, I’ll be cheering for Tanner, and I think this will be a close, back and forth match.

My Pick: Tanner by Submission (Some sort of Triangle), Round 3 (expect Okami to get on top and do some damage in rounds 1 and 2)

Alessio Sakara vs. Chris Leben

Leben is a warrior, but I think that, to put it simply, he will fail against a much more experienced, much more skilled boxer. While Sakara has been proven to be a painfully one dimensional fighter in the past, I think the fact that he is coming down to 185 and will be very large compared to Leben will give him a serious edge in this fight and allow it to keep it on the feet and manipulate the pace of the fight, using his boxing whenever and however he likes to dispatch Leben. It make take a few rounds for the technical control to really sink in, but it will happen, and when it does there will be a big KO.

My Pick: Sakara by KO, Round 2

Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring

If Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva weren’t on this card, this would be a shoe-in for fight of the night. Herring may try to take this fight to the ground, but, personally, I’d love to see this fight stay on the feet and, given Herring’s not much of a wrestler, it probably will. He may test Kongo’s takedown defense a little, but I think that the Frenchman’s ability to control distance and manipulate the pace of this fight will give him the huge edge in the overall game, and his general kickboxing prowess will put it in the bag.

My Pick: Kongo by KO, Round 2

Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson

I’ve given a much longer analysis of this fight, but I’ll abbreviate it by saying that I expect this fight to stay at range, as Anderson will lay back and try and avoid the clinch, not because he thinks Henderson is better at doing damage there, but because Henderson is certainly better at taking the fight to the ground from there. If Silva can stay at range and land powerful strikes and alot of combinations, we’ll see a solid test of Henderson’s chin, and while I don’t think that Silva will knock Hendo out, I think he’ll make a great argument for the judges to give the fight to him after five rounds.

My Pick: Silva by Unanimous Decision

Awards

Knock Out of the Night: Andrei Arlovski

Submission of the Night: Evan Tanner

Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva over Dan Henderson

We recently learned that EliteXC has solidified themselves as a frontrunner in the race to get MMA on prime time television. Already, many are forecasting clouds and thunderstorms even before the MMA organization rounds the final turn as Adam Swift from MMA Payout releases some of the details of the agreement. Sure, it’s easy to predict doom on the organization that has used former street brawler Kimbo Slice, rappers, and cheerleaders during their latest Showtime event, but there’s much more to be excited about. There’s more than setting a live gate record and helping Showtime gain 11% in viewership. There’s the future of the sport.

Forget the ignorant viewers who already wrote off MMA. Forget the financing issues and matchmaking problems. Forget about Kimbo. Just drop all of the worries for a few minutes and hear me out.

This move by EliteXC and their parent company, Pro Elite, to move MMA to the mainstream can’t make things any worse for the people who have already written off the sport. Even if we manage to witness four amazing fights with technical submissions, mutual respect, and amazing well rounded fights, the anti-MMA crowd isn’t going to care. We need to worry about backing EliteXC and help them lobby themselves and CBS into making the right decisions. I don’t want to see rappers and cheerleaders on TV so I’m going to let it be known to EliteXC and CBS. I also don’t want Bill Goldberg within 500 miles of the event. Even though SpikeTV wrote off the efforts of Fightlinker to set up a three hour UFC Fight Night 13 broadcast, the MMA community came together and helped make a change for the good. Spike TV, although not quite as large as CBS, still listened to what we, the fans, wanted.

Not only can we do something good for the sport, we need to understand that EliteXC’s move to the mainstream is going to force other organizations to re-think their current strategies. The UFC needs to get a television deal, at least in the mind of Dana White. Getting a sponsorship deal with another alcohol brand isn’t going to force viewers to turn off their free MMA to pay $45 ($55 for us oh so fortunate HD viewers).

This leads me to my next point. Will free EliteXC try to go head to head with UFC PPV? I certainly doubt that. This sort of “friendly competition”, if you will, can help the sport move into homes where PPV isn’t an affordable option. These are the homes are younger wrestling fans who are becoming bored with fake fighting and are looking for a real hobby to pursue throughout the rest of their 18-35 year old lives.

Kimbo Slice had a past which led him through boat yards, parking lots, and other questionable venues, but once people see that a real fighter, not some street thug, is dominating on television, they may take the time to understand the sport a little bit more. I don’t care if you think Kimbo is dumb or if you think he is the next big thing, there’s a bigger picture to look at. EliteXC is piggybacking on the success of their latest show to sign this agreement and their attempt to bring MMA to everyone was the next big step for MMA. Let’s hope they do the right thing by providing our intelligent input. After all, our failure to help will ultimately be their failure - and there’s always the change of watching sport get sent back 10 years.

In the followup to my previous article in the same series, here is my breakdown and predictions for the main card for the upcoming UFC 82: PRIDE of a Champion event.The fights covered in this edition are:Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara v/s Chris “The Crippler” Leben
Jon Fitch v/s Chris Wilson
Yushin “Thunder” Okami v/s Evan Tanner

Let’s get it on, then.

1. Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara v/s Chris “The Crippler” Leben

This is Alessio Sakara’s first fight at middleweight and judging by his last performance at Light Heavyweight, this one is going to be a barnburner! Sakara comes in with amazing boxing ability and a newly found confidence on the ground as well, thanks to his new camp - The American Top Team. Sakara, ever a dangerous knockout artist, seems to finally have worked at his achilles heel, the Takedown defence. What one wonders is whether Sakara will be able to translate his power and skill down in the middleweight division.

His acid test - The Crippler, Chris Leben. Although Leben is more known for his antics on the camera on the Ultimate fighter season 1, do not take this team quest and now hawaii based fighter lightly. Many people on the internet make the mistake of judging him by his TV appearance and have been proven wrong a few times. Ever an exciting fighter, Leben brings excellent ground skills and really good striking into this fight. What might be a bad idea for him would be to wait till he gets hit before he exhibits any fire in this match since one punch from Sakara will be all it takes to knock Leben out. Leben does have an advantage on the ground and I think that should be his strategy in this fight - take Sakara down and end the fight with punches from side mount.

An exciting standup battle is what I predict.

Prediction: Chris Leben by TKO round 2.

2. Jon Fitch v/s Chris Wilson

This is one of three match-ups that I am very excited to watch. Jon Fitch goes up against a very dangerous newcomer to the octagon in Chris Wilson.

Fitch, an exciting ground fighter, is well known in the division and is thought of by many as one of the rising stars in the division. Fitch has a phenomenal ground game and is pretty good at strikes also. I forsee Fitch trying to take the match to the mat and use his considerable wrestling skills to dominate Wilson on the ground to take the victory.

Wilson, on the otherhand, is a seasoned muay-thai veteran and has had an excellent record in stand-up matches. Wilson’s knees and strikes and especially his setups for the same are phenomenal and have ever gained the praise of many of the game’s best. His ground game is pretty good as well, training at Team Quest with the likes of Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland have really helped Wilson step up his skills on the ground and his submissions are really good as well. I personally am really excited to finally see Wilson in the UFC and can’t wait to see how he performs.

I think the match will end up on the ground for the latter half of the first round with Fitch dominating after taking a few blows while on the feet. The second round will have Fitch trying to get Wilson to the ground but Wilson will use his considerable reach to keep him at bay and the match ends by either submission or TKO on the ground for Chris Wilson. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with this one - glad to hear your thoughts.

Prediction: Chris Wilson - round 2 - Submission/ TKO

3. Yushin “Thunder” Okami v/s Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner returns!! This is basically what has been hyped a lot during the past few weeks and I have even read articles with Tanner claiming to know how to beat Anderson Silva. Two things here that don’t pertain to the match-up. It may be to generate interest, but I have never seen Tanner given so much media attention and secondly, never has Tanner ever made such statements before a fight either. Now that I have that off my chest…

Yushin “Thunder” Liger ..errr…I mean Okami is back after his decision loss to Rich Franklin and has been given the task of judging whether the 35 year old Tanner is still a force to reckon in the middleweight division or not. Okami is mainly a ground fighter with excellent takedowns and dominant wrestling capabilities. Deceptively strong, Okami possesses strength that will be a challenge for Tanner to fight against. The one big weakness that I see in Okami’s game that might cause him problems is that Okami is not very comfortable with strikes and someone with as dangerous a striking game as Tanner can be a daunting task for Okami. The one thing that Okami always goes to and I believe will this time as well is going to be the takedown and ground and pound strategy (if it works, don’t change it right?) and his strength and skill will definitely be difficult for Tanner to combat.

Tanner on the other hand has every eye on him and has a lot to prove. No one knows how good Tanner’s conditioning is - although I have never seen Tanner gas and he looked better than ever in promo material. Secondly, is the Evan Tanner who steps in to the octagon the same Tanner who stepped out a few years back? Third - Does Evan Tanner have the will and determination to take his game back to and beyond what it was when he lost to Rich Franklin?

This is the first time that Tanner has had a proper training and conditioning camp for a fight. Tanner’s strengths have always been his elite level striking and excellent submission game. Although his will is sometimes questioned, his heart has never been. He has excellent control during most of his defensive manouvers and can easily turn a defensive manouvre into an offensive tipping point. Look for a lot of crazy elbows from the back while maintaining guard and also look for some really crisp striking from Tanner.

Prediction: Evan Tanner by Submission/ Tapout - Round 3 (provided this is a fully prepared, ready Tanner who shows up).

P.S.: I really enjoyed the thoughtful counter-arguments and intelligent discussion that my first article generated and hope that all my future work including this one are the source of similar discussion. Thanks to all for participating in these discussions and all future ones.

Wow. In a surprise move that has potential to shake up the MMA industry, ProElite and EliteXC will soon be announcing a TV deal with Showtime owner, CBS. Kid Nate of Bloody Elbow beat me to punch by asking how did Gary Shaw beat Dana White to a television deal? I get a lot of flack for publicly denouncing White’s means of running the UFC (along with many many others, I might add), but this only solidifies my standpoint. Will White come out and publicly say that he had the ability to sign with CBS but he didn’t due to some outrageous comment? My guess is that he says they wanted too much control. Thanks to MMA Junkie for breaking the news! Sam Caplan, a ProElite writer who runs Five Ounces of Pain, has more commentary. It seems that everyone beat me to the good talking points already!

Does this mean that UFC will be going over to HBO? Well, if talks broke down in the past, White better hope he can revive them or risk being stuck with Spike TV for a little while. I’m sure he’s not a huge fan of HDNet right now.

I won’t say that I hate boxing, because that would be a lie. I grew up watching Bruce Lee (who I personally think of as the first mixed martial artist), but I was enamored with great professional boxers. Namely classic footage of Muhammad Ali and growing up during the rise and fall of “Iron” Mike Tyson.

I denote my birthday two ways; it’s the date Tupac was fatally shot after a Mike Tyson fight (1996, my sixth birthday) and it’s the date that “Gentleman” James Corbett was crowned the first heavyweight champion under the Marquee of Queensbury rules, winning a 21 round fight.

That said, it needs to be remembered that boxing is not fighting, and has not been for many, many years. There was a time when there were many boxers who were, in fact, fighters. My greatest memory of those is Mike Tyson, which isn’t to say that he was the greatest (I’ll still give Ali that title), but because he’s the one I watched live growing up, and who’s career I eventually watched fall apart.

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This weekend is the biggest fight card of the year to date in the top MMA organization. Before every UFC event, I fill out a poll to see if I can outwit my local UFC fans and pick the winners. Earlier today while I was making my picks, one of my fellow workers asked me a question. “why Chris Leben is on the main card, while Sanchez and Koscheck sit on the undercard?” As I continued to make my picks, the question stuck in my mind. This one time Team Quest fighter has trumped the other TUF alumni on this card, but the question is - why?

Team Quest is known for top fighters. Fighters among the likes of Randy Couture, Nate Quarry, Ed Herman, Matt Lindland, and Dan Henderson have called this Oregon gym home. One fighter who began his climb to the big leagues of MMA here is Chris Leben. Leben was one of the most exciting guys on the original cast of The Ultimate Fighter and on the show he experienced highs and lows. He is a part of some the most memorable moments in the show’s history. One of which he showcased his heart and desire when he out performed everyone on the treadmill. On the other side of the spectrum he also used Jason Thacker’s bed as a urinal. Thacker and Leben fought at the finale of the show, and after ending the fight Leben apologized for the act. His colorful flare and comical approach gained him tons of fans, and eventually a UFC contract.

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It was announced today in Japan through a very Dream Stageish new website, www.dreamofficial.com the official DREAM website, that 3 new bouts have been added to the very much anticipated March 15th Lightweight Grand Prix. While not neccesarily the most compelling bouts thus far, they will serve as an appetizer for the 2nd round, which will be one for history books. Another thing that should be noted is the appearance of Kultar Gill, who wasn’t originally announced but is now participating and he is no stranger to the FEG GP circuit The announced match-ups are:

Heiwa DREAM. 1

1. Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri vs. Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill
2. Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Luis “Buscape” Firmino
3. Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen vs. Koutetsu Boku
4. Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias “JZ” Calvancanti Read the full story

It just doesn’t happen often enough; a fight where I am so uncertain about who is going to win that I am flip-flopping about my pick as I am starting to write. Honestly, I haven’t been this unsure about a pick since Fedor vs. CroCop. I’ve been wrong, but I haven’t been unsure.

The fact is, Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson make for a fight that we cannot, with any real certainty, call, and the odds are proof of that. The UFC and Pride Champions are locked even and I doubt that even Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson would have been considered this tight of a matchup if it had happened instead of the Henderson fight at the end of last year.

I’ve already talked about why it is that Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva are forces to be reckoned with in the middleweight division, why it is they are both dominant and devastating, and why it is that I so rarely bet against either of them when they are competing in this weight class.

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First off, a big HELL-O!! to all the great readers of MMAOpinion! My name is Raghu and that is enough about me I also write about MMA on my own site, Knockouts and Neck Cranks so don’t be concerned about finding the same or similar opinion out there.

Over the next week, I will attempt to breakdown the matches from the upcoming UFC event - UFC82. So, let me know what you think of the breakdowns and if your thoughts differ from mine, let me know why.

UFC 82: The Undercard

The undercard of this event looks so good that it might as well have been a Fight Night event! The theme of the card though seems to be “returning warriors” with almost every one of the fighters returning to the octagon either after a loss or a long layoff. Let’s get on to the card now.

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski v/s Jake O’Brien

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion returns to the octagon after an almost year long sabbatical following what was one of the most boring fights in the UFC ever (against Fabricio Werdum). That Arlowski is a very dangerous striker is no news to anyone. The question for Arlowski is whether the fighter will come in with a defensive strategy like he did against Werdum or will he come in confident and aggressive like he used to.

His opponent, Jake O’Brien is coming off a surprise dominating win over Heath Herring after which he got injured and has been on the sidelines. O’Brien, a top class wrestler who is constantly getting better at the overall MMA game is a very dangerous fighter and has shown that he can hold his own against top class opponents. His strategy is surely going to be to try and keep Andrei down and use his wrestling skills to control the game.

Prediction: Andrei Arlowski by KO - Round 3

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First off, watching two guys with the same exact Warrior Wear half-camo, half black fight shorts made me want to stand and scream “hey guys, same team!”, but then I realized that I wasn’t watching a normal sport - this was fighting. Not that I couldn’t already tell by the second fight of the night. The first fight took the classic striker vs. grappler to the next level with some of the most nonchalant guard passes and mounts since Sean Sherk danced around Hermes Franca during UFC 73. Too bad the grappler was nearly dead from being rocked nearly a dozen times during the second and third rounds. But a lot more happened tonight. Let’s break down Strikeforce at the Dome! But wait, Bob Sapp is back on the screen laughing. He did this about 10 times randomly throughout the broadcast before his cage debut. Ok, now let’s take a quick look at the bouts.

Some of the fighters were local guys who were still only a few fights past their MMA debuts, but looking to prove themselves on live television. One of these local guys was none other the 145 pound bandtamweight grappler in the first fight, Zach “Skindog” Skinner. Even with his questionable nickname, Skinner did a nice job of eating a lot of shots to the face and the body in his attempts to submit another local fighter, Scott Shaffer. Skinner went on to win a very good back and forth fight that had a few slow points. This would be a great fight to show aspiring grapplers how important the ground game really is as Skinner was able to stop Shaffer from doing much damage for most of the bout. Both fighters were very one dimensional, unfortunately, and they both paid for it. Shaffer walked away with the loss even though he completely destroyed Skinner during the second round while Skinner did nothing by go for takedowns.

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At one time the most anticipated MMA fight was Chuck Liddell versus Wanderlei Silva. Now that we were able to witness that battle, the next super fight on everyone’s mind, is the possible fight between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko. This could be the battle to determine the best heavyweight in MMA history. These fighters are both great, but have been doing very different things of late. One has denied all odds and seems to get better with age, while the other seems to be fighting subpar competition around the world. Many hold Fedor as the top heavyweight in the world, while others hold Randy at that spot. It seems they both are deserving of the title, but who deserves it more? Who is the real heavyweight champion of MMA?

Randy “The Natural” Couture could be the most amazing 44 year old fighter on the planet. He is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC but lately he has done more fighting with Dana White and the UFC, than in the Octagon. Even though he isn’t fighting right now he should be considered one of the top 2 big guys in the world. The only other person in my eyes that could be ranked above him is Fedor. Randy is a smart fighter with a wrestling background, a veteran in the game of MMA, and has fought all levels of competition. If there is one argument why he should be ranked over Fedor, it is the caliber of recent opponents. In his last 3 fights he has fought Gonzaga, Tim Sylvia, and Chuck Liddell. After he lost to Chuck, no one expected him to return from retirement and fight Timmy for the heavyweight title. Not only did he fight him, but he dominated Sylvia throughout the entire fight, and almost finished it very early. Randy has an amazing amount of built up aggressions toward Dana and the UFC, and if he is bottling that up for his next fight, the opponent could be in trouble. Randy is a legend in the sport of MMA, and is the best heavyweight in UFC history. In a recent turn of events, it appears that he has reached a deal with Mark Cuban’s HDNet fights, and could be fighting again by the end of the year.

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I saw the preview a few days ago and cringed. Guys fighting in trashy environments with small gloves while pretending to be trained MMA professionals. Great. That’s just what we don’t need after hearing Bill Goldberg scream that he didn’t give a damn about traditional mixed martial arts because Kimbo Slice beat Tank Abbott in a staged street fight in a cage. It’s not that I had anything against Kimbo vs. Tank on Showtime because it was a MMA fight between two brawlers and we all knew both fighters were going to stand. It’s just the same old problem that MMA has always had - getting the sport recognized as legitimate and not glorified street brawling. Here’s a quick synopsis of Never Back Down, as told by BoondockVideo on the Sherdog Forums: Read the full story

Before I begin, I want to first offer up my thanks to the folks who take the time to produce free MMA podcasts. The guys behind the Fightworks Podcast, Fight Opinion Radio, MMA Predictions Radio, and the Sherdog Radio programs (Jeff Sherwood, Jordan Breen, Greg Savage, TJ DeSantis, and Josh Gross) along with countless others, have been a big part of keeping the rest of us engaged in the daily events of the sport. I know that I could never produce a broadcast with live callers, an email bag, or advertisements without ignoring my family or losing my job. Nothing bad can be said about everyone who has taken the time to talk about MMA through an audio show, but I think it’s time that we all begin taking these broadcasts to the next level. Allow me to explain before you take the title of this article too seriously (especially those who remember the whole Josh Gross vs. Dana White “Open Letter” fiasco).

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As I posted an article on the fighting style of UFC champion Anderson Silva as a lead up to this fight, it’s both fair and necessary to do the same for Pride welterweight champion Dan Henderson. (for those who need the clarification, Pride doesn’t have a 170 pound division, and their welterweight is 185 pounds)

Dan Henderson has been one of the most well respected fighters in the world for a long time, but it is not simply his respectability that has led the UFC to give him two title shots in a row. It’s the fact that he is the only man ever to hold two titles in Pride. This is a look at how he got them, and why he’s been one of the most dominant and physically powerful fighters in two weight classes for years.

The first thing that needs to be acknowledged is that when Dan Henderson fights up in weight, he is still often the more physically powerful fighter, because of something that his opponents and training partners describe as the “gorilla grip.”

Gorilla grip really isn’t doing it justice. In the greco-clinch, Dan Henderson is a vice with legs. He gets a hold of his opponents and just imposes his will. It’s not solely because of his conditioning, but also because of his wrestling ability.

Dan’s clinch is one of the most technical attack styles around, and, like most of his fighting style, he operates it with such aggression and commitment that he’s basically pinning himself to his opponent and working them to the mat, where he basically pins them, a la his Olympic caliber Greco-Roman wrestling, and delivers punishment.

Of all of Dan Henderson’s weapons’, though, there’s one that’s respected more than his wrestling, more than that Olympic experience, because of what it’s done in this sport, and that’s his right hand.

Dan’s not credited with being a great boxer, and he never will be. He doesn’t utilize combinations the way that people think he should and he never really sets his moves up with head movement, the way that a lot of great counterpunchers do.

If any part of his style is to be credited with setting up his right hand, it’s his chin. Rarely do I get the opportunity to watch a fighter as willing to eat a punch as Henderson outside of the heavyweight division, but Henderson is one of the guys who has no problem with mixing it up, and he does it better than anyone else.

Henderson moves forward when he fights, and usually that’s because his opponents are wary of his right hand. I’m not sure if Anderson Silva will show it serious respect in their upcoming fight, but there’s definitely a chance that we will see Henderson move Silva into the cage because of his ability to dominate with his right hand and his clinch game. The combination tends to keep opponent’s on their heels, trying to just throw jabs at Henderson and work combinations.

In 28 fights, Henderson has never been knocked out, and his ability to keep moving forward has a huge psychological effect on his opponent, something that I call the “Mark Hunt effect.”

It’s one thing to know that you are hitting your opponent and that you are doing damage, but when you throw a combination you expect to do damage at a guy and he keeps moving forward, there’s a serious mental flag that goes up. A little siren in the back of your head says “wait, that didn’t hurt this guy.” That flag can be ignored if it only pops up one or two times, but if it goes off enough and a fighter starts to realize it, it can really get to him.

There are plenty of guys who try to recreate that impact by smiling and giving their opponent the little “bring-it-on” wave, but every competant fighter, especially a great standup guy, knows that his opponent is taking notice when he does that, knows that his opponent got woken up a little bit. We saw that understanding in Patrick Cote’s fight with Drew McFedries not to long ago.

It’s something totally different when your opponent doesn’t even look like he noticed, and that’s the kind of chin that only guys like Hunt and Henderson seem to offer.

Henderson attacks constantly, whether with the clinch or from his feet, using his right haymaker. It’s really hard to explain how hard Dan Henderson hits, but Frank Trigg put it better than anyone else when he said that getting hit with Henderson’s right hand will put you out, regardless of where it hits your head, but if you catches you flush, that’s the night. Just ask Wanderlei Silva.

Dan hits like a ton of bricks, and he carries his hand in close to his head, almost as if it’s glued to his cauliflower. This is what may present problems for Silva, as it makes it nearly impossible for a fighter standing orthodox to land a clean shot.

If you want to look at the ways to beat Henderson, there are really a few that have been tested, and I expect that Anderson will try to use them to the best of his ability. There are really two tactics that seem to work the best.

The first is to maintain distance and use some technical striking to avoid the right hand. It’s about not being intimidated by Henderson’s relentless attack and just bobbing and weaving. I expect Anderson to do a lot of that, given that’s what he’s good at. It’s also the ability to really use kicks that really plays a big roll for the guys that beat Dan, because that is what keeps him out of the range he needs to use that right haymaker.

Maintaining that distance will give you the opportunity to win a decision, but in a 25 minute fight, Silva may decide that standing with a guy he’s not going to KO is not really his best option.

The second is to attack him from the guard, but that seems to get harder and harder as Dan’s ground game develops farther from wrestling. Still, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to see Anderson pulling out a submission again Henderson, when you consider that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira did it with an armbar when he fought Henderson.

That’s not to say that Henderson’s submission game is bad, but it is his weakest link, and certainly has presented more problems for Henderson than anything else. While he’s worked to shore it up, he’s not at the level of a BJJ blackbelt, and if Anderson can exploit that deficiency, we’ll definitely see some technical groundwork from both fighters.

The secret to beating Henderson on the ground is to not get trapped and not get frustrated. Even Rampage Jackson got a little flustered early in the fight when dealing with Henderson’s raw strength. If Anderson can keep cool and use his jiu-jitsu to create a solid position, instead of getting pinned to the mat by the Greco-Roman skills of Silva, he can use the principle that the Gracie’s have been teaching for years: leverage is greater than strength.

As true as that may be, we can’t forget that Henderson is unrivaled in strength at 185 pounds.

I feel bad for what seems like a constant barrage of criticism against the guy, but Dana White is asking for it. In an ESPN.com article regarding Tank Abbott’s recent loss to EliteXC’s up and coming slugger, Kimbo Slice, White talks a little about the recent EliteXC production and one of his fighters from the renaissance days of the UFC; Tank Abbott.

UFC president Dana White watched the Slice-Abbott fight Saturday after taking in the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight.

He prefers that Abbott call it a day.

“I think the whole thing was a farce,” White said of the EliteXC promotion. “I love Tank. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s always been good to me. But I don’t want to see that again.”

White would like Abbott to concentrate on the book and his next logical out-of-the-cage career move.

Currently, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn are the four entrants in the UFC’s Hall of Fame. Mark Coleman will be inducted at UFC 82 on March 1 in Ohio.

White said he has a plan for when Abbott announces he is done gloving up that will honor the colorful brawler, whose record is an underwhelming 9-14 but who undeniably helped grow the sport out of its infancy and into young adulthood.

“Tank Abbott,” White said, “absolutely will be in our Hall of Fame.”

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WWE capitalized on selling 26 million copies of the WWF and WWE Smackdown video game series. The Madden football titles sell out annually at large retailers across the country; Madden ‘07 sold 7.4 million copies before the end of the year. Fight Night, the boxing video game series, hasn’t sold an many copies, but has received great ratings by many critics. All three sports, professional wrestling, professional football, and boxing already had the ingredients to produce a great product before the video games became big hits. Can MMA capitalize on the video game market as well? The UFC seems to think so. After signing an agreement with THQ in 2006 to produce an Ultimate Fighting Championship video game series with similarities between both the WWE and Madden series for the next five years, we still have yet to see any real results.

THQ finally announced on February 9th that the first real preview of the game, titled UFC 2009, will premier during UFC 84 on May 24th. The video game itself is slated to be released sometime in the near future although release dates are still up in the air. What’s taking so long? Apparently the UFC has been taking some of the The Ultimate Fighter candidates like Matt Arroyo along with a slew of well known and up and coming fighters to produce a huge initial roster of fighters from the past and the present. Game play from the initial preview back on January looks very good, but there is much to be desired above the past UFC games which received many poor ratings. The Pride video game faired better, but Pride is gone and I can’t see a DREAM game being released any time soon.

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