MMA Tidbits For July 2, 2009
By Bryan Levick on Jul 02, 2009
For those of you who aren’t familiar with me my name is Bryan Levick and I have been writing about mixed martial arts for a little over a year now. I first started posting on the CBS.com boards when they were pretty much the only major website that had any MMA news on it. From there a bunch of us who met on the board moved over to FightTicker.com. After awhile I became a blogger and turned that into a prime gig on Five Ounces of Pain. I have been friends with Josh, Curtis, Brandt & Garrett for a long time now so it was only natural that I made my way over to MMA Opinion. You will see news, interviews and opinionated articles from me a lot from here on in.
One thing I like to do is go over the previous day’s news and write a brief synopsis on it. It will be brief but it will be thorough and I really hope you enjoy it. I welcome all feedback whether it is positive or negative and if any of you have any questions please feel free to drop me a line. I consider myself very accessible and I love to banter back and forth with other fans who have one monumental thing in common with me, our love for the great sport of MMA.
Well for any of you who still care, it seems Tito Ortiz is back in the news again. It has been 14 months since his last fight and this guy still knows how to grab headlines. With UFC 100 just around the corner Ortiz picks this time to tell us that he is working on an agreement with Strikeforce to not only fight for them but to start his own promotion called Punishment Fighting Championships. Well this is news to Strikeforce CFO Mike Afromowitz as he stated that he didn’t know anything about it. Typical Tito, as far as I am concerned until I actually see that cage door shut behind him he is no longer relevant, which leads me to ask myself, “Why am I writing about him?”
With UFC 100 a mere 9 days away I am still undecided who will win the big three match-ups. I don’t believe the UFC could have picked three better fights for such a historic event. GSP-Alves will be a classic back and forth war, Mir-Lesnar will be a hotly contested bout that could go either way and the more I think about it, the more I believe Bisping will give Henderson a much tougher time than I originally thought. Bisping has been quoted as saying he is much too quick for Hendo and he plans on taking the fight to the mat which is Henderson’s strength. Being confident has always been on of Bisping’s strong suits and as long as he isn’t over confident then we could see the Brit’s hand raised come next Saturday night.
I love anticipation, once a fight card is settled and all the bouts have been decided I am always looking forward to the announcement of future events. With UFC 103 being held in Dallas, UFC 104 coming to us from Los Angeles and now news has come out that UFC 107 will be held in Rampage’s backyard of Memphis, TN. During a youtube video that was floating aorund yesterday, Jackson along with the Three-Six Mafia announced that he will fighting his TUF counterpart Rashad Evans in December at the FedEx Forum. Fighting in front of his family and friends will only help Page as he beats some respect into Shad’s already fractured psyche.
Word came out that Indiana has joined the ever expanding list of states that has passed legislation and legalized MMA as a sport. The more states that jump on the bandwagon the more I get pissed off at Bob Reilly, the NY assemblyman who continues to do everything in his power to keep MMA out of NY. I could beat this horse until he is dead 1000 times and I will still have plenty left to say on how shortsighted this man really is. Open your eyes and see what all the other states have seen, MMA is not barbaric, it is not a bunch of ruthless animals beating each other with bats and other assorted weapons. It is a sport where two men vie to see who is better on that particular night. Once it is over they show more respect and appreciation for one another than seen in any other sport today. To think that Madison Square Garden, the mecca of all sports arenas can’t hold a UFC event showcasing these great athletes is insane. One day soon we will get there and NY residents will see for themselves what a moron this guy truly is.
I hope you enjoyed this first foray into what I hope is a daily column. If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to discuss please let me know.
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Hey Bryan!!
“GSP-Alves will be a classic back and forth war.”
I really don’t know. I can easily see Alves on his back desparately trying to slow down the barrage of punches from GSP’s ground and pound attack. GSP will not enjoy a huge size advantage against Alves but will that even matter? Will Alves have a trick up his sleeves? Can he stop GSP’s takedown and keep the fight standing? Will he be able to compete against GSP’s vaunted wrestling ability? I don’t know.
IF GSP is doing well THEN this will be a one-sided fight.
IF Thiago is doing well THEN this will be a back-and-forth war.
I agree with you if GSP gets off to a fast start it will be a long night for Alves like it was for Fitch, but Alves take down defense is second to none right now. They will both be around 192lbs come fight night so no one will have the size advantage. I am just praying that it is an interesting fight because GSP has been so dominant lately and I have really come to like Alves as a fighter. Thanks for the great feedback.
GSP has not faced a striker like Thiago! Period. And Alves’s BJJ game is as good as GSP’s. The only area GSP has more skill is wrestling and even there Thiago trains with ATT so I would not bet on GSP taking him down easily. Personally I think GSP will get KO’d in the first round.
And Bryan, you know how I feel about MMA in N.Y….don’t hold your breath!