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UFC 103 – Franklin vs Belfort

Jarrod — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:54:01 +0000

As if Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn’t hate the UFC enough as is, he can expect this Saturday’s UFC 103 event to take a big chunk out of his pay-per-view bonus for fighting Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas the same night the UFC sets up shop in Dallas. Mayweather’s financial fears come with good reason, too. The UFC lineup marks the return of fan favorite Vitor Belfort against former middleweight champion Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catch-weight bout that may be an unconventional main event but should make for top-shelf violence regardless.

Backing up the headliner is the return of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who will take on top heavyweight prospect Junior dos Santos, and the UFC debut of standout British welterweight Paul Daley, who has to tangle with premier contender Martin Kampmann. Rounding out the main card is a welterweight scrap between returning UFC veteran Frank Trigg and the uber-talented Josh Koscheck as well as a critical lightweight tilt pitting Tyson Griffin’s massive legs against Hermes Franca’s cinder block right hand.

I know what I’ll be watching Saturday night: the best of MadTV! I’ve just been informed I’m not allowed to say that, so just watch the fights and keep the hate mail coming. I’m building myself a hammock made entirely out of hate, a hate-mock if you will, and I need just a little more hate to finish it.

Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort

The Breakdown: The weight-class limbo continues for Franklin, who will look to spoil Belfort’s return to the UFC in a 195-pound catch-weight contest. What makes this bout interesting is that for the umpteenth time, Belfort looks like a rejuvenated fighter thanks to knockout wins over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland. More importantly, Belfort has the edge in speed and footwork over Franklin, who has developed a somewhat predictable style that overemphasizes his powerful left body kick and equally dangerous straight left.

While those are Franklin’s best weapons, he leaves himself wide-open for counters on both (see how Wanderlei Silva eventually found those openings in their bout at UFC 99). Belfort is a far more fundamentally sound boxer than Silva. His stiff southpaw jab could create problems for Franklin, who doesn’t do a good job of controlling range with his own jab. This fight certainly doesn’t favor Franklin on the feet, but Belfort has struggled against ground-and-pound-minded opponents in the past and Franklin has shown nasty striking on the mat.

The ground part of that strategy may prove difficult for Franklin, however. Belfort is hardly a free takedown, and Franklin himself is typically hesitant to hit the mat. If Franklin can’t disrupt Belfort’s rhythm on the feet with takedowns or clinch work, his chin will eventually catch up to him and Belfort has long been one of the best finishers in the game.

The X Factor: Matching southpaws against each other always yields interesting results, and both fighters could find it difficult to effectively employ their favored tactics. The other variable looming over this fight is Belfort’s brain, which is about as stable as an Iranian election. It doesn’t take much to throw Belfort off his game, and Franklin is as focused and committed a fighter as you’ll ever find. “Ace” needs to make this an uncomfortable fight for Belfort. If he allows Belfort to sit back, create angles and measure punches, this fight will be a painfully one-sided proposition for Cincinnati’s favorite son.

The Bottom Line: Trying to predict what Belfort will do is as pointless as watching a Rob Schneider movie in search of a laugh. With that said, Belfort has finally started doing all the things fans have been begging him to do for years: stay patient, work the jab and use all of his skills. Franklin won’t have an answer for Belfort’s superior boxing and massive hand speed advantage, and by the time he does go for a takedown, he’ll find it far easier said than done. This one ends with Franklin starched on the canvas and Belfort instantaneously christened as a premier contender in the middleweight class.

Source: Sherdog.com

Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang – UFC 105

Jarrod — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:19:30 +0000

News is currently going round that Denis Kang has been offered a fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 105. This hasn’t been confirmed by Dana White or anyone at the UFC but good sources are saying that the fight is as good as on.

A few other fights on the card have been announce but it seems the UFC are taking there time over Bisping following his last appearance in which he was knocked out cold by for Pride FC champion Dan Henderson.

We should have more information on this story soon!

UFC 102 – Couture vs Nogueira

Jarrod — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:21:00 +0000

The battle of the heavyweight legends!

Flying ninja robots, mutant monkey assassins and … wait, that’s next month’s UFC. No worries. UFC 102 “Couture vs. Nogueira,” booked for the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., is stacked top to bottom with enough top-shelf violence to claim yet another Saturday night from mixed martial arts fans the world over.

With a main card headlined by two of the sport’s heavyweight heavyweights, Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, one needs no other reason to cancel that family reunion and spend an evening getting reacquainted with the wonders of television.

Plus, Demian Maia will flex his jiu-jitsu, Keith Jardine will remind the world he’s the world’s funkiest Viking and maybe those flying ninja robots will make an appearance. In the meantime, settle in for some serious fight talk. Perhaps some of it will manage to be accurate.

The Breakdown: Two of MMA’s heavyweight legends look to prove naysayers wrong one more time, as elder face smasher Couture takes on a suddenly shopworn Nogueira. Despite being just a few months removed from his 33rd birthday, Nogueira’s years of absorbing beatings like a Brazilian Jake LaMotta seemed to catch up with him when Frank Mir soundly trounced him at UFC 92. Couture is not coming off the fight of his life, either, as he failed to stop the centaur known as Brock Lesner from claiming the heavyweight crown that once rested on his own head. With that said, Couture has not left his last few fights looking like a back-alley hospital patient.

With Mir having already written the script for starching Nogueira, watch for Couture to use his wrestling to keep the fight standing and rely on his boxing from there. Whether or not playing the same tune as Mir works for Couture will depend on just how much of his old self Nogueira has rediscovered in his eight months away from the cage. In a sport where nostalgia runs deep but counts for little, Nogueira has to prove he still has something left to offer after already giving so much.

The X Factor: Lost in all the dismissive chatter about Nogueira is the fact that Couture is a 46-year-old man competing in a sport that skews younger than the cast of whatever atrocious teen-age drama the CW airs. Sooner or later, Couture is going to hit the same wall Brett Favre has already run into several times. How capable Nogueira is of sending him on his way remains anyone’s guess, but he’s proven everyone wrong countless times before.

The Bottom Line: Nogueira fans should start practicing their cringing, as Couture is going to turn this into a one-sided dirty boxing display that the Brazilian won’t be able to do much of anything about. No miracle submissions this time around, as Nogueira ends up getting saved by the referee’s sense of compassion but not before taking two rounds worth of Couture’s old-school bullying.

Article by: Sherdog.com