Breakdown of UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs Ellenberger

This Wednesday, the UFC returns to Fuel TV for the second time in less than three weeks.   With a strong main event and some good prospects on the undercard, this show should be pretty entertaining.   Let's take a look at the main card.

Jake Ellenberger (26-5) vs Diego "The Dream" Sanchez (23-4)-   To my knowledge, neither of these men has ever been involved in a boring fight and I don't think they're going to start now.   This is Diego's first fight back with the UFC in almost a year, having "defeated" Martin Kampmann by decision in a very controversial fight that should have been given to Kampmann.   As fan friendly as Diego's fights are, the guy seems to have lost a step or two in the last few years, seemingly struggling with opponents he would have walked right through several years ago.   Diego has always been known for his stand up and aggressive style but he may want to change his strategy against Ellenberger who punches like a heavyweight and has cat like reflexes that may cause Diego to feel out of his element.   Ellenberger is on a real roll lately having finished his last two opponents, Sean Pierson and Jake Shields in the opening round and climbing the welterweight division because of it.   Ellenberger has some great takedown defense and should be able to avoid Diego's underrated ground game and keep this one standing.   As good as Ellenberger's hands are, Diego has never been knocked out or finished due to his granite chin and for Ellenberger to leave here with the victory he's going to have to fight a smart fight and most likely ride this one out for three.

Prediction: Ellenberger by unanimous decision

Dave "Pee Wee" Herman (21-2) vs Stefan Struve (22-5)-   Struve's a lengthy submission specialist with a terrible chin while Herman's a striker with no respect for the ground game which should make for an entertaing little scrap.   I hate the cliche "it depends which 'insert fighters name here' shows up" but the truth is that when breaking down a fight involving Struve you must pose this question.   Struve is 6"11 and a rather skinny guy with a good look who can never be counted out as he's had several come from behind victories, but the guy can't take a punch and tends to lose fights he should win when someone connects with his chin.   Herman's striking may not be the most beautiful to look at but the guy has legitimate one punch knock out power and should be looking to get into Struve's range where he hopes to blast the giant.   Like I stated earlier, Struve can never be counted out and with Herman spending only small amounts of training on submissions, Struve should be able to   catch him if he's sleeping but I have to like Herman's chances of connecting with Struve's chin and ending this one early.

Prediction: Herman by knockout

Aaron Simpson (11-2) vs Ronny Markes (12-1)-   Markes won his UFC debut last year when he outwrestled Karlos Vemola to grind out a pretty boring decision.   As great as Markes wrestling looked, it was only because Vemola can't stop a takedown if his life depended on it and Simpson should make sure that Markes doesn't have the same success in this one.   Simpson's a durable wrestler who's been in the cage with the likes of Mark Munoz and Chris Leben, much higher level opposition then Markes not to mention the three fight win streak he has going for him right now and should be able to keep Markes on his back to earn himself a decision victory here.

Prediction: Simpson by unanimous decision

Stipe Miocic (7-0) vs Philip De Fries (8-0) -   This should be a fun fight with two big heavyweight looking to knock the other one's head off.   Both of these men are considered to be good young prospects in the division with Miocic being the one considered to perhaps one day wear heavyweight gold.   I like Miocic's chances of pounding out a stoppage early in this one as Miocic should be able to pound out a stoppage as De Fries works for a submission on the mat.

Prediction: Miocic by tko

Prelim Fights

Jonathan Brookins (12-4) vs Vagner Rocha (7-2)- Prediction: Brookins by unanimous decision

Ivan "The Pride of El Salvador" Menjivar (23-8) vs John "Prince" Albert (6-1)- Prediction: Menjivar by tko

T.J. Dillashaw (4-1) vs Walel "The Gazel" Watson (9-3)- Prediction: Dillashaw by unanimous decision

Sean "The Destroyer" Loeffler (25-5) vs Buddy Roberts (11-2)- Prediction: Roberts by unanimous decision

Tim "The Dirty Bird" Means (16-3-1) vs Bernardo "Trekko" Magalhaes (11-1)- Prediction: Means by tko

Justin Salas (9-3) vs Anton Kuivanen (16-4)- Prediction: Salas by unanimous decision

Recap of UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs Davis

Following their debut on FOX late last year the UFC received quite a bit of criticism having shown only one fight in a one hour special, a 64 second heavyweight title match-up between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.   Having listened to their fans and making changes, the UFC had its second attempt on FOX a couple weeks ago with some intriguing fights and a two hour special instead of just one.   Although this show had a lot more fighting then the original, the main card that was featured on network television was very underwhelming leaving fans curious as to whether this whole deal between FOX and the UFC is actually going to work long term.   Let's take a look at the show.

"Sugar" Rashad Evans (17-1-1) defeated "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis (9-1) by unanimous decision-   Pretty uneventful fight here with Davis showing that he has a ways to go before he can be considered a top level fighter.   Rashad's defensive wrestling and striking are what won him the fight here as he was able to edge out Davis standing and mix in some takedowns.  Davis shot in for several takedowns throughout the fight and landed some kicks but he never put Rashad in any sort of trouble and there was no denying who had won this one.   With the win, Rashad will be the next challenge to Jon Jones' light heavyweight championship while Davis should find himself against a Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin or Ryan Bader in his next fight.   With Rashad Evans vs Jon Jones now booked the UFC officially has one of their big fights of the year penned in for a couple months from now and Rashad could present the best challenge to Jones in the forseeable future.

Chael Sonnen (27-11-1) defeated Michael "The Count" Bisping (21-4) by unanimous decision-   This was a way more competetive fight than one would have anticipated as Bispings takedown defense was good enough to stop the majority of Chael's takedowns.   The story of the fight here was Chael repeatedly getting Bisping against the cage and workiing for a takedown where he controlled Bisping for the majority of the fight.   Bisping was able to land a couple solid shots to Chael's face throughout the fight but he never had Chael in very much trouble.   The first two rounds could have gone either way but after watching the fight a second time I probably would have given the fight to Bisping however the fight was close enough that either man could have walked away the winner.   With the win, Chael is set to challenge Anderson Silva yet again this June in Brazil in front of the biggest crowd in UFC history while the loss shouldn't set back Bisping all that far considering how well he did for himself in this one.   Post fight Bisping claimed that he won the fight and that the judges were wrong and although I very seldom agree with Bisping, I think he's right.   Bisping actually ended up coming away from the fight looking pretty good considering that most hardcore fans though Chael would walk right through him and Bisping showed that he's not going to just lay down for anybody without a fight.   This was easily the most entertaining fight on the FOX main card.

Chris Weidman (8-0) defeated Demian Maia (15-4) by unanimous decision -   As an opener to the main card this is an example of the type of fight you don't want to show a new audience.   Story of the fight here was Weidman edging out Maia on the feet and getting a couple takedowns to win each round however, in the process of implementing this gameplan Weidman became exhausted and slowed down greatly but lucky for him Maia did aswell which resulted in a very disappointing fight.   Although this was a bad fight, Weidman should be given credit for taking the fight on ten days notice and defeating arguably the toughest fighter he's faced eventrhough Maia looked equally as unimpressive.   A fight with Brian Stann, Yushin Okami or Mark Munoz should be expected opponents for Weidman next while Maia will probably take on his original scheduled oponent, Michael Bisping.

Prelim Fights

Evan Dunham (13-2) defeated Nik "The Carnie" Lentz (21-5-2) by tko due to a doctor's stoppage at 5:00 of the second round

Mike Russow (15-1) defeated Jon Olav Einemo (6-3) by unanimous decision  

Cub Swanson (16-5) defeated George Roop (12-9-1) by tko at 2:22 of the second round  

Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira (15-2) submitted Eric "Little Lee" Wisely (19-7) to a calf slicer at 1:43 of the first round

Michael Johnson (10-6) defeated Shane Roller (10-6) by unanimous decision  

Lavar "Big" Johnson (16-5) knocked out Joey Beltran (13-7) at 4:24 of the first round

Chris Camozzi (16-5) submitted Dustin Jacoby (6-2) to a guillotine choke at 1:08 of the third round

Recap of UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit

Following a disappointing performance on FOX, the UFC returned to Pay Per View last weekend for what ended up being a good show although not one of the best numbered shows in the last couple months.   Let's take a look at the main card.

Interim UFC Welterweight Title- "The Natural Born Killer" Carlos Condit (28-5) defeated Nick Diaz (26-8) by unanimous decision-   I don't think there were any MMA fans who weren't excited about this fight as soon as it was announced and although it may not have been the "fistic fireworks" that was expected, it was still an entertaining fight that ended in a lot of controversy.   Diaz came out aggressively in the early rounds, pushing the pace and consistantly moving forward but as the fight marched on, Condit found his rythm and began to keep a distance and wear out Diaz with leg kicks which slowed down Diaz as the rounds progressed.   Although a lot of "haters" saw Condit's strategy as running away and refusing to engage, it was anything but as Condit won the exchanges against Diaz when he was implementing his gameplan.   All five rounds were close enough that the fight could have went to either man and I don't think Condit winning by any means was a robbery but the Diaz nut huggers would have you think differently.   Post fight, Diaz complained about the decision and "retired" due to the judging in MMA then five days later tested positive for marijuana following an announcement of a rematch between Condit and Diaz.   This is not Diaz's first positive marijuana test and it should be expected that the MMA commission will suspend him for six to twelve months.   Diaz should have a long road back to challenging for the welterweight title with this latest set back.

Fabricio Werdum (15-5-1) defeated Roy "Big Country" Nelson (16-7) by unanimous decision-   The story of the fight here was Werdum using his reach to his advantage and landing knees in the clinch that seemingly restructured Nelson's face.   In the opening round, Nelson was able to hurt Werdum with an overhand right but after that it was all Werdum as he was able to stay away from any combinations Nelson put together and earn himself a decision victory.   Werdum tried to get the fight to the mat on several occasions but was only able to get Nelson down once, which Nelson was able to slip out of.   Both men brought home an additional $65 000 for fight of the night and a fight against Frank Mir should be expected next for Werdum as he's right in there at the top of the division following the victory.

Josh "Kos" Koscheck (17-5) defeated Mike Pierce (13-5) by split decision-   Very close fight here with Koscheck seemingly getting the nod based on his control against the cage and a couple of takedowns while Pierce was not so succesful after several takedown attempts of his own although winning several of the stand-up exchanges.   I actually scored this one in favor of Pierce but it was cloisely contested enough that I didn't feel that Koscheck winning was a robbery.   Post fight, the crowd booed Koscheck and Koscheck flipped them the bird.   Koscheck is no longer training with AKA which has been a staple of his training for his entire career so it remains to be seen how Koscheck performs here on out and whether of not he will now be willing to face some of his former training partners such as Jon Fitch and Mike Swick.   The loss shouldn't hurt Pierce all that much as like stated earlier, it was a close fight and Pierce showed he can hang with the divisions top fighters.

Renan "Barao" Pegado (30-1) defeated Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen (13-5) by unanimous decision-   Pretty one sided fight here with Barao picking apart Jorgensen on the feet using his hands and kicks and also stuffing Jorgensen's takedown attempts.   Jorgensen was outclassed for the full fifteen minutes and that should prove that Renan is ready for a shot at the winner of Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz.   Jorgensen should remain a gatekeeper of sorts for the bantamweight division and remains a credible challenge to anyone he faces.

Ed "Short Fuse" Herman (20-8) submitted Clifford Starks (8-1) to a rear naked choke at 1:43 of the second round-   Starks came out aggressively early and actually hurt Herman with some solid overhand rights which seemingly stunned Herman but by the second round Starks became tired and Herman was able to capitalize on it when he took down Starks and applied a rear naked choke for the finish.   This is Herman's third win in a row and although Starks, Tim Credeur and Kyle Noke aren't top of the division fighters, they are UFC credible fighters and finishes over them are definitely worth celebrating.   A rematch with a Demian Maia or Jason MacDonald should be expected in his next fiight for Herman who seems adamant about avenging some of his prior defeats.  

Prelim Fights

Dustin Poirier (12-1) submitted Max Holloway (4-1) to an harmbar at 3:23 of the first round

Matthew Riddle (5-3) defeated Henry Martinez (4-1) by split decision

Edwin Figueroa (9-1) defeated Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres (6-5) by split decsion

Matt Brown (13-11) knocked out Chris "C-Murder" Cope (5-3) at 1:19 of the second round

Rafael "Sapo" Natal (14-3-1) defeated Michael "Judo" Kuiper (11-1) by unanimous decision

Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson (6-0) knocked out Daniel "The Anvil" Stittgen (7-2) at 4:13 of the first round

Upcoming shows

UFC 144 from Saitama, Japan- February 26th, 2012

UFC Lightweight Title- Frank "The Answer" Edgar (14-1) vs Ben Henderson (14-2)

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (32-9) vs Ryan "Darth" Bader (12-2)

Cheick Kongo (17-6-2) vs Mark Hunt (7-7)

Jake Shields (26-6-1) vs Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama" (13-4)

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis (14-2) vs Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon (21-6)

Tie Quan "The Mongolian Wolf" Zhang (15-2) vs Issei Tamura (6-2)

Yushin Okami (26-6) vs Tim Boetsch (14-4)

Takanori "Fireball Kid" Gomi (32-8) vs Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7-2)

Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2) vs Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski (36-14)

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (18-5) vs Vaughan Lee (11-7-1)

Takeya Mizugaki (15-6-2) vs Chris "Kamikaze" Cariaso (11-3)

Riki Fukuda (17-5) vs Steve Cantwell (7-5)

Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey from Columbus, Ohio- March 3rd, 2012

Strikeforce Womens Bantamweight Title- Meisha Tate (12-2) vs "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey (4-0)

Gegard Mouusasi (32-3-2) vs Mike "Mak" Kyle (19-8-1)

Paul "Semtex" Daley (29-11-2) vs Kazuo Misaki (24-11-2)

KJ Noons (11-4) vs Josh "The Punk" Thomson (18-4)

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (14-3) vs Derek Brunson (9-0)

Caros "The Future" Fodor (7-1) vs Pat "Bam Bam" Healy (26-16)

Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith (17-9) vs Lumumba Sayers (5-2)

Sarah Kaufman (14-1) vs Alexis Davis (11-4)

Conor Heun (9-4) vs Ryan Couture (3-1)

UFC on FX 2 from Sydney, Australia- March 4th, 2012

Thiago "Pitbull" Alves (19-8) vs Martin "Hitman" Kampmann (17-5)

Joseph Benavidez (15-2) vs Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6)

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson (9-2) vs Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall (11-2)

Costa Phillipou (9-2) vs Court "The Crusher" McGee (14-1)

Aaron Rosa (17-4) vs James Te Huna (13-5)

Cole Miller (18-5) vs Steve "Super" Siler (19-9)

Anthony "TJ" Waldburger (14-6) vs Jake Hecht (11-2)

Jared Hamman (13-4) vs Kyle "KO" Noke (19-5)

Nick Penner (11-1) vs Anthony "The Hippo" Perosh (12-6)

Shawn "The Savage" Jordan (12-3) vs Oli Thompson (9-2)

Mackens Semerzier (6-3) vs Daniel "The Pit" Pineda (16-7)

Kyle "KO" Noke (19-5) vs Andrew Craig (6-0)

UFC on FUEL 2 from Stockholm, Sweden- April 14th, 2012

Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson (12-1) vs Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira (20-5)

Brian Stann (11-4) vs Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara (15-8)

Paulo Thiago (14-3) vs Siyar Bahadurzada

Damarques Johnson (13-9) vs John Mcguire (17-3)

Brad "One Punch" Pickett (20-6) vs Damacio Page (15-6)

Papy "Makembo" Abedi (8-1) vs James Head (7-2)

Georges "The Last Viking" Kruth (5-0) vs Cyrille "Snake" Diabate (17-8-1)

Francis “Limitless” Carmont (17-7) vs Magnus Cedenbald (10-3)

Simeon “The Grin” Thoresen (16-2-1) vs Besam Yousef (6-0)

Hamid "Akira" Corassani (9-3) vs Jason "Shotgun" Young (8-5)

Dennis Siver (19-8) vs Diego "The Gun" Nunes (17-2)

UFC 145 from Atlanta, Georgia- April 21st, 2012

UFC Lightheavyweight Title- Jon "Bones" Jones (15-1) vs "Sugar" Rashad Evans (17-1-1)

Rory "Ares" MacDonald (12-1) vs Che Mills (14-4)

Travis Browne (12-0-1) vs Chad "The Gravedigger" Griggs (11-1)

Mark Bocek (10-4) vs Matt Wiman (14-6)

Brendan Schaub (8-2) vs Ben Rothwell (31-8)

Michael "Mayday" McDonald (14-1) vs Miguel Torres (40-4)

Mark Hominick (20-10) vs Eddie "The Phillipino Phenom" Yagin (15-5-1)

Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson (6-0) vs Matt "The Immortal" Brown (12-11)

Mac Danzig (20-9-1) vs Efrain Escudero (18-4)

Maximo "Maxi" Blanco (8-3-1) vs Marcus "The Bama Beast" Brimage (4-1)

John "The Bull" Makdessi (9-1) vs Anthony Njokuani (14-5)

Chris "The Menace" Clements (10-4) vs Keith "The Polish Connection" Wisnieski (28-13-1)

UFC On FOX 3 from New Jersey- May 5th, 2012

Jim Miller (20-3) vs Nate Diaz (15-7)

Lavar Johnson (16-5) vs Pat Barry (6-4)

Dennis "Superman" Halman (51-14-2) vs Tony "Cucuy" Ferguson (13-3)

John "The Magician" Dodson (12-5) vs Darren Uyenoyama (7-3)

Karlos "The Terminator" Vemola (8-2) vs Mike Massenzio (13-6)

John Lineker (19-5) vs Louis "Goodnight" Gaudinout (5-2)

John Hathaway (16-1) vs Pascal "Panzer" Krauss (10-0)

Danny "Last Call" Castillo (13-4) vs John Cholish (8-1)

UFC On FX from Fairfax, Virginia- May 15th, 2012

Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone (17-4) vs Yves Edwards (41-16-1)

Thiago Silva (14-2) vs Igor Pokrajac (24-8)

Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald (25-15) vs "Filthy" Tom Lawlor (7-4)

Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier (11-1) vs "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung (12-3)

Jorge "Lil Monster" Lopez (11-2) vs Amir Sadollah (5-3)

Aaron Riley (30-13) vs Cody "Big Time" McKenzie (12-2)

Dongi "The OX" Yang (10-2) vs Brad Tavares (7-1)

UFC 146 from Las Vegas, Nevada- May 26th, 2012

UFC Heavyweight Title- Junior Dos Santos (14-1) vs "The Demolition Man" Alistair Overeem (36-11)

UFC 147 from Sao Paulo, Brazil- June 2nd, 2012

UFC Middleweight Title- Anderson "The Spider" Silva (31-4) vs Chael Sonnen (26-11-1)

Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (21-9) vs Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (34-11-1)

UFC 148 from Las Vegas, Nevada- July 7th, 2012

UFC Bantamweight Title- Dominick Cruz (18-1) vs "The California Kid" Urijah Faber (25-5)