What’s up everyone?   It’s been a little while since my last column and on a quick side note, I went to my first Indy wrestling show in about 10 years last night here in Ottawa as C4 returned to the Knight of Columbus Hall for a show that had everything right with what wrestling should be.   A hot crowd, good talent with the likes of El Generico and Kevin Steen and reasonable prices made me realize why I still dig this stuff.   I hope to return in May for their next show and encourage all who have the opportunity to check these shows out as it’s a break from the usual crap we see on television.   Anyways let’s get down to some MMA.

UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velasquez

The UFC continued it’s trend of underwhelming cards for 2010 with UFC 110 taking place on February 20^th and marking their first card in Australia.   Days before the event was to start a fight between Elvis Sinosic and Chris Hasseman was pulled from the card due to a shoulder injury to Elvis and Cro Cop’s original opponent, Ben Rothwell, was also removed from the event due to an injury.   Lucky for the UFC, Australian’s Anthony Perosh was able to fill in as a late replacement and save one of the advertised match ups.   Would Cro Cop be able to get back to his winning ways?   Would Wanderlei get a much needed victory over Bisping?  Would Cain Velasquez be able to continue to climb the ranks in the Heavyweight division with a victory over Big Nog?   UFC 110 would answer all these questions.

Cain Velasquez defeated Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira by TKO at 2:20 of the 1^st round after dropping Big Nog with a big punch and following it up with some ground and pound until the referee stepped in to call a stop to the action.   Cain showed his improved striking in this one and will most likely face Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight championship if the winner of Carwin/Mir is unable to compete due to an injury which is a strong possibility considering these two heavyweights hit hard and I don’t see either walking away injury free. If Mir or Carwin is able to take on Brock in the next few months then Cain will most likely sit out waiting to challenge the undisputed champion or maybe haveone more fight against the likes of Junior Dos Santos or Gabriel Gonzaga.   Big Nog’s career may be just about over as he has lost two of his last three contests.   Nog was known in PRIDE for being unable to finish but in his last two losses he was knocked down and TKO’d.   Nog is without a doubt one of the few legends of this sport but it may be time to start slowing down and taking a few safer fights against the likes of Ben Rothwell or Pat Barry to reassess where he feels he’s at in this stage of his career.

Wanderlei Silva was awarded a unanimous decision victory over Michael “The Count” Bisping in a close and very competitive scrap.   Bisping was able to win one round but had problems recovering from several of Wanderlei’s flurries of offense to end a couple of the rounds which left him looking rough to fans watching and the judges.   This is a big victory for Wanderlei who really needed this one to keep fighting in the UFC.   It seems that Wanderlei’s next fight will be against Yoshihiro Akiyama while Michael Bisping will be taking on Dan Miller.   I can see both men crossing paths before the end of their careers as a rematch is something I, as well as many others would like to see.

George Sotiropoulous won a unanimous decision over Joe “Daddy” Stevenson in a fight that was given the “Fight of the Night” award.   George used some fantastic takedowns and really had no problems passing Joe’s guard to dominate all three rounds while his hometown crowd cheered him on.   Joe continues to have problems stringing together victories over top competition and this fight didn’t help him any as with another loss he may find himself looking for a new company to work for.   George on the other hand has now been victorious in all five of his fights in the UFC and this is easily the biggest victory of his career.   My belief is that George could become a legitimate threat to BJ’s Lightweight championship with a couple more big victories over top notch competition.  

Ryan Bader defeated “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine by KO at 2:10 of the 3^rd round with a bunch that ended Jardine’s night.   Jardine was keeping this fight close and to some may have been winning the fight but Bader does have some natural power and a developing stand up game and when you mix that with a questionable chin only one will prevail.   Jardine seems to be able to win or stay competitive with some of the most established fighters in MMA such as Chuck Liddel, Rampage Jackson, Brandon Vera and Forrest Griffin others but often times loses to fighters that are below him such as Houston Alexander and Stephan Bonnar.   Jardine has now lost three in a row and four of his last five.   As game of an opponent as Jardine is I think this may be the last of his UFC appearances.   I like Jardine and he seems like a real good natured guy who enjoys fighting and always welcomes tough fights but unfortunately when you lose three of those in a row in the UFC you are usually no longer employed.  

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic defeated Anthony Perosh by doctor’s stoppage at the end of the 2^nd round to a cut to Perosh’s head caused by Mirko.   Lots of respected must be given to Perosh who took this fight on short notice and was in trouble several times by Mirko’s aggressiveness.   At times when the fight was paused to check the cut and ask if he wanted to continue, Perosh said yes, refusing to allow a cut to stop his chances at winning in front of his home fans but the doctor at ringside apparently didn’t agree and ended this one giving Cro Cop a much needed victory.   Regardless of how the contest ended I believe it would have been only a matter of time before Cro Cop would have defeated Perosh as this performances was more similar to the Mirko of old minus the highlight reel highkick knockout.   Mirko is rumoured to be taking on Ben Rothwell who was his original opponent for the event but other sources claim his next contest will be with fellow hard kicker Pat Barry.   Either one of these fights would be good fights.   Anthony Perosh was offered a four fight contract with the UFC following this loss as Im sure his approach and attitude toward taking the fight and the effort he put into it impressed Joe Silva and Dana White.

In Other Fights

Krzysztof Soszynski defeated Stephan Bonnar at 1:04 of the third round after the referee stopped the fight due to a cut impairing Bonnar’s vision

Chris Lytle defeated Brian Foster at 1:41 of the first round by submission to a kneebar

CB Dollawy defeated Goran Reljic by unanimous decision

James Te Huna defeated Igor Pokrajec by TKO at 3:26 of the third round

Chris Lytle was awarded submission of the night while Stevenson/Sotiropolous were awarded fight of the night.

UFC on Versus

Sunday marks the debut of the UFC on Versus and instead of airing some best of fights or a countdown show for UFC 111: St. Pierre vs Hardy they are airing a live fight card.   Some of these fights have lots of potential and if you live in Canada you can catch this live on Sportsnet.

Jon “Bones” Jones vs Brandon “The Truth” Vera-   This should be a terrific main event as both men fight fast and aggressively.   Vera at one time was considered to be one of the best up and comers out there but has fallen on hard times as of late having lost competitive and close fights with Randy Couture and Keith Jardine sandwiched between wins over Krzysztof Soszynski and Michael Patt.   If Vera is to show that he belongs near the top of the lightheavyweight division then he’s going to have to put a stop to the super talented Jones who is coming off his only loss to Matt Hamil, by disqualification which was caused by an illegal blow thrown by Jones.   Jones has some innovative and flashy offense aswell as the ability to take down others with ease and I don’t see him having much trouble with Vera who is still a very talented fighter but perhaps fighting a losing battle.   I see Jones dominating the striking battle and eventually taking down Vera to ground and pound his way to a stoppage.

Prediction:   Jon Jones by tko

Junior Dos Santos vs Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga-   This one should be a war with two hard hitting heavyweights trying to get into the upper echelon of the UFC Heavyweight division.   Dos Santos has yet to taste defeat in the UFC and has been able to finish all of his fights in the UFC which is very impressive considering he’s beaten Stefan Struve, Cro Cop and Gilbert Yvel.   Dos Santos’ bread and butter is his striking but his takedown defense or ground game in general have yet to be tested.   Gonzaga has been hit or miss in the UFC his entire career and will always be best known as the one to brutally knockout Cro Cop with a head kick but he is a Jiu Jitsu black belt with some dangerous submissions.   If Gonzaga wants to stand and bang he’s most likely going to get knocked out but if he takes this fight to the ground I can see him pulling off a submission.   Regardless this one wont be lasting long and will be memorable for sure.   With a victory the winner of this may find themselves a win away from a title shot towards the end of the year.

Prediction:   Junior Dos Santos by tko

Cheick Kongo vs “The Headhunter” Paul Buentello- Another battle of two big heavyweights who are comfortable standing.   Buentello has a good chin and is a good striker but there’s a difference between good striking and world class which is what Kongo has and will use effectively.   Buentello will look like a much smaller guy in comparison to Kongo but is a very tough guy to finish, however I think this is a bad fight for Buentello who will probably find himself with a loss in this one after being unable to take down Kongo and get picked apart with many vicious leg kicks and combinations.

Prediction:   Kongo by ko

Alession Sakara vs James Irvin-   Irvin hasn’t competed in over a year since his 61 second defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva and is extremely one dimensional.   Sakara has won his last two fights seemingly finding himself reborn in the UFC.   Sakara’s ground game should be too much for Irvin if he gets the fight there which may be easier said then done as he’ll have to setup the takedown with some striking.   This one’s a toss up and I’ll go with Sakara but all fights start on the feet so a knockout by Irvin wouldn’t surprise me either.

Prediction:   Sakara by submission

Other Fights

Chase Gormley vs Brendan Schaub- Schaub by unanimous decision

Eliot Marshal vs Vladmir Matyushenko- Marshal by unanimous decision

Clay “The Carpenter” Guida vs Shannon Gugery- Guida by unanimous decision

Eric Schaefer vs Jason Brilz- Schaefer by submission

Daniel Roberts vs John Howard- Howard by unanimous decision

Mike Pierce vs Julio Paulino- Pierce by unanimous decision

Duane “Bang” Ludwig vs Darren Elkins- Ludwig by tko

That’s all for this week but next week I’ll be back for a recap of the Versus show as well as the WEC fro a couple weeks ago and a Breakdown of the biggest Pay Per View of the year in UFC 111:   St. Pierre vs Hardy.   Take care!