MMA
Recap of UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin, Breakdown of TUF Finale and Predictions for Strikeforce: Los Angeles
By Kevin Wallace
Jun 16, 2010 - 11:15 AM

Saturday was perhaps one of the biggest UFC events of the year and although there were no titles at stake and the card wasn't exactly stacked with "names", this event was main evented with two of the biggest and most well known stars in UFC history going at.   When all was said and done, this ended up being one of the better shows of the year and the end of The Iceman.

UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin Recap

Rich "Ace" Franklin knocked out "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell at 4:55 of the first round in a must win fight for Chuck.   Liddell came into the cage looking in better shape then he has in many of his past appearances sporting more of a six pack then the pudgy belly were used too.   Chuck was looking for the knockout right from the beginning and was able to hit Rich with some great shots early and even got Franklin to the ground.   Rich was able to keep it competitive and landed some good punches to Liddell who held his hands lower then usual.   Liddell landed a kick to Rich's arm that ended up breaking it.   Sensing that Franklin was in trouble, Chuck pounced a little too early and was met with a right hand straight to his jaw that dropped him.   Rich followed it up with a couple more punches as the referee stopped the fight.   Chuck was in rough shape following the knockout and unable to even attend the post fight press conference.  Rich stated that it was a bittersweet victory considering that Chuck is a friend and he doesn't want to be remembered as the guy to finish Chuck's career.   Its doubtful Chuck will fight again and Dana has even stated that he will never return to fighting.   This is a little disappointing considering I would still love to see Chuck vs Tito 3 but I really don't think this is going to happen at this point, even with a season of TUF building towards it.   Rich Franklin was awarded an additional $85 000 for knockout of the night and if Anderson Silva does move up to lightheavyweight following his fight with Chael Sonnen, it may be best for Franklin to take another run at middleweight, of course following his recovery from a broken arm.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic submitted Pat Barry at 4:28 of the third round due to a rear naked choke.   Barry took the fight to Cro Cop early on and was even able to drop Mirko twice in the first round with punches but could not capitalize on either opportunities.   Barry broke both his right hand and right leg in the first round and showed the kind of heart he has as he continued to fight.   As the fight continued into the second and third rounds, Barry began to fade a little and Cro Cop was able to get Barry to the ground on a couple of occasions and with less then a minute left in the fight, sunk in a rear naked choke to which Pat tapped out.   Had this one gone to a decision I’m not sure who would have been given the nod as Cro Cop seemed to win the final two rounds but was floored twice in the first, a round that definitely went to Barry.   Good thing Cro Cop didn't leave it for the judges to decide and took it into his own hands to make sure he was victorious.   Post fight, Cro Cop addressed the fans in attendance and even did the same in Croatian to the few in the arena.   Cro Cop also asked for a Fight of the Night or Submission of the night bonus to which he was awarded for his rear naked choke with a bonus of $85 000.   Cro Cop's contract is now up with the UFC and I think we'll be seeing him inside the octagon again before the end of the year.   Despite a shaky start in the UFC, Cro Cop has now won two in a row and hopefully a fight with Ben Rothwell that was to happen earlier this year, does get rescheduled soon.   Barry always gives his all and puts on great fights but really needs to work on his ground game as there are many who could expose him.   Some time to recover from those broken bones will be taken by Barry as expected.

Evan Dunham defeated Tyson Griffin by split decision in a fairly one sided fight that really shouldn't have been given the split decision outcome.   Dunham was able to take Tyson's back in all three rounds and avoid all of Tyson's takedown attempts.   Typical Tyson Griffin fight here with the fight being entertaining and going to a decision.   Dunham looked real good in this fight and even took a couple good shots in the third round that would have made some men crumble.   Dunham will surely continue his climb up the lightweight division following this win and I don't think the loss will hurt Griffin all that much as he's still one of the top five or six lightweights in the UFC.

Martin "Hitman" Kampmann defeated Paulo Thiago by unanimous decision in a solid little scrap that lacked fireworks but was still pretty good.   What was real impressive in this fight was the way Kampmann was able to avoid standing for any long periods of time and get Thiago to the ground which is where many including myself, felt Paulo would have the advantage.   Instead Martin was able to keep Paulo down on the ground and avoid any submissions Paulo attempted from his back.   When the fight was on the feet, Paulo had a terrible time getting Martin to the ground as Kampann's takedown defense was fantastic.   Kampmann made rather easy work of Paulo who has only ever been defeated by Jon Fitch and holds stoppage victories over Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick.   This victory should find Kampmann back in title contention and a win or two away from a shot at GSP.

Carlos Condit defeated Rory MacDonald at 4:53 of the third round in one hell of a comeback.   McDonald seemed to overwhelm Condit early with takedowns and ground control and when the fight was left standing Rory seemed to be a little quicker in finding his range.   This fight went all over the cage and at the end of the second round, both men hit double big boots to one another's faces.   Rory was able to win the first two rounds but as is often the case of Condit, the Natural Born Killer was able to come out for the third round with guns blazing.   Condit got the fight to the ground and pounded Rory's face with punches and elbows that seemingly broke Rory's orbital bone.   Finally, with only seven seconds remaining in the fight, the referee stepped in to stop the fight when Rory was unable to defend himself.   I’ve heard some people complain about the stoppage but I felt it was fair as Rory was unable to do really anything for the last few minutes and looked to be in real rough.   This fight won "Fight of the Night" honors and both were given an additional $85 000 for their efforts.

Ben Rothwell defeated Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel by unanimous decision in a fight that looked much better on paper then actually having to sit through it.   Rothwell came out for the first round and hit Yvel with a flurry before taking him down and doing very little while on top of Yvel.   There were a couple times throughout the fight where Yvel seemed to have Rothwell in trouble an even came close to finishing him in the second round.   Yvel shot in for a takedown at the beginning of the third round but was gassed and couldn't get Rothwell down.   Yvel's takedown defense is nearly non existent and following this performance I wouldn’t doubt it if he is released.   I think many watching this one were hoping for a brutal slugfest but unfortunately we got a fairly one sided lay and pray.   After the fight, Rothwell said he was disappointed with his performance and will improve in his next fight.

Matt Wiman defeated Mac Danzig by submission at 1:45 of the first round in a controversial stoppage.   Both men were on the ground when Wiman was able to sink a guillotine and put Danzig on his back.   Danzig was saving his energy to break out when the opportunity came but referee Yves Lavigne believed Danzig was out which he wasn't.   Danzig protested the stoppage as did many in the audience as well as Joe Rogan.   This was to be a "Loser leaves" fight but due to the circumstances, I'm sure they book a rematch and we see this one again in the next couple months.   This was a real shame too as Danzig looked great in the early stages of the fight, something he hasn't been as of late.   Danzig was very respectful of Wiman even with the loss and asked for a rematch to which Wiman agreed.

In Other Fights

James Wilks vs Peter Sobotta-   Wilks by unanimous decision

Jesse Lennox vs Mike "Quicksand" Pyle-   Pyle by submission to a triangle choke at 4:44 of the third round

Mario Miranda vs David "The Crow" Loiseau-   Miranda by tko at 4:07 of the second round

Claude Patrick vs Ricardo Funch-   Claude Patrick by submission to a guillotine choke at 1:48 of the second round

Breakdown of TUF Finale

"The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine vs Matt "The Hammer" Hammil -   Pretty good main event that could possibly be Jardine's last fight in the UFC with a loss.   The Dean of Mean seems to be slowing down at this point in his career with three losses in a row in the form of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Thiago Silva and most recently Ryan Bader.   Normally three losses in a row spells the end of your run in the UFC but for Jardine I guess things are different.   The man goes in and gives his all in every one of his fights and often times is victorious in fights he's expected to lose such as his wins over Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin.   Jardine trains with Greg Jackson's camp and has terrific training partners such as GSP, Rashad Evans and Nate Marquardt and theirs no doubt that he's been training well in the wrestling department since that's exactly what he'll need to brush up on if he's going to try and beat Matt Hammill.   The Hammer has been pretty successful in the UFC and although he was dominated against Jon Jones, he was awarded the victory when Jones threw some illegal elbows.   It was later revealed that Matt had suffered a separated shoulder during the fight.   Hammill seems more and more comfortable standing as of late but I don't think he has the power to knockout Jardine or the combinations needed to keep Jardine in trouble.   I see Matt taking this regardless but only if he resorts back to his season three of TUF style of laying and praying for fifteen minutes.   I hope for a back and forth standup war but I don't think Matt's dumb enough to test his luck.

Prediction:   Matt Hammil by unanimous decision

Aaron Simpson vs "Crippler" Chris Leben - The Crippler's days of dominating low caliber opponents are long over and Leben is finding himself in a position he's been able to avoid for a long time, possibly being dropped from the UFC with a loss here.   Leben has lost two of his last three fights, a decision to Michael Bisping and submission loss to Jake Rosholt and his most recent fight was a unanimous decision victory in a fairly uneventful fight between himself and Jay Silva.   Aaron Simpson has looked pretty good so far in the UFC with all three appearances being victories.   Simpson has defeated Tim McKenzie, Ed Herman and Tom Lawlor and Leben should be just another TUF victim.   Simpson trains with CB Dollaway and Ryan Bader and his wrestling is top notch.   Aaron may not have the hands that Leben does but he is capable of knocking people out, although, most likely not Leben who has a great chin.   Simpson should be able to keep Leben on his back for 15 minutes and grind out a decision here.

Prediction:   Aaron Simpson by unanimous decision

Spencer "The King" Fisher vs Dennis Siver-   This will most likely be the best fight on the show.   Siver got off to a rough start in the UFC but won three in a row until running into Ross Pearson.   Siver looks to continue the step up in competition to take on The King.   Spencer Fisher is best known for his several Ric Flair impersonations as well as putting on entertaining fights.   Fisher has some great wrestling and is definitely a finisher who will most likely use his superior wrestling to keep it standing while he wears down Siver until he wants to get the fight to the ground.   Siver has the ability to submit Fisher but I think The King has more tools to work with in this one.

Prediction:   Spencer Fisher by submission

Kris McCray vs Court McGee -   I don't really think many people had these two in mind as possible finalists for this season of TUF.   Both men have made the best of the second chances that they've been given on the show and this is the first finale where two men who were defeated in early rounds, have made it to the finals.   Court has looked real good all season long and lost a close decision to Nick Ring that probably should have been given a third round while McCray was defeated by Josh Bryant and later avenged that loss in the semi final.   McCray really seems to have taken some of the techniques given to him during the show, and put them into practice in his fights and will continue to evolve with great coaching but I do believe McGee to be superior on the feet and on the ground.   This should be a good fight and both men deserve to be here but to be honest, I don’t know how either will be able to become successful in the UFC's middleweight division as McCray would most likely be defeated soundly by almost anyone and Court would need to drastically improve his standup to be a threat to people like Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt and Wanderlei Silva.  

Prediction:   Court McGee by unanimous decision

In Other Fights

Travis Browne vs James McSweeney- Prediction:   McSweeney by tko

John Gunderson vs Mark "Boots" Holst- Prediction: Gunderson by submission

Seth Baczynski vs Brad Tavares-   Prediction:   Tavares by decision

Chris Camozzi vs James Hammortree- Prediction: Camozzi by decision

Rich Attonito vs Jamie Yager- Prediction: Bryant by decision

Josh Bryant vs Kyle Noke- Prediction: Noke by submission

Preview of Strikeforce: Los Angeles

Strikeforce is holding a random weekday event on Wednesday, being main evented by an intriguing main event of "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler vs Renato "Babalu" Sobral at a catch weight of 195lbs.   Let's have a look at that fight and a couple other's on the card.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler -   Big stakes in this one as it looks like the winner will be taking on Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship if Jake Shields does decide to leave for the UFC which is almost definite.   Babalu is making the drop to middleweight to take this fight as he's been waiting eagerly for a fight at lightheavyweight that never materialized for several months.   Babalu has been in the cage with some of the top names in MMA such as Fedor, Chuck Liddell, Shogun, Gegard Moussasi and many others and has a fantastic set of submissions on the ground.   "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler has recovered from the vicious leg kicks and beat down he survived and later won against Melvin Manhoef and is hoping to end this convincingly on the feet.   Can Babalu be knocked out by Lawler?   Yes.   Can Lawler be submitted by Babalu?   Absolutely!   Therefore this fight is going to come down to who is first to implement their game plan.   Babalu is not bad on his feet but with a drop in weight, comes a drop in power and faster opponents.   I feel confident that Babalu can get this to the ground and have his way with Lawler but I always seem to pick against Lawler and lose more often then not. Hopefully this isn't the case this time but a fast knockout victory for Lawler really wouldn't surprise me either.

Prediction:   Renato "Babalu" Sobral by submission

Marius Zaromski vs Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos -   This one has WAR written all over it.   Both men have some brutal hands and suspect chin's so this one's going to come down to who lands their punch on the button the quickest.   Zaromski’s' had been on a tear in Japan until running into Nick Diaz who was able to tko Zaromski's in the first round but the truth of the matter is that it was Nick Diaz and he's one of the best in the world.   No harm in a loss like that and I think a fight with Mr. Cyborg is a good way for Zaromski to show everyone watching what he's got and Cyborg should play into the fight Marius wants.   Cyborg trains with Wanerlei Silva and is new to cutting down to welterweight and I don't think this will help him any as although he's quick at middleweight, he's nowhere near as quick as Marius.   Should be a terrific fight and most likely end up being knockout of the night.

Prediction:   Marius Zaromski by tko

Tim Kennedy vs Trevor Prangley -   Two of the best lightheavyweight's in Strikeforce who aren't really known by anyone, competing for a chance to hopefully make their way to a title fight at some point.   Prangley has been in the cage with some of the best in Chael Sonnen, Babalu, Travis Lutter, Jeremy Horn and Jorge Santiago and was even victorious over Sonnen and Lutter.   Prangley is very well rounded with a good submission game.   Tim Kennedy has nowhere near the amount of fights as Prangley but has taken on top level competition and his only losses are to Scott Smith and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, two good fighters who also happen to be under the Strikeforce banner.   I think Prangley is too experienced to loose this and should be able to control Kennedy wherever he chooses the fight to go.   This could be a fun little slugfest here.

Prediction:   Prangley by unanimous decision

Conor Heun vs KJ Noons -   At one point, KJ was considered by many to be one of the best young prospects in MMA but after a loss to Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennet, many questioned if he was as good as they thought he was.   Noons was able to come back and win three fights in a row including one due to a cut over Nick Diaz but decided to take almost two years off until coming back to MMA.   In Noon's last fight, he was able to win a decision over Andre Amado in a fight he didn’t look all that great in.   Noon's has terrific takedown defense and heavy hands while Conor Heun is primarily a submission artist.   I think the old KJ can win this wherever it goes but I think it's going to take a couple more fights for him to find his groove and this should be one of those.

Prediction:   KJ Noons by unanimous decision

Upcoming Event

WEC 49 from Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada- June 20th, 2010

Jamie "The Worm" Varner vs Kamal Shalorus

Josh Grispi vs LC Davis

Chris Horodecki vs Ed Ratcliff

Mark "The Machine" Hominick vs Yves Jabouin

Will Capuzano vs Eddie Wineland

Wagnney Fabiano vs Frank Gomez

Karen Darabedyan vs Will Kerr

Diego Nunes vs Rafael Assuncao

Strikeforce and M-1 from HP Pavillion in San Jose, California- June 26th, 2010

Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum

Cung Le vs Scott Smith

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs Jan "Cuddles" Finney

Josh "The Punk" Thomson vs Patrick "Bamm Bamm" Healy

Joe Warren vs Patricio "Pitbull" Friere

Bryan Baker vs Alexander Shlemenko

UFC 116 from MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada- July 3rd, 2010

UFC Heavyweight Title Fight- Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin

Wanderlei Silva vs Yoshiro "Sexyama" Akiyama

Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof "The Polish Experiment" Soszynski

Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino vs George Sotiropoulous

Chris "Lights Out" Lytle vs "The Immortal" Matt Brown

Goran Reljic vs Kendall "Da Spyda" Grove

Brendan Schaub vs Chris Tuchscherer

Karlos "The Terminator" Vemola vs Jon Madsen

Seth Petruzelli vs Ricardo Romero

Daniel Roberts vs Julio Paulino

Dave Branch vs Gerald Harris

Dream 15 from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan- July 10th, 2010

Shinya Aoki vs Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri

UFC on Versus 2 from Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah- August 1st, 2010

Jon Jones vs Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson vs Takanori Gomi

Jim Miller vs Gleison Tibau

Jake Ellenberger vs John "Doomsday" Howard

Yushin Okami vs Mark Munoz

Matt Riddle vs Damarques Johnson

James Irvin vs Igor Pokrajac

Brian Stann vs Mike Massenzio

Rob Kimmons vs Steve "The Hooligan" Steinbeiss

Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann vs Paul Kelly

Darren Elkins vs Charles Oliveira

Thiago Tavares vs Williamy "Chiquerim" Freire

UFC 117 from Oracle Arena in Oakland, California- August 7th, 2010

UFC Middleweight Title Fight- Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs Chael Sonnen

"Big Country" Roy Nelson vs Junior Dos Santos

Jon Fitch vs Thiago "Pitbull" Alves

Ricardo Almeida vs Matt Hughes

Thiago Silva vs Tim Boetsch

Clay "The Carpenter" Guida vs Raphael Dos Anjos

"Killa B" Ben Saunders vs Dennis "Superman" Hallman

Rick Story vs Dustin Hazelett

Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman vs Johny Hendricks

Stefan Struve vs Christian Morecraft

WEC 50 from Las Vegas, Nevada- August 18th, 2010

Bantaweight Championship Fight- Dominic Cruz vs Joe Benavidez

Urijah "California Kid" Faber vs Takeya Mizugaki

Anthony Pettis vs Shane Roller

Bart "Bartimus" Palazewski vs Zachary Micklewright

UFC 118 from Boston, Mass.- August 28th, 2010

UFC Lightweight Title Fight- Frank "The Answer" Edgar vs BJ Penn

Kenny "Ken Flo"Florian vs Gray Maynard

James Toney vs "The Natural" Randy Couture

Nate "The Great" Marquardt vs Roussimar Palhares

Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon vs Terry Etim

Marcus Davis vs Nate Diaz

Alessio Sakara vs Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera

Amilcar Alves vs Mike Pierce

Andre Winner vs Nick "The Carnie" Lentz

Greg Soto vs Nick Osipczak

Phil "New York Badass" Baroni vs John Salter

Rodney Wallace vs Stanislav Nedkov

Fight Night- September 15th, 2010

Gleison Tibau vs Jim Miller

Alan "The Talent" Belcher vs Demian Maia

Cole Miller vs Ross Pearson

UFC 119- From Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana- September 25th, 2010

Jeremy "Lil Heathen" Stevens vs Melvin Guillard

Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran vs Matt Mittrione

That's all for this week everyone but I'll be back again next week with a recap of Strikeforce: Los Angeles, UFC: Fight Night, Rundown of WEC 49 and Strikeforce/M-1: Fedor vs Werdum.