MMA
Breakdown of UFC 118, Results of WEC 50: Cruz vs Benavidez, Quick Look Back on Strikeforce: Houston, Division Top Ten Rankings and Upcoming Events
By Kevin Wallace
Aug 24, 2010 - 7:06 PM

Results of WEC 50: Cruz vs Benavidez

Bantamweight Championship Fight- Dominick Cruz vs Joe Benavidez- Dominick Cruz by split decision

Anthony Pettis vs Shane Roller- Pettis by submission to a triangle choke at 4:51 of the third round

Bart "Bartimus" Palazewski vs Zachary Micklewright- Palazewski by knockout at 0:31 of the second round

Brad "One Punch" Picket vs Scott Jorgenson- Jorgenson by unanimous decision

Dave Jansen vs Ricardo Lamas- Lamas by unanimous decision

In Other Fights:

Cub Swanson vs Chad Mendes- Mendes by unanimous decision

Javier "Showtime" Vazquez vs Mackens Semerzier- Vazquez by rear naked choke at 1:35 of the second round

Fredson Paixao vs Brian Caraway- Paixao by split decision

Anthony Njokuani vs Maciej "Irokez" Jewtuszko- Jewtuszko by tko at 1:35 of the first round

Dustin Poirier vs Danny Castillo- Castillo by unanimous decision

Quick Look Back on Strikeforce: Houston

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs Rafael Cavalcante- Cavalcante won the Strikeforce Light heavyweight Title by tko at 1:14 of the third round

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Tim Kennedy- Jacare by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce Middleweight Title

KJ Noons vs Jorge Gurgel- Noons by tko at 0:19 of the second round

Bobby Lashley vs Chad "The Gravedigger" Griggs- Griggs by tko at the end of the second round

In Other Fights

Daniel Cormier submitted Jason Riley at 1:02 of the first round due to punches

Andre Galvao defeated Jorge Patino by tko at 2:45 of the third round

Vinicius Magalhaes defeated Rocky Long by unanimous decision

Breakdown of UFC 118

UFC Lightweight Title Fight- Frank "The Answer" Edgar vs BJ Penn- This is a real tough fight to call right here. Edgar out worked and out pointed Penn in their last fight for five rounds to get the victory and as much as I originally thought that it was an upset that would go a different way in the next one, I think Edgar takes this one again. Penn didn't look all that good against Edgar and once again his conditioning was questioned. Penn seemed more content with standing and landing counter punches then taking the fight to the ground. I guess it really depends on which BJ shows up. If the BJ that fought and lost to Edgar returns then he's in trouble but if a more aggressive BJ comes out then he should have the ability to beat Edgar wherever the fight goes. Edgar is a tough dude with good wrestling, boxing and movement and if Penn is going to win this he's going to have to hurt Edgar early. Landing a big uppercut that knocks down Edgar is something Penn should be looking for as there's no questioning BJ's killer instinct as he’ll more then likely follow it up with punches until the referee steps in. As good as Penn's submissions are, Edgar has a good defensive game that will probably keep him out of trouble. Tough call here but I'm going with Edgar the same way he did last time.

Prediction: Edgar by unanimous decision

Kenny "Ken Flo" Florian vs Gray Maynard- Gray Maynard may be the best, if not one of the best wrestlers at lightweight in the UFC and a win over Ken Flo may put him in a title fight with the winner of Edgar and Penn. Maynard is undefeated since debuting in the UFC and even has a victory over the current champion, Edgar. Although his wrestling is very good, Gray hasn't really shown that great of a striking game and it's still unclear as to whether or not he can defend himself off his back and this fight should answer a few of these questions. Kenny Florian has been in the cage with some top notch competitors in BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk and has good skills on the feet and on his back. What will most likely come in to play here is Kenny's takedown defense which is pretty good and for his sake, hopefully able to stop Gray. The smart bet would be to go with Gray to win in his usual unanimous decision victory but he's had a good amount of time off since his last fight and Kenny is the type of guy that finds ways to win. If the fight stays on the feet Florian should be able to pick apart Maynard with kicks and elbows in the clinch and if it does get to the ground, I think Kenny is too aggressive with his submissions for Gray to want to keep the fight down there for too long. Very close fight on paper but I'll go with Ken Flo.

Prediction: Florian by unanimous decision

James Toney vs "The Natural" Randy Couture- Yes, Randy Couture is 47 years old but you really couldn’t find a better representative of the sport of MMA than "The Natural". James Toney has been a successful and pretty dominant boxing champion throughout his career and has been training for MMA for close to a year, unfortunately that’s not nearly the time needed to be considered a top tier fighter. I'm not going to waste my time here over thinking things but Randy will be able to get him to the ground whether he takes it with a single leg, double leg or just getting him against the cage. I’m confident that Toney will hate being on his back and Randy should be able to grab on to an arm or choke him out. Regardless, Randy should take this fight nine times out of ten. Toney does have a chance here although it's a very slim one but the safe bet would be Randy.

Prediction: Couture by submission

Demian Maia vs Mario Miranda- I have a feeling that Miranda is being looked at as an easy fight for Maia and a way for him to get back on track with a victory but Miranda isn't the type of fighter to take lightly. Miranda is 1-1 in the UFC and 10-1 overall with his only coming at the hands of Gerald Harris by tko. Since that loss, Miranda dismantled David Loiseau due to strikes and hopes to do the same to Maia. To do that, Miranda is going to have to slow his pace down a little and hope to keep the fight standing as long as possible as he has a distinct advantage. Miranda is a quick starter and a hard hitter and has the ability to take Maia apart but if the fight gets to the ground Maia should make quick work of him. I see Maia getting Miranda to the ground by either pulling guard or being dropped with a shot and Miranda following him to the ground. If the fight gets to the mat then this one's all Maia's but if it stays standing, Miranda should be able to take this one.

Prediction: Maia by submission

Marcus Davis vs Nate Diaz- A loss here for Davis will more then likely spell the end of his run in the UFC and fighting in his hometown or not really wont come in to play here. Diaz has looked pretty good so far at welterweight having finished Rory Markham in his last outing. Diaz will enjoy a reach advantage here as well as a big ground game advantage. If this fight goes as Davis is hoping then it will stay standing but Diaz isn't exactly a pushover on the feet and with his reach and unique style he will most likely hold his own there. If and when the fight gets to the ground, Diaz will most likely be able to find a way to submit Marcus. Regardless of the outcome this will more then likely be Fight of the Night.

Prediction: Diaz by submission

In Other Fights:

Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon vs "Godzilla" Gabe Ruediger: Prediction- Lauzon by submission

Gerald Harris vs Joe Vedepo: Prediction- Harris by tko

Amilcar Alves vs Mike Pierce: Prediction- Pierce by unanimous decision

Andre Winner vs Nick "The Carnie" Lentz: Prediction- Winner by tko

Greg Soto vs Nick Osipczak: Prediction- Osipczak by unanimous decision

Dan Miller vs John Salter: Prediction- Miller by submission

Division Top Ten's

Like everything I write, these are all my own opinions and we're all entitled to our own. I thought I would list a top ten for each division as I see it and I'll try to keep it as a regular thing for future columns.

Lightweight Division

1. Frank Edgar

2. BJ Penn

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. Kenny Florian

5. Benson Henderson

6. Shinya Aoki

7. Gray Maynard

8. George Sotiropolous

9. Evan Dunham

10. Jim Miller

Welterweight Division

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Jon Fitch

3. Josh Koscheck

4. Nick Diaz

5. Thiago Alves

6. Martin Kampmann

7. Dan Hardy

8. Paulo Thiago

9. Jake Shields

10. John Hathaway

Middleweight Division

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chael Sonnen

3. Jake Shields

4. Yushin Okami

5. Jacare

6. Nate Marquardt

7. Demian Maia

8. Robbie Lawler

9. Wanderlei Silva

10. Chris Leben

Light heavyweight Division

1. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

2. Lyoto Machida

3. Rashad Evans

4. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

5. Forrest Griffin

6. Jon "Bones" Jones

7. Rafael Cavalcante

8. "King Mo" Muhammed Lawal

9. Thiago Silva

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Heavyweight Division

1. Brock Lesnar

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Fedor Emelianenko

4. Cain Velasquez

5. Shane Carwin

6. Junior Dos Santos

7. Alistair Overeem

8. Frank Mir

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

10. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

Pound for Pound Rankings

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Anderson Silva

3. Jake Shields

4. Jose Aldo

5. Fedor Emelianenko

6. BJ Penn

7. Gilbert Melendez

8.Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

9. Frank Edgar

10. Benson Henderson

Upcoming Events

Shark Fights 13 from Amarillo, Texas- September 11th, 2010

"The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine vs Trevor Prangley

Rameau Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjou vs Houston Alexander

Drew "The Massacre" McFedries vs Joey "Dreasmasher" Villasenor

Karen Darabedyan vs Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks

Douglas Evans vs Ronnie Mann

Aaron Rosa vs Dave "Pee Wee" Herman

Eric "Bighead" Davila vs Pete "Secret Weapon" Spratt

Paul Daley vs Jorge Masvidal

Johnny Rees vs Paul Bradley

Fight Night- September 15th, 2010

Nate "The Great" Marquardt vs Roussimar Palhares

Gleison Tibau vs Jim Miller

Cole Miller vs Ross Pearson

Mac Danzig vs Matt Wiman

Kyle Kingsbury vs Jared Hamman

Yves Edwards vs John Gunderson

David "Daudi" Mitchell vs Anthony "TJ" Waldburger

Rich Attonito vs Rafael "Sapo" Natal

Brian Foster vs Forrest "Meat Clever" Petz

Dave Branch vs Tomasz Drwal

Efrain Escudero vs Charles Oliviera

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

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Frank Mir

Ryan Bader vs Antonio "Lil Nog" Nogueira

Matt "The Terror" Serra vs Chris "Light's Out" Lytle

Jeremy "Lil Heathen" Stevens vs Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard

Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran vs Matt Mittrione

CB Dollaway vs Joe Doerkson

TJ Grant vs Julio Paulino

Evan Dunham vs Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk

Mark Hunt vs Sean McCorkle

Thiago Tavares vs Pat "Awesomely Awesome" Audinwood

Waylon Lowe vs Steve Lopez

WEC 51 from Colorado- September 30th, 2010

Jose Aldo vs Manny Gamburyan

"The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung vs George Roop

Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs Mark "The Machine" Hominick

Miguel Torres vs Charlie Valencia

Mike Thomas Brown vs Cole Province

Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone vs Jamie "The Worm" Varner

Chris Horodecki vs Ed Ratcliff

Chad "Savage" George vs Antonio Banuelos

Zhang "The Mongolian Wolf" Tie- Quan vs Alex Karalexis

UFC 120- From The UK- October 16th, 2010

Michael "The Count" Bisping vs Yoshiro "Sexyama" Akiyama

Carlos Condit vs Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy

Cheick Kongo vs Travis Browne

John Hathaway vs Mike "Quicksand" Pyle

Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson vs Cyrille "Snake" Diabate

Claude Patrick vs James Wilks

Rob Broughton vs Vinicus "Spartan" Kappke

Curt Warburton vs Spencer "The King" Fisher

James McSweeney vs Tom Blackledge

Steve Cantwell vs Stanislav Nedkov

Paul Sass vs Mark Holst

UFC 121- From The Honda Center in Anaheim, California- October 23rd, 2010

UFC Heavyweight Championship- Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez

Matt Hamill vs Tito Ortiz

Jake Shields vs Martin "Hitman" Kampmann

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Brendan Schaub

Patrick "The Predator" Cote vs "Filthy" Tom Lawlor

Jon Madsen vs Todd Duffee

Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout vs Paul Taylor

Court "The Crusher" McGee vs Ryan Jensen

Chris Camozzi vs Dongi Yang

Daniel Roberts vs Michael "The Joker" Guymon

UFC 122- From Oberhausen, Germany- November 13th, 2010

Krzysztof Soszynski vs Goran Reljic

Amir Sadollah vs Peter Sobotta

UFC 123- November 20th, 2010

Lyoto Machida vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Rory MacDonald vs Matt Brown