On Saturday, February 6^th, UFC 109 took place and with 7 fights ending by decision the crowd and fans watching at home were left disappointed.

Randy Couture defeated Mark Coleman by submission to a rear naked choke at 1:09 of the second round after rocking Coleman several times with some nice boxing.   Randy looked terrific but unfortunately Coleman did not.   Post fight Coleman began swearing at Tito Ortiz who was yelling at Coleman from the crowd following his loss.   This is Randy’s second victory in a row and it seems like Lightheavyweight is the best division for him.

Chael Sonnen won a unanimous decision victory over Nate Marquardt in a huge upset using his superior takedowns to keep Marquardt down and disable him.   Marquardt was able to cut Chael with an elbow to the forehead that became extremely bloody but still survived earning himself the number one contendership to Anderson Silva’s Middleweight championship.   Both fighter won an additional $60 000 for Fight of the Night although that’s being very generous as it was far from it.

Paulo Thiago submitted Mike “Quick” Swick at 1:54 of the 2^nd round to a Brabo Choke following an overhand right that rocked Swick silly.   Thiago is 3-1 in the UFC and a serious contender to GSP’s championship having now defeated two top five UFC welterweights in Josh Koscheck and now Mike Swick.   Swick has now lost two in a row and will more then likely find himself fighting a non contender in his next fight.

Demian Maia defeated Dan Miller by unanimous decision in a boring fight.   Maia showed much improved standup but may have been able to end this sooner if he had tried harder to get Miller to the ground.   Miller is always a game opponent and a tough guy to finish but this one was a disappointment.

Matt Serra TKO’d Frank Trigg at 2:23 of the 1^st round in a stoppage that Trigg disputed but there was no denying once the replay was shown that he was clearly out.   This is Trigg’s second disappointing performance since coming back to the UFC and Serra was able to score an additional $60 000 for the knockout at Trigg’s expense and will most likely look to a rematch with Matt Hughes later in the year.

Mac Danzig won a unanimous decision over Justin Buccholz in another disappointing fight that both needed to impress UFC management with and were both unable to do.

Melvin Guillard won a unanimous decision over Ronys Torres in a fight that probably should have gone to Torres with his repeated takedowns and better positioning but was given to Melvin.   I really need to watch this one again to see if my opinion changes but this was the first televised bout on Spike and set the pace for a fairly boring night of fights.

In Other Fights:

Rob Emerson defeated Phillipe Nover by Unanimous Decision

Phil Davis defeated Brian Stann by Unanimous Decision

Chris Tuchscherer defeated Tim Hague by Majority Decision

Joey Beltran TKO’d Rolles Gracie in the 2^nd round

UFC 110

Saturday is UFC 110:   Nogueira vs Velasquez from Sydney, Australia and these fights look to be pretty competitive.

Antonio Rodrigo “Minatauro” Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez-   Nog came into the UFC with high expectations both from himself, fans and the UFC management but has been slightly underwhelming.   In Nog’s first fight he was more of less knocked out cold by a high kick to the face by Heath Herring who decided to remain standing while giving Nog a chance to recover then edge out the next two rounds for a decision victory.   Nog next faced Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and again was beaten up but managed to pull off a guillotine to tapout Sylvia in the third round.   Nog took on Frank Mir after a season of TUF, pitting both men as coaches against one another.   Nog suffered from a staph infection during his training and wasn’t able to train as hard as he would have liked and Mir made short work of him being the first man to finish Minotauro.   After some time off Nog returned to the octagon and beat Randy Couture by unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night and one of the best in 2009.   Despite not having been all that impressive in his first three fights in the UFC, Nog definitely looks to be back in form and ready for another title run however, in his way is Cain Velasquez who is undefeated in the UFC and one of the best young newcomers in MMA.   Cain defeated Ben Rothwell by TKO in the 2^nd round in his last outing and Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision before that.   Although both men are not Nog, they are tough guys who Cain had no real trouble against.   This fight really is a toss up but I don’t see Nog having the hand speed that Cain does and Cain should be able to takedown Nog and use his ground and pound for three rounds.   Nog is a serious threat from his back but I think Cain will play this fight smart and defeat Nog.   The winner of this fight will possibly face Brock Lesnar if the Winner of Shane Carwin/Frank Mir is medically suspended following their fight which is highly possible.

Prediction:   Cain Velasquez by Unanimous Decision

“The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva vs Michael “The Count” Bisping-   Similar to Nog, Silva has not necessarily been all that impressive with his run in the UFC.   Suffering a brutal knockout to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and decision losses to Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddel, Silva only has one win in his recent stint with the UFC in a knockout of Keith Jardine.   Silva’s aggressive style plays well into a counter punchers gameplan but is often times difficult to deal with.   Michael Bisping has recovered nicely since a knockout of his own at the hands of Dan Henderson, having defeated Dennis Kang by TKO in the 2^nd round.   Bisping showed a very improved ground game against Kang and may need to resort to that in this one.   This fight is another toss up with Bisping being quicker with his hands but Wanderlei with the better knockout power.   One thing that can’t be overlooked is Wanderlei’s conditiong.   Wand has been out for 8 months now recovering from facial surgery and training but his last fight with Franklin was his first at 185 which didn’t go all that well for him.   Wanderlei had trouble making weight for the fight and was visibly gassed leaving himself unable to knockout Franklin and losing to decision.   Although a knockout from both men is possible I think Wanderlei comes in making the weight cut easily and waiting for Bisping to get in his clinch where he floors Bisping and follows it up with repeated hammerfists until the referee steps in.  

Prediction:   Wanderlei Silva by KO

“Big” Ben Rothwell vs Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic-   Sticking with the trend of Pride fighters coming over to the UFC to put on sub par performances, we must take a look at Cro Cop who has won 2 of 5 fights in the UFC.   Cro Cop at one time was considered on of the best fighters in the world but since he received that brutal head kick and knockout from Gabriel Gonzaga, the man hasn’t been the same.   Despite having knockout power in both his hands and feet, Cro Cop has been hesitant to pull the trigger and was picked apart by the aggressive Junior Dos Santos.   This is most likely the last chance for Cro Cop in the UFC and lucky for him, Ben Rothwell should play directly into his gameplan.   Ben Rothwell is a big heavyweight usually weighing in at 265 for his fights.   Rothwell is a good fighter who is overconfident in his punching power.   Rothwell was certainly humbled in his previous fight with Cain Velasquez and will most likely stay standing a little too long with Cro Cop who should be able to slow down Rothwell with some leg kicks and finish him off with some ground and pound.   It`s safe to say that the loser here is done with the UFC.

Prediction:   Cro Cop by TKO

“American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar vs “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski-   Bonnar has looked terrible in his last couple outings, having lost his last two fights to Jon Jones and Mark Coleman and sees himself a loss away from no longer being employed by the UFC.   Krzysztof is a little better then Bonnar in all areas and far more interested in finishing fights than Bonnar, who usually doesn’t set the pace whatsoever.   Krzysztof should be able to ground and pound Bonnar for three rounds here and grind out a decision.

Prediction:   Krzysztof Soszynski by Unanimous Decision

Joe “Daddy” Stevenson vs George Sotiropoulous-   George Sotiropoulous has a lot of pressure on his shoulers in this one as he is fighting in his home country aswell as taking on a top ten lightweight in Joe Stevenson.   George has been on fire in the UFC since making his debut on the 6^th season of TUF, having defeated Billy Miles, Roman Mitichyan, George Roop and Jason Dent in his four fights in the UFC.   George is a ground specialist with slick submissions and he’s going to have to bring his A game when he takes on Joe who is now training with Greg Jackson camp with fighter such as GSP, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt and many more.   Joe has the best guillotine choke in MMA and George is going to need to be careful attempting takedowns that he doesn’t get caught in one.   This should be a very competitive scrap from both men but I like Stevenson’s chances and submission defence.   Joe should be able to take this one by staying calm and avoiding any unnecessary high risks or super aggression.

Prediction:   Joe “Daddy” Stevenson by Unanimous Decision

Other Fights:

Ryan Bader vs Keith Jardine- Ryan Bader by TKO

Goran Reljic vs CB Dollaway- Goran Reljic by Submission

Chris “Light’s Out” Lytle vs Brian Foster-   Chris Lytle by Unanimous Decision

Chris Haseman vs Elvis Sinosic- Haseman by TKO

James Te Huna vs Igor Pokrajac- Te Huna by TKO

Upcoming MMA Cards and Rumoured Matches:

WEC 47 (March 6^th from Columbus, Ohio)

Brian Bowles vs Dominick Cruz

Miguel Torres vs Joe Benavidez

Jens “Little Evil” Pulver vs Javier “Showtime” Vazquez

Diego Nunes vs Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia

LC Davis vs Deividas Taurosevicius

Bendy Casimir vs Ricardo Lamas

Karen Darabedyan vs Bart Palaszewski

Anthony Pettis vs Danny Castillo

Scott Jorgenson vs Chad “The Savage” George

Chad Mendes vs Erik Koch

Courtney Buck vs Fredson Paixao

World Victory Road Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 (March 7^th from Tokyo, Japan)

Jorge Santiago vs Mamed Khalidov

Akihiro Gono vs Diego Gonzalez

Kyung Ho-Kang vs Shigeki Osawa

Henry “Sentoryu” Miller vs Yoshihiro Nakao

Leonardo Santos vs Kiumu Kunioku

UFC Fight Night on Versus (March 21^st from Broomfield, Colorado)

Jon “Bones” Jones vs Brandon “The Truth” Vera

Vladmir Matyushenko vs Eliot Marshall

Duane “Bang” Ludwig vs Spencer “The King” Fisher

Chase Gormley vs Brendan Schaub

“Cigano” Junior Dos Santos vs Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga

Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara vs James “The Sandman” Irvin

Clay “The Carpenter”Guida vs Shannon Gugerty

Rob Kimmons vs Mike Pierce

Cheick Kongo vs Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello

Jason Brilz vs Eric “The Red” Schafer

Daniel Roberts vs John “Doomsday” Howard

Dream 13 (March 22^nd from Yokohama, Japan)

Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes vs Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen

UFC 111 (March 27^th from Newark, New Jersey)

Georges “Rush” St. Pierre vs “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy

Shane Carwin vs Frank Mir

Jon Fitch vs Thiago “Pitbull” Alves

Jim Miller vs Mark Bocek

Ricardo Almeida vs Matt Brown

Rodney Wallace vs Jared Hamman

Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino vs Fabricio “Morango” Camoes

Ricardo Funch vs Matt Riddle

Nate Diaz vs Rory Markham

Tomasz Drwal vs Roussimar Palhares

Ben “Killa B” Saunders vs Jake Ellenberger

UFC Fight Night 21 (March 31^st from North Carolina)

Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve

Nate “The Rock” Quarry vs Jorge “Los Conquistador” Rivera

Yushin Okami vs Lucio Linhares

Andre Winner vs Cole Miller

Dennis Siver vs Ross Pearson

Kenny “Ken Flo” Florian vs Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi

Caol Uno vs Gleison Tibau

Charlie Brennenman vs Jason High

Mario Miranda vs Cerald Harris

UFC 112 (April 10^th from Abu Dhabi)

Anderson “The Sider” Silva vs Demian Maia

Renzo Gracie vs Matt Hughes

“The Prodigy” BJ Penn vs Frank “The Answer” Edgar

Kendal “Da Spyda” Grove vs Mark Munoz

Terry Etim vs Rafael Dos Anjos

Rick Story vs Nick Osipczak

Matt Veach vs Paul Kelly

Jon Madsen vs Mustapha Al- Turk

Alexander “The Mauler” Gutafsson vs Phil Davis

Demarques Johnson vs Brad Blackburn

Paul Taylor vs John Gunderson

WEC 48 (April 24^th from Sacramento, California)

Jose Aldo vs Urijah “The California Kid” Faber

Benson Henderson vs “The Cowboy” Donald Cerrone

Mike Thomas Brown vs Manny Gamburyan

Damicio Page vs Antonio Banuelos

UFC 113 (May 8^th from Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

“The Dragon” Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout vs Jeremy Stephens

Jonathan “The Roadrunner” Goulet vs Marcus Davis

Patrick “The Predator” Cote vs Alan “The Talent” Belcher

TJ Grant vs Johny Hendricks

Kimbo Slice vs Matt Mitrione

Paul “SEMTEX” Daley vs Josh Koscheck

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs Tim Credeur

Cyrille “Snake” Diabate vs Luis Arthur Cane

Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs Michael “The Joker” Guymon

UFC 114 (May 29^th from Las Vegas, Nevada)

“Sugar” Rashad Evans vs Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon vs Efrain Escudero

Todd Duffee vs Mike Russow

John Hathaway vs Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez

Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira vs Forrest Griffin

Aaron Simpson vs “The Crippler” Chris Leben

Jesse Forbes vs Ryan Jensen

Dong Hyun Kim vs Amir Sadollah

Melvin Guillard vs Thiago Tavares

UFC 115 (June 15^th from Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Tito Ortiz vs “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell

Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald

Gilbert Yvel vs Pat Barry

Peter Sobotta vs James Wilks

Tyson Griffin vs Evan Dunham

Rumours. News and Notes From The MMA World

Last week it was reported that Vitor Belfort has been forced to pull out of his scheduled title match with Anderson Silva due to a shoulder injury.   In a perfect world the UFC could have Chael Sonnen move in as Vitor’s replacement but due to the cut on Sonnen’s forehead, he is medically suspended and unable to compete.   A replacement has been chosen in Jui Jitsu master Demian Maia who was victorious in his last bout at UFC 109 over Dan Miller but knocked out by Nate Marquardt in his fight prior to 109.   If Demian was KO’d by Nate then he surely will be at the hands of Anderson but if Maia can pull guard he may be able to pull off a huge upset.   Safe money’s on Anderson and this is still a decent match but this is the second time Vitor vs Anderson has been cancelled due to injuries.   Maybe this is for the best as they say good things come to those who wait and Anderson aswell as Vitor are possibly the two best strikers in MMA history.   I’ll continue to salivate over this one until it finally happens.

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has been forced to pull out of his scheduled fight on March 21^st with John Howard due to a knee injury.   He will be replaced by Daniel Roberts.

Last week the UFC released heavyweight Tim Hague, lightweight Justin Buccholz, heavyweight Rolles Gracie, lightheavyweight Mark Coleman, welterweight Frank Trigg and “The Next Anderson Silva” according to Dana White, lightweight, Phillipe Nover.   Hague went 1-2 in his UFC career and defeated one of the best strikers in the heavyweight division, Pat Barry but suffered a six second knockout to Todd Duffee and a controversial decision loss to Chis Tuchsherer at UFC 109.   Buccholz was 1-4 in the UFC and last lost to Mac Danzig at UFC 109.   Rolles had a terrible performance at 109 against Joey Beltran gassing quickly and getting TKO’d in the 2^nd round.   Mark Coleman also went 1-2 in his last run in the UFC with a victory over Stephan Bonnar and losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Randy Couture at UFC 109.   Coleman’s post fight profanity filled smack talking towards Tito Ortiz probably didn’t help him any either.   Phillipe Nover never lived up to his potential in the UFC going 0-3 with losses to Efrain Escudero, Kyle Bradley and Robert Emerson at UFC 109.   Phillip still has a lot of potential but needs to get a few wins together and work on his takedown defense to get himself back in the UFC.   Frank Trigg went 0-2 in his last UFC run and was knocked out in the first round in both fights in losses to Josh Koscheck and Matt Serra at UFC 109.   Trigg and Coleman will most likely retire or try their luck in Strikeforce.  

Apparently Jose Canseco is looking for an MMA scrap with Herschel Walker.   This would be hilarious and I do hope this happens.   As long as you don’t take things like this serious and neither is going to make a career of this, Strikeforce would probably promote this heavily.   Both men have fought before as Canseco lost to over 7 foot tall Hong Man Choi by TKO in the first round and Walker was victorious in his debut a couple weeks ago at Strikforce.

Rich Franklin vs Randy Couture has been rumoured for the early summer which could be a classic and dream fight for many.

Ken Shamrock is making a return after a lengthy break to take on “Kimbo Killer” Seth Petruzelli with no promotion mentioned by either fighter.   Ken also says he would like to fight his brother Frank which is a fight that has been rumoured for years.   This could happen late this year.

Former Green Ranger from Power Rangers, Jason Frank made his MMA debut a couple weeks ago with a TKO victory in the 2^nd round.

After the war of words between Tito Ortiz and Mark Coleman, a few fighters expressed their anger towards the disrespect shown between the two especially Tito.   Josh Koscheck has mentioned his desire to take on Ortiz despite a two weight division difference.   The two seem to have not liked one another for a fair amount of time now but this fight will most likely never happen.   Paul Daley has posted photo shopped pictures of Josh Koscheck as several characters including a Garbage Pail Kid and says he will present it to Kos at the UFC 113 weigh ins.

That’s it for now everyone and Ill be back with in a few weeks with a recap on UFC 110 and Predictions for UFC’s debut on the Versus network.   Take care.