DAN HARDY’S SWEET GSP IMPRESSION
March 11, 2010 by Matt
Dan Hardy is a funny cat. An acquired taste perhaps? Maybe. He seems to be growing on me. Here he does a pretty spot-on impression of GSP.
MARCH MADNESS, MMA STYLE
March 2, 2010 by Matt
The NCAA tourney will not be the only madness to engulf the sports world in March. There will be 5 MMA major events within 25 days, giving new meaning to March coming in like a lion. Here’s a look at what’s coming up.
3.6 WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz
An excellent card to kick off the month. Brian Bowles defends his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. We also get the returns of Miguel Torres, who takes on the explosive Joseph Benavidez, and Jens Pulver. The always exciting Scott Jorgensen is also on the card, as well as impressive WEC newcomer Karen Darabedyan.
3.21 UFC on Versus 1
The UFC makes its first appearance on Versus and the card is spectacular. Jon Jones is one of the most dynamic fighters in all of MMA and he will take on Brandon Vera. The most under-appreciated fighter in MMA is also on the card: Junior Dos Santos. Dos Santos will fight Gabriel Gonzaga and needs a win to get closer to a title fight. Also on the card is fan-favorite Clay Guida, as well as a solid heavyweight matchup between Cheick Kongo and Paul Buentello.
3.26 Strikeforce Challengers 7
Where else would you get to see George Bush fight? Not that one, but the heavyweight fighter will take on Ron Humphrey. 2 of the most beautiful — and ferocious — female fighters will do battle at this event, as Miesha Tate brawls with Zoila Frausto. Andre Galvao is back from DREAM to take on Strikeforce veteran Luke Stewart. And Lavar “Big” Johnson will take on Lolohea Mahe.
3.27 UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy
The Return of GSP against the brash, talented Dan Hardy for the UFC welterweight belt is the main event on this card. But the co-main event of Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin for the interim heavyweight belt may be an even better fight. Two other top welterweights will go at it in Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves, and the exciting Ben Saunders will take on M-1, IFL and Bellator vet Jake Ellenberger.
3.31 UFC Fight Night 21
Just days after 2 title bouts, the UFC is back with another edition of “Fight Night” on Spike. Kenny Florian gets to take on Takanori Gomi in his UFC debut. Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson will battle Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve, an interesting battle of wrestler vs. Jiu-Jtsu. Lightweight Ultimate Fighter winner Ross Pearson gets Dennis Siver, and Nate Quarry and Jorge Rivera will slug it out.
2009 MMA FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
December 27, 2009 by Matt
There are a lot of big names being nominated for MMA Fighter of the Year, but in the end, I think it’s a fairly easy call. I made my decision based on a few factors: quantity of fights, quality of opponents, type of fights (title bouts weigh more) and overall dominance. First, the runners-up…
B.J. Penn
No fighter looked more dominant than “The Prodigy” did in his wins against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. But Penn was throttled soundly by GSP back in January.
Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor fought only twice and won both times. He beat Arlovski and Rogers, but it’s not enough for FOY.
Gegard Mousasi
Mousasi will get a lot of mentions for FOY, but his 2008 was actually more impressive than his 2009. He beat Mark Hunt, who was on a 4-fight losing streak. He needed just one minute to KO Babalu. And he finished the year with a TKO win over Sokoudjou here in Chicago.
Anderson Silva
“The Spider” probably was the most bored fighter of the year. The Forrest Griffin fight was nonsense and Thales Leites is no longer in the UFC. The UFC needs to challenge him more in 2010.
Georges St. Pierre
GSP dominated B.J. Penn and Thiago Alves, but it’s not enough for the FOY.
Lyoto Machida
Machida beat Thiago Silva, then Rashad Evans for the LHW belt. But it is the opinion of many that Shogun Rua should be the champion after their UFC 104 fight. I agree. So I can’t give Machida FOY.
There’s just one man left that could be the “FOY”. Read more
BJ PENN THINKS GSP DOES STEROIDS
August 6, 2009 by Matt
This isn’t exactly what BJ Penn needed with a title fight right around the corner. A huge uproar has just begun over inflammatory comments Penn made during an interview with Kevin Iole of Yahoo. Penn said he believes Georges St. Pierre uses steroids.
Penn said he believes St. Pierre uses steroids, though he concedes he has no proof. St. Pierre is arguably the sport’s most popular fighter and Penn knows that making such allegations isn’t going to win him any friends.
Penn, though, isn’t the type to be shy about offering his opinion though it may be unpopular.
“It’s just my opinion that he uses steroids,” Penn said. “That’s it. My opinion. I do believe it. I can’t hand you any proof, but that’s my opinion.”
In an earlier conversation on the topic, Penn said, “In my opinion, he doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to steroids and growth hormones and that stuff. Look at him. He’s the worst. He looks like that every day. That’s cheating. There is a reason why there are rules against using steroids. The rest of us, we get fat, then we train and get skinny and the cycle goes over and over again. He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”
B.J. then added these 2 video responses at his website.
B.J. seems like he’s trying to be apologetic. But how can he make those comments and then say that he didn’t know Iole would make the article about that? He just accused GSP of roiding, based on his “opinion”. Of course Iole is going to jump on that. Those are harsh accusations.
GEORGES ST. PIERRE GATORADE COMMERCIAL
Here is the new commercial from Gatorade featuring Georges St. Pierre. I’m kind of surprised they did not show his face more in the spot.
UFC 100 LESNAR AND ST. PIERRE POST-FIGHT
Georges St. Pierre and Brock Lesnar — the defending champions — meet the press after UFC 100.
THIAGO ALVES UFC 100 INTERVIEW
Local MMA announcer Ray Flores caught up with the Pitbull for an excellent interview.
VIDEO: FELICE HERRIG’S UFC 100 PREVIEW
July 7, 2009 by searstapper
UFC 100 is expected to garner a lot of mainstream media attention this weekend. It will be a huge event with two title fights and the showdown between the coaches from TUF U.S.A vs. U.K. MMA fans are obviously outspoken about who will actually come away victorious. The “L’il Bulldog” Felice Herrig shares her thoughts on what she thinks will happen on fight night.
THE TOP 100 UFC FIGHTERS
June 9, 2009 by Matt
With UFC 100 coming up soon, our friends at Keyboard Kimura are compiling a list of the top 100 fighters in UFC history. This is a monumental undertaking. They are not just naming 100, they are actually ranking them too. So head on over there and post your picks in the comments, or do it here since he is a Chicago’s MMA reader.
You’ll start finding out who the top 100 of all-time are on July 1st. Then they’ll deliver 10 a day until they unveil #1 on July 10, the day before UFC 100.
I’m going to go ahead and throw some names out there. And it’s not as easy as you think. Some fighters — like Cro Cop — have been very successful in Pride but not in the UFC. Here we go, in no particular order… Read more
ODDS AGAINST SERRA AT UFC 98
A betting line does not always tell the whole story. We know that the amount of bets placed on a particular team or combatant can swing the line one way or the other.
But with about 2 weeks left before UFC 98, Matt Serra remains a huge underdog in his fight against Matt Hughes. Read more
