#ufc 144

[cafecomporrada]

Mark Hunt vs Cheick Kongo no UFC 144, em fevereiro de 2012.

[fightlifemedia]

Mano E Mano UFC 144 Picks

[mr-john-steele]

Well looks like my Sunday turned into me watching a rerun of UFC 144

[mgmaz]

Cotton Candy Matchmaking:UFC 144 edition

UFC 144 had quiet a few upsets according to the odds makers with 7 of the 12 winners being underdogs. Some of their wins weren't pretty but a win is a win and now its time to move on and think of whats next. Ben Henderson v Anthony Pettis II/Frankie Edgar

Bendo and Pettis put on a absolute classic to close out the WEC, which saw Pettis win the belt after landing the "Showtime kick".Even though Pettis was the one "guarnteed" a title shot to unifiy the belts it is now Henderson who sits atop the lightweight mountain. A rematch between these two would be entertaining and be a solid headliner for a FOX card or co-mainevent on a strong major PPV. For the past two years Frankie Edgar has known nothing but rematches. That's exactly what he would continue to know if the UFC dose an immediate rematch. Call for it though isn't as strong as win he fought Maynard or BJ Penn though and even with it being a close fight the mood seems to be for new fights not sequels. Frankie Edgar v loser of Diaz/Miller or a move to featherweight The call for the now former champion to drop 10lbs hasn't exactly been a quiet or subtle one. Now with this loss calls for him to drop will certainly be louder. Still this man was a champion for a reason and could still beat the majority of top 10 fighters in either division. Taking on the loser of Diaz Miller would be a logical progression if he were to stay at lightweight. If he were to make a drop to featherweight perhaps the loser or winner even of  Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung. Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Shogun II/Machida II

Rampage just hasn't looked like Rampage since the A-Team movie.Now if he wants to go make movies that is his prerogative but when you expected to fight you can't show up like he did last night.A rematch with Shogun is a fight Rampage has asked for before and would keep two of the more well known top 10 fighters away from the stream of contendership for awhile. The same would go for a Machida rematch which was a controversial split decision victory for him. Ryan Bader vs winner of Nogueira vs. Gustafsson If Alexander Gustafsson wins against Lil Nog he is going to need at least another win before people take him as a serious title challenger. Ryan Bader has proven to be a capable top 10 fighter who can test Gustafsson in the wrestling department and see how much he has improved since losing to Phil Davis. Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve Its 2012 and Mark Hunt has a legitimate claim to being a top 15 heavyweight. Besides the freakshow nature of the bout Struve could force Hunt to shore up his grappling shortcomings. Cheick Kongo vs loser of Barry Johnson That's another wining streak snapped by a fighter with decent hands and better skill. For Kongo its back to being the gatekeeper and fighting the loser of Barry Johnson should reaffirm that. While those three fighters all seem destined for gatekeeper status all of them offer different twists to test prospects. The idea of a Kongo Barry II would also be a surefire action fight to headline or co-headline a FX or Fuel card. Yoshihiro Akiyama CUT Unless he has Steve Cantwell like abilities it seems highly doubtful the judoka sticks around for another fight. Jake Shields vs winner of Alves/Kampmann The welterweight division is in the midst of change as guys like Condit,Ellenberger and Hendricks assert themselves upon the old guard. Shields has already lost in devestating fashion to one of those three so his title odds are long at the moment. But he can still rebuild taking on solid fighters like Alves and Kampmann and build back up. Tim Boetsch vs Chris Weidman

Both fighters are coming off upsetes of former title challangers and while Boetsch victory was less than pretty he still blasted Okamis head to the ceiling of the SSA.A win for either fighter would make them a serious title contender. Yushin Okami vs loser of Stann vs Sakara Okami was winning that fight until Boetsch went all barbarian on him and uppercutted him to death. Still Okami was aggressive and looked fluid with his boxing. No reason he can't continue to improve that aspect while proving to be a worthwhile test for either Stann or Sakara. Hatsu Hioki vs Jose Aldo/winner of Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung Hioki continues to be the #2 featherweight and now that he is in the UFC its about time he challenged Jose Aldo. The former Shooto and Sengoku champion has said though that he wants more high level experience it remains to be seen if the UFC will be so accommodating with Aldos recent decimation of Chad Mendes. If they do however taking on the winner of Poirier Jung would solidify a number one contender. Bart Palaszewski vs loser of Poirier vs Jung Bart was a solid mid level lightweight and should continue to be that at featherweight. A fight with the Korean Zombie would be a fun stand up battle with the same going for a Poirier fight. Anthony Pettis vs Benson Henderson II/winner of Diaz vs Miller See above on why a rematch with the champion would be good. If the UFC doesn't want to do that then a fight with the winner of the UFC on Fox 3 headliner would defiantly be a #1 contenders fight. Joe Lauzon rematch with Melvin Guillard A lot of people discounted Lauzons chances the first time and with Melvin actively calling for a mulligan the fight makes sense with the pairs recent losses. You can Follow me on Twitter @MaZZM

[mgmaz]

UFC 144:UFC entertains Japanese crowd top to bottom

Even if the prospects of Japan being a long term consistent market for the UFC they gave the quiet crowd in the Saitama Super Arena a fantastic night/afternoon of fights. Top to bottom the UFC entertained the at times quiet Japanese crowd. The lack of constant noise from the crowd was noticed by the commentary team during the latter portions of the main event with Joe Rogan comparing it to watching fight while at church.

Tracy Lee / Yahoo! Sports

To close the night Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson fought a full 25 minutes for the lightweight title. The fight was a nip tuck striking battle with Edgar landing quick 2-3 punch combinations while Henderson landed more powerful single strikes. Both fighters threw each other to the mat multiple times but neither fighter was able to really hold his foe down.When the fight did hit the ground though, Henderson got the better of it throwing hard ground and pound and applying two guillotines, both of which seemed certain to end it. They did not and the fight would go to the judges score cards.Benson Henderson looked like he had been for a nice run while the score cards where read while Edgar looked like he had been run into  a wall violently, blood coming out of his nose and his left eye swelling shut. The Marc Ratner appointed judges handed in their decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) all in favor of Benson Henderson.

It took 11 fights but the Pride theme was played in the Saitama Super Arena once again. It was only fitting that it was the walk out music of Quinton Rampage Jackson. Jackson did his normal Rampage style entrance with the howling but people were wondering what had caused Jackson to miss weight by six pounds. Still Rampage looked relatively healthy and ready to fight. Fans wanted the old Rampage instead they were treated to a old Rampage. His counter boxing style was ineffective against Ryan Bader who pushed him against the cage with a little dirty boxing. Rampage looked like his old self when he nearly spiked Bader on his head with a massive slam but any momentum gained was quickly lost as Bader battled back taking the former champion down.  Five minutes later the judges awarded Bader 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 score cards and the biggest win of his career. 

Where Rampage goes from here is uncertain he is only 2-2 in his last 4 but the former champion seems to be on the downside of his career.

If you had told me after Sean McCorkle tapped Mark Hunt out with an armbar in under two minutes that Hunt would go on to win 3 straight fights, with a KO victory over Cheick Kongo, I would have laughed at you. But here we are nearly 3 months into 2012 and Mark Hunt is on a three fight win streak and arguably a top 15 heavyweight.Like Pat Barry, Hunt caught the Frenchman with a counter forcing him to retreat until Hunt caught up to him and put the nails in the coffin. During his post fight interview Hunt made the translators job easy sticking to short answers, quietly satisfied with his work.

After a 1-3 run as a middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama finally made the sensible move down to welterweight to fight guys his own size. Size wasn't the reason the pop star had lost three straight though and it wasn't the reason he lost tonight. He allowed Jake Shields to use light volume strikes to simply keep scoring on him while he only threw one off power shots. The judoka had several nice throws but they didn't lead to any real ground and pound or positional control.Akiyama arguably lost the positional battle with his back being nearly taken twice.All of this lead to him losing his fourth straight fight (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), all in favor of Shields.

Never count a barbarian out. After clearly losing the first two rounds Tim Boetsch came out like a house of fire in the third stunning his opponent, Yushin Okami before ending the fight violently with a series of uppercuts.Boetsch continues took look like a solid mid level middlweight since dropping down to the division.

Hatsu Hioki looked like the Hatsu Hioki hardcore fans expected when he made his UFC debut against George Roop at UFC 137.Slick movement and a relentless top game saw the former Shooto and Sengoku champion victorious with (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) scorecards.In the first and third rounds Hioki used his superior grappling to dominate Bart Palaszewski. You could argue he also won the striking battle that occured in the second round. 

With this victory Hioki stands as the next clear challenger for featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo. After the fight Hioki was quoted as saying he would want more time before he challenged for the title. 

What a weird ride its been for Anthony Pettis since the WEC merged with the UFC. After defeating Benson Henderson he was poised to challenge the winner of Edgar Maynard II but was forced to wait while the pair fought once more. In that time he took a fight against Clay Guida and was out wrestled losing a decision. Now Pettis has rebounded with a pair of victories over Jeremy Stephens and Joe Lauzon.

"Shin to chin" is what Joe Rogan repeated as replays of a headkick thrown by Pettis landed on Joe Lauzon.With this victory he is in the proverbial "mix" according to Dana White.A rematch with Benson Henderson now for the UFC lightweight title would be a enticing fight to put on for fans.

Even with key losses to Japansse stars like Kid Yammamoto, Okami,Akiyama and Rampage Jackson it would be easy to be down with the prospects of Japan becoming a market for major MMA again. The buisness side of things can be ironed out later, for now why not enjoy the entertainment we witnessed over the last 6 hours.

Photo Credit: MMAJunkie You can Follow me on Twitter @MaZZM

[mgmaz]

UFC 144: Ben Henderson defeats Frankie Edgar for UFC title

Even if the prospects of Japan being a long term consistent market for the UFC they gave the quiet crowd in the Saitama Super Arena a fantastic night/afternoon of fights.

Headlining this series of fights was a lightweight title match between defending champion Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.  Edgar opened up with a inside leg kick, which was answered by one from Henderson but it was caught by Edgar forcing the challenger to jump back to the cage, that is until, he unleashed a jumping roundhouse of his own aimed at the champions head. If that didn't give you a idea of what type we were in for than nothing would.  The five round fight was largely a nip tuck striking battle, trading jabs and kicks with takedowns thrown in there. Late in the second after a takedown by Edgar Henderson landed a major upkick, which he later credited to former foe Donald Cerrone. Henderson than pounced on Edgar winning the round in many eyes.The effects of the kick were evident going into the third round along with swelling on Edgars left eye. The pair largely fought in the pocket the majority of the fight with Edgar catching a majority of the kicks thrown by Henderson. Henderson was able to nearly finish the fight in the fourth with a guillotine after a takedown by Edgar but the champion defended leading to a battle for Henderson back. Champion and challenger looked like mirror opposites going into the final round.Henderson was actively jumping around hyping the crowd as the call came for the fifth while, Edgar looked like someone had thrown him into a wall several times.  The fifth was largely the same seeing both fighters trade pot shots and kick until Henderson stunned Edgar with a jumping knee, following it up with another guillotine attempt.It was to little to late as the bell sounded soon after leaving it all in the hands of the three Marc Ratner appointed judges.  The judges handed in their decision of (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) all in favor of Benson Henderson to become the new lightweight champion. 

As usual the jubilant Henderson thanked Christ and his team in his post fight interview. As he left with the title around his waist he stopped to hug his mother, who was ringside for the fight.

Edgar like any defeated foe seemed aloof and down trodden after losing the decision. When Rogan brought up the idea of cutting down to featherweight, something that many have talked about before and after he won the title, the former champion brushed it off giving a wait and see answer.

You can Follow me on Twitter @MaZZM

[mmaweeklynews-blog-blog]

Visit Original Link

MMAWeekly Radio - 3-21-2012

UFC 144′s Ryan Bader stops by to talk about his win over Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson as well as what he’d like to do next in the light heavyweight division.

Also on the show, 2012 NCAA champion wrestler Logan Stieber talks about his win over Jordan Oliver, as well as answering the question about if he has any interest in doing MMA in the future.

The debate in the Sixth Round also features new topics:

• UFC 149 is headed to Calgary with Jose Aldo as the headliner. Who should face Aldo on the card? • Silva vs. Sonnen 2 appears to finally be close to official. Will this be the biggest rematch in UFC history? • UFC going to Canada 6 times in the next 2 years and they are doing a soccer stadium show in Brazil. Bigger market for the UFC…Canada or Brazil? • Better super fight GSP vs. Silva or Silva vs Jon Jones?