UFC 119 and Strikeforce

This past Saturday the UFC brought the Octagon to Indianapolis, Indiana for the first time with UFC 119.  The main event, Cro Cop versus Mir, was 14 minutes of two guys hugging against the fence.  In the final minute, Frank Mir landed a fight-ending knee but by then most people were headed for the exits.  The co-main event, Rogerio Nogueira versus Ryan Bader, was also a strange fight.  No one really landed anything substantial except the short amount of punches Bader landed in the first round.  Nog was winning the stand up for most of the fight but Bader would steal the round with takedowns and wound up with the decision.  The only solid fight, Sherk versus Dunham, was tarnished with a pretty bad judge's decision.  Sherk was able to win the first round with his powerful wrestling and opened up a nasty gash on Dunham's right eyebrow that would leak blood for the rest of the fight.  Dunham utilized his superior striking to pepper Sherk for the final two rounds.  So it was surprising when the judges came back with a split decision for the "Muscle Shark."

To wash the bad taste out of my mouth from UFC 119, Strikeforce announced they will be returning to St. Louis on December 4th.  My brother and I have been at both of the previous St. Louis Strikeforce shows and we are definitely going to be at this one.  There is only one fight that is official so far but it will be an awesome fight.  Renato "Babalu" Sobral will be taking on Dan Henderson in the main event.  I am a huge fan of both fighters and I can't wait to see how the fight plays out.  Tickets went on sale this morning for Strikeforce insiders and the general public can purchase tickets this Friday.  See you at the fights.

Chael fails

Chael Sonnen was only a few minutes away from stunning the MMA world.  For 23 minutes, Chael smothered the champion, Anderson Silva, with his wrestling and ground and pound.  In the 5th and final round of their UFC 117 bout, Anderson threw his legs up and locked in a triangle choke/armbar combination that forced Sonnen to tapout.  Silva escaped back to Brazil with his title and Chael was left with nothing but heartbreak and thoughts of "what if?"

Sonnen moments before tapping out.

Unfortunately for Chael, when it rains it pours.  According to George Dodd of the California State Athletic Commission, Sonnen failed his pre-fight drug test for a banned substance.  It is unclear if Chael had a performance-enhancing drug in his system but it is likely since he passed their test for drugs of abuse.  The test for drugs of abuse cover drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and amphetamines.

With the positive test result, Sonnen is looking at a one year suspension and a fine.  This also kills the rematch Sonnen was promised immediately after his loss at UFC 117.  Not only did Chael lose his first shot at Anderson's belt, he now has lost his second shot without even getting into the cage.  The upcoming fight between Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort will now determine who gets the next shot at Anderson Silva and the Middleweight Championship.

It will be interesting to see what Chael had in his system and if he will appeal the suspension.

UFC 118 Aftermath

The effects of UFC 118 are still rippling across the MMA landscape.  With a UFC Lightweight title fight and and a Hall of Fame caliber professional boxer taking on a UFC Hall of Fame member there was plenty to talk about.  On top of these two co-main events there were three other excellent bouts I want to touch on.

The fight between Joe Lauzon and Gabe Ruediger is the first noteworthy fight.  SpikeTV broadcasts two preliminary fights and luckily this fight was the lead in to the pay-per-view.  The first fight that Spike aired was Nik Lentz vs Andre Winner and it was brutal.  15 minutes of Lentz attempting to take Winner down to avoid his striking.  This fight's lack of action could have been the nail in the coffin for anyone on the fence about buying the pay-per-view.  Luckily, Boston's very own Joe Lauzon came through in the second fight of the night with an amazing display of ground work.  After slamming Ruediger to the mat, Lauzon unloaded some vicious punches, causing Gabe to attempt to improve his position.  Lauzon saw it coming and slapped on a fight ending armbar in just over 2 minutes.  Joe gets a much needed win and does it in front of the home crowd.

Gray Maynard versus Kenny Florian was also an important fight.  The winner of this fight would become the #1 contender in the UFC's Lightweight division and would get the title shot against the winner of B.J. Penn vs Frankie Edgar, who would fight later that night.  The bigger and stronger wrestler, as is usually the case, won out in this fight.  Maynard was able to nullify Florian's crisper boxing and muay thai with takedowns.  Florian threatened with submissions off his back in the third round, but by then Maynard had the fight well in hand.  With the win, Maynard sets himself up to fight for the UFC Lightweight title, most likely in December barring any injuries.

The co-main event of the evening saw professional boxing champion, James Toney, try his hand at MMA for the first time against MMA legend, Randy Couture.  The fight went like most people expected.  Couture immediately shot in for a takedown that Toney had no defense for and passed to mount.  Once Couture had the mount secure, he peppered Toney with punches before sinking in a tight arm-triangle choke.  During the post-fight press conference, Dana White informed reporters that this would be the first and only fight for James Toney in the UFC.  Don't feel bad for James though, he made a reported $500,000 for less than four minutes of work.

James Toney dreaming about spending half a million dollars with some help from Randy Couture.

The main event was a rematch from UFC 112 where Frankie Edgar won a razor thin decision to take B.J. Penn's Lightweight title.  This time there was no controversy.  Edgar danced around a flat-footed Penn the entire fight and scored a dominating 50-45 decision on all scorecards.  B.J. is known for his excellent boxing, especially his piston-like jab, but he could not catch up to Edgar's speed, timing, and footwork.  Penn looked absolutely lost during most of the fight.  In between rounds his cornermen were just as bewildered.  Instead of giving technical instructions to help turn the fight around for their fighter, all they could muster was "You've been here before, this is your fight.  He has nothing for you" style pep talks.  With this win, Frankie gets a chance to avenge his only professional loss when he fights #1 contender, Gray Maynard.  Penn sounded like he was on the verge of retiring, but just weeks later he has already signed up to fight former UFC Welterweight champion Matt Hughes in November.

Frankie Edgar dominated B.J. Penn for 5 rounds to retain his Lightweight title.

UFC 118 results:
Frankie Edgar defeats B.J. Penn by Unanimous Decision
Randy Couture defeats James Toney by Submission (arm-triangle choke) in the first round
Demian Mai defeats Mario Miranda by Unanimous Decision
Gray Maynard defeats Kenny Florian by Unanimous Decision
Nate Diaz defeats Marcus Davis by Submission (guillotine choke) in the third round
Joe Lauzon defeats Gabe Ruediger by Submission (armbar) in the first round
Nik Lentz defeats Andre Winner by Unanimous Decision
Dan Miller defeats John Salter by Submission (guillotine choke) in the second round
Greg Soto defeats Nick Osipczak by Unanimous Decision
Mike Pierce defeats Amilcar Alves by Submission (straight armbar) in the third round

Be sure to tune in at 7 p.m. cst to SpikeTV Wednesday, September 15 for another night of fights.  UFC Fight Night 22 will be live from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas with Nate Marquardt versus Rousimar Palhares as the main event.  Following Fight Night 22 on Spike, will be the premiere of the 12th season of the Ultimate Fighter reality show with coaches Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koshceck.  MMA fans are in for a treat.  September has 8 major events still in the pipeline from the UFC, WEC, Dream, and Bellator so enjoy.

The Life of Evan Tanner

This past Wednesday marks the two year anniversary of the death of MMA legend Evan Tanner, one of the most interesting and enigmatic figures in all of sports.

Evan was blessed not only physically but mentally.  His love for reading started as a child and carried over into adulthood, where he would read stacks of philosphy books even while he prepared to step into a cage to fight another human being.  As is the case with most people with immense talents, Evan had personal demons that haunted him, none worse than the lack of relationship he had with his mother, father, and stepfather.  In typical Evan Tanner style he met each and every challenge head on.

In high school Evan, with no previous wrestling experience, tried out for the wrestling team.  He would go on to win back-to-back Texas state wrestling championships his junior and senior years.  Having conquered that challenge he moved to Iowa to attend medical school.  Evan excelled at school and made the dean's list, but before he completed his degree he dropped out of school.  Evan was fighting several personal demons at this time, namely his addiction to alcohol.

For the next several years, Evan traveled the country stopping only when he needed money, usually taking the most physically demanding jobs the town could offer.  Evan's travels led him back to his hometown of Amarillo in 1997 where he saw his first ever mixed martial arts fight and his life would never be the same.

With Evan's past history of wrestling dominance still fresh in everyone's mind, a local promoter approached Tanner about entering a MMA tournament.  Evan accepted this new challenge and dominated the tournament, winning three fights in one night.  Having steamrolled the night's competition in just over five minutes, Evan dedicated himself to learning every nuance of the sport.  He rented VHS tapes of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Gracie family and taught himself.  With his new ground skills he demolished the competition, just like he did years before in every wrestling gym across Texas.

After fighting his way to a 16-1 record, Evan was invited to the UFC where he would go on to win the Middleweight championship.  Even after reaching the pinnacle of the sport, Evan wasn't satisfied.  He wanted his legacy to be something more substantial than just being a famous UFC champion.  When he lost the title he decided he wanted to give underpriviledged young fighters, like he once was, the chance to get top notch MMA training without costing them a dime.  He worked tirelessly to make that dream come true.  Using his fight purse money he bought a place to house his group of fighters and worked on fixing the place up.  Shortly after welcoming his first student to the house they had a falling out and his dream was crushed before it really got off the ground.

With this setback, Evan began drinking again and his life began to take one strange turn after another.  He grew a massive, unruly beard that made him nearly impossible to recognize, bought a boat with no previous boating experience and subsequently sank it, and he began taking dangerous motorcycle trips across desolate stretches of California desert.

Out of the blue he decided that he was done with drinking and decided that the best chance he had to do some good in the world was to use his fame as a UFC fighter.  He was successful in his first UFC comeback fight but would lose his next two.

With his UFC career in jeopardy he decided that he needed some spiritual time to right himself and decided that an adventure into one of the many stretches of California desert was what he needed.  Telling his fans on his blog, “I plan on going so deep into the desert that any failure of my equipment could cost me my life.”

Evan left from his apartment in Palo Verde, California on September 3rd with his motorcycle and carefully planned out survival supplies.  On the 4th of September Evan's water supply had run dry.  Evan planned for this and had satelite maps of a natural spring just five miles from his campsite.  What Evan didn't realize was that the maps he had were outdated.  The natural spring he expected to find was now a dry creek bed.  With the mercury hovering around 115 degrees he decided to take shelter under a small tree until the sun went down and he would walk the five miles back to camp.  Unfortunately Evan never made it back.  His body was found by the search and rescue crews just over a mile away from his camp.

The world lost an extremely caring, intelligent, and generous person the day Evan Tanner passed away and I hope that his resiliency in the face of daunting challenges will never be forgotten.  The forthcoming documentary "Once I was a Champion" should hopefully give voice to the causes Evan championed during his life.