Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My favorite MMA fights: Carano vs. Cyborg

My favorite MMA fights: Carano vs. Cyborg


Gina "Conviction" Carano vs. Chris "Cyborg" Santos
for the Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Championship

Date of fight: August 15 2009

Outcome: Santos wins via referee stoppage 4:59 in the first round



While Strikeforce may have been late in the MMA game, they certainly made history almost one year ago by having the first main event between two female fighters, who were regarded the best women fighters in the world at the time.

Both Carano and Santos coming out strong right out of the first round, each throwing furious punches and take downs, with Santos pounding Carano's face during the closing seconds of the round.  The fight ended in dramatic fashion, with the referee stopping the fight at the last second, declaring Santos the winner.

Santos has had two successful title defense since the fight, while Carano has stayed away from the limelight, staring in a couple of movies.

In addition to propelling Santos career, this fight also helped women's MMA become more legit, allowing more female competitors to come and fight for promotion and for the fans.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

UFC 116 predictions

UFC 116 predictions


Heavyweight Championship bout
Brock Lesnar (champion) vs Shane Carwin (interm champion)


Winner: Carwin via KO


Although my gut tells me that this fight should last longer, I think Carwin will continue the streak of ending his fights by knock out in the first round.  That doesn’t mean Lesnar has no chance.  If he can get through the first round, then perhaps he can make the fight go his way.


Middleweight bout
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben


Winner: Akiyama via Unaminous decision


Akiyama has the better fight record than Leben, and although Leben is coming fresh (less than three weeks) off of a win from the Ultimate Fighter 11 finale, his body may not be up to healing from that last fight.


Welterweight bout
Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown


Winner: Lytle via Split Decision.  


Lytle has won his last two fights and he’s accumilated three Fight of the Night honors in his last four matches.  In my opinion, the Welterweight division has some of the best fighters and this should be a great contest.


Light Heavyweight bout
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar


Winner: Soszynski by submission


Bonnar may be looking for revenge against “The Polish Experiment”, but he’s also coming in with a three fight losing streak.  I think Soszynski will end this quickly.


Lightweight bout
George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino


Winner: Sotiropolulos by submission


Sotiropoluos has yet to lose in the UFC, but I don’t think he’s going to lose tonight.  Most of his wins have been by submission and that’s how I think he’s going to win tonight.


Heavyweight bout
Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer


Winner: Schaub by Unanimous decision


Despite losing to Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter 10 finale, Schaub is still looking strong and may rise to be a heavyweight contender.  Tonight he is making his UFC pay per view debut, and while he’s going to try and get a quick win, Tuchsherer has the experience to make it a long fight for “The Hybrid”.


Light Heavyweight bout
Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero


Winner: Petruzelli via TKO


Pertuzelli has been away from the limelight since his highly publicized win over Kimbo Slice over a year ago.  After racking up wins in BAMMA and Art of Fighting 4: Damage, Petruzelli is making his return to the UFC against Romero, who is also making his UFC debut.  “The Silverback” has the experience to win this fight fast.


Middleweight bout
Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic


Winner: Grove by TKO


Grove is a veteran in the Octagon and lengthy time in the UFC gives him an advantage over Reljic.


Middleweight bout
Gerald Harris vs. Dave Branch


Winner: Harris by Unanimous Decision


Harris has a longer record than Branch and knows how to get it done in the cage.


Welterweight bout
Daniel Roberts vs. Forrest Petz


Winner: Roberts via Submission


Although Petz has more experience, Roberts is a renowned grappler who could easily force “The Meat Cleaver” to tap in the center of the Octagon.


Heavyweight bout
Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola


Winner: Madsen via Unanimous decision


Both men have less than 10 fights under their belts, but Vemola is going into this fight with a baby on the brain.  According to TSN.com, Vemola’s wife is expected to go into labor (or may have already) on the night of his UFC debut.  



Although this event is lacking huge names, it features a diverse set of fights, both in the prelim main cards.  What is intriguing about this card, other than Vemola’s baby being born, is that Lesnar will make his return to the ring after battling an illness that almost ended his MMA career.  He faces an undefeated fighter, who has made his career by knocking guys out in the first round.  

I've come to respect Lesnar in the past several months, but with Fedor's loss last week, even the most dominant fighters can fall pray to a well placed submission, or a accurately placed punch.