Tag: Matt Hughes (Page 3 of 3)

UFC 112 Preview & Predictions

The UFC hosts UFC 112: Invincible this Saturday at 1PM ET from Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. as the promotion makes a trip to the Middle East for an outdoor event. Here is a look at the card, which features two title fights, and my picks for the main card bouts.

UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (25-4) vs. Demian Maia (12-1)
Silva is arguably the best fighter in the world in any weight class and Maia might be the best submission fighter in the UFC today. This style matchup has led to some boring fights for Silva in the past as the grapplers have avoided striking with him at all costs, but something tells me Maia knows he will have to mix it up. Should Maia get the fight to the ground, he can win, but likely Silva is going to knock him out first. Look for the champ to retain with a either a first round TKO or a boring five round decision.

UFC Lightweight Championship: B.J. Penn (15-5-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (11-1)
I truly feel that Edgar has the right fighting style to beat Penn, he simply lack the physical size needed to execute his plan. Edgar has the quickness to hang with Penn and the wrestling ability needed to win, but his size is not big enough to get Penn to the ground. Edgar will have to push a tremendous pace in order to really get Penn to slow down enough to be effective with his wrestling, and even if he can, we don’t know what kind of conditioning he has or what kind of damage he will have to take. Edgar is a tough guy that will give Penn some problems, but ultimately Penn will get the win by choke in round three.

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Top 10 Significant UFC Fights

With UFC 100 a week away on July 11, I decided to look back at what got the UFC to this point. Here is my take on what I believe are the 10 most significant fights in UFC history, helping the company become what it is today.

1. Stephan Bonner vs. Forrest Griffin – Ultimate Fighter Finale 1: This fight was not only the most memorable fight to watch, but may also be the fight that really pushed the UFC into the next level of mainstream popularity. Following the debut season of The Ultimate Fighter, a show which UFC President Dana White and co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta funded out of their own pocket, the finale took place live on Spike TV, which was airing live fights for the first time in the history of cable television. The UFC knew it needed something big to happen to not only keep a cable television deal, but earn future advertisers, and also prolong its reality show for future seasons. Bonner vs. Griffin delivered just that. The two fought to the very end and both were so even, it was impossible to decide a clear winner for most fans. The fight at one point drew 10 million viewers, which was just what the UFC needed. The back-and-forth, non-stopped action gave the UFC an identity to fans that had never seen it before and got the ball rolling that has allowed the UFC to snowball into what it is today.

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Friday MMA Review 5/29

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– Last Saturday at UFC 98, Lyoto Machida buried the last of his “boring” image by knocking out Rashad Evans in the second round and stealing his light-heavyweight title. We wondered if Machida and Anderson Silva had switched bodies, and if Machida’s recent dominance means the light-heavyweight division is no longer “stacked.”

– Instead of taking an immediate shot at Machida’s shiny new belt, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has agreed to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Rashad Evans; Machida will make his first defense against Mauricio Rua.

– Speaking of TUF, Wednesday’s episode featured Team U.S. evening the score to 4-4 heading into the semi-finals, as the toothless Frank Lester got a callback as an alternate and outlasted Team U.K.’s “best guy.”

– You may think you’re a badass, but don’t bring that attitude into Xtreme Couture or your ass will get “greenlighted.”

– After a four-year absence, radio host/t-shirt designer/occasional fighter Frank Trigg is heading back to the Octagon. Is a reunion fight with Matt Hughes in the works?

Gina Carano is a little doll, and we stared at MMA fighter Miesha Tate’s booty for a while.

– DREAM.9 featured the sad MMA debut of Jose Canseco, and a middleweight championship main event that ended with blood and chaos. You can watch some videos here and here.

MMA Fighter Profile: BJ Penn

BJ Penn
Nickname: The Prodigy
Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 155/170
MMA Record: 14-4-1
UFC Record: 13-3-1
Fighting Style: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

“Baby” Jay Dee Penn was born in Kailua, Hawaii and has been fighting out of Hilo at BJ Penn MMA. He is a world champion jiu jitsu competitor, and was the first American to win the World Jiu Jitsu Championship at a black belt level in Brazil. After this victory, the UFC approached him about entering the organization.

The fighting prodigy started out with knockouts of Din Thomas and Caol Uno, both well-respected fighters. He fought Jens Pulver for the UFC Lightweight title, but lost by decision. He would fight Uno once more, drawing again to miss out on the belt. After the UFC stopped the Lightweight division, Penn moved up to 170 to face Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. He submitted Hughes via a rear naked choke in the first round in a massive upset, earning him his first UFC title.

Contract issues and other organizations caused the UFC to strip Penn of the belt, but he would reconcile and return to face Georges St. Pierre. Even though he lost against St. Pierre and his rematch with Matt Hughes, he continued on, deciding to drop back 155, which was a more suitable and natural weight class.

Penn dominated everyone the UFC threw at him in the 155-weight class, and by doing so he earned his rematch against St. Pierre. If successful, he’ll be the only person to have two UFC titles at the same time.

On January 31st Penn vs St. Pierre 2 will show just how good the prodigy is and if he’s successful, it’ll prove he can fight in two separate weight classes as a champion.

–Written By TSR Contributor John Duke

MMA Fighters Profile: Georges St. Pierre

Georges St. Pierre
Nickname: Rush, GSP
Height: 5’10
Weight: 170
MMA Record: 17-2
UFC Record: 13-2
Fighting Style: Kyokushin, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Georges began his training in Kyokushin karate to help deal with bullies at school. He did this until the age of 16, when his sensei died and he was forced to try something else. This is when he began to wrestle and take jiu jitsu with many of his fellow Canadian counterparts. St. Pierre has trained with many top fighters and coaches in his young career, recently making the move to train in New Mexico at Greg Jackson’s camp. He now trains with other top MMA fighters including UFC Light heavyweight Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine and Nate Marquardt.

GSP began his UFC career winning against Karo Parisyan and Jay Herion. Those victories earned him a shot at the vacant welterweight UFC belt. He eventually lost to Matt Hughes via an arm bar at 4.59 of the first round. He would later say that his loss to Hughes was the best learning experience of his career.

Pierre rebounded to defeat a who’s who list of UFC fighters including Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. At this point he was the number one contender at 170 and again would fight Matt Hughes for the title, which Hughes held for almost five years. St. Pierre would run through Hughes and take the title in dominating fashion.

Although he eventually lost the belt to Matt Serra in a huge upset, GSP walked through other top fighters such as Josh Koscheck, as well as Matt Hughes for the third time. He again earned a shot to fight Serra to regain his welterweight championship.

Georges currently holds the UFC welterweight title after successfully defending it against John Fitch.
He is currently regarded as the top 170-fighter in the world and considered one of the top 3 pound-for-pound fighters in all of MMA. St. Pierre will defend his belt at UFC 94 against Hawaiian jiu jitsu specialist BJ Penn on Saturday, January 31.

–Written By TSR Contributor John Duke

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