Some Exciteing news

So I saw a Tweet from the guys at Fullguradmma.com that this other site was looking for contributors . So wanting to ever expand my fanbase through my hat into the ring and guess what I GOT IN. I am not contributing to FightPro.com and they just posted my article http://www.fightpros.com/archives/122

its about Lesnars return and its implications on the Heavy Div as a whole. I will still be posting here of course I still plan on launching a full blown site with a domain and everything by the summer .

Chael Sonnen and the things he says

Chael Sonnen 23-10 in MMA 2-1 in his current UFC stint if we add his WEC run under the Zuffa banner he is 4-2. Now he has said some pretty well funny things (look for video at the bottom). According to Sherdog.com he is the #6 middleweight

News round up for the week of Jan 15-22

Here is the major news and comeing and goings of the week. Number one is a tad obvious .

Lesnar is back . HE LIVES!!!!!

Guess who is back guys? Done thinking? Thats right Brock Lesnar is back and man am I a happy camper. He showed up on Sports Center on ESPN earlier this morning and looked good he lost 40 lbs though. Current talk is that he will return in the summer . Now Mir Carwin is still set for the Interim strap since what if something goes wrong…again. If Mir Carwin can not fight htough he will get to face the winner of Cain Big Nog at 110. I officially declare THE CURSE IS OVER. Once 109 is gone and done UFC 110 on looks freaking great.

Here is The Sports Center interview.

UFC on VS looks AWESOME

Ok it was announced earlier today that Check Kongo v Paul Buentello would be fighting on this card . That sounds like a nice stand an bang fight if I ever heard one. Lets have a look at what the card looks like overall .

MAIN CARD

• Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera
• Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
• Paul Buentello vs. Cheick Kongo
• John Howard vs. Anthony Johnson
• Shannon Gugerty vs. Clay Guida*

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
• Spencer Fisher vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig
• James Irvin vs. Alessio Sakara*
• Chase Gormley vs. Brendan Schaub*
• Rob Kimmons vs. Mike Pierce*

* – Not officially announced

Man that card looks wonderful barring any unforseen freak accidents. You have Bones Jonse taking a step up in competition with Vera who has good Muay Thai so that should be a fun striking match. I wonder though how gun shy Bones will be Vera is really precise for the most part so would he want to throw volume and bully him but risk leaving himself open? Honestly feel this is a better match up for Vera then Lil Nog at 109.

You have what could be the toughest opponet yet for Junior Dos Santos with his fight wiht Gabe Gonzaga. If he wins this fight I will start to belive the hype more about JDS. Gonzaga is coming off of a bout of staph infection which hopefully wont effect his performance.  I wonder how this will play out will JDS go to the ground and roll with a BJJ black belt or will he strike? I have a feeling he is going to strike with Gonzaga.

You have the newly leaked unoffical match between Kongo and Buentello . I always like watching a Kongo fight where he dosen’t have to worry about take downs should be fun.

Shannon Gugerty is looking like he will be the one who will replace Sean Sherk. This could be fun since Gugerty has described him self as a grappler with 8 of his 12 wins coming by submission. How will Guida react to this style since he seems to be like glue sometimes and sticks to people .

Here is the down side to all of this . ITS ON VERSUS . Now if you have VS good for you , you can do a little happy dance if you wish. For me and the multitude of other people who do not we are instead doing the sad dance. This card looks awesome (right now) so heres to hoeing that the whole Direct TV thing gets figure out and VS is on in other providers as well . So after you follow me on Twitter sub the blog and all that jazz why don’t you email/call you provider and ask for VS.

Bobby Lashley Fight Drama and Strikeforce

Bobby Lashley’s next opponet is still up in the air, well offically at least. Reports have rose that he will fight Jimmy Ambriz (14-12-1) now instead of Yohan Banks (2-1,2-0 in SF).  Hopefully they can get this fight approved or else they won’t have a opponet for Lashley to fight. Now if they don’t get the Flordia Boxing commision to approve it they may put the Herion-Riggs fight on the main card (where it should of been in the first place).

This is all very “Japan-ish” with it being 2 weeks out and still not a complete official card.  It’s also kinda odd for Strikeforce who seems to plan fights way in advance .

Now I am by no means a great lover of Mr. Lashley right now he is still to young in the sport and hasn’t really shown me anything to be that impressed about. His biggest name win so far is Bob Sapp . He has said that he feels ready to fight Fedor or Werdum but would still would like to have 2 or 3 more tune up fights before the step up in competition. That is just a little controdictary since if you feel ready then you are not I do but I want some more fughts thats called not eing ready. He has spunk thats for sure .

This dose also reflect poorly on Strikeforce to a degree. Now Yohan Banks is only 2-1 in MMA so that is 3 total fights which is just 1 less then Lashley. I think his not being approved is more of Florida’s Commission being a dick then anything. The part that reflects badly on Strikeforce is that well they don’t really have anyone on there roster besides Shane Del Rosario (who was rumored to be the original opponent) to fight Lashley so they have to bring in a outside guy. Thats not bad but does show off a lack of depth . Hopefully for all parties involved this matter is fixed since we are only 2 weeks away from Strikeforce Mami which looks to be a great card.

UFC and the art of the Video Package

So was on Twitter (where you can follow me at mikemazzacre) and a Tweet by Mr Joe Rogan pops up. In this tweet he links a Youtube video of a fan made I would assume video package hyping Machida Shogun II in Montreal at UFC 113. Simply put UFC needs MORE OF THIS (yes it deserves caps).

If there is one thing I can say I love about watching old PRIDE tapes is there video packages hyping the fight. It was very showy and you could say Pro Wrestling-esque , even though PRIDE tops anything WWE and TNA have done video package wise in recent memory.

UFC needs to freshen up its media presntation style. Now there hype machine is the best in the world . All there packages though are relativly the same. You have fighter A and B throw in some black and white and hard KO’s and Submission set to hard rock. They are very well bland. The package posted above is very well artsy. I like artsy it is a breath of fresh air. So UFC Dana ZUFFA go fnd this guy and give him a job….not sue him for copyright infringement.

On a side note if they could get some inspiration from DREAM and there posters that would be awesome.  I love the alternate version of GSP BJ II from UFC 94.

BEST INTRO EVER anytime you mix one of the best singers ( I prefer the Andrea Bocelli douet) and my favorite sport you did something right.

If I could book the DREAM Heavy Weight GP

I’m still here Internet/reader/fanbase. It’s been a LONG week for me and I truly feel bad for not updating enough expecially since I am in the final stages of making this  a legit site I own the domain everything. Well here is a article I wrote during the break from my History II class. Its not like thought a provoking expose on the state of MMA or anything but its light and fun .

So With Mousasi saying DREAM is doing a a Light Heavy Weight GP it seems logical that they will do a Heavyweight GP. So the question of the day is who do I think DREAM should try to book for it? I could only come up with 8 which is a good size .

1. Tim Sylvia
2. Allistair Overeem
3. Bob Sapp
4. Josh Barnett
5. Fedor
6. Hong Man Choi
7. Bret Rogers
8. Andre Arlovski

The thought had crossed my man to put Minowa Man in here since he is the SUPER HULK winner but he isn’t a Heavy =(.

1) Tim Sylvia - He gets a lot of heat from the community he may not be the technically most proficent but I like him and he is a name. He was supposed to fight HMC( Hong Man Choi) at Dynamite so why not give him some more work.

2) OVEREEM!! – Well the odds of him coming over to America arn’t good. If we are to get Fedor Overeem it most likely would happen in Japan. Why not keep him there besides Strikeforce could promote him as the like Unified or both DREAM Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion of the world.

3) Bob Sapp — Tim Sylvia has more skill then him. For some reason though he is mad over in Japan like the Hulk Hogan big at one point. Will he win hell no . He could draw somemore casual japanese viewer though.

4) Josh Barnett — He is widly considered one of the top 5 or top 10 Heavyweights in the world. I say he should be DQ since he got caught pissing dirty . Japan dosen’t care though. With him in talks apparently with Strikeforce this could help things out. Strikeforce would be smart to not go for him though , thats a different article though. He would add legitimacy though to the GP.

5) Fedor– Yeah there is no need to go in to detail with him.

6) Hong Man Choi– Why not If they do Super Hulk II he could go there also. Like Sapp though Japan likes him.

7) Brett Rogers — Lending him over to DREAM could be a good thing for both promotions and the fighter. This could strengthin there relationship and also would give Rogers some good competition to fight against. He has good heavy hands and some good boxing to . As long as he dosen’t fight Fedor or Barnett he dosen’t should be ok.

Andre Arlovski – He is a legit Heavyweight. This could help redeem him from his two losses from Rogers and Fedor.

Well thats who I would book for it. Who would you add? Did I miss anyone ?  Hey WAMMA could be a part of it LOL hopefully not

You can follow me on Twitter @mikemazzacre or search Mike Mazzacane

You cna also Find me on Youtube just search MaZZAcresMMA.

Ultimate Fight Night 20 aka the Night of the Dec

Yes i did not do a preview or even a pickems article on this card but i still watched it .  so in the words of Big Jon LETS GET IT ON !!!!!!!!!!

Welterweight Fight: Brad Blackburn (15-9-1, 1NC) vs. Amir Sadollah (3-1)

When breaking down the fight in my head I easily saw this one ending early with Brad catching Amir. I also could see Amir useing his Muyai Thai to keep the distance and get a decision victory.  The later is what happened. This was a big fight for Amir in that would show how he could hang with a guy with a gas tank not the size of Phil Baroni’s , it also would help prove that he belonged in UFC. Well he has gotten me to belive in him and I want to see more of him. Now am i saying he is going to be fighting Fitch or a top 10 guy tomorrow hell no. I do though want to see more of him and see him improve his craft and hopefully get some power. Good fight to open the card with also .

Middleweight Fight: Aaron Simpson (6-0) vs. Tom Lawlor (6-1, 1NC)

This was a close fight. Round 1 in my book was clearly a 10-8 round for Lawlor. Round to was pretty close it could of gone either way if I had to chose a victor in round 2 it would be Simpson but just barley. Round 3 was most definatly Simpson. Now by my scoring its 28-28 it could of gone either way. In the end the judges saw it in the favor of Simpson . I’m not going to rant about this being a huge robbery since it wasn’t. This is my Fight of the Night.

Lightweight Fight: Evan Dunham (9-0) vs. Efrain Escudero (13-0)

Funny story about a min before the fight ends I tweet @mikemazzacre would it kill someone to finish a fight. 1 min late the finish happens.  What a nice suprise that was to.  Dunham came back after getting pretty much controled all of round 1 to dominate in round 2. In round 3 it was once again all Dunham then he takes it to the ground Efrain gives up his back and tries to mount up and BOOM a sick arm bar. He had it bent pretty good to he most likely sprained something Efrain did not look good afterwords. Good fight and Sub of the Night for sure in my book.

Lightweight Fight (Main Event): Nate Diaz (11-4) vs. Gray Maynard (9-0, 1NC)

The thought was that if Maynard won here that he would get a shot at BJ after Edgar ( if there fight at 112 goes down). To help lock it up though he would need to finish Diaz and make a good strong statement. He did not. He out boxed Nate which isn’t that hard . Man I’ve been watching boxing recently and going from that to this WOULD IT KILL NATE and STRUVE TO LEARN TO WORK A JAB? They had such nice reaches. Nate couldn’t really figure out Gray on the feet and Gray by no means was going to let this go to the ground as soon as Nate got close to him he would get away. Good game plan by Gray and Xtreme Couture but overall not such a exciting fight.

Now with Gray having a questionable decision victory. Questionable in that how does that make a statment to Dana UFC and BJ . He has nothing to offer BJ in terms of a fight to say he would be a heavy underdog would be taking it lightly. Same with Edgar but its BJ Penn unless your name is GSP you most likely will be a heavy under dog. Honestly the only two fights that interst me that involve BJ would be a rematch with Gomi and a rematch with Kenny since Kenny has seemed to improve his boxing and had a good game plan in there fight.

Overall not a bad night of fights there is no such thing as a bad night of fights.

Boxing v MMA the eternal struggle Part I

 

 Once again I am back from a rather long lay off . I started my Winter session at RCC and even though I am taking 2 classes (Weight Training and World Civ II 1500-present) my History class is a TON of work . I had to buy 8 books for that 1 class been having to read 5 at once basically. The class is also from 6-9 pm which is when I would normally post and its not like I don’t have content I’ve written like 3 articles just been to tired when I get home. I have found a tool that lets me pre write and then publish at a set time so I will be taking using that for now. Should be back to the regular schedule Monday just in time for UFN 20 =) . Ok enough of how my life sucks on to part 1 of a multi part series I have decided to write about the MMA Boxing “war”

With James Toney seemingly stocking UFC President Dana White the question once again has rised up (not that it died down) of who his the better fighter a Mixed Martial Artist or Boxer ? Well right off the back I would chose the MMA fighter for the sheer diversity of his striking game. More importantly there is a major flaw in that question.  That flaw being what would the rules of engaement be ?

As I said above in a MMA fight I would favor the boxer since the MMA guy would Once again I am back from a rather long lay off . I started my Winter session at RCC and even though I am taking 2 classes (Weight Training and World Civ II 1500-present) my History class is a TON of work . I had to buy 8 books for that 1 class been having to read 5 at once basically. The class is also from 6-9 pm which is when I would normally post and its not like I dont have content I’ve written like 3 articles just been to tierd when I get home. I have found a tool that lets me pre write and then publish at a set time so I will be taking useing that for now. Should be back to the regular schedual Monday just in time for UFN 20 =) . Ok enough of how my life sucks on to part 1 of a multi part series I have decided to write about the MMA Boxing “war”

With James Toney seemingly stocking UFC President Dana White the question once again has risen up (not that it died down) of who his the better fighter a Mixed Martial Artist or Boxer ? Well right off the back I would chose the MMA fighter for the sheer diversity of his striking game. More importantly there is a major flaw in that question.  That flaw being what would the rules of engagement be ?

As I said above in a MMA fight I would favor the boxer since the MMA guy would most likely have some hint of wrestling and basic BJJ so he would simply take him down and submit him someway .  The same rules applies though if this were a boxing match under boxing rules. So what would the rule set be? Would we see some sort of hybrid or a K-1 style match up?

The thought that a Boxer like say a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather could not transition in to MMA is absurd. This isn’t the 90’s you can no longer be just a boxer or just BJJ or judo or whatever monkey karate, now a days you truly have to be a MIXED martial artist. If a wrestler from a college like Rashad Evans or Grey Maynard can make the jump why can’t a boxer? The only thing the boxer will need is time to train. Ironic that there seems to be a thing with wrestlers learning how to strike and falling in love with that and forgetting they can wrestle. I wonder if a boxer ever came over he would pick up wrestling and fall in love with that aspect of the sport.

Well thats Part I . Part II will deal with the current state of Boxing and MMA and what Boxing could learn from MMA . I leave you with a video of a certain boxer taking on a MMA fighter enjoy.

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