Hindsight: UFC Fight Nights: Marquardt vs. Te Huna & Swanson vs. Stephens in retrospect

Normalcy returns, or at least my version of normalcy. Essentially, I’m back eating bagels in my underwear and watching fights live (more or less). And watching fights live means Monday Hindsight articles. It’s been a long month to get back here and my fight picking has suffered appropriately. New Zealand was a bit of a tough card for me, I hoped for some things that didn’t happen, I expected some things that didn’t come together. The San Antonio card was much, much kinder, although I’m not convinced that all the decisions were quite the correct ones. But, at this point, I’ll take winning picks wherever I get them. So, let’s take a look at all the fights from last weekend and what they how they reflected on the fighters involved going forward.

Disclaimer Time: Successful fight picking like the San Antonio card is all too often offset by the totally crap fight picking of the New Zealand card. For as often as I feel confident that I’m going to get things right, I end up being totally wrong. It’s a big reason I still love watching the sport (it’d be pretty boring if I always knew the result ahead of time) and it’s a big reason I don’t actually gamble on sports. But I still like talking odds and picks as a frame of reference for analysis. I’ll be using BestFightOdds for the odds and taking the mode for each fighter.

UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt

Hindsight: Sean O’Connell (+250) vs. Gian Villante (-300) (I picked Villante, I was right-ish)

• I really expected less out of O’Connell’s UFC run. Honestly, I didn’t really expect him to have the athletic ability or technique to compete. But, he impressed me in this fight with his dogged offense and work ethic, and by generally being a tough bastard. And by staying on an opponent who has shown repeated problems with low output.
• Speaking of which, I’m not at all convinced that Villante won this fight. He landed some hard shots throughout the fight, that stunned O’Connell a bit. But I really feel like he got outworked pretty badly in the first two rounds. And while it’s no great determiner of success, FightMetric’s stats back up that feeling, with O’Connell landing more offense in the first two rounds by a reasonably significant margin.
• So, what now for Villante then? After a really bad loss to Fabio Maldonado, he needed a strong performance over a fighter like O’Connell to show that he still had a strong future at light heavyweight. Now, it just feels like he’s waiting for the next slightly more skilled fighter to rough him up for a loss.

Hindsight: Ian Entswistle (+100) vs. Daniel Hooker (-120) (I picked Entwistle, I was wrong)

• Given the youth of both fighters in this matchup, I really didn’t expect Hooker to deal well with the kind of adversity that I knew Entwistle could provide. A lot of fighters would have panicked in the kind of position he found himself in, with a leg lock specialist on his ankle, but Hooker stayed solid and landed shots for the win.
• Entwistle is a live by the sword, die by the sword fighter. Leglocks and armbars are his bread and butter, but they’re high risk, high reward moves. He may need to start planning and diversifying just a little to survive in the UFC. I wouldn’t suggest changing his core game, but just finding striking opportunities in transition, and knowing when to leave on submission for another would help.
• It’s really hard to know where the rest of Hooker’s game is from this performance. He seems to have good head on his shoulders, and some solid ground and pound, given the opportunity. I know he’s spent quite a bit of time kickboxing as well, but it’ll take a more back and forth fight to really get a bead on him.

Hindsight: Rodrigo Goiana de Lima (+235) vs. Neil Magny (-300) (I picked Magny, I was right)

• Monstro is not to be played with on the ground. The rest of his game may be distinctly lacking in polish and technique, but his ground game looks fantastic. Hopefully he can put together enough other skills to make that work fro him in the UFC, because it’s a definitive skill.
• Magny is lucky that Monstro doesn’t have much of a takedown game. Magny created the first takedown that lead to him getting swept and spent the whole round grounded because of it. But, it was good to see him adjust and realize he needed to stay at range, where he could torch Monstro at will.
• Despite not being a world beating grappler, Magny is really showing himself as a talented middleweight. He’ll need to gameplan for better opponents, mostly focusing on his drastically improved range kickboxing. But as he showed here, that skill alone is enough to totally outclass lesser welterweights.

Hindsight: Vik Grujic (-110) vs. Chris Indich (-110) (I picked Grujic, I was right)

• This wasn’t a pretty fight, it wasn’t a good fight, but at least it provided some entertainment and Grujic looks like the kind of guy who can get in some fun scraps with other low end guys at 170.
• Indich just doesn’t have the physical tools for the UFC. He looked like the slightly more technical fighter out there in this fight, but he couldn’t match Grujic for speed or power, and got wrecked because of it.

Hindsight: Roldan Sangcha-an (+130) vs. Richie Vaculik (-155) (I picked Sangcha-an, I was wrong)

• Sangcha-an gave away a fight he could have won, with sloppy grappling. Time and again he went for low percentage submissions only to give up 50/50 or even dominant positions. It does bode fairly well for him as a correctable mistake, but it is a hole in his game to fix.
• That said, Vaculik continues to underwhelm at flyweight and this win didn’t give me much hope for his longevity in the division. He’s a capable top control fighter when he’s given the opportunity, but he doesn’t seem to have much of the exceptional speed and agility needed to compete at 125 lbs.
• Despite his relative inexperience in MMA, Sangcha-an does look like an interesting addition to the division with his Wushu base. Between him and Eddiva, it’s a skill set that I look forward to seeing more of.

Hindsight: Dashon Johnson (+135) vs. Jake Matthews (-160) (I picked Matthews, I was right)

• I suggested before this fight, that Johnson might be in for a bad wakeup call against Matthews, given his poor regional competition level. And this was more or less that fight. While the second round was generally competitive, it was helped by some illegal blows (and a cage grab). Beyond that Matthews pretty well dominated Johnson pillar to post.
• Speaking of illegal blows, immediately after the fight, Matthews appeared to claim that Johnson had bit him during one of his rear naked choke attempts. Given the elbows and the cage grab, Johnson has to watch out that he doesn’t build a reputation for less than sportsmanlike behavior. It’s certainly something I’ll be watching for in his next fight.
• Matthews looks like a very solid prospect given his youth and obvious technical ability. He needs to work a bit on inside striking defense and outside striking volume, but his ground game looks really solid, his transitions are good, and his striking is reasonably smooth.

Hindsight: Mike Rhodes (+210) vs. Robert Whittaker (-245) (I picked Rhodes, I was wrong)

• I said that I would blame Patrick Wyaman if Rhodes lost this fight, and damnit Pat, how could you lead me astray like this? But seriously, Rhodes may be an abject lesson in signing with the UFC too soon. For all the guys who get two or three easy fights coming in, and a good chance to build, there are  guys like Rhodes who end up fighting a pretty solid Robert Whittaker in their second UFC fight.
• Rhodes did look improved however, but still lacks in confidence in his strikes, and at times in volume. He fought competitively with Whittaker for the first two rounds, losing them, but still in the fight. That third round was bad, however. If Rhodes gets another UFC fight (and he probably will) it will hopefully be against a slightly lesser opponent.
• But, credit where credit is due. Whittaker looked much better than I’ve seen him recently. It appears that his time at Tristar has driven two big changes to his game. First is an increase in volume striking. The second, the addition of a kicking game to his already solid boxing. Even just those two elements could be enough to push him up into the top 20-30 fighters in his division. Whittaker is tough, has good takedown defense, and if he can mix up and increase his striking the way he did against Rhodes, he’s a formidable opponent for anyone.

Hindsight: Hatsu Hioki (+170) vs. Charles Oliveira (-200) (I picked Oliveira, I was right)

• This was really a hell of a good scrap between two very fun grapplers to watch. Oliveira may have gotten the better of the fight, but it was a solid performance from Hioki as well, who really seems to improve under pressure.
• Many people were doubting Oliveira due to his inconsistency, but it’s really an inconsistency born of fighting much better strikers, or in the case of Jim Miller, an equally aggressive grappler. Against most of the featherweight division, Oliveira should still be very much a favorite.
• And while this was a more exciting performance for Hioki, I think it really displayed that it’s down to his opponent to get the best out of him. I’m still not really excited to see him fight right now, as unfair as that might be after a good fight, but his past UFC performances have been so mediocre, I’ll need to see more than one fun loss.

Hindsight: Soa Palelei (+145) vs. Jared Rosholt (-170) (I picked Palelei, I was wrong)

• Knowing that Palelei has some legit wrestling credentials, it all makes a lot more sense, but I’m still not at all sure what Palelei was doing thinking he could outwrestle Jared Rosholt. His early takedown attempts and scrambles seemed to suck all the energy out of Palelei after the first round, and from there on out it was just up to Rosholt to takedown and grind.
• This was a good personal reminder as well, that as much as I want him to be, Palelei isn’t really a big fisted brawler. Most of his wins are predicated on him being able to immediately take his opponent down and the pound them out. When he can’t do that (against better opponents) he’s going to potentially struggle badly.
• For Rosholt this was exactly the kind of badly gameplanned opponent he needed to pick up a really strong UFC win. He looks like he’s rounding out his transition game well and the boost of confidence from these kind of fights could be exactly what he needs to put together a solid UFC streak as a really controlling heavyweight.

Hindsight: Nate Marquardt (+160) vs. James Te Huna (-200) (I picked Te Huna, I was wrong)

• Why does Te Huna have to seem like such a great guy out of the cage. It makes watching his limitations get exposed that much more difficult. As a fan, it’s time to face the music, that when Te Huna can’t brawl in the phonebox, his technical skills are sorely lacking in almost all areas.
• I don’t know that he really has a lot more left in him, when he got his bell rung by Te Huna midway through the round, Marquardt still looked fragile, but he’s certainly showing himself to be a better fighter at middleweight right now than he was at welterweight. The commentary suggested that he was always looking to conserve energy at 170 lbs, and given this fight, there may be some truth in that.
• So, now it’s time to find another fun fight for Marquardt at Middleweight, perhaps the winner of Bisping vs. Le or something else with an established vet, no longer quite at the top of the division.

UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens

Hindsight: Anthony Hamilton (+125) vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk (-145) (I picked Oliynyk, I was right)

• Oliynyk is an incredibly dangerous fighter at heavyweight. He’s not a great striker, but he’s surprisingly fast and has a ton of pop in his strikes. That was the big difference early in this fight, where Hamilton probably thought he’d have the advantage and ended up eating a lot of leather.
• It’s also really great to see a strong submission artist int he heavyweight division. It seems rare that the division gets real “skill” players, and even rarer that that skill is submission grappling. Oliynyk, for however long the wheels stay on, is a welcome addition.
• Hopefully Hamilton can pick up the pieces and go back to his camp and get better, but there’s no two ways about it, this was a bad loss and he got outclassed in every facet of the fight. He still has a home at heavyweight, which, like I said, is low on skill players, but designs on the top 15 are currently on hold.

Hindsight: Ray Borg (-500) vs. Shane Howell (+325) (I Picked Borg, I was right)

• Borg is a special talent. He has the kind of athletic gifts and technical polish that have him clearly marked as a future title contender. It’s really hard not to look forward eagerly to his next fight out.
• Howell, unfortunately looked exactly how I thought he would. Game, tough as nails, and completely noncompetitive against a great athlete. There are a few matchups at 125 right now that he might win, but only a few. Flyweight is very much an athletes division.
• Between Borg, Horiguchi, and Scoggins, the future contenders of flyweight seem to already be in front of us. It will be interesting to see which of them falter on the way, or if 3 to 5 years from now, we’re treated to another Johnson/Dodson/Benavidez-esque triangle of elite fighters.

Hindsight: Andy Enz (-200) vs. Marcelo Guimaraes (+165) (I picked Guimaraes, I was right)

• I’m really not sure what’s going on with Andy Enz’s game in the UFC. He looks like he’s been working hard on his striking, but it’s utterly disconnected from his formerly dominant BJJ. Given that he also isn’t working in enough volume, or with nearly enough eye to defense to be dominant as a striker, he has some major hurdles to clear to pick up a win in the UFC.
• Guimaraes got the win I expected here. His ability to be a tough grinder won’t get him a lot of big wins in the UFC, but it’s been just enough to get him by the lower tier of competition. Despite not having a lot of fight experience, he has been active since 2006, so I’m not sure if he has a corner left to turn in terms of skill, but he could win a couple more UFC fights depending on matchups.

Hindsight: Johnny Bedford (-185) vs. Cody Gibson (+155) (I picked Gibson, I was right-ish)

• Right up until Bedford throws any and everyone under the bus for losing, it’s hard not to feel bad for the guy. His last two fight results aren’t terribly illegitimate, he did headbutt Rani Yahya for a no-contest, and he did get melted by Gibson here, but referee determined losses are always hard to take.
• That said, it’s still fun to watch Bedford fight, especially given that against larger, stronger fighters like Gibson, his style puts himself in extreme danger. Bedford fights with reckless abandon, so his wins and losses tend to be exciting.
• This was a very solid win for Gibson, as he was getting lit up pretty badly before finding the space to land a big hook that sent Bedford reeling to the mat. Future opponents would be wise to really pressure Gibson in the same way, but he showed an answer for it this time out.

Hindsight: Carlos Diego Ferreira (-200) vs. Colton Smith (+165) (I picked Ferreira, I was right)

• So, uhh…  Colton Smith is pretty clearly the worst TUF winner to date. That’s a tough moniker to be saddled with, but three straight highly definitive losses have put a big stamp on his career thus far. Getting insta tapped by a UFC newcomer was an especially bad look this time around.
• That said, Ferreira looks like a really solid talent. He’s shown the ability to brawl on the regional circuit before, but taking down Smith and subbing him with a quickness showed that he’s not leaving his submission game behind to just throw down. That was a real concern going in, but one Ferreira answered nicely.
• The UFC may not actually cut Smith after this loss. They seem to be back on a cycle of keeping guys for as long as possible, and he’s under contract for 10 fights. But, if they do keep him around, it seems like it’ll be really tough to find matchups for him. Maybe they could send him to their developing south pacific circuit to face some of their regional talent there.

Hindsight: Joe Ellenberger (-190) vs. James Moontasri (+160) (I picked Moontasri, I was wrong-ish)

• I’m not at all feeling like Joe Ellenberger really won this fight. But, Moontasri made some bad mistakes with wrestling as he gassed late. I can’t blame him for gassing (he took this fight on about a week’s notice) but i’d just about say he deserved the win either way.
• Ellenberger showed that his as tough as boiled owl poop (as my grandfather would say) but that he is really limited in his game outside of a solid takedown game. E’s a fun fighter to watch, but I was hoping to see a big skill improvement given two years on the sidelines, but instead he just looked rusty.
• Moontasri has a real future in the division. When he wasn’t gasping for air, his takedown defense looked really solid and he’s shown takedown offense on the regionals. Given his really solid striking game and command of distance and timing, he could be a great action fighter for the UFC.

Hindsight: Antonio Braga Neto (-170) vs. Clint Hester (+145) (I picked Braga Neto, I was wrong)

• That BJJ cardio, tho… Braga Neto is a great, fun grappler, but he’s got to figure out how to do more or grapple longer and harder. He was great for a round, then gassed and couldn’t get anything done even when he got great position to do it.
• Hester really stepped up his striking output when given the chance, and that was great to see, and he survived with Neto on the ground. But he still looked a little to ready to put himself in bad positions over and over. Solid performance over all, if still problematic.
• And unfortunately, it just feels a bit like the shine is off two more middlweight prospects. Neither Neto nore Hester looked great in this fight. Some felt Neto may have won it (even I may have scored it for him) but he didn’t distinguish himself at all. And it’s hard to be excited for a fighter like Hester, who still shows so much liability on the ground.

Hindsight: Hacran Dias (+220) vs. Ricardo Lamas (-280) (I picked Lamas, I was right-ish)

• Yet another fight, that I felt may have been seriously misscored. I saw a lot of people, mid fight scoring the first round for Lamas, and it was a close round, but I thought Dias pretty definitively controlled the range and outlanded Lamas. Once again, available fight stats support that, for what it’s worth. Either way, scores of 30-27 for Lamas are pretty entirely indefensible.
• Hacran Dias looks like a much better fighter than he was last time he stepped into the cage. His range striking has improved by leaps and bounds with a solid boxing game to go with his ever hard kicks. The fact that he’s a quality wrestler and grappler on top of it means he could still have a good run at the top ten in him.
• Lamas honestly looked regressed from his fight with Aldo. That may be a product of Aldo giving him a lot more space and time to work with, with his patient outside game. But in this fight, Lamas just looked like he was too willing to get in sloppy exchanges, and when he really wanted to get something specific done, he couldn’t.

Hindsight: Andrew Craig (+250) vs. Cezar Ferreira (-300) (I picked Ferreira, I was right)

• Speaking of middleweight prospects free of shine, Craig and Ferreira just seem to typify the division’s ongoing struggle to develop talent from the bottom up. They don’t have any really discernable skills and haven’t shown much improvement since they came in to the UFC. At the moment both men just seem to be treading water.
• For brief flashes of this fight, Ferreira showed the continuing flashes of technical talent that have made a lot of people excited about the idea of him making a run at the top 15, but he also showed a general ability to fight at a very slow pace, and late, when he really turned it up, Craig was able to outbrawl him handily.
• For Craig, this is a continued step back from a strong start to his UFC career. He hits hard, and can mix it up okay, but he just doesn’t seem to be fighting better than the first time he fought in the UFC.

Hindsight: Kelvin Gastelum (-300) vs. Nicholas Musoke (+250) (I picked Gastelum, I was right)

• What happened to Kelvin Gastelum between his last fight and this one. Most likely it was his insistence at not traveling for his fight camp, but he looked notably regressed against a good, but lesser opponent than he fought last time around. Hopefully this drives Gastelum to make a more permanent home at one of the bigger gyms.
• Nicholas Musoke has proven himself to be a really reliable action fighter for the UFC. He still got beat up in the last two rounds of this fight, but he came out of the gate fast and took it to Gastelum when Gastelum was fighting flat. Even in a loss, I feel pretty interested in watching Musoke get out there again.
• It has to be said, that while Gastelum didn’t look great in this fight, his natural talent was still enough to pummel Musoke for two full rounds. Gastelum is a really special talent and a young fighter. He has a lot of time to improve and nothing two deep should be taken from this fight beyond him getting the win.

Hindsight: Jeremy Stephens (+185) vs. Cub Swanson (-215) (I picked Swanson, I was right)

• Stephens is really a top tier featherweight at this stage of his career. He may still not be good enough to get by Swanson, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that there are a very small handful of fighters at 145 who can compete with him.
• It really sucks that Stephens apparently broke his left hand early in this fight. Cub can claim that he really turned up his offense, and certainly his increased kicking game helped a lot as the fight went on, but Stephens noticeably took his foot off the gas and it was probably due to his injured hand.
• And now, Swanson is primed for a title shot. With his variety, skill, and power, he makes a great challenge for Aldo the second time around. It’s doubtful lightening will strike twice, especially given that Aldo is a more conservative version of himself these days. And if Cub gets the same time to work that Lamas did, I expect him to make a better fight out of it.

Those are my collected thoughts from a weekend with a lot of UFC action. As always a lot of it feels pretty obvious now, but that’s the benefit of hindsight. Until next time, when Chris Weidman will very likely still be champion, and Ronda Rousey will probably have a new arm in her collection. Still, MMA never ceases to amaze, so look out for more perspective gained from more ill conceived fight picking.

Marc Ratner & Dave Sholler talk Chael Sonnen drug test failure

After the UFC’s San Antonio Card, executives Dave Sholler and Marc Ratner were on hand to field some questions about Chael Sonnen, his failed test, and what the UFC was planning to do about it. Clear answers weren’t prevalent, it sounds mostly like the UFC is just about running with a skeleton crew at the moment as they put on two events at essentially the same time and prepare for a huge PPV card next week. Sonnen, failed test or no, seemed to be something of an afterthought. However, AngryMarks.com was able to get in a few questions about the now retired title challenger and how the UFC feels about his failing a test for HGH and EPO. Most surprisingly, it appears that nobody that either men knew of with the UFC, has yet to speak with Sonnen.

Here’s what Dave Sholler had to say about Sonnen:

We haven’t had any direct communication with Chael from the arena tonight. So, we saw the SBNation report that came down and just regrouped, Mark and I and a couple of the execs back in Vegas and kinda figure out how we’re gonna handle that situation.

He did say, however that the test was important, even though Sonnen had retired and it was something that the UFC and commissions should take seriously.

It certainly makes a difference to the commission. Yeah, it’s a second failed test, so it’s certainly a serious situation, yeah.

I understand what you’re saying, but I think the issue here is the fact that he was trying to compete during the time in which he was tested. So, I think that’s the issue and I think that’s why the commission will take it seriously. And Chael could certainly un-retire if he felt like it. So, you gotta make sure that your bases are covered there.

Ratner reiterated that no one he was aware of had spoken to Chael, and that he hadn’t seen Dana in over a week. He also suggested that the UFC would probably wait for the commission to make a decision regarding Sonnen before they did anything in house. He did have some interesting statements regarding the UFC’s current drug testing standards, however

What concerns me is everything, all fighters. I think we’re going to do more testing, we want to clean up the sport.
…
I think that all these kind of positive drug tests, really, it’s gotta scare all these fighters. They’ve gotta learn to make the sport clean. And that’s our goal, is to have a level playing field. That’s certainly my goal.

Despite being strong in his support to “do more testing,” Ratner seemed a little unsure of what exactly the current testing standards were for the UFC. First making the claim that “it’s the same tests they’ve been running,” but that he was unsure if tests for EPO and HGH were new additions. He also added that he was unsure what tests the UFC had done when they acted as their own commission.

When we self regulate, we send everything to… I think it’s in there, yeah I don’t know for a fact. This is the first EPO or HGH that I’ve heard about.

Either way, for someone singing the gospel of improved testing and “cleaning up the sport” it’s not a good look for him to not know exactly what tests are already in place. UFC fighters failing drug tests while in competition is a definite black mark for the organization, even if they’re taking the appropriate disciplinary actions in the wake of those failed tests. However, the pressure of an increased schedule means that there appears to be less time and manpower than ever to deal with crisis such as this when they emerge.

Jon Fitch receiving sponsor pay in e-currency

Whether we like it or not, digital currency is making the slow creep into popular culture and perception. While it may not be easily redeemable, and the value may fluctuate wildly, but it’s place in the digital world certainly doesn’t seem to be shrinking. And a strong place in the digital world, tends to mean a slow trickle into the real world. Helping this trickle along is digital currency entrepreneur Brian Kelly, with his brand of e-currency, Nautiluscoin. Kelly started Nautiluscoin as an experiment to see if he could create a stable digital currency while becoming more familiar with how e-currencies work. Since then, it’s apparently become quite a success, as Kelly himself reports via CNBC.

Creating my own digital currency started out as an experiment but now it’s taken on a life of its own. The coin has emerged as the 50th most valuable digital currency in the world out of over 300 currencies. We have an incredibly active BitcoinTalk forum, a Reddit page that has been tricked out by a supporter, and several real-world applications in the works.

All of which has led Kelly to an interesting decision: The decision to sponsor an MMA fighter, or more particularly, to sponsor Jon Fitch.

So, I’m sponsoring Jon Fitch (www.jonfitch.net), the No.2 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) World Ranked Welterweight, in his upcoming fight on July 5 on NBC. Like many of us, Jon has recently caught the digital currency bug and with this sponsorship, he will become the first professional athlete to be paid in a digital currency.

Fitch is currently slated to take on Dennis Hallman at WSOF 11 in Daytona Beach, Florida on July 5th. When Fitch steps into the cage, you can expect to see a new logo on his shorts and banner, repping the Nautiluscoin brand. It’s something Fitch has already been looking to promote on Twitter.

We have passed lvl2 mark for sponsorship with #NAUT let’s get to lvl 3 little over $1,500 away. Value of coin is increasing already!

— Jon Fitch (@jonfitchdotnet) June 22, 2014

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It’s truly another strange turn for the MMA world. And in a market that has recently seen sponsorship dollars dry up, e-currencies could find a home. Investors seem to be looking for more public ways to advertise their currencies and fighters are looking for money in the bank by any means necessary. If Fitch ends up being any sort of success as an endorsement partner for Nautilus coin, it seems pretty likely that other fighter sponsorships could follow.

UFC stacking upcoming Saitama card with hometown talent

Last time the UFC came to Japan, it was for UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann. It was a great fight card, that featured a lot of fighters from the Land of the Rising Sun. But, by far the biggest fan favorite names on the card were Wanderlei Silva and Mark Hunt. Both very popular in Japan from their Pride heydays, but not quite “hometown” stars. This time around it looks like the UFC is going to stack the deck as much as possible, to feature both longtime and new Japanese talent. Of course Mark Hunt will still be there, headlining the show, but MMA Fighting reveals that the UFC is has booked a few of their dormant stars as well.

While their opponents haven’t been publicly released as of yet, the Dave Meltzer reports that Norifumi Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Takanori Gomi have all been targeted for the Saitama show on September 20th. “Kid” Yamamoto hasn’t competed since UFC 144 in 2012 when he dropped a submission loss to Vaughan Lee, his third straight loss in the UFC. Since then he’s been dealing with a variety of injuries, having scrapped a fight with Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165 in the interim. He’s also been focusing more and more on the coaching side of his career, currently guiding young phenom Kyoji Horiguchi through his UFC career. Speaking of which, Horiguchi has also been slated to take on Chris Cariaso on the same card.

When it comes to Japanese fighters recovering from long layoffs, Yoshihiro Akiyama is bang alongside Yamamoto. Also sidelined since UFC 144 in February of 2012, Akiyama hasn’t competed since dropping a unanimous decision to Jake Shields, his fourth straight loss. He was briefly scheduled to fight Thiago Alves at UFC 149, in a battle that was basically doomed from the start to get bitten by the injury bug. He’s been dealing with a knee injury since then, and with the devastating effects of sexlexia.

And finally, Takenori Gomi makes his not nearly as long awaited return, as he’s coming off a narrow decision over Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 172 back in April. Of all the Japanese old guard, Gomi has fared the best of late and really should be on a four fight win streak stretching back to 2012. However, it has to be said that he looked in pretty poor condition for his bout against IVF.

All told, with the recent signing of Rin Nakai, and the attempted booking of Tatsuya Kawajiri (who was forced out due to a torn retina) it appears that the UFC is really trying to stack their Saitama card with as many big name Japanese fighters as possible. Hopefully the card holds up over the next couple months.

UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson takes place on September 20th in Saitama Japan, here’s a look at the current card:

Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson
Rin Nakai vs. Miesha Tate
Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Shogun Rua vs. Jan Blachowicz (rumored)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. TBA
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. TBA
Takenori Gomi vs. TBA

Welcome to the UFC Scott Askham

With all the chaff that the UFC has filled out their ranks with, it’s easy to lose track of the real prospects. Of course, that’s why we produce impressive and well researched content like Patrick Wyman’s prospect reports. It’s the no. 2 prospect on said report that we’re talking about today, as reports are in that the UFC has signed one of the world’s best up and coming middleweights, Scott Askham. Askham himself reported the news via Twitter.

The news is finally out!! It was always a dream to fight in the @ufc ! Now for new goals and dreams!! On a road to the top!!

— scott askham (@scottaskham1) June 25, 2014

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Who is Scott Askham?

As an undefeated fighter on the UK scene, largely not fighting for Cage Warriors, Askham has been a bit overlooked as a major prospect, at least until recently. Partially this is due to the small camp he fights out of, Ludus Magnus, which has yet to graduate any other big names off the European regional scene. Partially, as well, this is due to his time spent with BAMMA, which for all their great platform and production have generally failed to regularly produce a good product in the MMA landscape. For fighters like Askham, even taking on good competition, it’s hard to build a profile in BAMMA. Still Askham’s 12-0 is an impressive one, with wins over top prospects Max Nunes, Jack Marshman, Harry McLeman, and vets Jorge Luis Bezerra and Denniston Sutherland. And with 9 stoppages in his 12 wins, he’s proven that he can finish as well. All told, at only 25-years old, Askham comes to the UFC as a very proven talent.

What you should expect:

Askham’s game is really built on the slow breaking down of opponents, most particularly in the clinch. While he was a dynamic finisher early in his career (against fairly poor opposition) a step up in quality has meant a more careful approach. And that approach is built on clinch grappling and top control and the movement between the two. At range, Askham’s striking is all about distance maintenance. He throws snapping front kicks and leg kicks, and keeps his defense sharp, but what he’s really looking for is a way to get inside into the clinch where he can press his opponent up against the cage and look for knees and elbows.

But, it’s not just inside striking, Askham routinely likes to drop for a double leg from the clinch. His top game isn’t the heaviest or most powerful I’ve seen (although it’s not bad, but he gets sucked into guard easily), but mostly Askham appears to look to get takedowns as a way of keeping his opponent off balance and working, and tiring. He’ll work in top control if given the time and opportunity, but if his opponent is good at scrambling, he’ll let them up, rinse, and repeat. His fight against Max Nunes was essentially a lesson in slowly breaking Nunes down with his clinch and control until Nunes couldn’t maintain his defense inside and Askham could unload on him.

To get us better acquainted, here’s Askham’s last fight with Nunes:

Tweet of the Day: Tyron Woodley for Dong Wipes

More often than not, MMA is a messy sport. Blood, sweat, tears. There are a whole series of bodily fluids that can spill out on the canvas or your opponent during a hard fight. Nobody knows this better than Tyron Woodley, who recently found himself wiping away the vestiges of a bad loss to Rory MacDonald. That’s why he’s repping his Dude Wipes, which are totally for fighting… totally.

time to wipe that DONG up brah. @TWooodley #dudewipes #thechosendude pic.twitter.com/lJ15RED4uO

— DudeProducts (@DudeProducts) June 24, 2014

@DudeProducts Aint that the Truth!

— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) June 24, 2014

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Or not.

Woodley is now set to face off against Dong Hyun Kim at the UFC’s upcoming Macau show. Hopefully for him he’ll be soaking up the sweet smell of victory this time around. Either way, Dong Hyun has already stated his plans to make it a messy affair, so maybe Woodley would be well served to bring a few extra, just in case.

Here’s a look at the current UFC Fight Night Macau Card set for August 23rd in Macau, China:

Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le
Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Ning Guangyou vs. Jianping Yang
Zhang Lipeng vs. Brendan O’Reilly
Danny Mitchell vs. Wang Sai
Alberto Mina vs. TBA

Welcome to the UFC Montano, Bush, Moontasri, Howell

Because the UFC is acquiring fighters at such a rapid pace, I’ve left a few people off my recent “Welcome to the UFC” scouting posts. Fighters like Sam Alvey, Kevin Casey, Leonardo Mafra (both Casey and Mafra are actually returning), and Rin Nakai and Tina Lahdemaki (who were each covered in seperate posts). Hopefully I won’t have to do this much more, but with the accelerated rate at which the UFC appears to be signing talent, I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed. First on today’s docket is Augusto “Dodger” Montano, first reported by the UFC on June 12th and expected for a debut in Mexico City at UFC 180. Along with Montano is the confirmed signing of Bubba Bush, who will face Kevin Casey at UFC 175. And Finally, James Moontasri and Shane Howell have both been targeted for late notice fill ins on this week’s San Antonio Card. Moontasri becomes the sixth opponent for the accursed Joe Ellenberger and Shane Howell fills in for Ryan Benoit against Ray Borg in a flyweight contest.

Who is Augusto Montano?

Considered one of the more legit vets on the Mexican regional circuit, “Dodger” as he is commonly known is a 29-year old welterweight. Recently, as part of a UFC pushed outreach program Dodger has been training with Jackson Winklejohn MMA as his home camp. His signing was actually rumored with the TUF Latin America cast release back in May. At the time, his signing was contingent on him picking up a win in a planned upcoming fight. I’m assuming he did so, although the fight isn’t officially listed anywhere. Outside of wins over Edvaldo de Oliveira and Jorge Enrique Macias and a loss to Sam Alvey, Montano’s record is fairly light on quality opposition, but at 13-1 he’s at least shown a knack for finishing with 8 KO/TKOs and 5 subs.

What you should expect:

Montano is a boxer first and foremost in the cage. He has good footwork, good head and body movment, and throws his hands well in combination. However, he doesn’t work exceptionally well from distance, often defaulting to a lead leg outside leg kick as an attempt to control distance and timing. Because he’s so reliant on his hands on the outside, Montano can end up overreaching his feet a bit and unbalancing himself as he tries to close distance. Inside, he throws a lot of leather and with power. Montano also mixes in knees well and will shoot if the opportunity arises. His wrestling is functional, but not outstanding, but his ground and pound is very heavy and consistent.

Who is Bubba Bush?

Training out of Brazos Valley MMA, 28-year old Bubba Bush makes his way to the UFC with a record of 8-2 and the Legacy FC Middleweight strap. His camp appears to be a pretty small operation, with Bush even serving as one of the principal instructors. However, it sounds like he’s recently made the move to Jackson’s as well, training alongside Tim Kennedy and the rest of the Jackson-Winklejohn fighters. A major positive, as well, has been Bush’s level of competition, fighting almost all of his career at Legacy FC, he’s faced nothing but strong regional prospects at almost every turn. His only real loss comes to current UFC middleweight Andrew Craig (his other being a DQ) and he has 7 finishes in his 8 wins. On strength of schedule alone, Bush is a fighter to take note of.

What you should expect:

It has to be said that Bush is not much of a striker, either at range or on the inside. If he’s not using an overhand right to takedown combination, he’s usually throwing his hands out at his opponent with the expressed desire of getting into the clinch, getting a body lock, and dragging them down. He appears to have a pretty deep well strength to draw on, as well as strong wrestling technique and a very aggressive submission offense. That submission offense can get him in trouble at times as he will occasionally give up dominant positions to look for armbars and shoulder locks, but in general it’s proved to be a good skill combination for him. Without some improved striking however, he’ll very likely suffer long term in the UFC.

What this means for his debut:

Against Kevin Casey, the narrative will really get down to just how polished Bush’s submission offense is. He more than likely has better wrestling than Casey and I’d but them more or less even in terms of striking, but I’m not sure if he’s quite polished enough as a grappler to survive on the ground against the RFA champ. Casey tends to start strong and fade fast however, so if Bush can survive the first round he may be able to get more done. Either way it should make for a good matchup if both men are willing to roll.

Who is James Moontasri?

Training out of the mega-conglomerate camp that is Team Blackhouse MMA, alongside Kevin Casey and the occasional home of Anderson Silva, Minotauro Nogueira, and many more, 26-year old James Moontasri comes to the UFC with a record of 7-1. He’s got a decent regional record with big wins over Jordan Rinaldi and Joshua Aveles to prove his mettle against solid competition. His single loss, a split decision to uninspiring competition in Darren Smith is a bit of a black mark, but otherwise it’s about the level of competition you’d want a young fighter facing on his way to the UFC. Outside of MMA he has a black belt in Taekwondo and significant experience in full contact competition including time as a US national team member.

What you should expect:

As would be expected of a very high level Taekwondo competitor, Moontasri has a very high output kicking game at all levels. He throws his hands freely in combination behind his kicks as well, which means he can be a bit defensively open to counters when pushing that level of aggression. He has advanced his boxing a lot over the past year as well, and is much better at leading with his hands than in his early fights. To keep from getting too predictable as a striker, Moontasri supplements it with a powerful takedown game. He times double legs nicely under his opponents offense and has the kind of strength to turn them into powerful slams. His ground and pound isn’t terribly aggressive, but given the opportunity he will go for submissions, occasionally at the cost of position.

What this means for his debut:

Honestly, Moontasri may be one of the worst matchups of the six Joe Ellenberger has had. As a capable combination striker witha  very good counter wrestling game, he should hold the advantage on the feet, and may be able to stave off Ellenberger in his strength. If Moontasri can keep from getting caught with wide, looping punches while working from the outside, and keep his footwork active, he should be able to get the better of his debut.

Who is Shane Howell?

A former bantamweight making the drop to 125 lbs, R-1 MMA’s Shane Howell comes to the UFC training alongside James Head and Matt Grice out in Oklahoma. The 30-year old has a better than advertised 13-7 record, having gone 10-2 since 2009, including a win over current UFC flyweight Tim Elliott. A win over Mark Oshiro is really his only other scalp of real quality, however, as most of his other opponents have been journeymen, too green fighters, or simply cans. He’s only seen the judges twice in a win however (and twice in a loss) so at least he’s been exciting.

What you should expect:

In the past, Howell has shown himself as something of a punch heavy brawler on the feet. He likes throwing uppercuts and has a fairly face forward style. He has shown flashes of a decent takedown game, but one disconnected from his striking. Similarly he has a decent submission offense, but much of it seems to be generated off his opponent’s offense or while working from guard. It’s hard to say how relevant any of that is as scouting however, as there is very little recent footage I could find of Howell, and he appears to have been inactive for all of 2013 and thus far in 2014.

What this means for his debut:

Unless Howell has really improved drastically when it comes to intertwining his various skills, he’s very likely going to lose to Ray Borg. Borg appears to be a real phenom at 125 lbs and has the kind of next level athleticism that can carry him over more experienced opposition. Howell appears to be the kind of decent, scrappy fighter who has more to offer in terms of heart and singular techniques than raw athletic gifts. Often, those kinds of fighters aren’t long for the UFC. Borg’s biggest weakness so far has been his hands, so if Howell is smart he’ll try and turn it into a phonebooth brawl.

To get us better acquainted, here’s Dodger Montano’s last recorded fight against Jason Clayton:

And James Moontasri’s last bout against Jordan Rinaldi:

Ben Saunders: ‘I was visualizing my opponent was Bjorn Rebney’

Not everyone loved Bjorn Rebney. Whatever the reasons, Rebney was not the most popular figure in MMA. Partially this was because of Bellator’s predatory contract structure, partially it was because as a public figure in power in MMA it’s almost impossible to move through the world without making a few enemies. For some fighters, it runs much deeper than that. Ben Saunders seems to have cultivated a deep distaste for the former Bellator CEO, one that he made fully apparent recently on mixedmartialarts.com’s The Underground.

“In My Opinion”

He knew exactly what he was doing… who to lie to, who to screw over, along with calculating precisely when and where to be shady.

He probably tried to please who he thought he needed to please. Two-facing like a fake ass motherf***er….

Though he clearly failed to do enough pleasing or he would still have his job.

I actually take Pride knowing I might have had a little something to do with Viacoms decision. At least I did what I could to let the people in charge at Viacom know that piece of shit had to go! This was way before it actually happened. Yes! I did everything in my power to get his ass fired while still fighting for them.

Hate is a strong word but when someone f***s with your livelihood and in turn your family, your passion, your dreams, and everything you stand for. That means f***ing WARFARE!

All the blood, sweat, and tears I have put into my career and throughout my life. I’ll be dammed if I let this motherf***er try to play me without retaliation!

I feel I was a pretty big figure for their organization, & I had a ton of fighters that had my back in full support, employees too. But no one had any power or weight to do anything about it. I just personally didn’t give a f*** and did what I could anyways. He wanted play games I couldn’t win, but in the end I feel Victorious!

That motherf***er is GONE!!!

Though truth be told… I honestly have no doubt in my mind that he knew his time was up, long before it was. He seemed very good at taking advantage of people and situations with his position of power. So like a heist, he probably arranged a decent get away.

He is the #1 reason I never thought twice about staying with Bellator even though they wanted me to. I will miss all the friends I made there. But Bjorn made that place feel, smell, and taste like lumpy spoiled milk and vomit. My senses are still recovering.

I do believe now that Viacom has Scott Coker their organization will be a much better place for fighters to venture to. Hell I might even wear a Bellator shirt outside with pride now. Lol

P.S. My fastest win in Bellator is because I was visualizing my opponent was Bjorn Rebney. That is 100% fact, No lie!

I was furious going into that fight and even more furious that it ended so quickly cause I had so much RAGE to still unleash. You can even see it in my eyes and my reaction after the win….

I literally scream out “F*** that Motherf***er!!!!!!!”

And it wasnt my actual opponent I was speaking about…. it was my imaginary opponent Bjorn Rebney who I left with a shotgun wound to the face!

And to think, we didn’t even get the potential for a Ben Saunders vs. Bjorn Rebney celebrity boxing match out of it. It seems like the only logical solution.

Art Davie on UFC 1: ‘Rickson wanted a million dollars’

So, for those who have completely failed to keep up on the history of MMA, or more concisely, the history of the UFC, it’s worth noting that, at the time of UFC 1, the big name in the Gracie family was Rickson. He was considered the family’s top dog in the infamous “Gracie Challenge Matches” that the Gracies had been putting on in California in the late 80s and early 90s. Even back in 1989, when Playboy ran this article highlighting Rorion Gracie, and their Gracie challenge, it was Rickson being trumpeted as “the best in the world.” So, why wasn’t it Rickson fighting at UFC 1, he was the obvious choice, and everyone involved knew it.

One side of the story, was Rorion’s idea of just how impressive it would look when a 170 lb guy in his pajamas tapped out much larger, stronger men with ease. The other side of the story, however, is money, and by Art Davie’s account, quite a lot of money. He spoke to MMAJunkie Radio about dealing with Rickson, and Rickson’s exorbitant demands that led them to stick with Royce as their Gracie champion. (transcription via mixedmartialarts.com)

“Rickson wanted a million dollars. He said, ‘You and Rorion are making the big bucks. I want a million dollars.’ I said, ‘We ain’t making that kind of money, and we ain’t paying that kind of money.'”

“Rickson had really prepped Royce, so whatever the problems they had that I wasn’t aware of had been put under the carpet. In a very real sense, Rickson had put his spine into Royce’s back. At the show, I heard later on from Todd Hester, the publisher and editor of Gladiator Magazine, that Royce had lost it in the rehearsal. He was down on his knees crying, and Rickson was cradling him like a father. He said Rickson was holding him, like a dad holds his son, and comforting him.”

“The three most unhappy guys (after UFC 1) at the Monster’s Ball on Saturday night were Pat Smith, who’d gotten caught in an ankle lock by Ken Shamrock, and Ken Shamrock, who couldn’t believe that a 175-pound guy in a gi had made him tap out. And the third guy was Rickson Gracie.”

There’s no doubt that the first UFC event was a huge success, both for the investors who’d managed to pull the event together and for the fighters who ended up finding success in the octagon. Most particularly, the event was the first step in the ascension of Royce Gracie from a footnote in his brother’s Playboy interview, to the most famous and most recognized fighter to carry the Gracie family name in his generation. It’s hard to even imagine at this point, how the ascension of the UFC and with it the ascension of BJJ in the US might have changed with Rickson at the helm. More than likely it wouldn’t have been a major difference, but considering the heights to which it elevated Royce, Rickson’s salary demands may have ultimately cost him a lot more than the $50,000 check Royce got for winning it all.

Thiago Tavares booked again for featherweight debut following injury plagued months

Hopefully the third time’s a charm for Thiago Tavares in his hopes to make a featherweight debut in the UFC. First slated to meet Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Mousasi back in February, Tavares was forced out of the bout with a rib injury. He then was slated to take on Tom Niinimaki at the UFC’s recent show in Berlin. Again the injury bug struck and Tavares was replaced by Nicklas Backstrom. Now, for the third time, Tavares has been booked for his featherweight debut, as the UFC announced on Friday that he would be taking on the surging Robbie Peralta at UFC Fight Night Bangor on August 16th.

Peralta is coming off the biggest win of his career, a major upset of TUF Brazil season 1 winner Rony Jason at the Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale. Peralta has been a surprising success in the UFC to date as his exceptional athleticism has beena  major dividing line between him and many of his opponents. He’s lightning quick, hits like a truck, and has a great chin. The fact that there’s not a lot of nuanced technique to go with it, thus far hasn’t been a major problem (at least not outside a loss to Akira Corassani).Tavares should be a big step up for Peralta, even from Rony Jason.

Excepting, of course, that Tavares has been notoriously inconsistent throughout his career. Coming off a win over Justin Salas at lightweight, he’s still not that far removed from getting utterly demolished by Khabib Nurmagomedov. There’s little shame in that, but past KO losses to Shane Roller and Matt Wiman have suggested that you don’t exactly have to be the hardest punching, or slickest technician in the world to put Tavares on rubber legs. Peralta is exactly the kind of fighter that he should be able to school with his technical Jiu Jitsu and solid boxing. But, if he lets himself get drawn into a firefight, Peralta is also exactly the kind of fighter that could take Tavares out with one punch.

UFC Fight Night Bangor takes place on August 16th, in Bangor Maine. Here’s a look at the card so far.

Ryan Bader vs. Ovince St. Preux
Shawn Jordan vs. Jack May
Tim Boetsch vs. Brad Tavares
Sam Alvey vs. Tom Watson
Thiago Tavares vs. Robbie Peralta