Fedor defeats Hong Man Choi

Fedor Emelianenko made a successful return with a quick submission victory over Hong Man Choi at the Yarennoka New Years Eve event. The fight quickly hit the floor after the monsterous Choi, now 1-1, stuffed Fedor’s takedown attempt and landed on top. Emelianenko, who improved to 27-1 (with 1 no contest) with the win, attempted an armbar but Choi escaped. After a short time on their feet, the fight hit the floor in similar fashion but this time Fedor secured the arm-bar after taking a few punches.

On the undercard, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez suffered his first loss at the hands of PRIDE Bushido veteran Mitsuhiro Ishida via unanimous decision. Ishida scored repeated takedowns and controlled the fight from top position to earn the win.

The full results are as follows:

• Shinya Aoki def. Bu-Kyung Jung – Unanimous Decision
• Hayato “Mach” Sakurai def. Hidehiko Hasegawa – Unanimous Decision
• Fedor Emelianenko def. Hong Man Choi - Armbar Submission at 1:54 of Rd. 1
• Kazuo Misaki def. Yoshihiro Akiyama – KO (Strikes) at 2:12 of Rd. 1
• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Gilbert Melendez - Unanimous Decision
• Makoto Takimoto def. Murilo Bustamante - Split Decision
• Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz Azeredo – Unanimous Decision.
• Mike Russow def. Roman Zentsov - N/S Choke Submission at 2:58 of Rd. 1

UFC 79 Main Card Play-by-Play

The following is a play by play of UFC 79: Nemesis’ main card. Enjoy.

Huzzah the operatic opening which means we have bought the pay-per-view properly. That heavy metal song, which you would only listen to if it is accompanied by the UFC introduction plays as the various highlight reels of the participating fighters shows.

Mike Goldberg kicks us off with his usual intro and wishes us a happy new year. He bring in his “partner as always” Joe Rogan and they are both sporting (quite obviously) watches from one of their major sponsors.

After a bunch of Goldberg segues from sponsor names and Joe Rogan’s usual array of over the top hyperbole we get into the first fight of the main card.

Melvin Guillard vs. Rich Clementi

The introduction features both fighters exchanging insults while Mike Goldberg gives as many differing words for Bad Blood as he can. Clementi enters the Octagon first, followed by Guillard who classfully gives Clementi the finger. “No Love” in return gives Clementi a “right here” motion by grabbing his crotch.

Round 1

The first round is brought to you by Harley Davidson. Seriously it is the only motorcycle worthy of being in the octagon…

Fight starts as they circle. Feeling each other out. Gullard throws a wild pointless punch. Clementi throws a good inside left kick. They continue to circle. Another pointless punch by Guillard followed by a good couple of punches and then another wide punch that missed by a mile. Another good kick by Clementi. Another good leg kick by Clementi which caused Guillard to run in throwing wild punches… none of which connected. They engage and Clementi picks up Guillard with a body lock. It is kind of awkward for a second as Clementi keeps Guillard in the air but finally takes him down. Clementi has Guillard’s back in a weird position but they eventually stand up and go down and then up again. Guillard breaks free and lands some heavy punches. They go to the canvas with Guillard on top and Clementi reverses with an omaplata. Clementi is in side control and grabs Guillard’s back when he tries to stand. He flattens Guillard out with a body triangle and sinks in the rear naked choke. Guillard taps, Clementi does his “right here” motion above Guillard’s head, Guillard doesn’t take to it too kindly. Rich Clementi is victorious via Submission (rear-naked choke) at 4.40 of the first round. 

Good performance by Clementi, but Guillard turned in a typical Guillard performance. That being, he talked a big game, didn’t deliver and then was classless in defeat.

UFC 79 Quick Results

PRELIMINARY CARD
Mark Bocek def. Doug Evans via unanimous decision (29-28)
Roan Carneiro def. Tony DeSouza via TKO (strikes) at 3:30 of Rd. 2
Dean Lister def. Jordan Radev via unanimous decision (30-27)
Manny Gamburyan def. Nate Mohr via submission (ankle lock) at 1:31 of Rd. 1
James Irvin def. Luis Cane via disqualification (illegal knee) at 1:50 of Rd. 1

TELEVISED CARD
Rich Clementi def. Melvin Guillard via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:40 of Rd. 1
Lyoto Machida def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via submission (arm-triangle) at 4:20 of Rd. 1
Eddie Sanchez def. Soa Palelei via TKO (strikes) at 3:24 of Rd. 3
Chuck Liddell def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Georges St. Pierre def. Matt Hughes via submission (arm-bar) at 4:54 of Rd. 2 (UFC interim welterweight championship)

Paul Balsom wrote this…

UFC 79 Weigh In Results

 The following are the results from today’s weigh in for UFC 79: Nemesis:

MAIN CARD

• Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. Matt Hughes (170) (UFC interim welterweight title)
• Chuck Liddell (204) vs. Wanderlei Silva (205)
• Soa Palelei (262) vs. Eddie Sanchez (239)
• Lyoto Machida (204) vs. Rameau Tierry Sokoudjou (205)
• Rich Clementi (155) vs. Melvin Guillard (156)

UNDERCARD

• Luis Cane (205) vs. James Irvin (205)
• Nate Mohr (155) vs. Manny Gamburyan (155)
• Jordan Radev (185) vs. Dean Lister (186)
• Roan Carneiro (170) vs. Tony DeSouza (170)
• Doug Evans (155) vs. Mark Bocek (155)

It was a pretty uneventful weigh in except for Silva and Liddell. They had a pretty intense stare down where Wanderlei looked like he was about to pounce at any second and Liddell was pulling that retarted face you see on the cover of UFC 66.

When Dana White went to seperate them, Wanderlei darted his head in to try and get a rise from Liddell. In response Chuck gave Wanderlei the finger and a minor scuffle ensued.

Should have a recap of the main card tomorrow…

The Sam Blog’s Picks for UFC 79 Undercard

Luis Cane vs. James Irvin

Sam Cupitt: Haven’t seen Cane before but on paper he seems like a clone of Thiago Silva. James Irvin can hurt you if he hits you but if you take him down and you know some submissions, he won’t last long. I think Irvin will connect a couple of times, then Cane will realise that he wants no part of the exchanges and will take Irvin down and submit him quickly. Cane via Submission in the 1st round.

Paul Cupitt: I haven’t seen Cane so I’m picking the more experienced Irvin to knock him out in the 1st round. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cane does win by knockout because he appears to have power with 6 of his 7 wins coming by knockout (the other by submission). If Cane is a world class fighter he should beat Irvin, however a loss is hardly the end of his career. Irvin is more experienced and thats the only reason I’m picking him. Irvin via KO in Round 1.

Manny Gamburyan vs. Nate Mohr

Sam Cupitt: Gamburyan has been promised by Joe Silva that if his fight is exciting it will be televised. He must already be pretty filthy that he’s been put on the undercard behind Eddie Sanchez and an unknown heavyweight, so I’m expecting Manny to go mental and take Mohr down and pound him out pretty quickly. Gamburyan via TKO in round 1.

Paul Cupitt: Gamburyan should be too slick for Mohr on the ground and he’ll tap Mohr with a rear naked choke in short time. Gamburyan via submission in Round 1.

Dean Lister vs. Jordan Radev

Sam Cupitt: If Radev takes Lister down he will get submitted. If he tries to stand up with Lister he will get taken down and then submitted. Lister via submission in round 1.

Paul Cupitt: Lister should control the ground fighting but I think Radev will have the know-how to avoid submissions but not to come close to winning. Lister via unanimous decision.

Roan Carneiro vs. Tony DeSouza

Sam Cupitt: Both have great jiu jitsu which will cancel out. That should mean whoever is superior in the other aspects should walk away with this. I feel Carneiro has the superior MMA skill set but not the power to stop DeSouza. Carneiro via Unanimous Decision.

Paul Cupitt: DeSouza by decision with him controlling the fight from top position for the better part of the three rounds. DeSouza via unanimous decision.

Mark Bocek vs. Doug Evans

Sam Cupitt: Bocek has submissions, Evans has the wrestling and better striking. This points to Evans being able to dictate the proceedings. Evans via unanimous decision.

Paul Cupitt: Bocek is the better grappler and will catch Evans with something at some stage, probably later in the fight when he tires. Bocek by arm bar in the 2nd round. Bocek via submission in Round 2.

 

The Sam Blog’s Picks for UFC 79 Main Card

Overview

This will be the third fight between the two. Matt Hughes obtained the first victory back at UFC 50 when he submitted the Canadian in the last few seconds of the first round, in the process gaining the welterweight title. The two rematched in November last year at UFC 65 and it was a completely different story, as St. Pierre dominated and scored a TKO victory in the 2nd round and claimed the title that Hughes won in their first encounter.

Since then Hughes scored a safe unanimous decision over Chris Lytleat UFC 68 and was scheduled to fight Matt Serra on this card, but the welterweight champion had to pull out due to a herniated disc in his back. St. Pierre, after beating Matt Hughes suffered a devastating 1st round knockout to Matt Serra but bounced back into form against Josh Koscheckat UFC 74 scoring a unanimous decision victory.

Sam Cupitt’s Prediction

I think the difference between this fight and the one back in November is that Hughes will be a lot more focused on trying to get the takedown. That still doesn’t change the fact that GSP has probably the best takedown defense in MMA behind Chuck Liddell and B.J. Penn. Hughes may get a takedown early in the fight that may earn him a round but it will only delay the inevitable. St.Pierre via TKO in Round 3.

Paul Cupitt’s Prediction

GSP I think has Hughes’ number. He’s too well-rounded and matches up extremely well against Hughes. He’s the far better striker, has the wrestling ability to keep the fight standing and the grappling to hang with Hughes on the ground. Hughes only really has strength over GSP and even thats debatable. Hughes will have a good 1st round before GSP takes him apart and finishes him off by knockout in the 3rd round. St. Pierre via TKO in Round 3.

Overview

After failed attempt after failed attempt, it is finally here. A match between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva at many a time was the most anticipated bout in MMA history. Both fighters were light heavyweight champions in their respective organisations for a period of time and it was long disputed who the better 205lber was. Now they are both coming off consecutive losses and are both desperate for a win.

Sam Cupitt’s Prediction

I don’t care that this fight is probably a little late in arriving, I just want to see it. I’ve been going back and forth on who’s going to win this constantly. My first impression was that Wanderlei might run in wildy and get caught with a looping Chuck punch but having seen videos of Wanderlei train and the dedication he is showing, I think he may fight more tamely. Looking at some of Chuck’s interviews, I am getting the feeling this could be his last fight, regardless of the outcome, so I think he will want to leave with a bang. I’m thinking we are going to see at some stage these guys standing toe to toe and going at it. If that is the case, Wanderlei will have too many tools. Silva via 2nd round KO.

Paul Cupitt’s Prediction

Its tough to call this one because we don’t know what Silva has left after two devastating knockout losses. Liddell’s losses were more humiliating then devastating and the only effects he may have from these losses is confidence whereas Silva took career ending beatings at the hands of Cro Cop and Henderson. However, I think Silva’s time off will heal any injuries he may have and he’ll be more focused and better prepared for this fight. Liddell’s striking style really works vs wrestlers but against a striker like Silva I think he will struggle like he did with Rampage and Jardine as Silva will be trying to knock Chuck out rather than take him down. Chuck for all his power has poor striking technique and can be picked apart by other strikers as he was against Jardine (I just want to add that I did pick Jardine to beat Chuck) and I think Wanderlei will pick holes in Chuck and stop him in the 2nd round. Silva via 2nd Round TKO.

Yarennoka!: Bouts and Rules Finalised

Yarennoka! or HDnet Fights: Fedor Returns which is scheduled for Dec. 31st has finalised all but one of their bouts and now the rule set they will use. Shinya Aoki is yet to have been given a replacement since Gesias Calvancante had to drop out of their bout due to injury.

The rest of the card is as follows:

Fight 1: Roman Zentsov vs. Mike Russow

Fight 2: Makoto Takimoto vs. Murilo Bustamante

Fight 3: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Azeredo

Fight 4: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Gilbert Melendez

Fight 5: Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa

Fight 6: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kazuo Misaki

Fight 7: Shinya Aoki vs. TBD

Fight 8: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong-man Choi

The scheduled rules according to the Yarennoka website are as follows:

• The bouts will consist of a 10 minute first round and a 5 minute 2nd round
• Judges will have to choose a winner if the bout goes the full 15 minutes. No draws.
• Soccer kicks and stomps to the head of a downed opponent will NOT be allowed.
• Knees are legal except for the Fedor vs. Choi fight where they are not. Most likely due to the weight difference.

Elvis Sinosic talks the Australian MMA scene and his time in the UFC

I recently conducted an email based interview with Elvis Sinosic. I asked him a lot of questions and he gave some very good answers. Enjoy.

Sam Cupitt: Elvis, thanks for the interview.Elvis Sinosic: My pleasure.Sam Cupitt: How are you since your last fight?

Elvis Sinosic: Other than extremely disappointed, I am otherwise fine.

Sam Cupitt: Your last fight was, as most will know, in Cage Rage on Dec 1st in England. As you said, a disappointing result, do you want to tell us a bit about the fight?

Elvis Sinosic:Well not really much to say. I went in feeling very good, well prepared and ready for a tough fight. I was moving forward feeling confident with my stand-up when Paul threw a lovely overhand right that landed on the button and dropped me. I hit the ground, he jumped on me and threw a punch, as I was turning towards him to recover guard, the referee came in from the blind side and stopped the fight. It was very disappointing, because even though I was in trouble, I still felt I was not out of the fight. Such is the fight game.

Sam Cupitt: Was your contract with Cage Rage only the one fight?

Elvis: Yes, that is correct.

Sam: There has been a lot of focus recently on expanding MMA into the UK, the main source being the UFC. How were the English fans? Are they receptive to MMA that isn’t the UFC?

Elvis: The UK fans are great. All the ones I met were very positive and supportive. They love their MMA as much as any other nation. It’s great to see the sport expanding across the globe.

Sam: Your last fight before Cage Rage was also in England. That of course being UFC 70, where you almost pulled out the victory early in the 2nd round against the hometown favourite, Michael Bisping. Did the UFC give you any feedback after the fight?

Randy Couture could fight Fedor in October, 2008

Current UFC heavyweight champion, Randy Couture was cornering a few of his fighters at yesterday’s HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon and in the post-event press conference, he was quizzed once again on a possible fight with Emelianenko.

Couture stated he still wants to fight Fedor and that his current UFC contract will expire in July and his broadcasting contract will expire in October, which of course would make October the earliest date he could fight Fedor, outside of the UFC.

Unless the UFC wants to do a co-promotion with M-1 and make the Fedor fight happen, I’m going to have to wait ’til my contract expires.

I have no intention of breaching that contract; that expires in July. My employment contract expires with them in October. So I would assume the soonest you’d see me fight Emelianenko would be in October.

When asked about the upcoming fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Hong Man Choi, Randy said that Choi would have a puncher’s chance, but that he would he would be hoping the Russian would prevail.

I hope it goes successfully for him because I want to be the first one to beat him

Results from WEC 31

The following are the results from today’s WEC 31 card:

Charles Valencia defs. Ian McCall via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3.19 of R1

Brian Bowles defs. Marcos Galvao via TKO(Strikes) at 2.09 of R2

Ed Ratcliff defs. Alex Karalexis via TKO(Strikes) at 1.26 of R2

Bryan Baker defs. Eric Schambari via Decision (Split) at 5.00 of R3

John Alessio defs. Todd Moore via Decision (Unanimous) at 5.00 of R3

Doug Marshall defs. Ariel Gandulla via Submission (Arm Bar) at 0.55 of R1

Paul Filho defs. Chael Sonnen via Submission (Arm Bar) at 4.55 of R2

Jens Pulver defs. Cub Swanson via Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 0.35 of R1

Urijah Faber defs. Jeff Curran via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4.34 of R2