Great news?? I think yes! On the surface of what Dana White was saying in the interview is that nothing will change. He claims no fighters will be coming over for “Super fights” ie: Fedor vs. Lesnar or Overeem vs. Velasquez. I am finding that hard to believe. Why would he not want to do that, after both Dana and Lorenzo, say that they want what the fans want. They want to see the best fights. There could be a few reasons why they won’t bring over the Strikeforce talent now. One possible, but unlikely reason could be that some of the Strikeforce heavyweights could come over and destroy UFC heavyweights and make Dana eat his words. Another reason could be that there is something in the contracts of the fighters on the Strikeforce roster that says they would have to be bought out before taking on a new contract with another company (UFC) which in turn could cost UFC more money to bring them right away. Maybe that’s why the UFC is waiting for their current contracts to run out. I am simply speculating, I don’t even know what I just wrote makes sense. It makes sense to me, so let’s go with it.

Dana White says Zuffa wants to honour the existing contracts with both Showtime and with the Strikeforce talent.  White would not discuss a lot of the other details such as the amount that was paid to acquire Strikeforce, nor is there much information to the reason why Strikeforce was obtained. Dana says because he wanted to have more fighters and more fights, but I think that they bought out their competition because they felt some heat from Strikeforce and wanted to stop them before they got too big. We will not co-promote, they will stay two separate companies. Dana also mentioned that when the contracts for some of the fighters end he will take the opportunity to talk to them as part of UFC to negotiate a deal to come over. If you believe what Dana White says you could conclude that they will wait for the Showtime contract to expire in 2 years, then just scrap “Strikeforce” and move all the talent they want over and just have UFC.  So I guess we will have to wait together to see how all of this gets ironed out. I, on the other hand, am going to try and find out which fighters contracts are soon coming to an end, so I may play matchmaker.

A stupendous fight and most would agree a totally justified decision, however in that scenario there were two big questions that were left up in the air. First being, who is the rightful owner of the Lightweight belt and who does Anthony Pettis fight next? Both questions could have very easily been settled. One more round of fighting. One final round to decide who the clear cut winner is. Could you imagine how exciting that overtime round would be? An all or nothing scenario. Such an occurrence could be the talk of the Pay Per View, instead we discuss stupid draws and horrible judging…although the overtime rule wouldn’t really solve the judging problem. Some say that it doesn’t happen often enough to make a rule for it. I say look at the most recent decision draw that came at UFC 127, the main event of the evening. The fight between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch. Maybe not quite as important of a fight, but it was seemingly going to decide who would fight for George St. Pierre’s Welterweight title next (if GSP doesn’t relinquish the belt and move up in weight after his fight in Toronto). The possibility of a sudden death round was brought up on Inside MMA on HDNet last night. I think such a rule has great potential due to the fact that it would solve a lot of the undecided fights and the fans would get a clear winner. It would also clear up the problem of the unnecessary rematches. For that reason alone I think they should at least look into it. I think there have been too many immediate rematches. There has even been talk about a Fitch vs Penn II fight sometime soon.  Some of these rematches are not needed or wanted by the fans. I could care less because Fitch, in mine and most other people’s eyes, won that fight and deserves the title shot. Not only that but they put that fight on another PPV card when they could be putting on NEW and exciting fights. I am all for rematches but not right away. Bas Rutton made a great point when referring to the sudden death round when he said that could not happen in a Championship fight because they are only allowed 5 rounds. I sure there is some tinkering they could do to alleviate at least part of the problem. Even if they only delegated the “Extra time” to non-title fights it would be, in my opinion, great for the sport and for the fans.

I know that I can’t change the minds of you who were deeply troubled by Pettis not receiving his automatic next shot fight, but remember that Dana White has lied…sorry told mistruths before and I am sorry to say that he will speak them again. Remember the whole (I will think of a way to make it up to the fans for Anderson Silva’s antics in Abu Dhabi) I haven’t received a check for the pay per view or been witness to an awesome card Free on Spike/Versus either.

Enjoy the fights!

Kevin Leal

Vitor has had some issues with the pressure of “BIG” fights in his career, like when he fought Randy and Chuck back in the day. We will see if he has his mind calm when it comes to fight night. I have seen a lot of people already giving the fight to Anderson and on paper I would likely lean that direction as well, but I have realized a couple a lot of things in this sport, a couple are: there is no sure thing in MMA fight and two is that you don’t want the Phenom to starts throwing punches at you, because if he lands one, five more are right behind it, just as powerful and all with bad intentions. Good Luck Anderson!

Cheers and enjoy the fights!

Kevin Leal

During this time you can get a good sense of the type of corner each fighter has. There are several different kinds of corner men and strategies to getting their fighter ready for the next round. The type which I don’t personally agree with or understand is the corner that likes to feed their fighter a line of bullshit. I am sure you’ve seen these corners, who, no matter how bad their fighter is doing, the corner tells them that they are doing great, to keep doing what he’s doing and that he won that last round. I personally don’t see the point of doing this. Maybe they do it to instil confidence?

I like the straight shooting corners. The ones that say ”What are you doing out there?” “You need to stick to what we trained on” or “Your dipping your shoulder before you throw your right hand…your telegraphing it.” That type of corner will also let their fighter know their down 2 rounds in the 3 round fight and they must finish the fight in this final round. I especially appreciate the more direct approach of “You gotta knock this fuckin guy out NOW!!

Greg Jackson has a very interesting strategy. He talks in a soft, calming voice and gets his fighter to concentrate on their breathing, then gives them straight and simple instructions for the next round. I think that it is a smart idea to get your fighter as loose and relaxed as possible.

Next time you’re watching on PPV check out what is going on in the corners. You may see something interesting. As I close this article I want to stress that I am not saying that any way of cornering is more right than any other way. I just wanted to bring a couple strategies I have noticed into the light. I am sure these coaches/trainers know their fighters better than I do. I am sure they know just what to say to get their shit right before the next five minutes of battle.

Cheers!

1st fight

One of the fights that didn’t live up to the massive expectations happened to be the 1st fight of the pay per view main card. Melvin Guillard vs Jeremy Stevens. Due to their previous fights, most being slugfests, fans expected more of the same. Guillard and team Jackson had other plans in mind. They decided to fight a “Smart” fight, which is usually accompanied by boring. This means the one fighter (Guillard) avoids the exchange and doesn’t take any “unnecessary” risks and these types of performances can get you a long, uneventful, decision win…but at what cost? Well the cost for the average fan is around $50.00. (Cost for beer at a sports bar, buying the event on PPV or the much higher price of a ticket) But hey, he got the win…right?

They put on a great show

Lets not take away from the fighters that went out and put on a great show for us. Serra vs Lytle, Sean Sherk vs Evan Dunham and a decent fight between Ryan Bader vs Rogerio Nogueira. First of all the Serra vs Lytle fight was exactly what we were all hoping for. Both guys went out there and threw down. They both got lit up with some shots, but they kept comin and showed their heart and showed that they have great chins and can stand with the best in the division.

Bader vs. Nog

Bader vs little Nog was a decent fight. It kind of went how we thought it might. Bader took him down and landed some vicious ground and pound from in Rogerio’s guard and being a Nogueira he took those huge shots and kept scrabbling for a submission. Bader claimed that Nogueira caught him with a knee to the body early in the second round, and that it made it very difficult to breathe for that entire round. I honestly didn’t think it would go the distance, but Bader won by decision and looks like Jon Jones is his next opponent (rumour).

Best Fight

The best fight (in my opinion) was the battle between Sean Sherk and Evan Dunham. This was a great fight. It had everything, wrestling, guillotines, reversals and a fight closing stand up war. It was all good stuff. Seeing how this was a great fight and both fighters fought their hearts out, Cecil Peoples had no choice, but to once again, upstage the fighters. Good job! Now instead of giving both of these fighters a well deserved round of applause, after they left everything in the cage, (and part of Evans forehead) Sean Sherk got booed for something that is totally out of his control. The fans had no right to boo Sherk. He fought to the final buzzer for those people. It’s a slap in the face to these fighters and those fans should be ashamed.

Main Event

Now we come to the “Main Event”. Was it just me or was that not the real Cro Cop? He looked like he didn’t want to engage. I was waiting for him to find a home for his body kicks. I think he only three kicks total. What is that? Mir wasn’t doing any better to make the fight the least bit entertaining. We did find out that Frank Mir has some sick power with his stand up now. That was a weird fight. Nothing happening for almost 14 minutes and then outta nowhere Mir catches him with a crazy knee coming out of the exchange. It was like nothing, nothing, nothing, it’s all over!

Conclusion

In closing, I would just like to say that for the most part mma fans are very respectful of the fighters. There are some that just wanna talk shit without having any real reason for doing so. As the sport grows and more and more people get educated about the sport I think some of these boo-ers in the audience will understand what’s going on and sit down and enjoy the show.

Connecting with your favorite fighters

Fighters share many things including their training, what their doing on their spare time, and many other things that fans enjoy hearing about. Compared to years ago when their was nothing like Twitter it was much harder for upcoming fighters to get their name out there and connect so easily with their fans. This growing service is allowing fighters to interact with fans (if they choose to do so) and check up on what their opponents are up to. You could say that Twitter has definitely helped grow the fan base for MMA since fans have the opportunity to see what their favorite fighters are up to on a daily basis.

List of over 100 fighters on Twitter below!

(If we’re missing anyone let us know in the comment section below)

1. Urijah Faber: @UrijahFaber
2. Dan Henderson: @danhendo
3. Shane Carwin: @ShaneCarwin
4. Joe Lauzon: @JoeLauzon
5. Mike Quick Swick: @officialswick
6. Frank Shamrock: @frankshamrock
7. Ryan Bader: @ryanbader
8. Nate Marquardt: @NathanMarquardt
9. Andrei Arlovski: @AndreiArlovski
10. Jake Shields: @jakeshieldsajj
11. Vitor Belfort: @vitorbelfort
12. Frankie Edgar: @FrankieEdgar
13. RaZoR ROB: @RaZoRoB
14. Lyoto Machida: @lyotomachidafw
15. Justin Wren: @JustinTheViking
16. Jason High: @KCbandit
17. Alan Belcher: @alanbelcherufc
18. Brett Rogers: @thegrimrogers
19. Robert Drysdale: @robertdrysdale
20. Seth Petruzelli: @silverbackseth
21. Kimbo Slice: @kimboslice
22. Kit Cope: @kitcopemma
23. Gabriel Gonzaga: @gonzagabjj
24. Gabe Ruediger: @GabeRuediger
25. Joe Daddy Stevenson: @joestevenson
26. Josh Barnett: @JoshLBarnett
27. Nick Catone: @NickCatone
28. Rory Markham: @RoryMarkham
29. Jeremy May: @JeremyMayMMA
30. Daniel Armendariz: @Daniel92380
31. Dale Hartt: @Dalehartt
32. Michael Bisping: @bisping
33. Joseph Benavidez: @JoeB135
34. Brian Stann: @BrianStann
35. Josh Koscheck: @JoshKoscheck
36. Scott jorgensen: @Scottjorgensen
37. Phil Baroni: @philbaroni
38. Mike Tyson: @MikeTyson
39. Jason Mayhem Miller: @mayhemmiller
40. Chael Sonnen: @sonnench
41. Nathan Diaz: @NateDiaz209
42. Chuck Liddell: @ChuckLiddell
43. Kurt Pellegrino: @kurtpellegrino
44. Wanderlei Silva: @wandfc
45. Kenny Florian: @Kenny_Florian
46. Frank Trigg: @FRANKTRIGG
47. George St Pierre: @Georgesstpierre
48. Rashad Evans: @SugaRashadEvans
49. Quinton Jackson: @Rampage4real
50. Chris Leben: @cripplerufc
51. Jose ‘Scarface’ Aldo: @josealdojunior
52. Dan Hardy: @danhardymma
53. James McSweeney: @mcsweeneymma
54. Cain Velasquez: @cainmma
55. Clay Guida: @clayguida
56. Phil Davis: @PhilMrWonderful
57. Jason Macdonald: @jaymac185
58. Tyson Griffin: @Tyson_Griffin
59. Tito Ortiz: @titoortiz
60. Gray Maynard: @GrayMaynard
61. Roy Nelson: @roynelsonmma
62. Cole Miller: @colemillerATT
63. Johny Hendricks: @JohnyHendricks
64. Jeremy Stephens: @LiLHeathenMMA
65. Charlie Brenneman: @SpaniardMMA
66. Daniel Roberts: @ninjaroberts
67. Matt Grice: @mattgricemma
68. Evan Dunham: @evandunham155
69. Melvin Guillaird: @MGuillardMMA
70. Ben Saunders: @bensaundersUFC
71. BJ PENN: @bjpenndotcom
72. Pat Barry: @HypeOrDie
73. Todd Duffee: @Todd_Duffee
74. Brian Bowles: @Brian_Bowles
75. Forrest Griffin: @ForrestGriffin
76. Randy Couture: @Randy_Couture
77. Miguel Angel Torres: @MiguelTorresMMA
78. Frank Mir: @thefrankmir
79. Brock Lesnar: @DCBROCKLESNAR
80. Jamie Varner: @jamievarner
81. Mauricio Rua: @ShogunRua
82. Efrain Escudero: @effyescudero
83. Diego Sanchez: @DiegoNightmare
84. Matt Serra: @MattSerraUFC
85. Cowboy Cerrone: @Cowboycerrone
86. Dominick Cruz: @TheDomin8r
87. Marcus Davis: @irishgrenade
88. Anthony Pettis: @Showtimepettis
89. Duane Ludwig: @DUANEBANGCOM
90. Mark Hominick: @MarkHominick
91. Jake Ellenberger: @EllenbergerMMA
92. Danny Castillo: @lastcall155
93. Chad Mendes: @chadmendes
94. Bryan Caraway: @BryanCaraway
95. Tom Kong Watson: @TomKongWatson
96. Keith Jardine: @KeithJardine205
97. Anthony Njokuani: @anthonynjoku
98. Mike Pyle: @Mike_Pyle
99. Brian Stann: @BrianStann
100. Brendan Schaub: @BrendanSchaub
101. Jon Bones Jones: @jonnybones
102. Patrick Cote: @patrick_cote
103. Danillo Villefort: @IndioMMA
104. Willamy Chiquerim: @chiquerim
105. Kris Savage Mccray: @KrisMccray
106. Jake Shields: @jakeshieldsajj

You can find DiscussMMA.com on twitter @DiscussMMA

Silent treatment

Many fans who message their favorite fighters on Twitter typically get the silent treatment. So if your a fan and are thinking Twitter will get that burning question you have on your mind answered directly, well your out of luck for most of the time as some fighters don’t respond to @ messages.  Please note that not all fighters give the silent treatment.

What fighters do you follow on Twitter?

Check out the pics.

Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stevens

I am sure some of you have seen Melvin struggle in the past. He seemed to have trouble stopping the take down or maintaining top position for any length of time and things always seemed to get worse from there. I know he has been working with Greg Jackson as of late, which has done great things to tighten up his overall game. I don’t think he will initially have to worry about Stevens taking him down, unless things are not going well for Stevens on the feet. Before Guillard went to train with Greg Jackson, I would have given the fight to Jeremy Stevens. I believe Greg Jackson (Mr. game plan) will have him ready to go tomorrow night. *I got Melvin Guillard by TKO Round 2

Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham

Ok. What do we know? Dunham is 11-0. His wins are all over the board. Submission, TKO, and decisions. Sean Sherk is a cardio machine, good wrestling, sweet double legs and he’s built like a Mennonite shit house. I believe this will be an exciting back and forth affair. I also see it going the full 3 rounds. *I got Sean Sherk by split decision.

Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra

This fight has the potential of being fight of the night. Chris Lytle has earned the most fight of the night awards in the UFC. It also has the potential to be a slugfest and if that happens, it’s pretty much a toss up. I believe Matt Serra has the advantage of catching him once and putting him to sleep. I believe Serra has one punch knock out power in his hands, his right especially. The last time Lytle won by KO or TKO was at UFC 81.  Not to take away from Chris Lytle, he is no joke. He has a very under estimated ground game. He has won his last 2 fights by submission. These two fighters have publicly agreed to stand and throw bones. So it should be a hell of a fight. *I am taking Serra by TKO in Round 2

Ryan Bader vs. Lil Nog

This one is a tough fight to predict. Both guys have Knock out power in their hands. Bader is a fantastic wrestler. I am expecting a huge slam from him. Once on his back Nogueira has, in my opinion, the best ju jitsu game in the light heavyweight division. Bader is a great up and coming light heavyweight who is on the verge of greatness, however, Nogueira has beaten the best in the sport. Is it Ryan “Darth” Bader’s time? Have we seen the best of Nogueira? All of these questions will be answered tomorrow night. Until then, I have no fucking clue who will win. *L*
I think Nogueira’s ju jitsu may be the difference, but who knows.

Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop

Ok. This is it, the main event of the evening. This fight is a fight that in my opinion has a distinct advantage leaning towards Frank Mir. I believe Mir’s stand up has improved more than Cro Cop’s ground game has. I think Frank’s stand up is good enough to get him into a good position to set up and get a take down. Once this baby gets to the floor…she’s over! I am also not completely convinced Mirko’s eye is well enough to fight…call me crazy! Imagine he got KO’ed by a head kick from Mir to his “bad” eye side.

*I am pickin Mir by Submission/Choke in the 1st round. Ya, I said it!

Enjoy tomorrow’s fights everyone! It’s a great card! Don’t forget to leave your pick’s in our response or forum section of the site.

Some of the reasons of dislike include:

Too cocky

(Exhibit A) – Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar was the most arrogant rookie cage fighter I have ever had the misfortune of listening to. Yes I agree, to be a fighter you must be confident, but first you must have a better record than 1-0 (over Min soo kim….who?) I can put up with someone who is cocky, but still respects his opponent. I can even see Brock being that cocky (which he was) after he beat Randy. At that point he had beat an mma legend. There is still hope for Brock. If you watch the 2 videos below you will see his post fight interview both after his fight at UFC 100 with Frank Mir and his most recent post fight press conference after getting smashed by Shane Carwin. I think Shane punched him so hard that he realized he is not impervious to pain and I believe it humbled him. There is one thing that we can all thank “God” for, and that is that he doesn’t dance around acting like an idiot and embarrassing his opponent and the whole sport in the process.

Which brings me to my next overly exuberant fighter…Rashad Evans (Bet you were all thinking of someone else…him too! but this fighter works better into my article)

(Exhibit B) – Rashad Evans

Now Brock is the least of our worry in this category. He does his arrogant behaviour before and after the fight (Except with Heath Herring). The show boating that really gets under my skin in the type that happens in the cage. Rashad Evans is a professional at looking like a complete ass. Which in his defence is probably to get his opponent angry/frustrated (like Chuck Liddell). There have been many greats in the sport that did not need to do that and I don’t think Rashad needs to either. At one point I thought he was just another cocky young fighter, then I seen him as a coach on the Ultimate Fighter and I got a whole new image of him. He appeared to genuinely care about the fighters he was coaching as opposed to himself. I really appreciate his skills as an mma fighter. He has one of the best records in the UFC against good competition too. I just wish he wouldn’t do those stupid things in the cage. I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon.

They beat or are fighting your favorite fighter

This really isn’t a good reason to hate another fighter, Although, I too have been guilty of it. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has fought and knocked out two of my favorite fighters (Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva). Now, the initial feeling is disappointment. After disappointment comes denial, then anger, and finally comes hatred to the person who made all this possible. In these cases it was directed towards Rampage. I disliked him for a long time because of this petty reason. One day I saw a video of how he responded to a young boy who he had met, with his father, at a weigh in. Rampage was this kids hero. Rampage met with the young boy and told the kid he was his hero and got him in a light, joking headlock and proceeded to allow the 5 yr old to “beat him up”. It made that kids day. I saw a different side to “Rampage” that day. I instantly had a new found respect toward Quinton Jackson. I am not a fan, but he is very often the lesser of two evils. You know when you don’t really like either fighter in a certain fight. Well not enough to cheer for them, but you hate one fighter less, that’s what I refer to as a lesser of two evils.

Finally, there are fighters that you are either on the fence about, or you don’t like them for some reason. Then something happens in a fight that makes you an instant fan. This happens when; the fighter in question goes out and totally impresses you with either their skills or (sometimes more importantly) their heart and “never say die attitude”. Dan Hardy did this for me. The fight at UFC 111 with Georges St Pierre was a great demonstration of the grapefruit sized balls Dan Hardy has. Dan Hardy was put in a bad spot numerous times during this fight and time after time he refused to quit. 90% of fighters in that exact spot would have tapped. Dan Hardy is one of those relatively unknown fighters that deserve a portion of the spotlight. I will be bringing up Dan Hardy and other fighters like him that are not at the top of the rankings, but are still very dangerous in their respective weight classes.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of the fighters mentioned in this article. It takes a bigger man than I to knowingly go into a caged environment, where you know the well-trained man across from you is going to try and hurt you. Both the mental and physical toll it takes on these guys must be intense. I think we can all agree the pressure these fighters have on their shoulders not only to perform for us fans, but to also be victorious to bring home a bigger pay day to support their families.