This is a new feature that I'm going to try to update weekly during the NBA season, and I'll try to tweak it for the Playoffs and maybe for MMA cards to show who's on the rise, treading water, and slumping. I would like to note that this was written yesterday, before the Heat got beat by the Thunder, the Celtics showed some signs of life again, and the Mavericks beat the Warriors.
Three Up
Chicago Bulls: Winners of nine of their past ten, the Bulls have surged into first in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the Jordan Era. Notable in that span are two wins over the Heat and wins over Atlanta, Orlando, and New Orleans. ESPN has them currently rated as the team most likely to win the NBA title and are number one in ESPN's future power rankings, measuring who should be the best over the next three years. Derrick Rose is the leading candidate for MVP and Tom Thibodeau is amongst the leading candidates for Coach of the Year. All in all, not a bad time to be a Bulls fan.
Denver Nuggets: Denver is surging post-Carmelo Anthony with a 9-2 record after the trade, which is quite a bit better than the Knicks' mark during that span. George Karl has the team playing an exciting brand of basketball and it is obvious that a weight has been lifted off the team's shoulders. They actually look like they enjoy playing basketball again. They are currently a five seed in the West, and could potentially play spoiler to the Thunder in the playoffs.
Los Angeles Lakers: Also winners of nine of the past ten, the Lakers are finally starting to round into playoff form. Following the close loss to Miami, they beat the Mavericks and Magic, and prior to the Heat game they thrashed the Spurs. Of the top four seeds out West they are probably the most dangerous, although they should hope they don't have to play the Grizzlies, TrailBlazers, or Nuggets in the first round as they struggle against them.
Three in the Middle
Boston Celtics: It seems that Boston is content to let everybody heal up before the postseason, hence the struggle over the past five or six games. They obliterated the Bucks over the weekend, but those losses to the Clippers and Nets are brutal and losing to potential first round opponent Philadelphia hurts. The 76ers have matched up well with Boston all season and would make it a tough series for the Celtics. That being said, Boston still holds tiebreakers over Chicago and Miami and they don't really care about beating a team on the road, so seeding for the playoffs isn't that important. What is important is that Rondo has been playing poorly and when he doesn't go, neither do the Celtics.
Miami Heat: Recovered from that losing skid to beat the Lakers in a close game, then blow out the Grizzlies and Spurs by thirty each. I still don't think they can beat Boston or Chicago in a seven game series due to their lack of cohesiveness and effectiveness in the halfcourt game. Wade and LeBron still don't really know how to play together unless it's on the fast break. With a few tweaks and a healthy Haslem, the Heat could still make some noise in the playoffs.
Philadelphia 76ers: Beat Boston last week and played the Thunder close, but lost to Utah and got thrashed by the Bucks. Still, they have recovered from a poor start and are now above .500 and have the second best record in the East since the All-Star break behind Chicago. They have the potential to make the first round of the playoffs very interesting. Doug Collins has done a great job coaching a young team that has no one scoring more than 17 a game.
Three Down
San Antonio Spurs: Have bookend blowout losses to the Lakers and Heat, with wins over bad teams in the middle. They should finish with homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, but their play against good teams has been troubling as of late. Their defense has been sub-par this season and it has shown against the better teams. They need a win over Dallas at the end of the month to reassert themselves as the favorite in the Western Conference.
New York Knicks: After the excitement of trading for Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have gone 6-6. Knicks fans are shocked to see that 'Melo doesn't play defense or pass the ball very much/well. They also can't defend. Anyone. At all. It doesn't matter how great a clutch shooter 'Melo is if you can't stop anyone in a close game. The two straight losses to the Pacers put them in the seventh seed, where they would have a difficult time competing against the Celtics. If the Knicks want to make any noise, they need to get to the sixth seed and a more favorable matchup with the Heat.
Dallas Mavericks: Their losses to the Lakers and potential first round opponent Portland have dropped the Mavericks into the third seed out West. They could still conceivably win the conference, but they could also conceivably lose to the TrailBlazers in the first round. The seventh seed Hornets are a much easier matchup. They play the Hornets and the Spurs before the month is out and wins there would help their caue a great deal.
That's it for this week's installment. Feel free to comment if you agree, disagree, or think I missed something.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Joe's UFC 128 Predictions (That I'm pretty sure are the exact same as my brother's)
UFC 128 goes down this Saturday. My brother posted his picks for the fights earlier today. My picks are basically the exact same except for the finishes. Oh well. I feel a little cocky about picking finishes since I told my brother on the phone days before and in the hours leading up to Anderson Silva's legendary push kick victory of Vitor Belfort that Silva would win within the first three minutes. It took just over three minutes. Hell yeah.
I had been writing my predictions for the UFC 128 main event in my head a little while ago and just read Jimmy's picks and saw he said the same shit I was going to say about Shogun Rua almost. Great minds think alike I guess. Either way, UFC 128 has a monster main event of light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against Jon "Bones" Jones. They could just chared 45 bucks for that fight and nothing else and I'd be pumped, but there are sadly other fights that must be witnessed. This card is noteworthy because for the first time what I feel like has been a long time I have little knowledge of most of the people involved. I feel like an amateur now. Whatever. Here are the picks:
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-8-2) vs. Brendan Schaub (7-1): Mirko Cro Cop used to be death. Pre-UFC Mirko laid all to waste. Every time I hear "Bloodline" by Slayer all I can picture is Mirko kicking people in the head and ending them. Cro Cop always used to say, "Right leg, hospital; left leg; cemetery." Sadly now he's been reduced to a mere mortal doomed to suffer embarassing losses and ruin his legacy, like when Junior Dos Santos kept punching Mirko in the face and Cro Cop quit because he couldn't see. Mirko's fight with Pat Barry was fun but not all that impressive. As my brother stated earlier, Schaub is the type of fighter who would be a dead man walking if he were fighting Cro Cop back in Pride. But instead Schaub looks like he's going to build a name for himself. The only thing I know about Schaub is he got laid out by Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter finale. He's decent but you know something is wrong with the world when he poses a serious threat to the once unstoppable Mirko Cro Cop. I'm calling Schaub by third round knockout.
Dan Miller (13-4) vs. Nate "The Great" Marquardt (30-10-2): I have no idea who Dan Miller is really. Looking at his fights, I've seen him a few times but I don't remember him at all. I do know Nate Marquardt and I know I am not a fan. I was initially excited for this fight because it was to be Marquardt against Yoshihiro Akiyama (or Sexyama as he's known in some circles). I'm a fan of Sexyama and was hoping to see him take out Nate the Great. Instead I'm gonig to watch as Marquardt wins by boring decision.
Jim Miller (19-2) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-0-2): Much like his brother Dan, I've seen Jim Miller fight a few times and still have no idea who he is. I also have no clue who Kamal Shalorus is. Two guys I've never heard of, fighting right before the co-main event. Needless to say I'm pumped for this fight and can't wait to see a victory for Kamal Shalorus by first round TKO.
Co-Main Event - Urijah Faber (24-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1): I'm very excited for this fight since it will be my first time seeing Urijah Faber, the California Kid, going to work. People are saying this move down to 135 is a great move for him. He is a former champ at 145 and is looking to contend at 135 should he win on Saturday. I've never heard of Eddie Wineland. I don't expect him to win. I'm feeling Faber by third round submission.
Main Event - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4) vs. Jon "Bones" Jones (12-1): I am so excited for this. On one hand you have the most handsome man in all of MMA, Shogun Rua. I'm not even gay and I have a crush on this guy. He is handsome. The man used to be a model before he fought. He's the man. On the other hand you have Jon "Bones" Jones. The man the UFC is clearly hyping as the future of the sport. Jones is young (23), athletic, charismatic, big (6'5" with a UFC record 85" reach and walks around at 220 according to the research I did, otherwise known as reading my brother's picks) and has dismantled everybody he's fought. His only loss came when he devestated Matt Hamill with elbows that were illegal, but he was still crushing Hamill in that fight. Jones has brutal ground and pound. He's the fastest rising star in the business and guaranteed to go down as one of the all time greats. The only problem is he's yet to be truly tested. Jones has looked like a devestating striker and wrestler, but he's been fighting competition that isn't that great. He beat Stephan Bonnar and a man nicknamed The Janitor. Shogun has problems against wrestlers and is coming off a third knee surgery, but we can't forget who we're talking about here.
When the UFC brought Shogun in, he was hyped as the best light heavyweight in the world. Nagging knee injuries kept him from looking like the super killer, but after sealing Chuck Liddell's career up he was given a title shot against Lyoto Machida who was undefeated and is the most elusive fighter in the division. Machida won maybe the most controversial decision in the history of life as Shogun dominated him and picked him apart for five rounds. Rua looked the like the Shogun the UFC had been promising for so long. Then in the rematch he absolutely demolished Machida in the first round. Shogun's striking is legendary. Bones Jones has never faced somebody with such deadly strikes. Shogun is also only 28, which means in theory he's entering his athletic prime. Assuming he's fine after that knee surgery, a healthy Shogun means a deadly Shogun. I guess Shogun has jiu jitsu, and with Bones Jones throwing those elbows like a mad man on the ground that leaves him open to get put in something, but I don't see the fight going that way. People can climb on the Bones Jones train and I know there's a very good chance both my brother and I will look silly for prediciting Shogun to win, but I can't believe it going any other way. As my brother said, Bones Jones has turmoil within his camp and all this hype as well as having just fought six weeks ago to deal with. Shogun hasn't fought since May of last year and had knee surgery so that makes things hard for him as well, but I still think that the fight will be stopped due to a knockout in the second round for the winner (read this part in your best Bruce Buffer voice) and still UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World...Mauricio SHOGUN Rua!!!!
And that's all I have to say about that. Keep fighting.
I had been writing my predictions for the UFC 128 main event in my head a little while ago and just read Jimmy's picks and saw he said the same shit I was going to say about Shogun Rua almost. Great minds think alike I guess. Either way, UFC 128 has a monster main event of light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against Jon "Bones" Jones. They could just chared 45 bucks for that fight and nothing else and I'd be pumped, but there are sadly other fights that must be witnessed. This card is noteworthy because for the first time what I feel like has been a long time I have little knowledge of most of the people involved. I feel like an amateur now. Whatever. Here are the picks:
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-8-2) vs. Brendan Schaub (7-1): Mirko Cro Cop used to be death. Pre-UFC Mirko laid all to waste. Every time I hear "Bloodline" by Slayer all I can picture is Mirko kicking people in the head and ending them. Cro Cop always used to say, "Right leg, hospital; left leg; cemetery." Sadly now he's been reduced to a mere mortal doomed to suffer embarassing losses and ruin his legacy, like when Junior Dos Santos kept punching Mirko in the face and Cro Cop quit because he couldn't see. Mirko's fight with Pat Barry was fun but not all that impressive. As my brother stated earlier, Schaub is the type of fighter who would be a dead man walking if he were fighting Cro Cop back in Pride. But instead Schaub looks like he's going to build a name for himself. The only thing I know about Schaub is he got laid out by Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter finale. He's decent but you know something is wrong with the world when he poses a serious threat to the once unstoppable Mirko Cro Cop. I'm calling Schaub by third round knockout.
Dan Miller (13-4) vs. Nate "The Great" Marquardt (30-10-2): I have no idea who Dan Miller is really. Looking at his fights, I've seen him a few times but I don't remember him at all. I do know Nate Marquardt and I know I am not a fan. I was initially excited for this fight because it was to be Marquardt against Yoshihiro Akiyama (or Sexyama as he's known in some circles). I'm a fan of Sexyama and was hoping to see him take out Nate the Great. Instead I'm gonig to watch as Marquardt wins by boring decision.
Jim Miller (19-2) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-0-2): Much like his brother Dan, I've seen Jim Miller fight a few times and still have no idea who he is. I also have no clue who Kamal Shalorus is. Two guys I've never heard of, fighting right before the co-main event. Needless to say I'm pumped for this fight and can't wait to see a victory for Kamal Shalorus by first round TKO.
Co-Main Event - Urijah Faber (24-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1): I'm very excited for this fight since it will be my first time seeing Urijah Faber, the California Kid, going to work. People are saying this move down to 135 is a great move for him. He is a former champ at 145 and is looking to contend at 135 should he win on Saturday. I've never heard of Eddie Wineland. I don't expect him to win. I'm feeling Faber by third round submission.
Main Event - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4) vs. Jon "Bones" Jones (12-1): I am so excited for this. On one hand you have the most handsome man in all of MMA, Shogun Rua. I'm not even gay and I have a crush on this guy. He is handsome. The man used to be a model before he fought. He's the man. On the other hand you have Jon "Bones" Jones. The man the UFC is clearly hyping as the future of the sport. Jones is young (23), athletic, charismatic, big (6'5" with a UFC record 85" reach and walks around at 220 according to the research I did, otherwise known as reading my brother's picks) and has dismantled everybody he's fought. His only loss came when he devestated Matt Hamill with elbows that were illegal, but he was still crushing Hamill in that fight. Jones has brutal ground and pound. He's the fastest rising star in the business and guaranteed to go down as one of the all time greats. The only problem is he's yet to be truly tested. Jones has looked like a devestating striker and wrestler, but he's been fighting competition that isn't that great. He beat Stephan Bonnar and a man nicknamed The Janitor. Shogun has problems against wrestlers and is coming off a third knee surgery, but we can't forget who we're talking about here.
When the UFC brought Shogun in, he was hyped as the best light heavyweight in the world. Nagging knee injuries kept him from looking like the super killer, but after sealing Chuck Liddell's career up he was given a title shot against Lyoto Machida who was undefeated and is the most elusive fighter in the division. Machida won maybe the most controversial decision in the history of life as Shogun dominated him and picked him apart for five rounds. Rua looked the like the Shogun the UFC had been promising for so long. Then in the rematch he absolutely demolished Machida in the first round. Shogun's striking is legendary. Bones Jones has never faced somebody with such deadly strikes. Shogun is also only 28, which means in theory he's entering his athletic prime. Assuming he's fine after that knee surgery, a healthy Shogun means a deadly Shogun. I guess Shogun has jiu jitsu, and with Bones Jones throwing those elbows like a mad man on the ground that leaves him open to get put in something, but I don't see the fight going that way. People can climb on the Bones Jones train and I know there's a very good chance both my brother and I will look silly for prediciting Shogun to win, but I can't believe it going any other way. As my brother said, Bones Jones has turmoil within his camp and all this hype as well as having just fought six weeks ago to deal with. Shogun hasn't fought since May of last year and had knee surgery so that makes things hard for him as well, but I still think that the fight will be stopped due to a knockout in the second round for the winner (read this part in your best Bruce Buffer voice) and still UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World...Mauricio SHOGUN Rua!!!!
And that's all I have to say about that. Keep fighting.
Jimbley's UFC 128 Predictions
UFC 128 is this weekend and features a huge main event of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Jon "Bones"" Jones for the Light Heavyweight Title. Overall, it isn't the best card on paper, but it should still be pretty good. I'm going to run through the main pay per view card and give my predictions in each fight.
Undercard
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic [27-8-2] vs. Brendan Schaub [7-1]: I've already devoted space to how devastating Mirko Cro Cop once was. Unfortunately and unexplainably, he has dropped off to the point where he is opening this card against a guy who is just above a prospect at this point. Schaub is an ex-football player turned kickboxer whose two biggest fights were a brutal knockout loss to Roy Nelson and a decision win against Gabriel Gonzaga. In Pride five years ago, a man of Schaub's caliber and style would be dead within five minutes against Mirko. Now, he is a solid favorite in the betting lines. Cro Cop claims to be in the best shape of his life and prepared to make one last run. He says this every time. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me four times shame on everyone who has seen you in Pride. As much as I want a Cro Cop KO, it is going to be Schaub by decision.
Dan Miller [13-4] vs. Nate Marquardt [30-10-2]: Miller is a late replacement for Yoshihiro Akiyama, who dropped out to tend to family in Japan. Miller is a tough and scrappy guy, but Nate has been a top contender for the MW title for the past year or two, with losses to Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami keeping him from rematching Anderson Silva. I like Miller and he's no slouch, he just isn't in Marquardt's class. His biggest win is against Joe Doerksen. I would very much like to see Miller win, but I'm going to go with Marquardt by decision.
Jim Miller [19-2] vs. Kamal Shalorus [7-0-2]: Jim Miller, brother of the aforementioned Dan, is a borderline contender in the crowded lightweight division. Shalorus is a transfer from the WEC fighting his first match under the UFC banner. Miller is a veteran whose only two losses are to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the top two fighters in the division. This should be a decent scrap and Shalorus has a decent chance at an upset, but I think it will be Miller by decision.
Co-Main Event
Urijah Faber [24-4] vs. Eddie Wineland [18-6-1]: This is Faber's UFC debut, after being the face of the WEC for years. This is his second fight at 135 lbs after being the 145 lb. champ and top contender for a long time. Wineland is a former champ at 135 lb. champ and is very much a game opponent. In the striking, Wineland has a slight advantage standing, but on the ground Faber is much better. This should be fight of the night, as Faber is always exciting and relentless, even in defeat (ex. the Mike Brown fight where he broke both his hands and the Jose Aldo fight where Aldo absolutely destroyed Faber's leg). He has more tools in his arsenal than Wineland at his disposal and a win for him would put him in line to fight the champ, Dominick Cruz in a highly anticipated match pitting Cruz against the only man to ever defeat him. Going to go with Faber by second round submission.
Main Event
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua [19-4] vs. Jon Jones [12-1]: I'm so pumped for this fight, I can hardly stand it. Jones is very much the future of the sport. He's a dynamic striker with a relentless ground and pound and wrestling game. He has proven thus far to be unstoppable and based on his youth (23 years old) and size (6'5" and naturally about 220 lbs with a UFC record 85" reach), could eventually end up as the most dominant heavyweight in MMA history, as well as the dominant light heavyweight of the next few years. Shogun should be in his athletic prime (28 years old), but is coming off his third knee surgery in five years and a nearly one year layoff after a devastating knockout win over previously undefeated champ Lyoto Machida. Betting lines have Jones as a slight favorite with the odds slowly tipping more in his favor as we get closer to the fight. I don't think this is fair, as this is really an anything goes type fight. Shogun's weakness is wrestling, which is Jones's forte. Jones has never fought a devastating striker like Shogun, as his fights have been against mostly slower and older wrestlers. This could be negated by Shogun's recovery from surgery. Jones has also never fought a solid BJJ guy like Shogun, but on the flip side who knows how good Shogun's jiu jitsu is since he has only submitted Kevin Randleman in his career? Tying in with Jones never facing a striker like Shogun is the fact that Shogun has faced larger fighters before, beating current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem twice decisively and Overeem is the same height as Jones, but bulkier. I don't think anyone has mentioned this really when describing Jones's smothering top game, but while he is content to level his opponents from the open guard he does tend to leave his arms dangling out there for his opponent while he postures up. This is dangerous against anyone with a jiu jitsu knowledge. I could go on about this fight for a whole entry, as I think it is fascinating, but I'll get down to it and maybe write something about this whole thing later. I see this fight going one of two ways: either a Jones second or third round TKO by ground strikes, or Shogun via 2nd round KO or 3rd round submission. I think Jones is getting caught up in a lot of hype right now between the media and his own camp that could distract him, plus he just fought five or six weeks ago. Even though it was an easy win, it isn't easy to train again for a new opponent and peak again. I'm going to take the underdog and say Shogun Rua by 3rd Round submission.
There you have it. I don't know if my brother will post his picks, but I think I'm going to write another piece later about the Jones and Shogun fight and all the interesting storylines going into it.
Undercard
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic [27-8-2] vs. Brendan Schaub [7-1]: I've already devoted space to how devastating Mirko Cro Cop once was. Unfortunately and unexplainably, he has dropped off to the point where he is opening this card against a guy who is just above a prospect at this point. Schaub is an ex-football player turned kickboxer whose two biggest fights were a brutal knockout loss to Roy Nelson and a decision win against Gabriel Gonzaga. In Pride five years ago, a man of Schaub's caliber and style would be dead within five minutes against Mirko. Now, he is a solid favorite in the betting lines. Cro Cop claims to be in the best shape of his life and prepared to make one last run. He says this every time. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me four times shame on everyone who has seen you in Pride. As much as I want a Cro Cop KO, it is going to be Schaub by decision.
Dan Miller [13-4] vs. Nate Marquardt [30-10-2]: Miller is a late replacement for Yoshihiro Akiyama, who dropped out to tend to family in Japan. Miller is a tough and scrappy guy, but Nate has been a top contender for the MW title for the past year or two, with losses to Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami keeping him from rematching Anderson Silva. I like Miller and he's no slouch, he just isn't in Marquardt's class. His biggest win is against Joe Doerksen. I would very much like to see Miller win, but I'm going to go with Marquardt by decision.
Jim Miller [19-2] vs. Kamal Shalorus [7-0-2]: Jim Miller, brother of the aforementioned Dan, is a borderline contender in the crowded lightweight division. Shalorus is a transfer from the WEC fighting his first match under the UFC banner. Miller is a veteran whose only two losses are to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the top two fighters in the division. This should be a decent scrap and Shalorus has a decent chance at an upset, but I think it will be Miller by decision.
Co-Main Event
Urijah Faber [24-4] vs. Eddie Wineland [18-6-1]: This is Faber's UFC debut, after being the face of the WEC for years. This is his second fight at 135 lbs after being the 145 lb. champ and top contender for a long time. Wineland is a former champ at 135 lb. champ and is very much a game opponent. In the striking, Wineland has a slight advantage standing, but on the ground Faber is much better. This should be fight of the night, as Faber is always exciting and relentless, even in defeat (ex. the Mike Brown fight where he broke both his hands and the Jose Aldo fight where Aldo absolutely destroyed Faber's leg). He has more tools in his arsenal than Wineland at his disposal and a win for him would put him in line to fight the champ, Dominick Cruz in a highly anticipated match pitting Cruz against the only man to ever defeat him. Going to go with Faber by second round submission.
Main Event
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua [19-4] vs. Jon Jones [12-1]: I'm so pumped for this fight, I can hardly stand it. Jones is very much the future of the sport. He's a dynamic striker with a relentless ground and pound and wrestling game. He has proven thus far to be unstoppable and based on his youth (23 years old) and size (6'5" and naturally about 220 lbs with a UFC record 85" reach), could eventually end up as the most dominant heavyweight in MMA history, as well as the dominant light heavyweight of the next few years. Shogun should be in his athletic prime (28 years old), but is coming off his third knee surgery in five years and a nearly one year layoff after a devastating knockout win over previously undefeated champ Lyoto Machida. Betting lines have Jones as a slight favorite with the odds slowly tipping more in his favor as we get closer to the fight. I don't think this is fair, as this is really an anything goes type fight. Shogun's weakness is wrestling, which is Jones's forte. Jones has never fought a devastating striker like Shogun, as his fights have been against mostly slower and older wrestlers. This could be negated by Shogun's recovery from surgery. Jones has also never fought a solid BJJ guy like Shogun, but on the flip side who knows how good Shogun's jiu jitsu is since he has only submitted Kevin Randleman in his career? Tying in with Jones never facing a striker like Shogun is the fact that Shogun has faced larger fighters before, beating current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem twice decisively and Overeem is the same height as Jones, but bulkier. I don't think anyone has mentioned this really when describing Jones's smothering top game, but while he is content to level his opponents from the open guard he does tend to leave his arms dangling out there for his opponent while he postures up. This is dangerous against anyone with a jiu jitsu knowledge. I could go on about this fight for a whole entry, as I think it is fascinating, but I'll get down to it and maybe write something about this whole thing later. I see this fight going one of two ways: either a Jones second or third round TKO by ground strikes, or Shogun via 2nd round KO or 3rd round submission. I think Jones is getting caught up in a lot of hype right now between the media and his own camp that could distract him, plus he just fought five or six weeks ago. Even though it was an easy win, it isn't easy to train again for a new opponent and peak again. I'm going to take the underdog and say Shogun Rua by 3rd Round submission.
There you have it. I don't know if my brother will post his picks, but I think I'm going to write another piece later about the Jones and Shogun fight and all the interesting storylines going into it.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Odds and Sods
Didn't really have any particular topic to discuss today, but there are a bunch of little stories I felt like going over.
- This topic has already been gone over extensively by the mainstream media and on this page, but allegedly the Miami Heat had players crying after their loss to the Bulls over the weekend. I don't necessarily think its a sign of them being weak, but to cry after a losing streak in March is a bit weak. If anyone on that team should be crying it should be Coach Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade. Spo because he's going to get fired after this season when the losses aren't his fault. Dwyane Wade because he has become the odd man out on his own team. LeBron needs to stop shooting so much in the fourth quarter, as he becomes a stagnant jump shooter or lofts challenged layups that have little chance of going in. Get Wade, a proven closer, the ball more in the clutch and there won't be so many choke jobs. Also, perhaps implementing the Triangle/Motion offense would greatly help them, that and an offseason of learning to work off the ball. Also, don't hold a championship celebration before the season starts and perhaps the media and fans won't revel in your failures.
- Dan Henderson justified my ranking him as the ninth best MMA fighter of all-time by winning the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title this past Saturday. He probably couldn't contend for that same title in the UFC, but he is still relevant at the age of 40 and has a nuclear missile of a right hand. I think the UFC missed the boat by not keeping him around, as he can still fight and win against a high level of competition. Anderson Silva would still eat him for lunch, but he is still probably capable of winning a round against him like he did in their first fight.
- I don't know how ESPN's John Hollinger develops his metric statistics, but his playoff odds now features the Chicago Bulls as the team most likely to make it to and win the NBA Finals. Hollinger has not expressed much in the way of praise of the Bulls, so this came as quite a shock to me. I don't want to talk too much about it, since I'm a die-hard Bulls fan and I fear jinxing them, but it is about time the Bulls get some respect from ESPN. They are the only team to beat all the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, Celtics, Magic, and Heat. They have managed to do this with Noah and Boozer both missing significant chunks of the season and without a decent starting shooting guard. I'm not certain of their championship chances, but that team has believed in themselves from day one and have had great chemistry and it is nice to see that paying off.
- ,UFC 128 is coming up next week, and I believe that both my brother and I will have our predictions up for that. The main event is Jon "Bones" Jones against UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Jones has been very vocal in his confidence by saying things like, "In my mind I've already won." Nothing major, but over the past year it seems as if Jones has started to buy into his hype as the future of MMA. Shogun is coming into this fight after knee surgery and a lengthy layoff (nearly a year). This, and the aforementioned hype contribute to the fact Jones is a slight favorite heading into their fight. But it seems to me that Jones and a lot of fans are forgetting that Shogun Rua is a bad, bad man. Jones has never faced a man with the power and striking abilities of Shogun. Also, Shogun is no slouch off his back either and at age 28, should be in his athletic prime. While Jones is inexperienced with someone of Rua's style, Shogun has fought and defeated a wide range of people, from strong wrestlers like Mark Coleman to another skilled striker and grappler with a huge size advantage in Alistair Overeem, and was the first man to figure out how to beat Lyoto Machida. While Jones is favored and rightly so, I just think that people are overlooking just how good Shogun Rua is.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The losing doesn't surprise me, but the crying does
To quote sarcastic television personality Simon Cowell, “Wow that’s a shock. It’s like being told Santa Claus isn’t real. Unbelievable.” That was how I’ve been reacting to the Miami Heat dropping five of their last six, and four coming off LeBron misses in the final seconds to either win or go to overtime. First there was the 93-89 loss to Chicago in which the Bulls charged back from being down 9 and LeBron missed a three pointer to tie with seconds left.
Then they beat the lowly Washington Wizards but celebrated the victory by losing 91-86 to the Knicks, a game in which New York came back from being down 15 in the first half and LeBron had the shit stuffed out of him on a go ahead bucket and missed a game tying three.
Then they blew a 24 point lead against the Magic and lost 99-96 when LeBron missed a game tying three. To follow up that, they got blown out 125-95 against the league best Spurs. But surely their losing ways were done since they’d be hosting the Chicago Bulls who were playing the last game of a long road trip and were sure to be weary. Right?
Wrong! The Bulls once again charged back from a 9 point halftime deficit and won 87-86 when LeBron badly missed an awkward left handed lay up over the 7-foot Joakim Noah, only to have Dwyane Wade grab the board and miss a highly contested fade away jumper.
Six games. Four against the NBA’s upper echelon and one against the Knicks. Five losses. This doesn’t surprise me at all since the Heat roster is weak, they haven’t been able to beat teams above .500 all season, and LeBron is not this clutch world beater people want to believe he can be just so he can be like Michael Jordan. The Heat only boss bad teams, hence the one victory over the Wizards in their last six. Other than beating on the bad teams, it has been a rough time for the South Beach Heatles. Let us look at Miami’s record against the top teams in the league:
vs. Boston: 0-3
vs. Chicago: 0-3
vs. Dallas: 0-2
vs. Los Angeles: 1-0
vs. San Antonio: 0-1
That’s 1-9 against the top five teams in the league. Their one victory came against the Lakers in the Christmas game the Lakers publically stated they don’t give a shit about. Other than that they’ve gotten told and suffered defeat after defeat to the NBA’s best. Orlando is still an elite team and beat them twice, and the Knicks will be the 6 seed in the East and roared back from being down big to win. Both of those losses, as well as the two losses to Chicago, came off unclutch moments from LeBron. He keeps taking these threes when he isn’t that good of a three point shooter, and the ball keeps finding its way into his hands despite Dwyane Wade being on the team. Wade is a proven big time player, hence the 2006 Heat championship, but for some reason LeBron James is getting the star treatment on a team that should be under the leadership of a proven winner like Wade. Instead LeBron has claimed the Heat to be his. He said, “I told my team I’m not going to continue to fail them in close games,” following the loss to the Bulls. His team? Even Wade doesn’t know what to think.
After that same loss to the Bulls Wade gave a sad sack interview about how he’s used to having the ball in the fourth and how everybody has to get used to making sacrifices. He has a point. After all he’s done for that organization, why should Wade have to sacrifice being the man? Wade has proven he can destroy teams when it matters most, but for some reason LBJ is the one with the ball in the big moments. But while it is easy to agree with Wade on that, it was what else he said that irks me.
Wade sat stunned and sad at the podium and said, “The Miami Heat are exactly what everyone wanted, losing games. The world is a better place because the Heat is losing.” Way to act like a little baby because people don’t always want to cheer for your team. But it gets better. It came out that people on the roster were actually crying after the loss to Chicago. That basically confirms suspicions that Chris Bosh had been crying after the loss to Orlando then. Who cries after a regular season game in March?
Kevin Garnett only cried because he was wasting his prime carrying a crappy Timberwolves squad. Steve Nash only cried because the Spurs eliminated the Suns from the playoffs and the pursuit for a title was over. The Heat players are crying because they’ve lost four straight regular season games and people are booing them. What type of men are these? Who cries because people are rooting against them and they lost four straight games? Some people are trying to defend the tears by saying this game means a lot to the players, but go back and read the first two sentences of this paragraph. It is one thing to cry because you know your chance to win is nearly gone or you’re wasting your best years on a team destined to fail, but to cry because you can’t handle being cheered against and losing regular season games when you’re still have a chance to be the number 1 seed in your conference is lame and childish.
Seriously, who the hell cries over a regular season game? People are defending it by saying a lot of the losses have been close so it hurts. So? Man up! As a loyal fan, I cried when the Spurs eliminated the Suns in 2007 because that was horrible, but I didn’t cry when the Spurs beat the Suns on Christmas a couple years back off a Roger Mason game winning three. It is just the regular season. Play hard and take it seriously, but don’t act like bitches and cry if things aren’t going the way you hoped. They’re not running roughshod over the league and people aren’t cheering for them. And they’re actually surprised by the negative reception they’re getting.
Why would anybody boo them? LeBron James only toyed with the Cavaliers organization for two years about re-signing only to have an hour long special on ESPN in which he kicked them in the nuts and embarrassed them for the world to see. LBJ only quit on the Cavaliers in the playoffs last year. The Big 3 only danced and flexed on a stage like idiots then partied with Team USA and told anybody who would listen that the Heat would win over 70 games and dominate all. They brought the hate on themselves by acting like clowns. Even then it has gotten worse thanks to things like LeBron tweeting that karma’s a bitch after the Cavs lost by 55 to the Lakers a few months ago. Who would cheer for somebody so dickish?
Now after this losing streak and the crying and the gloomy press conferences, the Heat don’t look like focused and driven competitors prepared to learn from their losses and come back ready to destroy. Instead they look like babies who can’t handle adversity and the fact this season isn’t as easy as they were telling everybody it would be. Even Wade and James are starting to find themselves at odds with one another. This all isn’t surprising to anybody who really follows the NBA and put time into thinking about how this South Beach experiment would turn out, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome to see.
When has one team celebrated all off season like they’d be the rulers of the league only to go 1-18 on clutch shots and fail to beat good teams? And Basketbawful pointed out that the Cavaliers had a better record last year after 63 games than the Heat do this year. I wonder if LeBron finds that funny. I know I certainly do.
Then they beat the lowly Washington Wizards but celebrated the victory by losing 91-86 to the Knicks, a game in which New York came back from being down 15 in the first half and LeBron had the shit stuffed out of him on a go ahead bucket and missed a game tying three.
Then they blew a 24 point lead against the Magic and lost 99-96 when LeBron missed a game tying three. To follow up that, they got blown out 125-95 against the league best Spurs. But surely their losing ways were done since they’d be hosting the Chicago Bulls who were playing the last game of a long road trip and were sure to be weary. Right?
Wrong! The Bulls once again charged back from a 9 point halftime deficit and won 87-86 when LeBron badly missed an awkward left handed lay up over the 7-foot Joakim Noah, only to have Dwyane Wade grab the board and miss a highly contested fade away jumper.
Six games. Four against the NBA’s upper echelon and one against the Knicks. Five losses. This doesn’t surprise me at all since the Heat roster is weak, they haven’t been able to beat teams above .500 all season, and LeBron is not this clutch world beater people want to believe he can be just so he can be like Michael Jordan. The Heat only boss bad teams, hence the one victory over the Wizards in their last six. Other than beating on the bad teams, it has been a rough time for the South Beach Heatles. Let us look at Miami’s record against the top teams in the league:
vs. Boston: 0-3
vs. Chicago: 0-3
vs. Dallas: 0-2
vs. Los Angeles: 1-0
vs. San Antonio: 0-1
That’s 1-9 against the top five teams in the league. Their one victory came against the Lakers in the Christmas game the Lakers publically stated they don’t give a shit about. Other than that they’ve gotten told and suffered defeat after defeat to the NBA’s best. Orlando is still an elite team and beat them twice, and the Knicks will be the 6 seed in the East and roared back from being down big to win. Both of those losses, as well as the two losses to Chicago, came off unclutch moments from LeBron. He keeps taking these threes when he isn’t that good of a three point shooter, and the ball keeps finding its way into his hands despite Dwyane Wade being on the team. Wade is a proven big time player, hence the 2006 Heat championship, but for some reason LeBron James is getting the star treatment on a team that should be under the leadership of a proven winner like Wade. Instead LeBron has claimed the Heat to be his. He said, “I told my team I’m not going to continue to fail them in close games,” following the loss to the Bulls. His team? Even Wade doesn’t know what to think.
After that same loss to the Bulls Wade gave a sad sack interview about how he’s used to having the ball in the fourth and how everybody has to get used to making sacrifices. He has a point. After all he’s done for that organization, why should Wade have to sacrifice being the man? Wade has proven he can destroy teams when it matters most, but for some reason LBJ is the one with the ball in the big moments. But while it is easy to agree with Wade on that, it was what else he said that irks me.
Wade sat stunned and sad at the podium and said, “The Miami Heat are exactly what everyone wanted, losing games. The world is a better place because the Heat is losing.” Way to act like a little baby because people don’t always want to cheer for your team. But it gets better. It came out that people on the roster were actually crying after the loss to Chicago. That basically confirms suspicions that Chris Bosh had been crying after the loss to Orlando then. Who cries after a regular season game in March?
Kevin Garnett only cried because he was wasting his prime carrying a crappy Timberwolves squad. Steve Nash only cried because the Spurs eliminated the Suns from the playoffs and the pursuit for a title was over. The Heat players are crying because they’ve lost four straight regular season games and people are booing them. What type of men are these? Who cries because people are rooting against them and they lost four straight games? Some people are trying to defend the tears by saying this game means a lot to the players, but go back and read the first two sentences of this paragraph. It is one thing to cry because you know your chance to win is nearly gone or you’re wasting your best years on a team destined to fail, but to cry because you can’t handle being cheered against and losing regular season games when you’re still have a chance to be the number 1 seed in your conference is lame and childish.
Seriously, who the hell cries over a regular season game? People are defending it by saying a lot of the losses have been close so it hurts. So? Man up! As a loyal fan, I cried when the Spurs eliminated the Suns in 2007 because that was horrible, but I didn’t cry when the Spurs beat the Suns on Christmas a couple years back off a Roger Mason game winning three. It is just the regular season. Play hard and take it seriously, but don’t act like bitches and cry if things aren’t going the way you hoped. They’re not running roughshod over the league and people aren’t cheering for them. And they’re actually surprised by the negative reception they’re getting.
Why would anybody boo them? LeBron James only toyed with the Cavaliers organization for two years about re-signing only to have an hour long special on ESPN in which he kicked them in the nuts and embarrassed them for the world to see. LBJ only quit on the Cavaliers in the playoffs last year. The Big 3 only danced and flexed on a stage like idiots then partied with Team USA and told anybody who would listen that the Heat would win over 70 games and dominate all. They brought the hate on themselves by acting like clowns. Even then it has gotten worse thanks to things like LeBron tweeting that karma’s a bitch after the Cavs lost by 55 to the Lakers a few months ago. Who would cheer for somebody so dickish?
Now after this losing streak and the crying and the gloomy press conferences, the Heat don’t look like focused and driven competitors prepared to learn from their losses and come back ready to destroy. Instead they look like babies who can’t handle adversity and the fact this season isn’t as easy as they were telling everybody it would be. Even Wade and James are starting to find themselves at odds with one another. This all isn’t surprising to anybody who really follows the NBA and put time into thinking about how this South Beach experiment would turn out, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome to see.
When has one team celebrated all off season like they’d be the rulers of the league only to go 1-18 on clutch shots and fail to beat good teams? And Basketbawful pointed out that the Cavaliers had a better record last year after 63 games than the Heat do this year. I wonder if LeBron finds that funny. I know I certainly do.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Top Ten MMA Fighters Of All-Time, According to iJames
The title of this is self-explanatory. It is safe to assume that the coauthor of this blog might not agree with all my selections and the order they are in, so I made sure to put in the title that this is only this humble author's opinion. Before I get into the top ten, I figured that I would throw out a few names of some people who could make the list in the next few years, depending on how their career pans out.
Potential Additions
Lyoto Machida: "The Dragon" was undefeated in his career until losing twice last year. Before that, he was one of the most technically sound and elusive fighters in MMA history. He could crack the top ten if he manages to get back on track and regain his dominance in the light heavyweight division.
Cain Velasquez: Cain recently won the UFC Heavyweight Title in October 2010 when he destroyed Brock Lesnar in the first round of their bout. He is currently 9-0, and has won every round thus far in his career. If he maintains this pace, he could go down in history as the greatest heavyweight in MMA history. Time will tell for Cain.
Jon Jones: Jon Jones is the most highly regarded prospect in MMA right now. He has an exciting and unique striking style, unstoppable takedowns and ground and pound, as well as powerful submissions. He is the future of the sport and he could make himself the present if he wins the UFC Light Heavyweight Title on March 19 against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. If he does that and has the lengthy title reign people expect, his entry into the top ten is a no-brainer.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: Shogun made a name for himself in Pride by winning the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix in a dominant fashion and prior to his UFC debut, was considered the best in the world at 205 lbs. His entry into the UFC was rough, with a loss to Forrest Griffin in his first match and a terrible win over Mark Coleman, but he has rebounded with a knockout win over Chuck Liddell and a brutal knockout of the previously undefeated Lyoto Machida. If he manages to hold onto the belt for a few defenses, his resume would make him a borderline top ten fighter.
The Top Ten
10.) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: (32-6-1-1) Nogueira is probably the greatest practicioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in MMA history. He is the former Pride Heavyweight Champion, which he successfully defended five times. He has beaten every big name in the sport, with the exception of Fedor Emelianenko. He is a top notch boxer and a legend in the sport.
9.) Dan Henderson: (26-8) Hendo is a top notch wrestler and has a vicious right hand. He is the only man to ever hold the 205 and 185 titles at the same time, which he did in Pride. He holds a knockout win over Wanderlei Silva and his knockout win over Michael Bisping was highlight reel worthy.
8.) Wanderlei Silva: (33-10-1-1) The Axe Murderer is a legend in the sport and his reign over the Pride Middleweight division was legendary, not losing over a four year time frame. His knockouts of Rampage Jackson in Pride were brutal and unforgettable. A string of brutal knockout losses to Henderson and Mirko Cro Cop, followed by a decision loss to Chuck Liddell knocks him back a bit on the list.
7.) Chuck Liddell: (21-8) Chuck was the long reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, holding it for two years. He holds two knockout wins over Randy Couture and is the only man to TKO Tito Ortiz, doing so twice. Both his knockouts of Babalu Sobral are highlight reel worthy. He also holds a knockout victory over current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem. He was also responsible for the growth of MMA in the second half of the 2000s. He would have been higher, but he stuck around two years too long and was on the receiving end of knockouts against Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua, and Rich Franklin.
6.) BJ Penn: (16-7-2) BJ is the most talented fighter in MMA history. He was a jiu jitsu legend by the age of 18 and has some of the best boxing skills in the sport's history. He is one of only two people in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes. He beat Matt Hughes by knockout at a time that no one was beating Hughes. The bigger the challenge, typically the better he fought. He has the tools to be the greatest of all-time, but motivation and lackluster training methods have stopped him from reaching his full potential as a fighter. Despite that, he is still a legend in the sport and his accomplishments are impressive.
5.) Matt Hughes: (45-8) Hughes, until Georges St. Pierre, was the most dominant UFC Welterweight Champ. His slam of Carlos Newton and his submissions of Frank Trigg are incredible. He also holds submission wins over Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn and has the most wins in UFC history with 16.
4.) Fedor Emelianenko: (31-3-1) Fedor was the greatest heavyweight in the world for nearly a decade. He holds two victories over Nogueira and he dominated Mirko Cro Cop at the peak of his career. He has won the bulk of his fights by finishing his opponent. His streak was very impressive and the main reason he isn't higher is due to the fact that his level competition has not been particularly impressive the past four years and his mystique has gone after two straight losses and a seeming unwillingness to expand his game and shore up any deficiencies he has.
3.) Randy Couture: (19-10) Don't judge Randy by his record. His accomplishments in the sport and the fact he is so competitive as he nears 50 are no joke. He is the first man to win titles in two divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight) and came out of retirement to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2007. He was the first man in four years to defeat Chuck Liddell, as well as being the first in four years to defeat Tito Ortiz. Randy has been in some of the biggest fights in the history of MMA and is a great ambassador for the sport. The fact that he did all this while in his early 40s when fighting is a young man's game is all the more amazing.
2.) Georges St. Pierre: (21-2) GSP is the biggest star in MMA today. He has endorsement deals with Gatorade and UnderArmous, thus making him the highest profile person in the sport. He has held the UFC Welterweight title for nearly three years. He hasn't even lost a round since losing the first round against Josh Koscheck in August 2007. He has been the second most dominant fighter in the UFC over the past decade and holds wins over BJ Penn, John Fitch, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra. The only man to be more dominant than him is the man ranked number one.
1.) Anderson Silva: (28-4) Anderson Silva is the current UFC Middleweight Champ and hasn't lost since he joined the company in 2006. If you discount his disqualification loss to Yushin Okami in 2006, he hasn't lost since December 2004. He holds the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC with 13 and the most title defenses with seven. He is the greatest striker in MMA and has shown an ability to submit people. He is a once in a generation athlete and performer, the equivalent of Michael Jordan. At some point, there will be at least one whole article on this site devoted to Anderson Silva.
Potential Additions
Lyoto Machida: "The Dragon" was undefeated in his career until losing twice last year. Before that, he was one of the most technically sound and elusive fighters in MMA history. He could crack the top ten if he manages to get back on track and regain his dominance in the light heavyweight division.
Cain Velasquez: Cain recently won the UFC Heavyweight Title in October 2010 when he destroyed Brock Lesnar in the first round of their bout. He is currently 9-0, and has won every round thus far in his career. If he maintains this pace, he could go down in history as the greatest heavyweight in MMA history. Time will tell for Cain.
Jon Jones: Jon Jones is the most highly regarded prospect in MMA right now. He has an exciting and unique striking style, unstoppable takedowns and ground and pound, as well as powerful submissions. He is the future of the sport and he could make himself the present if he wins the UFC Light Heavyweight Title on March 19 against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. If he does that and has the lengthy title reign people expect, his entry into the top ten is a no-brainer.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: Shogun made a name for himself in Pride by winning the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix in a dominant fashion and prior to his UFC debut, was considered the best in the world at 205 lbs. His entry into the UFC was rough, with a loss to Forrest Griffin in his first match and a terrible win over Mark Coleman, but he has rebounded with a knockout win over Chuck Liddell and a brutal knockout of the previously undefeated Lyoto Machida. If he manages to hold onto the belt for a few defenses, his resume would make him a borderline top ten fighter.
The Top Ten
10.) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: (32-6-1-1) Nogueira is probably the greatest practicioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in MMA history. He is the former Pride Heavyweight Champion, which he successfully defended five times. He has beaten every big name in the sport, with the exception of Fedor Emelianenko. He is a top notch boxer and a legend in the sport.
9.) Dan Henderson: (26-8) Hendo is a top notch wrestler and has a vicious right hand. He is the only man to ever hold the 205 and 185 titles at the same time, which he did in Pride. He holds a knockout win over Wanderlei Silva and his knockout win over Michael Bisping was highlight reel worthy.
8.) Wanderlei Silva: (33-10-1-1) The Axe Murderer is a legend in the sport and his reign over the Pride Middleweight division was legendary, not losing over a four year time frame. His knockouts of Rampage Jackson in Pride were brutal and unforgettable. A string of brutal knockout losses to Henderson and Mirko Cro Cop, followed by a decision loss to Chuck Liddell knocks him back a bit on the list.
7.) Chuck Liddell: (21-8) Chuck was the long reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, holding it for two years. He holds two knockout wins over Randy Couture and is the only man to TKO Tito Ortiz, doing so twice. Both his knockouts of Babalu Sobral are highlight reel worthy. He also holds a knockout victory over current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem. He was also responsible for the growth of MMA in the second half of the 2000s. He would have been higher, but he stuck around two years too long and was on the receiving end of knockouts against Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua, and Rich Franklin.
6.) BJ Penn: (16-7-2) BJ is the most talented fighter in MMA history. He was a jiu jitsu legend by the age of 18 and has some of the best boxing skills in the sport's history. He is one of only two people in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes. He beat Matt Hughes by knockout at a time that no one was beating Hughes. The bigger the challenge, typically the better he fought. He has the tools to be the greatest of all-time, but motivation and lackluster training methods have stopped him from reaching his full potential as a fighter. Despite that, he is still a legend in the sport and his accomplishments are impressive.
5.) Matt Hughes: (45-8) Hughes, until Georges St. Pierre, was the most dominant UFC Welterweight Champ. His slam of Carlos Newton and his submissions of Frank Trigg are incredible. He also holds submission wins over Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn and has the most wins in UFC history with 16.
4.) Fedor Emelianenko: (31-3-1) Fedor was the greatest heavyweight in the world for nearly a decade. He holds two victories over Nogueira and he dominated Mirko Cro Cop at the peak of his career. He has won the bulk of his fights by finishing his opponent. His streak was very impressive and the main reason he isn't higher is due to the fact that his level competition has not been particularly impressive the past four years and his mystique has gone after two straight losses and a seeming unwillingness to expand his game and shore up any deficiencies he has.
3.) Randy Couture: (19-10) Don't judge Randy by his record. His accomplishments in the sport and the fact he is so competitive as he nears 50 are no joke. He is the first man to win titles in two divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight) and came out of retirement to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2007. He was the first man in four years to defeat Chuck Liddell, as well as being the first in four years to defeat Tito Ortiz. Randy has been in some of the biggest fights in the history of MMA and is a great ambassador for the sport. The fact that he did all this while in his early 40s when fighting is a young man's game is all the more amazing.
2.) Georges St. Pierre: (21-2) GSP is the biggest star in MMA today. He has endorsement deals with Gatorade and UnderArmous, thus making him the highest profile person in the sport. He has held the UFC Welterweight title for nearly three years. He hasn't even lost a round since losing the first round against Josh Koscheck in August 2007. He has been the second most dominant fighter in the UFC over the past decade and holds wins over BJ Penn, John Fitch, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra. The only man to be more dominant than him is the man ranked number one.
1.) Anderson Silva: (28-4) Anderson Silva is the current UFC Middleweight Champ and hasn't lost since he joined the company in 2006. If you discount his disqualification loss to Yushin Okami in 2006, he hasn't lost since December 2004. He holds the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC with 13 and the most title defenses with seven. He is the greatest striker in MMA and has shown an ability to submit people. He is a once in a generation athlete and performer, the equivalent of Michael Jordan. At some point, there will be at least one whole article on this site devoted to Anderson Silva.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Strikeforce is blowing it...
The first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix was a couple of weeks ago and it was well received and provided a vicious knockout of former UFC Champ Andrei Arlovski by Pride veteran Sergei Kharitonov, as well as the incredible upset of Fedor Emelianenko by Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. It was the second loss in a row for Fedor, both coming after ten straight years without a loss. After the excitement delivered by these two fights, Strikeforce was gaining quite a bit of momentum. The next installment of the tournament was supposed to feature Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem against the man who beat him five years ago and beat Fedor in June, Fabricio Werdum. The other fight would pit perennial top ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett against Brett Rogers. The date was supposed to be on April 9, 2010 and all the card needed was a venue.
Now, Strikeforce has decided to postpone the tournament until June 18 and is instead going to have a welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz, who just fought for Strikeforce in late January, and UFC castoff Paul Daley on April 9. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that this gives them more time to promote the fights and sets up for the semi-finals to be in September and the finals in December. Coker is delusional.
This puts the winners from the first batch of fights on hold for seven months, a rather long layoff for fighters. This also gives the winners of the potential June fights a pretty short layoff of about two months, dependent on health issues. If a winner isn't allowed to fight for medical concerns, then the next round wouldn't be able to happen until October and would push the finals into next year, a year after the tournament started.
Coker is also mistaken in thinking the extra time to promote it is a good thing. There was a ton of buzz after the first fights and Strikeforce is crazy not to take advantage of that immediately. They will never top the UFC, but they can be a solid second source for mixed martial arts. The heavyweight Grand Prix was something different that the UFC would never use, so it set Strikeforce apart as something besides a place for prospects and UFC castoffs. It makes so much more sense to roll the momentum from the February fights into the early April ones. If those went well, they could have done the semi-finals in late summer/early fall and the finals in December with ease.
Instead, Strikeforce is going to have to compete with the UFC during their peak season. June should see a Brock Lesnar fight; a potential light heavyweight title match involving a combination of Shogun Rua, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, and Rampage Jackson; the UFC's first card in Brazil in the Zuffa era; and a possible Anderson Silva-GSP fight. Strikeforce is going to be lost in the shuffle of the annual summer MMA dominance of the UFC. By running the Grand Prix in early April, late-August/early September, and early/mid-December, Strikeforce could be running with minimal opposition.
Strikeforce has the opportunity to do something special to set it apart from the UFC for a spell. They have a heavyweight division that is arguably as good as that in the UFC and if they were running the Grand Prix more coherently (I didn't even get into the absurd rules and injury replacements), could do something really special for the sport. Even Dana White said he was intrigued by the tournament, and that dude never gives compliments to the opposition. If you can't take advantage of a situation where the man who tries to run every competitor into the ground is interested in what you're doing, there is something seriously wrong. Strikeforce is blowing it.
Now, Strikeforce has decided to postpone the tournament until June 18 and is instead going to have a welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz, who just fought for Strikeforce in late January, and UFC castoff Paul Daley on April 9. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that this gives them more time to promote the fights and sets up for the semi-finals to be in September and the finals in December. Coker is delusional.
This puts the winners from the first batch of fights on hold for seven months, a rather long layoff for fighters. This also gives the winners of the potential June fights a pretty short layoff of about two months, dependent on health issues. If a winner isn't allowed to fight for medical concerns, then the next round wouldn't be able to happen until October and would push the finals into next year, a year after the tournament started.
Coker is also mistaken in thinking the extra time to promote it is a good thing. There was a ton of buzz after the first fights and Strikeforce is crazy not to take advantage of that immediately. They will never top the UFC, but they can be a solid second source for mixed martial arts. The heavyweight Grand Prix was something different that the UFC would never use, so it set Strikeforce apart as something besides a place for prospects and UFC castoffs. It makes so much more sense to roll the momentum from the February fights into the early April ones. If those went well, they could have done the semi-finals in late summer/early fall and the finals in December with ease.
Instead, Strikeforce is going to have to compete with the UFC during their peak season. June should see a Brock Lesnar fight; a potential light heavyweight title match involving a combination of Shogun Rua, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, and Rampage Jackson; the UFC's first card in Brazil in the Zuffa era; and a possible Anderson Silva-GSP fight. Strikeforce is going to be lost in the shuffle of the annual summer MMA dominance of the UFC. By running the Grand Prix in early April, late-August/early September, and early/mid-December, Strikeforce could be running with minimal opposition.
Strikeforce has the opportunity to do something special to set it apart from the UFC for a spell. They have a heavyweight division that is arguably as good as that in the UFC and if they were running the Grand Prix more coherently (I didn't even get into the absurd rules and injury replacements), could do something really special for the sport. Even Dana White said he was intrigued by the tournament, and that dude never gives compliments to the opposition. If you can't take advantage of a situation where the man who tries to run every competitor into the ground is interested in what you're doing, there is something seriously wrong. Strikeforce is blowing it.
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