UFC 191 Picks

UFC 191 may not be the biggest card the UFC will do all year but ti's got the potential to be an excellent card. We got one of the pound for pound best in a rematch of his toughest challenge as champion. Two former heavyweight champions who have reemerged late in there careers in a fight a decade in making. A key battle in Light Heavyweight

UFC Flyweight Championship Demetrious Johnson (c) 22-2-1 MMA 10-1-1 UFC vs. John Dodson 17-6 MMA 6-1 UFC- January 26^th 2014 these two fought on Fox. It was Johnson's first title defense. Early on Dodson rocked him with some really hard power punches. However Johnson recovered and as the fight went on he sized control and the fight went to the score cards all three judges scored it for the champion. There has been a lot of talk of a rematch especially as Johnson has emerged as such a dominate champion and Dodson is really the only guy that appeared to have any type of success against him. The other big threat was supposed to be Joseph Benavidez who Johnson beat for the first title but than Might Mouse knocked him in the first round of there second fight. Almost every other contender has done nothing against Johnson.

Johnson last fought in April at UFC 186 he dominated Kyoji Horiguchi and than pulled off a literal last second submission win. Johnson has not lost since 2011 where he challenged Dominick Cruz for the Bantamweight title he did have the draw vs. McCall but but he's truly emerged as one of the very best in MMA. Guys go in against him and can't do anything he's to fast he's to technical and he's good at every aspect of the game. Dodson last fought in May at UFC 187 he beat Zach Makovsky via decision. He looked a little shaky in that fight but part of that had to be him coming off an injury layoff and maybe a thought process of fight safer to shake off the rust and know a win got him a title shot. Dodson has won three in a row since the loss to Johnson.

Striking is interesting on the power side that is clearly on Dodson he got eight career knockout wins while Johnson only has four. And we saw in the first fight that Dodson can hurt Johnson. But striking is a lot more than power. And Johnson is a much better technical striker. Dodson chases a knockout. We saw that backfire in the first fight for Dodson he tired out. Joe Rogan said it perfect saying Dodson is sprinting the entire fight. If I gotta give the edge it goes to Johnson we have seen him keep improving as a fighter. Five rounds is a long time. I think Johnson style is better for this length of a fight. And don't doubt that Johnson can catch Dodson. Especially when he is tired.

Grappling huge advantage to the champion. Johnson has nine career submission wins while Dodson only has two. And again with Dodson chasing the knockout often he is going to leave himself open for the takedown. Johnson also is always looking for a the submission. That's why we have seen him get submission really late. If this fight hit the ground it's because Johnson wants it to. And a big factor in general will be the fact that Johnson is simply a more well rounded fighter. And another simple fact Dodson has looked good since the first fight but Johnson has looked amazing. I think it took Mighty Mouse a little time to adjust to flyweight but now he's got down.

My pick as if you can't tell is another dominate win for Demetrius Johnson. I see him easily being able to avoid the early firestorm of Dodson. The wrestling can be the perfect thing to tire the challenger out. Dodson's best chance is to catch Johnson early and we know he can do that. But he did that in the first fight and it didn't get him a win.

Frank Mir 18-9 MMA 16-9 UFC vs. Andrei Arlovski- 24-10 1 NC MMA 13-4 UFC- Often we hear the term “Years in the making” to hype things. This fight really is years in the making. 2004 at UFC 48 Mir won the UFC Heavyweight championship. A few months later he was involved in a motorcycle wreck that broke his leg. In 2005 at UFC 51 Arlovski won the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Than similar to what we saw with Dominick Cruz when Mir couldn't return after being out so long the UFC stripped Mir of the title and promoted Andrei to full champion. Eventually Mir did get back but for various reasons the fight never took place and for a long time Arlovski was out of the UFC and Mir was still there. What makes this fight more interesting is the fact that both these guys not that long ago seemed to be done as elite fighters and now they are rallying back into title contention.

Arlovski last fought in May at UFC 187 he knocked out Travis Browne. It was one of the craziest fights in MMA history. Arlovski came in hurt almost didn't fight due to a leg injury, he rocked Browne several times. Than out of no where Browne lands a desperation punch and connects and hurts Andrei. Both men were out on there feet but Arlovski managed to land that big punch late and he finally finished his former training partner off. And craziest of all that was just one round The Pit bull enters on a five fight winning streak. Mir getting a really quick turn around he just fought on July 15^th on a UFC Fightnight. He knocked Todd Duffee. It was the kind of fight where both guys just came on swinging rock and sock em robots style. Mir landed the best punch and won. Mir is now at two wins in a row.

Striking I gotta give the edge to Arlovski he has 17 career knockouts Mir only has five. Now Mir does have power and if he catches you can go out. Both men have lost 7 times each by Knockout. But just watching there striking style it's clear Arlovski has the cleaner style. I think as long as he doesn't get to wild he will be able to catch Mir. Also with Mir we have seen times where he gets beat up and starts to shut down. Arlovski is real aggressive and Mir doesn't always like that on the feet.

Grappling the edge goes to Mir who has nine career submission wins some of which come over the sports very best. Arlovski only has three submission wins. Neither man has a submission loss. While Arlovski is ranked as a sambo master Mir has the BJJ blackbelt. And with Mir a lot of time he's looking for that submission. Sometimes it simply comes down to what a fighter wants to do. I think Arlovski will be looking to stand up. Mir why he might be willing to exchange if it goes to the ground he will be fine staying down there. And Mir has had times where he's been hurt and got that submission out of no where.

My pick though is Andrei Arlovksi. As much as I like Frank Mir part of me feels like the two wins were helped he's got lately are more to do with the decline of opponents. I just see this fight playing out with Arlovski using that great boxing to hurt him and finish him off. I think this could be like the time Mir fought JDS or Overeem where the power just to much for the guy at this stage in his career.

Anthony Johnson 19-5 MMA 10-5 UFC vs. Jimi Manuwa 15-1 MMA 4-1 UFC- This is a battle of two big tall and powerful strikers. For one it's a chance to start working back towards a title shot for the other its a chance to show he belongs in talk of being a title contender. Johnson last fought back in May at UFC 187 against Daniel Cormier for the vacant Light Heavyweight title. Early on he rocked DC with a powerful punch. But he didn't get the finish he was really reckless and soon Cormier got some take downs and wore Rumble out. Third round Johnson submitted to a rear naked choke. Manuwa last fought in April at a UFC Fightnight. He beat Jan Blachowicz via decision.

Both men are known for there striking and both have knockout power. Johnson has 13 career wins via KO. Manauwa also has 13 wins via knockout. Johnson has one knockout loss and Manuwa's only loss was to Guffstosson via knockout. I gotta go with Johnson in terms of the advantage. Manuwa has a lot of win knockout but not against elite competition. Johnson knocked out Guffstosson and little Nog and even beat Arlovksi in WSOF. Plus Johnson works with the great Henry Hoft. I can see Johnson being able to knockout Manuwa out.

Neither guy is known for there ground game. However you never know either guy could look to go the ground since the other won't be expecting. I am going to give a slight edge in grappling to Johnson he was a junior college champion. While AJ dos have four career losses via Submission Manuwa only has one submission. Also just again I am going to give the edge to Johnson because of his team. The Blackzillians have a lot of good wrestlers and some great coaches. A huge X-Factor for Johnson is the fact he's faced and beat a higher level of competition. It says something that Johnson knows I KO'ed Little Nog, I beat Mauler, I put Phil Davis in a shell. Manuwa one time against an upper level fighter he got beat.

Should really come as no shock I'm picking Johnson to get the win. The guys that give Johnson trouble are people that can tire him out by making him wrestle. Unless Manuwa has this massive leap up in wrestling skill I don't see that happening. There is always that risk that with guys like this that are going to trade power shots of just a good punch or kick taking Johnson out. But I am counting on Johnson working with a better team and having faced that elite level in the past. First round KO for Johnson.

Jan Blachowicz 18-4 MMA 1-1 UFC vs. Corey Anderson 5-1 MMA 2-1 UFC- Blachowicz last fought in April losing to Jimi Manuwa via decision. It was his first loss since 2011. At one point it was booked to fight to fight Johnson but the UFC changed things move him down this fight. Former TUF champion Anderson last fought in April as well. He was knocked out by Gian Villante. It was a fight he appeared to be winning but he caught and knocked out. That was his first career loss. I'll be honest I really don't know much about either fighter. Anderson has a higher KO rate at 3 out of Five wins. While Blachowciz only has 5 out of 18. But Blachowciz has seven submission to Anderson's zero. So it's the old battle of the vet trying make a push vs. the younger up and comer. Call it a guy felling I'm going with Anderson.

Paige Vanzant 5-1 MMA 2-0 UFC vs. Alex Chambers 5-2 MMA 1-1 UFC- Sometimes you get a fighter like Robbie Lawler who becomes a champion but its after many years of fighting. And ups and downs. Than you get a fighter like Jon Jones who seems gets fast tracked. Paige Vanzant is on the fast track. She is only 21 years old. She has the big deal with Reebok and now she's on her second consecutive main card. But for Vanzant that means all the pressure is on her to win. Chambers enters with no pressure and everything to gain. A lot of fighters love that position. And for Chambers if she wins she steals all that momentum.

Vanzant last fought in April at a UFC on Fox Card. Like I said there was a lot of pressure for that fight. You had people including former champion Carla Esparza saying she didn't deserve a lot of attention. She was matched up with a veteran fighter in Felice Herring who she dominated. It seemed like every time the scrambled or exchanged Vanzant was willing to outwork her. Chambers last fought in May she submitted Kallian Curran and earned performance of the night. That put put Chambers at 1-1 in the UFC.

This is a strange fight to pick. Chambers has more knockouts and submissions but Vanzant is a much younger fighter. Vanzant in her early twenties while Chambers is in her thirties. Vanzant appears to have a much larger upside similar someone like Rory MacDonald who got to the UFC at a young age. She's also working with the bigger team in Team Alpha Male. Meaning she's in there with Faber, Dillishaw, Mendes and other top fighters. Plus a younger fighter can often learn quicker and trainer harder.

So I am picking Paige Vanzant. She's seems to get better in every fight. Her lone loss was to Ticea Torres who is a top contender in that division. Working with Alpha Male will work to her advantage. And she showed a willingness to keep digging in that fight with Hearing. That can be the thing that takes her over the top over Chambers.

Rest of the Card

Felder over Pearson- Give me the younger fighter who should motivated coming off his first loss. Pearson is a straight boxer I think that allows Felder to be more diverse and land some shots using his kicks.

Rivera over Lineker- A big part of this is due to the fact Lineker is a fly weight that could never make weight so they are bumping him up to a higher weight class. Also Rivera has only bee KO'ed once. I think weight move and fact power doesn't always come up will allow Rivera to win.

Pennington over Andrade- First fight was close. I think Pennington is just tough enough she can close the gap and get the win this time.

Trator over Collard-Toss up fight so I am tossing it up.

Stallings over Riggs- Joe Riggs has a lot of hard miles on the body in his UFC return there is nothing that convinces me he's going to be able to last very long.

Silva over Malegarie- Silva is undefeated all wins in the first round so I am picking him.

Why Holm Makes More Sense Than Tate

It seemed like we had the Woman’s Bantamweight title picture set. With Miesha Tate beating Jessica Eye and Ronda Rousey destroying Bethe Corriea it seemed it was all set for a third go round with Rousey and Tate. Than the UFC threw a curve ball when it was announced that instead Rousey's next challenger will be Holly Holm. Of course this has set off a flurry of reaction. And well in my honest opinion giving Holly Holm her first title shot makes more sense than giving Tate a second UFC title shot and a third fight with Rousey.

Lets start with the fact this would be a third fight with Rousey and Tate. Rousey won both fight making Tate submit to an armbar both times. In the first fight Tate admits she was angry and felt disrespected as a result she charged in got taken down and became just the latest victim of the arm bar to go less than a round. In the second fight Tate entered much calmer and became the only fighter to ever get past the first round with Rousey. The fight lasted until the third round until again she got caught in the armbar and tapped out. Since that fight to Tate's credit she's won five in a row. With other potential challengers falling short and Cyborg refusing to drop to 135 (no matter what she says she always changes a week later about it.) Tate has earned a title shot.

But Holly Holm is the more interesting title fight! Lets with the fact its a fresh fight. We have no idea what a Rousey vs. Holm fight will be like. Since UFC 168 Tate, team, and fans have regularly hyped up the fact she went more than one round with the champion. However it could be argued that Rousey was more dominate in the rematch than she was in the first fight. Tate's game plan for that fight might have been one of the worse I have eve seen. Time and again Tate clinched with Rousey and got tossed. In the two previous encounters Tate hasn't shown an ability to stop Rousey's judo. Rousey though has shown she can stuff Tate's wrestling style takedowns. It appears to me that Tate believes she is the better striker than Rousey or believes Rousey has enough holes in her stand up to take advantage of.

In the first fight I would Tate was the better striker. She had much more experience and when Rousey was hit she turned her head. A common reaction for inexperienced strikers who haven't been hit before. In the second fight Tate did have her moments in the stand up but Rousey had shown great improvement. She no longer turned away from being hit. Also since that second fight with Tate, Rousey has shown knockout power. She got Sara McMann with a knee, Alexis Davis with a takedown and than ground and pound, and than brawled with Corriea and made sure she would never forget when Straight Outta Compton came out.

Now let's look at the second fight. Since than well Rousey's has only gotten more dominate she finished three fight in less than a minute and two of of them in less than twenty seconds. Hell the fight with McMann was just over a minute. Tate again to her credit has won four in row including two very strong wins over Sara McMann and Jessica Eye. But Tate hasn't really show any new tricks or improvement. All of those wins went to decision. Tate remains a wrestler based fighter with good stand up. She always remains a fighter willing to take punishment. To me it's Similar to Jon Fitch. The former Purde wrestling captain got one shot at GSP during his UFC career. After the loss to GSP he did have a long winning streak that some felt should have given him a rematch. But Fitch style of winning always remained the same. Get a takedown and grind it out. GSP already showed he could stop Fitch from doing that. Fitch was never much of finisher so he never got another title shot. Its the same for Tate she's not shown any sign that a third fight would be different.

But what Holly Holm? What could she do that would make this a more interesting fight? For one Rousey has never faced such a great striker. Yes Rousey has faced power strikers before such as Kaufman or Corriea but Holm is a great technical striker. And well I would remiss if I didn't point out Holm's great boxing career with 33 career wins in the ring and 18 world titles. In recent fight Ronda has been much more willing to exchange on her feet. Why she's better there are holes in her defense. If Rousey tries to prove a point and exchanges we could see her take some real damage. I don't see Holm getting into the wild exchanges we have often seen Rousey have with Tate, McMann or Corriea. If Rousey comes out guns a blazing Holm has the technical skills to avoid hit her and take control.

Another key part of Holm's game is her kicking. After moving into kickboxing and MMA Holm found she has great power in her legs. Of six career MMA knockouts five come from Holm using kicks. Rousey has faced some strong strikers she's never really faced a strong kicker. Plus Holm isn't just using roundhouse kicks. In her fight with Marion Reneau we saw Holm make use of sidekicks, kicks and front kicks. Also in that fight with Reneau Holm showed great timing using her kicks. Just the kind of attack that could stop a charging Rousey or keep the champion from getting a clinch. And given Holm stand up ability this might be the first time in a while that Rousey might need to get the fight to the ground.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't bring up Hol'ms team. She fights out of Jackson Winklejohn. She's worked with renowned striking coach Mike Winklejohn since she was a teenager. And Greg Jackson along with Winklejohn have coached numerous fighters to world titles. Along with this comes elite training partners several of which are also getting ready for upcoming title shots. Holm's going to have potentially great training camp. And it will be interesting to see what such a high profile corner will do game plan wise against such a force as Rousey.

Long before Holm was even under UFC contract people wanted to see this fight. Hell I would say Rousey vs. Holm was brought up about as often as Rousey vs. Cyborg. As dominant as Rousey was even early in her career combined with her successful Judo career was similar to Holm. The great boxer who was tearing through competition on the local scene of MMA. While the demand has cooled off due to Holm rather sluggish performance against Raquel Pennington and again going to decision against Marion Reneau. Now against Pennington it's important to keep in mind that it was Holm's UFC debut and plenty of fighters look off in that UFC debut. While Pennington does not have the best record she is a very tough veteran fighter. She did dominate Reneau who was coming off several strong performances. And given a little more time I think Holm could have finished Reneau as she had hurt late in the third round.

Finally the thing factor that will make this an interesting fight is Rousey will motivated for this fight. While Rousey Tate still have an intense dislike for one another the fact remains Rousey has already beat her twice. Plenty of fighters talking how hard it is to get motivated for rematches epically when they won. With Holm its a fresh challenger that brings a skill set Rousey has never seen before. And I think a motivated Rousey will led to a more interesting fight.

Glory 23 and UFC Fight Night Fall Out

The number one kicking boxing company and number one MMA company in the world both ran shows over the weekend. Glory made it's Las Vegas debut strange given Vegas is the home of major combat sports. Also back in the day K-1 ran several US shows in Vegas. Nieky Holzken a fighter with a legit claim as the number one pound for pound kickboxer in the world finally got a shot at a major championship while several American fighters were given big chances. The UFC ran in Nashville for the first time in years. OSP had a chance to to main event in his home state while Glover Trexiera had a chance to get back on track.

Overall Opinions

Glory 23- As usual Glory put on an excellent show in terms of in ring action. The one night tournament short rounds and pure stand element usually lend itself to good action. While I had some doubts about giving Raymond Daniels a shot at the title given how easily Holzken beat him not that long ago I was proven wrong. Daniels showed improved boxing and was able to keep from getting trapped. It differently seemed like Daniels was winning the fight before the cut. That said Holzken did what he does best. He's not a flash fighter but fighter who uses the basic great. He kept walking down Daniels down and putting the work in. While it appeared Daniels was winning it was by no means a blowout and it felt Holzken was giving away the early rounds to tire him out and take the power out of spin kicks.

The gimmick of doing all American fighters is a bit of mixed bag. Dustin Jacoby delivered two exciting knockouts but as someone who watches kickboxing I don’t' know if Jacoby will be able to do much against elite competition. I get that in order to grow in the US Glory needs American fighters to become stars so I get doing this tournament.

Really my biggest knock was the promotion leading upt to the event. As I mentioned in my How to Grow Glory article I feel like Glory doesn't do enough to you to know the fighters before hand. I don't get why Glory never gets some type of preview special. Hell right after Glory went off the air a special previewing the Tarver vs. Cummingham fight that will air on Spike this Friday. Why not do some type of special looking at just the Welterweight title fight? I really feel this would help win over causal fans and get them excited for the event. I really don't know if is Spike not being willing to give air time or Glory feeling it wouldn't do much but I would like to see them try.

UFC Nashville- Its been a busy summer for the UFC that saw some very important fights take place. So this card felt like that last bit of leftovers. It was by no means an awful card but it wasn't great. To point it felt this was the UFC setting up for make Ovince Saint Preux into the next big things. He had the big win over Shogun and now he's main eventing in his home town and a chance to get an over a former number one contender with some good names on his resume. If that was the case than OSP struck out. While he hurt Glover Teixeira early on he quickly found himself in trouble. Teixeira soon figured out he had a huge advantage on the ground and kept the fight there before getting a submission. A big weakness discussed for OSP was the fact he still with the same team he started with. And it's a fair criticism. I get loyalty to a team and can respect it but there is a reason why so many fighters as they get higher up in the UFC move onto the super teams. OSP clearly has some weaknesses and he's not improving on them.

Sadly this card will most likely be viewed as some of the worse judges calls of the year. Michael Johnson clearly dominated the fight vs. Beneil Dariush. He out landed him, he stuffed all the takedown, and he controlled the cage. But someone how the judges marked Dariush the winner. It was soon bad that during his post fighter interview even Dariush seemed confused in how he could be named the winner. This is the kind of stuff that makes we want to see local AC's taken out of power. Because it seems like if the let the UFC pick judges and refs they would pick guys that know what they are doing.

Biggest Winners:

Nikey Holzken- In 2013 at Glory 13 The Natural won the tournament beating Joseph Valtenllini in the finals to win the Glory Welterweight championship. He than saw as the company changed and essentially take away his belt. Than injures kept him out of of the ring and he watched Valtenllini win the title at Glory's first and only PPV. After winning contender tournament he was posed for the rematch to regain his title only to have to wait when Valtenllini vacated it. But after all the delay Holzken again showed he is the top welterweight if not the top fighter in all of kickboxing at this moment. Maurllio Ranellio said it best. Fighters know what is coming with Holzken but they can't stop it. He's flashy fighter spinning around, he's not wild throwing hay makers and head kicks he's simply effective. Young fighter not just kickboxers but MMA or boxers should take note.

Amanda Nunes- The road to title contention in the UFC woman’s bantamweight division isn't that long and with her win over former number one contender Sara McMann Nunes took a few giant steps. Nunes has a great 11-4 record with all 11 wins coming in the first round. But the two times she been paired up with the upper level of the division against Davis and Zingano she lost. A win over McMann shows she can beat a higher level fighter. Once again Nunes finds herself on the verge of title contention. It's not outrages to think one more win and she should be facing the winner of Rousey v Tate 3.

Biggest Losers

Michael Johnson and Beneil Dariush- Sadly both men will suffer from this awful judges call. Johnson came in with a lot of momentum. There was a lot of talk about a potential fight with former Champion Ben Henderson. Why I don't think the UFC will hold it against him it's simply unfair this happened. The old saying don't leave it in the hands of the judges is misunderstood in my opinion. Most take that to mean finish the fight. It really means dominate the fight and give the judges no other option but mark you the winner. Johnson appeared to that. Yet the judges either through stupidity, incompetence or something worse said he lost. Its truly unfair for Johnson that in his chosen career he's can't trust the people given so much power over it. And Dariush isn't any better off. Losing to Johnson even as one sided as the fight was is by no means a bad loss for the young fighter. Instead though he's not that guy that got a gift win. Sadly fans do hold stuff like this against you just ask Tim Bradley.

Ovince Saint Preux- This card was set up to be an OSP showcase. He was coming off two good wins over Rua and Cummings. He was main eventing in his home area with all the fans behind him. Like his loss to Bader this loss again showcased his weaknesses. He lacks on the ground and his fight IQ seems low at times. A lot of the talk around OSP before this fight focused on his decision to still train with the same team he's always trained with. Now I can understand the various reason why loyalty to those that got him to the UFC, sole focus of his coaches, being close to home etc. The fact still remains OSP has some glaring weaknesses. At the end of the day the best of the best often leave home, Jon Jones became a champion with Greg Jackson or look at Robbie Lawler since leaving Iowa to train at ATT. I'm not saying OSP needs to leave Tennessee and never look back but heading to some type of higher profile team could help him greatly. The potential is there but he's also reaching that point where its be a true contender or become a gate keeper.

Sara McMahon-As I said the road to a womens' Bantamweight title shot isn't extremely long. But McMann keeps slipping backwards on the path. Some including McMann herself fell her fight with Rousey was stopped to soon. McMann also said she doesn't understand how Miseha Tate is getting a third fight with Rousey. It's simple Tate made it so she was the only option the UFC had unless Cyborg cuts down. McMann had her chance to stop a third fight but she lost to Tate. The loss to Nunes is another hard one for McMann. McMann big key to her style is her wrestling but she clearly lacks on her feet. Nunes hurt her early and than submitted her. McMann was once 7-0 but in her last four fights shes 1-3. She can get a title shot again but she's behind a number of fighters at this point.

World Series of Fighting 22 A Disgrace

Like most people on Saturday night I was caught up in Ronda Mania. But I was very aware of the World Series of Fighting Card taking place head to head with UFC 190. And I think lost people I wasn't expecting to be very news worthy. In it's own way WSOF 22 was more news worthy than the UFC show but for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to wait until I had actually seen the whole event. I wanted to wait until a little time passed so I wouldn’t get caught in in the imedant furry and only have seen a quick clip. And now all I can saw is it was a disgrace. Which is to bad because the fighting action was very good. But no one is talking about the fights or who the two champions that retained there titles will fight next. Instead we are talking about a brawl between three fighters that work for the UFC and how once again how dirty a fighter Rousimar Palhares is.

Now I will conceded that stuff like this has happened before not just in MMA not just in combat sports but in sports in general. So this is not “They will kill the sport,” rant. But just because it's happened before and I'm sure will happen again doesn't mean we shouldn't try to punish and make it clear stuff like this won't be tolerated. Now to be fair to World Series of Fighting there is only so much they can do. And there is a lot of blame to go round for everything that happened and some people are pretty much out of the promotions reach.

Let's start with Rousimar Palhares who is most definetly in the control of Rey Sefo and company. Time and again during Palhares' career he has held submission holds even after his opponent has tapped out. Once again on Saturday that appeared to be the case. Jake Shields managed to control the majority of the fight against Palhares even able to block his trademark leg locks. But as the fight wore on it soon became clear Palhares was going after Shields' eyes. Shields repeatedly complained to the referee about the tacit. Now upon watching the fight I made it a point to watching Palhares and what he was doing with his hands. And yeah several times it was clear Palhares went for the eyes. By the end of the fight both of Shields were discolored showing sings of repeated attacks. At one Steve Mazzagatti did warn Palhares that he would take a point but than never did take a point even as Todd Harris and Bas Rutten pointed out Palhares went fight back to doing it.

The eye gouging was bad enough but that wasn't the end of it. Once again Palhares won via submission and once again it appears he held onto the hold to long trying to injure his opponent. This has been a recurring controversy throughout Palhares career. Back in 2010 after beating Tomasz Drwal he was suspended for holding the heel hook to long. Than in 2013 he was fired form the UFC when he did the same thing Mike Pierce. Those are the two time he has been punished. There are other fighters where Palhares has held onto the submission including his previous fight with Jon Fitch even after the tap out. When he won the WSOF welterweight title it appeared he gave an extra turn on Steve Carl's ankle. Palhares always claims innocence but the fact is time and again he's been in situations like this.

Lets compare Palhares to Ndamukong Suh a pro football player for those that don't watch the sport. Suh is an incredible talented player and viewed as the very best defense tackle in the game today. He's also been voted direst player in the game repeatedly by his fellow players. A while back Suh sacked Bears QB Jay Cutler. The hit was violent and Cutler went down hard. Almost immendently people began to call it a dirty play. The referees didn't flag it and the NFL even issued a statement that upon reviewing the play it was a clean hit. But because people remember Suh's two stomping incidents or that time he violently twisted at the head of Jake Delhome everyone assumed Suh had to have done something wrong. And that is where Palhares is at.

If this had been pretty much any other fighter most people would have just moved on. But its Palhares who has a reputation so as a result we are watching any time he gets a submission. And yeah after watching it and even rewinding the end it appears he did crank on the hold after Shields had submitted. It looked like he was trying to injury Shields. It was clear Shields was tapping out on Palhares and than he only increased the pressure. Any submission hold can be dangerous but a hold such as a knee bar or kimura that puts pressure on a joint or bone can cause a break. We have seen this happen a number of times in MMA. The most memorable might be Frank Mir breaking Big Nog's arm. When a fighter taps out they are looking to avoid injury.

On Monday when the Nevada State AC issued the list of medical suspension from the event Shields was on it. One of the injures he suffered and will be cleared for included his shoulder. Why we don't know for sure that the submission and the extra crank caused the injury it's still something to think about. Fighters get injured all the time and easily enough when the bout is perfectly clean. Having a guy that isn't listening to the rules or willing to trying and injury people makes it all the more dangerous. Often combat sports promoters or officials will talk about how important fighter safety is. Can they keep making that claim with a guy like Palhares around?

Palhares has already issued a statement insisting he's not a dirty fighter. He's claims he's just fighting to the instruction he's been given. Except we saw him ignore the repeated warnings about eye gouging. Todd Harris and Bas Rutten speculated it might be a language barrier but even Rutten backed on that since attacking the eyes is disallowed in any MMA promotion. Plus Palhares is a very experienced fighter who has fought in America or under the unified rules of MMA enough times he should know anyway. Also getting back to reputation it's hard to buy the idea he's just an innocent misjudged person as many times as he's been linked to being dirty.

Now this isn't all on Palhares. World Series of Fighting does shoulder some of the blame. The young promotion signed him almost right after he was let go by the UFC. I get why the company did it. Palhares was a hot free agent and they company needs some name value talent to attract more casual fans. But by signing him and singing him so quickly they were taking a risk. The risk he was going to keep being the kind of dirty fighter that was let go by the UFC. By putting him in a title fight away they risk a main event could turn into what we saw on Saturday. That said its risk vs. reward the reward is a talented fighter with some name value briging in new fans. And well as I said Palhares is hardly the only fighter with a bad reputation. Hell look Mike Tyson even after biting an ear off people still flocked to his fights. Andrew Golota a boxer was disqualified twice vs. Riddick Bowe for low blows and was rewarded with a WBC title shot.

When Palhares was signed Rey Sefo claimed he had made it clear that he wouldn't stand for anything like that in his company. He seemed to look the other way when Palahares gave Steve Carle's leg an extra crank and didn't do much in the wake of the Fitch fight. To be fair to Sefo both looked bad but a neither time a commission step in. After the Shields fight Nevada did withhold Palhares win bonus and is reviewing the situation. On Sunday night WSOF Vice President Ali Abdel-Aziz issued a state through social media that he and Rey Sefo had viewed the fight and felt Palhares had cranked on the hold to long. And that they company would issue a statement on Tuesday

Than Tuesday came and to my shock WSOF stripped Palhares of his title and suspended him indefinitely. I was convinced the punishment would have been just a reason to book a rematch with Shields. Which I will admit would most and likely draw ratings and good live attendance just based on the fallout from WSOF 22. This is an actual punishment and I hope World Series of Fighting force Palhares to take it a step further and undergo some type of therapy. But if I had been in charge I would have fired him. Sefo did say there is a chance Palhares is done with the company. Most and likely Palhares will be back and pretty much be put in a big fight.

As I said I think Palhares should have been fired. At some point your not a young guy that is going to change. At some point you are who you are and no matter how much you claim or people try to get you to change it's not happening. Palhares has already been suspended once and got fired from the top company in the sport and still he continues to hold onto submission holds to long. The odds are he will keep doing it. Yes but letting him go Palhares you lose a talented fighter and yes again I believe a Shields and Palhares rematch will draw money. But if you cut him he's longer your problem the next time he refuses to break a hold. Let him become either Bellator or One FC's problem. Besides I'm a firm believe that ex UFC fighters are going to grow WSOF they need to build up there own stars along side guys like Shields.

The other person who harbors the most of the blame well besides Palhares is Steve Mazzagatti the referee for the fight. Mazzagatti's short comings as a referee are pretty well documented. Several fighters have admitted they hate having him referee and even requested he not referee there fights. Dana White has made it clear he despises Mazzagatti and has mover and over again called him the worse referee in MMA history. This fight was example of bad referging. Fairly early on Mazzagatti warned to Palahres to stop going after the eyes. At one point he even warned him if he did again he would take a point. Which actually is fine except as Palhares kept going after the eyes he never took the point. As a result Palhares had no reason to stop going for the eyes.

Now in a MMA fight that at most has five rounds losing a point is a big deal. It seems most referees are reluctant to take a point in MMA outside of blatant rule break. But Palhares eye attacks were pretty blatant. And Mazzagatti said “You do it one more time I'm taking a point.” And Palhares again went after the eyes several times. Even later in the fight as Shields was complaining he claimed he would take care of it. But still no point deduction came.

Jake Shields is not completely blameless in this either. Going into the fight he talked of trash. Now that could just be hyping the fight. And most of his trash talk was centered on his feeling Palhares is a dirty fighter. The real issue him throwing a punch after the fight was stopped. I understand why he did it. Poked in the eyes over and over again another fighter trying to injury him after he had submitted. The longer the fight went on the more and more pissed Shields became between the cheating and having a bad referee not do anything. So of course he snapped and reacted. That said some type of punishment should happen just a simple fine though.

There might have been another reason to be Shields was pissed off. He might have even been pissed at two of his old buddies for steering up trouble as he was being introduced in the cage. Nick and Nate Diaz once again found themselves in a fight outside the cage. The Diaz brothers have been in a number of these over the years even one at prior Shields fights. Sometime before the main event The Diaz brothers got into a confrontations with Khabib Numagomedov a fellow UFC fighter. Much like Palhares has a number of incidents inside the ring the Diazs have had incidents inside and outside of the ring including a number of fights.

The most infamous was back during the Strikeforce days. Jake Shields had just beat Dan Henderson when his post fight interview was crashed by Jason Mayhem Miller. Shields shoved Miller away and the Diaz brothers along with Gilbert Melendez went after Miller. Before that Nick had brought into the cage during an Elite XC show to set up a rematch with KJ Noons. Again a brawl broke out after Diaz flipped off Noons father. And even before that Nick while in the hospitle being checked out after a fight with Joe Stevenson decided to try have the rematch with Stevenson right than and there. And often Nate has been right alongside his brother steering up trouble.

So like Palhares we have fighters with a bad history. Now The Diaz brothers and Numagomedov are not under contract to WSOF they work for the UFC. Ali Abdel-Aziz a VP for the company already announced that the Diaz brothers are banned for life. I should point out that Abdel-Aziz is also Numagomedov's manager. But based on the history along with a few photos from before the brawl it appears Nate Diaz should shoulder most of the blame. And honestly I think the UFC should inflict some type of punishment on the Diazs.

The UFC supposedly has a Fighter Conduct Policy and lets look at the facts of the brawl. The Diazs have a history in situations like this, they were not fighting so you can't blame it was heat of the moment. Outside of the fights outside of the cage they have been problem employes on a number of occasions. Nick Diaz is supposedly retried again along with facing a suspension from a drug test failure. Nate though is still supposed to an active UFC fighter. Khabib Numagomedov has reportedly requested a fight with Nate Diaz when he's finally able to return from numerous leg injures.

But I feel that would actually be rewarding Nate Diaz. At the time of writing this Nate Diaz is ranked 15^th in the UFC rankings he's by appearances several fights away from a title shot and really based on his lack of activity and a number of losses should have to earn his way back to higher ranked and higher profile fights. Numagomedov is currently undefeated at 22-0 he's ranked third. In many ways he's well past Diaz and really just a tune up fight away from a title shot. I understand that Numagomedov wants some revenge and it would be sweat to beat Diaz in the cage. But again Diaz should be rewarded with a big fight for doing something like this at another MMA event.

The brothers will always have there fans for there behavior who get a kick out of there stuff. But me and yeah this is just me and it's easy to be all high and mighty with other peoples money but I think he should punished. It doesn’t have to be extreme but some type of fine would make me happy.

UFC 190 Fallout

Some people fight and it's just enough fight. When Ronda Rousey fight its an event. I'm sure by now your have heard and read all the hype about Rousey and what a mega star she's become. But it's true. When Rousey is on the card the coverage is more intense. People that don't normally watch or cover MMA tune in. Ronda shows up dominates and than heads onto her next project before returning to her bread and butter of fighting to start the process again. UFC 190 was mostly sold as another Rousey show with some legends around to feed hardcore fans. Once again Rousey with ease won. But Ronda wasn't the only won the card.

The in ring action- With seven fights on the main card it could have been a case of more bang for you buck or to much of a good thing. The main card got off to a good start in the Strawweight division. Jessica Aguilar finally made her UFC debut sadly Aguilar became the latest victim of UFC jitters. Claudia Gadelha landed numerous hard strikes beating up Aguliar. The former WSOF champion was extremely tense but a tense fighter is a slow fighter and an open fighter. As the fight moved on Aguilar did manage to calm down and find her grove. It was the case of to little to large. Even with Aguilar landing more Gadelha still was in control. Showing improved striking Gadelha managed to cement her claim as number on contender.

Antonio Bigfoot Silva needed a win. Early on it looked bad as Soa Palelei trapped him on the ground and hit hard ground and pound. Still though with any heavyweight knockout power is there. Bigfoot found his range and scored some big shots and dropped Paelei down. It was similar to his win over Overeem so much so Silva admitted he had just watched that fight earlier in the day. With a second heavyweight fight on the card there was still hope of more fire works. Stefan Struve saw a rough few years finally end with his first win in years. Struve had switched up camps heading to Blackzinallnas. Often a camp change is more of a token move. Struve managed to some improvement. Blocking ever takedown attempt of Minotauro Nogueria and using his jab better than ever before he badly beat up the Pride Legend. For Nogueria it was a sad sight that plays out to often in combat sports. The once great legend still tough still willing to fight but not the same talent. Nogueira had his moments he hurt Struve at time. As has been his trademark he was tough as ever not going down under some hard shots. But still Minotauro is 39 he's been in 46 career fights even the greatest must retire as father time is undefeated.

Than came the black hole in the middle of the card the two TUF fights. There were reason for these being on the card. Due to issues with Visas out of the UFC control and a TV contract stipulation the fights had to be on the main card. But it's hard to care about prospects when you have two legends and the biggest attraction in the sport still to come. Vieria and Lopes did put on an exciting fight with wild exchanges. Franca and Bruno not so much even with Franca getting a submission win. But like I said it's hard to care about the two TUF fights when better things are still to come. I'm sure all four men will be back and they all could develop into elite fighters but on this night there were a bathroom break for many.

It took nearly decade for Shogun and Rogerio Nogueira to rematch. The first man did see the two men legit tun back the clock to the days of PRIDE. Shogun was landing early but got caught. Nogueira and he threw wildly one trying to finish the other trying to survive. In the second Shogun no doubt needing time to recover hit a takedown and seemed happy to stay there. The third the two had some exchanges but it wasn't the thrilling finish some no doubt hoped for. It was still a fine effort and a good fight. And besides sequels rarely surpass the original. Physically Shogun looked fitter than he had in a while but there was no sign of a revival. He still got clipped and one has to wonder if he was facing someone like Rumble Johnson or Jimmy Manawah what would have happened. While Little Nog hasn't taken the same punishment as his brother it's still seems like he's at the end. He had his moments but again there was no indication he could still hang with the true contenders these days.

Finally we came to the main event. Everyone excepted Rousey to win and win easy. Hell at best it seemed even people like Joe Rogan while selling the fights were claiming “Bethe Corrieia might get lucky.” But Rousey isn't just a fighter she's an event. The question were of course. Was Rousey really to drag it out? Could she get another quick win? Could Corriea power be the difference? Rousey took a page out of Jon Jones playbook. Jones loves to get in and beat fighters at what is supposed to be there strengthen. Like Jones did with Glover Trexiera she stood in the pocket and brawled. The one type of fight many thought Corriea was going to need to have any chance. Rousey ate some punches but landed more. It soon became obvious Corriea for all her talk about breaking jaws and knocking Rousey out lacked the power. Rousey hurt her and soon knocked her out in a way similar to Mike Tyson at his peak. Again Rousey presented herself as the single most dominate fighter in the world today.

Biggest Winners

Claudia Gadelha- Back in December Gadelha fought a very close fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. One judge said she won the other two said she lost. Gadelha has openly said she won that fight. Since than Jedrzejczyk dominated Carla Esparza to win the Strawweight title and than dominated Jessica Penne to retain it. With the Strawweight division thin Gadelha knew most and likely gong in a win would make her number one contender. Still though it wouldn’t' be easy Jessica Aguilar for many years was viewed as the top 115 fighter. Plus the fight felt like a trap game. We have seen this before a fighter enters knowing they win they get a shot only to look past or get caught and lose. Gadehla out landed Aguilar and scored her win. Gadelha than cut a good post match promo that no doubt won over some fans and be used to help hype the title fight. Gadelha is the one person that looked like a match to Jedrzejczyk can she do it again? It's clear she getting it baring an injury or some kind of other issue.

Patrick Cummins- Most remember Cummins as the Starbucks employee that got a last second call to get KO'ed by Daniel Cormier in his light heavyweight debut. To Cummins credit he's gone 3-1 in the UFC since. But to a point it appeared he was just another wrestler who would wet blanket his way to victory. Against one time Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavlacante he showed good ground and pound. Cummins took some hard shots. With his only career losses coming via knockout it could be worrying he was taking them but Cummins kept coming he broke Cavlacante down and eventually finished him off. While Cavlacante is not a top contender he's another good name for the resume and finishing him off is a good feather for the cap. A lot of has been said about Cummis potential and he's taking steps towards cashing in on it.

Stefan Struve- On September 29^th 2012 Struve spoiled what was meant to be Stipe Micoci's coming out party. Struve knocked the emerging contender out handing Micoci his first loss. Its a testament to how good Struve can. Since than though it's nightmare for the Skyscraper. He suffered knockout loss to Mark Hunt and a broken jaw in his only fight in 2013. A few months later he was diagnosed with a leaking valve and enlarged heart that took him and had many thinking he should retire. After being cleared he was set to return at UFC 175 only to faint backstage. Again people felt he should retire that it had to be linked to his prior health issues. Finally in December he returned and was knocked out again by Alistair Overeem. Struve's long had great physical gifts with his height and reach but often not used them well. Making changes for this camp he showed some decent updates to his striking and vastly improved wrestling defense. Batting Nogueria for three rounds he finally was a winner again.

Biggest Losers-

Bethe Corrieia- She got what she wanted and it could be argued she got what she deserved. Now of course there are lot of face savers for Corriea, she fought the best, Rousey does that to everyone, she still really young in her career, she had nothing to lose anyway. But the fact remains Corrieia wanted this. Staring back with her win over Jessamy Duke and her first mocking of the Four Horsewomen. One year ago after beating Shayna Baszler she openly challenged Rousey to face her. With a perfect record and Rousey having already dominated so many and Rousey wanting the fight Corrieia got her title shot. Leading up to the fight Corriea talked big. And many times she appeared to cross the line. The comment about suicide if she knew about the death of Rousey's father was way out line and extremely personal. If she didn't know it was still a tasteless comment. Leading up the fight Corriea talked about being willing to die, exposing Rousey as a fraud and breaking her jaw.

Corriea spoke of destiny to be champion She repeatably claimed Ronda had never faced some one who didn't fear her. Even to the point of appearing like she was barking at the champion in the weigh in and final press conference. Than the fight came. Corriea tried to charge out and jump on her earlier but was cut off. Rousey hurt her with hard punches and got her to back up. Corriea fired back but was getting the worse of it. After a big knee to the midsection a punch connected to the temple she was going down hard. Landing face first it was clear she wasn't getting up. It can be said Corriea was simply hyping a fight. Trying to play mind games. But she is yet another Rousey victim another fighter that couldn't even get past the first minute.

The Nogueira Brothers- Big and Little Nog are two of true legends in the sport. But as I have said earlier and has been by many people many times father time is undefeated. Little Nog has only fought three times over the last three years. The biggest reason for that has been numerous injures that have kept him on the shelf. He's now lost two in a row not a daming streak by any means but it seems he's a step below the top guys. Thanks to his legendary status and popularity the UFC most and likely will try to keep him in high profile fight against such talent the kind it doesn't appear he can beat anymore. Sure he went toe to toe with Shogun but is Shogun really an elite fighter these days?

For Big Nog its worse. Like his brother injures have limited how many fights he can take the last few years. His fight with Stefan Struve was a sad sight that plays out to often in combat sports. The once great champion still willing but no longer able. He had his moments against Struve been seemed unable to capitalize when an opening appeared. Nogueira was as tough as ever but that is a problem. Nogueira has a long hard career and taken plenty of damage. Again it doesn't seem possible he will be able to again beat any type of high level fighters. Kenny Florian point blank said he doesn't want Big Nog to fight anymore. The twin brothers turn 40 next year they are not going to be the George Foreman of MMA. The aged legend who regains the title. Its more likely they will be the Larry Holmes of MMA the once great fighter just out there appearing to need money.

What Comes Next- For Ronda Rousey there path is pretty clear. Miesha Tate has already been promised the next title shot. The only thing that might change that would be in Cyborg is finally willing to drop to 135. I don't see that happening and I honestly think Cyborg's offer to fight at 140 will disappear if Rousey ever agrees. The only thing you can say about Tate is “She lasted longer than anyone.” But pretty much means she got beat up more than anyone else. Many of Rousey's critics have felt Cyborg could beat her based on her aggressiveness and striking power. But we have seen Rousey's striking improve, Rousey has taken some good shots. And so aggressive fighters haven't done well rushing the Rowdy one. But still Tate and Cyborg appear to be only rivals for Rousey until someone like Amanda Nunes or Holly Holm emerge as true contenders.

Shogun Rua's path isn't as clear. One the one hand you can't really give him a top five guy as he's no longer at that level. On the other hand he is still dangerous and popular enough you can't just hand shuffle him down to prelims. The best option Rampage Jackson. The two fought back in 2005 in Pride. In the past Jackson has asked for the rematch but it hasn't happened for various reasons. Rampage is coming off a decent win over Fabio Malando. Like Shogun Jackson is a legend with a long list of Knockouts. The fight should be exciting and worth an attempt.

Both Stefan Struve and Bigfoot Silva are ranked heavyweights coming off there first win in years. Both are extremely tall. Both have good striking and submission skills. So it makes all the sense in the world to have them fight each other. Other wise I can't really see much. Struve was supposed to fight Matt Mitrone in his comeback fight at UFC 175 that was derailed by Struve passing out backstage. While Mitrone has knockout power he's struggled with grappling which would make a him a winnable fight for Struve and Bigfoot.

Bethe Corrieia had an easy route to the fight with Rousey. Julie Kedzie, Jessamy Duke, and Shayna Baszler don't having winning records in the UFC and currently Duke is the only one left with the company. Kedzie has retired and Baszler was released. With such a one sided loss shes very away from even being in the discussion for a rematch. The truth is Corrieia can now go back to the kind of fight should have had to earn a title shot. The womens bantamweight division has a large number of good fights for her. Former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman has struggled in the UFC but she remains a big name and a good test. We know Corriea can beat the lower level. Kaufman is good enough to still beat Correia but its a fight Corrieia can win. Another possibility is Jessica Eye. Eye had moments where she's looked really good but it's only resulted in a single UFC win. Corriea has the power but Eye has the speed which could make for an interesting fight.

Jessica Aguilar lost her UFC debut but that doesn't mean she can't be champion someday. Shogun Rua lost to Forest Griffin and Carlos Condit was upset by Martin Kampman. Both though scored strong wins and remained top contenders. To this Aguilar needs big wins. On ever level a rematch with Carla Esparza makes sense. Back in 2011 while under the Bellator label the two fought to a split decision with Aguilar winning. For years Aguilar held the number one ranking by many sites yet it was Esparza who held the more respected title first in Invicta and than the UFC. But both have had bad setback. Last time out Esparza was destroyed by Jedrzejczyk when he lost the title. There is legit bad blood between two. Esparaza has insisted that Aguilar is a cheater. The hold up is Esparaza is out with a shoulder injury and may not be back for a while. Of course Aguilar took some damage and likely won't be back for a while either.