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| Friday Night Throwdown: Anderson Silva steps up to cement a legacy Posted: 20 Jun 2008 10:22 PM CDT
After several delays, UFC President Dana White this week finally revealed his “major” announcement that Lorenzo Fertitta was shifting his focus as casino mogul to a full-time hands-on position as UFC owner. If that wasn't big enough, the promotion drops another bomb that had the entire mixed marital arts world buzzing: Anderson “Spider” Silva will take on James Irvin in a light heavyweight showdown during the main event at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19. We can view this move in two ways:
Regardless of how you feel, it is possibly the beginning of Silva putting another stamp on what is likely a legendary career. If he can do what Dan Henderson did overseas in Pride FC, for example, holding two belts in two separate divisions simultaneously, well, he will indeed be the man. It's going to be interesting to see if he will be as quick at light heavyweight as he was at middleweight. Silva has stated that he walks around at about 215 pounds when he's not training. Therefore, weight should not be much of an issue. And if it makes him even more powerful and dangerous … watch out. The possible fights he could have at light heavyweight right now are monstrous. Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are all dream match ups, which would more than likely generate unreal interest and profits. Let’s remember: This move up in weight is only temporary. In fact, if all goes well he could still defend his 185-pound title and headline UFC 88: “Breakthrough” against Yushin Okami in September. In this sport, of course, not everything goes according to plan. Irvin could very well shock the world and upend the Brazilian — he can’t be overlooked. Irvin may have had some ups and down in the past year, but he's a dangerous fighter nonetheless. He's not a top 10 205-pound fighter by any means, but when it comes to striking he can hold his own. The most exciting aspect in this fight is the fact that someone's getting knocked out. Irvin has no ground game that I'm aware of, so of course he’ll be looking for the knockout. And Silva can destroy Irvin on the ground as well as striking. On paper, it's a fight that Silva should win nine times out of 10. But again … never say never in MMA. As for middleweight competition, if Silva fights and gets passed Okami he will essentially cleared the middleweight division. Guys like Patrick Cote and Michael Bisping are still nowhere near the level of Silva right now. It's all about going down as the greatest fighter ever for Anderson, and if takes him to move up to 205 then so be it. Put simply, Anderson Silva is well on his way as establishing himself as the greatest fighter to ever step foot inside the Octagon. And the only way to do that is to continue fighting the best opponents available, whether it’s at middleweight, light heavyweight or who knows, heavyweight. Nothing he does at this point would be too shocking. Enjoy the run while you can folks … it maybe years before we ever this reign of dominance again. Silva is a legend in the making. MMA news and notes UFC 2009 video game first trailer to debut tonight: One of the most anticipated video game trailers this year — UFC 2009 — will finally be revealed tonight at 1 a.m. ET on Spike TV. If the teaser trailer that debuted at E3 earlier this year is any indication, this could be best MMA-themed game ever. In addition, having an MMA game is important tool to help the growth of the sport — fighters will soon become household names. DREAM 5 Lightweight Grand Prix Finals set for July 21: This tournament is single-handedly bringing the Japanese MMA scene back up to the forefront. Although it still has a long way to go in terms of being back in the mainstream of the country, it's still a great start. The final four match ups were announced this week and all of them have the potential to be instant classics. Tournament favorite Tatsuya Kawajiri is going against the dark horse, Eddie Alvarez, and the sickest submission fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, is looking to add an MMA legend in Japan, Caol Uno, to his hit list. Picking a clear cut winner is tough. Many fans are going with Kawajiri to win the whole thing but I think that Eddie Alvarez (my tournament pick) can win this fight as well. It’s going to be a special night come July 21. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale quick picks:
Let’s end this week’s edition of Throwdown by saying that it's officially time for Kazushi Sakuraba to retire from the sport. There is no longer any benefit to keep fighting if you continue to end up in another fighter's highlight reel. Just ask Matt Hughes right now. One must give credit where credit is due: Melvin Manhoef is the real deal and I still don't understand the reason UFC or Elite XC executives have not signed this animal to a contract already. I understand he's signed with K-1, but that hasn't stopped any fighters before and I can see him causing some serious damage in the middleweight division in either promotion. Next week in the Throwdown we’ll begin to highlight the three main fights that will headline UFC 86: "Jackson vs. Griffin" on July 5. We’ll begin with a potential fight of the night battle between Marcus Aurelio and Tyson Griffin. It's a fight that could have some serious implications in what is already a stacked UFC lightweight division. Until next week folks, I'll see you right back here in the Throwdown! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amir Sadollah vs CB Dollaway Ultimate Figher 7 Finale rematch fight talk (Video) Posted: 20 Jun 2008 09:25 PM CDT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale weigh-in results Posted: 20 Jun 2008 06:45 PM CDT
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale weigh-in event took place this afternoon in a second floor ballroom of the Fantasy Tower at Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, Nevada. Here are the official TUF 7 Finale results:
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights. Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of TUF 7 Finale from bell to bell on fight night, which is slated to air on Spike TV on June 21 at 9 p.m. ET. In addition, we will pass along quick results of the prelim action prior to the telecast. See you then! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC Quick Quote: Brandon Vera turns down Lyoto Machida fight? Posted: 20 Jun 2008 04:01 PM CDT
– Top light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida tells Tatame.com that Brandon Vera — who has back-to-back losses at heavyweight — did not accept an offer to fight the Brazilian at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19. “The Truth” is now set to make his 205-pound debut on the card against the relative unknown yet dangerous Reese Andy. Machida will not fight at the show next month, according to the report. It’s doesn’t sound like Vera — he’s proven that he wants to fight the best fighters. However, anything is possible, considering a two-fight losing streak and the prospect of fighting a super tough fight against an awkward guy like Machida. Vera was not immediately available for comment. (Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Marcos” for the translation.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ready for a rematch: MMAmania.com exclusive interview with Matt ‘No Regard’ Arroyo Posted: 20 Jun 2008 03:43 PM CDT
In fact, it was just the second professional fight of Arroyo's career. That night, the more experienced fighter, Matt Brown, walked away with the win. Ever since, Matt Arroyo has been waiting on the day when he would face Brown again for the chance to redeem himself and avenge the only loss of his career. He'll get that opportunity tomorrow night at the TUF 7 "Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest" Finale. The event takes place at the Pearl in the Palms in Las Vegas and airs live on Spike TV, starting at 9 p.m. ET. It's a three-hour broadcast. We caught up with Arroyo to ask him about that first meeting with Brown (he was good enough to give us an entire play-by-play), how his game has improved since then and what he thinks about the other TUF 7 fighters' seemingly high regard for his opponent. Things aren't always as they seem. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): You're set to face Matt Brown at The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Finale tomorrow. This is a rematch from a November 2006 fight in which Brown handed you your only loss via TKO in the second round. For those fans out there who haven't had the opportunity to view that fight, could you give us a quick recap on what happened? Matt Arroyo: Yeah, it was my second fight. I came out … my guy had backed out. I was training for a particular fight, and he backed out the day before weigh-ins. Brown had fought, I think, a week earlier, and he was at weigh-ins about to corner somebody for that event. My manager and trainer was really mad that the guy backed out at the last minute, and we were telling the promoter, "You gotta get us somebody, you gotta get us somebody." They were just looking around the weigh-ins, and they saw Brown. They saw he had cauliflower ear and thought that he might be a fighter. It turns out he was a fighter — he had about eight or nine fights at the time — and they asked him if he would fight me the next day. He asked about me, and they were like, "He's got one fight, he's pretty good," and this and that. So Matt being the guy he is, he took the fight. So we fought. We came out the first round … my game plan back then was to get him to the ground as fast as I could and use my submission skills. We had a short exchange at the beginning, and then I took him down. He was able to get right back up and tried to take me down. I put him in a guillotine and almost ended the fight. He slipped out and ended up in my guard. I was working my submissions from my guard. I went for an armbar, slipped it in, and he stood up. His game plan was to keep it on the feet, so when I opened my legs to do the armbar, he was able to get up. So then I got up and took him down again after another exchange. I didn't have much luck with him on the ground — (laughs) I was slowly losing all my energy from taking him down so much. He got up again. We did some striking and got in the clinch — hitting each other from the clinch. I took him down again. Same thing. Got up. And then on my, I think it was my third or fourth takedown attempt, I was just about spent. I shot in for the takedown, he was able to get mount in the last eight seconds of the first round. I was defending his mount, I was holding onto him, and the bell rang after the first round. Second round, I was exhausted, I had nothing left. I came out. He was pretty tired too, but with his experience, he was able to relax and stay more composed than I was, because I had never been in this situation before — this tired from fighting. So I came out and just the will to want to win, I was able to take him down two more times. I wasn't able to do anything, though, once he was down, I was basically just resting. And I went for one final submission, I went for an ankle lock or heel hook or something. He was able to get position off the missed submission and take mount. (Laughs) I could tell how exhausted he was throwing strikes at me from the mount. I was exhausted, I couldn't get out. I was defending pretty good — it kind of reminded me of … maybe like Brandon Vera (vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85) — I was defending myself, but I wasn't getting out either. The ref was like, "You want out?" I'm like, "No." And then he was like, "Well, you're not getting out." So they had to stop it. It was about halfway through the second round. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): So would you say that you were winning the first round and up until that point? Matt Arroyo: I would say that I definitely won the first round. They may have scored it pretty close because he mounted me at the very end of it, but I was controlling the whole fight, I took him down three or four times in the first round. So I would say I won 10-9 first round. Second round, I was controlling him, I was winning the second round until the very end. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well like you said, that was just the second fight of your professional career, and I think it was Brown's seventh fight. Obviously, you've come a long way since then. How has your game improved since that time, which Matt Brown might not be aware of? Matt Arroyo: I've had four fights since then and four wins, all first round submissions. I just got more experience now. I can stay calm in there now, I know when I'm going for my submissions how to breathe, I know when I'm wrestling how to breathe. My mentality entirely changed. My strength was always jiu-jitsu, and I was always rushing it. I mean, I got 15 minutes, and I only have to submit the guy once. So I keep that mentality and not rush it. My jiu-jitsu got way better from that time. I didn't even know how to strike on the ground at that point, I was just using my Brazilian jiu-jitsu pretty much. Now I'm a good striker on the ground. I know how to strike from the guard, I know how to strike from underneath the guard, side mount and all that good stuff. My wrestling improved — and I was able to take him down then — and my wrestling's improved dramatically since then. And my standup — I'm not scared to stay on my feet anymore. Back then there was so much urgency to get it to the ground that it kind of mentally took it out of me when he kept getting up. I was like, "Man…" Now if it stays on the feet and I can't get him down, no biggy. I can stand and strike with him now. I know about him now, you know. Last time, I had no clue who the kid was. I just went in there and was like, "Alright, I'm gonna take him down and submit him." I didn't realize how tough he was. Now I know. I've already been in there with him, so that takes away a lot of the nerves, and it takes away a lot of the mystique about it. I've seen him on the show. I know he's definitely improved too since our fight. It looks like he's been working on his takedown defense a little bit. His striking has always been pretty good. His jiu-jitsu is decent — it's not great, I'd say it's average. I don't think he's been working on that as much. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): So you've been watching the TUF 7 show? Matt Arroyo: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Well ever since I knew I was fighting him, I started watching a little closer. Yeah, I actually enjoyed this season a lot. Obviously I watched his fights closer than most. The other ones I was just watching for fun. This one — this is business, you know? Studying it and seeing his tendencies. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): On the season, the other fighters in the house seemed to have a high regard for him — always talking about Matt Brown and how fierce of a fighter he is. But at the end of the day, he still has a .500 record. Were you a bit surprised by his reputation in the house? Matt Arroyo: Yeah. I talked with people on the show about that too, and they were actually quite surprised that they played it like that. Because they weren't really thinking of him like that on the show, they told me. They were just kinda making almost like a joke about it, like, "Uh … I'm Matt Brown." You know? Like, "Hey mutha F-er, I'm Matt Brown." You know, stuff like that. But he had the look, he was fierce in there, and he was a gamer. So they took it upon themselves, the editors, to portray him as a Billy Badass — which is good, I think. I think it's really good. It makes everybody think that the guy is Superman, which we saw he isn't in his fight with Amir. I think it's better for me, because I think I'm going to beat him, so it makes me look better. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): During the taping of TUF 6, you eliminated Dorian Price and Troy Mandaloniz to reach the semi-finals, but in the process suffered a rib injury, which forced you out of the competition. You caught some flak for that from some critics who thought you might have been using it as an excuse to dodge Mac Danzig. As someone who has broken and/or bruised just about every rib in my body, I fully understand the mobility problems that come with such an injury. Do you regret your decision to pull out of that fight? Matt Arroyo: Absolutely not. No, definitely not. I think it was one of the best decisions I've made. It was a lose-lose situation, I feel, if I would have gone in there. 1. I could have gotten hurt worse; and 2. I didn't see myself winning against a guy like Danzig if I'm not 100%. So there really wasn't any incentive for me to do it. Pretty much things have been working out since then. I won at the Finale. I took a nice little break, couple of months off, and now I'm back at it, training, 100 percent healthy, focused, and I got a nice fight coming up Saturday. Things have been going great. I mean, I'm not on the main card, and I didn't make it into the (TUF6) Finale finals, but I'm still here, man. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well, I understand that there is a weight class difference now, but if given the opportunity, would you ever want to fight Mac Danzig? Matt Arroyo: Yeah, why not? If the opportunity came along. I can't get to 55, I'm too tall. But if they want to set it up in the future — if Mac comes to 70, I would fight him. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): What weight do you normally walk around at? Matt Arroyo: 180, 185. Especially for this training camp, I had a full-time strength and conditioning coach for this one. His name is Chris Barton. He's a trainer in Tampa. He's awesome. He helped me out a lot. He worked with me six days a week every morning on my conditioning and strength. I gained five pounds of muscle in eight weeks of training. I'm 10 times stronger than I was, I'm faster and my cardio is better than it's ever been. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Back in December at the TUF 6 Finale, you beat John Kolosci via armbar in the very first round. While it was a beautiful armbar, if I'm being honest, I don't see Kolosci as being the same caliber as some of the other UFC fighters. Do you agree, and if so, do you think you still have something to prove this Saturday against Brown, who might be a step up from Kolosci? Matt Arroyo: I don't know. I don't really put that kind of pressure on myself. Whoever I fight, I'm going to fight to the best of my ability, and if I fight to the best of my ability, I think I can beat, you know, whoever. So, no, I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself at all. It's already done in my head. I just have to get out there and do it. Kolosci definitely needs improvements if he wants to be competitive here. But, on the other hand, his strength is in people's guards. If he's going to win a fight it's going to be ground and pound from the top. So I was able to submit him when he was in his strongest position. I would say his stand-up's not ready, and his guard isn't ready for the UFC. But if you look at his record, all of his wins were from TKO from the top. He wasn't really able to land a good shot on me. I was trying to submit him the whole time, and I knew it was just a matter of time, and I finally got him. I would say that in that position he's pretty good. I mean, he was defending a lot of stuff, and I think my guard is a lot more active than most — trying to throw up submissions. Most people just use it to get up or use it to sweep or just to defend themselves. Where I'm just constantly throwing up submissions, it's what I'm used to, it's how I've always fought and done my jiu-jitsu. And eventually, you're going to get caught. I think I faced him where he's strongest, so I think that was pretty good. But I don't think he's on the level of other UFC fighters — maybe not even the average UFC fighter — in the other areas. His takedowns are decent and his ground and pound and top game is pretty decent. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Outside of fighting, what's the deal with the Amazing Race? I've seen your audition tape, I think a ton of people have. You and Allen Berube. Matt Arroyo: Yeah, that was a while ago. That got shut down before it even started. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Have you tried out again since then? Matt Arroyo: No, I'm not allowed to. In our contract, we're not allowed to do shows. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I heard something about you and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Where you at a game doing some kind of teaching exercise, or were you in a fight or something? Matt Arroyo: I was going to do a grappling match against another guy at the Devil Rays game. They asked me to do it. At first I was interested, but … it seemed kind of corny. They were just going to set the mat up over home plate, and we didn't know if it was going to make T.V. or not. We were trying to get sponsors out of it, but we weren't allowed to do that, so it just wasn't really worth it. And that was the same day as UFC in Canada, and I was scheduled to go there, so I chose that instead. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well hey, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us, and I know there are a lot of TUF fans out there who are looking forward to your fight on Saturday. Lastly, would you like to thank any sponsors, or do you have any parting words for your fans? Matt Arroyo: Yeah, I'd like to thank MMA Warehouse, Cage Fighter, Sprawl, Stagr, Zappos. I'd like to thank Rob Kahn, Chris Barton, Gabe Maldonado, Allen "Monstah Lobstah" Berube and all my training partners. There's like 10 of 'em. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC odds for Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in Las Vegas Posted: 20 Jun 2008 02:38 PM CDT
Odds for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale are available for those fans who like to make fights nights that much more interesting. Desert Dog — who typically shares his thoughts on solid value bets — is on sabbatical; therefore, there’s no analysis to go along with the lines below. It’s just cold hard numbers … and some possible big profits. Here are the TUF 7 Finale odds:
I will say something: Tanner being the heavy favorite really jumps out. He’s lost three of his last four fights and he’s on the wrong side of 30. Grove might be a good value pick right here. TUF 7 Finale will air LIVE at 9 p.m. ET on Spike TV from The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, June 21. Remember to check out MMAmania.com for all the pre- and post-fight coverage you can handle, in addition to LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the televised action tomorrow night. Be sure to get those bets in sooner rather than later. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC 86: Quinton Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin test clean Posted: 20 Jun 2008 02:00 PM CDT
Both fighters were tested several weeks out from the 205-pound bout to eliminate the possibilities of “cycling off” performance enhancers such as steroids. It’s a proactive and unique measure that the NSAC has adopted to curtail and prevent the use of banned substances. In fact, Jackson and Griffin join BJ Penn, Sean Sherk and Tito Ortiz on the short list of professionals who have been subject to the new “out of competition” testing policy. Expect that list to grow over time. If a positive test is returned early, which would essentially devastate a major pay-per-view (PPV) event such as UFC 86, “the commissioners would decide” on a course of action based on the results, according to NSAC Executive Director, Keith Kizer. Jackson and Griffin — along with other random fighters on the card — will likely be tested again right around fight night. It is merely an extra layer of protection to ensure a good clean fight when it comes time to bang at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on fourth of July weekend. For all the UFC 86-related information you can handle be sure to hit up the MMAmania.com archive right here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale predicitions, preview and analysis Posted: 20 Jun 2008 12:02 PM CDT
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale is set for tomorrow (June 21) LIVE from the The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a three-hour Spike TV special that will air at 9 p.m. ET. Remember: MMAmania.com will provide LIVE updates and blow-by-blow, round-by-round commentary of the main card action throughout the telecast. As usual, it promises to be a great discussion during an exciting night of fights. To get us pumped for the evening festivities, site contributor and mixed martial arts guru Andrew Nostvick will attempt to erase the shame of Mania’s last effort by going toe-to-toe with senior writer and turgid egomaniac Jesse Holland with predictions for tomorrow’s event. The mission: Forecast which fighters will leave the Octagon with their hands raised during the featured fights of the show. It's important to note for the predictions that while someone may be lauding a certain fighter, he isn't necessarily the guy who he thinks is going to win. Basically, we never want this to come out sounding repetitive. At the end of each analysis, therefore, you will see the individual picks at the conclusion of the write ups. Let's get to it:
Evan Tanner (32-7) vs. Kendall Grove (8-5) Andrew Nostvick: When was the last time you saw Kendall Grove in a good fight. Since he defeated Ed Herman in the Ultimate Fighter season three finale, Grove is 2-2 in the UFC and has lost two straight fights. Grove’s two losses came against Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera. Grove has the chance to possibly lose three straight fights when he takes on Evan Tanner. Tanner appears to be back on track. He showed quite some promise in his loss to Okami. Tanner had a good first round and was hanging in there up until the knee knockout by Okami, who has to be one of the top contenders in the Middleweight division. Tanner is the much more experienced fighter in this fight, fighting for 10+ years. Tanner has every chance to go out there and beat Grove. Jesse Holland: Tanner appears to be back on track? Didn’t he spend the last two years of his life in a Vietnamese jungle yammering nonsensically like Colonel Kurtz only to be knocked out in his return at UFC 82? I guess he is back on track, if that track leads to the corner of Fifth and Failure. Now Kendall Grove on the other hand was in cruise control ever since his sensational fight against Ed Herman at The Ultimate Finale 3 almost two years ago. And he continued to not only win, but to look dominant in each fight thereafter, culminating in a lopsided victory over Alan Belcher at UFC 69. He hit a serious road bump however at UFC 74 when Patrick Cote TKO’d him in the first round. That loss seemed to affect him going into his bout against Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 and he paid for it with a KO. Now the question remains: Is Grove finished? Not with a win against Tanner he isn’t. And Tanner is the perfect style of fighter for Grove. Tanner doesn’t have knockout power and prefers to pound his opponents into a stoppage or submission. I don’t see Tanner being able to survive the clinch of Grove, who happens to have devastating knees that he can throw with ease because of his towering height. And wasn’t Tanner’s last knockout because of a knee? Tanner has heart, but it’s too late in the game for him to turn this thing around. Grove has the skill, all he needs is the confidence. A third straight loss will likely send him packing and he knows it. Look for an angry, desperate Hawaiian to make mince meat of a bewildered Tanner. Final predictions: Diego Sanchez (18-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3) Andrew Nostvick: Okay so the odds might be stacked against Fioravanti, but he does have a shot to beat Sanchez. Fioravanti could play spoiler. When was the last time Sanchez won a big fight, oh that’s right, it was almost two years ago. Sanchez has lost two of his last three, no matter how you look at it. There are doubts about Sanchez. He still has a lot to prove. Fioravanti could defeat Sanchez. It won’t necessarily be the upset of the century, but hey it is still possible. Besides, there are other ways that Fioravanti could win. Maybe it goes down like when Drederick Tatum had a heart attack on his way to the ring in that one Simpsons episode, or so Homer hoped. Ideally for Fioravanti, if he can get Sanchez distracted, it could go well. Jesse Holland: So first Tanner is getting back on track after being put to sleep and now Sanchez still has a lot to prove? You know, because winning seventeen straight fights and defeating guys like Karo Parisyan, Nick Diaz and Kenny Florian are such routine accomplishments. Sanchez gets a pass in the Koscheck fight because he wasn’t manhandled or outworked: He threw two punches the entire fight and Koscheck threw four, thus making the decision a matter of mathematics. Then he loses to Fitch in a split decision. Last time I checked Fitch was 8-0 in the Octagon. Sanchez is an animal inside the cage and he’s proved that time and time again, most recently against David Bielkheden at UFC 82. Fioravanti is a scrapper, but he doesn’t have that big win that would make an argument for his chances of pulling off the upset. Sanchez will do here what he always does: Attack relentlessly until Fioravanti succumbs to the onslaught. This won’t get out of the first round. Final predictions: CB Dolloway (6-0) vs Amir Sadollah (0-0) Andrew Nostvick: He beat Dollaway once and you can bet Amir Sadollah can do it again. Dollaway’s going to bring his A-game, no doubt about it. Sadollah took some harsh punishment, but rest assure, lightning can strike twice. Sadollah had to work hard to reach this point. He defeated Steve Byrnes in the prelims, Gerald Harris in the first round, Matt Brown in the quarterfinals and his current opponent, Dollaway in the semifinals. Sure Dollaway has the experience, but Sadollah has a chance to beat him again. It could go down like this. Jesse Holland: Amir Sadollah has got to be the luckiest fighter in the history of the UFC. Not only does he get on the show with a 0-0 record, but he also defeats four competent fighters to reach the finals. Now some might argue that repeated instances of luck is not luck but skill. I’m not entirely sold. I will concede that Amir Sadollah is a likable guy and a tough fighter, but he was on his way to a loss against Dolloway in the semifinals when he pulled that submission out of nowhere. Now I have to believe that a fighter like Dolloway will learn from that mistake - and not let it happen again at the finale. Dolloway has an edge in striking and Amir will not be able to defend the takedowns. Is Sadollah good or just lucky? He’ll have his chance to prove it once and for all on Saturday night. Final predictions: Spencer Fisher (20-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (13-2) Andrew Nostvick: As a person who is familiar with MMA in Iowa, I can assure you this is going to be one helluva fight. Regardless of the outcome, you can be sure that these two are going to go full force at each other. This kid from Des Moines is young and exciting. He brings his best stuff to the cage every time. Stephens slams people. Stephens did it to Din Thomas, to Diego Saraiva and to Cole Miller. Hell, he could do it to you, if given the opportunity. Might he try and slam Spencer Fisher, I wouldn’t count on that. Fisher is not very good on the ground. You saw the Frankie Edgar fight (or maybe you didn’t). Fisher would suffer takedown after takedown. Stephens can take down Fisher faster than you can say, Hicadoola! I do know that Stephens can stand with Fisher. With as good as these two are, this has the potential to be the fight of the night. Jesse Holland: Nostvick seems to be high on the fact that Stephens slammed Din Thomas. But he left out the part where Thomas armbarred him into next week. My cohort also thinks Fisher isn’t very good on the ground. I seem to remember Fisher choking out some guy named Thiago Alves at Ultimate Fight Night 2 - one of his seven submissions. Not bad for a guy with no ground skills. Now Fisher has talent, but he was stifled by Frankie Edgar at UFC 78. Fisher learns from his mistakes. Look at his first fight against Sam Stout and then the adjustments he made in the rematch. I expect that same type of gameplan from Fisher this time around as well. He needs to work on his takedown defense and rely on his hands - which I think are more refined than Stephens. If he does find himself on his back, he needs to rely on old-faithful: The triangle choke. It’s the perfect way to catch an aggressive and perhaps overeager Stephens. Fisher has four to his credit and if the hands aren’t working for him, it’s a great plan B. Final predictions: Dante Rivera (10-2) vs. Matthew Riddle (0-0) Andrew Nostvick: Rivera is a good fighter. This guy has a big ground advantage over Riddle. The Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter has won five of his 10 career victories via submission. Riddle’s didn’t even make it out of the first round (he did make it out of the prelims). Riddle lost to Tim Credeur. Rivera has a chance to put Riddle in his place. Riddle is a young guy and he has a lot of fighting to do if he wants to be a success. My colleague even acknowledges this. Don’t believe me, here’s the quote:“…Riddle admits that he has at least 10-15 years left in MMA. That’s assuming he can first get his driver’s license and move out of his Mom’s house.” I’ll leave it at that… Jesse Holland: What is there to say about Matthew Riddle? Aside from his obnoxious haircut and bone-shattering knockout of Dan Simmler what is there to analyze? He is also sporting the big 0-0 record, but at least Amir Sadollah is riding four wins into the Saturday’s card. Despite that, Riddle can actually win this because Rivera has a questionable gas tank. Riddle should push the pace and throw bombs. If he can keep Rivera at bay long enough he might be able to catch him walking upright. Riddle however must avoid ending up on the ground where he is vulnerable to the submission game of Rivera. Not that Rivera has mind-blowing takedowns but Riddle can be a little reckless at times. Keep it standing and Riddle has a chance. Final predictions: That's a wrap, folks. Remember to come check us out after the show for all the latest results, recaps and our coverage of Ultimate Finale 7. For the complete fight card click here. What do you think? Now it's your turn … let us have it in the comments section and share your thoughts and picks for Ultimate Finale 7. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Roger Huerta: Georges St. Pierre is ‘going to be moving up to 185′ (Video) Posted: 20 Jun 2008 09:57 AM CDT And when that happens “El Matador” will make the jump to welterweight: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CB Dollaway on Jesse Taylor limo incident before he ‘lost his mind’ (Audio) Posted: 20 Jun 2008 09:05 AM CDT
Head over to Yahoo!Sports.com to check out Steve Cofield’s write up of the interview with The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale finalist CB Dollaway. He’ll take on Amir Sadollah tomorrow night at the TUF 7 Finale from The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, June 21. It will air LIVE on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET. |
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