Kimbo Slice Cut From The UFC

After losing to former TUF roommate Matt Mitrione, Kimbo slice was cut from the UFC. Dana White made the announcement in his post UFC 113 press conference.
The reason White gave for the cut was that Kimbo did a great job but it’s time to give some other guys a shot. There is a lot of debate as to weather the UFC really should cut Kimbo but, in keeping with the legitimacy of the sport what Dana White says does ring true.

I personally am a big Kimbo Slice fan, not because of his street fights on YouTube but because of the man he was in and out of the ring. In the ring he was fierce competitor and outside he was, at least from what I saw of him, a humble family man happy to have the opportunity to fight for his living. Although he may still be training and improving, Kimbo Slice IS a true MMA fighter in my opinion.

Read the rest of the story here http://snipsly.com/2010/05/15/kimbo-slice-cut-from-ufc-after-mitrione-loss/

UFC 97: Redemption - Quick Review

So UFC 97 is in the books. I'm not going to do a play by play as you can read that anywhere. This is just a quick blurb and my humble ( or not so humble since I feel the need to put it up for the world to see lol) opinion.

All in all not bad. It was far from the greatest and I think I did expect a little more but some pretty good fights.
The Stout vs. Wiman fight was a great all out lightweight brawl. Good back and forth action, The lightweights really are fun to watch. There is almost always non stop action with these guys.

Cane vs. Cantwell Ehhh, ok fight but I actually started to dose off a little. not out cold but doing the nod. Some good striking but just didn't get me going.

Cheik Kongo Started out a bit slow but by the second round started pounding the crap out of Hardonk. Funny, no interview for Kongo this time. Slow start but good fight.

Soszynski put on a good show as he tapped Stan with a kamura He pretty much owned the short fight.

Liddell vs. Rua was hard to watch. I really thought Liddell was ready to come back strong but he just looked off from the opening bell. After the fight he even said he just didn't feel right. Rua on the other hand finally looked like he fighter he is supposed to be. Very tight strikes and just on the money. Hate to see Chuck go out this way and maybe he will be back but I don't know if he has anything left, only time will tell.

The main event was probably the biggest reason people will criticize this event. It started off very slow and never really picked up Silva dominated all 5 rounds to win the decision but nothing really exciting. I probably didn't hate the fight as much as a lot of people will but I still saw Silva trying to put on a show. Leites was OK in the beginning but really got lame at the end with the laying down crap. I get that you want Silva to go to the ground but he was not going to do it and falling down every 20 seconds after a while is just a bitch move. Once or twice here and there OK but that was just pitiful in the end. Silva busted out some new tricks so all was not lost.

So bottom line, OK, nothing to go crazy for but hey not a bad night of fights.

I personally can't wait for Serra vs. Hughes. I am a really big fan of Serra, especially after watching him both as a competitor and a coach on the Ultimate Fighter. The guy not only busted his ass but helped everyone else however and whenever he could. Hughes as a coach, some say hard nosed but just in a cocky, dicky way. You want to be an evil bastard when training people but you can do it without being a dick. again just my opinion

UFC 97: Redemption - Preview

UFC 97 Redemption is this Saturday April 18 2009

StrikeForce Premiers On Showtime

Last Saturday (April 11 2009) was the debut of Strikeforce on Showtime network. With EliteXC going under Strikeforce picked up the ball and ran with it.Last night was a pretty good card with some great action.

First fight was a battle of the 0's in the heavyweight division. Brett Rogers defeated Abongo Humphrey with a knockout in the second round. The first round started off a bit rough. Abongo Kept complaining Rogers was grabbing his hair but, in my opinion a lot of it was unintentional. The guy has a lot of hair and was giving up the Thai clinch way too easily. His hair just seemed to get caught in Rogers hands more then anything. Needless to say Rogers actually lost a point in the first round because if it. Second round, none of that mattered. Rogers pounded Humphrey with a ridiculous number of knees which basically ended the fight.

Next was the girls with Chris "cyborg" Santos taking on Hitomi Akano. Santos came in 7 lbs overweight with the excuse" I had women problems". Sorry but if your gonna fight professionally that's a bunch of crap in my opinion. Anyway, she was so much stronger then Akano anyway it really didn't matter all that much. Santos was literally tossing around Akano like a rag doll while pounding her unmercifully for a little over 2 rounds. 35 seconds in to the 3rd round the ref mercifully stopped the fight.

Third fight and , arguably the fight of the night had Scott Smith Take on Benji Radach in the middle weight division. All I can really say about that fight is Holy S#%t what a brawl. This was one of those fights that could have gone either way at any time. Just when one guy was looking out on his feet, Bam they throw a heavy punch that knocks the other loopy. Great action from start to finish. These guys banged it out for almost 3 rounds. Smith looked, and admittedly felt, like he was done after the second round. He still came out in the third round and connected a monster right hook that knocked Radach out. This was one of those fights where you just say its a shame someone gets a loss. Great fight, period.

Next was the fight for the interim Lightweight title. Former champ Gilbert Melendez got a second round KO over Rodrigo Damm. Melendez basically owned that fight from start to finish right up until the knockout a little over 2 minutes into the second round. Damm had no idea where he was, knocked out with his eyes wide open. He was still fighting the ref and doctors when they woke him p. Very impressive KO.

Finally the main event. Frank Shamrock VS. Nick Diaz. Diaz was basically in control from the opening bell. Shamrock just didn't seem to have an answer to Diaz's reach combined with excellent boxing. When the fight went to the ground Diaz again showed dominance as he put on a clinic. The fight ended with a ref stoppage almost 4 minutes into the second round.

All in all a pretty good fight card and a decent show. Hopefully Strikeforce can continue to put together great cards on Showtime.

Nasty Leg Break In The Cage

UFC 80- Rapid Fire Review, Better late then never

OK, so this should have gone up a few days ago , but life gets in the way so here is a breakdown of the PPV and the winners and losers.

Rivera VS. Grove
Rivera came out punching and basically pounded Grove until the ref stopped the match at 1:20 into the first round. Quick fight, I thought it would go a little longer but Rivera came out punching real hard and fast.

Gouveia VS. Lambert
The first round was more or less all Lambert. Other then a triangle attempt and 2 very short lived guillotine attempts that Lambert easily slipped out of. Lambert landed some decent shots but nothing major, still the first round was his.
Second round starts out looking like it would be just like the first but BAM, Quick left hook and Lambert got knocked out. Great shot to the chin and it was all over.
Winner Gouveia By knockout 37 seconds into the second round

Davis VS. Liaudin
Another quicky here. Liaudin comes out with some good leg kicks to start but that was short lived. Davis closed the gap and landed a left hook that put Liaudin out before he hit the ground. Nighty Night Went Liaudin with your winner Davis 1:04 in the first round

Kelly VS. Taylor (the battle of the Pauls)
Holy crap a full 3 rounder!
First round these 2 come out like Rockem Sockem Robots on crack. Fast and furious and the action never stopped They hit the ground after about a minute and a half but the action never stopped. Good first round

Second round Taylor gets a quick takedown but lost control very quickly. Kelly then basically owned the roun from on top doing a lot of damage. To Taylors credit He was still landing some strike from the bottom but nothing that big. Last few seconds and Keyy lands a wicked elbow to upen up Taylors head with a nasty cut.

Third round is really more of the same. Kelly takes down Taylor for total domination. If it were a pure stand up game the fight might have been closer but Taylor just can't do much from the ground although he never quit. Really good fight with Kelly getting the unanimous decision.

Werdum VS. Gonzaga

Round 1
Gonzaga comes out strong with some great leg kicks. Werdum buckled on almost every kick. 3:50 or so in Gonzaga threw a sloppy head kick and Werdum took him down. Werdum got in a little ground and pound and the round ended with both men on the ground.

Round 2
Werdum came out a different fighter. Very offensive with some punchesand then he started to work the knees. After a bunch of knees he went for a choke on Gonzaga.He then pinned Gonzaga against the cage and just started pumbling him until the ref stopped the fight. Winner is Werdum, ref stop due to punches

Penn VS. Stevenson

Round 1
Penn comes out and catches Stevenson with a few punches that put him right to the ground. For the rest of the round Penn basically owned Stevenson Striking at will and maintaining total control on the ground. With a little less then 30 seconds in the round Penn catches Stevenson with an elbow that opens up a NASTY cut. His head was dripping blood like a sprinkler on a summer day. Round ends with stevenson a bloody mess.

Round 2
Stevensons cut is still bleeding as they wait in the corners to start. Stevenson comes out strong, moving and throwing some punches. Some nice back and forth between both men. Penn lands a couple of good punches and gets Stevenson to the ground again. Penn proceeds to mount Stevenson and then gets his back. Penn sinks in a choke and is the New Lightweight Champion of the World.
Winner B.J. Penn by Choke.

Hardonk VS. Robinson
Round 1
Hardonk comes out with a couple of quick knees followed by 3 leg kicks that literally crippled Robinson. The fight was stopped at 17 seconds of the first round as Robinson could not even get up after the 3rd kick landed.
Winner Hardonk 17 seconds by strikes

Sakara VS. Lee
Round 1
Lee comes out looking for a single leg and after a lot of work get a takedown. Sakara gets up quickly, Lee goes for another takedown, gets it and Sakara is again up. This time Lee is still holding on to his leg. Sakara throws a few punches to the face, turns and starts nailing the hammerfists to the ear and the fight is stopped at 1:30 of the first round
Winner Sakara by strikes.

All in all a decent PPV. A lot of quick fights and a good main event. Next is UFC 81 where we see if Brock Lesner can go with the big boy in Real fighting

UFC 80- Rapid Fire Preview

UfC80 is as of now a hit or miss pay per view in my opinion. I always hope for the best but the card is looking a bit thin especially if you compare it to the UFC79. I personally think that UFC79 was one of the best all around cards I have seen in a while with both main events delivering.

UFC80 really rests on the main event, BJ Penn VS Joe Stevenson for the Lightweight Title. Sean Sherk was stripped of the title after testing positive for banned substances. So now the title is up for grabs and Penn and Stevenson will do battle to see who will be the next Lightweight Champion of the world.

The Semi Main even puts 2 Heavyweights in the cage.
Gabriel Gonzaga VS. Fabricio Werdum. These are 2 big boys going at it but to be honest, I just don't see this as the semi or second main event. This should be a great fight but still we could have seen some bigger names for a semi main event although some of the best fights are the undercard.

Next is the Welterweights Jes Liaudlin S. Marcus Davis.
From what I have seen from both this should be a good fight too.

Next Wilson Gouveia VS. Jason Lambert Light Heavyweights. I cant recall watching anything with Gouveia but Lambert is a beast.

Next is Jorges Rivera VS. Kendall Grove Middleweights.
Both are former Ultimate Fighters and were very impressive on the show. This will be the first fight on the cad to be show on PPV and could very well be a show stealer.

UNDERCARD, MAY NOT BE SEEN ON PPV

If you are watching this on PPV you may not see these fights, it all depends on time.

Antoni Hardonk Vs Colin Robinson Heavyweight

Paul Kelly VS. Paul Taylor Welterweight

James Lee VS. Alessio Sakara Light Heavyweight

Per Eklund VS. Sam Stout Lightweight

Really other then the Main event there is nothing hat stands out to grab my attention. I always enjoy the fights and hope we get a few good surprises.

Enjoy the show.