Mixed-Up Martial Artist

I know it's taken a while to put this up, but please be patient as we are working on a new site feature that you're sure to love.  Stay tuned!

On to the fights from the main card:

1.  Struve vs. McCorkle:

In the Battle of the Skinny-Fat Giants, the skinnier gianter Giant prevailed.  Things looked bleak when McCorkle sent Gulliver traveling to the mat with an early takedown, that is, until we were reminded that McCorkle just wasn't particularly talented...which brings me to my point.  Who cares?  Neither of these guys are ever beating Velasquez, Dos Santos, or any other heavyweight who is less gimmick and more talent.  Look for both to play aliens, sasquatch, and other freakish creatures in several straight to video "films" in the future.

2.  Miller vs. Oliveira:



Wow, did I ever call this fight incorrectly.  This fight should simply be known as "Oops, you caught me."  Oops, Jim Miller caught Charles Oliveira only being a purple belt to his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Hey, Charles, hitting someone in the ribs is not a good way to stop your knee from being hyperextended...unless that was actually just a vigorous tap in fear that his leg was about to snap.  I mean that's the long and short of the fight.  Oops, we all got fooled into believing the Charles Oliveira hype.  I just knew he was gonna throw a triangle on Jim Miller.  I even turned to a friend and said, "Look at his legs.  They're like egg beaters.  Just like B.J. Penn's."  Turns out Jim Miller was eyeing his legs too for a submission.  I thought this had fight of the night written all over it.   

3.  Danzig vs. Stevenson:



Joey, Joey, Joey.  Keep that right hand up, protecting your face, when you twist low to throw your left hook.  If Charles Oliveira vs. Jim Miller wasn't coitus interuptus, then this surely was.  This fight had me thinking potential slug fest.  You had Mac Danzig facing rumors he'd be cut from the UFC with another loss added to his streak of four out of the last five fights.  And you had Joe Stevenson, the elder statesman looking to show he still belonged in a talent saturated weight class watching the dinosaurs go extinct.  My potential slug fest turned out to be a one hit wonder.  Called this fight incorrectly too.  Danzig punished Stevenson's open jaw when Stevenson begged to be hit by dropping his right hand.  Maybe it's time to call it a career Joe?

4.  Alves vs. Howard:



I want to start with a question.  Look at the above picture?  Doesn't Bruce Buffer look awfully excited about the briefs these guys chose to wear to the weigh-in?

On to the fight.  Welcome back Thiago!  Thiago is and was one of my favorite fighters.  He's not one of the those MMA guys who has no real Martial Arts training...cough, cough, Koscheck.  He's legit.  Throws legit kicks and punches.  No technically unsound wildman winging desperation hooks here.

I wondered though now that the air had hit Thiago's brain, how would he come back following his surgery.  The answer...like a pitbull! 

Now, on to a question.  John Howard was supposed to be a Muay Thai guy, right?  I mean I think he wore a mongkon to the ring.  Then how come this guy couldn't check a leg kick to save his life.  Holy crap John!  It was as if he was trying to condition his legs for the day when someone takes an actual ax to them.  Thiago punished him with kick after kick.  But what really changed the fight for me was the way that Thiago showed how a straight line always beats a non-linear attack.  Every time that Howard threw a leg kick, Thiago tagged him with a straight punch right down the middle.  And there's not much more to say about it.  Thiago's performance was second only to St. Pierre's at UFC 124.

5.  St. Pierre vs. Koscheck:


The picture says it all, doesn't it?  Koscheck talked and talked and talked about all the things he was going to do to St. Pierre at UFC 124.  Well, if his strategy was to try to break Georges' left hand with his face, then he's a winner!  St. Pierre worked the left jab and changed levels like a pro boxer.  Thank God I just got those Freddie Roach instructional DVDs for the holidays.  Had Koscheck watched them or been trained to do anything besides throw knockout punches, he would have known that backing up is the wrong thing to do against a jab.  Somehow, the concept of side to side movement and level changing completely eluded Koscheck.  And his takedown attempts confirmed my nickname for him, Trainwreck.  St. Pierre didn't sprawl.  He didn't crossface.  He just stepped aside and pushed the little boy into the sand.  Who you gonna' fight now Trainwreck?  The male nurse from TUF Season 12?


Two things really disappointed me about this fight.  First, I really wanted to see Koscheck land one of his awful roundhouse kicks, even if all he hit was shoulder.  Guaranteed toe breaker.  He throws kicks like white belts at my school.  Second, I couldn't believe how he basically took back all of his smack talking after the fight.  If you're gonna run your mouth on national television for weeks, stick by it and just say my body couldn't keep up with my mouth.  Look for Kos to replace Mayhem Miller as the host of some MMA-related reality show banished to MTV2 that no one watches.  An alternative reality show for him could be all about Kos actually trying to carry Georges' jock. 

Alright, I'll end by saying something nice to Kos.  If he wants some work, he could show Georges the tiny microscopic hole he found in Georges takedown game.  Kos manged to stuff just about all of them with ease.  I will say that was impressive.

And if you've got a Koscheck of your own to take care of, check out the Freddie Roach DVDs I mentioned:

For some quick results, click here.

And here's some quick thoughts I had after watching the fights:

1.  Check out Cody McKenzie and his facial hair.  Reminded me of this guy:

2.  Anybody else notice that Johnnie Hendricks sticks his chin out and begs to be hit when he fights?  Oh, and that his 9-0 start does not really tell the whole story of the type of fighter he is, or should I say is not.

3.  How about Demian Maia's BJJ and takedown clinic!  And for all the bad things Joe Rogan had to say about his hands, his hands were vastly improved.  He had a nice move where he would side step to his right and throw a right hook to the head.

4.  Anybody else wonder how long Koscheck ran his mouth during the first interview attempt before someone told him the audio wasn't working?  That must have been priceless.  And how about that fireplace behind him that was flanked with marble cut naked men holding towels over their nipples.  Yikes.

5.  Stephan Bonnar looked pretty good against Igor "The Serial Killing Human Trafficking" Pokrajac.  That is, except for his bizzare nips and backne.  Hey, don't blame me for bringing it up.  Blame HD.

Also, too little was said about the tight shot on what appeared to be three Eastern Bloc ladies of the night just before Igor was announced.  When the camera cut back to Rogan, he made an awesome face, but no one touched the subject.  Perhaps Igor was working a second job that night knowing that he wasn't going to be making much more dough as a pro fighter.

6.  Lets talk the nam phanner and Leonard "No Cardio" Garcia.  I was surprised by how enraged Joe Rogan and the fans were.  I thought it could have gone either way.  The way I saw it, Garcia brought the action in rounds 1 and 3.  The nam phanner did nothing in round 3 and only landed a few, albeit solid, shots in round 1.  So, I think he only decisively won round 2.  Moral of the story, lock the door when you're going to phan your nam in a house full of fools...and don't leave it to the judges.

7.  Last but not least, Mr. Brookins.  Lets talk about heart and sheer will.  And lets talk about why you finish someone when you have the chance.  Michael Johnson is still the same bull with no cardio after the first round.  I told my wife when he didn't finish Brookins in the first round that he would regret it.  And regret it he did.  Brookins dominated him for the rest of the fight...or at least as much of the fight as I saw because my DVR cut it off before round 3 ended...stupid second take of the St. Pierre/Koscheck interview!  But here's to our new Ultimate Fighter:


Just kidding.  Love that kid Brookins...everything martial arts is supposed to be about.

Season 11 of the Ultimate Fighter now available on DVD here: