Brandon Vera returns after being cut from the UFC for 54 days

It looks like our boy, "The Truth", is back in action.  UFC 125 saw Brandon Vera getting smashed by Thiago Silva and the bout left with an awkwardly broken nose and the humiliation of getting bitch-slapped and having his back beat on like a Filipino Dabakan drum.  After the bout, Vera went 7-6 with this having been his third loss in a row and UFC had to cut him.  Articles floated around saying how Vera has lost it and how his slow decline has been a waste of amazing potential ever since he destroyed Frank Mir back in 2006.

I felt really sorry for this guy ever since he got robbed by Randy Couture, got his face fractured by Jon Jones, and then got humiliated by Thiago Silva.  When is he going to get a break already?  Well, the UFC gave him one and decided to let him go.

It turns out however, Thiago Silva's drug test is in question after the fight and is being re-tested.  Chances are that Silva has taken some PEDs and Vera spoke out during interviews:


"I remember when I was underneath him and I was pushing him back and forth. I was thinking, ‘What the hell? Why is this guy so damn strong?’ And I remember thinking during the fight, ‘Yo, I gotta start lifting weights again.’ He was one of, if not the strongest dudes I ever rolled with in my life. Strong b******."

Now according to MMAjunkie, it looks like our boy is back with the UFC, and they are changing his last lost to a no-contest.  That would put Vera's UFC record at 11-6-1 NC.  He's finally got a big break! Good for him! Now feed him some cans so he can look good and marketable again and keep him away from top 10's for a few fights!

Strikeforce 31: Results from the Quarter-final of Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix

(awesome photo from Esther Lin, taken from Neal Taflinger's post on FIGHT! magazine news)

Fedor falls from grace.  Wow...just a year ago, this guy was considered not only the no.1 best fighter in the world over Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre in the pound-for-pound rankings, he was actually considered to be INVINCIBLE.  Now he's got decisive back-to-back losses via submission and TKO.  Who'd have thought Bigfoot Silva would have won? I sure as hell didn't.  I still think Bigfoot Silva is an average fighter, even after his destruction of the Last Emperor.

Check out Fedor's smashed pizza-looking face by the end of the referee stoppage:

Man, I am now so disappointed that the chances of a Fedor vs Overeem match-up is highly unlikely.  A part of me still hurts that we can never see anyone from the UFC fight Fedor either, I still thought he would have hung high when facing off against the likes of Cain, Brock, or JDS.  But now those chances are completely dead as Fedor, the once-immortal warrior has now lost back to back with his stock dropping fast.

I hope Bigfoot gets smashed quickly by Overeem in the semi-final.

On another note, one Russian was able to pull through, and in flying colors at that:

(awesome photo from Esther Lin, taken from Neal Taflinger's post on FIGHT! magazine news)

Kharitonov, the man I originally had pegged to win in my last blog entry on the Strikeforce grand prix, did so in devastating fashion as he put Arlovski's lights out in a round one vicious KO.  I did not give Arlovski too much credit to win given his history and suspect chin, but last night saddened me to see the Belarusian knocked out so cold.  You can see the stars in the Pitbull's eyes as the referee lunged in to save his dear life!

Sadly now, the tournament bracket should look like this:

It is a sad day for MMA.  Well, unless you are a Bigfoot Silva fan.  But thena gain, if you're a Bigfoot Silva fan, you're living a sad existence anyway.

UFC 126 Results...

The front kick heard round the world.....

[gif from "bruno" on the mmatko forums]

Yeahhhh...so much for everything I had laid out in the previous post.  Vitor got knocked out flat in few a minutes and the fight was officially stopped after Silva followed up with 2 punches.  Good call on the ref.  I don't know what else to say; I guess I'm still shocked that I just didn't see it ending so quickly and in the fashion that it did.  Great, I already owe people lunches, dinners, money, and push-ups.  FML

 

Damn you Steven Seagal!!!!!!! You made me lose all my bets!!! (I hope you all know that I am being sarcastic....)

but in case my sarcasm didn't translate over.....

ummmm.....yeah.  Good night everyone.

UFC 126: Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort

The day is drawing nearer; we are are just a little over 72 hours from this crazy card that I figure I lay out some stats for those of you who are as giddy for this fight as I am.  I am still betting on Vitor Belfort as the winner, despite the odds being far, far away from his favor.  Call me insane, but you can bet me your house if you want!

Hopefully the stats for the Silva vs Belfort match-up that I list below are enough to persuade you to purchase this event on PPVHD, but don't forget that Rich Franklin vs Forrest Griffin and Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader are also on this epic card.  If that doesn't blow your mind, dont forget that WEC vets Miguel Torress and Cowboy Cerrone are on the card too! If this is still not enough to convinec you to get the event, then you must be mentally disabled.

- Vitor Belfort will have been out of action for a total of 504 days by the time he faces off with Anderson Silva (that's almost a fuckin year and a half!)
- This is Vitor's first middleweight fight in the UFC (his fight with Rich Franklin was a catchweight of 195)
- Anderson Silva has defended his belt seven consecutive times, a record for all weight divisions across the UFC banner
- Anderson Silva has not been defeated (legitimately anyway) since 2004 via submission of heel hook
- Anderson Silva demolishes strikers
- Anderson Silva does not bleed
- Anderson Silva has never been KO'd or TKO'd

I'm sure you've realized by now that these stats all favor Anderson Silva and that Vitor Belfort should be shitting his pants, but here are the stats that can prove Vitor has a chance

- Vitor Belfort has some quick, heavy hands. The quickest and heaviest Anderson Silva has ever faced
- Vitor Beflort has a BJJ black belt like the Spider, and more than likely better grappling and wrestling
- Vitor has won his last 5 fights in a row, 4 via vicious knockouts
- Anderson Silva was hurt and losing 4 rounds in a row in his last championship fight against Chael Sonnen
- Vitor's striking is on a whole different level than Chael's.  As in a whole different planet in terms of skill, and if Vitor hits Anderson with even 1/10th of the shots Chael delivered, the Spider may very well find his ass knocked out
- Anderson Silva can be defeated, unlikely, but he has been beaten before
- Vitor has trained with Black House with Anderson, Lyoto, and the Nogueira brothers.  You know he has got to have some kind of strategy going in besides relying on his powerful punching

Those of you who are in Bay Area and would like to bet against me in favor of Anderson Silva, the most dominant champion in UFC history and the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, you are more than welcome to! I still believe Vitor will pull the major upset on February 5th

Don't miss the weigh-in's on Friday!

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Strikeforce's next big card before highly-anticipated heavyweight tournament is the Diaz vs. Cyborg event.
Really?

Diaz vs. Cyborg?

So instead of fighting someone who will undoubtedly bring a very good fight and not to mention higher ratings and a bigger audience turnout in Mayhem Miller, or even a big challenge and exciting venue in the cocky Paul Daley, Nick Diaz is fighting Cyborg Santos?!?

And this is not CRISTIANE "Cyborg" Santos, the dominant reigning champion female fighter at women's 145 middleweight, mind you (although that would ARGUABLY be a better fight where betting odds could even favor the scary-ass, manly-looking lady...). THIS is her HUSBAND, Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, whos record is 18-13 for crying out loud.  Okay first off, why does this guy share the same mma nickname as his wife? That's not cool man! Second, why is she buffer than him? He must seriously be into dudes:

ANYWAY, back to the fight.

Diaz should not be given Cyborg, he should have
been given top competition in Mayhem Miller or Paul Semtex Daley.  But since he was given Cyborg, let's look at the few the potential pros:


1. Cyborg fights are pretty exciting.  Win or lose, knock out or be knocked out, he comes very aggressively and ferociously.  He has a pretty beastly look on his face all the time, and you know he doesn't give a shit about anything but fighting and tearing his way through his opposition.

2. Cyborg has knocked out opponents before as the underdog.  He has knockout power and vicious striking, although it isn't as polished or crisp as Nick Diaz' peppering jabs and boxing prowess.

3. Nick Diaz can turn this into a stand up war, but
most likely he will mix it up with takedowns and submissions to defeat Cyborg and this might be a very nice fight with a very nice finish from either end.

4. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is defending his middleweight title against contender Robbie "Ruthless" Lawler.  Jacare is a very solid fighter with highly-touted BJJ skills (easily reflect in his grappling credentials and 10 submission wins) and Lawler has got 17 knockouts out of 20 wins.  17 KNOCKOUTS!!! That's an 85% knockout rate!! You've got yourself a 77% submission rate champion defending his belt against an 85% knockout rate challenger....this fight has got to end very nicely for mma fans.

And finally....

5. Herschel Walker fights again.  Nuff said!

Rashad Evans' secret to beating Shogun: Shake Weights

Yep, you know what I'm talking about.

By now, I'm sure you all know what shake weights are, but if you lame enough not to , I'll give you a  run down:

These are phallic-looking, modified dumbbells that work out your arms by vibrating techonology.  You hold them still in a very sexually suggestive manner, and they work you out as if you jerk your humongous penis off with both hands and a tight grip. BAM, biceps, triceps, and shoulders!

And yes, they are now Rashad Evans' secret weapon against the light heavyweight champ:

Good luck Rashad! I hope you get your teeth knocked out for this!

UFC 128: Shogun vs Evans pre-fight interview

Man, I CANNOT wait for this fight to happen.  Haven't seen a vintage 100% Shogun in ages...let's hope for another brutal knockout from Shogun, and another vicious beating on Rashad's face.

Brock Lesnar and JDS announced as coaches for TUF season 13!!

Wow, JDS vs Brock....is this not an awesome match??? This was announced after:
- Cain starts surgery and is out of action
- Strikeforce announces their heavyweight Grand Prix
- Brock rumored to be quitting
- JDS publicizes frustration over title shot delay and asks for a interim match up


JDS is willing to risk his contendership to fight one more time while Cain heals up, and now he is granted Brock Lesnar for that match!

Not only that, but there will be a whole season of TUF to hype it up!

Apparently, they are coaching welterweights.  Kinda weird, but let's see.

Smart move by the UFC to answer back to Strikeforce's huge grand prix news, however this can go bad and Brock Lesnar loses fast and gets dominated again.  Hopefully his persona on TUF is badass or villainous enough so that ticket sales go through the roof for the fight, which is rumored to be UFC 131.  Ratings for this season should be at an all-time high since Brock is one of the most successful draws in MMA and hardcore fans will get to see two heavyweight top 5 fighters duke it out!

Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos.....

Yep, no lies! Stay tuned....

dos Santos ready to fight again for interim; Carwin returns to action soon

Our UFC no.1 heavyweight contender has recently stated that he would like to fight for the interim belt while Cain is out of action for 6-8 months. 

To me this makes sense given that JDS does not want to be inactive when the biggest fight of his life is his next one, he wont be getting paid without fighting for 6-8 months, and the man must be going CRAZY when he was told that Cain was injured, especially after seeing Cain dismantle Brock fast and unscathed and being told he was next in line and probably thinking to himself that he could more than handle Cain.  If I were JDS, the best striker in the heavyweight division, and I were told that I was to fight Cain in the next few UFC events and then suddenly told "NOPE, sorry, Cain's actually not fine.  He's hurt.  He needs surgery.  And he'll be out for a looong time.  Sorry," I'd be pretty pissed too.

But herein lies the problem: It's great for fans to see him maul another heavyweight fighter on the UFC's roster and all, but I don't see anyone standing a chance with JDS, other than the heavyweight champion himself of course.  So as a warm-up to his eventful fight with Cain (which might even take place in Brazil for the UFC's first return to the country), maybe JDS can take on Shane Carwin, the winner of CroCop/Schaub or the winner of Big Country/Frank Mir.  This can be problematic though, seeing as how Shane Carwin is coming off an epic loss to Brock Lesnar, and if either CroCop or Big Country win their fights, they both would be coming in with already with a loss ironically from JDS.

Who else could JDS fight that he hasn't already destroyed? What should the UFC do with JDS' interim proposal?