Hijinks Inc.

Tag: MMA

  • The MMA Minute – WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan

    Wait, what? An MMA fight on a Thursday night? A card that includes a title fight and a total of 4 current or former title holders? What? Well, we’ll take it!

    This is really a pretty unbelievable card. Jose Aldo is the current Featherweight champ, probably a top 5 pound for pound fighter, and has completely torn through the division. Manny Gamburyan lives up to his nickname of ‘Anvil’ quite well, once he gets into the cage he’s just like a pitbull, and I think if anyone is going to give Aldo a run for his money, it’s Manny.

    To add to this fight, we’ve got Mike Brown (in a preliminary fight! that’s crazy!) and Miguel Torres, both fighters that have been in a slump recently, but were both considered unbeatable, once upon a time. Jamie Varner has held the Lightweight title, and Donald Cerrone has 3 Fight of the Night honors, including the 2009 fight of the year against Ben Henderson. This is really the cream of the WEC, a premier event indeed.

    Main card

    I really hate picking against Manny, but I just can’t pick against Jose Aldo, I think he’ll hold onto the belt. I like Varner to win a barn burner over Cerrone. I figure Torres has to get on the right track again eventually, this seems as good a time as any so I’ll go with him. I’m gonna go with Roop over Jung and Garcia to beat Hominick. I also expect Mike Brown to put a win together in his preliminary match.

  • The MMA Minute – UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop

    In the world of MMA, promotions are forced to deal with alot of problems with injuries and mixing and matching because of those injuries. The main event of tomorrow’s UFC 119 is a great example of those problems. This was supposed to be the first event when both of the Nogueira brothers fought on the same card (my wife still insists they are the same person) but sadly, Antonio Nogueira had to pull out of his re-match with Frank Mir due to a recurring hip injury.

    The co-headliner itself is a fight that has been pushed back because of injuries. Ryan Bader was supposed to face off against Nogueira a few months ago but had an injury to deal with and Nogueira was outfought in a decision victory over Jason Brilz. So now we finally get to see how the two of them match up.

    Main card

    I’m going to have to go with Mir in the main event, Cro Cop won’t be 100% after filling in on short notice, and even at 100% he’s not the same level fighter as Mir. After his last showing, I have to think Little Nog will come out strong against Bader but I’m going to go with Bader for the upset. I went against Lytle in his last fight against Matt Brown, I’m not making this mistake again, Lytle should be able to beat Serra. For the last two fights I’m picking Dunham over Sherk and Guillard over Stephens.

  • The MMA Minute – Fighter Profile: Dan Severn

    Alright, let’s be upfront about this. That’s a picture of a very big man in very small underwear… and I apologize about that. But Dan Severn is another very big name in the history of MMA, and he needs to be discussed. And the man wore short shorts in the ring, so there aren’t many pictures of him. So, we’ll tactfully move on from the discussion about short shorts and talk about the career of the great Dan Severn.

    Severn was a very ‘to the point’ type of fighter. He wasn’t flashy, he didn’t do a ton of talking, he just got into the ring and used his world class wrestling skills to dominate almost all of the top fighters in his era. Even though he was a top fighter, since he was so business-like and not flashy, there isn’t much history to share like our previous two fighters. Still, he made a huge mark on the world of MMA, being  the first to really effectively utilize his wrestling skills as a primary skill set in the ring. He still competes in some lower class organizations and is one of only a few professional fighters to eclipse the 100 career fight mark, currently holding 94 wins. (more…)

  • The MMA Minute – UFC Fight Night 22 Aftermath

    We got a pretty decent night of fights for a fight night. My picks started out pretty strong and then hit a road bump.

    Quick Hits

    • Lightweight bout: England Ross Pearson vs. United States Cole Miller – Miller defeated Pearson via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:49 of round 2.

    Miller came in with a nice flurry of knees and punches and rocked Pearson, dropping him to the ground. He pounced and sunk in the rear naked choke to finish the fierce Brit in nice fashion and setting himself up nicely in the Lightweight division.

    • Lightweight bout: United States Jim Miller vs. Brazil Gleison Tibau – Miller defeated Tibau via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

    I wasn’t sure Miller put enough together to take this decision. Tibau had a couple of takedowns in the 2nd, so when I heard the vote tallies, I thought maybe he’d stole the fight with that round, but Miller was definitely the more aggressive striker for the entire match, and shot himself into title contention in the stacked Lightweight division.

    This was only the 2nd UFC fight for the Brazilian Oliveira, but he looked good. After getting a pretty strong shot to the no-no spot, he came out and finished the fight in quick fashion, jumping on Escudero’s back as he stood up and finished with a standing rear naked choke. At only 20 years old, this kid will be fun to watch for a long, long time.

    Palhares is a very dangerous heel hook fighter. He almost got Marquardt in one of those hooks, but Marquardt pulled out and stood up. For whatever reason, Palhares stopped and pointed at Marquardt’s ankle and looked at the ref. Marquardt jumped on the opportunity and pounded out the TKO.

    Just the small speedbump in the Escudero fight, otherwise a solid night of fights going 3-1, now I gotta get back to watching the premier of Ultimate Fighter.

  • The MMA Minute – UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares

    Fight Nights are always a chance for the UFC to offer a fighter a chance to rebound and move up in his division. They’re also a great chance to see some of the up and coming fighters, typically paired against foes to display their skills, or given an equal opponent to see if they have the chutzpah they think they do.

    This is a card that offers a little of both. Nate Marquardt was expected to use Chael Sonnen as a jumping off point for a re-match with Anderson Silva. Sonnen instead advanced past Marquardt and nearly took down The Spider on his own. Efrain Escudero and Charles Oliveira are both fighters on their way up in the Lightweight division, and will try to use each other as proof they are ready for bigger names and opponents. Here’s your card with picks after.

    Main card

    I just can’t see Marquardt letting Palhares beat him, so I’m sticking with him. The Escudero and Oliveira match is difficult to pick, but I think I’m leaning slightly toward Efrain to move up the ladder. After that, I’m going with the Millers (no relation) in their respective matches. Don’t forget that the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off immediately following the fights.