Happy Sunday to all. Hope everybody got a chance to watch the NFL conference championship games, and well after those its time for Saturday night's review.
So, I picked right 3 out of the 4 fights. Unfortunately I'm sure that most of you go for the style points and get it exactly right (which i was only right on one). Either way, for the year, I've got a 3-1 record, and I'm going to stick with that.
Melvin Guillard improved to 45 wins overall in his MMA career with a 1st round TKO over Evan Dunham in the main event. Although I thought Guillard might swarm early, He overcame a quick takedown attempt from Dunham and used his boxing skills to keep beating Evan to the punch. When they were able to stand back up, Guillard rocked dunham with a couple of heavy shots and a knee before swarming him and earning a victory at 3:20 of the 1st round.
Next for Guillard : Perhaps throwing him on the Toronto card against Matt Wiman, who earned a victory over Cole Miller. The judge giving Miller a round was given a twitter lashing by none other than UFC president Dana White.
Next for Dunham : Perhaps that highly anticipated fight with Kenny Florian.
Mark Hominick had a potential World Featherweight title shot on the line when he took on Team Tompkins teammate George Roop. He earned every inch of the faith bestowed to him by Dana White when he weathered an early storm by Roop, and followed it up with his superior technique by pinpointing several strong jabs on Roop's chin. Roop, who staggered more than once, was finished off by a couple of shots as the ref stepped in at just 1:28 of the first round.
Next for Hominick : A fight at Rogers Centre against who I believe is the pound-for-pound king, Jose Aldo, with the Featherweight World Title hanging in the balance. Hominick is 3-0 in the UFC (he'd fought twice at 155 in the Octagon before Saturday Night), while the champ will be making his debut on the World's biggest MMA stage. Advantage : Hominick.
Next for Roop : Heading back to Team Tompkins (he'd trained in Arizona prior to this fight), and learning how to strike as hard as Hominick does. Perhaps a fight against former champ Mike Brown (who lost on the card to Rani Yahya on the free prelims, and, four of his last six bouts).
Matt Mitrione, the man who stopped Kimbo Slice, took on Tim Hague in the co-main event. I said that Tim Hague's 7 second loss to Todd Duffee was no fluke, and Mitrione didn't disappoint. By using his superior footwork (which has improved dramatically since his time on the Heavyweight season of "The Ultimate Fighter") and his low leg kicks to Hague's left leg, he was able to land a shot that stumbled Hague to the mat, and finished him off with several left hands to earn the finish at just under 3 minutes of the first round to improve to 4-0 in the UFC.
Next for Mitrione : Tough One. Perhaps Shane Carwin when he's ready and healthy to fight.
Next for Hague : A return to the local "King of The Cage" circuits in Alberta. Perhaps he can win the heavyweight title up in Northern Alberta, but unless his skill improves dramatically, he isn't going to last in the UFC.
Finally, Journeyman Yves Edwards took on GSP graduate of TUF and undefeated Cody McKenzie on the final preliminary fight. McKenzie took the fight right to Edwards as the beginning and went for a quick takedown, but was controlled early and often. It almost appeared as if everytime McKenzie tried for a takedown, Edwards kept sprawling. McKenzie showed that he was no one trick pony, as when he did finally get Yves down he was able to put a body triangle from below. The first round ended with McKenzie very frustrated, and Edwards very confused as to where the heck McKenzie was able to execute the body triangle.
In the second, Yves Edwards peppered McKenzie with a lot of strikes and knees in the first few seconds. Although McKenzie smiled, he was very hurt by the barrage of shots coming his way and was obviously frazzled, though he was able to hit Edward with a couple of spinning elbows of his own. Edwards kept pushing forward and hitting with leg kicks both high and low that Cody simply was not checking (or seemed to be worried about). Out of desperation, McKenzie got a single leg and switched over to get Edwards back. It seemed that McKenzie would debut a new submission, as he had a body triangle in on Edwards and had the rear naked choke lined up. Though Edwards was able to get out, McKenzie got into a full mount and then into North South position. McKenzie finally managed to get back to taking Edwards back, had the body triangle locked in and was pounding away. Edwards got back up from warnings from the referee, then a 3rd attempt to take his back failed for McKenzie and Edwards got a full mount reversal. From a ground and pound position, McKenzie gave his back and Edwards locked on a rear naked choke, as McKenzie refused to tap and went to sleep.
Next for Edwards : Kind of difficult to gauge a dude who's notched 40 wins in this sport. Perhaps a rematch with Joe Stevenson?
Next for McKenzie : a 3-fight extension. He proved he's no one trick pony and had a known veteran in some very, very tough spots, and on just a few weeks notice, to boot. Perhaps a fight against Tyson Griffin, I'll bet these guys could definitely put on a "Fight of the Night".
-Dana White says Machida in a "must win" fight vs Couture in Toronto.
As reported by MMAJunkie.com, at a Friday Q&A session for Saturday's "Fight for the Troops 2", Dana White said that he never thought former Light Heavyweight Kingpin Lyoto Machida was ever going to lose. He also said in the same breath that the former champ is fighting for his job.
"I didn't think he [Machida] was ever going to lose"said the UFC president "Shogun beat him, and then he just lost to 'Rampage' too. Now he's fighting Randy Couture. Its a must win for him".
Reading the comment feedback at the bottom of the article, People think this is a hype trip by White or him merely crying Wolf. But scroll back to my comment on UFC 129 2 weeks ago (on January 8th), and you'll see something that closely resembles what White just said. I said it was a mere "hunch" but it appears that Dana White is on the same wavelength.
The bottom line on Machida is (and I'm a supporter of his elusive style), He needs to refine it after his loss to "Rampage" Jackson. Don't get it twisted; I am putting my money on Machida, but I think writing Couture off is a little premature, and Machida can't do the same counter punching, elusive lacksadasical style that everybody is used to. We need to see a new killer instinct from "The Dragon". Plus, come on people, Its a fight between a former Light Heavyweight kingpin as well a former 2-time, 2 division and Hall of Famer. Does White really need to hype that up?
-Hominick says Aldo "has never faced a striker" like him
Following his KO victory over George Roop at Saturday's "Fight for the Troops", Mark Hominick earned a title shot against Featherweight title holder Jose "Junior" Aldo. In the post fight press conference, Hominick was very happy with his journey to the top.
"This is huge, but the thing with me. I've been fighting professionally for 10 years. I've gone through the bottom, and now I've got a chance to go against the top - The best of the best. Those are the guys I've always wanted to face." Hominick said.
He went on to say that his current tear through the featherweight division has been less due to training and more due to a refined mental game. Following a string of 5 fights between 2007 and 2008 in which he went 2-3, I would tend to agree. His confidence is clearly soaring following his 5th straight win.
Then he kind of went a little too far by saying "No disrespect against Jose Aldo. I think he's the best pound for pound fighter, fantastic striker. But he's never faced anybody with my striking capability. We'll see how he does against it."
Hold on a sec, Mark. While I think he has impeccable striking and pinpoint accuracy, his style is what Jose Aldo hasn't faced. I think more or less, if he can keep going forward he definitely has a chance against the dominant Brazilian. Certainly his confidence is on a high, but what happens after he holds his hands down once too many times and Aldo lands square on his chin?
That's what we're going to have to wait to see.
Questions? Comments? Want to get back to me? Hit me up at MMArmaggeddon@gmail.com or feel free to tweet me at Twitter.com/mmarmaggedon
until next time, fight fans!
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