Category — Pride FC

Time to give some respect. I didn’t think much of Jon Jones‘ chances against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128. I thought even less of the hype surrounding Jones, including stories that he was already signing autographs as “UFC Champion 2011″ prior to Saturday’s title bout. I thought he was more swagger than substance, that his youth and relative lack of experience against top-ranked fighters and arrogance would be his undoing. Now, his demolition of Rua has forced me to think again, as much as that pains me to admit it.

The ease with which he beat the champ is astounding. If ever a fighter has walked through an opponent, it was Jones through Rua, who looked like the Rua who fought Mark Coleman, not the Rua who put the Machida Era into the history books. Jones was the fearless aggressor, not Rua, launching flying knees and spinning elbows and rib-splitting hooks and takedowns and leg locks for which Rua had no answer.

Indeed, it was a sad night for us PRIDE fans, as the former PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix champ’s loss to Jones was preceded by the end of the former PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix champ’s UFC career – Brendan Schaub’s right cross separated the legendary Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic from his senses and UFC boss Dana White was quick to eulogize his UFC career (and given that Cro Cop’s been a shadow of his headhunting self since Gabriel Gonzaga gave him a a taste of his own medicine at UFC 70, and that he’s contemplated both retirement and suicide in the recent past, don’t be surprised if Cro Cop hangs ‘em up permanently).

But back to Jon Jones and Shogun Rua. Rua will likely rebound with a rematch against his old PRIDE nemesis Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, assuming Rampage gets past Matt Hamill. It’s a bout that sells the excitement of two old foes clashing one last time, even if there’s little impact on the title picture in the balance. As for Jones, he’ll face former Greg Jackson teammate and former champ Rashad Evans (which resulted in an uncomfortable couple of moments when Evans joined Jones in the cage after his victory). He’ll likely destroy Rashad, I can see that now, but after that who is there to face? Forrest Griffin? The winner of Shogun/Rampage?

I’m not predicting a lengthy stay atop the 205-pound division for Jones, as I think he’s still a bit green to weather the onslaught of challenges coming his way. But it’ll be more than a one-and-done situation. Perhaps it’ll take Anderson Silva, to whom Jones could easily be compared if only in terms of his dynamism and natural athleticism and physical dimensions, to topple Jones. Or perhaps vice versa. But I’m in no rush to see that fight. Let Jones prove himself as a champion; let’s see how heavy sits the crown on his 23-year-old head.

One more thing: Please stop elevating Jones to superhero status, to sainthood, pondering what he’ll do for an encore, perhaps fix Japan and save the environment and end world hunger. You sound ridiculous when you say stuff like that. Yes, I know he stopped a thief on the same day he became the youngest champion in UFC history. I know he destroyed Shogun Rua, won of the most-feared fighters in MMA history to do it. But just stop, you’re embarrassing yourself. I can think of no other sport where not just its fans but its media is so quick to anoint its newest savior, so desperate are they for heroes. I’m not knocking Jones. I’m done with that. He’s made me a believer. Jones is a phenomenal athlete and a great fighter. Now we find out if he’s a great champion; now we find out what he’s really made of. Isn’t that enough?

Loved seeing the Fireball Kid, Takanori Gomi, light up Tyson Griffin in the first round at Sunday’s UFC Live 2. It was like the Gomi of old, the PRIDE Gomi.

Toronto BJJ regular Andre “Dida” Amade will be back in action at DREAM 13 on March 22. The Chute Boxe-trained striker will face former EliteXC lightweight champ KJ Noons.

Dida will be looking to end a three-bout losing skid that last saw him fall to DEEP lightweight champ Katsunori Kikuno at DREAM 10. Noons, meanwhile, recently signed with Strikeforce and is on a three-fight winning streak, although he hasn’t fought since he knocked out Yves Edwards at EliteXC: Return of the King two years ago.

Also on the DREAM 13 card are Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Jimmy Ambriz, Ryo Chonan vs. Andrews Nakahara and Kikuno vs. UFC vet Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

In other TBJJ-related news, Murilo “Ninja” Rua, brother of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (who’s pictured above working out with Dida), will face Falaniko Vitale at May 15’s Shine Fight III.

Rua (18-10-1) is a PRIDE vet with a pair of knockouts in his last two bouts for the Brazil-based Bitetti Combat promotion. Vitale is a 35-fight workhorse who hasn’t competed since a loss to Frank Trigg under the Strikeforce banner two years ago. Ricardo Mayorga and Din Thomas will headline the Shine event.

Only Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would consider a punch in the face as an opportunity to win. As he tells Kevin Iole over at Yahoo! Sports, eating a few fists and elbows comes with playing a jiu-jitsu game:

“If you’re going to play jiu-jitsu in the UFC, you have to be comfortable enough to play on the bottom. You have to have a strong chin and not be afraid of the punches when you play guard. You can’t have any fear to play jiu-jitsu. You know you’re going to open holes. You know you’re going to get hit and take a lot of punishment, but you have to remain calm and watch very carefully because a hole will open at any time.

“When your opponent is punching you, yes, he’s hurting you maybe, but he’s opening holes and putting himself at risk, too. In my last fight [at UFC 102] with Randy [Couture], if you watched, you can see that Randy threw the elbow and I swept him. I let him stay [in my guard] and be comfortable because I knew he would be open. You learn from experience. There’s pain, but there’s also gain. When you are going in competition you have to be prepared to win but you also have to be prepared to lose.”

If that doesn’t get your respect and admiration you’re not a true fan of the sport.

Big Nog will have a chance to put his submissions – and his face – to the test when he faces Cain Velasquez in Saturday’s UFC 110 heavyweight headliner from Sydney, Australia. Nog is an MMA legend, a PRIDE and UFC champ with a 32-5-1 record and a list of opponents that reads like Batman’s rogues gallery – Fedor Emelianenko, Couture, Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman, Bob Sapp, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and on and on.

And his fight with Velasquez, a 7-0 wrestling stud who’s biggest challenge previously was Cheick Kongo, could earn him the first shot at heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar when Lesnar finally makes his return to the octagon. Yes, Shane Carwin and Frank Mir are set to face off for the interim belt at next month’s UFC 111 – a bout that was arranged even before we knew Lesnar would likely be back by July – but everyone still has to prove they deserve the title shot, according to UFC president Dana White. And who’s to say Mir or Carwin won’t be too injured following their battle to face Lesnar when he returns?

For my money, I’m hoping Big Nog out-boxes Velasquez and knocks him out, saving himself a beating in the process. Barring that, I expect Velasquez will use his wrestling and put Big Nog on his back, maybe start dropping some fists onto his face and opening the door for Big Nog to tap him out. Letting someone smash you while you hunt for submissions is a rough road to take to victory. It’s certainly not the safest or easiest or smartest or least painful, and it sure can’t make it easy to look in the mirror the next morning, but that’s what makes Minotauro a legend.

Can you imagine a rematch between Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem and Chuck Liddell? The result would not be the same the second time around, especially when you consider Liddell’s a bit past-his-prime and Overeem is about twice as big as he was when they first fought. Of course, you would never see UFC president Dana White send his best fighters over to Strikeforce to prove which promotion’s tougher. Wish he would, though. That would result in some amazing cross-promotional battles and would be good for everybody, especially the fans.

Shouldn’t I have something better to do on Friday nights than sit at home watching old PRICE FC fights on Spike TV? And fights I’ve likely seen (and downloaded and rewatched a few times) at that. No matter, Friday is when Spike will debut the Best of PRIDE series. And yeah, I’ll probably tune in because no, I don’t have anything better to do.

Back in September, Matt Hughes signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC with the goal of only facing big-name fighters. Whispers of Mike Swick and a rematch with Matt Serra came and went. Likely in part because neither fit Hughes’ big-name requirement. Now, it looks like the former welterweight champ could face a true MMA legend in Renzo Gracie, according to a story on Around The Octagon. The rumoured date for the fight is UFC 109 in February.

Gracie is a fifth-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, grandnephew of BJJ founder Helio Gracie and a PRIDE FC veteran who has faced the likes of Carlos Newton, Dan Henderson, BJ Penn, Pat Miletich, Oleg Taktarov, Kazushi Sakuraba and Maurice Smith.

But he hasn’t fought since he faced Frank Shamrock in EliteXC in February 2007, he’s never fought in the UFC and he’s 42 years old. I’ll believe this fight is happening when he steps into the octagon and not until.

It’s an oldie but a goody, from the opening round of the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix. I like it because Mauricio “Shogun” Rua wins in decisive fashion. Love the flying head stomps, soccer kicks, punch passes and knees and more knees. I also like it because Quinton “Rampage” Jackson gets knocked silly, and I think a lot of us would like to see that happen given his Ultimate Fighter idiocy and retirement from MMA to play Mr. T.

I’m posting the clip below for a few reasons. First, ouch. That is one hell of an arm break Shogun suffers 49 seconds into his ironically titled PRIDE 31: Unbreakable fight with Mark Coleman. Second, the ‘roid rage Coleman exhibits after the referee pushes him off Shogun. He even takes a couple of swings at the ref before acting like King fucking Kong. Third, Wanderlei Silva jumping into the ring to go after the big ape. Fourth, the backstage confrontation between Silva and Coleman. Fifth and last, but not least, the hilarious/bizarre moment that Silva and Coleman then share. Only in Japan.

If this turns out to be true it’ll be a surprise but not a shock: The UFC middleweight picture might be getting a whole lot clearer if the story that Strikeforce has stolen Dan Henderson away from the promotion comes to fruition.

It’s no secret the two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler and former two-division PRIDE FC champ was unhappy with the way the UFC has handled things following his knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100. It was Hendo’s last fight on his UFC contract and he believed it put him next in line for a title shot against Anderson Silva. UFC president Dana White practically said as much at the time.

Well, we know what happened next. Nate Marquardt knocked out Demian Maia to stake his claim on the title shot and Silva balked at fighting either one, believing that since he’d already beaten both Hendo and Marquardt that the two should fight each other to determine a contender. Then the returning, resurgent Vitor Belfort leapfrogged everybody to get a crack at Silva at UFC 108 after he beat Rich Franklin, whom Henderson had also beaten.

Now, Yahoo! Sports‘ Kevin Iole is reporting that contract talks between the UFC and Henderson have stalemated and that Hendo is on the verge of locking up a deal with Strikeforce. I thought the talks were in limbo for awhile now but maybe they’re nearer the end than I was led to believe.

I do know that the UFC has always been Henderson’s stated priority in terms of where he fights and a Strikeforce deal does make sense.

Henderson is 39 and is looking for one last push toward a title. If that’s not going to happen in the UFC, then he might as well go elsewhere. He’d fit comfortably into the Strikeforce title mix at either middleweight or light heavyweight, divisions that aren’t as deep as in the UFC so it makes a title run less daunting.

What is surprising is that the UFC would let Henderson slip away – and to rival Strikeforce – over dollars, which appears to be the main sticking point of the contract dispute. The UFC has made a big deal about signing big names like Randy Couture and Matt Hughes to big contracts that will see both of them finish out their careers inside the octagon. Why no love for Dan Henderson?

As for Strikeforce, it’s a smart move at twice the price, whatever that may be. The promotion nabbed Fedor Emelianenko, locked down Gegard Mousasi, picked up Muhammed “King Mo” Lowal and now adds a PRIDE and UFC marquee name in Dan Henderson. If they could just find a way to get him on their November 7 Fedor vs. Brett Rogers card, the one airing live on CBS, that would be a serious coup de grace type move.

In an interview with Fighters Only magazine, PRIDE FC terror and embarrassed UFC heavyweight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic admits to thoughts of suicide following his loss to the younger, hungrier Junior dos Santos at UFC 103 and says that he’s looking into hiring a psychologist to get him back into that scalp-hunting frame of mind. Makes me wonder why more fighters don’t rely on sports psychologists to shore up the mental aspect of their game, whether they win or lose. It did wonders for Georges St. Pierre following his loss to Matt Serra. Anyway, here’s the quote from Cro Cop:

“I was very, very disturbed after the loss to dos Santos. I was in such a state that I wished to hang myself in my hotel room so I would be gone. Three losses in my last seven fights is nothing but a disaster to me. That’s a terrible score and I’m not happy about it. I already know some things that I did wrong both in the fight and in the preparation for the fight, but there are many questions that remain to be answered. I am seriously thinking about hiring a psychiatrist to help me out. I have already made some calls about it … I will make some changes in my training, because I wish to fight twice more in the UFC. I am a fighter, and I will find the motivation and strength I need … If someone offered me millions of dollars to quit my career right now I would not accept it. [Fighting] is my life and I don’t know any other way to live.”