THE WEEK THAT WAS
Fighters of the Week:
1. Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce) - Wow. I've never seen anyone do that to Shinya Aoki. Christ almighty. He should have finished him in the fourth if Mario Yamasaki wasn't such a retard. His warrior spirit in desperately trying to finish the fight before the bell in the fifth was fun and admirable. His takedown defense was Penn-esque, and his technical boxing was very solid. Aoki's fought alot of tough dudes, but I haven't seen anyone just shrug off everything Aoki did like El Nino did. Aoki went 0/18 on takedowns! Melendez may not be the #1 Lightweight in the world, but he is, without question to me, the best LW Champ in the world.
2. Jake Shields (Strikeforce) - What. The. Fuck. Scott Coker must be crying right now. His biggest free-agent aquisition just got dominated by a welterweight. Shields has basically said he wants to leave for UFC and fight at his more natural 170. So you're left with a champion that wants to leave, your best free agent just got embarassed, and a true 170 just beat a true 205. Oh, and all your fights were decisions and your affiliates are gonna be pissed. Coker just had the worst night ever.
3. Muhammed Lawal (Strikeforce) - It wasn't pretty, but Lawal slogged his way to a unanimous decision win to become the NEW Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion with a takedown clinic on Gegard Mousasi.
4. Pat Curran (Bellator) - Put himself on the map with an enormous KO of Mike Ricci, which has been re-posted on many an MMA site. He's now someone to watch for in the Lightweight tourney.
5. Toby Imada (Bellator) - The submission whiz didn't let down with a second-round armbar of James Krause in the main event of Bellator 14. I can't wait to see a Huerta vs. Imada final if it comes to that.
6. Wilson Reis (Bellator) - The veteran abused Shad Lierly most of the fight before locking in a RNC with a minute and a half left in the final round.
7. Joe Doerksen (KOTC) - In a dissapointingly injury-filled card, it was Doerksen who defeated Chad Herrick via split decision in the main event.
8. Ben Askren (Bellator) - A favorite in the Welterweight tourney, he was unfortunately the victor in a horribly-reffed ending. Illinois MMA is in its infancy, so reffing is still an issue. But horrible stoppage or not, Askren still got the win and moves on.
9. Jason Miller (Strikeforce) - Got on the winning side with a first-round TKO of Tim Stout. Mayhem was a ludicrous 1800-favorite, so it was expected, but good to see and he's earned his way back on the Strikeforce main card against Robbie Lawler and hopefully more dates in Dream.
10. Jesse Juarez (CFC) - Top-60 Middleweight and rising fighter Jesse Juarez defended his CFC Welterweight Championship with a main-event majority-decision win over Justin Murray.
Quote of the Week:
"Good, he needs something to fall back on." - Shane Carwin, on Brock Lesnar hosting Monday Night Raw
Upset of the Week:
Jake Shields def. Dan Henderson
Event of the Week:
Bellator 14
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April 20-April 27
THE WEEK THAT WILL BE
[:: Bellator 15 ::]
April 22
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut
TV: FSN
Notable Fights:
Dan Hornbuckle (WW #15) vs. Tyler Stinson (WW #95)
Brett Cooper (WW #75) vs. Steve Carl (WW #85)
Patricio Freire (LW #135) vs. William Romero (FW #137)
Jacob McClintock (WW #101) vs. Ryan Thomas
[:: Let's Get It On MMA 1: MacDonald vs. Horwich ::]
April 23
River Cree Resort & Casino
Edmonton, Alberta
Notable Fights:
Jason MacDonald (MW #44) vs. Matt Horwich (MW #66)
[:: KOTC: Turbulence II ::]
April 24
Lake Of The Torches Casino
Lac Du Flambeau, Wisconsin
Notable Fights:
Ted Worthington (WW #245) vs. Terry Martin (MW #76)
Travis Perzynski (LW #109) vs. James Warfield (LW #244)
Clay French (LW #212) vs. Sean Wilson
[:: Shark Fights 10: Bad Blood ::]
April 24
Fair Park Coliseum
Lubbock, Texas
Notable Fights:
Anselmo Martinez vs. Eric Davila (MW #152)
[:: WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber ::]
April 24
Arco Arena
Sacramento, California
PPV 10:00
Spike TV 9:00
Notable Fights:
WEC Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo (c) (FW #1) vs. Urijah Faber (FW #3)
WEC Lightweight Championship: Benson Henderson (c) (LW #24) vs. Donald Cerrone (LW #47)
Manny Gamburyan (FW #20) vs. Mike Brown (FW #2)
Anthony Njokuani (LW #64) vs. Shane Roller (LW #53)
[:: CFX: Mayhem in Minneapolis ::]
April 24
Target Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Notable Fights:
Jeff Monson (HW #18) vs. Travis Wiuff (HW #69)
Brian Green vs. Brock Larson (WW #48)
Derrick Noble (LW #80) vs. Gideon Ray
Brendan Seguin (WW #103) vs. Isaiah Larson (LHW #127)
[:: ASTRA: Yoshida's Farewell ::]
April 25
Nippon Budokan
Tokyo, Japan
Notable Fights:
Hidehiko Yoshida (HW #54) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (MW #33)
Micah Miller (FW #36) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (FW #6)
Jorge Masvidal (LW #17) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (LW #51)
Jung Hwan Cha vs. Ryo Chonan (WW #18)
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Fighters I'm Rooting For This Week:
1. Hidehiko Yoshida (Fare thee well, noble warrior.)
2. Dan Hornbuckle (I don't know why, but I really like this dude. Confident but humble, good backstory, American that did well in Japan. He's my favorite to win it all and win the belt.)
3. Mike Brown (Climbing back up. I want to see another Faber fight...preferably where he doesn't have both hands broken this time.)
4. Leonard Garcia (Liked him ever since his fight with Roger Huerta. And he's a Greg Jackson guy on top of it, and I tend to dig them alot...sans GSP. Pumped I get to see him on Spike.)
5. Demetrious Johnson (Keep an eye on this dude. So happy he made it to the bigs. He's fighting Brad Pickett on the WEC 48 prelims. He's so damned fun to watch.)
Best Cards:
1. WEC 48
2. ASTRA: Yoshida's Farewell
3. Bellator 15
4. CFX: Mayhem In Minneapolis
5. KOTC: Turbulence II
Fights I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber (Well, WEC went with the money fight for their first PPV. That it's in Faber's hometown means the atmosphere is gonna be all the better. I still think Aldo is too quick and pressures too much, but it's gonna be the most loaded WEC card ever, and should be the best.)
2. Dan Hornbuckle vs. Tyler Stinson (WAR HORNBUCKLE! Him vs. Askren would be an interesting matchup in the second round. Maybe they'll get a competent ref for that one.)
3. Manny Gamburyan vs. Mike Brown (Had my eye on Gamburyan for awhile, and this is a good fight for both of them. If Manny's for real, this is the big name he needs to catapult himself into title contention, and for Brown, this is the contender that will challenge him and push him on a rebound fight.)
4. Jeff Monson vs. Travis Wiuff (Two of the most unheralded heavyweights. I know The Snowman has his legal trouble, but really, both of these guys should be in the big leagues. Maybe if Bellator has a Heavyweight Tourney?)
5. Micah Miller vs. Michihiro Omigawa (I've never actually gotten to see a full Omigawa fight, just highlights, so whether I watch it live or on tape-delay, I'm excited. Would be awesome to see him in WEC or Bellator soon.)
In Closing:
We're elbow deep into The Spring of MMA and there's no slowing down. WEC makes their PPV debut, Astra puts on one hell of a show (and hopefully more in the future), Bellator keeps rolling on and shows great sense by giving Ryan Thomas another chance since Judo Jim Wallhead can't make it out. Classy promotion. The indies keep it strong, as well. And oh yeah, WAR HORNBUCKLE!
