THE WEEK THAT WAS

Fighters of the Week:

1. Mauricio Rua (UFC) - Sweet dreams, Machida Karate. Rua claims what should have been his before, only this time with feeling.
2. Pat Curran (Bellator) - Delivers a huuuuge upset by outworking and outlasting Roger Huerta to make it to the finals of Bellator's Lightweight Tournament. Huerta was clearly gassed in the third and Curran pulls an upset for the second straight fight.
3. Eddie Alvarez (Bellator) - To put it succinctly, Alvarez beat the shit out of Josh Neer before putting him out of his misery in the main event Superfight on Bellator 17.
4. Toby Imada (Bellator) - Imada is quickly turning into one of the best submission experts in all of Mixed Martial Arts. A second-round armbar of Carey Vanier punches his ticket to a Finals fight against Pat Curran, and then a possible rematch with Eddie Alvarez.
5. Alan Belcher (UFC) - As I said before, he's the most underrated middleweight in the world. Belcher took care of business against the hometown boy. I'd say put him against the Sexyama/Silva winner for the #1 contender. Also, that front-face slam was forever .gif worthy.
6. Josh Koscheck (UFC) - Fuck this guy. Yeah, he "earned" a #1 contender slot against GSP, but you're gonna be the heel, friend. Faking an eye injury AGAIN, and being a twat earns you no fans. GSP will destroy you and I can't wait.
7. Thales Leites (MFC) - Another main event win for Thales, who, at 17-3, is making a big case to come back to the UFC. Strikeforce, with their lack of middleweight contenders, would do very well to grab him up.
8. Matt Mitrione (UFC) - I hate this clown, but there's no doubt he put on a Hell of a show. Kimbo has chicken legs and Meathead exploited that. Kimbo should really cut to 205 if he wants to be competitive, as the true heavyweights will wear him down.
9. Jimi Manuwa (Ultimate Challenge) - In the semi-main, Jimi TKO'd Reza Mahdavian in the first round at Ultimate Challenge.
10. Jeremy Stephens (UFC) - Put together a violent assault on the homecountry boy, Sam Stout, and just outstruck him for the win.


Quote of the Week:

"Get the bottom of your feet sponsored, son...cause you gettin laid out!" - Rampage Jackson to Rashad Evans

Upset of the Week:

Pat Curran def. Roger Huerta

Event of the Week:

UFC 113
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May 11-May 18

THE WEEK THAT WILL BE



[:: Bellator 18 ::]
May 13
Monroe Civic Center
Monroe, Louisiana
8:00
TV: FSN

Notable Fights:
Hector Lombard (MW #23) vs. Paulo Filho (LHW #13)
Georgi Karakhanyan (FW #26) vs. Joe Warren (FW #17)
Patricio Freire (FW #36) vs. Wilson Reis (FW #33)



[:: UCC 2: Strikedown ::]
May 14
National Guard Armory
Jersey City, New Jersey
7:30

Notable Fights:
Josh Rave (BW #98) vs. Sean Santella
Dante Rivera (MW #220) vs. Ryan Contaldi
Alexandre Moreno (LHW #237) vs. Carlos Brooks



[:: KOTC: Honor ::]
May 14
Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort & Casino
Mescalero, New Mexico
7:00
TV: HDNet

Notable Fights:
Mike Kyle (HW #30) vs. Tony Lopez (HW #59)
Angelo Sanchez (LW #249) vs. Donald Sanchez (FW #46)
Darrill Schoonover (HW #130) vs. Nick Gaston (HW #135)
Joey Gorczynski (WW #92) vs. Quinn Mulhern (WW #80)



[:: Shine Fights 3: Worlds Collide ::]
May 15
Crown Coliseum
Fayetteville, North Carolina
9:00
PPV

Notable Fights:
Din Thomas (FW #30) vs. Ricardo Mayorga
Murilo Rua (LHW #29) vs. Travis Galbraith (MW #106)
Eduardo Pamplona (WW #37) vs. Nick Thompson (WW #47)
Alexandre Ferreira (LHW #71) vs. Jamal Patterson (LHW #55)



[:: Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery ::]
May 15
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Missouri
10:00
TV: Showtime

Notable Fights:
Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship: Alistair Overeem (c) (HW #12) vs. Brett Rogers (HW #8)
Andrei Arlovski (HW #11) vs. Antonio Silva (HW #23)
Joey Villasenor (MW #32) vs. Ronaldo Souza (MW #22)
Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman (LHW #40)


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Fighters I'm Rooting For This Week:

1. Brett Rogers (I really like Rogers, I also really can't stand Overeem. Steroid concerns aside, I simply don't like any champion that doesn't defend his belt. You have an obligation to that promotion to defend their name and any fighter has a sense of pride to want to defend it. Over two years? Are you kidding me? At least if Rogers is the champ, he'll gladly defend it, and he openly said he wants Fedor again.)
2. Din Thomas (To shut up Mayorga, who's been pretty damned disrespectful to someone as accomplished as Thomas. People who think they're going to waltz into any sport and immediately dominate makes me furious. No respect to the sport. Shut his cocky ass up, Din.)
3. Darrill Schoonover (How could you not love this dude? He stood up to Rampage, served our country in war on multiple tours, and seems humble and hardworking. I'm pulling for him.)
4. Kevin Randleman (Always been a guilty pleasure of mine, no idea why. Plus any chance to see someone humble a Gracie will always have my attention and rooting interest.)
5. Andrei Arlovski (I'd like to see The Pitbull get back on track and become a legit fighter again. For fuck's sake, I at least want him to do well enough to NOT PLAY ANYMORE RUSSIAN ROULETTE.)


Best Cards:

1. Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery
2. Shine Fights 3
3. Bellator 18
4. KOTC: Honor
5. UCC 2


Fights I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers (See in my explanation above for my feelings on the fight. Not neccessarily pinning their hopes on him, but I think Strikeforce could benefit GREATLY from Brett Rogers as their Heavyweight Champion. He's a hardworking American everyman who worked his way to the top. From rotating tires at Sam's Club to Heavyweight Champ. "Rocky"-esque, how can you not pull for that?. You know he'll be a fighting champ and won't duck anyone. I'm hoping it happens.)
2. Hector Lombard vs. Paulo Filho (I still can't believe Filho hasn't found a way to get out of this. If Filho comes to fight and is clear in the head and not so high he's trying to high-five Jesus, this should be one hell of a fight. Love me some Bellator superfights.)
3. Din Thomas vs. Ricardo Mayorga (I think Shine did this perfectly. They knew any fighter any fighter with Mayorga's name value would be under contract, so they got the best big name boxer they could. Someone with a built-in international audience and fanbase. His opponent is a man who, to Mayorga and casuals is a "nobody" that Ricardo should bulldoze, but a longtime-known dangerous fighter to the diehards to bring us in, in Din Thomas. Just great promotion.)
4. Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva (Gonna be interesting to see what Arlovski has to offer after almost a year away from the cage. Arlovsky is plain as day in his strengths and weaknesses. Fantastic striker and technical boxer, extremely quick, horrible chin. But Silva hasn't TKO'd anyone since the late Justin Eilers almost two years and four fights ago, but hasn't been TKO'd in three and a half years. This will likely be a war of attrition.)
5. Joey Villasenor vs. Ronaldo Souza (Excited to see some crazy jiu-jitsu from Jacare. Villasenor is no gimme. He's on a four-fight winning streak over solid opponents. Baroni, Santos, Fukuda, Ryan Jensen. My guess is that if Jacare wins, we see Souza vs. Jason Miller III for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title after Shields leaves.)



In Closing:

SHOGUN! Man, 113 and Bellator 17 were some fun cards to watch. Upsets, finishes, theatrics, and a new champ. It kicked off the month in style, no doubt. It's still looking good this week, with Lombard vs. Filho and Strikeforce putting on their best-looking overall card to date. Let's keep it rolling, Spring of MMA!

Thank you for great update

Great to see we have some good, and televised, events this week too!