05/17/2011
TONIGHT: MMATorch Tuesday Livecast - UFC 129 "Sub of the Night" winner Pablo Garza, UFC 129 review and more on new edition of Internet call-in show with Penick, Pelkey & Hansen
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-Tonight the crew gives a full review of UFC 129, that show's "Submission of the Night" winner Pablo Garza checks in for an interview and they cover the news of the week.
Visit the following URL to listen:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch.
BlogTalkRadio is customized for both the web and your mobile phone.
You can call to participate at (646) 716-8090. That's also the number you can call during the show listen without participating with a question or comment. So if you're not near the Internet but have your phone, you can listen live, also.
The show will be archived if you don't listen live. All of our previous episodes are available on demand on BlogTalkRadio.
You can subscribe to the Livecast to hear it on delay via iTunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id357424499
We also have an MMATorch Podcast in iTunes featuring our pre-recorded shows such as the weekly Audio Choke, PPV Previews, Interviews, PPV Roundtables, and more. Check that out here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mma-torch-2010-ufc-news-roundtables/id253731019
You can also simply search "MMATorch" on your phone or on your computer.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/MMATorch_Podcast_45/article_9236.shtml
What’s wrong with “The Ultimate Fighter” this season?
This season of "The Ultimate Fighter" seemed to have the recipe for a perfect season: exciting fights, coaches with a planned clash for a contender's spot, and a random mix of fighters. Unfortunately, this season has just fallen flat, and the sagging ratings back that up.
What is it about this season?
Kinder, gentler Brock: In the past, Lesnar has been a ratings juggernaut. With his WWE-crafted persona and legions of fans, the man is expected to bring eyeballs to the television. Except, this is post-near-fatal-sickness-and-loss-to-Cain-Velasquez Brock. This isn't the same man who got into Frank Mir's face after beating him. He is a humbled fighter who is trying to act as a coach. Is it endearing? Yes. Does it draw big ratings? No.
Even the dramas have no drama: Lew Polley getting fired. Len Bentley standing up to Brock. Keon Caldwell leaving the show. Chris Cope possibly backstabbing his team. These are all moments that could have been memorable moments in the season, but they are only memorable for being so boring. Even at the house, someone being loud is the biggest problem that's come up. I'm not advocating making up drama, but the show has editors for this exact reason. Make it seem interesting. This is a television show, after all.
No fight-in show: One of the best changes in the show's format over the years was the addition of the "fight-in" bouts in the seventh season. Fighters had to win a fight to get a spot on the show. Those first two episodes featured tons of exciting moments and gave an idea of how a contestant was going to perform. They didn't have that this time. Instead of starting the show with a bang, it began with a whimper.
Little interplay between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos: Rashad vs. Rampage. Koscheck vs. GSP. Henderson vs. Bisping. Every recent season has featured some conflict between the coaches that not only provided exciting television, but made fans more excited for their upcoming bout. Lesnar and dos Santos have said some veiled remarks when not in each other's company, but that's it.
Welterweights ... again: This is the fifth time the show featured welterweights. With heavyweight coaches of this caliber, why not feature heavyweights? They've only been on twice. Then we'd at least get the joy of pointing and laughing at their piss-poor conditioning.
Little knowledge about the fighters: In seasons past, there has been more of a focus on the fighters backgrounds. We see little glimpses of that, like Ryan McGillivray's discussion of his daughter, but they are few and far between. Without a connection to the fighters, there is no incentive to care what happens to them from week to week.
We're 13 seasons in: Anything that's been done for 13 seasons with few changes will get stale. Something needs to be done to shake the show up because the way this is heading, there is little reason to care about season 14.
With quarterfinal and semifinal fights left to go, perhaps the show will pick up and become what it could be. Do you think it will happen? Tell us in the comments or on Cagewriter's Facebook page.
Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai
Dan Downes victorious in NAFC fight after surviving early onslaught from Tory Bogguess
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Dan Downes didn't need to fight last night, but he wanted to stay sharp. That decision almost cost him dearly, as little known Tory Bogguess locked in two very tight chokes early in the first round of their main event fight for the NAFC event in Milwaukee. Ultimately Downes was able to escape both submission attempts before submitting Bogguess at the 3:24 mark of round 1.
Downes (8-1) accepted this fight outside of the UFC while still under UFC contract in order to stay sharp. That gamble almost blew up in his face as the undersized Bogguess came out like a ball of fire. Bogguess came out charging from the opening bell, landing a flying superman punch within the first two seconds of the fight. After knocking the larger Downes against the cage, Bogguess was able to get Downes down and sunk in a tight rear naked choke.
After Downes managed to escape that choke, he found himself in an even more dire predicament as Bogguess managed to slap on an even tighter guillotine choke. After several seconds that seemed much longer to the partisan Milwaukee crowd, Downes managed to pop his head out and was able to turn the tables on his smaller opponent.
After controlling Bogguess up against the cage from side control, Bogguess tried escaping by walking the cage. Instead of escaping, Bogguess walked into the waiting legs of Downes and was forced to tap to a triangle choke.
Having fought for a smaller organization while under UFC contract, Downes told MMA Torch after the fight that he wants his next fight to be in the UFC, and that there's a 99 percent chance that his next fight will indeed be for the Zuffa owned company.
In the co-main event of the evening, Duke Roufus' newest up and coming star Joe Cason made quick work of veteran Sean Salmon. Cason needed a mere 74 seconds to dispatch the overwhelmed Salmon. After landing an uppercut early, Cason flattened Salmon with a standing knee. From there, Cason swarmed Salmon who had no way to stop the ground and pound attack of the much larger Cason. Referee Al Weickhardt stopped the fight, giving Cason his first victory since joining Duke Roufus' team last month. Cason, a college wrestling teammate of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones, looks to have to skills to make a name for himself in the sport's light heavyweight division.
Complete results from NAFC: Mayhem below.
Dan Downes defeated Tory Bogguess via submission (triangle choke) at 3:24 of Round 1
Joe Cason defeated Sean Salmon via TKO at 1:14 of Round 1
Matt Brown defeated John Hosman via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Matt Masterson defeated Kyle Weickardt via submission (side choke)at 3:33 of Round 2
Jose Pacheco defeated David Rhoads via submission (rear naked choke)at 4:33 of Round 1
Thiago Veiga defeated Donald Ceri via submission (arm bar)at 2:50 of Round 2
Mike Santiago def Zach Underwood via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jeff Golden def Jim Bleau via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:35 of Round 1
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Live_Event_Reports_12/article_9268.shtml
Fabricio Werdum Vernon White Mike Whitehead Jonathan Wiezorek
MMA Top 10 Featherweights: Aldo on Top, Mendes No. 2
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC's first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?The fight I think the UFC really wants to make for Aldo is against Kenny Florian, who has more name recognition than anyone else on the UFC's featherweight roster. If Florian wins his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, he'll instantly step into title contention -- and into the featherweight Top 10.
But for now, the No. 1 featherweight appears headed toward an August showdown with the undefeated Chad Mendes -- and on my featherweight rankings, that's the right call.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/08/mma-top-10-featherweights-aldo-on-top-mendes-no-2/
Randy The Natural Couture Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz
05/16/2011
Jay Hieron Beats Rick Hawn, Wins Bellator Welterweight Tournament
aJay Hieron won a very close split decision victory over Rick Hawn Saturday night, taking the Bellator Season 4 welterweight tournament title.The fight easily could have gone to Hawn, and one judge said it should have, scoring it 29-28 for Hawn. The other two judges scored it 29-28 for Hieron, who credited his training for getting him into the kind of shape he needed to be in to win three fights in Bellator's eight-man welterweight tournament.
"I just train my butt off, man," Hieron said. "No matter what's going on, I'm in the gym sweating."
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/07/jay-hieron-beats-rick-hawn-wins-bellator-welterweight-tournamen/
Nice guys finish fights: Sanchez donates purse to autism awareness
Diego Sanchez has always been a colorful character in the MMA world. From his appearance on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" to his "Yes!" cartwheel to his ongoing verbal spat with Martin Kampmann, Sanchez keeps us entertained.
It turns out that he's a pretty nice guy, too. Sanchez participated in the UFC Fan Expo grappling tournament last weekend in Toronto. He won his first match, lost his second, and then donated all of his purse to a charity that promotes autism awareness. From Sanchez's original grappling coach:
Diego Sanchez is one of the greatest people I've ever met, not just for his beliefs and love for mma and grappling, he is also a world class philanthropist, as he impressed the entire audience donating his entire UFC Fan Expo 4-Man Purse to Autism and AutismRadio.org
Ahh, Diego. You're not the first fighter to do something insanely nice, but you should be proud to be on the list of good fighters who are also great people. Way to be awesome.
Thanks to Bloody Elbow for the heads up.
Roman Zentsov Nobuhiko Takada Yoshihiro Takayama Daiju Takase
