Countdown to MMA's Greatest

I have been posting the countdown on Bleacher Report and it has been somewhat controversial. I do have to say that some of the people that criticize my list, then tell me David Abbot should be included are idiots.

I stated from the outset that a fighter's name was not enough to go deep on my list. One had to look at the overall body of work. I also pronounced from the beginning that the sport has evolved so greatly that it is hard to compare a fighter that dominated in the mid 1990's to a fighter today.

Overall, I think I did an excellent job on my rankings.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest Fighter: The Top 5

This is the final installment of the somewhat controversial Greatest MMA Fighters of All-Time piece. I spent several days researching these fighters and came up with the 33 greatest.

Looking back at it, there were some changes I would make, but I stuck with my initial order. Also, I appreciate the feedback I have received (positive or negative feedback is welcome).
#33 Shinya Aoki
#32 Don Frye
#31 Pat Miletich
#30 Mark Kerr
#29 Igor Vovchanchyn
#28 Josh Barnett
#27 Sean Sherk
#26 Tim Sylvia
#25 Dan Henderson
#24 Ken Shamrock
#23 Tito Ortiz
#22 Frank Shamrock
#21 Uriaj Faber
#20 Cro Cop
#19 Sakuraba
#18 Matt Hughes
#17 Lyoto Machida
#16 Wanderlei Silva
#15Mauricio Rua
#14Rickson Gracie
#13 Dan Severn
#12 Takanori Gomi
#11 Bas Rutten
#10 Mark Coleman
#9 BJ Penn
#8 Randy Couture
#7 Quinton Jackson
#6 Georges St. Pierre

#5 Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Lidell (6'2 205 pounds)

Lidell is one of the most feared striker in the Light Heavyweight division. Lidell, who has a 21-5 record, has noteworthy wins over Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn and Tito Ortiz.

Lidell is a future UFC Hall of Famer, who is still near the top of his game despite being 39 years old. .

An intriguing matchup which MMA fans are surely looking forward to is Lidell vs. Anderson Silva if Silva does indeed move up to the light heavyweight division.

#4 Anderson Silva (6'2 185 pounds)

Silva is a long lanky fighter at 6'2 185 pounds that dominates fights with his striking skills. He is currently a 7-fight win streak and has absolutely obliterated the competition in the UFC’s middleweight division. Rumors are circulating that Silva will move up to the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division in July.

The 33 year old has noteworthy wins over Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Jeremy Horn and Carlos Newton.

Silva has seen more success when fighting in the caged octagon as opposed to fighting in boxing style ring, like Pride. Two of Silva’s losses have come against less heralded Japanese fighters in Pride (Ryo Chonan and Daijui Takase.

#3 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (6'3 231 pounds)

An excellent fighter on the ground known for his submission skills (he has won 19 fights via submission). Nogueira has fought mainly in Japan, in Rings and Pride, during his illustrious career where he has compiled a 31-4 record. He has noteworthy wins over Josh Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia and Dan Henderson.

The 32 year old is the current UFC interm Heavyweight Champion.

#2 Royce Gracie (6'0 176 pounds)

The 42 year old UFC Hall of Famer who is synonymous with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He infatuated early MMA fans by defeating opponents much larger than himself (6'0 176 pounds). He has notable wins over Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and Kazushi Sakuraba.

Gracie’s reputation was tarnished May when he tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone Metabolite. Overall it is difficult to rank Gracie because of his overwhelming influence in the sport.

The problem with making a list like this is whether or not Gracie in his prime would be able to compete against today’s mma fighters, whom are better all-around then the competition back in Gracie’s heyday.

#1 Fedor Emelianenko (27-1)

This was a no doubter as Fedor has dominated the Pride heavyweight division for years. The problem is could he dominate the UFC heavyweight division? My answer is yes.

The former Pride Heavyweight champion has won an astounding 24 fights in a row. He has noteworthy wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2 times), Mark Coleman, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filopovic, Mark Hunt and Semmy Schilt. Emelianenko will square off against Tim Sylvia on July 19th on the Affliction Banned card.

Rumors have been circulating in the mma community about a potential matchup against Randy Couture, who is also ranked in the Top Ten.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest: Part 5

In parts one through four I ranked the fighters in the following order:

#32 Don Frye, #31 Pat Miletich, #30 Mark Kerr, #29 Igor Vovchanchyn, #28 Josh Barnett, #27 Sean Sherk, #26 Tim Sylvia, #25 Dan Henderson, #24 Ken Shamrock, #23 Tito Ortiz, #22 Frank Shamrock, #21 Uriaj Faber, #20 Cro Cop, #19 Sakuraba, #18 Matt Hughes, #17 Lyoto Machida, #16 Wanderlei Silva, #15Mauricio Rua, #14Rickson Gracie, #13 Dan Severn, #12 Takanori Gomi and #11 Bas Rutten.

#10 Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman(6'1 245 pounds)

Do not let his record fool you (15-8) because Coleman has always been known to fight against the best fighters in the world. He has notable wins over Don Frye (2 times), Gary Goodridge, Dan Severn, Igor Vovchanychn and Mauricio Rua. His losses have all come against, arguably the top fighters of all time (Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Nogueira). Coleman did have a brief period where he suffered a four fight losing streak against some fighters he should have won against (Takada, Pete Williams, Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo). By the way Coleman is a UFC Hall of Famer.

Coleman was due to fight Brock Lesnar in Minnesota at UFC 87, but had to pull out of the event due to a knee injury. The 43 year old can still fight, but the question remains for how much longer.



#9 B.J. ‘The Prodigy’ Penn (5'9 155 pounds)

Th 29 year old Penn is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. He has noteworthy wins over Renzo Gracie, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jens Pulver and Matt Serra. His overall record of 14-4-1. He is known for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills.

Penn recently defeated Sean Sherk at UFC 84 and it is rumored that he will have a rematch against Georges St. Pierre sometime later this year.



#8 Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture (6'1 225)

The 45 year old Couture is a UFC Hall of Famer with a 16-8 overall record. Surprisingly, Couture still is near the top of his game.

He has notable wins over Jeremy Horn, Chuck Lidell, Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia and Tito Ortiz. He operates an elite training facility for fighters called Xtreme Couture. He has held the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.

A lesser known fact about Couture is that his wife, Kim, lost in her mma debut against Kim Rose in Las Vegas this past weekend. The event was the first ever combined mma/boxing event.

As for her husband, Randy, who knows when he will fight again. Couture is supposedly starring in the Scorpion King 2, which will bypass theaters and go straight to DVD.



#7 Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (6'1 205 pounds)

The 30 year old Jackson (28-6) exudes confidence inside and outside the ring. He made a name for himself in Pride, although he never was able to become the top dog in their light heavyweight division. Jackson, actually lost 5 times during his career in Pride. Surprisingly he has made a smooth transition into the Octagon becoming the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson has one of the most memorable knockouts in mma history, which occurred when he slammed Ricardo Arona to the ground

Two years ago, Jackson probably would not have even have cracked a Top 25 list now he is in the Top Ten.

Jackson had been vying to play Mr. T in the A-Team movie but the rumor is the role could be going to ICE Cube, which is a terrible choice in my opinion.

Jackson will be fighting Forrest Griffin at UFC 86.



#6 Georges St. Pierre (5'10 169 pounds)

The 27 year old St. Pierre has compiled a 16-2 record. He has noteworthy wins over Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk

St. Pierre is the current UFC welterweight champion and is scheduled to fight Jon Fitch at UFC 87.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest: The Top Ten

#10 Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman(6'1 245 pounds)
Do not let his record fool you (15-8) because Coleman has always been known to fight against the best fighters in the world. He has notable wins over Don Frye (2 times), Gary Goodridge, Dan Severn, Igor Vovchanychn and Mauricio Rua. His losses have all come against, arguably the top fighters of all time (Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Nogueira). Coleman did have a brief period where he suffered a four fight losing streak against some fighters he should have won against (Takada, Pete Williams, Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo). By the way Coleman is a UFC Hall of Famer.
Coleman was due to fight Brock Lesnar in Minnesota at UFC 87, but had to pull out of the event due to a knee injury. The 43 year old can still fight, but the question remains for how much longer.

#9 B.J. ‘The Prodigy’ Penn (5'9 155 pounds)
Th 29 year old Penn is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. He has noteworthy wins over Renzo Gracie, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jens Pulver and Matt Serra. His overall record of 14-4-1. He is known for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills.
Penn recently defeated Sean Sherk at UFC 84 and it is rumored that he will have a rematch against Georges St. Pierre sometime later this year.

#8 Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture (6'1 225)
The 45 year old Couture is a UFC Hall of Famer with a 16-8 overall record. Surprisingly, Couture still is near the top of his game.
He has notable wins over Jeremy Horn, Chuck Lidell, Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia and Tito Ortiz. He operates an elite training facility for fighters called Xtreme Couture. He has held the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.

A lesser known fact about Couture is that his wife, Kim, will be making her mma debut against Kim Rose in Las Vegas this weekend. The event is the first ever combined mma/boxing event.

As for her husband, Randy, who knows when he will fight again. Couture is supposedly starring in the Scorpion King 2, which will bypass theaters and go straight to DVD.

#7 Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (6'1 205 pounds)
The 30 year old Jackson (28-6) exudes confidence inside and outside the ring. He made a name for himself in Pride, although he never was able to become the top dog in their light heavyweight division. Jackson, actually lost 5 times during his career in Pride. Surprisingly he has made a smooth transition into the Octagon becoming the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson has one of the most memorable knockouts in mma history, which occurred when he slammed Ricardo Arona to the ground
Two years ago, Jackson probably would not have even have cracked a Top 25 list now he is in the Top Ten.
Jackson had been vying to play Mr. T in the A-Team movie but the rumor is the role could be going to ICE Cube, which is a terrible choice in my opinion.
Jackson will be fighting Forrest Griffin at UFC 86.


#6 Georges St. Pierre (5'10 169 pounds)
The 27 year old St. Pierre has compiled a 16-2 record. He has noteworthy wins over Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk
St. Pierre is the current UFC welterweight champion and is scheduled to fight Jon Fitch at UFC 87.





#5 Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Lidell (6'2 205 pounds)
Lidell is one of the most feared striker in the Light Heavyweight division. Lidell, who has a 21-5 record, has noteworthy wins over Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn and Tito Ortiz.
Lidell is a future UFC Hall of Famer, who is still near the top of his game despite being 39 years old. .
An intriguing matchup which MMA fans are surely looking forward to is Lidell vs. Anderson Silva if Silva does indeed move up to the light heavyweight division.

#4 Anderson Silva (6'2 185 pounds)
Silva is a long lanky fighter at 6'2 185 pounds that dominates fights with his striking skills. He is currently a 7-fight win streak and has absolutely obliterated the competition in the UFC’s middleweight division. Rumors are circulating that Silva will move up to the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division in July.
The 33 year old has noteworthy wins over Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Jeremy Horn and Carlos Newton.
Silva has seen more success when fighting in the caged octagon as opposed to fighting in boxing style ring, like Pride. Two of Silva’s losses have come against less heralded Japanese fighters in Pride (Ryo Chonan and Daijui Takase.

#3 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (6'3 231 pounds)
An excellent fighter on the ground known for his submission skills (he has won 19 fights via submission). Nogueira has fought mainly in Japan, in Rings and Pride, during his illustrious career where he has compiled a 31-4 record. He has noteworthy wins over Josh Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia and Dan Henderson.
The 32 year old is the current UFC interm Heavyweight Champion.

#2 Royce Gracie (6'0 176 pounds)

The 42 year old UFC Hall of Famer who is synonymous with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He infatuated early MMA fans by defeating opponents much larger than himself (6'0 176 pounds). He has notable wins over Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and Kazushi Sakuraba.


Gracie’s reputation was tarnished May when he tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone Metabolite. Overall it is difficult to rank Gracie because of his overwhelming influence in the sport.

The problem with making a list like this is whether or not Gracie in his prime would be able to compete against today’s mma fighters, whom are better all-around then the competition back in Gracie’s heyday.

#1 Fedor Emelianenko (6’0 233 pounds)
This was a no doubter as Fedor has dominated the heavyweight division for years. The problem is could he dominate the UFC heavyweight division? My answer is yes.

The former Pride Heavyweight champion has won an astounding 24 fights in a row and he has an overall record of 27-1. He has noteworthy wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2 times), Mark Coleman, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filopovic, Mark Hunt and Semmy Schilt. Emelianenko will square off against Tim Sylvia on July 19th on the Affliction Banned card.

It could be argued that 31 year old Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight of all time. Rumors have been circulating in the mma community about a potential matchup against Randy Couture, who is also ranked in the Top Ten.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest: Part 4

#15 Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (6'0 201 pounds)
The 26 year old Rua has 16-3 record with noteworthy wins over Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randleman and Allstair Overeem.

He recently lost to Forrest Griffin.
Shogun dominated the light heavyweight division in Pride but suffered a setback when he recently lost to Forrest Griffin. A win against Griffin would have setup a rematch between Rua and Jackson.

Rua was supposed to fight Chuck Lidell in June, but is recovering from a knee injury. The fact that Rua is young (he will not be 27 until November) and his dominant striking skills (13 TKO’s) make him a likely candidate to crack the top ten soon. The one question that remains may be how he fair’s in the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division, which is arguably the toughest division in all of MMA.

#14 Rickson Gracie (5'10 185 pounds)
Gracie’s professional record is listed at 11-0. He is a legend in MMA circles and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion. Rickson is tough to rank because of his limited mma record, which spans nearly twenty years.

There was a rumor over two years ago that Rickson may come out of his mma retirement and fight in December of 2006. This never materialized and it looks like the 50 year old Gracie is officially retired from mma competition.

#13 Dan ‘The Beast” Severn (6'2 250 pounds )
Severn has compiled a 86-15-7 record during a long and illustrious career. Severn’s reputation does suffer, though, from not knowing when to call it quits. Severn still fights, despite being 50 years old.
He fought recently against Pavel Botka on May 3rd 2008, losing via decision.
His reputation also suffers from his lack of fighting against top tier competition. Severn is a UFC Hall of Famer who defeated Ken Shamrock when Shamrock was in his prime and won by decision against a young Forrest Griffin.

Severn is a substitute teacher and runs mixed martial arts classes in the Michigan area.

#12 Takanori Gomi (5'8 154 pounds)

Gomi suffers from not being a household name in the United States as he has spent most of his career fighting in Japan. He has compiled an impressive 28-3 record. The 29 year old has noteworthy wins over Jens Pulver, Duane Ludwig and Marcus Auriello.

Gomi is scheduled to fight in the Sengoku 4 event in Japan in August.

#11 Bas ‘El Guapo’ Rutten (6'1 205 pounds)

Rutten is probably known more for his work in the broadcast booth because injuries cut short a promising MMA career which he compiled a 28-4 record
Rutten has noteworthy wins over Kevin Randleman and Frank Shamrock.
Rutten took a nearly ten year layoff before he defeated Ruben Villareal in 2006. The 43 year old has since gone back into retirement.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest:15-20

# 20 Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic (6’2 220 pounds)
The 33 year old is known as the king of the high leg kick. He was the most feared striker in the now defunct Pride Heavyweight division. Cro Cop’s career took a nosedive, though, after he signed with the UFC. If these rankings had been made before his move to the UFC, he could easily have made the top ten. Cro Cop, though, was never able to succeed in the UFC and has since returned to fight in Japan. This has to make one wonder how the subtle rule changes in the two organizations effects a fighter (i.e. fighting in a cage versus a ring)

Cro Cop has a career record of 23-6-2 with 16 of his victories coming by the way of TKO or KO. He has noteworthy wins over Mark Coleman, Josh Barnett, Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva.

Cro Cop is currently fighting in Japan in the newly formed Dream promotion, but he is recovering from an injury.

#19 Kazushi Sakuraba ‘The Gracie Hunter” (6’0 190 pounds)
A legend in Japan, where he is known as ‘The Gracie Hunter,’ Sakuraba has compiled a 24-11 record. He has noteworthy wins over Vitor Belfort, Ken Shamrock, Quinton Jackson, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie and Kevin Randleman.

Sakuraba is known for his unorthodox, yet highly exciting style. He has won 17 fights via submission.
In his prime he was one of the most exciting fighters I have ever seen, as he went 12-1-1 from 12/21/97 to 12/9/2000. Four of those victories were against the Gracie’s (Ryan, Royler, Royce and Renzo).

Sakuraba recently suffered a loss at Dream 4 to Melvin Manhoef.

#18 Matt Hughes (5’9 170 pounds)
Hughes has compiled a 43-7 record. Hughes falls in the rankings due to losing three out his last four fights. He has noteworthy wins over Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Royce Gracie, George St. Pierre.

After losing to Georges St. Pierre, Hughes lost badly in his last fight to Thiago Alves at UFC 84. He could possibly face Matt Serra next.

#17 Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (6’1 205 pounds)
This ranking may prove to be controversial, but if you look at Machida’s resume (13-0 record)he has to be considered in the top 20. He has noteworthy wins over Stephan Bonner, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and Tito Ortiz. Machida could crack the top ten list in the future if he continues his dominance in the cage.

Machida’s most recent win was against Tito Ortiz at UFC 84.

Up next for Machida, who knows in the stacked UFC Light Heavyweight division. Could he face the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson?

#17 Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (6’1 205 pounds)
This ranking may prove to be controversial, but if you look at Machida’s resume (13-0 record) he has to be considered in the top 20. What helps Machida is that he is probably in the midst of his prime at age 33.

He has noteworthy wins over Stephan Bonner, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and Tito Ortiz. Machida could crack the top ten list in the future if he continues his dominance in the cage.

Machida’s most recent win was against Tito Ortiz at UFC 84.

Up next for Machida, who knows in the stacked UFC Light Heavyweight division. Could he face the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson?

#16 Wanderlei Silva (5'11 205 pounds)
One of the most feared strikers in the light heavyweight division, as he has won 22 fights by knockout. He has compiled a 32-8 record during his career. Silva’s reputation took a hit though, as he went 5-5 over his last 10 fights. Silva is a former Pride Light Heavyweight champion.

Silva has noteworthy wins over Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona, Sakuraba and Dan Henderson.

Silva’s next opponent could be Chuck Lidell, a rematch from an earlier fight where Lidell defeated Silva.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest: Part 2

#26 Tim ‘The Maine-iac’ Sylvia (6'8 260 pounds)

the 32 year-old Sylvia is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He has compiled a 24-4 record. He has noteworthy wins over Andre Arlovski, Ben Rothwell and Brandon Vera. All 4 of his losses have come against top tier opponents (Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Andre Arlovski, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira).

Sylvia recently signed with Affliction and will be fighting Fedor Emelianenko on July 19th. A win over Emelianenko could vault Sylvia into my top 20.

#25 Dan ‘Hollywood’ Henderson (6'1 183 pounds)

The 37 yeard-old former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has compiled a 22-7 record. He has lost his last two fights to Anderson Silva and Quinton Jackson. He has noteworthy wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Renzo Gracie and Murilo Rua.

Henderson is still signed with the UFC, but at this time he does not have an opponent scheduled for his next fight.

#24 Ken ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ Shamrock (6'1 235 pounds)

The 44 year-old Shamrock would be ranked higher if he had decided to retire six years ago when he lost for the first time versus Tito Ortiz, but he kept fighting. Shamrock is a big name in this sport, but he is typically over hyped in rankings because he has fought since the 1st UFC event.



Shamrock recently lost to Robert Berry at Cage Rage 25, it was his 5th consecutive loss.



#23 Tito Ortiz 'Huntington Beach Bad Boy' (6'2 205 pounds)

The 33 year old Ortiz is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He has a record of 15-6 overall. He has noteworthy wins over Forrest Griffin and Ken Shamrock. Ortiz lost his last fight to Machida and he is currently a free agent.

Ortiz had a falling out with UFC president Dana White during the last couple years of his contract.

Affliction or Elite XC are likely to sign Ortiz in the coming weeks.

#22 Frank Shamrock (5'10 185 pounds)

The younger brother of Ken Shamrock has had a long and illustrious MMA career. He has been the King of Pancraese, UFC Middleweight Champion and the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He has noteworthy wins over Bas Rutten, Tito Ortiz and Jeremy Horn. He currently has a 22-9 MMA record.

Shamrock, who is 35 years old, broke his arm against Cung Lee in March. He recently was one of the broadcasters for CBS at the Elite XC Primetime event. When Shamrock returns to Strikeforce a potential opponent for him could be Cung Lee.

# 21 Uriaj Faber (5'6 140 pounds)

Faber is finally becoming a household name. He has compiled a 20-1 record with his lone loss coming to Tyson Griffin. The reason why he is not more known is because he fights in a lower weight class and he fights in a smaller mma orgainization the WEC

Faber recently defeated Jens Pulver on June 1st.

Countdown to MMA's Greatest Fighter: Part I

One may wonder why I made a list of thirty-three fighters and not the top ten or twenty five? The reason for this is that I wanted to make the list inclusive as possible and eventually I had to end somewhere. Hopefully, when I have more time allocated for research, I can expand the list to the Top 50 or maybe even the Top 100.

I have come to the conclusion that some fighters are usually ranked higher then I may have ranked them (i.e. Mark Coleman, Randy Couture) due to their iconic status, but I tried to look at their overall body of work (i.e. opponents faced) and not just their name recognition.

Rickson Gracie was difficult to rank because of his limited body of work, which consists of 11 total mma fights. Other problems I ran into are in regard to the evolution of mixed martial arts (rule changes and added weight classes). How would Royce Gracie in his prime matchup against fighters soley in his weight class?

Along the way I probably missed some fighters and over valued others (Mark Kerr, Pat Miletich).

Feedback is welcome!

#33 Shinya Aoki (5'11 170 pounds)

Aoki is 25 year old Japanese fighter who has compiled a 16-2 record. Aoki recently defeated Gesias Calvacante at Dream 4.

#32 Don Frye (6'1 210 pounds)

Frye fought during the early UFC years and has compiled a 19-6 overall MMA record. He is currently pushing the envelop at 43 years old.

Frye knocked out Bryan Pardoe at a NoLimit Fighting event in January.

#31 Pat Miletich (5'10 169 pounds)

The 40 year old Miletich did not exactly face the most formidable competition during his career, where he posted a 28-7-2 record. He has had an overwhelming influence on the sport, training some of the most elite fighters in the world.

Miletich has not fought in nearly two years after losing to Renzo Gracie in September of 2006.

#30 Mark Kerr (6'3 255 pounds)

Kerr won his first 11 fights and his career looked very promising in the mid to late 1990's. I would have to say that Mark Kerr could have been one of the top 5 greatest fighters of all time if he did not struggle with addiction, injuries and other personal problems.

He has fought twice in 2008, looking noticeably out of shape in losses to Oleg Taktarov and Tracy Willis. He has an overall record of 15-8. Age is also becoming a factor in Kerr's career as he will turn 40 years old this December.

# 29 Igor Vovchanchyn (5'8 205)

Vovchanyn was a dominant striker during his mma career where he posted a 47-9 record. He won 25 of his fights by knockout or TKO. He will be 35 years old in August.

He has noteworthy wins over Mark Kerr, Gary Goodridge and Sakuraba. It could be argued that his overall body of work is not entirely impressive due to his lack of wins versus top tier competition.

Vovchanchyn has not fought since he incurred a two fight losing streak in 2005.

#28 Josh Barnett (6'3 250 pounds)

Barnett is one of the current top heavyweights in mma. He has compiled an impressive 22-5 record. Three of his losses have come to Mirko Cro Cop. The 31 year old Barnett has noteworthy wins over Dan Severn and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Barnett is scheduled to fight on the Affliction card against Pedro Rizzo on July 19^th.

27) Sean ‘The Muscle’ Sherk (5'6 155 pounds)

Sherk who will turn 35 this August, holds an mma record of 32-3-1. He has noteworthy wins over Nick Diaz and Karo Parisyan. Sherk’s reputation was tarnished after testing positive for steroids.

Rumors are circulating about a potential matchup with Matt Hughes.

Top MMA FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME: INTRO

The following rankings are how I would rate the top fighters in the world. I have taken into account that some fighters maybe overly hyped (ie Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock). These fighters are usually ranked higher (i.e. Mark Coleman, Randy Couture) due to their icon like status, but I tried to look at their overall body of work and not just their name recognition.

Along the way I probably missed one, two, or three fighters, but I tried to make the list as inclusive as I possibly could.

Some fighters like Rickson Gracie are difficult to rank because of his limited body of work. Also mma has evolved a great deal from the early years as rules have changed and weight classes added.

DREAM 4 Results

The Dream 4 card I had a little difficulty picking the fights as I had not seen many of the fighters in action, so I had to rely on their fight histories and research. Now lets see how I faired.

I got the results via www.mmajunkie.com

Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4) Middleweight GP Round 2

Prediction: Manhoef by knockout. Sakuraba is an exciting fighter but he is way passed his prime.
Result: Melvin Manhoef def. Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO (strikes).

Ronaldo Jacare (8-1) vs. Jason 'Mayhem' Miller (21-5) Middleweight GP Round 2

Prediction: Jacare by decision. Jason Miller the lone American in this card will struggle on the ground. He will only win if can take the fight by knockout in the stand up.

Result: Jacare by decision, I hit this one on the head.

Kin Taiei (3-2) vs. Zelg Glesik (8-3) Middleweight GP Round 2

Prediction: Galesik by TKO

Result: Zelg Galesic def. Taiei Kin via TKO (doctor's stoppage) -- Round 1, 1:05. Not so bad so far . . . maybe I am in the wrong line of work.

Yoon Dong Sik (4-4) vs. Gregard Mousaisi (21-2-1) Middleweight GP Round 2

Prediction: Mousaisi by TKO

Result: Gegard Mousasi def. Dong Sik Yoon via unanimous decision. I picked the winner I just did not pick the means . . . 4-0 not so shabby. . . . can we just end it now.

Tokoro Hideo (19-13) vs. Darreb Uyenoyama (4-1) Featherweights

Prediction: Uyenoyama by submission

Result: Hideo Tokoro def. Darren Uyenoyama via unanimous decision. I lose the coin flip on this one. 4-1 still can not lose at this point.


Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0) Light Heavyweights

Prediction: Gracie by submission

Result: Ralek Gracie def. Alavutdin Gadzhiyev via submission (arm bar) -- Round 1, 3:14. His name is Gracie, I knew he would win via submission.

Allstair Overeem (26-11) vs. Lee Tae-hyun (1-1) Heavyweights

Prediction: Overeem by knockout.

Result: Alistair Overeem def. Tae Hyun Lee via KO -- Round 1, 0:35. I swear I wrote my predictions before the fight.

Shiny Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata Lightweight GP Round 2

Prediction: Aoki by decision

Result: Shinya Aoki def. Katsuhiko Nagata via submission (gogoplata) -- Round 1, 5:12.

I went 7-1 with my Dream 4 picks . . . I would call that one hell of a day. I wish I put some money on my picks. Combined with my Elite XC picks I went 10-3.

The Results of My Elite XC Predictions

Overall, I went 3-2 picking the Elite XC fights and given that I researched the wrong fighter in one of the fights, I will say that I did not do so bad.

KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards - I predicted Noons to win via TKO, I was right as Noons takes the fight by TKO.

Murilo Rua vs Tony Bonello - I said Rua by TKO and he won by TKO.

Nick Diaz vs. Mushin Corbrrey - Diaz wins by TKO just as I predicted.

Wayne Cole vs Rafael Feijao - I inaccurately received misinformation about Feijao's record that it was 0-3 from Sherdog.com, it turns out there is a Rafael Feijao listed at 0-3 on Sherdog and a Rafael 'Feijao' Calvacante with a record of 5-1 on Sherdog.
I picked Cole over Feijao given the misinformation. I probably would have gone the other way had I researched Rafael Calvacante instead.

Herman vs. Waterman - I foresaw Waterman winning the fight by submission but Herman won by TKO.

Apology

In my previous post I made a foolish typo which made me look, well an idiot.


Here is the mistake in bold:

Maybe he likes the Chicago Bears and that is why his website is called Dagrim.com.

I am talking about the most feared heavyweight in the UFC not named Kimbo Slice: Brett 'Da Grim' Rogers.

Obviously I met Elite XC, but oh well shit happens.

Brett 'Da Grim" Rogers: A History Lesson

Maybe he likes the Chicago Bears and that is why his website is called Dagrim.com, I am talking about the most feared heavyweight in the Elite XC, not named Kimbo, Brett 'Da Grim' Rogers.

On his website Dagrim.com, it lists on the bottom right Stay Tuned for Kimbo update. Rumors are circulating on the internet of a matchup between Brett Rogers and Kimbo Slice will occur in October.

Last week at the Showtime Boxing press conference in Uncasville, Conn Gary Shaw made the matchup sound like a pretty good possibility.

The next Elite XC event televised by CBS is rumored to be held in July. Gary Shaw has stated that Kimbo Slice will not be fighting on every CBS card, so do not plan on seeing Slice then.

This makes me wonder, were the shenanigans at the press conference on May 31st planned? You certainly would not think so, but then again what better way to get ratings then have Brett Rogers call out the most hyped fighter in all mixed martial arts.

Check out the link ffrom mmafighting.com to see a recent interview done with Rogers.

By the way, Rogers says he will beat Slice.

Brett Rogers basic info:
Height: 6'5
Weight 265
DOB: 2-17-81
Residence: Minneapolis, Minn
POB: Chicago?
Represents Team Bison
Sponsored by: Big Black Security, Pure Power Mouth Guard
Record: 7-0, his website lists his record at 9-0

Links about Brett Rogers:
http://www.myspace.com/teambison
http://www.dagrim.com/
http://brettrogers.proelite.com/
http://mmafighting.com/news/2008/06/14/brett-rogers-interview-when-talent-meets-hard-work
http://www.mmaagents.com/videos/fighter1.html
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=16048

Dream 4: Predictions

Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4) Middleweight GP Round 2

Manhoef by knockout. Sakuraba is an exciting fighter but he is way passed his prime.

Ronaldo Jacare (8-1) vs. Jason 'Mayhem' Miller (21-5) Middleweight GP Round 2Jacare by decision. Jason Miller the lone American in this card will struggle on the ground. He will only win if can take the fight by knockout in the stand up.

Kin Taiei (3-2) vs. Zelg Glesik (8-3) Middleweight GP Round 2
Galesik by TKO

Yoon Dong Sik (4-4) vs. Gregard Mousaisi (21-2-1) Middleweight GP Round 2

Mousaisi by TKO

Tokoro Hideo (19-13) vs. Darreb Uyenoyama (4-1) Featherweights

Uyenoyama by submission


Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0) Light Heavyweights

Gracie by submission


Allstair Overeem (26-11) vs. Lee Tae-hyun (1-1) Heavyweights
Overeem by knockout.

Shiny Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata Lightweight GP Round 2

Aoki by decision

IFL: A Sinking Ship

I may be one of the last writers to have covered an International Fight League event, as rumors are swirling that the IFL may be going under.

There is truth to these rumors since the IFL cancelled its August event where they were going to unveil there new ring the HEX.

From the IFL's beginning I was never a big fan of the team concept. MMA like boxing is an individual sport. A fighter wins a title, a team should be only the fighters that train with that fighter.

This year the IFL went from a team concept to having fighters represent camps. This change was probably done a little too late.

One positive thing about the IFL is that when it was featured on 60 Minutes the price of its stock soared. I really wish I could have been one of the investors that cashed in my profits that week. Now that stock is worthless.

I hope Bas Rutten can sign with Affliction and be their broadcaster for the July 19th card.

Here is what UFC President Dana White said about the IFL I got this from Mark Chalifoux:

Dana White: I’m doing it Tuesday. Let me tell you how out of [expletive deleted] control that thing is. I was talking to ESPN and [the reporter] was talking about competition and I said, ‘Let me tell you what. People have been trying to compete with the UFC for years, even before we bought it. The last big one everyone thought was a big threat ... was the IFL. They went public, raised 800-[expletive deleted] million dollars, then they were talking about doing fighter benefits and stuff. They got the first network deal and those other guys weren’t the first on. They got time on 60 Minutes with us when 60 Minutes did their piece on us, and now the IFL is gone. They are [expletive deleted] down, their stock is worth half a cent (Editor's note: IFLI closed today at $0.02). That’s what we were talking about that day and I said I’m going to make an announcement to my employees that shows everyone exactly where this business is going in the next couple years.

Now that the IFL is going under and at first glance it looks like this is true, Roy Nelson one of the IFL's bigger fighters, could fight Kimbo Slice or Brett Rogers.

Elite XC Return of The King: Who is the King?

Elite XC is holding its Return of the King event in Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend and to tell you the truth I am not very excited by it.

The card is very weak and there are not any matchups which really jump off the page. I guess Elite XC is focusing on saving its better fighters for its CBS show, this event will be aired on Showtime on Saturday night at 10pm.

Here is preview of the event with my predictions, if you care:

KJ Noons (6-2) vs Yves Edwards (33-13)

Edwards is the more experience fighter (he is 31 years old) and he is on a three fight win streak (Edson Berto, Alonzo Martinez, and Nick Gonzalez).

Noons is the current Elite XC lightweight title holder who has a kickboxing background. Apparently his contract with Elite XC allows him to box also.

I will give the edge to Noons and say he will win the fight by TKO.

Nick Diaz (16-7) vs Mushin Corbrrey (8-2)

Corbrrey has a background in Muay Thai and Jiu jitsu. I have never seen him fight, but I have liked what I have seen from Diaz, as he never backs down from anyone.

Diaz has fought Robbie Lawler, winning the fight via knockout in a big upset at the time. He has also fought Diego Sanchez and and Sean Sherk, losing to both.

Diaz will win the fight via TKO.

Murilo Rua (15-8) vs Tony Bonello (16-0)

Bonello is undefeated but he has not fought the caliber of fighters that Rua has fought. His most notable win came against Dan Severn in 2004. He was not exactly fighting Severn at the peak of his career. Bonello has won 14 of his fights via submission, so look for him to take the fight to the ground.

Rua has won 4 out of his last 5 fights and comes from the famed Chute Box Academy in Brazil. The lone loss in his past 5 fights came to Robbie Lawler, which is not a bad loss by any stretch.
He has fought Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randelman, Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, Akihiro Gono and Joey Villasenor.

Rua has never lost a fight via submission so I will take Rua in this one. I believe he will win via TKO or decision.

Dave Herman ( 10-0) vs Ron Waterman (15-5)

Herman is an up and coming heavyweight and has won 7 of his fights by knockout. Herman, though, has never fought against a top tier opponent and I would not call Waterman a top tier opponent either.

Waterman,though, is a journeyman in the heavyweight division, who has fought against solid opponents like Mirko Cro Cop, Kevin Randelman and Ricco Rodriguez.

He will win the fight if he can get it to the ground and I think Waterman will over power Herman in this fight. My prediction is Waterman via submission.


Rafeal Feijao (0-3) vs Wayne Cole (11-6)

I am not sure how a fighter with an 0-3 record gets this fight, it is sort of spell bounding.

On the other hand, Cole does not excite me either, but he has won his last three fights.

I will go with Cole via decision, but then again I really do not care about this fight.

Other Relevant info:

Elite XC Return of the King fight card link:

http://www.elitexc.com/events/upcoming

Affliction Banned: The Best Fight Card Ever?

Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) vs. Tim Sylvia (24-4) Heavyweight 265 pounds

Ben Rothwell (29-5) vs. Andre Arlovski (12-5) Heavyweight 265 pounds

Josh Barnett (21-5) vs. Pedro Rizzo (16-7) Heavyweight 265 pounds

Matt Lindland (20-5) vs. Fabio Negao (8-3) Middleweight 185 pounds

Renato Sobral (29-7) vs. Mike Whitehead (20-5) Light Heavyweight

Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) vs. Paul Buentello (25-10) Heavyweight

Antonio Rogerio Noguiera (13-3) vs. Vernon White (26-32-2) Light Heavyweight 205 pounds

Vitor Belfort (16-8) vs. Terry Martin (16-4) Middleweight 185 pounds

Ray Lizama (5-5) vs. Justin Levens (9-8) Middleweight 185 pounds

Mike Pyle(16-5-1) vs. J.J. Ambrose (9-1) Welterweight 170 pounds

Savant Young (9-7) vs. Mark Hominick (15-8) Featherweights 145 pounds

Affliction Banned: Preview and Anaylsis of the Heavweight Fights

I was just checking out the Affliction Banned card for July 19^th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and let me just say, this is the most exciting MMA card I have ever seen, especially in the heavyweight division.

Here is a list of the Heavyweight matchups and my predictions.

Tim Sylvia (24-4) vs. Fedor Emelianenko (27-1)

Fedor is the consensus number one heavyweight mma fighter in the world.

My biggest concern with Fedor is his that he not fought anyone of significance in quite sometime (since winning the Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2006)

Tim Sylvia is one of those fighters, that although he is a unanimous top ten heavyweight I have never been thoroughly impressed with. Let’s face it when he did most of his damage the UFC had a fairly weak heavyweight division. He had beaten Arlovski two times, but of late he has lost 2 out his last three fights, the losses coming to (Antonio Noguiera and Randy Couture)

Fedor will take the fight, winning via TKO, as I could just see the king of ground and pound lighting up Sylvia.

Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) vs. Paul Buentello (23-10)

Buentello is the man that I constantly here about in feedback to every Kimbo Slice article I write. Buenetello has fought in the UFC (where he lost to Arlovski), Strikeforce and King of the Cage. Buentello does not have a win against a top tier opponent, he recently lost to Allstair Overeem.

Emelianenko is on a 4 fight winning streak since losing to Fabricio Werdum . His most notable win is against Sergei Kharitonov. He has lost to Josh Barnett and Cro Cop.

My Prediction is Emelianenko to win via decision in an all out war.

Josh Barnett (21-5) vs. Pedro Rizzo (16-7)

Pedro Rizzo is no slouch in the MMA business. He has beaten Barnett before albeit it was at UFC 30 back in 2001. What concerns me is his lack of fighting he has not fought since Sept. 1, 2007) and a noticeable decline in his performance. Since his win over Barnett, he has gone just 5-6 over his last 11 fights.

Josh Barnett is easily on most lists of Top 5 Heavyweights. He is the man who beats everyone except for Mirk CrCop, who he has lost to 3 times. He has notable wins over Randy Couture, Antonio Nogueira, Mark Hunt and Dan Severn. Barnett has also fought twice this year, both fights he won.

Interestingly both fighters both fought Jeff Monson in their last fights.

Barnett will win this fight via submission or decision, avenging one of his few MMA losses during the past 7 years.

Ben Rothwell (29-5) vs. Andrei Arlovski

Ben Rothwell as won his last 13 fights but he is not fighting the caliber of opponents that Arlovski has fought. He lost to Tim Sylvia early in his career, back in 2003. His most notable win of late is over Roy Nelson. In Rothwell’s last fight he defeated Ricco Rodriguez via decision in Sept. 2007. Another fighter with a significant lay off between fights.

Arlovski has notable wins over Paul Buentello, Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum. He last fought in March in the UFC, winning via TKO over Jake O’Brien.

This is a tough fight to call, but based on experience and toughness of his opponents I have to give the edge to Arlovski. Someone is getting knocked out in this fight, I begrudgingly will say it will be Rothwell, against my instincts.

Seriously, does it get better than this? No wonder why Dana White will not let his fighter where Affliction’s clothing. Then again, I am not suprised by his actions? One of the best MMA fighters, Josh Gross (formerly with Sherdog, now with cnnsi.com) can’t even get into a UFC event anymore because he criticized White.

Kimbo Slice News

I spoke to Gary Shaw at the Showtime post fight press conference on Saturday June 8th at the Mohegan Sun Arena. I asked Shaw about the article I saw where it was announced Brett Rogers would be fighting Kimbo Slice sometime in October.

"That would be an awesome fight," Shaw said.

He did not go into much detail about it.

"Brett [Rogers] is better than he looks," Shaw said.

He also added that Brett Rogers needs to work more on his ground game, but then added that his fights are so quick we have yet to see him fight on the ground.

Showtime Boxing Photos

I have finally posted the pictures from the Showtime Boxing event at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday June 8th.

It was a great night, a night of many upsets.

Paul 'The Punisher' Williams looked dominant in regaining his title via 1st round TKO of Carlos Quintana.

Sergio Martinez was announced the #1 WBC Superwelterweight Contender, but will probably never get a shot at Mora. Mora announced that he wanted to move back up to the middleweight division because he thinks the Superwelterweight division is weak.

Sergio Mora defied his critics by defeating Vernon Forrest via decision.

Inside Connecticut Sports Online Article

This is the link to check out my article on the Showtime boxing card held at the Mohegan Sun Arena on June 7th.


http://www.insidectsports.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1202&Itemid=120

No Longer a Contender, Mora a Champion

Mora a huge underdog entering the fight with Forrest proved his doubters wrong tonight as he out boxed Forrest, winning a decision.

The fight was scored closer than it actually looked: 114-114, 115-113, 116 to 111.

Forrest looked ill prepared during the fight. In between rounds Forrest was seen trying to catch his breath, while Mora was always up and ready to go. It was not until the 12th round when Mora finally looked to be a little winded.

Forrest was never able to capitalize on his power advantage, as the quickness of Mora looked to be too much to handle.

Mora vs. Forrest Play by Play

The Main Event

Sergio Mora 20-0-1 vs. reigning WBC Super Welterweight Champion Vernon Forrest 40-2-0.

Sergio Mora enters the ring at 9:36 pm eastern. Mora is wearing a black and yellow robe. It says Sergio Mora, then underneath it says The Latin Snake.

Vernon Forrest enters the ring at 9:38 eastern wearing black and orange.

Sergio Martinez, who is the number 2 WBC Super welterweight contender looks on from the press area. Martinez does not look like he received any noticeable damage from his fight with TerMerliksetian. Mora, it should be noted, knocked out TerMeliksetian when he fought him.

Affliction the clothing line that now has an MMA organization by the same name sponsors Mora. Only the lower level of the Mohegan Sun Arena is full. I am told by another writer that this is commonplace for a Mohegan Sun boxing event. This is very disappointing news to me.

This is Mora’s first attempt at a world title. Most experts are predicting this fight to go a full 12 rounds with Forrest winning a unanimous decision.

Mora and Forrest start of feeling each other out. The fight is much slower than the Williams vs. Quintana.

One minute into the round there is still not much action until Forrest connects with a strong right hand. Forrest lands a punch to the body of Mora. Forrest looks like he takes round 1, as Mora did more dancing then punching.

The 2nd round looks like Mora is more inclined to shadow box then get on the inside of Forrest.

Forrest lands a left hook. Mora then gets on the inside and lands some body shots in the 2nd. Mora is on the receiving end of a partial uppercut to the chin. It does not look like it had much on it.

Mora looks like the winner of round 2.

The fighter I thought was Vinny Paz was the Iceman John Scully. Scully trained Frank Latina at the LA Boxing gym in Glastonbury, Conn.

Third round - Forrest looks to be more aggressive. Forrest gets the edge in round 3 as the crowd boos both fighters.

4th round - The fighters are closing the distance in round 4 and both are looking more aggressive. Mora attempts a big right hand which partially connects. The crowd starts to chant ‘Mora.’ Mora lands an upper cut as he is pushed against the ropes. Forrest lands a right to Mora’s right eye as the bell sounds. The round appears to go Mora.
In between rounds Mora’s corner seems to be working on Mora’s right eye. Mora seems to have some swelling below his right eye.

5th round - Mora is able to dodge a lot the punches from Forrest and appears to be lighting quick still. Forrest lands a couple of punches to Mora’s head which initially appeared to stun Mora. Mora eggs Forrest on after the two fighters are separated by the referee.
Mora landed an over hand right to Forrest’s head and a couple of body shots.
The crowd boos as the fighters go to their corners. Mora tells his corner that ‘He is going down” referring to Forrest. Mora is up quick from his corner as Forrest appears to be getting his right eye worked on.

Round appears to go to Mora.

6th round - Moran definitely has more energy between the two fighters. He lands a big over hand right to Forrest’s head. He then lands a flurry of weaker punches to Forrest’s body. Mora is working th ebody fof Forrest and getting more and more on the inside. He feels blood? The crowd starts chanting ‘Mora’ again.

Mora is now the aggressor. Forrest lands a right uppercut to Mora’s chin just before the bell. The round still goes to Mora. Mora’s corner is working on his right eye area. Forrest looks winded in his corner.

7th round - Forrest appears winded as the round opens. He looks to be attempting big right punches. Mora just misses with a left hook to Forrest’s temple. Mora is warned by the referee for punching to the back of Forrest’s head. Forrest lands a big right. Mora is beginning to land a lot of lefts.
7th round is close to call probably going to Forrest.

8th round - Forrest lands a big right to begin the eight round. Forres has Mora against the ropes. Mora lands a combination then ducks out of the way of big Forrest right hand. Forrest is warned for throwing low blows. Mora wins a close round in my book. The 7th and 8th rounds kind of hit a lull as there was not as much action.

9th round- as Forrest stands for the opening bell he continues to look out of breath. The fighters are exchanging punches that are not hitting. Mora seems to be scoring more on the inside. Mora gets Forrest up against the corner and lands some strong blows. He has Forrest in tough position as Forrest is trying to fight his way out of it. Forrest now gets Mora against the ropes as the bell sounds. This is the best round of the night. Mora wins this round convincingly, but before Forrest lands some decent punches at the end.
The corner man for Mora is trying to reduce the swelling below Mora’s right eye. Once again Mora is the first fighter up from the corner.

10th round- Forrest lands a weak right jab to Mora’s chin. Mora then lands a series of left jabs on Forrest. Mora is definitely landing more punches. He lands a right jab to Forrest’s chin. Mora is proving his critics wrong thus far in the fight as he looks to be the better fighter tonight.
Mora’s landing more combinations as the fight goes on which is a sign that Forrest is tiring. Forrest lands a strong left hook at the end of the round. Mora once again looks to prevail in round 10.

11th round- Forrest corner is talking to Forrest. Forrest looks to have labored breathing before the round. Forrest should star looking for the knockout as he is way behind on the score cards. A loud. ‘Mora, Mora’ chant is heard from the crowd. Forrest is warned for a head butt as he pushes Mora against the ropes.

Forrest lands another low blow which is not seen by the ref. Forrest looks to have a swollen bottom lip.

Forrest is struggling and seems frustrated by Mora as he tries to tangle Mora Up. Mora looks confident in his corner before the 12th round. Forrest looks to be the defeated before the 12th round.

12th round - Crowd chants ‘Mora, Mora’ again. Mora looks like he could fight all night while Forrest looks like he could use a rest. Mora lands another left. His left hand is looking good tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Mora gets Forrest into the ropes and lands a couple of weak looking punches. Forrest then gets Mora into the corner, but is unable to get any punces off. Mora is beginning to look winded as he dances around trying to avoid a late KO. Forrest gets Mora against the ropes and the exchange a litany of strong punches as the fight ends. Mora is held up on the shoulders of his corner. One reporter announces 111-117 for Mora, which sounds about right.

The fight is announced first scorecard 114-114, 115-114, 116-112 . . . For the winner and new Super Welterweight champion Sergio Mora. The decision is closer than it looked, as many are not sure of how the fight was scored 114 to 114. Mora is no longer a pretender or even a contender, he is a champion

Williams Scores Early TKO of Quintana

Paul Williams (33-1) vs. Carlos Quintana (25-1) current WBO Welterweight champion

This is a rematch of a Feb. 9th battle in which Quintana won by decision and out boxed Williams. The Rocky Music is played as Quintana enters the ring.

Williams is booed as he is announced. Quintana is definitely the crowd favorite, especially amongst the Latino fans.

Williams has a significant size advantage at 6’1, while Quintana stands just 5’9

Williams knocks down Quintana in the first round with a vicious right hand, he then stuns Quintana with a left. He knocks out Quintana early in the first round. Quintana was not covering up . This is a huge surprise as Quintana had gone the distance with Williams, winning the first fight. Williams was over powering tonight and one wonders how he lost the previous matchup. One also wonders how that fight went the full 12 rounds.

It is announced at 2:15 into round 1 Winner by TKO and once again the WBO Welterweight champion is Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams.

This was a bout that if you blinked or went to the restroom you would have missed.

Williams is now the WBO Welterweight champion at 34-1 with 25 knockouts.

Showtime Undercard Results

Bowie Tupou (14-0) vs. Otis Tisdale (25-20-1) Heavyweight bout

Tupou dominated the fight knocking down Tisdale three times in the 2nd round. Tisdale from nearby New Haven, Conn is journeyman heavyweight. He has fought Michael Moorer, John Ruiz and Nikolay Valuev.

Tupou is from Tongo and fights out of Australia. He is an intimidating figure and looks to be a force in the heavyweight division. The only problem is that he so completely overmatched Tisdale that little is still known about this up and coming heavyweight.

Sergio Martinez (42-1-1) vs. Archak TerMeliksetian (16-6) Super Welterweight

Martinez from Argentina, came into the fight the 2nd ranked WBC super welterweight. Early on TerMeliksetian from Armenia was landing some shots to Martinez. It was clearly Martinez's fight after the first two rounds.

In the seventh round, Martinez knocked down TerMeliksetian two times. The 2nd time it was a straight right that sealed the fight as Martinez won via TKO.

Melissa Fiorentino vs. Melissa Hernandez (Super Featherweights)

Clearly the fight that most excited the crowd. Hernandez entered the ring dancing and looking to put on a show. Fiorentino was the more known fighter coached by Peter Manfredo Sr.
In the third round Hernandez landed a shot to the eyebrow of Fiorentino which opened up a cut. Fiorentino seemed bothered by the cut, constantly trying to wipe the blood away.
After 30 seconds, the referee stopped the fight. Hernandez wins this one via TKO.

Mora a Contender or a Pretender?

It is time for Sergio 'The Latin Snake' Mora to stop being The Contender and become a champion. Tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn Mora will get his chance vs. reigning WBC Super Welterweight Champion Vernon 'The Viper Forrest (40-2-0).

Mora has an unblemished record at 20-0-1 with 5 wins coming by the way of knockout, but Mora has heard criticism of being just a pretender in the boxing world for reportedly dodging fights against top tier opponents like middleweight Jermain Taylor.

Many experts, expect the fight to go the distance with Forrest holding on to the title via decision.

Forrest believes he is overlooked in the boxing world and has a chip on his shoulder. Forrest was once on the rise in 2002 after he defeated Shane Mosely two times. But in 2003, he ran into Venezuelan Ricardo Mayorga, losing to Mayorga two times.

Forrest then missed two years of boxing as he recovered from shoulder surgeries. Since returning to boxing he has won his last 5 fights.

After defeating Carlos Baldomir last July to win the WBC Super Welterweight title, Forrest has successfully defended his title once against Michele Piccirillo on December 1st.

Forrest believed after fighting Piccirillo he would be matched up against a top tier Super Welterweights like a Oscar De La Hoya, but he did not receive his wish.

Mora usually fights as a middleweight, but dropped down weight to take on Forrest.

Mora has the pressure of the The Contender series on his shoulders, as many of the competitors from The Contender have struggled in big fights (Peter Manfredo, Alfonso Gomez and Steve Forbes).

"For Sergio, it's do or die," boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard said on BraggingRightsCorner.com. "It's a fight to determine his last hurrah."

I'm ready, this is a big fight for me, not just a paycheck," Mora is quoted as saying on Braggingrightscorner.com. "I've never been this ready in my life and this is not just an opportunity for fight for a title, because if that was the case I would have taken on Jermain Taylor."

Tonight will Mora just be another Contender or a champion?

Forrest, Willliams Favorites Tonight

Vernon Forrest is a heavy favorite to retain his Super Welterweight title tonight against Sergio 'The Latin Snake' Mora.

The follwoing odds were found on sportsbook.com:
Forrest by KO: 3 to 2
Forrest by Decision: 11 to 10
Mora by Decision: 6 to 1
Mora by TKO: 13 to 1

Other factors to consider:
Mora is just 27 years old while Forrest is 37 years old.
Mora normally fights as a middleweight.
Mora, supposedly dodged a title fight against Jermaine Taylor.

Williams is a slight favorite over Quintana. Quintana won the previous matchup by decision back in February.
Quintana by decision: 11 to 5
Quintana by TKO: 9 to 2
Williams by Decision: 8 to 5
Williams by KO: 2 to 1

Williams the former WBO Welterweight Championship is looking to get back his title.

Possible Kimbo Opponents

Opponents Kimbo Slice could fight next (in no order).

Eric Butterbean Esch- Esch has been fighting in various MMA organizations and would seem to be a logical opponent for Slice. Butterbean, the former toughman champion has lost his last three MMA fights by submission. This would be a slug fest. I would say that Butterbean is probably on Gary Shaw's radar. If Shaw pluck Butterbean to fight Slice it would drum up a lot of negative criticism.

Mighty Mo Siligia - Mighty Mo is a heavy handed K-1 fighter with some MMA experience (he has a 3-0 MMA record). Mighty Mo has a very strong chin and probably is equally as powerful as Kimbo. This would be a great fight, I would give the edge to Mighty Mo. The problem is Mighty Mo is on a 5 fight losing streak in K-1. This match up probably wont happen, but it is one I would like to see.

Mark Hunt - Could Mark Hunt with stand the power of Kimbo? My answer is yes. Where the heck has Mark Hunt been since Pride was bought by the UFC? He lost on April 13th to Semmy Schilt in a K-1 match.

Roy Nelson (IFL) - Nelson proclaimed at the IFL press conference at the Mohegan Sun Arena two weeks ago that he has open contract. Nelson is the current heavyweight champion in the IFL. Although he has an open contract, I do not think Gary Shaw would put Kimbo against Nelson at this point in Kimbo's MMA career.
There are rumors circulating about a potential matchup between Slice and Nelson. http://www.cagetoday.com/kimbo-slice-vs-roy-nelson-a-real-possibility/

Brett 'The Grim' Rogers - Also fights in Elite XC. Says he would knock out Kimbo in the first round. Trust me, I am not doubting him. I feel this matchup will eventually happen within the next year.

Wesley “Cabbage” Correira - A match up with Cabbage sounds pretty logical when you look at the track record of the journeyman MMA fighter. Cabbage is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. He has fought in Elite XC before losing to 'Bigfoot' Silva. This is a very probable matchup when you look at all the factors.

Sergei Kharitonov- Kharitinov is really strong striker who had some classic battles in Pride. He has not fought in some time (since Sept 07 win over Allstair Overeem in K-1. Not sure if he is tied to Dream or not. Could this fight happen? Yes but the possibility is very slim.

Ron Waterman - Another journeyman in the MMA world. Waterman is slated to fight on the June 14th Elite XC card. The fact that Waterman has excellent wrestling skills make him a difficult matchup for Slice.

Ricco Rodriguez - The list of journeyman heavyweights continues. Rodriguez is a former UFC champions that has fallen on hard times. He has lost his last two fights. What makes this matchup a possibility is the fact that Rodriguez has struggled recently and his ties to Elite XC.

Mark Kerr - a once promising MMA fighter who burst into the MMA world in the Vale Tudo Championship and Pride in the late 90's Kerr has suffered some setbacks the last 6-8 years.

Oleg Taktarov - Taktarov fought in the early UFC, seemingly took a 10 year hiatus from MMA and has recently been making a comeback. Taktarov has won his last two fights since returning to MMA in November with BoDog. He defeated Mark Kerr is last fight in YAMMA pitfighting ( I have never heard of this).

Mirko Cro Cop - Cro Cop is currently fighting in Japan and I believe he is recovering from surgery. It would be nice to Cro Cop knock out Slice with a high leg kick. This matchup is very unlikely.

Gary Goodridge - A strong striker with a weak chin. Goodridge has been around MMA for a long time. This would be an intriguing matchup and Goodridge does not seem to have permanent ties with any organization. Slice would definitely have a great chance to KO Goodridge.

1fight.com to Cover Showtime Boxing Event

1fight.com will be covering the Showtime Boxing event at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, June 7th.

The main event features Sergio 'The Latin Snake' Mora vs. WBC Super Welterweight Champion Vernon Forrest.

Sergio Mora was the 2005 winner of the television show Contender. It will be the 2nd title defense for Vernon Forrest.

Carlos Quintana will square off against Paul Williams for the WBO Welterweight Championship. This is a rematch of the Feb. 9th matchup which saw Williams fall to Quintana in a shocking 12 round decision.

More about Elite XC 3 Days After

It has been three days since the Elite XC event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and I have yet to utter a word about any of the other fights on the card.

If I could hand out awards this is what it would look like:

Fight of the Night – Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

Runner Up- Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young

Biggest Dissapointment – Kimbo Slice’s inability to knockout Thompson early in the fight. A close 2^nd would be Phil Baroni getting TKO’d so quickly.

Most annoying part of the event – The dancers that seemed to be dancing all the time, it got really irritating.

Best Part of the Event for a Reporter- The food was great, I had some seared tuna and some salad. I definitely was not expecting seared tuna.

Most exciting moment – When Kimbo Slice and Brett Rogers nearly got into a fight at the press conference.

Quote of the Night- Gina Carano: “I would rather go home with a couple of bruises and a couple of pains then deal with some bullshit from a boss or the outside world.”

Most interesting fact – Gina Carano’s father, Glenn, played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

Left me dumbfounded – Kimbo Slice blamed his lack of cardio, in part to smoking.

Feel Good Moment – When Gary Shaw announced that John Murphy, who usually has long hair, donated his locks to kids with cancer.

Fight of the Night – Lawler vs. Baroni

If this fight did not end in a no contest, it could easily have been regarded as one of the top ten fights of the year. Name an adjective to describe the effort these fighters displayed and it is nearly endless (grit, determination, fortitude, guile). It only took an accidental eye poke by Robbie Lawler to have the fight stop.

“I hate fights ending that way,” Smith said at the post fight press conference Saturday night. “I was close to going down a couple of times- I felt that I had it in me. I have a broken foot right now, I did not realize it until after the fight. Yeah he unintentionally got me in the eye- I do not even know if it was a thumb or finger. I did not want to stop that fight, if he knocks me out he knocks me out. I want the fans get their money’s worth.”

After the fight, Gary Shaw summed it up best when he jokingly said, “If you all want to know how strong Robbie Lawler is – he pokes a guy in the eye and he breaks his foot.”

Yes, Scott Smith suffered a broken foot in the fight and was fighting on pure adrenaline. Scott Smith, during the press conference was also still trying to stop the bleeding from the various cuts he had on his face.

Smith is a guy that is easy to root for as he is a single father.

“That fight was almost a must win for me just financially -I got two kids I am a single father,” Smith said. “Gary stepped up and gave us both are win bonuses. “

Once their wounds heal, Smith and Lawler are slated to finish business in the ring.

Phil Baroni and Joey Villesanor

Evidently, Gary Shaw is not a bad guy after all and he is pretty funny, well not as funny as Phil Baroni. Baroni is quite a showman, coming out to the fight reminiscent to Apollo Creed in the early Rocky movies. Baroni’s performance inside the cage was anything but a show, so he must have thought he had to make up for his lackadaisical performance at the press conference.

Baroni, may have lost his fight to Joey Villesanor, but he displayed a great deal of sportsmanship after the fight. Apparently Baroni had taken some verbal jabs at Villesanor before the fight that had gotten underneath Villesanor’s skin.

“It was the first time in 30 plus fights that anyone [referring to Phil Baroni] treated me that way,” Villesanor who has a 25-6 professional record said. “ He kind of got me the first three weeks. It was kind of personal, now that it is all said and done I want everyone to know I have the upmost respect for Phil [Baroni].”

Baroni was long winded, about 7 minutes during the post fight press conference. He thanked just about everyone from his mother to Mark Coleman to his training partner. He even got emotional when talking about how gracious he was to have Mark Coleman at his side.

He intervened in the press conference several times and made the press and other fighters laugh.

“When they stopped the fight I was taking some big shots, but I was taking big shots in the first round,” James Thompson said about his disdain for his fight being stopped. “They stopped it because I had some blood on my ear, usually guys have to fall down. I had blood on my ear.”

Baroni interjected and says it would have been worse if they stopped it because he [James Thompson] had diarrhea. Thompson agreed and laughed.

Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young (2^nd best fight of the night)

This fight was much more entertaining then I ever thought it would be. Gina is a very sweet person outside of the cage, but she is anything but that inside the cage. She won over Kaitlin Young via TKO in the 2^nd round.

She apparently only had three weeks to really train for the fight because she had been doing some work for American Gladiators. Carano definitely could have a future as an actress outside of the ring.

Kimbo: Who is Next?

Early in the Elite XC post fight press conference Saturday night, Gary Shaw announced that Brett Rogers would most likely be fighting Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva in his next fight.

Brett ‘The Grim’ Rogers, who had just knocked out his third Elite XC opponent in the first round, John Murphy, did what he could to change this.

“ I want to put it like this- I seem some shit tonight, I seen some garbage ass shit tonight from one of the heavyweights,” Rogers who is 7-0 as a pro said when talking about Kimbo Slice. “Slice that was just terrible. “

Rogers made these comments unprovoked by the media and at the time Kimbo Slice had yet to show up at the press conference to defend himself.

When Kimbo Slice was told by one of the reporters that Rogers was unimpressed by his performance, he initially had little to say.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” he said.

Minutes later the subject was broached again, when a reporter asked Brett Rogers who he would rather fight, Bigfoot Silva or Kimbo?

Rogers stepped up to the microphone and once again let the gallery or reporters and this time Kimbo Slice know how he felt.

“What I saw in this man tonight was just garbage,” Rogers stated bluntly. “I am going to speak it real. It was garbage and you did tap out.”

Kimbo stood to his feet with the look he normally gives one of his predetermined knockout victims in the ring.

“That sounds like a challenge big dog,” an angry Kimbo said. “That is a challenge. Set it up G” [referring to Gary Shaw].

Gary Shaw tried his best to stand between the fighters and restore order to the press conference.

“Sit down, Sit down,” Shaw repeated numerous times.

“That mother fucker is going to call me out like that,” Kimbo is heard saying.

“You will have your day in the cage,” Shaw said during the brief unrest.

Eventually order was restored when the other fighters, including Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni and onlookers like Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman intervened.

What remains unclear is who will Kimbo’s next opponent be and is Rogers going to fight Antonio Silva or will Elite XC possibly let Kimbo fight a seeming equally potent and adept striker like Rogers.

Rogers, did knock out Kimbo’s opponent Thompson on February 16^th and in more impressive fashion, just 2:38 into round 1.

Elite XC and Gary Shaw will surely let the two get in the cage to settle the score, but when? Could this possibly be the headliner for their July 26^th event or their 4^th and final event on CBS when they may be clamoring for a new deal.

Remember Shaw was critical of Dana White for how he handled the debut of Brock Lesnar in the UFC, specifically his choice of Lesnar’s opponent, Frank Mir, an experienced top-tier heavyweight.

“I feel badly because Brock [Lesnar]could’ve been a star and he[Dana White] ruined him right off of the bat. It was a bad match-up,” Shaw was quoted as saying on the website mmamania.com back in February.

Shaw knows the fight game and how quickly the hype surrounding a fighter can dissipate because of a bad loss.

Eventually, though, he will have to let Kimbo Slice and Brett Rogers settle their feud in the cage and this seems to be the path Elite XC is heading. For now, one can only speculate when it will and for fight fans hopefully it is sooner than later.

Thoughts on the Kimbo Fight

Kimbo Slice barely survived his fight with James Thompson winning via a controversial TKO in the third round.

The first two rounds appeared to go to Thompson and Kimbo was in trouble of losing his first MMA fight.

A loss by Kimbo, would have been devastating for his reputation as well as for Elite XC, who is hanging their coattails onthe hard hitting internet street fighting phenomena.

What became clear after the fight were several things. Kimbo Slice is still developing his MMA skills. Kimbo Slice has proven that he can fight on the ground-albeit he has a ways to go and even Kimbo will be the first to admit this. Kimbo Slice is no longer going to be viewed as MMA’s answer to the early Mike Tyson.

James Thompson who is a 2^nd rate MMA heavyweight known for being knocked out early in fights, challenged Kimbo to the brink.

Thompson has been knocked in the first 11 seconds of fights two times during his career. Aleksander Emelianenko disposed of Thompson in 11 seconds, while Neil Grove took 10 seconds to KO the Brit.

Thompson has been in fights with other well-hyped sensationalized strikers, like Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch and he has been knocked out in less time (43 seconds) than it took for Kimbo (38 seconds into round 3).

So the biggest surprise was how long it took Kimbo to take care of business in the ring (three rounds) and the nature in which the fight ended which was via referee stoppage when it looked like Thompson still was able to fight. One could say that Thompson was staggering, but this was the result of fatigue more so than the power of Kimbo who did not have much power left in his tank in the third round.

The punches Kimbo landed to Thompson at the end of the fight seemed weak compared to the punches typically thrown by him. This is a result of Kimbo’s poor preparation and experience in the ring.

Kimbo, who you would think would be more of a professional when it comes to preparation blamed it jokingly on smoking. I am not sure if he is referring to cigarettes, cigars or marijuana, but professional fighters do not smoke.

Also, Slice fell to the ground after the fight and minutes after he was still out of breath when he was being interviewed by CBS’ Gus Johnson.

Therefore Kimbo Slice, who won the fight controversially and to the disdain or the crowd, tarnished his reputation in several ways. Slicee is no longer going to be viewed as the all mighty and powerful striker. Thompson pushed Slice to the limits. He made Slice look like he had gone 15 rounds, not 2 rounds and 38 seconds.

Many casual fans who saw Kimbo fight were thoroughly unimpressed with his performance, but this is the result of the hype that they had heard about him. The hype was well deserved but as was displayed on Saturday night in primetime, Kimbo will not always win a fight by knockout in the first thirty seconds even if it is against a fighter with glass jaw who is a 2^nd rate heavyweight.

Elite XC and Gary Shaw are not stupid, though. They want to build up the hype surrounding Kimbo because it is money in their bank. A loss to Kimbo could have crippled the organization, which experienced 27 million dollars in losses just last year.

For pictures from the fight check out: http://1fighter.blogspot.com/ which can also be accessed through 1fight.com.

4.3 Million Viewers Tune-in

Two days after Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson survived his toughest fight against James Thompson, the ratings of the event were released by CBS. The event drew 4.3 million viewers, fewer than usual in that time slot, but CBS tripled its viewer ship amongst 18-30 year old males.

36 hours of no sleep

My trip to the Prudential Center for the Elite XC has cost me a little more than gas and tolls. It cost me sleep and as of 6:30 pm on Sunday I have not slept in 36 hours.

1fight.com

Welcome to the 1fight.com blog. I am hoping to make 1fight.com into an online news site for mma and boxing. It is going to be a difficult but exciting endeavor. Right now, the website (1fight.com) looks less than desirable and hopefully in the near future I can change this.

What I want to do is write weekly or biweekly features and columns on mma and boxing. One day I hope to have others assisting me in my endeavors so that I can bring mma news to my audience first hand.

Saturday is a difficult day for me because I have a press pass to the Elite XC event in New Jersey. The problem is the event ends after midnight and I have to be at work in Connecticut for 6AM. I am thinking I will be pulling an all nighter or I am thinking that I may bow out.