UFC 144: Edgar Gets Screwed

                                             Anwer: Frankie Gets Screwed


UFC 144 ended with another controversial title fight. This time, it was Frankie Edgar on the wrong end of a judge's decision. Judge's need to score fights more consistently or it could help be the fall of MMA. There is a feeling that a challenger needs to clearly defeat a reigning champion to get the belt, and in my opinion I don't feel like Ben Henderson did that. The decision marred what was up to that point a great night of fights.


Round 1


Both fighters used to the first round to feel each other out, with Henderson having a huge reach advantage over Edgar. Ben threw a lot of kicks, but Frankie caught almost all of them, and in the meantime throwing a few leg kick back. A few punches landed on both sides. However, toward the end of the round Edgar got a takedown that should have been enough to win the round. 10-9 Edgar


Round 2 


The first 4 and a half minutes were very similar to the first round, with both guys landing their shots, but nothing doing a lot of damage. Once again, Frankie Edgar takes Henderson down with less than a minute left in the round. Then, what could be considered the turning point in the fight, with Henderson on his back Edgar goes in to land a punch and is knocked down with an up-kick that connected in his face. Edgar's nose was broken, and began bleeding immediately. This was the toughest round of the fight to score, with Edgar controlling most of the round, and even getting another takedown. The up-kick rocked Edgar, but Henderson wasn't able to take advantage of it because the end of the round. 20-18 Edgar


Round 3


Frankie Edgar is tough as nails, but I believe that the broken nose, and a mouse that was growing under his left eye began to effect him in this round. Henderson landed more shots, and looked crisper. Edgar earned two more takedowns, but wasn't able to keep Bendo down. 29-28 Edgar


Round 4


As we enter the championship round, we see much of the same from both fighters. Both guys are standing and trading a wide variety of strikes. Frankie shot in for a takedown, but was caught in a nasty looking guillotine. He fought his way out of it, and tripped Henderson, but once again was unable to hold him down. 38-38


Round 5


Going into the fifth and decisive round, I felt like Henderson had to control Edgar and clearly win the round for the judges to give him the belt. Frankie showed his tremendous heart and championship spirit, digging deep and outstriking Bendo. Edgar landed several clean shots, and was beginning to work angles, even knocking Henderson down. Toward the end of the round Henderson hit a flying knee and is hit Edgar with some vicious ground and pound, but I felt it was too little too late. 48-47 Edgar


The judges scored the fight 49-46, 48-48, and 49-46 for Ben Henderson, which I thought was ridiculous. I can understand if they gave him the second round, but I don't understand how two judges scored it 49-46!!! In a fight like this, three things should be considered: Damage, Strikes Landed, and Takedowns. I can't argue that Henderson did more damage, but mostly came from one shot. On the other hand Frankie out-wrestled him and out-stuck him.




Even more ridiculous is that the UFC isn't going to give Frankie an immediate rematch. Like Edgar said in the post-fight presser, "I had to do 2 immediate rematches, so what's right?" I'm not trying to take anything away from Ben Henderson, but if UFC continues to treat it's fighters unfairly, then the sport will fall just like boxing has.

Another complaint I have was Joe Rogan trying to talk Frankie into moving down to featherweight after a close and grueling title fight. Zuffa has a motive to get Frankie to move down so he can fight Jose Aldo, but it isn't right to get their spokesman, Rogan, to ask the question after a decision loss that coud have easily gone Edgar's way. If he feels comfortable being a true 155-pounder, and doesn't feel like he is at a disadvantage, and doesn't want to cut the ten pounds, why does the UFC keep forcing the issue? 


                                Notes on the Rest of the Card


Bader Decision over Rampage: Once it was announced on Friday that Rampage was injured during camp, and came in 6 pounds overweight for the 205 pound fight I was skeptical. Jackson wanted to fight badly in Japan, and went in against doctor's advice. Bader controlled most of the fight, except for a quick flurry in the second round, including a vintage "Rampage-slam".  
Fight Rating ** 1/2


Mark Hunt 1st Round TKO over Cheick Kongo: The former K-1 champion, and legendary Pride fighter, Hunt put on a show for the Japanese crowd. After landing a vicious right hand, and hitting Kongo  with a couple of punches on the ground Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight. It may have been a litte early, considering Kongo's recuperating ability, that was shown in his fight against Pat Barry.
Fight Rating: *** 1/2


Jake Shields Decision over Sexyama: Akiyama didn't really do much in this fight aside from stuffing Shields' takedowns attempts. Jake landed almost double the amount of strikes that Akiyama did, but they didn't really do much damage. This fight didn't do much for either guy's career. 
Fight Rating: *


Tim Boetsch 3rd Round TKO over Yushin Okami: To quote Joe Rogan, this was one of the best comeback wins in the history of the UFC. Okami had his way with Boetsch for the first two rounds. Boetsch looked like he was shot out of a cannon in the third round, hitting Okami with a series of uppercuts that knocked him down and out. 
Fight Rating *****


Hatsu Hioki Decsion over Bart Palaszewski: Nice action from both guys, but Hioki dominated most of it.
Fight Rating **


Anthony Pettis 1st Round TKO over Joe Lauzon: Pettis showed why he's called "Showtime" with a sick head kick in the first round that dropped Lauzon. He followed it up with a flurry of punches that ended the fight. He could be the Number One Contender for the Lightweight Title
Fight Rating ****


I went a terrible 1-6 in my predictions. On the bright-side I have to do better next time.


                                                      What's Next?


Ben Henderson: The champ has a few possible exciting number one contender's to defend his belt against, if Edgar doesn't get an immediate rematch: Possible Opponents: Jim Miller/Nate Diaz winner. Anthony Pettis, Edgar


Frankie Edgar: Edgar has to decide if the UFC's pressure to move down to Featherweight is going to help his career, or if he wants another shot at Henderson's belt. Possible Opponents: Clay Guida, Ben Henderson, Chad Mendes


Rampage Jackson: Rampage is at the tail end of a legendary career. He started talking trash with Rich Franklin in the media this week, or can fight a middle of the road light-heavyweight fighter. Possible Opponents: Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz


Ryan Bader: He might have saved his UFC career with this win. Possible Opponents: Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson, Phil Davis


Jake Shields: In the same boat as Bader. He lives to fight another day. Possible Opponents: Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez, Johnny Hendricks


Anthony Pettis: Should be the number-one contender. Possible Opponents: Ben Henderson, Frankie Edgar


Yoshihiro Akiyama: This loss might have sealed his fate in the UFC. I'll be surprised if he gets another fight.

                                   Does Frankie Edgar Have the Answer For Henderson?


UFC 144 is this Saturday from Saitama Super Arena in Japan, the first Japanese event for the Zuffa owned company since UFC 29 in 2000. Because Japan is the unofficial home of martial arts, the spectacle of the event might be bigger than just the fights on the card. Dana White has wanted to try to book an event in Japan for a while, but has been warded off by alleged threats from the Yakuza gang. Last week the UFC announced that the pay-per-view will be four hours and feature seven fights, instead of the usual five fight three hour events. Headlining the show will be Jersey's own Frankie "The Answer" Edgar defending the lightweight belt against Ben "Smooth" Henderson.

Frankie Edgar (9-1-1 in the UFC), coming off of four fights against two opponents in the past two years, is excited to be training and fighting against some new competition. A three fight winning streak earned Edgar a title shot against UFC legend BJ Penn in April 2010 at UFC 112. There, he used his speed and superior wrestling advantage to upset the champ in a grueling 25 minute decision, ending Penn's 812 day run with the belt. Many people were unhappy with the decision, forcing the UFC to book a rematch at UFC 118 in August. Edgar used the same strategy to grind out another five-round decision victory, winning every round in the judge's scorecards.

The new number one contender for Edgar's belt was unbeaten Gray Maynard. Maynard was the only mark in an otherwise spotless record for Frankie, beating him in 2008. The battle was set for New Years Day 2011 at UFC 125. Gray Maynard was relentless in the first round, brutally beating Edgar, and almost stopping him in several occasions. Frankie showed his Jersey toughness, and not only survived the round, but began to take over the fight. The fight shockingly went the distance, ending a rare draw. With each fighter earning a 48-46 decision, and the third judge scoring it a 47-47 draw. In my opinion, the 47-47 score was correct with Maynard taking the first round 10-8, but losing three of the final four rounds. Despite the fight being ruled a draw, many felt Frankie won the fight just for surviving the first round, and having an early Fight of the Year candidate.

A rematch was set for April, but injuries to both fighters pushed it back to October at UFC 136. Shockingly, the first round of the trilogy was similar to their second fight in January, with Maynard dominating and bloodying up the champ. Once again, Frankie displayed his famous heart and not only won the fight, but did it in impressive fashion, knocking out Maynard in the fourth round. That put to rest any doubt critics would have of Edgar. Toms River's son defended his belt successfully again.

Opposing Frankie Edgar on Sunday could be his toughest opponent to date, Ben Henderson (8-1 in the UFC/WEC). Henderson made a name for himself fighting for Zuffa-owned World Elite Cagefighting, winning their lightweight title in 2009. Henderson lost the belt in a hotly contested fight against Anthony Pettis in the WEC's final show in 2010. Zuffa closed down the organization and merged all the fighters into the UFC. Henderson had impressive victories against Mark Bocek and Jim Miller, earning a number-one contender fight against fan-favorite Clay Guida. Fighting in the co-main event of the UFC's first show on FOX, Henderson put on another display of his great striking and wrestling, to earn this fight against Frankie Edgar.

Grappling


Ben Henderson has shown an uncanny ability to escape submissions, you just have to watch his fight against Jim Miller to see that this man can not and will not tapout. Frankie Edgar is proficient on the ground, with a good rear-naked choke and guillotine, but would prefer to unleash his ground-and-pound when in dominant positions then to go for a submission. The ground game is more or less a wash for both fighters, but because of his submission defense, I'll give the edge to Bendo. Edge: Henderson


Wrestling


Frankie Edgar has proved that he can outwrestle anyone that has stepped into the cage with him. Making the nationals in all four years of his college wrestling career in Clarion University, and currently coaching the Rutgers wrestling team. Henderson's tree-trunk legs have challenged his opponents in the past, but he hasn't fought a wrestler as good as Edgar yet. Edge: Edgar


Striking


Ben Henderson is a strong fighter, but he hasn't stopped an opponent on his feet since a TKO victory against Shane Roller in 2009. In his victory against Clay Guida he effectively counter-struck against the always aggressive Carpenter. Frankie Edgar uses his speed more than his strength while on his feet. Being a true 155 pounder, he often comes to the cage in a disadvantage as far as strength is concerned because many of his opponents cut weight before the weigh-in, and bulk up before the fight. Edgar has also proven he can take a beating, and survive by being more relentless than anyone else in the UFC. Edge: Edgar


Prediction


I can see this being a very close fight, because both men are so evenly matched in all three facets of the sport. Frankie Edgar is going to have to figure out how to start the fight off better than he did against Gray Maynard, or he could be in a lot of trouble. That being said, Frankie's heart is the biggest edge in this fight, and I see him winning a grueling decision victory in a fight that is easily a Fight of the Night contender. Winner: Edgar by Decision


                                  Quick Predictions for the Rest of the Main Card


Rampage Jackson over Ryan Bader by KO in 2nd round: Bader's career was derailed with back-to-back losses against Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. Rampage is coming off a loss against Jones also, and my be looking for one final run at the title.


Cheick Kongo over Mark Hunt by TKO in 1st round: The Frenchman, Kongo, is one of the most underrated heavyweights in the UFC, with his only losses coming against top competition.

Jake Shields over Yoshihiro Akiyama by Decision: Shields has been less than impressive in the UFC, losing his last two fights. But I don't see Akiyama putting up much of a fight against him, despite having the home-field advantage.

Yushin Okami over Tim Boetsch by Decison: Okami is looking to get back to his winning ways after a loss to Anderson Silva. He will be Boetsch's toughest opponent since his return to the UFC.

Bart Palaszewski over Hatsu Hioki by KO in 2nd round: Palaszewski has shown knockout power in his WEC-UFC career, winning knockout of the night twice. Hioki has built his career in Japan, with this being only his second UFC fight.

Joe Lauzon over Anthony Pettis by Submission in 3rd round: Lauzon relishes being in the underdog role, and always brings it. Pettis has an unorthodox striking repertoire. This could be the most entertaining fight of the night.

Is FOX good for the UFC?

                                                       UFC on Fox: Good or Bad?

When UFC announced their new television contract with FOX in August for a seven year deal at  reportedly $100 million a year, MMA fans, including myself were excited for the potential exposure and growth for one of my favorite sports. However, almost six months since the deal was announced it has lost a bit of it's initial luster.

The first Fox show in November, featured a lot of talk and only 64 seconds of fighting, with Junior Dos Santos winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Cain Velasquez. The decision to only show one fight was questioned by a lot experts, and their worst nightmare became reality. Dana White's comically angry post fight reaction was one of the top unintentionally funny moments in sports. With the UFC president scowling and questioning why Cain Velasquez would stand and bang with Dos Santos.

Length of the fights weren't a problem for the second Fox show, with all three fights going the distance. Due to a last minute injury to Mark Munoz, Chirs Weidman had to step in to fight Demian Maia in the opening fight. Both fighters gassed early and the 15 minute fight felt like a half hour. The second fight was the best of the night with Chael Sonnen beating Michael Bisping. Bisping was supposed to fight Maia, but stepped up to fight Sonnen when Munoz was injured. The fight featured a lot of work out of the clinch and up against the cage. The final fight was a 25-minute dominating performance by Rashad Evans over Phil Davis. The show still did well ratings wise. but neither Rashad nor Chael, the two guys the UFC wanted to win because of potential championship grudge matches (Sonnen-Silva, Evan-Jones), looked very impressive.

Now the third event is in May from Izod Center in Jersey, and the lineup is pretty much set. The main event of Jim Miller against Nate Diaz is weak as far as star potential is concerned. The rest of the card, as follows, features guys that put on exciting fights but don't offer much as far as being a ratings draw.

• Josh Koscheck vs Johny Hendricks
• Alan Belcher vs Rousimar Palhares
• Pat Barry vs LaVar Johnson

Yahoo Sports writer Dave Meltzer suggested that UFC may be experimenting with this card to see how much of a draw the UFC brand is without giving away potential pay-per-view fights. However, with the show taking place in Jersey, and with UFC's battle with New York state to legalize MMA, you would think that they would want to put on a bigger show. Once UFC gave a top-shelf fight for their Fox premiere, they set the bar and fan's expectations high, only to follow it up with what used to be Spike Fight Night quality shows. I think they need a bigger main event to differentiate the Fox network shows from their FX and Fuel shows or the ratings could drop significantly.

That brings up another knock on the Fox contract, that Fuel TV is pretty much the UFC channel, and isn't available with some of the bigger cable companies, including Comcast. Fans like myself, have missed out on the new UFC Unleashed, PPV replays, UFC Tonight, and UFC Insider shows. Fuel is also home to the pay-per view Countdown shows as well, which could be potentially damaging in the long term. But what hit MMA fans hardest was the fact that UFC had a live show on Fuel this past Wednesday. Luckily, one of my friends has Fuel, so I was able to see the show, but many people don't have that luxury, plus with the show being on a work night it was harder for people to go out to a bar to watch the fights also.

Fox and the UFC are still in their honeymoon phase though, and many of these problems are easily fixable. If the ratings drop in the Fox shows, UFC will be forced to put better fights on the shows. Also, Fox could be using the UFC to build up Fuel, hoping that fans force cable providers hands in giving clearance to them, thus getting Fox more money. In the meantime, UFC should offer die-hard fans an opportunity to watch the Fuel shows, even at a small price. I wouldn't mind shelling out $10-$15 to watch the Fuel fights online. In the long-term, Fox could be what MMA needs to blow up and become even more popular, but so far it has hit a few road bumps.

                                      Elimination Chamber/ Wrestlemania in the Meadowlands

WWE's Elimination Chamber pay-per view is tomorrow, and is the final PPV on the road to Wrestlemania. The Raw Chamber features CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and R-Truth. With the rumored Wrestlemania 29 title match between Punk and Jericho, I see Punk retaining his title. The Smackdown Chamber is more unpredictable. The six participants are Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Wade Barret, Cody Rhodes, Great Khali!? and Santino Marella!!!???? With injuries to Randy Orton and Mark Henry opening up the slots for Marella and Khali this match doesn't have the same feel to it. I expect something to happen to Marella though, opening a slot for someone else, perhaps Christian, to keep up the surprise element WWE loves to give to it's PPV buyers. In the other major match, John Cena takes on Kane in an ambulance match. I just want this story-line to end so Cena can move on to building his Wrestlemania main event feud with The Rock. Can WWE finally pull the trigger on a heel turn for Cena? I would love to see it, but doubt it. 

Wrestlemania is shaping up to be a really good show on paper this year. Headlined by Rock-Cena, and HHH-Undertaker III with Shawn Michaels playing a role in the match, as well as rumored matches of Punk-Jericho, and Daniel Bryan-Sheamus. WWE always does a great job building up Wrestlemania, so the next two months of TV should be interesting.

Finally, WWE held a press conference this week to officially announce that Wrestlemania 29 will take place at Metlife Stadium. This is the first time 'Mania will be held in an outdoor venue in a colder city. I'm surprised that they decided to do this, since it means that WM 30 will probably not take place in MSG, like the first, tenth and twentieth Mania's were. At the press conference, The Rock announced that he is going to be at the Grandaddy of 'Em All for the third straight year. I'm pretty excited for this, as it will be the second Wrestlemania I'll have the privilege of going to live. 

The First Post

Hey everyone.... I appreciate you checking out my first post. As an avid UFC and New York area sports fans, I will write what I am passionate about. While I'm not a seasoned vet of the blogosphere, I promise to try to give my own thought-provoking opinions on various sports topics and try to entertain and inform you.

                                                      UFC 143 Aftermath

UFC 143 may be a few weeks old now, but the shock-waves of the event continue to be felt by the MMA community. The main event of Carlos Condit against Nick Diaz for the Interim Welterweight Title ended in a controversial decision, and another entertaining Nick Diaz post-fight interview. Fans clamored for a possible rematch, but a positive drug test by one of the competitors put that talk to an end for now.

Going into the fifth and final round of the fight my friends and I argued about who was winning. I felt like Condit was ahead 3 rounds to 1, with Diaz taking the second round. Carlos used leg kicks effectively  and  employed an impressive counter-attack to stifle Diaz, and keep the fight in a pace he was comfortable with, thanks to the great mind of Greg Jackson. Diaz was getting visibly frustrated that Condit wasn't letting the fight turn into a brawl. My buddy argued that Diaz was winning because Condit wasn't doing enough damage, and that Condit was scared of Diaz.

At the end of the fifth round, Diaz took Condit down and had a dominant position, which made many fans feel like he did enough to earn the judge's decision. However, Condit won the fight by unanimous decision; 48-47, 49-46, 49-46. After the fight Diaz told Joe Rogan he was quitting the fight game if he could lose B.S. decisions from guys not looking to actually fight.

In the days after the fight, there were rumors, that were at one point confirmed by Dana White on Twitter, that the UFC was setting up a rematch. However, on Thursday the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Nick Diaz tested positive for weed, and would be put on an indefinite suspension. I'm not a psychiatrist, and won't try to figure out what is going on in Nick's mind, but it is sad to see a guy as talented as he is have so many problems outside the cage.

Now the main question is what to do with the Welterweight Division. Carlos Condit could decide to put the division in limbo while waiting for Georges St Pierre to return from his knee injury, or he can take a fight in the meantime, lose, and miss out on a potential big payday from a fight with GSP. If he decides to take a fight, the likely number one contender would be the winner of Wednesday's fight between Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger. GSP has hinted that his hatred for Nick Diaz is enough for him to give up his title all together just to fight him, but his upcoming suspension might dispel that. 

                                                    UFC on Fuel 1

UFC on Fuel 1 is headlined by Diego Sanchez (12-4 in the UFC) against Jake Ellenberger (5-1 in the UFC). The 26-year old Ellenberger is on a five-fight winning streak after losing in his UFC debut to Carlos Condit. He is an exciting young fighter, stopping his opponent in four of his five UFC wins. However, on the other side of the Octagon is UFC veteran Diego Sanchez. Sanchez has won his last two fights, and always bring it in every fight he's in. 

                                                            ETC.....

I'd like to congratulate the 2011 NY Giants on winning the Super Bowl. Even though I'm not the biggest Giants fan it was nice to see Brady and Bellicheat leaving Indy in tears again....... My team, the Jets are linked among many teams to be in the running for Peyton Manning. I think that we should have learned our lesson with the Favre fiasco and stay away from old injured QB's. Sanchez might not be the answer either, but I'd like to see him get a chance with new Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano, after begging for years for Schittenheimer to get FIRED!!!!........ I'm not sure if Jeremy Lin is the real deal, but he does bring exciting basketball back to the Garden. The question now is if he can co-exist with Stat and Melo...... Speaking of Lin, why are so many people rooting against the kid? Tebowmania and  Linsanity are one of the most exciting things about sports, but sometimes people rebel against them because of sports media, I'm looking at you ESPN..... Finally, am I the only one counting down the days before Opening Day. Baseball brings with it warm weather, which means BBQ and beach season. The Yankees loaded their rotation, while other AL teams brought in the big bats (Pujols to LA and Prince to DET). It will be interesting to see how that works out.

Once again, thanks everyone for reading. I'm going to try to bang one of these out a week, and would appreciate any constructive criticism.