Shonie Carter Bellator 25 – photo by Brent Todd

Today’s edition of MMARecap’s Morning Commute is a big one. There’s the folding of Strikeforce after one last big show, which talent will be brought over, quotes from Daniel Cormier about his career versus Jon Jones, Thiago Silva stating he wasted three years of his life at ATT, and Dana White dropping hints about a possible venue for a superfight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre. All that plus November 9th is a crazy day for one Shonie “Mr. International” Carter having fought three times through out the course of his career on November 9ths.  So listen in the player below or download it for your listening pleasure at a later date.

Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy took place Saturday night in Portland, Oregon and featured two championship fights that both went five rounds. In the main event it was Luke Rockhold who defeated Tim Kennedy by unanimous decision in an exciting fight. Although Rockhold was able to win four out of the five rounds, Kennedy came to fight and he didn’t make it easy for Luke. It was the size and timing of Rockhold which enabled him to win the rounds he did. In the co-main event, it was Nate Marquardt and Tyrone Woodley who fought for the vacant welterweight title. The fight was a back and forth affair until the fourth round when Marquardt landed a viscous over hand elbow that put Woodley out on his feet. Marquardt landed twomore shots before Woodley crumpled to the mat, and the ref stepped in. Marquardt looked like he hadn’t missed a step despite the 18 month lay off, and he walked out of the Strikeforce cage wearing the belt that Nick DIaz left behind when he left for the UFC. Below are the full results for the card.

Main card (Showtime)

Middleweight Championship bout:
Luke Rockhold (c) vs.  Tim Kennedy
Luke Rockhold defeats Tim Kennedy (49-46×3)

Welterweight Championship bout:
Nate Marquardt vs.  Tyron Woodley
Nate Marquardt defeats Tyron Woodley by knockout (strikes) at 1:37 of round 4

Middleweight bout:
Robbie Lawler vs.  Lorenz Larkin
Lorenz Larkin  defeats Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision (30-27×3)

Middleweight bout:
Keith Jardine vs.  Roger Gracie
Roger Gracie defeats Keith Jardine by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Preliminary card

Lightweight bout:
Pat Healy vs.  Mizuto Hirota
Pat Healy defeats  Mizuto Hirota by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Lightweight bout:
Jorge Masvidal vs.  Justin Wilcox
Jorge Masvidal defeats Justin Wilcox by split decision (29-28, 28-29,30-27)

Lightweight bout:
Ryan Couture vs.  Joe Duarte
Ryan Couture defeats Joe Duarte by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Welterweight bout:
Jordan Mein vs.  Tyler Stinson
Jordan Mein defeats Tyler Stinson via unanimous decision (30-27×3)

Welterweight bout:
Jason High vs.  Nate Moore
Jason High defeats Nate Moore by submission (guillotine choke) at :26 of round 1

Anderson Silva

After Vitor Belfort’s (19-8) win at UFC 103, Dana White stated that Belfort was ready for Anderson Silva (25-4) now.  Apparently, Silva agrees and has verbally agreed to take on “The Phenom” at UFC 108.  While UFC officials haven’t confirmed the news yet, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Dana White is the originating source.

It was rumored that Dan Henderson would be next to take on Silva after his brutal knockout over Michael Bisping.  But then Nate Marquardt had a just as impressive knockout victory over Demian Maia catapulting him to the top of the list as well.  Silva’s manager stated that neither Marquardt nor Henderson should be next to fight Silva without first fighting each other first.

UFC 108 is scheduled to take place on Saturday January 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Normally the UFC schedules a year-end fight card, however due to the holiday season, the blockbuster show will instead be the first of 2010.

Silva is undefeated inside the octagon, setting a record ten fight win streak in the UFC.  He most recently proved why he is so dangerous when he completely dismantled Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.  Silva is scheduled to undergo elbow surgery to remove some bone spurs prior to his training camp for the fight.

Belfort’s victory over Franklin marked his fifth straight victory and third straight knock out victory.

Dan Henderson With 3 Belts

Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (25-7) is holding firm, but he is confident that a UFC deal will get done. Henderson has always been one of the top mixed martial artists in the game as he held title belts in two weight classes while fighting in PRIDE, and has already had multiple wars inside the UFC octagon.

After serving as a coach on last season of The Ultimate Fighter, Henderson got the chance he had been waiting for, as he fought Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in July. In a bout that pitted the USA against the UK, Henderson made all the American fans ecstatic as he brutally knocked Bisping unconscious with a vicious right hand.

The American is now a free agent. The UFC definitely wants to re-sign him and have him face off against Nate Marquardt to see who the number one challenger for Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt would be. Henderson has made it public that he does not want to fight Marquardt right now, as he thinks he has earned the right to fight the champion again. He said that if the UFC is going to get him to fight Marquardt, the organization will need to meet his salary demands.

“Hollywood” believes he deserves more than the $350,000 he made for destroying Bisping.

He said that he hasn’t talked to Strikeforce, or any other promotion, and claims that he definitely wants to stick with the UFC and find a way to get a deal done. He is optimistic about a deal being made and wants to fight later this year in the octagon.

UFC 102 Poster

The headliners of UFC 102 were the top financial earners this Saturday night as Nogueira and Couture combined for 51 percent of the night’s $1,285,000 payroll. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was rewarded with $460,000, which includes a $60,000 fight of the night bonus, for his outstanding victory over Randy Couture. The 46 year old took home $310,000, which also includes his fight of the night bonus.

Taking home $140,000 was Nate Marquardt, who knocked out Jiu Jitsu ace, Demian Maia in just 21 seconds.

UFC 102 Full Payroll:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $460,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus plus $60,000 fight of the night bonus) defeats Randy Couture $310,000 (includes $60,000 fight of the night bonus).

Thiago Silva: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus) defeats Keith Jardine ($55,000).

Nate Marquardt: $140,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus plus $60,000 knockout bonus) defeats Demian Maia ($28,000).

Jake Rosholt: $86,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus plus $60,000 submission bonus) defeats Chris Leben ($30,000).

Brandon Vera: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus) defeats Krzysztof Soszynski ($8,000).

Aaron Simpson: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus) defeats Ed Herman ($24,000).

Gabriel Gonzaga: $120,000 (includes $60,000 win bonus) defeats Chris Tuchscherer ($10,000).

Mike Russow: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) defeats Justin McCully ($15,000).

Todd Duffee: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) defeats Tim Hague ($7,000).

Mark Munoz: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) defeats Nick Catone ($5,000).

Evan Dunham: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) defeats Marcus Aurelio ($13,000).

Ed Herman

One day after the successful UFC 102 event, the Oregon State Athletic Commission released medical suspensions for the fighters.

The state has a 7 day mandatory suspension, and 12 UFC fighters were given suspensions above the mandatory limit.

Ed Herman was the recipient of the longest suspension. He is suspended indefinitely for an injury he sustained to his knee in his fight with Aaron Simpson.

The complete list of medical suspensions is as follows:

Randy Couture: 30 days

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: 30 days

Keith Jardine: 30 days

Thiago Silva: 7 days

Chris Leben: 30 days. He must have a CT scan of facial bones to rule out fracture.

Jake Rosholt: 7 days

Demian Maia: 30 days. He must have a CT scan of facial bones to rule out fracture.

Nate Marquardt: 7 days

Krzysztof Soszynski: 30 days (Laceration)

Brandon Vera: 7 days

Ed Herman: Suspended indefinitely due to injury to his left knee. Referred to doctor for MRI

Aaron Simpson: 7 days

Chris Tuchscherer: 45 days (Laceration)

Gabriel Gonzaga: 7 days

Justin McCully: 30 days (Referred to emergency room for evaluation of left eye)

Mike Russow: 7 days

Tim Hague: 60 days

Todd Duffee: 7 days

Mark Munoz: 30 days (Right elbow sprain)

Nick Catone: 7 days

Marcus Aurelio: 14 days

Evan Dunham: 7 days

Rose Garden Arena

Over 16,000 fans were in attendance for Saturday’s UFC 102 at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland Oregon.  The live gate for the event drew $1.92 million and is a top five for the venue.  The UFC also handed out a total of $240,000 in bonuses to Nogueria, Couture, Marquardt and Rosholt.

Couture and Nogueria easily won the fight of the night as the action never stopped.  The fight lived up to all of its hype and showed just how good both fighters can be when they are at 100%.

Marquardt earned the knock out of the night when his first punch sent Maia flying through the air doing a 180 before crashing into the canvas. Dana White said, “Those are the kind of punches you see in movies. That stuff usually isn’t real – video games or something. It was an unbelievable shot.”  While it was the best looking knock out, Todd Duffee’s record setting knock out of Tim Hague could have also been picked.

Rosholt earned the submission of a night bonus with his arm triangle choke over Chris Leben.  Leben tried to tap out, but was choked out before being able to finish tapping out.

The live gate is the lowest US pay per view live gate since “UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine”.  Dana White admitted that the UFC priced the tickets wrong and the event drew a less-than-expected live gate. “I’m pissed off that we’re not the No. 1 gate in the history of this place,” White said. “That bums me out because I think we could have done it had we dialed it in right.”

Nogueira Punches Couture - via Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

A fight that many thought should have happened five years ago, finally happened and it didn’t disappoint.  Despite not having a title fight on the card, UFC 102 shaped up to be a solid night of fights.  The night saw thrilling knockouts, a great arm triangle submission and all out wars that went the distance.

The night’s opening fight saw Brandon Vera take on late replacement Krzysztof Soszynski.   Vera opened the fight with a kick to Soszynski’s body that seemed to knock the wind out of Soszynski.  This opening kick set the pace for the rest of the fifteen-minute fight.  Soszynski did not have an answer for Vera’s kicks and when he was able to get into a clinch game, Vera’s Muay Thai proved to be too much to over come.  All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Vera.

Hometown favorite Chris Leben promised a war with Jake Rosholt and it delivered.  The three-round battle saw Leben winning the stand up game, while Rosholt was clearly winning the ground game.  In the third round Rosholt was able to get the fight to the ground and had Leben in a tight arm triangle choke.  Leben started to tap, and stopped due to being choked out.

Anderson Silva was paying close attention to the next fight of Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia.  He had stated that he felt the winner should fight Dan Henderson to see who the true contender is for his belt.  Marquardt had just as impressive of a knock out of Maia as Henderson did over Bisping.  Maia attempted a head kick at the same time as Marquardt was throwing his first punch.  The punch landed squarely sending Maia for a 180 ride before crashing down to the canvas.

Both Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva promised their opponent was going to get knocked out.  Unfortunately for Jardine, Silva was the one who did the knocking out.  Silva was able to show his ground game skills early in the fight but Jardine was able to escape.  Once back on the feet, Silva caught Jardine with a short left hook that sent Jardine to the ground.  Silva pounced on the opportunity and three shots later Jardine was out cold.

Randy Couture stated that he was training for the best Nogueria he had ever seen.  Unfortunately the Nogueria that showed up was better than anything Couture had witnessed.  The undersized Couture didn’t have an answer for Nogueria’s offense.  Even when Couture landed solid heavy punches, Nogueria just seemed to shrug them off and kept coming forward.  The pace of the fight seemed more like that of welterweights as neither fighter would give up or stop going.  In the end, Nogueria won the decision victory.

Todd Duffee set a new knock out record by knocking out Tim Hauge in just 7 seconds.  Duffee sent Hauge to the ground with a straight jab and then seized the opportunity.  After a couple of right hands that didn’t hit the mark, a left-handed punch knocked Hauge out cold.

Ed Herman and Aaron Simpson was a fast paced action fight.  Unfortunately for Herman, a knee injury in the first round proved to be too much.  After the first round ended, Herman was noticeably limping to his corner.  Yves Lavigne told Herman to protect his knee before the start of the second after Herman said he was still able to fight.  Herman attempted to kick Simpson but Simpson just caught the kick.  As Simpson caught the kick, Herman’s knee popped and Herman curled up into a ball forcing Yves to stop the fight.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
o    Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Randy Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
o    Thiago Silva def. Keith Jardine via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:35
o    Jake Rosholt def. Chris Leben via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 1:30
o    Nate Marquardt def. Demian Maia via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:21
o    Brandon Vera def. Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
o    Aaron Simpson def. Ed Herman via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 0:17
o    Gabriel Gonzaga def. Chris Tuchscherer via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:27
o    Mike Russow def. Justin McCully via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
o    Todd Duffee def. Tim Hague via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:07
o    Mark Munoz def. Nick Catone via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
o    Evan Dunham def. Marcus Aurelio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Randy Couture UFC 102 Weigh-In - Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images North America

All fighters on the “UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira” card successfully made weight Friday night. The weigh-ins took place at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon, which is the same place where the fights will be held Saturday night.

Both main event fighters looked lean and ready to go to war as Couture weighed in at 220 pounds, while Nogueira tipped the scales at 231. The main event fighters each expressed their respect for their opponent and said this fight is a long time coming.

“UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira” weigh-in results:

Main Card
•    Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (231) vs. Randy Couture (220)
•    Thiago Silva (205) vs. Keith Jardine (205)
•    Demian Maia (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (185)
•    Krzysztof Soszynski (205) vs. Brandon Vera (205)
•    Jake Rosholt (185) vs. Chris Leben (185)

Preliminary Card
•    Aaron Simpson (185) vs. Ed Herman (185.5)
•    Chris Tuchscherer (258) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (259)
•    Mike Russow (260) vs. Justin McCully (238)
•    Todd Duffee (251) vs. Tim Hague (263.5)
•    Mark Munoz (185.5) vs. Nick Catone (185.5)
•    Evan Dunham (155) vs. Marcus Aurelio (156)

UFC 102 Poster

UFC 102 takes place live Saturday August 28th at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon.  The televised portion of the card includes a light heavyweight matchup between Brandon Vera and Krzysztof Soszynaski, a middleweight bout with title shot implications between Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia, a middleweight fight between Portland’s own Chris Leben and Jake Rosholt, a co-main event of heavy hitters Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva and finally mainevented by heavyweights Randy Couture and Antonio Nogueira.  Read on for our analysis and predictions of who will be victorious inside the octagon.

Couture vs. Nogueira
In a matchup of two UFC and mixed martial arts legends, both Nogueira and Couture need a win to remain relevant in today’s heavyweight contender mix. Unfortunately, only one man can be victorious. Both fighters’ abilities have been questioned lately, with age being the biggest factor. Nogueira looked old and out of shape in his last bout, as he was finished for the first time in his career by Frank Mir. Couture was very undersized and had no answer for the phenom known as Brock Lesnar.

The fight will likely start off with Couture punishing Nogueira early on, but, the fact is Couture is a 46 year old in a young man’s sport. Randy’s age will become apparent in this fight as Nogueira proves to the world who the washed up fighter is as he submits Couture midway through the third round.

Thiago Silva vs. Keith Jardine
This bout has “fight of the night” written all over it as two of the top light heavy weight contenders step into the octagon both looking to knock the other guy’s block off. Both Jardine and Silva are coming off losses to top ranked fighters in Quinton Jackson and the champ, Lyoto Machida, respectively.

I have doubts about both fighters’ chins, but one thing is clear, their hearts are big and their punches are even bigger. Jardine’s unorthodox style and solid takedown defense will reign supreme as he forces Silva into a striking match, resulting in a TKO for “The Dean of Mean.”

Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
Another extremely intriguing matchup involving title implications takes place on Saturday night as Jiu Jitsu ace Demian Maia takes on the always impressive Nate Marquardt. Maia looks to remain undefeated, ultimately looking for a matchup against the number one fighter in the world, Anderson Silva. Marquardt has been remarkable since losing to the champion, and hopes that a win over Maia will get him that much sought after rematch.

This fight is up in the air as I can see Maia pulling guard to achieve the takedown and submitting his opponent; while at the same time I can see Marquardt defending the takedown and taking Maia out on his feet. I’m leaning towards the more experience, hungrier fighter in Marquardt, as I believe he will be able to keep this fight standing and force the referee to come to the rescue of his game opponent in Maia.

Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Leben has the advantage of fighting in his hometown state for this event, which is well deserved since he had to take on Bisping in England for his last fight. Rosholt was a very promising prospect coming from the WEC based on his excellent wrestling credentials. This fight should answer many questions about Rosholt’s future in MMA. If Leben can avoid being taken down he will deliver the knockout the entire arena will be looking forward to seeing. However, I’m going with another upset in this matchup as Rosholt will be better prepared for this bout than he was in his first UFC fight with Dan Miller, as he presses for the takedown and successfully ground and pounds Leben for three rounds and earns the decision victory.

Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
A matchup between two solid strikers will kick off the pay-per-view portion of UFC 102 as Brandon Vera looks to live up to his hype against “The Polish Experiment.”  Soszynski takes this fight on shorter notice as he is filling in for the injured Matt Hammil. Soszynski has looked strong in the UFC, finishing all of his three opponents, but Vera will be his toughest test to date. Vera has definitely not lived up to all the hype he was given (and made for himself) to this point, but he will get on the right track on Saturday night as he beats Soszynski to earn a unanimous decision.

MMA Recap Staff Quick Picks
Adam Dicker
Nogueira by submission
Jardine by TKO
Marquardt by TKO
Rosholt by Decision
Vera by Decision

Brent Todd
Couture by Decision
Jardine by TKO
Maia by Submission
Leben by Decision
Soszynski by Submission