UFC 91 Poster

Today’s edition of Recap Radio features more injury news as both Shane Carwin and Gray Maynard are out of their respective bouts. Additionally Chris Weidman likes Bisping’s idea of a an interim title for the middleweight division, The Ultimate Fighter is moving to Wednesdays and updates to the Bellator 84 card. All of that plus the day in history features UFC 91 which was arguably one of the most important cards of the Zuffa era. Use the player below to listen to it or download the mp3 to your favorite device to listen to later.

Independent Link Club Logo

This week’s MMA Link Club features results from BAMMA, a look at The Ultimate Fighter, politics and more.

MMA in Politics: Is the Sport a Partisan Issue? [The MMA Corner]

BAMMA 10: Full post-event review and official results [The MMA Review]

Outlook of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson [MMA Valor]

The Art of MMA Matchmaking from Spartan Fighting Championship promoter Terry Callihan [Pro MMA Now]

Road FC 9 Results: Melvin Manhoef wins, Vuyisile Colossa Kills it and Minowaman proves that those red shorts are still sexy [The Fight Nation]

Top 10 Characters from Street Fighter who could win in MMA [The Fight Nerd]

UFC 146 took place at the MGM Grand tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada for the first all heavyweight card in UFC history. Junior dos Santos defended his belt for the first time against Frank Mir, when he finished him with strikes three minutes into the second round. Mir didn’t have much for dos Santos offense wise, and seemed defeated when he couldn’t get the fight to the floor.

In the co-main event, it was Cain Velasquez who bloodied up Antonio Silva early in the fight from half guard, and opened up a huge cut over the eye of Silva. Referee Yves Lavigne even stopped the fight at one point to have the doctor check on the cut, but the fight continued. After another minute, LaVigne stepped in to stop the bout, and give Velasquez his first win since losing his belt to Junior dos Santos.

The entire main card was all finishes, and none of the fights entered the third round. The collective time for all the main card fights was 21:50, and it left plenty of time to show some of the under card fights. Below are the full results for UFC 146.

Bonuses: $70,000
Fight of The Night: None
Knock Out of The NightL Dan Hardy and Roy Nelson
Submission of The Night: Stefan Struve And Paul Sass

Main card

Heavyweight Championship bout:
Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir
Junior dos Santos defeats Frank Mir by technical knock out at 3:04 of round 2

Heavyweight bout:
Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
Cain Velasquez defeats Antonio SIlva by technical knock out (strikes) at of round 1 #mma #ufc146

Heavyweight bout
Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman
Roy Nelson defeats Dave Herman by knock out (punches) at :51 of round 1

Heavyweight bout:
Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miočić
Stipe Miočić defeats  Shane del Rosario by technical knock (elbows from mount) out 3:14 of round 2

Heavyweight bout:
Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson
Stefan Struve defeats Lavar Johnson by submission (arm bar) at 1:05 of round 1

Preliminary card (FX)

Featherweight bout:
Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
Darren Elkins defeats Diego Brandao by unanimous decision (29-28×3) #UFC146 #mma

Lightweight bout:
Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner
Jamie Varner defeats Edson Barboza by technical knock out at 3:23 of round 1 #mma #ufc146

Middleweight bout:
Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway
C.B. Dollaway defeats Jason Miller by unanimous decision (29-28×2, 30-26)  #UFC146 #mma

Welterweight bout:
Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
Dan Hardy defeats Duane Ludwig by knock out (strikes) at 3:51 of round 1

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Lightweight bout:
Jacob Volkmann vs. Paul Sass
Paul Sass defeats Jacob Volkmann via submission (Triangle/arm bar) at 1:54 of round 1

Light Heavyweight bout:
Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixeira
Glover Teixeira defeats Kyle Kingsbury by submission (Arm triangle) at 1:53 of round 1

Featherweight bout:
Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda
Mike Brown defeats Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-28×3)

UFC 146 Weigh ins took place Friday at the MGM Grand in preparation for the first all heavyweight main card in UFC history. All fighters made weight, and below are the full weigh in results. The fights will take place at the MGM Grand, and will be broadcasted around the world on pay per view.

Frank Mir said “Both of us like to finish guys fast, and it will be an explosive quick fight.” Dos Santos “This is going to be a knock out, in the second round.”

Main card

Heavyweight Championship bout:
Junior dos Santos  239 lbs
Frank Mir 261 lbs

Heavyweight bout:
Cain Velasquez 240 lbs
Antonio Silva 264 lbs

Heavyweight bout
Roy Nelson 254 lbs
Dave Herman 233 lbs

Heavyweight bout:
Shane del Rosario 246 lbs
Stipe Miočić  245 lbs

Heavyweight bout:
Stefan Struve   255 lbs
Lavar Johnson  248 lbs

Preliminary card (FX)

Featherweight bout:
Diego Brandao 145 lbs
Darren Elkins 145 lbs

Lightweight bout:
Edson Barboza 155 lbs
Jamie Varner  156 lbs

Middleweight bout:
Jason Miller 185 lbs
C.B. Dollaway 186 lbs

Welterweight bout:
Dan Hardy 170 lbs
Duane Ludwig 171 lbs

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Lightweight bout:
Jacob Volkmann 156 lbs
Paul Sass 156 lbs

Light Heavyweight bout:
Kyle Kingsbury 205 lbs
Glover Teixeira 204 lbs

Featherweight bout:
Mike Brown 145 lbs
Daniel Pineda 146 lbs

Roy Nelson Cut after UFC 143

The heaviest card in UFC history is upon us come this Saturday night from Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena. And after Alistair Overeem throwing a wrench in the works and  Gabriel Gonzaga getting injured; Roy Nelson has landed on Dave Herman to keep this card all heavyweights for the first time the promotions history. Thank goodness for that, right!? We’ll see. The heavyweight division is as deep as it has ever been, but this card still seems forced to me. However, none of that will matter if the card is a huge (pun) PPV success. The masses do love heavyweight action. They are drawn into them for some mystical reason, but are they drawn to ‘these’ heavyweights?

Roy Nelson (16-7 MMA; 70%) is coming off of a moral victory for dropping a unanimous decision with Fabricio Werdum instead of being knocked out in the first round back at UFC 143 in February. Did I mention Nelson’s granite chin before, of course I have, because it’s painfully obvious that he has one. Nelson is one out of his last three fights in the UFC and sits at an even three-and-three overall in the same promotion. This is not a must win for the TUF Season 10 winner, but it is a fight that he should win. He is a -225 at the first MMA betting odds website that I Googled. Fights that you ‘should’ win are more dangerous to a career than any other fights.

Dave Herman (21-3 MMA; 88%) is also coming off of a lose to Stefan Struve via TKO in the second round at UFC on FUEL TV back in February as well as his opponent. Herman is only one-and-one with the MMA’s top promotion, so this match makes a lot of good MMA sense on paper. Even if they don’t match up in other areas such as MMA background, nicknames, body type and hairstyles. Herman has a good shot at becoming the darling of the night if he can win as a decent underdog, especially if it’s a powerful knockout or quick submission.

Ways to Win…
Nelson should be able to get in close with his power striking and get the clinch. From there, with his lower center of gravity, he might want to take the fight to the ground as soon as possible while they are dry. After gaining half guard or even side control from the takedown, he will have the option to win by TKO with his strategic ‘ground and pound’ or by a submission.

Herman should stick behind his jab and keep the distance/his hips away from Nelson as long as possible. I hope his cardio is up to snuff, because this may go all three rounds with Nelson’s power chin. Maybe a good plan would be to attack the legs with low kicks and keep the distance with push kicks. I know you shouldn’t kick wrestlers in order to avoid easy single leg takedowns, but maybe it will work if Herman is quick enough.

Prediction…
Nelson via kimura in round one followed quickly with a slender belly rub. Dana White shakes his head.

While we are approaching the end of March and it seems like it has been forever since an actual UFC event other than The Ultimate Fighter, it is time to recap what has transpired in the first quarter of 2012 with regards to the UFC.

From January 1st through March 31 the UFC held seven events. The first of which took place on January 14th and the span ended on March 3rd. That was seven events in seven weeks. No wonder the UFC decided to take some time off as the next event scheduled isn’t until April 14th.

Looking back at the events, there were several memorable moments. From fights to knockouts to submissions, the first quarter did not disappoint in the least. Let’s take a look at some of the best of the best through out this quarter.

Submissions
During the quarter there were a total of seventeen submissions. Some were obviously more memorable than others. But there was something special about our top five submissions. It could be because a fighter stuck to his bread and butter, it could have been a submission that hasn’t been seen before, or it could have been just from the sheer fact that the fighter got the submission. In all cases, just mentioning the fight and the submission it is likely to bring images of people tapping to the forefront of your brain.

5. Jim Miller defeated Melvin Guillard by rear naked choke at UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
4. Dustin Poirier defeated Max Holloway by mounted triangle armbar at UFC 143
3. Martin Kampmann defeated Thiago Alves by guillotine choke at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. Rousimar Palhares defeated Mike Massenzio by heel hook at UFC 142
1. Charles Oliveira defeated Eric Wisely by calf slicer at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis

Knockouts
Nothing gets the crowd going more than a crazy knockout. Sometimes a ref is merciful and is able to stop the barrage of attacks and other times, a single shot sends a foe to the canvas stiff as a board. No matter how the knockout happened, fans will always place the fighter that delivered the finishing strike on a new pedestal wanting him to take on a step up in competition.

5a. Stephen Thompson defeated Dan Stittgen by head kick at UFC 143
5b. Anthony Pettis defeated Joe Lauzon by head kick at UFC 144
4. Tim Boetsch defeated Yushin Okami by TKO at UFC 144
3. Lavar Johnson defeated Joey Beltran by uppercuts at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
2. Jose Aldo defeated Chad Mendes by knee at UFC 142
1. Edson Barboza defeated Terry Etim by spinning heel kick at UFC 142

Fights
While there were several memorable fights across all the cards, there is just something extra about the fights that received fight of the night honors from the UFC. Some fights were quick, others were one sided beatings, and others were great back and forth battles. With that said, here’s the top 5 fights from the first quarter.

5. Evan Dunham vs Nik Lentz at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
4. Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
3. Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143
2. Demetrious Johnson vs Ian McCall at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
1. Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson at UFC 144

Overall Card
Pay per views always tend to have a higher ranking as far as star power is concerned, and justifiably so; they require someone to purchase the event instead of watch it for free. But sometimes the free cards can out perform their pay per view counter parts on the fact that the fighters want to be on the main card of a pay per view instead of televised card. It was a difficult decision to rank the cards, but here’s the top 5.

5. UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
4. UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
3. UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes
1. UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson

On March 6, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced the fifth fight that would be scheduled to air during the Pay-Per-View broadcast of UFC 146. That bout was another heavyweight bout between Stefen Struve and Mark Hunt. This will mark the first time in the company’s history that all fights on the main card will be competed in the heavyweight division. I believe that this card started out as an accident for having mostly heavyweights, but grew into a forced live experiment by the UFC brass.

The good: This is a great strategy that may play out well for the UFC three to four months afterwards. By having the champ defend his title against the latest challenger, a number one contender fight and three other bouts battling for position within the division will answer many questions in the one night. Dana White, the president of the UFC, is asked ‘all the time’ at post fight press conferences about whom the winners and losers will fight next. His response is always a truthful one in “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” At the UFC 146 post fight presser; he will have a much clearer picture of whom each fighter should or could fight next.

Bellator Fighting Championship has been using this similar format to run their tournaments for years now, and it seems to be working for them and their audience. With all of these fighters fighting on the same night, injuries and typical medical suspensions almost become irrelevant because they will be on the same time table. This will level the playing field for the next fight, if the fighters from this card are matched up with an opponent from the same UFC 146 card for their next fight. Which again, Bellator has set the example for them to follow.

Summary: This makes future match making simpler and faster.

The bad: One of the best aspects of the largest MMA promotion in the world is their talent roster of over 300 active fighters. The heavyweight division is rapidly grown and is the deepest it has ever been. This division has almost been around since the beginning. Its long history dates back to UFC 12 in 1997 when the first heavyweight champ was crowned. However, the heavyweight division is still one of the shallowest divisions when compared to the other divisions (light heavyweight down to lightweight; featherweight through flyweight are new and still in development).

From UFC.com: Number of Fighters per Division
Heavyweight 33; Light Heavies 35; Middleweight 48; Welterweight 64; Lightweight 57

The UFC is not using all of their resources to entertain the fans. With mixing the division on the cards, the fans get to see the sport they love used in different ways. One difference from the heavies from everyone else is the space in the cage. The heavies are at a disadvantage because they have slightly less space on the canvas to paint their art on. But the best example is the faster pace lighter fighters can work in compared to the heavies. Explained more below. Another worry is that these fights will end in the first three minutes. Heavies have a great reputation of ending each other early more than any other divisions. We will be tuning in to see hours of live MMA action as we are now accustom to, but only a combined 30 minutes of the main card.

Summary: No diversity for the audience and a quick night.

The grueling: When was the last time you saw a high paced heavyweight fight for more than one round? Heavyweights are huge men and their bodies need more oxygen to fuel those heavy muscles than the average lung can take in during each breath. Of course these men are professional athletes and will come into the fight in shape and under the 265-pound limit. What I am worried about is all or most of the ten fighters will start to gas out after the first few minutes of the fight. Do you remember season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show? I’m not talking about Rampage and Rashad’s epic confrontations. I’m talking about the slow, non-technical, heavy breathing action in the cage each week. Again, I’m not comparing that crop of new talent to all of the fighters on the 146 card.

My point is that the heavier a fighter is, the sooner they slow down in the cage. By the time the main event, or even co-main, rolls around we may already be bored to tears after three fights of huge men throwing looping punches, half hearted kicks, leaning on each other against the cage, checking the clock and gasping for air. This is not entertaining for most MMA fans. A part of that may be due to the fact that we are now accustom to the fighters in the lighter divisions fighting at a very high pace. These lighter fights are very entertaining, because they can do more moves, technics and combos with in the same window of opportunity as the heavies. We now expect to see that from every fight, including the big boys.

Summary: Great fear of slow moving action for three plus hours.

The card:
Heavyweight Championship: Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir
Heavyweight: Antonio Silva vs. Roy Nelson
Heavyweight: Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Heavyweight: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane del Rosario

Tune in on May 26 to see how this historic event unfolds.

Two things stood out to me during the course of the co-main event at UFC 143 between Fabricio Werdum and Roy “Big Country” Nelson in the heavyweight division. First was that Werdum’s striking has improved greatly over the last three years away from the sports’ main stage. Secondly, that Nelson will probably never be KO’ed or TKO’ed in a fight. This marks the third time that Nelson has taken fifteen minutes of punishment to the face and kept moving forward in the fight. Junior do Santos didn’t stop him; Frank Mir didn’t stop him and now Werdum. Not only can Nelson take punishment and last for all three rounds against the sports’ best, but he also retains his focus. During his fights with the three previously mentioned fighters, Nelson was always looking for a way to end the fight with a big overhand right or by submission.

During the first round of action, Werdum was able to get Nelson into the Muay Tia plum clinch and deliver several knees to Nelson’s face. One in particular was able to open a medium size, semi-vertical cut on Nelson, just over his right eye. It started to release blood almost immediately. So much blood in fact that the referee paused the action for the Octagon side doctor to clean off his face and check the location of the gash. The blood did not rush into Nelson’s eyes so the doctor and referee cleared him to continue the fight. Soon after the fight resumed Werdum landed another knee to Nelson’s face from the clinch that made an awful sound, which the camera picked up and broadcasted to everyone watching. It sounds like a baseball bat hitting a head of ice burg lettuce. I thought for sure the fight would be soon over or that Nelson had a broken orbital bone. Neither outcome came true.

Nelson. Is. Tough.

The knee that opened Nelson’s face up was the most significant strike landed by either fighter for the rest of the fight. In the second round Nelson was able to get a standing headlock on his opponent after a takedown attempt by Werdum. It was in tight too; you could clearly see that Nelson’s right forearm was underneath Werdum chin. Nelson realized this and quickly tried to secure his hands together and turn Werdums’ back against the cage. A standing guillotine chock was now menu and chef Nelson was looking to fully deliver. Because of Werdums’ black belt knowledge of submissions, he recognized the attempt, fought the hands of Nelson and clear himself out of danger. That attempted turned out to be the closest Nelson would come to finishing the fight. The rest of bout consisted of back and forth punches to the head and one takedown from Nelson, but didn’t play the jiu-jitsu game with Verdum.

Stats…
According to FightMetric.com, the official stat web site of the UFC, Werdum out-struck Nelson by a total of 91 to 26 in the entire fight.

Official Result…
Fabricio Werdum was victorious via a unanimous decision.

Next Opponent…
Werdum has made a large impact with his return to the UFC. His next opponent should reflect the progress he has made and receive a mid or high tier fighter in the heavyweight division. A fight between Werdum and Frank Mir would make sense or Werdum could also take on the winner of Mark Hunt and Check Kongo.

Nelson’s next opponent could be someone from the lower tier of the division to get his win streak back up to par. A fight with Christian Morecraft would defiantly give him motivation to win and win impressively.

Next Training Session…
Werdum became a little gassed towards the end of the second round. I think that if he had a bigger gas tank he may have been able to finish Nelson with a submission. Werdum needs to work on his killer instinct and go in for the finish when he knows his opponent is hurt.

Nelson was the slimmest he has ever been for a UFC fight; he weighed-in at 246 on the eve of battle. I think Nelson needs to come in with a game plan. It seems to me that he just shows up to fight and hopes to hit him more times than his opponent hits him. Because he is shorter than most of the heavies in the division, he needs to fight smart and not just hard. If he combined his mental ability to out smart his opponent and his durability, he could be a top heavyweight by the middle of 2013.

UFC 143 took place on Saturday February 4th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit battled it out for the interim welterweight title in the night’s main event.

Dan Stittgen vs Stephen Thompson - via Iron Forges Iron

While several fights went to the distance, there were some great knockouts and submissions on the card. The very first fight of the evening saw Stephen Thompson land and well timed head kick after a one-two combo that sent Dan Stittgen to the canvas unconscious. Thompson a highly touted striker entered his UFC debut with an impressive 60+ fight win streak including his Muay Thai fights.

Matt Brown has always been a fighter that brings a fight, but has struggled to put together solid wins lately. Chris Cope tried to hand Brown his second loss in two fights, but came up short when Brown caught Cope with a hook that sent Cope to the canvas and Cope was the fighter with the back-to-back losses on his record.

While Brown’s knockout was good, Thompson’s was just a bit better as it came at the end of a combo and earned Thompson the Knockout of the Night.

Dustin Poirier vs Max Holloway - via Iron Forges Iron

Like knockouts, there were two submissions during the night’s fights. Max Holloway made his UFC debut against Dustin Poirier, and Poirier welcomed him by attacking his limbs and neck. Poirier looked to have finished the fight with an armbar, but Holloway didn’t tap, so Poirier transitioned it to a triangle choke with the armbar. When that failed to win him the fight, he moved to have a mounted triangle choke and again attacked the arm. The third time was the charm and Holloway was sent home with his first loss of his career.

Kicking off the pay-per-view were middleweights Ed Herman and Clifford Starks. In the second round Herman scored a beautiful trip takedown and quickly passed to mount. From there it was just a matter of time as Starks gave up his back and Herman relentlessly worked to get a rear naked choke until he found it and a tap.

Poirier earned the night’s submission of the night bonuses with his mounted triangle armbar submission.

Nick Diaz versus Carlos Condit - via Iron Forges Iron

The rest of the fights all went to the judges’ scorecards. The main event was an exciting battle that had Nick Diaz running down Carlos Condit, only to be out-struck by Condit. The fight was difficult to score as many question do you score damage or aggression and how do you decide on damage. Condit ultimately won the unanimous decision, a decision Diaz was not too happy about. He said it was bullshit that he ran down a guy for twentyfive minutes and that the other guy won so he was done with the sport.

Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum - via Iron Forges Iron

But the fight of the night featured a very improved striking game from Fabricio Werdum who landed several Muay Thai knees to the face and body of Roy Nelson. Nelson is one of the most durable fighters as he continued to come forward no matter what Werdum threw at him. Nelson at times came close to hurting Werdum, but could never capitalize on it. Regardless, the fight was one that will be talked about for weeks to come.

Fabricio Werdum – Photo by Brent Todd

Heavyweights will slug it out in the co-main event of UFC 143 as Roy Nelson takes on Fabricio Werdum. UFC 143 is headlined by Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and will be taking place in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay events center. Befor the welterweights battle it out for the interim title, Jiu-Jitsu fighters with some notable hands will try and take a step up in an ever-growing UFC heavyweight division.

A well-rounded fighter and specimen, Roy Nelson has hammers in his hands and a ground game that is commonly unchallenged. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 10, Nelson has gone 3-2 in the UFC, dropping back-to-back fights to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir. Debuting a smaller mid-section, he most recently TKO’d Cro Cop, giving him some job security. He will need to beat Werdum to get back into the top mix again.

Werdum, a Jiu-Jitsu ace, is making his second run in the UFC. He couldn’t make a ground battle in his recent bout with Alistair Overeem, and lost a decision despite finding some success in banging it out with the striker. This follows a shocking win over Fedor Emilienanko which skyrocketed Werdum in rankings. Werdum will have to avoid the power punches of Nelson, and despite not being a wrestler, take advantage of an exposed lack of take-down defense in Nelson’s game.

It is clear that Nelson is more dangerous on the feet, and that Werdum is more dangerous on the ground. It is not like either of them should fear the others strength though; Wedum very well may be able to competitively kick-box with Nelson, and it is also very possible that Nelson could survive with Werdum on the ground. The fight will come down to who implements their style of fighting the most, and whether Werdum can avoid a right-hand bomb from landing on his chin.

If Nelson can make this a brawl of tagging one another, I could see him earning a TKO. If Werdum can use an effective jab, accumulate his own damage on Nelson, take him down in a clinch and out-work him, I could see a decision going his way. It’s an odd fight, and a fairly tough call to make. I will have to side with the man who will more likely finish.

I will go with Nelson and predict that he finishes the fight by TKO in the second round.