Sunday, September 25, 2016

We Have To Catch Up On The UFC!!!

What is going on my readers, it is great to have you back visiting the page once again. We have a lot to talk about since last week I was working for the Washington Redskins. So let us dive in and talk about the amazing things around the UFC. We are going to talk about the highlights for the last two weeks. I do have to advise one of the pictures is very graphic, so parents beware.

Michael Johnson vs Dustin Poirier


What a return for Michael Johnson to the Octagon, Dustin Poirier is a tough opponent for to stop him in the first round is not easy. Johnson came out set his game plan and finished the fight, maybe this is a step in the right direction for him. Hopefully next year we can see him further set himself up for a great shot at the title, but for now its too early to tell.

Derek Brunson vs Uriah Hall


If you are a big fan of Uriah Hall, then you will probably not be a fan of me. When I first saw Uriah Hall and his unbelievable skill set on the Ultimate Fighter, I thought to myself there is a person who is going to bang with anyone. So far he has not been afraid to throw punches with anyone, the problem is the competition level is much higher than the Ultimate Fighter and Uriah Hall is having problems keeping pace. He needs to have a better plan when matching up in the Octagon. He is going to be on the brink of being replaced in the UFC, and it is a shame because so many people have referred to him as the next "Andersen Silva."

Chas Skelly vs Maximo Blanco


Chances are you have already seen this fight, it only lasted 19 seconds. Skelly came out with a huge push kick that set Blanco on his backside and from there it was a swarm of looking for the submission victory. Credit to Blanco, he fought as much as possible but in the end he passed out. It is too early to see what Skelly has in his arsenal and I am excited to see where he goes from here. Here is another look at this finished:



Francsico Trinaldo vs Paul Felder


What a great fight for Francsico, he pushed the pace of the fight and made Felder come to him. Unfortunately for Felder this fight ended up being stopped because of a nasty cut. The cut started small and eventually grew "three times that day"...by the end of the fight. If you did not see what the cut looked like at the end of the night, there is a picture of it here. Be reminded it is pretty graphic, so proceed with caution.



Roy Nelson vs Antonio Silva


The biggest controversy with this fight was not the finish so much but what happened afterwards. Now Roy finished the fight, but proceeded to give the bird to John McCarthy and even kicked him at the end of the fight. Nelson understood the fight was over, and felt that McCarthy was trying to set him up to injury Bigfoot further. Nelson does possess one punch power, but to the extent of him saying he has walk off power like Mark Hunt, is simply not true. But Respect to Nelson for not destroying the face of Silva like some fighters would.

Cristiane Justino vs Lina Lansberg


I want to talk about this fight for one reason, the domination Cyborg had on Lina. Cyborg went out against a Muay Thai fighter and finished her in the second round. It was an amazing set and she did not hesitate to finish the fight. Though I am sure Lina would be a problem for other fighters Cyborg is on a whole level above most fighters. Cyborg wants to put on "Superfights" and I do not blame her, she did not call out any one opponent but, for someone who cuts from 170 pounds down to 140 in a week...anyone can be on her list of people to beat down. I am sure the next fight for Cyborg will come next year, but with the rumor of Ronda coming back at UFC 207, we will see if May they will finally get locked in the cage together.

I know this is quick but, I wanted to make sure we hit a few of the fights as we have UFC 204 and UFC 205 coming up soon. I know you are excited about the first ever event in New York City at Madison Square Garden. We also have the much anticipated rematch of Henderson vs Bisping. I am excited are you guys excited yet?

Let me know what you guys think? What fights are you looking forward to?

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Was it disappointing? Depends on who you ask? UFC 203

Well now it came and it went so quickly, but was UFC 203 all it was hyped to be? In my opinion...No, but I am one person and that is my opinion. Other people may have thought the fights were great. If you follow me on twitter, a bunch of friends were talking about the fights and enjoying for the most part. However I feel like they were missing something from it. Sure the championship fight was exciting, and maybe if Werdum fought Rothwell instead of Browne it might have changed things. Overall I felt the card was slow and mundane at best. The undercard fights I felt were the best part of the card, usually they are. The guys on the undercard want to show they belong on the maincard and they have worked just as hard. But let us get into these fights and talk about what happened (Spoiler Alerts):

Jessica Andrade vs Joanne Calderwood



Interesting match up with these two, I felt that Calderwood was doing a great job at first trying to keep Jessica away. However once the fight was taken to the ground Jessica showed everyone why she is so dangerous on the ground. I felt she controlled the fight and swarmed all over Joanne, letting her know there was nothing she could do to get away. When she finally was able to tighten in the Guillotine Choke, Calderwood has no choice but to tap.

Jimmie Rivera vs Uriah Faber



At one time Uriah was considered the bench mark of the UFC, it seems though those days have finally past him. Uriah looked sluggish in the fight, while Rivera looked like a future contender. Now I am not saying Rivera will beat Cruz, but what I am saying is he was scary good against Faber. Faber was being out wrestled, out stuck, and was dominated in the fight. Though I do like the California Kid and I was rooting for him, he might be heading down and slide after dropping to both Cruz and now Rivera. Hopefully the UFC can get him a fight that he can win and Faber can get his confidence back.

Mickey Gall vs CM Punk


There are two parts to this story, 1. CM Punk knew this was going to be an uphill battle and 2. Mickey Gall is the real deal. So let us start with the first point...CM Punk was in an uphill battle from the jump. He stepped out looking to strike with Gall, but Gall was not having any of it. He instantly took him to the ground and began to grind him out. Now I do have to commend CM Punk for having so much heart in this fight, he was fighting out of numerous submission attempts but Gall never let up. I think for me once I saw CM Punk take a shot to the face, it almost looked like a light bulb went off in his head and he knew this was bad. I had mentioned numerous times about CM Punk saying he was a white belt for life, and it seemed that showed against the brown belt Gall.

But we should not take anything away from Mickey Gall at all. This was a man who waited patiently for CM Punk to be ready, and when it came down to it...dominated a fight. It did not matter to him what anyone else thought, he put his game plan to work and made CM Punk tap out. A lot of people did not like what Mickey Gall had to say after the fight, but I am one of those who actually did. I like that he called out Sage Northcutt, I like that he is going to say what is on his mind, I like he is calling out whoever he wants. He is hungry and he is ready to take on the world, and I think he wants to grow as a fighter. I would like to see how fast this kid can rise to the top.

Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne



Have to be honest, this was a disappointing fight for me as a fan of Hapa. I am not sure what happened in the first round with him and his finger, but it was pretty severe to have him want to stop the fight. Now I am sure Travis was waiting for him hand to go numb so he could start landing some bombs, but this is not boxing. He was going to need a few more rounds till it happened. Now reports are coming out that he actually dislocated his finger and put it back in place during the fight. He is a tough but that would be pretty gnarly if it is true.

Now the fight itself was pretty boring due to the injury but, what happened after the fight was uncalled for. There were some kind of word exchange between Fabricio and Browne's coach, which ultimately led to Werdum push kicking the coach away and fights began to break out, it seem Browne was pretty chill though. It will be interesting to see what the UFC does about it, but I think the UFC needs to get Travis back in the win column and help him get his confidence back as well, after dropping the last two he is going to need it.

Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem


Apparently there is some controversy to this fight, Alistair had Stipe deep in a chokehold and said he felt Stipe tap out. However after looking over numerous replays Stipe never showed a tap anywhere. Once they stood up and began to battle Overeem got caught and went down, ultimately getting TKO'd.

What made this fight so much fun was all the knockdowns that happened. I know most of my friends were calling out thinking the fight was going to be over with Alistair on top, but Stipe showed a lot of heart and kept holding on till the end. You have to love fighters who refuse to lose and want to put on a great show for their fans. Stipe is one of those guys who you not only have to beatdown to win, but you are going to feel like you have to kill him to win.

I feel Cain Velazquez is going to have a lot of his plate when he gets ready to fight Stipe, but Cain's wrestling could be the X-factor in this fight. Cain has excellent stand-up, and world class wrestling behind him. Stipe is going to have to be ready on all fronts to win this fight, especially with the Spinning wheel kick Cain has put in his bag of tricks.

I think the UFC has some work to do with UFC 206 going forward. It could also be that we have been spoiled with the last few events, that we needed to have a break. With UFC 204 (possibly the last fight for Dan Henderson win or lose) and 205 coming up we could see some fun times. I know for myself I am looking forward to next year with the anticipation of Ronda returning and Conor back in the Octagon.

What was your thoughts on the fights? You can leave comments here or tweet me out at cm_miller85 or getthekoblog.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

UFC 203


As much as I would like to talk about UFC Hamburg, we have to talk about the big fight card coming up this weekend. That's right I am talking about UFC 203. Now it was great to see Ryan Bader, Alexander Gustafsson, and Josh Barnett all get wins, UFC 203 will be a monster card to watch.

You have it all in this fight card: Heavyweights who like to throw bombs, the return of the California Kid, the debut of a Pro Wrestler, and the kid who wanted to fight the Pro Wrestler turned MMA fighter, also you have the hometown heroes battling to defend their land.

So let us dig into this event and talk about a couple of fights:

Jessica Eye vs Beth Correia

This is one of two match ups where there is a hometown hero battling to defend Cleveland (I guess you could say LeBron did it as well). Beth Correia was regarded as one of the baddest women to throw down in the UFC, after getting beat by Ronda Rousey she took another fight in Raquel Pennington and lost in a split decision. Beth is going to need to get a win to keep herself relevant among the UFC Elites, but she is going against a tough opponent in Jessica Eye.

Jessica is coming off of 3 fight losing streak and is 1-4 in her last five fights. Normally the UFC will cut fighters like this, but with Cleveland coming up it made sense to keep her to showcase her. One more loss and you can expect her to get cut from the UFC.

Both fighers need this win or face being pushed out of the UFC world.

Urijah Faber vs Jimmie Rivera


Faber returns to the Octagon a few months after losing to Dominick Cruz. In the last six fights Faber is 3-3 overall. He has the ability to beat most opponents but has trouble trying to grab the brass ring and become champion in the UFC. He continues to be a bench mark in the UFC, which makes you wonder how much longer can he be that mark.

Jimmie Rivera is an interesting fighter in himself. He lost his second professional fight ever, and since then is 19-1, he is 3-0 since his debut in the UFC. Most of his wins have come off decisions, Faber loves to grind out fights as well. This fight will be interesting to watch and could be a possible "Fight of the Night" both fighters will throw down and should be fun.

 Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne


This will be a fight that could end quickly, but the time before this fight went to decision. I do not expect this fight to go that far again but it could. Both fighters know each other well and should be ready to throw all the bombs in the world to KO the other.

Fabricio Werdum is coming off of lost to the Champion Stipe Miocic. It was by KO and Werdum showed his hands are not as good as he thought. He is going to have to work on his defense especially with an unpredictable Travis Browne coming through Cleveland.

Travis Browne is also coming off a lost to Cain Velazquez. Who would have thought Cain would be throwing wheel house kicks, made me 100% unpredictable. Eventually a few combos would land and out would go Travis. In his last 6 fights Travis is 3-3, with this win should put him in the hunt for a title shot especially with knowing the fight in the main event is a Heavyweight Championship fight.

Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem


Here is the second of two Hometown fights. I would expect the winner of this fight go on to fight Cain Velazquez or the winner of Werdum/Browne.

Stipe is a monster who finished Fabricio with no problem. However he is running into to a buzzsaw known for throwing nasty kicks and has some deadly hands. Stipe is going to have to focus on getting inside on Overeem and go for the KO. He is also going to have to grind out Alistair, he does not have the endurance to bang for five rounds. Stipe has great hands and most of his wins have come from KO or TKO.

When it comes to Alistair you can not help but think about the year suspension due to PEDs, however 3 of his last 4 victories have come VIA TKO or KO. Alistair still has heavy hands and deadly kicks. If Stipe wants to win this fight, he is going to have to pressure Alistair and take away his advantage.

CM Punk vs Mickey Gall


I chose to showcase this fight last for a few reasons. This will be the first time in the UFC a fighter will debut with a 0-0 record, but Mickey Gall has only 2 professional fights in his career (both ended by submission). Now this fight goes one of two ways: 1. CM Punk loses his debut and the UFC becomes a laughing stock for putting so much time into him; 2. CM Punk wins his debut and Mickey Gall is always the guy who lost to a Professional Wrestler. Sure you can make the argument CM Punk has trained in BJJ for most of his life...but even he says he will always be a "white belt for life." CM Punk has the advantage in this fight due to being able to look at video of Gall's last two fights and making a game plan around him. How do you game plan for CM Punk? He has 0 amateur fights and 0 professional fights. It is not like you can go back to his WWE days and game plan him. I am interested to see how this fight goes and we will find out in 6 days.

What do you guys think? Let me know and we can chat it out.

Also, you can tweet me at cm_miller85 or getthekoblog. You can also email me at getheko@gmail.com

Check me out on WNST 1570AM  on Thursday to get my fight prediction with Sunday Sports Voice.