Top 10 Featherweight Rankings Posted by Drew Ellis (07/06/2011 @ 9:01 pm) The rankings schedule has made it way back to featherweight. Not too much has changed in the division since I last came out with my 145-pound top 10, but we did have some debuts and a mild upset or too. Here is a look at my latest top 10 for the featherweight division. 1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Aldo is the champion and awaits his next opponent. It looks to be Kenny Florian, but a date and location have yet to be set. Aldo showed some signs of vulnerability against Mark Hominick, but still dominated a great deal of their 25-minute fight. Florian will need to be on top of his game to take Aldo’s title. 2. Chad Mendes (10-0) – The wrestling master has been labeled the No. 1 contender for Aldo, but he opted not to wait for the champion to heal up with some injuries and will now take on Rani Yahya at UFC 133, with his title shot on the line. Mendes likely has the grappling edge in this one, but will have to avoid the slick submissions of Yahya. 3. Kenny Florian (14-5) – Florian won his featherweight debut over Diego Nunes and now appears to be in line for a title shot. Florian didn’t look his best, but the first fight at a lower weight class is always the toughest. Florian will have a strong game plan to fight Aldo, the question will be if he can execute it? Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Rankings, UFC Tags: Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes, Dustin Poirier, Erik Koch, Hatsu Hioki, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Manny Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Tyson Griffin
UFC Live 4: A reason to get on Facebook Posted by Drew Ellis (06/25/2011 @ 12:17 pm) If you weren’t on Facebook before, the UFC is giving you plenty of reason to do it now. Once again, the premiere MMA organization is airing preliminary fights for an event on the social media network. This Sunday, UFC Live 4 featured four main card bouts, but will have 7 prelim fights, and all will air live on Facebook, starting at 4:55 p.m. Now, I am a big fan of watching any fight, but the UFC Live 4 prelims are really an impressive set of bouts. The first fight of the night will feature Michael Johnson, who was a punch or two away from winning the Ultimate Fighter Season 13. Then you have fighters like Joe Lauzon and Daniel Roberts taking the octagon and an impressive lightweight showdown from Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz. You also have the featherweight debuts from Joe Stevenson and Tyson Griffin. Griffin will face off with Manny Gamburyan in a bout that I personally think will be a PPV quality fight. I have to hand it to the UFC. Years ago, you used to have to buy the event DVD to watch prelim fights, but now, they are providing them through all sorts of means, including YouTube and Facebook. So, once again, if you haven’t “Liked” the UFC on Facebook, you better do it before 5 p.m. tomorrow, or you are going to miss out on some impressive fights. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, UFC Tags: Charles Oliveira, Daniel Roberts, Facebook, Joe Lauzon, Joe Stevenson, Manny Gamburyan, Michael Johnson, Nik Lentz, Tyson Griffin, UFC Live 4
Your weekly MMA TV Schedule update Posted by Drew Ellis (06/19/2011 @ 9:25 pm) We have reached Sunday night once again, which means it is time for your MMA on TV update. This week has a pretty solid amount of content, with Bellator, Strikeforce, and the UFC each have events. – This week’s MMA on TV gets started on Friday with Strikeforce Challengers 16. The event takes place from the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. The main card airs live on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET. Friday’s main event is a lightweight clash between Carlos Fodor (8-2) and James Terry (10-2) and lightweight Ryan Couture (2-0) will also make his return to action when he takes on Matt Ricehouse (4-0). – On Saturday, Bellator 46 takes place to start the newest season of the fight promotion. The event will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino from Hollywood, Florida. The main card airs live on MTV2 at 9 p.m. ET. The quarterfinals of the featherweight tournament will take place with fighters Marlon Sandro, Pat Curran, and others taking part. – On Sunday, UFC on Versus 4 takes place from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The card will air on Versus at 9 p.m. ET. The main event of the card is a welterweight clash between Rick Story and Nate Marquardt. Marquardt is making his 170-pound debut. Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo meet in a heavyweight bout while Tyson Griffin and Manny Gamburyan face off in a featherweight contest. Matt Mitrione, Joe Stevenson, and John Howard also have bouts on the night. Posted in: Bellator, Events, Fighters, Strikeforce, UFC Tags: Cheick Kongo, Manny Gamburyan, Nate Marquardt, Pat Barry, Pat Curran, Rick Story, Ryan Couture, Tyson Griffin
5 June bouts to mark down on your calendar Posted by Drew Ellis (05/30/2011 @ 11:44 am) The month of June is stacked for MMA fans. Over the next month, three UFC shows will take place, including one PPV. The second half of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix will be held as well, and Bellator will kick off its next season. With that in mind, here are the top five bouts I am most looking forward to in June. 1. June 4 – Ultimate Fighter Finale – Anthony Pettis (13-1) vs. Clay Guida (28-11) – The main event of this Saturday’s Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale is the fight I’m most looking forward to. Anthony Pettis is set to make his UFC debut after ending the WEC as its lightweight champion with his “Showtime Pettis Kick” against Ben Henderson. His first challenge is a big one, as he takes on perennial UFC lightweight contender, Clay Guida. Both men possess great problems for the other as Pettis has the size and striking edge while Guida has the grappling edge. Both fighters will also leave everything in the cage, which should make for an exciting 15 minutes of action, if the fight goes that long. 2. June 18 – Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix – Alistair Overeem (34-11) vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) – Something has to give between the top two heavyweights in Strikeforce. It was odds to see them placed against one another in the first round of this Grand Prix, but as a fight fan, I won’t complain. Both men have been hyped up as top-of-the-line heavyweights in any organization, but someone has to live up to that hype, and someone’s hype will come crashing down. Overeem has been a bully in the cage as of late, just over-powering opponents with his striking while Werdum was the man to end Fedor’s long reign as king of MMA. Whose style will play out and allow them to advance in the grand prix? Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: Events, Fighters, Strikeforce, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Tags: Alistair Overeem, Anthony Johnson, Anthony Pettis, Clay Guida, Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos, Manny Gamburyan, Nate Marquardt, Shane Carwin, Strikeforce, Tyson Griffin, UFC, Ultimate Fighter
Top 10 Featherweight Rankings Posted by Drew Ellis (05/11/2011 @ 7:19 pm) It’s Wednesday night, which means another edition of my top 10 rankings. The featherweights get the spotlight this week, headlined by UFC king, Jose Aldo. So, without further ado, here is my top 10. (If you need to go back and find my pound-for-pound, heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight or lightweight rankings, click on the links) 1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Aldo is one of the top strikers in all of MMA as his leg kicks are one of the most devastating strikes in the game. Aldo struggled toward the end of his win over Mark Hominick at UFC 129, but it was later discovered he was dealing with an infection leading up to the fight. Still, Aldo found a way to beat up Hominick for four rounds and retain his title. 2. Chad Mendes (10-0) – The protégé of Urijah Faber is unbeaten in his MMA career and he continues to develop his striking to go along with his overpowering wrestling. Mendes is set to take on Aldo for the title later this year, but the memory of seeing Faber get blasted in the leg by Aldo may haunt him heading into the fight. Mendes appears to posses the ability to take Aldo to the ground. But, the question is, what will Mendes be able to do to Aldo when the fight hits the ground and can he hold the champ down for 25 minutes? 3. Kenny Florian (13-5) – Florian has yet to fight at 145 pounds, but I still consider him one of the best now that he is jumping into the mix. Florian has only suffered losses to some of the best at 155 pounds and his style should pose a lot of problems for the top featherweights in the UFC. He begins his march towards a title against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, and a win will likely make him the No. 1 contender to the featherweight title later in 2011. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: Dream, Fighters, UFC Tags: Chad Mendez, Diego Nunes, Dustin Poirier, featherweight division, Hatsu Hioki, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Manny Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Michihiro Omigawa, rankings, Tyson Griffin
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