MMA HQ – Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

I recently had the chance to speak to Joel Jamieson, author of Ultimate MMA Conditioning and former Strength & Conditioning Coach for PrideFC. Joel coaches world champions and is heavily involved with the MMA world on many levels, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with his level of expertise, so I thought I’d let him break down three fights from Strikeforce Challengers 9 from an S+C viewpoint.

Caros Fodor is out of AMC Pankration and trains at Joel’s gym frequently, so I started out by asking him about his thoughts on Fodor vs. Diagne.

Caros is a powerful fighter. He did a great job of pushing the pace which is an important part of the game and constantly coming forward and pressuring the other guy, pressure pressure pressure. The big thing about being able to maintain that pace is that a lot of guys can’t and they’re going to gas themselves out but he’s been trained well by us and that’s been his style since the beginning. His opponent is a Sanshou fighter and that kind of guy needs space to work his striking. Caros really had the perfect game plan in closing the distance, always pressuring him, staying on the inside, beating him up in the clinch and then taking him to the ground and working submissions. He just didn’t have the distance and wasn’t able to work his game. He was frustrated and was taken completely out of his game; he was letting Caros dictate the pace and dictate where he was going and he got beat as a result of it.

Although many people thought Roxanne Modafferi was controlling the 1st and 3rd rounds of her bout against the champion, Sarah Kaufman, Joel did not seem to think this was the case. Here’s his take:

The main thing that I saw was that Kaufman was much stronger. Even though Modafferi had solid technique and those long arms, Kaufman just overpowered her and was able to control the inside game and when Modafferi took her to the ground she was able to just tie her up and get up. She was hard to get to the ground but when Modafferi did get her there it looked like she was just worn down by Kaufman’s strength. And at the end, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl pull a slam like that, it definitely takes a good amount of strength to pull off.

There were a couple of exchanges where Kaufman landed some solid shots, she did a good job of rocking her, she looked like she was okay but Kaufman definitely landed some solid shots. I would say she was winning the fight honestly; she did a better job of controlling the pace and was landing more solid shots than Modafferi, controlling the game with her pace and not letting her get anything on the ground. Definitely a good fight. Crazy ending.

Joel’s thoughts on the main event?

Del Rosario looked good. I was impressed. He was way quicker and far more athletic than Mahe. His footwork was better; he was working in and out, he was working angles, he was throwing kicks and knees. He really dominated. He was even winning the inside clinch game and you’d expect the other guy who had twenty pounds on him to win the inside war, but he was losing even the clinch war. Del Rosario was much more athletic and better all around.

Thanks again to Joel for the analysis. Make sure to check out his website, 8 Weeks Out, for some of the best MMA strength and conditioning information on the planet.

I managed to find the full 50 minute long call which includes many notable quotes from Sonnen (surprise, surprise).  Download it here.

ufc_117_conf_call_audio_sonnen_silva.mp3

HT: MMAspot

I wrote a previous article regarding the upcoming Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill MMA fight during UFC 121 on October 23 in Anaheim, Calif.

There has been a lot of confusion as to why Ortiz and Hamill, who previously trained together for a brief time, would accept a fight against one another.  A recent article published by MMA writer Steve Cofield helps offer additional insight into the interesting matchup.

Ortiz posted a recent video blog, in which he signs the fight contract (and notes money isn’t an issue, but said the UFC won’t allow him to release salary information).

“It sucks, but this is business,” Ortiz said in a recent blog video.  “I had another friend who was close to me and ended up losing a friendship,” Ortiz also said (referring to former friend Chuck Liddell).  “So I come to realize that anyone at 205 can’t be my friend.  This is business…strictly business.”

Ortiz also said this is just a step forward in his attempt to regain the UFC light heavyweight title — a feat I’m unsure he’ll be able to do with his time left in the UFC.

Despite many MMA fans believing Ortiz’s career is over, he is still a strong draw for casual MMA fans.  Even if he tones down his usual pre-fight trash talk against Hamill – which he promised to do – expect the fight to be popular among MMA fans.

As Cofield mentions in his blog, Hamill is a “younger version of Ortiz,” but I think it’s worth noting Ortiz has been in more high-profile fights — and he was a former LHW champion.  Hamill still has raw wrestling strength, but could suffer if Ortiz manages to show up in decent shape.

The Ortiz vs. Hamill fight has very little relevance in the grand scheme of things, but should be a very appealing fight for fans.  Can teacher beat pupil, or will Hamill move Ortiz one step closer to retirement?

What say you?

Let’s get one thing straight.  There has never been any love lost between Miller and Diaz.  These guys don’t like each other and they never have, but things started to shift from disinterest to dissent back in 2007.  In this video, Miller is interviewing Diaz after his EliteXC debut and Miller’s “showmanship” rises to the foreground at the expense of Diaz.

Diaz has stated that he likes to watch all of his interviews and he obviously saw that one which really put him at odds with Miller. From that point on, there have been brief words exchanged but because of the fact that they compete in different weight divisions, they pretty much avoided each other.

That brings us to the “Strikeforce Brawl” debacle.  I’m sure everyone vividly remembers that mess, especially considering that it was not too long ago, so I won’t rehash those events.  Past animosity is likely what led to that brawl but the interviews after the fact appeared to indicate a return to form where both men just basically say “Fuck that guy” and ignore each other.

More recently, Miller seems to have switched gears from ignoring Diaz, to bashing him in interviews whenever he is asked about “the brawl”. Clearly Mayhem has been taking a lot of flack about “getting jumped on national tv” and he’s getting upset about it. He feels that Diaz is the one responsible for “the brawl” because he threw the first punch (I tend to agree with him). Miller has expressed this opinion more than a few times but most recently during the Joe Rogan Podcast that I posted last week. Here’s a clip of that where Miller is talking about Diaz.

Someone obviously told Diaz about those comments and now Diaz has a message of his own to relate to Mayhem.

Last week it was rumored that a grudge match between Miller and Diaz was in the works over at Strikeforce. I’m not exactly sure where that rumor came from because nothing was officially announced. During that podcast, Mayhem mentioned that he may be fighting Diaz sometime in October.

So what do you guys think about this fight? 170? 185? catch weight? Who takes it?

UPDATE :Message on Mayhem’s twitter page.

So now Nick Diaz is suddenly a 170 pounder only when he has to fight someone who can whip his ass? Not so gangster, is he? 13 minutes ago via web

Going into Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers card, I along with many others were confused by Strikeforce. We were puzzled by the company’s decision to not only have their women’s 135lb. champion defend her title on a Challengers Series card, but also to have it not be the main-event of the evening.

Instead of writing a pre-event article highlighting my distaste for this decision, I waited until after. This way the women would have an opportunity to prove my point before I ever had to. As expected, it was an all out war between two of the best female fighters on the planet.

From the opening bell where challenger Roxanne Modafferi opened up with a leaping flying knee, until the earth shattering slam landed by champion Sarah Kaufman, these two women put on a fight for the ages.

The fight was a clinch war throughout, with both women struggling for under hooks and positioning up against the cage. Despite the massive strength disadvantage, Modafferi used posture and technique to gain an early advantage, taking the fight to the mat where she was superior. From there, Modafferi controlled position and nullified Kaufman’s muay-thai attack.

The second round was an entirely different story. Kaufman came out aggressive, determined, and hungry, using her strength to push Modafferi up against the cage and punish her with flush punches to the face and digging knees that likely made breathing difficult for the challenger. Kaufman finished with a flurry of that seemingly landed cleanly on Modafferi’s face, likely winning her the round and tying the bout at one round a piece.

The third round saw both women working ferociously to implement their game plans. Kaufman continued to punish Modafferi with knees to the ribs; however she was victim to multiple takedowns and guard pulls. In the final minute of the bout as Modafferi was attempting an arm bar from guard Kaufman picked her up and slammed her unconscious, thereby ending the bout.

It goes without saying that these two women had a phenomenal bout that deserved not only main event status on a Challengers card, but also a fight on one of the much more publicized Showtime cards.

Following the performance, Bloody Elbow writer Jonathan Snowden posted an article where he argued that Kaufman is not ready for main Showtime or CBS cards. His article can be found here. To give you an idea, the last paragraph states:

I’m not sure who is in her head, encouraging her to dismiss the enormous opportunities given to her, to bury the promotion that gave her a chance, to ignore the inconvenient fact that fans haven’t yet embraced her-or females fighting. There’s a word for celebrities like this, the ones who lose touch with reality and think they’re a little bit more important than they really are: it’s Diva. Last night was a great night for Sarah Kaufman. But judging by her speech last night, if you’re looking to congratulate her she won’t be down with the masses-Sarah Kaufman will be in VIP.

He does make some good points throughout the article. On a five fight Showtime card, Kaufman would not garner the attention of a Dan Henderson or Fedor Emelianenko, that’s a given. My argument would be that the Challengers cards are put together for champions of the future to sharpen their tools and master their craft. Kaufman is already a champion. No, she is not dominating her opponents in the same was Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is, but she is winning, and that should count for something.

Snowden also brings up Kaufman’s victory of Takayo Hashi stating that fans” left in droves during Kaufman’s fight” and using the argument that it was one sided and very uninteresting. Little of this blame can be put on Kaufman as she was pushing the pace and trying to engage with an opponent that refused. I liken this to the flack Anderson Silva took in his bout against Thales Leites at UFC 97. On a personal note, I did not think the fight was as bad as Snowden obviously did and found the bout entertaining, even if one sided.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz (23-7) will make his latest return to the octagon at UFC 121 when he fights Matt Hamill.  UFC 121 will be held on October 23 in Anaheim, Calif., and will feature a main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez in the UFC heavyweight title fight.

Ortiz, who coached Hamill during “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” applauded the still developing wrestler’s ability.

Ortiz last saw action at UFC 106 against Forrest Griffin, with Griffin winning a split decision.  In his last four UFC appearances, Ortiz has gone 0-3-1 — but it’s worth noting all four fights were to former UFC LHW champions.

Since his stint on TUF 3, Hamill topped Jesse Forbes, Seth Petruzelli, Rex Holman, Tim Boetsch, Reese Andy, Mark Munoz, Jon Jones, and Keith Jardine — and suffered losses to Michael Bisping and Rich Franklin.  Despite the Bisping loss, which many believe he lost due to home-field advantage, the only other blemish was to former MW champion Franklin in 2008.

Hamill seemed a bit hesitant to try to inflict damage on Franklin, and there is concern that this could happen again with Ortiz.  After their stint on the show, Hamill spent time training with Ortiz in Big Bear Lake, Calif.

It’s an interesting matchup because Ortiz greatly applauded Hamill’s strong wrestling and desire to solidify his MMA skills — and it will likely come down to wrestling dominance.  Ortiz, best known for his strong wrestling and ground-and-pound, has had an up-and-down battle against strong wrestlers.

Ortiz was unable to mount any strong wrestling-based fight strategies against Chuck Liddell (twice) and Randy Couture, but was able to beat the likes of Vladimir Matyushenko and fought to a draw with Rashad Evans.  If he’s unable to adequately strike with Hamill, it’ll be interesting to see if he is able to secure and keep takedowns in place.

Carina Damm

It’s been in the works for as long as I can remember. Perhaps prompted into action by Bellator edging ahead in women’s MMA, Strikeforce has finally announced their 135-lb. women’s tournament.

The four-woman tournament will take place on August 13th in Phoenix, and the winner will earn a title shot. For some reason, the rounds will only be three minutes long.

The winner of Kaufman vs. Modafferi will face Marloes Coenen, and the winner of that fight will face the winner of this tournament.

Here’s a bit about each of the four fighters:

Miesha “Takedown” Tate (9-2)
She’s been featured on these pages before and is best known for her armbar victory vs. Zoila Frausto. Tate has excellent wrestling and was actually on the boy’s wrestling team in high school. She also has great conditioning and a decent stand-up game. A pretty good (and improving) all-around fighter, Tate has a good shot at winning this tournament.

Carina “Beauty But the Beast” Damm (15-3)
Although her suspension for steroids has lapsed, this Brazilian fighter still has a $2500 fine to pay before being reinstated. Instead, she’s been fighting sub-par opponents in Brazil. Although she’s on a 10-fight winning streak, 5 of her last 10 opponents only had one fight under their belt before facing her. Damm has fared well in the past, however, defeating Molly Helsel, Jessica Aguilar and Sophie Bagherdai in 2007 and 2008. Damm can hang standing and on the ground.

Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (15-7)
Hailing from Japan, Akano is a former Smackgirl champion who has 13 submission wins. She made her Strikeforce debut against Cris Cyborg Santos, and even though Cyborg came in 6 lbs. over weight Akano took her to the third round.

Maiju Kujala (4-1)
Hailing from Finland, Kujala is on a three-fight winning streak, but has never really fought anyone of note (except Aisling Daly, who she lost to.)

We’re still over two weeks away from this fight, but I think it’s time to start hearing from the fans.  Get your vote in, I’m curious to see how many people actually think Sonnen will pull this off.

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So there I was checking my twitter stream for #mma postings to catch up on all the goings-on from the weekend, and I keep seeing retweets from Dana White’s twitter account. Turns out he actually tweeted his phone number.”I fucked up and tweeted my number lol but I got to talk to a lot of cool people. Thank u all!!!” the follow-up tweet said, but of course his number had already been retweeted by friends and foes throughout the twitterverse.

What did I do? First, I sent the number to one of my favorite MMA writers, who quickly found the original tweet and posted it on his blog.

Then went back to @danawhite’s twitter feed. “I fucked up and tweeted my number lol but I got to talk to a lot of cool people. Thank u all!!” he wrote. So of course I immediately called and left a voicemail message asking him for an interview for this site, but no such luck. Unfortunately, the number is now disconnected, so it looks like I missed my shot.

Some notable tweets about the incident:

@danawhite why did you disconect the number damit now we cant drunk dial you

(Yeah, that’s what the rest of us were thinking.)

@danawhite Quit using drugs fatboy..Your phone is being used for escort agencies publicity|”Her Name Is Dana”|Classified#What’s your price?R

(Haven’t heard that one yet–conspiracy theorists, take note.)

@danawhite Since I already have your phone number, next time, please Tweet your bank account and pin numbers.

(I’ll settle for an interview, though…)