No rest for weary MMA fans.
If UFC 79: “Nemesis” and the IFL Grand Prix Finals didn’t quench your thirst for combat sports this weekend then there’s still more to come.
Yarennoka! — also known as “Fedor Returns” — will be broadcast live on the HDNet network at 6 a.m. ET on Monday, December 31. It’s super early, however, there’s no excuse not to set the DVR today if you receive the HDNet network.
The New Year’s Eve show will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko will headline the show against the gigantic Korean, Hong Man Choi.
Here’s the complete line up:
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi
- Shin’ya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung
- Hidehiko Hasegawa vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
- Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kazuo Misaki
- Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Gilbert Melendez
- Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
- Luiz Azeredo vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
- Mike Russow vs. Roman Zentsov
Nice line up of fights, which would have been made even better if Gesias “JZ Calvan” Calvancante was going up against Aoki as originally thought.
Regardless, there are some great fighters competing on this card. Catch it if you can.
Written by admin on December 30th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
By Jesse Holland
UFC 79: “Nemesis” is finally in the books and aside from a great night of fights, I think it can be said (with a good deal of certainty) that after some rough waters the ship has finally started to right itself.
George St. Pierre is reclaiming his position as one of the most dominant fighters in the game today, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva taught us that a rivalry as great as theirs can transcend time, and Melvin Guillard and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou proved once and for all that power is nothing without control.
Matt Hughes has enjoyed the kind of career that most fighters can only dream about. Losing to Georges St. Pierre does not affect Hughes’ place in UFC history and I find it kind of fitting that the torch has been passed to “Rush” … via armbar.
That’s some symbolic karma right there.
Pay attention Georges. You want to be the next great welterweight legend. The fans want you to be next great welterweight legend. The only thing that can stop you is YOU. Let’s hope that tonight’s dominating performance is an indication that you’ve conquered your demons.
Can we have a moment of silence for the match that never was – and probably never will be? Maybe if Matt Serra loses to GSP he can settle his grudge with Hughes – assuming the self-professed country boy is still in the fight game by then.
Speaking of grudge matches, was anyone not on the edge of their seat for the fifteen minute war that was Liddell vs. Silva? I don’t even care that it didn’t end with a knockout. Saturday’s fight was the reason fans were demanding this match for so long – and credit to the fighters - they delivered.
Chuck looked sharp. And color me reactionary, but I was as stunned as Wandy when Chuck started pulling out the takedowns. I’d like to think the impostor that fought Keith Jardine last September is gone for good.
And as far as Wanderlei Silva is concerned, I didn’t think he was finished after dropping two straight fights and I still don’t think that now that it’s up to three. Losing to fighters like Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson and Chuck Liddell is not exactly an uncommon occurrence in this sport and the way Silva fights I’ll continue watching him until he decides he’s had enough.
In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing “The Axe Murderer” give Rashad Evans his comeuppance.
It was interesting to see Houston Alexander, I mean Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, find out what happens when knockout power is not enough. The undefeated Lyoto Machida continued to mystify as his strategy baffled the UFC newcomer.
Can anyone figure this guy out?
Machida may not have an exhilarating style, but he knows how to get the job done. Sokoudjou was in la-la land prior to the arm triangle. And kudos to Machida for finally finishing an opponent. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Now who are we going to compare Karo Parisyan to?
Melvin Guillard is going to have to put a little more mixed in his martial arts. When you have seven losses and six of them are by submission, I think it’s time to re-evaluate things.
He’s got talent, but so often it looks like he just goes out there to fight, perhaps forgetting that this is a sport and that best strategy (most of the time) prevails. This is a huge win for Rich Clementi (personal and professional), but in a division this stacked it will be a tough road to hoe.
Not as tough as watching Eddie Sanchez fight Soa Palelei, however. This was the only stinker of the night. Palelei looks like a guy who has been out of the game for three years and Sanchez looked like he was getting royalties on the uppercut.
He got the “W” but he’s going to have to do better than that if he wants to get past some of the bigger guys like Tim Sylvia.
Again, it was a great night to be a MMA fan. To finish out the recap I’m going to take a look at the future of the fighters of UFC 79. Nothing scientific, just a little wish list of mine.
The winners:
Georges St. Pierre: If Serra is ready, great. If not, Jon Fitch has earned the right to face you.
Chuck Liddell: Quinton Jackson is out of the question, as is Forrest Griffin. I guess that leaves you with Shogun. No complaints here.
Lyoto Machida: Your ability to finish Sokoudjou is certain to raise your stock. If Shogun doesn’t get Chuck, I’m hoping that you do. Thiago Silva wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.
Rich Clementi: The lightweight division is full of contenders. Beating a veteran like Spencer Fisher may help you become one of them.
Eddie Sanchez: Tonight’s win probably won’t endear you to anyone at UFC headquarters, but a win is still a win. You might be Andrei Arlovski’s going away present.
The losers:
Matt Hughes: I doubt you’ll be around long enough to fight Serra, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out without a bang. I’m sure a match with Diego Sanchez or Josh Koscheck would be entertaining.
Wanderlei Silva: Like I said before, Rashad Evans needs to get a little dirt on that clean record and I think you’re just the man for the job.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: It’s back to the drawing board I’m afraid. You won’t see a main event until you rebuild your resume. Fighting some TUF alumni would be a good start. Keith Jardine or Stephan Bonnar come to mind.
Melvin Guillard: With two submission losses and a drug suspension, your days are numbered. A fresh start in the WEC could do you some good – unless you want to slug it out with Luke Caudillo on a Fight Night undercard.
Soa Palelei: Getting battered by Eddie Sanchez in your debut is not the best way to start your UFC career. But you can take punishment. Maybe they’ll let Brandon Vera pound on you for a few rounds – it’s the kind of match the producers of “Unleashed” love to show.
That’s a wrap, maniacs. Hope everyone enjoyed the final show of 2007. For the most part it did not disappoint.
To check out our complete UFC 79 blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage click here.
***
Just want to apologize to our readers who couldn’t get on the site last night. We did some upgrades to our server literally hours before showtime because we knew we would get hit hard. It wasn’t a good idea. In fact, it was a disaster. Live and learn. It won’t happen again.
Written by admin on December 30th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC 79 and Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida and Rich Clementi and Melvin Guillard and Soa Palalei and Eddie Sanchez and Wanderlei Silva and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes and UFC Pay Per View (PPV) Events and Ryoto Machida and UFC Results and MMA.
Tim Sylvia (24-3) and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (30-4-1) will fight for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” on February 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The official announcement came during the UFC 79: “Nemesis” pay-per-view (PPV) event during a promo between fights. It’s a match up that has long been rumored since “The Maine-iac” stopped Brandon Vera in November via unanimous decision.
Of course, it couldn’t have been made possible without the high-profile resignation of former division champion Randy Couture earlier in 2007. However, the Nogueira-Sylvia clash will be for the “interim” not “vacant” championship.
Perhaps there is still some wishful thinking that Couture will honor his contract.
Sylvia is the former titleholder who lost his belt to Couture at UFC 68: “The Uprising” back in March. He underwent back surgery to repair herniated discs and returned to get a win over “The Truth” in Cincinnati. That was enough to earn him another crack at the coveted strap.
Nogueira barely escaped his Octagon debut, surviving an early knockdown during his fight with Heath Herring at UFC 73: “Stacked” in July to earn a unanimous decision. “Minotauro” is the former Pride FC champion and will look to capture similar glory under the UFC banner.
UFC 81 also features the heavyweight showdown between former division champion, Frank Mir, and former professional wrestling superstar, Brock Lesnar.
For the rest of the rumored “Breaking Point” fight card click here.
Written by admin on December 30th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Tim Sylvia and UFC 81 and UFC Pay Per View (PPV) Events and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
UFC 79 was a great event. Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was every bit as exciting as I expected, but whu would’ve thought it would go to a 3-round decision? Wanderlei’s chin is unpredictable, he got caught with some nasty shots and kept standing.
Matt Hughes was totally dominated by Georges St. Pierre. GSP scored takedowns at will and controlled the fight before finally catching hughes in a nasty armbar submission after going for a kimura. Matt Hughes verbally tapped out. No, Matt Hughes won’t retire on a loss. I don’t care what anyone says, I don’t think he’ll go out like that. I see Matt Serra healing up and fighting St. Pierre, Matt Serra will lose that fight and set up a “bad blood” match between Hughes and Serra sometime towards the end of 2008.
Lyoto Machida choked Sokoudjou to submission and remains undefeated.
Other results from UFC 79 are:
Rich Clementi defeated Melvin Guillard by Submission (Choke) round 1
Eddie Sanchez defeated Soa Palelei by Technical Knock Out round 3
James Irvin defeated Luiz Cane by Disqualification (illegal knee) round 1
Manny Gamburyan defeated Nate Mohr by Submission (Leg Lock) round 1
Dean Lister defeated Jordan Radev by Unanimous Decision
Roan Carneiro defeated Tony DeSouza by Technical Knock Out round 2
Mark Bocek defeated Doug Evans by Unanimous Decision round 3
Written by admin on December 30th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Wanderlei Silva and Lyoto Machida and Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra and Matt Hughes and UFC and Chuck Liddell and MMA.