Tito Ortiz at UFC 133

The Hunington Beach Bad Boy, Tito Ortiz

On July the 1^st, Tito Ortiz had been on a MMA losing streak lasting almost 5 years, the President of the UFC had vowed should he lose the following night he would never fight in the UFC again.

Tito had had a healthy and lengthy UFC career;  24 fights, 15 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. He still holds the record for “Most successful light heavyweight title defences” Five. However he won that title back in 2000 and lost the title in 2003. Time had moved on and not to the benefit of Tito. After losing the title to Chuck Liddell he began a long road back to a title match, he went 5-1 with 4 wins straight which earned himself a rematch for his title, and once again he failed to walk away as the champion, he had lost to Chuck Liddell.

This loss proved to cast a spell on Tito, you see Tito had a big issue with the President of the UFC, Dana White, Tito right from the early days was always very demanding of money, he knew the UFC would be a big big business and he was the face of it for a long time and he wanted his pay check to show that. When Dana and the Ferttia's brought the Company, Dana wasn't willing to sign a cheque as big as Tito wanted. Having a feud with your boss is never a good career tip. Dana never gave Tito an easy fight, and rightfully so. Dana wanted to make as much money as he could off Tito, without giving Tito the satisfaction of being any good. After Tito's second loss to the champion, Dana had his chance to do exactly that.

Tito's attempt at making friends with the Boss.

Tito was always a showboating, loudmouth, cocky punk, constantly made excuses, and was always disrespectful. While he was hated; people would pay to see him trash talk, people would pay to see him fight, people would pay to see him lose. Tito Ortiz has always been MMA's most hated fighter. Dana knew this and couldn't let him win, besides he didn't have to pay him as much if he lost so hand-picking tough fighters was an ideal situation.

After his loss to Chuck, he fought Rashad Evans whom at the time had a record of 10-0, with 5 of those wins in the UFC, In the first round Tito's striking came as a surprise to Rashad. You see Tito was a big muscular wrestler, whom in the old days had outwrestled opponents to gain the takedown, and once on top he would literally land big punches and elbows from the position he wound up in to finish the fight. Tito never needed to develop as he was huge and his size alone presented the biggest challenge to his opponents. Tito was also the most devastating master of ground and pound, but that was it, theres no point having one skill if your opponents starts learning how to prepare for it. He lost the title to Chuck, as Chuck was a wrestler who had developed into a kickboxer and wrestler. He used his wrestling to keep the fight standing and outstrike opponents and knock them out using his kickboxing and that's exactly how he beat Tito twice.

Tito's Ground and Pound

So in the first round when Tito came out with a head kick this was unseen before and from that he used it to set up a takedown ,the first round was Tito's. In the second round Tito was deducted 1 point for an illegal knee to the groin, and the round ended with Tito with a submission locked in on Rashad. Tito was winning but tired. In the final round, the round was a lot closer and Rashad won the fight in the last minute when Tito had nothing left to give due to fatigue, Rashad started landing strikes and scored a takedown. The result was 2 rounds to Tito. 1 Round to Rashad. With the 1 point reduction Tito and Rashad had Drawn. 0-1-1

He fought Lyoto Machida, a karate fighter, whom at the time had collected a record of 12-0 with 2 wins over former UFC champions. Tito tried his best to beat Lyoto but he fell straight into Lyoto's game of falling for fakes and ended up by losing a decision to the karate black belt. What shouldn't be forgotten is Tito's Hail Mary submission attempt that almost worked in that fight too, just like when he almost beat Rashad. Tito almost submitted Lyoto in a triangle choke. Tito showed he wasn't afraid to attempt submissions from his back, another manoeuvre that proved Tito had developed... Or was crazy. Either way he lost. 0-2-1

He rematched Forrest Griffin, a fighter who he beat during his run to the championship rematch which had originally ended as a razor thin split decision victory to Tito. In the first fight Forrest brought a war, in the rematch once again Forrest brought a war, the second time round Forrest won by split decision. 0-3-1

Although it was never acknowledged in public, Dana smelt blood in the water. Since his loss to Chuck he had yet to win a fight. Tito still demanded a huge pay cheque, but he was unable to win. Dana wanted Tito gone and retired. Dana's idea to do this,  was toput him in stylistically very very difficult or next to impossible fights.

Tito was a wrestler, he got in his opponents faces early, took them down with a big slam, landed big punches or elbows and forced them to quit. His standing was nothing special although improving. His speed was average. His power, his solid chin, and his wrestling was what won him fights.

Dana put him up against a fighter he trained. Matt Hamill. Matt had a wrestling background, great power, a great chin, great conditioning and average speed. However Matt had developed his stand up game and since Matt was a lot younger than Tito, Tito's stand up had improved but not in comparison in a modern day him, I should however say neither man possess anywhere near Championship quality striking however... Matt was Tito Version 2.0. In the fight the wrestling neutralized the takedowns and Matt and Tito ended up standing and trading and Matt was more versatile. Matt picked up the decision victory. So Tito had gone 0-4-1

He then was in an ultimatum, win or quit fighting. His opponent given was Ryan Bader. If Matt Hamill was Tito 2.0. Ryan Bader was Version 2.5. He was quicker, had the wrestling background,  however he possessed one punch knockout power in both fists. Stylistically another nightmare fight. Bader had come off a loss in a number 1 contender fight, against a man who went on to take the title. Tito needed to win in a match even his hardcore fans had no belief in the win.

So “On July the 1^st, Tito Ortiz had been on a MMA losing streak lasting almost 5 years, the president of the UFC had vowed should he losing the following night he would never fight in the UFC again.” In a match up people claimed there was no way Tito can win.

But this is MMA. Tito came out composed, calm, understanding of the situation that he had to win to keep his job. On the 2^nd of July Tito landed a short right uppercut that technically looked horrible and sloppy however it landed straight on Baders chin, he fell down hurt. Tito got ontop and just like the old Tito in the old days of the UFC, Tito landed big right hands on top, and with his experience and evolution instead of running the risk of gassing out, he locked in a guillotine choke. Bader was forced to tap. Bader walked in as the 1/5 favourite but Tito defied the odds and had won.

1-4-1

The Finish

Not only had Tito won, he beat a guy who was just 5 months ago fighting for the rights to a title fight, this took place at UFC 132.

UFC 133's Main Event was scheduled to put Rashad Evans vs Huge Prospect Phil Davis. Phil pulled out injured. In Tito's 14 years of being in the UFC, Tito had never once stepped in as a replacement. Tito had a sudden change of heart. Whether it was because he saw Rashad as a winnable fight, whether he wanted another chance to beat Rashad or whether the money was right. Tito stepped in.

"Suga" Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans after drawing with Tito, continued undefeated and expanded his record to 13-0-1 capturing the UFC Light heavyweight title. Rashad is a very light and small for a light heavyweight, which is a surprise considering he made his UFC début as a heavyweight, and fans have always thought of him perusing a Middleweight future. But despite his size, he's used it as an advantage as he has speed on his side and, boy does he know how to use it. Rashad started his career also as a wrestler, using his speed for quick takedowns and staying ontop just like Tito. However with evolution Rashad focused on using his speed for strikes, be it punches or highlight reel head kicks, he became so confident in his stand up, he forgot about his wrestling. And when he entered for his first title defence he fought (just like Tito) Lyoto Machida. Lyoto had imposed gameplans to beat any fighter using his karate and excellent fakes to beat any striker, fast or strong. Rashad was far too overconfident and the result might have changed Rashads career.

Lyoto unloading on Rashad

Rashad got hurt, and he got knocked out in a devastating fashion, Lyoto really hurt Rashad's chin and it's been loosened without a doubt. Rashad was left without a title that night, and he was also left on the floor gazing at the stars. Since then Rashad's camp decided to forget the idea of him standing with fighters, and for the last 2 fights he used his speed and wrestling technique to wrestle opponents. But not without troubles. In both fights, in both final rounds, Rashad has felt overconfident and stood with his opponent, ending up with Rashad getting hurt and getting rocked. However.... Rashad has now moved camps and is no longer training the same camp that won him the belt, won him 2 back to back fights and cost him his only loss.

However, Rashads chin might be questionable, but in 14 years Tito has never scored a standing knockout, will it be too late for Tito?

Rashad's gameplan to win, if he can use his wrestling and speed to stay ontop, and keep Tito on his back Rashad can win. But, in my opinion Tito has more ways to win and if he pulls tactics in, that he has the tool set to use but has never put together. He can win easily.

Tito needs to use his Wrestling experience and MMA experience to keep the fight standing, the Sprawl and Brawl tactic. Tito needs to not be afraid to get inside the pocket with Rashad. I won't deny Rashad has quicker and maybe even stronger stand up but Tito has a much stronger chin, if Tito can prepare to get punched but close the distance, he can brawl. He needs to force Rashad into a sloppy slugfest. As soon as this starts, Tito can land short hard punches that could finish the fight. This is with the belief that Rashad's chin is as weak as I want it to be and that Tito doesn't fear the takedown. I have also taken into consideration the clinch, if Rashad wishes to clinch once Tito is inside, Tito should use his superior strength and wrestling to put Rashad up against the cage and tire him out.

As you can tell, I'm not only calling a massive upset but I'm backing a top favourite of mine and making up a gameplan that probably won't be followed but my prediction is that something will go down like it

Tito by KO in the 1^st round or by being to strong for Rashad and earning a Unanimous decision. Even if he used the same tactics he used in the old fight I still believe that tactic might work to ride the decision victory, proved he doesn't knee Rashad in the groin...

I just believe there's too many other factors that means Tito can pull this off.

Tito has just come off a win, Rashad has had a long lay-off, so ring rust will be a big factor.

Rashad is making his Début fighting out of a new camp, and his gameplan might not be the best.

Tito's chin is much tougher than that of Rashad's.

Finally a brief layout of how I feel the breakdown of each individual skill set:

Takedown offence. Rashad

Takedown defence. Rashad

Strength. Tito

Speed. Rashad

Striking. Rashad.

Clinch. Tito.

Cardio. Rashad.

Submissions, Tito.

Chin Tito.

Heart, both fairly bad.

Gameplan, normally Rashad by miles.

Fighting from the bottom. Tito

Fighting from the top. Tito

Experience. Tito.

Tito might be the most hated MMA fighter of all time, but right now he's coming out with a Cinderella story. This is a huge shot for Tito and as much as the hardcore fans might hate him, you have to acknowledge the underdog story and hopefully come August the 6^th Tito can defy the odds one more time.

On August the 6th It goes down... Again

UFC 131: Carwin vs JDS

At UFC 131 Former Interim Heavyweight title holder Shane Carwin will face Junior Dos Santos, with the winner likely to receive a title fight against Current Heavyweight Champion Cain Velásquez.



Shane Carwin - Will be expected to weigh in at 265 pound at the weigh in

 

Junior Dos Santos - Will be expected to weigh in at 240 pound at the weigh in

Originally Junior Dos Santos was scheduled to face Brock Lesnar, but Brock was struck with illness and the replacement was Shane Carwin.

Junior Dos Santos made his UFC debut against Fabricio Wedrum, who is currently top 5 in the division, in a match that Junior was able to finish with a huge uppercut in the second minute. The fight made 2008's upset of the year.Junior walked into the bout with a 6-1 record. His one loss coming by submission, his 6 wins were all finishes in the first round. Nobody knew who Junior was but that uppercut finish made them start researching.

The Big time Uppercut

Shane Carwin also made his debut in 2008. He walked in to his fight with a record of 8-0 and was faced with a natural Light-heavyweight who Shane weighed in (252 llb) 22 pounds heavier than. Shane also came in with a record of only 1 of his 8 fights entering the second minute. Carwin finished his opponent on his UFC debut in 44 seconds with a perfect jab cross combo.

Both men had knock-out power, but Junior Dos Santos had a much higher calibre win.

Once again Shane Carwin found himself on the under-card in his next bout and like his last fight, he was the favourite. This proved again to be for a good reason. Shane weighed in this time at 264 but he cut the weight for the fight. In this fight we were shown and told that Shane was a NCAA Division II wrestle (a high level wrestler). Shane got on top of opponent, and pounded him, finishing the fight in under 2 minutes.

Junior's fast track to stardom continued after his upset of the year against a debuting big prospect, Stefan Streuve. And by big I mean in height. Stephan is 6'11 tall. However the reach and height didn't stop the hands of Junior Dos Santos, as he was able to put Stephan away in less than 1 minute.

After 2 fights what was known about the 2 fighters:

Nobody could handle the punching power of either man. Junior Dos Santos had quick boxing and very fast hands. Shane Carwin had great wrestling and heavy hands.

Shane Carwin then found himself at the co-main event against Gabriel Gonzaga a former title challenger. This time Carwin walked into the bout without being the favourite. The fight began and early on Gonzaga rocked Carwin, then took Carwin down. Carwins wrestling maybe was more overrated than people had predicted, however he was able to get back up pretty quickly. Gonzaga came at Carwin to strike with him. Carwin landed one right hand and Gonzaga was out cold. Carwin landed 4 punches in 1 minute 9 seconds and it finished the fight. He overcame the momentary rock and finished it quickly. Carwin was on fire. So hot in fact Carwin was given a title shot against the title holder at the time, Brock Lesnar.

All of Shanes 4 strikes

Junior however was trialled and tested some more, for whatever reasons.. Maybe he couldn't speak English so it was hard to promote/advertise him. Whether it was he was too one dimensional (could only strike) unlike Shane Carwin who was more developed, as he had his wrestling background. Junior was tested. In 2009 he fought former PRIDE World Grand Prix Open-Weight Champion and Kickboxing legend, Mirko Cro Cop, and stood toe to toe with him for 3 rounds (or 12 minutes) before Cro Cop was forced to quit due to a fractured orbital. He then stood toe to toe with another Kickboxer, Gilbert Yibel, and took 2 minutes to knock him out. If they wanted Junior to be less 'one dimensional' repeatedly matching him up with Strikers wasn't helping his case for a title shot. Then on March the 21st of 2010, Junior fought Gabriel Gonzaga. Like Carwin, Junior got taken down, but he too was able to get back up quickly. Junior fought the next few minutes giving a strike, taking a strike, which continued until Gonzaga's chin gave in to a big left hook and Junior rushed in and finished the fight in 4 minutes.



On March the 27th of 2010, 1 week later, Shane Carwin competed for the temporary Heavyweight interim championship. He was originally scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar in November 2009 but Brock fell ill. So instead Frank Mir and Shane Carwin squared off to determine the temporary heavyweight champion and Brock would face the winner. Shane had still never been out of the first round and now had a record of 11-0. Frank Mir entered the fight 13-4 as a former UFC Heavyweight champion and a former Interim Champion. However it was not Frank's night. Shane was able to press Frank against the cage using his wrestling, sheer strength and weight to clinch him. Carwin pressed Frank's chin up and uppercut him, until Frank fell to the ground covering up. Shane won the fight and took the vacant title in just less than 4 minutes.

Shane now had a UFC Record of 4-0 and held a UFC title. Junior held a record of 4-0 as well. Junior was still confused as to what he had to do.

At UFC 116 Brock Lesnar returned to merge the titles into the UFC Undisputed Heavweight title. And all of Shane Carwins weaknesses were exposed.

Both men on an average day walk around 280-300 pound, so both men had to shed and cut weight to make 265. Shane Carwin was not used to this whilst Brock had made a career out of it.

Shane Carwin hurt the champion, rocked him, had Brock back-peddling, then Shane took Brock down, and just pounded away at him. He put everything into trying to finish Brock, and arguably the referee could have stopped the fight, however Brock was able to just keep his guard up and pretty much just turtle up for about 90 seconds. However he had survived the onslaught. Carwin decided to back off and let Brock get back up. Carwin stood up and looked tired, weak and severely gassed. Brock saw this and simply avoided some slow powerless strikes and proceeded to push Carwin against the cage and put the round to a close. Carwin then walked into the second round the same as he ended the first: looking out of shape. Brock took Carwin down, passed Carwins guard and submitted him with an arm triangle choke; Carwin didn't even look like he tried to defend against it, tapping when it was in place.

The "poorly executed" 25 second Arm Triangle Choke in 10 seconds.

Carwin's weakness appeared to be his biggest problem: he had never gone out of the first round proving he had little or no stamina. Brock took the Undisputed Title and Carwin was just left reminiscing of the time he almost finished the champion.

1 week later, Junior however found himself in a bout over Roy Nelson. In a fight where Roy showed a lot of heart, Junior put Roy through a clinic. Roy isn't well known for superior wrestling or takedowns, and this didn't help: Junior was able to stop all takedowns and keep the fight on its feet. Junior had once again outclassed an opponent by striking with them. But at least he showed some takedown defence against a fighter with little takedown offence.

JDS putting on a Clinic against Roy Nelson all over the cage

So that's were there in fighting action finishes. Since both fights, Junior Dos Santos was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar and to promote that fight, the opponents were matched up as opposing coaches on the Ultimate Fighter, the UFC's reality TV show. However after filming Brock suffered an illness, so Shane Carwin was put into replace him.

The Basic Overview of the fight:

Shane is 12-1 with a UFC Record of 4-1. Junior is 12-1 with a UFC Record of 6-0.

Shane Carwin has the wrestling advantage and in most cases, wrestlers beat strikers.

Both men's submission skills aren't known although it appears that Shane's are lacking and we have been told Junior has a Brown belt at Brazialian Jiu Jitsu, but these skills have never been showcassed or seen in the UFC.

Junior has the more technical striking advantage and has a solid chin.

Junior has a better conditioning and should be quicker.

Shane is more powerful and often 1 strike ends the fight. Junior set's up power punches with combo's.

Both men's weaknesses:

In the words of Forrest Griffin

“Junior Dos Santos is one of those guys we know F*** all about, all we know is he knocks people out”

Junior's grappling has yet to be on show and training out of the camp he does, their weaknesses appear to be wrestling. Junior's biggest weakness is that he likes to take a punch, as he gives a punch. Not counter striking. Just taking blow for a blow. His other issue is that his guard is not a guard. He doesn't use it to block punches, he uses it so the punches come from the chin, not the hip, less distance to cover, lands quicker.

Shane Carwin's only gone out the first round once, and his gas tank appeared empty. If he decided to out wrestle/grapple Junior, would he be able to do this round after round after round?

That sums up weighing up both fighters. The odds are on Junior to win and I agree. My prediction would be for Junior to fight tactical and not engage too much until Shane's tired in the later rounds then finish the fight.

My pick will be JDS to finish by TKO/KO late into the second round.

But should Shane Carwin come in with a wrestling focused gameplan, which I am not counting out, I could easily see Carwin ground and pounding Junior until he gets the finish.

The Basics for Begginers

The number of people who read the last blog surprised me, especially as people read it without any knowledge of the sport at all.

Before I begin, I thought I better explain why I started doing it. Basically I text my 5 closest friends MMA mini blogs before fights etc, and they ask me crazy, ridiculous and occasionally very smart questions, ranging from “Stack the Lightweight division,” “To when will the MMA superfights start?” to “Who would win in a MMA match between Mario and Sonic?” Unfortunately, I promised to answer any MMA related question and I am not one to break a promise.I am now getting a lot of questions that are too big to answer via text so I shall be answering the big ones on here. Feel free to ask me any questions and I will (provided its MMA related) answer you.

For now, due to the number of people saying they read it but didn't have a clue I am going to go through the basics:

UFC 97: The Arena and Octagon

What is MMA?

Before anything, UFC is not the same as MMA. UFC is a TV Programme, which features MMA Fights. You can't fight UFC. It would be like saying  I play FA... Grammatically it's: I play football. I play under the FA. MMA is the sport, UFC is the promotion one would fight.

UFC was however was the company that launched MMA onto the mainstream stage.

How UFC came to be

A Brazilian family, known as The Gracies, were so confident that they were the best in the world at fighting, that they posted an open challenge for any contender to fight them; the prize being money. An entrepreneur called Art Davie saw this and created the idea now known as the UFC. He would get a fighter of different Martial Art’s background's (such as boxing, kick-boxing, Sumo etc) and put them all in a one night tournament. The fight had to begin standing but from there could end up on the ground or in a clinch. The first fight occurred and I won't spoil who won in case you fancy doing some extra research, but the event was a lot bigger than the producer's anticipated. As planned the tournament's continued with very little decline in popularity... But a rise in media attention, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The tournament was given names such as Human Cock Fighting. Tournaments were harder to keep going, due to ongoing court issues and although the producers tried to get the event ruled as a legal sports fight, they found it impossible to keep pumping money into the UFC as profit's were disappearing, due to not being allowed to air on TV, ongoing legal fees and lack of location to hold the event. The producer's eventually  gave up and sold the business. This was the biggest thing to happen to the sport of MMA.

2 Casino owners (The Ferrita Brothers with a new manager: Dana White) brought the company and were more than willing to battle in the company's name and continuously pump money into the UFC. During the early stages they saw no profit but with every big event they produced they realised there was potential.

At UFC 30, with ZUFFA (The Ferrita Brothers brand) and all their money, The Ferrita Brothers were able to win Court room battles for haggling rules, meaning that rules had to be put into place, but the UFC became a recognised and legal sport.

They are currently 31 Fouls which makes the sport less “violent.” These range from the illegality of “groin shots of any kind” to “holding onto the fence” even rules such as “Stomps, knees, Kicks to the head of a grounded opponent,” all of which can lead to immediate disqualification or losing a point on the judges score card. The most commonly used rule, means a fighter cannot compete for more than 1 fight a night and must undergo thorough medical check-ups before and after fights.

How to Win in the UFC

*KO (knockout) – When a fighter is unconscious

*TKO (technical knockout) - this is where the referee jumps in, to stop the fight when one contender has hurt the other to the point where the hurt one is no longer intelligently defending themselves. As far as the ref is concerned, although the fighter is conscious, he might as well not be.

*Submission – Where the losing contender taps on the floor to signal that they are being hurt by a choke/hold (known as a submission) to the point where they can no longer continue.

*Technical Submission  - where the referee stops the submission (choke/hold) due to obvious signs such as being unconscious or broken limbs.

*Decision – If all rounds end with none of the above occurring, 3 individual judges (who do not confer) score each round out of 10 marks. The one they deem the winner receives 10 and the loser receiving 9 or less. If all 3 judges score the fight in favour of you it is a unanimous decision, if 2 score it to you and 1 to your opponent this is called a split decision.

Final Point

*All fights start standing
*UFC bouts take place in an 8 sided cage
*Rounds are 3 by 5 minutes or 5 by 5 minutes in cases of title fights.

So who is the best?

 

They are 7 weight classes in the UFC and so it’s hard to say 1 best; it’s all a matter of opinion.

There are 2 fighters who stand out.
George St Pierre (GSP) and Anderson Silva.

George "Rush" St Pierre (GSP) Left, Anderson "The Spider" Silva Right

Anderson is 12 (wins) –0 (losses) in the UFC.

GSP is 17-2 in the UFC.

Anderson Silva is an exciting Knockout artist and a slick submissionist who out of his 12 fights has finished 10 (meaning they didn’t go to a decision). He was won many awards including “Fight of the Year” and “Beatdown of The Year” across his career. Unfortunately for Silva he has weaknesses in his wrestling game and has been exposed on several occasions however nobody has been able to capitalise on them.. yet.

GSP hasn't finished a fight since April 2008 but has no weaknesses (well none that have shown up yet). He hasn't lost a round since August 2007 but whilst doing this hasn’t been exciting or entertaining to watch. He uses repeative gameplan's to beat opponents, but never commits himself to finishing fights, making for lacklustre fights and dominant match-ups. Anderson, on the other hand, is always fun to watch.

So who's the best and most complete fighter in MMA? GSP. Who's the guy you wanna go out and watch his fights? Anderson Silva.

Finally, if you have time, watch this Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U030eKQp2Lc . MMA has gone a long way from the brutal days of blood filled cages, with people fighting each other with little experience.  MMA is a fully sanctioned and legal sport and it’s a sport for real professional athletes; These fighters train everyday like other athletes, to be top of their game. All the current UFC Champions are intelligent, respectful people; the above video shows this, demonstrating Anderson Silva in and out the cage.

I hope whoever read this has learnt something and I'm really hope I don't end up writing blogs on cartoon character superfights...

Till then if you have any subjects you want me to write about (or even if you just read this) please let me know! Thanks.

P.S I just wanna thanks my girlfriend/editor/secretary for making sure my grammar and english is at a readable standard. So thank you Beth. And for the record everybody. My Grammar etc apparently was better than last time!

Gray “The Bully” Maynard Vs Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (champion) III.
To begin with I aim to do sections on Main bouts of UFC numbered events, but I would also like to cover Divisions, 'lay of the land' and other stuff that runs through my head. But I love hyping things up, giving in depth analysis and historic reviews, so I'll begin with those 3 and see how we go.

Gray “The Bully” Maynard Vs Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (champion) III.

Edgar Left, Maynard right.

UFC 130 is 1 month away and the main event features the 3^rd instalment of the Edgar/Maynard Saga.

Frankie Edgar (aged 29) made his debut in the UFC back at UFC 67. In a 3 round war, that took place all over the octagon, Franke Edgar beat Tyson Griffin in a fight so memorable that it won fight of the year. Prior to starting his UFC career Edgar lead a 5-0 undefeated streak beating future contender and UFC veteran Jim Miller. Edgar followed his Fight of the year win with a victory over debuting fighter, Mark Bocek; a fight he was able to finish in the opening round. He was then looking to be fast tracked to a UFC title opportunity, as he also beat Spencer Fisher at UFC 78. But that title was not meant for him as on the 2^nd of April 2008, he met his biggest rival to date, Gray Maynard.

Gray was also entering the bout undefeated in Professional MMA, at 5-0 (1). He came to the UFC via The ultimate fighter, losing only to the winner Nate Diaz, via guillotine choke. Gray was gaining fans fast with a 9 second KO, a double KO slam and a stint on the reality show, on his resume.

The fight started out between the pair and the broadcast team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan said:

“Neither have lost Joe in there mixed martial arts career”

“This is such a good match-up Mike, 2 really promising up and coming contenders and this is a match up Gray Maynard asked for. Frankie Edgar has just been tearing it up and so has Gray, both these guys really excited about finding out who the best one is at 155.”

The first round showed Edgar would not be able to take Gray down On their feet, Edgar was faster and able to throw more than just punches, which made Gray look stiff, as all he could do was throw punches, but Gray's superior wrestling enabled him to land 2 takedowns, one of which he was able to use effectively to keep Edgar on his back for the final 2 minutes of the round.

In the second round we saw Maynard prove he had the power and Edgar had the speed when it came to stand up; that was until Edgar attempted another takedown, which was blocked and reversed into a single leg, leaving Edgar on his back for a third time. Edgar was able to stand up, and use angles and foot movement, whereas Gray showed great head movement. Together they would make a perfect boxer. From that Edgar was able to stuff a takedown from Gray and reversed it into a hip toss and Edgar was on top for the first time: this was short lived. Gray had by now got it in the judges scorecards that he had superior wrestling.

“this is a real interesting chess match, Mike, you know, Between to very closely skilled 155 pounders, true fans really appreciate these fights, when you see a guy trying to figure out almost a mirror image of himself”

Gray shot with a double leg which put Edgar down again. Edgar tried a Guillotine but Gray was able to pass to side control, so Edgar reversed it into a half hearted Kimura attempt. The round ended, Gray on top in a dominant position.

Third round began with a scramble takedown, Edgar sensed he was being outwrestled. The easiest thing to score this on was the takedowns, which Gray Maynard took the points for with a slam.

“there is just such a slight advantage in the wrestling, but its proving to be a big difference”

The wrestling advantage went to Gray, the Jiu Jitsu went to Edgar and the stand up was inseparable.

The round came to a close and Gray started to tire, but it was too little to late. The judges saw the wrestling and takedowns of Gray Maynard, and Gray took the match. 30-27 on all 3 scorecards.

Frankie Edgar had lost, but it was a far from dominating victory. Fortunately for Edgar, he was awarded a fight against the former Title contender of the division, Hermes Franca, whom he beat in another exciting 3 round Fight of the night affair. Edgar was gaining fans for his exciting fights. He then fought the former title holder, Sean Sherk, and beat him at UFC 98. Frankie had all the fans routing for him and so his loss to Gray was forgotten.

For Gray however, his win was cursed, he lost fans as all he could do was win. Not entertain, he used his superior wrestling and ever improving boxing to dispose of all challengers. He reached a record of 8-0 (1) before getting his long awaited rematch with Nate Diaz. His wrestling and improved submission defence helped him win this rematch but it was close. His boxing came of little use, as Nate Diaz's reach kept him at a distance. The bout ended in Gray's 6^th decision win in a row and with it the hope of being labelled an exciting fighter began to fade.

Frankie won his next Match via rear naked choke, in a battle he not only finished but pne that saw hime take his 3^rd Fight of the Night honours. This, and for his fans and his entertainment quality, he was honoured with a match against the long time champion of the division, BJ Penn. As you can tell, Gray was not too happy about the guy he beat 2 years before, earning a title shot in front of him, but things would start looking up for Gray in a way he couldn't have imagined.

Somehow in words I can not describe the long time ruler of the Lightweight division, BJ Penn was beaten. Frankie was far too sharp and made BJ look slow: he outclassed the man, who so many people said Frankie wouldn't beat. People were so baffled and confused about how this natural Featherweight beat the long time champion that Edgar was forced to prove himself and fight BJ again. After another 25 minutes of fighting Frankie Edgar proved he was the real deal. BJ was, like everyone shocked, but the division had to move forward.

In this time Gray Maynard was able to dispatch of BJ Penn's long time number 1 contender, Kenny Florian.

It was almost a change of guard, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were the new breeds, replacing and regenerating how the division had stood for such a long time.

Now that Edgar had, in the eyes of many, pushed the champion off the top spot, a rematch was needed. A chance for Edgar to take his revenge on the man who had beaten him 32 months before.

UFC 125 was headlined by Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar: this time for the world title. For 25 minutes both men were keen to show off their new skills and styles, they had developed since the last meeting. Edgar had used his speed and footwork to outclass opponents and shock crowds, as Gray had used wrestling to earn points on scorecards. Despite all the controversy Edgar had gone through, by beating the former hero of the division (BJ Penn), Edgar was the fan favourite and the entrances reflected this.

Frankie was pumped, Gray looked serious.

In the eyes of many Gray had become a boring Lay and Pray style wrestler, but in the opening minutes of the first round, viewers were reminded/introduced of his powerful boxing skills and punches, which brought him a 9 second KO 3 years before. He rocked Frankie Edgar all over the cage, starting with a sharp left hook and Gray started landing at will, dropping him 4 times within 1 minute. Frankie was so hurt he couldn't even attempt a realistic takedown defence, in the eyes of many the fight should have been stopped. He then attempted several takedowns all of which were blocked, but these gave him time to recover. Whether he was working on instinct or not, he was surviving. But the onslaught continued and Gray dropped him again. Frankie Edgar was always able to stand, but always wobbly, looking hurt. Disoriented and weary but surviving, Edgar seemed to begin to recover as the round ended. The round had two moments where Gray could have finishes Edgar but it didn't happen - Gray had worked hard so how tired was he?

The second round began and the heart of Frankie Edgar showed; he was able to pull himself together and it could have been his cardio, or how well he was able to take punishment, his movement or stand up that gave him the ability to fight like the first round never happened. Gray however was clearly tired, however he felt so confident in his stand up, due to what happened in the round prior, he wasn't willing to use his wrestling quite yet. Edgar capitalised on this, and started loosening up in the stand up, even feeling more confident in his wrestling, and he landed a big slam on  Maynard, who retaliated with a takedown to end the round, which was blocked. Frankie had improved his wrestling, had better cardio, and was trying to win the fight, not finish the fight which Gray was trying to do. That round must have gone to Edgar.

Gray Maynard was definatly tired, in the third round. We saw glimpses of how the fight would have played out without Gray's wrestling. Edgar was using angles, footwork and leg kicks to the leg, body and face. Gray started headhunting looking only for the big punch. Fortunately for Gray, he was able to secure a takedown, escape a Kimura attempt from Frankie and was saved by the Bell in a guillotine attempt.

 Gray Maynards corner (Randy Couture) “You stole that round it's 2 rounds to 1 but that was a f****** close round” 

Championship rounds began and Gray wanted to win by wrestling now. This was not to be, as he was unsuccessful in a takedown attempt, found himself fighting against another guillotine attempt and then  taken down by Edgar again. Edgar was finding his rhythm in his sprawl and brawl style. Edgar continued putting combinations together and all Gray was doing was looking to do was land that one big shot from a counter or mistake from Edgar. The conditioning of Edgar showed: he was beating Gray to the punch.

 “The more rounds he (Edgar) wins, the more it comes into question. What was the scoring of the first round.” (Joe Rogan)

“Excellent point” (Mike Goldberg)

“it was such a tremendous beating that he took, it couldn't just be a 10-9 round”

“as dominant a round as we've seen in a long time”

 Last round began and very much like the last few, the wrestling was so evenly matched. Every takedown became a scramble, on the feet Edgar mixed it up and Gray looked for the big strikes. Gray looked like he had given 90% of his gas tank amd Edgar looked like he had given 70%. Both men were tired. The fight continued standing, swinging to the finish. Both men had reasons to why the deserved to win.

It went to the judges.  Had Frankie done enough after the first round onslaught?

Judge 1 scored the bout 48-46 Maynard

Judge 2 scored the bout 48-46 Edgar

Judge 3 scored the bout 47-47.

Edgar kept the belt.

And now, come UFC 130. On the 28^th of May, what will happen? What will have improved?

The conditioning of Gray Maynard?

The wrestling of Frankie Edgar?

All we know is, it's speed vs power, its boxing vs kickboxing. Its the lightweight title on the line for another 25 minutes between the two best fighters in the division with a combined record of 23-1-2 (1) There only loss, was fighting each other.

I'd like to think I keep my picks and opinions out of these things, but I fear getting questioned my opinions if I don't. I've never been against fighters winning by Lay and Pray, in my opinion, if it wins you a fight do it, just don't expect a big pay-check if you win. I want Gray Maynard to win. But I think Edgar will take it, Unanimous decision.