UFC 109: Sonnen Defeats Marquardt in Dominating Fashion
Chael Sonnen was wasting no time in this fight, he went right after Marquardt and then took him down, he did fall right into a guillotine but managed to get out. Sonnen then postured up and began unleashing some thunderous shots while Marquardt was against the cage. Marquardt managed to get standing a threw a flying knee but was took right back down by Sonnen. Chael Sonnen easily took the first round in a dominating fashion, 10-9 Sonnen.
The second round started the exact same as the first, Sonnen went right in there and put Marquardt on his back. Sonnen continued to control the round but midway through he began to bleed quite a lot from a cut that was in the middle of the forehead. Sonnen still dominated the round and took it 10-9 in my book.
Chael Sonnen took Marquardt down again to start the third round. Sonnen continued to control Marquardt until two minutes were remaining and Marquardt was able to get back to his feet, Sonnen immediately went in for the takedown and Marquardt got the guillotine choke locked in. Sonnen held on though until Marquardt released the choke. With a minute left in the round Marquardt showed up to the fight; it wouldn’t be enough for the victory though as Sonnen won via unanimous decision.
UFC 109: Thiago Defeats Swick via Darce Choke
The third fight of the evening at UFC 109 was Mike Swick against Paulo Thiago. The first round had some mixed striking from both fighters, Thiago really seemed to be favoring the kicks and was sometimes catching Swick off-guard. Swick got a takedown towards the very end of the round. I would of given Swick the round 10-9 even though the round was not really that engaging at all.
About two minutes into the second round Mike Swick went after Thiago and got caught with a counter left hook which sent him to the mat. Unlike most fighters Thiago went for the submission instead of trying for the TKO victory, Thiago got the win via darce choke at 1:54 of round number 2.
UFC 109: Matt Serra Gets the Night Started With R1 Win
The first fight of UFC 109 pitted welterweights Matt Serra and Frank Trigg against each other. The fight was over in the very first round after Matt Serra threw a huge overhand right that connected perfectly on the side of Trigg’s head. The official time of the stoppage was 2:23 of the first round and Matt Serra will improve to 10-6.
UFC Undisputed 2010 – Brock Lesnar on Cover
THQ is getting started with the promotion of the second installment of UFC Undisputed. This year they boast massive improvements over last year simply based on the fact that EA will be releasing their own game which will lead to some serious competition between the two companies.
MMA Mania went to the effort of categorizing all the enhancements that were mentioned in a Gamespot UK interview so here they are:
CONTROLS: In UFC 2009 Undisputed, clinch grappling and ground grappling were handled with multiple control schemes, which could be cumbersome to juggle depending on the fighter’s orientation. This year, we undertook a new design philosophy that allowed us to better align our clinch grappling and ground grappling. In essence, players will now perform clinch pummels and throws using the ultimate fighting control the same way they performed transitions in UFC 2009 Undisputed.
SUBMISSIONS: While we’ve done quite a bit of tinkering with the submission system, the stick rolling method of submission execution and escape (known semiofficially as The Shine) will return. What we did want to change was the button mashing/brute force escape we utilized last year. This enabled fighters with high strength to be just as good at getting out of submissions as fighters with high submission defense. Now all fighters will utilize The Shine, but the parameters that govern the success of getting out of a submission have changed. For UFC Undisputed 2010, the submission calculations will use either a fighter’s submission defense or his current energy level expressed as a percentage–whichever is higher. For example, let’s say a fighter has a submission defense skill of 50. If the fighter has 100 stamina and full (100 percent) energy, the game will look at this energy level, and the fighter will have a great chance of getting out of a submission. If the fighter has 100 stamina and has used the majority of his energy reserves, the game will look at the fighter’s submission defense skill; in this case, shine hard! We feel this system is fairer to players and more representative of how an actual submission struggle would go down.
CAGE SUPPORT: We’ve implemented full cage support in UFC Undisputed 2010, and its effect on gameplay is huge. Our design approach to implementing cage gameplay allowed us to utilize our universal grapple system concept. On the ground, we have a rising hierarchy of positional advantage based on how much threat potential one fighter has in relation to another. In the case of two equally skilled fighters in open guard, for instance, the fighter on top is in a slightly better situation than the fighter on the bottom. We express this by saying the top fighter has a 55/45 advantage over the bottom fighter, expressed in the damage output of his strikes, the lethality of his submissions, etc. Put the same two fighters in the mount position, for instance, and that advantage changes to something much more dramatic, like say a 90/10 in favor of the top fighter. We’ve utilized similar thinking with regard to the cage. Let’s say we have the same two equally skilled fighters in the single collar tie position in the middle of the octagon. We consider this position to be one in which both fighters have equal advantage–a true 50/50 position. If one fighter manages to push his opponent up against the cage, he’ll restrict his movement, limit the force he’s able to generate on his strikes, and make it harder for him to regain energy; thus, shifting the balance in the favor of the free-standing fighter. It’s an elegant system that we feel accurately represents the strategies employed in a real UFC fight.
FIGHTER CUSTOMIZATION: For UFC Undisputed 2010, we’ve substantially increased the number of available parts for creation, but we’ve also added a ton of new features and improvements. One of the biggest changes from the previous game is the way we allow players to allocate individual moves for their fighters. Last year, we had base styles, each of which came with a set of predefined moves. This meant that all Brazilian jujitsu (BJJ) fighters had the same moves and techniques as other BJJ fighters. We wanted to change that this year, so we opened it up and now allow players to assign individual moves to their fighters on a move-by-move basis. There are well over 200 moves that can be assigned, mixed, and matched to create truly unique fighters. Also new this year is the ability to fight orthodox, southpaw, or switch and assign a dominate power hand. Players can also choose their navigation style from a number of different postures to give their fighters more of a distinct look.
SPONSORSHIP & LOGOS: The new system, which we’ve also applied to the placement of tattoos, uses more of a drag-and-drop style interface. Gone are the predefined spots where logos can only be placed and the series of menus that were required to place a logo. This year, it’s as simple as picking shorts, picking a logo, and choosing its location on the shorts. Speaking of clothing, many top brands in MMA are back, along with some new ones, so players will have access to an extensive assortment of new designs and logos. In addition, we are also allowing players to pick or create their own post-fight clothing, which is worn during winner announcement scenes and certain areas in Career mode.
CAREER MODE: Included are several new features to help build up each fight and give them more meaning. An example of this is a new system we’ve added called “Game Is Watching You.” The GIWY system tracks everything players are doing during the fighter’s career and reflects it through commentary during fights. Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg will reference the fighter’s previous fights, his training partners, titles held, and other things he does during his career. Opponents will also take notice of performances and adjust their fight styles and strategies to counter strengths and take advantage of weaknesses.
FIGHTING TECHNIQUES: In addition to the six returning fighting techniques (boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, judo, and Brazilian jujitsu), three more have been added: Karate, Greco-Roman wrestling, and Sambo. We’ve also moved away from the concept of one striking fighting technique and one grappling fighting technique in favor of a system that allows fighters to learn individual moves as they see fit. We feel this more accurately represents the type of cross-discipline training that the modern UFC fighter needs in order to compete at the highest levels.
ONLINE FIGHT CAMPS: Fight camps unite many different fighters under a single banner to compete against fighters from other fight camps to unlock new milestones and rewards. Players can use the virtual space of their fight camp to spar and teach each other the ins and outs of the game. Players can even bring in their Career mode fighters for an online training session to train with other players and get an extra career “cred” boost. Those boosts make better fighters and those better fighters make better camps.
NEW MODES: Additions include a Title and Title Defense mode, a Tournament mode and the Classic Fights mode will return with substantial changes.
Diego Sanchez Will Return to Welterweight
It is now official, Diegoe Sanchez will return to welterweight and his next fight there will be against the undefeated John Hathaway at UFC 114 in Las Vegas.
After winning TUF season one Sanchez dropped down to welterweight where he went on quite a good run until he came up against Josh Koscheck. Sanchez lost his first pro fight against Koscheck and then got a second consecutive loss against Jon Fitch. Sanchez had two more fights at welterweight before moving down to lightweight where he went 2-1, losing in a championship fight to BJ Penn.
Sanchez went 7-2 in the welterweight division after winning TUF 1 but was unable to beat anyone noteworthy in the division. If Sanchez is able to hand Hathaway his first loss in pro MMA the best I could expect from him is a high-level gate-keeper.
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Strikeforce ‘Miami’ Salaries — Diaz and Lawler Get Six Figures
Below are the Strikeforce ‘Miami’ salaries. ‘Miami’ took place on January 30th and had an attendance of 8,156. Approximately 517,000 watched the event on Showtime.
- Nick Diaz $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Marius Zaromskis $30,000
- Cris “Cyborg” Santos $35,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus and $5,000 championship bonus) def. Marloes Coenen $2,000
- Herschel Walker $600 (no win bonus) def. Greg Nagy $5,000
- Robbie Lawler $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Melvin Manhoef $5,000
- Bobby Lashley $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Wes Sims $25,000
- Jay Hieron $65,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Joe Riggs $30,000
- Pablo Alfonso $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Marcos DaMotta $2,500
- Hadar Hassan $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Keenan $2,000
- John Kelly $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Sabah Homasi $1,000
- Michael Byrnes $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. David Zitnik $1,500
- David Gomez $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Craig Oxley $1,500
- Joe Ray $1,500 (includes $500 win bonus) def. John Clarke $1,000
The total salary for those fighting on the card came to $469,600 which is just over $19,500 per fighter on average. The average figure was only brought down by the fact that Herschel Walker took home only $600. By comparison the average salary at UFC 108 was $42,250.
Canadians Love Their Hockey a Bit Too Much
I was just browsing through Google Reader when I came across Sportsnet.ca’s article on Herschel Walker winning in his MMA debut. Now while the article doesn’t mention anything the title certainly does. Look up there at the top, “Ex-NHL…” Wait, what? Herschel Walker played in the NHL? Nah… they just love hockey too much.
My Thoughts on Strikeforce Miami
Overall I thought the show was put on really well. That would have been an amazing CBS card just because of the addition of Herscel Walker.
The first fight of the night was Bobby Lashley making his Strikeforce debut against Wes Sims. I don’t really think anyone had any faith in Sims winning this fight based on the fact that Lashley was -1500 to win at some bookmakers, that is just insane. Lashley ended up winning the fight anyway in a very dominating fashion. When the referee stopped the bout Sims believed it was premature but I feel it was a good stoppage due to the fact that Sims collapsed right after taking a shot from Lashley, he could of been out but the ref couldn’t see his eyes.
Then we moved on to the second fight which was probably one of the greatest comebacks Strikeforce has ever seen. Melvin Manhoef against Robbie Lawler. Melvin was destroying Lawler all the way through the fight with punishing leg kicks and some big uppercuts. It was getting to the stages where Lawler was hobbling about the ring with nowhere to go until Manhoef dropped his hands after throwing a kick and Lawler cracked him with a huge right hand to take the KO victory.
The third fight was 47-year-old Herschel Walker making his MMA debut against Greg Nagy or “Nudge.” Herschel Walker definitely looked good in the fight to say that: A, he is 47-years-old and B, he has had only ten months of training. The fight took place mostly on the ground where Herschel had the upper hand it seemed. He kept falling into a few traps though but managed to get out of both an ankle lock and an armbar. If Herschel does decide to fight again it would do good for the sport I think. They should put him on a CBS card though next time to take advantage of what would sure be big ratings. I have no idea who they could put him up against though, oh wait, didn’t Shaq want to fight?
Then came the title fights. First up were the women of Strikeforce, “Cyborg” Santos was defending her title against Marloes Coenen. Marloes Coenen definitely put up a good fight, she threw everything she possibly could at Cyborg but everything just wasn’t enough as Cyborg was able to remain the lightweight champion in dominating fashion. I really don’t know if there is anyone that could pose a serious threat to Cyborg right now. After two dominating performances in a row she is looking good atop the women’s division.
The main event of the evening featured Nick Diaz against Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. Diaz looked his usual self at the beginning of the fight. He was controlling Zaromskis for quite a significant portion of the first round until he got caught and went backwards onto the mat. I thought it was going to be over right there but Diaz managed to hang on. Once both fighters were back to standing it didn’t take long for Diaz to put the nails in the coffin of Zaromskis title shot.
To sum it all up, I liked the event. I thought the card was good, the fights were good and the production was good too. I watched the event using Showtimes online service which I will be posting a review of tomorrow for you all to see before you decide to use that service in the future. I would like to thank you all for reading this post and being here on MMA-Live.com for the Strikeforce coverage. Our coverage is not yet over though so come back tomorrow and join us for a whole lot more on the event and who we think the fighters from this event will face off against next.
Free EA Sports Feed of Hieron vs Riggs Didn’t Work for Many
The promised free feed of an undercard bout between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs from EA Sports turned out not to work for many. It is starting to look like Jay Hieron may be carrying around a curse. First you have his issues with IFC going under financially, then you have the demise of Affliction, then Nick Diaz tested positive in a drug test and his title fight was canceled and now his fight will not be aired.
I am curious to hear how many people out there had problems with the feed. Looking at Twitter I am thinking well over 50% of those who tried could not get on. Did anyone get to see the EA feed?
Strikeforce Miami Live Results and Recap
Join us later tonight for live results and recap from Strikeforce Miami. The main card will begin at 10PM EST on Showtime. There will also be a free online stream of the preliminary bout between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs on the EA Sports website which is set to start at 9:05 EST. We will be live blogging the EA Sports feed and the live show as well as providing quick results for all of the other prelim bouts.
Strikeforce Miami Quick Results
Nick Diaz defeats Marius Zaromskis via TKO at 4:38 , Round 1*
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Marloes Coenen via TKO (Strikes) at 3:40, Round 3**
Herschel Walker defeats Greg Nagy via TKO (Strikes) at 2:17, Round 3
Robbie Lawler defeats Melvin Manhoef via KO at 3:33, Round 1
Bobby Lashley defeats Wes Sims via TKO (Strikes) at 2:06, Round 1
Jay Hieron defeats Joe Riggs via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Pablo Alfonso defeats Marcos da Matta via arm bar at 1:47, round 1
Hayder Hassan defeats Ryan Keenan via KO at 2:42, round 2
John Kelly defeats Sabah Homasi via rear naked choke at 2:48, round 2
Michael Byrnes vs. David Zitnik
David Gomez defeats Craig Oxley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Ray defeats John Clarke via TKO (Strikes) at 3:14, round 1
*For vacant welterweight title
**Womens 145lb title defense, Santos is current champion
Strikeforce Miami Live Recap
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (170-pound)
Round one: Here we go with the main event! Zaromskis comes out quick and tries to take DIaz out but Diaz returns some good shots of his own. Diaz looks for the single leg takedown but Zaromskis catches him and both fighters end up clinching against the cage. Diaz spends around a minute kneeing Zaromskis in the leg which against the cage. Zaromskis gets taken down by Diaz but gets back up quick and Diaz connects with a good left. Zaromskis tags Diaz though and Diaz falls and shells up. Diaz is bleeding and Zaromskis goes after him, it is not over for Diaz though who continues to throw some big shots. The crowd begins to chant “Diaz”. There is absolutely no defense from either fighter at this point and Zaromskis gets tagged with a massive uppercut, it looked as though he would go out but he continued standing and staggering around until Diaz connected with one more good shot and Zaromskis went down. Diaz takes the fight and the Strikeforce welterweight championship.
Result: Nick Diaz defeats Marius Zaromskis via TKO at 4:38 , Round 1*
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Marloes Coenen (145-pound)
Round one: Fight gets underway fast with both fighters throwing big shots and then ending up in the clinch against the fence. Coenen tries to get the armbar from guard but Cyborg gets out and drops a huge right hand on the face of Coenen. Cyborg picks up Coenen from guard and slams her down then drops two big shots once again. Coenen gets a couple of upkciks and the referee stands the women back up and both fighters begin exchanging blows. Coenen drops levels and looks for the takedown but Cyborg stands her back up and both fighters end up against the cage in the clinch. After separation both fighters begin throwing massive shots once again. A very hard round to call but I would go with Cyborg 10-9.
Round two: Cyborg unloads on Coenen and knocks her down but Coenen is still in it. Cyborg gets into guard and picks Coenen up to slam her but Coenen manages a safe landing right back on the ground. With a minute left Cyborg unleashes a great amount of shots on the grounded Coenen but none do any real damage. That second round clearly belongs to Cyborg so I have it at 20-18 right now for the champion.
Round three: Cyborg quickly goes for the takedown but cant and the fighters end up against the cage. The fighters separate and Cyborg begins to unleash. Coenen goes for the takedown and it is reversed by Cyborg who takes Coenen down and into half-guard. While in half-guard Cyborg keeps trying to keep Coenen down while throwing some blows. Coenen got Cyborg into her guard and Cyborg stood up and began to unleash. Coenen got out and both fighters got back to standing. Coenen through a big right hand and Cyborg returned a few before taking Coenen down and unleashing once again. Coenen shelled up and Cyborg continued the onslaught until the referee stopped the fight to give Cyborg the victory.
Result: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Marloes Coenen via TKO (Strikes) at 3:40, Round 3
Greg Nagy vs. Herschel Walker (215-pound limit)
Round one: Walker tags Nagy with a straight jab early on which makes Nagy stagger back but then the fight gets back to normal. Walker is looking extremely tight in his stance and even throws a bit of a dance in there. Nagy goes for the takedown but Walker sprawls and attempts to take the back of Nagy. Walker then takes mount and begins to unleash the GnP. Nagy defends the initial onslaught of GnP. Nagy gets Walker in a heel hook but Walker gets out almost immediately and goes back to sprawl position. Walker then got north-south of Nagy and then into side control. First round went to Herschel Walker easily 10-9
Round two: Walker gets a good takedown in the opening minute of the first round and ends up in side control. Walker then transitions onto the back of Nagy who rolls over to give Walker high mount. Nagy escapes the mount and tries to get back to his feet but Walker keeps forcing him back down to the ground. Walker takes the back of Nagy again and flattens him out but can’t get the hooks in or the choke. Nagy tries to roll over again and Walker once again gets mount on Nagy. That round once again was all Herschel Walker 20-18 so far on my scorecard.
Round three: Nagy comes out quick in this round but Walker takes him down against the cage and lands in Nagy’s guard. Nagy goes for the armbar on Walker but Walker pulls his arm out quite easily. Walker gets back to where he left off in round number two, high mount. Walker begins with the punches from high mount and Nagy just struggles to get out of it any way he can. Walker gets to back mount and Nagy just covers up, the referee stops the fight because Nagy is not trying to improve his position.
Result: Herschel Walker defeats Greg Nagy via TKO (Strikes) at 2:17, Round 3
Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef (185-pound limit)
Round one: The first thirty seconds pass with no contact and then Manhoef connected with a kick to the midsection of Lawler. After a minute the crowd begins to boo a little bit due to the lack of contact. Manhoef gets Lawler to shell up against the fence but Lawler gets away. Manhoef begins unleashing with 2:15 left in the round, there are some powerful leg kicks and huge uppercuts going in. Lawlers leg is clearly hurting but out of nowhere Lawler connects and KO’s Manhoef. I am left thinking WTF?
Result: Robbie Lawler defeats Melvin Manhoef via KO at 3:33, Round 1
Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims (265-pound limit)
Round one: Wes Sims acts like his normal self at the start of the fight by trying to play games with Lashley but he quickly gets taken down and Lashley begins with the GnP. Sims later regained control of Lashley but could not get back to standing. Lashley postures up and starts throwing down punches until Sims rolled over and the fight was stopped due to strikes. Sims thought the stoppage was pre-mature.
Result: Bobby Lashley defeats Wes Sims via TKO (Strikes) at 2:06, Round 1