UFC 130: Is it Hammer time?

Well its that time again. The night before the big fight, the day of weigh-in's and last minute predictions. The time when fans compare notes, stats, and fight over who will win the upcoming bouts. Heck, we at Fan Fight take our very name from this time. So lets get down to brass tacks and give you our views on the upcoming bouts at UFC 130.

Fight on crazy fight fans, fight on.

Alright first up we will be going over the Miguel Angel Torres vs. Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson fight. Now this is one fight on this card that has been undeservedly under publicized. You would think that after the title-bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard dropped they would have done their best to get a big name like Miguel Angel Torres mentioned a few more times on the ticket, you know to help save their Pay Per View sales. Not the case this time around.

Nope, instead the former WEC bantamweight champ, former US Shooto bantamweight champ, former Ironheart Crown champ, 2008 Sherdog Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, 39-3 record holder, who had a 17 fight consecutive win-streak before losing to Brian Bowles and current #6 bantamweight in the world according to Sherdog.com has been relegated to the free preliminaries on Spike.tv with nary a whisper of his name on the previews released by the UFC.

Originally slated to fight Brad Pickett, Torres will now be facing the #10 bantamweight in the world, Demetrious Johnson, after Pickett withdrew due to injury. This fight that could very well tell us who will be getting a shot at the bantamweight title next. And it is being given away for free. Yeah, nice job Dana, way to help recover your sales for 130.

Of course we shouldn't be too hard on Dana right? I mean its not like they've already lost several big events this year due to fighter injuries, right? Its not like Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III was the big draw for UFC 130, right? Its not like fans and writers across the world are predicting epic low Pay-Per-View sales for UFC 130, right? And its not like he has a former (and fan-favorite) champ, battling a top contender in a match that could decide the future of the bantamweight division, right?

Wrong. Which begs the question, if Dana isn't paying attention and keeping care of this, what is Dana doing?

Gee, aren't they cute together?

But back to the fight at hand. While Johnson may have a better grappling and takedown game, Torres's advantages in striking, aggression, and submissions are way to huge to overcome. No disrespect to Johnson who is a great fighter, but Torres has the makings of a future Hall of Famer. This fight will be exciting, and full of fireworks between two top contenders. But the only real way I see Johnson winning is if Torres doesn't show up.

Fan Fight's prediction is a win for Miguel Angel Torres by an early second-round TKO.


Next up on the plate is Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves vs. Rick "The Horror" Story. One of the big side-stories of this bout is Alves's continual struggle with making weight, having to make a thirty-pound cut to make the 170 pound limit of the Welterweight division is the kind of obstacle that would have most fighters moving up to Middleweight. Not Alves.

After failing to make weight at UFCs  85 and 117 against Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch respectively, and having previously failed a drug test early in his career after taking diuretics to help him make weight, Dana White stated that it was more than likely that Alves would be moving up to middleweight. But Alves begged and pleaded for a second chance.

And he got it, making weight in his fight against John Howard at UFC 124 Alves put on one of the most impressive performances of his career. And after a victory there he is starting in on the Welterweight division again, against the 5-1 up-and-comer Rick Story. And with a nutritional program courtesy of Mike Dolce, he had no problem making weight this time around.

Stephen King ain't got nothing on this horror story.

Story is on a four-fight win streak, one of them by a controversial split decision against Nick Osipczak. His striking is continually improving, in particular his boxing. And he comes from a strong wrestling base which will give him an advantage in takedowns.

In regards to striking the advantage must go to Alves though. He is arguably the most feared Muay Thai striker in the Welterweight division. Story is certainly no slouch and his ability to put together combinations will let him do some damage standing, but he shouldn't be able to compete at the same level of striking as Alves. With that stand-up advantage given to Alves we also recognize that the stand up game here will be one of the most exciting of the night. Expect plenty of technical combinations from both fighters.

But where this fight will be won and lost will be on the ground. Alves, despite having a black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, loathes to take a fight to the mat. If he had his way all of his fights would stay standing. And in the past he has shown a weakness against elite wrestlers once on the ground in the forms of George St. Pierre and Jon Fitch. Fortunately for him his fights rarely go to the ground anymore due to a good takedown defense, a defense that was good enough to stop 4-time NCAA All-American wrestler Josh Koscheck in his tracks.

Story on the other hand is a natural wrestler and won an impressive Fight of the Night/Submission of the Night victory over Brian Foster via arm-triangle. He has good takedowns and brutal ground-n-pound. We haven't seen enough of Story to know just how good he is, but one thing we know is that this kid is hungry as hell. You can see it on his face in his interviews, he wants Alves. He asked to fight Alves. He asked to fight the top 3 contender and "Muay thai wrecking machine" that is Thiago Alves.  Win or lose, he's got guts.

We at Fan Fight are predicting an upset, with Story being able to land his takedowns by setting them up with striking combinations and taking the win by submission in the third round.


Next up we have Brian "All-American" Stann vs. Jorge "The Sandman" Santiago. Santiago is a the 2007 Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament champion, 2008 Sengoku Middlewight Grand Prix champion, and former Sengoku champion. Stann is a former WEC light-heavy weight champion, and received the Silver Star during his service as a United States Marine.

Happy Memorial Day Stann, and thank you for your service.

Santiago already has had an unsuccessful run in the UFC, and this will be his second attempt at breaking into the world's biggest and best mma league. Stann is coming off of a win over Chris Leben, a win that shocked the world as he took it by knock-out from man that has one of the hardest chins in the world and is noticeably more dangerous after he gets hurt a little. In short, Stann has heavy hands. Add in his discipline, his training with Greg Jackson, and the fact that he is a former Marine who will be fighting on Memorial Day weekend of all weekends and we think this will end up being fairly quick bout.

Fan Fight predicts an early win for Brian Stann via KO.


We will also take a quick glance at Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve vs. Travis "Hapa" Browne. We personally haven't seen a lot of these fighters, and so will be relying on second-hand information to judge them. And the way we see it is that Struve, being the tallest fighter in the UFC and a fantastic kickboxer, will be able to use his reach and height to his advantage to hold Browne off and destroy "Hapa" with some striking combinations.

Fan Fight predicts an third round TKO for Stefan Struve.


Next we tackle Frank Mir vs. Roy "Big Country" Nelson. Mir is a former heavyweight champion, and Nelson is a former International Fight League heavyweight champion and and Ultimate Fighter winner, they are ranked #6 and #10 respectively in the heavyweight rankings by Sherdog. Both fighters have been pretty lax in hyping the fight because both have so much respect for one another. Having crossed each others paths more than once in their home state of Nevada.

This is an interesting match up in that they are so similar in style. They are both great at submissions and grappling, and while Mir is a more diverse striker and can arguably hit harder and faster Nelson is a lot tougher than Mir and can take more of a beating. Both have knock-out power in their hands. In fact they both match up so well that we don't see this fight finishing.

Fan Fight predicts that Mir will win by unanimous decision, his broader repertoire of UFC experience giving him the advantage to score more points over Nelson.


And now, last but not least, the main event of UFC 130. Quentin "Rampage" Jackson vs. Matt "The Hammer" Hamill.

I ain't gettin' on no plane, fool!


I don't think a lot of people outside of Randy Couture are predicting that Hamill will take this fight. Former light-heavyweight champ Rampage Jackson is a perennial top 5 contender and he has massive knockout power in both hands. He goes out into the cage looking to mess peoples faces up.

That's his game plan. That is always his game plan. People know what they are going to see when they hear that Rampage is fighting. What people don't know, and what makes this main event exciting, is what they are going to see from Matt Hamill. This is guy who started out as just a wrestler but who has developed a good stand-up and submission game. His game is constantly improving, and we all look forward to seeing what he can pull out of his hat next.

But has he improved enough? That is the question we are asking ourselves tonight. Can Hamill do it? We already know that Rampage can win. Rampage can always win, he has that kind of knockout power. But what about Hamill?

One wonders what is going through his thoughts right now. A deaf collegiate wrestler, he was a three time NCAA Division III National Champion. The Hammer has battled a handicap, biased British judges (who stole a win from Hamill over Michael Bisping), and endless MC Hammer jokes.

Can't touch this!


Rampage has made it quite clear he feels that Hamill is beneath him. Not even a speed-bump to slow him down on his way to the winners-circle. Essentially the only reason he even began training seriously this late before the game was because Hamill managed to get under his skin and the Rampage decided to go ahead and actualy try to knock Hamill out rather than getting the decision. His disregard for Hamill's skills are apparent and could be his undoing.

Hamill has a superior ground-game, and he will probably use that to keep the former champ out of the stand-up game and on his back.

Fan Fight predicts the upset, with Hamill taking the win via a decision. Rampage just isn't taking Hamill seriously enough, and while maybe Hamill isn't ready to fight at Rampage's level that has yet to be proven one way or the other. And after taking out Tito Ortiz and Mark Munoz we know that Matt "The Hammer" Hamill is not to be trifled with.


All in all UFC 130, despite the loss of its orignal main event, is looking like it will produce some excellent fights and possibly even a few Fight of the Year contenders.

Steven Seagal: Front Kick Update

As you are all aware we at Fan Fight have been covering the Seagal situation. And when we say "situation" we are in no way implying that he is holding our staff hostage and forcing us to write more stuff about him.

"What kind of babbling bullshit is this?"

So with that in mind we will continue our coverage.

So, we found an article on Guyism.com through Bleacher Report, which had an interesting video in it that they in turn got from CagePotato.com which in turn got it from some Brazilian website (what a complicated web we weave). That article, found here, quoted Seagal as telling Lyoto Machida to, "use your mind, I don’t care if you kill him. I don’t care. You f%&k him up. You take him out."

We find two things interesting about this. First the note of incredulity that seems prevalent that Seagal would say something so serious. Well, gee, ladies and gentlemen what did you think you were going to get from a self-defense specialist? Did you think that Aikido was all love and kisses? They don't teach aikidoka how to snap bones for nothing.

He doesn't play sports, he plays kill or be killed.

Second, the quote is said to Machida while Seagal is demonstrating that Machida is only kicking and punching the surface of his target, rather then striking through his target. This is interesting as it begins to give us an insight into how Seagal might be helping Team Black House with their training. Machida has often been criticized for his lack of aggression, until the Couture fight, and it would seem that this is something that Seagal is having him work on. Which while good for the fans it spells trouble for anyone who volunteers to spar with the former champ.






Well damn. Since this video was taken before UFC 129 it looks like we at Fan Fight called it. Seagal IS helping Team Black House. Oh no...Wait...Yeah, we said "maybe" didn't we? Damn. Well maybe next time we will manage to call it.

Steven Seagal: Front kick Master?

Aaaaaaaand we are live!

That's right ladies and gents, after an extended hiatus the lauded, applauded, and caffeine over-dosing Fan Fight blog is back and better than ever. That's right, we're like Rashad Evans beating the crud out of Chuck Liddell after a ten month layoff. We're bigger, badder, and trash-talkier than ever.

Well...We're trash talkier at least...

I pity the fool that don't read Fan Fight! I do! I do! I pity the fool!

So what will we be talking about now that we have returned to action? The surprising number of injuries to main-event fighters in the UFC? Not yet. Hamill vs. Rampage? Some other time probably. Nick Diaz with a possible match up with GSP? Interesting but not relevant. Or perhaps we will be talking about how Anderson Silva will be beating the crap out of Okami at Rio? Boring.

No we will be tackling the biggest, most controversial, silent elephant in the room that is the mixed-martial arts scene: Steven Seagal.

That's right, because Seagal is more important than any championship match, more important than any of the top contender match ups and far more deserving of multiple articles across the mma journalistic scene than anyone else. Yeah you heard me blogosphere, go write about illegal up kicks as much as you want. We at Fan Fight will be writing about the real issues.

I pity the fool that can't detect my sarcasm! I do! I do! I pity the fool!

Alright all joking aside, we at Fan Fight will do our best to put this particular issue to rest; not because it is overwhelmingly important but because we can provide a unique perspective on it, being amateur Aikidoka ourselves.

For those of you who haven't heard, shortly after Anderson Silva managed what was the first front kick knockout in the UFC history against Vitor Belfort, Steven Seagal came out and claimed credit for it. Claiming to have helped train Silva for the fight. This naturally was laughed at by most of the mma community and proclaimed to be a bunch of bull.

But then UFC 129 rolled around and Lyoto Machida managed to get the second ever front kick knockout against Randy Couture, shortly thereafter Machida came out and said Seagal had been working on the front kick with him as well. An interesting coincidence seeing as how Machida and Silva are both on team Black House in Brazil.

Since then Seagal has come out said he is working with other members of Black House, but there have also been various sources saying that its all a publicity stunt to make Black House better known in the States.

So where is the truth? Is Seagal imparting ancient Aikido secrets to team Black House? Is it all just a set up so a Brazilian mma team can put itself on the map? (As if having Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida on your team wasn't enough).

The real question, as I see it, isn't whether or not Seagal is teaching mastery of the front kick to Black House, but if he can. Indeed, there seems to be a definite lack of respect for Seagal's martial arts skills throughout the world. With the exception of his former students.

Seagal, or Take Sensei or Take Shihan as he is called in the Aikido community, is a 7th level Dan in the art of Aikido. He learned directly from the students of O'Sensei (the founder of Aikido) in Japan and opened up a very successful dojo there, being one of the first white Senseis' (if not the first ever) to have a dojo in Japan. What that means is he didn't learn his aikido from some McDojo across from the supermarket. What that means is that he is a master at footwork, speed, balance, in an art form that centers around pain compliance. And when I say that Aikido is an art that centers around pain compliance I mean that in Aikido only the people who can put you in the most amount of pain ever make it to the top.

And Steven Seagal is at the top of the Aikido world.

But how well does all of that translate to mma? On paper, it doesn't translate too good. There are far too many aikido moves that would be considered illegal or that would be hindered by the addition of gloves. Aikido is also a very hard art to learn, leaving little time for a mixed-martial artist to learn additional skills. It is also an art that focuses on grappling, making it not the best choice for someone interested in striking.

In short, Aikido when taught properly can be effective on the street, but less so in the ring. Or so we all thought.

BOOM! HEADSHOT!

With Machida and Silva both giving credit to Seagal, and both managing to KO their opponents in the exact same, and unprecedented, way we are forced to wonder; was Aikido misjudged? Let us not forget that when the UFC first began no one had thought that Brazilian jiu-jitsu would be so effective in mma. And before Karo Parisyan no one thought that judo would be effective in mma either.

And of course before Lyoto Machida emerged, the idea of a karate master becoming a UFC champion was laughable.

In short, it is possible that aikido is beginning to have an influence upon mixed-martial arts. But it really is too early to tell, so I cannot tell you yet if it is the Aikido that Seagal has been sharing with team Black House that has lead to such startling victories.

What I can tell you though is this, if there was one man in this world who would be able to make Aikido applicable to mma it would be Steven Seagal. Yes, shameless self-promoting, pony-tail wearing, bad acting, marital problem having, 7th level Dan Steven Seagal.

Why? Because despite his various personal faults this man is the Aikido community's paragon of Aikido as a form of self-defense. It is very unlikely that in our lifetimes we will ever see another man who has reached the same level of mastery in this art as he. And you can either respect that, or you can go ask Seagal for a sparring session.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

To summarize, whether or not Seagal has succeeded in transferring Aikido to mma can and will only be revealed with time.