MMA Roundup: 2 Events this weekend, and the return of Kimbo

Faber-Brown Poster WECThis weekend is stacked. No two ways around it, this is the biggest weekend for MMA until UFC 100. I know my heavyweight hero Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is coming back next weekend at UFC 99, and that a very interesting fight between Wanderlei SIlva and Rich Franklin will be headlining, but those matches are no match for the quality of fighter we will see in action this weekend.

Sunday June 6, 9pm ET on Versus WEC presents Brown Vs Faber 2

This is my pick for fight of the weekend. No matter how it ends, as long as it happens no other fight holds the interest this does. Urijah Faber is 22-2 and was considered an unstoppable featherweight until last November when Mike Brown man handled him for just over 2 minutes then scored a TKO victory. Both fighters have fought once since then. Both scored first round submission victories, and both plan on doing the same in this fight.

While both fighters are determined and skilled, I just cant see Faber loosing this. In his last fight (a rematch Vs. Jens Pulver) Faber came to the ring with an air of victory. He could have been fighting Brock Lesner that day and won. His will was so strong that it came through the TV and let you know, as soon as you saw him, that he was going to win decisively. That being said, Browns domination of Faber in the first fight was surprising. Faber never stood a chance on that day and Brown seemed to have his number. I really hope this fight goes past the first round.

Saturday June 5, ,10pm ET on Showtime Strikeforce presents Lawler Vs SheldsArlovski

For me, the headlining match isn’t the biggest match on this card. While I fully expect Robbie Lawler and Jack Shelds to tear the house down and have a great fight (who could forget the two EliteXC contest between Lawler and Smith?) I am much more interested in the match between Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers. This could very well be showcasing 2 of the three best Heavyweights outside of the UFC (Fedor being the other), maybe I am a little overzealous to name Rogers as a top heavyweight, but that dude has potential to be a star. I believe him to be much better the Josh Barnett (whom Fedor is fighting in August) and I can see him having a very bright future in MMA. I hope Arlovski can hold Rogers off, but I’m not sure I can see it happening. No matter the outcome of this fight, the UFC needs to do all it can to sign whoever wins.

This Strikeforce event will also showcase someone who is becoming a begrudging favorite of mine, Nick Diaz. He will be fighting Scott Smith in what will probably turn into a stand up war. Smith has a habit of being in the most intense battles in MMA. His Nick Diazchin seems to be made of adamantium and his fist are of steel. Nick Diaz however is a BJJ black belt who fancies himself as a boxer. In my opinion, the smart move would be for Diaz to take Smith down and try to submit him, but I don’t think he will. This fight wont go all 3 rounds, but however long it does last, it will be a war. Diaz will trash talk, and maybe even flip the bird. Diazs’ brother (UFC fighter Nate Diaz) will stand on the outside talking smack and almost definitely flipping the bird. Smith will take a ton of punishment, seem to be knocked out, then comeback again and again. In the end I don’t know who will win. I am starting to really enjoy the side show that is the Diaz family, but I also really pull for Smith who seems to be a good guy with a family to feed. After this fight is over I just hope both fighters aren’t too hurt and can move on to their next fights soon.

While UFC 99 doesn’t happen for another week, it hasn’t exactly been quiet over at the Zuffa offices. For those of you who don’t know, The Ultimate Fighter 10 started filming this last week and the big news coming out of the taping doesn’t concern either Rashad Evans or Quintin “Ramapge” Jackson who are the coaches, nor does it concern the reported 4 former NFL players who are on the show this season. Kimbo SliceIt seems that Kimbo Slice has won the “Brass Balls” award for the week by joining the cast of TUF 10. This is a guy who was criticized by UFC President Dana White almost none stop just over a year ago as being a freak show. White always stated that Kimbo could come on TUF if he ever wanted to get a UFC contract, well it appears Kimbo decided to take him up on it.

I am pulling for Slice. If that guy can get his head together and get and sort of condition he could be really good for MMA. He was in the 1st and 3rd most watched events in the history of MMA and has ridiculous charisma . With the UFC in need of some, what I call, placeholder stars no one could be better for them then Kimbo.

MMA Roundup: Lesnar, Mir, Evans, Shamrock, Other Shamrock, Diaz and more

MMA Weekly Roundup - UFC 100 PreviewMan oh man, what a week it has been in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Any week in which we have both Shamrock brothers in the news is a week I consider good…ish.

Let’s start with the news from the reigning champions of MMA, the UFC.

UFC 100 would be a huge event no matter what was on the card. The number 100 is a milestone many tried to keep MMA from reaching. Just think back to the late 90′s, when John McCain was petitioning to get MMA banned in the US, the UFC was just getting out of it’s “No Holds Barred” era, and many people viewed the sport as “human cock fighting”. Say what you will about the Feritta brothers, Dana White, and the TapouT Crew (one of whom passed away this week), but without them MMA would have never made it this far.

Just over a month ago it seemed White and company planned on relying on the number “100″ itself to sell the event. They shot down rumors of all titles being on the line that night, they made clear the superfight of our generation between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre wouldn’t happen, and they had planned to have Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir have their rematch to unify the Heavyweight title at UFC 98. Well what a difference a month makes.

None of this is “official” yet, but the current plans for UFC 100 have Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping facing off in the traditional battle of Ultimate Fighter coaches, GSP is supposed to defend his title against Thiago Alves, and of course the much delayed rematch between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar for the unification of the UFC Heavyweight Title.

While the UFC is trying to make UFC 100 something special, they still had a UFC 98 that was missinMMA Weekly Roundup - UFC 100 Previewg a main event. It was initially announced that if Quintin “Rampage” Jackson defeated Keith Jardine at UFC 96 he would face off with “Sugar” Rashad Evans for the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Title. Rampage defeated Jardine, had a face off with Evans immediately following the fight, and promptly had to pull out of the fight.

It appears Rampage will be undergoing surgery on his jaw to fix an injury suffered during training for his bout against Wanerlei Silva last December. Now Evans is set to face off against Lyoto Machida. While it is much to early to make predictions, I can tell you that the champion is the early underdog in this fight. Not that I would ever gamble online, but if I did, I may have already taken Evans at +160 in this one.

In order to move away from UFC news, I would like to mention that I will be attending Wrestlemania 25 on April 5th in Houston, Texas. What does this have to do with MMA you ask? Let me tell you, part of this week’s big news involved two former WWF/E champions.

MMA Weekly Roundup - UFC 100 PreviewFormer UFC Heavyweight and WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock was supposed to face the former WWE US and ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley at the upcoming Roy Jones Jr.-promoted Boxing/MMA March Badness event. Well, Ken Shamrock has since been suspended for a year from fighting within the US due to testing positive for steroids. Lashley is now scheduled to face off against Clay Guidas’ bigger, not-as-talented brother Jason. Lashley has come out in the last few days saying he wouldn’t mind taking the Shamrock fight to Japan where they don’t uphold US suspensions.

My last little bit of news involves two of the most entertaining fighters in MMA.

Frank Shamrock (adoptive and estranged brother of Ken) will be facing off against perpetual menace to society Nick Diaz. For the record, I am a Frank Shamrock fan. I want to see him fight and I enjoy his spirited verbal sparring most of the time. Nick Diaz I see as a person who has no respect for the sport and the prototype of all that is wrong with meat head fans/fighters. That being said, I am super excited that Strikeforce is making this match-up happen. It could turn into the most entertaining build up to a match since Ali Foreman. As we get closer to the April 11th Showtime fight I will preview more, but for now I will just leave you with quotes from both men. These come courtesy of Cagepotato.com:

MMA Weekly Roundup - UFC 100 Preview

“Someone asked me the other day how my comeback was going so I guess I’ve come back. I love fighting. I love this art. I want to thank Nick Diaz for the opportunity and just warn him that when I punch his head and he lands in the second row he’ll need someone to catch him.” — Frank Shamrock

“Frank can talk all he wants, but I’m going to beat him up. Let’s see how much he fights back.’’ — Nick Diaz