Thursday, February 23, 2012

MMA Blurb - UFC 144
This Should Be a Tribute to PRIDE


UFC comes to Japan! Here are the cards prime fights. Who I am rooting for in bold. 


Edgar Vs Henderson
Rampage Vs Bader
Kongo Vs Hunt
Akiyama Vs Shields
Okami Vs Boetsch
Pettis Vs Lauzon
Gomi Vs Mitsuoka

Mitsuoka Vs Gomi

I chose Eiji Mitsuoka in this match up because he has finished enough of his fights via submission, to fall in line with Gomi's statistical losses via submission. Also, he has finished a few of his fights with punches. Enough that I think he could stand with Gomi long enough to get the take down.

Lauzon Vs Pettis

I choose Pettis as the winner based on his unpredictability. Even with my choice, I feel the match is close to equal , even with Lauzon's added experience. Lauzon has a total of 5 submission of the night awards, and 3 Fight of the Night awards. Pettis has won Knockout of the Night, Submission of the Night, and Fight of the night one time each.

Okami Vs Boetsch

I choose Okami on experience alone. Whoever loses this fight, unless it's fight of the night, will get cut.

Akiyama Vs Shields

Shields will win this. He has fought and beaten a better caliber of fighter than Akiyama. I feel like this fight is to keep him busy, and give him a win.

Kongo Vs Hunt

I choose Kongo by striking. I think Hunt will be comfortable in Japan, as he has fought the majority of his career there. With losses to the top heavyweights in the world, his MMA record of 7-7 is less than desirable. That is, unless you consider who he lost to (Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett among some). I think he is the underdog in this match, and is being under estimated. With a weight advantage, Kongo isn't going to be able to man handle Hunt, but doesn't need to if he brings his striking. Kongo has had more fights, and is slightly taller, with an 8" reach advantage. Both fighters are former kick-boxers, so we'll see if that moves this fight to the ground at all.

Rampage Vs Bader

While I like Ryan Bader, Rampage is a badass, and I think the crowd in Japan is going to go nuts for this fight, but mainly for Rampage. Bader has the wrestling background to take Rampage down, but Rampage is growing tired of fighters who just want to take him down. We'll see if he lets that frustrate him as much as he lets his Japanese fans motivate him to pick Bader up and slam him.

Edgar Vs Henderson

This is a hard call. Edgar has the tools to beat Henderson, but I think Henderson wants it more. Henderson has consistently proven that he can not be counted out. He has a slight height advantage, and while I don't think his punching power is near Edgars, I think his versatility on the ground and on his feet, is equal or better than Edgars, minus wrestling. Edgar must be frustrated, having fought the same two guys over and over throughout the last 2 years of his career. While Henderson is a fresh opponent, I feel he deserves this shot, is ready for it, and has a great chance of defeating Edgar. Gut calls this for Henderson.


All in all, I like this card. It has a lot to offer. I think its a shame that Zuffa didn't promote this as a tribute to PRIDE. I also think its a smack in the face to Japanese fans to have this at 10AM their time, in order to cater to American fans. MMA has suffered in Japan since PRIDE, and UFC bringing a nicely rounded card there should have been done in such a way that the Japanese fans felt flattered. UFC needs to realize that the real fans of Mixed Martial Arts, are just that; Fans of Mixed Martial Arts, not the UFC.

6 comments:

  1. Okami out of the UFC if he loses? Really?! The guy is 6-2 in his last 8 with losses to Chael and Silva. I would think that is a stretch.

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    1. My comment was intended for Takanori Gomi, not Okami. My apologies.

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  2. Why would UFC give a tribute to their former competition? Its like McDonalds making a tribute sandwich to Burger King. The UFC has stayed in business and PRIDE went bankrupt for a reason. And if they catered to the Japanese audience and started at the regular time that means it wouldn't play live in the States until after midnight. So which demo do you want to alienate: the country you are visiting once a year or the country your company started in?

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  3. I'm not Zack, but I agree with him.

    You're comparing apples to oranges really. McDonald's vs Burger King doesn't fit.

    They weren't ever really "competitors".

    UFC even merged the champions.

    Also, since Pride no longer exists, paying homage to Pride isn't exactly hurting yourself in the "competitor" department. Hard to be worried about competition when you know, they don't exist anymore. And White was a HUGE Pride fan.

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  4. Since Dana and the Fertittas took over their goal was to make the UFC the biggest and only game in town. If MMA exploded as well then that's a bonus. They are building a brand and what you DON'T do while building a brand is compare your brand to someone else's whether it exists or not.

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  5. Having a tribute to, is not comparing. They could have have celebrated what Pride was. They BOUGHT IT! LOL The only thing they do by propping up Pride is shout to everyone how great the UFC is.

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