Beware my white belt level jiu jitsu......

*Started BJJ classes, going to keep updates of my experience with it here on ye ole MMA blog, enjoy!

Had my first official BJJ class today, I am outta f%$#@&* shape! Warm ups killed my ass so fast it wasn't even.....well, I suppose it was actually pretty funny. Just worked on basic guard passes, arm bars, triangles, side mount, full mount and hip escapes. Very fun, very energy consuming. How guys can gas out after training like that on a daily basis is beyond me, I am wiped! Looking forward to the next class, not looking forward to the exhaustion. And so we go.....

The Steroid-Faced Assassin

The title is a little harsh, but not by much. If you're a hardcore and have not heard the story, you've been living under Mark Hunt's dirty underwear over the last week. Josh Barnett, former UFC heavyweight champion, has tested positive yet again for a banned substance 11 days prior to his showdown with the toughest chubby guy alive, Fedor Emelianenko.

I don't even really know what to say. We were finally going to be given a fight that fans and pundits alike have actually been clamoring for for years, and in less than 2 weeks out from the battle of his life, Barnett gets popped with a positive test by the CSAC. Given I don't know the whole story, and Barnett may have a good, or at least plausible, explanation for the positive, but where there is smoke, there is fire, and where there is fire, there is an ass LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH! (Excuse me, that was uncalled for.)

In any case, the worst of this situation may not even be that we lost a fantastic and relevant heavyweight tilt, but that we have most likely lost another major promotion that was attempting to compete with the Zuffa regime. Fresh off the heels of the Barnett sitch, Affliction announced that they are canceling Trilogy all together and the UFC has brought them back into the fold as a sponsor. What this says to me is that like Kimbo Slice, Josh Barnett has single handedly sunk a major fight promotion. Booooooo!

I respect Josh Barnett tremendously as a fighter. He's a guy that is capable of beating any heavyweight fighter on the planet on any given night, including Fedor. Problem being is that he seems to make bad choices at inopportune times that cost the fans great fights and costs MMA in general some legitimacy. I am no one to judge a professional MMA fighter, but from my POV, Barnett and professional do not go hand in hand. Just my opinion........

-R

10 - 10 Rounds, Yay or Nay?

To say judging in MMA is sub par would be like saying getting hit in the head with a bat "kinda hurts." Understatement personified. In any case, there is an ongoing argument by MMA pundits in regard to the use of scoring close rounds in MMA a 10 - 10 rather the standard 10 - 9. I can get on board with this scoring methodology as long as it is used accurately.

Too many times in fights we will have ultra close rounds that could be decided by a punch or a takedown be called a 10 - 9, when a more prudent and justified score of 10 - 10 would be much more accurate, but for the sake of trying to declare a winner, a 10 - 9 will be handed out. It would be much more prudent and fair to use the 10 - 10 rounds if rounds are that close.

In my fanboy opinion, this would produce less boring rounds as fighters would be pushed to actually win rounds and fight more aggressively to that end. Of course there are no guarantees, we'll always have our Jake O'Briens and Antonio McKee's of the MMA world, but if it were me and I wanted to win a fight, the thought of getting a draw would make me work that much harder.

UFC 103 Main Event =........

Chuck's taking a year off to heal his infamous mo-hawked dome, leaving UFC 103 without a main event as of now. His opponent was supposed to be Rich Franklin, who seems to be the de facto go to guy when they cannot pull a title fight onto a card. While not the most digestible of main eventers in the UFC's arsenal, using "Ace" in the top spot certainly does not hurt the UFC as Franklin is actually a bigger PPV draw than their middleweight champ and p4p juggernaut, Anderson Silva. If they are dead set on putting Franklin back into the top slot for 103, here are some ideas that could be intriguing if not meaningful within the light heavyweight ranks.

vs Keith Jardine:

A Jardine vs Franklin scrap would certainly be a fight that would have rankings ramifications and would help flesh out a possible contender. Jardine's jittery "I'm having a seizure" style against Franklin's loopy punch stand up would be, if nothing else, an interesting visual. While it's a close fight and either professional ass kicker could pull out a win, I would pick the perennially black eyed Franklin to win this fight. Franklin does not have the same oomph in his punches as Jardine, but Jardine has been known to be more inconsistent and way more chinny than the former middleweight champeen of dah worl'. Franklin has better footwork that would allow him to stay away from Jardine and seems to have a better ground game, not that we've seen Jardine on the ground, but the hyperbole the Jackson camp spits about how good he is on the ground is just that until he proves it. In either case, a win for either guy would help push a new contender forward in a division suddenly put on hold for another season of TUF.
***Note: (Just realized Jardine will be fighting Thiago Silva at 102, but I'm keeping the analysis because it's the UFC, who knows?)

vs Luis Cane

While not exactly a marquee fight if it happens, pitting "Banha" against Rich Franklin would definitely have rankings implications and would no doubt be an entertaining fight. Not a fight the UFC would necessarily be pushing real hard for, but if they need a main event for 103, they could certainly do worse than a fight between two top ten fighters in Cane and Franklin. If Franlkin can keep away from Cane's power and use his foot work to work his jab and kicks, I can see Franklin working towards a decision. I cannot see Franklin cracking Cane's nut though as both Sokodjou and Steve Cantwell landed flush and could not put him away. Franklin has a well rounded enough game to win an entertaining decision. However, if Rich gets clipped by one of "Banha's" power shots, it could be a short night for "Ace." Not a main event level fight, not really worth 45 bucks, but a very good fight regardless.

vs Wanderlei Silva

If push comes to shove and shove comes to sucker punch in the grill, I wouldn't put it pass Zuffa to put on an immediate rematch between these two for the sake of a main event. Obviously they would market it as the first fight being "hotly" contested and Wanderlei thought he won the fight. Okay by me as I am one in the few that had the school of thought that the first fight was fun to watch and fairly entertaining. As long as it was not a catch weight bout I'd be okay with this fight going down again. Would I rather see something else, sure. Would I jump Dana's sh$%# for letting Franklin/Silva 2 go down? No, not really. This fight would most likely go down the same way as the first one, unless Wanderlei went head hunting the entire fight. If that happened, I would put money on a finish one way or the other. As it stands though, Franklin by decision.

Alves vs St Pierre: The Breakdown

Short and sweet, Georges St Pierre will dominate Thiago Alves.

Georges is just too good at this point to go down to a fighter like Alves. And that is not an indictment on Thiago Alves as much as it is a credit to how good GSP has become. Throw in the Greg Jackson game planning and I can say with a certain amount of confidence that Georges will not be beaten for some time. Many fans and pundits alike still hold the Matt Serra loss against him, but in my opinion, the streak he has gone on since has more than absolved him of any doubts. He absolutely overwhelmed his closest competion in Jon Fitch, and laid an "ultimate" beatdown on a guy that was widely considered by fans, "experts," and other fighters to be the best fighter in the world in BJ Penn. Anderson Silva stated as much prior to the Penn/St Pierre fight.

In terms of styles, I just don't see how Alves can beat St Pierre outside of landing a Matt Serra-like shot. Alves' most effective offense, the leg kick, will turn into the bane of his existence in this fight as St Pierre will use it to take him down. On the feet, there will not be as big of a striking disparity as many think there will be, and in my oh so not quite humble opinion, Thiago has a suspect chin. As good as Alves is at getting back to his feet and defending the takedown, St Pierre is just on another level in terms of takedown ability and top control. If GSP gets in top position, it may be a long night, or short for that matter, for Thiago Alves. Georges is just too fast, explosive, and most importantly, skilled, to get merked by anything Alves has to offer. The prediction........St Pierre, 2nd round TKO!

-R