ROUNDTABLE: Which performance at UFC 125 was the most surprising? Hansen, Hyden, Hobaugh, Williams and Penick

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Which performance at UFC 125 was the most surprising?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Despite the fact that I did not for one second think Mike Brown or Josh Grispi were going to lose, I'm eliminating those fights because the featherweight division is such a crap-shoot right now.  It will take a couple of years before we know where everyone falls in the pecking order.  Well, we know they all fall behind Jose Aldo, but from #2 on down, we know NOTHING.  Don't believe me, just ask Marlon Sandro, Bibiano Fernandes, and Josh Grispi, who were the #2, #3, and #4 ranked featherweights for many people before Sandro lost on December 30, Fernandes lost on December 31, and Grispi lost on January 1.

So, once we take the great featherweight variable out of the loop, Brian Stann is the only choice.  I'm eating a lot of crow on this one (as are 95% of the people reading this, so SHUT UP!).  On our Tuesday Night Conversation leading into UFC 125, I ranted and raved wildly against not only Stann's chances, but the hypocrisy of even booking such a lousy match in the first place.  I didn't for one second think that Stann was anywhere close to Leben's league, and I wasn't a guy who thought Leben was more than just a 'guy' who got hot at the right time.  I've never in my life been more wrong about a matchup.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I've got to go with Brian Stann. Not because I'm surprised that he has knockout power, I remember his WEC fights. The most surprising aspect of Stann's win was his opponent. Chris Leben has an iron chin, and Stann smashed him. The only other person to have beaten Leben like that was Anderson Silva, and it was damn impressive for Stann to do the same.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

Takanori Gomi's performance was the most surprising to me.  His KO of Tyson Griffin was a nice win.  The loss to Clay Guida was not a surprise, but the way he was dominated says a lot about where he is at in his career with the UFC. Kenny Florian controlled him in their fight as well.  Gomi is long past his prime and I am sad about that fact.  I loved him in his Pride days. One of my all time favorite fights is his fight against Nick Diaz at Pride 33 in February 2007. In 2007 he was the best lightweight in the world when he lost to Diaz (that result was overturned by NSAC after Diaz failed a drug test for marijuana). He is one of the all time greats in Pride.  The reality of his career is that if he can not get by fighters like Guida and Florian, he will never compete at the highest levels in MMA again.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Dustin Poirier's performance was the most surprising.  He was supposed to be a stay-busy foe for Josh Grispi, but instead he easily handled the UFC's heavily-hyped number one contender.  I've read that Poirier's knocking off Grispi may mean that Jose Aldo's next foe will be Mark Hominick.  I'd rather see Poirier get the shot at Aldo's belt.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The most surprising performance, for the positive and negative connotation of that word, came from the Dustin Poirier-Josh Grispi fight. The 21-year-old Poirier was extremely poised and handled his first fight under the lights of the UFC like a longtime veteran. The way he handled Grispi standing and continued to make Grispi get to his feet after wearing him out was highly impressive, and he picked up a win against the fighter the UFC was going to put into a title fight. For Grispi, he was brought down to earth against an unheralded up and comer, and a number of holes in his game were exposed after a string of first round victories in the WEC. He's now got to get back to action, try to close up those holes and come back stronger in his second UFC fight, but overall that fight was the most surprising of the entire event.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_8096.shtml

Dan The Beast Severn Frank Shamrock Ken Shamrock Sean Sherk

BELLATOR NEWS: Brent Weedman named third participant in season four welterweight tournament

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Bellator Fighting Championships continues to confirm the field for their season four welterweight tournament this week, as the organization on Friday announced that 23 fight veteran Brent Weedman will take part in the tournament.

Weedman is a five year veteran of the sport, and holds an impressive career record of 17-5-1. He's appeared three times for Bellator during seasons two and three, winning all three fights to extend his current winning streak to nine fights. All nine of those victories were by stoppage, and in fact all 17 of Weedman's career wins have seen him finish his opponent.

"Brent has put on some incredible performances for us over the last two seasons, he?s earned the right to be added to the Season 4 Welterweight Tournament," said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Brent has the raw talent and potential to do big things in the tournament, which will be one of our most competitive to-date."

"I'm always looking to finish the fight,? said Weedman. ?That's something I feel very strongly about. I'm a finisher. I've always had that mentality in any sport I've ever played. I play to win decisively."

Despite that mentality, Weedman will come into the tournament as an underdog and a lesser known name in the field, but Weedman said that won't affect him at all during the season.

"It's an absolute fact that people are sleeping on me going into this tournament,? said Weedman. ?This tournament is filled with big names in the welterweight division, and a couple other guys. I happen to be one of those other guys. But that doesn't affect my end of the deal. I'm still bringing it. Whether or not they know it?s coming or not is up to them."

Season four for Bellator begins this March on MTV2, and is expected to feature tournaments in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Penick's Analysis: Weedman's a good addition to the field. He's picked up impressive first round stoppage wins each time he's stepped into Bellator's cage, and he completely earned an opportunity to go through this field. He's a hard man to stop as well, as his five career losses feature three of the four decisions he's gone to, the other being a draw in his debut fight, a triangle choke loss and a stoppage due to a cut. But he hasn't been beaten in three years, and could absolutely do some damage in this tournament.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_8087.shtml

Brandon Vera Renato Verissimo Marcus Vinicios Falaniko Vitale

Fight Path: Is 74-fight veteran Luis "Sapo" Santos the best striker in MMA?

Given the opportunity, Luis "Sapo" Santos didn't pound his chest or toot his horn despite a staggering professional mixed-martial-arts record he counts at 67-7.

So we'll turn to Jesse Finney, Santos' trainer and manager, to do it for him.

"He could be a UFC or Strikeforce world champion in three fights," Finney told MMAjunkie.com. "He's the best striker in mixed martial arts."


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/SRGiQUFJjNg/fight-path-is-74-fight-veteran-luis-sapo-santos-the-best-striker-in-mma.mma

John Kolosci Cheick Kongo Josh Koscheck Pascal Krauss

Dong Hyun Kim Wants Georges St. Pierre... Dong Hyun Kim Is Planning His Own Funeral

Now that it?s been officially announced that Georges St. Pierre will defend his ufc Welterweight Championship against former EliteXC and Strikeforce Champion Jake Shields, many fans and insiders are assuming two things. The first is that GSP will beat Shields, and the second is that GSP will finally move up to Middleweight once he does. [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/05/dong-hyun-kim-wants-georges-st-pierre-dong-hyun-kim-is-planning-his-own-funeral

Masakatsu Funaki Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao Arman Gambaryan

Thiago Alves Using Liposuction to Remain in UFC Welterweight Division?

While most fight fans are thrilled to have the old Thiago Alves back in the UFC’s welterweight mix, his former conditioning coach has taken on the bitter ex-girlfriend role by criticizing the magic formula Alves’ current trainer has conjured up. Much has been made of the Brazilian’s propensity to pack on a few too many [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/64500/report-thiago-alves-using-liposuction-to-remain-in-ufc-welterweight-division/

Karn Grigorian Karen Grigoryan Kendall Grove Clay Guida

UFC QUOTABLES: Thiago Silva predicts a knockout win over Brandon Vera at UFC 125

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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"I think it'll be a great fight for me because he's a striker, he's much skilled, but I can also bang while standing and I think it must be a great fight and it'll be all on the stand up game? There'll be a knockout, you can bet on it. I was off the rigs for too long, but I'm back, healthy, training hard? My back is fine and the expectations are as high as they can get."

-UFC 125 main card fighter Thiago Silva talks to Tatame.com about his fight with Brandon Vera this Saturday in Las Vegas and his prediction for the end of the fight.

Penick's Analysis: Both fighters have been out for almost the entire year of 2010, so the layoff could be an equal detriment to both. However, Silva's coming back from a serious back injury, and with him returning at UFC 108 without being fully healed, hopefully he's fully recovered this time before getting in the cage. This is going to be a tough fight for both guys, and the loser of the fight is going to be another step closer to being out of the UFC, but it should be a close and hopefully entertaining fight on New Year's Day.

[Thiago Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7990.shtml

Krzysztof Soszynski George Sotiropoulos Haik Soukiasian Ronaldo de Souza

Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin expected for UFC 129 in Toronto

Featherweights Pablo Garza and Yves Jabouin are expected to meet at UFC 129.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed the news today from multiple sources close to the event, who said verbal agreements are in place with contracts on the way.

UFC 129 takes place April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Cananda, and will feature a welterweight title match between champ Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/PfQ1SRC4jmk/pablo-garza-vs-yves-jabouin-expected-for-ufc-129-in-toronto.mma

Mike Pyle Nathan Quarry Jordan Radev Hector Ramirez

Alistair Overeem Highlight Video: The Reem

A new Alistair Overeem highlight video to help you get pumped up for his run in the Strikeforce World Grand Prix. The Strikeforce World Grand Prix, scheduled to play out over the course of several months, contains some of the top heavyweights in the world. Participants include former titleholders in Pride Fighting Championships, the UFC and [...]

Source: http://www.mmatko.com/alistair-overeem-highlight-video-the-reem/

Cody Guinn Jorge Gurgel Andre Gusmao Alexander Gustafsson