Event Primer - World Series of Fighting 3

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's terrified to stand and bang with Shinya Aoki.

Preliminary Card (Sherdog.com)

Lightweight - Brenson Hansen vs Josh Montalvo

• Hansen's Style -Freestyle
• Montalvo's Style - Freestyle
• Prediction - Hansen by decision
• Thoughts - "Brenson Hansen" sounds like the Dollar Store-version of Benson Henderson.

Bantamweight - Carson "Little Juggernaut" Beebe vs Joe Murphy

• Beebe's Style - Grappling
• Murphy's Style - Grapling
• Prediction -Murphy by submission
• Thoughts - I've never been able to determine which of the Beebe brothers, Carson or Chase are the worst (All MMA siblings are split between good and awful fighters) because both are pretty crappy.

Featherweight - Jeff Smith vs Jerrod Sanders

• Smith's Style - Grappling
• Sanders's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Sanders by submission

Middleweight - Kendrick "Big Problem" Miree vs Krasimi "The Wrestler" Mladenov

• Miree's Style -Grappling
• Mladenov's Style - Wrestling
• Prediction -  Mladenov by decision

Lightweight - John "Guns" Gunderson vs Dan "The Upgrade" Lauzon

• Gunderson's Style - BJJ
• Lauzon's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Gunderson by submission
• Thoughts - In reference to the Beebe fight, Dan Lauzon is most assuredly the crappier of the two Lauzon brothers.

Main Card (NBC Sports)

Lightweight - Jacob "Dr. Feelgood" Volkmann vs Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm

• Volkmann's Style - Wrestling, complaining about OBAMA
• Beerbohm's Style - Grappling, meth
• Prediction - Beerbohm by submission
• Thoughts - If Volkmann wins, he'll be fine saying whatever he wants, since the Secret Service won't be watching World Series of Fighting.

Lightweight - Brian "The Bandit" Cobb vs Justin Gaethje

• Cobb's Style -Grappling
• Gaethje's Style - Striking
• Prediction -Gaethje by TKO

Welterweight - Steve Carl vs Tyson "The Man Of" Steele

• Carl's Style - Grappling, Army combatives
• Steele's Style - Grappling
• Prediction -Steele by decision

Welterweight - Jon Fitch vs Josh "The People's Warrior" Burkman

• Fitch's Style - Wrestling, Fitching, temporal anomalies
• Burkman's Stylel - American Whu-Hit-U
• Prediction - Fitch by decision
• Thoughts - Due to Fitch's status as being unstuck in time, he might be fighting Burkman for the first time when he goes into the cage on Saturday.

Event Primer: UFC on Fuel - Nogueira vs Werdum

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's more profitable than Nick Diaz's WAR MMA.

Prelim Card (Facebook/YouTube)

Middleweight - Antonio Braga Neto vs Anthony "Lionheart" Smith
Neto's Style - BJJ
Smith's Style - Striking, grappling
Prediction - Neto by submission

Middleweight - Caio "Hellboy" Magalhaes vs Karlos "The Terminator" Vemola
Magalhaes's Style - BJJ, Muay Thai
Vemola's Style - Striking, grappling
Prediction - Vemola by KO

Featherweight - Rodrigo Damm vs Mizuto "Pugnus" Hirota
Damm's Style - BJJ, wrestling
Hirota's Style - Boxing, judo, sumo
Prediction - Hirota by decision
Thoughts - King Pug is a pretty rad dude, I hope he doesn't lose and get cut.

Welterweight - Ildemar "Marajo" Alcantara vs Leandro "Buscape" Silva
Alcantara's Style - BJJ, Muay Thai
Silva's Style -BJJ
Prediction - Alcantara by submission

Featherweight - Godofredo "Pepey" Castro vs Felipe "Sertanejo" Arantes
Castro's Style - BJJ
Arantes's Style - Muay Thai, BJJ
Prediction - Castro by submission

Middleweight - Ronny Markes vs Derek Brunson
Markes's Style -Wrestling
Brunson's Style - Wrestling
Prediction - Brunson by decision

Bantamweight - Raphael Assuncao vs Vaughan Lee
Assuncao's Style - BJJ, Muay Thai
Lee's Style -Grappling
Prediction - Assuncao by submission

Main Card (FuelTV)

Featherweight - Rony "Jason" Bezerra vs Mike "The Warrior" Wilkinson
Bezerra's Style - BJJ, Muay Thai
Wilkinson's Style -Boxing, wrestling
Prediction - Bezerra by TKO

Welterweight - Erick "Indio" Silva vs Jason "The Kansas City Bandit" High
Silva's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
High's Style - BJJ
Prediction - High by decision

Middleweight - Daniel Sarafian vs Eddie Mendez
Sarafian's Style - BJJ
Mendez's Style -Boxing, wrestling
Prediction - Sarafian by submission

Light Heavyweight - Thiago Silva vs Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante
Silva's Style - Muay Thai, BJJ
Cavalcante's Style - Muay Thai, BJJ
Prediction - Cavalcante by KO
Thoughts - If Brazil had an athletic commission to do drug testing instead of UFC administering things in-house, this fight would be the one most likely to have the results "accidentally" go missing.

Welterweight - William "Patolino" Macario vs Leonardo Santos
Macario's Style - Muay Thai
Santos's Style - BJJ
Prediction - Macario by KO
Thoughts - Macario has a victory over someone (Or thing) named 'Gabriel Monkey' on his record. That's the best.

Heavyweight - Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum
Nogueira's Style - BJJ, boxing
Werdum's Style - BJJ, trolling
Prediction - Nogueira by submission
Thoughts - I like "Go Horse", but if he hurts Big Nog, I will find him and sob-scream at him for like an hour.

Event Primer - UFC 160

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's the writing equivalent of David "The Can" Correa.

Preliminary Card (Facebook/YouTube)

Featherweight - Jeremy "Lil Heathen" Stephens vs Estevan "El Terrible" Payan

• Stephens's Style - Punching, felonies
• Unfortunate Stephens Moment - Getting knocked out by Yves Edwards
• Payan's Style -Boxing
• Unfortunate Payan Moment - Getting knocked out by Yahir Reyes
• Prediction - Payan by decision

Bantamweight - Brian Bowles vs George Roop

• Bowles's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
• Roop's Style - Striking, Being a scarecrow
• Prediction - Bowles by submission

Welterweight - Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson vs Nah-Shon "The Rock-N-Rolla" Burrell

• Thompson's Style - Karate
• Burrell's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Thompson by KO
• Thoughts - Hopefully Thompson wins and can fight Jordan Mein to crown the "We got our hype trains derailed by the penny on the tracks known as Matt 'the Immortal' Brown" champion. My money's on Mein, for the record.

Preliminary Card (FX)

Lightweight - Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov vs Abel "Killa" Trujillo

• Nurmagomedov's Style - Sambo, judo, kickboxing
• Trujillo's Style - Striking, grappling
• Prediction - Nurmagomedov by submission
• Thoughts - I wonder what trolling shirt Nurmagomedov will wear to the weigh-ins. Also, he better pair it with his giant, furry hat. Additional also, is it just me, or are like 90% of the cool/good Russian mixed martial artists guys from Dagestan?

Welterweight - Colton Smith vs Robert Whittaker

• Smith's Style - Wrestling
• Whittaker's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Smith by decision

Featherweight - Dennis "The Menace" Bermudez vs Max "Blessed" Holloway

• Bermudez's Style - Wrestling
• Holloway's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Holloway by TKO

Welterweight - Mike "Quicksand" Pyle vs Rick "The Horror" Story

• Pyle's Style - BJJ
• Story's Style - Wrestling
• Prediction - Pyle by KO

Main Card (PPV)

Lightweight - Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone vs "King Karl" KJ Noons

• Cerrone's Style - Kickboxing, BJJ
• Unfortunate Cerrone Moment - Tie: Standing there and taking a prolonged middle finger from Nate Diaz and getting yelled at by Greg Jackson during the same fight.
• Noon's Style - Striking, bangs
• Unfortunate Noons Moment - Getting knocked out by Charles "Krazy Horse/Kid Khaos" Bennett
• Prediction - Cerrone by submission

Lightwweight - Gray "The Bully" Maynard vs TJ Grant

• Maynard's Style - Wrestling
• Grant's Style - BJJ
• Horrible Unofficial Grant Nickname - TJ "Don't Take Me For" Grant"-Ed"
• Prediction - Grant by TKO
• Thoughts - I know the winner is supposed to get a shot at Bendo's title, but I want Grant to grow a fuller beard and then have him, Pat Healy, and Jim Miller in a San-Do match.

Light Heavyweight - Glover Teixeira vs James Te-Huna

• Teixeira's Style - Striking, BJJ
• Te-Huna's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Teixeira by KO

Heavyweight - Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos vs Mark "Super Samoan" Hunt

• Dos Santos's Style - Boxing
• Hunt's Style - Kickboxing
• Prediction - Hunt by KO
• Thoughts - MAAAAAAAAAARK HUUUUUUUUUUNTOOOOOOOO is going to get a UFC Heavyweight title shot after he wins this fight, and then he'll win the UFC Heavyweight title and world peace will be acheived. BELIEVE IN MARK HUNT!

Heavyweight Title - Cain Velasquez vs Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

• Velasquez's Style - Wrestling
• Silva's Style - BJJ, Muay Thai
• Prediction - Velasquez by TKO (Same as last time, though probably slightly less messy)

Event Primer - UFC on FX: Belfort vs Rockhold

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that doesn't understand how Pancrase never had rampant eye poking problems.

Preliminary Card (Facebook/YouTube)

Lightweight - Lucas "Mineiro" Martins vs Jeremy Larsen

• Martins's Style - Striking, BJJ
• Martins's Nickname Translated - Lucas "Guy From Minas Gerais What Speaks the Dialect of Mineiro" Martins
• Larsen's Style -  Striking
• Prediction - Martins by TKO

Flyweight - Jussier "Formiga" da Silva vs Chris "Kamikaze" Cariaso

• da Silva's Style - BJJ
• da Silva's Translated Nickname - Jussier "Ant" da Silva
• Cariaso's Style - Striking
• Prediction - The Ant-Man via submission
• Thoughts - Cariaso looks like a goblin-man. It is quite disconcerting.

Flyweight - John "Mao-de-Pedra" Lineker vs Azamat "Tough Guy" Gashimov

• Lineker's Style - Punchin'
• Lineker's Translated Nickname - John "Hands of Stone" Lineker
• Gashimov's Style - Wrestling 
• Alternate Gashimov Nickname - Azamat "Dagestani Hacksaw" Gashimov
• Prediction -  Lineker by KO
• Thoughts - Yay, back-to-back flyweight prelim fights! Should be super rad!

Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)

Light Heavyweight - Fabio Maldonado vs Roger "The Hulk" Hollett

• Maldonado's Style - Boxing
• Hollett's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Maldonado by TKO 
• Thoughts - I love Maldonado's body shots, I don't care what that big metal jerk, Jack Slack, says about Fabio's boxing, tummy punches are the best.

Bantamweight - Yuri "Marajo" Alcantara vs Iliarde Santos

• Alcantara's Style -BJJ
• Alcantara's Nickname Translated - Yuri "Dude from the Island of Marajo" Alcantara
• Santos's Style -  BJJ
• Prediction -  Santos by decision

Welterweight - Paulo Thiago vs Michel "Trator" Prazeres

• Thiago's Style - Grappling, Cop
• Prazeres's Style -BJJ
• Prazeres's Nickname Translation - Michel "Tractor" Prazeres
• Prediction - Thiago by decision

Lightweight - Gleison Tibau vs John Cholish

• Tibau's Style - Wrestling, cutting weight
• Cholish's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Tibau by decision

Lightweight - Francisco "Massaranduba" Trinaldo vs Mike "The Wolverine" Rio

• Trinaldo's Style - Punching
• Trinaldo's Nickname Translated - Francisco "Some Grumpy Sitcom Character" Trinaldo
• Rio's Style -  Wrestling, grappling
• Trinaldo by KO

Featherweight - Hacran "Barnabe" Dias vs Nik "The Carny" Lentz

• Dias's Style - Grappling
• Dias's Nickname Translated - Hacran "Civil Servant" Dias
• Lentz's Style - Grappling 
• Prediction -  Lentz by decision
• Thoughts - Carnies are not to be trusted, always remain vigilant around a carny.

Main Card (FX)

Middleweight - Rafael "Sapo" Natal vs Joao "The Brazilians Samurai" Zeferino

• Natal's Style - Grappling, tennis 
• Natal's Nickname Translated - Rafael "Frog" Natal
• Zeferino's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Natal by submission

Lightweight - Rafael Dos Anjos vs Evan Dunham

• Dos Anjos's Style - BJJ
• Dunham's Style - BJJ, not being Lena Dunham
• Prediction - Dos Anjos by submission

Middleweight - Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Chris Camozzi

• Souza's Style - BJJ, bein' a alligator-man
• Souza's Nickname Translated - Ronaldo "Regional Chris Kaman" Souza
• Camozzi's Style - Muay Thai
• Alternate Camozzi Nickname - Chris "Ini the Hot Stepper" Camozzi
• Prediction - Souza by submission 
• Thoughts - It's gonna be cool to see Souza do his gator chomp 'n' crawl around Bruce Buffer and Joe Silva

Middleweight - Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort vs Luke Rockhold

• Belfort's Style - Boxing
• Rockhold's Style - Kickboxing, Surfing
• Prediction -Rockhold by TKO
• Thoughts - Rockhold has the best hair in all of MMA. I dare anyone to dispute this or present an argument for anyone else.

Technique Appreciation Station - German suplex

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's never met an opponent it didn't try to duck.

Well lookie here, a new article category that I'm sure will be used once or twice and then forgotten or ignored! This time, instead of talking about dudes what do cool moves, I'm just going to focus on cool moves done by a bunch of different guys, because screw analysis, let's just look at GIFs!

There are a lot of different grappling arts at play in mixed martial arts, and since every fight starts standing (Wheelchair karate bouts notwithstanding), they all include various methods of getting an opponent to the ground. The cooler arts include throws, because the ancient masters knew that hucking some dorkus through the air and onto his face looked pretty sweet. Wrestling has some exceptional throws, which makes sense since it was devloped initially by thick-necked farmhands as a means of transporting livestock. The raddest of all wrestling throws is the suplex, and at the top of the suplex list is the German variant (Or belly to back if you want to be a lame pedant about things)

Soup-Flex, You Say? Do Go On!

First of all, this ain't no portmanteau, it's a dang suplex, so get it right, or pay the price. Second of all, fake dumb reader I constantly berate, I think we should watch a brief tutorial on how to properly suplex some jamoke out his (Or her!) shoes.

Now that proper suplexery has been explained to us, it's time to see the German in action for real. Check out a plethora of GIFs and videos after the jump because I don't want to explode anyone's browsers or however that works.

Event Primer: UFC 159 - Jones vs Sonnen

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that has a mauve belt in Ameri-Do-Te but no slacks that match.

Preliminary Fights (Facebook/YouTube)

Featherweight - Steven "Miller Killer" Siler vs Kurt Holobaugh

• Siler's Style - Submissions
• Holobaugh's Style -Striking
• Alternate Holobaugh Nickname - Kurt "Ain't No" Holobaugh "Girl"
• Prediction -Siler by submission

Welterweight - Nick "The Jersey Devil" Catone vs James Head

• Catone's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
• Head's Style - Striking, BJJ
• Prediction - Catone by decision

Featherweight - Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs Cody "AK Kid" McKenzie

• Garcia's Style - Brawling, clubbering, decision theft
• McKenzie's Style - McKenzietine
• Prediction - McKenzie by McKenzietine
• Thoughts - Shit's gonna get real!

Preliminary Fights (FX)

Lightweight - Rustam "Tiger" Khabilov vs Yancy "Frisson" Medeiros

• Khabilov's Style - Suplex
• Alternate Khabilov Nickname - Rustam "Hobby Lobby" Khabilov
• Medeiros's Style - Striking, wrestling
• Prediction - Khabilov by suplex-related KO

Women's Bantamweight - Sara McMann vs Sheila "The German Tank" Gaff

• McMann's Style - Wrestling
• Gaff's Style - Striking
• Prediction - McMann by decision
• Thoughts - Holy cow, Sara McMann is friggin SHREDDED

Light Heavyweight - Gian Villante vs Ovince "OSP" St. Preux

• Villante's Style - Football, wrestling
• Unofficial Villante Nickname - Gian "John" Villante
• St. Preux's Style - Football, wrestling
• Prediction - St. Preux by KO
• Thoughts - Strikeforce vs Strikeforce match-up! Hofstra football vs Tennessee football match-up! The storylines run deep on this fight! Also, I hope St. Preux wins and then takes another fight in two weeks and then again two weeks after that, like he did towards the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, because that was the best OSP.

Bantamweight - "Brutal" Johnny Bedford vs Bryan "Kid Lightning" Caraway

• Bedford's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
• Caraway's Style - Cruising, having a more famous and better fighter for a girlfriend, threatening to beat up his girlfriend's opponents (Oh, wait, this is the "Fighting Style" section, not "Reasons to laugh at Bryan Caraway" section).
• Prediction - Bedford by KO

Main Card (PPV)

Lightweight - Jim Miller vs Pat "Bam Bam" Healy

• Miller's Style - Grappling
• Healy's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Miller by submission
• Thoughts - Holy rigatoni, this fight is going to be nutso good (I hope)!

Light Heavyweight - Vinny "Pezao" Magalhaes vs Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis

• Magalhaes's Style - BJJ
• Davis's Style - Wrestling, grappling
• Alternate Davis Nicknames - Phil "Body Triangle" Davis; Phil "Have I Told You My Nickname Comes From My Missing Or Stolen College Cat?" Davis
• Prediction - Davis by decision
• Thoughts - Poor Phil Davis, being partially associated with unfortunate people or entities. First the dude is a Penn State alumnus, and then he's a Lloyd Irvin student.

Heavyweight - Roy "Big Country" Nelson vs Chieck Kongo

• Nelson's Style - Boxing, BJJ, incredible intestinal fortitude (Also known as havin' tons o' guts)
• Kongo's Style - Savate
• Alternate Kongo Nickname - "Cup" Chieck Kongo
• Prediction - Nelson by KO
• Thoughts - They say styles make fights, and there isn't a better juxtaposition in body styles than this fight.

Middleweight - Michael "The Count" Bisping vs Alan "The Talent" Belcher

• Bisping's Style - Kickboxing, British wrestling
• Alternate Bisping Nicknames - Michael "The Count, Minus the O" Bisping
• Belcher's Style - Muay Thai, BJJ
• Prediction - Belcher by TKO
• Thoughts - These two gents either for reals don't like each other, or are cleaning up in the wolf ticket department.

Light Heavyweight Title - Jon "Bones" Jones vs "The American Gangster" Chael P. Sonnen

• Jones's Style - Wrestling, striking (poles)
• Alternate Jones Nicknames - Jon "Snitchster Christian" Jones, Jon "Snowball King" Jones
• Sonnen's Style - Wrestling, fraud
• Prediction - Jones by TKO
• Fantasty-Land Prediction - Chael P. Sonnen by submission (Omoplata)
• Thoughts - I like Sonnen, both as a bloviating so-and-so, and also as a head down, driving forward fighter, but I think Jones is just too good to get wrestled upon for twenty-five minutes, which I see as Chael's only avenue for victory. Sorry, Chael, but you're pretty great at analysis, and hopefully soon, commentary.

Fantastic Finishes - Overeem vs Fujita

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's more ridiculous than the average Jonathan Goulet haircut.

Today on Fantastic Finishes, we take a look back at the time Alistair Overeem's foray into fighting large-headed monsters didn't end with him getting murdered via hubris (Of course, it helps that Fujita is about five hojillion times worse at the mixing of martial arts than Antonio Silva).

Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita - Dynamite!! 2009 (December 31, 2009)

Who Are These Dorks?

Alistair Overeem is a Dutch kickboxer that packed on an entire Demetrious Johnson worth of muscle in about two years, allegeldy through a steady diet of horse meats. His knees are so powerful, they have been known to shakedown the Tunguska event for its lunch money.

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese (pro) wrestler born with Homer Simpson Syndrome, otherwise known as a slightly thicker than average skull. He's used this X-gene to absorb his opponents' punishment and gently nudge their exhausted bodies over for glorious knockouts (technically) (Or, in the case of Ken Shamrock, force a heart attack).

Why Is This Fight Special?

In all his history as a punching bag, Fujita had never gone entirely unconscious. He had several TKO stoppages on his record, but they were either from cuts, his corner calling off the fight two seconds in thanks to injuries, or, in the case of his bout against Wanderlei Silva, Fujita was on his way back to his feet (For I believe the sixtieth time) when the ref waved off the contest.

Against Overeem, though, Fujita went out entirely. In fact, he went super out, so much that Overeem ran into Fujita being taken to the hospital on a stretcher in the back of the arena. Fujita went so unconscious, I don't believe he retired from MMA so much as he just hasn't woken up yet.

What Did We Learn?

• Alistair Overeem's knees will murder your brain so hard your parents will forget you ever existed
• A person needs more than a thick candy shell around their head to be a successful mixed martial artist
• Knee Death claims another victim, having previously stopped a man's heart, and later, drained a man of all his head-blood.