Event Primer - UFC on Fuel: Silva vs Stann

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's dumber than circling into a H-Bomb.

Prelims (Facebook)

Welterweight - Marcelo "Magrao" Guimaraes vs Hyun Gyu "The Ace" Lim

• Guimaraes's Style - BJJ
• Lim's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Lim by KO

Bantamweight - Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres vs Kyung Ho "Typhoon" Kang

• Caceres's Style - Striking, submissions
• Kang's Style - Submissions
• Prediction - Kang by submission

Lightweight - Cristiano Marcello vs Kazuki Tokudome

• Marcello's Style - BJJ
• Tukodome's Style - Striking
• Prediction -Tokudome by KO
• Thoughts - Remember the time Marcello fought Krazy Horse backstage at Pride? That was cool.

Bantamweight - Takeya Mizugaki vs Bryan "Kid Lightning" Caraway

• Mizugaki's Style - Striking
• Caraway's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
• Prediction - Mizugaki by TKO

Middleweight - Riki Fukuda vs Brad Tavares

• Fukuda's Style - Wrestling
• Tavares's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Fukuda by decision

Main Card (Fuel)

Welterweight - Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim vs Siyar "The Great" Bahadurzada

• Kim's Style - Judo, grappling, bitch-slapping Nate back to 209
• Bahadurzada's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Kim by decision
• Thoughts - Kim's been busy doing obstacle courses!

Lightweight - Mizuto "Pugnus" Hirota vs Rani Yahya

• Hirota's Style - Striking, ground and pound
• Yahya's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Hirota by TKO

Middleweight - Yushin "Thunder" Okami vs Hector "Lighting" Lombard

• Okami's Style - Wrestling
• Lombard's Style - Boxing, judo
• Prediction - Okami by decision
• Thoughts - This might be the best nickname matchup Joe Silva concocted since John "Doomsday" Howard beat Dennis "Superman" Hallman. Also, YUSHIN OKAMI, THANK YOU!

Lightweight - Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi vs Diego "The Dream" Sanchez

• Gomi's Style - Striking, wrestling
• Sanchez's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Sanchez by TKO
• Thoughts - YES! YES!

Heavyweight - Mark "Super Samoan" Hunt vs Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve

• Hunt's Style - Kickboxing, STRONG, HEAD OF STEEL
• Struve's Style - BJJ, kickboxing
• Prediction - Hunt by KO
• Thoughts - #RallyForMarkHunt is now #HuntForTheGold. Also, Stefan Struve is just Joe Lauzon after saying "INYUK CHUK" like Apache Chief.

Main Event: Light Heavyweight - Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs Brian "All American" Stann

• Silva's Style - Muay thai, Axe murderings
• Stann's Style - Striking, MCMAP
• Prediction - Silva by TKO
• Thoughts -During this fight, you should play these two songs on repeat.

A brief treatise on: Fighting position

During and following the conclusion of the fight at UFC 157 between Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson, a vocal contingent sprung up that feels that Machida should have been more engaging and initiated striking exchanges instead of actively avoiding them. The problem with this line of thought is twofold. One, it ignores Lyoto Machida's entire fighting history of staying on the outside and waiting to counter foolhardy opponents that rush in, not standing flat-footed in the pocket swinging wildly. Secondly, it ignores the sickening power Dan Henderson possesses.

I've seen people argue that Dan was trying to fight, but Lyoto was running away. This is also incorrect. Again, Lyoto's style is predicated on avoiding exchanges and instead countering impatient fighters (His knockout against Ryan Bader is a prime example). Both men were implementing their typical methods, Lyoto's circling and keeping distance and Dan's stalking, right hand cocked back, ready to unleash once he got within range, but Lyoto just performed his style better than Dan in the judges' eyes. Dan could have used angles to cut off Lyoto's avenues of movement, since before the fight it was expected that Henderson couldn't match Machida's speed. Additionally, had Machida traded with Henderson and been knocked out, there would be an even larger group clamoring that Lyoto was dumb, because of course that's what happens when people stand and bang with Dan.

Also, let it be known that I am saying all of this as a fan of Henderson, and I wanted him to win, hopefully with a big knockout. Unfortunately, he didn't do that, but it doesn't mean he fought a more "real" fight than Machida. To venture away from that specific contest, let me use a fight from UFC 157's preliminaries as another example. In the Brendan Schaub versus Lavar Johnson fight, everyone knew that Johnson had tremendous punching power, but limited grappling skills, so his preferred area would of course be standing. Schaub decided to implement a wrestling gameplan, and it worked, to the tune of a decision victory. Both fighters had different preferences on what kind of fight would provide the best avenue for victory, and only Schaub was able to see his to fruition. It doesn't mean that Johnson is a "real" fighter because he wanted to stand and bang and Schaub isn't because he used grappling.

A fighter should employ any and every technique within the rules that gives the best possible chance for victory since combat sports aren't like regular sports. Once knockouts enter the equation, the onus is for a fighter to only win, entertainment shouldn't factor into fighting style at all.

Of course, you don't have to take my word for it, you can also see what Pat "HD" Barry thinks on the situation.

Event Primer: UFC 157 - Rousey vs Carmouche

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that drinks in Chael P. Sonnen's every word.

Prelim (Facebook)

Welterweight - Nah-Shon "The Rock n Rolla" Burrell vs Yuri Villefort

• Burrell's Style - Striking
• Villefort's Style - Elbows
• Prediction -Burrell by KO

Welterweight - Jon Manley vs Neil Magny

• Manley's Style - BJJ, wrestling
• Magny's Style - BJJ, wrestling
• Prediction - Magny by decision
• Thoughts - Both dudes have the same style and same record, and both were on the same season of The Ultimate Fighter. I think Joe Silva is trying to figure out if one guy is the palette swapped version of the other dude.

Welterweight - Kenny Robertson vs Brock "The Machine" Jardine

• Robertson's Style - Wrestling
• Jardine's Style - Grappling, striking
• Prediction - Robertson by submission
• Thoughts - I'm still waiting on Keith Lesnar to make his UFC debut.

Prelim (FX)

Lightweight - Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout vs Caros "The Future" Fodor

• Stout's Style - Kickboxing
• Fodor's Style - Freestyle
• Prediction - Fodor by decision
• Thoughts - I always expect Ben "Phoenix Jones" Fodor to intervene in one of Caros's fights. Maybe this time he'll show up.

Featherweight - Dennis "The Menace" Bermudez vs Matt "The Real One" Grice

• Bermudez's Style - Wrestling
• Grice's Style - Wrestling
• Prediction - Bermudez by decision

Lightweight - Michael "Maverick" Chiesa vs Anton Kuivanen

• Chiesa's Style - Wrestling, BJJ
• Kuivanen's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Kuivanen by decision
• Thoughts - This Kuivanen hype video certainly ruffled Chiesa's feathers.

Heavyweight - Brandon "The Hybrid" Schaub vs Lavar "Big" Johnson

• Schaub's Style - Football, striking
• Johnson's Style - Punch
• Prediction - Johnson by KO

Main Card (PPV)

Welterweight - Josh "Kos" Koscheck vs "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler

• Koscheck's Style - Wrestling
• Lawler's Style - Punching
• Prediction - Lawler by KO
• Thoughts - A few years ago, this would have been a prime Fight Camp fight, American Kickboxing Academy versus Miletich Fighting Systems. Now, I just want Lawler to punch the heck out of Koscheck's weird, dumb head.

Welterweight - Court "The Crusher" McGee vs Josh "The Dentist" Neer

• McGee's Style - Karate, BJJ, wrestling
• Neer's Style - BJJ, striking
• Prediction - McGee by submission

Bantamweight - Urijah "The California Kid" Faber vs Ivan "The Pride of El Salvador" Menjivar

• Faber's Style - Brozilian Bro Jitsu, wrestling
• Menjivar's Style - Grappling, striking
• Prediction - Menjivar by submission
• Thoughts - How crazy is it that Menjivar faced a debuting Georges St. Pierre at Welterweight and only lost the fight because the referee is a dingus? SUPER DANG CRAZY. Also, TEAM ALPHA MALE ALWAYS AND FOREVER.

Light Heavyweight - Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida vs Dan "Hendo" Henderson

• Machida's Style - Karate
• Henderson's Style - Big Right Hand, wrestling
• Prediction - Henderson by KO
• Thoughts - My heart wants this prediction to come true so much. I BELIEVE IN HENDO

Women's Bantamweight Title - "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey vs Liz "Girl-Rilla" Carmouche

• Rousey's Style - Armbar, judo
• Carmouche's Style - Striking
• Prediction - Carmouche by TKO
• Thoughts - I hope that Dana doesn't scuttle the entire women's division if/when Ronda loses because he's a weird, creepy dude and doesn't think any other female fighters are marketable.

Farewell Jon Fitch's UFC Career

Note - this was fan requested on Twitter by Tommy Nicholls. You can request things for me to write about and I'll do my best because why not.

Sad news today as a UFC institution since 2005, Jon "Jon Fitch" Fitch was cut from the enormous roster. He leaves behind a legacy of intense, grappling-heavy victories that broke his opponents' spirit, known colloquially as "Fitchings", along with whatever chunks of his brain are embedded in the canvas after Johny Hendricks punched the daylights out of him. Of course, if you were to ask Fitch, he'll always be part of the UFC, since time has no meaning to him.

Fitch had underwent a bit of a rough patch, including the aforementioned murder at Johny Hendricks' bearded fist, a Fitching by Demian Maia, and the unfortunate demise of his wife and mother-in-law by kitchen-based asteroid.

Instead of the sad times, let us recall the joy Jon Fitch brought into our lives, like the time he made Erick Silva look like a dope, and then that time he beat up Panthro.

Farewell, Jon Fitch, Skyrim is your home once again.

Fighter Retrospective - Ikuhisa Minowa

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's proof that if you have a dream, go ahead, anything is pasta bowl!

Today on Fighter Retrospectives I'm taking a look at one of the more pro-wrestley guys, Ikuhisa "the Punk" Minowa, more commonly known as MINOWAMAN. He's also currently active, so this is more of a Fighter Appreciation than a Retrospective, so leave appropriate vitriol in the comments for such an egregious goof up.

Who is this man, and what does he do?

A typical Wednesday for MINOWAMAN

Ikuhisa Minowa is a grapple-man made out of a mullet, a red speedo, dropkicks, and pure amazing (Yes, part of his training includes racing airplanes).  He's most well known for challenging guys with at least fifty pounds on him, but far inferior skills.  This is because Japanese MMA is both ridiculous and great, and cares not for fighter safety or fair fights.

Minowa got his start in 1996 and went 1-8-1 in his first ten fights, most of them taking place in Pancrase (Apparently I can only do a Retrospective if a Fighter competed amongst other Hybrid Wrestlers). Undaunted, Minowa continued fighting, and slowly started to even out his record, finally getting to .500 in 1999 with a 10-10-5 mark. He reached a true winning percentage in 2000, getting to 12-11-6, and he currently stands at 55-34-8, with over a quarter of his fights contested as Openweight bouts (Japanese MMA, you are truly, truly outrageous).

Minowa is impressive in the ways he wins, too, with 39 of his 55 wins coming by way of submission (71%), with 12 different types of submissions used to finish fights. He's mostly a leg specialist, with 18 wins coming below the waist (46% of all his submissions). He does have two wins by scarf hold armlock, which is about as many as the rest of the MMA world combined.

He Ever Win a Title?

Has he ever! MINOWAMAN only won the most glorious and prestigious tournament in the history of combat sports, the DREAM Openweight tournament, also known as SUPER HULK! It was a grueling contest, pitting three non-heavyweight mixed martial artists (plus Jose Canseco, because Japan) against four super heavyweight fighters.

Minowa's first match was against the enormous Bob Sapp (This was before Sapp decided to just collect a paycheck, and probably have at least a quarter of a fuck left to give). Minowa easily dispatched "The Beast" with a leglock in round one.

Next, came the even more gigantic Hong Man Choi, the only super heavyweight to win his opening round fight (Because it was against Jose Canseco. Again, JAPAN).

Minowa won again with another leglock, but it took him until round two to dispatch the biggest man in the tournament.

The tournament finals pitted Minowa against "The African Assasin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou had won both of his fights with impressive ground and pound stoppages, and though he was bigger than MINOWAMAN (The smallest competitor in the tournament), he appeared to have some amount of fighting skill. It was to be an epic showdown.

In a hilarious turn of events, MINOWAMAN knocked out Sokoudjou.

With the win, MINOWAMAN now laid claim to the greatest prize in the history of combat sports, the SUPER HLUK title!

 The prestige is overwhelming.

MINOWAMAN and the SUPER HLUK title's creator.

Anything else?

He does pro wrestling, sometimes just as MINOWAMAN, but apparently he's also Tiger Mask V. Allow MINOWAMAN into your heart, for all he wants is to make it brighter.

Event Primer - UFC on Fuel: Pegado vs McDonald

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that wants to punch the IOC and FILA in their stupid, dumb faces.

Prelims (Facebook)

 

Flyweight - Phil "Billy" Harris vs Ulysses "Useless" Gomez

• Harris' Style - BJJ
• Gomez's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Gomez by submission
• Thoughts - Rousimar's little brother looks nothing like him.

 

Bantamweight - Vaughan "Love" Lee vs Motonobu Tezuka

• Lee's Style - Grappling
• Tezuka's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Tezuka by decision
• Thoughts - Guys like Riki Fukuda and Yushin Okami might have been All-Japan wrestlers, but I'm pretty sure Tezuka is a New Japan wrestler.

 

Middleweight - Tom "Kong" Watson vs Stanislav "Stucky" Nedkov

• Watson's Style - Striking
• Nedkov's Style - Striking, grappling, pecan logs
• Prediction - Nedkov by TKO

 

Featherweight - Andy "The Little Axe" Ogle vs Josh "The Fluke" Grispi

• Ogle's Style - Striking, weeping
• Grispi's Style - Submissions
• Prediction - Grispi by submission

 

Lightweight - Paul "Sassangle" Sass vs Danny "Last Call" Castillo

• Sass' Style - Triangles, heel hooks
• Castillo's Style - Wrestling, Brozilian Bro-Jitsu
• Prediction - Sass by Sassangle
• Thoughts - I don't care if he's not in the video. Any time Team Alpha Male fights, I will post this, the most TAM video ever.

 

Lightweight - Terry Etim vs Renee Forte

• Etim's Style - Luta Livre, grappling
• Forte's Style - Being loud
• Prediction - Etim by submission
• Thoughts - Etim's fighting for the first time since The Kick, also known as "Edson Barboza just MurderDeathKilled a dude!"

 

Main Card (Fuel)

 

Welterweight - Che "Beautiful" Mills vs Matthew "Deep Waters" Riddle

• Mills' Style - Striking
• Riddle's Style - Wrestling, striking
• Prediction - Mills by KO
• Thoughts - Riddle should maybe never talk to anyone ever again.

 

Light Heavyweight - James Te-Huna vs Ryan "Big Deal" Jimmo

• Te-Huna's Style - Wrestling
• Jimmo's Style - Striking, wrestling
• Prediction - Jimmo by KO

 

Welterweight - Gunnar "Gunni" Nelson vs Jorge "The Sandman" Santiago

• Nelson's Style - Submissions
• Santiago's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Nelson by decision

 

Light Heavyweight - Jimi "Poster Boy" Manuwa vs Cyrille "The Snake" Diabate

• Manuwa's Style - Striking
• Diabate's Style - Boxing
• Prediction - Manuwa by TKO

 

Featherweight - Cub Swanson vs Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier

• Swanson's Style - Freestyle
• Poirier's Style - Grappling
• Prediction - Poirier by submission

 

Interim Bantamweight Title - Renan "Barao" Pegado vs Michael "MayDay" McDonald

• Pegado's Style - BJJ
• McDonald's Style - Kickboxing, BJJ, Yacht Rock/Smooth Music
• Prediction - McDonald by KO
• Thoughts - Interim title defenses are really stupid. "Renan Barao-Rao-Rao" is not, it's cool.

Event Primer - UFC 156

Welcome to Leg Kick TKO, a MMA blog that's going to incur James Thompson's wrath any day now.

Prelims (Facebook)

Bantamweight - Edwin "El Feroz" Figueroa vs Francisco "Cisco" Rivera

• Figueroa's Style - Striking
• Rivera's Style - Striking
• Prediction -  Figueroa by KO

Bantamweight - Chico "The King" Camus vs Dustin "The Diamond" Kimura

• Camus's Style - Striking, Existentialism
• Style - Submissions (But no kimuras? What in all of the hecks, man?)
• Prediction - Camus via getting Kimura to contemplate the nothingness of the universe by way of extensive face punches

Prelims (FX)

Lightweight - Yves Edwards vs Isaac Ville-Flagg

• Edwards's Style - Thugjitsu
• Ville-Flagg's Style - Punches
• Prediction - Edwards by KO
• Thoughts - Edwards is the best dude ever.

Lightweight - Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann vs Bobby "King" Green

• Volkmann's Style - Wrestling
• Green's Style - Hood
• Prediction - Green by decision
• Thoughts - I hope Volkmann manages to wrangle a live microphone so he can get another Secret Service visit.

Welterweight - Tyron "The Chosen One' Woodley vs Jay "Thoroughbred" Hieron

• Woodley's Style - Wrestling
• Hieron's Style - Wrestling
• Prediction - Woodley by decision
• Thoughts - Remember when Hieron bled a bunch? That was gross.

Lightweight - Gleison Tibau vs Evan Dunham

• Tibau's Style - Wrestling, BJJ, cutting weight
• Unofficial Tibau Nickname - Gleison "Tim" Tibau
• Dunham's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Tibau by decision

Main Card (PPV)

Flyweight - Joseph Benavidez vs Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall

• Benavidez's Style - Wrestling, Brozlian Bro Jitsu
• McCall's Style - BJJ
• Prediction - Benavidez by submission (Brollotine choke)
• Thoughts - Obligatory Team Alpha Male video

Welterweight - Jon Fitch vs Demian Maia

• Fitch's Style - Wrestling, beating up Thunder Cats
• Maia's Style - BJJ, turning on blood faucets
• Prediction - Fitch by TKO
• Thoughts - This fight isn't really fair since Fitch has MIND POWERS (From being Week Day Vegan)

Heavyweight - Alistair "The Reem" Overeem vs Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

• Overeem's Style - Muay Thai
• Silva's Style - Striking, BJJ
• Prediction - Overeem by KO
• Thoughts - WHOA, OVEREEM, PANTASTIC BODY!

Light Heavyweight - "Suga" Rashad Evans vs Antonio Rogerio "Minotouro" Nogueira

• Evans's Style -Wrestling, boxing
• Nogueira's Style - BJJ, boxing
• Prediction -Evans by KO
• Thoughts - More like LOL Nog

Main Event: Featherweight Title - Jose "Junior" Aldo vs Frankie "The Answer" Edgar

• Aldo's Style - Muay Thai, BJJ, buying suits
• Edgar's Style - Wrestling, Boxing
• Edgar's Real Nickname - Frankie "Two Times" Edgar
• Prediction - Edgar by TKO
• Thoughts -  I can't wait for rounds 6 - 10 in like six months!