All MMA

During UFC 92 one thing was evident, both Griffin and Evans came to fight. In the first round, Griffin looked very good landing leg kicks and some solid combination’s, and this also continued through the second round. This was a big fight for both of the fighters. Griffin came to make his first title defense and prove he deserved to be champion, and Evans came to keep his winning record and take the belt away from Griffin. In the third round, a leg kick was caught by Evans and his right landed on the button. Griffin went down, and Evans was on top of him, and he got the KO.

Congratulations to Evans, the new UFC light heavy weight champion, on his win. Now that he has the belt, it will be interesting to see if he is able to keep it.  There is no doubt that the UFC will have a tough road planned for the new champion. With the likes of Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddel, Dan Henderson, Keith Jardine, and Forest Griffin, he will have a tough road ahead of him.

This is a talented weight class in the UFC, and I look forward to seeing Evans defend his belt. There are some great fights still to come in his career!

One of the ultimate grudge matches, Jackson came in to this fight looking to redeem himself for the two brutal loses to Silva in Pride. After losing to Griffin, Jackson has recently switched camps to the Wolfs Lair in the UK, and according to him, he has never been in better shape. There was some bad blood going in to this fight. The fighters have had words over the internet, and also during the weigh in.

The fight started off very slow. Both fighters were very cautious and felt each other out. There were some great leg kicks by Silva, and Jackson landed some good jabs, but after three minutes of the first round, Silva went in for a combination, and Jackson caught him with a solid left hook knocking him out cold.

Jackson was happy about the win, and even though he said his next title shot is up to the UFC, it is obvious he is back at the top of the heap.

Silva has took some serious punishment of his career, and this fight just added to it. Many may wonder where Silva will go from here, but I am certain we have not seen the last of him.

Cheick Kongo is looking to make his mark in the UFC, and after his performance against Al Turk, it is apparent he will be one of the next fighters in line to fight for the heavy weight belt.

Kongo has recently changed camps, and joined his friend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at his new camp in the UK, and it seems his training has paid off. His take down defense against Al Turk was very impressive, and will be needed if he hopes to face the current heavy weight champion Brock Lesnar. Also during the fight he showed a great display of ground and pound, and a relentless attack going for the finish. After this brutal defeat, there is no doubt that Kongo is looking to fight for the title.

Al Turk did not have much time to show his skills in the octagon. He was unable to take Kongo down, and that was the main factor in the fight. He was at a reach disadvantage, and most of the fight, he was just swinging for the fences with a wild overhand right. Hopefully now that he has fought in the octagon, he can settle down and show his true skills.

Overall, this fight was a complete domination by Kongo, and I look forward to seeing him fight for the belt in the future.

The rubber guard is employed by the fighter on their back with someone in their guard. They pull their leg up the other fighter back, and bring it up underneath the other fighters chin.

I don’t understand why more fighters do not utilize the rubber guard. It has to be one of the most under used guards in MMA right now. It is also one of the most effective.

Using the rubber guard can give fighters a great way to end a fight with either a gogoplata or omoplata. This guard variant does require more flexibility, but with any style of martial arts, flexibility is very important. Eddie Bravo has shown how effective the rubber guard can be, and there have been fighters who have had success with it, but as more fighters begin to effectively utilize it, I believe it will become regularly used by all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.

I look forward to more fighters becoming active on their back. Just laying there while trying to control their opponents hands while looking for an arm bar or triangle just don’t seem to be the most effective defense.

At its infancy, MMA was a sport to show which form of martial arts reigned supreme. Not today, fighters now must train in all styles of martial arts to be effective. Most camps now focus on Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Tai, BJJ, and Judo. To be successful in today’s sport, one must utilize all these skills and make sure they can survive and bring the fight to where they want it.

I believe there is no other sport out there right now, that takes the level of training and commitment that MMA does. There have been some exceptions to this, but to continue to be viable in the sport you must continue to evolve and keep your training on the edge.

Today the sport is still budding and growing, but I hope it continues to grow along with the athletes, and we can only hope that opportunities for fighters will continue to grow as well.

The UFC announced that it made over 4 million dollars for the National Intrepid Center of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury. I am a veteran myself, and I give a big thanks to the UFC for the work they did trying to help our wounded soldiers. 

 Traumatic brain injury is still being investigated, and there is no cure yet, but thanks to the Intrepid Center, many soldiers will get help they need that the VA is just not giving. 

The UFC put together a great card for the event. Some of the memorable fights included, a knock out by Koscheck at 2:15 of the first round and a devastating knock out by Mike Swick at 0:33 of the first round.

What a great finale it was. Congrats to Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader. I believe both of these fighters have a great career ahead of them in the UFC.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who, from the show, will actually keep up with the great competition in the UFC and who will fall to the way side, but After watching their finale perfomances, I believe both will be around for a while. Both fighters are still relatively young career wise, and have plenty of time to grow and learn.

Ryan Bader came out with a strong performance. He showed that his skills go way beyond just being a wrestler with the great knock out coming at 2:18 minutes of the first round.

The same can be said for Efrain Escudero. He proved that he can stand up and bang, but also is able to utilize his wrestling to put the fight where he wants it, and he is able to keep it there. Being the under dog coming into this fight, I believe Efrain proved he belonged in the UFC, and if he continues to grow as a fighter, he will be a contender in the future.