Metal Reviews

If I had to put money down, I'm going with Shogun by T/KO. Hendo has lost 3 straight, and getting knocked out only gets easier after the first one and being 43 years old doesn't help.

Roy Nelson vs Mark Hunt just announced a few days ago for UFC's Japan event on Sept 21. Two big guys that throw nothing but bombs and have matching iron chins. This one's gonna be fun!

Given that their styles seem to mirror each other, I expect we'll see a totally different fight out of each of them. I expect Big Country to try taking it to the ground, rather than risk matching wits and fists with Hunt.

Out of Hunt's eight losses, seven of them were by submission so it would definitely behoove Roy to take it to the canvas. Nelson certainly has the more impressive grappling pedigree (BB under Renzo Gracie, wins over Mir and Schaub), but he always seems more content with his stand-up than with fishing for subs. We'll have to wait and see.

Nelson will not take Hunt down. They'll trade right hands (and lefts if you're Hunt), and Hunt will either get the TKO or decision. Should be entertaining regardless.

Also, Rory Mac is a future 170 lbs champion. He says by 2015, but if Hendricks can return from injury quick enough, it could be by the end of the year.

Rory looks really good right now. He brought Woodley back down to planet Earth last Saturday and looks poised for a title fight. But Johnny is a local guy, so I'll definitely be pulling for him to win.

I think Hendricks can beat Rory, but Rory is young and hungry and has something to prove. He's been a different animal after he lost that split decision to Robbie Lawler. He may not be the most exciting fighter (to casual fans) but his technique is just nasty. The pressure he can put on you, just takes his opponent out of their comfort zone. He's like a bigger stronger GSP. Outstrike you, then threaten with takedowns. It's a thing of beauty.

But before Rory gets any title shots, Hendricks needs to get back into action. And according to Dana White, his first title defense will be against the winner of next months Robbie Lawler vs Matt Brown 5 round (potential) war. Dana also said that Rory will fight the winner of Hector Lombard vs Dong Hyun Kim and the winner of the fight gets a title shot.

It all sounds fine and dandy, but title shots are taken away as easy as they are given in the UFC.

Keeping with MMA news:
Gegard Mousasi vs Jacare Souza announced last night, winner most likely gets a title shot at 185. Mousasi already holds a win (maybe 2?) over Jacare, but both men have evolved so much since then.

Benson Henderson vs Rafael dos Anjos - 2 top 5 guys going at it at 155. I love Bendo, and think he's got this fight no matter where it goes. It's 5 rounds though, so who knows. dos Anjos Muay Thai looked fantastic against Jason High a few weeks back.

Joe Lauzon vs Mike Chiesa - Chiesa's second chance at top 15 talent. He was choked out by Jorge Masvidal last time he fought such a high ranked opponent. Was the first, and so far only, loss of his career.


And possibly the biggest news of all, Bjorn Rebney co-founder and president and CEO of Bellator stepped down today. Bellator has made some big changes lately, like making it so if you've won a tournament before, you don't have to go through another tournament to get a title shot. While this is not a bad idea, it completely goes againt what Bellator stood for. Now add in all these UFC rejects ie: Rampage Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Sokoudjou, Cheick Kongo, Karo Parysian, Phil Baroni, etc.. I can see why Bjorn (or Bjork as Dana liked to call him) would want to step down. It's not his baby anymore, it's Viacoms. Scott Coker (dude who started/ran Strikeforce) is expected to take Rebneys place.

It's offcial, Scott Coker is the new President/CEO of Bellator MMA.

How long until the UFC buys them out?

I don't think Dana is too intimated by those guys. Honestly, the UFC doesn't have a whole lot to gain by buying them out right now. They have some decent fighters but nothing compared to the top tier talent the UFC aquired when they bought out Pride and Strikeforce. Bellator is like the MMA minor leagues with guys trying to either make a splash or resurrect their sagging careers. Dana will tolerate them until they really start affecting his bottom line and then he'll take their legs from under them.

The UFC bought WFA just for Rampage. If Alvarez decides to hang around at Bellator after his contract is up, I could see the UFC making an offer later next year-early 2016. Sure Bellator doesn't have the greatest talent, but there are good fighters (Eddie Alvarez, Michael Chandler, Will Brooks, Pat Curran, Alexander Schlemenko, Daniel Strauss, Attila Veigh, Emmanuel Newton, etc..) and with the UFC expanding globally every month, they need as many talented guys to fill out cards as possible.

There's a conspiracy theory out there that the WSOF and UFC are in cahoots to kill Bellator. It's far fetched, but not implausible.

Back to the UFC "buying Bellator", remember Scott Coker was a UFC/Zuffa LLC employee not that long ago...

I'll be there in person for this one. Henderson has been spectacular throughout his UFC tenure but it still seems like Pettis has his number. The UFC hasn't announced the full card yet, but it looks pretty solid thus far.

The plot thickens...

Hector Lombard out and Tyron Woodley in against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night in China. Does Woodley rebound from a lackluster showing against MacDonald or does he plummet even further down the welterweight power rankings?

One of the most anticipated fights of the year coming up, Weidman Machida. Gonna be awesome, don't miss it!

It's really hard to predict, it's a great stylistic matchup. I'm picking Weidman, I didn't believe in him in his fights against Anderson Silva but it's time I start giving him respect... but I can easily see Machida taking it too, that's what makes it interesting.

Weidman won. I didn't see the fight but the striking ratio between Weidman and Machida was close, Weidman won due to a few more takedowns. Machida made him work for his victory imo and did a lot better than Silva did (ironically). Belfort is supposedly his next fight. As bad as it sounds I want someone to bring Weidman down

Probably won't be Beflort. We haven't see him perform since being forced to stop TRT and the licensing issue lingering from the ill-fated match with Chael Sonnen will be a problem as well. If he beats Mousasi next month, Ronaldo Souza will more likely be next in line.

BJ Penn retires after third consecutive loss to Frankie Edgar. UFC Hall of Fame is a forgone conclusion. The man would fight anybody regardless of pedigree and/or weight class. Hats off to one of the best ever.

Some big fights coming up over the next few weeks/months, like:

Bigfoot Silva vs Andre Arlovski 2 - 5 rounds
Alistair Overeem vs Ben Rothwell
Roy Nelson vs Mark Hunt - 5 rounds

Ryan Bader vs Ovince Saint Preux - 5 rounds
Phil Davis vs Glover Teixeira

Tim Kennedy vs Yoel Romero
Jacare Souza vs Gegard Mousasi 2 - 5 rounds
Michael Bisping vs Cung Le - 5 rounds
ANDERSON SILVA VS NICK DIAZ - 5 rounds

Tyron Woodley vs Dong Hyun Kim
Rory MacDonald vs Tarec Saffiedine - 5 rounds
Demian Maia vs Mike Pyle

Benson Henderson vs Rafael dos Anjos - 5 rounds
Donald Cerrone vs Eddie Alvarez (rumoured to be co-main at UFC 178)
Jorge Masvidal vs Bobby Green

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor

Dominick Cruz vs Takeya Mizugaki (will be Cruz first fight in 3 years)
Urijah Faber vs Masenori Kanehara

Jussier Formiga vs Zach Makovsky

Cat Zingano vs Amanda Nunes
Miesha Tate vs Rin Nakai
Sarah McMann vs Lauren Murphy

(split up by division HW down to WBW)

I love the UFCs busy schedule. People complain about over-saturation, but there's baseball games ever damn day of the week. At least UFC takes a few weeks off, usually, between each string of events.

What fight(s) are you guys most looking forward to?

Mine have to be:
Rory Mac vs Tarec
Big Country vs Mark Hunt
Poirier vs Irish Jesus
Return of the Dominator
Anything Meisha Tate is in

Plus upcoming title fights:
Cain Velasquez vs Febricio Werdum - UFC 180
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier - UFC 178 (Cormier is going to break bones!)
Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort - UFC 181
Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler 2 - TBA
Anthony Pettis vs Gilbert Melendez - most likely UFC 181 co-main
Jose Aldo vs Chad Mendes 2 - UFC 179
TJ Dillashaw vs Renan Barao 2 - UFC 177
Demetrius Johnson vs Chris Cariaso - co-main for UFC 177

Rousey just had knee surgery and will be out a little while.

Bones vs Cormier, Big Country vs Hunt and Hendricks vs Lawler 2. A little irritated that Belfort is still getting a title shot after getting popped for PEDs AGAIN.