UFC 130 Main Card: MMAFriedRice.com Team & Friends Picks

UFC 130 Picks by the MMAFriedRice.com crew & friends…….

Good Luck Semtex….

I don’t know if the man himself (or anyone else for that matter) is gonna read this but it’s just a quick shout out from the MMAFriedRice crew to Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley ahead of his Strikeforce title fight versus Nick Diaz. One of the first Brits to fight for a major world title on the MMA scene, we hope tomorrow night is a good one for Paul, his team, his fans and the whole God damn country! We have faith in you…… WAR SEMTEX!

Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley signs with Strikeforce

Nottingham’s own Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce MMA. Daley joins Strikeforce on the back of two wins after fighting for both Impact FC and Shark Fights respectivly.  Since being released from his UFC contact by president Dana White following a decision loss to UFC Welterweight nontender Josh ‘Fraggle’ Koscheck, Semtex has vowed to fight on with or without the possibility of re-signing with the Vegas based organisation.

Top-10 world-ranked welterweight, Paul Daley, has signed a multi-fight deal with world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE.

The 5-foot-9, 27-year-old native of London who fights out of Nottingham, England, has won two straight and six of his last seven. Overall, the cocky, brash seven-year pro is 25-9-2.

Nicknamed “Semtex” after an explosive that British armed forces use to demolish large structures, Daley is coming off a unanimous three-round decision over recent STRIKEFORCE signee, Jorge Masvidal, last Saturday, Sept. 11. It was the first time since July 1, 2006, that Daley had won a fight on points.

Daley is a freelance mixed martial artist whose style is an aggressive mix of striking, striking and more striking.

Read the full article here

Semtex is sure to be a force to be reckoned with within Strikeforce’s Ranks. There are some good battles to be had for sure. MMAFriedRice would like to wish Paul Daley all the best in his new conquest.

Charles Oliveira set to face Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 22

Brazilian MMA phenom & UFC newcomer Charles Oliveira has been lined up by UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, to face off versus TUF 8 Winner Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares.

Sources close to MMAFriedRice have hinted that BJJ star Oliviera has stepped into the event to replace an injured Matt Wiman who has suffered a broken arm in the run up to the event.

After a slick win via submission (Triangle) in his UFC debut at UFC Live on Versus 2 over Darren Elkins, the undefeated BJJ specialist will aim to derail Escudero who himself is coming in on the back of a win in the Octagon over Dan Lauzon at UFC 114.

The bout has yet to be confirmed as official by the UFC, but sources claim the bout is almost ready to be announced.

MMAFriedRice Knockout of the Week: BJ Penn vs. Caol Uno

MMAFriedRice.com presents Knockout of the week with a big KO in a fight between top p4p MMA star BJ Penn and Japanese fighter Caol Uno at UFC 34 in Las Vegas. Penn is soon to face Frankie Edgar at UFC 118 in a rematch of the bout at UFC 112 which saw him outpointed and lose his UFC Lightweight Championship belt.

UFC 116: Lesnar vs Carwin – Main Card Breakdown & Picks

MMAFriedRice.com UFC 116 Breakdown & Picks

Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin – UFC Heavyweight Title Bout

The bout labeled as “The biggest fight in UFC History” is one which is sure to turn heads, the 4-1 UFC Heavyweight Champion & Former WWE superstar turned MMA Fighter, Brock Lesnar, takes on UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin, a man who has never seen round 2 having destroyed everyone who has dared to enter the cage with him. This is a fight that UFC fans worldwide hope lives up to its hype & delivers in style.

Lesnar holds a record of 4 wins with 1 loss, his loss coming at the hands of Ex-Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion& Dangerous BJJ Blackbelt, Frank Mir, who forced 265lb Brock to tap out due to a Kneebar at UFC 81. Since his first MMA loss, Brock has gone on to take out UFC legend Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture via devastating GnP and win himself the UFC HW belt, his one and only loss has also been avenged as he took out Mir with another relentless Ground & Pound victory and solidifying himself as the undisputed UFC HW Champion and placing himself within reach of the No1 MMA Heavyweight in the world.

Lesnar’s opponent for the UFC 116 main event,  Shane Carwin, has built himself a reputation as one of the most heavy handed guys in the business of MMA. His record of 12 fights & 12 wins would make most fighters happy, but not Carwin, the guy has never even sniffed the second round of any fight, most people who enter the cage with him usually leave needing severe medical attention. Carwin is not a fighter you want to make angry, ask Gabriel Gonzaga, who knocked Shane down before being KO’d in a devastating fashion.

The common opponent of the 2 is Frank Mir, both of these 2 monsters put a beatdown on Mir, but Carwin dealt with Mir in a much more clinical fashion, with brutal uppercuts in the clinch before KOing Mir on the canvas. How does this fight pan out? Standup War? Ground battle? Who knows.  Both guys are legit wrestlers, both have fists the size of most peoples heads, one thing is for sure – fireworks are guaranteed. Many question will be answered on the night of July 3rd – Has Brock Lesnar’s time away from the Octagon due to illness hindered his MMA progress? Does Shane have enough gas in the tank to go more than one round? With so much resting on this one for both fighters – This is not a fight to miss!

MMAFriedRice Picks:

R: Lesnar via TKO Round 2

V: Carwin via TKO 1st Round

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Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

A bout originally supposed to be between UFC fan favorite Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama, the run up to UFC 116 proves a testing one for Wanderlei and forces him to pull out due to injuries at short notice. In steps former TUF housemate Chris Leben at very short notice.

Just 2 weeks after Chris ‘The Crippler” Leben (20-6) took away the undefeated record of up & coming wrestler, Aaron ‘A-train’ Simpson, via TKO during the TUF 11 Finale, which earned Leben the ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus cheque, he steps into the UFC’s Octagon against Judoka expert Yoshihiro ‘Sexyama’ Akiyama who holds a professional MMA record of 13 wins with only one loss. Akiyama does however have a greasing issue which has arisen and caused controversy (Greasegate) as well as the bout being declared a no contest.

Leben will look to put his heavy hands to work in the stand up game and put another blemish onto the record of  Akiyama in the japanese fighters 2nd bout in the UFC and earn himself a 2nd KO win in a row after his destruction of Aaron Simpson.

Sexyama will be looking to add to his ‘Fight of the Night’ honors he earned in his UFC debut, a split decision win over Alan Belcher. A fighter fond of submissions, with over half of his wins coming via tapout, will look to take Leben to the ground and dominate rather than trade strikes with the brawler Leben. Akiyama looks to have the edge on paper, but having showed good takedown defence versus pedigree wrestler Simpson, Leben is not one to be taken lightly – nobody who takes a fight at late notice especially after fighting a week previous should be taken lightly.

MMAFriedRice Picks:

R: Akiyama via Decision

V: Leben via TKO 3rd Round

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Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown

MMAFriedRice Picks:

R: Chris Lyle via TKO in Round 2

V: Chris Lytle via Decision

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Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar

MMAFriedRice Picks:

R: Bonnar via Decision

V: Soszynski via Submission 2nd Round

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George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino

MMAFriedRice Picks:

R: G. Sot via Submission Round 3

V: G. Sot via TKO Round 2 (Gnp via Rubber Guard Transition)

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum Weigh-In Video

Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum weigh-in video. Results of the weigh-ins are below. MMAFriedrice.com

Weigh In Results

Main Card

Fedor Emelianenko – 229 vs. Fabricio Werdum – 238.5
Champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos – 144.5 vs. Jan Finney – 143.5
Cung Le – 184.75 vs. Scott Smith – 184.75
Pat Healy – 155.25 vs. Josh Thomson – 155.25

Prelims

Chris Cope – 175 vs. Ron Keslar – 173.75
Bret Bergmark – 168.75 vs. Vagner Rocha – 171
Gareth Joseph – 185.25 vs. Yancey Medeiros – 184.25
Derrick Burnsed – 155.6 vs. Bobby Stack – 154.5

MMAFriedRice: Knockout of the Week.

MMAFried Rice Knockout of the week – Bout between Marlon Sandro and Masanori Kanehara, June 20, 2010 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

Pat Barry: “One Of The Best Moments In My Career”

UFC heavyweight fighter Pat ‘HD’ Barry has described the moment which saw both himself and Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic share a warm embrace in the middle of the UFc Octagon as “One Of The Best Moments In My Career”.

Usually a place where fighters get straight down to business in an attempt to take each others heads off, a real show of what the sport of MMA is all about was shown live on pay-per-view at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Canada. Midway through the one of the 3 rounds of action, the two fighters smiled, touched gloves and shared a hug which really showed the amount of mutual respect the 2 have for one another. Barry commented via his Twitter page and shared a photo of the embrace with fans.

If anybody really needed convincing that MMA fighters are not just savage animals, but in fact probably the total opposite, what happened in this fight showed this.

MMAFriedRice.com

MMAFriedRice.com Technique of the Week: The Rubber Guard – Eddie Bravo