Strikeforce Main Event Breakdown: Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal

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During a recent interview with the press, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez voiced his displeasure with some of the people who discounted his next challenger, Jorge Masvidal.

"A lot of people have been talking nonsense; that Jorge, like he's no good. That you're going to run by him," Melendez said. "And that talk kind of bothers me because some people are ignorant. They don't really follow the game that much. If you don't fight in the UFC, they think you're no good."

Like most fighters, Melendez is much more attuned to the subtleties of an opponents' fight style and skills than most observers, and he understands he's truly in for a fight in Saturday night's Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal main event. And he probably understands he's in a no-win situation as well.

If he does emerge victorious, that's exactly what he was supposed to do, and if he loses, detractors will say his consensus No. 2 lightweight ranking was never quite deserved.

Masvidal (22-6) is a crafty fighter with a style Melendez hasn't really experienced in the cage. He keys his offense off a long jab that lengthens his reach and moves his opponent backward, an important strategy that plays into his preference for counter-fighting. Overall, though, he's a very complete fighter.

Despite having no real base in wrestling, he's proven his excellence in that department through the most recent part of his career. For example, his last fight was against KJ Noons, who loves to strike and uses his wrestling to keep the fight upright where he thinks he has an advantage. That has largely been a successful strategy for him. According to FightMetric, Noons has successfully defended 71 percent of takedown tries against him, but Masvidal took him down on seven of nine attempts en route to a dominant win.

So that's one thing for Melendez (19-2) to be concerned about. The other is Masvidal's striking. As mentioned, Noons has a reputation as a striker but Masvidal had a field day against him on the feet, knocking him down once and out-landing him 73-38 in signature strikes. That's a fairly common outcome for Masvidal, who has one pro boxing fight under his belt and prides himself on his offensive skills and defensive movement.

Masvidal lands about 50 percent of his strikes while his opponents land less than 30, according to FightMetric. In addition to his jab as a favored weapon, he is one of few fighters who takes advantage of criminally underused body punching, occasionally firing off left hook liver shots. His easy motion and comfort level in his standup often lull his opponents into a false confidence, and then he can use his speed to strike or shoot in for the takedown. But other times, he himself might slow things down, too. That's good in some matchups, but it's not the best idea for this one.

Melendez's style is much more well known than Masvidal's. Melendez has refined his boxing over the last few years, adding power along the way (four of his last six wins are by KO or TKO). Coupled with an effective wrestling game and ability to create a grinding match, he often forces opponents into a fight that favors his skills. Melendez is also one of those fighters who can take his foe's best weapon away and turn the bout into his favor that way.

But really, Melendez's most important single trait is his conditioning, a quality that allows him to push the fight in any direction he wants with little fear of running out of gas. Particularly in five-round bouts, many fighters will pace themselves early, aware that they might need reserve fuel in case they still find themselves fighting 20 minutes or so later. Melendez doesn't have to think about that.

He's also trained for five-round title fights multiple times. This will be his seventh straight time preparing for the 25-minute distance, while Masvidal is doing it for the first time.

From a pure skill level, Masvidal is certainly capable of the upset, but it's hard to overlook some of his past uneven performances. In a fight against Paul Daley that took place in Sept. 2010, for example, the win was there for the taking in round three after the two split the first two rounds, and Masvidal never showed a sense of urgency to seal the deal, allowing Daley to steal it on the scorecards. Given Melendez's aggression, any kind of passivity may be Melendez's undoing.

Masvidal has to be more offensive than usual and push forward, but that's not really not his style, and it's not likely he'll change that overnight. If he sits backs and waits to counter, Melendez's more straightforward style will make a bigger impact with the judges. Masvidal has the chin and boxing skills to bring this fight into the late rounds, but Melendez's stamina will be the edge to get him to the finish line first. Expect this one to be closer than the wide odds indicate, but Melendez holds on to the belt with a decision win.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/12/17/strikeforce-main-event-breakdown-gilbert-melendez-vs-jorge-mas/

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Toronto man says he was bullied by Dana White on Twitter

Toronto man says he was bullied by Dana White on TwitterAt Wednesday's press conference for the UFC on Fox 2, Dana White was asked about a code of conduct for fighters on Twitter. This was before he cut Miguel Torres for making a tasteless remark about rape.

He said that the UFC teaches fighters about using social media at the yearly Fighters' Summit.

"We bring guys in and we do the UFC summit. We go through everything with them. I don't know if you've seen me on Twitter. Maybe someone should teach me a code of ethics," White said.

After getting a reply from White, a Toronto man would likely agree. The Toronto Star reports that when Darius Ross objected to a tweet where White told a fan, "I hope you get kicked in the nuts," White called Ross a crybaby. This is the exchange that followed:

White then tweeted: "Then why do you follow me? Hide ur children crybaby!!! I will be in Toronto in two hours!!!'' [...]

Ross then tweeted: "Should I consider that a threat?"

White responded: "omfg, lol, u are weird."

After that exchange, several of White's followers tweeted Ross derogatory remarks. Ross said that he felt like he was being bullied, something that the UFC is working to combat in the schools of Toronto.

"How do you square that kind of banter from the public face of UFC with taking a moral high ground position, standing on a podium and lecturing kids on how to behave? I just don't see how the UFC can lecture kids on bullying when bullying seems to be such an intimate part of MMA (mixed martial arts) fan culture."

MMA Fighting made a convincing argument for the need of a comprehensive policy for fighters so that they know what is across the line before they lose their jobs. In addition to clarity, the fighters also need good leadership from White. When they take their cues from him and he skates so close to the line, it's not a surprise when his fighters cross it.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Toronto-man-says-he-was-bullied-by-Dana-White-on?urn=mma-wp10499

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Showtime stays in MMA business, deal struck with Strikeforce

With a conference call upcoming, it was just announced via email that Strikeforce, Zuffa and Showtime have come to a new agreement to keep the mixed martial arts promotion on the pay network:

Showtime Networks Inc. and world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE® have entered into a new broadcast agreement to continue producing live MMA events on the premium television network, SHOWTIME. The agreement was announced jointly today by Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®, Dana White, UFC® President, and Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE CEO.

Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women's featherweight champion Cris "Cyborg" Santos, women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME.

The new deal kicks off during the network's Free Preview Weekend, Saturday, Jan. 7, as champion Rockhold defends the STRIKEFORCE 185-pound title against dangerous veteran Keith Jardine at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Notable STRIKEFORCE contenders such as Robbie Lawler, "King Mo" Lawal and Tyron Woodley are also set to compete on the televised card, which?as part of Free Preview Weekend?will be available in more than 60 million households nationwide across SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD? and SHOWTIME On Demand®.

Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Showtime-stays-in-MMA-business-deal-struck-with?urn=mma-wp10798

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Miller?s striking continues to take a verbal beating from White and Bisping

Miller?s striking continues to take a verbal beating from White and Bisping

Jason Miller had a golden opportunity to make a big impression at the Season 14 "Ultimate Fighter Finale." Did he ever.

Miller so looked so sloppy standing up that UFC president Dana White is still engaged in conversation about the veteran's performance.

"It was bad. To be honest, and my Twitter's been blowing up with Mayhem fans blasting me, but facts are facts: It was the worst standup I've ever seen in my life. I don't know if I've ever seen standup that bad," White said during yesterday's UFC on Fox 2 press conference in Chicago. "I don't even know what to call it. I've seen guys with some ring rust. Some of the punches that were thrown by 'Mayhem' Miller in this fight, you can go to a girls Tae Bo class and see better form in standup. It was embarrassing."

Bisping told MMAWeekly on Saturday that it was liking fighting some clown at a pub.

"We're not outside a pub drunk. In England, you get two piss heads outside a kabob shop fighting like that," Bisping said. "This is the UFC. Come on Jason, sort it out."

Jeremy Botter from Heavy.com tweeted that night that he believed White was iffy about bringing Miller back for another fight. We didn't believe him, but now that we hear White still going on about the performance, maybe Botter was onto something?

Was Miller's performance that bad? Should he be axed after his one fight (we're not counting Georges St-Pierre fight back in 2005) in this modern era of UFC?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Miller-s-striking-continues-to-take-a-verbal-bea?urn=mma-wp10450

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Brian Ebersole shaves sponsor name into chest at UFC 140

Fighters rely on sponsors to supplement their fight purses, and will sometimes come up with creative ways to advertise their sponsor. Brian Ebersole, who has shaved an arrow into his chest hair for previous fights, had the logo for Tapout manscaped onto his chest for his win over Claude Patrick.

Brian Ebersole shaves sponsor name into chest at UFC 140

That's some dedication to a sponsor, folks. Whoever actually did the shaving deserves kudos, as well.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Brian-Ebersole-shaves-sponsor-name-into-chest-at?urn=mma-wp10610

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

In 2011, is proper anymore to ask which card you're more excited to see?

Is it only hardcore UFC haters who'll say DREAM's 2011 card is better than UFC 144?

Above are the competing posters. Below is DREAM's attempt at getting people fired up for its card headlined by the Fedor Emelianenko fight against Satoshi Ishii.

Personally, I'm stoked to see the fight. What does Fedor have left and is Ishii ready to compete against the top level of MMA just six fights into his MMA career?

Tip via Bloody Elbow

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-posters-from-Japan-Fedor-fight-card-compete?urn=mma-wp10820

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji AnjoÂ