Putting in some beach time, Cruz talks about strengths vs. Johnson

Dominick Cruz is already back in the Octagon. It seems like Cruz just fought Urijah Faber. After a grinding five round war won by Cruz in early July, the UFC bantamweight champ will defend his title against Demetrious Johnson this weekend at UFC on Versus 6.

It's a bit unusual for a fighter to turn around in three months to take another fight, but that's what the lower level fighters bring to the table. There is no getting out of shape or need for a massive weight cut.

Cruz is facing the diminutive, but super-active Johnson. Thus far in the WEC and UFC, the 25-year-old Johnson (10-1) has completely confused his opponents. Sound familiar? It's exactly what Cruz does with his constant movement.

In the video by Shoot, Cruz says that'll be the difference on Saturday in Washington, D.C.  Johnson will be thrown off by an opponent who is finally dipping and darting.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Putting-in-some-beach-time-Cruz-talks-about-str?urn=mma-wp7463

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

?Pops? Browne looks to win more bonus money for his kids

Travis Browne is back and looking to build on his devstating victory over Stefan Struve at UFC 130. He got the Knockout of the Night bonus that night. With some of that $70,000, he took his family to Hawaii on vacation. Browne joined Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole to talk about what the last few months has been like.

Browne faces Rob Broughton tomorrow night in Denver at UFC 135. Watch the RawVegas.tv break down the fight using the Las Vegas odds.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-8216-Pops-8217-Browne-looks-to-win-more-bonu?urn=mma-wp7174

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

UFC Live Cruz vs. Johnson Predictions

Filed under:

Dominick CruzWill Dominick Cruz continue his reign of dominance over the bantamweight division, or will Demetrious Johnson become the new UFC 135-pound champion? Will Stefan Struve capitalize on his enormous reach advantage, or will Pat Barry get inside and test Struve's chin? Can Charlie Brenneman knock off Anthony Johnson and improve to 3-0 in 2011? We'll attempt to answer those questions as we predict the winners on Saturday night's fight card.

What: UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.

When: Saturday, the Facebook preliminary card starts at 6 PM ET and the Versus televised card begins at 9.

Predictions on the four Versus fights below.

Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson
Johnson, nicknamed "Mighty Mouse," is small even for the 135-pound weight class, and he's going to have a very, very difficult time against the tall and lanky Cruz, who is as good as anyone in the sport at using his reach advantage to prevent his opponents from getting near him. Johnson would love to get inside and take Cruz down repeatedly, as he did in winning decisions over Kid Yamamoto and Miguel Torres to get this title fight, but that's a very tall order against Cruz.

For Cruz, the path to victory looks a lot like what he's been doing throughout his title reign: He needs to use his awkward movement and high-volume striking to keep Johnson on the outside and keep him frustrated. Although Johnson's quickness may be something Cruz hasn't seen before, Johnson looks like an opponent Cruz should be able to handle standing up for 25 minutes.

And so I like Cruz to do what he usually does: Win by unanimous decision.
Pick: Cruz

Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve
The enormous height difference between Struve (the UFC's tallest fighter) and Barry (the UFC's shortest heavyweight) makes this fight interesting visually, but what makes it especially interesting is that neither one of these guys fights the way you'd expect someone his height to fight: Struve often fails to take advantage of his reach and instead lets his opponents get inside and test his chin, while Barry doesn't let his short, stocky legs prevent him from throwing plenty of kicks.

Barry probably has an advantage if the fight stays standing, but I think this fight will eventually go to the ground, and Struve will have an enormous advantage on the canvas -- even if he has to get knocked down to get there. Look for Barry to leave himself exposed on the ground and Struve to capitalize and win by submission.
Pick: Struve

Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman
Johnson returned after more than a year away and put a one-sided beating on Dan Hardy in March, and he'll look to do it again when he takes on Brenneman, who's coming off a big win over Rick Story. I think the savvy Brenneman is going to give Johnson a lot more trouble on the ground than most people expect, and win a decision.
Pick: Brenneman

Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig
Some unfinished business between these two is finally about to get resolved: At UFC 115 in June of 2010, Wiman won when referee Yves Lavigne wrongly thought Danzig had passed out while in a guillotine choke. (In reality, Danzig was alert and defending himself.) The UFC tried to book them in an immediate rematch, but injuries got in the way. Now they're finally ready to meet again, and I like Wiman to win legitimately this time, taking a decision.
Pick: Wiman

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/29/ufc-live-cruz-vs-johnson-predictions/

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Altitude and Boetsch?s power too much for Ring at UFC 135

Altitude and Boetsch?s power too much for Ring at UFC 135

Nick Ring tried to be elusive, but doing that for 15 minutes fighting in the Denver altitude is a major task. Tim Boetsch waited for Ring to slow down in the latter rounds and when he got his hands on him, he beat up him on the ground to win over the judges in a unanimous decision victory, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

Ring, a former cast member on Season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter," was unbeaten coming into the fight. Boetsch (14-4, 5-3 UFC) looks like a new fighter down at middleweight. He had moderate success at light heavyweight, but the weight cut has allowed him to really play up his inside power in striking and clinch situations.

Ring (12-1, 2-1 UFC) allowed Boetsch to get his hands on him way too much in the second and third rounds. The thickly-muscled former college wrestler dropped Ring to his knees with right hand. Ring rose quickly and tried to survive in the clinch. He threw some knees and he one of them. Boetsch slammed him down and eventually got into position to slap on a guillotine choke. Ring avoided a finish, but he was getting tired.

Boetsch's dirty boxing took a further toll and Ring hit the mat again at the end of the second. Boetsch nearly finished Ring with a nasty kimura, but ran of out time. It was more of the same in the third. Boetsch executed a beautiful throw in the final 90 seconds of the fight and roughing up Ring throughout the third. He sent Ring flipping into air and landed on top of him to knock the wind out of the Canadian.

It was all about the gameplan for Boetsch.

"I was trying to land one big punch in that first round and that doesn't work in the UFC," said Boetsch.

Between the first and second rounds, his corner urged him to get back to what they had talked about before the fight. Boetsch did so and it led to a solid win.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Altitude-and-Boetsch-s-power-too-much-for-Ring-a?urn=mma-wp7253

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean AmasingerÂ