Wednesday, 10 June 2009

MMA WEEKEND WRAPUP

BY DAVID MCKINNEY

After a great weekend with two great MMA cards, I’m glad that I now have a week to recover before the big UFC 99 card in Germany this weekend. Here are my thoughts after a great weekend of fights:

 -He’s number two!…Jake Shields  (23-4-1, 1-0 Strikeforce) proved with his impressive first-round submission win over top middleweight Robbie Lawler (16-5, 0-1)that he is the second-best welterweight in the world. Thiago Alves may be fighting Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100 in a month to determine the UFC champion, but there is little doubt in my mind that Shields is the second-best 170-pound fighter in the world right now, behind only the UFC champion St. Pierre. I don’t want to be inconsistent, but I actually don’t know if I’d pick Shields in a fight against Alves right now. It’s just that Shields hasn’t lost since 2004, and he just moved up a weight class and easily took care of one of the best middleweights in the world (I had Lawler ranked at number three behind on Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson before the weekend). Shields is definitely a fighter to watch out for, and the Cesar Gracie black belt is one of the most underrated fighters in the world.

 -The Grim Sleeper…Strikeforce heavyweight fighter Brett “The Grim” Rogers (10-0, 2-0 Strikeforce) is quickly becoming a name to watch out for in the big boy division. He was supposed to get a title shot against Alistair Overeem on Saturday night, but he instead settled for knocking out a legend and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski early in just 22 seconds. This was definitely a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it performance from Rogers, as he put AA to sleep shortly after absorbing a leg kick that I’m sure TV couldn’t do justice. Rogers – who crept into my new heavyweight top ten after his impressive showing – is now set to take on Overeem for the belt at the next big Strikeforce show on August 15. That fight will be the co-main event to the Gina Carano vs. Cris “Cyborg” Santos fight that was confirmed this weekend.

 -Aldomania…Mike Brown (22-4, 4-0 WEC) beat Urijah Faber (22-3, 6-2) to retain his WEC featherweight title, but both of them knew that winning meant a future date with Jose Aldo (15-1, 5-0), who completely obliterated Cub Swanson (13-3, 3-2) in 8 seconds with a flying knee on Sunday night to officially become the number one contender. Both Brown and Faber have said that Aldo is the most dangerous featherweight in the world right now, and I’d have to agree. His striking is second to none in that division, and when the fight hits the floor, he has a Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt from one of the best camps in the world. He almost reminds me of a smaller and faster version of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva circa 2007, which is bad for Mike Brown. Very bad.

 -Young guns…Josh Grispi (13-1, 3-0 WEC) showed that he isn’t far from a shot at the WEC featherweight title, Anthony Pettis (7-0, 1-0) opened some eyes with his very explosive style in his WEC debut win over Mike Campbell (4-2, 0-2), and Donald Cerrone (10-1, 3-1) rebounded from his WEC lightweight title loss to earn a victory over newcomer James Krause (10-1, 0-1). The win earned him a future rematch with WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner. The future of the WEC looks bright, and with these guys and other impressive young fighters like … the sky is the limit. 

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