Final Strikeforce Notes/Thoughts

People say you should end things with a bang and that is what Strikeforce did last night. They had a really exciting undercard to get the crowd going. The main card started with Ovince St.Preux vs Benji Radach in a light heavyweight showdown in which St.Preux dominated Radach and knocked him down in the first round but couldn't finish him and the crowd was booing because of that. That is something that St.Preux and his camp need to steadly work if he is going evolve into a true mixed martial artist. Next for St.Preux? According to Strikeforce President Scott Coker, a fight on the card at the end of January. Radach? According to sources close to us, he is going to take a couple months off and decide what is next. Our sources also said that he weighed 225 heading into fight and didn't have the proper time to prepare and will be fighting at 185 next where a possible matchup with Tim Kennedy or a returning Luke Rockhold could be in his plans.

Mike Kyle vs Antonio Silva was an amazing bout and showed the fighting spirit of both fighters. Kyle came out as expected rushing at Silva and drops with an immediate right hand to floor silva but remarkably Silva surivived the round. In the 2nd round, Silva went to work as took Kyle to ground and locked in an anaconda choke, but Kyle showed the heart of champion and was able to get of it, but then Silva got in full mount and finished Kyle by grounding and pounding to a TKO victory. it was disclosed during the post-fight press conference that Kyle broke two bones in his right hand and pre-empts a potential bout with Gegard Mousasi in February. Kyle can fight at either heavyweight or light heavyweight but his best option is at LHW as he has won his last ten bouts at 205. Next for silva? Could be the much anticipated bout with Fedor Emeliananko.

Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland was your classic wrestler vs puncher matchup and this time the puncher won as Lindland tried to stand with Lawler and he knocked out Lindland 59 seconds into the very first round. This fight showed Robbie Lawler is a player at 185 and according to Scott Coker the fight with Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jacare will be on his agenda to make. Lindland? Hopefully, for the sake of him and closest to him, he retires and keeps training. Two devasting KO's in the last year and you start to really about the safety of the fighter. Lindland looked every bit of 40 last night and for the sake of him and his legacy he does retire.

Paul Daley vs Scott Smith was everything you were expecting. It was the most highly anticipated bout of the evening and it delivered. They traded some shots to begin the fight, but Daley's shots were having more of a effect as you can tell that the weight cut had an effect on Smith. Daley hit Smith with an amazing triple left hook combination and then a few moments knocked Smith out with a left and Smith fell flat on his face. What's next for Daley? Daley said at the press conference that he would prefer KJ Noons as that is a money fight, but Noons hasn't made an announcemnet as to what weight class will be next for him.. If the Noons fight doesn't happen the fight, the fight that makes the most sense would be with Evangelista Cyborg then the winner would get a title shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. What's next for Smith? That's the million dollar question. He looked drained at 170 and just didn't look right and he seems like he's too small for 185 as he told at the pre-fight press conference that he only weighed 189 a couple weeks after the Cung Le fight in June. So, the future is on hold for Scott Smith as his future is in limbo.

Dan Henderson vs Babalu was the main event of the evening and both fighters had a lot on the line. For Babalu, this was his chance to make a big statement with a victory over a legend and finally get a chance to reclaim his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title and for Henderson this was a chance to regain some momentum after his loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut. With a loss it would hard for Strikeforce to retain him as Strikeforce gave him all that big money after his win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100. And Henderson didn't disappoint as at the beginning of the round he was trying close the distance with Babalu occasionally throwing a jab with Babalu really not do anything and being defensive. Then when Babalu tried throw a looping right hand, Henderson charged at Babalu and staggered him with a couple right hands and Babalu tried a single leg takedown as Henderson was able to get Babalu into full mount and ground and pounded his way to victory. What is next for Henderson? Scott Coker said that he will looking make Henderson vs Feijao for the title and have that fight take place in the beginning of 2011. That fight makes the most sense right now for Stirikeforce as they are thin at 205 with only Mousasi coming off a loss to King Mo in his last Strikeforce bout, King Mo is injured and Mike Kyle is injured and his return is unknown. What is next for Babalu? That is a question many people are wondering as he did not attend the press conference. A possible move to 185 isn't out of the question.

Strikeforce had a lot riding on this card last night and they delivered. They were going head to head with the UFC and they delivered. There last 3 fights ended in first round knockouts and the Silva vs Kyle ended in the 2nd. The guys that needed to win did win and only leads to better things for Strikeforce. When we will see Fedor? Sources close us tell us that they are close to deal and that will include a deal to where Showtime will air four M-1 Challenge series fights. That would be a coo for M-1, but it shows once again that Showtime/Strikeforce need fedor more than Fedor really needs them. Strikeforce also announced last night that highly touted prospect Tyron Woodley will be returning to action to face rising prospect Taric Saffiedine and Daniel Cormier faces Dennis Cole in the first Challengers series event of 2011 in Nashville. What a great way to start the year for Strikeforce. Start the year like the way they ended 2010 and that's with a definitve bang.

Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu main card

Benji Radach vs Ovince St.Preux



RD 1: Fight starts as both fighters circle each other as St.Preux throws a body kick and then Radach shoots and takes down St.Preux and St.preux gets back to his feet and then Radach presses St.Preux against the cage and St.Preux throws a body kick to knock down Radach floats over on tonto Radach's back and is throwing punches to the head and Radach os tring to block them, so St.Preux throws shots to the body and the head and St.Preux keeps attempting a rear naked choke and just unleashing bombs as Radach wasn't defending himself but the referee wasn't stopping it as the round ended...



RD:1 10-8 St.Preux



RD 2: St.Preux drops Radach to open the round and gets on radach back but is showing his inexpereience by not being able to finish the fight... Radach is trying to get up but unsuccessfully and St.Preux presses Radach's body into the cage as the crowd is booing for the lack of action... St.preux continues to throw punches while on the back of Radach to end the round



Rd 2: 10-8 St.Preux



Rd 3: St.preux starts the round by kicking Radach into the cage and then Radach starts throwing uppercuts and connecting and then St.Preux lands a straight left to knockdown Radach and takes his back but doing nothing while in the postion and the referee stands them up... Radach starts throwing overhand rights to knock St.Preux into the cage but unsuccessfully taking him down... radach once again shoots for a takedown but unsuccessful as both fighters are showing there fatigue and the ref puts them back in the middle and Radach shoots unsuccessfully for a takedown and finally gets down St.Preux but too little too late to finish...



Rd 3: 10-9 Radach and we have it 29-26 St.Preux



Winner: Ovince St.Preux vua unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-25)



Mike Kyle vs Antonio Silva



RD 1: Both fighters circling each other to begin the round... Kyle drops Silva with a right hand and continues his ground and ... pound and Silva keeps trying to block his shots and Kyle keeps going and as he keeps trying to pound Silva and tries to pass into half guard and now gets into closed guard... Kyle keeps pounding the body and as it looks silva is trying to conserve his energy to end the round...



Rd 1:10-9 Kyle



Rd 2: Silva tries for overhand right and takes down Kyle and starts ground and pounding Kyle as passes into side control and floats over to Kyle's head and back into side control... Silva gets Kyle into a guillotine and floats into an anaconda choke and Kyle slips out of it... And Silva gets into full mount and drops hammerfists and punches on Kyle and referee John McCarthy stops the bout



Winner: Antonio Silva via TKO (punches) 2:49 in Round 2



Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland



Rd 1: Both guys start by trading punches... Lindland and Lawler trade punches and then Lawler clips Lindland and drops and Lawler hits him one time as he waits for the referee to stop it as the referee stops the bout



Winner: Robbie Lawler wins by KO, 0:57 seconds in Rd 1



Scott Smith vs Paul Daley



Rd 1: Left nahnd by Smith to start the round as Daley tries a wild overhand right that misses... Daley hits left-right combination to knock down Smith but Smith gets back up... They trade punches and Daley staggers Smith with a a triple left hook combination and then Daley hits Smith with a left hook Smith falls on his face...



Winner: Paul Daley via KO, 2:09 in Rd 1



Main Event: Dan Henderson vs Babalu Sobral



Rd 1: Start in clinch with a short right by Henderson... Attempted overhand right by Henderson misses... Double jab by Henderson... Henderson throws a left and misses and a right by Babalu misses and Henderson charges at Babalu and babalu tries for a single leg and Henderson turns and lands onto babalu and starts landing devasting right hands onto Babalu and got into full mount on Babalu and knock him out with a hammerfist and the referee stops the fight



Winner: Dan Henderson wins via TKO (punchees) 1:53 into round 1

Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu Undercard

To begin the undercard, JW Wright defeated Josh Epps via submission (Guillotine choke) 1:29 of the 1st round.

2nd bout of the undercard has Coltin Cole vs Booker Derousse

Cole rocks Derrousse with an overhand right and tries to finish Derousee with ground and pound but Derousse locks in a a triangle but Cole slams him a couple times and Cole reverses to end the round... 10-9 Cole

2nd Round: Cole went for a leg and couldn't grasp the leg and Derousse started ground and pounding for the victory...

Winner Booker Derousse

3rd Bout: Lee Brousseau vs Mike Glenn

Brousseau bumrushes Glenn and hits him with a big right hook, and both fighters trade but Brousseau is landing the better shots... Glenn then drops to his knees and Brousseau starts landing vicious shots and Glenn amazingly gets back to his feet. brousseau goes for a guillotine choke but Glenn passes to side control and gets the mount and grounds and pounds as the referee stops the fight...

Winner Mike Glenn via TKO 2:00 into RD 1

4th Bout: Tom Aaron vs Matt Ricehouse

Both fighters were a little tentative in the 1st round with Aaron landing more strikes and a takedown towards the end of the round sealed it for him

1st Round: Aaron 10-9

2nd Rd: Both fighters are still a little tentative to begin the round and Ricehouse presses him to the cage and just keeps leaning into him while referee John Mccarthy has let it go and 3:30 into the round McCarthy puts them in the middle of the cage as Aaron then takes down Ricehouse but Ricehouse passes into side control and did nothing with it to the end the round.

2nd Round: 10-9 Aaron

3rd Rd: Aaron gets a single leg takedown to begin the round, as Ricehouse tries to passes into full mount and lands punches and Aaron gets out of it and both guys are on their feet and aaron tries to takedown Ricehouse but was stuffed as both guys get back to there feet and a couple nice forearms by Ricehouse and then a takedown by Ricehouse. he is in Aaron's full guard but doing nothing with it as now he is Aaron's closed guard and passes into side control to end the round.

3rd Rd: 10-9 Ricehouse... We have it 29-28 Aaron

Winner by unanimous decision: Matt Ricehouse

5th Bout: Lucas Lopes vs Cortez Coleman

Both guys trading shot to begin the round... Lopes tries to takedown Coleman, but Coleman hiptosses him onto the mat... As both guys stand up Coleman drops Lopes into a guillotine and Lopes taps out.

Winner: Cortez Coleman via submission (guillotine choke) 2:04 into Round 1

6th Bout: Terrell Brown vs Pat Cummins

Rd 1: Each fighter exchanges punches as Brown throws a right outside leg kick that buckles Cummins leg and as Brown tries a guillotine Cummins goes into side control.... Nothing really happening as Cummins is throwing punches to the head and now to the body as the face and Brown is unable to continue and the referee stops the bout

Winner: Pat Cummins wins via TKO (punches) 2:44 into Round 1

7th Bout: Justin Lawrence vs Max Martynuk

Rd 1: Both fighters circle each to begin the round and Martynuk goes forward and Lawrence shoots in for a takedown and gets into half guard and then passes into full mount and slips into side control and slips in an arm triangle and releases the hold after a minute and really didn't have it in deep... Lawrence stays in side control and landing punches the side of the really with no damage sustained...

RD 1: 10-9 Lawrence

Rd 2: Both fighters circle each other to begin the round with very little action in the 1st minute... And lawrence hits Martyunuk with a right hook to stagger and hits with a couple more shots to knock him down and then grounds pounds and the fight looked like it was going to stopped but Martynuk started to defend himself and Martynuk gets back to his feet... both fighters circling each other as Larence throws an occasional leg kick and both fighters circle each other to end the round...

RD 2: 10-9 Lawrence, 20-18 Lawrence

RD 3: Round begins with Lawrence hitting a left hook and throws a kick to the face but referee John McCarthy pulls him away as you cannot throw a kick on the ground and the ringside doctor stops the bout after looking at Martynuk...

Winner: Justin Lawrence wins via technical decision (30-27 x 3)

8th bout: Wayne Phillips vs Fernando Bettega

This is the last undercard fight of the evening... Both fighters start the round by attacking each other with punches and Bettega presses Phillips into the cage trying for a takedown... Phillips is attempting to lock in a kimura and throwing elbows to Bettega and a sloppy single leg takedown by Phillips... Now in closed guard, phillips attempts an arm triangle and Bettega gets on a loose guillotine onto Phillips as Phillips slips out of it with a minute left in the round and the referee stands them up... Both fighters circle each other as the round ends...

Rd 1: 10-9 Phillips

Rd 2: The round begins with each fighter exchanging jabs, as right now Battega is winning the standup battle... Battega presses Phillips into the cage with each fighter throwing knees and Phillips reverses it as presses battega into the cage... Now both fighters are just circling each other with the fans getting restless and start booing anmd the round mercifully...

Rd 2: 10-9 Battega

Rd 3: Both fighters begin doing the same thing as they are circling each other as Battega is trying to press the action by throwing a couple hooks but to no avail... Both fighters look exhausted trying to throw punches and Battega takes down Phillips and locks in a guillotine as Phillips slips out into closed guard and throwing punches onto Battega... Phillips keeps trying to pass into side control but Battega has his left leg locked around him and continues throwing punches...

Rd3: 10-9 Phillips, 29-28 for Phillip

Winner via split decision Fernando Battega (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Preview of Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu

Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu takes place tonight at the Scottrade Center in St.Louis, MO. The card is headlined by former Pride Champion Dan Henderson as he takes Babalu Sobral, with the co-main event has the welterweight debut of Scott Smith as he takes on the returning Paul Daley as it is Daley's return to the big stage after his incident with Josh Koscheck at UFC 114, Robbie Lawler takes on veteran Matt Lindland in a middleweight bout, Antonio Silva takes on Mike Kyle in a heavyweight showdown and Benji Radach takes on Ovince St.Preux in a light heavyweight bout.

Tonight's card has title implications in two bouts as Scott Smith takes on Paul Daley in the co-main event. It seems like daley overlooking Smith and look towards a possible fight with either Tyron Woodley or KJ Noons and there is no guarantee that Noons' will even come back up to 170 for his next bout. And then after that fight, he wants a shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. You can never overlook an opponent and this is Daley's big chance to erase what happened earlier this in the incident with Josh Koscheck.

Scott Smith is making his welterweight debut after a successful stint at 185 including two great bouts with Cung Le including his KO win last December at the card headlined by Gilbert Melendez-Josh Thomson II and then the loss the past June at Fedor-Werdum. The reason for Smith moving down was he told me that, " a couple weeks after the Le, I only weighed 189, so it made sense to move down to 170 as I will be quicker and be more powerful than I have ever been."

My prediction is: Scott Smith TKO Round 3

In the main event of the evening, MMA Legend Dan Henderson takes on Babalu Sobral. Henderson looks to rebound from his loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut in April at the infamous brawl afterwords in Nashville. Henderson looked fatigued after a very dominating first round as he had Shields on the ropes and couldnt' finish as Shields dominated the last four rounds to an easy unanimous decision victory. Henderson disclosed in the last weeks couple weeks that he wasn't 100 percent heading into the Shields bout with a hard weight cut and a back injury and took some bad medication that made his weight cut a little more difficult than usual. henderson says his back is 100 percent and feels more comfortable fighting at 205 at this stage of his career.

Babalu Sobral is a former Strikeforce Light heavyweight Champion and is coming off a victory over Robbie Lawler at the Strikeforce: Los Angeles in a catchweight bout at 195. He was scheduled to face former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight King Mo Lawal and refused to fight him as they are training partners and Lawal went to face Feijao and lost the title to him in August at Strikeforce:Houston.

Babalu stated that he wanted to fight Henderson again as his first loss was to Henderson at the RINGS tournament in 1999.

Both fighters have stated that they didn't learn anything from the first bout as they both evolved into true mixed martial artists. It will be war and the winner of the main event is guaranteed the next shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship.

My Prediction: Henderson via decision

Friday 10-22-10 Fight Club

What a great show we have for you tomorrow as we have some of the top MMA journalists in the world. We will be Steve Cofield from Yahoo Sports at 1:20, Brian Hemminger from the Toledo MMA Examiner at 1:40, Damon Martin from MMAWeekly.com at 2:00, Gabriel Morency who is the host of MMA Meltdown in Toronto at 3:00 and Loretta Hunt from the LA Times joining us at 3:20 all of them previewing UFC 121 on Saturday night. We will be giving our predictions for UFC 121 and recap last nights TUF. So, tune in to the premier MMA radio show, Fight Club Chicago starting at 2PM ET/ 1CT at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Alvarez vs Huerta

Bellator 33 is LIVE tomorrow night in Philadelphia and is headlined by Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez vs Roger Huerta. Huerta is coming off a loss in the Bellator Tournament at Bellator 17 in May against Pat Curran. Bellator had set up the tournament for a way for Huerta who had left the UFC and signed with Bellator to run the tournament and fight Alvarez for the title. But, along came Pat Curran and derailed those plans with the victory over Huerta and was supposed to face Alvarez for title. But, an injury for Curran derailed those plans and people were wondering what was next for Eddie Alvarez. In steps, Roger Huerta and now we have the biggest fight in Bellator history and the biggest card for the organization.

But, we have a situation now where Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez called out Alvarez and it has been going back and forth since that point. They both want to fight each and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has stated on numerous occasions that he would love to co-promote the fight and they it can air on Showtime or CBS and be in San Jose. But, Strikeforce president Scott Coker hasn't been as thrilled to put on the fight. We had Scott on the show last Friday and he keeps saying Gilbert has to fight this guy and this guy and maybe Eddie down the line and he needs to get through Huerta for the fight to happen.

And, the million dollar question is Alvarez overlooking Huerta? For, all the hype and promotion leading up the fight tomorrow night, all we keep hearing from Alvarez is about Melendez and little about Huerta. Alvarez skipped the conference call last Monday and no reason was given by Rebney, but its safe to say that Bellator knew a lot of questions would be concerning that fight and would take away from the spotlight of Huerta-Alvarez.

A lot people are overlooking this fight as well since Huerta has lost 3 of 4. But, you have to look at who he has lost too. He lost Kenny Florian, who fought for the title last year, a split decision loss to Gray Maynard and a lot of people had Huerta winning that fight and now Maynard is facing Frankie Edgar for the title at UFC 125 on New Years' Day and Curran in the semi-finals of the tournament. Except, for the Curran fight those are really top losses and those are too some of the best lightweights in the world.

The MMA world is overlooking this fight as a proclmation that Alvarez is going to win and face Gilbert Melendez in his next fight. Would it be a great fight? Most definitely, but do not overlook Roger Huerta. You don't win 16 straight fights without being very good and having an abundance of talent.

I think Huerta wins this fight tomorrow night because he is refocused in this sport and wants to be considered one of the best lightweights in the world once again and I think Eddie Alvarez is really overestimating Huerta, and make you sure you watch this fight as it has a chance to be Fight of the Year.

Preview of 10-08-10 Fight Club

What a great lineup we got for tomorrow's show as we will be having Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez joining us at 1;45 to discuss the Lightweight Bout between Josh Thomson-JZ Cavalcante this Saturday, is he interested in going to Japan to fight Shinya Aoki, new radio show and how it feels to be a father... Then, WEC featherweight George Roop joins us at 2 to recap his win last Thursday at WEC 51 over the Korean Zombie and what is next for him, Phil Devine, host of MMA Fight Corner joins us at 3 to preview Strikeforce on Saturday and a recap of The Ultimate Fighter and then UFC Middleweight Brian Stann joins us at 3:30 to review the book he came out with and will he fight Chris Leben on New Years Day...

So, make sure you don't miss all the action starting at 2ET/1CT at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

9-28-10 Fight Club

What a fantastic lineup we have for you guys tomorrow... We have Byron Byrd and Tom Gallicchio from M-1 Global joining us to recap their tournament victories on saturday September 18th, Antonio McKee will also be joining us to recap his victory for the MFC a couple weeks back and whether he has or has not signed a contract with the UFC... Lastly, John Silver from the Chicago Sun Times will be joining us to recap UFC 119 and an interesting lunch he had with Josh Koscheck regarding this season of The Ultimate Fighter and his upcoming matchup at UFC 124 with GSP... So, make sure you don't miss another action packed edition of the Fight Club Chicago starting at Noon ET/11AM CST at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

9-17-10 Fight Club

What a great show we hav lined up for tomorrow... We have Phil Devine who has some new endeavors joining us at 1:40, Jason Chambers, COO of Shine Fights Promotions at 2:00, Shark Fights fighters Houston Alexander at 2:20 and Trevor Prangley at 2:40, so make sure you tune in another action packed edition of The Fight Club Chicago from 1:30-3:00 Central Time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Friday 9-03-10 Fight Club Chicago

When you think of action packed, you think of tomorrow's edition of The Fight Club Chicago!! What an amazing lineup we have for you!! Joseph Benavidez comes to begin the show at 1:30 to discuss his loss to Dominick Cruaz at WEC 50 and what is for him... The busiest man in MMA, Ariel Helwani from AOL Fanhouse and MMAFighting.com joins us at 2:00 to recap UFC 118 from last Saturday and everything going on in the world of MMA... Ray Flores joins us at 2:30, as Ray does all the ring announcing for the MMA events in Illinois and he will ring announcing for the big Shine Fights Promotions card next Friday night in Virginia... MMA veteran Jorge Masvidal will be joining us at 2:40 to discuss his fight on the Shark Fights Promotion card next Saturday against Paul Daley... Then, MMA Legend Bas Rutten will be joining us at 3:00, as Bas will be commentating the Shark Fights card and will be discussing the card and how MMA has grown throughout the years... Brian Hemminger from the Toledo MMA Examiner joins us 3:20 to recap UFC 118 and talk about the announcement of UFC 123 coming to Detroit on November 20th... And another MMA Legend will be joining us as Don Frye will joining us 3:40 as Don will also be commentating at the Shark Fights card and will discuss his legendary career in the sport and what it will be like to work with Bas...

So, make sure you tune into what so far is the biggest show top to bottom, as we will be from 1:30-4:00PM on www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

Tuesday 8-31-10 Fight Club

What a great show we have for you tomorrow as we recap UFC 118 and everything coming out of the event and we will be having on Len Bentley at 11:05AM and Tom Gallcchio from M-1 Global at 12:20 and Jason Harkes from canadianprofighter.com at Noon... So tune into another edition of The Fight Club Chicago from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central Time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Today's show- 8-24-10

What a great show we have for you today as we will recap Strikeforce:Houston from this past Saturday... What a great lineup of guests as well as we will be having on Byron Byrd from M-1 Global at 11:05, Jessica Aguilar from Bellator at 11:40, UFC Fighter Matt Mitrione at Noon, Daniel Viscaya from M-1 Global at 12:20, Jason Chambers, the COO of Shine Fights Promotions at 12:40 and Kyle Watson, who will be appearing on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter... So, make sure you tune in from 11:00AM-1:30PM CST at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

Strikeforce:Houston Review

You watch Strikeforce compared to the UFC and its night and day... You start right with the production value is second rate, but that can be easily be overcome by just spending more money... And now the announcing team... I can see having Frank Shamrock since he a legend of the sport and has had some of the most memorable fights in MMA history, Mauro Raunillo is good with his analysis and he has been around long enough to know the ins and out of the sport.. But, Gus Johnson? He is one of the best when it comes to college basketball but sitting there and listening to what he was saying last night, I would rather watch paint dry, then watch Johnson commentate MMA... He knows absolutely nothing about the sport and they need to find someone more knowledgeable... Pray to God, that Showtime and Strikeforce realize that in the near future as they need someone legitimate to become more recognizable and a top tier promotion...



Bobby Lashley vs Chad Griggs started out the main card and Lashley was favored going into the bout and was proclaiming to wanting a title shot by the end of 2011... Chad Griggs had a different idea though as yes Lashley was the bigger name and a better ground game, but Griggs had more experience and better standup going into the bout... Lashley started out the fight taking down Griggs and grounding and pounding him until the end of the 1st round and round 2 was a different story as Lashley did take Griggs down but you can Lashley getting winded as he was breathing out of his mouth... With about a minute left in the 2nd, referee Jon Schorle stood them up with Lashley in the mount and then Lashley had a cut under his left eye and Schorle asked if he could continue and Lashley said he could so the fight continued and Lashley looked fatigued in an attempt for a takedown as Griggs landed hammerfists to end the round... Then, Schorle asked Lashley if he could continue into the 3rd round and Lashley said no and the fight was halted with Griggs winning the bout...



KJ Noons faced Jorge Gurgel in a lightweight and Noons was making his return to the cage after a one year stint in the boxing world and Noons showed it throughout the 1st round as Noons his jabs and mixed in some kicks to throw off Gurgel, but as the 1st round progressed Noons was landing more and more punches and to end the round, the bell rang and Noons hit Gurgel with a left hook and knocked out Gurgel...

The 2nd round began and Gurgel looked out of it and Noons dropped him again and Noons looked at the ref like Gurgel is out and why arent you stopping the fight, so Noons went in and get punching away and when the referee started to step in Noons threw what looked an apparent left knee to the face which is illegal to end the fight and a victory in the return for KJ Noons...

Tim Kennedy faced Jacare for the Vacant Middleweight Title, vacated by Jake Shields who vacated the title after his victory over Dan Henderson in April and he and Strikeforce couldn't agree on a contract and Shields signed with the UFC last month..

Going into the fight everyone expected Jacare to take the fight to the ground and utilize his BJJ and Kennedy to keep it standing as he was supposed to have the edge standing up... Well, we got a different as Jacare kept the fight standing and only attempted a couple takedowns on Kennedy and Kennedy took down Jacare two times, but the factor in the fight was Jacare was the more effective striker even though Kennedy landed more strike but a lot of them were effective on the scorecard as Jacare walked out the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship...

Now, the main event of the evening which pitted King Mo vs Feijao for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title... People were expecting a cakewalk for King Mo based on the way he dominated Mousassi in April to win the title and that Feijao had won 2 in a row since his loss to Mike Kyle but weren't over high calibur opponents... and the first round Feijao stuck to his gameplan and stood with King Mo and defended his 2 takedowns superbly as he popped right back up after each attempt and was hitting Mo with really clean shots to win Round 1...

Round 2 was all King Mo as he was winning the stand up battle and landed really body shots on Feijao to easily win round 2 and going into the 3rd round, the champion had everything under control... Well, Feijao had another thing coming as he came out more agressive as even though Lawal was hitting him with some good shots and Feijao stood there and when they got in the clinch, feijao went to work throwing a couple devasting knees to stun King Mo and then Mo tried to hit uppercut bombs on Feijao and then Feijao hit more knees to stun Lawal and dropped and unloaded hammerfists even though was trying for a takedown and then his left arm dropped and referee John McCarthy put a halt to the bout and Feijao became the new Light Heavyweight Champion...

So, what do we make of the Strikeforce card last night? This much we do know... Bobby Lashley is nowhere near ready as needs A TON of work with his standup and his cardio and it looks like we might see him face Dave Bautista in what would be a freak show of a fight but a marketable fight for Strikeforce...

KJ Noons is an interesting situation... Strikeforce can do 1 of 2 things with him... Either keep him at lightweight and face Champion Gilbert Melendez or go for the Welterweight Title and face Nick Diaz in a rematch... It seems like Strikeforce wants the Diaz bout to happen and that makes the most sense... It is a more marketable match and the feud is already there as both guys dont like each other as Noons beat Diaz in Elite XC and a rematch wasnt made due to a squabble between Noons and Elite XC... And the fact that Melendez seems hell bent on facing Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez next, so have Noons face Diaz after Diaz fights on October 9th and then whatever happens when Noons-Diaz face other, have Noons still face Melendez down the line...

What is next for Jacare? Well, he could wait around and see what happens with the supposed middleweight tournament that will be taking place, but I think a fight with Cung Le would make sense... Le is quite arguably Strikeforce's most popular fighter and has said that he isnt going to be ib the Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament and only wants to be in big fights... What a big fight it would be if he fought Jacare as they have contrasting styles... Tim Kennedy you ask? Think a third match with Mayhem Miller makes the most sense... They each own a win over each other... I was a disappointed in Kennedy for post-fight comments he made with Gus Johnson as soon as he rewatches the fight, he will realize that it doesnt matter how many punches you throw, it matters on how effective they are...

Now, what is next for Feijao? The light heavyweight division is not as loaded as the other weight classes are... You have Dan Henderson, Moussasi, Babalu, Feijao, King Mo and thats all about it... What Strikeforce needs to do is find a way to get some of the talent from around the world whether its Dream or Senogku or wherever... 205 is the UFC's deepest division and that is Strikeforce's weakeness along with 170 and they need to find quality fighters in each weight class... So, whats next for Feijao is more than likely waiting on to face the winner of the rumored Babalu-Henderson bout and for King Mo, I think a rematch with Mousassi would make the most sense right now...

Strikeforce in a nutshell is a mess... Last night, 3 of the their most marketable fighters lost in fights they were expected to win... They need to do take a deep look at their roster and make decisions that are best for them and them... So, stay tuned because I think we will be finding out what direction Scott Coker will take his company...

Tuesday 8-17-10 Fight Club Chicago

What an action packed weekend it was in MMA and this week is just as action packed... To hear all about the weekend that was and the week that will be make sure you tune into The Fight Club Chicago tomorrow... We will be having on Bellator Fighter Mark Miller, who will be promoting Bellator 25 from the infamous Chicago Theater this Thursday at 11:20, KJ Noons at 11:40 to promote his bout this Saturday for Strikeforce:houston, Damon Martin from MMAWeekly.com to discuss the Shane Carwin Steroid Controversy and Ontario getting regulated will be joining us at Noon... James Lee from Cagereligion.com will be on at 12:20 to discuss his career in the UFC and Pride, Jessica Aguilar at 12:40 to discuss her victory this past Thursday at the Bellator 24 card and Jason Harkes from canadianprofighter.com will join us at 1:00 to discuss the long awaited regulation of MMA in Ontario... So make sure you tune into a can't miss show tomorrow from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

8-13-10 Fight Club

Make sure you tune into a very exciting show tomorrow... We got Beth Horn who played Venom on the new American Gladiators coming on at 1:40, the great Ariel Helwani from MMAFighting.com and AOL Fanhouse coming on at 2:00, Brent Todd from MMARecap.com at 3:05 and Bellator Fighter Mark Miller at 3:20, so make sure you tune in from from 1:30PM-4:00PM at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Tuesday 8-10-10 Edition of The Fight Club

What a great show we have for you tomorrow!! We got some of the top guys in the industry to help us recap an unbelievable UFC 117 this past Saturday... We got John Silver from The Chicago Sun Times joinging us at 11:20, Jamie Penick from MMATorch.com joining us at 11:40, John Lipke who is the promoter of Extreme Cagefighting Organization out of Wisconsin joining us at 12:05 and Steve Cofield from Yahoo Sports at 1:00... So join us for another great edition of The Fight Club Chicago from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central Time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

Why the main event should have been stopped earlier

What a great UFC 117 we saw last night? We saw a new number one contender in the heavyweight via Junior Dos Santos' win over Roy Nelson, Matt Hughes restaking his claim that he has another title run in him with a submission victory over Ricardo Almedia, Clay Guida doing what Guida does best: be the energizer bunny and beat Rafael Dos Anjos, Jon Fitch destroying Thiago Alves to become the so-called number one contender to GSP's welterweight title... And, then in an epic main event, Anderson Silva beat Chael Sonnen with a triangle choke victory in the 5th round... But, should have it gotten to that to point? ABSOLUTELY NOT...

Silva vs Sonnen was expected to be a cakewalk for Anderson Silva and he would face Vitor Belfort and then move up to light heavyweight... Chael Sonnen had a different plan in mind though... In the very 1st round Sonnen hit silva with a straight right and knocked Silva and easily won that round 10-8 and it was the same thing round 2 as Sonnen took silva down and just grinded him... In the 1st round, Silva wasn't defending himself at all and started to defend himself in the 2nd...

And, you can see throughout the first 2 rounds and heading into the 3rd that silva waas exhausted and was breathing out of his mouth... The 3rd round started and silva came out firing and then Sonnen was on Silva's back and Sonnen hit Silva 32, yes 32 straight UNANSWERED SHOTS TO THE HEAD... And what did referee Josh Rosenthal do? Did exactly what what did the 2 rounds... Stand on his front looking like he wanted to stop it but did nothing...

Josh Rosenthal was the referee for the main event as he was for UFC 116 when Brock Lesnar faced Shane Carwin... In the first round, Carwin hit Lesnar with over 40 straight shots and did not intelligently defend himself... Rosenthal didn't call the fight and Lesnar won via arm triangle choke in the 2nd round of that fight... A lot of people including myself questioned that and said that the fight would have been stopped if it was someone not named Brock Lesnar...

Rosenthal did the same thing last night... You hit someone with 32 unanswered shots in a row without defending yourself and the fight isn't called? You have to defend yourself intelligently and Silva in that instance he did not... It doesn't matter how hard you are getting hit, 32 shots is still 32 shots... Let me hit you with 32 unanswered "potty" shots to the head and see if you like it... I highly doubt you would because I know wouldn't...

Then, when Silva made Sonnen tap out in the 5th round, Rosenthal for a split second wasn't sure if Sonnen tapped out and Silva was telling Rosenthal he tapped out... If a fighter has to tell the referee someone tapped out, then you shouldn't be the referee in the main event of a highly anticpated bout... Right now Chael Sonnen is the uncrowned UFC Middlweight Champion...

A fighter needs to be defending himself at all times, not just 99 percent of the time... Hopefully, Josh Rosenthal will never be a referee in another main event with the title on the line... You have to look out for the best interests for the fighters, not the fans nor the promotion and especially not yourself...

Silva vs Sonnen

You would think that just a card with the man that is regarded as the best fighter in the world would be more than enough to sell a PPV. But, when your talking about Anderson Silva it is a totally new ballgame. He speaks Portuguese, but he speaks English but only speaks when the questions are easy and when the going gets tough he speaks Portuguese and his translator, manager Ed Soares speaks for him and it doesnt't always translate to what Silva really says.

The UFC knows that the fans are fed up with the way Silva has been fighting. Need we not say more when fought Patrick Cote at UFC 90, Thales Leites at UFC 97 and the infamous UFC 112 against Demain Maia and during the 4th round, UFC President Dana White handed the belt to Soares and told him to put around the waist of Silva. White said if Silva fights like that again, he would get fire Silva. Would he really do that?

Enter Chael Sonnen! He beat Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 and was deemed to face the winner of Anderson Silva-Vitor Belfort at UFC 112, but Belfort suffered an injury and Demain Maia entered the fight and lost to Silva. Now the matchup was set with Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen and the date was UFC 117 August 7th in Oakland,CA.

After Sonnen won at UFC 109 and was deemed the number one contender, Silva released a statement the following day saying Sonnen wasn't worthy of a title shot. So, what did Sonnen do? He went on a verbal barrage on Silva, calling him every name in the book to get under his skin. How did Silva respond? By saying nothing until the Fan Expo at UFC 114 when they went face to face.

When you look at the matchup, it looks like Silva should easily dispose of Sonnen. There is a way Sonnen can win. Follow the path of Dan Henderson in what he did at UFC 82. He took Silva to the ground and dominated the whole first round and has been the only fighter to take a round from Silva in the UFC. And, what is Dan Henderson? A wrestler? What is Chael Sonnen? A wrestler.

Sonnen is a NCAA All American in wrestling when he went to the University of Oregon and a 2 time University National Champion in Greco Roman Wrestling and was a U.S. Olympic Team Alternate, just like Henderson.

What Sonnen should and better do is very simple: take Silva to the ground and grind out a decision or try to ground and pound Silva. Easier said than done as Silva has a better than average submission game and out of Sonnen's 10 losses, 8 have been by submission.

But if there is a man who can do the impossible, it is Sonnen. He has runs his mouth ever since the card has been announced and he is the only guy who has said and you actually can truely believe him. Does Silva underestimate Sonnen? He better not.

I believe Chael Sonnen walks into the Oracle Arena tomorrow and does exactly what he says he will do. And that is he beats Anderson Silva! Takes him down to the ground and dominates the ground action and beats Silva to become the UFC Middleweight Champion. And then we can a champion who will talk to the media, the fans and promote the sport the made you the person you are today.

8-06-10 Edition of The Fight Club

On tomorrow's edition of The Fight Club, we will be having on Steve Cofield from Yahoo Sports and ESPN 1100 in Las Vegas joining us at 2:00, Damon Martin from mmaweekly.com joining us at 2:40 and Gabriel Morency from MMA Meltdown on The Fight Network in Toronto and morencysports.com joining us at 3:00 to preview UFC 117... We will be having Keoki Cypriano Jr from Bellator who will be fighting on the Bellator card in Chicago on August and Ricardo Lamas from the WEC and will be fighting on the WEC card August 18th... They will be in studio from 2:00-3;30... So, email us your comments and questions for all of our guests at thefightclub2010@gmail.com... Make sure you listen to another action packed edition of The Fight Club at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Jon Jones

There are times when there is someone who you just watch and you just WOW!! You had Jordan, Ali, Woods, Tyson... Their never really has been one in MMA... The closest thing to that has been Fedor Emelianenko and that went away when he lost to Fabricio Werdum in June... But, do we have a fighter like that right under our eyes and he is only 23 years old? Unequivically we sure as heck do! His name you ask? Jon Jones

Jon Jones is a 23 year old man from upstate New York who won a JUCO National Championship in wrestling... Jones has only been fighting for two years and he started fighting by watching videos on You Tube and learned from those videos... Jones is 11-1 with 7 wins via TKO and his one loss was to Matt Hamill via disqualification and it was a fight that Jones was winning... He dominated the whole fight and many people consider it a victory he really is undefeated...

You watch Jones fight and he is so fluid in his style... He always shows so much poise for only being 23 and doesn't let anything affect him... Take all the buildup that was going into the UFC on Versus 2 this past Sunday against Vladimir Matyushenko... He defeated a man who had more victorious than Jones' age, which is astounding in its own right... Jones made Matyushenko look like an amateur... A simple sloppy left hook by Matyushenko and about 2 minutes later it was all she wrote after 11 straight sharp elbows for the victory...

You look at Jon Jones' body and he has room to grow into his body and will one day move up to heavyweight, but for the time being he will terrorize the light heavyweight division for the time being... But, the question that is looming is, who will he fight next?

UFC President Dana White before Sunday's card and after Sunday's card is that he will put Jones against a "top 8 fighter"... Jones said during the post-fight press conference that he is ready for a top 3 fighter... The problem is UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Shogun Rua is out till early spring of 2011 and has a title defense scheduled against Rashad Evans... Then, you have Lyoto Machida facing Rampage Jackson with the winner of that fight facing the winner of Shogun-Evans... So, what does the UFC do with Jones?

I say you put him against the winner of Ryan Bader-Little Nog at UFC 119 or if Matt Hamill beats Tito Ortiz have him face Hamill to avenge his only loss... A fight with Bader or Little Nog makes more sense and hopefully that is what the UFC decides to do...

I talked to Jones the other day and he said that needs a couple more fights and then he is ready for a title shot... I feel that he needs 2 more wins and then he is ready for his title shot and become the man... He is the most charasmatic and exciting fighter right now in the UFC and he has that aura of invincibility surrounding him... The only thing that will stop him is himself and he has a great fight team around him led by the best trainer in the business in Greg Jackson and a great support system around him... Jones could have let the hype get to him, but he went out there and dominated a top 15 light heavyweight with ample easy...

Get ready world because the next big thing is here and his name is Jon Jones...

8-03-10 Edition of The Fight Club

WOW!! What a great show we have tomorrow as we will be having on Ronnell Foster, formerly of Shine Fights Promotions at 11:20AM as Ron will be making a major announcement, Brent Medley, who is the owner of Shark Fight Promotions out of Texas as Brent will be discussing his big card on September 11th from Texas will be joining us 11:40AM... Then, Damon Martin from mmaweekly.com will be joining us at 12:00PM to recap UFC on Versus card from this past Sunday and preview UFC 117... Phil Devine, host of Sirius Fight Club on Sirius Satelitte Radio will be joing us at 12:40 as we will also be discussing the UFC on Versus card and a sneak peek of UFC 117 this coming Saturday and lastly we will be having Matt Manzella from cagereligion.com joining us 1:05 to be recapping the UFC card from Sunday and a preview of UFC 117...

So, make sure you tune in to another great show tomorrow from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central Time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub...

Preview of 7-30-10 Show

WOW!! Another action packed show tomorrow on The Fight Club as we will talking to Strikeforce womens 135LB contender Roxanne Modafferi who fought Sarah Kaufmann for the Strikeforce 135LB womens title this past Friday on the Strikeforce Challengers 9 card will be coming on at 1:40PM, UFC heavyweight fighter Antoni Hardonk will be joining us 2:00 as Antoni will be discussing his training with UFC on Versus 2 headliner Vladimir Matyushenko and what is next in his career and at 3:05 we will be having on UFC light heavyweight and the fastest rising star in all of MMA Jon "Bones" Jones as he talks to us about his fight in the main event of the UFC on Versus 2 against Vladimir Matyushenko.. So make sure you listen to another action packed edition of The Fight Club from 1:30PM-3:30PM on www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub..

Does Silva still care?

The old saying that you have to love your career or you just consider it a job.. After listening to the UFC 117 conference call between Anderson Silva and Cheal Sonnen, the answer is starting to become clear. Silva faces Sonnen is the main event on August 7th from the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Silva is the definitive favorite going into the fight but how interested is he?

During today's conference call, he kept getting asked questions about Sonnen and would give one word answers and when asked about his training for the fight, Silva said he trained with actor Steven Segal. I do not think anyone cares that he worked out with an actor who was in his prime shape about 15 years ago.

The way Silva has foughtand the comments he has made lately, he is coming off as a man that does not care about the sport anymore. Recent performances against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites and Demain Maia have proven those statements. Silva knew after the first 2-3 minutes of the fight, that he was better than his opponent. He pranced around like a ballerina and shuffled around like Muhammed Ali and would engage when he felt like it. That led to boos from the crowd, the fans around the world who purchased the event on PPV.

After his UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi performance against Demain Maia, UFC President Dana White had enough. After the 4th round, White threw the belt at Silva manager Ed Torres and told him that he could put the belt around Silva after the fight. White was disgraced. It was a new market, in front of the new minority owners in Flash Entertainment, and with a man who in some circles is regarded as the best pound 4 pound fighter in the world and he turns in another perfomance like that. White said that was a disgrace to all UFC fans and he will make it up to the fans and if Silva puts on another perfomance like that, then he will fire Silva.

You would think Dana White would just force Silva to fight at 205 because that is the only time he seems to want to fight. Just look at his two fights at 205 against James Irvin and Forrest Griffin. He needs to fight guys that are threats to him or he won't take them seriously..

So if Silva gets by Sonnen and then the expected fight against Vitor Belfort, he will move to 205 or have the mega-fight with Georges St.Pierre and then move up to 205. For Anderson Silva's sake he better fight like he's supposed too or I think Dana White will follow on his threat and get rid of the man some regard as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Tomorrow's Show

What a great show we have in store for you tomorrow.. At 11:15 we will be having on Vladimir Matyushenko who is headlining on UFC on Versus 2 against Jon Bones to discuss the fight, Scott Boyd owner of the Full Contact Fight league will joining us at 11:40 to discuss his company's card this coming Saturday night and Mika Casey from MMAWarehouse.com will be joining us and will listen to comments that Dana White made saying boxing is done.. So, make sure you tune into another action-packed show of The Fight Club from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

Jake Shields

Jake Shields offcially signed his contract on Monday and now will be making debut against Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 in a welterweight bout.. This is a dangerous fight for Shields to be making his debut against.. Kampmann is coming off a very impressive performance against Paulo Thiago at UFC 115 in Vancouver.. Shields was the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and had one more fight in his contract and Strikeforce pitted him against Dan Henderson in April, a fight that Strikeforce was hoping that Hendo would beat Shields and lose his leverage against the UFC and have to go back to Strikeforce.. But, Shields not only surprised Strikeforce but the world and beat Henderson via unanamious decision.. For all but the first round, it was all Shields and he pummeled in what was basically Strikeforce's hired gun to beat Shields..

So, the question was now what was Jake Shields going to do? He could stay in Strikeforce and compete in a very deep 185 and fight at 170 every so often or go to the UFC and join the premier organization in the world.. Shields did consider it for awhile but made the decision to sign with the UFC.. He said he was always going to the UFC and in a way I believe him but I think he really did consider staying with Strikeforce..

The reason I think he went to the UFC is number is the fact that it is the UFC.. Secondly, i think that he feels that the UFC presents him with better fights in 185 and 170 and he will get more regognition for the way he fights.. And the way Strikeforce handled the melee after his fight with Henderson and the melee with Mayhem Miller really pushed him more than anything to leave.. I really think that Scott Coker was upset that he got embarassed by the fact his hired gun lost to the champion who was thinking about leaving and sent Miller out there to embarass Shields and it almost worked..

But, the ultimate factor was George St.Pierre.. Shields wants that fight more than anything and GSP stated recently, that Shields is the only guy that he fears on the ground and for GSP to say that is really saying something.. If GSP gets by Koshcheck and Shields looks real impressive, we can see that fight as early as April.. But, more than likely Shields will need 2 victories to get the title shot.. Jake Shields, welcome to the UFC, its long overdue.

Tomorrow's Shpw

The show's just keep geting bigger and bigger and tomorrow's is no exception.. On tomorrow's show, we will be having on Strikeforce Middleweight Louis Taylor at 1:30 to discuss his fight with Joe Riggs at the Strikeforce Challengers card in August, former Shine Fights Promotions matchmaker Ronnell Foster at 1:50 to discuss the controversy that started in May with the cancellation of their card the day of the fight and now the controversy ensuing with fighters not getting paid.. And also, Gabriel Morency from MMA Meltdown joining us 2:05 to discuss the happenings that have been going on this week in MMA.. And, the great Kevin Iole from Yahoo Sports will joining us at 2:30 to discuss the week that has been including the stacked UFC 121 on October 23rd.. And to close the show will be having Strikeforce's newest addition, JZ Cavalcante will be coming on at 3:05 to discuss his recent fight for Dream a couple weeks back and to see if he really wants to fight Josh Thomson next.. So, dont miss another action packed show, so tune in to The Fight Club Chicago from 1:30PM-3:30PM Central time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

Tomorrow's Show

On tomorrow's edition of The Fight Club we will be examining Jake Shields signing with the UFC and who he will be fighting in his debut.. And we will be having on Marc Fowles from MMA Overload at 11:30, 618 MMA Fighter Andrew Berger at 12:05, Loretta Hunt from sherdog.com at 12:05 and Jason David Frank who is making his highly publicized debut in August will be joining us at 1:05... So, make sure you tune to another action show from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central time at www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub.cfm

Tomorrow's Show

Another action packed show tomorrow on The Fight Club as we will be having on 618 MMA Promoter Dennis Cole at 11:45, canadianprofighter.com's own Jason Harkes joining us at 12:05 and MMA Fighter John Alessio joining us at 12:30 to recap his big win this past Saturday.. So, make sure you tune in from 11:00AM-1:30PM Central Time on www.sportstownchicago.com..

Tomorrow's Show

Another action packed The Fght Club as we will be having Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez coming at 1:30 to discuss his win over Shinya Aoki in April and how he is recouperating from his injury and if he is interested in a 3rd fight with Josh Thomson.. Brent Todd from MMARecap coming on at 2:00 to recap UFC 116, discuss what is next for Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem and some breaking news on the Bellator Card that is coming to Chicago in August and at 2:3o we will be having Franklin McNeil who is the Co-Host of MMA Live on ESPN 2 and MMA/Boxing writer for the Newark Star Ledger to recap UFC 116 and all things MMA.. So, make sure you tune tomorrow from 1:30PM-3:30PM Central Time at www.sportstownchicago.com

Tomorrow's Show

It will be another action packed show tomorrow on The Fight Club as we will be having MMA Fighter, Eliot Marshall at 1:25, MMAWeekly.com Writer Damon Martin at 1:40, Writer and Co-Host for MMASucka.com and MMASucka Radio Trevor Dueck at 2:05, MMA Writer for The Chicago Sun-Times, John Silver at 2:30 and our UFC Insider from Fightelete Report, Sean Lennon at 3:05 as we will be previewing UFC 116 and all news MMA.. So make sure you tune into The Fight Club from 1:15PM-3:30PM Central Time on www.sportstownchicago.com...

Tomorrow's Show

Tomorrow on The Fight Club, we will recap the Strikeforce card from this past Saturday night as the biggest upset in MMA history occured as Fedor Emeliananko lost to Fabricio Werdum.. We will discuss the fight and what is next for both fighters and for Strikeforce.... And we will have a slight preview for UFC 116 this Saturday night headlined by Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Title...

We will be having former UFC fighter Eliot Marshall on at 11:30CST, MMATorch.com Editor-in-Chief, Jamie Penick at 12:05 CST and Loretta Hunt from sherdog.com on at 12:30 CST.. So, make sure you tune in to another action packed episode of The Fight Club on www.sportstownchicago.com from 11:00AM-1:00PM

What's next for Fedor Emelianenko?

When Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in 1990, that was the end of the Tyson era before Tyson even knew it.. He was a train wreck heading into that fight with Douglas.. He was going through a divorce with Robin Givens, geting arrested it seemed like on a bi-weekly basis and his camp was a disaster with changing of trainers and so on and so forth... After that fight with Douglas, he went to jail for rape in 1992 and in 1999 for a road rage incident, the infamous ear biting incident with Evander Holyfield and the incident in New York at the press conference to kick off the tour for his fight with Lennox Lewis in 2002...

Fedor Emelianenko is considered the MMA version of Mike Tyson.. He is the baddest man in MMA... He was beaten a whose who in MMA... Mirko Cro Cop, Minotauro Noguiera three times, Josh Barnett, Matt Lindeland, Kevin Randleman, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia and the list goes on... He was 31-1 and that lone loss was due to bad cut he suffered in the first 15 seconds back in 2000... So, Emelianenko was undefeated in his career... When you are undefeated, you are the baddest man on the planet and you are the best P4P fighter in the world today, no questions asked...

The knock on Fedor in the last 5 years is that he hasn't beat anybody since Cro Cop... He beat Matt Lindeland and yes he was a middleweight, but he only weighed 15 pounds less than Fedor going into that bout.. Then, he faced Hong Man Choi, who infamously faced former baseball star Jose Canseco... Then fights with Arlovski and Sylvia in Affliction and people said they were washed up since they weren't in the UFC anymore...

The only fight that he shouldn't have taken is the fight with Choi and he will admit that it was a freak show fight and shouldn't have done it... His management team, M-1 Global, which is a minority owner of, pulls a lot of the strings when it pertains to his career.. They are the reason he hasn't fought in the UFC and accepted their contract offer and has never had a face to face talk with UFC President Dana White.. I think if that happened, then he would be in the UFC...

And, this leads us to Saturday night as Fedor took on Fabricio Werdum... Everyone thought, including myself, that Fedor would easily walk over Werdum and then getting the highly anticpated matchup with Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem... But, Werdum is a 2 time Brazilian Ji-Jitsu World Champion, which is nothing to laugh about...

And within the first 30 seconds Fedor knocked down Werdum with 2 left hands and a short right uppercut which rocked Werdum and knocked him down to the mat and Fedor went for the kill... But, he made a simple mistake and got caught as Werdum used his superior Ji-Jitsu and locked Fedor in a traingle choke and armbar and the rest is history... The great Fedor Emelianenko lost truely for the first time...

As always, Fedor was gracious even in defeat.. He gave credit to Werdum and said he needs to work on some things and hopes their will be a rematch in the near future.. That rematch needs to happen and that would be the best thing for Strikeforce.. This is a matchup you can put on pay per view... People like seeing rematches and especially with the way it happened, a lot of fans will want to see the matchup...

Could we see him retire? He says no and he will finish his fight contracted fight with Strikeforce... I think he faces Werdum and then signs a one fight contract with Strikeforce and face Overeem... Then, if he beats Overeem, then we will see his long and anticipated debut with the UFC towards the end of next year... But, Fedor needs to be making these decisions and not M-1 Global management... With this loss, Fedor will be more motivated than ever and went to cement his place as the greatest MMA fighter of all time... We will not see a Mike Tyson story, as the best is yet to come for Fedor Emelianenko...

Judging in MMA

Is the human eye good enough in MMA and do we need monitors at the judging table? The answer is most definitely yes.. After the WEC card on Sunday, it is more evident due to the draw in the main event with Jamie Varner vs Kamal Shalorus.. One judge for some ungod known reason scored the fight for Shalorus.. Varner dominated the whole fight and the only offense that Shalorus had were the 3 low kicks in the groin area... If I was Reed Harris, I would not make a rematch of this fight and I would match Varner against Ben Henderson for the Lightweight Title...

The question is: Was it on the level of Matt Hamill-Michael Bisping and Shogun-Machida 1? I would it was more on the level of Hamill-Bisping... With the Shogun-Machida fight, you could make the of Machida actually winning rounds and possinly the fight.. In the Hamill-Bisping fight, Bisping didnt even win a round..

It would be as simple as the judges having monitors to see if they did not see any of the action, like if there was a bad angle or the fighters were far enough and the judges couldn't see that far... It is basically up to the State Athletic Commisions.. Nevada is the trendsetter for everything.. Keith Kizer has said that right now it is not an option and Dana White has said numerous times that the fighters should never leave it in the hands of the judges.. There is a reason he says it and it is for that reason... So Mr.Kizer, lets get the ball rolling with this, and lets make a measure to have monitors for the judges and then all athletic commisions will start adopting the measure and we won't get result like the Varner-Shalorus fight this past Sunday night...

Today's show...

We would to thank sherdog.com writer Loretta Hunt, Bellator fighter Saul Almeida, Affliction President Tom Attencio and yahoo.com MMA blog writer Steve Cofield for coming on the show today... Who knew that Tom Attencio hated Josh Barnett with such a passion? I guess that's what happens when you cost the company millions of dollars and having to fold your promotion by testing positive for doing steroids for a third time.. And the sad part is he couldn't be a man and own up to the responsibility... It is the Tom Atencio's of the world who are good for the sport.. Admit your mistakes and move on and do not repeat those mistakes again..

Tomorrow's Show

On tomorrow's edition of The Fight Club, we will be recapping UFC 115 and the retirement of Chuck Liddell... We will be having Showdown Joe Ferraro from Fan590 in Canada at 12:15, Jason Harkes from canadianprofighter.com at 12:30 and former UFC fighter Tim Hague at 12:45.... So make sure tune to another action packed episode of The Fight Club from 11:00AM-1:00PM CST on www.sportstownchicago.com

Tomorrow's Show

On tomorrow's edition of The Fight Club, we will be having Damon Martin from mmaweekly.com, will be on 1:40PM CST, Cat Albert, The Ring Of Fire 125LB Woman's Champion at 2:00PM and John Silver, MMA writer from the Chicago Sun Times will be on at 2:15 as we will be previewing UFC 115 and going over yesterday's two hour episode of The Ultimate Fighter and all things MMA... So make sure you tune in from 1:30PM-3:00PM Central Standard Time at www.sportstownchicago.com as it will be an action packed show, so do not miss it...

Tommorows Show

Tomorrow on the show, we will be having Danielle Vale, promoter of the Hoosier Fight Club, as they have a card this coming Friday night in Gary, so Danielle will be appearing the show at noon to hype up the show Saturday and the feeling to be the first female promoter to be regulated in the Midwest.. And we will be having our UFC insider Sean Lennin on at 12:30 to help preview UFC 115 this coming Saturday night. We will also be discussing all things MMA. Who are the top 5 pound for pound fighters in the world? Give us your thoughts, so tune in from 11:00AM-1:00Pm CST on www.sportstownchicago.com, call in at 630-403-5200 or email us at thefightclub2010@gmail.com.... And you even Facebook us... just search The Fight Club Chicago..

tomorrows show

coming up tomorrow on The Fight Club.. We will be recapping UFC 114.. Who won between Rampage vs Evans? Whats next for both fighters?

Tomorrow on the show we will be having Damon Martin from mmaweekly.com on at 11:05, Dan Lardy, promoter of the XFO at 11;30 hyping his companies card this Saturday, John Silver MMA writer from The Chicago Sun-Times at 12:15 and our UFC Insider Sean Lennon on at 12:45.. So make sure you tune into The Fight Club from 11:00AM-1:00PM on www.sportstownchicago.com

Tomorrows show

Coming up tomorrow on The Fight Club... A recap of the week that was in the world of MMA and boxing.. Steve explains his experience at the Cut Throat MMA event, a recap of Vazquez-Marquez, and a preview of Vitaly Klitschko title defense this Saturday night.. And who win between Georges St.Pierre and Chuck Liddell and what Yahoo sports says are the greatest grudge matches in the history of MMA.. And Sean Lennon, our UFC insider will be on at 12:30 with a preview of UFC 114.. That and a whole lot more on the The Fight Club from 11:00-1:00 on www.sportstownchicago.com.. If you want to contact us, u can call us at 630-403-5200 or email us @ thefightclub2010@gmail.com..

Brawl at Bourbon St

This past Wednesday night, I attended my first independent MMA promotion.. The event was called Brawl at Bourbon St and being promoted by Cut Throat MMA. The event took place at 115 Bourbon St in Merrionette Park. I really didnt know what to expect. So, I got there at about 5 PM to check things out and it had about 200 chairs surrounding the octagon.. There were supposed to be 15 fights on the card including 2 title fights to headline the show.. One was for the welterweight title between TJ Rowley and Taveres Green and the main event was a light heavyweight title affair between Tony Kimbrough and Bill Johnson.. They let eveyone in about 7 even though the event started at 7:30.. As the place filled , I got to meet former WEC champion and top pound for pound fighter, Miguel Torres. I went up and talked to him for a couple minutes asking how his injury was healing up and when we will expect his return.. He is projected to fight in August and hopes to face Brain Bowles in a remath cin which Bowles knocked Torres in the 2nd round to win the bantamweight title.. The card started at about 8PM, which was a half hour later than original bell time.. All the fights either ended in a TKO due to punches or win by submission via rear naked choke and there was only 1 fight that went to a decision.. The one guy that really stood out was Bill Johnson who fought in the main event and won the light heavyweight title when he beat Kimbrough in the 2nd round via submission with an incredible armbar.. Johnson had a really good build and is tight with his defense by keeping his gloves up and has superior boxing and a really good wrestling background.. The way he went from an attempted triangle and floated it into an armbar to win via submission to win the title. Johnson is trained by Miguel Torres and the Torres submission camp.. Johnson showed that he is very capable of reaching his goal and UFC or Strikeforce.. Overall, it was a great night of fights with exciting action and I would thank promotor Mike Davis who promoted a great night of action and get the feel of an event that may be small to most people but had a big card feel with the rabid fans cheering and booing throughout the show. And at the end of the day, it is about the fans and giving them the best fights possible.

Tomorrows Show

Join us tomorrow on The Fight Club as we will have a LIVE interview with MMA writer John Silver of The Chicago Sun Times discussing The Strikeforce event, the Paul Daley incident and the upcoming UFC 114 event next Saturday night.. So, make sure you tune to the The Fight Club from 11:00am-1:00pm CST on sportstownchicago.com..

Tomorrow's Show

Coming up tomorrow on The Fight Club! A recap of UFC 113, Machida-Rua 2.. Who walked out with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship? Two guys get fired right after the card ended and why were they let go? A preview of Strikeforce:Artillery this coming Saturday night.. And the greatest MMA fighter of all time returns.. Who is he facing and why isnt he fighting for the title.. Pacquiao and Mayweather to begin negotiations.. Will that happen? That and a whole lot coming tomorrow on The Fight Club from 11:00AM-1:00pm on sportstownchicago.com