UFC 76 Provides Further Shake Up For LHWs

UFC 76 was a wild night of big upsets, big names, and big breakouts.

Big Upset: Keith Jardine over Chuck Liddell. This was supposed to be the Chuck's two wins en route to a LHW title shot. Instead, he was beaten by split (albeit uncontroversial) decision. No Bisping-Hamill screams here, The Iceman just got beat. Where does he go from here? After spending years beating up on UFC alums, he's had a real problem with PRIDE guys and younger fighters. Maybe a match up with Shogun? Who knows...it's tough to sell a Liddell fight these days. (Never thought I'd say that one).

Big Upset: Forrest Griffin over Shogun Rua. And THIS was supposed to be Rua's tune up so White could justify sending him over to Rampage for a title shot. Now what does White do? Hendo just lost; he can't justify Liddell, Wanderlei, or Rua. Major credit needs to go to Forrest here, he didn't just catch Shogun or get lucky. He soundly beat the 23 year old prodigy.

Big Name: Wanderlei Silva was in attendance, on hand to challenge Liddell once he beat Jardine. Talk about a change of plans. Instead, Wandy went home and challenged Forrest to a fight in order to avenge the loss of his good friend, Shogun. Now, that would be a fight.

Big Breakout: Jon Fitch. Fitch withstood all Diego Sanchez had to offer and won a split decision. He's starting to take down bigger and bigger names and he'll be rewarded soon. Look for him to be third in line for a WW title shot (GSP, Parisyan, Fitch).

Big Breakout: Lyoto Machida. The man who holds wins over BJ Penn and Rich Franklin, Machida spent last night dominating Nakamura (no slouch of an opponent). Considering the recent drop off of, well, everyone in the LHW, he might in line for a title shot soon. He also trains with Anderson Silva over at the Black House camp, so you know the man can fight.

UFC 76 Results

UFC 76 results are in, and it was a WILD night in California.

Keith Jardine defeats Chuck Liddell via split decision

Forrest Griffin defeats Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via submission (rear naked choke) in round three

Jon Fitch defeats Diego Sanchez via split decision

Ryoto Machida defeats Kazuhiro Nakamura via unanimous decision

Tyson Griffin defeats Thiago Tavares via unanimous decision

Rich Clementi defeats Anthony Johnson via submission (rear naked choke) in round two

Jeremy Stephens defeats Diego Saraiva via unanimous decision

Christian Wellisch defeats Scott Junk via submission (heel hook) in round one

Matt Wiman defeats Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision

More coverage to come tomorrow!

New UFC 75/76 Site Highlights Stacked LHWs

In another brilliant business move by someone at the top of Zuffa, the sites for UFC 75 & 76 have been combined into a slick flash design intended to highlight the strength of the Light Heavyweight division. Both events feature LHWs as their main event as well as a myriad of LHWs on the undercard.

The power at the top of the division is obvious, with PRIDE's transfers making the old UFC 205 pounders look weak at best. Of the top 5 fighters in the division, only one (Liddell) is a UFC original. Of course, Liddell's lost twice to the weakest of the PRIDE guys (Rampage). Add in Wanderlei, Henderson, and Shogun, and this division is easily the strongest in MMA history.

Like most fans, I'm able to note the strength of the division, but usually only focus on the top. I overlook all the rest of the guys, who, if they were in any other division, would be one of the best. The Lightweight division has two or three excellent fighters. The Welterweight division has about five and the Middleweights have two (maybe three...). By my count, and with assistance of the new site, the Light Heavyweights have a whopping nine solid guys. I left out these seven, which made UFC's list of sixteen total: Alessio Sakara, Renato Sobral, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Keith Jardine, Matt Hamill, Forrest Griffin, and Houston Alexander.

Even with my omissions, the Light Heavyweight division is light years ahead of all others, even the Heavyweight division which has five solid guys. This incredible strength of talent will make UFC 75 and UFC 76 two very exciting shows, which are cleverly highlighted by the UFC marketing machine.

Wanderlei Addition Makes UFC 79 Card Top Notch

It's been expected for months, but Wanderlei (pictured, credit: PRIDE FC) finally confirmed that he'll be making his UFC debut at UFC 79 on December 29th. Although it's unknown who will face "The Axe Murderer," whoever it is will have his hands full: Wanderlei has been training with Randy Couture. Many are hoping that Liddell will be Wanderlei's first match up, which doesn't bode well for The Iceman. After all, who knows Liddell's style better than the man who has faced him the most amount of times? Additionally, Wanderlei holds two wins over Rampage Jackson who holds two wins over Liddell. The math isn't good.

However, Wanderlei will probably be given a warm up bout a la Shogun-Griffin, Rampage-Eastman. We'll have to wait for the Wanderlei-Liddell fight, which will probably happen after Wanderlei faces the winner of Rampage-Henderson. Dana White has said Liddell needs two wins before a title shot, so he'll beat up on Jardine, fight someone else around the the time of the Wanderlei-Rampage/Hendo bout, and then get the winner of that.

Whether or not we get to see Liddell at UFC 79 is still up in the air, but Wandy will definitely be there. His introduction, along with the Hughes-Serra title fight will make this winter card one of the best of the year. Hughes and Serra seem to have a real grudge against one another (not just this Tito Ortiz hyped drama) and should put on a war for the fans. Personally, I'm hoping to see the title belt returned to a real Champion, but I'll be happy enough if Hughes and Serra produce more than three rounds of action. A truly great card features a mixture of striking and ground work across a variety of weight classes. UFC 79, with the help of Wanderlei Silva, is shaping up to be just that.

Wanderlei Silva To Fight In December

Dana White has confirmed that he's landed the biggest 205 pound free agent out there, as he announced on a Las Vegas television program, "We've got Wanderlei Silva." Despite suffering back-to-back knockouts (albeit to world-class fighters Filipovic and Henderson), Silva was still one of the most coveted names out there. He was rumored to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 76, but talks fell through, leading White to name Keith Jardine as Silva's replacement. It seems as if all hope for the Liddell-Silva superfight was lost; that is, until now. It appears that following Liddell's massacre (I pray) of Jardine at UFC 76, he'll face Silva in December. It could happen on the same card as Hughes-Serra, which would certainly be worth the $50.

This won't be Silva's first trip to the Octagon, however. He's 1-2 in UFC bouts, with a decision loss to Tito Ortiz and a BRUTAL first round KO by the fast hands of Vitor Belfort (the "old Vitor," as sherdoggers like to say). Since then, he's torn through most of PRIDE's Middleweight division (remember, they don't have LHWs), owning two huge wins over Rampage Jackson as well as a decision over Dan Henderson. While Silva may exhibit some slight UFC jitters (see this article for others who did), he'll probably be able to settle in by the second round or so. It will be up to Liddell to not let him see that second round. While it's too early to predict anything, it is easy to see how the UFC LHW division is shaping up to be the best in MMA history.

With Silva and Liddell along with Rampage and Henderson (UFC 75 opponents), Zuffa has commandeered the four major players in MMA today. Add in Tito Ortiz, who is still a force to be reckoned with, in addition to young guns Bisping, Evans, and Shogun, and you've got years and years of solid fights. Even more convincing, the UFC has shown an international edge as of late, giving more press to guys like Lyoto Machida. I'd expect that the winner of Liddell-Silva will get the winner of Rampage-Hendo. Shogun will most likely fight whoever comes out of that war zone. No matter how it plays out, we should be looking at some awesome fights for the next year and even more exposure for the glorious sport of mixed martial arts.

Hybrid MMA vs. Traditional Styles: Which Is The Better Pick?

When beginning training in Mixed Martial Arts, one must make a crucial decision. Is it more beneficial to get a well-rounded MMA experience or instead, focus in on one discipline and learn to master it? This is the essential question behind the idea of MMA and why the UFC was founded in the first place: to determine which fighting style was superior. In looking for that answer, the creators of UFC got more than they bargained for. While intially, it appeared that certain styles were dominant, over time, a hybridization took place. Do fighters benefit from mastering different techniques from various schools of thought or are they just better off knowing one very, very well?

Matt Hughes (pictured) would agree with the first choice: that a hybridization was necessary and benficial to his career. He displayed this most prominently at UFC 60 when he defeated Royce Gracie using a combination of Gracie's very own Jiu-Jitsu coupled with his extensive wrestling background. Gracie, limited in the scope of what he could handle, caved under the different looks Hughes was throwing at him and got grounded and pounded to a loss. Such is the benefit of learning multiple styles of martial arts. They can be switched on and off like a light switch, combined and separated to create the ultimate in distraction and strategy. If a fight can master a striking and a grappling technique (compared to someone in a single discipline, who is only good standing up or only good on the ground), he will have created a strategy capable of taking out any styled opponent. Nick Diaz is a great example of this as he is well-versed in both boxing and jiu-jitsu. In his fight against Robbie Lawler, Diaz elected to stand, picking his spots and eventually knocking out the Ruthless one. More recently, against Takanori Gomi, Diaz took the fight to the floor, executing one of the most difficult submissions in all of MMA, the gogoplata. Chances are, if Diaz was a master of just one of those disciplines, he would not have been able to take both fights. By learning a hybrid style, the embodiment of what Mixed Martial Arts means, a fighter can be dynamic, dangerous, and successful against opponents of any kind.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for perfecting one discipline. Royce Gracie, although defeated by Hughes, ran through every other singular discipline with his take on classic BJJ. Karo Parisyan (pictured) has brought a classic Judo background with him, and has made it work with flying colors, owning wins over Diaz and current Welterweight champ Matt Serra. Many wrestlers, such as Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, have been very successful while remaining true to their disciplines. While they may throw elements of other styles in from time to time, they will rely on and look to their wrestling backgrounds when it is time to win a fight. If a fighter can use his background in one style as a defensive mechanism in order to open up offense (see: Karo Parisyan), then he may be as successful as a fighter who is constantly switching up techniques in the middle of the fight. Switching to southpaw will often get a fighter knocked out, but switching entire disciplines can get your career ended.

This decision is an important one that every fighter must make at some point in their training. Whether one decides to take a more rounded approach to martial arts or hone in on one style, two facts remain. Fighters have won with each and fighters have lost with each. It is up to the individual practitioner of the sport to decide how hard he will train, how much he will invest, and how much he will get out of it.