Man Cave Podcast – Episode 197

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva: Even though Silva is a very good heavyweight, Velasquez is just the worst possible matchup for him and that was proven in the first bout between the two. Silva has a punchers chance, because he hits pretty hard and Velasquez isn’t above getting caught, but I’d be pretty shocked if Silva even gets a chance to throw that punch. It took Velasquez a whole 2 seconds to takedown Silva in their first fight and I’d expect the same thing to happen here. I doubt Silva will be stupid enough to throw a leg kick right off the bat again, but whenever Velasquez wants the takedown, he’ll be able to get it. Once on top, things will start to look like the first fight. Velasquez will maintain his position and brutalize Silva with punches and elbows. Maybe it won’t be as bloody as the first fight, but the result will be the same.

Prediction: Velasquez, TKO, Round 1

Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt: Hunt is on a nice run and there is no denying his chin and power, but six months ago everyone labeled Dos Santos as unbeatable, so why would Hunt, a lifetime mediocre heavyweight, beat him? Well, if he lands a big punch, he can obviously knockout Dos Santos, but I have a feeling that Dos Santos isn’t going to mess around too much on the feet. If he does I think it’ll be a lot of jabs and leg kicks, just to soften Hunt up and keep him off balance. We’ve seen Dos Santos use his wrestling before though and I expect him to use it again in this fight. I think he’ll put Hunt on his back, easily pass to mount, and then beat on him until the ref mercifully stops things. It might not be the brutal KO finish that most of us are hoping for, but I doubt JDS will care.

Prediction: Dos Santos, TKO, Round 1

Glover Teixeira vs. James Te-Huna: A few people seem to be pretty high on Te-Huna, but I’m not one of them. I think he’s good, but nothing special. I am high on Teixeira though and think he’ll win this fight fairly easy, Te-Huna is a tough striker with good power, but Teixeira showed in the Quinton Jackson fight that he’s able to hang and out-strike tough strikers with power. Teixeira’s strong suit is his top game though. His wrestling should be good enough to get Te-Huna down, and once he’s on top, he’s going to pound away until the ref pulls him off.

Prediction: Teixeira, TKO, Round 3

Gray Maynard vs. TJ Grant: I think people forget how good Maynard is. He boringly dominated some of the best guys in the division, nearly won the title on two separate occasions, and had a crappy fight thanks to Clay Guida. Grant is coming off a really good win against Matt Wiman, but he’s never faced an opponent that is of Maynard’s quality. This isn’t a good matchup for him either. At welterweight, he was defeated by bigger opponents who could take him down and control him. Maynard is as big as they come at lightweight and is one of the best wrestlers in the division. Unless Grant has really improved his takedown defense, and even that might not be enough because Maynard is still a solid striker with plenty of power, then he’s going to be taken down and controlled with ease.

Prediction: Maynard, Decision

Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons: I was extremely disappointed with Cerrone in his last bout, but this is a nice rebound fight for him. If he wants to stand, Noons will stand with him and present a fairly easy target as Noons has some terrible defensive habits and is a one dimensional striker. Cerrone will be able to mix it up on the feet, using his knees and kicks if Noons decides to duck his head to go to the body or keep his hands low. If things aren’t working out on the feet for Cerrone, he can always shoot for a takedown and use his much improved takedown offense to get Noons to the mat. On the ground, Cerrone is vastly superior and should be able to out-position Noons while doing damage with elbows and possibly lacing up a submission. I think Cerrone will eventually lock on a submission, but it’ll come after hurting Noons on the feet.

Prediction: Cerrone, Submission, Round 2

Man Cave Podcast – Episode 196

I won’t limit the Flashback Journal to just UFC events though. I hope to look back at sports games and wrestling events as well. This isn’t exactly an original idea but one I hope to have some fun with.

So here’s the event that started it all: UFC 1.

The date is November 12, 1993. It’s the first ever UFC event and it’s taking place at the McNichols Arena, home of my Colorado Avalanche in about 2 years. NO RULES! NO SCORES! NO TIME LIMITS! We’re told that “Anything can happen. And probably will.” So the UFC hyperbole started long before Dana White took over.

Bill Wallace calls this The Ultimate Fighting Challenge. So for those of you who think Mike Goldberg is bad, just think, it could be worse. Jim Brown is the color commentator. He says that he wouldn’t participate in something like that. Wallace says, “all you have to do is climb over the ropes.” I’m actually longing for Goldberg right now and we’re only 3 minutes in. Kathy Long is also cageside. She’s some kickboxing champion. She would rely on speed and Wallace tells her that she’s not very big. “There’s also going to be grappling” says Wallace, so he throws it to Rob Machado. His strategy is to get out of the ring as quickly as possible. Instead actually explaining the aspects of the ground game, Machado just says, “even though the fight starts standing, expect things to go to the ground.” THANKS ROB! Wallace then throws it to Brian Gimore, although the graphic introduces him as Brian Kilmeade. He tells us about the fenced octagon, which isn’t a ring with ropes, in case you didn’t notice.

We run down the brackets. Wallace stumbles all over the names and disciplines.

SAVATE VS. SUMO! GERARD GORDEAU VS. TEILA TULI!

Tuli says that the strongest part of his body is his heart. Being 410 pounds, it’s also the most protected. Gordeau says that he hopes he wins the tournament. The confidence is lacking in this one.

THE FIRST EVER TELEVISED UFC FIGHT IS ON!

Tuli switches stances early, showing his diversity. He then gets low and rushes forward with slaps. Gordeau moves back, side steps, and pushes Tuli down against the cage where he proceeds to soccer kick him in the head and land a punch as the ref jumps in. The ref calls time. The ref wants a doctor to check Tuli’s eye, which is busted and bleeding. After some confusion and discussion, the fight is stopped and Gordeau is declared the winner. The fight lasted 26 seconds. The decision to stop the fight took three times as long.

Wallace tries to make sense of this whole thing, but of course he can’t.

KICKBOXING VS. KARATE! KEVIN ROSIER VS. ZANE FRAZIER!

Wallace mentions kicking techniques 100 times in 5 seconds. Rosier says he’s going to win and his best technique is the overhand right. He doesn’t throw it like a fastball though. Frazier says he’ll win because, “God gave me the strength and the courage to do all the right things at the right time.” So putting over God dates back to UFC 1 and Zane Frazier.

Wallace doesn’t understand why the two fighters meet in the middle before the fight starts even though it’s obvious why (for a quick rules reminder) and Tuli/Gordeau did the same thing.

Rosier moves forward as Frazier circles. Rosier throws his patented overhand right but Frazier survives. They clinch, land some groin shots that the referee doesn’t notice, pull some hair, throw some more knees to the body, and eventually start to tire. “If these two knew how to grapple it might end sooner” says Kathy. I’m guessing the Colorado altitude really hurt the cardio of both guys. “There’s some strategy here with both guys resting” says Wallace. Frazier showing great octagon control in the clinch. They go to the ground and Frazier lands a knee. ROSIER IS UP AND HAS A SECOND WIND! Rosier stalks down Frazier. A clock keeps popping up in the corner and is counting down time even though we were told that there are NO TIME LIMITS! Rosier lands some punches, Frazier collapses to the ground, eats a stomp, and the white towel comes in to declare Rosier the winner.

Rosier says that the fight felt like it lasted an hour. It actually lasted four minutes and 20 seconds. Rosier says he knew that Frazier would punch himself out so his strategy was to let him hit me. Antonio Silva would later use this same strategy against Alistair Overeem. ROSIER A PIONEER!

The commentary crew discusses the effects of fatigue. 20 years later and some fighters still haven’t learned.

JIU-JITSU VS. BOXING! ROYCE GRACIE VS. ART JIMMERSON!

Gracie says he’s going to take this tournament because his family has been developing this technique for 65 years. Jimmerson is going to win because he punches hard and is fast. “You can’t hit what you can’t see.”

Jimmerson has on one boxing glove because he was way ahead of this whole “we need to design a glove that prevents eye pokes but doesn’t hinder grappling” trend. If you have on one boxing glove, that’s 5 less fingers for eye pokes and you still have a free hand to grapple. How has no one looked back at UFC 1 and suggested this? Jimmerson was an innovator. Gracie has on his gi, which baffles Wallace until someone explains that it’ll help him with his grappling.

Gracie starts with the front kick to the knee and Jimmerson avoids it. Quinton Jackson would be screwed against Royce. Crowd begins to boo as nothing happens. GRACIE SKIP TAKEDOWN! Gracie moves to mount and Jimmerson taps out after he tries and fails to get Gracie off of him. GRACIE WINS VIA POSITION! The crowd is not happy about this.

SHOOTFIGHTING VS. TAE KWON DO! KEN SHAMROCK VS. PAT SMITH!

Shamrock has to finish his rep before he tells us that he’s going to win because he’s “well adapted.” Smith says he’s going to win because he’s, “the most strongest, powerfulest, craziest guy out of all the groups. I think.” He also resist to feel pain. I’m almost positive that Jeffrey Harris wrote Smith’s material.

The commentary crew swoons over Shamrock’s speedos and build. Wallace now realizes that meeting in the middle before the fight is a tradition.

Shamrock takes a knee to get a takedown. Smith keeps a tight guard but Shamrock eventually creates enough space to drop back for an ankle lock. He can’t quite sink it in at first but he never gives up on it and finally locks it in, forcing Smith to tap out. Shamrock releases the hold as the ref casually steps in. Smith gets up, limps around, and yells at Shamrock for making him feel pain. The crowd chants “bullshit” for reasons that are unknown to me.

Shamrock says this fight was easy because Smith didn’t know any submissions. “I AINT AFRAID OF THAT MAN ACROSS FROM ME!”

The commentary crew talks about strategy for the semi-final fights. I come to the conclusion that they don’t know what they’re talking about.

SEMI-FINAL FIGHT! SAVATE VS. KICKBOXING! GERARD GORDEAU VS. KEVIN ROSIER!

Apparently someone tried to jump in the cage but was escorted out. They should’ve let him fight. The style of Brawling is not represented and definitely should be.

Rosier moves forward and Gordeau slams home some leg kicks before knocking Rosier to his ass with a punch. Rosier covers up against the cage as Gordeau lands some elbows. Gordeau lands a stomp to the ribs and the ref casually steps in to kind of stop things. GORDEAU IS AN ANIMAL!

The commentary crew is baffled that the fights are so short.

They interview Rosier even though he lost. Now that he’s out of retirement, he wants to fight on the regular. Joe Rogan would try to re-retire him. Rosier’s corner man talks a lot in the background. Rosier doesn’t want to make excuses, but blames the altitude. Rosier started training 3 weeks ago and hopes to be back. SHOUT OUT TO BUFFALO!

Wallace is very excited for our next fight. “I think we’ll be seeing a lot of ramming and holding.”

SEMI-FINAL FIGHT! JIU-JITSU VS. SHOOTFIGHTING! ROYCE GRACIE VS. KEN SHAMROCK!

Wallace tells us how each guy is feeling based on their walk in. THE LOOK IS BACK IN THE EYES OF ROYCE!

GRACIE SKIP TAKEDOWN! Shamrock stuffs it, reverses, and ends up on top. Shamrock tries for an ankle lock though, which seems like a really stupid move, and it turns out to be stupid as Gracie easily ends up on top. Shamrock tries for the leg again, but all he does is give up his back. Gracie sinks in a side naked choke. Shamrock taps but the ref doesn’t step in. So Gracie releases the hold and then tries to lock it back on in case the ref decides that the fight must continue or something.

“It’s just one of those things. Some just aren’t used to this stuff.” I don’t know what that means, but then again I don’t understand a lot of what Shamrock says. Shamrock admits to being too focused on going after the leg and that he’s never fought a jiu-jitsu guy. He also says that the ref would’ve let it go since he didn’t see him tap out 5 times but since Gracie already released the hold, he told the ref that the fight was over. THE ORIGINAL KING OF UFC CLASS!

Helio Gracie is honored. All of the Gracie’s, including Royce, are there. So he’s clearly not too worried about the finals.

THE FINALS! SAVATE VS. JIU-JITSU! GERARD GORDEAU VS. ROYCE GRACIE!

Apparently Gracie was in the cage for the ceremony, walked to the back, and then Gracie-trained back out. Why? Because he’s Royce Gracie. That’s why.

GRACIE SKIP TAKEDOWN! Gordeau fights it off at first, but Gracie eventually trips him down and mounts. Gordeau gives up his back and Gracie wastes little time sinking in the rear naked choke. Gordeau taps about 20 times, including the double hand tap, before Gracie finally releases the hold. “The crowd is going crazy.” By booing. Wallace says, “there is probably some contention that Gerard didn’t tap.” Who could possibly contend this?

ROYCE GRACIE IS YOUR FIRST UFC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION!

Gracie thanks his brother and family. Says there was no pressure to lose. “My strategy was to not let them hit me. I wanted to win without getting hit.” I’d say that he was pretty successful. Gracie says he’s going to Disneyland with his newly won $50,000.

The crowd still boos and an air horn annoys everyone as Gracie is awarded his check.

Wallace wraps things up. Kathy repeatedly tells him not to forgot Brian. Jim Brown randomly says, “kill me.” THAT ENDS UFC 1!

If this was your first time watching MMA, you probably didn’t walk away too impressed. Those hoping for all out violence were severely disappointing as some skinny dude managed to dominate without breaking a sweat or getting hit. On top of the short matches, the commentary was absolutely brutal and added nothing to the event. It’s funny that Shamrock vs. Gracie was supposed to be the fight between the two best competitors, but it ended up being the second shortest fight of the night. The idea was good, the execution was very poor.

Gray Maynard and TJ Grant is a #1 contender’s fight.

Jeremy Lambert: Until TJ Grant wins and someone else is awarded the title fight. This is a case of Dana White once again claiming that a bout is a #1 contender’s fight until the outcome is wrong or the fight sucks and White is left with his foot in his mouth again. Instead of just selling the fight as a “title eliminator,” which is a fair selling point, he has to take it a step further.

If Ben Henderson is stuck facing the winner of Grant and Maynard, he’ll unfortunately be back on FOX, or maybe even FX if Grant wins, once again. There’s nothing wrong with being on FOX, but Henderson just signed a new contract and given who his agent is, I’d be shocked if there isn’t language in his deal that would get him PPV points. No one is paying to see Henderson face Maynard though and you’d have to pay people to see him fight Grant.

Don’t get me wrong, Maynard vs. Grant is a nice fight. Maynard is a former title contender and came close on two occasions to winning the belt. His last fight against Clay Guida was really bad, but no one blames him for that. And Grant is on a four-fight win streak and just brutally destroyed Matt Wiman. The problem is, when someone mentions “Gray Maynard” or “TJ Grant” the other person reacts like Samer Kadi would if I were telling him about the latest episode of New Girl, which featured a cameo by Taylor Swift.

Samer Kadi: Isn’t a “title eliminator” the same as a number 1 contender’s fight? In any case, when was the last time a fight dubbed to be a number 1 contender’s fight actually produced the next challenger for the title? I’m sure it has happened recently, but there have been just as many occasions where Dana White ignores his own promises and reassurances. In the space of a month, both Lyoto Machida’s fight with Dan Henderson and Alexander Gustafsson’s scheduled bout with Gegard Mousasi (which never ended up materializing) were deemed to be title eliminators.

The truth is, the UFC shies away from eliminator fights as they like to keep their options open. They will often make a definitive decision based on the fight outcome, the winner’s performance, future results, etc… Expect that to be the case here, particularly should TJ Grant win. In other words, unless TJ Grant springboards off the cage with a spinning back kick and knocks out Maynard, he is not getting a title shot. And even then, he might get a title shot in a different division.

TRT is the talking point of Vitor Belfort‘s win.

Samer Kadi: It’s understandable, as Belfort has admitted to TRT usage. However, you have to wonder why the gross overreaction, when Dan Henderson has admitted to being on TRT for pretty much the better part of his career. It’s a near fact that many high level MMA fighters are on something that is undisclosed or fails to get detected. The arbitrary manner in which drug testing rules are applied is baffling, as is the selective reaction to some fighters’ usage of TRT, but not others. It makes sense for Nevada not to hand Belfort TRT exemption due to a previous failed drug test, but that essentially is an admission that TRT can be used for cheating. So how on earth are other fighters allowed to use it just because they’ve yet to fail a drug test?

In any case, there can be no denying that Belfort’s TRT usage has benefited him and contributed to his career resurgence. He wouldn’t be using it if it weren’t beneficial. Moreover, arguing whether it affected the fight outcome is quite silly, considering that it has almost assuredly affected his training (positively), which in turn affects the eventual result. Nevertheless, acting like TRT is a magic potion and that Belfort could have never landed that kick without it is equally flawed, as MMA fights are ultimately decided by skill. Look no further than Frank Mir, who has admitted to TRT usage and physically looked the best he has in years, only to put on a pitiful performance against Dan Cormier. Likewise, TRT didn’t improve Chael Sonnen’s submission defense against Anderson Silva either, despite contributing to his 4 round domination of the champion.

As it stands, all I demand is for consistency. As simple as it sounds, either ban TRT altogether, or put an end to the selective and inconsistent regulations.

Jeremy Lambert: TRT didn’t help Belfort land that spinning heel kick. Even Luke Rockhold admitted as much.

Honestly, I don’t care about TRT. It’s legal to use, so if everyone wants to use it, they can. Dana White said they were, “going to test the sh*t out of TRT,” which basically means, “I don’t have a solution, stop asking me about it.” So it’s clear that Dana isn’t going to do anything about it and we know that the commissions aren’t going to do anything about it, unless you’ve previously failed a drug test like Belfort. So if fighters want to complain about other fighters being on TRT, then refuse the fight.

I’m willing to bet that guys would be less likely to use TRT if they can’t put that TRT to use.

Vitor Belfort’s victory over Luke Rockhold makes him the top contender for the middleweight title.

Jeremy Lambert: And yet he doesn’t want to talk about Anderson Silva and would rather beat up reporters. I’m starting to believe that Belfort vs. Silva 2 won’t happen, not because the UFC wouldn’t book it (they booked Velasquez vs. Silva 2 for Christ’s sake and would make a ton of money on Belfort vs. Silva 2 in Brazil), but because Belfort doesn’t seem too keen on the fight.

However, if Chris Weidman defeats Anderson, I’d be shocked if Belfort wasn’t awarded the title shot. In fact, Belfort’s victories over Michael Bisping and Rockhold are better than Weidman’s victories over Demian Maia and Mark Munoz, but I guess that doesn’t really matter since Weidman is already booked to challenge for the title.

Of course if Weidman wins, then the UFC could have a problem on their hands because Weidman will likely want the fight in Las Vegas while Belfort probably won’t fight in Vegas due to his inability to get a TRT exemption. It’s possible that the fight could happen in New Jersey, where Belfort shouldn’t have a problem getting a TRT exemption, but Weidman seems like the type of person who will play hardball and given that he’d be the UFC middleweight champion, he’ll have a fair amount of leverage.

Samer Kadi: Based on merit, yes. Forget wins over Johnson and Akiyama (and the loss to Jones shouldn’t be held against him), victories over Bisping and Rockhold trump any recent winning streak put together by a middleweight in terms of quality. The only one who would be in the discussion is Chris Weidman, and he’s getting the next title shot regardless.

However, the problems that would accompany Belfort’s status as a number one contender are logistic. Keith Kizer has been adamant about not granting Belfort TRT exemption in Nevada, due to a previously failed drug test. And while Silva-Belfort II would likely take place in Brazil, should “The Phenom” win, the UFC would end up with a champion who is unable to fight in their biggest market, Las Vegas. It doesn’t help that Belfort is quite popular in Vegas, and moves ticket sales. Based on that, Zuffa might be reluctant to place him in a title fight until they can do something about the situation.

Nate Diaz calls Bryan Caraway, “the biggest F*g in the world.” Is quickly suspended for 3 months and fined $20,000.

Samer Kadi: While not exactly surprising considering who the culprit of this particular incident is, it remains unfortunate to see MMA fighters commit the same needlessly silly mistakes over and over. For some odd reason, celebrities and athletes have yet to learn that being an idiot on twitter is a bad idea. Unfortunately, MMA fighters refuse to learn their lessons. And no, “a Diaz brother being a Diaz brother” is not an acceptable excuse, as it means receiving a pass due to continuously moronic behavior.

In part, the UFC is to blame for their past leniency. After all, the president of the company has found himself in hot water in the past for using the same remark, while prominent UFC fighters used the word with alarming regularity without any consequences. Michael Bisping uses homophobic slurs as often as he circles the wrong way, and has once drawn a laugh from Dana White in a post-fight press conference for his usage of the word, before jokingly being told to apologize.

Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see the UFC adopting a less tolerant attitude. Yes, this is a combat sport, and trash-talking, cursing and confrontations will always be a part. However, homophobia, sexism, racism and other forms of despicable human behavior are all issues the increasingly suspect MMA culture could do without. If the UFC is truly committed to that cause, they should be commended for it, and hopefully they can make amends for past mistakes. Many forget that even the most minor incidents can be used against them in their bid to fully penetrate the market (think about legalizing the sport in New York, for instance).

Most importantly however, the UFC needs to show consistency and ditch their infamous double standards. No longer should some fighters escape unpunished due to their name value, while others are used as sacrificial lambs. Sure, a 3 months layoff means little in this case, as Diaz was probably going to spend as much time on the sidelines regardless. Likewise, the Matt Mitrione suspension was a complete joke. And yet, hitting fighters where it hurts the most – their money – should, in theory, force them to think twice before giving the company and themselves a bad name.

Jeremy Lambert: I think we can all agree that, based on his girlfriend, Bryan Caraway is not what Nate Diaz claims he is.

Almost worse than Diaz tweeting that out was Mike Koagn’s, Diaz’s manager, defense of the tweet. Instead of trying to apologize on the half of Nate, he made things worse. “That word just means b*tch where Diaz is from. He was calling Caraway a ‘punk’ or a’b*tch’” Then you know what? He should’ve tweeted “punk” or “b*tch.” He had the characters left to do so.

Whether he likes it or not, Diaz is a public figure and when he tweets something like that, he should expect to be criticized and punished. The UFC is still trying to gain mainstream success and break into new markets and having fighters, especially one as prominent as Diaz (who has appeared on 3 FOX events and headlined 2 of them), doing something like this only stunts their growth.

The good thing is that the UFC was quick to act. $20,000 is a pretty steep fine, especially when you look at the fact that Diaz only took home a disclosed $15,000 for his last bout (a number that I find hard to believe). It was also a smart move on the part of the UFC to donate that money to charity. Let’s not act like a 3-month suspension is a big deal though. Diaz was going to miss at least 3-months following his loss to Josh Thomson anyway. In fact, if the UFC is going to suspend fighters, the minimum should be 9 months, just to guarantee that they miss a fight. Otherwise they shouldn’t bother.

Cain Velasquez rematches Antonio Silva this weekend. The first fight is never mentioned.

Samer Kadi: It was going to be an uphill battle for the UFC to sell a rematch of such a one-sided fight. Without hyperbole, Cain Velasquez’s fight with Antonio Silva last year may have been the most one-sided fight between two elite fighters in UFC history. It was a sustained near-five minute beat-down that resulted in the loser swimming in a pool of his own blood, before the referee mercifully brought a halt to the action. The big question was, how would the UFC use the first fight to market the rematch? As it turns out, they don’t.

Jeremy Lambert: It’s actually kind of smart of the UFC to just try and erase the first fight from everyone’s memory. Just pretend for a second that Velasquez vs. Silva 1 never happened. Now we’re looking at a fight between a guy coming off a dominant UFC heavyweight title victory and a guy who has won 3 of his last 4, including victories over Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem. It still looks like a mismatch on paper, the same way the first fight looked like a mismatch on paper, but at least there is no visual of “Bigfoot” registering extremely high on the Muta Scale.

If the UFC is going to bring up the first fight though, they should just mention that Silva had octagon jitters, which are obviously a real thing. Now that he’s comfortable in the octagon and has two victories under his belt, this fight will obviously be a lot different.

Vitor Belfort def. Luke Rockhold: THE NEW VITOR IS HERE! Everyone knows that Belfort is extremely dangerous in the early rounds, but in this fight he broke out a spinning heel kick early. I joked about the technique on twitter, thinking it was just something he was going to throw once and just did it for a little flash. How wrong was I. Belfort threw the technique again and it landed perfectly on the side of Rockhold’s head, knocking him down. And of course, once Rockhold was down and stunned, it didn’t take Belfort long to put him out cold. The kick was extremely unexpected but it was also a thing of beauty and proof that you can teach an old dinosaur to be young again. I’d be shocked if Belfort didn’t get KO of the year with this kick. Belfort continues to be the best middleweight in the division not named Anderson Silva. His KO victories over Michael Bisping and now Rockhold are the two best wins of anyone in the division and he’s without a doubt the top contender. Of course as long as Silva is the champion, he may not get a title shot due to how emphatic Silva won the first fight. If Chris Weidman pulls the upset though, you can bet that Belfort will be the challenger. Rockhold is still one of the better middleweights, but this was a bad loss. There’s no shame in losing to Belfort, but getting caught with that kick at this level is a bit worrisome. That said, I’d still favor him over a lot of guys at 185, which really says more about the division than it does him.

Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Camozzi: We all know that Camozzi isn’t a great fighter, but it’s always great to see a fighter dominate inferior competition the way Souza did in this fight. He landed some good right hands on the feet before landing a beautiful trip takedown. Camozzi made Souza work to pass his guard, but once he did, he never relinquished the position and quickly worked his way into an arm triangle for the submission victory. It’s really refreshing to see Souza in the middleweight division because he’s one guy who can definitely compete with the elite. His ground game is arguably the best in MMA, his takedowns are strong, and his striking looks better every time he steps into the cage. His chin is still questionable, but his defense is improving and he always has his grappling to fall back on. Hopefully Souza takes a step up in competition in his next fight and is able to show the world that he really is that good and deserves to be mentioned among the elite at middleweight.

Rafael dos Anjos def. Evan Dunham: You want to know why there are some many rematches for the lightweight title? It’s because guys can’t string together multiple impressive wins against top competition. Dos Anjos was able to pick up the victory, but a lot of people felt that Dunham won and had they been in Vegas, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that Dunham would’ve had his hand raised. Most of the fight took place on the feet, and while dos Anjos did well with some good body strikes, Dunham never stopped moving forward and landed the cleaner strikes overall. It was definitely a close fight and I can’t argue with anyone who thought that dos Anjos won, but this wasn’t the type of statement performance that he needed to solidify himself as a legitimate threat to the 155 title. I’d like to see dos Anjos fight Josh Thomson next because a win over Thomson would give dos Anjos the best win of his career while a win for Thomson would give him a strong win against a guy on a nice winning streak. Dunham continues to be an inconsistent fighter, but he always comes to fight and is an extremely tough out every time he’s in the cage.

Rafael Natal def. Joao Zeferino: If you actually paid attention to this fight, God bless you. The first round was a footsie-fest with both guys trying for leg/ankle locks that were never going to happen. Appearantly this really hurt the cardio of Zeferino because Natal easily took him down and beat on him in the next two rounds, nearly finishing the fight late in the third. Neither guy is going anywhere in the division and Zeferino could be at welterweight the next time we see him on Facebook. So whatever.

Spurs a Model of Consistency: Another year, another trip to the conference finals for the Spurs. The Golden State Warriors gave them a good run with their young legs and outstanding shooting, but in the end, the Spurs played good, smart basketball, and ended up taking care of the freshman Warriors.

Everyone likes to complain about the Spurs and how they play and I continue to be baffled by the complaint. The Spurs play basketball the right way. They move the ball around, they let their stars takeover, they’re well-coached, and they do the little things well. Maybe they’re not a flashy team, maybe they’re a little awkward, and maybe their stars don’t have a personality, but so what? They win. I think every fan would take boring wins over exciting losses.

The Spurs know how to grind out wins, which is important this time of year. They’re never out of a game thanks to their strong defensive play and the ability of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili to make plays offensively. They did a great job bottling up Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, who may have just run out of gas late, in the final few games. Greg Popovich, by far the best coach in the NBA, always makes the right adjustments and gets the most out of his players.

Against the Memphis Grizzlies though, things will be even tougher to come by. The Grizzlies defeated the Spurs two years ago in the first round with a very similar team. They still have Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley, all of whom have improved over the past 2 years. That was the first round though and the Grizzlies had nothing to lose as an eighth seed. This is the conference finals and a lot of people think the Grizzlies have enough to win the title. There is definitely some pressure on them this time around.

Heat Battle Back: Everyone knew the Miami Heat would beat the shorthanded Chicago Bulls. Even after the Bulls took game 1, no one thought they could keep up that kind of play for at least three more games. And they didn’t. As much heart as the Bulls has, talent won out. The Bulls were without their top three guards during the entire series and relying on bench players to shut down three of the 20 best players in the NBA. It just wasn’t a reasonable expectation.

I give Miami a lot of credit though. After the first game, they didn’t let Chicago push them around. Sure they embellished a lot of calls (a habit LeBron James really needs to stop), but they didn’t back down or let the Bulls get in their head. They knew that they were the superior team and they took over the series. Had Luol Deng, a very reliable scorer and decent defender, or Kirk Hinrich, a decent scorer and very reliable defender, been able to play, maybe the series would’ve been different.

*Note: I excluded Derrick Rose because he hadn’t played all year so the team was used to getting by without him and it was very clear to anyone paying attention that he wasn’t going to play in this series.

This was a series that the Heat didn’t want though and it was big of them to get rid of the Bulls in five. Rest is very important to this Miami team, especially with Dwyane Wade’s knee injury and they couldn’t afford another game of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah banging them on the block. The rest became even more important when the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks. Surviving a psychical series with the Bulls and then having to play the Knicks, who don’t have much of an inside presence and relying heavily of jump shots, is one thing. But now the Heat have to play a team that is just as tough as the Bulls on the inside and aren’t decimated with injuries.

Pacers Bottle Up Knicks: This was supposed to be the New York Knicks year. The got the #2 seed in the conference, Carmelo Anthony won the scoring title, J.R. Smith won the sixth man award, they actually played defense, they had veteran leadership, etc…. None of that mattered against the Indiana Pacers, who exposed all the weaknesses of the Knicks and easily took advantage of them.

In the playoffs, the ball has to move. With the Knicks, the ball rarely moves. Paul George did a great job limiting Carmelo and forcing the rest of the Knicks to step up. They didn’t, especially Smith, who missed just about everything he shot in the series. And if Carmelo was able to get by George, he run into David West or Roy Hibbert, who proved to be worth that max contract in this series.

The Pacers don’t have a superstar player, but they play great as a team. The ball moves on offense, they take care of the ball, they rebound, and they play strong defense. Who they go to in crunch time is still a concern, but maybe that works to their advantage, because you don’t know who they will go to so you have to account for everyone.

Hibbert and West are going to be big trouble for the Heat in the conference finals. They’re better versions of Noah, especially a banged up Noah, and Boozer and they gained a lot of experience in last years playoffs. George is also a much better player and should be able to contain LeBron about as much as anyone can contain LeBron. No Danny Ganger is an obvious blow to the Pacers, but they’ve played the majority of the season without him, so it’s not an on the fly adjustment.

Like the Bulls, the Pacers play a psychical style that the Heat don’t like but will have to deal with. If Wade isn’t 100% and the Pacers can wear down LeBron, it’s very possible that they steal this series. The biggest thing for them is to get one in Miami, because they’ve been an excellent home team all season and have yet to lose at home in the playoffs.

Are The Memphis Grizzlies For Real?

Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies are for real, and they have been for the last several seasons. The Grizzlies are very dangerous and at times unstoppable in this current playoff run. An appearance in the NBA finals isn’t out of the question for them, as power forward Zach Randolph is playing like a true playoff MVP candidate with the help of center Marc Gasol and point guard Mike Conley.

The Los Angeles Clippers Series

The Grizzlies came back from the first two games in Los Angeles down 0-2, and needing an emotional lift from their home fans. This year’s team recorded the highest (56) regular season win total in the franchise’s history, but losing this first-round matchup would have a definite negative impact on the city.

Head coach Lionel Hollins emphasized to his team that they were playing for their playoff lives, and they responded splendidly to his plea. The Grizzlies played each possession and quarter to their fullest, as home cooking provided efficiency on both ends of the basketball court. This new passion helped the Grizzlies to win the next four games and oust the Clippers from the playoffs.

The Oklahoma City Thunder Series

At the start of the regular season, it was a forgone conclusion that the Oklahoma City Thunder would meet the Miami Heat for the second consecutive year in the NBA Finals. Then, team management decided to trade away shooting guard James Harden to Houston, and they slowly lost their identity. Thoughts from the Man Cave forecasted that Memphis would be a tough team for the Thunder.

The Grizzlies effectively took away the second option in their offense, which made scoring very difficult for the Thunder, especially when they need a clutch basket to stay in the game, and ultimately in the series.

They only allowed forward Kevin Durant to defeat them in one game, albeit a memorable Game One performance, as he scored 35 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the win. The Thunder has also missed Russell Westbrook’s presence on the defensive side of the ball, as Conley has taken full advantage of his absence by repeatedly penetrating into the paint for some big baskets. Let’s not forget the Grizzlies team defense has come up big with some key turnovers all throughout the playoffs. That’s why you have to continue to watch them on cable.tv and see their road to redemption. They are headed to the Western Conference Finals.

Conclusion

The Grizzlies are a team that you cannot fall asleep on, as they clearly have an effective inside/outside offensive game to advance them in the playoffs. Quietly, they have developed their own “Big Three” that will cause trouble for any opponent to defend. Randolph and Gasol are the best post-up combo in the NBA right now, and Conley has been terrific with distributing the basketball from the point guard position. More importantly, the Grizzlies have great chemistry and are destroying the myth that an NBA team can only win a title if they have a true superstar on the roster. They’re a team filled with grit n‘ grind players that don’t rely on the individualism or ego of a star player to succeed.

Author: Lamar Hull is a former basketball player for Davidson College and is currently a sports writer. Lamar loves to follow the NBA and NFL. Lamar has the scoop on anything related to sports. You can follow him @lamarhull20

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. It wasn’t supposed to end in the second round, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, with Russell Westbrook sitting in a suite, and Kevin Durant missing the game-tying shot.

But that’s how it ended. And now the Oklahoma City Thunder faces a longer than expected off-season, but one that brings about great optimism leading into next year.

Before I address the immediate future, allow me to look back at how things ended.

When Russell Westbrook was ruled out of the playoffs after game 2 of the first round, things looked bleak. As much as non-Thunder fans don’t understand Westbrook’s importance to the team, no one can deny that he’s the second best player on the team, a top 5 point guard, and a top 15 player in the league. The Memphis Grizzlies were a tough matchup with Westbrook, without him, it was just a matter of how long Durant could carry the team.

It turned out that Durant could only carry the team to one win. He took his game to another level and his teammates did the best they could to keep up, but Durant’s extra level eventually cost the team. Having to bring the ball up court and be the point forward, having to grab more rebounds, having to create open looks for the team, and still having to score 25-30 points wore on KD. He averaged 44 minutes per game during the playoffs. He wasn’t used to that many minutes, especially that many hard minutes.

I’m not saying Durant “coasts” when Westbrook is in the line-up, but everyone knows that he doesn’t have to work as hard on the offensive end with his running mate on the floor. Westbrook is an energizer bunny who only stops when you force a knee brace on him and sit him in the crowd. He takes the pressure off of Durant and allows him to save his energy for when he’s needed most, which is when the game is on the line. The 4th quarter is usually “KD Time.” Not in this series. Besides game 1, Durant wasn’t good in the 2nd half of just about every game, culminating with a terrible game 5. When it was supposed to be “KD Time” the batteries were drained on the clock.

This was a learning experience for Durant and one that I believe will ultimately benefit him. He’s only 24 and his game will continue to improve. Now he knows what he needs to work on in this extended off-season and there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll work on those things.

This was a learning experience for the rest of the team as well.

We learned that Reggie Jackson is a legitimate back-up point guard heading into next year. He was thrusted into a role that he may not have been ready for, but he responded with good all-around play in a pressure situation. Jackson’s confidence should be very high going into next season where he’ll serve as Westbrook’s back-up. The biggest thing is that Scott Brooks knows that he can trust Jackson now, which hopefully means slightly more rest for Westbrook during the regular season.

We learned that Serge Ibaka isn’t quite ready to be the #2 guy. He made major strides with his offensive game this year, turning into a very reliable jump shooter, but when his shot failed him during the playoffs, he had no second option. His post-game just isn’t there yet, but I think it could be next year. Ibaka is a hard worker and has shown a willingness to improve each year. It’s very possible that he spends this off-season working with his back to the basket and becoming a low post threat for the team.

We learned that Kevin Martin isn’t James Harden. Actually, we already knew that. For the most part, Martin did what was asked of him, which is score. But too many times he disappeared during the second half and was either hot or cold with no in-between. He developed an outstanding two-man game with Nick Collison, but he wasn’t able to step up and be that #2 guy like Harden. I don’t completely fault Martin for that though. Again, we knew that Martin was not Harden. They’re two different players who do different things. Anyone who expected Martin to take over like Harden did for certain stretches was kidding themselves. That said, he also wasn’t given the chance. He sat for too long of stretches when the team could’ve used him and his rhythm was thrown off, which is key because Martin is a big rhythm shooter. Could he have given more? I don’t know, but at times he wasn’t given the chance to.

We learned that Kendrick Perkins is about useless. Perkins was acquired for his defensive intensity and rebounding. He’s failed to bring much of either during his time in Oklahoma City. Ibaka has become the defensive leader and Durant is doing more on the glass. Perkins is great at mean mugging, but that’s about it.

We learned that Derek Fisher still has something left. If he decides to return for one more year, I think he’d be welcome back with open arms. He’s still a very smart defensive player, his leadership can’t be taught, and he has a knack for stepping up in the playoffs. The only drawback to Fisher is that he would take away minutes from the younger players, most of whom are expected to contribute more next year.

We learned that Scott Brooks isn’t that bad of a coach. Even though he went 2-4 after the game 5 first round debacle, I thought he made some smart adjustments, like switching defensive assignments and playing Nick Collison more. He even ran good plays down the stretch, which is a pretty rare thing for him. Hopefully this doesn’t change when Westbrook comes back and Brooks is able to take what he learned in these past six games and become better at adjusting rather than leaving it up to his stars to figure things out.

Thunder fans should be proud of this team. They were in every game in the second round, they just weren’t used to playing without their second best player and their best player eventually wore down. But they showed a lot of heart against a Memphis team that could very well end the season as the best team in the NBA.

Thunder fans should also be optimistic heading into next year. The team has Toronto’s lottery pick and should be able to land a good prospect, potentially an offensive big man. I’m also very high on Perry Jones and Jeremy Lamb and think they’ll be solid contributors next year.

The two biggest question marks are Perkins and Martin.

As mentioned, Perkins isn’t what we thought he’d be. Unfortunately for the Thunder, he still has 2 years left on his deal that eats about 8 million in cap room. Unless he’s packaged with a younger player or a draft pick, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be traded, although there are a lot of stupid general managers in the NBA who might want to add some toughness to their line-up. I just hope they know that they’re getting toughness and nothing else. It’s also possible that the Thunder amnesty Perkins, thus shedding them of the contract and saving the cap space. I don’t know if either will happen, but I doubt Thunder fans would be too sad to see him go.

Martin is actually the big question mark because the decision lies more with him than the team. He can become a free agent during the off-season and will likely get paid a fair amount of money. It’s possible that Martin could return to the Thunder, but he’d likely have to take a paycut. If he doesn’t decide to return, the Thunder could use that extra cap space to sign a role player or two.

The core of this team will be back, which is the biggest thing. Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka are already a feared three headed monster and are only getting better. The young players like Jackson, Lamb, and Jones have a lot of potential and will hopefully improve and be ready for a bigger role next year.

It’ll be tough watching the rest of the playoffs without the Thunder to root for, but fans should embrace this off-season, knowing that the team will get better. Whether it’s via trade, free agency signing, the draft, or just getting healthy and improving through workouts; this team will be better next year and poised to make another run at the title.