UFC 143 is one of the most stacked cards we have seen in a while. It features the biggest fight in the welterweight division for years, a fun heavyweight bout and a fight between super exciting bantamweight. Previews of Diaz vs Conditand Nelson vs Werdum are already out at jiMMA, here we go with two other fights from the main card.

Koscheck vs Pierce

• Josh Koscheck has been itching to fight since his TKO win over Matt Hughes at UFC 135 and was originally slated to fight Carlos Condit this weekend.

• Mike Pierce has been hovering around this level of opponent for some time without really breaking through.

• At UFC on FOX 1, he defeated Paul Bradley by an underwhelming split decision.

Styles
Josh Koscheck is a powerful wrestler who has spent great effort bringing his boxing up to speed. So much so, that for a time he neglected his wrestling. Against Matt Hughes there was little needed for that grappling acumen as he knocked the veteran out in some style. Having only fought once in over 12 months, it is tricky to predict how Koscheck will have developed. He will surely still be a powerful and explosive wrestler capable of taking down most opponents at welterweight, but will he look to utilize powerful boxing too?

Mike Pierce is another heavy handed wrestler and a bit of a decision machine. His hands are sloppier than Koscheck's and his wrestling style more grind than explosion.

Head to Head
To my mind, Koscheck has some of the best MMA wrestling in the UFC and I cannot see Pierce matching him there. In spite of progress in the boxing skills of both guys, neither man is the new Mike Tyson. For that reason, on the feet this could go either way with both men powerful enough to connect with a knockout blow but sloppy enough to let one in.
For that reason, expect to see Koscheck attempt to control Pierce on the mat and work him over with ground and pound. Pierce should employ defensive wrestling and take his chances on the feet.

Predicition
Koscheck by unanimous decision.

Renan Barao vs Scott Jorgensen

Recent History

• Barao beat British contender Brad Pickett by first round submission at UFC 138 to extend his winning streak to a formiddable twenty seven fights.

• Since losing to Dominic Cruz in December 2010, Jorgensen has looked great against Jeff Curran andKen Stone.

• Given that bantamweight is a relatively shallow division, the winner of this bout could well be close to title shot.

Styles
Before I saw Renan Barao defeat Brad Pickett at UFC 138, I was not sure if this youngster was a legitimate contender or someone with a padded record. That fight proved that the Nova Uniao product has what it takes to destroy top level competition. And destroy is the right word. Barao is well rounded with the capacity to transition from standing to ground, to submissions in the blink of an eye. He has great power and a diversity to his strikes that reminds me of his team mateJose Aldo. He has the chin and the aggressive mentality to make the most of these characteristics as he takes the chances necessary to land killer blows.

Jorgensen is another exciting and well rounded fighter. He has an explosive kickboxing arsenal and the ability to take the fight to the ground should he need to. He has talked about his wrestling background and he will surely attempt to use to control the Brazilian.

Head to Head
While both fighters are aggressive, powerful and tough with the ability to fight wherever the fight goes, Barao has the advantage in two key areas. He has a fluid and creative approach to all aspects of the game, so that he can take advantage of almost any glimpse of an opening. This is aided also by his immense speed.. Jorgensen will find this speed deficit difficult to deal with. The American is in danger of being out thought and out struck.

Prediction
Barao by TKO, round 2.

More UFC 143 Coverage from jiMMA
UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Preview
UFC 143: Nelson vs Werdum Preview

Hey there folks. Some of you know me as my handle of Micahthecynic, but considering I wanted to do an MMA journal on SB Nation, I guess I need to give more detail.

As is obvious, my first name is Micah, and my last name begins with a C. I'm from Central Illinois, and have lived in Illinois all of my life sans my first four days of existance (I was adopted). I stand six feet, one inch tall, and weigh more than I should. Right now, I work as a hotel clerk during third shift, and used to be a video game writer until recently.

You see, it's that word "recently" that has made me decide to want to try mixed martial arts. Quite frankly, now that I'm not playing video games much more than a few hours per day, I've found that I have a lot more free time. Go figure. Since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a martial artist. Unfortunately, I've never lived in a place where I've been in close proximity to an art that I was interested in (Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, etc). Everything around me was Tae Kwon Do. Yuck. So, I'm keeping this journal here to give you an idea of my thoughts as I go through this process. For the prologue, I'll talk about what I'm expecting from the journey.

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Hey folks, it's here! The Southpaw Striking Guide is my commitment to putting together the most comprehensive free material on fighting as or against a southpaw.

With the growing number of southpaws coming to kickboxing, boxing and MMA it is unacceptable that there is such a dearth of material available on the web or in print and www.fightsgoneby.com is committed to changing that.

http://www.fightsgoneby.com/2012/01/southpaw-striking-guide-part-1-advanced.html

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Cheers,
Jack Slack

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Seems that every once in a while, a match gets made in the UFC that seems like a foregone conclusion. Nothing of the severity of what one would consider a squash match (see Cyborg vs Finney), but more along the lines of a fighter simply being superior to the other (see Bisping vs Henderson). More recently, however, it seems like a similar assumption is being made about the upcoming main event of UFC 143, Condit vs Diaz. Well, at least from what I'm seeing of the current Countdown show.

Thing is, I understand why. The UFC knows that it could probably make more money off of a GSP vs Diaz title fight then it could from GSP vs Condit, but I honestly think they're going about this thing all wrong. What I wanted to take the time to do was take a look at all three men in this triangle of violence, and see whether or not the UFC is making a mistake by focusing too much on GSP possibly facing Diaz.

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Videos of knockouts are after the jump. Just wanted to talk about It's Showtime real quick

On Saturday, It's Showtime brings us an excellent card from the WTC Expo in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. HDnet will air this card live starting at 3 pm Eastern, and I believe it will get a second airing at 10 pm for those of us in the United States. I'm growing impatient waiting for Saturday, there are a lot intriguing names on the card, and I haven't watched live kickboxing since It's Showtime held their Tenerife event in November. I'm still not sure if HDnet plans on showing the full event or just the main card. There are a few undercard fights I'm hoping I'll get to see.
L'houcine Ouzgni is fighting Yohan Lidon and Melvin Manhoef vs Tyrone Spong should be nothing short of amazing. The rest of the undercard is very solid match making as well, with guys like Edwards, Watanabe, and Parparyan paired up against some good fighters.

Moving onto the main card Anderson "Braddock" Silva will fight Michael Duut. I have not yet seen Duut fight but have seen Braddock on a few occasions, so going off that I expect Braddock to win. Chris Ngimbi will rematch Hurat Grigorian, their first fight was in 2009 with Grigorian taking the decision in an extension round. Both of these guys bring it so we should be in for an entertaining fight. Next on the card, Rico Verhoeven and Errol Zimmerman. Rico Verhoeven is on a 3 fight win streak and coming off a decision victory over Hesdy Gerges from SuperKombat's November event in Romania. Zimmerman won the SuperKombat: Fight Club tournament at the same event. Verhoeven will provide a stiffer test for Zimmerman, as Zimmerman clearly out matched his tournament opponents. Robin Van Roosmalen, a fighter who I'm rather high on at the moment, is set to face Murat Direkci. Direkci once held the 70kg title for It's Showtime but lost it to Chris Ngimbi. He would lose again to Ngimbi at It's Showtime: Fast and Furious tournament. Roosmalen on the other hand, would replace an injured Giorgio Petrosyan in the Fast and Furious before it started. Beating Oulad El Hadj, Ngimbi, and Kyshenko in one night and taking home the 50,000 EUR prize. Neither Direkci or Roosmalen have competed since the September tournament but I will be rooting for Robin Van Roosmalen to continue his run. Up next is a fight for Hesdy Gerges's It's Showtime heavyweight strap, between Gerges and Daniel Ghita. The two fought each other about 10 months ago with Gerges getting the nod. Gerges has lost one and won one since the two met, while Ghita has fought and finished two times in the same time span. Finally, after all those fights happen we'll get what everyone is excited for, Saki vs Hari. Both guys are fast, mean, and have the power to put each other out. I'd like to see Hari walk away from the sport with another win, but I'd hate to see Saki lose, so I'll leave it at that and just watch and yell.

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At only 27 years of age with a professional career spanning more then a decade, on January 28 we will get one last look at Badr Hari the kickboxer. When Badr Hari steps into the ring with Gokhan Saki, in his 89th professional fight, it may very well be his last kickboxing match ever. Eyeing the United States as a new training base and the sport of boxing as a new craft to hone, this coming Saturday Badr Hari will leave us for potentially greener pastures. As a tribute to the fighter known as the Golden Boy or the Devil Prince, I will attempt to guide you through the ups and downs of the legend.

We'll jump right into videos after the jump, it's pretty lengthy

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what you're looking for is after the jump

For those of you who didn't know, yesterday (Jan. 21, 2012) Milan, Italy was host to Yokkao Extreme 2012. Yokkao manufactures Muay Thai equipment and sponsors quite a few elite fighters. Buakaw, Saenchai, Sudsakorn, Pajonsuk, and the Petrosyan brothers, just to name a few, were all participants at the event that ran both Thai and K-1 rules bouts. The only videos out there at the moment are some short cell phone videos, and some very low quality footage someone got recording the jumbotron. I've read on a few sites that the event will air on Eurosport on March 1st so we should all have quality videos availiable to us after then. I'll post the match-ups and I'll leave the results out, but if you'd like to know go here.

The match-ups:

Vanni Fae vs Lelio Ramunni - Muay Thai rules, 81kg/178lbs

Silvia La Notte vs Arianna Santos - Muay Thai rules, 48kg/105lbs

Alessandro Campagna vs Corrado Zanchi - Muay Thai rules, 70kg/154lbs

Ekapop Sor. Klinmee vs Esteban Maza - Muay Thai rules, 70kg/154lbs

Imwiset Pornnarai vs Angelo Campoli - Muay Thai rules, 65kg/143lbs

Pajonsuk Por. Pramuk vs Karim Bennoui - Muay Thai rules, 60kg/132lbs

Cedric Muller vs Bruno Franchi - K1 rules, 71kg/156lbs

Armen Petrosyan vs Djime Coulibaly - K1 rules, 72.5kg/160lbs

Fabio Pinca vs Saenchai Sinbi - Muay Thai Rules, 66kg/145 lbs

Marco Pique vs Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee - Muay Thai Rules, 70kg/154lbs

Abraham Roqueni vs Giorgio Petrosyan - K1 rules, 70kg/154lbs

Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs Dzhabar Askerov - k1 rules, 70kg/154 lbs

Save for the first four bouts, I'm familiar with every fighter on the card. It's a shame we couldn't see it live as it was indeed stacked.

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It's called Bareknuckle: Memoirs of the Undefeated Champion, and it's a sad story. Bartley Gorman, the so-called "King of the Travellers", was the barefisted fighting champion of the United Kingdom from approximately 1972 to 1992. His life story is early UFC meets Fight Club meets The Fighter meets Unforgiven, and it's really a cautionary tale about violence, poverty, education and class.

I never knew this, because I'm just an Ugly American who hasn't spent much time in Europe, but apparently there is a significant subculture in the U.K. of "Irish Travellers", people of ethnically Irish descent who travel through Ireland, Britain and Scotland in their caravans of trailers, making their socioeconomically marginal livings on the fringes of conventional society, primarily as migrant laborers and traders. (Holy crap, there is apparently even an Irish Traveller population here in the U.S.) It sounds like something out of medieval times, but this subculture still exists today, and it maintains a tradition of bareknuckle fighting that extends back hundreds, if not thousands of years, possibly to the days when the Celtic tribes ruled pre-Roman Britain. Into this tradition was born a red-haired boy, Bartley Gorman, and he grew up to become, in his day, the best bareknuckle fighter in all the land. But what did it gain him?

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Last night in the main event of UFC on FX: Miller vs. Guillard, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard had a fight where both showed everything they were known for. Jim Miller showed there is no shot hard enough to stop him from searching for a submission, while Guillard showed dynamite in his hands and looked helpless on the ground against a superior grappler. No sooner had Miller taken Guillard’s back and locked-up the fight-ending rear naked choke than fans on the web the world over began tweeting and commenting with one main theme — "Why won’t Melvin just work on his jiu jitsu, already? He’s got so much wasted potential."

Well, that’s a load of BS.

Allow me to present a quick case study of two fighters.

Fighter A is a hard-nosed fighter. After every fight he diligently breaks down his performance to find holes in his game, win or lose, and spends his time working his ass off to fill those holes. This hard-working style works well and he grinds his way into the top half of the division in the UFC. Fighter A finds himself fighting for the title more than once, but ultimately he just does not have the physical tools to get over the hump and be the best, no matter how hard he works.

Fighter B is a physically gifted fighter. While his work ethic in regards to assessing his problems, learning from them, then drilling until they are no longer so glaring is often criticized, nobody can deny the natural gifts that Fighter B possesses. He fights with a speed and strength unmatched by anyone in the division, but ultimately fails to ever put together a long run at the top of the division as he finds his weakness exploited by top fighters every time he starts to sniff a title shot.

By the masses, Fighter A is considered somebody who maximized his potential, and just never was somebody destined to be physically capable of winning a title. Fighter B is bemoaned as a waste of talent, somebody good enough to win the title if he could just get his mind straight for a couple years in a row. For some bizarre reason, a fighter with a physical deficiency who achieves more is considered less viable as a true potential-champion than a fighter whose flaws are mental but has never reached the heights of his counterpart. Why is this?

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This is a great book, really really interesting. Sheridan's a hell of a writer. I liked his last book, A Fighter's Heart, which I reviewed here a few weeks ago, but I might like this one even more. He interviews a bunch of fascinating guys: Dan Gable, Freddie Roach, Mark DellaGrotte, Marcelo Garcia, Ricardo Liborio, Pat Miletich, Rory Markham, Andre Ward, Virgil Hunter, Randy Couture, David Horton, Kenny Florian, Frank Shamrock, Josh Waitzkin, Greg Jackson, John Danaher, and Renzo Gracie. Most of these men are martial artists, all of them are genuine tough guys. Sheridan's smart and honest and he takes us with him as he tries to learn what these gurus have to teach about mental toughness.

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