Our man Jordan Cieciwa breaks down UFC 144 in Japan
UFC 144 comes at us Live from Japan. Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson, Rampage Jackson vs Ryan Bader, Mark Hunt vs Cheick Kongo, Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama vs Jake Sheilds, Yushin Okami vs Tim Boetsch. That’s the main card, Gomi and Pettis didn’t even make the main event! That’s how stacked it is. Two full fights that you have to see. Just listing the fights is enough to make you want to tune in… once you break them down, well, it’s a can’t miss event. Congrats to the UFC this will make a string of events that have all been worth the wait and PPV buy. Thank you Joe Silva.
Let’s start with what didn’t make the main card. Anthony Pettis vs Joe Lauzon. Remember Anthony Pettis? If you forgot the matrix run the wall kick, it wouldn’t be that strange. I mean since that kick the UFC has been a buzz with actual knock outs (Edison Barboza). If you recall, Pettis didn’t score the knock out, but he did beat Ben Henderson to win the WEC title. Pettis is coming out of Duke Rufus Gym, that means he is going to be ready to strike. That’s good news as it is the perfect compliment to his ground game. It seems Pettis goes to decision and wins with his striking, or he gets a submission. Joe Lauzon on the other hand… well that boy gets submissions. He has won 3 of his last 4 fights. Those wins were first round submissions. I can’t believe this one is not a main card bout, but fortunately we still get to see it!
Hot on the heels of “I can’t believe it’s not a main card bout” is another “I can’t believe it’s not a main card bout”. Since when is Takanori Gomi not on a main event? Maybe it’s because he has only won 1 out of his last 5… but I remember his Pride days… if that fighter shows up, this will be a good fight. The Gomi of Pride was an aggressive power striker. If he has taken his time to prepare, expect “The Fireball Kid” to get his knockout. His opponent is Eiji Mitsuoka. UFC.com says he has 4 fights. Well, that’s not exactly right. If you look at the match on UFC, no person in their right mind would allow it. Look into the career of Mitsuoka and you have a fighter with tons of experience in Sengoku and Deep shows. Trust me, you need talent to compete there. At 36, he has no UFC fights, but it really doesn’t matter, he is game and you are going to see one heck of a fight. Gomi needs to redeem or retire, and Mitsuoka will be fighting for personal pride. The guys I know that compete in Japan hate the fact that UFC fans write them off. Trust me, you may not have heard of him but he has 4 first round submission wins in his last 6 fights. That’s impressive by any standards.
So now that you are all fired up from the prelims, the first fight we are going to see is Okami vs Boetsch. Someone is going to get punched. And probably repeatedly. These two boys both excel in the ground and pound arena. This will be a fight of wills. Expect some serious take down attempts and a lot of ground control. It will be a wrestling style match, I really can’t see this having much for the kickboxing connoisseurs out there. All I can say is this will be a gritty war. I am going to give the edge to Okami. He has beat some of the best, and I really don’t think Boetsch has anything Okami hasn’t seen, and hasn’t see from better talent. IE. Boetsch is not a better wrestler than Munoz, and he surely isn’t a better striker than Alan Belcher.
Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama vs Jake Sheilds this is one of those fights that could be the best match up ever, or it may be boring as hell because of the respect factor. Sheilds has an extremely unique style thanks to a solid wrestling base, and a Black Belt from Cesar Gracie. That unique style has become known as American Jujitsu. The difference between a solid BJJ guy and someone like Sheilds is flow. You will see most BJJ guys transition from submission to submission and capitalize on mistakes. Sheilds will look to control his opponent and impose a submission or work some elbows into his ground and pound attack. The only way to battle back against Jakes’ style, in my opinion, is solid Judo. Unless the opponent can out wrestle him(ie. GSP). The only way to work against a solid wrestler is with something they are not used to, Judo does jus t that. And Sexy Yama has good Judo. Akiyama will be able to keep Shields guessing enough to utilize his striking bower. Watch as this fight goes from a clinch against the cage to a slug fest. If it comes down to punches, Akiyama will win. If Shields get this to the ground in control, he will find the submission. My money is on Sexy Yama… he is crafty!
Mark Hunt vs Cheick Kongo all I am going to say about this one is watch this one for the 2 rounds it will take for these two monsters to beat each other up. Hunt’s chin is legendary, and Cheick has more power than he knows what to do with. It will end mid way in the second, and I firmly believe it will end with Hunt throwing an upper cut/hook combination.
Rampage Jackson vs Ryan Bader wil start with a bag, and should end pretty quickly as well. Ramapage seem s to have lost a step these days. Personally, I just don’t seem him evolving with the sport. He relies on one punch power, and a very good wrestling background. But the game has changed. In my opinion, Bader is the new Rampage. Powerful, fast, but he adds more technique. He relies heavily on the sportsman side of things. He is strong, fast, and hits hard. If that doesn’t work he backs up and tries the same thing again. There won’t be any shocks to this fight, just a lot of double leg shots and Mat sweeping right hands all the way from the basement. Be fun to watch though, someone is going to be KO’d. I am pretty sure that someone is going to be Rampage.
Finally… Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson. I have literally counted Frankie out of every fight he has been in. So Frankie, I apologise. I have been waiting for you to lose, and you just haven’t don’t that. It’s strange how I gave Jon Jones instant respect, years ago Anderson got it as well, but for some reason, it wasn’t until Frankie got to this fight where I am publically saying, I expect him to win. Henderson has some dynamic take downs, but nothing that Frankie hasn’t seen in his last to go’s with Grey Maynard. Henderson also hits hard and fast, but Frankie has been the Octagon with BJ Penn. Love Penn or hate him, no one is that explosive. Henderson doesn’t bring anything that Frankie hasn’t beat before. With that said Ben Henderson is talented. He can’t be counted out, and on this stacked card all the way over in Japan, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see these two go at it. It will be a fantastic fight, that’s all these two athletes know to do. They push the pace, and both look to impose their own game plans. That battle of wills always makes for a solid match up. For the first time since I have been giving my opinion, Frankie is going to take this one. I hope I am not the kiss of death. Not that it matters, but I think Frankie has nothing more to prove, he just really is that good.
There you have it… One of the most stacked cards in months for the UFC. It’s coming at you Saturday February 25th. Tune in to TSN 1290 online Wednesday the 22nd as we get more in depth and get a few expert opinions on the card. It is going to be a good one!