MMA Roundup: GSP, Silva-Sonnen, Nam Phan

Silly you. Were you under the impression that the unprecedented number of injuries among UFC main event and co-main event fighters had slowed down a bit? That the fans and fighters alike were finally catching a break? Well, it now appears that the UFC 137 card was just too good to be true.

GSP out against Condit at UFC 137

UFC 137 just seems to be doomed, doesn’t it? First we lost our awesome title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz because Diaz doesn’t enjoy public speaking, now we won’t see St. Pierre in action at all, as he has sprained his knee and will be out of UFC 137.

Apparently, Carlos Condit, who was to face GSP, will now sit out the event and simply wait for St. Pierre to be healthy, rather than fighting a last-minute substitute. The Diaz-BJ Penn co-main event, which is admittedly a great fight, will now be the main event.

On the bright side, there are still some quality fights to look forward to, including Cro Cop vs. Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione and Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop. Oddly, the awesome Dennis Siver-Donald Cerrone tilt is inexplicably still a preliminary bout, as Dustin Jacoby and Brad Tavares will apparently be promoted to the main card. Incredibly, Jeff Curran and Scott Jorgensen will be doing battle on the prelims, and not even the Spike TV-aired prelims, but the Facebook ones. This is a deep card, folks.

Anderson Silva doesn’t think Chael Sonnen deserves a title shot

Ed Soares recently told Sherdog that Anderson Silva doesn’t think Chael Sonnen has earned another shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship. Silva’s manager was on Sherdog’s “Rewind” show and said that “Anderson just feels that he doesn’t deserve it yet.” He went on to say that Anderson has “fought [Sonnen] once. He had his opportunity, but hey, if Dana wants to put the fight on again, we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”

First, I think that Silva is either playing some mental games here or is a little off his rocker. Sonnen was the clear number two in the division before his first fight with Silva, and gave Silva far and away the toughest fight he’s had in the UFC, and perhaps the only tough fight Silva has seen in the Octagon, period. Since then, he has defeated Brian Stann, who sneaked into title contention before his bout with Sonnen. He has absolutely earned the shot.

Let’s say that Silva really believes that Sonnen hasn’t done enough to get another title shot, though. Many fans also like to point out “unearned” title shots in various weight classes, but what usually isn’t brought up is a very important question: “Who else should get the shot, then?”

Even Soares struggles to answer that query. When asked about whether Michael Bisping could be a good contender if he beats Jason Miller, Soares says “I never even really thought of Bisping too much.” The only other person he mentions specifically as a good challenger is GSP, and we know that isn’t happening in the next several months, if ever. So if not Sonnen, who?

Nam Phan doesn’t want a rematch with Leonard Garcia…probably

Nam Phan has broken a few hearts recently, telling everyone that asks him that he is not interested in a third bout with Leonard Garcia. I’m sure that you can immediately think of his reasoning. If you guessed “he feels like he’s already won two fights against Garcia,” give yourself a pat on the back! Or a cookie, if you’re really lazy and/or can’t reach your back. Second thought, if you can’t reach your back, don’t have a cookie. Let’s just get on with it.

During a stop on Sherdog’s “Beatdown” show, Phan said, “I don’t think there needs to be a third fight. I feel that I beat him twice already.”

You’re preaching to the choir, Nam. However, if you are hoping for yet another great balls-to-the-wall brawl between these two, there is hope yet. “If the UFC wants to make [a third fight] happen, I don’t mind trying to get another ‘Fight of the Night’.”

I don’t know how far Phan can go in the deep featherweight division, but I love watching him fight. I’m a sucker for good body shots in MMA, and so few fighters seem to know how to throw them effectively. Phan is brilliant at not only throwing body punches, but knowing when to throw them to keep his opponent off balance and maximize their effectiveness.

ADCC 2011 provides memorable, crazy highlights

Though the latest installment of the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships crowned many champions that are worthy of recognition (Dean Lister comes to mind as someone who completed a great comeback), there are two things we must discuss now that the ADCC has posted highlight videos on YouTube.

For the uninitiated, the ADCC is probably the most prestigious grappling tournament in the world. Along with several weight classes for men and women, there is also an “absolute” class that is open weight, as well as a superfight in each year’s event between two grappling legends.

The first thing you need to see is a clip from the finals of the Over 99 kg tournament. If you remember the eight season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, you may remember Vinny Magalhaes, the brash grappler who was eventually vanquished by Ryan Bader in the final. Magalhaes faced Fabricio Werdum in the Over 99 kg finals, and although he won on points after the two went the distance, his victory did not come easily. For Exhibit A, check out this video of Magalhaes gamely resisting a painful-looking Werdum armbar for nearly three minutes before escaping. I don’t think an Exhibit B is necessary.

The other thing even casual grappling fans (or non-fans, really) will enjoy is this video from Rousimar Palhares and David Avellar’s quarterfinal match. You may remember Palhares (or Paul Harris, for the MMA forum dwellers) as the UFC fighter who has pulled off heel hook submissions at an insanely common rate and has exhibited some of the strangest behavior in UFC history, from having a mid-fight conversation with the ref and getting knocked out by Nate Marquardt for it to thinking he had won his fight with Dan Miller, even celebrating and jumping on the cage, before being told that no, the fight isn’t over and hey, would you like to continue fighting when you get done celebrating?

Well, in the Palhares-Avellar video, you will see Palhares slap on a great heel hook, which he refused to release when the ref tried to stop the action as the competitors had gone out of bounds, even cranking it a little after the ref first tried to intervene. Then, Palhares seems to think he has won, slapping a super-aggressive hug attempt on the now-annoyed Avellar. When they are restarted in the same position in the middle of the mat, it takes all of about 3.2 seconds for Palhares to spin into an extremely nasty kneebar, which he immediately cranks, causing an obvious injury to Avellar. Then, Palhares awkwardly insists upon a post-match hug with the ailing Avellar, even while making light of the previous hug attempt when the match was moved to the middle of the mat. Avellar is having none of it, though, and…well, just watch the video. It’s 5 minutes of WTF-gold.

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Tags: ADCC, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen, Fabricio Werdum, Georges St. Pierre, Leonard Garcia, Nam Phan, Nick Diaz, Rousimar Palhares, UFC, UFC 137, Vinny Magalhaes