Inside MMA TV report

By Steve Te Tai ( tetai@inbox.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

***This week, Dan Henderson reveals why he’s personally so happy Ronda Rousey is in the main event and Dana White lashes out about Jon Fitch.  On the heels of Ronda Rousey’s UFC debut, America’s Top Model enters the MMA world, and in the wake of Olympic wrestling being cancelled a Gold medallist jumps to MMA and explains his path to the cage.  Plus the 2^nd most historic moment for UFC 157 is discussed and much more, all this week on Inside MMA!

UFC 157:  Rousey vs. Carmouche

Kenny points out how rarely you can say something is about to happen that’s never happened before, but it will happen when Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche debut the women’s fighting division in the UFC. 

--Rousey vs. Carmouche.  Bas says he was very impressed with Ronda’s footwork from her last fight.  She moved forward the correct way.  She can do very well against a striker.  Carmouche needs to cut angles or she’’ll get taken down.  Always go from the side and be ready for the armbar.  And always be ready for that second armbar attempt, because once one is actually able to escape or prevent an armbar from Ronda she can quickly reposition and get a second one.

--Henderson vs. Machida.  Hendo has been off a long time, but Bas says he needs to bullrush Machida since Lyoto is such a great counter fighter.  If he runs towards him forward to clinch and ground and pound, or maybe dirty boxing.  Lyoto needs to cut angles right away so he doesn’t get run over.  But cutting angles are the most important thing for Machida to execute his game against Henderson.

--Ivan Menjivar vs. Urijah Faber.    Ivan needs to cut angles and execute his footwork.  Attack Urijah, wait for the counter and when Faber plants his feet, go for the takedown.  Faber needs to not go in too fast, and never go straight back if Ivan bulrushes him.

Ron Kruck says he’s never seen more mainstream media coverage for a MMA event in his life.  The UFC told him they’ve had several hundred media requests from around the world, more than ever before.  The Honda Center is expected to be sold out.  Ronda says this is is a big deal and didn’t necessarily want to be first but she did want to be in the UFC and be champoion.  Liz Carmouche was interviewed by Larry King this morning (on ora.tv) and couldn’t believe she was doing that.  (I couldn’t believe that either, I thought King was long retired!)

Ronda thought it was coolest to be in Time magazine, since you’d never expect a MMA article with them, and she filmed a piece for HBO too.  She likes that they are doing this with genuine interest and not just as a novelty.  Dana says this fight has had more mainstream media coverage than even Brock Lesnar’s fights and Sonnen-Silva.  It’s a front page LA Times article and the first and second page of USA Today.

Henderson notices how much more press this show is getting and it’s a good thing.  Machida says everybody want to know about these women and how they train and their story.  It’s good.

Kruck expects Rousey-Carmouche to have an exciting fight that will not disappoint first time casual fans.  Kruck adds that Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida were told that the winner will challenge Jon Jones next.  Their fight likely would’ve been the main event if not for the historical significance of Rousey-Carmouche which suits them just fine, particularly Dan Henderson.  After being off for 15 months and recovering from an injury, Hendo was just happy to not have to train for a five round fight!

King Mo is no mo’

The most ballyhooed fighter Bellator ever had, King Mo Lawal, was knocked out at Bellator 90 by Emanuel Newton with a spinning backfist that popped Mo on the chin and virtually hit the “off” button on Mo (and might’ve given more reason why putting Mo in a tournament against no-namers was probably not a good idea.) 

Bas saw that Mo would drop his hands after every combination and wonders if Newton noticed that as well and exploited it.  Kenny points out all the eggs they put in Mo’s basket and what happens now.  (According to Bellator’s M.O., that means waiting until a new tournament, whenever that would be…  Bellator needs to wake up and add superfights already.)  Other bouts from Bellator 90 include:

--Shahbulat Shamhalaev over Rad Martinez

--Ben Saunders over Raul Amaya

--Douglas Lima over Bryan Bader

This show sets up Douglas Lima vs. Ben Saunders in the welterweight finals and Emanuel Newton will face Mikhail Zayats in the Bellator light heavyweight finals.

Miesha Tate LIVE

Miesha joins us on the big screen outdoors in Anaheim, the site of Rousey-Carmouche.  She knew as soon as Ronda was announced for the UFC, she expected to be signed for sure since she would need opponents.  The beauty of MMA is she doesn’t know how the Rousey-Carmouche fight will unfold and personally doesn’t care who wins, but she wants a stellar performance and for them to make a statement about women’s MMA.  The entire experience of women finally in the UFC is still surreal to her.  Once Rousey and Carmouche step into the Octagon will be that moment when women have arrived.

Miesha Tate faces Cat Zingano on April 13.  She’s been following Cat’s career for quite a while and is very aware of her.  She used to fight at 125 but had trouble keeping that wait.  Stylistically they are similar which she thinks makes for an interesting fight. 

“Miesha Tate’s Top Ten”

1. 1.Ronda Rousey
2. 2.Miesha Tate
3. 3.Sarah Kaufman
4. 4.Alexis Davis
5. 5.Sara McMann
6. 6.Cat Zingano
7. 7.Liz Carmouche
8. 8.Sarah D’Alelio
9. 9.Shayna Baszler

10. Leslie Smith

Kenny laughs that she didn’t put Cat higher since she’s fighting her next, but they all see how much depth there is in women’s fighting.  The 135 pound women’s division has arrived and they are here with force.  They are all there to support this historic event. 

She’s taking a more light-hearted approach to her training camps lately, having more fun with it.  There was a point in her career where she was overwhelmed by the politics of the sports and social media could be too much too, but she’s changed herself mentally and learned to love fighting again.  She can’t put into words how thrilled she is to be a part of this.  As one of the pioneers of the sports she couldn’t be any prouder of the women that are doing what they are doing here today.

She thinks Cyborg can make 135, even if it’s difficult and that it’ll happen.  She’ll make a big splash were comeback in Invicta, but is confident she’ll get a deal with the UFC in the future.

Liz Carmouche’s unique place in MMA history

Not only will women debut in the UFC, but Liz is also the first openly gay fighter to compete in the UFC.  She says Dana has been supportive of her work in the LBGT community, and while there has been some negative feedback from some because of her sexuality, but for every one of those there are 500 others who voice positive reaction.  She hopes her public coming out will encourage others to do so. 

Dana says if you are gay in the UFC he could care less.  You will not be treated any differently because of that, or what color you are.  It is simply not that big of a deal anymore. 

Kruck points out most athletes come out after retirement and rarely does one come out who are just entering the pinnacle of her career.

Kenny says Ronda is a double digit favorite, but Liz loves the underdog role with expectations so low, she is looking forward to “ruining the UFC’s plans” and shock the world.  Kruck expects to see a sense of urgency in the other fights coming off the heels of the massive cuts Dana did this week.

Cage AXS

In a new bit, they highlight a recent MFC show, where TUF alum Sam Alvey (sp?) fought with his wife, former America’s Top Model winner McKee at ringside.  They showed the fight and ran a split screen with his wife at ringside, except she was acting as captain and cornerman, shouting out full fight instructions to her husband drowning out the real cornerman and basically anyone else.  He seemed to ignore her until he was kicked in the groin and the clip ended.

Bas says if his wife was at one of his fights she’d throw the towel in as soon as he got into some trouble which would “end the marriage.”

Viewer Submissions MMA Highlights

--Paul Gaffney over Toleffson Lewis with a virtual chokeslam KO at New Hampshire Fight League.

--Sasa Drobac over Jakob Kosic for the Croatian MMA League in a giant square cage

--Paul Felder beat Khama Worthy & Ricky Nuno on two different shows for Pinnacle Fighting Championships where he pins them up against the cage and then smashes his left knee into their face.

Jon Fitch … you’re fiiiiiiiirrrreedd!!!!

Kenny Rice says 16 fighters were released with the promise of more to come.  This is the largest cut in UFC history.  Via clip, Dana angrily explains that this guy (Fitch) is on a “skid”.  Anyway you want to look at it, a skid is a skid.  A draw, 2 losses, and a win against someone who never fought anybody.  Don’t even think this isn’t a business whether he is ranked #9 in the world or not.  It doesn’t matter that he’s not going to stick around here.  A hundred other guys are going to go.

Bas was surprised since his fight with Erick Silva was an awesome fight and felt Fitch deserved one more fight to prove himself.  (I’m glad Dana included that quote about this being a business, as Fitch has been lucky to have been around as long as he has despite his winning record.  Dana wanted to get rid of Machida years ago piling up win after boring win, but Lyoto turned the corner and started to have exciting fights, found his brand of charisma, won big fights, and became a star.  Fitch never did, bottom line.)

Henry Cejudo LIVE

Henry Cejudo, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal wrestler is making the transition to MMA on March 2.  Henry joins us on the big screen from a gym in Orlando.  As they are beginning the interview, Henry turns to the side and starts talking to some guy.  Kenny starts yelling at him to tell people to stop talking to him.

Henry explains that he still wants to compete and since he boxed and wrestled figured he’d mix it all up and go into MMA.  And since he fell short in his bid to make the 2012 Olympics he’s focused 100% on this now.

Henry reveals he actually boxed for three and a half years and had 4 amateur bouts including entrance into Arizona’s toughest boxing tournament.  While he doesn’t have his standup game completely down, he calls it pretty tough and he can bob and weave and throw some good punches.  People might be surprised since they’d be expecting a takedown.

Kenny points out that Olympic Gold medal wrestlers with the exception of Kevin Jackson, all just did one fight and that was it including Mark Schultz, Kenny Monday, Rulon Gardner, Istvan Majoros, and Karam Gaber.  Henry points out that MMA is still somewhat new to Olympic wrestlers and winning that Gold medal is usually done at their physical peak and the peak of their lives.  For him being 26, he can transition easier into MMA than the others perhaps.  He’s always been a big fan of MMA though, and even remembers renting old UFC tapes from Hollywood Video seeing Bas Rutten beat Kevin Randleman.

He is somewhat unique in wrestling that he can shoot in from his right or left, but for some reason he just loves to shoot in his takedowns from his left leg, even if more dominant from his right.  He can lead with right or left boxing as well.  So he is a little tricky and his debut will be interesting.

He hopes to fight 8 times in 2013.  In wrestling he competed 35-40 matches per year internationally, so to him, he’s approaching it the same.  The more he competes the more he can figure himself out and the fights will get easier.  There’s a lot to learn in MMA and he knows wrestling and boxing and he’s moving into jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and just knowing the little tricks, being a blend of everything since he can’t just go out there and box or wrestle. 

He picked Gladiator Challenge since so many former wrestlers started there.  He wants a consistent base instead of travelling all over until moving on to fight throughout the US or Japan.

What surprised him most about learning MMA is shooting.  You can’t shoot the ankles and it’s usually above the knee and to the butt crease.  You have to hide your head and always watch for knees.  As an athlete he can transition well.  He calls himself a student of the game and is very nitpicky and if he’ll notices things about a certain opponent he’ll register that in his head.  He brings his entire Olympic aspect into MMA, and he is a student of the game.  .

Bas says it’s great that he’s boxed because the biggest shock for people that come from a ground game background like wrestling or jiu-jitsu is getting hit in the face.  Once you’re afraid of that you’re defense becomes panicky and everything goes downhill from there.

Best of the Week

4. Grant Spencer wins the MFC strap with a north-south choke.

3. The chokeslam from Paul Gaffney from the Viewer Submissions.

2. Renan Barao big win over tough Michael McDonald

1.  All the big knockouts at Bellator 90

Upcoming AXS TV shows
--Mar 1 10pm ET Legacy FC 18

--Mar 15 10pm ET Lion Fights 9 (Van Soest vs. Natalie Yip)