EA MMA 2!!!

Yeah I know it's not exactly breaking news but I was so stoked to find out this was going to happen that I completely forgot to post it here.

Source: Middle Easy's take on EA MMA 2




 All I can say is thank the maker. Sitting around waiting for a THQ patch for UFC3 was taking forever and the realization that THQ made 3 MMA games and figured out a way to screw all of them up made the future of MMA games seem bleak. I thought we were back to the same routine that I saw many games in the late 90s and early 2000s go where the attitude with their games was "No patches, buy a half ass sequel instead".

 People can say what they want about EA MMA but I liked it. Considering EA didn't sell as many copies of EA MMA then THQ sold of UFC2010, it was amazing to see EA actually attempt to patch their game and support it for as long as they did (EA MMA was considered a flop in sales by many). I always thought if EA got one more chance they could come up with something close to perfect and now they finally have it. Now that EA has the UFC licenses, I'm hoping EA puts more money and effort into the sequel since they are guaranteed great sales. I mean look at THQ's UFC games, they have mediocre graphics and online functions out of an Xbox1 game yet those games sold well into the millions on both consoles, imagine what a good game will do with that license.

 I'm expecting big things here. EA MMA 2 should blow us away and borrow it's gameplay from everything that worked in UFC3, EA MMA1, and Fight Night:Champions. The online should be up to par with Super Street Fighter IV Arcade in terms of rankings, tournaments, replays, ect.. I want to see full effort made and EA flexing it's resources with animations and graphics. I want pride FC, strikerforce, UFC, Classic UFC rules. I want it all and I'm hoping EA delivers the best MMA game made to date.

Wow! Lots of Drama Going On in MMA

I didn't catch the fight last weekend mainly cause I'm poor and have no interest in watching Rashad beat Tito. Kinda glad too cause I missed the whole "Wardrobe Malfunction" that occurred. More people are talking about the Golden Glory fighters being let go by Zuffa then the card itself, now there's definitely some juicy politics involved in that one. I could put on my conspiracy theory hat but then you would have to read 3 whole pages of crap to what would amount to "I have no fucking clue why this is happening".

Fedor being let go from Strikeforce is a big hit (for Fedor mainly). I know Fedor has ties to M-1 but unless M-1 actually promotes some big fights with big star fighters, it's basically "the Fedor League" and honestly the perception of American fans, is we don't even consider it a league, just Fedor's management. Maybe business wise it's smart for Fedor to stay with M-1 but for his fight career, it hurts it. It's one thing being beaten in a top league but what if Fedor fights a nobody and gets defeated? I personally don't want to see that, Fedor shouldn't be a stepping stone for up and comers, he earned the right to fight names just like Chuck Liddell earned the right to go out fighting top guys and not scrubs. It's a shame too cause everything was looking so promising after the Zuffa merger for Strikeforce but now they've lost 2 of their big name heavyweights and the female division (which according to Dana White doesn't have enough fighters) looses a top contender.... and what did Strikeforce gain from this? Keith Jardine..... well someone got shafted in this deal.

Obligatory source links
Fedor gets cut from Strikeforcce
Bas Rutten's thoughts on Golden Glory Vs Zuffa

Now for some OMMA stuff that happened over the weekend. Well I'm back at editing videos again, did a little promo for them


The cards I was involved in
Ultimate Combat 11 "To Hell and Back"
Bushido 32 "Silva vs Burns II"
Strikers' Challenge 9 "One Ring to Rule Them All"

My CAF Arnold did a little interview for "The voice vs." before he defended his belt, check it out here

Post Strikeforce/M1-Global Fedor vs Hendo

For those that don't know, Fedor was Ko'ed on Saturday by Dan Henderson and it's created a ton of controversy from Fedor fans and Fedor haters as to whether the fight was stopped too early by Herb Dean. Personally, I believe Herb Dean made the right call. I mean Fedor was limp, there is no denying this. Herb doesn't have the benefit of instant replays and multiple camera angles, he has to make a split second decision based on the safety of the athlete. I watched the fight multiple times and yes, on the replay it looks like Fedor turns to Dan and recovers but that's easy for someone like me to notice in the comfort of my own home with the benefit of rewind but in the moment when you are the only official in the cage and all eyes are looking at you to arbitrate the fight, you have to err on the side of caution. We don't know if Fedor was mentally sound enough to defend himself from Dan's ground and pound to survive the round or if Dan would have caved in his face, those are hypothetical and I don't tend to dwell on those too much.

I think a good deal of the anger that has come from the stoppage was that the fans just wanted to see round 2. I mean round 1 was electrifying with both guys suffering big close calls. Remember, Dan was in trouble right before the KO happens and before that Dan was landing some shots. The pendulum of momentum was swinging both ways that night, it just happened to stop in favor of Dan.

Now there's questions about Fedor's future in the sport and I wouldn't mind him retiring now however this is also a sport where people are practically one fight away from a belt or number one contender spot. Look at Tito Ortiz, most including myself believed him to be done but he gets one win and is now given a number 1 contender fight against Rashad. If Fedor does choose to keep fighting, I believe his career is better off if he left M1-Global and just go into the UFC. You never know, he could win one fight and due to injuries plaguing the roster, get a shot at a title or number 1 contender fight (just like Tito).

It's a shame Dan's win over Fedor has to be plagued by this early stoppage debate but it is was it is.

As for the whole card, it wasn't too bad. Most fights went how I thought they would go but there are some highlights.

SCOTT SMITH vs TAREC SAFFIEDINE- Smith looked like he had nothing left in round 3 and who can blame him when Saffiedine outclasses him in the stand up completely. I'm not liking this welterweight version of Smith, so far he hasn't been performing very well lately.

PAUL DALEY vs TYRON WOODLEY- I'm really impressed that Daley was able to starve off the takedown in round 1 and later on in the fight was almost able to get a gogoplatta. That shows he's been working on his weaknesses(ground game). Woodley looked like he was tired in round 3 which is something I wasn't expecting. The fight wasn't as one sided as I expected but it still ended with Woodley winning.

ROBBIE LAWLER vs TIM KENNEDY- Lawler was dissapointed at the decision but seriously he only landed 1 big blow which was the uppercut that broke Kennedy's nose. Rather then press Kennedy in round 3 (takedowns be damned) he just let Kennedy grab him and stall. Lawler had a chance here to take out a Tim Kennedy without his greatest asset, cardio. Kennedy didn't have a full camp for this fight and after round 2 couldn't breath through his nose but instead has to forcibly breath through his mouth guard, Lawler didn't press this weakness. Kennedy was looking a little sloppy in the stand up department but he was still able to turn this fight into a grappling contest which despite the booing in the crowd and some people thinking Kennedy was fighting cowardly (typical meathead reaction) he won. There's a difference between fear and caution, I'm not afraid of fire but I wouldn't stand in the middle of a bonfire. I just think it's ignorant to call a former war veteran who's been in firefights and stepping into the cage against someone with 15 KO's "afraid of getting knocked out". I'm sure the majority of MMA fans understand why Kennedy fought that way, it's just too bad the morons (who tend to be the loudest) have to shout BS during a live fight and make their opinions known in comments and message boards. That's Ok, cause most of the negative comments I've read about Kennedy seem to be coming from people with the spelling skill and intelligence of a kindergartner.

MARLOES COENEN vs MIESHA TATE - Fight of the night in my opinion. Coenen didn't get um... what's the correct term for this, womanhandled? like she did with Liz and fought a very competitive grappling match with Tate. Tate won round one but Coenen won round 2 and it went back and forth. Lots of reversals and for the few moments it was standing Coenen was landing some good straights. Congratulations to Tate on the sub victory, it's always an accomplishment to submit a submission master.

FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs DAN HENDERSON- I've basically covered this earlier but it did feel like the fight ended before it even really got started which is a shame but that's the fight game, it wouldn't be exciting if the unexpected didn't happen and I guess it wouldn't be as fun if people didn't have something to argue about on the internet the next day.

Fedor Vs Hendo Tonight

Well in case it somehow slipped your mind, two MMA legends are duking it out tonight in a terrific card. If you have showtime it's definitely a must watch, there were rumors this matchup was going to be PPV but thanks the powers that be it isn't.

Strikeforce Fedor Vs Hendo



FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs DAN HENDERSON - I believe this is going to be a catchweight fight since Dan Henderson doesn't have the Light Heavyweight belt on the line. The advantage to this fight goes to Fedor, for the first time in a long time he's actually the bigger man in the cage and he's younger. I would also argue that Fedor fought tougher guys in Strikeforce then Dan. That doesn't mean Dan should be counted out either, Dan has his super right hand and his greco-roman clinch game to fall back on. There are rumors that who ever loses this fight is going to be cut but I believe this fight is more do or die for Fedor then it is for Dan. If Fedor looses to Dan, then I can see Strikeforce cutting him or Fedor takes a big pay cut. I don't however see Dan getting cut even if he looses simply cause Dan is a bigger star in American MMA and can still bring in the crowds.

MARLOES COENEN vs MIESHA TATE - This will be Coenen's 2nd title defense and 3rd title fight overall but many feel that she was run over by Liz in her last fight and pulled a hail Mary submission so she's coming in as the underdog. Tate is a power wrestler and she's looking to do exactly what Liz did to Coenen but people forget, Coenen has now fought 2 power grapplers and submitted them, it's possible that Coenen is a submission machine off her back and the bane of every wrestler. If Coenen Submits Tate in this fight then there can be no doubt that she deserves the belt and no one should attempt to ground and pound her again for fear of the subs. If the fight is to remain standing, I think Coenen will be the better technical striker but Tate does have the ability to land one solid punch to end the fight. I know one thing though, if Tate get's full mount it's over, unlike Liz, I'm sure Tate can deliver some devastation from that position.

ROBBIE LAWLER vs TIM KENNEDY - Lawler is going to have to knock out Kennedy in the first minute of the round or else he's going to end up on his back for the rest of the fight. Kennedy has terrific takedowns and cardio, there's no quit in the man. Lawler on the other hand has shown that if you take him down and stay on top, he eventually gets frustrated and gives up. Souza showed this in his title fight with Lawler and Kennedy has better takedowns then Souza so unless Lawler shows a CroCop like takedown defense I don't see him winning this.

PAUL DALEY vs TYRON WOODLEY - Daley was once the number one contender in the UFC till Koscheck beat him and insulted every fiber of his being. Woodley is a Strikeforce:challengers superstar and if he wins this fight, a big name in the organization (he sorta is now but like Jon Jones, I'll believe the hype when fights a name). I think if Woodley takes down Daley, he's got this fight in the bag, in fact, I'm sure Woodley can easily take down Daley and dominate him on the ground. If Woodley wants to make a statement however, he could keep it standing and show off his striking game but I wouldn't risk it against Daley, the guy has power but it all goes away on the ground.

SCOTT SMITH vs TAREC SAFFIEDINE - This will be a huge test for Saffiedine cause to stop Smith, you need to knock him out cold, not rock him or daze him but make sure he falls limp to the canvas or else Smith's Critical hit factor along with his high luck stats will win the day. Granted Saffiedine could try to decision Smith but as history has shown, Smith is a wildcard fighter if there ever was one and you don't want to go the distance with someone like that. I see this as do or die for Smith, less he falls down to Strikeforce Challengers and this is Saffiedine's way out of Strikeforce Challengers. Both guys are fighting for the future of their careers, one wants to remain a named fighter and other is looking to establish his name.

OnlineMMA
I didn't post these last week cause I wanted to have a more substantial article for the blog then just another OMMA post but here's the fights I was in the last 2 weeks.

Bushido:
Bushido 29 "Invincible"
Bushido 30 "No Fear"

My Bushido CAFs
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sylvester Stallone
Ray Burns

Ultimate Combat:
Ultimate Combat 9"Capital Carnage"
Ultimate Combat 10"Supremacy"

My Ultimate Combat CAFs
Ultimate Warrior
Kevin Smith
Jason Mewes

Strikers Challenge:
Strikers Challenge 6 "Only the Strong Survive"
Strikers Challenge 7 "MegaFight"

My Striker's Challenge CAFs
Charlie Sheen
Bert Castro

For those who were keeping track of my guys and are wondering why they got shuffled around the leagues. Here's a press release explaining it

TUF Finale This Weekend and Brutal OnlineMMA Action

I received one of the microphones I ordered and will be testing it out on my next video about the TUF finale. I'll try to watch the marathon that's going to be playing this weekend and see if I can spot the stand out fights or goofball behavior that happened on the show. From the majority of episodes I've seen it's been pretty dull but I heard the last couple of episodes had some good fights so I'll be sure to catch those.

OnlineMMA has some pretty big fight cards this weekend and considering the EA live broadcast this wed. was a little on the dull side due to no shows/disconnects and players basically playing with their opponents rather then finish them *cough*Mr NRG*cough*. I'm hoping it can all be made up with all the MMA action happening this weekend (real and fantasy). Check out the live fights on OMMATV or wait till after the weekend and I'll post the fights I was in but it's worth watching the full card especially if you are new to the game.

If anyone's curious about the EA MMA live broadcast that happened on WED, here's some links for the 360 version. I do think it's really cool that EA has now allowed the community to set up fights and be part of the live broadcast.

Stickforce 2.1

Stickforce 2.2

To be honest, stickforce 1 was a much more action packed event but some things are just out of the control of the promoters.

OnlineMMA and Titan Fighting Championships

Here's my fight that happened this weekend in onlinemma

Watch live video from OnlineMMA on Justin.tv

The other 2 fights were no shows.

I also watched Titan Fighting championship this weekend and it was entertaining due to having a good deal of first round finishes. I did have a problem with the "John Ott vs.Jake Rosholt" DQ knee cause I believe it wasn't intentional and it should be a No contest or tie instead of a gimme win to John Ott, I mean who can ever say "I won a fight by getting kneed in the head", especially when John was loosing the entire fight little by little in every round. The main event was suppose to be this return to form Jens Pulver vs. workhorse Brian Davidson. Jens looked in better shape and he is trying to get back into a bigger promotion but now he's backed into fighting dangerous guys with less of a name. These are fights Pulver really can't afford to loose cause it knocks him down the ladder faster then he can climb it. Pulver even said he's usually the other guy's biggest fight and he's expected to win. The risk of loosing vs the reward of winning doesn't seem to be worth taking fights with lesser known fighters but it's Pulver's choice, maybe he's past his prime? maybe when he fought the competition wasn't as stacked? The answer doesn't really matter cause Pulver's still ready to fight and as for the man who beat him. I don't know if Brian Davidson is still going to pursue fighting but this defiantly helps his gym in terms of promotional material.

As for the big UFC card this weekend, I heard some buzz about the Struve KO and it seems the winners of the 2 fights I was interested in are the ones I expected to win, Rampage and Mir. I guess I'll catch them on UFC unleashed a couple of months from now.... still waiting for Zuffa to show more Pride FC and Strikeforce reruns on spike or VS or whatever.

Microphones and Strikeforce written review

Finally had some cash left in the budget to order some microphones. I got a shotgun mic and a cheap clip on mic as backup. I can't wait to try them out. As for my MMA reviews, I think I'll wait till I get my audio equipment before continuing them and I'll get back to pumping them out within a week of the event. So I'm going to be looking forward and not backwards even though I have things to say about the GSP vs Shields fight and Diaz vs Daley. I might just make those written articles since they happened a while back but they aren't worth doing a whole production since they aren't as new. Ah heck I might as well review one of them now in written format

Strikeforce Diaz Vs. Daley:
It was awesome. The card was worth seeing just for the names involved, I mean I won't lie, I'm a huge Aoki fan despite his shenanigans at Dynamite and he came out there and finally showed the American audience why there is no one as dangerous as him on the ground, with his first round sub of Beerbohm.

The Mousasi vs Jardine fight was a huge letdown, you'd expect Mousasi to run Jardine over but Jardine stayed in there, I have to give Jardine credit for that, he comes into the cage to fight. The thing is Jardine was a gatekeeper in the UFC and Mousasi is the Dream LHW champ, he should have finished Jardine. I know Jardine took it on short notice and to Mousasi's credit he was going to be payed his purse whether he fought or not but that fight wasn't a draw either. Even if we give Jardine round 1 a 10/9, rounds 2 and 3 were 10/8 in favor of Mousasi and even with that point deduction for the upkick, Mousasi should have won. The problem with MMA judging is that the judges are taught the same ass backwards way of judging that the current twits are judging fights. You see, Judges for whatever reason are taught to never give a 10/8 and when you have bad judges teaching new judges, guess what? You end up with terrible decisions like this which might not seem like a big deal but there are people who bet money on these fights, I'm pretty sure it's a big deal to them (I personally don't bet on fights but I have nothing against it). This fight is the only sour note on the whole card.

Melendez vs Kawajiri went like I expected. Most people believed that Kawajiri had the style to beat Melendez due to his win over Josh at Dynamite. The thing is Melendez is a different fighter since he got the belt from Josh and the way Melendez shutdown Aoki in their fight, I knew Melendez was something after that. Considering when Aoki fought Kawajiri, Aoki subbed him in less then 2 minutes and ran him over. A powerful and explosive wrestler like Melendez had no problem doing the same thing to Kawajiri on the ground with devastating elbows.

Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley was fireworks. It's fight of the night, both guys came to fight. Say what you will about Diaz but he didn't go out there and lay on Daley for 3 rounds while whispering insults in his ears like Koshcheck. Nick gave some colorful pre-fight and post fight interviews to Ariel Helwani which are worth checking out (basically he told Ariel he wanted to slap him silly). I really want Nick to fight GSP, I believe GSP can't play it safe with someone like Nick. Nick has terrific hands and his BJJ is superb, it clashes well with GSP's standup and wrestling.

I'll wrap it up by saying that this was the first major Strikeforce card with Zuffa watching and Dana White was there. I don't know what changes to expect for Strikeforce but I do know some employees are already being let go and replaced by Zuffa guys. I hope Strikeforce can maintain it's identity and not turn into a UFC clone *cough*Belletor*cough* but we'll have to wait and see. I will say that despite all the shit I gave Gus Johnson in my Fedor fight review, he was actually ok this time around. He didn't look like a wigless drag queen this time (no one will ever beat Frank Wigg), and he did a good job. Johnson also got to do an "Anchorman" zinger at the end of the broadcast since the fights took place in San Diego. Just before the credits, Gus says "Keep it classy San Diego", he gained some points for that one cause I got a chuckle out of it.

UFC 128 Review

Fighters
Brendan Schaub Vs. Mirko Filipovic
Nate Marquardt Vs. Dan Miller
Jim Miller Vs. Kamal Shalorus
Urijah Faber Vs. Eddie Wineland
Mauricio Rua Vs. Jon Jones

Show Notes: I scripted this one out and tried some stuff with lighting. I'll probably get a microphone at some point. The goal is to do the Diaz vs Daley Strikeforce fight and then be caught up to do the UFC fight with Shields vs GSP.

Strikeforce Henderson Vs Cavalcante Review

ShowNotes: Finally got around to editing up all the footage I have, I'm going to be spending the next week trying to catch up on the fight reviews. It took longer to get the hang of Sony Vegas then I thought it would but I'm learning it's "ins and outs". So far I like it and recommend it over windows movie maker any day.

Strikeforce/M1 Global Fedor vs Silva

Show Notes: Just got back from Strikeforce Challengers and was uploading this before I left. I actually had this filmed on Wed. but due to scheduling, I didn't have time to edit it till Friday. Filming this was also a pain cause it was the first time I shot during the daytime and I kept getting interrupted by outside noise like the neighbor's dog or a helicopter outside. It was minor up until I got to talking about the Fedor fight, cause apparently at that point every neighbor on the block had to get out power tools and do some woodwork. I kept taking breaks during the noise but it was taking me 2 hours just to film a 15 minute segment and that's kinda why I look a little worn out when I talk about that fight. The noise is also the reason there are some minor edits throughout the video. I think I'll move the set into the garage at some point so I don't have to deal with that.

UFC126/ Strikeforce Diaz vs Cyborg

UFC 126


Strikeforce Diaz vs Cyborg


Notes: Yeah I had some bad allergies all week and decided to take a small break from the internet all last week to do stuff in the real world for a bit. I'm planning on going to the strikeforce challengers event on the 18th, so I might do a review/vlog for it like I did for the fight for the troops 2 card.

UFC fight for the troops 2 review

Intrepid Fallen Heroes fund

Any donations before Jan.29 will allow you to get the shirt or wrist band.

Notes on the show: So I'm testing out this new format to cut out the entire note taking process. Saw Spoony's Wrestle!Wrestle! TNA review and figured his way of doing things was better. Recording myself right after watching the fights was just overall less hassle then pages of notes. Hopefully I don't get in trouble for it. I still do my research but if I can't remember something off the top of my head then it probably wasn't too important. I also want to mention that my allergies are acting up so my eyes are burning and my nose is stuffy. It's what's known around where I live as Ceder Fever. When filming this on Wed. I had a mild case but now it's to the point where I'm sneezing at least 8 times an hour. I should have it under control for this weekend.

Updates: At some point I will be taking a break from MMA reviews so I can concentrate on my game/movie reviews. I was hoping to take a break next month but there are too many good fights next month and if I'm going to bother to buy a PPV event, I might as well review it.

Vlog explaining my trip

Going to visit my parent's place later to view the broadcast of the fight and start my review on it.

Aoki vs Nagashima Street Fighter Z

Ok, this will be the last one of the night and I'll get back to work on the Dynamite review.

Funniest MMA fight

*Edit* if the embed isn't working here is a direct link

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMwNDY3MDA4.html


Another video that pretty much speaks for itself. I would recommend watching the whole thing, cause like a good comedy the whole thing is played straight right up to the end where it becomes so funny even the announcers start laughing.

UFC 125 review

Save Tuptim website = http://savetuptim.yolasite.com

Notes on the video: I know the video is a way too long so I don't expect people to watch it all in one sitting. I'm going to re-evaluate my note taking and analysis to cut the show down in length so it's more watchable next time. This episode almost didn't upload and now I'm having trouble with the SD conversion but at least it's out there and better late then never. I'm going to try to get it to convert to flash so I can post it on here without having to link to my blip.tv account. If it fails I'll upload it in 2 parts tomorrow.

Update: I got the video to convert to flash player so I can post it on the blogspot itself. Sorry for any inconveniences and this is all still a learning process for me. On a side note I'm kinda amazed it has views already when it's only been up for a couple of hours and hasn't been converted to flash player, so it's nice to know people were waiting for this. I'll step up my game for you guys cause you deserve the best show I can make.

Fields Dynamite!! 2010 Mini Review

This is a short review of 2 fights, Aoki vs Nagashima and Sakuraba vs Zaromskis along with Frank Wigg as a bonus. I'll review the rest of Dynamite later this week but I just wanted to get these 2 fights out of the way since I had some footage that went along with the events.

UFC 124 Review

Talking UFC 124. First posted December 17, 2010.

Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu Review

Talking about Strikeforce fight. Contains old name of the show, look for a rename in the next episode coming out near 12/15/2010. First posted December 12, 2010.

TUF 12 Finale Review

Talking about "The Ultimate Fighter" Show/Finale. 4th episode, using old show name. First posted December 9, 2010.