UFC 163: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

My review of UFC 163

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

UFC 163 came and went with a bit of a whimper with Jose Aldo retaining his UFC Featherweight belt for the fifth consecutive time at the HSBC Arena Rio de Janiero, Brazil,  and the co-main event seeing a somewhat controversial decision in the eyes of the fans and the fighter!!

Jose Aldo def. Chan Sung Jung (4th Rd TKO)
The Ugly

Jose Aldo proved once again why he is so formidable at 145lbs, Aldo pressed the action from the off, The Korean Zombie was hesitant in coming forward in a relentless fashion we are accustomed too and where he earn't his nickname.

Aldo made the most of this , landing strikes and taking Chan down and taking control of the first three rounds.

Going into the 4th, the Korean Zombie threw an overhand right to the head of Aldo which missed, leading to a dislocated shoulder, you could clearly see the pain Chan was in, and in the process tried to pop his shoulder back into its socket.

Having failed to do so, Aldo took the advantage straight away landing a kick to the damaged shoulder and jumped all over him, with little else to do but cover up under the barrage of strikes, Herb Dean called an end to the action.

Phil Davis def. Lyoto Machida (29-28 x 3)

The Bad: The Fight & Decision ? 

Im glad we don't see too many of these fights! It was a stinker. With so much on the line for both fighters it became a very cagey fight where both were hesitant to engage or force the action.
Machida was the more aggressive of the two, and was stealing the first two rounds until Davis managed take downs at the end of the first and second round, but doing little once down.

Going into the third Machida landed the better strikes and stuffing the take downs Davis was gunning for.

When the Judges came back with a majority decision , I think everyone expected a Machida win.

29-28 on all 3 judges score cards, Bruce Buffer announced the winner..................
Phil 'Mr. Wonderful' Davis!!!

Cezar Ferreira def. Thiago Santos (1st Rd Sub)

Blink and you would've missed this fight! Cezar wasted no time in hunting down Santos landing a left hook which staggered Santos. Cezar could smell the blood and went in for the kill, sinking in a guillotine choke forcing Santos to tap after just 47 second into the first round.

Thales Leites def. Tom Watson (29-27 x 3)

Leites made his return to the UFC since being released in 2009, looking very impressive against Watson. Controlling the fight from the first bell, showing superior grappling and wrestling skills to control Watson and taking him to the mat at will and keeping him down.

Landing heavy damage throughout the first and second round, Watson had little success until the they got back on their feet.

Watson landed some good strikes when Leites was tired at the end of the second and third round, but it wasn't enough to earn a round let alone a win.

John Linekar def. Jose Maria  (2nd Rd TKO)

If Linekar carries on to miss weight he will either be forced to moved back up to Bantamweight or see himself in deep trouble with the UFC. Having missed weight by 4lbs on Friday its the second time in his last four fights he's failed to miss weight!

Maria look very tentative on his UFC debut with Linekar walking him down looking to land a right hand to finish the fight early. Though it was Maria that started well, landing a wonder spinning backfist that landed flush on Linekar who was on wobbly legs, Maria sensed Linekar was in trouble and landed some heavy shots which saw him in serious trouble.

Linekar managed to survive the first round , into the second Maria started the stronger and faster of the two until he throw a leg kick which seemed to hurt himself. Linekar pounced on the opportunity handed to him and landed some heavy shots to Maria, forcing the ref to stop the fight.

The Good:

With Joe Rogan away with prior arrangements, ex UFC Middleweight Brian Stann stepped up to take his place. With some concern of how the relationship between Goldberg and Stann would work, I was assured after a few minutes he would be a great replacement.

I was very impressed of how informative Stann was, he came across very well without all the excitement of Rogan at key times. As much as I enjoy Rogan and Goldberg, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Stann in future events! Bravo UFC, good call.

Fighter vs Writer - UFC 163 Main Card Picks Challenge - Mike Wilkinson vs Tommy Strong

UFC Fighter Mike Wilkinson challenges Kingdom MMA in a picks challenge

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Welcome to another Kingdom MMA fighter vs writer challenge.

For this challenge we challenge some of the big names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions. Previously we have challenged the likes of Luke Barnatt, Jim Alers and Phil Harris. Last time out at UFC 162 Phil Harris managed to draw with our very own Jack. Leaving Jim Alers the only fighter to beat one of our Kingdom MMA writers.

For this event I will be challenging Mike Wilkinson, who fought on the last UFC event in Brazil. Unfortunately for Mike it didn't end how we all wanted at UFC on Fuel TV 10 and resulted in the first loss of his career. Hopefully we will see Mike back in the octagon soon where he can get back to winning ways. As yet Mike does not have a fight lined up but I am sure it is only a matter of time before something gets announced.

The Scoring

If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The predictions:

Main Event: Jose Aldo vs Jung Chan Sung

Wilkinson: The zombie has been looking good in his last fights but I don't think he is able to beat Aldo at this stage in Aldo's career.

Prediction: Aldo by TKO Round 3 

Tommy: I see this being a formality for Aldo, even though Jung looked great against Dustin Poirier in May '12, i think Aldo will be too big and too strong for the Korean Zombie. I just can't see anyway Aldo losses unless its by DQ or... actually or nothing! Aldo doesn't lose this.

Prediction: Aldo by TKO Round 2

Lyoto Machida vs Phil Davis

Wilkinson: Machida has come back with a vengeance since his loss to Jones even though I like Davis and his style I don't think he is going to match Machida's stand up.
Prediction: Machida by Decision

Tommy: Im torn between these two fighters, I keep changing my mind on who wins. It really is a toss up. I know Machida is a big favourite, though my head and heart are telling me Davis wins. That probably means I should pick Machida! But I am going for the upset.

Prediction: Davis by Split Decision

Cezar Ferreira vs Thiago Santos

Wilkinson: Cezar has had a big lay off but won the TUF Brazil and is probably looking to win in style.

Prediction: Cezar by TKO

Tommy: Both fighters have not fought for a year, I can't confess to know much about Santos. Though I'm going for Cezar to win.
Prediction: Cezar by TKO Round 1

Thales Leites vs Tom Watson

Wilkinson: Leites is coming back from a lengthy lay off, his last fight in the UFC was in 2009 and he has not fought in over a year. Watson looked good in his last fight in the UK with a win and a bonus.
 
Prediction: Watson by Decision 

Tommy: Leites hasn't fought for the UFC since 2009 but has won his last 3 fights. Watson showed great heart against Nedkov from the brink of defeat to knocking out Nedkov in an epic fight that will be a contender for fight of the year. Though there are two sides to Watson, if he turns up like he did against Brad Tavares he losses, if like he did against Nedkov I see him winning.
Prediction: Watson by Decision

John Lineker vs Jose Tome

Wilkinson: Tome's first fight in the UFC and he is the underdog but being Brazilian and fighting in his home town comes in his favour.

Prediction: Tome by Decision 

Tommy: Having the advantage of picking after the weigh ins, Lineker missed weight by 3lbs. It will be interesting to see whether this will have any effect on him come tomorrow night.

Tome could be a real handful for Lineker though with his style and having home advantage he could pull of an upset here. With that in mind I'm still backing Lineker to grind out a win.
Prediction: Lineker by Unanimous Decision

So that's our predictions for the fights, we will be live tweeting on Saturday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to Mike for providing us with his picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man win!!

Pettis Injured, Korean Zombie now Meets Jose Aldo at UFC 163

Pettis Injured, Korean Zombie now Meets Jose Aldo at UFC 163
 by Jack Broadey - @j3ck_b

Dana White today revealed the big title fight between Antony Pettis and Jose Aldo has had to be called off. A knee injury has forced Pettis to pull out of UFC 163. It's a massive shame for Pettis who has claims to being the number 1 contender at Lightweight before deciding to chance his arm at Aldo at Featherweight.

It was a dream matchup for fans and a legitimate super-fight. There styles clashed perfectly and the fight was bound to be fireworks with both men capable of landing multiple ridiculous strikes from all angles. Kicks, punches, knees, both men have the full arsenal of striking talents. We can only hope this match is made later on this year but many cards would have to fall into place for that to happen.

The next step for Aldo is still to headline UFC 163. Dana White managed to replace Pettis straight away and we still get a Featherweight title clash. Fan favourite Chan Sung Jung or "the Korean Zombie" as he's affectionately called answered the call.

He last fought in May of 2012 winning a fight of the night and submission of the night award with a superb performance over Dustin Poirier. His last fight before was a 7 second knockout win over Mark Hominik. Before that? The 1st ever win by twister submission. The man knows how to finish fights and how to win in style. He's coming off an injury lay off and was originally scheduled for a UFC 162 return against Ricardo Lamas.

There are bound to be some complaints questioning if The Zombie deserves this fight. There are plenty of candidates at Featherweight. Chad Mendes is on a rebuilding effort at the moment and its too close to his KO loss to Aldo to be considered. Cub Swanson is rolling through thought opponents but the vivid image of Aldo's flying knee to KO him sticks in the mind still.

That leaves Zombies original opponent Lamas. As a good a roll he is on at the moment the decision ultimately came down to name recognition. Zombie has won fights and won them in style. That sends out a good positive message from Zuffa. Win fights and win them in style and you will get your reward. Aldo v Korean Zombie is no Aldo v Pettis but its a relevant featherweight title defense none the less. Injuries can't be helped and this is an intriguing match up in its place.