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Komikazee's MMA Smackdown #4

News

• Captain America announces that he might come back if Ortiz wins. Also outlines a plan that Tito needs to execute to win (http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2006/12/couture_outlines_fight_plan_fo_1.html ):
• "Absolutely ... the more he makes Chuck work; the more he makes Chuck swing and miss and swing and even if he hits him ... in those flurries of engagement, I don't think you'll see the knockout shot. You'll see Tito then be able to transition through that flurry of engagement and take the fight to the ground, which again, is ultimately going to make Chuck work to get back up to his feet, which he does very well. Tito's going to have to do that repeatedly; round after round."
• "If Tito finds a way to beat Chuck, I'm going to have to come out of retirement and give Tito a whack."
• Hmm. That might just be enough to make me root for Tito just this once. I love watching Captain America work... just kidding.
  
• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to fight Marvin "Beastman" Eastman at UFC 67 (http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=6398 )
  
• The rumors had been swirling that he was going to fight Hoger due to a cryptic message on Sam's personal blog.
  
• Instead he is going to fight Marvin "Beastman" Eastman at UFC 67 on Feb. 3rd in Las Vegas (Super Bowl Weekend).
• The contract he si gns is a two fight contract with the UFC that reads similar to his WFA contract in that it includes bonuses for pay-per-views that aren't normally associated with UFC contracts.
• He definitely won't be meeting Liddell before July at the earliest.
  
• B.J. Penn and Jen Pulvers as The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 coaches  (http://www.graciemag.com/?c=144&a=5983):
  
• Season 5 starts shooting in January and airs in June / July
• This probably means that they will be fighting each other.
• B.J. Penn is 10-4. Jens Pulver is 21-7-1.
  
• B.J. is dropping down to lightweight for this fight.
  
• Warror Nation to show on MSNBC in January
• Warrior Nation is a 4 part mini-series that follows the lives of various fighters and what they do to prepare for the grueling sport of MMA.
  
• Will air in January on MSNBC. Starts January 9th and will air on consecutive Tuesdays.
• Some of the people that they are planning on featuring are:
• Jan. 9th - Urijah Faber and Enoch Wilson - Young fighters that are trying to make it
  
• Jan. 16th - Erin Toughill and Clark Bevans - Couple that both fight in MMA
  
• Jan. 23rd - Gina Carrano and Elaina Maxwell - Female MMA Athletes
  
• Jan. 30th - Steve Byrnes and Logan Clark, Liddell and Ortiz - UFC fighters
  

Rumors

• Mirko Cro-Cop UFC Saga (http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=6424 ): This whole Mirko  saga has been going back and forth.
  
• Sherdog first broke the "news" that Mirko was considering coming to the UFC.
  
• Mirko Fired back that nobody but him knew which way he was going and that all the rumors were false that he was going to the UFC.
  
• Sherdog then rebutted in their "Beatdown" podcast and said that they were standing by their source. 
  
• Then a picture of Mirko in a UFC hoodie showed up on the Internet.
  
• Now Sherdog is coming out that it is definite that Mirko is coming to the UFC and that it will be announced during UFC 66 on December 30th.
  
• Gracie Mag is saying that Mirko is going to hold a press conference January 1st to clear up which way he is headed.
• MMAWeekly now states that he will fight in UFC 67 on Feb. 3rd.
  
• We will have to wait and see on Saturday.
  

Calendar

• IFL Finals Live on Dec. 29th and broadcast Dec. 31st on FSN
• Dec. 30th UFC 66
  
• Dec. 31st Pride Shockwave
• Dec. 31st K-1 Dynamite!!!!
  
• Jan. 19th International Fight League (IFL)
  
• Jan. 20th Gracie Fighting Championship (GFC)
  
• Jan. 20th World Extreme Cage (WEC)
  
• Jan. 25th Ultimate Fight Night Live 9 (UFC)
  

UFC 66

Chuck Liddell (204~6.2~19-3-0) vs. T ito Ortiz (204~6.2~15-4-0)

Tito Ortiz

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=158
• World class GNP Specialist
• Needs to take down and get mount to be effective
• Decent striker but not considered world class
  
• TUF Season 2 Coach

Chuck Liddell

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=192
• World Class Banger
• Jack in the Box. Push him down. twist his crank. Watch him pop up.
• Might be vulnerable from a cardio perspective. Hasn't been pushed to late rounds in awhile
  

Forrest Griffin (205~6.3~13-3-0) vs. Keith Jardine (HAR-DEEN) (205~6.2~11-3-1) 

Forrest Griffin

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=3526
• Above average banger
• A lot of heart and a Scrapper
  
• Once had his arm broken and knocked the guy out with the other arm
• Has gone from a total brawler (see the first Stephan Bonnar fight) to a decent technician (see the second Stephan Bonnar fight)
• Goofy as all get-out. Decent whit
  

Keith Jardine (HAR-DEEN)

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=2638
• hit and miss fighter
• TUF3 alumni
• Lost against Forrest Griffin once already
  

Andrei Arlovski (240~6.4~11-5-0) vs. Marcio Cruz (246~6.4~2-1-0)

Marcio Cruz

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=13976
• UFC Veteran
• BJJ World Champion
  
• Win against Frank Mir (TKO cut)
  
• Loss against Monson
• Not a total push-over but unknown quantity on the feet.
  

Andrei Arlovski

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=270
• http://www.arlovski.tv/start.htm

• Ex UFC Champion
• Wins against Ian Freeman, Tim Silvia, Cabbage
• Losses against Tim Silvia (2 times) and Pedro Rizzo (Hizzo)
  
• World Class Banger
• Signature look: Fangs on the Mouthpiece
  

Chris Leben (LEE-BEN) (5.11~185~15-2-0) vs. Jason MacDonald (185~6.3~17-7-0)

Jason MacDonald

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=4389
• Great submission specialist
• Wins against the likes of Ed Herman, Gideon Ray, Joe Doerksen
• Losses against Kalib Starnes, Patrick Kote, Marvin Eastman
  

Chris Leben (LEE-BEN)

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=6258
• Brawler
• Losses against Joe Doerksen, Anderson Silva
• Wins against Jorge Rivera, Mike Swick, Edwin Dewees, Jorge Santiago
  
• Signature red hair and TUF1 alumni
  

Michael Bisping (205~6.2~11-0-0) vs. Eric Schafer (205~6.3~9-1-2)

Eric Schafer

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=13275
• Submission Specialist. Notable win against Rob McDonald with an Arm Triangle Choke.
  
• Goofy guy. Here is a description of himself from his myspace account:
  "I am a quasi-professional mixed martial arts fighter who studies Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am not very good at it. I pretty much let the other guy hit me in the face until he gets tired, then I submit him. That is why I am so ugly and dumb. It was not always that way, once I was handsome and smart as a whip. I graduated from UW Oshkosh with a BS in Biology and Chemistry, ready to go to Medical School. Now I can barely figure out how to turn on this computer. Boy times have changed… I also suffer from General Anxiety Disorder, but I can usually cure that with a few glasses of booze. Not sure if my mother is proud, but boy is life great: people pay me dozens of dollars to beat people up, legally".

Michael Bisping

• http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=10196

• TUF3 205 Champion
• English
• Very good striker. Decent ground game 
• Defeated Kristian Rothaermel and Ross Pointon to punch his ticket to the finals. Won against Haynes for the championship
• Hasn't fought in the octagon since June. Might be a little rusty.

Prelims

• Tony DeSouza (DE-SOOZA) (170~6.1~9-2-0) vs. Thiago Alves(170~5.8~15-4-0) (Prelim)
• Yushin Okami vs. Rory Singer (Prelim)
• Carmelo Marrero (220~6.0~5-0-0) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (6.1~2421~6-1-0) (Prelim)
• Anthony Perosh (225~6.3~5-2-0) vs. Christian Wellisch (237~6.3~7-2-0) (Prelim)

Commercial
Next week we review the fights as they went down during the New Years holiday. We will discuss select exciting matches from UFC 66 and their implications on the UFC scene as well as any surprise announcements that might come up during the broadcast. We will also be announcing the IFL Championship results and the winner of the HENZO  Gracie vs. Carlos Newton superfight.

We also invite undefeated IFL Heavyweight Ben Rothwell of the Miletich Silverbacks onto the radio show and discuss with him what is going on with his life and where he wants to go with his fight career.

IFL championship breakdown by Steven Quadros before the New Years Eve fights.

For show notes, the latest breaking news on mixed martial arts, and the rumors as they happen in the industry visit us online anytime at Komikazee.com, that's K-O-M-I-K-A-Z-E-E ---  DOT --- COM.  Join us Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007 for all this and more.