Fight videos

Valentina Shevchenko vs Priscila Cachoeira from WMMAddict on Vimeo.

Beware of Syuri Kondo

            It's hard to imagine Syuri Kondo not making it into the top 5 of the strawweight division. This obviously means that I would not be surprised if she eventually becomes the champion.  As the former Krush Kickboxing Champion, and the Pancrase 115-lb Champion, she knows what it takes to win the title. 

             She easily has one of the best jabs in WMMA. It is quick, and there is no telegraph on it. She launches it directly from a high guard.  It's often followed very closely by a right hand, which is just as impressive. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and she keeps the distance that her fist has to travel down that straight line very short, which makes it difficult for her opponents to avoid getting hit.

            She has an impressive 14-1 kickboxing record, and is currently undefeated six fights into her MMA career.  She fights like a champion. She has mastered a formidable style and understands how to take control of fights.. She is very consistent with her offense throughout the duration of each round without showing any sign of fatigue.  She is definitely a championship caliber fighter who fights with a determination to set the pace and take her opponents out of their game. 

            She is set to face another talented fighter, Poliana Botelho on May 19, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129.  Botelho stopped 5 opponents out of 6 opponents, while Condo has only stopped 1 out of 6.  However, with all due respect to the promising Botelho, I expect Syuri's experience to give her more of an advantage than Poliana's strength & aggression gives to her.  Do not sleep on her.  There is not a single fighter at straw weight who I would bet on against her.

Nicco Montano Blocks Anybody Who Says Valentina's Name

            After Valentina Shevchenko's victory over a tough Priscila Cachoeira many fans were expecting to hear Nicco Montano's thoughts.  They heard nothing.  Even after Dana White confirmed that Valentina will be her first title defense, as well as moving her to the #1 flyweight contender slot, we heard nothing from Nicco.  Fans who so much as mention Valentina's name are blocked from her Instagram.  Yes, even I was blocked.  However, I'm not bitter, but curious.

            I expected to hear something like "I believe Sijara deserves the chance first, but Valentina is also a worthy opponent and I'm looking forward to the challenge", or at least post a promo side by side image.  Not only did Nicco say in a previous interview that she believes Sijara deserves a title shot before Valentina, she also said that Valentina was not the best at flyweight because she has not fought at the weight.  She continued by stating that Bullet should at least have one fight in the division before getting a title shot.  Well, Valentina has had her one fight, and it was one of the most dominant performances in UFC history.   Still, we hear nothing from Nicco about the fight, nor has she even mentioned Valentina's name.  Again, anybody who does will get blocked from her Instagram.

            This is especially interesting considering the fact that she has commented on fights in the past.  This pattern of behavior may raise some questions.  The first is obvious.  Is she afraid?  She informed the public that she was not afraid in an interview before Valentina's victory.  Has her feelings changed after the fight?  Is she so disappointed that Sijara will not get the first shot that she doesn't feel motivated for Shevchenko?  Would Nicco had said something by now if it were announced that her first fight will be against Sijara Eubanks instead?

            Who knows?  The only thing we know for sure is that Nicco does not want to talk about Valentina Shevchenko on her social media, and if you want to continue following her you're not allowed to mention Valentina's name.

Valentina Shevchenko's Massacre in Belem

            Many people who question the match making of UFC should keep in mind that prior to offering the fight to Priscilla, Invicta flyweight champion Jenifer Maia refused to fight Valentina.  We all know Vanzant refused as well.   When big names turn down the offer and it ends up going to small names you cant charge the match makers with conspiring to make Valentina look like a killer.   After so many refusals the UFC has to look into the lower budget / local organizations.  They found an undefeated, 8-0 Priscila with 50% of her wins coming by knockout.  That is an impressive record at the local level, and when you consider that she is a training partner of Jessica Andrede it's a bit unfair not to consider her competitive, regardless of how un-polished her style looks.  Many fighters with power don't need to frame it in a beautiful fashion to be effective.  The match making was as good as the UFC could make it seeing as how other names wanted no part of Bullet at 125.  After last nights performance perhaps we can see why.  Truth is that over 50% of the 125 division may be a mismatch for Bullet.

            The thought of Nicco watching this fight and feeling confident about a victory over Shevchenko sounds far fetched.  If Nicco is like the rest of us she is a bit speechless at the level of danger Valentina presents. I made a pre-fight prediction where I wrote about Valentina eventually losing patience with the amateur style of Priscilla and deciding to press the issue.  Well, there was no eventually.  From the opening bell Valentina proceeded to provide viewers with a mixed martial arts horror movie.

            The beating administered was brutal and difficult for most people to watch.  While people wonder why the ref didn't stop the fight sooner we must also wonder why Priscila's corner did not pull their fighter out of the fight as well.  The reason should be obvious.  Typical of Brazilian fighters, Priscila is one tough girl and she continued to try and fight back.  She is in her home country and I'm sure neither the ref nor Priscila's corner wanted to be charged with stopping the fight unless she was completely neutralized.

            Not only does Valentina already look like the champion of this division, she looks like a frightening champion.  Move over Joanna.. the real boogie woman has arrived.  Anything can happen in a fight but it's hard to envision anybody beating Bullet at 125. This is a lifelong student and master craftswoman in her absolute MMA prime.  A veteran who is only 29 years old.  Enjoy watching her journey because she is a rare fighter that only comes around once per generation. This is mastery on the same level as any historical MMA fighter you can name.  May the future refs have mercy on the souls of her future opponents.

Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk rematch should be the main event.

       The rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk appears to be official.  However, it's being rumored that this fight will be a co-main event to Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov.  If this is true then I believe the UFC is making a critical mistake.   Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk should be the main event. 

       Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk won the upset of the year award.  Rose won the female fighter of the year award.  The obvious question is how could the rematch not possibly be the main event?  We're talking about a previously undefeated and most dominant female fighter in the division, who is only second to Ronda Rousey in terms of the most title defenses in womens UFC history, being dethroned by TKO in the first round by a fighter we all thought would be easy work for Joanna.  

       For a while Joanna was the only undefeated champion in the UFC regardless of gender.  She has the highest strike differential in UFC history and the second highest in UFC history for significant strikes per minute.  She has several more accomplishments that we have all been aware of.  It's almost an insult to both Joanna's dominance in WMMA as well as the shock of Rose' victory over such a fighter to have the rematch set for anything other than the main event.    

       If that's not compelling enough consider the story behind the fight as well.  The bad blood was real.  Joanna did not appreciate certain comments made by Rose after their first face to face meeting and it showed all throughout the build up.  Joanna didn't hold back any punches.  She accused Rose of being mentally weak in regard to her alleged inability to deal with the media.  Joanna also told Rose in a phone interview that "you're broken already".  Many people interpreted this as Joanna's way of reminding Rose of her troubled personal past as if to suggest that she is too mentally "broken" to win the fight.

       Also, lets not forget the epic fist to the face of Namajunas by Jedrzejczyk.  Did this not stir up controversy?   Lets not forget how Joanna told Rose more than once during the build up "you're never going to be a champion".  As mean as those comments were, most people agreed with Joanna that, at the very least, Rose would not take the belt from Joanna. 

       In fact, one of the reasons the upset was such an upset is because of how intense the build up was.  To see Rose totally dominate Joanna before finishing her, forcing Joanna to tap to strikes, makes the first fight like "something out of a movie".  What better story to have as a build up to a rematch?  If the UFC is serious about growing the female division, they must take advantage of the drama that occurs within it.  

       Also consider the fact that these are two great fighters.  Even in her defeat we all saw Joanna throwing her hands like she always does.  She may have lost the title but she lost it swinging.  We all know JJ is going to bring it, and we all know Rose is going to bring it.  Name a boring Namajunas fight.  Rose comes to scrap every time.  There is very little chance that this rematch will be boring.  The first fight was just the tip of the iceberg.  Joanna is very hungry and she's not going to allow the rematch to be boring. She wants her belt back and Rose is determined to keep the belt and prove that the first fight was not the result of a lucky punch.   

All the promotional drama is there.  Lets hope Dana and the UFC does the right thing.  Make this fight a main event fight.  It's the perfect opportunity to help the women's division grow.

JJ Aldrich defeats Daniel Taylor

        In my opinion, Taylor is not built for the strawweight division.  She tried to fight an outside technical match against an epic size disadvantage.  It didn't work out.  When you're that small you need top wrestling (like 5 ft 1 Carla Esparza for example) or Mike Tyson skills where you have exceptional head movement that allows you to close the distance quickly.

         She needs better muay thai and kickboxing.  When Taylor rushed in she would throw one or two punches, or one kick and get back out.  She never finished her punches with leg kicks.  So you essentially have a small boxer who is mainly a pot shotter in MMA.  Not good.  And it's too bad because she has scary athleticism.

       You have to question Taylor's team for giving her such a flawed game plan, assuming that they even had a game plan.  You can't come into MMA expecting to land that one big shot with such a huge size gap.  All Aldrich did to avoid danger was take a step back whenever Taylor came in.  That is a major red flag that you have a huge hole in your game.

        If she doesn't develop a style designed to offset huge size disadvantages she is going to lose many more fights in the same fashion she lost to JJ Aldrich.  She will continue to linger on the outside hopelessly trying to leap in with a big shot that may or may not land.  If it doesn't land she will lose the fight because her ground game and muay thai / kickboxing is under developed, and she often leaves her head stationary.

       As a small fighter, she needs better than average head movement to avoid strikes.  As is the case with many MMA fighters, when Taylor gets hit she is often getting hit flush.  She is not pulling away or rolling with shots to take the steam off.  All too often her head is standing straight up in the air.  She ate jabs all night and then some.

       As I mentioned in the case of Carla Esparza and Michelle Waterson, I believe Taylor would also benefit greatly from an antomweight division, where some of her holes may not be as easy to exploit against fighters closer to her own size.  Taylor often looks like a real midget in the octagon.  She has great speed and power and should be able to utilize her tools without first overcoming such a big size disadvantage.  At a certain extent the viewer is being robbed of a fairly contested fight.

       As a company that prides itself on being a leader & example of MMA we have to assume that an antomweight division in the UFC, which I predict will be one of the best divisions, is already planned for the near future.  The push for the division continues.  It's the final division to complete the entire women's division of MMA in the UFC.

Paige Vanzant vs Jessica-Rose Clark

       Jessy defeated Rhiannon Thompson on July 26, 2014.  This marks the last time she has been on a 3 fight win streak.  After her victory on 07/26/2014 her next 5 fights would include 1 win, 1 no contest, and 3 losses.   She is on a 2 fight win streak, but both wins came by split decision.  In regard to JRC there are two questions that stand out.  1.) Can she win?  2.) Can she win convincingly?

        Five fights following her victory over Rhiannon Thompson appears to have marked the beginning of a bumpy 1-3-0, 1NC road for the skillful Aussie fighter, but she seems to be dealing with it well despite getting past her last two opponents by a small margin.  She stays in good spirits and sounds genuinely confident of a victory over Paige Vanzant.

       As you watch Jessica fight you get the sense that she has a lot more to offer.  We saw a 32 year old Cristiane Cyborg Justino make incredible boxing improvements over her last two fights, giving an example of how much improvement can be done despite having the same style for many years. One thing I think Jessica needs improvement on is head movement.  Many times when she gets hit she gets hit flush.  She's not pulling away from the shots or rolling with them.  Her head is standing straight up and she gets nailed.  Hopefully her trainers are dedicating hours solely on improving her head moment.

       Her other flaw is her temperament.  Her execution is great.  Unlike Cris Cyborg, who made tactical improvements, I believe Jess needs to make mental adjustments.  Her toughest opponent to date was Sarah Kaufman, who I believe is one of the best wmma fighters ever.  As highly as I rank Kaufman, I believe Jessica had the tools to be more competitive, and possibly have won that fight convincingly, had she simply been more assertive and thrown more shots.   She goes into a shell when things get rough and allows her opponents to assume the dominant role. I don't believe Paige is even remotely as talented as Jessica-Rose, but she does best when she is able to out grit her opponent.

        A boxer named Zab Judah comes to mind, who also lost to fighters that were less talented but made the most of what they had.  I don't believe Jessica is making the most of her abilities.  I believe if she opened up and asserted her will on her opponents more she would have more success.  Her balance, timing, foot speed, and hand speed are all there but she seems to either hold back or be uncertain of how to unleash her attacks.  In either case, I believe the only way Paige wins this fight is if Jessica allows her to win.