UFC 143 Main Event DIAZ vs CONDIT!!! Fight breakdown, scoring controversy and PrideFC!?!?

I wasn't able to watch the UFC 143 Main Event, Diaz Vs. Condit fight LIVE. But from what I was reading while scouring the internet, there was a lot of controversy about the decision that went to Carlos Condit. So, I decided to watch the fight and give my own humble opinion on the fight, round-by-round and try to score it as if I was a judge at ringside.

My criteria:

Judge the fight the same way that Patricia Morse-Jarman, Junichiro Kamijo and Cecil Peoples of the Nevada Athletic Commission would.

All bouts will be evaluated and scored by three judges. The 10-Point Must System will be the standard system of scoring a bout. Under the 10-Point Must Scoring System, 10 points must be awarded to the winner of the round and nine points or less must be awarded to the loser, except for an even round, which is scored (10-10).

Judges shall evaluate mixed martial arts techniques, such as effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area, effective aggressiveness and defense. Evaluations shall be made in the order in which the techniques appear, giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area and effective aggressiveness and defense. (Very Important) Effective striking is judged by determining the number of legal strikes landed by a contestant and the significance of such legal strikes.

One thing that I made sure to do while watching the fight is to watch the fight with NO SOUND! Because, as much as I love Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, their announcing of the fight can be opinion based at times. And I didn't want their opinions to rub off on what I was watching and my eventual scoring of the fight.

I jotted down notes and scored the rounds right after the conclusion of each round and I posted them to my twitter account @SoCal MMA. So bear with the short and non-punctuated notes, as I am simply copy/pasting from my original posts.

Here are my Twitter notes from each round:

Diaz Vs. Condit, R1: Diaz controlled the octagon but Condit landed way more strikes. 10-9, Condit! 


Diaz Vs. Condit, R2: Diaz definite ring control! Condit backed up the whole round but he landed the more effective strikes. 10-9, Condit!


Diaz Vs. Condit, R3: Diaz pressures the WHOLE round & lands more strikes. Condit on a backwards treadmill! Diaz, 10-9!

Diaz Vs. Condit, R4: Diaz wasn't pressuring like previous rounds. Condit cutting him off and landing more meaningful strikes. Condit, 10-9!


Diaz Vs. Condit R5: Condit was winning w/ better combos. Diaz may have won round in the last minute with the takedown. Coin flip round. Diaz 10-9!

By my scorecard the fight goes to Carlos Condit, 48-47. After seeing that, I was very surprised. If you asked me personally, who won that fight? I would tell you that Nick Diaz won that fight for sure. Diaz had Condit doing exactly what he wanted. Which was backing up almost the entirety of the fight. Sans the 4th round.

(which, btw, I think is the reason Diaz lost the fight. Because he let up for the 4th round, or because Condit figured out Diaz' footwork and was cutting him off with better footwork)

In my opinion a fighter backing up should not be winning a fight. Unless, he is backing up and landing the more crisp, effective and damaging or fight ending strikes! Ala, boxing and the third Manny Pacquiao Vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight. It's easier to be reactionary than to be the one pressuring and moving forward! Because you are using less strength and energy than someone who is more aggressive and constantly moving forward. Like Diaz and like Pacquiao in their respective fights.

The judges Patricia Morse-Jarman, Junichiro Kamijo and Cecil Peoples of the Nevada Athletic Commission scored the fight 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 for Carlos Condit. I think that they got it correct, but correct by technicality! I can agree about all the judging even the two 49-46 scores. Because as I said the last round was a toss-up, a real coin-flip! Condit's combos hold more weight that Diaz' lone takedown.

You cannot blame the judges... they have to score the fight by a set of rules. They HAVE to score the fight Round by Round and NOT as an entirety. Diaz would've won that fight simply because of his TOTAL octagon control and aggressiveness if the judges based their scores as a whole! Another VERY IMPORTANT fact, as I pointed out earlier in the article is,

Evaluations shall be made in the order in which the techniques appear, giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area and effective aggressiveness and defense.

 This judging technicality, in effect, gives more weight to effective striking as compared to the other criteria that the judges are looking for. With cage control, aggressiveness and defense being at the bottom of the totem poll.

Here's my solution to this judging controversy that seems to be happening more frequently than not. Changing the judges criteria and the round structure of the Unified Rules of MMA. So that they are made specifically for MMA and not boxing or any other sport. What most people don't realize, is that the judging criteria is the same as boxing. MMA is relatively a brand new baby, as a sport. When the UFC took over as the preeminent MMA fight organization, there was no real governing body and more importantly, NO RULES! So to govern MMA they simply leaned on what sport was most like MMA and that is boxing! I think we can both agree that boxing and MMA are not even close to being the same sport! That criteria works fine for boxing because they have 12, three minute rounds to showcase their skills in the ring. In MMA there are only 3, five minute rounds. Or in the case of a championship fight 5, five minute rounds. The ability for an MMA fighter to showcase his skills is much shorter.

PRIDE Fighting Championship (PrideFC) had the correct scoring and criteria, IMO. They had 2, ten minute rounds and the fights were judged in their entirety with almost the same criteria as the Unified Rules and Criteria of MMA. BUT, they gave more weight for aggressiveness and they even awarded aggressiveness by giving negatives to the non-aggressive fighters, in the form of yellow cards (that docked fighters 10% of their fight purse) for stalling in fights.

In conclusion, Carlos Condit deserves to be the Interim UFC Welterweight Champion! And he deserves to go on and fight GSP! Because he fought within the boundaries of what rules are set in front of him. There needs to be a major overhaul of the round structure and the judging criteria laid forth for the judges to avoid future controversy. Condit is going on to fight GSP. But if you ask me if he won the ACTUAL fight against Diaz...... No, Homie.


'Til the next judging controversy,
Joel Soriano, MMA fan!

Thanks for the read!!! Hope you liked it.

Is Fedor done?

I know... not exactly the straightest picture of MMA fighters. But it was the scene from this past weekends Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Henderson. With Fedor's face hitting the canvas and being KO'ed by Henderson the question begs to be answered. Is Fedor done???

Probably one of the most exciting rounds of MMA this year. With both fighters headhunting and swinging for the fences, it was a foregone conclusion that someone was going to get KTFO. But I honestly didn't think that it would be Fedor in the end. Fedor had Hendo rocked and carelessly went in for the kill, like he did against Werdum. Hendo used his wrestling and pulled an amazing escape and an even more amazing uppercut from underneath and put Fedor out. And may have possibly put out his fight career as well. With three straight losses and all three being finishes. Is it proof that Fedor's prime is well behind him.

Let's look at the facts...
Fedor is only 34 years old. That's young by Randy Couture standards! Fedor hasn't won a fight in almost 2 years his last win being against Brett Rogers in November of 2009. His contract with Strikeforce was over after the Hendo fight. With 3 losses he doesn't have any leverage now to sign with the UFC or even with Strikeforce for that matter. That leaves him few other options to fight against top competition. Fedor comes with baggage. That baggage being his M-1 Global cohorts. Talk about a bunch of guys suckling at the teet! That makes it hard to negotiate with him as well.

What can Fedor do from here?
If I was Fedor or one of his many managers I would encourage him to first GET IN SHAPE! He is 5'10" and 230 Lbs. and fights at Heavyweight. All the top heavyweights now are looking more like 6'4" and 265 Lbs. Fedor can no longer compete with these larger HW's. As evidence, his fight with Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Silva simply overpowered him with his size. Being mounted by a mammoth of a man like "Bigfoot" it looked impossible for Fedor to do anything to retaliate. Thus, the beating his face took and the doctor's stoppage of that fight. Fedor just simply looks fat and out of shape. If he cut that weight from his gut he could easily make 205 Lbs. and fight at Light Heavyweight. At LHW Fedor's punching power and submissions would make him a very, VERY scary opponent for anyone at 205! Well except for Dan Henderson...

Another thing that Fedor needs to do is find a new training camp. I know he has his own team and camp in Russia, but can you name any of the fighters in his camp? I can't. You gotta be surrounded by the best and train with the best. Not just train where it's comfortable.

IMHO, Fedor has been fighting stiffs in Japan, Bodog and Affliction in the 4 years since the demise of PRIDEFC. He wasn't fighting top competition in that time period and now that he has stepped up in Strikeforce his diminished skills and and evolution of MMA in general has left Fedor behind. I think it's mainly the evolution of MMA. Because MMA is an ever evolving sport and if you are not keeping up with the changes in your training and preparation for fights it will most definitely show in the cage!

I won't shut the door on Fedor's career just yet. Cause he is still a major draw in MMA amd people will still pay to see him fight. But if he doesn't change something, whether it be the weight class, his management or his training regiment I don't see him being successful in the future. It's sad because I was and am a big fan of PrideFC and Fedor was a really huge part of what Pride was. I won't go as far as saying that "Fedor is done." But I will say that the outlook is not so good.

What do you think? Is Fedor done? What do you think the future holds for "The Last Emperor"? Tell us in the comments!

UFC 133: Verbal Warfare!

Watch 'til the end! Hilarious!!!

UFC 133: Evans Vs Ortiz Fight Predictions Preliminary Fights (Undercard)

I want to start making Fight Prediction videos and post them to Youtube and link it up here. But I gotta get my video equipment all set up first. So for now, I'll just give you my predictions with a little bit of reasoning behind those picks, the old fashioned way...

Sidenote: I'm not going to predict every fight. I don't have enough time for that shit. If I did predict every fight. Then when will I find time to get drunk and smoke a bowl? Priorities people, priorities... I'm only gonna be predicting fights that are interesting or relevant to me.

Preliminary fight (on Facebook) Mike Brown Vs. Nam Phan
Mike Brown is on a losing streak with back to back losses to Yahya and Nunes and oh, how the mighty have fallen. Just 2 years ago Brown was the Champion in the Feather Weight Division. Now, he's on the low end of the undercard and it seems like he might be fighting for his job with the UFC. Nam Phan is coming off a very questionable decision loss to Leonard Garcia. I personally think that he was robbed in that fight but what do you do? I don't think that Phan has ever faced someone with good wrestling and good power in his hands like Mike Brown. Also, when a fighters back is against the wall, like Brown's in this case, I'll put my money on that fighter cause he's fighting for everything (ala Tito Ortiz Vs Bader). So, I'm taking Mike Brown by 2nd round TKO (GnP)

Prelim Fight (on Spike TV) Rani Yahya Vs. Chad Mendes
Chad Mendes is ranked in the top 2-5 in the Featherweight division. I personally have him ranked 3rd, right behind only the Champ Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian. With Mendes being an undefeated top prospect, I'm not sure why he would take this particular fight with Yahya because it doesn't really seem to move him up or down with a win over Yayha. But a loss will no doubt take him out of the title picture. No disrespect to Yahya but he's not really in the title hunt as it is and I have him ranked right outside of the Top 10 in the division.

Yahya on the other hand has a big opportunity to turn this fight into a stepping stone to a championship shot. A win over a top ranked unbeaten prospect and maybe a win over another well known fighter could vault him into contention. I see this fight either going to the ground with Mendes as the aggressor, but I see Rani Yahya using his BJJ skills and securing a RNC or a Guillotine in the 3rd Round! Yahya by Submission (RNC)

Prelim Fight: (Spike TV) Matt Hamill Vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Who the fuck is Gustafsson?? I had to Wiki the guy just to see who he is. He's fought a bunch of cannon fodder and has a few UFC wins. Blah, Blah, Blah! Hamill has fought top competition throughout his UFC career. Names like Rampage, Tito, Jardine, Munoz, Rich Franklin and he has a win against the LHW champion Jon Bones Jones... Yeah, it's a hollow win. hahahaha. But a win over the champ nonetheless. Matt Hamill by Unanimous decision.

As a sidenote: I love when Matt Hamill wins! Mainly cause I love when he talks! Or trys to talk. Call me an asshole... but I'm an asshole with a sense of humor! I mean no disrespect to him, but it's just funny. It's kinda like when the Boxer Manny Pacquiao talks after his fights... No ideal what he's talking about but I know it's damn funny!!!

The rest of the fights I'll just pick.

Spike TV Preliminary Bouts
Matt Hamill vs. Alexander Gustafsson - Hamill (unanimous decision)
Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya - Yahya (RNC 3rd round)

Preliminary Bouts
Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace - Menjivar (3rd Round Triangle Choke
Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce - Hendricks (Split Decision)
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan - Brown (TKO, GNP 2nd round)
Rafael Natal vs. Paul Bradley - Natal (1st round KO punches) Manily cause I have no ideal who Paul Bradley is... loL!


This is part 1 of my fight Predictions... Hopefully I can have my video equipment up and running so that I can predict the Main Card fights without having to type so goddamn much!

STAY TUNED FOR MY MAIN CARD PREDICTIONS ON THE NEXT BLOG!!!!

DAN HENDERSON KO's FEDOR!!!!

UFC fighters & Hot Chicks in Cosplay @ San Diego Comic-Con 2011

I know you're wondering what MMA and comic-con has to do with each other. Allow me to explain. I'm from San Diego, CA and every summer nerds, geeks and more lately the hollywood elite have poured into our city for the annual San Diego Comic-Convention! Ever since hollywood has invaded comic-con, a few years back, it has become more of a pop culture event. With a who's who of stars attending. Even our favorite MMA stars can be found in the mix!

I ran into Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis and Brandon Vera while the two were cruising the convention floor together. As you can tell, they were into the cosplay with the Dragonball Z hats. hahaha! If you don;t know, both of these fighters are fighting out of San Diego at Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, CA. Along with other UFC fighters like, Bantamwieght Champion Dominick Cruz and Heavywieghts Travis Browne and Joey Beltran. Check them out here - ALLIANCE TRAINING CENTER

Mr. Wonderful was cool enough to talk MMA with me for a few minutes. I got to speak with him for a bit and I asked him about his injury and having to pull out of the Rashad Evans fight at UFC 133.

He said that he, "...still wanted to fight even with the injury but that it wasn't in the cards."

I also asked him about Tito replacing him @ UFC 133 and the Tito VS. Rashad fight and who he's picking... He said that he was impressed with Tito's last fight and that he was a big fan of Tito growing up and that Tito can never be counted out! He stayed short of picking a winner but I think he likes Tito in that fight.

Brandon Vera was also with his family, wife and kids. So I didn't want to bother him too much. So I just simply asked him for a photo and his wife was nice enough to take the picture for me.

All in all, it was a good experience meeting these two UFC fighters. Very humble guys who were willing to take time out of their day to speak with a true MMA fan.

But now let's get to what you really want to see from Comic-con... Hot Chicks in CosPLay!!! Enjoy!