Paul Kelly vs. Jacob Volkman (lightweight)

Late arriving San Diego fans may witness one of the best fights of the night in the last match of the undercard.  For Paul Kelly, coming off an impressive choke-out win of Matt Veach at UFC 112, a win over Jacob Volkman would propel him out of the “prove yourself” stage in the UFC and into a marquee main card fight to cement his status as a top-eight lightweight.  For Volkman, this fight is about career survival.  After losing his first two UFC fights, the Minnesota fighter beat Ronny Torres this past March to avoid getting cut.  A loss to Kelly would create a 1-3 UFC record and a potential return spot on the chopping block.  Watching a fighter who “must” win to keep his job with the UFC is a fascinating study of, ‘game plan’ vs. desperation.  Desperation to preserve a career can do funny things to a fighter. Will Volkman maintain discipline, or throw the kitchen sink at Kelly if he gets behind? The mental part of this sport is often more intriguing than the physical.

Demarques Johnson vs. Matthew Riddle (welterweight)

The “Darkness” (Johnson) vs. “Monster Mash” (Riddle) is a battle of two fighters clearly on the way up.  Riddle is coming off a DQ win over Greg Soto and Johnson a stunning Knockout of the Night victory over Brad Blackburn in Abu Dhabi.  Riddle was a wrestling stud in upstate New York and Johnson took up Jiu Jitsu in the Army before each arrived in the UFC.  So, a ground affair may be in the offing, but if Johnson’s standup skills from the Mid-East make it on the plane to San Diego, look for a very entertaining back and forth clash.  And, given that Riddle recently told MMAJunkie.com that  “I’m smashing DeMarques,” the potential for leather to fly appears on both sides.

James Irvin vs. Igor Pokrajac (lght heavyweight)

The question in this fight is … which James Irvin will we see?  The explosive fighter who has impressive career wins over Luiz Cane, Doug Marshall, Hector Ramirez, and Houston Alexander, or, the one who struggled against Alessio Sakara, and was easily knocked out by Anderson Silva.  Irvin has publicly mentioned his financial struggles, of late, so he will have internal pressure to get the win and the win-bonus cash.  The Croat, Pokrajac, is 0-2 in his recent stint in the UFC.  A loss to Irvin and he may be headed back to Zagreb in need of a job.  The hook to this fight is, can Irvin generate another thrilling Octagon moment, as he did with his Superman Punch finish of Alexander only eight seconds into round-one at UFC Fight Night 13 in 2008?  If he can, he will have re-ignited his career and probably landed some extra coin from Mr. White.

Mike Massenzio vs. Brian Stann (middleweight)

Brian Stann first made his name as a war hero leading his unit through a multi-day battle in Iraq, subsequently earning a Silver Star.  In the cage it was a brutal left hook that shut down Champion Doug Marshall and earned the war veteran the WEC Light Heavyweight title in 2008.  On August 1^st, Stann will find himself staring at one of the best pure wrestlers in the UFC.  Mike Massenzio was the 2001 national high school wrestling champion out of New Jersey.  He finished Drew McFedries with a Kimura in his first UFC fight and then lost to CB Dollaway via TKO.  Massenzio often trains with Jim and Dan Miller so toughness and stamina will not be an issue for the Jersey fighter.  This is a classic affair of a ground specialist against a big puncher.  Note: Stann will be fighting at middleweight for the first time.  How will he handle the weight cut?

What are your thoughts/predictions about these UFC on Versus undercard fights coming up on Sunday night?

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As speculated Monday, the UFC welterweight contender matchup between American “Quick” Mike Swick (14-2) and Brit “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (22-6) was officially announced for Manchester.

The co-main event pits Brit “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2), returning from a highlight reel knockout loss to “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (25-7) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas in July, across the Octagon from Canadian Denis Kang (34-11-1).

The rest of the card includes:

Matt Brown (10-7) v “Lightning” James Wilks (4-2)
“Real Deal” Ross Pearson (14-5-1) v Aaron Riley (28-11-1)
Terry Etim (13-2) v Shannon Gugerty (12-3)
“Relentless” Paul Taylor (10-5-1) v. “Hitman” John Hathaway (10-0)
“Slick” Nick Osipczak (5-0) v Matthew Riddle (3-0)
Alexander Gustafsson (7-0) v Jared Hamman (2-1)
Andre Winner (10-3-1) v “Crazy Cuban” Rolando Delgado (6-4-1)

The night before the fight, eliminated fighters Brandon Sene (2-0) and Matt Riddle (0-0) were doing shots and it appeared May was doing some with them.  He claimed he had “twelve or thirteen” shots, which upset the other fighters.

Apparently May had filled up a vodka bottle with water and was only pretending to be drunk, trying to play some mind games with Brown and Team Forrest.

It was nothing new for May as we learned he had been nursing a knee injury that held him out of the majority of Team Rampage’s conditioning and sparring sessions.  May himself admitted he faked the severity of the injury to pace himself during training.  Jeremy rode the bike while his team completed grueling conditioning sessions.

That dishonest approach and his cocky attitude angered everyone in the house, including the other fighters on Team Rampage.  Teammate Matt Riddle was so disgusted with May that he revealed Jeremy’s knee injury to Matt Brown the night before the fight.

 Matt brown is no joke.  He revealed his colorful past that includes plenty of drugs, alcohol, fighting, and even a few stints in jail.  By all accounts, he is a serious individual.  He didn’t trash talk much before the fight and was just happy to finally get Jeremy and his mouth into the Octagon.

 Matt Brown (9-6) v Jeremy May (5-5)

May came out swinging, managing to land a few punches and a knee on Brown.  May tried a head kick and Brown sent him to the canvas with a straight right.

May, wanting to get the fight to the ground, did not attempt to stand up.  Brown hit a few leg kicks before dropping a right hand on Jeremy’s face and taking side control.

Brown moved to the mount and looked for submissions.  May sensed this and fed Matt an armbar.  Brown took the bait; and, Jeremy was able to slam out of Matt’s armbar attempt and wound-up standing in Brown’s open guard.

Jeremy landed a few punches from the top before Matt turned the tables and got on top in May’s closed guard.  Matt transitioned to side control, then knee-on-stomach and connected with a few shots before both fighters stood back up.

May, with his hands dropped, looked gassed.  Brown hit him with a jab and then a right cross that sent Jeremy to the mat again.

Brown punched May’s face twice from his open guard before both fighters stood again.  At this point May’s tank was empty.  He could barely stand up straight.  Brown smelled blood and landed a nice knee to set up a beautiful left head kick to the hunched over May, knocking him out and forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.

 Winner by knockout:  Matt Brown

The loss didn’t humble Jeremy May.  Even though lying about his injury and skipping conditioning obviously contributed to him gassing out, he still said Brown got lucky and, that if they fought again, the result would be different.  

Fighters’com’s first-ranked light heavyweight “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (28-6) was frustrated after losing the first fights and was even more so when sixth-ranked Forrest Griffin (15-4) revealed he was picking the match-ups by flipping a coin.  After the next coin flip at Team Forrest’s training session, it was determined Luke Zachrich (7-1) would take on Team Rampage’s Dan Cramer (0-0).

Neither man had the rugged look common of fighters, but they produced the most exciting fight so far this season.

Luke Zachrich (7-1) v Dan Cramer (0-0)

Cramer landed two punches immediately and the fighters clinched up.  Dan threw some more shots and attempted a trip that ended up pushing Luke against the fence.  They separated and Luke landed a straight left that seemed to stun Cramer for a second before he was able to tie Luke up again, land a knee to his face, and execute the trip for a takedown.

After a brief scramble, both men got back to their feet.  Cramer tried to walk through a few of Luke’s punches to get the tie up, but decided to stop after a few of them connect solidly to his chin.  He backed off and then charged in throwing long looping punches, sticking his chin out begging for Luke to connect.

The fighters clinched against the cage and engaged in some dirty boxing.  Cramer landed punch after punch on Luke’s face.  Zacharich landed a few clean shots of his own, but couldn’t match Dan’s pace.

After eating about twenty punches, Luke got the trip for a takedown and got to the mount.  Dan rolled and Luke took his back with just under a minute left.  Zacharich looked for the rear naked choke, and initially appeared to have it locked in pretty deep.  Dan, nearly punched out from his barrage on Luke, wasn’t doing much to defend the choke.  Luke, tired from eating all of those punches, had no energy to finish the choke; and,  both fighters were happy to finish the round with Luke on Dan’s back.

Round two started with Luke and Dan trading punches and clinching.

Cramer got a trip for a takedown and took the mount on Zacharich.  He landed some punches and elbows; and, Luke gave up his back to stop the onslaught.  Two more punches from there and Luke was under the mount again.  Dan rained down punches with a few elbows mixed in.  Luke couldn’t escape the mount or defend the punches; so, referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight.

Winner by TKO: Dan Cramer.     

Finally, Team Rampage won a fight and gained the matchmaking rights for the next fight.  Rampage was giddy after the win and to have control over the next match-up.

The next day, “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (29-6) put his team through some circuit training to “see what they are made of.”  The team discussed who they thought Forrest would pick to fight.  They speculated that Forest would put up one of his strongest fighters against one of Rampage’s weakest to maintain control of the matchmaking.  They decided that Rivera versus Patrick Schultz (5-1-1) was the most likely match-up.

Back at the house, Riddle said he wanted to fight next.  At fight selection, he learned he would get his wish versus BJJ black belt Timothy Credeur (9-2).  The memory of Chipper’s violent knockout of Dan Simmler (0-0) was still fresh in everyone’s mind.  Credeur saw Riddle as a challenge and said he went there to fight the toughest guys.

The night before the fight, Riddle was relaxed.  He knew that he was young enough that he could lose and still be successful in the sport.  Credeur knew his clock was ticking and said if he lost he’d have to re-evaluate life as a fighter.  Everyone was anxious to see if the greenhorn, Riddle, could use his knockout power to overcome the fight experience and proven ground game of Credeur.

“Chipper” Matthew Riddle (0-0) VS Timothy Credeur (9-2)

Round 1:

Right off the bat, Riddle shot for a low single and got to Credeur’s back for the takedown.  Tim loosened one of Riddle’s hooks and spun out to get back to his feet.

Credeur landed a jab and a few leg kicks.  Riddle countered with a leg kick of his own and shot for another takedown.  After a brief scramble, “Chipper” slammed Credeur with a hip-toss.  Tim escaped to his butterfly guard and back to his feet.

A few punches were exchanged and Credeur tripped Riddle and got top position against the cage.  After another scramble, Riddle appeared to momentarily have Credeur’s back; but, Credeur rolled and looked to attack Chipper’s leg with a submission.  Riddle defended and got top position in Credeur’s open guard.  “Chipper” tried to pass; but, Tim used the opportunity to pull off a nice butterfly sweep and take the mount on Riddle.  Tim was throwing and landing punches and elbows form the top and bloodied Riddle’s nose.  Looking lost under the mount, Riddle tried to block some of Tim’s shots.  With fifteen seconds left, he gave up his back to stop the punches.

Credeur worked the rear naked choke; but, Riddle was able to fend it off for the remainder of the round.  The atmosphere during the fight was intense.  You could barely hear the coaches over the screaming of the other fighters.

Round 2:

Riddle stormed out and landed a right head kick and took Credeur down.

Credeur looked for a lower body submission; but, Riddle defended and wound up on his back near the cage with Credeur in his guard.  Tim landed some shots.

“Get up!  Get up!” shouted Rampage.  He wanted Riddle to get the fight back to his feet where he had a better chance of beating the ground specialist.

“Chipper” ate some punches and elbows and his nose started bleeding again.  Things looked bad for Matt; but, as Credeur stepped back to throw a bomb, Riddle turned to his knees and pushed Credeur off.

“He’s done!” exclaimed Rampage.

“Chipper”, now back on his feet, started throwing bombs.  Credeur was gassed!  Riddle landed a few punches, got Tim in the clinch, landed a knee to the body, and took him down.

Rampage shouted for Chipper to let him up.

Riddle started connecting with body shots and some elbows to the face.  Credeur attempted a triangle that Riddle quickly slipped out of.  Tim stayed tight to Riddle and used his triangle escape to take the mount and look for the armbar form the top.

“No! No!” shouted Forest.  He wanted Tim to maintain top position and win the decision rather than go for the risky finish.

Credeur’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu took over and he extended the arm, forcing Riddle to tap.

Winner by tap out due to armbar: Timothy Credeur

Rampage and Juanito Ibarra, Team Rampage’s striking coach, were disappointed because Riddle fought hard, but made a huge mistake and didn’t follow the game plan.  He took the fight to the ground against a BJJ black belt at the critical point of the fight.  Team Rampage lost another fight, and a promising fighter.  Team Forrest took a 2-0 lead and retained matchmaking rights for the next round.