UFC 129 GSP vs Shields, ADCC 2011

Generally an awesome show. Stayed up late to watch this one and it was definitely worth it.

Definitely expected Machida to win this one in devastating fashion and he did. Did NOT expect him to win via front kick of course but his striking is excellent and Randy Couture is known at least more recently to get knocked down I.e. By Lesnar and Nogueira.

Randy started great by you always expected there to be trouble from Machida and he was always looking for that opening.

Jose Aldo I am particularly impressed by though. This guy is really tough. There are fighters who are great but his time you see a fighter who is amazingly talented, great striking, but also can take a punch. The only thing that I did not see from Aldo is his attacking jiu jitsu. As a jiu jitsu fan myself, it was disappointing to see no real attacking jiu jitsu that is normally displayed by other jiu jitsu world champions like bj Penn, demian Maia and Ronaldo Jacare Souza, not to even mention Roger Gracie. Jose did nothing from is back especially at the end where he could have at least tried for an arm bar or triangle. If Werdum was in that position, you would see a very different scenario play out in round 5 I am sure of that.

I have to say lastly that GSP is as great as ever. I love a calculating fight and this one was definitely one like that. Jake was powerless to do anything really. His takedowns I guess could have been more desperate but when you try to wrestle a guy like GSP I think you just have to be 100 pounds heavier than him because otherwise he is not going down and if he does fall, he is jumping straight back up.

Another great show for the UFC!

By the way if you are looking forward to ADCC 2011, it looks like it is coming to Nottingham UK this September 27-28. This incredible event featuring the best grapplers all across the world will be held near Braulio Estima's academy in Birmingham. It is also possible that Brock Lesnar will participate and a match between him and Roger Gracie will be worth watching with front row seats no doubt.

GSP vs Jake Shields

I am looking forward to this fight. GSP is doing all the right things to prepare for this fight. He is getting his jiu jitsu ready and is training with Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie, two bjj superstars. Roger has recently visited my club in Moscow, true champion, I thinknhe is going to do great in MMA.


I think he is a very smart fighter and does not underestimate Jake who has a very well balanced wrestling and jiu jitsu base. If Georges can keep this fight standing, he should be able to do whatever he wants. Taking down GSP is a huge problem. What GSP needs to remember is to avoid a ground fight. If he takes down Jake, then he needs to get up.

Jake's guard is not outstanding though. He has a great top game but I dont think that Jake will be able to submit GSP from the bottom. This is going to be a cool fight just to see who will be able to control the fight. Jake managed to control the much bigger Dan Henderson so it will be interesting to see what his game plan will be for this fight.

If GSP does get beyond Jake Shields, things are going to get interesting. There is really only Nick Diaz that will potentially be an interesting matchup for GSP. The other will be for sure a fantastic matchup against the much bigger Anderson Silva.

Even though Anderson Silva is such an outstanding fighter, I would just love to see how this fight will turn out. If GSP manages to avoid the dangerous striking of Silva, I still believe GSP could take down the middleweight champion and control the fight on the ground. GSP is extremely athletic and it would be interesting to see how he would try to deal with a much bigger and extremely skilled oponent.

ADCC Barcelona 2009 - the Event of the Year Plus Update

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Championships is the most prestigious submission wrestling event in the world, period. The winners of this tournament are regarded to be the world's elite grapplers and the list of competitors alone reads like a who's who in the sport.

Fighters from many disciplines including jiu jitsu, judo, sambo and wrestling compete once in every two years in this elite invitation-only tournament created and sponsored by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nayan, the son of the former United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayan, together with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Nelson Monteiro.

The event was first held back in 1998 and has since then seen many great champions and representatives of different martial arts participate. Although the majority of practitioners today represent brazilian jiu jitsu, there have already been notable exceptions including Sanae Kikuta and of course Mark Kerr, the free-style wrestler that defeated everyone in 2000, both in his category (over 99kg) and in the absolute division.

Many champions have shown their skills in this competition but perhaps the brightest has been Marcelo Garcia, the Alliance black belt considered by many to be the best no-gi pound-for-pound fighter.

This year the event is expected to be unlike any that we have seen yet. The competitor list that has already been announced is so strong and so decorated that we are sure to witness one of the greatest grappling events in the history.

Not only has the fight included every elite jiu jitsu competitor including the likes of Roger Gracie (current Absolute Champion), Robert Drysdale (2007 ADCC Champion), Xande Ribeiro, Marcelo Garcia, Rubens Charles "Cobrinha", Leo Viera and many others, but two of the pound-for-pound mixed martial arts legends have been confirmed.

So why is ADCC 2009 special?

Today, there are three names that are undisputedly considered the pound-for-pound best in the world. These are the legends of the sport, Georges St-Pierre the UFC Welterweight Champion, Anderson Silva the UFC Middleweight Champion and Fedor Emelianenko the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion. All of these guys are legends in the sport and have proven time and time again why they are the best.

Now the grappling fans have a chance to witness something that has never been seen before. Two of them, Fedor Emeliananko and Georges St-Pierre (GSP) are scheduled participate. Both are extremely well-rounded fighters with a good background in grappling.

GSP is a brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt while Fedor Emelianenko is a national Judo Champion and a multiple World Combat Sambo Champion. Now they will test their skills against the monsters of the grappling arts. The mere prospect of seeing GSP fighting Marcelo Garcia is an incredible sight.

There were some rumors that Fedor may not be competing but if we do see this MMA king battle in the open weight division, this will be for sure a memorable occasion. I know I will be there to see it.

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ADCC 2009 will be held in Barcelona on 26-27 September. Tickets are already available on Ticketmaster.com.

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The ADCC Committee has released even more names today. They are - 65.9 kg Hiroshi Nakamura (judo champion), +99kg Garbriel Gonzaga (UFC Fighter and Mundials Champion in 2006) and +99kg Jon Olav Einemo (the only human to defeat Roger Gracie in ADCC).

Check this link for updated list of competitors