UFC 84 Breakdown Sokoudjou vs Nakamura

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura.

This is a fight between two of the better Judo stylist in MMA. Nakamura is a Japanese national medalist, and Sokoudjou is a US Open judo gold medal winner. Here is how I see the breakdown.

Striking:

Both are actually pretty good strikers despite being judo fighters. Sokou is athletic, fast and has very good power. Nak has improved his striking considerably over his career and has developed some pretty strong boxing. I would have to give the edge to Sokoudjou based on his proven power and quickness.

Wrestling:

In this case, it would be judo. Both are accomplished judo players. Sokoudjou probably has the better pedigree, and training at team quest with Dan Henderson should help him learn to apply judo with out a gi. However, we just haven't seen it in his MMA fights. Machida was able to take him down and finish him. Nakamura has been much more consistent using his Judo in MMA so I would give the edge to him.

Jiu Jitsu

This is another area where Nak has the proven edge mainly because we haven't seen much of anything from Sokoudjou. Nakamura hasn't shown an amazing ground game but his only submission loses come against Lil Nog and Josh Barnett which has more to do with those guys being pretty amazing grapplers. Sokoudjou was submitted by Machida, but Machida is a BJJ black belt.

Cardio

Nakamura doesn't have the best cardio in the world but Sokoudjou hasn't been to a decision since his first fight. Kaz has gone the distance 10 times in his career and while he is no Sean sherk or Tito Ortiz cardio wise. He will be able to keep his work rate up at a reasonable level for all three rounds. Sokodjou looks like he is in good shape and training with Dan henderson has got to be good on the cardio but who knows. Edge Nakamura

Level of Competition.

Normally someone with wins over Arona and lil Nog and a fight with Machida, will be the favorite in this category but not in this case, For Kaz, like many japanese fighters in PRIDE, his skill or experience level had less to do with his matchups then his nationality. Accordingly his record is a who's-who's of PRIDE superstars. After fighting Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira (lil Nog) in his first fight, he went on to fight: a rematch with Lil Nog, Bustamante, Henderson, Randleman, Vovchanchyn, Silva, Kondo, Barnett, Rua and Machida. He went 5-7 in those matches. Although he has a losing record against "name" opponents, he is quite used to fighting in big fights. Edge Nak.

Conclusion

In theory, Nakamura has most of the advantages here. He has fought tougher competition, shown better use of his judo and proven his ability to fight for 3 rounds. But Sokoudjou demolished two of the better LHW is the world, one of who holds two wins over Nakamura. He hasn't really shown his ability, or lack of ability, in so many areas. That makes him somewhat of an unknown still. Nak is going to want to take this to the ground because he has shown a tendency to eat punches rather than block them. I predict that Sokodjou will be able to keep this on the feet and use his striking to batter Nakamura. Nak is tough as they come so I don't expect an early stoppage but I think Sokoudjou overwhelms him late in the fight for the stoppage.

UFC 84 Breakdown - Ortiz vs Machida

Machida vs Ortiz

By far the hardest bout to call because there are so many questions surrounding both fighters. Is Machida for real or just untested? Is Tito done as a top fighter?

Striking;

Edge Machida. Machida has a very unorthodox striking game as he is one of the few fighters who uses a Karate based style in MMA. He has used it to his advantage as most fighters have had a hard time figuring it out. Tito has never been a particularly great striker. He lacks power and a natural striking rhythm. He does have a very good cage and throw very tight technical punches. Against Griffin, he managed to throw tight hooks inside of Forrest’s wide swinging punches (a fact that is often over looked) and even hurt him at one point. Remember he has basically spent most of the last 3 years training to beat Chuck Liddell. However, Machida is a natural striker who will be more comfortable on his feet.

Wrestling

Edge Ortiz. Ortiz has very good wrestling and has used it to good effect through out his MMA career. He appears to have slowed down a step due to a nagging knee injury. The question is can he take Machida down? I think he can, even he has to crush him against the fence. Tito is a very strong LHW and will have to use that to his advantage. Machida is not without wrestling skills of his own. He has a sumo background and it will be interesting to see how he uses it against Ortiz.

Jiu Jitsu

Edge Machida. Machida is a BJJ black belt although he does not use his BJJ as often. Much like Anderson or Wandalei Silva, he prefers to stand rather than use his BJJ to submit and opponent. Against Sokoudjou he showed a decent top game prior to winning by arm triangle. Tito how ever hasn’t been caught in a submission since his second fight at UFC 13! That is more than 10 years ago. He has a great base and is hard to sweep. He has not shown much on the ground other that his solid top control game.

Cardio:

Edge Ortiz. Tito has legendary Cardio although it may be beginning to fail him. Tito has always concentrated on his conditioning, training at altitude, and more than once simple out lasted his opponents. Tito has gone 5 round 3 times in his career, something Machida has never done. Tito may be able to push the pace late in the fight although I doubt either fighter will gas in this 3 round fight.

Level of Competition:

Edge Ortiz. Tito has faced Liddel (twice), Couture, Belfort (early Belfort, also known as good Belfort), Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock (3 X although only one was a challenge), Evan Tanner, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans. Machida only has two really proven fighters on his resume. A BJ Penn (puffed up to 205) and Rich Franklin prior to Frnaklin dropping down to 185 and winning the UFC Middleweight title.

Conclusion:

This is Tito’s fight to lose. He should be able to take Machida down, pin him against the fence and elbow him towards a stoppage or decision. He needs a big win for the last fight of his UFC contract or he will see his stock fade as he joins a new organization. If he can’t take down Machida, expect a boring decision win for Lyoto.

UFC 84 Breakdown- Silva vs. Jardine

Silva vs. Jardine

I’m sorry, I have never been sold on Jardine. He lost to Rashad Evans on TUF, lost to Stephan Bonnar and lost to Houston Alexander. His win against Forrest was legit but it didn’t really show anything other than he has some power. It did more to show that Forrest needs to stay out of the pocket rather than drop his head and brawl. His win against Chuck, was a matter of Chuck expecting him to drop from a right hand. In the third when Chuck finally turned it on, he did not look as good. Lets quickly break this down.

Striking:

Edge Silva. Jardine is a decent kickboxer but so is Silva and Silva has more power and more tools. Silva’s clinch is a deadly weapon and he throws every punch with bad intentions. He is also more than capable of dealing with Jardine’s leg kicks which is his best weapon.

Wrestling;

Edge Silva. Silva’s wrestling isn’t amazing but it is solid. Jardine has not shown any wrestling ability at all. Also Silva has a create Muay Thai Clinch and while it is mainly a striking weapon, it means that he can control the action against the fence. He is also working full time with Randy Couture which can’t hurt.

Jiu jitsu

Edge Silva. Silva is a BJJ black belt and the few times we have seen him use his BJJ it has been very effective. He has shown a very active guard that allows him to prevent damage and scramble to his feet. Jardine has not shown any real skill on the ground.

Cardio:

Edge Silva. Unlike a lot of former Pride stars, Silva has not shown a tendency to gas. His 3 round war with Liddell was at as fast of a pace as you could hope for and he was throwing as hard, and as much, in the third as he was in the first. Jardine’s cardio isn’t bad either but Silva has shown time and time again that he will bring the intensity for the entire fight.

Level of competition:

Edge, Silva by a landslide. Sliva has faced Lidell, Jackson (twice), Arona (twice), Hendo (twice), Hunt, CroCop(twice), Sakuraba (3X) Ortiz, Belfort and more. He has faced 4 UFC belt holders and was PRIDE champ for a long time. Liddell and Griffen are the only two top fighters on his record and he does hold wins over them but he has also lost recently to prospect Alexander and Bonnar.

Conclusion:

Silva owns every advantage on paper. He is as good or better the Jardine in every aspect. However, Silva has lost 3 straight. Those loses are to Henderson, Liddel and CroCop (at HW) so he didn’t lose to second tier fighter like Jardine but questions remain as to his ability to continue as a top fighter. Silva has been through numerous wars in his career and they look as though they may have taken there toll on the Axe Murderer. Jardine could win this by virtue of being less abused. He also has a great game planner in Greg Jackson, who could plan a strategy of picking apart silva’s somewhat reckless style. Another question is how much of an effect is Randy Couture going to have on silva’s game plan. If there is one guy in MMA who can out game plan Jackson, it is the Natural. I predict Silva by destructive KO, in a fight that re-establishes him as a top fighter.

UFC 84 Breakdown- Penn Vs Sherk

UFC 84 breakdown

Penn vs. Sherk
This fight has generated a ton of hype and wildly differing opinions. The Penn fanboys claim that BJ will win by “whatever he wants” while Sherk’s fan claim that BJ has no gas tank and no heart. Lets break this down by skill set and see how they match up.

Striking:
This one is actually fairly even although most people don’t like to admit it. Sherk has a very tight, technical “small man’s” striking game. He punches in flurries and keeps his punches nice, short and always brings his hands right back to a tight cage. Penn’s punching is more fluid and natural but no less effective. His boxing is good enough that no one faults him for relying on it rather than his jiu-jitsu, unlike a Andy Wang or Jorge Gurgel (who I am told are pretty good on the ground but I have never seen it).

The difference is more in the style, BJ fights from a distance while Sherk is an infighter. The advantage will go to who can impose their style on the other. Due to the size of the octagon and his reach advantage, I think that will be Penn.

Wrestling:
This one is pretty clearly in the favour of Sherk. His wrestling is very good and 3 of Penn’s 4 losses have come to strong wrestlers. Penn’s supporter’s claim that it was his gas tank that lost him those fights (or a rib injury in the case of Hughes II). But the fact remains that he has lost to wrestlers in the past. Sherk bases his style around his takedowns and ground and pound. He will likely attempt to take Penn down early and often. BJ has shown some very good takedown defence in the past and Sherk will be hard pressed to take him down early but over time, Sherk’s aggressiveness and persistence will be rewarded with takedowns.

Jiu-Jitsu:
As clearly as the wrestling goes to Sherk, the BJJ has to go to Penn. He is easily one of the most talent BJJ fighters in MMA. A lot of people think he could be competitive in Abu Dhabi right now. He is that good. But Sherk has fought some very good BJJ fighters in the past and he has never been submitted in 35 fights. All three of his last opponents are BJJ black belts, (Diaz was a brown at the time) and well known for having good “BJJ for MMA” which is not always the case with BJJ black belts. Neither Florian or Franca, could use that BJJ at all against Sherk; in fact, Sherk passed Franca’s guard like Franca was a white belt. Diaz was more of a challenge and also the most similar in his BJJ to Penn. Diaz is a slick, natural grappler somewhat like Penn and was competitive but ultimately overwhelmed by Sherk’s non-stop pace. The question is not so much who is better, it is clearly Penn, but how BJ handles Sherk’s pace.

Cardio:
By far the easiest aspect to call, both fighters are legendary in respect to cardio. Sherk is known for ability to compete at top speed for 25 minutes. Penn is legendary for is ability to gas after 10 minutes. Questions still remain though. Was Sherk’s cardio a result of steroids? Does Penn have a new found respect for conditioning? I got go with the historical precedent and give the advantage to Sherk by a landslide.

Level of Competition:
I have to call this a draw. Both guys are champions. Both have been in big fights. BJ has fought: GSP, Hughes, Gomi, Machida, Renzo Gracie, Pulver and Serra. Sherk has fought GSP, Hughes, Diaz and Parisyan. Both have had mixed success against top competition but most of it was outside their natural weight class of 155.

Conclusion:
Very even bout on paper. In each area that one person has an advantage; the other has a proven track record of nullifying that advantage. Penn does not want to let this get into the later rounds. Even if he has concentrated on his cardio to a level he never has before, Sherk is a monster in that department and will push the pace for 25 minutes. BJ has to use his reach and takedown defence to punish Sherk early make his hesitant to shoot for a takedown (no easy task as Hermes Franca can attest to). I picture BJ winning the early rounds but Sherk will come on strong late and grind out a hotly disputed decision.