<%=siteName%>

So we’ve previewed the undercard, we’ve found out how some other athletes think this fight is going to go, and now we break it down.  This Saturday at UFC 94, Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre takes on Lightweight Champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn in an incredible, and possibly history making bout.

For Penn, a win would give him belts in 2 weight classes, which has never been done in the UFC.  He also plans on defending both belts, which means potential fights at 155 and 170 pounds.  For St. Pierre, it might just set us up for that other rumoured superfight…GSP and Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

Lets start with Penn, who starts 13-4-1 in his MMA career.  He could be the most naturally gifted fighter in the history of the sport, and for so long he coasted by on pure talent alone.  But, since a 2005 loss to St. Pierre, followed by a 2006 loss to Matt Hughes, things haven’t been the same for BJ…in a good way.  He has immersed himself in training, doing 3 sessions a day, and has made sure a lack of cardio would never be a problem again.  It’s paid off, with 3 straight wins en route to the Lightweight strap…first Jens Pulver, then Joe Stevenson, and then finally a complete dismantling of Sean Sherk last May.

For BJ, the improvement has been incredible…remember, this is a guy who had wins over Hughes, Matt Serra and Din Thomas BEFORE totally committing himself to training.  But the way he has pushed the pace in his last 3 fights has opened many eyes.  Against the fitness freak Sherk, Penn had the cardio edge and looked fresh before the 4th round (which never started; Sherk couldn’t continue).  His Brazilin Jiu-Jitsu is unquestioned…he’s the first non-Brazilian world champ. 

But it’s his standup that has gotten so much better, and it was already so great.  He picked Sherk apart with an almost invisble jab, he can throw great hooks, and has the capability to bust off a kick or knee out of nowhere.  He also has shown a great deal of improvement in keeping fights standing…Sherk couldn’t take him down, Stevenson couldn’t take him down.  And remember, I use the word “improvement”, but this guy was already elite and world class.

And then there’s St. Pierre (17-2), considered by many to be the best athlete in the sport.  And Just like Penn, GSP also points to a turning point that got him to the seemingly invincible force he is now.  After losing to Matt Hughes in 2004, Georges was on a tear…6 straight wins inside The Octagon, including a second win over Hughes which gave St. Pierre the Weltweight belt.

But then came the first title defence…Matt Serra, coming off The Ultimate Fighter season 4 got the automatic shot, and he shocked the world.  GSP, admittedly, wasn’t mentally ready and therefore he wasn’t physically ready.  He made a vow that something like that would never happen again…and it hasn’t.  Dominating wins have followed…first Josh Koscheck, then Matt Hughes, then Serra, and finally the 5 round war with Jon Fitch.  He always has the perfect gameplan once he stands in, and he has shown the mental edge to make sure that gameplan is executed.

GSP boasts an incredible array of talents.  His cardio is unmatched, and few, if any, can push forward like he does.  His ability to carry a torrid pace for an entire fight is incredible.  He is a great striker, able to pick and choose his spots with solid kicks and disguised punching.  He’s also very elusive and extremely hard to connect with…when you do connect, you have to expect you’re taking a shot back the other way.  His takedowns are almost impossible to block, and once he’s on top, you’ve got to expect furious shots as he moves to escape the guard.  Ask Matt Serra, a black belt grappler, who had his guard passed with ease.

Here’s how I see this fight breaking down.  BJ and Georges will work a nice gameplan on the feet, and both will be able to connect and score.  I don’t believe Penn will be able to finish this fight while both are standing.  Early on, St. Pierre is going to use takedowns sparingly and save them until the 3rd rounds and into the championship rounds.  I believe it will end in a hard fought 5 round battle with St. Pierre winning a unanimous decision.

It could be the biggest fight in UFC history, if not one of the biggest fights in UFC history…so what are some other recognizable athletes saying about the UFC 94 superfight between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn.  We’ve got members of the Flames, Roughnecks, and a few others with their thoughts.

Brandon Prust, Flames Forward - Prust is firmly on the Georges St. Pierre train, “he’s a great fighter, I think he’s…definetely the best in his weight class, for sure, so I don’t see him losing.”  Prust sees St. Pierre being able to roll with the punches regardless, as he can “go the distance or knock you out in the first 10 seconds.”

Eric Nystrom, Flames Forward - Nystrom is a little more on the fence, but it seems as if he’s giving the edge to GSP as well.  “GSP’s conditioning is like no other…St. Pierre’s been pretty dominant lately, so I might give him a little bit of an edge.”  Nystrom goes on to say Penn is going to need to KO St. Pierre to win because “GSP is so hard to submit, he’s so quick and versatile, that it’s hard to submit that guy, so I think if Penn’s going to win, he’s going to have to knock him out.”

Daymond Langkow, Flames Forward - Langkow is just plain excited for the matchup, not giving us a clear cut favorite in his mind.  “GSP has a lot of skill, I think he’s got all the areas covered, but BJ Penn is a pretty powerful guy, he’s obviously got a lot of skill too, so, it should be good.”

David Moss, Flames Forward - The American Moss is going with the Canadian GSP, “I like St. Pierre, but it’s probably going to be a long fight.”

Stephan Bonnar, UFC Light Heavyweight - In my interview with Bonnar earlier this week, he said he’s gone back and forth with this one, and has come to the conclusions it’s far too tough to call.  He wants to see a close fight and believes it’s going to be a close decision regardless, with one guy getting the nod by a small margin.

And from Sherdog.com, here are some other pro predictions…

Din Thomas, Lightweight -  I’m going with BJ. That fool knocked me out. That right there is an accomplishment and should say it all.

Matt Lindland, Middleweight -  What an amazing fight. Two of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world. I have to go with the American and say BJ takes this one. I am really looking forward to watching this fight.

Travis Lutter, Middleweight - think it will be a continuation of the last fight with BJ doing good early and Georges dominating in the later rounds. BJ has a puncher’s chance and could submit him, but I think Georges’ condition and wrestling will win in the end.

Chris Lytle, Welterweight - I’ll say GSP based purely on the coin I just flipped. It was tails.

So, as you can see, GSP has the edge, buuuuuut only slightly.

Even though most of the hype surrounding Saturday’s UFC 94 in Las Vegas surrounds the main event between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn, the rest of the card shapes up to be pretty damn good as well.

We previewed the Stephan Bonnar-Jon Jones match earlier, so we won’t include that here.  We’ll start with the fight that will be billed as the co-main event, a battle of unbeatens when 13-0 Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida takes on 13-0 Thiago Silva in a light heavyweight battle.  Machida is liked by some and hated by some…he’s deliberate, he’s not overly exciting, he doesn’t speak English.  But he wins fights.  His unorthodox, southpaw, Karate-inspired stance isn’t one that favors highlight reel knockouts.  Instead, he is more prone to grind out a decision, as he makes it difficult for guys to get inside his stance and land any shots.  He does enough while standing to score and has great takedown defence if the need arises.  But don’t under estimate him…he can finish fights, and he’s also very skilled in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

His opponent is much more explosive, and much more exciting in the eyes of many.  Thiago Silva has knockout power in both hands, and has his last 8 victories via KO or TKO.  The most memorable would probably be his UFC 78 knockout of Houston Alexander, however his TKO win at UFC 84 over Antonio Mendes was pretty outstanding as well.  Again, don’t let this guy fool you into thinking he’s one dimensional.  Silva boasts a black belt in BJJ and trains with American Top Team, so he is a handful regardless.

I think we see Machida suffer his first loss inside The Octagon on Saturday, because I just don’t know if Machida can withstand Silva pushing forward the whole fight.  When watching Machida’s last fight, his UFC 84 win over Tito Ortiz, to me it was as much a case of Tito not engaging as it was Machida frustrating him.  Silva pushes forward, he throws great punches, and has knockout power in both fists.  When it comes down to it, I call a 2nd round TKO for Silva to push his record to 14-0.

I really like the matchup between Armenian Karo Parisyan and Korean Dong Hyun Kim at 170 pounds.  Kim (11-0-1) is impressive and is a very well rounded fighter.  And I’ve always been of the opinion that Parisyan (26-5) is a little overrated, relying too much on his Judo throws to win decisions.  Kim is tall and will be tough to take down, and he has good KO power, something Karo isn’t great with.  I’ve never liked Parisyan off his back and he doesn’t have a great chin…Thiago Alves knocked him out in their last fight.  I think Kim wins this fight, but because Parisyan is in it, I’ll go with a decision for Kim.

We could have a show-stealer at 155 pounds between Nate Diaz and Clay Guida.  Guida (24-6) is an exciting guy to watch, as he always seems to throw caution to the win and just start throwing.  His actual strength is as a wrestler, where he is able to secure takedowns at a pretty high rate…once in a dominant position, he works a very aggressive ground and pound game.  What’s interesting is how his style clashes with that of Diaz (10-2), who goes out, gets pummelled and locks in a submission, seemingly every time out.  I think he does it again, because Guida’s style plays right into his hands.

And how about the return of Jon Fitch, the man who had his incredible win streak snapped at UFC 87, thanks to St. Pierre.  This fight won’t even be televised, but the 21-3-1 Fitch will take on Akihiro Gono (28-13-7).  It’s a big fight for Fitch, who has to return to his dominant ways to get himself any traction in a stacked UFC welterweight division.

Tomorrow, we preview the main event, the superfight, GSP and BJ!

A familiar face returns to The Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 94, as “The American Physco” Stephan Bonnar returns to the cage, after more than a year out of action.  The man who helped launch the UFC into the mainstream more than 4 years ago has recovered from a bad knee injury, and has his sights set on a 3rd straight win.

I had a chance to talk to Bonnar (14-4) on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of his matchup with Jon Jones in Las Vegas this weekend.  It was a pretty cool interview, as we hit on everything from his rehab process from that aforementioned knee injury from his experiences inside The Ultimate Fighter house to who he thinks will have his hand raised after the main event between GSP and BJ.  Safe to say the guy is as laid back as he’s always been, but at the same time, he’s got his mind focused on a tough fight.

For many fight fans like myself, we really got hooked on MMA and the UFC in January of 2005 when Spike TV joined with Dana White’s promotion to launch The Ultimate Fighter reality series.  It was a concept that seems very simple now, but at the time, it really was ground breaking thinking.  Getting 16 of the best young fighters in a house together, having them split into teams, train their asses off every day, and eventually square off inside The Octagon in elimination fights.  The winner was crowned The Ultimate Fighter and got a 6 figure UFC contract.  Knowing what we know now, with names like Evans, Griffin, Jardine, Bisping, Diaz, Leben, Sanchez and Koschek have fared, we’d have called this a brilliant concept.  But at the time, it wasn’t so cut and dried.

The show had good success early on and grew a solid garnered a new group of fans to the sport.  It was raw, in your face, crude, profane, funny, and violent…all the ingredients of a successful show aimed at guys under 30.  But it wasn’t until the first ever Ultimate Finale when this thing really took off.  The final fight at 205 pounds saw 2 seasoned fighters square off when Stephan Bonnar took on Forrest Griffin.  In a fight that turned into an instant classic, Griffin took a unanimous 3 round decision over Bonnar…a fight where you could feel the electicity in the building intensify after each landed punch.  Both fighters became extremely popular following, and Bonnar would win his first 3 fights afterwards.

He took decision wins over Sam Hoger and Keith Jardine along with scoring a 1st round submission over James Irvin in the 12 months following the Griffin fight.  Bonnar would run into the undefeated (hey, he still is) Rashad Evans in June of 2006 and lost a 3 round decision.  It was a fight where he was distracted, but a fight he wasn’t happy with because he failed to follow his gameplan.  2 months later, at UFC 62, Bonnar would step in for the long awaited rematch with Forrest Griffin with the exact same result as the first meeting…a unanimous decision victory for Griffin.  But, to paraphrase Bonnar in our interview, “I don’t dwell too much on my losses, you can’t gain much from doing that.”

It looked like a good attitude to have, because Bonnar would win his next 2 fights over Mike Nickels and Eric Schafer before being scheduled for UFC Fight Night 13 in a battle with another TUF contestant, Matt Hammil.  But a week into training, he messed up his knee, and it set things back quite a bit…not only did he have to pull out of the fight, but insurances issues followed as well.  But the long road back seems to be almost over, as The American Physco is ready for his fight in 15 months.

He takes on Jon Jones on Saturday night, a guy fighting in just his second fight with the UFC…overall Jones is 7-0 in his mixed martial arts career, coming off a unanimous decision at UFC 87 in his debut with the promotion.  This guy is an athlete, no question…a former standout D Lineman at Syracuse in the ACC, he’s also a former state champion high school and JuCo wrestler.  He’s also only 21 years old, making him the youngest fighter signed to a contract on the UFC roster.  He’s long and skinny, but he’s got incredible power in his hands and also has a good Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game, so this is no easy fight.

But Bonnar is an experienced guy with a great all round skill set, which is scary enough.  Add to that a hunger to get things back on track, and it becomes a little scarier.  I asked him if he cared where he slotted in in the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Division…he said he didn’t really care, and that some guys get too worked up about where they are ranked.  All he can control is how he fights and if he looks good in the cage or not.  Many would infer from his first fight with Griffin that Bonnar is a standup type fighter, which isn’t totally accurate.

Bonnar is a former Chicago Golden Gloves boxer and has extremely good footwork, he can stand with the best of them at 205 pounds.  But he’s just as versed at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and has 7 of his wins via submission…he can finish from a dominant position, but he can also submit you from his back, with a triangle and 2 guillotine victories to his credit.  He wouldn’t give up much of his gameplan for the Jones fight, but you can imagine the gameplan is going to be to try and get the best of the youngster while standing.  If Bonnar can get inside Jones’s sizeable reach, he’ll have the clear striking advantage…eventually, Jones is going to try and take things to the ground.  Bonnar may end up on his back, but as outlined above, he’s very comfortable when fighting from his guard.

It’s going to be tough for Jones to pick up his second UFC victory against a seasoned vet like Bonnar, and with Bonnar being as motivated as he is, it becomes even tougher.  I call a unanimous decision for the Chicago based Bonnar, who trains most of the time with Xtreme Couture in Vegas.  He’s had a gruelling training camp…in his words, he’s “been going through this sh.t for 3 months now.”  It’s good to see one of the most popular guys in the last few years back inside The Octagon, now it’s on him to make sure all that, uh, crap is worth it.

Later today, I’ll preview the rest of the undercard at 94, including the return of Jon Fitch and a great battle at 205 pounds between a couple of 13-0 fighters.  Saturday, John Pollock joins us on Sportsline Saturday from The Fight Network to preview the whole shebang, while we’ll also get some local celebs weighing in on the fight as well.

Fight fans, this is a post I’m really hoping to hear from you on, because it’s a really fun debate.  So feel free to add your 2 cents at the bottom, I’d love to chat back and forth on the comments part of this thing.  After Fedor Emelianenko’s 1st round KO of Ardrei Arlovski on Saturday night, the debate has intensified again…the question being, just who is the best pound-for-pound fighter out there?  No weight classes involved…just who you think is the most talented, most dangerous, and most dominating fighter in the world right now.

Really you 4 choices at this point, with maybe an argument to be had about adding a 5th.  That 5th man would be Urijah Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, because I really do believe he is as incredible an all round fighter as there is out there.  I won’t quite put him in that category, at least not yet.  So, your 4 choices, at least in the minds of the majority, would be: WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko; UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva; UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre; and UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn.  I’ll go with the arguments for each guy, and then give you my pick.

Fedor Emelianenko 

Fedor sits 29-1 in his professional career after Saturday’s win.  The 1 loss on his record came back in December of 2000, and was due to a cut over his eye which caused a stoppage.  Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was credited with a TKO victory, however, Fedor has never been knocked out or submitted.  He has seemingly cyborg-like tendencies in the ring, yet to show any real weakness in his game.  His win over Arlovski was calm, collected and calculated, as is per usual…he waited for his opening, never panicked, and eventually hit a flush shot to the chin of a leaping opponent. 

We’ve seen Fedor get taken down, sometimes in dominant fashion (Randleman in 2004), and yet it’s just a simple matter of getting good position and locking in a deadly submission.  15 of his wins have come by submission, which is scary considering how solid a striker he is.  Few can match his leg kicks, and he has incredible power in both hands…just ask Tim Sylvia.  The most astounding part about Fedor is the ease and nonchalance of his victories…rarely does he break a sweat, more often bleeding more than he perspires.  There is never any panic or deviation from the gameplan, and there may not be a more efficient fighter in MMA today.

The question about Fedor is what will happens if and when he takes on the “best heavyweights in the world” in the UFC.  I use quotes because that statement is arguable, however, it is fair to point out how far the UFC heavyweight division has come in the last 500 days or so.  Many want to see what would happen if Fedor stepped inside The Octagon with the likes of Brock Lesnar or Frank Mir.  Some believe Fedor has yet to prove himself because he has not fought for the Vegas based promotion.  Others believe his body of work is convincing enough on its own.  I tend to lean towards the latter.

Anderson Silva

Silva is as scary a human being as there is in the world, with a professional record of 23-4.  He’s riding a 9 fight win streak and has never lost inside The Octagon of the UFC.  His last loss was at the hands of Yushin Okami, and was due to an illegal kick.  His time in the UFC has been nothing short of dominating, from his debut destruction of Chris Leben, to his first fight at 205 pounds when he dispatched James Irvin.  Along the way, he has 2 wins over Rich Franklin and a far too easy submission victory over Dan Henderson…why do you think both are fighting at 205 now?

He is the most feared striker in all of MMA, without question.  Silva combines lightning quick kicks, amazing dexterity, and the most devestating clinch the sport has seen.  Taking into account only his time with the UFC, there has only been 1 fight where you even gave the other fighter a chance past round 1.  That was, amazingly, the catchweight battle Silva had with Travis Lutter…it seemed as if Lutter had exposed a “weakness” in Silva’s game, taking him down and actually doing some damage.  Of course, Lutter gassed out and Silva won easily with a submission/TKO combo (he had a triangle while he pounded Lutter with elbows).  Remember, this guy is also a BJJ black belt.

Yet Silva was not phased in a later fight with Dan Henderson, one of the best wrestlers in the game.  Henderson took him down, Silva easily weathered the storm and used his deadly striking to set up a rear naked choke in the second round.  Moving up a weight class didn’t phase him either…it only took 61 seconds for him to KO James Irvin.  His last fight with Cote is curious, because he seemed out of it in a sense.  He would not engage in the striking game with Cote, and kinda just danced around, “toying” with the French Canadian in a lot of minds.  Who knows what was going on, but I believe it was just an abberation and he’ll be back to his full freak self in April against Thales Leites in Montreal.

Georges St. Pierre

By far Canada’s best ever export to the MMA game, GSP sits 19-2 in his career and has now won his last 4 fights, succesfully defending his title on 1 occasion.  To me, and I’m not alone, he is the best athlete the sport has ever seen.  Just look at the dude.  I only wish I could be even close to as shredded as that guy; his workouts are legendary and his training regime is not for normal humans.  The scariest thing about Georges is the fact that in every fight, we see marked improvement.  How a guy like GSP can improve is beyond me, yet in each of his last 4 fights, he’s grown more and more dominant.

Lets go back to UFC 69 when he lost his title to Matt Serra.  I still believe it was a fluke, sorry Serra, but GSP took it and ran with it, vowing for something like to never happen again.  So far so good.  He out-wrestled Josh Koschek and took an easy decision at UFC 74.  He followed that with a 100% one sided victory over Matt Hughes (on 5 weeks notice no less)…he got the best of one of the best ever in every single aspect of the game.  At UFC 83, he won his title back from Serra, and once again the fight was never ever in doubt.  And then at UFC 87, he wiped the floor with Jon Fitch for 5 straight rounds…good on Fitch for lasting that long, but that fight wasn’t close.

In each fight, his wrestling improved, to the point where it now seems incredible to think anyone could take him down.  Remember, this is a guy who doesn’t have a wrestling background, yet he could have represented Canada at the Olympics this past summer.  To me, he is the best functional wrestler in all of MMA, hands down.  His striking is world class, as there are very few who pick there spots as well as him.  His footwork is some of the best I’ve ever seen, and it is a real task to land anything on him while standing.  Oh, and don’t forget that if he does end up on his back, he also owns a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  And to bring it all together, HE’S ONLY 27 YEARS OLD.  However he has his stiffest test ever in less than a week against our final choice…

BJ Penn

“The Prodigy” and perhaps the most naturally gifted fighter ever has a professional record of 13-4-1, however he has won his last 3 fights.  His last loss was at the hands of Matt Hughes at UFC 63 and he also lost to GSP at UFC 58 in a split decision.  The thing with BJ is that training and committment had always been an issue…at least until after the Hughes loss.  Before, Penn was content with getting by on his God-given ability and not totally committing his life to MMA.  That’s all changed, and the results are similar to those of his opponent on Saturday in Vegas.

His win over Jens Pulver after their season of The Ultimate Fighter was impressive, but not dominating.  He then earned his shot at the Lightweight belt at UFC 80 with a submission victory over Joe Stevenson.  Again, in that fight, it was never really in doubt, yet not quite dominating.  Then came UFC 84 in Vegas…I saw it in person, and I’ve never seen 1 fighter completely out-class another world class fighter the way Penn dominated Sean Sherk.  No one is more conditioned then Sherk, yet it was him, and not BJ, breathing heavy entering the 3rd round of their fight.  Sherk had no answer for BJ’s jab, couldn’t figure out his head movement, and was completly caught off guard whenever Penn used a power strike.  It was a dismantling, and very eye opening.

Lets pinpoint exactly what we know about BJ, combining his last 3 fights and what we’ve seen from him in the past.  The guy is naturally talented, we’ve gone over that, and has as good an MMA IQ as there is in the world.  With his conditioning and cardio seemingly no longer a problem, he now becomes one of the best strikers in the world.  His foot work is as good as GSP’s, and his explosiveness is deceptive.  He is also the first ever non-Brazilian black-belt champion at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, a title he won in 2000.  Penn has elevated himself to another level the last year and a half…the question many are asking is just how long this elevation will last.

My Verdict

Well, for me, it comes down to the domination factor.  I’ve never seen someone completely smother and overwhelm opponents on as consistent a basis as Anderson Silva, so for me, he is the pound-for-pound best in the world.  I look at the fashion he’s won against world-class opponents…reaming Rich Franklin not once, but twice; calmly enduring a flurry against Henderson, only to dominate and win in the second round; knocking out a heavier man in a weight class debut; and showing no sign of weakness in his all-round game, while also improving.  When you really break it down, I ask myself this.  Can I see Anderson Silva losing to anyone on the planet at 185 pounds right now?  My answer is a resounding no.  Asking that same question about Fedor, BJ and GSP isn’t quite as easy…hell, BJ or Georges will lose this Saturday!  So to me, it’s Silva…and the best part is, we get to see him prove it time and time again.

Now it’s your turn…do you believe 1 of those 4 is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?  State your case, we’ll debate and discuss.  Do you believe someone else should be in the conversation?  Throw out a name!  Nothing funner than a good, spirited debate surrounding the purest sport in the world.  Watch www.FAN960.com on Wednesday afternoon, as my interview with Stephan Bonnar will be posted in the Hot Audio section as soon as I finish up with him.  I’m going to play the interview Saturday, but as he’s in action at UFC 94, MMA fans should get a chance to listen before then.  We start previwing 94 on Wednesday!

The Calgary Roughnecks couldn’t have asked for a better start to their 2009 National Lacrosse League season, as they sit 4-0 to start the year.  At the quarter mark of the season, they join the Buffalo Bandits out east as the only undefated teams in the NLL.  With a 2 week break between games, the Riggers get a nice little break, and we get a little time to check out what’s went wrong, and what the coaching staff might be looking at improving.

On this weeks edition of Roughnecks Radio I spoke to captain Tracey Kelusky.  I asked him about the start and what’s different from this squad as opposed to last years team, which was very similar in makeup.  “Buy-in” was the word used repeatedly by Tracey, as in buying in to what the coaches are preaching in terms of a gameplan.  It’s been pretty impressive so far…unselfish offensive play by the forward set, and the defence continues to play a pressure oriented style.

Those are the obvious ones, but the 2 things that have impressed most through the first quarter of the season are more of the “little thing” variety.  First, the transition game, and how well Calgary has got the ball up the floor.  First and foremost, Jeff Shattler is turning into one of the most reliable, and exciting, transition players on the team.  His 2 goals (should have been 3) Saturday night were good evidence of this, especially the first, where his accelleration did the entire job.  But Shattler has done a great job in turning loose balls into quick breaks, and the patience shown by the transition group has been really good.  Rarely do you see them trying to force things, and instead we’ve seen a lot of patience with guys letting up as personnel changes up.

The second thing that has struck me is just how impressive Calgary is at responding to adversity.  Look at 3 of the 4 games they have played this year, and you’ll see things the Roughnecks have not been happy with, and things that could sink teams on some nights.  However, there never seems to be any panic, and the guys get back on track very quickly…we never see things go off the rails, like we did last year at times.  We talked to Shattler after the broadcast Saturday, and what was really cool was how he explained the theme of this team right now…”what’s next?”  The team wasn’t thrilled with their 3rd quarter Saturday, yet instead of dwelling on it, they said what’s next and took control back in the 4th.  Devan Wray joined us on RoughnecksRadio.com following the game as well, and the feeling was very much the same.  His thought was basically that the team knows what they’re capable of, so there is no point in getting worked up about negatives.  Instead, it’s all about returning to the positive, and Calgary has done a great job of responding to in-game adversity throughout the season.

Now, you can imagine Calgary would like to improve on a few things.  There has been a tendency to see teams creep back into games so far this year.  Both games against San Jose, and the Edmonton game as well, saw the Roughnecks clearly outplay the opposition for most of the game, yet the Stealth and Rush just kept hanging around.  It doesn’t seem like a huge worry with the Riggers though, which goes right back to the confidence they have in eachother to get things done.

4-0 is great, but Kelusky’s words before the game against San Jose were, to paraphrase, “don’t get too comfortable, we can’t let up now.”  That’s as much the task now for Calgary, but for the reasons stated above, I don’t really see it as much of a worry.  Yes the Riggers will probably lose a game this year, mabye even 2 or 3, but if Kelusky, the rest of the leadership group, and this coaching staff can keep the focus there for Calgary…only good things are on the horizon.

Next up for Calgary is a home game against the 2-1 Minnesota Swarm on Friday, February 6th.  It’s a 7:30 pm start, with tickets still available at the Saddledome box office or at ticketmaster.ca.  Serioulsy, I urge you to get on out there and check this team out, this is the funnest to watch I’ve seen.

It’s Calgary Roughnecks gameday as the Riggers get set to take on the San Jose Stealth for the second time this year, at the Saddledome (7:30 pm, FAN 960 and www.FAN960.com).  The 3-0 Roughnecks have showed marked improvement through the 2 weekends they’ve played so far, and were completely dominating over the Toronto Rock last week in a 16-9 win.  The Stealth sit 1-2 and look to avenge their 12-10 home opener loss to Calgary back on January 9th.

The Roughnecks have impressed all over the floor.  On the defensive side of the ball, it’s been stifling at times, as Bruce Codd, Kyle Couling, Andrew McBride et al have flown to the ball like no other defence in the NLL.  They’ve only surrendered 10 goals on 1 occasion (to the Stealth), and last weekend in Toronto, held the Rock scoreless in the 4th quarter while protecting a lead.  Both GM Brad Bannister and Head Coach Troy Cordingley described this defensive system as “tenacious” at the beginning of the season…it’s lived up to that billing so far.

With double digits in every game, the offence has held up their part of the bargain as well.  It just seems like too much of a task for any NLL defence to completely shut down the wave of skill the Roughnecks can throw at you when they have possession.  With Josh Sanderson, Tracey Kelusky, Kaleb Toth, Dane Dobbie, Scott Ranger, Dane Dobbie and Kurt Malawsky all able to score at any given time, it’s hard to gameplan for them.  The mantra of this team this year is “we don’t care who scores, as long as we score.”

But what is sometimes forgotten is the Roughnecks in transition.  I’ve been blown away by Nolan Heavenor this year, as he’s been so good on the fast break.  He scored twice that way against Toronto, but more impressive is how quickly he’s able to find open floor and get things set up in the offensive end.  Jeff Shattler has been just as impressive and shows more scoring flare everytime you watch him play.  And McBride continues to evolve his role in the transition game, as we see him more and more involved every game.  The efficiency Calgary has shown out of their own end is as big a part of a 3-0 start as anything else.

Tonight against the Stealth, it’s no easy task.  Lead by Captain Colin Doyle and prolific Jeff Zywicki, this Stealth team can score.  NCAA All American Paul Rabil continues to adjust to the box game while Rhys Duch and Frank Resetarits have given this team a little secondary scoring.  Calgary showed in their first game they can stifle this up-tempo attack for a good portion of the game, and their ball-hawking defence is the perfect match.  However, with Doyle running the floor, this Stealth team is going to get their points…it’s on Calgary to limit things for long stretches, as they did on January 9th in San Jose.

Join us on the FAN 960 for the pregame show starting at 7.  We’ll give you our second installment of Lacrosse 101 with Andrew McBride, with this edition focusing on ball control and ball movement.  The Roughnecks franchise leader in every offensive category stops by as well, we’ll chat with #9 Kaleb Toth.  My colour guy will be Grant Farhall, who hosts a show following every game on www.calgaryroughnecks.com.  Roughnecks Radio on the FAN 960 goes this afternoon at 3 pm featuring Riggers captain Tracey Kelusky and Stealth captain Colin Doyle.  Game time tonight is 7:30 with tickets still available at the Saddledome box office.

The 3 weekends of heaven for MMA fans continues Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anahiem, California when Affliction presents their sophomore pay per view entitled Day of Reckoning.  The main event is a dream fight, between “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski.  And with 3 other incredible bouts on the card, it could prove to be one hell of a night for fight fans.

Lets start with the main event.  It’s been anticipated ever since Fedor absoloutely destroyed Tim Sylvia at Affliction’s first PPV; on that same card, Arlovski took a TKO win over Ben Rothwell.  He followed that up with a KO of Roy Nelson in October on an Elite XC show.  What’s great about this fight is that these are 2 of the best heavyweight fighters ever in the game AND they’re also 2 of the best heavyweights in the world right now.  And in Fedor’s case…he’s the top dog period, heavyweight or otherwise.

Lets start with the man on top of the mountain.  If you’re not familiar with Fedor, it’s pretty simple…he is Russian and he is not human.  Even though his record sits at 28-1-0, he really is as close to an unbeatable fighter as you can get.  The 1 loss came because a cut was opened above his eye and it had to be stopped…he’s never been submitted or knocked out.  His wins have come in such dominant, and almost easy, fashion over such names as Minotauro Nogueira, Renato Sobral, Heath Herring, Mark Coleman (twice), Kevin Randleman, and Mirko Cro-Cop.  You can do whatever you like to the guy, it just seems impossible to beat him.  Ask Randleman, who was slamming and suplexing the guy all over the ring in their 2004 PRIDE fight.  But, after taking a few vicious clams, Fedor just settled in and locked in a sick kimora and made him tap.  Sylvia didn’t even get out of the first minute of the fight…he got caught by a sick combo and submitted to a rear naked choke.  He is a freak kickboxer, has incredible throw power with his judo background, and that doesn’t even include the scariest aspect of his game.  That would be his sambo, the Russian created self defence, where he can seemingly submit you from any position.

Now, that’s not to say the Belerussian Arlovski doesn’t stand a chance.  “The Pitbull” (14-5-0) can go toe to toe with Fedor in the Sambo game, so that aspect of the fight is a wash.  With Arlovski, you’re looking at a guy who seems to have trouble with superior strikers and superior standup fighters.  His 2 UFC losses to Tim Sylvia are evidence of this.  Now please, don’t misinterpret that as me saying Sylvia is a great standup fighter.  But what he does is use his monkey reach to keep fighters on the outside, and he makes it difficult for them to strike with him.  In Arlovski’s first loss to Sylvia, he was KO’ed in the first round.  The second fight went Sylvia’s way in a (boring) 5 round decision.  But Arlovski sits with a 5 fight win streak, and does have impressive wins over Justin Eillers and Fabricio Werdum.

I see the fight breaking down this way…I believe Arlovski will be able to slam Fedor and get him to the ground a few times in this fight.  While there, it will be an incredible chess match between the 2.  As I mentioned, their ground games are a wash in my eyes, and I’m not so sure Fedor will be able to lock in an arm bar or kimora as easily as he has against others.  Arlovski might even be able to work a little ground and pound from top position, but he won’t have long to do so, because Fedor can scramble with the best of them.  The problem here is that Fedor really is a superior striker, and may have the most vicious leg kicks in MMA today.  I see him working a solid standup game for the first 2 rounds, weathering the Arlovski storm, and eventually chopping down the tree enough to open him up for a takedown.  Once Fedor has top position, he’ll do some damage, and I see him taking a 3rd round TKO.

As great a main event as that is, the card is stacked beyond that!  Josh Barnett (22-5-0) is back for a heavyweight battle with Gilbert Yvel (35-12-1).  With Barnett, it’s all about the ground…he’s able to take guys down almost at will sometimes, and has an overlooked ground game.  He has 14 of his wins via submission, but I see him taking a TKO in this fight. 

How about “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort (17-8-0) back in action against the aforementioned Matt Lindland (21-5-) at 185.  This one could steal the show in my eyes, with Vitor being maybe the most underrated fighter on the planet.  Remember, this is a guy who holds a win over Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, and Heath Herring and has stood in there with Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Allistair Overeem.  But Lindland is just so savvy, you can never count him out…this is a guy with solid wins over Phil Baroni, Pat Miletich, and Joe Doerksen.  He’s also gone toe to toe with Fedor and Rampage…he knows how to win a fight.  Oh and did I mention he won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Greco-Roman Wrestling?  I think he wins this fight via TKO, because history has shown Belfort does not do well with good wrestlers.

Finally, I’m very intrigued by the possibilities of the fight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7-0) and Thierry Sokoudju (5-3-0) at 205 pounds.  Sokoudju comes off a not-so-great tenure in the UFC and has something to prove, while Babalu is one of the potentially scariest guys in the sport on any given night.  Sobral is a submission freak and even has a submission win over Shogun.  It’s a 4 fight win streak for Sobral, a guy who has lost 3 of his 7 fights to Chuck Liddell (twice) and Fedor.  Sokoudju is the wildcard though…the 24 year old from Cameroon wants to get back on the winning track, but is going to have to do so by keeping this fight on his feet.  This has the potential to be a very entertaining standup fight, but I like Babalu to win via submission after taking this thing to the ground.

Oh yeah, next Saturday it’s only UFC 94 with Georges and BJ.  No big deal.

He’s the all time franchise leader in every offensive category for the Calgary Roughnecks.  He set the franchise mark for goals in San Jose on January 9th, and then took the assists and points mark last weekend in Calgary’s 16-9 win in Toronto.  And yet, for a guy who has done everything possible for this Roughnecks team, Kaleb Toth is still focused on what matters.

Just to get the numbers out of the way, entering Saturday’s home game against the San Jose Stealth (7:30 pm, FAN 960 and www.FAN960.com), Toth has 468 career points with Calgary (215 goals, 252 assists).  Overall for his career, Toth sits with 553 points.  Toth of course spent his first 2 NLL seasons with the Toronto Rock.

I chatted with Kaleb this week, and that interview will be part of our pregame show starting at 7 this Saturday.  When he set the mark for goals, Toth wasn’t even aware of the milestone he just reached.  He was only a little bit more aware of the assists and points record which he set last weekend…only because he had been notified he’d set the goal record!

Toth was acquired back in 2002 at the NLL Entry Draft in a deal that sent Blaine Manning and a 1st round pick the other way.  It was interesting to hear Kaleb tell the story of how things transpired for that trade to go down.  He had enjoyed 2 very successful seasons in Toronto, but upon hearing of the upstart Riggers, went to management and asked for a trade.  Why not?  He’s a born and raised Calgarian, and this was a real opportunity for him.  They told Toth they wanted the best for him and the team, and eventually the trade got done.  I asked him what it was like to be the face of a franchise right from the beginning.  “I was really nervous,” was his response…safe to say, he’s done a pretty damn good job.

No question Toth is very honored by the milestone, but his focus really is directed upon things totally opposite of individual achievements.  In his words, “it doesn’t matter about points as long as we get the milestone we’re looking for, and that is the win.”  And while that gets said by everyone under the sun after individual accomplishments, you know it’s legit coming from Toth.  “Team player” is the ony phrase you can use when talking about #9…he’s played every game this franchise has ever played (except 1, which he doesn’t like to talk about), and has been a great ambassador for the team.  And yeah, he missed that 1 game.  But how many other guys would have taken it the way he did…as a true team guy.  He saw it as a wake up call, and went about his business after getting back in the lineup.

The other thing that struck me when talking to him today was just how important the buy-in is on this team.  With Toth, Kelusky, Malawsky, Dobbie, Ranger, Sanderson and so many other guys who can score, there needed to be a plan.  They all got together in the offseason and to a man, the consensus was “we don’t care who scores, as long as we score as many as we should.”  Well, when you get 3 guys potting hat-tricks against Toronto, I think you can see what they’re talking about.

So, while Toth is honored by the accomplishment and his milestone, he also has his eye on the real prize.  3-0 is the best start in Roughnecks history, but the job isn’t done.  5 points or 55 points the rest of the season, it doesn’t matter, as long as Kaleb can help the Riggers return to the top of the mountain.

A very impressive fight card from the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland over the weekend as The Ultimate Fighting Championship put on UFC 93.  The main event saw Dan Henderson notch a split-decision win over Rich Franklin in a very entertaining 3 round bout.  Also of note on the card was an unimpressive TKO win for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua over Mark Coleman and a second round submission loss for Canadian Denis Kang at the hands of Alan Belcher.

Lets start with the main event, where Dan Henderson did just a little bit more than Rich Franklin in a 205 pound war.  For Henderson, I thought he executed an almost perfect gameplan.  He looked more than comfortable standing and striking with Franklin, and was content to take the fight to the ground whenever Rich started to land any dangerous strikes.  It was Hendo’s dominating ground game that won him this fight.  At no point did Henderson relinquish top position and he was actually able to land some effective punches and elbows while in Franklin’s guard.  One judge scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Franklin, which was ridiculous…the other 2 had it 29-28 Henderson, which is how I had it scored as well.

Next up for Henderson is a middleweight bout with the UK’s Michael Bisping, a fight that could move the winner into the defacto “Number 1 Contender” slot at 185 pounds.  Before the 2 square off inside The Octagon, they’ll be put to the test in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.  The 9th season will not only be a coach vs. coach scenario, it’ll also be run on the premise of Great Britain vs. The United States.  It’s another new wrinkle to the show which some believe is getting stale…I am not one of those, I thought this past season was very engaging with a lot of likeable personalities and some damn good fighters.

As for Rich Franklin, the future is a little less clear.  The fight with Henderson was years in the making and was talked about when they were both at the top of the middleweight division.  But in my estimation, Franklin no longer has any value at 185 pounds…he’s beat everyone not named Anderson Silva.  So who does he fight next at light heavyweight?  Well, names like Jackson, Liddell, Rua, and Jardine are out of the equation (details in the next few paragraphs).  The matchup I’d like to see is with Forrest Griffin no question.  They both have really affable personalities and are both extremely skilled, and extremely popular, fighters needing a win to get back on track towards the strap.

The other main event wasn’t what I called a classic.  In spite of himself in many ways, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua took a 3rd round TKO win over Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.  It was a fight where neither guy had any sort of cardio to speak of…the 44 year old Coleman was noticeable gassed by the end of the opening round, while Shogun’s cardio failed him midway through the 2nd round.  Coleman plodded and limped his way through the fight, showing great heart, and that’s about it.  There were times when he was hard to watch, as he was so painfully tired and not prepared for the test…it could have been the age difference, the 25 pound cut, or something else.  What it wasn’t was impressive.  Almost more annoying was Rua’s inability to finish.  Shogun was also gassed and could not finish from the ground, including a painfully boring attempt at an oma plata shoulder lock in the 2nd round.  He finally finished the fight with an uppercut and a few follow up shots late in the 3rd round…but in Rua’s 2nd UFC fight, he certainly did not look like a guy who had been talked about as the top 205 pounder in the world.  Shogun will now fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 on April 18th in Montreal.

Speaking of Canada, Vancouver’s Denis Kang made a very impressive, yet unsuccessful, UFC debut with a 2nd round loss to Alan Belcher.  Kang got caught in a guillotine choke with an arm in and was forced to tap.  Credit Belcher for catching Kang, but I really believe Kang showed enough to keep him in the mix among the top middleweights in the promotion.  The entire opening round was dominated by the Canadian, as he landed combination after combination, showing some of the most devestating punches to the body I’ve ever seen.  His leg kicks were very good, and he showed some great ground and pound as well.  It’s too bad he was unable to come away with the victory, but once again, I came away very impressed by one of Canada’s best MMA exports.

Rounding out my thoughts, I was fairly impressed with the opening bout of Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle.  It lived up to the bill of being a strictly standup fight…in fact, in the leadup, Davis said the first guy to attempt a takedown “was a pussy.”  No pussy’s here, as neither tried to take the fight to the ground.  Instead, Davis used his boxing background to work his superior standup and pick Lytle apart.  I was also very impressed with Rousimar Palhares as he took a unanimous decision over Jeremy Horn.  Palhares dominated on the feet and took Horn down at will, including some devestating slams.

On top of the Liddell-Rua announcement for UFC 97 in Montreal (which also features Anderson Silva), the UFC also confirmed the headliner for UFC 96.  The March 7th card in Columbus will be headlined by a light heavyweight battle between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Keith Jardine.  Lots of praise for the hot crowd in Dublin as well, as UFC President Dana White said “pound for pound, probably one of the best arenas and best crowds we’ve ever been to.”  And don’t forget, they’re back home for UFC 94 on January 31st with GSP taking on BJ Penn at 170.  Like I’m not excited out of my mind for that.