Fedor Emelianenko's attempt to become relevant again in MMA.

Recently Fedor Emelianenko made a comeback to the sport of MMA by competing against Singh Jaideep at an event called Rizin Fighting Federation 2. Also on the card was a Heavyweight tournament including Bellator fighter Muhammed Lawal. The event took place at the famous Saitama Super Arena in Japan. 

Personally I don't think much can be achieved from this fight for Fedor except from a pay check. Going into the fight Fedor had a record of 34 wins, 1 no contest and 4 defeats. His opponent, Jaideep had a record of just 2 wins and 0 defeats. Jaideep does have a reasonably decent kickboxing record, however with his limited MMA experience, this fight seemed like a pointless exercise. Fedor won the fight in the first round by submission (punches). Nobody can be shocked by the way Fedor won this fight. A win does nothing in the sense of progressing his career. A lot of people will argue that Fedor isn't interested in that due to what he has already achieved in his career. However I don't see the point in continuing to fight if its against fighters like Jaideep. Fedor is already a legend in MMA. He should fight people who can genuinely challenge him or retire. A win over Jaideep will add nothing to Fedor's legacy. However if he was to fight a UFC heavyweight then this would definitely add something to his legacy. Some people argue that Fedor's MMA record is full of names who have been handpicked for him, and with fights like this it is hard to argue against it.

The other results from the event can be seen below:

Muhammed Lawal defeated Jiri Prochazka via KO (punch) in the first round.
Kron Gracie defeated Asen Yamamoto via Submission (triangle choke) in the first round.
Andy Souwer defeated Yuichiro via TKO (punches) in the first round.
Baruto Kaito defeated Peter Aerts via Decision (unanimous) in the third round.
Bob Sapp defeated Akebono Tara via Decision (technical).
Gabrielle Garcia defeated Seini Draughn via TKO (punches) in the first round.
Takeru Segawa defeated Yang Ming via TKO (punches) in he second round.
Soo Chul Kim defeated Maike Linhares Galvao Amorim via Decision (unanimous).
Brennan Ward defeated Ken Hasegawa via Submission (rear-naked choke) in the second round.
Jiri Prochazka defeated Vadim Nemkov via TKO (retirement).
Muhammed Lawal defeated Teodoras Aukstuolis via Decision (unanimous).
Rena Kubota defeated Jleana Valentino via Submission (flying armbar) in the second round.

Peter Ashdown
https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown

My opinion on who will still be a UFC champion by the end of 2016.

Current UFC champions: 

Men:

Heavyweight = Fabrício Werdum

Light Heavyweight = Daniel Cormier

Middleweight = Luke Rockhold

Welterweight = Robbie Lawler

Lightweight = Rafael dos Anjos

Featherweight = Conor McGregor

Bantamweight = T.J. Dillashaw

Flyweight = Demetrious Johnson

Women:

Bantamweight = Holly Holm

Strawweight = Joanna Jędrzejczyk

Fighters who I think will become new champions in 2016:

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez.

I feel Cain will defeat Fabrício Werdum in their rematch and I can't see any other heavyweight defeating him in 2016.

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones.

I think Jones will return from his suspension and challenge Daniel Cormier for his title in his first fight back. I think he will win the fight and perhaps defend it once before moving up to heavyweight.

Weltweight: Georges St-Pierre.

This one is a gamble for definite. I'm hopeful GSP will make a return in 2016. If he does I think he would beat Robbie Lawler. However chances are he will stay retired. If this is the case then I think Lawler will remain champion. 

Lightweight: Conor McGregor. 

McGregor will defend his title at featherweight once and then move up to lightweight to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for that title. He will win the fight and defend the lightweight title in 2016.

Featherweight: José Aldo.

Jose Aldo will challenge Frankie Edgar for the title vacated by Connor McGregor and I think Aldo will win.

Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz.

I think Cruz will defeat T.J. Dillashaw in their title fight and will also win in a rematch fight.

I feel all other champions will stay as they are at the end of 2016.

Who do you think will remain champion by the end of 2016?

Peter Ashdown

https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown

UFC 195: Lawler vs Condit | Predictions

This weekend, 2nd January 2016 is UFC 195: Lawler vs Condit. It is the first UFC event of 2016 and it will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. This blog post will go through who I think is going to win on the night. For the preliminary card I won't go in to much detail, I will just say who I think is going to win. On the main card I will discuss my predictions in more detail.

Preliminary predictions:

Edgar Garcia to beat Sheldon Westcott
Joe Soto to beat Michinori Tanaka
Dustin Poirier to beat Joseph Duffy
Scott Holtzman to beat Drew Dober 
Justine Kish to beat Nina Ansaroff
Kyle Noke to beat Alex Morono
Michael McDonald to beat Masanoi Kanehara

Main card predictions:

Abel Trujillo vs. Tony Sims:

This is a tough fight to predict. Abel Trujillo who has lost his last 2 fights, has a record of 12 wins and 7 losses. Tony Sims lost his last fight, and has a record of 12 wins and 3 losses. I think Abel Trujillo will win the fight. He will use his superior wrestling to win. Sims has finished every fight he has won, however 10 of these have been via a knockout. Trujillo has only been knocked out once and I can't see Sims repeating this. I predict Abel Trujillo to win via decision.

Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega:

Brandao goes into the fight having won his last 2, and has a record of 20 wins and 10 losses. Ortega has 9 wins, 1 no contest with no defeats. Despite Ortega being the favourite, I predict that Brandao wins this fight. Brandao is more experienced and has fought against a higher calibre of opponent. In his last 2 fights Brandao has looked exceptional in finishing both opponents in the first round. Ortega won his last fight, but did however show some weaknesses in his back and fourth exciting fight of the night against Thiago Tavares. I can see Brandao exploiting these weaknesses. I predict Diego Brandao to win via TKO in the second round.

Albert Tumenov vs. Lorenz Larkin:

Tumenov has won his last 4, while compiling a record of 16 wins and 2 losses. Larkin has won his last 2, with a record of 17 wins, 1 no contest and 3 losses. Since moving to welterweight Lorenz Larkin has looked impressive, however Tumenov will be his biggest test so far. I think Tumenov will be a step to far and I can see him knocking him out. However I wouldn't be surprised to see Larkin also win via knockout. I predict Tumenov to win via second round KO.

Stipe Miocic vs. Andrei Arlovski:

Miocic who is ranked number 3 in the UFC heavyweight division, won his last fight against Mark Hunt and has a record 13 wins and 2 losses. Arlovski, the number 2 ranked heavyweight, has won his last 6 fights, and has compiled 25 wins, 1 no contest and 10 defeats. I think that despite Arlovski's recent run of good form, I expect Miocic to have far too much for him. Miocic however needs to step it up. Nobody doubts his ability but in the past it has seemed that he has not stepped it up enough on the big occasion. The winner should be inline for a title shot, so Miocic needs to be impressive in this performance and I predict he will use his wrestling to great affect in this fight. I predict Stipe Miocic to win via decision.

Robbie Lawler (c) vs. Carlos Condit:

Lawler, the champion last defended his belt against Rory MacDonald. He has a record of 26 wins, 1 no contest and 10 losses. Condit who win his last fight, has achieved a record of 30 wins with 8 defeats. I think Condit doesn't particularly deserve his title shot. Nobody doubts his ability as a fighter, but his recent record isn't the best. In his last 5 fights he has lost 3 of them. On the other hand Lawler has looked the best of his career and I don't think Condit will be able to stop his run. Arguable a win will put him in the argument for being the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC. I predict Robbie Lawler to win via decision.

Peter Ashdown
https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown

UFC London 2016 | Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping | Preview

The UFC will be returning to London for the first time since 8th March 2014, with the main event scheduled to be Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping in a middleweight bout. The former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva returns to the octagon after last competing on 31st January 2015. His last fight was against Nick Diaz, in Las Vegas. After originally winning the fight, the result was overturned and Silva was subsequently banned for one year due to testing positive for banned substances. It will be interesting to see if Silva returns to be the fighter he once was, or if the one year absence from the sport will take its toll on his performance.

Michael Bisping last fought on the 18th July 2015, in Glasgow, against Thales Leites. Bisping won the fight via split decision. Bisping, who is currently ranked number 7 in the UFC middleweight rankings, faces arguable the toughest fight of his career. Despite his age and year long stint away from the sport, Silva's record speaks for itself. Bisping will have the support from the home crowd, but will this be enough? If Bisping is to win the fight he should take encouragement from Chris Weidman's two wins and the first Silva vs Sonnen fight. Silva's only minor weakness is his takedown defence so Bisping should aim to take down Silva whenever possible and try to ground and pound him. However it is important that Bisping doesn't get caught in submission attempts as Silva can be lethal off his back.If the fight was to remain standing for any length of time, I can see Silva using his great kicks and boxing to take Bisping apart, potentially causing a quick stoppage. As a British fan, I am hopeful that Bisping is able to use the atmosphere to his advantage and get the win. However I can't see that happening and I predict Silva will finish Bisping in the first couple of rounds.

I will be attending this event live so I will be posting up my feedback following the event, however expect much more from in the months and weeks leading up to it. I will also be previewing other fights on the card shortly. Subscribe for more UFC London 2016 blog posts.

Peter Ashdown
https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown