Jose Aldo among top pound for pound

Coming off his devastating defeat off former WEC Featherweight champion Urijah Faber, at this passed Saturdays WEC 48. Current Featherweight champion Jose Aldo is starting to make his claim as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Aldo who won the WEC Featherweight title back in November, 2009 with his second round knock out of then champion Mike Brown. Has improved his record to 17 wins with only one loss including a ten fight winning streak, with six of those wins coming in the WEC organization his only loss which happened back in November, of 2005 when he was just 18 years old.

Aldo successfully defended his title this passed Saturday at the WEC's first ever pay per view event, Aldo who came into the fight winning his last four fights all via TKO and in a total of 11 minutes and 82 seconds. was taken to all five rounds by Faber but Aldo never lost control of the fight.

Faber who supposed to challenge Aldo and be his toughest opponent,but he never put Aldo on the defense as Aldo controlled the fights with devastating leg kicks that left Faber lipping around the cage at one point he was carried back to his corner at the end of the round by his trainer, the leg kicks left Faber unable to shoot for take-downs which most presumed he would have an atvantage with his superior wrestling. But Faber was unsuccessful which left the former champ looking for answers that never came. With his performance coming on the company's first pay per view event, Aldo was not the fan favorite coming into the fight which took place in the Arco Arean, in Sacramento, California. Which is the hometown of Urijah Faber. Loud boos came as Also entered the arena but the champion stayed clam and collected threw out the fight.


After the Faber fight with such a dominating performance one could only think that Aldo has put his name into consideration among sports best, cleaning out a division at 145lbs could a possible jump to the WEC's sister promotion the UFC be in his future . Aldo would have to move up into the 155 pound lightweight division. Such a concept might not ever happen. But one can only think if the winning continues where will the challengers come from. And it might be time for Aldo to take his game to the biggest level in the sport in the UFC.

Following arguably his biggest win of his career, in his first title defenses against his idol Dan Henderson. Champion Jake Shields who believes he has been underappreciated with the organization, with his possible free agency pending in the balance and not many answers.

Shields who headlined last nights Strikeforce, Nashville card, against challenger and MMA legend Dan Henderson, Shields entered the fight on a 13-fight winning streak yet was still considered the underdog to most MMA fans. Although that was quickly put to rest, as the champion scored 5 of 9 take-down attempts and easily took the mount on the challenger, as Shields would succeed on the mount position 11 times in the 5 round fight a outstanding number taking that Henderson is a former Olympic wrester.

The next question for Shields now comes about his future in the sport and where it will take place, Strikeforce has a one-fight option they can activate, or the two sides can discuss a long term deal to keep Shields on board with the company.

Or there’s more options out there for Shields who may now be consider on some top pound for pound list. The one option that could make sense is a jump to the biggest MMA company in the world in the UFC, as company president Dana White as expressed interests in Shields, who can fight at either middleweight, (185 lbs) or welterweight, (170) where champions Georges St Pierre, and Anderson Silva respectfully hold the titles. A more that could make sense for both Shields and the UFC could be a move to the UFC welterweight division, where champion Georges St Pierre, fresh of his defeat of top contender Dan “The Outlaw Hardy” cleaning out the division Shields could provide a new contender to St Pierre.

With no one sure what will happen not even Shields him self, its tough to speculate what might happen. But one thing is for sure is now on a 14-fight winning streak with wins over fighters such as, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, during the streak. One thing is for sure that Jake Shields deserves some respect, and to be included in the top pound for pound best.

Shields dominants Henderson, Mo tops Mousasi, and Melendez hammers Aoki.

So after all is said and done Strikeforce Nashville a night that ended with a post fight brawl in the middle of champion Jake Shields interview on national television, and saw all three of its title fights go all five rounds to the judges decision. All three fights were one sided the evening definitely didn't lack excitement by no means if you like great technical fighting and game planning this was the night of fights for you, most of the time saw one if not both of the fighters on the met.

The evening started off with five rounds for the Strikeforce Light-heavyweight title with defending champion Gegard Mousasi defending against Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal

The fight started off with Lawal being the aggressor, shooting relentless double and single leg take downs at Mousasi, Lawal was pounding the champion from his guard although Mousasi showed no sense of urgency and seemed to be comfortable on his back waiting for Lawal to gas out. Which looked as if it was going to happen in round 2 when it seemed Mousasi gained momentum and looked as if the fight turned after the champion connected with punches and knees. But the 3rd round was a image of what happened in round 1 Lawal with just relentless single leg take downs, and controlled the champion on the ground. Mousasi out struck the challenger landing 177 of his 250 total punches compared to Lawal's 93 landed of 238. The difference in the fight however was take non stop take downs of the challenger as Lawal succeed with 9 of his 12 take down attempts which was the difference to the fight. After five rounds the judges scored the fight (49-46, 49-45, 48-45) crowning "King Mo" Lawal the new Strikefroce Light-heavyweight champion.

The second fight of the night saw Japanese superstar Shinya Aoki, make his American debut for the Strikeforce Lightweight chmapionship against champion Gilbert Melezdez.

The fight started off with Melendez as the aggressor and not much changed threw out the fight and Melendez with a beautiful display of boxing, and strategy on the ground, as he controlled the Japanese star. Aoki never looked comfortable with the cage in his first ever bout inside of a cage in his career, and Melendez took complete advantage of it landing punch after punch from body shots, to straight in the nose. After round 2 Aoki was bleeding from his nose. It seemed his only chance was to shot for the take down grab hold of Melendez and pull guard, which never happened as the champion completely overwhelmed the challenger. inside of the stats Melendez landed 132 of his 253 punches which saw 80 of those landed on the ground were he landed 80 of 114. Not much happened from Aoki's standpoint as he landed only 18 of 51 punches and the big stat he was 0 for 18 on his take downs, and just 1 submission attempted from the Japanese star known for his submission skills. after all 5 rounds the judges scored the fight ( 50-45, 50-45, 50-45,) as Melendez retained his title.

The evening ended with the main event for the Strikeforce Middleweight title with champion Jake Shields defending against mma legend Dan Henderson, in his first fight for the company.

As the fight started it didn't look like it would last long as Henderson had his right hand cocked and loaded the same way he back at UFC 100 against Micheal Bisping, which saw Henderson win by a clean knockout. Henderson quickly landed that right hand minutes into the first round and it didn't look good for Shields as he tried to control the challenge, Henderson seem unstoppable in round one. However the rest of the fight was all Shields and he displayed a dazzling performance with relentless take downs of the challenger. and seemed unstoppable on the mat Shields completely outclassed Henderson with mount after mount on the mma legend making Henderson look either old, or as a rookie of the sport. as the challenger could never find a way up off the mat. It seemed as his only weapon was waiting to land the right hand which only happened once and the rest was all Shields. Although Henderson would survive a a few close calls of the fight being stop as he made it all five rounds. But overall just a beautiful performance from the champion Jake Sheilds as he would win he fight by the judges scores of ( 49-46, 49-45, 48-45)

At the end of the night as commentator Gus Johnson was in the cage interviewing Shields after his victory. Middleweight and top contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller entered the cage asking for his rematch, Shields responded by pushing Miller and a brawl started between Miller and Shields, teammate Nick Diaz a very embarrassing moment for the company as the broadcast was being shown live on CBS, and to many of whom maybe first time viewers of the sport. which was a disappointing way to a very entertaining night of fights.

Shinya Aoki U.S debut, Against tough Melendez

Japanese super star Shinya Aoki one of the worlds best pound for pound fighters will make his U.S debut when he steps in the cage this, Saturday April, 17Th on the Strikeforce Nashville card when he faces off against current Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

Aoki unknown to most of the casual U.S mma fans, enters the fight with a out standing record of 23-14-1 with 14 of those wins coming via submission, with all of his fights in Japan Aoki looks to make his name in the U.S this Saturday night.

Aoki a submission specialist has won the majority of his wins via submission, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Yuki Nakai he is also a black belt in Judo,

Although in his U.S debut he will face a tough fighter and the current Strikeforce Lightweight champion in Gilbert Melendez who enters the fight against Aoki with a record of 19-2 who specializes in wrestling he wrestled for his high school Santa Ana High School,

A quick preview of the fight of course Aoki will look to get the fight to the mat where he will look to submit Melendez where Aoki has won 14 fights in his career via submission, but getting the fight to the mat could prove to be a tough task for the Japanese superstar. Melendez has worked hard on this take down defense, as shown is his last 2 fights where he avenged both of his losses against Mitsuhiro Ishida, and Josh Thomson. Melendez will look to keep the fight standing where he holds a significant advantage his boxing is much sharper then Aoki also another interesting subject in the fight is Aoki lack of experience in fighting in a cage.

we can only wait and see who will come out on top in this bout which will take place at Saturdays Strikefroce Nashville event. But one can only think that the winner of this fight will be clearly on top on the Strikeforce lightweight division for along time to come.

Dan Henderson's Race for the Strikeforce Middleweight belt, and beyond

Dan Henderson has had a long and storied career over the years in the world of mma with wins over ledges such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Sliva, Renzo Graice, and Vitor Belfort. The next chapter in the former Pride Middleweight campions career started on Dec 5Th, 2009, when he announced he was leaving the worlds biggest mma company in the UFC and announced his signing with Strikeforce, Henderson automatically became one of Strikeforces top contenders and most recognized names and this Saturday, April 17Th, Henderson makes his debut in the evenings main event for the Strikeforce Middleweight title against current title holder Jake Shields. Most consider Henderson the favorite going into the fight although Henderson may have more on his mind then just the Strikeforce Middleweight title. After signing with the company Henderson reportedly told Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker that he would like to face Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields, Strikeforce Light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi, and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in his fight three fights with the company.

So lets sit and think for a minute here if Henderson can do what most fans believe he will and defeat Jake Shields, could his next fight be against Mousasi? It would definitely be a very interesting bout Gegard Mousasi who also fights on Saturdays Strikeforce Nashville card, as he defends his Light-heavyweight belt against contender Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in the evenings co-feature. Mousasi is considered one of the sports rising stars as he will enter the fight against Lawal with a 15 fight winning streak. If both Henderson, and Mousasi come out of Saturday with wins don't be surprised if they face each other in there next bout. And some fans can only dream of a potential bout with WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.

So back to reality and certainly Henderson isn't looking past Saturdays fight against Sheilds, for Sheilds is a top contender who enters the fight against Henderson as the Strikeforce Middleweight champion on a 13 fight winning streak and with a career record of 24-4 and 1 draw. But just thinking ahead to what can be a very interesting ride for the mma ledgen in his new home with Strikeforce.

My review of Frankie Edgars upset of Bj Penn

Lost in the aftermath of Anderson Silva's performance of, dancing, mocking, and just basically

denying to engage challenger Demian Maia. In there UFC Middleweight title bout. Which made UFC President Dana White say that it was the most embarrassing moment in his 10 years as president of the company.

Lost in all that was a fight that seen a title switch hands from one of the most legendary Lightweight Champions of all time in BJ Penn, to a challenger who is unknown to most of the causal mma fans, Frankie Edgar a 7 to 1 underdog going into the fight, put on a dazzling display of head movement, taking great angles on his strikeing, even scored a few take downs on Penn who is extremely hard to take down. The difference in the fight was Edgar's movement in Penn's past title defenses against contenders Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez. Edgar had much more movement on his punching and getting out of the pocket and line of fire of Penn's jabs and punches, Edgar showed great accuracy on his punches something Penn hasn't seen in his past two title fights.

Also another thing that could of impacted the fight was the move of Penn's training campus back to his hometown of Hilo, Hawaii. Where he kept facing questions of not training hard or not displaying good cardio after his lop sided loss to Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. Penn moved his camp and in his previous two titles fights before Edgar, he moved his camp to California and walked threw his two opponents in those fights.

Overall when we think of UFC 112 most fans will think of the main event and the actions of Champion Anderson Silva. But instead I ask you to think of one of the biggest upsets for a UFC title since Matt Serra defeated Georges St-Pierre for the Welterweight belt. And what got it done was a great game plan for Edgar which including switching levels and keeping Penn guessing, great head movement which made it hard for Penn to connect. And a scrappy attitude of not allowing himself to get caught up in the moment of who hes fighting and his will to engage.