The WEC 40 bantamweight title fight is the first fight I've ever had to do two dueling Judo Chops for.

This is a sequel to my earlier Judo Chop about Takeya Mizugaki's ability to close distance and score with punches at medium range.

Mizugaki surprised the champ a bit but Torres was able to win for three reasons:

1. His peek-a-boo boxing skills allowed him to bob and weave and avoid the worst of Mizugaki's hooks to the body and head;
   
2. As Mizugaki got tired, Torres began to score from the outside with jabs and straight kicks; and
3. Torres figured out he could force Mizugaki up against the cage and punish him with knees and elbows. Early in the fight when they clinched in the center of the ring, Mizugaki held his own, but not up against the fence.

This bit of description from Josh Gross' live blog of the fight is telling:

Two nice elbows in the clinch from Torres. Another. Against the fence and in the clinch, Torres is winning. It's everywhere else he's having trouble. The champ once again gets on the inside following a right straight.

Four punch combo from Torres pushes Mizugaki back-first into the cage. He's strong here. Good work from both men as they trade in the Thai clinch.

Some gifs and more discussion in the full entry.

Continue reading this post »

When Takeya Mizugaki was announced as a late replacement for top WEC bantamweight contender Brian Bowles, most expected him to be quickly snuffed out by champ Miguel Torres. 

But Mizugaki shocked everyone by going the distance with Torres, and even beating the champ in the first and third rounds on some score cards.

For this Judo Chop I want to talk about the techniques Mizugaki used to get in close where he could nullify Torres' reach advantage and employ his close-range boxing skills to good effect. Mizugaki also used the thai clinch effectively to land knees in the clinch.

Mizugaki talked about this before the fight with Sherdog:

"One thing in particular I've also been working on is striking distance," Mizugaki said. "In Japan, striking often happens in close, but abroad it seems that most Japanese fighters get knocked out from a distance, in particular with the straight punch. I've worked to adapt myself to that distance."

He did indeed. He also did a great job of avoiding bad habits he'd indulged in previous fights, keeping his hands up and chin down to protect himself from the bombs Torres throws at range.

In the full entry I dig into a few gifs from the fight. In a sequel Judo Chop, I'll discuss the techniques Torres used to pull out the win.

Continue reading this post »

MMA media watchdog and fellow Bloody Elbow staffer, Mike Fagan, echoes the sentiments of many fans following Frank Mir's cageside performance at WEC 40.  Notable quote:

I love Frank Mir the Commentator.  In my opinion, he’s the best English-speaking, regular MMA broadcaster right now.  However, he turned in an absolutely brutal performance during the Torres-Mizugaki main event.  If you had no clue how to judge a fight, you would have scored the fight 50-45 based on Mir’s explanation of the action.

Jordan Breen takes the discussion past Mir and examines what he describes as an "endemic" problem:

So, Harris is inadequate ... how does that impact Mir's performance? Unfortunately, commentary doesn't exist in a vacuum; it's about interactional chemistry. Because Harris can neither offer context, insight nor even properly call action, Mir is forced to call essentially all of the technical action himself on top of describing its intricacies. This pattern exists in basically every MMA booth because of the fact that there are really no gifted MMA play-by-play announcers. Even the comparatively hyper-experienced Mike Goldberg, who has called UFC events since before the Corn Laws were repealed, barely calls any action. Instead he relies on Joe Rogan, who is forced to fulfill both traditional commentary roles.

This is a fundamental flaw that is endemic to MMA and one that's not about to change in the near future. Therefore, guys like Mir, who are already ill-suited to color commentary because of their in-cage requirements, are forced to pick up an enormous amount of slack for a human being who is fit to do nothing but take a broadcast in and out of commercial breaks. As a result, on top of being ill prepared, Mir has to talk endlessly until the fighters in the cage can chill out momentarily and let Harris plug "Crank 2." (Side note: How the hell is Crank now a franchise?) Of course, this is the complete inverse of how sports booths tend to functionally operate, where experienced professionals can carry the insightful but unnuanced athletes.

Much like Fagan, I also believe Mir is an extremely talented commentator who has a lot to offer in terms of technical MMA knowledge and experience.  And as Breen points out, Mir has much more to worry about than preparing for and performing commentating duties.  Obviously, Mir showed partiality toward Miguel Torres, and that unfortunately damaged the WEC product.  However, it's a singular event; Mir can take note of his failings and move on to the next event.  We'll see if he does, in fact, learn from his most recent mistakes.

Though Breen does admit in the article that live commentary is inherently difficult to perform well, I still believe he's too hard on MMA broadcasters.  I've watched countless hours of all types of sports programming, from football to auto racing.  There are more less-than-stellar commentators than truly notable ones in every sport that I've encountered.  Granted, the number of sportscasters with a solid working knowledge of mixed martial arts are few in number due the sport's comparatively short life and non-mainstream status.  This should remedy itself as the sport grows, but it will take time.  I fail to see any shortcut that will significantly speed this necessary process.

It's been suggested that the closed-in environment fostered by Zuffa is far worse than a scenario where another party - namely a network - performs the broadcasting duties.  Maybe, Zuffa employees are less inclined to cover aspects of an event that could reflect negatively on the parent company.  While there is some merit to this argument, I believe it to be largely overblown.  Conflicts of interest exist for commentators of all sports.  A member of the broadcast staff may be covering a team or an organization with which they've had a tangible relationship at some point.  The network could (and likely does) have a significant financial stake in the success of the sport or association that said network is covering.  Major League Baseball commentators routinely work directly for the teams.  I can't say it is the best scenario with regard to journalistic freedom and integrity.  It is, however, reality and likely a financial necessity. 

In fairness to the aforementioned argument, there are some things that Zuffa could, and should, change.  The handling of injuries is a good example though I don't see a so-called neutral broadcast team as being the panacea sought by many.  The bottom line is that there isn't a perfect setting with perfect people to fill broadcasting duties.  Trading one set of problems for another is nothing more than shuffling the deck.  We should require the best MMA coverage possible while also remembering that there will always be tradeoffs which make expert commentary at every telecast event nothing more than a pipe dream.

Miguel Torres and Takeya Mizugaki made the WEC brass' decision purely academic when it came to picking WEC 40's Fight of the Night, as the pair put on a thrilling, back-and-forth five round title affair which many fans and journalists are considering an early contender for Fight of the Year.

MMA Weekly reports:

In a bout that saw both men pushed to their limits, the WEC awarded Miguel Torres and Takeya Mizugaki $10,000 each for Fight of the Night in the main event of WEC 40 at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago. In the end, Torres won a unanimous nod from judges, defending his bantamweight belt for the third time.

WEC newcomer Anthony Njokuabi put himself squarely on the map of lightweights to look out for, stopping Bart Palaszewski with a furious punching assault, and picking up the Knockout of the Night bonus.

Submission ace Rani Yahya's quick choke-out of Eddie Wineland brought him the Submission of the Night.

WEC officials also confirmed the evening's attendance at 5,287, though gate figures were not immediately available.

As with every major show we'll be here to bring you live results and commentary for WEC 40 Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki.  The real live blog will start with the beginning of the Versus broadcast so make sure to Bloody Elbow is your home for this event.

As always we have our one rule: NO SPOILERS!  In the interest of not ruining anything from the undercard that may make the broadcast we ask that you do not discuss the results of the undercard in the comments until either the broadcast ends or the fight makes the air.

So again, join me for the show and share your thoughts as the event unfolds.

As always, major props to Baudelaire who makes such awesome posters for these events.  More of his work can be found at Absurd Meridian.

EDIT from Richard: Don't forget to Digg and Buzz this.

PBR is over, the broadcast has started and I'm here to provide results and my thoughts on the night's action.

Jameel Massouh vs. Raphael Assuncao - Round 1 - Body kick from Assuncao hits arm.  Left hook from Massouh knocks Raphael down but it was more of a balance knockdown than a power shot and they're back to standing.  Huge overhand right from Assuncao and he drops Massouh who immediately works for a heel hook.  Now Raphaeld works for a toe hold and back to standing they go.  Takedown from Assuncao and he starts working some ground and pound.  Scramble as Assuncao works for a kimura allowing Jameel to get on top but they end up standing.  Jameel is keeping his hands too wide and is getting cracked down the middle regularly.  Assuncao is much more aggressive and he throws a combination before grabbing a guillotine but the round ends.  10-9 Assuncao easy.  Round 2 - Three punch combo and the last one hits hard for Assuncao.  Massouh looks like a sparring partner more than an opponent here.  They tie up against the fence and Massouh is looking for the takedown now with a single but gets stuck in a guillotine but avoids the submission as they end up back standing clinched against the cage.  Massouh has no excuse for getting hit as much as he is as Assuncao's punches are insaely wide.Massouh falls down throwing a high kick and now Assuncao is on top in half guard.  The round ends and it's 10-9 Assuncao again.  Round 3 - Massouh is looking like he's got some aggressiveness now as he is stalking with his hands up.  Assuncao continues to bust him up with power shots.  Massouh pulls guard now and is eating some elbows.  Rubber guard by Massouh but Assuncao pushes through.  Assuncao passes to full mount but Jameel pushes to turn and is now on top throwing soft punches.  Pass to side control by Massouh and now he tries to take the back but instead ends up on bottom eating an elbow.  Assuncao almost steps right into a heel hook but pulls out.  Massouh tries for a heel hook again but misses.  Massouh throws a flurry of kicks as they stand but no luck and the fight is over.  My scorecard reads 30-27 Assuncao.  Offical Scorecards: 30-27 across the board.  Rafael Assuncao wins by unanimous decision.

Benson Henderson vs. Shane Roller- Round 1 - Right hand drops Henderson and Roller grabs a guillotine now but can't finish it.  Henderson is driving forward and they go back to standing and he lands a big knee to the body.  Big right hand from Ben and Roller is dropped, flurry of shots from Henderson and the fight is stopped.  Roller is upset and does look alright but he wasn't really doing anything but eating punches.  He initially went to wrap up Henderson's legs but just let his arms hang out there without trying to finish.  Ben Henderson wins by TKO (punches), round 1.

Anthony Njokuani vs. Bart Palaszewski - Round 1 - Njokuani jabbing and working distance with his long reach.  Palaszewski driving forward with a takedown but Njokuani avoids with a nice sprawl (and a little help from a cage grab).  More distance fighting which benefits Njokuani.  Left hook from Palaszewski lands.  2-1 (right straight, left jab) combo from Njokuani.  Both fighters land right hands but Palaszewski is dropped.  Anthony follows him down and is landing shots but Palaszewski recovers before they're stood back up. Takedown from Bart now but he doesn't do anything with it as the round ends.  10-9 round for Njokuani.  Round 2- Big right hand shot from Njokuani and Bart goes down again.  A huge flurry to the downed Palaszewski and the fight is stopped.  Anthony Njokuani wins by TKO (punches), round 1.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Jeff Curran - Round 1 - High kick attempts from Benavidez but they miss.  Both guys exchange leg kicks. Benavidez continues to throw the high kick.  Right hand lands for Benavidez but he eats a better left hook in return.  They clinch and Benavidez lands an elbow.  As they separate Curran lands a good left hook.  Right hand lands solid for Curran as Benavidez jumps.  Low blow from Benavidez isn't called.  Exchanging knees to the body in the clinch now.  Perfect timing on an uppercut from Curran.  Benavidez drops Curran with a left but Curran grabs guard right away and seems alright.  Benavidez with a little ground and pound but not a lot of damage done.  Now Benavidez is standing over top landing kicks to the legs.  The round ends and it was close but I'll go with Curran as he controlled the majority of the round.  Round 2 - Solid leg kicks from Benavidez early.  Curran with a four punch combo that doesn't land too solidly.  To the ground they go and Curran has half guard.  Upkick from Curran and a right hand also and Benavidez dives back down into the guard.  Stepover pass, right hand happens twice from Benavidez but Curran gets back up.  Curran almost has a guillotine but misses it and ends up on his back. Quickly almost gets an omoplata but not...then almost a triangle but instead Benavidez gets to side control.  Curran avoids and grabs a body lock back to full guard.  Benavidez with a nice show of control now.  The round ends and it was a 10-9 round for Benavidez evening up the fight on my card.  Round 3 - Jeff is walking forward throwing punches.  Spinning backfist opens Benavidez up for a high kick which he takes flush on the chin.  Trip takedown from Benavidez.  Elbows from Benavidez and they get back to the feet.  Curran with a few shots now Benavidez with a three punch combo.  These two are really going for it.  Curran shoots and gets a double leg takedown.  Benavidez is trying to get up and does so on his second attempt.  Now a takedown from Benavidez.  Benavidez with some big right hands from the top.  Curran comes very close to sinking in the triangle toward the end of the round but Benavidez avoids.  10-9 round for Benavidez on my card giving him the fight 29-28.  Official scorecards: 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 all for Joseph Benavidez.  Benavidez wins by unanimous decision.

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Miguel Torres - Round 1 - Mizugaki is walking forward throing lunching punches.  Now landing a flurry of good shots and I'm really impressed by Mizugaki's punching technique.  Torres fires some punches back and they get some distance between them.  Pair of right hands land for Mizugaki and he is winning the striking battle convincingly early. They're trading strikes and Torres looks a bit more comfortable as the clock continues to tick.  Right hand from Mizugaki followed by a body/head combo.  Body kick from Torres.  Combo punching and a knee to the head from inside by Mizugaki and the round ends.  10-9 Mizugaki on my card.  Round 2 - Body shot from Mizugaki who is using that tool well so far.  Flurry punching by Torres is met by flurry from Mizugaki and Torres slips but gets right back up.  RIght hand lands for Mizugaki.  Both guys connect hard and they clinch.  Another solid body/head combo from Mizugaki.  More combination punching from Mizugaki and he is winning this round at the half way point.  Nice right hand now from Mizugaki.  Body kick from Torres now.  Very solid left hook from Torres now and then a three punch combo that hurt Mizugaki.  Two shots land from Torres and now two in return from Mizugaki.  They clinch and are trading knees to the body.  Great fight.  Great knees to the body.  Mizugaki fires back with a punch.  Mizugaki isn't quite as aggresive as he was early.  Left hook, right hand combo from Torres. Miguel has come back to take the round over.  The round ends and I've got it 10-9 Torres to tie up the fight.  Round 3 - Left hook lands short for Torres.  Torres is starting to walk Mizugaki down but here comes a combination in return.  Spinning backfist just misses.  Knee to the head by Mizugaki.  Combinations from Mizugaki and now Miguel turns him and lands some shots of his own.  More knees to the body from Torres now.  Nice Mizugaki left hook.  Torres is bleeding from the nose now.  The ref stops the fight to check a nasty cut above Torres' right eye.  It's a bad spot honestly.  THey let the fight continue though.  Torres is really firing now worried about the cut obvisouly.  Mizugaki is firing back but Miguel is all over him. Nice short elbows from Torres.  Mizugaki is really firing some shots now in return.  30 seconds left in the round.  10-9 for Torres on my card putting him up 29-28 going into the championship rounds.  Round 4 - solid right for Mizugaki early and Torres tries for a takedown.  Now Miguel pulls guard but Mizugaki stands up.  Three punch combo from Torres. They clinch and a series of nice close elbows from Torres.  Jab looked like it caught Mizugaki's attention and then a combo from Torres as he walks backward.  They clinch against the cage again and Miguel is grinding away.  Left hook lands solid for Miguel and then they exchange combinations and a right hand from Torres looked like it hurt him. The round ends and I give it to Torres making the fight 39-37 on my card.  Round 5 - Left hook from Mizugaki.  Huge flurry from Torres and he lands solidly.  THey clinch and Miguel lands some more knees to the body.  Torres closes the distance and goes right back to the clinch.  Combination punching by both as the round heads down the stretch.  10-9 Torres and my final card is 49-46 which sounds way more lopsided than this fight actually was.  Mizugaki impressed the hell out of me with his punching technique and toughness.  Official Scorecards: 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 all for Miguel Torres.  Miguel Torres wins by unanimous decision.

Besides Bellator and Dream events this weekend, there is one other happening Sunday night, and that's WEC 40 from Chicago.  Of course, the main dish will be the bantamweight title fight between Miguel Torres, the champion, and Takeya Mizugaki, a veteran of Shooto and Cage Force.  In his coverage of the main event, Michael David Smith points out one of the reasons why Torres is so dominant at 135:

I also mean that Torres is much taller and has strikingly longer arms and legs than anyone else who fights at 135 pounds. That was very obvious on Friday, when the WEC brought together four of the best 135-pounders in the world for a press conference promoting Sunday night's WEC 40 event.

The height and reach difference between Torres and the other three -- his opponent, Takeya Mizugaki, plus Jeff Curran and Joseph Benavidez, who will square off in the co-main event -- was more apparent than their listed heights. Torres is listed at 5-foot-9, Mizugaki is listed at 5-7, Curran is listed at 5-6 and Benavidez is listed at 5-4.

But Torres has something of a stooped posture, and I think the real length of his frame is more like 5-foot-10 or 5-11. He also has long arms and legs, meaning the advantage his stature gives him in the cage is significantly greater than his two-inch height advantage over Mizugaki would suggest.

Torres is so skilled that he would likely be quite successful without the advantage that his length gives him.  However, I attach a lot of value to size, whether it's at bantamweight or heavyweight. Torres maximizes his length advantage with a dynamic striking game that emphasizes kicks. The champion's bottom game is dangerous enough that he worries little about being taken down and, thus, throws kicks at will. If the fight does hit the mat, he's able to threaten with submissions from his back.  No doubt, his frame aides him on the ground as well.

In viewing some footage on Mizugaki, it's evident that he likes to push the pace of fights - much like the champion.  He possesses some vicious ground striking and is generally a dominant fighter when in top position.  Mizugaki has demonstrated some decent punching power while standing, but has also shown a less than iron chin.  Torres can definitely hurt him standing as I think his standup is more formidable on the whole.  While Mizugaki likes to rain down punches from top position, Torres' jiu-jitsu will make getting there and then staying out of a submission challenging.

All in all, Mizugaki appears to be a game opponent who shouldn't be overlooked, but this is the champion's fight to lose.  Mizugaki has been training with larger guys to prepare for the upcoming match.  However, it's doubtful than any of them can accurately replicate the skillset of Miguel Torres.

Televised Card

WEC Bantamweight Championship Bout
Takeya Mizugaki (135 lbs.) vs. Miguel Torres (135 lbs.)

Joseph Benavidez (134 lbs.) vs. Jeff Curran (135 lbs.)
Benson Henderson (156 lbs.) vs. Shane Roller (156 lbs.)
Jameel Massouh (146 lbs.) vs. Raphael Assuncao (145.5 lbs.)

Undercard Bouts

Anthony Njokuani (156 lbs.) vs. Bart Palaszewski (155 lbs.)
Ivan Lopez (134.5 lbs.) vs. Dominick Cruz ( 135 lbs.)
Fredson Paixao (144 lbs.) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (146 lbs.)
Eddie Wineland (135 lbs.) vs. Rani Yahya (136 lbs.)
Akitoshi Tamura (135.5 lbs.) vs. Manny Tapia (135.5 lbs.)
Mike Budnik (149 lbs.*) vs. Rafael Dias (145 lbs.)

* Things get off to a shaky start as the first fighter to hit the scales, the late replacement Budnik, is four pounds over the featherweight limit.

Notes from MMA Junkie:

- Henderson originally weighed 157 pounds, but made weight on his second attempt after removing his fight shorts.
- Massouh originally weighed 146.5 pounds, but made weight on his second attempt after removing his fight shorts.
- Njokuani originally weighed 157.5 pounds, but made weight on his second attempt after removing his fight shorts.

Michael David Smith thinks that the pay-per-view plans have been shelved, at least in the near term.  To wit:

...My own speculation is that the organization's previous talk of putting WEC 41 on pay-per-view was something of a trial balloon, and that the feedback from fans led the promotion to think pay-per-view would not be successful.

So Versus gets to televise one of the best MMA fights of the year, a fight that will likely draw the highest ratings in WEC history.

I wholeheartedly agree with the above assessment.  Smith goes on to say that he believes that the WEC will eventually test the pay-per-view waters, possibly later this year.  The WEC's Peter Dropick intimated that the Mike Brown/Urijah Faber rematch would be the focal point of any pay-per-view effort this summer, and a look at Baudelaire's numerical description of WEC events drives home the critical role that Faber fills for the promotion.  At this point, there can be no WEC pay-per-view effort without him.  The ratings for live Versus events haven't come close to matching those for event #34, featuring the initial Faber/Jens Pulver bout and Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda.

In short, any WEC pay-per-view needs:  1) Urijah Faber 2) Miguel Torres 3) some great matchmaking coupled with aggressive marketing.  With Gina Carano likely going to Strikeforce, there aren't currently any big free agents that could step in and captivate the North American public.  For the time being, the promotion must utilize the people they have.  While the roster has many skilled, exciting fighters, they're also unheralded for the most part.  This last aspect of the WEC stable is precisely the reason why Dropick and company should be in no hurry to delve into pay-per-view.

He did a Q&A at a WEC event, and a fan asked him what he thought about Miguel Torres at 135. He said, 'I respect Miguel a lot, but he doesn't have anything for me. When I fight him, I am going to kick his ass and take my title from him.'

He's (also) called me out in my hometown. He came to a fight in my hometown, I wasn't at the show, and he got on the stage and called me out. He said he couldn't wait to get to 135 to take his title, and different things like that. Curran is just trying to hype a fight, and he is doing a pretty good job of it. But with a fight like that, I wouldn't train to beat Jeff Curran, I would train to hurt Jeff Curran. He's made me really angry in the last couple of weeks.