MMA Review is back!!!

What up peoples, its time for the triumverant return of the MMA Review.

Its been several, several weeks since I’ve done a post on MMA on the Pourtout Pancakes blog. Honestly, its been a while since I’ve done a real post on the blog but I’ll save that for my Reflections tomorrow.

Anyway, so much has happened in the past few months that it would take a long time to review it all so we’re going to just do this past week and eventually all of my thoughts on the events since the last post will come out.

-B.J. Penn is a beast. I’ve made no mistake about declaring B.J. my favorite mixed martial arts fighter of all-time. His domination of Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 last Saturday was inspiring. We all know that BJ has the talent to be the best fighter in the world but only within the past two years has he shown the dedication and commitment to make it happen. Sanchez is a very good fighter and Penn made him look like a novice. If Sanchez wasn’t such a game fighter with decent skills, that fight would have been over in the first round.

What’s left for Penn at 155? The only possible serviceable guy that could give him a matchup in the world may be Aoki out of Japan but he’s with Strikeforce and I seriously doubt that we’re going to see that fight happen. Frankie Edgar and Greg Maynard may offer some effort but lack intrigue.

-Frank Mir looked dominant against Kongo but beware. For full disclosure, Mir is probably my second-favorite fighter. I like the added muscle that he has added to his frame and it was certainly noticeable. I saw the Countdown show on Spike and noticed how big he was compared to his previous fights. He showed off this power with strong punches before the eventual submission against Kongo.

The reason that I say beware is that the extra weight is good but can eliminate his cardio which has always been suspect.

Now that Brock Lesnar is dealing with a medical condition and can’t defend the UFC Heavy title, Mir and Shane Carwin are now face for the interim title in March 2010. I like this fight in a major way. There will be plenty of time to analyze this bout.

-Very, very intrigued with the announcement that UFC fight programming will now be on the Versus network starting in 2010. In fact, an announced event in March, highlighted by a Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera fight, has been scheduled.

For those of you who aren’t big MMA fans, I’ll explain the dynamic of it. First, a company called Zuffa owns the UFC and another MMA organization called WEC. UFC is always on Spike while WEC is always on Versus. Now, the UFC is doing events on Versus which will cut into the WEC events, which are run by the same company anyway. It sounds counterproductive but it really isn’t.

Versus is owned by Comcast, which recently made a major purchase of shares of NBC Universal. What does this mean? Expect the UFC to air on NBC in the next year or two, max. By building up the Versus brand by putting the UFC, which is much bigger than the WEC, Zuffa is forging its relationship with NBC.

One more angle to consider. Spike is owned by Viacom who also owns CBS, which airs Strikeforce events, the main competitor of the UFC. Zuffa realizes that they can’t go through Spike to get on broadcast television because of the Viacom/Spike dynamic. This is another way of reaching the mainstream audience.

-Interested in the Strikeforce fights that will take place tonight. I like the Melendez and Josh Thompson fight as well as finally seeing Cung Le put aside his Hollywood dreams and start fighting again. Finally, intrigued in seeing Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal make his stateside debut. That guy can be a champion and a major force in MMA in the near future.

-However, your boy doesn’t have Showtime so I will be watching the WEC 45 event at home. I must admit that outside of Donald Cerrone, I don’t know much about any of the other fighters, but that’s the point. After tonight, I may find my new BJ or Mir to enjoy in the future.