Pre-fight interview with Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce Houston event on Aug. 21st.

Tim Kennedy sits down with Jacob Calbillo from TexasFighting.com and talks about his past military experience and his upcoming fight with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. He also discusses how his military experience has shaped his MMA career.
Interview/video by: Jacob Calbillo

Special thanks to: Andrew Chapelle, Ranger up, CTC and Mario Esfiha

The fight was a back and forth affair that saw Tito take Griffin to the mat in the first round and put his ground-and-pound expertise to work on the resilient Griffin. Although some could make an argument that the fight could have been stopped during that flurry of punches, the badly bloody Griffin survived and regrouped in between rounds. The next two rounds saw Forrest stuff take down after take attempt disheartening Tito. Griffin took advantage and landed punch after punch. The fight had the crowd cheering wildly and went to the scorecards. Ortiz cheered emphatically as the verdict was rendered. Many in the crowd booed the decision loudly and after three years, UFC fans will finally get the rematch they’ve longed for.

Both fighters are coming off losses and are in pivotal points in their career. Both fighters are in desperation mode and need wins to once again solidify their status as elite level fighters. Forrest Griffin is coming off an embarrassing knockout loss to the middleweight champion, Anderson Silva and in doing so suffered his first back-to-back loss of his career. Tito has not fought in a year and a half and is coming off back surgery. His last action in the Octagon was against the light heavyweight champ, Lyoto Machida. Lyoto picked Tito apart and dominated the fight until the final minute when Ortiz slapped a triangle-choke on Machida and nearly submitted him. Does the former light heavyweight king, Tito Ortiz have what it takes to once again climb to the top of the division? A win tonight would put him well on his way to a title shot.

The winner of this fight will be the hungrier fighter. Who wants it more? Will the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz’s desire to reign atop the light division carry him to a win or will the bad taste left in the mouth of Forrest Griffin be the force that leads him to a much needed win? We will find out tonight at 9 pm/central on pay-per-view.

WEC 44 promises to be a thriller with another possible fight of the year candidate. WEC fights are among the most exciting with quick action and endless energy and Mike Brown and Jose Aldo promise to keep the WEC’s string of great fights intact. Jose Aldo (15-1, 5 consecutive knockouts) is one of MMA’s most exciting, young prospects that will face his toughest test in his short career. Aldo is coming off an exciting, eight-second KO win of Cub Swanson with a flying double knee that left the Sacramento crowd buzzing and earned him the coveted Knockout of the Night bonus. Mike Brown (22-4, 10 straight wins) conquered the WEC most recognizable face, Urijah Faber, twice. Brown will want use his strong wrestling background to close the gap and neutralize Aldo’s heavy hands. Jose Aldo will surely want to keep the fight standing to add another knockout to his resume but is also a black belt jiu-jitsu artist. However, Brown was not afraid to trade punches with the heavy-handed Leonard Garcia, instead he stunned Garcia with a flurry of punches and earned a win via an arm-triangle choke showing he can also do it all in the cage. This promises to be another WEC instant classic full of fireworks.

In the co-main event, Leonard Garcia will take on Manny Gamuryan. The two former UFC competitors will face off to determine who will earn the next title shot against the Brown-Aldo winner. Garcia is one of my favorite fighters because he seems to enjoy fighting, smiling through most of his fights. His heavy hands will be occupied trying to keep himself upright if the judo expert, Manny Gamburyan. In what should be another exciting fight, I expect Leonard Garcia’s power as the difference in the fight. Gamburyan was the victim of one of the quickest knockouts in UFC history when Rob Emerson knocked him out in 12 seconds. Garcia hits much harder and will certainly test the chin of the Armenian.

In a busy MMA month that features 4 major events, including 3 Zuffa events in two weeks, WEC promises to be the belle of the ball. If have yet to enjoy a WEC event, do yourself a favor and tune into Versus tonight at 8:00 pm/central.

images via sherdog.com

I left the fight impressed with his skill set, power and resolve but now there is no doubt he is capable of being defeated. Brett Rogers seemed a bit rattled but may have exposed some of Emelianenko’s weaknesses. Rogers landed straight, stiff jabs, like the one which cut the nose of Emelianenko, all night. Fedor comes at you in bursts and lands quick, looping punches. A good boxer can beat him to the shot with a good, straight punch, much like Rogers’ first strike. In geometry, you learn the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If you can be disciplined and throw straight punches, it may also be the shortest distance between victory and defeat.

Fedor is not physically imposing and Brett Rogers seemed to be able to get up off his back at will. Emilianenko’s jiu-jitsu and submission skills may be offset by a good wrestler may be able to control where the fight goes and impose his will on Fedor. Even with his outstanding, multifaceted game, a fighter who is controlling the cage will feel more comfortable and confident than the one continually making adjustments. Wrestlers who are able control the action dominate the MMA landscape and a great wrestler with size would give Fedor fits.

It ‘s sad to realize Fedor is wasting time with inferior talent and an inferior promotion. We could have seen Fedor/Lesnar or Fedor/Couture headline a dream fight card, instead we saw Fedor fight an average heavyweight, again. A move to UFC would have put all debate to an end and likely the end of The Last Emperor.

Photos courtesy of Sherdog.

This Saturday night, “the pound for pound best fighter in the world” Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 no contest) will make his US national television debut as Strikeforce/M-1 Global presents: Fedor vs. Rogers on CBS. Fedor Emelianenko is the consensus top heavyweight fighter in the world and is set to face Brett Rogers, an undefeated up-and-coming star. They are both coming off crushing knockouts of former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andrei Arlovski. Brett Rogers will likely want to stand and throw bombs with the Russian champ and the Sambo master will likely be happy to oblige. Rogers has one punch knockout power but the difference will be Fedor’s unmatched all-around skill. Fedor can stand and trade or use his judo/sambo mastery to put Rogers on his back, where he has excellent submissions. If Emelianenko decides to take Rogers to the ground, Rogers will also have to ward off a ground and pound expert. Rogers has never had to fight off the ground and it may be interesting to see if his size will present some issues for the champ. While Rogers will be looking for one big shot, Emelianenko should be able to put his full arsenal to use to defeat the much larger challenger. Barring a shocker larger than Kimbo Slice’s epic loss, Fedor should walk out the champ.

However, can he still be considered the best in the world? Emelianenko has won 26 straight fights in a 9 year period but has not faced the steady diet of top tier competition one would expect from the best. The former Pride World Heavyweight Champion last fought with Affliction and fought Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, two former UFC Heavyweight Champions. He submitted Sylvia in under a minute and survived a match up with Arlovski, who landed punches and kicks at will. As Fedor backed into the ropes, seemingly in trouble, Arlovski went in for a flying knee. Instead he ate an overhand right punch to the jaw, which sent Arlovski falling into the fetal position in midair at 3:14 in the first round. After the now defunct Affliction promotion went under, many insiders believed Fedor would undoubtedly appear in the “Octagon” but it was not to be. In a decision that left the MMA world in disbelief, Fedor decided to join the Strikeforce lineup, signing a 3-fight contract. The move would immediately beef up its thin heavyweight division and bring added credibility to Strikeforce. His decision left the world wondering whether he will ever sign with the UFC. The burning question: How can a man, considered to be the best in the world, fight inferior competition, still be considered the best in the world? College football teams beating up on smaller conference teams will not get the same respect another team that plays the best every week will. The same should hold true for MMA. If you want to be considered the best, you should have to beat the best.

In my opinion, neither fighter did anything to warrant a definitive win. The only rounds I wrote down in pen for each fighter was the third round for Machida and the fifth for Rua, all the other rounds are debatable. I kept waiting for one of the fighters to come in with a flurry to steal a round like Machida did in the third but it never happened.

In a match-up that featured conservative striking, how can anyone cry foul? I personally had the fight for Rua, 3-2, giving him the first, fourth and fifth rounds but in no way was I shocked. The only thing that made me say wow was the verdict being unanimous.

I wanted to see how the up-start league compared to the big boys.  I have had co-workers and colleagues rant and rave about the unbelievable access and availability of not only the fighters but of the management as well. WEC gave me a 3 day, all-access, insider view of the organization and I left a believer.

I must admit, I have already been a die-hard fan of MMA for the past 6 years and am hard-pressed to remember more than 3 UFC pay-per-views or Spike TV specials I have missed in that time span. I have also been a loyal WEC follower for at least 3 years. Some have called the organization “the UFC’s little brother” while others have called for Zuffa to be merge WEC with the UFC and make it one product. In some aspects, I agree with the latter only because I want to see these guys get paid UFC money and be rewarded for the effort they put forth every single time in the ring but at the same time, WEC feels like my little secret. I have something a lot of MMA fans still don’t know about. These guys never disappoint. Every event has at least one moment where your jaw-drops below your knees. At least one fight will have you saying, this definitely has fight of the year potential.

Part of this is accomplished with the aide of a 26 ft ring, 4 feet smaller the UFC’s “Octagon”. The ring creates fast-paced action these lighter weight fighters thrive in. The action is non-stop with moves you will never see with the UFC’s larger fighters (i.e. see Miguel Torres’ wheel kick). They are smaller but tougher. They typically train with larger fighters who never take it easy on them. Dana White said, “If you are a fighter in the WEC, you have to be one bad mother blank.” With this in mind, I couldn’t wait to see it first hand.

I got to experience the unparalleled access granted by the WEC when Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Leonard Garcia allowed us to film and interview them for TexasFighting.com the Thursday before the fight. They couldn’t be better guys and there was never a staged answer. Everything was raw emotion, available for anyone to see.  It’s refreshing to see professional athletes who are real and not afraid of the consequences of their words, after-all, they must back them up in the cage.

My favorite part of the weigh-ins was the Q&A session with Miguel Torres, Jamie Varner and Frank Mir. Again, no generic answers, just the truth. Miguel Torres continually challenged Floyd “Money” Mayweather to a MMA fight after “Money” said they weren’t real fighters. Miguel argued that MMA fighters must be more well-rounded and questioned Floyd’s ability to survive the ground game. The most surprising moment of the night was Jamie Varner’s ability to show how good of a person he is. I thought Varner was a punk and had been running from a rematch with “Cowboy” but I left the evening pondering to myself whether all fighters should have his heart saying he wouldn’t want his younger brother to fight because Varner does this to provide a better future for him. He also seemed most media savvy, giving the perfect answer for every question. (Visit Texas Fighting on Youtube for the full Q&A with Frank Mir, Jamie Varner and Miguel Torres (WEC® 43)coverage.)

Now lets get to my prediction for Fight of the Year. “Cowboy” Cerrone and Ben Henderson.  I came in just wanting to see a great fight. I got that and more. Ben Henderson survived multiple submission attempts with literal thumbs up. In a moment that made everyone look away fearing his shoulder dislocating, Ben “smoothly” relaxed and got out of the submission not once visibly wincing or seemingly thinking of tapping. “Cowboy” was also unrelenting bringing his Muy Thai and kickboxing skills together with his under-rated ground skills to further show his all-around game. Ben Henderson answered with equally impressive stand-up and ground and pound skills. The action never allowed you to catch your own breath. I was physically exhausted just watching these two warriors battle for 5 rounds. The decision went to Ben “Smooth” Henderson. The fight was close but no one saw it as controversial. Joe Martinez promptly announced the fight as the best in WEC history and I couldn’t disagree nor could I argue that this was one of my favorite events in my professional career.

-Jacob Calbillo