SportsRatings: Boxing/MMA

UFC 100 Preview

When the UFC started, who would have thought it would reach #100? Not just because of the controversies, the John McCains, and the banishment from pay-per-view that almost killed the sport. I'm talking about the fact that the events used to be held once every three or four months. Even without any do-gooders trying to ban the sport, back then I wouldn't have expected UFC 100 until around 2025!

Everyone made weight for Saturday night's event, so here is a rundown of the action:

#12 Frank Mir (#5 HW) vs. #23 Brock Lesnar (#7 HW): The UFC heavyweight title fight is the headlining fight, a rematch of the earlier Mir win. But these fighters rank only fifth and seventh in the SportsRatings Heavyweight rankings by weight class. Still, the winner can lay claim to being possibly the 2nd best in the weight division, and maybe the best non-Affliction-affiliated heavy.

Personally I hope Mir wins the rematch, too. Having a pro wrestler as heavyweight champ blurs the line between WWE and UFC. And although steroids are clearly rampant throughout the UFC, it's nothing like it is in pro wrestling, and Lesnar is (in my opinion) such a poster boy for steroid use that I don't want to see him representing the premier spot on their ticket over the years. There's also the small fact that he didn't have to do much to get a shot at the title.

But he won. Clearly he's a talented wrestler, and has a killer punch if it connects—just ask Randy Couture. If he remains champion, one can only hope Fedor eventually makes it over to the UFC. Having Lesnar reign as champ brings back bad memories of Tony Mandarich, another monster-sized athlete who was unfairly dogged by steroid accusations. 

#2 Georges St. Pierre (#1 WW) vs. #11 Thiago Alves (#2 WW): This Welterweight fight should feature more technique than the headliner. These guys are the #1 and #2 Welterweights in the game today. Alves is on a seven match win streak, actually two fights longer than St. Pierre, who is up to #3 on the All-Time rankings. Both beat Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck along the way.

This should be a classic striker vs. grappler match, with St. Pierre wanting to get the fight on the ground where he'll have a major advantage, and avoid getting clocked while on his feet which seems to be the only conceivable way he can lose a fight. Alves takedown defense will be critical and he needs to make sure he isn't so concerned about it that he doesn't use his opportunities, or defend against St. Pierre's strikes, too. And while St. Pierre isn't lost when on his feet, neither is Alves on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how these fighters have improved their lesser-known abilities for this match. Should be a good one, from the best two fighters of the evening.

#41 Jon Fitch (#6 WW) vs. #95 Paulo Thiago: Thiago is undefeated at 11-0, but his only real accomplishment is his defeat of #91 Josh Koscheck, during which he was in deep trouble before hitting Koscheck with a stunning combination that knocked him out cold. Fitch on the other hand has been fighting at the UFC level for years, and that experience should give him the edge. He also knows what not to do against Thiago: think you've got it won and get careless.

Despite the high-profile KO, Thiago is a more known for his submission work and has clearly got a strong chin, so Fitch will have his hands full. Though not ranked highly yet, Thiago is undefeated so it's hard to tell just how good he is. Fitch—whose only loss in the last seven years is to George St. Pierre—will provide another solid test to prove he's for real.

#16 Dan Henderson (#2 MW) vs. #78 Michael Bisping: Henderson and Bisping bring their "Ultimate Fighter" coaching battle to UFC 100. Henderson was #2 in the world in early 2000 and is approaching 40 years of age. How much longer will he stay among the elite? Bisping has been beaten only once in his career (by Rashad Evans) but his important wins are far fewer.

There's no reason Henderson can't win this fight. He has more power, and far more experience. But it's possible we could see the passing of the torch Saturday night.

#78 Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. #119 Alan Belcher: This isn't a great light heavyweight contest on paper, in terms of how (un)impressive the fighters' résumés are. Akiyama hasn't had a fight against a good opponent since his loss (ruled a NC) against Kazuo Misaki in late 2007. And the last good opponent he beat was Denis Kang two months before that.

So we have one fighter who beat Kang 20 months ago against another who beat Kang six months ago. Belcher is 5-3 in the last three years, while Akiyama is 6-0 with 2 no contests. Akiyama's poor recent opposition would come back to haunt him against anyone but Belcher, who only has UFC experience on his side as this is Akiyama's league debut.

#90 Mark Coleman vs. #223 Stephan Bonnar: Mark Coleman, one of UFC's all-time greats, returns to the Octagon again after his loss to Mauricio Rua in UFC 93. This time his competition isn't quite the same level, the stakes aren't as high, and he's not even on the main card. Most are pegging Coleman to lose, as he's pushing 45 these days, but Bonnar is no exceptional talent, and Coleman is still one of the best wrestlers in the game. He just has to be able to finish with something other than his now-illegal headbutts that served him so well in his heyday, and not run out of gas. Coleman's last hurrah, or final ignominious defeat in the Octagon?

Chambers vs. Dimitrenko Scoring/Results - Eddie defeats Sascha in majority decision

#7 "Fast" Eddie Chambers (34-1) takes on #9 Alexander "Sascha" Dimitrenko (29-0) today in Germany. Chambers gives up around 30 pounds and 6 inches of height, but is a skilled boxer and is in very good shape for the bout. Dimitrenko moves very well for a man his size and has decent skills himself. The winner will be in line to face Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO title. Dimitrenko is a solid favorite to win the fight.

Eddie Chambers has just entered the ring. Dimitrenko is being announced. Crowd in Germany is quite pro-Dimitrenko. Eddie is wearing a dark sweatsuit and looks fairly loose as the Star-spangled banner plays. Dimitrenko appears confident and looks imposing.

• Round One: Chambers using a lot of head movement to avoid Sascha's jabs...fighters feeling each other out with jabs; Chambers lunging in to deliver his. Chambers delivers a combo, Dimitrenko covers up against the ropes. Fight looks very different from Klitschko-Chagaev. Close round. Chambers 10-9.
• Round Two: Chambers pushing the action, forcing Dimi to clinch. Sascha's jab is working better, he's starting to throw it more forcefully. The hheight advantage is not nearly as apparent as in the Klit-Chag fight. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total: 19-19.
• Round Three: More tactical jabbing, clinching. Chambers is still the stalker in the fight. Dimitrenko connecting with jabs, a few rights. Long clinch with a minute left. Dimitrenko keeping Eddie at bay this round. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total 29-28.
• Round Four: Eddie still trying to be the agressor, Dimitrenko covering on his jabs. Chambers covers too with peekaboo style. Dimitrenko striking at end of round, Chambers answers. Good action, tough round to call, crowd felt Dimitrenko did well. 10-10. Total: Dimitrenko 39-38.
• Round Five: Eddie may be falling into habit of staying at Dimitrenko's jab range. When Chambers counters with anything Sascha is clinching. Low blow warning for Chambers, delay in action with one minute left. Dimitrenko starting to dance around, keeping guard lower, jabbing. Good exchanges with 20 seconds left. Both fighters claiming the round. Chambers 10-9. Total 48-48.
• Round Six: Chambers might not be active enough to win these rounds. For every three Dimitrenko jabs he counters, and Dimitrenko is keeping his distance. Chambers did have an excellent uppercut against the ropes. Dimitrenko 10-9, Total: 58-57.
• Round Seven:Dimitrenko is taking a standing eight count after a punch I didn't see. Maybe a body blow in a combination. He didn't go down but Chambers dominated the round and something is bothering Sascha. Chambers 10-8. Total 67-66 Chambers.
• Round Eight: The crowd is very quiet now as the complexion of the fight is changed. Dimitrenko is almost on the run, Chambers feels confident. Dimitrenko is fighting differently. Chambers backs him into the corner, Sascha's jabs not as snappy. Chambers wants to scrap, Dimitrenko has a few good counters. Chambers 10-9. Total 77-75 Chambers.
• Round Nine: Chambers smells a possible win but will the German judges give it to him? He may need another knockdown. He's stalking and pushing the action for sure, totally unlike the Povetkin fight. Dimitrenko is not giving up easily, still using his reach to score and keep Eddie at bay. He looks stronger this round, whatever was bothering him is doing so less now. He scores on a combo with 1 minute left. Dimitrenko 10-9, Total: 86-85 Chambers.
• Round Ten: Chambers' corner imploring him to finish strong, don't let Dimi steal rounds: "this is Germany." Eddie comes out pressing action again. Chambers not unloading much though. At halfway through the round he tagged Dimi and knocked him on his ass.No damage though, but a knockdown that might win him the fight. Dimitrenko trying to wrestle him in close as Chambers goes for the kill. Separated with 10 seconds left. Chambers 10-8. Total 96-93.
• Round Eleven: Less action in first minute of this round, but both fighters moving a lot. Dimitrenko trying to make a stand. A good showing the final two rounds might salvage a tie with the judges, a knockdown could still give him the win. Chambers need to win the last two rounds to seal the deal. Dimitrenko landed more shots near the end. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total 105-103 Chambers.
• Round Twelve: Both fighters need this round. Both look tired. Dimitrenko throws a wild hook, clinches Chambers who punches his way out. Chambers has him against the ropes and unloads. Chambers has guard down as they move to the center. Dimitrenko tries to salvage the round, raises his arms at the end in victory, as does Chambers. Chambers 10-9. Total 115-112 Chambers.

By rights Chambers should win the decision, but it's anyone's fight since it's in Germany. Chambers had two knockdowns, although neither was impressive or damaging. I don't know if the fight is being scored for mandatory 10-8 rounds for a knockdown, but if it is, it will be hard to justify a Dimitrenko win.

The judges: first judge calls a draw. Other two judges call it for Chambers. He has defeated Alexander Dimitrenko 116-111 117-109 113-113, handing him his first loss. I tried to score the bout conservatively with the German judges in mind, but in two of the three cases I was too conservative. The judge who saw a draw gave Dimitrenko every benefit of the doubt, and/or discounted the knockdowns completely.

An impressive win for Chambers, and a confounding loss for Dimitrenko, who was not able to use his size advantage nearly effectively as Wladimir Klitschko, and now has some questions about his chin as he was in trouble twice against the not-so-hard-hitting Chambers. But Chambers answered some questions about his stamina, coming in in the best shape of his career and performing accordingly.

Klitschko brothers are #1, #2 in July 2009 Boxing Top 100 Rankings

It's happened. Thanks to Wladimir Klitschko's dominant win over former #2 Ruslan Chagaev—and some small culling of the fights database that nudged brother Vitali ahead of Nicolay Valuev—the Klitschko brothers are, for the first time, #1 and #2 in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100.

Champion Wladimir is well ahead of his brother in points, which is understandable since Vitali has just two wins in the last four and a half years. In fact Wladimir has moved up to #15 in the All-Time list, surpassing George Foreman among others. In fairness, Foreman is not well-served by the All-Time system, which uses peak rating; Foreman's second career stage added nothing to his ranking by that measure.

In any case, Wladimir is making a good case for being an all-time great and a future hall-of-famer, despite being considered "dull" and "robotic" by many, and likely even the lesser fighter of the two brothers. But regardless of how he gets them, he keeps winning, and his fights are increasingly one-sided, even over the best competition he has to face.

June Rank	Current Rank	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	June Results
1	1	WLAD KLITSCHKO	64.62	31-3-0	W9 #2 RUSLAN CHAGAEV
3	2	VITALI KLITSCHKO	35.45	19-2-0
4	3	NICOLAY VALUEV	35.07	21-1-0
5	4	ALEX POVETKIN	31.94	12-0-0
2	5	RUSLAN CHAGAEV	29.72	11-1-0	L9 #1 WLAD KLITSCHKO
6	6	CHRIS ARREOLA	26.50	12-0-0
7	7	EDDIE CHAMBERS	24.90	12-1-0
8	8	DAVID TUA	20.27	24-3-1	inactive 22 months.
9	9	ALEX DIMITRENKO	19.92	12-0-0
11	10	OLEG PLATOV	18.92	6-0-0

Chagaev falls from #2 to #5 after the loss, the first of his professional career. Nicolay Valuev and Alexander Povetkin move up a notch each to #3 and #4. Valuev is still in a virtual dead heat with Vitali, and whoever fights and wins next will be the #2 fighter. Povetkin is due to fight Wladimir soon for the IBF belt in the mandatory title shot he won by beating Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers a while back.

Speaking of Chambers, in a couple of days he fights #9 Alexander Dimitrenko in a WBO title eliminator which could put him in line to fight Wlad as well. A win would make him the #1 American prospect, which is now a tossup between he and #6 Chris Arreola. Dimitrenko is undefeated, and like Chambers is young, and like the Klitschkos is big. A win would put him just outside the top 5, too, and give him the title shot instead of Chambers.

In other movements this month, undefeated Denis Boytsov (25-0-0) jumps from #58 to #17 after beating previous #14 Taras Bidenko (now 26-3). Bidenko has lost only to Boytsov, #22 Vladimir Virchis, and #3 Valuev. Therefore he may bounce back strong, but he risks becoming something of a gatekeeper for better fighters. Boytsov is only 23 so the future for him looks bright, but like other current contenders Chambers and Chagaev he's not especially tall (6' 1") for the land of giants that is the heavyweight division today.