The XFC (NHB 0.98)

[crayzman]

This is a MMA organization story ran through No Holds Barred 0.98. I've picked 16 fighters each from 5 different weight classes, the 16 fighters in each weight class will compete in a tournament in an attempt to win the XFC title for that weight class. After that there will be standard fight cards every few days.

The tournament layout is as follows:
The 16 fighters in each weight class will be seperated into four, four fighter groups. Each fighter will face every other fighter in his group, the two fighters with the best record in each group will move on to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, the same thing will happen except with only two groups. The four remaining fighters will all fight one another, the fighter with the worst record will be eliminated, 2nd and 3rd will fight and the winner will face the fighter who finished 1st in the XFC championship match.

In the event of two fighters having the same record, whichever fighter won by more KO's or submissions will finish ahead. If it is still tied, whichever fighter fought less rounds will move on. If it is STILL tied, there will be a fight between the two fighters to determine who moves on.

Rules:
UFC rules apply (3 five minute rounds, fought in an octagon. Final four and on will be 5 five minute rounds)

First up will be the Heavyweights!

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

HEAVYWEIGHT GROUP DRAW

Group A:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (MMA Record: 32-4-1) (XFC Record: 3-0) ADVANCED TO QUARTERFINALS
Fedor Emelianenko (MMA Record: 28-2-0) (XFC Record: 2-1) ADVANCED TO QUARTERFINALS
Hidehiko Yoshida (MMA Record: 8-7-1) (XFC Record: 1-2) ELIMINATED
Jeff Monson (MMA Record: 23-9-0) (XFC Record: 0-3) ELIMINATED

Group B:
Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic (MMA Record: 24-6-2) (XFC Record: 2-1) ADVANCED TO QUARTERFINALS
Andrei Arlovski (MMA Record: 12-7-0) (XFC Record: 1-2) ELIMINATED
Fabricio Werdum (MMA Record: 10-5-1) (XFC Record: 1-2) ELIMINATED
Frank Mir (MMA Record: 11-4-0) (XFC Record: 2-1) ADVANCED TO QUARTERFINALS

Group C:
Randy Couture (MMA Record: 15-8-0)
Josh Barnett (MMA Record: 20-5-0)
Tim Sylvia (MMA Record: 23-3-0)
Mark Coleman (MMA Record: 15-8-0)

Group D:
Gabriel Gonzaga (MMA Record: 8-1-0)
Mark Hunt (MMA Record: 5-3-0)
Brandon Vera (MMA Record: 8-0-0)
Aleksander Emelianenko (MMA Record: 10-3-0)

Group B, C and D are damn lucky they didn't get either Fedor or Nogueira in their group, Monson and Yoshida on the other hand, are screwed. Group D should be interesting, as they're all relatively inexperienced. Group C should definitely be fun to watch, hard to tell who will come out of that group.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

1st Round: Fedor staggers Yoshida seconds into the fight, the two clinch for a while, exchanging shots with Yoshida landing the better shots. Yoshida takes Fedor down about 2 minutes in, but Fedor reverses Yoshida putting him into the guard and from there it's all over as Fedor eventually starts ground and pounding Yoshida to the point where referee Big John McCarthy has no choice but to end the fight.

Winner - Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Ground Strikes) in Round 1 (3:36)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Jeff Monson

1st Round: Monson comes out agressive, driving Nogueira back into the cage. Monson takes the fight to the ground about 30 seconds in, which proves to be a ridiculously stupid mistake as 10 seconds later, Monson has tapped out to a guillotine choke.

Winner - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Submission (Guillotine Choke) in Round 1 (0:39)

GROUP A STANDINGS
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 1-0
Fedor Emelianenko 1-0
Hidehiko Yoshida 0-1
Jeff Monson 0-1

As expected, the two favourites won, and pretty easily. Next will be Nogueira vs. Yoshida and Fedor vs. Monson and unless there's an upset, we'll already have our two fighters that are moving on.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (1-0) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (0-1)

Preview: Nogueira looked great in his opening match, taking down Monson handily with his superb submission skills. Yoshida stood up decently against Fedor, but once the fight hit the floor, it was all over. Nogueira should pick up an easy submission victory.

1st Round: The fight starts out slow with the fighters exchanging weak shots, none doing any damage before going into a clinch that seemed to last forever with absolutely nothing happening forcing Big John McCarthy to eventually break them up. They restart with the action picking up before Nogueira accidently headbutts Yoshida. BJM gives Yoshida time to recover, but as soon as the fight restarts once again, Nogueira goes on a crazy offensive, landing vicious blow after vicious blow and Yoshida keeps taking a pounding until his corner finally throws the towel in at 4:11 of the round. Yoshida has a bruised right eye and a bruised left leg.

Winner - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO (Low Kick) in Round 1 (4:11)

Fedor Emelianenko (1-0) vs. Jeff Monson (0-1)

Preview: Fedor ground and pounded his way to victory against Yoshida, but his standup looked shaky at times. Monson looked good standing up against Nogueira but taking the fight to the floor was suicide. If Monson can keep the fight off the ground, he might last a round or two.

1st Round: Monson tries taking Fedor down early and is unsuccessful, and Fedor makes him pay with a barrage of hard punches that all connect, knocking Monson out cold. That was quick.

Winner - Fedor Emelianenko by KO (Punches) in Round 1 (0:35)

GROUP A STANDINGS
Fedor Emelianenko 2-0
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2-0
Hidehiko Yoshida 0-2
Jeff Monson 0-2

So, Fedor and Nogueira are through into the quarterfinals, but they still have to fight each other to determine 1st and 2nd as do Yoshida and Monson for 3rd and 4th.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Fedor Emelianenko (2-0) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2-0)

Preview: Both men are 2-0 with neither fight going past the 1st round. I'd say Fedor has looked better though, plus he's responsible for 3 of Nogueira's MMA losses.

1st Round: Fedor stuns Nogueira with a snap elbow from the clinch, but can't capitalize any further. They break apart and start firing some shots, with Fedor once again stunning Nogueira. Nogueira keeps attempting to take Fedor down but has been unsuccessful so far until 3:25 into the round when he finally gets Fedor down with a single leg takedown. Nogueira works for position and manages to hit Fedor a few times, but nothing major. He locks in a tight armbar, but with 5 seconds left in the round, Fedor easily hangs on until the bell. My scorecard: 10-9 Fedor.

2nd Round: Starts out slow with some clinching and a few punches before Nogueira catches Fedor in a guillotine choke, Fedor struggles for about 10 seconds before finally managing to escape. They fire some weak punches back and forth, Nogueira tries to clinch Fedor but he breaks free, but as he does, Nogueira gets Fedor into a neck crank. Fedor gets out of it rather easily though. Not too much happens until 2:34 when Nogueira headbutts Fedor but the ref doesn't see it, Fedor retreats a little to recover but Nogueira chases him down and throws a flurry of punches, connecting well. Nogueira goes for a takedown, but it fails and he sprawls and Fedor gets him into an open guard. It's pretty slow at first until Nogueira switches to a rubber guard and locks Fedor in a guillotine choke, Nogueira keeps wrenching the lock as Fedor is throw solid shots which weaken Nogueira until he's forced to let the hold go. Nothing much happens between that and the end of the round. My scorecard: 10-9 Nogueira.

3rd Round: Slow start with both fighters going for numerous unsuccessful takedowns. Nothing much happens until about the 1:30 mark when Nogueira goes for another unsuccessful takedown, but Fedor sprawls and Nogueira hits him with a crushing combination of punches that knocks Fedor out.

Winner - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by KO (Punches) in Round 3 (1:27)

Jeff Monson (0-2) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (0-2)

Preview: Jeff Monson has only fought for a whole minute and half or something close to that. Yoshida has at least shown something in his fights, despite not being able to live past the 1st round. I'd say Yoshida.

1st Round: Yoshida lands an early leg kick and attempts a takedown which gets Monson to sprawl where Yoshida quickly applies a neck crank. Monson manages to escape after about 20 seconds. Monson then takes Yoshida down easily but isn't doing anything, so Yoshida switches to a rubber guard. Monson quickly gets into a side mount and Yoshida manages to get him back into a half guard. Monson locks in a heel lock but Yoshida reverses it, Monson escapes it but now Yoshida is in Monson's half guard. Yoshida manages to get Monson into a can opener neck crank which Monson easily escapes from. Monson pushes Yoshida back into his open guard, Yoshida almost instantly locks in a heel hook and Monson taps out.

Winner - Hidehiko Yoshida by Submission (Heel Hook) in Round 1 (2:40)

GROUP A STANDINGS
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 3-0
Fedor Emelianenko 2-1
Hidehiko Yoshida 1-2
Jeff Monson 0-3

Nogueira gets the surprise victory over Fedor, in a extremely entertaining fight. Wonder what would've happened if there was no headbutt though... Yoshida vs. Monson went about how I expected. So Nogueira and Fedor move on, while Yoshida and Monson are now out.

Next up: GROUP B

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic vs. Frank Mir

Preview: CroCop is a notorious striker, while Mir is more of a ground guy. CroCop's takedown defense should be enough to handle Mir easily, if Mir even gets the chance to attempt a takedown. CroCop should win easily.

1st Round: Both fighters come out agressive, but not much happens until the 34 second mark when CroCop catches Mir with an uppercut, staggering him. Mir backs off for a minute, before going back after CroCop with a double leg takedown which succeeds. Mir lands a couple of shots but nothing major. After about 2 minutes of absolutely nothing, CroCop finally gains top position but decides to stand up and lets Mir do the same. CroCop fakes a punch and comes in with a flying knee, stunning Mir, but he manages to survive. CroCop continues the attack, landing some blows before landing another crushing flying knee, but Mir is still standing. CroCop follows it up with a tremendous flurry of punches, staggering Mir once again, but give the man credit, he won't go down. CroCop follows it up with some more punches, Mir is hurting but only needs to last 11 more seconds... And he does! Somehow... My scorecard: 10-8 CroCop

2nd Round: Mir comes out, visably hurt. Mir gets the fight to the ground quickly, holding CroCop in a rubber guard as he tries to recover a bit more. CroCop is trying to gain position and Mir attempts a couple of ineffective holds. Big John McCarthy finally stands them up at the 2:45 mark. CroCop then continues the assualt of the 1st round, landing kicks and punches, staggering Mir twice before finally knocking him out in a flurry of punches.

Winner - Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic by KO (Punches) in Round 2 (4:00)

Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum

Preview: Pretty much the same as the previous match, Arlovski is the striker (but less deadly than CroCop, also better on the ground though) and Werdum is the submissionist (better than Mir though, but probably a little worse striking). I'll go with Arlovski.

1st Round: Arlovski comes out agressive, driving Werdum against the cage and landing a couple of decent shots. The two continue to throw shots, neither of the two doing much effectively but Arlovski being the slightly better of the two. Werdum manages to take Arlovski down, and tries gaining position but Arlovski reverses him and decides to stand the fight back up. The two resume exactly the way it was before, neither effective but Arlovski being the better of the two. Suddenly out of nowhere though, Werdum connects with a vicious uppercut, stunning Arlovski. Werdum then takes Arlovski down and attempts a couple of submissions, locking in a key lock, but with 5 seconds left, Arlovski easily hangs on. My scorecard: 10-9 Arlovski due to him being better for most of the round.

2nd Round: The two exchange decent shots before going into a clinch, Werdum misses with a body shot and Arlovski counters with a thunderous cross, stunning Werdum. Arlovski follows it up with a flurry of punches, staggering Werdum and causing his nose to bleed. Arlovski continues the assualt with a sharp low kick and Werdum is looking quite damaged now. Werdum takes another vicious flurry of punches before Big John McCarthy steps in and ends the fight.

Winner - Andrei Arlovski by TKO (Punches) in Round 2 (1:40)

GROUP B STANDINGS
Andrei Arlovski 1-0
Mirko Filipovic 1-0
Frank Mir 0-1
Fabricio Werdum 0-1

How Mir lasted that long, I have no idea. He could've easily been out cold by the middle of the 1st round. Werdum held his own in the 1st round against Arlovski, much better than I expected. Then he looked absolutely horrible in the 2nd round.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic (1-0) vs. Fabricio Werdum (0-1)

Preview: CroCop looked absolutely unstoppable in his fight against Mir, while Werdum was inconsistant against Arlovski. Werdum does have better takedown skills than Mir and CroCop is worse at defending the takedown than Arlovski but I still see CroCop winning this one maybe late in the 1st round.

1st Round: CroCop and Werdum dance around for the first 30 seconds before actually beginning to fight. Werdum lands the first shot, a weak jab and CroCop comes back with a vicious uppercut, stunning him. CroCop follows it up with a flurry of punches before getting Werdum in the clinch. Werdum breaks it and CroCop begins throwing a few solid leg kicks before getting him into the clinch again. CroCop throws a hard snap elbow, staggering Werdum and leaving him with a visably swollen nose. Werdum escapes the clinch and again, CroCop throws a couple of solid leg kicks. Werdum now gets CroCop into the clinch and throws a solid cross but CroCop fires right back with a short uppercut, once again staggering Werdum. Nothing else happens until Werdum takes CroCop down with a double leg takedown. Werdum lands a couple of shots before CroCop maneuvers his way out and stands back up. CroCop lands a couple of shots before Werdum takes him down to the mat again with a single leg takedown but Werdum can't get anything done before the round ends. My scorecard: 10-9 CroCop

2nd Round: Slow start as CroCop lands a couple of glancing blows before Werdum hits him with a solid cross. Werdum attempts a single leg takedown but CroCop counters and ends up in Werdum's half guard. The action is slow but Werdum gets CroCop into his rubber guard before sweeping him into an open guard that CroCop quickly maneuvers out of and gets back on his feet. CroCop lands a couple of shots before Werdum attempts another single leg takedown. CroCop sprawls and Werdum pulls him into his half guard. Werdum catches CroCop in an ankle lock and CroCop quickly taps!

Winner - Fabricio Werdum by Submission (Ankle Lock) in Round 2 (3:13)

Andrei Arlovski (1-0) vs. Frank Mir (0-1)

Preview: Arlovski started out slow in his fight against Werdum but turned it on in the 2nd round and quickly finished him. Mir was absolutely slaughtered by CroCop but took a ridiculous beating before being KO'd. With Arlovski being a weaker striker, maybe Mir has a chance, but I highly doubt it. I'll say Arlovski late in round 2.

1st Round: Arlovski comes out firing like a blind man, literally, only landing a couple of weak shots and Mir lands one of his few. It continues slowly before they start throwing wildly again with neither hitting. Arlovski finally lands a tremendous barrage of punches, stunning Mir. Mir recovers and throws a hook that misses badly and Arlovski comes in with a crushing flurry of punches, staggering Mir. Arlovski gets him into a clinch and executes a vicious knee thrust to the skull of Mir, staggering him again. Mir recovers again though and uses the clinch to recover a bit before Arlovski throws a solid knee into Mir's leg. Arlovski breaks the clinch and hit Mir with a decent jab before trying to clinch again, but Mir catches him in a guillotine choke. Mir wrenches the choke but Arlovski manages to slip out of it. Mir then quickly shoots and goes for a single leg takedown, Arlovski sprawls and Mir pulls him into his half guard. Mir gets Arlovski into a heel hook, Arlovski throws a couple of decent punches as Mir wrenches the heel hook. Arlovski continues throwing solid shots as Mir keeps wrenching his heel but Arlovski manages to slip free from another submission again. The action slows back down before Mir gets Arlovski in a hammer lock. Arlovski again throws a few solid shots but Mir secures the lock and Arlovski taps out!

Winner - Frank Mir by Submission (Hammer Lock) in Round 1 (4:15)

GROUP B STANDINGS
Frank Mir 1-1
Mirko Filipovic 1-1
Fabricio Werdum 1-1
Andrei Arlovski 1-1

Wow... so the two favourites get upset in matches they were both dominating until they got taken down to the mat. Well, it makes this easy, the winner of the upcoming Filipovic/Arlovski match moves on and the winner of the Mir/Werdum match moves on. Should be interesting as both matches have two fighters that both prefer the same style.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Frank Mir (1-1) vs. Fabricio Werdum (1-1)

Preview: A sack of bricks might be easier to knock out than Frank Mir, he doesn't go down without a fight from what we've seen so far. Werdum has also shown he can take a punch, or kick, though nothing to the extent Mir has. Both are well rounded in their submissions, so we'll have to see what happens. I'd say it's a toss up, but I'll go with Mir just based on the heart he's shown... late in round 2.

1st Round: Werdum comes out right away with a solid overhand right, he then lands a couple of decent strikes before Mir shoots and goes for a single leg takedown and takes Werdum down to the mat. Mir starts in Werdum's open guard before Werdum switches him into his rubber guard. The match slows right down before Werdum gets Mir in a hammer lock that he quickly slips out of. The match again slows down with nothing happening other than gaining side mount position.. more of nothing other than Werdum getting Mir into half guard. Then finally some action as Mir locks in a can opener neck crank, but Werdum escapes it. A little more nothing before Mir gets Werdum in a knee bar. Werdum looks fine until Mir wrenches the knee and Werdum taps out! Mir has advanced to the quarterfinals!

Winner - Frank Mir by Submission (Knee Bar) in Round 1 (2:55)

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic (1-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (1-1)

Preview: Both had convincing first match victories, both had second match submission losses. Now one of them will be eliminated. Both like to strike so I suspect the fight will stay standing up until one of them is knocked out. And I'll say CroCop will be the one standing once this fight is over... Early 2nd round.

1st Round: CroCop comes out the agressor, but can't hit Arlovski who catches him with a hook to the body. CroCop continues his ineffectiveness landing only a glancing jab. Arlovski missed a few as well before landing a low kick. CroCop grabs Arlovski in a clinch and thrusts a solid knee into his leg. They stay tied up for 90 seconds doing nothing until Big John McCarthy splits them apart. CroCop lands a solid low kick and attempts a few more kicks, but they all miss. CroCop tries to clinch but Arlovski breaks free and fires a hook. CroCop attempts another clinch and gets Arlovski this time, but he only lands a weak knee to the body before Arlovski breaks free again. More striking and more missing by both fighters before CroCop staggers Arlovski with a crushing cross. Arlovski looks for a takedown but finds a tremendous flurry of punches which staggers him again. CroCop follows it up with another staggering flurry and then a crushing hook that staggers Arlovski yet again! CroCop continues the assualt with another crushing flurry of punches that knocks Arlovski down and out!

Winner - Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic by KO (Punches) in Round 1 (4:20)

GROUP B FINAL STANDINGS
Mirko Filipovic 2-1
Frank Mir 2-1
Andrei Arlovski 1-2
Fabricio Werdum 1-2

So CroCop and Mir are moving on giving us our first underdog entry into the quarterfinals in Frank Mir who based on ratings was projected to come last. Next up will be Group C.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Been gone and then busy for the last little while. Going to continue this, but for the Round of 16 and Round of 8, I'll just be giving basic recaps.

[crayzman]

Re: The XFC (NHB 0.98)

Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman

1st Round: Coleman dominates right from the get go before BJM stops the fight 1:44 into the 1st round.

Winner - Mark Coleman by TKO (Ground Strikes) in Round 1 (1:44)

Josh Barnett vs. Tim Sylvia

1st Round: Sylvia was winning the fight early but Barnett scored a takedown and went to work on Sylvia before another referee stoppage.

Winner - Josh Barnett by TKO (Ground Strikes) in Round 1 (2:25)

Josh Barnett (1-0) vs. Mark Coleman (1-0)

1st Round: Not even worth a recap, another freakin' fight stopped by the ref on the ground due to ground strikes.

Winner - Mark Coleman by TKO (Ground Strikes) in Round 1 (2:40)

Randy Couture (0-1) vs. Tim Sylvia (0-1)

1st Round: Couture gets the early takedown and beats Sylvia down pretty quickly.

Winner - Randy Couture by TKO (Punches from Guard) in Round 1 (1:10)

Mark Coleman (2-0) vs. Tim Sylvia (0-2)

Notes: Coleman is into the Round of 8 and Sylvia is eliminated so this fight is just for pride.

1st Round: Sylvia concludes the worst 3 fight display we've seen yet I think, getting dismantled by Coleman is only 42 seconds.

Winner - Mark Coleman by TKO (Ground Strikes) in Round 1 (0:42)

Randy Couture (1-1) vs. Josh Barnett (1-1)

Notes: Winner qualifies, loser is done. Simple as that.

1st Round: Action goes both ways but Couture is landing the better shots while Barnett failed at his takedown attempts. 10-9 Couture.

2nd Round: Couture is winning early until he gets taken down and Barnett controls the action on the ground. Barnett attempts a few submissions that Couture gets out of, but not easily, draining Couture until Barnett is finally able to secure a key lock for the victory and to advance to the Round of 8!

Winner - Josh Barnett by Submission (Key Lock) in Round 2 (3:55)

GROUP C FINAL STANDINGS
Mark Coleman 3-0
Josh Barnett 2-1
Randy Couture 1-2
Tim Sylvia 0-3