CR Exclusive Interview with Ricardo Lamas!

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Ricardo Lamas is coming off of a huge win after taking a unanimous decision over #2 ranked Hatsu Hioki. Lamas was able to control most of the fight with superior wrestling, striking and great submission attempts. Lamas is now ranked among the top 5 featherweights in the world and is close to getting a title shot. We were able to get an interview with him after his big win. 

Championship Rounds: Hey Ricardo thanks so much for doing this interview. We were really happy to see you win recently. We've been fans of yours for a while. 

We at CR were some of the few that actually picked you to win that fight with Hioki. Do you believe that your underdog status helped motivate you in that fight? 

Ricardo Lamas: I have been the underdog in many of my fights.  Whether I'm the favorite or the underdog, I will train and fight the same way. 

CR: What was your game plan coming into Saturday? How did it work? 

RL: I was fighting with an injury so my game plan was to keep things simple. I think it worked out well.

CR: You said in the post-fight interview with Jon Anik that you have been with Zuffa for years but no one really knows you. How do you believe your win over Hioki has changed people's opinion of you? 

RL: I think it’s opened more people’s eyes and let them see that I can compete and win against the best fighters in the world.  

CR: In my opinion, a win over the number two featherweight in the world catapults you into the top five. Where do you rank yourself at 145? 

RL: I don't rank myself.  Only one spot means anything, and that spot belongs to the person holding the belt.

CR: You really showed off a good ground game against one of the best in the world. How much did you train to prepare for Hioki's masterful BJJ? 

RL: I train with world class jiu jitsu practitioners on a daily basis. What Hioki brought to the fight was nothing that I’ve never seen before.

CR: You are arguably the strongest featherweight in the UFC. How much strength training do you do in camp? 

RL: The first half of my camp is dedicated to a lot of strength training, then the second half is dedicated to more cardio and conditioning. 

CR: Why did you wait to go to featherweight? What made you want to drop down? 

RL: I wanted to drop down much earlier but when I was in the WEC, they told me they would prefer to have me at light weight, so I stayed there.

CR: What was your first martial art? How long have you been training in it? 

RL: I practiced Tae Kwon Do for 3 years. Then when I hit high school, I started wrestling and fell in love with the sport. I have been doing it ever since.

CR: A lot of people, including CR, are saying that you should be fighting the Korean Zombie in your next fight in a #1 contenders match. Any rumors on that?

RL: No rumors yet, still waiting to hear what the UFC has in store for me.

CR: How would you see a fight with the Korean Zombie going?

RL: A fun, bloody war.

CR: If you were to fight Jose Aldo, how do see that fight going? What would be your game plan? 

RL: No game plan, turn it into a brawl and come out of the gates swinging for the fences.

Thanks again! We can't wait for your next fight. 

Keep your eye out for Ricardo Lamas, he is doing big things! Make sure to follow him on twitter at @RicardoLamasMMA!

UFC on Fuel 3 Recap

It wasn’t the greatest night of fights we have ever seen but it ended with a bang. The preliminary card did not have a ton of excitement besides Rafael Dos Anjos destroying Kamal Shalarous. Don Anjos is one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC today. He is very well rounded and is a killer. I want to see him fighting someone close to the top.

With the main card you pretty much saw the end of Jason MacDonald’s career in the UFC. I am not sure if they will ever have him come back. He is not UFC caliber anymore. He got completely KO’ed by Tom Lawlor who is no world beater himself. Lawlor has the power and strength to take out a lot of people at 185 but his cardio has been a big issue for him in the past. But I would like to see him square off with Alessio Sakara.

The Igor Pokrajac and Fabio Maldonado fight was a good one. Lots of bombs being thrown and most of them landing flush but neither man going down even once. Both of these guys are very talented but will not go too far. There division is saturated with some solid top ten guys. I would like to see Fabio fight Matyushenko and I would love to see Igor go at it with Cyrille Diabte.

That was followed by Yves Jabouin vs. Jeff Hougland. Yves easily took this fight. Yves at bantamweight has looked pretty good but he is a mid-tier guy. I think he should stay with fighting other strikers like Mike Easton or Alex Caceres. Hougland isn’t super talented but can put on good fights. I’d like to see him against fellow Fuel 3 winner Francisco Rivera.

Next you had Donald Cerrone absolutely destroying Jeremy Stephens. Stephens has now proven to be a gate keeper and not much more. He can KO anyone at 155 but his technique is lacking. Cerrone needs to keep fighting the best. His lost to Diaz was strange; he seemed off from the start. But get Cerrone in there with Gray Maynard the Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida match or Anthony Pettis.

Then for some inexplicable reason the night’s co-main event was Air Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez. Didn’t make sense to me and it didn’t make sense to the rest of the world. And once the fight was over it made even less sense. It was a very boring fight and was completely meaningless to the division. But Amir should keep fighting low level talent because that is where he belongs. Lopez probably would have won that fight if he did not break his hand in the first round. But Lopez should slowly work his way up the ladder.

Then the night ended with the Korean Zombie vs. Dustin Poirier. Zombie looked amazing and finished Poirier in the 4^th round with a super tight D’arce choke. I highly enjoyed this bout and it gave us a good glimpse into both of their futures. Dustin is a young guy with endless potential. He will be challenging for the title in the next 2-3 years. I think he should fight Ricardo Lamas. Now, the Zombie is obviously fighting the winner of Jose Aldo and Eric Koch; which is perfect. The featherweight division is very thin and Zombie has a huge fan base that will make a big draw. Should be a great fight.

Overall it was a barely average card but the Zombie Poirier fight saved the night.

UFC on Fuel 3 Predictions

Sam's Picks

Main Card

Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung: Both these guys have looked outstanding as of late. Poirier continues to show that he will possibly be the biggest threat to Jose Aldo for the belt for some time to come. His standup is clearly his weak point. That is Jung’s strong point. Jung himself has had some crazy finishes in his last two fights. He TKO’d (previously) top contender in Mark Hominick in 7 seconds and finished Leonard Garcia with the first ever twister. Jung is more well rounded but Poirier has the much better ground game. The more I keep talking about this fight, the more I realize that Jung actually has a big chance to win this fight. I see Poirier losing in the standup, taking the fight down and submitting him in one hell of a fight = Poirier by 2nd round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN and 3rd for FOTN!

Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah: I looked at the opponents that Lopez has beaten and it did nothing to make me think that he has any chance of winning a fight against a guy like Sadollah = Sadollah by unanimous decision.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens: BARNBURNER ALERT- This fight is going to be sick! These guys always fight for FOTN. This has all the makes to be FOTY as well. They are also coming off two very disappointing losses. Cerrone looked like garbage against the most determined Nate Diaz that we have ever seen. Stephen’s last loss was disappointing for a different reason. He lost his last fight to Anthony Pettis by split decision, one that I re-watched recently and actually scored it for Stephens. That would have been a huge win for him, too, launching him into title talks. This fight will be close. I vision this fight as Cerrone picking him apart with his far more technical standup = Cerrone by close unanimous decision. My 2nd pick for FOTN!

Jeff Hougland vs. Yves Jabouin: I have a feeling that people are counting Hougland out of this fight, don’t. He has a very good ground game. Jabouin is one of those guys who people say has potential but I don’t see it nor has he impressed me. He lost to Pablo Garza by flying triangle, barely beat Ian Loveland by SD, and, once again, barely beat Walel Watson, in a fight that I thought Watson won. Jabouin has the better chance of winning but I won’t be surprised if Hougland wins = Jabouin by split decision.

Fabio Maldonado vs. Igor Pokrajac: BARNBURNER ALERT- This is going to an absolute slugfest. They both throw with incredible power and swing for the fences. Pokrajac has proved to be more impressive to me though. Although Maldonado looked okay against Kingsbury, Pokrajac should win this fight = Pokrajac by split decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!

Tom Lawlor vs. Jason MacDonald: This one is a really hard one to pick. MacDonald has a really good ground game, his BJJ is amazing but Lawlor has some solid wrestling. This one is probably the hardest won to pick on this card. I am going to go with Lawlor based on the fact that he isn’t the one talking about retirement as of late = Lawlor by split decision.

Prelims

Marcus LeVesseur vs. Cody McKenzie = LeVessur by unanimous decision. *Just want to point something out. The people that McKenzie has beaten have an accumulated record of 47-72. YUK! *

Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang = Tavares by 2nd round TKO.

T.J. Grant vs. Carlo Prater = Grant by 1st round submission (armbar)

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus = Dos Anjos by 3rd round TKO

Jeff Curran vs. Johnny Eduardo = Curran by split decision.

Francisco Rivera vs. Alex Soto = Rivera by 1st round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung: Since Jung’s loss to George Roop he has fought much more intelligently. Granted one of those fights lasted 7 seconds. But he has looked great in his last two fights. Poirier is an absolute animal in the cage. He is so much fun to watch and he is young future title contender. Everyone thinks he is ready for a title shot but I agree with Poirier himself that he needs 2 more fights before he is truly ready for a shot at Aldo. However I see this fight being Poirier’s throughout. If he fights smart and doesn’t get too wild I think he takes this one. = Poirier by unanimous decision.

Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah: I don’t really know what to make of this fight. It’s a weird one for sure. Amir has definitely faced the better competition and that is a huge factor in this fight for me. One thing that scares me is that Amir hasn’t fought since last August. But If Lopez couldn’t handle Justin Edwards I don’t see how he can handle Amir. = Amir by unanimous decision.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens: This fight will be nuts. Both these guys will be swinging for the fences. But I feel like I am the only one that notices that Cerrone can show up flat at times. His rematch with Ben Henderson and his last fight with Nate Diaz are good examples. He shows up flat footed, slower and looks disinterested. And if he coems out flat against Stephens he will be in for a bad night. But when Cerrone is on top of his game I see him beating Stephens, especially if it goes to the ground. This will be a close one and I do not feel super comfortable in my pick here. = Cerrone by split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Jeff Hougland vs. Yves Jabouin: Hougland has not beaten anyone on Jabouin’s level and I think the last two guys Jabouin defeated (Walel Watson and Ian Loveland) could beat Hougland too. Jabouin likes to make fights close though. = Jabouin by unanimous decision. 

Fabio Maldonado vs. Igor Pokrajac: This fight should be a very fun match. Both of these guys are strikers with a lot of power. However, Maldonado has not fought in almost a year and ring rust is always a big factor in my picks due to the fact it seems to play a big role in MMA. I also saw Igor’s last fight live and he looked scary. He came to the ring first and was pacing back and forth like a lion in a cage. He came out and destroyed Krzysztof Soszynski in 35 seconds. It was a brutal KO. Fabio should have the more technical striking and Igor does have somewhat of a suspect chin. Super tough pick. = Igor by split decision. 

Tom Lawlor vs. Jason MacDonald: Lawlor is a big and strong middleweight but has major cardio issues. Jason MacDonald is an interesting character. He burst onto the scene in 2006 submitting some worth adversaries but then fell to pieces. I see Lawlor overpowering MacDonald and getting a finish but don’t be surprised is MacDonald somehow pulls off the upset. = Lawlor by TKO in round 1. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Prelims

Marcus LeVesseur vs. Cody McKenzie: Marcus LeVesseur by split decision.

Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang: Brad Tavares by unanimous decision.

T.J. Grant vs. Carlo Prater: T.J. Grant by unanimous decision.

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus: Rafael Dos Anjos by submission in round 2. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Jeff Curran vs. Johnny Eduardo: Curran by split decision.

Francisco Rivera vs. Alex Soto: Rivera by unanimous decision.