MMA expert Alexia Krause previews upcoming Strikeforce event

Now, I'm not a MMA expert, but I am a fan and try to keep up with it as much as I can. It's exciting, violent and intense. In fact, I will make it my duty to watch UFC 116, as the main event will be Brock Lesnar against Shane Carwin for the undisputed heavyweight championship. But before that, Strikeforce will have their event on June 26 and it includes a great main event match between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight showdown. For more on this match and the rest of the card here's MMA expert Alexia Krause who is making her debut on the Atlanta Sports Guy blog.



The Strikeforce event on June 26th is bound to be one for the books as Strikeforce mixed martial arts joins up with M-1 Global to bring some of the toughest fighters in the world together within one caged ring. This is an extra special event because it combines Strikeforce MMA with M-1 Global, which allows it to be a complete world showcase of some of the world's best fighters. This showcase has a huge title card as Fedor Emelianenko (who is actually a co-owner of M-1 Global) takes on Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight bout that promises to entertain.

Fedor Emelianenko- also known as "The Last Emperor"- holds a record of 31-1. His only recorded loss comes from the fact that his fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a gash in the opening seconds of the fight. Even though he has a loss to tarnish his undefeated streak, "The Last Emperor" understands that numbers don't mean anything when you're inside the cage.

Fedor has been at the top as the best heavyweight in the world for the better part of the last decade. He has taken down Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Mark Coleman, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on his way there. On June 26th, he goes up against Fabricio Werdum (the number 9 heavyweight in the world) for a showdown that's bound to define the two fighters and the event.

Even though Emelianenko is among the top heavyweights in the world, he will have a lot on his hands going up against the jiu-jitsu technician, Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is known as "Vai Cavalo" or "Leading Horse" which speaks to his wild and free nature in the ring. It looks like Emelianenko will be tasked with taming Werdum if he wants that victory.

Despite this exciting main card, the June 26th Strikeforce will feature much more heated action. In fact, many more people are looking forward to the top woman in the world, Cris "Cyborg" Santos taking on Jan Finney. Most feel that Cyborg will take out Finney pretty easily and glide on to an effortless victory (even more so considering that Finney's nickname is "Cuddles"), but Finney has been known to be scrappy making the fight a good one to watch.

Plus, seeing Cris Cyborg in action is always an event in itself:



With some of the best male heavyweight and female featherweight fighters clashing on the same night, the June 26th Strikeforce event is destined to be an exciting evening for MMA fans.

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she's been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA training gloves and shirts. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.

The Top 10 UGA Commits

If you don't know already, I'm on a radio show every Sunday from 2-5 (you can listen on 790 am or go on their website). I also contribute on another show every Tuesday which focuses on recruiting. So last night I was on the air as I introduced my list of the top 11 UGA commits for the class of 2011. If you missed the show (which is possible considering the show airs from 7-9 at night), here it is without further ado.

11. David Andrews (C, Wesleyan) – Has great technique and has the intelligence that you need in a center. Is not real big, standing at 6-2 and 276 pounds, but will have time to grow when he gets on campus next year.

10. Justin Scott-Wesley (WR, Mitchell Co.) – Wesley is a receiver that can make the tough catch in the middle of the field. Has good speed and plays with no fear. The only area where he needs to improve is route running, but he will make a standout receiver on the next level.

9. Zach Witchett (WR, Washington) – Like Justin Scott-Wesley, Zach Witchett is a downfield threat that is lightning fast. He has great body control and knows where to go to get open. Needs to improve route running, but with another year at the position, he should be able to do just that.

8. Devin Bowman (CB, Ridgeland) – Devin Bowman has played the majority of his high school career as a running back, but has the size and agility to be a cornerback at the next level. One more year at the corner position will help his fundamental skills such as jamming ability and back pedaling, but can be an elite corner when he leaves the college ranks.

7. Armarlo Herrera (LB, North Clayton) – This linebacker from North Clayton can hit and hit you hard. He also knows where to be at all times and has exceptional speed. Pass coverage is something he can improve on, but be a major player as an inside linebacker for the 3-4 defense.

6. Sterling Bailey (DE, East Hall) – Sterling Bailey is an end that just gets after the quarterback. He has quick feet and is extremely athletic. He would like to get stronger at the point of attack, but would fit well in the 3-4 scheme.

5. Chirs Conley (WR, North Paulding) – Standing at 6-2, 185, Chris Conley could be the next A.J. Green if he continues to improve. He has great hands and can snatch balls out of the air. He should continue to improve his footwork this season and if that happens he will play for UGA right away.

4. Christian Lemay (QB, Butler (NC)) – There are not many quarterbacks in the country that are better than Christian LeMay. He is a natural leader that has rocket arm. With him along with Hutston Mason and Aaron Murray, the QB position should be a non-issue for UGA for awhile.

3. Corey Moore (S, Griffin) – Corey Moore made a huge impact at the safety position last year. He hit hard and is a tough as they come. He is raw at the position and will look to improve his coverage skills this upcoming season.

2. Chris Sanders (ATH, Tucker) – Chris Sanders can play a variety of positions, but he is at his best safety. He is tough and can cover the entire field because of his speed. He has all the tools to be a free safety at the college level.

1. Nick Marshall (ATH, Wilcox Co.) – If you haven’t seen Nick Marshall play, then you are missing out because he is just a football player. He has blazing speed, and has great size to play quarterback or safety. UGA is recruiting him to play safety, but don’t be surprised to see him play on the other side of the ball like Branden Smith did for the Dawgs last year.


I have done a hand full of these lists over the last few months, so I will post those over the next few weeks as football season gets closer.

Atlanta: A pro football headquarters or a college football mecca?

I know it’s been awhile since I posted my last blog, but now that’s it’s the summertime and I don’t have as much work to do as I did during the high school sports season, I will try to post more blogs that are focused on football.

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog that college football expert Tony Barnhart wrote about Atlanta being a college football city or a pro football city. He asked which event would you rather see – The Atlanta Falcons taking on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game or No. 1 Alabama taking on No. 2 Florida for the SEC Championship.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Most fans would chose to see the Falcons in the NFC Championship because it’s the hometown team one win away from the Super Bowl. But if Georgia was No. 1 or No. 2 in the polls and were playing the SEC title game, then it would be a different story.

Here’s what I would choose. I love Georgia and I would like for them to win a national championship someday. But I can’t go against the Falcons because I have more of a connection with them than with UGA. But that doesn’t mean that it would be a hard decision.

Here’s my point. Most fans would choose the SEC title game because Barnhart got it right when he said that Atlanta is a college football town. Always has been and probably always will be. But what I would ask him is can’t Atlanta be both a college and pro football town? Why should we have to choose one or the other? Why can’t we appreciate both levels of football the same?

Look, I’ll be honest and say I’m more of a pro football fan than college (only by a slim margin). But I love going to college football games in Athens or on the Flats. In fact, I went the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game, the SEC Championship and the Chick-fil-A Bowl last year and I had a blast. I especially love watching games on Saturday from noon to 1 a.m. But one thing that you have to understand about me is I love the game of football – high school, college or pro.

Atlanta is a melting pot when it comes to college football fans because there are quite a few fans that root for of alums of schools such as Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, Florida, Florida State and Auburn. But why not support the Falcons the way that you support your college team. Sure, the Falcons have not won a Super Bowl and they have been inconsistent when it comes to winning seasons. But they are a team on the rise and I think they will reach a Super Bowl in the next two years. You can bank on it.

That’s all I have to say about that topic. I will have more topics concerning football in the next few weeks. I will also have a high school, college and pro football preview in the next month and rank some of the top players at each level.

Hawks are grounded: Elimianiton is on the brink after loss to Bucks

I was at the Hawks game last night and had to say that it was the most disappointing loss that I have ever seen up close and personal. This was the blog that I did for Score Atlanta, but it was never posted. Don't know why, but here it is anyway.


In order for the Hawks to take a 3-2 lead in the series against Milwaukee Bucks several things had to happen. They had to play with defensive intensity, have players such as Marvin Williams step up their game and play smart for 48 minutes.

The defense was strong, holding the Bucks to 40 percent from the floor. Williams played one of his best games of the year, scoring 22 points, four rebounds and two block shots. But the one thing that the Hawks did not do is play smart for 48 minutes, especially in the fourth quarter and that is what cause the Hawks to lose 91-87 and are now down 3-2 in the series.

“It’s a tough loss, but it’s still a seven game series,” said Hawks head coach Mike Woodson. “We got to see what we’re made of. Our backs are against the wall."

The Hawks were up as much as 10 at the start of the fourth quarter, but that is when the fallout began. Joe Johnson, who only scored 13 points, committed four personal fouls in four minutes and fouls out of the game with more than two minutes left in the game.

“We depend on him coming down the stretch,” Woodson added. “He wasn’t there tonight and that’s no excuse. Other guys on this team can make plays and we just did not get it done tonight.”

As a result of Johnson out, the Bucks took advantage as Erasn Ilyasova hit a turnaround jump shot to give the Bucks the 83-82 lead. And after a Al Horford missed jump shot, the Bucks sealed the deal with a Mike Delfino three-point shot to give the Bucks the 86-82 lead with 1:16 left.

“These guys have been through a lot,” Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. “They just keep going on.”

This loss is disappointing just for the fact that the Hawks came out strong in the third quarter, outscoring the Bucks 23-18. But throughout the game the Hawks made bad shooting decisions and just like in Games 3 and 4, there was no offensive slow.

“We really weren’t getting any good looks,” Horford said who led all scorers with 25 points and 11 rebounds. “We kind of got exposed on the offensive end.”
They were also exposed on the defensive end at the beginning of the game as Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings went off with 14 points in the first quarter. He ended the night with 25 points.

“We executed well at the end of the game and hit some big free throws,” Jennings said. “You have to just have to keep fighting.

So now the Hawks backs are against are against the wall and they now have to go back the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Friday to play Game 6. And everyone knows, including the Hawks, that they have only won one playoff game on the road since
2008.

What do they need to do? For one thing Josh Smith has to get his offensive game going as he scored only seven points. Also, the new Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford has to be more effective from the floor, as he scored 11 points on 4 of 18 shooting. There was no doubt that the Hawks players were more than disappointed after the contest but Horford and the rest of the crew are confident that they can force a Game 7.

“We’re going to go win,” said Horford. “No question about it. That’s the bottom line. We have to bring it back to Atlanta.

NFL Draft 2010 Day 1 Thoughts

I wanted to take this time to talk about the first day of the 2010 NFL Draft because it was interesting one to say the least. The beginning had no surprise with Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy being picked first. In fact, there were no real surprises coming out of the first day with the exception of Tim Tebow being picked but I’ll get to that soon enough. But just like any event, there is the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good has to go to the Detroit Lions as they got their quarterback of the future with Sam Bradford and they traded up to the 30th pick to nab Jahvid Best. They are not going to make the playoffs this year but they are headedin the right direction.

The bad has to Jacksonville Jaguars for their draft pick Tyson Alualu, defensive tackle out of Cal. I don’t have a problem with Alualu because I think he will be a fine player. It’s that Jacksonville is on the verge of losing the franchise and they could have got fans in the seats if they drafted Tim Tebow. I know that Tebow is not worthy of a first-round pick let alone a top 10 pick, but this team needs a spark and Tebow would have brought that to his hometown.

And speaking of quarterbacks, the ugly has to go to Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen who did not get picked on Day 1. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but when you a team passes on you and picks Tebow instead, that hurts just a little.

Other things I took from Day 1 is that this one of the deeper draft picks in recent memory, so teams that have multiple second and third round draft picks can really make some noise.... I can’t believe Jonathan Dwyer is still on the board because I think there is only one running back better than him and that’s C.J. Spiller. ... I like Sean Witherspoon and I think he will be a great addition to a growing Falcons defense. I talk about him more in my next blog when I analyze all the Falcons picks. ... And finally, having the Round 1 of the draft on prime time was a good idea and I think the NFL should stick to it.

Thoughts on the Atlanta pro scene

Okay. It’s been a while since I blogged about the comings and goings in Atlanta sports. In fact, it was the beginning of the 2010 year when I posted my last blog, covering the Chick-fil-A Bowl. So I have a lot on my mind on the state of the all the sports teams in the area. Let’s dive right in.

If you don’t already know, I’m a huge Falcons fan and I have been covering the Falcons for Score Atlanta since 2006. I will get to the Falcons later but I want to start with the Braves because I think this team has a chance to be special this year. I was at the game as a fan on Wednesday and I was amazed how many people showed for the game. It wasn’t a sellout, but there was close to 40,000 fans, which was amazing considering the fact that it was a Wednesday night. The Bravos won in dramatic fashion with Chipper Jones hitting the go ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. I think that if the offense can produce better than what they did last year, this team will make the postseason. In a later blog I will talk about Jason Heyward and how important he is to the big leagues and not just the Braves.


The Hawks will make their third consecutive trip to the playoffs, but in opinion the playoffs start now with four games left in the regular season. They are tied with Boston for the No. 3 seed but the Celtics have the tie breaker advantage because they are the leaders of their division. The Hawks are one of the best home teams in the NBA with a 32-7 record. But road win have been tough to come by with a 17-22 record. No matter who they play in the first round, they should win because they are better than Milwaukee or Miami. The question is can they beat an Orlando or Cleveland team in the second round and get the monkey off their back?

Now on to the Falcons who are getting ready for the NFL Draft which takes place on April 22. I know that the Falcons will be more flexible in this year’s draft and what I mean by that is they will not focus on one side of the football. They an equal amount of offensive and defensive players because they have needs on both sides of the ball. That being said, I think they should draft either Brandon Graham or Sean Weatherspoon but with them picking at No. 19, both could be gone at that time. But I trust Thomas Dimitroff more than he knows so whoever the Falcons pick will make an impact right away.

Speaking of making an impact, I do want to mention atlantafalcons.com is looking for the new face of their site as the Taco Mac Insider contest is well underway. The three finalists are Niki Noto, Britton Lynn and Rebecca Hill and all three are extremely talented and it will be a tough decision. If I had to choose, I would have to go with Rebecca because she knows the team due to her working with the franchise as an intern last year and she is also a Falcons fan. But Niki and Britton have experience in journalism and have done a great job so far. Good luck to all three girls for making it this far.


That’s all for now. I will do a better job posting more blogs as I have a lot of stuff on my mind. I will be at the G-Day game tomorrow so I will have a full report on that and I have my thoughts on Tiger Woods and Mistress No. 11 Joslyn James so you don’t want to miss that. Have a good weekend everybody.

Virginia Tech blows past Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl

I was at the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome on New Year's Eve and thought I would do a recap on the game. This should be on the Score Atlanta website later today, but if not I have it right here for you guys on the Atlanta Sports Guy Blog. So here's the unedited version.


It’s safe to say that if Virginia Tech lost to the Tennessee Volunteers at the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome, they would probably not come back to the city of Atlanta as they have lost two games here in the city this season (once to Alabama in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game and again to Georgia Tech). But thanks to the strong running of freshmen running back Ryan Williams who ran for 124 yards and two scores and Tyrod Taylor who threw for 209 yards, the Hokies blasted the Vols 37-14 in the New Year’s Eve Classic.

With the win, the Hokies win their 10th game of the season and they are only one of two teams to win 10 games the last six years (Texas is the other team).

“I think that it’s only us and Texas that have won 10 games for the past six years is very special,” head coach Frank Beamer said after the game.

Virginia Tech got the scoring started early in the first quarter when Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton’s pass was intercepted by Rashad Carmichael which set up a Williams 1-yard touchdown.

“Coach did a great job of drawing up plays for (Ryan) Williams,” said Taylor. “He’s a great back. I knew he had potential when I saw him play in high school.

The Hokies were able to increase their lead early in the second quarter when Taylor threw a 42-
yard strike to Danny Coale which led to a Williams 3-yard touchdown to make the score 14-0.

But Tennessee was able to strike back on the ensuing drive as Crompton threw a 40-yard pass to Denarius Moore and that led to a Montario Hardesty 4-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7.

Later in the quarter, Virginia Tech looked to get another score but Taylor’s pass was picked off by Janez Jackson and that led to a Crompton 3-yard touchdown pass to Moore and the game was tied at 14 right before halftime.
With nine seconds left before half, Virginia Tech had the ball at their own 33-yard line and Taylor was able to complete a 63-yard pass to Jarrett Boykin and that left the Hokies with one second on the clock which led to a Matt Waldron 21-yard field goal to put Virginia Tech up 17-14 at the half.

“That was such a huge play,” Beamer said. “They’re thinking we’re going in tied at the half and the next thing you know we’re up by three.

The second half was all Virginia Tech as Taylor scored on a 1-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to give the Hokies the 24-14 lead. Williams did the majority of the work on that drive as he carried the ball nine times for 78 yards.

“Ryan Williams is a really great player,” said Tennessee defensive end Chris Walker. “Their Running backs are great.”

The reason that Walker mentioned the entire running back corps is Williams went down with an ankle injury and had to leave the game late in the third. So in came John Oglesby who help led the Hokies on a 9-play, 60 yard drive that led to a Waldron 46-yard FG to give Virginia Tech the 27-14 lead. In the fourth, David Wilson came into the game for the Hokies and carried the ball seven times for 33 yards including a 3-yard touchdown run to put the score 34-14.
Tennessee finishes the year at 7-6 and were able to win their last four of six games. But head coach Lane Kiffin was not happy with the outcome of the game and realizes he has a lot of work to do in the off season.

“Very disappointed in the outcome today,” Kiffin said. “We need to go get some more players and find a special teams coach.”

Virginia Tech on the other hand looks to be in good shape for 2010 as they will have players such as Williams and Taylor coming back and try to compete for the ACC title. But for now they are happy with the win at the Chick-fil-A bowl and finally getting a win in Atlanta.

“We were going to keep coming back until we got it right,” Beamer said about coming to play game in Atlanta. “We hope to come back many more times.”