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I know, I know, the whole MMA community knows! Josh Barnett failed a few drug tests over his 13 year career! Big effin' deal! If we are all going to be honest here, Josh is far from the only mixed martial artist who has juiced at points in their career. To believe that he is the only one is total ignorance and an outright denial of reality. A better reason to hate him is because he's dumb; dumb enough to get caught, unlike a lot of other fighters, some of whom are your favorites. Yes, the truth hurts sometimes!
The other overwhelming gripe against Josh, and the main reason that seems to fuel the hatred towards him, is that his last batch of dirty piss caused the demise of the Affliction promotion. How anyone can believe that for a second is beyond me! I guess the ungodly, astronomic, undeserved salaries they were paying fighters had nothing to do with them pulling the gates down? Paying Tim Sylvia 750K for a fight had nothing to do with their demise, right? With the way Tom Atencio and Affliction were hemorrhaging cash at the time, I would venture to say they were ecstatic about the turn of events that led to them shutting down. I wouldn't be surprised if Atencio sent Barnett a big, fat thank you letter. Ultimately, in the long run, Josh ended up saving Tom and Affliction a whole bunch of dough! They were looking for an exit from promoting fights, and "the Baby Faced Assassin" gave them the perfect excuse to shut it down. Affliction's business model was horrendous. They could never have maintained operations spending money the way they were. That company was doomed from the get go. Josh was far from the reason for their failure. I will have to admit though, that I am still pissed at Barnett for killing the dream fight with Fedor that I was waiting forever to see. Maybe one day? We can wish, can't we?
If you objectively look at Barnett's career, you can't not be very impressed. He currently has a 25-5 record over the span of 13 years. He has to be on the short list of pioneers of the sport who are still active. And he's ONLY 33 years old. Not many people can boast of having wins over the likes of Big Nog, Randy Couture, Mark Hunt, Aleksander Emelianenko, Hidehiko Yoshida, Semmy Schilt (twice), Pedro Rizzo, Dan Severn, Jeff Monson, Gilbert Yvel and Mighty Mo, amongst others. That's a virtual who's who of the international MMA heavyweight landscape over the last 10 plus years. His 2 Pride fights with Big Nog are legendary. Three of his losses were to Mirko Cro Cop, when Mirko was at his absolute best. One of those was the result of a shoulder injury incurred during the fight. Of his other 2 losses, one was a decision loss to Big Nog, during his prime, and the other was to Pedro Rizzo, who was also in his prime at the time. Pedro is the only person to ever knock Josh out and that was way back in early 2001 at UFC 30. He returned the favor to Rizzo by KOing him in their rematch in 2008. Let's recap; in 30 fights Barnett has only lost 5 times (1 KO, 2 subs, 2 decisions) and to only 3 fighters, over the course of 13 years. If that doesn't positively impress you, I don't know what would!
There's no denying Josh's skillset. He is very capable in all facets of MMA. His stand-up game is very solid, his wrestling is excellent and his submission game is off the charts by heavyweight standards. His inclusion of the rarely used system of catch wrestling makes him a very formidable and dangerous opponent for ANY heavyweight on the planet. On top of that, he is a very athletic 250 pounder. Unless you forgot, it wasn't that long ago that Barnett was a top 5 HW on almost all rankings, and was sitting comfortably at the #2 spot for quite a while. Now we have fighters like Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, who have a combined 13 fights between them, suddenly sitting at or near the top of these same rankings. I can guarantee you, neither of those guys would be at all happy about having to fight Josh. Trust me on that!
Just announced today, Josh will be getting back in action. He is signed to fight in July, in Australia, at the inaugural event for new promotion, Impact MMA. His opponent is Brazilian Geronimo “Mondragon” dos Santos. The highly touted Mondragon was on the verge of being signed by the UFC before a lackluster performance at a recent Jungle Fight event changed their mind. He was on an 8 fight winning streak prior to that fight which included a 1st round TKO over UFC veteran Assuerio Silva. Josh spoke about Mondragon saying, “He is experienced and very good on the ground. I’ll try to keep this fight standing. I’ll go for the knockout, I’m going to win this fight!” I believe him.
I seem to be in the minority of MMA geeks who is and always will be a fan of Barnett. I would love to see him sign to Strikeforce and fight again on a regular basis, on American soil. Sure, Josh might be a bit cocky and come across arrogant at times, but so do a lot of other fighters. Its almost part of the DNA of any successful sportsman. There's nothing wrong with being confident. You will never hear Josh badmouth any other fighters and he always shows his fellow competitors the utmost respect. He is a true student and historian of the sport. You'd be hard pressed to find another fighter as knowledgeable on MMA as Josh is.
So, why all the hate?!? Josh Barnett is a good dude, and a very talented mixed martial artist. He is good for the sport regardless of a few dirty piss tests. Talent like his doesn't come around very often. As fans of MMA, he deserves our respect and support!
http://www.budo-mma-nyc.com/
Jose Aldo's methodical dismantling of Urijah Faber at WEC 48 was the latest example of just how devastatingly effective leg kicks can be.
The theory behind leg kicks is very simple. Pummel your opponent's thigh until they can no longer put weight on that leg. Once a fighter takes too many kicks to their lead leg, they usually switch stances in an attempt to protect it. This causes the fighter to completely change their style and approach to initiating offense, as well as virtually eliminating full use of their power side.
The most obvious reason why leg kicks work so well is that even just a few solidly landed kicks will immediately affect the recipient's mobility. After eating too many low kicks, a fighter can't punch, kick or shoot with nearly the same explosiveness as they could have on two good legs. As damaging as leg kicks have proven to be, its surprising that they are somewhat under used. While low kicks are primarily considered a muay thai technique, they have long been used in karate and other striking arts.
Let's look at some of my favorite fights from the short history of MMA, showing the beauty of properly delivered leg kicks:
•Marco Ruas/Paul Varelins
UFC 7-The Brawl in Buffalo
September 8th, 1995
This was the first MMA fight I saw that proved how devastating low kicks can be. It was Marco Ruas' third fight in the UFC, and actually his third fight of the night. Those were the good old days of same night tournaments. Ruas fully lived up to his nickname, the "King of the Streets". I still remember the short video the UFC showed of Marco throwing punches. His speed and the variation of the angles he threw them at completely blew me away. Ironically, it was his kicks that won him the final fight of the tournament. His last fight was against Paul Varelins, the Polar Bear. Varelins is a huge man, standing 6' 8" and weighing 300 pounds. Paul easily won his 2 prior fights that night and was the fresher fighter having spent only a little over 2 minutes in the cage. Ruas needed 16 minutes of cage time to win his 2 fights, one of which was against the very accomplished judoka, Remco Pardoel. In what was an epic 13 minute battle, Ruas systematically destroyed the Polar Bear's lead left leg, literally chopping down the human tree. It is still one of my all-time favorite moments in MMA.
•Mo Smith/Tank Abbott
UFC 15-Collision Course
October 17th, 1997
In an 8 minute throwdown, Mo Smith broke Tank's spirit with repeated, deep low kicks. The writing was on the wall for Tank. He just ate low kick after low kick, crushing his will in the process and forcing him to quit. The ultra-tough streetfighter wasn't tough enough to withstand the beating Mo put on his leg. Instead of "coming straight from the bar stool to the cage", Tank should have hit the gym and learned how to check kicks.
•Pedro Rizzo/Randy Couture
UFC 31 Locked & Loaded
May 4th, 2001
This classic fight has to be one of Randy Couture's toughest title defenses, and one of the worst physical beatings he's ever taken in the Octagon. In a 25 minute war, Randy earned a unanimous decision victory, one that I completely disagreed with. He was clearly the more beaten fighter. When it was all said and done, Rizzo pounded his leg over the course of the 5 rounds leaving Randy bruised, battered and barely able to walk. I can't recall ever seeing such bad bruising to a fighter's leg. By Randy's own admission, it took him 2 weeks to be able to walk somewhat normally after that fight.
•Mirko Cro Cop/Hidehiko Yoshida
Pride-Critical Countdown
July 1st, 2006
While Mirko is known for his high left kick, a technique he has used for multiple highlight reel knockouts, it was his vicious low kicks that punished the very game Olympic judoka, Hidehiko Yoshida. It was one of those fights that caused me to wince while watching, as if I was actually in the ring taking that beating to the legs. Each consecutive kick looked and sounded worse than the one before it. It was hard to watch. Yoshida was obviously in severe pain. At the 7 and a half minute mark, Hidehiko was a broken man, unable to continue. Ever since that fight, I have always wondered why Mirko hasn't used low kicks more consistently.
•Jose Aldo/Urijah Faber
WEC 48
April 24th, 2010
Jose Aldo completely proved his dominance at 145 pounds with a master performance in his win over Urijah Faber. It was a methodical, strategic destruction of Faber. Although the fight went the full 25 minute distance, there was no question in anyone's mind who won the fight. Aldo rendered Urijah virtually immobile with a barrage of savage low kicks. Faber claims to have trained specifically to defend those kicks, but none of that was evident during the fight. You know things are really bad when one of your cornermen carries you to your stool so you don't have to take the 5 steps to get there yourself. That's BAD! Major props have to be given to Urijah for showing the heart he did in that fight. He was a badly beaten man but never quit.
Honorable mentions go to:
•Bas Rutten/Ruben Villareal-WFA: King of the Streets
•Pat Barry/Dan Evensen-UFC 92
•Brandon Vera/Michael Patt-UFC 96
•Mirko Cro Cop/Hong Man Choi-K-1 Dynamite 2008
•Forrest Griffen/Rampage Jackson-UFC 86
•Pedro Rizzo/Tank Abbott-UFC Ultimate Brazil
•Kazushi Sakuraba/Royce Gracie-Pride Grand Prix 2000
Leg kicks, beautiful yet devastating!!!!!!!
http://www.budo-mma-nyc.com/
After meeting and speaking with the Price brothers, its easy to see that Shine Fights is in very good hands. Devin and Dorian Price are the focused minds behind the promotion. Their upcoming show, Worlds Collide, at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetville, NC on May 15th will be headlined by a main event pitting legendary boxer Ricardo Mayorga, in his MMA debut, against MMA veteran Din Thomas. They are also assisted by Ron Foster who is the promotion's matchmaker.
Devin, the CEO of the company, has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island as well as 2 Master's degrees from the Fisher College of business and Ohio State University. This dude has a serious business resume and serious business chops! And more importantly, he is a HUGE fan of the sport!
Dorian is no academic slouch either having graduated from Hampton University with a degree in Sports Management and later getting his Master's degree in Hospital Administration from Ohio State. It was at Ohio State that Dorian ended up meeting Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman from pioneering MMA camp Hammer House. That meeting led Dorian to begin making moves towards a pro MMA career. He later ended up training with Rich Franklin, Jorge Gurgel and legendary muay thai instructor, Master Toddy. In the words of his brother Devin, "I have been following Dorian's career, from barnyards in Ohio to big arenas in Las Vegas, watching his fights in muay thai and then later in MMA." In other words, he has paid his dues with good 'ole blood, sweat and tears. Dorian moved on to earning a spot on season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. It was on that show that he met Matt Serra and began training with him as well. He has since compiled a very respectable pro MMA record of 8-3. As a co-founder of Shine Fight Promotions, he now serves as the head of fighter relations.
Ron Foster, Shine's resident matchmaker, was first introduced to the sport of mixed martial arts while stationed in Hawaii as a member of the US Army Military Police. Hawaii has long been a renowned hotbed of MMA activity. It was there that he started an amateur fighting career before moving to Washington, D.C., where he turned professional, competing in the district's first sanctioned MMA event. His 3 pro fights gave him the insight of a fighter, allowing him to better relate with fighters, and help foster, pun intended, the fighter friendly atmosphere that is so important to the ongoing success of the promotion. Foster has relationships with all the top MMA teams including Extreme Couture, American Top Team, Brazilian Top Team and the H.I.T Squad. The ability to procure fighters from these camps all but guarantees that Shine's roster of talent will remain at a very high level.
Shine Fight Promotions has since built a very solid roster of fighters, combining world class MMA veterans with promising new talent. In their upcoming card alone you have MMA vets like Din Thomas, Ninja Rua, Junior Assuncao, Luiz Azeredo, Nick Thompson and Travis Galbraith. You also have middle tier fighters (as far as experience) like Eduardo Pamplona and Alexandre Ferreira, along with promising new talent like Jamal Patterson and Braulio Estima. Estima is making his pro debut and is an ADCC champion. On top of all that you have boxing legend Ricardo Mayorga, who is also making his MMA debut. That's a VERY solid line-up of fighters for one card.
Also of note regarding Shine Fights is that they will be staging their fights in a ring as opposed to a cage. When I asked Dorian why they chose to go with a ring instead of a cage, he responded by saying what many of us MMA purists have been saying forever. The cage provides an unfair advantage to certain styles of fighters and can be used to trap fighters and control them against the fence. Dorian believes fighting in a ring requires more overall technical ability. He also said that Shine wanted to be different, not just another "cage fighting" promotion. The sport is mixed martial arts, not cage fighting. And of course, its a 5 rope MMA ring, not a 4 rope boxing ring.
In addition, there is talk of possibly implementing a Pride-like "yellow card" system, where fighters are issued a "yellow card" for stalling the action and subsequently fined a percentage of their purse. Money is a strong motivator. Had the UFC had a similar system in place, fights like the Anderson Silva/Demian Maia debacle most likely would not happen. This is still in the talking stages and will need the approval of whichever SAC is overseeing their event.
With the incorporation of a ring and the future possibility of a yellow card system, Shine is creating a very Pride-like promotion. This is sure to make many MMA fans very happy. If they continue signing "name" fighters and cultivating new talent, the sky's the limit for this burgeoning promotion. I very much look forward to seeing Shine Fights progress and grow with the sport.
http://www.budo-mma-nyc.com/
What was f**k was Mayhem Miller thinking by interrupting Jake Shields in the middle of the biggest post-fight interview of his career?!? Mayhem moves to the beat of his own drum, and it usually works for him, but in this case it failed miserably. His intention was to steal some of Jake's thunder and to get some network television face time. He was also trying to position himself for a big title fight down the road. Having his earlier fight on the card relegated to a couple of short highlights and not being aired in its entirety couldn't have helped out his mood much. Obviously, Mayhem loves attention and lives for the spotlight. As I'm sure most of you know, he is the host of Bully Beatdown, that pathetic MMA related show on MTV. Just like his latest stunt, that show hasn't helped put the sport in a positive light. Even though the show is garbage, I can't argue with Mayhem for picking up the check and the exposure that MTV is affording him by doing it. Interestingly, Shields appeared on 2 episodes of Bully Beatdown. Its not like these guys don't know each other. Regardless, that moronic move might end up costing Strikeforce million$! In the grand scheme of things, Mayhem seems to be doing more harm than good to the sport as of late.
All that said, for all we know, Mayhem might have been put up to his stunt by Strikeforce and/or CBS in an attempt to build up some early hype for the potential rematch. Think about it, only certain people are allowed inside the cage. Someone had to let Mayhem in there. He was allowed access during King Mo's fight but he wasn't cornering either Jake or Hendo, so he had no business being in there at that time. I certainly hope that isn't the case, but if it is, those "suits" made a huge mistake! Strikeforce boss, Scott
Coker, denies any involvement, saying, "I can tell you this, none of my staff brought him in there." No one from CBS is on Coker's staff. I'm just saying.............
The hot-headed, tough guy reaction from the members of the Cesar Gracie Fight Team only made Mayhem's idiotic behavior that much worse. Gilbert Melendez, and the Diaz brothers, Nick and Nate, completely disrespected their team, their employers, their teacher/manager and the sport of MMA . Understand, you have the Strikeforce LW champion, the Strikeforce WW champion and a UFC LW fighter involved. Nice work, fellas! You just fortified the naysayers image of MMA fighters as being thugs and street punks. Way to rep the sport! You guys are geniuses!
Melendez tried to plead his case directly to CBS execs but the words he chose can be interpreted in different ways. In Gil's words, “I hope CBS can forgive us for that because we love fighting and we want the whole world to see that.” We get it Gil, you guys love fighting, but is starting a brawl while your boy was supposed to be enjoying the best moment of his career the best way to show the world that? Come on, dude!
Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President of CBS prime time, wasn't happy about the incident, but did his best to spin it, saying, “It isn’t something the sport needs and that aspect was disappointing. In the same vein, you see it in basketball, you see it in baseball, you see it in football. There’s a lot of emotion and things kind of happen, but it’s not something we want to see happen in the future.”
Personally, I can't blame Gil and the Diaz brothers for trying to shut Mayhem down, its just the way they chose to do it that was problematic. They could have accomplished the same thing in a much more civil manner. To take it to the level they did was sheer and utter stupidity!
Did any of them realize for a second that millions of people were watching the whole episode LIVE on national television on a MAJOR NETWORK? Did any of them think of the repercussions of their behavior before they acted? I guess in the heat of the full out brawl, none of them heard Gus Johnson's feeble attempt at reminding them, "Gentlemen, we're on national television right now."
Everyone else heard it though since Gus said it on a live mic.
Gentlemen? Wrong word, Gus! 'Assholes' might have been a better choice!
Johnson only made things worse by saying, "sometimes these things happen in MMA, there's a lot of testosterone in the cage." Really, Gus? When exactly was that? I have no recollection of anything even remotely close to that happening in MMA. Mauro Ranallo summed it up best when he disgustedly said, "This is ridiculous, this is ridiculous. My God." The overwhelming disappointment and unhappiness in his voice was clearly evident.
There's no doubt that Mayhem deserved to be shut down, but to go ahead and jump him like that, out numbering him at least 5 to 1, was, at a minimum, borderline retarded. Please excuse my use of "politically incorrect" language. I don't mean people who are mentally challenged, I mean RETARDED! You all know what I'm talking about. As much as Mayhem ruined Shields' shining moment, his own boys compounded it times 100!
All the progress Scott Coker and Strikeforce have made in the last 2 years might have been destroyed in a matter of a few minutes because of the ridiculous nonsense that we saw last night. On the other hand, this incident will bring tons of extra press and publicity to Strikeforce and get their name even more shine than had this not happened. Time will tell.
The Zuffa brass must be laughing their asses off! Is there an envelope with a special "bonus check" in Nate Diaz's near future?!?
Shine Fights' press conference for their upcoming Worlds Collide show was a highly entertaining event. The card is headlined by Ricardo Mayorga, making his MMA debut against veteran Din Thomas. Besides being a very talented world class boxer, Ricardo Mayorga is a very funny dude who knows how to hype a fight.
Here's a list of some of Ricardo's verbal daggers that were aimed directly at Din. He didn't just say this stuff to Din, he basically screamed at him in a very rough, cigarette smoking enhanced tone. And of course, all in Spanish, not one word in English. In fact, Mayorga started screaming at Din from across the room from the second he saw him. He was a showman from the get-go.
•"You haven't been hit by your father like I will hit you!"
•"I won't hug you like I hug my wife."
•"I will knock you out inside 2 minutes!
•"After I knock you out, I will kick you! Not in the face, in the ass!"
•"Your family should wear black to the fight so they can mourn you when its over!"
•"This little boy right here, Din Thomas, won't see my punches coming!"
•"I'm going to be the man and you're going to be the woman that night!"
•"You have the hands of a little girl, I have the hands of a man!"
•"Who have you ever fought?"
•"When you feel my right punch, your mother's going to cry!"
•"Come to fight on your feet."
It really was some funny stuff. The last quote from Ricardo was obviously his way of saying the he knows he's got no chance if the fight goes to the mat.
Din had a few good lines of his own:
•"I originally thought Ricardo was a tough guy, taking an MMA fight. I realize now, he's not a tough guy, he's a dumbass!"
•"He's got one month to prepare for the ass whooping of his life!"
•"If he thinks what De La Hoya did to him was an ass whooping, wait til the 15th of May!"
•"I thought about taking him down and choking him out, but now I'm going to drag him through it. Its going to be 3 rounds, and with one minute left, I'm going to put his ass to sleep. Then I'm going to take his girlfriend from him!"
•"I just hope fatboy makes weight!"
•"You see how fat he looks running on the beach? He could barely do 5 push-ups!" That was said after a short video was played of Mayorga training.
•"Just make weight homie!"
•"Today's the 15th, let's fight right now. Put out your cigarette, let's fight!"
•"I'm going to kick his head off his shoulders!"
•"I'm going to send him back to boxing on his knees."
During the Q&A with the press, I asked Din if the fight was about kicking Mayorga's ass, or about showing that MMA was superior to boxing. His response was, "Its not about MMA being better than boxing, its personal now and I'm going to kick his ass!"
Besides the verbal exchanges, there were 2 physical exchanges. At one point Mayorga was smoking on the dais, got right in Din's face and blew smoke at him. Din responded with a quick 2 handed shove that sent Ricardo back a few feet. They had to be separated after attempting to get at each other. At another point later, they exchanged punches. I couldn't see if either fighter landed anything but it sounded like they did. It was pretty intense for a minute or so. Cooler heads prevailed and everyone calmed down.
Also of note, Melvina Latham, the chairwoman of the NYSAC was in attendance and opened the event with a short speech. She seemed to have some MMA knowledge, specifically mentioning Din's fights with Rich Clemente and Matt Serra. She was very impressive. Her attendance says a ton about the inevitable sanctioning of MMA in New York.
All in all, it was very enjoyable couple of hours. Shine Fight Promotions couldn't have been more hospitable. They even served everyone an excellent 3 course Cuban meal at Victor's Cafe, the site of the presser. As excited as I already was for this card, this presser greatly increased my anticipation. At the smartly chosen price of $29.95, this PPV purchase is a steal! Shine Fights is makin' moves, people, recognize!
On the surface, a fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre looks like a dream match-up. When you look deeper into it, is it really THAT great of a fight?
First, let's look at the positives:
•A fight with GSP will surely light a fire under Anderson's ass and make him work, and work hard for a finish. The motivation has to be there. He will be facing a fighter in GSP, who like himself, resides on just about everyone's P4P Best Fighter list. In many cases, he's ranked higher on those lists than Anderson himself. I just can't see Silva pulling any of the shenanigans against St-Pierre that he did in his fights with Maia, Cote or Leites.
•This fight is a classic striker vs grappler match-up. You have arguably the best striker on the planet against arguably the best MMA applied wrestler on the planet. There's a ton of intrigue in this fight based on that alone. Given George's reluctance to stand and trade with strikers who are way inferior to Anderson, he undoubtedly will immediately work for a TD. Anderson has underrated jits skills so even if GSP gets the fight to the mat, it doesn't mean he can win it there. Don't forget, Anderson loves to use those NASTY elbows he has from the bottom. The main question in a ground battle will be if Anderson has any sweeps.
I'm sure the Nog brothers will be drilling sweeps with him from the second this fight gets booked.
•GSP isn't Brazilian! Silva seems to show some mercy on his Brazilian opponents. This won't be the case with Georges. Like he has against ALL his non-Brazilian opponents, Anderson will come out with fire in his eyes, looking for blood, and most importantly, looking to finish the fight, and finish it QUICKLY!
•$uperstar Vs $uperstar!
These two guys are the UFC's biggest stars outside of Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. G$P is arguably their biggest draw right now. Everyone wants to see the biggest names in the sport fight each other, especially Zuffa, who will be watching their bottomline grow exponentially from this fight.
Now on to the negatives:
•What weight? Should the fight be at 170, 185 or a catch weight in between? I would prefer the fight to happen @ 185 or a catch weight close to that. A fight at 170 makes absolutely no sense to me in any way. Why does anyone want to see a drawn out, dehydrated, energy depleted Anderson Silva fight. He supposedly walks around at 195 these days, just like GSP, but has been known to weigh around 210-215 between fights. That cut would be extremely rough on him. Not to mention dangerous. The result would be seeing Anderson fight in a condition that wouldn't allow him to be a fraction of the fighter he really is. I can't see Ed Soares (Silva's manager) agreeing to a fight at welterweight in the first place. Since GSP walks around at 195, make the fight at 185, or at a minimum, a catch weight of 180. The catch weight makes sense so there doesn't have to be any belts on the line. We just get a good ole', "who's better than who", throwdown.
•There is huge potential for the implementation of another "boring" gameplan from GSP. We all know he isn't going to stand and trade strikes with Anderson. That's virtual suicide. If he is able to impose his wrestling will, we will end up watching 15 minutes of GSP taking Anderson down, getting tied up, the ref standing the fight back up, and repeat. OVER & OVER & OVER again! The only thing worse than that is if it ends up being a title fight and we get 25 minutes of that instead of just 15. Styles make fights! Stylistically, this fight might not deliver.
There are some definite parallels between Anderson and GSP:
-Both of them have been completely dominant in their divisions.
-Both show signs of absolute brilliance with their skillsets.
-Both of them have been somewhat boring as of late, but obviously for different reasons.
-Both, to a certain degree, seem to have lost their killer instinct.
Will the brevity of this fight create magic and inspire these guys to take their respective games to completely different levels? You would think so! And hope so!
Now, on to the specifics of the fight itself and its potential outcome. As long as the fight is at or around 180-185, I see no way for GSP to win. Anderson is just too good on his feet, too fast, has too much length and has too good of a sprawl. GSP can't win a striking game and if he can't get the fight to the mat, he has no chance whatsoever at victory.
If for some insane reason, this fight ends up happening at 170, I think Georges can grind out a split decision. At 170, Anderson will be a shell of himself, completely energy depleted and lethargic. Look at James Irvin's last fight as an example of what a fighter looks like when competing at way too light a weight. I don't see Anderson performing well in that condition. Georges has a huge advantage at welterweight.
Let's see what Zuffa comes up with and what approach, if any, they take with this match-up. Initially, I didn't want to see this fight happen, but after going through the pros and cons involved, I am now leaning towards wanting to see it go down. But, and its a BIG but, a Vida Guerra sized butt, it has to be at a weight where both fighters can compete at their absolute best. One hundred seventy pounds is not that weight!
The dominance, insanity, genius, bipolarism, pacifism and just plain weirdness of Anderson Silva continues to write the strangest story in mixed martial arts. As incredible a fighter as he is, he is also a man of many contradictions.
At times he is an absolute killing machine, obliterating opponents at will. At other times he just moves around the cage like a ballroom dancer, refusing to engage or initiate any offense. He passionately implores his opponents to bring the fight, all while he himself refuses to push the action. They have medications for people with these kinds of extreme mood swings. And these swings aren't just fight to fight, they're minute to minute within each fight.
So what exactly is going on in Anderson's very complex head? I have no 'effin idea, but we can speculate, can't we? There's many ways to look at his bizarre behavior.
•He might just be showing us his compassionate side. It could very well be that he doesn't want to unnecessarily hurt his opponents. Once he has a fight in hand, he just seems to ride the fight out. If you look at his fights with Thales Leites and Patrick Cote, they are very similar to what went on in the fight with Maia. The Cote fight was a bit different and had Patrick not suffered the blown knee, the result might have turned out differently. Ironically, both Leites and the infamous Kalib Starnes lost their jobs in the UFC for exactly what Anderson has been doing. While Kalib's transgression was extreme, a solid argument can be made that Thales' lack of engagement isn't as bad as Anderson's have been, and that Anderson might actually be the real culprit here. After all, he is the common denominator in all these fights. What's interesting is that his compassion doesn't seem to be extended to his non-Brazilian opponents. He completely destroyed Rich Franklin's nose, TWICE, and beat the snot out of Chris Leben, Travis Lutter, James Irvin, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson and Forrest Griffen. He was much more Cobra Kai than Miyagi-do in those fights!
•Another thing to consider is Anderson's traditional martial arts mentality and approach to fighting. Its obvious that he's had traditional martial arts training. He regularly bows to his opponents, and also bows to the four angles of "the place of the way", in this case, the Octagon. He might very well feel like he doesn't have to destroy his opponents to win the fight. Georges St-Pierre is the same way. He comes from a TMA background as well. He could have easily torn Dan Hardy's shoulder off or broke his elbow in their recent fight at UFC 111 but chose not to, knowing he had the victory well in hand. There's honor in that! Why force someone to have to deal with surgery, rehab and a long stretch of inactivity, when you know you are winning the fight? Of course, the blood thirsty fans won't be happy, but maybe that helps fighters like Anderson and GSP sleep better at night. I have no problem with that, and actually think that in the long run, its better for the advancement of the sport for people to see that kind of compassion. We've moved beyond the "human cock-fighting" tag, and situations like these will only further that.
•Complete and total arrogance might also be playing a role in this. In Anderson's mind, he might be thinking that Zuffa needs him more than he needs them. They aren't going to fire him, regardless of how he wins his fights. He has his contract, and gets paid to fight and paid to win, which he does. He just does it exactly the way he wants to. The only thing he's losing by fighting like this is the potential for the FOTN, KOTN and SOTN bonu$es. I don't think money is Anderson's motivation, so he probably could care less about that. He's making plenty of money regardless.
•Is Anderson only to blame here? I say no. His opponents have to press the action as well. When fighters come at Silva, he fights, there's no doubt about that. If they just sit back and wait for him to initiate action, we will continue to see much more of this. Strategically, that approach to a fight with Anderson isn't particularly smart anyway. That's like waiting for a lion to decide when he wants to eat you for a light snack. No one is going to outstrike Silva (except maybe Machida), so the gameplan has to be to take him down and fight him on the mat. That isn't going to happen if you just sit back and wait for him to pounce. They have to rush him and create something. I know, that's easier said than done, but there's really no other way to beat this guy. Until Zuffa gives him opponents that he actually has to worry about, this could very well be how he will continue to conduct himself. Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen might be the only fighters at 185 to bring the fire out of Anderson. A rematch with Nate the Great might motivate him as well.
•Boredom? When Anderson fights obviously inferior opponents, he seems bored out of his skull. He fights like he's having a regular sparring session at the gym. He knows he can beat these guys and is just going through the paces. To his credit, he at least makes it interesting with his unusual antics. In his 25 minute waltz with Maia we saw everything including:
-capoeira moves
-a variety of different stances
-deliberately kneeling mid round
-screaming at Maia in Portuguese to come at him
-dropping his hands down to his waist and using just head movement to avoid punches
-a myriad of other strange histrionics.
Exciting? No, but interesting nonetheless!
Stylistically, why do most MMA fighters look so similar these days?
Are the days of style vs style in mixed martial arts completely gone?
I really hope not!
While there are definitely some unique fighters, its seems like most MMA competitors are just a combination of the "Big 4", with varying degrees of skill in each.
The "Big 4" is a style combination of western boxing, muay thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling. The mix of those four styles is the recipe that most trainers and fighters follow.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I would say that, ultimately, pun intended, its a bad thing. A proliferation of "cookie-cutter" style fighters will ultimately lead to a proliferation of boring fights. I understand that fighters with similar styles can have exciting fights, but after a while all the fights will start looking the same. Variety is the spice of life, and style variety is very important to MMA.
There is also the trend of grappling based fighters, who start training in boxing and muay thai, and suddenly think they are world class strikers. They seem to forget what got them to the point they're at, what they are best at and where their strength lies. Diego Sanchez, Jorge Gurgel and Joe Stevenson immediately come to mind. Often the result is watching 2 world class wrestlers or BJJ players in a not so skilled boxing/kickboxing match. I'd much rather see these guys in a technical ground fight. Isn't the point of MMA to see fighters excelling at what they are best at? I'm all for fighters improving all areas of their game, just don't forget where you came from.
You rarely see the opposite happen. Georges St-Pierre is one of the few fighters who comes from a striking background and has truly reinvented himself as a grappling based fighter. To think that Georges is now known for his dominant wrestling is pretty amazing.
Some of the more unique fighters are Fedor Emelianenko, Lyoto Machida, Demian Maia, Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and Rousimar Palhares. It was far from my intention to name mostly Brazilian fighters, it just turned out that way.
Fedor Emelianenko is a VERY unique fighter. His style mix of Russian Sambo, judo and his patented kamikaze striking are truly all his own. Obviously, from seeing Fedor's enormous success, its a recipe that has paid HUGE dividends for him. From the spectator standpoint, his style, along with his unemotional demeanor, make Fedor a very exciting fighter to watch. You never know what to expect from him. He knocks people out, he throws people and he submits people, all with dizzying speed and ferocity. Then he raises his hand in victory and sort of smiles out of satisfaction that he has done well, not that he has just hurt or humiliated his opponent. He doesn't fight for those reasons, he fights purely for the competition and to test himself. What's not to love about Fedor? He comes to fight every time, and walks out a winner, EVERY TIME. Not much more you can ask for; except a step up in competition? Wink, wink!
Lyoto Machida is very unique in the fact that he relies heavily on karate as his base art. What's even more "unique" about that is that karate is one of the most studied martial arts on the planet but Machida is a "unique" fighter for using it? Using one of the most studied martial arts makes him "unorthodox"? That last sentence speaks volumes about how "boxed in" the technical/stylistic side of MMA has become. Very strange!
Karate is also a big part of the newly rejuvenated Vitor Belfort's training philosophy. Vitor now employs an effective "sprawl 'n' brawl" mix of karate and muay thai which seems to have played a significant role in his return to prominence in the sport. By all accounts, he is now a VERY dedicated karateka. His recent destruction of Rich Franklin is evidence of Vitor's improvements as of late. Unfortunately, an injury incurred while preparing for his title fight with Anderson Silva prevented us from seeing that fight. That could have been one for the ages! Interestingly, Vitor has been a blackbelt in BJJ for many years now but rarely uses the art in his fights.
Anderson Silva is an absolute beast of a fighter. His fighting style primarily incorporates 2 of the "Big 4", but he does it very differently than everyone else. He most definitely uses a lot of muay thai, but he seamlessly mixes it with western boxing, and a touch of karate and Tae Kwon Do. He also has a blackbelt in BJJ under the Nogueira brothers. The results are devastating! Anderson rightfully sits at or near the top of most people's P4P best fighter lists. He is currently on an absolute tear, winning 11 straight fights. He's undefeated in the UFC with 10 wins and hasn't lost a fight since losing to Yushin Okami in early 2006. That "loss" was actually a DQ due to an illegal kick. His last legitimate loss was to Ryo Chonan in Pride back on New Year's Eve 2004. That's an absolutely amazing run!
What makes Demian Maia such a unique fighter is that he's a throwback to the early days of North American MMA. In a lot of ways he's a modern day Royce Gracie. If you don't know who Royce is, you stumbled onto the wrong website. Maia is an exemplary example of how effective pure Brazilian jiu-jitsu $TILL is. Its a beautiful thing to see. To watch his mastery in action is just phenomenal. The one time Demian decided to try out his new found striking skills, he ended up KTFO from a well placed punch by Nate "the Great' Marquardt. Stick to the jits, Demian!
Rousimar Palhares is very similar to Maia in this regard. He has and relies heavily on insane BJJ technique to win his fights. Palhares also backs up his technique with ridiculous strength and savagery. If he gets a hold of any limb or the neck of an opponent, the fight is almost certainly over, and quickly. Torn ligaments or tendons could very well be the result. This guy has scary jiu-jitsu! He has compiled a very impressive 11-2 record with his only loss in his last 10 fights coming at the hands of Dan Henderson. There's absolutely no shame in losing a decision to Hendo. During that stretch, he has 7 submission wins, 5 of which were leg locks. The sport needs fighters like Palhares. While he does have a history of holding on to submissions too long, I don't feel like its done maliciously. He just seems to get caught up in the moment. That said, he needs to be more aware of opponents tapping and of referee interaction.
Although we haven't seen him in the cage yet, James Toney will bring something different to the game. His world class boxing skills and reliance on the sweet science will be very interesting to see in action. Initially I wasn't too happy about his signing to the UFC, but now I can see some value in it. If nothing else, what Toney brings to the table will keep things fresh.
UFC 112 is giving us a throwback fight of sorts in Silva vs Maia for the middleweight title. Its almost like UFC 1 all over again. Its a classic striker versus grappler match-up. Can incredible BJJ technique finally stop the best striker in the game? We'll find out on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome, its fights like this that make MMA the incredible sport that it is.
Going forward, I have no doubt that the quality of fighters will improve. As the sport continues to grow, better quality athletes will attempt careers in MMA. And we are just starting to see the first sprinklings of fighters who grew up on the sport, training in MMA as a whole, not separately in the different styles that make up mixed martial arts. All of this is positive in every way.
My only wish is that we see some individuality in the fighters of now, and more importantly, the fighters of the future. The last thing I want the sport to turn into is C-level kickboxing, in a cage, with an occasional takedown and submission. Lets hope fighters like the aforementioned continue to influence the newcomers to the sport.
Mixed Martial Arts is a sport, NOT a style. Having unique, different style fighters will only make it more interesting for the spectator and further the rapid pace at which the sport is currently growing.
