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As any longtime fan of MMA knows, VERY unfortunately, bad decisions are pretty much commonplace in our beloved sport. Judging and referring problems are constant and for the long term health of the sport, need to be fixed, SOON! Actually, IMMEDIATELY! In the main event at UFC 123, Rampage Jackson won a split decision over Lyoto Machida. Right off the bat, split decisions already mean that judges are seeing things very differently. More importantly, when the winning fighter admits to "getting his ass whooped", his words, not mine, you know there's a problem.
Here's some verbal gems from Rampage in his post fight Octagon interview with Joe Rogan:
•"Lyoto whooped my ass tonight, I'm so ashamed of myself!"
•"I consider that an ass whoopin'!"
•"Even though I don't want to, I have to give him a rematch!"
•"I was like, DAMN, homie can fight!"
•"Machida's the MAN, ya'll, he's gonna be around for a long time!"
•"Machida's the MAN, that's all I can say!"
Some might say those are the words of an honest, humble, respectful fighter. While true, I see those words as being an absolute admission of losing a fight and also disbelief that he's actually leaving the cage with a "W"! As Joe Rogan said to Quinton, "You're an honest man.". That's absolutely true, Rampage HONESTLY admitted to getting his ass kicked and losing the fight. You have to respect Quinton for his emphatic frankness.
As telling as his words were, which literally say all that needs to be said, Quinton's post fight actions were even more so. As we all know, actions speak louder than words. Let's start with the second the fight ended. Rampage stands up and immediately pulls Lyoto up, grabs his hand and raises it over his head, acknowledging the beating he just took. He then proceeds to put his back to the cage and slump down to the mat like a beaten fighter. Lance Gibson, Q's lead trainer, implores him to get up and literally drags him to his feet. In other words, "try to at least sort of look like you won the fight, dumbass"! Lyoto on the other hand went about his normal post fight activities looking relatively fresh and unscathed. The reason that's the case is because he barely got touched the whole fight. Continuing with the body language theme here, once the decision was announced, Rampage had a complete, "holy shit" look on his face (pictured above) and looked to the heavens thanking whoever he was thanking. Maybe it was the guy working the lights that drugged the judges before the fight. I'm just sayin'............. Seriously, if there was ever a "holy shit" look on someone's face, Rampage epitomized it right there! He looked like a dude whose girl walks in on him while he's banging some drunk skank he pulled out of his local bar. Not that I know anything about that (wink, wink)! Beyond all of that body language admission of defeat was Quinton's gracious interaction with Lyoto right after the decision was announced. He can clearly be seen saying to Lyoto, at least twice, "you won, you won!" (pictured below) Then he goes up to Ed Soares, Lyoto's manager and the boss of Blackhouse MMA, and says, again, more than once, "he won, he won". Again, seriously, what more do you need to see to know who won the fight? When the winning fighter tells the losing fighter and his manager that he won, its pretty obvious who deserved the decision, no?
Now to the specifics of the fight itself. The third round isn't even worth talking about other than debating whether it should have been a 10-8 round for Lyoto. He clearly won the round in overwhelming fashion. From the outset of round one, Rampage literally didn't throw a single technique for the first 2 minutes. During that span Machida landed 5 solid leg kicks. On the 5th kick, Rampage finally made an attempt at a "one-two" that missed completely. At 2:40 into the round they clinch along the fence. Rampage proceeds to do the most pussy technique in the sport, stomping on Machida's foot. Talk about desperation, and only half way through the first round. They stayed on the fence for a minute exchanging minor, insignificant strikes. On the break, Rampage throws an uppercut and a cross, of which neither lands. I watched it multiple times in super slow motion just to be sure. Machida proceeds to land 2 hard knees and a very hard body kick which both Rogan and Goldie acknowledged as such. They clinch again against the fence where Machida lands at least 5 knees to Quinton's thigh. They bothered him enough that he lifted his leg in an attempt to avoid taking any more. Nothing of significance happened in the last 45 seconds of the round. In summary, the only significant strikes that landed were 2 hard body kicks, 2 hard knees and multiple low kicks from Lyoto. How the hell does Rampage win that round on any judge's scorecard?
The second round starts with a nice knee from Machida 15 seconds in. They again clinch along the fence but are broken apart after Quinton knees Lyoto in the nuts. The fight resumes and a minute and a half into the round, they clinch again with Rampage landing a decent knee. Almost 2 minutes in, Rampage gets a takedown, does nothing with it and Lyoto gets back to his feet within 20 seconds. Hafway into the round they clinch yet again. Nothing else significant happens until almost 3 and a half minutes into the round where Lyoto lands a vicious knee to the liver, easily one of the hardest strikes of the fight. Quinton comes back with, in my opinion, his ONLY significant strikes of the entire fight, that being a nice uppercut/left hook combo. Even those weren't flush. With a minute left they clinch YET again. Other than battling for position nothing happens until the last few seconds when Lyoto lands a grazing left hand that takes Quinton off balance.
As mentioned already, the third round was ALL Machida and could have easily been scored a 10-8 for him. Amongst other things it included a nasty flurry that stunned Rampage, a hard takedown, complete ground control, full mount and a couple of submission attempts. Clearly, this was the only time either fighter was close to finishing the fight.
Compu-Strike had Rampage landing more strikes in the fight but those have to include those lame foot stomps and weak punches to the body and legs during the clinches. None of that had any impact on the outcome of the fight.
Now, back to the title of this piece. Yes, payback is a bitch, we all know this. While I disagree, many people think Machida was given a "gift" decision in his first fight with Shogun Rua. It seems as though there's now a bullseye on his back where judges are afraid to give him rounds that they should be. Then there's the issue of being the "aggressor". That's just plain stupid. Some fighters try to land strikes by moving forward, some do so by moving to the side first. Some fighters initiate exchanges, some counter. Some fighters sit "in the pocket", others create angles with footwork. A fighter shouldn't be penalized because of their style of fighting. Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters like to fight off their back. Should they be "penalized" for pulling guard? Of course not, that's their method of attempting to be in the best position to finish a fight within their style of fighting.
I had Lyoto winning 30-27 and was absolutely shocked that it wasn't a unanimous decision. Even if you give Rampage the second round, he still loses. It comes down to one thing. Don't leave a fight in the judges hands. That's the smartest thing Dana White has ever said. I agree, fighters need to go for finishes. Machida did that and was MUCH closer to ending the fight. Rampage was NEVER anywhere near finishing that fight. Not even remotely close. Unfortunately, as history has shown, we can expect almost anything when an MMA decision is being announced. Expect the unexpected. Rampage obviously didn't expect to hear his name called as the winner.
As hard to digest as bad judging is, even harder would be fixes and corruption. I just hope none of that ugliness has infiltrated this great sport. I'm not saying it has but decisions like this have to make you shake your head in wonder and disbelief. Does the brawling, charismatic, budding actor/movie star wannabee mean more to the UFC than the non-English speaking Brazilian with the eclectic, "elusive" fighting style?!?
I don't know, does he?!?
Anyone who follows combat sports, or any sports for that matter, loves a good rubber match. In the short history of MMA there hasn't been that many yet, but come Saturday night, we will all be treated to an absolute gem in the form of the third fight in the BJ Penn/Matt Hughes trilogy. Personally, I have been highly anticipating this fight since the moment BJ ended up in the crucifix in the second fight. That fight was over once Hughes secured that position. Actually, that fight was over once BJ incurred the rib injury in the 1st round. I firmly believe BJ was comfortably cruising to yet another win over Matt had he not torn his rib. The first fight wasn't even close with The Prodigy thoroughly dominating from the opening bell to the rear naked choke finish towards the end of the first round.
What makes this fight so compelling is the recent direction both of these fighters' careers have taken. Hughes seems completely rejuvenated as of late with 3 straight wins over 3 highly decorated BJJ blackbelts, notably, Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. Amazingly, Hughes even subbed Almeida with an old school wrestling front choke. Hughes has seemed to make decent strides in his striking game as well. Granted, he's far from a world class striker, but it appears that his training with Robbie Lawler (since opening a gym together) has paid dividends. To be perfectly honest, outstriking Renzo doesn't say much in the grand scheme of things but he's definitely shown improvements, especially with regard to low kicks. He caught Ricardo with a nice left hook that dropped him, stunned him, and enabled Hughes to choke him out as easily as he did. That might actually be the first time in over 50 fights that Matt has hurt someone with his stand-up. All things considered, at Hughes' age and after this many years in the game, he deserves respect for continually advancing his skillset. As BJ and others have said, Hughes hasn't officially received a BJJ blackbelt from a legitimate instructor but technically he is on or very close to that level. What's especially impressive about Hughes' current streak of wins is that prior to that he seemed to be pretty much done as a fighter. His competitive fire appeared as extinguished as Michael Jackson's pedophile playground at Neverland. He got destroyed twice by GSP and also got dominated by Thiago Alves, losing 3 fights in a four fight span. Here we are, a few years later and the country boy is close to contention again. I'm very impressed and I am far from a Matt Hughes fan.
While Hughes' career is on the upswing, BJ's is on a serious slide. He's on a two fight skid, both losses at LW to Frankie Edgar. This is only the second time he's lost two in a row. Edgar is an amazing fighter, so there's no shame in that. The question is, was BJ really at his best in those fights? Only BJ can answer that. To me, he just didn't look like he was completely there mentally. He had somewhat of a blank look on his face and his killer extinct, or lack thereof, was non-existent. Frustration was the only emotion you could read from him. Frankie deserves much of the credit for that being the case, but a lot has to do with timing. BJ has shown mental lapses in the past and this could very well have been one of those periods where he wasn't at his sharpest. He's a complex dude who lives very differently than most people do. His world in Hawaii is both a blessing and a curse. Hawaii has a sizable MMA community and BJ is the king of it. Most times the king is surrounded by "yes men". A venue change in training camp and a serious upgrade in training partners might be a good idea for him. Its hard to push yourself, which seems to be the case for BJ. And its hard to get better when you are always sparring with inferior opponents. His brother and manager, JD, can only do so much to rectify those situations.
Technically, this is a very intriguing match-up. As aforementioned, Hughes has shown solid BJJ skills and beaten 3 consecutive, high level blackbelts, but he is definitely inferior to BJ in that facet of the game. Matt is great at using his strength to create submission opportunities. In contrast, BJ is much more technical in his approach and incorporates a ridiculous level of flexibility to execute his techniques, particularly his defense and sweeps. Their approaches are night and day. On the striking side of things, BJ is a much better boxer and striker overall, but as mentioned, Hughes has made improvements as of late. The gap there isn't as vast now as it was in the prior two fights. If Hughes can land a few solid low kicks, it could drastically change this fight. The problem with that is the susceptibility to a counter right hand from BJ, which is arguably his best punch. BJ's striking didn't fair well in the Edgar fights because of Frankie's excellent speed, footwork and head movement. Hughes has nothing close to that so BJ should be able to land some significant shots. Matt has the obvious wrestling and strength advantage but can he exploit BJ there? BJ's takedown defense was legendary prior to the fights with Edgar. After seeing how easily Frankie took him down, that perception has completely eroded. So was it Frankie's speed that facilitated those takedowns or was it BJ being mentally "off" in those fights? I would venture to say its a combination of the two. Also of much importance in this match-up is the size difference. Baby Jay is a natural lightweight who has fought at welterweight. Hughes is a pure welterweight who could conceivably fight at middleweight if he chose to. Matt has been quoted as saying that he was "licking his chops when Dana White offered him a fight with a '55er". I can see why that would be the case. Hughes is getting BJ at the perfect time in their respective careers. BJ has reportedly barely made 170 for this fight while Matt is cutting weight to get there. Come fight time, Hughes might easily be 15-20 pounds heavier than BJ.
As both fighters have stated, this fight will be won by whichever fighter can impose their will and gameplan. Both fighters are coming into this fight with vast differences in size, fighting style, overall skillsets, strategy, recent career success and sources of motivation. That's what makes this as great a fight as it will undoubtedly play out to be in the cage. And on top of all that, these guys do not like each other at all! They definitely respect each other, but there is definitely no love there!
Speaking of love, you have to love a good rubber match and this is going to be one of the best! Enjoy it, I know I am!
In the race for mixed martial arts gold no one is going to catch the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Zuffa has built an unstoppable juggernaut, this is a fact. Barring any freak occurrences or some severe out of the blue legal scenario that causes the company to implode, the UFC will remain the kings of mixed martial arts promotions for as long as they choose to. The market share lead they currently enjoy is humongous and insurmountable by the competition. The "dirtiest" word in Zuffa's language is cross-promotion. Remember the M-1/Fedor negotiation fiasco? That very word could and should become prevalent in the vocabularies of both Strikeforce, the industry's #2 promotion, and Bellator Fighting Championship, arguably the industry's #3. With proper implementation of cross-promoting, both companies can increase their own exposure and bottom lines.
There been talk for some time about setting up a superfight between Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez, respectively, the Strikeforce and Bellator lightweight champions. That's undoubtedly an incredible match-up of two Top 5 fighters that's as or more compelling than any UFC lightweight fight. It appears that Bellator's boss, Bjorn Rebney, is more willing to make it happen, but Strikeforce's top dog, Scott Coker, should come around if it makes sense from a business standpoint. Since Strikeforce is the bigger promotion of the two, Coker is pretty much holding all the cards here. Understandably, Coker doesn't want Bellator to piggyback on Strikeforce to advance their brand. The question is, what does Rebney bring to the table here? Other than some quality fighters and some potentially good match-ups, not a whole lot. Ultimately, Rebney wants to partner up with Coker, combine rosters for a show, and put together a compelling enough card to stage as a PPV. I don't think that's the route they should take unless they are able to do so at a relatively inexpensive price, something in the $20 range. Many more casual MMA fans would consider buying a non-UFC PPV for $20, than would for double that. If exposure is of prime importance, doesn't it make more sense to have 100,000 buys at $20, than 50,000 buys at $40? As history has shown for non-UFC pay-per-views, even those numbers are lofty goals to achieve.
Coker seems somewhat willing to pursue the possibility of a cross-promotion with Rebney but isn't happy with the Bellator boss' approach in trying to make that happen. Rebney has been planting a lot of stories and blurbs in the media as opposed to coming directly to him and chopping it up. Coker has been quoted as saying, "The thing is, if Bjorn is serious about doing this, then there has to be a business component that has to be worked out. Unfortunately, that hasn't started yet. It's just been a bunch of stuff in the media. He's chosen the media to use as a platform to try to push this thing along, but I think it's maybe a PR move." In other words, if Rebney is really serious about attempting this he needs to pick up a phone(which he claims he has) or get on a plane and begin serious discussions. Very recently, Bellator's PR firm released credible proof of four text messages from Rebney to Coker attempting to initiate talks regarding the two companies working together. To Rebney's credit, he is making an honest stab at this, but publicly proving that he texted Coker isn't very smart. He's basically saying, "see everyone, I'm trying here but Scott isn't responding." This isn't going to make this already bumpy, pothole plagued road any smoother. If Coker was already reluctant to get in bed with Rebney, he might be dead set against it now.
The potential cross-promotion match-ups go beyond that lightweight superfight. After defending his belt at Bellator 34, middleweight champion, Hector Lombard, called out jiu-jitsu ace and Strikeforce champ, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. It seems like there is a concerted effort by Bellator's fighters to put the cross-promotion concept into the public consciousness. In a recent radio interview on the Savage Dog Show, Melendez continued to push for the superfight with Alvarez, saying, "I think we're getting warmer. You guys are talking about it. Everyone's talking about it. Someone's going to get backed into a corner. We're going to figure out why it's not happening eventually, and that person's probably going to be cornered in and they're probably going to have to give in. Because everyone seems like they're up for it. Bjorn, Scott, Eddie and I. So there's something going on where we can't come to an agreement. I think eventually it's going to come out, and with media and everyone talking about it, I think we're getting a lot closer and a lot warmer." He further elaborated, stating, "Obviously Strikeforce is the bigger promotion than Bellator. That could be it. That does seem like it. I'm not sure if it's Coker or what, but I know Scott has co-promoted before. I think if things make sense, it can work out."
Gilbert is definitely passionate about making this fight happen. If Coker wants to keep one of his top fighters happy and in the fold, he has to make this fight happen. He doesn't want Gil to be the next Jake Shields and fly the coop. Melendez further expounded on how important this fight is to him and how tough a fight it would be, saying, "It would mean the world to me, that's my ultimate goal, to be number one in the world at 155. If I get there, I'll be very happy. I've been working hard and I want to beat all these big names. Eddie Alvarez is one of them. I'm technically ranked above him in the rankings and I still want to fight the guy because I know he's a tougher match-up. I'm not going to heel hook him in one minute like Shinya Aoki. I know that's not what's going to happen. It's going to be a battle, it's going to be a war. I'm not OK with just having the journalists put me number two. I really want to prove it myself. I want to beat the one through 10 on my own. I really want to beat them all. If I'm still with Strikeforce, I think that fight does need to happen." Melendez continued, "The only other way is if I move on and somehow I'm in the UFC(words that must give Coker nightmares) fighting out there. If I beat Josh Thomson again, if I beat Shinya again, it's not really going to do nothing for my status or to make my spot go up. That's why I want this fight."
Beyond that lightweight showdown there are other solid Strikeforce/Bellator match-ups that make sense including:
•Josh "Punk" Thompson Vs Roger Huerta
•Lyman Good Vs Scott Williams
•Ben Askren Vs Nick Diaz
If you throw the big boys into the picture, I could see Bellator's top two heavyweights, Cole Conrad and Neil Grove in interesting fights with some of Strikeforce's heavies. Newly signed Josh Barnett matching up with Conrad is stylistically intriguing. Its a big step up in competition for Cole but his world class wrestling makes it interesting. Josh needs to get his competitive blood flowing again and this could be a perfect fight to do that with. Solid prospect Shane Del Rosario against Grove would be a barnburner. Someone's getting KTFO in that one.
There are undoubtedly possibilities worth pursuing here, but it looks less and less likely to happen due to Rebney's questionable PR tactics. Since Bellator has less to offer you would think Rebney would try and show a bit more tact here. Publicly calling out Coker as being unresponsive is absolutely the wrong way to approach this. On the other hand, maybe this will light a fire under Coker's ass and these guys can start throwing tangible ideas around about the best way to make this happen. Neither company has done a very good job of promoting and marketing their own shows so maybe between the two of them, they can double the effort and effectively market a cross-promotion. The fighters and fights are definitely there to do a very solid card together but the preliminary work has to begin. A phone conversation is a good place to start.
Let's go already, fellas!
I hope we have all come back down to earth regarding the Zuffa PR machine produced myth that is Brock Lesnar. I say "we" because for some reason, in the last week or two, I started thinking that I must be wrong about the new "baddest man on the planet" since no one else seemed to agree with my sentiment that he was highly overrated. I actually slightly started buying into the nonsensical crapola that permeated the MMA community. As they say, trust your original instinct. You can't tell me that a dude with SIX pro fights is the best fighter on the globe, but plenty of you tried to and even more of you had him ranked as the #1 heavyweight in the world. As we all saw last night, that was/is a huge steaming pile of stinky BULLSHIT. Penn & Teller need to do an episode on this!
Major props have to be given to Cain Velasquez for slaying the proverbial dragon in the spectacular fashion that he did. The beatdown Cain put on Brock was absolutely phenomenal and incredibly entertaining. As good as his performance was, it fortified serious deficiencies in Brock's very young, inexperienced, highly limited MMA skillset.
•It is now blindingly obvious that Brock HATES getting hit. If you so much as tap the guy in the face he cowers like a little bitch into the fetal position. As my brother described it right after the stoppage, it looked like how someone reacts when getting attacked by a vicious dog. Brock's attempt at defense was to curl up in a ball and protect his vitals. For a 280 pound, muscle bound "professional fighter", he's the biggest pussy on the planet. Is that the reaction we expect from the UFC HW champion of the world? What does that say about the value of that belt? Just to remind you, big, tough Brock Lesnar did the same exact pussy shit in his prior fight with Shane Carwin. Do you fail to see the pattern here? If it only happened once it might be able to be overlooked, but for him to react the exact same way in two consecutive fights, and in over 30% of his total fights is very telling. Obviously, he doesn't spar hard in training. He might move around with training partners and pseudo-spar but no one is going full blast at him trying to punch and kick his head off. No one in his camp is anywhere near a world class striker, and no offense to Cain, but neither is he. Big, bad Brock obviously never gets hit when he spars. Ask Wanderlei Silva if he takes hard shots to the face when he trains. He'll laugh at you, just like most people with a brain were laughing at Mr. Lesnar after last night.
•Brock's stand-up striking skills are abysmal! Sure, if a dude as big and strong as he is lands something clean, it will hurt you, but that doesn't mean he has any real striking skills to speak of. There is no technique in his punches, they're all arms and incorporate absolutely no hip movement. He doesn't bother throwing any kicks, because he can't. The only decent striking technique he has is knees. In a word, fail! As bad as all that is, his footwork is even worse. His idea of footwork is bumrushing his opponent. That's the skill level of one of the best heavyweight mixed martial artists in the world?!?
•Brock's chin and his ability to take shots also has to be questioned after these last two fights. He drops after any minimal contact to his face. Even his huge, heavily muscled torso crumbled from a single knee from Cain. It was actually a knee that dropped him right before Cain GnP'd his big fat head back into reality. That reality is that Brock is just not that good and has HUMONGOUS problems in his game, some that are not easily remedied. In fact, some of his problems are almost impossible to fix. Its either you "have it or you don't" kind of stuff. Brock doesn't have it! Its tough to teach someone to enjoy getting punched in the face, especially someone like Brock who has such a seemingly innate aversion to it.
•Brock's cardio? Suspect as well. He was stumbling around the cage like a drunken fool from what appeared to be exhaustion. Once he was on his back he stopped moving. His hips were completely immobile. He made no attempt to improve his defense or position. As the ever so eloquent Joe Rogan stated THREE minutes into the fight, "Brock is exhausted!" Yes, you read it correctly, 3 minutes! Is that what we should expect from world class fighters and athletes, complete exhaustion after 3 minutes of competition? I hope Shane Carwin is reading this because he too is in the same "no cardio" boat that Brock is floating around in. Hmmm, do you think these guys are carrying too much muscle? Cain must have been bugging out on how easy it was to cut Brock up and pound his face in. The guy was virtually motionless on his back. Only two things cause that to happen; either complete exhaustion or freezing up in a state of panic. Pick your poison because neither is good for a professional fighter. I happen to think the latter is worse and much harder to fix. The point is, Brock has major issues to deal with. What is blatantly apparent is that he's not a true fighter, he's an athlete who is attempting to fight. There's a huge difference between the two!
I seriously hope these last two fights put the reality of Brock Lesnar into proper perspective. Its outlandish to consider him one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world. If you are in the FIGHT game and you crumble like he did after getting hit, two fights in a row now, you have serious problems. You have to wonder why he chose fighting as a profession in the first place. We all know Brock is a huge, athletic, fast, strong human being. That can only take him so far. Thankfully, Cain has killed the Lesnar hype and his aura of invincibility as well. And it took him only a Mir, I mean, mere four minutes to do so. No one will fear Brock anymore and why would they knowing that if you touch him with anything significant he will crawl into the fetal position. I've seen teenage girls react better to getting punched in the face. I found it extremely humorous watching the post-fight episode of MMA Live on ESPN, where Kenny Florian, Randy Couture and the "big boss" Dana White were all saying that Brock needs to vastly improve his striking and somehow get used to getting hit. That's a first, a world class fighter who is supposedly one of the best on the planet, being spoken about in such a manner. It was hysterical, like they were evaluating some prospect who they just went to see train at a gym somewhere in the woods of Minnesota. Given Brock's lack of real fighting experience, they pretty much were!
Hey Brock, if you can find any headgear big enough to fit your fat head, put it on and let people punch and kick you, you big pussy!
I'm just sayin'.............
If "The Answer" is, YES, then what's the question? Well, there are actually two.
Is the BJ Penn era of lightweight dominance over?
Is Frankie Edgar a Top 5 pound-for pound fighter?
As a longtime fan of BJ Penn it was both somewhat depressing and very surprising to see him lose two fights in a row. Especially since they were at LW! Even more surprising was that it was to the same fighter. No doubt, Frankie Edgar is BJ's kryptonite, but is the story deeper than that?
BJ is not an old fighter, but he has fought a lot over his storied career. Has 10 years of pro MMA training and fighting taken their toll on him? If so, it seems to be more mentally than physically. The Prodigy is only 32 years old and realistically should be entering the prime of his fighting career. Everyone has their own motivations. For BJ, money has never been one of them. He comes from a very successful family and doesn't need to make money from fighting. His drive always seemed to be to prove that he is the very best fighter in the world. Arguably, he did that at different times in his career. That's why seeing his rather mundane performance in the Edgar rematch was so shocking and disheartening.
Is the fire gone?
At the start of the second fight, BJ looked very focused and determined. Once he saw that Frankie wasn't just going to go away easily, his whole demeanor changed. I'm not taking anything away from Frankie Edgar. He put on two phenomenal, back to back performances against a fighter not many people expected him to beat. No one gave Frankie a legit chance to win that first fight. Meanwhile, it was that first win that gave life to the second one, the same way the first loss for BJ seemed to plant seeds of doubt in his sometimes fragile psyche. The power of the mind can't be overlooked here. Besides his physical gifts, Frankie has shown he is very strong mentally. Unlike most fighters, he never showed the slightest bit of doubt or fear in the cage with BJ. In the process, he has undoubtedly proven to be the best lightweight MMA fighter on the planet. There's a couple of fighters outside the UFC that might disagree with that assessment, but right now, Frankie is the best.
While BJ has dominated the majority of his LW opponents, Frankie was never in any trouble in 10 rounds and 50 minutes of fighting him. He ran the table on BJ in his first defense, pitching a shutout and winning all 5 rounds on all the judges' scorecards. Frankie isn't a big LW either, walking around at only a bit heavier than his fighting weight of 155. That makes his control of BJ even more impressive. We've seen GSP dominate BJ, but Georges is a much bigger fighter than Frankie is. No lightweight has shown that level of wrestling and almost effortless takedowns against BJ like Frankie has. He's not just a fantastic wrestler either. His striking is very proficient and getting better at a rapid pace, especially defensively. Frankie's footwork is second to none. His feet are constantly moving and working angles for strikes and TD set-ups. His head movement is also top notch. That's what seemed to frustrate BJ so much. All that movement prevented him from landing anything clean and significant. The longer both fights wore on, the more BJ's frustration grew. In this age of excessive weight cutting, what Frankie has done and accomplished is nothing short of amazing.
As far as the rest of the UFC LW division goes, Frankie is clearly in a very good position. His next defense is a rematch with Gray Maynard, who happens to be the only fighter to beat him in 14 fights. Gray pulled out a decision victory at UFC Fight Night 13 in April of 2008. Things have definitively changed in the last 17 months and will be decidedly different the next time around. The Bully will try to bully the champ but in order for that to happen, he has to actually get close to him. That's not going to happen. Frankie's vastly superior speed will be the determining factor in the fight. Beyond Gray, no one in the division seems to have the skillset to really threaten the champ's reign, but there's a couple of fighters lingering outside the UFC who could make things interesting. Bellator's current LW champion, Eddie Alvarez, and Strikeforce's LW champion, Gilbert Hernandez, are two fighters that I'd love to see Edgar fight. We can wish, can't we?!?
Lots of new questions surround Baby Jay:
•Will this second loss to Edgar send him into career purgatory?
•Will he have the desire to continue fighting without immediate title implications being involved?
•Is there a chance of him going back to WW?
•Will he eventually leave the UFC for another promotion?
•Will he hang up the gloves completely?
We'll get some of these questions answered in the coming days, weeks and months. It was recently announced that BJ will be fighting a rubber match with welterweight legend, Matt Hughes. He soundly beat Hughes in their first fight and was beating him again in the second until suffering a debilitating rib injury. This third fight should be very interesting and its outcome will play a huge role in the direction of BJ's career thereafter.
One thing we do know is, BJ Penn is a warrior who fights for the love of fighting. The question is, does he still love it as much as he ever did and enough to still do what is required to compete at the most elite level? Time will tell, but at anything less than 100%, both mentally and physically, he will lose to the seemingly rejuvinated Hughes.
The other thing we do know is this; Frankie Edgar is the best lightweight fighter in the world right now, and looks like he will be for the forseeable future.
Hail the new king!
Edit: This was written the day after UFC 118 in the car on the ride back to NYC from Boston. In the whirlwind that is my life, I completely forgot about it. I found it today in the memo app on my phone. Don't ask!
www.BUDO-MMA-NYC.com
Mirko, Mirko, Mirko, stop being so damn stubborn, go on a friggin' proper diet and drop to 205 already! Geez, what more do you need to see to come to this realization?
Crocop has ALWAYS been an undersized HW. As a younger, faster, more aggressive fighter he was able to overcome the size difference, most times. Those days are long gone. In this era of huge HWs that he currently attempts to survive in, he is at a HUGE, pun intended, disadvantage. If Mirko wants to continue fighting, and I hope he does, he NEEDS to drop to LHW, immediately. His days of hanging with those overgrown behemoths are OVER!
There are too many reasons for him to drop, and few, if any, for him to stay at HW.
•At 205, he immediately becomes the bigger fighter in most fights, not the smaller one.
•At 205, he should experience an increase in speed, which used to be one of his best attributes.
•At 205, he'd be hard pressed to find an opponent as strong or stronger than he is.
•At 205, he will have much more suitable match-ups to his style; less huge, overpowering wrestlers, more similar sized strikers who will bring out the best in him and provide the most exciting fights.
Let's face it, Mirko is primarily a sprawl & brawl style of fighter. His takedown defense is some of the best in the game. We all know what his left leg is capable of. Other than his propensity for telegraphing it a bit too much, his left hand can also do serious damage. These attributes will only be that much better at 205. With less weight to move around the cage (both his own and his opponent's), he will be more confident in his weapons and really let them fly again. Its as if his best techniques have been locked in a cage (again, pun intended) in some of his recent fights.
How many kicks overall did he throw in the fight with Mir? Six?Specifically, how many low kicks did he throw in that fight? None?!?While he was able to fend off Mir's takedown attempts, it was obviously very physically taxing for him to do so. The primary reason for that is the size difference. All that body-to-body clinch work against the cage sapped the energy he needed to utilize his other weapons. There was nothing left on his punches and he barely threw any kicks. His last win against Pat Barry was a precursor to what his fights at LHW will look like. Barry is also an undersized HW who should consider a drop to LHW as well. That fight looked like two LHWs in the cage. The point is, Mirko was much more able to fight his true style because he wasn't using up all of his energy dealing with a much bigger opponent. Anyone who has ever fought or even just sparred with a bigger fighter knows what a difference that makes. Its not like Mirko is a jits wizard who can slickly and creatively work around being the considerably smaller fighter. He doesn't think that way and he doesn't fight that way. His mentality is to strike but he can't effectively do that when he's spilling all of his gas pushing humongous bodies around. Or more accurately, trying to stop humongous bodies from pushing him around.
Going forward, there aren't really any good match-ups left for Mirko at HW, nor any winnable fights except those against the no-name cans in the division. Although he has been lately, at this point in his career, Mirko Crocop should NOT be fighting cans. Joe Silva and Zuffa aren't showing him the proper respect he deserves. Why that is is a whole other debate. The guy is a living legend of the sport and deserves to be in high profile fights. On the contrary, at LHW, there is a plethora of amazing fights for him. Picture Mirko fighting Randy, Chuck, Tito, Ace, Thiago, Rampage, Lil' Nog, Bones, Machida, Shogun, Bader, Cane, etc. ALL of those fights have fireworks written all over them and he's capable of winning the majority of them. He might not, but he can definitely compete with all of those fighters. There are more than enough big fights for him at 205 to ride out the rest of his career.
Its a no-brainer, Mirko! This is a weight cut that should be very easy for you to make and a move that will lengthen your career. Take your 6 month medical suspension, alter your diet a little, spend some time on your cardio and show up on the scale for your next weigh-in at 206 pounds. You're allowed that extra pound and you deserve that. Trust me, you will make a lot of people very, very happy if you did this, including yourself!
Please, dude, make the move! We all want to see the Mirko Crocop that we've loved over all these years, fighting the way YOU want to, the way WE all want you to, and most importantly, the way you should! Its only around 20 pounds, that's a walk in the nicest Croatian park!
Do it, Mirko! Just do the damn thing already!
Soooooooooooooo, every time a UFC pay-per-view is aired, you dig into your pockets and shell out $45-55(depending on if you get it in HD or not) of your hard earned money to watch it. Intermittently, you go to a live UFC show, buying tickets at exorbitant prices. Then there's the ancillary purchases of various UFC merchandise, including t-shirts, bobble-head dolls, action figures, video games, etc. You name it, Zuffa has stamped a UFC logo on it and sells it. In other words, you spend a $hitload of money on the UFC and their related products. There's nothing wrong with Zuffa trying to maximize their bottom line,
until ..................................... they insult our intelligence by promoting that absolute piece of shit fight that was Randy Couture vs James Toney!
Really, Dana, really?!?
Do you feel good about promoting that smoldering load of shit as a co-main event? As a fan who tries to push the UFC and the sport of MMA on anyone who will listen, I was thoroughly embarrassed by that spectacle. Other than sheer joy from all the money you stole from us, I can't imagine how you and the rest of the Zuffa brain trust felt after that travesty. Zuffa claims to promote the finest mixed martial arts in the world. In many cases that is true, but in certain cases, its complete fabrication and couldn't be further from the truth. First there was the Kimbo Slice experiment, which by the way, was done after tons of publicly dissing the guy as a loser, a no-talent and bad for the sport. While that was mostly true, once the guy was available, he was snatched up, locked up contractually and had an entire season of TUF built around him. What a disaster that all turned out to be. But at least that ridiculous debacle didn't cost the fans any money since "the internet street-fighting sensation" wasn't on any PPVs.
Then on Saturday, August 28th, 2010, at the first ever UFC show in Boston, James Toney entered the Octagon as a UFC fighter and MMA pro. I know, its hard to believe but its true. How the hell does that match-up even get sanctioned in the first place? A guy with ZERO mixed martial arts fights gets his first fight against a multiple time, multiple weight class, former champion with nearly 30 fights and 13 years of experience in the sport? I could care less how many boxing matches he's had. These are two very different types of combat sports. Would an Olympic wrestler fight his first pro boxing match against a boxer with comparable boxing credentials to Randy's MMA credentials? I don't think so. You see my point here. You can't make this stuff up! What you could make up though, or in this case, predict, is exactly how that fight (if you could even call it that) would play out. Gee, let's see, will Randy get an immediate takedown and finish the fight on the mat? Would that untrained, out of shape, fat bastard, look like a fish out of water on his back? Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about the $750,000 worth of hype and promotion the ever so eloquent Mr. Toney did. He did such a great job of talking up the fight that subtitles were needed so people could understand what the hell he was saying. You paid Toney 750K for that garbage and REAL mixed martial artists are lucky to make ten grand? That's some pathetic bullshit right there! I also forgot that fat James "chased you all over" and "called you a pussy", so you were forced to give him a lucrative deal. Is that all it takes to get a co-main event fight in the UFC? Damn, playa!
Really, Dana, Really?!?
People will tolerate getting exploited for a certain amount of time, and then they either revolt or just walk away. Neither scenario is good for you. Treat the people that made you a wealthy man with respect. Stop insulting us and stop selling us garbage. Man up and apologize for that poorly planned transgression against us. That's the absolute least you could do after putting that out of shape, hasbeen scrub in the cage. And it doesn't make it all good because you told the world, after the fact, that he is one and done in the UFC. You already got our money! Where's our fuckin' refund?
Really, Dana, really?
MMA vs Boxing? That's the master plan approach to market that trash you called a "fight"? So, besides ripping off and deceiving your entire fan and support base, you even went after the pockets of the few boxing fans that are left? That's a new low. What's next? Shaq vs Hong Man Choi?
Treat us with some fuckin' respect, we're much fuckin' smarter than you fuckin' think! You fuckin' heard?!?
The last paragraph was written in a certain someone's vernacular. Please excuse the profanity. Sometimes you have to speak to people in their language.
Feijao is, in my opinion, one of the most promising LHW prospects in the sport of MMA. The question is, will he join the ranks of his Blackhouse teammates, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva, as current or former champions of a major MMA promotion? I resoundingly say, YES!
On Saturday night, Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante will be getting his first crack at a legit MMA strap, specifically the Strikeforce LHW championship. His opponent is the current champ, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, who is making his first title defense. Mo surprisingly beat Gegard Mousasi in April of this year. It wasn't an amazing, dominating performance, but he did control most of the 5 rounds and definitely earned the decision. His very proficient wrestling game proved to be too much for the former champ to deal with.
Feijao sports an impressive 9-2 record with an even more impressive nearly 90% (T)KO rate. The one hiccup in his career thus far was a disappointing loss to Mike Kyle. Given what a huge LHW Feijao is, the weight cut seemed to deplete all of his energy in that fight. It definitely wasn't the normal Feijao out there. Managing weight cuts is a big part of the MMA game. He didn't do a good job of that and deserved to lose. Chalk it up as a very important learning experience. Interestingly, if Feijao does win this fight, his first defense might very well be against Kyle. If that scenario plays out, as it should, its retribution time for the talented Brazilian fighter. The only other "L" on his record was actually a DQ due to an illegal kick delivered to Marcio Cruz in an IFL fight back in June of 2007.
King Mo has been impressive in his own right. He's currently undefeated in 7 fights, winning 5 by (T)KO. Since beating Mousasi, Mo is ranked by many, in or hovering right around the Top 10. He's a very confident, somewhat cocky athlete, with serious wrestling skill. To his credit, he's smart enough to know what his strengths are and uses them accordingly, as evidenced by the Mousasi fight. Mo is a tough out for anyone!
This is easily the toughest fight yet for both of these very talented fighters. Rich Chou, Strikeforce's matchmaker, has done a very admiral job of putting this fight together. In a sense, its a classic, old school, striker vs grappler match-up. True, both fighters train in all aspects of the MMA game, but Feijao is primarily a striker and Mo is primarily a wrestler. Those are obviously their strengths and bases of fighting. Some pundits don't think Feijao is deserving of this title shot, but when the dust clears I think it will be quite obvious that he most certainly was.
The "X" factor in this fight will be Feijao's vicious, Blackhouse trademarked and branded, striking style. I like Mo, both as a fighter and a personality, but he is walking into a buzzsaw in Feijao and his patented Blackhouse viciousness. Being the intelligent fighter he is, Mo knows this, just as Feijao knows he has to deal with Mo's TD attempts. Like most fights, the winner will be the fighter who is able to impose their will and gameplan. That fighter will be Feijao!
Strategically, this fight is rather predictable. The whole world knows Mo's M.O. (pun intended) is to shoot singles and doubles, hoping to get the fight to the mat. This will play perfectly into Feijao's clinch game and nasty knees. Don't be surprised to see this fight end by KO, courtesy of a perfectly timed and executed knee from Feijao, straight into Mo's grill, as a counter to one of his shots.
This win will help to cement Blackhouse's position as the top MMA team on the planet. Straps come and go, but talent levels like the roster that Jorge Guimaraes and Ed Soares have developed at Blackhouse don't. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante is just the latest member of the team to get his shine under the bright lights of a championship fight. He's not going to let this opportunity pass him by without seizing it for all its worth. Unfortunately for King Mo, he'll be opposite him in the cage on Saturday night. With the help and support of his Blackhouse brothers, Feijao can't lose. Its not personal, its just business, and Blackhouse is in the business of winning fights and collecting straps!
Either you are or you aren't!
Either you have heart or you don't!
Either you have balls or you don't!
Either you win or you don't?
There's no faking being a champion (campeão) and in the amazing world of MMA, look no further than Anderson Silva to understand what the word "campeão" means and see how he epitomizes the essence of that. Also, look no further than the 5 round classic battle between "The Spider" and motormouth Chael Sonnen to fully understand why the sport of MMA is so special. To his credit, Sonnen talked more bullshit to hype this fight than anyone in the short history of the sport, but he completely backed it up with determined action. He came as close as anyone can come to winning a title without actually winning a title. That ever elusive strap was all but wrapped around Chael's waist when the "campeão" finally woke up, showed his true colors, and snatched it back into his ever so greedy clutches. And he did it with only 2 minutes left in a 25 minute fight that he was badly losing!
That's Why He's the Campeão!
Let's look at some of the numbers connected to this fight.
•The most obvious was the 4 and a half rounds that were totally dominated by Chael. No one has ever done to Anderson what Chael did. EVER! Even in fights that Anderson has lost, he wasn't as thoroughly dominated and controlled as he was by Chael.
•The CompuStrike stats completely back this up. According to CompuStrike, Chael outlanded Anderson by an astounding 289 total strikes to 29. Incredibly, Anderson was hit with only a TOTAL of 208 strikes in all of his previous 11 UFC fights combined! That's absolutely INSANE!
•This was only the 3rd time a UFC championship fight was won in the 5th round!
•Anderson also set two records on that historic evening, including 7 consecutive UFC title defenses and 12 straight UFC victories. That's what you would call a productive, successful night's work, no?
That's Why He's the Campeão!
Then there's the other number$ that are sure to put a smile on Anderson's newly goateed face. He was awarded 2 separate $60K bonus$ checks for Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night. There's no arguing that those are more than deserved. Both the fight itself and the highly technical submission finish immediately became legendary moments in MMA folklore.
As Anderson pointed out in both his post fight in-cage interview and at the press conference afterward, he accomplished all this with a bad rib injury that occurred last week. He was advised by his doctor to pull out of the fight. Champions don't do that! In Anderson's words, "I was thinking about my home, my family, my kids and my grandmother who passed away three weeks ago." The injury would help explain why he looked as flat as he did for the majority of the fight. Chael's relentless attack deserves some credit as well. He was also thinking of his jiu-jitsu coach, saying, "out of respect to Nogueira, I wanted to win by submission." Mission accomplished with that super slick double-sub, a wickedly combined armbar-triangle choke. He basically "Werdumed" Sonnen with the same technical mastery that "Vai Cavalo' shockingly finished Fedor Emelianenko with. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I'm sure Big Nog was extremely proud of his student. Its that kind of selflessness that's ingrained in the fiber of all true champions.
That's Why He's the Campeão!
Say what you want about Anderson's performances in the Demian Maia and Thales Leites fights. They were more about him being bored with the lack of quality competition than anything else. He wasn't showing ANY disrespect to his opponents, his employers or the sport. Its like the kid with a genius level IQ who is bored at school because there's no challenge. Special people are sometimes hard to understand. Anderson Silva is one of those special, complicated, incredibly talented people. It must be quite a burden to be considered the absolute best in the world at what you do. We shouldn't judge unless we are in the same position.
That's Why He's the Campeão!
So what's next for the world's best pound-for-pound MMA fighter? According to Dana White, no decision has been made about who Anderson will defend his belt against next. The two options are an immediate rematch with Sonnen or Vitor Belfort getting the shot he was already given before having to pull out due to injury. I'd actually prefer seeing Vitor get the nod. Its a more interesting fight and I actually think a healthy Anderson walks through Sonnen the second time around. Interestingly, Dana compared Anderson's war with Chael to the classic first fight between Hughes and Trigg, a fight that he has previously called his favorite in UFC history. I guess that will greatly improve their strained employer/employee relationship. When asked if he was willing to grant Chael an immediate rematch, Anderson responded the way any real champion would, saying he would fight anyone that Zuffa puts in front of him. Let's see what Ed Soares has to say about that.
That's Why He's the Campeão!
•Yes, Bones Jones has looked very impressive.
•Yes, Bones Jones has made most of his wins look easy.
•Yes, Bones Jones has a very diverse, solid skillset.
•Yes, Bones Jones is ONLY 23 years old!
•Yes, Bones Jones has a very bright future in MMA.
All of the above statements are fairly obvious, but what isn't as obvious is what Jon Jones has done to be considered a threat to the the LHW strap, just yet.
I repeat, YET!
Here are some important realities that need to be injected into this debate:
•Aside from Brandon Vera, Bones hasn't beat a Top 15 LHW, arguably a Top 20-25 either.
•Bones had over a 6 inch height advantage, a 10 and a half inch reach advantage and is 16 years younger than the weathered 39 year old Vladimir Matyushenko. How can anybody not have expected him to destroy Vladdy?
•While he did dominate Stephan Bonnar and Andre Gusmao, he didn't finish either of them.
As usual, the MMA community, fans and media alike, love to rush and anoint fighters as "the next big thing" before they ever fight anyone close to the top fighters in their respective divisions. Bones is lucky, or unlucky (depending on how you look at it), to be that guy right now. While he has most definitely looked very impressive thus far, who has he beaten to warrant that kind of saintly status? Beating Vera was easily Bones' most impressive win. He literally broke "bones" in Brandon's face, no pun intended. But as any MMA enthusiast knows, Vera is hot and cold. He has the consistency of a woman's mood swings. That said, up until getting caught with that nasty elbow, Vera was very much in that fight. Jones landed the point of his elbow to the perfect location on Vera's face (his orbital socket), resulting in the damage it did. That doesn't happen very often. When closely re-watching that fight, from a technical standpoint, Bones made some mistakes. Mistakes that could have resulted in a loss. He left his arms in some very vulnerable positions. The potential for an armbar or triangle was definitely there. As we saw, Vera ended up in the fetal position before any of that happened so props to Jones for finishing the fight before those mistakes were exploited. The point is, he hasn't been flawless. There are holes in his game.
His "win" over Hamill doesn't say much. In my eyes, that was a "win", regardless of what Bones' record says. He destroyed Matt but Matt is far from a world class fighter. Hamill might actually have the worst stand-up defense in the sport. His chin has been his only saving grace, but that can't last much longer with some of the beatings he takes. He barely wrestles anymore and has zero jits skill to speak of. In other words, that "win" means nothing as far as how well Bones will fair against the top dudes in the division.
Beyond Vladdy, Vera and Hamill, what's left of Bones' wins? Jake O'Brien? The aforementioned Bonnar? Gusmao? These guys are far from MMA
world-beaters and will never be mentioned in any potential champion conversations. Rightfully so, Bones' name will be in those conversations, but at this point its premature. He still NEED$ to beat a Top 10 fighter which hasn't happened yet.
I repeat, YET!
So what's next for this rising star? Bones has said he wants a Top 3 fighter next. Of course, Rashad Evans isn't on that list since they are friends and training partners. While I respect his desire to compete against the best in the game and the confidence he has in his skills, that's not the smartest request. There's a HUGE difference between fighting a borderline Top 15-20 fighter and fighting a Top 3 fighter. I think he needs to fight a borderline Top 10 fighter like Thiago Silva, Ryan Bader or even Phil Davis before jumping that deep in the water. If he wants to fight some bigger names, match-ups with Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin or Randy Couture would do good business and expose him to larger audiences. Hell, if Chuck doesn't decide to retire, that's an interesting fight as well, but one that Bones should win. And of course, there's a potential high profile fight with MMA newcomer James Toney that could take place at HW or a catchweight of 215-220. Bones has expressed interest in that fight after a war of words in the media with blabbermouth Toney. We still need to see how James adapts his world class boxing skills in his MMA debut against Randy Couture. I realize that a lot of those fighters are already signed for other fights, but as Dana White said, "once the smoke clears from those match-ups, a decision about who Bones fights next will be made". Lets hope Joe Silva gets Jones' next, very important opponent selection right.
Please don't misconstrue what I'm saying here. I, like most everyone else, see immense potential in Bones Jones. The operative word in that last sentence is potential. The hype he's gotten is based on what he might do down the road, not what he's already done. He's got the MMA world at his feet right now. How he handles and fairs in his next 2-3 fights will be very telling. His own trainer and mentor, Greg Jackson, seems to see this situation similarly to how I do. He's stated that there's no need to crown this kid a champ yet and no need to push him along too quickly. Given the level of his last few opponents, why jump into a fight with a Top 5 fighter? There's no reason to skip over guys in that 6-15 range. The more experience Bones gets, the better he'll progress overall and the more prepared he'll be when he starts swimming with the sharks in the Top 5. At 23 years young, he's got plenty of time to develop. The wrong decisions regarding his next 3 opponents could be detrimental to his career in the long run. He's not the first fighter to look almost invincible. Remember what happened to Vera? There was talk of him wearing the strap in 2 different weight classes. That kind of talk is long since dead.
Johnny "Bones" Jones most definitely looks like the real deal. Whether he actually becomes the real deal, only time will tell. How his career in the near future plays out remains to be seen, but there's no doubt, it will be fun to watch. As a Bones Jones fan, I look forward to his development. I just hope he doesn't get pushed in the deep end of the pool too early. I'm not completely sold on his swimming skills just yet.
I repeat, YET!
