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UFC 132: How Many Wins Does Brian Bowles Needs to Earn a Title Shot?

The bantamweight division had a very good night at UFC 132. Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber put on a really strong five-round fight in the first ever bantamweight championship fight in UFC history, and Brian Bowles got back into championship contention …

Bowles, a former WEC champion, has been on a quest for revenge ever since losing the championship to Cruz at WEC 47 last year. He has won his last two fights, first with a submission win over Damacio Page at UFC on Versus in March and then last night over Mizugaki.

With Cruz picking apart Faber, the bantamweight contender totem pole is wide open and Bowles appears to be the next one in line.

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani tweeted this just before Bowles fight last night, “Word is a good win here for Bowles will make him the #1 contender at 135.” I am not sure what a “good” win is. If UFC was looking for a flashy win or some kind of finish, Bowles failed. If UFC was looking for a solid performance and a victory, he provided exactly what was expected.

One thing that works in Bowles’ favor is that Joseph Benavidez, the other top contender in the division, has already lost twice to Cruz.

Of course if Benavidez has a great performance and finishes his fight against Eddie Wineland at UFC Live on August 14, he will be thrown right back into the mix.

For all intents and purposes Bowles looks to be the top contender right now, but we will know more after the August show.

I think that Bowles has done enough to be the next contender, but I am not Dana White and Joe Silva. They have a business to run and are going to make the best decision for business. If Bowles does not get the next shot, he will have to win one more fight and he will surely be the top contender then.

UFC 132 Results: Wanderlei Silva Needs to Hang Up the Gloves Following KO Loss

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva is one of the most influential fighters in the history of mixed martial arts. He was a knockout artist in his heyday with PRIDE back in the middle of the last decade, but he isn’t anything close to what he used to be. And at UFC 132 against Chris Leben, we may have seen the last fight in the career of one of the most exciting fighters ever.

Going into the event, this was billed as a potential fight of the year because of the carefree style with which both these guys fight. Silva and Leben have won 59 fights between them with 37 of them coming via (T)KO.

But the fight was over in 27 seconds after Silva tried to overwhelm Leben but got caught and ate four vicious uppercuts that dropped him to the mat. Leben threw a few punches when Silva was on the ground and the referee stopped it.

UFC President Dana White, who has been an avid supporter of Silva’s throughout the years even as he has struggled in recent years, said that it’s probably time for Silva to walk away.

“People knew that he and Leben were going to come out and they were going to throw until somebody fell down, and it was Wanderlei tonight,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “People love him so much because of the way he fights and his style and the kind of person he is, but [it’s] probably the end of the road for Wanderlei.”

Great athletes are always the last to know when the time comes to walk away because they have the drive and desire to keep plugging along, but eventually the body won’t let you do the things that you used to do. Silva is in that predicament right now having lost six of his last eight fights.

He tried to move down to middleweight hoping that would reignite his career, but despite a victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110, the writing is clearly on the wall.

“The Axe Murderer” is gone and all that is left is this hollow shell of Wanderlei Silva. He doesn’t have the skills necessary to compete at a high level or even a mediocre level for that matter, and for the sake of his long-term health and to preserve the legacy that he established in PRIDE, it is time for Silva to step away from the sport that he has been competing in professionally since he was 20 years old.

UFC 132: Ryan Bader vs. Tito Ortiz Is Most Intriguing Fight

Ryan Bader and Tito Ortiz Have The Most Compelling Fight At UFC 132The main event of UFC 132 is the bantamweight championship fight between Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz, but the most intriguing fight is going to be between Ryan Bader and Tito Ortiz. …

Ryan Bader and Tito Ortiz Have The Most Compelling Fight At UFC 132

The main event of UFC 132 is the bantamweight championship fight between Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz, but the most intriguing fight is going to be between Ryan Bader and Tito Ortiz.

Ortiz is on his last legs in UFC and everyone knows it. He has not won a fight since 2006, compiling a record of 0-4-1 in his last five fights. There were reports that he was asked to retire following a loss to Matt Hamill at UFC 121.

Ortiz is one of the most fascinating characters in mixed martial arts thanks to the success that he used to have and his loud, confrontational personality.

But he is one loss away from being kicked to the curb by UFC, and Bader is a budding star looking to make a name for himself after the first loss of his career to Jon Jones in February.

This fight is summed up perfectly by Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports when he wrote this:

In all combat sports, there comes the day when the role of the old lion becomes to give the rub, as they say, to the new lion. That is one of two themes of this UFC 132 co-feature fight, the other being Ortiz battling to keep his UFC career from what is likely its ending without either a win or a hell of a performance going down to defeat.

Bader is a star on the rise. His star lost a little shine when he lost to Jon Jones at UFC 126, but he is still a major prospect in the light heavyweight division. He gets better with each performance, particularly his punching, which has come a long way over the last three years. He needs to prove that he is not going to let his first career loss linger with him for a long time after it has happened.

Ortiz is a star whose best days have clearly passed him by. He is still fighting top guys, which tells you that he isn’t afraid to challenge himself. But this is his last shot to prove what he has left to Dana White, the fans and himself. One more loss and he is (in all likelihood) going to be released.

When you put these two storylines together, you have the makings of one of the more dramatic fights that we will see in mixed martial arts this year.

Ortiz is going to give everything that he has to save his job. Bader will give everything he has in order to prove that he is still the hot prospect everyone believed him to be before the Jones fight.

This fight may not be the main event. It’s not the fight that is going to sell a ton of buys. But, aside from the championship fight, this bout has the most at stake for both combatants. For Ortiz, his job and livelihood is at risk. For Bader, he needs to bounce back from the first loss of his career if he wants to become a star.

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UFC 132 Fight Card: Carlos Condit Deserves Title Shot with Win at UFC 132

Carlos Condit has been getting the short end of the stick in UFC because he has yet to receive a welterweight title shot since joining the organization, posting a 3-1 record, which follows a successful stint in WEC as welterweight champion. Apparently …

Apparently Condit’s been feeling the same way because he told MMAJunkie.com that he is going to ask for a title shot if he defeats Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.

Condit feels he still has the momentum to warrant a big fight, even though he was forced to withdraw from a fight with a then-surging Chris Lytle at UFC 127 that might have put him within striking distance of the belt. If he stops Kim, his case only gets better.

Sometimes the easiest way to get what you want is simply to ask for it, and Condit has certainly done more than enough to earn his shot at the welterweight champion.

To me, Condit has just as much of a case for a shot at the welterweight title as Jake Shields did. Condit is the kind of fighter that UFC loves because he puts on exciting fights and he is successful when he steps in the ring. Shield, on the other hand, was a guy who won a lot, but he was as dry as toast inside the cage.

I know that Shields had won 15 consecutive fights prior to getting that title shot, but his first win in UFC was a controversial decision win over Martin Kampmann, who was also the only man to defeat Condit in UFC.

Condit is a better all-around fighter than Shields, yet Shields got the shot because his name is slightly more high profile than Condit’s.

That doesn’t mean that Condit hasn’t made an impression on the UFC decision makers, though.

He was WEC welterweight champion from March 2007 until August 2008 when he left that organization to join UFC. He is 3-1 in his UFC career with three straight victories, including a Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night bonus.

I know Condit may not be a glamorous name, but he has done enough in his career to earn this shot against the winner of the Georges St-Pierre-Nick Diaz fight at UFC 137.

More fighters should do this if they feel that they have done enough to warrant title consideration. Even if it doesn’t work out for Condit right away, he will at least be on the radar with a win. And the welterweight division isn’t exactly flush with challengers right now, which is why UFC had to raid Strikeforce’s champion to get a challenger for St-Pierre.

Condit, with a win over Kim at UFC 132, deserves to get his 15 minutes of fame against the best welterweight fighter in the world.

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UFC 132 Fight Card: UFC 132 Is the Most Important Night in Ryan Bader’s Career

Ryan Bader, despite that loss to Jon Jones at UFC 126, is still one of the fastest rising prospects in mixed martial arts. He has compiled a 12-1 record, but he doesn’t have that one signature win to put him over the top. His opponent at UFC 132 …

His opponent at UFC 132 is Tito Ortiz, a fighter who is not what he once was but still an attention grabber whenever he steps in the octagon. He hasn’t won since 2006, a span that covers five fights.

The easiest way to become a household name in any sport is to knock off a big name opponent. Cain Velasquez did it when he beat Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones did it when he beat Shogun Rua, Randy Couture did it when he beat Chuck Liddell.

The difference here is that all those guys were fighting guys who were in their prime, but it doesn’t really matter because the casual fan knows the name Tito Ortiz.

The first fight following a loss is always the most important, because it gives you an idea of how the fighter will react to his first real adversity.

From Yahoo.com:

“It sucks,” was Bader’s reaction to the Jones loss. “The week after, I was really mad at myself. If I fought to my potential and went down swinging, it would be one thing. I had a great training camp but I didn’t fight to my potential.

“Something was missing. I don’t know what it was. I was thinking about it for a week, then two weeks after and I couldn’t get rid of what was bothering me. I’ve had to use it for motivation for this fight.”

Bader has a great future in this sport, but this fight will be a test of just how much of a star he will be. If he wins in dominating fashion, the sky is the limit. If it’s a boring, uninspired performance, his star will dim a little bit more.

This isn’t the most glamorous fight in the world thanks to Ortiz’s fall from grace, but this is the most important fight in the young career of Bader. He has the skills to be one of the two best 205-pound fighters in the world, along with Jones, in a few years.

But he has to prove that the adversity he faced in his last fight is not something that will linger with him for a long time.

Given Bader’s terrific wrestling background and always improving stand up game, I would be willing to bet that he puts on a great performance and has his hand raised in victory at UFC 132.

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UFC 132 Fight Card: Will UFC 132 Be the End of Wanderlei Silva’s Career?

Wanderlei Silva’s Storied MMA Career Appears To Be Drawing To A Close Heading Into UFC 132When Wanderlei Silva was competing in PRIDE, he was one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. He compiled a 19-fight unbeaten streak in the defunct mixe…

Wanderlei Silva‘s Storied MMA Career Appears To Be Drawing To A Close Heading Into UFC 132

When Wanderlei Silva was competing in PRIDE, he was one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. He compiled a 19-fight unbeaten streak in the defunct mixed martial arts organization. But that was from 1999-2004.

Silva has looked like a shell of his once great self over his last seven fights. He has compiled a record of 2-5 since September 2006. The losses have been to some of the best fighters in the history of the sport (Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Mirko Cro Cop and Quinton Jackson) with the fifth loss coming against Rich Franklin.

He hasn’t fought since February 2010 when he defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 110 because of a knee injury that required surgery. That was his first fight at 185 pounds and the weight cut seemed to serve him well.

Silva’s heart doesn’t really seem to be in the sport anymore. He is 34 years old and seems to only want to take fights that he knows he will win. He doesn’t want to challenge himself as a fighter anymore for whatever reason.

In fact, he talked his way out of fighting Brian Stann at UFC 130 because his ego is so fragile that he assumed Stann, a former U.S. Marine, would be the fan favorite on Memorial Day weekend.

Chris Leben is an interesting challenge for Silva at UFC 132, but it’s a fight that Silva knows he at least has a shot to win because of Leben’s inconsistencies in the octagon. Both guys have knockout power, but neither is in the prime of their respective career.

When you look at what Silva has become since the end of PRIDE, it’s sad. He stays away from fights against guys who will be cheered more than he is, which seriously limits his opponent pool.

He isn’t the knockout artist that he once was, and the writing seems to be on the wall.

I know that he was a big part of what made PRIDE so great back in its day, but this is 2011, and you can’t run a business based on what happened in the past.

The end is coming for Silva very, very soon. With a loss at UFC 132, it will arrive sooner than he may want it to.

But if you are going to pick and choose who you fight based on how much people like them and want to cheer them, you are doing a disservice to the product.

Couple that with the fact that he isn’t winning much anymore and we are witnessing the last precious moments for “The Axe Murderer” in mixed martial arts.

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