With NFL free agency in full swing and change in the air, Mixed Martial Arts also has a distinctive feel of change brewing. A few marquee fighters are set to hit the open market with Bellator stars Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard being among the bigge…
With NFL free agency in full swing and change in the air, Mixed Martial Arts also has a distinctive feel of change brewing. A few marquee fighters are set to hit the open market with Bellator stars Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard being among the biggest names that may be looking for a new organization to call home.
Lombard remains one of the biggest names out there to not sign with the UFC and it is hard to imagine the world’s largest MMA promotion not making an effort to sign the dynamic middleweight.
With his hard-charging, exciting style Hector Lombard would make a great addition to the roster. With a record of 31-2-1 (1 NC), he could just be a contender.
Lombard sports a win streak that extends back to 2006, but a trip to the UFC would make extending that win streak exponentially tougher to continue. It will be interesting to see exactly who would welcome him to the UFC and where he really stands in the middleweight division.
According to “UFC Tonight”, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has exactly one fight left in the world’s largest MMA promotion. The UFC plans to cut Rampage after he gets his rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
This news comes shortly after Jackson took to Twit…
According to “UFC Tonight”, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has exactly one fight left in the world’s largest MMA promotion. The UFC plans to cut Rampage after he gets his rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
This news comes shortly after Jackson took to Twitter to vent his frustration and anger with the UFC—namely matchmaker Joe Silva—for pitting Jackson against wrestlers that he does not match up well with.
In the grand scheme of things, it would appear that Jackson is frustrated that he is no longer one of the UFC’s marquee stars. As Jackson grows older, picking up wins will only become more difficult as the competition becomes younger.
Whether Jackson’s gripes are legitimate or not, it appears that the UFC plans to grant Jackson his wish and release him upon the completion of the lone fight left on his contract.
With Jackson not ready to call it quits, the question becomes: where will Rampage Jackson sign?
Strikeforce immediately comes to mind as speculation suggest that some UFC fighters will soon make their way to the organization—Gilbert Melendez’s camp asking for Anthony Pettis or BJ Penn for his next fight certainly adds fuel to this fire—but Strikeforce’s ZUFFA ties make it hard to believe Rampage would be willing to compete for them.
Another option would be DREAM. Jackson has made it clear that he absolutely loves fighting in Japan, and as he has a cult following in the country, fighting for DREAM makes sense on paper.
The issue with DREAM is money. If you happened to have caught the “Cribs” styled tour Arriany Celeste received of Jackson’s mansion on FuelTV, you would understand to Jackson happens to really be into money.
It is hard to see DREAM being able to offer the kind of money that Jackson will be looking for.
That leaves Bellator.
Bellator is quickly gaining steam, and with their unique tournament format and solid television deal, they have at the very least carved out a nice niche for themselves.
Bellator has been able to generate some legitimate fighters who have made names for themselves, such as Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard and the Friere brothers. They’ve also shown they aren’t afraid to sign recognizable free agents like Shinya Aoki.
Could Rampage Jackson be just the personality they need to get to the next level?
Rampage remains one of the most well-known fighters in the UFC, particularly for his stint as a coach on the most watched season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. That kind of name recognition would be invaluable to Bellator, especially with the elusive casual fan base.
Bellator’s need for Rampage could be growing as Bellator’s two biggest stars are set to hit the open market soon; the UFC is expected to make a handsome offer to both Hector Lombard and presumably Eddie Alvarez.
What’s in the deal for Rampage?
The chance to be the face of an organization again. If Bellator was to sign Jackson, he would automatically become the biggest name to ever fight for the organization and would dominate the notoriously shallow pool of talent Bellator has at 205.
Jackson moving to Bellator seems to make sense for both parties. Bellator needs more name recognition if they want to compete with the UFC, and Jackson no longer wishes to be under the control of the UFC. If the money is right, the pairing would make a lot of sense.
For all of the talk about Carlos Condit’s lack of aggression in his interim title fight with slugger Nick Diaz, he was undeniably successful in claiming the interim welterweight championship for himself. Condit’s lack of aggression in remaining busy wh…
For all of the talk about Carlos Condit‘s lack of aggression in his interim title fight with slugger Nick Diaz, he was undeniably successful in claiming the interim welterweight championship for himself. Condit’s lack of aggression in remaining busy while waiting on champion Georges St. Pierre? Not so much.
Not only does Condit’s inactivity make the interim championship absolutely meaningless (it’s just a glorified number one contender bout without a defense of the title), Condit is neglecting his biggest advantage in a title fight with GSP: his health.
We’ve seen what a long layoff can do to a fighter; “ring rust” has been thrown around as an excuse for poor performance on more than one occasion. By patiently waiting on GSP to make a full recovery, Condit runs the risk of going into the biggest fight of his life with some ring rust of his own.
The pros of taking a fight before taking on GSP in a championship bout far outweigh the negatives of waiting around.
Firstly, Condit could earn himself more money.
With a nickname like “The Natural Born Killer,” you’d better be looking for a finish every time. In the eyes of MMA fans, you are only as good as your fight, and despite coming away victorious, Condit definitely lost himself some fans with his gameplan against Nick Diaz.
With Condit’s new-found “safe” style and GSP’s penchant for playing it safe, the UFC will have a hard time selling hardcore fans on the idea of GSP-Condit being an exciting match.
Condit can do something about that.
By taking a fight with one of the top contenders in the welterweight division, Condit can show that he is not afraid to prove he deserves the title, and that his “safe” game-plan was more of an anomaly then a new trend.
Condit could also use another fight to prepare himself for GSP. The appeal of a GSP-Diaz fight was that Diaz was the antithesis of St. Pierre, both in and out of the cage.
In short, styles make fights, so a win over Nick Diaz has little to do with preparing to beat the long time champion St. Pierre.
St. Pierre possesses elite wrestling and his grappling is unquestionably among the sports’ best. Given Condit’s struggles against Rory McDonald’s strength, Condit would be wise to fight a wrestler before taking on one of the most explosive fighters in the sport.
Lastly, Condit needs to remain active while waiting on GSP to recover because he may be waiting longer than he thinks.
With ACLs, it is impossible to tell how long full recovery will take. Given GSP’s personality, we shouldn’t expect to see him in the octagon until he is 100-percent sure that he is ready to defend his title. While everything we’ve heard has pointed to this fall being the latest for a comeback, one setback could substantially delay his recovery and leave Condit waiting even longer.
Condit must remain active to give himself the best shot at claiming the true welterweight championship.
In a recent interview with Inside MMA on HDNet former welterweight champion Matt Hughes verbalized his desire to fight in the Octagon one more time. He cited his desire to go out with a win as his main motivation for wanting one more fight.With Hughes’…
In a recent interview with Inside MMA on HDNet former welterweight champion Matt Hughes verbalized his desire to fight in the Octagon one more time. He cited his desire to go out with a win as his main motivation for wanting one more fight.
With Hughes’ last performances, a knockout loss to Josh Koscheck preceded by a quick knockout loss to longtime rival B.J. Penn, it has become apparent that Hughes needs to ride off into the sunset or face the consequences of hanging on too long to a sport that has passed him by.
Hughes remains one of the greatest welterweights in the history of the sport, and with all of his contributions to the organization the question comes up: Does the UFC owe Matt Hughes another shot at victory?
Hughes’ sentiment is easy to understand. When you hold a 45-9 record, you should be remembered more for your wins than your losses, and no one wants to walk away on a losing note.
Hughes’ legacy will always be that he was one of the most dominant champs the UFC has seen. A two-time welterweight champion with seven total title defenses, few champions have accomplished as much as Hughes in their careers.
If Hughes were to get another fight and come away victorious, he would be able to walk away from the sport on his terms.
Hughes isn’t the first superstar to want just one more fight to walk away a winner.
Most Recently Chuck Liddell, possibly the most recognizable face in the history of the UFC, badly wanted to fight nemesis Tito Ortiz one last time before walking away but was ultimately talked into retirement by UFC boss Dana White.
The latter stages of Liddell’s career, riddled with knockout losses and glass jaw jokes, served to tarnish the Iceman’s legacy, so it is easy to see why the UFC would want to prevent Hughes’ legacy from being perceived the same way.
Should Hughes get his wish and fight one last time and suffer a knockout loss, that would be three losses in a row and could have a similar “Liddell effect.”
So the question remains: Does the UFC owe Matt Hughes another shot at victory? Or should he be forced to not jeopardize his legacy with another loss?
There is little doubt that at UFC 146, Jason “Mayhem” Miller will be fighting for his job.
Despite Miller’s immense popularity and ability to sell a fight, Dana White made it clear that Miller is on a short leash after mulling over cutting him after hi…
There is little doubt that at UFC 146, Jason “Mayhem” Miller will be fighting for his job.
Despite Miller’s immense popularity and ability to sell a fight, Dana White made it clear that Miller is on a short leash after mulling over cutting him after his lackluster performance against Michael Bisping at the TUF 14 finale.
In a sport that rewards characters, Miller has made a name for himself with his MTV show “Bully Beatdown,” and just generally being a quirky character who talks a good game. However, Miller has yet to win a fight in the UFC and was outclassed in fight against Bisping.
Dana White and Co. will be looking very closely at Miller’s UFC 146 matchup against C.B. Dollaway to determine if Miller truly deserves a spot in the world’s largest MMA promotion. Here’s what Mayhem must do to keep his job.
UFC on Fuel TV 2 marks the UFC’s first trip to Sweden and it takes place on April 14th. The main event features native son and fast rising light heavyweight champion Alexander Gustafsson against seasoned veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.While this even…
UFC on Fuel TV 2 marks the UFC’s first trip to Sweden and it takes place on April 14th. The main event features native son and fast rising light heavyweight champion Alexander Gustafsson against seasoned veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
While this event is more than a month away it is never too early to take a look at how these two stack up in the cage in what should be an exciting main event for the UFC’s second offering on Fuel TV.
Will Gustafsson keep his rise alive? Or will Rogerio Nogueira spoil Gustafsson’s homecoming?