In this economy, being a fight fan is expensive. Dropping $45 to $55 dollars on a pay-per-view is quite the investment when it costs more than that to fill up your gas tank.Nothing is more disappointing than a night of fights that fails to deliver. So …
In this economy, being a fight fan is expensive. Dropping $45 to $55 dollars on a pay-per-view is quite the investment when it costs more than that to fill up your gas tank.
Nothing is more disappointing than a night of fights that fails to deliver. So it’s understandable when fight fans decide to hold off on buying a pay-per-view if there’s not a fight that jumps off the paper. That’s why we as fans gravitate toward fighters like the Diaz brothers.
Whether you are a fan of Nick or Nate Diaz or not, chances are your tuning into watch them. Their zany antics and aggressive fight style are a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee and can’t-miss television. For that, we are grateful.
Here are 10 other fighters who we will always pay to see.
In random rivalry news, British slugger Dan Hardy made it clear in a recent interview with MMA Weekly Radio that he has a disliking for UFC hall-of-famer Matt Hughes and would love to meet the legend in the octagon.The timing of Hardy’s call out is odd…
In random rivalry news, British slugger Dan Hardy made it clear in a recent interview with MMA Weekly Radio that he has a disliking for UFC hall-of-famer Matt Hughes and would love to meet the legend in the octagon.
The timing of Hardy’s call out is odd to say the least as the fighter is currently on a four-fight losing streak and will certainly be fighting for his job when he faces Duane Ludwig at UFC 146.
Is Dan Hardy already posturing for an extra fight should he lose to Ludwig?
The UFC rarely matches a winner against a loser, so even if Hardy is able to win, this fight still makes no sense as the aging Hughes is currently riding a two-fight losing streak himself in which he showed his chin isn’t what it used to be.
Hughes has paid his dues and he deserves a chance to leave the sport on a high note, but is this really the retirement fight that Hughes has in mind? Hughes hasn’t publicly responded to Hardy’s comments as of yet but with Hardy’s lack of wrestling it would certainly present Hughes with a beatable opponent.
Hughes is a legend of the sport, but his days of being a main draw are long gone. Hughes hasn’t headlined a card since 2008 and its clear that his next fight will certainly be his last.
Hardy didn’t go too much into detail as to why he doesn’t like Hughes other than to say he was a “blood thirsty kill freak.”
Nothing sells in MMA quite like a personal beef between fighters and Hardy has a history of being able to sell fights but given how irrelevant he has become and the overall irrelevancy of both fighters, is this a fight that MMA fans could really get excited about?
In today’s MMA landscape, fighters are changing weight classes more than ever and for a myriad of reasons. When the UFC introduced the featherweight division, a flood of title-chasing and unsuccessful lightweights filled the division.So when a fighter …
In today’s MMA landscape, fighters are changing weight classes more than ever and for a myriad of reasons. When the UFC introduced the featherweight division, a flood of title-chasing and unsuccessful lightweights filled the division.
So when a fighter refuses to drop down just to chase a title, it’s commendable to see someone stick it out in their division. However, in a case like Anthony Pettis, is he making the right decision?
Pettis, a former No. 1 contender by virtue of winning the WEC lightweight championship, has already lost out on one opportunity to vie for the 155-pound strap when he elected to fight Clay Guida rather than sit around and wait for the Gray Maynard-Frankie Edgar III winner.
Pettis lost that fight after being out-grappled by Guida throughout the fight. Pettis rebounded nicely with two impressive victories over Jeremy Stephens and Joe Lauzon.
After the impressive finish of Lauzon, as reported by Yahoo! Sports, Dana White speculated that Pettis could be in for a rematch with newly minted lightweight champion Benson Henderson. However, outcry for a rematch between Henderson and former champion Frankie Edgar prevailed, and Pettis was once again upstaged for a rematch.
Pettis is now left with the same situation: Should he wait for a title match or take on another opponent and risk falling down the ladder again?
Even if Pettis elects to wait, the winner of the upcoming bout between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz lurks as a serious threat to leapfrog him in the pecking order, so waiting is probably not a legitimate option.
This time a third option exists. Pettis could and perhaps should drop to 145 and challenge pound-for- pound lynchpin Jose Aldo.
While Pettis apparently has no interest in dropping and has been connected to rumors that he is a possible opponent for Gilbert Melendez for a future Strikeforce card, the appeal to leaving the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world is not apparent.
It would appear that that the most enticing option for Pettis would be to drop down to fight Aldo.
He would certainly be doing the UFC a favor.
Since coming over to the UFC from WEC, Aldo has been a dominant champion at 145, practically clearing out the division. A match with Hatsu Hioki is a possibility, but Pettis is a much more recognizable and intriguing matchup.
The upside is clear. A win gives him the UFC title that Pettis desires and could even set him up for a champion vs. champion superfight with whomever holds the lightweight belt at the time.
A loss probably does way less damage to Pettis’ standing in the lightweight division than losing to a fellow lightweight contender.
In essence, Pettis has everything to gain and very little to lose by dropping down to challenge Aldo.
While Pettis deserves respect for choosing to stay the course and earn his way to the title at his longtime weight division, is he really making the best choice for his career?
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 random rivalry news, British slugger Dan Hardy made it clear in a recent interview with