Author: Alex Neely

Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez Was Not a Great MMA Fight

Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez fought a three-round instant classic at UFC 166 this past weekend. 
In a fight that produced two knockdowns, countless flurries and copious amounts of blood, both men displayed indelible heart and courage. 
…

Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez fought a three-round instant classic at UFC 166 this past weekend. 

In a fight that produced two knockdowns, countless flurries and copious amounts of blood, both men displayed indelible heart and courage. 

Just to watch was to witness something special.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan called the fight the “new greatest fight of all-time” during the pay-per-view broadcast.

UFC President Dana White, a well-known talkative character, was nearly left speechless at the UFC post-fight press conference, calling it “the fight of the friggin’ I don’t know what.”

The MMA community exploded with youthful exuberance, smattering Twitter, Facebook and forums with every imaginable metaphor and hyperbole.

But now that the dust has settled, and we have had time to collect our thoughts from UFC 166, was “El Nino” vs. “The Dream” the greatest fight of all time?

Well, that all depends on what you consider a great fight.

Ask 10 people what makes a great fight, and you will get 10 different answers. 

For some, the bout must occur in the UFC, or a title must be on the line, or history should be made.

But for all of the many stipulations, one constant seems apparent: Fans enjoy a wild back-and-forth war; technical talent be damned.

The bout between Melendez and Sanchez, while entertaining, displayed laughable, almost pathetic stand-up technique at points. 

During exchanges on their feet, both men kept their heads still, balanced in a squat stance and threw looping hooks from their hips. 

Is that really why we enjoy MMA though: To witness two men abandon technique and launch into a physical tornado of arms and legs?

Better question, is such a fight even a good representation of mixed martial arts?

To put it simply: No, it is not.

Yes, bouts like Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia I or Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua are entertaining. But where they succeed in violence, they lack in martial arts technique.

When anyone views a professional fight, they should expect elite talent and technical superiority, especially in the UFC.

Great MMA fights are a vivid depiction of two individuals with the highest level of ability squaring off for three to five rounds. 

At any point during the bout, viewers should be able to witness premier head movement, arm placement, footwork, and punch and kick technique.

Recall for a moment, fights like Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis I or Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit. The bouts held all of the drama as Meledez and Sanchez, but on a far superior technical backdrop.

Between Henderson’s takedowns or Pettis’ hooks, St. Pierre’s jab or Condit’s kicks, there is an unmatched technical ability one should come to expect from elite MMA athletes. 

So while most enjoyed the war between Melendez and Sanchez, we should reserve the title of “greatest MMA fight” for a bout that displays great MMA.

 

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UFC 20th Anniversary: Where the Major Sports Were at 20

WOW Promotions and Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) produced the first event, later dubbed UFC 1: The Beginning, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colo., on Nov. 12, 1993.
UFC 1—which proposed to find which fighting style was the greatest i…

WOW Promotions and Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) produced the first event, later dubbed UFC 1: The Beginning, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colo., on Nov. 12, 1993.

UFC 1—which proposed to find which fighting style was the greatest in the world—was witnessed live by 2,800 and on pay-per-view by 86,000. 

The card used an eight-man tournament, with the winner receiving $50,000. On paper, it featured 10 fighters in four tournament bouts and one alternate. The tournament had no weight-class specification and consisted of single-round fights to the finish.

The match could only end by submission, knockout, throwing in the towel or referee stoppage. Despite the promotional theme of “no rules,” there were limitations on fighters, including no biting and no eye gouging. 

At the end of UFC 1, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Royce Gracie won the tournament, embraced the check and began one of MMA‘s most legendary careers.

Now, only weeks away from UFC’s 20th anniversary, to say the MMA landscape has changed would be an understatement. The UFC has evolved at an exponential, almost unbelievable rate.

Today, UFC fights can be found on PPV in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Italy. UFC programming can also be found on Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, as well as 150 different countries in 22 different languages. 

Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos 1 on Fox is currently the highest-rated UFC fight with 5.7 million viewers. UFC 100 is the most successful PPV show with a 1.6 million buyrate. UFC 129 shattered gate and attendance records in North America with 55,724 tickets sold and gate revenues exceeding $11 million.

This is the UFC we know today—one with a fight card nearly every week. It’s a global empire.

But, it’s easy to forget when a fight decision does not go with your opinion, or an upcoming fight card lacks star power, or the UFC can’t seem to sign a certain fighter.

At these times, try, if only for a moment, to think of where all of the other major sports were at their 20th anniversary.

 

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball held its 20th anniversary in 1889. 

MLB consisted of 16 teams with names like the Boston Beaneaters, Philadelphia Quakers and Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The New York Yankees would not enter the league for another 12 years.

The Brooklyn Bridegrooms and St. Louis Browns played in front of the largest crowd in American Association—now known as the American League—history. A crowd of 22,122 fans filled Washington Park to watch the Bridegrooms defeat the Browns.

On Oct. 29, the New York Giants won their second consecutive World Series by defeating the Brooklyn Bridegrooms 3-2.

Six days later, the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, known today as the Major League Baseball Player’s Association, started the process for a strike. The result was a new star-studded league known as the Players League, which only lasted one season.

In an attempt to prevent their players from leaving, MLB teams would spend the rest of 1889 in and out of court battles.

 

National Football League

The 20th anniversary of the National Football League was its 1939-40 season.

The NFL hit a true benchmark in 1939 when it had its first broadcast game. NBC, in an experimental showing to viewers in Albany and New York, broadcast a Brooklyn Dodgers-Philadelphia Eagles game.

In 1939, the NFL consisted of eight teams, with team names like the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cardinals.

The championship game, which was not yet known as the Super Bowl and would not be until 1967, was between Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. The Packers won 27-0.

 

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association celebrated its 20th anniversary in the 1965-66 season.

In 1965, the NBA had only nine teams, with forgotten names like the Cincinnati Royals and St. Louis Hawks. The Chicago Bulls would not join the league for another year. Two years later, the NBA would experience its biggest economic threat when the American Basketball Association was born.

Wilt Chamberlain, who won the season’s Most Valuable Player award, was the season leader in points per game, field-goal percentage and rebounds. 

In the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for their eighth consecutive title.

 

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League celebrated its 20th anniversary in the 1936-37 season.

Due to economic effects from the Great Depression, the NHL lost two teams prior to the season, setting a total of eight teams. 

The New York Americans started the year in first place, but several of their players came down with influenza, forcing a losing skid. Other players experienced season-ending ailments on the ice, like Howie Morenz, who suffered a fractured leg, and Eddie Shore, who suffered a broken vertebra. 

The Stanley Cup Final featured the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. The Red Wings won 3-2.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III and MMA’s Greatest Heavyweight Rivalries

The importance of a sporting event can be gauged on the pressure of the moment. Is there a championship on the line? Will a record be broken? Will an improbable underdog defeat a monstrous dynasty?
These questions can turn an average sporting event int…

The importance of a sporting event can be gauged on the pressure of the moment. Is there a championship on the line? Will a record be broken? Will an improbable underdog defeat a monstrous dynasty?

These questions can turn an average sporting event into a can’t-miss moment.

And with a week away from the third installment of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos, one cannot help but wonder where this rivalry stacks up in the MMA heavyweight firmament. 

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Bellator: The New Junkyard for Former UFC Talent

Former UFC heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Lavar Johnson are scheduled to make their Bellator Fighting Championships debut at Bellator 102 on Friday.
Unfortunately, both heavyweights at this point in their careers are much like Bellator—all structu…

Former UFC heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Lavar Johnson are scheduled to make their Bellator Fighting Championships debut at Bellator 102 on Friday.

Unfortunately, both heavyweights at this point in their careers are much like Bellator—all structure and washed-up talent.

On April 2, 2009, CEO Bjorn Rebney introduced Bellator as “the first-of-its-kind mixed martial arts promotions company” at a press conference in Hollywood.

The “first-of-its-kind” structure hindered on an eight-man tournament in every weight class to determine a champion and later an eventual challenger for the titleholder.

“There is new blood here,” said Matt Stansell, San Diego-based Bellator matchmaker, at the Hollywood press conference, via Sharon Robb of the Sun-Sentinel. “Everyone of these guys has a new story to be told and is going to be introduced to the public.”

However, after eight seasons, Bellator seems to be introducing only old blood and old stories. 

During Bellator‘s first few seasons, the mixed martial arts community did not seem to mind the signing of former UFC talent such as Josh Neer, Roger Huerta, Neil Grove and Ben Saunders. After all, who could blame an organization in its first few years of structuring weight classes. 

In fact, the veteran faces began to give new talent such as Pat Curran, Michael Chandler and Cole Conrad credibility with hardcore MMA fans.

It was not until Summer Series 2011, when MMA journalists and fans began to question the “new blood” concept. Konrad, the then-Bellator heavyweight champion, fought former UFC fighters Paul Buentello, Seth Petruzelli and Ricco Rodriguez. 

Two years later, the trend has reached a fever pitch.

At Bellator 97, announcer Jimmy King orchestrated a professional wrestling style surprise as it was unveiled Quinton “Rampage” Jackson would fight Tito Ortiz on the company’s first pay-per-view.

Both former UFC light heavyweight champions, the fighters were introduced as legends of the sport. And, in truth, both are.

Coincidentally, though, King neglected to mention Jackson is 2-4 in his past six fights, and Ortiz is a staggering 1-7-1 in his past nine bouts. 

Facts or records of washed-up talent were not mentioned at Bellator 99 when former UFC fighters Houston Alexander fought Vladimir Matyushenko in the headliner. Or at Bellator 101 when UFC alum Rich Clementi and Marcus Davis entered the cage.

And one can only assume Bellator will conveniently leave out certain facts when Kongo and Johnson enter the cage Friday.

But there is one glaring fact Bellator cannot ignore: Fans want a “new story.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jones vs. Gustafsson, the Best Light Heavyweight Fights of All Time

Modern mixed martial arts is less than 30 years old. This short history creates a hyperbole, where all great fights are the greatest and all bad moments are the worst.
And in a world of “what have you done for me lately,” this hyperbole has once a…

Modern mixed martial arts is less than 30 years old. This short history creates a hyperbole, where all great fights are the greatest and all bad moments are the worst.

And in a world of “what have you done for me lately,” this hyperbole has once again clouded judgement, prompting fans to call Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson not only the greatest light heavyweight fight of all time but greatest fight ever. Surely the fight was an impressive display of true MMA, but in our ever-evolving technological world, we tend to lose sight of our past, forget our predecessors and ignore history.  

In the following slides, we will explore the greatest light heavyweight fights of all time.

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A History of Boxers in MMA

Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing’s pound-for-pound king, is scheduled to fight rising Mexican boxing champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Las Vegas this Saturday. The bout, which has been officially deemed “The One,” is being promoted as not only one of the b…

Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing’s pound-for-pound king, is scheduled to fight rising Mexican boxing champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Las Vegas this Saturday. The bout, which has been officially deemed “The One,” is being promoted as not only one of the biggest boxing fights in history, but also as one of the biggest fights ever.

However, according to many in the MMA community, boxing is not fighting, it is a sport. MMA, as several fans and journalists have written, is the true test of a man or woman’s fighting ability, as it incorporates all combative styles.

And this stance, or “challenge” as perceived by some boxers, has been the catalyst for some strange and interesting moments in fight history.

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