There’s so much hate in MMA. In recent days, yet another volley of hate was flung at Jon Jones, this time for his refusal to fight Chael Sonnen. It got me thinking: How well-liked are today’s UFC champs, really? Being a well-liked champion isn’t e…
In recent days, yet another volley of hate was flung at Jon Jones, this time for his refusal to fight Chael Sonnen. It got me thinking: How well-liked are today’s UFC champs, really?
Being a well-liked champion isn’t easy. They live under surveillance—no mistake goes unnoticed. When a champ makes a public action, it’s bound to be scrutinized by hordes of UFC message boarders. And by God, their fights better not disappoint.
In fact, message boards are a nifty place to feel the pulse of the fan community. Any Sherdogger has a true sense of which fighters are favored and which are hated. It’s especially easy to tell which fighters are hated, since Sherdog is barbed with spiteful words. I guess there’s no thrill in praise.
Herein is a ranking of UFC champs from least hated to most hated. It’s subjective and you may disagree. The rankings are based on my experiences digging through message boards, along with my time in drunken crowds during pay-per-views. If you’ve been to a bar on fight night, you know that uninhibited hate flows as freely as the booze.
Some of the more hated champs also enjoy many fans, but this list doesn’t consider that; haters only.
There’s so much hate in MMA. In recent days, yet another volley of hate was flung at Jon Jones, this time for his refusal to fight Chael Sonnen. It got me thinking: How well-liked are today’s UFC champs, really? Being a well-liked champion isn’t e…
In recent days, yet another volley of hate was flung at Jon Jones, this time for his refusal to fight Chael Sonnen. It got me thinking: How well-liked are today’s UFC champs, really?
Being a well-liked champion isn’t easy. They live under surveillance—no mistake goes unnoticed. When a champ makes a public action, it’s bound to be scrutinized by hordes of UFC message boarders. And by God, their fights better not disappoint.
In fact, message boards are a nifty place to feel the pulse of the fan community. Any Sherdogger has a true sense of which fighters are favored and which are hated. It’s especially easy to tell which fighters are hated, since Sherdog is barbed with spiteful words. I guess there’s no thrill in praise.
Herein is a ranking of UFC champs from least hated to most hated. It’s subjective and you may disagree. The rankings are based on my experiences digging through message boards, along with my time in drunken crowds during pay-per-views. If you’ve been to a bar on fight night, you know that uninhibited hate flows as freely as the booze.
Some of the more hated champs also enjoy many fans, but this list doesn’t consider that; haters only.
When the UFC adopted WEC’s featherweights, the division lacked depth and lore. I’d shrug at the mention of the smaller weight classes. Featherweight fighters were regarded as cute novelties. In suit, the Zuffa featherweight roster was consi…
When the UFC adopted WEC’s featherweights, the division lacked depth and lore. I’d shrug at the mention of the smaller weight classes.
Featherweight fighters were regarded as cute novelties. In suit, the Zuffa featherweight roster was considered shallow, dull, and extraneous by many UFC fanatics.
They were wrong.
Less then two years after the merger, UFC featherweights are creating a huge splash that defies their little bodies. They’ve sparkled under the UFC’s prevailing banner.
The UFC featherweight journey began in cinematic fashion: Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick put on a wild show; one of the year’s best fights. Yet the “Fight of the Year” candidate didn’t suspend doubts about the division’s future. The featherweight landscape would remain desolate for months.
UFC casuals saw the featherweights as alien midgets, among them only a few recognizable names. I remember some “fans”even contested the entertainment value of fun-sized warriors to the point of refusing to watch them.
Unknowns bred doubt. Questions swirled around the future of the newborn weight class.
Good thing it wasn’t aborted.
Time passed. Rightful contenders arose from the proving grounds. Upon proper exposure, several of the original featherweights plucked from the WEC gained hordes of fans and enough popularity to headline shows. Meanwhile, Dana White‘s hunt for free agents didn’t cease, as guys like Hatsu Hioki have kept the division fresh.
The WEC merger needed incubation time. Indeed, a healthy product has hatched. Let’s bask in the triumph of the UFC’s featherweight division:
Aldo has proven himself an exciting and marketable champion. His reign over 145 is long and oppressive – casual fans remember his name. He’s etching out a shining star while directing attention towards featherweight MMA that only a dominant champ could demand. “Scarface” has been instrumental to the division’s appeal.
Another important cog: “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung-Jung has bloomed into a fan favorite. The undead Korean brawls with no regard for life, so he’s garnered a legion of Zombie fanatics. His stardom has helped unlock international markets and lure attention to the Octagon and to featherweight MMA.
The list of gems winds on: There’s Jimy Hettes, unbeaten submission wizard; Ricardo Lamas, imposing grappler and striker; Erik Koch, strike-first youngster with wrestling credentials; Chad Mendes, wrestler whose work ethic sparkles; Charles Oliveira, daring finisher whose guard could choke a mule; Cub Swanson, evolving and resurgent veteran; Dustin Poirier, cagey and polished in all areas; Dennis Siver, formidable kick boxer; and Hatsu Hioki, Japanese champ with UFC gold in sight. There’s plenty more worthy of mention, but you get it. A thick crop of talent is ripening.
Another perk of the featherweight division: Small lightweights have found comfort in dropping down—ask Charles Oliveira and Dennis Siver. They were dwarfed by larger lightweights. Remember how each was rendered a mere plaything by Donald Cerrone? Now they’ve found sanctuary at 145.
Since the lightweight division is teeming with impatient beasts, we’ll keep seeing lightweights use the featherweight division as a restart button for their careers. I salivate at the buffet of cross-divisional fights within reason (I’m waiting for you, Frankie Edgar).
These are the formative years of 145. Aldo’s reign is clear, but the pecking order is a murky tangle beneath him. Time will clear it up—the division is still an infant. There are countless match ups yet to unfold between these dynamos; match ups I wish I didn’t have to wait for.
Here’s to you, featherweights. Despite your stubby legs, you’ve come a long way in little time.
MMA is a wicked bumpkin, treated with scorn or disinterest by the majority of “sophisticated” sports fans. I can’t envision MMA ruling the sports kingdom. Alas, there are a heap of obstacles choking MMA’s potential. The fight game isn&rsquo…
MMA is a wicked bumpkin, treated with scorn or disinterest by the majority of “sophisticated” sports fans.
I can’t envision MMA ruling the sports kingdom. Alas, there are a heap of obstacles choking MMA’s potential. The fight game isn’t wholesome enough to enjoy the biblical esteem of baseball—quite the contrary. MMA is somewhat gladiatorial.
So shouldn’t MMA appease our natural human blood thirst? You would think we would celebrate Octagon warriors.
Humans are programmed with primal rage. In response to that rage, a few of us murder. Some of us engage in drunken brawls, and most of us live vicariously through fake action heroes and fighters.
Personally, I often daydream about being Anderson Silva or Jon Jones beating up a cavalcade of ninjas.
Fighters gain a deified, heroic status among fight fans (I daydream about being them for Neptune’s sake). They are gladiators; the Octagon is their coliseum. We experience their triumphs and we erupt. We experience their downfalls and we sink. The drama is ripe. MMA harkens back to a brutal, more honest time.
So, reckoning everyone enjoys a taste of consensual violence, I introduced MMA to my new friends. They are typical masculine dudes. As they beheld Stipe Miocic rearrange Shane del Roario’s face, they shrieked and recoiled. Their fear was tangible. It was like they were witnessing a lion maul a baby in the Octagon. We haven’t discussed MMA since.
I was puzzled. The Octagon isn’t the coliseum. MMA is a tactical match, peace bound by a mountain of rules and regulations.
My friends didn’t see a safe, controlled event. They saw two ogres trying to kill each other. They were repulsed, and they aren’t alone.
It seems humanity hasn’t embraced its appetite for violence—for proving dominance in an evolutionarily sound way. This widespread failure to accept fighting as human nature dampens MMA’s hopes of universal acceptance, when seemingly everyone should appreciate it.
What’s more, some politicians have taken a firm stance against MMA, coining it “human cockfighting”. These zealots carry on, infecting more zealots with their polluted idea that fighting in unnatural.
This subject is nebulous. I suppose many people think that sanctioned fighting isn’t righteous, which demonstrates how much society has changed since Roman gladiators and the like were revered as gods.
By nature, humans are the same as they were thousands of years ago, back when men would battle lions in front of thousands of spectators, and Aztec priests would murder hundreds of ballplayers in a single ceremony.
Since then, our barbaric ways have been suppressed by a cloud of rules and morals. MMA is a civilized, placid update of the bloodsport of centuries past.
I abide by the indifferent laws of nature—fighting is human, fun, and cathartic. Long live MMA.
Chris Weidman bulldozed a juggernaut on Wednesday—Mark Munoz. This warrants attention under MMA’s capricious spotlight. Weidman fights in a division where contenders are sparse. Merited by his thrashing of Munoz, the New Yorker strati…
Chris Weidman bulldozed a juggernaut on Wednesday—Mark Munoz. This warrants attention under MMA’s capricious spotlight.
Weidman fights in a division where contenders are sparse. Merited by his thrashing of Munoz, the New Yorker stratified himself as a threat to snatch Anderson Silva’s long-worn middleweight belt.
Why? Because his game is uniquely adaptable.
Weidman showcased masterful grappling against Munoz, as he ragdolled the Filipino and sliced through his guard like a katana through a kitten.
As per UFC.com, “The All-American” matted Munoz twice, passed his guard three times, and attempted two submissions.
Munoz and Weidman both own stellar wrestling pedigrees, adding luster to Weidman’s performance. He did that to a hardened wrestler?
We know Chael Sonnen is the premiere wrestler at 185. Weidman garners comparison to the Oregonian. In fact, the whippersnapper could be a thornier challenge for Anderson Silva than Sonnen. Weidman has more tools.
The stats howl: Weidman has finished 13 takedowns in the UFC. Conversely, he hasn’t been grounded once. Another blessed fighter holds that same stat: Jon Jones.
Weidman employs an arsenal of submissions. The blossoming grappler has sunk three foes by way of tap out. He’s latches onto chokes from the clinch, scrambles, and top control with regularity.
He also eludes submissions, verifying the legitimacy of his Brazilin Jiu-Jitsu purple belt under Matt Serra.
Stiff top control seems to be a recipe for success in MMA. Weidman’s top control is infallible: In the UFC, his opponents haven’t advanced position against his control.
Weidman imposes his will with tact and vigor. His use of positional Jiu-Jitsu is a marvel.
Some grapplers are plagued by their ineffectual ground and pound, but Weidman channels Donkey Kong when he barrages grounded opponents. His punches and elbows bring thunder, yet another trait that separates Weidman from the field.
Many wrestlers wing punches to open up their takedowns, and that’s the extent of their striking game. Not Weidman. He uses clean, effective striking techniques, as evidenced by his elbow strike counter that sent Mark Munoz tumbling towards the canvas. Any doubts of his ability to finish a fight standing were evaporated.
Weidman isn’t immaculate: His clumsy match with Demian Maia showed his gas tank may be shallow. The American did, however, take that fight on short notice.
If Chael Sonnen gave Anderson Silva fits, what can Weidman do? With his youth and skill set handy, Weidman could surely provide worthy opposition to the awe-inspiring champ.
Honorable mention for well-roundedness at 185: Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher, Hector Lombard, Anderson Silva, and Rich Franklin.
Anderson Silva might be a venomous spider after all. The Brazilian weaved his reputation carefully, upholding a placid, Zen-like demeanor throughout his UFC tenure. Chael Sonnen seems to have shattered that façade. Silva couldn’t resist So…
The Brazilian weaved his reputation carefully, upholding a placid, Zen-like demeanor throughout his UFC tenure. Chael Sonnen seems to have shattered that façade. Silva couldn’t resist Sonnen’s baiting words forever.
The hatred was tangible at Friday’s weigh-in, culminating in a shoulder strike from Silva aimed at Sonnen’s cheeky face.
What incited Silva’s infantile rage? At the weigh-in, after the altercation, the champ bemoaned Sonnen for failing to uphold “respect”.
For you slowpokes crawling along out there, the weigh-in can be seen here.
Is “respect” really that important to the deified arachnid? It can’t be.
Sure, Sonnen isn’t an immaculate citizen. If “respect” begets honor, than the Oregonian is a crooked scalawag. But, as much as he spews about “respect”, Anderson isn’t an honorable soldier of Emperor Dana White either.
Silva’s track record doesn’t prove he’s a paragon of righteousness: He made a mockery of his fights with Demian Maia and Thales Leites. He adhered to the excuse that they didn’t deserve to fight him. In doing so, he robbed pay-per-view buyers of two main events.
You can say he doesn’t owe the fans anything, but as buyers of his product, he does owe us his unadulterated effort.
Moreover, he explicitly disrespects his opponents every time he drops his hands, a gambit he pulls often. I’m glad he does clown his slower foes because it’s a stunning spectacle. But to lower his defense against a man who’s been training in combat for years is the pinnacle of disrespect.
His latest lapse in respect, that aforementioned shoulder strike on Sonnen, may garner a fine and will force fans to view him through a less peaceful scope.
I’ll be happy if Anderson buries Sonnen on Saturday. But the champ shouldn’t tout the importance of respect, especially when he’s breached his own credo many times. His anger is understandable, but by lashing out, he’s proving to be a hypocrite.
When the UFC adopted WEC’s featherweights, the division lacked depth and lore. I’d shrug at the mention of the smaller weight classes.