UFC 151 is headlined by a light-heavyweight contest of epic proportions. Dominant champion Jon Jones will meet dangerous challenger, and three-time world champion, Dan Henderson.Henderson is the last great, established force who Jones has not…
UFC 151 is headlined by a light-heavyweight contest of epic proportions. Dominant champion Jon Jones will meet dangerous challenger, and three-time world champion, Dan Henderson.
Henderson is the last great, established force who Jones has not yet defeated. If “Bones” can get past his challenger, the UFC will be put in the unfortunate situation of needing to book rematches or bouts against unworthy competition in order to keep their champion active.
Before their September 1 collision, let’s take a look at Greg Jackson’s most successful student.
UFC 151 is headlined by a light-heavyweight contest of epic proportions. Dominant champion Jon Jones will meet dangerous challenger, and three-time world champion Dan Henderson.The only championship that eludes Henderson’s extensive hardware collection…
UFC 151 is headlined by a light-heavyweight contest of epic proportions. Dominant champion Jon Jones will meet dangerous challenger, and three-time world champion Dan Henderson.
The only championship that eludes Henderson’s extensive hardware collection is UFC gold, and you had better believe that the 42 year-old won’t be ready to conclude his tremendous career until he captures it.
But before their September 1 collision, let’s take a look at Team Quest’s toughest member.
Here are some interesting facts about Dan Henderson.
UFC 147 was plagued by card changes and was widely considered to be the worst pay-per-view offering of the last few years. MMAmania.com predicted that the event was “set for massive failure” and they were right. Only 175,000 viewers bought the irr…
UFC 147 was plagued by card changes and was widely considered to be the worst pay-per-view offering of the last few years. MMAmania.com predicted that the event was “set for massive failure” and they were right. Only 175,000 viewers bought the irrelevant event and who could blame them.
But what about UFC 150?
An early report from MMAmania.com indicates that the card headlined by a championship fight between popular stars Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar would pull in only 190,000 buys.
Are the elite fighters of the lightweight division unable to pull in viewers? Jonathan Snowden seems to think so. His article on the poor buyrates generated by main events in lighter weight classes has a lot of interesting points, but it begs a question: If the little guys don’t draw, who does?
In the interest of optimism, here is a look at the top 10 PPV draws currently in the UFC.
All pay per view numbers in this article come to you via MMAPayout.com Blue Book.
Spending most of the last 30 months as the No. 2-ranked middleweight in the world, Chael Sonnen has officially made the move to light-heavyweight. His return to 205 pounds will take place on the UFC’s year-end show on December 29 against Ultimate Fight…
Spending most of the last 30 months as the No. 2-ranked middleweight in the world, Chael Sonnen has officially made the move to light-heavyweight. His return to 205 pounds will take place on the UFC’s year-end show on December 29 against Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin.
Now that Sonnen has made the move, we have to think about where he will rank among the elite fighters who already swim in light-heavyweight waters. How will Sonnen’s victories compare to those of fighters like Lyoto Machida or Dan Henderson, who have found sustained success in the division for years?
First, we need to look at the strengths and weaknesses of Sonnen, and how those attributes will be affected in a new weight class. Then, we’ll take a glance at the level of competition that Sonnen faced at middleweight. Finally, we need to find a fair place to rank Sonnen among his new peers.
Since returning to the UFC, Sonnen has won five of his eight bouts by utilizing a takedown-centric game plan that has rendered many opponents helpless. But how will Chael’s wrestling be impacted by fighting in a new weight class?
Optimally, Chael should be competing at 185 pounds, but he will be facing other fighters who are fighting in their proper division. Does Sonnen lose the strength advantage that has helped him work opponents to the canvas? Can he take down the large light-heavyweight wrestlers like Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, Rashad Evans or Jon Jones?
Size has played a big factor in the career of both Chael and his UFC opponents. Of Sonnen’s wins, his latest two have come over former light-heavyweights who are better suited for competition at 185 pounds. Another two were decision wins over combatants who have since dropped to welterweight, and his first loss came to current welterweight Demian Maia.
So where does Chael rank? It’s safe to say that Sonnen does not have victories on par with that of the division’s top five. That is a group of elite former champions who could all enter the Hall of Fame one day.
What about the bottom half of the top 10? The Oregonian’s takedowns would be neutralized against solid wrestlers like Bader and Davis, who possess a size advantage, although he would likely fare well against a striker like Alexander Gustafsson.
It’s a toss-up to predict Sonnen vs. Lil Nog, as Nogueira would be susceptible to the takedown, but he has the standup advantage and a solid chance to secure a submission.
Chael’s UFC 155 bout with Forrest Griffin gives him an opportunity to avenge a 2003 loss. It will tell us a lot about where he belongs in his new division, although Griffin has been on the decline for some time now.
For the sake of argument, I’m willing to make it public that I plan to rank Sonnen eighth on my ballot for the official B/R MMA light-heavyweight rankings. Where do you think he fits?
Only 10 days out of their incredible UFC on Fox 4 event, Zuffa has formally announced their return to network television on December 8.Along with the official date, fans saw the announcement of three incredible fights with more to be announced in the c…
Only 10 days out of their incredible UFC on Fox 4 event, Zuffa has formally announced their return to network television on December 8.
Along with the official date, fans saw the announcement of three incredible fights with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
If you had the misfortune of missing the last UFC on Fox, you should still be kicking yourself now that one of the most entertaining cards in UFC history has passed you by.
Instead of harping on the past, we should look to the future and get ready for the next UFC on Fox. To help, here are five reasons that you should look forward to UFC on Fox 5.
Tim Boetsch made his UFC debut in early 2008 as a member of the light-heavyweight roster. After an unimpressive 2-2 run, The Barbarian was released from his contract and sent back to the independent leagues.In the summer of 2010, Boetsch received an in…
Tim Boetsch made his UFC debut in early 2008 as a member of the light-heavyweight roster. After an unimpressive 2-2 run, The Barbarian was released from his contract and sent back to the independent leagues.
In the summer of 2010, Boetsch received an invitation to rejoin the company. Not faring much better the second time around, the NCAA wrestler won his return contest, but was shut down by Phil Davis in his sophomore effort.
In six UFC contests, he was unable to put together a pair of consecutive wins and prove that his contract was deserved. Where could Boetsch go from here?
After consulting with his coaches, Boetsch decided that a run at middleweight could be in his best interests, and boy, was he right.
Compiling a flawless 4-0 record since making the move, Boetsch has bested Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, previously undefeated Nick Ring and world-ranked competitors Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard. These days, the Barbarian is the No. 6 ranked middleweight in the world.
Likewise, Brian Stann is another fighter who had a less-than-stellar run in the UFC light-heavyweight division, but has breathed new life into his career by cutting weight. Other fighters who have dropped in weight in hopes of getting a fresh start include Urijah Faber, Martin Kampmann, Mike Swick and Demian Maia.
The wrestling mentality is that a fighter should be competing at the lowest weight that his body will allow him to compete. With incredible advances in the science of weight cutting, fighters are able to compete in divisions as much as 50 pounds lower than their walking weight.
However, just because you can get yourself to a particular weight does not mean that it’s the best place for you to compete. Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and James Irvin have all worked their way down to a division in which their bodies were drained.
Were they competing against smaller competitors? Absolutely. But were they doing their best? Not a chance.
Irvin came into his middleweight debut badly dehydrated and resembled Skellator. Clearly, the former light-heavyweight did not have the energy to compete and he was quickly stopped in the first round by gatekeeper Alessio Sakara.
“Weight cutting has been harshly regulated in wrestling, but it hasn’t been in the UFC. There are some very serious health concerns with weight cutting. The one everyone thinks about is kidney damage or kidney failure. Some people think it’s not a big deal, but go to a dialysis centre and spend an hour there and watch people get every drop of blood taken out of their bodies and ask them how it is to do that three times a week just to live. The other thing people don’t think about is your brain is at risk because water makes up 97 percent of the cerebral spinal fluid, the fluid around the brain that cushions it from blows. So anytime you lose mass amounts of water, you lose cushioning around the brain, and now you ask Vitor Belfort to punch you in the face—it’s a bad combination. “
Conversely, fighters like Rich Franklin, Jake Shields and Randy Couture have packed on additional pounds in hopes of improving their roster spot after failed attempts to capture (or recapture) a championship in their natural weight class.
Chael Sonnen is considering a move to light-heavyweight after a pair of failed bids to capture the middleweight championship from Anderson Silva. Former champion Rich Franklin made the same move nearly four years ago.
Randy Couture jumped up to heavyweight in 2007 when he recognized that the division was weak enough for a smaller-statured athlete like himself to utilize superior technique in order to negate a size disadvantage. That being said, each division has a collection of legitimate contenders, and a move of this magnitude is unlikely in the competitive climate of today’s MMA.
In terms of packing on weight, sometimes it is necessary. As his body continues to grow, Jon Jones will be unable to make the 205 pound limit. The same story goes with champions Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz and their respective divisions.
What does all of this weight switching mean? Is a different division the way to go for someone who is struggling to make a name for themselves? Or is this simply the MMA version of “the grass is always greener?”
As fighters look for a competitive advantage inside the Octagon, you can expect fighters to continue changing divisions. Is it the best solution for a struggling fighter? There is no cut and dry answer. However, so long as fighters like Tim Boetsch and Martin Kampmann continue to find success in lighter divisions, you had better believe that others are going to follow suit.
Spending most of the last 30 months as the No. 2-ranked middleweight in the world, Chael Sonnen has officially made the move to light-heavyweight. His return to 205 pounds will take place on the UFC’s year-end show on December 29 against Ultimate Fighter winner