Author: Ben Fowlkes

Nine Ways of Looking at UFC 128

Filed under: UFCFrom predictions to aimless questions to mild concerns, here’s some food for thought with UFC 128 just around the corner.

I. The best thing Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has going for him in his first fight back after a long injury layoff? Pra…

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From predictions to aimless questions to mild concerns, here’s some food for thought with UFC 128 just around the corner.

I. The best thing Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has going for him in his first fight back after a long injury layoff? Practice. He already found out the hard way what happens when you try to push it too far, too fast after surgery. He barely had enough gas in the tank to put away an aged Mark Coleman, who showed up to the fight with his own tank already on E. If Rua makes the same mistake again, and against a much better fighter in Jones, he deserves to wake up without the title on Sunday morning.

Zuffa-Strikeforce Deal Could Mean Uncertain Future for Women’s MMA

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceOf all the Strikeforce fighters who are struggling to figure out what the sale of their employer to its biggest rival will mean for them, it’s the women on the roster who are in perhaps the most precarious position.

Despit…

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Of all the Strikeforce fighters who are struggling to figure out what the sale of their employer to its biggest rival will mean for them, it’s the women on the roster who are in perhaps the most precarious position.

Despite UFC president Dana White’s assurances that it’s “business as usual” for Strikeforce after being purchased by Zuffa, the female fighters now find themselves working for a company that is owned in part by a man who isn’t a big fan of what they bring to the table. As you can imagine, it’s a situation that makes some of them very nervous about the future of women’s MMA in general, as well as for their own jobs.

“I am a little worried,” said 135-pound Strikeforce fighter Miesha Tate. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen. Now we’re all under Zuffa, and the one man who’s the big voice there can’t appreciate women’s fighting.”

Brendan Schaub Ready for Cro Cop, Thanks to a Team Intervention

Filed under: UFCBrendan Schaub’s coaches were worried about him. He’d started his training camp roughly three months out from his fight with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 128, and the wear and tear was starting to show.

His body wasn’t reacting th…

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Brendan Schaub‘s coaches were worried about him. He’d started his training camp roughly three months out from his fight with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 128, and the wear and tear was starting to show.

His body wasn’t reacting the way it should have, he said. He’d do one round of sparring or mitt work and feel exhausted. It was like he was getting in worse shape as the weeks wore on. To put it simply, he’d burned himself out. That’s when his coaches got together and insisted that he leave the gym and not come back for at least three days.

“I felt like I was on that Intervention show on A&E,” said Schaub (7-1). “They were like, ‘You can either take this help, or we’re not going to help you anymore.’ I was like, really? Where’s that bald guy who looks like Dr. Phil?”

Alistair Overeem Says Zuffa Purchase of Strikeforce ‘a Good Development’

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveStrikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem was among the many people caught completely by surprise by this weekend’s big announcement regarding the sale of his employer to its biggest industry rival….

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Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem was among the many people caught completely by surprise by this weekend’s big announcement regarding the sale of his employer to its biggest industry rival.

Overeem told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he was completely shocked by news that Zuffa had purchased Strikeforce, but said he has reason to be excited about what this means for the future.

“I was shocked when I read it, but I’m very excited,” Overeem told Helwani. “It’s a very big upset in the MMA world, and the fighting world in general. But yeah, my first thought was, I’m excited. … It was a very big surprise to me and to everybody. The gentlemen did a very good job of keeping the big secret. I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t see it coming at all.”

How Scouring the Internet Helped Eliot Marshall Get Back in the UFC

Some fighters will tell you that they never read MMA news on the internet. Some will even mean it. It’s a distraction, they say, and the various things they might read about themselves – whether positive or negative – won’t do anything to help them on …

Some fighters will tell you that they never read MMA news on the internet. Some will even mean it. It’s a distraction, they say, and the various things they might read about themselves – whether positive or negative – won’t do anything to help them on fight night.

But as Eliot Marshall found out recently, for an unsigned fighter trying to get back into the UFC, sometimes the up-to-the-minute online reports are a resource too valuable to ignore.

“Some people say to look at the internet and some people say not to look at the internet,” Marshall said. “I’ve always tossed it back and forth in my head, whether it’s a good idea or not. Now I’m thoroughly convinced it’s a good idea.”

For Glimpse of the Future After Zuffa-Strikeforce Deal, Look to the Past

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceAn old proverb tells us that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Or maybe that was Dr. Phil. Okay, forget who said it, the point is it’s usually true.

That’s why, as the MMA world sets itself to readin…

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An old proverb tells us that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Or maybe that was Dr. Phil. Okay, forget who said it, the point is it’s usually true.

That’s why, as the MMA world sets itself to reading the tea leaves of the Zuffa-Strikeforce deal in an attempt to find out what will come next, we could help ourselves a little by looking at what has come before.

UFC president Dana White told Ariel Helwani (several times, in fact) that it would be “business as usual” over at Strikeforce after the sale. The way he explained it, the two MMA brands will operate as separate entities under the same ownership.

If you’re feeling like you’ve heard that line somewhere before, you’re not alone.