This is the UFC on FUEL 3 undercard live blog for the UFC on FUEL 3 prelims from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.There will be six fights on the undercard. Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang, Cody McKenzie vs. Marcus LeVesseur, TJ Gran…
This is the UFC on FUEL 3 undercard live blog for the UFC on FUEL 3 prelims from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.
Round 1: Soto tosses out a head kick early, then tries to stay active on the outside. Another head kick lands more cleanly moments later, but Rivera answers with a right that drops him. Soto finds his way to his feet, but Rivera has found a home for that right and he keeps firing. Soto looks wobbly, but still in it. Another hard right drops Soto to his knees, but he keeps coming and nabs a takedown. Soto has top position briefly, but can’t do much before Rivera makes it back to his feet. Soto keeps trying to circle away with Rivera following. Rivera turns what initially looks like a jumping knee into a jumping head kick that catches Soto. Soto seems like he’s just trying to survive the round now, avoiding the serious engagements whenever possible in the final minute. They end the round with Soto still circling away from that power. MMA Fighting scores it 10-8 for Rivera.
Round 2: Soto seems to have his legs under him again as they start the second. He works some kicks and bounces away from the counter. Clearly, he wants this fight on the outside, but every time he plants to fire off Rivera moves in with power shots. After a second inadvertent groin kick by Rivera, we pause for the briefest of moments, then it’s time in. Soto jabs on the run and Rivera answers with a heavy hook. Right hand by Rivera, followed by a knee. Soto mugs as if to show he’s not hurt, but Rivera quickly shows him there’s more where that came from. Now it’s Soto’s turn to land a groin shot. On the restart, Rivera’s back on the prowl. Rivera brings Soto’s head down with a punch, then nails him with a head kick. The horn sounds to end the round, and Rivera seems to be feeling the effect of that groin kick still. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rivera.
Round 3: After both Rivera and his cornermen expressed amazement and disappointment that Soto wasn’t knocked out yet, we start the final frame. Soto gets off to a nice start with a takedown, but can’t follow up. Soto misses with a punch and eats a right. Front kick from Rivera snaps Soto’s head back. Rivera lands another big right. There’s the jelly legs from Soto once again, but he just won’t give in. After a few seconds of wobbling he looks solid again, even if he can’t get much of an offense started. Soto has to know he’s way behind on the cards, but he seems content to keep circling away and lose this one by decision. It might be a moral victory to avoid getting finished after all that, but moral victories don’t pay as well as actual victories. Body kick by Rivera. Soto tries to push off the cage for a Superman punch, but nothing doing. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rivera.
Francisco Rivera def. Alex Soto via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Round 1: Curran pumps the jab and feints a shot to see what Eduardo will do. Eduardo snaps out a couple quick leg kicks, while Curran responds with a kick to the body. Curran lunges forward with a big right, but seems to be coming up just short right now. Curran flicks out a backfist and eats some leather from Eduardo in exchange. The exchanges are relatively few as we close in on the final minute. Eduardo’s leg kick looks to be his best weapon, while Curran is putting much of his faith in the old one-two. Nether man is in a hurry to finish so far. Eduardo lands a nice right at the end of a combo, then another leg kick in the final ten seconds. His speed advantage is starting to become evident. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Eduardo.
Round 2: Eduardo’s momma didn’t raise no fool. As soon as the second round starts, he goes right back to work on Curran’s leg. The Brazilian is chopping away at that left thigh, and Curran is clearly feeling it. All Eduardo has to do is move his hips and Curran lifts his lead leg to check. Curran’s still game, though. He fires off a punch combo in close, and Eduardo responds in kind. Eduardo dances around, avoiding the jab, snapping out a kick when he feels like it. He’s in control, but still in no rush. Curran gets busy with punch combos in the final minute, but Eduardo proves too elusive to deal much damage too. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Eduardo.
Round 3: Another round, and another leg kick attack by Eduardo to start us off. Judging by his comments to his corner between rounds, Curran knows he needs to do something, but what? Eduardo isn’t opening up enough to give him many opportunities. Takedown attempt by Curran is stymied. Curran fires off a left and Eduardo claims eye poke, but referee Rick McCoy doesn’t seem to be buying it. He tells Eduardo “you’ve got to fight,” but it does give him at least a temporary reprieve. Curran senses the opening and comes on with more punches, popping Eduardo’s head back. Again Eduardo claims eye poke, and this time nobody is buying it. With a minute left, Curran keeps looking to land that left, while Eduardo goes back to the leg kick. Good combo by Curran and Eduardo is in full-on backpedal mode. Might be too little, too late for the “Big Frog.” There’s the horn to end it. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Curran.
Johnny Eduardo def. Jeff Curran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus
Round 1: After the requisite bit of dancing and jabbing in the opening minute, dos Anjos jacks Shalorus with a huge head kick that sits Shalorus down. Dos Anjos swarms on him as Shalorus tries to scramble. After some warnings from the ref about the back of the head, dos Anjos moves to the back, sinks in the rear-naked choke, and Shalorus has to tap. Impressive, quick finish from the Brazilian.
Rafael dos Anjos def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:40 of round one
There’s a lot at stake for former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett on Saturday night. When he takes on Daniel Cormier in the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix in San Jose, Calif., the outcome may decide w…
There’s a lot at stake for former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett on Saturday night. When he takes on Daniel Cormier in the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix in San Jose, Calif., the outcome may decide whether he’s UFC-bound in the near future or left in limbo yet again. While we know that the winner of the tournament will stick around for at least one more bout in Strikeforce, what’s far less certain is what will become of the loser, especially if it’s Barnett, who has had a tricky relationship with the UFC brass at times.
But as Barnett told Ariel Helwani on Monday’d episode of The MMA Hour, he’s not ready to beg for a place at the UFC table just yet, regardless of how his fight with Cormier turns out.
“For me, it’s not always about whether I can get in there. It’s also about whether we are amenable to the offer,” Barnett told Helwani. “It takes two to make these things work. Sometimes you just don’t find that common ground. That’s difficult, but that is just something that happens in any aspect of business. But I’d love to be in the UFC, beating up all their guys and being the best heavyweight in the world, which I believe I am. So why wouldn’t I want to be there?”
Of course, while the winner of the Grand Prix should find himself in a strong negotiating position, the same might not be true for the loser. Barnett’s a minor favorite according to oddsmakers, and he does have more than three times as many MMA bouts as the former U.S. Olympic wrestling team captain. Though Barnett described Cormier as “a good dude” with an impeccable wrestling pedigree, he isn’t quite sure that his counterpart in the Grand Prix finals is truly ready for the big time in MMA just yet, he said.
“I think it’s too early to say that about him. I think, give him some more time. Plus, I think he’s fast-tracking. With his inherent athletic ability and his wrestling background, it allows him to do that. In the current MMA landscape, being a good athlete — or, I should say, being a great athlete, because he was an Olympian — with an extensive wrestling background, that can take you very far, very quickly. I don’t believe that that alone has enough staying power to it at the top, but he’s got time to acquire all the things that will be necessary to be a long-standing figure at the top of the heavyweight heap. With just the skills that he has now, he’s proven that he can take just about anybody out when given the opportunity to get in the cage with them.”
And while we all know by now that Cormier is an excellent wrestler with heavy hands, Barnett added, “I also know that he’s smart. I know he’s working on his submission game. I know he’s working on his hands and his feet and becoming a more complete fighter. But he hasn’t really had the great luxury to open up his skills all the way and go into the areas that are likely the most difficult for him.”
Barnett also pointed out that he’s leaned down for Saturday’s bout with Cormier, dropping from about 262 pounds down to 252, in order to better deal with the smaller man’s quickness over the course of a five-round fight. And the secret to shedding those pounds? It wasn’t too difficult, Barnett said. He just “started loving a lot more ladies.”
What he has yet to figure out is how he’ll follow up on his memorable open workout performance during the opening round of the Strikeforce Grand Prix. He called upon his pro wrestling experience to entertain reporters the last time around, but how can he possibly top that now that he’s in the finals?
Even Barnett doesn’t seem to know just yet. But, he told Helwani, “I always will have something to say. That’s for sure.”
When it comes to the art of the no-show, Nick Diaz is a master. He’s the Picasso of blowing stuff off, the Rembrandt of staying home. He may have started small, with conference calls and interviews, but his greatness in this…
When it comes to the art of the no-show, Nick Diaz is a master. He’s the Picasso of blowing stuff off, the Rembrandt of staying home. He may have started small, with conference calls and interviews, but his greatness in this arena simply could not be contained. Soon he had moved on to no-showing entire press conferences, even when it cost him a UFC title shot and a boatload of money. Like all the greats, he suffered for his art. Also like the greats, he did his suffering in private, in part because no one can ever seem to locate the guy at the most critical moments.
Now, after sitting out his submission grappling match with Braulio Estima at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach on Saturday, Diaz may have completed his masterpiece. By no-showing an event that was supposed to benefit charity, and by offering his fans no prior notice before skipping out on something they had paid $12.95 to watch on a live internet stream, Diaz may have set the irresponsibility bar so high that even he can’t clear it.
Final frontier: conquered. With this triumph, Diaz has carved his name into the permanent record of flaking out. Generations from now, when our space descendants decline to show up for their space commitments, their peers will utter that they have ‘Diaz’d out’ of their obligations. By then, the man himself will be long forgotten. Only the legend of his deeds will live on.
It’s not that I’m surprised by Diaz’s latest no-show. Sure, it’s impressive that he found a way to disappoint fight fans even while serving a suspension from fighting, but it’s still not exactly shocking, is it? From the minute you plan an event around the assumption that Diaz will be at an appointed place at an appointed time, your plan is flawed. You have to know that. Like snake-handlers who get a face full of fangs, the organizers behind the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo courted this particular brand of letdown. We all did, in fact, and it’s time we took responsibility for that.
You’re upset that you paid good money to sit home on a Saturday and watch a grappling match that didn’t happen? Sorry, but I have no sympathy for you. If you’re enough of a Diaz fan to pay to watch him grapple, then you’re enough of a Diaz fan to understand the risks. Complaining about the no-show is like buying a ticket for a Guns N’ Roses show in the early ‘90s, then whining when Axl Rose jumps off the stage and punches you in the face. You had to know this was a possibility, if not a likely outcome. You just got Diaz’d. Deal with it.
Same goes for you, St. Jude Children’s Hospital. You thought Diaz was going to participate in a paid competition benefitting your charity? Should have done your homework first. Then you would have known that there was a good chance he’d blow the whole thing off before maybe, possibly offering an unconvincing explanation that, not surprisingly, blames anyone but himself. You’ve now been Diaz’d in the first degree.
And you, Braulio Estima, who flew in from overseas just to meet Diaz on the mats? Don’t even get me started. In the world of rational people, sure, you made a good point when you said that showing up for a grappling match to benefit a charity is “not about showbiz; it’s about being a good person.” But we’re not talking about rational people, are we? We’re talking about Diaz, who does whatever he wants and accepts zero responsibility for it. You knew that when you got on the plane, or at least you should have. That’s why the stewardesses were shaking their heads at you. ‘Look at that poor guy,’ one imagines them whispering to one another. ‘He’s off to get Diaz’d.’
It’s a little bit ironic that, after all his shenanigans in MMA, it would be something as innocuous as a missed grappling match that would deal such a blow to Diaz’s reputation. On Twitter and on internet messageboards today, I see even hardcore Diaz supporters — the ones who took his side when he blamed the UFC and Georges St-Pierre for his squandered title shot — renouncing their faith in the church of the 209. As much as MMA fans love to watch Nick Diaz the fighter, Nick Diaz the person makes that activity increasingly difficult.
If he weren’t so talented, maybe it wouldn’t be so frustrating. Maybe he’d just be one more flaky, irresponsible person in world teeming with them, and we’d all have stopped caring about whether he thinks it’s worth the effort to keep his word. Clearly, that’s not how it is. The enigma of Diaz is such that we can’t bring ourselves to look away, even when we know we should. Just like that sad sack Charlie Brown, we put our well-founded misgivings aside to take one more run at kicking that football. When it’s pulled away at the last minute, we’re reminded that we have only ourselves to blame.
It’s not like we didn’t know this was a possibility. It‘s not like it’s some new development. We put our faith in a person who’s trampled on it without apology several times before, and we got what we deserved. We got Diaz’d. Now it’s up to us to decide how many more times we’re willing to go through it again.
It’s Twitter Mailbag time again, boys and girls. This time we tackle everything from Mo Lawal’s decision to moonlight as a pro wrestler, to the UFC’s flagging ratings on FOX, to the similarities between suffering…
It’s Twitter Mailbag time again, boys and girls. This time we tackle everything from Mo Lawal’s decision to moonlight as a pro wrestler, to the UFC’s flagging ratings on FOX, to the similarities between suffering a seizure and sitting through a Ben Askren title defense.
Got a question of your own? Find me on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA and fire away. I promise to at least have my neurologist read it aloud to me. Adrian Garcia @AdriantheWizard @benfowlkesMMA will King Mo’s future double duties at Bellator & TNA hinder or rejuvenate his MMA career?
I have to admit I’m mystified by this one. I like Mo Lawal and I can understand why the chance to pursue both pro wrestling and MMA — all while chasing that paper — probably felt like an offer he couldn’t refuse. At the same time, I have my doubts.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney compared this to Bo Jackson’s dual careers in pro football and baseball, saying “when Bo jackson played baseball he never tackled anybody, and nobody called that out as an oddity or something unusual. Nobody ever said, ‘Why aren’t you tackling anyone?'” That’s true, but the big difference is that whether Jackson was playing football or baseball, he was always still Bo. He never had to pretend to be anyone else. The same will not be true for Lawal, because pro wrestling is more theater than sport. Before all you pro wrestling fans start beating me with folding chairs, let me clarify that just because I don’t think it’s a sport does not mean I think it’s easy. It’s not. It’s incredibly physically demanding, not to mention dangerous. But the outcomes are pre-determined. The wrestlers are performers, there to play a role.
What I wonder is, how will Lawal balance those two? How can he go from a scripted rivalry one month to a genuine sporting competition the next? Where will he even find the time to train properly during all this? And what if he tears a ligament in his already damaged knee while jumping off the top rope or being thrown out of the ring? Will Bellator, not to mention MMA fans, offer him any sympathy if he has to pull out of the light heavyweight tournament because he injured himself while pulling punches on a guy with tassels on his tights?
I’m not so sure. I’m not sure that the physical grind of pro wrestling is a great idea for a guy who’s been in and out of the hospital as much as Lawal has lately. It’s his body and his bank account, so he gets to make the decisions about what’s best for each. I just hope he doesn’t think that the line between real fighting and fake fighting is going to be an easy one to jump back and forth across. Even Bo had his career in one sport cut short by injuries sustained in another. Unlike Lawal, Bo didn’t have to worry about what would happen to him while the referee was unconscious.
Koko Dionis @iamKokoD @benfowlkesMMA which fight are you looking forward 2 the most this summer?
Does May count as the summer? I’m guessing it doesn’t, at least not where I live, since it can still rain and snow and hail at any point throughout the month as if daring you to complain about it and thus out yourself as a wimp from California. And if May isn’t the summer, then I have to cross the Strikeforce Grand Prix final between Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett off my list. I also have to cross off all of UFC 146, even though I admit I’m more excited about Cormier-Barnett more than I am about that entire card.
With all that off the table, the fight I’m most looking forward to has to be Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II. After everything that’s happened between those two, how could you not? It’s the must-see MMA event of the summer. You’ll know because even your friends who normally can’t understand why you waste so many Saturday nights on this crap will be calling you up, wondering if they can “drop by” that weekend. You know, just to hang out and catch up and oh, is that fight on tonight? Huh, I had no idea. Well, hey, if you’re watching it anyway…
My rule for such an occasion? Tell them that they’re welcome to grab a seat in your living room and watch the pay-per-view you bought. But first, oh, were they headed to the store anyway? Great, then they wouldn’t mind picking up some delicious snacks and ice-cold beverages while they’re out.
Eddie Gemayel @eddiegemayel @benfowlkesMMA do you think hector lombard is being thrown into the fire too soon by putting him against stann already? #twittermailbag
Hector Lombard is 34 years old and has more than 30 professional fights. What are we waiting for? He’s not being thrown into the fire — he’s jumping in while it’s still hot. To the UFC’s credit, there are very few easy fights to be had in that organization. The UFC’s habit of purging its roster of habitual losers every so often may seem brutal at times, but it does maintain a high standard for all-around talent most of the time. That’s a good thing. Who wants to see Lombard maul some over-matched has-been or never-was? Didn’t we get enough of that from his run in Bellator and on the Australian MMA circuit? We know Lombard can throttle the guys who aren’t quite at the UFC level. We’ve seen it. What we want to know is whether he can do as well against successful UFC fighters. One way or another, Stann will answer that for us.
Stealth Lee @stealthlee @benfowlkesMMA What’s worse: a seizure or a Askren title defense? #mailbag #toosoon?
First of all, I think Askren is already on his way to your house to challenge you to a fight, so you’d better start working on your takedown defense now. Second, this is hard to answer, since I don’t remember anything about the seizure. One minute I was pouring myself a glass of water, and the next I was wondering how I’d ended up on my back next to a broken water glass, and why my wife was kneeling over me, shouting our address at the 911 operators. Scary stuff, but mostly for her, since I have no recollection of it. For me, those few minutes are permanently gone. That’s pretty much the opposite of a Ben Askren title fight, where the 25 minutes you give up to watch it feel like two hours. I don’t know if that makes it worse than a seizure, but I can tell you that my wife doesn’t want to sit through either ever again.
joe mosqueda @joedaddy85 @benfowlkesMMA will I ever appear in your twitter mailbag article amongst other questions from the great fans of this great sport of mma?
Yes, but only once. And look what you wasted it on. What a shame.
Paul Silva @ThePaulSilva @benfowlkesMMA Idea: B.J Penn fighting Aldo, what you think?
I don’t like it. I doubt Penn would either. There’s no point in fighting for a title that you have no intention of sticking around and trying to hold for an extended period of time. And, let’s be honest, there’s no way Penn wants to cut to 145 pounds a few times a year, no matter how fantastic his abs might look at that weight. Brendan @CursedDiamonds @benfowlkesMMA What’s the best and worst part about having to suddenly confront your own mortality? Any funny stories come out of this?
The best part is being reminded to appreciate the life you have now rather than the life you assume you’ll be around to live later. Turns out you have far less control over what later might look like (or if it will exist for you at all) than you think. That is also the worst part.
Michael @coldplay0484 @benfowlkesMMA If Barnett wins the tournament has he earned a spot in the UFC?
He’s earned it even if he doesn’t win the tournament. The same is true for Cormier.
Joshua Fitch @joshuafitch @benfowlkesMMA is the UFC making a long term mistake in not getting bigger fights on Fox, specifically title fights?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, but it’s complicated.
There were a lot of factors that may have contributed to the recent ratings decline on FOX. A huge action movie had just opened that weekend, which also happened to be Cinco de Mayo (also known as the holiday that many Americans can’t explain the genesis of, but celebrate aggressively anyway). There was also a big boxing match that night, or so I hear. Individually, those sound like weak excuses for poor ratings, but together they form like Voltron to chip away at the UFC’s potential viewership. Maybe. Possibly.
Those are all minor problems that are, for the most part, outside of the UFC’s control. The big problem — the one that is in the UFC’s power to fix — is the fight card. Remember the first FOX show? The one that drew an enormous audience despite the briefest of action? That was pitched as the “HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!!!” You don’t need to know anything about the current state of the UFC or its roster to understand what that means. All you need to know is where and when.
Compare that to Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller. It was a good fight, and one that hardcore MMA fans knew would be exciting. But picture trying to explain it to your neighbor while the two of you discuss your Saturday night plans. Is it for a championship? No. Is it to determine who gets a shot at a championship? Maybe, but it depends who wins. Do they hate each other or something? Not at all.
What do you think: is he going to watch?
The UFC would make the argument that a) it was a fun fight, so shut up, and b) it was free, so shut up. Those are both valid points, even if telling people to shut up often brings about the exact opposite result. Still, when you offer up a fight like Diaz-Miller, what you’re really saying to the casual sports fan/network TV viewer is: You feel like watching some UFC tonight? You’re not selling a specific fight or a specific personality at that point. You’re not even selling a set of stakes. You’re selling the brand name and the vague promise of memorable violence.
Some nights that works. It just doesn’t work when there’s a new movie to go to and a 2-for-1 deal on Coronas at the bar down the street, which may or may not be showing this championship boxing match. The UFC could fix some of that by offering up big title fights on FOX, but then it has to convince champions to forego a cut of pay-per-view money and agree to the kind of fight that they really, really can’t pull out of, even if they get hurt or sick. That also involves the UFC giving up some pay-per-view money to bolster a TV deal it already has, and for what? Just to get a ratings number it can crow about? Just to shut up the people on the internet who — let’s face it — are the exact same people who will stay home to watch Diaz and Miller?
It’s a tough situation, and one with a lot of complexities. The UFC needs to decide what the role of the FOX events is going to be. Right now it seems to think that, like the Spike TV Fight Nights of old, it serves to showcase fighters who people will eventually pay to see. But that doesn’t work on people who aren’t yet MMA fans, and it doesn’t work if the fighters we just saw (Nate Diaz and Johny Hendricks, for instance) won’t fight again for nine or twelve months. True, some people will tune in just to watch some UFC. But then, the UFC already had those people. Wasn’t the FOX deal supposed to help pull in all the other people? Wasn’t that why it was so important? Chad @CMG_77 @benfowlkesMMA excluding yourself of course, why hasn’t more been made of/questions asked of the known trt users?
What are you supposed to ask them? If we already know they use testosterone, and if they go through the existing channels to get their therapeutic-use exemptions, what are we supposed to say?
‘Excuse me, Mr. Henderson, but do you still use testosterone?’
‘Yep.’
‘Okay, thanks.’
It’s not the known users we should worry about — it’s the unknown users, and there are plenty. It’s also the athletic commissions, some of which have at least something resembling acceptable standards and some of which don’t. If we want to get rid of TRT — or at least restrict its usage to those who really, really need it and are willing to go through a transparent, rigorous process to prove it — then we need to direct these questions to the commissions and to the MMA organizations themselves. The fighters are going to get every advantage they can. It’s the job of the athletic commissions to draw the lines between fair and unfair advantages, and to stick to it even when it’s tough.
wb @wiksenn @benfowlkesMMA what are your thoughts on championship rematches? And when is it right to have a rematch?
If there’s a controversial ending? Sure, go ahead and rematch. If there’s not another obvious contender already waiting in the wings, and the fight is one that, for whatever reason, people would like to see again right away? Rematch all you want. But if it’s just a close decision, and if there are other guys out there who have dutifully waited their turn for a crack at the belt, then I say we should move on. If the loser of the close decision is truly championship material, he’ll be back at the top before long. That doesn’t mean everyone else should put their careers on hold in the meantime, however.
Jason Rule @JasonRule @benfowlkesMMA Promising UFC freshmen Denis, Thompson, and Cholish have hit a sophomore slump. Who comes out better for having hit it?
Nick Denis gets my vote, with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as a close second. Denis may have come out on the losing end against Roland Delorme, but he’s still an exciting fighter in a division that, as they say in the corporate world, offers plenty of advancement opportunities. Another blistering finish and he’s right back in there. I’m not sure it will be quite as simple for Cholish, who has some wrestling deficiencies in a weight class that’s overflowing with guys capable of exploiting them. TheKidd @VineStreetLife @benfowlkesMMA Ronda Rousy to headline a UFConFOX card….is such a thing possible? Good idea? Best opponent? Answer away, genius. #TMB
No, it’s not a good idea. It’s a great idea. Remember what I wrote earlier about the trouble with asking John Q. Sportsfan to sit down and watch some UFC? A Ronda Rousey main event doesn’t have that problem. It allows you to explain to your neighbor in 30 seconds or less why he should make a point to be in front of his TV on Saturday night, and also why his girlfriend might be interested, at least once somebody takes slightly more than 30 seconds to explain the UFC’s historical reluctance to get involved in women’s MMA. Men will watch for the violence (and to see Rousey in a sports bra), while women will watch because they can relate to the struggle to prove that one’s genitalia should not determine what one is and is not capable of in the workforce (and sure, also maybe for the violence and the sports bra, depending on the woman).
As for an opponent, that depends on how Rousey does against Sarah Kaufman, and also whether Cris “Cyborg” can get clean and get right with the powers that be. All I’m saying is, Rousey-Cyborg is the rare fight where the poster alone tells you almost everything you need to know.
Seany Adams @rokabee @benfowlkesMMA should we occupy NY MMA at this point?
You know what? The hell with New York. I’m sick of hearing about it. If the state wants to play politics with MMA while allowing everything from pro wrestling to bull riding to parade through Madison Square Garden, fine. I think the UFC should do what I did back in 2008 when I was sick of living in New York City: pack up and head west. Just saying, Montana would welcome the UFC with open arms and cheap beers.
Matt Giesbrecht @MattGiesbrecht @benfowlkesMMA With the high potential of UFC 148 upcoming (less without Cruz), what do you rank as your Top 3 cards in history? #mailbag
To make this easy on myself, I’m going to limit it to the top three fight cards I’ve personally attended, and I will offer no explanation or defense of my picks. I base these picks on a) the quality of the fights I saw there, and b) what it felt like to be in that particular place at that particular time. That said, my top three events are, in no meaningful order: WEC 53, UFC 139, and UFC 134. Max de Vries @MaxWdeVries @benfowlkesMMA Has Nate Diaz ever said anything about a possible fight with Melendez if he should end up in the UFC? Would that happen?
Won’t happen. Not surprisingly, considering the lens through which the Diaz brothers view professional fighting, they are far less likely to fight their friends than, say, those wrestler types who see it all as one big, friendly competition. When the Diazes fight, they view it almost as a matter of life and death. You might play racquetball against your best friend, but you probably don’t want to meet him for pistols at dawn, if you know what I’m saying.
Terry Shillito @TerryShillito @benfowlkesMMA With King Mo going to Bellator&TNA, do we see a UFC/WWE collaboration in the near future? Do we WANT to see that?
No and no. Just like the bookstore has separate sections for fiction and non-fiction, so too should the sporting world. I think the UFC has struggled for legitimacy long enough to appreciate that.
Safi Afzal @SlumDoggg @benfowlkesMMA should bellator take a chance and sign rampage when he gets set loose by the ufc and make a Mo vs Rampage ppv?
I have a feeling that, should he decide to seriously pursue fighting in a timely fashion after his UFC exit, “Rampage” Jackson is going to request an unreasonable amount of money. I also have a feeling that Bellator will rightly wonder whether he’s worth the price tag and the headache at this point in his career, especially considering how much he complains about doing the bare minimum for the highest-paying MMA organization in the land. If I were Bellator, I’d sit back and give Jackson a chance to find out what the free agent market really looks like for a 33-year-old former champion. Even if it doesn’t bring his asking price down significantly, it can’t help but improve his attitude.
The UFC on FOX 3 event delivered perhaps the best main event to the smallest TV audience yet. It also propelled a couple new contenders into the championship picture, while knocking a few other hopefuls further down the line.Now t…
The UFC on FOX 3 event delivered perhaps the best main event to the smallest TV audience yet. It also propelled a couple new contenders into the championship picture, while knocking a few other hopefuls further down the line.
Now that a sobering Monday is upon us, it’s time to take a look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between after an interesting Saturday night in New Jersey.
Biggest Winner: Nate Diaz Against one of the toughest opponents he’s ever faced, Diaz looked better than he’s ever looked. Better still, he didn’t have to play it safe or sacrifice any of his Diaz-ness to get it done. He followed the Stockton playbook, complete with mid-fight flexdowns and rangy punch combos, then made Miller pay when he tried to take it to the mat. How could you not give this guy a title shot? The lightweight division is getting crowded at the top, but Diaz deserves to jump to the front of the line after his recent performances. He’s closed up many of the early holes in his game, and he always entertains inside the cage. What’s more, you can generally count on him to, in UFC president Dana White’s words, “play the game” when it comes to pre and post-fight festivities. He’s everything the UFC needs in a fresh lightweight contender, and he’s only getting better. Now he plays the waiting game.
Biggest Loser: Rousimar Palhares For the past few years, “Toquinho’s” game plan has been the worst-kept secret in MMA. We all know that he wants nothing more than to grab ahold of his opponent’s leg and twist it like a wet towel that he’s trying to wring dry. The fact that he’s been so successful with that approach anyway has served as a testament to the value of skill over surprise. But even when he got Belcher where he wanted him, Palhares couldn’t close the deal. Even worse, he didn’t seem to have much of a plan B. He let Belcher posture up on top of him and blast away with punches and elbows, which is only a good idea if your goal is to find out what the inside of a New Jersey hospital looks like. If the question hounding Palhares’ career was ‘how far can a one-trick pony rise in the UFC if his one trick is a really good one,’ I think we just got our answer.
Clinging to #1 Contendership by the Follicles of His Beard: Johny Hendricks Okay, so his win over Josh Koscheck wasn’t exactly a dominant one. One or two punches or takedowns here or there, and that decision could have gone the other way. Still, Hendricks did just enough to convince two of three judges (everyone but Ricardo Almeida, in other words) to give him the nod. But, in the process, did he convince the UFC and its fans that he’s worthy of a title shot? Tough to say. On one hand, a win over Koscheck always means something. He’s been at or near the top of the division for years, and however you have to play it to get your hand raised against that guy, it’s a significant accomplishment. On the other hand, I doubt many people are salivating over a potential GSP-Hendricks bout after that performance. If Hendricks wants to wait until Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit handle their business before stepping into the cage again, that’s an understandable choice. It’s also one that has gone wrong for many of those who came before him.
Most Surprising: Alan Belcher Before this fight, I would have told you that his chances for victory hinged on his ability to keep the fight standing. Turns out he was perfectly capable of defending against Palhares’ go-to finish, and he didn’t even need to be on his feet to score the TKO. After his big win, Belcher declared he was coming for the middleweight title, which at first struck me as overly optimistic, not to mention premature. Then I stopped and thought about it and had to admit that, with four straight finishes in his last four UFC fights, he has a strong case. Of course, then we get into the conversation of whether he has any realistic chance of out-striking someone like Anderson Silva, though by then we’re already well ahead of ourselves. For now, let’s just be grateful that the middleweight division has some fresh faces rising to the top. After keeping his knee ligaments intact en route to victory against Palhares, Belcher is certainly one of them.
Least Secure Future: Pat Barry He took a battering from Lavar Johnson before he finally went down in the waning moments of an exciting first round. The loss is his third in four attempts inside the Octagon, and it drops his overall UFC record to a dismal 4-5. That’s not good for job security in this business, even if you happen to be an entertaining heavyweight striker. Look, we all love “HD.” How could you not? He’s a fun personality and a great human being. He’s also a talented fighter who just hasn’t been able to get the breaks to go his way in the big fights. It’s hard not to sympathize with him and want to see him do well. At the same time, likability alone will only carry you so far in the world of professional pugilism. You still have to get some marks in the win column in order to stay relevant. Personally, I hope Barry can put together a winning streak and solidify his standing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, if only because MMA is a lot more fun when he’s around. It’s just that, at the sport’s highest level, fun isn’t always enough.
Gimmick That’s Got to Go: Louis Gaudinot’s flowing green locks I get it: when you’re coming up through the crowded TUF ranks, you have to find a way to get noticed. Looking like the lovechild of Clay Guida and The Incredible Hulk is a decent way of accomplishing that, but at certain moments in Gaudinot’s Fight of the Night tilt with John Lineker it seemed borderline unsafe. I’m not saying every fighter has to go with the Brock Lesnar, high-and-tight crewcut look, but you should at least be able to see the punches that are flying at your face. Gaudinot made the necessary adjustment between rounds and finished with a sweet little guillotine, so maybe all’s well that ends well. Then again, how much time can a pro fighter really spend in the beauty parlor before he has to admit that he’s trying too hard?
Cause for Concern: UFC on FOX ratings It’s not time to sound the alarm just yet, but neither is it a good sign when your network TV ratings form a downward trending line. Live sports ratings tend to undergo some adjustment following the initial ratings, and I’m sure the UFC and FOX are both happy with the numbers they pulled in the key adult demographic. But let’s be real here: more people watched reruns than watched a live, free UFC fight on a major television network. That ain’t good, no matter how you spin it. You could point to any number of factors to explain away the diminished viewership. Maybe it was Floyd Mayweather’s fault. Maybe too many people were out of the house, getting their Cinco de Mayo on. Maybe FOX didn’t do enough to pull the attention of hockey and basketball fans who are in full-on postseason obsession mode. Or, let’s just say it, maybe you can’t put on contender-quality fights and hope for championship-level ratings. Diaz-Miller is a fight that’s interesting to the hardcores, and you can’t say that it didn’t deliver in the cage. Still, you have to admit that it lacks the elevator pitch appeal of ‘HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!!!’ Aside from that JDS-Velasqez kickoff to the FOX deal, the UFC seems unwilling to part with short-term pay-per-view cash in order to build a long term audience on FOX. It keeps the big fights for the big events, and gives network audiences whatever else it thinks it can spare. You could argue that the UFC is trying to build mainstream interest in top contenders as they move toward pay-per-view title fights, but look at Diaz and Hendricks, the two contenders to emerge from this event. It will likely be many months before either gets his shot at the gold. Will the people who watched this event still be thinking about them by then? Will they even remember watching this event by the fall or winter? The ratings decline seems to suggest that viewers can tell the difference between a card that asks them to stay home and watch a big fight, and one that asks them to stick around just to watch some UFC. Now we know. The question is what the UFC and FOX will do with that knowledge.
The MMA Wrap-Up returns to take a look back at Nate Diaz’s dominant win over Jim Miller on FOX, and to ask ourselves if, with this victory, it isn’t time we permanently shifted our focus to the younger of the two Diaz boys. Now th…
The MMA Wrap-Up returns to take a look back at Nate Diaz’s dominant win over Jim Miller on FOX, and to ask ourselves if, with this victory, it isn’t time we permanently shifted our focus to the younger of the two Diaz boys. Now that he’s as dangerous and exciting inside the cage as his brother ever was, and yet not quite so self-destructive outside of it, is Nate everything we always wanted Nick to be? To find out, you need only click play and sacrifice three precious minutes of your life that you’ll never get back.
