What do you get when you cram ten heavyweights (or, as Dan Hardy put it, nine heavyweights and a fat guy) onto one main card for one big pay-per-view on a Saturday night in Las Vegas? Heading into UFC 146, that was the question. T…
What do you get when you cram ten heavyweights (or, as Dan Hardy put it, nine heavyweights and a fat guy) onto one main card for one big pay-per-view on a Saturday night in Las Vegas? Heading into UFC 146, that was the question. The answer, according to most fans and media members, was: something great or something terrible, but very little in between.
When you think about it in those terms, UFC 146 turned out far, far better than anyone had a right to expect. When it comes to heavyweights, it’s usually feast or famine. Either they let the cannons roar and knock each other out in the first round, or they end up wheezing all over each other until the judges have seen enough and declare one of them the victor just so we can all go home. A main card of nothing but heavyweights? It sounded ambitious. It also sounded like the stuff disasters are made of.
Instead, what we got was a masterpiece. Five heavyweight fights, five finishes — three in the first round — and zero disappointments. Despite the numerous ways that it could have gone wrong, there was almost no way it could have gone better.
What makes UFC 146 more impressive is how many obstacles it had to clear before the first punch was even thrown. Once Alistair Overeem was found to have an over-abundance of testosterone that resulted in a suspension, Frank Mir got called up to take his place in the main event title fight against Junior dos Santos. Then Cain Velasquez, who was supposed to fight Mir, got Antonio Silva instead. Then Roy Nelson, who was supposed to fight Silva, got Gabriel Gonzaga. Then Gonzaga got hurt, and Nelson was given Dave Herman. If you’re aren’t exhausted and confused yet, just wait. We haven’t even gotten to the undercard.
What’s important is, even after this game of musical chairs, the card was even better in execution than it was on paper. Stefan Struve showed off his submission skills against Lavar Johnson (who, of course, was himself a late replacement for the injured Mark Hunt). Stipe Miocic announced his UFC presence with authority in a skull-slicing win over Shane del Rosario. Nelson knocked out Herman. Velasquez beat the plasma out of Silva. JDS called his shot and retained his title with a second-round TKO of a game Mir. What else could you want?
Well, a great prelim card would be nice. Maybe even one featuring breakout wins for guys like Paul Sass and Glover Teixeira, plus how about a career-salvaging knockout for Dan Hardy? Done. And — what’s that? — you also want to see former WEC champ Jamie Varner, the man the MMA world forgot about and left for dead, shock everyone with a first-round knockout of undefeated Brazilian terror Edson Barboza? Okay. Why not.
By the time it was all over, even the hot dog vendors were out of breath. More importantly, the heavyweights had proved that they were serious martial artists who could carry a card and put on a show. Even with a full summer lineup on the way, that’s a performance that’s going to be hard to beat.
2. UFC on FUEL TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva (aka: UFC Sweden)
I admit it, I’m biased. I had the privilege of attending the UFC’s Swedish debut in Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe Arena, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. Not only was the card spectacular (Gustafsson, Brian Stann, and Siyar Bahadurzada were worth the trip alone), but there’s always something special about seeing an event through the eyes of such a passionate crowd. The ovation for Gustafsson gave me chills, and I’ve never seen any crowd more excited about Reza Madadi (who is, in fairness, a pretty rad dude). Plus, the Swedes are just nice as hell. 3. UFC on FUEL TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirer
With two exciting big men like Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett battling it out in the finals, you could almost convince yourself that the StrikeforceHeavyweight Grand Prix was a success. Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson also did their part in reminding us of the existence of the Strikeforce lightweight title, so what else do you want, really?
Jon Jones continued his reign of supremacy in a showdown with former teammate Rashad Evans, while Michael McDonald and Ben Rothwell both notched first-round KO wins that resulted in the kind of highlights you can’t stand to watch, but can’t look away from. Somewhere in there, Rory MacDonald also found time to dominate another opponent.
As we face a rare summer weekend without any major MMA events, the Twitter Mailbag returns to answer some of your questions, mock others, and just plain ignore the rest. Good clean fun, basically.If you’ve got a question of …
As we face a rare summer weekend without any major MMA events, the Twitter Mailbag returns to answer some of your questions, mock others, and just plain ignore the rest. Good clean fun, basically.
If you’ve got a question of your own, find me on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. If I’m not there, leave a message and I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience. Now, who’s up first?
Matt Giesbrecht @MattGiesbrecht Do you think that Ortiz-Griffin is a good co-main event at UFC 148 or should they have added a fight? #mailbag
UFC 148 is that rare event where you could put Aunt Jemima vs. Mrs. Butterworth as the co-main event and it wouldn’t harm pay-per-view sales a bit. We all know what people are paying to see there, and it’s at the top of the card. The rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen ought to drive fan interest all by itself. Anything you see on the way to that fight is a bonus, kind of like showing up to see the Red Sox and the Yankees play and finding out it’s free tote bag day at the ball park. You didn’t buy tickets because of it, but hey, you get there and you’re all like, ‘Free tote bag? Yeah, I guess I got some stuff that needs toting. Sweet.’ Am I saying that Griffin-Ortiz III is the cheaply-made tote bag of MMA? Yes, I am. Deal with it.
Christopher M. Karim @cmkarim With Overeem suspended for PED use, is UFC sending wrong message by having him at fan expo?
Interesting question, Christopher. On one hand, here’s a guy who White insists he is still too angry at to even talk to, who he says lied to his face, and we’re going to parade him around these sponsor booths as if he’s any other fighter in good standing with the UFC. On the other hand, how much do you need to punish a person? He’s already suspended, which meant he missed out on a title fight and a bunch of money. Must he also be locked in the MMA attic until December? And if so, how are we going to explain all those weird noises when we have people over and he’s up there moaning and banging around?
On the other other hand, Frank Mir is going to be there too. He received a therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone when he fought Junior dos Santos in Overeem’s place. How much more upset can we get when the difference between the two is that one asked first and the other didn’t? And hey, as long as we’re pointing fingers, Stephan Bonnar’s going to be there. He tested positive for steroids six years ago, so the fact that we’re not concerned about what kind of message it sends to have him at the expo suggests that either we forgive and move on at a certain point, or else we don’t, but we still want a chance to get the fist-pose photo with our favorite fighters anyway. Either way, sins are forgiven when there’s money to be made.
Andrew Neilson @acneilson is erik silva vs rory a more relevant WW fight than rory and bj penn? #mailbag
Absolutely. But then, almost any fight featuring Rory MacDonald against an active welterweight would be more relevant than a fight against B.J. Penn. That’s nothing against Penn, who’s one of this sport’s all-time greats. All I’m saying is a) he’s not really a welterweight (I mean, really), and b) wasn’t he retired? Just because a public challenge from MacDonald convinced him to get out of the recliner and take the fight, I’m not sure that makes it a terribly meaningful contest.
Steve Martinez @stevemteezy How crazy am I to think Bj has a great shot against Rory IF he shows up in great shape? Big IF, I know.
When Penn’s in shape, you can never count him out. What I question is his motivation. What’s he doing this for? Money? Pride? Just ‘cause? If he finds himself stuck underneath MacDonald midway through the third round, I’m not sure any of that will give him the drive he needs to get up. Penn is great when he’s gone through a hard training camp and he’s got a fire burning in his belly. When either of those things isn’t the case, he’s simply very good.
Gary LaPlante @GaryLaplante Do you think the UFC will realize that their market demo doesn’t want to stay home every Saturday to shell out fifty bucks, to watch cards that while still entertaining are watered down compared to years past?
In fairness, it’s not every Saturday. Sometimes it’s Friday. Sometimes, such as this weekend, there’s nothing at all. Plus, they aren’t all pay-per-views. In fact, it’s been almost a month since the UFC asked you to pay for something, so I have to think that if Dana White were here right now he’d tell you to stop [expletive] complaining, you [expletive]ing [expletive].
But okay, I understand your point. The UFC does ask its fans to give up an awful lot of what I’m going to go ahead and term “social opportunity nights” (that’s trademarked, btw), so you have to wonder how that will play with the coveted 18-34 year-old male demographic that the UFC is always talking about. Boring old people don’t mind staying home and watching TV every weekend. Young men are more apt to want to leave the house for some, um, social opportunities every now and then. Plus, as you mention, the schedule can only be expanded so far until the roster is stretched thin, resulting in weaker lineups. But that wasn’t your question. That was the premise upon which your question — not to mention the questions of several others who tweeted at me in this go ‘round — was based on.
So, do I think the UFC will realize that? If it’s a real thing that’s really happening, and not just a popular hypothesis, yes, I think the UFC will realize it. The numbers will tell the tale eventually, and the UFC has historically been pretty good about responding to the wants and needs of its fanbase. Personally, I think 2012 is the year the UFC will discover that it might be overdoing it. Whether it will take immediate action, and what that action might look like, I have no idea.
Ben Brophy @BBrophy723 how many wins would it take thiago alves to get back into contention?
It’s not only how many fights you win, but who you beat and when you beat them. The welterweight division is a mess right now, so even if Alves went on a summer-long tour of brutality, it probably wouldn’t help. He needs those guys at the top to sort their issues out, and, let’s be honest, he probably also needs Georges St-Pierre to not be the champion anymore. If GSP jumps weight classes, loses the belt, or just flat-out retires, Alves could be right back in the top contender spot with two or three impressive wins. Otherwise, it could be a long, hard slog for “The Pitbull.”
Joshua @artsyfartsytwat How did you find it going to a Bundeslige game?
It was great, even if I was bummed to get there and discover that the only beer for sale was non-alcoholic. Though, after seeing the way the Hertha fans reacted when their team lost to the worst team in the league, I started to understand why the powers that be didn’t want to give them a chance to get too lathered up. Also, when 50,000 people show up to see the second worst team in the German soccer league play the absolute worst team, it reminds me that Dana White has some work to do if he still wants MMA to be the biggest sport in the world.
tony woods @tonywoodsnc is Glover Texiera as good as most people think he is and whats next for him?
I don’t know. Nobody knows yet, because he hasn’t faced top competition. Sure, he looked like a monster against Kyle Kingsbury, but Kingsbury, as nice a guy as he is, isn’t exactly the cream of the light heavyweight crop. I’m not sure if the answer is to try and wedge him into a fight with a former champion right off the bat, but let’s put him against someone on the high end of the top ten and see what he can do before we start printing up those Teixeira posters for our bedroom walls.
Ryan 211 @Ryan211 Will the recent list of injuries end up resulting in lower ticket sales? #TMB
Maybe not significantly lower, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already resulting in later ticket sales. Who wants to book that trip to Las Vegas six weeks out when you can never be sure that all the fighters you want to see will be healthy enough to make it into the cage? At least if you go to Vegas to see Carrot Top you can be reasonably sure that it won’t be Gallagher who shows up on stage once you get there. I mean, either way you end up seeing prop comedy, so you probably get exactly what you deserve in the end, but you see my point. People like to know what they’re going to get for their money. That’s a desire that’s simply incompatible with the phrase ‘fight card subject to change.’
Brian Edwards @kayminsdad What on earth gives for the Franklin/Silva PPF? I love Rich, ain’t no way I’m paying $55 to see him fight with that card.
Two things here: 1) While you claim to love Rich Franklin, I see it isn’t an unconditional sort of love, which saddens me, and 2) Yeah, that card’s a tough sell. I don’t know what else to tell you.
Josh C @_allmyfriends In your opinion, is Anderson/Chael II the most anticipated matchup in UFC history?
I’m going to be the annoying jerk who answers a question with a question: how do you measure anticipation levels? Is there a special sensor I don’t know about? Because otherwise, how can you tell if one event is noticeably more anticipated than another, and what would that mean, anyway? Let’s just say that, yes, I am really looking forward to seeing that rematch. Maybe even in the same sense that I looked forward to Christmas when I was ten. Isn’t that enough?
Morgan Waltz @MorganWaltz How do you feel your podcast is compared to @arielhelwani’s? Is there anything you plan on doing to improve the podcast?
I see absolutely no way that the Co-Main Event Podcast could possibly be improved upon. How dare you even suggest it. Also, Ariel has a podcast? Huh. I guess I should check that out when I get a free hour or five.
Jesse Raine @jesseraine quality (or lack there of) of TUF fighters aside, is the influx of more recognizable names on prelims a good reason for TUF?
Sure, but only if enough people watch TUF to make those names recognizable.
Daniel Downes @dannyboydownes Ok then, how weird does it make me…uh…I mean my friend that he was excited to hear this.
For those of you who don’t want to click the link, professional fighter Danny Downes has just informed us all that the upcoming remake of Total Recall will, in fact, include a mutant woman with three breasts. In other words, it will be true to the original in all the important ways. I don’t think a little excitement over news like that makes Danny — that is, Danny’s friend — weird at all. However, I remain fundamentally opposed to the very notion of a Total Recall remake. Even though I know I’ll end up seeing it anyway. At least now I know it can’t be all bad.
Pedro Figueiredo @pedromfdo Do u think UFC should make legendary fights? Would u like to see Marco Ruas and Mark Coleman in the cage for 3 min rounds?
Legendary fights? You mean old guy fights. You mean a couple geriatric dudes throwing slow-motion bungalows at one another’s skulls. No thanks, Pedro. There are some sports where the occasional old-timer night might have a certain harmless, nostalgic appeal. Professional fighting is not one of them.
ash. @ash01 If Dana said TUF Live was the fresh spin on the stale series, what dose he say about the show now to defend it?
My guess is he doesn’t say anything. My guess is he points to last season’s dismal ratings, then does that thing with his eyebrows, then storms out of the room. My point is, if people aren’t going to watch, why kill yourself trying to do live TV, especially if it’s just going to end up in the TV no-man’s land of Friday night anyway? Personally, I liked the live aspect of the show, if only because it made it feel slightly less reality show-y, but because of the Friday night time slot I ended up DVRing the episodes anyway. So what’s the point? Doing the show live means asking fighters to stay in that house twice as long, and it also means fewer opportunities to craft meaningful storylines. The ratings tell us that live TV is cool, but it doesn’t trump bad positioning in the lineup. If the best you can hope for is mediocre results, you might as well make it easy on yourself. TheKidd @VineStreetLife I’ll switch it up…do you think Clay Guida’s gogogo motor will negate Maynard’s physical power advantage? I say no. #TMB
I think you’re right. Guida has done an awful lot with the skills and natural ability that he has, and anyone who gets a win over him has to earn it. But Maynard, with his high-pressure style and power wrestling, seems like a nightmare match-up for him. The oddsmakers who have Maynard as a 3-1 favorite seem to agree.
Barry Williams @vamtnhunter Given Bob Sapp’s recent run of dominance, do you think more top fighters will start training in seclusion?
Wait, are you trying to tell me that Bob Sapp trains? In what sport, competitive diving?
Money @Money644 i got a different topic for you. Is MMA your favorite sport to watch? and if so, what is your second favorite sport?
MMA is definitely my favorite sport to watch, though I do wish that I got to do more watching and less watching while typing. After MMA, football (the American kind) is secure in the number two spot. But here’s the weird thing: covering a year-round sport for a living has absolutely made me less enthusiastic about watching sports in general in my leisure time. It’s kind of weird. There was a time when I could have reeled off the current National and American League standings from memory. There was a time when I knew the Lakers starting lineup better than I knew family members’ birthdays. Now it’s as if that information has been moved out of my brain to make room for all the different weight classes Kenny Florian fought in. In other words, sorry for forgetting your birthday, Mom. Blame KenFlo.
It was a call that Michael Bisping dreaded making. In six years with the UFC he’d never had to do it before, but now he had to call up matchmaker Joe Silva and tell him that he wouldn’t be able to make his date with Ti…
It was a call that Michael Bisping dreaded making. In six years with the UFC he’d never had to do it before, but now he had to call up matchmaker Joe Silva and tell him that he wouldn’t be able to make his date with Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 after all.
“I’ve never, ever once pulled out of a fight,” Bisping told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour. “[Before] the Ultimate Fighter final I was training with Georges St-Pierre, and I tore my posterior cruciate ligament, my PCL, several days before the fight, and I still went ahead and fought. I’ve done training camps with one hand. I’ve constantly fought injured, because that’s part of the game. That’s the way that it goes.”
But now, thanks to a torn meniscus and two “loose bodies” floating around in his knee, Bisping couldn’t complete a normal run without having his knee collapse underneath him. A doctor told him he’d need surgery that would sideline him for at least four weeks, which meant he’d have to forego a paycheck and a chance to move himself closer to a middleweight title shot. It also meant he’d have to make that call.
“It was horrible,” Bisping said. “I was constantly second-guessing myself. Fortunately, I’ve got a good manager, Audie [Attar] from Paradigm Sports Management, and I’ve got a good team of people around me giving me good advice. They’re not interested in me fighting just to take a percentage, they’re interested in what’s good for me. Because I was going to take the fight.”
Now Bisping has a surgery scheduled for Wednesday, and a few weeks of recovery to look forward to once that’s over. What the UFC middleweight division will look like by the time he’s ready to come back, that’s a question no one can answer just yet.
For starters, there’s recent signee Hector Lombard, who called out Bisping via Twitter last week, and who may earn himself a title shot if he can notch a win over Boetsch when he replaces Bisping at UFC 149 in Calgary. Upon hearing that news, Bisping said, he was “massively pissed off,” but admitted that he didn’t know much about Lombard’s actual skills.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen the guy fight. I’ve never seen the guy fight once, because I’ve never seen Bellator. I don’t watch it, no interest. By all accounts he’s an aggressive fighter and he knocks people out and all the rest of it, but I’ve never seen him fight. He could be the best thing since sliced bread. I don’t know. What I do know is he’s never had a fight in the UFC, so why the [expletive] is he getting a title shot?”
Of course, he’s not. At least not yet. But then, neither is Bisping, thanks to his recent decision loss to Chael Sonnen. And while the Brit said he thinks he deserves a title shot, since “apart from a couple bogus decisions, I’ve won every fight since the Dan Henderson fight,” he understands why he hasn’t been offered one yet.
“I understand the UFC’s decision,” said Bisping. “The reason I haven’t had a title shot is because of me.”
If Sonnen prevails in his title fight with Anderson Silva — a big if, according to Bisping — he’d love a rematch of their closely contested bout, this time with a UFC belt on the line. In the meantime, he’ll have to suffer through the indignity of being another victim of the UFC’s injury bug. Some might think that the UFC’s health insurance has made fighters too quick to pull out of fights, but as Bisping explained: “This is how I make money. Sitting on the sideline, having surgery, thinking on this and that, isn’t going to cut it. It isn’t going to pay the bills. It isn’t going to secure my family’s future.”
As for UFC president Dana White’s assertion that fighters are bringing these injuries on themselves with over-training? Bisping doesn’t necessarily disagree, he said, but he also doesn’t think there are many other options available to fighters at the highest level of the sport.
“Maybe we do go too hard, but that’s the way you’ve got to train to get ready for a fight. You’ve got to train the way you fight. If you don’t train the way you fight, when you fight you’re going to be shocked.”
Then again, if you aren’t healthy enough to even make it into the cage, you’re going to be poor. And neither is a particularly attractive option.
It took a couple tries, but the UFC’s flyweight tournament finally has a final. And beyond the frenetic action in the 125-pound main event, UFC on FX 3 brought us plenty of fireworks throughout the main card. The prelims, we…
It took a couple tries, but the UFC’s flyweight tournament finally has a final. And beyond the frenetic action in the 125-pound main event, UFC on FX 3 brought us plenty of fireworks throughout the main card. The prelims, well, they definitely happened as well.
Now that the dust has settled and the blood has dried, let’s take a look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between after the UFC on FX 3.
Biggest Winner: Demetrious Johnson Three frantic rounds, and “Mighty Mouse” still ended the fight looking like he was ready to go for a jog, maybe play a couple sets of tennis. Watching his action-packed battle with McCall only reminds why it was high time the UFC added flyweights. In a true mixed martial arts bout with a little bit of everything, Johnson proved to be just a little too fast. At least the rematch was more conclusive (not that anyone would’ve complained about seeing another round of that one) and the flyweight tournament can now move toward what ought to be a thrilling conclusion. Is Johnson’s quickness and crafty striking enough to beat Joe Benavidez, who seemed to many like the de facto 125-pound champ from the moment the division was created? I can hardly wait to find out.
Biggest Loser: Charlie Brenneman He tried to turn it into a wrestling match so he could test Erick Silva on the mat. All he got for his trouble was a first-round submission loss. Brenneman is obviously a gifted athlete and a fierce competitor (don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about how he stepped up and beat Rick Story after Nate Marquardt’s testosterone fiasco in Pittsburgh), but at times it seems as if he might not have the full compliment of skills that one needs at this level. Of the four guys he’s beaten in the UFC, only one is still gainfully employed with the organization. That doesn’t mean Brenneman’s no good, or that he’s not still a threat to a lot of the welterweights out there (many of whom would have trouble with Silva, by the way), but he’s got to find a way to give his opponents more to worry about than just takedowns and ground control. Nobody can say much when you win those kinds of fights, but when you try to turn it into a grind and end up with a forearm on your throat before the first round is over, it doesn’t bode well.
Least Concerned About Open Head Wounds: Eddie Wineland In the Roman legions, men died from gashes like the one that Wineland had on his forehead by the end of his fight with Scott Jorgensen. Infection got some of them, but a few probably died of freakout after accidentally catching a glimpse of themselves in a still pool. Who could blame them? When you realize that your head now looks like the work of a frustrated jack-o-lantern carver, you have a right to get upset. But not Wineland. He somehow squinted through the blood and did what needed to be done, dropping Jorgensen with a vicious right hand. Good thing, too, because when you have a cavern in your forehead that’s pouring blood down into your eye, cageside doctors tend to get a little squeamish. Maybe the most amazing part is that even when Wineland had a chance to look at his cut on the big screen after the fight, he still didn’t seem too upset. A lot of guys might have asked for a plastic surgeon and wheelbarrow full of morphine. All Wineland asked for was more fights. That’s the kind of guy you want standing next to you when you’re going toe-to-toe with the Gauls. It’s definitely not someone you want to have throwing right hand bombs at the more delicate areas of your face.
Most Surprising: Mike Pyle I picked him to win, but I sure didn’t see it coming via one-punch knockout. With time ticking down in the opening frame, Pyle threw that right hand like he thought it would be one of many on the night. Even he couldn’t have expected that it would put Neer nose-down into a sponsor logo. It was just the fourth TKO win of Pyle’s career, and the only true knockout. He showed in his last fight that he’s getting more and more dangerous on the feet, but you still don’t think of him as the kind of guy who can erase your short-term memory with a single punch. As Jon Anik pointed out in the post-fight interview, Pyle’s no young buck in the fight game. Mid-30’s isn’t ancient for a fighter with his style, but let’s just say he’s not getting carded when he goes to buy beer. Maybe he doesn’t have the time to rise through the ranks and build a case for a title shot, but he’s clearly still capable of putting on a show and beating some very tough fighters. And hey, if he’s going to add one-punch power to his arsenal, who knows how far he might go?
Most Impressive in Defeat: Ian McCall Johnson might have been just a half-step ahead of him at the most crucial moments, but McCall kept the pressure on and didn’t give him anything for free. It didn’t result in a win for “Uncle Creepy,” but he’s got nothing to be ashamed of after that performance. In that division, and with only three rounds to work, so much depends on so little. A punch here, a takedown there, and the fight might swing in the opposite direction. It didn’t, of course, so he’s probably going to wallow in his own despair for the next couple weeks, but he’ll be back. The good news is, the UFC’s flyweight division is still so thin that he shouldn’t have too much trouble making his case for a shot at the eventual champion.
Least Impressive in Victory: Mike Pierce “Mike Pierce doing what Mike Pierce does,” Anik observed at one point in the broadcast. Near as I could tell, he did not intend it as a compliment. We all know Pierce’s game at this point. He’s a suffocating wrestler in the Jon Fitch mold. He’s nearly impossible to look good against, win or lose, and he brings a guaranteed 15-minute lull to any broadcast. There’s no rule against winning that way. If people don’t want to be crumpled up in a ball against the fence, it’s up to them to stop it from happening. At the same time, these performances aren’t doing much to bolster the ranks of the Official Mike Pierce Fan Club. I’m sure there are MMA fans out there who get excited by three rounds of perfunctory boxing, takedowns, and top control, but I can’t say I’ve ever met them.
Best Bilingual Interview Duo: Erick Silva and Wallid Ismail It was another impressive win by Silva, who looks like a nightmare for most UFC welterweights. But things got really fun when the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend and notorious wild card Ismail handled translation duties in the post-fight interview. At least, he started out translating. By the end, he was no longer letting Silva speak before launching into a speech of his own. That’s what you get when you put those two on TV. You can count on Silva to give you an aggressive performance and, more than likely, a finish; you can count on Ismail to do or say something that leaves people wondering, who was that guy? Do yourself a favor and look him up.
Least Official Officials: Florida Commission From referees who seemed not quite clear on the rules to judges who seemed not quite clear on which fighter was which, the Florida State Boxing Commission did not come off looking like seasoned professionals on Friday night in Sunrise. On the prelims, referee Chris Adams declined to deduct a point from Lance Benoist after two illegal knee strikes, opting instead to go with the favorite disciplinary tool of the summer camp counselor: the stern warning. Things didn’t get much better on the scorecards, either. Even after three rounds of a solid Mike Piercing, Carlos Eduardo Rocha somehow managed to win every round according to one judge’s tally. “Mighty Mouse” Johnson had a similar clean sweep against McCall on one scorecard, despite pretty clearly losing the second round. In both those fights, the right guy got his hand raised anyway, but it’s almost beside the point. These people — judges, referees, cageside officials — have important jobs to do. They’re responsible for fighter safety, for fairness, and for deciding who goes home with a win and twice as much money in his pocket. With all that on the line, how do we end up with people who seem to have only a passing interest in this stuff? If you’re going to take the time to regulate a combat sports event, why not take a little extra time to do a good job of it?
The weekend must be nearly upon us, because it’s time again for another UFC event on cable TV. They sort of sneak up on you, don’t they? The good news is, if you know how to pick him you can take the money you’re…
The weekend must be nearly upon us, because it’s time again for another UFC event on cable TV. They sort of sneak up on you, don’t they? The good news is, if you know how to pick him you can take the money you’re saving on pay-per-views and turn it into more money…which you will probably end up spending on more pay-per-views. It’s a vicious cycle, but at least it’s a fun one.
So how are the odds shaping up for Friday night’s UFC on FX 3 fight card? Check them out below, along with some (sort of) helpful analysis.
Here we go again. After the Australian commission torpedoed the UFC’s best-laid plans the last time out, Johnson and McCall will now, as the philosopher Don Frye says, ‘Do it again, brother.’ But now that we’ve already seen three rounds of action between these two, what do we know about how the rematch is likely to go down? For starters, we know it will probably be a fun, fast-paced affair. We also know it probably won’t end inside the distance. In fact, oddsmakers are offering a prop bet with -380 odds that this one will be decided by the judges. Think they’re wrong? You can get a nearly 3-1 return on your money by betting on a finish. In a fight like this, a lot could depend on who’s stronger in the later rounds. Last time it was McCall. Johnson says he’s fixed those problems with a better diet this time around, but we (and, I would argue, Johnson himself) won’t know for sure until we get there. For my money, McCall has the fire and the cardio to win the end of the fight. He also has the memory of what it felt like to hear the other guy’s name announced as the winner (albeit mistakenly) to motivate him right out of the gates. My pick: McCall. If anyone has a decent chance to finish this fight, it’s him. As a slight underdog, he’s worth small action.
Just thinking about the dubious disqualification that handed Silva a loss in his last bout still gets me upset. He was owning Carlo Prater in that fight, and we all know it. If anything, he owned him too thoroughly, and in so doing accidentally owned him on the back of the head ever so slightly. Still, the ownage came through loud and clear, which explains why he’s a favorite over Brenneman. What you have to wonder, however, is whether the Brazilian has the wrestling chops to avoid becoming ground-and-pound fodder here. Since this is his first fight outside of Brazil, it’s hard to know for sure. If you come up through the Jungle Fights ranks, you simply don’t see the quality or quantity of takedown attempts as you will in the UFC, where there are many more guys who spent their formative years in wrestling singlets. Silva has looked like a beast in recent fights, and you can’t say he’s not a finisher. You also can’t say for sure that he won’t have to fight off his back at some point in this bout. My pick: Silva, though not by much. If you can get Brenneman at close to or above 2-1 odds, he’s worth the risk.
Tell me one thing that Neer consistently does better than Pyle. G’head. Do it. I’ll just be here preemptively shaking my head. If you tell me you think Neer has better striking, I’ll tell you: only when he can turn the fight into a brawl without having to worry about being taken down, which is not the case here. If you tell me you think he has a better ground game, I’ll tell you that you may have lost your damn mind. If you tell me that he is just generally scrappier and meaner, I’ll tell you to go ask the guys down at Xtreme Couture about Pyle’s mean streak. They will tell you some awesome stories, then threaten to do Pyle-esque things to you if you repeat those stories. My point is, Pyle is just an all-around better fighter than Neer, who has gotten by on toughness and opportunism for much longer than I would have expected. Neer finds ways to win, that much is true. But Pyle already has so many advantages in this match-up that all he has to do is not give it away. My pick: Pyle. At these odds, Brenneman is a better underdog pick than Neer.
Wineland’s coming off two straight losses, but they were losses against a couple of the best fighters south of featherweight in Urijah Faber and Joe Benavidez. Still, those defeats signal some weaknesses that Jorgensen is very capable of exploiting. Jorgensen is at his best when he can swarm opponents early and use his wrestling to keep them playing defense. Wineland’s a good enough athlete and an experienced enough fighter to slow that process down, but can he stop it entirely? My pick: Jorgensen. I expect Wineland to make a fight of it, but it’s hard for me to envision him winning.
Quick picks:
– Leonard Garcia (-155) over Matt Grice (+135). Garcia has fallen on hard times against a couple solid opponents, but he’s still got the style and experience to win this one. – Sean Pierson (+140) over Jake Hecht (-160). Losses to Dong Hyun Kim and Jake Ellenberger are nothing to be ashamed of, but Pierson needs this one and he knows it. Crazy Internet Prop Bet That Could Make You Rich: McCall wins in round three (+2775). Think about how close it came to happening last time, then think about a return of $2,775 on a $100 investment. I’ll take my ten percent cut of your winnings up front, thank you very much. For Entertainment Purposes Only Parlay: McCall + Pyle + Jorgensen + Garcia.
For five weeks Rich Franklin slept sitting straight up in a chair. Maybe ‘slept’ is the wrong word. ‘Dozed’ might be more appropriate, considering the quality of rest he got as he nodded off each night with…
For five weeks Rich Franklin slept sitting straight up in a chair. Maybe ‘slept’ is the wrong word. ‘Dozed’ might be more appropriate, considering the quality of rest he got as he nodded off each night with his chin on his chest.
“I would fall asleep for an hour, hour and a half, then wake up. Then I’d fall back asleep for an hour or two and wake back up. It was like that for weeks on end,” Franklin told MMA Fighting.
This was the result of shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum he’d suffered in training before his scheduled bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 133. Franklin went under the knife after injuring the shoulder during grappling practice, and for the next five weeks laying down wasn’t an option. If he tried it, the weight of his shoulder pulling itself down toward the bed would cause him enough pain to rule out any chance of sleep. So the former UFC middleweight champ made his bed in a chair. He took his hour of shut-eye here, two hours there, and he did it for over a month. Maybe the most surprising part is that, even through the constant fog of fatigue, even when his rehab consisted of painful efforts with two-pound dumbbells, the 37-year-old Franklin didn’t seriously question whether this lifestyle was still worth the reward. Which is, when you think about it, maybe a little odd.
Not that Franklin is the first fighter to go through the tedious labors of post-surgery rehab. It’s practically a rite of passage in a sport where injuries are as plentiful as sponsored after-parties in Vegas nightclubs. It’s not hard to understand why a 25-year-old fighter — one who still dreams of greatness, of world titles, of fame and money and groupies — would see a few rough weeks of rehab as nothing more than a speedbump on the road to the top. But Franklin? He’s pushing 40. He’s already been a champion. He’s already banked his UFC highlight-reel moments and cashed his checks. What else does he want with this sport? What’s left that’s worth all this pain, this damage?
To hear Franklin tell it, the answer is: nothing. He’s already gotten what he needs from MMA. Now it’s about what he wants, or rather, what he doesn’t want, which is any other kind of life.
“As far as accomplishments go, I think I’m at that point where I could walk away and I could be happy with my career,” he said. “My conundrum is, I love doing what I do. When I think about what I’m going to fill my days with outside of fighting, it’s difficult for me. …I love doing what I do and I don’t know what else I would want to do.”
For instance, take his recent work as an analyst on FUEL TV for UFC 144. It’s supposed to be one of the cushiest athlete gigs around. You put on a suit, sit still long enough for them to splash a coat of makeup on you, then you talk about the thing you’re already an expert in. Wouldn’t that be an easier way to earn a living? When’s the last time Jon Anik had to sleep sitting up because of an injury suffered in rehearsal?
And sure, Franklin said, he enjoyed the FUEL TV stuff, “but the thought of me doing something like that as a full-time job? I’m just not in that mindset yet where I can not be active and be sitting behind a desk. I’ve done that. I used to be a high school teacher. To go back that, mentally, would be a regression. I enjoy going to the gym. I enjoy training and doing what I do. That’s the difficult part for me to give up.”
Maybe this explains why, when Franklin got the call asking him to replace an injured Vitor Belfort in a main event bout with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147, he was off in Singapore preparing for a bout with Cung Le at UFC 148. He didn’t need to go to Singapore, of course. He probably could have imported his own San Shou expert if he’d wanted to stay home and do the same old thing, but that’s not how Franklin does things. He wanted to actually learn something, not just get by.
So there he is, getting his Singapore on, when he logs on to the internet to see what’s happening in the MMA scene back home. That’s when he read the news, and he knew what was coming next.
“I saw that Vitor broke his hand, and I knew right away, the UFC is probably going to call and see if I will fill in for this,” he said. And sure enough he was right. The very next night, the call came through. How about changing opponents and dates? How about changing continents?
“At first I thought, I’m all the way over here in Singapore training specifically for Cung, so this is really a difficult change to make,” Franklin said. “But then, as I got to thinking about it, I believe that this is a winnable fight for me, and hey, the UFC needed someone to step in for them. Characteristically, I’ve been that guy. So here I am.”
Moving the bout up two weeks meant less time to cut down to 185 pounds, hence the catchweight provision. But then, the last time he fought Silva it was also at a catchweight. That worked out well enough. Franklin got the decision victory and a Fight of the Night bonus. This time he’s really doing the UFC a favor. This time he has every reason to expect even more bonus appreciation, although, he insisted, that’s not the only reason why he’s been the very definition of the company man all these years.
“I guess I like being the guy that helps out. I’m a team player. I told the UFC that from day one. I said, I’m the kind of guy that, if I feel like you have my back, I’ll have yours.”
And he has. In fact, in the last few years of his career, it’s become his defining characteristic. Franklin is the guy who will help out when the UFC needs him. Franklin is the guy who doesn’t say no.
In return, he keeps getting big fights against big names, despite the fact that his title-chasing days are almost certainly over. He wins some and loses some, but still gets the chance to do the only thing he really wants to do. He gives the UFC what it wants, and it gives the same thing right back. At least for now, neither of them has to think about what comes next, about what life will look like when there is no more Rich Franklin in the UFC. Maybe that’s as fair a trade as either can hope for.
