GSP CONTINUES REWRITING RECORD BOOK; DOES HE REALLY NEED TO VENTURE NORTH?
Georges St-Pierre continues making history with each fight. His win over Nick Diaz tied the champion with Matt Hughes for the most wins in UFC history (18). He also became the most decorated welterweight champion in UFC history, with eight total defenses of the welterweight championship (8). His eight consecutive defenses of a UFC title are second only to Anderson Silva and he is the standard bearer for the welterweight division. Oh yes, he also now has 11 wins by judges’ decision, which is yet another UFC record.
Yet, there is something about his current standing that makes me hesitate when thinking about a super fight between him and pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva.
Does anyone actually think that GSP has any shot at beating Silva? I certainly don’t. I think the Canadian would get knocked out if he made the mistake of moving north to try and solidify his standing in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings.
Don’t misinterpret those words. GSP is the single greatest welterweight to ever step inside the Octagon—bar none. Why does he need to move north? He isn’t a particularly large welterweight. And he still has plenty of legitimate welterweight challenges ahead of him—namely Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger.
I just don’t see what he would gain by moving north to fight Silva, except for a severe headache for a few days.
WOLF TICKETS?
Have I mentioned how much I love to listen to a Diaz interview? His stream-of-consciousness approach to the media is a refreshing change from the predetermined, hollow answers offered up by most professional athletes. And his commitment to his own version of reality is unyielding, unlike fictional, WWE-style trash talkers who just want attention.
Diaz keeps it real all day, every day, regardless of the audience or their openness to what he has to say. Everyone should respect that.
This week, Diaz offered up an interesting perspective on GSP, claiming that the champion was “selling wolf tickets” with his claimed commitment to handing Diaz the worst beat down in the history of the sport. You know what? Diaz was correct. GSP was selling wolf tickets. He is always selling wolf tickets when he talks about destroying an opponent. That is OK because mixed martial arts is a sport, not a street fight.
GSP is close to the perfect fighter. Not because he has the perfect skillset. Because he perfectly utilizes the skills that he possesses. He fights with equal commitment to offensive control and defensive focus. His goal is to hit, but not get hit. He wants to control, without risking getting controlled. As a result, he owns several UFC records.
I know. I know. GSP isn’t the flashiest fighter to watch. He isn’t going to keep you at the edge of your seat because of the imminent threat of explosive violence, like Anderson Silva. But that doesn’t make him any less effective at his craft. And he certainly is no less dominant, albeit in a different way.
Sure, GSP is selling wolf tickets. I’m not eating them up, either. I know what time it is when GSP fights. A UFC record 11 wins by judges’ decision, including five straight, tells you all you need to know. GSP is a sportsman who is committed to completely shutting down an opponent with technical brilliance, and he does that as well as anyone who has ever competed in the sport.
DIAZ RETIRING?
Really? Nick, are you serious?
I acknowledge that GSP beat him more convincingly than any of Diaz’s recent opponents. But retirement? That seems a bit extreme to me.
Diaz remains one of the best fighters in the world, pound for pound. Losing to GSP doesn’t change that, particularly the way that he lost.
Let’s be honest for a moment. GSP beat him. But he didn’t beat him up. GSP suffered more physical damage than Diaz did. He absolutely deserved a 50-45 win. No doubt about it. There is also no debating the fact that Diaz did as well against GSP as any opponent since Matt Serra.
Keep fighting, Nick. You love to hate mixed martial arts. And many fans love to hate you. Whatever the case, this is your calling.
“BIG RIGG” HAS TO BE NEXT
Johny Hendricks put it on Carlos Condit, and he did it with what appeared to be a broken left hand.
Hendricks is now 15-1, with six straight wins in the UFC. He is the clear number one contender in the welterweight division. Scoring a solid win over Condit erases any doubt as to who should be next in line for the champion.
OH MY GOODNESS
Nate Marquardt got blasted by Jake Ellenberger, who scored the single-most impressive win anyone has ever delivered over “Nate the Great.” It suggests that Ellenberger is title ready. In fact, I’ll write for certain that he is title ready. The only problem with him getting the next shot is Johny Hendricks.
I’m not sure I’d favor anyone in the UFC over Ellenberger, except for guys who can put him on his back—and are fully committed to doing so from Jump Street.
WHAT WAS RING THINKING?
Is there any reason why Nick Ring insisted on fighting the entire fight with his hands hanging comfortably at his sides? I can’t recall the last time that I’ve witnessed a top UFC competitor fight for three full rounds with his hands down. Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. both carved out soon-to-be Hall of Fame careers out of fighting that way. But that was boxing, not mixed martial arts. Plus, Ring doesn’t have the hand speed those guys possess. He needs to get his hands up in his next bout. It will both improve his defense and also create shorter pathways to touch his opponent’s mug.
RICCI LOOKED GOOD, BUT STILL DEVELOPING
Mike Ricci is finally competing in his natural weight class. His first UFC win was a workmanlike effort. But it was a win nonetheless. If I may be so bold as to offer some constructive criticism, Ricci needs to put his punches together a bit more. Almost everything he threw was of the one-and-done variety. He had a couple of two-piece combinations. Nothing of significance beyond that.
In addition, he needs to figure out a way to keep his left hand high when throwing a left kick. Ricci drops it every single time that he throws a kick. If he keeps that up, somebody is going to step into the kick and blast him with a straight right (or a right hook, if he is facing a southpaw).
Ricci otherwise looked great. Lightweight is definitely the right division for him.
GSP CONTINUES REWRITING RECORD BOOK; DOES HE REALLY NEED TO VENTURE NORTH?
Georges St-Pierre continues making history with each fight. His win over Nick Diaz tied the champion with Matt Hughes for the most wins in UFC history (18). He also became the most decorated welterweight champion in UFC history, with eight total defenses of the welterweight championship (8). His eight consecutive defenses of a UFC title are second only to Anderson Silva and he is the standard bearer for the welterweight division. Oh yes, he also now has 11 wins by judges’ decision, which is yet another UFC record.
Yet, there is something about his current standing that makes me hesitate when thinking about a super fight between him and pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva.
Does anyone actually think that GSP has any shot at beating Silva? I certainly don’t. I think the Canadian would get knocked out if he made the mistake of moving north to try and solidify his standing in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings.
Don’t misinterpret those words. GSP is the single greatest welterweight to ever step inside the Octagon—bar none. Why does he need to move north? He isn’t a particularly large welterweight. And he still has plenty of legitimate welterweight challenges ahead of him—namely Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger.
I just don’t see what he would gain by moving north to fight Silva, except for a severe headache for a few days.
WOLF TICKETS?
Have I mentioned how much I love to listen to a Diaz interview? His stream-of-consciousness approach to the media is a refreshing change from the predetermined, hollow answers offered up by most professional athletes. And his commitment to his own version of reality is unyielding, unlike fictional, WWE-style trash talkers who just want attention.
Diaz keeps it real all day, every day, regardless of the audience or their openness to what he has to say. Everyone should respect that.
This week, Diaz offered up an interesting perspective on GSP, claiming that the champion was “selling wolf tickets” with his claimed commitment to handing Diaz the worst beat down in the history of the sport. You know what? Diaz was correct. GSP was selling wolf tickets. He is always selling wolf tickets when he talks about destroying an opponent. That is OK because mixed martial arts is a sport, not a street fight.
GSP is close to the perfect fighter. Not because he has the perfect skillset. Because he perfectly utilizes the skills that he possesses. He fights with equal commitment to offensive control and defensive focus. His goal is to hit, but not get hit. He wants to control, without risking getting controlled. As a result, he owns several UFC records.
I know. I know. GSP isn’t the flashiest fighter to watch. He isn’t going to keep you at the edge of your seat because of the imminent threat of explosive violence, like Anderson Silva. But that doesn’t make him any less effective at his craft. And he certainly is no less dominant, albeit in a different way.
Sure, GSP is selling wolf tickets. I’m not eating them up, either. I know what time it is when GSP fights. A UFC record 11 wins by judges’ decision, including five straight, tells you all you need to know. GSP is a sportsman who is committed to completely shutting down an opponent with technical brilliance, and he does that as well as anyone who has ever competed in the sport.
DIAZ RETIRING?
Really? Nick, are you serious?
I acknowledge that GSP beat him more convincingly than any of Diaz’s recent opponents. But retirement? That seems a bit extreme to me.
Diaz remains one of the best fighters in the world, pound for pound. Losing to GSP doesn’t change that, particularly the way that he lost.
Let’s be honest for a moment. GSP beat him. But he didn’t beat him up. GSP suffered more physical damage than Diaz did. He absolutely deserved a 50-45 win. No doubt about it. There is also no debating the fact that Diaz did as well against GSP as any opponent since Matt Serra.
Keep fighting, Nick. You love to hate mixed martial arts. And many fans love to hate you. Whatever the case, this is your calling.
“BIG RIGG” HAS TO BE NEXT
Johny Hendricks put it on Carlos Condit, and he did it with what appeared to be a broken left hand.
Hendricks is now 15-1, with six straight wins in the UFC. He is the clear number one contender in the welterweight division. Scoring a solid win over Condit erases any doubt as to who should be next in line for the champion.
OH MY GOODNESS
Nate Marquardt got blasted by Jake Ellenberger, who scored the single-most impressive win anyone has ever delivered over “Nate the Great.” It suggests that Ellenberger is title ready. In fact, I’ll write for certain that he is title ready. The only problem with him getting the next shot is Johny Hendricks.
I’m not sure I’d favor anyone in the UFC over Ellenberger, except for guys who can put him on his back—and are fully committed to doing so from Jump Street.
WHAT WAS RING THINKING?
Is there any reason why Nick Ring insisted on fighting the entire fight with his hands hanging comfortably at his sides? I can’t recall the last time that I’ve witnessed a top UFC competitor fight for three full rounds with his hands down. Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. both carved out soon-to-be Hall of Fame careers out of fighting that way. But that was boxing, not mixed martial arts. Plus, Ring doesn’t have the hand speed those guys possess. He needs to get his hands up in his next bout. It will both improve his defense and also create shorter pathways to touch his opponent’s mug.
RICCI LOOKED GOOD, BUT STILL DEVELOPING
Mike Ricci is finally competing in his natural weight class. His first UFC win was a workmanlike effort. But it was a win nonetheless. If I may be so bold as to offer some constructive criticism, Ricci needs to put his punches together a bit more. Almost everything he threw was of the one-and-done variety. He had a couple of two-piece combinations. Nothing of significance beyond that.
In addition, he needs to figure out a way to keep his left hand high when throwing a left kick. Ricci drops it every single time that he throws a kick. If he keeps that up, somebody is going to step into the kick and blast him with a straight right (or a right hook, if he is facing a southpaw).
Ricci otherwise looked great. Lightweight is definitely the right division for him.
It is no great secret that Wanderlei Silva is on the downside of his amazing career. The living legend certainly has a bit more gas in the tank, though it is closer to empty than full. Nonetheless, he proved that opponents had better take him deadly seriously if they choose to sign on the dotted line to face him. Brian Stann found that out in painful, thudding fashion on Saturday night, when the living legend turned out the lights of the middleweight contender.
I think Silva’s move back to light heavy is the right decision at this point in his career. The 36-year-old simply taxes his body too much when he diets and then cuts down to the middleweight limit. On fight night, the 185-pound version of Silva is a tired, depleted and mentally exhausted fighter. At light heavy, which is the weight where he spent the vast majority of his career, Silva is a fully energized, strong, savage beast.
Don’t get me wrong. Silva is not going to compete for the light heavyweight title any time soon. Despite the fact that he is better served competing at 205 pounds, his frame remains that of an average-sized middleweight. Thus, he will always face size and strength disadvantages at that weight.
Thus, I think “The Axe Murderer” should continue competing against middleweights who are open to competing one weight class up. If he does that and continues securing matchups against non-wrestlers, then Silva likely has a few more solid performances left in the tank.
TACTICAL ERROR LEADS TO LOSS, BUT FURTHER CEMENTS STANN’S APPEAL
Brian Stann is a war hero, having thrived in real-life combat situations. Those life-and-death moments forever change a man. There is no argument to the contrary.
Whether it is a renewed sense of mortality or an irrational conviction of immortality, combat veterans are different after experiencing life’s most harrowing moments.
I didn’t know Stann before he bravely served our country. Heck, I’ve never actually spoken to the man. No matter, watching him compete at the Saitama Super Arena made it perfectly clear that this man fears nobody. And he is very comfortable putting himself in harm’s way in search of sudden victory.
Stann’s bout with Silva was the single-most entertaining bout of 2013, in my opinion. Both guys scored multiple knockdowns. Neither man so much as raised his hands in defense of incoming fire. Well, not until Stann was flat on his back and defending in an auto-pilot state. Instead, the combatants freely fired their fists, embracing the notion that the best defense is great offense.
Despite getting bloodied and battered, Stann got the better of Silva in the first round. Then he got knocked out. Cold. You know, the sort of knockout where the body is temporarily rendered limp.
It was a savagely brutal end to a beautiful fight. Silva displayed amazing restraint and sportsmanship by halting his attack the minute he realized Stann was unconscious. Stann remained a gentleman in defeat, humbly acknowledging that he had always been a huge fan of Silva and stating that it was an honor to compete with him, heartbreaking loss notwithstanding.
If those two fought 10 times, I have a feeling that Stann wins more often than not. But that doesn’t matter. He didn’t win on Saturday night. Yet, the loss does nothing to diminish his star appeal. In fact, I think quite the opposite happened.
Competing with such a brave, crowd-pleasing effort makes fans want more. The outcome is irrelevant. It is the Arturo Gatti effect. And Stann has it in spades.
My guess is Stann will headline another fight card before the end of the year. If not, he will certainly receive co-main event status.
HUNT CREATING INTERESTING POSSIBILITIES
Mark Hunt has lots of things working against him. For starters, he is unbelievably short for a heavyweight. He also has a notoriously low gas tank, thanks to the unnecessary pounds of padding on his body. Hey, that is as politely as I could write it.
Most importantly, he is something of a one-trick pony. Hunt’s ground game remains fairly nascent, though he is improving it each and every fight.
Those are the negatives. Those negatives were largely responsible for the New Zealander suffering through a horrifying six-fight losing streak from July 1, 2006 to September 25, 2010. To put it into perspective, I’m struggling to think of a single fighter on a six-fight losing streak who has received a bout in the Zuffa-owned UFC. I’m not saying he doesn’t exist. But that certainly hasn’t happened in the last three or four years.
Despite all of those shortcomings, Hunt has three features that make him a live opponent against any human alive—raw, bone-crushing power in both hands, world-class kickboxing technique and probably the sturdiest chin in the sport.
His knockout win over Stefan Struve was a career-defining moment for the new heavyweight contender. It suggests, in my opinion, that Hunt can easily become the UFC heavyweight champion, if everyone is brave enough to stand and trade with him, like Struve did in Japan. Those sledgehammers for fists that Hunt wields in fights makes him fun to watch and extremely dangerous to fight, unless an opponent is focused on nothing other than taking the fight to the ground and keeping it there.
For my money, I’m not sure I would pick UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez or former champion Junior dos Santos as odds on favorites to survive a standup-only bout with this guy.
GOMI GOT ROBBED
I’m going to keep this short and simple. Takanori Gomi deserved the judges’ decision on Saturday night. He easily outpointed Diego Sanchez in my opinion. I will concede that the first round could have gone either way. Sanchez scored a couple of takedowns, but did absolutely nothing with him. Gomi completely dominated on the feet. The only good shots Sanchez landed were illegal ones to his opponent’s cup.
The second and third rounds were landslides in favor of Gomi. He controlled the action from bell to bell in those rounds, putting on a striking clinic. Sanchez did nothing.
Enough lamenting. We all know that any fight that lasts the distance is fair game for a bizarre decision. That is just part of the sport. Fighters know it. UFC president Dana White knows it. The press knows it. The fans know it. Unfortunately, it’s the fighters who pay in the end.
LOMBARD MUST MOVE SOUTH
Hector Lombard is one bad dude. He mixes world-class judo skills with Mike Tyson-like punching power. The problem, however, is he is short. Very short for a middleweight, actually. As a result, he is at a severe disadvantage against just about every 185-pounder in the UFC.
Sure, he can win Mark Hunt style with a crowd-erupting knockout at just about any moment of any fight. But more often than not, he will be taken down and controlled on the ground against top middleweights, just like Yushin Okami did to him.
Height is an irrelevant factor on the feet. On the ground, it is a very real impediment for a significantly shorter fighter, particularly one with a short torso, when it comes to defending and executing ground-and-pound attacks. The closer an opponent’s head and shoulders are to his attacker’s hips, the more leverage the attacker can put on ground-and-pound strikes from inside the guard.
Tito Ortiz made a career out of that reality, using the fact that he had an extremely long torso for his weight class as a major advantage when dishing out fists and elbows from inside an opponent’s guard with the sort of leverage that is usually only experienced from side control or the mount.
The same logic applies in the reverse when trying to attack from inside an opponent’s guard. That was on vivid display when Lombard tried to punch Okami in the face over the weekend. Lombard’s head and shoulders are so far from Okami’s head and shoulders that he could only throw meaningless arm punches. Sure, maybe hammer fists will do occasional damage, but Lombard isn’t knocking anybody out on the ground from that position. Not unless he takes a real risk by stacking up his foe, which opens the door to a host of submissions.
Lombard isn’t going to get any taller any time soon, and I seriously doubt that UFC middleweights will begin to get shorter. Thus, the Cuba native has a couple of options. He can continue facing the same issues my buddy Phil Baroni faced during his UFC and PRIDE career, or he can shed some of that unneeded muscle and fight at welterweight.
While Lombard is shaping up to be a middle-of-the-pack middleweight, I think he would be an extremely dangerous threat to Georges St-Pierre’s reign at welterweight. Assuming that the diet and ensuing weight cut doesn’t sap him of his explosiveness and already light gas tank, he could very well become a dominant champion one division to the south.
SILVA FINALLY FINDS A HOME
It is no great secret that Wanderlei Silva is on the downside of his amazing career. The living legend certainly has a bit more gas in the tank, though it is closer to empty than full. Nonetheless, he proved that opponents had better take him deadly seriously if they choose to sign on the dotted line to face him. Brian Stann found that out in painful, thudding fashion on Saturday night, when the living legend turned out the lights of the middleweight contender.
I think Silva’s move back to light heavy is the right decision at this point in his career. The 36-year-old simply taxes his body too much when he diets and then cuts down to the middleweight limit. On fight night, the 185-pound version of Silva is a tired, depleted and mentally exhausted fighter. At light heavy, which is the weight where he spent the vast majority of his career, Silva is a fully energized, strong, savage beast.
Don’t get me wrong. Silva is not going to compete for the light heavyweight title any time soon. Despite the fact that he is better served competing at 205 pounds, his frame remains that of an average-sized middleweight. Thus, he will always face size and strength disadvantages at that weight.
Thus, I think “The Axe Murderer” should continue competing against middleweights who are open to competing one weight class up. If he does that and continues securing matchups against non-wrestlers, then Silva likely has a few more solid performances left in the tank.
TACTICAL ERROR LEADS TO LOSS, BUT FURTHER CEMENTS STANN’S APPEAL
Brian Stann is a war hero, having thrived in real-life combat situations. Those life-and-death moments forever change a man. There is no argument to the contrary.
Whether it is a renewed sense of mortality or an irrational conviction of immortality, combat veterans are different after experiencing life’s most harrowing moments.
I didn’t know Stann before he bravely served our country. Heck, I’ve never actually spoken to the man. No matter, watching him compete at the Saitama Super Arena made it perfectly clear that this man fears nobody. And he is very comfortable putting himself in harm’s way in search of sudden victory.
Stann’s bout with Silva was the single-most entertaining bout of 2013, in my opinion. Both guys scored multiple knockdowns. Neither man so much as raised his hands in defense of incoming fire. Well, not until Stann was flat on his back and defending in an auto-pilot state. Instead, the combatants freely fired their fists, embracing the notion that the best defense is great offense.
Despite getting bloodied and battered, Stann got the better of Silva in the first round. Then he got knocked out. Cold. You know, the sort of knockout where the body is temporarily rendered limp.
It was a savagely brutal end to a beautiful fight. Silva displayed amazing restraint and sportsmanship by halting his attack the minute he realized Stann was unconscious. Stann remained a gentleman in defeat, humbly acknowledging that he had always been a huge fan of Silva and stating that it was an honor to compete with him, heartbreaking loss notwithstanding.
If those two fought 10 times, I have a feeling that Stann wins more often than not. But that doesn’t matter. He didn’t win on Saturday night. Yet, the loss does nothing to diminish his star appeal. In fact, I think quite the opposite happened.
Competing with such a brave, crowd-pleasing effort makes fans want more. The outcome is irrelevant. It is the Arturo Gatti effect. And Stann has it in spades.
My guess is Stann will headline another fight card before the end of the year. If not, he will certainly receive co-main event status.
HUNT CREATING INTERESTING POSSIBILITIES
Mark Hunt has lots of things working against him. For starters, he is unbelievably short for a heavyweight. He also has a notoriously low gas tank, thanks to the unnecessary pounds of padding on his body. Hey, that is as politely as I could write it.
Most importantly, he is something of a one-trick pony. Hunt’s ground game remains fairly nascent, though he is improving it each and every fight.
Those are the negatives. Those negatives were largely responsible for the New Zealander suffering through a horrifying six-fight losing streak from July 1, 2006 to September 25, 2010. To put it into perspective, I’m struggling to think of a single fighter on a six-fight losing streak who has received a bout in the Zuffa-owned UFC. I’m not saying he doesn’t exist. But that certainly hasn’t happened in the last three or four years.
Despite all of those shortcomings, Hunt has three features that make him a live opponent against any human alive—raw, bone-crushing power in both hands, world-class kickboxing technique and probably the sturdiest chin in the sport.
His knockout win over Stefan Struve was a career-defining moment for the new heavyweight contender. It suggests, in my opinion, that Hunt can easily become the UFC heavyweight champion, if everyone is brave enough to stand and trade with him, like Struve did in Japan. Those sledgehammers for fists that Hunt wields in fights makes him fun to watch and extremely dangerous to fight, unless an opponent is focused on nothing other than taking the fight to the ground and keeping it there.
For my money, I’m not sure I would pick UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez or former champion Junior dos Santos as odds on favorites to survive a standup-only bout with this guy.
GOMI GOT ROBBED
I’m going to keep this short and simple. Takanori Gomi deserved the judges’ decision on Saturday night. He easily outpointed Diego Sanchez in my opinion. I will concede that the first round could have gone either way. Sanchez scored a couple of takedowns, but did absolutely nothing with him. Gomi completely dominated on the feet. The only good shots Sanchez landed were illegal ones to his opponent’s cup.
The second and third rounds were landslides in favor of Gomi. He controlled the action from bell to bell in those rounds, putting on a striking clinic. Sanchez did nothing.
Enough lamenting. We all know that any fight that lasts the distance is fair game for a bizarre decision. That is just part of the sport. Fighters know it. UFC president Dana White knows it. The press knows it. The fans know it. Unfortunately, it’s the fighters who pay in the end.
LOMBARD MUST MOVE SOUTH
Hector Lombard is one bad dude. He mixes world-class judo skills with Mike Tyson-like punching power. The problem, however, is he is short. Very short for a middleweight, actually. As a result, he is at a severe disadvantage against just about every 185-pounder in the UFC.
Sure, he can win Mark Hunt style with a crowd-erupting knockout at just about any moment of any fight. But more often than not, he will be taken down and controlled on the ground against top middleweights, just like Yushin Okami did to him.
Height is an irrelevant factor on the feet. On the ground, it is a very real impediment for a significantly shorter fighter, particularly one with a short torso, when it comes to defending and executing ground-and-pound attacks. The closer an opponent’s head and shoulders are to his attacker’s hips, the more leverage the attacker can put on ground-and-pound strikes from inside the guard.
Tito Ortiz made a career out of that reality, using the fact that he had an extremely long torso for his weight class as a major advantage when dishing out fists and elbows from inside an opponent’s guard with the sort of leverage that is usually only experienced from side control or the mount.
The same logic applies in the reverse when trying to attack from inside an opponent’s guard. That was on vivid display when Lombard tried to punch Okami in the face over the weekend. Lombard’s head and shoulders are so far from Okami’s head and shoulders that he could only throw meaningless arm punches. Sure, maybe hammer fists will do occasional damage, but Lombard isn’t knocking anybody out on the ground from that position. Not unless he takes a real risk by stacking up his foe, which opens the door to a host of submissions.
Lombard isn’t going to get any taller any time soon, and I seriously doubt that UFC middleweights will begin to get shorter. Thus, the Cuba native has a couple of options. He can continue facing the same issues my buddy Phil Baroni faced during his UFC and PRIDE career, or he can shed some of that unneeded muscle and fight at welterweight.
While Lombard is shaping up to be a middle-of-the-pack middleweight, I think he would be an extremely dangerous threat to Georges St-Pierre’s reign at welterweight. Assuming that the diet and ensuing weight cut doesn’t sap him of his explosiveness and already light gas tank, he could very well become a dominant champion one division to the south.
Wanderlei Silva will someday be remembered as one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. Fans who have only seen him compete in the UFC will never quite appreciate how truly great this guy once was.
Here is a little taste:
• 22 total wins • 20 consecutive fights without a loss • 18 consecutive wins • 15 knockouts in PRIDE • 4 successful defenses of the PRIDE 205-pound championship • First man to win both a Grand Prix and a championship belt in PRIDE
Each of those is a PRIDE Fighting Championships record that will never be broken because the Japanese promotion was shut down several years ago.
Silva is no longer the same guy who once ruled the Land of the Rising Sun as “The Axe Murderer.” At 36 years old and with tons and tons of fistic miles on his back, he is nearing the end of his illustrious career. We know that because he has dropped seven of his last 10 bouts.
Yet, he remains a seriously dangerous opponent. Just ask Cung Le. Silva savagely knocked him out two fights ago, and in his last bout against Rich Franklin last June, he nearly knocked Franklin out before losing a decision. Another win like the one against Le and Silva will likely continue competing. If he loses his second fight in a row, I have a feeling that the curtain will come down on one of the most exciting careers in the history of the sport.
Brian Stann, by contrast, is still trying to figure out whether there is more upside in a career that hasn’t quite reached the upper echelon of the sport. He is one of the best middleweights in the world as well as a former WEC light heavyweight champion returning to 205 pounds for this bout. He has a nice list of conquered opponents. But he hasn’t yet scored that one marquee win that has either earned him a title shot or cemented him as a headlining attraction.
Stann is 6-4 in his last 10. Like Silva, he is coming off a loss. But unlike Silva, he is only a win or two away from putting himself back in the title picture. A loss to Silva would basically eliminate him from title contention for the foreseeable future.
Yes sir, there is a lot on the line on Saturday night.
The one advantage that Stann has in this fight is he knows exactly how Silva will approach the bout. The legend only knows how to fight one way—berserker style.
Silva stalks the vast majority of the time. Every now and then, he will circle and retreat as he tries to bait an opponent into coming forward. Either way, he has only one goal in mind—violence.
“The Axe Murderer” completely eschews the jab in favor of crazy, winging hooks solely designed to bring the fight to an instant end. He throws those shots in bunches. Actually, a better description would be whirling dervish. Both arms move as fast and as powerfully as he can move them in search of a knockout. He only stops throwing when his foe is out of reach.
If he can work all the way to the inside, he refocuses his efforts on securing a Thai plumb. Equally aggressive knees are sure to follow, once the plumb is in place. And those knees are just as devastating—probably more so, actually—than his fists.
Rinse. Repeat.
That style is perfectly suited for a standup bomber who likes to throw shots right down the middle. The shortest path between any two points is a straight line. When Silva wings those wild hooks, Stann can counter right down the middle, and his shot should either land simultaneously or first.
A decade ago, that wouldn’t have mattered because Silva’s chin and the speed with which he threw his shots overwhelmed opponents, even those with the cleanest standup technique. Today, firing down the middle with fast, straight punches is a big key to controlling Silva.
Of course, putting him on his back is another great way to neutralize the former champ. Stann doesn’t have the strongest wrestling in the division, but he is a much bigger, stronger man than the Brazilian. He may be able to drag him down, if he can survive an onslaught of knees from the clinch.
My guess is that Stann will seek to throw hands with Silva early, though takedowns will always be on his mind.
When throwing hands, Stann needs to be very careful not to retreat straight back. Silva’s winging hooks are very effective against guys who pull back with their chin up. Just ask Michael Bisping.
Stann has an exceptional chin. It is unlikely that a single punch thrown in isolation will render him unconscious, unless he simply doesn’t see it coming. With that said, all chins are breakable for a guy like Silva. Two or three shots on the button are certainly enough for him to turn out the lights on Stann or anyone else, even at this stage of his career.
Thus, I expect Stann to use lots of footwork to pop in and out of range. He will want to slam and then slide. Hammer and then hiatus. Bludgeon and then bail. Whatever and then whatever. You get the point.
If the fight hits the ground, it will be all about ground and pound for Stann. Silva isn’t going to submit him from his guard. No way. No chance. Stann knows that, so he can be aggressive with his fists and elbows on the ground. All he has to worry about is Silva working back to his feet.
Similarly, if Silva happens to stumble into a takedown of his own, which is highly unlikely, he will exclusively focus on raining punches from the top position. Submissions have never been a focus of his. That won’t change on Saturday night.
Taking all that into account, who is going to win this weekend? This fight has Brian Stann written all over it. He is the younger, fresher, stronger fighter. He also has more recent momentum, despite the fact that he is coming off a loss, just like Silva.
One would be foolish, however, to count out the former champion. He remains extremely dangerous for anyone who wants to stand and trade with him. Cung Le found that out, as mentioned.
Without guaranteeing the outcome, the one thing I feel good about guaranteeing is that this will be an extremely fun fight to watch. Both guys are known for all-action efforts. They are known for thrilling performances.
In fact, Silva is more concerned with thrilling the crowd at this stage in his career than he is maximizing his chances at winning. His last two bouts—and three of his last five—ended in Fight of the Night performances. I would be shocked if Saturday night doesn’t follow suit (or at least win Knockout of the Night).
QUICK FACTS
Brian Stann • 12-5 • 6’1, 205 lbs • 74-inch reach • 32 years old • 8-3 as a light heavyweight • First fight at light heavy since Feb. 6, 2010 • 75.0% of wins by KO/TKO • 8.3% of wins by submission • 16.7% of wins by decision • First fight against a former UFC/PRIDE champion • First-time headlining a UFC event • Fight of the Night 2x • Current layoff is 162 days • Longest layoff of career is 285 days
Wanderlei Silva • 34-12-1, 1 NC • 5’11, 205 lbs • 74-inch reach • 36 years old • First fight at light heavy since Dec. 27, 2008 • 70.6% of wins by KO/TKO • 8.8% of wins by submission • 20.6% of wins by decision • Fight of the Night 4x (including last 2 bouts) • KO of the Night 1x • Current layoff is 253 days • Longest layoff of career 496 days
Wanderlei Silva will someday be remembered as one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. Fans who have only seen him compete in the UFC will never quite appreciate how truly great this guy once was.
Here is a little taste:
• 22 total wins • 20 consecutive fights without a loss • 18 consecutive wins • 15 knockouts in PRIDE • 4 successful defenses of the PRIDE 205-pound championship • First man to win both a Grand Prix and a championship belt in PRIDE
Each of those is a PRIDE Fighting Championships record that will never be broken because the Japanese promotion was shut down several years ago.
Silva is no longer the same guy who once ruled the Land of the Rising Sun as “The Axe Murderer.” At 36 years old and with tons and tons of fistic miles on his back, he is nearing the end of his illustrious career. We know that because he has dropped seven of his last 10 bouts.
Yet, he remains a seriously dangerous opponent. Just ask Cung Le. Silva savagely knocked him out two fights ago, and in his last bout against Rich Franklin last June, he nearly knocked Franklin out before losing a decision. Another win like the one against Le and Silva will likely continue competing. If he loses his second fight in a row, I have a feeling that the curtain will come down on one of the most exciting careers in the history of the sport.
Brian Stann, by contrast, is still trying to figure out whether there is more upside in a career that hasn’t quite reached the upper echelon of the sport. He is one of the best middleweights in the world as well as a former WEC light heavyweight champion returning to 205 pounds for this bout. He has a nice list of conquered opponents. But he hasn’t yet scored that one marquee win that has either earned him a title shot or cemented him as a headlining attraction.
Stann is 6-4 in his last 10. Like Silva, he is coming off a loss. But unlike Silva, he is only a win or two away from putting himself back in the title picture. A loss to Silva would basically eliminate him from title contention for the foreseeable future.
Yes sir, there is a lot on the line on Saturday night.
The one advantage that Stann has in this fight is he knows exactly how Silva will approach the bout. The legend only knows how to fight one way—berserker style.
Silva stalks the vast majority of the time. Every now and then, he will circle and retreat as he tries to bait an opponent into coming forward. Either way, he has only one goal in mind—violence.
“The Axe Murderer” completely eschews the jab in favor of crazy, winging hooks solely designed to bring the fight to an instant end. He throws those shots in bunches. Actually, a better description would be whirling dervish. Both arms move as fast and as powerfully as he can move them in search of a knockout. He only stops throwing when his foe is out of reach.
If he can work all the way to the inside, he refocuses his efforts on securing a Thai plumb. Equally aggressive knees are sure to follow, once the plumb is in place. And those knees are just as devastating—probably more so, actually—than his fists.
Rinse. Repeat.
That style is perfectly suited for a standup bomber who likes to throw shots right down the middle. The shortest path between any two points is a straight line. When Silva wings those wild hooks, Stann can counter right down the middle, and his shot should either land simultaneously or first.
A decade ago, that wouldn’t have mattered because Silva’s chin and the speed with which he threw his shots overwhelmed opponents, even those with the cleanest standup technique. Today, firing down the middle with fast, straight punches is a big key to controlling Silva.
Of course, putting him on his back is another great way to neutralize the former champ. Stann doesn’t have the strongest wrestling in the division, but he is a much bigger, stronger man than the Brazilian. He may be able to drag him down, if he can survive an onslaught of knees from the clinch.
My guess is that Stann will seek to throw hands with Silva early, though takedowns will always be on his mind.
When throwing hands, Stann needs to be very careful not to retreat straight back. Silva’s winging hooks are very effective against guys who pull back with their chin up. Just ask Michael Bisping.
Stann has an exceptional chin. It is unlikely that a single punch thrown in isolation will render him unconscious, unless he simply doesn’t see it coming. With that said, all chins are breakable for a guy like Silva. Two or three shots on the button are certainly enough for him to turn out the lights on Stann or anyone else, even at this stage of his career.
Thus, I expect Stann to use lots of footwork to pop in and out of range. He will want to slam and then slide. Hammer and then hiatus. Bludgeon and then bail. Whatever and then whatever. You get the point.
If the fight hits the ground, it will be all about ground and pound for Stann. Silva isn’t going to submit him from his guard. No way. No chance. Stann knows that, so he can be aggressive with his fists and elbows on the ground. All he has to worry about is Silva working back to his feet.
Similarly, if Silva happens to stumble into a takedown of his own, which is highly unlikely, he will exclusively focus on raining punches from the top position. Submissions have never been a focus of his. That won’t change on Saturday night.
Taking all that into account, who is going to win this weekend? This fight has Brian Stann written all over it. He is the younger, fresher, stronger fighter. He also has more recent momentum, despite the fact that he is coming off a loss, just like Silva.
One would be foolish, however, to count out the former champion. He remains extremely dangerous for anyone who wants to stand and trade with him. Cung Le found that out, as mentioned.
Without guaranteeing the outcome, the one thing I feel good about guaranteeing is that this will be an extremely fun fight to watch. Both guys are known for all-action efforts. They are known for thrilling performances.
In fact, Silva is more concerned with thrilling the crowd at this stage in his career than he is maximizing his chances at winning. His last two bouts—and three of his last five—ended in Fight of the Night performances. I would be shocked if Saturday night doesn’t follow suit (or at least win Knockout of the Night).
QUICK FACTS
Brian Stann • 12-5 • 6’1, 205 lbs • 74-inch reach • 32 years old • 8-3 as a light heavyweight • First fight at light heavy since Feb. 6, 2010 • 75.0% of wins by KO/TKO • 8.3% of wins by submission • 16.7% of wins by decision • First fight against a former UFC/PRIDE champion • First-time headlining a UFC event • Fight of the Night 2x • Current layoff is 162 days • Longest layoff of career is 285 days
Wanderlei Silva • 34-12-1, 1 NC • 5’11, 205 lbs • 74-inch reach • 36 years old • First fight at light heavy since Dec. 27, 2008 • 70.6% of wins by KO/TKO • 8.8% of wins by submission • 20.6% of wins by decision • Fight of the Night 4x (including last 2 bouts) • KO of the Night 1x • Current layoff is 253 days • Longest layoff of career 496 days
Let’s start with the obvious. Ronda Rousey crossed the gender line by becoming the first female to ever compete in and win a fight in the UFC. That is an amazing accomplishment.
Now, let’s move to the substance. Rousey is a ridiculously talented mixed martial artist. It was no secret heading into the fight that she wanted to win by armbar—first-round armbar, actually. Each of her previous six professional fights ended in the first round by that submission hold.
Her opponent, Liz Carmouche, prepared extensively to defend the armbar. Yet, she lost by that very hold. Why? There is a massive difference between someone who has practiced a move literally hundreds of thousands of times over the course of a lifetime versus someone who picked up a sport just a few years ago.
I’m going to go so far as to suggest that Rousey is the greatest armbar artist in the history of the sport. Yes, I’m including Royce and Rickson Gracie in that analysis. Think I’m crazy? I really don’t care. Rousey is an Olympian twice over. She was the youngest competitor in the ENTIRE Olympic Games the first time she competed. Her second trip resulted in a bronze medal, making her the first US woman to ever medal in judo.
Say what you will about the famed Gracie family, they aren’t winning judo medals. Armbars existed before Helio Gracie and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And Rousey is better at that move than anyone who has ever competed in our sport.
Yes, Marcelo Garcia, I’m including you in that analysis.
Whether Rousey goes on to Anderson Silva-like greatness remains to be seen. There will be tons and tons of distractions for her over the course of her championship reign. She is already a rock star in the sport. She is just steps away from becoming an icon. That presents unique challenges for any human.
Nonetheless, Rousey made history on Saturday night, and I’m truly happy that I witnessed it.
MACHIDA NEEDS TO MOVE SOUTH
I know. I know. Lyoto Machida won. But I don’t see any way that he beats reigning 205-pound champion Jon Jones. Thus, the Brazilian needs to drop to middleweight, where he could very well become the next dominant champion.
Machida weighed 202 pounds for the fight. That seems to be his sweet spot. The world’s greatest color man, Joe Rogan, talked about how the lighter weight makes him quicker than most light heavies. True. But that isn’t the entire story.
Machida doesn’t cut weight, so he is a natural 202 pounds. In other words, he is probably 20 pounds lighter than most opponents by the time the fight actually gets underway. I doubt he gave 20 pounds to Dan Henderson. Maybe five or six pounds. But the point holds.
At a natural 202 pounds, Machida could easily cut to 185 pounds. At that weight, he would be one of the bigger, stronger competitors, rather than one of the smaller guys at light heavy. Yeah, yeah, I know his close friend Anderson Silva is the reigning champion at middleweight. Who cares? This is a business. Machida needs to drop down and challenge him—period.
HAS THE ARCH TURNED?
Dan Henderson is no spring chicken. He is one of the oldest competitors in the UFC. On Saturday night, he looked like it, too.
I don’t know what the judges were thinking. There is no way Hendo won two rounds. That should have been a unanimous decision for Machida. I say that in light of the fact that Hendo is one of my favorite athletes in all of MMA.
Hendo’s problem in the fight was he relied almost exclusively on his big right hand. He needs to do more. Stalking an expert counterpuncher is not the right way to approach any fight. Hendo proved that in the third round when he put his elite wrestling skills on display by putting the Brazilian on his backside.
Had Hendo done that in one of the two opening rounds, he would be first in line for a fight with Jones, assuming the champion dispatches Chael Sonnen in the spring, which I’m quite confident he will do.
The results of the fight make me wonder whether Hendo has started the inevitable decline that all professional athletes face at some point in their career thanks to Father Time. I guess we will find out when he next competes
“RUTHLESS” RETURNS IN THE RIGHT WAY
The late, great Evan Tanner once told me that, if all else is equal, the bigger, stronger man will win a fight.
Robbie Lawler had been competing in the middleweight division for the last several years. He achieved mixed results—spectacular knockouts and sleepy performances. But it bears mentioning that he wasn’t competing at the top of the sport’s food chain during that time.
Now that he has finally returned to the true “big leagues,” it is great to see him returning to the weight class that best fits his frame. I acknowledge that few humans like cutting 20-plus pounds for a fight. Heck, I don’t like flying across the country every other month to spend a week apart from my family. But we all do what we have to do in order to put ourselves in the best position to be successful.
For Lawler, that absolutely means competing at welterweight. He is a legitimate contender in that division. He is an opponent at middleweight.
Lawler’s return was the feel-good moment of the night for me. I say that in light of the fact that Josh Koscheck remains one of my favorite fighters in the entire sport. Nonetheless, it felt like a full circle moment for the UFC, with its prodigal son returning with a spectacular win.
WAS IT TOO SOON?
Speaking of Kos, was he robbed on Saturday night?
Lawler certainly didn’t think so. He mentioned in his in-cage interview that his foe wasn’t escaping that position so carnage was sure to follow. I’m not so sure.
Herb Dean is the best in the business. Let’s get that out of the way right now. I’m not second guessing the big fella. He probably saw Kos’s eyes glaze over after that first clean right hand, so the stoppage was probably a good one.
But there is no denying the fact that the punch that made Kos’s eyes glaze over was quickly followed by one that woke him right back up.
When the fight was waved off, Kos definitely had all of his faculties. His head was up off the canvas, and his hand was up in a defensive position. Sure, he was getting hit with shots. That is part of the sport. He wasn’t by any means defenseless.
Quick stoppages are just part of the business. Kos knows that. Lawler knows that. Dean knows that. Do I wish Kos had been given more of an opportunity? Absolutely. With that said, I’d always have a referee err on the side of caution than wait one punch too long.
I’m sure Kos agrees with me, despite the fact that he was on the short end of the stick on Saturday night.
“ROWDY” USHERS IN A NEW ERA
Let’s start with the obvious. Ronda Rousey crossed the gender line by becoming the first female to ever compete in and win a fight in the UFC. That is an amazing accomplishment.
Now, let’s move to the substance. Rousey is a ridiculously talented mixed martial artist. It was no secret heading into the fight that she wanted to win by armbar—first-round armbar, actually. Each of her previous six professional fights ended in the first round by that submission hold.
Her opponent, Liz Carmouche, prepared extensively to defend the armbar. Yet, she lost by that very hold. Why? There is a massive difference between someone who has practiced a move literally hundreds of thousands of times over the course of a lifetime versus someone who picked up a sport just a few years ago.
I’m going to go so far as to suggest that Rousey is the greatest armbar artist in the history of the sport. Yes, I’m including Royce and Rickson Gracie in that analysis. Think I’m crazy? I really don’t care. Rousey is an Olympian twice over. She was the youngest competitor in the ENTIRE Olympic Games the first time she competed. Her second trip resulted in a bronze medal, making her the first US woman to ever medal in judo.
Say what you will about the famed Gracie family, they aren’t winning judo medals. Armbars existed before Helio Gracie and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And Rousey is better at that move than anyone who has ever competed in our sport.
Yes, Marcelo Garcia, I’m including you in that analysis.
Whether Rousey goes on to Anderson Silva-like greatness remains to be seen. There will be tons and tons of distractions for her over the course of her championship reign. She is already a rock star in the sport. She is just steps away from becoming an icon. That presents unique challenges for any human.
Nonetheless, Rousey made history on Saturday night, and I’m truly happy that I witnessed it.
MACHIDA NEEDS TO MOVE SOUTH
I know. I know. Lyoto Machida won. But I don’t see any way that he beats reigning 205-pound champion Jon Jones. Thus, the Brazilian needs to drop to middleweight, where he could very well become the next dominant champion.
Machida weighed 202 pounds for the fight. That seems to be his sweet spot. The world’s greatest color man, Joe Rogan, talked about how the lighter weight makes him quicker than most light heavies. True. But that isn’t the entire story.
Machida doesn’t cut weight, so he is a natural 202 pounds. In other words, he is probably 20 pounds lighter than most opponents by the time the fight actually gets underway. I doubt he gave 20 pounds to Dan Henderson. Maybe five or six pounds. But the point holds.
At a natural 202 pounds, Machida could easily cut to 185 pounds. At that weight, he would be one of the bigger, stronger competitors, rather than one of the smaller guys at light heavy. Yeah, yeah, I know his close friend Anderson Silva is the reigning champion at middleweight. Who cares? This is a business. Machida needs to drop down and challenge him—period.
HAS THE ARCH TURNED?
Dan Henderson is no spring chicken. He is one of the oldest competitors in the UFC. On Saturday night, he looked like it, too.
I don’t know what the judges were thinking. There is no way Hendo won two rounds. That should have been a unanimous decision for Machida. I say that in light of the fact that Hendo is one of my favorite athletes in all of MMA.
Hendo’s problem in the fight was he relied almost exclusively on his big right hand. He needs to do more. Stalking an expert counterpuncher is not the right way to approach any fight. Hendo proved that in the third round when he put his elite wrestling skills on display by putting the Brazilian on his backside.
Had Hendo done that in one of the two opening rounds, he would be first in line for a fight with Jones, assuming the champion dispatches Chael Sonnen in the spring, which I’m quite confident he will do.
The results of the fight make me wonder whether Hendo has started the inevitable decline that all professional athletes face at some point in their career thanks to Father Time. I guess we will find out when he next competes
“RUTHLESS” RETURNS IN THE RIGHT WAY
The late, great Evan Tanner once told me that, if all else is equal, the bigger, stronger man will win a fight.
Robbie Lawler had been competing in the middleweight division for the last several years. He achieved mixed results—spectacular knockouts and sleepy performances. But it bears mentioning that he wasn’t competing at the top of the sport’s food chain during that time.
Now that he has finally returned to the true “big leagues,” it is great to see him returning to the weight class that best fits his frame. I acknowledge that few humans like cutting 20-plus pounds for a fight. Heck, I don’t like flying across the country every other month to spend a week apart from my family. But we all do what we have to do in order to put ourselves in the best position to be successful.
For Lawler, that absolutely means competing at welterweight. He is a legitimate contender in that division. He is an opponent at middleweight.
Lawler’s return was the feel-good moment of the night for me. I say that in light of the fact that Josh Koscheck remains one of my favorite fighters in the entire sport. Nonetheless, it felt like a full circle moment for the UFC, with its prodigal son returning with a spectacular win.
WAS IT TOO SOON?
Speaking of Kos, was he robbed on Saturday night?
Lawler certainly didn’t think so. He mentioned in his in-cage interview that his foe wasn’t escaping that position so carnage was sure to follow. I’m not so sure.
Herb Dean is the best in the business. Let’s get that out of the way right now. I’m not second guessing the big fella. He probably saw Kos’s eyes glaze over after that first clean right hand, so the stoppage was probably a good one.
But there is no denying the fact that the punch that made Kos’s eyes glaze over was quickly followed by one that woke him right back up.
When the fight was waved off, Kos definitely had all of his faculties. His head was up off the canvas, and his hand was up in a defensive position. Sure, he was getting hit with shots. That is part of the sport. He wasn’t by any means defenseless.
Quick stoppages are just part of the business. Kos knows that. Lawler knows that. Dean knows that. Do I wish Kos had been given more of an opportunity? Absolutely. With that said, I’d always have a referee err on the side of caution than wait one punch too long.
I’m sure Kos agrees with me, despite the fact that he was on the short end of the stick on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, female athletes will compete in the UFC for the first time in history. That is reason enough to tune in, though it is far from the sole reason.
UFC 157 is full of great fights. The main card features “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler’s return to the UFC after nearly a decade fighting elsewhere. It also marks his return to the welterweight division – the same division he competed in during his last UFC stint. His opponent, Josh Koscheck, is one of the best the division has to offer. A win by Lawler makes him instantly relevant in the division. A win by Kos reminds the world that he isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Former TUF winner Court McGee faces Josh Neer. Anyone who loves a knock down, drag out war should tune into this one. These guys don’t know how to do anything other than go to war. That is why this fight is my early pick for Fight of the Night.
Urijah Faber and Ivan Menjivar will clean up some unfinished business. The pair first fought back in January 2006. Menjivar was disqualified for an illegal kick. He was performing extremely well up to that point, seemingly on his way to handing Faber a loss. Seven years later, both are desperate for an A-list win. It seems likely that they will go all out in a fast-paced, action-packed scrap, since that is how these guys normally compete.
Dan Henderson faces off against Lyoto Machinda in a bout to decide who should stand next in line behind Chael Sonnen in the Jon Jones challenger queue. Both men are former champions. Machida wore the UFC 205-pound strap before losing it to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua one fight before Jones bludgeoned the title away from Shogun. Henderson remains the only man in history to simultaneously hold championships in two weight classes in a major promotion. He did that a few years ago in PRIDE’s 185- and 205-pound divisions.
Then, topping it all off, former two-time US Olympian and 2008 bronze medalist Ronda Rousey will rewrite the record books as she becomes the first woman, along with her opponent, Liz Carmouche, to compete inside the Octagon. She is also the first woman to hold a UFC title. Her Strikeforce 135-pound championship was converted into the UFC title when Strikeforce, which is owned by the UFC’s parent company, folded up shop a few months ago. We will find out on Saturday if she will be the first woman to successfully defend a UFC title.
Add all those fights together and UFC 157 is one of the better cards in recent memory. It is must-see TV in my book.
So, what will happen when Rousey and Carmouche get down to business on Saturday night?
If history is any indicator, Rousey will win by first-round armbar. The Olympic Judoka has been unstoppable so far in her MMA career. Six fights. Six wins. Each of those wins occurred by armbar in the first round.
Those stats are crazy. All of Rousey’s opponents know that she is showing up to win by armbar. She makes no bones about the fact that she is going to win by armbar. And when the bell rings, she closes the distance with decent striking, uses her amazing judo skills to throw her opponent, and then she transitions to an armbar, whether in the midst of a ground-and-pound attack or during the transition.
Everyone knows that is her game plan. Yet, nobody has been able to stop it.
Carmouche hopes she will be the first. The US Marine Corps veteran is a well-rounded fighter, though she definitely prefers to stand and bang with an opponent. She will want to do just that against Rousey.
Carmouche will come out looking to get Rousey’s respect early by landing a big punch right off the bat. Maybe she will throw a couple jabs. Or maybe she will just come out swinging for the fence. Whatever the case, she is going to come out swinging.
She will do that because she knows that she has the better standup technique. She also likely has the better chin, though we don’t know that for sure because Rousey has yet to eat a truly clean power punch from a devastating puncher.
Carmouche isn’t a devastating puncher in terms of one-punch knockout power. She is, however, an aggressive, confident striker who possesses enough power to score a knockout win when she puts a couple shots together. She will want to touch the champion over and over in search of wobbly knees. Once that happens, she will sell out like there is no tomorrow in search of the win.
Why? Because she needs to do whatever it takes to keep from getting thrown to the ground. If that happens, she will lose. Period. End of sentence.
She may lose by submission, like each of Rousey’s previous opponents. Or she may lose by ground and pound, since I know Rousey has been working hard on her top striking game. Either way, she will lose.
With that said, nobody can be certain whether Carmouche can handle Rousey, if she is able to put the champion on her back. The challenger has a very effective top game. That bodes well for her. Still, nobody has really seen Rousey’s offensive and defensive guard put to a true test.
Nonetheless, if I’m in Carmouche’s corner, I wouldn’t want to be the first fighter to take that test. Rousey has been ground fighting, albeit as a Judoka, since she was a young child. She evolved into one of the best on the planet. That suggests to me that, if she has spent significant time honing her guard, that it will be extremely dangerous. She is that good of an athlete.
In fact, I don’t think it will be long before Rousey’s standup will be good enough to allow her to stand and bang with all but the very best female strikers. She isn’t there yet. But I don’t think it will take her much longer to get to that point.
Rousey should avoid trying to make some sort of standup statement on Saturday night. She has largely been a one-trick pony so far in her career, but that one trick is amazingly effective. She needs to stick to what she knows in the UFC’s inaugural female fight. If she does, my gut is telling me that she will also leave the Octagon as the first woman to successfully defend a UFC title.
QUICK FACTS:
Ronda Rousey • 6-0 • 5’7, 135 lbs • 26 years old • Each win by first-round armbar • 2x US Olympian in Judo • First UFC fight • 1-0 as champion • Current layoff of 189 days is the longest of her career
Liz Carmouche • 7-2 • 5’6, 135 lbs • 29 years old • 3-2 in last 5 • 57% of wins by KO/TKO • 29% of wins by submission • 14% of wins by judges’ decision • 1 loss by submission, 1 by judges’ decision • 0-1 in major championship fights • Current layoff is 210 days • Longest layoff of career is 281 days
Say hello to the ladies.
On Saturday night, female athletes will compete in the UFC for the first time in history. That is reason enough to tune in, though it is far from the sole reason.
UFC 157 is full of great fights. The main card features “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler’s return to the UFC after nearly a decade fighting elsewhere. It also marks his return to the welterweight division – the same division he competed in during his last UFC stint. His opponent, Josh Koscheck, is one of the best the division has to offer. A win by Lawler makes him instantly relevant in the division. A win by Kos reminds the world that he isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Former TUF winner Court McGee faces Josh Neer. Anyone who loves a knock down, drag out war should tune into this one. These guys don’t know how to do anything other than go to war. That is why this fight is my early pick for Fight of the Night.
Urijah Faber and Ivan Menjivar will clean up some unfinished business. The pair first fought back in January 2006. Menjivar was disqualified for an illegal kick. He was performing extremely well up to that point, seemingly on his way to handing Faber a loss. Seven years later, both are desperate for an A-list win. It seems likely that they will go all out in a fast-paced, action-packed scrap, since that is how these guys normally compete.
Dan Henderson faces off against Lyoto Machinda in a bout to decide who should stand next in line behind Chael Sonnen in the Jon Jones challenger queue. Both men are former champions. Machida wore the UFC 205-pound strap before losing it to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua one fight before Jones bludgeoned the title away from Shogun. Henderson remains the only man in history to simultaneously hold championships in two weight classes in a major promotion. He did that a few years ago in PRIDE’s 185- and 205-pound divisions.
Then, topping it all off, former two-time US Olympian and 2008 bronze medalist Ronda Rousey will rewrite the record books as she becomes the first woman, along with her opponent, Liz Carmouche, to compete inside the Octagon. She is also the first woman to hold a UFC title. Her Strikeforce 135-pound championship was converted into the UFC title when Strikeforce, which is owned by the UFC’s parent company, folded up shop a few months ago. We will find out on Saturday if she will be the first woman to successfully defend a UFC title.
Add all those fights together and UFC 157 is one of the better cards in recent memory. It is must-see TV in my book.
So, what will happen when Rousey and Carmouche get down to business on Saturday night?
If history is any indicator, Rousey will win by first-round armbar. The Olympic Judoka has been unstoppable so far in her MMA career. Six fights. Six wins. Each of those wins occurred by armbar in the first round.
Those stats are crazy. All of Rousey’s opponents know that she is showing up to win by armbar. She makes no bones about the fact that she is going to win by armbar. And when the bell rings, she closes the distance with decent striking, uses her amazing judo skills to throw her opponent, and then she transitions to an armbar, whether in the midst of a ground-and-pound attack or during the transition.
Everyone knows that is her game plan. Yet, nobody has been able to stop it.
Carmouche hopes she will be the first. The US Marine Corps veteran is a well-rounded fighter, though she definitely prefers to stand and bang with an opponent. She will want to do just that against Rousey.
Carmouche will come out looking to get Rousey’s respect early by landing a big punch right off the bat. Maybe she will throw a couple jabs. Or maybe she will just come out swinging for the fence. Whatever the case, she is going to come out swinging.
She will do that because she knows that she has the better standup technique. She also likely has the better chin, though we don’t know that for sure because Rousey has yet to eat a truly clean power punch from a devastating puncher.
Carmouche isn’t a devastating puncher in terms of one-punch knockout power. She is, however, an aggressive, confident striker who possesses enough power to score a knockout win when she puts a couple shots together. She will want to touch the champion over and over in search of wobbly knees. Once that happens, she will sell out like there is no tomorrow in search of the win.
Why? Because she needs to do whatever it takes to keep from getting thrown to the ground. If that happens, she will lose. Period. End of sentence.
She may lose by submission, like each of Rousey’s previous opponents. Or she may lose by ground and pound, since I know Rousey has been working hard on her top striking game. Either way, she will lose.
With that said, nobody can be certain whether Carmouche can handle Rousey, if she is able to put the champion on her back. The challenger has a very effective top game. That bodes well for her. Still, nobody has really seen Rousey’s offensive and defensive guard put to a true test.
Nonetheless, if I’m in Carmouche’s corner, I wouldn’t want to be the first fighter to take that test. Rousey has been ground fighting, albeit as a Judoka, since she was a young child. She evolved into one of the best on the planet. That suggests to me that, if she has spent significant time honing her guard, that it will be extremely dangerous. She is that good of an athlete.
In fact, I don’t think it will be long before Rousey’s standup will be good enough to allow her to stand and bang with all but the very best female strikers. She isn’t there yet. But I don’t think it will take her much longer to get to that point.
Rousey should avoid trying to make some sort of standup statement on Saturday night. She has largely been a one-trick pony so far in her career, but that one trick is amazingly effective. She needs to stick to what she knows in the UFC’s inaugural female fight. If she does, my gut is telling me that she will also leave the Octagon as the first woman to successfully defend a UFC title.
QUICK FACTS:
Ronda Rousey • 6-0 • 5’7, 135 lbs • 26 years old • Each win by first-round armbar • 2x US Olympian in Judo • First UFC fight • 1-0 as champion • Current layoff of 189 days is the longest of her career
Liz Carmouche • 7-2 • 5’6, 135 lbs • 29 years old • 3-2 in last 5 • 57% of wins by KO/TKO • 29% of wins by submission • 14% of wins by judges’ decision • 1 loss by submission, 1 by judges’ decision • 0-1 in major championship fights • Current layoff is 210 days • Longest layoff of career is 281 days
Renan Barao continued his quest to become the best bantamweight in the world on Saturday night with a fourth-round submission win over Michael McDonald. Barao looked great, as usual, though the bout wasn’t free from moments of trepidation for the interim champ.
The back-and-forth action was just what Barao needed to continue to grow as a fighter. His eight-year unbeaten streak has to cause complacency to rear its ugly head. Easy wins don’t help. Fights like Saturday night, by contrast, remind Barao that he can’t take any opponent or any fight for granted. That will serve him well as he seeks to set an unbeaten record that could very well become the standard bearer for the sport for years to come.
WILL BARAO-CRUZ HAPPEN?
Despite the fact that Barao extended his unbeaten streak to an absurd 33 bouts on Saturday night, including his first successful defense of his interim 135-pound title, that still wasn’t enough to solidify his claim as the best bantamweight in the world.
There is some guy named Dominick Cruz who currently owns that distinction. Cruz also happens to be the real UFC bantamweight champion. Until the pair meet in the cage, Cruz retires or is stripped of the belt, Barao will remain firmly planted as the division’s number two.
I’m not suggesting that Cruz will necessarily defeat Barao. But the real champion has earned the right to occupy the top spot until someone forcibly removes him from that position.
That fight is supposed to happen this summer when Cruz finally heals from two knee surgeries. But I’m not so sure it will for a couple of reasons.
First, I think that Cruz will need a bit more time than most think. The guy hasn’t competed since October 1, 2011. That is a lifetime in a sport like mixed martial arts. Add to the mix that Cruz had to basically have back-to-back ACL surgeries, which means he hasn’t done anything of great substance to maintain, let alone sharpen, his skills since early summer 2012.
Thus, even if Cruz begins training in June, after recovering from the December surgery (which, again, was his second ACL reconstruction in six months), I think he will need much more time than just a typical 10-week training camp to get ready for a title defense against Barao.
Second, Barao is far better suited for the featherweight division. His frame is absolutely enormous for the 135-pound weight class. The cut is a significant undertaking. The only reason he isn’t competing 10 pounds to the north is his close friend and teammate, Jose Aldo, rules that division.
Aldo has openly talked about moving to lightweight, a division that is likely better suited to his frame as he continues to get older. If Aldo defeats Anthony Pettis this summer and Cruz is a bit behind on his comeback timetable, it may seem likely that Barao will move up in weight in an attempt to be his buddy’s successor as the featherweight champ. Such a move would all but eliminate Cruz-Barao from the sport’s short-term road map.
SWANSON COMING INTO HIS OWN
Cub Swanson probably wondered where his career was headed when he suffered a second-round submission loss to Ricardo Lamas in his UFC debut. That was his third loss in his previous five fights and clearly not the best way to jumpstart his career after finally getting the opportunity to compete inside the Octagon.
Then, something clicked with the exciting featherweight. He followed the Lamas loss with a second-round TKO win over George Roop. Then knockout wins over Ross Pearson and Charles Oliveira. Three in a row is nothing to sneeze at. Four in a row starts to spark talk about title contender status.
Swanson’s win over Dustin Poirier on Saturday night definitely put him squarely in the championship mix. Not solely because it was his fourth win. It was more about who he beat.
Anyone who regularly reads this column knows what I think about Poirier and his potential. For Swanson to comfortably handle him suggests that the California native is ready for the best that the division has to offer.
I know that Pettis is next up for Aldo. I think Swanson should be next in line.
DESPITE THE LOSS, POIRIER STILL HAS THE GOODS
I still firmly believe that Poirier is a future champion. Saturday’s loss does nothing to derail that belief. Granted, a loss never helps the cause. And it certainly will take him a half step backward in the division hierarchy. Yet, he has to be granted some quarter for accepting the bout on short notice.
Taking a company-first approach to one’s career can pay dividends down the road, particularly for young fighters who have plenty of time to recover from a loss. At 24 years old, Poirier still has at least a decade of competition in front of him, if he chooses to stay in the sport that long. That means he is nowhere close to reaching his potential at this early stage in his career—a scary thought for UFC featherweights and lightweights, despite dropping two of his last three fights.
My guess is Poirier will be rewarded for his willingness to step up with a marquee matchup in his next bout. A win will completely negate the negative impact of Saturday’s loss. Another loss, however, would be disastrous for the youngster.
Thus, if I was running Team Poirier, I would look at this next bout as a major moment in his career. Risks aside, I don’t think he needs an easy opponent, if such thing exists in the UFC. I actually think he would be better served looking to fight one of the recognized top contenders, though I would make sure that he gets a full training camp in preparation for the bout.
BARAO PUT TO THE TEST
Renan Barao continued his quest to become the best bantamweight in the world on Saturday night with a fourth-round submission win over Michael McDonald. Barao looked great, as usual, though the bout wasn’t free from moments of trepidation for the interim champ.
The back-and-forth action was just what Barao needed to continue to grow as a fighter. His eight-year unbeaten streak has to cause complacency to rear its ugly head. Easy wins don’t help. Fights like Saturday night, by contrast, remind Barao that he can’t take any opponent or any fight for granted. That will serve him well as he seeks to set an unbeaten record that could very well become the standard bearer for the sport for years to come.
WILL BARAO-CRUZ HAPPEN?
Despite the fact that Barao extended his unbeaten streak to an absurd 33 bouts on Saturday night, including his first successful defense of his interim 135-pound title, that still wasn’t enough to solidify his claim as the best bantamweight in the world.
There is some guy named Dominick Cruz who currently owns that distinction. Cruz also happens to be the real UFC bantamweight champion. Until the pair meet in the cage, Cruz retires or is stripped of the belt, Barao will remain firmly planted as the division’s number two.
I’m not suggesting that Cruz will necessarily defeat Barao. But the real champion has earned the right to occupy the top spot until someone forcibly removes him from that position.
That fight is supposed to happen this summer when Cruz finally heals from two knee surgeries. But I’m not so sure it will for a couple of reasons.
First, I think that Cruz will need a bit more time than most think. The guy hasn’t competed since October 1, 2011. That is a lifetime in a sport like mixed martial arts. Add to the mix that Cruz had to basically have back-to-back ACL surgeries, which means he hasn’t done anything of great substance to maintain, let alone sharpen, his skills since early summer 2012.
Thus, even if Cruz begins training in June, after recovering from the December surgery (which, again, was his second ACL reconstruction in six months), I think he will need much more time than just a typical 10-week training camp to get ready for a title defense against Barao.
Second, Barao is far better suited for the featherweight division. His frame is absolutely enormous for the 135-pound weight class. The cut is a significant undertaking. The only reason he isn’t competing 10 pounds to the north is his close friend and teammate, Jose Aldo, rules that division.
Aldo has openly talked about moving to lightweight, a division that is likely better suited to his frame as he continues to get older. If Aldo defeats Anthony Pettis this summer and Cruz is a bit behind on his comeback timetable, it may seem likely that Barao will move up in weight in an attempt to be his buddy’s successor as the featherweight champ. Such a move would all but eliminate Cruz-Barao from the sport’s short-term road map.
SWANSON COMING INTO HIS OWN
Cub Swanson probably wondered where his career was headed when he suffered a second-round submission loss to Ricardo Lamas in his UFC debut. That was his third loss in his previous five fights and clearly not the best way to jumpstart his career after finally getting the opportunity to compete inside the Octagon.
Then, something clicked with the exciting featherweight. He followed the Lamas loss with a second-round TKO win over George Roop. Then knockout wins over Ross Pearson and Charles Oliveira. Three in a row is nothing to sneeze at. Four in a row starts to spark talk about title contender status.
Swanson’s win over Dustin Poirier on Saturday night definitely put him squarely in the championship mix. Not solely because it was his fourth win. It was more about who he beat.
Anyone who regularly reads this column knows what I think about Poirier and his potential. For Swanson to comfortably handle him suggests that the California native is ready for the best that the division has to offer.
I know that Pettis is next up for Aldo. I think Swanson should be next in line.
DESPITE THE LOSS, POIRIER STILL HAS THE GOODS
I still firmly believe that Poirier is a future champion. Saturday’s loss does nothing to derail that belief. Granted, a loss never helps the cause. And it certainly will take him a half step backward in the division hierarchy. Yet, he has to be granted some quarter for accepting the bout on short notice.
Taking a company-first approach to one’s career can pay dividends down the road, particularly for young fighters who have plenty of time to recover from a loss. At 24 years old, Poirier still has at least a decade of competition in front of him, if he chooses to stay in the sport that long. That means he is nowhere close to reaching his potential at this early stage in his career—a scary thought for UFC featherweights and lightweights, despite dropping two of his last three fights.
My guess is Poirier will be rewarded for his willingness to step up with a marquee matchup in his next bout. A win will completely negate the negative impact of Saturday’s loss. Another loss, however, would be disastrous for the youngster.
Thus, if I was running Team Poirier, I would look at this next bout as a major moment in his career. Risks aside, I don’t think he needs an easy opponent, if such thing exists in the UFC. I actually think he would be better served looking to fight one of the recognized top contenders, though I would make sure that he gets a full training camp in preparation for the bout.
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BARAO PUT TO THE TEST