Author: Dale De Souza

Jon Fitch, Dominick Cruz and Five UFC Fighters to Watch If You Have Insomnia

Yes, boring fighters exist in combat sports, especially in MMA.Sometimes it’s because they take people down and hold them there, sometimes it’s because they pin opponents against the cage for three rounds and sometimes it’s the fact that they’re just s…

Yes, boring fighters exist in combat sports, especially in MMA.

Sometimes it’s because they take people down and hold them there, sometimes it’s because they pin opponents against the cage for three rounds and sometimes it’s the fact that they’re just so hard to catch.

Now, for some people like myself, guys such as the more-elusive fighters are actually interesting to watch because you never know when they’ll pull the trigger and land their proverbial one-kill-shots on opponents, but if you’re an insomniac and haven’t gotten a good night’s rest since the sixth grade, there’s a good chance that some guys might actually help out with that.

It’s tough to say who would be the biggest cure for insomnia outside of the UFC, but wherever you look, there are guys that are just flat out boring to watch in MMA. The only reason we watch them fight is really in the hopes that whomever they face will be the man to put them in a coma.

Some of the guys you’re about to see will cure your insomnia and there might be some that may actually cause it to linger for some, but all of the men you’re about to see have been accused of being boring fighters.

Would you guys like to meet these five guys?

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UFC on Versus 5 Results: Does Joseph Benavidez Have the Tools to Be a Champion?

Short answer, yes: Joseph “The Beefcake” Benavidez does have the tools—the discipline, the energy, the aggression and the excitement factor—that one needs if he’s going to be a world champion.To know this, you didn’t even have to watch his …

Short answer, yes: Joseph “The Beefcake” Benavidez does have the tools—the discipline, the energy, the aggression and the excitement factor—that one needs if he’s going to be a world champion.

To know this, you didn’t even have to watch his fight with Eddie Wineland last night. All you had to do was go on YouTube and check out a highlight or two of Benavidez in action.

The only people he has not beaten are guys named Dominick Cruz, but Benavidez has beaten two former WEC bantamweight champions, one of which was formerly seen as pound for pound, one of the best fighters in the sport.

In some minds, he also beat the current UFC bantamweight champion in his WEC 50 rematch with Dominick Cruz.

In hindsight, Benavidez would be the first choice of many for the next crack at the UFC bantamweight champion after the winner of UFC on Versus 6’s Cruz-Demetrious Johnson title bout fights the winner of UFC 139’s Urijah Faber-Brian Bowles fight.

Realistically though, would Joseph Benavidez‘s tools help him acquire gold at 135?

Maybe and maybe not, but that is mostly due to the size of Benavidez, not at all because of what he brings to the fight game.

Like many in the MMA community, I find it hard to believe that a drop to Flyweight in 2012 will do anything less than benefit his career.

People say that if Dana White gets the flyweight division off the ground in 2012, Benavidez and Johnson could be considered among the best flyweights in the world.

Both have the tools to do it, and there’s little question if they can do it at 135, but right now, it’s still looking like exciting fights are at 135 for both, while 125 is where the big paydays and title aspirations are at.

Then again, maybe we’re all underestimating what it is that the Team Alpha Male speed demon and the Matt Hume product can do by assuming they’d do well at 125 when they’ve seen good success at 135.

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UFC on Versus 5 Results: Eddie Wineland and Joseph Benavidez Put on a Show

UFC on Versus 5 last night was a true MMA show if there ever was one, with only one fight truly leaving something to be desired.All throughout, the fights did not disappoint, and one fight that proved an early candidate for Fight of the Night before th…

UFC on Versus 5 last night was a true MMA show if there ever was one, with only one fight truly leaving something to be desired.

All throughout, the fights did not disappoint, and one fight that proved an early candidate for Fight of the Night before the main card even started was the bantamweight clash between Joseph Benavidez and Eddie Wineland.

It was a bit more technical than what some fans of the WEC days were used to seeing previously from Benavidez, but fans who hadn’t seen Benavidez in action before last night got a nice taste of what to expect from “The Beefcake.”

Wineland did give Benavidez a fight but for most of the fight, Wineland seemed tentative and appeared hesitant to pull the trigger at times, opening Benavidez’s opportunities to attack Wineland head on.

The most damage Benavidez appeared to take was when Wineland caught him on the eyebrow and Benavidez somehow felt as though he got poked in the eye.

It was irrelevant, however, as Benavidez got past it and landed the harder, more damaging shots to the former WEC bantamweight champion, even busting him open at one point in the fight.

As a result, Benavidez moves up in the ranks and hopes to position himself near the upper echelon of 135 once more, although many argue he would benefit more by taking on exciting 135-lb fights and putting on main-event-level performances until Dana White establishes a legitimate UFC flyweight division.

Once that happens, there’s no question that Benavidez would be considered as elite as they come.

Actually, “champion” will be more like it.

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UFC on Versus 5 Fight Card: What Ben Henderson Must Do To Beat Jim Miller

Ben Henderson has come something of a long way in such a short time.Last year he had come off of two submission wins (one over Jamie Varner and one over Donald Cerrone) to face Anthony “Showtime” Pettis at WEC 53.Almost one year later, Henderson is com…

Ben Henderson has come something of a long way in such a short time.

Last year he had come off of two submission wins (one over Jamie Varner and one over Donald Cerrone) to face Anthony “Showtime” Pettis at WEC 53.

Almost one year later, Henderson is coming off of a loss to Pettis and a big UFC 129 win over Mark Bocek to face Jim Miller at UFC on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle.

Now if there’s one thing you must know off the bat, it’s that both men have a way of going for the finish, and that way of going for the finish is the submission.

Miller scored his first real TKO-by-strikes-type win over Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128, and he has shown improvements in his striking as well as some beautiful Jiu-Jitsu and aggression in his offense.

The only problem with Henderson is that Henderson has been locked in some of the tightest submissions ever, and yet he’s looked like he was waiting on a cup of coffee with a stoic glare in his eyes.

He has shown a high threshold of pain when it comes to submissions, and even though his guillotine choke on Jamie Varner had the arm locked in as well, his power seemed all conspicuous when he forced Varner to tap from that tight submission.

Must he wear down Miller and try show his strength in submission form to beat his seasoned foe come Sunday?

Absolutely.

Standing with Miller might be a mistake, and much like Miller, Henderson is a master of submission offense even if the fight hits the ground.

However, Henderson’s only shot is to take the fight to the ground himself, or show that he can maintain his composure from off his back and transition to Miller’s back for either a rear naked choke attempt, the second Twister in the UFC, or even just a chance to flatten Miller out and lay in some ground and pound.

Anything is possible when two submission specialists take the fight to the ground, but Henderson may benefit from being the one to get it to the ground first.

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UFC on Versus 5 Fight Card: What Jim Miller Must Do to Beat Ben Henderson

When the WEC merged with the UFC last year, one of the first non-title fights people talked about was Ben Henderson vs. Jim Miller.Miller was seen as a surefire contender to fight the winner of Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard, and Ben Henderson had just com…

When the WEC merged with the UFC last year, one of the first non-title fights people talked about was Ben Henderson vs. Jim Miller.

Miller was seen as a surefire contender to fight the winner of Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard, and Ben Henderson had just come off of his too-close-to-call-before-the-Showtime-Kick title bout at WEC 53, in which Anthony Pettis defeated him by unanimous decision.

After Henderson’s unanimous decision win against Mark Bocek at UFC 129 and Miller’s third-round TKO of Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128, it seemed natural that they would collide to determine who would threaten the UFC Lightweight Champion, whomever that may be.

Now the battle is finally happening tomorrow night at UFC on Versus 5, and the question now is, “What does Jim Miller have to do to beat Ben Henderson?”

That’s probably the best possible question to ask, and it’s also possibly the most challenging, because even though Miller is two fights deeper than Henderson and has never tapped out or passed out, Henderson has been locked in some of the tightest submissions ever, and yet he would not go down.

Henderson passed out to an Anaconda Choke once, but to get Henderson to tap out, you might have to have a metal rod in your arm somewhere—or you might have to be the size of “Butterbean” Eric Esch.

To put it another way, Jim Miller must do something similar to what he did with Shalorus, and stand with Henderson if he wants to beat him.

Clearly, Miller is no K-1 level striker, and I don’t think he ever will be a K-1 level striker, but his stand-up is good enough to where he can mix up his punches with some brutal knees and a few checking leg kicks and frustrate Henderson at the least.

Oh, and did we mention that Miller is as aggressive as they come, and will not relent until he has Henderson finished?

If you don’t believe it for a minute, watch Miller on Saturday.

Whether he knocks Henderson out or not, he will hurt Ben Henderson, and it will look like Henderson took a trip to Hell and back…and maybe even back to Hell.

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UFC on Versus 6 Fight Card: Is Demetrious Johnson in Over His Head?

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is in for the biggest and most difficult challenge of his career come Oct. 1st.He fought a close battle against one Miguel Torres and is now slated to face Dominick Cruz on Oct. 1st at UFC on Versus 6, the first free U…

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is in for the biggest and most difficult challenge of his career come Oct. 1st.

He fought a close battle against one Miguel Torres and is now slated to face Dominick Cruz on Oct. 1st at UFC on Versus 6, the first free UFC event to host a title fight since UFC 75 and the first free Zuffa event to host a title fight since WEC 53.

However, to put it simply, he is definitely in over his head if he honestly thinks he’ll be able to do what Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen before him were unable to do.

Mind you, Faber did defeat Cruz at Featherweight, but unlike The California Kid, Mighty Mouse Johnson is pure wrestling and ground-and-pound who has good KO power but has not been able to show it against some of the UFC’s best nor was he able to show it to some of the WEC’s toughest.

Really speaking, he’s been a mix of good grappling and good wrestling with some dominating top control and a little bit of ground and pound.

On paper, he might have the tools to beat Cruz, but the champion and his striking game have been all the more difficult to figure out ever since Cruz dropped to Bantamweight, and unless Johnson has the striking to break through the offense of Cruz, Johnson will not be able to implement his ground prowess against the somewhat takedown-prone Cruz.

To put this another way, there’s a reason why Cruz has opened as the over-overwhelming favorite in this bout.

Pound for pound, the best fighter at 135 pounds is Cruz, and with what he does bring to the fight on Oct. 1st, the most surprising thing that could come from this title bout is Johnson going five rounds without getting dropped or even slightly sore once.

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