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Why UFC Should Strip Georges St-Pierre of His Welterweight Title

Georges St-Pierre casts a long shadow in the world of mixed martial arts. Leading up to last weekend’s UFC 143, most of the media attention focused not on the main event, but on a hypothetical bout between St-Pierre and Nick Diaz, who most seem to see …

To the dismay of many, Diaz lost a pseudo-controversial decision to the less heralded, but undoubtedly talented Carlos Condit. Plans for what could have been one of the biggest fights in UFC history were dashed as quickly as you can say “interim UFC welterweight champion.”

Yet, even though I felt Condit completely deserved the win over Diaz, I still personally would much prefer to see St-Pierre matched up against Diaz regardless, and I think I’m not alone.

There’s one clear solution: Strip St-Pierre of his UFC belt.

It seems counter-intuitive to strip the man who might just be the most accomplished and most celebrated fighter in history, but when you think about it it actually makes a lot of sense, and the situation is not entirely without precedent.

Frank Mir was once stripped of his UFC title after 14 months of inactivity. St-Pierre likely won’t be ready to fight until November, which will be 18 months removed from his previous bout.

More than that, though, stripping St-Pierre makes sense for everybody else involved.

Condit shouldn’t have to rematch Diaz after what should have been considered a close, but straightforward decision. He should be promoted to undisputed champion and allowed to defend his belt in St-Pierre’s absence.

Welterweight contenders like Jake Ellenberger and Johny Hendricks shouldn’t be forced to wait for rematches and unification bouts either. The division should be allowed to move forward, and if Ellenberger beats Diego Sanchez on Feb. 15, he should get a shot at Condit. If he loses, give the shot to Hendricks, who deserves a shot just as much after knocking off the perennial No. 2 welterweight Jon Fitch.

Nick Diaz seemed pretty disgusted and disheartened by the decision against Condit and quit inside the cage as a result. That said, I’m sure he’d reverse that retirement pretty quick if he were offered a fight against St-Pierre.

And then there’s St-Pierre himself.

While St-Pierre might have some hesitation about being stripped of his title, he appears to desperately want to fight Diaz, and the hype behind the fight is hardly diminished considering that many fans seem to feel like Diaz actually won (I’m not one of them).

Let him have his wish.

Strip the UFC title of Georges St-Pierre.

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UFC on FOX 2 Preview: Why Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis Has Huge Significance

For some hardcore MMA fans, UFC on FOX 2 is just another UFC event.Yes, it’s the most stacked MMA card ever on network television, but other than that I don’t think most hardcore fans truly understand the magnitude of the situation and what it could me…

For some hardcore MMA fans, UFC on FOX 2 is just another UFC event.

Yes, it’s the most stacked MMA card ever on network television, but other than that I don’t think most hardcore fans truly understand the magnitude of the situation and what it could mean for the immediate future of the UFC.

When I look back on the history of MMA, I see a sport where the ultimate success or failure of a promotion has hinged upon far more specific instances and lightning-in-a-bottle moments.

Take the following examples: Would the UFC have ever exploded like it did had Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar not fought like they did on The Ultimate Fighter?

Would Strikeforce have sold to the UFC had it not have been for the upset losses of Fedor Emelianenko and that disastrous card on CBS?

In both cases, I think the answer is a resounding and unequivocal no.

Had Bonnar and Griffin not fought like they did, the UFC might never have seen that huge boost in popularity that allowed it to climb out of a $48 million financial pit.

The terrible ratings for that April 17, 2010, Strikeforce event, combined with boring fights and a post-fight brawl, eliminated the possibility of a quick return to CBS, while the losses of Emelianenko destroyed the possibility of an immediate entry into the pay-per-view market. Those things combined, Strikeforce’s investors had little choice but to abandon ship.

In a personal anecdote, I’ve talked to lots of people who ordered their first pay-per-view for UFC 129, who say they won’t do it again because Georges St-Pierrer vs. Jake Shields was a dud of a main event. First-time watchers don’t remember the Lyoto Machida knockout or the classic that was Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick.

Main event aside, I think UFC 129 was one of the greatest UFC shows ever, but all people remember was the way it ended. Many won’t buy again as a result.

Looking forward at this weekend’s FOX card, what are the stakes?

Wins by Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen and an impressive main event will set up $2 million pay-per-view events and earn the UFC possibly millions of new fans.

Both the Jon Jones/Evans rivalry and the Anderson Silva/Sonnen rivalries have the kind of storylines, buzz and excitement that could really create a ton of momentum. Not to mention that Evans and Sonnen are also probably the two best self-promoters currently in the UFC since the exit of Brock Lesnar.

Wins by Davis and Michael Bisping combined with a lackluster main event could kill two huge events, never mind the potential new fan interest lost.

That’s probably a loss of well over a million pay-per-view buys, in addition to lost potential ticket sales and future potential earnings on new fans

Am I wrong, or is a $30 million revenue swing based on this one event a very conservative estimate? It could be $100 million.

This seems especially critical considering the potential for Evans vs. Davis to become a stalemate wrestling match.

I know most people think Sonnen is going to beat Bisping, but then again, few people thought Jake Shields was going to sit on Dan Henderson’s chest for for rounds, but it happened.

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How Anthony Johnson Missed Weight by a Whopping 11 Pounds

When a smiling Anthony Johnson tipped the scales at an unapologetic 197 pounds, many observers were shocked at how someone coming up from welterweight could possibly miss weight by so much jumping up in weight class.Really though, all the signs were th…

Really though, all the signs were there, and it didn’t surprise me one bit. In fact, only hours before I’d been talking to my friend about the possibility that something like this might happen.

How a Former 170 Pound Fighter Weighed In at 197 Pounds

A quick glance at Anthony Johnson’s welterweight record should show you that he’s no stranger to missing weight. That said, even when he missed the 170 pound limit, he’d weigh in at 177.5 pounds, or 176 pounds, still nowhere near the 197 pounds he weighed in at yesterday.

Yet if you heard Johnson speak beforehand, you might just have gotten a little hint that it might happen.

Prior to failing to make weight, Johnson had spoken about how much fresher and stronger he would be with an extra 15 pounds.

He’d spoken about how much happier he was now that he didn’t have to watch what he ate.

But when you think about it, that doesn’t make any sense.

Having already weighed in at as much as 177.5 and 176 pounds before a fight, already looking sucked out, Johnson wouldn’t be 15 pounds heavier at 186 pounds, he’d be 10 pounds heavier at maximum.

And adding 10 pounds isn’t very hard to do at all for a guy who can weigh in at at over 220 pounds when he’s not training for a fight.

For some of you out there, none of this will make any sense, but let me explain it in a different way.

Think of a man with a $10,000 debt who wins the lottery. Surely with $10 million that same man couldn’t possibly go broke, right? Wrong. Lottery winners go broke all the time, because the issue is never about $10,000, it was always an issue about money management in general. If you can’t save money when you’ve got none of it, imagine how you’re going to do when you’ve got more than you can count.

Or, think of the procrastinating student who gets a two-week extension on his assignment and says, “Thank God the pressure is off, who wants to go drinking tonight?” He’s never going to get that assignment done on time.

The only problem with the case of Johnson is that it’s a little bit more complex because Johnson was a HUGE welterweight who would have had time making 170 even in the best of times. But he wasn’t just a huge welterweight, he was a huge welterweight who gained weight just by looking at a sandwich, and a huge welterweight who never thought he had a problem even though he’d missed weight massively twice before.

In fact, he still doesn’t think he has one. He’s responded to this whole situation by laughing at the criticisms, and brushing it off as some kind of unprecedented medical issue.

Congratulations Anthony, you’ve now joined Cris Cyborg and BJ Penn in the “delusional MMA fighters who can’t admit it when they’re wrong” club.

Somehow I doubt that this incident will change anything in Johnson’s mind. Maybe he wouldn’t have problems making 205 pounds.

The final question is what will Dana White do about this?

In the past, White has been lenient with Chris Leben, a two-time convicted DUI who has tested positive for steroids and banned painkillers.

In my mind, driving under the influence is a million times worse than missing weight.

But will White see Johnson like he sees Leben, as a man with inner demons, or like Josh Barnett, a man who is trying to mess with his bottom line?

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UFC 140 Results: Jon Jones Chokes Out Machida, Greatest Year-Long Campaign Ever

It wasn’t without a struggle, but Jon Jones choked out Lyoto Machida in spectacular fashion to end what was a captivating and fantastic fight.Early on, Jones seemed confused by Machida’s elusive style. Neither fighter seemed able to hit the other very …

It wasn’t without a struggle, but Jon Jones choked out Lyoto Machida in spectacular fashion to end what was a captivating and fantastic fight.

Early on, Jones seemed confused by Machida’s elusive style. Neither fighter seemed able to hit the other very often, but Machida was able to move in and out of Jones’ range with far greater success than any fighter has in recent memory.

Jones couldn’t hit Machida, and Machida landed a hard right that momentarily wobbled the champ.

Still, Jones quickly recovered, and in the second round, Jones’ grappling and submission prowess proved the only difference that mattered.

Jones got a takedown against the cage and opened up a big gash on Machida’s forehead that caused the referee to momentarily pause the fight to check with the doctor. Machida would later say after the fight that he thought the cut inhibited his vision, and was the beginning of the end.

When the fight restarted, Jones rocked Machida with a punch and quickly capitalized by choking Machida unconscious with a modified guillotine against the fence in a way that only a 6’3″ man with an 84.5 inch reach can do.

The fight was called off, and Jones released Machida, who fell lifelessly to the mat.

Jon Jones might be the greatest finisher in the sport.

What killer instinct, and what an end to an amazing year.

When people look back at the history of MMA, 2011 will be remembered as the Jon Jones’ year.

More than that, Jon Jones’ 2011 domination has been the greatest single-year campaign in the short history of mixed martial arts.

Nostalgic Pride fans might still point to Mauricio Rua’s 2005.

They’re dead wrong.

Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, and Lyoto Machida aren’t just top 10 light heavyweights. They’re three of the top light heavyweights in the short history of the sport, and Jones beat them all decisively. Even without Bader, this list is probably better than any year we’ve seen so far in terms of quality opposition.

Looking to the future, it’s hard to imagine Jon Jones having much trouble with anybody in the current landscape.

Rashad Evans is simply too small.

Dan Henderson would get taken down and is pretty much helpless on his back.

It’s unlikely that Dana White puts Anderson Silva against Jones, but if he did, it wouldn’t be pretty for “The Spider.” Sure, Silva is a better striker than Jones, but Jones’ grappling would be far too much for Silva to handle.

Believe it or not, should Jones win his next two fights, his resume of achievements against elite competition will already be the greatest in the relatively short history of the light-heavyweight division.

Don’t be surprised when people start putting Jon Jones ahead of Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre on pound-for-pound lists either.

This could just be the Jon Jones era.

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Michael Bisping Doesn’t Get the Credit He Deserves

Michael Bisping may never be a UFC champion.He might not ever fight for the title.And I probably wouldn’t even consider him a top-five middleweight in the UFC.That said, after his dominant victory over Jason Miller, I’m once again astonished at how lit…

Michael Bisping may never be a UFC champion.

He might not ever fight for the title.

And I probably wouldn’t even consider him a top-five middleweight in the UFC.

That said, after his dominant victory over Jason Miller, I’m once again astonished at how little credit Bisping gets from fans for what has actually been a pretty stellar UFC career.

The UFC has long relied upon Bisping’s star power to grow the sport in his native England, and because of that MMA fans might feel like Bisping is being shoved down our throats. I get that. But that shouldn’t take away from his consistently good performances inside the Octagon.

Chris Leben is generally considered to be a pretty solid and serviceable fighter, but contrast how people took Bisping’s victory over Leben in comparison to how they took the victories of Brian Stann and Mark Munoz over the same man.

When Brian Stann beat Leben, people called it a great upset and star-making performance.

When Munoz beat up a gassed and unimpressive Leben at UFC 138, Joe Rogan called it the biggest victory of Munoz’s career and a big step closer to getting a title shot.

Conversely, after Bisping pretty much neutralized and nullified all of Leben’s offense over three rounds, fans acted like Bisping was lucky he didn’t just get caught by a punch and knocked out.

The same thing goes for his victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Why does Bisping get no respect?

One reason Bisping gets no respect is because many fans dislike his perceived abrasive and self-centered attitude on The Ultimate Fighter. However, while Bisping may be a bit of a prickly personality, fans should remember that a person’s portrayal on TUF is heavily influenced by editing designed to make fighters look a certain way.

I’ve talked to a lot of MMA fans who have actually met Bisping, and by all accounts Bisping is incredibly good to his fans who actually approach him in a friendly manner. Much like fellow maligned fighter Tito Ortiz, Bisping has been known to take a lot of time to talk and mingle with fans who actually treat him with respect.

And I can’t blame him for telling off fans who boo him constantly. If I were booed so much, I would decide not to care about that either.

Bisping’s attitude towards fans impresses me a lot more than many fighters I know who play up to the the crowd when the cameras are rolling but who simply can’t be bothered if you try to say “hi: to them in a more everyday environment.

But aside from his attitude, I think there’s also something about his fighting style that’s pretty unappreciated.

Bisping might not do so well against some fighters with the ability to land knockout punches on elite fighters, but that doesn’t mean Bisping doesn’t do some great things himself. Bisping has a high work rate and crisp volume striking that allows him to wear down opponents and make them look like they have no cardio or punching ability.

When Bisping gets taken down, he’s good at avoiding damage and getting back up to his feet. Rashad Evans, one of the best light-heavyweights in the world, actually had a lot of trouble keeping Bisping down.

He’s a pretty underrated wrestler, both offensively and defensively.

Also, while he’s rarely seen applying submissions in the UFC, he’s a very good grappler and is especially good at raining down punishment from top position even against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts like Jason Miller and Denis Kang.

We saw all of that in Bisping’s fight against Jason Miller.

Miller might have gassed against him, but you tend to get tired when your takedowns are getting stuffed, you can’t control the fight, and you are absorbing punches and knees to the body and face. Miller might not be a great fighter, but he wouldn’t have gassed out like that if he wasn’t fighting a guy who could really take it to him like Bisping did.

Although Bisping’s pace gives him a chance against anybody he can drag into deep water, I wouldn’t favor Bisping over a heavy-hitter like Vitor Belfort. That said, I actually think there are quite a few very high-level middleweights whom Bisping matches up quite favorably against.

Yushin Okami is one of the best middleweights in the world, but I think Bisping would be able to neutralize enough of Okami’s wrestling to be able to out-work Okami, especially over five rounds when conditioning is more of a factor.

Bisping may never beat an all-time great, but he’s a perennial top-10 middleweight, the best MMA fighter ever to come out of England and, in general, is probably much better than he’ll ever get credit for.

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UFC 139: Did Dan Henderson Make Less Money Than Cung Le?

When UFC fighter salaries were released to the general public yesterday, many fans were blown away by the $420,000 Cung Le took home for his effort against Wanderlei Silva, including his $70,000 Fight of the Night bonus. That Le’s official pay wa…

That Le’s official pay was larger than main-event winner Dan Henderson‘s made it even more shocking to casual fans.

While I’m a bit surprised by the published numbers myself, a few things are worth considering.

Cung Le’s San Jose Appeal

Cung Le may not be a huge star in the mixed martial arts world, but he’s a homegrown star in San Jose, California, where UFC 139 took place. Le may not have been a big pay-per-view draw, but he still acted as a local draw, and also as a transitional figure for the UFC moving into San Jose, the former home of Strikeforce.

Dana White saw San Jose as an important future market for the UFC and definitely wanted to make sure that Strikeforce’s fans would come along. The UFC saw Le as instrumental in that effort, and he was compensated accordingly.

That said, while I still found Le’s pay to be extremely high, there are at least a few other things Le’s payment should say about the current state of the UFC.

Dan Henderson Probably Made Much More Money than Cung Le

While Le’s officially announced pay was larger than Henderson’s $320,000, that’s not the whole picture.

Official purses are only useful in determining the basement level of what a fighter made for a given fight.

Fighter contracts can include signing bonuses, discretionary bonuses, pay-per-view percentages or other forms of payment over and above the announced purses. UFC ownership doesn’t want fighters to have full knowledge of what other fighters are paid, so the highest-paid fighters usually receive much of their payment outside of the structure that has to be officially reported to the overseeing athletic commission.

Perhaps the best examples of a different kind of payment structure come from the co-promotional payments for M-1 fighters Gegard Mousasi and Fedor Emelianenko. When he fought for M-1, Mousasi was reportedly paid only $2,000 for his fight with Rameau Sokoudjou. Likewise, Emelianenko was reportedly paid less money than opponents Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski when he fought for Affliction.

Simply seeing that Tim Sylvia “officially” got paid more than Fedor Emelianenko should be enough to tell you that something funny was going on. As a general rule, it’s probably fairly safe to assume that the bigger name and better draw usually gets paid more than whatever the lesser draw is making if they’re fighting on the same card.

Dan Henderson is a much bigger star than Le, is on a longer winning streak, and was coming off far more impressive performances. All three of those things should tell you something.

Le’s contract was probably structured mostly around a high base-fight purse, while Henderson’s pay will come in other forms, either from pay-per-view revenue or another kind of bonus.

If anything, Le’s payment should only suggest that Henderson and the other headliner, Mauricio Rua, each probably made far more than $320,000 when all other forms of payment have been taken into consideration.

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