Author: Dave Meltzer

Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night 42

Saturday night’s Diego Sanchez win over Ross Pearson was an example of a different problem than many of the past scoring issues in MMA. This one is squarely on the judges. But all scoring problems will continue unless an attempt is made to revamp the system.

One of Dana White’s favorite lines for years has been, “Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.”

That’s all well and good, except fighters continually evolve, learn better defense, and each year, more and more fights by percentage are going to go to the distance. No advice, or even financial incentives from above, is going to change that direction of the sport.

So judging has become more, not less important. And we’ve got a system that is broken in so many ways that the lack of meaningful attention to this problem gets more and more frustrating.

Saturday night it hit home harder than a hammer right to the forehead as Bruce Buffer read a score of 30-27 for Diego Sanchez, followed by another of 29-28, and we had a decision that was completely unjustifiable. In most people’s eyes, Ross Pearson won all three rounds of the fight. He won the first round, but a late Sanchez flurry made it close. The second was not close, nor was the third.

Discussing MMA judging feels like a broken record. We know what is wrong. We know there is no way to completely fix it. But there are ways to improve it. None of those ways are even given lip service. By ignoring there is a problem, or just giving advice of telling fighters not to leave it to the judges, we guarantee a continuation of a problem that gives the sport a black eye. We’ll just go through watching one out of every seven or eight deserving winners in fights that go to a decision get losses and have their careers and pocketbooks hurt while nothing is done.

Then, a few times a year, there is a Sanchez vs. Pearson fight.

Saturday’s fight differed from the Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks, where the problem was the ten-point must system, its application and it being the perfect fight to show its limitations. It differed from the first Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson bout, a close fight that Jones probably deserved to win, but the emotion of Gustafsson doing so much better than expected led to an uproar when he didn’t.

This one is squarely on the judges, Jeff Collins, who should never judge another fight after giving Sanchez the second round, and Chris Tellez, who can be pardoned for giving Sanchez the first, but not the third. This was one where the ten-point must system, or any system other than flipping a coin or rock, paper, scissors, would have rendered Pearson winning, with competent judging.

I’ve always been negative about criteria scoring, as in points for successful application of different offensive moves. And if this discussion of judging would only come up once or twice a year, I’d still accept what we have.

But at this point, what’s worse than it happening again is that it’s going to continue to happen, because not only are no changes are going to be made, but nobody is even experimenting with changes.

So here’s a few suggestions to start with:

In the case of a decision like this, don’t bring the judges back. This won’t help in close fights, because there always human subjectivity in a close one. This is a unique sport. Close calls going in either direction have to be accepted as long as there are judges. I used to feel it’s part of the sport and just what you have to accept, but I’m wavering strongly from that position now. But judging is a difficult process, particularly in MMA when there is such a wide variety of offensive techniques to consider. But outright bad judges tend to make a preponderance of really bad calls. We don’t need them. We don’t want them.

As long as we have a ten-point must system, and there is so much sentiment not to change to either judging the fight as a whole (which UFC did in its early years and while there was controversy over close calls, there was far less than now, and its the system Pride used during most of its tenure) or using half-points, then retool the system to allow for differentiation.

For MMA this system would work far better if judges were told that a standard round is 10-8.  A 10-9 is only reserved for a close round. Any significant damage in a round by one side over the other should be a 10-7 round. A fully dominant round, such as would be scored a 10-8 today, either with a near finish, or one man in control and hurting the other throughout, should be a 10-6. That at least eliminates the ten point must’s major flaw, the two coin-flip close rounds and the totally dominant round fight where the obvious winner can easily be the loser.

There also should be experimenting done with a variety of new systems.

My suggestion is that at UFC shows, starting as soon as possible, a number of things should be put into place for experimental consideration.

The first is having two more judges. They would judge but their scores wouldn’t count for now. But the local athletic commissions, the Association of Boxing Commissions and the UFC’s Marc Ratner should get the scores and file them away. At the end of the year, examine if there would be any degree of change. For example, in this case, if the other two judges had voted for Pearson, yeah, the Collins and Tellez cards would still have been ridiculous, but at least the right guy would have won the fight. Maybe five judges aren’t better than three, but if we don’t experiment with it over the course of time, we may have an easy solution to at least the problem of really bad calls.

Better yet, have two or three judges at other shows who use the system outlined in category B, where far more points are used, and again, at the end of a year, examine what percentage of decisions end up different and evaluate it from there.

The third is start experimenting with criteria decisions rather than judges points. I did an article some months back explaining the work of Bakersfield College professor Danny Edwards’ attempt to revamp scoring. His work, covering the entire year of 2013, can be seen at www.ScoreThatFight.com. The point system used doesn’t have to be exactly what he proposed, but there is something about a scoring system where judges aren’t involved at all. It becomes about different offensive moves. I was dead set against this type of system for years, but each time something like Saturday’s fight happens, my feelings change more and more.

Every problem people will come up with on why that system won’t work are problems already embedded into the sport. Last night’s fight is emblematic of them.

Pearson used skill and footwork, defensive wrestling, and did more than enough to win every round. He fought to win on the scorecards. He didn’t take risks because his game plan was working fine. He won handily. At least with a criteria system, he’d have gotten his hand raised. Today, you can fight the smart strategic fight that is effective, but doesn’t finish, or fight a dumb and losing fight, get out struck, get out grappled, get in little offense, but neither guarantees the outcome.

There could be small or even major flaws in any of these systems. There is no perfect system. But unless a variety of systems are experimented with, we’ll never know what works best, or maybe there’s even combinations of systems that eliminate as many outright awful decisions, and at least get the close ones right more often. But even with their flaws, every suggested experimental system is better than the one we have. And it’s not getting better.

How bad was the Pearson-Sanchez judging?

It wasn’t the worst ever, but I have to go back to Jessica Aguilar vs. Zoila Frausto, and that was nearly four years ago, to name a fight that I’d conclusively say was more of a robbery than this.

Let’s look at how Fortunes changed for five stars of the show:

BENSON HENDERSON – Henderson (21-3), clearly riled up about being criticized about winning so often via decision, to the point he went on a press conference rant about it, scored with a beautiful punch combo into a choke with split-second reaction time to finish Rustam Khabilov.

Henderson is in a unique position right now. Henderson went into the fight as the No. 2 contender for the lightweight title behind Gilbert Melendez, even though he beat Melendez in a fight that could have gone either way. Because he’s lost twice to champion Anthony Pettis, he’s going to have a tough time getting a title shot. If Melendez was to beat Pettis in their scheduled December title match, Henderson at this point would be the logical contender.
But it’s too long to sit and wait.

The funny story about Saturday’s fight is that when Henderson accepted it, he confused Khabilov with fellow Dagestani fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0). But at this stage, that’s the fight that makes the most sense. For Henderson, straight wins over Josh Thomson, Khabilov and Nurmagomedov should be enough to get him a title shot no matter who is champion. If Nurmagomedov wins, that’s a 23-0 record, and that should be a lock for him to get the next shot.

RUSTAM KHABILOV – Khabilov (17-2) was finished for the first time in his career by Henderson, but this may be the perfect example of a loss as a learning experience.

Khabilov had been able to use power throws to have his way with almost all opponents. It made for entertaining fights, but it’s a style that wasn’t going to work as well with the top tier lightweights with stronger balance and takedown defense. The energy expenditure of that style also takes it toll in longer championship and main event fights.

Khabilov was ahead of Henderson on two of the three judges scorecards after three rounds. So he proved he has the ability to hang with the top guys. He admitted that he needed more stamina, as Henderson was fresher in round four than he was. Plus, Henderson has five years experience fighting top level guys, and being in title fights. For Khabilov, this was his first fight against someone of this level.

As far as name recognition goes, he probably got more with this loss than any of his prior wins. Rafael dos Anjos (21-7), who beat Jason High on Saturday, would make for a good next foe to be a real test as he tries to shore up those weaknesses.

DIEGO SANCHEZ – Sanchez (27-7), made it very clear what he wants next, as he challenged Nate Diaz to a fight when the UFC debuts at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City on Nov. 15.

“This was my dream fight,” Sanchez said about being on the first UFC event ever in Albuquerque, where he grew up. “My other dream fight was to fight in Mexico City, or anywhere in Mexico. Since 2005, they’ve (the UFC) been talking about Mexico. I just got a win. I’m looking to get on the card. I’d like a fight with Diaz. I’d love to give Mexico a Diego Sanchez vs. Diaz fight.”

But there are serious questions regarding Sanchez. It’s not that he, by all rights, should have lost three in a row, and some would argue given his close wins over Takanori Gomi and Martin Kampmann, that it should be six. There was no shame in his loss to Melendez, a top title contender who he had one of the best fights in years against. But with Pearson, the old Sanchez probably would have taken this fight. There was no question watching the speed and reflexes that at 32, and having been in notable wars with Melendez, Jake Ellenberger, Kampmann, B.J. Penn and so many others, that he’s showing the repercussions. Sanchez vs. Diaz may sound good to Sanchez today, but that’s a style match-up that is not pleasant to think about for Saturday night’s version.

ROSS PEARSON – Pearson (17-7, 1 no contest) was robbed of his biggest name scalp on his trophy case, and his win bonus. The one positive of this is those in UFC who make the decisions, like Dana White, consider Pearson the real winner, so it won’t be held against him in career opportunities.

Because of that, Pearson could make a good opponent next for Gomi on the September show in Saitama, Japan. Putting Gomi on that show is a natural. Pearson has been around for five years, and coming off winning Ultimate Fighter 9, he’s better known than most lightweights who would be considered viable foes for Gomi.

JOHN DODSON – With his stoppage of John Moraga after two rounds, Dodson (17-6) is in a unique position. He can legitimately challenge either flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson or bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.

White had already said that if Dodson won the fight, he’d be in line for the next shot at the flyweight belt, that Johnson puts up against Ali Bagautinov this coming Saturday in Vancouver, B.C. But Dodson’s first UFC fight, on Dec. 3, 2011, in Las Vegas, was the TUF season 14 final at bantamweight, where he knocked out Dillashaw in just 1:54.

The flyweight title fight is almost surely coming first. Dodson lost to Johnson on Jan. 26, 2013. In that fight, Dodson knocked Johnson down four times in the first two rounds, but Johnson’s conditioning edge led to him winning the last rounds to take the decision.

Saturday night’s Diego Sanchez win over Ross Pearson was an example of a different problem than many of the past scoring issues in MMA. This one is squarely on the judges. But all scoring problems will continue unless an attempt is made to revamp the system.

One of Dana White’s favorite lines for years has been, “Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.”

That’s all well and good, except fighters continually evolve, learn better defense, and each year, more and more fights by percentage are going to go to the distance. No advice, or even financial incentives from above, is going to change that direction of the sport.

So judging has become more, not less important. And we’ve got a system that is broken in so many ways that the lack of meaningful attention to this problem gets more and more frustrating.

Saturday night it hit home harder than a hammer right to the forehead as Bruce Buffer read a score of 30-27 for Diego Sanchez, followed by another of 29-28, and we had a decision that was completely unjustifiable. In most people’s eyes, Ross Pearson won all three rounds of the fight. He won the first round, but a late Sanchez flurry made it close. The second was not close, nor was the third.

Discussing MMA judging feels like a broken record. We know what is wrong. We know there is no way to completely fix it. But there are ways to improve it. None of those ways are even given lip service. By ignoring there is a problem, or just giving advice of telling fighters not to leave it to the judges, we guarantee a continuation of a problem that gives the sport a black eye. We’ll just go through watching one out of every seven or eight deserving winners in fights that go to a decision get losses and have their careers and pocketbooks hurt while nothing is done.

Then, a few times a year, there is a Sanchez vs. Pearson fight.

Saturday’s fight differed from the Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks, where the problem was the ten-point must system, its application and it being the perfect fight to show its limitations. It differed from the first Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson bout, a close fight that Jones probably deserved to win, but the emotion of Gustafsson doing so much better than expected led to an uproar when he didn’t.

This one is squarely on the judges, Jeff Collins, who should never judge another fight after giving Sanchez the second round, and Chris Tellez, who can be pardoned for giving Sanchez the first, but not the third. This was one where the ten-point must system, or any system other than flipping a coin or rock, paper, scissors, would have rendered Pearson winning, with competent judging.

I’ve always been negative about criteria scoring, as in points for successful application of different offensive moves. And if this discussion of judging would only come up once or twice a year, I’d still accept what we have.

But at this point, what’s worse than it happening again is that it’s going to continue to happen, because not only are no changes are going to be made, but nobody is even experimenting with changes.

So here’s a few suggestions to start with:

In the case of a decision like this, don’t bring the judges back. This won’t help in close fights, because there always human subjectivity in a close one. This is a unique sport. Close calls going in either direction have to be accepted as long as there are judges. I used to feel it’s part of the sport and just what you have to accept, but I’m wavering strongly from that position now. But judging is a difficult process, particularly in MMA when there is such a wide variety of offensive techniques to consider. But outright bad judges tend to make a preponderance of really bad calls. We don’t need them. We don’t want them.

As long as we have a ten-point must system, and there is so much sentiment not to change to either judging the fight as a whole (which UFC did in its early years and while there was controversy over close calls, there was far less than now, and its the system Pride used during most of its tenure) or using half-points, then retool the system to allow for differentiation.

For MMA this system would work far better if judges were told that a standard round is 10-8.  A 10-9 is only reserved for a close round. Any significant damage in a round by one side over the other should be a 10-7 round. A fully dominant round, such as would be scored a 10-8 today, either with a near finish, or one man in control and hurting the other throughout, should be a 10-6. That at least eliminates the ten point must’s major flaw, the two coin-flip close rounds and the totally dominant round fight where the obvious winner can easily be the loser.

There also should be experimenting done with a variety of new systems.

My suggestion is that at UFC shows, starting as soon as possible, a number of things should be put into place for experimental consideration.

The first is having two more judges. They would judge but their scores wouldn’t count for now. But the local athletic commissions, the Association of Boxing Commissions and the UFC’s Marc Ratner should get the scores and file them away. At the end of the year, examine if there would be any degree of change. For example, in this case, if the other two judges had voted for Pearson, yeah, the Collins and Tellez cards would still have been ridiculous, but at least the right guy would have won the fight. Maybe five judges aren’t better than three, but if we don’t experiment with it over the course of time, we may have an easy solution to at least the problem of really bad calls.

Better yet, have two or three judges at other shows who use the system outlined in category B, where far more points are used, and again, at the end of a year, examine what percentage of decisions end up different and evaluate it from there.

The third is start experimenting with criteria decisions rather than judges points. I did an article some months back explaining the work of Bakersfield College professor Danny Edwards’ attempt to revamp scoring. His work, covering the entire year of 2013, can be seen at www.ScoreThatFight.com. The point system used doesn’t have to be exactly what he proposed, but there is something about a scoring system where judges aren’t involved at all. It becomes about different offensive moves. I was dead set against this type of system for years, but each time something like Saturday’s fight happens, my feelings change more and more.

Every problem people will come up with on why that system won’t work are problems already embedded into the sport. Last night’s fight is emblematic of them.

Pearson used skill and footwork, defensive wrestling, and did more than enough to win every round. He fought to win on the scorecards. He didn’t take risks because his game plan was working fine. He won handily. At least with a criteria system, he’d have gotten his hand raised. Today, you can fight the smart strategic fight that is effective, but doesn’t finish, or fight a dumb and losing fight, get out struck, get out grappled, get in little offense, but neither guarantees the outcome.

There could be small or even major flaws in any of these systems. There is no perfect system. But unless a variety of systems are experimented with, we’ll never know what works best, or maybe there’s even combinations of systems that eliminate as many outright awful decisions, and at least get the close ones right more often. But even with their flaws, every suggested experimental system is better than the one we have. And it’s not getting better.

How bad was the Pearson-Sanchez judging?

It wasn’t the worst ever, but I have to go back to Jessica Aguilar vs. Zoila Frausto, and that was nearly four years ago, to name a fight that I’d conclusively say was more of a robbery than this.

Let’s look at how Fortunes changed for five stars of the show:

BENSON HENDERSON – Henderson (21-3), clearly riled up about being criticized about winning so often via decision, to the point he went on a press conference rant about it, scored with a beautiful punch combo into a choke with split-second reaction time to finish Rustam Khabilov.

Henderson is in a unique position right now. Henderson went into the fight as the No. 2 contender for the lightweight title behind Gilbert Melendez, even though he beat Melendez in a fight that could have gone either way. Because he’s lost twice to champion Anthony Pettis, he’s going to have a tough time getting a title shot. If Melendez was to beat Pettis in their scheduled December title match, Henderson at this point would be the logical contender.
But it’s too long to sit and wait.

The funny story about Saturday’s fight is that when Henderson accepted it, he confused Khabilov with fellow Dagestani fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0). But at this stage, that’s the fight that makes the most sense. For Henderson, straight wins over Josh Thomson, Khabilov and Nurmagomedov should be enough to get him a title shot no matter who is champion. If Nurmagomedov wins, that’s a 23-0 record, and that should be a lock for him to get the next shot.

RUSTAM KHABILOV – Khabilov (17-2) was finished for the first time in his career by Henderson, but this may be the perfect example of a loss as a learning experience.

Khabilov had been able to use power throws to have his way with almost all opponents. It made for entertaining fights, but it’s a style that wasn’t going to work as well with the top tier lightweights with stronger balance and takedown defense. The energy expenditure of that style also takes it toll in longer championship and main event fights.

Khabilov was ahead of Henderson on two of the three judges scorecards after three rounds. So he proved he has the ability to hang with the top guys. He admitted that he needed more stamina, as Henderson was fresher in round four than he was. Plus, Henderson has five years experience fighting top level guys, and being in title fights. For Khabilov, this was his first fight against someone of this level.

As far as name recognition goes, he probably got more with this loss than any of his prior wins. Rafael dos Anjos (21-7), who beat Jason High on Saturday, would make for a good next foe to be a real test as he tries to shore up those weaknesses.

DIEGO SANCHEZ – Sanchez (27-7), made it very clear what he wants next, as he challenged Nate Diaz to a fight when the UFC debuts at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City on Nov. 15.

“This was my dream fight,” Sanchez said about being on the first UFC event ever in Albuquerque, where he grew up. “My other dream fight was to fight in Mexico City, or anywhere in Mexico. Since 2005, they’ve (the UFC) been talking about Mexico. I just got a win. I’m looking to get on the card. I’d like a fight with Diaz. I’d love to give Mexico a Diego Sanchez vs. Diaz fight.”

But there are serious questions regarding Sanchez. It’s not that he, by all rights, should have lost three in a row, and some would argue given his close wins over Takanori Gomi and Martin Kampmann, that it should be six. There was no shame in his loss to Melendez, a top title contender who he had one of the best fights in years against. But with Pearson, the old Sanchez probably would have taken this fight. There was no question watching the speed and reflexes that at 32, and having been in notable wars with Melendez, Jake Ellenberger, Kampmann, B.J. Penn and so many others, that he’s showing the repercussions. Sanchez vs. Diaz may sound good to Sanchez today, but that’s a style match-up that is not pleasant to think about for Saturday night’s version.

ROSS PEARSON – Pearson (17-7, 1 no contest) was robbed of his biggest name scalp on his trophy case, and his win bonus. The one positive of this is those in UFC who make the decisions, like Dana White, consider Pearson the real winner, so it won’t be held against him in career opportunities.

Because of that, Pearson could make a good opponent next for Gomi on the September show in Saitama, Japan. Putting Gomi on that show is a natural. Pearson has been around for five years, and coming off winning Ultimate Fighter 9, he’s better known than most lightweights who would be considered viable foes for Gomi.

JOHN DODSON – With his stoppage of John Moraga after two rounds, Dodson (17-6) is in a unique position. He can legitimately challenge either flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson or bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.

White had already said that if Dodson won the fight, he’d be in line for the next shot at the flyweight belt, that Johnson puts up against Ali Bagautinov this coming Saturday in Vancouver, B.C. But Dodson’s first UFC fight, on Dec. 3, 2011, in Las Vegas, was the TUF season 14 final at bantamweight, where he knocked out Dillashaw in just 1:54.

The flyweight title fight is almost surely coming first. Dodson lost to Johnson on Jan. 26, 2013. In that fight, Dodson knocked Johnson down four times in the first two rounds, but Johnson’s conditioning edge led to him winning the last rounds to take the decision.

UFC inks distribution deal of all Invicta events for Fight Pass

The UFC announced something that it has never done in the past Thursday, announcing a distribution deal with the all-women Invicta Fighting Championships that will lead to all the company’s content being put on Fight Pass.

The new agreement will see Fight Pass, UFC’s worldwide Internet-based subscription channel, airing every Invicta show live, from start to finish. In addition, the content from all seven prior Invicta shows, which includes a number of current UFC fighters as well as the majority of the fighters on the fall season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, will be up on Fight Pass shortly.

The first live show is tentatively slated for late summer. The company has never distributed content from another promotion unless it owned the company outright, or purchased its content after the company ceased operations. The deal is clearly big for Invicta, which has only run two shows in the last 12 months, and nothing since Dec. 7, since attempting to make it work as a traditional pay-per-view company but without a U.S. television deal.

“We’ve never done this with a company before unless we’ve bought them,” said UFC Chief  Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik. “We’re not buying. We’re truly a distributor. It’s pretty historical in the way UFC has operated.”

“Now that we have a stable foundation, we’re going to increase the number of events,” said Invicta promoter  Shannon Knapp.  “We want to see how things go, and look at the frequency (of live shows).  Those are things we’re still ironing out. We’re capable of doing more events and we’re looking to ramp things up. We can put on cards as often as they want. I think it’s going to be a great thing.”

Live events up to this point have been a strong catalyst in bringing new subscribers to the platform.   

As part of the deal, UFC will help promote the events, and will also aid in distribution of the content on traditional television. UFC is looking at using its contacts to help broker international deals for Invicta, which can include both the prior shows as well as either live simulcasts on television or tape delayed broadcast of the upcoming events, with UFC holding the digital distribution rights.

Invicta will remain in charge of the production of the shows.

“We’ll make sure we’re comfortable with things,” said Zelaznik.

He said the decisions regarding the number of fights and length of the shows would be up to Invicta, but they are committed to airing the entire cards.

“We’ve been working with Shannon for a while trying to come up with a way to have Invicta events within Fight Pass,” said Zelaznik, whose duties include heading up Fight Pass.  “We’ve recently come to terms on that. It’s a mutli-year deal, multi-fights. Our commitment to Shannon is every event they produce will air on Fight Pass around the world. Everyone has looked at UFC as a promoter, but now you can look at us as a distributor as well for broadcasting at this point. We’re hoping for the first event later this summer. Shannon’s working hard locking down the date and we’re super thrilled about it, everyone from Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) on down. Everyone is excited to bring Invicta to Fight Pass and bring that value to our fans.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the athletes and for Invicta, teaming up with the UFC and having there marketing power behind us, giving us exposure to UFC fans,” said Knapp.

Knapp called Kansas City, where the previous seven Invicta shows have taken place from, as “highly possible” for the first event, but said with the new deal they could start promoting throughout the country.

Zelaznik talked about creating an Invicta area on Fight Pass and having it ready soon.

“Two to three weeks is the hope,” he said. “That library has current fighters in the UFC like Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, Liz Carmouche and Sara McMann. This will continue to deliver on the philosophy of Fight Pass – you’ll be more ingrained in the sport and smarter in he sport because of Fight Pass.”

The UFC and Invicta have worked together in the past. The UFC recently purchased the contracts of the top fighters in Invicta’s strawweight division (115 pounds) to create a new division and run a tournament for the championship on the fall season of The Ultimate Fighter. The filming begins in four weeks. This six-week long tournament that will culminate in a championship fight at the end of the year. Sarah Kaufman, while under UFC contract, fought on an Invicta show last year. Both sides expect that working relationship to continue.

Knapp said since the last show, she’s signed 20 or 21 new fighters from around the world, including replenishing the strawweight division. Unlike the UFC, where fighters will compete in two weight classes, Invicta will have fighters in five weight classes ranging from 105 to 145 pounds.

It’s possible the Invicta deal will be just the start of UFC broadcasting events with other smaller groups.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity,” said Zelaznik. “We have a good relationship with Shannon and Invicta. We think that the Invicta fan base crosses over, but they also will bring in a different fan to Fight Pass. I have no doubt  the exposure we can bring to Invicta will help our female divisions. There are so many discussions about what Fight Pass will become. It’s now part of the lexicon of MMA. This opportunity with Shannon was unique because of what Shannon brings to the business. As far as bringing in other promotions, other promotions are reaching out to us. We’ve got a list of promotions running.  Will we pull the trigger on them? It’s too early to tell. But we feel real confident this deal will serve out existing costumers and bring in new customers.”

There is talk of Cris “Cyborg” Justino (12-1, 1 no contest), the group’s biggest star and featherweight champion, defending against Ediane Gomes (10-2), on that debut event,  but Invicta promoter Shannon Knapp said it’s too early to make that announcement official.

Justino, whose 2009 win over Gina Carano was the fight that showed the potential appeal of women’s MMA fighting,  has talked this year of dieting down to make 135 pounds for a potential UFC bantamweight title fight with Ronda Rousey, which could be the biggest woman’s combat sports bout of this era. The deal would give Justino’s current fights exposure to a new audience of hardcore UFC fans around the world. Most of her previous North American bouts, in both Elite XC and Strikeforce, are already owned by UFC and will also be on Fight Pass.

“It’s highly possible that (Justino vs. Gomes) will be a match that can air on the next show,” said Knapp. “But both athletes have shown interest in dropping down to 135. I think it’s possible you can see Cris fight at 135 in the next few months. I haven’t had time to verify the game plan. It’ll be interesting.”

The UFC announced something that it has never done in the past Thursday, announcing a distribution deal with the all-women Invicta Fighting Championships that will lead to all the company’s content being put on Fight Pass.

The new agreement will see Fight Pass, UFC’s worldwide Internet-based subscription channel, airing every Invicta show live, from start to finish. In addition, the content from all seven prior Invicta shows, which includes a number of current UFC fighters as well as the majority of the fighters on the fall season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, will be up on Fight Pass shortly.

The first live show is tentatively slated for late summer. The company has never distributed content from another promotion unless it owned the company outright, or purchased its content after the company ceased operations. The deal is clearly big for Invicta, which has only run two shows in the last 12 months, and nothing since Dec. 7, since attempting to make it work as a traditional pay-per-view company but without a U.S. television deal.

“We’ve never done this with a company before unless we’ve bought them,” said UFC Chief  Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik. “We’re not buying. We’re truly a distributor. It’s pretty historical in the way UFC has operated.”

“Now that we have a stable foundation, we’re going to increase the number of events,” said Invicta promoter  Shannon Knapp.  “We want to see how things go, and look at the frequency (of live shows).  Those are things we’re still ironing out. We’re capable of doing more events and we’re looking to ramp things up. We can put on cards as often as they want. I think it’s going to be a great thing.”

Live events up to this point have been a strong catalyst in bringing new subscribers to the platform.   

As part of the deal, UFC will help promote the events, and will also aid in distribution of the content on traditional television. UFC is looking at using its contacts to help broker international deals for Invicta, which can include both the prior shows as well as either live simulcasts on television or tape delayed broadcast of the upcoming events, with UFC holding the digital distribution rights.

Invicta will remain in charge of the production of the shows.

“We’ll make sure we’re comfortable with things,” said Zelaznik.

He said the decisions regarding the number of fights and length of the shows would be up to Invicta, but they are committed to airing the entire cards.

“We’ve been working with Shannon for a while trying to come up with a way to have Invicta events within Fight Pass,” said Zelaznik, whose duties include heading up Fight Pass.  “We’ve recently come to terms on that. It’s a mutli-year deal, multi-fights. Our commitment to Shannon is every event they produce will air on Fight Pass around the world. Everyone has looked at UFC as a promoter, but now you can look at us as a distributor as well for broadcasting at this point. We’re hoping for the first event later this summer. Shannon’s working hard locking down the date and we’re super thrilled about it, everyone from Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) on down. Everyone is excited to bring Invicta to Fight Pass and bring that value to our fans.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the athletes and for Invicta, teaming up with the UFC and having there marketing power behind us, giving us exposure to UFC fans,” said Knapp.

Knapp called Kansas City, where the previous seven Invicta shows have taken place from, as “highly possible” for the first event, but said with the new deal they could start promoting throughout the country.

Zelaznik talked about creating an Invicta area on Fight Pass and having it ready soon.

“Two to three weeks is the hope,” he said. “That library has current fighters in the UFC like Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, Liz Carmouche and Sara McMann. This will continue to deliver on the philosophy of Fight Pass – you’ll be more ingrained in the sport and smarter in he sport because of Fight Pass.”

The UFC and Invicta have worked together in the past. The UFC recently purchased the contracts of the top fighters in Invicta’s strawweight division (115 pounds) to create a new division and run a tournament for the championship on the fall season of The Ultimate Fighter. The filming begins in four weeks. This six-week long tournament that will culminate in a championship fight at the end of the year. Sarah Kaufman, while under UFC contract, fought on an Invicta show last year. Both sides expect that working relationship to continue.

Knapp said since the last show, she’s signed 20 or 21 new fighters from around the world, including replenishing the strawweight division. Unlike the UFC, where fighters will compete in two weight classes, Invicta will have fighters in five weight classes ranging from 105 to 145 pounds.

It’s possible the Invicta deal will be just the start of UFC broadcasting events with other smaller groups.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity,” said Zelaznik. “We have a good relationship with Shannon and Invicta. We think that the Invicta fan base crosses over, but they also will bring in a different fan to Fight Pass. I have no doubt  the exposure we can bring to Invicta will help our female divisions. There are so many discussions about what Fight Pass will become. It’s now part of the lexicon of MMA. This opportunity with Shannon was unique because of what Shannon brings to the business. As far as bringing in other promotions, other promotions are reaching out to us. We’ve got a list of promotions running.  Will we pull the trigger on them? It’s too early to tell. But we feel real confident this deal will serve out existing costumers and bring in new customers.”

There is talk of Cris “Cyborg” Justino (12-1, 1 no contest), the group’s biggest star and featherweight champion, defending against Ediane Gomes (10-2), on that debut event,  but Invicta promoter Shannon Knapp said it’s too early to make that announcement official.

Justino, whose 2009 win over Gina Carano was the fight that showed the potential appeal of women’s MMA fighting,  has talked this year of dieting down to make 135 pounds for a potential UFC bantamweight title fight with Ronda Rousey, which could be the biggest woman’s combat sports bout of this era. The deal would give Justino’s current fights exposure to a new audience of hardcore UFC fans around the world. Most of her previous North American bouts, in both Elite XC and Strikeforce, are already owned by UFC and will also be on Fight Pass.

“It’s highly possible that (Justino vs. Gomes) will be a match that can air on the next show,” said Knapp. “But both athletes have shown interest in dropping down to 135. I think it’s possible you can see Cris fight at 135 in the next few months. I haven’t had time to verify the game plan. It’ll be interesting.”

Saturday’s UFC ratings tell a strange dual story

UFC’s Fight Night on Saturday from Sao Paulo, Brazil has the dubious distinction of being the least-watched Saturday night live show with national distribution since the company’s big television breakthrough in 2005.

But all the news isn’t as bad as it sounds because the Saturday show drew an usually high viewership for the prelims.

The big question is how could prelim fights do 560,000 viewers, and the main card only average 609,000? What’s even more notable is that the main sports competition that night, Game 6 of the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA semifinals, which ended up with the Spurs punching their ticket to the finals, started against the prelims and was over before the big matches on the main card.

The 609,000 beat every UFC event that aired on FS 2, or before that, Fuel, but that station didn’t have national clearance. 

Probably the best answer is the time slot, since the main card was a 10 p.m. ET start, but UFC big shows traditionally start at that time on a Saturday. What is clear is that nothing on the main card made a big difference in viewership. It also would indicate a great percentage of viewers stayed for the five hours, but not a lot of newcomers came in for the main fights. But, with Rodrigo Damm vs. Rashid Magomedov as the headliner for the prelims, there was less of an explanation why that show did well than an explanation why the main card didn’t.

The main event was Stipe Miocic vs. Fabio Maldonado. Maldonado was a non-ranked light heavyweight moving up as a late replacement for Junior Dos Santos. Miocic was a ranked heavyweight with a good record, but with no strong national appeal even though he was coming off a FOX win over Gabriel Gonzaga in what was a key fight on that card.  Two other key fights were TUF Brazil finals,  The season didn’t air on U.S. television, so the finalists were unknown past the group that watched TUF Brazil on Fight Pass.

Perhaps the biggest name fighter on the main card was Demian Maia, but his opponent, Alexander Yakovlev, had never fought in the UFC previously.

The most recent Saturday night UFC show on FS 1 was on May 10, featuring the potential fight of the year winner in Matt Brown’s finish of Erick Silva. That show did 655,000 viewers for the main show, but only 125,000 for the prelims, but the prelims were on FS 2.

The last show where both the prelims and main card were on FS 1 was March 23, a rare Sunday show, headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.  On that show, the prelims did 369,000 viewers, but the main card, clearly with fights people went out of their way to want to see, did 936,000 viewers.

In the 18-49 demo, viewership grew 11 percent from prelims to main card.  But in Males 18-34, the numbers were identical, as the show did a 0.41 in that demo for both the prelims and the main event.  The show did grow significantly for the main card in adults 35-49.

UFC’s Fight Night on Saturday from Sao Paulo, Brazil has the dubious distinction of being the least-watched Saturday night live show with national distribution since the company’s big television breakthrough in 2005.

But all the news isn’t as bad as it sounds because the Saturday show drew an usually high viewership for the prelims.

The big question is how could prelim fights do 560,000 viewers, and the main card only average 609,000? What’s even more notable is that the main sports competition that night, Game 6 of the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA semifinals, which ended up with the Spurs punching their ticket to the finals, started against the prelims and was over before the big matches on the main card.

The 609,000 beat every UFC event that aired on FS 2, or before that, Fuel, but that station didn’t have national clearance. 

Probably the best answer is the time slot, since the main card was a 10 p.m. ET start, but UFC big shows traditionally start at that time on a Saturday. What is clear is that nothing on the main card made a big difference in viewership. It also would indicate a great percentage of viewers stayed for the five hours, but not a lot of newcomers came in for the main fights. But, with Rodrigo Damm vs. Rashid Magomedov as the headliner for the prelims, there was less of an explanation why that show did well than an explanation why the main card didn’t.

The main event was Stipe Miocic vs. Fabio Maldonado. Maldonado was a non-ranked light heavyweight moving up as a late replacement for Junior Dos Santos. Miocic was a ranked heavyweight with a good record, but with no strong national appeal even though he was coming off a FOX win over Gabriel Gonzaga in what was a key fight on that card.  Two other key fights were TUF Brazil finals,  The season didn’t air on U.S. television, so the finalists were unknown past the group that watched TUF Brazil on Fight Pass.

Perhaps the biggest name fighter on the main card was Demian Maia, but his opponent, Alexander Yakovlev, had never fought in the UFC previously.

The most recent Saturday night UFC show on FS 1 was on May 10, featuring the potential fight of the year winner in Matt Brown’s finish of Erick Silva. That show did 655,000 viewers for the main show, but only 125,000 for the prelims, but the prelims were on FS 2.

The last show where both the prelims and main card were on FS 1 was March 23, a rare Sunday show, headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.  On that show, the prelims did 369,000 viewers, but the main card, clearly with fights people went out of their way to want to see, did 936,000 viewers.

In the 18-49 demo, viewership grew 11 percent from prelims to main card.  But in Males 18-34, the numbers were identical, as the show did a 0.41 in that demo for both the prelims and the main event.  The show did grow significantly for the main card in adults 35-49.

Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night 41, TUF: Brazil 3 Finale

On a day that tested the patience of the best of MMA fans, UFC promoted 22 fights with mostly unknown stars and only one real main event. The results were a few fighters looked like they could be future stars, but a lot of fighters with impressive won-loss records fell short of the mark.

On Saturday, UFC did something that Dana White had talked about for years. The company ran two shows in different parts of the world on the same day.
At first, when he started hinting at days like this a few years ago, it was more like why would that be done. When UFC was running maybe 25 or 30 shows a year, there was no need and it never happened. But now, with the expansion to a regular schedule of live events in North America, Brazil, Europe and the far east, and with more markets on the way, it became something that was inevitable.
Keep in mind that nobody is expecting most fans to watch two complete shows. The Brazil show was geared for fans in the Brazilian market and the U.S. market. The German show was geared for the European market, and admittedly with the Carl Froch fight, it may not have been the best day to garner attention there with a live event. For people who are used to watching every UFC match no matter what, and that is a tiny part of the fan base, there came a point midway through the Brazil show when it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Sports are supposed to be fun. And this had crossed a line. It’s not that the fights were bad. This was just too much.
Most movies are kept under two hours because that’s their usual perfect time frame. Most professional sports games are in the two-to-three hour range. A live UFC show can exceed six hours. Two of them in one day, well, the time consumption is staggering.
No time for family, friends, and barely timed for rushed meals. It’s not even a matter at that point if the shows are good. The early show in Berlin was a well-paced fun show. Brazil had its moments, but it could have been the reincarnation of UFC 139 and it was still too much.

Saturday was no one time thing. UFC is going to be doing these double-shots fairly often going forward. June 28 has shows in Auckland, New Zealand, and San Antonio. August 23 has shows in Macau, China and Tulsa, Okla. October 4 has shows in Stockholm, Sweden and Halifax, N.S., Canada. In each case, there is an early show on Fight Pass and a prime time show on North American television, FS 1 in the United States.
As exhausting as this will be for the hardcores who want to watch every single UFC fight, as far as the big picture, it’s not as damaging as those who are watching both shows would think. They are in the minority. In the end, it’s probably best to wave the white flag of surrender and on those days, maybe watch the final two hours of one show and most of the other. You may miss a hot prospect in his UFC debut, or an action-packed prelim fight that few are going to remember or talk about anyway. But for the fan who wants to see every fight, that’s the inevitability of the future.

If someone wanted to watch every single major league baseball game on any given day, it would be the same issue. It’s just a wake-up call that the sport has changed again, and the idea of keeping up on it by never missing a UFC fight is going to become a thing of the past for all but a very few.
And Saturday was all about the UFC brand. Both shows were filled with unknown fighters. Between the two shows, there was really only one fight that even resembled a main event, the Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz middleweight battle in Berlin. And that left you wondering if Mousasi has really improved that much, or if Munoz is done as a serious headliner.
The Sao Paulo main event, with No. 7 ranked heavyweight contender Stipe Miocic against nowhere near ranked light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado, ended in 35 seconds. It was the second time in three weeks we’ve been taught that there’s a reason for weight classes, and if you’re physically small in your own weight class, moving up in this era should be avoided at all costs.
Two weeks ago, Alexander Shlemenko, a small middleweight who was Bellator’s champion in that division, got handled far easier than most expected (he was actually a big favorite) by a much larger but aging light heavyweight in Tito Ortiz. No matter that Shlemenko was able to eat his way to where on scale day he was at least close to 205, it’s more about physical frame.
This one was even more pronounced. Maldonado was, at best, a soft in the middle, mid-level light heavyweight known for good body shots and a tough chin. Stipe Miocic was a lean 238-pounder, a skilled, athletic heavyweight, whose first punch established quickly that a tough chin against light heavyweights is not the same thing against heavyweights. Most considered the fight a mismatch, and it was every bit of that and more.
Nobody ever thought Miocic vs. Maldonado was a good idea. The idea was Miocic vs. Junior Dos Santos but when the latter broke his hand and with no heavyweights available, Maldonado offered his service. It was a way to get a Brazilian in the main event that desperately needed anything close to a viable main event. But in hindsight, it left the show with a flat ending.
It was really the day of testing newcomers. A number of fighters with zero or one career loss, and one or less UFC fights coming in, were on the two shows. Some, like Pawel Pawlak (who came in 10-0) were completely dominated.
Sgt. Nick Hein (11-1, 1 no contest) was already a big favorite when he walked into the cage in Berlin. He looks like star, has had exposure on a German television show, is a national judo champion, a Sergeant in the army, a stand-up comedian, and looked like a guy on the cover of a fitness magazine. As announcer Dan Hardy joked when reading all the things he’s done, that he must somehow have more hours in a day than the rest of us.
Hein took the decision over journeyman fighter Drew Dober (14-6), but struggled in the second and third rounds. Hein never made you feel like he was the future star the local audience saw him as or wanted him to be.
Nicklas Backstrom (now 8-0, with 1 no contest) scored a first round finishes over a solid UFC fighter, Tom Niinimaki, passing his first test with flying colors.
San Strickland, in his second UFC fight, improved to 15-0. But as the crowd booed his split decision win over Luke Barnatt that left a lot of people befuddled. He did nothing to convince people he was a fighter at the level of that record.
Pedro Munhoz (11-1), a bantamweight prospect who came into UFC undefeated, but lost a short notice fight to highly-ranked Raphael Assuncao, bounced back strong with a first round knockout of debuting Matt Hobar.
Mark Eddiva (6-1), in his second UFC outing, had the most exciting round of the day against second-timer Kevin Souza, before being finished for the first time in round two.
The newcomer who showed the most promise was the one with the most hype coming in, TUF Brazil middleweight Warlley Alves (8-0). Alves showed a combination of speed, explosiveness, and power in finishing previously unbeaten tournament finalist Marcio Alexandre in round three.
Chael Sonnen, who admittedly can go over the top when it comes to hype, had stated that Alves, who he coached on TUF Brazil, could walk into the UFC and be a top ten middleweight and challenge for the title within a year. But not only was Sonnen saying that publicly, he was also saying it privately. We may never know if that’s true, since Alves stated he was going to cut to welterweight going forward.
Alves may have been the most impressive prospect to come out of the TUF series, which is saying a mouthful when you consider the show has spawned champions like Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and T.J. Dillashaw (I’m not including Matt Serra, who was an established star before being put on the Comeback season). Forgetting Roy Nelson, who was really a “ringer” when he won the show, no show winner has come right out the show appearing to have his level of potential. But you can look no farther than Uriah Hall to know that potential on TUF is often not lived up to.
Here’s alook at how fortunes changed and what is next for some of Saturday’s stars:
WARLLEY ALVES – For those who followed TUF Brazil, Alves had been the standout throughout the season. But opponent Alexandre came in with a 13-0 record, and had walked through his half of the tournament. Alves has a chance to become a major star in the Brazilian market in rapid order. The weekly show did nine to 12 million viewers in his home country, meaning he’s gotten exposure far beyond the level of any similar-skilled newcomer that has ever come into the promotion. TUF made Forrest Griffin and Michael Bisping instant stars when they won in highly rated seasons, and this is a better athlete with multiple times the exposure. The entire idea of running all these regional shows is to create market-specific stars, and fans love to follow a fighter who they feel they saw breaking in and were able to follow their journey to the top.
C.B. DOLLAWAY – Dollaway (16-6), who for years was that other All-American wrestler from Arizona State who was the guy best known for being a college teammate of Cain Velasquez and Ryan Bader, looks like a new fighter from three summers ago when he suffered knockout losses to Mark Munoz and Jarred Hamman. He scored his fourth win in his last five outings. His lone loss during that period, to Tim Boetch on Oct. 19, was among the worst decisions of that year.
Carmont was ranked No. 9, so this win should get Dollaway near the top ten and a fighter the caliber of Tim Kennedy or Yoel Romero next.
STIPE MIOCIC – It’s nearly impossible to improve on a 35 second knockout, but the ease of the win almost made it come across as less valuable. Had Miocic (12-1) dominated a longer war, his win would have gotten a lot more talk. But he got in and out with a fast win and no damage.
The obvious next match would be his career-maker if he could win, which is the originally scheduled Junior Dos Santos fight, That was to headline Saturday until the former heavyweight champ broke his hand in training.
But there are no shortage of fighters that Miocic can go against next, including Travis Browne, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem and even the winner of the June 14 fight with Andrei Arlovski vs. Brendan Schaub.
Any of those fights could headline a television show, and be a featured main card fight on a pay-per-view. A strong win against of those names would have people talking about him on the short list for a potential title shot.
GEGARD MOUSASI – Mousasi (35-4-2) has been one of the best stand-up fighters, either at light heavyweight or middleweight. The weakness, as exposed by King Mo Lawal four years ago, was his deficiencies against a top caliber wrestler. That’s why Munoz was given a good shot at beating him. But Mousasi was like a completely different fighter. He was able to sprawl and get top position most of the time when Munoz shot. When Munoz was able to take him down early, he got back up immediately. Mousasi dominated the ground positioning game, which was the surprise of the short fight, before winning via choke.
Names like Luke Rockhold and Kennedy were talked about for Mousasi after the win. Middleweight has an obvious top contender in Vitor Belfort as far as who gets the next shot at the Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida winner. That’s provided Belfort beats Sonnen next. After that, the most logical guy next would be Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. If Mousasi got Souza next, he could get a shot with one more win. If he got Rockhold, he’d be one step behind that. With Kennedy, a win would put him as a viable contender but slightly lower on the ladder.
MARK MUNOZ – Munoz (13-5) is at a real career crossroads. He’s 36, and lost two straight in the first round. He’s dropped from 205 to 185, and physically, because of following the best nutrition plan of his career, looks like he’s in the best condition of his career. But that hasn’t translated into results.
His previous loss, to Machida, was against a fighter who has feasted on wrestlers most of his career. With Mousasi, a lot of the fight involved defensive wrestling and scrambling. What Munoz has going for him as far as his career goes is that he’s been a television personality and analyst, so that helps with notoriety. He’s not a boring fighter, at least not with the reputations of Jon Fitch, Jake Shields and Yushin Okami, who were all cut while higher ranked and for less than two straight first-round losses.
But it’s clear he’s going to need a significant overhaul in his game, and fast, to continue without hitting the same problems against top-tier competition. And he may be on the verge of a do-or-die situation right now.

On a day that tested the patience of the best of MMA fans, UFC promoted 22 fights with mostly unknown stars and only one real main event. The results were a few fighters looked like they could be future stars, but a lot of fighters with impressive won-loss records fell short of the mark.

On Saturday, UFC did something that Dana White had talked about for years. The company ran two shows in different parts of the world on the same day.
At first, when he started hinting at days like this a few years ago, it was more like why would that be done. When UFC was running maybe 25 or 30 shows a year, there was no need and it never happened. But now, with the expansion to a regular schedule of live events in North America, Brazil, Europe and the far east, and with more markets on the way, it became something that was inevitable.
Keep in mind that nobody is expecting most fans to watch two complete shows. The Brazil show was geared for fans in the Brazilian market and the U.S. market. The German show was geared for the European market, and admittedly with the Carl Froch fight, it may not have been the best day to garner attention there with a live event. For people who are used to watching every UFC match no matter what, and that is a tiny part of the fan base, there came a point midway through the Brazil show when it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Sports are supposed to be fun. And this had crossed a line. It’s not that the fights were bad. This was just too much.
Most movies are kept under two hours because that’s their usual perfect time frame. Most professional sports games are in the two-to-three hour range. A live UFC show can exceed six hours. Two of them in one day, well, the time consumption is staggering.
No time for family, friends, and barely timed for rushed meals. It’s not even a matter at that point if the shows are good. The early show in Berlin was a well-paced fun show. Brazil had its moments, but it could have been the reincarnation of UFC 139 and it was still too much.

Saturday was no one time thing. UFC is going to be doing these double-shots fairly often going forward. June 28 has shows in Auckland, New Zealand, and San Antonio. August 23 has shows in Macau, China and Tulsa, Okla. October 4 has shows in Stockholm, Sweden and Halifax, N.S., Canada. In each case, there is an early show on Fight Pass and a prime time show on North American television, FS 1 in the United States.
As exhausting as this will be for the hardcores who want to watch every single UFC fight, as far as the big picture, it’s not as damaging as those who are watching both shows would think. They are in the minority. In the end, it’s probably best to wave the white flag of surrender and on those days, maybe watch the final two hours of one show and most of the other. You may miss a hot prospect in his UFC debut, or an action-packed prelim fight that few are going to remember or talk about anyway. But for the fan who wants to see every fight, that’s the inevitability of the future.

If someone wanted to watch every single major league baseball game on any given day, it would be the same issue. It’s just a wake-up call that the sport has changed again, and the idea of keeping up on it by never missing a UFC fight is going to become a thing of the past for all but a very few.
And Saturday was all about the UFC brand. Both shows were filled with unknown fighters. Between the two shows, there was really only one fight that even resembled a main event, the Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz middleweight battle in Berlin. And that left you wondering if Mousasi has really improved that much, or if Munoz is done as a serious headliner.
The Sao Paulo main event, with No. 7 ranked heavyweight contender Stipe Miocic against nowhere near ranked light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado, ended in 35 seconds. It was the second time in three weeks we’ve been taught that there’s a reason for weight classes, and if you’re physically small in your own weight class, moving up in this era should be avoided at all costs.
Two weeks ago, Alexander Shlemenko, a small middleweight who was Bellator’s champion in that division, got handled far easier than most expected (he was actually a big favorite) by a much larger but aging light heavyweight in Tito Ortiz. No matter that Shlemenko was able to eat his way to where on scale day he was at least close to 205, it’s more about physical frame.
This one was even more pronounced. Maldonado was, at best, a soft in the middle, mid-level light heavyweight known for good body shots and a tough chin. Stipe Miocic was a lean 238-pounder, a skilled, athletic heavyweight, whose first punch established quickly that a tough chin against light heavyweights is not the same thing against heavyweights. Most considered the fight a mismatch, and it was every bit of that and more.
Nobody ever thought Miocic vs. Maldonado was a good idea. The idea was Miocic vs. Junior Dos Santos but when the latter broke his hand and with no heavyweights available, Maldonado offered his service. It was a way to get a Brazilian in the main event that desperately needed anything close to a viable main event. But in hindsight, it left the show with a flat ending.
It was really the day of testing newcomers. A number of fighters with zero or one career loss, and one or less UFC fights coming in, were on the two shows. Some, like Pawel Pawlak (who came in 10-0) were completely dominated.
Sgt. Nick Hein (11-1, 1 no contest) was already a big favorite when he walked into the cage in Berlin. He looks like star, has had exposure on a German television show, is a national judo champion, a Sergeant in the army, a stand-up comedian, and looked like a guy on the cover of a fitness magazine. As announcer Dan Hardy joked when reading all the things he’s done, that he must somehow have more hours in a day than the rest of us.
Hein took the decision over journeyman fighter Drew Dober (14-6), but struggled in the second and third rounds. Hein never made you feel like he was the future star the local audience saw him as or wanted him to be.
Nicklas Backstrom (now 8-0, with 1 no contest) scored a first round finishes over a solid UFC fighter, Tom Niinimaki, passing his first test with flying colors.
San Strickland, in his second UFC fight, improved to 15-0. But as the crowd booed his split decision win over Luke Barnatt that left a lot of people befuddled. He did nothing to convince people he was a fighter at the level of that record.
Pedro Munhoz (11-1), a bantamweight prospect who came into UFC undefeated, but lost a short notice fight to highly-ranked Raphael Assuncao, bounced back strong with a first round knockout of debuting Matt Hobar.
Mark Eddiva (6-1), in his second UFC outing, had the most exciting round of the day against second-timer Kevin Souza, before being finished for the first time in round two.
The newcomer who showed the most promise was the one with the most hype coming in, TUF Brazil middleweight Warlley Alves (8-0). Alves showed a combination of speed, explosiveness, and power in finishing previously unbeaten tournament finalist Marcio Alexandre in round three.
Chael Sonnen, who admittedly can go over the top when it comes to hype, had stated that Alves, who he coached on TUF Brazil, could walk into the UFC and be a top ten middleweight and challenge for the title within a year. But not only was Sonnen saying that publicly, he was also saying it privately. We may never know if that’s true, since Alves stated he was going to cut to welterweight going forward.
Alves may have been the most impressive prospect to come out of the TUF series, which is saying a mouthful when you consider the show has spawned champions like Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and T.J. Dillashaw (I’m not including Matt Serra, who was an established star before being put on the Comeback season). Forgetting Roy Nelson, who was really a “ringer” when he won the show, no show winner has come right out the show appearing to have his level of potential. But you can look no farther than Uriah Hall to know that potential on TUF is often not lived up to.
Here’s alook at how fortunes changed and what is next for some of Saturday’s stars:
WARLLEY ALVES – For those who followed TUF Brazil, Alves had been the standout throughout the season. But opponent Alexandre came in with a 13-0 record, and had walked through his half of the tournament. Alves has a chance to become a major star in the Brazilian market in rapid order. The weekly show did nine to 12 million viewers in his home country, meaning he’s gotten exposure far beyond the level of any similar-skilled newcomer that has ever come into the promotion. TUF made Forrest Griffin and Michael Bisping instant stars when they won in highly rated seasons, and this is a better athlete with multiple times the exposure. The entire idea of running all these regional shows is to create market-specific stars, and fans love to follow a fighter who they feel they saw breaking in and were able to follow their journey to the top.
C.B. DOLLAWAY – Dollaway (16-6), who for years was that other All-American wrestler from Arizona State who was the guy best known for being a college teammate of Cain Velasquez and Ryan Bader, looks like a new fighter from three summers ago when he suffered knockout losses to Mark Munoz and Jarred Hamman. He scored his fourth win in his last five outings. His lone loss during that period, to Tim Boetch on Oct. 19, was among the worst decisions of that year.
Carmont was ranked No. 9, so this win should get Dollaway near the top ten and a fighter the caliber of Tim Kennedy or Yoel Romero next.
STIPE MIOCIC – It’s nearly impossible to improve on a 35 second knockout, but the ease of the win almost made it come across as less valuable. Had Miocic (12-1) dominated a longer war, his win would have gotten a lot more talk. But he got in and out with a fast win and no damage.
The obvious next match would be his career-maker if he could win, which is the originally scheduled Junior Dos Santos fight, That was to headline Saturday until the former heavyweight champ broke his hand in training.
But there are no shortage of fighters that Miocic can go against next, including Travis Browne, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem and even the winner of the June 14 fight with Andrei Arlovski vs. Brendan Schaub.
Any of those fights could headline a television show, and be a featured main card fight on a pay-per-view. A strong win against of those names would have people talking about him on the short list for a potential title shot.
GEGARD MOUSASI – Mousasi (35-4-2) has been one of the best stand-up fighters, either at light heavyweight or middleweight. The weakness, as exposed by King Mo Lawal four years ago, was his deficiencies against a top caliber wrestler. That’s why Munoz was given a good shot at beating him. But Mousasi was like a completely different fighter. He was able to sprawl and get top position most of the time when Munoz shot. When Munoz was able to take him down early, he got back up immediately. Mousasi dominated the ground positioning game, which was the surprise of the short fight, before winning via choke.
Names like Luke Rockhold and Kennedy were talked about for Mousasi after the win. Middleweight has an obvious top contender in Vitor Belfort as far as who gets the next shot at the Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida winner. That’s provided Belfort beats Sonnen next. After that, the most logical guy next would be Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. If Mousasi got Souza next, he could get a shot with one more win. If he got Rockhold, he’d be one step behind that. With Kennedy, a win would put him as a viable contender but slightly lower on the ladder.
MARK MUNOZ – Munoz (13-5) is at a real career crossroads. He’s 36, and lost two straight in the first round. He’s dropped from 205 to 185, and physically, because of following the best nutrition plan of his career, looks like he’s in the best condition of his career. But that hasn’t translated into results.
His previous loss, to Machida, was against a fighter who has feasted on wrestlers most of his career. With Mousasi, a lot of the fight involved defensive wrestling and scrambling. What Munoz has going for him as far as his career goes is that he’s been a television personality and analyst, so that helps with notoriety. He’s not a boring fighter, at least not with the reputations of Jon Fitch, Jake Shields and Yushin Okami, who were all cut while higher ranked and for less than two straight first-round losses.
But it’s clear he’s going to need a significant overhaul in his game, and fast, to continue without hitting the same problems against top-tier competition. And he may be on the verge of a do-or-die situation right now.

Duane Ludwig talks storybook ending of his run with Team Alpha Male, potential Dillashaw vs. Faber bout

After being acknowledged in many places, including the World MMA Awards, as the 2013 Coach of the Year for his work with Team Alpha Male, and then leading T.J. Dillashaw to one of the two biggest title match upsets in UFC history this past Saturday, it’s hard for outsiders to understand Duane “Bang” Ludwig and the team splitting up. Especially now.

But Ludwig, who is planning on moving from Sacramento, Calif., back to Arvada, Co., on June 12th, to open up his own gym, noted on the MMA Hour this week, with Dillashaw’s training in the books, that he’s now jobless. It’s not a complete split, as he is expecting to work with Chad Mendes before his Aug. 2 featherweight title challenge to Jose Aldo Jr., and has said that he’d continue to work with Dillashaw and other Team Alpha Male members going forward.

And even though he and Urijah Faber, who heads the team, had issues, he noted he was leaving to open his own gym where he and his family consider home either way. He also said it would be a good place for Team Alpha Male to spend some time at preparing for fights.

“I’m not really leaving Team Alpha Male,” said Ludwig. “I’m opening up a business in Colorado. It’ll be a good place for the guys to do high elevation training, and I’ll still go to Sacramento and help in the camps and corner. Faber and I will have a better relationship if I have my own business and he has his business here (in Sacramento) if we work together.”

To that point, Ludwig expects involvement in the upcoming Mendes camp.

“Chad Mendes and I talked a little bit, so I’m going to figure something out with him to figure out what we’re going to do at that point,” said Ludwig. “I’m not saying he needs me, but his chances of winning the title are better with me than without me. I know that, he knows that and we all know that.”

Dillashaw won the UFC bantamweight title on Saturday, where as an eight-to-one or longer underdog. Dillashaw dominated the entire fight, finishing champion Renan Barao in the fifth round. The win ended one of the most impressive winning streaks in the history of the sport, one that lasted more than nine years. Ludwig, who considered Dillashaw his prized pupil, said he was more nervous before the title win over Renan Barao than before any of his own fights, and considered the win the biggest thing in his own career.

“100 percent yes,” he said, about it being his career highlight. “It’s better to give than receive. I gave T.J. all the knowledge I had. I feel better helping people than being selfish. I feel much better to give than receive, and I’m much happier as a coach than I ever was as a fighter. To see him succeed and win that belt, that’s something special.”

But no matter how it’s put, Saturday was his last fight as head coach of Team Alpha Male, where the improvements, particularly in striking, with the top four fighters have all led to title shots. Joseph Benavidez and Faber fell short, losing via ref stoppage early against champions Demetrious Johnson and Barao respectively, which, if anything, made the win by Dillashaw even more emotional.

“Being the leader and a role model (for the fighters), you’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do,” said Ludwig. “T.J. is special to me. I don’t know. It was just meant to be. Obviously the thing lined up perfectly for this bout and the chain of events leading to this. I don’t know if this was predetermined, or if we made this happen ourselves. He’s like a brother to me. I love this little dude.”

“You hear coaches and people say how you’ve never seen anyone evolve so fast, or that this guy is a sponge,” said Ludwig. “In this particular case with T.J., it’s 100 percent true. No B.S. He evolved faster than anyone. That’s what happens when you have a dedicated world-class athlete with the work ethic of a wrestler, and the information and the connection that we have.” 

But his most interesting remarks involved a fight Dillashaw said on Saturday night after his title win that he’d never do–against Faber. Dillashaw has since softened his stance, saying that he’ll do what his bosses want if the right money offer comes in.

“I think Raphael Assuncao (who beat Dillashaw via split decision on Oct. 9) probably makes sense,” Ludwig said about Dillashaw’s next opponent.  “I wouldn’t mind seeing Barao and Faber fight. Faber’s going to fight Bruce Leroy (Alex Caceres, on the July 5 UFC 175 show in Las Vegas). I’m pretty sure he’ll beat Bruce Leroy. I think he’ll beat him. Then, after a few months, I’d like to see Faber vs. Barao and the winner will fight the T.J. vs. Assuncao winner, which will be T.J.

“As far as Faber vs. T.J. fighting, in that aspect, it’s a business. They fight once or twice a week in the gym. They might as well be paid for it, that’s the reality of it. I’ll corner T.J. 100 percent. No way I’ll ever corner against T.J.”

Ludwig talked about how Faber recruited Dillashaw and Chad Mendes, and since Faber is in his mind one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, that fighting at teammate at some point was going to be inevitable. Ludwig is direct in his thoughts on what happens after watching the two go at it regularly in the gym.

“T.J. beats up everybody,” he said.

Ludwig said that he was leaving no matter what, saying he’s spent the last seven years studying what it takes to run a successful martial arts gym. He said he was looking at running an academy for families to train more than starting a fight team. He said that he had been working for people since the age of 15, and felt it was time to stop being an employee and becoming an owner, and said that Colorado was home to him and his family.

“We (he and Faber) had a couple of small issues, some miscommunication apparently,” he said. “I’m not leaving because of it. It definitely makes it easier because of the issues.”

“It’s something I wanted to do since i was a child,” he said. “As a child, my goals were to be a martial artist, be a world champion (he held kickboxing titles) and have my own academy in Colorado.

After being acknowledged in many places, including the World MMA Awards, as the 2013 Coach of the Year for his work with Team Alpha Male, and then leading T.J. Dillashaw to one of the two biggest title match upsets in UFC history this past Saturday, it’s hard for outsiders to understand Duane “Bang” Ludwig and the team splitting up. Especially now.

But Ludwig, who is planning on moving from Sacramento, Calif., back to Arvada, Co., on June 12th, to open up his own gym, noted on the MMA Hour this week, with Dillashaw’s training in the books, that he’s now jobless. It’s not a complete split, as he is expecting to work with Chad Mendes before his Aug. 2 featherweight title challenge to Jose Aldo Jr., and has said that he’d continue to work with Dillashaw and other Team Alpha Male members going forward.

And even though he and Urijah Faber, who heads the team, had issues, he noted he was leaving to open his own gym where he and his family consider home either way. He also said it would be a good place for Team Alpha Male to spend some time at preparing for fights.

“I’m not really leaving Team Alpha Male,” said Ludwig. “I’m opening up a business in Colorado. It’ll be a good place for the guys to do high elevation training, and I’ll still go to Sacramento and help in the camps and corner. Faber and I will have a better relationship if I have my own business and he has his business here (in Sacramento) if we work together.”

To that point, Ludwig expects involvement in the upcoming Mendes camp.

“Chad Mendes and I talked a little bit, so I’m going to figure something out with him to figure out what we’re going to do at that point,” said Ludwig. “I’m not saying he needs me, but his chances of winning the title are better with me than without me. I know that, he knows that and we all know that.”





Dillashaw won the UFC bantamweight title on Saturday, where as an eight-to-one or longer underdog. Dillashaw dominated the entire fight, finishing champion Renan Barao in the fifth round. The win ended one of the most impressive winning streaks in the history of the sport, one that lasted more than nine years. Ludwig, who considered Dillashaw his prized pupil, said he was more nervous before the title win over Renan Barao than before any of his own fights, and considered the win the biggest thing in his own career.

“100 percent yes,” he said, about it being his career highlight. “It’s better to give than receive. I gave T.J. all the knowledge I had. I feel better helping people than being selfish. I feel much better to give than receive, and I’m much happier as a coach than I ever was as a fighter. To see him succeed and win that belt, that’s something special.”

But no matter how it’s put, Saturday was his last fight as head coach of Team Alpha Male, where the improvements, particularly in striking, with the top four fighters have all led to title shots. Joseph Benavidez and Faber fell short, losing via ref stoppage early against champions Demetrious Johnson and Barao respectively, which, if anything, made the win by Dillashaw even more emotional.

“Being the leader and a role model (for the fighters), you’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do,” said Ludwig. “T.J. is special to me. I don’t know. It was just meant to be. Obviously the thing lined up perfectly for this bout and the chain of events leading to this. I don’t know if this was predetermined, or if we made this happen ourselves. He’s like a brother to me. I love this little dude.”

“You hear coaches and people say how you’ve never seen anyone evolve so fast, or that this guy is a sponge,” said Ludwig. “In this particular case with T.J., it’s 100 percent true. No B.S. He evolved faster than anyone. That’s what happens when you have a dedicated world-class athlete with the work ethic of a wrestler, and the information and the connection that we have.” 

But his most interesting remarks involved a fight Dillashaw said on Saturday night after his title win that he’d never do–against Faber. Dillashaw has since softened his stance, saying that he’ll do what his bosses want if the right money offer comes in.

“I think Raphael Assuncao (who beat Dillashaw via split decision on Oct. 9) probably makes sense,” Ludwig said about Dillashaw’s next opponent.  “I wouldn’t mind seeing Barao and Faber fight. Faber’s going to fight Bruce Leroy (Alex Caceres, on the July 5 UFC 175 show in Las Vegas). I’m pretty sure he’ll beat Bruce Leroy. I think he’ll beat him. Then, after a few months, I’d like to see Faber vs. Barao and the winner will fight the T.J. vs. Assuncao winner, which will be T.J.

“As far as Faber vs. T.J. fighting, in that aspect, it’s a business. They fight once or twice a week in the gym. They might as well be paid for it, that’s the reality of it. I’ll corner T.J. 100 percent. No way I’ll ever corner against T.J.”

Ludwig talked about how Faber recruited Dillashaw and Chad Mendes, and since Faber is in his mind one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, that fighting at teammate at some point was going to be inevitable. Ludwig is direct in his thoughts on what happens after watching the two go at it regularly in the gym.

“T.J. beats up everybody,” he said.

Ludwig said that he was leaving no matter what, saying he’s spent the last seven years studying what it takes to run a successful martial arts gym. He said he was looking at running an academy for families to train more than starting a fight team. He said that he had been working for people since the age of 15, and felt it was time to stop being an employee and becoming an owner, and said that Colorado was home to him and his family.

“We (he and Faber) had a couple of small issues, some miscommunication apparently,” he said. “I’m not leaving because of it. It definitely makes it easier because of the issues.”

“It’s something I wanted to do since i was a child,” he said. “As a child, my goals were to be a martial artist, be a world champion (he held kickboxing titles) and have my own academy in Colorado.

Fortunes changed for five at UFC 173

While not getting a lot of publicity going in, the Renan Barao unbeaten streak that ended on Saturday night was among the most impressive in the history of the sport. And the man who conquered the streak was someone only got the title shot because the logical contender was injured.

Saturday night appeared to be a pay-per-view show with a lot less interest than most. Few surmised going in that it would end up being a night that would end up significant from an historical perspective. The bantamweight title and the longest active unbeaten streak in the sport were at stake. Well, at least they were on paper. But few took either being in jeopardy seriously.
T.J. Dillashaw (11-2), the challenger, was a wrestler coming into the sport, and a very good one. But he never won the state championship in high school (he placed second as a senior in 2004).  He went to Cal State-Fullerton, where he never placed higher than fourth in his conference. He went to the NCAA Division I tournament twice, but never won a match there. He lost in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) to a much smaller John Dodson via first round knockout, who now fights a weight class lower. Dillashaw came into his title fight with only one truly significant win, over borderline top-10 fighter Mike Easton. He only got his title shot at champion Renan Barao because Raphael Assuncao, who beat Dillashaw via split decision on Oct. 9, was injured, and because former champion Dominick Cruz’s physical issues continued to plague him. Barao had beaten the other top contenders. So Dillashaw, who was the most logical contender under the circumstances, only got the shot because he was the best alternative available that day, not that he was the top contender in the division.

Barao had the second longest unbeaten streaks in MMA history, and really the longest in the modern era. He had gone either 33 or 35 fights, depending on if you are looking at records from outside sources, or his UFC record that credits him with two wins more than everyone else. The streak dated back to losing his debut on April 14, 2005. He had 32 or 34 wins, and one no contest, during that period. The magnitude of that number is a lot more impressive when you look at it from an historical perspective.

The only longer streak among major league fighters was that of Russian Igor Vovchanchyn, who went unbeaten in 36 fights between 1996 and 2000, a very different time period in the sport. His level of competition during the streak was far below that of Barao. The fierce heavyweight puncher was dominant in Russia, and a star in the early days of the Pride Fighting Championships. But his biggest streak wins came against journeymen fighters like Gary Goodridge and Carlos Baretto, and a win against a much smaller Kazushi Sakuraba, who had, amazingly, came back in a tournament after already fighting a 90 minute fight earlier that evening.

To put 33, or 35, into perspective, the amazing streak of teammate Jose Aldo (2006 to the present), is only at 17 right now. The most famous streak in UFC history, that of Anderson Silva, was also 17 straight wins (16 of them in UFC, a record) when he lost last year to Chris Weidman. The only other fighters who were competing at the top major league level during their streak who ever hit 20 were Fedor Emelianenko (28), Hector Lombard (25), Bas Rutten (22) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (22).

As far as comparing streaks, it’s probably not the greatest streak of all-time. Barao had good fighters in his streak, including twice beating Urijah Faber, as well as wins over Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen, Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald. His streak is more impressive for its length than top-tier victims. But he went nine years between having a bad fight day. If you look at the competition level of victims, Silva, Aldo,  Emelianenko (28 fights from 2000 to 2009 and one could argue it really should be 33 based on a cut loss that should have been ruled a no contest), and Rutten can all lay a claim to the argument for the most impressive MMA streak in history. But still, the longest active streak, that of Nurmagomedov, would probably need a good four more years of staying unbeaten to get to the same number as Barao. Given the depth of competition in the UFC lightweight division, It would be hard to envision that happening, or any fighter in this sport at the championship level of beating it. It’s almost a lock that years from now, the Barao streak will look even more amazing than it does right now.

The combination of the two backgrounds led to Dillashaw being roughly an 8-to-1 underdog come fight time. But whatever the factors, this was not one of those weird wins that often happen in MMA, where when it’s over, you question the significance, or whether the winner could ever repeat it. This was a five-round domination. There was no question of a fluke, or a question over who was the better fighter.

It was completely different from the other biggest upset in UFC title history, when Matt Serra beat Georges St-Pierre. History now can look back at that match and chalk it up to things that can happen when the right punch lands, given that St-Pierre dominated Serra when they fought a second time. St-Pierre is rightfully now regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

Was Barao’s record overrated?  Did Dillashaw simply improve in the last year to where he’s the incredible fighter he seemed to be, because he had never fought at that level previously? Was Barao bothered by a hard weight cut or was it that first round beating Dillashaw gave Barao that he could never recover from?

Like with St-Pierre vs. Serra, history will eventually answer these questions.

A look at how Fortunes Changed for Five headliners of UFC 173:

T.J. DILLASHAW – The bantamweight division was completely shaken up since the common belief was not just that Barao was the best, but after the way he handled Faber in his previous fight, that nobody was going to beat him for a long time, nor even be competitive with him.

Because of that, Dillashaw is the most surprising UFC world champion in any weight class dating back to Serra. Discussions after the fight as far as Dillashaw’s next opponent centered around three names–Assuncao (22-4), Barao and Faber (30-7).

There are different ways of looking at this. From a public interest and money standpoint, Barao and Faber stand well above Assuncao. But Assuncao beat Dillashaw in the past, and was the guy who originally had this title shot had he not been hurt. While Faber may be the biggest money fight because of the story involved, teammates, teacher vs. pupil, Dillashaw made it clear Saturday night that he would never fight the guy who got him into the sport. But if there is any fairness, that fight shouldn’t even be thought about until Faber gets a string of wins. He just lost to Barao on Feb. 1, in a first round stoppage. He’s had five title fights losses since 2009. So even though he was actually ranked still as the No. 1 contender in the UFC rankings on Saturday, he shouldn’t even be in the discussion until he picks up a few more wins.
The Barao vs. Assuncao argument as the next contender, from a business standpoint would favor Barao, but the one-sided nature of the fight on Saturday works against it in the idea of something new and intriguing. UFC precedence in booking clearly favors Assuncao.

It was not a close decision that people argued (B.J. Penn’s immediate rematch with Frankie Edgar; Edgar’s with Benson Henderson) nor a crazy moment (which led to Anderson Silva’s immediate rematch with Chris Weidman). St-Pierre, already a huge superstar, needed a win to get another shot at the title after the Serra loss. Junior Dos Santos, who had as impressive a heavyweight run as anyone in UFC history, needed a win before getting his rematch with Cain Velasquez. Now legendary champions like Matt Hughes, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell didn’t get rematches after title loss, nor did box office sensation Brock Lesnar. Even Faber, who put smaller guys on the map and had a multi-year title run, needed a win to get his first title rematch.

But Dillashaw vs. Assuncao, as the only alternative, is more suited to a FOX show, and even there it wouldn’t be a guaranteed ratings winner. On pay-per-view, it will not do well unless paired with another title match or a super strong bout that is really the one carrying the show. With Barao, it’s not doing great either, but would have more intrigue and interest because of the questions being asked after the first fight.

Dana White after the fight seemed open to any of the three possibilities, indicating either Assuncao or Barao could be next. White was definitely talking with his promoter’s hat when the idea of the Faber fight was broached.

RENAN BARAO – In the world of “What have you done for me lately?,” Barao (34-2, 1 no contest), is the latest to fall from one of the greatest fighters in the sport to questions of overrated.

Even though 37 pro fights in nine plus years can take its toll, Barao is only 27. But even before he took the punch that changed the complexion of the fight, he seemed off. Perhaps it was the scouting by camp that has been training fighters for Barao for years that learned to nullify his strengths. At most, Barao should be one win away from a title opportunity.
If Assuncao gets the shot, the fight to put Barao in would be with Takeya Mizugaki (20-7-2), who beat Francisco Rivera on Saturday. It’s the perfect kind of title eliminator. If Barao wins, he’s beaten a strong all-around fighter and earned his shot. If he doesn’t, Mizugaki, with six straight wins, would be worthy of a title shot.

DANIEL CORMIER – Cormier (15-0) fought the perfect strategic fight against Dan Henderson. Going in, few gave Henderson much of a chance past his right hand gives him a chance if he lands in any fight. Cormier turning it into a wrestling match took Henderson’s big weapon out of the game. While Cormier – bigger, quicker and younger – was going to have the wrestling edge, it was really a statement in just how one-sided that aspect of the game was considering Henderson’s own background as a two-time Olympian in that sport.

Cormier made it clear he wants the title. He took a steady aim at Jon Jones, even though Dana White made it clear Alexander Gustafsson is getting the next shot. Cormier said he wants to sit and wait for the winner.

The flies in the ointment would be an injury, which is always the game changer depending on who gets hurt, or if Gustafsson beat Jones in a way that would necessitate an immediate rematch. Even Jones winning close is going to lead to Cormier getting the shot. Cormier did say that if Jones-Gustafsson needs an immediate rematch, then he would be open to taking another fight.

Cormier, in his interview, said that Jones made a mistake of not fighting him earlier before Cormier had more time to improve. But at 35, the longer the delay time, the more it favors Jones.

DAN HENDERSON – Even though Saturday was Henderson’s fourth loss in five fights, nobody on the show was more popular. But he’ll probably be 44 by the time he fights again.

The respect for Henderson is such that nobody wants to be the one to say that it’s time to move on. After his loss, he pushed how much he loved the sport, and accepted that a move to middleweight may be in the cards. Given his age, the ban on TRT is clearly a factor as he was smaller than he had been in prior fights at light heavyweight. While a sure-fire Hall of Famer in this sport, the last time Henderson looked like a Hall of Famer in a fight was his legendary first match with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, which was nearly three years ago.

But even though his size says otherwise, Henderson (30-12) has been more successful as a light heavyweights. His upper body wrestling was able to neutralize strength of bigger foes, and his main weapon, the right, can knock out anyone of any size. Speed is less of an issue with bigger guys, who he may have a better shot at catching with that right than smaller foes. Even though he’s no bigger than a lot of welterweights walking around, and would be a small middleweight, he had, even when younger, not appeared to have the same strength when cutting to 185.

The good part about a move is there is seemingly endless supply of opponents for Henderson in a new weight class, with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Luke Rockhold, Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero all being potential first tests. UFC running so many shows works in Henderson’s favor. Henderson is popular enough and well known enough that he can still headline a television event against any of the aforementioned names at a time when there are more TV events than strong headliners to fill them. he was outwrestled and finished, but he didn’t take the terrible damage that can affect you later in life.

But even so, unless he comes in with a victory, or looks very impressive with a loss, you can only push father time back for so long.

ROBBIE LAWLER – In finishing Jake Ellenberger in the third round, Lawler (23-10, 1 no contest) looks to have punched his ticket to a rematch with Johny Hendricks for the welterweight title later this year.

White heavily pushed Lawler as being ready for a title shot, with an injury or an ultra-spectacular performance by Tyron Woodley on June 14 in Vancouver, B.C. against Rory MacDonald as seemingly the only possible things that could get in the way of it. Even if MacDonald looks good in winning, Lawler’s win over MacDonald on Nov. 16 should put him ahead in any kind of battle for a title shot.

Lawler came within one round of beating Hendricks on March 15. The two have the kind of styles where a match-up is as close to a guarantee of a great fight as you’re going to get this side of Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler. On one hand, Hendricks fought Lawler with a torn biceps which clearly hurt his punching power, so a healthy Hendricks is likely to be a tougher opponent. But Lawler looked in better shape for Ellenberger. Based on the first fight and Saturday, Hendricks vs. Lawler II would look to be a fight that could go either way and would be a solid pay-per-view headliner.

While not getting a lot of publicity going in, the Renan Barao unbeaten streak that ended on Saturday night was among the most impressive in the history of the sport. And the man who conquered the streak was someone only got the title shot because the logical contender was injured.

Saturday night appeared to be a pay-per-view show with a lot less interest than most. Few surmised going in that it would end up being a night that would end up significant from an historical perspective. The bantamweight title and the longest active unbeaten streak in the sport were at stake. Well, at least they were on paper. But few took either being in jeopardy seriously.
T.J. Dillashaw (11-2), the challenger, was a wrestler coming into the sport, and a very good one. But he never won the state championship in high school (he placed second as a senior in 2004).  He went to Cal State-Fullerton, where he never placed higher than fourth in his conference. He went to the NCAA Division I tournament twice, but never won a match there. He lost in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) to a much smaller John Dodson via first round knockout, who now fights a weight class lower. Dillashaw came into his title fight with only one truly significant win, over borderline top-10 fighter Mike Easton. He only got his title shot at champion Renan Barao because Raphael Assuncao, who beat Dillashaw via split decision on Oct. 9, was injured, and because former champion Dominick Cruz’s physical issues continued to plague him. Barao had beaten the other top contenders. So Dillashaw, who was the most logical contender under the circumstances, only got the shot because he was the best alternative available that day, not that he was the top contender in the division.

Barao had the second longest unbeaten streaks in MMA history, and really the longest in the modern era. He had gone either 33 or 35 fights, depending on if you are looking at records from outside sources, or his UFC record that credits him with two wins more than everyone else. The streak dated back to losing his debut on April 14, 2005. He had 32 or 34 wins, and one no contest, during that period. The magnitude of that number is a lot more impressive when you look at it from an historical perspective.

The only longer streak among major league fighters was that of Russian Igor Vovchanchyn, who went unbeaten in 36 fights between 1996 and 2000, a very different time period in the sport. His level of competition during the streak was far below that of Barao. The fierce heavyweight puncher was dominant in Russia, and a star in the early days of the Pride Fighting Championships. But his biggest streak wins came against journeymen fighters like Gary Goodridge and Carlos Baretto, and a win against a much smaller Kazushi Sakuraba, who had, amazingly, came back in a tournament after already fighting a 90 minute fight earlier that evening.

To put 33, or 35, into perspective, the amazing streak of teammate Jose Aldo (2006 to the present), is only at 17 right now. The most famous streak in UFC history, that of Anderson Silva, was also 17 straight wins (16 of them in UFC, a record) when he lost last year to Chris Weidman. The only other fighters who were competing at the top major league level during their streak who ever hit 20 were Fedor Emelianenko (28), Hector Lombard (25), Bas Rutten (22) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (22).

As far as comparing streaks, it’s probably not the greatest streak of all-time. Barao had good fighters in his streak, including twice beating Urijah Faber, as well as wins over Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen, Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald. His streak is more impressive for its length than top-tier victims. But he went nine years between having a bad fight day. If you look at the competition level of victims, Silva, Aldo,  Emelianenko (28 fights from 2000 to 2009 and one could argue it really should be 33 based on a cut loss that should have been ruled a no contest), and Rutten can all lay a claim to the argument for the most impressive MMA streak in history. But still, the longest active streak, that of Nurmagomedov, would probably need a good four more years of staying unbeaten to get to the same number as Barao. Given the depth of competition in the UFC lightweight division, It would be hard to envision that happening, or any fighter in this sport at the championship level of beating it. It’s almost a lock that years from now, the Barao streak will look even more amazing than it does right now.

The combination of the two backgrounds led to Dillashaw being roughly an 8-to-1 underdog come fight time. But whatever the factors, this was not one of those weird wins that often happen in MMA, where when it’s over, you question the significance, or whether the winner could ever repeat it. This was a five-round domination. There was no question of a fluke, or a question over who was the better fighter.

It was completely different from the other biggest upset in UFC title history, when Matt Serra beat Georges St-Pierre. History now can look back at that match and chalk it up to things that can happen when the right punch lands, given that St-Pierre dominated Serra when they fought a second time. St-Pierre is rightfully now regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

Was Barao’s record overrated?  Did Dillashaw simply improve in the last year to where he’s the incredible fighter he seemed to be, because he had never fought at that level previously? Was Barao bothered by a hard weight cut or was it that first round beating Dillashaw gave Barao that he could never recover from?

Like with St-Pierre vs. Serra, history will eventually answer these questions.

A look at how Fortunes Changed for Five headliners of UFC 173:

T.J. DILLASHAW – The bantamweight division was completely shaken up since the common belief was not just that Barao was the best, but after the way he handled Faber in his previous fight, that nobody was going to beat him for a long time, nor even be competitive with him.

Because of that, Dillashaw is the most surprising UFC world champion in any weight class dating back to Serra. Discussions after the fight as far as Dillashaw’s next opponent centered around three names–Assuncao (22-4), Barao and Faber (30-7).

There are different ways of looking at this. From a public interest and money standpoint, Barao and Faber stand well above Assuncao. But Assuncao beat Dillashaw in the past, and was the guy who originally had this title shot had he not been hurt. While Faber may be the biggest money fight because of the story involved, teammates, teacher vs. pupil, Dillashaw made it clear Saturday night that he would never fight the guy who got him into the sport. But if there is any fairness, that fight shouldn’t even be thought about until Faber gets a string of wins. He just lost to Barao on Feb. 1, in a first round stoppage. He’s had five title fights losses since 2009. So even though he was actually ranked still as the No. 1 contender in the UFC rankings on Saturday, he shouldn’t even be in the discussion until he picks up a few more wins.
The Barao vs. Assuncao argument as the next contender, from a business standpoint would favor Barao, but the one-sided nature of the fight on Saturday works against it in the idea of something new and intriguing. UFC precedence in booking clearly favors Assuncao.

It was not a close decision that people argued (B.J. Penn’s immediate rematch with Frankie Edgar; Edgar’s with Benson Henderson) nor a crazy moment (which led to Anderson Silva’s immediate rematch with Chris Weidman). St-Pierre, already a huge superstar, needed a win to get another shot at the title after the Serra loss. Junior Dos Santos, who had as impressive a heavyweight run as anyone in UFC history, needed a win before getting his rematch with Cain Velasquez. Now legendary champions like Matt Hughes, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell didn’t get rematches after title loss, nor did box office sensation Brock Lesnar. Even Faber, who put smaller guys on the map and had a multi-year title run, needed a win to get his first title rematch.

But Dillashaw vs. Assuncao, as the only alternative, is more suited to a FOX show, and even there it wouldn’t be a guaranteed ratings winner. On pay-per-view, it will not do well unless paired with another title match or a super strong bout that is really the one carrying the show. With Barao, it’s not doing great either, but would have more intrigue and interest because of the questions being asked after the first fight.

Dana White after the fight seemed open to any of the three possibilities, indicating either Assuncao or Barao could be next. White was definitely talking with his promoter’s hat when the idea of the Faber fight was broached.

RENAN BARAO – In the world of “What have you done for me lately?,” Barao (34-2, 1 no contest), is the latest to fall from one of the greatest fighters in the sport to questions of overrated.

Even though 37 pro fights in nine plus years can take its toll, Barao is only 27. But even before he took the punch that changed the complexion of the fight, he seemed off. Perhaps it was the scouting by camp that has been training fighters for Barao for years that learned to nullify his strengths. At most, Barao should be one win away from a title opportunity.
If Assuncao gets the shot, the fight to put Barao in would be with Takeya Mizugaki (20-7-2), who beat Francisco Rivera on Saturday. It’s the perfect kind of title eliminator. If Barao wins, he’s beaten a strong all-around fighter and earned his shot. If he doesn’t, Mizugaki, with six straight wins, would be worthy of a title shot.

DANIEL CORMIER – Cormier (15-0) fought the perfect strategic fight against Dan Henderson. Going in, few gave Henderson much of a chance past his right hand gives him a chance if he lands in any fight. Cormier turning it into a wrestling match took Henderson’s big weapon out of the game. While Cormier – bigger, quicker and younger – was going to have the wrestling edge, it was really a statement in just how one-sided that aspect of the game was considering Henderson’s own background as a two-time Olympian in that sport.

Cormier made it clear he wants the title. He took a steady aim at Jon Jones, even though Dana White made it clear Alexander Gustafsson is getting the next shot. Cormier said he wants to sit and wait for the winner.

The flies in the ointment would be an injury, which is always the game changer depending on who gets hurt, or if Gustafsson beat Jones in a way that would necessitate an immediate rematch. Even Jones winning close is going to lead to Cormier getting the shot. Cormier did say that if Jones-Gustafsson needs an immediate rematch, then he would be open to taking another fight.

Cormier, in his interview, said that Jones made a mistake of not fighting him earlier before Cormier had more time to improve. But at 35, the longer the delay time, the more it favors Jones.

DAN HENDERSON – Even though Saturday was Henderson’s fourth loss in five fights, nobody on the show was more popular. But he’ll probably be 44 by the time he fights again.

The respect for Henderson is such that nobody wants to be the one to say that it’s time to move on. After his loss, he pushed how much he loved the sport, and accepted that a move to middleweight may be in the cards. Given his age, the ban on TRT is clearly a factor as he was smaller than he had been in prior fights at light heavyweight. While a sure-fire Hall of Famer in this sport, the last time Henderson looked like a Hall of Famer in a fight was his legendary first match with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, which was nearly three years ago.

But even though his size says otherwise, Henderson (30-12) has been more successful as a light heavyweights. His upper body wrestling was able to neutralize strength of bigger foes, and his main weapon, the right, can knock out anyone of any size. Speed is less of an issue with bigger guys, who he may have a better shot at catching with that right than smaller foes. Even though he’s no bigger than a lot of welterweights walking around, and would be a small middleweight, he had, even when younger, not appeared to have the same strength when cutting to 185.

The good part about a move is there is seemingly endless supply of opponents for Henderson in a new weight class, with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Luke Rockhold, Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero all being potential first tests. UFC running so many shows works in Henderson’s favor. Henderson is popular enough and well known enough that he can still headline a television event against any of the aforementioned names at a time when there are more TV events than strong headliners to fill them. he was outwrestled and finished, but he didn’t take the terrible damage that can affect you later in life.

But even so, unless he comes in with a victory, or looks very impressive with a loss, you can only push father time back for so long.

ROBBIE LAWLER – In finishing Jake Ellenberger in the third round, Lawler (23-10, 1 no contest) looks to have punched his ticket to a rematch with Johny Hendricks for the welterweight title later this year.

White heavily pushed Lawler as being ready for a title shot, with an injury or an ultra-spectacular performance by Tyron Woodley on June 14 in Vancouver, B.C. against Rory MacDonald as seemingly the only possible things that could get in the way of it. Even if MacDonald looks good in winning, Lawler’s win over MacDonald on Nov. 16 should put him ahead in any kind of battle for a title shot.

Lawler came within one round of beating Hendricks on March 15. The two have the kind of styles where a match-up is as close to a guarantee of a great fight as you’re going to get this side of Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler. On one hand, Hendricks fought Lawler with a torn biceps which clearly hurt his punching power, so a healthy Hendricks is likely to be a tougher opponent. But Lawler looked in better shape for Ellenberger. Based on the first fight and Saturday, Hendricks vs. Lawler II would look to be a fight that could go either way and would be a solid pay-per-view headliner.