Ahead of his UFC 165 title bout with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, No. 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson is looking for inspiration wherever he can find it. Luckily for him, it’s been a bad year for champions labeled ‘unbeatable.’
“Absolutely, I take inspiration from what Chris Weidman did against Anderson,” Gustafsson tells Fighters Only magazine. “This could be the year when a lot of title belts change hands. This is a totally different fight, of course, but Weidman proved that nobody is invincible. Hendricks versus GSP is also a good fight that could end with a new champion too.”
Technically not undefeated, Jones’ lone loss stems from a 2009 disqualification after illegal elbow strikes left a battered and bruised Matt Hamill unable to continue. Since then, only former champion Rashad Evans has managed to survive five rounds with ‘Bones.’ Undeterred, Gustafsson hasn’t let the stage overwhelm him. “I’m actually enjoying every second of it,” says Gustafsson. “There is no pressure on me at all. I know that I will take that belt. I have everything to gain by this fight. Knowing that I have so many people from so many countries supporting me and wanting me to win lifts me. For an elite athlete the fans are everything. Knowing about that overwhelming support just lifts me more and more.”
Regardless of next month’s result, Gustafsson knows his legacy won’t be made or lost by a single fight. “I still feel like I am at the beginning of my career, I’ve got plenty of years in front of me. But I want to be the number one guy, I want to be the champion. And the only way to become the best is to beat the current champion, and that’s what I am preparing to do.”
7 MUST-READ STORIES
Oscar in rehab. Having battled drugs and alcohol in the past, former boxing superstar turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya has again entered a treatment facility. “Canelo Alvarez and I have big fights coming up this weekend. His is the ring and mine in treatment. will not be at the fight this Saturday to cheer Canelo to victory since I have voluntarily admitted myself into a treatment facility.”
The incomparable Jon Jones. Although UFC has heavily marketed Alexander Gustafsson as having the measurables to match Jon Jones, the champion feels the pair couldn’t be more dissimilar. “I’ve been able to study him a lot over the last several months, and I realized there’s absolutely nothing he does that’s like me.”
Matt Kaplowitz’ short documentary shows how some of New York’s biggest MMA personalities remember 9/11.
Some pretty interesting stuff came out of this recent poll conducted by ESPN the Magazine. Everything from opinions on a fighters’ union to how ofter their opponents suffered mid-fight bowel movements.
I know I said we’d be releasing these on a biweekly basis, but I just couldn’t resist getting my boxing mentor Luis Monda onto the show before the big fights this weekend. For those who don’t know, Floyd Mayweather, the greatest boxer in the sport, is taking on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday, possibly the greatest prospect in the sport. And in the co-main two of boxing’s hardest pound-for-pound hitters face off, with undefeated Danny Garcia taking on should-be-undefeated Lucas Matthysse.
Luis shares with us his analysis of the matchups, but first we get into his general theories on boxing and combat sports training. Luis tells about how a fighter’s personality determines his style, the basic fundamentals of boxing, and how he cultivates better people, not just better fighters.
I’m really proud of this interview, and I hope you’ll give it a listen. Let me know what you think. Of course you can comment here, or hit me up on Twitter @ConnorRuebusch. And you can also send us some hatemail at [email protected]. I look forward to reading it.
You can also find us in the iTunes store. Just search for “Heavy Hands.”
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Ahead of his UFC 165 title bout with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, No. 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson is looking for inspiration wherever he can find it. Luckily for him, it’s been a bad year for champions labeled ‘unbeatable.’
“Absolutely, I take inspiration from what Chris Weidman did against Anderson,” Gustafsson tells Fighters Only magazine. “This could be the year when a lot of title belts change hands. This is a totally different fight, of course, but Weidman proved that nobody is invincible. Hendricks versus GSP is also a good fight that could end with a new champion too.”
Technically not undefeated, Jones’ lone loss stems from a 2009 disqualification after illegal elbow strikes left a battered and bruised Matt Hamill unable to continue. Since then, only former champion Rashad Evans has managed to survive five rounds with ‘Bones.’ Undeterred, Gustafsson hasn’t let the stage overwhelm him. “I’m actually enjoying every second of it,” says Gustafsson. “There is no pressure on me at all. I know that I will take that belt. I have everything to gain by this fight. Knowing that I have so many people from so many countries supporting me and wanting me to win lifts me. For an elite athlete the fans are everything. Knowing about that overwhelming support just lifts me more and more.”
Regardless of next month’s result, Gustafsson knows his legacy won’t be made or lost by a single fight. “I still feel like I am at the beginning of my career, I’ve got plenty of years in front of me. But I want to be the number one guy, I want to be the champion. And the only way to become the best is to beat the current champion, and that’s what I am preparing to do.”
7 MUST-READ STORIES
Oscar in rehab. Having battled drugs and alcohol in the past, former boxing superstar turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya has again entered a treatment facility. “Canelo Alvarez and I have big fights coming up this weekend. His is the ring and mine in treatment. will not be at the fight this Saturday to cheer Canelo to victory since I have voluntarily admitted myself into a treatment facility.”
The incomparable Jon Jones. Although UFC has heavily marketed Alexander Gustafsson as having the measurables to match Jon Jones, the champion feels the pair couldn’t be more dissimilar. “I’ve been able to study him a lot over the last several months, and I realized there’s absolutely nothing he does that’s like me.”
Matt Kaplowitz’ short documentary shows how some of New York’s biggest MMA personalities remember 9/11.
Some pretty interesting stuff came out of this recent poll conducted by ESPN the Magazine. Everything from opinions on a fighters’ union to how ofter their opponents suffered mid-fight bowel movements.
I know I said we’d be releasing these on a biweekly basis, but I just couldn’t resist getting my boxing mentor Luis Monda onto the show before the big fights this weekend. For those who don’t know, Floyd Mayweather, the greatest boxer in the sport, is taking on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday, possibly the greatest prospect in the sport. And in the co-main two of boxing’s hardest pound-for-pound hitters face off, with undefeated Danny Garcia taking on should-be-undefeated Lucas Matthysse.
Luis shares with us his analysis of the matchups, but first we get into his general theories on boxing and combat sports training. Luis tells about how a fighter’s personality determines his style, the basic fundamentals of boxing, and how he cultivates better people, not just better fighters.
I’m really proud of this interview, and I hope you’ll give it a listen. Let me know what you think. Of course you can comment here, or hit me up on Twitter @ConnorRuebusch. And you can also send us some hatemail at [email protected]. I look forward to reading it.
Making a brief appearance on yesterday’s MMA Hour alongside WSOF executive vice president and matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz, Renzo Gracie was asked by our own Ariel Helwani when we’d see his return to fighting.
Believe it, there’s nothing that I want to do more than to be back in the cage, to be back fighting. I just love doing that. Life has been pushing me everywhere but in that direction, but now I’m getting so tired and frustrated with everything else that I’m going to just bury myself into a mat and train the whole day, and do what I love, which is training and fighting. For sure, I’ll be fighting again.
Gracie, who last competed professionally in 2010 against Matt Hughes at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, has been mulling a return to the Octagon for quite some time. Unfortunately for Renzo, his growing list of UFC champion students, including Frankie Edgar, Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman, have kept him focused on coaching fighters.
Man, I’ve just begun training again and I’m feeling good. I had a few problems in the family and now I got everything tuned up, everything is getting better. So I’m looking to be in top shape in three or four months from now, and from there I’ll set up a date.
Personally, I’d love to see Renzo have one last go. It would be amazing to see the man who gave me my first stripe on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu score a UFC win at 46.
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Johny Hendricks feels disrespected: The back and forth between the Hendricks and St-Pierre camps continues as they work to hammer out an agreement for an independent drug screening. “The last I heard from my management and the UFC was WADA. Then GSP just went and did VADA on his own and threw me under the bus to clear his name.”
Grice in critical condition: Scary news yesterday as we learned UFC featherweight Matt Grice underwent brain surgery after being involved in a car accident.
Fight week: With Mayweather vs. Alvarez just days away, get ready for the big PPV this Saturday with a full fight video and breakdown of Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout.
Rashad revitalized: After dropping two straight, Rashad Evans revealed to Ariel Helwani that he had trouble embracing the grind of being a professional fighter. “I forgot why I was doing it. I didn’t enjoy it anymore. I was to the point where I was just going through the motions.”
Rebney clarifies Askren comments: After saying he wouldn’t prolong negotiations between Ben Askren and the UFC, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney appeared on Inside MMA to say they still reserve the right to match any offer.
MEDIA STEW
TUF 18’s Timmy Gorman challenges Bryan Caraway to a fight, with the winner taking home Miesha Tate. He’s come a long way from not knowing who she was.
A bit more detailed look into the death of Evan Tanner. The director is trying to make this a full length feature with your help.
WHOA! TV goes behind the scenes with Max ‘Power’ Nunes as he prepares for Jason ‘The Villain’ Jones at BAMMA 13.
If you can’t figure it out by my title, I think Anthony Pettis is a genius. I think he’s one of the best strikers in MMA. I know for a fact he’s the best kicker in the UFC. And I know his explosive grappling is a serious threat to anyone who thinks he’s one dimensional. In this fanpost, I’m going to analyze and admire the amazing MMA game of the UFC’s newest champion as I explain how he was able to win the title.
Kicking from the Inside Angle:
Conventional striking wisdom says that when fighting someone in the opposite stance, you want to get your lead foot outside the opponent’s to strike. Also, it says that when throwing a kick, you want to step in the same direction as the kick you’re going to throw will travel. Pettis contradicts both those maxims and knocks people out in the process. The truth is, simple statements like that are tools for teaching beginners, not guides to high level strategy. Following those little rules will keep you safe at first and give you goals to work towards but become dangerously limiting when preached dogmatically or as the only proper strategy. That’s why it’s often said that the best strikers break the “rules”. However, this is only the perception because people are taught these as “rules” instead of as “helpful guidelines”. So when someone like Pettis comes along and starts kicking heads in, people assume it is DESPITE breaking those “rules” rather than BECAUSE of it. So how does he pull this off? By first using feints. The best example is his very short fight with Joe Lauzon. In that fight, he would constantly step to his left as a southpaw then throw straight punches. After doing this a couple times, he realized Lauzon was trying really hard to parry so he takes the same step, feints his rear hand and lands the brutal left high kick. If you pay very close attention in that gif, you’ll first see that Pettis’ lead foot is well inside Lauzon’s as he initiates the kick. He steps there on purpose, already knowing how Lauzon will react; if you look at this gif, you can see him use a feint to watch the parry right before he feints again and throws the knockout kick:
So why does Pettis like to step inside, when so many coaches will tell you that’s putting him in the path of the right hand? It actually gives him a lot of subtle advantages with the kick.
For one, it allows the kick to come around farther from the side. In a lot of arts that heavily emphasize kicking such as karate and Taekwondo, students are taught to be able to fight from both stances. One of the main reasons for that is so that they will have the ability to fight from what is sometimes known as “open guard” or “opposite stances”, basically meaning one fighter is orthodox and the other is southpaw. In this configuration, kicks from the rear leg are much easier to land because they tend to bypass the lead side of the opponent, which is most often used for defense. No one takes advantage of that concept like Pettis does in MMA. His step to the inside angle augment the benefits of his rear leg kicks from open guard. By stepping inside, he directions threatens the opponent’s center with his punches. In my angry rant about Rory MacDonald vs Jake Ellenberger cleverly disguised as an article about distance control, I talked about how important threatening the center is to prevent opponents from advancing. However, I neglected to explain in depth that it also forces them to readjust or to likely get knocked out attempting to strike from a compromised position, depending on they’re awareness. The important part is that by stepping inside, Pettis is giving himself a straight path to his opponent’s unguarded center which means he will be able to attack very effectively while the opponent will not. This gives him the initiative; putting the opponent on the defensive. Since Pettis already knows what defense his opponent will use and the openings it leaves, all he has to do is draw that defense and land the kick. By stepping inside, he makes it easier for that kick to come around the side and over the parry. Even if Lauzon had kept his hand in guard, the kick still would have been able to come behind the guard because of the position of the feet. Also, the step actually gives Pettis’ hips more room to swing through. For someone with poor flexibility, that would be a problem because they would lose power at the end of the arc. However, for someone with the nearly superhuman hip mobility of Pettis, that extra space is just more time to build speed and power on the way to cracking skulls.
To see that concept in action again, observe an earlier knockout: Notice that once again, he steps to that same inside position, though he’s standing orthodox at this point. He comes in with his right hand and he steps his right foot forward and to his left in preparation for the kick. The right hand isn’t supposed to land, just to cover his footwork and draw the left hook counter from his opponent by leaving a false opening while simultaneously loading the kick. As the right foot comes down, Pettis pulls his weight back onto it and launches a powerful kick from what is essentially the inside angle from almost in southpaw. The really beautiful thing here is the range he maintains with the footwork. He steps in JUST close enough with the right hand to make the opponent commit to that left hook, but just far enough that he is able to pull his head back out of the way and still have plenty of room to land the kick. As a result of the step, look at the placement of his shin on the opponent’s head. It connects flush along the side of the head, the same as in the knockout of Lauzon.
Pettis steps inside with his kicks so that he can threaten the center with his punches, connect more cleanly, build more power and make the kick more difficult to both see and block. The step inside also makes opponents much more likely to walk into the kick, as Vitor Belfort was kind enough to demonstrate.
Using Feints to Land Kicks:
Now you may have noticed me talking a lot about feinting and drawing in the last section because those are HUGE part of Pettis’ success. On offense, Pettis very rarely tries to actually land his punches. More often he tries to distract with them and make his opponents leave openings as they attempt to defend. You can see it in the knockout of Lauzon and of Castillo, as well as the body kicks he landed against Ben Henderson in the second fight. This is really a very simple concept but it’s incredibly hard to defend. The fact is, most defenses for the rear straight leave an opening for the rear kick. This is universally true, no matter what stances the fighters are in. I mentioned this and alluded to Pettis in my striking analysis of Conor McGregor. If you try to slip the punch, you duck into the kick. If you try to parry the punch, the kicker goes over and around your parry. If you try to circle outside the punch, you’re circling into the power of the kick. It would be a crime for me to write this article and not pay tribute to the embodiment of this double threat; the legendary Mirko Cro Cop. As the most famous kicker in MMA, he used the same left straight/left high kick threat to strike fear into the hearts of heavyweight fighters around the world. Check out this highlight and pay very special attention to just how often he lands both his left hand and left kick:
In that video, you’ll see fighters get dropped trying to block, parry and slip the straight that was never coming, or get nailed by straights when they were watching for kicks. In this strategy, Pettis might as well be Cro Cop reborn. While he doesn’t necessarily have the same willingness to swarm with punches when he hurts an opponent, he sets his kicks up in the exact same way, especially when you consider that Pettis often moves to southpaw to kick. It isn’t a coincidence that the current best kicker in MMA and the former best kicker have this train in common. In MMA, most fighters don’t set kicks up or don’t do it very well. It’s one of those skills that would really make a drastic difference in the quality of striking in the sport as well as the viability of kicking against wrestlers if more fighters would pay attention to it. Anthony Pettis is one of the few who does and it really shows in his fights as his opponents are hurt badly by almost every kick he throws due to their defense being compromised in response to his feints. Essentially, standing in front of Pettis means death. His kicks are too fast and powerful, his ability to read, time, draw and predict your defense too advanced, his footwork and stance too mobile and adapted for what he wants to do.
Counter-Striking:
So, knowing how inevitable your destruction is if you stand in front of him, you have to find a way to make sure he is never set to kick you. How do you do that? By pressuring him, right? If only it were that simple…It’s true that the simplest way to stop someone from kicking is to force them backwards. If you’re committed to moving your bodyweight in the wrong direction, it’s very hard to step, get your balance and fire off a good kick before your opponent gets on top of you. Even if the kick lands, it’s likely to be smothered and you can be caught badly off balance. So driving a strong kicker backwards and keeping them on their heels is the perfect method to defeat them. With wrestling, that principle only becomes more true. However, don’t for a second think that Anthony Pettis doesn’t know this. He does. As a result, he’s developed several methods to beat up opponents who try to bully him.
Counter punches: This is his most common choice. Pettis is much more likely to commit to punches when his opponents are coming forward or attacking. This is to punish them for trying to push him backwards and convince them to stand in range of his kicks. He has some nice straight punches and often does a good job leaping to an outside angle as he comes in to attack. You can see him do it to Lauzon in this gif. One thing that’s important to notice is that Lauzon has backed Pettis against the cage here. Pettis likes to be the one cornering his opponents, so he follows a probing jab of Lauzons back with a counter combination. Note how he moves slightly to his right, creating an angle to land a tight right hook around Lauzon’s guard before Joe moves away. You can see another example in his first fight against Henderson, as he slips outside a jab to land a nice straight right. Pettis isn’t Anderson Silva, but he is very capable of landing hard straight punches against opponents who commit to coming forward against him.
Counter kicks: He throws these less commonly, although to great effect. One example was in the Lauzon fight where he threw several side kicks. Side kicks are great for pushing opponents back and halting their forward momentum, especially when thrown to the legs. That exact same kick is also used by only two of the greatest fighters alive; Anderson Silva and Jon Jones. Even in that short fight against Lauzon, Pettis started using them as well as his counter punches to alleviate the pressure so he could make room to kick. Even better was the counter body kick he landed against Cerrone which actually lead to the end of the fight. Most people remember the showtime knee and body kick that ended the fight, but few remember the counter kick that started it all. As Cerrone tries to walk forward and attack, Pettis blasts his stomach with a powerful kick. That halted him in his tracks and Cerrone barely took another step forward for the rest of the fight. He spent the remaining time backing up into the cage then into the knockout kick. Pettis’ counter kicks are clearly extremely dangerous. Anyone who plans to walk him down best be wary of them, as well as his counter punches.
Final Thoughts:
Unfortunately, this article was about twice as long before half got deleted. Apparently the auto-save wasn’t working and I accidentally closed the page, so when I opened it back up the rest was gone. I won’t have time to retype the rest for probably another week so I’m just gonna unhappily post it as is.
Anyway, Pettis is absolutely amazing. Something to keep in mind is that he’s been ending his fights so quickly recently (the past three in just a few minutes each) that we haven’t had a chance to see all his skills. The few core techniques of his game are so devastating and effective that he hasn’t needed the rest of it in a while. In other words, as scary as this sounds, Pettis’ striking in the UFC may only be the tip of the iceberg. I think he has a lot more to show us than has been on display so far. He’s definitely the most dangerous champion the division has seen since Penn and I believe he’ll be the most dominant. Anthony Pettis is young, talented, smart and backed by some of the best coaches in the sport. He’s versatile and has the potential to finish fights in a variety of ways. His boxing is getting better, his kicks are already too good and his grappling is getting stronger. The man who looks to dethrone Pettis is ambitious indeed.
If you have any thoughts, questions, comments or criticisms, please let me know in the comments. There’s a whole hell of a lot more I wanted to say and I’m pretty depressed that I lost it all, so if anything sticks out that you’d like to know more about please feel free to ask and I’ll answer as soon as possible.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Making a brief appearance on yesterday’s MMA Hour alongside WSOF executive vice president and matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz, Renzo Gracie was asked by our own Ariel Helwani when we’d see his return to fighting.
Believe it, there’s nothing that I want to do more than to be back in the cage, to be back fighting. I just love doing that. Life has been pushing me everywhere but in that direction, but now I’m getting so tired and frustrated with everything else that I’m going to just bury myself into a mat and train the whole day, and do what I love, which is training and fighting. For sure, I’ll be fighting again.
Gracie, who last competed professionally in 2010 against Matt Hughes at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, has been mulling a return to the Octagon for quite some time. Unfortunately for Renzo, his growing list of UFC champion students, including Frankie Edgar, Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman, have kept him focused on coaching fighters.
Man, I’ve just begun training again and I’m feeling good. I had a few problems in the family and now I got everything tuned up, everything is getting better. So I’m looking to be in top shape in three or four months from now, and from there I’ll set up a date.
Personally, I’d love to see Renzo have one last go. It would be amazing to see the man who gave me my first stripe on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu score a UFC win at 46.
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Johny Hendricks feels disrespected: The back and forth between the Hendricks and St-Pierre camps continues as they work to hammer out an agreement for an independent drug screening. “The last I heard from my management and the UFC was WADA. Then GSP just went and did VADA on his own and threw me under the bus to clear his name.”
Grice in critical condition: Scary news yesterday as we learned UFC featherweight Matt Grice underwent brain surgery after being involved in a car accident.
Fight week: With Mayweather vs. Alvarez just days away, get ready for the big PPV this Saturday with a full fight video and breakdown of Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout.
Rashad revitalized: After dropping two straight, Rashad Evans revealed to Ariel Helwani that he had trouble embracing the grind of being a professional fighter. “I forgot why I was doing it. I didn’t enjoy it anymore. I was to the point where I was just going through the motions.”
Rebney clarifies Askren comments: After saying he wouldn’t prolong negotiations between Ben Askren and the UFC, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney appeared on Inside MMA to say they still reserve the right to match any offer.
MEDIA STEW
TUF 18’s Timmy Gorman challenges Bryan Caraway to a fight, with the winner taking home Miesha Tate. He’s come a long way from not knowing who she was.
A bit more detailed look into the death of Evan Tanner. The director is trying to make this a full length feature with your help.
WHOA! TV goes behind the scenes with Max ‘Power’ Nunes as he prepares for Jason ‘The Villain’ Jones at BAMMA 13.
If you can’t figure it out by my title, I think Anthony Pettis is a genius. I think he’s one of the best strikers in MMA. I know for a fact he’s the best kicker in the UFC. And I know his explosive grappling is a serious threat to anyone who thinks he’s one dimensional. In this fanpost, I’m going to analyze and admire the amazing MMA game of the UFC’s newest champion as I explain how he was able to win the title.
Kicking from the Inside Angle:
Conventional striking wisdom says that when fighting someone in the opposite stance, you want to get your lead foot outside the opponent’s to strike. Also, it says that when throwing a kick, you want to step in the same direction as the kick you’re going to throw will travel. Pettis contradicts both those maxims and knocks people out in the process. The truth is, simple statements like that are tools for teaching beginners, not guides to high level strategy. Following those little rules will keep you safe at first and give you goals to work towards but become dangerously limiting when preached dogmatically or as the only proper strategy. That’s why it’s often said that the best strikers break the “rules”. However, this is only the perception because people are taught these as “rules” instead of as “helpful guidelines”. So when someone like Pettis comes along and starts kicking heads in, people assume it is DESPITE breaking those “rules” rather than BECAUSE of it. So how does he pull this off? By first using feints. The best example is his very short fight with Joe Lauzon. In that fight, he would constantly step to his left as a southpaw then throw straight punches. After doing this a couple times, he realized Lauzon was trying really hard to parry so he takes the same step, feints his rear hand and lands the brutal left high kick. If you pay very close attention in that gif, you’ll first see that Pettis’ lead foot is well inside Lauzon’s as he initiates the kick. He steps there on purpose, already knowing how Lauzon will react; if you look at this gif, you can see him use a feint to watch the parry right before he feints again and throws the knockout kick:
So why does Pettis like to step inside, when so many coaches will tell you that’s putting him in the path of the right hand? It actually gives him a lot of subtle advantages with the kick.
For one, it allows the kick to come around farther from the side. In a lot of arts that heavily emphasize kicking such as karate and Taekwondo, students are taught to be able to fight from both stances. One of the main reasons for that is so that they will have the ability to fight from what is sometimes known as “open guard” or “opposite stances”, basically meaning one fighter is orthodox and the other is southpaw. In this configuration, kicks from the rear leg are much easier to land because they tend to bypass the lead side of the opponent, which is most often used for defense. No one takes advantage of that concept like Pettis does in MMA. His step to the inside angle augment the benefits of his rear leg kicks from open guard. By stepping inside, he directions threatens the opponent’s center with his punches. In my angry rant about Rory MacDonald vs Jake Ellenberger cleverly disguised as an article about distance control, I talked about how important threatening the center is to prevent opponents from advancing. However, I neglected to explain in depth that it also forces them to readjust or to likely get knocked out attempting to strike from a compromised position, depending on they’re awareness. The important part is that by stepping inside, Pettis is giving himself a straight path to his opponent’s unguarded center which means he will be able to attack very effectively while the opponent will not. This gives him the initiative; putting the opponent on the defensive. Since Pettis already knows what defense his opponent will use and the openings it leaves, all he has to do is draw that defense and land the kick. By stepping inside, he makes it easier for that kick to come around the side and over the parry. Even if Lauzon had kept his hand in guard, the kick still would have been able to come behind the guard because of the position of the feet. Also, the step actually gives Pettis’ hips more room to swing through. For someone with poor flexibility, that would be a problem because they would lose power at the end of the arc. However, for someone with the nearly superhuman hip mobility of Pettis, that extra space is just more time to build speed and power on the way to cracking skulls.
To see that concept in action again, observe an earlier knockout: Notice that once again, he steps to that same inside position, though he’s standing orthodox at this point. He comes in with his right hand and he steps his right foot forward and to his left in preparation for the kick. The right hand isn’t supposed to land, just to cover his footwork and draw the left hook counter from his opponent by leaving a false opening while simultaneously loading the kick. As the right foot comes down, Pettis pulls his weight back onto it and launches a powerful kick from what is essentially the inside angle from almost in southpaw. The really beautiful thing here is the range he maintains with the footwork. He steps in JUST close enough with the right hand to make the opponent commit to that left hook, but just far enough that he is able to pull his head back out of the way and still have plenty of room to land the kick. As a result of the step, look at the placement of his shin on the opponent’s head. It connects flush along the side of the head, the same as in the knockout of Lauzon.
Pettis steps inside with his kicks so that he can threaten the center with his punches, connect more cleanly, build more power and make the kick more difficult to both see and block. The step inside also makes opponents much more likely to walk into the kick, as Vitor Belfort was kind enough to demonstrate.
Using Feints to Land Kicks:
Now you may have noticed me talking a lot about feinting and drawing in the last section because those are HUGE part of Pettis’ success. On offense, Pettis very rarely tries to actually land his punches. More often he tries to distract with them and make his opponents leave openings as they attempt to defend. You can see it in the knockout of Lauzon and of Castillo, as well as the body kicks he landed against Ben Henderson in the second fight. This is really a very simple concept but it’s incredibly hard to defend. The fact is, most defenses for the rear straight leave an opening for the rear kick. This is universally true, no matter what stances the fighters are in. I mentioned this and alluded to Pettis in my striking analysis of Conor McGregor. If you try to slip the punch, you duck into the kick. If you try to parry the punch, the kicker goes over and around your parry. If you try to circle outside the punch, you’re circling into the power of the kick. It would be a crime for me to write this article and not pay tribute to the embodiment of this double threat; the legendary Mirko Cro Cop. As the most famous kicker in MMA, he used the same left straight/left high kick threat to strike fear into the hearts of heavyweight fighters around the world. Check out this highlight and pay very special attention to just how often he lands both his left hand and left kick:
In that video, you’ll see fighters get dropped trying to block, parry and slip the straight that was never coming, or get nailed by straights when they were watching for kicks. In this strategy, Pettis might as well be Cro Cop reborn. While he doesn’t necessarily have the same willingness to swarm with punches when he hurts an opponent, he sets his kicks up in the exact same way, especially when you consider that Pettis often moves to southpaw to kick. It isn’t a coincidence that the current best kicker in MMA and the former best kicker have this train in common. In MMA, most fighters don’t set kicks up or don’t do it very well. It’s one of those skills that would really make a drastic difference in the quality of striking in the sport as well as the viability of kicking against wrestlers if more fighters would pay attention to it. Anthony Pettis is one of the few who does and it really shows in his fights as his opponents are hurt badly by almost every kick he throws due to their defense being compromised in response to his feints. Essentially, standing in front of Pettis means death. His kicks are too fast and powerful, his ability to read, time, draw and predict your defense too advanced, his footwork and stance too mobile and adapted for what he wants to do.
Counter-Striking:
So, knowing how inevitable your destruction is if you stand in front of him, you have to find a way to make sure he is never set to kick you. How do you do that? By pressuring him, right? If only it were that simple…It’s true that the simplest way to stop someone from kicking is to force them backwards. If you’re committed to moving your bodyweight in the wrong direction, it’s very hard to step, get your balance and fire off a good kick before your opponent gets on top of you. Even if the kick lands, it’s likely to be smothered and you can be caught badly off balance. So driving a strong kicker backwards and keeping them on their heels is the perfect method to defeat them. With wrestling, that principle only becomes more true. However, don’t for a second think that Anthony Pettis doesn’t know this. He does. As a result, he’s developed several methods to beat up opponents who try to bully him.
Counter punches: This is his most common choice. Pettis is much more likely to commit to punches when his opponents are coming forward or attacking. This is to punish them for trying to push him backwards and convince them to stand in range of his kicks. He has some nice straight punches and often does a good job leaping to an outside angle as he comes in to attack. You can see him do it to Lauzon in this gif. One thing that’s important to notice is that Lauzon has backed Pettis against the cage here. Pettis likes to be the one cornering his opponents, so he follows a probing jab of Lauzons back with a counter combination. Note how he moves slightly to his right, creating an angle to land a tight right hook around Lauzon’s guard before Joe moves away. You can see another example in his first fight against Henderson, as he slips outside a jab to land a nice straight right. Pettis isn’t Anderson Silva, but he is very capable of landing hard straight punches against opponents who commit to coming forward against him.
Counter kicks: He throws these less commonly, although to great effect. One example was in the Lauzon fight where he threw several side kicks. Side kicks are great for pushing opponents back and halting their forward momentum, especially when thrown to the legs. That exact same kick is also used by only two of the greatest fighters alive; Anderson Silva and Jon Jones. Even in that short fight against Lauzon, Pettis started using them as well as his counter punches to alleviate the pressure so he could make room to kick. Even better was the counter body kick he landed against Cerrone which actually lead to the end of the fight. Most people remember the showtime knee and body kick that ended the fight, but few remember the counter kick that started it all. As Cerrone tries to walk forward and attack, Pettis blasts his stomach with a powerful kick. That halted him in his tracks and Cerrone barely took another step forward for the rest of the fight. He spent the remaining time backing up into the cage then into the knockout kick. Pettis’ counter kicks are clearly extremely dangerous. Anyone who plans to walk him down best be wary of them, as well as his counter punches.
Final Thoughts:
Unfortunately, this article was about twice as long before half got deleted. Apparently the auto-save wasn’t working and I accidentally closed the page, so when I opened it back up the rest was gone. I won’t have time to retype the rest for probably another week so I’m just gonna unhappily post it as is.
Anyway, Pettis is absolutely amazing. Something to keep in mind is that he’s been ending his fights so quickly recently (the past three in just a few minutes each) that we haven’t had a chance to see all his skills. The few core techniques of his game are so devastating and effective that he hasn’t needed the rest of it in a while. In other words, as scary as this sounds, Pettis’ striking in the UFC may only be the tip of the iceberg. I think he has a lot more to show us than has been on display so far. He’s definitely the most dangerous champion the division has seen since Penn and I believe he’ll be the most dominant. Anthony Pettis is young, talented, smart and backed by some of the best coaches in the sport. He’s versatile and has the potential to finish fights in a variety of ways. His boxing is getting better, his kicks are already too good and his grappling is getting stronger. The man who looks to dethrone Pettis is ambitious indeed.
If you have any thoughts, questions, comments or criticisms, please let me know in the comments. There’s a whole hell of a lot more I wanted to say and I’m pretty depressed that I lost it all, so if anything sticks out that you’d like to know more about please feel free to ask and I’ll answer as soon as possible.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Speaking after the post-fight conference at Bellator 98, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney laid out his expectations for his promotion’s upcoming inaugural Pay Per View event at Bellator 106 in November.
We’re not a PPV company. We don’t h…
Speaking after the post-fight conference at Bellator 98, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney laid out his expectations for his promotion’s upcoming inaugural Pay Per View event at Bellator 106 in November.
We’re not a PPV company. We don’t have to do PPV’s month in and month out to survive and have a positive flow of revenue. We’re a free TV product. We will occasionally do PPV’s but I don’t have projections or benchmarks we need to hit in order for me to be satisfied. I just want to see a recuperated and healed Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. I’ve know Tito for 10 years. Tito’s back, his neck’s good, the knee’s good. I think we’ll see a crazy fight there. Chandler/Alvarez is going to be insane. King Mo and Newton in the rematch is going to be crazy. Strauss vs. Curran, probably the toughest fight that Curran’s had. I think it’ll be really good.
Settled with Ed and he’s fighting Michael Chandler, which should be his total and complete focus. I think Mike’s the best lightweight in mixed martial arts today. I think he beats anyone and everyone in any organization. Ed’s a world class 155-pounder and he’s going to have his hands full. Mike’s gotten better since the last time they fought so it’s going to be an incredible fight. If they give us 50% of what they gave us the last time I’ll be thrilled. It’s the best fight I’ve ever seen.
With the introduction of the Bellator Tournament Champion Replacement Clause, some fans wondered if the promotion may be moving away from it’s tournament format in a round about way. A way for the company to make more intriguing fights, while maintaining it’s policy of title shots being earned, not given.
From ESPN Deportes, FOX Sports Network, Mundos and MTV2 we didn’t have enough events with enough size to them to be able to facilitate getting guys repetitive fights. Now we’ve got it. Now the system is in place. The tournament format is what we’re all about. That’s what makes Bellator, Bellator. We’re sticking to it, but you’ve got to be able to move and acquiesce and get out of the way of some of the punches metaphorically. You need to be able to make title fights happen.
You can’t ask a guy like Alexander Shlemenko, who hasn’t fought in five and half months, to wait another three months in the hopeful anticipation that Doug Marshall’s hand is going to heal. We had to come up with a system to backfill that so there was an objective system in place to find out who is going to fight for the world title. It might not be the guy who won the tournament. There’s a step by step, objective process that we put in place. The tournament format is who we are. We’re sticking to it. We’re not deviating from it, but you’ve got to be able to change direction a little bit and fill gaps when they come. That’s what we’ve done.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
A win for wrestling. I can’t even believe we’re having this discussion but wrestling will, indeed, be an Olympic sport moving forward. Wrestling beat out baseball/softball and squash as the International Olympic Committee voted to include the sport for the 2020 and 2024 games.
Deemed unfit. After being pulled last minute from his bout at Bellator 98, it’s been learned that former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren may have been knocked out during training.
Hendo returns to Brazil. After making his MMA debut on Brazilian soil 16 years ago, Dan Henderson speaks about meeting Vitor Belfort in his return.
Vitor gunning for revenge. After dropping a tough decision in their 2006 bout at PRIDE 32, Vitor Belfort claims to have Hendo’s number this time round. “It gives me more motivation. He’s a tough fighter, but I’ll be ready to dominate him for five rounds.”
SB Nation welterweight rankings. Find out how we ranked the world’s top 170-pounders. Great random tidbit: “GSP would have to hold his title until Jan. 14, 2015 in order to surpass Anderson Silva for longest title reign in UFC history.”
MEDIA STEW
Wrestling is back.
Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet has a run-in with Brock Lesnar.
King Mo sparring with 2012 heavyweight Olympian Michael Hunter. A little ringside Roy Nelson for a bonus.
All Access: Mayweather vs. Canelo – Full Episode 3
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re not normal.
Sure you might be the picture of well-adjusted conformity to societal expectations on the outside — a stable job, two kids, a nice car, a mortgage and all the typical trappings of the middle class American dream — but somewhere deep down inside you’re probably just a little bit off from everyone else.
After all, your average Joe Six Pack isn’t a passionate MMA aficionado who actively seeks out news and opinion about the sport online. Heck, the majority of UFC fans — the ones who make the difference between 900,000 buys for a blockbuster pay per view and the 250,000 buys or so the company can normally bank on from its hardcore audience — devote such little time to following the inner workings of the sport it would shock those of us who analyze each video Nick Diaz uploads to YouTube like it was the Zapruder film.
The disproportionate number of waking hours us hardcores spend watching or thinking about the sport tends to warp our perception of reality. A steady diet of MMA news sites, message boards, and following fighter’s Twitter feeds can be like staring into a fun house mirror at times: fighters who grab lots headlines and have a big online presence often begin to look like far bigger stars than they are to the world at large.
Occasionally though a story comes along that acts like a pinprick to the MMA bubble so many of us are comfortably cocooned in.
And then there’s the story of this past Wednesday night’s UFC Fight Night 28 rating. The Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader headlined card attracted a mere 539,000 viewers — by far the lowest number for a non-FUEL TV live UFC show since the company got on cable television back in 2005.
That’s not a pinprick, it’s a round of ammo fired from an AK-47 aimed directly at the MMA bubble.
After the rating came out Dana White wasted no time going into damage control mode. You see what everyone reporting on the record-low viewership failed to take into account was that the UFC was #1 on cable with males 18-49. Oh, and they beat a Red Sox/Tigers game on ESPN.
“This is all part of the building process,” White wrote. “We’ve made a commitment to work with FOX to build this network.”
That sounds like a great excuse on the surface, but how does White account for the UFC doing 1,782,000 viewers right outside the gate on August 17 for their first card on the debuting FS1? A 70% drop in viewership in less than three weeks can’t be considered a good sign, “building process” or not.
Granted FS1 is operating at an inherent disadvantage to established stations like FX when it comes to drawing casual viewers, but the rating for 8/17 Fight Night 26 card proved a substantial portion of the UFC’s fanbase is willing to put in the leg work necessary to find an unfamiliar channel in order to to watch fights they’re interested in seeing.
So why did 1,243,000 or so UFC fans who watched Chael Sonnen take on Shogun Rua on 8/17, and obviously now know where FS1 is on their cable dials, decide not to tune in to watch Teixeira versus Bader this past Wednesday night?
The only reasonable explanation is they just weren’t interested in the product the UFC was offering them.
Granted the UFC’s audience is heavily skewed toward the West Coast, and because FS1 doesn’t have a staggered feed like FX the main card began at 4:00 PM Pacific — a time when most people in the UFC’s target demographic are still at work. What’s more, even though the numbers were disastrous per UFC standards, Fight Night 28 was still 237% above the approximately 160,000 viewers FS1 has averaged so far in prime time.
With that in mind, White’s assertion that, “FOX couldn’t be happier with the UFC and the ratings we’re pulling” holds water. UFC are sure to score valuable brownie points with FOX for their role in helping to build FS1 during the early days of the network, which could help them secure a more lucrative deal with FOX when their current one is up in 2018.
However, a lot can still happen in the next five years.
Like for instance, what if the UFC isn’t able to cultivate a new crop of money drawing fighters to replace its current handful of legit superstars? As Dave Meltzer pointed out in a story on the UFC’s declining ratings this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter, Georges St-Pierre is 32 years old, never needs to work another day in his life, and has already gone through major surgery. It’s possible he may still be reigning atop the welterweight division five years from now, but betting the house on it sounds like a good way to end up taking residence in a cardboard domicile to me. Anderson Silva will be 43 in 2017, and his arch-rival Chael Sonnen will be 41. Of the current surefire draws in the company, only Jon Jones seems guaranteed to still be on top of the sport when the UFC’s current deal with FOX is up.
Which is why numbers like this past Wednesday’s rating should be alarming to the UFC. 539,000 viewers may be fine and dandy for FS1’s building process, but numbers like that don’t do much for another building process that’s essential for the health of the UFC’s long term business: building new stars.
With the win over Bader, Teixeira earned himself the next light heavyweight title shot against the winner of this month’s Jones/Alexander Gustafsson fight. Too bad hardly anybody actually saw him knock Bader out.
The same goes for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Jacare looked like an absolute killer by mauling the super talented Yushin Okami en route to a first round TKO victory. It was the kind of attention grabbing performance stars are made of, but unfortunately the sound of Okami’s body hitting the mat was akin to a redwood falling in an empty forest.
During the Spike years both men likely would have become far bigger names based off their television exposure. As Meltzer pointed out in his Wrestling Observer article, a comparison between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann’s first bout and their 2013 rematch provides an excellent case study of the star power possessed by today’s upper mid-tier UFC fighters.
In 2009 Condit vs. Kampmann did 1.9 million viewers in the main event of UFC Fight Night 18 on Spike TV. Last week on FS1 they did 824,000 viewers.
As the nearly 1.8 million for UFC’s debut on FS1 shows, the UFC can’t blame the change in networks or the FS1 “building process” for the 57% drop in Condit and Kampmann’s drawing power from where it was at four years ago.
However, a picture of the probable culprit begins to emerge with a look at UFC’s viewership pattern on their new cable home.
Since debuting on FS1 on 8/17 the UFC has run four shows on the network in under a three week period, including the two-hour UFC 164 prelims on August 31. That show did 809,000 viewers. With each subsequent card viewership has decreased.
There’s a crash course in the effects of over-exposure right there for anyone who still believes it’s impossible to have too much of a good thing when it comes to combat sports.
UFC fans were excited for the stacked Fight Night 26 card and went out of their way to watch it. Apparently over half of them got their UFC fix for the next month or so from that show. When Kampmann/Condit rolled around those satiated fans opted to spend their Wednesday night in ways that didn’t involve watching people punch one another in the face. Most of the diehards who tuned in to the 8/28 show also stuck around for the free prelims on 8/31, but it appears that two-week MMA binge was too much for all but the hardest of the hardcores. Viewership fell 35% from the previous week for Fight Night 28.
Here’s another set of stats that may put the effects of over exposure in sharper relief: in 2009 the UFC aired nine free cards on Spike, including three PPV prelim shows, for an average of 1.9 million viewers for the year.
So far in 2013, if you include PPV prelim cards, the UFC has put 21 cards on free television, with at least another 10 on the docket before the end of the year. If you subtract ratings for shows that aired on the low-penetration FUEL TV, the UFC’s average in 2013 has been 1.6 million viewers.
A drop of approximately 300,000 viewers may not seem precipitous at first, but it’s important to note the 1.6 million figure includes three UFC on FOX specials. The FOX shows netted an average of 3.3 million viewers this year, but the vast amount of households still without cable makes network TV an entirely different ballgame. With this in mind the FOX numbers are an apples to kiwis comparison with past numbers on Spike.
A more Granny Smith-friendly comparison would be to subtract those three FOX cards and look at the UFC’s non-FUEL cable average for 2013. With four months left to go the company is at approximately 1.3 million viewers per show on average for cards that aired on FX or FS1. That’s a 32% drop from where they were four years ago on cable.
The UFC has long contended that running frequent shows is key to their global expansion, and there may be some truth to that argument. However the effects of overexposure and a roster spread thin by too many live events can also be seen in the attendance figures for Fight Night 28.
Last summer UFC 147, headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin, drew 16,643 fans to Belo Horizonte’s Mineirinho Arena. One year later and Teixeira and Bader attracted a scanty 5,126 at the same venue. The lesson? The UFC is often hot in a fresh market, but once fans realize how easy it is to get their UFC fix they begin to take the product for granted. That’s when they start picking and choosing what shows they watch rather than religiously following every one.
Concomitantly, when fans feel overwhelmed by the amount of product out there and begin skipping shows, they miss what should be star-making moments like Jacare’s destruction of Okami. This may not seem like a big deal as an isolated case, but in the aggregate it creates a watering down of the UFC roster’s star power, which makes it hard for today’s up and coming fighters to stand out from the pack the way the BJ Penn’s and Forrest Griffin’s of yesteryear once did.
Sooner or later the UFC is going to have to figure out a way to address this problem, because the day is going to come when they can no longer rely on the current crop of drawing cards. In a business where superstars are the stock in trade, nothing is more important than cultivating a roster of top fighters who can convince fans to alter their viewing habits and open their wallets.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
After a very ugly, public feud with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, fellow bantamweight Bryan Caraway is working to keep his nose clean when it comes to ‘Rowdy.’ Although some fans may be expecting fireworks between Caraway and Rousey on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Caraway says he no longer bears any malice towards her.
“I don’t have any ill thoughts or bad intentions toward Ronda. I don’t hate her and I want her to know that,” Caraway told SI.com this week. “She’s a talented, world-class athlete. I think she’s a stud fighter. I just don’t agree with the way she approaches things and conducts herself. I don’t feel like she’s a role model and I think there’s a lot better ways to go about it. Her, Miesha and I are just completely different types of people.”
Caraway’s presence as an assistant to TUF coach Miesha Tate brought a certain intrigue leading up to this season of as fans wait to see he and Rousey finally clash. Caraway, the long-time boyfriend of Tate, has a history with Rousey dating back to the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title bout last March. Responding to an antagonizing fan, Caraway tweeted “if [Rousey] wants to challenge a man I’ll knock her teeth dwn (sic) her throat the (sic) break her arm!”
Even so, Tate credits Caraway’s participation as giving her team an edge rather than be a distraction.
“He was instrumental in the whole process because he’d been on the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter,” Tate told SI.com this week. He was able to relate to the fighters in a way the rest of the staff just couldn’t. We didn’t have the experience of being locked up in a house for six weeks like he had.”
Tate, who challenges Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 168 in December, assumed her role as coach after a knee injury to Cat Zingano forced her to withdraw. Zingano, who has her own history with Caraway, scored a decision victory over Tate in April at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale. The winner was to be assured a coaching spot opposite Rousey prior to an eventual title bout.
Jacare wanted to make statement with Okami. “I came here to destroy my opponent, finish the fight quick,” Souza said at the post-fight press-conference. “I wanted to shock the world.”
Meet our TUF blogger, Julianna Pena. Set to face Shayna Baszler on next week’s episode, Pena chats with our own Shaun Al-Shatti about last night’s premier. “I was happy to see her, but at the same time, ‘No! Don’t hug me! Ronda’s going to see you hugging me and she’s not going to pick me on her team!’ (Laughs.) But at that point it was really too late.”
TUF observations: Chuck Mindenhall breaks down exactly why the UFC needed to move away from its stale format to get people intrigued in TUF again. “Just like the very first TUF, when Forrest Griffin, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez were the players — back when “spritzing” was all the rage — the women on the show figure to factor into the UFC’s landscape when all is said and done.”
MEDIA STEW
Ronda says she’d be worried about being sued if she ever slapped Miesha Tate.
UFC Ultimate Insider profiles Team Alpha Male head coach Duane Lugwig.
A little early for hanging mistletoe, but to each his own. It’s Nick Diaz, after all.
Josh Thompson stars in the upcoming Fist of the Dragon, not to be confused with Fist of Dragon or Fist of the Red Dragon. Look for it in theaters this Christmas.
TWEETS
The victory lap.
Thank you @ThorTheHammer was a pleasure fight against you, good luck in your career champ.
There are currently 9 weight classes wherein the UFC employs a champion, none of which hold the title of the fastest growing division. That title, however dubious under these circumstances, belongs to the “Moneyweights”; or that abyss of fighters that seems to be forming between the 185lb and 205lb weight classes.
In years past, the UFC’s moneyweight division once consisted of only a couple of fighters such as Rich Franklin or Wanderlei Silva. They have been joined in recent months, thanks to the sustained dominance of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, by the likes of Chael Sonnen, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort. Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson seem destined to follow in the coming months. These fighters all have two things in common. They have lost to the current champion (in most cases rather convincingly) or a top contender and they are all still relevant, big names that the UFC can promote in big fights. The logic is simple; they no longer have a path to the title, so hey what not take some big fights? There is even more motivation to do so for fighters moving up in weight as they have much more to gain. For example, Chael Sonnen lost two fights to middleweight champion Anderson Silva. If he goes up to light heavyweight and wins a couple of fights, goes back down to middleweight and wins a fight, one could project that he would be right back at the front of the line for a title shot at 185lbs (most likely only if Weidman beats Silva in December but you never know with Chael). Sonnen has substantially more to gain, financially and otherwise, if he goes up in weight and fights some promotable names rather than stay and toil in the middleweight division as gatekeeper.
This is the reality facing all of these fighters mentioned; stay in their current division and become a gatekeeper as long as the current champion remains or become a moneyweight and hope one day you retain that contender status? The UFC certainly prefers the latter. It frees up matchmaking restrictions and creates fights with main event caliber fighters that would be otherwise unattainable. It is only a matter of time before each of these fighters settle into one division or the other so it is wise to capitalize when possible. But for as long as they are willing, the UFC seems to be more than happy to be in the Moneyweight business.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
After a very ugly, public feud with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, fellow bantamweight Bryan Caraway is working to keep his nose clean when it comes to ‘Rowdy.’ Although some fans may be expecting fireworks between Caraway and Rousey on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Caraway says he no longer bears any malice towards her.
“I don’t have any ill thoughts or bad intentions toward Ronda. I don’t hate her and I want her to know that,” Caraway told SI.com this week. “She’s a talented, world-class athlete. I think she’s a stud fighter. I just don’t agree with the way she approaches things and conducts herself. I don’t feel like she’s a role model and I think there’s a lot better ways to go about it. Her, Miesha and I are just completely different types of people.”
Caraway’s presence as an assistant to TUF coach Miesha Tate brought a certain intrigue leading up to this season of as fans wait to see he and Rousey finally clash. Caraway, the long-time boyfriend of Tate, has a history with Rousey dating back to the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title bout last March. Responding to an antagonizing fan, Caraway tweeted “if [Rousey] wants to challenge a man I’ll knock her teeth dwn (sic) her throat the (sic) break her arm!”
Even so, Tate credits Caraway’s participation as giving her team an edge rather than be a distraction.
“He was instrumental in the whole process because he’d been on the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter,” Tate told SI.com this week. He was able to relate to the fighters in a way the rest of the staff just couldn’t. We didn’t have the experience of being locked up in a house for six weeks like he had.”
Tate, who challenges Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 168 in December, assumed her role as coach after a knee injury to Cat Zingano forced her to withdraw. Zingano, who has her own history with Caraway, scored a decision victory over Tate in April at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale. The winner was to be assured a coaching spot opposite Rousey prior to an eventual title bout.
Jacare wanted to make statement with Okami. “I came here to destroy my opponent, finish the fight quick,” Souza said at the post-fight press-conference. “I wanted to shock the world.”
Meet our TUF blogger, Julianna Pena. Set to face Shayna Baszler on next week’s episode, Pena chats with our own Shaun Al-Shatti about last night’s premier. “I was happy to see her, but at the same time, ‘No! Don’t hug me! Ronda’s going to see you hugging me and she’s not going to pick me on her team!’ (Laughs.) But at that point it was really too late.”
TUF observations: Chuck Mindenhall breaks down exactly why the UFC needed to move away from its stale format to get people intrigued in TUF again. “Just like the very first TUF, when Forrest Griffin, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez were the players — back when “spritzing” was all the rage — the women on the show figure to factor into the UFC’s landscape when all is said and done.”
MEDIA STEW
Ronda says she’d be worried about being sued if she ever slapped Miesha Tate.
UFC Ultimate Insider profiles Team Alpha Male head coach Duane Lugwig.
A little early for hanging mistletoe, but to each his own. It’s Nick Diaz, after all.
Josh Thompson stars in the upcoming Fist of the Dragon, not to be confused with Fist of Dragon or Fist of the Red Dragon. Look for it in theaters this Christmas.
TWEETS
The victory lap.
Thank you @ThorTheHammer was a pleasure fight against you, good luck in your career champ.
There are currently 9 weight classes wherein the UFC employs a champion, none of which hold the title of the fastest growing division. That title, however dubious under these circumstances, belongs to the “Moneyweights”; or that abyss of fighters that seems to be forming between the 185lb and 205lb weight classes.
In years past, the UFC’s moneyweight division once consisted of only a couple of fighters such as Rich Franklin or Wanderlei Silva. They have been joined in recent months, thanks to the sustained dominance of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, by the likes of Chael Sonnen, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort. Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson seem destined to follow in the coming months. These fighters all have two things in common. They have lost to the current champion (in most cases rather convincingly) or a top contender and they are all still relevant, big names that the UFC can promote in big fights. The logic is simple; they no longer have a path to the title, so hey what not take some big fights? There is even more motivation to do so for fighters moving up in weight as they have much more to gain. For example, Chael Sonnen lost two fights to middleweight champion Anderson Silva. If he goes up to light heavyweight and wins a couple of fights, goes back down to middleweight and wins a fight, one could project that he would be right back at the front of the line for a title shot at 185lbs (most likely only if Weidman beats Silva in December but you never know with Chael). Sonnen has substantially more to gain, financially and otherwise, if he goes up in weight and fights some promotable names rather than stay and toil in the middleweight division as gatekeeper.
This is the reality facing all of these fighters mentioned; stay in their current division and become a gatekeeper as long as the current champion remains or become a moneyweight and hope one day you retain that contender status? The UFC certainly prefers the latter. It frees up matchmaking restrictions and creates fights with main event caliber fighters that would be otherwise unattainable. It is only a matter of time before each of these fighters settle into one division or the other so it is wise to capitalize when possible. But for as long as they are willing, the UFC seems to be more than happy to be in the Moneyweight business.
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Speaking with CBS Washington’s 106.7 The Fan, UFC president Dana White didn’t sound all too optimistic regarding the future of heavyweight Stefan Struve. At just 25, Struve learned last month that he suffers from an aortic valve leak and enlarged heart, requiring surgery sometime in the near future. Here’s what White told The Fan’s Chad Dukes regarding Struve’s possible return to the Octagon:
“Yea, what he has is a serious condition, you know, and I honestly don’t think he ever will [fight again],” White said. “He’s got a rip in his heart,” he explained. “And you know, it’s one of those freak things that happen to people, and I love the kid. The kid’s got, no pun intended, but he’s got unbelievable heart. He’s tough as nails. He’s the nicest guy in the world, and we’re going to do everything in our power to help him through this thing.”
“We’ll see what the medication does for my heart and the doctors will give their final view, and I’ll get the final answer on my career. The thing is, they’re (his doctors in Holland) not used to working with athletes. After they give their answer, we’re definitely going to the United States for a second opinion to see what is best so I can resume my career and live a healthy life.”
Aldo should fight Lamas – Reason: Aldo looked good, he was winning the fight and then when Jung’s shoulder popped out he swarmed on him like a shark that smelled blood. It was a solid performance, next should be Ricardo Lamas. I don’t know who is going to get the next shot but Lamas deserves it and I hope he gets the fight. Its a very intriguing match up in my opinion and I think it’d be a good fight. Thats the fight I want for Aldo next and its the right fight. The situation at 145 is very interesting right now, in my opinion both Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes deserve title shots but I think Lamas should get his first since hes been waiting for a while to get it. Also Aldo might do the Super Fight against Anthony Pettis at 145 or 155 if that happens then Lamas and Mendes could fight and clear the #1 contender spot up a bit but if the Super fight doesn’t happen Lamas should get the shot at Aldo’s belt.
Jung should fight McGregor – Reason: Jung was doing good in that fight, he was losing but he wasn’t getting his ass kicked. I’d like to see it again in a couple of years. If his shoulder didn’t pop out of place in the fourth who knows what could have happened. I’m pretty sure he would have just continued to get outstruck for the next round and a half but still, I think we’ll see a rematch at some point in the future. So Jung’s going to be out for a while again and I think he’ll get matched up with another fighter who injured himself in his last fight Conor McGregor. They should both be healthy and ready to go around the same time and I really believe this will be the fight that they make. I think it’d be an awesome fight, it’d be my pick for Fight of the night, hell Fight of the year even. I really hope this fight gets booked and I think it will.
Davis should fight The Winner of Teixeira vs Bader – Reason: I thought Machida won the fight but Davis did a good job of mixing things up and he definitely held his own against arguably the second best Light Heavyweight in the world so props to him. Obviously he got the win which is most important but I don’t feel he really won it, never the less his next fight will be against one of the top guys in the division and I don’t see any other option right now for him besides him facing The Winner of Glover Teixeira vs Ryan Bader. Thats the only fight that makes sense for him right now, I suppose he could also fight Chael Sonnen since the fight with Wanderlei has fallen apart but I think Davis will get The Winner of Teixeira/Bader over Sonnen. Plus it looks like Sonnen will be fighting Rashad Evans. So I think Davis will be fighting The Winner of Teixeira vs Bader and I think thats the right fight for him. I’ve wanted to see Davis and Bader fight for a long time now so that fight would be great and Davis/Teixeira would be very interesting. I hope this fight gets booked.
Machida should fight Kennedy – Reason: I think Machida won that fight but thats what happens when you leave it the moronic judges hands, sometimes you get screwed. It was a very close fight but I thought Machida did enough to win at least two rounds. Oh well. So I wanted to see him fight Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans or Shogun Rua next but hes going to be fighting Tim Kennedy and I think its a retarded match up. It makes zero sense but I think its a ploy to get rid of Tim Kennedy. I doubt they’d cut him with a loss here but another loss right after it could definitely get him cut and I think thats what they’re hoping for here. I don’t think it’ll be a very good fight, either it’ll be a borefest with one of them winning a close decision or Machida will come out guns blazing and just destroy Kennedy.
Ferreira should fight Sarafian – Reason: Ferreira looked great, very quick submission win. I was impressed. It looks like hes going to be fighting the man he was supposed to fight at UFC 147, Daniel Sarafian. If this fight does happen it’ll be great. I think it does make sense and I’d like to see it happen sooner rather than later so I love this fight. If for some reason this fight doesn’t happen next then Ferreira could also fight Dylan Andrews or The Winner of Natal vs Troeng.
Santos should fight Hall – Reason: Didn’t really get to see a lot of Santos in that fight but getting subbed that fast is never a good look. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Uriah Hall. I think this fight is perfect for Hall, they’d basically be feeding Santos to Hall but hes desperate for a win and this is the perfect fight for him in my opinion. Santos could also fight Trevor Smith or Papy Abedi.
Leites should fight Herman – Reason: Leites looked great, didn’t look nervous at all. Like he never left the UFC. He dominated the fight and I was very impressed. Hes still one of the best MWs in the world. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Ed Herman. I’m very interested in seeing this fight. I think it’d be great. I hope it happens. Leites could also fight John Howard or Brad Tavares.
Watson should fight Sakara – Reason: Watson got his ass kicked but hes tough as hell and he never gave up. I’m a fan of Watson’s and I’m excited about his next fight. He’ll be fighting Alessio Sakara and I love this fight. I think it’ll be a stand up war. Really looking forward to that one.
Lineker should fight Harris – Reason: Very fun fight. Lineker looked good. He’s fighting Phil Harris next, I think hes getting a rather easy fight here. I figured he was going to get a higher ranked guy but alright Phil Harris will work. Should be a good fight, whenever Lineker’s involved its a good fight.
Tome should fight Gaudinot – Reason: Tome didn’t win his fight against John Lineker but boy did he impress me. I thought he looked sharp, his strikes were looking good and he even had Lineker hurt at one point. For his next fight I hope he faces Louis Gaudinot. I think that’d be an excellent fight and I think it makes sense. So I hope that fight happens. Tome could also fight Darren Uyenoyama or The Loser of Joseph Benavidez vs Jussier Formiga.
Perosh should fight St. Preux – Reason: Wow, unbelievable. Nobody in the fucking world saw that coming. Perosh totally redeemed himself, he was knocked out in like 10 seconds by Ryan Jimmo so he goes out and knocks Vinny Magalhaes out in under 20. Very impressive win, he was probably going to be cut if he lost that fight so this win means the world to him I’m sure. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Ovince St. Preux. I like that fight and I hope it happens. Perosh could also fight Francimar Barroso or Ilir Latifi.
Magalhaes has been cut. Now I know he got knocked out in less than 20 seconds but I don’t think he should have been cut. Hes a great talent and I expect him to go out and win about 5 fights then return to the UFC around Winter 2014.
Nunes should fight Randamie – Reason: Nunes looked good, I hope to see her back in the cage soon. I’d like to see her fight Germaine De Randamie next. This fight makes sense to me and I think it’d be a very fun fight. I hope this one gets booked. Nunes could also fight Alexis Davis or Liz Carmouche.
Sheila Gaff has been cut. I’m sure she’ll end up either back with the UFC or in Invicta after she wins a couple fights in some smaller shows.
Moraes should fight Pyle – Reason: Moraes looked great, his triangle was a thing of beauty. Can’t wait to see him back in there. For his next fight I’d like to see him face Mike Pyle. I think this fight makes sense and I really like it. I hope this fight happens. Moraes could also fight Robert Whittaker or Brandon Thatch.
Magny should fight Baczynski – Reason: Magny didn’t look good at all, hes disappointed in his last two fights, if he loses this next fight he’ll definitely be cut. Hes fighting Seth Baczynski next and this is actually the fight that I wanted for him. I like this fight a lot, it makes perfect sense. I hope its a good one.
McCall should fight Moraga – Reason: McCall looked very good, his striking and speed was very impressive. It was a great performance in my opinion. For his next fight I’d like to see him face John Moraga. I really like this fight and I think it makes sense so I hope it gets booked. McCall could also fight The Winner of John Lineker vs Phil Harris or Tim Elliott.
Santos should fight Cariaso – Reason: Santos looked alright in that fight. He was in there with one of the best in the division and he did a good job. Hes fighting Chris Cariaso next and I think the fight makes sense. Its a big fight for Santos, both guys need a win badly. I’m expecting this to be a great fight. Looking forward to it.
Yahya should fight Elikins – Reason: Yahya looked good, he dominated that fight. Very impressive stuff. For his next fight I’d like to see him face another grappler, Darren Elkins. I think that fight would be fantastic, it could also be a very boring fight but I want to see it and it makes a lot of sense. So I hope that fight gets booked. Yahya could also fight Dustin Poirier or Dennis Siver.
Clopton should fight Pineda – Reason: He lost that fight and he was dominated but he was facing one of the best guys in the division. I hope he gets another shot and doesn’t get cut. If he does I’d like to see him fight Daniel Pineda. I think this fight makes sense and I’d like to see it happen. Would be a fun fight. Hope that one gets booked. Clopton could also fight Godofredo Pepey or Cole Miller.
Barroso should fight Drysdale – Reason: Barroso looked good, It was a close fight but he pulled it off. I’d like to see him fight Robert Drysdale next. I like this fight a lot and I hope it happens. Barroso could also fight Anthony Perosh or Igor Pokrajac.
Oliveira has been cut. I don’t know if he should have been cut already. I think he’ll be back in the UFC very soon.
Andrade should fight The Winner of Amagov vs Waldburger – Reason: I was very impressed with Andrade’s performance, I mean he was fighting Bristol Marunde but it was still impressive. I want to see him fight The Winner of Amagov vs Waldburger. I like this fight a lot and I want it to happen. Andrade could also fight Bobby Voelker or Pascal Krauss.
Bristol Marunde has been cut. Its the right call. Hes lost his last three fights and he was finished in all three.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Speaking with CBS Washington’s 106.7 The Fan, UFC president Dana White didn’t sound all too optimistic regarding the future of heavyweight Stefan Struve. At just 25, Struve learned last month that he suffers from an aortic valve leak and enlarged heart, requiring surgery sometime in the near future. Here’s what White told The Fan’s Chad Dukes regarding Struve’s possible return to the Octagon:
“Yea, what he has is a serious condition, you know, and I honestly don’t think he ever will [fight again],” White said. “He’s got a rip in his heart,” he explained. “And you know, it’s one of those freak things that happen to people, and I love the kid. The kid’s got, no pun intended, but he’s got unbelievable heart. He’s tough as nails. He’s the nicest guy in the world, and we’re going to do everything in our power to help him through this thing.”
“We’ll see what the medication does for my heart and the doctors will give their final view, and I’ll get the final answer on my career. The thing is, they’re (his doctors in Holland) not used to working with athletes. After they give their answer, we’re definitely going to the United States for a second opinion to see what is best so I can resume my career and live a healthy life.”
Aldo should fight Lamas – Reason: Aldo looked good, he was winning the fight and then when Jung’s shoulder popped out he swarmed on him like a shark that smelled blood. It was a solid performance, next should be Ricardo Lamas. I don’t know who is going to get the next shot but Lamas deserves it and I hope he gets the fight. Its a very intriguing match up in my opinion and I think it’d be a good fight. Thats the fight I want for Aldo next and its the right fight. The situation at 145 is very interesting right now, in my opinion both Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes deserve title shots but I think Lamas should get his first since hes been waiting for a while to get it. Also Aldo might do the Super Fight against Anthony Pettis at 145 or 155 if that happens then Lamas and Mendes could fight and clear the #1 contender spot up a bit but if the Super fight doesn’t happen Lamas should get the shot at Aldo’s belt.
Jung should fight McGregor – Reason: Jung was doing good in that fight, he was losing but he wasn’t getting his ass kicked. I’d like to see it again in a couple of years. If his shoulder didn’t pop out of place in the fourth who knows what could have happened. I’m pretty sure he would have just continued to get outstruck for the next round and a half but still, I think we’ll see a rematch at some point in the future. So Jung’s going to be out for a while again and I think he’ll get matched up with another fighter who injured himself in his last fight Conor McGregor. They should both be healthy and ready to go around the same time and I really believe this will be the fight that they make. I think it’d be an awesome fight, it’d be my pick for Fight of the night, hell Fight of the year even. I really hope this fight gets booked and I think it will.
Davis should fight The Winner of Teixeira vs Bader – Reason: I thought Machida won the fight but Davis did a good job of mixing things up and he definitely held his own against arguably the second best Light Heavyweight in the world so props to him. Obviously he got the win which is most important but I don’t feel he really won it, never the less his next fight will be against one of the top guys in the division and I don’t see any other option right now for him besides him facing The Winner of Glover Teixeira vs Ryan Bader. Thats the only fight that makes sense for him right now, I suppose he could also fight Chael Sonnen since the fight with Wanderlei has fallen apart but I think Davis will get The Winner of Teixeira/Bader over Sonnen. Plus it looks like Sonnen will be fighting Rashad Evans. So I think Davis will be fighting The Winner of Teixeira vs Bader and I think thats the right fight for him. I’ve wanted to see Davis and Bader fight for a long time now so that fight would be great and Davis/Teixeira would be very interesting. I hope this fight gets booked.
Machida should fight Kennedy – Reason: I think Machida won that fight but thats what happens when you leave it the moronic judges hands, sometimes you get screwed. It was a very close fight but I thought Machida did enough to win at least two rounds. Oh well. So I wanted to see him fight Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans or Shogun Rua next but hes going to be fighting Tim Kennedy and I think its a retarded match up. It makes zero sense but I think its a ploy to get rid of Tim Kennedy. I doubt they’d cut him with a loss here but another loss right after it could definitely get him cut and I think thats what they’re hoping for here. I don’t think it’ll be a very good fight, either it’ll be a borefest with one of them winning a close decision or Machida will come out guns blazing and just destroy Kennedy.
Ferreira should fight Sarafian – Reason: Ferreira looked great, very quick submission win. I was impressed. It looks like hes going to be fighting the man he was supposed to fight at UFC 147, Daniel Sarafian. If this fight does happen it’ll be great. I think it does make sense and I’d like to see it happen sooner rather than later so I love this fight. If for some reason this fight doesn’t happen next then Ferreira could also fight Dylan Andrews or The Winner of Natal vs Troeng.
Santos should fight Hall – Reason: Didn’t really get to see a lot of Santos in that fight but getting subbed that fast is never a good look. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Uriah Hall. I think this fight is perfect for Hall, they’d basically be feeding Santos to Hall but hes desperate for a win and this is the perfect fight for him in my opinion. Santos could also fight Trevor Smith or Papy Abedi.
Leites should fight Herman – Reason: Leites looked great, didn’t look nervous at all. Like he never left the UFC. He dominated the fight and I was very impressed. Hes still one of the best MWs in the world. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Ed Herman. I’m very interested in seeing this fight. I think it’d be great. I hope it happens. Leites could also fight John Howard or Brad Tavares.
Watson should fight Sakara – Reason: Watson got his ass kicked but hes tough as hell and he never gave up. I’m a fan of Watson’s and I’m excited about his next fight. He’ll be fighting Alessio Sakara and I love this fight. I think it’ll be a stand up war. Really looking forward to that one.
Lineker should fight Harris – Reason: Very fun fight. Lineker looked good. He’s fighting Phil Harris next, I think hes getting a rather easy fight here. I figured he was going to get a higher ranked guy but alright Phil Harris will work. Should be a good fight, whenever Lineker’s involved its a good fight.
Tome should fight Gaudinot – Reason: Tome didn’t win his fight against John Lineker but boy did he impress me. I thought he looked sharp, his strikes were looking good and he even had Lineker hurt at one point. For his next fight I hope he faces Louis Gaudinot. I think that’d be an excellent fight and I think it makes sense. So I hope that fight happens. Tome could also fight Darren Uyenoyama or The Loser of Joseph Benavidez vs Jussier Formiga.
Perosh should fight St. Preux – Reason: Wow, unbelievable. Nobody in the fucking world saw that coming. Perosh totally redeemed himself, he was knocked out in like 10 seconds by Ryan Jimmo so he goes out and knocks Vinny Magalhaes out in under 20. Very impressive win, he was probably going to be cut if he lost that fight so this win means the world to him I’m sure. For his next fight I’d like to see him fight Ovince St. Preux. I like that fight and I hope it happens. Perosh could also fight Francimar Barroso or Ilir Latifi.
Magalhaes has been cut. Now I know he got knocked out in less than 20 seconds but I don’t think he should have been cut. Hes a great talent and I expect him to go out and win about 5 fights then return to the UFC around Winter 2014.
Nunes should fight Randamie – Reason: Nunes looked good, I hope to see her back in the cage soon. I’d like to see her fight Germaine De Randamie next. This fight makes sense to me and I think it’d be a very fun fight. I hope this one gets booked. Nunes could also fight Alexis Davis or Liz Carmouche.
Sheila Gaff has been cut. I’m sure she’ll end up either back with the UFC or in Invicta after she wins a couple fights in some smaller shows.
Moraes should fight Pyle – Reason: Moraes looked great, his triangle was a thing of beauty. Can’t wait to see him back in there. For his next fight I’d like to see him face Mike Pyle. I think this fight makes sense and I really like it. I hope this fight happens. Moraes could also fight Robert Whittaker or Brandon Thatch.
Magny should fight Baczynski – Reason: Magny didn’t look good at all, hes disappointed in his last two fights, if he loses this next fight he’ll definitely be cut. Hes fighting Seth Baczynski next and this is actually the fight that I wanted for him. I like this fight a lot, it makes perfect sense. I hope its a good one.
McCall should fight Moraga – Reason: McCall looked very good, his striking and speed was very impressive. It was a great performance in my opinion. For his next fight I’d like to see him face John Moraga. I really like this fight and I think it makes sense so I hope it gets booked. McCall could also fight The Winner of John Lineker vs Phil Harris or Tim Elliott.
Santos should fight Cariaso – Reason: Santos looked alright in that fight. He was in there with one of the best in the division and he did a good job. Hes fighting Chris Cariaso next and I think the fight makes sense. Its a big fight for Santos, both guys need a win badly. I’m expecting this to be a great fight. Looking forward to it.
Yahya should fight Elikins – Reason: Yahya looked good, he dominated that fight. Very impressive stuff. For his next fight I’d like to see him face another grappler, Darren Elkins. I think that fight would be fantastic, it could also be a very boring fight but I want to see it and it makes a lot of sense. So I hope that fight gets booked. Yahya could also fight Dustin Poirier or Dennis Siver.
Clopton should fight Pineda – Reason: He lost that fight and he was dominated but he was facing one of the best guys in the division. I hope he gets another shot and doesn’t get cut. If he does I’d like to see him fight Daniel Pineda. I think this fight makes sense and I’d like to see it happen. Would be a fun fight. Hope that one gets booked. Clopton could also fight Godofredo Pepey or Cole Miller.
Barroso should fight Drysdale – Reason: Barroso looked good, It was a close fight but he pulled it off. I’d like to see him fight Robert Drysdale next. I like this fight a lot and I hope it happens. Barroso could also fight Anthony Perosh or Igor Pokrajac.
Oliveira has been cut. I don’t know if he should have been cut already. I think he’ll be back in the UFC very soon.
Andrade should fight The Winner of Amagov vs Waldburger – Reason: I was very impressed with Andrade’s performance, I mean he was fighting Bristol Marunde but it was still impressive. I want to see him fight The Winner of Amagov vs Waldburger. I like this fight a lot and I want it to happen. Andrade could also fight Bobby Voelker or Pascal Krauss.
Bristol Marunde has been cut. Its the right call. Hes lost his last three fights and he was finished in all three.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Doing a bit of promotion for tonight’s premier episode of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate stopped by SI Now to talk title shots, never being armbarred ever again, and, of course, Ronda Rousey.
“I think people are finally seeing her true colors a little bit. This is a six week thing. It’s not like you can really hide who you are over a six week course. The cameras are always there. I think people are finally starting to realize exactly why I haven’t been able to get along with her and what the problem has been. I think it’s hilarious that she’s already making up excuses for how she behaved and saying that I ’emotionally manipulated’ her and all this stuff.”
Of course, Tate also touched on her relationship with boyfriend and fellow UFC bantamweight Bryan Caraway. See the video below for that segment.
Footnotes and milestones. Our own Ariel Helwani digs into the numbers of UFC 164 and Ultimate Fight Night 27 to help shape the bigger picture moving forward. This one is a great resource for you stat junkies.
Herb Dean recounts Pettis’ armbar. Not that I think Benson Henderson would ever refute the verbal tap, but crazier things have happened. It’s actually pretty beautiful Dean wasn’t involved in the stoppage. “I think people should always wait for me to touch them,” said Dean. “Just to be on the safe side I wouldn’t advise that fighter not to get up unless the referee has touched them.”
Ronda Rousey: Breaking Ground. A great look into Rousey’s upbringing and how she’s gotten to where she is today. It’s incredible how much Ronda looks like her mom from back in the day.
WHOA TV gets us ready for tonight’s Ultimate Fighting Night 28 with a great highlight.
Thrilled to hear Giorgio Petrosyan will be making his U.S. debut at GLORY 12 on Nov. 9 in New York City.
Oh, Amateur MMA. Never change. There’s just something special about getting knocked out in front of a handful of your closest friends and other guys’ girlfriends.
Although light heavyweight was once one of the most competitive and stacked divisions in the company, that’s no longer the case here in 2013.
This is due in no small part to champion Jon Jones leaving a path of scorched earth in his wake as he made his comet-like ascent to superstardom. Jones can count many of the divisions biggest names of the past few years among his victims, which is great from an accomplishment perspective but creates problems when it comes to the UFC providing him with fresh match ups. Considering the emphatic nature of Jones’ victories over names like Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, potential rematches between those men and the champ don’t hold a lot of intrigue at the moment.
However, A quick look over at the UFC’s light heavyweight top ten reveals a surprising statistic: Jones has only defeated 4 of the 10 men on this list (with one of them, Chael Sonnen, being stuck in divisional limbo at the moment). One may think this indicates plenty of potential opponents for Jones waiting in the wings, but a closer look reveals this just isn’t the case.
#8 ranked Gegard Mousasi wants to drop down to middleweight. #7 ranked Dan Henderson is coming off two loses in a row. #6 ranked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a title fight isn’t exactly the stuff top drawing pay per views are made of. #4 ranked Phil Davis is in the midst of making a case from himself as a worthy contender with three wins in a row, but he’s not there yet.
This leaves just two men at the top of the division who haven’t already lost to the champ: #1 ranked Alexander Gustafsson, who is challenging for Jones’ title later this month at UFC 165, and Glover Teixeira.
Now it’s entirely possible Gustafsson could somehow win the title from Jones, in which case the de rigueur rematch would likely keep the division on hold until the middle of next year. But let’s be real. How many people outside the Sweede’s camp truly see Gustafsson taking the title from the preternaturally gifted Jones? Sure, Gustafsson is a great talent and anything can happen in a fight, but there’s a reason the champ opened as a -800 favorite when the UFC 165 main event was announced.
If things indeed shake out how the odds makers are forecasting when Jones meets Gustafsson in Toronto later this month, then the 4-0 UFC and 19-0 since 2006 Teixeira would likely be the clear choice to get the next crack at the champ.
Of course in order for Teixeira to redeem his golden ticket and capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his career he needs to first get by Bader this Wednesday night. While the Brazilian is favored to win, Bader is no slouch. The former 3 time PAC 10 wrestling champ and 2 time All American could conceivably take Teixeira to the mat and control him for three rounds en route to a decision victory.
A Bader victory would throw the UFC light heavyweight title picture in disarray however. Bader isn’t even ranked in the top ten and he’s 3-3 in his past 6 fights. What’s worse, even if Bader won a few fights in a row after defeating Teixeira, the loss to Tito Ortiz on his record likely works against him politically given the current climate. I’m sure last thing UFC President Dana White wants is to be put in the position to give the recent Bellator-signee Ortiz the opening to say he owns a victory over a man challenging for a UFC title.
However it likely won’t come to that as Teixeira has the right tools to defeat Bader. Standing up he’s far more polished and can change the complexion of a fight in a second thanks to the wrecking balls he calls fists. If Bader does take the fight to the ground Teixeira is also proficient there as well. The Brazilian transplant is a 2nd degree BJJ black belt who won his UFC debut over Kyle Kingsbury by way of first round arm triangle. Taking him down is far from a guaranteed path to victory. Unfortunately for Bader though it just might be his best bet considering the differential between the two fighter’s standup skills.
All things considered, Teixeira should walk out of the Mineirinho Arena with another win on his record. Which is good news for Teixeira as well as for the UFC. Teixeira vs. Jones may not be a huge money matchup, but it’s far better than any of the other alternatives out there.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Doing a bit of promotion for tonight’s premier episode of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate stopped by SI Now to talk title shots, never being armbarred ever again, and, of course, Ronda Rousey.
“I think people are finally seeing her true colors a little bit. This is a six week thing. It’s not like you can really hide who you are over a six week course. The cameras are always there. I think people are finally starting to realize exactly why I haven’t been able to get along with her and what the problem has been. I think it’s hilarious that she’s already making up excuses for how she behaved and saying that I ’emotionally manipulated’ her and all this stuff.”
Of course, Tate also touched on her relationship with boyfriend and fellow UFC bantamweight Bryan Caraway. See the video below for that segment.
Footnotes and milestones. Our own Ariel Helwani digs into the numbers of UFC 164 and Ultimate Fight Night 27 to help shape the bigger picture moving forward. This one is a great resource for you stat junkies.
Herb Dean recounts Pettis’ armbar. Not that I think Benson Henderson would ever refute the verbal tap, but crazier things have happened. It’s actually pretty beautiful Dean wasn’t involved in the stoppage. “I think people should always wait for me to touch them,” said Dean. “Just to be on the safe side I wouldn’t advise that fighter not to get up unless the referee has touched them.”
Ronda Rousey: Breaking Ground. A great look into Rousey’s upbringing and how she’s gotten to where she is today. It’s incredible how much Ronda looks like her mom from back in the day.
WHOA TV gets us ready for tonight’s Ultimate Fighting Night 28 with a great highlight.
Thrilled to hear Giorgio Petrosyan will be making his U.S. debut at GLORY 12 on Nov. 9 in New York City.
Oh, Amateur MMA. Never change. There’s just something special about getting knocked out in front of a handful of your closest friends and other guys’ girlfriends.
Although light heavyweight was once one of the most competitive and stacked divisions in the company, that’s no longer the case here in 2013.
This is due in no small part to champion Jon Jones leaving a path of scorched earth in his wake as he made his comet-like ascent to superstardom. Jones can count many of the divisions biggest names of the past few years among his victims, which is great from an accomplishment perspective but creates problems when it comes to the UFC providing him with fresh match ups. Considering the emphatic nature of Jones’ victories over names like Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, potential rematches between those men and the champ don’t hold a lot of intrigue at the moment.
However, A quick look over at the UFC’s light heavyweight top ten reveals a surprising statistic: Jones has only defeated 4 of the 10 men on this list (with one of them, Chael Sonnen, being stuck in divisional limbo at the moment). One may think this indicates plenty of potential opponents for Jones waiting in the wings, but a closer look reveals this just isn’t the case.
#8 ranked Gegard Mousasi wants to drop down to middleweight. #7 ranked Dan Henderson is coming off two loses in a row. #6 ranked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a title fight isn’t exactly the stuff top drawing pay per views are made of. #4 ranked Phil Davis is in the midst of making a case from himself as a worthy contender with three wins in a row, but he’s not there yet.
This leaves just two men at the top of the division who haven’t already lost to the champ: #1 ranked Alexander Gustafsson, who is challenging for Jones’ title later this month at UFC 165, and Glover Teixeira.
Now it’s entirely possible Gustafsson could somehow win the title from Jones, in which case the de rigueur rematch would likely keep the division on hold until the middle of next year. But let’s be real. How many people outside the Sweede’s camp truly see Gustafsson taking the title from the preternaturally gifted Jones? Sure, Gustafsson is a great talent and anything can happen in a fight, but there’s a reason the champ opened as a -800 favorite when the UFC 165 main event was announced.
If things indeed shake out how the odds makers are forecasting when Jones meets Gustafsson in Toronto later this month, then the 4-0 UFC and 19-0 since 2006 Teixeira would likely be the clear choice to get the next crack at the champ.
Of course in order for Teixeira to redeem his golden ticket and capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his career he needs to first get by Bader this Wednesday night. While the Brazilian is favored to win, Bader is no slouch. The former 3 time PAC 10 wrestling champ and 2 time All American could conceivably take Teixeira to the mat and control him for three rounds en route to a decision victory.
A Bader victory would throw the UFC light heavyweight title picture in disarray however. Bader isn’t even ranked in the top ten and he’s 3-3 in his past 6 fights. What’s worse, even if Bader won a few fights in a row after defeating Teixeira, the loss to Tito Ortiz on his record likely works against him politically given the current climate. I’m sure last thing UFC President Dana White wants is to be put in the position to give the recent Bellator-signee Ortiz the opening to say he owns a victory over a man challenging for a UFC title.
However it likely won’t come to that as Teixeira has the right tools to defeat Bader. Standing up he’s far more polished and can change the complexion of a fight in a second thanks to the wrecking balls he calls fists. If Bader does take the fight to the ground Teixeira is also proficient there as well. The Brazilian transplant is a 2nd degree BJJ black belt who won his UFC debut over Kyle Kingsbury by way of first round arm triangle. Taking him down is far from a guaranteed path to victory. Unfortunately for Bader though it just might be his best bet considering the differential between the two fighter’s standup skills.
All things considered, Teixeira should walk out of the Mineirinho Arena with another win on his record. Which is good news for Teixeira as well as for the UFC. Teixeira vs. Jones may not be a huge money matchup, but it’s far better than any of the other alternatives out there.
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