Author: Gregory Chase

Why the UFC Needs Its Own Rankings

The Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC) is the number one promotion for MMA in the world, and has acted as the pioneer for the sport into the mainstream media and into people’s homes. While martial arts and similar forms such as Vale Tudo have be…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC) is the number one promotion for MMA in the world, and has acted as the pioneer for the sport into the mainstream media and into people’s homes. While martial arts and similar forms such as Vale Tudo have been around for a while, it hasn’t been until the last decade or so that the sport has truly erupted into the phenomenon it has become.

Being at the forefront of a growing and budding sport however, comes at a cost. While the UFC is the face of MMA to many, this creates a call of duty for the promotion to answer.

As if it weren’t already overused, the phrase “with great power, comes great responsibility” is fitting to this matter. The UFC is a juggernaut; continuing growth even through hard economic times for other industries. Because there is confusion of viewing MMA and UFC as one in the same term, the UFC must make sure they are representing MMA well with the UFC brand.

While highly, and sometimes disrespectfully incorrect, the UFC sometimes carries the mental perception of what MMA is as a whole. This is why some will mistakenly say that someone is “training UFC”. For most people reading this, you will know this is not correct, but the UFC does need to recognize this association and conduct itself as such.

The way the UFC has conducted its business has been effective and highly successful, but they must avoid any plateau they may face.

The issue that has been gaining momentum is the legitimacy of the competitive nature in the UFC. Ideally, and in most other sports, either a tournament or playoffs help determine who is ranked where. It goes off of statistical data, but is a different dynamic than MMA since there are hundreds of individual “teams” to be ranked.

Fans this year of the UFC and MMA have truly experienced the sour taste of unfairness with some of the decisions from the UFC brass. The most recent example was Chael Sonnen getting a title shot against Jon Jones. With Dan Henderson waiting in the wings and not getting any younger, many fighters and fans feel this is not good for the sport and hurts the image.

The UFC has built success off of setting up fights that are exciting, but also tend to incorporate undefined rankings. This is why most of the time the matchmaking done by Joe Silva is not questioned harshly. However, when a fight is made that seems more business than fair, it stirs up controversy.

With so many fighters on its roster and payroll, it may be the next step of growth for the UFC to define its own ranking system. Magazines, websites, and a plethora of other media outlets have ranking systems, but the UFC does not have any of their own.

The UFC wants to continue growing, and Dana White has expressed his views toward making it the biggest sport in the world (and that it IS a sport); but in order to do that, the integrity of the sport must be kept intact. Venturing into the pro wrestling-esque way of conducting business could be extremely hurtful to the sport.

Competition has driven human beings since the dawn of time, and fairness is the underlying principle of it. This is why when steroid use or any performance-enhancing drug is used, the athlete who was using them is scrutinized and penalized. With the UFC brass making the decisions at the end of the day for who gets opportunities or not, the sport is not represented well.

If the UFC were to devote a group of their workforce to create and maintain a ranking system, this would help the problem. It would not solve it, but it would give fans a definitive list of who is next in line. The problem after that is the criteria of what helps you rise or jump over others. It would become much more about statistical data, rather than fan demand or financial gain. On the other hand, with this system, Jon Fitch would have had a title shot a while ago, but not many complained about it because he wasn’t exciting to watch.

In order to keep competition fair and alive in the UFC, the UFC must conduct itself as a SPORT, and less like a business. Whether the UFC brass will take that approach is yet to be seen, and maybe the next people to take the helm will take it in a whole different direction.

Fan opinions vary greatly and it is a nice the UFC values the input, but in order for the UFC to keep its credibility, they need to evolve once more. Especially with other promotions keeping the tournament format like Bellator, the UFC must keep in mind more than just the bottom line. 

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The Return of Georges St. Pierre

Georges St. Pierre is finally coming back. The Canadian superstar has been sidelined by injury that has kept him away from the Octagon for far too long, and he now looks to reestablish himself at the top of the heap at Welterweight. While he is the cur…

Georges St. Pierre is finally coming back. The Canadian superstar has been sidelined by injury that has kept him away from the Octagon for far too long, and he now looks to reestablish himself at the top of the heap at Welterweight.

While he is the current champion, in the wake of his inactivity, Carlos Condit has attained the interim Welterweight title. Other contenders have shifted and changed ranks, but the belts must be unified into one undisputed belt. On a larger scale though, GSP has dropped a little in rankings.

This isn’t due to people questioning his ‘finishing’ ability or his style of fighting, but simply because he hasn’t been in the scene. Due to the layoff, it has given time for guys like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones to keep doing what they do best, and advance themselves forward. This layoff has produced some ranking lists to put Jones at No. 2 in P4P; the spot where GSP has resided for years.

This fight is one of, if not the most, important moments of GSP’s career. Not just because his title is on the line, but because it is an opportunity to make a statement about himself, his injury, and his career so far, and looking forward.

GSP’s knee injury is a common one in sports, but one that people understand can make or break an athlete. Some argue that an athlete is never the same after such an injury, and for a talent like GSP, that is a discouraging thought. Despite if you have love or hate for GSP, his abilities inside of a cage are impressive. Recovering from this injury may shape the course of his career henceforth.

GSP has widely been criticized in his fights for not looking to finish fights and using his wrestling to draw out the clock. On paper, this is hard to argue, since out of his last six title defenses, all but one went to a full five-round decision—and the one that didn’t went a full four rounds before his opponents corner threw in the towel.

GSP has taken this criticism into account and has embraced it. He wants to be more opportunistic when it comes to finishing fights, and this fight could stand as a statement to the critics. By pulling out a finish against Condit, he would be able to prove that his injury was not a setback, and silence many critics of his fighting style.

While some might roll their eyes, call it a fluke, and wait for the next fight to take back any remarks, the more important thing is that GSP would be back on track. If one fighter is able to get injured in such a way, and then be smart about the recovery to the point where his game isn’t affected at all, it is GSP.

If this time off has done anything other than heal body parts, it has given time of reflection and evaluating for GSP. He understands where he is in the public eye, and he knows the things he wants to accomplish.

Talks of him facing Anderson Silva have subsided since the injury; being replaced by talks of a superfight of Silva versus Jon Jones. But with a victory over Carlos Condit, those talks will become more frequent. It has already started to a point, with some already vying for Silva vs. GSP.

But, GSP understands that overlooking Condit is the first step toward losing. How GSP will come back from his injury is still undetermined, but it will be refreshing to see him walk back into the cage. It will almost feel like a “coming out of retirement” fight.

He has work to do, and GSP will start his next tier of his career by facing off with “The Natural Born Killer.” Two men will enter the cage with belts, and only one will go home with one.

 

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UFC: The Issues of Fairness in Its Foundation

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world, and one that has been venturing more and more into the mainstream with each passing year. Through the years, promotions have come and gone, evolved and changed, merged and been bought out, b…

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world, and one that has been venturing more and more into the mainstream with each passing year. Through the years, promotions have come and gone, evolved and changed, merged and been bought out, but the one that has established itself as the pound-for-pound king is the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC has taken the sport of MMA to new heights, and stands as the correlated product that goes along with MMA in the mainstream light. But being the premier organization and the most successful, the observation under the microscope augments. Just as with fighters who become champions, they become more scrutinized and their actions analyzed and followed more closely. The UFC being the juggernaut it has become; it is the promotion that is in the forefront of attention.

So far, Dana White, the Fertitta brothers, and other UFC brass have done a fantastic job of taking an almost-bankrupt entertainment idea and turning it into a huge financial sport phenomena. However, with anything in developing stages, mistakes are made along the way.

The UFC has had its share of bad ideas and bad publicity, but they manage to come out generally unscathed. However, there is a consistent issue that is in the underlying infrastructure of how the organization is set up.

That issue is title shots and rankings.

The UFC has prided itself on giving back to the fans, and giving the fans what they want. For the most part, this sentiment is fulfilled. However, it is when it conflicts with the competition aspect of a sport that a problem emerges.

There are all types of fans, each with their own desires of fights that should be made. It is ultimately up to White, the Fertittas, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, and others to make the calls as to who fights whom next.

The fans have their opinions recognized by the brass in many different avenues of media, but at the end of the day, the UFC is a business.

The bottom line matters to the matchmakers, but sometimes that business approach bleeds into the competitive portion of MMA. Throughout the years, the UFC has put on some fantastic cards, and some not as strong. Title shots have come and gone, but the way someone has earned the title shot has been especially controversial this past year.

The UFC has no official rankings list, and a plethora of media sites have varying ones for the different weight classes. This leaves fans to guess based off of history, or from the occasional verbal indication from people like Dana White.

But it has grown more and more apparent that there is something very inconsistent with the rankings in the UFC.

Before, it was brushed off when two fighters were matched up and it didn’t make the most sense on paper, but it has been more recent and more often that these situations are occurring with title shots. The grand mystery of the UFC is what makes you deserving of a title shot. Or what must you do in order to get a title shot?

In most other sports, it is clear that you have to beat the opposition to the point where there are only two teams/individuals left standing, and winner takes all. This is the underlying structure of tournaments, and something the UFC abandoned years ago in its infantile stages.

Bellator, arguably the world’s second largest MMA promotion, is setup in tournament fashion, and touts itself as the place where title shots are earned and not given. Because the UFC does not conduct its competitions in this style, there is a missing sense of fairness that slips out from time to time.

As fans, we can be distracted by exciting matchups, or justifying commercials and press conferences that make us feel better about the matchup, but sometimes it is beyond justification. The most recent example is Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones facing off as TUF coaches, ultimately leading to a title shot for Sonnen.

The issue is that Dan Henderson was the next in line, but was sidelined due to injury. Now that Jones has vanquished Vitor Belfort (another confusing matchup), Hendo is skipped again and the shot has been given to Sonnen; a man who has been fighting a weight class down and is coming off of a TKO loss. 

While the idea of Jones and Sonnen going at it is exciting, and the potential of the TUF season trash talk is astronomical, the matchup is extremely hard to justify.

Jones vs. Sonnen was a possible replacement for the UFC 151 card that was cancelled, but Jones opted out, leaving fans upset that he didn’t take the fight. However, that was a different situation because Hendo has just been injured. Now with Jones taking time to heal using the TUF season, Hendo would be ready to go.

Hendo isn’t the only one who is statistically more deserving as well, and there are a handful of fighters that find this decision unfair too.

This situation drew a bold line when it comes to hurting the UFC’s image. This was clearly a decision made without rankings involved, and, if anything, a business ploy to put on a great TUF season and give fans an exciting fight. While the matchup is intriguing and the hyping of it will be amazing, even huge Sonnen fans are probably scratching their heads and thinking this is wrong.

The UFC is supposed to be the premier promotion for competition in MMA, but with such inconsistency in what an athlete has to do to get to the top, it is pulling the UFC into the entertainment arena and out of the sport arena.

The dust will settle, Jones and Sonnen will fight, and this will be idle until the next undeserving moment. But as the pioneer and ambassador for the sport of MMA to the world, the structure must continue to become more refined and consistent if it hopes to become as big as other established sports one day. 

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UFC 153: Why Anderson Silva’s Tactics Were More Than Just Show

UFC 153 started off as a card that was going to put Jose Aldo in front of fans in Brazil for another title defense and then was changed to Frankie Edgar in a fight that fans had wanted to see since Edgar attained the lightweight title. Ultimately, inju…

UFC 153 started off as a card that was going to put Jose Aldo in front of fans in Brazil for another title defense and then was changed to Frankie Edgar in a fight that fans had wanted to see since Edgar attained the lightweight title. Ultimately, injuries once again plagued the UFC, and the main event needed two saviors.

Answering the call were Anderson Silva and Stephan Bonnar.

The two met inside the Octagon for what turned out to be another incredible performance from Silva, showcasing once again why he is considered the greatest fighter of all time.

His performance was typical yet extremely unique at the same time. Silva has painted the canvas of his career with highlight reel moments, and not just knockouts or submissions. When many fighters’ greatest moments are replayed, they start at the seconds leading up to the finish. With Anderson Silva, there are many moments within the fight itself that make his highlight reels.

This is because Silva is able to do things inside the cage that others cannot. Every person that steps inside the cage has some sort of talent, but many do not possess—or can implement—a unique style the way Silva does. Every man is beatable, and Silva is not invincible, but the manner in which he fights makes him seem untouchable.

In his bout with Bonnar, Silva was once again unpredictable and voluntarily kept his back and position against the cage. This position is usually not preferred since there is little to no room to escape and evade backwards, and the pressure and aggression are all on you. For Silva, he has defined his career from the middle of the cage or being the one on the outside attacking his opponent against the cage.

While the decision to stay on the cage was confusing initially, it does make sense with afterthought.

Bonnar was immediately written off by many when this fight was announced, but as the month rolled on leading up to the fight, many started to warm up to Bonnar’s chances. While still slim odds, Bonnar did posses some key things that gave him unique advantages. He had zero pressure going into the fight, had never been finished before and had a size—and possibly strength—advantage over Silva.

His best chances were to get into a top position on the ground and either smother Silva or look for submissions. This is where standing against the cage came into play. With Silva against the cage, it eliminated the forward motion of a takedown. If Silva was standing in the middle of the Octagon and Bonnar grabbed hold of a double or his body, he could have used his strength and size to bulldoze forward and used the momentum to put Silva’s weight off balance, making him backpedal.

Silva standing against the cage provided a stop behind him as well as gave him a defined place to build a foundation and stand his ground. It eliminated a long sprawl but gave the best chance for him to base himself and prepare. Silva has shown improvement in his takedown defense after his first bout with Chael Sonnen and showed in his rematch with him that he was ready to supplement his lack of wrestling prowess. He showed this again with Bonnar.

Standing against the cage was also intelligent because it forced Bonnar to engage and be the aggressor. Had the two been standing in the middle of the cage, Bonnar and Silva could have sized each other up, thrown feelers out and kept circling and feinting. With Silva giving Bonnar the Octagon control, he forced Bonnar’s hand and made him engage. Bonnar is a fighter who would have engaged anyway, but it gave Silva the mental edge to know that he had Bonnar on the offensive.

Most of Silva’s most memorable performances and incredible knockouts have come from guys who had tried to stand in front of him and exchange. By being confident in his head movement, ability to take a punch and countering, Silva made Bonnar fight his fight. Along with the aforementioned mental edge, he also may have had another psychological factor involved.

No fighter had stood against the cage in such a manner, and it may very well have been a tactic no one—including Bonnar—expected him to use. His positioning and demeanor may have thrown Bonnar off his game plan. Silva is a very intelligent fighter, and beyond the “Medusa effect” that he has on some opponents, he does various things to try to visually and mentally throw off his challengers.

While Silva wanted to save the card and entertain the crowd, his actions in the cage spoke louder statements than just being flashy. He may look like he is playing around, but it is his style and ability to pull off such moves inside the cage in the heat of competition that he is showcasing. Silva is not so much an entertainer, but an entertaining fighter. His strategies against Bonnar were a true testament to his intelligence, his skills, and why he is revered as the best in the world.

Love him or hate him, we are witnessing greatness and history in the making.

 

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UFC “Quick Break”: Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar

These “Quick Breaks” are short breakdowns of upcoming fights. In a summed up focus of strengths, weaknesses and variables; this will analyze what could happen in the fight, and end with this writer’s prediction. The UFC will return on…

These “Quick Breaks” are short breakdowns of upcoming fights. In a summed up focus of strengths, weaknesses and variables; this will analyze what could happen in the fight, and end with this writer’s prediction.

The UFC will return once again to Brazil to put on UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro. After all the injuries and the lingering shadow of UFC 151, two men have stepped up to save the card and put on what could be one of the most historic events of UFC.

One Brazilian Spider and an American Psycho will face-off in the headliner, and a victory for either would be yet another huge landmark in their careers. UFC 153 goes down Live on PPV this Saturday, October 13th at 10PM EST, with prelims earlier on FX and Facebook.

In the blue corner you have Stephan Bonnar. The “American Psycho” is one of the most well-known fighters in MMA, and was part of the historic inaugural TUF reality show that led to the famous Griffin vs Bonnar fight that arguably saved the sport and took MMA mainstream. While Bonnar is a huge underdog in this Rocky-esque fight, he has never been KO’d or submitted. Since his opponent is a Middleweight, Bonnar will have size and reach advantage as well.

In the red corner you have Anderson Silva. “The Spider” is widely known as the best fighter alive and arguably the greatest of all time. It has only been a month since vanquishing his rival, Chael Sonnen, but the Brazilian superstar stepped up to save the card. This will be his third venture into the Light Heavyweight division, and a rare occasion of seeing him in fights so close to each other. As always, his striking, head movement, timing, and unorthodox style will be his tools to try to stay undefeated in the UFC.

While oddsmakers and general consensus believe this is already another victory for Silva, there is no counting out anyone in this sport, especially a guy like Bonnar.

Bonnar has the heart and durability that many fighters lack, and they will be his biggest assets in this fight. Mentally, the fact there is no pressure is a huge plus; and if anything, a loss is expected, so actually losing wouldn’t be bad for a guy who is on a winning streak, and is facing the man who is considered the greatest fighter alive.

While Bonnar has no pressure either way, Silva has good and bad pressure. The good is that his belt isn’t on the line, and if he lost, it would be to a bigger guy. He is two for two in first-round knockouts at LHW, so he knows the feeling of competing at that weight. The bad pressure is his undefeated record is on the line. Also, losing to a guy who was speaking of retiring recently isn’t exactly a great thing to hand the media.

Silva will use his analytical skills and precision to dictate the fight, and Bonnar must push the pace and look to get it to the ground. This is where his best chances are, but if he can weather shots from Silva, he could get in close enough to land strikes of his own.

His ferocity and lack of fear to trade with Silva will aide him in this fight, but if you look back on Silva’s career, his greatest moments have mostly been from guys who try to have a standup war with him. This is a moment for Bonnar to have his fairytale ending to his career, or for Silva to show why he carries the monikers and superlatives he does.

Prediction: Anderson Silva wins via KO or TKO late in the first round. 

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UFC 153: What Happens If Stephan Bonnar Beats Anderson Silva?

Now that Browne and Bigfoot have met in the Octagon on UFC on FX, the UFC now prepares for one of its most intriguing headliners in the company’s history. One might argue it is a mismatch of grand proportion, but the fighters and the UFC brass see this…

Now that Browne and Bigfoot have met in the Octagon on UFC on FX, the UFC now prepares for one of its most intriguing headliners in the company’s history. One might argue it is a mismatch of grand proportion, but the fighters and the UFC brass see this as an opportunity for something great to happen.

When fight fans heard that UFC 153 would now be headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar, a collective eyebrow was raised. While the circumstances were that both men were the ones to step up first and agree to fight, it still was confusing that these two men would be pitted against the other.

Following Silva’s most recent triumph over his greatest rival, Chael Sonnen, many felt that Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans or others would be the next name to grace the blue corner across from the greatest fighter of all time. However, due to timing, Silva was able to take a short-notice fight at light heavyweight, closer to where his natural walking-around weight is. 

As the UFC promotional commercial indicates, this fight can end in one of two ways. The first being yet another, and arguably very expected, incredible knockout, or, second, the biggest upset in UFC history. Both very valid statements given the circumstances and history of both.

Both men are very well known in the MMA world, and for different reasons. Silva is the greatest fighter, and Bonnar put on what some consider the greatest fight of all time. Oddsmakers, fans, fighters and maybe even Bonnar himself would put money on Anderson Silva emerging as the victor off of sheer stats; but in this sport, anyone can win on any given night.

So what happens if Silva wins? Nothing much, because it was expected of him, with the variables of how he wins.

But what happens if Bonnar wins?

First off, there is no belt on the line for Silva, so his legacy as the Middleweight champion is still preserved. However, his record of being undefeated in the Octagon will come to an abrupt halt. While his record and history completely outweighs any one loss he might take now, it is the conceptual perception of the MMA world that this would hurt his legacy.

Many feel that this is a cakewalk for Silva, and losing to a guy who spoke of retiring soon is not a good loss to take, especially when you are considered the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time. The fact that the fight is taking place a weight class up helps ease the blow of a loss, but at the same time, Silva has gone up to light heavyweight twice before, scoring two first-round knockouts.

Bonnar though, has never been finished in the Octagon. He has never been KO’d, nor has he ever been submitted. His durability against a man who has built his name upon KO’s and submissions will be truly tested. It is the relentless warrior inside of Bonnar that will be his biggest advantage in this fight. If he can weather the storm, who knows what could happen?

A decision win over Silva would be the softest way for Silva to take a hit from a loss, and it probably is the best chance for Bonnar as well to emerge victorious. Regardless, Silva is at a point in his career where fans are looking for reasons to hate him. Some hate him because of his consistent success, because of his actions, because of the Sonnen campaign or other reasons. Silva taking any sort of loss gives fuel to the fire.

It helps fuel arguments that fans have over who is the best pound-for-pound fighter, for example. Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones and some others have all had great arguments in their favor for the P4P title, and a loss to Bonnar would not help Silva’s case in this regard.

But ultimately, a win for Bonnar would be groundbreaking. Bonnar is a fighter that has been around for a while, and he truly devotes himself to the sport and his fans. He faced Forrest Griffin in what has become known as the most significant and greatest fight in UFC history. Since that showdown, Stephan has been trying to make his way to the top for a belt, or just to be considered in the upper echelon of fighters.

The one thing that could top his fight with Griffin would be a win over Anderson Silva. If he can accomplish this, he can retire on the complete opposite spectrum of how Chuck Liddell retired. It’s hard to weigh which the media would jump on more: Silva’s loss, or Bonnar‘s victory? History has shown news favors the negative, so Silva would most likely be placed under the microscope, or at least until his next fight at middleweight. Silva would have to make a physical statement in his following fight to counter a loss to Bonnar.

Until Silva and Bonnar meet inside the cage at UFC 153, we can all speculate, analyze and pray that there are no more injuries or arrests that will affect this card!

 

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