Author: Jake Martin

How Dana White Can Make MMA the Biggest Sport in the World by 2020

Dana White’s dreams of making MMA the biggest sport in the world will come true by 2020. As a rabid fan of MMA, do you ever just stop and say, “wow, how’d we get this far?” I do a lot, and it’s all still very surreal to me. Just…

Dana White’s dreams of making MMA the biggest sport in the world will come true by 2020.

As a rabid fan of MMA, do you ever just stop and say, “wow, how’d we get this far?” I do a lot, and it’s all still very surreal to me. Just about everywhere I look I see someone sporting a Tapout shirt. With the UFC starting to show fights on Fox, dare I say this sport has finally gone mainstream?

Back in 2005, I used to look at this sport as an underground obsession that hardly anyone knew about. Now, people from all over are talking about the UFC, and I believe this growth in popularity has just begun.

The biggest reason why I say that is the Fox deal. More and more people are going to be flipping through the channels, catch a fight on TV., watch it, like it and sooner or later, they’ll be just like us.

That’s how we all got hooked right? In my case, I saw Tito Ortiz fighting on Spike, and I thought it was the craziest sport I’d ever come across. I became obsessed with hating Ortiz and wanted someone to put him away badly, and there came “The Iceman.”

The rest is history, and in the past three years, I haven’t missed a PPV. It puts quite the strain on the wallet, but that’s a different article for a different day.

A big reason for UFC’s growth is not only because of how athletically gifted and talented the fighters are, but the company’s ability to market fights is second to none.

I always tell my friends that the UFC can make you believe any fight will be closely contested and strike a sense of curiosity to the average fan. Their numbers prove that.

Just look at what the UFC was able to do with their debut on Fox. They peaked around nine million viewers, and the fight lasted a little more than a minute. Not only did they do great in the United States, but it’s been heavily reported that the fight did around 60 million viewers in Brazil. That’s crazy.

The truth of the matter is White and his company have a sport that can translate in any language and any country. Everyone “gets” fighting.

It’s in our blood and it’s human nature to pick up your hands and go to combat with another person. We’ve seen it for century through various wars, and we’ve seen the success that the sport of boxing has had for nearly a century.

The NFL has experienced troubles going into other countries because football is an American sport. Most of the people from other countries don’t understand it, and that’s where White and the UFC have an advantage.

The bottom line is that this sport is one of the greatest sports in the world, and if you catch a glimpse of it, it’s easy to fall in love with it.

They have some of the best athletes in the world with most of them showing honor and respect, and it’s truly remarkable to watch these fighters pull these techniques off.

All they need is a platform to show the world, and this Fox deal for the next seven years is going to do just that. Look for the UFC to become a global phenomenon in the next decade.

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Jones vs. Machida Recap: Jones’ Versatility Leads Him Past Machida

Jon Jones used every weapon in his arsenal to defeat Lyoto Machida tonight. Jones put Machida to sleep with a choke hold in the second round, and he continues his dominance in the light heavyweight division. I have to say, for the first eight minutes o…

Jon Jones used every weapon in his arsenal to defeat Lyoto Machida tonight.

Jones put Machida to sleep with a choke hold in the second round, and he continues his dominance in the light heavyweight division.

I have to say, for the first eight minutes of that fight, I thought we might see a new champion. I’ve said all week long that Jones would destroy Machida because of his reach advantage, but Machida took it to Jones early.

Machida rocked Jones in the first round, and it was the first time we ever saw Jones in trouble inside the octagon. Jones quickly recovered and landed a few strikes in the second round. He capitalized after nailing Machida in the second round, took him down and dropped a brutal elbow that cut Machida open.

After that, the fight was all Jones. Jones landed a left cross that dropped Machida, and then, he secured the choke hold. With the victory, I can’t help but look forward and think what’s next for Jones.

Obviously, everyone wants to see him against Rashad Evans, and if Evans gets by Phil Davis, that will be Jones next task. That will be a big one folks, and Evans is the one guy that I think can challenge Jones for his title.

I’m not saying he can beat Jones, but I am saying that he’s the only guy in the division that can. Jones is just too good, and he proved with his victory over Machida tonight that he can come back and win when things aren’t going his way.

The sky is the limit for Jones, and we’ve been saying this for quite some time now. Tonight, he actually looked human for a round or two, but in the end, he stopped yet another tough opponent and looks like he’s on a completely different level than the rest of the group.

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MMA: How Urijah Faber Can Dethrone Dominick Cruz

Urijah Faber came within a few measly points on two scorecards in dethroning Dominick Cruz at UFC 132. But it will be a different story when these two meet again for a third time.I’ll admit Cruz is pretty darned good. Correction, Cruz is strai…

Urijah Faber came within a few measly points on two scorecards in dethroning Dominick Cruz at UFC 132. But it will be a different story when these two meet again for a third time.

I’ll admit Cruz is pretty darned good. Correction, Cruz is straight-up impressive. He not only scored a razor-thin decision against what many believe to be one of the greatest fighters in the UFC, but he’s been able to make guys like Scott Jorgensen, Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson look amateur. And if you know anything about MMA, you know that those are all great fighters.

Cruz has had close bouts in the past, but none have been as challenging as the five-round war that he had against Faber at UFC 132. I believe Cruz will admit that, too. These two are just so closely matched, and Cruz knows that Faber is capable of defeating him on any given day.

Heck, Faber is the only guy that has been able to beat him. He scored a submission victory over Cruz at WEC 26 with a one-armed guillotine choke. But that was nearly five years ago, and both fighters have evolved since then and that was evident in their second fight on July 2 earlier this year.

Faber gave what many believed to be his best shot and came up short against Cruz, so this brings up the question—how can he dethrone Cruz this go-around?

Lord knows it’s not going to be easy, but he’s got to try and catch Cruz. It’s that plain and simple. I firmly believe that Cruz has the best footwork in MMA, and he mixes up his striking and combinations with the best of them.

Because of this, scoring a decision won’t favor Faber. The judges will look at Cruz’s movement and give him the decision victory just about every time, so Faber has to stop this guy. The good thing for Faber is that his hands are really coming on. His Muay Thai training with Master Thong has really paid off for him in his last couple of fights.

He was able to drop Raphael Assuncao back at WEC 52, out-strike Eddie Wineland at times at UFC 128 and sent Brian Bowles to the canvas with some lethal strikes started by a punishing uppercut in his last fight. The proof is in the pudding, and it’s becoming evident that he’s developing knockout power.

Faber’s starting to see that size advantage at bantamweight pays off in the exchanges on the feet, and that doesn’t bode well for Cruz. Even in their rematch, Faber was able to drop Cruz on multiple occasions; but he wasn’t able to capitalize.

So we know that Faber has the ability to put Cruz flat on his back, but the only problem is connecting with the elusive fighter. Like I said earlier, Cruz can move in and out of range like an expert and Faber is going to have to time it just right if he wants to catch him.

I suggest Faber throw more strikes and attack Cruz. Instead of waiting on Cruz to charge in, if Faber gets on the offensive and pushes the pace on Cruz, he’ll have more opportunities to catch Cruz. I think Faber can throw the wrestling out of the window for this fight, because Cruz proved in the last fight that he can stuff the takedown and get back onto his feet.

Cruz has great strikes, but he lacks the knockout power to cause Faber to doubt rushing him.
So there really should be only one game plan going into this third match with Cruz, and that should be to look for the knockout. If Faber wants to walk away with the belt in the rubber match, he has to stay on the offensive and throw more strikes.

Should he stick to that game plan, the California Kid will live his dream and return to Sacramento with some UFC gold.

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The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale: Why This Season Is the Best Ever

The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter has undoubtedly been the best season yet for the reality series.Before you go off saying that the first season was the best because it was the most important, I’m not arguing with you and I’m not sayi…

The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter has undoubtedly been the best season yet for the reality series.

Before you go off saying that the first season was the best because it was the most important, I’m not arguing with you and I’m not saying that. The first season of The Ultimate Fighter was the most important, but this season has been the most entertaining.

The reason this season has been the best yet is because of the complete package, which hasn’t been the case for seasons in the past. For example, the first season had a couple of good fights, but it was really all about the drama in the house and creating personalities.

The same can be said about the 10th season with Rashad Evans and Quintin “Rampage” Jackson as the coaches. The seventh season had great fights, but lacked altercations between the coaches.

This season of The Ultimate Fighter pulls no punches, because it has everything I look for going in.

Recently, the seasons have become stale with hardly any exchanges between the coaches and fighters that really haven’t impressed. Again, that hasn’t been the case this season.

Going into this season, I knew that the fighters would be great because it was the first time they had the bantamweights and featherweights on the show, and I saw their record before hand. Instead of records like 1-0 and 4-1, these fighters came into the house with impressive records, and they impressed me right out of the gate.

Just about every fighter was well-rounded with great striking, good Jiu-jitsu and solid wrestling. This became evident right out of the gate when the first episode featured fights to get into the house that were absolutely awesome.

It was very hard to find a slouch in the group, and this season has been filled with great fights from fighters that I believe can really make a splash in the UFC. That’s something I’m normally unsure about in recent seasons.

But the fighters haven’t been the only reason this season has been so great, because the coaches have done their part as well. 
From pulling hilarious pranks to shoving each other and getting in each other’s faces, Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller have done a great job of keeping us entertained throughout the season.

Bisping’s uncanny cockiness displayed once again on another season of TUF is all fans need to gain more hatred for the Brit. With everything they’ve done to each other this season, I can’t wait to see these two clash Dec. 3.

Not only because they both have explosive personalities, but both guys really are talented and match up with one another really well. It should be a fitting end to a great season. I can’t wait to see the final episode of the season next week.

Whenever fans of MMA ask me what my favorite season of TUF is, I’ll answer without skipping a beat—Bisping vs. Mayhem.

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UFC 139 Results: MMA Fans Can’t Afford to Miss a PPV Anymore

UFC 139 proved once again that UFC Pay-Per Views are becoming can’t miss.In a PPV that was minimized in exposure because of the UFC on Fox and stacked cards in December, the UFC had arguably it’s best PPV of the year, if not all time.I&rsqu…

UFC 139 proved once again that UFC Pay-Per Views are becoming can’t miss.

In a PPV that was minimized in exposure because of the UFC on Fox and stacked cards in December, the UFC had arguably it’s best PPV of the year, if not all time.

I’m not ready to commit on this PPV being the greatest of all time because of all the great PPVs we’ve seen over the years, but this was an instant classic.

From Urijah Faber’s improved stand-up to the action Cung Le and Wanderlei Silva provided all the way to an absolute war for the ages between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson, UFC 139 was unbelievable.

I knew once I saw the card that I’d be purchasing it and that my wallet would once again suffer.
Because of the fact that most of my friends don’t enjoy the sport, I end up having to pay $55 for the PPV more than often, but this was money well spent.

From top to bottom, this card had great finishes and exciting fights, but it wasn’t until the Faber fight that it went from good to great. Rather than out-wrestling Brian Bowles, he went in there and stood toe-to-toe and got the best of Bowles. That was all surprising and exciting to me at the same time, and the fact that he called out Dominick Cruz to set up the rubber match made it even better.

After that fight the co main event ensued, and this was what we expected. Le and Silva went to war with one another, and Silva revived his career with a brilliant second round stoppage. You can’t help but be happy for Silva, and I’m happy to say following UFC 139 that the legend that is “The Axe Murderer” lives on.

And then the main event happened. If I had to describe this fight to you, I’d say it was like watching a car wreck happen before your eyes. You want to turn your head at all the carnage, but you can’t help but watch how this thing plays out.

It was a ballet of violence, and both fighters showed that warrior PRIDE.

It was undoubtedly one of the best fights I’ve ever seen on one of the best PPVs in UFC history.
See, that’s just the thing about MMA. It gets better and better every year and almost every PPV that it tops what fans would consider their previous bests or favorites.

It’s the main ingredient that is attracting more and more fans to the sport.

I mean, how many times this year have we said “oh my God, I’ve never seen that before” or “that just might be the best fight I’ve ever seen?”

It’s what landed them the deal on network television and made them so successful with PPV buys. The UFC might be producing more and more shows every year, but they can count me in for buying. These cards are at the point of can’t miss.

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UFC on Fox: Henderson Will Maul Guida to Become No. 1 Contender

Ben Henderson will run through Clay Guida tonight en route to gaining his first shot at the UFC lightweight championship. Both Henderson and Guida push a fierce pace with Guida being the best in the lightweight division when it comes to cardio, but car…

Ben Henderson will run through Clay Guida tonight en route to gaining his first shot at the UFC lightweight championship.

Both Henderson and Guida push a fierce pace with Guida being the best in the lightweight division when it comes to cardio, but cardio won’t come into play when these two square off.

Henderson will finish Guida with a submission in the second round, and with the victory, he’ll solidify his No. 1 contendership for Frankie Edgar’s belt.

I wanted to pick Guida in this fight, but I’ve seen this story before. Time and time again, Guida will make these spurts and get close to fighting for the championship. That is right before he ends up getting defeated.

Guida had his chance to state his claim when he fought Diego Sanchez in 2009, but Sanchez won the fight, and then Guida lost another against Kenny Florian.

Guida’s track record for getting that No. 1 contendership, and Henderson’s previous performance, have me thinking that Henderson will run right through Guida.

Guida’s a great fighter, don’t get me wrong. He’s as tough as they come, but Henderson looks like he’s really finding his groove. His loss to Anthony Pettis could have been the greatest thing to ever happen to him.

He looks refocused, re-motivated and basically looks like hell on wheels.

The way he dominated Jim Miller is something fight fans have never seen before. Sure, Miller has lost to both Gray Maynard and Edgar in the past, but not in that fashion.

It was a straight-up beatdown, with Henderson announcing to the rest of the world that he’s here, and he’s here to stay.

I just think Henderson has the better standup between these two, and the better submission skills. Guida’s no slouch in either department, but Henderson is going to show the world that he’s in another class.

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