The long-awaited rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is nearly here.Silva and the one opponent that can truly be deemed his career nemesis will finally hook up again next month at UFC 148. It’s one of the most anticipated UFC fights in hist…
The long-awaited rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is nearly here.
Silva and the one opponent that can truly be deemed his career nemesis will finally hook up again next month at UFC 148. It’s one of the most anticipated UFC fights in history, and all because of Sonnen’s propensity for saying ludicrous things designed to hype up the rematch and get under Silva’s skin.
With that in mind, what better time to take a look at the biggest feuds in UFC history? These are the rivalries that thrilled millions and escalated pay-per-view buyrates to the highest of highs.
It’s hard to believe that Wanderlei Silva is just 35 years old.That doesn’t seem right.Silva, after all, has been around since 1996, when he scored his first professional win in his debut fight against Dilson Filho. He was one of the biggest stars in t…
It’s hard to believe that Wanderlei Silva is just 35 years old.
That doesn’t seem right.
Silva, after all, has been around since 1996, when he scored his first professional win in his debut fight against Dilson Filho. He was one of the biggest stars in the MMA world during his run in PRIDE’s heyday, terrifying fans and opponents alike with his death glare and violent knockout power.
It feels like Silva should be 45 years old. Not 35.
But make no mistake about it: Silva’s 35 years are very different than most. The wars in Japan and the six violent knockouts he’s suffered over the course of his career have worn away plenty of tread from his tires. It’s evident in his suspect chin and even in his slurred speech, which has gotten progressively worse over the past three years.
If it were up to me, Silva would’ve been forced to retire after his loss to Chris Leben, or perhaps even after the loss to Rampage Jackson back in 2008. But it’s not up to me, and to hear Silva tell it, he believes he still has what it takes to compete in the UFC:
“I think I took one step away from that wall. I still need to prove I can fight.
“We’ll need to look at the performance. I feel good. I hope to make a good fight that makes the boss and the fans happy.
“I’m more healthy now than I was at 22 years because I train and live a really good life. We are not like machines; we can’t train as fast after years but I feel really happy and I want to give fans a good fight. When I can’t do that anymore, I’ll stop.”
I’d like to think that Silva’s TKO win over Cung Le late last year signaled some kind of career renaissance. It was emotional and dramatic moment for a fighter many believed to be washed up and on the verge of doing serious long-term damage to himself.
But I believed then — and still believe to this day — that the win over Le was an aberration and not a sign of things to come. No matter how much Silva believes he can still fight like the young lion he once was, the truth is that he’s still constantly teetering on the verge of being forcibly retired.
Rich Franklin may not be the guy to do it, but somebody will. And I hope Silva realizes it before he takes more damage than he can handle.
Paul Daley, as most of us know, is not the best fighter in the world when it comes to making weight.Since 2010, Daley has missed a regulated weight four times, in bouts against Dustin Hazelett, Jorge Masvidal, Yuya Shirai and Jordan Radev. He’s done so…
Paul Daley, as most of us know, is not the best fighter in the world when it comes to making weight.
Since 2010, Daley has missed a regulated weight four times, in bouts against Dustin Hazelett, Jorge Masvidal, Yuya Shirai and Jordan Radev. He’s done so in three different companies: the UFC, Shark Fights and BAMMA.
That makes it all the more curious why Daley has chosen to sign with Bellator Fighting Championship and start fighting in their signature tournaments. Daley was granted his release from Zuffa-owned Strikeforce last week.
Bellator continued its aggressive plunge into the free agent pool, signing UFC and Strikeforce veteran Paul Daley.
The promotion confirmed the addition of the British knockout artist to MMA Fighting on Friday.
Daley will make his organizational debut at Bellator 72 on July 20.
The news is interesting because participants in Bellator tournaments must be capable of making weight every four weeks or so over the duration of the tournament. Daley hasn’t been able to shed pounds even when he has eight weeks to prepare. Attempting to do the same thing once a month sounds like a recipe for disaster.
I’m not saying Daley isn’t capable of making weight. He’s done so more times than not over the course of his career.
But he’s going to have to dedicate himself to the cause. Take the time before his actual tournament debut—which won’t be his July 20 organizational debut—and shed weight.
He needs to get to a manageable level and stay there during the entirety of the tourney.
If he doesn’t, he won’t end up embarrassing himself. He’s proven over the past few years that doing his part and making weight isn’t all that important to him. But he’ll end up embarrassing Bellator if he comes into the tournament, makes it to the finals and then comes in overweight.
We know Mauricio “Shogun” Rua didn’t want to fight surging light heavyweight prospect Glover Teixeira.He has his own reasons, and I’m sure they include something along the lines of “he’s an awesome fighter but who in the world is Glover Teixeira?” That…
He has his own reasons, and I’m sure they include something along the lines of “he’s an awesome fighter but who in the world is Glover Teixeira?” That’s a valid enough reason. Rua is a legend of the sport winding down a spectacular career, so he’s probably earned the right to not face monsters who have very little name value.
Why would any UFC fighter agree to be terminated from their contract rather than fight a hand-picked opponent? That’s why the UFC almost always gets the fight they want: Because, in the end, where else are you going to go and make the same kind of money?
Dana White commented I rather leave UFC than fighting him but it was not true. UFC never thought about it neither did I. At any point I said I would leave in case I fought him. I just said it was not interesting right now and that’s why we had our agreement. This conversation never happened.
These kinds of things never look good on White, or the UFC for that matter. Even if what White originally said was true, what’s the point of making it public? Unless you’re planning on immediately putting Teixeira in main-event fights, all you’re doing is making the guy who turned him down seem like a giant pansy.
And that giant pansy, like it or not, is headlining a Fox show in August.
Part of White’s gigantic appeal with the casual public is his proclivity for saying exactly what’s on his mind at all times. But it might be time realize that throwing fighters under the bus isn’t always the best idea. These little feuds never look good on anyone.
Junior dos Santos has been one of the more vocal critics of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport of mixed martial arts. And if dos Santos defends his title against Alistair Overeem when Overeem returns from his suspension later this year, the fight…
Junior dos Santos has been one of the more vocal critics of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport of mixed martial arts. And if dos Santos defends his title against Alistair Overeem when Overeem returns from his suspension later this year, the fight will come with a special request: The champ wants the challenger to take a blood test.
“I would like him to do a test—a blood test,” dos Santos said of the 32-year-old Dutchman. “I think we both need to do that. I want a clean fight and he needs to prove he is not under any kind of substances.
“Using drugs is completely unnecessary, and I am the living proof,” he said. “I’m the champion, and I never used any kind of forbidden substances. Fighting a guy that uses these kinds of drugs is completely unfair and useless. With or without any kind of authorization [for using testosterone], the fighter who uses those substances is never fighting with his own skills. He is enhancing his power with those drugs.”
The thing is, Dos Santos can ask all he wants. But unless the athletic commission where the bout is taking place demands it, a blood test will not be a requirement. And the UFC isn’t going to enforce it, either, because they’re not going to make a special exception for any fighter on their roster, even if he’s the heavyweight champion.
MMA judging. It never fails to be a controversial topic, mostly because it hasn’t improved one iota since the sport started taking a mainstream foothold in the last decade.If anything, it’s gotten much worse, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in si…
MMA judging. It never fails to be a controversial topic, mostly because it hasn’t improved one iota since the sport started taking a mainstream foothold in the last decade.
If anything, it’s gotten much worse, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. Viable solutions would have to start with the people in charge of running the athletic commissions, and they’re either willfully or ignorantly turning a blind eye to the problem.
Keith Kizer—the man in charge of nominating judges for major UFC and boxing fights in Nevada—doesn’t appear to have a real problem with some of the idiotic decisions handed down by his own hand-selected people over the past few years.
I think they should fire judges that suck. I don’t understand how someone can keep their job over and over again while screwing up over and over. What do you call that exactly? Extreme incompetence. How does someone judge any sort of combat sport without at least a passing interest in the sport?
If you pulled aside, and I don’t want to name any names, but if you pulled aside some of those judges from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that has notoriously had horrific scoring, and started asking them about fighters that aren’t fighting in the UFC, would they know anything about them? Would they know anything about who the top judo guy is? Would they even know anything about Gilbert Melendez and how good he is?
This, to be perfectly honest, is the best solution to the judging issues that are plaguing the sport. Conduct quarterly performance reviews for all judges currently licensed under your commission.
Take a hard look at the scores they handed out and compare those to the scores handed out by a wide spectrum of respected media. Compare the scores to the hard data FightMetric provides.
If a judge is consistently differing from the scores accepted as the popular norm, it’s time for them to find a profession they aren’t terrible at. As Rogan says, you fire them and replace them with someone else.
It’s hard to believe that