Author: Jeremy Botter

Scott Coker Discusses Daniel Cormier’s Rise and the Conclusion of the Grand Prix

One day back in 2009, American Kickboxing Academy guru Bob Cook told Scott Coker, over dinner at their favorite little Italian eatery in San Jose, that he had a heavyweight Coker should take a look at. Cook told Coker that the new guy was going to be a…

One day back in 2009, American Kickboxing Academy guru Bob Cook told Scott Coker, over dinner at their favorite little Italian eatery in San Jose, that he had a heavyweight Coker should take a look at. Cook told Coker that the new guy was going to be a great heavyweight, but Coker was skeptical.

“I told Bob that he didn’t look like much. He didn’t look like Mike Tyson. He had a little stomach on him. He was extremely articulate and smart,” Coker told me over brunch recently. “Bob told me he’d been an Olympic wrestler, and I told him this was Strikeforce, not Wrestleforce. I could just see in my head him laying and praying on the guy because he can’t punch or submit guys.

“But I told Bob I would give him a shot. I mean, if that conversation had never happened, we never would have signed him. And he’s been one of the jewels of the heavyweight division. And think about how many fighters could fight at that pace that he did, against a big guy like Josh?”

The heavyweight in question, of course, was Daniel Cormier, who rose from prospect to outsider to world heavyweight grand prix champion in just over two years. It was a stunning developmental curve, even to those of us who are used to seeing fast-rising prospects.

Coker agreed.

“When Daniel fought Jeff Monson, I really saw a difference in him. This guy wasn’t just a wrestler anymore. It’s just a testament as to how hard he’s working to become a complete MMA fighter.
And then, when he fought Bigfoot, it was unbelievable. I was really worried for him that day because I thought Bigfoot had the edge on him, at least a little bit. But then Daniel knocked him out. He’s the real deal, and he proved it once again against Josh.”

The heavyweight grand prix, originally conceived as the last great heavyweight tournament and a throwback to the golden years of PRIDE Fighting Championships, didn’t pan out the way Coker intended. Plenty of things disrupted the tournament along the way, but Coker said he’s ultimately happy with the way things turned out.

“I think a star was born. And if you look back at the beginning of the tournament, we had eight of the top 10 heavyweights in the world fighting in this tournament. All of the guys except for Brett Rogers had been champions in one league or another, whether it was the UFC or EliteXC or others. It was a special moment in time, when we were able to put all of those fighters together.

“It was a magic moment, and I’m glad I was able to put it together.”

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UFC’s Junior Dos Santos Says Jon Jones Will Be Tough at Heavyweight

We all know that Jon Jones is a great light heavyweight. He might even be the greatest single light heavyweight of all time, though we’ll save that argument for another day and time.But the most interesting thing to me about Jones—and I know many…

We all know that Jon Jones is a great light heavyweight. He might even be the greatest single light heavyweight of all time, though we’ll save that argument for another day and time.

But the most interesting thing to me about Jones—and I know many of you out there agree with me, because I’ve discussed this subject with you in the past—is the idea of Jones’ finishing his rapidly paced cleanup of the UFC’s light heavyweight division and then putting on some muscle for a move to play with the big boys at heavyweight.

That’s quite the idea, isn’t it?

And it’s not so far-fetched, because Jones has acknowledged in the past that he’ll eventually make the move.

His incredible skill and poise inside the cage often make us forget that he’s still a young kid with plenty of growing to do, both as a fighter and as a personality outside of the Octagon.

We don’t know when Jones will make the move, but let’s just assume that it’s going to happen within 18 months. By that point, the only folks left to challenge Jones for the light heavyweight strap will be retreads whom he’s already demolished once or twice.

It’ll be time for a new challenge.

And reigning heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos recently told Spike’s MMA Uncensored Live that he’ll readily welcome Jones to the biggest weight class in the UFC:

Jon Jones is really good. He’s really good. It’s different, for sure. If he comes up to the heavyweight division, it’s gonna be tough for us, for sure. I really like him, but if he comes up to the heavyweight division, and he gets the chance to fight for the title, we’re gonna fight. I will give my best to beat him. It doesn’t matter who my opponent is. If it’s gonna be him, I don’t care.

A Junior dos Santos vs. Jon Jones fight is on my bucket list of dream fights for 2013 or 2014, right alongside Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz and Chael Sonnen vs. Superstar Billy Graham.

The cool thing? Two of those fights have a very real possibility of happening.

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UFC Mid-Year Awards: Debating the Best Event of the Year

Bleacher Report lead MMA writers Jonathan Snowden and Jeremy Botter continue their look at the best fighters, events, fights and other happenings from the world of mixed martial arts for the first half of 2012.Today, they’re looking at the best event o…

Bleacher Report lead MMA writers Jonathan Snowden and Jeremy Botter continue their look at the best fighters, events, fights and other happenings from the world of mixed martial arts for the first half of 2012.

Today, they’re looking at the best event of the year.

There are plenty of candidates to choose from, but Jeremy and Jonathan have each selected their favorite. Will it be the UFC’s first trip back to Atlanta since Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell four years ago? Will they select one of the many excellent UFC on FX or UFC on Fuel shows?

Watch the video above to find out Jeremy and Jonathan’s selections, and then leave us your picks in the comments below.

If you like this video, click here to check out more from Bleacher Report Productions.

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Frank Mir’s TRT Exemption: Is There a Low Testosterone Epidemic in MMA?

Until this morning, we were only aware of three fighters to ever receive a testosterone replacement therapy exemption for fighting in the state of Nevada: Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee and Shane Roller. Chael Sonnen is currently going through the process …

Until this morning, we were only aware of three fighters to ever receive a testosterone replacement therapy exemption for fighting in the state of Nevada: Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee and Shane Roller. Chael Sonnen is currently going through the process of gaining full approval after being approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, so he’ll be the fourth applicant to be granted permission.

And now, we have a 5th: UFC heavyweight Frank Mir: 

The Nevada State Athletic Commission approved Frank Mir for testosterone-replacement therapy in advance of his title fight with heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146. 

Mir is the fourth athlete to get a therapeutic-use exemption, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). 

Is there a low testosterone epidemic in MMA? I can understand Henderson needing a TRT exemption; after all, despite his wonderful run of the past few years, he’s still advancing in age. Low testosterone comes with the territory once you hit your 40’s. 

And I can understand Sonnen’s need for therapy. Despite all of the confusion surrounding his failed test after UFC 117, it appears that Sonnen does, in fact, need testosterone replacement therapy to correct a deficiency caused by hypogonadism.

But Todd Duffee? That one makes no sense to me, and it shouldn’t make sense to you. Duffee is a young, virile fighter with one of the most impressive physiques in mixed martial arts. You’re telling me that a guy with a seemingly endless amount of muscles needs testosterone? I don’t buy it. Not for a second.

We don’t know why Mir needs TRT, but we know that he’s doing it the right way. According to Keith Kizer, Mir’s T/E ratio for his UFC 146 test was 1:1. That’s a normal ratio and indicates that Mir used the procedure in the proper manner.

My question is this: Why do mixed martial artists, more than any other athlete in any other sport, need testosterone replacement therapy? The obvious answer is that some of them likely caused damage to themselves by heavily using steroids in the past, and now they need artificial testosterone to regulate their levels and keep them normal.

But I’m not sure that’s the case for everyone. And I’m not sure there’s an easy answer, at least not one that applies to everyone. But it’s something that needs to continually be looked at before it gets out of control and becomes a real problem.

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UFC Is Trying to Sucker B.J. Penn out of Retirement by Using Josh Koscheck

Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day.The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again.Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has done…

Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day.

The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again.

Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has done everything he can do to goad Penn off the beach, short of sending a SWAT team into Hawaii to make a quick capture. He’s even repeatedly told the world that Penn is coming back, only to find out that Penn said no such thing at all.

Earlier this month, we saw Dana’s latest tactic: using other fighters to anger Penn and sucker him into a fight:

That attempt worked out just about as well as the rest of them, with Penn shooting Koscheck down in very public fashion.

@joshkoscheck I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big fights but sorry I’m not coming back anytime soon!

Oh well. You can’t say Koscheck didn’t give it the old college try. A fight between the most-hated and one of the most-loved welterweights in the world would have been the perfect kind of main event for a UFC on FOX show, or perhaps even a B-level pay-per-view. But it wasn’t to be.

Last night on Spike TV’s MMA Uncensored Live, Koscheck revealed the idea behind his public call-out of Penn:

Me and B.J. have a good relationship. It’s business, and, you know what? I like to have big fights. I think that B.J. is the type of fighter that would be a big fight for me. The UFC asked to try and stir up something. You know, I do my job well, and I went on to my Twitter account, and just kinda said, ‘Hey, B.J. Let’s do this fight.

I realize Penn is still retired and that this seems like a dead issue, but I’d still love to see this fight. Neither guy will be challenging for a title any time soon—or at least as long as Georges St-Pierre is the welterweight champion—so pairing them up with one another seems like perfect matchmaking to me.

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The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale: 3 Things to Watch for

When all is said and done, Friday’s Ultimate Fighter Live Finale will have a lot more impact than you’d think.Sure, the card looks harmless enough. Plus, we’ve seen plenty of these Finale events over the years, and how long has it been since a TUF grad…

When all is said and done, Friday’s Ultimate Fighter Live Finale will have a lot more impact than you’d think.

Sure, the card looks harmless enough. Plus, we’ve seen plenty of these Finale events over the years, and how long has it been since a TUF graduate made an impact at the championship levels, anyway? 

But once you dig beneath the surface, you’ll discover some very intriguing questions lurking around. I’ll provide you with those questions in the following slides, as well as make my own attempt to answer them.

Join me, won’t you?

Begin Slideshow