2012 has turned out to be the year of Ronda Rousey.There have been countless articles referring to her as the biggest thing in MMA today. Bigger than Anderson Silva, bigger than Jon Jones and perhaps bigger than the sport itself.Sounds a bit too extrem…
2012 has turned out to be the year of Ronda Rousey.
There have been countless articles referring to her as the biggest thing in MMA today. Bigger than Anderson Silva, bigger than Jon Jones and perhaps bigger than the sport itself.
Sounds a bit too extreme, doesn’t it?
I’m getting a sense of deja vu. We’ve been down this path before in 2008 when Gina Carano got off to a 7-0 start in her professional MMA career. She became the glowing face of women’s MMA and helped give the now defunct EliteXC an identity.
Then something happened, something that most thought would not occur because the talent pool in WMMA was so shallow.
She lost.
Carano faced an overpowering Cristiane Santos in a Strikeforce card that featured the two as the main event. Santos came into the fight with a 7-1 record and steamrolled Carano with a first-round TKO a split second before the first round ended.
Following the loss Carano disappeared from MMA…completely.
As you know, Carano has gone on to pursue an acting career and was last seen negotiating a contract for a role in Fast and Furious 6. As far as her MMA career goes, it died when she lost.
Could the same thing happen to Rousey? I think it could.
As much as we love Rousey now, her popularity will take a nosedive if she loses to Sarah Kaufman later this month in San Diego. In fact, if Rousey were to have lost to Miesha Tate earlier this year would we still be talking about her as much as we are today?
If Kaufman beats Rousey, will Kaufman receive the star treatment Rousey has been getting? Would we still be talking about Rousey being the first woman to have a contract with the UFC?
There are a lot of if’s and questions, and I believe that is the best way to summarize WMMA in general. There is certainly a lot of momentum with WMMA right now and I believe the progress of WMMA will depend more on Shannon Knap’s Invicta FC success than it will the win-loss record of Rousey.
Ronda Rousey’s story is a great one to follow. She’s an accomplished fighter and does a great job promoting the sport. If she loses, however, who’s to say she won’t disappear from the fight scene in the same way Carano did?
Joe Chacon is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a Staff Writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
We’re all guilty of it.Even little Johnny sitting there in the corner who has nothing but good things to say about everyone. He too has unleashed a verbal assault on an MMA fighter.I suppose it is no different than any other sport. Professional athlete…
We’re all guilty of it.
Even little Johnny sitting there in the corner who has nothing but good things to say about everyone. He too has unleashed a verbal assault on an MMA fighter.
I suppose it is no different than any other sport. Professional athletes (and unfortunately college kids, too) come across death threats and verbal abuse from so-called “fans” on what seems to be a regular basis. Perhaps fans save the death threats for special occasions such as when Steve Blake misses a shot or a kicker for Boise State has a bad night.
Most of us are sane, or we at least claim to be, and are put off by those who take being a fan to the level in which they start making threats. Those threats are more prevalent today because of the ease in which somebody can get in touch with an athlete.
Before social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, one would have to either hand-write a letter to their intended recipient, find a phone number and call or say something face-to-face. Athletes are more accessible today than they have ever been, and that isn’t always a good thing.
What I have noticed, especially in the MMA community, is the increase of what I would consider to be annoying “hateful” behavior coming from both fans and the media.
One recent example was MMA fans blowing up Cody McKenzie’s Twitter account for getting KO’d in 30 seconds.
I have no interest in putting any of my friends or people I know around the MMA community on blast, but it is really becoming too much, I think.
Personally, I’ve come and gone from Twitter and Facebook quite a few times. Whenever I get fed up with all the hate spewing out of the mouths of MMA fans (or people in general) I resist the urge to jump in and play super hero because I know those attacks will then just come at me.
This goes beyond saying a fighter sucks. I’m referring to those who go straight for the personal attacks. Attacks against fighters, commentators, writers and even your fellow fans that you hear from on a daily basis.
Is this kind of hate good for MMA? Does it fuel the fire and passion that leads to a more loyal fanbase? Or will it slowly divide the community to the point where people begin to lose interest in all the negativity?
The sport itself is violent—we all get that. It’s also an art that we can appreciate regardless of the outcome of the fight, unless we are forced to watch a main event in which one fighter backpedals from the aggressor for 25 minutes.
Take this article for what it’s worth. I’m not saying fans need to soften up. What I am saying is as respectful as MMA is inside the cage, it is even more disrespectful outside of it.
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
Anderson Silva is the greatest MMA fighter in the history of the sport. Let’s get that out of the way to begin with.
If you are a Silva hater and I still have your attention, then I appreciate you continuing with an open mind. I am in no way somebody w…
Anderson Silva is the greatest MMA fighter in the history of the sport. Let’s get that out of the way to begin with.
If you are a Silva hater and I still have your attention, then I appreciate you continuing with an open mind. I am in no way somebody who writes a ton of material on Silva. In fact, I was pulling for Chael Sonnen to beat him at UFC 148.
Sooner or later, credit needs to be given where credit is due. “The Spider” should have the respect of every MMA fan by now. If the way he performs inside the Octagon doesn’t attract the admiration of an MMA fan, then I don’t know what else you want from a fighter.
Want to watch somebody who delivers devastating punches? How about a fighter with a beautiful ground game? Don’t like watching a fight go to a decision?
Then there is no reason to not like watching Silva fight.
The Middleweight Champion displays all of the exciting attributes one looks for in a fighter.
When we talk about the “greatest,” we are talking about the facts. We are not talking about potential (Jon Jones), and we aren’t talking about the theoretical run they would have had in the UFC (Fedor Emelianenko).
If you disagree and don’t think Silva is the greatest of all time (I refuse to use the acronym GOAT), then I challenge you to bring to my attention a fighter who has had a better career than this:
15-0 UFC Record
10 Consecutive UFC Title Defenses (nearly six years)
Wins against Rick Franklin (2x), Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Demian Mai, Chael Sonnen (2x), Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami
What I’m really doing is stating the obvious. There’s nothing new here, and chances are you’ve heard this all before. It’s time to look towards the future.
Who is going to beat Silva?
It seems like every six months there is an emerging star in the middleweight division that people say will be the next person to beat Silva.
Just think how much has changed since Silva became the champion six years ago—not only changes within MMA, but the world in general. Six years is a long time.
Now imagine over those six years how many contenders were supposed to be the next best thing in the middleweight division. As soon as Silva beat each of those contenders, both MMA fans and the media began to scour the fight rankings to see who Silva should fight next.
Today’s emerging star, who many believe can beat Silva, is Chris Weidman. In fact, our very own Matt Saccaro wrote an interesting piece on how Silva is merely keeping the belt warm for Weidman. Saccaro does a great job of not only saying Weidman will win, but also outlining the reasons why. I recommend you give it a read.
But it seems as if we’ve seen this movie before. People are jumping aboard the Weidman hype train, but how can we possibly say a man with five UFC fights (5-0) is going to beat Silva? Check back with me after Weidman’s fight against Alan Belcher in September.
Do fans simply want to see the king get dethroned? I believe so. I also believe that is what makes a long-reigning champion such a big pay-per-view draw.
Aside from Weidman, the other opponent creating some buzz is Rashad Evans and his potential move down to the middleweight division to challenge Silva for the belt.
When fans take a look at the top contenders, it actually looks pretty solid. It appears Silva is going to face the winner of Weidman and Belcher. When he gets through that, he will most likely either face Rashad Evans (if Evans moves down) or the winner of Michael Bisping and Brian Stann.
While the competition within the division appears to be getting better, I think there is only one opponent that will beat Silva.
His name? Father Time.
Sure, it may be an anti-climactic answer to the question of who can beat Silva, but it is something that will hold true.
Unlike many of our all-time favorite fighters, I don’t expect Silva to keep fighting until his skills diminish. He has such a great career within the UFC offices lying ahead of him. So, it would be understandable if he makes a couple more successful title defenses before calling it a Hall of Fame career.
There will be no Silva vs. Jon Jones mega-fight. How about Silva vs. GSP? That was more intriguing a few years ago when Silva was a little younger and before GSP blew out his knee.
It is entirely possible that Silva can get hit on the button and drop to the canvas in the same surprising way Chuck Liddell did in his UFC fight against Rampage Jackson (I’ll never forget my disbelief when I saw Chuck go down).
We never know when a fighter will lose his iron chin. Silva obviously isn’t too concerned about it because he encourages (and thrives of off) his opponents to nail him in the head.
Silva’s legacy is going to end in a way we’d expect it to end for a true champion—but unlike what we are accustomed to seeing.
He’s poised to end on his terms while holding the belt. His final fight will be against time, and that’s a fight none of us will ever win.
Joe Chacon is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a Staff Writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
Tito Ortiz has spent the last couple of days on Twitter venting his frustration over what he considers to be a horrible decision by the judges following his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 148.It first started with Ortiz announcing he was going to wa…
Tito Ortiz has spent the last couple of days on Twitter venting his frustration over what he considers to be a horrible decision by the judges following his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 148.
It first started with Ortiz announcing he was going to watch the fight for the first time. His first reaction was:
Never knew a fight can be won by strikes thrown. I feel sorry for my fans. (Posted at 9:32 PM, July 11)
The next person Ortiz ripped was Joe Rogan:
Funny hearing the commentating @joerogan’s hand must of been sore from stroking Forrest during fight. Joe may need 2get glasses instead of hair plugs. Crazy how my quads aren’t sore from kicks. But my shins are from checking. (Posted at 9:55 PM, July 11)
Today, news broke that Forrest Griffin was granted a TRT exemption shortly before his fight with Ortiz. The former “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had this to say about the news:
@ForrestGriffin sorry to hear you had to use #steroids to beat me! Wait or try to beat me. @ForrestGriffin = #cheater lol. Have a good day! (Posted at 2:08 PM, July 13)
Granted, most MMA fans would agree that Ortiz deserved a better send-off than what he received. His last fight will be most remembered for the post-fight antics of Griffin.
Griffin running out of the Octagon, being chased by Dana White, then coming back to accept the win, followed by him grabbing Joe Rogan’s microphone and conducting a pathetic interview with Ortiz. That’s what we’ll remember from the fight.
Well, that and the image of two tired fighters lethargically trading jabs with one-another.
I think it’s safe to say most MMA fans have grown tired of Griffin’s immature banter.
Let’s just hope we aren’t forced to witness another Ortiz vs. Griffin fight at any point in our lifetimes.
Joe Chacon is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a Staff Writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
As the dust continues to settle from UFC 148, we can now see the salaries each fighter was paid for their fight this past weekend.When taking a look at these numbers, please keep in mind that they do not reflect post fight bonuses (e.g. fight of the ni…
As the dust continues to settle from UFC 148, we can now see the salaries each fighter was paid for their fight this past weekend.
When taking a look at these numbers, please keep in mind that they do not reflect post fight bonuses (e.g. fight of the night, knockout/submission of the night) or other bonuses that are frequently handed out by the UFC.
The most glaring salary on this list is Chael Sonnen and the $50,000 he earned for his fight against Anderson Silva. In case you were concerned about Sonnen’s low salary, rest assured he will be given a substantial chunk of change for the pay-per-view revenue this generated.
In addition to pay-per-view buys, the “live gate” numbers for UFC 148 approached $7 million, and were the highest in MMA history.
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
You’ve read the title and are already writing your comments as to why I’m the biggest idiot writing for Bleacher Report. That’s fine. I can take it, but at least hear me out.I’m not somebody who writes for shock value. In fact, I despise those that do….
You’ve read the title and are already writing your comments as to why I’m the biggest idiot writing for Bleacher Report. That’s fine. I can take it, but at least hear me out.
I’m not somebody who writes for shock value. In fact, I despise those that do. So don’t think that this is being published for that reason.
Think of all the UFC fights that have taken place. Not only this year, or last year, or the five years preceding that. I’m talking about every UFC fight that has taken place. Have you ever sensed as much build up for one fight as you do for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II?
Perhaps Chuck and Tito? GSP and Penn? What about Tito and Shamrock? There are plenty of fights that had a high level of anticipation for them, but nothing compares to what we are seeing in this rematch that will take place on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
What happens when the fight doesn’t live up to expectations? Is it even possible for Silva and Sonnen to put on a show that will warrant the level of attention it has received? I don’t think so.
Most fans anticipate the fight being as exciting as their first fight, if not more so. The first fight appeared to be exciting because Sonnen was not nearly as popular as he is today and the world was captured by the huge underdog dominating the champion in ways we’ve never seen before.
The fight itself consisted of one man dominating another for four-and-a-half rounds. It wasn’t a close fight by any stretch of the imagination. Of course, Silva threw up the Hail Mary in the final round and made Sonnen tap out.
Fast forward two years and there isn’t a huge underdog in the fight. Polls are almost split on who the fans expect to win and both fighters are a little older.
Sonnen looked good against Brian Stann last October, but followed that up with a very ugly and uninspiring win versus Michael Bisping. In fact, many believe he lost that fight.
Silva, on the other hand, still looks to be his dominant self. Since his first fight with Sonnen, Silva has convincing wins over Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami.
Let’s face it, Sonnen caught Silva off-guard in their first fight. Silva is too good to let the same thing happen again. Especially with so much time in between fights to prepare.
This isn’t going to be a back and forth five-round slugfest like the media and other MMA fans have hyped it up to be. Silva has faced tougher challenges in his career and made quick work of those opponents.
I’d be very surprised if Sonnen gets beyond the second round. His only chance is to get Silva to the ground much like he did in their first fight. Silva will not allow that to happen this time around and I expect Sonnen to get caught with a knee or a kick on a takedown attempt.
I’m amped for this fight as much as you are, but the expectations for this fight need to be tempered a bit. Otherwise, we will all be disappointed.
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
2012 has turned out to be the year of Ronda Rousey.