They must be joking, but seriously driving home a point.Them Georges St-Pierre bashers who’ll grab every opportunity to smite on GSP and what they think he stands for now in MMA: decision wins, lay and pray, fighting safely and just plain boredom….
They must be joking, but seriously driving home a point.
Them Georges St-Pierre bashers who’ll grab every opportunity to smite on GSP and what they think he stands for now in MMA: decision wins, lay and pray, fighting safely and just plain boredom.
But they shouldn’t exploit Chris Lytle’s guillotine choke win over Dan Hardy to advance their cause; that’s getting way too far ahead of themselves.
There’s such a concept called “case-to-case basis.”
Did Hardy have the temerity to attempt a double-leg takedown against GSP and consequently expose his neck for a “guillo?” No.
It is regrettable that GSP played with Hardy like a cat to a mouse, letting his prey last the whole five rounds as his idea of fun.
Or just another daily workout routine.
So what does Tito Ortiz submitting Ryan Bader in the first round—while Jon Jones did it to the latter only in the second round—really mean?
Or that of Nate Marquardt’s KO of Demian Maia whereas Anderson Silva danced away from the submission specialist into a decision win?
I’m not sure exactly, but I believe their meaning lies somewhere between “not much” and “nothing at all.”
Care for some recent stats on UFC’s finished fights and those that went the distance?Of the main card fights of the last three UFC events, namely 132, 133 and Live 5, nine ended by stoppage compared to five that went the distance and into the judges’ s…
Care for some recent stats on UFC’s finished fights and those that went the distance?
Of the main card fights of the last three UFC events, namely 132, 133 and Live 5, nine ended by stoppage compared to five that went the distance and into the judges’ scorecards.
And of the three main main events (not “co-main events”), two ended by finishes: UFC 133’s Rashad Evans’ TKO over Tito Ortiz and UFC Live 5’s Chris Lytle’s guillotine choke against Dan Hardy.
Finished fights are in the majority lately!
If we are to include all the preliminary fights of the last three UFC events, it’s an even-steven at 17-all. But isn’t it gratifying to note that finishes happened where it mattered more? In the main cards where the stakes are higher and the hype is stronger?
Here’s an honor roll of the finishers of the main cards of each of the last three events, the fighters who spared us fans the agony of hearing from the judges.
As a collective, they’re a winner because, this time, hardly anyone is talking about them. Except for the judge who called the first round of Miller vs. Hendo for Cole Miller (even that many find forgivable), all their decisions sat well with the fans….
As a collective, they’re a winner because, this time, hardly anyone is talking about them. Except for the judge who called the first round of Miller vs. Hendo for Cole Miller (even that many find forgivable), all their decisions sat well with the fans.
The judges also won in the five matches that went the distance and in which fates were laid in their hands.
They had the right fighters win: Jacob Volkmann, Ronny Markes, Joseph Benavidez, Duane Ludwig and Ben Henderson.
In a way, the judges also “won” when the seven other matches resulted in finishes. With all the flak that judges have been receiving since judging was invented, it must be their constant prayer that they’d be spared from ultimately choosing the winner of any contest.
So, in seven out of 12 fights last Sunday night, they were absolved by omission.
Hmm, which is more preferable to judges: making the right decisions at the end of an “unfinished” fight or not having their scorecards read aloud due to a finished fight?
Anyway, this question is moot and academic as far as UFC Live 5 is concerned.
For now, let’s acknowledge and congratulate its judges for a job well done.
Heck, they never had it easy—mixed martial arts and all its rules can make anyone’s perception all mixed up.
Chael Sonnen was in his element, again, when he was recently interviewed by Bruce Buffer for the Sherdog Radio Network’s show, “IT’S TIME!!!”During the interview, he had choice words to say about his MMA colleagues Anderson Silva (griping f…
Chael Sonnen was in his element, again, when he was recently interviewed by Bruce Buffer for the Sherdog Radio Network’s show, “IT’S TIME!!!”
During the interview, he had choice words to say about his MMA colleagues Anderson Silva (griping for the nth time), Tito Ortiz (uncharacteristically nice on this one) and Ken Shamrock (his new trash-talk target).
Here are his words on each fighter (courtesy of Jason Moles of Cage Potato), and my humble thoughts.
Winning is always more preferable than its alternative, but Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy seems to fight by this MMA credo: “It’s better to lose striking than to win by grappling.”He is the reincarnation of Patrick Smith, the veteran o…
Winning is always more preferable than its alternative, but Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy seems to fight by this MMA credo: “It’s better to lose striking than to win by grappling.”
He is the reincarnation of Patrick Smith, the veteran of then tournament-format UFC I and II (and just for this article, let’s disregard the post-UFC II Smith).
One of the best strikers and first batch of fighters of the UFC, Smith was submitted via heel hook by Ken Shamrock in UFC I on Nov. 12, 1993.
A fast four months later, he won two matches by submission (guillotine choke) and one by KO (elbow strikes) before losing to Royce Gracie in the finals. (Royce took down Smith and then mounted and repeatedly punched his face, forcing the latter to tap. This win was also later claimed by Royce as proof that he preceded Mark “The Hammer” Coleman in the ground-and-pound department.)
Smith is past and retired, while Hardy is present and still active—so far. Still, I’m giving Smith more benefit of the doubt—that he earnestly crammed all the grappling skills he could acquire inside the four-month interval between UFC I and II.
As for Hardy, from the time he decided to embark on an MMA fighting career up to this weekend’s tiff versus Chris Lytle, I’m not so sure about his sincerity to amp his grappling game. But I’m certain that this doubt is shared by the majority of MMA fans.
Some may argue that he earned a colored belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu somewhere, but couldn’t it be evidence of a token appreciation for grappling? A grudging acceptance of its relevance?
And wrestling is a skill that he’d rather talk about than learn.
If there exists a secret honor society of strikers, the martial arts’ version of the Illuminati, then Hardy must be vying for its membership and highest honors.
Perhaps his entitlement to this exclusive cabal will be earned only by surviving this initiation rite: winning MMA fights through striking, first and foremost, as if there is no other method.
Hardy, for the mixed martial artist he has become, is zealously living and dying by the sword of the striking arts. And with that weapon, he has charged at windmills personified by elite and complete fighters.
Bearing three consecutive losses leading to this Saturday night’s fight, Hardy still stubbornly insists on his inordinate preference for striking on his feet.
It was his idea to call out former pro boxer Chris Lytle, and thus the urgent request granted this coming UFC Live in Milwaukee.
Anticipating what could be his retirement fight in the UFC, or perhaps from MMA, he promises to “ win in a blaze of glory or go out on my shield.” It is safe to say that that blaze will be lit by the strikes of his fists, elbows, knees and feet—standing loud and proud.
Win or lose, he’ll go out on his shield wrought by steel loyalty to the striking arts, a philosophy that has unmistakably defined him as a fighter.
Such idealism at its best is virtuous in the spiritual sense. Transcendental in that it goes beyond what is self-serving, nobly sacrificing self-glorification, even winning, to exalt a higher and collective (secret?) cause.
At the very least, it has its entertainment value, the kind we indulge in from a comedy of the absurd.
Here’s praying that the agitated sectors in England would rather settle down for a peaceful alternative this Saturday night: watching their compatriot raise hell in the context of competitive sports, and hopefully win.
A win is a win is a win.And the following are the reasons why Tito Ortiz’s win over rising prospect Ryan Bader in UFC 132 is extra special: First, it’s a glimmer of hope for Ortiz, as the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion had been on a …
A win is a win is a win.
And the following are the reasons why Tito Ortiz’s win over rising prospect Ryan Bader in UFC 132 is extra special:
First, it’s a glimmer of hope for Ortiz, as the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion had been on a downward roll since December of 2006.
After his TKO loss in his last attempt to regain the belt against Chuck Liddell, Ortiz next fought Rashad Evans to a draw before losing decisions consecutively against Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and Matt Hamill. (In fairness to Ortiz—and I agree with Andrew Mahlmann—he still managed to fight creditably in his last four matches. And his fight with Bader is further proof that Dana White doesn’t give him patsies.)
Second, this guillotine choke victory, which was impressively preceded by a solid right hand and some ground-and-pound, is only Ortiz’ second win by submission hold in his MMA career. The first was a neck crank versus Yuki Kondo in UFC 29, over a decade ago on December 16, 2000.
Third—to obsequiously hype it some more—Ortiz did a better job than current UFC Champion Jon Jones! He submitted the lately choke-prone Bader in the very first round, whereas last February Jones didn’t submit the former “only” until the last minute of the second round!
However, Ortiz’s win could be as deceptive as cancer in claiming its victim.
There have been cases in which doctors find cancer on remission or even totally healed, only for it to come back with a vengeance.
And the second time proves more virulent and fatal.
So, Ortiz wins big this time around, breaking his three-year, three-fight losing streak, but what’s next?
They must be joking, but seriously driving home a point.