It’s a rare occurrence when high expectations are met, let alone surpassed; yet that is what we expect from the upcoming bout at UFC 182 between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
On January 3, 2015, the Light Heavyweight title is on the line, in addi…
It’s a rare occurrence when high expectations are met, let alone surpassed; yet that is what we expect from the upcoming bout at UFC 182 between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
On January 3, 2015, the Light Heavyweight title is on the line, in addition to the champion’s growing claim to the pound-for-pound throne.
Even without their mutual rancor, their bout has all the makings of either an epic clash or a sadly conservative collaboration. Sometimes, when the stakes are high and equal to the opposition, the risk doesn’t seem worth the reward.
And make no mistake about it, both men must risk all in order to live up to the enormity of the moment before them.
Expectation is an ideal pointed at both ends. Based on the proof evident in history, it demands further proof of the same in the future. That is why both Jones and Cormier have so much to risk; because proof of their past greatness has advanced expectations to a level that cannot be met by anything less.
While we wait and hope that both men will fight with a passion due to the moment, we also ponder how these men will reckon with each other.
How will the winner claim victory?
Obviously, there are countless possibilities, but after we weed out the unlikely, we are left with the probable.
Here are the three main ways this fight might end.
The moment the signing of Phillip Brooks (CM Punk) was announced, I suddenly had a new appreciation for Conor McGregor.
I might not have agreed that he should get the next shot at Jose Aldo, but at least he has a true MMA background and is a proven com…
The moment the signing of Phillip Brooks (CM Punk) was announced, I suddenly had a new appreciation for ConorMcGregor.
I might not have agreed that he should get the next shot at Jose Aldo, but at least he has a true MMA background and is a proven competitor.
I have nothing against Brooks for wanting to test himself in real competition. In fact, I find that highly admirable. If any rancor about his signing exists, it should be leveled at the UFC decision-makers, not Brooks.
We all get why Brooks was signed. There have always been two aspects of how the UFC machine runs and makes decisions: for the entertainment dollar or for the sports dollar.
The signing of Brooks was clearly meant to grab the former, and to be honest, it probably won’t be the last time the UFC tries to cash in on such a public character.
And make no mistake about it, the man that is Brooks will be fighting in the Octagon, but it will be CM Punk the character that Zuffa hopes will pull in the big pay-per-view numbers.
Yes, he’s going to be making a lot of money putting his health and his WWE persona on the line, but no one has any right to tell a man how to make his money, as long as it is done legally.
In fact, if there is any sport where a man should be looking to make as much money as possible, it’s the combative sports, period.
Brooks will get his day in the cage and with that the most naked reckoning of a man’s character available. If he rises to the occasion or ends up crushed, that is the question that Zuffa hopes you find compelling enough to pay to see answered.
And that is fine, because Brooks’ fight will be honest, even if it is against a rank amateur.
But it is only fine for so long as the UFC remembers that borrowing from the WWE cast list isn’t speaking to the bona fide worth of real competition, but the novelty of juxtaposition.
CM Punk is a character, and any fan of MMA knows that characters sell because they attract attention. McGregor is a character of sorts, but his inner core is utterly real. The same was true of ChaelSonnen.
It is now a matter of what the UFC does, as a legitimate sport, with all the attention that Brooks should bring to the table, that needs to be considered.
There are some excellent fights waiting to be made out there, and those fights are worth every ounce of energy the UFC can muster as a fight promotion. It’s easy to forget that part of its job is to promote the fighters already seated at its table; it seems more interested in promoting its own brand than the fighters that enable it.
This has been done for many reasons, chief among them seeming to be the fact that it has never wanted fighters to get so big that they might turn down the fights that matter.
But with the UFC growing so large and looking to expand even further, the purchase of Brooks looks a bit short-sighted if only because it seems like it would rather buy us fast food than cook us a meal at home.
And it’s got some quality ingredients in its cupboards, just waiting to be thrown together on the oven.
That is the thing the UFC cannot allow to happen, because it is within its own stores that it will find the fights that matter, not raiding the pantries of the WWE.
It would be wonderful to see the UFC take a serious interest in getting back to the business of promoting its fighters. It’s been all about the UFC as a brand, thinking that where the brand is served, then so too are the fighters, by proxy.
While making sense in theory, this has seen the idea of character forsaken for characters, salesmanship lauded above performance. Nowadays, it seems of equal importance how a fighter can market and sell himself, how much drama he can generate, in addition to how well he can fight.
And if a fighter is lacking in the field of salesmanship, odds are he’s not going to be getting the financial rewards one would think he’s due, no matter how dominant he is in the cage.
That is where it seems the wheels have come off the machine. Throwing seeds to the soil is not enough to see them grow; it requires energy and attention beyond what they can glean themselves by simply being left alone to the environment.
That is the art of fight promotion: selling the fights that matter when the fighters are not up to the task of doing anything else other than fighting.
As if that wasn’t hard enough in a sport of such change and demand.
Not every fighter out there can wear many hats with such grace and joy. That is why the Sonnens and the McGregors grab so much attention; they are the exception, not the norm.
It’s why fighters fight and promoters promote; one is strong where the other is weak and vice versa. Together, the idea is that they provide a whole package to the consumer of such sport, to the delight of all involved on either side of the dollar.
And in the case of the UFC, it has always been its strongest argument that it can deliver what others cannot: the fights that matter.
It has proved incredibly capable of implementing whatever changes it feels are needed in order to get what it wants, which is very important.
But why hasn’t it found a way to get Ronda Rousey and Cris “Cyborg” Justino in the Octagon? One has to believe that if it really wanted to get that deal done, it would have been able to make it happen.
Obviously, there is the weight issue, but that only holds so much water when you have a fighter like Rousey, who has said that if asked by Dana White, she would face Cyborg under any circumstances.
So why hasn’t he asked?
Clearly, she’d be very well compensated (much more so than Cyborg) in either victory or defeat. As far as there being no division available for Cyborg, well, White created WMMA in the UFC for Rousey; the creation of another division for the greatest fight currently available to WMMA would show the cause is bigger than any one name.
Rousey by herself has been great for the UFC, but a great fighter alone is a picture incomplete. But to see her in a fight with her greatest rival? That will see both women elevated far beyond anything known now and in turn will be great for WMMA, both in and outside the UFC.
There are other fights as well, just waiting to be realized before time erodes their value.
One such fight that springs to mind is Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis. Even with injuries and all the other obstacles that have been thrown up, it seems the UFC would be using all the energy and considerable resources it enjoys to keep the people talking about it and get the fighters themselves invested in it.
Aldo vs. Pettis is a “Superfight” the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales; two striking machines going toe-to-toe, while still in their primes. Just thinking about such a bout is the closest thing to Christmas-wish fulfillment the UFC could give us since Georges St. Pierre faced BJ Penn the second time at UFC 94.
None of this is to say that the UFC hasn’t given us some excellent fights, or that it won’t in the near future. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier and Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz are going to be excellent fights that serve the fans because they serve the interest of the sport.
And while some big fights happen organically, the UFC should be doing anything and everything it can to make the other fights a reality, no matter how hard to promote.
Let’s face it, Jose Aldo isn’t the kind of man who’s going to inflame fans with provocative language; he’s a fighter, not an orator. To help sell a fight with Anthony Pettis for its full market value, he’s going to need a lot of help, and the UFC should be happy to give it to him, free of charge.
Because the fights that matter are worth it, and their value cannot be eclipsed by any obvious and forgivable sleight of hand.
So go ahead and enjoy the bounty that the signing of Brooks will doubtlessly bring. Reap the rewards of enabling his dream to compete legitimately in the biggest and best MMA promotion in the world.
Just don’t forget about the dreams of the fans in the process. We’re a greedy bunch and won’t be satisfied with fast food for very long.
And our dreams are important too…because they’re based in reality. For a sport that espouses the “As Real As It Gets” credo, nothing could be more important.
There is something wonderful about being a fight fan during the times when a new voice, such as Conor McGregor’s, comes out, loud and unafraid, predicting greatness at the expense of all others.
That is not to say that trash talk is the be-all and end-…
There is something wonderful about being a fight fan during the times when a new voice, such as ConorMcGregor‘s, comes out, loud and unafraid, predicting greatness at the expense of all others.
That is not to say that trash talk is the be-all and end-all, because it’s not. But when a fighter comes out, loud and proud, then like it or not, he’s attracting attention to the sport, and with the attention comes greater pay-per-view numbers and money.
In short, it’s good for business, and it’s exciting, all the way around.
Obviously, trash talk is nothing new to the combative sports. But great trash talk, coming from a fighter who honestly seems to believe every word he is saying, is a rare thing and worth its weight in gold.
In ConorMcGregor, fight fans have a man who can both polarize the masses as well as unite fans of all nationalities who appreciate his unique voice, even if what he is saying has been said before.
As the saying goes, sometimes the singer outdistances the song.
But now, just as we have gotten to know McGregor, he looks poised to be thrown to the lion of the division, Jose Aldo. Obviously, this is just fine by McGregor, who stylizes himself as a lion-slayer, but is he really ready?
It’s been amazing to see how McGregor has emboldened his fans to the point that they declare he can do almost anything, even though he has yet to prove it against the best. Many brazenly declare that he is the next champion and that he will dispose of Aldo with ease, and they base it all on his last four victories in the UFC.
McGregor has looked truly excellent in his last four outings, but to be honest, the combined record of his past four opponents weighs in at 52-20, with the best of the bunch being the underappreciated Dustin Poirier.
When looking at the last four opponents of Aldo, their combined records add up to 61-13, against some very tough opposition. Included in that list is Frankie Edgar, a former lightweight champion who, for my money, could mop the floor with McGregor at this point in his young career.
Simply put, earning decision victories over Frankie Edgar, Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes and a TKO victory over Chan Sung Jung is more impressive than TKO victories over Marcus Brimage, Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirier and a decision victory over Max Holloway.
And yet, there is clearly something about McGregor that separates him from anyone Aldo has ever faced. His poise and confidence aren’t based on smoke and mirrors; he’s honestly a damn good fighter who believes his God-given gifts and his skill are simply too much for anyone in his division to cope with.
This level of confidence isn’t based on some shopworn song and shuffle, and it’s far from faking it until you make it; it comes from a desire to see his dreams realized, and that comes from an honest belief in himself.
Unlike religion, which is said to require a faith in the unseen, this level of belief in oneself usually stems from the exact opposite: a feeling of empowerment based on the seen and the known.
Should he get past Dennis Siver, he’ll be bringing all of this to the cage and throwing it right in Aldo’s face. He believes that once he does, Aldo will eventually fold under the pressure, if he is not outright knocked unconscious.
It’s a daring plan that has fight fans salivating in anticipation, no matter what side of the party line they fall on. There is no doubt that no one will be flying McGregor‘s flag higher and prouder than McGregor himself, even if he has to go to Brazil to face the champion in his own back yard.
That being said, McGregor is hardly the first fighter to have such a fierce faith in himself, only to be shown the hard way that there is a difference between fighting contenders and fighting a champion.
One such fighter is Prince NaseemHamed, after whom McGregor seems to have modeled much of the style of his promotional oratory. Hamed was a knockout machine who danced his way to the ring and forward-flipped over the top rope into the spotlight, fight after fight.
Hamed was cashing in on his punching power and his gift for incendiary gab, demanding the attention of nearly all in the boxing world.
Then, he fought Marco Antonio Barrera, a fighter who looked like he was bound to walk into Hamed‘s bombs at least a time or two, and from there, he would probably be waking up to the sound of Hamed‘s victory speech to Larry Merchant.
Of course, anything but happened. Barrera attacked Hamed with a two-fisted attack balanced with a sound defense and proceeded to hand Hamed his first ever loss in humiliating fashion. In spite of all his power, hype and experience, the simple fact was that Hamed had never faced a disciplined boxer-brawler who wasn’t going to be intimidated. All the trash talk and all the popular notions that Hamed was just too powerful to stand in front of fell on deaf ears, and Barrera handed him a one-sided beating that sent his career into a downward spiral.
Of course, the fight game is littered with such instances, just as it is full of times when an upstart challenger, thought to have no business being inside the same ring as the champion, upset the odds and took the title by force.
But I honestly do not think this will be one of those times.
A lot goes into making an upset, especially one of this magnitude. Jose Aldo hasn’t lost a fight in nine years, and he is near the top of any legitimate pound-for-pound list to be had. He’s been the undisputed featherweight champion for five years, and along the way, he has defeated some of the very best names in the sport.
That means he’s a man who takes his title very seriously and isn’t walking around reading his own press clippings.
Yet, even if he didn’t have a vast experience advantage (which he clearly does), he’s still very much in his prime, and worst of all (for McGregor), he’s the faster man, by far.
Stylistically, McGregor is a compelling matchup for Aldo. Aldo has shown himself to be a far better counter-striker than he is an initiator, and McGregor has proved adept at pulling fighters into attacking and then blasting them with a counter-left, right down the pipe.
Perhaps McGregor‘s biggest strength is that he is incredibly daring, willing to utilize any technique that strikes his fancy and then drilling it until he can use it freely and with a high level of accuracy.
When added to the fact that he is a southpaw, McGregor is a tough matchup for most opponents who do not employ a strong wrestling base. Of course, Aldo is not “most opponents.”
Aldo has some basic attacks against pure strikers, but the bulk of his offense is based on his wicked leg kicks, which he can do with little to no setup. While McGregor has an excellent front kick, the bulk of his striking seems to have a strong boxing base. This could prove to be very problematic given that his legs are going to be there to kick anytime McGregor settles in for an attack.
While McGregor will enjoy a two-inch advantage in the areas of reach and height, he will still be facing a very big featherweight in Aldo, who is used to dealing with fighters who are big for the division.
Perhaps McGregor feels that Aldo has begun to slip. Since his fight with Mark Hominick, Aldo has only finished two of six fights in the UFC. This is quite a departure from the man who ended the first six fights under the WEC banner by KO or TKO.
Whatever his reasoning, McGregor is just one fight away from either a glorious ascension to championship stardom or a painful end to his current career trajectory that has seen the UFC steer him clear of wrestlers, much as they did Nick Diaz.
Personally, I can’t help but think the brass at Zuffa could have given him a few more fights to build him up and see his true potential as a power draw realized. There have been very few Irish fighters with the swagger of McGregor, and he has perhaps the best opportunities available to a fighter of his caliber to make some serious money while maximizing his own brand.
Or, perhaps it feels like it missed the boat by never giving Michael Bisping a shot at Anderson Silva and wants to make sure it doesn’t make the same mistake twice.
At the end of the day, the fight game is still a money game, and a man like McGregor clearly understands that better than most. He seems utterly content to play the game, and the UFC seems equally content to help him do so, to their mutual advantage.
But amid all the hype and hoopla that have become of the UFC career of McGregor, Aldo awaits, so far out of the corner of the eye that he has almost become an afterthought.
The same thing happened to Bernard Hopkins in 2001. Felix Trinidad was making his march up through the weight classes, and Hopkins was picked as the next victim on his hit list. Hopkins spoiled that party, giving Trinidad a thorough beating before stopping him in Round 12 and in the process used the exposure to launch his own career.
Perhaps the question shouldn’t be “Is McGregor ready for Aldo?” but “Is Aldo ready for McGregor?” The proud Irishman brings with him the brightest of spotlights and a level of attention that could change the Brazilian’s life forever, one way or the other.
Opportunity is knocking, and for a fighter as seemingly disinterested in self-promotion as Aldo, McGregor could be the very man he has been waiting his whole life for.
Lord knows McGregor isn’t waiting around for anyone.
Upon hearing the news that “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva was retiring from MMA, I found myself both sad and glad.
It is a relief that he has finally conceded that the time has come to step away from a sport that by its very nature…
Upon hearing the news that “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva was retiring from MMA, I found myself both sad and glad.
It is a relief that he has finally conceded that the time has come to step away from a sport that by its very nature consumes the excellence of those who ply it as a trade. The world of combative sports is demanding and void of mercy or compassion. Far too often it makes old men out of the young—sometimes overnight, as in the case of Meldrick Taylor—and continues to feast upon their flesh because the last things to age are pride and desire.
For me, it doesn’t matter why he is stepping away; the important thing is that he is doing so of his own volition while reasonably healthy and with enough coin remaining in his pocket that his future need not be mortgaged just to stay off the soup line. If he has invested his money wisely, he can finally rest—content that the blood he spent in the ring and cage has ensured that his legacy will cast a shadow over the sport well into the future.
And if anyone has earned a rest from the sport, it’s Silva.
In an era when fans and promoters will burn a fighter in effigy for not stepping up to face a last-minute replacement opponent (and will in fact cancel an entire event and throw the effigy aside in order to blame said fighter as a result, as was the case during the UFC 151 fiasco), Silva was, in his prime (some 10 years earlier), essentially a middleweight who stepped up to fight heavyweights.
None of that can be said with any truth about The Axe Murderer.
What follows is a true and honest (as honest as I know how to be) examination (or retrospective, if you will) of the career of one of the most transparent and genuine figures in the history of the sport.
Silva has always been a savage figure who, at his core, has been simple without being stupid—an advocate of consistent aggression with no compromise. His modusoperandi, his architecture of aggression, has always been knock-out-or-be-knocked-out.
After that, the media and the fans of the sport—both positive and negative on both sides—were trusted to sort out the rest and apply whatever spin or bias they wish, in accordance to the safe distance needed to acquire both.
Thus, I say to his detractors—who act as if his successes in MMA, from the beginning through to the end, have been based on nothing more than steroids or testosterone replacement therapy or whatever is the miracle enabler of the day—that pills or intravenous solutions may empower the body, but they do not enrich the mind to the point where jumping onto the track of an oncoming freight train seems like the wisest course for career longevity.
In short, they do not create true courage. To fight heavyweights like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Mark Hunt—when you are a middleweight in the Pride ring, where kicks, stomps and knees to the head of a downed opponent are legal—takes more than drugs can give you; it takes a willingness to live by the sword so few are willing to acknowledge even exists.
And yet Silva is not just the sum total of his fights; when he was poised to fight ChaelSonnen, The Axe Murderer gave his critics perhaps their biggest loaded gun, and in truth, it cannot be dismissed so easily.
Obviously, Sonnen was using no small amount of projection, in order to cast the eye of critical judgment upon someone other than himself. But be that as it may, Silva still fled from a drug test.
We don’t know how much, if any, of his career was tainted with whatever chemical enhancements were available at the time, and to assume he was tainted at all is to assume the worst on behalf of a man who always gave us his furious best.
Obviously, anyone who watched the sport back then cannot forget his reign of terror, just as they cannot forget the recollections of Mark Coleman, who spoke of the kind of out-of-bounds-gamesmanship that seems to have occurred on a regular basis in Brazil in the early days of the sport.
Coleman said that he went into Silva’s locker room and found that the Brazilian was being oiled up for the upcoming bout—a damning statement to say the least. You won’t find me calling Coleman a liar at any time, especially considering that I was not there.
But when watching Silva’s bout with Mike Van Arsdale, both men look like they ended up pretty dry come fight time, which is what matters most.
And so, while we were not there, we are here, in 2014, to try and quantify the positive and the negative of one fighter’s career.
The rub is found in the fact that such a career spans two different and incredibly demanding eras. Back then, defeat was as distasteful and condemned as it is now, and Silva tried to utilize a single method of operation in order to rise above all time constraints: fight to the finish above all else.
He wasn’t the worst during those time periods, yet he was nearly the best that purely violent intentions could give, spanning almost two generations in the 17 years he was active.
Hate him as you must, love him as you will, but never forget him as the man who, in his prime (which occurred when North, South, East and West were about as wild and dangerous as you can imagine) never shied away from a fight, no matter how dangerous or big the opponent.
This is the career of Wanderlei Silva, a true and undeniable product of the Chute Boxe camp and one of the greatest middleweight champions in MMA history.
For a very long time, fans of the combative sports have been waiting (or even dying) for the UFC to go to Mexico.
The reasoning is simple: Mexico is home to some of the greatest fighters in the world, hands down, and MMA fans would love to see fighters…
For a very long time, fans of the combative sports have been waiting (or even dying) for the UFC to go to Mexico.
The reasoning is simple: Mexico is home to some of the greatest fighters in the world, hands down, and MMA fans would love to see fighters like them in the Octagon. To think that the next generation of great MMA fighters may come, at least in part, from Mexico—if they are inspired—is terribly exciting.
But we knew that was never going to happen until Zuffa decided to go all-in when it came to introducing their brand of violence to those South of the border.
To say that the stakes are high is insufficient. The sport of boxing is so ingrained into the heart of combative sport fans in Mexico that nothing less than an incredible main card is going to guarantee that the first pay-per-view impression the UFC makes is as good as it gets.
For those who don’t think the UFC will be contending with the boxing establishment, consider this: Since 1990, Mexico has been responsible for generating 16 fighters who have participated in the Fight of the Year, according to RingMagazine.
And that doesn’t even take into account the fighters on that list who were born in America but have Mexican heritage—men like Diego Corrales, Juan Diaz, Victor Ortiz and others.
Of course, most of you know the names associated with said greatness: Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, etc. They are known and loved by fight fans the world over because they have proven that they rise to the occasion, time after time.
And even though MMA fans are loathe to admit it, the boxing legends from Mexico’s past are going to play a large part in Zuffa’s march into the country. When the Octagon is set up in the Mexico City Arena, they are going to attempt to draw from the expectations of greatness that Mexican fans have of the combative sports, and that comes from boxing.
Can the UFC deliver the goods?
So far, it seems like the answer is both “yes” and “maybe.”
First of all, the event itself is already a success; UFC 180 sold out all 20,000-plus seats in eight hours, which is really an excellent sign for Zuffa’s first foray into Mexico. That is reason for both excitement and a little bit of nervousness.
Given that UFC 180 will host the finals of both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions from The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, fans will have gotten the chance to know those fighters and learn their story, week after week. That kind of drama should serve UFC 180 quite well given that stories still make the world go round.
And stories that end in great fights on the biggest stage? Well, who wouldn’t like that?
We know from experience that The Ultimate Fighter can, when it has all its ducks in a row, really generate a kind of interest that makes said fans feel invested in the fighters. That in turn ends up being the gateway to making them fans of the sport as a whole while showing the next generation of fighters that there are other options for them outside the world of boxing.
If The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America is really good, it could do both of those things, in addition to introducing Cain Velasquez, the reigning heavyweight champion, who is the first fighter of Mexican decent to ever claim the heavyweight title in the history of all major combative sports.
So, what could be the problem?
Well, it may be hard to believe, but the fights on the show should be competitive. Mexican fans appreciate a blowout as much as anyone, but a season of blowouts may leave them looking to watch something else that could bring them to the edge of their seats.
When you look at the cast of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, you notice two things right away: The eight men from Team Werdum have far fewer losses than their opposition and the men from Team Velasquez have many more fights.
The combined records for both teams stand as thus: Team Velasquez at 86-28 and Team Werdum at 30-7. Hopefully, such a disparity in experience won’t be indicative of a one-sided competition.
Then, we turn our attention to the main card of UFC 180, where we find more than a few known names.
First off, Erik Perez (14-6) will start off the main card against Marcus Brimage (6-3). While it would seem as if Perez has been set up with a fighter he should be able to defeat, the real problem is that Perez has never been on the main card of a UFC pay-per-view event. He has been on the main card of two UFC Fight Night events, but the simple fact is that he really isn’t all that well known.
Next, we have Americans Ricardo Lamas and Dennis Bermudez in the second main card bout of the night. This is honestly a very solid fight, especially since Lamas fought Jose Aldo for the title at UFC 169 and Bermudez is coming off an excellent victory over Clay Guida. But as both could be described as “Mexican-Americans,” the crowd may not be as enthusiastic as one would hope.
Then, we have Diego Sanchez fighting Norman Parke. Sanchez, although American born, is close enough to Mexican that his ferocious fighting style should win over the crowd.
After that, we see season-17 winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Kelvin Gastelum, facing off against Jake Ellenberger. This is another good fight, at least on paper, but it is missing the mark in that Gastelumisn’t well known enough or “Mexican enough” to get the crowd to waiving their flags with the passion we have come to expect.
Obviously, this entire card was built around the headlining bout, and it is a dandy. Cain Velasquez versus Fabricio Werdum is an excellent bout from top to bottom and honestly worth the price of admission, be it at home or on pay-per-view.
Is the main card good? It absolutely is, but one can’t help but wonder if it couldn’t have been bigger. To be honest, save for the headlining bout, the main card would have served as an excellent preliminary card; lots of great up-and-coming fighters slugging it out on a historic night.
Sadly, taking the UFC to Mexico isn’t like taking it to Florida or Texas or Boston. Out of all the fighters on the main card, there is only one who was actually born in Mexico: Erik Perez. The rest of the fighters who can claim any kind of Mexican heritage are Mexican-American.
Why might this matter at all?
Honestly, it might not, depending on how great the fights are. But if you are going to build a main card for a pay-per-view in Mexico, if you cannot stuff it full of genuine Mexican fighters, then you need to at least make up for it with some very big names to cover the difference.
Mexican fight fans love great fights, to be sure; but they go absolutely insane for Mexican fighters above all else. Oscar De La Hoya may have been the biggest name in the sport of boxing when he was in his prime, but when he fought Julio Cesar Chavez, Mexicans were cheering for Chavez, no questions asked.
When Juan Manuel Marquez was discussing his keys to victory over Juan Diaz, he summed it up simply, and we knew he was talking to the people of Mexico when he said: “Juan Diaz is 50 percent Mexican and 50 percent American. I am 100 percent Mexican.” Their fight turned out to be the Fight of the Year for 2009.
Obviously, there are more events on the UFC’s calendar for 2014 than UFC 180, but there may not be any as important as this in terms of global expansion. This is an event that the big wigs at Zuffa should have been working on and planning for since Velasquez reclaimed the title at UFC 155.
UFC 180 would have been the perfect place to put on the bout between Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis, even if it would have meant adjusting the event calendar to afford such a bout. It’s bound to be a barn-burner of a fight and there is another title on the line, which makes up for both fighters being born in America.
The same could be said for the bout between Donald Cerrone and Eddie Alvarez, which is scheduled for UFC 178. The minute Alvarez was signed, his bout with Cerrone should have been slated for UFC 180 because both men are known names and it looks to be a great fight.
Of course, White and Zuffa should have been working to include Nate Diaz on the card. White may think that Diazdoesn’t “move the needle,” but his name, coupled with his style, would go over very well in Mexico, especially if he was pitted against Diego Sanchez.
All of the above suggested fighters have big-enough names and enough Mexican heritage to make up for the fact that they are not nationals; two very important things when a promotion is going to go to a country and play upon their national pride.
UFC 180 isn’t just another event—it is the event of 2014 for the UFC in terms of global expansion. If they can’t make a big splash on November 15, they may not get another chance to reverse the public opinion of a nation that knows boxing as the only combative sport of any worth.
Boxing has been thriving in Mexico for several decades, and as such is in direct competition with the UFC once Zuffa steps foot into the country. Unless UFC 180 really blows the doors off the joint with bout after bout producing Fight of the Year-caliber effort, people of that great country are going to be judging it against the best that boxing has given them.
When you consider bouts like Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales, Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor and countless other epic fights that have given Mexican fans so much to be proud of, the UFC cannot settle for less.
Very rarely does a fight come together via honest divisional math that has as much heat and validity as Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier.
That isn’t to say that there haven’t been some very lucrative bad-blood matches in the UFC to date. The…
Very rarely does a fight come together via honest divisional math that has as much heat and validity as Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier.
That isn’t to say that there haven’t been some very lucrative bad-blood matches in the UFC to date. The company delivered the first bout between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz way back at UFC 40 in addition to giving us Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Rashad Evans at UFC 114.
But neither one of those bouts had the level of legitimacy of Jones-Cormier. For his first bout with Ortiz, Shamrock wasn’t even really ranked at light heavyweight and certainly wasn’t in the top 10.
For his match up with Evans, Jackson had the needed divisional standing but was a man who had proved prone to losing motivation and focus. He had gone from a fighter who looked capable of handling anything thrown his way to a man who looked shocked and utterly unprepared for the rudimentary leg kicks Forrest Griffin used to help take the title.
There have been other bad-blood fights as well—the rematch between Georges St. Pierre versus BJ Penn is another example—that brought in big pay-per-view numbers, but none of them have the dignity that Jones versus Cormier enjoys.
There is nothing phony or contrived about it: Both men are the very best fighters in the division and the timing is nearly perfect. This isn’t one of those fights made simply because it will sell tickets; this is a fight that has seen the cream rise to the top as both champion and challenger look to have the tools to defeat each other.
Aside from Alexander Gustaffson, Daniel Cormier is the man many are picking to have the only true chance of defeating Jones, who has proved to be simply too much for just about anyone at 205 pounds.
When Gustaffson suffered a training injury, Cormier slipped in the front door and took his place, bringing a kind of gravitas to the bout that we have not seen in many years.
Make no mistake about it: Jones and Cormier represent not only the very best fighters in the light heavyweight division, but perhaps in the entire sport.
And they honestly and truly do not like each other in any way, shape or form. The bad blood between these two men runs hot and honest, which gives the fight a Muhammad Ali-vs.-Joe Frazier feel.
There is something about Cormier that either empowers or infuriates Jones enough to toss aside his practiced demeanor and show us the fierce competitor that he really is. A victory over Cormierwouldn’t be for the fans or the sport; it would be for Jones and Jones alone. If we get anything from it, well, that’s of little concern to the reigning light heavyweight champion.
And I love that.
While I have never really understood why so many dislike Jones, the side of himself he is showing now is totally honest. He isn’t shrinking from this moment; he’s rising to it with a Mayweather-esque swagger that is perfectly befitting a fighter who has shown himself to be a near virtuoso at the championship level.
If he hadn’t polarized the fanbase before, he’s done so now, with no apology, hesitation or regret, and that is exactly how it should be.
For Cormier, Jones represents everything he dislikes on a personal level. Cormier clearly respects Jones as a fighter, but he is not in the least bit intimidated; he honestly believes Jones simply cannot handle what he brings into the cage, and he just might be right.
When you look at the opponents both men have fought in the past, it is clear that in each other they are finally facing their biggest test to date. Both men are excellent grapplers with different but equally dangerous striking games and above all, they are in their primes.
While Cormier might be considered old at 35, he’s never really taken any kind of true punishment in his professional career. His transition from Olympic wrestler to a well-rounded MMA fighter has been shockingly fast and fearsome.
When Cormier was throwing Josh Barnett and Dan Henderson around the cage with ease, it was very much reminiscent of how Jones handled Stephan Bonnar and other opponents early in his rise to power.
Cormierisn’t just good, or very good, when it comes to wrestling—he’s fantastic. Consider: Outside of catching a kick attempt or locking Cormier up in the clinch and utilizing a slick trip, it’s damn near impossible to imagine Jones landing any kind of takedown on Cormier.
When was the last time it seemed like Jones would be matched with a fighter who looked like he could stop most (or possibly all) of his takedown attempts? Gustaffson managed to stuff all but one takedown attempt from the champion, but that was just one of many surprises we didn’t see coming.
On the other side, it is going to be very interesting to see how Cormier handles the speed and striking of Jones at range. It is doubtful that Jones is going to be throwing many kicks in this fight, but with his incredible reach, athleticism and skill, his fists and elbows could light Cormier up all night long.
And it’s that kind of drama that makes this one of the most, if not the most, compelling title fights in UFC history.
Again, consider the timing of it all.
Until Gustaffson, Jones hadn’t looked touchable in a fight. After their bout, with Jones bloodied and bruised, his detractors were salivating at the thought that Jones really can be beaten. When coupled with Cormier’s incredible wrestling chops and ever-improving striking, you can bet they will be tuning in to UFC 182 with their hopes of seeing Jones go down in flames higher than they’ve ever been before.
But these aren’t the only reasons why this fight is a must-see event for MMA fans.
Right now, Jones is within striking distance of Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive title defenses. After he dominated Glover Teixeira at UFC 172, Jones extended his streak to seven consecutive title defenses in a row; should he beat Cormier, he will be just three more wins away from breaking Silva’s record, and with that will probably come the mantle of the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
Needless to say, there are many fans of Silva, in addition to the detractors of Jones, who will be tuning in with the hopes of a Cormier victory. They think Jones is cocky enough as it is now and cannot imagine how much bigger he will swell should his pride be fed the title of the greatest fighter ever.
And what of the fans of Jones, who, like the fans of Floyd Mayweather, love to see him keep defying the odds on his march to greatness? With so much at steak, especially bragging rights, there will be many a Jones fan tuning in, waiting for the chance to say Jones really is the greatest of all time and they “knew it all along.”
There is also this point to consider: Should Jones thoroughly dominate Cormier, there will probably be nothing to prevent him from moving up to heavyweight, after he breaks Silva’s title defense record. Outside of Cain Velasquez, Cormier was probably the best heavyweight in the world and should Jones have his way with him, there will be very few people willing to dismiss Jones’s chances at heavyweight—most importantly, Jones himself.
For now, the division between the two fighters and their fans is seething and won’t be harmed by the postponement of the bout. If anything, as Jones get’s healthier, the verbal back and forth between both men is likely to start up again, just as passionate as before.
In fact, the postponement of the bout could actually make it a bigger success.
When Angelo Dundee was manager of Sugar Ray Leonard, there was one fighter that all boxing fans wanted to see him face: Tommy Hearns. Dundee knew this but opted to wait to sign the bout because he knew that it could be huge if it was given enough time to boil in the oven of anticipation and public opinion.
While there are many differences between boxing and MMA, anticipation is anticipation. No matter how fearful we may be that this bout will lose some portion of its epic quality, once Jones is back in training and the fight grows closer, all that has come before will resurface like it happened yesterday.
And one of the big reasons for this is that in the case of Jones versus Cormier, the show itself will probably be equal to the overture.
For a truly great fight to take place at the championship levels, both champion and challenger need to have equal measures of belief in themselves and the desire to claim greatness at the expense of the man standing across from them.
For all the talk about how false or fake Jones is, one thing is terribly clear: In the cage, on fight night, there’s probably no one in the sport more genuine, daring and committed to winning the fight. Jones embraces all the dangers of each opponent and then he wins; there is nothing his detractors can say that changes that.
Now he faces his greatest challenge ever; a man who cares not one little bit about who Jones has defeated before because he believes none of those great men have had what he has—the dedication, confidence and skill needed to put Jones on his back and keep him there, time after time.
Both men believe that they are going to win at UFC 182. One of them is right and one of them is wrong.
There is something wonderful about being a fight fan during the times when a new voice, such as