Anticipation. For fight fans, it can mean endless hours of debate on Internet forums, re-watching old fights, viewing any clip related to the upcoming fight, and in general counting down the days, one at a time. Come July 7 at UFC 148, Anderson Silva a…
Anticipation.
For fight fans, it can mean endless hours of debate on Internet forums, re-watching old fights, viewing any clip related to the upcoming fight, and in general counting down the days, one at a time.
Come July 7at UFC 148, Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will have their rematch, and the rest of us will get to see if it lives up to the anticipation. It has all the necessary prerequisites: trash talk, bad blood, national pride, and two men who gave us one heck of a fight the last time around.
But as usual, we proceed with a healthy bit of caution. After all, we’ve been burned before.
Just because a fight is highly anticipated doesn’t mean it will be great: Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn II, Rashad Evans vs. Quinton Jackson and many others remind us of that fact.
Of course, when we’re counting down the days until the big scrap, we don’t think of the fights that didn’t live up to the hype, we think about the bouts that did, or at least did their best.
And in that spirit, here’s a list of 10 of the most awaited, anticipated fights in MMA history.
The time is almost here. Come UFC 148, the world will get to see what may be the most anticipated rematch in MMA history: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II. The first fight had enough drama and fireworks to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, an…
The time is almost here.
Come UFC 148, the world will get to see what may be the most anticipated rematch in MMA history: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II.
The first fight had enough drama and fireworks to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, and the rematch has all the ingredients to provide heaping helpings of seconds every bit as good as the first pass at the table.
Sonnen has worked hard outside the gym to hype this fight into the stratosphere, and behind closed doors he’s been training like a man who wants the title.
Silva has been Silva, staying relatively quiet and letting his camp talk in his stead.
With the leak of Silva suffering an injury in training, one begins to question just how confident the normally unflappable champion really is. Sonnen was taking it to him in their first fight, both on the ground and standing.
If Silva wants to keep that shiny belt, he’s got a lot of work to do. If Sonnen has proven anything in the past years, it’s that he can back up his words in the cage, and from all the talking he’s been doing, it’s clear he has every intention of replaying the first fight—sans the mental lapse that saw him caught in a fight ending triangle choke.
With all the talk of fighters retiring, one begins to look at those who remain and wonder how long they have left. The world of MMA is a demanding one, and the fighters who attempt to ply their trade on the biggest stage often seem to be forgotten as t…
With all the talk of fighters retiring, one begins to look at those who remain and wonder how long they have left.
The world of MMA is a demanding one, and the fighters who attempt to ply their trade on the biggest stage often seem to be forgotten as that stage continues to grow.
Rich Franklin knows this about as well as anyone.
For a time, he was one of the big names, fighting at the top of his division. But amid all the attention and the glory that comes with being a champion, Franklin never lost sense of himself.
He’s always been a humble, honest man outside the cage, and inside the cage, the purity of his motives and the clarity of his intent have always been consistent and honest.
He doesn’t need bad blood or fabricated storylines to focus his competitive edge; he signs his name to fight, and he fights to the best of his ability, with no excuses.
After he was defeated twice by Anderson Silva, his career seemed set adrift, and still Franklin made the most of it, fighting anyone the UFC put in front of him.
He’s always been there for the company and the fans, and he’s fought a “who’s who” list of champions and top contenders.
His next fight is against Wanderlei Silva, a fighter beloved by damn near everyone due to his take no prisoners style. Franklin won a tough, exciting bout against Silva years ago, but he’s facing a better version of “The Axe Murderer” this time around.
And I have no doubt that Franklin will fight as he always does: with the courage of his convictions.
I can’t help but dread the day when Franklin announces his retirement. I love watching him fight, and I love how he conducts himself outside the cage.
When Franklin was one of the bigger faces for the company, he served them well and with the integrity that has always been a constant in his life. Brutal honesty has always been one of Franklin’s strongest assets, and he’s never failed to call a spade a spade, especially when he aims the light of criticism at himself.
After his losses to Silva, he was brutally honest about the path he was on, and he clearly intended to make the most of it.
He’s given us some great fights, and as a coach on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, he was about as good a trainer and role model as anyone could hope for.
When Rich Franklin finally hangs up his gloves, it seems clear he will do so with no regrets. He’s never been wholly defined by his life as a fighter, instead choosing to let his principals and dedication define how he fights.
And that’s why he’ll always be a fighter to watch. And there are many who would do well to take notes, because there’s some damn good stuff there.
For one of the longest running fighters in UFC history, it’s all coming to a close on July 7, 2012. Tito Ortiz will fight in the Octagon for the last time in a rubber match against Forrest Griffin at UFC 148. Ortiz began his career with the compa…
For one of the longest running fighters in UFC history, it’s all coming to a close on July 7, 2012.
Tito Ortiz will fight in the Octagon for the last time in a rubber match against Forrest Griffin at UFC 148.
Ortiz began his career with the company on May 30, 1997, fighting for free at UFC 13.
In his long career, Ortiz has seen incredible heights of fame and success and all the lows that can be weighed in the balance, and through it all he has remained one of the biggest draws the company has.
Let’s look at some of the greatest hits of the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, Tito Ortiz.
By now, even the most casual of fight fans has heard the saying that fighters shouldn’t have sex before a fight, and some old school trainers (especially in boxing) don’t like their fighters to have sex during training. In the words of Mick…
By now, even the most casual of fight fans has heard the saying that fighters shouldn’t have sex before a fight, and some old school trainers (especially in boxing) don’t like their fighters to have sex during training.
Muhammad Ali, according to some reports, wouldn’t have sex within a six-week window as a fight drew closer.
So, what’s behind all this talk?
I know of a great many men who cannot seem to understand this. They argue that sex relaxes the body, and going into a fight would seem the best time to be relaxed.
Makes sense to me.
Others talk about the confidence building aspects of good sex, and how that could carry over into the ring.
Also makes sense to me.
In doing research on the subject, I was surprised at what I found out. I was not going in to prove or disprove, but understand why it has almost become an accepted norm in the fight game.
The first notion I expected to find proven true was the belief (right or wrong) that sexual activity weakened key muscles used in either boxing, MMA, or other combative sports like wrestling, judo, etc.
I found not a hint of that.
What I did find were concerns more of the mental than physical.
In an article by Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News, Doctors Ian Shrier (a sports medicine specialist) and Emmanuel A. Jannini (a professor of endocrinology) seem to agree that there is no actual proof that sex before athletic events, including those of combative sports, have any kind of diminishing effect on an athlete physically.
“There are two possible ways sex before competition could affect performance,” said Shrier. “First, it could make you tired and weak the next day. This has been disproven.
“The second was is that it could affect your psychological state of mind. This has not been tested.”
In another piece, by BoxingExperts.com, the subject is also addressed as a mental issue, not a physical one.
One of the first things stressed was that sex is really the No. 1 biological imperative—not only of men, but the human race as a species.
Basically, we live to reproduce and further the human race, and the rest of our lives are what we make of it.
I know, it sounds rather dismissive of countless ideologies and disciplines that both men and women can devote their lives to, which have nothing to do with sex or bringing new life into the world.
But I decided to just look at it as simply as possible, and in doing so, I must agree.
We are a society ruled by our sexual urges, and to them we serve. To what degree is usually a great debate, but we really needn’t look all that far than our television set to see the truth.
Advertisements, news, entertainment television—they all appeal to our sex drives to some extent.
For the sake of this piece, the best way to sum it up perhaps is to say that sex is our goal, and once we have it, we are fulfilled.
And therein we find the rub.
Combative sports are not about fulfillment before you climb into the ring or cage, no sir. They are about finding fulfillment after you have defeated your opponent or gone down swinging.
Sex before a fight doesn’t weaken a fighter physically, it weakens them mentally.
If sex is our main imperative as a race, and we have sex before a fight, one of our primary drives as human beings has already been fulfilled, and that “bleeds” over into the performance in the ring.
It dampens that competitive drive to defeat the other man, and if there’s one thing I think a fighter needs when stepping into the cage, it’s a desire to win.
Nay, not just a desire: a hunger.
Fighting by its very nature isn’t done by those already satisfied; it’s done by those who demand satisfaction in a way most of us will never know.
Yet another reason why fighters are very special people in their own right.
Baskin Robbins’ 31 Flavors has nothing on the UFC lightweight division. Now that BJ Penn is back in business and Jose Aldo and Gilbert Melendez might be coming to the party, suddenly doors are opening to a slew of incredible fights in the lightweight …
Baskin Robbins’ 31 Flavors has nothing on the UFC lightweight division.
Now that BJ Penn is back in business and Jose Aldo and Gilbert Melendez might be coming to the party, suddenly doors are opening to a slew of incredible fights in the lightweight division.
That is not to say that the division needed Penn, Aldo or Melendez because it is so thick with talent that almost anyone in the top eight or ten could take the title by force on any given night.
We also don’t know how long Penn is going to stick around. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the lure of incredible tests against incredible fighters brings him back down to 155.
Never has the sport seen a true pound-for-pound legend like Penn try to conquer such a stacked division. In all honesty, the welterweight and middleweight divisions haven’t had as much talent and skill as the lightweight division has now: GSP and Anderson Silva never had to contend with so many serious threats to their titles.
It’s a dream come true for fight fans, not to mention Joe Silva. It is incredibly rare for a match maker to have so many “can’t lose” options at his disposal.
Then, when you factor in the very real chances of Jose Aldo moving up to challenge himself at 155, and the likely addition of Gilbert Melendez…well, it’s unlike anything the sport has seen before.
I know, this is assuming much, but let’s pretend we’re Joe Silva for a moment and look at a small sample of possibilities.
With all the talk of fighters retiring, one begins to look at those who remain and wonder how long they have left.