In the co-main event last evening at UFC on FOX 3, welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks fought in a closely-contested affair that marked the first time two NCAA Division I national champions fought in the UFC….
In the co-main event last evening at UFC on FOX 3, welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks fought in a closely-contested affair that marked the first time two NCAA Division I national champions fought in the UFC.
Hendricks was ultimately declared the winner, but only by split decision. Judges Jeff Blatnick and Cardo Urso scored the bout 29-28 for Hendricks. The dissenting judge who scored it 29-28 for Koscheck? Former UFC middleweight and welterweight contender and now retired fighter Ricardo Almeida.
It’d be a stretch to call scoring the fight for Koscheck irresponsible or evidence of poor judging, although there’s not much of a quantitative defense for Koscheck. Still, judging is a qualitative endeavor and one hampered by vantage point, biases both ingrained or innocuous and the limits of one’s ability to draw defensible conclusions about athletic performance. By the very nature of how judging is administered, a difference of opinion in close contests among those qualified to score MMA at the highest professional levels is inevitable. A score for Koscheck isn’t bad even if it isn’t ultimately the most defensible position to take.
Still, how could it be the only judge with professional MMA and UFC experience make the choice most qualified observes do not agree with and one not supported by quantitative data? Is it just a difference of opinion?
To answer that question, let’s rewind all the way back to June of 2011. The event is UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin and the bout is a preliminary card featherweight fight between Darren Elkins and Michihiro Omigawa.
Over three rounds, Elkins an Omigawa battled in a close contest that was made all the more difficult to judge by the general lack of any major action. Points were scored, but it took a nuanced eye to notice all of the subtle ways points were being scored.
By the time the fight ended, virtually all online observers and media (as well as a healthy portion of those in attendance) scored the fight 29-28 for Omigawa. UFC President Dana White did, too. The judges, however, didn’t see it that way. Judges Jason Darrah, Dave Hagen and Bill Mahood awarded the bout to Elkins, scoring it 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28, respectively.
A bad score or at least one that seems indefensible is not uncommon in MMA, but this fight was different. Why? All three judges had professional MMA experience. Mahood, in particular, was a UFC veteran.
To be clear, scoring last night’s fight for Koscheck is not the same as scoring Elkins vs. Omigawa for Elkins. But the point is this: we don’t know yet if former fighters – even those who achieved at the highest level – will necessarily be great MMA judges. Fighting and judging only share a small segment of overlapping skills. Understanding fighting enough to compete at the UFC level does not necessarily mean one automatically has the requisite judgment to evaluate the performance of other fighters according to the guidelines (and values that underwrite those guidelines) of the Unified Rules of MMA.
On balance, maybe former fighters will be better judges than what we are typically accustomed to living with. They’ve got a special and important experience. They certainly cannot be worse than boxing judges who’ve been grandfathered into judging MMA contests.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe we don’t yet really know if it’s actually true. Not yet, anyway. What we do know is that it’s too early to say definitively former fighters necessarily make great judges. Intuitively, it makes sense and who would rather have Tony Weeks score a MMA fight than Almeida? Not many. Yet, would I take Jeff Blatnick (admittedly, he’s got supreme amateur wrestling credentials) over just about any other judge, even those with fighting experience? Yeah, I probably would.
In Almeida’s defense, a case for Koscheck could conceivably be cobbled together. Besides, split decision dissents aren’t the worst thing in the world since the right guy won and all of Almeida’s other decisions seem right on the money.
All I’m suggesting is that we hold off on declaring something true just because it’s intuitively appealing. Our intuitions have to be backed up by experience. On those grounds, the jury is very much still out.
The early ratings figures for the UFC’s third outing on FOX are in and there’s both good and bad news.
According to a report by TV By The Numbers, UFC on FOX 3 pulled in a total of 2.25 million viewers. Among adults 18-49, the eve…
The early ratings figures for the UFC’s third outing on FOX are in and there’s both good and bad news.
According to a report by TV By The Numbers, UFC on FOX 3 pulled in a total of 2.25 million viewers. Among adults 18-49, the event earned a 1.0 rating and 4 share. The event was headlined by a lightweight fight between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz and took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
That figure is good enough for UFC to have won the evening in their time slot among major networks in the key adult demo, but not good enough to top CBS in viewers overall.
Additionally, UFC on FOX 3’s initial ratings figures are down considerably from UFC on FOX 2, which itself was a decline from the first UFC on FOX.
UFC on FOX 2, which featured a main event between light heavyweights Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, earned overnight numbers of 4.57 million. UFC on FOX, an event headlined by a UFC heavyweight title clash between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, pulled in initial average estimates of 4.64 million.
Both numbers eventually went up when final ratings were available, though generally not by huge leaps. UFC on FOX 2 eventually scored 4.7 million viewers and peaked with 6 million. UFC on FOX 1’s final numbers saw an average of 5.7 million viewers and a peak of 8.8 million viewers.
Final average numbers and a peak figure for UFC on FOX 3 should be available Monday or Tuesday.
UFC on FOX 4 is expected to take take place on August 4th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. UFC middleweight and commentator Brian Stann confirmed on last night’s broadcast he will headline the event in a bout with former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard.
The oddsmakers had Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as the overwhelming favorite, but Miguel Cotto gave him a much tougher fight than most had anticipated.
Officially, Mayweather earned a unanimous decision win, taking 117-111, 117-111 and 1…
The oddsmakers had Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as the overwhelming favorite, but Miguel Cotto gave him a much tougher fight than most had anticipated.
Officially, Mayweather earned a unanimous decision win, taking 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 on the judges’ scorecards. He also took Cotto’s WBC junior middleweight belt, thereby earning his eighth title in five weight classes. MMA Fighting scored the bout 116-112 for Mayweather.
Throughout most of the fight, Cotto’s plan appeared to be backing Mayweather into the ropes or the corner to stymie his movement. Mayweather was still able to avoid the majority of Cotto’s heavy punches, but not all of them. Many of the Puerto Rican’s combinations were able to sneak through over the course of the fight. In fact, Mayweather’s nose appeared bloodied by the fifth round, an issue Mayweather rarely faces.
Mayweather was able to take most of the rounds on volume punching even when Cotto was able to sneak a shot or two through. In the twelfth, however, Mayweather did his best work, landing a hard uppercut that wobbled Cotto and backed him up. Mayweather decided to not follow up aggressively, but it ensured he would take the frame in closely-contested affair.
By most observers’ accounts, though, Cotto fought a tactically smart fight even if he came up on the losing end.
After the bout, Mayweather told HBO commentators Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward that Cotto was one of his toughest bouts to date. “He’s one of the best fighters that I’ve ever fought,” said Mayweather. “I can’t take nothing away from Miguel Cotto.”
The new WBC junior middleweight also told HBO’s Jim Lampley that a fight with fellow welterweight star Manny Pacquiao should be next. “If you the best, take the test,” said Mayweather, alluding to his personal requirement that Pacquiao by subject to Olympic-style testing in order for Mayweather to accept a bout with him. “Let’s give the fans what they want to see: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.”
Before any fight, however, Mayweather is expected to report to county jail on June 1st per the terms of a 90-day sentencing for misdemeanor domestic violation conviction.
What does the UFC hope to get out of tonight’s event? UFC President Dana White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta always publicly state they want each of their events and the subsequent results to play out organically. Whatever cards th…
What does the UFC hope to get out of tonight’s event? UFC President Dana White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta always publicly state they want each of their events and the subsequent results to play out organically. Whatever cards they’re dealt, that’s the hand they’ll play. Clearly nothing is rigged, but the UFC has the advantage of stacking the deck on some level. They sign the fighters and they create the match-ups.
In their third outing on FOX, UFC has clearly created a card designed to deliver on what the first two UFC on FOX events lacked: action. To do that, they’ve substituted out a strong measure of star power (by casual fan standards) for fighters who deliver on aggressive offense. In terms of star attractions, this card was booked as something more than a UFC on FX event, but less than a typical pay-per-view.
The first outing on FOX was special for its historical gravity and the battle of the heavyweight championship. Still, the action lasted all of 64 seconds. The second outing didn’t put as much up for grabs, but expanded the fight card to three bouts. The action was definitely better (certainly longer), but still didn’t have the ‘wow’ moments most of the MMA initiated are accustomed to witnessing. It’s true this third outing on FOX is an attempt to set up future pay-per-view bouts and attractions. But one of the most important considerations is representing MMA on network television as faithfully as it actually can be when it’s fun and exciting. I tend to believe engineering for action in MMA is often a fool’s errand, but there’s admittedly good reason to believe if nothing else, tonight’s fights will deliver on those terms.
All of this, though, is discussion about what’s riding on tonight’s card. What about the actual fights themselves? A card’s importance and value is partly a function of the importance of each particular fight. With that, let’s take a closer look at the bouts on the main card to see what’s truly at stake at the Izod Center tonight.
At stake: stepping out of the shadows. A lot rides on this fight for Miller. He won’t get a title shot if he wins – nor should he – but obviously a win over a competitor like Diaz is huge. Still, Miller seems like a candidate who will have the ability to float at the top of this division for some time. How high? No one knows for sure, but he’s so talented and such a ferocious competitor he’ll seemingly be in fights of significance for the foreseeable future. And if he’s going to eventually contend for a title, he’s going to have to win beyond tonight’s contest.
The real focus is on Diaz. With his brother on ice and locked in a legal battle with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the younger Diaz has a monstrous opportunity this evening. A win not only earns him a title shot, but it finally puts him past the tipping point where his identity is no longer viewed as a facsimile of his older, more famous brother’s. A convincing win against Miller and eventual title shot foists the younger Diaz in a position where he isn’t compared to Nick or what Nick’s done or how Nick fights. Yes, their fighting styles are similar and their brotherly bond is tight. Nate Diaz won’t be able to ever fully escape how his brother’s life, career and style define his own.
It’s also certainly not the worst fate to have one’s career and abilities compared to Nick Diaz, but it’s also probably not exactly fair either. Nate isn’t Nick and he deserves to have his story told without it being a function of what Nick has or hasn’t done. Nate merits his own spotlight for his own achievements in his own fights against opponents that were solely his. Nick Diaz is arguably the most important influence in Nate’s very participation and success in MMA, but that doesn’t demand we only consider Nate’s existence and achievements through that prism. He’s his own man on his own path. A win tonight pushes him along on that trajectory more than any other to date.
At stake: fulfilling the promise of potential. The world has been waiting for Hendricks to arrive. The question is whether this is his coming out party as the welterweight division’s next big standout. Koscheck’s career obviously matters, too, but he’s not on a contendership track at the moment. The real eyes of the fight world tonight are on his opponent.
A two-time (nearly three) Division I NCAA wrestling champion out of Oklahoma State and absolute villain in collegiate wrestling, Hendricks’ maturation into full-fledged welterweight contender has been a very slow simmer and something of an uncertainty. Many expected him, perhaps unfairly, to have a much more rapid ascension in MMA. As reality set it he wasn’t going to steamroll his fellow welterweights, many insiders were unsure of whether Hendricks would ever even reach the point he has today. He’s defeated everyone he was expected to, squeaked by the ultra-tough Mike Pierce and defeated perennial number two contender Jon Fitch. The problem, though, is that he beat Fitch in a way that doesn’t tell us anything other than Hendricks has potent power punching (something we already saw in his win against Amir Sadollah). If he’s really got the stuff to compete at the upper echelon of the division, he’ll need to show it over the course of a round or two.
Some have focused on the fact this is the first time two NCAA national champions have faced one another, but that’s more a historical footnote or piece of trivia. The real issue is whether or not Hendricks can hang with the elite of the division. If he can, he’ll get a title shot against whoever the UFC welterweight champion is at that time. If Hendricks is going to make a name for himself in the fight game, tonight is the night to do it.
At stake: limbs and signature wins. In any fight with Palhares, life may not be at risk as such, but limb certainly is. Let’s acknowledge that right up front. You don’t win a silver medal at ADCC (losing only to Andre Galvao on points) by heel hooking your opposition without a) being a serious grappling talent and b) having a particular subset of skills that even world-class black belts find difficulty handling. In the MMA context, a bout with Palhares is as close to playing Russian Roulette with ACLs and MCLs as one can possibly get.
The more important consideration for this bout, however, is what a win here means for either Belcher or Palhares. In short, this would be something of a signature win for either combatant. A win here does more for either fighter than any previous win they’ve had in the UFC. Palhares has nice wins over Dan Miller and Jeremy Horn, but fell short against Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt. Belcher has good wins over Denis Kang and Patrick Cote, but fell short against Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason Day and Kendall Grove.
Perhaps most importantly, a win here unequivocally pushes the winner into the middleweight top ten. This is a fight that could serve as an inflection point for either fighter’s contendership status. I know we are all focused on the absurdity and chaos that could ensue here, but this is a bout with serious upside for the winner.
At stake: cognitive functioning. I’ve talked to Barry multiple times and while I’m certain he’d love to work his way up to a UFC heavyweight title shot, I’m also fairly certain he believes that’s probably a remote possibility. I’m also reasonably confident he’s at peace with that. What he wants to do is fight for a living. There are some terms under which he’d like to fight, namely, for decent pay and against tough opposition. Given his penchant for the knockout and his previous statements virtually everyone in the UFC heavyweight division is either scary or huge or much bigger than him, I’d call him satisfied.
A win over Johnson certainly moves him up the ladder, but not in any hugely meaningful way. Barry is 4-4 in his UFC career. His role, by and large, is to serve as something of a litmus test for UFC heavyweight division entrants while fighting with a very fan-friendly style typically against other fighters with fan-friendly styles. Johnson is arguably in the same predicament. These fighters deserve to be in the UFC heavyweight division, but this bout is mostly about two rams butting heads on a hill top. It’s action for action’s sake and as long as we understand this bout on those terms, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
MMA Fighting has a Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the top boxing fights of the year.The main event will start a little after 11:30 p.m. ET. Check out our Mayweather vs. Cotto resu…
MMA Fighting has a Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the top boxing fights of the year.
The main event will start a little after 11:30 p.m. ET. Check out our Mayweather vs. Cotto results page to find out what happened on the undercard.
Check out the main event live blog below. Round 1:
MMA Fighting has live results of Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto fight card in Las Vegas on Saturday night.When the main event begins, around 11:30 p.m. ET, check out our Mayweather vs. Cotto live blog for live round-by-round up…
MMA Fighting has live results of Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto fight card in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
