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Chael Sonnen is one of the most impressive middleweights in MMA. His lackluster performance over Michael Bisping notwithstanding.He’s beaten great fighters, and he’s almost beaten the greatest of all time—Anderson Silva.Thus, the purpose of this …
Chael Sonnen is one of the most impressive middleweights in MMA. His lackluster performance over Michael Bisping notwithstanding.
He’s beaten great fighters, and he’s almost beaten the greatest of all time—Anderson Silva.
Thus, the purpose of this slideshow is to remind fans that Chael Sonnen hasn’t looked as bad as he looked against Bisping.
In fact, he’s looked like a dominant force in prior outings and here are his best performances.
The heavyweight division has the hardest hitters in MMA.At UFC on FOX 2, Lavar Johnson proved that he was one of the elite heavy hitters at heavyweight.There are other heavyweights that pack a lethal punch (or kick, or knee, for that matter) who could …
The heavyweight division has the hardest hitters in MMA.
At UFC on FOX 2, Lavar Johnson proved that he was one of the elite heavy hitters at heavyweight.
There are other heavyweights that pack a lethal punch (or kick, or knee, for that matter) who could knock a normal man’s head into the stratosphere.
So which ones hit the hardest? Read and find out!
Phil Davis is an amazing wrestler; but he’s mainly just a wrestler.His NCAA accolades and his time at Penn State have served him well so far in the Octagon. However, against the top-tier fighters, he needs something more.What does he need?There are thr…
Phil Davis is an amazing wrestler; but he’s mainly just a wrestler.
His NCAA accolades and his time at Penn State have served him well so far in the Octagon. However, against the top-tier fighters, he needs something more.
What does he need?
There are three main areas where he needs to improve his game if he’s to ever become a true top light heavyweight.
The legendary “hacktivist” group Anonymous has apparently retaliated in their war with the UFC and UFC president Dana White over support of the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills.
Five days ago, the UFC website was hacked for the first time. Instead of …
The legendary “hacktivist” group Anonymous has apparently retaliated in their war with the UFC and UFC president Dana White over support of the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills.
Five days ago, the UFC website was hacked for the first time. Instead of the usual articles and pictures on the website, there was only a drawing of Adolf Hitler and the “names” of the supposed hackers.
White was initially laconic about the incident until a recent interview with Ariel Helwani in which a boisterous White referred to the hackers as “terrorists” and even challenged them to attack the UFC website again.
The challenge was accepted.
The above video depicts the UFC website being hacked for a second time since five days ago (although, at the time of writing, the UFC website is fine). In addition, in the description of the video is a link that reveals personal information such as the coordinates of Dana White’s house and other things White surely wouldn’t want strangers to know.
But, before that even happened, Dana White and a twitter account (supposedly) representing Anonymous engaged in verbal jousting.
The Anonymous account (@YourAnonNews) tweeted White about his comments and he wasted no time, and pulled no punches, in responding.
“[A]nd yes cowards hide on the Internet! At least I’m man enough to say all my shit in public and not hide behind a screen name!!” White tweeted.
After some more back and forth, White refused to back down from claiming the group wasn’t but a wretched hive of scum and villainy; naught but common terrorists.
“I love the Internet. It helped us grow our biz. Stealing is stealing! And hacking into people’s shit is terrorism.” he tweeted.
If nothing else, White is a courageous man to stand by his convictions, but it may not be the smartest choice.
Anonymous has brought down bigger and more important websites in the past; if they can survive the FBI and the Department of Justice, they can survive Dana White, the UFC and Zuffa.
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Silver-tongued UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen is revolutionizing MMA with his outlandish antics, and for the better.What exactly is he doing?He’s guiding the UFC into a transitional era in its history; Sonnen is the harbinger of the most important trans…
Silver-tongued UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen is revolutionizing MMA with his outlandish antics, and for the better.
What exactly is he doing?
He’s guiding the UFC into a transitional era in its history; Sonnen is the harbinger of the most important transformation in the history of the company: Turning the UFC into a real WWE.
Now, before you write a scathing, vitriolic comment, hear me out.
Recently, Sonnen did an interview in which he proclaimed himself the real middleweight champion and even brought his own belt to the interview. He said similar words (and still brought the “real” belt) at the UFC on FOX 2 pre-fight press conference.
Approximately 20 years ago, famed professional wrestler Ric Flair appeared on WWE (then WWF) programming with his own belt (the NWA title) and proclaimed that he was the real world champion.
The similarities are obvious; Sonnen brilliantly took a page out of professional wrestling’s book and in doing so entertained the masses.
Throughout the UFC’s history, the marketing pendulum swung between the entertainment aspect and the sporting aspect to sell the brand.
In the early days, the focus was on entertainment and violence. When Zuffa took over, the emphasis shifted on athleticism and sport; the men were athletes and not brawlers.
Then, when The Ultimate Fighter debuted, the emphasis switched back to entertainment briefly before the show became passè and the athleticism of fighters like UFC welterweight Georges St.Pierre was emphasized.
However, athleticism doesn’t always sell.
The pay-per-view buy rates weren’t impressive in 2011; it appeared as though the UFC stagnated in that year.
Enter the deal with FOX. Surely this is guaranteed to increase the UFC’s growth, right?
Not necessarily.
People may know the UFC brand but only so many of those people care about the sport of MMA. If FOX had to sell a UFC event based off of a Jon Fitch highlight reel, could they do it?
No, because people watch sports to be entertained.
This is why Sonnen’s trash talking and over-the-top antics are inherently brilliant: He is entertaining the “unwashed” masses who don’t particularly appreciate the finer points of MMA whilst also appeasing the hardcore fans who know and love everything about the sport.
He is promising sports for the sports fans and entertainment for those who just want a show as well as something to discuss at the water cooler.
Through his brashness and verbal wit, he’s transforming MMA into real pro-wrestling, the UFC into the WWE of old.
This isn’t to be feared and hated by self-proclaimed “hardcore” fans of MMA.
By becoming a truly memorable personality and by doing so on FOX, Sonnen is beginning to change the landscape of the sport.
Fighters will see how he resurrected his career by embracing professional wrestling “promos” and begin to adopt them as well.
Shortly after, the UFC will occupy the WWE’s role in society, and experience something akin to the 1980’s wrestling boom.
Thus, thanks to Chael Sonnen’s blending of professional wrestling and MMA, the UFC will rise up and become a part of American (and global) society for decades.
Prominent UFC fighters will become heroes like Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.
The only difference will be that the fighting is real.
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t useless, and it’s not in crisis. It is, and always will be, applicable in MMA, despite what BJJ legend Rickson Gracie might think. However, it’s easy to see why some might think that Jiu-Jitsu’s prestige has fallen becaus…
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t useless, and it’s not in crisis. It is, and always will be, applicable in MMA, despite what BJJ legend Rickson Gracie might think.
However, it’s easy to see why some might think that Jiu-Jitsu’s prestige has fallen because, quite frankly, it has.
When BJJ (then called “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu” in a brilliant stroke of marketing) burst into the United States in 1993, it quickly became the most feared martial art on the planet.
Royce Gracie—the representative of the Gracie family—ran through some of the world’s best martial artists by using grappling and submission holds (which were practically unheard of in the mainstream U.S. martial arts culture at the time—thanks, Karate Kid).
After seeing Gracie and his family’s martial art dominate, it became the next big thing.
Martial artists couldn’t stop themselves from being taken down, mounted and choked out. One by one, Jiu-Jitsu established superiority over other fighting systems.
Then, something happened: Strikers started training in grappling, wrestlers started training in submissions and striking; martial arts were beginning to be mixed.
All the while, Jiu-Jitsu men stuck to their old but proven ways.
As the sport of mixed martial arts came to be and subsequently evolved, BJJ didn’t.
Royce Gracie couldn’t handle Matt Hughes.
Demian Maia and Thales Leites couldn’t strike with or takedown Anderson Silva.
Fabricio Werdum couldn’t strike with or takedown Alistair Overeem.
The best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world were reduced to butt-scooting.
Does that mean BJJ is the most useless discipline in MMA?
Hardly.
BJJ will always have its uses (see Pat Barry’s arm-bar escape and the various submissions that are locked up in each UFC event), it’s just that pure BJJ artists need to update their training and mindset for modern MMA.
Just training BJJ isn’t good enough anymore, just as in the burgeoning days of MMA, just striking or wrestling weren’t good enough anymore.
It’s not useless, and it will never be, it just needs a little bit of work.
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