Author: Matt Saccaro

UFC 155: How Would a Cain Velasquez-Junior Dos Santos Rubber Match Play Out?

Junior dos Santos should temper his desire to fight Cain Velasquez again seeing as a rubber match between the two wouldn’t go his way.After a brutal loss at UFC 155 that saw the former heavyweight champ dominated like never before, Dos Santos spoke wit…

Junior dos Santos should temper his desire to fight Cain Velasquez again seeing as a rubber match between the two wouldn’t go his way.

After a brutal loss at UFC 155 that saw the former heavyweight champ dominated like never before, Dos Santos spoke with Brazilian media outlet SporTV about how he already longed for a rematch. 

“I want [a rematch] now, soon,” he said. “I won the first and he had a rematch. Now I lost and I want my rematch. I’m saying I want this fight. I’ll get my belt.”

Bold words from a man who had his face rearranged for 25 minutes.

Velasquez nearly knocked out dos Santos in the first round, then controlled the Brazilian with superior wrestling and periodically battered him with strikes. In fact, Velasquez’s performance was so dominant that it was record-setting. 

However, dos Santos has already realized what went wrong for him during the fight: 

I used the wrong strategy. I was very worried about his entry in my legs and left face unprotected. So he hit me. When I was on the floor, I should have used more jiu-jitsu, I trained so much. But I tried to (get) back up, and it hurt me too, but on the ground [he] is very good, very strong. I did not connect any punches good, even. It was bad because I was feeling very well, did a great training camp, everything was just right.

Dos Santos is right in some ways, but realizing what went wrong and actively being able to change it are two different things.

At JDS-Velasquez I, Velasquez made the mistake of not closing the distance fast enough. Standing right in dos Santo’s range even for a minute was too costly an error. Velasquez paid for it with his consciousness. 

Velasquez adopted a smarter approach in the second fight.

He constantly pressured and smothered JDS from start to finish. Dos Santos eluded the first few takedown attempts. He also managed to spring back up from Velasquez’s initial successful takedowns. 

However, like he said above, Velasquez’s constant pressure forced him to focus too much on the takedowns. It made him forget about his forte—striking. 

A rematch wouldn’t be different.

Velasquez has the tools to beat dos Santos, and at UFC 155 he found the strategy: pressure, pressure, pressure.

If dos Santos doesn’t have the space to land his trademark uppercut or any other power-punch—or if he’s on his back—he can’t win.

In JDS‘ talk with SporTV he did mention his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but we’ve never actually seen him use it. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that he’d be able to submit a strong, dominant wrestler like Velasquez.

Thus, dos Santos’ only hope in a potential rubber match would be to clip Velasquez while he comes in close for a takedown or clinch. 

But in all likelihood, a JDS-Velasquez III ends in another unanimous for Cain Velasquez, he’s just tailor-made to beat a fighter like Junior dos Santos.

 

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UFC 158 Fight Card: Dana White: ‘Nick Diaz Does Not Return My Calls, My Texts’

Nick Diaz hasn’t spoken to Dana White regarding UFC 158, even declining to answer his boss’ calls and texts.”Nick Diaz doesn’t return my calls, my texts, nothing,” the UFC president told Middle Easy. “You don’t have to call me, you don’t have to text m…

Nick Diaz hasn’t spoken to Dana White regarding UFC 158, even declining to answer his boss’ calls and texts.

“Nick Diaz doesn’t return my calls, my texts, nothing,” the UFC president told Middle Easy. “You don’t have to call me, you don’t have to text me, but you do have to show up to the press conference,” he said. 

Sadly, this kind of behavior isn’t new. 

Diaz was scheduled to face UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137, but he no-showed two press conferences for the event. It was Diaz‘s disappearance at the second presser in Las Vegas that earned the ire of Dana White.

It was a conundrum. Diaz‘s manager, Cesar Gracie, even called White during the press conference. Meanwhile, Nick Diaz released a bizarre YouTube video of himself driving around and muttering.

White ultimately took Diaz‘s title shot away and awarded it to Carlos Condit. 

However, St-Pierre ended up injuring his knee and was unable to fight. Instead, Diaz was given a fight against BJ Penn and promoted to the main event.

Hopefully, White’s recent words on Diaz aren’t prophetic of yet another ditched press conference. 

“I would be blown away if he did it twice. It just wouldn’t be a good move,” White said regarding Diaz no-showing UFC 158 media obligations. 

“[Diaz] isn’t a fan of the pre-fight promotion, but you have to do it. You have to do it. Whether you’re Nick Diaz or Anderson Silva, whoever you are, it’s in your contract,” he said.

If Diaz again decides to leave members of the press gawking at his empty chair, White won’t pull any punches.

“You can actually be cut. We can cut you for that,” said White. “I proved that you will be punished if you don’t show up to those things, if you don’t do it. You either won’t fight the big fight that you were supposed to fight or you’ll be cut.”

Nick Diaz simply must attend his media obligations this time around. The fate of a highly anticipated fight (as well as a big payday for the UFC) is resting on his shoulders.

 

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Report: Fewer Than 5,000 Tickets Sold for Ronda Rousey’s UFC Debut at UFC 157

UFC 157—an event meant to showcase the first-ever female UFC champion Ronda Rousey—has sold fewer than 5,000 tickets, according to a report by Dave Meltzer of MMAfighting.com.Rousey can’t armbar fans into parting with their cash, …

UFC 157—an event meant to showcase the first-ever female UFC champion Ronda Rousey—has sold fewer than 5,000 tickets, according to a report by Dave Meltzer of MMAfighting.com.

Rousey can’t armbar fans into parting with their cash, or so it seems. 

Meltzer elaborated the situation: 

The location, the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., was also a risk. While Rousey is from Southern California, the Los Angeles/Anaheim market has never been an easy one after the immediate sellout of the company’s debut show there in 2006. Generally speaking, the more a city is run, outside of Las Vegas which is a strong casino market, the harder it is to sell tickets.

While the 2010 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez heavyweight title fight at the Honda Center got off to a strong start even that wasn’t an instant sellout. But most shows at the Honda Center or Staples Center in Los Angeles have in recent years done more in the range of 6,000 to 7,000 tickets over he first week of sales.

Meltzer also noted that UFC 157’s numbers displayed “slower early sales than most major UFC pay-per-view shows.”

But despite such dolorous tidings, Meltzer also pointed out that it was too early to sound the alarms. “The Southern California market has done strong walk-up business in the past,” he wrote. “[UFC on FOX 4] ended up selling 10,151 tickets to the Staples Center and had 16,080 in the arena.”

Furthermore, UFC 157 isn’t the only PPV to have put up poor initial numbers:

[UFC 157] is also ahead of the pace for UFC 150 in Denver on Aug. 11, headlined by Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar for the lightweight title It’s also selling tickets ahead of the early pace of UFC 133, a show on Aug. 6, 2011, the company’s second trip to Philadelphia, which was originally headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis. 

The MMA world has gotten a bit carried away with Rousey-mania. True, an attractive, silver-tongued, kick-ass fighter seemed to have “top draw” written all over it (and, generally, web traffic in Rousey articles supported this fact). However, the most sacrosanct of metrics—dollar bills—show that society really doesn’t care all that much. 

Perhaps the idea of women in a cagefight doesn’t appeal to a wide audience? Or maybe MMA pundits refused to take off their triumphalism-tinted glasses and recognize that MMA is just a niche sport, even if it’s a highly marketable woman that’s doing the fighting?

Of course, ticket sales are only part of the equation.

The success of Ronda Rousey as a draw will be known for sure once the PPV numbers come in.

Then the world will see if women’s MMA in the UFC will live or die. If the most prominent female fighter alive can’t get PPV buys, the UFC’s great female experiment will likely be considered a failure. The plug will be unceremoniously pulled, snuffing out the dreams of many a female fighter across the world.

 

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UFC 156 Fight Card: Alistair Overeem to Appear Before NSAC on January 8

UFC 156 fighter Alistair Overeem will appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission in regards to his fighter’s license on Jan. 8, according to MMAJunkie.com.The former K-1 champion applied for the license today, seeing as he’s scheduled to f…

UFC 156 fighter Alistair Overeem will appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission in regards to his fighter’s license on Jan. 8, according to MMAJunkie.com.

The former K-1 champion applied for the license today, seeing as he’s scheduled to fight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156 in Las Vegas a month from now. 

However, according to NSAC Director Keith Kizer, there’s still some red tape to cut through (via the MMA Junkie report):

[Overeem] will be required per his previous denial to appear before the full commission at the next scheduled meeting, which is Jan. 8. It will be his burden to prove to the commissioners that he should be granted a license to compete in Nevada. After hearing all relevant evidence, the commission will have the option to deny the license, grant the license unconditionally or grant the license with conditions.

It’s this last option—a conditional license—that caused Overeem trouble in after his fight with Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.

Overeem’s conditional license for that match specified that he was to undergo four drug tests. When he was tested about a month before his UFC 146 title shot, he failed; Overeem had elevated testosterone levels.

The failed test did nothing to help the Dutchman’s image. Overeem has been made the subject of various jokes and fighter rants since dramatically upping his muscle mass. 

Allegations of steroids from fans and fighters alike are now commonplace.

Perhaps if the NSAC orders more tests and Overeem pasts them, the talk of Overeem being a chemically enhanced cheat will finally be put to rest. 

Either way, we’ll know more on Jan. 8.

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UFC 155 Results: Junior Dos Santos Anxious for Rematch Against Cain Velasquez

The dust from UFC 155 has barely settled and already former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos is aching for a rematch.”I want [a rematch] now, soon,” he told Brazilian media outlet SporTV. “I won the first and he had a rematch. Now I lost and I want …

The dust from UFC 155 has barely settled and already former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos is aching for a rematch.

“I want [a rematch] now, soon,” he told Brazilian media outlet SporTV. “I won the first and he had a rematch. Now I lost and I want my rematch. I’m saying I want this fight. I’ll get my belt.”

The first fight dos Santos is referring to took place at the UFC’s inaugural event on FOX in November 2011. It took only 64 seconds for dos Santos to score a KO victory.

A different story unfolded at UFC 155. Dos Santos was thoroughly dominated by Velasquez. For the first time in the Octagon, the Brazilian was battered heavily and beaten. A post-fight photo shows just how ugly things got.

JDS chalks this loss up to using the wrong strategy.

[Velasquez] was better and deserved to win, but I used the wrong strategy. I was very worried about his entry in my legs and left face unprotected. So he hit me. When I was on the floor, I should have used more jiu-jitsu, I trained so much. But I tried to (get) back up, and it hurt me too, but on the ground [he] is very good, very strong. I did not connect any punches good, even. It was bad because I was feeling very well, did a great training camp, everything was just right.

Just watch the first round of the fight and you can see this failed strategy.

Velasquez rapaciously pursued takedowns to the point where dos Santos’ hands were down by his waist to try and ward off any takedown attempts. This enabled Velasquez to land a massive overhand right that floored dos Santos and irrevocably changed the pace and momentum of the fight.

Given that each man has a decisive victory over the other, a rubber match between the two men seems inevitable at some point. 

However, Velasquez still has to fight the winner of Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, and it’s unlikely that JDS will be thrust back into contention so quickly after such a brutal loss.

 

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Former UFC Star Dan Severn Officially Retires from MMA

Dan Severn announced via his website that he has officially retired from MMA competition. Severn was a mainstay in the early days of the UFC. He was the first man in the organization to show the true strength of amateur wrestling. His fights showe…

Dan Severn announced via his website that he has officially retired from MMA competition. 

Severn was a mainstay in the early days of the UFC. He was the first man in the organization to show the true strength of amateur wrestling. His fights showed that martial arts weren’t all fancy kicks and karate chops, and that being able to take people down and control them was essential. 

Severn elaborated on the circumstances of his retirement: 

The number one goal I set for myself in 2012 was to be finished with my Mix [sic] Martial Arts Competition career. I was attempting to do my own self-directed retirement tour in the last couple of years reaching out to only three people…Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, and Royce Gracie. I spoke to two of them directly (Mark and Ken), and through representative (MGR) for Royce. It seems as though these matches will not take place for whatever reasons and my life will go on to the next chapter. 

Coleman, Shamrock, and Gracie were three of Severn’s biggest foes.

A stalwart Royce Gracie weathered Severn’s attack for over 15 minutes in the finals at UFC 4. Gracie eventually caught the wrestler in a triangle choke and won the tournament. 

Ken Shamrock handed Severn his second loss in the Octagon, making him tap to a guillotine choke in only two minutes, 14 seconds. However, Severn claimed revenge at UFC 9, edging Shamrock in a split decision.

Severn and Mark Coleman fought in the first-ever UFC heavyweight title fight. Coleman defeated Severn via a neck crank. 

“The Beast” may have faded into obscurity after that fight, but he didn’t succumb to inactivity. Over the course of his career he racked up over 100 victories inside the cage and fought in over 120 matches total.

In fact, it was Severn who welcomed former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin into professional MMA. Severn defeated Griffin in the latter’s pro debut. 

Severn’s in-cage accolades—UFC 5 tournament champion, Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tournament champion, UFC Superfight champion—are commendable, but what he did outside the cage was just as important. 

It’s these outside-the-cage tasks that Severn seeks to continue in earnest now that he’s retired: 

I will still be involved with MMA working with various companies to support the industry, and help take it on to the next level in such roles as: Play by play color commentator, Commissioner, Goodwill Ambassador, doing appearances, etc, etc.. just no longer the competitor. The MMA workshops and seminars will continue.

Just as Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa, “It’s too bad we gotta get old,” it is too bad that the legends of UFC’s early days must succumb to corporal decay. Fortunately for Severn, he escaped the sport without any serious maladies, and his legacy will live on as long as the sport itself. 

 

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