Author: Matt Saccaro

UFC 2012: Is the Concept of ‘Heart’ Meaningless in MMA?

“Heart” in MMA is almost as useless as the “heart” power was in Captain Planet. Almost as useless.Fans make a big deal about heart—a trait which is generally ascribed to fighters who get hit a lot yet still stay conscious and in the fight. T…

“Heart” in MMA is almost as useless as the “heart” power was in Captain Planet. 

Almost as useless.

Fans make a big deal about heart—a trait which is generally ascribed to fighters who get hit a lot yet still stay conscious and in the fight. They say, “Woah, that guy just got beaten bloody for 15 minutes without succumbing to his injuries! What heart” or things of that nature.

To fans, heart is something valuable. 

And, to be sure, it is valuable to an extent. Heart keeps a fighter in the fight when it’s not going their way so that they could potentially come back and win. Heart leads to stunning comebacks like Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami and Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III.  

However, for every Boetsch-Okami or Edgar-Maynard III, there are many other fights where heart amounts to naught but increased head trauma—it doesn’t win the fight, it just prolongs an inevitable loss and exposes the fighter to more pain and punishment.

Fighters walk forward (or backward as the case may be) while continuously taking punishment, zombified, while the crowds go nuts and the h-word appears in spades in tweets and comments and forum posts across the Internet.

There are countless examples of this but a more recent one is Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson. Dos Santos is one of the most acclaimed power-punchers in MMA, yet Nelson managed to withstand his barrage for a full 15 minutes without being knocked out. 

As a result of surviving such brutality, Nelson and other fighters who have been in that situation absorbed the love and respect of the crowd—but they also absorbed dozens of hard blows to the head. 

Should we really be cheering and encouraging that and saying that it’s admirable?

It is the fight business, sure, but there’s a difference between athletic competition and senseless injury and violence.

Thus, might it not be better if we give as much adulation to fighters who employ strategies that don’t require their heads to be veritable punching bags or fighters that emphasize proper defensive techniques rather than the “stand and bang” doctrine?

Yes, such tactics might not be as exciting, but they’re certainly better for the fighters and ultimately better for the future of the sport. 

 

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UFC 2012: 11 Inspirational Tales from the World of MMA

MMA is more than violence. The rapacious bloodlust that purportedly fuels MMA and its fandom only exists in the minds of those ignorant to one of MMA’s true strengths—inspiration. The saga of fans and fighters is one of human interest, one o…

MMA is more than violence. The rapacious bloodlust that purportedly fuels MMA and its fandom only exists in the minds of those ignorant to one of MMA’s true strengths—inspiration. 

The saga of fans and fighters is one of human interest, one of overcoming adversity, beating the odds and saving lives. 

What stories, specifically, warm the heart and soothe the soul?

Read and find out!

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Anderson Silva on Weidman: ‘I Don’t Have Any Intention of Fighting with Him’

Apparently, Anderson Silva has chosen to take ultimately meaningless one-off “super fights” rather than defend his title against legitimate and dangerous middleweight opponents like Chris Weidman. Weidman has pulverized his way through the upper e…

Apparently, Anderson Silva has chosen to take ultimately meaningless one-off “super fights” rather than defend his title against legitimate and dangerous middleweight opponents like Chris Weidman. 

Weidman has pulverized his way through the upper echelon of the middle weight division and, to many, is considered the No. 1 or—at the very least—the No. 2 contender in the division, but UFC middle weight champ Anderson Silva doesn’t care.

“I don’t have any intention of fighting with him,” Silva told UFC Tonight. “I still think he has a lot to do in the UFC…I am 37 years old, he’s a kid that is starting. Obviously, this might happen, but I have two fights on my contract and I think one of them will be with [Georges] St. Pierre and I don’t really have any intention in fighting with him because I’m not a fool. I’m already an oldie, you know?”

When interviewed by famed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, Weidman maintained his polite, laconic demeanor despite being obviously frustrated that a title shot doesn’t seem to be coming his way any time soon. 

“It sucks. I took a lot of risks in my career to get to the point where I’m a No. 1 contender. Then for the champion—who’s the man and I have nothing bad to say about him—to start kind of dodging me a little bit, it’s tough.”

When prompted by Helwani about employing the infamous “ducking” terminology, Weidman didn’t shy away from it. 

“I don’t know. It seems like that at this point, to tell you the truth,” he said.

Whatever verbiage you care to use, the absolute fact of the matter is that Anderson Silva is choosing not to fight the most dangerous claimant to his title in Chris Weidman—spin that whichever way you choose.

 

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Jones vs. Sonnen: Lyoto Machida: "Chael Does Not Deserve the Title Shot"

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida has taken Chael Sonnen, and his recently announced title shot against Jon Jones, to task over Twitter, saying the following:  
With all respect,but for me Chael does not deserve The title shot,…

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida has taken Chael Sonnen, and his recently announced title shot against Jon Jones, to task over Twitter, saying the following: 

 

 

The tweet comes amidst a deluge of barbed opinions ranging from the ecstatic to the execrable. 

While Machida‘s opinion is based in fact (Sonnen hasn’t fought at light heavyweight since a submission loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral in 2005), it’s hard not to smirk when reading the tweet because Machida himself was offered a title shot—albeit on short notice—against Jon Jones at UFC 152 but declined.

The fact that Chael Sonnen stepped up on short notice and offered to fight Jones at UFC 152 seemingly answers Machida‘s inquiry about what he’s done to deserve the title shot.

Twitter commenter Lance Fischel put it a little more bluntly:

 

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, that’s what it boils down to. When duty called, Sonnen was there and Machida chose not to be. That basic truth won’t change no matter how much he wants to complain.

 

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Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Is the Ultimate Fighter Dead If TUF 17 Fails?

If a highly-charged match-up, like UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen, can’t resurrect the long-running Ultimate Fighter television series, nothing will.The series has been running since 2005 and counting the currently airing i…

If a highly-charged match-up, like UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen, can’t resurrect the long-running Ultimate Fighter television series, nothing will.

The series has been running since 2005 and counting the currently airing incarnation of the show, has put on sixteen seasons. 

Now tell me what show, if any, has been able to sustain quality and viewer satisfaction over sixteen seasons?

Evidently, The Ultimate Fighter isn’t one of them. Just last week, it earned the lowest ratings in the history of the series; a paltry 624,000 viewers on average. What’s worse is that the previous week’s show did 1.1 million viewers.

Losing approximately 500,000 viewers over the course of one week is bad, no matter how UFC president Dana White spins the declining ratings. That many viewers not sticking around for the next episode indicates that the show has lost its ability to resonate with and captivate the casual fan/ vaunted 18-34-year-old male.

Furthermore, the trend of declining TUF ratings indicate that, in general, something is amiss—big time.

Much of the punditry is focused on the show’s Friday night time slot.  A slot that’s poor for any show, let alone one whose primary demographic is out drinking and partying that night instead of sitting home to watch what boils down to be the same exact antics and inconsequential, low-level fighters that have been on the countless other episodes and seasons.

The conventional wisdom from the MMA community also argues that the show changing channels from Spike TV to FX has caused some of the decline in viewership and that once fans learn of this change, they’ll come flocking back in droves. 

This hasn’t happened yet and judging by the continuously dismal ratings, isn’t going to happen at all.

Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen have been brought in to change this. 

Jones is the youngest (non-tournament) champion in UFC history, a solid draw (he drew an estimated 700,000 buys against Rashad Evans at UFC 145) and is the second most divisive figure in MMA right now. 

Of course, the man he’s second to in that category is his TUF 17 counterpart, Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen‘s lurid trash talk and professional wrestling-esque gimmicks divide fans but, more importantly, get them talking and get them watching and buying.

Sonnen is one of only a handful of men in UFC history to have been in the main event of a pay-per-view earning over 900,000 buys.  Needless to say, he is a lightning rod for attention.

Pairing these two—who have already gone back and forth a bit via Twitter—should, in theory, inject a much needed dose of interest and vitality into the show and therefore, increase its viewership. 

After all, how could putting big names on the show not get people watching, right?

Well…it’s not that simple. 

A similar strategy was employed by putting former WWE star Brock Lesnar on TUF‘s thirteenth season, but the effect on the ratings was dilatory, if it even had an effect at all. 

Thus, putting the biggest names you have available at the moment is not a panacea for The Ultimate Fighter television series.

If Jones-Sonnen fails to bring in the viewers, the show will need either serious retooling or outright deletion.

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Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Sonnen Is the Most Brilliant UFC Fighter of All Time

Sonnen went from a 15-8-1 journeyman who was kicked out of the UFC to a fighter who challenged Anderson Silva twice for the title and is now starring in the next season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, a…

Sonnen went from a 15-8-1 journeyman who was kicked out of the UFC to a fighter who challenged Anderson Silva twice for the title and is now starring in the next season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, and will also be getting a shot at Jones’ belt in April when the show concludes. 

This miraculous turn of events wasn’t the product of a vast increase in abilities or rededication to the principles of MMA. It was almost entirely due to Sonnen‘s new-found talents with a microphone—his silver-tongue, stinging wit and his professional wrestling-like gimmick.

Sonnen‘s second run in the UFC was when things began to change for him.

Evidently, Sonnen realized that in order to get ahead in the fight business he needed to start talking, and he began to do that in spades. Over a short time, “Chael Sonnen” became a name, a known commodity, especially around the time he fought Nate Marquardt. 

“Did you hear what this Chael Sonnen guy is saying about Anderson Silva?” was a common question asked around that time.

And people heard, people listened, and most importantly, people bought. 

Sonnen went from a no-name to a fighter capable of carrying a PPV with Anderson Silva, drawing an estimated 600,000 buys.

His performance against Silva that saw him wreck the champion for four and half rounds despite eventually losing further enhanced Sonnen‘s reputation as a star, his failed drug test after the fight due to an off T/E ratio notwithstanding. 

Sonnen returned after his suspension, continued his witty ways, and eventually earned another shot at Silva at UFC 148, a PPV that nearly reached the hallowed one million buys mark. He lost again but still made out like a bandit, since he’s now apparently the number one contender in a totally different weight class. 

The UFC has never had a situation quite like this.

Yes, some fighters act tough and braggadocious in an attempt to achieve more fame and notoriety, the most notable example being the brash and fiery Tito Ortiz who sold tickets and pay-per-views by becoming the bad boy that everybody either loved or loved to hate (for most people, it was the latter). However, such men lack the humor and over-the-top mentality that Sonnen has. 

Ortiz and his ilk are just tough, “badass” men who want to hurt people; they’re just an attitude. 

Sonnen is something more.”Chael P. Sonnen” (with the “P” standing for perfection) is a fully fleshed out character, a professional wrestler who really hits, chokes, and slams people and through is antics creates an instant sense of high-caliber fighter legitimacy—both through generating sales and through the gullibility of fans who become giddy when hearing something other than the usual “I respect him, he’s a great opponent” routine.

This meteoric rise was made possible by talking often, loudly, and outlandishly. No other fighters in MMA history have been smart enough to essentially fabricate a claim on two world titles in such a way.

 

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