Author: Matthew Hemphill

Dan Hardy & the UFC: Why They Should Let Him Fight in Strikeforce Instead

Dan Hardy is on a four-fight losing streak and in a recent interview with MMAFighting, he showed an attitude of someone who has lost confidence in himself.  He almost seems like he wants to be cut because of his performances as an act of penance o…

Dan Hardy is on a four-fight losing streak and in a recent interview with MMAFighting, he showed an attitude of someone who has lost confidence in himself.  He almost seems like he wants to be cut because of his performances as an act of penance or punishment.

It is easy to see why Hardy feels this way, as he hasn’t exactly been doing well in the Octagon.  Not only has he lost his last four fights, but none of them were even close.  He lost every single one of them by a large margin if he didn’t get submitted or taken out during the course of the bout.

And yet it is also easy to see why the UFC keeps him.  He makes exciting fights, he sells events as an interesting character, and he is a British star which is a market they are still trying to grow.  Keeping him is something that benefits the UFC.

But only if he wins the occasional fight, and he hasn’t been doing that.

It wasn’t that long ago that the UFC had to cut Keith Jardine, who was a company favorite.  Jardine landed on his feet in Strikeforce and is now fighting in an upcoming main event.

With how Hardy is feeling and the recent skid he has been on, it might behoove Dana White, who runs the UFC, to let Hardy switch over to their B-brand and see how he does there.  If he wins a few fights, then no harm, no foul.  He can come back to the UFC with only a slightly diminished popularity.

After all, Strikeforce appears on Showtime and even though a premium cable network doesn’t have as many viewers as the average UFC event, it would still give Hardy national exposure here in the States.

And there are so many fun matches that could be made with him, too.

The biggest, of course, would be against fellow trash-talking UK fighter Paul Daley.  Both can crack, both have trouble with wrestling and both can throw leather.

Even if that fight doesn’t happen, there are still a lot of different fighters that could match up with Hardy. 

He could fight KJ Noons in what would be a boxing match, he could face Tyron Woodley, or Evangelista Santos in a loser-gets-cut bout.

There are plenty more fights that could be rattled off, but the point is that Hardy would have options. Sure, they wouldn’t be against the best fighters in the world, but at this point, that is the last thing Hardy needs.  

He needs to rebuild and see if he deserves to be placed in an organization that houses the best fighters in the world.

Fighting in the UFC minor leagues for a while wouldn’t kill him.  It would also free up a space for someone new to try to break through.

It would also energize a weakened Strikeforce and give them some much-needed star power, while also letting Showtime subscribers who are MMA fans realize that if their favorite UFC fighter gets cut, they might just end up still being on TV and with more fun matchup possibilities in their immediate future.

Hardy doesn’t have many more options and probably one last chance.  It might be worth his while to do it away from the brightest lights in the sport.

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Why the UFC Flyweight Division Will Be the Most Entertaining in the Company

Now that the UFC has announced the creation of a flyweight division, it means that there will be not only another championship, but more high-level martial artists that can fight on MMA’s biggest stage.  That means better fighters taking up slots …

Now that the UFC has announced the creation of a flyweight division, it means that there will be not only another championship, but more high-level martial artists that can fight on MMA‘s biggest stage.  

That means better fighters taking up slots in the company, rather than middling talent at the established weight classes.  

It also means more exciting fights.

When the bantamweights and featherweights were announced as new weight classes in the UFC, there was some trepidation from fans.  Many felt that it might over-saturate the company and ruin a good thing.  

However, for the hardcore WEC fans it was a dream come true. Finally, some of the most exciting fighters on the planet would have chances to do what they do best, and in a company that would get them better paychecks and more exposure, too.

Anyone who watched the WEC not only knew that the fights were routinely exciting, but they also believed that any event they tuned into would not disappoint.

They were always right.

Why is it that the featherweights, bantamweights and flyweights can put on such great fights?

Short answer: muscle mass.

A longer explanation is the fact that they have less bulk than heavyweights or even middleweights. Even though all fighters have to be in great shape to stay in the UFC, muscle mass does take energy to move, and that means taxation on the heart and lungs.

Larger fighters may have larger internal organs, but their organs are not that much larger in size than those of smaller fighters. Their muscle mass, on the other hand, is staggeringly larger than their smaller counterparts’.

That means that heavyweights burn more energy and use more oxygen to execute every move they make while lighter fighters don’t.

Now that the flyweights, who weigh 125 pounds, are joining the UFC ranks, they will be the smallest fighters within  the organization. That means they can move around the fastest and unleash the largest number of moves inside the constraints of a 15-minute fight.

The more techniques they use in one fight, the better the chances are that they will win submission, knockout or fight of the night.

The flyweights won’t just physically be the smallest men in the UFC’s cage; their paychecks will also match their size.

Judging from how the UFC pay scale breaks down, with fighters like Miguel Torres making less money after being with the UFC or it’s partner company, the WEC, while a heavyweight like Cain Velasquez can make more after only a few fights with the company, it’s not just speculation. 

Smaller fighters just seem to make smaller paychecks.

On the other hand, UFC bonuses never diminish, no matter who wins them, be they heavyweight or a bantamweight.  

If flyweights make less in the cage, expect to see them go for the gold every time they step into the Octagon.

If the UFC keeps them lean and hungry—not just for weigh-ins, but also with purse size—then fans may just see the flyweights capture their attention and become the best part of any event.

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How Mark Munoz Will Spoil Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva II

When Chael Sonnen beat Brian Stann at UFC 136, Dana White, the president of the UFC, probably had dollar signs in his eyes. After all, a rematch between Chael Sonnen and middleweight champion Anderson Silva was perhaps the biggest fight that could be m…

When Chael Sonnen beat Brian Stann at UFC 136, Dana White, the president of the UFC, probably had dollar signs in his eyes. After all, a rematch between Chael Sonnen and middleweight champion Anderson Silva was perhaps the biggest fight that could be made.

It would mean a lot of pay-per-view buys.

Back at UFC 117, Sonnen had beaten the company’s most invincible champion for four and a half rounds before finally getting caught with a triangle armbar and having to tap out in the fifth and final round. Even fans wanted to see a rematch and White wanted to give it to them.

Then Sonnen got busted for having elevated testosterone levels. Plans for a rematch were dismissed until Sonnen served his sentence and after doing so, he was finally cleared to fight Silva.

Now Silva will have to sit out half of 2012 because of injuries. Unfortunately for White and the UFC, Sonnen isn’t the type to sit around and wait for Silva to get better, so he decided to take a fight in the interim which has him clashing with Mark Munoz in UFC on Fox 2.

White may act like it doesn’t matter if Sonnen wins his next match, but even he has to hope that his cash cow gets through this fight.

That isn’t going to happen if Munoz has his way, and in the end, he will. Sonnen may be one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, but Munoz is a more complete fighter and for all of Sonnen’s bluster a hungrier fighter, too. He also has had the ability to learn at a higher pace than Sonnen in his young career.

The shocking thing is that Munoz and Sonnen are actually close to the same age. In fact, Sonnen is only one year older than Munoz at 34, but it looks like there is a decade between them.

Part of it is the amount of fights they have been in. Sonnen has fought all over the world and had plenty more fights under his belt with quite a few being defeats.

Sonnen turned pro in 1997, though it wasn’t until 2002 when he started really competing, but he also competed multiple times a year.  More than most fighters, actually.

This helped push him forward in front of MMA fans and kept him active, but it also had a drawback.  

It made it hard for Sonnen to take a step back and assess his losses and how he could get better. He was so busy preparing for his next fight that he didn’t have time to fill the holes in his game.  It is part of the reason why he is still open to submissions whenever he fights.

In contrast, Munoz has had far fewer fights, but they have been at the top level as most of his career has been spent in the WEC and the UFC. Not only has Munoz fought the best opposition out there, but he has had time to step away to assess his problems in the cage. It has turned him from a wrestler into the adapting fighter fans see today.

It is what will help him find the openings in Sonnen’s game and exploit them. It is also what will finally get him a crack at the title and leave Sonnen and White both heartbroken.

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Strikeforce Results: Melendez Dominant, but Not Deserving of No. 1 Ranking

Gilbert Melendez stepped into the cage yesterday night and did everything expected out of a champion.  The only way he could have been better is if he had stopped Masvidal instead of winning the unanimous decision.There was not one round he didn’t…

Gilbert Melendez stepped into the cage yesterday night and did everything expected out of a champion.  The only way he could have been better is if he had stopped Masvidal instead of winning the unanimous decision.

There was not one round he didn’t seem to win and it was actually surprising to see one judge score it 49-46.  Melendez easily kept his spot as a top lightweight in MMA but going into the fight, fans expected that he would.  All he had to do was live up to what they and the betting odds predicted.

But has Melendez done enough to be called the best lightweight in the world?

In one word?  No.

Melendez did well, but fans should take into consideration that he was the favorite moving into this competition.  Making it worse, Masvidal admitted to terrible habits such as staying up late and eating junk food.  

Statements like that made it hard to take him seriously as a challenger, no matter how good his record was and what kind of fights he put on in the cage.

Melendez was impressive whenever the fight was on its feet, where he should have been in the most danger.  In what could have been a dangerous scenario, he was able to give Masvidal all he could when it came to striking and proved that he had nothing to worry about.

The only problem for Melendez when it comes to the rankings is that he did what was expected of him. He beat an opponent that fans thought wasn’t as skilled.

When it comes to the rankings, Melendez has a different opponent then the one he faced in the cage. He has to face Frankie Edgar.  And as impressive as Melendez was, he is no Edgar.

Frankie Edgar, who is the UFC lightweight champion, has been an underdog in all of his lightweight championship fights.  When he faced BJ Penn the first time, many thought he was not as skilled as Penn.

He won the title, proving them wrong.

Then he won a rematch with Penn when many felt the first decision had been somewhat dubious.  

Edgar then went on to face Gray Maynard, the only man who ever beat him, survived a horrible first-round beatdown and rally back fight to a draw.

He then took an immediate rematch with Maynard and survived yet another harrowing assault in the first stanza to come back and this time knock him out.

Compared to that, Melendez is a little lacking.  And yet it isn’t really Melendez’ fault.  He is fighting in a second-tier organization with many of the fighters in it being decent, but not quite making it to his level.

If he went to the UFC he might be able to improve his standing.

Sadly, he can’t do that, and it leaves him stuck in a hard place.

In this case, that place is somewhere near the top, but not at the summit.

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Strikeforce Results: 4 Questions We Have About Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi failed to impress tonight.  He simply didn’t live up to the expectations that fans have placed on him.That doesn’t mean that fans didn’t learn things from his victory over Ovince St. Preux.  Things can be learned from any fight…

Gegard Mousasi failed to impress tonight.  He simply didn’t live up to the expectations that fans have placed on him.

That doesn’t mean that fans didn’t learn things from his victory over Ovince St. Preux.  Things can be learned from any fight, whether it is a win or a loss from not only the combatants, but from the fans who watched.

Being an MMA fan can be a learning experience if fans seek to think beyond the excitement they see in the cage.

However, for every bit of knowledge learned, there are more questions that pop up as well.

So even with all of the knowledge accumulated in the Mousasi fight, the truth is that fans have some more questions about him after the fight.

Here are the four questions that stand out after Gegard Mousasi’s last fight.

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Strikeforce Results: Cris "Cyborg" Santos Proves She’s the GOAT for Women’s MMA

Tonight Cris “Cyborg” Santos proved that she is the best of all time.For women’s MMA.With that said, she also proved she is one of the best of all time.Looking at her record she has taken out the likes of Hitomi Akano, Hiroko Yamanaka, Marloes Coenen a…

Tonight Cris “Cyborg” Santos proved that she is the best of all time.

For women’s MMA.

With that said, she also proved she is one of the best of all time.

Looking at her record she has taken out the likes of Hitomi Akano, Hiroko Yamanaka, Marloes Coenen and, of course, Gina Carano.  She has taken out almost every single female fighter alive who could be considered a “good” fighter in her division and even outside of it.

She has done what was needed to end up in MMA history one day.

She may not have had the opposition that some great fighters have had.  In fact, it could be said that almost no one in all of women’s MMA can really match up to her.

But then again, when MMA began, a lot of the male fighters didn’t exactly get set up with incredible opposition either, and if they did, it left them with less-than-glossy records.

Santos is doing the best she can with what is out there, but more than anything she is blazing a trail.

Women’s MMA is still seen as a sideshow, but Santos brings a legitimacy to it that pretty girls like Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano haven’t.  She may not do a sexy photo shoot anytime soon, but she is able to show that being a champion doesn’t mean that she needs to be model gorgeous.  She just needs to dominate in the cage.

That will do more for women’s MMA in the long run than any short burst of attention they might get from the next attractive female fighter.

That is because those that tune in to see that fighter are just wanting to see attractive women.  That doesn’t mean they want to see attractive women fight.  It means just what it sounds like.

At the end of the night, those new viewers will probably have paid as much attention to the ring card girls as they did the female fighters.

When Santos fights, it’s a different story.  There is no question why people want to see her fight: She is dominant in the cage.  She is a champion and fights and wins like one.

She won’t get a bunch of casual fans to start watching Strikeforce, but she may inspire other women to seriously take up the sport.

And in the end, it will help the sport and women’s place in it.

Santos is dominant in the cage, but it’s how she’s shaping history that makes her deserving of the status Greatest of All Time.

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