UFC 130 is now in the books an the dust is beginning to settle.Quinton “Rampage” Jackson outclassed Matt “The Hammer” Hamill just like Frank Mir did to Roy “Big Country” Nelson.Stefan Struve and Jorge Santiago were both finished, the former in a specta…
UFC 130 is now in the books an the dust is beginning to settle.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson outclassed Matt “The Hammer” Hamill just like Frank Mir did to Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
Stefan Struve and Jorge Santiago were both finished, the former in a spectacular fashion, by their adversaries Travis Browne and Brian Stann respectively.
On the Spike TV portion of the card, Demetrius Johnson lived up to his “Mighty Mouse” namesake and managed to out-scramble Miguel Torres en route to a unanimous decision and the reinvigorated Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch proved too in terms of strength much for Kendal Grove, the former winning a lopsided decision.
On the Facebook preliminaries, Renan Barão, Michael McDonald, and Gleison Tibau were all victorious.
Despite the event being only mediocre, there are some important lessons to take away from it. What are they? Read and find out!
One of the many storylines running through UFC 130 is that of UFC middleweight Brian Stann.Stann was once a war hero, having served in Iraq where he earned a Silver Star—the nation’s third highest military honor—for his efforts. In addition…
One of the many storylines running through UFC 130 is that of UFC middleweight Brian Stann.
Stann was once a war hero, having served in Iraq where he earned a Silver Star—the nation’s third highest military honor—for his efforts. In addition to this, Stann was the light heavyweight champion in the lesser known World Extreme Cagefighting organization (WEC).
It was for these reasons that Stann—with his square jaw and clean-cut All-American look—was and still is given a considerable amount of hype. But, hype aside, is Brian Stann ready for the elite of the middleweight division?
If Stann is victorious over his UFC 130 opponent Jorge Santiago, whether he is ready or not, the elite will come.
The reality of the situation is that middleweight has been and still is one of the weakest divisions in the UFC. There are few true contenders in general and even fewer that can threaten current champion Anderson Silva.
So, in one sense, Brian Stann is ready for the middleweight elite because there are so few truly elite fighters in the middleweight division. In addition, some might think he has already defeated a member of the middleweight elite in Chris Leben.
But, to look at the other side of the question, is Stann ready for the middleweight elite meaning Anderson Silva and perhaps Vitor Belfort?
Not likely. In truth, Stann is a fairly one dimensional fighter. He has good stand-up skills, but he seems to use mainly his hands; limited wrestling, and limited submissions—although he is improving in this area and even has a triangle choke submission to his credit.
Despite these deficiencies, Stann, if victorious tonight, will likely be proclaimed as the next middleweight contender and perhaps even put into a number one contender fight.
So, to reiterate the answer: Stann has no choice but to be “ready” for the middleweight elite because the talent pool at middleweight is so thin that he may himself be part of that elite already!
With the way many MMA pundits and keyboard warriors talk about Frank Mir, it’s difficult to realize that the Las Vegas native was once champion of the UFC heavyweight division!The bone that Mir’s critics have to pick with him is this: They feel that Mi…
With the way many MMA pundits and keyboard warriors talk about Frank Mir, it’s difficult to realize that the Las Vegas native was once champion of the UFC heavyweight division!
The bone that Mir’s critics have to pick with him is this: They feel that Mir is one of the most overrated heavyweights in UFC history and that his record is proof, the heavyweight title in 2004 and interim heavyweight title in 2008 notwithstanding.
This attitude towards Mir is why his fight against Roy “Big Country” Nelson is so critical; Mir’s legacy may well be at stake!
Mir has had a long and arduous career. He began his days as an MMA fighter with promise, going 7-1 in his first eight fights and capturing UFC gold on his ninth outing in the Octagon against Tim Sylvia—which remains one of most famous fights in MMA for Mir’s brutal snapping of Sylvia’s forearm.
Right when Mir was on top of the world, tragedy struck in the form of a motorcycle accident. Mir was sidelined for almost two years and vacated his title as a result.
When Mir finally returned in 2006, it was far from triumphant. He looked very flabby—akin almost to Tim Sylvia—and his skilled had dulled. He went 1-2 in the year of his return.
Mir put himself back on the map with a stunning submission victory over Brock Lesnar in 2008. It was this victory that renewed fan interest in Frank Mir and revitalized his status as a contender in the heavyweight division.
Mir went on to win his interim belt from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and was the first man ever to finish him (although it has been said that Nogueira was sick during the fight). This was perhaps the high point for Mir’s career; Mir went only 2-2 after this fight, losing to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin and beating Cheick Kongo and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović.
So it is that Mir’s career is at a crucial junction. If he wins, he gets the next crack at the title after the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin, but should he lose, he falls back into the realm of the gatekeepers.
So what exactly would a loss to Nelson mean for Mir in the long run, meaning his legacy?
It would solidify the arguments of the Mir critics that Mir was always overrated and made a name for himself by beating a clumsy oaf in Tim Sylvia, a green Brock Lesnar and a sick Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
If Frank Mir loses, he will, according to his critics, be a bum that got lucky a few times. They will argue that Mir’s best wins were over fighters who weren’t skilled, were green, or were washed up.
Frank Mir, for his own sake, must not falter on Saturday night. For if he does, the critics and the keyboard warriors will rob him of a legacy.
A decade ago, it would have been nigh to think that NFL great Herschel Walker would fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman.Why would there have been? How likely was it Coleman would still be fighting by 2011 and that Walker would embark on …
A decade ago, it would have been nigh to think that NFL great Herschel Walker would fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman.
Why would there have been? How likely was it Coleman would still be fighting by 2011 and that Walker would embark on a journey into MMA when he was 48 years old?
Yet, these seemingly impossible events have happened, and here we are in May 2011 where there is a significant amount of buzz around a potential fight between Herschel Walker and Mark Coleman.
Coleman even told MMAjunkie.com that “an opportunity to fight Herschel Walker would be something that [he] would drop everything [for] and try to train and prepare for him.”
Despite Coleman’s desire to meet the former football player in the cage, there are several reasons that this fight should not take place.
This Saturday marks the date that two of the UFC’s top light heavyweights—Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill—will square off in the Octagon.Jackson, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, as well as a legend of the def…
This Saturday marks the date that two of the UFC’s top light heavyweights—Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill—will square off in the Octagon.
Jackson, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, as well as a legend of the defunct Pride organization, is expected to thoroughly crush Hamill—the fight’s underdog with odds ranging from +215-+250 depending on who’s counting—en route to another run at the light heavyweight crown.
In fact, this is likely what is desired by the UFC and fans across the world. Rampage is one of the most charismatic fighters in the UFC and probably the most charismatic in his weight class. Thus, he is easy to market and popular.
But, should he lose to Hamill, what would happen?
First, Rampage’s reputation as a top competitor would evaporate. Many feel he did not win his last fight against Lyoto Machida despite what the judges decided. Before that, he lost a decision to Rashad Evans, a fight in which the former Pride star came out flat. So, in the eyes of many fans, he would have lost three straight.
It is very difficult for a fighter’s reputation to survive that.
Rampage has been accused of no longer taking fighting seriously. Should he lose, this notion will become fact amongst MMA fans and Rampage’s popularity will sharply diminish as his “throw caution to the wind” demeanor will have faded from reality into memory.
Hamill would obviously be the recipient of a large boost in popularity and in hype received from the UFC. He would also officially be “in the mix” as far as title contention goes.
But what of the light heavyweight division? Some might say Hamill winning would ultimately be a bad thing as he is not, nor will he ever be, as popular or marketable as Rampage (This is an unfortunate consequence of Hamill’s deafness). However, the division would be just fine with a Hamill victory.
Why? Simply put, the division—for at least the near future—will be dominated by the same few figures. Champion Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Phil Davis, Lyoto Machida, and perhaps Mauricio “Shogun” Rua should he triumph over Forrest Griffin at UFC 134.
What all of these men have in common is this: They would all beat Matt Hamill and Rampage Jackson in a fight. Thus, while Rampage losing may rob the UFC and fans of a potential Evans-Jackson II, it would not be a hindrance on the division, since neither Rampage nor Hamill will ever reach the very top echelon of the division—again in Rampage’s case.
So, despite what marketing material may say, the result of UFC 130‘s main event is ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme of the light heavyweight division.
This Saturday Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, former UFC light heavyweight champion as well as the man who made slamming to escape the triangle choke famous, will take on the unfortunately unheralded Matt “The Hammer” Hamill at UFC 130.Despite the fact that…
This Saturday Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, former UFC light heavyweight champion as well as the man who made slamming to escape the triangle choke famous, will take on the unfortunately unheralded Matt “The Hammer” Hamill at UFC 130.
Despite the fact that Rampage is a favorite, sitting currently at -275, the fight is actually much more balanced than the odds dictate.
So, which fighter will have the upper hand going into Saturday’s main event? Read and find out.
