Author: Michael Hatamoto

UFC 148: Patrick Cote Is the Fighter with Most to Gain

UFC veteran Patrick Cote will be welcomed back into the UFC Octagon at UFC 148 when he faces Cung Le on the main card next Saturday. Even if he isn’t near an immediate title fight, Cote has the most to gain during UFC 148 next Saturday.  His retur…

UFC veteran Patrick Cote will be welcomed back into the UFC Octagon at UFC 148 when he faces Cung Le on the main card next Saturday.

Even if he isn’t near an immediate title fight, Cote has the most to gain during UFC 148 next Saturday.  His return to the UFC will be featured on the main card of one of the most anticipated fight cards of the year, with the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

In addition, he was given a fight against a fighter that will stand and trade with him—Cote has heavy hands and a solid chin, so Le knocking him out seems rather unlikely.  Le will have to try and carefully pick his shots while avoiding Cote’s heavy hands, with wrestling and overall MMA skills in the French-Canadian’s favor.

To be successful, Cote will need to take the fight to Le—make him uncomfortable and knock him off his game.  The Sanshou kickboxer will look to utilize a certain range against Le, where he can land strikes and kicks against the heavy-handed Cote.

Since losing three straight fights and earning a pink slip from the UFC, Cote has won four consecutive fights.  Three of the fights, against Kalib Starnes, Todd Brown and Crafton Wallace, were against former UFC fighters, and the most recent fight, against Gustavo Machado, was a knockout win.

Cote knows what to look forward to in the cage on Saturday, July 7, according to The Canadian Press:

“He’s a very dangerous striker.  Explosive, very agile with his legs – some weird angles.  He’s tricky too… I’m going to have my hands full but I’m really confident that I’ll be able to put him away.”

There is a lot riding on this fight for Cote, as he’s a popular fighter with an exciting fight style—especially in Canada—and could find himself back towards the top of the middleweight division. 

With a victory, he opens the door to a potential rematch with Alan Belcher, the Duke Roufus fighter who submitted him during UFC 113.  With the majority of the top 25 middleweights signed with the UFC, there will be plenty of other potential matchups that can be made for Cote.

Despite not fighting for the UFC since UFC 121 in October 2010, Cote has served as French commentator for a number of the promotion’s events.  Also, Cote works for the TVA network as an MMA and boxing analyst, so he knows what has been taking place in the UFC.

When Cote and Le stand across from one another in the cage, MMA fans can expect fireworks from both strikers.

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Junior Dos Santos Is on the Right Path: MMA Fighters Need to Demand Drug Testing

If professional MMA has a problem with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), only a few fighters are willing to speak openly about it.  On the front lines against PEDs, the fighters themselves are the ones that could help clean up the sport. It&rsqu…

If professional MMA has a problem with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), only a few fighters are willing to speak openly about it. 

On the front lines against PEDs, the fighters themselves are the ones that could help clean up the sport.

It’s easy to deny and shrug aside, but there are some problems that need to be handled promptly and efficiently by the UFC and athletic commissions.  However, a select few MMA fighters have taken it upon themselves to demand additional testing and speak out against PED use from fellow fighters.

UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has been very vocal about PEDs, especially after a heavyweight super fight with Alistair Overeem fell through.  Overeem failed a drug test and was found with a whopping 14-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio—so he lost his chance to compete for the heavyweight championship, for now.

If a fight between Dos Santos and Overeem is to occur in the future, the current heavyweight champion hopes Overeem agrees to a blood test beforehand. 

Here is what Dos Santos said earlier in the month about a potential fight with Overeem, according to Josh Gross of ESPN.com:

“Using drugs is completely unnecessary, and I am the living proof. I’m the champion, and I never used any kind of forbidden substances. Fighting a guy that uses these kinds of drugs is completely unfair and useless. With or without any kind of authorization [for using testosterone], the fighter who uses those substances is never fighting with his own skills. He is enhancing his power with those drugs.”

Meanwhile, Overeem, the Dutchman who managed to eliminate himself out of a title shot against Dos Santos, is willing to take random and supervised drug tests at least once per month (via MMAJunkie.com).

The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) is making a bigger splash in MMA, with BJ Penn also requesting testing via his Twitter account prior to his upcoming welterweight fight against Rory MacDonald.  If the UFC doesn’t want VADA to be involved, I think it’s time for them to increase pressure on the athletic commissions. 

However, if the UFC is truly concerned about PEDs in MMA, it’s time for an internal drug testing program to be created as well.  In addition to VADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) can be called upon for assistance in creating a method to help prevent further drug use.

After the increasing discussion related to PEDs, UFC President Dana White had this to say regarding the sport, according to the L.A. Times.

“We’re going to do our own testing, order these guys into (a lab); we’re sorting it out now.  You have to do this to save the sport.  You can’t have these guys fighting on this stuff.”

It’s good to hear White stepping up and acknowledging the UFC has something in development, even if we’re likely a long distance before it is implemented.  It’s not good business when a handful of fighters believe the UFC and athletic commissions aren’t doing enough.

The PED debate clearly isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, and I think it’s good to see fighters speaking out about the issue.  It looks like it’s up to the fighters to ask for additional testing before fights, a trend that won’t go away anytime soon.

Some of the biggest names in MMA—past and present—have tested positive for various PED use, including UFC legend Royce Gracie, heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett (multiple times), middleweight Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar, Phil Baroni, Sean Sherk, Antonio Silva, Rafael Cavalcante, Muhammed Lawal and Chael Sonnen.

Similar to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, many fighters plead ignorance against direct knowledge of use, blaming tainted supplements, coaches and trainers.  Clean fighters speaking out against PEDs will hopefully lead to a reduction in the excuses offered by busted competitors.

Only time will tell what happens in the fight against PEDs within the UFC and MMA as a whole, but progress is slowly being made.

 

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Marcos Vinicius vs. Wagner Campos: Vinicius Wins with Impressive TKO

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil fighter Marcos Vinicius withstood two rounds of being controlled on the ground by elite grappler Wagner Campos before exploding for a TKO win in the third round. The two TUF: Brazil teammates are both BJJ black belts, but C…

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil fighter Marcos Vinicius withstood two rounds of being controlled on the ground by elite grappler Wagner Campos before exploding for a TKO win in the third round.

The two TUF: Brazil teammates are both BJJ black belts, but Campos clearly was on an entirely different level than Vinicius.  Even so, Campos couldn’t finish the head-arm choke he locked in during the first round, and mysteriously gave up on it. 

During the second round, Campos tried to lock in a kimura, but Vinicius was able to defend against it. 

Instead, Vinicius landed hammerfists from the bottom, while staying active using upkicks to keep Campos aware of potential threats before simply trying to dive in.

Heading into the third round, Campos was up 20-18 on the scorecards, when Vinicius landed a flying knee to the body.  From there, he landed another knee and unleashed a number of big punches against his stunned opponent, with referee Herb Dean stopping the fight just 1:07 into the third and final round.

“First of all, this win was amazing,” Vinicius said in the octagon after the fight.  “I can’t even compare the feeling of being inside the (‘TUF’) house.  Now, I get to have my wife and my family with me.  This is truly a gift from God.”

I absolutely love when a fighter understands he is down on the scorecards and suddenly bursts out of nowhere to surprise his opponent. 

As the third round started, I expected to see Vinicius continue to fight off his back, as Campos would try to implement the same game plan that saw him succeed through the first two rounds.

The TKO finish for Vinicius helped him collect a $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” award from the UFC—and since the fight happened on the Facebook prelims, he likely gained a few new fans along the way. 

What’s next for the featherweight? 

If the UFC wants to keep him against Brazilian fighters, matchups between Vinicius and Felipe Arantes or Hugo Viana would be viable options.  The UFC plans on heading back to Brazil in the fall, and it would be a perfect time to showcase the lighter Brazilian weight classes again.

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Wanderlei Silva’s Gas Tank May Be Empty

Working to collect a TKO finish, Wanderlei Silva went for it all when he had Rich Franklin injured towards the end of the second round of their fight last night, in UFC 147.  The experienced Brazilian was extremely close to collecting the stoppage…

Working to collect a TKO finish, Wanderlei Silva went for it all when he had Rich Franklin injured towards the end of the second round of their fight last night, in UFC 147. 

The experienced Brazilian was extremely close to collecting the stoppage win when he dropped Franklin with powerful right hands, but he was unable to finish the very game American. 

Instead, Franklin was saved by the bell and was able to regroup, outstriking Silva in a standup battle the rest of the fight. 

After the second-round melee against Franklin, it looked like Silva gassed himself out, and for the rest of the fight he didn’t have the same type of tempo. 

It was interesting to see how the third round started, because if Silva had anything left, that would have been the best time to step up the pace and see if Franklin would crack. 

However, Franklin was able to find his range and regain his rhythm without Silva’s being able to increase the ferociousness of the pace again.

Through the next three rounds, Franklin seemed to be on autopilot, able to out-strike Silva in a back-and-forth fight. Franklin utilized good footwork and jab-and-boxing combinations to frustrate Silva and keep the Brazilian off balance. 

Until the late fifth round, Silva had a sluggish striking style and was unable to come close to finishing the fight again. 

In the closing minutes of the fight, when Silva decided to throw caution to the wind and brawl, Franklin was able to stun the Brazilian at the bell.

I’m impressed that both fighters were able to make it through all five rounds, but I’m not sure if Silva has anything left in his gas tank.

He’s still very interested in fighting and clearly has a desire to fight for his fans when he’s inside the cage. Also aiding him is that he still clearly has an instinct to pounce when he thinks he’s close to finishing an opponent.

However, he gassed himself trying to finish Franklin and was never really able to recover over the subsequent three rounds.

If he puts everything he has into a three-round fight, I’m not convinced he’ll be able to withstand a heavy amount of punishment and still provide a high level of offense against an opponent.

This puts Silva in a very confusing position as his legendary MMA fight careers draws closer to a finish.

Dana White said a rematch with Vitor Belfort seems unlikely right now, even though both fighters served as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. However, Silva seems anxious to fight in Brazil again, and he likely earned another chance to fight.

So we’ll have to see what the UFC wants to do with him.

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UFC 147 Results: What’s Next for Mike Russow?

Mike Russow was quickly battered and finished by a surging Fabricio Werdum at UFC 147, with the Brazilian more than willing to show off his improved striking skills.  Werdum used heavyweight Russow as a stepping stone to claw his way toward title …

Mike Russow was quickly battered and finished by a surging Fabricio Werdum at UFC 147, with the Brazilian more than willing to show off his improved striking skills. 

Werdum used heavyweight Russow as a stepping stone to claw his way toward title contention, but he will likely need another fight in the process.

Meanwhile, Russow entered the UFC Octagon in hostile territory. He was was punished and clearly overmatched against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. 

He lost to a heavyweight fighter really close to competing for the UFC heavyweight title, so it’s hard to see where he truly stands in the division.

Still, there was a lot more expected from him, and he simply couldn’t come close to delivering. It’s hard to figure out what to do with Russow now, as he clearly shouldn’t have anything to do with a fighter in the top 10 or 15.    

The UFC could match him up with the winner (or loser) from the Ben Rothwell vs. Travis Browne fight at UFC on Fox 4 in early August. 

If the UFC wants him to fight for his UFC career, perhaps a fight against Mark Hunt or Brendan Schaub can be arranged.

Of course, Pat Barry is always looking to try and kick someone’s legs off in a fight, and Lavar Johnson just lost to Stefan Struve and might make for an interesting matchup.

It’s truly hard to tell what the UFC will do with Russow, as he isn’t anywhere near the top 15 heavyweights in MMA. 

They should give him another fight—he did decide to accept a fight with Werdum in Brazil—but they don’t have a reason to keep him around if he loses one more fight.

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UFC 147: What We Learned from Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin

The rematch at UFC 147 between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva was a fight MMA fans could get excited about, as we all expected a slugfest between the two veterans. Throughout the 25-minute fight over five rounds, that’s exactly what MMA fans were a…

The rematch at UFC 147 between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva was a fight MMA fans could get excited about, as we all expected a slugfest between the two veterans. Throughout the 25-minute fight over five rounds, that’s exactly what MMA fans were able to enjoy in Brazil.

Both fighters have uncertain futures in the UFC Octagon and they brought everything they had into the cage with them on Saturday. Not surprisingly, both fighters also won themselves a $65,000 Fight of the Night bonus, according to UFC President Dana White (via Yahoo! Sports).

 

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

Yet another battle between two former champions absolutely interested in bringing it. Silva looked to have the fight finished in the second round, but appeared to burn himself out after he was unable to get the finish.

Interestingly, Franklin admitted he didn’t remember the third and fourth rounds, but snapped out of it when his coaches told him he was heading into the fifth round.   

 

What We Learned About Rich Franklin

Franklin is a warrior. Against most fighters, the Brazilian would have won a second-round TKO. Instead, Franklin kept working at defending himself and kept moving to indicate to the referee that he was trying to intelligently defend himself.  

 

What We Learned About Wanderlei Silva

He can still rock fighters and his chin hasn’t completely dissolved. Franklin hit Silva with some hard shots, but he looked okay absorbing most of those shots. I don’t know if Silva wants to enter into too many more complete standup battles like he did vs. Franklin, but it seems like that fighting style is in his DNA. 

 

What’s Next For Rich Franklin

The UFC company man hopes to make another run toward the middleweight title before retirement, but we’ll see what happens next. I find it amazing that Franklin wants another piece of Anderson Silva. 

 

What’s Next For Wanderlei Silva

No idea. Silva said he still wants a piece of Vitor Belfort, and the UFC could promote that fight even though Silva lost a unanimous decision (again) to Franklin. I still don’t like the thought of Silva fighting Belfort, so we’ll see what the UFC decides to do with Silva.

The UFC would also be able to market a fight against Chael Sonnen if Sonnen loses his rematch to Anderson Silva at UFC 148 in two weeks. Silva’s chin survived the fight with Franklin tonight, but I’m not so sure he can endure a potential three-round standup war again.

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