Mike Chiappetta | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Dooho Choi Brings Electricity to Featherweights in Conor McGregor’s Absence

The most terrifying man in the UFC featherweight division looks like he’s straight out of a K-pop smash hit, smiling and baby-faced, with a mop of (occasionally dyed) hair that brushes the top of his brow. It’s an angelic appearance that belies his talent for the fistic arts. Indeed, there may be no fighter in the UFC with a greater disparity between veneer and performance than Dooho Choi, who possesses the kind of soul-shattering power that sends opponents to the dark lands and keeps GIF-makers in business.

In his three UFC bouts so far, Choi has yet to break a sweat, knocking out each of his opponents inside of the first round.

First, he obliterated Juan Puig with a straight right, then he vaporized Sam Sicilia with a multi-punch combo, and most recently, he folded up Thiago Tavares with a laser-guided right.

At UFC 206 this Saturday night, he makes the leap, taking on a ranked opponent for the first time against No. 4 Cub Swanson.

With the UFC featherweight division open for business (more on that later), the 25-year-old Choi may be the one to help the weight class move on from Conor McGregor’s reign of terror. He’s young and exciting, and he’s no fluke.

“I know I can beat anyone I want to,” Choi recently told the Asia Times. “If I land my right hand, no one can handle it.”

While the first part of his statement remains to be seen, he has mostly proved the second with plenty of exhibits for evidence.

From the beginning, Choi (15-1) has demonstrated the kind of power rarely seen in the featherweight division, boasting eight straight knockouts dating back to 2011. And these aren’t the kind of knockouts that come after an unrelenting volume of strikes wear down opponents. They’re single shots that end fights in a thunderbolt. Explosions. Like this one. And this one. And oh my goodness, this one. And seriously, look at this power. This man is a high-caliber weapon.

Choi arrived in the UFC with the weight of expectations on his slight shoulders. In April 2014, a few months before Choi signed with the UFC, Fight Network analyst Robin Black chose him as the No. 1 prospect in all of MMA. Ahead of World Series of Fighting champions Marlon Moraes and Justin Gaethje, future UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm, and Olympic wrestler Henry Cejudo.

If he felt any pressure from such declarations, it was undetectable in his comportment. He carries himself with a casual ease, a lightness that, combined with his youthful appearance, may serve to disarm opponents before they get their first taste of his power.

Choi’s stand-up is technical, filled with feints to draw opponents into his range and funnel them toward his right hand. He is equally dangerous with both hands, though, as he focuses on having his hips in position to follow any straight rights with left hooks. So far, he’s shown the kind of elite footwork and head movement that is mostly seen in champions.

Two other things stand out about Choi: his hand speed and efficiency of motion. Several times in his UFC career, his opponents have started punches at the same time he has, but he gets there first. That’s because his body is almost always properly aligned, retaining maximum efficiency. He doesn’t need to wind up or to jump into punches, because he’s already in position to strike. Given the brevity of his fights, it’s impossible to know if he will retain that form over the long haul, but his focus on it is promising

Much of this is reminiscent of McGregor, who rode his own similar gifts to the top of the division in short order, but I’d argue that Choi is even more explosive because of his penchant to use more diverse techniques. That also puts him more at risk, but his offensive gifts are that good.

For Choi, Swanson is a great opponent, a veteran who also boasts dangerous power and creative combinations. It’s his reputation that Choi is hunting as he attempts to work his way up the rankings.

The scene atop the UFC featherweight division is pure chaos. McGregor was stripped of the division’s title belt—or relinquished it, if you believe UFC president Dana White‘s comments to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole (h/t MMAFighting.com). Jose Aldo was then promoted to undisputed champion, only for the UFC to immediately put that designation into dispute by promoting a matchup between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis as an interim championship bout.

While there’s no order to the chaos, there is opportunity. McGregor may still cast a shadow over the featherweights, but it will fade off in time. In his absence, attention is there to be seized, and the Korean Superboy is worth watching.

While he doesn’t boast the electric personality of The Notorious One—and who does, really?—he can go head-to-head with McGregor on their personal highlight reels. And if he can add Swanson to his highlight reel on Saturday night, Choi could be heading in the same direction as McGregor: straight to the top.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

After Delivering a Show, Demetrious Johnson Is Owed a Star Opponent

It was almost 10 years ago when the mixed martial arts world was shaken by a thunderbolt. The moment featured a UFC retread who won a reality show to jump the line of merit-based contenders, a seemingly dominant champion and a sudden, shocking finish.
…

The scene at Saturday night’s UFC: Tournament of Champions Finale was primed for a remake of the original. Every great story gets one these days, right?

The timing was right, so was the setting. All this time later, the moment hasn’t been forgotten, even though the lesson has.

Demetrious Johnson almost learned it the hard way, but he’s too smart and too good to get caught slipping. Instead, it was just a scare for him, a first-round hiccup on a run toward history. A few minutes of trouble and made-for-TV drama and then a return to excellence.

His unanimous decision win over Tim Elliott was his 11th straight overall, and his ninth flyweight title defense, putting him just one behind Anderson Silva’s UFC record.

The win was impressive, but on a resume like his rings a bit hollow, through no fault of his own. It’s a win that does little for his legacy, and it was always destined to be that way after the UFC picked this path for him.

Of the 16 competitors that filled the season’s Ultimate Fighter’s tournament bracket, 14 had never before fought in the UFC, while two had short runs. One of those, Elliott, turned out to be the winner. Yet, his undistinguished 2-4 mark in his first UFC stint had already proved him to be a step below the division’s best.

It wasn’t exactly an indignity for Johnson to face a reality show winner, but it wasn’t exactly right, either.

The problem with greatness is that it is often unapproachable, difficult to measure with any real precision until nights like last night. In the fight game, that leads to careers that are both brilliant and underappreciated.

That’s how we end up with Saturday night, with Johnson against…some guy.

Any connoisseur of fisticuffs tuning into the broadcast last night probably couldn’t help but shake their head in reluctant acceptance of the surreal scene unfolding before them. Johnson, the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, was facing…Tim Elliott? The UFC washout?

Yes, that is where we were.

That is also where Johnson is, in such rarefied air that in attempting to match him up in some meaningful way, the UFC did something that has no parallel in any other sport. They rounded up a group of 16 high-level UFC wannabes, put them in a blender and whipped up a ready-made “contender.”

They got a season of entertainment out of it and a reasonably competitive challenger for Johnson. Still, it’s impossible to leave the scene without thinking Johnson deserves more.

Part of his relatively low profile is his own doing. When asked who he wants to face, he never has a preference and true to form, after winning Saturday, that trend continued.

“I’m sure [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby has something up his sleeve,” he said.

It’s always mystifying when someone so assertive in the cage can be so passive outside of it but if Johnson’s not going to ask for something more, it’s time for some of us to do it for him.

So how about a matchup with the winner of UFC 207’s Dominick Cruz vs. Cody Garbrandt bantamweight title bout? How about T.J. Dillashaw in a catchweight fight? One of those two should be Johnson’s next option in order to raise his profile before time starts catching up with him.

The options in his natural home are limited. During his 11-fight win streak, Johnson has already defeated six of the division’s current top 10 (including Joseph Benavidez twice), and another man who is now ranked in the bantamweight top 10 (John Dodson) twice.

There aren’t many fresh divisional contenders waiting for him, other than No. 4 Jussier Formiga and No. 5 Wilson Reis, and neither is what you might call popular.

For now, Johnson hasn’t shown much interest in moving up for a champion vs. champion fight without some financial incentive, but that seems like a reasonable request. Otherwise it’s back to risking it all without the same upside, and that seems something close to cruel.

With the knowledge of Johnson’s result, imagine what could have happened in that troublesome first round, when guillotine and D’arce chokes put him in mild danger, and an Elliott left hook wobbled him in the round’s final minute.

It was only his poise that turned things around, Johnson doing as he does, making adjustments in step with his unrelenting speed as if he’s powered by Silicon Valley’s latest processor chip. Within minutes, Elliott was robbed of his space and then sapped of energy, and before he knew it he was spending huge chunks of time on his back, existing in bursts of resistance.

In the pantheon of reality show winners vs. UFC champions, Elliott finished somewhere between Travis Lutter and Matt Serra. That’s no knock. Lutter, it’s mostly forgotten, had full mount on Anderson Silva before he eventually ran out of gas and submitted to a triangle choke.

A couple of months later, Serra knocked out Georges St-Pierre. Elliott didn’t win, but for 25 minutes he fought like a man who realized he was in the midst of the opportunity of a lifetime and couldn’t stomach the thought of regrets.

“Tim’s a hell of a fighter,” Johnson said. “It’s like wrestling a damn muskrat. I just had to neutralize him, man.”

Opportunity granted and danger averted, it would be nice to see Johnson get some of his just desserts. When the pound-for-pound king is fighting a reality show winner, there’s a problem. As the champion, the risk is always bigger than the reward, but the gap shouldn’t be this wide. On Saturday night, it worked as good theater.

But for the UFC, it’s time to pay the man back for the show with one that’s truly worthy of his spotlight talent.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

New MMA Athletes Association Offers Soul, but Path to Power Is Muddy

Turns out, the “industry-redefining MMA announcement” was just another promise to redefine the industry. Another association, to be exact. If you’re keeping count, this is third one this year alone that has attempted to corral the mul…

Turns out, the “industry-redefining MMA announcement” was just another promise to redefine the industry. Another association, to be exact. If you’re keeping count, this is third one this year alone that has attempted to corral the multinational fighters of the UFC into a group with the collective power to take on its new ownership team, WME-IMG, and draw a fair share of company revenue.

There were few specifics with little teeth, but at least this one came with soul—five fighters who stepped out of the shadows and stood up to voice their discontent with the UFC’s treatment of its athletes past and present—and a hope that they can attract support from their colleagues in banding together to change their collective futures.

As an announcement, it was typical MMA theater, a grand unveiling to fine immediate effect but a mostly uncertain future.

For the first time, however, the optics were powerful. Former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, Cain Velasquez and T.J. Dillashaw, as well as longtime stars Tim Kennedy and Donald Cerrone, raised their hands and acknowledged that fear be damned, they were all-in on fighting the power.

Their simple presence should not seem like a big deal, but in a sport where fear of retaliation comes through both history and experience, it was a bold statement. Never before had an active UFC fighter stood on the front lines of an introductory association announcement and as a committed part of the group.

“A lot of agents and fighters will be threatened by the UFC but we’re not going to let any fighters down,” said St-Pierre. “We’re here to stay. This same thing happening now has happened in every sport. In the NHL, in the NFL. It’s going to happen whether they like it or not. A lot of fighters want to remain anonymous. Come see us, it’s time to stand together. I’ve been approached many times in the past for this kind of thing. I’ve decided [to stand up] now because this is a very solid team that will make the difference.”

As a group, they’re after three objectives: a settlement that will compensate past fighters for the UFC’s “egregious” business practices, a collective bargaining agreement in line with that of major American sports leagues and a 50/50 revenue split.

UFC fighters are currently believed to earn somewhere between 8-15 percent of yearly revenue, which was estimated to be around $600 million for 2015, the last complete year.

First, the good.

From the athletes, there was fire, passion and sincerity.

They spoke of helping fighters broken from the sport, those who struggle to pay for basic living expenses and others who are deluged with healthcare costs related to their profession. Kennedy, who has served in the U.S. Army as a special forces soldier for a decade, likened the mission to the military’s sacred rule.

“We’re here to never leave someone behind,” he said. “We’re here to take every step necessary to make sure no athlete, no fighter in the UFC gets left behind. That one-sided system the UFC has in place and has had for many years, and now under the new ownership intends to keep in place, it will get changed and changed immediately.”

Just how that is going to happen though is a subject that was mostly left untouched. Other than MMAAA advisor Bjorn Rebney alluding to a possible strike, no other clear steps were detailed.

They claim to have a plan, though, a “well-developed” one that they will keep under wraps for now.

While the strategic blackout makes some sense, a more curious piece of the puzzle was Rebney.

Ah, yes, Bjorn. If that name sounds familiar, he was the founder and ex-chairman and CEO of Bellator, the UFC’s only significant rival of the last few years.

Rebney was forced out of his company shortly after selling it to Viacom, and if this seems like a fun axe to grind for someone who was repeatedly slammed by UFC president Dana White, who used to gleefully call him “Djork” and “Bjork,” he downplayed any personal vengeance or potential monetary gain, saying that his reasoning was heartfelt and that he’s been working on the launch behind the scenes for two years without earning a check.

“They’re risking more for less than any athletes on earth,” he said. “It’s outrageous and that’s what we’re going to change.”

Still, the flip from promoter to activist sounds a little mysterious, to go along with the unnamed people who are funding the MMAAA’s launch for unknown reasons, and the fact that four of the five fighters to comprise the association’s board come from WME-IMG rival CAA. (For the record, Rebney said CAA is not backing the venture but is supportive of its athletes.)

It’s all somewhat hazy and confusing, and that for now, will be a problem.

At least we know the fighter’s hearts are in the right place.

Kennedy passionately invited any and all on the UFC roster to reach out to him for more information, but it seems that a two-hour announcement would have been a perfect place to spread both the message and the means.

For now, he’ll wait to see who takes him up on it. Neither of the associations that have publicly launched have made much headway. The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association has been around for nearly a decade with little progress, and the Professional Fighters Association has already stumbled less than four months into its existence, losing two key members of its leadership team after breaching the confidentiality it had assured to interested fighters.

As the sport has matured, fighters’ rights have waned, and an association has become a necessity. Now it’s MMAAA’s turn to take its shot. At some point, one of these groups will be the one to coalesce support and deliver fighters to a new level of professionalism. This group has the soul, but without specifics, that is all it has for now.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

On B.J. Penn, Fedor Emelianenko and Legends Who Fight Too Long

Earlier this week, B.J. Penn’s long-delayed comeback got another restart date when it was announced he would fight Yair Rodriguez in January. It is now the third try at getting him back into the Octagon after two previous starts were scrapped, sp…

While the announcement inspired the excitement of those who favor known names as well as those who trade on nostalgia, it also drew groans from the realists who closely watched the latter parts of Penn’s career and saw the former UFC two-division champion suffer through lopsided beatings in each of his last three fights.

If the feeling of watching him get dominated by both Frankie Edgar and Rory MacDonald was uncomfortable, it’s jarring to realize that he hasn’t won a fight in six years.

If a 33-year-old Penn couldn’t win in the cage, why shouldn’t we be downright uneasy about him stepping into the cage as a 38-year-old?

It would be one thing if he faced another aging featherweight, but Rodriguez is a 24-year-old on the come up, a flashy kid who has yet to lose in the UFC Octagon and who is probably licking his chops at the chance of adding a legend’s scalp to his collection.

The odds are he will, and in an uncomfortable way.

The Penn announcement offered a sense of deja vu, as over in Bellator, just a few days prior, the organization announced it had signed former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko to a multi-fight deal, and that he would debut against Matt Mitrione on Feb. 18.

On paper, it’s a different situation, as Emelianenko comes into the bout on a five-fight unbeaten streak, but even that comes with a caveat. In his last bout, Emelianenko looked liked a washed-up fighter against journeyman brawler Fabio Maldonado and was nearly knocked out before escaping with a decision, though on appeal, that was overturned to a no-contest.

There are other cases, too.

Thirty-seven-year-old former UFC champion Rashad Evans has been declined a fighter’s license by commissions in both New York and Ontario yet, despite that and two straight lopsided losses, intends to continue his career.

Meanwhile, 41-year-old former UFC interim heavyweight champ Shane Carwin recently announced he would end a retirement of over five years to compete in Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation. He hasn’t won a fight since knocking out Frank Mir in early 2010.

Even the great Anderson Silva has entered this category of awkward unease.

While the libertarian in me believes that everyone has the right to determine their own future, the humanitarian cannot ignore the elevated risks these fight legends are taking by continuing to compete long after their bodies (and probably their brains) have been compromised.

As we learn more about brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), it becomes impossible to put aside the increased probability of damage that athletes face as they age in an unforgiving sport.

Most fans and fighters come to terms with the risks these athletes are facing early on in the process of falling in love with the sport. It’s easy to ignore the dangers when they’re not so obvious, and it’s also easy to rationalize that many pursuits include the acceptance of danger. Rock climbing, bike riding, scuba diving all bring with them inherent danger. Many jobs also bring risks. Roofing, construction, emergency response. Hell, even if you sit at a desk eight hours a day, you face health issues, from muscle degeneration to organ damage to back problems.

No matter what we’re doing, we risk hurting our bodies. But there comes a time to minimize that risk, and for most of these fighters, that time has not just come; it’s already passed.

For older fighters, there are few protections in place past their support staffs, who often plead for them to hang up their gloves to no avail.

Inside the cage, opponents are unforgiving with their own careers at stake. Beyond that, it is both ironic and unsettling that referees often give more leeway to these legends out of respect to their longevity, success and experience. After all, it stands to reason that if they’ve thrived so long, they may have one last trick up their sleeve. In reality, it often leads to longer beatings.

And fans? We often cheer on their arrivals and cringe at their exits.

To be sure, this is an issue on which we have little moral high ground. We not only praise the same fighting spirit in the same young athletes; we practically demand it.

But often, when observers go from fanatical to apprehensive, they are seen as turncoats. Such criticism is misguided. Voicing concern is hardly anti-fighter; it is, in fact, the apex of fandom to put the athlete’s interests above your own.

So count me as a conscientious objector to the past-their-prime crowd of legends. Fighters have the difficult task of timing their own endings while we judge every step. Our opinion is the easy one. We get to be right or wrong with no repercussions, while they live with the decision, the doubt and the injuries forever.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Question: Is Derek Brunson or Robert Whittaker Championship Material?

With Michael Bisping atop the UFC’s middleweight division, anything seems possible. Below him, contenders aplenty are patiently waiting their turns. Yoel Romero seems likely to get the next opportunity to fight for the belt, but Ronaldo “Ja…

One level below that group lies two hard-chargers trying to blast their way into the conversation. Robert Whittaker, 25, and Derek Brunson, 32, are ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the UFC rankings, and will pair off Saturday in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Melbourne, Australia.

Both fighters have been surging of late, carrying five-fight win streaks into the bout, and the winner will have a rock-solid case for a matchup with one of the big names that can vault them toward a title bout.

But is either fighter championship material? Joining me to discuss the fight and their future prospects is colleague and Lead MMA Writer Chad Dundas.

Mike Chiappetta: Following a weekend with a ton of MMA, this event is being met with shrugs, if it’s even noticed at all. That’s no fault of Whittaker or Brunson, who have little support on a card that, besides them, doesn’t feature a single other Top 15 fighter.

Still, they’re playing for real stakes. A defeat will send the loser tumbling from a title picture that is already bogged down by the champion’s eye injury along with a glut of contenders clogging the road ahead.

According to Odds Shark, Brunson is a slight favorite to win. That sounds right to me, mostly because of Brunson’s more rounded game.

Whittaker is a great stand-up fighter with quickness, pop and a mastery of distance that gives trouble to anyone who can’t take him down. Brunson, though, does manage to take down opponents when he sets his mind to it. His takedown accuracy—37 percent, according to FightMetric—is below average, but, then again, he managed to take down Olympic silver medalist Romero three times when they fought.

The contrast of styles should make it an interesting fight, but to return to our original question, it seems like a tall order for either Brunson or Whittaker to jump into the title challenger spot anytime soon, through no fault of their own.

It’s one thing to vault a guy or two in front of you, but it’s not like Souza, Rockhold and Mousasi are going anywhere. All of them are performing at a high level, and it’s hard to imagine either Brunson or Whittaker working their way past them by, say, the end of 2017.

Part of that is because both have fallen short in the past against this caliber of opponent. While Brunson has lost to both Souza and Romero, Whittaker was defeated by Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson when he was still competing at welterweight. It’s certainly possible that those experiences will make them better for the next such opportunity, but I’m just not convinced I’ve seen the type of dynamic and complete games necessary to win the championship out of either. There have been flashes of brilliance from both, and maybe that potential is there. Chad, what do you think?

Chad Dundas: I really like both Brunson and Whittaker as prospects. Even though this relatively low-profile Fight Night event is buried in the crowded wash between UFC 205 and UFC 206, fights like this one make paying attention worthwhile.

Brunson especially has been primed for a breakout. He’s one of those athletes that I look at and wonder why he doesn‘t get a little bit more love in the UFC landscape. After closing out his Strikeforce career with back-to-back losses in 2012, he’s gone 7-1 in the UFC. His last four fights have all ended in first-round stoppage victories, an impressive feat as he has slowly and steadily worked his way up the ranks.

That lone loss, as you mentioned, came against current No. 1 contender Romero. The thing that sticks out to me as I re-watch it, however, is that Brunson was actually getting the better of Romero through two-and-a-half rounds. In fact, he was on the verge of winning that fight before he began to tire and Romero caught him with one of his trademark late surges of terrible violence with just 97 seconds left.

Imagine how differently the middleweight landscape might be today if Brunson had managed to hold on.

Alas, he didn’t and now both he and Whittaker find themselves behind that gaggle of front-runners all after Bisping‘s title. The good news for this pairing, however, might be that one of those people is bound to be left out in the cold.

We think Bisping and Romero will square off for the title in the spring. It’s also a good bet that Rockhold and Souza end up finally getting together for a rematch. That means that Chris Weidman and/or Mousasi might end up on the outside looking in.

If the Brunson-Whittaker winner can score a date with someone of either Weidman or Mousasi‘s magnitude, it would be a tremendous opportunity.

What do you think, Mike? Am I too bullish on the winner here?

Mike: Your outlook on both is understandable. Brunson as of late has become particularly compelling because he has suddenly added surprising power to his game, knocking out four opponents in a row, something he’d never even done in his early days fighting in lower organizations. And it’s also true that he was leading Romero and on the way to victory when he lost.

What that ignores, however, is that Brunson also ran out of gas against Romero, and hasn’t had to go past the first round in over two years. Now faced with the prospect of going into five-round fights, that’s an X-factor we can’t overlook. While I’m sure he’s worked on his conditioning, you just never know how the work will manifest itself until it’s on display and under pressure.

Moreover, while Brunson has undoubtedly improved, so has Romero. So has Jacare. So has Mousasi.

While Brunson seems to have the physical tools to compete with anyone in the division, I guess I need to see him beat one of the top five before I can truly believe in him as championship material. As we all know, there’s often a big jump between where he is and the very top.

Does he have the talent to navigate that breach? Yes, but for now, I remain a bit of a skeptic.

Perhaps Whittaker has more upside, based solely upon his age. The division isn’t as old as the land of the dinosaur heavyweights, but there’s not a lot of young talent. In fact, he and Krzysztof Jotko, 27, are the only Top 15 middleweights under 30.

Whittaker’s youth means not only does he have plenty of time to improve, he’s also yet to reach his physical peak. After struggling to make 170, his body has matured nicely into a middleweight, but there may be even more room to add strength and power. As long as he keeps working on his ground game and wrestling, there’s a lot to like there.

Ultimately, this bout serves as a great measuring tool because it pits two fighters who have yet to take that step. One of them will win and get to make it, and the other will regroup.

If I had to bet if either would make the leap to champion, I’d guess Whittaker, but I wouldn’t wager much. But maybe he (or Brunson) will force me to re-evaluate my thinking.

How about you, Chad? Which one do you see continuing his rise?

Chad: I like Brunson‘s well-rounded skills to nab him the win here, but just barely. This fight might well come down to either Brunson‘s power punches on the feet or Whittaker’s ability to defend the takedown.

Whittaker should be the more polished striker and may want to set a higher pace than Brunson is comfortable with. After all, when we’ve seen Brunson falter in the Octagon, it was his wind that did him in. That means Brunson will have to either get to Whittaker’s chin early or turn this into a grappling match.

And Mike? I guess I’m just old school enough to go with the guy I think of as the better wrestler in fights that otherwise seem too close to call. Brunson doesn‘t have the sort of world-class amateur wrestling credentials of a Romero, but he was a three-time Division II All-American at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

He was also a longtime pupil at Renzo Gracie’s famed Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy before turning his MMA career over to the savants at Greg Jackson’s New Mexico-based fight team.

If he doesn‘t let Whittaker light him up with combinations, I like Brunson to turn this into a painful, ground-based evening for the New Zealander.

Whether such a performance will give Brunson‘s star the momentum it needs to start turning heads, I don’t know. But I’m cautiously optimistic he’ll be able to run his current win streak to six, and that ain’t too shabby no matter how he gets it done.

Mike: I guess that’s the key thing here, that one of these gentlemen will pick up a win, extend a streak, and to be able to state that by virtue of defeating the other, he is on the way.

Whether it’s Brunson or Whittaker, there are still many obstacles ahead. If either had the good fortune of being a light heavyweight or heavyweight, six straight wins would be more than enough to put you into position to challenge for the championship and put you one good strike away from the belt.

It’s not quite enough at middleweight, and that’s why I’m not more bullish on either. That said, minds can be changed rather quickly in this sport. Maybe for one of these two, a stride has been hit and a balance has been created that will see him continue to rise. Maybe it’s the continuation of something great and unexpected. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned in a division with Bisping as champion, anything is possible.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 165: Title Foes Ben Henderson, Michael Chandler Hear Different Callings

As fight week ended and Benson Henderson made his final preparations for his Bellator 165 lightweight title bout with Michael Chandler, he quietly celebrated his 33rd birthday. If it’s not an obvious milestone indicator, to Henderson, it privately serves as a reminder that he is rapidly approaching the end of a decorated career that has seen him win lightweight championships in both the WEC and UFC.

Saturday, he will attempt to add a third piece of hardware to that collection before he drifts off to the next chapter of his life: military service.

A few years ago, Henderson told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that he would only fight until he was 33. Earlier this week, on a conference call with media, Henderson reiterated that he was likely to follow through on that plan.

“It’s looking that way,” he said. “We’ll see how it all plays out but I do want to retire when I’m somewhat younger, to be able to speak coherently to my grandchildren and all that sort of stuff.”

Still, he plans to take himself out of one dangerous set of circumstances and into another by joining a military branch.

Time is of the essence for him because most branches have maximum enlistment ages, with the Air Force, for example, accepting only those between the ages of 17-27. Henderson still has time left to join the Army or the Navy, which recruit those up to 34, along with the Coast Guard, which accepts individuals up to age 39.

“I would like to serve my country. I think serving is a lost art, giving back to the country,” Henderson said. “Not just what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

“I think seriously we are lost today, our society today, something is wrong with us,” he continued. “We are jacked up in the head. We place our priorities extremely assbackwards. We celebrate morons who are focused on social media and this and that. So when I raise my kids, I’d like to express to them the importance of doing real stuff, giving back to your country, doing good, being a good person.”

While Henderson approaches that calling, his opponent, Chandler, has his mind focused on professional pursuits, namely elevating his position as one of the best lightweights in the world. A two-time Bellator 155-pound champion who holds a win over former UFC champ Eddie Alvarez, Chandler also suffered through a prolonged slump that spanned one year and three consecutive losses.

Since the last of those setbacks, however, Chandler has rallied, earning consecutive stoppage victories over Derek Campos, David Rickels and Patricky Freire, with the last of those earning him the belt.

While Chandler has long been considered one of the best lightweights outside the UFC umbrella, he’s also faced his share of detractors who contend that he hasn’t faced the caliber of competition that a top UFC 155-pounder would.

Over the last 12 months or so, Bellator president Scott Coker has sought to change that rosterwide criticism by adding depth, and the signing of Henderson offers Chandler his first chance to face an opponent that’s been universally examined, dissected and championship-approved prior to the bout.

As a result, matching up with Henderson is not simply about a belt defense; it’s also an opportunity for Chandler to gain something.

“For me there’s still so much more to prove, and it’s not to prove to fans, it’s not to prove to Bellator, it’s not to prove to anyone but myself. I was put in this sport to be great,” he said. “I’ve made some mistakes in fights before, I’ve made mistakes in training. I’ve been deficient in certain areas, but right now I’m firing on all cylinders. This is literally the best I’ve ever been, and it’s not one of the things people say because they have a fight coming up. I really do feel like mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, I’m the best I’ve ever been. Finally, I have 100 percent given myself permission to be the best in the entire world.”

Confidence issues are hardly rare in a sport that forces its athletes to strip down to minimal clothing and compete with little more than gloved hands, and Chandler’s recent momentum certainly works in his favor, as he’s been installed as the favorite to win.

Conversely, Henderson has had a rockier go of it lately, getting walloped in his Bellator debut this past April against Andrey Koreshkov before escaping with a win in his follow-up against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire after Freire broke his shin during the bout.

Chandler said he hasn’t been impressed with Henderson’s early work, but given the challenger’s championship pedigree, he expects a better version on Saturday.

As pre-fight chatter goes, it’s a mild knock. So, too, was Chandler’s contention that Henderson is a “game-plan artist” who focuses on outpointing opponents instead of domination.

It’s certainly a grumbling that Henderson has heard before. But for a future military man, it shouldn’t be surprising that tactics focus on efficacy ahead of flash.

Sure, Henderson can engage in a firefight if the need arises, but he zones in when he’s mixing up his strikes with his takedowns, and is at his best when he’s racking up volume and forcing his opponent to keep up.

Chandler, meanwhile, likes to feature his hands, and while he has a stellar wrestling game and top conditioning, he trusts a blazing right hand as his go-to weapon.

Either Henderson will begin his farewell tour with a third belt in three organizations, or Chandler will leave with his signature win. They’re two men with two different callings, one heading toward a selfless act and the other chasing solo accomplishments. On Saturday, their intersecting paths will at least bring them together before their paths wildly diverge.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com