Author: Montique David

Erick Silva, UFC FX 3: A Legit Contender Has Emerged

Erick Silva is for real. In a division led by game planners Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit, Erick Silva is a finisher.In his first three UFC fights, Silva has spent a total of 5:41 in the octagon, finishing all matches. But think about this: in t…

Erick Silva is for real. In a division led by game planners Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit, Erick Silva is a finisher.

In his first three UFC fights, Silva has spent a total of 5:41 in the octagon, finishing all matches. But think about this: in their first three UFC fights, GSP needed 21:41 with one finish; while interim champ Carlos Condit needed 44:53 with only one finish as well. All three guys went 2-1 throughout the three matches.

In the one UFC loss he has, Silva was disqualified for punches in the back of the head of Carlo Prater in a controversial finish. Silva landed a knee flush to the body, then followed up with 14 lightning-fast punches to the head of his opponent. Unfortunately for Silva, though, these punches resulted in referee Mario Yamasaki ruling the bout a disqualification.

In the post fight interview, Joe Rogan even questioned Yamasaki in the middle of the ring, while showing him a replay demonstrating that only one of the quick 14 finishing blows landed on the back of the head. Yamasaki then said, “He hit some in the back of the head and some not in the back of the head but I have to decide right there and then. There’s nothing I can do.”

As a result of that now controversial decision, the UFC treated the fight as a win for Silva and had him fight Charlie Brenneman, who was coming off a win against Daniel Roberts and is a fringe top ten guy in the Welterweight division.

Silva took him out in one round.

So, it’s about time to start taking this guy seriously. He’s an exciting, explosive fighter; and, most importantly, with 79% of his wins coming by either KO or submission, he’s a finisher. There should be a premium on guys who go for the kill, and Silva definitely fits the bill. Next up for him should be a top ten guy so everyone can see where he goes from there. But make no mistake about it, Erick Silva is for real.

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The UFC Needs to Scale Back the Number of Events

I am a fight fan. I love combat sports of all kind whether it’s mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu competitions, or Karate point fighting. I love it all.However, you can have too much of a good thing. There are already 26 UFC fight…

I am a fight fan. I love combat sports of all kind whether it’s mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu competitions, or Karate point fighting. I love it all.

However, you can have too much of a good thing. There are already 26 UFC fights tentatively scheduled for the UFC this year running through November 17th, and conventional knowledge tells us that we can expect another three to four events to round out the year. Last year there were 27 events total.

It’s no secret that Dana White believes that the UFC is competing with the NFL and other ratings juggernauts. He wants to be mainstream. However, you don’t become mainstream by saturating the market with your product. You become mainstream by making it seem special. The UFC is the most profitable mixed martial arts organization in the world because they have the best fighters and they put on the best product. It should be marketed that way. Yes there are tons of fighters in the UFC and having all of these events is giving everyone ample time to shine, but you wear out your fan base by constantly putting on fight after fight after fight. After a while people are going to cherry pick some events and not even bother watching others.

Take UFC 147 for example. Is anybody truly going to pay to see Wanderlei Silva vs Rich Franklin? I seriously doubt it. Granted this card has been cursed beyond all measure with the Silva-Sonnen rematch being moved back and even the replacement main event of Vitor Belfort vs Wanderlei getting bit by the injury bug, but that’s when you have to know when enough is enough.

UFC 147 is just not meant to be. Call it off. If you don’t call it off, at least don’t ask us fans to pay for it, because it’s simply not worth the money. 

With that being said, to solve the problem the UFC must simply scale back the number of events. Put the best on PPV and FOX, and spread the rest amongst the undercards, FX, and FUEL TV. It can be done, and it should be done because overwhelming the fan base will just lead to more harm than good.

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Jon Jones: Is the Hamill Loss the Best Thing That Happened to Jones?

Sixteen wins and one loss. Some would point towards that blemish on Jon’s record and say that it’s the only negative about his career.But can a negative be a positive?By now it’s common knowledge how Jon Jones has the single loss on his record. After d…

Sixteen wins and one loss.

Some would point towards that blemish on Jon’s record and say that it’s the only negative about his career.

But can a negative be a positive?

By now it’s common knowledge how Jon Jones has the single loss on his record. After dominating Matt Hamill, “Bones” decided to use multiple 12-6 elbows to a downed opponent, which is illegal per the unified rules of MMA.

What most people don’t know is that Jones was just docked a point and the match was to continue, but Hamill couldn’t continue due to a dislocated shoulder. A dislocated shoulder that had nothing to do with the downward elbows that got him docked a point.

So with Hamill unable to continue on, Jones was disqualified for the use of 12-6 elbows.

However, that loss became a very good gain.

By “losing” that matchup, the pressure and stigma of having to protect his undefeated streak was gone. The dominant light heavyweight prospect who’s now one of the top fighters in the world doesn’t have to face the pressure with having a goose egg in the loss column. Because of that, he’s able to fight more loose and free and as a result is a better fighter.

It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened to a fighter.

On December 22, 2000, undefeated Fedor Emelianenko faced off against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in the second round of Rings King of Kings tournament. Seventeen seconds into the fight, Fedor slipped a punch and Kohsaka’s elbow caused a cut above Fedor’s right eye. The referee had a doctor look at it and decided that the fight couldn’t be continued.

What’s interesting is that elbow strikes were illegal, but since it was decided that Fedor couldn’t continue, Kohsaka was awarded the victory.

 

Fedor not only avenged this very controversial loss, but he didn’t lose any of his next 28 fights over the next 10 years.

Which brings us back to Jones. By having this “loss” on his record, all pressure of being an undefeated fighter is off of his shoulders. This is important because as a fighter the less things that cloud your mind, the more focused you can be on the task at hand, which is winning fights. Worrying about protecting your record can be very taxing, especially in today’s media environment.

Maybe Jones won’t have a 10-year undefeated streak like Fedor, but there’s no doubt that having the Hamill loss on his resume has taken off much of the pressure that he would be otherwise be facing.

I guess a negative can be a positive.

 

Follow on Twitter @Montiqued.

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UFC on FOX: Why the UFC Needs PPV-Quality Main Events on FOX Cards

Something has to be done.The first UFC on FOX event was set off with a huge main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and became the most watched MMA event in U.S. history with 5.7 million average viewers. …

Something has to be done.

The first UFC on FOX event was set off with a huge main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and became the most watched MMA event in U.S. history with 5.7 million average viewers.  

Fast forward to January, with the main event of Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, and ratings take a slight dip, bringing in 4.7 million average viewers with a main event that doesn’t necessarily grab the attention of the casual fan.

Then there was the big fall.

UFC on FOX 3 with the main event of Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller tanked in viewership, only doing 2.42 million average viewers, half of what UFC on FOX 2 did just a couple of months earlier.

What’s interesting about it is that viewership is exactly opposite of the quality of the main event. Hands down, Diaz vs. Miller was the best main event out of the three, followed by Evans dominating Phil Davis for five rounds.

The Heavyweight Championship bout was over before it ever got started, mostly due to the massive hype that the match received, and the 64-second knockout that left the casual fan wondering just what MMA truly was all about.

So how do you fix viewership issues? Put the big names on free TV.

Zuffa is hoping that just seeing the UFC logo will draw. It won’t. There are fans like me who’ll watch every UFC event regardless of who’s fighting just because they’re fight fans. Then there are the channel flippers and the occasional viewers who want to see the big names fight. They vastly outweigh the hardcore fans.

With that being said, UFC on FOX started out perfectly with a one-fight card with the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line. What more could you ask for? A Heavyweight Championship on free TV? It’s unheard of.

Then they failed to capitalize. The main objective for the UFC should have been to put on some of the best fights on free TV for at least three or four events to make UFC on FOX a must-see event. By doing that, they not only would have grown their fanbase among casual fans, but they would also potentially see a spike in pay-per-view buys.

There are actually fewer FOX events than PPV events, so it should be treated like a must-see event with some of the biggest names out there.

To show how names truly drive views, look no further than Kimbo Slice vs. Josh Thompson in the now-defunct EliteXC promotion. Once the most watched MMA event on network TV, CBS drew 4.9 million viewers that wanted to see Kimbo fight. Fighters sell fights.

Now, I’m not saying that UFC on FOX should be the home of the Heavyweight Championship fights, but they should do more in putting the big names on display.

Believe it or not, MMA still has not surpassed boxing in the mainstream. The most talked-about fighters in the world are still Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Not Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

UFC has the biggest platform in all of combat sports to put mixed martial arts on the map. But to do so, you have to put the big fights in front of a free TV audience. The more big fights on free TV, the more eyeballs on the product and the more potential it is to launch MMA into mainstream.

Diaz vs. Miller and the 2.4 million viewers was not a blip. If Zuffa continues to put on fights that wouldn’t headline pay-per-views, this will become a trend.

 

Follow on Twitter @montiqued

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Why Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones Is the Superfight We Want to See

The Unstoppable force vs the immovable object. One vs. Two. The best vs. the best. Not often do fans of combat sports get to see two guys at the very pinnacle of the sport compete for the ultimate crown of being the best. We could possibly be on the ve…

The Unstoppable force vs the immovable object. One vs. Two. The best vs. the best.

Not often do fans of combat sports get to see two guys at the very pinnacle of the sport compete for the ultimate crown of being the best. We could possibly be on the verge of just that.

Granted, Anderson Silva has a tough matchup in front of him in Chael Sonnen. And no matter what you think about Chael as a person, if he’s learned anything about stopping the triangle, he could very well walk out of Vegas the new Middleweight Champion.

Jones has a tough task of his own as one of the best ever, Dan Henderson, aims to be one overhand right away from his first UFC championship.

But let’s look past that for a second and say that both defend their belts. Shouldn’t they fight each other? And if they did, what would it show about both men and the sport in general?  

Begin Slideshow

Why Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones Is the Superfight We Want to See

The Unstoppable force vs the immovable object. One vs. Two. The best vs. the best. Not often do fans of combat sports get to see two guys at the very pinnacle of the sport compete for the ultimate crown of being the best. We could possibly be on the ve…

The Unstoppable force vs the immovable object. One vs. Two. The best vs. the best.

Not often do fans of combat sports get to see two guys at the very pinnacle of the sport compete for the ultimate crown of being the best. We could possibly be on the verge of just that.

Granted, Anderson Silva has a tough matchup in front of him in Chael Sonnen. And no matter what you think about Chael as a person, if he’s learned anything about stopping the triangle, he could very well walk out of Vegas the new Middleweight Champion.

Jones has a tough task of his own as one of the best ever, Dan Henderson, aims to be one overhand right away from his first UFC championship.

But let’s look past that for a second and say that both defend their belts. Shouldn’t they fight each other? And if they did, what would it show about both men and the sport in general?  

Begin Slideshow