Dan Henderson took the spoils, as he routed Mauricio Rua via unanimous decision in an epic battle at UFC 139. Henderson’s victorious return to the Octagon in a five-round slugfest has most definitely set the cat amongst the pigeons vis-à-v…
Dan Henderson took the spoils, as he routed Mauricio Rua via unanimous decision in an epic battle at UFC 139.
Henderson’s victorious return to the Octagon in a five-round slugfest has most definitely set the cat amongst the pigeons vis-à-vis the light heavyweight division and maybe even the middleweight division
A lot was learned about the 41-year-old Henderson at UFC 139—for one, there is still a fairly good amount of gas in his tank.
His age is nothing more than a number.
Finally, “Hendo” can still hold court with the upper-echelon light heavyweights of the division.
With that in mind, what is next for the former Strikeforce standout?
UFC 139 is about to kick off with Maurício “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan “Hendo” Henderson serving as the main event. This bout is guaranteed to be explosive—sparks will fly, but for who? Shogun (20-5) is slowly making progr…
UFC 139 is about to kick off with Maurício “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan “Hendo” Henderson serving as the main event. This bout is guaranteed to be explosive—sparks will fly, but for who?
Shogun (20-5) is slowly making progress back up the rungs of the UFC light heavyweight division ladder after losing his title to Jon “Bones” Jones at UFC 128.
He showed his intentions with an emphatic first-round blitz of Forrest Griffin at UFC 134.
On the other hand, Hendo (28-8) is making his return to the Octagon after a successful 3-1 stint at the now-defunct San Jose-based Strikeforce company—picking up the light heavyweight title along the way.
Hendo has made the jump to the UFC for two reasons—a shot at UFC gold and to end his storied career there.
This will be the first time these former Pride champions come face to face in the Octagon or anywhere else for that matter.
For some reason, their paths never crossed whilst they were tearing up Pride en-route to becoming household names.
I expect the fight to be a stand-and-bang affair, with Hendo attempting to end things early via “H-Bomb” detonation.
Shogun’s mission in this five-round bout will be to weather the early storm of the Greco-Roman style wrestler’s initial onslaught, whilst keeping him at bay with his numbing leg kicks.
Still, I expect the 41-year-old’s age and lack of cardio to become a factor if the fight goes into the latter stages.
Now, if that transpires, expect Shogun to take full advantage of the situation and go for broke.
Hendo is known for his cast iron chin, but a fatigued Hendo will wilt under the relentless assault of Shogun, and I see him losing via KO/TKO for the first time in his career.
Whilst Anderson Silva is convalescing, Chael Sonnen and Mark Muñoz have attempted to goad the UFC middleweight champion into a title throwdown. “The Spider” sustained a shoulder injury whilst training for the Yushin Okami fight which…
Whilst Anderson Silva is convalescing, Chael Sonnen and Mark Muñoz have attempted to goad the UFC middleweight champion into a title throwdown.
“The Spider” sustained a shoulder injury whilst training for the Yushin Okami fight which he won via TKO at UFC 134.
The downside to the fight was that Silva exacerbated the injury, thus leaving him out of action until sometime in early 2012.
Whereas the champ has been recuperating from his minor setback, two of the division’s 185-pounders have taken it upon themselves to call out the Matrix-esque phenom.
One is a supposed friend and the other his arch enemy.
The idiom “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” comes to mind.
Chris Leben is to MMA what Arturo Gatti was to boxing, in the sense that he is willing to entertain the baying crowds while absorbing vast amounts of punishment in the process. Like the late Gatti, “The Crippler” is a brawler and his style …
Chris Leben is to MMA what Arturo Gatti was to boxing, in the sense that he is willing to entertain the baying crowds while absorbing vast amounts of punishment in the process.
Like the late Gatti, “The Crippler” is a brawler and his style of fisticuffs is sometimes likened to a club fighter—swing and hope for the best.
Leben definitely has the skill set—boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling and you guessed it, brawling.
Come fight night, however, the latter is his weapon of choice.
The fight with Wanderlei Silva is a perfect example of Leben throwing caution to the wind—“The Axe Murderer” came out all guns blazing, Leben followed suit—toe to toe and blow for blow, until the inevitable happened.
One of them got sparked. It wasn’t Leben but it could’ve been.
It’s a chance The Crippler takes, hoping that during the ensuing onslaught and through all the flailing fists, his will be the punch that connects.
Like “Thunder”, Leben has got one of the biggest pairs. To take such risks which have seen him on occasions bloodied and semi-comatose warrants that.
Remember the trilogy war Thunder had Micky Ward—it was boxing, but not as we know it.
Two guys throwing hell for leather—offense all the way, defense practically non-existent.
Was it entertaining? That would be an understatement.
Gatti vs. Ward 1 won fight of the year award by Ring Magazine, and the great boxing trainer Emanuel Steward went as far as saying that the ninth round was the “Round of the Century,” following Ward’s knockdown of Gatti.
In their third and final bout Gatti broke his hand twice in the fourth round while throwing an uppercut to Ward’s hip.
Regardless of the breakage, Gatti continued for six more rounds.
That’s what you call entertainment and wearing your heart on your sleeve. Gatti had shown that in abundance and so has The Crippler.
When he fought Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night: 11, Leben was on the receiving end of a blitzkrieg and on the verge of being knocked out before he turned things around and administered a knockout himself.
That fight won him Knockout of the Night honors.
Leben thus far has been awarded the honors of Knockout of the Night (three times) and Fight of the Night (twice).
That’s in no small part due to his aggressive gung-ho style of warfare.
Be that as it may, he should take a long look at The Axe Murderer. Well he did, and then he sent him on a short snooze.
The Axe Murderer’s punch resistance has gone—and he’s set for the knacker’s yard.
After his trilogy war with Ward, Gatti was never the same fighter again—he won a few, but in his last three losses to Floyd Mayweather, Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez, not only was Gatti stopped via TKO, he was taken apart.
In regards to Leben, the wear and tear has become obvious—his last two losses to Brian Stann and Mark Munoz are evident of that.
And at 31, Leben will be lucky if his career isn’t over in several years time. That and being the ultimate punch bag gatekeeper to the middleweight division. Gatti retired at 35 and Silva is on his way out at the same age.
Leben’s crime is his need to entertain the masses—blood, sweat, tears and knockouts that could go either way.
For what it’s worth, while The Crippler is still standing and banging and receiving said doses in equal measure, he’ll always be a fan favorite just like the late Arturo Gatti.
Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit was pissed off at having to step aside and allow Nick Diaz to take his place in an eventual fight with UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre on Super Bowl weekend. Personally, I don’t think an…
Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit was pissed off at having to step aside and allow Nick Diaz to take his place in an eventual fight with UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre on Super Bowl weekend.
Personally, I don’t think anyone will blame Condit in the slightest for his ire at having been shelved to make way for Diaz.
Even though most know the details by now, here goes.
First there was the St-Pierre vs. Diaz clash scheduled for UFC 137 that was upended when the latter failed to turn up for several press junkets.
Dana White then relegated Diaz to the co-main event with B.J. Penn as his new opponent.
Condit was then installed as a worthy adversary for St-Pierre.
The winner of the Diaz vs. Penn bout was more or less guaranteed a shot at the winner of St-Pierre vs. Condit.
As fate would have it, a spanner was thrown in the works—St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) suffered a knee injury during training, and Condit’s proposed bout with the former went up in smoke.
Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) sat back and willingly bided his time for the opportunity to finally throw down with St-Pierre once he’d recuperated—that would’ve been on Super Bowl weekend.
UFC 137 came, and Diaz (26-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who many thought hadn’t a cat in hell’s chance against Penn, proved them wrong in their ensuing battle and viciously upended the Prodigy.
Everything was running smoothly after that, then hey presto! Diaz takes to the mic and issues a challenge to St-Pierre, who was in attendance that night.
St-Pierre, incensed and somewhat emotional at the time, accepted the challenge.
St-Pierre went even further, having a one-to-one with White.
This is what White said after UFC 137, “[St-Pierre] said, and I quote – you’re going to think I’m full of [expletive], but this is the truth – I quote, ‘He’s the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met, and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.'”
Regardless of St-Pierre venting his indignation, White had two options—accept or decline.
White chose the former. On White’s part, it was good business and a great financial move for the UFC hierarchy to boot.
Condit has now been shafted twice, none of his own doing.
The catalyst to Condit being made the pasty is a result of three individuals, but most of the blame falls on White and St-Pierre.
On the one hand, you have the UFC boss, whose mantra I assume is “It’s not personal; it’s just business.”
This is understandable but in some regards, immensely flawed—White reneged on his promise to Condit.
On the other hand, there’s St-Pierre, who knew he had obligations to fight Condit.
He also knew how much the fight meant to him, but in the heat of the moment he let his anger, emotions and his ego get the better of him.
Condit has begrudgingly stepped aside.
Underneath, however, I would imagine that Condit is seething with rage at White’s shenanigans, but his most venomous fury ultimately lies at the feet of St-Pierre for denying him a shot at UFC glory.
Condit mightn’t have openly voiced his feelings, but believe me, deep down he is one pissed off fighter.
Jim Miller, the former No. 1 contender to Frankie Edgar’s UFC lightweight title, will remain just that. A contender who will never fight for the division’s most coveted crown. After Clay Guida’s rout of Anthony Pettis at The Ultimate Fighte…
Jim Miller, the former No. 1 contender to Frankie Edgar’s UFC lightweight title, will remain just that. A contender who will never fight for the division’s most coveted crown.
After Clay Guida’s rout of Anthony Pettis at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, Dana White gave Jim Miller (20-3, MMA) the green light as the No. 1 contender to Frankie Edgar’s UFC lightweight crown.
Though, there was one condition—that Miller took care of that Ben Henderson business at UFC on Versus 5.
That was the opportunity for Miller to finally fight for the lightweight title, an opportunity that doesn’t rear its beautiful head too often.
Miller should’ve grabbed that opportunity with both hands and everything else, including the kitchen sink.
Miller, once touted as being one of the best lightweights in the division, was at worst expected to sneak a win against Henderson.
That was not to be as he came up short.
That green light has turned to a permanent red, and I don’t see that color changing anytime soon. At this point in his career, I don’t think he’ll even get an amber light.
Coming up short in a crowded division akin to the lightweight assemblage basically means not only is it back to the drawing board, but worse, it’s back to the end of that long queue of expectant and aspiring wannabe UFC lightweight champions.
Suffice to say, Miller would have to go through that batch of 155-pound contendersen route to his ascendancy to the crown.
At present, Miller finds himself in the same situation as another fighter whose potential went up in smoke—Melvin Guillard at UFC 136.
Joe Lauzon, who brought the Guillard hype train to an abrupt halt via rear-naked choke in less than 47 seconds of the opening round of their encounter, could now be Miller’s next opponent.
Or maybe even Guillard could end up in the mix to further derail Miller’s title hopes.
If there was even the slightest chance of a title shot for Miller, a loss to the aforementioned combatants (or any fighter in the lightweight division for that matter) would effectively end his title aspirations for good.
At 28, Miller is still young, and can compete with the upper-echelon lightweights, but that’s about all she wrote.
His defeats, however, to the current UFC lightweight champion, Gray Maynard and former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson, I assume haven’t placed him in good stead with the UFC hierarchy and Mr. White in particular.
Also, with the likelihood of an influx of lightweights to the UFC from other organizations such as Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, Miller’s window of opportunity is closing by the minute.
Miller has a major problem—his penchant for falling short when the stakes are high.
For Miller to even get a sniff at contending for the championship, he needs to change up whatever has been holding him back, and change it up fast.
Be that as it may, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Miller is currently ranked No. 7 by Sherdog, whilst other organizations rank him anywhere between No. 8 or out of the Top 10 picture altogether.
The bottom line is this:
For Miller, the road to glory is going to be a long and treacherous one, and it’s a shame given his talent that that journey will end with Miller’s inability to reach his final destination—a shot at UFC gold.
In the end, Miller’s UFC epitaph could mirror the speech uttered by Marlon Brando’s character Terry Malloy in the iconic movie, “On the Waterfront.”
“…I could-a been a contender… I could-a been somebody…”
