The UFC has been promoting UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem as “the biggest fight of the year” and after two heavyweights weighed in at a combined 529 fights, they were right. The event featured Lesnar’s return after over year-long bout w…
The UFC has been promoting UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem as “the biggest fight of the year” and after two heavyweights weighed in at a combined 529 fights, they were right.
The event featured Lesnar’s return after over year-long bout with diverticulitis. The former champion had battled the disease before, but finally received surgery to fix it for good. He claimed he was back and he would need to prove it against one of the top heavyweights in the world, Alistair Overeem.
Speaking of Overeem, UFC 141 also featured Octagon debut of the former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 champion. “The Reem” is perhaps the best striker in the heavyweight division and the contrast between his and Lesnar’s styles made for a very intriguing fight.
In the end, it was Overeem who shocked the world by sending Lesnar into retirement with a crazy knockout win.
But although “The Reem” might have been the big winner from the night, he wasn’t the only winner. In fact, many of the real winners and losers from tonight’s event weren’t even fighting on the card.
Here were the real winners and losers from UFC 141.
There are few athletes in the world who can truly be considered once-in-a-lifetime type talents. In fact, in the history of most sports, those athletes can typically be counted on one hand.On the men’s side of mixed martial arts, many believe tha…
There are few athletes in the world who can truly be considered once-in-a-lifetime type talents. In fact, in the history of most sports, those athletes can typically be counted on one hand.
On the men’s side of mixed martial arts, many believe that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has asserted himself into the conversation as that kind of athlete. But on the women’s side, the debate is already over—Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is the most talented female fighter of all-time—and it’s not close.
The gap in talent between Cyborg and the next closest female fighter became even more evident on Dec. 17 when she absolutely destroyed the consensus No. 2 featherweight in the world, Hiroko Yamanaka in just 16 seconds.
She is so far ahead of the next closest women’s fighters, in fact, that some believe that she could and even should move out of the women’s divisions and into the men’s divisions where there might actually be some competition for her.
Even current Strikeforce lightweight K.J. Noons has come out publicly in the past and stated that he believes “Cyborg” could compete with the men at 145 pounds.
“I believe (male vs. female fights) wouldn’t be that competitive, but every now and then there is a special athletic woman that can compete with men in fighting,” Noons told Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt in July 2010. “I believe Cris is one of them.”
That kind of endorsement from a talented former MMA champion says the world about what this talented woman has to offer to the sport. However, the reality of the situation is that there is just no way that she will ever fight a man in a sanctioned mixed martial arts fight.
Sure, the case could be made that Cyborg will continue to mow through every female opponent she ever faces until she eventually decides that she’s bored and wants to retire, but that still doesn’t change the fact that there is no way that a state athletic commission would ever dream of sanctioning a fight between a male and a female, no matter how good the female is.
Not only that, but there is even less of a chance that Zuffa would promote a male-vs-female fight. Just imagine the backlash that would come from it. One only has to think about the considerable amount of heat that the WWE has taken in the past during their inter-gender matches headlined by former superstar Chyna—and that wasn’t even real.
Zuffa is attempting to promote mixed martial arts as a legitimate competition. Putting on an inter-gender fight would be a step so far in the wrong direction that it’s hardly even worth discussing. If they ever want MMA to be taken seriously as a family-friendly sport, they absolutely cannot condone gender-on-gender violence.
But perhaps the biggest reason that this kind of fight would never happen is that no male fighter with any brain whatsoever would ever accept a fight with any female, even “Cyborg” Santos.
Sparring in the gym is one thing, but actually competing in a fight with a woman has zero potential benefit for a man.
If he wins, who cares? He’s supposed to win. Not only that, he also beat up a girl. Losing the fight could very realistically mean the end of his professional MMA career. What promoter would ever sign a guy after he just lost to a woman?
As pointless as it might seem to some, Cyborg isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, other than perhaps down to 135 pounds where there are a few opponents who she hasn’t decapitated quite yet. Fights with Miesha Tate, Alexis Davis, Sarah Kaufman and even Ronda Rousey are still worth watching.
Certainly Santos would be the overwhelming favorite in any of them, but large favorites are not uncommon in sports.
The Cyborg-vs-Men discussion will continue over the next few years, but fans should remember that it’s purely hypothetical. We can be mad about it all we want, but there is absolutely no way she will ever fight a man.
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: Follow @NicholasCaron
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez successfully out-pointed Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night’s fight card, earning a one-sided unanimous decision victory over his challenger. The defense was Melendez’s sixth straight impres…
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez successfully out-pointed Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night’s fight card, earning a one-sided unanimous decision victory over his challenger.
The defense was Melendez’s sixth straight impressive victory for the promotion, all of which have had championship implications. Though he hasn’t been fighting quite as high of caliber opponents as UFC champion Frankie Edgar, the fact is that Melendez has been every bit as dominant—or more—than Edgar.
Given the way these two 155-pounders have performed in recent years, it should be no surprise that they are the only two fighters who are truly in the conversation right now as the best lightweight in the world. But the debate is becoming increasingly fierce.
Is Edgar really as good as he has been made him out to be? Following his most recent victory over Gray Maynard, UFC president Dana White went out of his way to proclaim Edgar as not only the best lightweight, but also the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now.
Still, others such as Strikeforce commentator and MMA legend Frank Shamrock have openly proclaimed Melendez as the best lightweight, adding on Saturday night’s broadcast that anyone who wants to prove that they are the best [presumably speaking of Edgar] should have to come to Strikeforce and prove it.
Shinya Aoki attempted to do so when he came over from DREAM in April 2010, but Melendez humiliated the Japanese superstar, planting him on his backside numerous times and completely dispelling the belief some had that Aoki had a legitimate claim as the top 155-pounder in MMA.
So could Edgar be the next one whose myth gets debunked against “El Nino?”
Certainly Edgar’s victories over B.J. Penn and Gray Maynard have solidified him as the top UFC fighter at 155, but those who have paid close attention have to remember that those victories haven’t been quite as dominant as one would expect from someone who is the best in the world.
In fact, many believe that Penn should’ve been awarded the decision in his first fight with Edgar. Perhaps worse yet, Edgar was nearly knocked out multiple times in each of his two fights against Maynard.
Penn and Maynard are two of the best fighters in the world, so Edgar gets somewhat of a pass on those points by many people. Some even give him more credit after the two fights with Maynard because Edgar “proved that he can recover.”
As fair as that analysis may be, Maynard is not Melendez. He might be a better wrestler, but when it comes to finishing fights, Maynard just doesn’t possess the same tools that Melendez does either as a striker or a grappler.
Simply put, if Melendez caught Edgar like Maynard did, those fights would have never made it out of the first round and it would be a unanimous conclusion from the MMA world that Melendez is, indeed, the best there is.
Unfortunately, given Edgar and Melendez’s contracts, it seems unlikely that we will see these two lightweight juggernauts in the same cage anytime soon. However, if Edgar gets by Benson Henderson at UFC 144, the conversation of a super-fight between the two champions should continue to heat up.
After all, these two might be the only ones who can beat the other man.
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: Follow @NicholasCaron
Strikeforce lives! The new era of Strikeforce on Showtime began on Saturday night, Dec. 17 following the news earlier in the week that the Zuffa-owned promotion signed a new two-year contract with the premium TV network. Current lightweight champion…
Strikeforce lives!
The new era of Strikeforce on Showtime began on Saturday night, Dec. 17 following the news earlier in the week that the Zuffa-owned promotion signed a new two-year contract with the premium TV network.
Current lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez had been rumored to be heading to UFC where he would immediately be placed on the fast-track to a UFC title shot of his own against Frankie Edgar, but “El Nino” appears to be on the Strikeforce roster for the long haul. He headlined Saturday night’s show against Jorge Masvidal who was coming off of two big wins over Billy Evangelista and K.J. Noons.
Melendez dominated Masvidal on his way to a unanimous decision victory, but he wasn’t the only big winner from the event. There were also numerous people who were affected from the happenings that weren’t even directly involved with it themselves.
Let’s take a closer look at the real winners and losers from Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal.
The Strikeforce women’s bantamweight division continues to become more and more intriguing after controversial statements from champion Miesha Tate, former champion Marloes Coenen and potential future champion Ronda Rousey.Statements from Rousey …
The Strikeforce women’s bantamweight division continues to become more and more intriguing after controversial statements from champion Miesha Tate, former champion Marloes Coenen and potential future champion Ronda Rousey.
Statements from Rousey and Tate brought the subject of beauty over skill to the table in relation to championship aspirations. Both women agreed that the other is very attractive and that it likely played at least some role in the success they have had thus far.
But it was Marloes Coenen who brought it a step further when she called out Miesha Tate for being somewhat of a hypocrite, as a photo has been floating around the internet for quite some time of Tate in a thong, posing for the camera.
“You can’t present yourself the way [Miesha] presents herself and then expect to get respect as a fighter and as a good girl,” Coenen told Full Contact Fighter.
However, Tate has since responded via Twitter, denying that the controversial photograph is even her in the first place.
This is the first time that Tate has spoken out regarding the photograph, even though it has been circulating around for quite some time. The women’s 135-pound champion did, however, have a suggestion for those fans who are interested in seeing pictures of her “other side.”
This would not be the first time that someone has pulled the old “it’s not me” routine, but upon closer examination, it appears as if Tate may have a legitimate claim. The photograph in question (which can be found by doing a quick Google Image search) does not show a great deal of the woman’s face and, as Tate says, her physical condition does not appear to be that of someone who is a high-level athlete.
Each individual can be his or her own judge on what they want to believe in this case, but one should closely consider the type of damage that can be done to an athlete’s persona when false accusations come out surrounding them. It’s one thing when the allegations are true, but it’s another thing when someone finds something that is completely untrue, such as this photograph, and presents it as fact.
Women’s mixed martial arts still has quite a bit of growing to do, and every time that someone does something like this, it sets the sport back even further.
For more MMA news and opinions, follow Nick Caron onTwitter.
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen has been quiet since losing her championship to Miesha Tate this past July. The highly respectable Dutch martial artist came out of hiding earlier this week, though, when she spoke o…
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen has been quiet since losing her championship to Miesha Tate this past July. The highly respectable Dutch martial artist came out of hiding earlier this week, though, when she spoke out regarding the controversy involving the 135-pound division in Strikeforce, largely centered around newcomer Ronda Rousey.
“Ronda was very honest in what she said,” Coenen told Full Contact Fighter. “Ronda certainly has a point, but what I didn’t like from both ladies is the way they were speaking about Sarah Kaufman. It’s okay if you want to present yourself as a supermodel. I have no problem with that. I understand you want to sell tickets, too. But to talk about another woman, about her looks, in a negative way, it’s a big ‘no-no’ to me. You don’t do that in public about someone else.”
Both Tate and Rousey have been praised quite a bit as being two of the most attractive women to compete in the sport. They both have their accomplishments as fighters as well and have made it known that they want to be recognized for that and not their looks, but Coenen believes Tate is going about it the wrong way.
“In the interview, [Miesha] said, ‘Oh I hate it when guys are talking about how they want to do me on the forums,’ ” she recalled. “I’m like, ‘Girl, you created that yourself. If you post a picture of yourself with your pants down, in a thong, looking to the camera… If you’re going to pose in America in a Wonder Woman outfit that’s more of a bikini than something else, that’s the reaction you will get.’ “
The infamous picture has made the rounds on many MMA forums and websites, but Tate may be trying to get past that as she is now a champion in the sport and is trying to gain legitimacy as a top-level athlete. A former champion herself, though, Coenen believes Tate has already cemented her reputation with those pictures alone.
“I’ve got a little niece who is 3 years old. When I am done fighting and when she’s older, I want her to be proud of who I am and what I did. Therefore, I will not pull my pants off and show my ass in a thong to the camera.”
“You can’t present yourself the way [Miesha] presents herself and then expect to get respect as a fighter and as a good girl,” Coenen added. “Ronda is doing the same thing. Ronda wants to be the Chael Sonnen of [women’s] MMA which is a good thing for her. Just go for it. But you will get some critics for that, too.”
Tate and Rousey have been going back and forth with the reasons why they believe Rousey should or shouldn’t get a shot at the title. Tate believes that the new challenger is being disrespectful to her with her insistence of getting a title fight so early in her career.
Coenen agrees, but has a slightly different take.
“Why don’t you fight Cyborg at 145?” she asked of Rousey. “I don’t get that one. Maybe she’s certain enough to fight Miesha, but not certain enough to fight Cyborg. But in my opinion, if you really want a fight, and you’re really a true fighter, you will face Cyborg first. To me, that’s a big test.”
The next fights for Rousey and Tate have not yet been announced, but Coenen is working toward getting back in the cage. This time, she will look to move back up to her original class in the featherweight division.
“I’m going back up to 145 and if I get a chance to fight Cyborg again, I will definitely do that. I didn’t forget about the beating I got,” she laughed. “I feel way stronger at 145 than at 135 because when I’m fighting at 145, I’m taller than most of the girls. I was taller than most of them other than Cyborg. So when I was fighting at 135, I was like one head higher than most of the girls and that was a whole new ballgame for me.”
There are few athletes in the world who can truly be considered once-in-a-lifetime type talents. In fact, in the history of most sports, those athletes can typically be counted on one hand.