In the aftermath of UFC 143 last night, we found ourselves with a new champion, several new top contenders and some dazzling finishes.Rising stars and established veterans took their game to the ultimate proving ground last night and, for the most part…
In the aftermath of UFC 143 last night, we found ourselves with a new champion, several new top contenders and some dazzling finishes.
Rising stars and established veterans took their game to the ultimate proving ground last night and, for the most part, did not disappoint. The many surprises experienced last night proved to make UFC 143 successful as a whole.
There will undoubtedly be some cuts following the event, but where does each fighter go from here?
Let’s now examine the options each fighter has from here.
An integral part of professional fighting is the ability to take a punch. All fights start standing up, increasing the odds of having you chin tested early in a fight.The deterioration of fighters’ chins come by years of taking punishment. Fighters lik…
An integral part of professional fighting is the ability to take a punch. All fights start standing up, increasing the odds of having you chin tested early in a fight.
The deterioration of fighters’ chins come by years of taking punishment. Fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Mirko Cro Cop could not take nearly the amount of damage they could at the end of their career as they did in the beginning.
Fighters presently in the UFC have a wide range of chins, from the weakest, such as Wanderlei Silva, to the strongest, which we will examine by division.
Fighters on this list are only UFC fighters, although guys like Patrick Cote and Fedor Emelianenko definitely contend as top-notch punch takers.
This Saturday, UFC 143 takes place in Las Vegas. A new welterweight king will be crowned, high-profile heavyweights will collide, and a bantamweight bout with title implications are among the many fights we will be graced with.This card has carried a n…
This Saturday, UFC 143 takes place in Las Vegas. A new welterweight king will be crowned, high-profile heavyweights will collide, and a bantamweight bout with title implications are among the many fights we will be graced with.
This card has carried a number of injuries that have seen Georges St. Pierre, Erik Koch, Ricardo Lamas, Amir Sadollah, Jorge Lopez, Mike Stumpf and Justin Edwards drop from the card.
Despite injury, this card still carries some solid fights that should be both entertaining and important. But who will win, and who will come away with Fight, Submission and Knockout of the Night?
Next month at UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit, we will be treated to something that hasn’t been seen since 2008—a new UFC Welterweight Champion.Although it is an interim belt, it is also a ticket to fight Georges St. Pierre later this year for the Undis…
Next month at UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit, we will be treated to something that hasn’t been seen since 2008—a new UFC Welterweight Champion.
Although it is an interim belt, it is also a ticket to fight Georges St. Pierre later this year for the Undisputed Welterweight Championship.
In addition to Diaz vs. Condit, UFC 143 carries its share of intriguing and exciting fights on it. Despite a number of injuries and late replacements, this card carries some serious fan-friendly bouts. It also carries serious implications in several divisions.
Which of the fights on the card are the most important? Which fights on the card have the most “Fight of the Night” potential? Let’s take a look at a few of the fights on this card which could fit those bills.
In the fight world, especially the UFC, there are only so many fights a division can offer a fighter. For example, there are only 48 fighters that grace the UFC middleweight division. Also, there are only so many fight camps and gyms that possess high-…
In the fight world, especially the UFC, there are only so many fights a division can offer a fighter. For example, there are only 48 fighters that grace the UFC middleweight division. Also, there are only so many fight camps and gyms that possess high-talent training partners to ensure the highest degree of preparedness for a professional fighter. That is where problems begin to arise for certain fighters.
We have seen it time and time again. Teammates do not want to fight teammates and friends do not want to fight friends. At first glance, this is a completely normal thing. I know, from my experience as a normal human being, that I hate whenever I fight my brother or friend. But I am not a professional fighter, nor do I aspire to become a world champion in the world of mixed martial arts.
That is where the line for fighting friends is drawn. The UFC is a professional sports company that employs professional mixed martial artists.
We have seen a number of cases where fighters have publicly stated they would not fight teammates. For example, Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch are teammates at American Kickboxing Academy. Obviously, they are good friends, but they both are in the upper echelon of the welterweight division. That leaves both of these men with very few options in terms of fights they can take, if they want to stay relevant.
This is wrong. You come to the UFC to fight the very best athletes there are to offer. Koscheck and Fitch have challenged for the UFC welterweight championship, unsuccessfully, and both are aspiring to get another shot at it.
Fitch and Koscheck need to go the route Carlos Condit and Georges St. Pierre would have taken had they actually fought for the title at UFC 137. They both are coached by Greg Jackson (St. Pierre spends more time at Tri Star with Firas Zahabi, but if you look in his corner during fights, Jackson is always there).
They both have trained with one another in the past. They looked at this fight as strictly business, and that is the way the fight game needs to be looked at. They respected one another, as well as the UFC by taking the fight. They knew what they were getting into when they signed their name on the contract. They knew that eventually they would fight a friend or a teammate.
Think of every other sport. Players have teammates in college that they play with and become friends with for four years. They then play those friends in athletic competition in the professional leagues. They put aside their friendship in the name of competition. Then those professionals can sign with or be traded to other teams, thus leaving behind those former teammates.
Again, they still put in 100 percent when they face them in competition. That’s how sports work.
Now with that example comes ill feelings that may arise if two fighters from the same camp are matched up. We saw it and still see it with Jon Jones and Rashad Evans. When Jones stepped in for Rashad to fight Mauricio Rua, he knew that path would lead to his training partner, Evans.
Following his victory over Rua, a rivalry and intense bitterness formed when Evans and Jones publicly stated they were no longer friends. It also resulted in Evans leaving Greg Jackson’s camp and becoming apart of the Blackzillian camp. What neither of them realized is that if you are gonna be the best, you need to beat the best.
I mean, if the Overeem brothers are willing to take a professional fight against each other, as they have stated, why can’t teammates who aren’t even blood related fight one another? Don’t they know that it will help improve their chances on a title shot, which in turn will make them more money in the future? Call me crazy, but isn’t the fight game about making money?
I know, with the small window of time a fighter has in his career, that the most money and fame you can garner, the better. Fighters need to take the mindset of Condit, St. Pierre and all other fighters who put friendships aside for 15-25 minutes, and do what they are paid to do, which is fight.
Following a failed drug test at UFC 125 last year, Thiago Silva has been shelved with a suspension for the last year. Luckily for him, January has again come, and his suspension is finished.With the UFC putting on at least two events per month, Silva h…
Following a failed drug test at UFC 125 last year, Thiago Silva has been shelved with a suspension for the last year. Luckily for him, January has again come, and his suspension is finished.
With the UFC putting on at least two events per month, Silva has all sorts of opportunities to come back whenever he is ready to fight. There are many fights that Silva can take, but there is much concern that he will suffer from ring rust. Assuming that he is like Rashad Evans and shows that ring rust is just another excuse, the question on everyone’s mind is, who will he fight in his comeback?
The light heavyweight division is one of the most competitive divisions in the UFC, and it is obvious that there will be plenty of options for Thiago Silva when he does receive his comeback fight.
In the fight world, especially the UFC, there are only so many fights a division can offer a fighter. For example, there are only 48 fighters that grace the UFC middleweight division. Also, there are only so many fight camps and gyms that possess high-talent training partners to ensure the highest degree of preparedness for a professional fighter. That is where problems begin to arise for certain fighters.