Every now and then, someone will get excited when they learn I have a side gig writing about MMA. In those cases, the usual reaction is, “So you get to really follow the sport!””Well, how do you mean?””You get to order all the pay-per-views.””Right. Bu…
Every now and then, someone will get excited when they learn I have a side gig writing about MMA. In those cases, the usual reaction is, “So you get to really follow the sport!”
“Well, how do you mean?”
“You get to order all the pay-per-views.”
“Right. But you do know it’s on regular TV, too, right? And now, that’s not just occasionally, but fairly often?”
“WHA!?!?!”
The free TV cards (and I’m lumping Showtime and HDNet in with that) may not always be gangbusters. But more often than not, they’re pretty damn good, especially considering the entrance fee. That will continue tonight with UFC on FX 2, which will pit welterweight contenders Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.
This list of the best non-PPV main events is for proof you don’t have to shell out $49.99 every month to follow MMA.
The natural world is an almost perfectly closed loop, a finely tuned and living panoply of checks and balances. You’ve got predators eating herds of progressively smaller organisms, the herbivores eating the plants, the plants …
The natural world is an almost perfectly closed loop, a finely tuned and living panoply of checks and balances. You’ve got predators eating herds of progressively smaller organisms, the herbivores eating the plants, the plants making oxygen and the scavengers cleaning it all up.
Everything plays a role. Nothing goes to waste. There are no great white sharks without benthic marine algae. No wings without the wind.
It is the same for mixed martial arts. Exactly the same.
In MMA, without the losers, there can be no winners. They nourish the lands with their very blood. In return, maybe they get a taste of the limelight. Or maybe, when a big fish starts to fade, a few lucky losers get the chance to take a big, wet bite out of him as he slowly drifts toward the bottom.
It’s beautiful, in its way. It’s the web of life. And I believe it illustrates that the true heroes aren’t the ones who have “the gold” or “the green” or are “good at fighting” or fit all nice and neat into another one of your prefabricated phony-baloney constructs.
No, the true heroes are the faceless men, who stride to the ring time and again to take their beating, so that others may soar higher. And in performing this terrible sacrificial dance, they unknowingly sustain something bigger than themselves.
It’s time for these warrior poet loser heroes to step out of the darkness and take their bow. These are the 25 biggest tomato cans in the history of the sport of mixed martial arts.
Don’t laugh.
These are the men who lose out loud, man. They don’t lose behind their desks like some desk jockey, bro. In some cases, it means getting knocked out. In others, it means tapping like you’re trying to bring back Morse code. Methodologies aside, these men have made careers out of losing fights.
A few ground rules.
First, true tomato candom is about sustained sucking. We’re not talking about guys who lost a few times and walked away. That sort of sanity has no place on this list. These also aren’t guys who suffered a string of losses during an otherwise decent career, or pro wrestling types who tried MMA once but left just as quickly after losing to some construction worker .
So with that, here they are, submitted for your consideration.
If for some reason anyone should take exception to any of this, please take solace in the knowledge that any one of these guys could almost certainly kick my butt.
The natural world is an almost perfectly closed loop, a finely tuned and living panoply of checks and balances. You’ve got predators eating herds of progressively smaller organisms, the herbivores eating the plants, the plants …
The natural world is an almost perfectly closed loop, a finely tuned and living panoply of checks and balances. You’ve got predators eating herds of progressively smaller organisms, the herbivores eating the plants, the plants making oxygen and the scavengers cleaning it all up.
Everything plays a role. Nothing goes to waste. There are no great white sharks without benthic marine algae. No wings without the wind.
It is the same for mixed martial arts. Exactly the same.
In MMA, without the losers, there can be no winners. They nourish the lands with their very blood. In return, maybe they get a taste of the limelight. Or maybe, when a big fish starts to fade, a few lucky losers get the chance to take a big, wet bite out of him as he slowly drifts toward the bottom.
It’s beautiful, in its way. It’s the web of life. And I believe it illustrates that the true heroes aren’t the ones who have “the gold” or “the green” or are “good at fighting” or fit all nice and neat into another one of your prefabricated phony-baloney constructs.
No, the true heroes are the faceless men, who stride to the ring time and again to take their beating, so that others may soar higher. And in performing this terrible sacrificial dance, they unknowingly sustain something bigger than themselves.
It’s time for these warrior poet loser heroes to step out of the darkness and take their bow. These are the 25 biggest tomato cans in the history of the sport of mixed martial arts.
Don’t laugh.
These are the men who lose out loud, man. They don’t lose behind their desks like some desk jockey, bro. In some cases, it means getting knocked out. In others, it means tapping like you’re trying to bring back Morse code. Methodologies aside, these men have made careers out of losing fights.
A few ground rules.
First, true tomato candom is about sustained sucking. We’re not talking about guys who lost a few times and walked away. That sort of sanity has no place on this list. These also aren’t guys who suffered a string of losses during an otherwise decent career, or pro wrestling types who tried MMA once but left just as quickly after losing to some construction worker .
So with that, here they are, submitted for your consideration.
If for some reason anyone should take exception to any of this, please take solace in the knowledge that any one of these guys could almost certainly kick my butt.
Word came recently that popular middleweight Brian Stann will join the regular broadcasting rotation for UFC on FOX events. And why not? Smart, articulate, great back story, nice square jaw. What’s not to like?While current and former pro athletes are …
While current and former pro athletes are not exactly unmitigated slam dunks in this capacity (right, Joe Morgan?), some can be great in the booth. Charles Barkley, Don Meredith and Andy North come to mind as guys who bring or brought a strong blend of firsthand knowledge and personality to the airwaves.
In MMA, Bas Rutten, Randy Couture, Stann and a green-but-improving Kenny Florian are showing others how it’s done.
Here are 10 other fighters who could follow in those footsteps and make the transition.
At 1:22 a.m. Sunday on the East Coast, Benson Henderson became the new UFC lightweight champion with a close but clear decision victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 144. Henderson (16-2) overpowered Edgar (14-2-1) over five frenetic and hotly co…
At 1:22 a.m. Sunday on the East Coast, Benson Henderson became the new UFC lightweight champion with a close but clear decision victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 144.
Henderson (16-2) overpowered Edgar (14-2-1) over five frenetic and hotly contested rounds, shaking off takedown attempts and opportunistically punishing Edgar at every opening. The pivotal moment was an absolutely brutal upkick from Henderson at the very end of the second round, which appeared to break Edgar’s nose.
For his part, the indomitable Edgar battled throughout and probably out-struck Henderson by volume. But Henderson simply did more—a good deal more—with his chances.
Here are some key takeaways.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
Henderson’s physical advantage.
“I wanted to use my size to my advantage,” Henderson told UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan after the fight. “Making weight kind of sucks for me…I pay a big price for that so I want to make sure my opponents feel that pain when we’re inside this Octagon.”
Moments before that interview, the microphones picked up another, more private exchange. As everyone awaited the decision, Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta went over and whispered something to Henderson. His words were not audible, but Henderson’s were: “I could fight again right now.”
Just about every clean strike Henderson landed seemed to damage Edgar. His bulk allowed him to shrug off a lot Edgar’s wrestling (not all of it, but a lot of it). Benson Henderson was the bigger, better athlete Saturday night, plain and simple.
What We Learned About Frankie Edgar
That he’s going to answer a lot of questions over the next few months about moving down to featherweight.
“I don’t know, man,” Edgar told Rogan. “We’ll see what happens. It’s too soon to make a decision.”
So we’ll see. He may not go down right away, but I’d guess it’s not a matter of “if.”
What We Learned About Benson Henderson
He’s got a lot of tools in the toolbox. Big power, strong grappling, strong takedown defense, endless confidence and a gas tank that matched Edgar’s, at least Saturday night. We’ll see how the first challenger does.
What’s Next for Edgar?
He may not have the belt anymore, but here’s guessing he stays at lightweight for the time being. After fully emerging from the two years he just spent tied up with only two guys, he finds himself facing an open field in the UFC’s deep lightweight division. I imagine that’s an exciting prospect for Edgar.
The winner or loser between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller comes to mind. Edgar and Diaz have never crossed paths. Edgar and Miller battled once before, with Edgar taking a unanimous decision. But that was all the way back in 2006, before either man had entered the UFC.
However, Miller-Diaz doesn’t happen until May 5, which would mean a long stay on the shelf. If Edgar wants to fight before Labor Day, how about Joe Lauzon?
What’s next for Henderson?
One name: Anthony Pettis. Pettis, the former WEC champ, likely took Knockout of the Night honors for his first-round finish of Lauzon. “Showtime” seems eager to wear gold again, and Henderson surely would jump at the chance to avenge his only loss in his last 15 fights.
And there’s a bit of extra intrigue farther down the road. Former Bellator champ and highly regarded 155er Eddie Alvarez may soon be moving to the UFC. He may need to win a fight or two in the Octagon before getting a title shot, but he would be right in the mix from the moment he signed. Especially if he can win the last fight on his Bellator contract, which comes in April against some guy named Shinya Aoki.
One day, I’d like to see a series of pie graphs of every pro sport’s athletes by nationality. I know basketball would look pretty good. Soccer would look great. Golf, surprisingly, might look OK. Hockey would look like a Merced…
One day, I’d like to see a series of pie graphs of every pro sport’s athletes by nationality. I know basketball would look pretty good. Soccer would look great. Golf, surprisingly, might look OK. Hockey would look like a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament. American football would look, you know, like a circle, with a tiny sliver carved out for Samoa. Someone a lot less lazy than me should really get on that.
I bet MMA would rank right up there with the most diverse. For evidence, one need look no further than UFC 144, coming to you Saturday night from Saitama Super Arena in Japan and featuring fighters from seven different countries on its 12-fight card.
For further evidence, just take a look at this list, which ticks off the best fighters from 25 of the planet’s most MMA-happy nations.
Now, of course, I realize there are more than 25 countries that can claim pro fighters or an interest in fighting. So please save comments like”BROWHATABOUTSOANDSOFROMNORTHERNBRAMBLEFRAGHESTHETEATSBRO.” If you want to make those sorts of observations, fine. But they must be delivered by carrier pigeon.
But really, how did I narrow it down. I picked countries with more than one fighter currently aligned with a major promotion (UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, DREAM, BAMMA, ONE FC, Shooto and M-1 Global) or that generally appear to incorporate combat sports and similar pursuits into their sporting cultures. Or both.
Just try to relax and enjoy it. It’s what a true global citizen would do. Fighters appear in alphabetical order by country.
At 1:22 a.m. Sunday on the East Coast, Benson Henderson became the new UFC lightweight champion with a close but clear decision victory over