“Did I stutter?! I said you’re a lay-and-pray artist who will NEVER beat Georges St. Pierre!”
It appears we weren’t the only ones surprised by Donald Cerrone’s recent comments for UFC lightweight Anthony Pettis. Anthony Pettis, who claims that he’s always been cordial with Cerrone in the past, recently attempted to make sense of the whole ordeal on “The MMA Hour.” Spoiler alert: He ain’t too keen on being told to “grab his purse and dance,” brother.
“It’s comedy. This is the first news to me that I have heard of Cerrone calling me out or that he has been calling me out or he wanted to fight me. I talked to my manager about it and I think it’s just him trying to get his name out there and trying to get to my spot, trying to get to that title shot, to try and get closer to a title shot. But, for him to do it the way it did, just pissed me of, so. If he gets passed with his fight with Melvin, and it makes sense for me to fight him and then fight for a title shot, then I will do it. If he is in my way, I will take him out. (I’m)100 -percent (pissed off). I am super pissed. I am not the guy to talk or the type of guy to be out there and talk shit about anyone, but for him to call me out and put it the way he put it, pretty much saying that I am afraid to fight somebody, that is never the case. I am never afraid to fight anybody. I want to be the best lightweight in the world and if he is in my way, then I will take him out too. He wanted to fight in August, I wasn’t going to be ready until October or November and I openly said it on Twitter and I openly said it everywhere, so it’s not a matter of me ducking him, if he wants to fight in November, let’s do it, I will gladly take that fight and I will be so motivated to whoop his ass.”
“Did I stutter?! I said you’re a lay-and-pray artist who will NEVER beat Georges St. Pierre!”
It appears we weren’t the only ones surprised by Donald Cerrone’s recent comments for UFC lightweight Anthony Pettis. Anthony Pettis, who claims that he’s always been cordial with Cerrone in the past, recently attempted to make sense of the whole ordeal on “The MMA Hour.” Spoiler alert: He ain’t too keen on being told to “grab his purse and dance,” brother.
“It’s comedy. This is the first news to me that I have heard of Cerrone calling me out or that he has been calling me out or he wanted to fight me. I talked to my manager about it and I think it’s just him trying to get his name out there and trying to get to my spot, trying to get to that title shot, to try and get closer to a title shot. But, for him to do it the way it did, just pissed me of, so. If he gets passed with his fight with Melvin, and it makes sense for me to fight him and then fight for a title shot, then I will do it. If he is in my way, I will take him out. (I’m)100 -percent (pissed off). I am super pissed. I am not the guy to talk or the type of guy to be out there and talk shit about anyone, but for him to call me out and put it the way he put it, pretty much saying that I am afraid to fight somebody, that is never the case. I am never afraid to fight anybody. I want to be the best lightweight in the world and if he is in my way, then I will take him out too. He wanted to fight in August, I wasn’t going to be ready until October or November and I openly said it on Twitter and I openly said it everywhere, so it’s not a matter of me ducking him, if he wants to fight in November, let’s do it, I will gladly take that fight and I will be so motivated to whoop his ass.”
I never understood the “What’d I do?” or “It’s not what was done but how it was done” responses to trash talk, which are essentially what we’re seeing here. What’d you do? You’re a professional fighter who is further up the totem pole than the other professional fighter below you. Cerrone wants a future title shot, and consecutive victories over Melvin Guillard and yourself can possibly give him one. He’s already booked to face Guillard, and is now trying to do whatever he needs to do to get a fight against you. If it offends you that much, maybe something can be arranged where you two can fight over it, possibly for some money, fame and a title shot against the …wait, never mind. Well played, Cerrone.
“Here at AKA, we’ve got fighters who come out to fight, fighters who will face anyone and don’t hide from any opponents. You’ve also got cowards out there like B.J. Penn who say they want to fight people, but then they run and hide.”
I guess that statement wasn’t direct enough for two, maybe three people on the planet, because Fitch was asked to clarify if he thought Penn was a coward. His response?
“Yes. He’s a coward. He wouldn’t be welcomed here.”
I bet Erick Silva finds your “running and hiding” comment hilarious, considering that’s exactly what you’re attempting to do with him. And not to create an MMA conspiracy theory on the spot, but if Fitch gets injured and has to pull out of his fight against Silva, I’m sure a lot of fans will think that the injury is “suspiciously convenient.” But who knows?
Does Fitch have a point about Penn waiting for Rory MacDonald instead of looking for another fight? Does anyone have any interest in watching Fitch and Penn do the man dance again? And how excited will you be about Cerrone vs. Pettis? Let us know, and keep it civil.
I don’t always go to weddings. But when I do, I am almost interesting.
When it was announced that Rory MacDonald had suffered an injury and pulled out of his upcoming bout with BJ Penn at UFC 152, Penn seemed content to sit out and wait for MacDonald to heal. Because the fight against MacDonald was Penn’s motivation to come out of retirement, BJ Penn appears to be, dare I say, determined to fight the heir apparent to Georges St. Pierre. Yet despite Penn’s plans to wait for MacDonald, both Jon Fitch and Siyar Bahadurzada have volunteered to step in on short notice to fight BJ Penn.
It’s not hard to figure out why either man wants this fight, yet it’s doubtful that we’ll be still seeing BJ Penn across the cage from one of them any time soon.
Perhaps the more transparent – and also less likely to come to fruition – callout of the two is Jon Fitch’s casual suggestion that he should be fighting BJ Penn at UFC 153. I say this because Jon Fitch already has an opponent for UFC 153, and it is none other than Brazilian wrecking ball Erick Silva. As we’ve pointed out when the fight was booked, Silva is anything but a rebound fight for the thirty four year old AKA product. Considering that Fitch hasn’t won a fight since he beat Thiago Alves two years ago, a loss to Silva – which is certainly not outside the realm of possibility – can easily end his hopes of ever earning another title shot in the UFC.
I don’t always go to weddings. But when I do, I am almost interesting.
When it was announced that Rory MacDonald had suffered an injury and pulled out of his upcoming bout with BJ Penn at UFC 152, Penn seemed content to sit out and wait for MacDonald to heal. Because the fight against MacDonald was Penn’s motivation to come out of retirement, BJ Penn appears to be, dare I say, determined to fight the heir apparent to Georges St. Pierre. Yet despite Penn’s plans to wait for MacDonald, both Jon Fitch and Siyar Bahadurzada have volunteered to step in on short notice to fight BJ Penn.
It’s not hard to figure out why either man wants this fight, yet it’s doubtful that we’ll be still seeing BJ Penn across the cage from one of them any time soon.
Perhaps the more transparent – and also less likely to come to fruition – callout of the two is Jon Fitch’s casual suggestion that he should be fighting BJ Penn at UFC 153. I say this because Jon Fitch already has an opponent for UFC 153, and it is none other than Brazilian wrecking ball Erick Silva. As we’ve pointed out when the fight was booked, Silva is anything but a rebound fight for the thirty four year old AKA product. Considering that Fitch hasn’t won a fight since he beat Thiago Alves two years ago, a loss to Silva – which is certainly not outside the realm of possibility – can easily end his hopes of ever earning another title shot in the UFC.
And honestly, I’m sure I speak for most of us when I say I’d be okay with that. Even though BJ Penn and Jon Fitch are still tough fights for anyone to draw, they represent the past, not the future, of our sport. Watching Fitch attempt to avenge a recent draw on his record to BJ Penn, who would later call him a “glass jawed poser,” is nothing more than a regression. Like Ben asked about the “Bringing back your old self” ban, does the old Jon Fitch/BJ Penn really excite you more than the new Erick Silva? Didn’t think so, so let’s not bump the Brazilian prospect off of a card in his home country to relive a fight that, frankly, wasn’t worth remembering in the first place.
Siyar certainly is an intriguing enough fight for BJ Penn to consider. “The Great” impressed fans with a quick, brutal knockout over Paulo Thiago in his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2. Fans have been patiently waiting for more of him, and even though Penn recently retired, he’s still a big enough name to make this a marketable fight.
There’s just one problem: While Rory MacDonald is widely regarded as the future of the welterweight division, Bahadurzada is still only known for his lone UFC appearance. If Penn is coming out of retirement to see if he can compete against the next generation, a victory over Siyar The Great will not prove this. This isn’t to say that Siyar Bahadurzada won’t be an exceptional talent – or even that he isn’t already – but rather he isn’t nearly as established of a name as Rory MacDonald currently is.
That all being said, what do you think? Are you okay with BJ Penn waiting for Rory MacDonald? Would you like to watch Jon Fitch redeem himself against Penn? Would you like to see Bahadurzada prove his greatness? Let us know.
In our efforts to give out high fives and bro grabs over how much fun Saturday night’s fights were, we missed the opportunity to give constructive criticism to some of the evening’s lowest moments. We’ll more than likely still miss out on the constructive criticism here, but sometimes there’s just no way to be helpful about something’s ugliness (no matter how hard you try to be). But before we get caught up in the negativity…
The Good:
Vera and Varner Impressive in Defeat. Before Saturday night, both men were expected to be little more than highlight reel fodder for their opponents. After they came up just short in two of the most competitive, entertaining bouts to be broadcast on Fox, it’d be too easy to make comparisons to Rocky. So instead of making one, I’ll just imply it – problem solved. A loss is never easy for either fighter to swallow, but it could have been much uglier.
Mike Swick’s Feel-Good Comeback Fight. Is it even possible not to feel good for Mike Swick? After losing his last two fights and spending over two years away from the sport, things were looking pretty grim for “Quick.” Watching DaMarques Johnson control Swick for the first round certainly didn’t brighten the mood, either. But if you know somebody who wasn’t cheering while Swick flawlessly finished Johnson, that person has no pulse. In fact, that “person” is probably a zombie. Act accordingly.
In our efforts to give out high fives and bro grabs over how much fun Saturday night’s fights were, we missed the opportunity to give constructive criticism to some of the evening’s lowest moments. We’ll more than likely still miss out on the constructive criticism here, but sometimes there’s just no way to be helpful about something’s ugliness (no matter how hard you try to be). But before we get caught up in the negativity…
The Good:
Vera and Varner Impressive in Defeat. Before Saturday night, both men were expected to be little more than highlight reel fodder for their opponents. After they came up just short in two of the most competitive, entertaining bouts to be broadcast on Fox, it’d be too easy to make comparisons to Rocky. So instead of making one, I’ll just imply it – problem solved. A loss is never easy for either fighter to swallow, but it could have been much uglier.
Mike Swick’s Feel-Good Comeback Fight. Is it even possible not to feel good for Mike Swick? After losing his last two fights and spending over two years away from the sport, things were looking pretty grim for “Quick.” Watching DaMarques Johnson control Swick for the first round certainly didn’t brighten the mood, either. But if you know somebody who wasn’t cheering while Swick flawlessly finished Johnson, that person has no pulse. In fact, that “person” is probably a zombie. Act accordingly.
Not giving title shots to guys who duck fights. Do you remember why Shogun vs. Vera was booked in the first place? If you said no, it’s because Rua wouldn’t fight Glover Teixeira. Dana White certainly didn’t forget about this – in fact, he brought it up when he was asked why Machida was given a title shot over Shogun after the event. If fans are calling for Anderson Silva to vacate the title because his management doesn’t want him fighting Chris Weidman, then there’s absolutely no reason to give a guy a title shot who refused to fight an up-and-coming prospect, plain and simple.
All things considered, these ratings were pretty good. Like everything else on tv Saturday night, UFC on Fox 4 still got squashed by the Olympics. Unlike everything else, ratings improved throughout the course of the evening. The actual numbers don’t tell the entire story: There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the ratings for future cards on Fox.
The Doctor’s Stoppage of Wagner Prado vs. Phil Davis. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than watching a doctor simply ask a fighter if he wants to continue before clearing him to fight. You’re there because you can tell when it isn’t safe for a fighter to keep fighting, even though he wants to continue. Letting a fighter continue who isn’t physically capable of safely doing so is not only blindly ignoring your own expertise, but also a completely reckless way to get somebody killed.
It wasn’t the popular decision – and certainly not the preferable one – but it was the right one. After Davis’ eye poke, Prado told the doctor that he was seeing double, and the fight was immediately stopped. Naturally, Prado protested the stoppage; no professional fighter wants to look soft, even if he can’t see. But there’s no sense putting an asterisk next to a victory for Phil Davis (not to mention the danger this would put Prado in). Live to fight again, guys.
The Bad:
Phil “The Shockmaster” Davis. He may share the “Mr. Wonderful” alias with professional wrestling icon Paul Orndorff, but after his last two fights, he might as well borrow one of Fred Ottman’s failed gimmicks due to how badly he’s been falling on his face. It’s bad enough to go from the main event of UFC on Fox 2 to the Fuel TV prelims, but when you give the fans the absolute worst ending of the night, you’ll need to break out something extra special to stay relevant in the upcoming rematch. Remember when we were saying this guy should fight Jon Jones? Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Ryan “What’s Wrestling?” Bader. You’re a 2x D1 All-American wrestler. You’re fighting an elusive, karate-based former champion. What’s your strategy? Stand and Wang until you’re confusing the arena’s lights for Heaven, of course. At least he had the decency not to cry about it, so…props?
Joe Rogan’s interpretation of “Poor Cardio” during Varner vs. Lauzon. About thirty seconds into the Fight of the Night earning scrap between Jamie Varner and Joe Lauzon, Joe Rogan began saying that Varner was completely spent and done for. Call me “logical,” but considering that Varner kept fighting (emphasis on fighting – this wasn’t three rounds of lay and pray) into the third round, despite breaking his hand in the second, I’d say Varner’s conditioning looked pretty damn good. It’s one thing to say a guy looks tired, it’s another thing to repeatedly swear that he’s finished as he’s coming forward being the aggressor. Then again, that was nothing compared to…
The Ugly:
Phil Davis loves choking out fools with…kimuras? An announcer at an amateur event would get mocked relentlessly for making such a remarkably stupid mistake. Mike Goldberg has zero excuse…not even “I’m Mike Goldberg.”
Whoever this Nam Famn guy is that we kept hearing about. At first, I assumed that there was an innocent slip of the tongue, and wrote it off as a mispronunciation that I won’t pretend I’ve never made. But then I kept hearing about this Nam Fanm guy, and realized that he couldn’t be Nam Phan. For one, Nam Fanm used his boxing to defeat former WEC champion Mike Brown, and Nam Phan lost to Brown. Also, this Nam Famn guy was never in the fight against Cole Miller, and was clearly blown out for three rounds judging by the commentary throughout the fight. Yet, Nam Phan won that fight – fairly convincingly, too.
Come on, Mike and Joe. You’re much better than this. If you won’t give a fighter any credit at all while he’s in the cage, can you at least pronounce his name correctly?
Shogun was as brutal and entertaining as Machida, but not as impressive in Dana White’s eyes. Props: @raiseyourhorns
After watching the UFC’s first two lackluster efforts on Fox, as well as the organization’s entertaining third effort fail to draw decent ratings, it was no secret that the UFC needed to deliver with last night’s UFC on Fox 4. With “the most impressive fighter” earning the next title shot at light-heavyweight, fighters returning to the spotlight after time in the indie leagues and fighters returning from extended layoffs – not to mention the usual
mix of fighters attempting to make a name for themselves and guys literally fighting for their jobs- it was obvious that the UFC was hoping for something special from everybody involved. Factor in the fact that the UFC was already struggling with ratings before the abysmal UFC 149 just two weeks ago, and it would seem like a night full of stoppages was in order to keep the fans interested in future fights on Fox.
Simply put, this card delivered all that was expected of it and then some. Last night’s fights were exactly what I was hoping to get when the UFC first announced that they had inked a deal with Fox. It was exactly what I want to show the first time viewer who asks what this “MMA stuff” is that I write about. After a roughstart with these free cards on Fox, the UFC now stands at an even 2-2.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that the main event bout between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera lived up to its expectations because, let’s face it, there weren’t any. Before the fight, no one could make sense of the potential title implications behind a seemingly blatant squash fight, pitting an aging legend of our sport against a fighter who had been coasting on the brink of irrelevance. Whether we were given a quick, brutal knockout or five rounds of stalling and wheezing, few of us would have been surprised either way.
Rather, it’s fair to say that Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera ended up being one of the best fights that the UFC has put on Fox, and easily the most entertaining main event on the network. For four rounds, Shogun outpointed a focused, game Vera on his way to a fourth round TKO. While Vera certainly had his moments – don’t act like your jaw didn’t drop when he locked in that guillotine in the first round – in the end Shogun’s aggressive striking and takedowns were just too much for The Truth.
Shogun was as brutal and entertaining as Machida, but not as impressive in Dana White’s eyes. Props: @raiseyourhorns
After watching the UFC’s first two lackluster efforts on Fox, as well as the organization’s entertaining third effort fail to draw decent ratings, it was no secret that the UFC needed to deliver with last night’s UFC on Fox 4. With “the most impressive fighter” earning the next title shot at light-heavyweight, fighters returning to the spotlight after time in the indie leagues and fighters returning from extended layoffs – not to mention the usual
mix of fighters attempting to make a name for themselves and guys literally fighting for their jobs- it was obvious that the UFC was hoping for something special from everybody involved. Factor in the fact that the UFC was already struggling with ratings before the abysmal UFC 149 just two weeks ago, and it would seem like a night full of stoppages was in order to keep the fans interested in future fights on Fox.
Simply put, this card delivered all that was expected of it and then some. Last night’s fights were exactly what I was hoping to get when the UFC first announced that they had inked a deal with Fox. It was exactly what I want to show the first time viewer who asks what this “MMA stuff” is that I write about. After a roughstart with these free cards on Fox, the UFC now stands at an even 2-2.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that the main event bout between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera lived up to its expectations because, let’s face it, there weren’t any. Before the fight, no one could make sense of the potential title implications behind a seemingly blatant squash fight, pitting an aging legend of our sport against a fighter who had been coasting on the brink of irrelevance. Whether we were given a quick, brutal knockout or five rounds of stalling and wheezing, few of us would have been surprised either way.
Rather, it’s fair to say that Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera ended up being one of the best fights that the UFC has put on Fox, and easily the most entertaining main event on the network. For four rounds, Shogun outpointed a focused, game Vera on his way to a fourth round TKO. While Vera certainly had his moments – don’t act like your jaw didn’t drop when he locked in that guillotine in the first round – in the end Shogun’s aggressive striking and takedowns were just too much for The Truth.
This isn’t to say the fight was perfect by any means. For one, Shogun continued to struggle with his cardio, much like he did against Dan Henderson. Perhaps his conditioning woes are what convinced Dana White not to reward him with a title shot with his performance. Likewise, while Vera deserves credit for the gutsy performance he put in last night, being a punching bag for the deep end of the division will only get you so far. I’m not saying that I want Vera off of the main cards, and I’m certainly not saying that he deserves to be fired for the performance that he put in, but I am saying that I don’t want to pay to watch a Brandon Vera fight any time soon.
As for the co-main event between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, there really isn’t much left to say: It delivered everything that I assumed it would. Machida knew that a knockout would give him a title shot, and he earned it with a well timed counter right hook. He may not be the most qualified challenger in recent memory, but as long as Jon Jones gets past Dan Henderson, he makes for easily the most interesting rematch (I say rematch because, like everyone else, I’d rather see Jones fight Gustafsson or Teixeira).
Submission of the Night honors went to Joe Lauzon for his triangle choke over Jamie Varner. With Varner returning to a Zuffa main card for the first time since 2010 and Lauzon coming off of a quick, vicious knockout loss to Anthony Pettis, both men made the most of their time in the spotlight with a highly entertaining three round battle. While Varner had Lauzon in trouble early on with his superior striking, J-Lau hung on to turn the fight into a nonstop, back-and-forth brawl. Lauzon begin to pull away with the contest once Jamie Varner broke his hand in the second round, and eventually earned the submission in the third. It would have been interesting to see how this one would have ended had Varner not broken his hand, but at least he has the $50k Fight of the Night bonus to show for his performance.
Knockout of the Night honors went to “Quick” Mike Swick, who made the most of his return to the cage by putting away DeMarques Johnson in the second round. Being 0-2 in your last two fights is enough pressure for a fighter in the UFC, yet alone coming off of a layoff spanning over two years. While Swick looked shaky at times – as expected from a fighter who has been out of action for so long – he rocked Johnson throughout the fight with hard rights before taking him down after catching a kick and landing a huge right hand. It’s hard to see this victory pushing Swick too far up the ladder, but it was an excellent, well deserved victory for Quick.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Mauricio Rua def. Brandon Vera via TKO, 4:09 of Round Four
Lyoto Machida def. Ryan Bader via KO, 1:32 of Round Two
Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via submission (triangle choke), 2:44 of Round Three
Mike Swick def. DaMarques Johnson via KO, 1:20 of Round Two
Preliminary Card:
Nam Phan def. Cole Miller via split decision
Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado declared a no contest (doctor’s stoppage due to unintentional
eyepoke)
Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi via submission (North-south choke), 3:15 of Round One
Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson via submission (rear naked choke), 4:16 of Round Two
Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision
John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez via KO, 3:46 of Round One
We’re just hours away from UFC on FOX 4, where four men will attempt to become the least impressive light-heavyweight title challenger since Elvis Sinosic by winning in the most impressive manner possible. To paraphrase Jeff Fox, the winner of the upcoming Jones vs. Henderson bout will defend his belt against the winner of tonight’s semantics game. There’s got to be a catch, right?
Of course there is. Even the dimmest MMA fans among us have already interpreted this as a way for Dana White to back out of giving Brandon Vera a title shot if he were to actually defeat Shogun Rua tonight. Shogun is obviously the preferable contender, but just in case he blows this somehow, we’ll shrug it off and put the winner of Machida/Bader in the cage with Jones/Hendo, right? Quite the contrary: This semantics game was designed to give Lyoto Machida a title shot with a victory.
Right now, some of you are screaming “What kind of idiot hack journalist are you, Seth?!” at your screens. First, allow me to welcome you to Cage Potato; you’re obviously new here. Second, let me lay it out for you with four simple reasons after the jump.
We’re just hours away from UFC on FOX 4, where four men will attempt to become the least impressive light-heavyweight title challenger since Elvis Sinosic by winning in the most impressive manner possible. To paraphrase Jeff Fox, the winner of the upcoming Jones vs. Henderson bout will defend his belt against the winner of tonight’s semantics game. There’s got to be a catch, right?
Of course there is. Even the dimmest MMA fans among us have already interpreted this as a way for Dana White to back out of giving Brandon Vera a title shot if he were to actually defeat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua tonight. Shogun is obviously the preferable contender, but just in case he blows this somehow, we’ll shrug it off and put the winner of Machida/Bader in the cage with Jones/Hendo, right? Quite the contrary: This semantics game was designed to give Lyoto Machida a title shot with a victory.
Right now, some of you are screaming “What kind of idiot hack journalist are you, Seth?!” at your screens. First, allow me to welcome you to Cage Potato – you’re obviously new here. Second, let me lay it out for you with four simple reasons.
1.) A victory over Ryan Bader is more impressive than a victory over Vera/Rua. Seriously. Heading into tonight, Ryan Bader is the only fighter out of the four “contenders” who has won two straight fights, having recently defeated Jason Brilz and Rampage Jackson in his last two bouts. Before that he was caught in a fluke guillotine by Tito Ortiz and dominated by Jon Jones (as was everyone else on this list, so that’s understandable), which make up the only two blemishes on his record. He’s the youngest of the four, the most decorated wrestler of the four and is always a game opponent.
The same simply cannot be said for either Brandon Vera or Shogun Rua. Excuse me if it seems like I’m harping on this, but Brandon Vera has not won a meaningful fight since he defeated Frank Mir back in 2006. He’s coming into tonight with a victory over a gift-wrapped Eliot Marshall, yet Vera almost managed to snatch defeat from the bitter jaws of victory and get knocked out in that fight. A victory over Brandon Vera earned Jon Jones a crack at Vladimir Matyushenko. There’s absolutely no reason why a victory over Brandon Vera should earn Shogun Rua a crack at Jon Jones.
As for Shogun? Let’s face it: He’s a thirty year old post-prime PRIDE veteran with bad knees. He hasn’t won back-to-back fights since he beat the mummified versions of Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell that were on the UFC roster in 2009 (although he arguably should have won three straight). If he loses tonight, he’ll have lost three of his last four fights. I hate to say this, but if Shogun Rua loses tonight, it may be time to move him away from the title picture for good. But then again, “loses” is a bit misleading because…
2.) Vera won’t “win” so much as Shogun will “lose” if the unthinkable happens. It feels strange to argue that the casual fan’s opinion doesn’t matter, because, as I’ve pointed out before, it matters even more than most of us edumacated fans would care to acknowledge. Hell, their lack of interest in these Fox cards is probably what led to this mess in the first place. To the casual fan – who knows nothing of either Brandon Vera or Shogun Rua – a win is a win regardless. Plus Vera actually winning would kind of have that Rocky feel to it, so as long as he is exciting he will have earned a chance to get destroyed in a title fight, right?
There’s just one problem – “The Most Impressive Victory” won’t be determined by an ‘American Idol’ voting system. It will be determined by Dana White, who is anything but a casual fan.
Let’s admit it: If Vera goes out and wins tonight, hardcore fans like ourselves will all be wondering what was wrong with Shogun. And why wouldn’t we? We’ve been following the vicious knockout artist since his days of fighting in Muay Thai smokers in some dude’s house. We know what he’s capable of, and we know that a can like Vera shouldn’t be able to beat him. If he gets submitted, we’ll say that he just got caught; kind of like how we reacted to Werdum submitting Fedor. If he actually gets knocked out, we’ll wonder if Rua should start to consider retirement. We know too much to perceive it any other way.
Besides, if Vera does manage to beat Shogun Rua, it will more than likely be by neutralizing Shogun’s aggressive attack with a “Stick. Move. Wall. Stall. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.” offense. And as much as the casual fan may like a good story, the casual fan absolutely hates this style of fighting. With the turd on a plate that was UFC 149 fresh in his memory, the last thing Dana White wants to do is give a boring fighter a title shot.
3.) Likewise, Rua can’t “impressively” defeat Brandon Vera. I’ll keep this one short, because it’s essentially everything I just said in the last paragraph applied to Shogun instead of Vera. We know how mediocre Brandon Vera has been since 2007. Perceptions, rinse wash repeat joke, you get the idea. The bottom line here is that if Rua goes out and smashes “The Truth,” then, well…yeah. He was fighting a guy who only had a job in the first place because of Thiago Silva’s fake urine shenanigans. If Vera actually stays in this fight, we’ll all be talking about how bad Shogun looked to allow the 2012 Truth to be competitive against him. It’s a lose-lose scenario for Rua, which will make a Lyoto Machida victory look more impressive by default.
4.) Lyoto Machida vs. Jon Jones could give us the satisfying ending to the Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones super fight we’re looking for. One of the reasons that the UFC has been driving boxing towards extinction was that Dana White wouldn’t allow his best fighters to duck each other. His fighters knew that it was all about protecting the UFC brand, not their own. If the fans wanted to see two guys fight, they either signed a contract to fight or started learning Japanese.
I used the past tense because, let’s face it, all of that is going on between Jon Jones and Anderson Silva. Both men have pretty much cleaned out their divisions, yet a super fight between the two is out of the question. These guys aren’t stupid. They know they’re too valuable to be released from the UFC, yet they can potentially lose all of that value with this proposed fight. It has to be Dana White’s worst nightmare as a promoter, and it can easily turn the fans that were drawn to the sport to avoid fighters ducking fights over to Bellator.
The UFC needs a way to either motivate both men to fight each other or make the fans lose interest in this fight, and Lyoto Machida provides both. Assuming that Jon Jones defeats Dan Henderson (because if he doesn’t, there goes the “I lose marketability” concerns), this sets “Bones” up with a fight against Anderson Silva’s Black House teammate, Lyoto Machida. This keeps some focus on the super fight, but it also keeps fans interested in the current title fight instead of dismissing it. In other words, with Vera/Rua, the fan perspective is “Look at Jones ducking Silva,” but with Machida, the perspective is now “Let’s see how Silva prepares Machida for Jones.”
We’ve seen Anderson Silva get fired up over cocky, disrespectful comments before (Sonnen, anyone?), and we’ve seen Jon Jones make plenty of those. If Jones goes on to defeat Machida again, does anyone honestly rule out the possibility of him calling Black House overrated? Didn’t think so. That could easily be enough to push Anderson Silva past protecting his image and into a fight with the cocky American. Likewise, if Machida actually defeats Bones, we’re no longer even entertaining the Silva vs. Jones discussion. Jon Jones just lost to Anderson Silva’s teammate, Silva has been vocal about not wanting to fight his teammates so we know a title fight between Machida and Jones is out…why do we want to see Silva move up to fight Jones again? The UFC’s best interest is providing fans with a satisfying ending to the Silva vs. Jones super fight, and Jones vs. Machida easily has the best chance of doing this.
So there you have it. Lyoto Machida just has to defeat Ryan Bader to earn a title shot. Assuming that Sensei Seagal has been close by, Machida will probably win the casual fans over with a flashy knockout if he wins. As long as Jon Jones defeats Dan Henderson, Jones will get Machida, Henderson will get the rematch of the decade against Shogun Rua and Brandon Vera will finally get a pink slip. And all will be right in the world.
Those of you who have been clinging to the notion that Anderson Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes would change his mind about Chris Weidman being an “amateur kid” can officially let that ship sail. Ariel Helwani caught up with Guimaraes yesterday, and even though he clarified that the “amateur kids” comment was a translation error, he still does not see any value in an Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight for the time being. Via MMAFighting:
When specifically asked about the “amateur kids” comment:
JG: Well, there was a little lack of communication. I spoke to Tatame Magazine in Brazil and it got lost in translation. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. He’s a great fighter, but what I meant is that the fight doesn’t make sense. He has nine fights – impressive fights – but it’s half of the number of fights that Anderson has in the UFC. I think he’s just a little not ripe enough, but it’s up to the organization to tell [us] who is a good opponent for Anderson.
Check after the jump for the full quote and interview
Those of you who have been clinging to the notion that Anderson Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes would change his mind about Chris Weidman being an “amateur kid” can officially let that ship sail. Ariel Helwani caught up with Guimaraes yesterday, and even though he clarified that the “amateur kids” comment was a translation error, he still does not see any value in an Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight for the time being. Via MMAFighting:
When specifically asked about the “amateur kids” comment:
JG: Well, there was a little lack of communication. I spoke to Tatame Magazine in Brazil and it got lost in translation. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. He’s a great fighter, but what I meant is that the fight doesn’t make sense. He has nine fights – impressive fights – but it’s half of the number of fights that Anderson has in the UFC. I think he’s just a little, you know, not ripe enough, but it’s up to the organization to tell [us] who is a good opponent for Anderson.
I think [Silva vs. Weidman] would be hard to promote. Now everyone is coming out after what they saw [with Chael Sonnen]. Chael Sonnen did an excellent job promoting himself and the fight. I guess a lot of people are coming forward; obviously everyone wants a title shot.
AH: Has the UFC asked you or Anderson to fight Chris Weidman next?
JG: Yeah, they mentioned it, but we don’t think it makes sense.
AH: So you’ve turned it down?
JG: Yeah, true.
Skip to the 1:36 mark for the exact quote.
If you’ve been paying attention for the past two weeks, these comments don’t exactly surprise you. Afterwards, Guimaraes continues to rally for a Georges St. Pierre super fight (emphatically confirming that Jon Jones is out of the question) – claiming that The Spider is prepared to sit out the rest of the year to make this happen – and says that “maybe [Anderson Silva] can make 180″ for the proposed catchweight super fight between Silva and GSP. I’m glad that asking Anderson Silva to drop a whole five pounds isn’t out of the question for this super fight you’re rallying for, Jorge.
Perhaps the most confusing comment from this interview was the revelation that Guimaraes thinks that Rashad Evans would make more sense for a middleweight title shot than Chris Weidman. Aside from the fact that Evans is 0-0 at middleweight and coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones, Jorge later ruled out Nick Diaz as a challenger because Diaz lost to Carlos Condit – even though he admits that he thought Diaz beat Condit.
I’d try to make sense out of that, but a “Don’t be scared, homie” joke would be way too easy, and you deserve better than that.
So, just to clarify: It’s up to the UFC to decide what’s next for Anderson Silva, but when the organization suggested Chris Weidman – who is not an amateur kid – Silva’s camp declined. Sitting out and waiting for a catchweight super fight against Georges St. Pierre (potentially at 180 lbs) is easily the most logical option, but Rashad Evans is also logical after losing to Jon Jones and flirting with the idea of dropping to middleweight. And even though Guimaraes feels Nick Diaz beat Carlos Condit, he officially lost that fight, so therefore a fight against Diaz makes no sense because he’s coming off of a controversial decision loss instead of a regular unanimous decision loss.
