Author: Steven Rondina

Strikeforce Fighters in the UFC: How Have They Done so Far?

Since purchasing Strikeforce last year, Zuffa has been steadily sapping the promotion of many of its biggest stars.This includes their entire heavyweight division, then-current champions including Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson and former champion an…

Since purchasing Strikeforce last year, Zuffa has been steadily sapping the promotion of many of its biggest stars.

This includes their entire heavyweight division, then-current champions including Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson and former champion and UFC 148 fighter, Cung Le.

UFC fans (not to be confused with MMA fans) consistently deride the legitimacy of other promotions. The logic behind this being that the UFC is home to the world’s best fighters and, as such, being a top fighter in another promotion is essentially being a top player in the CFL, AHL or WNBA.

The UFC’s naysayers, on the other hand, are quick to prop up any given star who could potentially challenge the George St-Pierres and BJ Penns.

The biggest beneficiary of this treatment was Fedor Emelianenko. He was considered a top-10 pound-for-pound fighter well after other heavyweight fighters had started putting together comparable technique with the physical presence that Emelianenko simply could not match.

While some had their biased gripes about a Zuffa MMA monopoly, the vast majority of fans were simply excited by the newfound matchmaking opportunities this offered. Now that things have had a few months to shake out, it is worth taking inventory on how well Strikeforce transplants have fared in the UFC.

First of all, it is important to decide who should actually be considered. After all, fighters bounce between promotions constantly.

This article takes into account fighters acquired by the UFC since Zuffa’s purchase of Strikeforce. As such, fighters like Jake Shields and Clay Guida who fought for Strikeforce and left for the UFC of their own accord, are excluded.

This also only takes into account fighters’ UFC records since being transferred from Strikeforce to the UFC. As such, fighters like Dan Henderson and Nick Diaz, who fought in the UFC, left for Strikeforce, then returned to the UFC, do not have their lifetime records included here.

And last, fighters listed needed at least three bouts in Strikeforce, keeping out random preliminary card-type fighters who may have bounced around between the two.

Taking all that into consideration, the fighters to look at are:

Cung Le (vacated middleweight championship in 2008, 1-1 UFC record)

Nick Diaz (vacated welterweight championship in 2011, 1-1 UFC record)

Alistair Overeem (vacated heavyweight championship in 2011, 1-0 UFC record)

Dan Henderson (vacated light heavyweight championship in 2011, 1-0 UFC record)

Fabricio Werdum (2-0 UFC record)

Antonio Silva (0-1 UFC record)

Shane del Rosario (0-1 UFC record)

Lavar Johnson (2-1 UFC record)

Chad Griggs (0-1 UFC record)

Combined, these former Strikeforce fighters own an 8-6 record in the UFC.

This is not an amazing tally, especially in comparison to the former WEC lightweight trio of Ben Henderson, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone (who have combined for an 11-2 record since WEC was absorbed into the UFC). But still, a winning record is a winning record and that cannot be understated.

That said, this statistic certainly does not indicate that Strikeforce fighters are superior. Most of the above fighters are heavyweights who were harvested by the UFC because they had an admittedly shallow pool of talent.

Among those heavyweights, the only one within reach of a title shot is Alistair Overeem, who is in the middle of his well-publicized suspension (Werdum is working towards a shot, but the UFC certainly does not feel as though he is close).

Meanwhile, even though Dan Henderson meets the listed credentials for making this list, he is not going to be remembered for his time in Strikeforce, compared to his time in the UFC or Pride.

As for Cung Le and Nick Diaz, two former champions in the promotion? Where they stack up in the division actually remains to be seen (though Nick Diaz is clearly near the top).

The true barometer that will determine how good Strikeforce fighters are compared to their UFC counterparts will be when their better (but not best) fighters come over.

Contenders like Gegard Mousasi, Ronaldo Souza and Tim Kennedy will be the ones to show whether Strikeforce is a legitimate promotion (or was, since it may take the full dissolution before this happens), or a handful of strong fighters being fed by whoever happened to be available. The first of this sort of lot, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, would certainly suggest that they have their work cut out for them.

Strikeforce fans will be quick to point out that two of the promotion’s clear-cut best fighters, Gilbert Melendez and Daniel Cormier, have not yet made their UFC debuts.

Former Pride fighter, chronic steroid abuser, and top-10 heavyweight Josh Barnett also remains in limbo. While the UFC has taken most of Strikeforce’s best, the promotion still has some gems left.

As such, the proverbial jury is still out on how the two promotions stack up. Regardless, as things stand right now, the talk about Strikeforce’s fighters as a whole being overrated may be a bit premature.

Either way, what is beyond question is that Cung Le, Lavar Johnson and company have done their former promotion proud to this point.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Will Lighter Weight Classes Ever Be Able to Draw PPV Buys?

Casual fans love few things more than heavyweight fights. If they cannot have a heavyweight fight, they will settle on a light heavyweight fight. There is no getting around this. Fans love to see big dudes punch each other in the same way they want to …

Casual fans love few things more than heavyweight fights. If they cannot have a heavyweight fight, they will settle on a light heavyweight fight.

There is no getting around this. Fans love to see big dudes punch each other in the same way they want to see Godzilla throw King Kong through the Sears Tower. In recent years many have extrapolated from this that, since fans love to see big guys fight, they must then not care as much about seeing smaller guys fight. This idea, however, is not entirely accurate.

It is important to point out that recent buyrates certainly seem to indicate that bigger is better. The two highest-selling cards of 2012 so far have been UFC 145, which featured a light heavyweight title bout with Jon Jones and Rashad Evans (which garnered 700,000 buys), and the all-heavyweight UFC 146 (which drew 560,000 buys).

Cards headlined by smaller fighters have not had nearly as much success. Just take a look at UFC 136.

The event featured two title bouts, with Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III for the lightweight belt and Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian competing for the top spot in the featherweight division. On top of that, it had two likely-top-contender bouts in Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann and Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard. Also? Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia II.

Five exciting fights. One of the most stacked cards in UFC history. It drew 225,000 buys, not even one third of UFC 145.

That hurts.

UFC 136 was no anomaly, either. UFC 142, headlined by Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes, drew only 235,000 buys. UFC 125, headlined by Edgar vs. Maynard II, had just 270,000 buys. Because of this pattern, the UFC has had very little faith in the drawing power of anybody smaller than a welterweight.

They had a Dominick Cruz title bout relegated to cable TV.

They are yet to have part of their flyweight championship tournament on pay-per-view.

Twice, they had Jose Aldo defend his belt in a co-main event before making him a featured fighter. His first time headlining a card was the aforementioned UFC 142.

While all that sounds very, very bad this is likely only a temporary problem. Why?

Well, the main thing is that there have been highly successful lightweights in the past. BJ Penn headlined UFC 84 against Sean Sherk and drew 475,000 buys. A year and a half later, BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez had top billing at UFC 107 and attracted 620,000 buys.

It is frequently said that the UFC’s lightweight division is staggeringly deep. This is entirely true and, unfortunately for the UFC, that means that no lightweight fighter has strung together enough wins to be an especially great draw.

Frankie Edgar was on the right track. While he generated lukewarm interest in his first two times as a card’s main man, he had a solid turnout for UFC 144, which scored 375,000 buys. It is possible, however, that this number got a boost from the hype surrounding the UFC’s return to Japan. Regardless, the UFC may be back to square one, since Edgar lost his fight there to Ben Henderson.

While it is possible that fans just want to see dominant champions, what of Cruz and Aldo? The featherweight and bantamweight champs are two of the best fighters in MMA today, and have had very little difficulty keeping their belts.

That is difficult to peg, but there are a few possible explanations.

Cruz and Aldo have a combined five UFC fights. Even though few would deny that they are top-five pound-for-pound fighters, both of them rose to fame in the WEC promotion. Back footage of WEC events, unfortunately, is unavailable for any sort of UFC Unleashed-type show, meaning a strong majority of new or casual fans have never seen bouts like Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber or Dominick Cruz vs. Brian Bowles.

On top of that, the WEC was never a consistent draw on Versus TV. Ratings for events were occasionally amazing (especially surrounding Urijah Faber) but even high-profile events like WEC 50, headlined by Cruz vs. Benavidez II, drew just 316,000 viewers.

Furthermore, Cruz and Aldo also only have one finish between them in the UFC (Aldo beat Chad Mendes with a scary knee at UFC 142). While neither fighter is boring by any means, nothing turns a fighter’s status around like a highlight reel knockout. Even though Aldo ended his most recent fight with a fantastic KO, it did not generate the buzz that Barboza vs. Etim or Silva vs. Belfort did.

Similarly, neither fighter has really gotten much publicity with the UFC until very recently. Dominick Cruz had a great deal of spotlight on him, courtesy of his time coaching The Ultimate Fighter: Live, but the hype surrounding his rubber match with Urijah Faber died when he suffered a knee injury that will keep him from competing for a long while. Aldo, meanwhile, remains in relative obscurity in the states, and promotional opportunities will continue to elude him until he learns to speak English.

Last but not least, neither has had anything out of the cage to be interested in. The featherweight champ has no serious threats to his throne, and nobody has called him out in any particularly interesting way. The same was true for Cruz until Urijah Faber became a full-blown rival (which, again, is now on indefinite hold).

BJ Penn was an absolutely dominant lightweight champion, but he had more than his fair share of rivals. Anderson Silva, obviously, has Chael Sonnen. GSP had his foils. Aldo and Cruz, though, have not had an opponent to get excited in years and that has been a serious problem for the UFC.

Whether it is one of these things, specifically, or a combination of all of the above, the problem is not a complete disinterest in fighters who weigh under 170 lbs. The top fighters in the lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight divisions are simply yet to grow roots in fans’ wallets. This will change one day. Maybe not this year. Maybe not even with these fighters.

The thing is, aficionados love to see great fights. If somebody puts together enough of them, they will take notice regardless of their weight class.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Anderson Silva vs. Fedor Emelianenko: Who Is the Best Mixed Martial Artist Ever?

When it comes to discussing who is the best fighter in MMA history up to this point, there are only two fighters who enter into the equation. Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko. However, there should not even be that much debate. Between these two fi…

When it comes to discussing who is the best fighter in MMA history up to this point, there are only two fighters who enter into the equation. Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko. However, there should not even be that much debate.

Between these two fighters, only one of them consistently fought top competition at the highest levels of the sport their entire career. Only one of them consistently finished others, who people wrongly assumed to stand a chance. Only one of them has left no question about who would have won if they fought X.

Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in mixed martial arts history so far.

This writer is not a Fedor Emelianenko naysayer. Fedor Emelianenko was the best heavyweight in MMA for a very long time, and there is no getting around that. However, as the linked article points out, mixed martial artists have gotten progressively better over the past 10 years, and continue getting better even now.

The best fighters from today are better than the best fighters from 2002. This is true in any weight class. Hell, it is true of any sport. Again, there is no question about this.

Just think about Tim Sylvia and Ricco Rodriguez compared to Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. Fighters simply were not as athletic then as they are today. For a long time, Emelianenko kept squaring off with previous generation fighters like Tim Sylvia and Mark Coleman.

During his heyday, “The Last Emperor” spent far too much time opening cans like Kazuyuki Fujita and Yuji Nagata, and participating in Japanese “circus fights” against the likes of Hong-Man Choi.

When Emelianenko finally did start battling great athletes with great technique—something the heavyweight division lacked for a long while—the results were disastrous for him. He lost to Fabricio Werdum via a first-round triangle choke. While some brushed it off as a fluke, that talk was completely silenced when Emelianenko got bullied by Antonio Silva, who beat him badly enough to have the fight doctor call it off between the second and third rounds.

From there, he went back to his days of fighting light heavyweights who did not want to cut weight anymore. First losing to Dan Henderson, then fighting overseas against former B-list fighters (current D-list) before calling it a career.

All of this came at the expense of Fedor Emelianenko fighting top fighters. That, no matter what anybody claims, was a plain and simple disappointment.

Anderson Silva, meanwhile, has about as many fights as Emelianenko over roughly the same length of time. The difference between the two is that, upon entering the UFC, Silva has fought nothing but the best the promotion had to offer in the middleweight division. He started by beating Chris Leben, who was on a four-fight winning streak at the time. Then he beat Rich Franklin to become champion and, from there, the rest is history.

There is no debate that the vast majority of the best middleweights reside in the UFC. There is also no denying that Silva has beaten each and every top contender that has been thrown at him.

For the last six years, in his division, Anderson Silva has fought nothing but the best. Emelianenko could not have made this claim at any point in his career. Yes, Emelianenko beat many of the best heavyweights from 2003 to 2009. But Anderson Silva has beaten every potentially challenging opponent since he joined the UFC.

Emelianenko never joined the UFC and, therefore, never fought Randy Couture in his prime or pre-accident Frank Mir. Even in Strikeforce, he never fought Alistair Overeem or Josh Barnett, who most assumed to be the best heavyweights in the promotion.

Had he consistently fought top fighters in his division, Emelianenko would get the nod here. But he did not. Because of this, Silva ends up being the only real choice for the greatest mixed martial artist to this point.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 148: Chael Sonnen Puts out His Funniest Video to Date

Chael Sonnen is everywhere—seriously!If there is a microphone he can speak into, regardless of the situation, he will grab it. That’s pretty much guaranteed.Some of that is because he craves attention. For the most part, though, it’s because he g…

Chael Sonnen is everywhere—seriously!

If there is a microphone he can speak into, regardless of the situation, he will grab it. That’s pretty much guaranteed.

Some of that is because he craves attention. For the most part, though, it’s because he gives such a fun interview.

Sonnen often references the “mean streets” of his hometown of West Linn, Oregon.

The thing is, West Linn is one of the most stereotypical suburban-type cities in the nation. 

Apparently, it wasn’t all picket fences and pet beagles for “The American Gangsta,” though. Watch the video above and listen to Chael recount the horrors that surrounded him growing up.

It’s always good to hear that people can make it big after such a harsh childhood…

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fedor Emelianenko’s Legacy, Place in MMA History Already Secure

There is far, far too much thought and debate right now when it comes to the discussion surrounding Fedor Emelianenko’s place in MMA history. Now that he has fought his alleged final fight, pundits are scrambling to figure out where to put “The L…

There is far, far too much thought and debate right now when it comes to the discussion surrounding Fedor Emelianenko‘s place in MMA history. Now that he has fought his alleged final fight, pundits are scrambling to figure out where to put “The Last Emperor” in comparison to past, present and future stars.

The thing is, for all the keyboard sparring, and all the wild opinions, the answer is so terribly simple.

Fedor is, and should be remembered as, the best of his time. The best in MMA history to this point? Maybe, but probably not. The best there ever will be? No.

That is it. There should be absolutely no debate about this.

Fedor should be viewed through the same lens as many other legendary athletes from football, baseball, basketball or hockey. The best example in this writer’s mind is Johnny Unitas.

Unitas’ name will, or at least should, pop up in any given discussion when it comes to the greatest football quarterback of all time. Unitas set many of the early records in the NFL at his position, and owns several timeless achievements like hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, making the Pro Bowl ten times and winning the NFL MVP Award three times.

While Unitas is universally respected and held in high regard, his statistics have more in common with the pariah, Joey Harrington, than the superstar, Tom Brady. On top of that, players in the 1950s and early 1960s were nowhere near as fast or as strong as players from twenty years later (who, in turn, are nowhere near as fast as players from today). Some still played on both offense and defense. Some still did not even have the NFL as their chief source of income.

None of this, however, takes away from Unitas’ accomplishments. He still earned those MVP awards. He still won the Super Bowl in 1970. Most importantly, he paved the way for the Roger Staubachs and Ken Stablers that would pave the way for the Joe Montanas and John Elways. He brought his sport forward with his incredible accomplishments.

Because of that, he is regarded as one of the greatest of his time. It does not matter that he was shedding tackles from safeties that were 5-foot-8. It does not matter that he was throwing passes over the heads of cornerbacks that lined up at halfback a couple plays later. It does not matter that he never completed 60% of his passes in any given season.

(Any of this sound familiar yet?)

He is remembered for what he did. He is not insulted because of what others could do ten years later. This should apply to Fedor Emelianenko as well.

Would Kazuyuki Fujita, Gary Goodridge, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, or almost any other opponent he faced in Pride, be able to hack it in the UFC right now? Almost certainly not. Would Emelianenko, in his prime, have been able to beat Cain Velasquez or Junior dos Santos right now? Maybe, but probably not.

But Fedor Emelianenko, no matter which way anybody cuts it, was still hands-down the best heavyweight in MMA from 2003 to 2008. He still had a 31-1 (1) record from 2000-2009. He is still one of the most popular and most hype-generating fighters ever. Those are the accomplishments he should be remembered for, and they are still impressive when paired side-by-side with those of current fighters.

Granted, his record is by no means unblemished with two terrible losses to the “next generation”of heavyweights. The stubbornness of his management team, which ultimately led to MMA aficionados getting the boxing fan treatment, also deserves a chapter in the eventual “Big Book of MMA”.

All that said, he remains the best of his time. Like Unitas before him, 50 years from now, his name is going to pop up alongside whoever happens to break Anderson Silva‘s title defense record, the guy who ends up holding belts in three different weight classes and the first ever to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship belt in the same year.

Things that seem crazy right now are going to happen, and fighters are going to get progressively better from here on out. That does not mean Emelianenko is not the best heavyweight fighter from 2003-2008. That, though, should be obvious.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Silva vs. Franklin: 5 Key Takeaways from the UFC 147 Main Event

Rich Franklin marched into Wanderlei Silva’s home country and earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian at UFC 147 on Saturday night. Here are five main takeaways from the bout…  Rich Franklin Really Has Nothing to Prove Seriou…

Rich Franklin marched into Wanderlei Silva’s home country and earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian at UFC 147 on Saturday night. Here are five main takeaways from the bout… 

 

Rich Franklin Really Has Nothing to Prove

Seriously. Rich Franklin is one of the most underrated, underappreciated fighters in UFC history, but he has done everything one could expect out of him. He has fought, and beaten, legends in the sport and is yet to become the sort of drag Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz were since leaving their prime. 

He is one of the UFC’s best champions and is, rightfully, one of the fighters that Dana White chooses to highlight to MMA’s naysayers. There is nothing to say about Rich Franklin that is not positive. His win tonight was just a bonus.

 

Wanderlei Silva Does Not Want to Stop Fighting

Dana White tried to nudge Wanderlei into the old-folks home after he was knocked out hard by Chris Leben last year. He bought himself some time by beating Cung Le, but Silva is channeling his inner-Tito Ortiz lately by calling out Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen in…ahem…less-than-flattering ways.

Right now, Silva is not in their league. He almost certainly will not fight either, especially after the loss he just suffered. But he is very intelligently playing the game and trying to keep himself relevant enough to remain on the minds of fans…he just needs to set his sights a little bit lower. 

 

Rich Franklin Has a Remarkable Chin

Seriously. Think about Chuck Liddell toward the end of his career. Fighters that are not dedicated wrestlers like Vladimir Matyushenko rarely end up being able to take a punch once they reach a certain point.

Rich Franklin, though, ended up eating punches, kicks and knees that would have put out far younger fighters, never even mind a 37-year-old like himself. The fact that he could even stand after the onslaught in the second round shows how special a fighter he is. 

 

Both of These Fighters Should be Commended for Their Gas Tanks

Remember Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman? Remember how they both gassed out really, really badly after about two rounds?

Now think about how Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva, at their respective advanced ages, just put out five strong rounds each. This is to the credit of both of these legends, for sure. It should also be to the shame of the younger fighters who cannot even achieve half of this. 

 

Dana White’s Efforts to Force Out Wanderlei Silva Were Premature

The NFL is in some very hot water for their poor handling of players who had been concussed. After seeing Wanderlei Silva get put onto the mat, and stay there, was scary. No doubt.

That said, Silva clearly has something left in him, and he deserves at least one more fight, even after the loss. There is no shortage of fighters that would love the opportunity to face Wanderlei Silva, and given the fact that he was able to take a fair amount of punishment from Franklin, it is possible that he may not be as fragile as many (including this writer) thought.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com