It is about half-way through 2012 now, so why not mark the half-New Year with some discussion over the best knockouts fans have seen so far? It is worth pointing out that though there are fifteen on this list (alongside an honorable mention), there wer…
It is about half-way through 2012 now, so why not mark the half-New Year with some discussion over the best knockouts fans have seen so far?
It is worth pointing out that though there are fifteen on this list (alongside an honorable mention), there were many knockouts that could have made it on this list. However, reducing it down to this number was no easy task, so do not feel as though any given absence from this list is a slight directed toward your favorite fighter.
It is also worth pointing out that even though they are numbered, again, there were a lot of fights to pour over and then to write about. Just because you totally thought the No. 9 knockout was “so way totally” cooler than No. 7 does not mean that this writer is hatin’.
“Finishing fights.” “Entertaining fans.” “Brawler.” On the other hand? “Lay and pray.” “Distance-focused.” “Point fighter.” There are a lot of buzz words that p…
“Lay and pray.” “Distance-focused.” “Point fighter.”
There are a lot of buzz words that pop up when it comes labeling fighters and their styles. While everyone has their tastes regarding how they want to see a fight play out, it is time to acknowledge that MMA has moved beyond the point where fans’ wishes should take priority over game planning and strategy.
MMA should be viewed as a sport. Not as the vague, intangible concept that is “entertainment.” Granted, fans tune in to be entertained. However, the same can be said of any other sport.
Think about football. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, historically prioritized defense and offensive clock control. They would run the football first down, second down, and probably on third down. Passing? Maybe. Sometimes. Maybe.
Football fans generally have never labeled them as “boring.” Football journalists certainly do not. They acknowledge the fact that they utilize a grind-it-out strategy that works. Because it works. It works so well that they are one of the winningest teams in sports history.
Some variation on the low-risk, medium-reward strategy is present in every major sport. The 2011 Stanley Cup Boston Bruins got by on a goal or two per game, but locked down their own zone and had spectacular net-minding by Tim Thomas. Don Cherry, not once, ripped on the Bruins for not being more offensively-minded.
The San Diego Padres? They have gotten by in recent years using strong pitching and small-ball. Again, Joe Buck and John Kruk have managed to resist saying that they do not like watching them because they never hit home runs.
Why, then, should MMA be the exception to this mentality? “Just win, baby” is a commandment for all sports, not just football. Rex Ryan is yet to have a nine-point lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter and tell Mark Sanchez to air it out because the fans dig the long bombs.
With that in mind, think of fighters like Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami, who frequently get beaten on by bloggers, but favored by judges for their wrestling-focused style. Now consider is Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister any different from the 2011 Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs game, where the Broncos whittled away at the Chiefs by running the ball 55 times after getting a teeny-tiny lead?
In this writer’s opinion, they should be viewed the same way. Doing what it takes to win should be the only goal of a fighter.
Some fighters, naturally, would still be labeled as more exciting than their peers. Michael Vick, for example, was one of the most popular players in the NFL from 2001-2005 because of his entertaining, run-first style of quarterbacking. By no means does this mean guys like Nick Diaz or Chris Leben, who are always looking for a knockout, should be phased out or considered over the hill.
Ultimately though, the biggest priority of Chris Bosh, Alexander Ovechkin, Georges St-Pierre, Tom Brady and Miguel Cabrera is to come out on top. That is how it should be. Whether they win by defense, offense, clock control, home runs, ground balls, three-pointers, wrestling, the running game, long bombs, leg kicks or slam dunks, it does not matter.
So next time Jake Shields fights, keep that in mind. He’s a fighter with elite grappling skills and he should be expected to try and use them the same way Vikings fans should expect Adrian Peterson to run the ball. MMA, after all, is a sport.
The UFC has some serious thinking to do when it comes to Leonard Garcia. Garcia, who has been fighting for Zuffa in the UFC and WEC since 2007, has never really been an especially great fighter. He has a fan-friendly, wild-swinging style that has earne…
The UFC has some serious thinking to do when it comes to Leonard Garcia.
Garcia, who has been fighting for Zuffa in the UFC and WEC since 2007, has never really been an especially great fighter. He has a fan-friendly, wild-swinging style that has earned him four Fight of the Night bonuses (and one for Knockout of the Night) and has made him one of the most recognizable featherweights in the UFC. That said, he has never wowed anyone with anything other than his ability to take a beating.
After dropping a unanimous decision to Matt Grice at UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall, Garcia is now officially on a three-fight losing streak. Saying “Garcia is on a three-fight losing streak,” though, does not do justice to the lack of success Garcia has actually had with Zuffa.
Garcia, between the UFC and WEC, is 6-7-1. That in and of itself is not that bad (though fighters like Gerald Harris and Thales Leites have been cut with substantially better records).
However, Garcia is also a frequent favorite of the judges who, in this span of time, have actually awarded him two controversial split-decision wins (against Jameel Massouh at UFC 42 and later against Nam Phan at the TUF12 Finale), a controversial draw against George Roop (Roop, most believed, should have gotten the decision) and gave him the nod over Chan-Sung Jung in their neck-and-neck slugfest at WEC 48.
In fact, Garcia’s last controversy-free victory came when he knocked out Jens Pulver at WEC 36 in 2008. This win is also the only time Garcia has put together back-to-back victories under Zuffa employ. To top it all off, the two men who his most recent victories have come over (Chan-Sung Jung and Nam Phan) beat him in their rematches.
So, yeah. Garcia has not done too well in the last four years.
All that said, have fans seen the last of Leonard Garcia in the UFC? It is hard to say at this point, but probably not. Not to harp on this, but the UFC is hurting for featherweight fighters, plain and simple.
Is Garcia great? No. But the UFC is looking at a wave of young fighters that will soon flood into the featherweight division, courtesy of the three most recent seasons of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF14 and TUF: Brazil both featured featherweights, while some TUF: Live alumni are likely to drop to featherweight) and the upcoming The Smashes season (which also features lightweights).
Garcia, in all likelihood, will not be close to a title fight from this point forward. That said, he is capable of beating at least some of the rookies that will be pouring into the promotion in the next year. At the very least, he is likely to receive another fight or two before being cut.
While ultimately the results of his fights would certainly suggest he should be given a pink slip, Garcia is likely going to be given the Keith Jardine treatment. Dana White loves brawlers. Even brawlers that lose.
MMA personalities, fans and bloggers across the internet have been seriously discussing something lately. Something big. This previously absurd notion would be one of the biggest actions taken by UFC brass against their fighters, ever. Some people (gas…
MMA personalities, fans and bloggers across the internet have been seriously discussing something lately. Something big. This previously absurd notion would be one of the biggest actions taken by UFC brass against their fighters, ever.
Some people (gasp) want to remove Georges St-Pierre from his position as welterweight champion.
Half of this because St-Pierre suffered a serious knee injury last December, and has not fought since April 2011, causing what some are calling a “logjam” in the UFC’s welterweight division.
The other half is because of Carlos Condit, current interim champion, wanting to wait until November (when GSP is estimated to return) to face him. Neither of these things are sitting well with fans.
It should be stated that the idea of stripping titles is not especially new. Belts have, after all, been forcibly taken from champions in the past and Frank Mir‘s reign as champion ended because of injuries from a road accident.
The people calling for this have become louder than ever before in the last few weeks, though. Their cries got even more emphatic when news hit that Dominick Cruz had also suffered a knee injury which will keep him out of the Octagon for months.
Regardless, the arguments presented by Cesar Gracie, various sports writers, and keyboard warriors the world over, simply do not make sense for a variety of reasons. Meanwhile, the criticism being leveled against this pair of welterweights is terribly misplaced, in large part because…
Not too long ago, this writer discussed the problems the featherweight division is facing due to its terribly shallow pool of fighters. Charles Oliveira and Jonathan Brookins are both decent featherweights, for sure. Oliveira was reasonably successful …
Not too long ago, this writer discussed the problems the featherweight division is facing due to its terribly shallow pool of fighters.
Charles Oliveira and Jonathan Brookins are both decent featherweights, for sure. Oliveira was reasonably successful as a lightweight, putting together a 2-2 (1) record (his two losses, however, came against top-ten fighters in Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone). He then had his featherweight debut against UFC newcomer Eric Wisely, who he beat by first-round submission.
Brookins, meanwhile, is best known for winning The Ultimate Fighter season 12, where he bested opponents above his native weight class. After topping his lightweight cast mates, he dropped back down to featherweight and had a semi-controversial decision loss to Erik Koch, but followed it up with a first-round KO of Vagner Rocha.
As the above article discusses, being able to string together any number of wins is enough to fall into a title shot in the featherweight division. With both fighters coming off wins, Brookins vs. Oliveira was a deceptively important bout.
Naturally, only one of them could win. Oliveira, obviously, came out on top.
Oliveira, as one would expect from a good-but-not-great fighter, looked good but not great against Brookins. Using his superior striking, Oliveira dazed Brookins and finished him with a submission. This is even more impressive when one considers that Brookins’ greatest strength is his grappling.
Still, the performance was neither especially exciting nor eye-opening. Again, Oliveira was good, but not great.
The bottom line, though, is that Oliveira now has a two-fight winning streak. Diego Nunes, Ross Pearson, Dennis Siver, Chad Mendes, Bart Palaszewski and Eddie Yagin cannot say the same. Also keep in mind, the last person that current top contender Erik Koch beat was, in fact, Brookins (who he did not dominate in the least).
Because of that, Charles Oliveira is potentially one fight away from facing current UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. The situation is not perfect. Oliveira is barely beyond a straw-man of an opponent for Aldo. However, those are the facts.
Aldo is currently slated to face Koch at UFC 149 in July. Assuming he wins (which he will), he is likely going to face Chan-Sung Jung around November or December of this year. Schedule-wise, that works out perfectly for Oliveira.
With some luck (he needs other fighters to have issues with scheduling, injuries or upset losses) and a win, he could easily end up facing Jose Aldo in early 2013.
He does need one more win but again, the scheduling could not be better for Oliveira.
The UFC on FX 4 card, coming up on June 22, features four of the promotion’s better featherweights, with Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas and Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson. This lines up nicely, and beating either of the winners from those bouts would realistically be able to put Oliveira into title contention.
Because of this, Oliveira is somebody to keep an eye on. Granted, it is really difficult to envision Jose Aldo losing to anybody. Regardless, Oliveira stands to benefit from the absence of any real threats to Aldo’s reign.
The UFC has snatched up and gutted both Pride FC and the WEC. Pride, which was already in its death throes when the UFC scooped it up, had most of its big-name fighters like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and W…
The UFC has snatched up and gutted both Pride FC and the WEC. Pride, which was already in its death throes when the UFC scooped it up, had most of its big-name fighters like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Wanderlei Silva absorbed into the UFC’s roster. The WEC, meanwhile, functioned separately from the UFC for a long while, but they eventually met the same end.
Naturally, when the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, snatched up its only real competitor, Strikeforce, fans assumed that the promotion’s days were numbered. This was all but confirmed as almost every major fighter on Strikeforce’s roster made their way to UFC.
In spite of this, Strikeforce persists. News came earlier this year that not only is Strikeforce going to keep going, but it is going to be running on Showtime for “multiple years.” While that would signal that the California-based organization is here to stay, many are counting the days until Strikeforce finally folds.
That group of naysayers will be keeping that tally for a long while, however. Strikeforce is too valuable a commodity for Zuffa to completely do away with.
“Finishing fights.” “Entertaining fans.” “Brawler.”