Author: Steven Rondina

UFC 146: A Less Exciting Card Without Overeem, Hunt

There are very few cards that have suffered the kind of beating that has come upon UFC 146. The all-heavyweight main card, meant to draw in casual fans and rack up buys for the UFC, has turned into one giant headache for the promotion. Here is a remind…

There are very few cards that have suffered the kind of beating that has come upon UFC 146. The all-heavyweight main card, meant to draw in casual fans and rack up buys for the UFC, has turned into one giant headache for the promotion.

Here is a reminder of what the original card looked like:

Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir

Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva

Shane Del Rosario vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Stefan Struve vs. Mark Hunt

When this first got announced it was easy to get excited. Dos Santos vs. Overeem was downright tantalizing with the two champions set to unify the UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight belts. Velasquez vs. Mir was a comparably exciting co-main event set to either cement the resurgence of Frank Mir or open the door for Cain Velasquez to retake his belt.

Past that, all the bouts had some level of intrigue. Nelson vs. Silva was going to show just how good either of these heavyweights were, with Silva showing he belongs in the top echelon of the UFC’s heavyweight division or Nelson proving he deserves a spot in the UFC. Meanwhile Del Rosario vs. Gonzaga and Struve vs. Hunt pitted young up-and-comers against wily veterans trying to work their way back into the public eye.

Obviously things did not stay that way. Alistair Overeem’s much-publicized failed drug test (which he claims was due to his use of a doctor-prescribed anti-inflamatory) got him booted off the card. Mir replaced Overeem for the title fight. Silva replaced Mir in the co-main event. Gonzaga replaced Silva, and was scheduled to face Roy Nelson. Stipe Miocic then stepped onto the card to fight Shane del Rosario in place of Gonzaga.

That still had the makings of a decent card. Unfortunately a couple more changes had to come down. Gonzaga threw out his back during training and was replaced by heavyweight journeyman Dave Herman. Then to make sure every bout from the original card had been sabotaged, Mark Hunt had to pull out of his fight with Stefan Struve and was replaced by Lavar Johnson.

The card is currently: 

Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson

Ouch.

Dos Santos vs. Mir is interesting only insofar as it is a heavyweight title fight, and lacks the appeal (and will probably also lack the excitement) of the original fight with Overeem. Velasquez vs. Silva is likely to be fun (what heavyweight fight between two guys with hands made of dynamite is not?) but the UFC was wanting to build Antonio Silva up against Roy Nelson.

Cain Velasquez, however, is no stepping stone, and should be heavily favored going into the event.

Nelson vs. Herman lacks the appeal of either of the fights Nelson had scheduled. Though “Big Country” fans should be happy about the changes, as Herman is an easier opponent than either Silva or Gonzaga (Nelson, who is 1-3 in his last four fights, is likely to be cut if he drops this bout).

Del Rosario vs. Miocic lacks any sort of name-brand recognition as both fighters are about a year removed from fighting on Strikeforce: Challengers cards on Showtime. The bout is still interesting, though, as both fighters are undefeated and have combined for only one decision. However there is no getting around the fact that either fighter is unknown to a huge majority of MMA fans.

Struve vs. Hunt actually ends up being the second biggest loss for the card. After events began pointing to Overeem being forced off the card, a huge rallying cry came up with fans calling for Hunt to replace him in the title fight. The movement failed but still put the spotlight on Hunt who, unfortunately, will not be able to take advantage of his renewed fame.

As for the actual fight, Struve often ends up in interesting technical battles due to his opponents needing to compensate for his freakish height (checking in at 6’11”). He remains one of the most under-appreciated fighters in the UFC with a 7-3 record in the promotion in just three years, but he has a tough fight in Lavar Johnson who is looking for his third knockout victory of 2012.

This combines for an injury-riddled card that does not live up to its original booking. While it is not bad, again it was supposed to be amazing. The untouched lineup of fights would have ended up one of the biggest spectacles in MMA this year (its only real competition being UFC 148). The product fans are looking at, though, does not qualify as such.

Still, there is enough to get excited about to keep most UFC fans interested. We have, after all, seen worse bunches put forth exciting fights, top-to-bottom. It is easy, though, to wonder “What if…?”

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Strikeforce: Melendez Shows He Is Not a Top Lightweight, Still Has Lots to Prove

It’s time for everyone to calm down about Gilbert Melendez. He may be the last man standing for hipster MMA fans. He may be hyped by Strikeforce’s commentators as the best lightweight in the sport. He may be put into many pound-for-pound top-10 lists. …

It’s time for everyone to calm down about Gilbert Melendez.

He may be the last man standing for hipster MMA fans. He may be hyped by Strikeforce’s commentators as the best lightweight in the sport. He may be put into many pound-for-pound top-10 lists.

That, though, ignores the fact that there is no foundation to consider Gilbert Melendez one of the top fighters in the sport today. After all these years, the Strikeforce lightweight champion is still an unknown commodity. No matter which way it gets hacked, he is still yet to face serious competition. It is foolhardy to consider him one of the best in the division, never mind in the sport, until that changes.

Josh Thomson, his opponent this past Saturday, was just the latest chapter in the ongoing story of Strikeforce’s flimsy matchmaking.

Recently, I talked at length about the UFC featherweight division’s shallow talent pool and the trouble this results in for both fighters and UFC VP of Talent Relations, Joe Silva. The Strikeforce lightweight division is quite similar, with only a handful of fighters demonstrating any level of skill. This leaves the rankings past its champion in constant flux and results in fighters getting title shots while riding one-fight winning streaks.

Simply put, Gilbert Melendez has not beaten anybody of note. Not only has he not beaten anybody of note, but he has failed to blow away these low-tier fighters as Dominick Cruz and Jose Aldo have. He narrowly edged out Josh Thomson, winning a semi-controversial split decision.

Looking deeper, he did not raise many eyebrows with his bout against Jorge Masvidal and has been out-shined by many when it comes to shared opponents, including Bellator’s Eddie Alvarez.

Make no mistake, he is a strong fighter. He has solid boxing and his ground game is nothing to shrug at. Unfortunately for Melendez and his fans, that simply is not enough to be a top 10 lightweight anymore. Certainly not enough to be in the top three, as B/R ranks him. Most of all, it is completely out of the question that he is the top lightweight at this time, regardless of Strikeforce’s allegations.

Melendez coming to the UFC still feels inevitable. His disrespectful post-fight interview came just short of announcing that he is looking to pull a Nick Diaz, play the politics game and force his way out of Strikeforce.

Should he succeed, it would be very difficult to favor Melendez over many top UFC lightweights. He should be a huge underdog against champion Ben Henderson or the top contender, Frankie Edgar. Though a fight with Nate Diaz is out of the question (Cesar Gracie fighters openly refuse to fight each other), he would certainly be the riskier bet there as well.

Outside the top three, there is also no real reason to give him the edge against guys like Gray Maynard, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis or Clay Guida. On top of that, there are savvy fighters that match up well against Melendez stylistically like Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon.

Before calling foul on this article, just ask if Josh Thomson is better than any of these fighters. If for some inexplicable reason you would say he is, just look at any of those fighters’ resumes side-by-side with Thomson.

Until Melendez joins the UFC and puts together wins, there is no logical reason to consider him above the fray. While, again, Melendez is a good fighter, there is no shortage of good fighters right now. If the pundits are going to keep claiming he is great, though, I hope they let me in on the secret reason they think this some time soon.  

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Chan-Sung Jung Only a Distraction from UFC’s Big Little Problem

Recently, while discussing the future of The Ultimate Fighter and the potential for another heavyweight-focused season, Dana White firmly stated “The problem is that there aren’t a lot of heavyweights…I need them in the UFC, not on The Ultimate…

Recently, while discussing the future of The Ultimate Fighter and the potential for another heavyweight-focused season, Dana White firmly stated “The problem is that there aren’t a lot of heavyweights…I need them in the UFC, not on The Ultimate Fighter.”

The thing is, though, that the UFC’s heavyweight division is hands-down the best it has ever been. The division has a good blend of both young and veteran talent, a strong (but still beatable) champion and a strong enough hierarchy that there has been a clear line of contenders since Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira beat Tim Sylvia in 2008.

The UFC is hurting for talent, yes, but not in the heavyweight division. The UFC’s biggest problem right now is the lack of little guys in the featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight divisions.

Chan-Sung Jung’s electrifying performance in the most recent UFC on Fuel TV event has the world ablaze. Even though there is plenty of talk about his exciting style and seemingly overnight development from a Chris Leben-style brawler to a well-rounded mixed martial artist, it really only serves as a distraction from the division’s overarching problem.

To break it down to its simplest level, there simply are not enough fighters in the UFC to get a clear picture of who is better than who. Well, except that Jose Aldo is better than everyone else.

Take a look back a few years to the ascent of Cain Velasquez. Velasquez came into the UFC with a 2-0 record. He beat a trio of guys you likely have not heard of, but proved himself somebody not to be trifled with.

From there he beat an on-the-rise Cheick Kongo and followed that up against veteran IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell. This set up a top-contender bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, which he won. Then, he beat Brock Lesnar to become champion.

 

He beat lesser opponents, then beat mid-tier opponents, then beat good opponents and then he became champion.

Simple, right?

The featherweight division, though, has such a small pool of fighters that anybody who can get two wins in a row instantly jumps into title contention, regardless of their past record or who they actually beat. Erik Koch is a perfect example of this.

Koch, who is slated to fight Jose Aldo at UFC 149, is presently riding one of the most unimpressive four-fight win streaks in the UFC. His first two wins came over WEC washouts Bendy Casimir and Francisco Rivera. His resume in the UFC is short, with two wins in two fights. His first, coming over Raphael Assuncao, who was 3-3 in the UFC and WEC as a featherweight.

His second victory, which ultimately put him over the top, was his victory over Jonathan Brookins in Brookins’ first fight after winning the Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter. The fight was by no means impressive, as the rookie ended up out-grappling Koch for the entirety of the fight. Though Koch ultimately got the decision by literally landing a few punches, it was a very weak performance against somebody a title contender should have been able to dispatch with ease.

Chad Mendes was in a very similar boat, and was ultimately annihilated by Jose Aldo. Dustin Poirier? Same thing, with only one win over a fighter with a winning record under Zuffa employment (his 2011 win over Josh Grispi).

The UFC has only a few quality fighters in their featherweight division. Because of the simple fact that they cannot fight each other every time, the result is that any mediocre fighter is left to open cans, and beat down UFC newcomers. In fact, Poirier’s fight immediately before Jung was against 20-year-old Max Holloway in just his fifth pro fight.

 

The bantamweight division is in a comparably bad spot. While their straits are not as dire due to a handful of proven fighters, guys like Chris Cariaso and Michael McDonald are sitting fairly close to a title fight without any noteworthy wins. The flyweight division will almost certainly be in the same exact spot within a year after the championship tournament wraps up.

The UFC really, really needs to inject some new talent into their three smallest divisions. Even with Chan-Sung Jung’s impressive performance, his resume would still have him far away from a title shot in any other division.

The UFC seems to have noticed that there is a problem here, as they have been trying hard to get more talent here through The Ultimate Fighter reality show.

The show’s 12th installment featured an all-lightweight class, with many of its alumni dropping a few more pounds to become featherweights. TUF: Live, which is also exclusively lightweights, will probably have similar results.

TUF 13 cut out the middleman and had featherweights and bantamweights share the stage. To top it off, TUF: Brazil features featherweights alongside middleweights.

These fighters are a few years off from being fully groomed though, and they need to fill out the division right now. Fighters between 125-145 lbs are not extremely difficult to find in other promotions. DREAM, OneFC, Bellator and Tachi Palace Fights all have at least one fighter in B/R’s top ten rankings in these three divisions, and adding somebody like Pat Curran or Tatsuya Kawajiri would help bolster those divisions.

Whether they need to be more aggressive with free agents, or whether they need to do a better job luring guys like Frankie Edgar to cut down to 145, they really need to do something.

This is a problem the UFC needs to solve immediately—but it has been lingering for so long that it is unlikely it will be solved any time soon. Just look at Urijah Faber and his four title shots in the last three years. There simply are not enough fighters to consistently produce compelling bouts.

That is really disappointing, as the little guys usually put up the best fights.

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Bellator vs. Invicta: Which Promotion Has the Brighter Future?

Smaller MMA promotions tend to live very short lives. Even when one seems to be ready to jump into place to get equal footing with the UFC, they either dry up or get bought out by Zuffa. Such, though, is the nature of trendy businesses. The slew of MMA…

Smaller MMA promotions tend to live very short lives. Even when one seems to be ready to jump into place to get equal footing with the UFC, they either dry up or get bought out by Zuffa. Such, though, is the nature of trendy businesses.

The slew of MMA promotions that have come and gone is no different from any given boom and bust cycle. Pride FC? EliteXC? Affliction MMA? Strikeforce? No different from Pets.com, Seagram or Sega.

While it is easy to focus in on the flops, it is important to remember that these things do eventually settle, and the landscape tends to have more than one figure present. There are at least two promotions hoping that this time has come: the Bellator and Invicta Fighting Championships.

Right now, Bellator is positioning itself to become a force for the UFC to reckon with. A direct competitor? Not quite yet. But at least for now, Bellator is on the rise.

Bellator FC was founded in 2008, and primarily features a rigid, but generally efficient tournament format. The promotion’s events are divided into “seasons” where, over the course of several events, they stage tournaments in three or four weight classes to crown a new champion, while fleshing out cards with various non-tournament fights.

Starting with their fourth season, they began running weekly events on MTV2. Though Bellator has gained a strong financial foundation since being purchased by Viacom late last year, not all is going well for the them; Bellator’s current season’s ratings have not been strong by any standard, wildly fluctuating between 100,000-200,000 viewers. By comparison, The Ultimate Fighter: Live has consistently been pulling in more than 900,000.

A move from MTV2 to Spike TV is in the works, but will not be taking hold until 2013.

While Bellator has been around for a few years now, Invicta FC is brand new to the scene, with their first event taking place a few weeks ago. The idea behind Invicta is pretty straightforward.

A few former Strikeforce executives decided to start an all-female league when the future of women’s MMA became uncertain after the promotion was scooped up by Zuffa. The doomsayers have generally been quieted, largely because of Ronda Rousey’s surging popularity, and Invicta showed that there is a market for their product, drawing 250,000 viewers in their only-viewable-online debut event.

The future of Invicta is completely up in the air, though. Another event is scheduled for July, but there is no word on a TV deal at this point.

The staying power of either promotion is difficult to measure. Viacom’s ownership of Bellator and the fact that they have a long-term plan suggests that they will be around for at least a bit longer. Whether or not the promotion draws more viewers when it switches over to Spike TV will ultimately be the key factor when it comes to determining its sustainability.

Invicta is less secure, however. Even though Gina Carano and Cris Santos became huge personalities, and Ronda Rousey is following in their footsteps, it remains to be seen just how receptive average MMA fans are when it comes to women fighting.

There are also plenty of questions regarding how deep the talent pool really is among women fighters. Ronda Rousey’s electrifying, arm-snapping submission of Miesha Tate was rife with sloppy striking. Furthermore, given the lopsided nature of every fight involving Cris Santos, the ladies in the sport need to start upping their game.

Still, the potential is there, and if Invicta can steer clear of the potholes that tend to take the axles off such promotions (signing too many fighters or breaking the bank for star fighters), they can stick around for a while. They will likely never come close to reaching the heights that the UFC has, but by no means will that make them unsuccessful.

Regardless, when forced to choose between them, the future is brighter for Bellator simply because their product and parent company offer more security. Though Invicta certainly can grow, it is definitely the riskier investment.

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Quinton Jackson: Whom Should He Face in His Last UFC Bout?

Many are fed up with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The thing is, he still has one fight remaining on his contract with the UFC. Even though he is making things as difficult as possible for UFC president Dana White, he is still popular and good…

Many are fed up with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The thing is, he still has one fight remaining on his contract with the UFC.

Even though he is making things as difficult as possible for UFC president Dana White, he is still popular and good enough that his final fight is a valuable commodity.

The light heavyweight division is completely in flux right now, and a fight with Jackson actually does a lot to help sort out the large pack of fighters sitting below Jon Jones and Rashad Evans.

Luckily for Joe Silva, there are plenty of fights out there that make sense. More importantly, there are also a few that can make the UFC a good bit of money.

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Chael Sonnen: After 2 Years of Talk, What Happens After UFC 148?

Chael Sonnen, perhaps more than anyone else, has had his entire career built around a losing effort. That is not to diminish Sonnen’s accomplishments. He has wins over some of the best middleweights in MMA today. But ever since beating Nate Marquardt a…

Chael Sonnen, perhaps more than anyone else, has had his entire career built around a losing effort. That is not to diminish Sonnen’s accomplishments. He has wins over some of the best middleweights in MMA today.

But ever since beating Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in February 2010, Chael Sonnen has been about one thing; he wants to destroy Anderson Silva in every possible way. His legacy, his person, his fame.

It is important to keep the roots of this rivalry in mind.

While Silva is as popular as ever, he was truly approaching pariah status in 2010. What seemed to be an absolute lack of effort or interest in fights against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites and Demian Maia had inspired a lot of hate from fans and fighters alike. Sonnen tried to capitalize on the growing anti-Silva sentiment by employing inordinate amounts of smack talk.

He called Silva names, said he was going to get fired and on and on. As much talk as possible. Non-stop.

That was all well and good. The thing was, and this surprised many, Sonnen backed up his talk when they fought at UFC 117.

Sonnen took Silva down at will.

He pounded him mercilessly, landing 289 hits according to Compustrike.

He out-grappled him with no effort, keeping Silva on his back for almost the entire fight.

Truly, he made Silva look like he had no clue what he was doing. Then, in the waning minutes of the last round, Sonnen lost by triangle choke.

Talk of an immediate rematch boomed, but was silenced when news hit that Sonnen had tested positive for an extremely abnormal T/E ratio (which, during appeals, was alleged to be due to self-administered but doctor-prescribed, TRT). The delay was lengthened after he was suspended further due to legal trouble in an alleged mortgage fraud case.

At this point, Sonnen brilliantly kept himself relevant in the MMA by constantly seeking the spotlight. He appeared on a variety of MMA news shows and used his new reporter gigs to deliver even more smack talk about a wider variety of fighters, but he always found time to take shots at the middleweight champion.

Eventually, Sonnen returned to fighting an even bigger personality than himself. His first fight back was a title eliminator against Brian Stann. Sonnen used his superior wrestling to dominate the fight; after being declared the winner, Sonnen delivered one of the most memorable post-fight interviews ever, calling Silva out to a match and saying that he must leave the division if he won, while Sonnen himself would leave the UFC if he lost.

At this point Silva had already reclaimed his former glory, with three fights separating him from his last yawn-inspiring bout against Demian Maia, courtesy of two knockouts (including the wildly popular front-kick KO of Vitor Belfort) on top of submitting Sonnen. He was no longer the magnet for controversy he had been, and those three ugly fights were officially a footnote in Silva’s history.

Talk of Silva vs. Sonnen II swirled, but quieted once again after Silva declared he needed surgery on an injured shoulder. Sonnen returned to name-calling and, as has become common in the fight game, claimed that Silva was faking and, once again, avoiding a fight with him.

Sonnen once again had to fight for the chance to face Silva, this time against Mark Munoz in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 2. Munoz had to withdraw from the bout after elbow surgery and was replaced with Michael Bisping. In the press events building up to the fight, Sonnen still focused on Silva more than his actual opponent.

Sonnen won a semi-controversial unanimous decision, but still offered another hilarious post-fight interview. He then changed his strategy when it came to smack-talking Silva, and began insisting that the fight was not going to take place while taking potshots at some of the Brazilian fighters that had taken issue with him like the Nogueira brothers and Lyoto Machida.

Still, everything he was doing was all about ensuring that rematch. That brings us to today, where Sonnen has now spent two full years of his life entirely dedicated to getting the chance to fight Anderson Silva.

With a date set, the question must be asked. What is Chael Sonnen going to do after fighting Anderson Silva?

He has not made many friends with his endless jawing, so if he wins that makes things easy.

He has plenty of prospective opponents. Mark Munoz and Vitor Belfort (assuming he beats Wanderlei Silva) both have the resumes to step into a title fight with Sonnen. There are also a few guys that could get into place for a title bout in the near future like Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher. The possibility of an immediate rematch with Silva should also be mentioned.

If Sonnen loses, though, question marks start popping up. Will Sonnen really go gently into that good night? It is hard to imagine him fading back into the middleweight pack when he worked his way into becoming one of the best-known fighters in the UFC.

Will his ruthless mockery of Silva stay fresh and funny if he loses again? Will he even be able to be taken seriously if he talks smack, but loses in a more convincing fashion? What of the appearances he makes on ESPN’s MMA Hour and Fuel TV?

It is hard to say, but regardless of how the fight goes, it is hard to believe Sonnen will maintain the same level of stardom if he loses. Even if he brutalizes Silva en route to another late submission loss, there is no way Sonnen stays this popular if he does not come out on top.

This is do or die for him because if he loses, we are likely to see a lot less Chael Sonnen in the future. Obviously, he will not completely fall off the map. He will still be a top three middleweight.

Sonnen’s popularity is from his claims of being the best fighter in the world, though. Claiming he is one of the better guys in one division just does not hold the same appeal.

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