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UFC 167 Main Events Befit Organization’s 20th Anniversary

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has come a long way since the days of potbellies, eight-man tournaments and taglines like “there are no rules.”
The UFC that entered the public lexicon on Nov. 12, 1993, no longer exists. For much of its early incepti…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has come a long way since the days of potbellies, eight-man tournaments and taglines like “there are no rules.”

The UFC that entered the public lexicon on Nov. 12, 1993, no longer exists. For much of its early inception, the UFC amounted to little but sanctioned barbarism, a human steel cage match where everyone beat the holy hell out of one another with headbutts and strikes to the nether regions.

It was a sport on the fringes of existence, only loved by true zealots and despised by the American government. The UFC that existed then would have no chance of existing now. The increased attention on concussions would have killed the sport before it ever got off the ground.

It’s amazing just how much 20 years can accomplish.

Now, UFC is a heavily regulated, regularly covered mainstream sport that may be the most popular pugilistic endeavor on the planet. Dana White‘s vision has helped mixed martial arts not only get sanctioned by the government but emerge as arguably a safer and more skilled profession than boxing.

Though the 20th anniversary has technically passed, those at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday will get to see just how far the UFC has come. Before a filled house at one of boxing’s most prominent venues, White’s promotion will put on a card befitting this historic occasion.

In many ways, this is the perfect card to show the dichotomy between what was, what is and what could be the future in mixed martial arts.

Of course, UFC 167 is headlined by Georges St-Pierre, who will defend his UFC Welterweight Championship against top contender Johny Hendricks. Depending on how you feel about Jon Jones, St-Pierre is either the best or second best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world. He hasn’t lost since August 2007 and became the undisputed welterweight champion the following April after winning the interim belt in December 2007.

A heady fighter who is more tactical than powerful and more patient than bloodthirsty, GSP is the opposite of the barbarism that once defined the sport. He can harness a level of aggression—which is needed to reach this level—but St-Pierre thrives with systematic destruction of his opponents rather than one-shot knockouts.

Each of his past six fights has gone to the judges’ scorecards, all with the same result: a unanimous-decision victory for St-Pierre.

Hendricks is an interesting opponent who packs every bit of that one-punch power that could shock the MMA world. He has perhaps the best left hand in the sport and is difficult to defend because he’s an adept grappler on the ground as well.

Although “Bigg Rigg” is well-respected and has only one loss, St-Pierre’s presence makes the matchup seem preordained. The Canadian will flex his genius once more, dispatch a touted up-and-comer and move onto the next beautiful landmark he can turn into a parking lot.

He’ll give us a tactical masterpiece so great that we’ll forget about the words “Tank” and “Abbott.”

The co-main event will carry nearly as much intrigue for a completely different reason: the cult of personality.

White has long recoiled at being known as the “Vince McMahon of UFC,” but the comparison is more apt than any MMA head would like to admit. He’s counseled his fighters to develop personalities beyond the ring, cultivating the hero-villain concept that has allowed the WWE to thrive for decades

Perhaps no man has ever worn the villain hat in MMA better than Chael Sonnen. Secretly one of the more thoughtful men in the history of the sport, he has made up for what he lacks in the ring with some world-class buffoonery. He’s made questionable comments on race that have drawn the ire of fellow fighters, cracked wise on domestic violence and offered countless other claims that make him one of the most hated fighters in the sport’s history.

He often draws criticism from fans of the “sport” because he gets a platform perhaps more deserving fighters should have. But he’s thrived in understanding the “entertainment” part of his job. And you know what? That’s good for the sport.

The casual fan knows who Sonnen is—good or bad—and that’s going to draw a ton of more eyeballs on his fight with Rashad Evans.

Evans’ career has been about as up and down as can be, with his back-to-back losses to Jon Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira jeopardizing his status among the world’s best. But his victory over Dan Henderson in June put him back in good standing within the light heavyweight division, and that will probably continue against Sonnen on Saturday.

No one would call Evans a fighter you’d enjoy taking home to grandma, but in all likelihood Sonnen will get another moral comeuppance—to the delight of the hooting and hollering fans in the stands.

Still, any result is good for White and the UFC. Their work is already done. The secondary market is flooding with fans hoping to pay top dollar for tickets, and pay-per-view buys seem almost certain to take a spike.

And that all comes before the year-end UFC 168, which features two of the biggest names in the sport—Anderson Silva and Ronda Rousey. Rousey represents White’s latest alteration of his sport; he created a women’s division for her after years of denying it would ever happen.

That’s kind of the story for the UFC, isn’t it? Twenty years of people saying this or that can’t or won’t happen, and then the sport thumbing its nose and making it happen anyway. Sometimes it was the United States government; other times it was gender equality. On Saturday, the UFC will show the world once again just how world class its athletes are.

The UFC may not be perfect, but it’s come a long way from punches to the groin.

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Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 3: Cain Velasquez Cements Status, Ends Rivalry with Win

If there were any doubts about who reigns atop the UFC heavyweight division, Cain Velasquez assuaged those and then some at UFC 166 on Saturday night.
With a barrage of punches to the covered head of Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, Velasquez atoned fo…

If there were any doubts about who reigns atop the UFC heavyweight division, Cain Velasquez assuaged those and then some at UFC 166 on Saturday night.

With a barrage of punches to the covered head of Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, Velasquez atoned for his only UFC defeat and forced a stoppage in the fifth round to retain his UFC Heavyweight Championship. As dos Santos’ face gushed with blood on the canvas, Velasquez’s arms and his opponent’s (and his) sanguine fluid served as a Rambo-like warpaint of triumph.

In typical Velasquez fashion, he had used the first four rounds as a pulpit to enact his will. Executing takedowns in each of the first two rounds, Velasquez methodically wore down dos Santos early—making the final three rounds but a mere display of dominance.

Referee Herb Dean looked on the verge of stopping the fight multiple times, especially in the third round. Velasquez landed a flurry of punches in that round, one knocking dos Santos square to the ground and leading to a series of strikes on the ground. A similar feeling crept over the proceedings when Velasquez had dos Santos against the cage in the fourth round.

Although the champion was somewhat sheepish after the fight, it was clear to everyone at the Toyota Center that this bout was one between two different classes of fighters.

“It was a pretty tough fight,” Velasquez said, via the Associated Press. “It was very difficult. It was a tough night. I give him a lot of credit, he is a tough fighter. We were ready for everything. We trained hard in camp and prepared for everything. I tried to get him down this time. I was trying to throw crisper punches this time. I love the competition.”

The win brought Velasquez’s record to 13-1, his fourth straight victory. It also gave him a 2-1 series advantage in his trilogy with dos Santos, which began when Cigano shockingly knocked out Velasquez at UFC on Fox on Nov. 12, 2011.

That KO was a career-defining moment for dos Santos. The 29-year-old Mexican fighter reached an unexpected height in popularity with that win, and he’s still unquestionably one of the best heavyweights in the sport.

But we now have 10 rounds of data showing just how superior Velasquez really is. Their second bout wasn’t even close—a unanimous decision if there ever was one. And Saturday’s rubber match was the Velasquez manifesto, the “Act of Obliteration.” There were stanzas and punctuation points, pugilistic soliloquies delivered by a man who, yes, is just that damn much better.

With that manifesto came the conclusion of a rivalry. Dos Santos won’t and shouldn’t get another fight against Velasquez for a very long time—if ever. After nights like Saturday, even the capitalistic Dana White wouldn’t sentence his fighter to the fate of Joe Budden.

What’s next for Velasquez, in fact, already seems set in stone. White spoke to reporters after the conclusion of festivities in Houston, indicating that Fabrício Werdum would get the next chance to run through the impenetrable wall:

“His whole game has improved,” White said, speaking of Werdum (h/t MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco). “The guy’s a big, strong, durable guy. And his jiujitsu, he’s going to want to go to the ground—which makes this fight very interesting.”

In a stylistic vacuum, Velasquez-Werdum does seem interesting. Velasquez’s takedowns versus Werdum’s ability to submit an opponent at any moment is a nice contrast that could make for an interesting fight.

But Werdum is 36. He’s improved, yes—from a guy who was cut from UFC a few years ago. Stylistic differences can so often play a bigger difference than anyone even gives credit, but this is still going to be like throwing Macklemore into a rap battle with Eminem.

Velasquez will dominate. Again. With the same precision with which he took down dos Santos on Saturday and with the same ease that he’s defeated all other oncomers since joining the sport.

The heavyweight division presents almost zero challenges to Velasquez. Opponents come in hoping to land that one punch the same way dos Santos did, but knowing their odds are somewhere between Amanda Bynes winning an Oscar and Chief Keef winning a Grammy.

Velasquez has reached that rarefied air in pugilism, where his competition is not the man staring him in the face but other fighters outside his weight class. Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre are the only two in Velasquez’s strata on the male side, and it’s arguable that no one is more dominant than female champion Ronda Rousey.

But those are the four names that define UFC at the moment: Jones. St-Pierre. Rousey. Velasquez. I like Jose Aldo as much as the next guy; I’m only discussing those who I’d set my house ablaze if they lost: the rare place in the sport that Anderson Silva started—until right about the time Chris Weidman stopped it.

That’s where Velasquez stands right now—at the top of his division, his only blemish discarded, consigned to the midcard and vanquished from his purview.

Well, at least he will be. Right after Velasquez wipes dos Santos’ blood off his face.

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Jones vs. Gustafsson: Last-Minute Viewing Info, Preview for UFC 165 Title Fight

When Chris Weidman’s left hand clipped Anderson Silva’s face and sent the former middleweight champion to the canvas, the knockout did more than send the mixed martial arts world into a state of stupor. It also transferred the “Best Fighter A…

Jones will be defending his light heavyweight championship strap in the main event just hours from now against Alexander Gustafsson. A victory would give Jones, whose excellence inside the ring is perhaps only eclipsed by his all-time great nickname, six straight title defenses—a UFC record. At age 26, he’s one of the most popular fighters in UFC history and one of the most dominant; his only loss was due to his own bullishness.

Gustafsson matches Jones in age and bests him in the size department but has nowhere near the profile. The Swede’s defining victories, wins over Maurício “Shogun” Rua and Thiago Silva, were either an undercard to a bigger surrounding event or thrown on Fuel TV. Saturday will be the first time his name appeared on a UFC pay-per-view poster with font size any bigger than 0.000001. Much like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fighting Floyd Mayweather last Saturday, Gustafsson will be making the leap from the midcard to the main event in Canada.

Alvarez was subjected to 12 rounds of crisp jabs to the face, looking overmatched against one of the best tactical fighters on the planet. Will Gustafsson share his fate? Mere seconds (a lot of them, but still) remain until we’ll find out.

With that in mind, let’s check in with a quick preview of the UFC 165 headliner.

Fight Information

When: Saturday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET (PPV)

Where: Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Watch: Pay-Per-View (Contact your service provider)

Fight Preview

Jones will head into the ring as a massive favorite. Bovada currently has him as a -850 favorite, meaning you’d have to risk $8,500 to win $1,000, and those odds may even tilt more as we draw closer to the fight.

This, of course, is all for good reason.

Since defeating Rua for the strap two years ago, Jones has fought five times and showed his amazing versatility in the ring in every one. Every single fight result has been different. He used the rear-naked choke to beat Rampage Jackson; a guillotine on Lyoto Machida; a unanimous decision against Rashad Evans; a keylock on Vitor Belfort; a flurry of elbows and punches on Chael Sonnen.

That’s not just a list of victories—it’s a clinic on how to dominate mixed martial arts. Jones’ victories fill up the stat sheet in a LeBron Jamesian fashion, meaning that no one is sure how to beat him or how he’s going to beat you. There’s a Mayweather-like method to the madness, with Jones rightfully developing a reputation as an astute student of his craft.

His preparation skills are nearly as great as his physical ones.

“[Studying for fights] helps me become really comfortable with the challenges I’ll be up against and it allows me to prepare for what’s ahead,” Jones told Forbes Dan Schawbel in April. “The biggest challenge is learning how to psych yourself up into believing in yourself as you walk into the Octagon.”

What Jones will find in Gustafsson is a fighter with his preferred set of moves. A boxer in his youth, Gustafsson has garnered the nickname “The Mauler” for his physical style. Unlike Jones, the Swede’s recent fights don’t show an overall array of results. He’s used the rear-naked choke or punches to get his last four early results, and his two most recent bouts went to the scorecards.

These are exploitable traits.

Jones thrives on finding areas of weakness and using his chameleon-like skill set to adjust. He’d do well to try forcing Gustafsson into being the aggressor and using a counter takedown to gain control of the fight. The challenger has strong hands, but he too often misses on strikes and leaves himself vulnerable. And while he’s an improved grappler on the mat, Gustafsson is still a bit deficient in that department and probably could be had via submission.

Of course, we’ve all heard the case for Gustafsson making this a close bout. This will be the once-in-a-frozen-hell fight where Jones doesn’t have a distinct size advantage over his opponent. Gustafsson is an inch taller than Jones at 6’5″ and has a good reach at 76.5″, though it pales in comparison to Bones’ freakish 84.5″ Inspector Gadget arms.

Gustafsson will also need to express patience in this fight. He did a great job of staying within himself in wins over Rua and Silva, and it’s likely only a similarly styled fight gives him a shot.

Either that or he could just knock him out. Whatever.

Prediction

What do you think? I’ve been described as many derogatory things in my life, but “stupid enough to pick against Jon Jones” is not one of them.

Sure, it’s possible that Gustafsson wins. It’s also theoretically possible that I marry Julie Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Both possibilities have an infinitesimal shot at happening, though I’ll certainly give the Swede -5000 odds on beating me out in the two presented scenarios.

But…that’s about it. Jones is in the prime of his career as a fighter, and will very likely go down as the best mixed martial arts fighter in the sport’s history when he retires. You don’t take down the LeBron James of beatdowns; you only hope to avoid embarrassment.

Fight Prediction: Jones via submission in second round.

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Jose Aldo Will Have a Chance to Stake Claim as MMA’s Top Star at UFC 163

When Anderson Silva hit the canvas at UFC 162 after a crushing left-handed blow from Chris Weidman, the loss did more than hand the challenger his middleweight championship—it shifted the paradigm of the entire sport.
Silva, at age 38 a…

Silva, at age 38 and without a blemish on his UFC resume, had built up an air of invincibility. His reign lasted longer than any other fighter in history. Last month’s upset at UFC 162 put Weidman on the map as one of the new faces of the sport, sent Silva desperately pressing the rematch button as quickly as possible, and left plenty of MMA fans wondering what the implications would be for their sport.

Silva, just like Floyd Mayweather is for boxing, is one of the last bankable draws on name value alone. Even the most casual fans have fallen in love with seeing “The Spider” fight.

With the draws for UFC pay-per-views down across the board for years running, what happens when the mightiest fighter seems vulnerable? No longer can everyone agree on who is the best in the world. In other words, what happens to the minions if there is no king to lord over them?

We might find out on Saturday night.

The world’s best mixed martial artists will descend upon Rio de Janeiro for the first PPV event of the post-Silva era. The card hasn’t reached the level of hype as Silva vs. Weidman I, and it may not even do the numbers of next month’s UFC 164, which features lightweight champion Benson Henderson taking on Anthony Pettis as well as an appearance from Frank Mir.

That said, Saturday’s card may just have the answer to whom will take over the throne vacated by Silva. The night’s main event features Jose Aldo defending his UFC featherweight championship against Chan Sung Jung, better known to the outside world as “The Korean Zombie.”

The card reads like something out of a graphic novel or knockoff Rocky film. You may not see a more intriguing card with two fighters whom casual fans don’t know than one featuring someone dubbed The Korean Zombie. And to make things even more entertaining, Aldo’s nickname is “Scarface.”

If the numbers spike for this event, Dana White should send a big “thank you” to horror movie aficionados and mobsters everywhere. (Or maybe just fight fans. Whatever.)

But The Korean Zombie isn’t the man to watch on Saturday night. Standing across from him will be the 26-year-old Brazilian champ who has as good a chance as anyone to claim pound-for-pound top billing.

If one fighter not named Jon “Bones” Jones has been as dominant as Silva over these past two years, it’s Aldo. Since being promoted to UFC’s featherweight champion in September 2010, he has eviscerated his opponents. A tactical genius with a defensive move for every style, he has defeated a variety of fighters in a variety of ways.

He has defended the featherweight belt four times, earning three unanimous-decision wins and two Fight of the Night awards. He’ll be looking to become just the sixth fighter in history to defend a UFC belt five straight times, per ESPN Stats & Info:

While nothing is for certain, the odds seem stacked in Aldo’s favor. Bovada lists him as a minus-850 favorite to retain his championship.

For reference, the book has odds through the rest of the year for UFC events. The only bigger favorite at minus-1000 is undefeated women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who will co-headline Silva vs. Weidman II against Miesha Tate.

In case you were wondering, Jones is a minus-650 favorite for his bout against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on September 21.

Aldo and Rousey. Could we be looking at the next two-headed star of MMA in the United States? We may find out Saturday night.

Aldo is a near-perfect specimen to step into that spotlight. At age 26, he’s entering his physical prime and fights a style that lends itself to longevity. He’s solid at punching from the clinch position, and his Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu training have honed some of the best leg kicks in the sport. He could use a bit of work on submissions and a higher conversion rate on takedowns, but he’s capable in both areas.

But his defensive skills make him interesting. Much like Mayweather in boxing and Silva in MMA, Aldo has been able to avoid absorbing hard shots to the head and rarely finds himself in trouble. He fights a smart, tactical style that lends itself to going the distance.

That’s not to say he’s boring—far from it. The UFC doesn’t give out Fight of the Night awards for the professional equivalent of awful YouTube clips. And Aldo isn’t lacking in personality, either. Franklin McNeil of ESPN.com noted the champion’s confidence heading into his title defense.

“I don’t care much about what he’s doing, I only care about myself,” Aldo said. “I’m in my house; I’m home; I can’t be beaten here.”

He also told Fox Sports’ Mike Chiappetta that his goal isn’t just to defend his championship—he wants to win two. This level of openness is something new for Aldo, who usually eschews as much of the pre-fight hype as possible. He’s been forever the silent champion, with some fans quick to ascribe personality traits to a man they’ve barely heard talk.

Perhaps the increased public presence is a sign that he knows something special is coming his way. Silva left MMA’s pound-for-pound crown for the taking at the MGM Grand last month.

Can Aldo bring it back to his native Brazil? We’ll find out on Saturday.

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Anderson Silva’s Rapid Return to Ring Sets Unnerving Precedent

In one fell swoop on July 6, Anderson Silva went from seemingly the most singularly dominant force in MMA history to man staring down the barrel of his mortality.
It was on that night, before a packed house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that Sil…

In one fell swoop on July 6, Anderson Silva went from seemingly the most singularly dominant force in MMA history to man staring down the barrel of his mortality.

It was on that night, before a packed house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that Silva did something he had never done previously—lost in a sanctioned UFC bout.

The man who handed Silva that loss, Chris Weidman, came into the fight expected to share the same fate as every other poor sap who walked into the Octagon versus the Brazilian legend. Everyone from Dan Henderson to Rich Franklin (twice), all the way to the sport’s human troll Chael Sonnen had succumbed to the wills of Siva. Whether by knockout, TKO or by choking the last gasping breath from his opponent, Silva was dominant in each of his 16 wins since joining UFC.

Bolstered by the lengthy run of dominance, Silva looked the part of the legend against Weidman. He openly taunted his opponent in the ring. He stood with his hands at his sides, daring Weidman (9-0 coming into the match, by the way) to come and get some respect. It was the type of display you’ve come to expect from Silva, one he usually follows with an absolute evisceration of his overmatched opponent.

Only that wouldn’t happen this time.

At the start of the second round, Silva and Weidman were exchanging blows, the former in a lackadaisical pose, satisfied to spend his match in an English shin-kicking contest. As Weidman backed away to regroup from the exchange, Silva went into full taunt mode, shimmying his shoulders and giving his opponent an opportunity to attack.

Weidman didn’t miss his opportunity. The 29-year-old, deemed “The All-American,” laid a Revolutionary War-sized whooping on Silva, clipping him with a left, forcing Silva back a step and then landing the knockout blow with another left. He then climbed on top of Silva’s lifeless body, throwing a fusillade of strikes to Silva’s skull before the referee stopped the bout.

With that, Silva’s invincibility complex was gone. He was without strap for the first time since Oct. 14, 2006. The loss ended the longest title reign in UFC history and perhaps the greatest sustained run of overlordship in the sport’s history. The Silva dynasty had fallen.

Like many fighters before him, Silva was quick to work on getting that championship back. Working under the gun of rematch expectations, Silva and Weidman quickly reconciled an agreement and a second fight was on, scheduled for the year-ending UFC 168.

It’s easy to get excited about Weidman-Silva II. They’re two of the finest fighters in the world, and Weidman‘s shocking victory earlier this month should help set up one of the biggest pay-per-view hauls in recent memory.

But the precedent Silva is setting returning to the ring is a little nerve-wracking.

As is standard procedure, Silva underwent post-fight testing after being knocked out. He was handed a 45-day suspension, one that prohibits him from any contact for the first 30 days of that period. It’s standard stuff. His suspension was 15 days greater than the shortest one doled out that evening, and Silva is eligible to return to training Aug. 6.

The fact that the UFC makes fighters undergo this process is commendable and is one of the many things that have helped Dana White‘s sport remain at least somewhat clear of the ire of the concussion police. But allowing Silva to get back into the ring five months after his world was set ablaze might be a situation of putting the hype for a rematch over the fighter’s long-term safety.

We don’t have access to Silva’s medical records, so it’s impossible to know whether or not he was concussed by Weidman‘s shot. But suffice it to say that Silva’s appearance on Brazilian late-night talk show Agora é Tarde (h/t ESPN) didn’t do much to work against a concussion theory.

“Getting knocked out is the worst,” Silva said. “There are always going to be questions—people want to know what happened, but [when you’re knocked out] you don’t remember anything. You black out and that’s it.”

Medical science is still in the beta phase of figuring out when concussions happen and how they can be properly treated. But Silva’s description of the way he felt—or how he didn’t feel, more specifically—reads like a pretty straightforward definition of a concussion. And if Silva was concussed, why is his camp so eager to get the former champion back in the ring?

Even Weidman‘s camp has shown open concern about the decision-making process that went into scheduling a December fight. Ray Longo, Weidman’s striking coach, appeared on Sherdog Radio this week and openly questioned Silva’s decision to push for a rematch so soon:

In boxing, it’s very rare, and these are young guys, like 23-year-old guys [who are] 30-0, if they get knocked out, they’re never the same. This is a 40-year-old man, 39, whatever he is, just got his head bounced off the [canvas]. I mean, even going to the doctor, what doctor is going to recommend, ‘Let’s just jump back in there in a couple of months’?

“I’m actually worried about the guy,” Longo continued. “That’s my gut feeling…That was a pretty bad knockout. That wasn’t like a flash knockdown. He got hurt. He’s not a young kid.”

This could easily be misinterpreted as complete trash talk. But if you hear the context of the interview and take an open-minded approach to what Longo was saying, it’s clear his concern was valid. Longo is always going to take the side of his fighter, yet he sounded more like a concerned figure worrying about the sport’s biggest star.

And it’s an understandable position. Silva is 38. Dominant or not, he’s been taking blows to the head for at least 16 years, dating back to his first professional MMA fight in Brazil. As you get older, things tend to slow down. Your body heals at a slower rate. It’s more common for fighters to take more time off as they get older—even in MMA, where the standard waiting length isn’t as long as in boxing.

There are other fighters within the MMA spectrum to whom we could compare Silva’s knockout. But on an international impact level, none feel quite as apt as Manny Pacquiao.

When Juan Manuel Marquez sent Pacquiao to the canvas in the meme heard ’round the world, the instant reaction was to wonder if (and when) Pac-Man would fight again. The answer was almost instantly yes, and there were rumblings that Pacquiao would fight twice in 2013.

Unlike the Silva situation, though, cooler heads prevailed. Pacquiao’s camp forced their fighter to take a step back from the sport, scheduling his next bout against Brandon Rios for Nov. 23—almost a full year after being knocked out by Marquez.

Drawing a thick Sharpie line down the center with MMA and boxing is understandably flawed. But Pacquiao and Silva are both legends in their respective sports, both coming off of crushing knockout losses and both very firmly on the back end of their careers.

The entire sport wants to see Weidman-Silva II. It will be the most anticipated fight of the year, regardless of venue or timing.

So, one just has to ask—what’s the rush?

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Rousey vs. Kaufman: Bantamweight Champion Must Dominate to Rise to Superstardom

It’s an indisputable fact that Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is MMA’s newest star of the moment.In the five months since defeating Miesha Tate for the championship, she’s modeled in ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue,” appeared on…

It’s an indisputable fact that Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is MMA’s newest star of the moment.

In the five months since defeating Miesha Tate for the championship, she’s modeled in ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue,” appeared on Conan O’Brien’s TBS talk show and had her own Showtime All Access special.

She’s also become well-known in the blogosphere for her controversial comments about reality star Kim Kardashian and swimmer Michael Phelps.

Rousey’s brashness and champion status has made her easily the most famous woman in MMA since Gina Carano, who was widely recognized as the “First Lady” of the sport.

And considering the UFC is on a bit of a down stretch in the national spectrum, Rousey may be the most recognizable face in the sport.

Don’t get it twisted, though. Her fame level isn’t simply because she’s aesthetically pleasing.

A bronze medalist in judo from 2008’s Beijing Summer Olympics, Rousey is not only undefeated in each of her five professional bouts, but she’s been absolutely dominant. The 25-year-old has not allowed an opponent out of the first round, submitting each with relative ease.

But as she prepares for her first title defense against Sarah Kaufman on Saturday, Aug. 18 (10 p.m. EDT on Showtime), Rousey needs to have one thing on her mind: pure dominance.

Though Kaufman is no slouch, entering Saturday’s match with a record of 15-1 and a place in history as Strikeforce’s first bantamweight champion, the 26-year-old is undoubtedly a massive underdog. The folks over at Bovada.lv have Kaufman at +400 while marking up Rousey to a -700 favorite—and those odds are probably a little kind.

Rousey grapples with the power of someone twice her 135-pound frame, likely making Kaufman overpowered from the start.

With that in mind, if Rousey wants to continue her meteoric rise to fame and not become another flash in the pan of MMA’s trash heap, she needs to repeat her past performances and submit Kaufman in the first round.

The stardom levels of MMAers is constantly fleeting. Ask Kimbo Slice or Ms. Carano herself about how quickly it all can go away.

If Rousey struggles or Kaufman pulls the unthinkable upset, the Venice, Calif. native will instantly descend out of the national spotlight and into relative obscurity.

But if she beats down Kaufman like she has her past opponents, Rousey could set up a main event against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and continue her rise to superstardom.

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