Filed under: UFC
UFC 136 brought us two title fights, at least one colossal upset, and a post-fight interview that would have made Ric Flair stand up and say ‘Woooooo!’
Now that it’s all over, time to sort through the wreckage in search of the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Biggest Winner: Frankie Edgar
Dana White compared his fourth-round knockout victory to a Rocky movie, but that’s not terribly accurate, since you can actually understand Edgar when he speaks. Also unlike Rocky, Edgar’s series of battles with his nemesis only got more and more exciting with each installment, and without any help from Mr. T.
Thanks be to Crom that this trilogy is finally over, though. Edgar’s win put the final stamp on it, and hopefully also convinced the last few holdouts that he is indeed the one true lightweight champ, so they can stop waiting for the messiah that they seem to think is still out there somewhere. Between his defensive wrestling skills, his mongoose-like quickness on the feet, and now his thoroughly proven ability to get knocked around like a ping-pong ball early and still come back with a ferocity, he’s not only a tough opponent but also a rarity among UFC champions. Jon Jones, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva — they’re all dominant almost to the point of being predictable. That’s one problem Edgar hasn’t had lately, and it’s refreshing for the fans even if it’s not the best thing for his face. Most importantly, with the Gray Maynard chapter in his life now closed, both Edgar and the UFC lightweight division can officially move on. It’s about time. Even Rocky needed fresh faces to fill the same old storylines.
Biggest Loser: Melvin Guillard
I’ll admit that I didn’t see how he might possibly lose to Joe Lauzon. From the look of it, neither did Melvin. He seemed to think this was little more than a showcase fight for him, which would explain why he attacked with reckless self-confidence right off the bat. After he jumped straight into a left hand from Lauzon all the air went out of his balloon in a hurry. It was as if you could actually see him suddenly coming around to the shocking realization that this fight wasn’t won the minute he signed the bout agreement. Arguably no one at UFC 136 had as little to gain or as much to lose as Guillard did with this fight, but I still say that it was the right move to take it. If you can’t beat Lauzon, you probably don’t deserve to be UFC champion, and this fight showed exactly why. Despite all his physical tools — and he has a bunch — Guillard still doesn’t have the mind of a champion. Not yet, anyway. If he can learn the appropriate lessons from this experience, there’s still hope. But if he doesn’t get the message this time, I fear he never will.
Best Pro Wrestling Promo: Chael Sonnen
Telling Anderson Silva that he “absolutely suck[s]”? That’s just Sonnen doing what’s expected of him at this point. Challenging him to the MMA equivalent of a loser-leaves-town match? That’s him cranking up the volume to 11. You know how you can really tell that Sonnen isn’t just borrowing a page or two out the pro wrestling playbook, but rather photocopying the whole thing and sleeping with it under his pillow? Go watch his post-fight interview with our own Ariel Helwani, where Sonnen not only claims to have the largest arm in West Linn, Ore. (a town known for the enormous arms of its citizenry, no doubt), but also finds reasons to say the name of the city he is currently in over and over again. For example, when talking about his challenge to Silva, Sonnen said, “If you accept, I will wait until Super Bowl weekend. But if you reject I will walk over there and whip your ass right here and right now in Houston, Texas.” See what I mean? All he’s missing there is a crowd to go crazy at the mere mention of their city. You have to think he’ll get that rematch with Silva, whether it’s on Super Bowl weekend or not, and then he’ll have to deal with the real-life consequences of this fantasy-land schtick. His performances in the cage thus far have bolstered his case well. It should be interesting to see whether he can stick to that script against the champ.
Most Depressing: Kenny Florian
You know how when you’re a kid they tell you that you can be anything you want to be, as long as you want it badly enough? Yeah, well that’s all crap, and the continuing saga of KenFlo proves it. Nobody wants to be a champion more or has worked harder to make it happen than Florian, yet again he comes up short. He didn’t choke. He didn’t make any obvious mistakes. He was just not quite good enough to beat Jose Aldo, just like he was not quite good enough to beat B.J. Penn. There’s no shame in it. Florian is still better than 95% of the guys in two weight classes. He’s had a great career even without the belt, and he has a future as a commentator and analyst whenever he wants it. It’s just that he’ll probably never be a UFC champion, which must be hard for a guy like him to swallow. It’s sad to think that, at least with some things and for some people, wanting it and working for it aren’t enough, and never will be. But if your consolation prize is a lucrative career and the respect of your peers — both of which Florian currently enjoys — then you’re doing pretty well. Even if it may not feel like it right this minute.
Still Predictable, But in a Fun Way: Leonard Garcia
You know what you’re getting with this guy, but it just doesn’t get old. In the rematch with Nam Phan he actually maintained his composure and discipline in the early going and resisted the urge to brawl. When that didn’t seem to be working too well, however, he had no problem flipping the switch and going into full-scale freakout mode. If only he hadn’t freaked out too much too soon, he might have managed to put Phan away. Even with the decision loss he at least reminded the UFC why he’s worth keeping around, record be damned.
Most Disappointing Trend: Demian Maia‘s Submission-less Streak
Remember when Maia was the last great hope of pure jiu-jitsu in MMA? His striking was perfunctory at best, his takedowns consisted of pulling people into his half-guard, and his finishes were all GIF-worthy displays of technical superiority. What ever happened to that guy? Now that he’s a proficient striker and a competent wrestler it’s as if all that submissions whiz stuff was in another life. He’s now gone seven straight fights without hearing the glorious sound of a dejected opponent tap, tap, tapping his way to defeat. He’s gone 4-3 during that same stretch, and against some very tough opponents. I realize his jiu-jitsu isn’t exactly sneaking up on anyone at this point, but it did seem like a greater threat back when it was the only one he had.
Biggest Matchmaking Headache: Gray Maynard
“The Bully” has had two consecutive shots at the title, yet come away empty. Now what do you do with the guy? He’s still likely to beat most of the top contenders in the lightweight division, but not likely to make much of a show out of it. Whoever you put him in against had either be a good enough wrestler to force him to do something other than suffocate them from the top, and if they’re that good you probably don’t want to waste them in a non-title or non-contender bout. Maybe the best option is to put him up against Nate Diaz next. Those two have a history, and neither is within sniffing distance of a title shot right now. Maybe they can sort things out for themselves while the rest of the division moves toward resolving the bottleneck at the very top. Just don’t expect much in the way of pre-fight interviews from those two.
Jury’s Still Out On…: Stipe Miocic
Expectations are high for this heavyweight, and he’s not doing much to lower them by showing up in a pair of Cro Cop shorts. As expected, he looked like he could do just about anything he wanted to do to Joey Beltran except put him away. That’s not necessarily a knock on Miocic. Neither Pat Barry nor Matt Mitrione could find that guy’s off switch, so there’s no shame in letting him go the distance. Still, Miocic seemed to fade in the later rounds, and didn’t have near the sense of urgency about protecting his own face that you’d like to see from fighters at this level. He could very well turn out to be the prospect of the future, but he’s clearly still got some work to do.