Tag: andersonsilva

Dana White Calls Yushin Okami the Best Japanese Fighter Ever

Filed under: UFCUFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only…

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UFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only fighters who consistently test themselves against the best in the world are the ones who do it inside the Octagon.

By that rationale, White says Yushin Okami — who will fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 134 — is the greatest Japanese fighter in MMA history.

“In my opinion, Yushin Okami is the best fighter ever to come out of Japan,” White said. “This guy didn’t fight cans and get this built-up, mythological record.”

Fighters who fight “cans” and build up a “mythological record” are a constant thorn in the side of White, who regularly complains about fans and members of the media who proclaim Fedor Emelianenko — whose best moments came in Japan, and who never fought in the UFC — as the greatest fighter in history. White always insists that Silva is the best ever, and now that he’s promoting Silva against Okami, he’s talking up Okami as the best ever to come out of Japan.

A lot of longtime fans of Japanese MMA — especially the fans from the Pride days — would disagree. Kazushi Sakuraba, Takanori Gomi, Kid Yamamoto, Hayoto Sakurai, Caol Uno and Shinya Aoki could all make a case that they’ve accomplished more in mixed martial arts than Okami has.

White is right, however, that none of those fighters have proven it in the Octagon. Aoki has never fought in the UFC. Sakuraba and Sakurai each fought in the UFC just once, with Sakuraba fighting on the UFC’s Japan card in 1997, and Sakurai losing to Matt Hughes in 2002. Gomi and Yamamoto are both currently under contract to the UFC, but both were past their prime before they ever appeared inside the Octagon. Uno had some success in the UFC and fought twice for the UFC lightweight title, but his overall record in the UFC was just 3-5-2.

And White is surely right that if Okami beats Silva — a very big “if” — he would have an excellent case that he’s the best fighter ever to come out of Japan. Okami has already beaten Silva once, although that was a controversial disqualification. If Okami were to beat Silva convincingly, that would become the signature win of his career and completely transform his reputation, while simultaneously knocking Silva from the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

“Anderson Silva is fighting for his legacy,” White said. “Yushin Okami is fighting for respect.”

For Okami, White believes, a win over Silva would make it impossible for anyone to deny that he’s the greatest fighter ever to come out of Japan.

“If he wins this fight,” White said, “he’ll get the credit he finally deserves.”

 

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MMA Top 10 Middleweights: Mark Munoz Rises

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsCould Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question…

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Could Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva‘s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question.

After defeating Maia, Munoz is 6-1 since moving down to middleweight, with the only loss coming by split decision to Yushin Okami, the UFC‘s current No. 1 middleweight contender. Munoz is probably only one more win away from being the UFC’s best option to fight Silva, assuming Silva beats Okami.

Munoz would be a huge underdog to Silva, of course, but every middleweight is a huge underdog to Silva. And Munoz, a former NCAA champion wrestler, at least has the tools to threaten Silva where he’s weakest. Munoz and Silva are friends and training partners, and they might not wish to fight each other. But if both of them win their next fights, we could be heading toward a situation where fighting each other is what the UFC asks them to do.

See where I have Munoz ranked among the middleweights in MMA below.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The last time Silva lost, it was by disqualification when he illegally kicked Okami in the head on the ground. Since then Silva is 14-0, with half of those wins coming by first round knockout or technical knockout.

2. Chael Sonnen (2): Sonnen still deserves to be ranked No. 2 because of his impressive win over Okami and his tough fight with Silva, but soon he’s going to start dropping because of inactivity. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for Sonnen’s problems getting an athletic commission to license him.

3. Vitor Belfort (3): Belfort’s 19-9 record really doesn’t do his career justice, as the nine losses are to a who’s who of great fighters: He’s lost to Randy Couture twice, Alistair Overeem twice and Kazushi Sakuraba, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva. Up next for Belfort is Yoshihiro Akiyama.

4. Yushin Okami (4): Although Okami does technically have a victory over Silva on his record, Silva was getting the better of Okami before he was disqualified for the illegal kick. If Okami can beat Silva in their August rematch in Rio, it would probably be the biggest upset of the year in MMA.

5. Mark Munoz (NR): Getting knocked cold by Matt Hamill might have been the best thing to ever happen to Munoz. That fight made him decide to move down from 205 pounds to 185, and he’s much more impressive at the lighter weight.

6. Demian Maia (5): The Maia-Munoz fight could have gone either way, and even in defeat Maia showed that his striking is continuing to improve. However, the fight also showed that Maia can’t just submit anyone he gets to the ground. In his first five UFC fights Maia submitted all five opponents, but in his last six fights he hasn’t submitted anyone.

7. Brian Stann (6): A matchup between Stann and Munoz would make a lot of sense as a next step for the UFC, and the winner would have a strong case for being the next No. 1 contender in the middleweight division.

8. Ronaldo Souza (7): Jacare, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, will defend his title against Luke Rockhold in September. Rockhold is 7-1, and all seven wins are by first-round stoppage, but he’s not on the same level as Jacare, who should be able to make Rockhold tap.

9. Wanderlei Silva (8): The soon-to-be 35-year-old Silva isn’t the fighter he once was, but his UFC 132 fight with Chris Leben promises to be an all-out war. And if he wins in spectacular fashion, it’s possible that the Axe Murderer could get the next shot at the middleweight belt.

10. Michael Bisping (10): With no UFC events in England this year, Bisping will not have any fights in his homeland for the first year since 2006, when he was an Ultimate Fighter contestant. Instead Bisping will coach on The Ultimate Fighter and take on Jason “Mayhem” Miller in December.

 

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Georges St-Pierre Early Favorite in Possible Champ vs. Champ Bout with Nick Diaz

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, NewsGeorges St-Pierre’s next fight has not yet been decided. The UFC welterweight champion could either move up in weight to fight middleweight champion Anderson Silva, or he may stay put and face Strikeforce’s 170-pound …

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GSP punches Jake Shields at UFC 129.Georges St-Pierre‘s next fight has not yet been decided. The UFC welterweight champion could either move up in weight to fight middleweight champion Anderson Silva, or he may stay put and face Strikeforce’s 170-pound champ Nick Diaz.

It’s a fight Diaz wants badly, and last Thursday, he was in Las Vegas to meet with UFC president Dana White and ask for it. The results of that meeting are so far unknown, but we can report there is no deal done just yet. But we also know that White is often quite receptive to fighters who passionately lobby for a specific fight.

Though the bout is not official, many believe it’s a more likely possibility than St-Pierre vs. Silva, and in the earliest odds released for the bout, St-Pierre has been installed as a fairly large favorite.

MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has installed St-Pierre is a -425 favorite over Diaz, making him an over 4-to-1 choice to win. Diaz is at +325.

St-Pierre (22-2) is the winner of nine straight bouts and has defended his belt six times in a row since re-capturing it with a win over Matt Serra in April 2008. Just three weeks ago, he held off Diaz’s Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields via unanimous decision.

Diaz, though, has an even longer win streak than GSP, boasting 10 straight victories, including his most recent, an April 9 knockout of Paul Daley that moved his record to 25-7 with 1 no contest. Given Diaz’s boxing ability and attacking jiu-jitsu style, many feel his skill set can offer St-Pierre more matchup problems than any top-ranked welterweight.

The prospect of a Silva vs. St-Pierre superfight still remains a possibility, but St-Pierre would find himself in the role of underdog there. As it currently stands, Silva is a -175 favorite. The middleweight champ has other things to think about first, however. He is currently booked for a UFC 134 title defense against Yushin Okami.

 

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CSAC: Chael Sonnen Can’t Reapply for License Until May 2012

Filed under: UFC, NewsNow that the California State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold Chael Sonnen’s indefinite suspension, the UFC middleweight will have a long wait before he gets another day in court.

CSAC executive officer George Dodd told M…

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Now that the California State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold Chael Sonnen‘s indefinite suspension, the UFC middleweight will have a long wait before he gets another day in court.

CSAC executive officer George Dodd told MMA Fighting on Thursday that the soonest Sonnen could reapply for a fighter’s license is May of 2012, though he could apply for a second’s license to corner other fighters sooner.

“One of our rules, in our Title IV [of the California Code of Regulations], stipulates that you have to wait one year after an appeal of your suspension or revocation of license. And since he appealed this [on May 18, 2011], it’s one year from the day of denial.”

In other words, Sonnen will either have to sit the next twelve months out or else try and get a license to fight in another commission’s jurisdiction. That most likely rules out Nevada, but several other states – not to mention the U.K., Europe, and Japan – would still remain viable options.

That is, if the UFC is willing to promote a fighter who is still officially denied a license from a major commission like California.

If and when Sonnen does reapply for a license in the Golden State, Dodd said, he would have to show the commission proof of his rehabilitation, much like Josh Barnett was asked to do in his recent CSAC hearing.

“[Sonnen] is going to have to show that he’s done something to promote the sport, promote goodwill,” Dodd said. “He does a lot of good things already. He talks to kids and stuff like that about making right decisions. But he’s going to have to show that he’s making the right decisions as well. You can say it, but you have to make those decisions yourself.”

As for Sonnen’s use of testosterone, Dodd said a therapeutic use exemption is still not out of the question, but the fighter would have to go through the proper channels first.

“What would happen is he would…request it through the athletic commission. The commission would probably request that the medical advisory committee review it. The medical advisory committee would review it and then make a recommendation back to the commission whether or not to approve or disapprove.”

Wednesday’s hearing was not about whether Sonnen was or was not in need of the testosterone injections at the time of his fight with UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August, Dodd said.

Instead, it was about Sonnen’s misrepresentation of conversations he claimed to have had about that testosterone use with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Ultimately, the commission found his explanations of those past statements unconvincing.

“That is true,” Dodd said. “That’s why we never brought up more about what happened back then. We didn’t. I didn’t testify because there was nothing I could testify to that would give it more cause aside from what was already said.”

At Wednesday’s hearing Sonnen told the CSAC that conversations with UFC president Dana White had led him to believe he would be “effectively retired” if he wasn’t relicensed this week. As of yet, there is no official word on what the UFC plans to do with regards to Sonnen’s future in the organization.

 

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Patrick Cote Cut by UFC After Third Straight Loss

Filed under: UFC, NewsJust two years removed from challenging Anderson Silva for the middleweight title, Patrick Cote has been released by the UFC.

The former top 185-pound contender confirmed the news on his Twitter feed on Wednesday.

Cote (13-7, …

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Just two years removed from challenging Anderson Silva for the middleweight title, Patrick Cote has been released by the UFC.

The former top 185-pound contender confirmed the news on his Twitter feed on Wednesday.

Cote (13-7, 4-7 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Tom Lawlor on Saturday at UFC 121 in Anaheim, Calif. He was taken down by Lawlor in all three rounds and never could mount any type of offense, losing 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.

UFC 119 Post-Fight Drug Tests Come Back Clean

Filed under: UFC, NewsThe post-fight drug tests for last month’s UFC 119 card in Indianapolis have come back clean.

A total of nine fighters were tested following their Sept. 25 bouts at Conseco Fieldhouse, and all nine tested negative for both illeg…

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The post-fight drug tests for last month’s UFC 119 card in Indianapolis have come back clean.

A total of nine fighters were tested following their Sept. 25 bouts at Conseco Fieldhouse, and all nine tested negative for both illegal drugs of abuse and anabolic steroids. MMA Fighting was given the results Tuesday by Andrew Means, director of the athletic division of the Indiana Gaming Commission.