(“It’s a trap when you’re on top of the world. When I was champion, I had people who would go out with me every day of the week. After I had two, three losses, people disappeared.” / Photo via Sherdog)
As he prepares to bounce back into the win column, the Pitbull took some time to speak with us about this weekend’s fight, as well as the highs and lows of a memorable career. Enjoy…
CagePotato.com: What do you think about Mike Kyle as an opponent? Andrei Arlovski: He’s very quick. Has quick hands. Very quick jab, good right hand. I just have to be ready for his speed. That’s why I train a lot right now with Jon Jones — he’s my main sparring partner. We try to help each other. He’s a hard worker, he’s a good striker, so it’s good to work with him.
CP: Your last fight against Anthony Johnson was a painful one. AA: Yes, my jaw was broken in the fight. The referee didn’t watch the time [letting the fight continue eight seconds past the five-minute first round] and Johnson broke my jaw in two places. Every punch in my face after that gave me that feeling of putting electricity in my body. Of course, I’m not happy that I lost, but I’m very happy that I shut all the fucking mouths who said I have a weak chin. I was able to fight two more rounds with a broken jaw.
CP: How big of a problem is bad officiating, bad time-keeping, and bad refereeing in MMA?
AA: To be honest with you, I can’t make any comments right now. Maybe later. I’m sorry. I just hope this time, the referee is going to be more professional.
CP: You’ve made an impressive career comeback after losing four straight fights in 2009-2011. How tough was that losing streak for you mentally?
AA: It was really tough mentally, it was really tough physically. I was asking myself, “What’s wrong? Every time, I do everything right.” I train right, I was on a schedule. You know what my old trainer told me? He said “You need to retire.”
I just gave a call to Greg Jackson, I said “Listen, should I retire or not?” He said, “Absolutely not! Just come to my camp and we’ll start over again.” Greg Jackson supported me a lot, he gave me hope.
I told [Greg] face to face, “I don’t need any favors from you. Do you think I can be champion again?” He said, “Yes.” “Do you think I have potential?” he said, “Yes.” And hearing that was enough for me.
(“It’s a trap when you’re on top of the world. When I was champion, I had people who would go out with me every day of the week. After I had two, three losses, people disappeared.” / Photo via Sherdog)
As he prepares to bounce back into the win column, the Pitbull took some time to speak with us about this weekend’s fight, as well as the highs and lows of a memorable career. Enjoy…
CagePotato.com: What do you think about Mike Kyle as an opponent? Andrei Arlovski: He’s very quick. Has quick hands. Very quick jab, good right hand. I just have to be ready for his speed. That’s why I train a lot right now with Jon Jones — he’s my main sparring partner. We try to help each other. He’s a hard worker, he’s a good striker, so it’s good to work with him.
CP: Your last fight against Anthony Johnson was a painful one. AA: Yes, my jaw was broken in the fight. The referee didn’t watch the time [letting the fight continue eight seconds past the five-minute first round] and Johnson broke my jaw in two places. Every punch in my face after that gave me that feeling of putting electricity in my body. Of course, I’m not happy that I lost, but I’m very happy that I shut all the fucking mouths who said I have a weak chin. I was able to fight two more rounds with a broken jaw.
CP: How big of a problem is bad officiating, bad time-keeping, and bad refereeing in MMA?
AA: To be honest with you, I can’t make any comments right now. Maybe later. I’m sorry. I just hope this time, the referee is going to be more professional.
CP: You’ve made an impressive career comeback after losing four straight fights in 2009-2011. How tough was that losing streak for you mentally?
AA: It was really tough mentally, it was really tough physically. I was asking myself, “What’s wrong? Every time, I do everything right.” I train right, I was on a schedule. You know what my old trainer told me? He said “You need to retire.”
I just gave a call to Greg Jackson, I said “Listen, should I retire or not?” He said, “Absolutely not! Just come to my camp and we’ll start over again.” Greg Jackson supported me a lot, he gave me hope.
I told [Greg] face to face, “I don’t need any favors from you. Do you think I can be champion again?” He said, “Yes.” “Do you think I have potential?” he said, “Yes.” And hearing that was enough for me.
Now I train with Greg Jackson. I have a couple more guys in Chicago, Dino Costeas, he has been my jiu-jitsu trainer from day one.
CP: You worked with Freddie Roach before facing Fedor Emelianenko. Shogun Rua recently worked with Freddie Roach and lost to Chael Sonnen. Do you think Shogun made a mistake, or do you think Roach helped him fine-tune his boxing game?
AA: I definitely learned something from Freddie Roach, training boxing. When I used to train with Freddie Roach, that hurt my relationship with my other trainers. It didn’t really work well for me. I don’t know, it was some experience, and that’s it.
CP: In Belarus, what were some of the problems you experienced growing up? AA: I didn’t have many problems, except all the kids, all the time bullied me. Because I was a bigger boy, I was bullied. Later, I fought with everyone, all the time, everywhere. At age 16, I went to boys academy, about that time, I started training in Sambo, and became world champion in Sambo, it kind of gave me a way to follow MMA to UFC. Everything happens for a reason.
CP: At one time, you pursued a career in law enforcement. Why did you keep coming back to MMA? AA: I train hard, I like to fight and more important — I haven’t yet reached my goal. I want to be champion again, and I don’t think it’s impossible to reach my goal.
CP: What’s next after Mike Kyle? AA: I have no idea. I think back in the day, I was supposed to fight Mike Kyle in the UFC, but it didn’t happen. I just have to beat him.
CP: Wes Sims recently told Jack Brown, “Unfortunately, the fighting life isn’t for everyone. Many people see it as something glamorous, but the truth is that while struggling to make it to the next level, you are literally a day or two away from losing your house.” Is it tough to find stability in a sport with so many extremes?
AA: Definitely, it’s a trap when you’re on top of the world. When I was champion in the UFC, I had a good paycheck. I had people who would go out with me Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — every day of the week. After I had two, three losses, those people disappeared. I have a few guys around me who have been around me through all my victories and all my losses, I consider them my true friends.
CP: With hindsight, would you have let the same people into your entourage?
AA: To be honest with you, I don’t know how to answer. Definitely, I’m not going to bring again, like, 40 people to Affliction and the UFC shows. Just a few people — coaches and my wife, that’s it.
CP: Tell me a little more about your relationship with Jon Jones. Is he a nice guy?
AA: My personality is kind of weird. I need to take some time to get closer to people. But he’s an essentially nice person.
CP: Do you ever give him advice, considering that you’ve been in sport much longer than he has?
AA: I don’t like to give advice because you have to be responsible for the results. For somebody, it’s going to work, for someone [else], it’s not going to work. To each, his own.
CP: Have you thought about another fight against Tim Sylvia? [Arlovski went 1-2 against Sylvia in the UFC and had a no-contest against Sylvia in August 2012 at ONE FC].
AA: I don’t know if someone is going to be interested in putting on a match between us again. If some fans want to see Arlovski against Sylvia, maybe, I don’t know. I am not really interested in having a rematch with Tim at this time.
CP: Any other final words for our readers?
Thank you to all my fans who have been with me through all my victories and losses and I’ll be back on September 14. See you soon.
Thankfully, the man stepping up on short notice to take Rumble’s place will be none other than the last man to be defeated by him, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. “The Pit Bull” has not fought since his aforementioned loss at WSOF 2, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Johnson in an entertaining slugfest.
While we imagine that Kyle is probably elated to learn that he is now fighting a guy he stands a decent chance of actually knocking out, expect him to be a huge underdog heading into this one nonetheless. Minus his setback at the hands of Johnson, Arlovski has gone 4-0 with 1 NC since exiting Strikeforce back in 2011 (well, 5-0 if you also happen to think that ONE FC’s stance on soccer kicks is f*cking ridiculous). Kyle, on the other hand, recently scored a quick KO over Travis Wiuff in his comeback bout last May.
Thankfully, the man stepping up on short notice to take Rumble’s place will be none other than the last man to be defeated by him, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. “The Pit Bull” has not fought since his aforementioned loss at WSOF 2, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Johnson in an entertaining slugfest.
While we imagine that Kyle is probably elated to learn that he is now fighting a guy he stands a decent chance of actually knocking out, expect him to be a huge underdog heading into this one nonetheless. Minus his setback at the hands of Johnson, Arlovski has gone 4-0 with 1 NC since exiting Strikeforce back in 2011 (well, 5-0 if you also happen to think that ONE FC’s stance on soccer kicks is f*cking ridiculous). Kyle, on the other hand, recently scored a quick KO over Travis Wiuff in his comeback bout last May.
There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to the UFC’s policy when it comes to releasing fighters. The randomness of the process routinely befuddles even the most knowledgeable MMA fans.Some fighters are given the proverbial axe at the drop of a hat, while…
There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to the UFC’s policy when it comes to releasing fighters. The randomness of the process routinely befuddles even the most knowledgeable MMA fans.
Some fighters are given the proverbial axe at the drop of a hat, while others are given innumerable opportunities regardless of their performance.
A lot of this has to do with popularity and fanbase, but not in all instances.
There are plenty of fighters who were cut from the UFC for various reasons, legitimate or otherwise. These five in particular really got the short end of the stick and deserve another chance to taste victory inside the Octagon.
(It’s not a UFC fight, but you can’t talk awful title fights without at least referencing Sonnen vs. Filho II. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Today we’re talking about bad UFC title fights – fights that fizzled out after weeks of hype, bored even the most die-hard fans among us, and left us baffled that the winner was considered the best in his weight class. Since we’redealing strictly with UFC title fights, notable clunkers like Ruiz vs. Southworth II (Strikeforce), Wiuff vs. Tuchscherer (YAMMA), and Sonnen vs. Filho II (WEC) are ineligible for inclusion. Also, we promise that the only appearance of the name “Ben Askren” in this column lies in this incredibly forced sentence. Read on for our picks, and please, pretty please, send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Detroit is known by many names – Motown, Motor City, and Hockey Town to name a few. None of which lend to the idea that the birthplace of the assembly line was also a mecca of mixed martial arts or a place to catch great fights on Saturday. Unfortunately, UFC didn’t care; they took the show to the Great Lakes State in 1996 for UFC 9: Clash of the Titans 2 nonetheless. Ken Shamrock and Michigan native Dan Severn were set to face off for the first world title outside of Japan, the UFC Superfight championship. However, thanks to Senator John McCain, instead seeing an exciting rematch that was sure to cover the canvas in bad blood, fans in attendance and at home watching on PPV were treated to what became known as “The Detroit Dance.” And to this day, it is regarded as one of the worst fights in the history of the sport.
(It’s not a UFC fight, but you can’t talk awful title fights without at least referencing Sonnen vs. Filho II. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Today we’re talking about bad UFC title fights – fights that fizzled out after weeks of hype, bored even the most die-hard fans among us, and left us baffled that the winner was considered the best in his weight class. Since we’redealing strictly with UFC title fights, notable clunkers like Ruiz vs. Southworth II (Strikeforce), Wiuff vs. Tuchscherer (YAMMA), and Sonnen vs. Filho II (WEC) are ineligible for inclusion. Also, we promise that the only appearance of the name “Ben Askren” in this column lies in this incredibly forced sentence. Read on for our picks, and please, pretty please, send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Detroit is known by many names – Motown, Motor City, and Hockey Town to name a few. None of which lend to the idea that the birthplace of the assembly line was also a mecca of mixed martial arts or a place to catch great fights on Saturday. Unfortunately, UFC didn’t care; they took the show to the Great Lakes State in 1996 for UFC 9: Clash of the Titans 2 nonetheless. Ken Shamrock and Michigan native Dan Severn were set to face off for the first world title outside of Japan, the UFC Superfight championship. However, thanks to Senator John McCain, instead seeing an exciting rematch that was sure to cover the canvas in bad blood, fans in attendance and at home watching on PPV were treated to what became known as “The Detroit Dance.” And to this day, it is regarded as one of the worst fights in the history of the sport.
What did McCain have to do with any of this, you ask? The politician was fierce in his letter writing campaign against a sport he knew nothing about. He essentially scared or bullied local government agencies to ban the sport. You know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Several key components in the UFC machine were tied up in the Detroit courts until 4:30pm the day of the event getting permission to hold an event that was already being set up. The hacks behind the desk said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “You can proceed with your barbaric and uncivilized fisticuffs spectacle as long as no one actually throws a closed fist to his opponents head nor will any butting of the heads be allowed. Anyone seen doing such things will be arrested.”
For the better part of twenty minutes, Shamrock and Severn circled each other with little to no contact. During the last ten minutes of the fight (if you can even call it that) the two played pat-a-cake until Severn decided to throw the special rules right out of Cobo Arena. Despite stalling for two thirds of the fight and head butting his opponent, Dan Severn won the fight and the championship belt. The Michiganders in attendance could be heard throughout the area booing and chanting, “Let’s go Red Wings!” There has never been a more pathetic example of a championship quality fight. The men in the cage deserved to be there, sure, but when you start adding special rules and stipulations, you’re watering down your product. So much so, that Detroit is now in two sport’s Hall of Shame.
It’s kind of ironic that Anderson Silva, who owns the most impressive championship reign in UFC history, also happens to have the distinction of participating in three of the worst championship fights in the company’s history as well. But ironic or not, it’s no less true. Picking the worst of the three is like deciding which segment you want to be in the human centipede, but I suppose it must be done. To that end, I nominate Silva’s bout with Demian Maia at UFC 112 as the worst of the worst.
I remember watching UFC 112 on an internet str- err, on pay-per-view. To say it was an underwhelming card is probably a little more generous than what it deserves, and that was before the main event. Matt Hughes fought Renzo Gracie – who didn’t know how to check leg kicks – for no conceivable reason. Frankie Edgar upset BJ Penn in the most unspectacular way imaginable, via a debatable decision with virtually no emphatic moments throughout the entire fight. But all of this would surely be a footnote when Anderson Silva, fresh off his humiliation of Forrest Griffin, would unveil some hitherto unknown debilitating maneuver that would drop all of our jaws to the floor while our feeble brains attempted to process what we just witnessed.
Instead, Silva spent the vast majority of five rounds dancing, taunting, and throwing the occasional oblique kick. To say it was frustrating doesn’t do it justice. It was maddening, made even more so by the lone flying knee Silva threw out of nowhere in the fight. It knocked Maia down, broke his nose and served as a reminder of just what Silva was capable of… and how he refused to bother indulging the audience with his capability that night. Maia, to his credit, never gave up. At one point in the final round, Maia – with one eye swollen shut – fell in front of Silva and kept swinging wildly from his knees. It was desperate and ineffective, but it exemplified heart and determination in contrast with Silva’s utter lack of such. Silva won the fight, Maia retained his pride, but the audience was left with the worst championship fight you could imagine. The UFC has not bothered returning to Abu Dhabi since.
It’s easy to feel a little sympathy for Tito Ortiz these days. He’s been going through some personal shit – the variety of which we are banned from getting too specific on. But hey, thems the breaks when you shack up with a porn queen. Well-adjusted females with run-of-the-mill daddy issues don’t generally get into fuck films. They just latch onto some poor bastard and systematically suck every ounce of pride and manhood out of him until he’s an obedient slob with a semi-manageable speed habit and a secret fetish for snuff porn. That’s life. The ones that go for the porn queens, well, all I’m saying is disregard the lessons of Little Bill at your own peril.
That sympathy, however, can cause us to forget that there was a time when Tito was a wildly popular UFC champion; not just some dude with a quick mouth and a gigantic head who only tasted victory once during the last six years of his career. It’s hard to deny Tito his accolades. Circa 2002 he was the most successful UFC champion there was. He won the belt and defended it five times. That’s more title defenses than Randy, and even one more than his arch-nemesis, Chuck had. Granted, both of those guys would eventually clown Tito en route to victories (x 2 for Chuck), and of course there was that whole saga of Tito allegedly ducking Chuck, but we’re talking numbers here, bitch. Context is irrelevant when trying to make an absurd point.
Hindsight being 20/20 ‘n shit makes Tito’s title defenses seem mildly comical by modern standards, considering the competition: Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko, and Ken Shamrock. But you gotta remember this was pre-TUF, pre-FOX, and pre-UFC monopoly when the glory days of Pride were in full effect. UFC title challengers were often contemptible back then. Incidentally, Dave Menne won the UFC’s inaugural middleweight belt that same night, and well shit I’ll go as far as agree with Danga, Dave Menne – for real???
It’s easy to mock a couple of Tito’s title defenses on grounds of legitimacy. But interestingly enough, perhaps the most legit challenger – Vlady – provided for the worst fight. This was UFC 33, an event which Dana White still to this day describes as, “The worst show we’ve ever had.” It was so bad we could just as easily be talking about the co-main event of the evening – Jens Pulver vs Dennis “Balls” Hallman, but that wasn’t the main event, and the pay per view broadcast didn’t black out in the middle of it – two very important factors that help to solidify Tito Ortiz vs.Vladimir Matyushenko as the worst ever.
According to one analysis, the Tito/Vlady fight produced only 40 “significant strikes.” To further expound on that lamentable figure, in a 25 minute fight that means that a decent strike was landed only once every 37.5 seconds. Might not seem like a long stretch while you’re on YouPorn stroking yourself to some early Jenna, but during an actual fight that’s an eternity of visual pain. Contrast that extreme with a Cain Velasquez, who lands over six significant strikes per minute – or one every ten seconds, and the standard deviation model gets blown all to shit.
Basically, the fight was about as horrific as you’d expect of two wrestlers with rudimentary striking skills. Don’t forget, this was before Tito’s “improved boxing” that Joe Rogan liked to talk about almost as much as his “underrated jiu jitsu.” The bottom line is there have been many terrible title fights in the UFC, but not one of them headlined the worst show ever, and not one of them blacked out on pay per view before the fans could fully experience the horror of just how anally violated they got. So there.
Josh Hutchinson
In deciding the worst UFC title fight I chose to look at a number of criteria. Do I choose one that was boring (GSP/Fitch)? How about one that’s meaningless or undeserved (Jones/Sonnen)? What about one that shames the sport of MMA as whole (Arlovski/Buentello)? Luckily I didn’t have to look far to find a shit sandwich that’s comprised entirely of those three ingredients.
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca at UFC 73 was a complete failure in every sense of the word. A highly forgettable fight, which was put on only to build anticipation for the return of BJ Penn, resulted in a glorified 25 minute sparring session. Someone managed to wake the judges up long enough to decide that Sherk had won, and everyone could start getting damp in their trousers at the thought of Penn fighting for the lightweight title again. Mission accomplished, right? Not quite.
The aftermath of UFC 73 is really what landed this fight as my top pick. It’s a special kind of person that tests positive for anything following a title fight. Honestly, at the highest levels of competition you’d have to be as blind as Anne Frank not to see a drug test coming. It makes it all the more amusing that both Sherk and Franca tested positive for steroids following the fight. I would give up anything in my life to have been able to be a fly on the wall when Dana White heard this news. Something tells me his reaction was a little more than a simple facepalm. As usual, neither fighter was at fault for their positive tests, as Franca was forced by the UFC to roid up, and the CSAC botched Sherk’s results. Hey, these things happen in MMA.
So there you have it folks, a boring ass fight that ended up with both participants being suspended and the champ being stripped of his title. All parties involved, fans especially, would have been better off had these gladiators met under the XARM banner, but alas, it now goes down as the worst title fight in UFC history.
Apparently, now, the CagePotato Roundtable only happens when The Boss is on vacation (which means the inmates run the asylum for a day or two with Mr. Goldtsein’s unbelievable wealth, a seventeen-day luxurious private cruise to the Bahamas – don’t forget my obligatory touristy t-shirt BG) and that means it brings out the “fringe” contributors who enjoy throwing spitballs while generally making a ruckus in the back of the room in order to mess with the substitute instructors.
The topic of the “Worst UFC Title Fight” is a bit of a conundrum for me because, personally, Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra 1 was one of the worst moments of my life because of my inner bro-mance with GSP and my buddies’ propensity for reminding me that my affinity is unnatural. But, I digress. Since I hosted all of the UFC parties (and got ALL the PPV bills) there is still one in particular that pains me.
It was a highly anticipated bout that pitted LHW Champion Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 46 and if you look at the fight card now, you’d call me a poseur for complaining about this. No shit – the three prelim fights that didn’t air that night had Matt Serra vs. Pat Curran, Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca and Georges St. Pierre vs. Karo Parisyan. The PPV featured (in)famous names like Lee Murray, Jorge Rivera, Carlos Newton, Wes Sims, Frank Mir, Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn. The World Series of Fighting would double-barrel jerk-off Mr_Misanthropy AND crappiefloper while Fried Taco watched, if the promoters could get a collection of talent like that [Ed. Note: Wow.].
Needless to say, this main event fight should’ve been awesome but 45 seconds later . . . . . . It was OVER. That’s right! I lasted longer on Prom Night – she’ll tell you too, not by much . . . . but still – than the LHW Championship bout at UFC 46 and I screamed (on both occasions), “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Then I realized that Couture’s eyeball was literally about to fall completely out of his head – Hostile style. Vitor’s glove grazed his outer eyelid and it caused a HORRIFIC paper cut-esque slice. Yeah, a paper cut that could actually make your eye-ball drop out of your head. It was gross and it was an absolutely warranted stoppage by the hot red-headed doctor (that I still dream of). Yet, 45 seconds later and the championship fight was over without a single punch landing cleanly.
Look, I get that every sport has to start somewhere. I GET THIS. But even by the incredibly low standards of the UFC circa 1997, Frank Shamrock’s light heavyweight title defenses against Igor Zinoviev and John Lober were laughably misguided at best and staged public executions at worst. While the promotion’s heavyweight division featured such names as Mark Coleman, Maurice Smith, and Randy Couture battling it out for the title, down at 205, they were booking Shamrock in freak show matches that even the Japanese wouldn’t touch with a ten foot gunto. The Japanese, you guys.
Where shall we begin?
Ah yes, that’s Franky boy slamming Igor through the mat in under 30 seconds at UFC 16. What a contest.
How a man coming off a pair of draws can be fast-tracked to a title shot in his promotional debut is anyone’s guess. Maybe the UFC honestly thought that this Igor character was the next Randy Couture, or perhaps he just possessed some otherworldly trash-talking skills. In any case, we were left with a pathetic mismatch, one completely shattered collarbone, and a ringside medical crew questioning whether or not a spatula was an appropriate tool to lift a fighter onto a stretcher with by the time all was said and done. Oh yeah, and Igor never fought again. He always knows when it’s about to rain, though, so perhaps it was for the best.
And if you think that’s bad, just try finding a video of Shamrock’s third title defense — a rematch against John Lober at UFC Ultimate Brazil. You won’t be able to, because the UFC most likely destroyed all evidence of the fight for legal reasons. We’ve all heard the story before: Lober managed to score a controversial technical split decision victory over Shamrock at a SuperBrawl event in Hawaii in ’97, so one year later, the UFC decided, “Hey, why not have these two settle the score now that ShamWow is the champ?”
“Sure, Lober has gone 0-5-1 in the time since they first squared off,” they said whilst diving nose first into a mountain of cocaine the likes of which you have never seen, “But it will sell because GRUDGE MATCH.” It’s a strategy that the UFC utilizes to this day, but never did it appear more transparent than during the 7-and-a-half-minute beat down that Shamaroo dished out on Lober before forcing him to tap to strikes.
Lober would go on to score two wins in his next seven contests, and Shamrock would defend the light heavyweight title against his only true test in Tito Ortiz before leaving the UFC citing “a lack of competition.” No shit.
Wow, you guys certainly left me with some options, huh? Let’s see…I guess I should point out that Ben Goldstein, if he was available to contribute, would have picked Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites, which is the only reason why I won’t be covering that turd on a plate. I could go old-school, “how the hell is one of those guys fighting for a title in the first place?” and tackle Pat Miletich vs. Andre Pederneiras or Maurice Smith vs. Randy Couture, but considering how weak the talent pool in general was back then, it really wouldn’t be fair to include them. So instead I’ll do something even broader, lazier, yet somehow twice as deserving as the rest of the fights we’ve omitted combined, and nominate all of Tim Sylvia’s title defenses as my selection.
Boring title fights from guys like Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre – while infuriating for fans to watch – are at least forgivable on the basis that they’re boring because the champion is simply that much more talented than the guy across the cage from him. I may not get too excited about watching GSP jab for five rounds, but I’ll be damned if I don’t acknowledge him as the greatest welterweight in the history of our sport. With Tim Sylvia, this was most definitely not the case.
Sylvia was a champion when the heavyweight division was weak enough for the “Cabbage” Correiras of the world to pick up victories inside the Octagon. During his reign over the heavyweight division, the “strikers” either lacked anything resembling technique (Exhibit A: Gan McGee) or lacked a tough enough chin to actually exchange punches with the big man (Exhibit B: Sylvia/Arlovski III), and the grapplers lacked the striking chops necessary to penetrate The Maine-iac’s awkward jabs (Exhibit C: Jeff Monson). In a sport defined by the diverse skills and athleticism of its athletes, Sylvia managed to defend the UFC heavyweight title that Cain Velasquez proudly wears by simply taking up space and staying on his feet; a “Great White Stiff” with unlimited upward mobility, ”the poster child for over-achievement.”
Fortunately for the fans who tried to stay awake during his title defenses, he was eventually matched up against Randy Couture, and that fight was incredibly memorable thanks to A.) how badass The Natural is and B.) a moment early in the first round, when Couture took Sylvia’s back and (not quite) Fatty Boom-Boom (yet) stalled in an effort to get a completely unnecessary stand-up, which inspired one of Joe Rogan’s greatest rants (“You’re on your back, tough! Figure out a way to get up! If that’s boring, baseball’s about a million times more boring!” Classic.). Ever since that fight, Sylvia began his transformation into the amorphous blob of his former self who loses to guys you’ve never heard of on the “Where are they now?” circuit that we know today. He’s still holding out hope for the possibility of a UFC comeback, but after watching him defend the once-meaningless UFC heavyweight championship…it’s probably for the best that he never even gets close to fighting for it again.
Did we repress all memories of your least-favorite UFC title fight? Then have the honor of ruining our weekends by bringing it up in the comments section.
Much like the song Jeff Bridges’ character Bad Blake penned in the film Crazy Heart, the world of fight promoting is “No Place for the Weary Kind.”Over the past several years there have been plenty of promotions, both high and low profile, looking to e…
Much like the song Jeff Bridges’ character Bad Blake penned in the film Crazy Heart, the world of fight promoting is “No Place for the Weary Kind.”
Over the past several years there have been plenty of promotions, both high and low profile, looking to establish themselves in the sport of mixed martial arts. The majority of these upstarts saw a brief glimmer of hope before ultimately folding up their tents and moving on down the road, but there have been a few organizations which have managed to remain in a UFC-dominated universe.
The World Series of Fighting was looking to strengthen the momentum built off their inaugural showing this past weekend when they rolled out their sophomore effort live from Atlantic City. The Ray Sefo-lead promotion put together a solid card with a mixture of established veterans and fighters on the verge of breaking through into a larger realm of visibility. This was all to be topped off with notable main event matchup between former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and multi-divisional threat Anthony Johnson.
The WSOF had a fair amount of expectation surrounding their second showing, which for the most part they were able to deliver. But after an event filled with a handful of quality fights, plenty of bizarre behavior and a rough night in the commentary booth, there is plenty to talk about in the aftermath of WSOF 2.
The Good
The first major difference from the WSOF‘s debut event came in the lack of mismatches. In their debut showing the organization pitted established fighters with plenty of gas left in their tanks against opposition who had zero business being in the same cage. While K-1 monster Tyrone Spong could get away smashing Travis Bartlett because it was the 27-year-old’s MMA debut, the same could not be said for Anthony Johnson dismantling D.J. Linderman.
This time around, this lack of balance in the matchmaking was nowhere to be found. Every bout on the card made sense, and in some cases like Marlon Moraes versus Tyson Nam, the promotion was able to highlight two up-and-coming names on their roster.
By all means the WSOF put together a solid card and nearly every bout on the docket delivered. Save for David Branch vs. Paulo Filho, every scrap featured two fighters looking to carve our their place in the new promotion.
Veterans like DanilloVillefort, Waylon Lowe and Josh Burkman were able to show their fighting careers were far from over as they each picked up impressive victories on the night. But the spotlight wasn’t going to be ruled by the experienced fighters alone. In addition to the stunning head-kick knockout Moraes landed in the televised card, young buck Brenson Hansen hit a spectacular highlight-reel-worthy flying knee knockout in his bout against Tom Marcellino on the preliminary portion of the card.
All the action on the card did well to set up the heavyweight showdown between Arlovski and Johnson. While “The Pitbull” found himself on shaky ground near the end of the first round, the Jackson’s-Winkeljohn-trained fighter was able to re-establish his footing and battle through. In the end it wasn’t enough to tip the balance on the scorecards as Johnson earned the unanimous decision victory.
Despite fighting up a weight class from where he is most comfortable, Johnson put on a solid showing in Atlantic City. He was able to control the fight throughout using his striking to back Arlovski up and his wrestling to tie up the Belarusian against the cage.
No doubt Johnson appeared to be running out of steam as the fight carried on, but aside from UFC champion Cain Velasquez, there aren’t too many heavyweights who are known for having tremendous gas tanks. This is an issue which should be remedied for the most part when Johnson returns to light heavyweight, which the 29-year-old confirmed he would be returning to in his post-fight interview.
While Arlovski came out on the business end of the match with Johnson, there are still some positives to be taken in the loss. Following his stint competing in the Octagon, the Chicago-based fighter has been plagued by the reputation of having a weak chin. This label is due in large part to a stretch of Arlovski’s career where he lost four consecutive bouts, with three ending by way of brutal knockout.
The former UFC champion may not have erased that reputation entirely on Saturday night, but he did a lot to quiet such talk against the heavy-hitting Johnson. In fact, in the aftermath of the bout it was revealed Arlovski suffered a broken jaw and had several teeth knocked out during the opening frame, but still continued regardless of his condition.
That’s tough any way you cut it, ladies and gentleman.
The Bad
In the world of mixed martial arts, it has become commonplace to take shots at the commentary teams working high-profile events. Fans watching from home see the action from their own perspectives and when the man working the play-by-play calls things from a different angle, Twitter lights up with criticism.
Calling live-action mixed martial arts bouts is a tough gig by any stretch, but what took place on Saturday night at WSOF 2 was in a class of its own.
The voices calling the fights are a large aspect of the presentation and they are there to guide the viewers through the action over the course of the night. When the job is done right, the commentating team blends into the fight experience—remaining both present and anonymous at the same time.
In a case like what Todd Harris and MMA legend BasRutten displayed this weekend in Atlantic City, the missteps and uneasiness came front and center on multiple occasions. Harris’s delivery on the play-by-play was choppy from jump street and remained this way throughout the entire card. The former WEC commentator was off his game in a major way and it showed, with his biggest gaff of the night coming when he referred to WSOF‘s biggest free agent signing to date Jon Fitch as Aaron Fitch.
While this may seem like a minimal hiccup in the grander scheme of things, the WSOF is in the early and ever-important stage of establishing their brand. Fans tuning in need to buy into the hype of future events. When you mangle the name of a fighter they may recognize, the very reason you mentioned said fighter in the first place goes flying out the window.
That being said, the failed commentary wasn’t Harris’s cross to bear alone as BasRutten did his fair share of damage throughout the evening. “El Guapo’s” enthusiasm in the commentary booth has been a large factor in his career beyond the cage, but at WSOF 2, the typically amped Rutten appeared to handle the task at hand with nonchalance.
Where Rutten struggled the most came when handling post-fight interview duties. When talking to lightweight Justin Gaethje, who had just earned a victory over J.Z. Cavalcante by way of doctor stoppage, the former King of Pancrase asked Gaethje if he was going to fight Jon Fitch in his next outing. The response was a classic blend of confusion and awkwardness as Gaethje pointed to the fact that Fitch competes in a higher weight class and Rutten simply shrugged off the question as a mix up.
Was it a huge mistake? No. But was it a bad look? Absolutely.
It also needs to be understood that finding a rhythm as a commentary team takes a bit of time, and with this event only being the second outing for the team of Harris and Rutten, there are going to be some growing pains. Saturday night’s presentation certainly came with its fair share of awkward moments, and it is important for the promotion to recognize how large of a role this plays in the presentation.
The Strange
When the dust settled at WSOF 2, there were several aspects of the night’s events that swerved into curious waters, but Josh Burkman‘s post-fight interview was certainly the strangest.
“The People’s Warrior” had a solid showing in the promotion’s inaugural event when he defeated Gerald Harris via unanimous decision. On Saturday night, Burkman upped the ante when he served a blistering knockout to fellow UFC veteran Aaron Simpson in the first round of their welterweight tilt.
The victory over “The A-Train” made it four straight for Burkman, and seven of his last eight. His only setback over this stretch came against surging young talent Jordan Mein in 2011, but Burkman has put in solid work to regain momentum.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the WSOF signed Fitch and announced the winner of the matchup between Burkman and Simpson would face the AKA staple at their next event in June. With Burkman just minutes removed from crumbling Simpson against the cage, the table was perfectly for the “big sell” in his post-fight interview.
The promotion ushered Fitch into the cage and Rutten set about his business. But where the ideal situation to hype a summer showdown with the former wrestling standout from Purdue University was sitting at the ready, Burkman decided to take a different route.
For starters, there are no WSOF titles in any of their divisions. President Ray Sefo told the media during a fight week conference call that several events would pass before the organization would implement championship belts. But that didn’t stop Burkman from talking about his place in the title picture and where be believes Fitch should fall into place.
When Rutten asked Burkman if he was ready to fight Fitch in the summer, the Portland-based fighter said he believed Fitch needed to win a fight under the WSOF banner before earning the opportunity to face him. Not only is this a stretch because the lack of divisional structure, but you would be hard-pressed to find any ranking system in the MMA world where Burkman and Fitch are even remotely close to one another.
Despite being released by the UFC several weeks ago, Fitch is widely recognized as a top-10 caliber welterweight. While Burkman has found a bit of momentum over the past year, alluding to Fitch not being worthy of a matchup is a stretch.
If anything, one would figure Burkman would like to avenge his second-round submission loss to Fitch from 2006, but this didn’t appear to be the case in his post-fight ramblings, and was absolutely a missed opportunity where the promotion is concerned. Burkman had the perfect opportunity to light the hype fires for their clash at WSOF 3, but his post-fight posturing turned an ideal moment into a web of confusion.
While there were other elements of strange (Arlovski’s UFC glove, Canvas-gate and Paulo Filho) laced throughout the WSOF 2 experience, the move by Burkman topped them all.
This, of course, is my opinion. But that is what this platform is for, I suppose.
Special thanks to Oliver Chan and photographer Rick Albrecht for the photos.
If there’s one thing that I took away from last night’s World Series of Fighting card, it was that even a high profile promotion that puts on a night of entertaining fights is going to encounter some hiccups during its second event. Join us as we relive the highs and lows from WSoF 2.
The Good:
Anthony Johnson looked legitimate at heavyweight: Heading into last night’s main event, a lot was riding on Anthony “Rumble” Johnson actually fighting like a true heavyweight and not just looking like one. With all of the focus from fans and pundits alike on the “former UFC welterweight” issue, a poor showing from Johnson could have caused many fans to dismiss WSoF as an organization of squash matches and freak show fights. Fortunately for the organization, last night Rumble proved that his fight against Andrei Arlovski didn’t deserve freak show status. Johnson was too quick for Arlovski early on, and almost finished the fight before the end of the first round. He may have gassed out early – that’ll happen when you take a knee to the juevos during your first fight as a heavyweight – but at least he demonstrated that he’s capable of being a competent heavyweight if Ray Sefo needs him to be one again.
Special thanks to Oliver Chan and photographer Rick Albrecht for the photos.
If there’s one thing that I took away from last night’s World Series of Fighting card, it was that even a high profile promotion that puts on a night of entertaining fights is going to encounter some hiccups during its second event. Join us as we relive the highs and lows from WSoF 2.
The Good:
Anthony Johnson looked legitimate at heavyweight: Heading into last night’s main event, a lot was riding on Anthony “Rumble” Johnson actually fighting like a true heavyweight and not just looking like one. With all of the focus from fans and pundits alike on the “former UFC welterweight” issue, a poor showing from Johnson could have caused many fans to dismiss WSoF as an organization of squash matches and freak show fights. Fortunately for the organization, last night Rumble proved that his fight against Andrei Arlovski didn’t deserve freak show status. Johnson was too quick for Arlovski early on, and almost finished the fight before the end of the first round. He may have gassed out early – that’ll happen when you take a knee to the juevos during your first fight as a heavyweight – but at least he demonstrated that he’s capable of being a competent heavyweight if Ray Sefo needs him to be one again.
Marlon Moraes Proves his Win Over Miguel Torres Wasn’t a Fluke: Marlon Moraes vs. Tyson Nam was a battle between two fighters that many fans aren’t familiar with, but should be. Just 2:35 into the first round, “the guy who beat Torres” finished ”the guy who beat Bellator’s champion“ with a devastating head kick. Moraes vs. Nam proved to be an entertaining co-main event that established Moraes as a legitimate bantamweight contender. As an added bonus for WSoF, Marlon Moraes is essentially a “home grown” prospect, in the sense that unlike Arlovski, Torres, Fitch and Johnson, Moraes isn’t already known for his previous work in a different major promotion. It’ll be interesting to see who the promotion will find to challenge Moraes next.
Josh Burkman’s Knockout Over Aaron Simpson: There may not have been a lot of action leading up to it, but Burkman’s knee to Simpson’s head was a great finish. Burkman now improves to 7-1 since being released from the UFC in 2008, and a rematch against Jon Fitch appears to be inevitable.
The Bad:
Where Does Andrei Arlovski Go From Here? Arlovski may be 4-1 with one no contest in his last six fights, but I think it’s safe to say that last night’s performance proved that his days as anything more than a Sylvia-esque sideshow are limited. I hate to sound be so negative, but let’s face it: Arlovski is a mid-level heavyweight at this point of his career. An accomplished one who can still beat the not-quite-readies and never-weres of the division, but one nonetheless. His loss to Anthony Johnson demonstrated that his days as a major organization’s champion are clearly behind him. Even when he was awarded the final round, it felt like Arlovski won it because Johnson was too tired to do so himself. So now the question is, what does WSoF do with him? Do they continue to pay him former heavyweight champion money to crush cans? Do they sacrifice him to a promising upstart? Or do they just throw dignity to the wind and bring in Tim Sylvia?
Cage-Gate: Believe it or not, up until two hours before the preliminary fights, there was the possibility that there wouldn’t be a World Series of Fighting II. Up until then, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board had issues with the corner pads and canvas WSoF initially planned on using in the cage and refused to approve it for competition. You can read more details on the almost-catastrophe here, and feel relieved that your Saturday night was not ruined by sloppy event planning. Of course, that wasn’t the only case of minor league shenanigans to come from the event…
The Ugly:
Sweet Gloves, Bro. I Bet You Trane UFC:
Now that’s some minor league, Mickey Mouse bullshit. You would think that someone at World Series of Fighting – or NBC, for that matter – would have bought the guy a different pair of gloves instead of putting their faith in a strip of tape.
Whatever Paulo Filho Did for Three Rounds: There are two very good reasons no other semi-legitimate promotion on the planet wants anything to do with Paulo Filho. For starters, despite having all of the necessary skills to be a great fighter, Filho’s life is such a tragic whirlwind of addiction, insanity and unreliability that he’s a headache for promoters. If that doesn’t scare you away from signing him, then know that he couldn’t give less of a fuck about fighting, even when he’s locked in a cage with someone trying to hurt him. When he unretired (*sigh*) to kick Ninja Rua’s ass one last time, World Series of Fighting apparently saw something that led them to believe that he could be placed on the main card of WSoF 2 without making a mockery out of the organization. Predictably, if the pre-fight panic-attack wasn’t enough to make Sefo and co. regret their decision, the three rounds of bullshit against Dave Branch probably was. The saddest part here is that Branch looked great – or at least I think he did – but it’s impossible to put too much stock in a victory over a guy who doesn’t want to even be in the cage.
JZ Calvalcante’s Face After His Fight Against Justin Gaethje:
Entering the bout, the 7-0 Justin Gaethje showed a lot of promise, but like most young up-and-comers, held zero notable victories to his name. Well, unless you count his unnecessarily sad knockout over the troubled Drew Fickett, in which case, we might not have the same definition of “notable.” Gaethje kicked off the main card by butchering JZ Calvalcante’s face on the way to a doctor’s stoppage. Early stoppage? I don’t think a cut above the eye is something to take lightly, but I also wouldn’t be opposed to a rematch, either.
Much like the song Jeff Bridges’ character Bad Blake penned in the film Crazy Heart, the world of fight promoting is “No Place for the Weary Kind.”
