It’s no secret that one of the few remaining big-ticket fights that Strikeforce can put together—at least at the moment—is a women’s title fight between bantamweight champion and rising superstar Ronda Rousey and former featherweight champi…
It’s no secret that one of the few remaining big-ticket fights that Strikeforce can put together—at least at the moment—is a women’s title fight between bantamweight champion and rising superstar Ronda Rousey and former featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.
Cyborg, of course, can’t fight at the moment. She’s currently serving a one-year suspension for testing positive for stanozolol, after thoroughly dismantling poor Hiroko Yamanaka last December. Cyborg was stripped of her title, leaving the Strikeforce female featherweight division on the verge of extinction.
Rousey’s rise to the top coincided with Cyborg’s fall from grace, but there’s still plenty of interest in seeing the two best female fighters in the world collide. Part of that comes from a technical perspective, but mostly it’s due to Rousey taking every chance she can get to issue derogatory remarks about Cyborg.
Female fighting at the highest level hasn’t really caught on with the public, but Rousey vs. Cyborg is the exception. Rousey’s personality, and the fact that she’s utterly destroyed every opponent she’s faced thus far, has helped turn her into Strikeforce’s biggest star. And Cyborg has a wealth of footage of her destroying one opponent after another. It’s truly a gold mine.
Cyborg took the time to issue a challenge to Rousey for the 135-pound belt after winning gold at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships over the weekend.
The main question that remains is this: Can Cyborg actually make 135? She’s a massive woman, all rippling muscles and very little body fat. And according to Cyborg herself, she won’t be able to make the weight.
Can the fight actually happen? Rousey’s mom, Dr. Ann Maria Rousey, says that Rousey might consider a catchweight bout, but she indicated that Rousey shouldn’t compromise for someone who was caught doing steroids.
@Jennifer_SwifT I don’t know. She *might* consider a mid-point. Really,why should she compromise for someone who got caught cheating?
As a fight fan, I hope we do see Rousey vs. Cyborg down the road, even if it takes place at 140 pounds or another agreed-upon catchweight. They’re two of the most compelling characters in the sport, and they’re also the best female fighters in the world.
It would be a shame if they’re kept apart by weight issues, but I also understand that Rousey has no incentive to move up to featherweight. She’s the champion, she’s the one who has stayed clean thus far throughout her career and there’s no reason for her to risk her marketability by moving to a weight she isn’t completely comfortable in against an opponent who might run through her quite easily.
One day back in 2009, American Kickboxing Academy guru Bob Cook told Scott Coker, over dinner at their favorite little Italian eatery in San Jose, that he had a heavyweight Coker should take a look at. Cook told Coker that the new guy was going to be a…
One day back in 2009, American Kickboxing Academy guru Bob Cook told Scott Coker, over dinner at their favorite little Italian eatery in San Jose, that he had a heavyweight Coker should take a look at. Cook told Coker that the new guy was going to be a great heavyweight, but Coker was skeptical.
“I told Bob that he didn’t look like much. He didn’t look like Mike Tyson. He had a little stomach on him. He was extremely articulate and smart,” Coker told me over brunch recently. “Bob told me he’d been an Olympic wrestler, and I told him this was Strikeforce, not Wrestleforce. I could just see in my head him laying and praying on the guy because he can’t punch or submit guys.
“But I told Bob I would give him a shot. I mean, if that conversation had never happened, we never would have signed him. And he’s been one of the jewels of the heavyweight division. And think about how many fighters could fight at that pace that he did, against a big guy like Josh?”
The heavyweight in question, of course, was Daniel Cormier, who rose from prospect to outsider to world heavyweight grand prix champion in just over two years. It was a stunning developmental curve, even to those of us who are used to seeing fast-rising prospects.
Coker agreed.
“When Daniel fought Jeff Monson, I really saw a difference in him. This guy wasn’t just a wrestler anymore. It’s just a testament as to how hard he’s working to become a complete MMA fighter. And then, when he fought Bigfoot, it was unbelievable. I was really worried for him that day because I thought Bigfoot had the edge on him, at least a little bit. But then Daniel knocked him out. He’s the real deal, and he proved it once again against Josh.”
The heavyweight grand prix, originally conceived as the last great heavyweight tournament and a throwback to the golden years of PRIDE Fighting Championships, didn’t pan out the way Coker intended. Plenty of things disrupted the tournament along the way, but Coker said he’s ultimately happy with the way things turned out.
“I think a star was born. And if you look back at the beginning of the tournament, we had eight of the top 10 heavyweights in the world fighting in this tournament. All of the guys except for Brett Rogers had been champions in one league or another, whether it was the UFC or EliteXC or others. It was a special moment in time, when we were able to put all of those fighters together.
“It was a magic moment, and I’m glad I was able to put it together.”
We all know that Jon Jones is a great light heavyweight. He might even be the greatest single light heavyweight of all time, though we’ll save that argument for another day and time.But the most interesting thing to me about Jones—and I know many…
We all know that Jon Jones is a great light heavyweight. He might even be the greatest single light heavyweight of all time, though we’ll save that argument for another day and time.
But the most interesting thing to me about Jones—and I know many of you out there agree with me, because I’ve discussed this subject with you in the past—is the idea of Jones’ finishing his rapidly paced cleanup of the UFC’s light heavyweight division and then putting on some muscle for a move to play with the big boys at heavyweight.
That’s quite the idea, isn’t it?
And it’s not so far-fetched, because Jones has acknowledged in the past that he’ll eventually make the move.
His incredible skill and poise inside the cage often make us forget that he’s still a young kid with plenty of growing to do, both as a fighter and as a personality outside of the Octagon.
We don’t know when Jones will make the move, but let’s just assume that it’s going to happen within 18 months. By that point, the only folks left to challenge Jones for the light heavyweight strap will be retreads whom he’s already demolished once or twice.
It’ll be time for a new challenge.
And reigning heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos recently told Spike’s MMA Uncensored Live that he’ll readily welcome Jones to the biggest weight class in the UFC:
Jon Jones is really good. He’s really good. It’s different, for sure. If he comes up to the heavyweight division, it’s gonna be tough for us, for sure. I really like him, but if he comes up to the heavyweight division, and he gets the chance to fight for the title, we’re gonna fight. I will give my best to beat him. It doesn’t matter who my opponent is. If it’s gonna be him, I don’t care.
A Junior dos Santos vs. Jon Jones fight is on my bucket list of dream fights for 2013 or 2014, right alongside Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz and Chael Sonnen vs. Superstar Billy Graham.
The cool thing? Two of those fights have a very real possibility of happening.
Jake Ellenberger is a man. A man’s man. At 27, he still looks a bit like a high school fullback—the kind of gritty runner who toughed out yards, but really took pleasure in sticking it to the middle linebacker play after play.He appears squat and…
Jake Ellenberger is a man. A man’s man. At 27, he still looks a bit like a high school fullback—the kind of gritty runner who toughed out yards, but really took pleasure in sticking it to the middle linebacker play after play.
He appears squat and muscular, despite standing at 6’0″, moving with a deceptive speed when called upon. But it’s not his looks that make Ellenberger remarkable. He’s a dangerous, dangerous fighter.
Since losing a closely contested split decision to Carlos Condit in 2009, he rolled off six wins in a row. Against the creme—Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields were among his victims.
When he has you in trouble, he swarms, like a collection of bees have coalesced to form his right hand. It’s an explosion, one that has led to 22 stoppages in his 27 wins. Martin Kampmann felt the swarm in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale.
And somehow, against the odds and the laws of the universe, Martin Kampmann survived. A short punch made Ellenberger wobble, a little dance that looked like one of the worst Soul Train solos of all time. And then Kampmann unleashed a swarm of his own.
His were knees—brutal and vicious knees. The kind Wanderlei Silva used to throw. The kind that leave a man huddled on the mat, looking at his own blood, wondering where he went wrong. Usually, that path traces back to accepting a fight with Martin Kampmann.
The Danish dynamo, who actually won a close decision from current welterweight interim champion Condit, is on quite a streak of his own. Since being upset by Paul Daley back at UFC 103, Kampmann has won five of seven. And if you replace the judges for the fights he lost with people that possess 20/20 vision and average mental capacity, he’d be sitting on top of one impressive win streak.
Next up for Kampmann is Johny Hendricks, twice an NCAA champion at 165 pounds. He will test Kampmann’s growing confidence in his takedown defense. But while Kampmann has to worry about the takedown, Hendricks has to be concerned as well. There’s the swarm to contend with, and it can come anytime, from anywhere.
Until this morning, we were only aware of three fighters to ever receive a testosterone replacement therapy exemption for fighting in the state of Nevada: Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee and Shane Roller. Chael Sonnen is currently going through the process …
Until this morning, we were only aware of three fighters to ever receive a testosterone replacement therapy exemption for fighting in the state of Nevada: Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee and Shane Roller. Chael Sonnen is currently going through the process of gaining full approval after being approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, so he’ll be the fourth applicant to be granted permission.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission approved Frank Mir for testosterone-replacement therapy in advance of his title fight with heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146.
Mir is the fourth athlete to get a therapeutic-use exemption, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Is there a low testosterone epidemic in MMA? I can understand Henderson needing a TRT exemption; after all, despite his wonderful run of the past few years, he’s still advancing in age. Low testosterone comes with the territory once you hit your 40’s.
And I can understand Sonnen’s need for therapy. Despite all of the confusion surrounding his failed test after UFC 117, it appears that Sonnen does, in fact, need testosterone replacement therapy to correct a deficiency caused by hypogonadism.
But Todd Duffee? That one makes no sense to me, and it shouldn’t make sense to you. Duffee is a young, virile fighter with one of the most impressive physiques in mixed martial arts. You’re telling me that a guy with a seemingly endless amount of muscles needs testosterone? I don’t buy it. Not for a second.
We don’t know why Mir needs TRT, but we know that he’s doing it the right way. According to Keith Kizer, Mir’s T/E ratio for his UFC 146 test was 1:1. That’s a normal ratio and indicates that Mir used the procedure in the proper manner.
My question is this: Why do mixed martial artists, more than any other athlete in any other sport, need testosterone replacement therapy? The obvious answer is that some of them likely caused damage to themselves by heavily using steroids in the past, and now they need artificial testosterone to regulate their levels and keep them normal.
But I’m not sure that’s the case for everyone. And I’m not sure there’s an easy answer, at least not one that applies to everyone. But it’s something that needs to continually be looked at before it gets out of control and becomes a real problem.
Seven buses rolled out of the hotel parking lot. Not minibuses. Full sized Greyhounds. Inside were the wrestlers, legends, families and friends of WWE owner Vince McMahon. Traffic was stopped in Miami as they rolled to I-95, then onward to the Miami Do…
Seven buses rolled out of the hotel parking lot. Not minibuses. Full sized Greyhounds. Inside were the wrestlers, legends, families and friends of WWE owner Vince McMahon. Traffic was stopped in Miami as they rolled to I-95, then onward to the Miami Dolphin’s Sun Life Stadium, alone, in a row, in the HOV lane.
Following behind was James J. Dillon. An industry lifer who has worked every job imaginable from VP to referee, Dillon was best known as the manager of the legendary Four Horseman. For his role in the group, a clique of champions that featured a rotating cast of wrestling greats like Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham, Dillon was about to be recognized by wrestling czar Vince McMahon as a hall of famer.
His long time foe and backstage booking partner Dusty Rhodes would introduce Dillon and the gang.
It was the culminating moment of a long, proud career, and J.J. Dillon was scared. Not of the crowd. Not of the moment. But of those two icons, the men who had meant the most to him over his career. The men he was afraid he had done irreparable harm in his 2005 book Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls.
“With everything that had happened, if I was a betting man, I’d have never bet on this happening, me being inducted into their Hall of Fame,” Dillon told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “I was worried. What’s it going to be like when I get there? Will there be a little chill in the air? I didn’t know.”
Dillon had been open and honest in his book. As a true WWF insider once part of McMahon’s inner circle alongside the stalwart Pat Patterson, Dillon had plenty of knowledge about what went on inside the headquarters building in Stamford Connecticut. And he shared—and shared plenty—with fans. A lifetime of frustration poured out on those pages. Now, sixteen years after leaving the WWF, he was about to come face to face with Vince McMahon one more time.
Meeting Vince
J.J. had actually been to one previous WWE event after leaving the company, making the trip to Ric Flair’s final match against Shawn Michaels. He had seen Vince from across the building, but never came into his orbit. Now he found himself at the run through for the WWE Hall of Fame television special, McMahon, as always, running the show. He was all business, but cordial.
“HHH was orchestrating everything, and we were the first one’s out,” Dillon said. “Tully was right in front of me, and Vince stood up, took his headset off, and in front of this room full of people, reached out, shook his hand. He made eye contact with me, saw me standing right behind him, reached around Tully and shook my hand. He said ‘J.J, thanks for being here.’ I said ‘Vince, thank you for inviting me.’ That was the extent of our conversation, our first in 16 years.”
Later, each of the Hall of Famers had a chance to meet with McMahon individually. About 40 minutes before the Ceremony, each was brought into the presence of the closest thing we have to a wrestling god. He had already met with Vince’s wife Linda and his daughter Stephanie (who heir apparent to the company business). Both had been gracious and kind. Vince though? That might be another story.
“He was going to personally present us our rings. I remember going in there, Flair first and then Arn, then it was Tully, me, and Barry Windham was last,” Dillon said. “It was in a room where they were going to take pictures. And as I walked in, I didn’t know. I said ‘Vince, I don’t have the words to thank you for this and what it means to me personally and my family.’ He had a little smile on his face and he put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘We had some great times together didn’t we?’ That was his reply. He handed me my ring, turned around and we took a whole bunch of pictures. I stepped away and Barry got his ring.”
Just thinking about it was enough to make Dillon catch his breath.
“There have been lots of great bookers in the business, and every one of them had a shelf life,” Dillon said. “Eventually their ideas would repeat themselves. And Vince has been the final say since day one. The fact that he’s still there, still has the vision, still has the final say is amazing. The proof to me was seeing the scope of that event [WrestleMania], 78,000 people in Miami setting a record for that venue, and just seeing where he’s taken the business. You can’t have anything but respect for him.”
The Dream
But McMahon wasn’t the only wrestling legend he had unfinished business with. Rhodes, who Dillon had battled in the ring and later worked closely with behind the scenes, had also taken some heat in Dillon’s book. The two had parted on bad terms. Could they reconcile? Thinking about Christmas parties with Dusty and his wife Michelle, Dillon couldn’t miss his chance to make things right with one of his oldest friends.
“There was that big question mark. It was never really talked out between Dusty and I,” Dillon said. “My book came out in 2005. Fast forward to the weekend of the Hall of Fame. Dusty inducted us. There was a party after that. The McMahons threw in the hotel for WrestleMania weekend, first class all the way. Sushi bar, oysters on the half shell, open bar—it was as only they could do it.
“I was tired. It had been a very emotional few days. And I saw Dusty and his wife Michelle sitting four or five tables down. And I just went up and went down there and asked Dusty if he had a minute. I said ‘Something has been bothering me for six or seven years. I’ve never had this conversation with you and I felt I should have.’
“It was very emotional,” Dillon continued, breaking into tears. “It was just him and I one on one. And I basically told him that so much of my success, which was being showcased there that weekend, I owed to him. Going back to Florida…The two of us, in this huge room full of all these people, having a very personal conversation. He told me I was important to him too… Here’s the two of us in this big room. Two grown men and I tell him I love him and he says he loves me. He told Michelle to come over and the three of us had a big hug. And I’m crying. It was like the weight of all those words, all the years, was released. Because he heard from me how I felt and he was very sincere about how he felt. It was a highlight of the weekend for me, this very personal thing.”
The Horsemen
Today Dillon is out of the wrestling business. But he still has plenty of expertise to share and stories to last a life time. His most recent project, a special DVD with Kayfabe Commentaries called Being a Four Horseman, was intended to expand the horizons of the “shoot interview.” Instead of just asking Dillon a series of questions about his career, Kayfabe’s Sean Oliver decided to focus in on a week in his life. There was one question in Oliver’s mind: What was it like to run with the legendary Four Horsemen?
“Of my whole career, the one thing that is kind of a blur is that run with the Horsemen. One day ran into another, and we were working very hard,” Dillon said. “I had these ‘week in a glance’ journals I used for tracking expenses on the road. So I knew what hotels, if there was a cab, a portion of a charter, we chipped in. It gave me some cues about where we were the night before and how we got there.
“How do you take one week, 25 years ago, and expound upon it? It was the most challenging interview that I’ve ever done. In the process we talked about a lot of things that were never asked before. What did [the] guys drink? What were their personalities really like? Things that had never come up in prior interviews. In the end, it’s a general look at what it was like to be in the Horseman and on the road with the Horseman. And I was very pleased with the end product.”
You can follow J.J. Dillon on his website. Jonathan Snowden is the author of Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling. He is a regular contributor to Bleacher Report.
