MMA is about much more than the action in the cage. The best fighters, or at least the most popular ones, understand that what happens outside the Octagon is just as important as anything that takes place within. Fighters are entertainers. As we’ve lea…
MMA is about much more than the action in the cage. The best fighters, or at least the most popular ones, understand that what happens outside the Octagon is just as important as anything that takes place within.
Fighters are entertainers. As we’ve learned, they are competing for ever-tightening entertainment budgets, not just with boxers and other athletes, but with blockbuster movies like The Avengers. To make MMA competitive with the best video games and television shows, you have to do more than show up and fight.
We are here now. Entertain us. These are the 25 who’ve done it best. Disagree? Entertain me in the comments!
The Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix—once considered a novel throwback idea to the PRIDE days of all—is finally and inexplicably over. I say inexplicably because there were at least three instances over the course of the past y…
The Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix—once considered a novel throwback idea to the PRIDE days of all—is finally and inexplicably over.
I say inexplicably because there were at least three instances over the course of the past year where it seemed impossible that the tournament, and Strikeforce as a whole, would continue to exist. But it did, and here we are after the culmination of the tournament and the rise of a brand new heavyweight force in mixed martial arts.
No longer a prospect, Daniel Cormier’s easy capture of the grand prix title—after not being an official member of the tournament in the first place—vaulted him into the ranks of title contenders. But he can’t simply jump to the UFC after his win; a contractual agreement between Zuffa and Showtime will keep him tied to the premium cable network for one more fight.
What’s next for Cormier and the rest of the stars from Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier?
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix has come to a conclusion with Daniel Cormier defeating Josh Barnett for the grand prix title. In what was the best performance of his career, Saturday night was the coming out party for Daniel Cormier. In the…
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix has come to a conclusion with Daniel Cormier defeating Josh Barnett for the grand prix title. In what was the best performance of his career, Saturday night was the coming out party for Daniel Cormier.
In the co-main event Gilbert Melendez defended his lightweight belt against Josh Thomson, putting their in-ring rivalry to rest. It wasn’t the best performance of Gilbert’s career but he got the job done and held onto his belt.
With a lazy Sunday ahead of us, let’s take a look at the questions answered and the lessons learned following Strikeforce: Barnett vs Cormier.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix has finally come to a close. From a field of eight, only one man remains to take home the belt: Daniel Cormier. The main event lived up to the expectations as Daniel Cormier put on a career-defining performance ag…
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix has finally come to a close. From a field of eight, only one man remains to take home the belt: Daniel Cormier. The main event lived up to the expectations as Daniel Cormier put on a career-defining performance against perennial top 10 heavyweight, Josh Barnett.
In the co-main event of the night, Gilbert Melendez took a split decision over Josh Thomson. After 15 rounds of fighting, Melendez is able to walk away with not only the lightweight gold but also two wins over his nemesis.
The rest of the card will have divisional consequences within Strikeforce so let’s break down and grade the performances of all the main card fighters.
A+
Daniel Cormier: Welcome to the elite of the heavyweight division, Daniel. That was a masterful performance and the best of your short MMA career. I could talk about how awesome that high-crotch single was or how crisp your boxing looked. But I won’t.
Instead, I just want to say that if Zuffa was smart they wouldn’t bother wasting your time with that final Strikeforce fight. It’s stupid and I want to see you in the UFC now.
A
Rafael Cavalcante: Things Rafael Cavalcante did today: avenged a loss and got a fast submission from Mike Kyle. There’s nothing else to say because that’s all that happened, but damn. Have fun in that title fight against someone at a future date.
B+
Chris Spang: His brother Andreas lost last night at Bellator in the main event against Maiquel Falcao. Chris didn’t fight like his brother and instead put Nah-Shon Burrell out with punches and knees.
It almost seemed like the fight could have been stopped a bit sooner, but I’m not one for complaining when a fighter is demonstrating fantastic technique.
I’m actually excited to see this kid fight again in the near future. Judging by how long Jason High has been on the shelf, it could be a year.
B
Gilbert Melendez: Gilbert was totally correct when he said that he had everything to lose and nothing to gain in his fight with Josh Thomson. The eyes of the MMA world were upon him and he needed to deliver in order to stay in the lightweight conversation.
He fought a good fight but his fading in the third is a concern. Congrats on the win. Hopefully this was just a rare poor showing.
Josh Thomson: I didn’t think Josh Thomson had anything for GIlbert Melendez following the KJ Noons fight. He proved me wrong and looked great in the championship rounds against Melendez. He walks away with a split-decision loss but he definitely raised his stock in the division with this performance.
C
Josh Barnett: I’m kind of disappointed in Barnett’s performance tonight. He showed a lot of heart and a great chin but that was such a one-sided fight.
I’ve never seen anyone body Barnett like that before and his face showed the wounds of a battle. Hopefully he joins the UFC roster, he deserves a shot after tonight.
D
Nah-Shon Burrell: Man you know you were out. Why complain to the ref? He looked good early on, but once Spang started landing with accuracy, the fight was over. It was only time until Burrell faded and fell to the mat in defeat.
F
Mike Kyle: What was all that talk about deserving a title shot?
The Strikeforce World Grand Prix, a heavyweight tournament that started with such promise last year, finally came to an end tonight in San Jose, California.Once expected to crown a fighter who could arguably be the top heavyweight in the world, the tou…
The Strikeforce World Grand Prix, a heavyweight tournament that started with such promise last year, finally came to an end tonight in San Jose, California.
Once expected to crown a fighter who could arguably be the top heavyweight in the world, the tournament fell apart when the two favorites, Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem, were upset and left the promotion respectively.
That left openings for veteran Josh Barnett and prospect Daniel Cormier to write their names in the history books, and the two delivered. Cormier dominated Barnett, alternating between outboxing the former UFC champion and slamming him on his head with superlative wrestling.
Overall, it was a pretty exciting night of fights on Showtime. Some winners and losers are obvious. We record their names in the record book. But sometimes, you can lose by winning and vice versa.
Who were the real winners and losers? The ones who will never be recorded for posterity, living only in our memories?
We can forgive almost anything of our heroes, athletes in particular. Look at Mike Tyson—a man who spent time in prison for rape, a man who practically invented anti-social behavior. Today, he’s the toast of the town, headlining his own one-man s…
We can forgive almost anything of our heroes, athletes in particular. Look at Mike Tyson—a man who spent time in prison for rape, a man who practically invented anti-social behavior. Today, he’s the toast of the town, headlining his own one-man show in Las Vegas. His lunacy long since relegated to part of a charming package.
It won’t be so easy for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of DUI around 5 a.m. in the town of Binghamton, New York. Like other squeaky-clean athletes before him—men like Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant, who had invested their lives into an image no one could possibly live up to—Jones has created high expectations for himself. When he fails to live up to an image he himself is responsible for creating, the public responds with vitriol and howls of derision.
We can, you see, stomach a villain. We can even love the heel. But no one loves a hypocrite. Here’s Jones just a month ago before his fight with Rashad Evans:
“We came up with a strategy to keep it clean and be sponsored by the UFC itself. I’m glad the UFC wanted to work with me as well, and I think that they trust that I’ll never make them look bad. You never have to worry about me with a DWI (driving while under the influence) or doing something crazy,” Jones explained.
The hardest pedestals from which to fall are the ones you build for yourself. Jones built a public image around the good book, often touting his Christianity in interviews. He proclaimed himself a “good person,” although fans were skeptical from the beginning. After all, those talking the loudest about their personal sainthood often have the most to hide.
What, they wondered, about the fact that he hadn’t sanctified his relationship with the mother of his children in front of God and the world? Did actions speak louder than words? What about his constant claims of being “humble.” Did his actions and words reflect that? After all, Jones was one of the cockiest fighters in the world, openly comparing himself to Muhammad Ali and embracing the idea that he would one day transcend his own sport.
The public Jon Jones, in short, was a little hard for some people to swallow. The questions nagged at him, especially when Rashad Evans told the world his former training partner was “fake.” Others grabbed on to that epitaph. It put into words the feelings that had long nagged them. Something didn’t quite ring true about him.
Take this accident for instance. Last year, Jones told USA Today, “Right now, I have enough money. I don’t buy anything unnecessary. I don’t buy new houses and cars and clothes. I just save the money.
“I live exactly the same way I lived before I had a penny. I wear the same shoes I had in high school. I have the same shorts all the time that I wore when I was in college.”
One month later, before the ink on that interview was dry, he was buying the Bentley he wrapped around a pole Saturday morning. Price tag? $190,000.
To those in the know, there are/were two Jon Jones personas. And no one was the least bit surprised that a night on the town caught up with him in the end. His lifestyle, and probably the lifestyle of most 24-year-old celebrities, had an edge to it.
It was notable to the point his management made sure to tell the assembled media in Atlanta that Jones hadn’t partied at all in the weeks leading up to the Rashad Evans fight. It was such a part of his life that it had invaded other training camps and fight preparation.
Now Jones, who openly courted Nike and other big-name sponsors is between a rock and a pole. The good guy image he has cultivated, in the face of what seems to be his natural inclinations, has been wrecked ever bit as much as his luxury car. No matter what happens next, the Jon Jones character will never be the same.
We can forgive almost anything of our heroes, athletes in particular. Look at Mike Tyson—a man who spent time in prison for rape, a man who practically invented anti-social behavior. Today, he’s the toast of the town, headlining his own