Tag: Commentary

CagePotato Roundtable #29: What’s Your Wildest MMA Prediction for 2014?

Free Cage Potato dog
(2014: The year that Dana White buys this dog. For Bjorn Rebney. Too soon?)

When former CagePotato.com contributor Jason Moles announced his retirement in 2013, it appeared that there wouldn’t be a “Crazy Enough to be True” predictions column for 2014. Rather than let the opportunity to make outlandish assumptions about the state of our favorite sport pass us up, we’ve decided to offer our wildest ideas in the form of a CagePotato Roundtable. Read on for our picks, share yours in the comments section, and please continue to send your ideas for future CagePotato Roundtable topics to [email protected].

Ben Goldstein


(Mariusz Pudzianowski defends his UFC Poland Super-Heavyweight Title against honorary polack Bob Sapp. / Photo via Sherdog)

Though the UFC once laid claim to the title of fastest-growing sport, the promotion has begun to hit its ceiling in the United States. And they know it — which is why they’ve been pushing so hard for World Fucking Domination lately. After finding major success in international markets like Canada and Brazil, the UFC has been busy laying the groundwork in overseas locales as far-flung as Singapore, India, Turkey, and Poland.

The problem is, none of these upcoming markets have the talent pool available to produce a world champion in the foreseeable future. Or a top contender. Or a fighter who could credibly compete anywhere on a pay-per-view main card. That’s why I’m predicting that 2014 will see the unveiling of individual UFC titles for countries/continents. I mean, Vitor Belfort is already the middleweight champion of Brazil, right? They might as well give him a belt and make it official.

Free Cage Potato dog
(2014: The year that Dana White buys this dog. For Bjorn Rebney. Too soon?)

When former CagePotato.com contributor Jason Moles announced his retirement in 2013, it appeared that there wouldn’t be a “Crazy Enough to be True” predictions column for 2014. Rather than let the opportunity to make outlandish assumptions about the state of our favorite sport pass us up, we’ve decided to offer our wildest ideas in the form of a CagePotato Roundtable. Read on for our picks, share yours in the comments section, and please continue to send your ideas for future CagePotato Roundtable topics to [email protected].

Ben Goldstein


(Mariusz Pudzianowski defends his UFC Poland Super-Heavyweight Title against honorary polack Bob Sapp. / Photo via Sherdog)

Though the UFC once laid claim to the title of fastest-growing sport, the promotion has begun to hit its ceiling in the United States. And they know it — which is why they’ve been pushing so hard for World Fucking Domination lately. After finding major success in international markets like Canada and Brazil, the UFC has been busy laying the groundwork in overseas locales as far-flung as Singapore, India, Turkey, and Poland.

The problem is, none of these upcoming markets have the talent pool available to produce a world champion in the foreseeable future. Or a top contender. Or a fighter who could credibly compete anywhere on a pay-per-view main card. That’s why I’m predicting that 2014 will see the unveiling of individual UFC titles for countries/continents. I mean, Vitor Belfort is already the middleweight champion of Brazil, right? They might as well give him a belt and make it official.

Case in point: TUF China debuted last month. Coached by a UFC near-washout and a guy you’ve never heard of, the season will produce a completely irrelevant winner, who’s only fit to beat up other irrelevant curtain-jerkers from countries that aren’t the U.S., Brazil, Canada, or England. While the novelty of seeing native Chinese fighters (or Turkish fighters, or Polish fighters, etc.) will get local fans tuning in, eventually the UFC will have to throw these people a bone to keep them happy, because watching your home country’s fighters get smashed as soon as they face legitimate competition isn’t fun.

And so, the UFC will do the smart thing and have these guys/gals fight exclusively within their own borders for secondary titles. And maybe, if one of these regional champs goes on a long win streak, he/she will be called up to the prelims of a UFC on FOX Sports 1 card, where you might actually get to see them compete. Until then, us North Americans will only be able to watch the UFC’s new regional superstars on that digital subscription service thingy they’re selling, and if you think we’re coughing up any more money to the UFC for that bullshit, you are out of your got-damn mind.

Nathan Smith

It is well known that UFC President Dana White is a loose cannon when he is in front of a camera or a microphone. The “Baldfather” has no filter and basically shoots from the hip no matter the topic, the fighter, or the reporter in his crosshairs. He has taken some heat for profanity-laced rants in the past, but there has never been any real punishment from the Fertitta brothers (at least not publicly).

After Georges St. Pierre’s somewhat cryptic and confusing comments with Joe Rogan following his UFC 167 victory, Dana White launched into a diatribe at the post-fight press conference saying that GSP owed the UFC something more. Fast forward a day or two and Lorenzo Fertitta backtracked on White’s words by basically apologizing (even though he never actually said “Sorry”). In the past, Fertitta has never come to cover White but after the amount of flack being thrown because of White’s comments, it was evident that some things needed to be clarified.

Though White’s obscenity-filled tirades have been far and few between as of late, it is only a matter of time before Mount Dana erupts. When he does — because of falling ratings, a network deal that has not produced as expected or a slew of other factors — I believe that the Fertittas will in fact publicly chastise White. Whether it is a fine or a suspension or just a good old fashioned public tongue lashing, White will finally be the one on the other end of a heated lecture (and he will have earned it after the years of insensitive comments he has made).

Jared Jones


(Photo via Getty Images.)

Between 2010 and 2011, Matt Brown went 1-4 in the octagon, with all of those losses coming via second round submission. Although not one member of the MMA media dared say it to his face, they had all but written him off as just another slightly above-average TUF alum who couldn’t hack it in the big leagues. “Get out of here!”  they’d shout once he had turned his back, “Why can’t you just go back to where you came from?

I don’t know if Brown wished upon a shooting star or sold his soul to the SKOAL Gods in return for Jax fists, but something amazing happened when he reemerged in 2012. Something…supernatural. Come to think of it, it was probably voodoo.

In the past two years, Matt Brown has gone 6-0 in the octagon with 5 TKOs. Five. Brown has fought like a man possessed (by voodoo), scoring wins over young guns (Jordan Mein), crafty veterans (Mike Swick), and previously undefeated hype machines (Stephen Thompson) alike. His last performance against Mike Pyle was, by definition, a flawless victory. Of all the career comebacks we witnessed in 2013, Brown’s was far-and-away the most impressive, if only because of the utter mediocrity that preceded it. In fact, of the nominees we listed in our “Most Unexpected Career Comebacks” roundtable last March, only Brown and Cub Swanson have managed to remain undefeated to this day. No, GSP *doesn’t* count, because he was defeated by both Johny Hendricks and old age.

What is the point of all this hyperbolic, redundant, and mostly fabricated backstory? Only that Brown has entered the prime of his career and is destroying whoever is placed before him with a combination of Zen-like tranquility and Pedro Lopez-like brutality. The dude is untouchable, “Immortal” you might even say (*crickets*). Like Bernie in Weekend at Bernie’s 2 when conga music is playing (which again, voodoo). And now that GSP has decided to step away from the sport, the UFC’s welterweight division has transformed from a grappler’s purgatory into a brawler’s paradise. Lawler vs. Hendricks will most likely be a slugfest for the ages, and when title fights are suddenly being decided by who can stand and trade leather the longest, Brown is as good a candidate as any to get that gold.

Until he done went and slipped his disc again, that is, forcing him out of his fight with Carlos Condit and the title shot that would’ve come after he won via murder. But rest assured, the year of The Rhino The California Kid “The Immortal” is coming. And that year is 2014.

Seth Falvo

Believe it or not, things are actually much worse for TNA Impact! Wrestling than they were merely two months ago when I first wrote about their sad state of affairs. As in, “holding shows in high school gymnasiums” worse. I firmly believe that 2014 will be the year that this company finally kicks the bucket, to the apathy of nearly every wrestling fan on the planet. And the wrestlers proudly featured in the company’s final pay-per-view main event when this happens? Don’t hold your breath waiting for one of them to be AJ Styles. Same goes with Jeff Jarrett. Ditto Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, and anyone else whose name was once synonymous with the company.

No, Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz will be the ones headlining TNA Impact! Wrestling’s final pay-per-view.

Yeah, I know how everyone this side of Parts Unknown rolled their eyes at Rampage and Tito’s appearances in TNA last year, but the company is losing so much money and has so few wrestlers left that I think Viacom sends these two once-strong pay-per-view draws back to TNA Impact! Wrestling as a last-ditch effort to find people willing to buy a TNA pay-per-view. Sure, even the most brain-dead among us *looks directly at Jared…who is holding up a mirror. Well played.* can see the holes in this logic, but desperate times call for desperate measures; this is especially true when you consider that Viacom brought in Rampage and Tito to headline a pay-per-view in the first place. This will obviously end badly — even for a company that considers 50,000 buys a smashing success — leading TNA Impact! to close its doors shortly afterwards.

Sure, the idea of Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz headlining the final TNA Impact! Wrestling pay-per-view is completely ludicrous, but if you expect anything different from Dixie Carter, you’ve clearly never actually watched one of her company’s shows. Oh how I envy your ignorance.

And finally, here’s Doug “ReX13″ Richardson to wrap things up.

Frustrated by dwindling PPV buys, Dana White starts hinting at “big fucking changes, like, huge” coming to Fox. Speculation abounds.

Zuffa announces that it is resurrecting Strikeforce for a new weekly primetime show on FS1. In a stunning move, Scott Coker returns to captain the ship, and “Wednesday Night Strikeforce” is born. His decision to include occasional kickboxing bouts in the broadcasts is hailed as visionary, as “WNS” quickly outstrips viewership numbers from the TUF lead-in. Meanwhile, UFC PPV cards are cut back to eight per year, and buy rates promptly skyrocket.

Coker leads the fight for better pay of fighters, proposing a tiered salary system that guarantees a minimum $48K to fighters under the Strikeforce banner. He suggests a format change to the now-ubiquitous Ultimate Fighter program, which now sports no less than eight spinoffs across the world. His idea, a weekly interview and highlight show recounting the various incarnations of TUF worldwide, is embraced by the blogosphere, but roundly rejected by White, as is the salary gambit.

Tensions between Coker and White continue to mount for the remainder of 2014. In December, Dana White and Scott Coker both start hinting at “big fucking changes, like, huge” coming to Zuffa. Speculation abounds.

Have your own “crazy enough to be true” predictions for 2014? You know what to do.

You Might Want to Stay Away from the UFC Fight Pass for a While (Oh Yeah, the UFC Had a Card This Morning Too)


(The UFC, where tapping out doesn’t matter, like the points in “Whose Line is It Anyway?” / Photo Via Getty)

Like communism, the UFC Fight Pass sounds amazing on paper.

For $10/month, not only do you get to see a bunch of overseas cards not aired in the United States, you get access to the UFC’s entire video library—which includes fights from the WEC and Pride, as well as episodes from TUF.

It wouldn’t have been a bad deal if the UFC’s execution hadn’t been lacking in all departments.

FightOpinion, a firebrand MMA website that has recently earned the ire of Dana White, extensively covered the UFC Fight Pass, and not the fluff coverage the paid for media often provides for anything Zuffa-owned. If you want the dirt on the UFC Fight Pass, FightOpinion has the shovel. They ran three articles on the star-crossed streaming service. You should read each one.

Here’s what they concluded:

-The UFC Fight Pass isn’t worth the money, especially when you consider that you have to pay for 13 PPVs throughout the year as well. It costs over $700 a year to be a UFC fan.

-The UFC Fight Pass doesn’t even work from a promotional point of view; the pay wall ensures that the fighters who need exposure most won’t get it.

-The UFC Fight Pass pales in comparison to the WWE’s digital network, a sentiment we share.

-The UFC Fight Pass is lacking a plethora of features that are standard issue on other digital streaming networks (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, etc). It’s also in dire need of polish. An example they give is that searching for “UFC 1” will give you every single event starting with “UFC” and “1”, so you’ll get UFC 1, 10, 11…100, 101, etc.)

-The legalese in the UFC Fight Pass’ terms of use agreement is binding and horrific (although this isn’t unique to the UFC).

But FightOpinion wasn’t the only MMA Media outlet to have doubts about the UFC Fight Pass. MMA Mania’s Matt Roth went on a twitter rant against the service. Even worse, he says that the UFC charged him for watching fights on the Fight Pass—fights that your monthly $10 is purportedly granting you access to.

It’s clear that the Fight Pass is a half-finished cash grab that’s held together by duct tape. If you buy it in its current, faulty incarnation, you’re either a mark for the UFC or an MMA media member (though there’s a lot of crossover here). Stay away from the fight pass for a while longer. It’s not ready for public consumption.

However, that didn’t stop the UFC from airing its first card on the UFC Fight Pass: UFC Fight Night 34, an event that was held in Singapore this morning.

For the most part, there wasn’t a whole lot of game-changing stuff to happen on this event. We’ll give you a quick rundown with some GIFs (all courtesy of @ZProphet_MMA) and then the complete results:


(The UFC, where tapping out doesn’t matter, like the points in “Whose Line is It Anyway?” / Photo Via Getty)

Like communism, the UFC Fight Pass sounds amazing on paper.

For $10/month, not only do you get to see a bunch of overseas cards not aired in the United States, you get access to the UFC’s entire video library—which includes fights from the WEC and Pride, as well as episodes from TUF.

It wouldn’t have been a bad deal if the UFC’s execution hadn’t been lacking in all departments.

FightOpinion, a firebrand MMA website that has recently earned the ire of Dana White, extensively covered the UFC Fight Pass, and not the fluff coverage the paid for media often provides for anything Zuffa-owned. If you want the dirt on the UFC Fight Pass, FightOpinion has the shovel. They ran three articles on the star-crossed streaming service. You should read each one.

Here’s what they concluded:

-The UFC Fight Pass isn’t worth the money, especially when you consider that you have to pay for 13 PPVs throughout the year as well. It costs over $700 a year to be a UFC fan.

-The UFC Fight Pass doesn’t even work from a promotional point of view; the pay wall ensures that the fighters who need exposure most won’t get it.

-The UFC Fight Pass pales in comparison to the WWE’s digital network, a sentiment we share.

-The UFC Fight Pass is lacking a plethora of features that are standard issue on other digital streaming networks (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, etc). It’s also in dire need of polish. An example they give is that searching for “UFC 1″ will give you every single event starting with “UFC” and “1″, so you’ll get UFC 1, 10, 11…100, 101, etc.)

-The legalese in the UFC Fight Pass’ terms of use agreement is binding and horrific (although this isn’t unique to the UFC).

But FightOpinion wasn’t the only MMA Media outlet to have doubts about the UFC Fight Pass. MMA Mania’s Matt Roth went on a twitter rant against the service. Even worse, he says that the UFC charged him for watching fights on the Fight Pass—fights that your monthly $10 is purportedly granting you access to.

It’s clear that the Fight Pass is a half-finished cash grab that’s held together by duct tape. If you buy it in its current, faulty incarnation, you’re either a mark for the UFC or an MMA media member (though there’s a lot of crossover here). Stay away from the fight pass for a while longer. It’s not ready for public consumption.

However, that didn’t stop the UFC from airing its first card on the UFC Fight Pass: UFC Fight Night 34, an event that was held in Singapore this morning.

For the most part, there wasn’t a whole lot of game-changing stuff to happen on this event. We’ll give you a quick rundown with some GIFs (all courtesy of @ZProphet_MMA) and then the complete results:

22-year-old kickboxing ace Max Holloway, who recently suffered a loss to Conor McGregor, returned to the winning column on the prelims.

On the main card, Luiz Dutra received a DQ loss for illegal 12-6 elbows to the back of the head. More notably, he started crying afterwards. I wonder what Jimmy Dugan would have to say about that…

In the co-main event, famed Japanese fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri made a successful UFC debut, submitting Sean Soriano via rear naked choke in the second round—a submission where the referee literally missed the frantic tapout while he was standing right in front of the fighters.

The main event featured a fight between Tarec Saffiedine and Hyun Gyu Lim. By all accounts the fight was entertaining, but Saffiedine was clearly the better fighter. He made use of his signature leg kicks throughout the fight to cripple Lim, stymieing the Korean’s offensive efforts. Saffiedine walked away with a unanimous decision victory.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Tarec Saffiedine def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Sean Soriano via technical submission (rear naked choke), 0:50 of Round 2
Kiichi Kunimoto def. Luiz Dutra via DQ (illegal elbows), 2:57 of Round 1
Kyung-Ho Kang def. Shunichi Shimizu via submission (arm triangle), 3:53 of Round 3

Preliminary Card

Max Holloway def. Will Chope via TKO (punches), 2:27 of Round 2
Katsunori Kikuno def. Quinn Mulhern via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Royston Wee def. Dave Galera via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Mairbek Taisumov def. Tae Hyun Bang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dustin Kimura def. Jon Delos Reyes via submission (armbar), 2:13 of Round 1
Russell Doane def. Leandro Issa via technical submission (triangle), 4:59 of Round 2

UFC 168: The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly


(After knocking out Josh Barnett, Travis Browne performed the Warmaster’s trademark throat-slashing victory gesture, which means that legally, he now owns Barnett’s soul for all eternity. / Photo via Getty.)

By Mark Dorsey

Featuring an eagerly awaited rematch between the greatest middleweight of all time and the undefeated phenom who took his belt, UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 was one of the most anticipated UFC cards of 2013. Thankfully, the highly entertaining main card did not disappoint. Showcasing great performances, unsportsmanlike conduct, leg-snapping horror, and a fart heard around the world, UFC 168 left us no shortage of things to talk about. Here’s our clear-eyed look at what went down on Saturday night.

The Good

• With the state of WMMA still burgeoning, the co-main event of Ronda Rousey vs. Meisha Tate was an important fight for solidifying Women’s Bantamweight as a legitimate and financially viable division for the UFC. Thanks to the highly publicized rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, the UFC’s two biggest female stars had a high-profile PPV stage to showcase their skills. Thankfully, for the UFC and the fans, Rousey and Tate did not disappoint. Rousey put on a dominating performance and capped it off with a third-round submission victory. The best part? Tate made the fight competitive.

“Cupcake” managed to last three rounds and in the process took Rousey down, escaped multiple submission attempts, and threw some good upkicks from the bottom that had Ronda using caution. On the whole, Tate was outclassed by the better fighter but she showed that Rousey is not invincible — and that’s a good thing. Rousey is an incredible athlete but the UFC cannot base their entire WMMA venture on one fighter. They need contenders and they need the fans to believe that those contenders stand a legitimate chance of winning; otherwise, interest will wane quickly. Rousey looked great, but beatable. That’s exactly what needed to happen. With Sara McMann, Cat Zingano, and Alexis Davis all serving as reasonable challenges, the future of the women’s bantamweight division is looking bright.


(After knocking out Josh Barnett, Travis Browne performed the Warmaster’s trademark throat-slashing victory gesture, which means that legally, he now owns Barnett’s soul for all eternity. / Photo via Getty.)

By Mark Dorsey

Featuring an eagerly awaited rematch between the greatest middleweight of all time and the undefeated phenom who took his belt, UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 was one of the most anticipated UFC cards of 2013. Thankfully, the highly entertaining main card did not disappoint. Showcasing great performances, unsportsmanlike conduct, leg-snapping horror, and a fart heard around the world, UFC 168 left us no shortage of things to talk about. Here’s our clear-eyed look at what went down on Saturday night.

The Good

• With the state of WMMA still burgeoning, the co-main event of Ronda Rousey vs. Meisha Tate was an important fight for solidifying Women’s Bantamweight as a legitimate and financially viable division for the UFC. Thanks to the highly publicized rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, the UFC’s two biggest female stars had a high-profile PPV stage to showcase their skills. Thankfully, for the UFC and the fans, Rousey and Tate did not disappoint. Rousey put on a dominating performance and capped it off with a third-round submission victory. The best part? Tate made the fight competitive.

“Cupcake” managed to last three rounds and in the process took Rousey down, escaped multiple submission attempts, and threw some good upkicks from the bottom that had Ronda using caution. On the whole, Tate was outclassed by the better fighter but she showed that Rousey is not invincible — and that’s a good thing. Rousey is an incredible athlete but the UFC cannot base their entire WMMA venture on one fighter. They need contenders and they need the fans to believe that those contenders stand a legitimate chance of winning; otherwise, interest will wane quickly. Rousey looked great, but beatable. That’s exactly what needed to happen. With Sara McMann, Cat Zingano, and Alexis Davis all serving as reasonable challenges, the future of the women’s bantamweight division is looking bright.

• A lot was on the line for both Travis “Hapa” Browne and Josh Barnett at UFC 168, as the 5th and 6th ranked heavyweights, respectively, were risking their spots on the contender ladder. In August, Josh Barnett re-entered the UFC with an impressive first-round TKO victory over Frank Mir. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion and star in the PRIDE and Strikeforce organizations looked to be on the cusp of title contention with a win over Browne. However, Hapa quickly put those hopes to rest and showed who the true contender is.

With his quick, savage victory on Saturday, Browne secured his third Knockout of the Night bonus in as many fights — his other two KOs were against Alistair Overeem and Gabriel Gonzaga. Three knockouts over three high-quality opponents puts Browne right in the title mix and he seized the opportunity in the post-fight interview by calling out Fabricio Werdum. Champion Cain Velasquez is recovering from surgery and there’s no timeline on his return yet, so a match between Browne and Werdum makes perfect sense right now, and Browne’s ability to deal with Barnett’s wrestling shows that he stands a fighting chance against Velasquez in the future.

The Bad

• Ronda Rousey looked great on Saturday night, Judo-throwing Meisha Tate all over the Octagon before finishing her off with her eight-straight armbar submission victory in professional competition. However, following the finish, Ronda was unable to let bygones be bygones and refused to shake Tate’s hand. This certainly wasn’t the first time Ronda refused to shake Tate’s hand. In fact, Ronda garnered significant press coverage for her poor attitude on The Ultimate Fighter. However, Rousey supporters could at least justify her behavior on TUF as being part of the reality show hype. On Saturday night, Rousey definitively beat Tate for the second time, essentially finishing their rivalry for good. UFC 168 offered Ronda the opportunity to bury the hatchet and show a certain amount of sportsmanship. Of course, nobody expected Ronda to completely forgive and forget whatever anger she harbors towards Tate, but she should have at least shown Tate the respect she deserved as a fellow competitor — and man, did the fans let her know it.

Ronda’s attitude gets people talking, which means more PPV buys and big bucks for the UFC. Nevertheless, Ronda once again came across as petty, unsportsmanlike, and childish. Those aren’t adjectives usually associated with a UFC champion. Don’t expect Ronda’s style to change anytime soon, though. Ronda seems content to ignore the boos and bad press in order to “keep it real.” A rumored “talking to” by the UFC brass likely won’t change that either, although we’ll probably see a classier Ronda in the lead-up to her recently announced fight against Sara McMann since there is no blood between the two former Olympians.

• The first ever TUF Featherweight winner, Diego Brandao, came out of the TUF house with a lot of hype and promise in a stacked division. However, he also entered the Octagon with a reputation for being a loose cannon, following altercations with Steven Siler and Marcus Brimage in the TUF house. A lot of fans were able to overlook his brash attitude because of his exciting style and nasty knockouts. His TUF Finale fight earned him $80,000 in bonuses and he endeared himself to fans by saying he’d use the money to buy his mother a house.

At UFC 168, Brandao reminded everybody of how much of an asshole he really can be. If missing weight by over five pounds weren’t disrespectful enough, Brandao also apparently told opponent Dustin Poirier at the weigh-ins that he was going to stab him in the neck. Stay classy, Brandao. So when Poirier disposed of Brandao quickly with an impressive first-round TKO, it seemed like karma might be catching up to Brandao. Despite missing weight, threatening to kill his opponent and losing in brutal fashion, Brandao won’t be cut from the UFC. He’s a TUF winner, an exciting fighter, and apparently he only missed weight because of a car accident a couple of weeks ago. Also, according to Dana White, he has other personal issues going on. Hopefully, Brandao gets his life sorted out soon. The whole crazy asshole shtick only works when you’re winning.

The Ugly

• Enough press has already been given to Anderson Silva’s gruesome leg break so not much needs to be said here. However, the Corey Hill-esque injury was an ugly incident and not for the faint of heart. It was devastating to see the former champion carried off on a stretcher, screaming in agony. The UFC has released a statement that Silva underwent successful surgery and, astoundingly, that his recovery would only take up to six months. That means we could see Silva back in the Octagon within a year. I hope not. The aging Spider would be riding a two-fight losing streak and it is unlikely he would return as the dominant fighter he once was. I hope he heals quickly and enjoys his retirement. It may be the end of an era, but it was perhaps the greatest era in the young sport’s history and Silva would be smart to end things at the right time.

• On a lighter note, the fight between John Howard and Siyar Bahadurzada featured what was apparently an ugly-sounding fart from one of the fighters. During the second round, the fart, clearly audible on the broadcast, lit up social media and created a lot of speculation about who was responsible. Asked about it after the fight, Howard admitted that there was indeed a fart, but he didn’t want to take any responsibility for it. It’s hard to blame him. There’s a short list of fighters like Tim Sylvia and Kevin Randleman who have lost control of their bodily functions in the Octagon and it’s not a distinction most fighters are chasing.


(Props: JLadd. Click the sound on, obviously.)

The Most Important Lesson MMA Needs to Learn: Shooting Jesse James Doesn’t Make You Jesse James


(Photo via Getty)

The new guard’s success in the Octagon might not translate to success in the box office, much to the detriment of the UFC’s future.

There’s no doubt that in terms of skill, the new generation of fighters is superior. Chris Weidman beat Anderson Silva twice without ever being in danger. Jon Jones is ten times the fighter any previous light heavyweight champ ever was. The recently arrived era of fighters are to the previous era what the previous era was to old time greats like Mark Coleman. There’s a skill disparity; MMA has evolved.

However, just because the new breed has more aptitude, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have more drawing power. The old guard, through their battles on the early TUF seasons, Spike TV and various PPVs, brought the UFC from fringe-level oddity status (think FX Toughman or Slamball) to global sports powerhouse—complete with a network TV deal and a burgeoning international audience. The UFC’s current crew simply can’t carry the company into growth like this in 2014 and onward.

It’s no secret that the UFC’s numbers haven’t been stellar lately. Despite having more exposure than ever before, 2013’s ceiling is looking a bit like 2008/9’s floor.

Will the new faces be able to reverse the UFC’s decline in popularity? If not, will they at least be able to help the UFC tread water until the storm is weathered?

The lighter, male, weight classes won’t, for starters. It’s widely-known that they don’t draw well. MMA’s casual fan—the guy who does bench presses in the squat rack and needs skulls on everything he owns—hears 125-pounds and immediately (wrongly) thinks “Fuck watching a fighter I can throw through the wall.”

It’s too early to tell whether the new generation of greats from lightweight, welterweight, or middleweight, or even the females will produce a “future of the company”/”franchise athlete”/choose your buzzword.


(Photo via Getty)

The new guard’s success in the Octagon might not translate to success in the box office, much to the detriment of the UFC’s future.

There’s no doubt that in terms of skill, the new generation of fighters is superior. Chris Weidman beat Anderson Silva twice without ever being in danger. Jon Jones is ten times the fighter any previous light heavyweight champ ever was. The recently arrived era of fighters are to the previous era what the previous era was to old time greats like Mark Coleman. There’s a skill disparity; MMA has evolved.

However, just because the new breed has more aptitude, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have more drawing power. The old guard, through their battles on the early TUF seasons, Spike TV and various PPVs, brought the UFC from fringe-level oddity status (think FX Toughman or Slamball) to global sports powerhouse—complete with a network TV deal and a burgeoning international audience. The UFC’s current crew simply can’t carry the company into growth like this in 2014 and onward.

It’s no secret that the UFC’s numbers haven’t been stellar lately. Despite having more exposure than ever before, 2013′s ceiling is looking a bit like 2008/9′s floor.

Will the new faces be able to reverse the UFC’s decline in popularity? If not, will they at least be able to help the UFC tread water until the storm is weathered?

The lighter, male, weight classes won’t, for starters. It’s widely-known that they don’t draw well. MMA’s casual fan—the guy who does bench presses in the squat rack and needs skulls on everything he owns—hears 125-pounds and immediately (wrongly) thinks “Fuck watching a fighter I can throw through the wall.”

It’s too early to tell whether the new generation of greats from lightweight, welterweight, or middleweight, or even the females will produce a “future of the company”/”franchise athlete”/choose your buzzword.

Ronda Rousey has had more exposure than any UFC fighter in recent memory, but she stamped herself with an expiration date. It’s possible that the women’s strawweight division can help matters due to starlets like CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas and Felice Herrig. But we won’t know how much mainstream appeal women’s strawweight has until the division starts picking up steam in the UFC.

Only an estimated 270,000 (and all following PPV numbers are unofficial estimates via MMAPayout’s blue book) fans purchased Anthony Pettis‘ UFC 164 fight against Ben Henderson, a fighter that never moves the needle buyrate-wise, despite being promoted on FOX numerous times. To put this number into perspective, UFC 101— main-evented by BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian—received 850,000 buys. The next card Penn headlined, UFC 107, received 620,000. So far, there hasn’t been a draw at lightweight not named BJ Penn. Don’t write Pettis off yet though, since he has the demeanor and attitude of a champion, as well as an extremely fan-friendly fighting style.

Johny Hendricks vs. GSP garnered an estimated 630,000 buys—GSP’s lowest performing PPV since UFC 87 when he fought Jon Fitch. The jury is still out on what’ll happen with this division regarding star power and the various, equally viable contenders for the belt.

That brings us to middleweight. Weidman is now a legend-killer, the Guy Who Beat Silva.™ Weidman’s reputation and success against one of MMA’s greatest fighters might translate into massive PPV buys and superstar status. But it might not.

At light heavyweight, Jon Jones wasn’t the Mike Tyson-esque superstar we all hoped he’d be. Judging from the buys, fans only show tepid interest in Jones’ systematic, brutal dismantling of some of the world’s greatest fighters. On average, Jones draws approximately 500,000 buys per PPV. That’s respectable but the UFC can’t move forward on that. A rematch with Alexander Gustafsson likely would’ve drawn well, but the UFC nixed the idea. Instead, they opted to put Jones against Glover Teixeira and put Gustafsson in a fight agaisnt 14-0 prospect Jimi Manuwa.

Jones’ good but disappointing numbers are similar to those of Cain Velasquez, the UFC’s great Mexican hope. His fight against Brock Lesnar approached one million buys, but he was never able to capture that success against any other opponent. Case in point: The final fight in arguably the most important feud in heavyweight history—Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos—sold only 330,000 PPVs.

Despite burying the old guard in the dust, fans might not care about the Chris Weidmans and Anthony Pettis’s of the UFC once the novelty wears off. Fans don’t always adopt the victorious young lions as their new idols once the old ones have been vanquished. Fans follow their heroes, and when their heroes are made into men—human beings just as fallible and vulnerable to the vagaries of time and the human body as the rest of us—the fans stop caring. Shooting Jesse James doesn’t make you Jesse James.

Anderson Silva’s Horrific Leg Injury Robs Chris Weidman of Legend-Killer Status


(Weidman checks on the wounded Silva. / Photo via Getty)

Chris Weidman knocked Anderson Silva out cold at UFC 162, but it didn’t count because it was just a fluke—or at least a significant percentage of MMA fans wrote it off as one. Their logic: Silva got cocky and paid the price.

The UFC 168 rematch was supposed to be different. Weidman and Silva were supposed to give MMA the answers it wanted needed: Was UFC 162 just Weidman channeling coach Matt Serra’s predilection towards unlikely knockouts? Or was it truly the end of Silva’s time and the beginning of Weidman’s?

When Anderson Silva‘s foot turned to jello, these questions entered the ranks of MMA’s great counterfactuals and unsolved mysteries.

Before UFC 168 started, I had an article planned for each main-event outcome. In the case of a Chris Weidman victory, I was going to write about how defeating Silva a second time propelled him into living-legend status. Weidman would become the new Jon Jones—an insanely talented, legitimately clean-cut, polite fighter that the UFC can build the (near) future on.

I was going to claim I was ahead of the curve on the subject (though about a year off on my prediction), since I wrote about Weidman claiming the “Jon Jones” mantle back in 2012:

There will be the rise of a new “Jon Jones”—a nigh invincible superhero—in 2012, and his name is Chris Weidman.

Just as the current UFC light heavyweight champion ran through the ranks of his division and captured the title, middleweight Weidman is beginning to rack up impressive victories. In 2012, Weidman will finally earn the recognition among MMA fans and pundits that he deserves; he will become the “Jon Jones” of the middleweight division.

… 

Because of his youth, skill set and training camp, he will dominate the middleweight division and become the 185-pound Jon Jones.

If Weidman smashed Silva decisively at UFC 168, such statements wouldn’t be hyperbolic. It’s a rare, special talent that can humble the greatest MMA fighter of all time twice in a row with only four years experience in the sport.

But Silva departed the cage on a stretcher because of a freak, Corey Hill-like leg injury, not because of a clean knockout or submission.

With this outcome, nobody wins. Find out why after the jump.


(Weidman checks on the wounded Silva. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Chris Weidman knocked Anderson Silva out cold at UFC 162, but it didn’t count because it was just a fluke—or at least a significant percentage of MMA fans wrote it off as one. Their logic: Silva got cocky and paid the price.

The UFC 168 rematch was supposed to be different. Weidman and Silva were supposed to give MMA the answers it wanted needed: Was UFC 162 just Weidman channeling coach Matt Serra’s predilection towards unlikely knockouts? Or was it truly the end of Silva’s time and the beginning of Weidman’s?

When Anderson Silva‘s foot turned to jello, these questions entered the ranks of MMA’s great counterfactuals and unsolved mysteries.

Before UFC 168 started, I had an article planned for each main-event outcome. In the case of a Chris Weidman victory, I was going to write about how defeating Silva a second time propelled him into living-legend status. Weidman would become the new Jon Jones—an insanely talented, legitimately clean-cut, polite fighter that the UFC can build the (near) future on.

I was going to claim I was ahead of the curve on the subject (though about a year off on my prediction), since I wrote about Weidman claiming the “Jon Jones” mantle back in 2012:

There will be the rise of a new “Jon Jones”—a nigh invincible superhero—in 2012, and his name is Chris Weidman.

Just as the current UFC light heavyweight champion ran through the ranks of his division and captured the title, middleweight Weidman is beginning to rack up impressive victories. In 2012, Weidman will finally earn the recognition among MMA fans and pundits that he deserves; he will become the “Jon Jones” of the middleweight division.

… 

Because of his youth, skill set and training camp, he will dominate the middleweight division and become the 185-pound Jon Jones.

If Weidman smashed Silva decisively at UFC 168, such statements wouldn’t be hyperbolic. It’s a rare, special talent that can humble the greatest MMA fighter of all time twice in a row with only four years experience in the sport.

But Silva departed the cage on a stretcher because of a freak, Corey Hill-like leg injury, not because of a clean knockout or submission.

With this outcome, nobody wins.

One of the UFC’s last well-known names is gone. At 38 years old, his career is almost definitely over after such a devastating injury.

Furthermore, Weidman’s reputation wasn’t able to benefit as much as it could’ve from this win. Earlier this week, I wrote about how Weidman winning was essential for the UFC’s future. But did Weidman really win?

Yes, he controlled and nearly finished Silva in the first round. However, there will always be an asterisk next to this victory. Weidman didn’t beat Silva, fans will say. A highly unlikely, devastating, tragic injury bested the GOAT (even though Weidman stated that checking Silva’s leg kick with his knee was an intentional technique and not dumb luck). Winning in such a fashion robbed Weidman of borderline deific status.

Instead of becoming a legend-killer and potential star after UFC 168, Weidman will become something less enviable. Fans will view him as merely a benefactor of circumstances. He didn’t beat Silva the first time because Silva didn’t take him seriously. And he didn’t beat Silva the second time because Silva got hurt.

Weidman, despite incredible abilities and 12 lbs. of gold, did not steal Anderson Silva’s thunder at UFC 168. He became a victim of it, and always will be. His reign as middleweight champion will forever be haunted by one question: Was he really a better fighter than Anderson Silva?

We’ll never know.

The UFC’s Future Depends on Anderson Silva Losing to Chris Weidman


(Photo via Getty.)

By Matt Saccaro

This is one of those articles where you actually have to read what I say before you bash me in the comments.

It has become fashionable to criticize the UFC because of the declining numbers and questionable business decisions. The main point of the decline of the UFC ™ argument is the lack of stars present on the UFC’s roster. Georges St-Pierre is gone, and there’s no Brock Lesnar (who’s definitely *not* coming back, BTW), Kimbo Slice or other massive promotional powerhouse to fill in the gap. Even worse, Anderson Silva‘s resplendently shining star was irrevocably dimmed by Chris Weidman via brutal (and somewhat hilarious) knockout.

If you subscribe to this narrative, UFC 168 represents a chance for the UFC to slow their decline. If Silva prevails, the UFC has a bankable champion again; the crisis of the UFC’s future isn’t averted per se but at least it’s delayed.

This is the wrong way to look at it.

First, Anderson Silva is 38 years old. Despite his ten-fight deal, he likely won’t be around much longer. Even if he does stay for a while, he won’t be the same fighter. UFC 162 taught us that. Silva was just a 1/2 second too slow against Weidman. How much slower will he be a year from now? Two years from now?


(Photo via Getty.)

By Matt Saccaro

This is one of those articles where you actually have to read what I say before you bash me in the comments.

It has become fashionable to criticize the UFC because of the declining numbers and questionable business decisions. The main point of the decline of the UFC ™ argument is the lack of stars present on the UFC’s roster. Georges St-Pierre is gone, and there’s no Brock Lesnar (who’s definitely *not* coming back, BTW), Kimbo Slice or other massive promotional powerhouse to fill in the gap. Even worse, Anderson Silva‘s resplendently shining star was irrevocably dimmed by Chris Weidman via brutal (and somewhat hilarious) knockout.

If you subscribe to this narrative, UFC 168 represents a chance for the UFC to slow their decline. If Silva prevails, the UFC has a bankable champion again; the crisis of the UFC’s future isn’t averted per se but at least it’s delayed.

This is the wrong way to look at it.

First, Anderson Silva is 38 years old. Despite his ten-fight deal, he likely won’t be around much longer. Even if he does stay for a while, he won’t be the same fighter. UFC 162 taught us that. Silva was just a 1/2 second too slow against Weidman. How much slower will he be a year from now? Two years from now?

If Silva continues, we won’t be getting the real-life Neo we’re used to. We’ll be getting a watered-down, dilatory, depressing Anderson Silva—a 2009 Chuck Liddell-esque Silva that makes us want to give the Brazilian a cup of coffee and a hug rather than our pay-per-view dollars. “Remember how great Silva used to be?” will replace “Holy shit! Did you just see what Silva did?” throughout bars and dens across the world.

Second, Silva isn’t a great draw. PPVs where he fought anyone not named Chael Sonnen have only performed above average at best.

Excluding his two fights against Sonnen (UFC 117 and UFC 148), Silva didn’t bring in jaw-dropping numbers. Over the last three years, he’s garnered an average of just over 400,000 PPV buys each time he headlined a card. Silva needs the right opponent to draw. Silva-Weidman II will draw well because of the rematch angle, but the initial fight only drew 550,000 buys—respectable but not a “this guy is a superstar” level of success. It’s doubtful the UFC will find a new, profitable rival for Silva in the tired crop of “I respect him, he’s a great opponent” fighters.

The UFC wins if Silva loses. They gain a new, younger champion to promote in Chris Weidman. They’re also getting their middleweight division back. What was once a predictable slaughterhouse will now be the wild west—a lawless weight class in which a multitude of gunslingers have a chance at the title. It’ll be a division where nothing is a given; number one contender fights will actually matter and predicting who will hold the belt in a year will be challenging.

Conversely, the UFC loses if Silva wins. A triumphant Silva is a victory for a past-its-prime generation of competitors. A generation that, like a price sticker on a picture frame, refuses to be peeled away so that the beauty underneath can be seen. A Silva victory means the UFC can continue relying on its fading past, while Weidman winning forces the UFC to build its future.