MMA is a unique sport in which sometimes the most entertaining fights happen between two combatants that none of us have ever heard of. Sometimes it’s these fighters who are dead set on making a name for themselves and they lay it all on the …
MMA is a unique sport in which sometimes the most entertaining fights happen between two combatants that none of us have ever heard of. Sometimes it’s these fighters who are dead set on making a name for themselves and they lay it all on the line when they step in the cage.
But at the end of the day, like any combative sport, we pay to see the top fighters in the world.
While the UFC is generally considered the top organization, with Zuffa now owning both the UFC and Strikeforce, Dana White has presented the idea of having fighters from each organization fight one another. This would truly settle the question of who the best really is.
Still, as we saw with Shane Carwin’s odd matchup against Jon Olav Einemo, Joe Silva and the decision-makers in the UFC don’t always give us the fights we want to see.
Here are 11 fights we want to see in 2011, but won’t.
As promised here is part II of the fights I believe have the most importance attached to them and should prove to be highly exciting. In the first segment I went over the bouts starting at UFC 130 this month and going through UFC 132 which takes p…
As promised here is part II of the fights I believe have the most importance attached to them and should prove to be highly exciting. In the first segment I went over the bouts starting at UFC 130 this month and going through UFC 132 which takes place in early July.
Starting with UFC 133 I will go over the top 10 bouts that will take place in the late summer/early fall period. As with anything that is planned out so many months ahead, things happen and fighters get injured, but the UFC has always been pretty good about finding suitable replacements.
UFC 134 also known as UFC: Rio has a handful of bouts that will get the fans extremely excited and ready for the fall months. So even though it will be time to say goodbye to summer, it will also be time to look forward to even more great fights. I will take a look and see what Strikeforce has planned as well.
The Chicagoland area hosts Strikeforce on Showtime July 30 as Fedor Emelianenko attempts to put the first back-to-back losses of his career behind him with a win over Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson in a heavyweight main event attr…
The Chicagoland area hosts Strikeforce on Showtime July 30 as Fedor Emelianenko attempts to put the first back-to-back losses of his career behind him with a win over Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson in a heavyweight main event attraction. No gold will be up for grabs, but few, if any, mixed martial arts bouts have ever occurred with such legacy on the line. Here are five reasons this summer showdown stands to be fight of the year.
1) All-Time Greats
Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson are Sports Illustrated No. 1 and No. 4 pound-for-pound fighters of the last decade respectively.
Henderson is currently wearing a belt. Emelianenko, who achieved his status in the sport by going virtually undefeated for the decade, has dropped back-to-back fights for the first time in his career. The defeats have diminished the invincible aura surrounding the stoic Russian yet the 34-year-old has room to bounce back—a courtesy typically extended to fighters that Emelianenko hasn’t received because his controversial career reached such mythic proportions running its course entirely outside the Octagon. “The Last Emperor” is still capable of doing what kept him strictly the win column for a decade and Henderson is a perfect opponent to demonstrate that—win or lose.
Only a handful of fighters can rival the names, accolades and abilities possessed by Emelianenko and Henderson. Outside of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva meeting Emelianenko, this is the greatest pound-for-pound contest available in MMA today.
2) Open-Weight Nostalgia
Fedor Emelianenko reigned over PRIDE as the heavyweight champion until its end, while Dan Henderson held the 183-pound title before closing out his PRIDE career by dethroning 205-pound titleholder Wanderlei Silva in the Japanese organization’s penultimate event. Open-weight grand prix tournaments were a staple of PRIDE, and had the organization continued business as usual, it’s not out of the question the Russian and American champions would have stood across from one another in the ring.
The sport’s changing landscape has placed limitations on the ways to subvert weight classes. A fighter like Henderson though will always find a way to implement his anytime, anywhere mindset. In accepting a bout with the most decorated heavyweight in MMA history, the Team Quest founder can as a natural middleweight, pull off a colossal feat. The fact that “Dangerous” Dan Henderson has been successful at heavyweight before or that his power is enough to stop a massive Rafael Cavalcante cold won’t be considered for Emelianenko if he drops his third consecutive contest.
Open-weight means high stakes.
3) Strikeforce’s Best Fight of All-Time
Strikeforce has featured excellent fights of over the years, but none as significant or compelling as Fedor Emelianenko versus Dan Henderson.
Emelianenko’s defeats to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva were anti-climatic considering the depth of his accomplishments. That was largely due to undersold opponents, something Dan Henderson can never be. Both combatants came to Strikeforce as high-profile free agent signings, only to be met with an immediate issue of worthy competition. Against each other, they have a stern test and a paramount fight in their revered careers.
4) Excellent Style Match Up
Dan Henderson’s Olympic-level wrestling can be stifling, but it’s usually employed to set up the “H-Bomb” right hand. The in-and-out, looping punches of a heavyweight opponent six-years younger may cause trouble for the former Arizona State Sun Devil’s straight-forward, one-punch style, but Henderson’s ring generalship and resilience will push him to be the first man to knock out Emelianenko.
A sambo master, Emelianenko has a strong base that applies his explosive hip movement into all facets of MMA: striking, clinching and grappling. Seeking out stand-up coaching in Holland, he appears refocused on training and winning after back-to-back losses diminished the negotiating powers his team loves to exercise. Being an undersized heavyweight—what plagued his last performance—won’t be an issue as Henderson moves up for the challenge.
5) Free Agency
This is the last fight on Dan Henderson’s current contract. With potential big money fights against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and a rematch with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva in the back of his mind, the 40-year-old knows when to step it up (see his knockout of Michael Bisping for his last contract fight). Defeating Emelianenko would raise Henderson’s stock to the heights it reached as a two-division belt holder in 2007 after blasting Wanderlei Silva, if not surpass it.
Emelianenko needs to be impressive and competitive for his longevity, for his negotiating leverage and for his legacy. Like he said after submitting to Werdum, it’s how a champion stands back up after falling. This is his (second) chance.
There are no Strikeforce-like alternative organizations for Henderson or Emelianeko in MMA anymore, so undeniable performances are integral if they want to arrive in the UFC in style and/or ride out of Strikeforce on a high note.
Danny Acosta is the lead writer at FIGHT! Magazine. Follow him on twitter.com/acostaislegend
Bleacher Report’s Tony Preston:ate Diaz suffered a unanimous decision loss to Rory McDonald this past Saturday at UFC 129. His second straight loss in the welterweight division. Now it seems that Diaz plans to return to the lightweight d…
Bleacher Report’s Tony Preston:
ate Diaz suffered a unanimous decision loss to Rory McDonald this past Saturday at UFC 129. His second straight loss in the welterweight division. Now it seems that Diaz plans to return to the lightweight division.
According to a report from MMA Mania, Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, says “Nate Diaz didn’t look too good. I’m gonna be the first one to say it. He looked lethargic out there and he’s been asking me to go back to 155 for some time now. Frankie Edgar is the champion over there and he’s the student of a good friend of mine. Nathan was one of the contenders at 155 so we brought him up to 170 but it looks like we’ll probably bring him back down to 155 where he belongs.”
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:Since his highlight reel knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida has been dubbed the “Karate Kid.” The Brazilian’s style is so unique and complex, as he combines different styles into his arsenal, …
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:
Since his highlight reel knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida has been dubbed the “Karate Kid.”
The Brazilian’s style is so unique and complex, as he combines different styles into his arsenal, along with his elusive speed and footwork, including Shotokan karate, Sumo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.
To put into perspective just how lethal Machida’s flying crane kick was, look no further than former Brazilian karate coach, Geraldo de Paula, who said that the kick Machida used is very hard to land.
“That was a perfect move. For those who know karate well, it is the most difficult attack to land. For those who know less, it’s fatal. Nobody is expecting a front kick like that, a front punch is more common,” de Paula said to UOL Esportes, courtesy of FightersOnlyMagazine.
Bleacher Report’s Dana Becker:Despite the loss of a light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, the card for Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC 133 lineup is beginning to look stacked from top to bottom.According to mmajunkie…
Bleacher Report’s Dana Becker:
Despite the loss of a light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, the card for Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC 133 lineup is beginning to look stacked from top to bottom.
According to mmajunkie.com, UFC executives have made it official for welterweight contenders Mike Pierce and Johny Hendricks to meet inside the Wells Fargo Center on August 6. The fight is expected to be part of the pay-per-view lineup.
Hendricks (10-1), a two-time NCAA Div. I national wrestling champion while at Oklahoma State University, rebounded from his first career defeat at the hands of Rick Story with a violent first round technical knockout of T.J. Waldburger.
All ten of Hendricks’ victories have come by knockout.
Pierce (12-3) earned his third straight win with a TKO over Kenny Robertson in the first round. Over his last ten fights, Pierce is 9-1, with the lone loss coming at the hands of top contender Jon Fitch in 2009.
