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Gather around, fight fans, as UFC 134: Rio is almost upon us. Featured in this spectacular card is a title rematch between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, another rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and a generationa…
Gather around, fight fans, as UFC 134: Rio is almost upon us.
Featured in this spectacular card is a title rematch between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, another rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and a generational battle between MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and rising superstar Brendan Schaub.
So how will this card event play out? Let’s take a look at all the main card bouts and pick out some winners, shall we?
Let me start off by saying that I have the utmost respect for every fighter to compete in combat sports such as boxing, MMA, kickboxing and many others.These sports require an unfathomable amount of discipline and technique, and those that compete in s…
Let me start off by saying that I have the utmost respect for every fighter to compete in combat sports such as boxing, MMA, kickboxing and many others.
These sports require an unfathomable amount of discipline and technique, and those that compete in such sports deserve respect for putting their health at risk, every time they compete.
MMA is a fairly young sport, and in the short time it has been around, we the fans have seen many different types of performances. We have seen fighters who have entertained, excited, bored and even disgusted the fans with their performances.
We have also seen fighters put out performances that are just pathetic.
The fighters that appear on this list are here for various reasons. Some are here for being dirty fighters or for getting humiliated for not even fighting in a dignified manner, and many more reasons.
Their performances are not what one would expect to see when watching an MMA fight and are deemed pathetic by the unforgiving, MMA community.
So without further ado, these are the 20 Most Pathetic Performances in MMA History.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Light HeavyweightsJon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jone…
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Light Heavyweights
Jon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jones’ title? Is it Shogun Rua, the previous champion? Is it Rashad Evans, who beat Jackson? Is it Lyoto Machida, who beat Evans? Is it Dan Henderson, who ran through the Strikeforce light heavyweight division and then beat an opponent who outweighed him by 16 pounds in Fedor Emelianenko?
Good arguments can be made for any of them. So who do I have at No. 2? Find out below.
Top 10 Light Heavyweights in MMA
(Editor’s note: The fighter’s ranking the last time we did light heavyweights are in parentheses).
1. Jon Jones (1): Jones was in Denver on July 19, his 24th birthday, for a press conference promoting his upcoming fight with Rampage Jackson. Jones said several times that now that he’s 24 he doesn’t think anyone should call him young anymore, but the reality is that Jones is both the best fighter in the division and the youngest in the Top 10. His age is an important part of why people are so excited about what he can do: He could be a long-reigning champion in a division that has seen a great deal of turnover at the top.
2. Rashad Evans (4): Evans’ impressive victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133 moves him back up to No. 2 in my book. Evans looked as good as he’s ever looked, and it was especially noteworthy that he looked physically stronger than he ever had before. The way he picked Ortiz up and slammed him down with a minute left in the first round was particularly impressive. Whether Jones or Jackson is the light heavyweight champion after their UFC 135 fight, Evans will be a very worthy opponent.
3. Shogun Rua (2): We’ll learn a lot about Shogun when he takes on Forrest Griffin at UFC 134. If Rua can avenge the loss to Griffin from four years ago and come out of the fight healthy, he’ll be in the mix (as Dana White likes to say) for a shot at the light heavyweight title some time in 2012. But Rua’s knees have given him so many problems that it’s hard not to wonder, even though he’s only 29, if he’s on the down side of his career.
4. Lyoto Machida (3): Machida’s decision to turn down a fight with Evans was a surprise, because Machida thoroughly whipped Evans when they fought two years ago. If Machida had accepted that fight and won, he’d probably be next in line for a title shot. Now he may be sidelined for an extended period of time, as most of the other top light heavyweights already have fights lined up.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): Jackson looked sluggish in his UFC 130 victory over Matt Hamill, and at age 33 he doesn’t seem to have the punching power he once had: In the last four years, Rampage has fought 23 rounds inside the Octagon, and other than his knockout of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92, he’s never been particularly close to finishing anybody. If we’re going to see an upset of Jon Jones at UFC 135, we’re going to have to see a much better Rampage than we’ve seen recently.
6. Dan Henderson (6): Henderson is the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, but his impressive win over Fedor Emelianenko was probably his last fight in Strikeforce: His return to the Octagon is likely coming soon. Machida would be a good opponent for him in his UFC return.
7. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin will have a great chance to move up in the rankings when he takes on Shogun Rua at UFC 134. A win over Rua, whom Griffin has already beaten once, would vault Griffin into the Top 5 and probably put him only another win away from another shot at the light heavyweight title.
8. Phil Davis (8): A knee injury forced the 9-0 Davis to pull out of his scheduled UFC 133 fight with Evans, and there’s no word yet on when he’ll return to the Octagon. With five UFC wins in less than 14 months from February of 2010 to March of 2011, Davis had been building up a lot of momentum that this injury slowed down. But he’ll be back and quite likely fighting for the light heavyweight title by the end of 2012.
9. Thiago Silva (9): Silva is currently serving a one-year suspension for using a banned substance and cheating on his UFC 125 drug test. Some will drop him from the rankings for that, but Silva’s record (14-2 with 11 wins by knockout, two wins by submission and losses only to Evans and Machida) is strong enough that I don’t think you can put together a list of the Top 10 light heavyweights without him.
10. Rafael Cavalcante (10): The former Strikeforce champion, Feijao will face a largely untested opponent, the 4-0 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Yoel Romero, in his return to the cage on September 10.
What a difference a year can make.
At this time last year, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was crowned the UFC light heavyweight champion following a knockout victory over Lyoto Machida. However, his reign was cut short in part to Jon Jones, in a bout that…
What a difference a year can make.
At this time last year, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was crowned the UFC light heavyweight champion following a knockout victory over Lyoto Machida. However, his reign was cut short in part to Jon Jones, in a bout that saw the 23-year-old dominate Rua like never before and reclaim the title at UFC 128.
Now, at 29 years old, Rua will begin his path back to the title and face familiar foe Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Brazil. Griffin and Rua previously met at UFC 76 where the former UFC light heavyweight champion was fed to the Brazilian, who was making his debut for the organization. Griffin did the unthinkable and defeated Rua via submission in the third round, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
Much like his title bout against Jones, Rua entered his bout with Girffin coming off an injury, resulting in a poor performance out of the Brazilian. However it has continued to be a recurring theme throughout his tenure in the UFC and it certainly questions his longevity in the sport.
Even more so, the fact that Rua has sustained injuries at an age where most athletes are in their physical prime hinders his chances of being seen as a credible and legitimate contender for the light heavyweight crown ever again.
Recently, Rua made some necessary changes to his training camp and reunited with former Chute Boxe coach, Rafael Cordeiro, in hopes of rekindling his aggressive style that brought him success while competing in Pride FC. Obviously it is a step in the right direction and is a valuable asset to utilize against an opponent like Griffin.
Griffin has evolved since the last time him and Rua squared off in 2007, but still has a tendency to brawl every now and again. Rua will bring that aggressive style with him to look for the knockout.
Adjusting accordingly to his camp and competing in front a pro-Brazilian crowd, makes Rua the odds-on favourite to defeat Griffin. But it also puts pressure on Rua to perform well, especially against an opponent who already holds a victory over him. Also, he won’t have a long layoff to deal with and should be injury-free heading into his bout with Griffin, so anything but a victory would be considered a disappointment.
Rua has all the tools and potential to regain the light heavyweight title someday, but at this stage in his career, it is doubtful to ever see him compete at 100 percent again. However with the motivation to earn a victory over Griffin, Rua should perform better this time around.
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A sense of humor isn’t mandatory to be a mixed martial artist, but it sure doesn’t hurt.Fans tend to like fighters with a good sense of humor, and fighters who the fans like are more likely to keep their jobs.After all, the UFC and other MMA organizati…
A sense of humor isn’t mandatory to be a mixed martial artist, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
Fans tend to like fighters with a good sense of humor, and fighters who the fans like are more likely to keep their jobs.
After all, the UFC and other MMA organizations are all businesses, and fighters who can give good interviews and crack jokes help sell fights.
Let’s take a look at MMA’s funniest fighters…
Note: Humor is subjective and therefore the fighters on this list are not ranked in any particular order.
Tito Ortiz was one of the most feared men in the UFC.He was the champion of the UFC’s most talked about division at the time and perhaps even till this day—light heavyweight—and was not only the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” but was the bad bo…
Tito Ortiz was one of the most feared men in the UFC.
He was the champion of the UFC’s most talked about division at the time and perhaps even till this day—light heavyweight—and was not only the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” but was the bad boy of mixed martial arts as well.
However, those days have long since passed.
Ortiz is now winless since 2006 and hasn’t finished an opponent not named Ken Shamrock since Elvis Sinosic—who was 4-3-1 at the time and is 8-11-2 now—in 2001. Ortiz’s last victory was a controversial split decision to Forrest Griffin which Griffin managed to avenge.
These reasons, combined with the numerous personal and legal problems Ortiz has had recently, make the former light heavyweight’s reputation a tarnished one.
If Tito Ortiz defeats Ryan “Darth” Bader at UFC 132 will that help the former champ regain his lost luster?
Defeating Bader would help, but would still not absolve Ortiz of all his sins (be they in or out of the Octagon).
Defeating Bader would, at the very least, give Ortiz an opportunity to retire on a high note.
He would have snapped his five-fight winless streak (winless but not a losing streak; of his last five fights, four were losses and one was a draw) and would have had the satisfaction of beating one of the young up-and-comers at light heavyweight.
His hypothetical return to form may even help him get a chance to avenge losses (or a draw) should Ortiz choose not to retire and should certain fighters—namely Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans—lose their upcoming bouts.
Beating Bader will enable Ortiz to retire with dignity or to continue his career as at least a somewhat relevant fighter. However, even if Ortiz is victorious at UFC 132, he will still not be able to rid his reputation and his legacy of certain stigmas.
Therefore, Tito Ortiz defeating Ryan Bader demonstrates that Ortiz at 36 years of age has not become like his contemporaries Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock but this will only go so far since Ortiz himself will only go so far at 36.
At the end of the day, what Ortiz has done in the Octagon already speaks for itself, what happens at UFC 132 notwithstanding.
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