Perhaps the insane weight-cutting has finally gotten to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. We learned today that the world’s largest welterweight will be taking a step that few fighters do in today’s MMA by actually moving up in weight t…
Perhaps the insane weight-cutting has finally gotten to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. We learned today that the world’s largest welterweight will be taking a step that few fighters do in today’s MMA by actually moving up in weight to join the UFC’s 185-pound middleweight division.
Johnson, who recently knocked out Charlie Brenneman on Oct. 1, is well-known for making one of the most dramatic weight-cuts in the sport as he starts as high as 225-pounds, leaving him with a 55-pound drop down to the 170-pound welterweight division.
Some have questioned the health aspects of making this kind of dramatic weight-cut prior to competing in such an intense sport, something which he and his camp have addressed in the past.
Now it appears that they have made the decision that their fighter would be better suited to compete at 185, where he will still be one of the largest athletes in the division.
There are quite a few other fighters who have moved down in weight classes in the past in order to take advantage of their larger physiques, but Johnson is going in the opposite direction. He shouldn’t be alone, either. In fact, there are quite a few MMA fighters right now who should seriously consider a move up in weight classes.
In this slideshow, we’ll take a look at seven current fighters who should join Anthony Johnson in moving up a weight class.
Gee… It was just recently we learned of Anderson Silva‘s disapproval over his manager, Ed Soares publicly dismissing Chael Sonnen as a deserving title-challenger. Soares said, Silva should be fighting other contenders, since Sonnen has.
Gee… It was just recently we learned of Anderson Silva‘s disapproval over his manager, Ed Soares publicly dismissing Chael Sonnen as a deserving title-challenger. Soares said, Silva should be fighting other contenders, since Sonnen has already tapped on him once and tested positive for steroids. Soares also added Silva only has about 4 fights left in his career. Silva remarked on Soares to Brazilian Televison show, Tela Nitida by saying:
“His position was not good, was not cool, as a manager he needed to have a more professional attitude. He was not professional and I don’t know why… I think it was not cool. But everyone knows what’s best, he is a grown man and he is going to deal with the backlash of what he did.”
Silva then offered a thinly veiled threat to Soares regarding contractual obligations:
“First thing is that nobody can talk for me except myself. Second is that I don’t have a contract with anybody, except with Nine9 and my sponsors, so anything can happen.”
Yet despite the fact that one very high profile top MMA fighter boldly denounced his manager speaking out on his behalf, Cesar Gracie, the longtime manager and coach for Nick Diaz decided to throw some insults toward Georges St. Pierre and call him “little star guy”. Gracie told Sherdog:
“You can’t pull a guy off a card and then bring him back on: ‘Oh, he’s not good enough to fight. We pulled him out of the card. He can’t be in the main event. Yeah, here you go. Oh, wait a minute, guess what happened? Our little star guy over here, his knee hurts. Oh my God, we need Nick Diaz. Let’s put him back in the main event.’ Everybody wants to see that fight. He delivers. Well, little star guy didn’t fight and Nick Diaz did, but they pulled a lot of money from Nick’s purse because it wasn’t structured for him to make as much if it wasn’t GSP, even though he was the main event now and put the people in the seats. Nick Diaz saved that card. OK? That’s what people need to remember when they talk about responsibility, is that he showed up, hamstring injury, knee injury, whatever. He had the same thing. He’s the guy that showed up. He’s the guy that fought his heart out, him and B.J. Penn. They put on a show. They’re two great warriors. They saved the UFC that night.”
But it wasn’t too long ago, when Gracie spoke a different tune out of frustration when Diaz was a no-show to the Las Vegas UFC 137 pre-fight press conference which resulted in Diaz being pulled from the title-fight. Gracie told MMAFighting.com:
There’s a lot of hard workers I see that have trouble putting food on the table for their kids,. I’ve stuck up for Nick a lot, but I can’t stick up for him on this one. I would have driven him to Vegas if it came to that. I don’t care. He just turned his phone off and acted like a little kid. It just doesn’t cut it.”
Hey for that statement, you can’t blame Gracie for speaking out of heartfelt discouragement at the time. Is it okay then for Gracie to do an about-turn by taking all blame off Nick for problems that occurred with the UFC 137 card after-the-fact and call Nick the savior? If your intentions are in the right place, it’s only right to stick up for your guy. But let’s hope as Nick Diaz’s star is rising that Gracie stays grounded.
No fighter needs all the controversy within their own entourage when they only have few years to make their money and their mark. Besides, last I checked Diaz and Silva do pretty well when speaking for themselves, Nick earned himself a title-shot and Anderson pocketed some sweet Twitter cash. So let’s cross our fingers for Gracie’s sake, he doesn’t lose sight of how he was initially disappointed in Nick. Let’s put some faith in him, he isn’t caught smiling with GSP anytime soon [see picture of Soares and Sonnen above]. Let’s believe he’s in a more committed relationship with Diaz than that of Soares and Silva. And then, let’s really get down on our knees and pray for our sake, the managers stick to business behind-the-scenes, and we get to hear more from the fighters.
Despite his comments directed at Georges St-Pierre following his win over BJ Penn at UFC 137, Nick Diaz has no hard feelings towards the UFC welterweight champion. Diaz called out St-Pierre immediately after his victory, accusing the champion of f…
Despite his comments directed at Georges St-Pierre following his win over BJ Penn at UFC 137, Nick Diaz has no hard feelings towards the UFC welterweight champion.
Diaz called out St-Pierre immediately after his victory, accusing the champion of faking his injury in order to avoid facing Diaz in the main event. Shortly after, St-Pierre reportedly asked UFC President Dana White for a matchup with Diaz on Super Bowl weekend in February next year.
However, Diaz retracted his earlier statement regarding St-Pierre and said he doesn’t hold animosity towards him. In fact, he sees the French-Canadian as a role model in the sport.
“I don’t have anything against Georges St-Pierre, I think he’s a great fighter. I think he’s a nice guy just like everybody else,” Diaz told Fightline.com. “He’s a great role model.”
The former Strikeforce welterweight champion’s post-fight comments really offended St-Pierre—but Diaz said it was the only way he could of earned his title bout with the champion. Although he put on an impressive performance, Diaz was simply not happy with himself.
During the post-fight press conference, Diaz became frustrated with the way he has been mistreated by the UFC. He blames the lack of guidance from his own camp as a result of the misrepresentation of his image.
Obviously, Diaz hopes to achieve the success and the top position that St-Pierre currently and rightfully holds.
“I would love to be that too, if I was in that position. I just, unfortunately, have never had that opportunity or the right people behind me to push me to be that type of fighter or that type of role model or what you’d like to see,” he said.
However, Diaz’s current anti-hero image has brought nothing but success for the 28-year-old and it will certainly bring him more attention and appeal as his potential title bout with the champion draws closer.
Contrary to what has been stated, Carlos did not step aside and allow this to happen, and would not just hand over an opportunity for him to achieve his greatest career goal, one that he has earned through his strong performances in the octagon. No option was given to him.
“Contrary to what has been stated, Carlos did not step aside and allow this to happen, and would not just hand over an opportunity for him to achieve his greatest career goal, one that he has earned through his strong performances in the octagon. No option was given to him.”
And once again, Dana White has left us standing in the road with our underpants pulled over our head, breathing in the dust trail of his BMW as he and all our friends laugh their way to Spring Break in Cancun. Though most of you probably knew this was the case, as the UFC has become known for its “bullshittery,” its contradicts DW’s own statements at the UFC 137 post fight press conference that Carlos had agreed to become the welterweight Rashad Evans for the time being.
And I gotta say, besides being a dick move, taking away Condit’s shot and handing it to Nick Diaz, WHO ALREADY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY AND SQUANDERED IT, only adheres to the growing belief that the UFC would rather promote WWE style grudge matches than legitimate contender fights.
Does Diaz deserve a title shot after his dismanlting of Penn? Sure, but simply pushing aside a legit contender in Condit, who originally took the fight to save the UFC’s ass as a result of Diaz’s actions, doesn’t exactly put forth the sentiment that putting your head down and working hard will get you far in the sport’s highest promotion. Instead, it sends the message that forming coherent sentences during post fight interviews not involving f-bombs and simply allowing Joe Silva to do his job will get you jack squat. If you want a title shot, try bad mouthing the champ, the promotion that is paying you, and throw in some bitching about your current living situation and inability to buy a home for fair measure. Makes sense, right?
Now, before you lash out with cries of “It was Diaz’s title shot to begin with,” ask yourself this: Is this really the direction you want to see the UFC heading in? Maybe the words of Triple H are having a more resounding impact that we could have ever imagined.
Georges St-Pierre, the reigning UFC welterweight champion, is lauded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, and for good reason.The welterweight great has displayed a run of dominance in his division that harkens back to the earlier…
Georges St-Pierre, the reigning UFC welterweight champion, is lauded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, and for good reason.
The welterweight great has displayed a run of dominance in his division that harkens back to the earlier years to which Matt Hughes once ruled the division with an iron fist, having defended his title on six consecutive occasions.
However, St-Pierre has since drawn the ire of the fans and media alike for his “safe” and “boring” style of fighting—often favoring the path of least resistance en route to the sure decision victory.
Among St-Pierre’s peers, who else needs to put up or shut up in their next outings?
Despite his comments directed at Georges St-Pierre following his win over 
