Michael Bisping has been a man on a mission as of late. If there’s been a middleweight fight happening, he’s been there to tell anyone with a microphone that he’s more than willing to take on the winner of that fight. He did it after …
Michael Bisping has been a man on a mission as of late. If there’s been a middleweight fight happening, he’s been there to tell anyone with a microphone that he’s more than willing to take on the winner of that fight. He did it after Anderson Silva beat Chael Sonnen, he did it after Chris Weidman beat Mark Munoz, he did it after Alan Belcher defeated Rousimar Palhares and just in case the UFC was thinking of giving Brian Stann a shot at a top contender, he called him out as well.
The middleweight mouth that roared can finally relax; the UFC has given him a fight, and it’s even against one of the fighters he called out—Brian Stann. The fight, which the UFC announced, will take place at UFC 152 in Toronto on September 22.
The Bisping versus Stann fight will have co-main-event status in Toronto. Main-event status that night will go to the flyweights. Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will headline the fight card, with the winner being crowned the first flyweight champion in the history of the UFC.
Benavidez and Johnson started on the path toward their upcoming bout back in March when the UFC held the first round of a four-man flyweight tournament. Benavidez earned a TKO win over his opponent, Yasuhiro Urushitani, while a scoring tabulation error saw Johnson’s fight with Ian McCall declared a majority draw long after Johnson had been declared the winner inside the Octagon.
Johnson and McCall would meet again, with Johnson taking home the unanimous decision, punching his ticket to the matchup with Benavidez.
Also appearing on the card will be the recently un-retired BJ Penn, who is set to face Rory MacDonald.
When Alan Belcher started warming up, alone on a mat big enough for 100 people, I was still naive enough to believe I was going to be OK. He was gently stretching and limbering up. No big deal.Then, the stretches got ridiculous. The UFC middleweight co…
When Alan Belcher started warming up, alone on a mat big enough for 100 people, I was still naive enough to believe I was going to be OK. He was gently stretching and limbering up. No big deal.
Then, the stretches got ridiculous. The UFC middleweight contender was contorting his body into unnatural positions, and it dawned on me—this guy might be halfway serious about this.
Gulp.
It was quite a welcome to International Fight Week—a UFC initiative that includes a pub crawl and plenty of opportunities to get some one-on-one time with the legends of the cage. I was among almost 100 media members packed into the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter gym, ready to put myself into the hands of four trained professionals.
Pictures filled the building—bigger than life images of the greats like Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. But they weren’t the only UFC fighters in the gym that day, as many of us would learn to our chagrin. Their flesh-and-blood counterparts would be putting us through our paces.
Flyweight contender Joe Benavidez joined Belcher at a grappling station. Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle, and his wicked awesome mullet, put us through our paces in the boxing ring.
And waiting in the cage—the ominous and iconic UFC Octagon?
Just Daniel Cormier, United States Olympian and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner.
It was a daunting experience. It started out well enough. After a brisk warmup, Belcher ran us through some techniques on the mat. Partnered with my colleague Jeremy Botter, I had the chance to strangle him—just like I always wanted to. And then Benavidez showed me how to cinch the choke in even tighter, essentially by crushing one of Jeremy’s arms.
He had to take his glasses off. It was getting serious. This was good.
Botter, of course, was giving as good as he got. His hand snaked around my neck as he lived out all of his Snowden-smashing fantasies. In what seemed like an instant, it was over, off to the next station.
Unfortunately, just two minutes separated the two 20-minute workouts, and I was still out of breath as Pyle pushed us through some basic boxing work in a ring. I was wearing down as the session hit its midway point. What were supposed to be full-speed flurries were ponderously slow. By the end, I was feeling every one of my 37 years.
And then, we met Daniel Cormier. The wrestling machine had us take a squat, and we all tried our best to approximate a wrestling stance. He physically had to put Botter and I in our place. But after 45 minutes, my body was screaming at me. My hamstrings and lower back were quavering. If I wanted to walk the miles and miles of the Vegas strip the next couple of days I was going to have to make a decision.
“You tapping out already?” Cormier asked. Whether out of genuine or sarcastic concern, I’ll never know. That pushed me on further, but the truth was, my body just wasn’t going to get in a wrestling stance. I was through.
There was a sense of failure, but more than that, a real admiration for these athletes. For them, this was more like a workout. For the media? Let’s just say that our group was suspiciously smaller by the time we reached Cormier’s cage.
I know I’m going to feel this workout tomorrow. I feel it right now. But, seriously, what an experience. To stand in the Octagon with someone I respect as much as Cormier and to have the real professionals take the time to explain just a little bit about what they do meant a whole lot.
The precision of the techniques, the little things, the hard work it takes to succeed—you can hear about these things until the world stops turning, but there’s something to be said for first-hand experience—even if it’s only for an hour.
I know my colleagues from around the world felt the same way. UFC staff was thrilled with the turnout, almost 100 strong. And even though they tried to wreck my body and give me a coronary, it was all worth it. Sign me up for Round 2. Next time, I’ll be ready.
There are plenty of UFC fights I’m looking forward to for the remainder of 2012. Next Saturday’s bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is probably the most anticipated. There’s also Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson, Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos …
There are plenty of UFC fights I’m looking forward to for the remainder of 2012.
Next Saturday’s bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is probably the most anticipated. There’s also Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson, Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit, Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez 2 and Rory MacDonald vs. B.J. Penn. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
But there may be no fight I’m looking forward to more than Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson.
I know it doesn’t have the big-name appeal of the previous bouts I listed. But this battle to crown the UFC’s first flyweight champion should be an absolute technical beauty. Oh, and it’ll be pretty fast-paced, as well.
Ian McCall knows a little something about Johnson. After all, he did face the guy twice. And McCall, one of the world’s premiere flyweights, says that he doesn’t see his two-time opponent standing much of a chance against Benavidez:
Ian McCall: I don’t even know if DJ can get past Joseph Benavidez, to be honest. Nothing against Joe, I like Joe more than I like Demetrious, but I would like Demetrious to beat Joe, because it would make me look better and give me a little more satisfaction in life [laughs], but I don’t know if I really see that happening.
Interviewer: Why is it that you feel DJ won’t win? Can you give specific reasons, or point out where you think Benavidez will be stronger?
Ian McCall: I just don’t see him beating Joe. It could happen. He beat me, and I never thought that would happen. I see Joe coming in more prepared than I was. Demetrious will just do what he did to me. Sneak in, potshot, and back out. He runs, but not in a bad way. He runs because it’s what he’s good at. He still engages and stuff. We’ll see how it goes. I’m definitely interested in watching their fight.
McCall speaks the truth. I’m not saying that Johnson can’t win the fight. What I’m saying, right here and now, is that Johnson has an incredibly difficult path to victory.
His speed and wrestling are his biggest strengths. Benavidez has much better wrestling and has the takedown defense to stay off his back. Plus, he’ll have a significant size advantage while also remaining nearly as quick as “Mighty Mouse.”
The odds are great that Benavidez will walk out as the first UFC flyweight champ. And you know what? I’m hoping we get to see “Joe-Jitsu” defend his title against McCall at some point in the future, because that, too, would be an incredible fight.
(You mean to tell me that this man *isn’t* number one? UNBELIEVABLE.)
Regardless of where you stand on the whole “pound for pound” rankings debate, FightMatrix recently released a list of what they referred to as ‘Division Dominance’ rankings, which rank fighters according to how impressively they’ve fared against the fellow members of their respective weight divisions. Where you’d think that Anderson Silva would be a the top of this list by about a million points, being that he has never lost a fight in the UFC, it might surprise you who topped him.
Here’s the description FightMatrix provided along with the list of criteria that led them to their conclusion:
The division point dominance list debuted on 3/16/08, and is comparable, but not identical to a pound-for-pound list. While a pound-for-pound list factors in divisional tenure and the ability to transcend weight divisions while remaining successful, this list does not. This list ranks fighters based on their point level superiority over those in the division in which they are currently ranked.
This is done by averaging the point level which encompasses the typical transition between the elites and top contenders of the division, then compares this average to the fighter’s current point level. The higher a fighter’s division dominance points, the more “dominant” they are over their divisional peers.
One important thing to note is that there are two important factors that comprise a fighter’s division dominance rating. The strength of the division’s top fighters and the fighter’s own current rating. A fluctuation in the fighter’s rating, division strength, and/or division assignment can all result in changes to a fighter’s division dominance rating.
As of 8/28/2011, we have added further requirements: Fighter must have a win, draw, or quality performance in the previous 360 days (450 if currently in “inactive decay”). Fighter must have at least two wins in their listed division within the past 900 days OR be ranked #1 in their division.
Check out the list after the jump and express your agreement or outrage in the comments section.
(You mean to tell me that this man *isn’t* number one? UNBELIEVABLE.)
Regardless of where you stand on the whole “pound for pound” rankings debate, FightMatrix recently released a list of what they referred to as ‘Division Dominance’ rankings, which rank fighters according to how impressively they’ve fared against the fellow members of their respective weight divisions. Where you’d think that Anderson Silva would be a the top of this list by about a million points, being that he has never lost a fight in the UFC, it might surprise you who topped him.
Here’s the description FightMatrix provided along with the list of criteria that led them to their conclusion:
The division point dominance list debuted on 3/16/08, and is comparable, but not identical to a pound-for-pound list. While a pound-for-pound list factors in divisional tenure and the ability to transcend weight divisions while remaining successful, this list does not. This list ranks fighters based on their point level superiority over those in the division in which they are currently ranked.
This is done by averaging the point level which encompasses the typical transition between the elites and top contenders of the division, then compares this average to the fighter’s current point level. The higher a fighter’s division dominance points, the more “dominant” they are over their divisional peers.
One important thing to note is that there are two important factors that comprise a fighter’s division dominance rating. The strength of the division’s top fighters and the fighter’s own current rating. A fluctuation in the fighter’s rating, division strength, and/or division assignment can all result in changes to a fighter’s division dominance rating.
As of 8/28/2011, we have added further requirements: Fighter must have a win, draw, or quality performance in the previous 360 days (450 if currently in “inactive decay”). Fighter must have at least two wins in their listed division within the past 900 days OR be ranked #1 in their division.
Check out the list after the jump and express your agreement or outrage in the comments section.
That’s right, the pound for pound most dominant fighter in the UFC is… Joseph Benavidez? Considering he’s only had one fight at 125 (a second round knockout over Yasuhiro Urushitani), perhaps these rankings are a bit flawed. It also interesting to see that Jon Jones is so close to Silva points wise, being that “The Spider” has defended his belt six more times than “Bones.” We guess those lackluster performances against Demian Maia and Thales Leites really brought him down. Who would’ve guessed?
What do you think, Potato Nation? And what does your top ten “pound for pound rankings” list look like?
In the main event of UFC on FX 3, Demetrious Johnson was able to outwork fan-favorite Ian McCall en route to a unanimous decision victory. The win put Johnson in the finals of the UFC Flyweight Championship Tournament, but it also left Ian McCall in li…
In the main event of UFC on FX 3, Demetrious Johnson was able to outwork fan-favorite Ian McCall en route to a unanimous decision victory. The win put Johnson in the finals of the UFC Flyweight Championship Tournament, but it also left Ian McCall in limbo.
McCall is one of the best flyweights alive, as he entered the tournament as the top-ranked 125 pound fighter in the world. Unfortunately, in this division, there isn’t a lot of notable talent in the UFC outside of the three guys at the top.
What happens if Demetrious Johnson wins the tournament and Ian McCall wins his next two fights inside the Octagon? Does he get a title shot? Do we get Johnson vs McCall three times within 15 months?
When you can’t beat an opponent in two tries, it’s not like Joe Silva to give you a third. I’m sure fans wouldn’t be opposed to a third fight against Demetrious Johnson one day, and that’s a good thing, because the flyweight division is extremely thin, and rematches are going to be commonplace at the top.
Uncle Creepy is charismatic, funny and a damn good fighter. There is no doubt that we will see him step back into the Octagon. The question is, “against who?”
The UFC tends to pair losers against losers, and I can’t think of a better matchup than Yasuhiro Urushitani. If you pit the two semi-finalist losers across the cage from one another, they would essentially be competing for the bronze medal in this championship tournament. Anything that the UFC can do to make flyweight contests of a higher profile is a good thing.
Urushitani isn’t the only option, though. John Dodson has looked great since entering the Ultimate Fighter house. Due to the lack of contenders, it is likely that he is a future challenger for the belt. A fight with McCall would show us how well he stacks up against the best in the world.
After the main event of UFC on FX 3, Demetrious Johnson heard his name announced as the winner of a hard-fought battle against Ian McCall. This time, it was no mistake.Now that he has gotten past the first round, he will take on another former bantamwe…
After the main event of UFC on FX 3, Demetrious Johnson heard his name announced as the winner of a hard-fought battle against Ian McCall. This time, it was no mistake.
Now that he has gotten past the first round, he will take on another former bantamweight from the WEC, Joseph Benavidez, for the inaugural UFC flyweight championship.
The bout will likely take place by the year’s end, but that doesn’t mean it is too soon to take a look at the pairing. Here is the breakdown of Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson.
When Alan Belcher started warming up, alone on a mat big enough for 100 people, I was still naive enough to believe I was going to be OK. He was gently stretching and limbering up. No big deal.
