Bellator 172: Fedor vs. Mitrione is expected to make a big splash this February, and the card just got a little bit bigger. Appearing in the co-main event slot prior to the return of Fedor Emelianenko against Matt Mitrione will be a key lightweight showdown between Josh “The Punk” Thompson and Bellator stalwart Patricky Freire. […]
Bellator 172: Fedor vs. Mitrione is expected to make a big splash this February, and the card just got a little bit bigger. Appearing in the co-main event slot prior to the return of Fedor Emelianenko against Matt Mitrione will be a key lightweight showdown between Josh “The Punk” Thompson and Bellator stalwart Patricky Freire. […]
“To be the greatest, you must take chances. To be remembered, you have to risk it all. But this does not always go as planned.”
So begins “Risky Attacks Gone Wrong” — a highlight video (of sorts) which pays tribute to those rare moments in MMA where a fighter’s reach exceeds his grasp, so to speak. Because stepping into the cage takes a fairly high level of confidence, and the fighters featured in this video were riding high on a wave of it until the moment that everything fell apart.
Featuring everything from Chael Sonnen’s spinning backfail at UFC 148 to Andrei Arlovski‘s infamous flying knee against Fedor Emelianenko (as well as my personal favorite, Matt “I’ve Made a Huge Mistake” Lawrence), “Risky Attacks Gone Wrong” is a goddamn glory to behold and a surefire way to brighten up your Monday afternoon. For in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
“To be the greatest, you must take chances. To be remembered, you have to risk it all. But this does not always go as planned.”
So begins ”Risky Attacks Gone Wrong” — a highlight video (of sorts) which pays tribute to those rare moments in MMA where a fighter’s reach exceeds his grasp, so to speak. Because stepping into the cage takes a fairly high level of confidence, and the fighters featured in this video were riding high on a wave of it until the moment that everything fell apart.
Featuring everything from Chael Sonnen’s spinning backfail at UFC 148 to Andrei Arlovski‘s infamous flying knee against Fedor Emelianenko (as well as my personal favorite, Matt “I’ve Made a Huge Mistake” Lawrence), ”Risky Attacks Gone Wrong” is a goddamn glory to behold and a surefire way to brighten up your Monday afternoon. For in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
(Angry Jose Aldo looks identical to Happy Jose Aldo)
It’s been a rare, event-less weekend. Despite the lack of fisticuffs, Saturday and Sunday have been packed with quite a bit of mid-level news and fight booking house-keeping matters.
The biggest recent news has been a spat between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. As you’ve likely heard, an Aldo injury forced “postponement” [Ed’s note: LOL] of UFC 176.
If Aldo can’t stay healthy and is too fragile to go through a training camp, then I think it is time to step aside and let guys who are able to do that and able to push through all that stuff, to be a champ.
To put it bluntly, Aldo was fucking pissed. He told Combate (translation via MMA Fighting):
Maybe I have so many injuries because I’m not taking the same ‘supplements’ you take. I have injuries because I train a lot to beat you like I did last time, and I think you remember that and still have nightmares about it. I did all the medical exams I had to do, but if you’re a doctor now, I can send them so you can take a look. Maybe you can prescript one of your supplements so I can heal faster.
The one who gets beat up usually runs away from another beating, but you can’t run forever because I’m going after you. Before the cage is closed you can say whatever you want, because once they close it you won’t be able to open your mouth, so keep talking while you have a mouth. And who are you to say where we are going to fight? I don’t think Dana White would be happy to see someone making his decisions. … You’re the one who seems to only fight at your home, who desperately doesn’t want to fight in Brazil. I got injured before and my fight with Frankie Edgar was moved from Brazil to Las Vegas. I fought your coach in your home, fought at Mark Hominick’s home in front of 55,000 fans, I fought in Japan and Europe. And now you tell me you want to be the champion? A champion doesn’t choose opponents or where the fight is going to be. And now I ask you, who’s the real pussy?
Harsh words from a harsh man.
In other UFC news…
(Angry Jose Aldo looks identical to Happy Jose Aldo)
It’s been a rare, event-less weekend. Despite the lack of fisticuffs, Saturday and Sunday have been packed with quite a bit of mid-level news and fight booking house-keeping matters.
The biggest recent news has been a spat between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. As you’ve likely heard, an Aldo injury forced “postponement” [Ed’s note: LOL] of UFC 176.
If Aldo can’t stay healthy and is too fragile to go through a training camp, then I think it is time to step aside and let guys who are able to do that and able to push through all that stuff, to be a champ.
To put it bluntly, Aldo was fucking pissed. He told Combate (translation via MMA Fighting):
Maybe I have so many injuries because I’m not taking the same ‘supplements’ you take. I have injuries because I train a lot to beat you like I did last time, and I think you remember that and still have nightmares about it. I did all the medical exams I had to do, but if you’re a doctor now, I can send them so you can take a look. Maybe you can prescript one of your supplements so I can heal faster.
The one who gets beat up usually runs away from another beating, but you can’t run forever because I’m going after you. Before the cage is closed you can say whatever you want, because once they close it you won’t be able to open your mouth, so keep talking while you have a mouth. And who are you to say where we are going to fight? I don’t think Dana White would be happy to see someone making his decisions. … You’re the one who seems to only fight at your home, who desperately doesn’t want to fight in Brazil. I got injured before and my fight with Frankie Edgar was moved from Brazil to Las Vegas. I fought your coach in your home, fought at Mark Hominick’s home in front of 55,000 fans, I fought in Japan and Europe. And now you tell me you want to be the champion? A champion doesn’t choose opponents or where the fight is going to be. And now I ask you, who’s the real pussy?
Harsh words from a harsh man.
In other UFC news:
Michael Johnson is out of his UFC on FOX 12 bout with Josh Thompsondue to injury. This is a shame as the two were expected to curtain-jerk the main card and it would’ve been quite an exciting affair. Let’s hope the main event of Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown stays intact.
World Series of Fighting, too, has some title news. Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje–who recently defeated Nick Newell at WSOF 11–will defend his title against Melvin Guillard. No date has been announced. We’re amped up for this one. Gaethje is quite talented, and Guillard looked fantastic in his last fight against Gesias Cavalcante.
That’s all for now, Potato Nation. We suggest you make the best of what’s left of your Sunday.
(“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein, clearly foreshadowing the career of Nate Diaz.)
You remember how we previously discussed the wolfpack-like sense of loyalty that seems to exist between the members of Team Cesar Gracie? Or how they would rather retire than face another member of their loyal platoon in glorious mixed martial arts competition? Well, since Nate Diaz’s training partner/homeboy Gil Melendez is fighting Ben Henderson at UFC on FOX 7this weekend and is going to win the fight with 100% certainty (and the fight after that, and the fight after that…), the former #1 contender might as well get to steppin’. That’s according to him, at least:
I’m not huntin’ (the title) right now, honestly. My boy is about to put it down and hold the belt for the next … I don’t even know how long. I’m probably gonna bail up outta this weight division as soon as this fight is done. I fought everybody at lightweight already.
That’s right, despite compiling an 9-4 UFC record at lightweight that included a(n unsuccessful) title shot against Ben Henderson last December, Diaz is presumably headed back to the division that saw him score wins over a couple of guys who have since been fired and get absolutely manhandled by Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. Pardon my language, but boy, you have smoked yourself retarded.
(“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein, clearly foreshadowing the career of Nate Diaz.)
You remember how we previously discussed the wolfpack-like sense of loyalty that seems to exist between the members of Team Cesar Gracie? Or how they would rather retire than face another member of their loyal platoon in glorious mixed martial arts competition? Well, since Nate Diaz’s training partner/homeboy Gil Melendez is fighting Ben Henderson at UFC on FOX 7this weekend and is going to win the fight with 100% certainty (and the fight after that, and the fight after that…), the former #1 contender might as well get to steppin’. That’s according to him, at least:
I’m not huntin’ (the title) right now, honestly. My boy is about to put it down and hold the belt for the next … I don’t even know how long. I’m probably gonna bail up outta this weight division as soon as this fight is done. I fought everybody at lightweight already.
That’s right, despite compiling an 9-4 UFC record at lightweight that included a(n unsuccessful) title shot against Ben Henderson last December, Diaz is presumably headed back to the division that saw him score wins over a couple of guys who have since been fired and get absolutely manhandled by Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. Pardon my language, but boy, you have smoked yourself retarded.
Although this statement not only lowers the stakes of Diaz’s clash with Josh Thomson on Saturday, but drowns them in a tub and throws them out with the trash, it does kind of make you wonder who the UFC will throw him next in either case. Since the organization has recently established that a win is a win regardless of what weight class it comes in, should Nate defeat a former Strikeforce title challenger like Thompson impressively, you’d think they’d match him up against a mid-to-upper level welterweight — the winner of the Brown/Mein fight, perhaps. But if Diaz loses…what’s Papy Abedi up to these days?
(And to think, if I hadn’t accidentally called Dana “Baldfather” during that interview, I’d be fighting Ben Henderson right about now.)
When we first heard word that Strikeforce was considering booking a completely unnecessary fourth match between lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thompson, we more or less saw it as a sign that Strikeforce’s lightweight division, not unlike their heavyweight, welterweight, and pretty much every other division, was simply biding its time until the UFC inevitably absorbed it. We were elated to find out shortly thereafter that Thompson was making the whole thing up, possibly under the belief that if the rumor gained enough steam, Scott Coker would sit idly by and let the match happen again and again until Thompson finally emerged victorious.
Fortunately, someone had good enough sense to book Melendez a fight against top contender Pat Healy on September 29th instead, which will make for Melendez’s fifth title defense should he be successful. Although Healy can’t hold a candle to Thompson as far as turning in exciting performances goes (Thompson’s snoozer against K.J. Noons outstanding), it will be nice to see Melendez finally face off against the only other lightweight in the division who stands at least a snowball’s chance in Hell of beating him.
More details after the jump.
(And to think, if I hadn’t accidentally called Dana “Baldfather” during that interview, I’d be fighting Ben Henderson right about now.)
When we first heard word that Strikeforce was considering booking a completely unnecessary fourth match between lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thompson, we more or less saw it as a sign that Strikeforce’s lightweight division, not unlike their heavyweight, welterweight, and pretty much every other division, was simply biding its time until the UFC inevitably absorbed it. We were elated to find out shortly thereafter that Thompson was making the whole thing up, possibly under the belief that if the rumor gained enough steam, Scott Coker would sit idly by and let the match happen again and again until Thompson finally emerged victorious.
Fortunately, someone had good enough sense to book Melendez a fight against top contender Pat Healy on September 29th instead, which will make for Melendez’s fifth title defense should he be successful. Although Healy can’t hold a candle to Thompson as far as turning in exciting performances goes (Thompson’s snoozer against K.J. Noons outstanding), it will be nice to see Melendez finally face off against the only other lightweight in the division who stands at least a snowball’s chance in Hell of beating him.
We’re coming to Sacramento, and we’re bringing @GilbertMelendez@BamBamHealy & @dc_mma with us…http://www.strikeforce.com/news/SF4-pressrelease-news … Tix on sale this Sat!
Healy has been playing the role of hype train derailer for his past few fights now, submitting prospects Maximo Blanco and Caros Fodor in back-to-back contests before most recently earning a hard fought unanimous decision over a guy that is best known for becoming Shinya Aoki’s eternal bitch at K1 Dynamite!!! 2009. Now 6-1 in his past 7 Strikeforce appearances, Healy has more than earned his shot at Melendez in a division that has less than 5 contenders still remaining.
Strikeforce – Barnett vs. Cormier: Thoughts and Opinions –Saturday night’s Strikeforce card was much better than advertised. Especially by me. It featured the arrival of Daniel Cormier as a major contender and a fight between.
Strikeforce – Barnett vs. Cormier: Thoughts and Opinions
–Saturday night’s Strikeforce card was much better than advertised. Especially by me. It featured the arrival of Daniel Cormier as a major contender and a fight between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thompson that proved all of us who said we had no interest in seeing this rivalry become a trilogy wrong. Unfortunately, it doesn’t leave us with much to anticipate going forward. Melendez has no one else in the division to fight. Yes, he could fight Pat Healy. But in reality, Healy is clearly the third best 155 pounder in Strikeforce after Melendez and Thompson. Cormier has even less competition. And by that, I mean no competition. If he doesn’t move to the UFC, Strikeforce is going to have to sign someone just to get him a fight. The only interesting fight to be made after this card is Rafael Cavalcante vs. Gegard Mousasi, which brings me to my next point.
–The UFC appears to be continuing its strategy of purchasing, pillaging and disbanding its competition. And with their ridiculous success over the last ten years, I don’t blame them for sticking with the gameplan. But I think they might be ignoring one aspect of running a professional athletics empire. They are clearly modeling their organization more on successful team sport endeavors like the NFL and NBA than on the combat sports model created by boxing. They want to be the one venue where the best athletes compete for the most important championships. And to a large extent, they have already achieved that. But before those athletes are ready to be amongst the best in the world, they need to develop their skills somewhere. The NHL and MLB both have extensive minor league systems where young players compete to earn the right to play at the highest level. The NBA and NFL both use the NCAA for the same purpose. With collegiate MMA an unlikely proposition any time in the near future, the UFC is going to need a developmental system for young fighters who are not ready for the octagon. My suggestion to the UFC would be to use Strikeforce for that purpose. Make Strikeforce the proving ground for fighters trying to earn their way into the UFC. This model would create an interesting dynamic by adding a promotion/relegation element to MMA and MMA discussion. When is an emerging star ready for the big show? Should a struggling veteran be “sent down” to Strikeforce? The counter argument to this of course is why should the UFC pay to develop talent when smaller promotions are perfectly willing to do the work for them? My answer is that a clear pattern is emerging. It goes like this. Non-UFC organization X signs young fighters with raw talent for a minimal investment. Over time, several of those fighters develop as projected and begin to gain recognition. Those fighters have a sense of loyalty to the organization that gave them an opportunity. The organization rides those fighters to financial viability and begins to make enough noise that the UFC is forced to acknowledge them. The UFC attacks Organization X directly by scheduling competing events and luring away fighters. Organization X’s growth slows or plateaus, which causes financial issues. The UFC swoops in and buys out Organization X at a good price to eliminate competition. I don’t know what this process is costing the UFC but instead of going through this every few years, why not just be proactive in eliminating competition by having a place for emerging talent to compete instead of allowing that talent to sign elsewhere and being forced to deal with the problem on the back end? Even if you only break even or take a slight loss in raw financial numbers, isn’t the increased strength of the monopoly and brand singularity worth the investment?
–I have a feeling that this is going to become a consistent theme of this column for as long as I’m allowed to write it but I feel compelled to address another judging issue. And by “issue,” I mean the absurdity of lazily copycatting boxing’s system. MMA should not be scored on a 10-9 round by round system. Based on the judging criteria, Melendez won the first three rounds last night and Thompson won the last two. But Melendez barely won those three rounds and did no damage to Thompson. In the final two rounds, Thompson completely controlled the fight and came the closest to finishing it. I know that damage isn’t everything but Thompson obviously inflicted a significantly greater amount than Melendez. That has to count for something. We’re scoring a fight. Damage matters. If you ask me to assess who won that fight without regard for any scoring system, I’d be adamant that Thompson won. But within the confines of the scoring system currently in place, Melendez won. And to me, that’s a problem. We need a mechanism that allows for greater flexibility. I don’t know exactly what that is but I do know that Thompson was robbed on Saturday night. Not by the judges, who did a great job throughout the event, but by the framework within which they were forced to operate.
