Tag: Mark Coleman

The 9 Most Pathetic Hooks the UFC Has Used to Draw PPV Buys


(At one point, Jones tried to pull away because he thought the handshake was over, but Chael held on for like a half-second longer. It was, without question, the most challenging moment of Jones’s professional MMA career. / Photo via Getty Images)

By Matt Saccaro

The fight game isn’t just about tatted-up white guys with shaved heads hitting each other in the face. If it were, BodogFIGHT and the IFL would still be alive and kicking. Marketing /Hype/PR is a crucial aspect of the fight business — but it doesn’t always go so well.

There were times when the UFC has had stunning marketing triumphs (the whole “Zuffa created the entire MMA world and if you don’t like it you’re a butthurt Pride fanboy” shtick). But there were also times when the UFC’s efforts fell flat on their face like Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante against Dan Henderson.

What were some of these hyped-up but obviously bullshit moments? Let’s have a look…

1. Watch Che Mills, the Unstoppable Killing Machine!


(Source: Getty)

UFC 145’s main event of Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans was strong enough to sell a pay-per-view on. Sure, sometimes the promo made the two fighters look like jilted lovers, but we’re not gonna hate on the UFC for hyping up a title fight.

We will, however, hate on them for trying to convince fans that a squash match — Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills — was some kind of epic duel between two young lions. There was only one prospect in that fight, and it wasn’t Che Mills.

The UFC’s inability to do anything with subtlety ruined the promos for this event, the prelims for this event, and most of the PPV portion of this event. Describing Mills as a “new, dangerous welterweight from the UK” was a gross exaggeration. The British striker was only dangerous if you were a TUF bum or if you suffered an accidental knee injury while fighting him.

During the prelims, Rogan was doing the hard sell. THIS CHE MILLS GUY IS A KILLER. HE’S A MONSTER. HE’S A BADASS. HE BEHEADED NED STARK. HE SHOT BAMBI’S MOTHER. Insane falsehoods like this littered the broadcast. Rogan didn’t stop the bullshit once the main card started, either.

We got treated with pro-wrestling-level fakeness about how Che Mills was on MacDonald’s level up until MacDonald, predictably, ran through Mills.

Thus, the only thing that got killed at UFC 145 was Mills’s career.

Since then, Mills hasn’t legitimately won a fight, unless you count Duane Ludwig’s freak injury as a legit win. Earlier this month, Mills lost via TKO to Irishman Cathal Pendred (never heard of him either) at a CWFC event in Ireland.

2. James Toney, Bane of MMA Fighters.


(At one point, Jones tried to pull away because he thought the handshake was over, but Chael held on for like a half-second longer. It was, without question, the most challenging moment of Jones’s professional MMA career. / Photo via Getty Images)

By Matt Saccaro

The fight game isn’t just about tatted-up white guys with shaved heads hitting each other in the face. If it were, BodogFIGHT and the IFL would still be alive and kicking. Marketing /Hype/PR is a crucial aspect of the fight business — but it doesn’t always go so well.

There were times when the UFC has had stunning marketing triumphs (the whole “Zuffa created the entire MMA world and if you don’t like it you’re a butthurt Pride fanboy” shtick). But there were also times when the UFC’s efforts fell flat on their face like Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante against Dan Henderson.

What were some of these hyped-up but obviously bullshit moments? Let’s have a look…

1. Watch Che Mills, the Unstoppable Killing Machine!


(Source: Getty)

UFC 145’s main event of Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans was strong enough to sell a pay-per-view on. Sure, sometimes the promo made the two fighters look like jilted lovers, but we’re not gonna hate on the UFC for hyping up a title fight.

We will, however, hate on them for trying to convince fans that a squash match — Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills — was some kind of epic duel between two young lions. There was only one prospect in that fight, and it wasn’t Che Mills.

The UFC’s inability to do anything with subtlety ruined the promos for this event, the prelims for this event, and most of the PPV portion of this event. Describing Mills as a “new, dangerous welterweight from the UK” was a gross exaggeration. The British striker was only dangerous if you were a TUF bum or if you suffered an accidental knee injury while fighting him.

During the prelims, Rogan was doing the hard sell. THIS CHE MILLS GUY IS A KILLER. HE’S A MONSTER. HE’S A BADASS. HE BEHEADED NED STARK. HE SHOT BAMBI’S MOTHER. Insane falsehoods like this littered the broadcast. Rogan didn’t stop the bullshit once the main card started, either.

We got treated with pro-wrestling-level fakeness about how Che Mills was on MacDonald’s level up until MacDonald, predictably, ran through Mills.

Thus, the only thing that got killed at UFC 145 was Mills’s career.

Since then, Mills hasn’t legitimately won a fight, unless you count Duane Ludwig’s freak injury as a legit win. Earlier this month, Mills lost via TKO to Irishman Cathal Pendred (never heard of him either) at a CWFC event in Ireland.

2. James Toney, Bane of MMA Fighters.


(Source: AP)

We at CagePotato have sleepless nights sometimes because James Toney vs. Randy Couture was an actual thing that happened.

This freak show fight — more suited to a Japanese promotion or the backyard that hosted Tank Abbott vs. Scott Ferrozzo — found its way to the UFC’s Octagon due to James Toney’s superlative trolling abilities and Dana White’s spider-sense for money-making.

Couture vs. Toney didn’t headline the UFC 118 PPV — Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn had that honor — but it was a large part of the event’s marketing.

Dana/The Zuffa hype machine gave out reasons why the fight wasn’t bullshit and why you should buy the PPV. They cited the statistic that James Toney had more knockouts than Randy Couture had fights and trotted out the tired, near-meaningless phrase “you never know what’s gonna happen in a fight” again and again.

Forget the fact that pure boxers had tried to ply their craft in the UFC twice and had failed, DANA WHITE is telling you James Toney has a chance so it must be right and you better buy the PPV so you can see the upset of a lifetime!

Toney’s ass-crack being visible at the weigh-ins foreshadowed the shittyness to come. The match ended the way everybody thought it would, with Toney having laughably bad MMA skills (he didn’t even know how to tap out correctly) and Couture effortlessly submitting him.

3. Banned in 49 States, 340 Countries, 7 Planets, 340 Trillion Galaxies…

When the UFC was founded, one of the bigger issues was how to market it.

The American public had long been familiar with the typical Asian martial arts bushido bullshit thanks to the wave of interest inspired by movies ranging from Enter the Dragon to The Karate Kid. But the UFC was more than just karate guys and katas. It was the world’s toughest and purest fighting tournament. How, exactly, are you supposed to sell that?

According to Campbell McLaren, as gracelessly as possible.

McLaren was the man in charge of the UFC’s marketing in 1993. His strategy was to make the UFC appear as anything BUT a sport. To McLaren, the UFC had to be presented as Mortal Kombat without the thunder gods and four-armed Shokan princes.

The result of this policy was the enthusiastic yet ultimately self-defeating “BANNED IN 49 STATES. FIGHTS END VIA KNOCKOUT, SUBMISSION, OR DEATH” marketing campaign that piqued the interest of martial arts enthusiasts, street brawlers, and pornography theater owners.

4. Revenge Is a Dish Best Served on a Lackluster PPV Main Event.


(Source: MMAWeekly)

Remember Chuck Liddell’s “fearsome” title reign where he allegedly fought the best light-heavyweights in the world?

Yeah, we’re gonna talk about that for a second.

Riding high off capturing the UFC light heavyweight crown from Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell was pitted against Jeremy Horn. It was a peculiar match to make seeing as Horn hadn’t been in the UFC since a 2001 loss to Elvis Sinosic, of all people.

So why rush Horn to the front of the title-shot line?

Well, one theory is that Horn’s victory over the legendary Spencer Canup impressed Dana White so much that he had no other choice than to give Horn the title shot.

Another, equally likely theory, is that Liddell’s 1999 loss to Horn was a great pretext for a “REVENGE! GRUDGE MATCH!” angle straight out of the WWE’s playbook. Liddell got to avenge his loss, Horn lost some brain cells, and MMA fans lost a few hours and $40.

5. Anything Ken Shamrock–Tito Ortiz Related.

The UFC couldn’t survive if Tito Ortiz kept fighting the likes of Elvis Sinosic (that’s two Sinosic mentions in one article, if anyone is keeping count). The UFC needed established names. Ken Shamrock was an established name.

Yes, he was coming off a loss when he was brought in to fight Tito Ortiz for the first time in 2002 but that didn’t matter. Everybody remembered Ken Shamrock thanks to his status as a UFC Legend™ and thanks to his time in the WWE.

“Here are two guys who DON’T LIKE EACH OTHER!” “Watch the DISRESPECTFUL, UPSTART PUNK trash talk the RESPECTFUL VETERAN”

Ironically, the hype around the feud was all real. Shamrock’s Lion’s Den and Tito Ortiz had legitimate beef with one another. Thus, matching up him an Ortiz was an easy sell. But the reason this hook was so terrible was that Shamrock was no match for Ortiz. Shamrock wasn’t a roided-up superman anymore. He was Samson without his hair, Batman without his money, Chael Sonnen without TRT.

Yeah, great they don’t like each other. That doesn’t mean a fight between them made sense because, quite frankly, it didn’t. It was a cash-grab and attention whoring.

And it worked — so well, in fact, that they did it again twice. Shamrock would face Ortiz four years later on another PPV, UFC 61, and on a UFC Fight Night card called “Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter” just three months after that. Both of those fights ended in first-round TKO wins for Ortiz.

On the next page: A legend gets executed, “fun fights” (aka “squash matches”) and the absurd bullshit that actually turned out to be true.

And Now He’s Retired: Mark Coleman, The Godfather of Ground & Pound, Officially Hangs Up His Gloves

Mark Coleman groping MMA photos funny
(Insert whatever version of a “Ground-n-Pound” sex joke you see fit here.)

When UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman stormed onto the mixed martial arts scene in 1996 following a storied college wrestling career and top 10 placing in the 1992 Summer Olympics, he brought with him an economic, workman style of fighting that would lead him to championship glory on his first night out. The event was the aptly-named UFC 10: The Tournament, and after beating the rights to the nickname “The Hammer” out of Moti Horenstein in his very first fight (an agreement that Moti never honored), Coleman would take out veteran Gary Goodridge and UFC 8 tournament winner Don Frye in back-to-back fights to claim the tournament championship. Coleman would repeat this feat in even more dominant fashion at UFC 11 and would unify the Heavyweight and Superfight Championships at UFC 12 the following year by choking out fellow scary wrestler Dan Severn. With the victory, Coleman’s legacy as one of the sport’s pioneers was all but written in the history books.

But Coleman didn’t stop there. Over the next 14 years, Coleman would not only popularize but would be dubbed “The Godfather” of the wrestling-based, “ground-n-pound” attack that would lead him to a PRIDE openweight championship in 2000 and a list of victories over the likes of Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar, and Igor Vovchanchyn to name a few. But as all good things must come to an end, so must the legendary career of the now 48 year-old Coleman. Although he hasn’t fought since his 2010 submission loss to Randy Couture — a bout that would mark the first Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer fight in UFC history — Coleman has decided to officially announce his retirement from the sport as of yesterday. “The Hammer,” who is scheduled to undergo hip surgery next week (because that’s what old people do, amiright? *self-fives*), posted the following on his Facebook:

Total Hip replacement next Monday. Ouch.

The hammer is done fighting. I know been done. Just looking for some prayers.

i thank everyone who will help me get through this. Have to pay to play sometimes. Only regret is could have worked harder.

Love you all live your dream.

After the jump: A look back at some of Coleman’s greatest moments, as well as one of his worst.

Mark Coleman groping MMA photos funny
(Insert whatever version of a “Ground-n-Pound” sex joke you see fit here.)

When UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman stormed onto the mixed martial arts scene in 1996 following a storied college wrestling career and top 10 placing in the 1992 Summer Olympics, he brought with him an economic, workman style of fighting that would lead him to championship glory on his first night out. The event was the aptly-named UFC 10: The Tournament, and after beating the rights to the nickname “The Hammer” out of Moti Horenstein in his very first fight (an agreement that Moti never honored), Coleman would take out veteran Gary Goodridge and UFC 8 tournament winner Don Frye in back-to-back fights to claim the tournament championship. Coleman would repeat this feat in even more dominant fashion at UFC 11 and would unify the Heavyweight and Superfight Championships at UFC 12 the following year by choking out fellow scary wrestler Dan Severn. With the victory, Coleman’s legacy as one of the sport’s pioneers was all but written in the history books.

But Coleman didn’t stop there. Over the next 14 years, Coleman would not only popularize but would be dubbed “The Godfather” of the wrestling-based, “ground-n-pound” attack that would lead him to a PRIDE openweight championship in 2000 and a list of victories over the likes of Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar, and Igor Vovchanchyn to name a few. But as all good things must come to an end, so must the legendary career of the now 48 year-old Coleman. Although he hasn’t fought since his 2010 submission loss to Randy Couture — a bout that would mark the first Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer fight in UFC history — Coleman has decided to officially announce his retirement from the sport as of yesterday. “The Hammer,” who is scheduled to undergo hip surgery next week (because that’s what old people do, amiright? *self-fives*), posted the following on his Facebook:

Total Hip replacement next Monday. Ouch.

The hammer is done fighting. I know been done. Just looking for some prayers.

i thank everyone who will help me get through this. Have to pay to play sometimes. Only regret is could have worked harder.

Love you all live your dream.

After the jump: A look back at some of Coleman’s greatest moments, as well as one of his worst.

Coleman vs. Vovchanchyn (Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Finals) 

(some of) Coleman vs. Frye (UFC 10: The Tournament Finals)

Coleman vs. Rua 1 (Because PRIDE)

Coleman vs. Wanderlei Silva

–J. Jones

Top 20 UFC Fighters Competing During the SEG Era

Back before fighters were well rounded the game was a crap shoot. For the UFC, the days of one dimensional fighters came to a close shortly after Zuffa purchased the promotion from Semaphore Entertainment Group in January of 2001. Back then fast hands,…

Back before fighters were well rounded the game was a crap shoot. For the UFC, the days of one dimensional fighters came to a close shortly after Zuffa purchased the promotion from Semaphore Entertainment Group in January of 2001.

Back then fast hands, sinister submissions or wrestling could get a fighter by. And I don’t mean a combination of the three, I mean mastering one single element alone. That seemed to suffice.

As primitive as combat may have been at the time, fans played witness to numerous highly entertaining bouts. A solid handful of men excelled back in the day, and that’s what this piece is all about: examining the golden age of the UFC’s existence.

Here’s a look at 20 of the toughest men to compete for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and their career’s pre-Zuffa. Nothing they’ve accomplished beyond December of 2000 inside the octagon is going to be factored into this list, so refrain from spilling into a rage when Mark Kerr doesn’t top the list!

Begin Slideshow

[VIDEOS] UFC Legends Gracie, Couture, Coleman, and Ortiz Discuss Favorite Fighters, Respect + More

(The gang discusses favorite/greatest MMA fighters. Spoiler alert: You probably don’t agree with them.) 

If you’ve visited CagePotato in the past year or so, you are undoubtedly aware of the entertainment that a roundtable discussion between friends can bring. From memorable fighter run-ins to the P4P baddest motherfuckers ever, we have held many a debate in this fashion, and as is usually the case, the UFC and FuelTV have once again decided to ride in on our coattails. They began with the thoroughly captivating Champions edition, which featured the likes of Forrest Griffin, Jon Jones, Chuck Liddell, and Frank Mir discussing everything from the dark days of the UFC to its meteoric rise, and have continued the series recently with a panel of fighters that can only be described as “legendary.”

Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Mark Coleman, and Tito Ortiz sit in for this edition, and dish on respect, favorite fighters, regrets, and the time Wanderlei Silva nearly soccer kicked Mike Van Arsdale’s head from his body. Tito Ortiz manages to air out his regrets without once mentioning Affliction or dick pics, and should be commended for his incredible ability to mentally blackout painful memories.

Join us after the jump for a collection of videos featuring the legends talking shop. We know this isn’t exactly breaking news or anything, but it’s real slow out there today, so why not take a trip down memory lane in the meantime?


(The gang discusses favorite/greatest MMA fighters. Spoiler alert: You probably don’t agree with them.) 

If you’ve visited CagePotato in the past year or so, you are undoubtedly aware of the entertainment that a roundtable discussion between friends can bring. From memorable fighter run-ins to the P4P baddest motherfuckers ever, we have held many a debate in this fashion, and as is usually the case, the UFC and FuelTV have once again decided to ride in on our coattails. They began with the thoroughly captivating Champions edition, which featured the likes of Forrest Griffin, Jon Jones, Chuck Liddell, and Frank Mir discussing everything from the dark days of the UFC to its meteoric rise, and have continued the series recently with a panel of fighters that can only be described as “legendary.”

Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Mark Coleman, and Tito Ortiz sit in for this edition, and dish on respect, favorite fighters, regrets, and the time Wanderlei Silva nearly soccer kicked Mike Van Arsdale’s head from his body. Tito Ortiz manages to air out his regrets without once mentioning Affliction or dick pics, and should be commended for his incredible ability to mentally blackout painful memories.

Join us after the jump for a collection of videos featuring the legends talking shop. We know this isn’t exactly breaking news or anything, but it’s real slow out there today, so why not take a trip down memory lane in the meantime?

Royce Gracie – “Let Me Beat Somebody Up!”

“No Rules? No Problem!”

“Camaraderie and Respect”

“What Do You Regret?”

Mark Coleman Discusses Wanderlei Silva, Vale Tudo, and Greasing

–J. Jones

Video Retrospective: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s 16 Most Essential Fights

Over the last ten years, we’ve watched Mauricio “Shogun” Rua go from young phenom to living legend. Though injuries and and controversial judging have occasionally slowed his momentum during the second half of his career, Shogun enters next weekend’s UFC on FOX 4 matchup with Brandon Vera as a standard-bearer for his generation of fighters, and is still considered among the elite of the light-heavyweight division.

In honor of Rua’s continuing legacy, we’ve picked out the 16 videos that best summarize his journey as a fighter — from the past to the present, from his most unforgettable triumphs to his most crushing defeats. Enjoy, and pay your respects in the comments section.

Mauricio Rua vs. Rodrigo Malheiros de Andrade. Shot in 1998 when Rua was just 16 years old, this footage shows the future PRIDE/UFC star competing in a Muay Thai smoker in somebody’s house in Curitiba, Brazil. Though Shogun shows flashes of his trademark aggression, his technique hasn’t quite blossomed yet, and he winds up getting head-kick KO’d at the video’s 7:15 mark.

Mauricio Rua vs. Rafael Freitas, Meca World Vale Tudo 7, 11/8/02. Rua was 20 years old when he made his official MMA debut against Rafael “Capoeira” Freitas, who was tenacious in his attempts to put Shogun on his back. But Freitas couldn’t keep him there, and the standup exchanges were lopsided in Rua’s favor. After a few minutes of abusing his opponent with knees, punches, and stomps, Shogun finally puts Freitas out cold with a head-kick.

Over the last ten years, we’ve watched Mauricio “Shogun” Rua go from young phenom to living legend. Though injuries and and controversial judging have occasionally slowed his momentum during the second half of his career, Shogun enters next weekend’s UFC on FOX 4 matchup with Brandon Vera as a standard-bearer for his generation of fighters, and is still considered among the elite of the light-heavyweight division.

In honor of Rua’s continuing legacy, we’ve picked out the 16 videos that best summarize his journey as a fighter — from the past to the present, from his most unforgettable triumphs to his most crushing defeats. Enjoy, and pay your respects in the comments section.


Mauricio Rua vs. Rodrigo Malheiros de Andrade. Shot in 1998 when Rua was just 16 years old, this footage shows the future PRIDE/UFC star competing in a Muay Thai smoker in somebody’s house in Curitiba, Brazil. Though Shogun shows flashes of his trademark aggression, his technique hasn’t quite blossomed yet, and he winds up getting head-kick KO’d at the video’s 7:15 mark.


Mauricio Rua vs. Rafael Freitas, Meca World Vale Tudo 7, 11/8/02. Rua was 20 years old when he made his official MMA debut against Rafael “Capoeira” Freitas, who was tenacious in his attempts to put Shogun on his back. But Freitas couldn’t keep him there, and the standup exchanges were lopsided in Rua’s favor. After a few minutes of abusing his opponent with knees, punches, and stomps, Shogun finally puts Freitas out cold with a head-kick.


Mauricio Rua vs. Angelo de Oliveira, Meca World Vale Tudo 8, 5/16/03. Brutal and short, Shogun’s second pro fight ended with him literally soccer-kicking his opponent out of the ring.


Mauricio Rua vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, Meca World Vale Tudo 9, 8/1/03. In his early heyday, Cyborg — the original, male one — seemed more animal than man. Watch how absurdly fast he starts out against Shogun, who has no choice but to fire back and hope for the best. Deciding he’s had enough, Shogun wisely takes the fight to the ground, where he scores full mount and fires down punches until Cyborg rolls over and concedes defeat.


Mauricio Rua vs. Akihiro Gono, PRIDE Bushido 2, 2/15/04. Rua began his PRIDE career with four consecutive first-round knockouts against Japanese opponents. Gono was able to last a full nine minutes thanks to his solid defense, grappling, and a few offensive tricks of his own. (Check out that trip-throw at 4:36.) But at the 10:15 mark, Shogun lights up Gono with strikes, and the Japanese fighter collapses into soccer-kick range. Checkmate.


Mauricio Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara, PRIDE 29, 2/20/05. Rua tries to show off some of his grappling, before realizing that it would be a hell of a lot easier to stomp another one of these jokers to death. No highlight reel of Shogun’s savage finishes would be complete without this one.

On the next page: Shogun becomes a legend in PRIDE — and a bust in the UFC.

CagePotato Roundtable #15: What’s Your Favorite MMA Photograph of All Time?


(Photographer unknown. Level of badassery incalculable.)

For this installment of the CagePotato Roundtable, we invited a few of our photographer buddies over to discuss our all-time favorite MMA photos. Judging by our selections, shots of agony and defeat have a special attraction to them. I think it’s because they allow us to get close to an incredibly intense, transcendent moment, without having to experience the pain of it. And isn’t that why we love MMA in the first place? Our special guests for today are…

– Lee Whitehead, author of Blunt Force Trauma & The Mammoth Book of Mixed Martial Arts. You can see more of his work at www.leewhitehead.com, on Instagram, and on Twitter @leewhiteheadmma.

– Jon Sluder, who shot Bellator 34 for us back in October 2010. Check out his recent highlights at Sluder.net.

– Jason Wright, who shot UFC 119 for us back in September 2010; if you follow us on Facebook, you recently saw one of his highlights from that night. You can see more of J-Dog’s work at jasonwrightphotography.com.

Disclaimer: There’s a short list of MMA photographers who have asked us to stop posting their work on this site due to copyright issues, and a couple of contributors to this week’s column happened to select photos taken by those photographers. We’ve used stand-ins in those cases, with links to the actual photos. Also, we don’t know why BJ Penn is so heavily represented in this column. The guy always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Lee Whitehead

(Click image for larger version.)

I have many favorite photos from all the years shooting MMA but this one has to rank amongst the very top purely because of all the flack and accusations of photoshop manipulation with the blood spurt; professionals can spot a ringer, and this ain’t one. The disappointing thing is that all negative comments detract from our main strength as MMA photographers — to understand the sport, spot smaller nuances, read the timing, and capture a key defining moment in a fight. To me, this brief slice of time from UFC 80 serves as the perfect reminder of how dominant BJ Penn was in his prime.


(Photographer unknown. Level of badassery incalculable.)

For this installment of the CagePotato Roundtable, we invited a few of our photographer buddies over to discuss our all-time favorite MMA photos. Judging by our selections, shots of agony and defeat have a special attraction to them. I think it’s because they allow us to get close to an incredibly intense, transcendent moment, without having to experience the pain of it. And isn’t that why we love MMA in the first place? Our special guests for today are…

– Lee Whitehead, author of Blunt Force Trauma & The Mammoth Book of Mixed Martial Arts. You can see more of his work at www.leewhitehead.com, on Instagram, and on Twitter @leewhiteheadmma.

– Jon Sluder, who shot Bellator 34 for us back in October 2010. Check out his recent highlights at Sluder.net.

– Jason Wright, who shot UFC 119 for us back in September 2010; if you follow us on Facebook, you recently saw one of his highlights from that night. You can see more of J-Dog’s work at jasonwrightphotography.com.

Disclaimer: There’s a short list of MMA photographers who have asked us to stop posting their work on this site due to copyright issues, and a couple of contributors to this week’s column happened to select photos taken by those photographers. We’ve used stand-ins in those cases, with links to the actual photos. Also, we don’t know why BJ Penn is so heavily represented in this column. The guy always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Lee Whitehead

(Click image for larger version.)

I have many favorite photos from all the years shooting MMA but this one has to rank amongst the very top purely because of all the flack and accusations of photoshop manipulation with the blood spurt; professionals can spot a ringer, and this ain’t one. The disappointing thing is that all negative comments detract from our main strength as MMA photographers — to understand the sport, spot smaller nuances, read the timing, and capture a key defining moment in a fight. To me, this brief slice of time from UFC 80 serves as the perfect reminder of how dominant BJ Penn was in his prime.

John Sluder

Megumi Fujii entered her Bellator 34 fight against Zoila Gurgel with an undefeated record of 22 consecutive wins. This bout was a war; both fighter threw bombs at each other all night. In the end, Gurgel had her hand raised in a very controversial victory. I was lucky to have a position next to the gate, and After Fujii exited the cage, I was able to get this shot. It was one of the few shots I question myself about taking. Was I being voyeuristic in a moment of deep despair? Should I have allowed this person a private moment to feel their pain? I was very empathic to her feelings. By my account she had won that fight.

Jared Jones

Although I wouldn’t really dub this my “favorite” MMA photo of all time, being that Chuck Liddell was and always will be one of the guys I would willingly storm the gates of Hell with, it’s easily the most iconic, and the first that came to my mind when this Roundtable topic was dropped in my lap. Let’s face it, before some guy called Anderson Silva arrived and decimated every UFC record known to man, Chuck Liddell was the scariest dude on the planet — the Governor to our Woodbury, if you will. Not only was “The Iceman” a champion, he abided by the Kenny Florian maxim of fight-finishing while Ken-Flo was still popping zits on his face and jacking off to the lingerie section of the Sears catalog.

The point is, Liddell was untouchable. And when the only man to actually defeat him (a fact that most fans weren’t even aware of at the time) without receiving a proper revenge beatdown in return (*cough* Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn *cough*) entered the UFC and managed to do so a second time at UFC 71, it was like watching a public execution of a beloved children’s cartoon. The Iceman era was over, never to return, and this photo captured that sickening realization all too well. As Big John huddles over a semi-conscious Liddell, it almost appears as if the fallen champ is still trying to grasp at, or is perhaps reflecting on, the fleeting remnants of his empire as they disintegrate around him. It’s a heartbreaking, yet beautifully composed and symmetrical shot, and portrays the conflicting mix of emotions present when the metaphorical torch is passed better than any other MMA photo I’ve ever come across.

*pours out a drink for the Iceman and cries into Kimiko-tan* 

Jason Moles

(See the actual photo on POYI.org)

For years, we’ve watched what many consider modern-day Gladiators battle it out for honor, glory, and cold hard cash. And in the countless fights we’ve been witness to, only a select few, by comparison, have been etched in our minds and the history books forevermore. From the joy of winning to the agony of defeat. From snapped limbs and KO faces to fighters nearly falling out of the ring. At the end of the night when the blood has dried and the swelling has subsided, these warriors remain mortal men like the rest of us, men with families whom they love and cherish. No more emotionally charged (and controversial) photo in the MMA community exists than the one of Mark Coleman with his young daughters after losing to Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 32.

The above photo is my favorite in MMA because of what I remember when I look upon it. First you have Mark Coleman, a dad, enjoying his most precious “prize” — his daughters. Despite him losing and his deformed face at the time, Coleman got on the mic, called out for his daughters, and got down on their level to explain that he was okay. To hear “The Hammer” tell it, as soon as he saw his daughters he immediately had to turn into a father. Then you have his girls, whose love and concern for their father is far greater than any world championship or over-sized check. The father-daughter relationship is more important than trophies or medals, and he knew it. Knowing his kids just watched him get beat up, he made a bold (and great) decision to make sure he could console them as soon as he could. Good job, dad. How can you not be moved when looking at this picture? Sure, he collected a paycheck for the brutality he suffered in the ring, but he did it for us.

Ben Goldstein

(See the actual photo at LasVegasSun.com)

You sign a contract to fight a certain opponent on a certain night. Either you think you’re better than the other guy, or you think you can figure out a way to win. You train as hard as you can. You craft a game-plan. When the time comes, you do your absolute best. And in an instant, you realize that it wasn’t enough. Your confidence was a lie. None of it mattered.

Anybody can get caught with a punch they didn’t see coming, or snatched up in a submission hold because they left their arm out for a split-second too long. You can excuse those losses in your mind. “He was the better man that night,” etc. But to be dominated from bell to bell for 15 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 25 minutes — that’s tough. At a certain point you realize that the miraculous comeback isn’t going to happen. Plan A didn’t work, and Plan B didn’t work, and you never really came up with a Plan C. Your opponent is hurting you in ways that you simply don’t know how to defend, and he’s getting stronger as you get weaker. You’re losing. You’ve lost.

They say the eyes are the windows the the soul, right? I look at Sam Morris’s photo of BJ Penn being dominated by Georges St. Pierre, and I can’t find it. The spirit has left the body, and the body is just waiting for it to be over. Penn is one of those fighters — like Tito Ortiz, like Quinton Jackson — who used to be the best in the world, and has managed to convince himself that on some level, he’ll always be the best in the world, or at least capable of greatness on any given night. And I wonder what Penn was telling himself the moment this photo was taken at UFC 94, when reality was smashing him in the face.

Jason Wright

One of the most memorable MMA photos for me is this photo of Rashad Evans after he was KO’ed by Lyoto Machida at UFC 98 (I can’t find a version with the proper photo credits). There’s so much to like here. The swollen, bloody lips, the unevenly rolled down eyes — you can tell that no one is home. He looks more alien than human. Let’s face it, unless your name is Rashad Evans, your first reaction to the photo is probably one of laughter. And if you are not a fan of Evans, you may keep on laughing for a few. I still grin every time I look at his photo, and for me that is a key factor to a great photograph — it stirs emotion.

George Shunick

Fedor Emelianenko might have the best photo resume of any MMA fighter to date. The ice cream cones. The Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory. Wearing a wig with Wanderlei. The iconic photos from any of his matches. But that said, there is one image that stands above all the rest, not just because it encapsulates the aura and the ability Fedor possessed in his prime, but because it does so to a degree that is virtually unrivaled in MMA photojournalism. It’s the one of Fedor walking away from the corporeal vessel that previously housed Andrei Arlovski’s soul, after it was exorcised through a combination of flawless technique and very, very flawed technique.

It’s a glimpse at what was once the inexorable consequence of attempting to dethrone the MMA world’s unstoppable force — Arlovksi’s chin was clearly not the immovable object. The Pitbull lies prone, eyes open but unseeing, not so much a vanquished victim as an obstacle that happened to be in the way of something that refused to divert course. Fedor casually walks away, seemingly indifferent to the fact that he has just knocked out yet another challenger and retained his place among the sport’s elite in front of a sold-out arena of screaming fans.

Along with his almost decade-long reign atop the heavyweight division, the perception of Fedor as a cool, emotionless enigma, contributed to his mythic status among MMA fans. he was the MMA equivalent of Anton Chigurh. Until, of course, he wasn’t anymore. This Sherdog photograph manages to capture not only that sense of invincibility and mystique Fedor possessed, but the inevitable outcome that accompanied his fights at the time. It didn’t merely capture the qualities of the fighter himself but also an era of the heavyweight division — and MMA in general — which that fighter managed to define.

Aaron Mandel

Francis Specker‘s photo of the H-Bomb being deployed on Michael Bisping is my favorite MMA photograph of all time. This bout went down at UFC 100 — arguably the biggest card in terms of hype and talent the promotion had ever put on — and it was the culmination of the “Ultimate Fighter: US vs. UK” season where Bisping came across to most viewers as a complete and total douchebag. When Hendo knocked him out standing up and then lined up the totally unnecessary, yet somehow totally awesome follow up shot that this photo captures, many fans went wild.

This photo also marks the moment when Dan Henderson, who has a title shot coming up next month, got his mojo back. When Henderson came over from Pride in 2007 and lost two title shots at both middleweight and light-heavyweight, his career momentum was seriously derailed. His next two fights were rather unexciting decision wins, and going into the Bisping fight, people were losing interest in this seemingly aging veteran. With his destruction of Bisping, Henderson put himself back on the map, and while he left the UFC over a contract dispute then lost a disappointing fight to Jake Shields, Henderson’s next three fights were violent finishes and his return to the UFC was one of the greatest wars ever seen.

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