If there is any curse in the world of combative sport, it’s that of being a fighter who cannot deliver force with any kind of note, especially via punches. Much like trying to carry water with a hole in the bottom of the bucket, scoring punches t…
If there is any curse in the world of combative sport, it’s that of being a fighter who cannot deliver force with any kind of note, especially via punches.
Much like trying to carry water with a hole in the bottom of the bucket, scoring punches that do little to no damage—no matter how cleanly they land—is a hard obstacle to overcome; such fighters can still score points, but once their opponent realizes they have nothing to fear from those fists, the fight can turn quickly.
After all, these men and women are in the hurt business, where it is far better to give than receive; if you have nothing to give, then you are going to receive, usually until your cup runneth over.
But there is also an unfounded stigma around such fighters; the notion is if a fighter has “pillow hands” or is “feather fisted,” they can never acquire the power to do serious damage if God hasn’t seen fit to give it to them at birth.
While some fighters can indeed train to confound said notion, it still takes a great deal in order to compete with the Fedor Emelianenkos, Benson Hendersons and Johnny Hendrickses of the game—men who can deliver devastating force so casually it almost seems unfair.
No one enters the fight game and achieves anything considerable without being of the mind that they are good enough and have the necessary desire to take such considerations as “fair” and “unfair” and render them moot.
Fighters have always been a breed apart from the rest of us, which is why we watch them ply their trade; as fans, ours are vicarious joys.
Matt “The Law” Lindland has been clinching, smothering, and dirty boxing his way through the MMA world since the days of wrestling shoes in the Octagon. He’s fought alongside and against some of the very best in the world and was a fixture in the top-ten middleweight rankings for years.
A 2000 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling silver medalist and Team Quest charter member, Lindland went 9-3 during his UFC middleweight tenure and earned a 2002 title shot against champion Murilo Bustamante. After leaving the UFC (Google his UFC 54 t-shirt controversy), he moved up in weight classes to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Fedor Emelianenko (in Russia), he won his two IFL Super Fights as the coach of the Portland Wolfpack/Team Quest, and he was the hardcore fan’s dream opponent for Anderson Silva.
Although Lindland has been inactive for nearly a year-and-a-half, he has yet to hang up his fingerless gloves. “I’ve never won a world title, so it’s kind of hard to retire,” explained the 42-year-old Lindland, whose focus today is on leading wrestling and MMA seminars, overseeing his SportFight promotion, and coaching his Team Quest MMA fighters.
Inspired by Ring Magazine’s “The Best I’ve Faced” series, here’s the legendary Matt “The Law” Lindland looking back on a long, hard-fought career and remembering those opponents who stand out across the following categories:
Best boxing:Vitor Belfort. With boxing it all starts with your footwork, your movement, and he has explosive hands and hips. And not just the night I fought him. He’s got consistently good boxing.
By Matt Kaplan
Matt “The Law” Lindland has been clinching, smothering, and dirty boxing his way through the MMA world since the days of wrestling shoes in the Octagon. He’s fought alongside and against some of the very best in the world and was a fixture in the top-ten middleweight rankings for years.
A 2000 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling silver medalist and Team Quest charter member, Lindland went 9-3 during his UFC middleweight tenure and earned a 2002 title shot against champion Murilo Bustamante. After leaving the UFC (Google his UFC 54 t-shirt controversy), he moved up in weight classes to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Fedor Emelianenko (in Russia), he won his two IFL Super Fights as the coach of the Portland Wolfpack/Team Quest, and he was the hardcore fan’s dream opponent for Anderson Silva.
Although Lindland has been inactive for nearly a year-and-a-half, he has yet to hang up his fingerless gloves. “I’ve never won a world title, so it’s kind of hard to retire,” explained the 42-year-old Lindland, whose focus today is on leading wrestling and MMA seminars, overseeing his SportFight promotion, and coaching his Team Quest MMA fighters.
Inspired by Ring Magazine’s “The Best I’ve Faced” series, here’s the legendary Matt “The Law” Lindland looking back on a long, hard-fought career and remembering those opponents who stand out across the following categories:
Best boxing:Vitor Belfort. With boxing it all starts with your footwork, your movement, and he has explosive hands and hips. And not just the night I fought him. He’s got consistently good boxing.
Heaviest hands:Robbie Lawler. (laughing) I don’t really remember too much of that fight, but, yeah, he hits very hard, and he’s knocked out lots of really good fighters.
Toughest chin:Tony Fryklund. I hit that guy with some bombs, but he just wouldn’t stop. He was real tough.
Best wrestler:Mike Van Arsdale. Mike was a great wrestler, and I watched him wrestle for a long time. Remember, when he and Randy Couture fought, it was scramble after scramble; that was a great fight.
Most intelligent: In terms of ring strategy,I’m going to go with David Terrell, another southpaw, for the way he came out and approached that match-up. It was a quick fight; he knocked me out early. He came out with a good strategy.
Most powerful: Phil Baroni, for sure…for sure! Now, I did fight Fedor, but that was two weight classes above me, so if we’re talking middleweights, I’d exclude Fedor and say Phil Baroni. Quinton Jackson was also a pretty explosive athlete. I’ve fought some pretty strong guys. I’m more of a leverage fighter: I use my length and my leverage to my advantage, rather than go strength against strength.
Most punishing kicks or knees: I don’t know. The only guy who really kicked me and that I really felt it afterward was Ricardo Almeida, but every time he kicked me, he’d eat a left hand. It wasn’t a really good exchange for him. I had a few bruises on my leg, and he ate a bunch of left hands.
Most dangerous ground game: Jeremy Horn, for sure. He’s tapped out so many dudes. Jeremy Horn was one of the best guys. He’s fought for world titles and was an incredible ground fighter. Very dangerous.
Most surprising: Travis Lutter. When he swept me from the ground, I was completely shocked. I took him down, thought I was going to completely dominate the top position, and he swept me and got on top to a mount position. He definitely surprised me with that.
Most underrated: Joe Doerksen. He’s so tough. He was game and tough. He was trying to submit me and almost caught me in some stuff. I was thinking I’m going to choke him out or knock him out, but he was still there. Joe Doerksen is a really tough dude. Very underrated.
Most complete fighter: I fought a lot of really good fighters and most of them had strengths in more than one area. It would have to be Pat Miletich or Jeremy Horn. They’re good on their feet, good on the ground. It’s a toss-up between them. And they’re both on the same team.
Best overall fighter: Fedor. He was a legend. He was the best heavyweight, pound for pound, for a while, but we saw him age as well. I think Russians get old faster.
Sweetest victory: Probably my win against Pat Miletich. He was a world champion, someone who’d done it all in this sport, and I had an opportunity to fight him in one of my earlier fights. I was very excited about that. I went out there and finished him in the first round.
Most bitter defeat: They’re all bitter, man. They all suck.It’s hard to get old in this sport, and you can’t do it forever. I guess my most bitter defeat would be the split decision loss to Rampage Jackson. I guarantee you the fix was in on that fight. I whooped his ass. I clearly won two rounds…When you compete against world-class athletes, someone’s going to win, someone’s going to lose. I understand. That’s what the sport is, but when the judges just completely rob you in a show that only promotes one athlete, like the way the WFA was only promoting Rampage Jackson, it was very clear that I won that fight and that they robbed me of that fight. I’m not bitter against Rampage; he went out there and fought the best he could. But I still whooped his ass. Do I sound bitter? I’m not really a bitter guy.
Alright, fight fans, “It’s time!” to get some…culture. Just like in the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece and the Modern Summer Olympics from 1924 to 1948, which held not only athletic contests but also art competitions, artists …
Alright, fight fans, “It’s time!” to get some…culture.
Just like in the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece and the Modern Summer Olympics from 1924 to 1948, which held not only athletic contests but also art competitions, artists whose works feature athletes truly complete humanity’s appreciation and promotion of sports.
In MMA, we are fortunate to have someone like Brad Utterstrom, who has dedicated his art to portraying mainly portraits of our renowned fighters—recent past and present. Yours truly is privileged to correspond with the artist and receive from him the links to his 11 personal favorites along with his personal thoughts on each piece.
Utterstrom is an alumnus of Western Oregon University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Art in 2002. In his own words, “During my final year at WOU, I did my first MMA related painting…a red, yellow, and blue acrylic of Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture. Since then, almost all of my artwork has been MMA related.”*
Enjoy this slideshow of samplings of the painter’s works: 11 portraits treated in different mediums and styles of artistic expression, with a sprinkling of thoughts from the artist on his creations as shared to this writer.
I also included brief backgrounds on each subject.
Yes, Mr. James Ladner, there’s inspiring and edifying beauty in the combat sport of MMA.
The artist will truly appreciate it if you will write down your favorite piece on the comments thread below.
Once the artifice is stripped away from a UFC event—the media narratives, the back-and-forth banter, the UFC on FOX theme music—what’s left is something simple and magnificent. It’s athletic competition at its purest. Two men will stand acr…
Once the artifice is stripped away from a UFC event—the media narratives, the back-and-forth banter, the UFC on FOX theme music—what’s left is something simple and magnificent. It’s athletic competition at its purest. Two men will stand across the cage from each other and try to impose their wills on one another.
Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping won’t be able to talk each other to death Saturday night on FOX. In the end, as is the case in all sporting events from tee ball to the Super Bowl, things will be settled on the field of play.
And that’s why people at Team Quest in Oregon were all smiles last week when Bisping replaced former NCAA champion Mark Munoz as Sonnen’s opponent in a fight to determine the next top contender for Anderson Silva‘s UFC middleweight title.
“We were actually kind of happy. We weren’t really concerned at all. In a way, we thought this wasn’t that much different than the Brian Stann fight,” Sonnen’s head coach Scott McQuary said.
“Except Stann hits a hell of a lot harder…Bisping breaks easily. I think he’s mentally weak. Watch how he fought Dan Henderson. I think he was totally intimidated. And I think he’s going to be intimidated by Chael too…Chael is such a hard worker and he has such a fast pace. Bisping is much more lackadaisical. He likes to throw a jab, throw a kick, keep his distance. He’s not going to be able to keep up the pace Chael forces. Whether on the ground or standing.”
There were some legitimate questions about who would win the wrestling battle between Sonnen and Munoz. Mark had bested Sonnen in college, but that was 10 years ago. A lot can change in a decade, and Sonnen’s teammates and coaches felt he could put Munoz on his back.
But all agreed it wouldn’t be easy. The fight, they feared, might even devolve into a kickboxing affair between two wrestling greats—never the prettiest sight.
Bisping is another beast altogether. He’s a fighter seemingly tailor-made for Sonnen to beat—a jack of all trades who’s not exceptional at any one aspect of the fight game. He’s the type of fighter Sonnen has traditionally made mincemeat of.
“I like this quite a bit better. I think it’s a much higher-profile fight,” Chael’s mentor and longtime trainer Matt Lindland said. “I wasn’t super excited about the Munoz matchup. Mark and Chael was much scarier, because we didn’t know what was going to happen. Would Mark be able to shut down Chael’s wrestling? Sometimes with two high-level wrestlers, it just comes down to who gets the first good shot in. Look at Hendricks and Fitch. I think Munoz was a much tougher fight stylistically…this isn’t a knock on Michael’s abilities or his skills. His skills just don’t match up with Chael Sonnen’s. Where Michael is weak, that’s where Chael’s real strengths are.”
A win over Bisping in Chicago will land Sonnen a second title shot at Anderson Silva. The Brazilian is probably the greatest fighter ever to step into the UFC Octagon, but that didn’t stop Sonnen from giving him a drubbing in their first meeting. Only a last-ditch, final-round submission saved Silva’s title.
It’s perhaps the most valuable loss on any fighter’s resume. Sonnen didn’t take the title, but he earned everyone’s respect. Another strong showing against Silva would immediately propel Sonnen up another notch in the fans’ esteem. It’s a rare second shot at greatness.
Leading this charge towards MMA immortality is Scott McQuarry. The head trainer at Team Quest Tualatin, McQuary is a 50-year-old Judo black belt who’s taken control of Sonnen’s ground game. In the past, Sonnen’s impeccable wrestling has been a blessing and a bane.
When he’s won, it’s been with his wrestling—attacking non-stop, implacably, unstoppably. But his inability to make the most of this strength, and his inclination to score the takedown and then bide his time, has cost him.
Too often—eight times, in fact—he’s tossed an opponent down, only to be submitted from the bottom.
But what others count as a weakness, McQuary saw as a potential strength. Sonnen, he thought, was able to put himself in great positions with ease—positions most grapplers would kill to be in. What if, McQuary pondered, Sonnen used his wrestling skill, not just to plant people on the mat, but to finish them there as well?
“We just needed to tweak a few things,” McQuarry said. “I told him, ‘We need to work on your defense and I want to work on just a couple of submissions.’ It’s worked really well. We have a number of things in the bag that we haven’t even let out yet. The Brian Stann fight, we were so glad he got that submission we’d been working on. But trust me—he’s got a bunch of stuff he hasn’t even showcased yet.
“I looked at the positions he was most frequently in. A lot of times he was trying to ground-and-pound people with fairly good success. But I told him, ‘We can make this a lot easier. Let’s work for a submission.’ He’s so damn good at keeping his position or transitioning to a new position if things go awry, it was kind of a no-brainer.”
Of course, with Sonnen, the public is less interested in the nuances of his game and more curious about what he said, about whom, and whether or not he meant it. Sonnen has a gift for gab, one he’s used in the latter years of his career to become a superstar.
“Coming from a wrestling background, he tried to take a more humble approach. Over the last couple of years he’s taken a little different approach… Whether they hate him or they love him, they know who he is,” Lindland said. “They want to see him fight either way. I think it’s important that he learned how to do that. This is what it takes in this industry. It’s an entertainment industry. The promoters decide which fights are going to sell more tickets and those are the fights they put together. It’s about building hype and putting on a show. There’s no athletic architecture that says ‘If you beat this guy, your next fight is for a world title.'”
Without trash talk, Sonnen is a middleweight Jon Fitch, a ground specialist who lingers on the undercard despite his perennial contender status. With it, Sonnen is the UFC’s fastest-rising star.
“If you look at Muhammad Ali, he started to get the same type of notoriety when he started believing and selling the same kind of fairy tale. Everyone else says ‘What?’ But he just goes with it,” McQuarry said. “Do I sit back and ask, ‘What are you doing calling yourself the (real) world middleweight champion?’ I don’t question that. I see it, believe it, achieve it. If he has to go that route to it and it sells the fight in the meantime, more power to him.”
No one is beyond Sonnen’s reach. He’s taken heavyweights like Brock Lesnar down a peg, lambasted the entire nation of Brazil and taken special care to eviscerate Silva whenever possible. He isn’t afraid to center the media in his sites either, as witnessed by an ugly exchange with broadcaster Michael Landsberg late last year.
The Landsberg incident is consummate Sonnen. No one can be entirely sure just how serious he is. Those closest to him believe it’s all an act, but a multifaceted one. Sonnen’s trash talk isn’t just to get fans riled up. Angering opponents and getting in their heads is also a pleasant side effect.
The real target of Sonnen’s trash talk is Sonnen himself.
“For Chael, him talking is not as much for the fans as for himself,” Lindland said. “If he’s saying it enough, loud enough, long enough and often enough, I think he starts believing he’s the best guy. He’s going to believe he can beat Anderson. He’s not just trying to sell the fight to fans. He’s selling it to himself. So he can be the hype he’s created.”
Sonnen refuses to let anyone behind the curtain. His is an act every bit as calculated as Stephen Colbert’s. But while Colbert does out-of-character interviews, the real Chael Sonnen is not for public display.
I asked him about the contention that his trash talk is motivational, that he needs it to thrive and continue to push himself. As usual, he deflected with humor.
“Wow that’s deep. No way you got that from ‘someone close to me.’ I surround myself with ‘yes’ men,” Sonnen said.
What about his wild statements. How calculated are his wrestling-style promos? Are they off the cuff, or carefully crafted?
“I’m not sure what ‘promo’ means. I looked it up, and found no definition. If I’m asked a question, I answer it. That’s all.”
In the end, we aren’t any closer to knowing the real Chael Sonnen. We only know the face he’s shown us: smart, cutting and caustic. Chael Sonnen wears a mask. But that’s the beautiful thing about his sport.
In the cage, there’s no escaping who you really are. When the time for talking is done, when it’s time to start backing it up, that’s when a man shows who he is. Fear, pride, strength, resolve: All those things are magnified in the confines of a cage.
Who is Chael Sonnen? We’ll find out Saturday night.
JS: First off, thanks for taking the time to talk today. Now, “Sport Fight, The ultimate evolution of one-on-one combat,” that’s an intriguing strapline. Can you elaborate upon its meaning?
ML: Haha, well, it’s a goo…
JS: First off, thanks for taking the time to talk today. Now, “Sport Fight, The ultimate evolution of one-on-one combat,” that’s an intriguing strapline. Can you elaborate upon its meaning?
ML: Haha, well, it’s a good tagline. When we started the promotion in Oregon back in 2002, most states in the country were not sanctioning MMA fights. Most people frowned upon what we were doing; it was considered illegal activity, the equivalent of “no holds barred’ fighting.” We were effectively self-regulating our own fights, drafting in our own judges and referees. The rules were coincidentally the same set of rules that other sanctioned states were using, such as Nevada and New Jersey.
Given that the state of Oregon wasn’t officially sanctioning fights, we were basically scofflaws promoting MMA fights here in our jurisdiction. MMA remained relatively new to the general public, so we devised the strapline to make a distinction between this type of combat sport and all the others which existed at the time. And at that time, it was an evolution.
JS: Did Sport Fight’s rules initially differ at all from UFC rules?
ML: No, they didn’t. MMA rules have always had to comply with the regulations of the sanctioning state. Oregon now officially sanctions MMA, and our rules are in line with the state. I was instrumental in writing some legislation in Oregon, sponsored by a state representative. The rules are now pretty uniform across the country and worldwide, so I guess it’s not an evolution anymore, and it’s more the norm. So, maybe our tagline is antiquated now; do you have any ideas for a new one?
JS: Haha, I’ll try and conjure something up for you. So back at Sport Fight 1, there weren’t any of the old-school “Vale Tudo” knees-on-the-ground, soccer kicks or stomps permitted?
ML: No, because we wanted to stay in line with what other states were condoning. Though I’ve always been a huge fan of knees on the ground, soccer kicks and stomps. I tried to push those through here in Oregon when the MMA legislation was being written up, but unfortunately, I wasn’t successful.
JS: OK, now moving onto your newfound role as an advisor to the future home of MMA Takedown Fight Media, and its inaugural coverage of your promotion Sport Fight 30 on 22nd October. Could you briefly elaborate upon your role with Takedown?
ML: My relationship with Takedown is actually two-fold. I’m an advisor to the company, and my promotion, Sport Fight, is one of the 40 MMA organisations under the Takedown banner. The model of Takedown is as follows. It isn’t an MMA promotion company in the traditional sense. They themselves do not put on fights, they do not match-make, they do not deal with venues, fighters, live gates. They exclusively deal with promoters and provide the content of the various MMA promotions’ shows under their banner. So essentially, they film the shows, turn it into a TV show, and distribute it worldwide through multiple media channels. Kind of like MMA’s version of “Friday Night Fights.”
So Takedown films the content, edits the content, inserts the graphics, packages it up and delivers it to distribution channels. Takedown handles that side of the business, enabling the promoters to do what they do best; to match-make and host exciting fights within the framework of an exhilarating live event.
JS: OK, sounds like an exciting concept. Do you believe that Takedown has the potential to become a big player within the MMA industry?
ML: Takedown has a great opportunity because it’s doing something seminal and distinctive within the world of MMA. We’re completely different to the UFC; we have a completely different business model and we aren’t trying to compete with the UFC. No single promoter globally can deliver 32 weeks of consistent content per year. Even the UFC struggles to deliver that much content. So that allows us to be more consistent with our programming, delivering fights on a weekly basis. That’s perfect for both the TV networks and the fans.
JS: OK, sounds immense. Moving onto your promotion, Sport Fight, what was the original aim? To remain a local organisation that showcases local talent?
ML: My original aim back in 2002 was to provide opportunities for my up-and-coming Team Quest fighters to gain greater exposure and showcase their skills. I’ve done shows with Bodog, I’ve done shows with HDNet, I’ve produced three seasons (of 13×1-hour episodes) of Sport Fight TV for Comcast, the biggest cable provider in the US. I’ve delivered content in other forms, but we’ve switched to Takedown because we believe in the way they’re going to deliver the content, and we believe that this will be the most effective model.
JS: Do you harbour any aspirations with Sport Fight as a promotion to overtake the likes of Bellator/Shark Fights/BAMMA and become a major player in world MMA outside of the Zuffa banner?
ML: Yes, our ultimate goals may have changed slightly. Of course, our central objective remains to gain exposure for our local fighters, but as a promotion company, Sport Fight has emerged as the premier show in the North-West. We’ve staged 30 major shows and another 30 smaller amateur casino shows on top of that. Globally, via the digital media format, I could envisage us having a more widespread reach than some of the organisations that you’ve mentioned.
However, I don’t think we’re necessarily competing with the Bellators of this world, because we have an entirely different business model. And I think Sport Fight will remain located in Oregon.
And that’s the great thing with Takedown media. The best promotions region-wide will inevitably rise to the top, and they’ll be the shows distributed by Takedown. Sport Fight sets itself apart from the other shows under the Takedown banner by being granted the pilot event, and Sport Fight will be one of those top shows delivering consistently excellent events as part of the Takedown package.
JS: OK, does Team Quest’s most notorious figure Chael Sonnen assist you in promoting Oregon’s premier MMA event?
ML: Oh, yeah; Chael is very helpful in assisting with the promotion of Sport Fight. He also does our colour commentary and plenty of radio interviews leading up to the events.
JS: OK, having read up a little on the Takedown Fight Media concept, it appears that they’d like to aim for a consistent production team over all their shows. If Chael does the colour commentary for Sport Fight under the Takedown banner, does this mean we could be hearing more of Chael’s compelling cageside analysis when Takedown delivers content for other promotions?
ML: Haha, yeah; that would keep Chael extremely busy. I’m not sure he’d be able to commentate on that consistent of a basis whilst he’s still actively competing at a high level. It’d require for him to be on the road for half of the year, travelling globally, which just isn’t viable whilst training intensively. It’s great for him to do during a downtime in competition in order to keep his name out there.
However, in the future, we couldn’t outrule Chael being one of the principal colour commentators for Takedown once he hangs up his gloves. Most MMA shows would want to employ Chael as a commentator. I mean, he’s charismatic and articulate. So Takedown will probably utilise him whenever possible.
JS: OK, finally, looking forward to Sport Fight 30 taking place this Saturday, are there any fighters on this card for the casual fans to look out for? Any future potential MMA stars?
ML: Absolutely; he actually just walked into my gym right now. His name is Ryan Healy; he’s headlining the card against your countryman Paul Kelly. That should be a barnstormer, as they’re two fighters with great stand-up pedigree who both like to throw down. Ryan and his brother are both doing great things in the sport, and they’re on the cusp of bursting onto the international scene. Tommy Leisman is another Team Quest fighter to look out for. Undefeated, with a 2-0 record. He’s a very talented up-and-comer, and one to watch.
JS: Great. Cheers for the time, Matt.
ML: No worries; it was a pleasure talking with you.
Once the artifice is stripped away from a UFC event—the media narratives, the back-and-forth banter, the UFC on FOX theme music—what’s left is something simple and magnificent. It’s athletic competition at its purest. Two men will stand across the cage from each other and try to impose their wills on one another.