Tag: Mike Russow

CagePotato Roundtable #1: What’s Your Favorite Come-From-Behind Win in MMA History?

CagePotato Roundtable is a new recurring column in which the CagePotato writing staff (and some of our friends) share their opinions on an MMA-related topic, and hopefully inspire some discussion among our readers as well. For the inaugural installment, we took inspiration from Joe Rogan’s enthusiastic crowning of last weekend’s Tim Boetch vs. Yushin Okami fight as “the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC.” That’s debatable, to say the least — but isn’t everything? So what *was* the greatest comeback fight in MMA history?

Seth Falvo
When Joe Rogan first called The Barbarian’s victory the greatest comeback in UFC history, my first thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only MMA fan who hasn’t seen Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp?” That comeback exposed Sapp for the overhyped freak that he was while establishing the legend of Big Nog and his ability to come from behind to win fights. Hell, we at Cagepotato consider it to be the best freak show fight to ever come out of Japan. But in fairness to Joe Rogan, that fight didn’t take place in the UFC. So my second thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only UFC fan who hasn’t seen Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee?”

What makes this comeback so great was the fact that Todd Duffee and Mike Russow were essentially photo negatives of each other. Before this fight, Duffee was destined to be the next big thing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history in his promotional debut against Tim Hague. Duffee was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the poster boy for Muscletech and seemingly in every men’s magazine on the planet — no matter how loosely the content was related to sports. Meanwhile, Russow was quietly coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Justin McCully in his UFC debut and had more fat in his left bicep than Todd Duffee had in his entire body. Everything about this fight seemed like it was a squash match.

CagePotato Roundtable is a new recurring column in which the CagePotato writing staff (and some of our friends) share their opinions on an MMA-related topic, and hopefully inspire some discussion among our readers as well. For the inaugural installment, we took inspiration from Joe Rogan’s enthusiastic crowning of last weekend’s Tim Boetch vs. Yushin Okami fight as “the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC.” That’s debatable, to say the least — but isn’t everything? So what *was* the greatest comeback fight in MMA history?

Seth Falvo
When Joe Rogan first called The Barbarian’s victory the greatest comeback in UFC history, my first thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only MMA fan who hasn’t seen Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp?” That comeback exposed Sapp for the overhyped freak that he was while establishing the legend of Big Nog and his ability to come from behind to win fights. Hell, we at Cagepotato consider it to be the best freak show fight to ever come out of Japan. But in fairness to Joe Rogan, that fight didn’t take place in the UFC. So my second thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only UFC fan who hasn’t seen Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee?”

What makes this comeback so great was the fact that Todd Duffee and Mike Russow were essentially photo negatives of each other. Before this fight, Duffee was destined to be the next big thing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history in his promotional debut against Tim Hague. Duffee was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the poster boy for Muscletech and seemingly in every men’s magazine on the planet — no matter how loosely the content was related to sports. Meanwhile, Russow was quietly coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Justin McCully in his UFC debut and had more fat in his left bicep than Todd Duffee had in his entire body. Everything about this fight seemed like it was a squash match.

And for the first two rounds, it was. You could almost see the dollar signs in the eyes of Muscletech CEOs as Duffee smashed away at the doughy Russow, seemingly seconds away from a stoppage throughout the fight. Yet out of nowhere, Russow landed a hard straight right that crumbled Duffee, earning him the victory and single-handedly killing all of his hype.

Since then, their careers have gone in opposite directions. Mike Russow has improved his UFC record to 4-0, most recently picking up a victory over John-Olav Einemo at UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs. Davis. Meanwhile, Todd Duffee was released from the UFC for his apparent attitude problem, knocked out by Alistair Overeem in nineteen seconds at Dynamite!! 2010 and recently agreed to fight Neil Grove in India. So there’s that, I guess.

Chris Colemon

(Not only am I getting paid for writing this, I’m taking a charitable tax exemption for sharing the video with you as well. -CC)

A shot of bourbon and this highlight video. That’s how a man starts his day.

I don’t know what comeback fights these other cats are trying to sell you as “the greatest ever,” but they are wrong. That honor belongs to Kazushi Sakuraba‘s war with Kestutis Smirnovas at K-1 Hero’s 6 — all of the evidence you need is right above if you don’t believe me. Still not convinced? Let me ask you a couple of quick questions:

Did their comeback fighters rebound from a “Falling Tree” KO?
Sakuaba did. Just forty seconds into his bout with Smirnovas, ol’ #39 was felled like a mighty oak then rattled with punches as his limp body crept out of the ring beneath the ropes. Rather than call the fight off, the referee, on sabbatical from a lucrative career producing snuff films, dragged “The Gracie Hunter’s” lifeless corpse back into the ring for another helping of abuse.

Did their comeback fighters score with a hail mary haymaker or a last-ditch submission?
Sakuraba didn’t. The tide wasn’t turned by a swing for the fences, nor did he snag an arm in a wild scramble. He simply fought back. Then he fought back some more. After absorbing a world of hurt that should have resulted in numerous stoppages, Sakuraba came out of rigor mortis with nothing but his will to fight intact. He gave as good as he got, hurting Smirnovas on the feet and finishing him on the mat with an armbar.

That’s a comeback fight, men.

Ben Goldstein
Boetsch vs. Okami could never be the greatest comeback fight in UFC history, because frankly, Boetsch vs. Okami doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. For a fight to be considered the best anything, the stakes have to be high to begin with. That’s why Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 is my pick here.

Now, if you showed this fight to an MMA newbie, they probably wouldn’t get it; keep in mind that Silva vs. Sonnen was dominated by long stretches of one guy just lying on top of the other. And honestly, if these were two unknown fighters, we would have forgotten about this match the next week. What made the bout legendary is who these fighters were, and how profoundly the fight subverted our expectations.

Imagine buying a ticket to Rocky IV, and in the climactic battle, Rocky beats the shit out of Ivan Drago for eleven and a half rounds before the invincible Russian, with both his eyes swollen shut, throws a blind haymaker and turns Balboa’s lights out. Roll credits. That’s how bizarre this fight was. The guy who was supposed to get blown out was the one doing the blowing-out — until suddenly, he wasn’t. And that’s not to say that Chael Sonnen was anybody’s hero going into that fight. But he was a 4-1 underdog, and nobody was giving him a chance to win against the foreign champion who seemed more Machine than Man.

As I watched the fight with some buddies at a sports bar in New York — where every takedown and knockdown scored by Sonnen caused the patrons to erupt in stunned “OHHHHHH!”s — I realized that sports fans love to see an underdog do well, even if that underdog is one of the biggest heels in the sport. And no matter which team we’re rooting for, we like it when something completely unprecedented happens. But then, two minutes away from one of the greatest title upsets in the sport’s history, Sonnen’s Cinderella story abrupty ended with a triangle choke that nobody saw coming. And the champion was still the champion. And I guess we were supposed to feel happy about that.

Was the final result in itself that suprising? Of course not, considering Anderson Silva’s extra-dimensional brilliance and Chael Sonnen’s history of being submitted by Brazilians with that very same move. But no comeback fight has come close in terms of sheer drama, and I’m not sure we’ll see anything like it again.

Jefferey “Karmaatemycat” Watts

Have any of you guys ever been inadvertently kicked in the junk? I have, and it completely sucks. It can, in most cases, change the outcome of a fight! I would like to remind you of that fateful day in which Matt Hughes’s testicles were introduced to Frank Trigg’s knee during their second meeting at UFC 52. There was some crazy hype leading into this fight to begin with. Frank Trigg had really been laying on the smack talk leading up to their rematch, which was rather obvious when Mario Yamasaki brought them to the center of the cage. Then Hughes ate a knee to the groin a minute and ten seconds into the first round. I mean, that just sucks, but not as much as having the referee not see the low blow.

Then to make matters worse, Frank Trigg swarmed Matt Hughes! Trigg even established a full mount and was pounding away at Hughes. It was, to say the least, a very bad situation for Hughes as he proceeded to give Trigg his back so that he could survive the situation. A lot of guys are going to tell you this or that, but let me tell you rule #1 in a fight: Survive one situation so that you can attempt to survive the next. That’s exactly what Hughes did. I would wager a bet that Frank Trigg thought he had Matt Hughes locked in that RNC. God knows a lot of other people sure did. But being the Hughes nutthugger I am, I remember screaming and willing him to defend that choke. I was jumping off my couch, biting my lip, and cheering stereotypical MMA Fan stuff. I sure as shit did not expect Hughes to just grab Trigg and charge across the ring and slam him. Then he continued to beat the piss out of him, get his back, and rear naked choke Trigg.

To me, that’s always been a great example of fighting out of tough positions. Matt Hughes really showed his worth that night. I just don’t know a lot of welterweights at that time in the UFC who would have been able to take a shot to the groin, as well as all those shots from a mount, defend those submissions, and then have the energy to get up and slam his opponent, all while finishing him in the first. Just an all-around epic comeback. I mean, that shit’s right out of a Tarantino, Rodriguez film. Not even Xeno could argue that.

Jason Moles

Those are all great mentions, guys, but none compare to the exhilarating experience of watching the Immovable Object square off against the Unstoppable Force. I’m talking Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida at the TUF 6 Finale back in ’07. “The Carpenter” dominated the opening round with his aggressive attack and breakneck pace. The fight didn’t stay on feet long until Clay took Roger to the mat and ground-and-pounded him into giving up his back, which lead to Guida’s rear naked choke attempt, and even more damage dished out to close out the round.

Round two started with Guida smothering “El Matador” like a wet blanket; with every “Toro!” shouted, the bull rushed in to gore his opponent. Without missing a beat, Guida continued his destruction of Huerta on the canvas, highlighted by a massive uppercut that sent him flying backward. Rocked and on Quiver Street, the horn at the end of the round saved Roger Huerta from certain doom.

And then something happened. I’m not sure if Huerta’s corner told him that Clay had sodomized his brother or what, because “El Matador” came out looking to hurt someone. In that first minute, he was more active and aggressive than GSP has been in all of his fights combined. (What? Rogan can jizz his pants about Tim Boetsch but I can’t get away with a little hyperbole?) Whatever, I digress. Huerta threw a perfectly timed knee, staggering the man who had just bullied him for the past ten minutes, and then swarmed Guida until he fell into the fetal position, allowing Huerta to sink in a rear naked choke to end the fight fifty-one seconds into the final round.

Jared Jones

Scott Smith is one of my favorite fighters. There, I said it. Sure, he fights with the strategy of a cokehead playing Tekken for the first time, but the man has been a part of some of the most poetic brawls in the history of the sport, and practically defines the comeback with his every performance. You know, except in his last three fights, or the Diaz fight, or the Lawler fight…

…anyway, you could make the case that his flash KO of Pete Sell was his greatest comeback, and I’d probably be inclined to agree with you. However, it was Smith’s third round drubbing of Benji Radach back at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz that will forever remain one of my most treasured MMA moments.

After dropping Radach in the first round, Smith would rush in for the kill, only to find himself reeling from a perfectly placed counter right. Midway through the second, he was put on queer street compliments of a Radach left hook, and the end seemed all but imminent. As he slumped onto his stool heading in between rounds, Smith couldn’t help but tell his cornerman that he was in fact rocked, a revelation that most fighters are often too stubborn to admit. But as the Phoenix rises from the ashes of its former self, Smith would cough up some blood, wipe off his face, and enter the third round like a man possessed.

With just under 2 minutes to go, Mauro Ranallo remarked that Smith would need a knockout to win the fight. About ten seconds later, Smith would do just that, delivering a brutal right hand that sent Radach crashing to the mat in a pile. A follow-up right sealed the deal, and earned Smith the unofficial nickname of “The Comeback Kid,” a moniker he would prove worthy of in his come-from-behind victory over Cung Le the following December. Perhaps I’m just a sap, but watching Smith embrace his kids in the center of the cage after scoring the biggest victory of his career (at that point) was one of the more heartfelt moments I’ve seen in MMA, and made the fight all the more significant. At least in my eyes.

So what’s *your* favorite MMA comeback fight? Let us know in the comments section. If you have a question for a future Roundtable column, send it to [email protected], and we’ll send you a t-shirt if we decide to use it.

Video: UFC 143 Danavlog #1

By now, you know the deal when it comes to Dana White’s videoblogs, and today’s “episode” is no different. Taking a behind-the-scenes look at the aftermath of the UFC’s second Fox event, the UFC 143 videoblog contains the familiar mix of upper and downer moments, with an emphasis on the downer. Especially tough to watch is Joey Beltran’s realization that his Zuffa career may have reached a temporary standstill in the wake of his first round KO loss to Lavar Johnson. Keep your chin up, “Mexicutioner.”

Let’s get right to the highlights.

(0:45) – Jon Jones, seen here for the last time before disappearing into a thicket of notes from which he has yet to emerge.

(1:22) – God damn it, will someone give Beltran a hug and tell him that everything is going to be alright?

(1:40) – Eric Wisely, still in awe of the calf-slicer Charles Oliveira was able to pull on him. The pain was apparently so incredible that Wisely has trouble explaining to the backstage physician where exactly the strain was.

(2:48) – Jon Jones explains how Cub Swanson is one of the “nastiest dudes” on Team Jackson. He makes a good point.

By now, you know the deal when it comes to Dana White’s videoblogs, and today’s “episode” is no different. Taking a behind-the-scenes look at the aftermath of the UFC’s second Fox event, the UFC 143 videoblog contains the familiar mix of upper and downer moments, with an emphasis on the downer. Especially tough to watch is Joey Beltran’s realization that his Zuffa career may have reached a temporary standstill in the wake of his first round KO loss to Lavar Johnson. Keep your chin up, “Mexicutioner.”

Let’s get right to the highlights.

(0:45) – Jon Jones, seen here for the last time before disappearing into a thicket of notes from which he has yet to emerge.

(1:22) – God damn it, will someone give Beltran a hug and tell him that everything is going to be alright?

(1:40) – Eric Wisely, still in awe of the calf-slicer Charles Oliveira was able to pull on him. The pain was apparently so incredible that Wisely has trouble explaining to the backstage physician where exactly the strain was.

(2:48) – Jon Jones explains how Cub Swanson is one of the “nastiest dudes” on Team Jackson. He makes a good point.

(3:30) – “Shit man, he take some knees, huh?” – John Olav Einemo, who seems a little more pissed about the clusterfuck of a plane ride he had to take from Norway in retrospect. He still manages to congratulate Mike Russow on his win, however. Stay classy, J.O.E.

(4:45) – Another look at the gash under Nick Lentz’s left eye that “cut” *snicker* his bout with Evan Dunham short.

(5:10) – Does anyone know who the older gentleman responsible for hyping up Michael Bisping is? He could give Flavor Flav a run for his money is all we’re saying.

(5:50) – The agony of defeat, paired here with the thrill of victory. And it’s honestly hard to tell which one is which.

(6:08) – Example #327 of why you never let it go to the judges. It’s like jumping off an air hockey table; it only opens the door for bitter disappointment.

(6:27) – After mirroring the above sentiment, Bisping says that Chael Sonnen “punches like a woman,” before congratulating him on the win. Oh, the ironing.

(6:50) – Bisping, now claiming that Sonnen agreed “The Count” may have taken the first two rounds of their middleweight clash. Man, Bisping just doesn’t have it in him to give a straight compliment to someone, does he? Though we agree, 30-27 was bullshit.

(8:19) – We’d be more grossed out by Phil Davis‘ shin wound if we hadn’t recently come across this.

(9:07) – Perhaps it’s due to my limited knowledge of the Hip hop genre, but it took me like 10 rewinds to figure out that the gentlemen asking DW for an autograph wasn’t T.I. It isn’t, right?

-J. Jones

The Forward Roll: UFC on FOX 2 Edition

Filed under: UFCThe UFC may not have gotten what they wanted in terms of action on Saturday night, with all three FOX-broadcast fights going to decision, but there is a silver lining. A view of the bigger picture makes it easy to see they got exactly w…

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Demian Maia, Chris WeidmanThe UFC may not have gotten what they wanted in terms of action on Saturday night, with all three FOX-broadcast fights going to decision, but there is a silver lining. A view of the bigger picture makes it easy to see they got exactly what they wanted as a result of the night: a pair of huge fights.

Both the main event and co-main event represented a risk to the UFC. If either Rashad Evans or Chael Sonnen had been defeated, the UFC would have lost out on a major grudge match. And as we’ve seen in MMA, long-simmering grudge matches equal big business.

The Forward Roll’s job is done for Evans and Sonnen, who will face Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, respectively in the coming months, but what about some of the other winners and losers from Saturday night. And as a bonus, what might be next for Dan Henderson, who lost out on a possible title shot with Evans’ win?

Michael Bisping
Many people came away from the event thinking that Bisping had the most impressive performance, even though it came in defeat. That’s probably more a cause and effect of Sonnen’s reputation than reality. Bisping has always been a good wrestler and gotten off his back well in situations where he was taken down. So valiant effort though it was, he didn’t showcase anything other than what he normally has. There’s also no denying that Bisping has struggled against top opponents. At 32 years old, he’s running out of chances when it comes to moving into the division’s elite.
Prediction: He takes a step back and faces the loser of February’s Yushin Okami–Tim Boetsch fight

Phil Davis
It’s back to the drawing board for Davis, who looked overwhelmed at times against the former light-heavyweight champ. At least it was the type of loss that Evans can learn plenty from. He got the chance to experience a far more complete fighter, and can take those lessons and apply them to his own game. Davis’ two big areas of need are committing to his strikes, and sharpening his transitions into takedown attempts. Until he gains fluidity and confidence in both of those situations, he’ll have problems against the elite.
Prediction: He faces the loser of February’s Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader fight

Chris Weidman
The average fan who has never competed and cut weight has no idea the willpower that went into Weidman’s effort to go from 217 to 185 in 11 days while fighting a top 10 middleweight. He deserves plenty of credit for that, let alone winning the fight. Sure, it wasn’t a masterpiece, but it shows that Weidman can overcome some adversity. He also bravely showed a willingness to take the dangerous submission artist to the ground, taking him down four times en route to the decision. So it’s onward and upward for the rising prospect.
Prediction: He faces Rousimar Palhares

Demian Maia
Maia must have some disappointment over his performance, but we also have to remember he had a late opponent change to complicate things. He went from expecting the kickboxing-heavy Bisping to the wrestling stud Weidman. That wasn’t an easy change to handle. On the other hand, some of the striking gains he made in the last two years weren’t evident on Saturday, and his gas tank hit “E” way faster than expected. At 34 years old, Maia is 4-4 over his last eight fights, and you have to wonder if he’s hit his ceiling.
Prediction: He faces Jared Hamman

Charles Oliveira
In his featherweight debut, Oliveira made history by becoming the first UFC fighter to win by calf slicer submission. While his opponent Eric Wisely came into the fight without much fanfare, he’d never been finished in 25 career fights, and that’s included scraps with legit foes like Erik Koch, Hermes Franca, Matt Veach and Pat Healy. A nice next step for Oliveira would be a fight with another strong grappler to see how he does when his bread-and-butter offense is no sure thing.
Predicton: He faces Javier Vazquez

Mike Russow
Russow’s style — heavy on wrestling and groundwork — isn’t flashy but is certainly effective. He is getting into some intriguing territory in the UFC. He has an 11-fight win streak, has won all four of his UFC fights, and is on the cusp of cracking the top 10. Because the heavyweight division doesn’t have the depth of other divisions, Russow might have to wait a while to receive a matchup worthy of his streak.
Prediction: He faces the winner of February’s Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt match

Dan Henderson
Hendo sat back and waited to see what would happen, knowing that a Davis upset or Evans injury would see him leapfrog his way into a title bout with Jones. Right now, that doesn’t appear like it will happen. That leaves him in a tough predicament, as there really isn’t a logical matchup for him. Some other top light-heavies like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alexander Gustafsson and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira are already locked into fights. That means if Henderson chooses to wait for the Jones-Evans winner, he could be in for a long haul, possibly August or September. I don’t think he’ll wait that long.
Prediction: He faces Lyoto Machida

 

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC on FOX 2

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Rashad Evans vs. Phil DavisUFC on FOX 2 didn’t exactly hypnotize the network TV audience with thrilling MMA action on Saturday night, and maybe that’s okay. Maybe the UFC doesn’t need every FOX fight to be a shootout. Maybe both the network and the viewers need to know that sometimes you get a first-round knockout, and other times you get an hour’s worth of slow grinds — especially when five of your six main card fighters are grappling specialists.

For better or worse, both FOX and the UFC learned that lesson in Chicago this weekend. Now that the dust has settled, it’s time for a look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: Rashad Evans
Okay, so it wasn’t the most entertaining fight. It was, in fact, about as entertaining as a bowl of oatmeal. Regardless, Evans took on an undefeated former national champion wrestler and shut him out on the scorecards. He was better than Davis everywhere — on the feet, on the mat, and between the ears. In short, Evans took on the next big thing and made him look like a man who was just glad to get out of there and go home by the end. With the win, he earned a title shot (again), and probably also some haters (again). If you weren’t an Evans fan before this fight, chances are you still aren’t. Chances are you hope Jon Jones will crush him when they meet to finally, hopefully end this rivalry, and chances are that Evans is just fine with that. The “Suga” we saw on Saturday night was one who seemed, perhaps for the first time, comfortable with his role as a methodical spoiler of prospects and deflater of hype. He has the patience of a glacier and is almost as difficult to move once he gets on top of you. Fans won’t ever love him for that, which is fine. As long he can live with it, he doesn’t need anyone’s permission to keep doing what he does best.

Biggest Loser: Demian Maia
Toward the end of Maia’s wheezing effort against Chris Weidman, Joe Rogan compared the fighters to two drunks brawling outside a bar. I disagree. Drunks have better game plans. While I can appreciate all the time Maia has put into developing a striking game, it’s still not a great one. It’s predictable, not terribly threatening, and, worst of all, it distracts him from his true strengths. Remember when Maia was the one-dimensional jiu-jitsu fighter who at least knew he was one-dimensional? He’d look for the takedown and the submission as if he had no other choice. He’d pull half-guard and actually make it work. Much like Rousimar Palhares with his leg locks, people knew what Maia was going to do and they still couldn’t stop him. Now they don’t need to. By ignoring the ground game in favor of a mediocre striking attack, he’s stopped himself. To make matters worse, he also quickly ran out of steam against Weidman, who at least had the short-notice element as an excuse for poor cardio. Maia? He had no excuse. If he keeps this up, he won’t have much of a future either.


Least Impressive in Victory: Mike Russow
After grinding out a decision over John Olav Einemo that was the very definition of ‘lay-and-pray,’ Russow said, “I can’t believe I’m 4-0 in the UFC right now.” That makes two of us. I suppose he did what he had to do to get his hand raised in front of the hometown crowd, but he sure didn’t do anything extra. If his plan was to take Einemo down, hold him there, and stay out of submissions, then mission accomplished. If it was to convince the UFC that he’s a heavyweight worth getting behind, then sorry, there’s still some work to do.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Michael Bisping
Bisping proved more by losing a narrow decision than Sonnen proved by beating him that way. In part that’s because Bisping came in as a 3-1 underdog. No one expected him to stay on his feet long enough to do much of anything, and yet he ended up controlling many of the clinches and even took Sonnen down once. Sonnen pursued more or less the exact same game plan against Bisping as he used against opponents like Nate Marquardt and Brian Stann, and Bisping stood up to it better than either of them. Not bad for a Brit who supposedly has no wrestling skills. Bisping will probably spend the next three decades of his life talking about how he got screwed out of that decision. This time you can’t really blame him. The third round was the only one he clearly lost, and the first two could have easily gone his way. To the people who still stubbornly insist on maintaining the conventional wisdom that Bisping is no good, or that he succeeds only because the UFC feeds him hand-picked opponents, it must have been uncomfortable to sit there and wait for the decision, knowing that Bisping could have very easily been declared the UFC’s top middleweight contender. Unfortunately for him (or maybe fortunately, depending on what you think about his chances against Anderson Silva), it wasn’t to be. But by taking the best Sonnen had and giving it right back to him, Bisping showed once and for all that he deserves to be taken seriously. You don’t have to like the guy, but you ought to respect his skills.

Back to the Drawing Board: Phil Davis
Any time the announcers start talking about what a great learning experience this is for you while the fight is still going on, that’s a bad sign. It’s not that Davis performed badly. Clearly, the man has some skills. He just doesn’t have all the skills necessary to be a top light heavyweight in the UFC, or at least not yet. His striking still seems largely perfunctory and his takedowns aren’t fooling anybody. That’s fine against a lower caliber of opponent, who Davis can muscle to the mat even when they know what’s coming, but it’s not going to work against the cream of the 205-pound crop. But let’s not freak out here. That was just Davis’ tenth pro fight. One hopes that he really did learn something from five unpleasant rounds with Evans, and at 27 years old he still has plenty of time to make the most of those lessons. That’s the trouble with being undefeated: it can be hard to know what you need to be spending time on in the gym, since no one has been able to make you pay for any of your mistakes. Now he knows. Of course, so does everyone else in the division.

The Carpe Diem Award for Day-Seizing Excellence: Chris Weidman
A lot of UFC middleweights might have declined the offer to drop 32 pounds in less than two weeks and fight a guy like Maia on network TV. But Weidman saw an opportunity to go from the prelims to the spotlight, and he made the most of it. The fight wasn’t exactly a thriller, and by the end of it both guys were huffing and puffing like New Year’s resolutioners after their first day at a gym in eight years, but hey, at least Weidman had a good excuse. Given his situation, any win would have been a good win. He might not have dazzled new viewers, but he answered the call and got his hand raised. Some nights that’s enough.

Most Surprising: Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz
It’s not the result so much as the method. Who would have guessed, back when he was taking heat for winning fights via wall-and-stall, that Lentz would have two Fight of the Night bonuses in his last three trips inside the Octagon? Certainly not anyone who saw his decision wins over Andre Winner or Tyson Griffin. And yet, now that Lentz has hid the roughest stretch of his pro career, suddenly he’s raking in the bonuses. Too bad he had to do so on the losing end, thanks to Dunham. At least this loss is better for Lentz’s bank account than the defeat via smothering that he suffered at the hands of Mark Bocek in his last outing. Then again, this one wasn’t nearly so kind to his face.

Least Improved: FOX Broadcast
This event didn’t feature a frantic Dana White shouting into the camera, but it did include a slightly bewildered Curt Menefee and a light heavyweight champ who was a little too dependent on his notes. The combination made every cut-away to the boys at the desk an awkward little experiment in live TV, while down on the floor Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg reminded us that, yes, it does pay to have a couple guys who have done this before. In fact, whenever the broadcast abandoned the stilted FOX Sports feel and gave way to the regular old UFC routine, that’s when it felt smooth and comfortable. It’s almost as if the UFC has got this stuff down to a science, and all FOX needs to do is get out of the way.

 

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Rashad Evans vs. Phil DavisUFC on FOX 2 didn’t exactly hypnotize the network TV audience with thrilling MMA action on Saturday night, and maybe that’s okay. Maybe the UFC doesn’t need every FOX fight to be a shootout. Maybe both the network and the viewers need to know that sometimes you get a first-round knockout, and other times you get an hour’s worth of slow grinds — especially when five of your six main card fighters are grappling specialists.

For better or worse, both FOX and the UFC learned that lesson in Chicago this weekend. Now that the dust has settled, it’s time for a look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: Rashad Evans
Okay, so it wasn’t the most entertaining fight. It was, in fact, about as entertaining as a bowl of oatmeal. Regardless, Evans took on an undefeated former national champion wrestler and shut him out on the scorecards. He was better than Davis everywhere — on the feet, on the mat, and between the ears. In short, Evans took on the next big thing and made him look like a man who was just glad to get out of there and go home by the end. With the win, he earned a title shot (again), and probably also some haters (again). If you weren’t an Evans fan before this fight, chances are you still aren’t. Chances are you hope Jon Jones will crush him when they meet to finally, hopefully end this rivalry, and chances are that Evans is just fine with that. The “Suga” we saw on Saturday night was one who seemed, perhaps for the first time, comfortable with his role as a methodical spoiler of prospects and deflater of hype. He has the patience of a glacier and is almost as difficult to move once he gets on top of you. Fans won’t ever love him for that, which is fine. As long he can live with it, he doesn’t need anyone’s permission to keep doing what he does best.

Biggest Loser: Demian Maia
Toward the end of Maia’s wheezing effort against Chris Weidman, Joe Rogan compared the fighters to two drunks brawling outside a bar. I disagree. Drunks have better game plans. While I can appreciate all the time Maia has put into developing a striking game, it’s still not a great one. It’s predictable, not terribly threatening, and, worst of all, it distracts him from his true strengths. Remember when Maia was the one-dimensional jiu-jitsu fighter who at least knew he was one-dimensional? He’d look for the takedown and the submission as if he had no other choice. He’d pull half-guard and actually make it work. Much like Rousimar Palhares with his leg locks, people knew what Maia was going to do and they still couldn’t stop him. Now they don’t need to. By ignoring the ground game in favor of a mediocre striking attack, he’s stopped himself. To make matters worse, he also quickly ran out of steam against Weidman, who at least had the short-notice element as an excuse for poor cardio. Maia? He had no excuse. If he keeps this up, he won’t have much of a future either.


Least Impressive in Victory: Mike Russow
After grinding out a decision over John Olav Einemo that was the very definition of ‘lay-and-pray,’ Russow said, “I can’t believe I’m 4-0 in the UFC right now.” That makes two of us. I suppose he did what he had to do to get his hand raised in front of the hometown crowd, but he sure didn’t do anything extra. If his plan was to take Einemo down, hold him there, and stay out of submissions, then mission accomplished. If it was to convince the UFC that he’s a heavyweight worth getting behind, then sorry, there’s still some work to do.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Michael Bisping
Bisping proved more by losing a narrow decision than Sonnen proved by beating him that way. In part that’s because Bisping came in as a 3-1 underdog. No one expected him to stay on his feet long enough to do much of anything, and yet he ended up controlling many of the clinches and even took Sonnen down once. Sonnen pursued more or less the exact same game plan against Bisping as he used against opponents like Nate Marquardt and Brian Stann, and Bisping stood up to it better than either of them. Not bad for a Brit who supposedly has no wrestling skills. Bisping will probably spend the next three decades of his life talking about how he got screwed out of that decision. This time you can’t really blame him. The third round was the only one he clearly lost, and the first two could have easily gone his way. To the people who still stubbornly insist on maintaining the conventional wisdom that Bisping is no good, or that he succeeds only because the UFC feeds him hand-picked opponents, it must have been uncomfortable to sit there and wait for the decision, knowing that Bisping could have very easily been declared the UFC’s top middleweight contender. Unfortunately for him (or maybe fortunately, depending on what you think about his chances against Anderson Silva), it wasn’t to be. But by taking the best Sonnen had and giving it right back to him, Bisping showed once and for all that he deserves to be taken seriously. You don’t have to like the guy, but you ought to respect his skills.

Back to the Drawing Board: Phil Davis
Any time the announcers start talking about what a great learning experience this is for you while the fight is still going on, that’s a bad sign. It’s not that Davis performed badly. Clearly, the man has some skills. He just doesn’t have all the skills necessary to be a top light heavyweight in the UFC, or at least not yet. His striking still seems largely perfunctory and his takedowns aren’t fooling anybody. That’s fine against a lower caliber of opponent, who Davis can muscle to the mat even when they know what’s coming, but it’s not going to work against the cream of the 205-pound crop. But let’s not freak out here. That was just Davis’ tenth pro fight. One hopes that he really did learn something from five unpleasant rounds with Evans, and at 27 years old he still has plenty of time to make the most of those lessons. That’s the trouble with being undefeated: it can be hard to know what you need to be spending time on in the gym, since no one has been able to make you pay for any of your mistakes. Now he knows. Of course, so does everyone else in the division.

The Carpe Diem Award for Day-Seizing Excellence: Chris Weidman
A lot of UFC middleweights might have declined the offer to drop 32 pounds in less than two weeks and fight a guy like Maia on network TV. But Weidman saw an opportunity to go from the prelims to the spotlight, and he made the most of it. The fight wasn’t exactly a thriller, and by the end of it both guys were huffing and puffing like New Year’s resolutioners after their first day at a gym in eight years, but hey, at least Weidman had a good excuse. Given his situation, any win would have been a good win. He might not have dazzled new viewers, but he answered the call and got his hand raised. Some nights that’s enough.

Most Surprising: Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz
It’s not the result so much as the method. Who would have guessed, back when he was taking heat for winning fights via wall-and-stall, that Lentz would have two Fight of the Night bonuses in his last three trips inside the Octagon? Certainly not anyone who saw his decision wins over Andre Winner or Tyson Griffin. And yet, now that Lentz has hid the roughest stretch of his pro career, suddenly he’s raking in the bonuses. Too bad he had to do so on the losing end, thanks to Dunham. At least this loss is better for Lentz’s bank account than the defeat via smothering that he suffered at the hands of Mark Bocek in his last outing. Then again, this one wasn’t nearly so kind to his face.

Least Improved: FOX Broadcast
This event didn’t feature a frantic Dana White shouting into the camera, but it did include a slightly bewildered Curt Menefee and a light heavyweight champ who was a little too dependent on his notes. The combination made every cut-away to the boys at the desk an awkward little experiment in live TV, while down on the floor Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg reminded us that, yes, it does pay to have a couple guys who have done this before. In fact, whenever the broadcast abandoned the stilted FOX Sports feel and gave way to the regular old UFC routine, that’s when it felt smooth and comfortable. It’s almost as if the UFC has got this stuff down to a science, and all FOX needs to do is get out of the way.

 

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GIF Party: ‘UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs. Davis’ edition


Swanson vs. Roop provided an early candidate for Side-Punchface of the Year. Props: UFC.com

Remember how last night, you invited your non-MMA fan friends over to introduce them to our sport? You spent the past week talking about how Chael Sonnen is one of the best trash talkers in professional sports, and how technical and talented these fighters were. You figured that after three fights that were guaranteed to be exceptional, your friends would be won over to MMA fandom. Then you’d continue to drink and be merry all night, and we’d all meet up here today for our traditional post-UFC event GIF party where we all high five over how awesome the fights were.

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, you found yourself doing damage control as you watched three fights worth of sloppy brawling, wall and stall and Chael Sonnen’s blatant swaggerjacking of homage to “Superstar” Billy Graham. You tried to convince them that the fights are usually nothing like this, and that these guys gassing out and the end of the first round are world class athletes. Eventually, one of your friends said “I bet Pacquiao would destroy ANY of these guys” as the rest of your friends grabbed their coats and said they’d call you next time they wanted to watch the fights.

Okay, so last night sucked. But we’ve been planning this party all week, and we’ll be damned if we cancel it at this point. So grab an alcoholic beverage, put on your gaudiest Affliction shirt and join us for our traditional post-UFC event GIF Party.

As always, praise be to Zombie Prophet at IronForgesIron.com for the GIFS.


Swanson vs. Roop provided an early candidate for Side-Punchface of the Year. Props: UFC.com

Remember how last night, you invited your non-MMA fan friends over to introduce them to our sport? You spent the past week talking about how Chael Sonnen is one of the best trash talkers in professional sports, and how technical and talented these fighters were. You figured that after three fights that were guaranteed to be exceptional, your friends would be won over to MMA fandom. Then you’d continue to drink and be merry all night, and we’d all meet up here today for our traditional post-UFC event GIF party where we all high five over how awesome the fights were. 

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, you found yourself doing damage control as you watched three fights worth of sloppy brawling, wall and stall and Chael Sonnen’s blatant swaggerjacking of homage to “Superstar” Billy Graham. You tried to convince them that the fights are usually nothing like this, and that these fighters gassing out and the end of the first round are world class athletes. Eventually, one of your friends said “I bet Pacquiao would destroy ANY of these guys” as the rest of your friends grabbed their coats and promised they’d call you next time they wanted to watch the fights.

Okay, so last night sucked. But we’ve been planning this party all week, and we’ll be damned if we cancel it at this point. So grab an alcoholic beverage, put on your gaudiest Affliction shirt and join us for our traditional post-UFC event GIF Party.

As always, praise be to Zombie Prophet at IronForgesIron.com for the GIFS.  

Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson

Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller

Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely

 

Mike Russow: There Was No Way I Was Going to Lose at Home

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CHICAGO — Watch below Mike Russow breaks down his win over Jon Olav Einemo at UFC on FOX 2. Russow discusses how a full training camp helped him, the challenges Einemo presented, if he felt any more pressure fighting in front of his hometown crowd, what he could have done differently and when will he return to the police force.

 

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Filed under: , , ,

CHICAGO — Watch below Mike Russow breaks down his win over Jon Olav Einemo at UFC on FOX 2. Russow discusses how a full training camp helped him, the challenges Einemo presented, if he felt any more pressure fighting in front of his hometown crowd, what he could have done differently and when will he return to the police force.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments