It is the inevitable life of a fighter. The hard work, rise to fame and inevitable decline back into mediocrity. At times, it is painful to watch our favorite fighters go from an intimidating icon to somebody who looks like each fight could be the…
It is the inevitable life of a fighter. The hard work, rise to fame and inevitable decline back into mediocrity.
At times, it is painful to watch our favorite fighters go from an intimidating icon to somebody who looks like each fight could be their last.
The fighter’s name can only carry them for so long until fans begin to look at their career objectively and see that the end of the road is near.
Star power is something fighters obtain during their career, which leads one to becoming a bigger draw at the gate, higher TV ratings, and more pay-per-view buys. This star power also creates a dedicated fanbase, which eventually brings new fans to the UFC.
Here are 10 fighters who have lost that star power.
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end. For a fan of the sport like myself, it is honestly hard to believe. I remember when he started making waves, many years ago. He was young, mean and totally disrespectful to his opponents, treating them all w…
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end.
For a fan of the sport like myself, it is honestly hard to believe. I remember when he started making waves, many years ago. He was young, mean and totally disrespectful to his opponents, treating them all with equal disdain.
And he attracted a rabid fan base because of this. They loved him and lived vicariously through him.
When he finally claimed what was then the UFC middleweight title, the legions of Tito-maniacs crawled out of the woodwork, crowing loud and proud.
They had their champion, and nothing would ever be the same.
His career since those early days has had ups and downs, as any career in the combative sports will. He has been seen as both a fighter who could not be beaten and as a fighter who will be beaten all the time.
In the early days, when he was winning far more than he was losing, he did not seem to care one bit about his detractors. He wore his inflammatory t-shirts after each victory, accompanied with his grave-digger finale and too damn bad if you didn’t like it.
After all, he was Tito Ortiz, reigning light heavyweight champion, and as he was quick to say: “no one is fading me.”
But then things changed.
He lost his title to Randy Couture, a man he and others figured would fold under the heat. Randy was an “old man” and, as we now know, Tito likes to fight legendary fighters who are long in the tooth. He made a name off Ken Shamrock, goading the Hall of Fame fighter into the cage with him on three separate occasions and they never should have fought at all, truth be told.
Randy Couture was not the same kind of man as Ken Shamrock.
Couture was in good shape and his body had not experienced the wear and tear that Shamrock’s had.
He was also an excellent wrestler who had no fear of being punched or kicked, thanks in no small part to his five-round war with Pedro Rizzo in the heavyweight division.
But you couldn’t tell that to Tito before that night. Ortiz had his fans (of which he is perhaps the biggest one) behind him. To them, the idea that he would lose to an old man was silly.
But then he lost. Scratch that; he didn’t just lose, he got embarrassed.
Couture was the new champion, and the era of “Tito the Unbeatable” was suddenly over.
These things happen in the fight game. Fighters take turns playing the roles of both the hammer and the nail. It’s the life they choose, riding the highs of victory one moment and enduring the lows of defeat the next.
I personally don’t think Tito had any problems with the losses, because when you look back at his career, he’s lost to some of the very best in the division. There is no shame in that, for sure.
The pathos of Ortiz’s story lies in the fact that he doesn’t seem to understand why so many people love to see him lose.
Sometimes a fighter and his persona are two totally different things. A fighter, in order to get noticed, decides to play the role of “black hat,” which attracts viewers who want to see him lose.
Ali did this, but with such a sense of humor and style that we all knew it was an act. Aside from Joe Frazier, his opponents knew it as well.
Ortiz never seemed to get this and, if he did, he didn’t make a clear enough distinction with the fans. I am not calling him slow or stupid, not at all. The fact remains that he still seems sadly shocked when he is the recipient of the boos and harsh talk.
He shouldn’t be surprised at all.
Recently, Ortiz decided to cast aside his old bad boy moniker in exchange for something new.
“The People’s Champion: Tito Ortiz.”
For all of his attempts at personal growth, this move not only smacks of desperation, but arrogance as well. If a fighter has a nickname like that, he better not only be beloved, but also a man who stands for something far greater than mocking defeated opponents.
His next and final opponent, Forrest Griffin, could claim to be “The People’s Champion” and would have a much greater chance of it being true than Ortiz could ever dream of.
Once again, no one should be surprised.
The sadness of it all is found in the fact that Tito honestly seems mystified as to why he has any detractors at all.
Tito chose to ride the black horse early on in his career and it was a dandy animal, a war horse that loved to charge fast and heavy. But he ran that horse into the ground long ago, now he’s walking it to the finish line.
There is no sense in acting like he didn’t enjoy his time trampling his opponents under those hooves, because we all know he loved it and his fans loved it, too.
But fans in this sport are fickle and he has much less of them than he did when he was champion. When he began to lose, people cheered for anyone who seemed anti-Ortiz, paying and praying they would see Tito be humbled yet again.
Perhaps, after his final fight is done, he should simply tip his black hat to the crowd and walk away, knowing he made the kind of money he hoped for when he stepped away the first time after UFC 40.
If not, then he can take comfort in the fact that while, in the end, he may have been disliked more than he was loved, he was indeed a polarizing figure and, for many, being hated is better than being forgotten.
MMA can be a brutal sport, but sometimes a fighter is his own worst enemy.Former K-1 kickboxer Melvin Manhoef hoped to break a three-fight losing streak against DEEP champion Yoshiyuki Nakanishi at the latest ONE FC 3 in Singapore, but one leg kick lef…
MMA can be a brutal sport, but sometimes a fighter is his own worst enemy.
Former K-1 kickboxer Melvin Manhoef hoped to break a three-fight losing streak against DEEP champion Yoshiyuki Nakanishi at the latest ONE FC 3 in Singapore, but one leg kick left him and his opponent with two large gashes that ended the bout in the very first round.
The fight, which was fought at a catchweight of 195 pounds and resulted in a no contest, started off quickly and was going well for the Dutch-Surinamese kickboxer, until Manhoef’s shin connected with Nakanishi’s knee, leaving both fighters bloodied with two very big cuts.
The doctors first checked Nakanishi’s cut before stopping the bout when they realized Manhoef had also been cut. Both were bad, but it’s safe to say Manhoef’s was worse.
Manhoef entered the fight with consecutive losses against Tim Kennedy, Tatsuya Mizuno and Robbie Lawler. His 24-9-1 record includes 23 knockout wins, most of which have come in the first round. He also holds a 37-10 kickboxing record with 27 knockout wins.
Some of his most notable wins have come against fighters like Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Hunt, Kazuo Misaki, Evangelista Santos and Ian Freeman. His only MMA victory since 2009 also came against Misaki.
Nakanishi has gone 3-1 since winning the Deep light heavyweight title in 2010. All three of his wins have come by knockout.
The ONE FC card also featured Tatsuya Kawajiri, who defeated Donald Sanchez by submission in the first round, Felipe Enomoto, who lost to Zorobabel Moreira, and Fabricio Monteiro, who defeated Yuya Shirai.
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes feels MMA’s favorite bad guy, Chael Sonnen, will once again be defeated by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 147. Hughes feels Sonnen has a one-dimensional path to victory that didn’t work…
Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes feels MMA‘s favorite bad guy, Chael Sonnen, will once again be defeated by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 147.
Hughes feels Sonnen has a one-dimensional path to victory that didn’t work the first time, so it won’t work a second time.
“I don’t think Chael can switch it up as much,” Hughes told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I don’t think he can do much different, to be real honest. That’s what he does, and that’s what he’s going to do again, probably.”
The Hillsboro, Illinois native also expects a more prepared champion to be a dangerous thing for “Uncle Chael.”
“And Anderson will be more ready for it this time than he was last time, so we’ll see Chael maybe getting hit a few more times this time.”
Interestingly, Hughes does not attribute “The Spider’s” rib injury to the success the fellow All-American collegiate wrestler had in the first fight at UFC 117.
“Nobody goes out there 100 percent,” Hughes said on the set of UFC Tonight on FUEL TV. “It just doesn’t happen. So he might have been injured, but in the middle of a fight, you’re not sitting there thinking about your rib. You’re just not.”
At the end of the day, Hughes reiterated Sonnen’s wrestling and top control will be too predictable to work against the versatile Silva a second time.
“I don’t think Anderson being any healthier is going to help [Sonnen],” he said. “I just think he’s going to know what Chael is going to do, and he’s going to be ready for it. I don’t see how Chael could mix it up and be more effective than the last time.”
Sonnen has been trash talking Silva almost non-stop since months before their August 2010 meeting, but many argue he backed up his words by giving the champion all he could handle for four-and-a-half rounds.
“The Gangster from Oregon” was decisively winning the fight on all three judges’ scorecards before Silva slapped on a triangle choke with less than two minutes remaining in the fight.
“The pound-for-pound does not exist but just in this pretend world. Jose Aldo has made it all the way to number three? … The same guy that was given the UFC championship belt before he ever fought in the UFC. The only thing more absurd than that was the night they woke Matt Hughes up and informed him that he was champion.”
Sonnen is referring to when Hughes defeated Carlos Newton for the UFC welterweight title way back at UFC 34.
Newton locked up a tight triangle choke in the second round, which Hughes countered with a power bomb. While both fighters were rendered unconscious, Hughes woke up first and was crowned the new 170-pound king.
We continue on the “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series, which will take us division by division, looking the top prospects that should be signed by the UFC. Although the UFC’s light heavyweight division is one of the most talent-filled division…
We continue on the “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series, which will take us division by division, looking the top prospects that should be signed by the UFC.
Although the UFC’s light heavyweight division is one of the most talent-filled divisions, it is also one of the least-occupied. Many of the top stars of yesterday are in their decline and toward the end of their careers.
With that, new faces will need to step up and carry the torch.
There are many good prospects available for the UFC, but here are five prospects the UFC should snag to fill up the division. These men not only bring skill to the Octagon but also potential.
NOTE: Bellator and Strikeforce fighters will not be included.
Renan Barão has flown in under the radar. Outside Brazil, the 25-year-old has failed to generate the hype normally associated with a 29-fight unbeaten streak and a 65 percent finishing record. Following the strangling of Brad Pickett and a unani…
Renan Barão has flown in under the radar. Outside Brazil, the 25-year-old has failed to generate the hype normally associated with a 29-fight unbeaten streak and a 65 percent finishing record. Following the strangling of Brad Pickett and a unanimous decision victory over Scott Jorgensen, however, “Renan Mota do Nascimento Pegado” will not linger in relative obscurity for long.
The Brazilian’s official UFC statistics display the components of a definitively well-rounded game. With his skills divided between 36 percent submissions, 38 percent striking and 26 percent takedowns, Renan is a rare breed. The Nova União product’s 93 percent success rate in takedown defence is similarly impressive, placing him firmly in the “new wave” of fighters emanating from Rio and São Paulo.
While Brazil has long been known for producing Muay Thai fighters packing stellar submission skills, we are also beginning to associate MMA‘s motherland with excellent defensive wrestling. Like his teammate José Aldo, Barão’s wrestling skills have been honed for the purpose of range control—to finish fights rather than to “play MMA” as a point-scoring exercise. Should the 25-year old win a decision, we may assume that his opponent has merely survived.
If we were inclined to continue drawing parallels between Renan and the featherweight champ, we could comfortably amuse ourselves for an age. Aside from sharing a practice room, Barão and Aldo both attribute their “warrior” mindset to a gritty upbringing packed with adversity and strife. Renan remembers “a lot of chaos, a lot of suffering” while growing up, claiming that these troubles helped to produce an indomitable spirit and impressive work ethic, the foundation of his recent success.
One look at a highlight reel exposes the young fighter as a liar. Not only is Barão an unstoppably hard worker and unbreakable competitor, he is also unspeakably gifted—the timing, accuracy and power showcased by Natal native can be sharpened, but can never be learned from scratch. Renan Barão has always been a phenom-in-waiting.
Who need concern themselves with Barão’s rise? Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, for starters. While the Brazilian’s next scheduled fight is against the hard-as-nails Ivan Menjivar, Cruz and Faber need to start thinking about Renan now. Even with the bantamweight champ’s blistering footwork, and Faber’s undeniable talent, it would not be shocking to see an Aldo-esque beatdown if Barão enters the cage with either man.
Take note, MMA fans: a wonder has landed. Renan Barão already possesses the mind, skills and heart of a champion; the belt is sure to follow suit.
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end.