It’s hard to imagine the era of “cage-fighting” in which Tito Ortiz made his name. Back then, when he made his mixed martial arts debut at UFC 13, the sport could still call itself “no holds barred” fighting, as it promote…
It’s hard to imagine the era of “cage-fighting” in which Tito Ortiz made his name. Back then, when he made his mixed martial arts debut at UFC 13, the sport could still call itself “no holds barred” fighting, as it promoted itself as a brutal, animalistic spectacle. Those were the men, back then, who entered […]
According to the man himself, we might just see long time UFC lightweight Spencer Fisher add his name to the list of recently retired MMA fighters come Friday night, as he told Ariel Helwani that he’s “pretty sure” it will be his last fight as a professional. His reasoning was similar to that of Chris Lytle’s — desire to spend more time with his family:
I’ve been missing a lot of stuff with my family. It gets tougher and tougher as they get older.
Although “The King” has flown under the radar for the past few years, dropping four of his past five contests, he is without a doubt one of the more exciting guys that helped the UFC’s lightweight division rise to popularity following its reinstatement in the promotion at UFC 58, which coincidentally was where Fisher made his lightweight debut against none other than his opponent on Friday, Sam Stout.
It is perhaps the most fitting end to a career that one could ask for.
(And here we thought Canadians were afraid of a good old fashioned war.)
According to the man himself, we might just see long time UFC lightweight Spencer Fisher add his name to the list of recently retired MMA fighters come Friday night, as he told Ariel Helwani that he’s “pretty sure” it will be his last fight as a professional. His reasoning was similar to that of Chris Lytle’s — desire to spend more time with his family:
I’ve been missing a lot of stuff with my family. It gets tougher and tougher as they get older.
Although “The King” has flown under the radar for the past few years, dropping four of his past five contests, he is without a doubt one of the more exciting guys that helped the UFC’s lightweight division rise to popularity following its reinstatement in the promotion at UFC 58, which coincidentally was where Fisher made his lightweight debut against none other than his opponent on Friday, Sam Stout.
It is perhaps the most fitting end to a career that one could ask for.
Few can forget the pair’s first two meetings, which took place at UFC 58 and Ultimate Fight Night 10, respectively. The bouts were not only split between the two foes, but were in damn near every fan’s top ten fights of the year on both occasions. The third meeting promises to deliver the same back-and-forth action that we are used to, which is something that Fisher admits he is looking forward to:
No pressure. I want to go out there and fight. Swing for the fences. I don’t have to find him. He’ll be right there in the middle.
Aside from his pair of fights with Stout, the seven year UFC veteran is perhaps best known for his brilliant walk-off knockout of Matt Wiman at UFC 60. Even more beautiful than the knockout itself was what came just seconds before: As was the case when Rashad Evans decided to start shit talking to Lyoto Machida mid-flurry, Wiman decided that it would be best to let the crowd know he was fine following a right hand that Fisher clipped him with, and was immediately taught a lesson in octagon humility compliments of a flying knee that looked more like, as Couture described it, “a fullback running for the goal line from a yard away.”
Fisher also holds notable wins over Thiago Alves, Josh Neer, Aaron Riley, Dan Lauzon, Caol Uno, and Jeremy Stephens. If Friday truly does mark his final fight in the UFC, we here at CagePotato would like to thank Spencer for the years of great fights and wish him all the best in the future. We will leave you with another highlight of Fisher’s, one that came just a few months before his UFC debut, in which he sends TUF 12 veteran Kyle Watson crashing to the canvas with a brutal 1-2 combo and proceeds to perform the best impression of Chris Farley’s Chippendale dancer routine that we’ve ever seen:
(Fight starts at the 1:30 mark.)
Leave Spencer your best regards in the comments section, and make sure to swing by on Friday night, where some asshat you refer to as Danga will be liveblogging the UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida main card starting at 9 p.m. EST.
At what point in a fighter’s career is it considered cruel and unusual punishment to allow them to compete? Sure, Randy Couture fought until he was 47, and Dan Severn is still beating up any homeless person that accidentally stumbled into the cage for a pint of Guinness and a pat on the back, but those gents are simply the exceptions that prove the rule. Guys like Ken Shamrock, on the other hand, are doing nothing more than shortening their lifespan each time they step into the ring, and for what? An attempt to recapture some former glory, or a feeling of youth? We know it damn sure isn’t in the hopes of recapturing a title, but then again, a passion is a passion, and if an obviously past their prime athlete wants to continue fighting at the detriment of their own health, who are we to say otherwise? It’s up to the promoters to cut them loose, not the fighters, and as we’ve seen in the story of Scott Hall, sometimes it is these very promoters who seem unable to make that distinction.
We’re rambling, of course, about the reports that BJJ/coaching legend Renzo Gracie is preparing for a second run in the UFC. At age 45.
Now, we’re not here to bash a freakin’ Gracie of all people for wanting to give the UFC another go, but this just seems like a terrible idea in every sense of the word.
At what point in a fighter’s career is it considered cruel and unusual punishment to allow them to compete? Sure, Randy Couture fought until he was 47, and Dan Severn is still beating up any homeless person that accidentally stumbled into the cage for a pint of Guinness and a pat on the back, but those gents are simply the exceptions that prove the rule. Guys like Ken Shamrock, on the other hand, are doing nothing more than shortening their lifespan each time they step into the ring, and for what? An attempt to recapture some former glory, or a feeling of youth? We know it damn sure isn’t in the hopes of recapturing a title, but then again, a passion is a passion, and if an obviously past their prime athlete wants to continue fighting at the detriment of their own health, who are we to say otherwise? It’s up to the promoters to cut them loose, not the fighters, and as we’ve seen in the story of Scott Hall, sometimes it is these very promoters who seem unable to make that distinction.
We’re rambling, of course, about the reports that BJJ/coaching legend Renzo Gracie is preparing for a second run in the UFC. At age 45.
Now, we’re not here to bash a freakin’ Gracie of all people for wanting to give the UFC another go, but this just seems like a terrible idea in every sense of the word. For starters, Gracie has been inactive for over two years. Secondly, the last time he did step into the octagon, he made Matt Hughes look like Mirko Cro Cop circa 2005, getting picked apart on the feet until getting mercifully put out of his misery late in the third round. And the fact that he looked completely gassed en route to that TKO loss doesn’t bode well either. For Christ’s sake, Gracie’s last legit win came all the way back in December of 2006 when he scored a split decision over fellow IFL coach Carlos Newton.
But despite all of this, Gracie told MMAJunkie that he was “getting ready to fight again,” stating:
I have a six-fight contract with no predetermined time frame. I still have five fights to go, so I plan to jump back into it. I love this sport. The day that a promoter won’t book me to fight, even for free, that’s when I’ll quit.
Well, if that is truly Gracie’s stance on the matter, then we’d like to wish him the best of luck. But does he honestly expect to compete FIVE MORE TIMES in the sport’s highest promotion? That’s a freaking death sentence.
We can’t even believe we’re asking this, but who, if anyone, would you like to see Gracie face if he is actually called back to the UFC? Put us in the camp that wants to see the UFC resign Pat Militech and have these two square off once again, because why not at this point?
Hell, they could set up a whole senior’s league if they want. Just think about it: pay-per-views could start airing at 3 p.m., and the participants could fight for a year long membership to the Old Country Buffet. Kazushi Sakuraba could reignite and old rivalry, and we could finally be treated to a trilogy match between Tank Abbott and Scott Ferrozzo. Sounds like a plan, does it not?
(Inferior heavyweight contender, or marketing genius?!)
Perhaps we’re in the minority here, but we’re getting pretty God damn sick of mixed martial artists throwing around the word “retirement” like Kim Kardashian throws around the word “marriage.” Because retirement, like marriage, is a sacred institution, and nowadays it seems as if every other fighter is taking a big, steaming turd on what was once holy ground. In the past year alone, both Jamie Varner and more recently B.J. Penn have retired, only to come out of said retirement before anyone could even assess their retirement in the first place. Though the jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz and Jason Miller will be out of action, it’s looking like you can add none other than former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to the former list, as it has been reported by co-Host of Tough Talk on wrestlingobserver.com, Mike Sawyer, that Lesnar will return to the UFC within the year. He broke the news over his Twitter:
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA Had an interesting conversation with someone VERY close to all the Brock Lesnar stuff. He is fighting THIS YEAR in UFC & not Frank Mir…
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA plans change all the time, but the name I was told isn’t Roy.
Brian ?@FrontRowBrian If it’s not Mir fighting Lesnar in UFC later this year as @TOUGHTALKMMA reports, who is it? @roynelsonmma? @stefanstruve? @ShaneCarwin II?
(Inferior heavyweight contender, or marketing genius?!)
Perhaps we’re in the minority here, but we’re getting pretty God damn sick of mixed martial artists throwing around the word “retirement” like Kim Kardashian throws around the word “marriage.” Because retirement, like marriage, is a sacred institution, and nowadays it seems as if every other fighter is taking a big, steaming turd on what was once holy ground. In the past year alone, both Jamie Varner and more recently B.J. Penn have retired, only to come out of said retirement before anyone could even assess their retirement in the first place. Though the jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz and Jason Miller will be out of action, it’s looking like you can add none other than former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to the former list, as it has been reported by co-Host of Tough Talk on wrestlingobserver.com, Mike Sawyer, that Lesnar will return to the UFC within the year. He broke the news over his Twitter:
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA Had an interesting conversation with someone VERY close to all the Brock Lesnar stuff. He is fighting THIS YEAR in UFC & not Frank Mir…
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA plans change all the time, but the name I was told isn’t Roy.
Brian ?@FrontRowBrian If it’s not Mir fighting Lesnar in UFC later this year as @TOUGHTALKMMA reports, who is it? @roynelsonmma? @stefanstruve? @ShaneCarwin II?
Now, this rumor may not be coming from the most reliable source, but if there is any truth to this, then we gotta ask what the hell DW and company are thinking. Oh wait, they’re thinking that having Lesnar back in the UFC will significantly add to their stacks of cash which already stand higher than Joe Silva on a step ladder.
But Sergio Hernandez of CageSideSeats seems to think that we are all being made fools of, and that the UFC have become nothing than pawns in a possible WWE storyline. He writes:
In his short career, he defeated a Hall of Famer, won the heavyweight championship and became the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) draw in the history of the company.
Four months later, he was back in WWE, F5ing John Cena out of nowhere and kicking off their rivalry which culminated in a terrific match at Extreme Rules.
Following Lesnar’s loss to Cena that night, he attacked WWE COO Triple H. Snapping “The Game’s” arm, he hasn’t been seen since and his old mouthpiece Paul Heyman showed up at one point to announce his client’s resignation and subsequent lawsuit against WWE.
Of course, in the world of professional wrestling, this is all a charade.
So when Lesnar showed up at last night’s UFC 146 event and rumors began swirling the former champion was looking to get his old job back, it get me thinking [sic].
According to Dave Meltzer, Lesnar’s meeting with White did not go well. Perhaps the UFC President felt the biggest star in the sport was genuinely interested in making a comeback only to find out his appearance was all to help legitimize the storyline in which he quit WWE.
Meltzer also mentioned a “game is being played.”
It’s unclear what he means by that. Perhaps the aforementioned theory is true and Lesnar plus Vince McMahon is simply using the UFC.
Or maybe Dana White — who has had meetings with McMahon in the past — is helping an old friend with his new gig?
We gotta say, this theory makes much more sense than the actual possibility of Lesnar returning to the UFC. As Hernandez also mentioned, it’s not like the beatings Lesnar took at the hands of Cain Velasquez and the Ubereem have been long forgotten, so who would honestly expect Lesnar’s return to be anything but a marketing ploy? One thing’s for sure, if he were to return, it surely wouldn’t help add to the legitimacy of a sport that is constantly trying to gain credibility in the mainstream.
But on the outside chance Lesnar actually is returning, Sawyer seems convinced that he will either face Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, or Shane Carwin. We can go ahead and cross Struve off that list, because he is not nearly well known enough to be facing a guy like Lesnar, even though he has about 5 times the experience. Nelson has been angling for a fight with Lesnar for what seems like an eternity now, even to the point that he would be willing to go to the WWE to “whoop his ass,” so perhaps all of his trash talking could finally pay off. As for Carwin, he and Lesnar already engaged in a classic war at UFC 116, and Carwin finally has a return date tentatively set, so that could make for the most interesting storyline of the three, but what do you think, Potato Nation? Should we even be considering this lunacy as a possibility?
Recently, the MMA world has been wondering what it will take to get BJ Penn out of retirement and back inside the UFC cage. Every attempt that Zuffa made to bring the former lightweight and welterweight champ back was declined, as Penn was seemingly ha…
Recently, the MMA world has been wondering what it will take to get BJ Penn out of retirement and back inside the UFC cage. Every attempt that Zuffa made to bring the former lightweight and welterweight champ back was declined, as Penn was seemingly happy spending time with his family. Even Josh Koscheck was unable […]
Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day. The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again. Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has do…
Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day. The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again. Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has done everything he can do to goad Penn […]
