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MMA Top 10 Welterweights: Rick Story Earns His Place

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, WelterweightsThere’s an exciting new entrant in the list of the Top 10 welterweights in mixed martial arts, as Rick Story earned his spot with an upset of Thiago Alves at UFC 130.

Alves has been considered a To…

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Welterweights

There’s an exciting new entrant in the list of the Top 10 welterweights in mixed martial arts, as Rick Story earned his spot with an upset of Thiago Alves at UFC 130.

Alves has been considered a Top 5 welterweight for years, but Story took the fight to him in the first and second rounds, and although Alves showed in the third round that there are still some holes in Story’s stand-up game, Story demonstrated that he has a strong chin, weathered the storm and came out on top. That kind of victory — Story’s sixth in a row inside the Octagon — warrants a place in the Top 10.

Find out below where, exactly, I rank Story, and who the other new entrants in the welterweight Top 10 are.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did welterweights is in parentheses.)

1. Georges St. Pierre (1): Still the champ, the big question is whether he’s going to defend his welterweight title against Nick Diaz, or move up to middleweight to challenge for Anderson Silva’s belt. A Diaz fight seems to be the one that MMA fans want, and that the UFC is working hard to arrange. UPDATE: Hours after we posted this, the UFC announced that GSP-Diaz will happen in October.

2. Jon Fitch (3): The longtime No. 2 welterweight in the world is on the mend from a shoulder injury, and there’s no word on when he might return. Prior to his injury, the UFC announced that he’d have a rematch with B.J. Penn next, but Jake Shields might make more sense as an opponent for him.

3. Jake Shields (2): A fight between Shields and Fitch would be the best way to determine who’s the top welterweight aside from St. Pierre, and it would also be a fascinating stylistic matchup between two guys whose ground games are among the best in all of MMA.

4. Nick Diaz (5): It appears that Diaz’s silly flirtation with going into professional boxing is now behind him, and the lone remaining question is whether the UFC can figure out a way to get him in the Octagon with St. Pierre. Diaz is Strikeforce’s welterweight champion and one of its most popular fighters, so Showtime doesn’t want to lose Diaz. But the fight that makes the most sense is a UFC pay-per-view to determine the real welterweight champion of mixed martial arts.

5. Josh Koscheck (6): There’s still no word on when Koscheck will return from the ugly beating that St. Pierre put on him. Koscheck has always prided himself on being active and ready to fight at a moment’s notice, so it says something about how badly he was hurt against St. Pierre that he still can’t even commit to a return date, six months after the GSP fight.

6. B.J. Penn (7): Like Fitch, the man he fought to a draw early this year, Penn is injured and out of action. If his recovery and Koscheck’s recovery line up and they’re both ready to return at around the same time, that would make a great fight.

7. Carlos Condit (8): If the UFC can’t make St. Pierre-Diaz work, Condit would probably be next in line. Other than Diaz, he’s the highest-ranked welterweight who hasn’t already fought St. Pierre, and he’s also a likable, marketable guy who’s on a three-fight winning streak and coming off wins that earned him Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses. Condit has a tough fight with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132, so thinking about him as a No. 1 contender might be getting a little too far ahead of things, but in a division without many available challengers, Condit would make sense.

8. Rick Story (NR): One of the exciting things about Story is his age. At 26, he’s younger than everyone ahead of him in the welterweight rankings, and he’s got a lot of good years ahead of him and time to keep getting better. It might seem like the 30-year-old St. Pierre will be champion forever, but the truth is, athletes start to slow down in their 30s. Story is in his athletic prime, and I see a welterweight title shot in his future.

9. Rory MacDonald (NR): Speaking of young and promising fighters, MacDonald is only 21 years old but looked like a seasoned pro while manhandling Nate Diaz for 15 minutes at UFC 129. MacDonald is 11-1, with his only loss coming in a great fight against Condit. Next MacDonald will get another tough test against Mike Pyle at UFC 132

10. John Hathaway (NR): Hathaway is a tough guy to assess because he has great potential at the age of 23, but he’s looked like he’s taking a step back in his last couple of fights, a loss to Mike Pyle and a split decision win over Kris McCray. His 15-1 record includes wins over Story and Diego Sanchez, but it may be time for Hathaway to shake up his training.

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Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 130 Edition

(Meanwhile in Roy’s stomach, a dozen undigested cheeseburgers cried for mercy. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Look, I was all for sweeping UFC 130 under the rug and never mentioning it again, but since ReX has shamed me into doing this, it’s time to look back at Saturday’s big winners (and big, big losers) and see if we can devise some future matchups for these guys that will actually produce interesting fights. Make it happen, tiny atheist.

Quinton Jackson: Dana White seems dead-set on giving Rampage a title shot if his hand is healthy enough to accept it. Ugh, terrible. Why the UFC isn’t interested in promoting the hottest rivalry in the sport is anybody’s guess. (And don’t give me that bullshit about “timing”; it’s more likely related to White’s personal feelings about Rashad Evans.) In a perfect world, Rampage sits out for a few months and faces the winner of Shogun vs. Forrest at UFC 134 in Rio. With losses to both on his record, I don’t think motivation would be an issue.

Matt Hamill: Sure, on paper Hamill was coming into the fight against Rampage with a five-fight win streak — but considering that the most impressive victory in that streak (by far!) was his knockout of Mark Munoz, you have to wonder where the Hammer really sits in the light-heavyweight pecking order. My first thought was that Hamill should face the resurgent Vladimir Matyushenko next — but Vlad already has a date in August. So give him the winner of Kyle Kingsbury vs. Fabio Maldonado at this Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale. Either Hamill rebounds, or a rising prospect gets a big-name notch on their belt. Seems win-win to me.

(Meanwhile in Roy’s stomach, a dozen undigested cheeseburgers cried for mercy. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Frank Mir: Unfortunately, back-to-back wins over Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson have done nothing to raise this guy’s stock. I think a fight against Brendan Schaub still makes sense, as long as Schaub finds a way to get past Big Nog in August and Mir is willing to sit out for a while. At that point, fighting the TUF 10 finalist might be considered a step up for Mir.

Roy Nelson: Throw him up against Cro Cop on the Spike Prelims portion of a pay-per-view event. The loser leaves the Octagon forever. And for Christ’s sake, Roy, talk to Mike Dolce.

Travis Browne: After a 2-0-1 UFC stint against solid competition, I’d like to see Browne get a modest step up against another dangerous bastard — namely Mike Russow, who is also undefeated in three Octagon appearances. Russow is coming off a doctor’s stoppage TKO of Jon Madsen, which followed his legendary comeback knockout of Todd Duffee. It’s a matchup that would produce a legitimate contender in the heavyweight division.

Rick Story: With six wins in a row, he’s now qualified to call out any 170-pounder in the UFC outside of Georges St. Pierre — and for some reason, he’s chosen Jon Fitch. Dude, what? Nobody looks good fighting Jon Fitch, except GSP himself. Instead, Story should be calling out Josh Koscheck, who’s just as highly-regarded as Fitch, but more likely to produce a memorable fight. In a way, Story is like the second-coming of Koscheck — a seasoned wrestler with power in his hands — so a meeting between the two makes a lot of sense.

Brian Stann: The UFC’s 185-pound division is heavy at the middle right now, so one more impressive win could break Stann out of the logjam and set him on a title track. But all the other contenders in the middleweight division seem to be booked right now. The best option? Have the All-American fight the winner of Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz, who meet at UFC 131 on June 11th.

Demetrious Johnson: If you’ve compiled a four-fight win streak with your last two victories coming against Miguel Torres and Kid Yamamoto, then yes, you are one of the top dogs in the bantamweight division. But I’d like to see how well Mighty Mouse does against a fighter who can stop his takedowns — and there are a number of 135-ers in the UFC who fit that description. July’s UFC 132 event holds two possibilities: Urijah Faber if he loses to Dominick Cruz in the main event, or former champ Brian Bowles if defeats Takeya Mizugaki. Either opponent would be a trial-by-fire for Johnson, but he’s earned it.

(BG)

Got any other suggestions for UFC 130′s fighters? Let us know in the comments section…

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 130

Filed under: UFCPerhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he …

Filed under: UFC

Perhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he wasn’t terribly excited about.

But now that the dust has settled and the Octagon has been packed away one more time, let’s look back over Saturday night’s action to see whose stock soared and whose plummeted into the basement of the MGM Grand.

In the wake of UFC 130, here are your biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: Brian Stann
Sure, it makes for a great storyline to see the former Marine beat somebody up on Memorial Day weekend, but forget that for a minute. Stann took on the Sengoku middleweight champ in a fight that was supposed to be a serious test of his skills, and he practically breezed through it with the perfect mix of poise and aggression. He didn’t lose his cool when he had Santiago hurt early. He didn’t lay back too much and let good opportunities slip by. He did exactly what he needed to do, and he got perhaps the biggest win of his career. He also pocketed a Fight of the Night bonus, which is a nice way of reminding everyone that you were one of the few bright spots on an otherwise forgettable fight card. Plus, $70,000 buys a lot of hot dogs and apple pie.

Biggest Loser: Roy Nelson
There’s no questioning his toughness or his ability to take a shot. But his cardio? That’s a different story. You never want to end a round by immediately doubling over and putting your hands on your knees like an out-of-shape businessman who was forced to take the stairs for the first time in ten years. Let’s just say it sends the wrong message. Nelson got overpowered and outworked by Frank Mir, but the worst part is that by the end he just seemed grateful to get out of there and go home. We’ve seen him go the distance before without looking like he needed to have a defibrillator handy in his corner, so I’m not sure what accounts for this poor showing. Whatever it is, he’d better figure it out quick. The UFC seems less inclined to give Nelson the benefit of the doubt that it has extended to others.

Least Compelling Case for a Title Shot: “Rampage” Jackson
The hard part about fighting a guy who the current champ already demolished is that it provides an unavoidable counter-example that your performance will be measured against. Everyone will recall that Jon Jones straight-up assaulted Hamill, while Jackson carried him the distance. Not that the fight was close, mind you. Jackson stuffed all Hamill’s takedowns and put some leather on his face whenever he felt like it. Trouble is, he didn’t feel like it quite enough down the stretch. He’d explode with a combo, wait to see if Hamill was still standing, then catch his breath before trying it again. It’s a competent showing, sure, but not the kind that screams out for a shot at the belt. Jackson is undoubtedly one of the best light heavyweights around, but that means people are going to expect more out of him than what he showed on Saturday night. Whether he has any interest in giving it to them remains to be seen.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Miguel Torres
If nothing else, Torres proved once and for all that you just can’t win a decision off your back in MMA. If it was at all possible, he would have done it on Saturday night with his many, varied attempts at a finish against an opponent who was content to hold on and maintain top position. You could argue that a takedown is an effective way of controlling the fight and dictating the action, so Demetrious Johnson won it fair and square – and you’d probably be right. At the same time, it was Torres doing most of the work to actually end the fight and/or make something interesting happen. It didn’t get him the victory, but it does get him a tip of the cap, for whatever that’s worth.

Least Impressive in Victory: Frank Mir
We know “Big Country” is tough to put away. The Junior dos Santos fight proved that much. But it never looks good when you have an opponent who is almost too exhausted to stand and you let him hang around for the full three rounds with his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth. At times it seems like Mir takes an unfair amount of criticism, particularly from Dana White. But then you stop and ask yourself, even after two straight wins over two name heavyweights, would I really want to see Mir anywhere near a title fight? Not unless he bought a ticket.

Most Surprising: Rick Story
With a decision win over Thiago Alves in the UFC, Story joins a very exclusive club with some strict membership requirements. He did it with a game plan that played brilliantly to his own strengths while taking Alves’ mostly out of the equation, and he also proved that he can take a punch (or a knee) and keep right on coming. Alves is by far the best fighter Story has ever beaten, and he did it in a fight that really wasn’t even close on the scorecards. That’s six in a row for the young welterweight. He keeps this up, and things will get serious in his career very quickly.

Most Memorable: Travis Browne‘s KO
Whenever the 6’11” Struve gets knocked out it always makes for instant highlight reel material. Like a building being imploded, his collapse to the mat looks so awkward and takes so long that it makes a lasting impression on everyone who sees it. That’s bad news for Struve, but great news for Browne, who put himself on the map with a perfectly timed Superman punch. Even if he never does anything else with his MMA career, that knockout will live on in highlight packages for years. It should also instantly erase the bitter memory of Browne’s unimpressive draw with Cheick Kongo at UFC 120. Nothing like a crushing knockout to resurrect your reputation. Now let’s see what he can do with it.

Least Likely to Remain Employed: Kendall Grove
The decision loss to Boetsch marked his third defeat in four attempts. What’s worse, he was never really in the fight. It was takedown, top control, scramble to the feet, then rinse and repeat all night long. By the third round, everyone knew what Boetsch was going to do, yet Grove couldn’t even come close to stopping it. It made for a pretty boring fight, which didn’t do Boetsch any favors, but the only thing worse than winning a fight in that fashion is losing one the same way. Grove is now 7-6 in his UFC career. Most of the fighters he beat recently were later cut from the UFC, which tells you something. He’s been hovering over the chopping block for a while now. My guess is the ax is about to come down.

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Rick Story Still Breathing Unassisted, Speaking in Complete Sentences

“…and I saw his knee looked like it was getting bigger and bigger … and then it hit me.” (VidProps: Karyn Bryant)

Karyn Bryant caught up with Ricky Story after UFC 130, and he wasn’t getting his jaw wired up. After determining that he wasn’t suffering from a concussion, Bryant asks him about the fight, and reminds him that he absorbed some damaging shots in the process. Story allows that, yes, he was hit with some fearsome blows, and he even wound up taking a bite out of his mouthguard (!!!). Sounds like maybe you don’t want to order from that mouthguard manufacturer any more?

Story seems a little sheepish, saying his performance “was definitely good enough for the win,” except he doesn’t seem so definite. Awww, cheer up, big guy. MMA crowds boo, it’s their thing. It’s like Red Wings fans throwing octopi on the rink, or Philidelphia Eagles fans being turbo douches and needing a jail in the stadium.

“…and I saw his knee looked like it was getting bigger and bigger … and then it hit me.” (VidProps: Karyn Bryant)

The decision win over Alves is Story’s sixth straight since his loss to John Hathaway two years ago, and those haven’t been creampuffs. Story now finds himself in the company of elite welterweights like Shields, Koscheck, Hardy, Fitch… pretty much everyone who’s challenged Georges St Pierre and come away empty-handed.

Unfortunately, there’s lots of other dudes being talked about for top 10 in the 170: Carlos Condit, Jake Ellenberger, Mike Pyle, Anthony Johnson, Nate Marquardt…who does a guy need to physically dominate to get ahead around here? With this much talent clustered at the top and still no one seeming like a decent match for GSP, how does a fighter make himself stand out?

Don’t worry, I’m sure BG will do some armchair matchmaking. Go ahead and discuss amongst yourselves who should be moving up the welterweight rankings. And somebody send this man a decent mouthguard.

[RX]

UFC 130 After Parties

UFC 130 delivered a few special moments, including a tremendous knock out (Superman Punch) of Stefan Struve by Travis Browne and a great Memorial Day Weekend Win for Brian Stann who KO’d Jorge Santiago in.

UFC 130 delivered a few special moments, including a tremendous knock out (Superman Punch) of Stefan Struve by Travis Browne and a great Memorial Day Weekend Win for Brian Stann who KO’d Jorge Santiago in the 2nd round. The fights also offered some interesting news bits… like that we should all take better notice of Rick Story as he earned a 6th win to his fight streak in the Welterweight division. And even though Frank Mir clearly dominated Roy Nelson in their 3 rounds, it was still Mir who suffered a broken jaw and was off to the hospital while Nelson joyfully blamed Dan Hardy for his poor “british wrestling” that may have lost him the fight. Lastly, we heard pending the outcome of his hand injury that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will receive the title-shot against Jon Jones.

And with the fight card’s culmination we also see that despite any injuries and losses suffered, all the fighters still managed to get out to their after parties and have a good time.

From Humble Athletic Beginnings, Rick Story an Unlikely UFC Contender

Filed under: UFCThe story of Rick Story is a testament to persistence. Unlike most fighters who make it into his division’s top 10, he wasn’t a superstar athlete right from the beginning. In fact, in Story’s freshman year of wrestling at Pacific Luther…

Filed under: UFC

The story of Rick Story is a testament to persistence. Unlike most fighters who make it into his division’s top 10, he wasn’t a superstar athlete right from the beginning. In fact, in Story’s freshman year of wrestling at Pacific Lutheran University, he competed in 17 matches. And he lost all 17.

When he moved into the MMA world, Story promptly lost his first fight.

When he was signed into the UFC, he was defeated in his debut.

So how did Story get from there to here? How about some good, old-fashioned hard work? After an 0-17 season, most would be downright devastated. Many would simply quit. But not Story. By the time he was a senior, he was good enough to win 33 matches and make it to the national championship match in his weight class. Guess what? He lost.

That’s a lot of losing for someone who is, quite obviously, a winner, because when it comes to his UFC career, Story has handled every challenge that’s come his way since his opening defeat, a judges’ decision at the hands of John Hathaway in June 2009.

At UFC 130, the 26-year-old southpaw earned the biggest win of his still young career, outworking former welterweight No. 1 contender Thiago Alves in a decision win. That’s no small feat when you consider that over the last five years, here’s the list of guys who have beaten Alves: Jon Fitch and Georges St-Pierre. That’s it.

The outcome came as a surprise not only for the result itself (Alves had been more than a 2-to-1 favorite), but for the way it came about. Though Story has earned a reputation as a solid all-around fighter, most thought his wrestling would be the key to beating Alves, a Muay Thai stylist who loves to fire off his hands and kicks. Instead, Story stayed standing with Alves for 13:39 of the 15-minute match, and outstruck him by a 101-67 margin during that time, according to Compustrike.

As has become his custom, Story showed a nice variety of standing strikes to go with his ability to take an opponent down and grind him against the cage. The result was a decision by a trio of 29-28 scores.

Afterward, Story said that he is hoping to fight one of the two men to recently beat Alves, the aforementioned Fitch. The fight, though, seems unlikely given that Fitch just underwent shoulder surgery in early May and is likely to be out of action for several months. So what should Story do in the meantime?

Well, an attempt to raise his profile wouldn’t be a bad idea, because while he doesn’t have a credibility problem, he does have a visibility problem.

Even though he was in one of UFC 130’s featured fights, the quiet kid from Washington probably didn’t get the attention he deserved. While he was invited to open workouts during fight week, he was upstaged by the presence of main event participant Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and later essentially booted out of a question-and-answer session with the media when Jackson joined the fray.

At the post-fight press conference, Story received all of one single question. What’s an upstart underdog have to do to get a little attention around here?

Well, some of the lack of awareness is his own doing. Just have a look at his Twitter page. Social media is a big focus for the UFC, and Story’s avatar is a photo of him, but it cuts off at his neck, making him faceless.

If that isn’t a symbol for a fighter toiling in anonymity, I don’t know what is.

Winning, though, is the cure for a lot of problems. What usually follows is the athletic trifecta: increased pay, better opportunities and more exposure. On the heels of a six-fight win streak, all of those should be coming his way. But here’s another thing that comes with winning: pressure. With bigger stakes come bigger risks.

Don’t be surprised if Story continues to prove himself up to the task. Nothing is harder than digging your way out of a hole you made for yourself, and he’s done that throughout his athletic career. Whatever you think of his game is OK. Just think something, anything about it. This is a kid who no longer deserves to be ignored.

It’s easy to be good when things are always going good, but the kid who started collegiate wrestling losing 17 straight matches has repeatedly shown the ability to battle through adversity. That’s an invaluable trait for a professional athlete, and it’s not quite as common as you might expect at high levels of sports.

Story still has many questions to answer about his fight game as he moves into the highest echelon of his division. But one question about it has been answered for good. Despite his relative anonymity, and despite his rocky beginnings in athletics, Rick Story is a winner.

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