It’s human nature to overreact; to make more of things than they actually are, especially things that are important to us. MMA fans, like all sports fans, and all people for that matter, tend to be a little dramatic about the things that are most…
It’s human nature to overreact; to make more of things than they actually are, especially things that are important to us. MMA fans, like all sports fans, and all people for that matter, tend to be a little dramatic about the things that are most important to us.
In the MMA world, there are four things that immediately come to mind when thinking about colossal overreactions: mainstream acceptance, performance enhancing drugs, the poor FOX ratings, and officiating.
According to MMA fans, these things are doom incarnate and are eventually going to kill the sport.
Let’s take a practical look at these issues and try to deflate the overreaction melodrama behind them, and look at them for what they are: legitimate concerns that while important, do not pose a risk to the future of the sport.
Mainstream Acceptance
Long before Bud Light and FOX took an interest in the UFC, there was Mickey’s and Spike. And guess what? The UFC, and MMA in general, did just fine.
The desire for mainstream acceptance is understandable. What’s baffling is the obsession with it.
Aside from a sense of validation, the tangible benefit for fans is more free fights. Halfway through this year, because of the FOX deal, there have been 11 free events. Last year there were ten.
And that’s great. What MMA fan doesn’t love free fights? We’ve been getting hammered with pay-per-views for so long, the more free fights the better. But there would still be free fights without this mainstream FOX deal, just fewer of them.
And maybe that’s a good thing. Quality beats out quantity, and the more events that are on, the lower the quality.
There are always going to be networks that want in. The UFC pretty much made Spike. And likewise, the WEC made Versus. The FOX brand brings in more dollars, no doubt, but for fans, that is of little consequence.
I’m not arguing to maintain MMA’s marginal status. I’m just saying that it wasn’t so bad, and if this whole mainstream acceptance thing doesn’t work out, it’s not the end of the world, and it’s certainly not the end of MMA.
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s)
Drugs are an unfortunate fact of life. The reason they exist is because there’s a demand for them. It really is that simple.
That being said, athletes who use performance enhancing drugs are, without question, cheating. But cheating is human nature.
We’re talking about a sport where the top athletes make millions of dollars. Whenever big money is involved in anything, cheating is a forgone conclusion for some, which are more than enough rotten apples to spoil the bunch.
Anyone living in the real world knows that PED’s are a reality in all sports, from high school football to the Olympics.
It’s nice to hold idealistic views about the nature of sport and competition. When you’re a kid it’s all about the sport. If you reach a high level in high school and college, it also becomes about the money.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But that’s an incentive that could rationalize the cutting of corners. It’s easy to force the ends to justify the means when the payout is handsome.
It’s almost incomprehensible when a fighter fails a post-fight drug test. They know they’re going to be tested. So why do they do it? Because the reward outweighs the risk.
In 2007, Royce Gracie failed a drug test after defeating Kazushi Sakuraba. He was fined $2,500. No one knows for sure what Royce made off that fight, but rest assured it was a generous amount. And he was fined only $2,500. Not a bad cost/benefit outcome.
Josh Barnett has failed a few drug tests, and he just made a couple hundred thousand dollars in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Chael Sonnen failed one after his epic 2012 championship clash with Anderson Silva. Sonnen is fighting for the title again very shortly.
The point is that until there’s a real disincentive to use PED’s, there will be no shortage of fighters who are willing to take that risk.
There’s a feeling that PED’s will damage the sport’s reputation. We’ve been discussing PED’s for the past few years, and the sport continues on. The only major damage will be to the athletes who take them.
Every professional sport suffers the stigma of PED’s, yet somehow they’ve managed to survive and thrive. No one runs away from baseball when the drug issue pops up. MMA may not be truly mainstream, but it’s entrenched enough to survive this.
FOX Ratings
After every UFC event on FOX, FX, or FUEL, the talk of the town is the disappointing ratings.
The UFC on FOX 3 posted a 1.5 household rating, and the pundits screamed of oversaturation and a lack of stars to beef up both pay per views and televised events.
They aren’t wrong about those things. What they are wrong about is the sky-is-falling scenario. The UFC is still pulling down solid ratings for these events. They’re just not spectacular.
The FOX deal is still in its infancy. Simply landing on FOX isn’t a magic wand that all of a sudden sends ratings into the stratosphere. It needs time to flourish.
Many casual fans are still not aware when there’s an event on regular television. The UFC is toeing a fine line between pumping their promotional resources into huge pay per view events and sub-par televised ones. Once they figure it out, they’ll get the eyeballs.
This is a long-term deal. The UFC has prospered because they play chess, not checkers.
Officiating
MMA is a sport where decisions are decided by human beings. Human beings see things differently, interpret things differently, and have different priorities.
To some, a body kick is more devastating than a punch to the face. To others, it’s not.
We could enact specific judging criteria and we would still have bad decisions because human beings would be tasked with interpreting those criteria.
Razor-close fights that go to judges’ scorecards can not justifiably be considered bad decisions one way or the other. When it’s close, it can go either way.
Sure, we’ve seen really bad decisions that most people agree are bad, but those don’t happen too often.
Education is paramount. Judges need to be trained in the nuances of MMA, which differ tremendously from boxing or kickboxing. But even with more training, judging is an inherently subjective endeavor that will always bring about some controversy.
Referees are in the same boat, although sailing in much more treacherous waters.
Referees have to make split-second decisions. Is a fighter out? Is he intelligently defending himself? Is his arm about to be broken by his pride? These are just a few of the questions referees face.
Call a fight too soon and people get angry. Call it too late, same thing. It’s a thankless duty.
Dana White likes to say how Steve Mazzagatti is the worst referee in the business. And certainly, Mazzagatti has earned some of that negativity.
He allowed Jason McDonald to hammer-fist Joe Doerksen almost into a coma, but then ran across the cage and dove at Pablo Garza to rescue Fredson Paixao from unnecessary damage.
Things happen fast in the cage, and the right call is not always going to be made.
And if we’re to blame the referees for everything that goes wrong, then surely we must also praise them when things go right.
White is also big on boasting of the UFC’s record on fighter safety. There has never been a death or serious injury in the Octagon. That’s pretty amazing.
But why is that? Some of it can be attributed to rules and regulations, but some of that credit must also be given to that third person in the cage responsible for fighter safety: the referee.
The basic gist is this: MMA does have problems. Everyone and everything does. But these are manageable problems. Our sport is still young. There are many kinks that need to be worked out, but it will never be prefect.
These are issues that should indeed be worked on, but they’ll always be around, and regardless, so will MMA.
When it comes to fighting in the UFC, the consensus is to have a great debut in order to ensure that you continue to fight in the promotion. Now, while a win will almost definitely ensure a future with the UFC, a great debut will push you further up th…
When it comes to fighting in the UFC, the consensus is to have a great debut in order to ensure that you continue to fight in the promotion. Now, while a win will almost definitely ensure a future with the UFC, a great debut will push you further up the ranks and into the minds of fans. Whether it’s a great knockout, snappy submission or dominating decision, fans like seeing a new fighter make a splashy entrance into the octagon.
This list is a tribute to some of those impressive debuts.
How I came to the entries on the list including the following guidelines:
ONE FC’s first event in Malaysia, aptly named Destiny of Warriors, will take place on the 23rd of June in Kuala Lumpur’s Stadium Negara. Headlining the card is a light-heavyweight clash between Strikeforce and Pride veteran Renato ‘Babalu’ S…
ONE FC’s first event in Malaysia, aptly named Destiny of Warriors, will take place on the 23rd of June in Kuala Lumpur’s Stadium Negara. Headlining the card is a light-heavyweight clash between Strikeforce and Pride veteran Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral against Dream veteran Tatsuya Mizuno. We take a look at 3 of the fighters on this card who could make a huge splash in the MMA circuit with a win.
1. Adam Kayoom
Adam Kayoom is a pioneer in Malaysia MMA. Well versed in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he carries the burden of fighting in front of an expectant hometown crowd.
Having won multiple regional Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu titles, Kayoom makes his ONE FC debut against Gregor Gracie.
A victory against a decorated Jiu-Jitsu opponent with the ‘Gracie’ surname is a surefire way to gain attention from MMA fans, and Adam Kayoom has the opportunity to do just that. Kayoom would have to try avoid leaving his limbs or necks exposed, and might be best suited to try keeping the fight standing as Gracie has yet to show significant development in his standup.
2. Leonardo Issa
Brazilian Leonardo Issa is riding a 6-fight winning streak heading into his fight with leglock specialist Masakazu Imanari. Imanari is a Dream veteran whose leglock submissions are one of the best, if not the best, in MMA.
Issa is no slouch on the ground either. He has finished all but one of his victories, and most of them by way of submission. It will be a huge feather in his cap if he manages to submit Imanari.
3. Zorobabel Moreira
Granted, Zorobabel Moreira has been a name that is slowly creeping up in MMA circles, but a win against Roger Huerta will catapult his stock into a whole different stratosphere.
Moreira has looked impressive in his two previous appearances under the ONE FC banner. He has demonstrated varied striking to complement his world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu accomplishments. His versatility was evident in his last fight, where he overwhelmed his opponent Felipe Enomoto with kicks and punches before securing the win via armbar.
Roger Huerta was at one time considered a future UFC light-weight champion. He has an all-action style that has excited fight fans all over the world. Huerta took a temporary hiatus to film the movie Tekken, and is in the midst of his worst slump in his career.
A victory over Huerta would gain Moreira worldwide exposure. He stands on the verge of becoming ONE FC’s first bona-fide superstar.
(Come on Tim, you haven’t even read the column yet. Maybe we wrote nice things about you, okay?)
Today on the CagePotato Roundtable, we’re talking paper champs — the one-and-dones and never-shoulda-beens who weren’t quite worthy of the gold around their waist. To limit our scope a bit, we’re only focusing on major MMA promotions like the UFC (including tournament champions), PRIDE (even though all their champions were awesome), Strikeforce, the WEC, and probably Bellator and DREAM as well if anybody cared enough to mention them. Joining us this week is our dear friend Kelly Crigger, the retired solider and best-selling MMA author who’s currently elevating rugby-awareness at American Sin Bin. Read on for our picks, and please, please, please send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Jared Jones
For four months in 2001-2002, Dave Menne — the fighter who Phil Baroni famously steamrolled at UFC 39 — was the UFC’s middleweight champion. That’s right: The belt that Anderson Silva has proudly worn for the last five-and-a-half years used to belong to this guy. Menne won the title in September 2001 by beating 5-0 newcomer Gil Castillo, and went on to compile an overall record of 2-4 in the Octagon. Gentlemen, the floor is yours. Good luck.
The worst major MMA champion of all time has to be Carlos Newton. For starters when you say your fighting style is Dragon Ball Z Jiu Jitsu to pay homage to a Japanese anime character, there’s a screw loose somewhere.
Secondly, when Newton won the UFC welterweight title, there wasn’t exactly a deep talent pool of competition. MMA was still evolving and techniques were as sound as using bubble gum on a car engine. I will admit that he beat a very experienced and talented Pat Miletich to get the strap, but that’s the lone gem in his dreadlocked crown. Today every weight class has a laundry list of accomplished fighters and an alternate list of accomplished fighters waiting in the wings in case they tweet something controversial and Mr. White fires all of them. The point is, he didn’t exactly climb a ladder of giants to get to the belt.
(Come on Tim, you haven’t even read the column yet. Maybe we wrote nice things about you, okay?)
Today on the CagePotato Roundtable, we’re talking paper champs — the one-and-dones and never-shoulda-beens who weren’t quite worthy of the gold around their waist. To limit our scope a bit, we’re only focusing on major MMA promotions like the UFC (including tournament champions), PRIDE (even though all their champions were awesome), Strikeforce, the WEC, and probably Bellator and DREAM as well if anybody cared enough to mention them. Joining us this week is our dear friend Kelly Crigger, the retired solider and best-selling MMA author who’s currently elevating rugby-awareness at American Sin Bin. Read on for our picks, and please, please, please send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Jared Jones
For four months in 2001-2002, Dave Menne — the fighter who Phil Baroni famously steamrolled at UFC 39 — was the UFC’s middleweight champion. That’s right: The belt that Anderson Silva has proudly worn for the last five-and-a-half years used to belong to this guy. Menne won the title in September 2001 by beating 5-0 newcomer Gil Castillo, and went on to compile an overall record of 2-4 in the Octagon. Gentlemen, the floor is yours. Good luck.
The worst major MMA champion of all time has to be Carlos Newton. For starters when you say your fighting style is Dragon Ball Z Jiu Jitsu to pay homage to a Japanese anime character, there’s a screw loose somewhere.
Secondly, when Newton won the UFC welterweight title, there wasn’t exactly a deep talent pool of competition. MMA was still evolving and techniques were as sound as using bubble gum on a car engine. I will admit that he beat a very experienced and talented Pat Miletich to get the strap, but that’s the lone gem in his dreadlocked crown. Today every weight class has a laundry list of accomplished fighters and an alternate list of accomplished fighters waiting in the wings in case they tweet something controversial and Mr. White fires all of them. The point is, he didn’t exactly climb a ladder of giants to get to the belt.
Thirdly, he never defended it. They say you’re not really the champion until you defend the belt. They’re right. The hunger that consumes so many fighters as they climb the lofty MMA mountain is frequently snuffed out once they get to the top. The mighty tumble faster down those slopes than the President’s approval ratings. Newton never defended the welterweight title and had one of the shortest reigns as champ in the history of the UFC, especially when you consider how infrequent the events were back in 2001 when he was the champ. Newton’s inability to defend the belt could be forgiven if he’d remained a contender or changed weight classes to challenge for another belt. But his career nosedived after losing the welterweight title to Matt Hughes in his very next fight and he went 6-9 over the next eight-and-a-half years of fighting, with no wins over anyone notable.
Carlos Newton was in the right place at the right time to win the UFC welterweight belt, but since that day his career has been lackluster at best and largely unmemorable. Guess that Dragon Ball Z Jiu Jitsu wasn’t so hot after all.
I’ll be honest: When this topic was first introduced, I was pretty skeptical about how it would work as a column. “Major MMA promotion” is an incredibly vague term that could apply to pretty much any promotion that we’ve covered on this site. KSW is a major promotion in Poland. Inka Fighting Championship is a major promotion in Peru. What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t want this column to degrade into a contest to see who can name the most obscure organization’s least-talented champion, like we’re a bunch of MMA hipsters who just overheard someone say “Brock Lesnar should totally be in the UFC Hall of Fame, you guys.”
Yet ironically enough, not only am I about to write about the most obscure champion on this list, but I’m also picking the most obscure weight class in the organization I’m writing about. The WEC carved its niche with the smaller weight classes for a good reason: It had virtually no depth beyond lightweight. Hell, I’m still not entirely convinced that it ever had a true light-heavyweight division. Looking at all the middleweights who fought for the WEC at light-heavyweight back then, it’s almost like the promotion invented the “Rumbleweight” division before most of us knew who Anthony Johnson was.
The WEC light-heavyweight division was made up of guys like Lodune Sincaid, Brian Stann, Steve Cantwell and Tim McKenzie — all of whom are now competing at 185. Oh, and Doug Marshall, too. Remember him? If you were one of those “The WEC in its prime was better than the UFC” fans, you’ve probably repressed all memories that Marshall formerly held the light-heavyweight title for your precious World Extreme Cagefighting.
Doug Marshall was — and I can’t believe I’m about to type this — the minor league version of Tim Sylvia. He was a champion when the division was completely barren of anything resembling talent, winning the belt from Lodune Sincaid (who I almost went with, except Marshall winning was considered a minor upset), defending it against Justin McElfresh (?) and Ariel Gandulla (LOL), and then losing the belt to Brian Stann. Before you justify the loss to Stann with Captain America’s current success in the UFC middleweight division, keep in mind that Stann at this point was little more than a great story and a damn good cross. Stann was so green in the sport that he would go on to lose the belt to Steve Cantwell, of all people. When the UFC absorbed the WEC’s light-heavyweights, Doug Marshall was left behind.
Since getting snubbed by the UFC, Doug Marshall has (act surprised) dropped to middleweight, where he’s been little more than a can crusher. He has gone 6-3, yet his three losses come against guys you’ve actually heard of, most recently suffering a quick KO at the hands of Zelg Galesic at Super Fight League 3. Meanwhile, the WEC’s final Light-Heavyweight champion, Steve Cantwell, has lost five straight fights in the UFC. Such is life when you’re the worst of the best.
I know what I am saying is blasphemy, but at least give me a cigarette and my last words before the firing squad unloads. I want to preface this by stating; without Royce there would absolutely NOT be the sport of MMA as we know it. I do appreciate his effort and skill within the BJJ community as well as the attention he brought to the sport. He was the real life David versus his Goliath competitors.
That being said, Royce was a complete and total DICK. He was the original Paul Harris but back in the day, we were all so enamored that a 175-pound man could annihilate much bigger dudes, it went unnoticed. So ladies and gentlemen of the jury I introduce to you:
This poor bastard got his arm broken in half even though he was tapping faster than a professional Track and Field arcade game competitor. Don’t give me any of this “The referee never stopped it” nonsense either. Royce knows what a tap is and he snapped it anyway.
This lucky guy knows he is defeated and taps in a gentlemanly fashion. Once the choke is not let go, you see Gordeau’s tap frequency increase to panic mode and then he begins to tap with both hands simultaneously as his death approaches. At least he was wearing awesome pajama pants.
Mr. Van Clief was pulling a Social Security check when he took this fight and how did Royce treat his elder? By making Big John McCarthy scream repeatedly to release the choke after Ron tapped. Following the fight Van Clief was presumably sent to the glue factory.
The real “Beast” was taking it to Royce during this contest. Unfortunately for Dan, he subscribes to the Chael Sonnen School of Triangle Defense. Once the choke is locked in, Severn gives his big awkward taps to say “Uncle.” Not so fast mustachioed one, as Royce kept the triangle locked tight until John McCarthy finally pried him off.
So, in closing ladies and gentlemen of the CP jury, I present to you the worst champion in MMA history, Royce Gracie. Not by his performance but rather with his classless actions during his performances. He is a highly skilled BJJ practitioner and a master of his craft but he is also a bloodthirsty animal who was not content with victory alone. He seemingly craved to injure his opponent after they had conceded. Having trained for decades, Royce knew what a tap meant and he didn’t care. Oh yeah, the jerk pulls hair too.
Ben Goldstein
In December 2006, fledgling MMA promotion Strikeforce decided to crown a light-heavyweight champion, despite their general lack of a light-heavyweight division. To fill the vacancy, Scott Coker grabbed the first two 205′ers he could find. One was Bobby Southworth, who had gained a bit of name-recognition on the first season of TUF; never mind that his major accomplishments on that show were calling Chris Leben a fatherless bastard and losing a decision to Stephan Bonnar. Southworth hadn’t won a fight in over three years, and his Strikeforce debut the previous June ended in no-contest due to freak accident (James Irvin). His opponent at Strikeforce: Triple Threat would be aging Lion’s Den product Vernon White, who was riding a two-fight losing streak, and had never competed under the Strikeforce banner. One of these men, honest to God, was about to become a Strikeforce World Title Holder.
Southworth wound up collecting the belt in that fight via decision, and while the title itself was rather meaningless, his title reign was even more forgettable. Southworth’s first defense was against Canadian journeyman Bill Mahood, who verbally submitted due to a rib injury after just 75 seconds, then tested positive for steroids. Southworth’s next challenge was late-replacement Anthony Ruiz; since Ruiz only had about three weeks to prepare for the fight, Strikeforce made it a non-title affair — which made things kind of awkward when Ruiz beat Southworth by TKO due a cut. Obviously, the two men had to run it back, and Southworth won the rematch by unanimous decision in an unwatchably dull five-rounder.
Southworth’s Cinderella-story ended in November 2008, when they finally matched him up with a fighter worthy of holding a belt — former UFC title contender Renato Sobral. Although Southworth put in a valiant effort against Sobral, the bout was stopped before the second frame due to a horrible gash above Bobby’s eye. A rematch was agreed to, but never materialized. Southworth has only competed once since that night, beating some dude in Australia back in 2010. An attempt to get back on The Ultimate Fighter didn’t pan out, which is probably for the best.
Josh Hutchinson
When I heard this week’s question a lot of people came to mind. I had never really sat back and thought about “bad” MMA champions before. Once I did, I realized, holy shit, there have been a lot of them. Although I was gifted with a list of possible candidates as long as the Nile River, my brain stubbornly clung to one specific individual: Brock Fucking Lesnar.
Let me set the scene for you. It was what turned out to be the extremely foul year of our lord 2007, and I heard a rumor that the UFC had contracted a former “professional” wrestler to mix up the heavyweight division. I had also heard that he had a good collegiate wrestling record to his credit. So I thought to myself, “what the hell”? There have been a lot of MMA fighters who have done pro wrestling, and at least he has a solid legitimate wrestling background. Then came the hype, and it never stopped.
Fast forward four months. By this time, I had seen pictures and video until my eyes bled of this supposed unstoppable force. Once I picked myself off the floor from a crippling case of hysterical laughter at the hands of a grown man willingly having a giant dick tattooed on his chest, I started to get mildly annoyed at the attention he was receiving. For fuck sakes the man had one professional MMA fight, and that was against Kim Min-Soo. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Min-Soo, allow me to elaborate. He is a 3-7 fighter, and was 2-5 when he fought Lesnar. On top of that, he has also actually lost to Bob Sapp legitimately. Luckily Frank Mir came along and submitted Lesnar in a minute and a half of the first round, thus successfully derailing what was clearly a bullshit hype-train to begin with. Wait…that didn’t happen.
Instead, they threw the former “golden boy” to heavyweight gatekeeper Heath Herring. That fight somehow warranted Lesnar worthy to fight the aging and undersized Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title. I’m either too drunk, too stupid, or too naïve at the lengths promoters will go too when hyping “the next big thing” to understand the logic here. But it happened. What followed was one more win in the vein of Lesnar’s “plow you over and hammerfist you the way I do my dick after viewing Carmen Valentina‘s website” style of fighting, in the form of a rematch win against Frank Mir. Although Shane Carwin exposed the extreme distaste Lesnar has for actually being punched in the face, Lesnar survived his title defense against “The Engineer of Pain” with his belt intact, but beat-down losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem forced the phallically branded “athlete” back to scripted fights with an MMA record of 5-3.
I have neither the time, nor energy to look up the following, but I’m willing to bet that he is the only man in UFC history to get a title shot at 2-1, and the only “superstar” to retire at 5-3. That, ladies and gentlemen, is my argument for worst MMA champion of all time.
“I just fucked your ass.” That was the t-shirt Tito Ortiz wore in the Octagon after his victory at UFC 18. It was also the night, as Tito says in his book, that Ortiz became the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” and he began his one-man destruction of the Lion’s Den camp. So, who was the unlucky soul whose ass was fucked by Tito Ortiz at UFC 18? Jerry Bohlander, my choice for the worst major MMA champion of all-time.
Jerry Bohlander walked into Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den gym in the early 1990s, submitted one of the best fighters in the gym, and was soon thrown into his first pro fight, which he won. In Bohlander’s second pro fight, and first UFC fight, Bohlander submitted Scott Ferrozzo, who outweighed Bohlander by almost 150 pounds. Bohlander went on to lose to Gary Goodridge later that night, but it was only one year later, in February 1997, that Jerry Bohlander would taste UFC tournament gold. Bohlander won the UFC Lightweight (under 200lbs) Tournament at UFC 12, and did so in under two minutes total fight time.
So, after all that success, you ask, why is Jerry Bohlander my choice for worst champion? Well, the night Bohlander won his tournament, he beat Rainy Martinez and Nick Sanzo. Martinez’s pro record? 0-2. Sanzo’s pro record? 1-1, with Sanzo’s only win coming earlier that night against Jackie Lee, who was making his pro debut. So, to become champion, Bohlander beat two completely irrelevant guys who were immediately forgotten in MMA history. Of Bohlander’s 11 career wins, only 3 of those came against opponents with winning records. The three fighters of note who Bohlander fought (Ortiz, Goodridge, Murilo Bustamante) all handily beat him. Granted, in the early days of the UFC the competition was slim, but Bohlander simply has no victories over relevant opponents.
While Bohlander may be the worst major MMA champion of all-time, that says nothing about him personally. After 9/11, he was inspired to become a police officer, and has been serving as a deputy for the Napa County Sheriff’s Office for close to ten years. Bohlander is on the SWAT team and works many dangerous cases. Apparently, Bohlander has two justified killings while on-duty: once shooting and killing a man charging him with a knife; and shooting and killing another suspect who was reaching in his waistband for a gun. So, while I may believe you are the worst major MMA champion of all-time, Jerry Bohlander, I salute you.
We return to the Mile High City four months after the first UFC, as the one-night tournament has expanded to 16 fighters. Somebody will have to win four fights in one night.The live crowd has already watched seven of the eight first-round bouts. Now w…
We return to the Mile High City four months after the first UFC, as the one-night tournament has expanded to 16 fighters. Somebody will have to win four fights in one night.
The live crowd has already watched seven of the eight first-round bouts. Now we check in for the last one, featuring the winner of UFC 1, Royce Gracie.
1. Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) vs. Minoki Ichihara (Karate)
Ichihara was supposed to be one of the favorites, and he looks bummed that he drew Gracie in the first round. Still, in his pre-match interview, he resolutely states, “I would like to fight this dangerous man.”
His wish is granted as Gracie smothers him and starts nailing him with punches to the ribs and palm strikes to the face. The announcers talk about how Gracie wants to win via choke, but it’s not happening.
Realizing that he has to fight three more times, Gracie switches to a lapel choke and gets the tap out.
Now the crowd is enjoying an intermission as we learn about the different fighting styles we will see tonight: Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, Grappling and “Exotics” (secret ninja attack!).
We also get highlights from a couple of first-round bouts. Johnny Rhodes out-slugged fellow American David Levicki with the help of a headbutt to the eye. Orlando Wiet of France nailed Robin Lucarelli with a devastating knee to the face en route to a TKO win.
2. First Quarterfinal: Scott Morris (Exotics) vs. Pat Smith (Kickboxing)
Scott Morris is an American ninja who used a guillotine choke to beat Sean Daugherty in 20 seconds to advance through the first round.
Smith is Denver’s hometown hero who lost to Ken Shamrock at UFC 1. This time around, he tasted victory over Ray Wizard via guillotine choke in a first-round battle that lasted just under a minute.
Smith clobbers Morris with forearms to the face, takes the mount and elbows Morris into oblivion in 30 seconds. So far, things are going great for Smith and his Denver fans.
3. Second Quarterfinal: Johnny Rhodes (Karate) vs. Fred Ettish (Karate)
Rhodes’ win over Levicki was the “longest in UFC history,” the announcers note, at 12 minutes. Of course, there were no rounds back then.
Ettish replaces Dutch fighter Frank Hamaker, who hurt his arm while beating American Thaddeus Luster in the first round, when Luster’s corner threw in the towel just before the five-minute mark.
Ettish is one tough dude, as he eats some knees to the face from Rhodes before finally tapping out to a choke. He even reappears like a ghost behind Rhodes during the post-fight interview.
4. Third Quarterfinal: Orlando “The Gladiator” Wiet (Muay Thai Kickboxing) vs. Remco Pardoel (Jiu-Jitsu and Judo)
Wiet went less than three minutes in his win over Lucarelli, while Pardoel battled Alberto Cerro Leon of Spain for almost 10 minutes before putting him away with an armlock.
Pardoel’s strategy consists of plopping his weight onto Wiet and trying to bend his right arm until it breaks. This goes nowhere until Remco realizes that from this position, he can elbow Weit into La-La Land. The towel comes in, but Weit was out anyway.
5. Fourth Quarterfinal: Jason DeLucia (Kung Fu) vs. Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
Jason DeLucia won an alternate bout at UFC 1 over Trent Jenkins and upped his record to 2-0 with a first-round win over Scott Baker by submission to strikes in less than seven minutes.
DeLucia actually gains top position on Gracie, but Royce calmly pulls guard, floats over and secures an armlock. DeLucia is actually standing up while he taps out.
6. First Semifinal: Pat Smith (kickboxing) vs. Johnny Rhodes (Karate)
Jim Brown says Smith is going to win. He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer, so who am I to argue? After a boxing stalemate, Smith backs Rhodes into the cage, then locks on a guillotine and chokes him out.
Always listen to Jim Brown.
7. Second Semifinal: Remco Pardoel (Jiu-Jitsu and Judo) vs. Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
Gracie is giving up 84 pounds, so it takes a long time to bring Pardoel down, but he finally does. Pardoel tries for a kimura, but Gracie uses the gi to choke the big man out. Remember: there are no rules!
8. UFC 2 Final for $60,000: Patrick Smith (Kickboxing) vs. Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
It’s the fourth fight of the night for each man. The fans are chanting for Smith. Now before this fight starts, what should Smith do to solve the Royce Gracie riddle?
I’d say that since Gracie has proven that he can take almost anyone down, Smith should go full guns a-blazin’ with punches and kicks. Make Gracie beat him with punches.
Well, that’s what happens. After stuffing Smith’s initial attack and taking him down, Gracie takes the mount, lands a few punches and here comes the towel. Huh?
At first, the corner stoppage seems premature, but on replay, you could see that Gracie had a mount locked in and was just going to punch Smith in the head all night long. So the towel toss was the right move.
Gracie and Smith give each other hugs and respect, as the Gracie family comes into the Octagon to celebrate. The big check (which was made out to “The Ultimate Fighter!” at UFC 1), is filled in with Royce Gracie’s name. This will avoid an awkward moment at the bank.
Gracie calls out some more tough men to challenge him.
Fun show, and the question moving on at this point is: Can any fighter stop Royce Gracie?
The sport of mixed martial arts as we know it is approaching 20 years of age. Since Royce Gracie introduced most of the world to Jiu-Jitsu and won three of the first four UFC tournaments without suffering a defeat, the sport has seen its share of domin…
The sport of mixed martial arts as we know it is approaching 20 years of age. Since Royce Gracie introduced most of the world to Jiu-Jitsu and won three of the first four UFC tournaments without suffering a defeat, the sport has seen its share of dominant fighters come and go to help mold the sport as we know it today.
While Royce Gracie was displaying his dominant fighting skills on the ground, dominant strikers like Bas Rutten were displaying dominant standup skills and evolving that aspect of the sport.
Over the past 19 years, most fighters that created legacies in the ring/octagon became disconnected from the the sport after they retired. However, there are some fighters that continue to stay relevant in the sport and keep contributing to the sport even though they no longer step inside the cage themselves to fight competitively.
Here is a list of fighters that are still relevant and will likely continue to be relevant in the sport long after their fighting days are done.
Please feel free to add other fighters below that you think should have made this list. Keep in mind I tried to make sure these were all “ex-fighters” and tried to justify their current contributions.
It’s human nature to overreact; to make more of things than they actually are, especially things that are important to us. MMA fans, like all sports fans, and all people for that matter, tend to be a little dramatic about the things that are most important to us. 
ONE FC’s first event in Malaysia, aptly named Destiny of Warriors, will take place on the 23rd of June in Kuala Lumpur’s Stadium Negara. Headlining the card is a light-heavyweight clash between Strikeforce and Pride veteran Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral against Dream veteran Tatsuya Mizuno. We take a look at 3 of the fighters on this card who could make a huge splash in the 
