Before Saturday night, the highly hyped Siyar Bahadurzada was riding a seven-fight winning streak.Plus, the former Shooto welterweight champion was looking at a title run if he scored an exciting main-card win against Korean star Dong Hyun Kim at UFC o…
Before Saturday night, the highly hyped SiyarBahadurzada was riding a seven-fight winning streak.
Plus, the former Shooto welterweight champion was looking at a title run if he scored an exciting main-card win against Korean star Dong Hyun Kim at UFC on Fuel 8.
Unfortunately, the “Blackzilian curse” struck again.
In case you’re not familiar with the term, the Blackzilians are an MMA super-camp based in Florida who host many UFC fighters, including former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.
But since the camp formed, it hasn’t really put together the best record.
In fact, the Blackzilians have lost more UFC bouts than they’ve won, with the most high-profile upsets coming from their two most prominent members—Evans and Alistair Overeem:
• SiyarBahadurzada: 1-1 • Rashad Evans: 2-2 • Alistair Overeem: 0-1 • Michael Johnson: 4-2 • VitorBelfort: 1-1 • Ryan Jimmo: 1-1 • Matt Mitrione: 0-1 • Thiago Silva: 0-0 (1 NC) • Melvin Guillard: 1-3 • Abel Trujillo: 1-0 • Jorge Santiago: 0-2 • Miguel Torres: 1-1
Note: All records only include fights in the UFC, starting from the period when each fighter joined the Blackzilians.
What’s more damning is the fact that many of these fighters boasted winning streaks before joining the camp.
For example, Overeem has suffered the most from his transition to Florida, as he saw his five-year, 12-fight winning streak come to an end against Antonio Silva—who ironically left the Blackzilians when “The Demolition Man” came knocking last year.
Clearly, something’s amiss here.
Is this just a result of the UFC being a much tougher place to win than the MMA regional circuit, or are the Blackzilians‘ elite members somehow suffering from an unexplainable curse?
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and tech writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld, PC World, 1UP, NVision, The Los Angeles Times, FightFans Radio, MMA Mania and Bleacher Report. Talk with him on Twitter.
Siyar Bahadurzada and Dong Hyun Kim kicked off the main-card portion of UFC on Fuel TV 8 in less-than-dramatic fashion. Going into the fight, many experts saw two likely outcomes: Bahadurzada would score the knockout, or Kim would grind out a dec…
Going into the fight, many experts saw two likely outcomes: Bahadurzada would score the knockout, or Kim would grind out a decision.
Unfortunately for the violence monger in all of us, we were treated to the latter result as Kim’s grappling prowess proved too much for the Afghan sensation to overcome.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
Real talk: This fight was pretty forgettable. If we’re lucky, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will break into our houses, flash that little memory eraser they have and we will forget each dreadful moment of non-action in this fight.
Kim showcased a smothering top game, and he opened up in the final minutes of the fight with some inspired ground-and-pound. But for the most part, this was the textbook definition of a victory via “lay and pray.”
What We Learned About SiyarBahadurzada
Bahadurzada came into this fight riding an impressive seven-fight winning streak, and his knockout power was evident in his UFC debut as he starched veteran Paulo Thiago in less than one minute at UFC on Fuel TV 2.
He could not recapture that former glory, though, and he showed some gaping holes in his ground game.
Bahadurzada could not avoid the takedown, he could not mount any sort of offense from his back and he could not escape back to his feet once the fight hit the canvas.
If he wants to take the next step in the big show, he has to take these aspects of the fight game seriously and come out better prepared to handle strong grapplers in the future.
What We Learned About Dong Hyun Kim
Dong Hyun Kim did not show us anything new in this fight.
We knew he was a strong grappler, and we knew he was not a finisher. Basically, this fight went exactly as one would expect if somebody told you ahead of time that Kim would win.
What’s Next for Bahadurzada?
“The Great” tumbles a bit in the welterweight rankings with the loss, but his knockout power makes him a fearsome opponent for anybody at 170 pounds.
Next up for him should be Erick Silva, a promising, explosive up-and-comer who was stifled by a strong grappler in Jon Fitch in his last outing.
Let’s see which of these prospects is for real.
What’s Next for Kim?
It wasn’t pretty, but Kim did exactly what he needed to do to climb the ever-lengthening welterweight ladder at UFC on Fuel TV 8.
With matchups like Jake Ellenberger vs. Nate Marquardt and Carlos Condit vs. Johny Hendricks set for UFC 158 and a rumored matchup of Tarec Saffiedine vs. Demian Maia in the works, Kim’s quest for UFC gold is a bit clogged at the moment.
I think a fight with Canadian standout Rory MacDonald (once he heals up, of course) could be fun, otherwise, the winner of Marquardt vs. Ellenberger makes the most immediate sense to me.
Win or lose, don’t sleep on Siyar Bahadurzada when he competes. Though it may prove a bit early to tell right now, the man possesses the makings of a future legend, and if anyone possesses the qualities needed to contend for the UFC welterweight title …
Win or lose, don’t sleep on SiyarBahadurzada when he competes. Though it may prove a bit early to tell right now, the man possesses the makings of a future legend, and if anyone possesses the qualities needed to contend for the UFC welterweight title it’s Bahadurzada.
The rise of many welterweights in itself scares the MMA world because of how quickly they elevate to title contention, but Bahadurzada‘s rise through the ranks scares in the manner of how it came more than it does in the sense of how quickly it happened.
Recall if you will the particulars of Bahadurzada‘s 21-4-1 record. Of the 21 wins, 11 of them come by a form of knockout, with four of those 11 wins coming by a straight-up knockout blow. Of course, we all remember how Bahadurzada patiently waited for his moment to strike against Paulo Thiago prior to knocking the Brazilian out cold.
However, the knockouts tell only part of the tale. Bahadurzada may go to the ground with Dong Hyun Kim tonight at UFC on Fuel TV 8, and if he does, he will have the opportunity to showcase what he can do on the ground, something few ever mention with Bahadurzada. Perhaps due to the results he achieves with his knockout power, people overlook that he owns six submission victories with five wins via a form of a submission hold.
In the past, Kim has shown that he can get taken down and controlled, and against a varied striking arsenal, he can find himself overwhelmed. As scary as Bahadurzada‘s knockout power proves in any fight, his more underrated aspects, which help him complete his game as a mixed martial artist, can bring a wild card to any one of his fights, where his opponents will surely prepare for a one-trick pony and wind up shocked as they succumb to defeat.
In a division dominated by welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, a man long regarded as one of the sport’s most complete fighters, excelling in every aspect of the sport proves a great deal of significance. Bahadurzada knows he will need to show his stuff in all aspects of the sport, but his ability to rise to the occasion and perform in those areas, even if he holds no fondness for submissions or decisions, will pay dividends as he eventually finds himself in the UFC welterweight title scene.
Win or lose against the smothering judoka Kim, Bahadurzada will prove it before he ends his time in the UFC. If not, he will definitely go down swinging in his attempt to prove his skeptics wrong.
Fighters like Dong Hyun Kim may win their fair share of UFC bouts, but the South Korean star will never get a title shot with the way he fights.At least, that’s what Siyar Bahadurzada thinks about “Stun Gun” and his controlling grappling.In a…
Fighters like Dong Hyun Kim may win their fair share of UFC bouts, but the South Korean star will never get a title shot with the way he fights.
At least, that’s what SiyarBahadurzada thinks about “Stun Gun” and his controlling grappling.
In a recent interview posted by the UFC, “Siyar the Great” broke down his upcoming fight with Kim at UFC on Fuel TV 8 match in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena, heavily criticizing the perceived disrespect he’s gotten from his opponent:
When the UFC offered [Kim] the fight, he went out there and said ‘who is SiyarBahadurzada, I don’t know him. I was expecting that the UFC would give me a better name or a higher profile fighter.
What is he talking about? He says he doesn’t know me? How many guys put Paulo Thiago to sleep? I’m pretty sure when he analyzed his tapes he knew who I was. I think he’s scared of me, and that’s why he said that.
True to his word, Bahadurzada is the only fighter to ever defeat Thiago by strikes, which occurred during a previous UFC on Fuel TV card in Sweden last April.
Not only did Bahadurzada defeat Thiago via KO, but he also did it in just 42 seconds.
Finishes like that are quite valuable to the UFC, which has notably been cutting and displacing less exciting fighters who don’t entertain the crowds in victory and/or defeat. Bahadurzada notes that fighters like that make MMA more “beautiful,” while men like Kim aren’t helping themselves:
We need guys like ‘Showtime’ Pettis to make this sport more beautiful. We need guys like Anderson Silva to introduce this sport to the mainstream. But guys like Dong Hyun Kim, he makes the sport ugly.
He stalls and controls people and doesn’t do damage. Why would you do that? It doesn’t make sense. If he fights like that, he will have 30 more UFC fights and he will never get a title shot because people don’t want to see a boring champion.
Both fighters will have the chance to make their case at UFC on Fuel TV 8 on March 2, with the winner arguably cementing himself a spot in the “Top 10” of the welterweight division.
In addition to that bout, the rest of the event features a heavily-stacked main card with Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann as the headliner, a heavyweight tilt between Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve, TakanoriGomi vs. Diego Sanchez and a middleweight clash with YushinOkami vs. Hector Lombard.
UFC on Fuel 8 in Japan is looking to be a great event so far, headlined by sluggers Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva. That is not the only good fight, though. The card is already stacked.One of the fights to look forward to is between Afghani-born Siyar…
UFC on Fuel 8 in Japan is looking to be a great event so far, headlined by sluggers Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva. That is not the only good fight, though. The card is already stacked.
One of the fights to look forward to is between Afghani-born Siyar Bahadurzada and South Korean grappler Dong Hyun Kim. It is a great style matchup that could catapult either man into the top 10.
Here is a head-to-toe breakdown of this anticipated showdown.
Before Saturday night, the highly hyped