The UFC 130 welterweight fight last Saturday night between Thiago “Pit Bull” Alves and Rick “The Horror” Story showed what true MMA fighters of the 21st century are made of: a complete game and gameness in all areas.Never mind i…
The UFC 130 welterweight fight last Saturday night between Thiago “Pit Bull” Alves and Rick “The Horror” Story showed what true MMA fighters of the 21st century are made of: a complete game and gameness in all areas.
Never mind if it didn’t end with a finish, with a unanimous decision to make for a happy Story.
Story respected but did not fear Alves’ more extensive striking background; it not deter him from exchanging strikes with the latter in various phases of their three-round fight.
Story respectably landed his own solid missiles and kept his composure when at the receiving end.
Alves knew that Story was the more accomplished wrestler, but he succeeded in his own takedown attempt and ably rose to his feet (a folkstyle wrestling specialty) on the occasions when the former Southern Oregon University wrestler tried to take and keep the fight on the ground.
In between, he managed to defend against Story’s persistent takedown attempts more often than not.
They were both armed with a complete skill set and were game enough to engage in the other’s strongest point. (Akin to Nick Diaz‘ duking it out with Paul Daley, and knocking out the more respected striker.)
We’re a few months removed from the 18th anniversary of UFC 1, which was held on that night of November 12, 1993.
All human beings born that fateful night, assuming they are still blessed by God or nature with life, are now nearing major and legal age. (Well, in most societies, that is.)
If they are also gifted with functional reproductive health, in a half-year they can choose to procreate and do their part in perpetuating humanity. (Not that I advocate young parenthood and unfettered population growth.)
Likewise, our sport has grown exponentially and phenomenally across the globe—along with the awareness and practice of what it takes to reach the zenith of MMA fighting.
Concomitantly, martial arts gyms must be giving birth to complete fighters before their baptism of fire in professional MMA events.
This not about pure grappling.
This is not about pure striking.
And, no, this is not about pure wrestling.
Learn them all, train in them all and show them all. Neglect one at your own risk.
We are already riding on the second decade of the third millennium A.D.; the world did not end last May 21.
I think we have Manny Pacquiao’s future MMA equivalent lurking here somewhere…for those interested in Philippine MMA, check out here the official Web site of our country’s premier MMA organization, the Universal Reality Combat Championship and our top MMA online forum at PinoyMMA.com.
Following a lackluster card at UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill, it may be easy for one to disregard the importance of Rick Story’s impressive upset over Thiago Alves.While Story was meant to be something of a stepping stone for Alves—just another fig…
Following a lackluster card at UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill, it may be easy for one to disregard the importance of Rick Story’s impressive upset over Thiago Alves.
While Story was meant to be something of a stepping stone for Alves—just another fight to display his development as a well-rounded fighter—Story utilized superior wrestling, strength in the clinch, and a ridiculous chin to win a unanimous decision.
For the better part of the day I was thinking about who were possible MVPs going into last night’s UFC 130 pay-per-view. The card did not lack enough big name fighters, but it did lack any interesting bouts that carried all that much consequence. The m…
For the better part of the day I was thinking about who were possible MVPs going into last night’s UFC 130 pay-per-view. The card did not lack enough big name fighters, but it did lack any interesting bouts that carried all that much consequence.
The main event was a light heavyweight tilt pitting former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Matt Hamill. An upset by Hamill could vault him towards the top of the list as far as MVP’s are concerned or Rampage could gain some momentum with a highlight reel knockout.
The co-main event had occasional training partners Frank Mir and Roy Nelson going toe-to-toe in a matchup of two heavyweight fighters with exceptional grappling skills. Could a slick submission by either man gain them the vaunted Most Valuable Player award for UFC 130?
When it was all said and done I had two fighters in mind. I looked at Rick Story and the fact that he gained the biggest victory of his career against Thiago Alves and backed up all of the pre-fight talk he had unleashed. He kept his promise and proved that calling out and requesting a fight with Alves was a great move on his part.
Then there was Brian Stann, the man who has been making a lot of noise since dropping down to the middleweight division. He was taking on the returning and versatile Jorge Santiago in a bout that could put the winner very close to a shot at the middleweight title.
Both men had impressive showings, but the deciding factor in choosing Stann was he finished his opponent while Story won by unanimous decision. I can’t lie and say that this being Memorial Day weekend and Stann being a decorated Marine and an American hero didn’t add some drama to this story.
The poise Stann showed inside the Octagon no doubt comes from the experiences he has gone through while serving in Iraq. His composure will only help him when the tough gets going and he finds himself in trouble during a fight. There is nothing that can happen to him inside the cage that he hasn’t already seen on the battlefield.
He took on a returning Santiago, a fighter who had gone 11-1 in his last 12 fights. During that time he won the Strikeforce Middleweight Grand Prix by defeating both Sean Salmon and Trevor Prangley in the same night. He then traveled east and went to Japan where he won the Sengoku Middleweight Grand Prix and Middleweight Championship.
Santiago has defeated some very good fighters including Kazuo Misaki twice, the last fight between the two was named the 2010 Fight of the Year. This all goes to show you that Santiago is for real and a legitimate threat in the middleweight division.
That is why Stann deserves the credit he gets and why he deserves to be the UFC 130 Most Valuable Player. He not only defeated Santiago, he had him in danger throughout much of the fight and completely stifled any offense that Santiago tried to muster.
So enjoy your Memorial Day weekend Mr. Stann, enjoy your win over a very good fighter and thank you for putting on a performance worthy of being the UFC 130 MVP.
(Photo courtesy of UFC.com. Rampage’s victory reaction gif is now after the jump.)
When the anticipated rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was scrapped from this card, we were left with a few big names and a lot of hope. Despite a few stellar knockouts earlier in the evening, UFC 130 ended much like my date to see “No Strings Attached”: a lot of booing, a disappointing 15 minute fight, and I was out $50.
Every UFC card has to be about something, and with no gold up for grabs the storyline for this event became Quinton Jackson’s climb back up to the top of the Light Heavyweight division. Dana White declared and Rogan and Goldberg echoed that an impressive, entertaining victory over Matt Hamill would land Rampage a title fight with champ Jon Jones. Rampage secured the win, but his shot at the belt is still up in the air.
(Photo courtesy of UFC.com. Rampage’s victory reaction gif is now after the jump.)
When the anticipated rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was scrapped from this card, we were left with a few big names and a lot of hope. Despite a few stellar knockouts earlier in the evening, UFC 130 ended much like my date to see “No Strings Attached”: a lot of booing, a disappointing 15 minute fight, and I was out $50.
Every UFC card has to be about something, and with no gold up for grabs the storyline for this event became Quinton Jackson’s climb back up to the top of the Light Heavyweight division. Dana White declared and Rogan and Goldberg echoed that an impressive, entertaining victory over Matt Hamill would land Rampage a title fight with champ Jon Jones. Rampage secured the win, but his shot at the belt is still up in the air.
(“Hold up…you mean ya’ll were watching that shit???”)
Coming off of a semi-contested and equally boring win over Lyoto Machida, Rampage’s performance last night was meant to be more than a notch in the win column. If all went according to plan, it would have provided the UFC with the type of highlight-reel footage Jackson hasn’t produced since his knock out victory over Wanderlei Silva in 2008 and had fans clamoring for a fight against Jon “Bones” Jones. But last night’s fight yielded few fireworks if any. Hamill’s mantra in the lead-up to the bout was that he would break Jackson’s will, but only a few minutes into the bout it was “The Hammer” who looked like he’d rather be anywhere than in that cage. Going 0-17 in his plodding, telegraphed takedown attempts, Hamill was unable to get the fight to the ground and understandably reluctant to stand and trade with Rampage. As for Jackson, he did deviate slightly from his hands-heavy style–incorporating knees, elbows, and even a few token kicks into his attack–but he didn’t initiate or go in for the kill against a clearly gun-shy Hamill. After the fight, Jackson put some of the blame on a fractured hand he injured back in December of last year. [Note to Quinton: we believe you and all, but you’re not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff, bruh.] . Despite the lackluster performance, Dana White has stated that pending the positive outcome of tests on Rampage’s hand, he will likely be the first challenger to Jones’s belt.
If there were any questions about Frank Mir’s place in the heavyweight division following his first-round loss to Shane Carwin and coma-inducing win over faded star Mirko Cro Cop, they remain completely unanswered. His one-sided victory over the obese Roy Nelson says less about his dedication to training than it does “Big Country’s” lack of it. The time has come to call the “Big Country” experiment a flop. The myth of his terrific cardio has been dispelled in consecutive losses to Dos Santos and Mir, where he served as a very exhausted, very durable durable punching bag for the full three rounds. The dude has a terrific chin—did he even blink when he ate those crushing elbows late in round three?–but the notion that he can walk into the Octagon with Cheeto fingers and compete with the top of the division is absurd. Fatigue reduced his vaunted ground game to rolling to his ample belly and working his way to his feet; it’s an impressive trick even without Frank Mir on top of him, but it’s not enough to compete at this level. Mir looked good taking Nelson down at will and landing some heavy shots, but it’s fair to say that “Big Country” was looking for the path of least resistance throughout the fight, even if it meant getting smashed in the face or tossed to the mat. Despite his lethargic performance, Nelson does possess power in his hands- Mir left the Octagon with a broken jaw and rib to accompany his win bonus.
As for the rest of the card, they did their part to entertain and it’s a shame that their work was soured by the last thirty minutes of cage-time. Brian Stann opened the night with big knockout over the returning Jorge Santiago in the “Fight of the Night”. UFC heavyweightTravis Browne secured his spot on a future ‘Ultimate Knockouts’ dvd by felling mighty oak Stefan Struve in spectacular fashion. Demetrius “Mighty Mouse” Johnson won a tough-to-call decision over Miguel Torres in a hyper-active fight contested largely on the ground. Top Welterweight Thiago Alves was given no room to work against Rick Story. Story kept constant pressure on Thiago, pressing him to the cage and working for takedowns. His decision victory marks his sixth straight win in the UFC. Tim Boetsch looked dominant in his first fight at Middleweight, rag-dolling Kendall Grove in a one-sided decision. This was Da Spyder’s second consecutive loss and his third in four outings. Late replacement Rafaello Oliveira was overpowered by Lightweight juggernaut Gleison Tibau. Tibau’s second round ground and pound forced Oliveira to surrender his back and tap out to a rear naked choke in the evening’s only submission.
Four years ago, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was conceived as the most devastating fighter in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. A vicious knockout artist, Jackson ended the legendary Chuck Liddell’s title reign with a thunderou…
Four years ago, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was conceived as the most devastating fighter in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
A vicious knockout artist, Jackson ended the legendary Chuck Liddell’s title reign with a thunderous left hook in the first round of their 2007 meeting.
He defended the belt in a slugfest against Dan Henderson before the tide changed at UFC 86 on July 5, 2008.
Jackson dropped a unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin, losing his coveted light heavyweight championship in the process.
Unlike other dominant champions of the past and present, Jackson never received a rematch.
He’s had to work his way back into contention and, following a dominant decision win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130, it appears he’s finally earned a shot at the gold once again.
In addition to Jackson’s title shot, here are some other pivotal matchups that should be made following UFC 130.
UFC 130 is now officially in the MMA history books.There are going to be plenty of people out there that think this event wasn’t the best they’ve ever seen. But despite that fact, there were a few fighters who put on impressive performances.Now it’s ti…
UFC 130 is now officially in the MMA history books.
There are going to be plenty of people out there that think this event wasn’t the best they’ve ever seen. But despite that fact, there were a few fighters who put on impressive performances.
Now it’s time for Professor Schielke to take a look at the bodies of work put on display, and dish out the grades to fighters who added $55 to your cable or satellite bill Saturday night.
The UFC 130 welterweight fight last Saturday night between Thiago “Pit Bull” Alves and Rick “The Horror” Story showed what true MMA fighters of the 21st century are made of: a complete game and gameness in all areas.
