Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz had already seemed to have some bad blood walking into their fight at UFC 141. They don’t like each other, and though both have tried to convince fans and journalists alike that it wasn’t personal, at the press conference t…
Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz had already seemed to have some bad blood walking into their fight at UFC 141. They don’t like each other, and though both have tried to convince fans and journalists alike that it wasn’t personal, at the press conference today it finally boiled over and they had to be separated.
Its not surprising that Diaz and Cerrone let their emotions get the best of them. Neither is exactly friendly when it comes to fighting, and both can get downright nasty when they want to. Cerrone openly showed rage toward one of his opponents in the past when he squared off against Jamie Varner in the WEC.
Diaz has also shown contempt for many of his fellow fighters before his fights.
So it isn’t shocking that both of these men let themselves go a little too far when faced with each other.
And when it comes to MMA, it’s surprising that more fighters aren’t like them.
That isn’t to say that their actions are something that should be emulated. The sport is young enough and with enough detractors that such actions would only hurt it.
While it would be ideal for all fighters to be removed from such negative actions and emotions, it isn’t always possible. Many fighters are able to split fighting from their personal lives and make it so that there are no unhealthy issues before a fight.
But at the core of MMA is a sport where one man is trying to inflict punishment on another and in doing so get more money for himself. If he wins he has not only beaten his opponent, but in effect taken money from him as well.
Many men could handle this. Diaz and Cerrone just aren’t those kind of fighters.
They don’t want to make friends and they want to be able to keep fighting full-time.
It may fly against the very things that we as a society tell fighters to do, but it taps down into a primordial sense of something that has been there since the dawn of man.
The urge to be able to have the most resources at one’s disposal and to be the victor. It may not be pretty, but it is a part of fighting and humanity’s darker nature.
Fans shouldn’t be surprised when fighters choose to live in it.
Filed under: UFCIn analyzing a matchup, you look at past history as a projection tool for future performance. But what does the recent past mean for either Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem?
Lesnar hasn’t fought in over a year, time spent mostly recove…
In analyzing a matchup, you look at past history as a projection tool for future performance. But what does the recent past mean for either Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem?
Lesnar hasn’t fought in over a year, time spent mostly recovering from a serious recurrence of diverticulitis that necessitated removal of a diseased 12-inch section of his colon. Life’s also been fairly rocky for Overeem, who split with his longtime team Golden Glory, was temporarily released from his Zuffa contract, and most recently returned home to help his mother battle through cancer. His last time out in the cage wasn’t exactly telling, either. He fought just once in 2011, a bout which he won by decision against Fabricio Werdum that is mostly remembered for lengthy stretches of inactivity.
Suffice it to say, neither fighter comes into the UFC 141 main event with major momentum.
Complicating the matter of predicting this fight is question marks in each man’s game.
For Overeem, it’s his defensive wrestling. We all know that Lesnar will go for the takedown at the first available opportunity. Will Overeem be capable of stopping him? According to FightMetric, Overeem stops 76 percent of takedown tries.
That’s a great number, but when you look at who he’s fought, how many real wrestling threats he has had to shut down? He really hasn’t faced a prime functional MMA wrestler since 2003, when he lost to Chuck Liddell. At the time, Overeem was 23 years old and practically a stick figure compared to his current appearance.
Since then, the only fighter he’s faced with a strong wrestling background was Kaz Fujita, who was 39 years old at the time and came into the match losing four of six. Only two of his last 10 opponents have managed to put Overeem on his back: Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt.
Lesnar has better wrestling credentials than any of those recent foes, and he’s also bigger and stronger than them.
On the other hand, it’s certainly fair to wonder how Lesnar will respond to Overeem’s vaunted striking game. Lesnar had big trouble against each of his last two foes, Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin when it came to standup. A former K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Overeem is far more accomplished than either of those men, and he’s KO’d three of his last four MMA opponents.
Overeem is also known for his powerful knees, a technique that can be a major deterrent for a wrestler looking to go at the legs for a takedown.
Lesnar once pointed out how he had a head “like a ball-peen hammer,” but in each of his last two fights, he’s taken a lot of punches in a short amount of time, and didn’t look like he much enjoyed it. If he had spent a significant amount of time over the last few months further adjusting to standup, we might expect him to look more comfortable as he tries to close the distance, but since he was simply in a bed recovering for a lot of that time, it’s unlikely to expect much change in that regard.
And so this fight will be like an old-school MMA bout, the wrestler knowing he can only win by taking it to the ground, and the striker needing to stay on his feet.
Which is more likely to happen?
I expect this one to get off to a slow start as Lesnar decides upon the timing of an approach and Overeem comes out ready to defend the first shot. A lot of the fight’s outcome will depend on their first engagement.
If Lesnar quickly takes Overeem down, he gets the early momentum. And let’s face it, most of Lesnar’s opponents have not been able to get back up when he’s gotten them to the mat. He has great positioning and can inflict some damage from the top.
But Cain Velasquez showed it is possible to get back to your feet against him. Of course, Velasquez, like Lesnar, has a decorated wrestling background, so he’s quite familiar with working his way up from that position.
Overeem doesn’t have that in his background, and as previously mentioned, he hasn’t recently faced wrestlers, so we don’t really know if he’ll wilt under there or be able to use his athleticism to get back up. Overeem also hasn’t let reporters in on his pre-fight training, so we don’t know how much exposure he had to top level wrestlers.
Since he had more than three months to prepare and spent some time at Xtreme Couture, we have to assume that it was a focus of his camp. And while it’s not enough to completely cancel out Lesnar’s experience edge there, it might enough to keep him upright long enough to hurt the former UFC champion.
UFC president Dana White likes to point out that “styles make fights,” and that’s exactly what’s riveting about this one. Generally speaking, a good wrestler beats a good striker 75 percent of the time because he can control position, but heavyweights bring so much power to the table that one strike can change the outcome in a flash.
Overeem’s récent troubles are enough to keep a man unfocused, but Lesnar wasn’t even working out for most of 2011, and that seems far more problematic. His surgery was seven months ago, and he only began training again in September. That may have provided him enough time to return to normal physically, but it didn’t allow him any time to expand his arsenal or even shake off ring rust.
Overeem has been more active and doesn’t have any lingering doubt about his body betraying him. If Lesnar still has doubts about his own health, we’ll see them. Overeem may only need to stop one takedown to turn the tide for good. I’m betting he’s able to stay upright long enough to win. Overeem in a second-round TKO.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, NewsWhere I am from, if you are cool with someone, you are cool with their friends. If you are not cool with me, then don’t go talking to my best friend when I am in the room unless you can be cool with me for …
Where I am from, if you are cool with someone, you are cool with their friends. If you are not cool with me, then don’t go talking to my best friend when I am in the room unless you can be cool with me for a couple of seconds, too.
A couple of months ago at UFC 137, at the open workout at the TUF Gym in Vegas, Nate Diaz was in the room talking to my best friend, Leonard Garcia, so I went over to shake his hand. Nothing major just like, “Hey man, what’s going on? Nice to meet you.”
This was the first time I’ve ever met the dude and I was being polite. Y’know, because that what you do when you are in a room and your friend is talking to a dude right in front of you, you introduce yourself.
But Diaz slapped my hand away and called me a ‘punk-ass b**ch’ and walked off.
I was like, really?
Okay.
This guy thinks you’ve got to be dumb or come from Stockton, wherever that is, to be tough. But I’ve got the same ‘I don’t give a f**k’ gene he has, and I also got genes for better striking and better wrestling. He pissed me off, he lit my fire up and as soon as I beat Dennis Siver at UFC 137 I knew that I wanted to fight again before the end of the year, and I knew I wanted to fight Nate Diaz.
The weird thing is, I like the Diaz brothers. They come to fight. They are crazy. They bring it. Diaz is going to show up Friday night at UFC 141 and we will have a war. Do I respect him as a fighter? Yes I do. He comes to throw down. He comes and fights with everything he’s got. Is that enough to stop me from beating him up? No, it is not. Not anywhere near.
If he wants to stand, let’s stand. He won’t last a round with that funny hands above his head like he’s riding a Harley stance. And if he wants to take me down, first he has got to beat my wrestling, and he isn’t good enough to do that. And I don’t know if it is a good idea for him to even try to take me down. My BJJ isn’t great, but it is as good as his.
Diaz doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when he talks. He said if I don’t knock him out or win a decision, I am in trouble. What does that mean? I know how to co-exist in this world, and part of that is to say ‘Hi’ and shake hands with people. Diaz can’t do that. I guess he didn’t go to school to learn how to shake hands… sorry, inside joke.
Yesterday we had the open workouts at the same TUF gym where Diaz slapped my hand away in October. I was in the locker room waiting for him to get done doing interviews with press, but then I decided to go out and give him something to worry about. I purposely went out there knowing he wasn’t done and started hitting pads. He kept turning around real skittish.
I got this. If he makes it to the second round, he’s had a lucky night.
Follow ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone on twitter @Cowboycerrone
While the casual fan is looking to buy this Friday’s UFC 141 event to see the return of Brock Lesnar, all the MMA addicts out there are looking forward to the co-main event between Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone as much as they are the main event. …
While the casual fan is looking to buy this Friday’s UFC 141 event to see the return of Brock Lesnar, all the MMA addicts out there are looking forward to the co-main event between Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone as much as they are the main event.
Diaz and Cerrone seem to be a fight made in matchmaking heaven, as they both have entertaining and effective stand up to go along with their solid jiu-jitsu skills, but the legitimate dislike for one another has made this fight even more exciting than it already was.
The beef between the two fighters started around UFC 137, where Cerrone was on the card set to fight Dennis Siver and Nate was in town to support his brother Nick prior to his fight with B.J. Penn.
Apparently, Cerrone went to shake hands with the younger Diaz, but Nate blew him off and walked away, something that irked “Cowboy.”
Diaz has defended his actions at UFC 137 by saying that he isn’t interested in becoming friends with guys who he may eventually have to fight, and he alluded to the fact that he has “accidentally” made friends with guys who he later had to compete against before.
After they seemed to downplay the feud at the UFC 141 pre-fight press conference on Wednesday, the two squared up for the traditional staredown and before we knew it, words were exchanged and Diaz flipped Cerrone’s hat off of his head and pushed the Jackson’s MMA based fighter.
While many have criticized Diaz’s actions at the press conference, they have to see things from Nate’s point of view.
The Diaz brothers are part of the rare breed of fighters still consider each Octagon appearance as a fight and not a competition, and they would rather not fight guys who they like.
Diaz himself said after his bout against Takanori Gomi at UFC 135 that he would have rather fought someone else because Gomi was one of his favorite fighters and a similar statement was made by his brother about Penn.
While some call their actions unprofessional or refer to them as “street thugs,” the Diaz brothers are just a different breed of fighter than what the public is used to, and they refuse to change what they are for the sake of their reputation.
At this rate, Diaz will likely be painted as the villain going into the fight, and for some fans he may exhibit an attitude that makes him just that.
But for others, it’s not that Diaz is a bad guy or that he is trying to create drama, the fact is that he’s nothing more than misunderstood.
Nate Diaz isn’t trying to create a rivalry with Cerrone or attempting to disrespect him before they throw leather on Friday, he’s just doing what he’s done his entire life and preparing for a fight.
UFC 141 is just a day away and the excitement is quickly building as the long-awaited return of Brock Lesnar is just moments away.With all the excitement building and a new year on it’s way, this fight is more important than ever for the UFC and Lesnar…
UFC 141 is just a day away and the excitement is quickly building as the long-awaited return of Brock Lesnar is just moments away.
With all the excitement building and a new year on it’s way, this fight is more important than ever for the UFC and Lesnar alike.
Here are eight reasons why the UFC needs Lesnar to prevail in this fight.
On Friday, Brock Lesnar makes his return to the Octagon, as he will face off against the UFC newcomer, Alistair Overeem.Many fans have become familiar with the ad for WWE 12 featuring Lesnar, in which he looked slimmer and not the hulking behemoth we a…
On Friday, Brock Lesnar makes his return to the Octagon, as he will face off against the UFC newcomer, Alistair Overeem.
Many fans have become familiar with the ad for WWE 12 featuring Lesnar, in which he looked slimmer and not the hulking behemoth we all know.
However, at a press conference promoting UFC 141, Lesnar looked big once again, and claimed to be right back up to normal size.
Lesnar has been an athlete for a long time, and his physique has changed throughout the years.
Let’s take a look and follow the physique of Brock through the years.
Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz had already seemed to have some bad blood walking into their fight at UFC 141. They don’t like each other, and though both have tried to convince fans and journalists alike that it wasn’t personal, at the press conference today it finally boiled over and they had to be separated. 
In analyzing a matchup, you look at past history as a projection tool for future performance. But what does the recent past mean for either 
Where I am from, if you are cool with someone, you are cool with their friends. If you are not cool with me, then don’t go talking to my best friend when I am in the room unless you can be cool with me for a couple of seconds, too.