There are some guys in the UFC that you want to like, but they just make it so hard. Maybe they’ve been around a long time and represent and era gone by, or sometimes offer up nuggets of wisdom in interviews that you appreciate, and it makes you …
There are some guys in the UFC that you want to like, but they just make it so hard. Maybe they’ve been around a long time and represent and era gone by, or sometimes offer up nuggets of wisdom in interviews that you appreciate, and it makes you like them.
But then other times they’re out there making excuses, offering backhanded compliments to opponents who thrash them, or speaking with such delusion that it leaves you flabbergasted. As a result, you reconsider anything that you like about them, and you’re left with indifference. Or worse.
It’s a fine line to walk to be a fan favourite who speaks his mind or a guy that people just don’t like.
Here are some of the dudes on the UFC roster that are trying to walk that line at the moment.
The UFC’s heavyweight title is the oldest title in the promotion’s history. Anyone watching UFC on FOX 1 knows who the champion is. Junior dos Santos is the UFC heavyweight champion and the baddest man on the planet. He will retain th…
The UFC’s heavyweight title is the oldest title in the promotion’s history. Anyone watching UFC on FOX 1 knows who the champion is. Junior dos Santos is the UFC heavyweight champion and the baddest man on the planet. He will retain that distinction until somebody beats him.
But strangely enough, there actually is another rightful claimant for those same bragging rights. How is this possible, you ask?
Well, let’s consider this for a moment. What if you lose your title to MMA politics? If you are the baddest man on the planet until somebody beats you, somebody has to beat you to take that away from you. Does it really matter if the UFC strips you of the title? You’re still the baddest man on the planet until somebody actually beats you.
This leads us to the linear UFC heavyweight title.
In 1997, Randy Couture beat reigning champion Maurice Smith to become the new UFC heavyweight champion. But Couture never defended his title inside the UFC. After a contract dispute with the UFC, Randy Couture signed with Vale Tudo Japan and was promptly stripped of his title by the UFC.
But he didn’t actually lose to another fighter. So while the actual title belt stayed with the UFC, the linear UFC heavyweight title and bragging rights for “Baddest Man on the Planet” walked out of the octagon with Randy Couture in 1997.
In his very first fight in Vale Tudo Japan, Couture lost the linear title to Enson Inoue who submitted Couture with an armbar. It took just 99 seconds.
Fujita would then lose the linear title on that same evening, losing by TKO (corner stoppage) to Mark Coleman. Coleman probably never realized that he had just unofficially regained the UFC title he had lost three years earlier.
After a successful streak of wins, Coleman lost the UFC linear title a year later to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, who submitted Coleman via triangle choke and armbar at Pride 16.
On November 3, 2001, Nogueira would merge the linear UFC title with the Pride FC title when he earned the first ever Pride FC heavyweight champion title.
The bigger of the Nogueira twins just kept on winning fight after fight after that. It would be another two years after capturing the linear title that somebody finally beat him.
That loss came at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 25. Big Nog lost both the linear UFC heavyweight title and the Pride FC heavyweight title to Emelianenko. Fedor put on a dominant performance, beating Big Nog by unanimous decision.
Fedor Emelianenko would go on to successfully defend the linear UFC heavyweight title 18 times and for seven years. This is the longest streak of successful defenses of any title in MMA history—an impressive feat even for an unofficial title.
Nobody stays unbeaten forever. Not even Fedor. The end of the Last Emperor’s reign came on June 11, 2010, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. When he tapped out that night, Fedor Emelianenko handed over both the Linear UFC Heavyweight Title and the Linear Pride FC Heavyweight Title to Fabricio Werdum.
Finally, after an astounding thirteen year absence from the UFC, the Linear UFC Heavyweight Title is finally coming back to the UFC!
One month from now, on December 30, 2011, reigning linear champion Alistair Overeem will make his UFC debut against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.
Whoever wins that fight will go on to face Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title.
Soon the UFC Heavyweight Championship of the World will be reunited with the linear UFC heavyweight title and “The Baddest Man on the Planet” bragging rights that go with it. The only question is, who will that man be?
For a man who dislikes getting hit in the face, Brock Lesnar has made some interesting—and character building—vocational choices. One wonders if he looks in the mirror and traces the line of the still fading scar running just below his…
For a man who dislikes getting hit in the face, Brock Lesnar has made some interesting—and character building—vocational choices.
One wonders if he looks in the mirror and traces the line of the still fading scar running just below his left eye, a souvenir from his fight against Cain Velazquez, and thinks perhaps he is in the wrong line of work.
From recoiling in horror after getting tagged by Shane Carwin to doing the Octagon ballet against Cain Velazquez, word is out on how to beat Brock Lesnar. Hit him until he turtles up, and don’t get too tired punching his ticket, a second round may be required.
Lesnar is undoubtedly aware of this. Just as he must be aware that the specialty of his next opponent, K-1 champion Alistair Overeem, plays directly to Lesnar’s Achilles’ heel.
Brock must evolve too, or he runs the risk of living just outside the edge of title contention for the remainder of his career—always present but never quite relevant to the title picture. He must be willing to make sacrifices and push through his limitations to evolve into the kind of fighter that stands a legitimate chance against fighters like Velazquez and Junior dos Santos.
Brock needs to get away from DeathClutch for his camps.
First, being the owner operator of DeathClutch affords Brock too many opportunities to set his own schedule and do things his own way. It is clear that the holes in Brock’s game were not addressed after the Carwin fight, and there is little reason to believe that they will be addressed in his current training environment.
Next, Brock needs to get away from his family and immerse himself in MMA. Champions are made doing things that they don’t like to do, like getting hit in the face. The fact that Lesnar does not like spending time away from his family is an added bonus.
Brock needs to diversify. He needs to add some elements to his fighting style that will complement his grappling base. Dirty boxing would be an excellent style to immobilize the strikers that give him so much grief while working them to the ground where he can wreak his havoc on them.
DeathClutch is what is wrong with Brock Lesnar. It symbolizes his unwillingness to sacrifice or do the things necessary to be a champion, and he will never hold the belt while he trains there exclusively.
UFC welterweight contender and former title challenger Jon Fitch (23-3-1) is only one spot behind reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in most of the 170 pound rankings, but his upcoming bout with Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 isn’t going …
UFC welterweight contender and former title challenger Jon Fitch (23-3-1) is only one spot behind reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in most of the 170 pound rankings, but his upcoming bout with Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 isn’t going to determine the next one in line for GSP’s title.
He doesn’t exactly know what he needs to do to get a second chance, according to an interview with MMAweekly.com.
“I really have no idea,” said Fitch, who is currently riding a five-fight win streak. “No one’s ever come to speak to me about doing anything wrong or right or whatever, so I’m completely clueless.”
“I have no idea what’s expected of me to get the title shots,” Fitch continued. “No one’s ever come to me and said they don’t like what I’m doing or I need to do more of something else. I’m utterly and completely clueless in that regard.”
Fitch’s last fight against B.J. Penn at UFC 127 resulted in a draw, which many thought Fitch had deserved to win.
Before that, his victories included those over Thiago Alves, Ben Saunders, Mike Pierce, Paulo Thiago and Akihiro Gono. Of those five, all have gone the distance. In fact, the last time he hasn’t been to the scorecards was in a 2007 bout when he submitted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Roan Carneiro.
“My goals are: one, to win the welterweight belt; two, avenge my loss to GSP; and three, I would like to move up some day and challenge Anderson (Silva) if he’s still around and undefeated, just because that’s the kind of person I am,” Fitch said.
“I want to challenge the best. I want to go up against the best. I want to prove to everybody that I’m the best.”
UFC 143 will be taking place in Las Vegas on Superbowl Weekend and is expected to be headlined by Georges St-Pierre as he defends his gold against Nick Diaz. That fight has been announced by the UFC, however with much of their focus to this point being…
UFC 143 will be taking place in Las Vegas on Superbowl Weekend and is expected to be headlined by Georges St-Pierre as he defends his gold against Nick Diaz.
That fight has been announced by the UFC, however with much of their focus to this point being on their return to Japan a few weeks later, there are still some holes to be plugged.
Here are a few humble suggestions for Dana White and Joe Silva to consider.
On December 30 2011, at UFC 141, Brock Lesnar will step into the octagon with the 6’5″ Alistair Overeem.It’s a battle between two of the UFC’s most massive fighters to determine who gets to battle Junior Dos Santos at a later date.For Lesnar, this figh…
On December 30 2011, at UFC 141, Brock Lesnar will step into the octagon with the 6’5″ Alistair Overeem.
It’s a battle between two of the UFC’s most massive fighters to determine who gets to battle Junior Dos Santos at a later date.
For Lesnar, this fight is a way for him to redeem himself after losing to Cain Velasquez 11 months ago. On the flip side of the coin his opponent, Alistair Overeem, is on a roll having won his last seven fights.
However, it is Brock who has more to gain—and more to lose—compared to Alistair.
A loss here for the former “Next Big Thing,” and his marketability as a UFC combatant takes a notable nosedive.
And if such a fate—being “engulfed” by the “Dutch Cyclone”— occurs, a return to wrestling, specifically the WWE, would be Lesnar’s best bet.
The biggest hurdle to Brock joining the WWE is Dana White, who has gone on record saying that, as long as his MMA moneymaker is under UFC contract, he is not permitted to wrestle.
Supposing either White has a change or heart or Lesnar fulfills all of his obligations with the UFC, a WWE comeback should be right around the corner.
Reasons for returning to Vince McMahon’s empire include the fact that Brock has already begun the reconciliation process; he would likely be able to negotiate a part-time schedule that does not burn him out; his WWE contract would be a lucrative one backed by incentives; he’d have a multitude of new feuds at his disposal; and lastly, he would be promoted as perhaps the top draw in the company.
First, as many are aware, Lesnar is in the new WWE ’12 video game—even going so far as to film a commercial—which marks the first time he’s had any relationship with the WWE since WrestleMania XX. As Lesnar himself mentions in an ESPN interview: “It’s an honor to be back. You know, I never had any really true hard feelings for WWE. I think there’s some mutual respect between the both of us…”
Asked if he would ever go back to the WWE for one more match, Lesnar admitshe and Vince should one day be able to go over a “game plan” that would outline his homecoming.
Certainly, the most important requirement for Lesnar to get in the wrestling ring again—besides Dana White signing off on it—is the willingness to make amends. The fact that Brock has openly accepted the possibility is paramount to any return.
Next, if he does recline at a desk with Vince McMahon and discuss donning the wrestling trunks again, Lesnar probably has the clout at this point to negotiate a contract with a limited number of dates.
As it has been chronicled in the past, one of the prime reasons for Lesnar’s departure in 2004 was the incessant traveling and overall wear and tear that his body endured from the daily grind.
A part-time schedule a la The Undertaker, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels (before he retired), should be a strong possibility—and incentive—for the former WWE and UFC heavyweight champion.
The third reason to join the WWE would be a contract that would arguably make Brock the highest paid performer in the organization. Even coming off a loss wouldn’t detract or take away from the Minnesota-native being a household name.
In addition to his downside guarantee, Brock would take a meaty cut of merchandising profits bearing his likeness—as well as be given, potentially, the biggest slice of pay-per-view pie. It doesn’t take a clairvoyant to figure Brock would unequivocally be an elite main-event player upon his return.
Furthermore, a very tempting reason to lace up his wrestling boots again would be the plethora of potential feuds on his plate with both active and retired superstars.
The current WWE star that would have dibs on a bout with Brock would be The Undertaker, who tried to create some hype around a possible WrestleMania 28 match following the Velasquez fight in October 2010 before fate intervened, causing it to be placed on the back burner.
Nonetheless, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the publicized confrontation between Brock and Undertaker was staged as both were interested in working with each other, but were unable to once Dana White put his foot down.
Besides The Undertaker, Brock has a program lined up with Steve Austin after making comments about “The Rattlesnake” ducking him during their tenure in the WWE together. The incendiary revelation instigated a Twitter “war” between the two that is likely be business driven, not personal, similar to The Undertaker incident.
Last but not least, the primary reason for Brock to reappear on Raw or SmackDown would be the likelihood that he would be promoted as one of the top draws in the company because, quite frankly, he has history on his side.
Lesnar is largely responsible for four of the seven UFC pay-per-views to garner over one million buys. Just to put this in perspective, only one of WWE’s pay-per-views per year—if that—attract as many buyers. For instance, WrestleMania 28, thanks to The Rock, was the first ‘Mania in four years to surpass the one million threshold.
Additionally, a loss against Overeem at UFC 141 would not undermine Lesnar’s credibility as a no-nonsense tough guy in the world of professional wrestling. In fact, his background as a university wrestling champion, and now a former UFC champion, would be enough to legitimize the 34-year-old as a viable commodity. He would be the antithesis of John Cena, for example, who lacks legitimacy in the eyes of many fans.
The WWE has always thrived on incorporating athletes with successful sports backgrounds into their product, be it Mark Henry, Kurt Angle or Ken Shamrock.
Lesnar would be the quintessence of the athlete turned wrestler except, in his case, it would be for the second time.
Brock Lesnar: The WWE sequel would undoubtedly be bigger, badder and better than the first go-around.
The UFC’s heavyweight title is the oldest title in the promotion’s history. Anyone watching