This Saturday, UFC 143 takes place in Las Vegas. A new welterweight king will be crowned, high-profile heavyweights will collide, and a bantamweight bout with title implications are among the many fights we will be graced with.This card has carried a n…
This Saturday, UFC 143 takes place in Las Vegas. A new welterweight king will be crowned, high-profile heavyweights will collide, and a bantamweight bout with title implications are among the many fights we will be graced with.
This card has carried a number of injuries that have seen Georges St. Pierre, Erik Koch, Ricardo Lamas, Amir Sadollah, Jorge Lopez, Mike Stumpf and Justin Edwards drop from the card.
Despite injury, this card still carries some solid fights that should be both entertaining and important. But who will win, and who will come away with Fight, Submission and Knockout of the Night?
No matter what happens at UFC 143, the main event should end with one winner and one loser. This isn’t guaranteed, as draws do happen, but with both men having a penchant for finishing fights, it isn’t likely.So the winner will get to face Georges St-P…
No matter what happens at UFC 143, the main event should end with one winner and one loser. This isn’t guaranteed, as draws do happen, but with both men having a penchant for finishing fights, it isn’t likely.
So the winner will get to face Georges St-Pierre down the road and at the same time have a chance to claim dominance in the division.
The question to this hypothetical depends on the type of environment.
The truth is that both men could easily beat Georges St-Pierre. They would just need more then 25 minutes to do it.
If St-Pierre was a champion who took risks and aimed to take out every challenger that stepped in the cage with him, the answer would be different. Neither might stand a chance against him, but as he has evolved, he has developed into a fighter who makes game plans based on the time limit and his opponents’ strengths.
There is nothing wrong with this. It is what you do in sports, and it is what makes some of the greats.
But MMA is a hybrid of fighting and sports. Athletes aren’t the ones who survive at the top for long.
Fighters are.
In the old rules of MMA, both Condit and Diaz would be champions, because they are the type to outlast their opponents until they can knock them out or submit them. GSP is the type to make plans around the rules and exploit them.
St-Pierre could easily be the man who finishes fights and goes out and performs like both of his potential challengers, but because he doesn’t, he has grown rusty in that sense.
If the fight were to take place in a ring under Pride rules, GSP might very well lose his crown.
Still, within the frame of the UFC and the Octagon, he is perfect. He uses the cage effectively, has the proper cardio and knows how to pace himself.
He is the perfect machine for the job of being a UFC champion.
That is why no matter who wins the match, neither man can defeat him in the Octagon.
As a fighter they could.
As mixed martial artist they could.
But not as UFC fighters.
And that is the unvarnished truth.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.comwhich focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film, and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit goes down this Saturday, February 4th in Las Vegas, and Dana White tweeted out this promo video of a shirtless Nick Diaz walking the streets, striking fear in the eyes.
UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit goes down this Saturday, February 4th in Las Vegas, and Dana Whitetweeted out this promo video of a shirtless Nick Diaz walking the streets, striking fear in the eyes of a man. Personally, I think this clip speaks volumes to the differences between men and women, ’cause I’d have given him a ride.
Hello again, fans and friends, and welcome back to “UFC 143 Complete Collection.”This third entry into my special 11-part miniseries covering the entire UFC 143 card officially brings to a close the first day of “Complete Collection&r…
Hello again, fans and friends, and welcome back to “UFC 143 Complete Collection.”
This third entry into my special 11-part miniseries covering the entire UFC 143 card officially brings to a close the first day of “Complete Collection” postings.
So far, I’ve covered both fights scheduled for the UFC’s UFC Prelims LIVE Facebook broadcast. Now it’s time to dive into the first fight of a scheduled four-fight UFC on FX prelims broadcast. It’s a clash of Ultimate Fighter standouts in Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope, so let’s dive right in.
A former training partner of Rich Franklin and Jorge Gurgel, Matt Brown has led an interesting life both inside and outside of the Octagon. A former drug addict, Brown found his calling as a mixed martial artist, although he honestly didn’t find much success.
With a record of 7-6 and with his career more or less over due to money problems, Brown successfully made it onto the seventh season of the popular UFC reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter.
Brown would end up making it to the quarterfinals of the show and losing to Amir Sadollah, the eventual winner of the season.
Since then, Brown has competed in the UFC a remarkable 10 times. Brown’s hit-and-miss history unfortunately followed him to the UFC: he went 1-1 before winning three straight, and followed that up by immediately losing three straight.
After that, he won one and then lost one, meaning that Brown has lost four out of his last five fights.
Brown’s opponent, Chris Cope, gained his fair share of fame and infamy as part of the 13th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Known for his bizarre practice of yelling “WOO!” at random times and for seemingly no reason, Cope found himself at odds with many of his TUF housemates.
Cope would end up making it to the semifinals of his season, eventually losing to Ramsey Nijem via TKO. At the TUF 13 finale event, Cope fought and beat fellow TUF 13 alum Chuck O’Neil. Most recently, Cope was made short work of by the debuting Che Mills, a much-feared and heavily-hyped international veteran who TKO’d Cope in 40 seconds.
In describing Matt Brown as hit-and-miss, I hope it’s not misconstrued that I don’t like him or that I consider him a bad fighter. I actually think Matt Brown is pretty entertaining usually.
But the facts don’t lie, and neither does his official MMA record. With 11 of his 12 wins by stoppage and nine of his 11 losses by stoppage, Brown comes to finish or get finished. And while that’s always entertaining, it’s more or less a coin flip as to whether or not Brown will be doing the finishing or getting finished.
Chris Cope, meanwhile, has a smaller but more stable record of 5-2.
I don’t fault Chris Cope for losing to Che Mills, Che Mills is an underground favorite of mine, and I knew he’d make an example out of somebody whenever the UFC finally decided to give him a shot.
I think Cope is a fighter who honestly fools his opponents into thinking that he sucks, when in actuality he’s good at most things, albeit not great at any one thing.
All factors considered, I think Cope is going to outlast his opponent and get the decision despite Brown’s best efforts to put Cope away. Brown will swing for the fences but keep missing, and Cope will tire him out and then grind him out to get the decision victory.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
Hello once more, fans and friends, and welcome back to my special series, “UFC 143 Complete Collection.”I’ll be counting down and covering every single fight on the UFC 143 card—from the first preliminary fight all the way to th…
Hello once more, fans and friends, and welcome back to my special series, “UFC 143 Complete Collection.”
I’ll be counting down and covering every single fight on the UFC 143 card—from the first preliminary fight all the way to the pay-per-view main event.
With one entry already under my belt, it’s time to dive into the second fight of the scheduled “UFC Prelims LIVE” Facebook broadcast: Rafael Natal vs. Michael Kuiper.
Natal vs. Kuiper
Rafael Natal has been competing in mixed martial arts since 2005.
Since his debut, he has compiled a more than respectable record of 13-3-1. Ten of his 13 wins have come by stoppage, with seven submissions. Natal began his career with a perfect 7-0 record, earning stoppage victories in his first five fights.
By the time September 2010 rolled around, Natal’s record stood at 10-2 and he was coming off of a major KO victory over Travis Lutter, the fighter who once famously won season four of “The Ultimate Fighter” and then failed to make weight for his shot at Anderson Silva’s UFC Middleweight Championship.
In his UFC debut, Natal would lose a tough decision to Rich Attonito. He then fought Jesse Bongfeldt to a draw. In his most recent performance, at UFC 133, Natal finally scored a win inside the Octagon when he beat Paul Bradley by unanimous decision.
Natal’s opponent, Michael Kuiper, will be making his UFC debut at UFC 143.
Kuiper has been a professional mixed martial artist for less than three years, but in that time he’s already fought 11 times. Kuiper began his career in 2009 by fighting seven times that year, winning all seven bouts. Only one of those wins was a decision.
Currently, Kuiper’s record stands at an unblemished 11-0, those bouts coming mostly overseas in Belgium and the Netherlands.
In his time spent outside of the Octagon, Kuiper has displayed some interesting versatility, knocking out six of his 11 opponents and submitting four of them. And unlike some strikers—whose “submissions” are often submissions “due to punches”—Kuiper’s submission wins are all by legitimate submission holds: one triangle choke and three armbars.
This fight has some interesting potential, depending on how much of Kuiper’s hype is justified.
I don’t really have anything negative to say about Natal, but I think I’m justified in pointing out that he’s had a bit of trouble adjusting to UFC-caliber opponents. His 1-1-1 UFC record isn’t the best way to start a run, but to his credit, Natal has displayed some skills inside the Octagon and I’m certainly not counting him out of this fight.
And when it comes to talented, upstart, unbeaten rookies nowadays, it’s getting tougher and tougher to find out whether or not they’re all hype. The UFC is getting so good that the gap in quality between fighters in regional promotions and UFC-caliber fighters just keeps growing.
Coming in undefeated with a long winning streak is definitely enough to get your foot in the door, but it’s simply no longer enough to guarantee instant success inside of the Octagon.
If Kuiper lives up to his hype, he’s going to take out Natal by the end of Round 1 or in the opening minutes of Round 2. If he doesn’t, Natal is going to grind on him, expose some weaknesses, and take the decision. Either way, this should be a pretty fun fight to help start off the night.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
Hello fans and friends, welcome to the beginning of another entry into my on-again, off-again series “Complete Collection.” Every once in a while, to highlight a big upcoming event, I’ll break down a major MMA card, fight by fight, gi…
Hello fans and friends, welcome to the beginning of another entry into my on-again, off-again series “Complete Collection.” Every once in a while, to highlight a big upcoming event, I’ll break down a major MMA card, fight by fight, giving you all the details you need to know as well as some preliminary commentary on who I think will win. And it doesn’t get much bigger than UFC 143, which sees the crowning of a UFC Interim Welterweight Champion. But that’s the finale: let’s begin “UFC 143 Complete Collection” by focusing on two tough prospects making their UFC debuts against each other: Dan Stittgen vs. Stephen Thompson.
Daniel “The Anvil” Stittgen just recently celebrated his third year of active competition as a professional Mixed Martial Artist. Stittgen started his MMA career by winning four straight fights, all by stoppage, all within Round 1, and one within the first minute of action. Stittgen would then lose to Justin Edwards, who would go on to find fame as part of the 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter”.
Since that fight, Stittgen has chained together three straight wins with one decision victory. With an overwhelming majority (five of seven) of his wins by submission, Stittgen should be a tough opponent for Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who is also making his UFC debut at UFC 143.
Stephen Thompson has spent even less time as a pro MMA fighter than Dan Stittgen: Thompson will celebrate his two-year anniversary sometime in February. Thompson’s pro record stands at 5-0, and he began his MMA career with three straight stoppage victories before fighting to a decision twice.
It’s always interesting when you put two tough prospects in the Octagon against each other for their UFC debuts. I really don’t know that much about either man, but from what I’ve been able to find online they both seem to have a lot of potential. I think there’s a formula to these types of matches, and whoever breaks free from that formula will be the one to win this fight.
The formula is simple: a talented prospect will nevertheless show signs of UFC jitters, and that will affect his performance. His striking may not be as on point as it was back when he was fighting in smaller venues and not full-fledged arenas. His cardio may take a hit because he’s nervous about being watched by tens of thousands of people. His confidence may sag a little when he finds out that a “UFC-caliber” opponent doesn’t buckle under the pressure he’s used to buckle his other opponents, even if that UFC fighter is also making his UFC debut.
A hot prospect coming into the UFC is not a hot UFC prospect, and I think that’s a distinction a lot of hot prospects seem to forget when they come into the UFC. The second you walk into the Octagon, what you did in the past becomes irrelevant and you exist in a world of “what have you done for me lately?” Whoever realizes this and uses it to their advantage should win this fight.
So while I may not know much about either of these fighters, I’m always interested in seeing if my thoughts on “the formula” hold true or not.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
No matter what happens at