Tag: UFC 148

Is Forfeiture the Solution to the UFC Injury Bug? Chael Sonnen Thinks So


(Its a trap.)

Some of Chael P. Sonnen’s recent statements in advance of UFC 148 this Saturday almost make sense. Almost. Speaking to the media about the rash of recent injuries and subsequent match-up shuffling in the UFC, Chael said that he believed any fighter that pulls out of a fight because of injury should have it counted as a loss on his or her professional record.

“I think there should be forfeiture,” he told MMA Junkie. “It’s not realistic with the architecture that we have, but we’re the only sport where you can just not show up. Every event is set. The Super Bowl for 2015. The kickoff time, the venue — it’s set. If one team doesn’t want to show up, a Super Bowl champion will be crowned that day.”

On one hand, it’s worth examining if the recent wave of UFC injuries is the result of fighters pulling out of scheduled matches simply because they feel their health is less than 100%, and they might be more competitive at a later date. The reality is, everybody fights injured, and pulling out of a fight just because you’re a little banged up is a way of gaming the system, and screws the fans out of fights they already paid to see.

On the other hand, Sonnen’s analogy falls apart almost immediately. Athletes can and do pull out of competition due to injury in every single sport on the planet. This includes the aforementioned Super Bowl, where players on teams that have made it to the big game often miss out because of injuries they’ve sustained. And just as the Super Bowl still goes on when players get injured, UFC title bouts still happen when an opponent pulls out. It just might not be the title fight that was originally scheduled.


(Its a trap.)

Some of Chael P. Sonnen’s recent statements in advance of UFC 148 this Saturday almost make sense. Almost. Speaking to the media about the rash of recent injuries and subsequent match-up shuffling in the UFC, Chael said that he believed any fighter that pulls out of a fight because of injury should have it counted as a loss on his or her professional record.

“I think there should be forfeiture,” he told MMA Junkie. ”It’s not realistic with the architecture that we have, but we’re the only sport where you can just not show up. Every event is set. The Super Bowl for 2015. The kickoff time, the venue — it’s set. If one team doesn’t want to show up, a Super Bowl champion will be crowned that day.”

On one hand, it’s worth examining if the recent wave of UFC injuries is the result of fighters pulling out of scheduled matches simply because they feel their health is less than 100%, and they might be more competitive at a later date. The reality is, everybody fights injured, and pulling out of a fight just because you’re a little banged up is a way of gaming the system, and screws the fans out of fights they already paid to see.

On the other hand, Sonnen’s analogy falls apart almost immediately. Athletes can and do pull out of competition due to injury in every single sport on the planet. This includes the aforementioned Super Bowl, where players on teams that have made it to the big game often miss out because of injuries they’ve sustained. And just as the Super Bowl still goes on when players get injured, UFC title bouts still happen when an opponent pulls out. It just might not be the title fight that was originally scheduled.

Case in point: Chael was scheduled to rematch Anderson Silva for the middleweight title in 2010 after he was submitted in the final round of their first fight. The fact that Sonnen failed his post-fight drug test, was suspended by the overseeing athletic commission for it, then plead guilty to money laundering — all of which delayed his rematch for two years — did not hold up the middleweight belt. Chael couldn’t show up, so others did.

No one likes seeing match-ups cancelled or postponed because of injury, most of all the injured fighters themselves who are losing out on money that they’ve been budgeting their lives around. Punishing them further by marking a loss on their record for a fight never fought is needlessly heavy handed. It’s also ironic that Sonnen, of all people, is advocating for harder punishment against fighters. You’d think a person who has gone before athletic commissions to beg for mercy and understanding would be a little more empathetic to his colleagues.

Most of all, we’re just disappointed that someone we once considered our great white conservative hope would call for more regulation in the lives of individuals and independent businesses instead of realizing that the market is perfectly capable of correcting these situations on its own. Believe us, a fighter who repeatedly pulls out of fights due to injuries or otherwise unexplained personal reasons gets a reputation for it, and eventually promoters stop booking them because they’re not reliable enough.

The sad collapse of ideological consistency in our favorite politician and philosopher aside, Sonnen’s comments about coming down hard on fighters also smack of hypocrisy. This, of course, is totally new terrain for Sonnen.

“My father was a plumber,” Sonnen continued in the MMAJunkie article. “I would never disrespect him by not showing up to an athletic competition that has a maximum duration of 25 minutes. I hear guys talking, ‘I pulled a hamstring.’ What does that have to do with anything? That’s a button off of my shirt. ‘Aw, I broke a finger — button fell off my shirt, let’s sew this back on.’ What possibly does it have to do with walking across the ring and beating a guy up? It’s ridiculous…If you give your word that you’re going to do something, you need to do it.”

Yep, Chael Sonnen is all about respect. Of course, disrespecting athletic commissions by not disclosing performance-enhancing treatments and substances one uses is another matter. So is lying about exchanges with regulators once you’ve failed a urine test.

In other words, while forfeiture is an interesting hypothetical to consider, Chael Sonnen should never be considered an authority on fair athletic competition, and the bottom line is this: If fighters don’t fight, they don’t get paid, which is why it’s usually ridiculous to question a fighter’s decision to pull out due to injury. And if a fighter decides that being hurt puts him at such a disadvantage that not fighting is the smarter option, we should respect that, even if their injury is less severe than, say, a totally blown-out knee. Can we go back to blaming hard sparring now?

– Elias Cepeda

UFC 148: Chael Sonnen Watches His UFC 117 Bout Against Anderson Silva

Just days away from what looks to the the biggest fight of the year, UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen sat down with UFC Ultimate Insider’s Jon Anik to watch his first encounter with Anderson Silva at UFC 117. Despite Sonnen claiming …

Just days away from what looks to the the biggest fight of the year, UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen sat down with UFC Ultimate Insider’s Jon Anik to watch his first encounter with Anderson Silva at UFC 117. 

Despite Sonnen claiming to have defeated Silva and being the rightful UFC middleweight champion, “The American Gangster” spoke candidly about the conclusion of the fight. 

“I remember asking the referee when it was done, ‘What happened?’ He said ‘You tapped,’ and I simply said, ‘I believe you.’ I didn’t even know where I was, he had [the triangle choke] so tight,” Sonnen said (transcription courtesy of MMA Mania.) 

“This is such a nice technique, I would love to catch somebody in that myself. It’s very devastating once you’re put in it.”

Sonnen also said this was the first time he had ever watched the fight, noting that he missed some opportunities and attributed the loss for not recognizing when Silva got wrist control from his guard for 20 to 30 seconds in the fifth round. 

Will Sonnen be able to implement his takedowns, top control and ground control to unseat Silva this time, or will “The Spider” be able to keep the fight standing and batter Sonnen on their feet?

Whatever happens, it seems all but guaranteed that the UFC 148 main event will be a highly entertaining affair. 

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UFC 148 Pre-Fight Analysis: Part I

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen The headliner for UFC 148 is one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. The first title fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen was a classic and the.

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

The headliner for UFC 148 is one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. The first title fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen was a classic and the storylines have only continued to grow since then. Sonnen has served as the provocateur for the rivalry between these two with his constant verbal attack through any media outlet that will broadcast or print his increasingly impressive arsenal of trash talk. Until recently, Silva has played the role of the professional fighter remaining calm and promising to do his talking in the octagon. But that changed in the last few weeks as Silva has either joined into to the promotion efforts or genuinely snapped after two years of listening to Chael’s undeniably creative ranting. Either way, the entertainment value leading up to this fight is the best since Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz set the standard for MMA rivalries.

When breaking down a rematch, the most important thing to look at is the first fight. The first fight between Sonnen and Silva was one of the greatest in UFC history and probably was the greatest come from behind victory in UFC history considering the stakes. It cannot be understated how significant Sonnen’s control of the fight was up until the moment Silva locked up the triangle that saved his belt late in the fifth round. Every round played out exactly the same with Sonnen aggressively closing the distance on Silva with punches and pushing him up against the cage before landing a takedown. I’m not often shocked by what I see in a fight but I will never forget having to admit to myself in about the third round that Chael Sonnen was outstriking Anderson Silva. Silva obviously has the advantage in technique and the margin is about equal to the length of the wall in China. But Sonnen was relentless and never gave Silva a chance to settle into a rhythm, which resulted in Silva maybe landing one or two off balance shots as Sonnen was rushing him and landing combinations. Sonnen then used that pressure to get Silva off balance and put him on his back. From there, Sonnen focused more on maintaining control rather than finishing and hammer fisted his way to an unquestionable four round to zero lead. The fifth round started exactly the same as the others. By this time, I was actually squatting on my haunches six inches in front of the TV because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And then, out of nowhere, Silva slipped his legs around Sonnen’s neck. Sonnen seemed caught off guard and failed to defend until it was too late. Even more surprisingly, he panic tapped almost immediately and never gave himself a chance to escape. He tapped like it was a training session. He seemed to suddenly realize that he was minutes away from the most important victory of his career and tried to pretend he didn’t tap but he had and in a span of about ten seconds, Anderson Silva went from a certain defeat to one of the most unbelievable victories in UFC history. If Silva was trying to crush Sonnen’s soul as pay back for all the trash talk, he couldn’t have come up with a better way to do it.

That leads us to this fight. Anderson Silva is a smart fighter and he trains at one of the best camps in the world. He will learn from his mistakes in the first fight. But Sonnen is also a smart fighter and he also trains at one of the best camps in the world. The pressure is on him to come up with a strategy that will be as successful as the one he employed in the first fight. If he employs the same strategy, he will likely find himself hurt by Silva’s pinpoint counterstriking ability, which he will have undoubtedly been honing in his camp for this fight. Sonnen’s aggression caught the champion by surprise in the first fight but he will be prepared for it this time. Sonnen will likely have to come up with a new way to set up his takedowns if he wants to achieve a similar level of success as he did in the first fight. And if he does, expect Silva to be more aggressive with submission attempts in the earlier rounds. Sonnen has been susceptible to triangles and armbars throughout his career and Silva has the jiu-jitsu skills to lock up Sonnen if he leaves an opening. But Sonnen should be drilling those fundamental defensive grappling skills hard in his camp so Silva may have to work harder if he wants to find that opening.

The odds on this fight currently have Silva favored at -290 with Sonnen the underdog at +240. Silva is clearly the favorite and the line is appropriate but the possibility exists that Sonnen’s skill set is the kryptonite for the middleweight champion. Most people thought Frankie Edgar’s split decision victory over BJ Penn was a fluke and that Penn would dominate in the rematch. It took ten full rounds for Edgar to convince the MMA world that he was better than the legend. That’s probably not an entirely fair analogy because Chael Sonnen is much more of a known entity now than Frankie Edgar was heading into his fights with BJ Penn. But the point remains that no one should be completely stunned if Sonnen is able to do exactly what he did in the first fight and then continue that for the three minutes it would have taken to earn a victory the first time around. He has proven that he can beat Anderson Silva and if he does, it can’t be considered a fluke. But the more likely outcome is that Silva harnesses all the energy and motivation he has displayed in the last week and releases it in one devastatingly accurate strike on Sonnen’s face. Either way, if this fight can find a way to live up to all of the hype, the MMA community will be in for an exciting and possible even historic night.

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Fight fans love trilogies and as the warm up for the night’s main event, the UFC is giving us a third fight between veterans Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz. Realistically, this is probably not going to be a great fight. But this is the type of fight that makes enough sense from a historical perspective to outweigh what the actual quality of the fight might be. Both of these fighters have earned their place in the history of the UFC. Tito Ortiz is one of the original stars of MMA and has done as much to increase its popularity as any other individual fighter. Forrest Griffin took part in the critical mass moment for the UFC when he fought Stephan Bonnar on the original Ultimate Fighter finale. Both are former champions in the 205 pound division. They have fought each other twice before with each earning a split decision victory. Both men might retire after the fight. For all of those reasons, this fight makes sense and deserves second billing on a major card.

As far as the actual fight analysis, we’ve already seen this fight twice. Tito Ortiz is a solid wrestler whose striking and jiu-jitsu have improved greatly over the course of his career. His greatest asset has always been his ground and pound and he will look to utilize it in this fight. Forrest Griffin generally prefers to keep his fights standing but he too is capable on the ground. Expect to see all areas of the game explored in this fight. Expect to see both fighters on their backs at some point. Expect to see both fighters land strikes on the feet. Basically, expect more of what we saw in their first two fights. The fight will likely be decided by who can gain an advantage in where the fight takes place. If Ortiz can land enough takedowns and do some damage from top position, he’ll earn the victory. If Griffin can keep the fight standing, he will have the striking advantage and he’ll earn the victory. This is a classic “who can impose his will” type of situation.

Forrest Griffin comes into this fight as the significant favorite at -320 and Ortiz is the underdog at +260. Griffin deserves to be the favorite but I’m not sure why the line is so far in his favor. Ortiz is perfectly capable of winning this fight. These two men have fought a total of six rounds and three of those have been scored for Ortiz so he’s capable of taking two out of three on Saturday night. That said, Griffin should be able to use his defensive wrestling to keep the fight standing and strike his way to a decision victory. But if Ortiz can land his takedowns, the complexion of this fight will change drastically.

UFC 148 Pre-Fight Analysis: Part II

Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote In a matchup clearly designed for entertainment, fan favorite Cung Le will face veteran Patrick Cote. Strikeforce tried to make Cung Le a superstar. They tried to sell his san.

Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote

In a matchup clearly designed for entertainment, fan favorite Cung Le will face veteran Patrick Cote. Strikeforce tried to make Cung Le a superstar. They tried to sell his san shou background and his wrestling background and his acting credentials. But the reality is that he’s a forty year old fighter with a 7-2 career record and no significant wins. He lost in his last fight against Wanderlei Silva, which proves he is not an elite fighter at middleweight. The UFC knew this when they brought him over from Strikeforce and they are using him to generate exciting fights against fighters who will be willing to stand with him. Enter Patrick Cote. Cote gets a chance to defeat a name fighter in his return to the octagon after being let go following three consecutive losses to Anderson Silva, Alan Belcher and Tom Lawlor. In hindsight, that release may have been premature given the emergence of Belcher.

This fight is not complicated to analyze. It will take place mostly on the feet. Le will employ all of the kicks and spinning techniques fans expect from him. He will use his wrestling defensively to keep the fight standing if Cote decides to strike. Le has the technical ability to keep Cote at a distance and outstrike him. He even has the power to finish the fight if he can land a clean combination. But Cote has never been finished via KO or TKO and I don’t expect Cung Le to do what Anderson Silva couldn’t. Cote will more than likely also want to keep the fight standing. He is a more traditional striker but that doesn’t make him any less of a threat. The power in his right hand is more dangerous than any single strike Cung Le possesses. He comes into this fight on a four fight winning streak outside of the UFC and he will be looking to use Cung Le as a step toward once again competing at the top of the middleweight division.

The oddsmakers currently have Cote favored at -245 with Le the underdog at +205. I’m not surprised to see Cote favored but I am slightly surprised at the margin. That said, Cote is the more experienced and probably more dangerous fighter. His striking is good enough to neutralize Le’s unorthodox style and earn the victory either via (T)KO or decision. If Le wants to earn the upset, he will need to utilize movement and keep Cote guessing and moving backward. Either way, this should be an entertaining fight between two dangerous strikers.


Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia

In a matchup of upper level middleweights, Dong Hyun Kim will face Demian Maia as both men look to move up the ranks at 185 pounds. Kim has won six of his seven fights in the UFC excluding his fight with Karo Parisyan that was ruled a no contest after Parisyan tested positive for PEDs. Maia has struggled recently losing two of his last three fights in the UFC.

Maia has been a fixture in the UFC middleweight division for years having risen as far as a title fight with Anderson Silva. He was outclassed badly in that fight and has been up and down since then with wins over Mario Miranda, Kendall Grove and Jorge Santiago and losses to Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman. He seems to struggle when he faces the higher level of competition with his most impressive wins coming against Chael Sonnen and Dan Miller. He still possesses some of the most dangerous jiu-jitsu in the world at any weight class but his opponents have been able to neutralize that by refusing to play the ground game with him. His standup has improved over the last few years but is not at a level where he can win a striking match against a top level fighter. He will likely struggle to get Kim to the ground in this match and will need to take advantage of any opportunity he gets to grapple. More than likely, most of this fight will take place on the feet and that does not bode well for Maia. His grappling is by far the most dangerous weapon either fighter brings to the cage but unless Kim allows him to utilize it, Maia will likely be stuck in another striking match.

Dong Hyun Kim has only one official loss on his professional record and that came against Carlos Condit who is one of the best middleweights in the world. That said, Kim has yet to earn a signature victory with his biggest win coming against Amir Sadollah. Maia represents an excellent opportunity to earn a victory over a well respected middleweight and take a step up in the division. Kim was a knockout artist in Korea but that has not translated over to his UFC career as he has won all of his fights by decision. His striking is solid but not excellent and he has the defensive wrestling to keep the fight standing. He obviously has the power to finish with his strikes but has not been able to show it thus far in the the UFC. A finish against Maia would be a major statement but a decision is much more likely. He will need to keep the fight standing because even though he is competent on the ground, no one is safe against Damien Maia and he would be foolish to play that game. If he follows the appropriate gameplan and keeps the fight standing, he is capable of outstriking Maia to earn the victory.

Kim comes into the fight as the favorite at -145 with Maia the underdog at +125. The line is appropriate and this fight seems to have a clear script. Maia is always a threat if the fight goes to ground but I see no reason why Kim would allow that to happen. If the fight stays on the feet, Kim will have the advantage and he should be able to land more cleanly on his way to a decision victory.

UFC 148: Whatever Happened to the Old Anderson Silva?

With UFC 148 rapidly approaching, the old Anderson Silva is nowhere to be found.Somewhere between Chael Sonnen’s UFC 136 post-fight interview in which he declared, “Anderson Silva you absolutely suck,” and Tuesday’s UFC 148 staredown in which Silva gav…

With UFC 148 rapidly approaching, the old Anderson Silva is nowhere to be found.

Somewhere between Chael Sonnen’s UFC 136 post-fight interview in which he declared, “Anderson Silva you absolutely suck,” and Tuesday’s UFC 148 staredown in which Silva gave Sonnen a not-so-friendly chest bump, “Old Silva” disappeared.

Gone is the relaxed, relatively quiet pound-for-pound champion; his poised exterior shell deteriorated thanks to months of Sonnen trash talk.

Silva was in the building during UFC 136 and he watched as Sonnen submitted Brian Stann in the second round.  It looked as though Sonnen would have welcomed Silva into the Octagon right then and there, but he settled for telling him that he sucks, a move consistent with Sonnen’s past behavior.

Silva, too, reacted with Silva-like behavior.  He held back a laugh and feigned a surprised look to the cameras in his face.  The Brazilian champion knows what Sonnen is all about outside of the Octagon.  He is used to nonexistent bounds of Sonnen’s endless banter.  

He heard it going into UFC 117 and he has heard it ever since.  After Sonnen’s near-upset of Silva at that event, Sonnen had this to say, while Silva was just down the table from him (via Eric Holden of Yahoo! Sports): “When I go off, it’s like a bomb and anybody around me is going to get dirty. That’s the way that it goes. I don’t offer any apology for any of that stuff. These guys need to get thicker skin.”

Silva’s skin has always been thick enough to withstand the abuse sent his way.  He didn’t seem to mind when Sonnen did interviews with a fake UFC title belt or when he said he was going to end his career. He just responded with non-incendiary one-word answers and took the high ground.

However, somewhere along the way, things changed.  It may have been Sonnen’s lack of respect for Silva’s home country, it may have been something else.

I think one tipping point was when Chael went on “The MMA Show” with Mauro Ranallo and made a humorous, albeit disrespectful comment about Anderson’s wife.

“You tell Anderson Silva I’m coming over and I’m kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass and I’m telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare just how I like it,” he said.

It may have been that, it may not have, we don’t know. Regardless of which stone hurled by Sonnen finally broke through Silva’s skin, though, it led to the Brazilian blowing up during the UFC 148 media conference call.  

This was the first notable time where the change in Silva could be sensed by outsiders—the first time the angry “New Silva” appeared.  You can see the full transcript here via Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com.

Silva essentially said he was going to break Sonnen’s face, teeth, arms and legs.  He said what he was going to do would change the image of the sport and that Soonnen wouldn’t be able to exit the Octagon under his own power.  

I paraphrased a little bit, but you can listen to and read the whole conference call full of gems if you want.

Either way, this was nothing like what we saw and heard from Old Silva, and UFC president Dana White was the first to admit that. 

MMA Weekly’s transcription doesn’t include Sonnen’s response, but the video does.  In short, Sonnen replied to Silva’s verbal outburst in typical Sonnen fashion by simply saying, “medium-rare.” 

The point here is that Sonnen has always been the same trash-talking, outlandishly-blunt Sonnen.

However, somewhere along the way, the acidic sewage spit by Sonnen finally burned through Anderson’s tough exterior, revealing New Silva.

It came out in the conference call and again during the first press conference for UFC 148.  The two fighters squared off to do the traditional staredown.  Sonnen raised his fists, but Silva, arms at his sides, walked with his chest out right into Sonnen.

He was pulled back but continued forward into Sonnen, who held his ground.  Dana White and others continued to restrain Silva, but he kept at him.

This is the kind of behavior consistent with a blackout-drunk frat bro intent on starting a bar fight because some dude looked at him the wrong way or said something to his girlfriend, not behavior consistent of a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  

Some say that these instances were proof that Sonnen has finally had his way and infiltrated the mind of Silva, which will ultimately lead to his victory on Saturday.  Others say Sonnen has awoken a sleeping beast inside of Silva, which will ultimately lead to his swift and ugly demise this weekend.

I don’t know which it is.

One thing I do know is that this Saturday’s fight is not one to miss.

Will Sonnen be able to take down New Silva? Or will New Silva defend Old Silva’s belt?

We’ll find out Saturday.

Until then, let us know your predictions in the comments below.

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UFC 148: Predicting the PPV Buyrate for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II

One-million, six-hundred thousand.That is, in terms of pure numbers, the holy grail of UFC pay-per-view numbers. Three years ago, it was the buyrate of UFC 100, the highest selling UFC PPV ever.Not to be outdone, almost a year later to the day, UFC 116…

One-million, six-hundred thousand.

That is, in terms of pure numbers, the holy grail of UFC pay-per-view numbers. Three years ago, it was the buyrate of UFC 100, the highest selling UFC PPV ever.

Not to be outdone, almost a year later to the day, UFC 116 brought about 1,160,000 PPV buys, the most ever by a card with one championship match on it (UFC 100 featured two championship matches).

When Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva met for the first time in August of 2010, their PPV drew 600,000 buys. This was before their rivalry REALLY took off like it has ever since the re-match was announced.

That was a fight card that featured Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves as the co-main event. This card features far more star-power with Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin as the co-main event.

There might not be a greater rivalry in UFC, if not all of MMA, history than Silva-Sonnen. Their hatred for one another has grown to rival that of Red Sox-Yankees, North Carolina-Duke basketball, etc. And history has shown that fans love a great rivalry.

After UFC 116, the next-most bought PPV of 2010 was UFC 114, headlined by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans, who had become bitter rivals stemming from the heels of their coaching gig on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

That PPV also featured Michael Bisping and Dan Miller in the co-main event, far below the excitement of Griffin-Ortiz III.

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