The UFC’s first foray into China gave us some new highlight material in Cung Le’s explosive knockout of Rich Franklin, but it didn’t give us a title contender.Le’s thunderous punch was fun, no doubt.It’s is an instant candidate for knockout of the year…
The UFC’s first foray into China gave us some new highlight material in Cung Le‘s explosive knockout of Rich Franklin, but it didn’t give us a title contender.
Le’s thunderous punch was fun, no doubt.
It’s is an instant candidate for knockout of the year. It’s all but guaranteed to be played over and over while heavy metal music plays to hype several UFC events in the near future. It’s probably the highlight of Le’s short UFC career up to this point.
That being said, when we look back on the event, it won’t have much relevance to the title picture in the 185 pound division.
Both were great choices to headline the UFC’s first appearance in China. Between Franklin’s penchant for earning finishes and Le’s elite striking, there was no way this fight could disappoint in terms of excitement.
In the culture of instant reaction, it’s easy to get swept away with the power that Le put on display. This was more than a “lucky punch,” as Le would have you believe. His masterful striking lead to a perfectly timed counter that had Franklin seeing stars. There’s no denying that it was a legitimate victory.
You can, however, question the significance of the win.
The reality is that Cung Le is 40 years old and doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near a title shot at this point.
In Franklin, Le was fighting a legend of the UFC. A win over one of the greatest middleweights of all time is a great achievement, but it doesn’t mean what it used to.
Most fans recognize Franklin’s name and can recall that he was a marquee fighter once upon a time, but this is a fighter that hasn’t won back-to-back fights since 2008 when he beat Matt Hamill and Travis Lutter in successive fashion.
Even Franklin’s most recent wins have come against fellow old timers in Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell. Considering his performance against Le, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Franklin retire.
For Le to deserve a title shot anytime soon, he’ll need a few more wins over some fighters that are more relevant—preferably against one of the division’s better grapplers.
Le’s win was impressive, but he in no way, shape or form deserves to jump to the likes of Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping or even Brian Stann in the middleweight pecking order anytime soon.
If you’re someone like me, you were up at the crack of dawn to watch the UFC’s first foray into entering the Chinese MMA scene. Unlike previous years, the UFC opted to show all international events live. And people used to complain about tape…
If you’re someone like me, you were up at the crack of dawn to watch the UFC’s first foray into entering the Chinese MMA scene. Unlike previous years, the UFC opted to show all international events live.
And people used to complain about tape delay and spoilers? HA!
The undercard was pretty forgettable. Sure, Alex Caceres looked good and MotonobuTezuka made me laugh, but it was very underwhelming by and large.
That’s actually the theme for the entire card, save for the co-main and main events. Those two fights ended in spectacular fashion and redeemed what I felt was a card that was dragging.
After finally being rested after an incredibly long night and morning, let’s go ahead and grade the performances of everyone on the main card.
If I were to have told you before this event that a FUEL TV caliber card will have seven out of nine fights go the distance, it is doubtful that many of you would have watched UFC on FUEL 6. If I were to have reminded you that because the fights were live from Macau, China, you’d have to wake up at 9 a.m. ET to watch said card, I’m willing to bet we would have had a pretty vacant liveblog this morning. It isn’t often that a card with so many decisions is worth waking up early for, but UFC on FUEL 6 proved to be an exception.
Expectations weren’t exactly high for the evening’s main event, a middleweight contest between Rich Franklin and Cung Le. With neither fighter in the title picture – or even near it – and forty year old Cung Le bloodletting his foot just one week before the fight, this fight had a very high bust-potential. Most of us assumed that Ace would exit the cage with his first victory at middleweight since 2008, and that we wouldn’t be missing much if we started our afternoon nap a little early.
Instead, Cung Le gave us a Knockout of the Year candidate, countering a leg kick with a devastating right hand that secured the victory just 2:17 into the fight. Being the only knockout on the card, Le took home the $40k Knockout of the Night award, but even if every other fight ended in a knockout it’d be hard not to award such a brutal finish the honor. If you happened to miss it, here it is in all of its animated GIF glory:
If I were to have told you before this event that a FUEL TV caliber card will have seven out of nine fights go the distance, it is doubtful that many of you would have watched UFC on FUEL 6. If I were to have reminded you that because the fights were live from Macau, China, you’d have to wake up at 9 a.m. ET to watch said card, I’m willing to bet we would have had a pretty vacant liveblog this morning. It isn’t often that a card with so many decisions is worth waking up early for, but UFC on FUEL 6 proved to be an exception.
Expectations weren’t exactly high for the evening’s main event, a middleweight contest between Rich Franklin and Cung Le. With neither fighter in the title picture – or even near it – and forty year old Cung Le bloodletting his foot just one week before the fight, this fight had a very high bust-potential. Most of us assumed that Ace would exit the cage with his first victory at middleweight since 2008, and that we wouldn’t be missing much if we started our afternoon nap a little early.
Instead, Cung Le gave us a Knockout of the Year candidate, countering a leg kick with a devastating right hand that secured the victory just 2:17 into the fight. Being the only knockout on the card, Le took home the $40k Knockout of the Night award, but even if every other fight ended in a knockout it’d be hard not to award such a brutal finish the honor. If you happened to miss it, here it is in all of its animated GIF glory:
As for what this fight means for the UFC middleweight division, I’m still tempted to say ”not too much.” Franklin was certainly a good middleweight champion and a great company man for the UFC, but he hasn’t been a serious title contender in years. As great of a victory as it was for Le, I’d say he’s at least two more victories away from being “in the mix” for a title shot (whatever that even means these days). May I be so bold as to suggest a fight against Brian Stann?
As for Rich Franklin, retirement seems like the most logical option. I know it’s easy to be pessimistic about a fighter’s career after watching him lose – especially the way he lost – but we’re looking at a thirty-eight year old former-champion who hasn’t won back-to-back fights in four years. There’s nothing left for Ace to do except ride his company man status into a vaguely-defined post-retirement corporate career with the UFC.
The co-main event produced a very surprising finish, as Blackzilian Thiago Silva handed Stanislav Nedkov his first career loss with a third round arm-triangle choke. Silva not only picked up his first victory in three years (drug test pending), but also his first submission victory (not counting his submission via punches over Antonio Mendes at UFC 84) since heel-hooking Dave Dalgliesh back in 2006. Being the only submission on the card, the win earned Silva the Submission of the Night bonus.
Although Silva was ahead 20-18 on all three scorecards heading into the third round, Nedkov arguably took the first round and nearly finished the Brazilian late in the second round. Despite barely making it to the third round, Thiago Silva overwhelmed Nedkov with an aggressive striking display before earning the takedown. From there, the BJJ blackbelt wasted little time locking in the fight ending choke.
Silva has never been a pushover, but he’s also never been a serious contender for the light-heavyweight championship, either. At twenty-nine years old, he still has a chance at putting together a run for the title. But if he’s going to make the most of this opportunity, he needs to get back to consistently stringing together victories, and start earning them over the deep end of the UFC’s roster.
Elsewhere on the card:
– Takanori Gomi’s split-decision over Mac Danzig took home Fight of the Night honors. Little surprise here, as this fight was a back-and-forth affair that saw both men come close to earning the stoppage. The PRIDE legend improves to 34-8 (1 NC) overall, and 3-3 in the UFC. Meanwhile, Mac Danzig drops to 21-10-1 – including a not-quite-worthy 5-6 in the UFC – but earns his fourth End of the Night bonus from the promotion.
– Dong Hyun Kim took home a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Thiago in a fight that was never exactly close. After the fight, Kim asked for a rematch against Demian Maia. Considering the fluke nature of their first meeting, I’m not surprised that he wants this fight but I doubt he gets it. Also, Thiago is now 1-4 in his last five fights and 4-5 in the UFC, so expect a Paulo Thiago-themed “And Now he’s Fired” soon.
– Speaking of “1-4 in his last five and probably about to be fired,” Tiequan Zhang actually lost to TUF alumnus Jon Tuck. Yes, the only Chinese fighter on the entire card actually lost to the softball opponent he was matched up against. And not by an indefensibly terrible decision, either: Tuck was controlling the entire fight until the third round, when he made the foolish decision to stand with the guy who desperately needed a knockout. Not to throw salt in the wound here, but Zhang’s lone victory in his last five fights came over Jason Reinhardt at UFC 127. Ouch.
– Takeya Mizugaki wasn’t exactly given a world-beater in Jeff Hougland, but he still managed to look pretty impressive while taking home a unanimous decision victory. Mizugaki ground Hougland’s face into a pulp over the course of three rounds, taking all three rounds on all three scorecards. That being said…30-25?! YOU CANNOT BE FOR SERIOUSLY, BRO!
– Attendance was 8,415, who paid $1.3 million USD. This makes UFC on FUEL 6 the second highest FUEL livegate (Only UFC on FUEL 2 was higher).
While most other sports fans were still nestled all snug in their beds, MMA fans were up Saturday morning watching UFC on Fuel 6 live from Macau, China.In terms of the actual fights, it was kind of a mixed bag. Some of the fights delivered the pyrotech…
While most other sports fans were still nestled all snug in their beds, MMA fans were up Saturday morning watching UFC on Fuel 6 live from Macau, China.
In terms of the actual fights, it was kind of a mixed bag. Some of the fights delivered the pyrotechnics, while others made viewers wish they’d reached for the snooze button.
Now that the event is history, it’s time to begin looking toward the future. Here are the next steps for all the winners and losers from the People’s Republic.
Rich Franklin was embarrassed by Cung Le in Macau, China on Nov. 10 during the UFC on Furl TV 6 main event. Le knocked out the American striking specialist just two minutes and 17 seconds into the first round. As a result, the former UFC Middleweight c…
Rich Franklin was embarrassed by Cung Le in Macau, China on Nov. 10 during the UFC on Furl TV 6 main event. Le knocked out the American striking specialist just two minutes and 17 seconds into the first round.
As a result, the former UFC Middleweight champion would be best served to retire now and move on to a different role within the sport. He could make a transition to training or go back to coaching in the Ultimate Fighter.
Whatever he does, he shouldn’t get back into the Octagon.
Still, it’s tough to advocate retirement after an embarrassment like the one he suffered in China, but what’s the alternative? Sure, losing hurts and he would like to get back out there and make up for it but what’s the point if it ends in more embarrassment?
Another loss like this would do nothing but tarnish the impressive career of the Cincinnati native.
Franklin’s clearly lost the competitive edge that could have taken him to a title shot with middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Besides, we’ve already seen the ending to that book. Silva dominates, retains title, etc.
And, let’s face it, the only Silva Franklin has been able to beat and could beat still is Wanderlei.
That’s nothing to call home to mom about.
The biggest reason why Franklin should bow out of the Octagon now is that there aren’t really any avenues he could pursue that would end in him gaining another title before he retires. It’s a low-probability, even if he moves back up to the light heavyweight division, that he’d even be able to get a shot let alone win the title.
What’s the point then for the 38-year-old striker?
Hopefully, Franklin won’t be the guy who keeps fighting well past his prime. He’s had a heck of a career and should hang up the gloves and go out with some dignity.
MikeHoagJr. is a Breaking News Team writer and NFL featured columnist for Bleacher Report.Follow him on Twitter:
The UFC’s first venture into China is in the history books. Cung Le scored an unbelievable knockout against former middleweight champ Rich Franklin and, in the co-main event, Thiago Silva choked out Bulgarian prospect Stanislav Nedkov.In terms of title…
The UFC’s first venture into China is in the history books. Cung Le scored an unbelievable knockout against former middleweight champ Rich Franklin and, in the co-main event, Thiago Silva choked out Bulgarian prospect StanislavNedkov.
In terms of title implications and entertainment value, this card was, in truth, a bit banal.
However, that doesn’t mean that lingering questions weren’t answers and lessons about certain fighters weren’t learned.
The UFC’s first foray into China gave us some new highlight material in Cung Le‘s explosive knockout of Rich Franklin, but it didn’t give us a title contender.
