Tag: UFC on FUEL 6

In one of the most compelling contests at UFC on Fuel TV 6, welterweight mainstays Paulo Thiago and Dong Hyun Kim will rush to step over one another en route to the division’s upper echelon.

The two fighters are unofficially ranked pretty close to one another and there is no reason to suspect a blowout, but there is cause to anticipate a win for Kim this Saturday.

Since debuting in the UFC with a knockout win over Josh Koscheck back in 2009, Thiago has posted a 3-4 record, most recently suffering a 0:42 knockout to promotional newcomer Siyar Bahadurzada (the circle of life continues).

A 4-4 record is pretty underwhelming for a name like Paulo Thiago, is it not?

Granted, the Brazilian is probably one of the best .500 fighters in the UFC, his strength of schedule having been what it is. However, hard road aside, looking at Thiago‘s resume reveals a telling trend.

Since defeating Koscheck, he’s been unable to dispatch any highly-regarded fighter over the past three years.

Thiago‘s wins have come over Jacob Volkmann, Mike Swick and David Mitchell. A couple of solid names there, but no contenders.

His losses, on the other hand, have come almost exclusively against perennial contenders. Jon Fitch, Martin Kampmann, Diego Sanchez—all guys near the top of the division (the jury is still out on Bahadurzada).

So what does that mean for Thiago‘s UFC on Fuel TV 6 chances? 

It means that if Kim is a contender—one of those guys good enough to make the top and stay there—Thiago is in some real trouble.

At 6-2 in the UFC (one loss via unfortunate injury), Kim has often looked like the type of contender Thiago tends to struggle with. While he may not be as accomplished as some of the fighters who have bested Thiago in the past, he isn’t far behind. What’s more, a win on Saturday just might get him to that next level.

Stylistically, Kim is about as bad as it gets for Thiago. As a smothering grappler and takedown specialist, don’t expect Thiago to find many opportunities to sink in a submission or land a big uppercut.

Instead, expect a few rounds of Kim putting Thiago on his back and keeping him there, and to ride that control to a decision win.

The Korean fighter is just too strong to be tossed aside, too wily to be submitted in Thiago‘s guard and too in need of a W to let this opportunity pass.

What we’ll see at UFC on Fuel TV 6 is two good fighters—one just a touch better than the other and the style to nullify his opponent, the other unable to take that next step in his career.

It may not be complete annihilation.

It may not be a barn-burner of a fight.

However, it will be a victory for Kim.

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Do ring card girls have a point?

Is their purpose to infuse a little bit of estrogen into testosterone-laden venues to undermine MMA‘s infamous and undeniable homoeroticism?

Are their marches around the cage between each round a way to increase ticket sales via the guarantee of seeing *gasp* a real-live attractive women in minimal clothing?

Or, is the whole process of ring card girls walking around with giant cards emblazoned with the round number a courtesy to fans who are so inebriated that they’ve lost the ability to count?

Really, there is no great purpose of having ring card girls (or Octagon Girls as they’re called in the UFC). As great of a job as Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer do at looking pretty (and they do look pretty), their work brings no large scale significance—the show could go on without them.

That’s not to be offensive, it’s just true. 

Can you point out what would be different if the UFC (and MMA promotions across the world) just decided to stop the whole sordid, sexist tradition?

Nothing significant would change. People would complain for the first event or two, then they would just forget about it and move on.

Well, there would be one apparent difference: You wouldn’t hear any cat calls between rounds, that’s it—that’d be the only noticeable change. That and the cameras wouldn’t keep panning to the girls between the rounds or between fights. 

This sudden stance against ring girls might seem out of the blue, but it’s not.

The sentiment was inspired by two events.

First, The UFC’s first venture into China is coming up this weekend. What did the UFC do to celebrate this? They hired a Korean TV star as a new Octagon Girl. 

What does bringing in an Asian Octagon Girl really do? Chinese people can tell the difference between other Chinese people and Koreans, so bringing in a Korean and passing it off like it’s some great gesture to Chinese fans is more offensive than it is anything else.

Second, Ronda Rousey’s reported entrance into the UFC demonstrates a woman’s full potential: A dominant athlete, not a person who just gets ogled by lascivious men while wearing a bikini. 

Like I said, the Octagon girl is a superfluous position. How many hungry, deserving female fighters—role models that would inspire women to be more than just cup size and looks—could be employed in their place?

At this point, keeping the Octagon Girls would be fine if they added Octagon Men for female fights for equality’s sake.

Internet white knights who will inevitably make a comparison to the NFL’s cheerleaders and use that as justification as to why ring card girls are ok are misguided. The UFC is a unique entity and, as a trailblazer in the field of MMA and in the general sports world, has the chance to change things for the better.

The UFC doesn’t have to go along with presenting women as pieces of flesh begging to be gawked at and drooled over.

The UFC and the MMA world can choose not to objectify women in such a way or, at the very least, choose to treat both sexes equally.

 

Follow @MattSaccaro

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