(Gentlemen, no need to show me the door, because THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE!)
There aren’t many fighters in the UFC who have had longer layoffs in between fights than Carlos Eduardo Rocha. Well, maybe before this summer began, that is. Fighting just three times between November of 2010 and June of 2012, Rocha’s 1-2 UFC record included a submission via kneebar win over Kris McCray and a pair of close decision losses to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 and most recently, Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 3. The latter fight, which you may recall was originally scored a split decision victory for Pierce rather than a UD thanks to the general incompetency of Floridians, was a relatively lackluster affair that was dominated by Pierce’s clinch and wrestling game ala Couture vs. Vera.
It might surprise you to learn that Rocha, an incredibly decorated BJJ practitioner whose only trips to the scorecards have come in the UFC, was let go following the loss. As one might understand, Rocha was none too happy to learn of this news, and quickly vented his frustrations (mainly, those relating to Pierce’s performance) when interviewed by Tatame:
I went there to fight MMA and he wants to win by points. There were 15 minutes of pure stalling This is bullshit. And UFC fires me after a fight where the guy just stood there stalling. I had good performances and even so I was cut off. I didn’t expect this.
Ah, the Nick Diaz defense. Classy move, Mr. Rocha.
More from this interview after the jump.
(Gentlemen, no need to show me the door, because THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE!)
There aren’t many fighters in the UFC who have had longer layoffs in between fights than Carlos Eduardo Rocha. Well, maybe before this summer began, that is. Fighting just three times between November of 2010 and June of 2012, Rocha’s 1-2 UFC record included a submission via kneebar win over Kris McCray and a pair of close decision losses to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 and most recently, Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 3. The latter fight, which you may recall was originally scored a split decision victory for Pierce rather than a UD thanks to the general incompetency of Floridians, was a relatively lackluster affair that was dominated by Pierce’s clinch and wrestling game ala Couture vs. Vera.
It might surprise you to learn that Rocha, an incredibly decorated BJJ practitioner whose only trips to the scorecards have come in the UFC, was let go following the loss. As one might understand, Rocha was none too happy to learn of this news, and quickly vented his frustrations (mainly, those relating to Pierce’s performance) when interviewed by Tatame:
I went there to fight MMA and he wants to win by points. There were 15 minutes of pure stalling This is bullshit. And UFC fires me after a fight where the guy just stood there stalling. I had good performances and even so I was cut off. I didn’t expect this.
Ah, the Nick Diaz defense. Classy move, Mr. Rocha.
Wasn’t he the one who said he’d fight any Brazilian because it’s an easy fight? I thought he could come for me but he didn’t. He didn’t attack me on the clinch, he didn’t hit me nor let me hit him. That’s not MMA. There was one promotion (that made him an offer), but the guy didn’t wanna fight me. Now let’s move on, keep my head up. I never give up. I know I’ll get better next time so I can have another chance in the UFC.
As much as we tend to crucify (or at least condescend) fighters who bitch about their opponent’s gameplan in hindsight, Rocha kind of has a point here. Aside from the aforementioned trash talk Pierce was spouting leading up to the fight, his past two losses have come as the result of close split decisions. One could even argue that he deserved the nod in his loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 143, so the fact that Pierce seemed all too content to ride out another decision against a relatively low-level guy like Rocha seems like kind of a weak move on his part. Plus, when the BJJ guy is complaining about not being hit enough, you know the fight must have sucked.
Then again, it takes two to tango, so if Rocha really wanted to do something to negate Pierce’s wall-n-stall tactics, perhaps he should have trained takedown defense and clinch work just a bit more in the months before the fight. In either case, at least he’s looking to the future and not dwelling on this loss for too long.
And hey, there’s always Strikeforce. They still have a welterweight division, right?
(We’re on your side, Joe, but blowing up Cecil Peoples’ house might have been taking it a little far.)
It may be old news at this point, but the UFC’s recent trip to Florida, though rife with entertaining fights and exciting finishes, was basically a clusterfuck of refereeing and judging incompetence. MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta wrote a very thorough article detailing all of the things that went wrong that night, but here’s the basic run down for those of you who don’t like to have all of those pesky words get in the way of your reading:
-The Henry Martinez vs. Bernardo Magalhaes fight was originally scored a UD win for Martiniez, but was later changed to a split decision when the scorecards were looked over again.
-The Mike Pierce/Carlos Eduardo Rocha fight ran into the opposite problem. It was originally scored a SD for Pierce, a notion that was responsible for more blown minds than the ending of Saw. It took the judges some four days to realize that it was actually scored a unanimous decision for Pierce.
-Lance Benoist was able to illegally strike Seth Baczynski twice without being deducted a point.
-Tim Means, on the other hand, nearly beat Justin Salas to death before the ref decided to step in.
Aside from all of this, the commission also managed to drop the ball twice at the pre-fight weigh-ins, incorrectly announcing the weights of both Means and Benoist before realizing their errors. But we’d specifically like to focus on the staggering inadequacy of the judges. Because judging, unlike any other occupation, is seemingly non-performance based. Time after time we’ve seen the same familiar faces make royal asses of themselves on the job, always to find the same job waiting for them come Monday morning.
But thankfully, MMA’s patron saint of subjectivity, Joe Rogan, is here to lay it on the line for these inept jackasses who seem to be actively trying to ruin the sport.
(We’re on your side, Joe, but blowing up Cecil Peoples’ house might have been taking it a little far.)
It may be old news at this point, but the UFC’s recent trip to Florida, though rife with entertaining fights and exciting finishes, was basically a clusterfuck of refereeing and judging incompetence. MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta wrote a very thorough article detailing all of the things that went wrong that night, but here’s the basic run down for those of you who don’t like to have all of those pesky words get in the way of your reading:
-The Henry Martinez vs. Bernardo Magalhaes fight was originally scored a UD win for Martiniez, but was later changed to a split decision when the scorecards were looked over again.
-The Mike Pierce/Carlos Eduardo Rocha fight ran into the opposite problem. It was originally scored a SD for Pierce, a notion that was responsible for more blown minds than the ending of Saw. It took the judges some four days to realize that it was actually scored a unanimous decision for Pierce.
-Lance Benoist was able to illegally strike Seth Baczynski twice without being deducted a point.
-Tim Means, on the other hand, nearly beat Justin Salas to death before the ref decided to step in.
Aside from all of this, the commission also managed to drop the ball twice at the pre-fight weigh-ins, incorrectly announcing the weights of both Means and Benoist before realizing their errors. But we’d specifically like to focus on the staggering inadequacy of the judges. Because judging, unlike any other occupation, is seemingly non-performance based. Time after time we’ve seen the same familiar faces make royal asses of themselves on the job, always to find the same job waiting for them come Monday morning.
But thankfully, MMA’s patron saint of subjectivity, Joe Rogan, is here to lay it on the line for these inept jackasses who seem to be actively trying to ruin the sport. According to a recent interview with BloodyElbow, Rogan thinks that these judges should be relieved of their duties if they refuse to learn the ins and outs of the sport they are supposed to be monitoring:
I think they should fire judges that suck. I don’t understand how someone can keep their job over and over again while screwing up over and over. What do you call that exactly? Extreme incompetence. How does someone judge any sort of combat sport without at least a passing interest in the sport? If you pulled aside, and I don’t want to name any names, but if you pulled aside some of those judges from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that has notoriously had horrific scoring, and started asking them about fighters that aren’t fighting in the UFC, would they know anything about them? Would they know anything about who the top judo guy is? Would they even know anything about Gilbert Melendez and how good he is?
Do these guys know how you set up an armbar? If I sat them down and said, ‘Do an armbar on this guy’, would they be able to do that? I think you’ve got to know when a guy’s in trouble and when a guy’s not in trouble, and the only way to know that, is to have actually trained. I don’t think you can be a person who judges martial arts without being an expert in martial arts.
I have never had a mixed martial arts fight, but I’m a martial arts expert. I’ve been a martial arts expert since I was a little boy. I know what I’m really good at, and I know what I don’t understand as well, but I have dedicated my entire life to martial arts. It’s been a focus of mine since I was a growing boy, so when I commentate on MMA, I do it with the passion of someone who is 100% a fan. If I had to choose between my job with the UFC and not being a fan anymore, I would for sure just quit working.
Look, we’re not going to rant about the current state of MMA judging, because we’ve already been there, and in fact, we tried to offer some solutions. But suffice it to say, we couldn’t agree more with Rogan. The fact that these judges who seemingly have little to no understanding of the various aspects of MMA, or their effectiveness in an actual fight, is beyond ridiculous, and they need to either study up or shut up, so to speak. An incorrect score could mean the difference between a fighter getting a call back from the organization or being let go, and should not be taken as lightly as it has been up to this point.
And if many of the UFC’s in-ring employees are at risk of losing their job with every performance, why shouldn’t those who are responsible for determining their fate be as well? The obvious answer for the fighters who most often rely on the judges *cough* Dominick Cruz *cough*would be to do as Kenny Florian does and simply finish fights. But to our knowledge, there are very few fighters who can claim that they’ve never been to the judges, and they shouldn’t exactly live in fear that if they do happen to go the distance, they’ll be punished for it as the result of some else’s incompetence.
They call him Mighty Mouse for a reason…..Maybe they should’ve called him Scrappy Doo. In 18 career fights, Demetrious Johnson has lost just twice. He holds a 60% finishing rate among his wins, and has never been knocked out or submitted. Guys …
They call him Mighty Mouse for a reason…
..Maybe they should’ve called him Scrappy Doo.
In 18 career fights, Demetrious Johnson has lost just twice. He holds a 60% finishing rate among his wins, and has never been knocked out or submitted. Guys like that just can’t be counted out.
Demetrious Johnson is not going to be favored going into a bout with Joseph Benavidez, who is hungry and ready for Flyweight gold. He possesses a very high skill level, and has only been defeated twice—both times by Bantamweight king Dominick Cruz.
However, going into this fight, Johnson is going to have a significant grappling advantage, as he scores takedowns at a clip of 54 percent and stops 55 percent; while Benavidez is only 22 percent successful with takedowns yet 48 percent at stopping them.
On the surface, this may look like the makings of a five round unanimous decision for Benavidez, but before it’s all said and done Mighty Mouse will show Benavidez what a fight truly is. Johnson has power in both hands, rocking both Dominick Cruz and Ian McCall in their respective bouts. He has a solid wrestling base and may be the fastest fighter in all of the UFC.
Benavidez has shown somewhat of a weakness to quicker fighters such as Cruz with his unorthodox quick striking and great wrestling; and while Johnson isn’t quite on that level, he’s definitely close enough to give Benavidez a run for his money. With the power and speed of his hands coupled with the always important wrestling base, it’s very possible that Johnson will take home the gold.
In any case, it would be a mistake to count him out.
Eddie Wineland is a hot commodity right now. Fresh off of an excellent 2nd round KO of Scott Jorgensen to end his two fight losing streak, Wineland has shot himself up the Bantamweight ladder.Jorgensen is no pushover, either. Just four fights earlier, …
Eddie Wineland is a hot commodity right now. Fresh off of an excellent 2nd round KO of Scott Jorgensen to end his two fight losing streak, Wineland has shot himself up the Bantamweight ladder.
Jorgensen is no pushover, either. Just four fights earlier, Jorgensen took top ten pound-for-pound fighter Dominick Cruz the full five rounds in a hard fought loss. Yet he couldn’t get to the third round against Wineland.
Showing excellent boxing and showcasing a nice jab and cross, Wineland picked Jorgensen apart, which is especially impressive since in 19 fights it’s the first time Jorgensen has been stopped by strikes.
So after a great win who’s next for Wineland? Let’s take a look at the top five possibilities.
Now that UFC on FX 3 is officially in the books, let’s take a look at the outcome of another under-promoted and star-starved UFC event on cable television. Despite a lack of big names, the night provided plenty of great fights, including a very relevan…
Now that UFC on FX 3 is officially in the books, let’s take a look at the outcome of another under-promoted and star-starved UFC event on cable television.
Despite a lack of big names, the night provided plenty of great fights, including a very relevant rematch between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall, thanks to a frustrating judging error back in March that temporarily had “Mighty Mouse” winning a decision at UFC on FX 2.
Of course, this rematch was never supposed to happen. When the UFC devised the rules for their four-man flyweight tournament, they made a new a new stipulation meant to ensure a definite winner, proposing a fourth sudden death round should the fight end in a draw.
Unfortunately, a horrible judging error temporarily named Johnson the winner over a very game McCall in a fight that should have been decided in overtime.
So here we are, three months later, to finally decide what should have been finalized months ago.
But how did each man fare in the rematch of their Fight of the Night battle for a chance to face Joseph Benavidez to be the UFC’s first flyweight champion?
We’ll take at look at the rematch and the rest of the action from a very solid night of fights.
Bad Boy Garcia. With two of his four UFC fights earning “Fight of the Night” honors, it’s no secret why he’s a fan favorite. He personifies the word “brawler.” He’s a 145-pound version of Wanderlei Silva.But with all of those things c…
Bad Boy Garcia. With two of his four UFC fights earning “Fight of the Night” honors, it’s no secret why he’s a fan favorite. He personifies the word “brawler.” He’s a 145-pound version of Wanderlei Silva.
But with all of those things come the bad. And sadly, as much as I enjoy watching him as a fighter, it’s time for him to retire. There’s very little doubt that he’ll get cut from the UFC, as he’s lost his last three fights, and an argument could be made that he’s lost his last six. As exciting as he is, he just doesn’t win anymore.
Combat sports may be the hardest to retire from, being that for most of these guys, they’re fighters at heart. Garcia seems to be one of those guys. You know when you see a Bad Boy Garcia fight that he’s going to come out swinging—literally. When the bell rings, it’s wild haymakers, spinning backfists, head-kick attempts and little regard for getting hit himself. This guy is a fighter.
What makes his style even more remarkable is the fact that he trains at Jackson’s MMA, which is notorious for game-planning for opponents and staying true to that game plan. You may see Bad Boy game-plan for the first minute, then once he gets hit, it’s all out the window. The switch is flipped and he’s coming after you.
He fights the way you should fight. Impose your will, and go out on your shield. Win or go home. Unfortunately for the Bad Boy, he hasn’t been winning lately.
So what’s next for one of my all-time favorite fighters? He should go home.
They call him Mighty Mouse for a reason…