Tag: unsupportable opinion

The Unsupportable Opinion: The Cancellation of UFC 151 Was Good for the Fans


(While 406 votes may not seem that significant, first consider that this screenshot was taken within an hour of the poll’s creation, and all 111 votes for Dana White were placed by one person. You know who.)

UFC 152 is still three days away, yet I already feel something churning within the deepest regions of my stomach, something I haven’t felt in quite some time when dealing with a UFC card: Excitement. Maybe even nervousness. While at least some of the mixed emotion can be attributed to a few names featured on the card that I always like to watch throw down (specifically: Stann, Belfort, Benavidez, and Hettes), I can’t help but feel as if the main source of my excitement is completely disconnected from the card itself, as if any card could bring me this kind of joy. I feel like I did in the days before a UFC event four or five years ago, and I guarantee that a good percentage of you are feeling it too.

And I imagine you know why you’re feeling it. It’s because the cancellation of UFC 151 was responsible for the largest gap between UFC cards in nearly two years, and was ultimately a good move by the UFC.

At the risk of retreading old ground, I’ll admit that I was quick to throw haterade on Jon Jones for his decision to not fight Chael Sonnen in the days that followed it, and still feel a little disdain toward the champ for doing so. But now that I’ve had some time to digest the situation in its entirety, I’ve come to at least appreciate both Jones’ and the UFC’s decision — as conflicting as it is to say so — and here are the main reasons why.


(While 406 votes may not seem that significant, first consider that this screenshot was taken within an hour of the poll’s creation, and all 111 votes for Dana White were placed by one person. You know who.)

UFC 152 is still three days away, yet I already feel something churning within the deepest regions of my stomach, something I haven’t felt in quite some time when dealing with a UFC card: Excitement. Maybe even nervousness. While at least some of the mixed emotion can be attributed to a few names featured on the card that I always like to watch throw down (specifically: Stann, Belfort, Benavidez, and Hettes), I can’t help but feel as if the main source of my excitement is completely disconnected from the card itself, as if any card could bring me this kind of joy. I feel like I did in the days before a UFC event four or five years ago, and I guarantee that a good percentage of you are feeling it too.

And I imagine you know why you’re feeling it. It’s because the cancellation of UFC 151 was responsible for the largest gap between UFC cards in nearly two years, and was ultimately a good move by the UFC.

At the risk of retreading old ground, I’ll admit that I was quick to throw haterade on Jon Jones for his decision to not fight Chael Sonnen in the days that followed it, and still feel a little disdain toward the champ for doing so. But now that I’ve had some time to digest the situation in its entirety, I’ve come to at least appreciate both Jones’ and the UFC’s decision — as conflicting as it is to say so — and here are the main reasons why.

1. Cancelling UFC 151 saved us from another “garbage-ass” card:

This general opinion is both why many fans were quick to defend Jones/lambaste Dana White and ironically the best reason that we were spared UFC 151 in favor of UFC 152. As BG so eloquently phrased it, UFC 151 was kind of garbage-ass, so let’s take a look at what we would have been dealing with had it transpired:

While there are definitely some good matchups here, a PPV main card that features Dennis Ballman vs. Thiago Tavares is not a good indicator of a card’s strength. Plus, Jacob Volkmann, you guys.

Now let’s take a look at what we’ll be treated to this weekend, God willing:

Top to bottom, UFC 152 is pretty freakin’ stacked. The only fight on the main card that doesn’t immediately scream fireworks is Hamill vs. Hollett, and the fact that it features an inspirational figure like Hamill attempting a career comeback should be enough to get most fans interested in the matchup. On the undercard, we’ll get to see the UFC return of TUF 8 finalist and true M-1 Light Heavyweight champ Vinny Magalhaes against powerful/streaking slugger Igor Pokrajac, another chance to see the ever-improving phenom Jimy Hettes, as well as crowd-pleasers like Kyle Noke, Walel Watson, and Evan Dunham.

Is the main event still a squash match? Sure, but Vitor Belfort has a way better chance at dethroning Jon Jones than Sonnen ever did, and in much more exciting fashion. And I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather see the inaugural flyweight title fight as my co-main than Jay Hieron vs. Jake Ellenberger (all due respect), even though no one seems to be talking about either.

2. Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Like I previously stated, part if not most of my excitement (and what I imagine is the case for many of you) truly has little to do with who I will be watching, but merely the fact that I will be watching any high-level fights. While this is not exactly a point I can prove using any kind of empirical data, we’ve discussed the possibility of over-saturation in the UFC before and a good percentage of you seemed to agree that the frequency of UFC cards was having the opposite of the desired effect when it came to the frequency at which you purchased them. By simply giving UFC 152 a little time to stew and gain hype — the latter of which could at least partially be attributed to the awesome fan made trailers for the event — the UFC will more than likely reap the pay-per-view rewards of an unprecedented (as of late) month long gap in between cards come fight night.

Will it be Sonnen-level buys? Maybe so, maybe not, but by a show of hands, how many of you Taters plan on purchasing UFC 152 this weekend or at least traveling to the nearest bar to catch it? It’s probably a higher percentage than you would imagine given the headlining matchup at hand.

3. SQUASH MATCHES ARE AWESOME

You guys want a return to the PRIDE mentality? You want some good old fashioned freak show fights? How about a main event where the champion is currently listed at -800 over the challenger? Not good enough? How about a -1350 deathmatch featuring Anderson Silva and this guy? Whether the UFC is aware of it or not, they have slowly begun to adopt the mindset that made PRIDE so balls-to-the-wall awesome. Mainly, serving up a squash match or two to help the audience digest all of the “fair fights” that have been plauging the UFC as of late. They’re even bringing back the ref cam…eventually. And as soon as the UFC decides to throw caution to the wind and embrace this old-school mentality with 100% enthusiasm, it can only mean two things:

1) Martinez vs. Zimmer II

2) The UFC return of a certain Japanese HLUK-slaying legend.

So yes, the cancellation of UFC 151 was actually a good thing for the fans of the sport, excluding of course those who wound up with a hotel room, flight, and other expenses that they could not back out of. But like they say, to make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs, and do I really need to explain why the UFC needs this sort of omelette?

–J. Jones

The Unsupportable Opinion: Jon Jones Deserves None of Your Hate


(Often misunderstood and unappreciated.)

By Elias Cepeda

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been derided as immature, arrogant and selfish for much of his career, especially since turning down a short-notice replacement fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson dropped out due to injury. But in a recent interview with the Associated Press, Jones sounded calm, collected and measured, especially in comparison to organization president Dana White‘s comments on the situation, as he spoke about what he’s learned. He also publicly criticized White for the first time, which probably won’t help his reputation among the fans who already despise him.

“I had to do what’s right for myself by turning down that fight, Dana had to do what was right for himself by putting the blame on everyone else except for himself,” Jones told Dan Gelston of the AP. “The lesson to be learned is, at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself and your family.”

Jones told the AP that he has not yet spoken with his boss about the comments, but appears to have had his eyes opened to how quickly UFC brass and fans can turn on him. “I think in the future, this can make me and Dana even better off,” Jones said. “For him to get out how he felt about me in that situation, it will help me look at things more business-oriented. A lot of good can come out of it. Fighters can learn the lesson of doing what’s best for themselves and not feeling like puppets. I think the UFC has learned a lesson of making sure they stay loyal to the fans and give them full cards.”


(Often misunderstood and unappreciated.)

By Elias Cepeda

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been derided as immature, arrogant and selfish for much of his career, especially since turning down a short-notice replacement fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson dropped out due to injury. But in a recent interview with the Associated Press, Jones sounded calm, collected and measured, especially in comparison to organization president Dana White‘s comments on the situation, as he spoke about what he’s learned. He also publicly criticized White for the first time, which probably won’t help his reputation among the fans who already despise him.

“I had to do what’s right for myself by turning down that fight, Dana had to do what was right for himself by putting the blame on everyone else except for himself,” Jones told Dan Gelston of the AP. “The lesson to be learned is, at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself and your family.”

Jones told the AP that he has not yet spoken with his boss about the comments, but appears to have had his eyes opened to how quickly UFC brass and fans can turn on him. ”I think in the future, this can make me and Dana even better off,” Jones said. ”For him to get out how he felt about me in that situation, it will help me look at things more business-oriented. A lot of good can come out of it. Fighters can learn the lesson of doing what’s best for themselves and not feeling like puppets. I think the UFC has learned a lesson of making sure they stay loyal to the fans and give them full cards.”

That one of its biggest stars seems jaded with the UFC and comfortable criticizing them at the height of his young career, and that he had the power to turn down a fight, might signal the start of a new stage in the organization’s development. As the UFC has grown more successful and famous, so have fighters like Jones.

No one can say that Jones has not delivered in the ring for the UFC and its fans. He’s exciting, dominating and downright captivating to watch compete. He has also fought more frequently — and sometimes on little notice in order to help the UFC save events — than any other top challenger or champion in the past two years. Yet White has led a smear campaign that accuses Jones of everything from being a coward to an egomaniac.

Jones believes, correctly, that he’s done his job very well and earned what he has from the UFC and MMA. He also has the gall to manage his own career and not necessarily take bigger risks with his money and livelihood than is necessary just because the UFC asks him to.

Jones is at the top of his game and exercised what should have been considered a benign amount of the little power he has under his UFC contract. He was set to fight a challenger and with a week until the fight, the challenger pulled out. Jones agreed to fight someone different less than a month later at UFC 152.

Astoundingly, this sequence of events has made him a mini-pariah, on trial in the court of public opinion for murdering a UFC event. Jones told the AP, “I don’t owe anybody anything.” There’s no doubt many will continue to be aggravated by statements like that from Jones but they would have a hard time debating the quote that preceded it:

“People tell me, ‘You’re the champ, you’ve got to take the fight,’” he said. “Being the champ wasn’t given to me.”

 

The Unsupportable Opinion: If Lyoto Machida Wins Tonight, he Automatically Gets Next Title Shot


Props: Jason Deebank via MMAFanMade

By Seth Falvo (@SethFalvo)

We’re just hours away from UFC on FOX 4, where four men will attempt to become the least impressive light-heavyweight title challenger since Elvis Sinosic by winning in the most impressive manner possible. To paraphrase Jeff Fox, the winner of the upcoming Jones vs. Henderson bout will defend his belt against the winner of tonight’s semantics game. There’s got to be a catch, right?

Of course there is. Even the dimmest MMA fans among us have already interpreted this as a way for Dana White to back out of giving Brandon Vera a title shot if he were to actually defeat Shogun Rua tonight. Shogun is obviously the preferable contender, but just in case he blows this somehow, we’ll shrug it off and put the winner of Machida/Bader in the cage with Jones/Hendo, right? Quite the contrary: This semantics game was designed to give Lyoto Machida a title shot with a victory.

Right now, some of you are screaming “What kind of idiot hack journalist are you, Seth?!” at your screens. First, allow me to welcome you to Cage Potato; you’re obviously new here. Second, let me lay it out for you with four simple reasons after the jump.


Props: Jason Deebank via MMAFanMade

By Seth Falvo (@SethFalvo)

We’re just hours away from UFC on FOX 4, where four men will attempt to become the least impressive light-heavyweight title challenger since Elvis Sinosic by winning in the most impressive manner possible. To paraphrase Jeff Fox, the winner of the upcoming Jones vs. Henderson bout will defend his belt against the winner of tonight’s semantics game. There’s got to be a catch, right?

Of course there is. Even the dimmest MMA fans among us have already interpreted this as a way for Dana White to back out of giving Brandon Vera a title shot if he were to actually defeat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua tonight. Shogun is obviously the preferable contender, but just in case he blows this somehow, we’ll shrug it off and put the winner of Machida/Bader in the cage with Jones/Hendo, right? Quite the contrary: This semantics game was designed to give Lyoto Machida a title shot with a victory.

Right now, some of you are screaming “What kind of idiot hack journalist are you, Seth?!” at your screens. First, allow me to welcome you to Cage Potato – you’re obviously new here. Second, let me lay it out for you with four simple reasons.

1.) A victory over Ryan Bader is more impressive than a victory over Vera/Rua. Seriously. Heading into tonight, Ryan Bader is the only fighter out of the four “contenders” who has won two straight fights, having recently defeated Jason Brilz and Rampage Jackson in his last two bouts. Before that he was caught in a fluke guillotine by Tito Ortiz and dominated by Jon Jones (as was everyone else on this list, so that’s understandable), which make up the only two blemishes on his record. He’s the youngest of the four, the most decorated wrestler of the four and is always a game opponent.

The same simply cannot be said for either Brandon Vera or Shogun Rua. Excuse me if it seems like I’m harping on this, but Brandon Vera has not won a meaningful fight since he defeated Frank Mir back in 2006. He’s coming into tonight with a victory over a gift-wrapped Eliot Marshall, yet Vera almost managed to snatch defeat from the bitter jaws of victory and get knocked out in that fight. A victory over Brandon Vera earned Jon Jones a crack at Vladimir Matyushenko. There’s absolutely no reason why a victory over Brandon Vera should earn Shogun Rua a crack at Jon Jones.

As for Shogun? Let’s face it: He’s a thirty year old post-prime PRIDE veteran with bad knees. He hasn’t won back-to-back fights since he beat the mummified versions of Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell that were on the UFC roster in 2009 (although he arguably should have won three straight). If he loses tonight, he’ll have lost three of his last four fights. I hate to say this, but if Shogun Rua loses tonight, it may be time to move him away from the title picture for good. But then again, “loses” is a bit misleading because…

2.) Vera won’t “win” so much as Shogun will “lose” if the unthinkable happens. It feels strange to argue that the casual fan’s opinion doesn’t matter, because, as I’ve pointed out before, it matters even more than most of us edumacated fans would care to acknowledge. Hell, their lack of interest in these Fox cards is probably what led to this mess in the first place. To the casual fan – who knows nothing of either Brandon Vera or Shogun Rua – a win is a win regardless. Plus Vera actually winning would kind of have that Rocky feel to it, so as long as he is exciting he will have earned a chance to get destroyed in a title fight, right?

There’s just one problem – “The Most Impressive Victory” won’t be determined by an ‘American Idol’ voting system. It will be determined by Dana White, who is anything but a casual fan.

Let’s admit it: If Vera goes out and wins tonight, hardcore fans like ourselves will all be wondering what was wrong with Shogun. And why wouldn’t we? We’ve been following the vicious knockout artist since his days of fighting in Muay Thai smokers in some dude’s house. We know what he’s capable of, and we know that a can like Vera shouldn’t be able to beat him. If he gets submitted, we’ll say that he just got caught; kind of like how we reacted to Werdum submitting Fedor. If he actually gets knocked out, we’ll wonder if Rua should start to consider retirement. We know too much to perceive it any other way.

Besides, if Vera does manage to beat Shogun Rua, it will more than likely be by neutralizing Shogun’s aggressive attack with a “Stick. Move. Wall. Stall. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.” offense. And as much as the casual fan may like a good story, the casual fan absolutely hates this style of fighting. With the turd on a plate that was UFC 149 fresh in his memory, the last thing Dana White wants to do is give a boring fighter a title shot.

I hope you aren’t done philosophizing, because…

3.) Likewise, Rua can’t “impressively” defeat Brandon Vera. I’ll keep this one short, because it’s essentially everything I just said in the last paragraph applied to Shogun instead of Vera. We know how mediocre Brandon Vera has been since 2007. Perceptions, rinse wash repeat joke, you get the idea. The bottom line here is that if Rua goes out and smashes “The Truth,” then, well…yeah. He was fighting a guy who only had a job in the first place because of Thiago Silva’s fake urine shenanigans. If Vera actually stays in this fight, we’ll all be talking about how bad Shogun looked to allow the 2012 Truth to be competitive against him. It’s a lose-lose scenario for Rua, which will make a Lyoto Machida victory look more impressive by default.

4.) Lyoto Machida vs. Jon Jones could give us the satisfying ending to the Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones super fight we’re looking for. One of the reasons that the UFC has been driving boxing towards extinction was that Dana White wouldn’t allow his best fighters to duck each other. His fighters knew that it was all about protecting the UFC brand, not their own. If the fans wanted to see two guys fight, they either signed a contract to fight or started learning Japanese.

I used the past tense because, let’s face it, all of that is going on between Jon Jones and Anderson Silva. Both men have pretty much cleaned out their divisions, yet a super fight between the two is out of the question. These guys aren’t stupid. They know they’re too valuable to be released from the UFC, yet they can potentially lose all of that value with this proposed fight. It has to be Dana White’s worst nightmare as a promoter, and it can easily turn the fans that were drawn to the sport to avoid fighters ducking fights over to Bellator.

The UFC needs a way to either motivate both men to fight each other or make the fans lose interest in this fight, and Lyoto Machida provides both. Assuming that Jon Jones defeats Dan Henderson (because if he doesn’t, there goes the “I lose marketability” concerns), this sets “Bones” up with a fight against Anderson Silva’s Black House teammate, Lyoto Machida. This keeps some focus on the super fight, but it also keeps fans interested in the current title fight instead of dismissing it. In other words, with Vera/Rua, the fan perspective is “Look at Jones ducking Silva,” but with Machida, the perspective is now “Let’s see how Silva prepares Machida for Jones.”

We’ve seen Anderson Silva get fired up over cocky, disrespectful comments before (Sonnen, anyone?), and we’ve seen Jon Jones make plenty of those. If Jones goes on to defeat Machida again, does anyone honestly rule out the possibility of him calling Black House overrated? Didn’t think so. That could easily be enough to push Anderson Silva past protecting his image and into a fight with the cocky American. Likewise, if Machida actually defeats Bones, we’re no longer even entertaining the Silva vs. Jones discussion. Jon Jones just lost to Anderson Silva’s teammate, Silva has been vocal about not wanting to fight his teammates so we know a title fight between Machida and Jones is out…why do we want to see Silva move up to fight Jones again? The UFC’s best interest is providing fans with a satisfying ending to the Silva vs. Jones super fight, and Jones vs. Machida easily has the best chance of doing this. 

So there you have it. Lyoto Machida just has to defeat Ryan Bader to earn a title shot. Assuming that Sensei Seagal has been close by, Machida will probably win the casual fans over with a flashy knockout if he wins. As long as Jon Jones defeats Dan Henderson, Jones will get Machida, Henderson will get the rematch of the decade against Shogun Rua and Brandon Vera will finally get a pink slip. And all will be right in the world.

The Unsupportable Opinion: Clay Guida Won That Fight


(And that’s for asking me how to save money on car insurance! / Pic Props: BRMMA Flickr)

By Jason Moles

Clay Guida won that fight. I know what the scorecards said; Bruce Buffer announced them to the world loud and clear. I know what everybody and their brother said on Twitter as well. None of that matters, though, because I know what I saw. Friday night in Atlantic City, Guida defeated Gray Maynard. In what parallel universe can you throw nearly a hundred more strikes than your opponent, he spends the evening swinging at ghosts, and they declare him the winner? On the mean streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico, if you have all but one of your fourteen takedowns stuffed, that does not make you a winner. That makes…not a winner.

Since when do we penalize fighters for not wanting to get smashed in the face? Guida willingly let himself be locked in a cage with “The Bully” for a total of twenty-five minutes. And yet somehow Maynard still wasn’t satisfied, saying at the post-fight press conference, “You can’t just go to the end of the cage and then back to the other end and back to the other end the whole time. You’ve got to give me a chance, too.”

“You’ve got to give me a chance, too?” Sorry, I thought Maynard was a professional fighter. I thought he was above the “If Johnny can’t hit off the pitcher, we’ll just bring out the tee” mentality. First, you don’t like his hair and now you don’t like the way he dances? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were looking for a date to the prom. You had your chance and you blew it. Were you really expecting Clay to just stand in front of you like the striking dummies at the gym?


(And that’s for asking me how to save money on car insurance! / Pic Props: BRMMA Flickr)

By Jason Moles

Clay Guida won that fight. I know what the scorecards said; Bruce Buffer announced them to the world loud and clear. I know what everybody and their brother said on Twitter as well. None of that matters, though, because I know what I saw. Friday night in Atlantic City, Guida defeated Gray Maynard. In what parallel universe can you throw nearly a hundred more strikes than your opponent, he spends the evening swinging at ghosts, and they declare him the winner? On the mean streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico, if you have all but one of your fourteen takedowns stuffed, that does not make you a winner. That makes…not a winner.

Since when do we penalize fighters for not wanting to get smashed in the face? Guida willingly let himself be locked in a cage with “The Bully” for a total of twenty-five minutes. And yet somehow Maynard still wasn’t satisfied, saying at the post-fight press conference, “You can’t just go to the end of the cage and then back to the other end and back to the other end the whole time. You’ve got to give me a chance, too.”

“You’ve got to give me a chance, too?” Sorry, I thought Maynard was a professional fighter. I thought he was above the “If Johnny can’t hit off the pitcher, we’ll just bring out the tee” mentality. First, you don’t like his hair and now you don’t like the way he dances? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were looking for a date to the prom. You had your chance and you blew it. Were you really expecting Clay to just stand in front of you like the striking dummies at the gym?

While many thought the actions of “The Carpenter” were egregious enough to warrant a PRIDE yellow card or even a point-deduction, let me point out that I didn’t see “The Bully” give much chase in an attempt to get his hands on Guida and implement his gameplan. It seemed rather, that Maynard was more content to just sit back and complain, flip the bird, cuss at Guida a little — something that in and of itself warranted a point deduction according to the Unified Rules of MMA — and then just sit back some more. Don’t even get me started on Maynard’s repeated hair-pulling. (Another point-deduction right there, if you’re keeping score.)

You see, gentlemen, what we witnessed at UFC on FX 4 was the epitome of Octagon control. In fact, Guida went above and beyond the norm, dominating not only the sponsor sticker in the center, but every square inch of the canvas. Additionally, Guida stuffed thirteen takedowns to keep the fight standing — a prime example of a fighter dictating the pace and location of a fight. Fighters must rely on judges being aware of this, and can only hope the imbeciles sitting cageside are able to recognize it when they see it and score the rounds accordingly. It’s not the first time the wrong fighter had his hand raised, and if life as an MMA fan has taught me anything over the past decade, it won’t be the last.

Clay Guida may not have been willing to become a punching bag for his opponent, nor should he have been. He was also not willing to go balls to the wall trying to take his opponent’s head off or put him to sleep on the mat, with a title shot potentially on the line. In a situation when most out-think the room, the Geico Caveman lookalike followed this popular maxim: Keep It Simple Stupid. Close the distance, get off a few clean shots, and get back out of range so he can’t counter. Simple and effective, no? The last time we saw this gameplan implemented, Carlos Condit won a title belt.

Clay Guida beat Gray Maynard, plain and simple. Guida’s footwork and effective defense kept Maynard guessing at best, punching at phantoms at worst. From bell to bell and post to post, the Greg Jackson product literally danced his way to victory. I know, because I saw it. What fight were you watching?

The Unsupportable Opinion: Why Allowing Alistair Overeem to Fight Junior Dos Santos Is the Best Thing for MMA


(Come on guys, I promise never to let you down again…pinky swear! / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

By Josh Hutchinson

Alistair Overeem — former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion, K-1 Grand Prix champion, two-time World MMA Awards International Fighter of the Year recipient, horse-meat enthusiast, music video superstar, and the #1 contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division. By now we all know the drama surrounding him and his scheduled championship fight at UFC 146. We’ve seen various replacement opponents for Junior Dos Santos get shot down, and have come to a general consensus that the Reem is most likely a cheating bastard. Fans and pundits alike have collectively called bullshit on the idea that NSAC would still consider letting the fight occur. If you take things like science, logic, and common sense into account, it’s pretty obvious what should happen here — but if we don’t play devil’s advocate, who will? Instead, let’s look at three reasons why Overeem vs. Dos Santos must happen. For example…

1) Why let all this publicity go to waste? Of the major MMA news stories that have popped up over the last few weeks, which one has dominated the headlines? If you said “Overeem’s urine analysis results,” then congratulations — you’ve not only been reading this site, but you have a much better vocabulary than me, because I would have said “Reem’s hot piss test.” For better or worse, Overeem’s dodgy test results have consumed the MMA world like the plagues of Egypt, and his name is on everyone’s lips. Maybe it’s not exactly the publicity that the UFC was hoping for, but they’d be fools not to take advantage of it. Dos Santos is such a likeable, soft-spoken character, and it would be very easy to spin the Reem as the villain in their match. And suddenly, what was simply a great heavyweight matchup just got a compelling storyline.


(Come on guys, I promise never to let you down again…pinky swear! / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

By Josh Hutchinson

Alistair Overeem — former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion, K-1 Grand Prix champion, two-time World MMA Awards International Fighter of the Year recipient, horse-meat enthusiast, music video superstar, and the #1 contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division. By now we all know the drama surrounding him and his scheduled championship fight at UFC 146. We’ve seen various replacement opponents for Junior Dos Santos get shot down, and have come to a general consensus that the Reem is most likely a cheating bastard. Fans and pundits alike have collectively called bullshit on the idea that NSAC would still consider letting the fight occur. If you take things like science, logic, and common sense into account, it’s pretty obvious what should happen here — but if we don’t play devil’s advocate, who will? Instead, let’s look at three reasons why Overeem vs. Dos Santos must happen. For example…

1) Why let all this publicity go to waste? Of the major MMA news stories that have popped up over the last few weeks, which one has dominated the headlines? If you said “Overeem’s urine analysis results,” then congratulations — you’ve not only been reading this site, but you have a much better vocabulary than me, because I would have said “Reem’s hot piss test.” For better or worse, Overeem’s dodgy test results have consumed the MMA world like the plagues of Egypt, and his name is on everyone’s lips. Maybe it’s not exactly the publicity that the UFC was hoping for, but they’d be fools not to take advantage of it. Dos Santos is such a likeable, soft-spoken character, and it would be very easy to spin the Reem as the villain in their match. And suddenly, what was simply a great heavyweight matchup just got a compelling storyline.

Besides, the UFC needs all the marquee fights it can get right now. The promotion’s relentless expansion has given us 14 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter (with two versions currently airing in two different countries), a monster broadcasting deal with FOX, and the ground-work for Zuffa’s eventual global domination. What we’ve also seen is dropping viewership for the reality show, unspectacular numbers for the FOX broadcasts, and the loss of one of their biggest pay-per-view draws of all time in the form of a questionably tattooed professional wrestler named Brock Lesnar. If the UFC wants to keep the wrestling fans that Lesnar brought over with him, who better than The Reem? Christ, the man already looks like a pro wrestler, and he was the fighter responsible for ushering Brock back to his natural “sport” in the first place. For those crossover viewers, Overeem is the perfect heir apparent for Lesnar’s proverbial passing of the larger-than-life heavyweight torch. Not only did he send Lesnar packing, but he did in such a dominant fashion that even WWE fanboys wanted to see an encore performance.

2) Overeem sure as hell isn’t the only main event fighter to fail a test for PEDs/testosterone/etc. Take Chael Sonnen, for instance. He came in with a T:E ratio even higher than Overeem’s, charmed the CSAC until his suspension was cut in half, and will be fighting for the middleweight title again this summer. It’s not like a funky test is a career-killer, as long as you can still put asses in seats. Just ask Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia, who both had to relinquish UFC heavyweight titles because of steroid busts, before resuming their careers like nothing happened. Or Vitor Belfort, Stephen Bonnar, Sean Sherk, and Chris Leben, who are still under contract with the UFC. Or Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, both original members of the UFC Hall of Fame. Does a past suspension for PED use take away from their accomplishments? Maybe. As I said in the introduction, I’m not here to throw around facts like some asshole in a parade throws out candy — I’m only here to make unsupportable claims. As I’m sure you’ve all watched these fighters at some point (big stretch right?), you know that they’re some of the most exciting fighters in the game, and we fans, above all else, like a good scrap. Which brings me to my final point…

3) Who the hell in their right mind doesn’t want to see this fight? Has there been a better UFC heavyweight matchup since Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia? (Note: feel free to argue for Mir vs. Lesnar 2, but don’t waste my time by mentioning Velazquez vs. Dos Santos.) The build-up alone has been phenomenal. In all honesty, the Dutchman and the Brazilian will produce as great a stand-up battle as we could ever hope for in this sport, and deep down, we all know this is the match that everyone wants to see, including the guys who call the shots at Zuffa. Therefore, Mr. Keith Kizer, if you are reading this, and the NSAC decides to let Overeem fight, it would be much appreciated if you could let “them” know that we supported this decision all along. Lord knows we could use some good credit in regards to certain UFC brass.

Well Nation, you have heard my arguments, which should passionately appeal to the alcoholics, drug addicts, and assorted nutjobs out there. (You know who you are.) Until we all find out the outcome of this tawdry little soap opera, feel free to argue about it in the comments section…

-Hutch-