Yes, I know the fights were last night, but my fellow MMA blogger Ms. Julie Veilleux and I had a chat to discuss the card. Check out her site (click on the blog title). We’ll probably be debating all things MMA from now on. Stay tuned.
Bellator President/CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that the fight league has acquired top British prospect “Judo” Jim Wallhead this week to compete in it’s season II welterweight tournament. Wallhead joins young standouts Dan Hornbuckle, Jacob McClintock, and Ben Askren in what’s becoming an increasingly packed division supporting a vast array of styles (i.e. “Judo” Jim Wallhead’s expertise is pretty self-explanatory, Askren’s a former Olympic wrestler and amateur standout from Mizzou, and McClintock is a 21 year-old, 2nd degree jiu-jitsu black belt).
While these four fighters aren’t exactly household names yet, Wallhead’s signing shows the company is looking all over to beef up the competition for their current champ, Lyman Good, who fought just over 15 minutes total for 3 fights to win the season one tournament (not to mention a cool $175,000).
With the spotlight being put more on Eddie Alvarez (universally ranked top-5 Lightweight & current Bellator LW champ) and middleweight champ Hector Lombard, these additions will most definitely make for an exciting tournament and would help catapult the winner, most notably Good, into discussion as one of the best WW’s not signed by the UFC or Strikeforce.
Now if only these fights didn’t have to worry about getting preempted by baseball…
Dear GSP,
Screw you Thank you for motivating BJ Penn. Because of your dominant performance at UFC 94, we, the subsequent challengers to his title, can look forward to sporting Diego’s “Bloody Picasso” look (see above) or simply getting choked out despite our worst best efforts to grab a single-leg on a guy who hasn’t been taken down by someone of our size in SIX YEARS.
We thought his questionable heart (despite his amazing talent) would eventually catch up with him. We even thought your four-round demoralizing destruction would break him down for one of us to pounce on that title, but NOOOOOOO. He actually CARES now. His trainers are saying his overly serious, stuffy, and stiff behavior before fights is now replaced with laughter and jovial confidence. Next thing you know, he’s entering the arena to traditional hoola dancers in a Hawaiian print shirt and one of us MAY DIE. DO YOU HEAR ME? DIE. DO YOU WANT THAT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE?
…Other than that, best of luck to you in March against Dan Hardy. The accent, the mohawk, and the cockiness annoy us, so please out-wrestle him back to England.
Happiest of Holidays to you and yours,
The UFC Lightweight Division
p.s. YES!
~Diego
The guy on the left is the Goliath from polska known as Mariusz Pudzianowski, recently named “Strongest Man in the World.” Last week, he made his MMA debut to 6 million viewers in Poland and wrecked Marcin Najman in the 1st round. Basically, he leg-kicked Najman around the ring, Najman crapped his pants when he got backed into a corner, fell to the mat, Pudz swarmed him with hammer fists until the ref had to basically spear him off the poor guy to stop the fight via TKO.
In related news, if I saw someone Pudz’s size across from me in a cage, ring, or, even Times Square, I’d immediately crap my pants as well.
Aside from the fight, what interested me most is the viewership for KSW’s event:
The TV broadcast of KSW 12: Pudzianowski vs. Najman peaked at over SIX MILLION VIEWERS Friday night on Polsat. About 15% of Poland’s population saw the fight (courtesy of Bloody Elbow)
This goes to show that the over saturation of cable television channels, which erode viewership from broadcast networks, hinders more widespread fighter/league exposure here in the States. To take that one step further, the fight took place on Friday night (!). The last time I gave a damn about watching TV on a Friday night was the ABC TGIF lineup. Long live Boy Meets World.
Please excuse the use of the word “art” in my title. By no means is professional wrestling high art. My grandfather and I used to bond over watching Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, and Shawn Michaels. To this day, I still check in on the musings of the WWE and TNA. It’s brainless entertainment. Heck, I purchased Wrestlemania with a few buddies for nostalgic entertainment this past Spring and we had a great time.
A few months back, Sports Business Journal had a “fight issue” where they ran down current state of business with boxing, UFC, and WWE. Since then, rumors have run rampant about Shane McMahon’s potential UFC future. With several wrestlers having made the switch to MMA (i.e. obviously Brock and Bobby Lashley may sign with Strikeforce), the integration of the sport into the professional wrestling product should not be overlooked.
Submissions have always been a part of professional wrestling, albeit ones that probably would not be used in a real situation (unless you count that one time I put my little sister in the Sharpshooter in my basement…when I was 6 years old…and by 6, I mean last week during Thanksgiving). Now? There are more arm bars, rear naked chokes, and triangle chokes being used to finish matches. If you’d have told me that The Undertaker, a character known for his “dead man” persona and Tombstone pile driver, would be using a triangle choke called the “Hells Gate” and sporting five ounce gloves, in the twilight of his career, 10 years ago? I wouldn’t have believed you.
MMA has also permeated wrestling commentary, both on and off camera. The phrase “ground and pound” was used by Jerry “The King” Lawlor in a recent broadcast. TNA had a tap out match with Lashley and Samoa Joe on a recent PPV, prompting heavier use of submission-related vernacular. Jim Ross, the 21st Century Gold Standard of wrestling commentators, has written about MMA on his blog and, true to his polished demeanor, sent out his best wishes to former WWE champ/current UFC Heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, stating “you recruit a kid for life” and “[Brock] is a gifted athlete.”
I’ll end by saying that, from what I read, a majority of the hardcore MMA community tends to shun WWE and professional wrestling, feeling as though it debases the true sport. Personally, I think the resurgence of traditional wrestling and wider spread use of Brazilian jiu jitsu in modern pro wrestling should be lauded as an homage to our sport’s burgeoning popularity. You can make fun of it all you want, but the WWE still kills in the key male demos (ya know, the ones MMA is reaching) on Monday night and is one of the most watched shows on cable television. Call me a “nOOb,” fellas, but I wouldn’t be too worried about it. I don’t think we’ll see GSP powerbombing Dan Hardy through a table in March in Newark…
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage…—The Smashing Pumpkins “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
In Hollywood, fodder for the tabloids is more or less a good thing, as long as everyone spells your name right (Note: Crashing your car into a tree amidst rumors of infidelity and a golf club-wielding wife may bring unwanted publicity).
However, in MMA, a sport trying desperately to shake off the remains of a barbaric stigma that’s plagued it for years, beating the ever-loving crap out of EVERYONE IN PLAIN SITE at a porn star’s birthday party or verbally degrading the women of a small town crowd that graciously allowed you to perform in front of them are not ways to win over the hearts and minds of casual fans or State Athletic Commissions alike.
Yes, of course, I am referring to our good friends and former TUF Vets Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver and Junie Browning. These two incidents, amongst the many that have made them famous outside the Octagon, should be the nail in the coffin for their careers.
For War Machine, flat out, the man should be in jail. If the reports floating around online are as accurate as they say, this is a matter of assault. No adult film companies, directors, or actors in their right mind would want to bring that kind of baggage on board. Also, a lot of younger, smaller MMA leagues have tried luring free agent fighters with some connection to larger promotions to their shows in order to help generate buzz. Should War Machine somehow avoid legal action, and it’d be absurd to think he won’t, I’d urge those fight leagues to stay away despite the press it would bring if he decides he’d rather go back to finishing fights than finishing…well, you get the picture.
I’ll confess Junie’s antics were somewhat amusing on TUF 8. There. I said it and I mean it. He hearkened back to a Chris Leben-esque erratic villain that makes for great television! The difference between he and War Machine, though, is that underneath the bourbon bravado and foul language, Junie seemed to evoke a small amount of sympathy, from me at least, by being a poor Kentucky kid trying to improve his lot in life. Despite his loss to Cole Miller on Ultimate Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann in April, there seemed to be hope from the Xtreme Couture Camp and UFC brass that he’d improve or at least make for a good ratings grabber with his personality. This past weekend’s post-fight comments, compounded with the incident that lead to a justifiable and appropriate dismissal from the UFC, show that Junie should not be allowed to fight until he’s completed a psychological evaluation, treatment, and clearance.
Are there a lot of fighters with issues to deal with? Of course. Heck, your job is to get into a confined space with the sole objective to physically beat one other person into submission. Most people would agree you need to be a few fries short of a happy meal to want that to be your profession, no matter how polished of a human being you are. However, it is this kind of press generated by War Machine and Junie that keeps the animalistic, sensationalist, No Holds Barred stigma attached to the sport from dying out completely and overshadows the positive contributions of the majority of competitive, well-behaved athletes in MMA.
After UFC 100, I did not think I’d be clamoring for Brock Lesnar to get better so quickly. Now that I’ve seen how much worse it can be? I’d gladly welcome a middle finger and a “Coooors” Light.
Yesterday, a friend and I were discussing the state of the UFC, particularly GSP. Both he and I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the current UFC welterweight champ, not only for his talents inside the Octagon, but also because of the respect and professionalism he’s brought to the sport. “You know what? I kind of want Dan Hardy to win,” he said. Cheer for whichever fighter you want to, I don’t care, but I was surprised, given our mutual admiration for the champion, by his response. ”It’s not because I don’t like GSP, I just would like to see the upset. I want to see him move up a weight class and he can’t do that without relinquishing the belt.” While I’m of the opinion that completely clearing out the division is the way to do it, we both agreed seeing GSP move up a weight class could create some great fights at both welterweight & middleweight.
Now, anyone who’s ever watched any sport knows that an upset can happen on any given day or night, so I am not implying that BJ Penn, GSP, and Anderson Silva are invincible, unbeatable champs in their three respective divisions (here’s looking at you, Matt Serra). However, they have been incredibly dominant and do not look to be slowing down any time soon. With the recent reports of GSP putting on some weight for a possible jump and Anderson Silva proving he can hang at 205, fight fans should get excited about the match-up possibilities:
- St.-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva at MW - One of the biggest fights in UFC history between arguably the two best PFP fighters in the world
- St.-Pierre vs. Henderson (providing Hendo returns to the UFC) - the best aspiring Olympic wrestler vs. the former Olympic wrestler
- St. Pierre vs. Marquardt - MMA aficionadi can berate me for being a “nOOb” for all I care, but it’s a fight I think would be fun
- Silva vs. Couture - The Future Legend vs. The Living (and currently fighting)Legend
- Silva vs. Rua - After Rua’s performance against Silva’s boy Machida, the potential for this fight got bigger
- Silva vs. Lil Nog - I threw this one in because, pending his performance against Luis Cane, Lil Nog’s jiu jitsu may be a good ground-game foil to Silva (not saying Silva is a slouch on the mat)
Aside from those fights that’d directly involve GSP or Silva, it’d also create more room and match ups for title contenders within the divisions they’d be leaving. Referring to my previous post about the injuries and departures of several high profile fighters, this reshuffling of GSP & Silva into new weight classes could create newer stars and more high-profile fights for the future.
Just as the soothsayer said “Beware the Ides of March” to Julius Caesar, someone must have said something very ominous to Dana White: his fighters are dropping like flies. Injuries and ailments (and Hollywood), while commonplace, have plagued the UFC in Fall ‘09 worse than ever before and delayed several high-profile pay-per-views.
On top of that, UFC’s cable cash cow, The Ultimate Fighter, is in it’s 10th season and many will agree that the Heavyweights have not delivered. The fighters lack good cardio, the fights have not been terribly exciting, and the technical execution has been noticeably sloppy. On top of that, Rampage’s decision to do the A-Team movie has sucked all the heat out of his on-screen rivalry with Rashad Evans. We, the viewers, know they won’t get to throw down at UFC 107 as planned due to his shooting schedule and both the show and interviews have shown him to be an uninspired leader.
Enter Kimbo Slice. Despite his loss to an overrated Roy Nelson in episode 3, the UFC brass have been impressed enough with Kimbo’s improvements (and not to mention, his popularity) to give him a fight against the equally ground-challenged Houston Alexander during TUF 10: Season Finale on December 5.
After BJ Penn defends his belt against Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 in December, all UFC belt holders will be on the shelf with Lesnar and St.-Pierre being some of their biggest PPV draws. If ever was a time to leverage Kimbo’s popularity to raise awareness of up-and-coming talent to the casual MMA fan, it would be now. Dana & Co. have already done this with prospect Jon “Bones” Jones fighting on the TUF 10 Finale against TUF vet Matt Hamill (Ed. note: This was unintentional since the Kimbo fight was announced after the proposed Jones vs. Hamill main event, but still fortuitous none the less). A Kimbo victory over Alexander could validate a 1-2 fight contract with the UFC to help further his popularity.
Depending on the length of the contract, and this is all contingent on Kimbo beating Alexander, having Kimbo fight on a main card will help draw the attention of casual fans as well as the curious hardcore fans who are “on the fence” about buying that month’s PPV. With the dearth of hot prospects like Cain Velasquez, Anthony Johnson, and Todd Duffee on the rise, Kimbo could give the marketing boost to give them a bigger stage to fight on while the UFC’s champs and fan favorites are sidelined.
Now, critics and fans tend to get very title-shot happy once someone goes on a streak. Should Kimbo be thrust into a title situation? Absolutely not. The biggest problem the UFC will have to solve with Kimbo is which weight class he should fight in. He’s being gifted a catchweight fight at 215 for Alexander, but many question Kimbo’s ability to get down to 205 for Light Heavyweight and if he can hang with the bigger Heavyweights. Is the UFC in dire straits? Absolutely not, but at 35 years old, Kimbo’s popularity has a finite window to use to it’s advantage. If Kimbo wins one more, I’d say cash in the chips to invest in other younger fighters’ futures.
