Bleacher Report - Articles by Robert DesRoche

UFC 101: Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin an Unrecognized Super Fight

Robert DesRoche — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:00:43 -0400

Anderson Silva's last two fights (contrary to popular belief, both wins) were not only criticized, but practically criminalized for their lack of an explosive finish within the first two rounds as he had done in his first seven fights in the UFC. As the old saying goes, "With great skill comes ridiculously high standards." That is the saying...right?

To start, there's the Cote fight. In round one, Silva landed a big head kick followed by a huge knee right to the chin of Cote, which seemed to hardly phase the grizzled Canadian. The fact is that Cote has one of the best chins in MMA. Almost anyone else taking those shots would have been finished.

Unfortunately, bursts of brilliance from Silva in this fight were forgotten underneath the gloomy shadow of the unspectacular finish in the third round. He did not get a chance to finish the deal, and thus his performance was labeled as "bad."

Joe Rogan said it well during the second round: "One of the things I love about the fact that Cote is so tough is that this fight is gonna go a while. And it's so entertaining watching Anderson Silva perform." Well, so much for that. Silva would have to move on.

Thales Leites was next in line. The fight requires review however excruciating it may be to think about it.

One only needs to look to the third round to summarize the general idea of the fight. The third was the round that Silva really started going after Leites. In return, Leites dove out of the way of punches and onto his back and again, and again, and again.

The only blame to be given out for this snooze-fest goes to Thales Leites. It is the challengers job to try to make a legitimate effort at taking the belt away. Forget the fact that Leites completely cowered under the spotlight.

Silva was fighting a guy that needed to use the "Silva has two arms and two legs like everyone else" rationalization to make it seem like he really believed he could win the fight. Leites was not ready for the challenge.

Fortunately, Silva's next fight is against Griffin - a man famous for his fighting spirit. And with such a "game" opponent in line for Silva, it's clear to see that this is a potential fight of the year candidate. The counter-punching Silva is going to be squared off with Griffin's dose of "aggression with a plan."

This is more than a fight where the Middleweight Champion moves up a weight class to fight a former Light Heavyweight Champion even, but also a match where the styles seem to be a perfect clash.

The only question left to ask is: why isn't this fight getting more publicity? What makes it so far off from the battle between GSP and Penn?

Silva is not as popular as his skills and achievements dictate he should be.

Forrest was convincingly winning his fight with Evans before it fell apart in the third round. This is incredibly close to being a "Champion vs Champion" fight. Yet it's merely a Co-Main Event on what seems to be viewed as "just another fight card."

The last time Anderson was involved in a fight of such caliber was back at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion on March 1, 2008 against Dan Henderson. Up to this point, it is the peak of Silva's career. He faced his toughest test, and made Henderson look mediocre in the second round en route to the submission victory.

Since then he KO'd Light Heavyweight gatekeeper James Irvin, and returned to the Middleweight Division with the aforementioned less than exceptional results.

UFC 101: Silva vs Griffin is not only a potential new peak in Silva's career from the casual fan's point of view, but a fight that might just show that Silva never was on a downfall in the first place. This is the fight to show that the claims of Anderson Silva's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Does Griffin have a chance to beat Silva in this fight by using a couple well-timed takedowns and competitive stand up? Yes, he does. And that's exactly why Silva will be able prove to everyone just how amazing he is in this fight. Be prepared for a "ballet of violence."

Watch out MMA world, because this is the fight that Anderson Silva gets the type of publicity he deserves. This is the unrecognized super fight. But rest assured, next time Silva is in a "super fight," everyone will know it.

The War Report Volume 1: Wanderlei Will Beat Rampage

Robert DesRoche — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:09:32 -0500

The War Report will be an ongoing series that pits two writers with opposing viewpoints on a particular fight. The War Report will evolve with each subsequent piece and can change based on the styles of the two writers involved.

Each writer will assemble his or her own article and the opposing writer's article will be linked at the bottom. Read both articles to get the full report. If you are interested in being a part of future War Reports, please contact the writer on his profile.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008, on paper, promises to be one of the greatest cards in the history of the UFC. And on that card, there is one fight that stands out as the most explosive: Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson III features two fighters with a combined record of 60 wins, 35 of which have come via TKO or KO—22 from Wanderlei and 13 for Rampage.

You've heard it a thousand times, and usually it's incorrect, so I refrain from using it myself, but this seems as good a fight as any to use it: "Someone is going to sleep" or "This one isn't going to the judges." So with this preface, let us delve into the matchup.

First, a brief history of the last two fights: Wanderlei knocked Rampage out—brutally— twice. The second knockout, one of the greatest in MMA history, left Rampage stiff and tangled between the ropes. Silva got him in the clinch, used his knees, and Rampage had no answer.

Here we are, four years and two months later, prepared for the rematch. It's fair to say that neither fighter has been the same since. Silva has gone 5-5 since, losing to a who's who of opponents: Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, and Chuck Liddell.

The peak of Silva's career may just have been as he jumped onto the turnbuckle with his hands in the air after destroying Rampage for the second time, with the confetti falling around him and the music playing.

On the other hand, Jackson has gone 7-2 since their last fight, only losing to Shogun and Forrest Griffin. Everyone agrees that he has become much more polished in all aspects of the game.

In an interview leading up to this fight, Jackson commented on his previous fights with Wanderlei, "Man, I was a terrible fighter back then. I didn't know nothing. I don't even know how I made it to the championship to fight him." It could be taken as an excuse, but maybe it's just honesty, stating the facts, or confidence.

But could it just be rationalization? I think it is very valid that we ask the question when analyzing this fight: Is Wanderlei in Rampage's head?

My opinion: However you much stock you put into it, I think Wanderlei has a mental edge in this fight. Rampage can put Wanderlei on his back, take him out of his comfort zone, rock him, anything. I still feel that the previous two fights place an extra weight of confidence in the already amazing fighter mentality of Wanderlei, and at least an ounce of doubt in the back of Rampage's mind.

Because what will Wanderlei do? He'll try an armbar off his back. He'll create space and get back to his feet. He'll get up if he's knocked down. He'll keep stalking. He'll keep striking.

Of course Rampage has worked on his clinch over the years, and he'll probably be a lot more prepared to handle the knees than he was before. But what about his leg kick defense? Standing there flat-footed isn't going to do against Silva. What about the times we've seen Rampage simply stick his two gloves in front of his face as he takes a barrage of strikes after being rocked?

I mentioned earlier their records since their last fight, but there is a key distinction to make here. In Rampage's last fight, he was decisioned by Forrest Griffin and left the octagon a loser, and limping. He proceeded to get into a world of legal trouble following. It's hard to believe Rampage is back and better than ever coming into this fight until I see it.

In Wanderlei's last fight, he demolished Keith Jardine, using vicious hand speed and killer instinct. He leaped up onto the octagon and flexed in celebration. He looked like the man who had just beaten Rampage back on Oct. 31, 2004; That man who was mythical in his status; The man who was 19-0-1 in Pride before facing the 290-pound Mark Hunt.

Lots of people are probably coming into this fight having picked Rampage in one, if not both, of their first two fights. They think that Rampage has the right skill set and will pick him every time.

It may be no different than all the experts who picked against George Mason round, after round, after round, after round of the NCAA tournament, convinced this is the time things will go the way they are supposed to, and ending up banging their heads against the wall. Wanderlei Silva wins via TKO, round 3

To see Brian's opposing viewpoint click here.

UFC 91: Brock Lesnar Vs Randy Couture

Robert DesRoche — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:51:37 -0500

Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture will be one of the biggest fights in mixed martial arts history. It will take place on Saturday, November 15th, in MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC 91.

The UFC marketing machine is going to shove this clash of names down everyone's throats like never before as it gets closer and close to fight time, so prepare.

It will be sold as THE biggest fight in MMA history. And despite any controversy over the match being made, the point can not be argued. Two big names, each for their own reasons, will collide.

Only one question remains. And we ask it to some of the brightest minds of the MMA Bleacher Report Community. Who wins and why?

Jad Semaan

Lesnar will take Couture down easily, and shouldn't have much difficulty keeping him there. The size and strength difference will be too great for Couture too overcome.

"The Natural" does not have a good guard and he lacks high-end submission skills. He will need to catch Lesnar with a flying knee or cut him with an elbow. The fight won't be on the feet for long, and I don't think cardio will play a large factor either.

Lesnar might be really aggressive and look for a tko victory after getting a dominant position on the ground. It's possible he may finish Couture, but I think he'll end up scoring a decision victory using superior wrestling and ground control.

Couture has lost to bigger grapplers before (Ricco & Barnett), but Lesnar is a different kind of animal, and presents an even worse nightmare match-up for the "Natural".

However, I must say that the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion will be the man who walks away unscathed from the four-man "tournament" involving Couture, Lesnar, Noguiera and Mir.

Couture holds the official title, Nogueira has the interim belt and Mir never lost his belt in a title match, so whoever emerges undefeated in his next two fights will be the true champion, and only after the other three contenders have lost.

Bryan Trafford

For Couture to win this, he will have to negate the advantages Brock will have in this fight which are speed, youth, power, and size. Randy will need to avoid standing at a distance with Brock, and initiate clinches where he can work on the inside.

On the ground Randy will most likely end up on his back, and should look to work for submissions. The longer this fight goes without Randy taking too much punishment, the better his chances will be.

As for Brock, he should look to keep this fight standing and at a distance to start with. He has shown quick hands and reflexes, and he needs to try to soften Randy up before shooting for a takedown which we all know is coming and I doubt Randy will be able to stop.

If he can avoid clinching and keep those legs from being exposed in bad positions on the ground, this can be easy work for him.

My pick is Brock by ground-n-pound stoppage in a fight that's not even close.

Derek Bedell

Brock Lesnar is a monster. The guy is a former division one wrestling champion with freakish strength. Although his MMA skills are very fresh and new, I feel Lesnar will overpower Randy Couture in their November super match-up.

Randy Couture has been out of action for over a year. "The Natural" can easily pull of the victory due to his masterful game plans, experience, and the fact that he’s Randy F’N Couture.

However, I feel Lesnar’s incredible strength, wrestling background, youth, speed, and athleticism will be too much for the 45-year-old.

Randy can’t wrestle Brock the way he has others in the past. Lesnar is a lot more athletic and quicker than Tim Sylvia. So this fight will be incredibly different than that David vs. Goliath showdown.

I expect Couture to pick and choose his spots and try to tire out the beast in Brock Lesnar. Expect Randy to try and pull of the win by decision or in the later rounds. That seems to be the smart thing to do.

Randy Couture is the Rocky Balboa of MMA and this fight sure has the qualities of Drago vs. Balboa in Rocky IV. The question remaining is will we see Rocky prevail and win the hearts of millions again or Drago dominate and finish.

This is real life and NOT the movies so I suspect the monster Brock Lesnar to do what Drago couldn’t…finish the legend.

It’s a hard fight to call because you can never count Randy Couture out. He’s proved himself so many times in the past and is a smarter fighter now than he’s ever been. My money has to be on Brock.

If there was no wrestling background with Lesnar it would be a different story, but that is not the fact here. And like a quote in Rocky IV,"it could be a painful one."

Brock Lesnar, round two TKO.

Kevin Curran

Brock Lesnar has shown that he is a bull in a china shop when it comes to the lighter fighters in the division, so now he is going to take on one of the lightest fighters in the UFC heavyweight division, Randy Couture.

This fighter also happens to be a surefire UFC hall-of-famer, resilient beyond belief, oh yeah and a former champ. Randy also has the skills in wrestling to keep Lesnar in check. If Randy can win the war on foot he has a good shot.

Brock Lesnar is the biggest baddest dude to fight in the UFC in some time. While Randy relies on athleticism, Lesnar has all the tools Randy has and more. Also, Lesnar has hown weakness in the ground game as far as submissions, Randy does not possess a top submission game.

So what stops Lesnar from stomping him out?

At this point in time nothing is stopping him. Randy has been busy starring in crappy movies for a little over a year now and has not been near a cage in a little bit longer than that.

Lesnar is young, strong, big, fast, athletic, big, strong, and did I mention big? Randy has it in for him alright.

Yours Truly

I tried to get some writers that I thought would pick Randy, but they declined to submit any pieces to me. The fact of the matter is that I agree with everyone else in this article. Randy is at a severe disadvantage in this fight. I won't add anything else to that. I have another route that I want to take with my analysis.

I am of the opinion that Randy Couture is the most overrated heavyweight in the history of MMA. He is a great fighter, worthy of the Hall of Fame, but as a heavyweight, there are far too many people that think he is one of the ten best pound for pound fighters in the world.

It just doesn't make sense. Let's take a closer look at his heavyweight record.

Record: 12-5

Key Wins: Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith, Kevin Randleman, Pedro Rizzo twice, Tim Sylvia, Gabriel Gonzaga

Key Losses: Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez, Valentijn Overeem, Enson Inoue, Mikhail Illoukhine

The last two wins and the first two losses listed are the ones that we should be paying the most attention to here. As far as the last three losses, you should be saying "who?" when you hear their names.

As for those last two wins, they will be the only wins Randy has over heavyweights in the past six years on the night that he fights Lesnar. Think about that. As for those two wins . . .

Since Sylvia's loss to Couture, he won ugly against Vera, and was finished by Nogueria and Emelianenko. Sylvia hasn't been impressive since his first win over Arlovski back in April 2006, a fight where he was closed to finished, but capitalized on Arlovski leaving himself open as he went wildly for the kill, winning by TKO.

Following Gabriel's loss to Couture, he was TKO'd by Werdum, and won against a tomato can by the name of Justin McCully. Gabriel's only key win is held over Mirko Cro Cop by a stunning head kick. To this day he remains a one-kick wonder. Two wins over top ten heavyweights is good, but Couture is not one of the best ten fighters in the world, and not even close to it anymore.

He is not ready for Lesnar, just look at the two aforementioned losses. They are to two big grapplers that used their size advantage to aid in their victory over couture: Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. Probably the two most accomplished Heavyweights that Randy has ever faced.

These two fighters were the reason that Randy moved down to Light Heavyweight. He couldn't handle the size. Both of them finished the fight via TKO. Expect a similar fight. Randy Couture's worst position is on his back. That's where he'll be.

In case you didn't notice, I got Lesnar. And that sums up the picks of a Bleacher Report writers for this article. Let the debate continue!

UFC Matchmaker: The Light Heavyweights

Robert DesRoche — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:40:42 -0400

Each diehard fan of MMA is a professional matchmaker. They can see all the angles. They size up the strengths and weaknesses of each fighter and determine the most exciting potential wars in the octagon.

They carefully consider the resumes compiled and determine the rankings in each division. It's always clear to them who should be next in line for the title shot. And just as their lack of position as UFC Matchmaker dictates, they are robbed of the shot to choose the fights! What a terrible tragedy!

All the experts are shunned as the days pass; all the possibly miraculous fantasy fights never occur. These experts are resigned to watch episodes of TUF 6 as they scout the new talent.

The experts may also be resigned to hovering over their computer monitor, keeping up to date with rumors for upcoming events, or perhaps even writing an article for the bleacher report.

Leaving all sarcasm behind, my matchmaking dreams will begin in the UFC Light Heavyweight division, and this will be the focus of my article. The Light Heavyweight division is perhaps the deepest talent pool and most UFC-dominated division in all of MMA.

Significant upcoming fights already include Tito Ortiz vs Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva vs Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans vs James Irvin, and the title fight between Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. It seems that every top competitor in the division finds his home in the most prestigious octagon in the sport. It's a matchmaker's dream...

Let's begin with some under-the-radar potential match-ups. I'm looking for Rashad Evans to defeat James Irvin at UFC 85 by utilizing his superior wrestling and sufficient striking skills.

This would set up a number of options for the undefeated contender. I would look to see him face Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, a fellow rising contender in the division. Hamill holds a record of 5-1, with his only loss coming in what is highly regarded as one of the worst judging jobs in UFC History by split decision to Mike Bisping.

Evans and Hamill are widely considered to be two of the best pure wrestlers in the division, each with great pedigrees. I would see this match as the stepping-stone for the winner towards a solidified top spot in the division and recognition as a dangerous opponent for any fighter.

They'd likely step into consistent opportunities such as the one Rashad almost had recently, when he was scheduled to fight Chuck Liddell as a replacement for Shogun Rua.

Rameau Sokoudjou is a certified beast and has a wealth of potential. He already holds KO wins over Antônio Rogério Nogueira (UFC Heavyweight champion's brother) and Ricardo Arona in Pride. He is relatively inexperienced, but these wins prove his power.

Rameau recently lost at UFC 79 to Lyoto Machida, a fighter who still remains undefeated. Now Rameau prepares to fight MMA veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura in a bounce-back match at UFC 84. I look for him to loosen up in his return to the octagon and win by TKO.

Fighting on the same card is the undefeated Thiago Silva (11-0). Thiago has recorded three straight TKO victories in the UFC. At UFC 84 he will fight UFC newcomer Antonio Mendes. I look for him to win in similar fashion with his amazing strikes.

This sets up my next potential match-up: Rameau Sokoudjou vs Thiago Silva. The winner here would quickly be a Top 10 contender in the division.

Moving on to bigger names, there is certainly a great deal of sorting out to do at the top of this division. I look for the respective winners of Machida vs. Ortiz and Wanderlei vs. Jardine to fight each other some time in the fall. The man who emerges from these four would move to the 3-5 spot in the division — most likely only one more fight from a title shot.

I also look for the formerly scheduled Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell fight to be rescheduled as soon as each recovers from his knee and hamstring injuries, respectively. I would hope neither fighter competes in the octagon again until this collision of top 5 Light Heavyweights has been settled. I'd look for the winner here to move into the #1 contender spot against the winner of Griffin vs. Jackson immediately.

Regardless of the outcomes of all these fantasy fights, expect a high priority to be placed on another rematch of Liddell vs. Jackson. Although rematches of Jardine vs. Liddell, Griffin vs. Rua, and Jackson vs. Rua would all be intriguing, I see Liddell vs. Jackson as a fight that may happen in spite of losses from either of the two fighters. The massive popularity of these two and appeal to the more casual MMA fans would make the fight highly anticipated, even if it were not for a title or No. 1 contender spot.

Here are some other random match-up thoughts: Houston Alexander vs Tim Boetsch; and Wilson Gouveia vs James Irvin.