Bleacher Report - Articles by Ryan Sarazin

Is Anderson Silva's Move To Light Heavyweight A Way Out of the Octagon?

Ryan Sarazin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:32:43 -0400

The "Championship Clause."

For most fighters, the UFC's "championship clause" is something they can only dream of being obligated to. For others, it becomes a stigma when they realize it holds them back from doing other things.

The "Championship Clause" as it is commonly known is a clause in the UFC fighter contracts that legally binds that fighter to the company for as long as he is the champion.

What happens when a fighter becomes champion but keeps winning? What happens when that fighter becomes bored and wishes to do other things, but can't because no one can threaten his title reign, leaving him legally bound to the company?

I think we're finding out.

Anderson Silva has openly stated that once he is contractually able, he would like to fight Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match. Dana White won't allow the fight to take place while Silva is under contract with the UFC which, some will disagree, is a good business decision on White's part.

Should Silva lose that bout, it would undo everything the UFC has done up to this point to tag Silva as the world's pound-for-pound best mixed martial arts fighter and would not only discredit the UFC's talent pool, but also mixed martial arts as a whole. If Silva were to win, which at this point, I believe he would, he really wouldn't gain much, if anything, since he would be fighting an aging, out-of-his-prime fighter.

So Silva is stuck with the UFC and unable to chase other dreams while he remains a champion of the company.

Being contractually able would mean that Silva would have to lose his title and then fight the remaining fights on that contract without becoming champion again. But Silva losing that title isn't something that will come any time soon.

He knows it.

Silva's last two fights at middleweight carried the following message, "I'm bored, move me up a weight class."

For fear of having a repeat of Silva's lackluster performances at middleweight, the UFC decided to challenge Silva in a new weight class.

The result—two spectacular one round knockouts; the most recent against former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

After his performance against Griffin, Silva and manager Ed Soares met with Dana White in the hallway and asked to move to light heavyweight permanently and vacate the middleweight title.

Dana is seriously considering this possibility.

There are many great fights and big challenges for Silva at 205 lbs. The fans will surely be the winners in all of this as we will be treated to some of the greatest fights in the history of the sport.

The trouble with this is that Silva refuses to fight Lyoto Machida for the title because Machida is a friend, and let's face it—Machida isn't losing that title any time soon.

So Silva gives up his title and doesn't fight for one in his new weight class.

'Championship Clause' is effectively eliminated from the equation.

Silva has mentioned in previous interviews that he wanted to fight the remaining bouts on his contract and retire to spend time with his family. Retirement would be fine with Dana White if that's truly what Silva wanted, but Silva would retire as a champion. After retirement he still wouldn't be able to fight elsewhere.

A bout with Roy Jones Jr. would never be a possibility.

Is Silva strategically planning his exit from the UFC and slowly working his way towards retirement and a future bout with Jones Jr.?

The second that the UFC agrees to allow Silva to relinquish his middleweight title, Silva becomes in charge of his future.

It is possible that this is something he's been planning since his first move to light heavyweight.

Silva has been a patient, methodical fighter inside the Octagon, and maybe now he's showing it outside as well.

As much as I am excited to see what fights are in store for Silva at light heavyweight, I have a feeling that Silva has found his way out.

Anderson Silva-Forrest Griffin Set for August

Ryan Sarazin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:40:59 -0400

"I honestly think Anderson Silva needs to challenge himself a little more."

Dana White's reaction at the UFC 97 post-fight press conference was less than congratulatory after a main event that drew the ire of many at home and left hundreds in attendance filing for the exits.

"Maybe we go to 205 and do a fight with somebody who poses a serious threat to him."

Many agreed. Anderson Silva was bored; he was rapidly growing tired of his shrinking competition. In his last two outings, he simply toyed with opponents who didn't really have any business inside that cage with him.

After leaving the cage with a unanimous five round decision victory without a scratch on him and setting a new UFC record for most consecutive victories at nine, Anderson Silva made it very clear that he is above and beyond any opponent the UFC has to offer at middleweight.

No one wants to sit through another five round circus act like the one we saw at UFC 97 in Montreal, Dana White especially.

Dana White is a man of his word. He was embarrassed by Silva's performance at UFC 97, so now it's Superfight time!

Anderson Silva is being sent to the land of light heavyweights for a second time. This time he won't be fighting a journeyman like he did against James Irvin. He'll fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

The two will meet August 8 in Philadelphia as the co-main event of UFC 101.

Forrest Griffin isn't a fighter who is going to lay down for Anderson Silva. We all know what kind of a fighter Forrest Griffin is, and when he fights you know you will be watching a war.

He has a lot of heart and skill, and is one of the most popular fighters in MMA.

He is just the type of fighter Anderson Silva wants—and needs.

Aside from UFC 100, UFC 101 is shaping up to be the best card of the year with the lightweight title fight between B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian as the main event.

Both men seem to be excited for this fight and that makes me, as a fan, excited for this fight.

Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports was the first to break the news in his article, which you can read here.

Positives of the UFC 97 Main Event

Ryan Sarazin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:11:43 -0400

Beyond the obvious records that were broken and the history that was made on the night of April 18, 2009 inside the Bell Centre in Montreal, another historic event occurred that was not so obvious to those watching on television.

I had the privilege of being in attendance for this event and was absolutely amazed at what I was seeing in the arena beginning in the fourth round of the main event between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites: hundreds of people leaving their seats and heading for the exits—in the middle of the main event!

As fans do at a hockey game when the score is 7-0 in the third period, the seats began emptying like the building was being evacuated.

I'm almost positive that this is something that has never happened to the UFC before. So disappointing was this fight that many in attendance decided they'd be better off getting an early front row seat in one of Montreal's many strip clubs than be witness to two guys staring lovingly into each other's eyes for another 10 minutes.

The fight was disappointing, yes—but instead of completely tearing this thing apart, I would like to take a look at some of the positives that came out of this fight. As few as they may be, there were some good things that we can take from it.

First, a positive for Thales Leites—he was able to find a hole in Anderson Silva's defense, as he landed a beautifully placed head kick that Silva didn't see coming.

Now I'm sure this was due to Silva's lack of respect for Thales' standup game. Had he been fighting an opponent with a more lethal standup game, I'm sure he would have been more conscious to defend.

That aside, Leites was still able to hit him with a good shot, and had it been a kick from someone who pumps real power into their kicks, it could have been a fight-ending blow.

So from here, some fighters may take from this and say, "Hey, as long as he doesn't respect my striking, he may leave openings."

For Anderson Silva, he once again proved just how good he really is. He was able to goof around and be very creative with his striking—punching the legs, some weird backwards cross kick, and very brutal side kicks to the lead leg of Thales Leites.

Silva proved that he is so good he can play around with his opponents and still win the fight and win it without taking any damage. That is how good this guy is.

Also for Anderson Silva, he was able to nullify any ground attack from Thales Leites while on his back. Leites is one of the best submission fighters in the game and couldn't mount any offense while in the top position.

Silva showed just how good his ground game is. He was never in any danger while on the ground, which was supposed to be Leites' advantage. Not only did he defend well from the bottom, but he made it look easy and got back to his feet.

Silva has great takedown defense, but Thales can take from this knowing that he was able to get him down in round two which is something that good takedown fighters (*cough* GSP *cough) can also take from this fight.

Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter are also fighters who were able to get Silva down. Thales can also now lay claim to being one of only two fighters in the UFC to win a round over Anderson Silva; Dan Henderson being the other, taking round one of his fight with Silva.

Another positive thing to take from this fight was the record that was set by Anderson Silva for most consecutive wins inside the Octagon, surpassing Jon Fitch and UFC legend Royce Gracie. He also tied the record for most consecutive UFC title defenses at five alongside Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz.

The most significant positive to take away from this fight is the future matchups for Anderson Silva. At the UFC 97 post-fight press conference, Dana White had said that a matchup with an elite 205-pounder might be in store—someone who will be a threat to Anderson Silva.

This excites me the most about the aftermath of this fight.

I believe that because Silva seems bored and chooses to toy with his opponents, he is now going to get what he wants and be matched up with someone in the top 10 or top five of the light heavyweight division. I'm all for megafights, and I'm sure that Anderson Silva's next fight will be a megafight.

So there is some good that came out of this gong show of a fight. Maybe we'll see the Anderson Silva of old re-emerge at, say, UFC 102 or 103?

A new reign of terror may be on the light heavyweight horizon.

The UFC Does Not Fix Fights: A Few Examples

Ryan Sarazin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:43:28 -0500

After reading several articles that took on the issue of fixed fights in the UFC, I decided that I'd throw my two cents into the mix.

First and foremost, I do not believe that the UFC fixes its fights. I will, however, agree that on occasion, the UFC will hand pick opponents tailored to be relatively easy fights for certain fighters.

Some fights come to mind immediately when the word "gimme fight" comes up:

Gabriel Gonzaga, for example; his last two opponents were pretty much gimme fights in Justin McCully and Josh Hendricks. Brandon Vera was also given one of these fights against UFC newcomer Reese Andy in Vera's Light Heavyweight debut.

Those are just a few examples of the occasional gimme fight that the UFC will hand out. However, this article is not about gimme fights because gimme fights in the UFC are rare. The fact that gimme fights are rare in the UFC is a good example as to why the UFC does not fix its fights; most fighters in the UFC face top competition every fight. The point of this being that to be the best, you have to beat the best and more often than not, the UFC will put on the fights that the fans want to see.

Now before I get too far off topic, here are several examples that I think prove that the UFC does not fix its fights.

Chuck Liddell is the most obvious example here.

Chuck Liddell was, and still is–except maybe now for Brock Lesnar - the most recognizable figure in mixed martial arts. He is the UFC's poster boy and Dana White's right hand man.

Chuck Liddell vs. Rampage Jackson

When Rampage Jackson was brought to the UFC, it was obvious that the UFC wanted to match him up with Chuck Liddell to challenge for the Light Heavyweight belt. Chuck Liddell had lost to Rampage in Pride and this fight was to allow Chuck to avenge that loss and allow Dana White to say "I told you we have the best fighters in the world!"

Rampage beat Chuck in the first round of that title fight. Chuck was not supposed to lose.

But because Rampage is such a marketable figure, this example isn't as clear cut as the next.

Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine

Chuck was definitely not supposed to lose this one. This fight was supposed to be one of those 'gimme fights' for Liddell. Jardine isn't exactly the most marketable fighter in the UFC and was supposed to be a perfect matchup for Liddell as he would stand and trade with the former champ; it would be here that Liddell would knock him out.

Not so much.

Jardine executed a perfect game plan using effective kicks to keep Liddell off his game. Jardine won by split decision and handed Chuck Liddell his second loss in a row.

Not exactly what the UFC had in mind.

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

With Chuck coming off an impressive win over Wanderlei Silva, a win over Evans would set up a huge money making fight between two of the UFC's most marketable fighters in Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title.

Evans' style was one that Liddell beats easily; a wrestler who will try to take him down. Chuck had a lot of success fighting wrestlers because he would use his own wrestling ability to defend the takedown, keep the fight standing and land that knockout punch. This was to be the case against Evans.

But Evans didn't look for the takedown. He opted to stand and trade with Liddell.

Liddell took a nap.

Definitely not the result that the UFC had wanted. Now, instead of the UFC being able to set up a gold mine of a fight between Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, they had a daunting task of marketing a fight between Evans and Griffin–a fight nowhere near as intriguing as Liddell vs. Griffin.

I don't mean to pick on Liddell, it's just that if the UFC fixed its fights, Chuck Liddell would never lose.

But enough of Liddell, Mirko Cro Cop also comes to mind.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovich was, at the time, the most feared striker in all of mixed martial arts. He was a head hunting kick boxer with deadly power in his kicks. The UFC acquired him from Pride and was paid very handsomely to come over and steamroll through the competition to capture the Heavyweight title.

He was well on his way after his TKO victory over Eddie Sanchez in his UFC debut. His next fight was to be a walk in the park.

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Gabriel who?

Prior to this fight, Gonzaga fought mostly in prelim matches and was a relatively unknown fighter. Cro Cop was to dispose of him with relative ease.

Apparently, Gonzaga didn't get that memo.

Gonzaga knew what he had to do–take Cro Cop down. He did just that after catching a body kick and taking Cro Cop to the mat. He proceeded to pummel Cro Cop on the ground for most of the round. But a standup was forced and it appeared that Cro Cop would begin his assault.

Should Gonzaga's career as a fighter not turn out, he can always resort to doing impressions. His impression of Mirko Cro Cop in the final seconds of round one was possibly the best impression I've ever seen. Gonzaga was possibly thinking "here's my impression of what you look like when you fight".

And with that came the kick heard round the world.

It was as horrific as it was ironic. Cro Cop who had become known for knocking out his opponents with deadly head kicks found himself tasting his own medicine. Gonzaga delivered a thunderous kick to the head that dropped the Croatian in disturbing fashion.

Not exactly what Dana White and the UFC had in mind.

Heavily marketed fighters that get paid $300,000 per fight are not supposed to get knocked out by unknown fighters.

This next example is a no-brainer. It is possibly the biggest upset in UFC history.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra

After winning The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback, Serra was guaranteed a title shot against the young, athletic, and very marketable Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre.

Coming into this fight, Matt Serra was the underdog of all underdogs. He wasn't given much of a chance at dethroning the new champ. St. Pierre was to walk right through Serra and reign supreme as the UFC's 170lb champion for as long as he wanted.

But as that old saying in MMA goes–anything can happen.

And it did.

As quickly as Georges St. Pierre attained the welterweight crown, he had it removed thanks to the heavy hands of Matt Serra.

A shot behind the ear sent St. Pierre into a drunken stupor, doin' the polka around the Octagon and finally being finished off by the unrelenting assault of Matt Serra.

It was an upset for the ages.

Upsets. If the UFC fixed its fights, the word upset would not even exist in the UFC vocabulary.

There are no predetermined fights in the UFC and that's why it is the most successful promotion in the most exciting sport in the world.

UFC's Roger Huerta and The Road Ahead

Ryan Sarazin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:27:17 -0400

For most of us, there are only two guarantees in life: death and taxes.

Roger Huerta's pre UFC 87 guarantee that he would never lose may have come across the wrong way, because as any mixed martial artist will tell you: there are no guarantees inside the cage.

To me, his prediction wasn't so much a guarantee that he would never lose another fight, but more of a guarantee that, no matter what, he would never quit.

Quitting for Roger Huerta just isn't an option. Not only is it not an option, it's not even in his vocabulary. I'm sure most have seen his fight with Clay Quida as evidence, but if not, watch that fight and you'll see a completely different level of heart and determination.

It's the life he's led up to this point that has made him who he is. A life that saw him beaten by his mother and stepmother, abandoned at age seven, and left to sleep on rooftops with no place to call home. He's seen some of the worst that life can dish out. There's nothing Roger can't overcome.

His recent defeat at the hands of Kenny Florian at UFC 87 is the latest obstacle to cross Huerta's path. It has no doubt set him back, but not quite as far as one may think.

Roger will look to begin his ascension up the lightweight ladder once again and here's a look at a number of talented lightweights that might be looking to block the road ahead for Roger Huerta.

Mac Danzig

Danzig won the Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra series with a submission victory over welterweight Tommy Speer. Danzig then submitted a very game Mark Bocek in the third round at UFC 83 in Montreal.

Danzig's next fight comes at Ultimate Fight Night 15 in Omaha, Nebraska where he'll face off against the man that Roger Huerta last defeated: Clay Guida.

Guida is always an exciting fighter to watch. A win over Guida would give both Danzig and Huerta a recent victory of a common opponent and could set up a Mac Danzig-Roger Huerta matchup in the near future.

Frank Edgar

Edgar made a big splash in the UFC when he defeated Tyson Griffin by unanimous decision in his UFC debut. He was very quickly making his way up the lightweight ladder with wins over Mark Bocek and Spencer Fisher.

The wind was taken out of his sails at the hands of Gray Maynard at Ultimate Fight Night 13. But Edgar made a huge comeback with a unanimous decision victory over former number one contender Hermes Franca at Ultimate Fight Night 14: Silva vs Irvin.

Edgar comes in with a good wrestling base and could pose some serious problems for Huerta as Huerta's takedown defense is average at best. The win over a top quality opponent like Franca has shot Edgar right back in the lightweight mix.

He has shown that he can hang with some of the best in the UFC's lightweight division. For me, a bout against Huerta would be the next logical step forward for Edgar.

Winner of Kurt Pellegrino vs. Thiago Tavares

Pellegrino is coming off a loss to Ultimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz at Ultimate Fight Night 13 and is looking to get back on track in his next fight at UFC 88 against Thiago Tavares.

He has a 3-2 record in the UFC and holds a win over Alberto Crane, a man that Huerta has also beaten. Should "Batman" get past Tavares, this could be an interesting matchup for Huerta.

The same could be said for Tavares. Whoever emerges the victor in this match could provide a valid argument for a shot at Huerta.

Huerta has only had one fight so far in 2008 and I would expect to see him fight one more time at the end of the year, either at UFC 91 in November or on the UFC's New Year's Eve show.

This leads me to eliminate a few fighters that could make for a great matchup, but who are tied down to fights that they already have coming up.

Rich Clementi is one of them. He has a rumoured date with Gray Maynard later this year and that puts somewhat of a damper on a proposed bout with Huerta at the end of the year. I'd still like to see these two get after it eventually, but if Huerta is to fight again this year, I don't see it happening just yet.

Guaranteed is the fact that, for Roger Huerta, the road ahead contains some very interesting stops on the way back to the top of the lightweight division.