Bleacher Report - Articles by Darren Wong

Vitor Belfort vs. Nate Marquardt: A True No.1 Contender Bout

Darren Wong — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:50:28 -0500

It's been recently reported that Vitor Belfort has been offered a No. 1 contender bout with Nate Marquardt. If it happens, this will be a great stylistic fight, and I feel the need to celebrate it just a little bit.

I wasn't happy to hear that Paulo Thiago is going to be thrown in against Koscheck again, or that Forrest is probably going to fight against Tito Ortiz in an unnecessary rubber match. In the case of Marquardt vs. Belfort I am quite happy, and so I feel it necessary to give the UFC some credit where credit is due.

Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Anderson Silva before the latter had to pull out due to an unexpectedly long recovery from surgery. This fight would have been exciting and had the potential to make a lot of money for the UFC, had they simply waited for Anderson's return.

Vitor Belfort has been an inconsistent performer over the length of his career, so there has been some concern that he hasn't yet displayed the kind of staying power of a true contender. The logic goes that if Belfort was given enough fights, he would somehow find a way to lose. Furthermore, he has yet to fight in the UFC at the 185 lb weight limit, where he was scheduled to battle for a title.

In Belfort's defense, there were many things going on in his personal life that probably were affecting him.

Marquardt, on the other hand, is still searching for a big win to put himself in the top contender position. Some might argue that the Demian Maia match was enough, but I personally feel that while the Maia victory was a good one for Marquardt, it did more to show how far Maia still needs to improve in regards to his striking technique.

Marquardt's wins over Gouveia and Kampmann were also good, but don't exactly make me believe he's ready for Anderson Silva. An impressive win over Vitor Belfort would.

I still look back to Marquardt's fight against Thales Leites, where Marquardt was dropped in the first round, and think that if Anderson Silva had been in Thales' place, it would not have gone well for Marquardt.

To his credit, Marquardt bounced back and fought a good fight against Leites. Still, it can't be a good thing when you're getting knocked down by the same guy who was so afraid of striking with Anderson Silva that he repeatedly flopped down to his back to avoid getting hit.

I suppose that if Belfort flakes out, or if Marquardt gets dropped early again, maybe nothing new will have been discovered, but at least we'll have a true contender.

The stylistic match-up should also be good, as both fighters have significant striking and grappling abilities, and both are dynamic fighters.

The winner of this fight will have proven himself to be the current UFC middleweight with the best chance of defeating Anderson Silva. Although this bout opens the door for a title fight between Silva and Dan Henderson, I think the winner of Vitor and Nate will stand a better chance.

Credit goes to the UFC for being willing to abandon a potentially lucrative bout (Vitor vs. Anderson) in favor of an interesting one that still has title implications.

Now if there was only something we could do about Couture vs. Coleman....

The Sexiest Female MMA Fighters

Darren Wong — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:41:27 -0500

I know what you're thinking! Writing a B/R article on "The Hottest Women In Martial Arts" is a cheap tactic to try to get internet hits and improve one's writer ranking. Such blatant hack jobs objectify women and should be treated with the contempt they deserve. Or, you could just enjoy the slide-show :) This list is in no particular order.

Begin Slideshow

Forrest Griffin Vs. Tito Ortiz 3: The Unnecessary Rubber Match

Darren Wong — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:05:38 -0500

Following the entertaining rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, talk quickly turned toward a rubber match between the two marketable stars.

I'm sure that there are a ton of fans out there who want to see this trilogy completed, but I'm just not one of them.

To be fair, there are plenty of good things about this potential match. "The score" is currently tied at one win apiece, so a third match would open the door for a more decisive finish.

In addition to that, there has also been some talk about making Tito and Forrest the new coaches for TUF 11. Tito and Forrest both do well on television, so this would probably be good for ratings.

Furthermore, by putting these two fighters on a TUF season, the UFC doesn't need to hold a title belt hostage for an extended period of time like it has done in the past.

Despite the possible benefits, I remain fairly unexcited about the possibilities.

That's because I feel like I've already seen the third fight.

With some dynamic fighters, you get the sense that anything could happen. For example, Georges St. Pierre's three fights with Matt Hughes all had very different feels to them, as Georges had evolved as a fighter.

Another good reason for a rematch is when something crazy happens in the first match that warrants a redo. Examples of this include Matt Serra's shocking win over GSP, or Anthony Johnson's loss to Kevin Burns due to an eye-poke.

I don't get these kind of things with Tito and Forrest.

Although it would be unfair to criticize them both as not being dynamic, I feel that at the present time we've gotten a pretty good idea about what to expect from Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz.

Tito might be able to make some small adjustments in his standup, but he simply isn't going to be able to handle Forrest on the feet, while Forrest is probably still going to spend some time on his back, unless Tito comes in even less healthy than before.

The resulting fight thus becomes fairly predictable. The fight will probably be very close, and the only real variable is in how many takedowns Tito can manage before he gasses.

The question then becomes one concerning Tito's health and fitness. If he does come to the fight in better shape, he'll probably get another takedown, and then the fight will be close, and the whole rubber match won't have resolved anything.

If, on the other hand, Tito isn't in any better shape, then the only thing that the fight will prove is that Tito is no longer able to compete physically over three rounds.

Either way, don't expect Tito to show his hand prior to the fight. Expect him to sell the fight and tell the media that he's finally in the best shape of his life, and that he's ready to show the world that he wants his belt back.

At this point in time, I simply cannot believe that Tito is ever going to get better physically, so it's time to stop of putting him in rematches that he says he could have won if he was healthy.

Instead, let's just put him in some matches where fewer aspects of the fight are completely predictable.

Another thing to consider is that this third fight is essentially irrelevant in relation to the light-heavyweight title picture. We've already got one fairly irrelevant matchup between Couture and Coleman, so right now, I don't think we need another.

Neither Forrest nor Tito currently deserves a title shot, and a win here won't bring anybody much closer.

Making this fight could actually be seen as an admission that Forrest's and Tito's title contention days are over.

Even if we were to admit that neither fighter is close to another title shot, however, there are still more interesting ways in which these fighters could be used.

That being said, let me offer my take on the future of both fighters.

Forrest Griffin

There are a lot of fights waiting ahead of Forrest Griffin, but unfortunately, very few of them can happen right away.

Rematches with Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, and Rashad Evans are all interesting possibilities for the future, but all of these fighters are currently unavailable.

However, a possible immediate opponent could emerge from the Evans vs. Thiago Silva fight.

A fight with Brandon Vera would be an interesting one, while a fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira would give Forrest the opportunity to move closer to title contention. Either one of these fights is at least less predictable than a third encounter with Tito.

Perhaps the most marketable matchup for Forrest is against Chuck Liddell, who is inevitably going to be returning now that he's finished his run on Dancing With The Stars.

This matchup won't bring Forrest much closer to the title, and is actually a very dangerous one, but at least it brings a new look, and some excitement.

Tito Ortiz

At this point, we can simply no longer believe Tito when he says that he's finally healthy, so instead of believing him, I'd rather just see him in some new fights.

Tito would provide a good challenge for up-and-coming fighters who could use a win over a recognizable opponent.

The winner of the fight between Jon Jones and Matt Hamill seems like a good fight to build either fighter. Ryan Bader also seems like an attractive option.

Tito might have a hard time with some of the other contenders within the division, but once again, at least he could provide a new challenge and a new look for guys like Luiz Cane, Nogueira, Rich Franklin, Keith Jardine, and others.

In Conclusion

I'm not saying that Tito and Forrest should never fight each other again. There are people out there that want to see this fight, but let's let Tito have another fight to prove that he really still can fight for 15 minutes. If he wins, then maybe let him fight Forrest again.

If they fight right now, it will probably mean that the winner won't have fought anybody relevant to the title picture in over a year.

The fight will end up being like Hughes vs. Serra at UFC 98: a fight that settled nothing, and left both fighters without any clear direction in a fast paced and highly competitive weight class.

Giving Paulo Thiago His Due

Darren Wong — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:17:58 -0500

After UFC 106, I've got to say that I'm just a little bit of a Paulo Thiago fan. Sometimes I think that I'm the only one, and that is a tragedy.

For the many of you who have never heard of Paulo Thiago before (and I'm sure that's a lot), let me start off by introducing him.

Paulo Thiago made his UFC debut against Josh Koscheck at UFC 95. Despite sporting a 10-0 record, it seemed as though Thiago was tailor-made to be a nice tune-up fight for Koscheck. Thiago was known for his submission skills, but not the kind of wrestling necessary to take down an NCAA champion like Koscheck. In terms of striking, it looked like Koscheck had a serious advantage.

And up until the final few seconds, Paulo Thiago's striking against Kosheck didn't look all that good. He was dropping his hands after throwing punches, and was getting hit repeatedly by Koscheck's powerful right hand.

Koscheck made a mistake, and out of nowhere, Thiago clocked him with a big uppercut hook combination for the knockout win.

Thiago's reward for the win was a matchup with the equally tough Jon Fitch.

Fitch used his physical strength and wrestling to really grind down Paulo Thiago en-route to a unanimous decision victory. Nevertheless, Thiago acquitted himself quite well in the loss.

Sometimes after this type of defeat, the UFC will give a fighter a weaker opponent and a chance to get a rebound victory. The UFC didn't see it that way for Thiago, and instead matched him up with the welterweight destroyer, Thiago Alves. Game fighter that he is, Paulo Thiago accepted the fight.

The fight got scratched when the UFC tried to set up a match between Fitch and Alves, giving the UFC another chance to give Thiago an easier opponent.

Instead, the UFC went ahead and gave Paulo a match against another highly-decorated wrestler and submission grappler. Jacob Volkmann is a former All-American wrestler with grappling tournament victories over greats like Dennis Hallman.

Once again, Paulo Thiago proved himself up to the task.

At present, people are calling for another matchup of Thiago and Koscheck. While I can understand the desire to give Koscheck a chance to avenge his loss, I truly hope that Thiago's path gets a little bit easier.

Paulo Thiago already looks like a much better fighter than the one who fought Koscheck the first time, just one year ago.

Since he fought Koscheck in February, Thiago has improved his striking quite dramatically, and also looks like he has become much stronger physically.

Such dramatic improvements over such a short period tell me that Paulo Thiago has only started to train full-time, and is still improving rapidly as a fighter.

While he may not have the physical gifts of a GSP, I think that Thiago has some serious talent deserving of a little bit of patience and development. He might not get that kind of development if he keeps on getting thrown to the wolves.

If he can string together some victories, he might be able to quit his job in the Brazilian special police force, and start training full-time, and then we'll get to see his full potential.

According to the NSAC reports, Thiago was paid $16,000 for his win over Volkmann, and a mere $8,000 for his loss to Jon Fitch. Compare that to Amir's $30,000 for disposing of a broken down Phil Baroni, or George Sotriopoulos's $20,000 for beating the over-matched Jason Dent. It should be clear that when Paulo Thiago is fighting Koscheck for maybe $8,000, he's fighting way over his pay scale.

Fighter salaries aren't always fully represented by the NSAC reports, but in this case, I'm guessing they are accurate.

I have no problem with the way the UFC pays it's fighters. But I do hope that Thiago gets his fair shake, and isn't thrown to the wolves simply because he's already achieved more than the UFC ever initially thought he would.

Roger Federer Still Doesn't Like Andy Murray

Darren Wong — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:39:45 -0500

Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Roger Federer today in order to advance to the WTF semifinals, but it wasn't Del Potro who made a statement in this match. It was Federer.

Federer's statement? He still doesn't like Andy Murray.

Sure, the relations between the two seem to have warmed up somewhat from what they were like a few years ago, but that's all for show.

Today, Federer very conveniently lost just enough games in the match to allow Del Potro to advance instead of Murray. Had Federer won a third game in his brilliantly executed 2-6 first set tanking, Murray might still be alive in the tournament.

A brilliant tank-job it was.

Had Federer lost just a few more games, he himself would have been eliminated, but he was more than willing to take that risk for the chance of knocking out his dark nemesis.

Some might argue that there is no way that Federer would try any less than his hardest against the guy who defeated him at the U.S. Open, but it seems to me to have been the perfect strategy.

With this perfectly played match, Federer has killed two birds with one stone. He's taken Murray out of the equation, and sandbagged himself for a finals rematch against Del Potro.

Those of us in the know already understand that the only reason Federer lost at the US Open was to make the tour seem a little bit more interesting.

It's all part of an intricate strategy brilliantly orchestrated by Nadal, Mirka, and Gavin Rossdale. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the cooperation of Federer.

He's been only too happy to sacrifice a few ranking points for the greater evil. In the picture above, you can see Federer's downcast face.

It's not downcast because he's sad. He's looking down to try to hide a smirk of satisfaction.

Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz Controversy: This Time the Joke Is on Us!

Darren Wong — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:10:09 -0500

The UFC has now had three consecutive controversial decisions in main events. In the first two controversial decisions, nearly everybody involved has been blamed. This time, the joke is on us.

After the fight between Lyoto Machida and Mauicio Rua, fans expressed their outrage with the judges for awarding a decision clearly not supported by the majority of fans and media people. The fact that many people must have been influenced by questionable commentary is beside the point. People weren't happy with the decision, and they needed to blame somebody.

Cecil Peoples in particular was singled out for ridicule after saying some half-baked remarks regarding the scoring of the fight, but Peoples wasn't alone in receiving the blame.

The UFC was blamed for the judging controversy, as many fans felt that the decision was arranged by the UFC. Unknown to these people is the fact that the judges are appointed by the athletic commissions, not by the UFC.

Even the fighters don't seem to understand this point. After the Machida decision, Rampage Jackson blamed the UFC for the decision and stated that the UFC needs to get new judges. Tito Ortiz said something similar following his decision loss to Griffin.

Another casualty in the initial controversy was Machida, who instantly seemed to go from being fan favorite to enemy of the state.

I don't know how people can blame Machida simply for not thinking that he lost a fight that incidentally three judges thought he won, but if there is one thing people can do, it's finding a way to blame somebody.

The good news for Machida is that if fans are this quick to blame him, hopefully they'll be just as quick to praise him again if he can defeat Shogun in the rematch.

After the decision in the Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera fight, people could no longer blame one or two judges. The new target became the whole judging system.

At least in this fight, people didn't crucify Couture like they did Machida. This time the blame was at least narrowed to something possibly responsible for the problem.

MMA scoring criteria used by athletic commissions aren't perfect, but they certainly aren't the only problem, as we saw last Saturday.

Last Saturday a much larger problem emerged. In the fight between Machida and Shogun, while there were many fans who felt that Machida deserved to win the decision, there were almost no media experts who felt the same way.

There were only a few exceptions.

In the Forrest vs Tito fight, the fans and media experts were all over the map.

The most common scoring for the fight was probably 29-28 for Forrest Griffin, but I saw online that many people scored the fight 29-28 for Ortiz, while others went as far as 30-26 for Griffin.

BloodyElbow.com posted an article expressing outrage that a judge could possibly have scored the fight for Ortiz. BloodyElbow was far from alone in scoring the fight 30-26 for Griffin.

Apparently the problem isn't just with the judging system.

So who do we blame now?

We can't blame one particular judge, because there have been too many judges responsible for the three recent decisions, and the recent judging controversy has shown us that we can't blame the judging system itself.

There are some fundamental issues that need to be resolved to rectify this situation. I'm still working on that article. For now, let's just stop blaming everybody else.

This time the joke is on us.

Josh Koscheck: UFC's Welterweight Heel

Darren Wong — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:05:31 -0500

Fans love to hate Josh Koscheck.

The reasons people have for disliking the perennial welterweight contender go all the way back to the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, where he made life miserable for Chris Leben. Yet, there are many other reasons why people don't like Kos.

When Koscheck first started fighting in the UFC, he came in with great wrestling skills and athleticism, but little else. As a result, Koscheck was labled a "lay and pray" fighter, or otherwise, "another boring wrestler."

Koscheck, the natural talent that he is, wasn't satisfied with being a wrestler, and focused intensely on improving his striking skills. In fights against Dustin Hazelett, Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves, it seemed that Koscheck was only willing to use his wrestling as a last resort.

Koscheck is an explosive and powerful striker, but tends to take a few punches. He was rocked by Hazelett, beaten up by Alves, and knocked down by Thiago.

After losing fights to Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, the new criticism of Koscheck was that he had neglected his wrestling too much in an effort to be a more exciting fighter. Now people began to dislike Koscheck for neglecting the wrestling style that Koscheck was criticized for employing earlier in his career.

It seemed like no matter what Koscheck did, people would still hate him.

Of course it was no surprise that Koscheck was booed last year following his ground and pound victory over Chris Lytle; He'd gone back to his wrestling, and was unwilling to trade punches with Lytle.

Last night against Anthony Johnson, we saw what was arguably one of Koscheck's best performances. You wouldn't know it from the chatter online though, as many fans seem convinced that Koscheck was faking his injuries, and later intentionally tried to poke Johnson in the eye.

I tend to disagree with those complaints. It was a strange fight to be sure, but I think the most important things to get out of the fight were not about Koscheck's character, but about his improvements as a fighter.

There were still flaws in his striking, but it seemed like Koscheck was finally beginning to evolve into a martial artist.

He changed levels frequently to make Johnson afraid of the takedown, and he set up his shots with strikes. By doing these things, he'll become more effective in both areas.

When he succeeded in getting Johnson down, he also used his BJJ skills to pass guard and secure the submission.

Wrestling, striking, and jiu jitsu mixed together seamlessly, that's what Koscheck showed last night, and that's what works in MMA.

Koscheck is a former NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion, and yet was out-wrestled by Georges St. Pierre. The reason to me seems fairly simple; GSP's wrestling is the most effective in MMA because he is so well rounded.

When a fighter fights against Matt Hughes, they're only worried about the shot and the takedown, and so their job is a lot simpler. It's a lot harder to stop a double-leg when you're worried about getting punched in the face.

With Koscheck's new improvements, he's clearly put himself on the short list of fighters at welterweight who might be able to cause serious problems for the champion, Georges St. Pierre.

Of course, for all of his improvements as a fighter, people still don't like Koscheck. He's the "bad guy" in a division ruled by the ultimate "good guy" of MMA.

Georges St. Pierre has embraced his place in MMA as a role model and a champion. He's the baby face, the poster boy, the guy on the Wheaties box, the bubblegum pop superstar, the clean-cut "All-American" Canadian. Koscheck isn't.

Koscheck doesn't care about his image, or what the fans think of him, or if he does, he maybe really wants people to hate him.

While GSP is polite and tries to be respectful, Koscheck says whatever he wants to say.

Yesterday, he threw his teammate Mike Swick under the bus when he said that Dan Hardy hasn't fought anybody good. Koscheck doesn't really seem to care about what other fighters or fans think of him. He tends to come across as cocky and arrogant.

Even if you can get over all of those things about Koscheck, you're probably offended by his bleach-blonde hair.

Personally, I don't mind Koscheck as much as other people do. He's cocky, but that comes from confidence. His comments are almost rude to the point of brutality, but if so, it's because Koscheck is brutally honest.

More than that though, Koscheck knows that the UFC needs "bad guys," and he's more than happy to play that role. He is the heel of the welterweight division, and eventually he'll fight GSP once again in another clash of "good vs. evil."

Weighing In on the MMA Judging Debate

Darren Wong — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:06:23 -0500

After Randy Couture's victory over Brandon Vera, Joe Rogan stated that he believes that there is a serious problem with judging in MMA.

Yet while the result of the Couture vs. Vera fight highlighted some imperfections in the judging system, those imperfections hardly call for a drastic overhaul of a system that has been largely effective.

The two most recent UFC main event decisions brought to light some apparent problems with the current MMA scoring system, but there is simply no simple solution, and maybe not even a better one.

Sportsnet's "Showdown" Joe Ferraro recently published a lengthy set of articles about overhauling the current judging system, but only a week earlier, Ferraro had referred to Fightmetric as "the gold standard" for MMA judging in an article titled "Ma-cheated ."

Since those two ideas seem to be inconsistent, I don't know how seriously I can take these suggestions.

I plan on writing an entire article detailing the inadequacies of Fightmetric, but for now, suffice it to say that Fightmetric is not the be-all and end-all of MMA scoring.

Aside from drastic overhauls, however, there have been other more modest proposals for changing the way fights are scored.

First and foremost among the modest proposals are those that advocate scoring more 10-10, 10-8 and even 10-7 rounds.

The first round of the Couture vs. Vera fight could certainly have benefited from a 10-10 scoring, as neither fighter really did anything to win the round.

There are many other fights where one fighter wins one round decisively, but loses two others marginally, where this kind of scoring system might seem justified.

For example, BJ Penn fans wish that BJ had been awarded more points for the first round than GSP's marginal victories in the second and third rounds.

Another example is Yushin Okami's loss to Jake Shields, where Okami did far more to win the fight in the third round than Jake Shields did in the entire fight.

Despite these singular examples, however, there are plenty of other singular cases that would be hurt by this scoring.

The drawback to encouraging judges to score a round 10-10 when it is close, is that it will likely result in more draws. Draws are generally seen as unwanted outcomes, for a set of reasons too large to be discussed at this time.

Encouraging a wider scale for scoring rounds also results in some problems. The current scoring system is for the most part, fairly predictable. Fans are able to accurately predict the final score as long as each individual round was moderately clear to score.

If one fighter wins two rounds, and the other fighter wins one round, then the score is usually 29-28. This kind of predictability is good, but it might go away if people need to start wondering about if a round should be 10-8 or 10-7, while right now the distinction is relatively clear between 10-9 and 10-8.

Predictability is even worse in another system advocated by some. Pride FC used a scoring system that did not score by rounds, but instead judged the fight as a whole. This scoring system leads to even less predictability and more confusion amongst fans.

Of course, if you want to make outcomes completely predictable, you can do as some others have suggested, and announce the scores after each round.

This has actually already been done in boxing with less-than-stellar results, especially when one fighter is leading heavily on the scorecards and can avoid action to win a decision.

Is the current scoring system perfect? No, it certainly isn't. There are even some small changes within the unified rules that might be justified. However, for every one of the large modifications mentioned above, the harms might outweigh the benefits.

Furthermore, changing scoring cannot affect a fight retroactively. As a fan I can say that Vera would have beaten Couture if the scoring system was modified, but who is to say that the fight would not have played itself out differently if the scoring system was different at the time?

Jake Shields vs. Cung Le: Duck-Off

Darren Wong — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:23:15 -0500

Jake Shields wasted little time after his latest victory before calling out Cung Le.

According to Shields, Le is afraid of fighting him, and should have fought him instead of returning against Scott Smith.

Is Cung Le ducking Shields? Well nobody knows more about ducking than Jake Shields.

A few years ago, Shields had the opportunity to sign with EliteXC, rather than sign with the UFC, where he would have been matched up against tougher competition.

After EliteXC went out of business, Shields could have used that opportunity to try to move to the UFC. But instead of even trying to get out of his contract, Shields not only went along with Strikeforce, but instead, it appears that he has signed an extension.

In interviews, people have asked him about how many fights he has remaining on his Strikeforce contract. His answer? "Two or three I think, I don't know." That doesn't sound like the answer of a man eager to test the waters against the top competition.

Yet even in Strikeforce, Jake is still ducking the best possible opponents. So far, Shields has faced two relatively easy style matchups in Robbie Lawler, a guy who can't defend his submissions, and Jason Miller, a guy who can't defend against his wrestling. There are far worse matchups for Shields.

The worst matchup for Shields is new Strikeforce acquisition, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, who aside from having a better submission grappling pedigree, also has better standup.

Jacare will be fighting Matt Lindland on the same night as the return of Cung Le, and if he is successful against Lindland, he'll be worthy of a title shot, but Jake Sheilds doesn't seem interested in that matchup either.

Instead, Shields wants to fight Cung Le, a fighter who has never, ever been forced to display his submission defense or wrestling. This seems like a good stylistic matchup for Shields.

Because of the stylistic matchup, it wouldn't even surprise me if Le didn't want to fight Shields, but it has little to do with fear. Facing a guy like Anderson Silva or Rampage Jackson might bring out a little bit of fear, given that these fighters can cause serious pain and injuries. Against Jake Shields, the worst thing that can happen is a submission hold, but even then a simple tap prevents most injuries.

If Cung is afraid of anything, maybe he's afraid of what a submission loss would do to his movie career.

Of course, Cung Le isn't blameless in all of this. He hasn't exactly been facing the best competition either. He could have signed with the UFC at one point in time, but instead took a route that he thought would be better financially.

Also, there certainly are currently worse stylistic matchups for Le than Scott Smith, who is likely willing to try and trade punches and kicks with the Sanshou champion.

We already know that for Cung Le, there are things more important than proving that he is great fighter. He wants to have an acting career, which is another good reason why he is fighting against Scott Smith, and not Jake Shields.

If he fought Shields and won back his title, the title would once again be suspended when Cung Le returns to acting. Right now, a win over Scott Smith doesn't bring those kinds of commitments. Given his acting aspirations, his fighting future is uncertain at best, so fighting Smith is actually just a way to stay busy, and maybe brush off a little bit of the ring rust accumulated over his hiatus.

Ultimately I can't really say that I blame either fighter for ducking opponents. Sure, they could be fighting tougher competition, but there's clearly more to life than that, at least unless you really want to be known as the greatest. They've simply made business decisions.

After all, I don't go down to my local restaurant and call the managers cowardly for not challenging McDonald's.

But it annoys me that Jake Shields is calling out Cung Le, because this is perhaps one of the worst cases I have ever seen of the crow calling the raven black.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers: Aftershocks

Darren Wong — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:55:36 -0500

In the end, Fedor did what Fedor does: He won.

In fact, all of the favorites on the main card were victorious in this Strikeforce event on CBS. However, the results alone don't tell the full story of the night.

Fedor vs. Rogers

Fedor was given a much tougher test than expected against Brett Rogers. Fedor had some difficulties dealing with the strength and size of Rogers, but was eventually able to end the fight with a big right hand shot that ended Rogers's night.

Before that point, Rogers had opened up a cut on Fedor's nose, and had even been able to deal out some good ground and pound.

For Fedor, the future still looks very bright. He won, and did so in style. He takes another step towards mainstream stardom in North America. The future isn't looking so bad for Rogers either.

Rogers acquitted himself quite well in defeat by showing that he wasn't overly intimidated by his legendary opponent. For nearly seven minutes, there was little to choose from between the two of them.

Perhaps most-impressive in Rogers's performance was that when Fedor took him down, he was able to keep his composure, and make his way back to his feet. He's clearly put in some good work in shoring up his defensive grappling skills.

If Rogers can tighten up his striking skills, and make a few other adjustments, he can do even better in the future. At 28 years of age, time is still on his side.

Shields vs. Miller

In the pre-fight build up, Jake Shields had talked of a willingness to engage Jason Miller on the feet. Either he was lying, or he changed his decision real fast after eating a few early jabs, because he turned this fight into a grapple-fest.

Miller appeared to be the better striker of the two, but that didn't matter, as Shields used his superior wrestling to control ground position for the majority of the fight.

To Miller's credit, he never really looked threatened by any of Shields's submission attempts, but was rarely able to mount any sustained offence. His big moment came in the third round when he locked on a rear-naked choke that would have forced Shields to submit had there been more time. Shields was saved by the bell, and Miller wouldn't get another chance.

Unfortunately, and somewhat unjustly for Shields and Miller, this probably wasn't the fight that Strikeforce wanted to see. As a fan of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and grappling, I found myself quite entertained, but the apparently the live crowd was booing, and I can't imagine the reaction was much better from viewers tuning in to mixed martial arts for the first time.

Shields proved that he is the superior grappler, despite nearly surrendering in the third round. He has more offensive ground weapons, but Miller is simply a tough guy to submit. Miller has better strikes, but Shields is simply too good of a wrestler for Miller to keep at bay.

Ahead of Jake Shields is a potential matchup with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, or possibly Dan Henderson, if he signs with Strikeforce. Either fighter will be a tough out for Shields.

Shields is essentially a one-dimensional fighter. Yet he's so good at submission grappling that few people can handle him in his element or stop him from getting there.

Jacare is arguably the best submission grappler in the weight division this side of Demian Maia. He's one of the few guys who can beat Shields at his own game in what I think is actually a terrible matchup for the new Strikeforce champion.

Dan Henderson on the other hand, wouldn't do so well in a submission match, but might just have the wrestling ability to keep the fight on the feet where Hendo should have a big advantage.

Either matchup looks extremely tough for the new champ, so perhaps we should consider his preference. Who does Shields want to fight?

He's already calling out Sanshou striker, Cung Le.

Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou

This bout went pretty much as expected.

Sokoudjou's big problem has always been that he doesn't do well after the first five minutes. That truth played itself out here as he meekly surrendered after putting up a pretty good fight in the first round.

Mousasi still needs to work on his wrestling skills and takedown defense, but he showed Fedoresque composure, and capitalized on the opportunities that presented themselves.

It will be interesting to see whom Strikeforce chooses next to face Mousasi. King Mo Lawal probably still needs more seasoning, and there aren't very many other credible contenders in the Strikeforce stable. Dan Henderson might be the savior for Strikeforce here as well.

Werdum vs. Silva

Well, we got a winner, but not very much was proved in this one.

Werdum still has trouble dealing with strikers, but he's better than almost anyone if he can take the fight to the ground. That scenerio played itself out for three rounds. In the first round, he couldn't get Silva down, and was battered and knocked around the cage for his troubles.

As he started to find some success with his takedowns over the next two rounds, he was finally able to score some points, and enough of them to eek out a decision.

Unfortunately, such a performance doesn't bode well for his shot against Fedor.

After watching Werdum struggle with Silva, I simply cannot imagine Werdum as having any of the requisite tools to beat Fedor. At this point, I'd much rather see Fedor against Alistair Overeem, and Rogers against Werdum, but because Strikeforce wants to build up towards a Fedor vs. Overeem showdown, I'm kind of expecting Fedor vs. Werdum in the interim.

"The Invincible Fedor Emelianenko" Exposed In Strikeforce Debut

Darren Wong — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:56:19 -0500

In the buildup to his Strikeforce debut, Fedor was being pitched as the greatest fighter in Mixed Martial Arts history. He was supposed to be an invincible machine, and a man with no weaknesses. According to one commercial, he was supposed to be "technically the perfect fighter."

After five minutes in the cage with Brett Rogers, bloodied and bruised, Fedor, the fighter, looked far from invincible.

For seven minutes, Brett Rogers stood in the cage with Fedor Emelianenko, and gave as good as he got. He landed a big jab to damage Fedor's nose, and later landed some damaging strikes on the ground, but it wasn't enough.

In the end, Fedor would get the win with a big right-hand bomb, decisively beating Rogers to the punch. Despite the finish, the knockout alone doesn't capture the essence of the fight as a whole.

Apparently Fedor isn't invincible after all. For those of us who have been following Fedor's career for some time, this result shouldn't come as any surprise. Fedor has been hit before, and even rocked occasionally.

On the other hand, those people who were introduced to Fedor for the first time today may be a bit confused.

The problem is that the people promoting Fedor have been billing him as some unstoppable juggernaut, while the truth is much more interesting.

This fight with Brett Rogers exposed the truth about Fedor Emelianenko.

The truth is this: Fedor is not the perfect fighter. He's not the strongest, he's not the best technical striker, and he's not the best wrestler.

However, this fight with Rogers also showed why people think Fedor has been so successful.

Fedor has technical flaws, but he also has a lot of unusual gifts.

Fedor's technical boxing skills are actually relatively weak. Against Arlovski, we saw that Fedor can be out-boxed. Yet against most fighters, Fedor's boxing is good enough.

Fedor usually gets hit a few times, but he's always been able to recover. That's a testament to his chin, and also his incredible mental strength. He can be battered, but he's never been mentally beaten.

Furthermore, while Fedor does get hit, his own wild and winging punches also tend to be very hard, and accurate. He hits people, and when he does, he hurts them.

In terms of size and wrestling skills, Fedor is lacking there as well. He had some serious troubles dealing with Rogers's size and strength.

Again though, Fedor found away to overcome the obstacles in this fight, winning for the 31st time in his career. I just hope that next time, Strikeforce doesn't promote Fedor like he's some superhuman cyborg.

He's not.

Fedor has big physical gifts. His biggest are his quickness, balance, and punching power. Nevertheless, Fedor doesn't win because of those physical gifts alone. He wins because he may be the most mentally tough fighter in mixed martial arts.

He doesn't panic or stray from the gameplan, and he's always searching for a way to win. He also transitions his different attacks as well or better than all of the other dominant champions like BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre.

That mental strength is a huge asset. BJJ blackbelts have walked into MMA fights and looked absolutely lost and confused once they've stepped into the cage. Fedor never looks lost for more than an instant.

The real Fedor, the one with flaws and weaknesses, but an incredible mental strength, is far more compelling than the invincible Fedor that Strikeforce was trying to market.

In exposing the invincible Fedor as a phony, the real Fedor Emelianenko was finally revealed to the masses.

This version of Fedor is a fighter that I can cheer for.

MMA's Linear Champions

Darren Wong — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:11:40 -0500

This Saturday, Strikeforce's main event features the top heavyweight fighter in world, Fedor Emelianenko. But, Fedor isn't fighting for the Strikeforce title. Alistair Overeem has that belt.

Gegard Mousasi has a Strikeforce belt, but for some reason, it's not on the line this weekend when he takes on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Jake Shields, and Jason Miller are fighting for a title that was vacated by Cung Le.

While Strikeforce clearly has some issues with its titles, Strikeforce isn't the first organization to do so. The UFC has long had problems keeping it's belt holders within the organization.

As a tribute to Strikeforce's title confusions, I thought it would be fun to look at the MMA linear championship titles.

These are for the most part the guys who would have UFC title belts, if the belts were on the line when the champion fought in the comparable weight class, but for another fight promotion.

World Lightweight Championship

This belt was first won by Jens Pulver. Pulver was stripped of his UFC title because of a contract dispute. His next loss would be against Duane Ludwig. Ludwig would go on to lose his next fight to BJ Penn. *** Edit - It has been noted that Ludwig had moved to welterweight at this time. Ludwig's next loss at lightweight would be against Tyson Griffin. From there, the linear title would pass from Frank Edgar to the current holder, Gray Maynard.

Another view of the world lightweight championship goes back to BJ Penn's victory over Takanori Gomi, as this might have been one of the earliest cases of two top-ranked lightweights fighting eachother. If this view is taken, BJ has defended his "linear championship" since that time, up until the present, and has unified it with the real UFC title.

World Welterweight Championship

Pat Miletich was the first UFC Welterweight Champion, but he would have lost that title to Jutaro Nakao, had it been on the line at SuperBrawl 11.

This linear title would have then wound it's way through Tetsuji Kato, Hayato Sakurai, Anderson Silva, Daiju Takase, Rodrigo Gracie, finally reaching BJ Penn.

BJ Penn, of course, loses to Georges St. Pierre, who eventually unifies this linear title, with the UFC title.

However, some people like to consider the first welterweight world champion to be Matt Hughes after his defeat of Hayato Sakurai back at UFC 36. This title also goes to BJ Penn, and eventually back to Georges St. Pierre.

Either way you look at it, the linear title ends up in the hands of current UFC Champion, GSP.

World Middleweight Championship

The first UFC Middleweight champion was Dave Menne, who promptly loses the title to Murilo Bustamante.

Most people associate the first middleweight world title as being won by Dan Henderson after defeating Bustamante at Pride Final Conflict 2003.

The linear title then would have moved to Kazuo Misaki, and then to Paulo Filho.

Unfortunately, Filho didn't make weight when he lost to Chael Sonnen, but if you include that fight, then the linear title moves from Chael Sonnen to Demian Maia, and finally to UFC middleweight contender, Nate Marquardt.

Of course, Anderson Silva is regarded as the true middleweight champion by everyone, including this writer.

World Light-Heavyweight Championship

Frank Shamrock won the first UFC Light-Heavyweight title before retiring from the weight class, however, most people associate the first World-Championship match as being the one between Tito Ortiz, and Wanderlei Silva.

Tito Ortiz won that title (also the UFC title), and from that point on, the linear title coincides completely with the UFC title currently owned by Lyoto Machida.

There is actually an argument to make that the Pride FC title is more relevant, considering Quinton Jackson's defeats of Chuck Liddell, as well as the domination of Mauricio Rua

If one does consider the Pride FC linear title that was born with Wanderlei Silva's win over Sakuraba, the line then goes from Ricardo Arona, to Mauricio Rua, to Forrest Griffin. From there, Forrest Griffin unifies that title with the UFC title.

Either way, Lyoto Machida is the linear champion.

World Heavyweight Championship

The first recognized champion was Mark Coleman. The title then goes through Maurice Smith, and Randy Couture.

Couture left the UFC, losing his linear title to Enson Inoue, who quickly surrenders it to Mark Kerr.

The title then goes through Kazuyuki Fujita, and then back to Mark Coleman all in a single day.

Coleman loses the linear title to Minotauro Nogueira, who then loses it to Fedor Emelianenko.

Emeliankenko has since defended this linear title to the present day.

There is, of course, some debate about the level of competition Fedor has faced over the past few years. Zuluzinho and Hong Man Choi aren't exactly the best title contenders.

Meanwhile, Brock Lesnar has built some real support as a fighter capable of defeating "The Last Emperor."

Nevertheless, Fedor has defeated many former UFC champions and is the legitimate linear champion.

On Nov. 7, Fedor defends his linear world heavyweight title against Brett Rogers. It's not a physical belt, but there's a lot more credit behind this imaginary title than there is behind most symbolic titles in MMA.

People should also feel a certain sense of justice knowing that the symbolic titles given out by the UFC are for the most part equal to their linear counterparts.

The heavyweight title will remain split between Fedor and Brock Lesnar for the foreseeable future, but should Marquardt get his fight with Anderson Silva, the middleweight loop will be closed as well.

There is one other UFC title to consider. The original UFC title won by Royce Gracie?

Fedor owns that linear title as well.

The Anti-UFC Rankings Bias

Darren Wong — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:42:40 -0500

UFC President Dana White has often said that the media guys who do the rankings are against him. Of course there are some cases, like the case of Fedor, where Dana White's comments seem silly. There are, however, some other instances where Dana White really seems to have a point. Especially when Frank Shamrock calls Fedor the top heavyweight, and Brett Rogers "the next heavyweight."

Fight hype aside, the most obvious examples of a possible anti-UFC bias come predictably from those people who dislike Dana White the most.

Consider first, the example of former WAMMA vice-president Pat Miletich. While there has been a recent warming of relations, the bitterness between Miletich and Dana White has been well-documented.

It came as no surprise when Miletich, then WAMMA vice-president, appeared on ESPN's MMA Live earlier this year with somewhat questionable opinions on the world MMA rankings.

Among Miletich's questionable remarks were statements that Robbie Lawler and Vitor Belfort both deserved serious consideration for the pound-for-pound rankings.

At the time, MMA Live had announced that WAMMA rankings would become a monthly feature on the broadcast. This idea has apparently since been scrapped without any reason or announcement given on the decision.

Among other notable Dana White enemies are some of the people featured in Matt Lindland's documentary "Fighting Politics." The trailer of this film appears to make a case for Lindland as the top middleweight fighter in the world. Of course this movement recently lost a lot of steam when Lindland was devastated by Vitor Belfort.

Of course, missing from this equation is the fact that Dana White has not made enemies by being bald. The reason for the animosity is most often because some people don't like the UFC's position atop the MMA industry.

It seems to me that if there is any reason to inflate the rankings of non-UFC fighters, that is it.

The most interesting divisions to look at for a possible UFC bias are of course, the lightweight and heavyweight divisions.

Is Shinya Aoki really the second best lightweight in the world and deserving of a WAMMA world title? My personal belief is that guys like Joachim Hansen and Shinya Aoki would have a rough time in the UFC.

Unfortunately, this argument is certainly made more difficult because of the fact that there have been very few fights between the top UFC lightweights and the top non-UFC lightweights.

Go check it out yourself. Figuring out the lightweight rankings is really a daunting task.

There is, however, a fair amount of co-mingling amongst the heavyweights. Fedor's top ranking is pretty much the consensus, but from there on, things are pretty dicey. For example, it struck me as strange how Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett managed to find their ways up to the No.2 ranking spot just in time for their scheduled bouts against Fedor.

After looking through the rankings, the argument can definitely be made for those ranking positions, but that doesn't stop me from speculating that just maybe some of the rankings were swayed just a little bit by an anti-UFC sentiment, conscious or subconscious.

The high rankings of Arlovski and Barnett were of course facilitated by Minotauro Nogueira's loss to Frank Mir, as before that loss, Minotauro was almost unanimously the No. 2 guy after Fedor.

It actually does make sense to me that Frank Mir didn't take the No. 2 spot, as his resume is weaker than those of Arlovski and Barnett, but the same principle should hold if Brett Rogers beats Fedor at the upcoming Strikeforce event.

Will Brett Rogers be the No. 1 heavyweight in the world if he beats Fedor?

After much consideration, I must admit that there isn't really any clear evidence of a bias when looking at these rankings.

There are, however, a few other specific cases that are worth some discussion.

Strikeforce's Jake Shields has been a mainstay in the welterweight rankings for some time, which is reasonable. His winning streak, combined with Koscheck's loss to Paulo Thiago is enough for me to place him at No.4.

I am, however, surprised to see Shields's name beginning to show up in the top 10 list at middleweight, and even some pound-for-pound rankings.

First off, as far as I can tell, Jake Shields hasn't even ever fought at 185 lbs. If he has, it was long ago.

The possible argument for Jake Shields's inclusion in the middleweight rankings is probably that he does have wins over middleweight fighters Robbie Lawler and Yushin Okami. Neither of those fights took place at 185 lbs, and neither should be particularly significant.

I've already stated my view that Robbie Lawler's ranking is probably a bit inflated since his departure from the UFC. He went a mediocre 4-3 inside the UFC, and while he has improved as a fighter, I attribute some of the improvement in his results to a drop in the level of competition. For example, he's had two tough fights against Scott Smith, a fighter with a 1-3 UFC record, including losses to Patrick Cote, Ed Herman, and David Terrell.

Jake Shields's other big win over Yushin Okami is also a bit tainted. If there was ever an argument to abandon the 10-point must scoring system, the fight between Okami and Shields should be prominently featured. For the first two rounds, neither fighter did anything of any real note. Jake Shields went for countless takedowns, but was largely neutralized by Okami, while Okami punched Shields a few times for his trouble.

The third round, on the other hand, was completely dominated by Okami. Okami didn't do enough to warrant a 10-8 round, but did more in that round than either fighter did in the previous two rounds combined. Jake Shields's win was more of a technicality than a real victory.

Furthermore, that fight was contested at 175 lbs. Since that time, Okami has become much bigger and stronger at 185, while Shields remains a smallish middleweight.

Another interesting example to consider is Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi is deserving of a ranking within the top 10 at light-heavyweight, but I find recent arguments for his consideration in the pound-for-pound rankings to be dubious at best.

Certainly at 24 years old, and loaded with talent, Mousasi has a bright future ahead of him, but hasn't faced the kind of talent at 205 to put himself in the P4P discussion.

Right now, most ranking sites have been fair with Mousasi's ranking, putting him somewhere near the bottom of the top 10 in his division. I agree with those rankings, but it will be interesting to see what happens to his ranking after he beats Sokoudjou, who is currently not considered a top 10 guy.

Finally, there is the example of Dan Henderson, who has very recently started to pop up on light-heavyweight and P4P rankings since his departure from the UFC. Some of that attention is justly deserved, but I can't help but wondering if maybe some anti-UFC rankings are jumping the gun on a fighter they believe will soon be signed with a UFC competitor.

Dan Henderson's Departure Doesn't Worry the UFC

Darren Wong — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:10:17 -0400

Dan Henderson will be getting an offer from Strikeforce this week, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker.

Henderson is considered to be the best current free agent in MMA, so he would unquestionably be a good pickup for Strikeforce. However, the UFC remains unconcerned with the possibility of Henderson's move to a rival promotion, and with good reason. However good Dan Henderson is, the UFC doesn't need him, and here's why.

Henderson fits well within the UFC's middleweight division-title picture. Should he re-sign with the UFC, he'll most likely be facing Nate Marquardt in a match to determine the next title contender after Vitor Belfort. Besides his fighting ability, however, he still hasn't shown that he brings enough pay-per-view buys to warrant the kind of money he is reportedly asking for.

Henderson has a few flashy knockouts, but isn't overly well known for his exciting style. If he's losing the striking exchanges, he can go into wrestling mode in order to attempt to secure the victory.

Furthermore, he hasn't exactly displayed the kind of personality that attracts the masses of fans. He's not easily excited, doesn't talk a lot of trash, and has a very dry sense of humor. It's always a sign of poor marketability when the best nickname people can come up with is a shortened version of your last name.

He's generally well liked, but not adored like the magnetic personalities of BJ Penn and Georges St-Pierre, or hated like Brock Lesnar.

UFC 100 reportedly brought in over one million buys, but that card was headlined by two proven bankable MMA superstars in GSP and Lesnar. The only pay-per-view card headlined by Henderson featured him opposite Anderson Silva, and reportedly garnered a very mediocre 325,000 buys.

The UFC's decisions are ultimately about successfully running the business, so it seems likely to me that if the UFC brass is unwilling to agree to terms with Henderson, it is simply because they believe that the signing wouldn't make financial sense.

Of course, it isn't simply about retaining Henderson's services, but also making sure that the competition isn't able to profit too much by signing Henderson.

Here as well, the UFC has little reason to worry.

If Henderson signs with Strikeforce, they'll be acquiring the services of a great fighter, but as I've already said, not necessarily a great draw. Here's a little experiment to prove it:

Go ask some of your non-hardcore MMA fan friends if they know who Dan Henderson is. They might recognize the name, but I doubt they'll be able to remember many of his fights.

Of course, Henderson does have that highlight reel knockout over Michael Bisping, but if Henderson doesn't re-sign with the UFC, that footage won't be making it into many new UFC highlight reels.

If Henderson signs with Strikeforce, expect the UFC's highlights featuring Henderson to look very onesided. Instead of seeing Hendo knocking out Bisping and Wanderlei Silva, or hitting Rampage Jackson and Rich Franklin, expect UFC highlights to show Wanderlei pounding on Henderson in their first Pride fight, Anderson choking Henderson out, as well as tons of punches and kicks landed by Jackson and Franklin.

Aside from marketing, it's interesting to consider what Henderson would do for the Strikeforce divisions. Since Henderson can fight at both middleweight and light-heavyweight, there are a lot of interesting matchups for him, but not necessarily ones that will be positive for Strikeforce.

If Henderson goes on a big tear in Strikeforce, and beats all of its good fighters, he'll actually be doing the UFC a gigantic favor. Gegard Mousasi and Mohammed Lawal are actually starting to really build some momentum as legitimate contenders at 205. If Henderson beats these guys, he'll essentially be taking away from their marketability.

The best possible outcome for Strikeforce would probably be for Mohammed Lawal, otherwise known as King Mo, to be the successful fighter at 205. He's probably got the most marketable persona out of those guys, and has the longest future ahead of him.

At 39 years of age, Henderson wouldn't be doing Strikeforce a lot of favors by winning and defeating its top prospects.

If on the other hand, Henderson loses, he validates Dana White's decision not agree to Henderson's demands, while costing Strikeforce a hefty amount of money.

All of this leads me to believe that while Henderson is a good acquisition for Strikeforce, in that he is a good fighter, the actual outcomes of adding Henderson to the Strikeforce roster might actually be bad for the promotion.

Henderson is a lot more valuable to a promotion like the UFC, where the depth of the divisions is great enough that it doesn't matter so much whether he wins or loses, but only that he's always fighting interesting fights.

Why We Need to Support MMA Judge Cecil Peoples

Darren Wong — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:37:29 -0400

The fight between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua was a very close fight. While I've tried to shed some light on the scoring of the fight, to show how close and competitive it was, at this point, I don't even care about that anymore.

The fight was a great fight, and we're going to see a rematch. That's two big positives, and more than we could have hoped for.

At this point, my main issue is with the way some people have been treating Cecil Peoples following the decision. Frankly, I'm disgusted.

First of all, Peoples was only one of the three judges, who all submitted 48-47 scorecards for Machida.

Secondly, the rounds were scored nearly identically by all three judges. They all saw the fight in virtually the exact same way.

Whatever other reasons people have for being upset, things have gone beyond criticism of a decision, and have now extended into the realm of personal attacks. Franklin McNeil of ESPN wrote a good piece on the judging as well, that's worth reading.

This is not what the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is supposed to be about. No matter what you think of the fight decision.

One of the things that I like about MMA is that for the most part, the people involved conduct themselves with respect, dignity, and honor.

Somewhere over the past week I've been at a loss in my attempts to find that spirit alive and well inside the MMA fan community.

MMA fans should be above vilifying a judge just because they don't agree with a decision.

Chael Sonnen: Not the Guy To Beat Anderson Silva

Darren Wong — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:31:22 -0400

It's been some time since UFC 104, so hopefully we've all got the Lyoto/Shogun decision digested enough that we can start talking about other things. Intelligent things I hope. That means not talking about the title chances for Chael Sonnen.

Chael Sonnen put on arguably his best performance last weekend in defeating Yushin Okami by decision. Sonnen was considered to be a heavy underdog in this fight, so Sonnen should be congratulated for his big win.

Despite the win, however, I'm baffled by the fact that some people are already speculating about Sonnen's chances of defeating Anderson Silva. I'll get to the reasons why he wouldn't beat Anderson in a minute, but before that, I think we need to first put Chael's win over Okami into perspective.

Yushin Okami is an elite fighter, with a solid reputation, but he isn't exactly the best stylistic matchup to beat a guy like Chael Sonnen.

Okami has a powerful one-two punch combination that is effective but heavily overused. If you're really bored, go watch his fight with Sonnen again, and you'll see him try to land the same one-two punch combination over, and over again. As good as he is at throwing this combination, it looks like Sonnen did enough in his preparations to thoroughly handle Okami on the feet.

Among Okami's other skills are great wrestling skills, great defensive jiu jitsu, and a solid submission offense. Against most grapplers, Okami has been able to either stuff takedowns or secure his own takedowns and neutralize his opponents from top position.

Great submission guys like Dean Lister simply looked lost against Okami, because they can't take him down, and they can't do anything to him when they try to pull guard. Pulling guard on Yushin Okami is an insane proposition because his base is simply too solid to sweep, and he's more than content to simply neutralize submission attempts from top position.

Even BJJ wizard Demian Maia couldn't submit Okami when they fought during the Abu Dhabi grappling tournament a few years ago.

As far as grappling goes, Chael Sonnen is one of the few guys who can actually beat Okami, but it is not because Sonnen is "the superior grappler" as Joe Rogan indicated he was.

Sonnen basically does the same thing that Okami does, in that he gets takedowns and neutralizes submission attempts. The differences are that Sonnen is a better wrestler but an inferior submission grappler.

Because of the wrestling advantage though, Sonnen is one of the few people who can take Okami down, where Okami is far less comfortable.

The other side of the equation is that Sonnen doesn't do as well with the kind of submission experts that Okami is able to neutralize. For example, while Okami would not be particularly worried about falling into the guard of Demian Maia, Sonnen was so scared of Maia's guard that he backed himself right into a lateral drop (a wrestling maneuver).

This is just one of the illustrations of how while Sonnen may have the correct skills to beat Okami, he is ill-equipped to handle many of the other top middleweights in the division.

The other middleweights at the top present some serious problems for Sonnen. To keep things simple, lets just look at the top five.

5. Demian Maia

Maia is a terrible matchup for Sonnen. As good as Sonnen's striking looked against Okami, he doesn't have the kind of finishing ability to stop Maia from either pulling guard, or getting a takedown as Sonnen tries to avoid the guard. Since Sonnen also lacks the kind of offensive ground skills to finish Maia, Maia has three whole rounds in which to pull off some sort of submission win on Sonnen.

Maia almost certainly wins this fight by submission.... Again.

4 & 3 Vitor Belfort and Nate Marquardt

Belfort and Marquardt are two different fighters, but they both present similar problems for Sonnen in that they are both dynamic in their striking and their grappling.

Make no mistake, Sonnen beat Okami on the feet, but he'll have a much tougher task if he's going to try to strike with the top strikers in the middleweight division. The rest of the top are all far too dynamic and too powerful for Sonnen to have success.

As long as the fight stays on the feet, Sonnen will be at a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, as BJJ blackbelts, both Belfort and Marquardt will be nearly impossible to finish on the ground, while both can threaten with sweeps and submissions.

2. Dan Henderson

They're both Team Quest guys, but if push came to shove, I don't think Henderson could possibly lose this one.

Henderson is probably a better wrestler than Sonnen. Could Sonnen take him down? It's possible, but even if he does so, Henderson is as durable as they come, and I don't see Sonnen being able to win a fight against Henderson with wrestling over a period of three rounds.

Furthermore, while Henderson may have the wrestling advantage, he's also the only one out of the two of them with any real striking weapon.

Dan Henderson's big right hand isn't really a threat to a striker as fast and proficient as Anderson Silva, but it certainly is a threat to a striker on the level of Chael Sonnen. If the wrestling aspect of the fight balances out, I'd expect Hendo to eventually land that big right, much to the dismay of any Sonnen bandwagon hoppers.

1. Anderson Silva

The big fish already fought enough of Chael Sonnen when he fought Dan Henderson.

Even Dan Henderson had trouble getting takedowns against Silva in the second round, and Sonnen will have an even harder time because the doesn't have any striking weapons big enough to take Silva's attention away from the takedown attempts.

It's not that Anderson's wrestling is that good, but he can threaten your life with muay thai clinches and knees. He really makes it tough for wrestlers to close the distance.

Despite the logic that states that a Greco-Roman wrestler can use his clinching skills to take Silva down, that logic fails to explain how Anderson was able to fend off Henderson.

The truth is that Anderson LOVES IT when people try to clinch with him. He does some of his best facial reconstructions from that position.

On the other hand, if Sonnen could get Silva down, it's unlikely that he'd be able to end the fight. Silva might not be the best BJJ blackbelt in the world, but it's still pretty hard to pass his guard, even for experienced submission grapplers like Thales Leites.

Sonnen won't submit or TKO Anderson on the ground, which means that in order to win, he'll need to take Anderson Silva down, and hold him down for four minutes, and he'll need to do this five times.

Anything less wouldn't be enough, and it won't be enough, because if Sonnen is stuck in a striking battle with Anderson for any length of time, it will be lights out.

Josh Koscheck Vs. Anthony Johnson for UFC 106?

Darren Wong — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:20:59 -0400

* This article now has updates as of 12:30 PM on October 28th. Updates at bottom*

According to Josh Koscheck's twitter account, Koscheck has now been penned in for the co-main event of UFC 106.

The twitter account is unverified, but it's the only one with substantial followers, and Sherdog is already reporting the story, so hopefully we're not jumping the gun on this one.

In my last pre-announcement prediction, I successfully predicted that Jon Fitch would be fighting Thiago Alves despite the majority of news articles believing Matt Hughes would get the fight against Fitch.

Since I'm on a roll, I think I'll go out and try to predict this one as well.

After taking a quick look-see at the rankings, I see that the only relatively available fighters with the recognition to warrant co-main event status at welterweight, other than the aforementioned Hughes, are Paulo Thiago, Paul Daley, and Carlos Condit.

Since I don't believe that Hughes has changed his opinion of the people at American Kickboxing Academy, I'll eliminate him from the running once again.

Paulo Thiago isn't scheduled to fight again for a while, but I think that it's a bit too soon to really be fighting Koscheck for a second time.

Furthermore, you'd have to be absolutely crazy to take on Koscheck with less than a few months notice. Daley seems to be a sensible kind of guy, so my money is on Condit to step up against Josh Koscheck at UFC 106.

UPDATE

It just occurred to me that Anthony Johnson might also be in the mix, considering his last bout only lasted 40 seconds...

I hereby change my pick to Anthony Johnson...I can do that right?

UPDATE #2

It has now been confirmed that Anthony Johnson will be fighting Josh Koscheck.

Well,.. my initial guess was just dead wrong, but Anthony Johnson makes the most sense,.. so I'm at least glad that I came to my senses before the event was confirmed to my knowledge.

It's the "Who knocked out Yoshida?" finals.

This matchup reminds me a lot of Koscheck's match last year against another explosive guy, Thiago Alves. Koscheck has heavy hands, but he also tends to take a few shots to the face, which is not a good idea when fighting Anthony Johnson Maybe we'll finally see Koscheck try to use some of his wrestling and jiu jitsu for once.

Nah,.. Koscheck wouldn't do that.. would he?

Don't Cry for Shogun Rua—He'll Be Just Fine

Darren Wong — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:24:42 -0400

To say that people are upset about the decision for the main even of UFC 104 would be a great understatement. Some people are utterly outraged by what they see as being an abortion of justice.

Certainly the decision seems unfair, but is there really any lasting damage to account for all the outrage?

The Shogun fans, as long as they are sane, should eventually recover.

The sport and the UFC will certainly survive. In fact, I'm sure that the rematch will be carry with it much more fight than the first one, as the people who had counted out Shogun will not be so quick to discount his chances in the second bout.

The only real victim worth considering is Mauricio Rua himself, who was denied the belt that many people feel he deserved. However, whatever your opinion about the decision, there's no reason to feel sorry for Shogun Rua. In losing the decision, Shogun achieved far more than a moral victory.

Moral victories are the kind of little personal victories that might raise one's spirits following a defeat. Any Brazilian Jiu Jitsu whitebelt knows the experience of a moral victory after avoiding a submission for a five-minute roll against a bluebelt, despite being utterly dominated on points. You feel that you've achieved something, and the bluebelt might give you a little nod, but other than that, nobody really cares.

Shogun certainly got his moral victory, but he also achieved so much more.

Before this latest fight, many people didn't even believe that Shogun deserved the title shot against Machida, and a lesser number gave Shogun any chance of doing as well as he did.

Even if you believed the stories of how much Shogun's injuries had hindered him against Forrest Griffin and Mark Coleman, the prognosis against Machida didn't look good.

Shogun had his greatest successes in pride by being relentless and recklessly aggressive. Back in Pride, he was willing to take a shot or two, as long as it gave him the chance to fire back. If Shogun had fought against Machida in the same fashion that he had fought in Pride, he would probably have been knocked out.

Instead, Shogun's execution was brilliant, tactical, controlled and patient. Mike Goldberg said during the broadcast that "this is the old Shogun." For perhaps the only time in the broadcast, Goldberg was actually giving Shogun less credit than he was due.

This wasn't the old Shogun, because the old Shogun would have gotten himself smashed. The Shogun who showed up on Saturday night was some whole new monster.

Following the bout, the upside for Shogun looks bigger than ever. Now people are actually interested in seeing him fight again.

If Shogun had knocked out Machida in the first minute of the fight, most of the talk would have been debate about whether or not Machida was overrated and overhyped.

Instead, after waging a calculated war, everybody is talking about Shogun and how people think he won the fight.

Meanwhile, there's actually been some injustice towards Machida, who is being vilified for a decision that he didn't make, and comments that were said by Ed Soares, perhaps the most unlikable-sounding translater/manager in UFC history. Machida will ultimately be okay.

Back to Shogun.

The fight has also created a rivalry and a ton of hype for the rematch. Forget about all of the big fights in Shogun's past, because the next one is going to be bigger.

Because of his performance he's already guaranteed himself another shot at the title and at least a few more big fights after that. That's not a moral victory, that's cash, money, bling, bling.

Shogun's world is about to change because of this fight with Machida. He's earned a lot of respect, and he's going to earn a lot more money. I call that a material victory.

In the end, all that Shogun is missing is a little "W" beside his name and an over-sized fashion accessory. The "L" on his record won't weigh against him in the minds of anyone who should matter.

ESPN blogger Jake Rossen sympathized with Shogun, noting that Shogun deserved to have "something beautiful and shiny" to wake up beside in the morning. I'm not sure if Shogun's wife will take offense.

Anthony Johnson Ready for Super-Welterweight Title Shot

Darren Wong — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:49:32 -0400

Anthony Johnson's attempt to defy the laws of physics came to a jarring halt at 176 lbs. Considering he started his cut a few months ago at 220 lbs, even that was impressive. One day after Johnson's weight cutting exploits ended, Yoshiyuiki Yoshida's night ended in an even more jarring fashion.

Anthony Johnson's knockout over Yoshiyuki Yoshida was so impressive to some viewers, that many people are already touting him as a title contender.

The knockout was pretty impressive, and is certainly worth another look.

Yes. It was a good knockout, and definitely Steve Mazzagatti's best stoppage of the night.

Far better than his stoppage of Ben Rothwell, although Mazzagatti really was only saving Rothwell from more punishment. Compubox stats show that for the first five minutes of the fight, Cain Velasquez was getting more hits than Google.

Mazzagatti simply saved Rothwell from serious brain damage equivalent to that caused by watching Transformers 2 .

Anyway, back to the Anthony Johnson fight. What makes this knockout so impressive is that nobody has ever done this to Yoshida before....

in 2009.

Kind of like how Randy Couture has never been submitted...

inside the Octagon.

In 2008, this happened....

Okay, so Anthony Johnson isn't exactly boldly going where no man has gone before, but the knockdown still puts Anthony Johnson on some sort of contenders list.

Unfortunately, since Anthony Johnson was five pounds over the welterweight limit, I can't actually raise his welterweight ranking. However, there are some other categories where Anthony Johnson has become the top contender.

Pat Miletich's P4P Rankings: No. 4 Contender under Robbie Lawler and Vitor Belfort

A few months back, back while Pat was still the WAMMA vice-president, Affliction was a fight promotion, and Josh Barnett was a well-respected heavyweight, Miletich said that he thought that Vitor Belfort and Robbie Lawler should both be considered for top five pound-for-pound status.

Not kidding.

Actually, I'm kidding about the Josh Barnett part. He wasn't well-respected even then.

Strikeforce 175 Lb Super-Welterweight Rankings: No. 2 Contender

175 isn't a real division, but that probably won't stop Strikeforce from holding fights at that weight sooner or later, given Scott Coker's penchant for catchweight fights. I could easily see Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Mayhem Miller, and Jay Hieron fight at this weight at some time.

Aside from those fighters, Thiago Alves got busted for taking a diuretic once to make weight, and also dominated Matt Hughes when he fought at 174 lbs, so he should be considered another serious challenger should he ever leave the UFC.

Anthony Johnson is huge for 175 lbs, but I think that as long as he can make weight, he'll be a real threat.

"Overweight Contenders Beating Up Smaller Japanese Fighters Who Make Weight" Unisex Division: No. 1 Contender

This is perhaps the least-prestigious division, but it's still an honour worth mentioning. In the championship bout, Anthony Johnson would be taking on Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who weighed in seven pounds over the 145 lb limit in her bout with Hitomi Akano, who usually fights at less than 135 lbs.

Fighters Who Say They're Going to Make Weight, But Fail Miserably, and Make Excuses About It Later: Elite XC YAMMA PIT Champion

The belt for this title comes with extra holes, just to make sure the champ can wear it. I'm going to award the title here to Anthony Johnson for his outstanding effort.

In order to keep this title, he'll face no-so stiff competition from the likes of Travis Lutter, Jason Guida, and Gabe Ruediger.

All joking aside, I think that it's pretty clear that Anthony Johnson has outgrown the welterweight division. He routinely walks around at 210 lbs, which is probably heavier than the smaller light-heavyweights like Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva.

He's definitely bigger than most middleweights including Dan Henderson, who walks around at about 200 lbs.

Even worse, this training camp, Anthony Johnson started cutting down from 220 lbs, and he got that big without even trying. That's the same weight that Randy Couture weighed in at when he fought Brock Lesnar!

That 220 lbs is also, coincidentally, the same weight that Fedor Emelianenko would weigh if he gave up ice cream for a month.

Anthony Johnson is only 25 years old, and is apparently still growing. Making weight is only going to get harder over the next few years. It's time that he realize that he's not a welterweight anymore and start preparing for a debut in the middleweight division.

Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Shogun: Machida Did More Than You Think

Darren Wong — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:43:05 -0400

Let me start off by saying that I think the Machida vs. Shogun fight was very close.

However, I don't really think that either fighter really did enough to earn a decisive decision. Most of all, though, I was very surprised by the one-sided nature of the broadcast commentary by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.

I thought that Shogun was doing very well, but I also thought Rogan and Goldberg failed to recognize many of Machida's counters.

The best argument for a Shogun victory is the success of his kicks to the body and leg of Machida while Machida was fighting from his southpaw stance. However, Machida almost always threw his counter-left in retaliation.

Whenever Machida is in his southpaw stance, he tends to counter leg kicks with his powerful left hand. This strike is the bread and butter of Machida's arsenal, and has been very damaging in the past to the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, Vernon White, Sam Hoger, and Rameau Sokoudjou.

The left that Machida uses to counter the inside leg kick was probably Machida's best weapon against Stephan Bonnar.

If you want a better illustration of this counter, watch the first round of Machida vs. Hoger, and you'll see what I mean.

In fact, this weapon is probably the most formidable weapon in Lyoto's tool-box. He landed it against Shogun on multiple occasions. Shogun, who has never been knocked out, just has a better chin than Bonnar, Sokoudjou, Franklin, and Hogar.

This clip shows Machida landing it on Rashad Evans.

Here it is on Sokoudjou.

I was pretty surprised that Rogan, a keen observer, wasn't really looking out for these counters, because I do believe that many of them did find their mark.

Here in this shot we see Shogun landing a big flying kick. The kick lands solidly, but it also looks like Machida might have landed his counter as well, so I'm not completely sure that Shogun won exchanges like these.

Here's the combination that occurred near the end of the third round. The UFC broadcast played the combination in slow-motion, but if you look at the start of the combination, you'll see that Shogun backs up because of the initial counter off the leg kick.

I haven't been able to find many other GIFs online yet, but after watching the fight a few times, I do think that Machida deserves a lot more credit for his counters than he was given by the commentators and viewers during the UFC 104 pay-per-view broadcast.

The casual viewer who does not really watch a lot of Machida's fights might not even notice Machida's counters. The other fighter makes the first and more dramatic move in the exchange, so it is easy for a casual viewer to miss seeing Lyoto landing his counter when Shogun throws his kick.

Because the leg kick is more noticeable, I think that it gets a lot more credit from the casual viewer than the counter. This is only enhanced when the commentators aren't really even acknowledging that the counter was ever thrown.

Is it really the case that a leg kick is worth more than a straight punch to the face?

UFC 104: Mauricio Rua Wasn't Robbed

Darren Wong — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:04:22 -0400

MMA fans have been chattering nonstop about the result of the main event last night in which Lyoto Machida won a unanimous decision over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104.

While I personally believe that Shogun probably should have won the decision, it was far from a robbery.

The common consensus seems to be that Shogun won the last two rounds, as well as one of the first three. But while the last two rounds of the fight may have been the easier rounds to score, there is still the question of the first three rounds.

Some people believe that Shogun won the first, while others believe that he won the third. Two of the three judges gave the first three rounds to Machida, and that was enough already for a decision.

Each of the first three rounds was close enough that nobody really would have a problem with a judge scoring any of them for Machida, yet it seems to many like some great injustice that a judge would give Machida all three.

The judges don't think that way. They're supposed to score each round on its own merits and are also strongly discouraged from scoring a round an even 10-10. It really shouldn't be that shocking to most people that Machida earned the decision, especially given the old rhetoric that in order to win the title, you need to beat the champion.

Within the first three rounds, Shogun did not do enough to prove that he was really beating the champion. Further controversy was probably stoked by a few other factors.

For one thing, the commentary for the fight seemed to favor Shogun fairly heavily.

One of the key problems in the fight is in scoring one particular exchange that was repeated over and over.

When Machida was standing in his southpaw stance opposite Shogun's orthodox stance, Shogun would throw a kick to the body, or to the leg, while Machida would counter either with a kick of his own or, more often, a left hand to the face.

I think that some people are confused about how to score the exchange when Machida successfully lands that counter.

The commentary by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg definitely seemed to favor Shogun's attacks during those exchanges, to the point where they seemed not even to acknowledge Machida's counters. Clearly the judges saw those exchanges differently.

Just in case you don't think Machida's counter lefts are damaging, though, here's what his counter has done in other fights.

Machida also landed a few solid knees in the fight—kind of like this one.

UFC 104 B/R Virtual Roundtable

Darren Wong — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:16:40 -0400

As Mike Goldberg would probably say, "When the gauntlet has been thrown, you've got to answer the call, and open the door of opportunity knocking."

Well, I challenged E. Spencer Kyte to a little contest, and he gladly accepted .

The Rules: Pick the winner, method, and round.

One point for picking the correct winner, or three points for correctly predicting a draw. The correct winner must be picked for any additional point possibilities.

One point for picking the correct round.

One point for picking the correct method. Possible methods for scoring purposes are (t)KO, submission, or decision.

The Contestants:

Mitch Cicciarelli, Ken Foss, Robert Gardner, Ed J Pickle McNasty III, E Spencer Kyte, Darren Wong

There aren't a whole lot of big upsets, predicted, but McNasty, Foss, and Specer Kyte and his team of monkeys have all gone out on a limb to pick underdog Yoshiyuki Yoshida. I applaud them all for their bravery and admit that Yoshida probably doesn't deserve to be as big of an underdog as the betting line indicates.

Despite picking Johnson, I'm actually kind of cheering for Yoshida, especially after Johnson missed the weight cut by six pounds.

I won't be upset if I lose that fight prediction, as I feel confident in my other selections.

Spencer Kyte has also predicted a big upset by Ben Rothwell and is the only prognosticator to do so.

Meanwhile, Robert Gardner has made a statement by picking Shogun Rua, as well as the live underdog, Josh Neer.

The two fights that nobody can agree on are the Kimmons/Rivera fight, and the Al-Hassan/Kingsbury fight, although if Rivera can't win by knockout early, I do kind of expect Kimmons to get the submission.

Here are the final picks. Good luck to all participants.

Matt Randall was also going to enter picks, but I'll take his lack of picks as a sign of weakness.

The Undercard

Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve

Mitch Ciccarelli: Chase Gormley by second round TKO

Ken Foss: Chase Gormley over Stefan Struve via TKO R3

Robert Gardner: Stefan Struve – via dec.

E. Spencer Kyte: Chase Gormley over Stefan Struve (TKO R1)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Chase Gormley over Stefan Struve (TKO R1)

Darren Wong: Gormley by decision.

Razak Al-Hassan vs Kyle Kingsbury

Mitch Ciccarelli: Razak Al-Hassan by unanimous decision

Ken Foss: Kyle Kingsbury over Razak Al-Hassan via Split Decision

Robert Gardner: Kyle Kingsbury – via 2nd Rd. TKO

E. Spencer Kyte: Razak Al-Hassan over Kyle Kingsbury (TKO R2)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Razak Al-Hassan over Kyle Kingsbury (Submission R2)

Darren Wong: Razak Al-Hassan by round two submission

Rob Kimmons vs. Jorge Rivera

Mitch Ciccarelli: Jorge Rivera by second round TKO

Ken Foss: Rob Kimmons over Jorge Rivera via Submission R1

Robert Gardner: Rob Kimmons – via 3rd Rd. Sub.

E. Spencer Kyte: Jorge Rivera over Rob Kimmons (Submission R1)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Jorge Rivera over Rob Kimmons (Submission R1)

Darren Wong: Jorge Rivera by round one TKO

Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen

Mitch Ciccarelli: Okami by unanimous decision

Ken Foss: Yushin Okami over Chael Sonnen via Submission R2

Robert Gardner: Yushin Okami – via dec.

E. Spencer Kyte: Yushin Okami over Chael Sonnen (Unanimous Decision)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Yushin Okami over Chael Sonnen (Submission R2)

Darren Wong: Yushin Okami over Sonnen by round three TKO

Patrick Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk

Mitch Ciccarelli: Antoni Hardonk by third round submission

Ken Foss: Antoni Hardonk over Pat Barry via Submission R1

Robert Gardner: Antoni Hardonk – via 2nd Rd. TKO

E. Spencer Kyte: Antoni Hardonk over Pat Barry (Submission R1)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Antoni Hardonk over Pat Barry (Unanimous Decision)

Darren Wong: Patrick Barry by decision

Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer

Mitch Ciccarelli: Ryan Bader by first round TKO

Ken Foss: Ryan Bader over Eric Schafer via TKO R3

Robert Gardner: Ryan Bader – via 1st Rd. TKO

E. Spencer Kyte: Ryan Bader over Eric Schafer (TKO R2)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Ryan Bader over Eric Schafer (TKO R1)

Darren Wong: Ryan Bader by round two KO

The Main Card on Page 2

The Main Card

Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Mitch Ciccarelli: Anthony Johnson by first round TKO

Ken Foss: Yoshiyuki Yoshida over Anthony Johnson via Submission R1

Robert Gardner: Anthony Johnson – via 2nd Rd. TKO

E. Spencer Kyte: Yoshiyuki Yoshida over Anthony Johnson (Submission R2)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Yoshiyuki Yoshida over Anthony Johnson (Submission R2)

Darren Wong: Anthony Johnson by round two TKO

Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson

Mitch Ciccarelli: Joe Stevenson by second round submission

Ken Foss: Joe Stevenson over Spencer Fisher via Unanimous Decision

Robert Gardner: Joe Stevenson – via 2nd Rd. Sub.

E. Spencer Kyte: Joe Stevenson over Spencer Fisher (Unanimous Decision)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Joe Stevenson over Spencer Fisher (Submission R1)

Darren Wong: Joe Stevenson by round two submission

Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau

Mitch Ciccarelli: Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision

Ken Foss: Gleison Tibau over Josh Neer via Split Decision

Robert Gardner: Josh Neer – via dec.

E. Spencer Kyte: Joe Stevenson over Spencer Fisher (Unanimous Decision)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Gleison Tibau over Josh Neer (Submission R3)

Darren Wong: Gleison Tibau over Neer by decision

Ben Rothwell vs. Cain Velasquez

Mitch Ciccarelli: Cain Velasquez by unanimous decision

Ken Foss: Cain Velasquez over Ben Rothwell via Unanimous Decision

Robert Gardner: Cain Velasquez – via dec.

E. Spencer Kyte: Ben Rothwell over Cain Velasquez (TKO R2)

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Cain Velasquez over Ben Rothwell (TKO R3)

Darren Wong: Cain Velasquez over Ben Rothwell by round two TKO

Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua

Mitch Ciccarelli: Lyoto Machida by second round TKO

Ken Foss: Lyoto Machida via Unanimous Decision

Robert Gardner: Mauricio Rua – 3rd Rd. TKO

E. Spencer Kyte: Lyoto Machida via TKO, Round Three

Ed J Pickle McNasty III: Lyoto Machida over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (KO R5)

Darren Wong: Lyoto Machida over Rua by round 2 KO

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves Rematch Confirmed for December

Darren Wong — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:01:16 -0400

Dana White has confirmed the rematch between top welterweight contenders is back on, Sherdog reports.

Last night, Jon Fitch announced that his fight with Ricardo Almeida was off, and that it had been replaced by a bigger and better fight. It was shortly after that that I proclaimed the rematch with relative certainty, while various other MMA sites were quickly predicting a match between Fitch and Matt Hughes.

Hate to say "I told you so."

This fight instantly becomes the biggest fight in the welterweight division.

The storylines are pretty awesome as well.

Fitch dominated their first encounter with his wrestling ability, and the end came when he unexpectedly knocked out Thiago Alves with an up-kick.

Despite getting the win, Fitch has been eagerly anticipating a rematch. People tell him that he didn't beat Thiago Alves the destroyer, but rather, he beat the old Thiago Alves, who didn't know how to wrestle or do Jiu Jitsu.

Since that fight, Alves really has improved his wrestling and BJJ, so the rematch certainly looks to be a lot more competitive. But Jon Fitch hopes to silence the doubters by defeating Alves once again.

Alves' most impressive performance might have been against Fitch's teammate, Josh Koscheck. Alves dominated the striking exchanges, while Koscheck, an NCAA Division I champion, couldn't even take Alves down.

A rematch would give Alves a chance to avenge his loss to Fitch, while Fitch can get a little revenge on behalf of his teammate, Koscheck.

It was no accident that Jon Fitch was scheduled to fight on the same night that Georges St. Pierre fought Thiago Alves.

If Fitch and Alves had both won that night, the UFC would have instantly been able to promote the rematch between the champ and the last man to defeat him. Instead, Fitch and Alves are now fighting for another probable shot at the champ, St. Pierre.

The UFC has been hesitant to put this match together because it wanted to build both fighters back up to the point where they feel that they can once again be marketed for a title shot against Georges St. Pierre, the man who defeated both without losing a round.

It looks like the injury to Ricardo Almeida has forced the UFC to re-think its plans for the welterweight division, similar to how it re-examined the strategy for Tito Ortiz once Mark Coleman got injured.

Personally I am very happy with the decision to book this fight, as it would have been a minor tragedy if Fitch and Alves never got the opportunity for a rematch.

With Ricardo Almeida Out, Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves Likely in the Works

Darren Wong — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:21:23 -0400

Ricardo Almeida is out, Jon Fitch announced on his website and twitter accounts.

"My fight on Nov. 21st is off, Almedia blew out his knee, but I get a bigger better fight instead. Cant say who yet, but lots of you have been waiting for this fight a long time."

My initial reaction is one of disappointment, as I was eagerly anticipating Almeida's welterweight debut against Fitch. Had Almeida won, he would have instantly put himself in the title picture.

That being said, Fitch sets the bar pretty high by announcing that his new fight is a bigger and better one.

Better than Ricardo Almeida? Looking at the UFC's welterweight roster, there really aren't a ton of fights that I'd be more excited about for Fitch, since he isn't about to be fighting his AKA teammates Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck.

The AKA boys have been calling out Hughes for a while now, but Hughes doesn't really seem that interested in the fight.

The only fight that really qualifies as being "bigger, better, and long-awaited," is a rematch with Thiago Alves. If this is the case, the UFC has made a great move for the fans.

An Alves vs. Fitch fight would be a fight for the undisputed number two spot in the world welterweight rankings.

The UFC has been hesitant to put this match together because UFC management was trying to build both fighters back up to the point where they feel that they can once again be marketed for a title shot against Georges St. Pierre, the man who defeated both without losing a round.

The UFC welterweight division isn't exactly bursting with credible contenders, so the UFC really didn't want to sacrifice one of them so early for the sake of building the other.

Alves is currently scheduled to fight Paulo Thiago at UFC 107, but this would not be the first time that the UFC has scrapped fights in favor of a better matchup.

In fact, Alves has been part of a few replacement fights, as he stepped in to face Matt Hughes when the Shogun vs Liddell fight was delayed, and Koscheck came in as a replacement to face Alves late last year.

This fight instantly becomes the most anticipated fight in the welterweight division. There are so many story lines.

Fitch dominated their first encounter, although the end came with an unexpected up-kick knockout. Despite the win, Fitch feels that he's never really received credit. People tell him that he didn't beat Thiago Alves the destroyer, but rather, he beat the old Thiago Alves, who didn't know how to wrestle or do Jiu Jitsu.

To some degree, these criticisms are accurate. Alves has improved by leaps and bounds since his first fight with Fitch, to the point that great wrestlers like Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre have not been able to hold him down.

Alves's most impressive performance might have been against Fitch's teammate, Josh Koscheck. Alves dominated the striking exchanges, while Koscheck, an NCAA Division I champion couldn't even take Alves down.

A rematch would give Alves a chance to avenge his loss to Fitch, while Fitch can get a chance for a little revenge on behalf of Koscheck.

If Alves had defeated St. Pierre at UFC 100, this fight would have already been booked due to the natural storylines. Nevertheless, unless I'm really missing something, it seems like the UFC has really come through again, and turned a bad situation into a great one.

Yushin Okami, Chael Sonnen Fight To Stay in the UFC

Darren Wong — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:02:01 -0400

Every single time a fighter steps into the Octagon, there is a lot on the line. The old saying is that a fighter is only ever as good as his last fight. That's not completely true though, as some fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell have earned enough fan support to stay around seemingly as long as they still have the desire to fight.

Guys like Yushin Okami and Chael Sonnen aren't so lucky.

Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami are both pretty good fighters. In fact, Yushin Okami has become a fixture near the top of most middleweight rankings. Despite the accomplishments both fighters have achieved, I feel that when they meet at UFC 104, they may be fighting just to remain in the UFC.

Sonnen and Okami are very similar fighters. They're both elite grapplers, and they've both been labeled as boring by many fans.

The fact that both fighters remain in the UFC is possibly the best example to argue that the UFC does in fact reward fighters for winning, and not just for being exciting.

But even if the UFC does want to keep fighters with fighting ability, regardless of marketability, they don't want their roster filled with those types of fighters. As for the example of Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, the UFC really only needs one of them.

I'm certain that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has thought this very thing himself before creating the matchup between Okami and Sonnen. Two boring wrestlers, and there can be only one.

Chael Sonnen must be on dangerous ground right now, after dropping a loss to Demian Maia and then grinding out a decision over Dan Miller. Certainly the UFC won't be happy with him if he loses another boring fight to Yushin Okami.

Okami has a better record, so you might be inclined to think that he'll be safe, but I'm not completely sure about that either.

There are a few benefits for keeping Okami, even if he does lose. For one thing, he's already being used to help market the UFC in Japan. Having an extra Japanese contender around can never be a bad idea, even if they've already got Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Furthermore, as already said, the UFC does like to keep the image that they're retaining the best fighters in the world. As a top 10 middleweight, Okami is one of the guys that fits that image. He also owns a win over Anderson Silva, albeit a win by disqualification.

Aside from the benefits of keeping Okami, there are also some drawbacks. As far as Japan is concerned, Okami is hardly necessary at this point. The UFC has Akiyama, who is far more marketable, as well as UFC champion Lyoto Machida, a Brazilian with Japanese heritage.

Plus there's a whole host of guys from Pride that can be brought in, should the UFC ever again hold an event in Japan.

If Okami loses to Sonnen, his ranking will also drop, giving another reason for the UFC to get rid of him. Plus, because Okami is such a dangerous fighter, the UFC doesn't want to put him in the Octagon against any of the UFC stars, where he might either win, or simply cause trouble by putting on a boring fight.

Even if Okami wins, the UFC doesn't really gain as much from him as before. Anderson Silva's recent successes, along with Okami's frequent injuries have done much to dampen any enthusiasm for an Okami-Silva rematch.

So all of these things considered, I think that when Sonnen and Okami face off, they may indeed be fighting for their jobs. It's a good old-fashioned "retirement match." If that doesn't make you excited about Okami vs Sonnen, nothing will.

UFC 104 Predictions: The Wong Answers

Darren Wong — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:51:44 -0400

Last weekend, self-described hack E. Spencer Kyte's slave typewriter monkeys correctly predicted the winner in an impressive five out of ten total matchups at WEC 43. The monkeys hailed this achievement as "tremendous. "

I applaud the monkeys on their effort, and issue my own friendly challenge to E. Spencer Kyte's monkeys for the upcoming UFC 104 card. I'm even going to make my picks first. Only this time, I'm going to demand a little more out of the monkeys.

I invite all other readers to submit their own picks as well in the comments section here. I'll name the winner in my UFC 104 obituary.

Rules: Pick the winner, method, and round.

One point for picking the correct winner, or three points for correctly predicting a draw. The correct winner must be picked for any additional point possibilities.

One point for picking the correct round.

One point for picking the correct method. Possible methods for scoring purposes are (t)KO, submission, or decision.

And now, without further adieu, my picks:

Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve

Struve's biggest vulnerability is in the striking department, but Gormley is more of a wrestler. Struve's length might pose some problems for Gormley, but I think Gormley's wrestling might be enough to avoid a submission and earn the decision.

Gormley by decision.

Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Razak can win this one in any fashion he wants, but his best best bet might be to take advantage of Kingsbury on the mat.

Razak Al-Hassan by round two submission

Jorge Rivera vs. Rob Kimmons

Didn't waste many neurons on this one.

Jorge Rivera by round one TKO

Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen

The battle of the two boring wrestlers, but Okami is bigger, and better-rounded. Okami could win this fight by submission, TKO, or decision, while Sonnen's only shot is to eek out a decision.

Yushin Okami over Sonnen by round three TKO

Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer

Bader should have a power advantage and a wrestling advantage. I see Bader being able to win this fight on the feet, but he might just take this to the ground, work for position, and finish with those giant punches.

Ryan Bader by round two KO

Patrick Barry vs Antoni Hardonk

Hardonk should have the grappling advantage, but probably won't get much of a chance to use it. His BJJ should be superior, but it won't matter if he doesn't try to take Barry down. Both fighters will fear the power of the other, but Barry will get the nod in the decision.

Patrick Barry by decision

Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Anthony Johnson is a wrestler with explosive striking ability, while Yoshida is a Judo master. Yoshida has a decent shot at either getting the submission, or out-working Johnson on the ground, but I don't think that will happen.

The last time Yoshida fought an explosive wrestler like this was when he fought Josh Koscheck. Expect something similar to happen this time.

Anthony Johnson by round two TKO

Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson

Fisher has the better striking, but Stevenson should be leagues beyond him in terms of wrestling and BJJ. Fisher has got a puncher's chance, but don't expect him to land that big flying knee that he landed on Matt Wiman.

Joe Stevenson by round two submission

Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau

Neer is a crafty, scrambly fighter, but Tibau should have the advantage when this fight inevitably hits the mat.

Gleison Tibau over Neer by decision

Ben Rothwell vs. Cain Velasquez

Rothwell is a solid opponent with a well-rounded skillset, but Velasquez is a machine getting better and better every time he fights. After getting criticized about his lack of finishing power in his last outing, he'll silence his critics in this outing with a decisive beatdown.

Cain Velasquez over Ben Rothwell by round two TKO

Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua

Nobody has found a way to counter Lyoto's style. In this fight, finally the hunter has become the hunted, as Rua is no-doubt doing everything he can to try to find a way to solve Machida.

Rua has great Muay Thai, but Rua's best chance might just be to take Machida down, and work for a submission.

Look for Lyoto to use his wrestling to keep the fight standing until Rua loses his patience. When that happens, it will be over quickly.

Lyoto Machida over Rua by round 2 KO

No monkeys were harmed in the production of these picks.

It's Time To Get Serious About Standardizing MMA

Darren Wong — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:50:43 -0400

UFC President Dana White has often said that one of his major goals is to turn MMA into the biggest sport in the world. Part of that, he says, is to make it so that the same way people do MMA in North America is the same way that it is done in Europe, and in Asia, and everywhere else in the world. It's called standardization.

It's hard to argue that Dana White has been anything but a huge help to the growth of Mixed Martial Arts as a sport. On the other hand, Dana White's overwhelming success at branding the UFC has been at the cost of greater standardization, specifically when it comes to the MMA battleground known as "The Octagon."

Boxing rings simply aren't designed for MMA. The fighters get caught in them, the fighters sneak away using them, and the frequent pause-resets in the ground fighting take away from the overall spectator experience.

The Eight-sided-cage is a nearly perfect stage for MMA contests, holding multiple advantages over the other possible Hexes, circular cages, square cages, and YAMMA Pits that have surfaced over the years.

The Hex was simply ridiculous.

Circular cages work pretty much exactly the same as an Octagon. Except that they're just a little bit harder to construct and assemble. One of the good things about the Octagon, is that it is very easy to copy. In principle, that should make it easy for people around the world to reproduce it.

Square cages are a bit better than boxing rings, but can still lead to some awkwardness when the fight goes into a corner.

YAMMA Pits, despite their kind of insane genius, are the most-difficult to construct, and look gimmicky.

Other polygonal cages are fine, but if you've ever been to an even that uses a pentagon, then you know that it just isn't the same.

The octagonal mat and cage design are trademarked by the UFC owners, which prevents other fight promotions from using them without permission. UFC management has been protective of these property rights.

To this day, other fighting organizations are using pentagons, hexagons and circles out of fear or stubbornness in relation to the UFC's current ownership of "The Octagon."

The recent episode of the Simpsons incorporated a "Septagon," although according to the greek polygon naming series, it should have been called "The Heptagon."

Zuffa and the UFC need to let go of the trademarks on Octagons, and really get serious about bringing everything in the sport to the mainstream.

You don't see little league baseball played on a baseball "ruby" before moving on to the baseball diamond of the major leagues, and the same thing should be true of MMA.

I suppose there might be some comparisons in auto racing, and a few other sports, but if MMA is really ever going to be the biggest sport in the world, it needs to have uniformity that is currently being denied by the UFC.

On the other side of the issue, fans, fighters, and other fight promoters need to express a similar desire for standardizing the Octagon. Other promoters probably feel like doing so would be to admit UFC supremacy.

They would be right, but let's face up to the fact that the UFC really has won. The Octagon will probably be the standard for the foreseeable future, and to deny that is simply delusional.

A week ago, Dana White admitted in an interview that there has been some discussion within the UFC management about making the Octagon smaller.

In my opinion, this is another mistake. The goal of using a smaller Octagon would presumably be to prevent people from being elusive, and helping the more aggressive fighter catch the backpedalling ones.

The possible unintended side effects might include giving an advantage to wrestlers like Randy Couture, who already find a lot of success by using the cage to wear down opponents while avoiding both strikes and submissions.

Besides this possible drawback, it's not like elusiveness has really been a problem so far in the history of the UFC. The UFC's most-elusive fighter, Lyoto Machida, has turned into a huge star, while most other UFC fighters are content to stand and bang like Rock em Sock em Robots.

Logistical issues make smaller cages necessary for events in smaller buildings, but there should still be standard sizes.

Right now though, while the UFC is contemplating shrinking the Octagon, the truth is that the Octagon should be growing around the world, if only the UFC would let it.

History Says Junie Browning Will Fight Again

Darren Wong — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:34:08 -0400

Junie Browning's recent drug overdose and subsequent rampage resulted in battery charges from the police, and a pink slip from the UFC.

His trainer, Shawn Tompkins, as well as MMA journalists like Kevin Iole have said that his MMA career is probably over. If he was a politician, this would probably be the end of his political career. Since he is a professional fighter, you can bet that he'll be back.

History definitely suggests that Junie Browning will return. The guy probably should have been kicked off of the TUF reality show three times, but somehow he survived all of that, so surely his career can survive the small matter of battery misdemeanor.

Maybe if he'd only had two strikes up until this point, I could invoke some sort of "three strikes, you're out" rule to suggest that Junie is finally done, but since he's already had three strikes on the reality show, and two losses in the UFC (one of them was a TUF exhibition opposite Efrain Escudero), it's become blatantly obvious that the three strikes rule doesn't apply to Junie. My best guess is that he's more like a cat. Nine lives, minimum.

If you're not convinced though, consider the probable consequences of Junie's latest actions. A battery charge is obviously not a good thing, but it won't put Junie Browning behind bars. People get charged with battery all the time and either are acquitted, plead guilty to a lesser offence, or are granted some leniency.

In Junie's case, I'm pretty sure that even if Junie is convicted of something, the judge will show some sympathy and leniency, considering that Junie Browning was possibly suicidal and under the influence of medication at the time of the incident. Shawn Tompkins has already suggested that, saying:

"You have to understand, he was under the influence of a severe amount of drugs. You can’t hold him accountable for what he said, even though what he said was terrible, because of what he put inside of him."

In the end, this whole incident will probably result in Junie getting forced into some counselling sessions and a metaphorical slap on the wrist.

Since Junie won't be going to prison, he'll find a new employer soon enough if Shawn Tompkins can't convince the UFC to have him back, which they might, considering the way they've handled guys like Chris Leben in recent history.

Jesse Taylor also went on a bit of a rampage while on TUF. He's not been back to the UFC, but instead has been extremely busy elsewhere, taking eight fights over the past year since being released from the UFC.

Getting a fighting licence certainly won't be a problem for Browning. Convicted felons can get a fight licence, so a misdemeanor for battery won't be a problem.

If Strikeforce or the UFC won't take Junie though, there is still Japan, as well as plenty of smaller fighting organizations and native reserves where Junie could ply his trade.

One thing that has become clear to me since I became a fight fan is that you can't count a fighter out, no matter who tells you it's over.

Fighters like Floyd Mayweather who say they're retiring inevitably return to fight.

Fighters like Josh Barnett who are banned by an athletic commission for steroid use inevitably appeal, or move to Japan.

Fighters like Dennis Hallman and David Loiseau, who are let go by the UFC move on to smaller shows, and eventually return to the UFC. Hallman is scheduled to return on the TUF 10 finale, while Loiseau is planning on trying out for TUF 11.

Chuck Liddell certainly seemed finished when Dana White told everybody that he was going to make sure Chuck retired. Now though, Dana White has changed his tune, and you can bet that Chuck Liddell will have at least one more fight after he's finished "Dancing With the Stars."

Even if the media announces that a fighter has literally died, you better double-check your references and sources. Just ask Kimo Leopoldo.

Anderson Silva Won't Fight Shogun Even If Shogun Beats Machida

Darren Wong — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:32:59 -0400

Although Lyoto Machida is heavily favored to beat Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104, it hasn't stopped people from speculating about a possible title fight between Shogun and Anderson Silva. Sorry to burst the bubble of all these amateur prognosticators, but even if Shogun beats Machida (and he probably won't), Silva still probably won't fight Shogun.

People know that Silva has frequently and repeatedly rejected the idea that he would ever fight his friend and training partner, Lyoto Machida. On the other hand, if people think that Silva would fight Shogun for the title, they fail to understand the depth of Anderson's loyalty to Machida.

The possible fight between Machida and Silva has only come under the spotlight in recent months since Lyoto became the UFC light-heavyweight champion. Silva had been talking about Lyoto years before he was on the UFC title radar.

When Silva fought his first fight at 205 lbs we started learning about his loyalty to Lyoto. It became clear Silva could successfully fight at 205 lbs and questions circled about a possible title shot in that division.

Rather than talking about his place in the division, Silva frequently and consistently said that he was not interested in fighting for the light heavyweight title. He believed Lyoto Machida would eventually become the champion, and he did not want to get in his way.

This was before Machida had even fought Tito Ortiz.

Think about that for a second. Anderson Silva's loyalty to Machida not only prevents him from fighting Machida, but also has already prevented him from doing other fights that would get between Machida and the UFC title.

Should Machida lose to Shogun, he will want his title back. Due to this Silva will probably not fight Shogun. If he won, he would then be in Machida's way.

On a side note, the same idea is also part of Georges St. Pierre's hesitance in going up in weight to 185 lbs. If he went up to 185 right now to challenge for the title, he would immediately be in the way of his teammate, Nate Marquardt, and possibly Patrick Cote.

There are, however, two possible ways in which the Silva/Shogun fight could take place. Shogun could beat Machida into retirement,. Alternatively Silva could take the fight as his last fight before his own retirement.

Neither option seems particularly.

Furthermore, as already stated, all this speculation presupposes a victory for Shogun over Machida at UFC 104. That's perhaps the biggest gap in this whole equation.

Forrest Griffin Still Doesn't Want To Talk

Darren Wong — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:40:57 -0400

Forrest Griffin is alive!

Well, we all had a vague idea that he did, in fact, survive his fight with Anderson Silva, but since that time, it just seems like he's fallen off the face of the earth.

The last time we saw Forrest Griffin, he was running straight out of the building after a one-sided knockout loss to Anderson Silva. Since then, he has been back at training but hasn't really done any interviews.

Well, now he has, and in this interview, he sort-of makes excuses for his recent silence. Among other things, he states that he's in the fighting business, not the talking business. He also expresses some discomfort in his position as a possible role model.

I'm not really concerned too much about the kind of example that he sets, but his words did remind me somewhat of LeBron James' "shaking hands is for losers" remarks.

There goes the idea that MMA fighters are going to be a different type of sports celebrity.

Come on, Forrest! You can do better than that!

I honestly expected that whenever Forrest Griffin finally returned to the public eye, that he would come up with some funny lines that would once again endear him to the public. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind.