Bleacher Report - Articles by Tom Grant

The Tampa Two Era Is Over In The NFL

Tom Grant — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:12:36 -0500

In 1996 Tony Dungy took over the much maligned Tampa Bay Buccuners franchise, bringing with him Monte Kiffin as a defensive coordinater. The results was one of the most explosive and dominating defenses of the era. Under Dungy and later Jon Gruden, the Tampa 2 defense took over the NFL in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The Tampa Two, or the Cover Two defense, is a zone defense that is based around a bend but don't break idea. The zone defense allows defenders to keep everything in front of them and to prevent big plays. Short passes and short gains are a fact of life in the Cover 2 and the one thing that this defense cannot allow is yards after catch or after contact.

As a result, one of the basic skills of a linebacker or defensive back in the Tampa 2 is near perfect tackling. Another key aspect is closing speed, keeping short gains from turning into larger plays, and as a result the back seven of the defense are undersized by NFL standards.

The safeties split the field in half and take away the over the top pass, and the two large zones is what gives the Cover Two its name. The corner backs stay close to the line of scrimmage and take away the quick catch—and—run passes to the wide receivers.

What really sets the Tampa Two apart from the classic Cover Two is the middle linebacker. In the Cover Two all three linebackers drop back into a mid—zone, taking away crossing and slant routes. While effective, the Cover Two leaves the center of the field wide open to a tight end running a deep post route.

The Tampa Two demands a little more from its middle linebacker. While the outside linebackers still drop back to a mid depth to take away slants and crosses, the middle linebacker drops back almost 10 yards into a deep zone, covering tightends and wide receivers trying to attack the center of the field. The linebacker has to have the speed and athletic ability not common to the position. Brain Urlacher has proved to be the ideal fit for this defense because of his amazing coverage skills and speed.

The trade off of speed for size in the defense results in a lack of consistent blitzers in a Tampa Two defense, the linebackers are often overwhelmed by the Offensive Line's power and size. So it falls to the defensive line to apply pressure and control gaps.

And gap control is the watch word for a Tampa Two defensive line, each tackle and end must fulfil their assignment on each play because they often are not getting extra rushers.

The defense ends are ideally pass rush specialists who proved excellent speed off the edge to force quarterbacks up in the pocket and into the waiting hands of the tackles. The tackles must be able to pressure up the middle and control the running gaps.

It was, in short, an answer to the West Coast offense. Take away the ability to run after the catch and force the dink—and—dunk offenses of the late 1990s and early 2000s to fight for every first down.

The Tampa Two defense dominated for a time, taking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Superbowl in 2002, as well as the Bears and Colts to the 2006 Superbowl but as all things in the NFL, offenses have been evolving.

Every year the shotgun spread becomes more and more a part of NFL offenses, tight ends have become more athletic and offensive coordinators find new ways to exploit the zone coverage.

Quarterbacks and offensive coaches have had over a decade to study the Tampa Two, and the increased use of slot receivers, trips formation, bunch formations, wheel routes, wide receiver screens, and explosive tightends have become banes of Tampa Two defenses.

The weaknesses of the scheme have been badly exposed over the last 14 years, the side line is often unguarded and the middle of the field is still venerable even with the middle linebacker covering deep. Any modern NFL Quarterback worth his salt can find these classic soft spots in his sleep. And combine the new offensive plans with the new wave of explosive, pass catching tight ends like Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates and the middle linebacker is now normally insufficient in coverage.

To compound problems defenses that use the Tampa Two are far too reliant on a single star defensive lineman to help create havoc up front and draw double teams. If lost, often the defense will struggle mightily because the opposing quarterback will have a secure pocket to survey the field.

The Bears defense, which was a Tampa Two defensive force in 2006 has struggled mightily since Tommy Harris' effectiveness was robbed by injuries. Also the defending champion Indianapolis Colts defense was hobbled in 2007 when injury ended Dwight Freeney's season early. The undersized nature of the backers just does not allow for them to deliver consistent pressure through blitzing, and as a result a single injury or poor season can cripple a defense.

But even when a Tampa Two defense is healthy and effective in limiting big plays, the fact of the matter is that the bend don't break nature of it results in long drives for the opposing offense that. Even when the plays do not result in points, they shift the time of possession, so the Tampa Two defense is a disadvantage when playing from behind.

Now this is not always true, as the Indianapolis Colts are the perfect storm for the Tampa Two. The defensive personnel were hand picked by the architect of the Tampa Two, Tony Dungy, and they have a quick strike offense led by Peyton Manning. With an offense consistently spotting the defense a lead, the Colts use the Tampa 2 in an ideal situation.

When a team is forced to pass and push the field against the Cover Two, the defense becomes effective, especially when you have defensive ends like the Colts. But the Colts have fallen victim to teams who get early leads and then ball control the Colts to victory.

And for teams like the Chicago Bears, who rarely play in front, the Tampa Two makes almost no sense as base defense any more. Once a team is behind, they are forced to commit defenders to stop the run and then the undersized corner backs that the Tampa Two uses are manned up on larger and faster wide receivers. With sutch a mismatch in the passing game, defenses find themselves at a big disadvantage.

The results that last few years have not been pretty and many Tampa Two teams have abandoned the defense in favor of more aggressive schemes. The simple fact of the matter is that the NFL is a quarterback and wide receiver league and pressuring the quarterback is key to victory.

The Tampa Two as a base defense is too passive, and unless you are the 2006 Giants, a four man rush just isn't enough to disrupt quarterbacks. Just look at the Bears since the far more aggressive Ron Rivera left and Lovie Smith imposed a strict, Tampa Two philosophy. The Bears have been little more than a .500 team with a weak defense, yet it is the same players that carried the Bears to a Superbowl.

Cover Two plays will be part of the NFL forever, but building an entire team around a zone coverage no longer is practical. Undersized coverage linebackers have been shunned in favor of larger, pass rushing linebackers. Safeties like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu have made the position more about versatility and ball skills than being able to take away a deep route.

As a Bears fan, I fully expect to see the Tampa Two defense to be shown the door along with Lovie Smith at the end of this season in Chicago. While the Colts may end up being one last hold of the Tampa Two, the league will shy away from this defense in favor of more aggressive schemes as it has just simply been passed by NFL evolution.

With UFC Injuries, Is It Time to Call Up the WEC?

Tom Grant — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:08:02 -0500

It has been a very tough month for UFC President Dana White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who have watched a rash of injuries and illnesses that have sidelined several of the league's key fighters.

Just a month away from his first defense as the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion, both the champion Brock Lesnar and the challenger Shane Carwin fell ill. Lesnar has a nasty case of mono, and Carwin fell to the H1N1 virus.

Just days after his epic match with Shogun Rua, with a rematch already on the books, UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Lyoto Machida went into surgery for a broken hand, and has been sidelined for several weeks.

And just weeks after getting his next victim named, Pound-For-Pound Elite and UFC Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva went into surgery for his elbow, again, taking him out of action for sometime.

And last night, Georges St. Pierre's next challenger was named, but a match has yet to be name because GSP has been out with a groin injury he tweaked during his dominate win over Thiago Alves. And even when he returns, Dan Hardy hardly presents a serious challenge to the Pound-For-Pound stand out.

Along with these champions, a number of top contenders are out for several reasons, including just recently Big Nogueira with a staph infection, Dan Henderson in contract talks and Rampage Jackson taking a leave to film a movie.

The result is that the UFC has a shortage of fighters, and more importantly, champions in the coming future. B.J. Penn is set to defend his belt in December, but there is no other UFC title defense in the foreseeable future.

While for hardcore fans this isn't a huge problem because this just means under the radar fighters might get more air time, this a huge problem for Zuffa in terms of views and money.

But the solution is already in the Zuffa family, the WEC with their absolutely stacked Lightweight, Featherweight, and Bantamweight divisions. There is fantastic talent in the WEC, and on every card they turn out there are just fantastic fights on that blue canvas.

Merging the WEC with the UFC and bringing these smaller fighters to the big stage could create excitement for a promotion facing a tough stretch. There are several fight possibilities that would be available in the next few months that could be very exciting.

Mike Thomas Brown defending his belt against the explosive Jose Aldo takes place this weekend, and what better way to bring the Featherweights to the UFC with the winner of Brown/Aldo possibly facing the former champion Urijiah Faber.

The WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is about to defend his belt against wrestling ace Ben Henderson, just a few weeks after B.J. Penn defends his title. The timing is perfect for a belt unification match, pitting the UFC champ against the WEC champion.

And then, of course, this is the likely rematch of Bantamweight champion Brian Bowles against one of the best fighters in the world, Miguel Torres.

Bowles landed a KO hook to Torres' temple in a back-and-forth match, where both fighters were rocked at times. Torres, already one of the Pound-For-Pound elites, has completely revamped his training, and is looking for another run as champion.

This merger also helps the UFC not just in the short run, but would be a long term benefit, because it gives Dana White and Joe Silva more weight classes, and greater talent depth to work with when creating cards. One problem the UFC has been faced with has been the "down" cards after a run of excellent cards, that feature no title matches and no top contenders.

The addition of the WEC talent pool provides the UFC with two more champions mix into their plans along with a number of contenders to play with. The result would better, more consistent cards so the UFC would have to, as suggested by some, cut down the number of PPVs they host per year.

It also does the fighters in the WEC justice, who are just as talented as their Zuffa brethren in the UFC, but there is a huge paycheck gap between the two promotions.

Fighters like Torres, Brown, Aldo, Bowles, and Faber deserve the kind of recognition and paydays that the other champions and contenders receive.

Anthony Johnson Rumbling His Way to Middleweight

Tom Grant — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:43:00 -0400

At the UFC 104 weight-ins, that was more than a little concern for welterweight prospect Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson, who was clearly unstable and lightheaded after a marathon weight cutting session.

He came in at an embarrassing 176 lbs, one of the most overweight fighters we have ever seen. While this is often a sign of laziness, it is very clear that Johnson is still a young man and has simply out grown his weightclass.

Reports are that Johnson walks around at 200 lbs and came into camp at 190 lbs, which would be ideal if he was attempting to make middleweight. Johnson has stated that he can't lift weights because he will gain too much muscle mass to make weight.

By all reports, UFC match maker Joe Silva was furious at Johnson after he failed to make weight. Johnson has championship potential but is not ready to fight GSP now and Silva made it clear that Johnson had one more fight at welterweight, if that.

At welterweight, Johnson is a giant, with imposing speed and insurmountable strength and these physical gifts will follow him to middleweight. I am more convinced that his skills will come with him with the quote about he doesn't weight train.

Hit the weight room, add more muscle, become a middleweight, and feast on the soft mid-level fighters while he develops his skills. It is hard to argue that Johnson wouldn't be able to step into the Octagon with Alan Belcher, Partick Cote, Chael Sonnen, or Wilson Gouveia and not leave without his hand getting raised.

I think a reason why Johnson is resistant to the switch is that his coach and mentor Cung Le is a currently an MMA fighter at Middleweight. Being a welterweight helps prevent any chance, no matter how slim, that they will meet in a match. Teacher-vs-student situations are often awkward and rarely enjoyable experiences for both parties.

But Le's career leads him more and more to Hollywood and less to Las Vegas these days and I believe he will talk Johnson into moving up a weight-class and possibly being Anderson Silva's final UFC challenge in a year or two.

Champion or Not: The Shogun Is Back

Tom Grant — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:28:11 -0400

The night of UFC 104 finished in controversy and questions: who landed more effective strikes, who was controlling the action, who should be wearing the belt, and what where the judges smoking?

One question that was certainly answered: is Maricio Rua's career over? The answer was a very strong no.

Rua's PRIDE FC past is well documented, and as is his less than impressive arrival to the UFC. In a matter of months Shogun went from Chute Boxe prodigy to a fromer PRIDE cast off.

Fans of Rua blamed the knee surgeries and UFC fans tore him down. Certain writers here termed Rua as a "tomato can" and I myself took to calling him Daimyo Rua instead of Shogun. (Daimyo being a subservient lord in Medieval Japan.)

But it is very clear now, the name is Shogun Rua and don't wear it out.

Physically Shogun was back. He was explosive and powerful, his kicks were lighting quick, he was light on his feet and his strikes did real damage when they hit. Even more impressive was Shogun answered all the cardio questions with this fight.

Previously Shogun has struggled to finish three round fights against Forrest Griffin and Mark Coleman, but in this contest Rua handled five rounds with relative ease. At the end of the third round Shogun was still very active and appeared to be the fresher fighter in the later rounds, bouncing his front leg in that classic Muay Thai stance.

While Rua's cardio improvement was amazing, it was surpassed by his technical improvement. I don't think we have ever seen a Shogun Rua that was as technically mature and sound as the one that walked out at UFC 104.

Shogun was snapping off quick, efficient kicks with no wasted movement, his punches were straight and quick, and Shogun's footwork was the equal of Machida's. His accuracy was excellent and as was his defense, blocking many of Machida's strikes.

Those big looping punches that had become a Shogun trademark were all but gone, mainly because they created too big of an opening for Machida to counter. For the first time we saw a Shogun that clearly came into a fight with a plan and the will to excute.

Against Machida it was very clear he wanted to target the body. Machida's elusivness is legend, so Rua gave himself the biggest possible target rather than shooting for Machida's head. Rua connected again and again with massive side kicks and Machida's ribs looked like they had been hit with a hammer.

When Machida tried to cricle out away from the punishment on his ribs, Shogun would hit him with a very hard leg kicks. As the fight wore on, and Machida wore down Rua started using more of his power punches to great effect, even causing Machida's knees to buckle at one point.

The official results of the match will be debated for weeks to come and I don't want this to become that argument. The one thing that really cannot be debated concerning this fight is that the 205-lb division has yet another elite fighter in Shogun Rua.

Is a College Education an Edge in MMA?

Tom Grant — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:54:27 -0400

The 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter has pitted two bitter rivals against each other as coaches, Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans.

Now, if you haven't seen any of this season, Rashad has been coaching circles around Jackson and has won the first four fights. Jackson's inability to pick fights, develop fighters, or do corner work have been badly exposed.

Rashad had expertly matched styles and game planned each of his fighters to maximize their chances to win. Meanwhile Jackson firmly believes that it’s the heart and effort of the fighter rather than matchups and techniques.

This clash of styles is not unique of these two coaches. Across MMA, fighters, coaches, and gyms all have their own approaches of the best way to prepare for a fight. Recently the fighters that subscribe to game planning and film watching have been performing very well, approving their physical abilities in some cases.

The central figures of these game-planning centers mostly have a common theme; they were NCAA athletes with college degrees.

Other combat sports don't often have college degrees, as there is no NCAA boxing or kickboxing. But in a sport like football, there are certain franchises that value education over physical ability. Teams like the Patriots or the Colts have the highest percentage of college degrees on their roster, and many consider their rosters to have the highest "football IQ."

While much of the information given in college will do a fighter no good in the cage, the analytical thinking it promotes is an invaluable tool for any profession.

There have been highly adaptive fighters who work hard on studying not just their own game, but also that of their opponents and making adjustments to focus on weak points. The first fighter who really made a career out of maximizing his strengths and targeting weaknesses of opponents was Randy Couture.

Couture went on to found his own gym, based on the principle of rounding out a fighter's skills, conditioning, and preparation based on a specific opponent’s skill set. The gym has been on the premier groups in MMA and a location for struggling fighters who are searching to reinvent their game.

Xtreme Couture was really the first gym of its kind, and Randy was the brain trust behind it. Couture is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and, along with Mark Coleman, was the among the first college wrestlers to really establish themselves in MMA.

Couture's adaptive style flew in the face of the prevalent wisdom of the time; be excellent at one thing and impose your will. Fighters like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, and Tim Sylvia all fell to the much older fighter.

As Couture's fame grew, more and more college athletes flocked to MMA. College wrestlers have flooded into MMA, bringing with them the unique skill set required in NCAA athletics: outstanding athleticism, work ethic, and a level of education not normally seen in combat sports.

College athletes also tend to be more coachable, understanding there is value in learning. As a result we see that almost no brand of fighter progresses their skill set faster than college wrestlers.

From Josh Koscheck to Ryan Bader to Anthony Johnson to Rashad Evans, college wrestlers add skills and progress faster than any other background of fighter. And this success isn't just limited to wrestlers.

Kenny Florian, one of the must successful and intellectual game planners in MMA today, was a soccer player at Boston College. Florian has out-thought opponents on numerous occasions and uses this intelligence to perform beyond what he's physically able to do.

This combination of athleticism, skill base, analytical thinking, and coach-ability has made college athletes form-able in MMA.

This is not to say that this is an end all, be all. Greg Jackson has demonstrated amazing abilities to adapt and coach and he has an education really only in fighting, being a lifetime martial artist. He seeks out only the most coachable, forward-thinking fighters to join his gym and then blends their skills with his own style of coaching for success.

Similarly almost all Brazilian fighters don't have a chance to go to college but are able to attain many of the same skills through an education in martial arts.

The purpose of this article isn't to devalue their skills but simply to point to a skill that is currently being looked over by many in the MMA world, the education level of a fighter.

The Martial Arts of MMA: The Grappling Arts

Tom Grant — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:51:37 -0400

The sport of mixed martial arts has progressed a great deal in the just over a decade, and the fighters have changed as much as the sport. Fighters went from knowing only a single discipline to multifaceted machines armed with an array of martial arts. Fighters are more defined their base martial art, and certain martial arts have proven to be more effective in the realm of mixed martial arts than others. This is not to say that a martial art is ineffective or useless, rather just they do not work within the arena that is Mixed Martial Arts. I intend to look at the grappling martial arts in MMA and a look at one I believe will soon enter MMA with a bang.

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The Martial Arts of MMA: The Stand Up Arts

Tom Grant — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:30:06 -0400

The sport of mixed martial arts has progressed a great deal in the just over a decade, and the fighters have changed as much as the sport. Fighters went from knowing only a single discipline to multifaceted machines armed with an array of martial arts. Fighters are more defined their base martial art, and certain martial arts have proven to be more effective in the realm of mixed martial arts than others. This is not to say that a martial art is ineffective or useless, rather just they do not work within the arena that is Mixed Martial Arts. I intend to look at the major stand up martial arts in MMA and a look at one I believe will soon enter MMA with a bang.

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Why I Love College Football, But Hate College Football Fans

Tom Grant — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:55:18 -0400

If you’re reading this, you're already walking a path similar to mine—you absolutely love college ball. The emotion, the stadiums, the bands, the rivalries, and the atmosphere. But then there are the meatball fans that you run into at the stadium or online that make this sport practically unbearable, and there are several key things that almost all of them do.

Now, when reading this list, know we are all guilty of some of these, but if you are giving yourself a big old check on each and every one of these, please take a long look at your fandom.

The College Football Transitive Property

We've all done it. Team A beat Team B and lost to Team C, therefore Team C is better than Team B. It is a favorite when fans are trying to show how much better their conference is better than another by either building up their own team or discrediting another one.

Now, can you make some conclusions based on these scenarios? Sure, for example, this year Miami beat Florida State, who then went on to beat down BYU, a good team. I can conclude that FSU is actually a pretty good team and therefore can give Miami some more credit for beating them.

I cannot make any real, definitive statements about Miami vs. BYU or FSU vs. Oklahoma and claim any sort of credibility or objectiveness based on this interaction, though.

If you believe a definitive statement can be made based on that, I can make one. Middle Tennessee State was better than the Florida Gators last season. That is right! The MTS Blue Raiders beat Maryland, who then went on to beat Wake Forest. Wake Forrest beat Ole Miss, and Ole Miss handed the Gators their lone loss in the 2008 season. If you follow that logical path, Middle Tennessee State could beat the Gators.

I think we can all agree that is crap, and here is why: The Gators were a better team than Ole Miss.

In sports, especially college sports, teams can lose a game to a team they are just better than. I was a college athlete and I can say with certainty that I lost to guys a lot worse than me and beat guys a lot better than me. It happens! And when it happens, you can't make broad judgments about every team that team has played based on one game!

Your Out-of-Conference Schedule Sucks! So You Suck!

Since when did OOC become the highlight of the season? It seems unless your team has a top 10 team every week for the first three weeks of the college football season, you catch hell.

Now this, like everything I point out, is acceptable to a certain level; some teams deserve to catch hell for their OOC, like Penn State. When they made the schedule 10 years ago, they knew they were giving themselves cream puffs. We know it and Penn State fans for the most part will admit they have not really had much to watch these past few weeks.

Part of it is how far ahead these games are scheduled because a lot changes in 10 years; take Ohio State's past few years.

In the late 1990s, when we did our OOC, we lined up for a game at Washington, which would have been a brutal game that decade. A home-and-home with USC would have been stat-padding time.

So, teams in 1998 went out and signed Washington to play a Pac-10 machine, and in 2008, got a winless wonder. And Big 10 teams adding USC looking for a nice, easy win have been getting hosed.

Also, since OOC games occur so early in a season, many times a team is still finding its way when it is confronted with a high-level team. Take this past Ohio State-USC game: Do you really think the USC offense is going to be as average as it was in that game come bowl season?

Do you really think the playbook won't expand as Matt Barkley learns the position and the athletes USC has at running back and wideout won't become more effective? Look for USC to be a totally different team later in the season.

While OOC games give us great early season fireworks, they can make a statement or end up meaning very little. I mean, do any of you really think that the Oklahoma Sooners' loss to BYU has taken them out of the BCS hunt?

It has zero impact on their BCS chances because if they win their conference, they will go to the BCS and likely have a great shot at the title.

The fact of the matter is that the most important part of the season is the part we are entering now—conference play. Your conference is full of teams that are in direct competition with you for a title; they know you inside and out because they see you every year. On top of that, they hate your guts and would love to see you suffer.

Conference vs. Conference

Going along with the OOC mania that has swept the nation is the process of ranking conferences and conference pride. I place the blame of this firmly on the SEC, though not so much the top teams.

I won't bash the Gators, Tigers, Bulldogs, and the other BCS bowl winners doing their thing; more so it's the bottom part of the SEC looking to boost its own image by riding the Gators' coat tails.

Now, every team is judged on their conference and every fan is looking to tear down every other conference to build their own up. The result is that rivalries are almost shifting to conference vs. conference rather than conference teams against each other.

I am an Ohio State fan, and I really hate this idea that I have to root for other Big 10 teams to win and then look good when they play us. I want the Buckeyes to crush every Big 10 team we play and would like to establish a never-ending conference crown dynasty.

Why do I have to defend the Buckeyes' level of football when Purdue drops a game against Northern Illinois? Purdue sucks! That’s right, Boilermaker fans, your team sucks! You see that? That’s some good, old fashioned in-conference hate!

Let me put it this way: Most of you are NFL fans. Do you really think fans of the Giants are happy because the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins are all above .500 and the NFC East gets respect? Or would Giants fans rather be 14-2 with a gold-plated elevator to the NFC Championship Game every year and rule over some sub .500 division rivals?

Why is college so different? Partially because perception of conference translates to BCS ranking. But it is mostly a fan-generated thing; fans want their conference to be respected. They want respect.

To hell with respect!

They will respect you when you beat them. If fan-bases and local media didn't get so caught up in respect of the team and of the conference, it's likely many teams could focus more on winning than proving something.

Again, I think in this case, the SEC has its right. The teams understand they don't have to really worry about respect and they are focused on just winning.

I propose we take college football one team at a time instead of broad judgments based on conference.

And this is not a Big 10 fan making a case for his Buckeye teams; I firmly believe that since the 2006 loss to Florida, my Buckeyes have been a No. 10-20 team, not a No. 5-10 team.

If You Ain't First, You're Last

I'm just going to say this: With the way the college football system is built, it is possible to be a good team, with a good coach and good players, and not win a national championship.

College football is an unfair world by nature. The teams that can get the high school players from Florida, California, and Texas are going to have better teams. There is no system to distribute those players evenly or fairly among teams and conferences; the fates of programs and coaches are decided on the whims of 18-year-old boys and their decision-making process.

And their decisions are based on anything from what school gives them best exposure to pro teams, where they think they can win a championship, where they can get the best education for free, if they were a fan growing up, or if they went to an awesome party on their visit and got lucky with a really hot girl.

Now your response is, "but Tom, great coaches recruit well," and that’s true. But recruiting is a combination of who, where, and when.

Programs get recruits just as much as coaches, sometimes more so. Steve Spurrier was regarded as an amazing recruiter when he was at Florida. Since Spurrier took the South Carolina job in 2005, he has convinced one—count 'em one—five-Star player to come play for him. Kids do not want to play at USC east.

Miami has the location down, being in the middle of one of the best party cities in the nation, but has lacked that dynamic coach to get kids to come there. But with the run Miami is having thus far this season, watch for its recruiting numbers to spike.

Put a hot team with a great location and an amazing coach together, and the results are scary. Example: USC. Location: Los Angeles, a great city to be a star football player, for sure. California is a talent hot bed, and Pete Carroll brings a ton of energy to recruiting. He basically gets his pick of west coast prospects.

Now, coaches that don't have this ideal mix have to make due with what they have. My example will be my own team because I am most familiar with it.

Jim Tressel has a good location in Columbus, a real city, but it has less than ideal weather. It’s hard convincing southern boys to come out to Columbus and spend the offseason shoveling snow.

Ohio is a hotbed for talent, No. 4-6 as a state in turning out NFL players, depending what outlet you use. While impressive, it doesn't turn out players with the consistency of the Big Three. Ohio turns out a Tedd Ginn, Jr. and a Chris Wells every couple of years, but there are serious down periods.

Tressel does a good job of snatching an occasional Santonio Holmes from Florida, but it's difficult to build a pipeline of southern boys to a cold weather state. Weather plays a huge role in where recruits go, and Tressel has built the most consistent cold weather program by far.

Since 2000, can you name a team north of Tennessee that has more consistent winning seasons, ranked seasons, and bowl appearances than Ohio State?

Programs like Virginia Tech also deserve respect for their consistent winning, making due with less than excellent talent. All over the country, teams with excellent coaches, good players, and great results are constantly devalued because they aren't winning national championships.

This is not to detract from champions; they are incredible, so much so that we don't need to tear down every other team to elevate them.

These are just the top four of annoying fan-isms that exist in college football. It does not do this great sport justice. If you ever wonder why players, coaches, and members of the media ignore, insult, and generally devalue the fans, these are the reasons why. Fan is short for fanatic, and we really live up to that mantra.

Buckeyes: Calm Down, Take Emotion Out of It, and Have Some Perspective

Tom Grant — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:01:19 -0400

Since I first became a Buckeye in 2004 there has always been rumblings about Jim Tressel's job following a loss—from that Justin Zwick led defeat at Northwestern to last Saturday's defeat at the hands of the Trojans.

Ohio State fans are passionate, committed to victory, and still hold the rule of hot tempered of Woody Hayes as the golden age of Ohio State football. Spitting, snarling, and screaming along the sidelines, Woody Hayes seemed to be a college rendition of win-at-all-costs Vince Lombardi.

Jim Tressel by comparison is stoic and composed, and to some, frustratingly dispassionate in the face of defeat. His is an utterly conservative approach to games with a reliance on special teams and defense over high flying offenses and shootouts.

The calls for Jim Tressel's job have gotten louder and louder with each loss but each Saturday the sweater vest remains on the side lines.

First and foremost, Jim Tressel wins conference titles. Undefeated seasons are a rarity in any sport and college football is no exception. As talent has spread out among the BCS conferences and beyond, undefeated seasons are becoming rarer and rarer.

The last BCS conference team to finish undefeated is the 2005 Texas Longhorns, and since then the undefeated teams have hailed from shallower, non-BCS conferences. In the past three seasons we have seen two, one loss Florida teams and one, two loss LSU team win the national title.

With the wealth of one loss teams and the fickle nature of the rankings, the only way to ensure a BCS bid and a shot at the national title is to win your conference, something Tressel has at least won a share of in the last four seasons.

Tressel wins games with a stunning consistency and is 84-20 at Ohio State. With this consistent flow of victories and Conference titles has been a constant flow of recruits. The first tier of football recruiting states are easily Florida, Texas, and California. These states by far produce the largest number of talented players.

But first among the next tier of football states would be Ohio, which turns out pro-caliber players at an impressive rate and Tressel has put a fence around Ohio that Woody Hayes himself would be proud of.

The Ohio State domination of the Big Ten under Hayes was largely due to his hoarding of the Ohio talent pool. This pool is one that former Buckeye coach Bo Schembechler was able to tap into, resulting in a resurgence in Michigan football and sparking the epic rivalry that lasts to this day. After Hayes left, Ohio became the talent pool for the entire Northern-Midwest as the recruits spread themselves out among the Big 10.

Jim Tressel has fenced in the Ohio talent, claiming the cream of it for his own, and then only allowing those he chooses not to bring to the Buckeyes to escape the state. Make no mistake, the decline of Michigan and really the entire Big 10 since the arrival of Jim Tressel at Ohio State is due to the closing of the Ohio pipeline of players anywhere but OSU.

Not only has Jim Tressel kept the homegrown talent, he has opened up new lands for the Buckeyes, drawing talent from the Southwest and Florida. Two disappointing recruiting classes (2004 and 2005) caused some problems for Ohio State and the past two seasons have seen Tressel stock the Buckeye shelves with an unprecedented level of that is just starting to see its first real playing time.

The 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes were not national title contenders coming into the season—they are a young, talented team, trying to find themselves on both sides of the ball in order to prepare for a championship window that will open in the next two seasons.

The big game woes of the Buckeyes in recent years are in large part because the talent on defense was never replaced when the 2005 class of players left for the NFL. That epic defense lead by A.J. Hawk was the most talented defense Jim Tressel has had and no replacements for that class have been at the level of that defense.

Even with all the strife, Jim Tressel remains 8-6 against Top 10 teams, 27-11 against ranked teams, and has won a National Title. Clearly his big game moxy isn't all gone, I would rather assert that Ohio State has not been a top five team since the 2006 season.

'Big Games' are by definition big because it is against teams of equal or greater talent and as a result even the finest coaches end up with close to a .500 record in 'Big Games'.

Ohio State fans would do well to remember that the legendary Woody Hayes was 4-3 in Rose Bowls, and 5-5 in bowl games overall at Ohio State.

Firing Jim Tressel at this point would be an awful gamble for Ohio State. Without an outstanding coach lined up to replace him and take advantage of the talent on hand, even the future level of recruiting would be a concern.

Would Ohio State end up like Notre Dame with Charlie Weis with two outstanding seasons because of stocked talent and then sharp decline because of a lack of recruiting? Have a lost season much like Michigan did last year and then be faced with an uncertain future, with a coach many already would like to see gone? While the easy option, firing a coach in the middle of a college football has long lasting ramifications.

In college, unlike the NFL, the players leave quickly and the only constant is the coaches.

In the NFL when a coach is fired, a team remains the same core of players, but in college when a coach is fired the team losses its identity and perhaps its future.

Mistakes on Offense Dooms Outstanding Effort By Buckeye Defense

Tom Grant — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:00:35 -0400

Coming into the rematch of Ohio State and USC, many questioned how much the youth of Matt Barkley would affect the game, but few questioned the youth of Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. And as it always does, the ignored factor loomed large in this game.

Buckeye fans had been treated to stories galore about Pryor's improved throwing motion, accuracy, and pocket presence, and at the start of the game it was on full display as the Trojans seemed content to let Pryor throw.

Pryor stood tall in the pocket, stepped into his throws, and despite an early interception, he completed several big passes to set up the early Ohio State scores.

The Ohio State defense play an absolutely amazing game, completely shutting USC down for the first 28 mins of the game. The defensive line was the star of the effort, with their seven seven-deep rotation up front the Bucks were able to disrupt almost every Trojan offensive play.

But the rest of the defense is not getting enough credit. The secondary played outstanding holding the USC wide receivers to just seven catches in the game. They also played excellent second level tackling, not allowing the long TD runs that have killed Ohio State in the previous top five losses.

The linebackers also looked outstanding in this game, really did an excellent job of taking on that USC offensive line and helping to contain the running game. The defense also showed excellent conditioning, not showing the kind of fatigue you'd expect to see from a defense that spent the majority of the game on the field.

Even as the defense turned in possibly the effort of the year, the Ohio State Buckeyes needed just one offensive drive in the second half for a score and the offense could not deliver.

Pryor regressed as a quarterback before our very eyes in the second half. He was clearly locking on to a receiver before he ever left the huddle. On several plays USC left a Ohio State slot receiver uncovered at line, basically giving the Bucks a three-to five-yard completion and not singe pass went to those slot receivers.

At one point on the final Ohio State possession, Duron Carter was completely open, waving for the ball and Pryor never even saw him, locked in on the triple covered deep route.

Pryor also stopped using his scrambling ability to its fullest. When faced with a rush in the first half, he rolled out of the pocket and was able to deliver several passes to the check down receivers for a modest gain. In the second half, when faced with a rush Pryor threw the ball up falling onto his back foot.

The question many Ohio State fans are asking is why Tressel kept putting in the hands of Pryor? Why didn't he kick the ball there? Why did he kick the ball there and all the other outraged fan questions?

In the end, the players are to blame, not the coaches. On the ground, Boom Herron turned in a tremendous effort but only averaged 2.4 yards per carry, while the Trojan running backs McKnight and Johnson averaged 4.1 yards per carry.

Ohio State could not run the ball in any short yardage situation, the Trojan defense was very stout in short yardage and also very aware of the Pryor draw in short yardage. Any coach is nervous about a 4th-and-2 when his team has failed consistently on 3rd-and-1.

In the end what produced points in the second half for Ohio State was punting the ball and pinning USC deep. It resulted in the five points garnered by the safety and resulting FG.

It looked very similar to the Navy game in the respect once the momentum shifted towards the Trojans, the young Buckeyes on offense panicked for the second straight game.

Throughout the game, Ohio State dominated field position and they needed one offensive drive in the second half to seal the game and the offense could not deliver.

Breaking The Trojans: Matchups, Challenges, and Keys to a Buckeye Victory

Tom Grant — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:19:14 -0400

On September 12th, the Ohio State Buckeyes will take the field representing not only their university but an entire conference that has fallen from grace. Not long ago the Big Ten was considered a premier football conference, but through its own failures it has become a national punchline.

First among failures has been my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes, who have turned in several excellent regular seasons but have failed to beat a top 10 ranked team since 2006. Since then the Buckeyes have been living a football program's worst nightmare, embarrassing itself against top teams on a consistent basis.

By nature college football is cyclical and a new generation of Buckeyes is taking the field, a generation that came very close to ending the Top 10 blues with a narrow 24-21 defeat against a Texas Longhorns team that many argued should have played for the National Title.

This coming Saturday evening college football will be introduced a new, very young Buckeyes team.

This team has been built carefully, since the epic defeat at the hands of the Florida Gators, to adhere to one basic principle—speed at skill positions. On a very general level, the 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes are less experienced than recent teams but are more athletic and potentially more explosive.

Facing the Buckeyes this weekend is a Big Ten tormentor.

The UCS Trojans have made a mockery of their recent Big-Ten opponents, including a 35-3 drumming of last season's Buckeye team. This is not a normal USC Trojans football team.

While loaded with NFL talent and explosive play makers, this team is less experienced than what we are accustomed to in a USC juggernaut.

Quarterbacks:

The first discussion of this matchup revolves around the QBs.

Both teams boast the #1 QB of their respective recruiting class, but these two outstanding prospects have a different two different sets of talents.

Matt Barkley, the true freshman leading the USC offense, has the classic pro-style skill set, with a big arm, tall build, and a fearless attitude concerning passing windows.

Terrelle Pryor is the man behind center for Ohio State. He brings outstanding physical skills to the table. Pryor runs a legit 4.4 forty, has outstanding vision and sense of timing when running the ball, and his size makes him very difficult to tackle.

Pryor has worked very hard on his passing skills and it was reflected in the game against Navy. His footwork and pocket presence were very improved and the result was accurate and effective passing. When pressured, however, Pryor can still have a tendency to fall back on bad habits and his accuracy can suffer.

The overall edge here would have to go to Pryor due to the dual threat nature of his game and because of the year of experience.

Pryor has already seen the most terrifying college defense since the 2001 Miami team, in last season's rendition of the USC defense. It is unlikely that USC will be able to replicate what they were able to do last season with the losses of their defensive end, defensive tackle and all their linebackers.

Ohio State on Offense:

The biggest area of concern on offense for the Buckeyes following the Navy game is the offensive line, which under performed in the eyes of analysts and fans. Rumors coming into the season had Ohio State coaches unhappy with the performance of the offensive line during summer practices and they did nothing to dispel those reports in the first game.

Highly touted offensive tackle Mike Adams reportedly showed up over weight and out of shape, losing his presumed place on the far left of the offensive line to walk on Andy Miller.

On the other end of the spectrum, highly touted Michael Brewster has stepped right in as center and has laid his claim to the job until he chooses to leave for the NFL.

Facing the Buckeyes is a new look front seven for the Trojans.

Faced with a huge task of replacing an epic core of linebackers and pass rushers, DE Everson Griffen is the key. Griffen is an explosive pass rusher who can also easily shed blocks to help against the run game. Griffen could easily make Pryor's life a nightmare on his own, but paired with Christian Tupou and Jurrell Casey, it creates a clear advantage in the trenches for USC when their defense is on the field.

A factor that could compound the problems at the line of scrimmage for Ohio State is the lack of clear starting running back. The current starter is Dan Herron, an undersized outside runner of a Tailback. Herron splits carries with Brandon Saine, who is a north-south runner with homerun speed but lacks an array of moves to evade tackles in the open field.

Both players have considerable talent, but it has yet to be translate into production.

Meeting these two Ohio State running backs in the hole will be a unit of fresh faced linebackers, lead by top talent Chris Galippo. Galippo can line up inside or out, has excellent pad level and brings a similar level of physicality as Rey Maualuga while retaining more awareness and football IQ than Maualuga.

There should not be that much of a drop off in linebacker play for the Trojans and the Ohio State running game will suffer as a result.

In the passing game Ohio State may find success, but Pryor will have to be careful as the USC secondary is the most veteran unit of the defense.

The primary target for Pryor is wide receiver DeVier Posey, who is a premier talent with a rare blend of speed, route running, hands, and intelligence. NFL teams are already eying Posey despite him being only a sophomore and Ohio State fans are anxiously awaiting his breakout game.

A pair of very tall tight ends give Pryor that ever important escape valve.

Other targets for Pryor include raw speedster Ray Small, who USC fans will remember for running his mouth and producing very little. Small has outstanding 4.4 speed but has not really shown all-around football skills and his playing time has suffered as a result.

Duron Carter is a true freshman, who seems to have an identical set of skills as his Hall of Fame father Chris Carter and likely earned playing time with an impressive debut against Navy.

Dane Sanzenbacher rounds out the wide out group and gives Pryor a steady pair of experienced hands to find for reliable check down.

Lining up against these corp of pass catchers are a pair of senior corners, Josh Pinkard and Kevin Thomas, both likely will hear their names called on draft day, but they will have their hands full this weekend with Posey and Carter. If the pass rush doesn't reach Pryor and plays get elongated, the receivers have a very good chance to come free.

The star of the defense is safety Talyor Mays, a premier pro-prospect and a legend at USC.

Ohio State will certainly have to find an answer for his outstanding play and account for his location at the start of every play. Pryor's performance in this game relies in his handling of Mays. If he is able to look Mays off and keep the ball away from him, he will likely have an excellent outing. If Pryor is unable to take Mays out of the game, Mays will be an absolute ballhawk and likely will force several turnovers that will break the Buckeye's collective backs.

The Ohio State offense has the potential to explode for quick scores, but prolonged drives will be hard to come by. The play making ability of Pryor will be a key for Ohio State in converting first downs. Scores will be few and far between, but the offense can be effective enough to move the ball to mid-field and give the defense excellent field position.

Ohio State on Defense:

The matchups while USC's offense is on the field should be a game defining matchup.

Both teams are stacked with talent and playmakers and it starts on the edge for both squads.

The Buckeyes are strong with pro-level defensive ends Cameron Heyward and Lawrence Wilson who will take pass rushing duties on the right side. On the left is the premier pass rusher of the Ohio State defense, Thad Gibson.

Coming up the middle is defensive team captain Doug Worthington, who was moved from end to tackle after a knee injury. Worthington doesn't have the raw bull rush, but rather is a shifty, elusive player, that actually serves him very well as both a pass rusher and run stopper. The bulk is provided by 300 lb. Dexter Larimore. Together they create the most talented, and possibly most productive, defensive line Ohio State has seen in some time.

Charged with stopping that list of pass rushers is an equally impressive array of blockers.

At left tackle, the senior Charles Brown, a veteran if not a top tier talent. At right tackle, 5-star recruit Tyron Smith in his second year of playing. Up the middle the Trojans have an outstanding pair of 300 lb. guards, Butch Lewis and Alex Parsons, who just drive holes in defensive lines.

The battle on the line of scrimmage will be a key point for both teams.

The talent is equally balanced but the edge rush of Ohio State will have its moments in the game and will disrupt USC's young quarterback.

Matt Barkley's best friend in this game will be lining up behind him. RB Joe McKnight burned the Buckeyes for almost 10 yards a carry last year and has an amazing ability in space combining shifty moves and explosive speed.

The thunder to McKnight's lighting is Stafon Johnson, who is a North/South runner the Trojans will bring in on short yardage plays and as a change of pace.

This running game is a clear advantage for the Trojans, and it seems Tressel is very aware of this potential problem. Coming into this season the coaches choose to go with experience over raw talent, playing senior Austin Spitler and junior Ross Homan over talented red-shirts Etienne Sabino and Andrew Sweat. Homan and Spitler's experience, paired with the talent of Brian Rolle and the Ohio State linebacker corp will be a tough group to face for much of the year but they could get overwhelmed by what USC brings to the table.

In the passing game both teams bring talented and evenly matched players.

Chimdi Chekwa developed from a raw athlete into OSU's top cover corner and Andre Amos is a talented senior getting his first real crack.

Southern Cal's Damian Williams has seen real playing time in some of USC's biggest games of recent date, having 90+ receiving yards in last season's games with Ohio State and Oregon State and 162 yards in the Rose Bowl.

On the other end of the offense is the inexperienced David Ausberry, though his size and leaping ability make him a very tough cover.

Like the Trojans, the Buckeye defense is anchored by a senior safety—strong safety Kurt Coleman. Coleman's skills were on full display against Navy as he ripped a fumble and making a diving interception. Coleman has a nose for the big play, is an excellent run stuffer, and good in coverage.

Despite the big play potential, the Trojans are going to be very reliant on their running game and will need to work on short fields to score consistently.

Ohio State's defense is ideally suited to torment a pro style, freshman QB with their strong safety play and excellent defensive ends.

The crowd at Ohio Stadium will be loud and out for blood.

Barkely will not be able to audible.

Combine this with the fact unless Barkley is an amazing study, he will be working with a limited playbook and it seems the Trojan offense is kneecapped coming into this game.

In both cases it seems the defense holds the advantage and the result should be a very low scoring game. Statistically when the Trojans win, it is by 20 or more and when they lose it is by 10 or less, so a close game does not favor them.

Pryor's mobile quarterback play also works against USC, who has historically struggled against running quarterbacks in the Pete Carroll era.

Working in the Trojan's favor in a grinding slug-fest is that they hold a solid advantage on the line of scrimmage over the Ohio State offense and are on even footing with the Buckeye offensive line.

Domination in the trenches is almost always a formula for victory and often can lead to a game that is not so close.

In the end, sadly, I feel the Trojans hold the edge coming into the game, despite their true freshman quarterback.

The edge they hold in the running game and the explosive nature of McNight gives them the quick strike threat that could easily sink the Buckeye defense.

Ohio State could win this game if they are able to force freshman mistakes out of Barkley and Pryor doesn't turn the ball over.

Young Buckeyes Survive Fourth Quarter Naval Assualt

Tom Grant — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:20:40 -0400

For the first time since the 1930's Ohio State hosted a military academy and a record crowd was there to welcome Navy and the start of the 2009 season. Ohio State entered the game with the Week Two visit of USC looming on the horizon and the Midshipmen were fully aware of this.

"If Ohio State comes in totally focused on us, we had no chance... We felt like we had them in the perfect storm." Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said.

The Ohio State defense was faced with a serious problem entering the game, preparing for the Triple Option attack lead by relatively unknown QB Ricky Dobbs while preparing their defense for the multifaceted pro-style attack of USC.

The Buckeye defense had their adjustment period against Navy's opening drive, forcing several third downs but failed to make that one extra play to stop the drive. Navy marched down the field to the endzone.

After Navy's opening drive Ohio State's defense began to find that final play and shut down the Naval offense in the first half. The Buckeye defensive line took over this game in the first half, absolutely dominating the line of scrimmage. Thaddeus Gibson and Doug Worthington were constantly disrupting plays in the backfield and creating positive plays for the Buckeye defense.

The Navy offense was very well known for being a run-first and pass-never offense of late, famously finishing a game last season without a single pass attempt but they are attempting to tap into talents of QB Ricky Dobbs this season. At the start of the game the Buckeye defense was simply lining up man-to-man, and athlete-to-athlete which worked for much of the game. For much of the game the OSU secondary just shut down the Navy receivers.

But as the game progressed Navy exploited this one-on-one matchups on the outside, targeting particularly safety Anderson Russell who surrendered 101 yards and two touchdowns to RB Marcus Curry on two blown coverages. While distressing to Ohio State fans these two blown coverages seem very much the product of week one dysfunction and an observation, determined opponent.

With the dimension of the pass added to the Navy offense, the Buckeye defense seemed to get caught guessing on several occasions and what really saved the game was the composure of Kurt Coleman, who ripped out a fumble and made an astounding diving interception to kill two key Navy drives.

In the final stages of the game the Ohio State defense bent but did not break, while surrendering the touchdown, Brian Rolle intercepted a possible game tying two-point conversion a taking it to the house.

The Ohio State offense started the game impressively with 20 points scored in the first half, featuring a very improved passer in Terrelle Pryor and two promising young targets in Duron Carter and Devir Posey.

At the end of the first half Pryor was replaced by the backup QB Joe Bauserman. While it resulted in a field goal and got Bauserman valuable playing experience it clearly distributed the offense moving forward, as the Buckeyes failed to score in third quarter.

The most alarming aspect of the offense was the play of the offensive line against the blitz. The line struggled to read and pick up the blitz and the result was defenders quickly entering the backfield and pressuring passing plays. Also the lack of run blocking in obvious running plays was also concerning and smacks of last season when OSU struggled to take control of the line of scrimmage and create gaps for the running game.

The failure to convert on 4th and 2 late in the game that lead directly to the Navy comeback creates a nervous feeling concerning the running game heading into to USC game despite the 153 rushing yards totally by Ohio State.

The comeback staged by Navy happened for two primary reasons, one was poor coaching. Tressel took a major misstep going for that late 4th down instead of cementing the game with a field goal, it opened the door for a Navy team that was determined not to gently fade away. This coaching failure lead to the second reason, the Ohio State Buckeyes are a young team and they panicked.

They tightened up, the pressed the issue and as a result they made mental and physical mistakes that allowed Navy to close the gap. But through upperclassmen leadership, Coleman forcing a fumble, Worthington fighting for said fumble and Rolle's interception from sitting back and reading the QB's eyes the Buckeyes regained their heads and prevailed.

While several aspects of this game are concerning to fans and fodder to the wealth of Ohio State haters, much of the reaction needs to contained. It is very hard to take a read of this Ohio State team based on this game, the Navy defense is so specialized they are able to make a living out of confusing DI defenses and the Ohio State offense is so very young it is going to have its growing pains.

In the end Ohio State looked much as they were expected to, the defense's strengths are clearly defensive line and safety and the corners and linebackers are going to be a bit of the project.

On offense the expectations of line play was down played coming into the season because of Mike Adam's failure to make weight or crack the starting lineup but I think most fans were shocked by some of the protection problems that occurred. Pryor looked outstanding as a passer and the wide receivers seem as talent and as young as advertised and the running game will be an inconsistent portion of the offense this year.

The questions of who will be the new stars to emerge to support the known commodities and where will the points come from where not answered. These questions will be debated very heavily in Columbus the upcoming weeks, the answers will be made plain after the game with USC.

Mixed Martial Arts Film Study 101

Tom Grant — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:58:21 -0400

Mixed Martial Arts has taken huge leaps forward in the last ten years. It started out as the idyllic martial art vs martial art, the purest form of the competition because both competitors had no clue what the other guy was doing, case in point (sorry I love that video)

As the sport progressed, fighters had rounded out their game and fighters are searching for a different kind of edge. Game planning and tailoring their training to fighting styles are nothing new but many fighters shy away from watching tape.

Many fighters come in saying they 'don't want to respect their opponents too much' or they 'want to impose their will' rather than change their game. But recent MMA has seen several fighters using video tape study to great success.

In 2008, preparing for his title shot against Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin noticed several combinations that formed the core of Rampage's arsenal while watching a film of Rampage's recent fights. Based on what he saw Griffin was able to compose a strategy consisting of high kicks to bruise and reduce the power of Rampage's right hand and low kicks to the left leg take away his mobility and base.

The result was one of the most memoriable upsets in UFC history as Forrest hacked down Rampage on way to a 5 round victory.

Similarly at UFC 102 two fighters entered the cage armed with a wealth of film study. Nate Marquardt is a member of the Greg Jackson fighting team, who along with Xtreme Couture, are leading the charge in film study.

Marquardt and Jackson noticed that Demian Maia like to throw body kicks but dropped his hands. Jackson had Marquardt drill straight punch counters to body kicks and when the time came in the fight Marquardt was able to execute the move to a devastating result.

Thiago Silva was faced with an enigma that had tripped up some of the best members of the Light Heavyweight division, Kieth Jardine. Jardine's claim to fame is his fighting technique or rather his lack of technique. Jardine uses his physical skills combine with his ungainly striking to achieve amazing upsets and disappointing defeats.

Silva studied the film on Jardine and noticed major deficiency in footwork which opened up certain counter opportunities. And sure enough, in the match, Jardine came forward throwing epic, Mortal Combat upper cuts and Silva slipped to the side and threw a short punch which leveled Jardine.

This in no way suggests that watching film is an instant victory, Forrest Griffin watched film of Anderson Silva obsessively and was crushed. Stephan Bonnar watched every fight that Jon Jones had participated in since middle school and he still was not prepared for the spinning elbow and suplexes that got dropped on him. Kenny Florian studied B.J. Penn like he was majoring in him, but in the end his essay thesis was just plain wrong.

Film study can't overcome every situation or fighter but it is an edge that can't be ignored.

Film study can have a huge impact on a career, it can give a fighter a signature win or prevent become someone's break out win. When Josh Koscheck took his match with Paulo Thiago, he knew next to nothing about the Brazilain Special Forces fighter. All he knew was that Thiago had several submission wins and trained in Brazil. Koscheck assumed he was primarily a Jiu Jitsu fighter, never watched any tape on Thiago, and went into the fight with the intent to strike with Thiago.

During the match it was very clear that Koscheck was shocked by Thiago's ability on his feet and was in the process of coming up with a new plan when a right upper cut and left cross combo sparked a stoppage debate that could have easily been avoided if Koscheck had known anything about his opponent aside from his name.

Much like in football, baseball, hockey and almost every other major sport, film study is the natural step in the professionalization of the sport of MMA.

It reveals weakness, strengths, habits and flaws in both opponents and yourself. Film study is something that was incorporated into my own sport of fencing in my time at Ohio State. You studied film of yourself to reveal flaws that can be worked out and looked for tendencies in opponents.

Only a few camps have embraced watch film reguarly at this point but look for it expand to the point when the film room is a critical part of the gym.

UFC Close to Landing Top Rated Affliction Cast Off

Tom Grant — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:08:48 -0400

Yahoo Sports is reporting that according to Former UFC Heavyweight Champion "Minotauro" Nogueira has stated his little brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is close to signing with the UFC.

Strikeforce is supporting the story, again according to Steven Marrocco of Yahoo Sports,

On Monday, Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz told MMAWeekly.com that Antonio Rogerio had not been signed to his promotion, and believed he was UFC bound.

"Little Nog" is a top rated Light Highweight, who possesses some of the best boxing in MMA, excellent jiu jitsu and an iron chin, apparently that is a Nogueira family trait. Sherdog has him as the 8th rated 205 lb fighter in the world.

He is slightly more well rounded than his larger brother, with better stand up skills he can finish a fight with his punches just as easily with his outstanding Jiu Jitsu and Judo skills.

Add "Little Nog" to the UFC 205 lb division and just creates more depth in the deepest division of any promotion. If this is true there are two questions:

What is his first matchup?

And if he earns a title shot will Machida fight not just a teammate but a coach at his gym?

In An Action Packed Weekend, Leonard Garcia Vs Jameel Massouh Steals the Show

Tom Grant — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:52:37 -0400

The weekend of UFC 101 and WEC 42 featured amazing knockouts, incredible upsets, and dominating performances to spare. While entertaining, nothing compares to a back and forth war, and that is what the WEC Featherweight match-up of Leonard Garcia and Jameel Massouh delivered.

Leonard Garcia is a familiar face to UFC fans, having briefly fought at Lightweight, but struggling to a 1-2 record against larger fighters, dropped down to featherweight. Garcia is a very well rounded fighter with professional boxing experience, currently holds a brown belt in Brazlian Jiu Jitsu, and is fighting out of the stacked Greg Jackson camp. He is known for his heavy hands and the aggressive approach he brings into the cage.

Jameel Massouh is a relatively unknown fighter with only one WEC and a handful of Pancreas fights under his belt coming into this match. Massouh trains in Kenosha, Wisconsin under Dave Strasser at the Freestyle Academy, a gym with a very strong Jiu Jitsu background. Massouh has solid jiu jitsu skills, is learning the standup game, and also is an ultra aggressive fighter.

The stage was set for an amazing fight.

In Round One, Garcia can out strong giving Massouh a boxing lesson and landing right hands at will. One right hook rocks Massouh, who drops to the ground and Garcia pounces on top of him reigning down punishment. Massouh some how manages to defend himself and gets to a standing clinch, but eats a few knees from Garcia. Massouh, tired of eating knees goes back to the ground and actual sweeps Garcia into the mount, and unleashes a barrage of elbows. Garcia escapes to standing, and chases a clearly shaky Massouh 'til the end of the round.

The second round opens and the fight returns to the clinch. During positioning on the ground Massouh escapes a half hearted Guillotine attempt by Garcia and works an arm under Garcia's chin. Massouh sneakily locks in a D'arce choke (basically a reverse Rear Naked Choke), and Garcia seems to not notice for a period. When he does notice it is too late, the choke is in tight.

Garcia struggles to his feet but begins to blackout. As he drops for reasons known only to him, Massouh releases the choke and take springs to take Garcia's back.

Garcia struggles back to his feet and finishes the round with his mouth wide open, sucking in air, stumbling around the cage as Massouh kept his distance out of respect for the big right hand.

As the final round opens, the two fighters approached each other who had both been to the very edges of concussions in this fight. The fight was completely up for grabs and the old cliche would hold true, the fighter who won would be the one who wanted it more.

In the final round, Garcia simply out worked Massouh, both threw effective strikes but Massouh spent much of the fight giving ground and would clinch but simply hold on for dear life. He did land several kicks and a well time superman-punch, but Garcia chased him around the cage throwing hooks that smashed down his defense.

Garcia was awarded a spilt, razor sharp decision but both fighters looked excellent in this fight, and it was a shame one of them had to loose. It was easily the most exciting fight of a weekend full of one sided fights.

Garcia is refusing to go away in the Featherweight division and with Jose Aldo slotted for a title shot against Mike Thomas Brown. Don't be surprised if Garcia fights Faber to see who gets to fight the winner of Aldo/Brown.

If you are an MMA fan and haven't seen this fight, here is a video, so find 20 minutes in your day and prepare to be very entertained.

Top 10 MMA Pound-for-Pound Fighter Ranking Shifts after Huge Weekend

Tom Grant — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:40:18 -0400

After a weekend that featured three pound for pound stands outs, not to mention UFC 100 and Affliction's demise, the vaunted pound for pound rankings have most defiantly shifted. Some solidified their spots while others slide down, but they are sure to cause debate. In that debate, I know it gets heated with rankings but keep it civil people.

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Where Does Forrest Griffin Go from Here?

Tom Grant — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:59:46 -0400

UFC 101 was a complete disaster for Forrest Griffin. His defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva was one of a fighter who was completely outclassed and a defeat of the career crippling caliber.

Just one year ago Forrest was the Light Heavyweight Champion, was getting pound-for-pound discussion and was considered one of the toughest fighters on the planet. After Saturday night all that is a memory.

Silva put on a display of head movement, bobbing and weaving under Forrest's hooks and jabs, and didn't allow Forrest to land a single strike. Silva, on the other hand, scored at will.

Reports are that Griffin's jaw was very badly hurt on the first knockdown, dislocating it and causing hearing loss in one ear. This to an extent explains the ease of the third knockdown, but its hardly an excuse as Silva shattered his jaw in two minutes flat.

This does explain why Forrest left in such a hurry, not staying for the officially announcement, as he was advised to head straight to the hospital. This is a relief to an extent, as Forrest is one of the classiest guys in the sport and the way he ran out looked very bad as the broadcast team had no explanation.

Jaw injury aside, the fact of the matter is that Forrest, coming off a KO loss in a title match, was just made into a highlight reel with possibly the most embarrassing KO defeat in recent UFC history. The legend of his chin has been effectively shattered and now he is facing serious durability questions moving forward.

The question now is, what is next for Forrest Griffin?

First of course is healing up, it won't do him any good to come back with an only partly healed jaw. There is going to be some serious healing time and then some serious training time to get back into fighting shape.

This training period will be crucial because Forrest is likely going to have to reninvent his game to stay competitive:

The first problem is the myth of his chin is forever shattered, many fans already knew or suspected that Forrest's chin was not all it was cracked up to be, but Silva but it truly on display for the whole world.

Give Forrest all the credit in the world, he kept fighting with a shattered jaw and has a crazy pain tolerance, but one good power shot and he is in a world of trouble. Light Heavyweight strikers will be licking their lips to get a crack at Forrest when he returns to the cage and he must adjust.

A prority with his stand up game must be the addition of more head movement. You can't hurt what you can hit or what you can't hit well. Many boxers or MMA fighters that are considered to have great chins have great head movement.

Fighters can take that little bit off a punch with a roll or avoid it entirely. Forrest has a very bad habit of leaving his stationary to get clipped.

Since the Jardine loss Forrest has made attempts to become a more well rounded fighter and those efforts have paid off with is two most impressive wins over Shogun and Rampage. In both fights Forrest used previously underrated kickboxing and ground skills.

These ground skills are nothing new, Forrest has been a Jiu Jistsu practitioner since he first became interested in MMA in the 90's but rarely used them, preferring to standing and brawl.

These ground skills are a possible path back to contendership for Forrest. He talked a great game about using them against Silva, but was never able to find an opportunity to attempt a takedown.

Forrest's self professed greatest weakness is wrestling, but at Xtreme Couture there is wrestling coaching in spades for him to work under. If he can become more effective at taking fighters to the ground and strike from safer positions it will likely benefit Forrest's health.

The opponent Forrest next faces can't be a title contender quality guy either. He has fought four elite level fighters in a row (Shogun, Rampage, Evans, and Silva) and coming off a serious jaw injury and back-to-back losses and deserves a back in the saddle type fight against a tough, but beatable fighter.

A rematch with Kieth Jardine jumps to mind, revenge an earlier loss and Jardine's skill set has not really advanced since their last meeting. Also if Krzysztof Soszynski keeps winning fights pair him with Griffin. Another possibility is Brandon Vera, who has the talent but has struggled mightily since moving down to Light Heavyweight.

Despite this loss, its embarrassing nature and the visual that will be burned in fan's minds for some time, Forrest is still a very good fighter, but it is very clear that he is not an elite fighter. He likely doesn't have the skill set to be an elite fighter, but if he adjusts his game he could maximize his strengths for a return to the title picture.

Where Is BJ Penn's Legacy Headed?

Tom Grant — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:31:46 -0400

The lightweight division has changed a lot since BJ Penn's title defense, and even after his match against Kenny Florian, BJ has to prove his dominance all over again against a new crop of lightweights.

BJ is a supremely talented fighter: a world champion in Jiu Jitsu, title holder in possibly the deepest, meanest division in the UFC, and one of the most polarizing figures in the sport not currently named Brock Lesnar.

Who would have realistically expected in 2001, when a young, energetic, and very fit BJ Penn first stepped into the Octagon, that in 2009 we would still be waiting to see where his career is headed? Will BJ finish as the one of the greatest fighters ever, or will he be a supremely talented "love or hate" fighter plagued by inconsistent results?

Many expect Florian to pose little problem to BJ, and then many think he will get a rematch with GSP, having cleaned out the lightweight division again. I would call this claim into serious question looking at his recent run through the UFC lightweight division.

Part of the problem is BJ's constant jumping around in weight. Between 2003 and 2005 BJ fought in the 155 lb., 170 lb., and 185 lb. divisions and even had an open weight fight against Lyoto Machida. BJ and his camp eventually decided that 155 pounds was the ideal weight for him.

BJ returned to the UFC lightweight division for the first time in five years in 2007 against Jens Pulver. After beating Pulver, BJ then utterly beat down Joe Stevenson for the lightweight title, showing how dangerous and devastating he could be.

BJ then dominated Sean Sherk to defend his lightweight title and moved back up to welterweight to battle with GSP for a second time.

The point of that recap is a very important point: Many focus on BJ's lightweight dominance despite the fact he has only three matches at that weight, none against guys that would be considered top contenders at this point, and has only one successful title defense in his career.

While the underdog in their upcoming match, Florian at 11-3 is certainly a superior fighter to Stevenson or Pulver and has likely surpassed Sherk at this point. Thus he represents the biggest lightweight challenge Penn has faced at lightweight since moving back down to 155 lbs.

But even after the Florian matchup, it seems clear the lightweight division has taken steps forward in the recent year and a half it has been waiting for another defense from its champion. BJ will need to reestablish his dominance against names like Frank Edgar, Gray Maynard, and Diego Sanchez.

These fighters represent the newest and biggest threats to BJ's title, and he will have to face at least two of them before he can claim that the division is "cleaned out" again. Edgar has the boxing to match BJ's and has excellent wrestling to stifle, to an extent, BJ's submissions.

Maynard is a rising star out of Xtreme Couture with an unblemished 7-0 record. Maynard has incredibly strong wrestling and can muscle guys around and is learning the striking game.

Sanchez is not a new name, but he is likely the least talked about 21-2 fighter in the sport. Sanchez has the raw size to push BJ around like GSP. The Nightmare also has ground and pound straight from hell, and he will hurt you no matter where the match is.

It is more than certain that Penn's natural athletic ability will allow him several more high-level years, and in those years his legacy will be defined. If Penn finds the consistency that has evaded him to this point, he will certainly be remembered as the best lightweight fighter in the sport.

But if Penn continues the peaks and valleys of his past career, he will likely go down as a talented disappointment.

Either way, it all starts next Saturday with Kenny Florian.

Top 10 Submission Artists in MMA

Tom Grant — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:12:26 -0400

The tapout is what separates MMA from almost any other major fighting sport. Fighters of ground fighting backgrounds use principles of leverage and simple physics to put opponents in inescapable positions. Watching the technical displays on the ground is what brought me into MMA and I would like to take a look at who is the best at making the other guy tap. This list is a look at the best ten submission fighters currently in MMA, not of all time, so no Royce Gracie on this list. My criteria was a mix of percentage of wins by submission, number of submission wins, previous exploits in a submission art (such as a Jiu Jitsu World Championship) and impressive submission victories.

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MMA: More Than Just the Heavyweight Division

Tom Grant — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:34:49 -0400

UFC 100 has come and gone, and during the spectacle we MMA fans saw the broadest and most positive coverage of MMA in the history of the sport.

As a result, MMA fans got to watch well-known sports media personalities discuss a topic they knew very little about. They stumbled over words like Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai and mispronounced Frank Mir's name.

As the coverage continued, it became very clear that the mainstream media was focused purely on the heavyweight championship.

This is a natural carry over from boxing coverage, something the major sports' outlets and the average sports fans are familiar with. In the golden ages of boxing, the heavyweight champion of boxing was largely considered the toughest man on the planet, and a major celebrity.

With the rise of the NFL's popularity and then with the rise of the paychecks handed out by NFL teams, the most talented 230-300 lb athletes in the U.S. are playing defensive line on Sundays.

This saying goes with the heavyweight division. This was very true as boxing's lack of a dynamic heavyweight champion slowly pushed it off the stage of major sports.

Boxing had built its appeal on knockouts, belts and power punching, when the lower weight classes failed to delivered the excitement the sport has declined. The focus on heavyweights is what doomed boxing, allowing for the rise of MMA.

By contrast, MMA has built itself on fast action, exciting fights and knock outs—but not on weight class. The skills and knowledge of an individual fighter is the core of the sport.

High level skills, fast action and dynamic fights is what MMA deliveres in every weight class, perhaps least so in the heavyweight division. Speed, flexibility, coordination and strength are all required for competitors. Heavyweights often don't possess all four of these elements because of the large build of their bodies.

It's a small wonder why two of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport, Fedor and Randy Couture, are smaller heavyweights. Couture dropped down to fight a light heavyweight, and Fedor certainly could trim weight to get in the neighborhood of 205lbs. As a result, both fighters are faster and more coordinated than their opponents.

On the other end of the spectrum, lighter weight classes often feature high paced, exciting fights. The leaner frames of these smaller fighters allow them to master skills out of the reach of larger fighters.

For example, Brock Lensar will never be able to learn Jiu Jitsu, ever. Not because he didn't start learning at an early age but because of his sheer mass. He will never be able to work his legs into the spaces or at the angles he would need to learn the art.

The best meld of size, power and athleticism seems to be light heavyweight material. Their body types allow them to perform very athletic acts; they have great speed and deceptive power.

This is not to say that the other weight classes is lacking; I would likely assert the most consistently excellent fights are in the lightweight division. This is also not to say the heavyweight division is terrible or unexciting, it's just that MMA isn't dependant on them.

For example: UFC 100, two titles on the line, welterweight and heavyweight. While exciting and climatic, Brock Lensar's performance was anything but dynamic.

Take down, smother Mir's ground game, oz into half guard or side mount, get one arm behind the head and pound away. GSP was shooting for take-downs, throwing explosive combos and constantly active on the ground.

While Brock's post fight antics made it the story of the night, many people viewing the fight with me, including two people new to MMA, said the welterweight match was much more exciting.

As a final point if you composed a list of the ten greatest boxers of all time, it is very likely at least five of them would be heavyweights. If make a list of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and it is likely only three of them will be heavyweights.

Roger Gracie Is Coming to the U.S., Strikeforce

Tom Grant — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:55:42 -0400

Some of you may remember that Roger Gracie made my list of 10 non-headliner fighters I couldn't wait to see in 2009. It turns out my wish will be granted, as Gracie has become part of an August Strikeforce card.

Roger Gracie is the instructor of the London branch of Gracie-Barra Jiu Jitsu, and is an eight-time World Jiu Jitsu Champion; six of those came in weight class and two of them in open weight.

It has been reported by FiveOuncesofPain.com that Roger Gracie will appear on Strikefore Carano vs. Cyborg card on Aug. 15.

The 27-year-old holds a 2-0 record in professional MMA, his fights coming in the Bodog and Sengoku fight promotions. Both his victories come in true Gracie fashion—submission in the first round.

At 6'4" and 220 pounds, Roger makes for an imposing heavyweight and has the skills of a true ground ace. He is incredibly quick and elusive on the ground, able to slip out of seemingly any poor position.

Roger's submission skills put him in an elite class, likely supplanting names like Mir, Nogueira, and Fedor as the best submission game.

While his limited experience in MMA may cause some to raise eyebrows at this suggestion, a look at who he has dispatched in his Jiu Jitsu career and it becomes clear that this kid is on another level of ground fighting.

Victories over Shinya Aoki, Frabricio Werdum, and Ronaldo Souza, and a perfect 3-0 record against Robert Drysdale suggest his skills will transfer very well to MMA. The one question that hovers over any fighter like Gracie, is how will he deal with a striking fighter?

Roger Gracie's last match took place almost a year ago and I think it is a safe assumption that much of that time has been devoted to preparing him for an MMA career.

The Strikeforce heavyweight division lacks dynamic ground fighters and Roger should be able to drag almost any of them to the ground and submit them.

Roger Gracie could make a Demian Maia-like run through the heavyweight division in MMA and quickly become one of the elite fighters, at his weight, in the world.

A Fan's Ballot for an MMA Hall of Fame

Tom Grant — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:57:40 -0400

A recent discussion has cropped up on the logistics of a MMA Hall of Fame. The UFC has it's own Hall of Fame, an open MMA Hall of Fame would be very interesting. I am attempting to pick just two fighters in each weightclass that would be in the first class inducted to this Hall of Fame. I am including fighters that are both retired or still fighting but attempting to only include active fighters with a career that is Hall of Fame worthy if they retired this instant, not basing anything on potential.

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The UFC Should Reevaluate How It Develops Prospects

Tom Grant — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:34:33 -0400

The average UFC fighter waits 4-6 months between scheduled matches and the waits increase as fighters rise up rankings and wait for similarly high ranked fighters to become available.

Young fighters who find early success soon discover that they are waiting some times up to 9 months to fight again. And then if they are defeated they are attempting to bounce back against overmatching opponents with out those crucial developmental fights.

The UFC has taken pride in its ability to find exciting fighters, but when it came to finding prospects the UFC preferred their top prospects a little more polished than today. The first season of TUF and the number of pro fights some of the contestants had:

Chris Leben: 10 fights

Diego Sanchez: 11 fights

Mike Swick: 6 fights

Forrest Griffin: 11 fights

Stephan Bonnar: 7 fights

Bobby Southworth: 9 fights

Current TUF seasons feature plenty of experienced fighters but rarely does a figher enter the show with double-digit fights and more fighters enter with two or fewer pro fighters. TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah had no pro fights.

Season one featured green fighters as well, Kenny Florian only had three fights and Josh Koscheck had been training in MMA for six months. After the season ended Josh Koscheck set out to grow his skill set. Starting out as a simply a wrestler, he wanted to grow his skills and the best way he saw to do that was to fight and to fight often.

Kos openly complained about the long waits between fights and on several occasions arranged for only two months between fights, a very quick turn around in the MMA world. Kos remains aggressive in attempting to get up to 5 fights in a year and is frustrated that the UFC can't accommodate him.

Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson, a modern day prospect, entered the UFC with 3 pro fights and a surplus of athletic talent, and while he has been developing nicely, his fights have been spaced 3 and 5 months apart, leading to long lay offs.

Similarly Cain Velasquez, an elite heavyweight prospect, has been in the UFC for over a year and barely has four fights. While the long layoffs are excellent for making sure fighters are in peak condition for fights, MMA can take a page out of Boxing books: weekly or bi-monthly fight cards for young developing fighters.

These matches will serve as important learning experiences, will increase profits and likely lead to more title contenders and fewer late 20s gate keepers a la Chris Leben. Young fighters could puncate their long layoffs with tune-up fights, targeting cerain areas of growth they wish to achieve.

The means for these fights are right there for the UFC, between their TV deal with Spike for UFN and the WEC on VS it would be all too easy to bring these fights to TV; possibly making them two round affairs instead of three, headlining them with fighters like a Rumble Johnson doing a tune up fight and stack the lower card with young up and comers this could easily replace TUF as the UFC TV staple.

Possibly hold DREAM stye Grand Prix with the young fighters and do in a four week span the amount of fights it take TUF 13 weeks to do. Reinstate the WEC weightclasses, possibly bring Bantam and Feather to the UFC, and massively expand MMA viewership.

A UFC Friday Night Fights would be welcomed addition to the weekly scheudel of any MMA fan, and the experience it would provide young fighters with would be invaluable.

UFC 99 Headline Lands with a Resounding Thud

Tom Grant — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:08:16 -0400

The fight card of UFC 99 had been called into question in the weeks leading up to it, asking if it was PPV worthy and if possibly UFC 99 should have aired free on Spike. The event itself will likely do little to silence these questions.

Headlined match between Mirko Cro Cop and Mostapha Al Turk got the night off to a very poor start. Al Turk bum rushed Cro Cop, who showed better boxing than many fans may remember Cro Cop having. Al Turk ate several hard punches and was knocked down a few times.

Then as Al Turk lunged forward he was poked in the eye as Cro Cop threw his hand out. And for seemingly the umpteenth card in a row a ref failed to react and a fighter likely was hurt because of it. Cro Cop was declared the winner, with out throwing a single kick, much less one of his patented head kicks. It was a harbinger of things to come.

Cheick Kongo took the fight with Cain Velasquez on extreme short notice and the match was highly touted. Velasquez is a former AZU wrestler, like every other UFC prospect these days, and owned a sparkling 3-0 UFC record, all wins by way of TKO.

Kongo is one of the premier strikers in the UFC heavyweight division and presented Velasquez with a serious problem on the feet.

What followed was three rounds of the exact same thing, both fighters came out and Kongo would throw a short, quick combo that would blow right through Velasquez and absolutely rocked him.

Velasquez would then drag Kongo down to the ground, take any position he wanted and then rain down effective strikes that lacked the power to end the fight. Kongo looked confused and panicked on the ground and while he avoided being finished he had almost no way to get back to his feet.

I am a huge fan of ground fighting, I am not a stand up war or snooze kind of guy but watching 15 minutes of Kongo taking his medicine on the mat without any real threat of Velasquez ending the fight had me wondering what else was on.

The match raises serious questions about Velasquez's ability to finish fights and also the way Kongo's two strike combos landed cleanly at will raises the idea that Velasquez could be easily floored in a stand up war.

The main event was a 195lb catch weight fight of two fighters headed in different directions, Rich Franklin was moving up to 205 lbs and Wanderlei Silva down to 185 lbs. The fight was billed as "the fight the fans wanted to see" but I was hard pressed to find an MMA fan that was actually asking for this fight three months ago.

The match ended up being exciting for periods but in the end it was a slop fest. Franklin danced on the outside, jumping in for two and three hit combos in a solid display of stand up skill. Wanderlei showed disdain for the idea of combos or linking strikes, coming in with wild shots, not really connecting cleanly on any but one.

Joe Rogan seemed determined to sell the fight and made even glancing shots sound like a Rampage hook to the jaw. While the fight was entertaining and Franklin put on a solid showing, he preformed far below the standard he set in 185 lbs.

Likewise, Wanderlei look severely effected by the weight cut to get to 195 lbs, his cardio seems badly effective and with 10 more pounds to go to get to middleweight, it raises questions about his ability to be a contender at that weight.

The UFC 99 headline was a massive disappointment, not delivering the action that many predicted and it was surpassed by some of the lower main card matches such as Mike Swick vs Ben Saunders or Marcus Davis vs Dan Hardy.

Win Or Lose, Frank Lester Has Made An Impression

Tom Grant — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:14:59 -0400

This season of the Ultimate Fighter has breathed life into was was becoming a tired show, as the attention shifted more and more firmly on the drunken antics of the fighters rather than fights themselves. This season the focus has shifted to the fights, training, and the majority of camera time is in the gym.

On Wedensday, welterweight Frank Lester will enter the Octagon for the fourth time, most of any TUF contestant on the show. The Washington DC native is a combat veteran of the Iraq War and came to MMA after his service was over.

When Frank came on to the show he seemed to have a screw loose and in a very competitive matched scored a dumb-luck KO when Kiel Reid knocked himself out slamming Frank down. Frank did lock in a wicked Kamura and nearly tore Reid's arm right off, but the win was very questionable.

Frank was then mauled by the imposing Mauy Thai specialist James Wilks, getting his four fake teeth knocked out by a knee. Frank pulled the teeth out of his mouth guard and went right back into the fight for the third round.

Frank then returned to replace an injured teammate and defeated David Faulkner, become the first ever TUF contestant to win after being brought back from elimination. Frank is now faced with Wilks, the man who rearranged his face.

Frank showed amazing heart in all of his fights, a love for the sport, and an indifference to damage to his own body. I had thought Frank a nutjob and had been glad to see him leave, but now I find it impossible not to root for him.

Frank has only been training in MMA for about five years and there are considerable holes in his game, his ground game is questionable, his hands are heavy but his boxing is anything but tight, he flails wildly at points in fights and has taken serious damage as a result.

What Frank lacks in technique he makes up in pure heart and grit. Forrest Griffin comparisons are about as frequent as Joe Rogan screaming "oooooohhh! ooooohhh!" but in this case it may actually be appropriate.

Frank now and Forrest when he was on the show were able to take damage, fight with cuts, have excellent cardio, and both have an unrefined, brawler style of stand up with little ground skills.

Forrest has grown as a fighter into a refined grinder who looks to test a fighter's resolve. It's impossible to predict how Frank's career will track, the odds are against him as brawlers with no ground skills tend to fizzle in the UFC, what set Forrest apart was his ability to gameplan and evolve. Frank has more power in his hands than Forrest and if he can adapt his game, he may have a future in the UFC.

Lyoto Machida: A Fencer's Feet in a Champion's Style

Tom Grant — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:02:44 -0400

In my time with the Ohio State Fencing team, I had the honor of working under Vladimir Nazlymov, a 10-time world champion and three-time gold medalist in the sport.

Nazlymov grew up on the wrong side of Russia, and his face and hands are covered in the scars and signs of the street fights that defined his early life. He brought that street fighter's mentality to fencing and dominated the sport for many years.

As his student, I heard him utter "fencing is fighting" countless times.

I have never seen a better parallel to his catchphrase than Lyoto Machida. Some of the things that make Machida awkward, those little quirks, are considered proper technique in fencing.

Machida's stance is one thing that sets him apart from the very start of every fight. He keeps stance wide, heels in line, and the feet forming an "L." This is the classic fencing stance, allowing for quick, explosive, and balanced movements forward or backward.

For lateral movement, Machida is forced to open this stance up, but he quickly closes it again. When he moves, it is with rapid, measured, small steps, always in balance and ready for an explosive action.

It is how Machida uses this footwork that really draws the comparison to fencing. To draw out punches and attacks, he uses a quick, tiny double step with a body fake, as if he is coming forward, but the hands stay at home, relaxed and ready for a strike.

This is the fencing body feint. When the distance is properly maintained, hand fakes do very little to open up a defense, but a body fake draws an reflex-like reaction.

When his oppennets then move in to strike, Machida does what so few fighters do: Instead of moving in to jam wild shots or throwing an imidate counter to beat the other fighter to the punch, he moves back.

Machida allows his adversary to fall short and then strikes at the moment of imbalance.

This again is a classic fencing action, the distance parry-repose. The fencer comes in with a body fake to draw an attack, then quickly leaps back, allowing the attack to fall short. But when the fencer leaps backward, he lands in a position poised to attack.

The feet are close together, knees bent, and weight slightly forward. As soon as the opponent's blade has passed, the fencer expodes into an attack.

The result is a defensive action that is so devastating it has been the bread and butter of fencing for hundreds of years. And Machida has brought the spirit of this action into the Octagon.

I recognized it instantly as he leaped back to avoid Evans's wild overhand punches, landing in that same explosive position, and struck as soon as Evans's balance was compromised.

In fencing, footwork and distance is king, and Machida makes his MMA matches all about footwork. He badly exposed Evans's stand-up footwork, and anyone who even thinks about going after Machida's belt better work on their ability move around the Octagon.

The matchup with Shogun Rua is one that could prove very interesting because, while Rua's run in the UFC has been less than impressive, he has shown the kind of tools necessary for the challenge that Machida presents.

I don't expect to see many fighters attempting to employ Machida's style, but I certainly plan to collect his fights on video as I move forward as a fencing coach to show young fencers they really are in a fight.

Phillipe Nover's UFC Career Off to Rocky Start

Tom Grant — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:55:25 -0400

On Dec. 12 of 2008, Phillipe Nover seemed poised to enter the UFC with a serious bang. Nover had coasted through what appeared to be a deep class of TUF lightweights and seemed poised to win the final against wrestling and submission ace Efrain Escudero.

Nover was undefeated with a 5-0-1 record and this fighting nurse had an impressive array of weapons. Muay Thai Kick Boxing, Judo throws, excellent ground and pound and a brand new black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rounded out an arsenal many predicted would overwhelm Esudero.

Fast-forward five months and we find Nover with an 0-2 record in the UFC, reeling from a 1:00 stoppage loss to Kyle Bradley. Nover's mini-tail spin was started in that TUF final in which his lack of wrestling was put under a spot light by Esudero, who took Nover down at will in their three-round match and won a sound decision.

But some bright spots were found in the defeat, Nover seemed to improve with each round, becoming stronger as the fight progressed and it seemed that despite the loss he still may be on the track to the UFC Super-stardom that Dana White predicted after watching him fight in the TUF gym.

But that road held yet another speed bump for Nover, when Yves Lavigne stopped his match with Kyle Bradley. Nover and Bradley had clinched and after an exchange of strikes Nover was on all fours.

Bradley aimed a punch at Nover's head and connected, Nover dropped and then rolled over into guard. But as he came into his guard he found Yves Lavigne stopping the fight.

Lavinge later apologized to Nover for stopping the fight so early but the damage had been done. Moving forward Nover may be facing the 'win or go somewhere else' line from Dana. It is really shocking to see someone who look as honest to god talented as Nover did coming into the UFC with an 0-2 record.

Nover needs to grab the first available lightweight match he can to get back in the octagon and exorcise these demons. I would not be shocked if Nover was tapped to fill any vacancy in the next few events.

If not I wouldn't be shocked if Nover is paired with Junie Browning for an undercard matchup of the TUF Finale I think many fans wanted to see. In any event, it is clear that whoever Nover fights next, it is for his UFC life, and I think we will finally see him get that elusive W.

Gegard Mousasi Makes Big Statement About His Size at DREAM 9

Tom Grant — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:30:11 -0400

Lost among the discussion of the highly entertaining UFC 98 results was the kick off to the Japanese based DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix. It featured some of the Japanese promotion regulars at heavyweight—the impossibly large Hong Man Choi, the comically large Bob Sapp, and even featured new comer, the artificially enlarged Jose Canseco.

But in this group was the lean yet mean DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi had been rumored to be pondering a move to Light Heavyweight but apparently forwent that idea and jumped straight to Heavyweight.

Mousasi showed up the heaviest he has ever been in a pro fight, at 218 pounds but still was massively out-weighted by the 286 pound Mark Hunt. Mousasi is known for his Dutch Kickboxing and Judo skills, but some question his judgement by wishing to move up a weight class and face larger fighters because of his lean frame and build.

Mousasi answered all these questions in his match with Mark Hunt. Mousasi quickly took the fight to the ground, controlled the far larger man with ease, attempted several submissions before locking in an armbar 1:19 into the fight.

Mousasi made a huge statement with this win. His complete demolition of a man with 70 pounds on him, the questions about his ability to compete and dominate at the 205-pound level are well answered.

The matchup I cannot wait to see is Mousasi's rumored match with Vitor Belfort in an Affliction matchup. However, Belfort has expressed no interest in fighting Mousasi at anything but 185 poundss. Two outstanding group fighters with solid standup backgrounds always makes for exciting fights.

At whatever weight Mousasi appears in for his next fight, there is little question about his future in at 205 pounds and higher being a bright one

Rich Franklin Shaking Things Up in His Training

Tom Grant — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:40:48 -0400

S.I.'s Tom Hamlin has been reporting rumors that Rich Franklin, in preparation for his UFC 99 date with Wanderlei Silva, will attend Anderson Silva's Black House camp for a few weeks and then finish his preparation at Wanderlei's Wand Fight Team gym.

Franklin and Wanderlei reportedly like each other a great deal outside of the cage and Wanderlei prides himself on the open door policy of his gym, as long as its serious fighters, all are welcome.

Franklin training with Silva will come to a shock as many, considering their history. Any fan who has come to MMA in the last few years remember Franklin only as an Anderson Silva highlight reel, eating knees and struggling to be free of Silva's legendary Muay Thai clinch.

But turn back the clock three years and we find Rich Franklin 20-1 with a perfect 7-0 record in the UFC. His only career loss coming in a light heavyweight fight against some karate guy named Lyoto Machida...

Franklin has defended his UFC middleweight crown twice, has his name came up in many pound-for-pound discussions and is considering a move up to Light Heavyweight. His wrestling and standup were excellent and he was considered one of the best fighters in MMA.

Then along came Spider, hot off his :49 destruction of No. 1 Contender Chris Leben, Anderson Silva cleaned Franklin's clock. Franklin was decimated by Anderson's Muay Thai clinch and knees, and was forced to have reconstructive surgery on his broken nose following this beating.

Almost one year later to the day, Franklin found himself locked in a cage with Anderson Silva yet again, and yet again the fight ended with Franklin on his back and Silva's hand in the air.

Since then Franklin has searched for his place in the UFC. Refusing to allow the title of 'gatekeeper' be applied to him, Franklin has toyed with moving up to the Light Heavyweight.

Faced with Wanderlei, another master of the dreaded Muay Thai clinch, Franklin needs to shake up his training.

Training with Anderson Silva would be a huge shake up, not only would Franklin likely have an excellent chance of finally solving his problems with getting kneed in the head, it might finally remove the mental spectre that Anderson must cast over him.

Thus far Anderson Silva has stated Franklin has not contacted him about training but rumors persist. While the recent divide between Wanderlei and Anderson is well documented, Wanderlei has stated that Franklin's choice in training partners will not change his high opinion of Rich.

Now the rumor that Franklin is thinking of training at Wanderlei's gym makes not sense to me. The entire gym would be scouting for Wanderlei and I can see no real benefit in it for Franklin.

Now after their match I can't see why two fighters with as much respect as these two reportly have for each other can't train together but before they meet seems unlikely.

Top FIve MMA Gyms

Tom Grant — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:49:07 -0400

So little credit is given to the coaches and sparring partners and its time to give them their due. It is my hope to list the Top Five MMA gyms in the World based on the fighters that train there. Number of titles a gym has won, the depth of the gym in Top Promotion fighters (DREAM, UFC, Affliction, Strikeforce, and WEC) and coaches will all be taken into account. I am by no means an authority in the field of MMA gyms, rather an enthusiastic amateur and if you disagree let me know in a respectful manner.

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