Eight Things I Learned From UFC 100

1) Everything was on display big, including inept judging

UFC 100 began with a fireworks show between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Alan Belcher. The result was a split decision victory for Akiyama that many (including commentator Joe Rogan) did not agree with.

I scored the fight 29-28 Belcher, but after watching the fight again, I can understand giving Akiyama the 29-28 nod. What I do not understand is giving Akiyama the fight 30-27.

Belcher clearly did more damage in the second round. Yes, Akiyama took him down, but Belcher’s leg kicks were much more substantial than any blows that Akiyama landed on the ground.

It seems like every UFC card has a fight that brings to question the ‘round vs. total fight’ judging question, and UFC 100 was no different.

2) Brock Lesnar is the new Tito Ortiz

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A wrestler with dominant ground-and-pound skills beats a rival, continues to trash talk after the victory, and issues a two-finger salute.

Brock Lesnar seems to share a lot with Tito Ortiz, the UFC’s original bad guy. Ortiz knows how to market himself, and as many people turned in to his events hoping to watch him take a beating as his actual fans did.

Following UFC 100, that torch has been passed to Lesnar, who has no problem playing to the negativity of the crowd. It was almost comical watching Lesnar control the crowd like puppets. He wanted boos, and the crowd obliged him with fervor.

Lesnar understands that it doesn’t matter if people like you, only if they want to watch you, and you will be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn’t want to see him again, even if it is only to hope he gets crushed.

Lesnar has even experienced his first tongue lashing from Dana White following his post-fight actions. I will bet the house that it isn’t the last time.

3) Greg Jackson needs his own show

Putting Greg Jackson on camera in between every round of the GSP/Alves fight was brilliant. Some of the things that he was telling Georges St. Pierre had the entire audience in stitches, and it was also fascinating to see his approach to coaching a top-level athlete.

The UFC and Spike TV need to give Jackson his own show. He is unquestionably one of the smartest trainers and game planners in the sport. Imagine getting a behind the scenes look at his training methods and his interactions with the likes of St. Pierre, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans.

Jackson has the personality and sense of humor that audiences would flock to in droves. When I asked him on Friday what sorts of things he had been having St. Pierre do to prepare for Alves, he told me that he was having St. Pierre jump off of really tall buildings, to get rid of his fear. If he comes up with stuff like that off of the top of his head, I want to hear what he’ll say with time to prepare in front of a camera.

4) The Middleweight division is as muddled as ever

The UFC made a kneejerk reaction to the criticism of Anderson Silva/Thales Leites by putting Silva in a match with Forrest Griffin that has absolutely no title ramifications for the Middleweight division. Now, matchmaker Joe Silva must live with that short sited decision and make sense of an increasingly murky title picture.

By knocking out Michael Bisping in brutal fashion, Dan Henderson should have cemented himself a title shot. If only it were that simple.

The UFC’s biggest mistake was not giving Demian Maia a title shot at UFC 101. That would have cleared the way for the winner of Bisping/Henderson to face the winner of Maia/Silva sometime down the road. Undefeated at 10-0, Maia has submitted all five of his UFC opponents, an accomplishment deserving of far more praise than it has received.

As we all know, the UFC shied away from Maia after the Leites debacle, and we are now left in the position where there could be two number one contenders, provided that Maia dispatches of Nate Marquardt at UFC 102.

There has been talk of a number one contender match between Henderson and Maia/Marquardt, but that makes no sense. Silva will fight within the next month. That means that we would have to wait another four months for Henderson vs. Maia/Marquardt, followed by another four months before the title defense. That would mean that the Middleweight belt would not be defended for an entire year, which is unacceptable.

There is no easy solution to this debacle, but it does have a solution. If Maia defeats Marquardt, he should be given a title shot. Henderson can then face Marquardt, and the winner of that match can face the winner of Maia/Silva.

If Marquardt defeats Maia, Henderson should fight Silva. Both of these men have faced Silva and lost, but Henderson had more success in loss, which gets him the nod over Marquardt.

Of course, if Vitor Belfort returns to the UFC, all bets are off. Confused yet?

5) Georges St. Pierre should not fight Anderson Silva. Not now. Not ever

When Michael Jordan established himself as the greatest shooting guard in NBA history, no one asked him to play center. When Wayne Gretzky scored 92 goals in one season, no one suggested he switch to goalie for a new challenge. Georges St. Pierre is the most dominant Welterweight in the world, and that is exactly where he should stay.

Consider all of the reasons why this fight doesn’t work. St. Pierre walks around at 185 pounds, and would require months to pack on the necessary weight to be competitive at Middleweight. Even if he was successful at putting on that weight, he would then have to immediately turn around and start losing it after one fight. That means that it could potentially be a year before St. Pierre defends his Welterweight belt, which is far too long.

It also does not make sense for the UFC to put its two most dominant champions in a position where one of them is guaranteed to lose. St. Pierre is in a position to challenge Silva’s unbeaten streak in the octagon, and Silva can continue to lengthen that streak. Why would we want to see a situation where one of those has to end?

While fun to fantasize about, the fact is that inter-weight class super fights are short sited with negative consequences that far outweigh any benefits (see Silva vs. Griffin above). Fighters fight at a specific weight class for a reason. Let them stay there.

6) Stephan Bonnar is on thin ice

Bonnar’s role in the historic Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale is undeniable, but the “American Psycho” could soon be on his way out of the organization.

Bonnar is just 5-5 in the UFC, and 2-4 in his last six bouts. These losses have come against some of the upper-end talent in the division, but there is no doubt that losing a unanimous decision to a middle-aged Mark Coleman banishes Bonnar to gatekeeper status.

If Bonnar loses his next fight, which will likely come against a low-level opponent, it could be the last time that the UFC vet competes in the octagon.

7) The Fan Expo was the runaway success of the weekend

11,000 fans might have attended UFC 100, but the real lucky ones were the 30,000+ that attended the two-day Fan Expo in Las Vegas.

Every big name fighter not on the 100 card was there to sign autographs and meet fans, as were top trainers like Greg Jackson.

And when I say sign autographs, I don’t mean a quick 20-minute appearance. Keith Jardine signed for seven hours on Friday, then returned Saturday to do it again. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua needed to be literally pulled away from his booth because the event had closed. Wanderlei Silva kept stopping to take pictures, even though his handlers kept rushing him along.

Of the 20-plus fighters I talked to, every single one was quick to say how exciting it was to meet fans on such an intimate level. This level of fan service is what makes MMA stand out from other sports, where prima donna superstars treat autograph sessions as an afterthought.

It is rumored that the UFC is considering making the Fan Expo a bi-yearly affair. This should absolutely happen, as it gives fans unprecedented access to the sport.

8) MMA is the greatest sport in the world

Quite simply, there was magic in the air Saturday, magic that detractors of MMA will never allow themselves to experience because they are too stubborn to make the effort to understand.

MMA fighters are the epitome of what an athlete should be. They are (for the most part) humble, gracious, and acutely aware that their actions influence the sport in a very real way.

Fans got everything they could have asked for on Saturday. A consummate champion in Georges St. Pierre. A villain in Brock Lesnar. An American hero in Dan Henderson. Controversy in Akiyama/Belcher.

In all, the very best (and some would say worst) of the sport was on display. It is so sad that some fools in the media are not willing to give the sport more than thirty minutes before rushing to misguided judgment.

With fights like Silva/Griffin, Cyborg/Carano and Penn/Florian just around the corner, and with the sport growing by leaps and bounds, it has never been a more exciting time to be a fight fan.  Soak it in, because I know in twenty years that I will tell my kids what it was like to be at UFC 100.


Cameron Gidari is the Associate Editor at MMAMadness.com. He can be reached with questions and comments at [e-mail].