World Wrestling Entertainment has been experiencing a loss of fans due to the fact they've made their product TV-PG and got corny. Recently though, they've begun bringing fans who left them back into the fold, including yours truly, due to recent work by CM Punk. Back in 2007 my brother and I gave up watching wrestling on a regular basis because it started sucking. We’d still order the “big four” pay per views of WrestleMania, Summerslam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble but we’d give up investing serious time watching the product. Why? Because the WWE had gotten lamer than lame. The Rock was long gone, Brock Lesnar left for the UFC, and John Cena was made to be superhuman and was put over every big star in the company as a means of the WWE forcing him down everybody’s throat.
Cena was put over Chris Jericho, Edge, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels. He even dominated Kurt Angle. All of this despite the fact Cena, who is supposed to be the WWE's golden boy and biggest face, was getting booed. WWE began making their product more kid friendly in an effort to secure Cena’s fan base and figured if they just kept having him win the fans would change their tune. We’re at the point in time where it is really only little kids who cheer for Cena and everybody else wants him to lose. This has been the story for a few years, and that’s why my brother and I gave up watching.
However, during this time there was one ray of hope. There was a superstar – WWE doesn’t call their performers wrestlers – who had the potential to be the king of the business. He had that sort of rock star swagger of Edge, the unbelievable charisma of Chris Jericho, and the wrestling ability of Bret Hart. Of course I’m talking about the “straight edge superstar” CM Punk. What originally drew me to CM Punk was the fact he is straight edge. It blew my mind that a guy in a business full of substance abuse and steroids just steered clear of all of it. Punk is so much smaller than so many of the top guys in the WWE but he never looks outmatched or outclassed. The next thing that got me intrigued was the fact Paul Heyman supported him.
In the summer of 2006 Punk was brought in to WWE’s reboot of ECW because Heyman loved him. Heyman ran the original ECW (greatest wrestling promotion of all time) and had been a huge supporter of Lesnar and Raven and other awesome performers. If Heyman said Punk was good, then you better believe Punk was the man. Punk had long been hailed as the king of the independent wrestling leagues, but I had never seen him until his debut promo on ECW. I thought he could be pretty cool, so I started looking up his past promo work. I found this classic promo on Germany and I was hooked. It was amazing that Punk played the heel so perfectly by using his straight edge lifestyle to proclaim himself better than everybody else. But of course, WWE brought him in as a good guy and misused him for a long time.
Eventually Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, in which the winner receives a contract for a world championship match good anytime and anywhere within the calendar year. One night in 08 I was watching Raw since there was nothing else on and Edge, World Heavyweight Champion at the time, was cutting a promo but then Batista came out and beat the shit out of him. Then Punk came out and cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and became World Champion for the first time. Of course they kept him face and put him in stupid feuds and never gave him attention. It was crap, but luckily they've changed their ways.
I shit you not, four years ago I told my brother the best thing the WWE could do is turn CM Punk heel and feud him with John Cena. I said Punk had all the charisma and skill to be the number one heel in the company. It would be amazing to pit the real wrestling fans against the little kids and women. I told my brother this, but I figured it would never happen. But finally in the summer of 2009 things started changing. Punk turned heel that summer in a feud against fan favorite and drug abusing scumbag Jeff Hardy. Punk became the arrogant straight edge douche and played it off perfectly. This then led to Punk starting “The Straight Edge Society” in which he’d brainwash people into joining his cult of clean living. He cut great promos, worked awesome matches, and always got a rise out of the crowd.
I started watching wrestling a little bit again this year because The Rock had made his return to guest host WrestleMania. It did my heart good to watch Raw and see CM Punk be the best part of it with his great promos on Randy Orton. After losing to Orton at WrestleMania I had figured WWE once again dropped the ball with CM Punk. I could not have been any more wrong.
Last month the WWE started the storyline that has made them relevant once again. Punk went on a winning streak against the top guys on Raw then announced his contract with WWE ended the night of the Money in the Bank pay per view, which took place in his hometown of Chicago. He made a promise to win the championship from John Cena that night and then leave WWE with the belt. Punk cut one of the greatest promos of all time, ripping the WWE and owner Vince McMahon and his family to shreds and proclaiming himself to be the best in the world. They cut the mic off during the promo and people began to wonder if this was a storyline or if this guy was for real. Punk spent the weeks in buildup to the pay per view speaking his mind and going nuts. He is supposed to be the heel but everybody is giving him massive ovations and loving him up. Punk’s work is drawing the attention of all kinds of people. Colin Cowherd of ESPN was talking about how brilliant Punk was, GQ had a huge interview with him, Bill Simmons of ESPN has started a new website and there have been a few pieces on Punk written there. People were taking notice, and it all came to a head at Money in the Bank.
In the main event of what was one of the best shows WWE has run in ages, CM Punk and John Cena faced off in a match that people have been raving about for a couple weeks now. Punk’s entrance was one of the craziest things to happen as of late in wrestling because he’s supposed to be the bad guy going up against the biggest hero in the company, but everybody in that Chicago crowd was chanting Punk’s name for two minutes before his music even hit. When he came out it was the ultimate hero’s welcome and when he hit his finisher, the Go to Sleep, on Cena and got the three count for the win the crowd exploded. The guys who write about the inner workings of the business online all lost their shit and began calling this The Summer of Punk. Indeed it is.
In the span of a month CM Punk has become what WWE always wanted John Cena to be but hasn’t been able to become: the huge crossover star that gets people talking about the company again. After Punk won the title he claimed he was retiring and staying home in Chicago with the title. People were buying into this like he was really done. WWE even did a tournament for the “vacant” WWE title and made no mention of CM Punk as if they had a real split. Punk crashed the WWE/Mattel panel at Comic Con to say the tournament was crap and he’d have the real belt back home in Chicago, reaffirming he was done with WWE. When John Cena won the championship to end Raw this past Monday, “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour hit and out walked CM Punk with the real WWE Championship. Normally the heel would be booed for interrupting the face’s celebration, but CM Punk received a standing ovation and when he stared down Cena the crowed popped way more for Punk than they did Cena when each man lifted his championship.
You want to know how big this whole CM Punk angle is getting? If you type in “cult of personality” in a search on Youtube, the first suggested result is “cult of personality cm punk.” That song was big before Punk used it in WWE, but now it is picking up steam just because he stared down John Cena with it playing. The mere fact WWE was willing to pay to use the song says something. At Money in the Bank Punk had an amazing shirt with his logo and the words “Best in the World” on it, and they were only sold that night. They’re now going for hundreds of bucks on Ebay. That’s pretty amazing. Punk made a funny appearance on Jimmy Kimmel this past week, and was featured on Bill Simmons' podcast.
On that podcast Punk talked about the world of professional wrestling and how he’s out to “make that shit cool again.” Much like Stone Cold Steve Austin transformed wrestling in the 1990s by being the anti-hero, CM Punk is doing the same and is breaking ground in the WWE. There’s never been a wrestler who openly rips apart the company and its main star, talks about how the company’s booking is crap, then wins the championship and becomes the most popular guy in the business. He is the best in the world, and has been for years. It is just nice that finally the WWE has taken notice and has given him the ball.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson Thoughts and Prediction
This Saturday on Showtime, Strikeforce will be running another event. For the life of me, I don’t know most of the card but it is headlined by an intriguing fight: Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson in a heavyweight bout against the former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champ Fedor Emelianenko. As both men are legends in MMA and nearing the ends of their illustrious careers, it is definitely a match worth seeing.
What irks me about this fight is that it is being catered to Fedor unfairly. Henderson is going to come into the fight weighing about 206 lbs., roughly the same as when he fights at light heavyweight. Fedor will be coming in at around 225-230 lbs., meaning Hendo will be at a significant weight disadvantage. Originally talk had centered around a catchweight of 215 lbs. or even having Fedor cut down to light heavyweight, but Fedor and his M-1 Global camp balked at the suggestions. This would make sense if Fedor was still chumping fighters like it was 2005, but the reality of it is that Fedor looked terrible in his two recent losses (the first real losses of his career) and was losing to Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers before a glass jaw and inexperience respectively ended their nights. If anything, Strikeforce should be catering more to Hendo. He has apparently moved on from being a solid, if unspectacular, middleweight and has looked very good at light heavyweight., where he has won two straight fights by knockout. It’s quite the late resurgence for the man who at one point held the 205 and 185 titles in PRIDE, the only man in MMA to hold two titles simultaneously.
Henderson deserves a lot of credit for taking this fight and not . The last time he fought against a heavyweight, he was a game opponent for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002. He held his own into the third round despite giving up over 30 lbs., where he was eventually submitted by Big Nog. Even though Fedor’s star has lost some of its luster, this is still a tough match up for Hendo.
For Fedor, this is a make or break fight for him. As mentioned prior, he has not looked particularly impressive since choking out Tim Sylvia in under a minute three years ago. His last two losses, while considered huge upsets, can still be rationalized and don’t necessarily mean he’s done. Werdum is one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA and getting submitted by him isn’t a huge deal and in the Antonio Silva fight, Fedor was giving up roughly 50 lbs. and was outmuscled. What is troubling for Fedor is that his physique, well never impressive, has looked even doughier and calls into question his motivation and effort at this stage in his career. If he gets levelled or dominated by the much smaller Henderson, retirement should be his next step. If he loses an exciting, close fight he can be given the benefit of the doubt since Hendo is one of the all-time greats. For Henderson, a loss isn’t as big a deal since he is a lot older and a lot smaller than Fedor. When you come in at a disadvantage and lose, it doesn’t really hurt you. A win under those circumstances, even against a past his prime Fedor, is a big deal.
Fedor could really use an impressive win in order to continue his career, if that’s what he wants to do. Henderson has always been tough to finish, so if he can do that it will help to wash away the bad taste from his last few fights. I don’t know that he will though. I think at this point in their careers, Hendo is more motivated and in better condition than Fedor. It seems like Emelianenko just continues to fight to have something to occupy his time, not out of any real desire to do it. That’s always the wrong mindset to go into a fight with, and as other fighters’ training and conditioning improves, Fedor seems to stagnate and not care that he is. If I had to put my money down on a fighter, I would say Dan Henderson by decision. Either way, I’m excited to see how this fight turns out. It isn’t every month that two legends, even ones not at their peak, go against each other.
What irks me about this fight is that it is being catered to Fedor unfairly. Henderson is going to come into the fight weighing about 206 lbs., roughly the same as when he fights at light heavyweight. Fedor will be coming in at around 225-230 lbs., meaning Hendo will be at a significant weight disadvantage. Originally talk had centered around a catchweight of 215 lbs. or even having Fedor cut down to light heavyweight, but Fedor and his M-1 Global camp balked at the suggestions. This would make sense if Fedor was still chumping fighters like it was 2005, but the reality of it is that Fedor looked terrible in his two recent losses (the first real losses of his career) and was losing to Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers before a glass jaw and inexperience respectively ended their nights. If anything, Strikeforce should be catering more to Hendo. He has apparently moved on from being a solid, if unspectacular, middleweight and has looked very good at light heavyweight., where he has won two straight fights by knockout. It’s quite the late resurgence for the man who at one point held the 205 and 185 titles in PRIDE, the only man in MMA to hold two titles simultaneously.
Henderson deserves a lot of credit for taking this fight and not . The last time he fought against a heavyweight, he was a game opponent for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002. He held his own into the third round despite giving up over 30 lbs., where he was eventually submitted by Big Nog. Even though Fedor’s star has lost some of its luster, this is still a tough match up for Hendo.
For Fedor, this is a make or break fight for him. As mentioned prior, he has not looked particularly impressive since choking out Tim Sylvia in under a minute three years ago. His last two losses, while considered huge upsets, can still be rationalized and don’t necessarily mean he’s done. Werdum is one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA and getting submitted by him isn’t a huge deal and in the Antonio Silva fight, Fedor was giving up roughly 50 lbs. and was outmuscled. What is troubling for Fedor is that his physique, well never impressive, has looked even doughier and calls into question his motivation and effort at this stage in his career. If he gets levelled or dominated by the much smaller Henderson, retirement should be his next step. If he loses an exciting, close fight he can be given the benefit of the doubt since Hendo is one of the all-time greats. For Henderson, a loss isn’t as big a deal since he is a lot older and a lot smaller than Fedor. When you come in at a disadvantage and lose, it doesn’t really hurt you. A win under those circumstances, even against a past his prime Fedor, is a big deal.
Fedor could really use an impressive win in order to continue his career, if that’s what he wants to do. Henderson has always been tough to finish, so if he can do that it will help to wash away the bad taste from his last few fights. I don’t know that he will though. I think at this point in their careers, Hendo is more motivated and in better condition than Fedor. It seems like Emelianenko just continues to fight to have something to occupy his time, not out of any real desire to do it. That’s always the wrong mindset to go into a fight with, and as other fighters’ training and conditioning improves, Fedor seems to stagnate and not care that he is. If I had to put my money down on a fighter, I would say Dan Henderson by decision. Either way, I’m excited to see how this fight turns out. It isn’t every month that two legends, even ones not at their peak, go against each other.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Solving (Most of) the NBA lockout is easy!
According to ESPN and the rest of people “in the know,” the odds of there being an NBA season starting up in a few months are nil. Evidently, the players and the owners are extremely far apart on reaching a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the future. The owners want shorter contracts, a larger share of revenue, and a fixed salary cap since they are claiming to be bleeding money. They also want the fixed cap to avoid the creation of superteams like the Miami Heat and to keep their own star players from leaving and destroying their market. The players don’t want a change in the system, but are willing to compromise a bit on some of these issues.
Both sides are being slightly ridiculous. Yes, the owners should want to stop the creation of superteams. It is bad for the NBA if the star players are on only a handful of teams, leaving 25 other teams that range from mediocre to terrible. Look at the NFL - parity can be a good thing. But for the owners to cry about being taken advantage of by the players is profoundly dumb. The owners were the ones who set a minimum market value for Mike Miller at $5 million a year for five guaranteed seasons, or signed an injured Elton Brand to a five year, $80 million contract. To be fair, the players have to realize that even though it is unfair that they should have to compromise and receive less compensation going forward because the owners are too stupid to spend wisely, things do have to change. There are too many average players receiving too much guaranteed money for too long a period of time. One would also assume that the players realize that the superteam concept is a serious issue that needs to be addressed going forward, as it puts too many teams at a competitive and financial disadvantage.
The owners want a hard salary cap, as opposed to the flexible cap set at $58 million last season and a luxury tax threshold of $70 million. In prior seasons, a team could spend $58 million on player salary and could go over that limit in order to resign its own players. Then, if the salaries went over $70 million the team would have to pay a dollar for every dollar that they were over that threshold. If you were wondering, this is why there are so man sign and trades, as opposed to just a regular signing. When LeBron James announced he was going to Miami, he didn’t directly sign with the Heat. He re-signed with Cleveland in order to get the maximum amount of guaranteed years and better salary and then the Cavs traded him to Miami. This allowed the Cavs to get some draft picks and compensation in return for losing LeBron, and it allowed Miami to go over its salary cap to sign him. This is how nearly every team lands a free agent.
In the future, the owners want the cap to be $40 million, no exceptions. The players are obviously opposed, as it would lead to considerably less pay for them. This is where a solution is easy, if both sides would quit being babies. Under the current rules, a team can go over the salary cap to sign its own players and are allowed to offer more guaranteed years and more money per season. The problem lies in the flexible cap and the sign and trades. The sign and trade negates the concept of a team being able to offer a better deal than the rest of the league. It also allows larger teams like New York, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles to pick up nearly anyone they want because they bring in enough revenue that paying the luxury tax doesn’t matter, as they can still turn a profit either way. Teams like Charlotte, New Orleans, and Sacramento can’t compete with that and this needs to change. There are two ways to do this.
The first would be contraction, an idea I support. The NBA should eliminate two teams (at least) from each conference and put all the players on waivers. This would cut a large chunk of that disputed $300 million loss the owners claim to have faced. Get rid of the Hornets, Timberwolves, Bobcats, and the Raptors. It helps to solve the problem of teams being diluted because of expansion and cuts losses from the bottom line. Besides, are there normal people really clamoring to see the Bobcats and T-Wolves on TNT or ESPN? No, but contracting the teams and disbursing the players means that you could potentially see someone like Kevin Love grabbing boards and catching passes from John Wall or Chris Paul lobbing alley oops to Blake Griffin. You could see Demarcus Cousins running and gunning with Steve Nash or Tyreke Evans playing the shooting guard off Deron Williams. Automatically the teams that add these guys become more watchable and therefore more profitable.
The other way is to have a hard cap and eliminate the sign and trade if it puts a team over the cap. This cap should be somewhere between the owners’ proposal of $40 and the last season’s $70 million threshold. Let’s split the difference and set a hard cap of $55 million, not far off from the salary cap last season. Keep the Bird Rights, where a team can resign its own player even if it puts them over the salary cap, but eliminate them on a sign and trade. If Carmelo wants to go to New York, he has to sign for the most the Knicks can offer and not sign the maximum allowed from when he was in Denver, then having that transferred via trade. If a player wants a max deal and wants to go somewhere else, too bad. This would eliminate the superteam dilemma from a financial aspect. Now, if two stars wanted to team up together they would have to give up money and show that they are actually serious about winning. LeBron James would have to sacrifice and accept the best Miami can offer, instead of taking a pay cut from $20 million to $17 million a season by doing a sign and trade and taking a little less so that the he can claim to be unselfish. If a player really cares about winning and playing for a champion above all else, let’s see them leave $15 million a year for three to five years on the table. A $55 million cap gives players a lot more than the $40 million cap (an average of $1.25 million for a team composed of 15 players), but also negates throwing out massive contracts to schlubs like Eddy Curry or Erick Dampier.
A punitive cap and blaming the players is a bad move by the owners. People pay to see Kobe Bryant or Derrick Rose, not to see Jerry Buss or Jerry Reinsdorf. If teams are losing money, it is more often than not on the part of poor business planning and financial management, rather than greedy players sucking teams dry. The only legitimate gripe is that small market teams are hurt by the luxury tax and the movement for superstars teaming up in larger markets. But the owners are claiming to be taking it on the chin as businessmen and are choosing to blame player greed for that. In reality, the players are just taking advantage of a system set up by the owners. Wouldn’t that be considered smart business, not some kind of malicious dealing? If anything, the owners should be embarrassed with themselves for acting like spendthrifts and doling out stupid contracts left and right. While some changes in salary structure are necessary, as there are a lot of players seriously overpaid, casting all the blame on the players and trying to punish them is not a good faith negotiation and for that the owners should be castigated.
Changing gears abruptly, the other part of the lockout equation is revenue sharing, a concept I don’t fully
know all the particulars of and am not nearly egotistical enough to solve. All I can say is that both sides need to sit down and get a deal done, lest they lose all momentum from one of the most exciting and memorable seasons in the NBA since I started watching over 20 years ago. If the 2011-2012 season ends up getting cancelled, both sides will only have themselves to blame.
Both sides are being slightly ridiculous. Yes, the owners should want to stop the creation of superteams. It is bad for the NBA if the star players are on only a handful of teams, leaving 25 other teams that range from mediocre to terrible. Look at the NFL - parity can be a good thing. But for the owners to cry about being taken advantage of by the players is profoundly dumb. The owners were the ones who set a minimum market value for Mike Miller at $5 million a year for five guaranteed seasons, or signed an injured Elton Brand to a five year, $80 million contract. To be fair, the players have to realize that even though it is unfair that they should have to compromise and receive less compensation going forward because the owners are too stupid to spend wisely, things do have to change. There are too many average players receiving too much guaranteed money for too long a period of time. One would also assume that the players realize that the superteam concept is a serious issue that needs to be addressed going forward, as it puts too many teams at a competitive and financial disadvantage.
The owners want a hard salary cap, as opposed to the flexible cap set at $58 million last season and a luxury tax threshold of $70 million. In prior seasons, a team could spend $58 million on player salary and could go over that limit in order to resign its own players. Then, if the salaries went over $70 million the team would have to pay a dollar for every dollar that they were over that threshold. If you were wondering, this is why there are so man sign and trades, as opposed to just a regular signing. When LeBron James announced he was going to Miami, he didn’t directly sign with the Heat. He re-signed with Cleveland in order to get the maximum amount of guaranteed years and better salary and then the Cavs traded him to Miami. This allowed the Cavs to get some draft picks and compensation in return for losing LeBron, and it allowed Miami to go over its salary cap to sign him. This is how nearly every team lands a free agent.
In the future, the owners want the cap to be $40 million, no exceptions. The players are obviously opposed, as it would lead to considerably less pay for them. This is where a solution is easy, if both sides would quit being babies. Under the current rules, a team can go over the salary cap to sign its own players and are allowed to offer more guaranteed years and more money per season. The problem lies in the flexible cap and the sign and trades. The sign and trade negates the concept of a team being able to offer a better deal than the rest of the league. It also allows larger teams like New York, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles to pick up nearly anyone they want because they bring in enough revenue that paying the luxury tax doesn’t matter, as they can still turn a profit either way. Teams like Charlotte, New Orleans, and Sacramento can’t compete with that and this needs to change. There are two ways to do this.
The first would be contraction, an idea I support. The NBA should eliminate two teams (at least) from each conference and put all the players on waivers. This would cut a large chunk of that disputed $300 million loss the owners claim to have faced. Get rid of the Hornets, Timberwolves, Bobcats, and the Raptors. It helps to solve the problem of teams being diluted because of expansion and cuts losses from the bottom line. Besides, are there normal people really clamoring to see the Bobcats and T-Wolves on TNT or ESPN? No, but contracting the teams and disbursing the players means that you could potentially see someone like Kevin Love grabbing boards and catching passes from John Wall or Chris Paul lobbing alley oops to Blake Griffin. You could see Demarcus Cousins running and gunning with Steve Nash or Tyreke Evans playing the shooting guard off Deron Williams. Automatically the teams that add these guys become more watchable and therefore more profitable.
The other way is to have a hard cap and eliminate the sign and trade if it puts a team over the cap. This cap should be somewhere between the owners’ proposal of $40 and the last season’s $70 million threshold. Let’s split the difference and set a hard cap of $55 million, not far off from the salary cap last season. Keep the Bird Rights, where a team can resign its own player even if it puts them over the salary cap, but eliminate them on a sign and trade. If Carmelo wants to go to New York, he has to sign for the most the Knicks can offer and not sign the maximum allowed from when he was in Denver, then having that transferred via trade. If a player wants a max deal and wants to go somewhere else, too bad. This would eliminate the superteam dilemma from a financial aspect. Now, if two stars wanted to team up together they would have to give up money and show that they are actually serious about winning. LeBron James would have to sacrifice and accept the best Miami can offer, instead of taking a pay cut from $20 million to $17 million a season by doing a sign and trade and taking a little less so that the he can claim to be unselfish. If a player really cares about winning and playing for a champion above all else, let’s see them leave $15 million a year for three to five years on the table. A $55 million cap gives players a lot more than the $40 million cap (an average of $1.25 million for a team composed of 15 players), but also negates throwing out massive contracts to schlubs like Eddy Curry or Erick Dampier.
A punitive cap and blaming the players is a bad move by the owners. People pay to see Kobe Bryant or Derrick Rose, not to see Jerry Buss or Jerry Reinsdorf. If teams are losing money, it is more often than not on the part of poor business planning and financial management, rather than greedy players sucking teams dry. The only legitimate gripe is that small market teams are hurt by the luxury tax and the movement for superstars teaming up in larger markets. But the owners are claiming to be taking it on the chin as businessmen and are choosing to blame player greed for that. In reality, the players are just taking advantage of a system set up by the owners. Wouldn’t that be considered smart business, not some kind of malicious dealing? If anything, the owners should be embarrassed with themselves for acting like spendthrifts and doling out stupid contracts left and right. While some changes in salary structure are necessary, as there are a lot of players seriously overpaid, casting all the blame on the players and trying to punish them is not a good faith negotiation and for that the owners should be castigated.
Changing gears abruptly, the other part of the lockout equation is revenue sharing, a concept I don’t fully
know all the particulars of and am not nearly egotistical enough to solve. All I can say is that both sides need to sit down and get a deal done, lest they lose all momentum from one of the most exciting and memorable seasons in the NBA since I started watching over 20 years ago. If the 2011-2012 season ends up getting cancelled, both sides will only have themselves to blame.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
UFC 132: Thoughts, Where do we go from here?
Last Saturday’s UFC 132 card was one of the more exciting and entertaining cards that the promotion has run this year, and was far superior to last month’s pay per view. The highlight of the evening by far was Tito Ortiz’ shocking first round submission victory over Ryan Bader. It was his first win in five years and first time finishing someone NOT name Ken Shamrock in ten. Tito needed a win to keep his job with the UFC and with the Las Vegas fans firmly behind him, levelled Bader with an uppercut and finished him with a guillotine within minutes of the opening bell. The main event of Faber and Cruz was an exciting technical affair, but as someone who was rooting for Faber I was disappointed. This wasn’t because he lost, as I had expected him to lose by decision, it was that he really blew a winnable fight. There were several instances where Faber should have followed up with some strikes after getting up from a takedown or busting in and out of the clinch, but did not. He didn’t push the pace at the times when he needed to and instead was tagged by Cruz’ smart boxing and crazy footwork. In other news from the card, PRIDE again took a blow as Wanderlei Silva was annihilated in 27 seconds by Chris Leben. I’ll go into this some more in a minute, but I don’t necessarily think that this fight should be the end for Silva. He just fought in a profoundly stupid fashion and it cost him. With that being said, let’s get down to what should come next for the winners (and some of the losers) from UFC 132.
Dominick Cruz: The UFC Bantamweight Champion looked good in his first fight since the WEC closed shop. His herky jerky footwork and angles he throws strikes from makes it very difficult to score any points against him, but it also makes it nearly impossible for him to throw any power strikes hard enough to finish an opponent. He showed great takedown offense and defense against Faber, who has very strong grappling skills, and his performance in that department should halt a lot of criticism against him. Look for him to take on former WEC Bantamweight Champ Brian Bowles and/or Demetrius Johnson before hooking up with Faber for a rubber match.
Urijah Faber: Faber didn’t look awful in this loss, but he should realize that this was a fight that he could have won if he showed some more urgency. He still performed better than anyone else has against Cruz to date and within one to two more matches, I would expect him to get another shot for the belt. A fight with fellow fan favorite Miguel Torres could be fun and makes a lot of sense for both men.
Chris Leben: The Crippler brutally finished Wanderlei Silva and has managed to eliminate some of the negativity surrounding him after his loss to Brian Stann back in January. He’s probably 2-3 fights away from a middleweight title shot, but the odds of him being able to avenge a loss to Anderson Silva are nil. I would suggest Mark Munoz, but he’ll likely be paired off with Stann for his next fight. I would like to see him take on Vitor Belfort, assuming Belfort beats Akiyama at UFC 133. That could be exciting.
Wanderlei Silva: I’m in the minority of people who think that Silva could potentially continue his career. I think with a change in his strategy, he could fight a couple more years (barring any more massive knockouts). His biggest problem in the Leben fight was that he charged like a bull and reacted poorly. Instead of backing up and taking a second to recover before going back on offense, he kept fumbling for a clinch that he had no momentum and leverage for and received several vicious uppercuts to the grill for his trouble. If he had fought more like he had in the Bisping fight last year, he wouldn’t have been laid out quite as badly. What worked for him in PRIDE won’t work for him anymore and if he wants to keep fighting, he needs to learn to cope with that fact. I would let him get started on that trail by putting him up against Demian Maia. Maia doesn’t wade into firefights and his punching power isn’t going to put Silva away, but his striking is solid and his ground game is top notch and it could push Wanderlei into a new direction that doesn’t involve major head trauma.
Carlos Condit: The Natural Born Killer looked fantastic in knocking out Dong Hyun Kim with a flying knee and a flurry of punches in the first round. He showed better ground defense than he has in the past as well, getting up quickly from a takedown. I would say that he is one more fight away from a title shot. If BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have their rematch and Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger still face off in September, then Condit should either face a returning Josh Koscheck in the winter. If that isn’t an option, then put him up against Diego Sanchez if Sanchez beats Matt Hughes. If Penn-Fitch 2 doesn’t happen, put him up against Fitch in a number one contender bout. It would be the best way to see if Condit is ready, as Fitch is clearly the second best fighter in the division and if someone can beat him, that man is very deserving of a title shot.
Melvin Guillard: The Young Assassin scored a brutal knockout win over the hopelessly outmatched Shane Roller and is poised to be a contender for the lightweight title in the next year. The only problem is that the title picture is gridlocked until Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard settle their business. If Jim Miller beats Ben Henderson next month at the UFC on Versus, then Miller is the top challenger and Melvin should take on Dennis Siver. If Henderson wins, I would pair him off against Guillard for a title eliminator and put Clay Guida up against the winner of Edgar-Maynard III (whenever that happens).
Ryan Bader: Bader has fallen so far, so fast this year. He went from being mentioned in the same breath as Jon Jones for the future of the light heavyweight division to being tooled by Jones and nearly KOed and actually choked out early by Tito Ortiz in a fight that was supposed to be a gimme for him. Bader has some serious soul searching and work to do. Although he has good power, his striking has never been as good as he thought it was and it’s come back to bite him in the ass. His strongest suit is wrestling, so he should probably go back to that a bit more while he shores up his standup technique and submission defense. A fight against fellow wrestler/mediocre striker Matt Hamill makes a lot of sense for him, since he’s in no danger of being on the receiving end of a guillotine again and it is apparent that neither man can hang with the upper echelon of the 205 lbs weight class right now.
Tito Ortiz: Tito gave the fans one of the best moments in recent memory in the UFC with his win over Bader. The emotion from the fans in the arena, as well as the emotion from himself combined with the vicious uppercut that floored Bader and the guillotine that finished him made for a riveting experience. Tito went from being forced into retirement to having new life in the UFC. He wants the winner of Shogun Rua and Forrest Griffin, but I think that both those guys are a little out of his league right now. The fight that makes the most sense for him would be against the winner of Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Despite this win and what he may think, Tito is at best a top 20 ranked light heavyweight. If he beats one of the aforementioned guys, then a fight with someone on the lower half of the top ten would make sense.
That’s it for this piece. If there are any fights coming out of UFC 132 you think should be made, or you have thoughts to share on the event, have something you would like to say, then feel free to leave a comment or post on facebook.
Dominick Cruz: The UFC Bantamweight Champion looked good in his first fight since the WEC closed shop. His herky jerky footwork and angles he throws strikes from makes it very difficult to score any points against him, but it also makes it nearly impossible for him to throw any power strikes hard enough to finish an opponent. He showed great takedown offense and defense against Faber, who has very strong grappling skills, and his performance in that department should halt a lot of criticism against him. Look for him to take on former WEC Bantamweight Champ Brian Bowles and/or Demetrius Johnson before hooking up with Faber for a rubber match.
Urijah Faber: Faber didn’t look awful in this loss, but he should realize that this was a fight that he could have won if he showed some more urgency. He still performed better than anyone else has against Cruz to date and within one to two more matches, I would expect him to get another shot for the belt. A fight with fellow fan favorite Miguel Torres could be fun and makes a lot of sense for both men.
Chris Leben: The Crippler brutally finished Wanderlei Silva and has managed to eliminate some of the negativity surrounding him after his loss to Brian Stann back in January. He’s probably 2-3 fights away from a middleweight title shot, but the odds of him being able to avenge a loss to Anderson Silva are nil. I would suggest Mark Munoz, but he’ll likely be paired off with Stann for his next fight. I would like to see him take on Vitor Belfort, assuming Belfort beats Akiyama at UFC 133. That could be exciting.
Wanderlei Silva: I’m in the minority of people who think that Silva could potentially continue his career. I think with a change in his strategy, he could fight a couple more years (barring any more massive knockouts). His biggest problem in the Leben fight was that he charged like a bull and reacted poorly. Instead of backing up and taking a second to recover before going back on offense, he kept fumbling for a clinch that he had no momentum and leverage for and received several vicious uppercuts to the grill for his trouble. If he had fought more like he had in the Bisping fight last year, he wouldn’t have been laid out quite as badly. What worked for him in PRIDE won’t work for him anymore and if he wants to keep fighting, he needs to learn to cope with that fact. I would let him get started on that trail by putting him up against Demian Maia. Maia doesn’t wade into firefights and his punching power isn’t going to put Silva away, but his striking is solid and his ground game is top notch and it could push Wanderlei into a new direction that doesn’t involve major head trauma.
Carlos Condit: The Natural Born Killer looked fantastic in knocking out Dong Hyun Kim with a flying knee and a flurry of punches in the first round. He showed better ground defense than he has in the past as well, getting up quickly from a takedown. I would say that he is one more fight away from a title shot. If BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have their rematch and Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger still face off in September, then Condit should either face a returning Josh Koscheck in the winter. If that isn’t an option, then put him up against Diego Sanchez if Sanchez beats Matt Hughes. If Penn-Fitch 2 doesn’t happen, put him up against Fitch in a number one contender bout. It would be the best way to see if Condit is ready, as Fitch is clearly the second best fighter in the division and if someone can beat him, that man is very deserving of a title shot.
Melvin Guillard: The Young Assassin scored a brutal knockout win over the hopelessly outmatched Shane Roller and is poised to be a contender for the lightweight title in the next year. The only problem is that the title picture is gridlocked until Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard settle their business. If Jim Miller beats Ben Henderson next month at the UFC on Versus, then Miller is the top challenger and Melvin should take on Dennis Siver. If Henderson wins, I would pair him off against Guillard for a title eliminator and put Clay Guida up against the winner of Edgar-Maynard III (whenever that happens).
Ryan Bader: Bader has fallen so far, so fast this year. He went from being mentioned in the same breath as Jon Jones for the future of the light heavyweight division to being tooled by Jones and nearly KOed and actually choked out early by Tito Ortiz in a fight that was supposed to be a gimme for him. Bader has some serious soul searching and work to do. Although he has good power, his striking has never been as good as he thought it was and it’s come back to bite him in the ass. His strongest suit is wrestling, so he should probably go back to that a bit more while he shores up his standup technique and submission defense. A fight against fellow wrestler/mediocre striker Matt Hamill makes a lot of sense for him, since he’s in no danger of being on the receiving end of a guillotine again and it is apparent that neither man can hang with the upper echelon of the 205 lbs weight class right now.
Tito Ortiz: Tito gave the fans one of the best moments in recent memory in the UFC with his win over Bader. The emotion from the fans in the arena, as well as the emotion from himself combined with the vicious uppercut that floored Bader and the guillotine that finished him made for a riveting experience. Tito went from being forced into retirement to having new life in the UFC. He wants the winner of Shogun Rua and Forrest Griffin, but I think that both those guys are a little out of his league right now. The fight that makes the most sense for him would be against the winner of Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Despite this win and what he may think, Tito is at best a top 20 ranked light heavyweight. If he beats one of the aforementioned guys, then a fight with someone on the lower half of the top ten would make sense.
That’s it for this piece. If there are any fights coming out of UFC 132 you think should be made, or you have thoughts to share on the event, have something you would like to say, then feel free to leave a comment or post on facebook.
Friday, July 1, 2011
PRIDE's Next Last Stand: Wanderlei Silva Edition
As I stated a few months ago, the legends of the defunct Pride FC have fallen at an alarming rate in the UFC. Most recently Shogun Rua, possibly the most violent fighter I've ever seen, was on the receiving end of a massacre at the hands of Jon Jones. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira went from being an iron chinned submission master to a punching bag that has a better than 60% chance of losing to Brendan Schaub, the type of fighter that would have been destroyed by Big Nog five years ago. I've discussed the rapid decline of Mirko Cro Cop, the man at one time considered the most feared kickboxer in all of MMA. This weekend, Wanderlei Silva returns to the Octagon for the first time in fifteen months to take on Chris Leben. Unlike a lot of his fellow PRIDE legends, Silva is coming in after winning his most recent fight, a unanimous decision over Michael Bisping. Despite that win however, Silva has lost five of his last seven fights.
This Saturday should be a telling sign to how much gas is left on Wanderlei's tank and whether his chin can still hold up. It will be his second fight at 185 lbs. and Leben is known for having very heavy hands. Prior to the move to 185, he had been thrice knocked out in his last four fights at his original weight of 205 lbs. It was a sad end to his time at light heavyweight, since from 2001-2006 he was the most feared 205 lbs. fighter in the world.
PRIDE-era Wanderlei Silva was a monster, plain and simple. He had nasty muay thai knees and soccer kicks that he used to great effect, going 18-1 at in his weight class over the aforementioned five year span. His two knockout victories over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson were legendary and cringe inducing for their brutality. His trilogy of knockout wins over Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba also famed for their violence.
The most noted part of Wanderlei's fighting technique, besides the most intimidating pre-fight staredown in history, was his sheer aggression and zeal with which he went at an opponent. It made perfect sense for a man dubbed "the Axe Murderer" to fight like he was going to rip someone limb from limb. It's what made him so exciting and so beloved amongst the fans. To this day, Silva brings up that he fights this way out of his own instinct and to entertain the fans. An interview doesn't pass without him mentioning that he likes to have exciting fights that pump up the crowd.
Of course, this aggression has managed to take its toll on him over the past five years. First, he was headkicked into the next year by Mirko Cro Cop in the 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix. Then, he was brutally knocked out by Dan Henderson at PRIDE 33. He followed this up with an entertaining brawl against fellow legend Chuck Liddell, but he was on the receiving end of a decision loss. He bounced back from these losses by beating the starch out of Keith Jardine in 36 seconds, and it appeared that the Axe Murderer of old was back.
His next opponent was his old nemesis Quinton Jackson. Like their prior fights it would end in a knockout. This time, it would be Wanderlei getting scraped off the canvas after Rampage levelled him with a picture perfect hook. At this point, it seemed that Silva was essentially done. His inability to take a punch while combined with a chin that was looking increasingly fragile had made him a shell of the man that electrified Japan for years.
February of 2010 marked his debut in the UFC Middleweight Division, where he won a decision over Michael Bisping. In what was a good fight, Silva managed to show his jiu jitsu skills by locking in a nasty guillotine that nearly ended the fight in the second round and he floored Bisping with a flurry of punches to end the third round. It was his first victory in two years and looked to be the start of a rebirth in his career. His next opponent was slated to be Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, but Silva broke three ribs during training and had knee surgery as well and hs been out of action since. His replacement for that fight was Chris Leben, who beat Akiyama by submission with twenty seconds left in the final round in what was one of the best fights of the year. Following that fight, Leben called out Silva as an opponent, which brings things to UFC 132.
This is the type of fight that both men live for - a wild brawl that should feature no grappling whatsoever. If Silva wins, it sets him up for fights with Chael Sonnen and/or Vitor Belfort and potentially a shot at Anderson Silva's Middleweight Title further down the line. Recently, he stated that he wants to continue to fight for five more years and a total of ten fights. If he gets crushed by Leben, he should seriously consider retirement. On another note it would be yet another PRIDE legend losing a fight that years ago wouldn't have been much of a challenge. Regardless of a decline in skill, everyone can still expect Silva to come out the same way he always has: forward and punches flying.
This Saturday should be a telling sign to how much gas is left on Wanderlei's tank and whether his chin can still hold up. It will be his second fight at 185 lbs. and Leben is known for having very heavy hands. Prior to the move to 185, he had been thrice knocked out in his last four fights at his original weight of 205 lbs. It was a sad end to his time at light heavyweight, since from 2001-2006 he was the most feared 205 lbs. fighter in the world.
PRIDE-era Wanderlei Silva was a monster, plain and simple. He had nasty muay thai knees and soccer kicks that he used to great effect, going 18-1 at in his weight class over the aforementioned five year span. His two knockout victories over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson were legendary and cringe inducing for their brutality. His trilogy of knockout wins over Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba also famed for their violence.
The most noted part of Wanderlei's fighting technique, besides the most intimidating pre-fight staredown in history, was his sheer aggression and zeal with which he went at an opponent. It made perfect sense for a man dubbed "the Axe Murderer" to fight like he was going to rip someone limb from limb. It's what made him so exciting and so beloved amongst the fans. To this day, Silva brings up that he fights this way out of his own instinct and to entertain the fans. An interview doesn't pass without him mentioning that he likes to have exciting fights that pump up the crowd.
Of course, this aggression has managed to take its toll on him over the past five years. First, he was headkicked into the next year by Mirko Cro Cop in the 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix. Then, he was brutally knocked out by Dan Henderson at PRIDE 33. He followed this up with an entertaining brawl against fellow legend Chuck Liddell, but he was on the receiving end of a decision loss. He bounced back from these losses by beating the starch out of Keith Jardine in 36 seconds, and it appeared that the Axe Murderer of old was back.
His next opponent was his old nemesis Quinton Jackson. Like their prior fights it would end in a knockout. This time, it would be Wanderlei getting scraped off the canvas after Rampage levelled him with a picture perfect hook. At this point, it seemed that Silva was essentially done. His inability to take a punch while combined with a chin that was looking increasingly fragile had made him a shell of the man that electrified Japan for years.
February of 2010 marked his debut in the UFC Middleweight Division, where he won a decision over Michael Bisping. In what was a good fight, Silva managed to show his jiu jitsu skills by locking in a nasty guillotine that nearly ended the fight in the second round and he floored Bisping with a flurry of punches to end the third round. It was his first victory in two years and looked to be the start of a rebirth in his career. His next opponent was slated to be Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, but Silva broke three ribs during training and had knee surgery as well and hs been out of action since. His replacement for that fight was Chris Leben, who beat Akiyama by submission with twenty seconds left in the final round in what was one of the best fights of the year. Following that fight, Leben called out Silva as an opponent, which brings things to UFC 132.
This is the type of fight that both men live for - a wild brawl that should feature no grappling whatsoever. If Silva wins, it sets him up for fights with Chael Sonnen and/or Vitor Belfort and potentially a shot at Anderson Silva's Middleweight Title further down the line. Recently, he stated that he wants to continue to fight for five more years and a total of ten fights. If he gets crushed by Leben, he should seriously consider retirement. On another note it would be yet another PRIDE legend losing a fight that years ago wouldn't have been much of a challenge. Regardless of a decline in skill, everyone can still expect Silva to come out the same way he always has: forward and punches flying.
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