UFC 134 was a huge success for the world’s premier MMA organization. Featuring a raucous Brazilian crowd and a main card in which nearly every fight featured a finish, the night provided one of the most exciting UFC events this year. PRIDE vets Minotauro Nogueira and Shogun Rua reminded fans of their glory days, while Anderson Silva continued to show that he fights on a level that no one else can even see, much less reach. Without rambling too much, I’m just going to delve into what I think should come next for some of the fighters on the card and my thoughts on the fight they just had.
Brendan Schaub: The Nogueira fight exposed Schaub for what he is - a very green prospect that can’t fight when he is pressured. In the early goings of the fight, he did well when he was the one forcing the action, wobbling and stunning Minotauro. However once Nogueira stalked him and started to unload, Schaub went down hard. His lack of basic striking defense and a questionable chin have now made his presumed path up the heavyweight rankings more of an “if” than a “when.” I mean, this was only the third knockout win of Big Nog’s career; he is not known as a power puncher. This loss should move Schaub further down the card, where I would expect him to fight Roy Nelson if Nelson loses to Cro Cop. The loser of Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione is also a possibility.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Big Nog turned back time and provided the real emotional highlight of the night. Nogueira, despite looking a bit heavy and moving sluggishly, was able to whip the hometown crowd into a frenzy with his knockout of Schaub. As much as I would like this to be his last fight, as it provides a perfect final chapter in his storied career by winning in his first fight in Brazil, he still has a few interesting fights left. I would put him up against the winner of Cro Cop and Nelson, as a Cro Cop rematch would be a neat nostalgia fight and Roy Nelson is only dangerous if he lands a bomb early in a fight. More importantly, a fight with either man keeps Nogueira away from being on the receiving end of another brutal knockout. If his ability to walk through some of Schaubs’ punches was not an aberration, there are two fights that could be made. A match with the winner of Mitrione and Kongo could set him up for a contender’s fight sometime next year, or a rematch with Frank Mir could set up either man for the next title shot against Velasquez-Dos Santos. Potential fights with Overeeem and Lesnar are also ideas, but at this stage in his career he could get creamed by Overeem and a Lesnar fight is truly a toss-up. Not to continue rambling, but I think the Nelson-Cro Cop winner is the best option. I love Nogueira, but he needs to win a few fights to show that he is recovered from his injuries. Still, with a 4-2 mark in the UFC, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was pushed into the title picture one more time.
Forrest Griffin: Retirement. Forrest did not look good at all in losing to Shogun Rua, in terms of performance or effort. He took a nice punch to the face and when he shot for a takedown, just kind of got pushed over and mauled. He didn’t try to stop it. In his last two fights now, Forrest has looked lethargic and tentative. He also has looked like he has no desire to be fighting. Typically, Forrest has some kind of emotional reaction after getting pounded, but it didn’t really seem like he cared either way that he was pasted by Shogun. The combination of all of these things is dangerous to his health. What’s the point of fighting if you no longer have it in you? For years, tenacity and desire were the hallmarks of his style and with those traits missing, Forrest has nothing to offer in the Octagon. He doesn’t need money and has a successful career as an author, he might as well just hang them up. If he decides to continue, I don’t really know who he should face. He can’t beat top ten level fighters anymore and I have no real interest (and would hope Forrest doesn’t either) in seeing someone like Alexander Gustaffson shoot up the rankings by beating the snot out of him.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: Shogun showed why he was always considered a top flight light heavyweight by finishing Griffin quickly. For years, Shogun Rua has had the best finishing instincts of any fighter in MMA. If he senses you’re hurt, he pounces and he finishes. This finish was impressive due to the fact that he is still clearly not 100% and may never be. His footwork and movement was not good, and his feared leg kicks never came in to play. For the reason of his knees, he may never again reach a title shot. He would have a very tough time defeating a Jon Jones or Rashad Evans, or even Phil Davis, since his balky knees would make sprawling and takedown defense damn nigh impossible. That’s why he should fight some people who are not primarily grapplers. If Rampage Jackson loses to Jon Jones, he would be an ideal opponent for Shogun. So would Dan Henderson, as although Hendo is a wrestler he is not afraid to stand and trade punches for three rounds. I personally would like to see him fight Rogerio Nogueira, as Little Nog has been stuck facing lay and pray guys like Ryan Bader and this would give fans the opportunity to see why signing Rogerio to the UFC was a big deal. Plus, it would be a rematch of their classic 2005 fight, my favorite match of all-time. Regardless, I think that if Rampage wins against Jones, you do Hendo vs Rua on the UFC’s Fox debut for number one contender after Rashad Evans. If Rampage loses, that is the fight to make for early next year.
Yushin Okami: Okami was tooled hard by Anderson Silva and basically showed why he wasn’t given a title shot earlier. His only offense was a first round clinch where he ate more knees to the body while landing a few weak uppercuts. After receiving a head kick and knee to the chest to end the first round, Okami was done. The second round consisted of him getting floored by a jab (twice!) while Silva taunted him in the hopes of getting Okami to swing. Okami didn’t swing and stood there terrified until Silva finally put him out of his misery. He now gets to be the Jon Fitch of the middleweight division, only not as good. If I had to match him up with someone, I would hold onto him until early next year for the UFC’s rumored trip to Japan and put him up against Wanderlei Silva. He is of no threat to Silva’s considerably weakened chin and it would be a throwback to the PRIDE fights of Wand versus some random Japanese dude. Besides, it isn’t like either man is going to be contending again anytime soon. Silva, because he’s done as a title contender and Okami because he can’t be beating potential contenders in boring fashion with no chance of getting another title shot while Anderson reigns supreme at 185 lbs.
Anderson Silva: The Spider only furthered his legacy as the greatest of all time by humiliating Okami. Having the opportunity to watch someone like Silva, who is so fluid and graceful and natural with everything he does, is a real treat for a fight fan. He is on a whole different level of existence as a mixed martial artist. I cannot overstate this enough. Prior to this fight, Okami had only been finished once. He took Okami’s best option (the clinch) and withstood it easily to the point of breaking Okami’s will. This was only furthered in the second round when he put his hands to his side, avoided punches with simple head movements, and floored Yushin with a jab. I guess he fights the winner of the upcoming Brian Stann-Chael Sonnen fight, but is there really any doubt that Anderson will knock out or submit Stann (who is a decent striker with average ground abilities) or finish Sonnen again? Other than that, there’s Mark Munoz and Chris Leben, and neither of those guys stand a chance. Belfort’s destruction is too recent. There’s Dan Henderson, but Silva beat him decisively once already and Hendo is much more competitive as an undersized light heavyweight than he is at middleweight. I think Silva has one more fight that he needs to do before he should just retire as the sport’s most dominant fighter ever and that is GSP at a catchweight. They are the two most dominant men in the sport and have both cleared out their divisions, Anderson more than GSP (who still has Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit left). They are also the two biggest global stars in the UFC, with GSP a god in North America and Silva becoming a huge name in Brazil and the rest of South America over the course of the past year. There is no better time than right now to do this fight and once GSP wins a lackluster decision over Diaz, the UFC has no choice but to pull the trigger on this. Who else would fans be interested in seeing GSP face off against? And who else could believably stand a chance against Silva? Even if I think Silva would crush him, there’s enough intrigue in the two squaring off that I wouldn’t put it past GSP to defy the odds and win. So, I’ve already rambled enough here. It’s time for GSP or bust.
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