Due to the severe lack of a basketball season, the bulk of the articles I’m writing are MMA related. I’m thinking of popping out with a pro wrestling story soon just to break the monotony of MMA articles, but we’ll see. If you are looking for something different, please feel free to peruse my other blog entitled Price Vincent, which is a constant ode to testosterone.
Speaking of testosterone, that brings me to Chael Sonnen. In the wake of Anderson Silva’s destruction of Yushin Okami, there has been a renewed call for Silva to face Sonnen, the person who has come closest to defeating him. This is a terrible idea for multiple reasons. 1.) Sonnen lost decisively by tapping out, 2.) Although he was winning the fight decisively, he ended up with more damage inflicted upon himself than upon Silva, 3.) He was dominating due to the fact that he was using testosterone illegally and Silva fought with a severe rib injury, which leads to 4.) Giving him a rematch right away or after his next fight only rewards someone who was caught cheating in the recent past. Seriously, I know there are a serious lack of challengers for Anderson Silva at this point, but Sonnen should have to win at least two fights before being given another shot at a title. And there’s only one real fight to book Silva in that matters: a catchweight bout against Georges St. Pierre. That would put the two best and most dominant fighters in the world against each other in a match most fans want to see, plus it could set up for at least one rematch depending on the fight’s outcome. If that fight isn’t possible, Dan Henderson is available and he is far more deserving of another shot at UFC gold than Sonnen, who could have created quite the PR problem last year if he had won the belt while juicing. That’s something Dana White has forgotten about when defending Chael, but I digress.
In other, more positive news the UFC announced the main event for its network TV debut on Fox November 12th: a UFC Heavyweight Title match between Cain Velasquez and the challenger Junior dos Santos. Oddly enough, this is the only fight that will be aired on the one hour program. I personally would have added a lightweight fight between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson that would 100% guaranteed been a match of the year candidate to open the show, but a title fight on free TV is a big deal. I think that the UFC went the right way in picking this as the fight to go with, as opposed to an Anderson Silva title match or the rumored Tito Ortiz-Rich Franklin fight. Silva, while absolutely brilliant, is mercurial and there is no guarantee that he’ll deliver a positive memorable opponent. Plus, there is some serious question as to how much name recognition he actually has in the US. Now Tito Ortiz has name recognition, but he is way past his prime. Same for Rich Franklin. While both are names and I would consider myself to be a fan of both men, there is a good chance that this could be a bland encounter and you don’t want to showcase two guys who are a bit over the hill in your network TV debut. A lot of people will be tuning in to see a UFC fight for the first time, and a good impression needs to be made. That is why this fight makes sense. Nothing draws people in like a heavyweight fight. Historically in boxing,heavyweights have been the most popular (Louis, Ali, Tyson, Holyfield) and a heavyweight title holds a common perception of being the accolade that shows who the biggest, baddest man is. While there is always the risk that a heavyweight scrap can be a dull, plodding affair, that most likely won’t be the case here as Velasquez-dos Santos is going to be great, great enough that it would be worth buying on a pay per view card. Velasquez is a machine, just absolutely relentless and efficient in his striking, takedowns, and ground and pound. As an added bonus, he never tires out. Junior dos Santos is the best technical striker in the heavyweight division and will test Cain’s chin like no one has yet, plus this fight could be where dos Santos is finally forced to use the jiu jitsu skills we hear he has. This really is the best fight the UFC can go with on this card and its great for fans to get a title fight without having to pay $45.00.
While on the subject of heavyweights, the UFC has been negotiating with Alistair Overeem and rumor has it the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ could be making his debut inside the octagon as soon as the end of the year against Frank Mir or a returning Brock Lesnar. As a fan of the ‘Reem, this excites me. I’ve gushed about him far too often, but his inclusion into the UFC would greatly bolster its sagging heavyweight ranks. After Cain and dos Santos, the top of the division is pretty thin. Mir is near the top and can main event, but he has not looked impressive as of late and wouldn’t really stand a chance against either of the UFC’s top two heavyweights. Brendan Schaub was exposed as a very green prospect, Cheick Kongo would get murdered again by Cain or for the first time by Junior, and Matt Mitrione is a prospect. Shane Carwin has lost two in a row and is really out of contention, and as much as I love Minotauro Nogueira, he isn’t really a threat to capture the title again. Bringing in Overeem creates a Champion vs. Champion fight, plus Alistair is very marketable. He’s built like Thor and can beat the hell out of people. Since the rest of the Strikeforce heavyweights aren’t joining the UFC anytime soon, the addition of Overeem would be a major plus and would greatly bolster the main event scene - especially when 2011 was marked by a severe depletion of credible main eventers due to injuries and the ‘Reem is known for wanting to fight several times a year. More on this if he actually does join the UFC.
That about does it this time, hopefully I’ll put something up again soon. Feel free to comment here or on facebook.
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