The history of basketball can easily be broken down into eras based on the best player. There was the Bird-Magic era in the 80s, which gave way to the Jordan era of the 90s. Currently we live in what tentatively can be called the LeBron era since he is probably the greatest natural athlete to ever play the game. This started in 2008 when he pushed the Celtics to Game 7 and then won back-to-back MVPs in 09 and 10, and is poised to win his third this year. Even without a ring he is still the best regular season player. Of course if he doesn’t win a ring we have to rethink the last few years since how can you really be the lord and master of the league if you can’t climb the mountain? Should the Bulls or Thunder start winning rings this changes everything.
But still, between Jordan’s retirement in 98 and LeBron’s coming of age in 2008, we have a ten year gap that people will define differently. If you ask most people who the greatest basketball player was in that era after Jordan beats Utah and before LeBron starts having historic regular seasons and winning MVPs, they will say Kobe Bryant. Some might say Shaq since he swung the balance of power in the NBA after winning three titles in LA then making the Heat a championship team. Some may even say Allen Iverson was the guy in the first few years of that decade, but really there was one guy from the start of the 98-99 season all the way to the 2007 NBA Finals.
Kobe may have won the fan voting for the NBA’s Player of the Decade Award in 2010, but Kobe has quit in playoff games, thrown tantrums that forced teammates out of LA, and has missed the playoffs. Shaq got fat and his quality of play dropped drastically by the second half of that decade. Meanwhile Tim Duncan was the model of consistency, but he was lacking the flash and ego of guys like Kobe and Shaq and never got the attention he deserved. He has won all four series he’s played in the NBA Finals, making the Spurs the only franchise other than Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to win multiple titles with no defeats. In the history of the NBA only two teams can claim multiple trips to the Finals and leaving with the championship every time. Stunning.
Tim Duncan is maybe the most unexciting superstar in the history of basketball. Watch his top ten highlights on Youtube. They are not electrifying in the slightest. The Onion has a slew of hilarious stories about Duncan in situations where he hams it up by arching his eyebrow slightly, gives a speech on fiscal responsibility, give a three hour pep talk, and forwards an article on a particle accelerator to his teammates. They are weird stories and of course fake, but so little is known about Duncan you could easily believe any of these being true.
In Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketballl, really it is just the NBA Bible, Simmons gives the quintessential account on Duncan’s career. Anything said here is owed majorly to Simmons for his work since I wasn’t following the league close enough in the first years of Duncan’s dominance to know what was what. Simmons wrote a text book on the NBA and classes should be taught on it. Anything you ever need to know about the game is summed up there, and his section on Tim Duncan is one of the most important parts.
Tim Duncan has never cared about personal glory or statistics. He’s always just wanted to get everybody involved, play good defense, and win. Whatever the Spurs need he does if it means they can win. Scoring, rebounding, defense, you name it he does it. When the Spurs needed a big three to force another overtime against the Suns in the Playoffs, the guy who hadn't even hit a three all season steps up and drills it to effectively end the Phoenix Suns.
His nickname is The Big Fundamental, the perfect fit for a player who goes out and plays perfectly. That jab step or post up followed by a bank jumper is one of the most unstoppable and devastating moves in the history of the league. He’s never had the flash or flare of other players from his generation so he never got the credit. Hell, if Kevin Garnett had won a ring or two on the Timberwolves who knows how much people would even bother remembering Duncan’s consistency?
And that is what makes Duncan so amazing. The man is consistent. His career averages of 20 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks are pretty awesome and when you look at the career stats you see he only failed to average 20 points once in his first 10 years. The numbers have taken a dip lately as he’s getting older and now but he’s still putting up 14.7 points and 8.9 boards, with 2.5 assists. Part of it is age, and part of it is Coach Gregg Popovich saving Duncan up for the playoffs. Either way he still puts in effective minutes like his 21-13 game on Orlando just a week ago then his epic 16-19 with 5 blocks against the Thunder two nights later. Both games were wins. He had 19-17 with 5 blocks in a win against Memphis last month, preceeded by 13-15 against the Thunder. Last night he gave the Timberwolves 21 and 15 in yet another win. People don’t remember Duncan blowing up a stat line like LeBron James, but he gets big numbers and big wins.
In Duncan’s previous 14 seasons, the Spurs failed to win 50 games only one: the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season in which there was only 50 games. Every year he has played, the Spurs have been in the Playoffs. That’s coming up on 15 years straight now, a streak no other team in the league is close to right now. They have made the playoffs as a 5 seed once, and that was in Duncan’s rookie season in 1998, and as a 7 seed in 2010. Other than that there was 5 appearances at the 1 seed, 2 as the second seed, 4 as the third, and just one as the fourth seed. In a footnote from Simmons’ book, he points out that, “From 1997 to 2008, San Antonio finished 615-265 with him during the regular season, 91-57 in the playoffs, won four titles, and finished 4-0 in the Finals. Now that’s consistency.”
Currently the Spurs are the 2 seed in the West thanks to an unholy, MVP-level year from Tony Parker, but Duncan has aged with grace and taken on a supporting role perfectly and can still take over when he needs to, especially since Manu Ginobili has not been effective this year. But people don’t pay attention because, as Simmons points out, people are bothered that Duncan is so consistent. As Simmons says, “If you keep banging out first-class seasons with none standing out more than any other, who’s going to notice after a while?” It is the truth.
Duncan has back-to-back MVP wins in 2002-3, with his 2003 win being the last time somebody won MVP and an NBA Championship in the same season. As stated before the Spurs are the one of only two teams to win multiple NBA titles without ever losing a Finals series. Granted the titles were never consecutive, but pounding out great season after great season with no epic drama or failure to make the playoffs like some other greats from the post-Jordan era make Duncan a rare talent.
Underappreciated is the next word that comes to mind after consistent. As his career is in a decline, nobody is picking apart everything he does wondering if he’s still got “it” like they do with Kobe Bryant or did with Shaq. The sports press doesn’t crown Duncan after a big double-double like they do when Kobe goes out and drops 30 points. Duncan just plays his game, and the Spurs keep winning but people don’t take notice. Of course he doesn’t have more than maybe another season or two left since he’s winding down, but he still has those moments like when he abused Birdman a couple weeks ago.
It is very sad people just accept Duncan is great, but not exactly how great. He never had the high profile personality and moves of the guards like Bryant or Iverson, or the excitement of Shaq and Garnett, but he did something the rest of them didn’t do: win regularly. He is the greatest power forward in the history of the game and such an amazing talent yet he seems to be taken for granted.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
What a Difference 23 Years Makes: The WWE and the Lost Art of Building an Epic Main Event
The year was 1989. It was WWF WrestleMania V live from the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. The main event was the culmination of a year of booking: Hulk Hogan taking on WWF Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage in a match between the two biggest guys in the business billed as “The Mega Powers Explode.” It took the WWF exactly one year to get to the match and the build worked perfectly. Over the course of a year we saw Savage and Hogan become partners, beat the hell out of the bad guys, and ultimately become arch enemies. As far as feuds taking place over the course of a year go, it is the greatest thing the WWF, now WWE, has ever done.
It all began at WrestleMania IV, also in Trump Plaza. After Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship in controversial fashion on The Main Event, it was revealed The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase orchestrated the entire thing so Andre would sell him the belt. The championship was vacated and a tournament was scheduled for Mania. Hogan and Andre were both disqualified during their match, giving Ted DiBiase a bye on his way to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Savage had to overcome the gigantic One Man Gang and was drained going into his match up with DiBiase to crown the new champion. The Million Dollar Man brought Andre down to the ring with him and the Giant continually interfered in the match. Savage’s manager, Miss Elizabeth, ran backstage and emerged a few moments later with Hulk Hogan.
Hogan helped Savage win the match and The Mega Powers team was formed. At SummerSlam, The Mega Powers beat Andre and DiBiase and began to dominate the wrestling scene. However, while Hogan and Savage did beat all comers, trouble was brewing within the team. Savage was becoming upset with the way Hogan would act towards Elizabeth. He felt Hogan was acting overly friendly toward his woman. As if fear over Hogan stealing his woman wasn’t enough, Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage in the 1989 Royal Rumble. The nail in the coffin occurred a few weeks later on another edition of The Main Event and the stage was set for a WrestleMania showdown between the company’s biggest stars.
Savage and Hogan were up against a team known as the Twin Towers, Akeem and the Big Boss Man. Savage was thrown out of the ring during the match and landed on Elizabeth, knocking her out. Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back, leaving Savage to fend for himself against the two massive competitors for a few minutes. When Hogan came back, Savage tagged him in by slapping him in the face, took his championship, and left. After Hogan defeated the Towers, he went to the back to check on Elizabeth again only to find Macho Man there. Savage then accused Hogan of lusting for Elizabeth and the WWF Championship while Hogan told him to relax. Macho hit Hogan with the belt and proceeded to beat the hell out of him.
It was a brilliant drama that unfolded over the course of a year. Before Hogan went out for his match with Savage he did an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund preceded by a video package chronicling the exploits of The Mega Powers. When the video ended, Okerlund exclaimed, “What a difference a year makes!” Hogan then proceeded to cut the best promo of his career, summing up what happened during that year and explaining the magnitude of their match.
Of course there was no doubt Hogan would win since Hogan always won and it was the only thing that made sense in terms of the storyline, but the build up to the Mega Powers exploding was still epic. The two biggest stars in the company right at the top for an entire year with the biggest prize in the business between them. It was brilliant booking and it culminated in an intense WrestleMania match tying up a year’s worth of storylines. It was perfect story telling by the WWF and something we’ve seen they could never match with a year to work.
This is most evidenced by the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII this year being billed as the biggest main event in the history of the WWE: John Cena vs. The Rock. The WWE will tell you this is going to be a war and we should all be excited, but unless you are a little kid it is hard to buy anything other than Cena winning. The WWE made this match literally the day after WrestleMania XXVII and the build has been piss poor considering they have had a year to craft an epic story but have instead done nothing but tie up the main event of the biggest show of the year with an underwhelming match.
The Rock, now Dwayne Johnson to the public since he’s a movie star, made his heroic return to the WWE last year on Valentine’s Day when it was announced he was the guest host of last year’s Mania. He came out to one of the biggest pops in history. Instantly grown men were transformed into little kids, jumping up and down and swinging their arms like weirdos. The Rock then cut a promo saying he was back for the fans and it is because of them he would never leave again. He missed a few episodes of Raw leading to WrestleMania. At Mania he hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, costing him the WWE Championship, and stood tall to end the show. The next night on Raw he extended the challenge to Cena for WrestleMania XXVIII, in Rock’s hometown of Miami. Cena accepted, and Rocky was off WWE TV until his birthday in May and then made sporadic appearances via pre-taped promos.
Finally in the fall he came back to team with Cena at Survivor Series and demolish The Miz and R. Truth. He appeared on the episode of Raw right before the pay per view, then was gone after hitting another Rock Bottom on Cena to end Survivor Series.
The Rock will be on Raw tonight but has yet to appear on WWE television in person this year since he is making movies, despite having the biggest spot on the biggest card of the year. This is a huge problem as it makes building a match extremely difficult when you make it a year in advance then only one guy is around to promote it. Another issue is the fact The Rock has buried Cena in every promo he’s cut. Granted it has been cool to hear the biggest star from my generation say Cena is lame as hell, but in build up to a match it sucks because when Rocky loses he’s just lost to a guy he’s made look like absolute crap for a year.
But still the biggest issue is the fact The Rock is hardly around but yet was given the main event at the biggest show a year in advance. This has angered many, and for good reason. The issue of course is not with the match itself. It is a brilliant business decision since The Rock is one of the three biggest stars in the history of the business along with Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. This match also gets a lot of older fans who don’t pay attention to the product as much anymore to tune back in since the big star of their generation is back to do battle with the big star of the current generation. Nostalgia always works.
Booking a match publicly, one year in advance ties up too many things in terms of storylines and of course upsets too many of the workers. The Rock is not even a regular performer anymore but WWE just placed him above work horses like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Granted even if the build to this match started in January of this year it would still be the main event, but having it announced only a month or two in advance would be better than essentially declaring an entire year’s worth of storylines is useless since Cena and Rock will be at the top of the big show no matter what.
When Punk cut his now legendary “worked shoot” promo back in June, he said it made him sick that The Rock was given the main event at WrestleMania a year in advance. This promo of course starts the chain of events that makes the Rock-Cena super fight a little less epic. For years now Cena has been getting booed, and of course when face-to-face with one of the biggest stars ever in The Rock he gets booed a lot, but once Punk became the number one contender to Cena’s WWE title last June, his spot in the company changed drastically. Punk’s promo got him over with the fans like nothing we’ve seen in a long time and the rest is history. Punk beats Cena for the WWE Championship and is cheered as a hero everywhere they go, making the WWE’s top guy not look like the superhero they always want him to be. It diminished Cena’s star power a little bit and turned Punk into the must-see guy.
But the problem with all of that was that no matter how bad things got for Cena, you knew he wouldn’t really lose that bad or anything since he had to be kept looking strong for his match with The Rock. He also foolishly stayed in the title picture since he wanted to make his match with The Rock for the WWE title. This is silly since if The Rock were to win he would be off TV for like a year so there would be no way the belt is defended. When Cena fought in a Hell in a Cell against Alberto Del Rio and Punk they made it seem like everything was at stake for Cena but there was no real suspense. No matter what happened you knew Cena would be fine since he was just keeping busy while we all waited for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s return.
This was especially true for the absolutely dreadful feud Cena just finished up with Kane. Kane continually jumped Cena and his friend Zack Ryder because he was upset Cena won’t embrace the hate of the WWE fans or something that didn’t make sense like that. They milked this awful crap for two months just so Cena and Kane both had something to do. When it all culminated in an ambulance match two weeks ago at Elimination Chamber, it was so obvious Cena would be fine since the push for WrestleMania started the next night on Raw and of course he’s going to look like a beast when the hype for his match with The Rock starts up.
And it is pretty bad that since WrestleMania XX, The Rock has only worked one match and that was Survivor Series this past November. So I’m supposed to believe the guy who is working every week, night in and night out, is going to get his ass wrecked by a guy who has done more Disney movies than wrestling matches in the last eight years? Of course since it is professional wrestling we’re supposed to suspend our disbelief, but taking that sort of thing into account makes it pretty easy to figure out what is going to happen at Mania. Just look at The Rock’s match with Hogan ten years ago to see how this will be.
Hogan had not been in the WWE for eight years and The Rock was the biggest star in the business. They faced off at WrestleMania and the crowd was behind Hogan out of nostalgia, but you’ve got to put over the new generation so Hogan did the job for Rock. The exact same thing is happening now. What was better about the build for Rock-Hogan though was the fact they announced it one month in advance, not a year.
If they wanted to do a year-long build for Rock-Cena, you don’t announce the match the night after Mania last year, you just have The Rock make appearances in person throughout the year bickering with Cena and working a couple matches here and there so he seems like he’s actually part of the roster. Then at the Royal Rumble in January you have them eliminate each other in some sort of shenanigans so the next night on Raw they challenge each other to an epic Mania showdown, and you do a contract signing at Elimination Chamber to build the tension, then at Mania you can sum up a year’s worth of conflict. Instead it was like they announced the match a year in advance to sell tickets faster and this lack of appearances makes it seem like The Rock just wants a big paycheck.
The match was put into perspective by Cena last week on Raw. He cut a shoot promo on The Rock where he essentially summed up why he is going to win at WrestleMania and why it would only make sense for him to win, killing all suspense associated with the match if anybody thought Cena’s win was in doubt. Cena talked about how The Rock left the WWE to make movies and how he has an entourage now to do everything for him. He talked about how The Rock will come out, get the crowd fired up, then will leave for Hollywood again. Cena called The Rock out for only returning to promote his Twitter account and had a classic line about how the best part of this feud will be that the week after WrestleMania, when The Rock will be filming another movie while Cena is on Raw still.
The internet has also hurt the build to this match because you can go to Dwayne Johnson’s IMDb page and see he has five movies in the works right now so you know his time in WWE is not going to last. He is going to come out at WrestleMania, do the job to Cena, come out the next night on Raw, give Cena props, then be gone again. It is a turn of events that could have been built up in two months but instead the WWE has given it 12, and in turn weakened a year’s worth of events because it was already set in stone that only one man in the world poses a true threat to Cena.
WWE wanted this to be an epic build to an epic conflict, but instead it seems forced and lame and makes you think The Rock isn’t totally in this for the fans like he claims since he has made few attempts to really promote the match. It only makes sense for Cena to win, and Cena is likely going to win. When Hogan and Savage squared off after a year in the spotlight it was the natural progression of an angle culminating at the year’s biggest event and was a great business move. Rock-Cena is a strained and forced attempt at selling as many tickets and pay per views as possible. It is a great business move, but in terms of storylines it solves absolutely nothing but proves that Vince McMahon and Co. still have no idea how to book in this era even though they used to be great at it two decades ago.
It all began at WrestleMania IV, also in Trump Plaza. After Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship in controversial fashion on The Main Event, it was revealed The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase orchestrated the entire thing so Andre would sell him the belt. The championship was vacated and a tournament was scheduled for Mania. Hogan and Andre were both disqualified during their match, giving Ted DiBiase a bye on his way to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Savage had to overcome the gigantic One Man Gang and was drained going into his match up with DiBiase to crown the new champion. The Million Dollar Man brought Andre down to the ring with him and the Giant continually interfered in the match. Savage’s manager, Miss Elizabeth, ran backstage and emerged a few moments later with Hulk Hogan.
Hogan helped Savage win the match and The Mega Powers team was formed. At SummerSlam, The Mega Powers beat Andre and DiBiase and began to dominate the wrestling scene. However, while Hogan and Savage did beat all comers, trouble was brewing within the team. Savage was becoming upset with the way Hogan would act towards Elizabeth. He felt Hogan was acting overly friendly toward his woman. As if fear over Hogan stealing his woman wasn’t enough, Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage in the 1989 Royal Rumble. The nail in the coffin occurred a few weeks later on another edition of The Main Event and the stage was set for a WrestleMania showdown between the company’s biggest stars.
Savage and Hogan were up against a team known as the Twin Towers, Akeem and the Big Boss Man. Savage was thrown out of the ring during the match and landed on Elizabeth, knocking her out. Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back, leaving Savage to fend for himself against the two massive competitors for a few minutes. When Hogan came back, Savage tagged him in by slapping him in the face, took his championship, and left. After Hogan defeated the Towers, he went to the back to check on Elizabeth again only to find Macho Man there. Savage then accused Hogan of lusting for Elizabeth and the WWF Championship while Hogan told him to relax. Macho hit Hogan with the belt and proceeded to beat the hell out of him.
It was a brilliant drama that unfolded over the course of a year. Before Hogan went out for his match with Savage he did an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund preceded by a video package chronicling the exploits of The Mega Powers. When the video ended, Okerlund exclaimed, “What a difference a year makes!” Hogan then proceeded to cut the best promo of his career, summing up what happened during that year and explaining the magnitude of their match.
Of course there was no doubt Hogan would win since Hogan always won and it was the only thing that made sense in terms of the storyline, but the build up to the Mega Powers exploding was still epic. The two biggest stars in the company right at the top for an entire year with the biggest prize in the business between them. It was brilliant booking and it culminated in an intense WrestleMania match tying up a year’s worth of storylines. It was perfect story telling by the WWF and something we’ve seen they could never match with a year to work.
This is most evidenced by the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII this year being billed as the biggest main event in the history of the WWE: John Cena vs. The Rock. The WWE will tell you this is going to be a war and we should all be excited, but unless you are a little kid it is hard to buy anything other than Cena winning. The WWE made this match literally the day after WrestleMania XXVII and the build has been piss poor considering they have had a year to craft an epic story but have instead done nothing but tie up the main event of the biggest show of the year with an underwhelming match.
The Rock, now Dwayne Johnson to the public since he’s a movie star, made his heroic return to the WWE last year on Valentine’s Day when it was announced he was the guest host of last year’s Mania. He came out to one of the biggest pops in history. Instantly grown men were transformed into little kids, jumping up and down and swinging their arms like weirdos. The Rock then cut a promo saying he was back for the fans and it is because of them he would never leave again. He missed a few episodes of Raw leading to WrestleMania. At Mania he hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, costing him the WWE Championship, and stood tall to end the show. The next night on Raw he extended the challenge to Cena for WrestleMania XXVIII, in Rock’s hometown of Miami. Cena accepted, and Rocky was off WWE TV until his birthday in May and then made sporadic appearances via pre-taped promos.
Finally in the fall he came back to team with Cena at Survivor Series and demolish The Miz and R. Truth. He appeared on the episode of Raw right before the pay per view, then was gone after hitting another Rock Bottom on Cena to end Survivor Series.
The Rock will be on Raw tonight but has yet to appear on WWE television in person this year since he is making movies, despite having the biggest spot on the biggest card of the year. This is a huge problem as it makes building a match extremely difficult when you make it a year in advance then only one guy is around to promote it. Another issue is the fact The Rock has buried Cena in every promo he’s cut. Granted it has been cool to hear the biggest star from my generation say Cena is lame as hell, but in build up to a match it sucks because when Rocky loses he’s just lost to a guy he’s made look like absolute crap for a year.
But still the biggest issue is the fact The Rock is hardly around but yet was given the main event at the biggest show a year in advance. This has angered many, and for good reason. The issue of course is not with the match itself. It is a brilliant business decision since The Rock is one of the three biggest stars in the history of the business along with Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. This match also gets a lot of older fans who don’t pay attention to the product as much anymore to tune back in since the big star of their generation is back to do battle with the big star of the current generation. Nostalgia always works.
Booking a match publicly, one year in advance ties up too many things in terms of storylines and of course upsets too many of the workers. The Rock is not even a regular performer anymore but WWE just placed him above work horses like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Granted even if the build to this match started in January of this year it would still be the main event, but having it announced only a month or two in advance would be better than essentially declaring an entire year’s worth of storylines is useless since Cena and Rock will be at the top of the big show no matter what.
When Punk cut his now legendary “worked shoot” promo back in June, he said it made him sick that The Rock was given the main event at WrestleMania a year in advance. This promo of course starts the chain of events that makes the Rock-Cena super fight a little less epic. For years now Cena has been getting booed, and of course when face-to-face with one of the biggest stars ever in The Rock he gets booed a lot, but once Punk became the number one contender to Cena’s WWE title last June, his spot in the company changed drastically. Punk’s promo got him over with the fans like nothing we’ve seen in a long time and the rest is history. Punk beats Cena for the WWE Championship and is cheered as a hero everywhere they go, making the WWE’s top guy not look like the superhero they always want him to be. It diminished Cena’s star power a little bit and turned Punk into the must-see guy.
But the problem with all of that was that no matter how bad things got for Cena, you knew he wouldn’t really lose that bad or anything since he had to be kept looking strong for his match with The Rock. He also foolishly stayed in the title picture since he wanted to make his match with The Rock for the WWE title. This is silly since if The Rock were to win he would be off TV for like a year so there would be no way the belt is defended. When Cena fought in a Hell in a Cell against Alberto Del Rio and Punk they made it seem like everything was at stake for Cena but there was no real suspense. No matter what happened you knew Cena would be fine since he was just keeping busy while we all waited for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s return.
This was especially true for the absolutely dreadful feud Cena just finished up with Kane. Kane continually jumped Cena and his friend Zack Ryder because he was upset Cena won’t embrace the hate of the WWE fans or something that didn’t make sense like that. They milked this awful crap for two months just so Cena and Kane both had something to do. When it all culminated in an ambulance match two weeks ago at Elimination Chamber, it was so obvious Cena would be fine since the push for WrestleMania started the next night on Raw and of course he’s going to look like a beast when the hype for his match with The Rock starts up.
And it is pretty bad that since WrestleMania XX, The Rock has only worked one match and that was Survivor Series this past November. So I’m supposed to believe the guy who is working every week, night in and night out, is going to get his ass wrecked by a guy who has done more Disney movies than wrestling matches in the last eight years? Of course since it is professional wrestling we’re supposed to suspend our disbelief, but taking that sort of thing into account makes it pretty easy to figure out what is going to happen at Mania. Just look at The Rock’s match with Hogan ten years ago to see how this will be.
Hogan had not been in the WWE for eight years and The Rock was the biggest star in the business. They faced off at WrestleMania and the crowd was behind Hogan out of nostalgia, but you’ve got to put over the new generation so Hogan did the job for Rock. The exact same thing is happening now. What was better about the build for Rock-Hogan though was the fact they announced it one month in advance, not a year.
If they wanted to do a year-long build for Rock-Cena, you don’t announce the match the night after Mania last year, you just have The Rock make appearances in person throughout the year bickering with Cena and working a couple matches here and there so he seems like he’s actually part of the roster. Then at the Royal Rumble in January you have them eliminate each other in some sort of shenanigans so the next night on Raw they challenge each other to an epic Mania showdown, and you do a contract signing at Elimination Chamber to build the tension, then at Mania you can sum up a year’s worth of conflict. Instead it was like they announced the match a year in advance to sell tickets faster and this lack of appearances makes it seem like The Rock just wants a big paycheck.
The match was put into perspective by Cena last week on Raw. He cut a shoot promo on The Rock where he essentially summed up why he is going to win at WrestleMania and why it would only make sense for him to win, killing all suspense associated with the match if anybody thought Cena’s win was in doubt. Cena talked about how The Rock left the WWE to make movies and how he has an entourage now to do everything for him. He talked about how The Rock will come out, get the crowd fired up, then will leave for Hollywood again. Cena called The Rock out for only returning to promote his Twitter account and had a classic line about how the best part of this feud will be that the week after WrestleMania, when The Rock will be filming another movie while Cena is on Raw still.
The internet has also hurt the build to this match because you can go to Dwayne Johnson’s IMDb page and see he has five movies in the works right now so you know his time in WWE is not going to last. He is going to come out at WrestleMania, do the job to Cena, come out the next night on Raw, give Cena props, then be gone again. It is a turn of events that could have been built up in two months but instead the WWE has given it 12, and in turn weakened a year’s worth of events because it was already set in stone that only one man in the world poses a true threat to Cena.
WWE wanted this to be an epic build to an epic conflict, but instead it seems forced and lame and makes you think The Rock isn’t totally in this for the fans like he claims since he has made few attempts to really promote the match. It only makes sense for Cena to win, and Cena is likely going to win. When Hogan and Savage squared off after a year in the spotlight it was the natural progression of an angle culminating at the year’s biggest event and was a great business move. Rock-Cena is a strained and forced attempt at selling as many tickets and pay per views as possible. It is a great business move, but in terms of storylines it solves absolutely nothing but proves that Vince McMahon and Co. still have no idea how to book in this era even though they used to be great at it two decades ago.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
UFC 144 Predictions
Finally, high level MMA makes its return to Japan this weekend with UFC 144. Not since the glorious heyday of PRIDE FC have the Japanese fans had a chance to see the best mixed martial artists the world has to offer. I'm looking forward to this show a great deal, as the Japanese fans have always been awesome and the opportunity to see a show in the Saitama Super Arena, home of the great PRIDE cards from the early 2000s, is exciting. The only way the card could be better is if they had managed to get Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua or a Nogueira brother on it. As is, it has a nice mix of Japanese talent, PRIDE vets like Rampage Jackson and Mark Hunt. To top it off is a great main event for the UFC Lightweight Title between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson that has fight of the year potential. Without further ado, lets get into predictions.
Anthony "Showtime" Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon: This lightweight fight has the potential to determine the next contender for the title. Pettis is the last WEC Lightweight Champ and at this time last year was the next challenger, until he decided to face Clay Guida rather than wait for the Edgar-Maynard saga to play out. He lost, and it set him back a few steps. Lauzon is a midtier lightweight who upset presumptive top contender Melvin Guillard a few months ago and now finds himself in the proverbial mix. I assume a Pettis win sets him up for the winner of the main event, while Lauzon would have to win at least one other fight. This should be exciting, as Pettis has the capacity to captivate with his creativity and Lauzon has never gone to a decision, win or lose. In his last fight, Showtime showed some wrestling skills but I don't think he will use that here, as Lauzon has excellent submissions. If it stays standing, Lauzon will get lit up. I see that happening. Pettis by 1st round TKO.
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski: Another fight with title implications, as the winner of this fight will likely be the next sacrificial lamb for Jose Aldo. Hioki entered the UFC with a great deal of fanfare as someone considered to be the second best featherweight in the world, but was unimpressive in a split decision win over George Roop. His submission skills are top notch and he is facing Bartimus, who has heavy hands. If Hioki fights smart and doesn't engage in a firefight on the feet, he should be able to get Palaszewski to the ground and submit him, although that hasn't happened often to Bartimus. I would like to see Hioki win impressively for the Japanese fans and because Bartimus is a stupid nickname, but I think it is going to be Palaszewski by 2nd round KO.
Yushin "Thunder" Okami vs. Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch: This is Okami's first fight since Anderson Silva stole his soul at UFC Rio this past summer. For Boetsch this is his third fight at middleweight, where he is 2-0. Okami is easily the toughest opponent Boetsch has ever faced, as his two wins were over Kendall Grove and Nick Ring and Okami has only lost to champions or contenders like Silva, Rich Franklin, Rich Franklin and Jake Shields. Unless Anderson has completely crushed his will to live like he did to Forrest Griffin, Okami should be able to win the only way he knows how. Okami by decision.
Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama vs. Jake Shields: This is a huge fight for both men, as it is Sexyama's first fight at welterweight after a 1-3 record at middleweight and Shields is in desperate need of a win after losing two straight and his lone Octagon win being questionable at best. Excepting the mugging he received by Vitor Belfort, all of Akiyama's fights have been exciting. Excepting the mugging he received from Jake Ellenberger, all of Jake Shields' fights have been brutally dull. I don't actually know how good Akiyama is. I'm certain he has better striking than the Frankensteinesque skills of Shields, but I don't think he can stop Shields from getting it to the ground. Once it gets there, its all over. Akiyama lacks knockout power, so I'm fairly certain that Shields gets this to the ground by the third round and finishes it. Shields by 3rd round submission.
Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo: Hunt is coming into this on a two fight win streak that brought his record to a pedestrian 7-7. Prior to this mini-run, he was a PRIDE and K-1 standout that had super strength, but no cardio. He has since dropped 60 pounds and has been respectable lately. Kongo is a mainstay in the heavyweight division, also riding a two fight winning streak highlighted by a thrilling KO of Pat Barry and a not so thrilling decision over Matt Mitrione. I see this fight going one of two ways. The first is that Kongo gets rocked and starts to work takedowns to no avail. If that happens, he gets knocked out or loses a lackluster decision. The second is that he fights like he did against Paul Buentello and uses takedowns for fifteen minutes en route to a safe decision. I think this is very likely what will happen, but I have visions of Pat Barry dropping Kongo twice. Hunt by 1st round KO.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader: Rampage is coming off a decisive loss to Jon Jones, while Bader is coming off a shitty 2011 that saw him get subbed by Jon Jones and subbed by Tito Ortiz in the upset of the year. He rebounded by knocking out Jason Brilz, but Brilz kind of sucks. Rampage lobbied hard to be on the Japan card, as he was a PRIDE legend and his most impressive highlights come from his time there. For Bader, a win here gets him back on track as a future main eventer and contender. A loss pretty much establishes him as a gatekeeper. A win for Rampage keeps him relevant a while longer and a loss would put him in the nostalgia fighter realm. In this fight, Rampage has a pretty clear advantage in striking technique and power. Bader has solid takedowns, but Quinton is incredibly tough to take down. In a normal circumstance, I think this fight goes the way Rampage's fight with Matt Hamill went, with Jackson stuffing takedowns and using superior technique to win a dull decision over a lackluster opponent. But with this being Japan and Rampage having to beg to fight on the card and guaranteeing a show (win or lose) for his favorite fans, I foresee him being incredibly motivated. A motivate Rampage means that Bader is in for some trouble. I don't think Bader has the chin to take Rampage's hooks and uppercuts or the footwork and movement to avoid them, nor do I think Darth can starch Jackson. Rampage by 1st round KO.
UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie "The Answer" Edgar vs. Benson "Ben Smooth/Bendo" Henderson: This fight should be off the chain. Both guys are relentless, tough and have great cardio. Edgar proved he has some serious mettle in his two fights with Gray Maynard, coming back from the brink of annihilation in the first round both times to salvage a draw and earn a TKO stoppage respectively. Bendo has proven his resiliency repeatedly, escaping hairy positions against Clay Guida, Jim Miller and Anthony Pettis. Bendo fights hard every time he is out there, like it is the last time anyone will ever see him again. Edgar has the heart of a lion and manages to prove people wrong each time he goes out there. Edgar has a speed advantage and is a better technical striker, but Bendo will be stronger and unlike Maynard, will not gas. Edgar has great wrestling, but taking Henderson down is a risky proposition because he tends to start unloading massive blows and grabbing a hold of a limb. I think no matter what happens, this will be one of the most exciting fights of all time due to the tenacity and pace of both men. If it stays standing for five rounds, Edgar outpoints Henderson for a decision. If Bendo gets rocked or the fight ends up on the ground, things could get bad for Edgar. I think that Bendo is too strong and with his solid striking and excellent grappling has the best shot of any top level lightweight of beating Edgar. I wouldn't be surprised by an Edgar win, but I don't believe that is how it goes down. I think that eventually there will be some sort of ridiculous scramble and grabs a hold of Edgar for a guillotine. Winner and NEW UFC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson by 4th round submission.
I know my brother just read that Bendo is gonna submit Edgar (among other predictions) and blew a gasket. How do you feel this card goes down? Let me know here, or on facebook.
Anthony "Showtime" Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon: This lightweight fight has the potential to determine the next contender for the title. Pettis is the last WEC Lightweight Champ and at this time last year was the next challenger, until he decided to face Clay Guida rather than wait for the Edgar-Maynard saga to play out. He lost, and it set him back a few steps. Lauzon is a midtier lightweight who upset presumptive top contender Melvin Guillard a few months ago and now finds himself in the proverbial mix. I assume a Pettis win sets him up for the winner of the main event, while Lauzon would have to win at least one other fight. This should be exciting, as Pettis has the capacity to captivate with his creativity and Lauzon has never gone to a decision, win or lose. In his last fight, Showtime showed some wrestling skills but I don't think he will use that here, as Lauzon has excellent submissions. If it stays standing, Lauzon will get lit up. I see that happening. Pettis by 1st round TKO.
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski: Another fight with title implications, as the winner of this fight will likely be the next sacrificial lamb for Jose Aldo. Hioki entered the UFC with a great deal of fanfare as someone considered to be the second best featherweight in the world, but was unimpressive in a split decision win over George Roop. His submission skills are top notch and he is facing Bartimus, who has heavy hands. If Hioki fights smart and doesn't engage in a firefight on the feet, he should be able to get Palaszewski to the ground and submit him, although that hasn't happened often to Bartimus. I would like to see Hioki win impressively for the Japanese fans and because Bartimus is a stupid nickname, but I think it is going to be Palaszewski by 2nd round KO.
Yushin "Thunder" Okami vs. Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch: This is Okami's first fight since Anderson Silva stole his soul at UFC Rio this past summer. For Boetsch this is his third fight at middleweight, where he is 2-0. Okami is easily the toughest opponent Boetsch has ever faced, as his two wins were over Kendall Grove and Nick Ring and Okami has only lost to champions or contenders like Silva, Rich Franklin, Rich Franklin and Jake Shields. Unless Anderson has completely crushed his will to live like he did to Forrest Griffin, Okami should be able to win the only way he knows how. Okami by decision.
Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama vs. Jake Shields: This is a huge fight for both men, as it is Sexyama's first fight at welterweight after a 1-3 record at middleweight and Shields is in desperate need of a win after losing two straight and his lone Octagon win being questionable at best. Excepting the mugging he received by Vitor Belfort, all of Akiyama's fights have been exciting. Excepting the mugging he received from Jake Ellenberger, all of Jake Shields' fights have been brutally dull. I don't actually know how good Akiyama is. I'm certain he has better striking than the Frankensteinesque skills of Shields, but I don't think he can stop Shields from getting it to the ground. Once it gets there, its all over. Akiyama lacks knockout power, so I'm fairly certain that Shields gets this to the ground by the third round and finishes it. Shields by 3rd round submission.
Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo: Hunt is coming into this on a two fight win streak that brought his record to a pedestrian 7-7. Prior to this mini-run, he was a PRIDE and K-1 standout that had super strength, but no cardio. He has since dropped 60 pounds and has been respectable lately. Kongo is a mainstay in the heavyweight division, also riding a two fight winning streak highlighted by a thrilling KO of Pat Barry and a not so thrilling decision over Matt Mitrione. I see this fight going one of two ways. The first is that Kongo gets rocked and starts to work takedowns to no avail. If that happens, he gets knocked out or loses a lackluster decision. The second is that he fights like he did against Paul Buentello and uses takedowns for fifteen minutes en route to a safe decision. I think this is very likely what will happen, but I have visions of Pat Barry dropping Kongo twice. Hunt by 1st round KO.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader: Rampage is coming off a decisive loss to Jon Jones, while Bader is coming off a shitty 2011 that saw him get subbed by Jon Jones and subbed by Tito Ortiz in the upset of the year. He rebounded by knocking out Jason Brilz, but Brilz kind of sucks. Rampage lobbied hard to be on the Japan card, as he was a PRIDE legend and his most impressive highlights come from his time there. For Bader, a win here gets him back on track as a future main eventer and contender. A loss pretty much establishes him as a gatekeeper. A win for Rampage keeps him relevant a while longer and a loss would put him in the nostalgia fighter realm. In this fight, Rampage has a pretty clear advantage in striking technique and power. Bader has solid takedowns, but Quinton is incredibly tough to take down. In a normal circumstance, I think this fight goes the way Rampage's fight with Matt Hamill went, with Jackson stuffing takedowns and using superior technique to win a dull decision over a lackluster opponent. But with this being Japan and Rampage having to beg to fight on the card and guaranteeing a show (win or lose) for his favorite fans, I foresee him being incredibly motivated. A motivate Rampage means that Bader is in for some trouble. I don't think Bader has the chin to take Rampage's hooks and uppercuts or the footwork and movement to avoid them, nor do I think Darth can starch Jackson. Rampage by 1st round KO.
UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie "The Answer" Edgar vs. Benson "Ben Smooth/Bendo" Henderson: This fight should be off the chain. Both guys are relentless, tough and have great cardio. Edgar proved he has some serious mettle in his two fights with Gray Maynard, coming back from the brink of annihilation in the first round both times to salvage a draw and earn a TKO stoppage respectively. Bendo has proven his resiliency repeatedly, escaping hairy positions against Clay Guida, Jim Miller and Anthony Pettis. Bendo fights hard every time he is out there, like it is the last time anyone will ever see him again. Edgar has the heart of a lion and manages to prove people wrong each time he goes out there. Edgar has a speed advantage and is a better technical striker, but Bendo will be stronger and unlike Maynard, will not gas. Edgar has great wrestling, but taking Henderson down is a risky proposition because he tends to start unloading massive blows and grabbing a hold of a limb. I think no matter what happens, this will be one of the most exciting fights of all time due to the tenacity and pace of both men. If it stays standing for five rounds, Edgar outpoints Henderson for a decision. If Bendo gets rocked or the fight ends up on the ground, things could get bad for Edgar. I think that Bendo is too strong and with his solid striking and excellent grappling has the best shot of any top level lightweight of beating Edgar. I wouldn't be surprised by an Edgar win, but I don't believe that is how it goes down. I think that eventually there will be some sort of ridiculous scramble and grabs a hold of Edgar for a guillotine. Winner and NEW UFC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson by 4th round submission.
I know my brother just read that Bendo is gonna submit Edgar (among other predictions) and blew a gasket. How do you feel this card goes down? Let me know here, or on facebook.
Joe's UFC 144 Predictions
This Saturday is the UFC’s first show in Japan since December of 2000. It will be taking place in the Saitama Super Arena, the legendary arena which used to host the old PRIDE shows and is even featured in the disgustingly awesome UFC Undisputed 3 video game. I’m not paid to advertise but the game is so nasty I feel I need to give it some props somehow. While most UFC shows run about three hours, this show is going to run about four, meaning for us east coast dwellers it won’t be done until around two in the morning. A great deal of coffee will be consumed to stay alert to enjoy what should be a pretty awesome card, highlighted by a main even that promises to blow doors down. As was once a regular occurrence here before work and school prevented as many updates, there are predictions for what hopefully will be a great show.
Anthony Pettis (14-2) vs. Joe Lauzon (21-6): Lauzon is coming off a win over Melvin Guillard which was supposed to be Guillard’s step into the big time but instead he threw a good punch and started celebrating, only for Lauzon to choke him out 47 seconds into the fight. Pettis defeated Ben Henderson and gave us one of the all-time great MMA highlights to become WEC Lightweight Champion before the UFC merger, but he lost to Clay Guida then won a split decision over Jeremy Stephens so a bout between champions with Frankie Edgar never came to fruition. As is the case with most lightweight fights, it should be very exciting. Lauzon has nasty submissions and has only been to decision once in his career, but I think that changes on Saturday. Pettis has good submissions also so I don’t think he’ll get caught in something, and he has a pretty clear stand-up advantage that I think he’ll exploit. I think Pettis by decision.
Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2) vs. Bart Palaszewski (36-14): Hioki is currently ranked as one of the top featherweights in the world but he is in for a challenge with Palaszewski. Hioki does have great submissions but he is coming off a less than stellar split decision victory while Palaszekski is coming off a big time knockout win over Tyson Griffin. Palaszewski has more wins by submission than Hioki (12 to 9) and considerably more by knockout (17 to 4). Even though Hioki will most likely be pumped up fighting in front of his home crowd, I think Palaszewski wins by second round TKO.
Yushin Okami (26-6) vs. Tim Boetsch (14-4): The last time the world saw Yushin Okami, Anderson Silva was demoralizing him in front of a rabid crowd in Rio. Okami has only lost by TKO twice in his career, in that fight with Silva and all the way back in 2003. I don’t think Boetsch knocking him out is worth considering. I think this fight will be pretty straight forward with Okami feeding off the energy from the Japanese crowd and using his wrestling to keep Boetsch down for most of the fight. I think Okami wins a decision.
Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-6-1): Sexyama and Shields have both been very unimpressive in the UFC. Shields was undefeated for six years entering the UFC and first won a nonsense decision over Martin Kampmann and then had one of the worst fights ever with Georges St-Pierre, losing a boring decision. Then Jake Ellenberger cleaned him out inside of a minute. Akiyama won a very close split decision over Alan Belcher at UFC 100 and has gone on to lose the three fights he’s had since then. Whoever loses most likely is going to have a difficult time staying in the UFC. The fact Shields may have the advantage on the feet says how rough this fight is going to be. Akiyama has also had serious cardio problems every time I’ve seen him so I expect Shields to just outlast him. While Akiyama wins Fight of the Night a lot, he doesn't win a lot. I expect this fight to be boring and Shields will win by decision.
Mark Hunt (7-7) vs. Cheick Kongo (17-6): Hunt is 37 and known for his impressive run in PRIDE, beating Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva. After a good stretch in PRIDE, Hunt went on a six fight losing streak though he has won his last two. Kongo has heavy hands and good kickboxing. Hunt is also a kickboxer and has only been knocked out once in MMA competition with the rest of his losses coming by way of submission. Luckily Hunt won’t have to worry about submissions here but Kongo has never been knocked out and is going to have a pretty big reach and height advantage over Hunt and that is most likely going to seal Hunt’s fate. Kongo wins by first round knockout.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-9) vs. Ryan Bader (13-2): Bader was working his way towards the top of the light heavyweight division until he faced Jon Jones and got choked out, then faced Tito Ortiz and got choked out. He knocked out Jason Brilz in just over a minute at 139 and is looking to become a contender again. It has been over three years since Rampage knocked anybody out and nobody is really sure just how serious he is about fighting still. It is safe to assume Rampage is going to be pumped about his return to Japan since he was an animal in PRIDE and constantly talks about how those were the best days of his career and how much he loves Japan. People think Bader’s wrestling will help him, but you can’t take Rampage down very easily and people forget Rampage does have good wrestling. The fight isn’t going to the ground, and after we saw Bader get rocked by Tito Ortiz do you really think an inspired Rampage fighting in the place he’s been begging to fight in for ages won’t put him down? Rampage wins by second round knockout.
UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar (14-1-1) vs. Ben Henderson (15-2): Every time I see either of these two it always winds up being one of the craziest fights. Henderson’s fight with Anthony Pettis for the WEC Lightweight title was brilliant and his last fight with Clay Guida was an epic that left me tired out just from watching it. Edgar of course won back-to-back fights over BJ Penn, not even losing a single round in their second fight. He then went on to have two of the greatest fights of all time in his second and third bouts with Gray Maynard. I’ve seen every Lightweight Championship fight Frankie Edgar has had and I’ve learned one thing from them: Frankie Edgar can never be counted out. Henderson is a complete fighter and an amazing grappler with wicked submissions, but I can’t see him finishing Edgar. Maybe he gets him with a submission in the championship rounds, but I think it is far more likely that fight goes to decision.
I have a hard time believing that Henderson can finish Edgar if BJ Penn didn’t finish Edgar in two fights and Edgar was fine after the mauling he took at the hands of Gray Maynard in the first round of their last two fights. Also Frankie Edgar never finishes fights aside from laying out Maynard a few months ago so I’m feeling pretty good about this being a decision. Edgar has good wrestling but he most likely will try to keep the fight standing since he is faster and for some reason people can’t figure out his boxing game, and you also don’t want Henderson grappling with you since he’ll do work. Edgar is a small lightweight so Ben Smooth will have a size advantage and Henderson, like Edgar, has tremendous cardio and is going to keep coming for all five rounds. I don’t like this type of speculation before the fight even happens, but this could very well be one of the best fights we will ever see. It should be exciting and a non-stop battle for five rounds. in which Edgar wins a close decision.
So that's what it is. It should be a great show and I'm more pumped for this than I have been for any UFC show in a long time.
Anthony Pettis (14-2) vs. Joe Lauzon (21-6): Lauzon is coming off a win over Melvin Guillard which was supposed to be Guillard’s step into the big time but instead he threw a good punch and started celebrating, only for Lauzon to choke him out 47 seconds into the fight. Pettis defeated Ben Henderson and gave us one of the all-time great MMA highlights to become WEC Lightweight Champion before the UFC merger, but he lost to Clay Guida then won a split decision over Jeremy Stephens so a bout between champions with Frankie Edgar never came to fruition. As is the case with most lightweight fights, it should be very exciting. Lauzon has nasty submissions and has only been to decision once in his career, but I think that changes on Saturday. Pettis has good submissions also so I don’t think he’ll get caught in something, and he has a pretty clear stand-up advantage that I think he’ll exploit. I think Pettis by decision.
Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2) vs. Bart Palaszewski (36-14): Hioki is currently ranked as one of the top featherweights in the world but he is in for a challenge with Palaszewski. Hioki does have great submissions but he is coming off a less than stellar split decision victory while Palaszekski is coming off a big time knockout win over Tyson Griffin. Palaszewski has more wins by submission than Hioki (12 to 9) and considerably more by knockout (17 to 4). Even though Hioki will most likely be pumped up fighting in front of his home crowd, I think Palaszewski wins by second round TKO.
Yushin Okami (26-6) vs. Tim Boetsch (14-4): The last time the world saw Yushin Okami, Anderson Silva was demoralizing him in front of a rabid crowd in Rio. Okami has only lost by TKO twice in his career, in that fight with Silva and all the way back in 2003. I don’t think Boetsch knocking him out is worth considering. I think this fight will be pretty straight forward with Okami feeding off the energy from the Japanese crowd and using his wrestling to keep Boetsch down for most of the fight. I think Okami wins a decision.
Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-6-1): Sexyama and Shields have both been very unimpressive in the UFC. Shields was undefeated for six years entering the UFC and first won a nonsense decision over Martin Kampmann and then had one of the worst fights ever with Georges St-Pierre, losing a boring decision. Then Jake Ellenberger cleaned him out inside of a minute. Akiyama won a very close split decision over Alan Belcher at UFC 100 and has gone on to lose the three fights he’s had since then. Whoever loses most likely is going to have a difficult time staying in the UFC. The fact Shields may have the advantage on the feet says how rough this fight is going to be. Akiyama has also had serious cardio problems every time I’ve seen him so I expect Shields to just outlast him. While Akiyama wins Fight of the Night a lot, he doesn't win a lot. I expect this fight to be boring and Shields will win by decision.
Mark Hunt (7-7) vs. Cheick Kongo (17-6): Hunt is 37 and known for his impressive run in PRIDE, beating Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva. After a good stretch in PRIDE, Hunt went on a six fight losing streak though he has won his last two. Kongo has heavy hands and good kickboxing. Hunt is also a kickboxer and has only been knocked out once in MMA competition with the rest of his losses coming by way of submission. Luckily Hunt won’t have to worry about submissions here but Kongo has never been knocked out and is going to have a pretty big reach and height advantage over Hunt and that is most likely going to seal Hunt’s fate. Kongo wins by first round knockout.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-9) vs. Ryan Bader (13-2): Bader was working his way towards the top of the light heavyweight division until he faced Jon Jones and got choked out, then faced Tito Ortiz and got choked out. He knocked out Jason Brilz in just over a minute at 139 and is looking to become a contender again. It has been over three years since Rampage knocked anybody out and nobody is really sure just how serious he is about fighting still. It is safe to assume Rampage is going to be pumped about his return to Japan since he was an animal in PRIDE and constantly talks about how those were the best days of his career and how much he loves Japan. People think Bader’s wrestling will help him, but you can’t take Rampage down very easily and people forget Rampage does have good wrestling. The fight isn’t going to the ground, and after we saw Bader get rocked by Tito Ortiz do you really think an inspired Rampage fighting in the place he’s been begging to fight in for ages won’t put him down? Rampage wins by second round knockout.
UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar (14-1-1) vs. Ben Henderson (15-2): Every time I see either of these two it always winds up being one of the craziest fights. Henderson’s fight with Anthony Pettis for the WEC Lightweight title was brilliant and his last fight with Clay Guida was an epic that left me tired out just from watching it. Edgar of course won back-to-back fights over BJ Penn, not even losing a single round in their second fight. He then went on to have two of the greatest fights of all time in his second and third bouts with Gray Maynard. I’ve seen every Lightweight Championship fight Frankie Edgar has had and I’ve learned one thing from them: Frankie Edgar can never be counted out. Henderson is a complete fighter and an amazing grappler with wicked submissions, but I can’t see him finishing Edgar. Maybe he gets him with a submission in the championship rounds, but I think it is far more likely that fight goes to decision.
I have a hard time believing that Henderson can finish Edgar if BJ Penn didn’t finish Edgar in two fights and Edgar was fine after the mauling he took at the hands of Gray Maynard in the first round of their last two fights. Also Frankie Edgar never finishes fights aside from laying out Maynard a few months ago so I’m feeling pretty good about this being a decision. Edgar has good wrestling but he most likely will try to keep the fight standing since he is faster and for some reason people can’t figure out his boxing game, and you also don’t want Henderson grappling with you since he’ll do work. Edgar is a small lightweight so Ben Smooth will have a size advantage and Henderson, like Edgar, has tremendous cardio and is going to keep coming for all five rounds. I don’t like this type of speculation before the fight even happens, but this could very well be one of the best fights we will ever see. It should be exciting and a non-stop battle for five rounds. in which Edgar wins a close decision.
So that's what it is. It should be a great show and I'm more pumped for this than I have been for any UFC show in a long time.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
BBB's Unnecessary WWE Royal Rumble Predictions
Tonight is the WWE’s 25th Royal Rumble. It is a pretty lack luster card, but with the Rumble the first of the WWE’s Big Four shows for the year. Of course the main event of the night is the 30-man Royal Rumble match in which two men start and every two minutes another competitor enters the ring. Eliminations take place when a wrestler is thrown over the top rope and both of his feet touch the ground. The last man standing wins a world championship match against either Raw or SmackDown’s champ at WrestleMania. The Rumble match is always fun and the main reason to order the show, though the undercard should be entertaining enough though there are no United States or Intercontinental title matches. Here’s the deal:
John Cena vs. Kane
This is a bizarre grudge match. Kane has returned once again wearing a mask with long hair that is so terribly fake and attached to the mask and trunks so bootleg looking with flames on them I almost didn’t believe it was actually Kane at first. Kane has repeatedly gone after Cena demanding that Cena embrace the hate of the WWE fans. Kane went so far as to brutally attack Cena’s friend and current United States Champion Zack Ryder and “injure” him. This has caused Cena to go nuts and beat the shit out of people with no remorse. This angle has been extremely lame and random as it serves no purpose other than to just give Cena something to do while he waits for The Rock to get done promoting movies so they can hype up WrestleMania. Cena doesn’t lose, and I don’t see him losing at one of the biggest shows of the year to a guy who is hardly relevant anymore. Cena wins easily.
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show in a Steel Cage
The whole gimmick for this feud is that Bryan is such a little guy and Henry and Show are so huge. Bryan has spent weeks running away from both of them and retaining his belt in cowardly fashion, which of course means he will win convincingly tonight. I could not care any less about this match. Bryan Wins.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler with Guest Referee Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis
The whole CM Punk-Laurinaitis (here-in referred to as Johnny Ace since that was his name when he was a shitty wrestler) feud is a rehash of the Stone Cold Steve Austin-Vince McMahon feud from the 90s meant to tide Punk over until he likely builds for a program with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania. Johnny Ace of course wants Ziggler to win, but for the sake of his job he will most likely call the match fair and square. That said, Ziggler has done a pretty good job working his way up into the main event and will likely become champion before the year is out. However, don’t expect that to be the case tonight. Punk is the top guy right now and is, as he says over and over, the best wrestler in the world. And really, how am I not going to pick the guy I put in the banner for our site as the winner? This is going to be the best match on the undercard and most likely of the entire night since you have the best in the business and another very good wrestler in the ring. In terms of storyline and such though, the finish of the match isn’t really a mystery. CM Punk retains of course.
30-Man Royal Rumble
The event is taking place in St. Louis, the hometown of 2009 Rumble winner and former WWE and World Champion Randy Orton. He was WWE’s early pick to win but he was sidelined with an injury earlier this year and just returned this past week on SmackDown. They wrote him off in terms of storylines by having Wade Barrett beat the hell out of him, and Barrett’s feud with Orton hasn’t really been resolved. The show is in Orton’s hometown and WWE does have a thing with no longer having the winner of the Rumble be a new main eventer (the last few years have seen Undertaker, Edge, Cena, and Orton all win), so Orton seems like an obvious choice. It is also worth noting that WWE has always loved Orton and pushed him in spite of problems backstage and the fact his in-ring work is a little on the bad side and he is staler and stale.
The only other likely winner is the recently returned Chris Jericho. Jericho is one of the greatest in-ring performers and mic workers in the history of the business, though he has yet to wrestle and the only time he has spoken was to say this past Monday on Raw that the Rumble would be the end of the world. The big rumor is that it will be Jericho and Punk at Mania so having Jericho win tonight would set the wheels in motion. Orton has been a perennial main eventer for years so he doesn’t really need the win, and his program with Barrett isn’t done. I could easily see this ending some stupid way with Jericho coming out and just high fiving everybody sitting ringside like he has been then running backstage and as Orton eliminates Barrett at the end Jericho just pops up behind him and throws him out. Regardless of how it happens I still think Jericho wins.
John Cena vs. Kane
This is a bizarre grudge match. Kane has returned once again wearing a mask with long hair that is so terribly fake and attached to the mask and trunks so bootleg looking with flames on them I almost didn’t believe it was actually Kane at first. Kane has repeatedly gone after Cena demanding that Cena embrace the hate of the WWE fans. Kane went so far as to brutally attack Cena’s friend and current United States Champion Zack Ryder and “injure” him. This has caused Cena to go nuts and beat the shit out of people with no remorse. This angle has been extremely lame and random as it serves no purpose other than to just give Cena something to do while he waits for The Rock to get done promoting movies so they can hype up WrestleMania. Cena doesn’t lose, and I don’t see him losing at one of the biggest shows of the year to a guy who is hardly relevant anymore. Cena wins easily.
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show in a Steel Cage
The whole gimmick for this feud is that Bryan is such a little guy and Henry and Show are so huge. Bryan has spent weeks running away from both of them and retaining his belt in cowardly fashion, which of course means he will win convincingly tonight. I could not care any less about this match. Bryan Wins.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler with Guest Referee Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis
The whole CM Punk-Laurinaitis (here-in referred to as Johnny Ace since that was his name when he was a shitty wrestler) feud is a rehash of the Stone Cold Steve Austin-Vince McMahon feud from the 90s meant to tide Punk over until he likely builds for a program with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania. Johnny Ace of course wants Ziggler to win, but for the sake of his job he will most likely call the match fair and square. That said, Ziggler has done a pretty good job working his way up into the main event and will likely become champion before the year is out. However, don’t expect that to be the case tonight. Punk is the top guy right now and is, as he says over and over, the best wrestler in the world. And really, how am I not going to pick the guy I put in the banner for our site as the winner? This is going to be the best match on the undercard and most likely of the entire night since you have the best in the business and another very good wrestler in the ring. In terms of storyline and such though, the finish of the match isn’t really a mystery. CM Punk retains of course.
30-Man Royal Rumble
The event is taking place in St. Louis, the hometown of 2009 Rumble winner and former WWE and World Champion Randy Orton. He was WWE’s early pick to win but he was sidelined with an injury earlier this year and just returned this past week on SmackDown. They wrote him off in terms of storylines by having Wade Barrett beat the hell out of him, and Barrett’s feud with Orton hasn’t really been resolved. The show is in Orton’s hometown and WWE does have a thing with no longer having the winner of the Rumble be a new main eventer (the last few years have seen Undertaker, Edge, Cena, and Orton all win), so Orton seems like an obvious choice. It is also worth noting that WWE has always loved Orton and pushed him in spite of problems backstage and the fact his in-ring work is a little on the bad side and he is staler and stale.
The only other likely winner is the recently returned Chris Jericho. Jericho is one of the greatest in-ring performers and mic workers in the history of the business, though he has yet to wrestle and the only time he has spoken was to say this past Monday on Raw that the Rumble would be the end of the world. The big rumor is that it will be Jericho and Punk at Mania so having Jericho win tonight would set the wheels in motion. Orton has been a perennial main eventer for years so he doesn’t really need the win, and his program with Barrett isn’t done. I could easily see this ending some stupid way with Jericho coming out and just high fiving everybody sitting ringside like he has been then running backstage and as Orton eliminates Barrett at the end Jericho just pops up behind him and throws him out. Regardless of how it happens I still think Jericho wins.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
What's Up with the Association's Top Teams?
We are slightly farther into the NBA season and even though it has only been a few days since I last shared my thoughts on the world’s greatest game, there have been some developments worth discussing regarding some of the league’s biggest and brightest teams.
Wow have these last few days been a learning experience or what? First, we find out Dwyane Wade may have plantar fasciitis. For those unaware, that is a very painful inflammation in the foot. After missing three games due to soreness in the foot, Wade was adamant he was fine and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday and looked very good, scoring 34 points and shooting 48%. However last night he shot 35% en route to to 17 points and a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With this vicious schedule putting teams in action with hardly any rest, that foot is going to be a nagging issue that could come back to haunt Miami big time since Wade has hit both game winners for the team this season.
As for LeBron James, he spent the summer training with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. Hakeem’s career highlight is leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships, leading to the city being dubbed “Clutch City.” Apparently Hakeem couldn’t do much for him as LBJ has spent the last two nights constructing “Anti-Clutch City” for himself and his fellow Heatles by performing miserably in the fourth quarter and overtime of both games. LeBron did practically nothing against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, notching three points in the fourth and overtime...combined. Then last night LeBron went 1-6 in the fourth and overtime, and missed several crucial free throws down the stretch. Granted it was one game in January, but it is worth pointing out the Heat have won on two game winners this season and they weren’t LeBron. Now when he’s had the ball in his hands in the clutch he’s been ineffective and cost the team. It is great LeBron has taken his game inside the three point arc and is using his superior athletic skills, but until he gets over whatever it is in his head the Heat are in serious trouble if Wade is out.
I get so nervous thinking about Chicago's issues so I look at this to relax
You want to talk about a team in trouble? Chicago has the deepest team in the league and may very well be the best team in the league, but there are some concerns moving forward. The most important is Derrick Rose’s health. He missed last night’s game with a sprained toe and has been having issues with his left elbow. He says he is fine, but who is really going to come out and say “Yo I’m fucked up, man”? If his toe is hurt badly then he won’t be able to drive as much and this is not a good thing. No Rose means no offense in the Windy City since there is not one person on that team who can create for themselves consistently.
The other major issue here is Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Bulls are paying them a whole lot of money and in the fourth quarter of the last few games they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting on the bench. People have theorized that coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust them enough to play them in the late game situations, but I feel it is too weird that they are sitting for an entire quarter. My theory on it is that they are both injury prone so he is going to limit their minutes in the early season to play them longer stretches come playoff time. At least that is what I hope this is all about. If Rose is jacked up, their next best scoring options are Boozer, Rip Hamilton, and Luol Deng. Rip is nursing a groin injury, Deng plays too many minutes to be relied on too often, and if Boozer isn’t even playing then this is all very bad. And Joakim Noah’s defense and rebounding is key to the team’s success, but if he isn’t being used due to ineffectiveness, then Chicago is in some serious trouble in their quest for a ring.
People are saying Durant and Westbrook are fine, but I just don’t buy it. I also don’t like how Westbrook’s percentages are going up, but his assists have stayed the same. I don’t buy that Westbrook and Durant will coexist peacefully and win a title. Well maybe they can win one, but I don’t know how great this relationship will be in the future. The Thunder also have a bit of an issue now with Eric Maynor, their back-up point guard, going down for the season with a torn ACL. He was an important piece of that Thunder depth and if the injury bug starts hitting them harder this is going to be a long season.
Some will say Kobe is playing great, I will say Kobe is hogging the ball because he wants to send some kind of a message that he’s still good. Yeah good for him, let’s see how taking 30 shots a game works for them come playoff time. I still refuse to believe that the FIFTEEN YEARS of wear and tear on his body aren’t going to come back and haunt him during this insane schedule. He is already nursing like four different injuries, and if doesn’t take time to heal and keeps trying to do so much this won’t end well. And even if the injuries don’t pile up for Kobe, the Lakers can’t win a championship if he is playing like this. I am glad for Mike Brown that the Lakers are playing better than people thought they would, but sadly reality is going to hit this team at some point.
Also, Andrew Bynum is going through the best stretch of his career. Let’s give it about six more games before he gets injured. And that is very sad because Bynum and Gasol up front gives LA an advantage over almost everybody, but for some reason Kobe is taking the most shots per game he has since 2006...when they had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Keep in mind Kobe is older and more beat up than he was back then. The Lake Show is almost over so we should enjoy it while we can. Kobe doesn’t have Phil Jackson there to stop him from being so enamored with being Kobe. Mike Brown is an enabler who allowed LeBron James to build up the biggest ego on the planet, so we can expect more of the same here.
That is it for now. There are games on TNT tonight that will be so bad I will more than likely spend my night reading Keith Richards’ autobiography and watching WWE’s Bret Hart compilation from 2005. Why on Earth do I want to watch the unbelievably overrated Knicks take on a Grizzlies team missing their best player? And why would I want to watch Dwight “I am half-assing it because I don’t want to be here in Orlando” Howard play the Warriors? Yuck.
Miami Heat:
Artist rendering of LeBron James last night
Artist rendering of LeBron James last nightWow have these last few days been a learning experience or what? First, we find out Dwyane Wade may have plantar fasciitis. For those unaware, that is a very painful inflammation in the foot. After missing three games due to soreness in the foot, Wade was adamant he was fine and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday and looked very good, scoring 34 points and shooting 48%. However last night he shot 35% en route to to 17 points and a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With this vicious schedule putting teams in action with hardly any rest, that foot is going to be a nagging issue that could come back to haunt Miami big time since Wade has hit both game winners for the team this season.
As for LeBron James, he spent the summer training with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. Hakeem’s career highlight is leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships, leading to the city being dubbed “Clutch City.” Apparently Hakeem couldn’t do much for him as LBJ has spent the last two nights constructing “Anti-Clutch City” for himself and his fellow Heatles by performing miserably in the fourth quarter and overtime of both games. LeBron did practically nothing against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, notching three points in the fourth and overtime...combined. Then last night LeBron went 1-6 in the fourth and overtime, and missed several crucial free throws down the stretch. Granted it was one game in January, but it is worth pointing out the Heat have won on two game winners this season and they weren’t LeBron. Now when he’s had the ball in his hands in the clutch he’s been ineffective and cost the team. It is great LeBron has taken his game inside the three point arc and is using his superior athletic skills, but until he gets over whatever it is in his head the Heat are in serious trouble if Wade is out.
Chicago Bulls:
I get so nervous thinking about Chicago's issues so I look at this to relaxYou want to talk about a team in trouble? Chicago has the deepest team in the league and may very well be the best team in the league, but there are some concerns moving forward. The most important is Derrick Rose’s health. He missed last night’s game with a sprained toe and has been having issues with his left elbow. He says he is fine, but who is really going to come out and say “Yo I’m fucked up, man”? If his toe is hurt badly then he won’t be able to drive as much and this is not a good thing. No Rose means no offense in the Windy City since there is not one person on that team who can create for themselves consistently.
The other major issue here is Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Bulls are paying them a whole lot of money and in the fourth quarter of the last few games they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting on the bench. People have theorized that coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust them enough to play them in the late game situations, but I feel it is too weird that they are sitting for an entire quarter. My theory on it is that they are both injury prone so he is going to limit their minutes in the early season to play them longer stretches come playoff time. At least that is what I hope this is all about. If Rose is jacked up, their next best scoring options are Boozer, Rip Hamilton, and Luol Deng. Rip is nursing a groin injury, Deng plays too many minutes to be relied on too often, and if Boozer isn’t even playing then this is all very bad. And Joakim Noah’s defense and rebounding is key to the team’s success, but if he isn’t being used due to ineffectiveness, then Chicago is in some serious trouble in their quest for a ring.
Oklahoma City Thunder:
I have no clever image for this one
People are saying Durant and Westbrook are fine, but I just don’t buy it. I also don’t like how Westbrook’s percentages are going up, but his assists have stayed the same. I don’t buy that Westbrook and Durant will coexist peacefully and win a title. Well maybe they can win one, but I don’t know how great this relationship will be in the future. The Thunder also have a bit of an issue now with Eric Maynor, their back-up point guard, going down for the season with a torn ACL. He was an important piece of that Thunder depth and if the injury bug starts hitting them harder this is going to be a long season.
Los Angeles Lakers:
This is all I think of when I think of Kobe
This is all I think of when I think of KobeSome will say Kobe is playing great, I will say Kobe is hogging the ball because he wants to send some kind of a message that he’s still good. Yeah good for him, let’s see how taking 30 shots a game works for them come playoff time. I still refuse to believe that the FIFTEEN YEARS of wear and tear on his body aren’t going to come back and haunt him during this insane schedule. He is already nursing like four different injuries, and if doesn’t take time to heal and keeps trying to do so much this won’t end well. And even if the injuries don’t pile up for Kobe, the Lakers can’t win a championship if he is playing like this. I am glad for Mike Brown that the Lakers are playing better than people thought they would, but sadly reality is going to hit this team at some point.
Also, Andrew Bynum is going through the best stretch of his career. Let’s give it about six more games before he gets injured. And that is very sad because Bynum and Gasol up front gives LA an advantage over almost everybody, but for some reason Kobe is taking the most shots per game he has since 2006...when they had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Keep in mind Kobe is older and more beat up than he was back then. The Lake Show is almost over so we should enjoy it while we can. Kobe doesn’t have Phil Jackson there to stop him from being so enamored with being Kobe. Mike Brown is an enabler who allowed LeBron James to build up the biggest ego on the planet, so we can expect more of the same here.
That is it for now. There are games on TNT tonight that will be so bad I will more than likely spend my night reading Keith Richards’ autobiography and watching WWE’s Bret Hart compilation from 2005. Why on Earth do I want to watch the unbelievably overrated Knicks take on a Grizzlies team missing their best player? And why would I want to watch Dwight “I am half-assing it because I don’t want to be here in Orlando” Howard play the Warriors? Yuck.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
2011: The Year of the Retirement
While 2011 saw the rise of new champions like Jon Jones and the potential development of new stars at lightweight and welterweight, it also saw the (alleged) retirement of several big names in the sport. Let’s take the time to look back at them (or at least the ones I can remember), their careers, and if it was the right decision.
Randy Couture: The Natural announced his retirement prior to his April 2011 fight against Lyoto Machida, one where he was absolutely pasted with a jumping crane kick to the jaw that popped out a few teeth. For Couture, retirement has always been a matter of when. He’s pushing 50 and has found a lucrative job in movies, plus he has accomplished so much in his legendary career, that there was really nothing left for him to prove. He took on what turned out to be an insurmountable challenge against Machida, but he had always been about risk and testing himself against the best fighters, so he couldn’t go out any other way. Despite the loss, Couture can retire with his head held high and that’s something most people in his line of work don’t do.
Matt Hughes: The former longtime UFC Welterweight Champion hasn’t officially retired, but he effectively closed the door on his career after getting knocked out by Josh Koscheck this past fall. For Hughes, I feel like he stuck around for one or two more fights than he needed to. His desire to fight had seemed to noticeably wane over the past several years, and the strength and wrestling advantage he held over everyone during his heyday no longer existed. He probably should have retired after beating Ricardo Almeida in August 2010 and definitely after BJ Penn levelled him in November 2010, but he seemed to waffle on the idea of it throughout the bulk of 2011. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you are unsure of whether or not you want to continue, you should stop. So much of fighting is mental and if you aren’t 100% committed to the idea of fighting, you shouldn’t be doing it. I would think that losing to Koscheck is enough to put Hughes out to retirement, as he lost to a guy who had just fought for the title in his previous fight. It’s not like he was beaten by Dan Hardy or someone who he would have tooled seven years ago and needs to regain some modicum of self respect.
BJ Penn: While on the topic of guys who aren’t 100% into fighting, let’s get right to BJ Penn. BJ claimed he was retiring after an exciting, but decisive loss to Nick Diaz this past October. Since destroying Diego Sanchez in December 2009, his interest in fighting and intensity level has waned. Frankie Edgar’s a tough guy, but there is no way a fully committed BJ Penn doesn’t beat the tar out of him. At his best, BJ is a fighter who can do it all - wrestle, box, and use top notch jiu jitsu - and do it better than anyone else. His weakness has always been in training. A notoriously lazy trainer, it has become obvious that even though he wants to fight he doesn’t want to put in the work to keep himself in peak condition for fights. Before the Diaz fight, he spoke openly about fighting at welterweight so he wouldn’t have to cut to lightweight (even though he is much better at lightweight and wouldn’t face the massive size disadvantages at welterweight) and generally didn’t seem too thrilled about fighting anymore. I think that if his retirement sticks, it’s a good move. His legacy has taken a huge hit over the past few years due to that lack of desire to work hard and dominate like he did during the early part of his career and his 2007-2009 run as UFC Lightweight Champion. Lately, there have been rumblings that he is interested in fighting again. I hope that he only does this if he truly wants to be the best again. Anything less than that and he goes from being a legend to a “Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda Been” that had a couple of good but unsustainable runs at the top.
Mirko Cro Cop: The Croatian heavyweight finally called it quits after losing to Roy Nelson in October 2011. This was expected, and came three or four years too late. He has openly debated retirement since shortly after his stunning knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga in 2007 and has noticeably declined over the years. The combination of several injuries to his knees that ruined his ability to throw his patented head kicks with the devastating fury he had in his PRIDE days and an increasing lack of motivation to fight made his drop off from 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Champion to cannon fodder for up and comers especially depressing to see. It’s a shame that UFC fans never got to see Cro Cop at his best during his killing machine days in PRIDE, where he laid scores to waste. Instead, they got to hear about a guy who was a lethal striker but really seemed afraid to pull the trigger in most of his fights after the Gonzaga loss. During his last two losses (Schaub and Nelson), he appeared to regain some of that fire and came close to finishing both men before getting knocked out himself. In some ways, this was better than just watching him get pummeled by Junior Dos Santos with no response. It showed that he still had some of the desire he had in his younger day. On the flip side, it was heartbreaking because five or six years ago Schaub and Nelson would have been two more notches on his record. Regardless of the disappointment of his UFC stints, I’ll still remember Cro Cop fondly for his time in Japan and excellent use of Duran Duran as his entrance music.
Brock Lesnar: Following his first round finish at the knees of Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar became the latest MMA star to call it quits. I have no doubts about his sincerity in the matter. He has shown a propensity to bail on things when the going gets tough, but in this case I don’t blame him. His bout with diverticulitis really crippled his career as a fighter. It did this in multiple ways. First, it weakened him and when combined with aging, robbed him of his greatest attributes - freak strength and speed. Once he lost those gifts, it exposed the significant holes in his game, namely being that he had poor stand-up, an adversity to getting punched, and a one dimensional gameplan based solely on securing a takedown and going from there. He had shown improvement in his striking and transitions going from Herring to Couture to Mir, but the illness severely limited his ability to grow and learn new skills. If anything, he severely regressed against Carwin, Velasquez, and Overeem. While the first two names on that list have solid wrestling skills to limit Lesnar, Overeem does not and he was able to stop Lesnar’s lone takedown attempt. Once Lesnar lost that option, he became a punching bag (or kicking bag in Reem’s case) to those men. If he was younger or MMA was a viable option when he left college instead of WWE or hadn’t missed nearly two years of training due to illness, who knows what Lesnar would have been able to achieve. While his fight career is not impressive, the amount of new eyes he was able to bring to the sport is and should be considered his greatest achievement. Without Lesnar, there’s no UFC on Fox or a lot of the big pay per view buys Zuffa pulled in during his time.
While I doubt 2012 will have nearly as many notable retirements as 2011, there are quite a few that wouldn’t surprise me: Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are three that spring to mind.
Randy Couture: The Natural announced his retirement prior to his April 2011 fight against Lyoto Machida, one where he was absolutely pasted with a jumping crane kick to the jaw that popped out a few teeth. For Couture, retirement has always been a matter of when. He’s pushing 50 and has found a lucrative job in movies, plus he has accomplished so much in his legendary career, that there was really nothing left for him to prove. He took on what turned out to be an insurmountable challenge against Machida, but he had always been about risk and testing himself against the best fighters, so he couldn’t go out any other way. Despite the loss, Couture can retire with his head held high and that’s something most people in his line of work don’t do.
Matt Hughes: The former longtime UFC Welterweight Champion hasn’t officially retired, but he effectively closed the door on his career after getting knocked out by Josh Koscheck this past fall. For Hughes, I feel like he stuck around for one or two more fights than he needed to. His desire to fight had seemed to noticeably wane over the past several years, and the strength and wrestling advantage he held over everyone during his heyday no longer existed. He probably should have retired after beating Ricardo Almeida in August 2010 and definitely after BJ Penn levelled him in November 2010, but he seemed to waffle on the idea of it throughout the bulk of 2011. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you are unsure of whether or not you want to continue, you should stop. So much of fighting is mental and if you aren’t 100% committed to the idea of fighting, you shouldn’t be doing it. I would think that losing to Koscheck is enough to put Hughes out to retirement, as he lost to a guy who had just fought for the title in his previous fight. It’s not like he was beaten by Dan Hardy or someone who he would have tooled seven years ago and needs to regain some modicum of self respect.
BJ Penn: While on the topic of guys who aren’t 100% into fighting, let’s get right to BJ Penn. BJ claimed he was retiring after an exciting, but decisive loss to Nick Diaz this past October. Since destroying Diego Sanchez in December 2009, his interest in fighting and intensity level has waned. Frankie Edgar’s a tough guy, but there is no way a fully committed BJ Penn doesn’t beat the tar out of him. At his best, BJ is a fighter who can do it all - wrestle, box, and use top notch jiu jitsu - and do it better than anyone else. His weakness has always been in training. A notoriously lazy trainer, it has become obvious that even though he wants to fight he doesn’t want to put in the work to keep himself in peak condition for fights. Before the Diaz fight, he spoke openly about fighting at welterweight so he wouldn’t have to cut to lightweight (even though he is much better at lightweight and wouldn’t face the massive size disadvantages at welterweight) and generally didn’t seem too thrilled about fighting anymore. I think that if his retirement sticks, it’s a good move. His legacy has taken a huge hit over the past few years due to that lack of desire to work hard and dominate like he did during the early part of his career and his 2007-2009 run as UFC Lightweight Champion. Lately, there have been rumblings that he is interested in fighting again. I hope that he only does this if he truly wants to be the best again. Anything less than that and he goes from being a legend to a “Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda Been” that had a couple of good but unsustainable runs at the top.
Mirko Cro Cop: The Croatian heavyweight finally called it quits after losing to Roy Nelson in October 2011. This was expected, and came three or four years too late. He has openly debated retirement since shortly after his stunning knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga in 2007 and has noticeably declined over the years. The combination of several injuries to his knees that ruined his ability to throw his patented head kicks with the devastating fury he had in his PRIDE days and an increasing lack of motivation to fight made his drop off from 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Champion to cannon fodder for up and comers especially depressing to see. It’s a shame that UFC fans never got to see Cro Cop at his best during his killing machine days in PRIDE, where he laid scores to waste. Instead, they got to hear about a guy who was a lethal striker but really seemed afraid to pull the trigger in most of his fights after the Gonzaga loss. During his last two losses (Schaub and Nelson), he appeared to regain some of that fire and came close to finishing both men before getting knocked out himself. In some ways, this was better than just watching him get pummeled by Junior Dos Santos with no response. It showed that he still had some of the desire he had in his younger day. On the flip side, it was heartbreaking because five or six years ago Schaub and Nelson would have been two more notches on his record. Regardless of the disappointment of his UFC stints, I’ll still remember Cro Cop fondly for his time in Japan and excellent use of Duran Duran as his entrance music.
Brock Lesnar: Following his first round finish at the knees of Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar became the latest MMA star to call it quits. I have no doubts about his sincerity in the matter. He has shown a propensity to bail on things when the going gets tough, but in this case I don’t blame him. His bout with diverticulitis really crippled his career as a fighter. It did this in multiple ways. First, it weakened him and when combined with aging, robbed him of his greatest attributes - freak strength and speed. Once he lost those gifts, it exposed the significant holes in his game, namely being that he had poor stand-up, an adversity to getting punched, and a one dimensional gameplan based solely on securing a takedown and going from there. He had shown improvement in his striking and transitions going from Herring to Couture to Mir, but the illness severely limited his ability to grow and learn new skills. If anything, he severely regressed against Carwin, Velasquez, and Overeem. While the first two names on that list have solid wrestling skills to limit Lesnar, Overeem does not and he was able to stop Lesnar’s lone takedown attempt. Once Lesnar lost that option, he became a punching bag (or kicking bag in Reem’s case) to those men. If he was younger or MMA was a viable option when he left college instead of WWE or hadn’t missed nearly two years of training due to illness, who knows what Lesnar would have been able to achieve. While his fight career is not impressive, the amount of new eyes he was able to bring to the sport is and should be considered his greatest achievement. Without Lesnar, there’s no UFC on Fox or a lot of the big pay per view buys Zuffa pulled in during his time.
While I doubt 2012 will have nearly as many notable retirements as 2011, there are quite a few that wouldn’t surprise me: Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are three that spring to mind.
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