Dan Henderson is a legend in the sport of MMA. He’s faced off against nearly every legendary name that has mattered in the past decade, with the exception of his close friend and former trainer Randy Couture and his upcoming UFC 139 opponent Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. His most noteworthy accomplishment is being the only man to hold two titles in different weight classes concurrently, when he held both the PRIDE 185 lbs. and 205 lbs. titles. As great as that run was, which was highlighted by Hendo advancing the decline of Wanderlei Silva, the most intriguing part of Dan Henderson’s career has been his willingness to foray into the heavyweight waters despite being incredibly undersized for that division.
The first trip into the heavyweight division was at PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3 on December 23, 2002. The opponent was PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The fight was originally booked as Nogueira against the rising heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, but Fedor pulled out on two weeks’ notice due to an injury. Stepping in as the surprise replacement was Henderson. For anyone to come in against Nogueira on such short notice was akin to having a death wish. At this time Nogueira was a world beater, coming in on a nearly three year winning streak over heavyweight titans like Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, the monstrous Bob Sapp, and Semmy Schilt. Henderson was coming into the fight off a split decision win over Murilo “Ninja” Rua and a split decision loss to Ricardo Arona. He would also be giving up around forty pounds, as he weighed in at 195 lbs. to Nogueira’s 235 lbs. The combination of Nogueira’s submission skills (having submitted nine of his last twelve opponents) and size were figured to overwhelm Henderson.
What happened instead was stunning. Not only did Henderson not go away easily, he held his own for the bulk of the fight. In the first round, Henderson managed to wobble Nogueira with his vaunted overhand right. While he couldn’t stop Nogueira’s takedowns, he shocked the fans in attendance by working and fighting his way out of Nogueira’s submission attempts. Eventually, Nogueira’s size advantage proved to be too much and Henderson succumbed to an armbar in the third and final round. Even though he lost the fight, Dan Henderson gained a great deal of respect. Aside from his decision win against Heath Herring two years before, no one had pushed Noguiera into the last round and certainly no one withstood the amount of submission attempts Minotauro threw out there. Coming in on such short notice and pushing the world’s best heavyweight while competing at a weight befitting the next down and lasting as long as he did showed everyone that Dan Henderson was no easy out, no matter the circumstances.
Fast forward eight and a half years to July 30, 2011. Dan Henderson has been on a renaissance of sorts in Strikeforce, winning the promotion’s light heavyweight crown. With a lack of contenders and a need for big fights, Strikeforce presented Henderson with a fight he had suggested when he signed with the company in 2009: the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. While some of the luster was lost on this fight due to Fedor coming off back to back losses after having not legitimately lost a fight in his entire ten year career, it was still an intriguing match-up. Fedor was viewed as the favorite partly due to his legendary career and also due to the fact that he would be weighing close to 230 lbs. compared to 206 lbs. for Henderson. This difference would effectively nullify the strongest part of Dan’s game, the clinch. Coming into the fight Fedor had only been stopped by submission and a doctor stoppage, which meant some doubts were cast as to whether Hendo’s nuclear missile of a right could put him down.
Fans who tuned into this fight were treated to one of the wildest first rounds in MMA this year. Both men threw caution to the wind and went at it in a wild slugfest. Fedor struck first, dazing Henderson with one of his trademark looping hooks. Henderson recovered however and dropped the advancing Fedor with a left uppercut and landed several unanswered blows, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the fight with less than 50 seconds in the round.
With the finish, Dan Henderson earned the biggest win of his entire career and continued his improbable run at 205 lbs. If he manages to beat Mauricio Rua at UFC 139 a shot at either Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt or Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title could be on the horizon. Whether its a rematch with the greatest fighter of all time or a battle with the new, physically dominant future of the sport, Dan Henderson will again have to play the giant killer.
Showing posts with label strikeforce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strikeforce. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Reem!!!, GSP vs Condit/Penn vs Diaz?, and the Strikeforce GP Final
Big MMA comings and goings in the past week, between new signings and fights being made, as well as last Saturday’s Strikeforce card. Let’s get right down to it.
In arguably the biggest news of last week, Alistair Overeem has signed with the UFC and he will be fighting a returning Brock Lesnar on December 30. To the casual fan, the biggest part of that is the return of Lesnar after another potentially career threatening bout of diverticulitis. It’s a great fight to introduce Overeem to UFC fans and it pits two behemoths against each other. It’s like Thor vs. the Incredible Hulk. Its also a win-win for Zuffa. If Lesnar wins and looks good doing so, he beats a highly regarded heavyweight and is reinserted in the title picture. If the Reem wins and does so decisively, he beats the company’s top draw and is the next contender for the heavyweight title. While this is a winnable fight for Brock due to his superior wrestling, I don’t think he will win. He has mediocre striking and due to that, his takedowns are set up poorly. Overeem isn’t Frank Mir or Randy Couture; he can’t just be hurled around. Lesnar reacts poorly to getting hit and Overeem is a K-1 kickboxing champion. If Cain Velasquez can knock Brock around, imagine what Overeem can do. Plus, the Reem has a nasty guillotine choke or Uberknee just waiting for Lesnar to shoot for one of those chest high takedown attempts he goes for after getting punched. However, if Lesnar can get it to the ground, his superior cardio and brutal ground and pound can get him through this. Still, as of right now I think Overeem takes this with a first round TKO. The combination of Overeem’s power striking and Lesnar looking vulnerable and coming back from a long layoff will be too much.
The other biggest story this week was the upheaval at the top of the UFC 136 card. Georges St. Pierre is no longer fighting Nick Diaz and is instead facing Carlos Condit. Meanwhile BJ Penn is fighting Diaz rather than Condit. This all came to pass after Diaz missed two flights to Las Vegas for a press conference to formalize the fight and didn’t return several of Dana White’s calls. While I would have liked to have seen GSP and Diaz to see how St. Pierre reacts to Diaz’s smack talk and technically sound boxing and jiu jitsu, I think that Condit may make a better fight. He has better takedown defense and fights hard, hard enough that I think he has a better chance of finishing St. Pierre than anyone he has faced in a while. And the only real way to beat him is by finishing him. Georges can go five rounds easily and his style lends itself to decision wins. On the other side of it, BJ Penn and Nick Diaz should be one of the more exciting fights of the year. Both have great boxing and BJJ and neither man shies away from a scrap. I think it can go either way. BJ is the more talented fighter overall, but Diaz has much better cardio. I lean towards Penn, but it could go either way. Regardless, whoever wins this should be next in line for a title shot. If GSP and Penn both win however, I would just go to the GSP-Silva superfight route instead because Baby Jay can’t beat Georges. If Diaz wins, I might still go with GSP-Silva since Nick flaked out on the last fight and the Silva fight needs to happen. If Condit wins, anything goes. If I was forced to pick winners, I would go with Condit and Penn. In the future, I’ll go into further detail about why I think GSP loses. I may even discuss Nick Diaz flaking out on the biggest fight of his career.
The final match of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is set, as Josh Barnett (the favorite in his side of the bracket) will face Daniel Cormier (an injury replacement for Overeem) at some undetermined point in the future. For Barnett, his path was easy. He outgrappled Brett Rogers in the first round earlier this year and then outgrappled Sergei Kharitonov, winning both fights by submission. I don’t know who Cormier beat in his injury replacement fight, but he knocked out Bigfoot Silva impressively to advance. This is an interesting fight, one that could make Cormier a legit heavyweight with a shot at contending in the UFC next year or give the blacklisted Barnett another shot in the company he was tossed from nearly a decade ago. Cormier is the better wrestler of the two, but Barnett has size and experience on his side. Of course, this is not the fight that Strikeforce had planned on. They originally set up the brackets so that we could see some combination of Overeem, Werdum, and Fedor square off against Barnett. Unfortunately, their brackets yielded a dud in the Reem-Werdum match, Fedor was blasted by Bigfoot Silva, and then Overeem was forced out of the tournament. Still, this should be a good one if it ever happens. One has learned never to accept things from Strikeforce at face value, especially when their erratic scheduling is paired with Zuffa cherrypicking the promotion’s best fighters. That could include one or both of the finalists in the GP to help boost a sagging heavyweight division.
That does it for this installment. Feel free to comment on anything that catches your eye. Stay tuned for UFC 135 predictions next week.
In arguably the biggest news of last week, Alistair Overeem has signed with the UFC and he will be fighting a returning Brock Lesnar on December 30. To the casual fan, the biggest part of that is the return of Lesnar after another potentially career threatening bout of diverticulitis. It’s a great fight to introduce Overeem to UFC fans and it pits two behemoths against each other. It’s like Thor vs. the Incredible Hulk. Its also a win-win for Zuffa. If Lesnar wins and looks good doing so, he beats a highly regarded heavyweight and is reinserted in the title picture. If the Reem wins and does so decisively, he beats the company’s top draw and is the next contender for the heavyweight title. While this is a winnable fight for Brock due to his superior wrestling, I don’t think he will win. He has mediocre striking and due to that, his takedowns are set up poorly. Overeem isn’t Frank Mir or Randy Couture; he can’t just be hurled around. Lesnar reacts poorly to getting hit and Overeem is a K-1 kickboxing champion. If Cain Velasquez can knock Brock around, imagine what Overeem can do. Plus, the Reem has a nasty guillotine choke or Uberknee just waiting for Lesnar to shoot for one of those chest high takedown attempts he goes for after getting punched. However, if Lesnar can get it to the ground, his superior cardio and brutal ground and pound can get him through this. Still, as of right now I think Overeem takes this with a first round TKO. The combination of Overeem’s power striking and Lesnar looking vulnerable and coming back from a long layoff will be too much.
The other biggest story this week was the upheaval at the top of the UFC 136 card. Georges St. Pierre is no longer fighting Nick Diaz and is instead facing Carlos Condit. Meanwhile BJ Penn is fighting Diaz rather than Condit. This all came to pass after Diaz missed two flights to Las Vegas for a press conference to formalize the fight and didn’t return several of Dana White’s calls. While I would have liked to have seen GSP and Diaz to see how St. Pierre reacts to Diaz’s smack talk and technically sound boxing and jiu jitsu, I think that Condit may make a better fight. He has better takedown defense and fights hard, hard enough that I think he has a better chance of finishing St. Pierre than anyone he has faced in a while. And the only real way to beat him is by finishing him. Georges can go five rounds easily and his style lends itself to decision wins. On the other side of it, BJ Penn and Nick Diaz should be one of the more exciting fights of the year. Both have great boxing and BJJ and neither man shies away from a scrap. I think it can go either way. BJ is the more talented fighter overall, but Diaz has much better cardio. I lean towards Penn, but it could go either way. Regardless, whoever wins this should be next in line for a title shot. If GSP and Penn both win however, I would just go to the GSP-Silva superfight route instead because Baby Jay can’t beat Georges. If Diaz wins, I might still go with GSP-Silva since Nick flaked out on the last fight and the Silva fight needs to happen. If Condit wins, anything goes. If I was forced to pick winners, I would go with Condit and Penn. In the future, I’ll go into further detail about why I think GSP loses. I may even discuss Nick Diaz flaking out on the biggest fight of his career.
The final match of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is set, as Josh Barnett (the favorite in his side of the bracket) will face Daniel Cormier (an injury replacement for Overeem) at some undetermined point in the future. For Barnett, his path was easy. He outgrappled Brett Rogers in the first round earlier this year and then outgrappled Sergei Kharitonov, winning both fights by submission. I don’t know who Cormier beat in his injury replacement fight, but he knocked out Bigfoot Silva impressively to advance. This is an interesting fight, one that could make Cormier a legit heavyweight with a shot at contending in the UFC next year or give the blacklisted Barnett another shot in the company he was tossed from nearly a decade ago. Cormier is the better wrestler of the two, but Barnett has size and experience on his side. Of course, this is not the fight that Strikeforce had planned on. They originally set up the brackets so that we could see some combination of Overeem, Werdum, and Fedor square off against Barnett. Unfortunately, their brackets yielded a dud in the Reem-Werdum match, Fedor was blasted by Bigfoot Silva, and then Overeem was forced out of the tournament. Still, this should be a good one if it ever happens. One has learned never to accept things from Strikeforce at face value, especially when their erratic scheduling is paired with Zuffa cherrypicking the promotion’s best fighters. That could include one or both of the finalists in the GP to help boost a sagging heavyweight division.
That does it for this installment. Feel free to comment on anything that catches your eye. Stay tuned for UFC 135 predictions next week.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Fedor vs. Henderson: The Aftermath
At this past weekend’s Strikeforce card, Dan Henderson put an exclaimation point on his resume and justified his position as one of the all time greats in MMA history by defeating Fedor Emelianenko by first round TKO. While Hendo furthered his legacy, Fedor is continuing the downward slide started in 2009 and is now having his legacy questioned. I feel like getting into that, as well as discussing what comes next for both men. We’ll start with the winner, Dan Henderson.
Where does Hendo go from here?
Henderson scored one of the biggest wins of his career, probably his biggest since icing Wanderlei Silva in 2006 by defeating the longtime heavyweight great. The victory fulfilled his contract with Strikeforce, leaving him with few options. His deal with the organization was for $800,000 a fight, a fee that the UFC felt was too much. Now that Zuffa owns both organizations, one can expect that Hendo will not be as well compensated in the future. If there’s any justice however, he will be well compensated with a return to the UFC, where there are a few interesting fights left for him.
A rematch with Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title could make sense, especially because he was one of the top contenders when he left the UFC. In theory, once Silva beats Okami there is no one left for him to fight and Henderson has enough name recognition and is coming in off a nice little win streak that this could be a compelling fight for pay per view. Henderson wouldn’t win of course, as he is nowhere near as dynamic at 185 lbs. as he is at light heavyweight. Weighing roughly 200 lbs., Hendo is a small light heavyweight, but it seems like that is where he has his most success.
Right now, the UFC’s light heavyweight picture is a bit muddled and Henderson could make for some interesting fights. I think the best bet would be to put him up against either A) Lyoto Machida or B) the winner of Shogun Rua and Forrest Griffin, with the winner getting a title shot after the winner of Rashad Evans-Tito Ortiz faces the winner of Jon Jones-Rampage Jackson. If the plan is to put Lyoto Machida in the title picture sooner rather than later and/or get him another fight before the end of the year, that would be the way to go. If the plan is to feed Jones another challenger (because he’s going to beat Rampage and probably beat Rashad/Tito), then let him fight Shogun or Griffin. That fight would be very exciting and could put forth a credible challenger for the title. Either route they go with would be interesting.
A third option is to retire. Dan’s 40 years old and his value as a fighter isn’t going to get any higher. Retiring after beating Fedor gives him an exciting victory over a legend to go out on and allows him to leave on his own terms and not because he is a human punching bag. Besides, the odds of him winning a title in the UFC are not good. He could retire after a winning streak that ran counter to the “Decision Dan” nickname since he won all three fights by knockout. I repeat, things will never be this good for Dan Henderson again and by retiring now, he could keep a strong legacy and not have his name be used as a feeder for the next generation.
Where does Fedor go from here?
Has anyone fallen so far as Fedor Emelianenko in the past two years? He has gone from being considered the greatest heavyweight of all-time and possibly the greatest fighter of all-time, winner of 31 straight fights to three straight losses ended by a decisive finish. It has called into question whether or not he is overrated and if so, for how long.
The answer to that is, yes, he has been overrated over the past three years. The last opponent of any real value he beat was Andrei Arlovski. Since then, he beat the since proven to be little more than a prospect Brett Rogers, and lost three in a row. Fedor hasn’t been the best heavyweight in the world since 2007. His last few fights have shown him to be far from the man that beat prime Nogueira twice and defeated prime Cro Cop. PRIDE era Fedor was most likely the best heavyweight in the world, and due to his amazing streak of wins was likely the pound for pound best at that time and if not, was in the top three.
Since 2007, he ceded that territory to Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre, two champions that have both gone on lengthy winning streaks against competition far superior to that which Fedor faced at the tail end of his run at the top. Silva’s run has been particularly impressive and the case can and should be made that he is the best of the last half of the decade and as of right now, the greatest fighter of all-time. Middleweight requires a far more diverse set of skills than heavyweight, where one really only needs to excel in one form of combat to succeed. This is part of the reason why Fedor and his camp balked at a move to light heavyweight. If he was to move down in weight, he would still be slower and less skilled overall than someone coming up like Jon Jones or a top contender like Lyoto Machida. I don’t mean to dump on the guy or belittle his accomplishments. He is a legend in the sport and for a long period of time had the aura of invincibility. Especially when one considers Randy Couture’s run came as a light heavyweight and not solely as a heavyweight,, Fedor still should be thought of right now as the greatest heavyweight of all-time.
That being said, he should retire. His training isn’t as intense as needed for the new era of MMA and his skill set hasn’t evolved enough to continue. He makes simple mistakes (ex. the Werdum fight) that he wouldn’t have made five years ago. In his peak, he could beat behemoths like Bob Sapp or withstand strikes from Mirko Cro Cop, but the other night Dan Henderson was able to sweep and blast him and Hendo is considerably smaller than Fedor. He was manhandled by Bigfoot Silva when in years past, he would have worked for a submission or been able to mount some kind of defense and offense. Unlike Randy Couture and Dan Henderson, Fedor hasn’t made the necessary adjustments as he has gotten older in order to continue his career and it doesn’t particularly seem like that bothers him. That’s why he should retire. He isn’t completely finished like Cro Cop or Nogueira, but he can’t compete with the top 10 in the division anymore and for someone who used to be so dominant, that should mean that its time to hang ‘em up. He can retire knowing that he put on an exciting back and forth fight, even if it ended in defeat, and that’s something a lot of his peers from PRIDE cannot say.
Where does Hendo go from here?
Henderson scored one of the biggest wins of his career, probably his biggest since icing Wanderlei Silva in 2006 by defeating the longtime heavyweight great. The victory fulfilled his contract with Strikeforce, leaving him with few options. His deal with the organization was for $800,000 a fight, a fee that the UFC felt was too much. Now that Zuffa owns both organizations, one can expect that Hendo will not be as well compensated in the future. If there’s any justice however, he will be well compensated with a return to the UFC, where there are a few interesting fights left for him.
A rematch with Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title could make sense, especially because he was one of the top contenders when he left the UFC. In theory, once Silva beats Okami there is no one left for him to fight and Henderson has enough name recognition and is coming in off a nice little win streak that this could be a compelling fight for pay per view. Henderson wouldn’t win of course, as he is nowhere near as dynamic at 185 lbs. as he is at light heavyweight. Weighing roughly 200 lbs., Hendo is a small light heavyweight, but it seems like that is where he has his most success.
Right now, the UFC’s light heavyweight picture is a bit muddled and Henderson could make for some interesting fights. I think the best bet would be to put him up against either A) Lyoto Machida or B) the winner of Shogun Rua and Forrest Griffin, with the winner getting a title shot after the winner of Rashad Evans-Tito Ortiz faces the winner of Jon Jones-Rampage Jackson. If the plan is to put Lyoto Machida in the title picture sooner rather than later and/or get him another fight before the end of the year, that would be the way to go. If the plan is to feed Jones another challenger (because he’s going to beat Rampage and probably beat Rashad/Tito), then let him fight Shogun or Griffin. That fight would be very exciting and could put forth a credible challenger for the title. Either route they go with would be interesting.
A third option is to retire. Dan’s 40 years old and his value as a fighter isn’t going to get any higher. Retiring after beating Fedor gives him an exciting victory over a legend to go out on and allows him to leave on his own terms and not because he is a human punching bag. Besides, the odds of him winning a title in the UFC are not good. He could retire after a winning streak that ran counter to the “Decision Dan” nickname since he won all three fights by knockout. I repeat, things will never be this good for Dan Henderson again and by retiring now, he could keep a strong legacy and not have his name be used as a feeder for the next generation.
Where does Fedor go from here?
Has anyone fallen so far as Fedor Emelianenko in the past two years? He has gone from being considered the greatest heavyweight of all-time and possibly the greatest fighter of all-time, winner of 31 straight fights to three straight losses ended by a decisive finish. It has called into question whether or not he is overrated and if so, for how long.
The answer to that is, yes, he has been overrated over the past three years. The last opponent of any real value he beat was Andrei Arlovski. Since then, he beat the since proven to be little more than a prospect Brett Rogers, and lost three in a row. Fedor hasn’t been the best heavyweight in the world since 2007. His last few fights have shown him to be far from the man that beat prime Nogueira twice and defeated prime Cro Cop. PRIDE era Fedor was most likely the best heavyweight in the world, and due to his amazing streak of wins was likely the pound for pound best at that time and if not, was in the top three.
Since 2007, he ceded that territory to Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre, two champions that have both gone on lengthy winning streaks against competition far superior to that which Fedor faced at the tail end of his run at the top. Silva’s run has been particularly impressive and the case can and should be made that he is the best of the last half of the decade and as of right now, the greatest fighter of all-time. Middleweight requires a far more diverse set of skills than heavyweight, where one really only needs to excel in one form of combat to succeed. This is part of the reason why Fedor and his camp balked at a move to light heavyweight. If he was to move down in weight, he would still be slower and less skilled overall than someone coming up like Jon Jones or a top contender like Lyoto Machida. I don’t mean to dump on the guy or belittle his accomplishments. He is a legend in the sport and for a long period of time had the aura of invincibility. Especially when one considers Randy Couture’s run came as a light heavyweight and not solely as a heavyweight,, Fedor still should be thought of right now as the greatest heavyweight of all-time.
That being said, he should retire. His training isn’t as intense as needed for the new era of MMA and his skill set hasn’t evolved enough to continue. He makes simple mistakes (ex. the Werdum fight) that he wouldn’t have made five years ago. In his peak, he could beat behemoths like Bob Sapp or withstand strikes from Mirko Cro Cop, but the other night Dan Henderson was able to sweep and blast him and Hendo is considerably smaller than Fedor. He was manhandled by Bigfoot Silva when in years past, he would have worked for a submission or been able to mount some kind of defense and offense. Unlike Randy Couture and Dan Henderson, Fedor hasn’t made the necessary adjustments as he has gotten older in order to continue his career and it doesn’t particularly seem like that bothers him. That’s why he should retire. He isn’t completely finished like Cro Cop or Nogueira, but he can’t compete with the top 10 in the division anymore and for someone who used to be so dominant, that should mean that its time to hang ‘em up. He can retire knowing that he put on an exciting back and forth fight, even if it ended in defeat, and that’s something a lot of his peers from PRIDE cannot say.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson Thoughts and Prediction
This Saturday on Showtime, Strikeforce will be running another event. For the life of me, I don’t know most of the card but it is headlined by an intriguing fight: Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson in a heavyweight bout against the former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champ Fedor Emelianenko. As both men are legends in MMA and nearing the ends of their illustrious careers, it is definitely a match worth seeing.
What irks me about this fight is that it is being catered to Fedor unfairly. Henderson is going to come into the fight weighing about 206 lbs., roughly the same as when he fights at light heavyweight. Fedor will be coming in at around 225-230 lbs., meaning Hendo will be at a significant weight disadvantage. Originally talk had centered around a catchweight of 215 lbs. or even having Fedor cut down to light heavyweight, but Fedor and his M-1 Global camp balked at the suggestions. This would make sense if Fedor was still chumping fighters like it was 2005, but the reality of it is that Fedor looked terrible in his two recent losses (the first real losses of his career) and was losing to Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers before a glass jaw and inexperience respectively ended their nights. If anything, Strikeforce should be catering more to Hendo. He has apparently moved on from being a solid, if unspectacular, middleweight and has looked very good at light heavyweight., where he has won two straight fights by knockout. It’s quite the late resurgence for the man who at one point held the 205 and 185 titles in PRIDE, the only man in MMA to hold two titles simultaneously.
Henderson deserves a lot of credit for taking this fight and not . The last time he fought against a heavyweight, he was a game opponent for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002. He held his own into the third round despite giving up over 30 lbs., where he was eventually submitted by Big Nog. Even though Fedor’s star has lost some of its luster, this is still a tough match up for Hendo.
For Fedor, this is a make or break fight for him. As mentioned prior, he has not looked particularly impressive since choking out Tim Sylvia in under a minute three years ago. His last two losses, while considered huge upsets, can still be rationalized and don’t necessarily mean he’s done. Werdum is one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA and getting submitted by him isn’t a huge deal and in the Antonio Silva fight, Fedor was giving up roughly 50 lbs. and was outmuscled. What is troubling for Fedor is that his physique, well never impressive, has looked even doughier and calls into question his motivation and effort at this stage in his career. If he gets levelled or dominated by the much smaller Henderson, retirement should be his next step. If he loses an exciting, close fight he can be given the benefit of the doubt since Hendo is one of the all-time greats. For Henderson, a loss isn’t as big a deal since he is a lot older and a lot smaller than Fedor. When you come in at a disadvantage and lose, it doesn’t really hurt you. A win under those circumstances, even against a past his prime Fedor, is a big deal.
Fedor could really use an impressive win in order to continue his career, if that’s what he wants to do. Henderson has always been tough to finish, so if he can do that it will help to wash away the bad taste from his last few fights. I don’t know that he will though. I think at this point in their careers, Hendo is more motivated and in better condition than Fedor. It seems like Emelianenko just continues to fight to have something to occupy his time, not out of any real desire to do it. That’s always the wrong mindset to go into a fight with, and as other fighters’ training and conditioning improves, Fedor seems to stagnate and not care that he is. If I had to put my money down on a fighter, I would say Dan Henderson by decision. Either way, I’m excited to see how this fight turns out. It isn’t every month that two legends, even ones not at their peak, go against each other.
What irks me about this fight is that it is being catered to Fedor unfairly. Henderson is going to come into the fight weighing about 206 lbs., roughly the same as when he fights at light heavyweight. Fedor will be coming in at around 225-230 lbs., meaning Hendo will be at a significant weight disadvantage. Originally talk had centered around a catchweight of 215 lbs. or even having Fedor cut down to light heavyweight, but Fedor and his M-1 Global camp balked at the suggestions. This would make sense if Fedor was still chumping fighters like it was 2005, but the reality of it is that Fedor looked terrible in his two recent losses (the first real losses of his career) and was losing to Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers before a glass jaw and inexperience respectively ended their nights. If anything, Strikeforce should be catering more to Hendo. He has apparently moved on from being a solid, if unspectacular, middleweight and has looked very good at light heavyweight., where he has won two straight fights by knockout. It’s quite the late resurgence for the man who at one point held the 205 and 185 titles in PRIDE, the only man in MMA to hold two titles simultaneously.
Henderson deserves a lot of credit for taking this fight and not . The last time he fought against a heavyweight, he was a game opponent for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002. He held his own into the third round despite giving up over 30 lbs., where he was eventually submitted by Big Nog. Even though Fedor’s star has lost some of its luster, this is still a tough match up for Hendo.
For Fedor, this is a make or break fight for him. As mentioned prior, he has not looked particularly impressive since choking out Tim Sylvia in under a minute three years ago. His last two losses, while considered huge upsets, can still be rationalized and don’t necessarily mean he’s done. Werdum is one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA and getting submitted by him isn’t a huge deal and in the Antonio Silva fight, Fedor was giving up roughly 50 lbs. and was outmuscled. What is troubling for Fedor is that his physique, well never impressive, has looked even doughier and calls into question his motivation and effort at this stage in his career. If he gets levelled or dominated by the much smaller Henderson, retirement should be his next step. If he loses an exciting, close fight he can be given the benefit of the doubt since Hendo is one of the all-time greats. For Henderson, a loss isn’t as big a deal since he is a lot older and a lot smaller than Fedor. When you come in at a disadvantage and lose, it doesn’t really hurt you. A win under those circumstances, even against a past his prime Fedor, is a big deal.
Fedor could really use an impressive win in order to continue his career, if that’s what he wants to do. Henderson has always been tough to finish, so if he can do that it will help to wash away the bad taste from his last few fights. I don’t know that he will though. I think at this point in their careers, Hendo is more motivated and in better condition than Fedor. It seems like Emelianenko just continues to fight to have something to occupy his time, not out of any real desire to do it. That’s always the wrong mindset to go into a fight with, and as other fighters’ training and conditioning improves, Fedor seems to stagnate and not care that he is. If I had to put my money down on a fighter, I would say Dan Henderson by decision. Either way, I’m excited to see how this fight turns out. It isn’t every month that two legends, even ones not at their peak, go against each other.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Zuffa Acquisition of Strikeforce: The Fights I Would Like To See.
As reported several weeks ago, Zuffa purchased Strikeforce, adding another large stable of fighters to the UFC. Details are still sketchy about when and how Strikeforce will be absorbed, due to its existing deal with Showtime that expires in 2014. While a merger is a long ways away and Strikeforce is a clear second in established talent to the UFC, there are still several excellent fighters that could be transferred over that would lead to some exciting bouts. I am going to take this space to go over some of them, and discuss their likelihood of happening. For the sake of brevity, I am going to limit it to four fighters and the fights I’d most like to see. I’m going to leave out Dan Henderson, as he was a UFC fighter until recently and there aren’t many people he hasn’t went up against at this point.
Alistair OvereemThe ‘Reem is the man I most want to see inside the Octagon. There are several matchups that would be interesting. Here’s the list in descending order:
Vs. Cain Velasquez: This one is self-explanatory, as it pits the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ against his UFC counterpart. Cain has never faced someone Overeem’s size that can actually strike and not curl up in the fetal position when hit, and Overeem hasn’t faced someone with the relentless pace and wrestling of Cain.
Vs. Junior Dos Santos: This would pit the best hands in the UFC Heavyweight Division against the reigning K-1 Grand Prix Champion. Junior can outbox most anyone, but he would have a tough time against Overeem’s size. It would be a great striking battle that would really test how good Junior really is.
Vs. Brock Lesnar: Two behemoths in the cage, plus Overeem wouldn’t gas out like Carwin did. It would be interesting to see what would happen when Lesnar gets punched by someone of Overeem’s power. Plus if he went for those half-assed takedowns around the ‘Reem’s chest, Alistair would have no problem using the standing guillotine choke.
Vs. Shane Carwin: Someone would get knocked out. Hard.
The odds of Overeem coming into the UFC: Near certainty. Alistair is on friendly terms with Dana White and since getting stiffed on his paycheck from K-1, is more willing to commit to the UFC’s contract demands. Also,, heavyweight is always the weakest division in the UFC, so they would be more than willing to bring in a beast like the ‘Reem.
Nick DiazDiaz is one of my favorite fighters of all-time and there are a bunch of fights I would love to see him in.
Vs. BJ Penn: Two of the best technical boxers and jiu jitsu practitioners in all of MMA, this would be exciting both on the ground and standing. BJ would love the challenge of a rangy fighter like Diaz, and it would be a tougher fight for Nick than he has fought in some time.
Vs. Georges St. Pierre: While I think GSP would clearly win this because of his superior wrestling, it would still be a dangerous fight for him. He hasn’t faced anyone with the excellent jiu jitsu of Diaz, plus his boxing is not as techincally sound as Nick’s is. Like I said, I would expect GSP to win hands down, it would be a more competitive and interesting fight than at least his last two or three defenses.
Vs. Dan Hardy: I think Nick would submit him in about two rounds, but this fight should happen for the shit talkng alone. It would be legendary.
Vs. Nate Diaz: Brother vs. Brother. Both men are crazy. Why not?
Odds of Diaz coming into the UFC: Toss up. Odds would say that he almost has to, otherwise who else will he fight? He seems to get along well with Dana White, but Diaz is a wild car and it’s damn nigh impossible to figure out what his plans are.
Muhammad “King Mo” LawalA former light heavyweight champion for Strikeforce, King Mo has some of the best wrestling in MMA and is still improving as a fighter. I’m not the biggest fan of his, but I would like to see him in the UFC to see just how good he is and can be.
Vs. Rampage Jackson: Evidently, these two don’t like each other very much. There is a clip on You Tube showing the two of them jawing at each other and it is both hilarious and awkward. I don’t know if the fight would go much differently than Rampage’s fight with Rashad Evans went, but I wouldn’t mind finding out.
Vs. Phil Davis: Two of the up and coming fighters in their weight classes, this would pit two men with similar experience and abilities against each other. I would give a slight advantage in striking to King Mo, but an advantage on submission grappling to Davis. This match would go a long way towards determining who else could be considered the future of the sport with Jon Jones.
Vs. Lyoto Machida: He already defeated one “cerebral” striker in Gegard Mousassi, but Machida is more elusive, more cerebral and a better striker and grappler than Mousassi. He is also a considerably better striker than King Mo. On the other hand, the only wrestler that Machida has faced was Rashad Evans, and ‘The Dragon’ made him look foolish. King Mo is bigger and stronger than Rashad, so it would be interesting to see how Machida fares.
Odds of Lawal coming into the UFC: Pretty good. He has decent name recognition in the sport and with the UFC marketing team behind him, could really become a mainstream star. Besides, there is no other promotion in America that he could fight and make a name for himself in and I don’t think he is embroiled in any disputes with Zuffa.
Fedor EmelianenkoAt one time the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor is at a bit of a crossroads in his career now. His best days are obviously behind him, but there are still a few dream matches that it would be worth seeing him in.
Vs. Randy Couture: A fight that fans have been clamoring for for nearly a decade, to the point that both men were made the cover athletes for EA MMA. This fight has lost a bit of its luster due to both men’s rankings within the heavyweight division being lower than they were several years ago, but it would still be exciting to see the two men who were at the top of the Pride and UFC promotions for years go at it.
Vs. Brock Lesnar: Another fight that would have been more intriguing a year or two ago, but it still holds some interest since they were both ranked number one in their weight class within the past year. Fedor was recently pounded by a larger fighter in Antonio Silva, but has historically fared well against bigger men. Lesnar is much more physically imposing than nearly everyone Fedor has been up against, but his skill level is lower than that of Antonio Silva and some of the other fighters Fedor has faced. For Lesnar, it would be the chance to beat someone other than Frank Mir and a much smaller and older Randy Couture and add an impressive name to his resume.
Odds of Fedor joining the UFC: Slim to none. Fedor and his management team have been engaged in a war of words with Dana White for years now over a wide range of topics. The chances of Fedor fighting in Strikeforce again are pretty slim, so I would say the chances of seeing him in the Octagon are pretty much nil.
There are several other fighters under the Strikeforce banner in every weight class that will be exciting additions to the UFC over the next few years. It is going to be both interesting and challenging to see how Zuffa absorbs such a large stable of fighters to their already massive roster.
Alistair OvereemThe ‘Reem is the man I most want to see inside the Octagon. There are several matchups that would be interesting. Here’s the list in descending order:
Vs. Cain Velasquez: This one is self-explanatory, as it pits the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ against his UFC counterpart. Cain has never faced someone Overeem’s size that can actually strike and not curl up in the fetal position when hit, and Overeem hasn’t faced someone with the relentless pace and wrestling of Cain.
Vs. Junior Dos Santos: This would pit the best hands in the UFC Heavyweight Division against the reigning K-1 Grand Prix Champion. Junior can outbox most anyone, but he would have a tough time against Overeem’s size. It would be a great striking battle that would really test how good Junior really is.
Vs. Brock Lesnar: Two behemoths in the cage, plus Overeem wouldn’t gas out like Carwin did. It would be interesting to see what would happen when Lesnar gets punched by someone of Overeem’s power. Plus if he went for those half-assed takedowns around the ‘Reem’s chest, Alistair would have no problem using the standing guillotine choke.
Vs. Shane Carwin: Someone would get knocked out. Hard.
The odds of Overeem coming into the UFC: Near certainty. Alistair is on friendly terms with Dana White and since getting stiffed on his paycheck from K-1, is more willing to commit to the UFC’s contract demands. Also,, heavyweight is always the weakest division in the UFC, so they would be more than willing to bring in a beast like the ‘Reem.
Nick DiazDiaz is one of my favorite fighters of all-time and there are a bunch of fights I would love to see him in.
Vs. BJ Penn: Two of the best technical boxers and jiu jitsu practitioners in all of MMA, this would be exciting both on the ground and standing. BJ would love the challenge of a rangy fighter like Diaz, and it would be a tougher fight for Nick than he has fought in some time.
Vs. Georges St. Pierre: While I think GSP would clearly win this because of his superior wrestling, it would still be a dangerous fight for him. He hasn’t faced anyone with the excellent jiu jitsu of Diaz, plus his boxing is not as techincally sound as Nick’s is. Like I said, I would expect GSP to win hands down, it would be a more competitive and interesting fight than at least his last two or three defenses.
Vs. Dan Hardy: I think Nick would submit him in about two rounds, but this fight should happen for the shit talkng alone. It would be legendary.
Vs. Nate Diaz: Brother vs. Brother. Both men are crazy. Why not?
Odds of Diaz coming into the UFC: Toss up. Odds would say that he almost has to, otherwise who else will he fight? He seems to get along well with Dana White, but Diaz is a wild car and it’s damn nigh impossible to figure out what his plans are.
Muhammad “King Mo” LawalA former light heavyweight champion for Strikeforce, King Mo has some of the best wrestling in MMA and is still improving as a fighter. I’m not the biggest fan of his, but I would like to see him in the UFC to see just how good he is and can be.
Vs. Rampage Jackson: Evidently, these two don’t like each other very much. There is a clip on You Tube showing the two of them jawing at each other and it is both hilarious and awkward. I don’t know if the fight would go much differently than Rampage’s fight with Rashad Evans went, but I wouldn’t mind finding out.
Vs. Phil Davis: Two of the up and coming fighters in their weight classes, this would pit two men with similar experience and abilities against each other. I would give a slight advantage in striking to King Mo, but an advantage on submission grappling to Davis. This match would go a long way towards determining who else could be considered the future of the sport with Jon Jones.
Vs. Lyoto Machida: He already defeated one “cerebral” striker in Gegard Mousassi, but Machida is more elusive, more cerebral and a better striker and grappler than Mousassi. He is also a considerably better striker than King Mo. On the other hand, the only wrestler that Machida has faced was Rashad Evans, and ‘The Dragon’ made him look foolish. King Mo is bigger and stronger than Rashad, so it would be interesting to see how Machida fares.
Odds of Lawal coming into the UFC: Pretty good. He has decent name recognition in the sport and with the UFC marketing team behind him, could really become a mainstream star. Besides, there is no other promotion in America that he could fight and make a name for himself in and I don’t think he is embroiled in any disputes with Zuffa.
Fedor EmelianenkoAt one time the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor is at a bit of a crossroads in his career now. His best days are obviously behind him, but there are still a few dream matches that it would be worth seeing him in.
Vs. Randy Couture: A fight that fans have been clamoring for for nearly a decade, to the point that both men were made the cover athletes for EA MMA. This fight has lost a bit of its luster due to both men’s rankings within the heavyweight division being lower than they were several years ago, but it would still be exciting to see the two men who were at the top of the Pride and UFC promotions for years go at it.
Vs. Brock Lesnar: Another fight that would have been more intriguing a year or two ago, but it still holds some interest since they were both ranked number one in their weight class within the past year. Fedor was recently pounded by a larger fighter in Antonio Silva, but has historically fared well against bigger men. Lesnar is much more physically imposing than nearly everyone Fedor has been up against, but his skill level is lower than that of Antonio Silva and some of the other fighters Fedor has faced. For Lesnar, it would be the chance to beat someone other than Frank Mir and a much smaller and older Randy Couture and add an impressive name to his resume.
Odds of Fedor joining the UFC: Slim to none. Fedor and his management team have been engaged in a war of words with Dana White for years now over a wide range of topics. The chances of Fedor fighting in Strikeforce again are pretty slim, so I would say the chances of seeing him in the Octagon are pretty much nil.
There are several other fighters under the Strikeforce banner in every weight class that will be exciting additions to the UFC over the next few years. It is going to be both interesting and challenging to see how Zuffa absorbs such a large stable of fighters to their already massive roster.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Odds and Sods
Strikeforce ran their first major show since their acquisition by Zuffa a few months ago. In the main event, Nick Diaz and Paul Daley had a pretty exciting fight that ended with a Diaz TKO victory. After this, there really is no one left for Strikeforce to match their welterweight champ Diaz up against. I think its time to bring him back into the UFC and unify the two titles by matching him up with Georges St. Pierre. This especially makes sense considering that it doesn’t appear as if the GSP-Silva superfight will happen. Of course, this is all contingent on GSP beating Jake Shields this month. If Shields wins, the odds are against him fighting close friend and training partner Diaz.
The NBA regular season is drawing to a close and there is a rather contentious debate over who the MVP should be. Derrick Rose is considered the frontrunner, but stat hounds act like anything other than a victory for LeBron James or Dwight Howard would be an egregious wrong. I’ll get into this more later when I do my awards picks, but anything other than a D Rose victory is a bit absurd. He led the team to the best record in the East (and 2nd best in the NBA), doesn’t have a superstar like D Wade playing next to him and isn’t a liability in the clutch or getting suspended all the time like Howard. I know I’m partial because I would be willing to take a bullet if it meant the Bulls would win the title, but Rose deserves the award. Have you seen the Bulls try to score without Rose on the floor, or even try to dribble the ball? It isn’t pretty.
According to his mentor and trainer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Anderson Silva will be defending his middleweight title in August at the UFC show in Brazil against Yushin Okami. Okami was the last man to beat Silva, back in 2006 via a controversial disqualification. This would seem to point to a fight with GSP not happening at all, especially when combined with this other tidbit from Big Nog: After the Okami fight, Anderson will be moving up to 205 lbs. permanently. This would presumably set up a match between Anderson and the winner of the match between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans for early next year. That means Anderson will be doing battle with Bones Jones early next year. As a fight fan, this excites me. As a Silva fan, this terrifies me. Both men legitimately have what it takes to decisively beat the other, and with Silva being considerably older and Jones having a massive size advantage, this fight could mean either the end of Anderson’s undefeated streak or another notch in his resume as the greatest fighter of all time.
And in the occasional pro wrestling story, my brother tells me that WWE Superstar Edge has announced his retirement due to a reaggravation of the neck injury he suffered back in 2003. The internet sites are reporting that this is a legitimate retirement and not a work. If this is true, it marks the end of another Attitude era star and one of the few established names remaining on their talent roster. He had a nice run near the top of the company over the past six years as a heel. One of my favorite moments in WWE history came from Edge. In 2005, my roommate and I went to the live taping of the pay per view New Year’s Revolution. At the end of the show, after John Cena had retained the WWE title to the chagrin of the Albany fans, Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and beat John Cena for his first world title victory. The fans went nuts, Edge went nuts, my roommate and I went nuts. It was pretty wild, and preserved on DVD forever if you don’t believe me about my celebration.
In the final bit of news, it appears Strikeforce is going to air a live pay per view event this summer and its main event will apparently be Dan Henderson vs Fedor Emelianenko. Originally, the talk was that this was going to be for Henderson’s light heavyweight title, but it is looking more like it will be fought at a 220 lb. catchweight. If this is so, this fight puts Hendo at a major disadvantage. He is small for 205, as evidenced by the fact that he is also capable of fighting at 185. Fedor is a small heavyweight, coming in around 225-230 lbs and he is doughy at that weight. Only having to cut ten pounds while Hendo has to try to gain near fifteen is unfair. I think a 215 catchweight makes more sense for both men. Fedor still would have a size advantage, but I don’t think it would be as glaring at that weight, plus it better situates him for a run at light heavyweight if he wins this fight. For Henderson, he wouldn’t have to bulk up as much so he wouldn’t be in the same position as his fight against Big Nog in Pride where he gave up around thirty pounds and lost.
That does it for this installment of Odds and Sods. Check back for posts previewing the NBA Playoffs and Awards, the tribute to Pride, and predictions for this month’s UFC pay per view.
The NBA regular season is drawing to a close and there is a rather contentious debate over who the MVP should be. Derrick Rose is considered the frontrunner, but stat hounds act like anything other than a victory for LeBron James or Dwight Howard would be an egregious wrong. I’ll get into this more later when I do my awards picks, but anything other than a D Rose victory is a bit absurd. He led the team to the best record in the East (and 2nd best in the NBA), doesn’t have a superstar like D Wade playing next to him and isn’t a liability in the clutch or getting suspended all the time like Howard. I know I’m partial because I would be willing to take a bullet if it meant the Bulls would win the title, but Rose deserves the award. Have you seen the Bulls try to score without Rose on the floor, or even try to dribble the ball? It isn’t pretty.
According to his mentor and trainer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Anderson Silva will be defending his middleweight title in August at the UFC show in Brazil against Yushin Okami. Okami was the last man to beat Silva, back in 2006 via a controversial disqualification. This would seem to point to a fight with GSP not happening at all, especially when combined with this other tidbit from Big Nog: After the Okami fight, Anderson will be moving up to 205 lbs. permanently. This would presumably set up a match between Anderson and the winner of the match between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans for early next year. That means Anderson will be doing battle with Bones Jones early next year. As a fight fan, this excites me. As a Silva fan, this terrifies me. Both men legitimately have what it takes to decisively beat the other, and with Silva being considerably older and Jones having a massive size advantage, this fight could mean either the end of Anderson’s undefeated streak or another notch in his resume as the greatest fighter of all time.
And in the occasional pro wrestling story, my brother tells me that WWE Superstar Edge has announced his retirement due to a reaggravation of the neck injury he suffered back in 2003. The internet sites are reporting that this is a legitimate retirement and not a work. If this is true, it marks the end of another Attitude era star and one of the few established names remaining on their talent roster. He had a nice run near the top of the company over the past six years as a heel. One of my favorite moments in WWE history came from Edge. In 2005, my roommate and I went to the live taping of the pay per view New Year’s Revolution. At the end of the show, after John Cena had retained the WWE title to the chagrin of the Albany fans, Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot and beat John Cena for his first world title victory. The fans went nuts, Edge went nuts, my roommate and I went nuts. It was pretty wild, and preserved on DVD forever if you don’t believe me about my celebration.
In the final bit of news, it appears Strikeforce is going to air a live pay per view event this summer and its main event will apparently be Dan Henderson vs Fedor Emelianenko. Originally, the talk was that this was going to be for Henderson’s light heavyweight title, but it is looking more like it will be fought at a 220 lb. catchweight. If this is so, this fight puts Hendo at a major disadvantage. He is small for 205, as evidenced by the fact that he is also capable of fighting at 185. Fedor is a small heavyweight, coming in around 225-230 lbs and he is doughy at that weight. Only having to cut ten pounds while Hendo has to try to gain near fifteen is unfair. I think a 215 catchweight makes more sense for both men. Fedor still would have a size advantage, but I don’t think it would be as glaring at that weight, plus it better situates him for a run at light heavyweight if he wins this fight. For Henderson, he wouldn’t have to bulk up as much so he wouldn’t be in the same position as his fight against Big Nog in Pride where he gave up around thirty pounds and lost.
That does it for this installment of Odds and Sods. Check back for posts previewing the NBA Playoffs and Awards, the tribute to Pride, and predictions for this month’s UFC pay per view.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Odds and Sods
Didn't really have any particular topic to discuss today, but there are a bunch of little stories I felt like going over.
- This topic has already been gone over extensively by the mainstream media and on this page, but allegedly the Miami Heat had players crying after their loss to the Bulls over the weekend. I don't necessarily think its a sign of them being weak, but to cry after a losing streak in March is a bit weak. If anyone on that team should be crying it should be Coach Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade. Spo because he's going to get fired after this season when the losses aren't his fault. Dwyane Wade because he has become the odd man out on his own team. LeBron needs to stop shooting so much in the fourth quarter, as he becomes a stagnant jump shooter or lofts challenged layups that have little chance of going in. Get Wade, a proven closer, the ball more in the clutch and there won't be so many choke jobs. Also, perhaps implementing the Triangle/Motion offense would greatly help them, that and an offseason of learning to work off the ball. Also, don't hold a championship celebration before the season starts and perhaps the media and fans won't revel in your failures.
- Dan Henderson justified my ranking him as the ninth best MMA fighter of all-time by winning the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title this past Saturday. He probably couldn't contend for that same title in the UFC, but he is still relevant at the age of 40 and has a nuclear missile of a right hand. I think the UFC missed the boat by not keeping him around, as he can still fight and win against a high level of competition. Anderson Silva would still eat him for lunch, but he is still probably capable of winning a round against him like he did in their first fight.
- I don't know how ESPN's John Hollinger develops his metric statistics, but his playoff odds now features the Chicago Bulls as the team most likely to make it to and win the NBA Finals. Hollinger has not expressed much in the way of praise of the Bulls, so this came as quite a shock to me. I don't want to talk too much about it, since I'm a die-hard Bulls fan and I fear jinxing them, but it is about time the Bulls get some respect from ESPN. They are the only team to beat all the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, Celtics, Magic, and Heat. They have managed to do this with Noah and Boozer both missing significant chunks of the season and without a decent starting shooting guard. I'm not certain of their championship chances, but that team has believed in themselves from day one and have had great chemistry and it is nice to see that paying off.
- ,UFC 128 is coming up next week, and I believe that both my brother and I will have our predictions up for that. The main event is Jon "Bones" Jones against UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Jones has been very vocal in his confidence by saying things like, "In my mind I've already won." Nothing major, but over the past year it seems as if Jones has started to buy into his hype as the future of MMA. Shogun is coming into this fight after knee surgery and a lengthy layoff (nearly a year). This, and the aforementioned hype contribute to the fact Jones is a slight favorite heading into their fight. But it seems to me that Jones and a lot of fans are forgetting that Shogun Rua is a bad, bad man. Jones has never faced a man with the power and striking abilities of Shogun. Also, Shogun is no slouch off his back either and at age 28, should be in his athletic prime. While Jones is inexperienced with someone of Rua's style, Shogun has fought and defeated a wide range of people, from strong wrestlers like Mark Coleman to another skilled striker and grappler with a huge size advantage in Alistair Overeem, and was the first man to figure out how to beat Lyoto Machida. While Jones is favored and rightly so, I just think that people are overlooking just how good Shogun Rua is.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Strikeforce is blowing it...
The first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix was a couple of weeks ago and it was well received and provided a vicious knockout of former UFC Champ Andrei Arlovski by Pride veteran Sergei Kharitonov, as well as the incredible upset of Fedor Emelianenko by Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. It was the second loss in a row for Fedor, both coming after ten straight years without a loss. After the excitement delivered by these two fights, Strikeforce was gaining quite a bit of momentum. The next installment of the tournament was supposed to feature Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem against the man who beat him five years ago and beat Fedor in June, Fabricio Werdum. The other fight would pit perennial top ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett against Brett Rogers. The date was supposed to be on April 9, 2010 and all the card needed was a venue.
Now, Strikeforce has decided to postpone the tournament until June 18 and is instead going to have a welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz, who just fought for Strikeforce in late January, and UFC castoff Paul Daley on April 9. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that this gives them more time to promote the fights and sets up for the semi-finals to be in September and the finals in December. Coker is delusional.
This puts the winners from the first batch of fights on hold for seven months, a rather long layoff for fighters. This also gives the winners of the potential June fights a pretty short layoff of about two months, dependent on health issues. If a winner isn't allowed to fight for medical concerns, then the next round wouldn't be able to happen until October and would push the finals into next year, a year after the tournament started.
Coker is also mistaken in thinking the extra time to promote it is a good thing. There was a ton of buzz after the first fights and Strikeforce is crazy not to take advantage of that immediately. They will never top the UFC, but they can be a solid second source for mixed martial arts. The heavyweight Grand Prix was something different that the UFC would never use, so it set Strikeforce apart as something besides a place for prospects and UFC castoffs. It makes so much more sense to roll the momentum from the February fights into the early April ones. If those went well, they could have done the semi-finals in late summer/early fall and the finals in December with ease.
Instead, Strikeforce is going to have to compete with the UFC during their peak season. June should see a Brock Lesnar fight; a potential light heavyweight title match involving a combination of Shogun Rua, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, and Rampage Jackson; the UFC's first card in Brazil in the Zuffa era; and a possible Anderson Silva-GSP fight. Strikeforce is going to be lost in the shuffle of the annual summer MMA dominance of the UFC. By running the Grand Prix in early April, late-August/early September, and early/mid-December, Strikeforce could be running with minimal opposition.
Strikeforce has the opportunity to do something special to set it apart from the UFC for a spell. They have a heavyweight division that is arguably as good as that in the UFC and if they were running the Grand Prix more coherently (I didn't even get into the absurd rules and injury replacements), could do something really special for the sport. Even Dana White said he was intrigued by the tournament, and that dude never gives compliments to the opposition. If you can't take advantage of a situation where the man who tries to run every competitor into the ground is interested in what you're doing, there is something seriously wrong. Strikeforce is blowing it.
Now, Strikeforce has decided to postpone the tournament until June 18 and is instead going to have a welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz, who just fought for Strikeforce in late January, and UFC castoff Paul Daley on April 9. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that this gives them more time to promote the fights and sets up for the semi-finals to be in September and the finals in December. Coker is delusional.
This puts the winners from the first batch of fights on hold for seven months, a rather long layoff for fighters. This also gives the winners of the potential June fights a pretty short layoff of about two months, dependent on health issues. If a winner isn't allowed to fight for medical concerns, then the next round wouldn't be able to happen until October and would push the finals into next year, a year after the tournament started.
Coker is also mistaken in thinking the extra time to promote it is a good thing. There was a ton of buzz after the first fights and Strikeforce is crazy not to take advantage of that immediately. They will never top the UFC, but they can be a solid second source for mixed martial arts. The heavyweight Grand Prix was something different that the UFC would never use, so it set Strikeforce apart as something besides a place for prospects and UFC castoffs. It makes so much more sense to roll the momentum from the February fights into the early April ones. If those went well, they could have done the semi-finals in late summer/early fall and the finals in December with ease.
Instead, Strikeforce is going to have to compete with the UFC during their peak season. June should see a Brock Lesnar fight; a potential light heavyweight title match involving a combination of Shogun Rua, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, and Rampage Jackson; the UFC's first card in Brazil in the Zuffa era; and a possible Anderson Silva-GSP fight. Strikeforce is going to be lost in the shuffle of the annual summer MMA dominance of the UFC. By running the Grand Prix in early April, late-August/early September, and early/mid-December, Strikeforce could be running with minimal opposition.
Strikeforce has the opportunity to do something special to set it apart from the UFC for a spell. They have a heavyweight division that is arguably as good as that in the UFC and if they were running the Grand Prix more coherently (I didn't even get into the absurd rules and injury replacements), could do something really special for the sport. Even Dana White said he was intrigued by the tournament, and that dude never gives compliments to the opposition. If you can't take advantage of a situation where the man who tries to run every competitor into the ground is interested in what you're doing, there is something seriously wrong. Strikeforce is blowing it.
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