If You Smell What Chael is Cookin
As a casual fan of pro wrestling, and with the inevitable comparisons between the UFC and WWE, I think that UFC fighters can learn something from pro wrestlers as far as self-promotion and incorporating more entertainment into the product that fans are paying for. That being said, the most successful “characters” in pro wrestling are not really characters at all. The guy who can find a way to amplify his own, everyday personality by 10 and incorporate that into his persona, is the guy who will put asses in the seats. This is where Chael Sonnen has gone wrong; the character he is playing now is too contrived, too calculated, and way too predictable. If this is how he’s going to spend the next several months leading into his summer rematch with Anderson Silva, you’re going to see more and more American fans rooting for the Brazillian to retain the belt in his home country.
UFC On FOX 2 Really Needs To Deliver
First things first, before I get into UFC on FOX 2; I’d like to take a minute to address the piece I wrote two weeks ago about Anthony Johnson.
A real man can admit when he’s wrong and let me be the first to say, I WAS DEAD WRONG! I still believe in Anthony Johnson’s potential as an elite fighter, but obviously his work ethic and commitment to the sport are questionable at best. Believe me, the trolls on the message boards have been letting me hear about it and I fully accept the criticism. Let me say this though, at least I had the cojones to make such an outlandish claim in a public forum.
The backlash from the Monday morning quarterbacks does not bother me at all though. I liken it to pro wrestling; they say the worst thing to happen to a pro wrestler is to get no reaction at all. They’d rather get booed out of the arena than hear crickets. At least I’m getting a reaction….
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson Will Be The UFC Middleweight Champion By The End of 2012
Over the past several years, aside from Chael Sonnen, there seems to be a lack of legitimate threats to Anderson Silva’s reign as the king of the UFC’s middleweight division. That all changes on Saturday night in Brazil when Anthony “Rumble” Johnson makes his 185 lb. debut against Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort. Belfort is a true legend in the sport and one of the only fighters to remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape of MMA since his debut in 1996. 16 years of success in MMA, or any sport for that matter, is a truly remarkable feat and Belfort is not an easy matchup for anyone, especially a fighter who is moving up a weight class.
Joe Rogan: Educating Fight Fans One Event at a Time
Your average American may know Joe Rogan as the handyman from “NewsRadio”, the testosterone laden host of “Fear Factor”, the co-host on the short lived revival of “The Man Show”, or as a working stand up comedian. Joe has been entertaining and successful in nearly all of his ventures, but I believe that his largest impact has been felt through his contributions to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and to the advancement of mixed martial arts in general.
Coming from the viewpoint of someone who is strictly a fan of the sport, with no formal training or experience in any of the disciplines practiced within it, I have learned nearly everything that I know about the nuances of MMA from listening to Joe call nearly every fight since 2002. To the casual, bloodthirsty fight fan, (which is rapidly becoming the minority as the sport evolves) when the fight goes to the ground, they rant and rave for the referees to stand the fighters up to increase the likelihood of the coveted highlight reel knockout. Now don’t get me wrong, I like dramatic finishes as much as the next guy, but I’ve grown to appreciate the technique, mental capacity, and athletic ability that it takes to control the fight when it hits the mat. The longer I watch the sport, the more I understand what’s actually happening on the ground, thus increasing my appreciation for what I’m watching. The main reason for this is undoubtedly Joe Rogan.
UFC & FOX, A Match Made in Heaven
On Thursday, two entertainment superpowers joined forces when it was announced that FOX Sports Media Group and The Ultimate Fighting Championship entered into a seven year partnership that will see the UFC air live events on FOX while “The Ultimate Fighter” and some other secondary programming will air on FX and Fuel TV. UFC president Dana White has been hinting at partnering with a major television network for quite some time now, but has remained steadfast to certain stipulations within a deal and that the timing had to be right.
This will not be mixed martial arts first foray into primetime broadcasting on one of the big four networks, as Elite XC and Strikeforce have both aired several events on the CBS Network. For the hardcore fans like myself, the events on CBS were not a proper representation as to what MMA has to offer to the mainstream public. I liken it to professional football being represented by The Arena Football League rather the NFL. Everyone who knows anything about the sport knows that the UFC is the end all be all within the industry and to quote a certain wrestling promotion from the late 90’s… “It’s where the big boys play.”
Did Brock Lesnar Dodge a Career Ending Bullet?
The main event for this past Saturday’s UFC 131 initially pitted the UFC’s cash cow and former title holder Brock Lesnar taking on Brazilian stand up specialist Junior Dos Santos in a fight that would decide the next challenger to UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Valesquez. Bad luck in the form of a flare up of diverticulitis forced Lesnar to withdraw from the matchup and was replaced by Shane Carwin. Now in the grand scheme of things, a man’s health is a much more serious matter than title belts and bragging rights, but for my purposes here, I’m going to make the argument that being forced to withdraw from this matchup may have very well saved Brock Lesnar’s fighting career.
The show must go on and on Saturday night JDS put his striking and defensive wrestling chops on full display and completely dominated Carwin and nearly finished him with a brutal onslaught of strikes in the opening round. That’s right, the same Shane Carwin that had Lesnar reeling last year and would have taken him out had he not gassed out and collapsed at the beginning of round two, practically inviting Brock to take his neck and choke him out. Dos Santos’ speed, technique, and chin were just too much for Big Shane and in my humble opinion would have been an even bigger problem for Lesnar had the original main event taken place.
Sorry Miss Jackson, But is Rampage For Real?
UFC 130 was this past holiday weekend and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson definitely dominated, but the main event left many fight fans wondering, “who did we just see?” Was it “Rampage” or Quinton that breezed through Matt Hamill on his way to a unanimous decision?
Throughout the lead up to this fight and every other fight that Jackson has been involved in over the last few years we’ve heard the same song and dance. Quinton is a nice guy, Quinton loves to have fun, Quinton hates training, but he puts the work in because come fight night Quinton becomes “Rampage”… A savage beast that walks into the arena with chains around his neck howling at the moon. ‘Rampage” is bloodthirsty and his only objective is to tear his opponent limb from limb showing absolutely no remorse in the process. So I ask you again, did we see Quinton or “Rampage” last Saturday?
There’s no doubt that he won the fight, but did he do enough to get the hardcore MMA fan or more importantly the casual fight fan pumped up to see him go out and challenge Jon Jones for the 205 lb. strap? Did he convince people that he’s going to bring the fight to Jon Jones and that he has anything more than a puncher’s chance? He sure as hell didn’t convince this guy.
George St. Pierre: A True Champ
I must admit I am not much of a enthusiast of UFC or MMA. But after reading Dan Wetzel’s column on Yahoo Sports, I will always root for UFC welterweight champion George St. Pierre going forward.
GSP is using his platform to speak out against the horrors of bullying. Growing up in rural Quebec, he was an outcast, and constantly lived in fear as a young boy. While he tried to fight back, he often lost. That obviously does not happen too often nowadays.
St. Pierre is only too willing to share his stories so he can prevent others from suffering the same terrible experiences in their childhoods. I admire and thank the man, even if he never reads this. My childhood was such a nightmare from the day I first attended kindergarten, until my senior year of high school. It was not until I won the New York Knicks High School Sportswriters Award in my final year that the bullying ceased, for the most part. When a picture of myself and Bernard King appeared in the school library’s showcase, I suddenly had widespread respect. Still, I would get trouble on the streets, etc., that really did not stop until college.
The Ultimate fighter is Back
The new season of The Ultimate fighter is back and it’s hard to tell if the prime entertainment will be in the octagon, or in the house. Not sure how I feel about that. Personally I became a fan of MMA by watching what happens inside the ring. If I wanted to see the drama behind the scenes, I’d just hang out with Tito Ortiz and his porn-star wife. Or if Tito was detained (I laughed a little inside while typing that), I’d follow Chuck Lidell as he tried, unsuccessfully, to crash celebrity birthday parties. Leo DiCaprio and his security guards proved too much in that bout.
In all seriousness though, TUF always seems to put together at least a couple of future stars in the sport. Don’t believe me, just look at the list of winners and runners up. Diego Sanchez, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans have all won, and many others win or lose have made a name for themselves. Whether you do Fantasy MMA or not, it’s a great way to possibly see the next Matt Serra or Michael Bisping (also both winners). This year’s cast is welterweights, and they look pretty good too. I’ve got the early money on either Len Bentley of Brock Lesnar’s team, or Javier Torres on team Junior Dos Santos.
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