Archive for April, 2009

With the second anniversary of PRIDE’s funeral now having passed, its brought about much discussion about questions regarding how good PRIDE was compared to the UFC and whether or not its fighters were overvalued. None of this has resulted in questions about whether or not said overstated evaluation of PRIDE’s competitors has led those people to, by virtue of strawman #1, over value the fighters whom have beaten them in the UFC. And that’s what brings me to this post and to discuss Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic, who single handedly has screwed up the heavyweight rankings for about the next 5 years. How did this happen? A touch of smoke and mirrors & a willing public were key.

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Its one thing to call one’s self an “anarchist”. How many teenagers have done that in the midst of etching Pantera or Exploited logos into the backs of their notebooks? Its almost a rite of passage for disaffected youth before going off to college and being exposed to the real world. But there are those for whom the viewpoint never changes: everyone really is out to get stop them and their dreams, and damn it, they’re angry and not going to take it anymore.

Enter then Jeff Monson. Following a pair of legal mishaps, both reprehensible and borderline comical in nature, Monson has gone out and apparently convinced himself that he is the victim and deserves a shot at Fedor. I’m fairly certain the Iraq war didn’t beat up his woman, but then again, who knows? What I do know for certain is that Monson has competed three times in the last 2 weeks, racking up all wins against a varied set of competition. While the Roy Nelson win was, as I and everyone else on the internet said a couple weeks ago, hardly decisive or even deserved, the other two victories were certainly clear Ws for the one time Division I wrestler turned submission grappler. One of them came against fringe contender Sergei Kharitonov in a fairly dominant performance, pushing Monson into contention as a borderline top ten heavyweight. Certainly he deserves to be in the conversation every bit as much as Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez: He may have lost fights, unlike them, but he’s also fought 33 more times than Velasquez. Sure, he lost to Tim Sylvia, but who has Carwin beaten that’s better? What argurably separates Monson from either of those guys at this very moment is timing and opportunity. And so it goes for Fedor.

While he wouldn’t be Fedor’s greatest defense, he’s a perfectly sound one who brings everything to the table Fujita did except that he’s better in every arena. Mark Hunt showed an ability to force Fedor into uncomfortable positions, and he’s not remotely the grappler Monson is. Monson is, at this moment, easily ranked higher than other free agents like Fabricio Werdum or Paul Buentello, whom would be Fedor’s most likely non-Barnett opposition on July 11th. Add to that Monson’s status as Fedor’s original Bodog opponent in 2007 and you have a ready made story of redemption.  

However, this is not to suggest that this is the defense we all want to see from Fedor. It is anything but. It is certainly every bit as legitimate as Nogueira/Mir in a rankings sense, however, and about as dangerous for the champion in this case as it was on paper then for the former PRIDE world heavyweight champion. Now the only question is whether or not DREAM has any interest in putting the fight together over alternative (and more popular) opposition like Overeem or Cro-Cop, as Monson seems to be making it clear that fighting in the US is increasingly less of an option.

4/8 EDIT: Someone made light of the fact that Roy Nelson is a training partner for Monson. Well, explains why the fight was so boring in March: They likely agreed to not hurt each other. Its long been suspected to be the case with Monson/Barnett that a similar deal was reached with Barnett having a fight with Pedro Rizzo a couple of weeks later.

One of the strange aspects of spending one’s time reading internet forums and the like is that one often sees a bizarre representation of reality. The reaction to the WEC as a sort of “major league” is an excellent example of that. Clearly, it isn’t. The ratings, live gates, attendance, hell, really everything point to it not being one. Its expulsion of most of the divisions it shared with the UFC didn’t necessarily change that, either. For years, Shooto promoted and sanctioned fights among the best athletes in the world below the weight classes that the UFC and PRIDE were most interested in, and saw most of the world’s best talent from 185 and below as a result. That fact did not make Shooto any closer to the major leagues just as the various top women’s MMA shows have failed to be so. So it is with World Extreme Cagefighting. That does not diminish, however, the quality of fighters, nor the quality of fights.

Additionally, there may be legitimate questions about why I would personally group Bellator alongside of the WEC for the sake of this review. My answer is simple: Do you really believe the WEC has a better lightweight division? Seriously, think about it. Bellator’s best lightweight is Eddie Alvarez, a guy who most have floating around the top 5. The best lightweight in the WEC is Jamie Varner, who floats around, oh, #15 or so generally. Next best in the WEC is Donald Cerrone. Next best in Bellator is Jorge Masvidal. Not much of a difference in class, is there? The rest of the folks in both shows are journeymen and prospects. Truth is, why wouldn’t you group them together when analyzing?

Well, the one thing the WEC definitely had over Bellator was the strength of the headliner. Its unlikely we’ll ever get a Fight of the Year from the newest startup in this sport, but the WEC likely provided just that this past weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems not long ago that PRIDE introduced a second tier show, Bushido, and ultimately used that event to push forward its non-heavyweight stars. Inargurably one of its centerpieces was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, a former Shooto champion and even UFC welterweight title challenger, a popular and exciting fighter with a storied background in Shooto. His value was such to PRIDE that the lightweight division there was ostensibly built around him; the weight class of 160 was not used by Shooto or any American organization, and like EXC’s lightweight division. The number came to exist because the fighter intended to become its champion (Sakurai could realistically be no lighter, a move mimicked by the Shaws to promote Nick Diaz (a move that, in retrospect, ended exactly the same way).

The successes of himself and of Takanori Gomi helped buoy the company’s “B-show” until its cancellation and reintegration with PRIDE FC’s main events during its death throes, and as such, made him a minor star in MMA, capable of bolstering interest in shows, though not necessarily filling large arenas all on his own. Following PRIDE’s collapse, Sakurai looked purely human against Hidehiko Hasegawa and frequent UFC loser Hironaka. Worse yet was his loss in Shooto to general unknown David Baron, leading many on this side of the Pacific to wonder if Sakurai’s days were over.

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As 2009 plugs on and I watch more and more of this year’s action, I find myself looking through a growing list of mind-numbingly boring decision fights.  Bader v. Marrero.  Maeda v. Miller.  WarGods. Sometimes as viewers we are blessed to have Bas Rutten bitterly complaining about the boredom along with us, but at times, we must suffer while hearing the commentary loudly tout the skill level of all involved.  And, for I am only human, when this happens my mind begins to wander.  As it does, I think about an obvious question – why?  Why are there so many of these boring fights?

Now, a distinction must be drawn here.  When you decide to check out a show like WarGods or any other B-level show, you accept the reality of some boring fights.  These are lower level fighters, often just starting in the business and learning.  It’s unfair to watch at this level and expect top end action, so they get somewhat of a pass.  But for the UFC that pass doesn’t apply.  Ostensibly the home to the absolute best mixed martial artists in the world, there is no reason for the UFC to be putting out dull fights at the high rate they are.

Of course, this is not a new phenomenon.  No matter how boring something today may be it can never compare to the horridness of Shamrock v. Severn, Shamrock v. Taktarov, Shamrock v. Gracie, or numerous other dull early fights (Shamrock or not).  But, like the B-level shows, these early shows get something of a free pass for featuring the sport in its development.  Fifteen years later, we have seen a lot of progress, and that progress should have led us beyond this point.  There is no reason that a fighter no should use the same tactic Shamrock used to hug Royce to a draw.  And yet they do.  So again, the question is, why?

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Another night of fights is over from Nashville, and there must be something that we can take away from it….right? Right? Well, a few things at least. 

-WEC: Being the AAA of MMA is still being minor league-

Poor Carlos Condit. Close decision loss, sure, but a loss nonetheless. Listen, the fact is that even if you think Condit won, and some do out there, I’m sure, he showed nothing to make me believe that he can compete with top level welters, nor should he have done it with you. Kampmann is not a ground specialist, is smaller, and has chronic knee problems. Oddly, he dominated Condit in takedowns and on the mat. So when you consider that, think rationally: How would Condit beat Fitch? Or Shields? Forget GSP. For Kampmann, a fight with he and Mike Swick would be a solid fight to elevate the winner to the next level. And yes, I am intentionally ignoring Ben Saunders in that equation.

In the lesser question of what this proves about the WEC, well, the best WEC middleweight is a loser in the UFC and so is the welterweight champ. Doesn’t do that promotion any favors, but I doubt Joe Silva and Dana really care. I don’t want to be to overtly negative: This is at the moment the UFC’s fight of the year, and argurably so for all of MMA thus far in 2009. It was a closely contested bout that had everything in it: Standup, clinch, ground work, takedowns, throws, the whole nine yards.

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