Sam Sheridan’s first book, A Fighter’s Heart, has become a favorite of MMA enthusiasts since its 2007 release. It chronicled Sheridan’s travels around the world, training and talking with many of the fight games’ biggest names, on a quest for insight on what drives them to win — and to find his own “fighter’s heart.” Along the way were stops with Brazilian Top Team in its heyday, a stint with Fairtex in Thailand, where he fought a Muay Thai bout, and a time in Iowa, including an MMA bout, under the tutelage of Pat Militech.

Last month, Sheridan released his follow-up, A Fighter’s Mind, where he turns his focus on the mental game of the world’s fighters and trainers. He describes it as “a gift back to the fighters who gave me so much in the first book. A book for fighters, and we are all fighting something.”

Sheridan spent a few moments with Total-MMA to talk about the book last week.

Sheridan, a Massachusetts native now living in California, answers my afternoon phone call sounding sleepy. I laugh for a moment that he’s adapting too well to his new West Coast home — but then it strikes me that this “mellow” may be one of his best assets. It’s easy to picture how he walks quietly into one environment after another in his books, relaxed but keeping his determination, and walks out with a good story.

“When I started thinking about this book, when I started talking about it to friends who are fighters, they were all really into it,” he recalls when asked about the creative process behind The Fighter’s Mind. “Who wouldn’t want to know how Randy Couture ‘game plans’? Rory Markham asked me to ask everybody what the last thing they think about, you know, right before the bell rings. Fighters have these questions about other successful fighters; guys they’ve seen perform well. It happened organically to come out of ideas, talking about this book.”

“Because of the success of the first book, a lot of fighters liked it, sort of appreciated it, I had some gravitas,” he continues. “People would return my phone calls, if you know what I mean. I had the opportunity to write the second book - to ask questions about the mental game – which a lot of journalists weren’t in a place to ask. I mean, Randy Couture called me back. I almost fell out of my chair!”

Couture actually provided one of the surprises of the book, at least for for me, as his entire mental approach seemed to be centered on “breaking” his opponent’s will. I expected a more inward focus for the MMA legend, but Sheridan sees it differently.

“It’s always a little hilarious when people talk about some of those top level wrestlers, how they’re fierce competitors – but they don’t want to hurt anybody, they just want to compete,” he says. “You know, ‘they don’t hate anybody.’ But you have to look at the big picture with a lot of these guys. He could be coaching at Oregon or something. There are ways to compete without climbing in the cage and fighting. This is also about personal stuff; and Randy enjoys testing these guys. But he doesn’t have to be mad and he doesn’t have to hate you. He has a very clinical approach, so it’s an interesting thing talking to him.”

As in A Fighter’s Heart, Sheridan offers prespectives on the matter of fighting which are expected to reach beyond professional rings and cages. Time spent with Renzo Gracie and Marcelo Garcia brings several ideas to light. It was Gracie who provided the quote, “everybody’s fighting something,” and his family’s art which provides a different opportunity for growth. Sheridan trains jiu-jitsu and sees it as having much to offer the world.

“Jiu-jitsu is kind of the perfect cure for bullies,” Sheridan says. “You go in there and you think you’re tough and what’s your first experience? You spend six months getting beat up by everybody. It really doesn’t matter how strong you are or how big you are. You get dominated. Then eventually you come out of it, able to survive and last. But, getting dominated is still fresh in your mind and you get strong.”

I’m reminded of Saulo Ribeiro’s description of jiu-jitsu as “a humbling journey” in his Total-MMA interview last year. Sheridan agrees.

“Right, exactly!” he exclaims. “One of the universal themes I get from this book is that, a ‘humbling journey.’ It’s something I heard a lot of guys say, in different ways. To never stop learning: that’s something that was hammered home.”

Another common thread from The Fighter’s Mind is the value of hard work. From the academic MMA approach of Greg Jackson, a memorable chapter with Dan Gable, to a surprise visit from chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, who now competes in jiu-jitsu — all of Sheridan’s subjects worked tirelessly to meet their goals.

“Josh is the real deal,” Sheridan relates. “He’s been training with Marcelo Garcia. He actually started out here in LA with John Machado. I think he ended up getting really close to Marcelo Garcia. Marcelo had to go to Brazil, Josh helped him come back, and now they opened a gym together (in New York). They’ve got a pretty successful gym going, they have a great website where they’re really trying to change the way people think of training online. Thinking about Josh, he’s a chess guy but he’s really brought a lot of these chess ideas. Chess is a tremendous study, been going on for hundreds of years. I think they’re still kind of putting things together but they’re having success.”

“It’s so funny how it became clear, that there’s no short cut,” he continues. “Nobody wants to work hard. Everybody wants a magic button, to take some steroids or whatever, and all of the sudden you can do whatever you want to do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist! They have a lot of devotion, and it’s not just showing up either. You have to train intelligently and get something out of each practice. Dan Gable talks about that, to not just survive but to get something out of it.”

Sheridan repeats the maxim from Miyamoto Musashi’s samurai treatise, The Book of Five Rings: “You know, ‘this requires practice’. People want to look past that.”

What about his own practice, then? A Fighter’s Heart saw Sheridan compete in Muay Thai and MMA bouts, but he says those days are behind him.

“I still train when I can… when I get off my butt and do it,” he laughs. “I’m not in fight shape and I don’t spar too much. When I get the headaches now, I think, listen, I’m not going to be a world champ. I’m into writing. I still think about getting into the ring though. I just don’t think I have time to get into that kind of shape. I’m a writer and I have all kinds of projects going on. I have to work every day. You have to give your life energy to something, and I can’t really afford to commit that.”

Still, he admits, “There’s a lot of ways to stay in shape. I still love it. It’s more of an addiction. It’s a hard thing to shake: the camaraderie, the joy of learning… just the dialogue of sparring.”

So we won’t see him in the ring again, and he also implies that his next project won’t be related to the martial arts. But Sheridan has certainly contributed to this dialogue in his own, perhaps more lasting, way. I’d like to thank him for it — and for taking the time to speak to us — about the answers he’s found.

ShareThis

I was originally going to do a story on Cain Velasquez and his rise in the heavyweight division following his latest win but after writing out a few paragraphs I kind of felt like it was a disservice to heap so much praise on Velasquez and not give equal space to the “other” heavyweight prospect, Junior dos Santos.

What was once arguably the worst division in the UFC is now becoming one of the best.  It’s really the only division in the UFC with a singular dominant champion and a group of about four guys that you could justify giving a title shot on merit and talent. 

Velasquez has made his case as one of the best heavyweights in the world and possibly for a title shot.  Last month, he answered the biggest question abuot his skillset; the difference in his standup game from his past fights to the Nogueira fight is night and day.  In all of his early TKO’s his striking and even ground and pound was just sloppy.  There’s nothing wrong with that, to this point the guy has only had eight fights.  That’s how he’s supposed to look.  The UFC was fast tracking him though.  He got matched up with Kongo and that’s the fight that really said to me that he’s great at one aspect of MMA, but against the upper echelon of the division he’s really going to struggle.  He controlled the striker on the mat and had him in compromising positions but just couldn’t put him away.  Against Rothwell he looked just as sloppy.  Powerful but sloppy.  Then Nogueira- he looked like one of the best strikers in MMA.   His hand speed seemed to be double what it was and he’s become much more of a technical striker in the timespan of a single training camp.  It’s exactly the kind of special talent that enables you to win a jiu jitsu blue belt championship at the Mundials after only seventeen months of training, and earns Javier Mendez’s praise as the most talented fighter he’s ever trained.

Junior dos Santos arrived in the UFC roughly the same time as Velasquez and with equal success but just hasn’t gotten the same level of hype.  He didn’t have the background of being an All-American collegiate wrestler like Velasquez; rather, a kickboxing background in Brazil where he amassed an undefeated record.  “Cigano” has already knocked out Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cro Cop, and Gilbert Yvel in his first four UFC fights.  It was Gabe Gonzaga who was supposed to fight dos Santos instead of Yvel, but had to pull out due to staph and luckily we get to see the original fight in just a few weeks on the Versus show.  Should dos Santos win that one, the heavyweight title picture becomes even cloudier. 

Dos Santos possesses such fast hand speed and such devastating power that a matchup with Velasquez would promise an amazing fight.  With the winner of Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin possibly getting a title shot at Lesnar this summer, dos Santos/Velasquez is a fight that we might actually get to see.  When you talk about the future of the sport and rising stars, it’s hard to mention Cain Velasquez without mentioning Junior dos Santos.  With these two fighters seemingly becoming the staples of the division, we won’t be short on exciting fights for years to come. 

ShareThis

Next month, we will add Featherweight and Bantamweight.

Please enjoy, and feel free to comment!

ShareThis

Pictured: A Screenshot from WMMA 2. So, You Wanna Be A Fighter Promoter?

The popularity of mixed martial arts is exploding, with TV shows, books and films springing up all around the sport, along with the newest of mediums, video games.

Most notably, a great deal of media attention was placed on ZUFFA’s release of UFC Undisputed last year. The game had flaws, and many hardcore MMA fans complained that it failed to capture the styles of the fighters. But it seperated itself by capturing the ebb and flow of the fight on the ground, and the deadly “puncher’s chance” that is so widely renowned in our sport. Overall, it give us a reasonably accurate representation of the sport, and easily the best representation of said sport on console today.

Or is it?

World of Mixed Martial Arts II offers a very different option for gamers; and it’s one that I highly recommend.

Grey Dog Software is a small company specialising in sport text management simulation games. It’s most famous for the Total Extreme Wrestling series, but it has also given us World of Mixed Martial Arts, a series currently in its second incarnation. The game essentially allows players to take control of their own MMA promotion. They are then expected to complete duties such as matchmaking, hiring and firing and promoting as they guide their promotion to the top of the MMA world.

The game follows a cycle. When you start the game you will undoubtedly want to bring in some ‘talent’ of your own, so you run off to the ‘character’ screen. The default database contains around 800 fictional fighters — an active community has also created various mods that allow play in several real world scenarios. In the default fictional universe, it is easy to find parallels to the real world – the dominant heavyweight sambo practitioner is Hassan Fezzik here, and the deadly Croatian head kick merchant goes by the name of Zvonimir Asanovic – and I guarantee you will find some fighters you want to bring in and make stars. You will then want to book your first show, so off you go to the ‘office screen’.

There you book your event — looking to select a main event that captures the imagination of your promotion’s fan base. The main qualifiers are the fighter’s perceived reputation in the MMA world and their name value in the region where you are holding event. It presents a pretty accurate representation of what casual MMA fans find attractive: a hot prospect with a high ‘performance’ score but low ‘name value’ and ‘reputation’ just won’t cut it with your fans.

With your event booked, you will then find yourself advancing the game till fight night. Once there, you’re taken to a screen where text commentary is provided by the in game website, named blurcat.com in obvious homage to a certain real life MMA website. The two fictional announcers break down the fights for you, picking their winners, before they bring you pay-by-play of the event. Though a major criticism of the game at release was the repetitiveness of the commentary, patches since release have addressed this somewhat. The fight engine used in the game is detailed; often you will see tepid stand up, other times a vastly superior ground fighter passing his opponent’s guard and tapping him out at lightning pace, or a wrestler laying on brutal ground and pound from the top while his opponent struggles to survive. Occasionally rarer events happen: gogoplatas, extravagant sweeps and scrambles, flashy knockout punches. There are lovely touches throughout: in one fight I booked between Aleksander Emelienako and Ben Rothwell, Aleks knocked his opponent down twice, both times gesturing for Rothwell to get to his feet. The third time, a frustrated “Grim Reaper” followed his opponent to the ground, only to get swept and submitted by Rothwell.

Following fight night it’s back to the contract negotiations: resigning your top stars and searching for new talent to replace those whose names have been soiled by high profile defeats. The cycle repeats, and yet surprisingly it takes a long, long time to feel repetitive. As your company grows you have to continue build stars and bring in new ones to keep up with your own soaring reputation. And if you get bored of one promotion, it’s easy to jump ship to another and begin a new challenge.

I could go on about this. I’m hooked. There’s the ability to hire your own commentators, run up to 8 man tournaments in one night, barter to show events on TV and PPV and the interviews on the in game website that feel like something straight off the real ‘net. Add to that random incidents – rivalries springing up, fighters jumping fight teams, making friends (and then refusing to fight them) and taking on protégés – and injuries, medical suspensions and steroid tests, you have a game that would really seem to accurately recreate the trial and tribulations of being a fight promoter.

So whether you choose to dive into the fictional universe, or download one of the several fantastic real world databases available from Grey Dog Software’s forum, you may find yourself suffering from ‘one more show’ syndrome, as you attempt to climb to the top of the MMA pyramid.

You can download a one month demo of WMMA II that will allow you to test whether it’s for you. But with all its diverse options of play and features, this game is highly recommended for all MMA fans.

ShareThis

What a night UFC 110 was.

A prospect in Cain Valasquez turned into a contender with a vicious one round knockout over a legend in Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. Bader continues to impress against an awkward and dangerous Keith Jardine. A more cautious Wanderlei Silva picked his spots to earn a decision over a younger (and much better than I anticipated) Michael Bisping. Even the mismatch to begin the show was made memorable, as Mirko Cro Cop hailed his overmatched opponent as showing the world what a Croatian heart is — reminding us that his Australian opponent was, like him, of Croatian heritage. All of these were punctuated by a wild Australian crowd, which contributed some of its own — at one point, hilariously chanting “Bisping’s a wanker!”

But to me, the UFC 110 highlight reel really belonged to one man: George Sotiropoulos, whose potent mix of jiu-jitsu and boxing carried the day in the fight of the night against Joe Stevenson.

If you missed the fight, watch it now — it’s out there, somewhere, for you. Then come back here.

Done? Great. You’re welcome.

It had been a long time coming for George, this moment in the sun. Last night, he heard thousands of Australian fans chant “Georgie” as he dominated a former title contender on a PPV main card fight for the first time. His travels and constant training, which took him from Australia to Guam, to Japan to New York, and finally now in Washington State — had finally paid off.

He enjoyed a good showing on TUF 5 — often seeming the competition’s best fighter — but lost shockingly to Tommy Speer, who has since dissappeared from contention. As Speer faded away, Sotiropoulos racked up win after win, but still failed to find the PPV spotlight.

On Saturday, all that changed. The best fighter it seemed, doesn’t always win. But Saturday proved that his day comes.

The best highlights were some of the adept groundwork we’ve come to expect from George. A gif was made of his BJJ 101 pass over a butterfly guard here from Smoogy off the Underground Forum. A guy hwo goes by the nick Zombie Prophet, of Sherdog’s forum, posted a nice gif here of the makings of a sweep, which began from what the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu guys call “Mission Control.” Sotiropoulos slips back into an omo plata, and then a sweep as Stevenson defended his shoulder. I love how Sotiropoulos walks off the cage to angle the shoulder lock as he controls Stevenson’s wrist. Poetry in motion.

I met George Sotiropoulos a couple of years ago when he conducted a seminar with Enson Inoue in Vancouver, WA. (He now trains out of the same gym, and its head instructor Leonard Gabriel cornered him for this bout.) The resulting interview (parts one and two) focused mostly on Inoue, but it offers some insight on Sotiropoulos as well. At that time, Sotiropoulos had moved to Long Island to train with Matt Serra, who he credited with improving all aspects of his game. He also mentioned that while other contestants struggled with adapting to the TUF competition, for him it felt like home. His life, he said, wasn’t that different now — he only needed to get to the gym himself, rather than ride in the van that Team Serra rode in for TUF.

Here’s hoping George is enjoying it. This success has been a long time coming, and it’s great to his hard work pay off.

ShareThis

It’s fight night! Looking back at our last round of predictions, where I spent more time complaining about advancing age than any actual analysis of UFC 109, it’s hard to miss how uninterested I was. What can I say? Trying to drum up interest for Couture vs. Coleman was like bleeding water from a stone. But ZUFFA’s making me forget it tonight (unless, of course, it’s my old age making me forget things again) — by assembling as strong an MMA card we’ll get in 2010 without the luster of a title fight. It also marks the first ever UFC to grace the shores of Australia, so expect a wild crowd screaming along every kangaroo hop of the way.

This, friends, is more like it.

Predictions by myself (TH), Jacob Lawton (JL), and Bryan Belangia (BB) follow. As always, our predictions are for entertainment purposes only.

Main Event — Heavyweights: Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira (32-5-1, 1 NC) vs. Cain Velasquez (7-0)

JL: This is a pivotal fight in the UFC’s tumultuous heavyweight division and the biggest UFC fight of the year so far. But styles make fights, and unfortunately for Cain, I think “Big Nog” has the style to put him away. Velasquez is a fantastic wrestler, but he can lack ground control; Ben Rothwell managed to get to his feet every time Velasquez bought him to the ground. Should Cain stand, he has to deal with “Minotauro’s” boxing. I can’t see any way Velasquez can win this fight; it’s just a matter of how Noguiera chooses to finish his opponent. Noguiera, round one submission.

BB: Velasquez is a prospect for sure, but so far everyone he’s beaten has had huge weaknesses in their game and Nogueira just doesn’t. Meanwhile, Cain’s takedowns are great but his striking is sloppy. I expect Nogueira to land a lot of punches and Cain to be on the defensive — constantly looking for a takedown, where he’ll likely be in trouble should the fight go to the ground. Nogueira takes this one in a unanimous decision.

TH: I disagree and actually see this fight as even money: Velasquez earning a decision or even a stoppage with a ground-and-pound assault, or Noguiera getting a sweep and locking in a submission to finish it. But forced to pick a side, with apologies to the Dave Camarillo & AKA trained prospect — I’ll go with the more proven commodity. Noguiera weathers that “Wrath of Cain” with an armbar, round three.

Co Main-Event — Middleweights: Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (32-10-1, 1 NC) vs. Michael “The Count” Bisping (19-2)

JL: Similarly, a storied veteran going up a member of the new generation. The key difference is that Silva has looked, in his recent fights, well below the stellar standard of his PRIDE run, losing five of his past six bouts. Bisping looked very good last autumn in his dismantling of Patrick Cote, and he will be looking to finish his rebound from his big knockout loss to Dan Henderson last July. Wanderlei is, like Henderson, heavy handed, and many will point to Bisping’s chin. Wanderlei, however, doesn’t have the same sort of takedown defense or ground game as Henderson, and on the feet I expect Bisping to have figured out that circling towards the power hand (as he did against Henderson) is a bad idea. I can see Bisping out pointing Silva over the three rounds.

BB: What people are quick to look past when they say Silva is washed up is the fact that he’s always fighting the best in the world- Franklin, Jackson, Liddell, Henderson. Bisping just isn’t on that level. It’s his first fight at 185lbs, so it may be interesting to see if there’s a cardio issue, although I’ll guess it likely won’t come into play. Bisping will show a lot of respect for Silva’s power and he’ll try the stick and move tactic that he tried with Henderson. Silva is hungry for a win though and will stalk Bisping down with relentless pressure and force him into a mistake, and it’ll be lights out for “The Count”. Silva by KO in the first round.

TH: Yeah, these guys will bang it out right away, and simply put, Silva still has enough left. There’s nothing in Bisping’s history that leads me to believe he can win a confrontation like this. I expect a swarm of punches and knees to earn the “Axe Murderer” a finish in a wild first round slugfest.

Lightweights: Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (36-10) vs. George Sotiropolous (11-2)

JL: Hot prospect Sotiropolous, undefeated in his “official” four fight UFC career, is one of two Aussies on the main card: and a very well rounded, hungry fighter. I feel that ‘Daddy’ may be past his best, and that Sotiropolous is just coming into his prime. The veteran Stevenson is well known for being hard to finish, so a crowd pleasing victory for the Aussie via decision.

BB: This is a fight I’m really looking forward to. Both guys really fight at a high pace and I fully expect it to be one of the most action packed fights on the card. Sotiropoulos has looked great since he’s been in the UFC. Stevenson basically hit a wall in the division after he lost to BJ Penn, with two losses in a row to Florian and Sanchez, but he’s won his last two fights since joining Greg Jackson’s camp. Stevenson beat Nate Diaz by using his wrestling and basically just controlling him for the length of the fight even though Diaz is dangerous on the ground. Sotiropoulos is also dangerous on the ground and a much more physical fighter than Diaz. Joe Daddy has been submitted four times in his career and look for it to be five against Sotiropoulos as he’ll just be too much for Joe to handle.

TH: I’m suprised we’re unanimous here as George is the betting underdog — but yeah, I like him to finally turn the corner with a star-making performance here. His jiu-jitsu a joy to watch and I think his striking may be enough to keep Joe honest. Joe’s cagey though, and I think a decision win is the most likely outcome.

Light Heavyweights: Keith Jardine (14-7-1) vs. Ryan Bader (11-0)

JL: Bar the lucky punch, I can’t see Jardine beating the incredibly naturally gifted Bader. Bader to take it via first round Ground and Pound.

BB: This just isn’t a good matchup for Jardine. Jardine’s only chance will be for the wrestler Bader for some odd reason deciding to strike, in which case Jardine will just pick him apart on the feet. It’s Bader’s fight to lose since he can control where it will take place. Bader will win by ground and pound or decision. I’ll give Jardine the benefit of the doubt- Bader by unanimous decision.

TH: We are unanimous — I see this as kind of a spotlight fight for Bader, but look for Jardine to reach the final bell.

Heavyweights: Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic (25-7-2, 1 NC) vs. Anthony Perosh (10-5)

JL: The Elvis Sinosic-trained Anthony Perosh is the other Aussie to appear at UFC 110. Unfortunately he is otherwise nothing special, and even a past-his-prime Cro Cop should have no problem dismantling him. Filipovic by 1st round TKO.

BB: Cro Cop is a shell of his former self — I don’t expect it to be a pretty fight — but I fully expect Cro Cop to get a second round TKO. Of course this will be followed with people proclaiming that he’s “back”, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

TH: Yeah, I’m not expecting much here either. Perosh circles for a bit before Cro Cop splatters him for a first round knockout. But it might be fun to see my old favorite heavyweight notch a win for old time’s sake.

Enjoy the fights!

ShareThis

As Wanderlei Silva prepares for his first fight in the UFC at 185lbs, that’s the biggest question.  Silva has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights and has only one win since returning to the UFC.  The losses though are nothing to get down about.  Many fighters have fell to the hands of Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, and Rich Franklin.  The test that he faces now is much different.

By now you’ve likely seen glimpses of Silva’s training routine which rivals that of even the most in-shape MMA atheletes.  But cutting the additional 15lbs from what he normally cut while fighting at LHW is a task that a lot of atheletes struggle with initially when dropping to a lower weight class.  We saw a small glimpse of this in the catchweight 195lb contest against Rich Franklin.  It was an extremely close fight-one that I actually scored for Silva, but his cardio seemed to suffer a bit and likely contributed to the decision loss as he was visibly exhausted in the last two rounds of the fight.  That fight occurred eight months ago though and on the surface that seems like ample time to get the body acclimated to the additional weight cut. 

In Silva’s first fight back in the UFC, he seemed back to his old form while slugging it out with LHW great Chuck Liddell for three rounds in one of the most memorable UFC fights to date.  He bounced back from the defeat with a dominant knock out of the unorthodox Keith Jardine only to get flash KO’d in his next fight out against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.  The decision loss to Rich Franklin I believe tells a completely different story-one of still being hungry and still willing to leave it all in the cage. 

From afar, it seems the matchup with Bisping is tailor made for Silva.  Bisping hasn’t faced a lot of powerful strikers and the last one he did face put his lights out.  Both will look to keep the fight standing but likely with different tactics.  Silva will once again be the agressor with Bisping on the defensive looking to land punches and get out of the way.  Speed is the key, and if Silva can at least retain what speed he did have, the fight will go his way, otherwise Bisping will be quicker to the punch and Silva’s chin will again be tested. 

This fight against Michael Bisping is more of an entry exam to the MW division for Silva.  A loss to Bisping proves what many already believe-his best days are behind him and it’s likely time to hang it up, while a win will show that he’s still got something left-the desire and perhaps the ability to become a champion once again. 

ShareThis

Pictured: Demian Maia being Knocked Out by Nate Marquardt at UFC 102.

Demian Maia is a world-class grappler. That needs to be said before I start to point out his flaws, and the flaws in his gaining of a title shot at UFC 112 next month in Abu Dhabi. His MMA record of 12-1 suggests a fantastic competitor – and he is – but he is far from the finished article, and far from the real deal. So let’s take a little look at Demian’s MMA journey, before we look at why he shouldn’t be next in line for the UFC Middleweight Title.

Maia had his first MMA fight in 2001, but it was not until 2005 that he made the full time jump from submission grappling to MMA. After a one off fight in Finland, Maia won the innagural Super Challenge tournament in Brazil, but it took a victory of Ryan Stout for small time American promotion GFC before he got his call up to the big league. He arrived in the UFC with a 6-0 record and the sort of grappling pedigree that, in the early years of MMA, would have guaranteed you success. He was like a more athletic Royce Gracie, fantastically gifted on the ground, but with next to no answer to stand up fighting.

The first five fights of Maia’s UFC career all ended by gnarly submissions, with three ending in the first round. But when you look at his opponents, all of them, bar Chael Sonnen, can be described as ‘average’. A selection of veterans who’d made their names in times where the competition was less talented, and newcomers with little combat sports experience. His victory over Sonnen was the first in his career that cause people to sit up and take notice; it’s one thing to triangle choke Ed Herman, it’s another to do the same to Chael Sonnen.

Which leads us to his bout with Nate Marquardt, and to ‘that’ punch. Maia was demolished in 21 seconds at UFC 102, and it was all his fault. With all his grappling pedigree, Maia decided to stand with Marquardt, who is famous for his heavy hands, and got punished. Maia has since claimed he was ready to engage Marquardt on the ground, and that the ref had called the fight early, but if you watch the replays, there can be no doubt that Marquardt put his lights out with the big right hand.

You’d think Maia would have learnt his lesson, the lesson that all MMA fighters must learn, that one about playing to your strengths and your opponent’s weaknesses. But no, at UFC 109, Maia decided to stand against Dan Miller. Miller is a good solid all rounder, and he has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but I doubt he would’ve been able to hang for long on the ground with a fresh Maia. Joe Rogan commented that Maia’s stand up had improved, but it still wasn’t good. And therein lies the problem.

If Demian Maia stands against Anderson Silva, he will get his head taken off. There shouldn’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind about that. Silva is one of the best strikers to grace this sport, period. He also has a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, and, unlike Miller, he has a wealth of in experience at utilising his skills; his time with the Nogueira brothers should have guaranteed his ability to apply his skills. Silva should stalemate Maia on the ground and destroy him standing. I don’t expect the fight to get out of the first; Marquardt has already questioned Maia’s chin, and Silva shouldn’t have any problem lighting him up. Maia fighting Silva will be one sided, predictable, and a waste of the great champion’s time when there are more appropriate opponents out there.

So, who do I think should take the fight off Maia and face Silva? No one. Wait until Sonnen or Belfort (preferably Sonnen) is fit to fight and pull Silva’s fight from the card. UFC 112 doesn’t need the additional drawing power of the Middleweight champion; it already has BJ Penn defending his title against wrestling star Frank Edgar, and Renzo Gracie’s long anticipated UFC debut against Matt Hughes. Those two fights make a great PPV headlining double act; there’s no need for Silva to fight on that card, so give him a few months off and wait until Sonnen or Belfort is ready to take the fight, and make a UFC title match that will be more competitive. Just my two pence.

ShareThis

It’s always a pleasure to hear from the greatest of all time.

Yesterday, two guys on the Underground Forum offered a translation of an interview with Fedor Emilianenko conducted recently by a Ukranian website. One of he two is Igor Karaev, a Moscow-based MMA promoter who has been a great asset at the Underground for some time now. I don’t highlight them or really any other folks’ work too often here, but an exception is in order. There is just a “humble pride” about Fedor which we simply don’t see enough, in any sport, and MMA fans owe it to themselves to give it a look. Total-MMA readers who can read Russian can enjoy it here, otherwise, click on the link at MixedMartialArts.com for the translation from Kareav and his pal who goes by the nick, TMR.

Among the highlights:

Fedor will appear in an action movie which will be released in April of this year. I’m looking forward to seeing this. (Then again, I enjoyed Rob Kaman’s cameo in “Blood Fist” with Don “The Dragon” Wilson. I even kind of liked Cro-Cop’s flick. In fact I’d like to begin an “MMA Cinema” series of reviews here actually, maybe starting with Kurosawa’s “Judo Story” - which is actually great by anyone’s standards…) Fedor describes his acting debut: “The result will be in April. I will probably hide during that period, hide somewhere and not leave my house. But to be fair, it didn’t look too bad at all.” You’ve got to love that.

When asked about other Russian athletes who have moved away to train elsewhere, Fedor denies that training is better in other countries. He says they move away because “they forget where they are from, and what their flags are.”

His key to success is improving in all aspects of his skillset. He echoes Sun Tzu’s maxim about knowing both weaknesses & strengths of oneself and one’s opponent. Regarding his own weaknesses, he offers: “I do not talk about my weaknesses, I work on them.” (So far, he’s always been a step ahead…)

Fedor also clarifies his national identity. He was born in Ukraine during the days of the Soviet Union, but grew up and considers himself Russian; and actually doesn’t really distinguish the two. It wouldn’t be a Fedor interview without a religous interlude. Also, he also briefly offers opinions on judo and SAMBO competition in Russia — but I wish the interviewer asked about the recent rule change in judo which outlaws of grabbing the legs. This really hurts the efficacy of judo in many fans’ eyes — it would be interesting to see the perspective of a man who has reached the pinnacle of MMA with his judo base. But hey, that’s a minor complaint. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

ShareThis

There are many good things about living in the United Kingdom. Free healthcare. Our currency is vastly superior to yours. All the big MMA cards are on free TV. But there is one major problem, and that’s the fact that MMA events tend to start at 10pm Eastern, which is 2am over here. Last Saturday night/Sunday morning I sat up with a mate and watched a long, long night of TV, including UFC 109. Below is what my poor, poor brain made of it all.

11pm – The prelims start in three hours. I find myself sitting through WWE’s Superstars TV show with a can of lager. Tempted to sleep until two. Resist temptation.

1:30am – I’ve now watched two whole WWE shows, and my mind can’t take much more of this ridiculousness. Pro wrestling’s all right in short bursts, but three hours? Brain… suffering… meltdown…

2am – Prelims are starting! My friend’s just fallen asleep! Lightweight! The first fight was Ronys Torres’ UFC debut against perennial midcarder Melvin Guillard. The only thing that sticks in the mind the night after was Joe Rogan losing his temper following the cornermen spilling ice all over the Octagon. “It’s like the Three Stooges in there!” fumed Rogan. “This is awesome! Joe Rogan doing play-by-play on ice!” Goldberg babbled. Yeah, it’s better than the play-by-play you do on MMA, sadly, Goldie. After that hilarity, the fight always had something high to live up to. Not a bad fight, but nothing to cause me to remember it. Guillard took a decision, which I felt could’ve gone either way.

2:30am – Fight two saw Mac Danzig face Justin Bucholz in what Rogan dubbed a “winner leaves town match”. Hang on? “I always do that, mixing up my words,” whinged Rogan, “I talk too much.” Goldberg laughed nervously, incompetent as always. The fight itself was unmemorable as the first, with Danzig taking a routine decision after grinding out the youngster, who came to the UFC with a 7-1 record, and will leave with a 8-5.

3am – Main card time! Once again I was presented with beardy Rogan and Goldberg. For some reason I can remember thinking how much Goldberg’s neck wobbled when he talked. Funny how my brain works, eh? Anyway, the opener saw Frank Trigg face down Matt Serra. Serra came out to Rocky’s “Gonna Fly Now” theme. Rogan acted surprised. It’s not, really, anymore, is it? In the fight, Serra spent two minutes flapping at Trigg with his stubby little arms before putting his lights out with a thunderous overhand and pounding him out on the ground. The ref called the fight 2:23 into the first round. Serra went on to do a cute celebration for his daughter Angelina. Yeah, like she’s going to be up this late watching Daddy pulverise people. Serra’s likeable as ever in the interview, Rogan having to do next to no legwork to get the New Yorker at his charming best.

3:30am – Middleweight time, with Dan Miller facing off with submission master Demian Maia. The fight was sleep inducing, which is a bad thing at near 4 in the morning. I kept my eyes peeled open as the duo spent two rounds circling, with Rogan complementing Maia’s stand up, before Maia finally took Miller to the ground in the 3^rd, only to be tied up in the black belt’s guard. Maia took the decision with little problem, before saying that he plans a title shot in the future. My main memory is thinking that Maia looked like Lyoto Machida, but that’s probably because he had those Bad Boy eyes on the back of his trunks.

4:00am – A preliminary fight was shown, with Phil Davis manhandling Brian Stann for 15 minutes. Not the most exciting fight, but exciting from the point of view that Davis looked a lot like GSP without the submission and striking skills. If he can add those to a wrestling game as stellar as his, then he could be the next big thing at 205.

4:30am – Two welterweights stepped up next, with scary Paulo Thiago taking on mediocre Mike Swick. The first round was lacklustre, but the second woke me up nice and fast, with Swick nearly taking Thiago’s head off with a looping punch, before being dropped by Thiago’s counter left and being choked out by the Brazillian’s airtight D’arce choke. Aside from his loss to Jon Fitch (which isn’t suprising, see as Fitch is one of the most awkward people in the world to fight). Thiago also has title ambitions, apparently. His interview was forgettable, so I can’t be sure.

5:00am – Time for the Co-Main Event of the Evening! Even Buffer’s ‘exciting’ voice fails to stir much excitement in me. Sonnen proceeds to lie on BJJ black belt Marquardt, while the latter goes for precisely no submissions, except one tight guillotine off a takedown early in the first. The second saw Sonnen opened up with a slicing elbow by Marquardt from his back, and blood went everywhere. I was surprised the ref didn’t break them up to let the cutman have a look at that thing, it was pumping out; the fighters were both red, as was the mat. The third round saw more active top work from Sonnen, with Marquardt finding his second wind towards the end and nearly finishing Sonnen with another monster guillotine. Sonnen took the fight unanimously on the scorecards, and has taken everyone by surprise again. Not sure what I thought of his post fight interview. My brain had probably ceased functioning.

5:30am – Couture came out for his fight against Coleman to Ted Nugent’s ‘Stranglehold’. Rogan got excited, claiming this would guarantee a choke finish. Don’t be silly, Joe, we’re going to be treated to three rounds of leg humpi… oh. There goes that theory, with Couture putting Coleman down and choking him out for the win in the middle of the second. Coleman looked appalling, his hands were low, his chin was high and he was moving awkwardly, no surprise he’s since been cut from the UFC. Couture is his usual friendly self in the interview, though as usual he was a bit worried by the puppy eyes Rogan kept shooting him. Coleman’s interview started poor, the old man didn’t seem to know where he was. It got better, though, when Tito Ortiz claimed his wife “has bigger balls than you (Coleman)”, Mark flipped his lid. Joe Rogan chuckled, embarrassed. “How dare you…” The crowd were lapping it up, and even I laughed as Coleman borrowed Rogan’s mic to lay into Ortiz. Ah, now I’m awake. Pity it’s nearly 6am and the shows over.

5:45am – Another prelim, eh? And there I was getting ready to sleep, and it’s actually one I care about; the Gracies make their triumphal return to the UFC with heavyweight prospect Rolles. What’s this? He’s gassed faster than Matt Mitrione on the Ultimate Fighter? And the mediocre Mexicutioner has pounded him out in the second? Wow. This is mind blowing. Pity my body no longer works properly.

6:00am – Off goes Goldberg on his end of show mega plug. I visit the toilet. And spend quarter of an hour trying to fall asleep. Damn you Coleman, and your entertaining interviews.

Before I go, I am in the processing of trying to arrange an interview with UFC Welterweight John Hathaway, who is pencilled in to fight Diego Sanchez on the 29^th May at UFC 114.  If you have any questions you would like asked, please leave them as comments below. Thank you!

ShareThis