It doesn't really matter whether or not MMA transgender figher Fallon Fox was born a man or a woman.
Put her in the ring with Rousey and she'll get her arm broken off.
Showing posts with label Cage Rage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cage Rage. Show all posts
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Friday, October 19, 2012
Pity the fight fan
For they know not what they want. And it has beaten up many a promoter trying to walk the line between credible fights and fan-friendly ones.
Jones v. Sonnen may be a financial windfall, but it denigrates the UFC Light-Heavyweight belt. Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports.
As Iole mentions, the UFC roster has been devastated by injuries of late. It becomes very hard to sell a pay-per-view full of lightly fought rookies, last minute replacements, or the ton of MMA fighters on roster that aren't household names. There's a limit to the number of "Superfights" any fighting sport can realistically have. Boxing has Pacquiao-Mayweather now, and in the future they might have something with Andre Ward vs. Canelo Alvarez but there's only ever going to be two or three big names out there in adjacent weight classes that anyone really wants to see.
The UFC is in the same boat. Anderson Silva vs. George St. Pierre would be a GREAT fight, as would Silva vs. John Jones, but in each case one fighter is going to be giving up significant size to step in against a man who's at the top of a bigger division. The fans want those fights, but they rarely live up to the hype.
The biggest problem is that the casual fight fan is terribly uneducated and only knows a handful of fighters, most of whom headline credible cards against lesser known foes. While the hard-core fight fan realizes that Silva v. Weidman is a great fight, it's not going to have the juice of Silva v. Jones no matter how hard the UFC promotes it.
During it's early heyday the UFC had a roster full of star-caliber fighters who, unfortunately, were nearing the downside of their careers just as viewers were tuning in. Fighters like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin and Quinton Jackson generated viewer interest on the downsides of their career. Today's fans never got to see Bas Rutten fight, and that's a shame. He was a better striker in his prime than anyone fighting today.
The real shame is that, in many cases, most of the young up-and-coming fighters are more well-rounded and better fighters than many of the "stars" of the past. The casual fight fan doesn't see that however, clamoring for fights with the names they know. This leaves Dana White & Zuffa in the unenviable position of trying to cobble together profitable fight cards with a roster of healthy fighters with little buzz.
Remind you any of boxing? (Minus the corruption that is.)
Jones v. Sonnen may be a financial windfall, but it denigrates the UFC Light-Heavyweight belt. Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports.
Sonnen was knocked out in devastating fashion by Silva in the second round at UFC 148. That dropped him to 0-2 in his two bouts with Silva. Whether or not he won five of the seven rounds against Silva, he didn't win the fights. He lost.
One of the things that White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta did in taking control of the company in 2001 was to try to structure the titles in a way that they meant something.
There has been a path to a championship that is transparent and understandable. No one was given title shots just because of their name or who their manager happened to be, as has been the case far too long in boxing.
As Iole mentions, the UFC roster has been devastated by injuries of late. It becomes very hard to sell a pay-per-view full of lightly fought rookies, last minute replacements, or the ton of MMA fighters on roster that aren't household names. There's a limit to the number of "Superfights" any fighting sport can realistically have. Boxing has Pacquiao-Mayweather now, and in the future they might have something with Andre Ward vs. Canelo Alvarez but there's only ever going to be two or three big names out there in adjacent weight classes that anyone really wants to see.
The UFC is in the same boat. Anderson Silva vs. George St. Pierre would be a GREAT fight, as would Silva vs. John Jones, but in each case one fighter is going to be giving up significant size to step in against a man who's at the top of a bigger division. The fans want those fights, but they rarely live up to the hype.
The biggest problem is that the casual fight fan is terribly uneducated and only knows a handful of fighters, most of whom headline credible cards against lesser known foes. While the hard-core fight fan realizes that Silva v. Weidman is a great fight, it's not going to have the juice of Silva v. Jones no matter how hard the UFC promotes it.
During it's early heyday the UFC had a roster full of star-caliber fighters who, unfortunately, were nearing the downside of their careers just as viewers were tuning in. Fighters like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin and Quinton Jackson generated viewer interest on the downsides of their career. Today's fans never got to see Bas Rutten fight, and that's a shame. He was a better striker in his prime than anyone fighting today.
The real shame is that, in many cases, most of the young up-and-coming fighters are more well-rounded and better fighters than many of the "stars" of the past. The casual fight fan doesn't see that however, clamoring for fights with the names they know. This leaves Dana White & Zuffa in the unenviable position of trying to cobble together profitable fight cards with a roster of healthy fighters with little buzz.
Remind you any of boxing? (Minus the corruption that is.)
Friday, September 04, 2009
You stay classy Oregon
Was he provoked? Does it matter? And why the hell go after the fans?
This ugly moment at the end of an ugly game by Oregon pretty much sums up the night for them. They got in some meaningless punches, but ultimately lost where it counted.
LaGarrette Blount should be kicked off the team, or given a full-year suspension at minimum. Possibly some anger management classes? Even if he was 'provoked' by the Boise St. player you still have to be mature enough not to sock a guy in the grill when television cameras are rolling. Whatever he said, the Boise St. player didn't throw a punch. The way he was smiling and the coach was there you have to think that words were exchanged by both players.
Not that it will matter. Ducks fans will defend it, and Boise St. players will act as if its the greatest affront to sportsmanship in like....ever. It wasn't, of course, but it was a punk move by a punk young man who needs to grow up.
And yes, I'm speaking of both the puncher and the punchee. Winning with class is just important as losing with class.
(Man am I glad it's College Football Season again)
More:
Seattle Sports Blog
Detroit Free Press
Fox Sports
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Arlovski moves back
Straight back....
[Kevin Iole, Yahoo! sports]
The rest of the Strikeforce card was entertaining, if a bit overwrought by the limited announcing skill of Frank Shamrock.
Strikeforce Results:
Kevin Whitehead Def. Kevin Randleman - Unanimous decision.
Joe Riggs Def. Phil Baroni - Unanimous decision.
These two fights were entertaining, if one sided. Whitehead was better than Randleman in every area. The sad thing is, most fight experts consider Randleman to be among the most talented MMA fighters in the game. If he could just sort out the mental aspect he'd be a top contender. Riggs destroyed Baroni, who's always been just not good enough to challenge the big names.
Nick Diaz Def. Steve Smith via Rear Naked Choke 1:41 of Round Three.
Diaz has all of the tools to be great, except that he's one of the main reason's casual observers consider MMA to be amateur-hour fighting done by thugs. You'll not find worse sportsmanship in the ring than Diaz exhibits. It was also tiring listening to Frank Shamrock tell us how 'great' of a boxer Diaz is. Uhhh....no.
Brett Rodgers def. Andrei Arlovski KO :22 sec round 1. (see above)
Main Event:
Jake Shields def. Robbie Lawler Guillotine choke 2:02 Round 1.
This was a great fight, won by a grappler who lured a puncher into an inescapeable choke before the latter knew what hit him. After the ref intervened, Lawler (visibly disgusted) reached his hand down and helped the victorious Shields off the mat in a show of sportsmanship. To contrast this, after Diaz won he used his feet to shove Smith away. The sport needs more competitors like Lawler and Shields and less like Diaz if it ever wants to be seen by the general public as more than a group of thugs beating each other up
Good card, good fights, evenly matched. That's not something that you see in MMA outside of the UFC. It's something the sport needs more of, and a general discouragement of poor sportsmanship and non-competitive, gimmick fights. Congrats to Strikeforce for putting on a good show.
[Kevin Iole, Yahoo! sports]
There is little doubt what the future holds for the undefeated Rogers, who scored a spectacular first-round knockout of former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Andrei Arlovski Saturday on a Strikeforce card at the Scottrade Center.Like most recent Arlovski fights, he started out looking (and moving) well, UNTIL he had to move backwards to avoid a punch. Then he moved straight back with little head movement and got caught square on the chin. He was out on his feet, fell to the floor and referee "Big John" McCarthy jumped in and stopped the fight before Arlovski could take a further beating.
More serious questions surround the future of Arlovski, who has now been knocked out in each of his last two fights.
Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion, is good enough to beat the majority of the world’s heavyweights. He doesn’t look like a guy, though, who is prepared to beat the elite men in the important bouts.
The rest of the Strikeforce card was entertaining, if a bit overwrought by the limited announcing skill of Frank Shamrock.
Strikeforce Results:
Kevin Whitehead Def. Kevin Randleman - Unanimous decision.
Joe Riggs Def. Phil Baroni - Unanimous decision.
These two fights were entertaining, if one sided. Whitehead was better than Randleman in every area. The sad thing is, most fight experts consider Randleman to be among the most talented MMA fighters in the game. If he could just sort out the mental aspect he'd be a top contender. Riggs destroyed Baroni, who's always been just not good enough to challenge the big names.
Nick Diaz Def. Steve Smith via Rear Naked Choke 1:41 of Round Three.
Diaz has all of the tools to be great, except that he's one of the main reason's casual observers consider MMA to be amateur-hour fighting done by thugs. You'll not find worse sportsmanship in the ring than Diaz exhibits. It was also tiring listening to Frank Shamrock tell us how 'great' of a boxer Diaz is. Uhhh....no.
Brett Rodgers def. Andrei Arlovski KO :22 sec round 1. (see above)
Main Event:
Jake Shields def. Robbie Lawler Guillotine choke 2:02 Round 1.
This was a great fight, won by a grappler who lured a puncher into an inescapeable choke before the latter knew what hit him. After the ref intervened, Lawler (visibly disgusted) reached his hand down and helped the victorious Shields off the mat in a show of sportsmanship. To contrast this, after Diaz won he used his feet to shove Smith away. The sport needs more competitors like Lawler and Shields and less like Diaz if it ever wants to be seen by the general public as more than a group of thugs beating each other up
Good card, good fights, evenly matched. That's not something that you see in MMA outside of the UFC. It's something the sport needs more of, and a general discouragement of poor sportsmanship and non-competitive, gimmick fights. Congrats to Strikeforce for putting on a good show.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
MMA matures
And the fans revolt.
[Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports]
Last night, when watching the event at a local watering hole, I commented to others that fans and pundits would be unduly harsh on Silva this morning, and I was right. The irony of this is that Silva, one of the most prolific champions in MMA history, is just the type of fighter that's likely to have a long-time reign. He doesn't get hit all that often, and he is very measured in his offense.
Prior MMA champions, especially in the UFC, were most likely to charge in full-bore without giving much thought to the offense that was being returned. As a result of this MMA history is rife with short-time champions 'getting caught' in flash knock-downs by inferior competitors. One need only look to the Matt Serra upset of George "Rush" St. Pierre as evidence of this. Silva, a methodical, slick counter-puncher more-closely resembling Floyd Mayweather than Mike Tyson, is a winner, but does not lend himself to fights that are fan-friendly.
That Thalos Leitas continually dropped to the ground, seeking to press his advantage, went almost unnoticed by the Canadian fans who, to be fair, were going to boo and heckle Silva regardless, in support of the aforementioned St. Pierre. (A Canadian, and the next probable opponent for Silva) Canadians after all are not known for being the most honest of sports fans in their cheering habits, often refusing to acknowledge good performances by fighters outside of their homeland. Americans are guilty of this as well, as are the Brazilians. The Japanese, alone amongst MMA fans, are the only group of fans that cheer for good performances regardless. Yes, they have their favorites, but they are savvy enough to realize when a guy is dogging it in the ring (or cage).
Dana White is angry, but Silva's next fight (if St. Pierre successfully defends his championship at UFC 99) should market itself. Depending on your preference St. Pierre and Silva are 1-2 in the debate for 'best pound for pound MMA fighter', that they may get a chance to tussle in the ring sets up MMA for a SuperFight for the ages, one they desperately need after a series of lack-luster performances.
The fight was bad, slow and plodding without much offense, but chastising Silva for this alone is missing the mark. He's exactly the type of fighter who's likely to reign as the champion for a long time. The question is: Does MMA really WANT that type of fighter in their system?
[Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports]
Anderson Silva wasn’t one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest pay-per-view draws despite a slew of highlight reel knockouts and a reputation as the finest mixed martial arts fighter in the world.
After Saturday’s performance, the toughest job in sports may belong to the person who has to devise a marketing campaign for his next fight.
Silva won a unanimous decision over Thales Leites in the main event of UFC 97 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, but it was such a mystifying and dreadful performance that it left UFC president Dana White angry and embarrassed.
“I can honestly tell you that I’ve never put on an event that I was embarrassed to be at until tonight,” White said. “I want to publicly apologize to all the fans.”
Leites was flopping onto the ground at the first sign Silva would throw a punch at him, hoping to turn it into a grappling contest. Silva, though, wouldn’t fall for the bait and forced Leites repeatedly to stand.
And while it was admittedly hard to look good with the way Leites was fighting, the man who is supposedly the best fighter in the world needs to find a way to force the action.
Last night, when watching the event at a local watering hole, I commented to others that fans and pundits would be unduly harsh on Silva this morning, and I was right. The irony of this is that Silva, one of the most prolific champions in MMA history, is just the type of fighter that's likely to have a long-time reign. He doesn't get hit all that often, and he is very measured in his offense.
Prior MMA champions, especially in the UFC, were most likely to charge in full-bore without giving much thought to the offense that was being returned. As a result of this MMA history is rife with short-time champions 'getting caught' in flash knock-downs by inferior competitors. One need only look to the Matt Serra upset of George "Rush" St. Pierre as evidence of this. Silva, a methodical, slick counter-puncher more-closely resembling Floyd Mayweather than Mike Tyson, is a winner, but does not lend himself to fights that are fan-friendly.
That Thalos Leitas continually dropped to the ground, seeking to press his advantage, went almost unnoticed by the Canadian fans who, to be fair, were going to boo and heckle Silva regardless, in support of the aforementioned St. Pierre. (A Canadian, and the next probable opponent for Silva) Canadians after all are not known for being the most honest of sports fans in their cheering habits, often refusing to acknowledge good performances by fighters outside of their homeland. Americans are guilty of this as well, as are the Brazilians. The Japanese, alone amongst MMA fans, are the only group of fans that cheer for good performances regardless. Yes, they have their favorites, but they are savvy enough to realize when a guy is dogging it in the ring (or cage).
Dana White is angry, but Silva's next fight (if St. Pierre successfully defends his championship at UFC 99) should market itself. Depending on your preference St. Pierre and Silva are 1-2 in the debate for 'best pound for pound MMA fighter', that they may get a chance to tussle in the ring sets up MMA for a SuperFight for the ages, one they desperately need after a series of lack-luster performances.
The fight was bad, slow and plodding without much offense, but chastising Silva for this alone is missing the mark. He's exactly the type of fighter who's likely to reign as the champion for a long time. The question is: Does MMA really WANT that type of fighter in their system?
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