Historically, a majority of mixed martial arts fights were settled by either TKO, knockout, or submission. Times have changed, and winning by a decision is the new norm for top fighters in the world of MMA.

I always say that the first fight between Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre changed MMA forever. When St. Pierre was suddenly KO’d by a 7-1 underdog, a major lesson was learned: take only the minimum amount of risk required to win the fight. Since this huge upset which saw Matt Serra claim the welterweight belt, most top contenders and champions have emphasized defense in their game plan. There are some notable exceptions to this stereotype, but many modern fighters show an inclination to win by decision instead of going into the octagon looking to finish the fight.

The new attitude is that the young fighters and gatekeepers in the promotion can go out and put on a “show” for the fans. The top guys are all about minimizing damage and “winning” the fight. There are three major defensive tactics used by fighters in the current MMA landscape:

1) Counterstrikers – Anderson Silva & Lyota Machida – these fighters like to ease their way into the fight in order to measure the opponents speed, stance, and power. Once they have the timing figured out, they turn up the heat. These fighters don’t just rush out and put their head in the mixer. Joe Rogan always uses the context of Thai kickboxing which includes a first round which is not scored by the judges as fighters feel each other out.

2) Ground & Pounders/Take-down Specialists – Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, Matt Hughes – these fighters love using the take-down to take the steam out of their opponent. Georges St. Pierre does not want to strand and bang with the top strikers at 170. This style of fighter wants to take down his opponent as many times as possible, accrue points with the judges, and impose their ground and pound. Keeping the fight on the mat minimizes the possibility of a shock knockout. This is a very popular game plan as many mixed martial artists have a strong wrestling background.

3) Stick & Movers – you see these tactics used by many fighters who want to utilize their quickness to offset a power disadvantage. This is the game plan that was used by Frank Edgar in beating B.J. Penn, and more recently at UFC 114, Rashad Evans as he defeated Rampage Jackson (even with the bad blood with these two fighters, Evans still didn’t stand in there and bang with Rampage, dissapointing the entire world of MMA). Edgar and Rashad definitely didn’t want to “take one to give one,” and utilized this strategy to get enough points to win by judges decision. When a fighter is in the octagon with an opponent who has tremendous take-down defense and superior stand-up power, this is what they must do in order to “win.” However, many times these fights are not very fan friendly.

The pedigree and skill of the top athletes in MMA continues to get better, and the sport grows deeper in talent by the day. Fighters can’t just rush out and put on a “show” if you want to be a champion, or if you plan on defending your belt. If you play with fire and go out guns blazing, you will get burned. Ten years ago you didn’t have the current parity in the sport, so when you go to the MMA archives, you see a number of mismatches and fan friendly knockouts.

The UFC has plenty of Clay Guida’s, Forest Griffin’s, and Wanderlei Silva’s who will always put on a show for the fans regardless of the outcome. Also, UFC Champions Brock Lesnar and Shogun Rua love to apply pressure on their opponent, and certainly seek to finish the fight.

The bottom line is that consumers may buy the UFC pay-per-views that feature one or more title fights, while shying away from the cards with lesser known fighters. Ironically, you will probably see more fireworks during the non-title card. The best fights now include the up-and-comers or gatekeepers that have to put on a show to impress Dana and the Fertitta brothers.

I have to use this forum to talk about another warrior who is an exception to the stereotype that top fighters are content winning by a decision. My man Kenny Florian who always finishes fights! Fans should be on the look-out for Jon “Bones” Jones as well who has never left a fight in the judges hands.

Woodman – MMA fanatic and historian

Masters: Which do you think is the better story: celebrating the victorious return of a golfer that left the PGA tour because he cheated on his wife, or celebrating the 3rd green jacket for a player that left the tour to be with his wife while she battled breast cancer?

I think it was divine intervention at Augusta this past weekend. Phil Mickelson played some of the best golf I have ever seen in my life. His shot during the final round on the 13th hole was epic. Phil not only handled the pressure, but thrived and conjured up his best play.

The whole world had to be extremely moved as “Lefty” hugged his wife after walking off the 18th green a winner. In my Masters preview, I was hopeful that Tiger would use spite as a catalyst for success. However, the real emotional story was Phil Mickelson and his wife. It seems like only yesterday that Phil was labeled as the best player “never to win a major”. Moreover, how many affluent, country club and silver spoon individuals can capture the affection of so many Americans that otherwise typically embrace the blue-collar underdog?

NHL: The Washington Capitals won the first “Presidents Cup” trophy in franchise history by posting the best regular season NHL record. The 121 points earned by the Capitals is the most EVER for a non Original-Six hockey team. The Caps will play Montreal in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and this is the million dollar question: Do the Caps have the defense and goal-tending required to hoist the Stanley Cup?

UFC: Dana White is furious in the aftermath of UFC 112. After watching Frankie Edgar pull off a historic upset to capture the UFC lightweight crown, White sat and watched Anderson Silva prance, dance, and run from Demian Maia in a battle for the Middleweight championship.

This is my take on both fights: B.J. Penn must have been injured before his loss to Frankie Edgar. B.J. was not himself, and entered the ring with a wrap on his knee. Because he made excuses following the “Grease-gate” loss to St. Pierre, I am sure Penn was reluctant to bring up the injury at post-fight interviews for fear of being criticized again. I will tip my hat to Edgar for being quicker, and for putting together a good game plan; but he shouldn’t have beaten a healthy B.J Penn. The Lightweight division will get interesting in the next 18 months, as one of my favorite fighters, Kenny Florian, will certainly get the first shot at the title. Can you say Florian vs. Penn II in late 2011?

This is my take on the Anderson Silva debacle: most fans think that Silva should apologize to them and Dana White for “The Spider’s” ridiculous display on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi. I think the UFC should apologize to Silva for failing to produce even one fighter that can remotely challenge him at all. Maia had ZERO chance of threatening “The Spider”, and I think that he is simply bored and irritated that over the course of his Octagon career, not one single fighter has given him a real fight. Chael Sonnen, a friend of the show, will likely get the next shot at Silva and the Middleweight belt. Reached for commentary post-fight, Sonnen said that it was his “moral obligation to beat up Anderson Silva.” Sonnen is a warrior and will not be afraid to stand and bang with “The Spider”. Hopefully he can present Silva with a viable challenge, so that fans get to see Silva perform at his best. Sonnen has been very outspoken and critical of Silva, so it should give “The Spider” a reason to give his best. If Silva moves up to Light Heavyweight full time, it is conceivable that a bigger fighter with heavier hands could stun him with a shock knockout. But I doubt it….

MotoGP: Nine-time champion Valentino Rossi won the 1st race in the 2010 Moto GP season with a victory in Doha, Qatar. Australian Casey Stoner, who has won this race the last three years running, crashed out after grabbing the lead 10 laps into the race. The race was tightly contested, but Rossi remained undaunted and made no mistakes in taking the checkered flag. Americans Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies (the latter is in his first year on the GP circuit), each put forth a great showing and just missed the podium, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

MLB: Last but not least, the Orioles are just AWFUL. Mike Gonzalez took ALL the wind out of this team’s sails, and the Birds are now 1-5 and facing the most difficult stretch of their season. The O’s may very well be 10 games below .500 by mid-May. New faces, new expectations, new Spring training facility—same old results.

And for those of you that think the Orioles have good offense, think again. Let me reiterate that Toronto walked our #3 hitter to get to our clean-up hitter! What a joke…This team has ZERO power, and will have to win National league-style games with suspect pitching and erratic defense. The O’s cannot hit with runners on base, and Tejada offers ZERO protection to Jones & Markakis, who are both off to horrible starts themselves.

By the way, how do you feel about Jones blowing a bubble right before he dropped the ball in the 1st inning against Toronto, on Opening Day?
Typical O’s.

Woodman – at least I have the NHL playoffs & NFL draft to cheer for

Anyone that saw UFC 110 on Saturday night had to be asking themselves this: how good is Cain Velasquez?  On the one hand, the up-and-coming All-American wrestler demolished BJJ ace Minotauro Nogueira  in the first round of their main-card matchup Saturday night, and remains undefeated in the UFC at 8-0.  He’s produced vicious knockouts and stopped all but one of his fights via KO or TKO.  But on the other hand, he still hasn’t fought the elite of the Heavyweight division and, to make matters worse, his KO victory was more a function of Nogueira’s poor standup than anything else.

The Hype: this fight was pitted as the classic matchup of “the up-and-comer” Vs. the former Champion making one last run.  After getting KO’d for the first time by former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, Nogueira had thoroughly beaten UFC legend Randy Couture to get back into title contention.  Velasquez, on the other hand, is a rising star and All-American wrestler out of Arizona State, carrying loaded hands and an incredible cardio-driven pace into each of his fights.  Velasquez entered the fight undefeated, albeit without having really been tested.

What happened: The two fighters circled for the first few minutes and traded jabs.  At the first real exchange, Nogueira dropped his right and promptly got knocked into oblivion by Cain’s punching power.  A humble Cain tells Rogan he loves training and just wants to get better.

Analysis: Give Velasquez his deserved credit.  No matter who you get in the ring with, an unblemished record of 8-0 with 7 KO/TKO is pretty darn impressive.  But Nogueira’s poor standup (dropping the hands, not moving the head, and largely standing still) still means Velasquez has yet to be truly tested.  It remains to be seen how he fares against Brock’s size and superior wrestling, Mir’s boxing and BJJ combo-game, or even Carwin’s brute strength.  Regardless, he’ll get his chance soon: he’s due to fight the winner of the Mir-Carwin Interim Heavyweight Championship fight.

CO-MAIN EVENT

The Hype: The 2^nd most important fight of the night was Wanderlei Silva Vs. Michael Bisping.  One of the recurring themes of the evening was to pit young, up-and-coming UFC talents against former Champions making one last run.  So too was this the case with Silva and Bisping.  Silva had lost 4 out of his last 5 fights.  Not good for “The Axe Murderer”, whose brutal knees and elbows once had him feared as the most vicious of all MMA strikers.  Bisping, the cocky Brit many grew to dislike on the reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”, was coming off a brutal head-cleansing KO he had suffered to former PRIDE Champion Dan Henderson.  Both needed the win.

WHAT HAPPENED

The two went at it for the entire 15 minutes, with Silva winning a Unanimous Decision on all three judges’ scorecards.  As opposed to in the KO loss to Henderson, Bisping’s footwork was on point and he successfully bobbed and weaved for almost all three rounds.  Better, he switched it up occasionally on Wandy, and shot in numerous times to secure takedowns.  Still, he was unable to mount any serious damage either on the ground or standing, and Wandy’s aggressive nature (plow forward with power and strength the whole time; never give up) gradually took its toll over the course of the fight.  Were it not for the bell at the end of Rd. 3, the fight would have been stopped on account of a flurry of last-second blows landed by Wandy just over the Brit’s ear.

ANALYSIS: This fight was to jettison Bisping back into the mix for a title shot, or to give Wandy one last shot at a run.  Unfortunately, neither fighter put on a truly inspiring display.  For all his trash-talking and theatrics, Bisping  seemed unable to put any real power into his strikes on Wandy, nor was he able to make use of his takedowns.  The Brit will need to continue to work his ground-game if he’s to have any real shot at a title run.  Wandy, on the other hand, seemed like a fighter in his twilight years – desperately hanging on when everything about him says go.  Yes, at times he seemed like the old Wandy: aggressive, focused, powerful.  But too often he allowed himself to get clipped by Bisping, allowing the Brit to force the fight to a decision.  Worse, he never made use of his greatest asset: the muay-thai clinch and battering of knees to the body.

A title fight in the Middleweight division seems likely only when there is truly no one else to step in with current and dominant Middleweight Champ, Anderson Silva.

Thoughts?  E-mail “El Beagle Loco” to: jackofallsports@live.com

Koschek vs. Rumble Johnson at UFC 106

Woodman, Real Deal, and the Missing Link review UFC 106 and break down the welterweight division in the UFC. As always, we cover all of the major news, themes, and story lines in the world of mixed martial arts. Listen to the podcast here: http:\\jackofallsports.podbean.com

The Jack of All Sports is happy to announce a new partnership with TapouT, the leading name in the world of MMA.

All of our podcasts and MMA segments will now be brought to you by TapouT. Please check out their website at www.tapout.com.

Woodman

Bisping redeems himself in Manchester at UFC 105

Check out our weekly podcast at http://jackofallsports.podbean.com.

The Woodman, Beagle, and Missing Link recap UFC 105 and discuss the major themes emerging in the world of MMA. Much has happened in the last two weeks and UFC 106 is less than a week away!

We discuss the status of Brock Lesnar, Big Nog, and the uncertainty of the heavyweight division in the UFC. We speculate on the current UFC champs and look ahead to their next match-up. We also continue our discussion of the pro’s and cons of the pay per view revenue model.

Is the UFC watering down their product with so many promotions? Should the UFC broadcast more events for free if they want to offer so many showcases (and raise the purse money via conventional advertising)?

Can the UFC continue to expect MMA fans to pay $55 twice a month for cards that don’t even include any title fights? Let us know what you think!

Woodman, Missing Link, and The Beagle – see you next week as we recap UFC 106. Our special thanks to Ray Atkinson for making it all possible!

The Raw Bone: This past Saturday night featured the first-ever live MMA event to be held in the state of Maryland. The live event, hosted at the First Mariner Arena and named “The Shogun Fights”, was made possible by the efforts of Baltimore’s own John Rallo and his Ground Control academy. The fight-card featured 11 tense match-ups, the majority of which were fought at Lightweight and Featherweight. And, almost all of which featured at least one prominent Marylander as the local-boy. Having been to the event, here are a couple key takeaways:

1. MMA REALLY is the fastest growing sport in the world. A solid crowd of roughly 5,000 showed up to watch local favorites and unknowns duke it out. Ricky Henderson, Ray Rice, and several other figures of notoriety made guest appearances, as did the legendary Renzo Gracie, who was introduced by John Rallo as his mentor and lifelong friend and training partner. The crowd cheered loudly anytime a Baltimorean was introduced, booed when opponents from out-of-state entered the ring, and by and large pumped energy into the First Mariner throughout the night. For a first-time event, the promotion seemed to come off flawlessly: the live-feed from the cage meant everyone could follow the action on the big-screen if need be (as is the case at any UFC event), and the professionalism of the ring-announcers and cage-girls made you feel as though MMA had already been in Maryland for years.

2. There is a WORLD of developing talent out there: Contrary to popular belief, the best MMA fighters have yet to be discovered. Whether those fighting on Saturday night were pro’s or amateurs is beside the point. Nearly every fighter fought with heart, looked to push the pace, and ultimately left the ring exhausted but with a satisfied crowd. Of particular note were the performances of Maryland’s own Kirwan brothers, Jacob and Joey, who fought out of Clinch Academy in Frederick and who both collected victories by overwhelming their respective opponents in the first rounds. But the fight of the night went to Rick Desper and Brett Thomas. After nearly being finished via rear-naked choke early in the first frame, Thomas rallied to pull out a majority decision by winning rounds 2 and 3 in stunning fashion.

3. It is only a matter of time before we see the UFC in Baltimore: The professionalism of John Rallo and Co.’s production, AND the energy of the crowd, virtually guarantees that Dana White and the Fertita brothers will take notice.

Saturday Night also featured UFC 104 live from the Staples Center. The main event featured undefeated Light-Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. For those that missed the event, let me spare you the pay-per-view $$ and give you the jist. Machida’s aura of invincibility was shattered as Rua battered the champ around the ring for nearly the entire 25 minutes of the championship bout. Rua is no slouch: he’s been fighting since he was a teen, and became one of the youngest fighters ever to win the PRIDE Grand Prix at the age of 22. But a transition to the UFC has proved difficult for many former PRIDE vets, and two knee-surgeries only served to complicate matters more for the distinguished Rua. Shogun lost his first fight to Forrest Griffin and put in a less than stellar performance against Mark Coleman. A KO victory over Chuck Liddell, however, seemed to show the UFC brass the old Shogun was back, and they quickly vaulted him to the front of the line to fight the undefeated Champ in Machida.

Rua’s game-plan could not have worked to better perfection. Machida lives by his counter-punch and cat-like quickness, so rather than roar in with a flurry of bombs — something that had epitomized Rua’s style in his earlier years — the Challenger picked apart the Champ with well-timed leg-kicks to Machida’s body and thighs. The strategy paid off: Machida was visibly battered and frustrated by his inability to check the shots to his legs and body, and by his inability to land anything successful on the counter. A controversial decision ultimately went the Champ’s way — to the chagrin of nearly everyone that watched the fight. The theory goes like this: you have to definitely BEAT the Champion to become one. Most people gave 4 of the 5 rounds to Rua — a clear indication of which way the fight should have gone — but in the end the only opinion that mattered was that of the judges. The subjective nature of scoring in American MMA has to be reviewed and a better system of scoring must be established. The current scoring system places too much emphasis on takedowns, regardless of the damage the fighter suffers once on the ground. In fact, many fighters prefer to fight off their back. The current UFC scoring fosters an environment which gives good wrestlers the upper hand.. The UFC needs to look more closely at the Japanese style of judging which examines the fight as a whole, not round by round. The Japanese scoring system simply rewards the fighter that inflicts more damage. A rematch is almost certain to come within the next few months.

The other main-event of the evening featured the much heralded Cain Velasquez against former IFL Champ Ben Rothwell. It must be said that Rothwell accepted the fight on short notice, and it showed. Velasquez dominated the former IFL Champ from the opening bell, leading to a merciful stoppage by the referee. Velasquez showcased incredible athletic ability and a sensational wrestling pedigree, as he was a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State. His dominating victory Saturday night vaults him to the front of the line for the winner of the Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin Heavyweight Championship bout. (Unfortunately, this headline fight that was scheduled at UFC 105 on November 21st has been postponed due to Lesnar’s battle with the swine flu). Never before has wrestling appeared to be such a dominant fighting style, and never before in MMA has one division (in this case the Heavyweights) showcased so much talent from one fighting style.

Thoughts? You know where to find this dog…

I haven’t contributed anything to the site for a few weeks and wanted to weigh in on some of my recent thoughts relating to the current sports landscape.

U.S. Men’s National Team forward Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident the night before the World Cup qualifying game against Costa Rica. Davies will be unavailable for the 2010 World Cup as a result of the severity of the injuries suffered during the crash which left 22 year old Ashley Roberta of Phoenix, MD dead. Davies was the one American forward who had legitimate pace and could have given elite defenders around the world a real run for their money. Davies was also developing a special chemistry with striking partner Jozy Altidore. The combination of Altidore’s size and Davies speed would have given the U.S. a real chance of making it out of the group stage at next summer’s World Cup. Without Davies (who was getting solid minutes and delivering goals for Sochaux in France’s Ligue 1) it is still possible to have success in South Africa next summer, but all U.S. futbol fans would have loved to have seen Davies put in some work for the Red, White, and Blue.

Rivals’ magazine has the Terps ranked #45 in the preseason College Basketball poll. Every other website and ratings service that I have investigated is shortchanging the Terps as well.

Fortunately, my strongest impression from Midnight Madness was that incoming freshmen James Padgett (6’9″, 225 lbs.) and Jordan Williams (6’10″, 260 lbs) definitely have the physiques to step right into ACC play for the Maryland Terrapins basketball team. They may not provide much (if any) offense this year, but they will give us some big, athletic bodies to help defend elite post players like Carolina’s Ed Davis. The Terrapins frontcourt was a real achilles heel last season and finished last in the ACC in rebounding differential. I know Padgett and Williams will help rectify the rebounding deficiencies and add much needed athleticism and depth. My only real concern for this season is the need for a steady 3 point shooter, but I am hoping Hayes can build on the end of last season and step into this role. Whatever your expectations are for the 2009 Terps you need to raise them. I am guaranteeing that the Terps finish top 4 in the ACC and make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. They will be a top 25 team all year. Don’t forget about the 2010 recruiting class featuring Terrence Ross, Mychal Parker, Terrell Stoglin, and a stud to be named later. The present and future is bright for Terp hoops. What do you think Duke and Carolina fans?

Winning ugly in the NFL is beautiful. It doesn’t matter what happens during the 60 minutes other than who comes away with a W. The NFL is a bottom line league and nobody cares about the woulda-coulda-shoulda come January when playoff spots are being determined. The fact that you beat a winless team by one point is frustrating in October, but nobody remembers how you won in January, only that you are 11-5.

NFL fans look at their favorite team’s schedule and truly think they can predict what is going to happen. Please stop wasting your time. Nobody has a clue, and what you feel today and think is true and absolute, will certainly change after this weekend’s games are played.

In the NFL, being dynamic on offense is overrated. The primary result of being potent on offense is that most defenses and special teams will lack urgency because they feel like they have a margin for error. Look at the teams that have won the Super Bowl in the last ten years. The majority are boring, physical, efficient teams that stop the run, win the turnover and penalty battle, and grind out close games with their defense. This message goes out to all Raven and Steeler’s fans: you have to be careful what you ask for when you want your team to stop “winning ugly”. Because the dynamic offense that you were so desperate to see will only lead to your team “losing pretty”. The NFL is the ultimate team game and you need urgency from your defense and special teams. When you know your offense is anemic (or brutally efficient), the other parts of the team play full throttle EVERY play. This urgency evaporates when players get used to the offense throwing up 30+ most games. The NFC East formula for winning is an oldy but goody…tried and true. Don’t believe me, go ask Josh McDaniels.

Alabama has one of the best defenses I have ever seen in college football. It reminds me of the 1992 Alabama team that throttled Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl on the way to their first National Championship with a coach not named Bear Bryant. Nobody is going to move the ball consistently on this team. Alabama literally plays 11 guys in the box and they have the speed to take away anything over the top. Even though their offense is pedestrian, Heisman trophy candidate RB Mark Ingram and big play WR Julio Jones provide more than enough offense for the Crimson Tide. Fast forward to the National Championship game of Alabama vs. Texas. Guess who is a lock?

Think about this Thanksgiving day crew sitting around watching the Dallas/Oakland game. Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson, and A-Rod. I wonder if they will be impressed with A-Rod’s World Series ring and MVP trophy? What movie do you think they will watch after the game? Wildcats? Overboard? Used Cars? Big Trouble in Little China? Captain Ron?

Valentino Rossi has all but put away the 2009 MotoGP championship. Rossi has a 38 point lead with two races to go virtually guaranteeing “The Doctor” his 9th title. On the Nascar front, Jimmy Johnson has a 90 point lead over sentimental favorite Mark Martin with five races left in the chase for the Nextel Cup. Hendrick Motor Sports and Jimmy J are going for an unprecedented 4th consecutive points title. Fan favorite (and son of deceased Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.), Little E is the only Hendrick driver not involved in the chase for the Cup. C’mon man!

Who is going to win the scoring title in the NHL this year? Ovechkin or Malkin?

Can we please get rid of the muscle-bound wrestler guy and get more martial arts back in MMA?And does anyone think that it is inevitable that Hollywood will remake the cult classic ‘Bloodsport’ with Georges St. Pierre playing the role formerly played by Claude Van Damme?

Stay tuned for my World Series preview which should be out following a Yankee win tomorrow.

- Woodman – I will never stop sawing the wood

The Natural Born Killer

For all the naysayers and critics who felt the UFC had become a watered-down product, UFC’s Fight Night served notice the organization still has plenty of talent on the way up the ranks. Anyone that saw UFC 101 or 102 had to have thought hard about sending Dana White a request for a cable refund: both cards featured tentative fights (Exhibit A — Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski) and a few sloppy, lob-sided victories by over-matched opponents (Exhibit B — Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia). But Wednesday’s Fight Night card presented a series of high-octane, knock-down-&-drag-’em out tussles that gave fans their due. Nate Quarry took a pounding from some guy nobody’s ever heard of, but the “Rock” (Quarry) eeked out a split D after a bloody affair. Carlos Condit (click here for podcast interview with Carlos)

Let me say two things real quick: Condit’s BJJ really IS out of this world, and Ellenberger is the real deal. It’s Houdini-like the way Condit scrambles out of certain situations that would have the rest of us praying we had good insurance. Ellenberger showcased great boxing, and he very well could have KO’d Condit with one of those blows early in Round 1 (thankfully the fight wasn’t called — good refereeing for a change). At first glance, the kid Ellenberger seems the type that excelled at every sport growing up: football, hockey, baseball, you name it. But for some inexplicable reason, he’s become just another raw athlete turned MMA star. And you say this isn’t the fastest growing sport in world. Send it to THANKS!

Normally guys that leave the MMA world for a while struggle when they try to come back. I mean let’s face it: there’s definitely a rust-factor with not fighting for extended periods of time. Huerta buzzed off to try to make it in Hollywood, came back to The Octagon, and promptly put in 3 rounds of tooth-and-nail action against the guy that fights like a tornado is coming at you, Gray “The Bully” Maynard. I can’t help but feel Huerta has this innate star-power, that he’s somehow born to be a star in this sport. Honestly I found myself rooting for him to pull of the comeback victory against Maynard after he escaped that kimura lock in the 3rd round. He fights with heart, and has a knack for pulling out late-stage victories. Pity it didn’t work out for him this time, but the sport does need its version of Tom Brady. Huerta fits the bill.

Saturday night brings us Franklin Vs. Belfort. I hate this match-up. This fight does nothing for either fighter’s long-term vision. Wait a second, what IS the long-term vision for either fighter? Franklin now fights at LHW, the division recently taken over by Machida. Who’s Machida? He’s the guy that trains with Anderson Silva and, by Silva’s own admission, routinely schools the MW Champ in the stand-up game. Belfort crossed the bridge, passed over the hill, and jumped the shark all in the same weekend. Hopefully the undercard (Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Junior Dos Santos anyone?) will once-again provide the fireworks.

This Weekly “Ground At The Pound” brought to you by:

-El Beagle Loco

In the early days you had Royce Gracie (and others) fighting men much bigger than themselves. Size didn’t matter because Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Muay Thai and many other relatively unknown martial art forms could nullify the size disparity with technique. It was fascinating watching smaller, more technical martial artists beat bigger opponents. Not only that, but watching the clash of styles as American wrestler/strikers would face unorthodox warriors from far reaching corners of the globe. However, things have changed and in the current state of the UFC, size DOES matter. Just ask BJ Penn. Instead of being the Bloodsport spectacle, the UFC is now an an arena for the most advanced hybrid fighters. Being outweighed by your opponent is a big obstacle to overcome against todays elite fighters. And, if you do not possess many different skills, you will not survive.

To be a champion in the current era you must have most or all of the following skills:
stand up striking offense and defense, some muay/kickboxing skills, submission defense (jiu-jitsu), wrestling skills and takedown defense, Judo throw and clinch technique, and some pretty legit cardio. If a fighter comes into the Octagon in the UFC with only one or two tools, they will be destroyed. That is why the ground and pound wrestlers that emerged to dominate the sport in the last 10 years, are falling back to the pack recently. They were built to counter the submission guys, and now the Karate guys are learning takedown defense, and winning with superior striking and ring movement. This is reflected through the elusive movements and devastating accuracy of current UFC champions Anderson “Spider” Silva and Lyota “Dragon” Machida. Both come from a strong karate background (along with 170 lb. champ George “Rush” St.Pierre who has become such the prototype of the UFC hybid fighter you can easily forget his strong karate background).

Silva & Machida are training partners in Brazil, and know each other well. Both claim they would never fight each other. Both are currently dominating the sport in similar fashion. Both take little/zero risk. Both take 4-5 minutes to circle their opponent, to measure them, to see what their tendencies are, and what they are trying to land. If the opponent is dumb enough to engage, they get overun. If the opponent tries to run, they get stalked and hammered. If they go for a takedown on the champions, Silva and Machida have a great sprawl and can nullify these attacks. These guys could fight five fights in a night because they never get a scratch. You can’t hit them—let alone win.

MMA experts agree that Silva has lost one round is his entire UFC career (to Dan Henderson). The “Dragon” has yet to lose a round in ANY of his UFC fights. Can you say—DOMINATION. The one negative, is that these guys are so good, challengers are afraid to engage them. And Silva & Machida are not risk takers. This has lead to some boring rounds and many malcontented UFC fans who want to see knockouts, submissions, and dramatic endings.

So this begs for the following questions: is the UFC built for entertainment as the #1 priority? Should UFC champions feel compelled to provide an exciting fight for the fans at the risk of being knocked out? Or, should they stick to their game plans and try to win, even if it requires a more defensive, methodical approach that is less fan friendly?

DREAM
The UFC has patented its own style of MMA. But for those who have an interest in the classical martial arts and love to see contrasting fighting styles that you rarely see showcased in the UFC, DREAM is the place. This growing promotion based in Japan (formerly PRIDE), features free style fighting in a ring, not a cage. Also, you get to see fighters go against guys twice their size. At DREAM 9 Gegard Moussasi (185 lb) submitted Mark Hunt (300 lb) in 90 seconds. Also, one of the DREAM’s most notable fighters fought an opponent 30 lbs. his superior and was knocked out in 30 seconds (Aoki vs. Sakurai at DREAM 9). So much for protecting the promotions biggest assets. DREAM also features a handful of the worlds top lightweights including Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez and Joachim Hansen. DREAM is the forum for many of the Asian influenced martial art forms and these matches have a unique feel relative to the UFC. If you are tired of watching guys wrestle and lay on top of each other in the UFC, youtube some DREAM matches. Also, DREAM utilizes the Grand Prix format where they have a weight class tournament and crown a champion at the end. Many times this includes multiple fights in one night (similar to the old days of the UFC and Royce Gracie). I would love to see the UFC do the same, but I doubt it would happen with Dana White not wanting to risk injury to his prized commodities. Most of the UFC champs could fight 2-3 fights in a night and come out without a scratch, let alone an injury. It is one thing to prepare hardcore for one opponent and execute a gameplan to beat that one guy. But wouldn’t a true champion be the fighter who could beat 2-3 fighters who may have vastly contrasting styles in the same night? To overcome fatigue, bruises and injuries to emerge victorious after an epic night of battle?

This brings me to my last point: elbows. Standing elbows are fine, but elbows on the ground are bush league. DREAM does not allow elbows on the ground, and I like that facet much better relative to the UFC. The UFC allows elbows on the ground and this leads to 90% of cuts/gashes most fighters incur. These cuts facilitate bleeding which exacerbates the image that the UFC/MMA is a primitive, brutal sport.

MMA is actually a chess match between world class athletes. However, with the recent death and paralyzation occurring at more amateur promotions, MMA is going to come under heavy scrutiny for it’s “brutality.”

If the UFC (the leading promoter of the sport) can clean up the blood caused by the sharp edges of fighters elbows, it can help clean up the image of the sport in the US.

I think two things: elbows should be banned in the UFC and ALL of these bush league, backyard promotions need to be forced to fold so that the UFC can orchestrate a real “minor league” of MMA.

If UFC/U.S. MMA officials can create a hierarchy equivalent to a minor league baseball system, they could tier the organizations so that there is a clear path to a major league affiliate (UFC) This would virtually ensure that all the worlds best fighters would eventually meet in the octagon. Also, the UFC knows how to officiate and handle its fighters to best avoid/minimize injuries. They can help ensure that the younger, less gifted fighters can learn and progress under the watchful eye of experienced professionals and not amateur hacks. What do you MMA fanatics think? For more pipehitting MMA analysis check out Pramit Mohaptra at www.fanbias.com. Pramit will be making his first appearance on the show this Sunday (at noon) and he is in-the-know when it comes to MMA. We are fortunate to get him on the show. Please give us a call to discuss your MMA hotbuttons Sunday at 410-481-1300.

Ryan Sebring