UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez Main Card Recap

This is only a little bit of blood compared to how much was actually shed.
Photo via Yahoo!

Chris Leben vs. Derek Brunson: Man, this fight was painful to watch. Leben showed a very severe case of ring rust. He was slow, his cardio was garbage, and he just looked plain old. Brunson was clearly just stronger and had the better ground game. He outwrestled him and out-grappled him en route to a gruesome decision win. Leben might have to retire following that loss. I think he might even be released.

Possible matchups for Brunson: This was a huge win for the young wrestler in Brunson. Though he was riding two straight losses (though it should just be one loss to Jacare), Brunson deserves another stiff test. His cardio really isn’t as bad as this fight showed, it was most likely due to an adrenaline dump. Another fighter who is considered to be a very promising up and comer is Francis Carmont. The winner between these two should result in a big name matchup.

Possible matchups for Leben: If Leben doesn’t either retire or get released, he will be put with a smaller name fighter like Jared Hamman. That would be a loser goes home bout but could put on an awesome barnburner.

Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher: Yushin Okami is the Jon Fitch of the middleweight division: he smothers from bell to bell. Belcher just couldn’t stop it. There isn’t really much to say about this fight other than Okami evaded a few guillotine attempts and smothered his way to victory.

Possible matchups for Okami: This was a much needed win for the former title challenger. Though it wasn’t pretty, he did look very impressive. I would like to see him fight Hector Lombard, who is coming off of a very dominant first round KO victory over Rousimar Palhares.

Possible matchups for Belcher: Man, Belcher just couldn’t get anything going for about 14 minutes of this fight. He landed one or two solid punches and a couple OK guillotine attempts. Nothing else. I could honestly see the UFC setting up a fight with Karlos Vemola just to get him back on track.

Tim Boetsch vs. Costa Philippou: After the first round, which was Boetsch pretty easily outwrestling Philippou, it seemed as though Tim was going to go on to a pretty easy decision win. But Philippou came out in the second round a new man. He cut Boetsch very bad on the forehead (though it seemed as though it was from an accidental headbut) and started to wear him down. He was landing more shots and stuffing all of Boetsch’s takedown attempts. Tim knew he wasn’t going to get anything going on the feet so he began to pull guard, which was a horrible decision. He did it about three times in rounds two and three. Each time he did pull guard, Philippou would beat and bloody him up, and bad enough to finish him halfway through the third.

Possible matchups for Philippou: If Boetsch would have beaten Philippou, he would have been put into a number one contender bout. So what does that say about Philippou’s future? Certainly not a number one contender match, but he is now very close to a title shot. Brian Stann is going to be fighting Wanderlei Silva next, so I expect a knockout in favor of Stann. If Stann wins that, I’d like to see him fight Philippou.

Possible matchups for Boetsch: This was a devastating loss for Boetsch, there is no two ways about it. We all knew he didn’t have elite skills in any aspect of MMA, just mediocre abilities. But he’s still at least a top-15 middleweight. Mark Munoz is in a similar position so I would like to see a fight between these two.

Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon: It’s a shame that we already did our “End of the Year” awards because this could definitely be considered for Fight of the Year. Miller came out guns blazing and started to kick out Lauzon’s legs and sliced open his face with elbows in the clinch. There was so much blood that it was basically puddling up in Lauzon’s eyes while he was standing up. It was so dark that it looked as though his eyes were plucked out. These two guys wouldn’t stop; they just kept slugging it out and would have amazing scrambles on the ground. There aren’t many words that can describe the awesomeness of this fight.

Possible matchups for Miller: Even though this was an awesome back and forth fight with Lauzon having several good moments, Miller still looked fantastic. If Miller wants to put on another amazing fight, he should fight the winner of Diego Sanchez and Takanori Gomi. If Sanchez wins, a fight between him and Miller is definitely an instant Fight of the Year contender.

Possible matchups for Lauzon: Joe had some momentum coming into this fight and he’s still a very good fighter and one of the elite in the UFC’s lightweight division. But I don’t think that he should fight a top guy next. I think he should fight the winner of Paul Sass and Danny Castillo.

Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez: There’s not much you can really say about this fight other than that Velasquez absolutely mauled him. Dos Santos actually started off very well; he defended almost everyone of Velasquez’ takedown attempts, which there were many of. Halfway through the round though, Cain caught Dos Santos right on the chin while Dos Santos had his arms down. It almost knocked him clean out. I thought the fight was over but for all five rounds, Junior showed absolutely amazing heart. You can’t question Dos Santos’ toughness, heart, or chin. He is a true champion and he will come back stronger than ever.

Possible matchups for Velasquez: After recapturing his title in extremely dominant fashion, Cain is ready for the best. I think that the fight between Alistair Overeem and Antonio Silva is a number one contender match. So the winner of that should fight Cain next.

Possible matchups for Dos Santos: Due to the thinness of the heavyweight division, there aren’t a lot of matchups you can make for Dos Santos. I honestly think the best choices are either the loser of Overeem and Silva or the winner of Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve. Either way, any four of those matchups are great.

UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez: Man is this card insanely stacked. I seriously cannot wait for every single fight on this card. But for the main event, I’m having a lot of trouble picking this one. Well, I know who I’m going with but I’m not all that confident. Following their first fight on the first card on Fox, I felt as though dos Santos would be the Anderson Silva of the heavyweight division, but after Cain’s last fight with Bigfoot Silva, I don’t know. We all know that Velasquez came into their first fight with a really bad knee injury, but he still didn’t ever go in for the takedown, except one measly attempt. Junior’s takedown defense is insanely good; he hasn’t been taken down his whole UFC career. Cain has been saying that he will be going for the takedowns, which is a good thing to know, but how much has JDS’ already amazing takedown defense improved since their first encounter? How will JDS’ submission game look if Cain does get him to the ground? There are so many unknown variables heading into this main event, but I’m sticking with the man I went with back in November of last year = JDS via 3rd round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon: If you’re looking for a matchup that is bound for Fight of the Year, this is your fight. Believe it or not, but Lauzon has the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history. He has even more than Anderson Silva. Miller is a similar fighter in the fact that he always puts on great fights and is one of the toughest fighters in the UFC. Lauzon, who is coming off of a Fight of the Year candidate win over Jamie Varner, will always be looking for the submission. Miller is very well rounded, but is almost impossible to submit. Miller will be the stronger fighter and have the better striking. Miller is the man to go with = Miller via unanimous decision. My 3^rd pick for FOTN!

Tim Boetsch vs. Costa Philippou: This fight is another difficult one to predict. Now, I’m going to be completely honest, Tim Boetsch is not an elite fighter. His skills are mediocre, there’s no two ways about it. Costa has elite boxing, though many would probably disagree. Boetsch, though, has been showing crazy luck in his last fights with Okami and Lombard, with catching Okami and having Lombard come in injured. For Costa, after his debut against Nick Catone (which he took on very short notice), he has been lighting up the middleweight’s mid-tier fighters. It’s now time for his step up and he is going to make the most of it with superior striking and takedown defense = Philippou via unanimous decision.

Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher: Speaking of Yushin Okami, he will be re-matching Alan Belcher, looking to make it 2-0. The problem with that is Belcher is a completely different fighter since their first encounter. Ever since his horrible almost-career-ending injury, Belcher has been absolutely red hot, running through both Jason MacDonald and Rousimar Palhares. Okami has been a tad cold lately though, losing to Anderson Silva and Boetsch and then looking very lackluster against Buddy Roberts. Not a lot of people have been saying it but Okami’s career could be reaching its end while Belcher is just piquing. Belcher is the guy to go with = Belcher via 2^nd round TKO.

Chris Leben vs. Derek Brunson: I haven’t seen the betting lines for this one, but I know that it’s going to be almost comically in favor for Leben. Don’t be mistaken though, Brunson has the fighting style to beat Leben: strong wrestling and smothering attack. The problem is the fact that Brunson has a questionable chin, and that isn’t something you want in a fight with Leben. I want to go with Brunson, but Leben is obviously the safer pick = Leben via 1^st round KO.

Prelims

Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland: BARNBURNER ALERT - This is the type of fight that makes me love Joe Silva on a creepy level. Brad Pickett has never been in a boring fight and Wineland is very similar and is looking to make a resurgence in his career. I’m guessing that a majority of this fight will take place on the feet, which will make it a speed vs. power striking match. Wineland has some of the best power at bantamweight and Pickett is lightning fast. Wineland has shown that he has trouble with speed in his fights with Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez. Speed is what is going to make a difference in this fight = Pickett via split decision. My 1^st pick for FOTN!

Erik Perez vs. Byron Bloodworth: This is a gimme fight for Perez. The UFC sees a ton of potential in him and they are going to make him 3-0 in the Octagon = Perez via 1^st round submission.

Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard: Oh dear lord am I looking forward to this fight. Ever since Varner’s return to the UFC, he has looked great despite his loss to Lauzon, where he even had a lot of good moments. Guillard is the type of fighter that has shown tons of greatness in his fights but his ground game has always been his downfall. Varner has a great ground game and after an incredible slugfest, Varner will submit him with Guillard’s arch nemesis = Varner via 2nd round RNC. My 2^nd pick for FOTN! My pick for SOTN!

Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury: I don’t like this fight for two reasons. First, I wanted a big step up for Johnson after his last knockout win over Danny Castillo. Second, Jury has a ton of potential and this is not a good fight for him. Johnson is too big and strong. They are both very well rounded fighters but Johnson is better in all facets of MMA = Johnson via unanimous decision.

Phil de Fries vs. Todd Duffee: Ah, the return of the Duffman. I was both very surprised and extremely happy to hear of his return, but he hasn’t exactly been given an easy task. De Fries is a good fighter and is well rounded, but he has a questionable chin. Duffee has insane power and I see him finishing this fight early = Duffee via 1^st round KO.

John Moraga vs. Chris Cariaso: The fact that this fight is on Facebook prelims makes me enraged. This is a potential number one contender match! What is the UFC doing making this so basically no one watches it? Moraga is coming off of a stunning upset first round KO over Ulysses Gomez and Cariaso is coming off of a very dominant decision win over Josh Ferguson. Moraga is mainly known for his wrestling as he is NCAA wrestling but looked devastating in the standup game against Gomez. Cariaso is hard to describe. I can’t tell if he is really well rounded or is just flat out mediocre in all facets of MMA. But I’m with the guy who I personally think has the best chance of defeating Demetrious Johnson = Moraga via unanimous decision.

Max Holloway vs. Leonard Garcia: Want to know the best way on how to beat Leonard Garcia? Footwork and striking down the pipe. Holloway has some of the most technical boxing in the UFC’s featherweight division while Leonard is the complete opposite. Saying that he throws fastballs is an understatement. Holloway will pick him apart and will show the world that is a future champion = Holloway via unanimous decision.

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez: Who doesn’t want to see this fight? You would have to be dead not to get excited. This fight, just like the first one, could go two ways:  JDS KO’s Cain or Cain out-grapples JDS for a decision win. I think the first scenario is more likely because it already happened and JDS has never been taken down…EVER. I would not be shocked if Cain won because his wrestling is top notch but the safer pick here is JDS. = JDS by TKO in round 2. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon: Another amazing fight. Lauzon’s submission game is as deadly as they come but his cardio, striking, and wrestling are way beneath Miller’s level. Miller also has great submissions and submission defense along with everything else. I see Miller avoiding the takedowns and submissions and out striking Lauzon to a decision. Don’t blink for this one. = Miller by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Tim Boetsch vs. Constantinos Philippou: This is the hardest fight to pick for me. Boetsch has been on a tear defeating top notch fighters and Philippou has been beating mid-tier guys. However, Boetsch in reality is really a mid-tier guy. Philippou is good at getting people to fight his fight. Not sure who will win this won but it should be fun to watch. = Boetsch by split decision.

Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher: This fight should be very interesting. Okami has looked terrible as of late. He was doing well against Boetsch but got sloppy and was finished. Belcher’s striking is far above Boetsch’s and I believe will be the deciding factor. Belcher will be able to easily out-strike Okami. Okami will have the better wrestling but Belcher grappling defense should prove to be good enough to still defeat Okami handily. Watch for Belcher to dominate and then callout Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview. = Belcher by TKO in round 2.

Chris Leben vs. Derek Brunson: Can’t believe this fight made it on the main card instead of Pickett vs. Wineland but whatever. Brunson’s chin is suspect (got KO’d by Jacare) and Leben is…well…Leben = Leben by TKO in round 1.

Prelims

Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland: Oh man this fight is just too good. I like both these guys a lot. I cannot wait for this one. This will be a standup battle that will prove to be a FOTN candidate. Pickett has the better technique and Wineland probably has more power but I think Pickett also has more speed and that beats Wineland 2-1. I think this fight will be close but Pickett just has a more diverse striking game. = Pickett by unanimous decision.

Erik Perez vs. Byron Bloodworth: Perez is one of the brightest prospects in the UFC and will destroy Bloodworth. Watch for this one to end quickly = Perez by submission in round 1.

Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner: Man, am I happy this fight is finally happening. I see this fight being exactly like Melvin’s fight against Jim Miller: Varner takes it to the ground and chokes him out early. Varner has the better wrestling and good enough submissions to finish Guillard without much resistance. = Varner by submission in round 1. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury: Jury is a talented kid but I don’t believe he will amount to a whole lot in the UFC. Johnson has completely turned his career around and is now a deadly fighter at 155. I see Johnson winning this fight everywhere it goes. = Johnson by unanimous decision.

Todd Duffee vs. Phil de Fries: Glad to see Duffee back in the UFC. He is a monster with potential and I hope that he can develop into the force I think he is. Phil, on the other hand, is an okay fighter. His ground game is good but his striking is atrocious. Duffee will out-strike him and deflect takedown attempts. = Duffee by unanimous decision.

John Moraga vs. Chris Cariaso: Sam is in love with Moraga but I need a little more convincing to crown him the next best thing at 125. Cariaso is a good fighter but he has trouble finishing people and that is what will kill him in the end. Moraga is a bulldozer and will eventually find an opening and will capitalize on it. = Moraga by TKO in round 3.

Max Holloway vs. Leonard Garcia: I love this fight. Holloway will be able to show the world he is ready for bigger names. Holloway’s striking is so good for his age that it doesn’t even make sense. Garcia is just too sloppy and will be eating punches coming down the pipe all night. All Holloway has to do is not play Garcia’s game and he will be fine. = Holloway by unanimous decision.

Official November MMA Rankings

So here is how our rankings are going to work; we are going to re-post them once a month but there will be a link on the side for visitors to click on rather than having to dig through our posting history to find them. We will consistently edit the rankings whenever it is needed. Because these are still a work in progress, there will probably be mistakes and changes in the coming days.

Heavyweight: 1) Cain Velazquez
2) Junior dos Santos
3) Alistair Overeem
4) Fabricio Werdum
5) Daniel Cormier
6) Frank Mir
7) Antonio Silva
8) Stefan Struve
9) Big Nog
10) Josh Barnett

Contenders: Mark Hunt, Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo, Mike Russow, Shane Carwin.
Name(s) to Watch: Stipe Miocic, Travis Browne, Alexander Volkov

Light Heavyweight: 1) Jon Jones
2) Rashad Evans
3) Dan Henderson
4) Lyoto Machida
5) Alexander Gustafsson
6) Shogun Rua
7) Phil Davis
8) Vitor Belfort
9) Ryan Bader
10) Lil Nog

Contenders: Rampage Jackson, Gegard Mousasi, Glover Teixeira, Anthony Johnson, Forrest Griffin.
Name(s) to Watch: James Te Huna

Middleweight: 1) Anderson Silva
2) Chris Weidman
3) Chael Sonnen
4) Michael Bisping
5) Luke Rockhold

6)Mark Munoz

7) Yushin Okami
8) Brian Stann
9) Alan Belcher
10) Costa Philippou

Contenders: Tim Boetsch, Hector Lombard, Jake Shields, Cung Le, Ronaldo Souza, Mamed Khalidov.
Name(s) to Watch: Ronny Markes

Welterweight: 1) GSP
2) Johny Hendricks
3) Carlos Condit
4) Nick Diaz
5) Rory MacDonald
6) Jon Fitch
7) Martin Kampmann
8) Jake Ellenberger
9) Nate Marquardt
10) Ben Askren

Contenders: Demian Maia, Josh Koscheck, Siyar Bahadurzada, Mike Pierce, Matt Brown.
Name(s) to Watch: Karl Amoussou, Tarec Saffiedine, Erick Silva.

Lightweight: 1) Ben Henderson
2) Frankie Edgar
3) Gray Maynard
4) Nate Diaz
5) Gilbert Melendez
6) Donald Cerrone
7) Anthony Pettis
8) Jim Miller
9) Clay Guida
10) Michael Chandler

Contenders: Joe Lauzon, Jamie Varner, Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, TJ Grant, Matt Wiman, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Name(s) to Watch: Tim Means, Marcin Held.

Featherweight: 1) Jose Aldo
2) Chad Mendes
3) Pat Curran
4) Ricardo Lamas
5) Chan Sung Jung
6) Dennis Siver
7) Hatsu Hioki
8) Diego Nunes
9) Cub Swanson
10) Erik Koch

Contenders: Dustin Poirier, Hacran Dias, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Daniel Straus, Darren Elkins, Patricio Freire.
Name(s) to Watch: Marcus Brimage, Dennis Bermudez.

Bantamweight: 1) Dominick Cruz
2) Renan Barao
3) Urijah Faber
4) Michael McDonald
5) Eddie Wineland
6) Brian Bowles
7) Brad Pickett
8) Bibiano Fernandes
9) Scott Jorgensen
10) Raphael Assuncao

Contenders: Tyson Nam, Mike Easton, Eduardo Dantas, Marcos Galvao, Takeya Mizugaki.
Name(s) to Watch: Erik Perez, Francisco Rivera, Alex Caceres.

Flyweight: 1) Demetrious Johnson
2) Joseph Benavidez
3) John Dodson
4) Ian McCall
5) Darrel Montague
6) John Moraga
7) Jussier Formiga
8) John Lineker
9) Chris Cariaso
10) Darren Uyenoyama

Contenders: Louis Gaudinot, Mitsuhisa Sunabe, Mamoru Yamaguchi, Will Campuano, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Kentaro Watanabe.
Name(s) to Watch: Sean Santella, Josh Sampo, Tim Elliot, Sergio Pettis.

Women's Featherweight: 1) Cris Cyborg
2) Marloes Coenen
3) Milana Dudieva
4) Germaine de Randamie
5)  Elaina Maxwell
6) Julia Budd
7) Ediene Gomes
8) Hiroko Yamanaka
9) Yana Kunitskaya
10) Romy Ruyssen

Contenders: Lauren Taylor, Ashley Sanchez, Fiona Maxwell.
Name(s) to Watch: Randi Miller, Veronica Rothenhausler.

Women's Bantamweight: 1) Ronda Rousey
2) Miesha Tate
3) Sara McMann
4) Sarah Kaufman
5) Shayna Baszler
6) Alexis Davis
7) Liz Carmouche
8) Cat Zingano
9) Amanda Nunes
10) Rin Nakai

Contenders: Hitomi Akano, Sarah D’Alelio, Leslie Smith, Shana Nelson.
Name(s) to Watch: Jessamyn Duke, Holly Holm

Women's Flyweight: 1) Rosi Sexton
2) Jessica Eye
3) Vanessa Porto
4)  Barb Honchak
5) Zoila Gurgel
6) Sheila Gaff
7) Michelle Ould
8) Tara LaRosa
9) Aisling Daly
10) Munah Holland

Contenders: Tonya Evinger, Reyna Cordoba, Takayo Hashi, Kalindra Carvalho Faria.
Name(s) to Watch: Jocelyn Lybarger, Sarah Maloy.

Women's Strawweight: 1) Jessica Aguilar
2) Megumi Fujii
3) Ayaka Hamasaki
4) Carla Esparza
5) Katjan Kankaanpaa
6) Seo Hee Ham
7) Joanne Calderwood
8) Mei Yamaguchi
9) Claudia Gadelha
10) Felice Herrig

Contenders: Yuki Tsuji, Ashley Cummins, Patricia Vidonic, Alex Chambers.
Name(s) to Watch: Paige VanZant, Tecia Torres.

Women's Atomweight: 1) Jessica Penne
2) Naho Sugiyama
3) Kikuyo Ishiwaka
4) Yasuko Tamada
5) Michelle Waterson
6) Lisa Ellis
7) Lacey Schuckman
8) Misaki Takimoto
9) Stephanie Frausto
10) Nicdali Rivera-Calonic

Contenders: Satomi Akano, Liz McCarthy, Cassie Rodish, Amy Davis.
Name(s) to Watch: Laura Marcusse.

Let us know what you guys think. Tell us in the comments or on Twitter @Champion_Rounds.

MMA Heavyweight Rankings: September Edition

The heavyweights! The weight class that was once a bunch of tough guys is now filled with talent. Let’s take a look

Antonio Silva (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

10. Antonio Silva – Silva is on a two fight losing streak. But those losses were HUGE. His last fight against #2 Cain Velasques was a devastating loss that left Silva a bloody mess. But Silva still has a lot of potential to crack the top 5 at some point. And defeating Travis Brown in October will help him get there.

Mark Hunt (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

9. Mark Hunt – How did Mark Hunt make the top 10 in 2012? By defeating big names like Ben Rothwell and Cheick Kongo. It is some crazy stuff and I hope he keeps on rolling. He is 38 and his days are winding down so I hope he keeps getting fights and can end his career on a high note.

Big Nog (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – Big Nog has been relevant for so many years that it is starting to get ridiculous. He is coming off of a loss to #6 Frank Mir but before he was caught in a fight ending kimura he was on his way to actually knocking Frank Mir out cold. Big Nog has a fight in October against Dave Herman which will likely be highly entertaining.

Josh Barnett (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

7. Josh Barnett – Barnett’s last appearance in the cage had him on the wrong end of an absolute beat down from #5 Daniel Cormier. There is no news on his next fight but it will most likely be a big name and a lot of fun.

Frank Mir (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

6. Frank Mir – in May Mir got to become another victim of champ Junior dos Santos. Mir was scheduled to fight #5 Daniel Cormier by going over to Strikeforce to fight Cormier. However, Mir was injured. Now we have to wait and see who is next for Mir.

Daniel Cormier (MMAjunkie.com)

5. Daniel Cormier – Cormier is one of the most exciting heavyweights today. He is currently 10-0 with big wins over #10 Antonio Silva and #7 Josh Barnett. There does not seem to be a ceiling for this guy and I believe that he could drop to 205 and give #1 Light Heavyweight Jon Jones the toughest test of his career. 

Fabricio Werdum (MMAjunkie.com)

4. Fabricio Werdum – Werdum has had a flawless return to the UFC by absolutely man-handling Roy Nelson and then brutally KO’ing Mike Russow. Werdum is about 1 fight away from a title shot but whoever he fights they better watch out for Werdum’s improved standup. 

Alistair Overeem (MMAjunkie.com)

3. Alistair Overeem – Overeem has been on an absolute destructive tear since the end of 2007. His last fight was a brutal win over former champ Brock Lesnar. Overeem later tested positive for PEDs and cannot reapply for a fighting license until December of this year.

Cain Velasquez (photo by MMAjunkie.com)

2. Cain Velasquez – Cain may be the best overall heavyweight alive. His standup striking is good but not on the level of #1 Junior dos Santos’ striking but he has amazing wrestling that dos Santos has not had to go up against just yet. Cain lost to dos Santos by KO before he had a chance to even try to take him down. When they fight again and if Cain fights smart he could win.

Junior dos Santos (photo by mmaweekly.com)

1. Junior dos Santos – Junior might be the best pure boxer in MMA and he has left a path of destruction in his wake on his way to being one of the most fearsome champs alive. If he beats Cain, I am not sure who can beat him.

Let us know what you think!

Dana White Mini-Series Part 1: Public Treatment of Fighters

  Dana White (Photo by Sherdog.com)

I am going to do a little mini-series on the man, the myth, the legend: Dana White. He is the face of the UFC to hardcore fans and the face of MMA to the casual fan. He decides the direction in where the sport goes. He controls the most powerful MMA organization in the world. He is the president and partial owner of the UFC and, with the help of the Fertitta brothers, resurrected the dying UFC brand and the sport of MMA in America as a whole. He is complex yet hides nearly nothing from the public. He is so unique and charismatic that people are drawn to him and he is held up as a super star in his own right. So, I will be peeling away the layers of Dana White and addressing each of these layers over the following months.

In our first segment we will tackle the way he handles fighters publicly. First off you all must know that I am a huge proponent for a Fighter’s Union. I think for our sport to go the long haul then our fighters need protection and have more power and say in their own careers. Dana White and Joe Silva (the matchmaker) decide on what happens to these athletes. They have no boundaries, rules or restrictions. If they wanted to they could vacate every title and fire all the current champions and never allow them back into the UFC. That will likely never happen but I think the fact that it is possible at all is scary and wrong.

So that being said, Dana White has complete control of the athletes’ careers. Therefore, when he speaks publicly about fighters, it could influence the public and change the public opinion about the fighters he is speaking about. You would think a man with that power would be careful and choose his words carefully but he does not and it is perplexing at times. I understand that his brashness and flamboyant attitude is what garners him attention and the ability to influence but everyone on earth needs boundaries; and Dana White might be one of the only men in America who publicly has no boundaries. He has said offensive homophobic slurs and swears more than anyone on the face of the earth with nothing more than a slap of the wrist.

However, in a way all of that is somewhat explainable because we are naturally selfish beings. We are born worrying about us and not so much about others.  So, being brash and offensive to others is not so much a worry but what happens when you bash your money makers? One equivalent is Barak Obama saying “I know my Vice President sucks. Biden is just awful but please vote for me. Give me financial support even though you don’t like what I’m putting out there”. Another could be Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills, bashing his players and saying they are bad people and boring to watch. Then expecting people to pay to watch them. It just does not make sense. And White does this constantly. He just did a healthy portion of that this week when Jon Jones turned down a chance to fight Chael Sonnen.

The quick history of what happened with UFC 151 is that Dan Henderson was to fight Jon Jones for the light heavyweight championship but injured his knee and had to pull out. Then Chael Sonnen offered to fight Jones but Jones, with the advice of his coach, decided to not take that fight on eight days notice. Now, Sonnen is a deadly fighter. He gave the best fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, a run for his money twice. To face Sonnen without a full fight camp in a dangerous thing to do, but on eight days is a big gamble. So, when Jones denied Sonnen the fight Dana decided to scrap the entire event. So UFC 151 is erased and everyone puts the blame on Jon Jones. Now this is where I have my issues. Dana White announced all of this over a phone conference call. Instead of defending his biggest money maker he decided to bash him and say horrible things about him: “Something that's never happened in UFC history. A guy who's a world champion and considered one of the pound-for-pound best turns down a fight.” Do you honestly think it is a good idea to make your youngest champion who seems to be in place to be champion for a long time, and your #1 PPV king for years to come, look like a coward. Instead you work some PR magic and say “It was just too much to ask of him on short notice.”  You do that even if his decision was selfish and harmful because you want money and stability in the long run.

But Dana White is a proud man and when men have roughly no humility they cannot handle blame. So, Dana projects his own mistakes onto Jones so that he has no blame himself. It does not take a whole lot of knowledge to understand that in this sport people get injured training all the time (too frequently actually). But with that understanding you need to put at least two fights that could be main events on each card; especially on a PPV card. Having Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Hieron as your co-main event for UFC 151 comes with the understanding that if Jones or Henderson were to go down with an injury then you would have to find a fighter not of that card to take the place as main event. That is your fault Dana White not Jon Jones’ fault. If you didn’t have as many cards then maybe you could stock up. For example at UFC 152 (before Jones vs. Belfort was placed on that card) you had Benavidez vs. Johnson for the flyweight title as the main event and Bisping vs. Stann as co-main event. If the flyweight title fight was scrapped you could still go with Bisping vs. Stann. Yes, it would hurt the ticket sales and PPV buys but it could still work.

Jon Jones does not set the cards and Jon Jones is not the match maker. And to ask him to put his health, money and belt on the line when he is not fully prepared is a lot to ask. And when Jones said no to fighting Sonnen, then Dana White needed to suck it up, be humble and understand where he made mistakes. White should not project his anger onto Jones. Due to Dana projecting blame he also made other fighters angry at Jones when they should be mad at Dana.

Jones said this is response to the whole debacle:

“Dan Henderson got hurt, and the fight was canceled. I signed a contract a long time ago to fight Dan Henderson. That's what I studied for, and that's what I prepared myself for. To take a fight with a different opponent in which I would basically have three days of training before traveling and then starting to cut weight I just thought would be the dumbest idea ever. I wouldn't have been properly prepared. I definitely apologize to the other fighters on the card. I feel terrible, but it also wasn't my decision to cancel the whole card. I don't make those decisions. I apologize to the people that lost money on tickets and travel and things like that. I don't apologize for my decision, but I do apologize for the way it affected people. I hope people can understand I was just trying to do the best thing for my career. I'm moving forward. I'm continuing to work, and I'm working on transforming my body from great shape to phenomenal shape. My goal now is to beat Lyoto better than I did the first time. I want to be a better version of myself, and I'm looking forward to it.” (Quote from MMA Junkie)

But due to Dana White’s egotistical response fighters directed their anger at Jones. UFC welterweight Charlie Brenneman Tweeted: “@JonnyBones u can send my check to PO box 198. EH NJ. Rent is due the first, so preferably by then. Thanks @ufc”. Then he later tweeted “Me n @Rick_Story took a fight on 24 hrs notice!! Champ what?!?! @ufc”.

Now like I said before Brenneman’s anger is misplaced. But his example of his fight with Rick Story is not similar. Neither Story nor Brenneman had a belt on the line. Neither of them are the face of the UFC and expected to perform at a near perfect level. It was also not on a PPV or FOX card. Yes, they have to pay the bills just like Jones and they make less then Jones but Jones has way more pressure on him to perform well then they do. I’m sorry but it is not the same thing. Those fighters that tweeted want to stay on Dana White’s good side and would never bad mouth him out of fear of being cut (Fighter’s Union = Freedom of Speech).

Another example starts at UFC 97 and UFC 112 where middleweight champion Anderson Silva put on two very boring fights. Silva is easily the best fighter alive and has a big fan base in Brazil. When he put on those boring performances Dana White said awful things about him. Instead of saying “Well the guy he was facing is dangerous and Anderson was just off that night” and trying to save face. Dana instead points a spotlight on the situation and gives people an excuse not to buy the next Anderson Silva PPV.

My last example was the first FOX card which featured only one fight between, then, heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez who was defending his title against Junior dos Santos. Cain is a wrestler and did not take it to the ground and was knocked out in one minute. So, when they went back to the analysts Dana White was there. Instead of praising dos Santos and trying to build a star from this amazing performance, Dana White went off on Cain for fighting stupid and not taking it to the ground. What a wasted opportunity.

It just does not make financial sense to bad mouth your champions. Dana White needs to learn how to hold his tongue and swallow his pride otherwise it will eventually bite him in the butt.

Now, with all of this being said you all need to know I love Dana White. He is at his core a great human being. He gives when it is not necessary, and frequently, to fighters and regular people alike. I have no ill feelings toward him but I just think he could do a much better job representing his brand and his fighters. I met him once in Canada and he was a complete gentleman. He took his time with each fan and was great with the younger kids. I have much respect for Dana and in the following segments of this mini-series I will have a brighter opinion of him in certain aspects.

Let me know your opinions in the comment section.

UFC 146 Main Card Recap

Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson: This fight was quick and predictable. Struve knew that if he could pull guard, the fight would be over instantly, and it was. He quickly got the armbar, and even seemed to dislocate his shoulder. If Struve’s chin was better, he could very well be one of the best in the world, and I mean that. The kid has crisp standup and a brilliant ground game. And he’s only 24 years old. Scary stuff.

Possible matchups for Struve: Why not try and make the Struve/Hunt fight happen? Lavar Johnson didn’t move him up the ladder.

Possible matchups for Johnson: If Johnson wants to get himself back on track, he could easily KO Morecraft in the first round. Morecraft seems to always be the guy the UFC uses to rebound KO artists.

Stipe Miocic vs. Shane del Rosario: Miocic was the second example of how cardio is superior to blitzing. He survived the first round onslaught of devastating body kicks from del Rosario. Miocic came out and noticed that del Rosario tired and went in for the kill. This fight was really brutal, the finish was very bloody and del Rosario and a nasty gash that split his eyebrow right in half.

Possible matchups for Miocic: Miocic is the real deal. He has some amazing standup, good cardio (for heavyweight), and a solid ground game. He is the future in the heavyweight division. I would like to see him and Roy Nelson face off. Miocic needs to fight a big name.

Possible matchups for del Rosario: Fellow heavyweight, Brendan Schuab is also coming off a devastating loss. This fight would be very exciting and it would also send the loser of this fight down the ladder real far.

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman: This fight was a quick one but a sweet one. Nelson quickly dispatched of Dave Herman with one of his signature over right hands. Herman tried to argue the stoppage but he was clearly out. His whole body went limp and fell, the second punch brought him back from the dead.

Possible matchups for Herman: Herman is a weird dude. He has unlimited potential but he just cant seem to tap it. He seems to almost too unorthodox, that he doesn’t even know what he is going to do. Shawn Jordan, who is coming off an impressive win against Oli Thompson, would be a tough fight for both these guys.

Cain Velazquez vs. Bigfoot Silva: That was easily the best, and most violent, Cain Velazquez we have ever seen. He instantly took down Silva and bloodied him to a pulp. It was hard to watch, even for a hardcore MMA fan such as myself. I actually thought that Silva had a good chance at winning this fight based on the fact that Cain’s chin has been suspect since his fight with Cheick Kongo and Silva has planets connected to his arms. But Cain put any doubts to sleep when he absolutely demolished Silva in the first round.

Possible matchups for Velazquez: This one is quite easy. A second fight with the champ himself, Junior dos Santos. Dana said it himself; Cain is getting a title shot.

Possible matchups for Bigfoot: After being completely humiliated by Cain, he deserves an easier fight than the former champ. Silva is a seriously good fighter and could do some damage to some of the top guys at that weight class. I could see him against the winner of Kongo/Big Nog.

Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir: People and writers (including us) were saying that Mir had 0% chance of winning this fight. And it seems we were right on that. Mir’s chin is really starting to fade and a bad chin going up against the best boxing in MMA is not exactly the best combination. Dos Santos ran through the former champ in the second round, landing blow after blow, eventually making Herb step in and stop the fight.

Possible matchups for the champ: Dos Santos vs. Velazquez II, here we come!

Possible matchups for Mir: I would personally recommend Mir to retire, but that is obviously not going to happen. A fight with Gonzaga would be a good fight between two legends.