UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez Prelim Recap

Chris Cariaso vs. John Moraga: In a division as shallow as the flyweight division, two finishes in a row is mighty impressive. John Moraga has now won two fights in a row, one by knockout and one by submission. The first two rounds of this fight were a bit slow, more of a feeling out process than anything. Cariaso was throwing a lot of left head kicks and Moraga would try to counter it. That is really the story of the first two rounds. But Moraga came into the third with some urgency. Cariaso clinched and jumped into a modified guillotine. Moraga finished him shortly thereafter.

Possible matchups for Moraga: This huge win now puts Moraga at least one win away from a title shot. Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez are fighting at UFC 156 and the winner of that should fight Moraga in a number one contender bout.

Possible matchups for Cariaso: Cariaso was looking good up until he got caught in the guillotine. I would like to see him fight the winner of Phil Harris and Ulysses Gomez. All three of these guys are very talented but Harris vs. Gomez is a potential loser goes home bout.

Max Holloway vs. Leonard Garcia: This fight was…well… a Leonard Garcia fight. He was overly aggressive while being countered down the middle. He did fight with a lot more technique though, as he used a lot more head movement and more straight punches than usual. Holloway proved to be the more technical and out countered him throughout. Many people are saying that Garcia got robbed but you have to look at it this way: the first could have gone either way, the second was much of the same but everyone is leaning towards Garcia, and Holloway won the third. In other words, it could have gone either way, therefore it wasn’t a robbery. But robbery or not, Leonard Garcia is going to be released from the UFC.

Possible matchups for Holloway: Though this is a win over a pretty big name in Leonard Garcia for Max Holloway, it’s kind of a setback to be totally honest. He was a big favorite heading in but almost lost against a guy whose striking is far inferior to his in many ways. I don’t think Holloway is just yet ready for a step up so I would like to see him fight another up and comer. That fighter is Rony Jason, who is coming off of his TKO win over Sam Sicilia.

Phil de Fries vs. Todd Duffee: This fight went much like I envisioned: Duffee being aggressive and getting the finish early. He clipped Phil early but ended up being takedown and nearly finished. De Fries had him against the cage and was landing several very solid shots to the temple, but right after that, Duffee finished him off quick. There is no doubt that Duffee has a lot of power.

Possible matchups for Duffee: This now makes Duffee 2-1 in the UFC and right back on track. I have a feeling that he is going to be put on the fast track towards a title shot by the UFC. His knockout power and entertaining fighting style can make him a star in the mainstream spotlight. Pat Barry is another fighter that has similar fighting style: extremely powerful and entertaining. And he just happens to be coming off of a KO of the year candidate over Shane Del Rosario.

Possible matchups for De Fries: Though this loss only makes de Fries 2-2 in the UFC, his two losses are both via early KO losses. He should be put in a loser goes home bout next with the loser of Shawn Jordan vs. Mike Russow.

Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury: Right from the start, this fight was Myles Jury. Many people went in thinking that this fight was going to be a mismatch, including myself. Jury was just the better fighter. He controlled him everywhere the fight went, especially on the ground; getting takedowns and battering him with ground and pound. That’s what I envisioned Michael Johnson doing. Going into this fight, Johnson was considered to be a future title contender and many now believe that Jury took his position.

Possible matchups for Jury: With this huge win over Johnson, this launches Jury up the rankings. I was calling for a big name for Johnson but instead he got owned by lesser known prospect in Jury. Mac Danzig is coming off of a very close decision loss to Takanori Gomi, so I think he should fight Jury for either a rebound fight for Danzig or a big stepping stone for Jury.

Possible matchups for Johnson: This was a devastating loss for the Blackzilian product. It will certainly push him down the ladder quite a bit. I’d like to see him fight guy for a rebound like Fabricio Camoes, who is coming off of a decision loss to Melvin Guillard.

Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Gulliard: This fight was exactly as many expected: a barnburner from beginning to end with a great scrambles on the ground. Guillard opened the fight with a bunch of very solid legkicks but Varner ended up countering them with a nasty combo that almost knocked Guillard out. Varner ended up fighting smarter in the second round though, as he began to wrestle with Melvin, who is known to have a very poor ground game. It was a back and forth second round but Varner took it to the ground again. In the third round, Varner fought smart again and out-grappled Guillard. At one point, Varner did a reversed atomic bomb right on Guillard’s head. Yeah, it’s a tad hard to describe in words. It was a generally easy 30-27 for Varner and one of the judges gave it 30-27 to Guillard… Anyway, on to the matchups.

Possible matchups for Varner: This was an absolutely huge win for Varner. Guillard has a lot of name value so I want Varner to fight a top-10 or top-15 opponent again. I would like to see him fight the loser between Cerrone and Pettis. Cerrone and he have a huge rivalry that goes way back to 2009 at WEC 38. And Pettis vs. Varner would be an instant Fight of the Night.

Possible matchups for Guillard: It’s a shame that Guillard may never actually reach the greatness in which we all thought he could one day reach. I would like to see him fight another guy who is coming off of a decision loss like Mark Bocek. It could go either way with a KO from Guillard or a submission from Bocek.

Erik Perez vs. Byron Bloodworth: Did anyone expect any different? Perez came right out and landed shots, pushing Bloodworth against the cage. After landing a nasty knee to the body and dropping Bloodworth, Perez swarmed and finished him soon after. This makes Bloodworth 0-2 with two TKO losses in the UFC. He’s not UFC quality.

Possible matchups for Perez: There were reasons as to why Perez was so hyped going into his fight and he showed it in his win over Bloodworth. I would like to see him fight the winner between Francisco Rivera and Edwin Figueroa. The winner would deserve a top-10 opponent.

Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland: From beginning to end, Eddie Wineland put on a striking clinic over Brad Pickett, and I have to admit, I was quite surprised. Wineland was just countering and landing with right hands the whole fight, battering Pickett’s face. He looked fantastic, much like his last win over Scotty Jorgensen.

Possible matchups for Wineland: Heading into this bout, there were very big title implications. Wineland dominated this fight so I would like to see him fight the winner of Renan Barao and Michael McDonald. With the technique and power that he brings to the table, he will be a handful for either fighter.

Possible matchups for Pickett: Poor Brad Pickett. He gets to a number one contender match, and loses. This has happened at least two or three times to him now. If he wants to make it back into contention, he should fight Mike Easton. A win over Easton could send him right back into contention.

Dana White Mini-Series Part 2: Professionalism

Dana White (Photo by Sherdog.com)

Dana White is the busiest man alive. It seems like he rarely delegates many executive responsibilities and tasks. He is incredibly hands-on and can be seen at almost every UFC affair of any kind ranging from press conferences, weigh-ins, The Ultimate Fighter TV show and every fight event no matter where on the globe these events might take place. So, when it comes to getting the job done there are few men in the world that do as much as he does for their respective companies. Dana has also done a phenomenal job building the UFC brand and his own name as well. The story has been told a thousand times before about how he took a sport that was dead, went 40 million dollars into debt and then saved it all on a last ditch effort with The Ultimate Fighter reality series. And he took himself from being a boxing aerobics instructor to the Mafioso-esque boss-man he is today. But the problem is his professionalism in the media spotlight. I think Dana has a decent grasp on certain aspects of the financial future and corporate growth but the customers pay the bills and in order for growth you need more customers.

Every major sport that is more popular than the UFC in America (football, baseball, basketball) and other sports throughout the world (soccer, hockey) has an atmosphere of professionalism that the UFC is desperately missing. Not one owner or commissioner in the NFL or MLB has ever said or done what Dana White has done in the spotlight. The closest thing I can think of is the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s antics from years past. But that is minor compared to what Dana pulls. Cuban never went against his own team on the scale Dana has against his own contracted fighters. I think we need some imitation for success here. There is a level of public professionalism that all of these organizations exude and in order to follow suit I believe Dana needs to adopt similar attributes and traits. If I were to ask Dana “Do you want to be taken more seriously as a professional sports organization?” He would most likely say “Yes!” So, why doesn’t he do what it takes and make it happen?

I would start by advising him to clean up the sport and his mouth. I have been to 2 UFC expos (Boston and Toronto) and was very disappointed with a few things. Dana and Joe Rogan swearing on the microphone on stage in front of the families with children walking around. Do they really think that is appropriate? MMA is not an adult sport anymore. Children practice it as well as all of the individual martial arts. It is time to clean up their mouths. I saw at least a dozen dads put their hands over their sons’ ears when Rogan and Dana took the mic. That is ridiculous and should never happen. Don’t you want those children to grow up and be customers?! Well, if the parents start to think that it is too inappropriate for their children then those kids will not grow up watching the UFC. Another thing at the expos that was really bad were the women walking around practically naked. My issue is for the same reasons I just listed. Adult customers = momentary gain until they age and die. Family customers = insures gain for years and years through the generations (like the NFL!). I understand that the “ring girl” has existed for many years in the boxing world and is a staple in the UFC and I have little issue with that but all the stores at the expo having girls walking around 80% naked is unneeded , a shame and unsound financially.

More on Dana’s mouth. When Dana is interviewed he swears nearly every time. Now, I am not in the upper echelon of the working business world but my father is. If he were to talk like Dana talks he would be jobless in a heartbeat. To use the f-word is just never appropriate and it is time to move on from the famous “Do you want to be a f-ing fighter?” speech from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. Yes, that was quite popular but it is time to become a legit professional company. Plus, when you are swearing like that you sound like an 18 year old kid who is drunk at a frat party and not the president of a billion dollar promotion.

One thing he has done well professionally is marketing. Dana White is an absolute genius when it comes to marketing. Having the athletes available for fans to meet at expos and press conferences is revolutionary and not found in any other sport. I am a die-hard Yankees fan. Guess how many Yankees I have met…zero. Having the fighters meet the fans on the regular is an innovative marketing strategy that is unmatched in sports today. Also, having every fighter on twitter communicating with fans or at least giving the fans a way to get to know the fighters on a deeper level was beyond smart. It is dangerous to let them have free reign but worth the risk. Fans root for athletes they find commonalities with and they get to know the fighters better through twitter.

One last thing is Dana’s attitude seems to be becoming more and more like a tyrant; a “do what I say or die!” type persona growing. When his fighters act up or do horrible PR disasters, I understand the need to crack down. But when a fighter doesn’t make the career decisions Dana wants them to make or doesn’t fight as exciting as Dana wants then he acts like a crazed dictator and reigns down the wrath of God. Also, Dana awards the sloppiest fight “Fight of the Night” bonus money every event. Sometimes it is based on how back-and-forth it was or the technical skills displayed. But mostly it’s the Matt Riddle or Leonard Garcia fests put on. It is asking fighters to risk their careers and health to garner more money for the company. It is a sport and competition. Every other sport does not influence their athletes to endanger themselves so tickets sell. That is horrible and disgusting. And when fighters put on boring fights he should not go on a twitter rant about how horrible they are because they did not make him money!

But overall I think the change Dana needs to make are simple: act professional. Learn from and mimic your peers that are more successful.  I think Dana is aware of all of these but is stubborn and likes the attention so refuses to change. But I think eventually the Fertitta brothers (who own most of the UFC) will crack down and reformat Dana’s role in the public eye. All of these changes are necessary though for long term success.


For Dana White Mini-Series Part 1 click here