Fighter Futures: Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett last fought in the UFC in March of 2002 when he defeated Randy Couture for the Heavyweight title. Back then Jon Jones was 14, Anderson Silva was 8-1, and Ken Shamrock was still relevant, sort of. His title was later stripped when he tested positive for banned substances and was released from the organization. He continued his MMA career, ultimately winding up with a 31-6 record. Dana White said Daniel Cormier, the first man to defeat Barnett in 5 years, is UFC bound but has remained quiet on Josh. I don’t think they have any intentions of brining Barnett over; that he has ended up in the “undesirable” category next to Tim Sylvia. Josh will continue to fight under the radar as he has for years and hypothetically, if Fedor beats Rizzo and decides he has another fight left perhaps we could finally see Fedor/Barnett.

Fighter Futures: Alan Belcher

(Adorable)

I have a friend, let’s call him Dick, who bet me $50 that Alan Belcher was going to TKO Rousimar Palhares in the first round. Like any sane person I gladly accepted the opportunity to make a quick $50. Well, we all know the outcome, and I have come to the conclusion that Dick must have a time machine hidden somewhere in his closet which is why he never lets me see the inside of it. As far as his future goes, Belcher has said he thinks his win over Palhares was enough for a title shot, I don’t. Impressive, yes, but I think he is still one or two fights out. For his next fight I would like to see him paired up with Michael Bisping, perhaps on the Nottingham card or if not, a rematch with Patrick Cote, if Cote grabs a win over Cung Le.

Fighter Futures: Dan Cormier

I cannot figure out why Dana White wants Daniel Cormier to drop to 205 when he enters the UFC, especially given the state of the heavyweight division. Dana says Cormier is “undersized” but at almost six foot tall and 240lbs he is not giving up much in the size department. The current HW roster lacks any true title contenders, outside of Velasquez, so I think it would be a foolish move to send the winner of the Heavyweight Grand Prix, arguably one of the best HWs in the world, down to LHW. While I don’t think Dan deserves an immediate title shot when his makes the move to the UFC, I think he should be only one fight away. As much as I want to see a Werdum/Mir match up, a think a Werdum/Cormier match with possible title implications will be the way to go.  

Vitor's Broken Hand

Wanderlei can say what he wants about Vitor’s broken hand, it’s easy to kick someone when they’re down, or Arianny style in the back of a limo, but the way I see it Wand should be taking a huge sigh of relief right about now. His new opponent, Rich Franklin, is no slouch, but he’s also no Vitor Belfort. Besides if Belfort never broke his hand then he never could have posted these pictures to his twitter account, check it out, Vitor wants you to. 

(Thanks to @TheRocksEyebrow for passing these along to me)

Hey Kids, Patrick Cote is back

Really, it’s only been a year and a half since Patrick Cote last fought in the UFC? It seems like longer. It’s made even more impressive by the fact that dude has gone 4-0 in his time fighting outside of the octagon. Well, I guess it worked because when Dana needed someone to step in against Cung Le, Patrick “The Predator” Cote answered the call. This is the latest change up in a series of fights that makes me go, “Meh,” I don’t hate the fight, but I’m not overly thrilled to see it. That being said I just don’t see Le getting out of this one. I’m picking Cote to come out strong, dominate the first, and finish the fight via TKO in the second.  

Kampmann/Ellenberger Prediction

Applying MMA math to this match, one comes to the conclusion that Jake Ellenberger wins, he does hold a win over Diego Sanchez, who holds a win over Martin Kampmann. Although it could be said that Kampmann wins because he has a win over Carlos Condit who has a decision victory over Ellenberger. The two seem to cancel each other out so the next step is to apply the Jake Shields formula, by which you once again arrive at Ellenberger as the victor. To counter that, divide by the Rick Story variable to bring us right back to where we started. If you apply MMA math to Ellenberger/Kampmann the only logical conclusion one can draw is that MMA math is stupid and has absolutely no meaning. If Kampmann can weather the inevitable storm of round one I think he takes the decision, if not Ellenberger by TKO in the first.

BJ Penn Returns

I woke up this morning and read that BJ Penn is contemplating his return to MMA. I promptly jumped out of bed and fired up UFC Undisputed 3, selected BJ Penn, proceeded to scroll the list of available welterweights, and came up with no one I wanted to fight. “That’s ok,” I thought, “BJ can also fight at lightweight.” So I switched weight classes, selected Penn again, and scrolled the lightweights. Again I came up with no opponent. In short that is how I feel about BJ Penn coming out of retirement and returning to MMA, I am super excited about the idea of seeing the Prodigy return to action but when you look at the list of available fights I just can’t get behind any of them. I settled on fighting Royce Gracie under Pride Rules where I won by second round TKO, but that fight’s not happening. 

Fighter Futures: "Bigfoot" Silva

Even showing up to face an angry Cain Velasquez takes inhuman amounts of courage and is something with which I will never be acquainted. Bigfoot continued to show heart when he opted to resume the fight after the doctor checked his cut; this man willing lay down giving Velasquez dominant position on top of him. That’s why he fights MMA and I blog. Bigfoot is just 0-1 in the UFC, but I have a feeling that unless he loses in spectacular fashion his next fight could be his last inside the octagon. Another fighter in similar shoes is Pat Barry. Barry is just 4-5 in the UFC and has been to the chopping block before; the beat down he suffered at the hands of Lavar Johnson did him no favors. If both fighters go in with a “do or die” mentality I think it has KO of the night potential. 

Fighter Futures: Dan Hardy

I still think a move to Strikeforce would do Dan Hardy good, but his win at UFC146 insures him sticking around for another fight. Dan is still two wins away from being considered a title contender, so winning needs to be his priority. For his next appearance I would like to see Dan matched up with Rick Story. After winning six straight, Story, has dropped his last two fights and is set to face Papi Abedi next month. The timing could place a Story/Hardy bout on the UFC Nottingham card September 29^th. It would give Dan a chance to fight in front of his home crowd and prove he really belongs inside the octagon, while Rick Story will be coming in 0-3 or 1-2 in his last three, not a position he wants. Wins would benefit either man and with jobs likely on the line it would guarantee excitement. 

Fighter Futures: Frank Mir

I stand by my word that Frank Mir lost this fight before it began, but now what to do with him. After witnessing the performances from Cain and JDS that night, it is unlikely that Frank will ever pose a threat to the upper echelon of the division. Frank Mir was the new thing ten years ago, but like everything else he has been replaced. I doubt he will ever do battle with a title on the line again, but that doesn’t mean he should hang up his gloves just yet, not when there are still a few good fights left. Werdum, Struve, Bigfoot, or rematches with Carwin and Kongo are all viable options for Mir. My favorite is a Werdum/Mir match up, the two fighters are practically mirror images of each other and it would be fun to see them test the other’s jiu-jitsu. Only time will tell. 

Anderson Silva vs. Jon "Bones" Jones

My distain for this fight is so great that I refused to play the UFC Undisputed 3 demo because they were the only fighters available. Anderson is 37 years old and I will not be surprised if his fight with Chael is his last. Jon Jones is only 24 and a decade from now will still be three years younger than Anderson is today. Also, Anderson is a middleweight who hasn’t fought at LHW since 2009 and Jones has been considering a move to HW by the end of 2012; they’re not even possible threats to the other’s division. This fight would do nothing good for either man. If Anderson wins, then he did what he was supposed to do. If he loses, everyone starts questioning his place atop the P4P list; it goes the same way for Jones. Remember when everyone wanted Silva/GSP, I hated that too. 

Bendo/Edgar II

Maybe if I injected Red Bull directly into my adrenal glands I would feel some artificial sense of excitement towards Edgar/Henderson 2. It’s not the thought of the fight but more so the timing that bothers me; another immediate rematch for the lightweight title. What if Edgar wins or they draw, do we go to an immediate rubber match, continuing the log-jam in the LW division? Nate Diaz is standing by waiting for his title shot, which will happen in December at the earliest. If Edgar narrowly wins or they draw Nate could be in holding until next spring, if current trends continue. I like the idea of rematches and rubber matches, but these last two years have been excruciating. I wasn’t even that stoked for Edgar/Maynard 3 to tell the truth. I hope Bendo defends his title successfully and Frankie finally makes the drop to 145 to face Aldo.

Farewell, Mayhem

Watching Miller/Dollaway was not nearly as sad as watching my girlfriend (her only interest in MMA is I stop bothering her when it’s on) standing on the couch and screaming, “Come on, Jason, finish the fight!” …I didn’t even know she knew what that meant. That’s the affect he has, from Bully Beatdown, to TUF, people can’t help but fall in love with this charismatic individual. But charisma doesn’t cross over into the octagon. Miller just looked sloppy, from his inability to capitalize, wild striking, and lacking ground game, this fight was bad. I like Miller but this is not the same fighter that went five rounds with Shields or tapped out Sakuraba. He says he’s retiring, but I think (and hope) we’ll see Jason again; that maybe some time away from fighting is just what he needs to refocus his career. 

UFC 146 - Nelson/Herman

Roy Nelson is like a heavyweight Kendall Grove, hanging around the middle of the pack and doing just enough to not get cut. Props to Roy on his KO victory over Dave Herman last night, but I think it was an early stoppage. Yes, I saw Roy’s hand connect with his temple, and yes I saw Herman’s body go limp and hit the ground. But Herman was given no chance to recover, which he clearly did and quickly. If you’re going to stop a fight the moment a fighter goes limp, that’s fine but it has to be consistent across the board. Frank fell backwards like a tree and was given two chances to recover and Herman was given zero. CB pounded holes in the side of a defenseless Mayhem’s head and the fight still wasn’t stopped. Herman hit the ground for two seconds, fight over. It wasn’t consistent. Whatever.

UFC 146 - Velasquez/Bigfoot

Wow. I didn’t know a human could lose that much blood and still function but I suppose that Bigfoot wasn’t really functioning at that point. This fight looked like a real life display of Mortal Kombat. Even though he lost, Frank Mir still kind of won because that was supposed to be him. Cain took Bigfoot down and destroyed his face from the opening bell. I really like Bigfoot but he looked like a rabid dog’s chew toy last night. I thought the fight was going to be stopped when the doctor check Bigfoot’s cut, and it was painful to watch them be restarted in the ground and pound position. This was about as one sided as fights come, I still have to re-watch the fight, but I’m not entirely sure if Cain took any strikes. Last night Cain paved the road to JDS with pieces of Bigfoot’s face.

UFC 146 - Mir/JDS

I knew Frank Mir lost this fight before it even began, not because I was expecting him to get KO’d like everyone else, quite the contrary I thought Mir had more of a chance then people gave him. But during their respective walkouts JDS had the look of a champion, driven, focused, and determined; Mir on the other hand looked terrified. Before he even set foot in the octagon Frank had the look of a man walking to execution and trying to be brave. Eddard Stark would argue that is the only a time a man can be brave, but it doesn’t change the fact he is still walking to his execution. I think fear was the difference in this fight, as if reality suddenly set in for Mir and he panicked. Props to JDS on his great title defense, he’s the man.

Anthony "Catch Weight" Johnson

It surprises me when Anthony Johnson actually makes weight. Missing the middleweight mark of 186 by tipping the scales at 194 leaves me baffled as to how he ever fought at welterweight. I thought the move from welterweight to middleweight would put an end to this but he continues to miss weight by even larger amounts. Leaving aside the damage he is doing to his own body by cutting so much, his behavior is disrespectful to his opponents, and turned him into a joke for the fans. I will leave the decisions to the fighters and their nutritionists about how much weight is healthy to cut as long as they do so successfully, but the key word is “successfully”. After two missed outings he has proven he does not have the discipline to fight as a middleweight and a move back to welterweight is laughable. Try again at 205, please.

Does Dan Cormier deserve an immediate title shot?

Cain Velasquez saying his training partner Daniel Cormier deserves an immediate title shot is a lot like Bill backing Hilary when she campaigned for president. Cormier is a tremendous heavyweight and he has the potential to be champion someday, but let’s get him to the UFC first. I’m all for the idea of him being fast tracked to a title shot but I think he needs at least one win inside the octagon. Depending on timing I would like to see him matched up against a returning Shane Carwin in a title eliminator, or if Bigfoot records a win over Velasquez I would be down for Cormier/Silva 2, especially with Bigfoot saying he was not motivated for their last fight. Even the loser of JDS/Mir would be a good match up for him. I am just not a fan of an immediate title shot, even Overeem had to fight Brock.

What to do with Dan Hardy?

Lately Dan Hardy has been in a rut, but the question remains should he be cut from the UFC if he drops his fifth fight in a row? I propose a different route for the welterweight: send him to Strikeforce. With the recent signing of Nate Marquardt, now set to face Tyron Woodley for the vacant welterweight title, much needed life is being pumped into a division that has experienced a void left behind by Nick Diaz. Hardy has proven he is an exciting fighter and moving to Strikeforce would allow him to remain with Zuffa while giving him an opportunity to return to his winning ways. If he grabs a win over Duane Ludwig he will still be 1-4 in his last five. It is most likely only a matter of time before Strikeforce is absorbed by the UFC but its welterweights are gaining momentum, and Dan needs that.

Fedor's Last Fight

Fedor signed a deal to face Pedro Rizzo in June and now a once great heavyweight match is little more than a struggle to retain some relevance in an evolving sport. Fedor says he will likely retire after the fight and for his own sake I hope he is a man of his word; I shudder at the thought of the Last Emperor becoming another Ken Shamrock. Every time he steps into the cage it becomes harder to remember him during his glory days in Pride, instead we see the tap-out, the stoppage, and the TKO. I hope he finishes Rizzo quickly and we see flashes of his greatness one last time before he rides off into the sunset. We all know what the sport does to fighters who hang on past their welcome; even his wins now serve only to tarnish his legendary career.

Frank Mir's Last Title Shot

Frank Mir is nothing if not a realist so he knows this is most likely his last shot at UFC Gold; he’s 33 years old and a loss would put him at the end of the line and I don’t think he has enough years left in the sport to make another title run against the emerging talent of the HW division. Therefore I do not expect to see the same Frank Mir we have seen lately. I think we are going to see a focused and determined Mir who is going to clinch right from the start, pull guard at every chance he can and if he grabs hold of a limb not stop twisting until JDS taps or the fight is stopped. I know he’s the longshot, but I also think this is his last shot, so I see him going for broke right from the opening bell.

Jonny "Bones" Jones and his DUI

Jon Jones has been a topic of debate this last week with his recent DUI arrest. But I think before we all start throwing stones we should take a step back and breathe. It is important to remember that Jon Jones is still a 24 year old kid dealing with the pressures of sudden super stardom; he is a role model, but he is not perfect. People need to remember this before they start dragging his name through the mud. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am in no way condoning his actions, it is always wrong to drive under the influence, but the situation could have been a whole lot worse. Luckily no one was injured or killed. Jones has stood up and accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized, what matters now is how he moves forward. Given his track record I think this incident will be quickly forgotten.

Gilbert Melendez

When talking about the lightweights of MMA one name near the top of many lists is Gilbert Melendez. But I’ve noticed a trend lately, where once people had Gil at #3 or #4 he is now sliding downward as the UFC Lightweight pool gets deeper and he remains trapped in Strikeforce. I don’t blame him for having trouble “finding motivation” anymore. He can out class anyone SF can throw at him and while not fully committing to the idea of a Josh Thompson rematch he still managed to grab a split decision. At 30 years he is not getting any younger and I fear that by time he inevitably brought to the UFC he will have started his decline. It’s frustrating to watch a fighter like Gilbert remain trapped in a dying organization. I’m confident he’ll make it to the UFC someday, I just hope it is not too late.

Brock Lesnar and the Hall of Fame

 A question was posed earlier this week, should Lesnar be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. I do not agree with Florian and Couture or the legions of fans that say yes. Couture points to his title win as grounds alone for induction, following that logic Tim Sylvia should also be inducted. It’s true that he bolstered PPV numbers and converted countless fans to MMA but his induction should be based on octagon performance not Zuffa’s monetary gain. He defeated an aging Couture to win the title and while his wins over Mir and Carwin were impressive they are not enough. Velasquez and Overeem ran through him inside of a round. The Hall of Fame should be reserved for fighters who dedicated their lives to bettering the sport, not a WWE celebrity, fast tracked to the title, who when faced with true adversity, turned his back and walked away.

Interim Champions

Cruz is out and now Faber/Barao will fight for the Interim Bantamweight title. Translation, winner of the fight will wait close to a year or more for Cruz’s return. Currently in the Welterweight division Carlos Condit has been inactive since February waiting for GSP. An Interim Championship should not be a golden ticket into a title fight, but instead should be defended in similar fashion to other titles. I’m not blaming Condit, or the soon to be Interim Bantamweight Champion, it makes sense for them to wait, why should they take the unnecessary risk of losing their title, instead the UFC should force them to compete and defend the championship. There are too many great fights on the horizon to keep the entire division in a holding pattern based on one man’s injuries. Besides, the title of “Interim Champion” doesn’t mean much if you’re sitting on the sidelines, Sorry Carlos.

Seriously, Nick?

It almost hurts me to write this because for the longest time I was a fan of Nick Diaz but several disappointments later I am throwing in the towel. His behavior is inexcusable and yet people keep making excuses. “Nick doesn’t like to deal with the press.” Well, you know what, that’s part of his job. There are certain aspects of my job I find unbearable, but it’s still part of my job. He lost out on a title fight with GSP because he skipped two press conferences. He lost a tough fought decision to Condit and instead of accepting it he whined, cried, and quit MMA. He agreed to a BJJ match with Braulio Estima and he no showed. I won’t even touch the marijuana issue. This is unacceptable; my six year old has a higher maturity level… I don’t really have a six year old.