Category — UFC

I’m still wrapping my brain around Chael Sonnen’s FightMetrically dominant near-win against Anderson Silva (and Silva’s Hail Mary triangle-armbar combo and subsequent injury excuses and poor winner attitude and general suckitude), so I’m a little slow tapping out my thoughts on the much more recent UFC 118. In fact, I’m more interested in the Silva/Sonnen rematch, which would make for a sweet year-ending main event.

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A couple of days ago I posted a video of UFC boss Dana White answering phone calls from fans, offering it as an example of why the promotion is one of the biggest and most fan-friendly in all of professional sport. White didn’t single-handedly make the UFC what it is today – not even close. But he gets and deserves a heap of praise for bringing “human cockfighting” into the mainstream.

Now he’s been invited to speak to the members of the prestigious Oxford University debate team, an honour previously give to such folk as Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Robert Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Malcolm X. That should be interesting, to say the least, given White’s lack of internal editor when he opens his mouth.

James Toney has taken a beating lately, starting even before his embarrassing yet entirely predictable submission loss to Randy Couture at UFC 118 on Saturday. The pile-on reached epic proportions immediately after the bout, as though he had robbed MMA fans of something. It was not as though the fight was ever going to decide which was superior, MMA or boxing, despite how it was billed (promos pegged it as “UFC vs. Boxing“). All that was proven was that Toney, a once-great boxing champion, is now well past his prime and possessing of zero takedown defence or grappling skills. That’s it. But he’s still deserving of our respect, as Sherdog’s Jake Rossen quite ably describes:

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This video shows exactly why the UFC is one of the biggest, most fan-friendly sports organizations in the world. Can you imagine if other sports owners or business owners or – dare I say it – politicians made a similar bold move and set up a hotline for people to call and that the boss actually answered? Sure, it’s a short-term day-of-fight kind of deal, but it’s genius in terms of bolstering the fan-promotion connection.

Chuck Liddell gets his mohawk shaved for charity, but the shape of his skull isn’t what caught my attention. I’ve seen quite enough of him already, thank you. It’s Liddell’s mumbling, spacey speech. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

No surprise that Montreal has been announced as the venue for Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck. UFC 124 will rock the Bell Centre on December 11 in the wake of the GSP- and Koscheck-coached 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which begins airing on September 15 on Spike. Actually, there’s a little surprise since Koscheck was vehement that he wouldn’t face GSP on GSP’s home turf following UFC 113, which saw Koscheck beat Paul Daley, get sucker-punched and then trash the Montreal Canadiens. I’m sure UFC president Dana White subsequently reminded Koscheck that Montreal is the UFC’s biggest market (at least until Toronto hosts its first event) and that will mean greater attention (and earnings) for all of the fighters.

Newly acquired Boston Celtic Shaquille O’Neal has dabbled a little in MMA. So has Tito Ortiz. But this is nothing more than a goof, a lark, a photo op and a chance to grab a few headlines. Still, there’s always something car-wreckishly appealing about David and Goliath stories, especially when it involves an athlete way out of his depth.

While James “Lights Out” Toney and Randy Couture grab all the headlines heading into tonight’s UFC 118 in Boston, there’s a bout a little further down on the card that has me most curious. Not Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard despite the fact that it’s a lightweight contender bout with Fight of the Night potential. Likewise Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis, neither of whom I can stand (Davis because of some appalling comments he made regarding Dan Hardy and Diaz because he’s a Diaz and bat-shit crazy).

Nope, I’m looking forward to Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda. I love Maia, love his jiu-jitsu, and really want to see how he rebounds after his loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva, where Silva acted like an ass and Maia gave a gutsy performance that saw him stand and bang as much as Silva would let him.

As for Miranda, he’s 1-1 in the UFC and coming off a TKO win over David Loiseau, which really isn’t much of an accomplishment at this point in Loiseau’s career. A Maia win doesn’t put him back in title contention, not by a long shot, but it assures his place among the top three or four contenders, which means bigger tougher fights ahead, and that’s good to see.

The more I watch boxing champ James Toney in interviews, the more I hope he shocks everyone and knocks Randy Couture out at Saturday’s UFC 118. There’s something about his over-blinged, marble-mouthed, thug-parody personality, it’s like some weird performance art that I can’t look away from.

Frankie Edgar’s lightweight title victory at UFC 112 went almost unnoticed. The Demian Maia/Anderson Silva controversy made much more noise than the belt change in the media. And I have to say that Edgar is the UFC’s most underappreciated champion. Even Jose Aldo from the WEC gets more recognition than him.

I am not sure what the UFC expected when they booked the immediate rematch. The first fight was good without being exciting, and the prospect of a fight between Randy Couture and James Toney – which has been ridiculously hyped as the final arbiter in the boxing vs. MMA debate, which is pointless, especially given each fighter is past their prime – has garnered most if not all of the attention leading up to Saturday’s UFC 118. Even the Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard lightweight contender bout is getting more attention.

The only reason why Edgar vs. Penn II is happening is because BJ Penn is the UFC’s spoiled brat of a child.

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