Dana White had his say and now it’s time for Randy Couture to speak out. A week after Dana brutalized his former UFC champion in the press, The Natural is fighting back. Randy has a different take on his departure from the UFC than his former boss.

It was an all out war a week ago when Bellator and Spike announced that they had signed UFC Hall of Fame fighter Randy Couture away from the UFC. Couture will not only be a part of Bellator’s new reality show, but will also be a fixture on Spike TV. Dana White wasn’t impressed and unloaded on Couture shortly after the news was announced.

“I’m happy that he’s gone. I’m happy that he’s gone forever and that he’s with them. I don’t respect him at all. Not even a little. The only time that Randy Couture is ever a man is when he steps foot the cage. As soon as his big toe steps out of the cage, he’s the furthest thing from it. That’s it. That’s the way I feel about him. I don’t at all disrespect what he did in this sport. As much as a man that I think he’s not, he was 100 percent man when he stepped in that cage. It is what it is. And just to clarify to you guys, Randy Couture, it was around Christmas time and his lawyer sends in a letter and bails on the last [FOX] show that he’s doing for us, after they begged me for a fu#king job. So I’m like, ‘What the hell’s going on around here?’ I dig around and I find out that he’s talking about doing a deal with Bellator and Spike. I call his lawyer and I went ‘me’ on the lawyer — is the best way I can explain it — and then I called Randy. I called him over and over again and he wouldn’t even answer his phone. Then he texts me and says, ‘What’s up boss? I hear you’re flipping out. I did not sign a deal with Spike or Bellator but I’m talking to two other networks right now.’ I said, ‘If you tell me that you did not bail on my last fucking fight and go do a deal with them, I don’t give a shit what network you sign with. I don’t care if it’s freakin’ HBO, The Food Network, I could care less who it is. Are you saying you did not sign a deal?’ ‘I did not sign a deal with them. Stop worrying, relax, and have a great Christmas. We’ll talk later.’ To this f**king day sitting right here right now we still have not talked. I knew the whole time that he was doing the deal even when I was talking to him and he was lying to me not even to my face, not even though the phone but through texts.”

Couture is now telling his side of the story and according to the former champ, Dana and the UFC could have prevented this rift. Couture says that he gave the UFC every opportunity to keep him after he retired and it was the UFC who showed very little interest in doing so.

“I gave the UFC and Dana every opportunity to find a way to significantly use me since I retired a year and a half ago,” he explained. “They acted like they were doing me a favor by giving me the four events on FOX a year as a commentator.”

Couture is one of many former UFC pioneers that are largely ignored by the company after they retire due to long lasting personal issues. Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Tito Ortiz, and Couture are all fighters who helped break ground for the company and are left with few if any opportunities while guys like Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, and Kenny Florian are well taken care of. Couture sees Hughes’ recent UFC gig as a big sign of intentional disrespect.

“In my professional estimation, they had an opportunity to keep me and use me. They chose not to, and a week later, after this whole thing leaks, they give a job to Matt Hughes in a significant fashion. Frankly that was a big ‘f–k you’ to me from Dana. And that’s exactly what he intended to do.”

It’s funny because I have never been a Couture fan but I was thinking the same when I heard Dana come out and blast him. This is a man who the company propped up as the Godfather for years and yet you barely see or hear from him on UFC related events. It seems like Dana wants its all. He wants to screw with guys like Couture and Ortiz yet gets upset when anyone God forbid take a job elsewhere.

Again I am not a big Randy fan and I understand what he tried to pull years ago but the second they brought him back that should have been forgotten. The idea that you’d ban a father no matter who he is from cornering his son is just downright embarrassing. He says he’s happy to see Randy go yet he pulls a power play like that? My thinking then and now is that if Dana was so upset that Randy left, why didn’t you have him under contract in the first place?

Dana White is coming off like a big baby here. He’s mad that people take jobs elsewhere yet he has no intention of hiring them. He can’t have it both ways. It’s time to start developing some kind of post-fight career for the UFC fighters and sign them to contracts similar to what the WWE does with their legends for marketing and appearances. Until the UFC does this, they have nobody to blame but themselves when their former stars work for the competition.

Xtreme Training: The Fighter’s Ultimate Fitness Manual

Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage

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The Ultimate Fighter returns this week on FX. Lost in all of the excitement is the impact that this show had on MMA 17 seasons ago. As much as UFC will try, they will never have another class and show as exciting as The Ultimate Fighter Season 1.

I watched back the entire season of the first The Ultimate Fighter show recently. I remember at the time being hooked on the show the first time I watched it. I felt the same way re-watching the season all over again. The season was filled with drama, tremendous fights, and a cast of characters that has never been quite as engaging as the cast from this season.

First of all, the format was entirely different on the show. The show featured weekly physical challenges ala Survivor. Unlike today where it was as simple as winning teams picks next fight, fight choices were determined by whoever won these challenges. In looking back, it is amazing that none of the guys got seriously hurt on these challenges.

I don’t know if there have been a better paid of coaches than Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. The guys were true pros and both seemed to have the best interests of their fighters. This was at a time right before the two blew up and became mainstream stars. Randy Couture in particular was fantastic, especially during the Southworth-Bonnar fight when he told Bonnar exactly what Chuck would be advising Southworth.

Joe Rogan has called the cast, “The heart and soul of ultimate fighting.” The cast was truly a classic. From their personalities to the legacy they would build in UFC. It’s funny, because they were portrayed as young hungry inexperienced MMA stars. Yet, a lot of them had great pedigrees and probably would have wound up in UFC at some point. Guys like Chris Leben and Bobby Southworth had good careers going before the show. It really shouldn’t be a huge surprise in retrospect that a lot of them easily transitioned into the UFC.

The cast featured a ton of guys that would go on to main-event UFC Fight Nights and Pay-Per-Views. Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Stephan Bonnar, Kenny Florian, and Nate Quarry. If you just became an MMA fan in the last few years, you wouldn’t believe that all of these UFC fighters came through a reality show. The amount of talent that UFC was able to amass from the show was just amazing.

The first season saw the coaches pick teams. It is funny watching this draft back in retrospect to see how wrong Chuck and Randy were. Out of that entire class named above, none of them were picked #1 overall. The #1 overall pick was Bobby Southworth on Team Liddell. Arguably the biggest star to come out of the show, Forrest Griffin wasn’t picked until close to the end of the draft. It just goes to show you that there is no way to measure a fighter’s heart.

Chris Leben was the star of the show early on. If you heard Leben interviewed today, you would never realize that this was the same kid. Leben was a loud mouthed, arrogant, cocky, drunk during most of the show. Leben went from peeing in one of the fighter’s beds in the first episode to crying in a sleeping bag with Nate Quarry. The guy was an emotional roller coaster and really made his mark.

The most memorable thing about the show was probably the rivalry between Leben and Josh Koshcheck. Things came to a head when Southworth called Leben a, “fatherless bastard” one night while partying. Leben broke down crying and wound up sleeping outside of the house. Koshcheck and Southworth proceeded to dump water on Leben while he was sleeping. Leben got up and in a crazed state wound up going through the house punching walls and windows.

Dana White immediately capitalized on this and made a fight between Leben and Koshcheck. In my opinion, Koshcheck seemed scared going into the fight. This was the kind of a fight that would have made money if it was put on pay-per-view. Koshcheck actually pulled off the upset and won. The fight turned out to be kind of boring with Koshcheck continually grounding Leben. Koshcheck was just too good of a wrestler for Leben to go the ground with. It still amazes me that UFC has never re-matched the two fighters.

For a guy that was in his mid-30s, Southworth probably came out as the biggest idiot of the show. The guy was completely immature both in and out of the octagon. He reminded me of the little kid that encourages the bully in those 1980s movies, but won’t do anything himself. After losing a decision to Stephan Bonnar, Southworth whined and complained. The fight was definitely close, but it was his fault for not finishing. Two minutes after the fight he threw his UFC career out the window when he told Dana White to leave his room. White was angry and well, we have not seen Southworth in UFC since.

Plenty has been written about the finale between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar and how it impacted UFC and MMA. Diego Sanchez defeated Kenny Florian in the middleweight final. These are two guys that have fought for the UFC lightweight title while Josh Koscheck has challenged for the UFC welterweight title. The level of talent that came out of the show will never be repeated for so many different reasons.

Tonight’s show will kick off the most anticipated season since Ortiz and Shamrock were coaching. Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen have manufactured a rivalry that some are hoping will reach the boiling point like Evans and Rampage and Ortiz and Shamrock. As for the class, the UFC is already dropping hints of chaos in order to stir up interest in the show. No matter who emerges from this year’s class, I don’t expect any class to make the impact of the first season.

Seventeen seasons later and I still don’t think UFC has been able to recreate the magic of season one. There have been more talented fighters, but nobody has translated to television like the first class. Getting one star out of a reality show like this is a miracle for anybody like a UFC. Getting 8 future stars out of a TUF class is unheard of and an unequivocal success. That alone is the reason why no season of The Ultimate Fighter will ever capture the magic of season one.

UFC Presents: The Ultimate Fighter, Season 1- Uncut, Untamed and Uncensored!

Chael Sonnen: The Voice of Reason: A V.I.P. Pass to Enlightenment

Anderson Spider Silva (Em Portugues do Brasil

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UFC 155 will feature one of the most anticipated heavyweight clashes in UFC history. Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez will fight a second time and even after a convincing KO win, not everyone is convinced that JDS can do it twice…especially his peers.

It is easy for a blogger like me to sit here and make UFC predictions but even I’ll admit it is more interesting to hear them from the pros themselves. So let’s hear what the heavyweights that have stepped into the UFC octagon have to say about Velasquez vs. JDS II.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture is going with the challenger.

“The rematch is gonna be interesting, I think you’ll see Cain back at the top of his game and sharp it was a question with the shoulder issues he had. Coming back and fighting a guy the caliber of Dos Santos. he was just sitting there waiting and obviously hungry. Cain certainly wants his belt back so i think maybe we’ll see a little bit tighter Dos Santos than we’ve seen in the past. but it will be an interesting rematch, for sure. I expect to see a lot more wrestling out of Velasquez, to deal with the punching and striking abilities of Junior dos Santos.”

It is hard to take Couture’s picks seriously as it seems that Randy likes to go with underdogs more often than not His assessment of Velasquez and the wrestling makes a lot of sense, although I am expecting another one round KO, this time in favor of Velasquez.

Roy Nelson also offered his pick. Roy is interesting because he has actually gone the distance with the champion. Unfortunately you never know if what Roy is saying is actually what he thinks or what he is hoping will make headlines.

“I think I was the only one who gave Junior a chance to actually finish that fight…I still got Junior. Just because, he hits hard and if anything he’s got five rounds to knock Cain’s block off. If Cain does the same thing he did last time, it’s not gonna be a good thing. I think Cain has to just change his game-plan up and actually go out there and execute good, solid grappling match game-plan, then he’ll be okay. As long as you’re tying him up, he can’t punch you.”

So Roy is going with Junior. Like Couture though Roy is saying that Velasquez’s key to victory is the wrestling.

You didn’t expect the media to pass up the opportunity to quote former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem did you?

“I think Cain is gonna do good in this next fight. I think he might even get the belt. I think he’s gonna get the belt.”

Talk about going out on a limb. I have to say I expected Overeem to take another dig at Dos Santos but he kept the pick rather straight and professional. A Cain vs. Overeem fight is certainly intriguing but for the sake of seeing JDS vs. Overeem, I am hoping to see JDS pull off the win and make it 2-0 against Velasquez.

Frank Mir is a former UFC heavyweight champion who has fought Dos Santos and trained to fight Velasquez. Mir is one of the better analysts in the game in my opinion so I tend to put a little more weight behind his opinion as opposed to his peers. Here is what he said on Fuel TV.

“I think it’s really close. Again, I think Velasquez is extremely well rounded, very tenacious has great grappling ability. I think the way to beat Dos Santos is to close off the cage, to put him against there and put him down on the ground. Lets test his abilities in other areas. He’s already proven he’s an unbelievable fighter when it comes to the open area. His footwork, his speed. I think if you want to take the champion away from that, you have to take him out of that element. I think Velasquez has the potential to possibly do so. That being said he’s already tried once and came up short and Dos Santos, so far no one has really figured out the riddle on really how to cut him off and get him down to the ground. No one has been able to really be dominant at all, or even show a chink in his armor. As of right now, he goes around and he does what he does best and no one is able to stop him. They’re both such great fighters. I’ll probably slide toward the champion just because he is the champion. It’s not something I would actually bet my house on.”

Former UFC contender Shane Carwin also weighed in on the fight. Dos Santos brutalized Carwin in Carwin’s last fight which saw Carwin go the distance with JDS.

“Dos Santos and Cain, I think it is more of the same from the last fight, Dos Santos”

Chael Sonnen: The Voice of Reason: A V.I.P. Pass to Enlightenment

Anderson Spider Silva (Em Portugues do Brasil

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A long time ago Eric approached me with the idea of writing a blog about “The decline of Lyoto Machida.” I was instantly intrigued, but thought that we might be of two different minds on the subject. With his recent victory over Ryan Bader and his upcoming title shot, I thought it might be worthy of discussion.

My original idea was to talk about what happened to the Era of the Dragon reigning with terror over the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division. Many people were so drawn in by his style and his seeming invincibility that he was heralded as an undefeatable champion after signature wins over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans. Both wins were massive for Machida. They were both nasty knockouts over top competitors, and the second one over Evans actually earned him the UFC Light Heavyweight title. What has happened since? He’s gone 3-3, earning a close decision over Mauricio Rua, before dropping the title to him in the rematch and getting knocked out cold for his trouble. He also dropped a controversial decision to Rampage Jackson and was choked out cold by newly minted undefeatable champion Jon “Bones” Jones. The wins were far less impressive, the previously noted close decision victory of Shogun, a highlight knockout over the aging and retiring Randy Couture at UFC 129 and the recent victory this weekend over Ryan Bader.

However, what started with a mere look into what’s happened to the Era of the Dragon, I decided to watch every single one of The Dragon’s UFC bouts thus far. What will follow is going to be a breakdown of each fight, some thoughts on the outcomes and general musings about what kind of impact it’s had on his career. Obviously, most of you will be more concerned about his more recent bouts, so I will focus much of my effort on his most recent events, but bear with me through the whole thing. I’ll also be offering a bit of technical insight into Machida’s style and it will be one of the focal points, as we take a look at how The Dragon has evolved as a fighter inside the UFC’s octagon.

UFC 67: All or Nothing (February 3, 2007) – Lyoto Machida defeats Sam Hoger via Unanimous Decision

This is Lyoto’s UFC debut fight. It’s extremely difficult to find footage of this bout as it took place on the Preliminary portion of the card. However, this was the first introduction for most people to the style of Lyoto Machida. He plays his usual style to a tee here. He looks unquestionably nervous at first, but settles in as the bout wears on. The main story of this entire bout is the lazy and sloppy striking of Hoger and how much Machida makes him pay for it. He nearly finished Hoger with an impressive couple of knees from the clinch, but Hoger survived to the final bell. Basically, not much to glean from this fight besides it being the novelty of Machida’s first bout in the UFC.

UFC 70:  Nations Collide (April 21, 2007) – Lyoto Machida defeats David Heath via Unanimous Decision

This is actually somewhat notable because Machida was originally scheduled to take on Forrest Griffin at this card, which would have been a significant step up in competition immediately, and might have actually launched his career a little sooner. Instead Griffin got a nasty staph infection and was replaced by Heath. The fight was rather un-interesting until the last round of the bout. Knowing he was down two rounds to none, Heath threw caution to the win and charged Machida and he paid dearly for it. Machida nailed some knees in the clinch and pounced on his hurt opponent, but couldn’t earn a finish. This bout was actually removed from the Spike-TV Tape-Delayed broadcast, because it was deemed too boring, and was yet another blow in Machida’s introduction to US fans.

UFC 76: Knockout (September 22, 2007) – Lyoto Machida defeats Kazuhiro Nakamura via Unanimous Decision

This was considered a bit of a step-down for Machida as he was coming off of a dominant win over the previously undefeated David Heath, but Nakamura was a talented Japanese fighter with big fight experience. Machida came out noticeable more aggressive in the first round, going after the Japanese judoka. Machida actually showed off how dangerous his grappling was in this bout as he handled the black belt level Judoka on the mat with ease. This bout was featured on the Main Card and was probably the first real introduction that fans had to Machida, if they had not seen him fight live.

UFC 79: Nemesis (December 29, 2007) – Lyoto Machida defeats Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via Submission

Sokoudjou entered the UFC with a whirlwind of hype. He was coming off of massive knockout upsets over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona, both in Pride and besting both men in under two minutes. Machida absolutely dominated Sokoudjou, showing some slick striking and then once again showing his impressive grappling skills. This also marks Machida’s first finish in the UFC and was extremely impressive as he submitted another top-level Judo fighter in the second round via Arm Triangle Choke.

UFC 84: Ill Will (May 24, 2008) – Lyoto Machida defeats Tito Ortiz via Unanimous Decision

Widely considered to be Machida’s toughest test to date, Ortiz was definitely the biggest name that The Dragon had ever faced. It was also Machida’s first bout against a wrestler and many wondered how he would fare. The bout was about as one-sided as it gets, with Ortiz’s only real offense being a Hail-Mary triangle choke at the end of the third round that stunned Machida. This is one of the most important bouts in Machida’s career as it really began the Era of the Dragon and made people realize just how impressive his ‘elusive’ style was. Ortiz was the biggest name he’s faced to date and Machida walked through him. His wide karate stance allowed him to shrug off nearly every takedown attempt that Ortiz threw at him, and we continued to see just how effective Machida is at fighting at a distance.

UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn2 (January 31, 2009) – Lyoto Machida defeats Thiago Silva via KO

The true arrival of the Era of the Dragon. Machida took on the then-undefeated Brazilian Thiago Silva. Before the fight Machida had talked about training strength and conditioning for the first time in his career and using weight training in his pre-fight regimen and the results speak for themselves. Machida used the same countering and elusive style that he had in the past, but against a significantly more aggressive opponent. Silva constantly moved forward, but was always met with punishment for his mistakes. After scoring two knockdowns in the first round, there was only five seconds remaining in the round when Silva shot for a takedown out of desperation. Machida was able to stuff the shot and trip Silva to his back, before landing a huge right hand from standing position that knocked Silva out cold and announced to the world that Machida could put on exciting performances. The win is also notable as it earned Machida a UFC Light Heavyweight title shot.

UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida (May 23, 2009) – Lyoto Machida defeats Rashad Evans via KO

This is quite possibly the masterpiece of Machida’s career to date. Evans was by far the most decorated wrestler that Machida had ever faced and was a talented and speedy striker in his own right. Many fans wondered what would happen when Machida faced someone who wasn’t afraid to trade leather with him but could also take him down if needed.  The results speak for themselves, as Machida fought a perfect fight. He allowed Evans to basically beat himself. Machida out-landed Evans in Significant Strikes 28-4.

I’ll dive into a bit of technical analysis for this bout, as it really is one of the best examples of why Machida’s style causes so many fighters fits. Machida traditionally fights from the Southpaw stance, Evans fights from an Orthodox stance, this allowed Machida to keep a lot of distance between the two men at all times. What this also does is allows Machida tons of time to react to any potential takedown attempts by Evans, although he really doesn’t attempt any in this bout. Re-watch the fight and notice the distance between the back legs of both fighters, it’s an integral part of Machida’s fight strategy.

This is also notable for Greg Jackson’s game plan of back-pedaling vs. Machida = win strategy. Machida is by nature a counter-striker and Jackson and company thought that by engaging less against Machida they would be able to turn the tide in their favor. Instead what they got was Evans not engaging actively and Machida being able to land shots un-punished leading to the worst beat down of Evans’ career.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun (October 24, 2009) – Lyoto Machida defeats Mauricio Rua via Unanimous Decision

This was an extremely close and highly controversial decision. It was also a highly entertaining bout between two of the best in the sport. Machida won the bout 48-47 on all three judge’s cards. Machida was able to win the first few rounds, while Shogun was able to capitalize on his stronger cardio and outwork Machida in the final rounds. This bout was highly controversial and many fans though that Shogun should have won the fight. I actually scored the bout for Machida, 48-47 with Machida winning the first three rounds and Shogun the final two. For those who disagree or are hating on that, re-watch the fight with no Commentary and you may see the fight more objectively. The other area of controversy is that Fight Metric had Shogun out-landing Machida in every round.

Let’s talk about some of the things that Shogun did to solve the puzzle that is Machida. First of all, Shogun was far more aggressive than really any of his previous opponents have been. Shogun has an absolutely insane chin, which allows him to be a bit more reckless than most opponents are able to against Machida. In rounds where neither fighter lands any significant offense the fighter moving forward is often rewarded for being the aggressor, Rua took advantage of this. Shogun was also willing to fight from the clinch and work for takedowns to score points. While Machida rarely shoots for traditional takedowns, he does at times look for trips and takedowns from the clinch.

One thing that also led to Machida struggling in this bout is that Shogun looked incredibly quick. Machida’s game relies heavily on timing and being quicker to the punch than his opponent. In fact this is an important part of the karate style of fighting. The basic idea of karate is to react at the same time as your opponent and land before he does. Shogun entered this bout in significantly better physical shape than his previous UFC bouts and it showed, as Machida looked surprised when dealing with the quickness of Shogun. However, he was able to stay composed and was able to control the range of the fight throughout the first rounds of the bout.

UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 (May 8, 2010) – Mauricio Rua defeats Lyoto Machida via Knockout

Rua basically goes with the same strategy as he did in the first bout, constantly moving forward with kicks. It’s in this bout that Shogun exposes what is quite possibly Machida’s biggest weakness and that is basically his refusal to keep his hands up and protect his own chin. As men more intelligent than I am have pointed out in the past, this is a direct result of his karate background. In point-contact karate fighters score points when they strike and then return their hands to their waist position, which explains why Machida does it frequently.

After a back and forth first few minutes, which featured a nice takedown by Machida and an excellent sweep and return to feet for Shogun, Machida forgets that he is best fighting at range and gets in close with Shogun. Instead of covering up in close, Machida tries to brawl with one of the best wild punchers in the game. After throwing a knee, Machida moves out with his hands down and allows Shogun to tag him with a massive overhand right hook.

It’s hard to glean anything significant from this bout, except for the major mistake Machida constantly makes. Keeping his hands down as he moves out. The other thing that can be gleaned from this pair of fights with Shogun is that crowding Machida is an effective strategy if you’re willing to stick to it and constantly pressure Machida. Getting in close and not being active is a sure-fire way to get pummeled, but if you can focus on keeping him busy, crowding him in close can certainly be effective.

Despite Shogun’s success against Machida in their pair of bouts. A close loss, which many felt he won and a decisive knockout victory, I would heavily favor Machida in a rematch, especially after seeing their performances at UFC on Fox on Saturday night. Shogun looked slow and sloppy in their bout, while Machida looked razor sharp and focused.

UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (November 20, 2010) – Quinton Jackson defeats Lyoto Machida via Split Decision

The end of an era? Many people consider this to be the spot where The Era of the Dragon died, however, it’s tough to say that in a bout that was so close and so controversial. Basically, the scoring in this bout came down to the first round, as Jackson cleanly won the second and Machida decisively won the third. In my opinion this one went the wrong way, but the first round was action light so it’s forgivable. In the first round Machida definitely looks slightly gun-shy and tentative, and doesn’t want anything to do with the power punches of Rampage.

In the second round Rampage once again calms out stalking Machida. Jackson works the bout to the cage and uses his significant size and strength advantage to control the bout against the fence. This is seen by some as another weakness of Machida, as he is small for a Light Heavyweight, cuts little weight to make 205 pounds and is physically unassuming compared to most of the much larger men who fight at 205. In the third round Machida takes over. After a flurry of punches from both men, Machida works the bout to the mat and controls Jackson, nearly securing an arm bar submission and working from mount for much of the round. After the bout even Rampage admits that he thought he lost the bout.

UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields (April 30, 2011) – Lyoto Machida defeats Randy Couture via KO

The Return of the Dragon. After struggling through back-to-back losses Machida faced Captain America himself. There’s not much to take from this bout as it lasted barely over a minute. Many people thought that Randy might be able to dominate the fight, by getting inside and using his dirty boxing to punish Machida. He never got the chance as Machida used a highlight reel Jumping Switch Kick to end the fight and Randy’s career. This was a huge win for Machida as it re-energized fans to see Machida fight, reminded them how dangerous he could be, and actually catapulted him into a title bout against Jon Jones.

UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida (December 10, 2011) – Jon Jones defeats Lyoto Machida via Submission

In Jones, Machida fought a fighter like none other he had ever faced. A quick and talented striker, with a massive reach and a strong wrestling base. Machida was able to find success in the first round and actually looked like a legitimate threat to Jones and won the first round on many people’s scorecards. It remains a moot point, since in the second round Jones took over the bout and worked over Machida before landing a big left hand and then choked him out cold with a standing Guillotine.

Let’s take a look at some of the things that made Jones so successful against Machida. The first is definitely range and reach. Jones has an 84-inch reach, which is insane for the 205-pound class. This huge reach allows him to fight on the outside as well as anyone. Machida does best from the outside, but he uses that by stepping in when his opponents commit and punishing them before darting back to the outside. Against Jones who has a huge reach and is an accurate striker with the ability to use leg kicks, that major strength is negated.

Another thing that Jones did well was his ability to switch stances. Like I mentioned earlier Machida is a Southpaw striker who feasts on orthodox strikers, because of the distance between the rear legs of the two fighters. When Jones turned southpaw himself, he severely closed that distance and allowed himself instead of Machida to control the distance that the fight took place at.

Jones was also able to ‘out-Dragon’ed the Dragon.’ What I mean by this is that he made excellent use of feints and fakes to counter Machida. Lyoto does some of his best work when his opponents over-commit to strikes and leave themselves open to counters. After two solid rounds of throwing leg kicks, Jones was able to fake a kick and throw a right hand that crushed Machida as he was trying to counter the kick. He caught Machida coming in wildly and that right hand was what set up the eventual submission victory.

UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera (August 4, 2012) – Lyoto Machida defeats Ryan Bader via TKO

This one should be fresh in everyone’s minds. Machida put on a striking clinic on Saturday night, absolutely battering Ryan Bader for two rounds, before finally finishing him midway through the second round. We’ve seen the types of fighters that have the most success against Machida. Quick, accurate and talented strikers who can crowd Machida successfully and work inside. Bader is neither quick, nor accurate and besides having a powerful overhand right, is not a talented striker. Bader was unable to close the distance against Machida, and basically was made a fool of.

Throughout the first round and a half Machida controlled the distance against Bader, used leg kicks and excellent defense to control the bout and avoid taking nearly any damage. As Bader began to get more frustrated, it created more and more openings for Machida to score points. Finally midway through the second round, Bader charged forward behind a jab and a right hand. Machida is able to simply step back out of the way of the jab, before delivering the crushing right hand that ends Bader’s night instantly.

The Future…

Moving onto the future, what lies ahead for Machida is another crack at Jon Jones, should Jones get by Dan Henderson at their upcoming bout at UFC 151, which will likely be no easy task for the champ.

Machida proved that he is as dangerous as they come on Saturday night and it was somewhat of a return to form for Machida. However, we’ve always known that Bader is the exact type of fighter that The Dragon feasts on; a wrestler with sloppy footwork and unimpressive striking. The question will be how does he deal with a strong wrestler, with capable footwork and impressive game planning.

Be it Jones or Henderson, the only major differences might be a thunderous right hand, or the reach of a giant.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida Walkout T-Shirt: Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida Affliction Signature Walkout T-Shirt

Anderson Spider Silva (Em Portugues do Brasil) Autobiopgrahy

Chael Sonnen – The Voice of Reason: A V.I.P. Pass to Enlightenment

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Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

The UFC 147 headliner featuring Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin 2 has been dubbed by many the worst main-event in UFC history. However, a look back tells us that there have been far less interesting fights sold as UFC main-events.

I am certainly not thrilled about the fight but at the same time I think it is absurd to call this the worst headliner in UFC history. I have watched UFC since the start and I can tell you that there have been far worse mismatches passed off as main-events by Zuffa. This got me to thinking and with a little refresher help from Wikipedia, I was able to easily come up with ten fights that were far worse main-events on paper than the UFC 147 headliner.

Now to be fair not all of these fights were sold on pay per view. Some of these fights were given away for free on Spike TV. Yet they still qualify as UFC main-events in my mind because they headlined a UFC numbered show. I did not include headliners from non-numbered UFC events. So with that said, here are ten fights off the top (in no particular order) of my head that are much worse than what the UFC is trying to sell this Saturday night.

UFC 122: Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami - This was a joke! Yes it aired on free television but yet the idea that this was passed off as a legitimate headliner by the UFC was an insult. Dana White proclaimed the fight a championship eliminator which gave us yet another unfortunate main-event that would have made the list if I went with a top fifteen.

UFC 133: Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans - This band aid of a main-event came after numerous fight changes to the card. Injuries to Phil Davis and Jon Jones forced this rematch of a long forgotten draw between these two former champions. Ortiz was coming off his first win in six fights and five years while Evans was the recognized number one contender. As big of a mismatch as this was on paper, it was every bit as one-sided in the octagon.

UFC 130: Hamill vs. Jackson - If I was ranking this list in order this one would probably be at the top. Once again, this fight was a backup plan once Thiago Silva was injured going into his fight with Rampage Jackson. The original main-event Edgar vs. Maynard was also scrapped which pushed this one to the top. I know circumstances were beyond the UFC’s control but their hype machine was in full b.s. mode when it came to pushing this fight. This fight lived up to all expectations…it stunk!

UFC 105: Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera - This won’t be the first time Couture makes the list. Once again the UFC offered up a free show from England and mucked it up with this ridiculous choice of main-event. The fight wasn’t actually that bad but just the idea that the UFC would sell anything with Brandon Vera in it as a main-event is beyond preposterous…wait a second!

UFC 112: Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia - By all rights Maia was due a title shot but I don’t think anyone thought for a second that this would be an entertaining fight. Silva went out of his way to make sure that didn’t happen to the point where Dana White refused to get into the octagon and wrap the belt around Silva following the win. UFC 112 had a pretty loaded show when it came to star power so even with a bogus main-event, fans had plenty of reasons to buy this show. The headliner though was not one of them.

UFC 119: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop - If I was ranking this list this fight would probably come in second (actually I am starting to rank the list). I find the outrage over UFC 147 hilarious considering the insult of a main-event that the UFC served up at UFC 119. Wanderlei and Franklin could put on a better fight in their sleep than Mir or Cro Cop could at this stage of their careers. Just remember before you nominate a fight to be the worst on selling headliner in UFC history that there was a little show called UFC 119 with an even bigger insult to your intelligence.

UFC 97: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites - A win over Drew McFedries suddenly catapulted Leites to the number one contender’s spot and a title shot against Anderson Silva. Nobody with an MMA brain thought Leites had a chance to win and he proved us right. To his credit he lasted five rounds but that was more Silva playing games than anything else. To show you how “main-event” worthy Leites was to the UFC he was released following his next fight.

UFC 55: Andrei Arlovski vs. Paul Buentello - Yep, it happened. This fight came about after UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir was injured and the UFC needed to create a new champion. Buentello did rattle off some wins but selling him in the main-event was laughable. Buentello did his best to prove that after getting knocked out in a mere fifteen seconds by the Pit Bull.

UFC 53: Andrei Arlovski vs. Justin Eilers - This is still regarded as one of the most controversial fights in UFC history in regards to Eilers getting a title shot coming off a loss. See, you only thought that happened in Strikeforce! Arlovski literally beat the crap out of Eilers as Eilers left the fight with a broken nose, a torn ACL, and two broken hands and the UFC left UFC 53 with very little credibility when it came to the UFC heavyweight (or interim in this case) title.

UFC 109: Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman - The battle of “legends” took place at UFC 109. The idea behind this senior’s battle was that Coleman and Couture were scheduled to fight years earlier and someone had the misguided idea that UFC fans were still awaiting the cancelled fight. They were wrong. In all fairness the fight did draw 1.7 million viewers on Spike yet keep in mind that it was free and had a strong undercard or recognizable names.

Silva vs. Franklin 2 doesn’t sound so bad now does it?

UFC: The Ultimate 100 Greatest Fight Moments

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans DVD

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Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

Brock Lesnar walked into the UFC with one MMA fight under his belt & left almost four years later as a former UFC world champion with wins over elite heavyweights. Now retired, Brock’s UFC run begs to question whether or not Brock Lesnar should go into the UFC Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame is one of the most debated topics in sports. Whether it is football, baseball, boxing, or even the UFC, there is no shortage of opinions as to what a true Hall of Fame athlete is. Yet a look at Hall of Fame athletes in sports all over the world makes the criteria more muddy every day. The UFC Hall of Fame is no exception.

Brock Lesnar is a name that will always remain polarizing in MMA. Lesnar had the dual distinction at one time of being the most hated fighter in MMA yet being the biggest drawing card the sport has ever seen. Lesnar’s credentials were questioned from day one whether it was getting a UFC contract, getting a UFC championship shot, and now whether or not Brock is a Hall of Fame fighter. While the debate among hardcore MMA fans may be simple, an objective look makes this a puzzling question.

Before we talk about Brock’s Hall of Fame credentials, let’s take a look at the current roster of fighters in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Mark Coleman
Randy Couture
Chuck Liddell
Ken Shamrock
Royce Gracie
Matt Hughes
Charles Lewis
Dan Severn
Tito Ortiz (Dana said that Ortiz will go in the Hall of Fame when he retires)

A look at that list makes one thing abundantly clear. There is nothing clear or common about the credentials to be a UFC Hall of Fame fighter. Quite frankly I did not even realize that a couple of those names were on the list. Let’s break the list down and try and find some kind of common ground between the fighters.

Taking Charles Lewis out of the equation, everyone on the list but Royce Gracie is a former UFC champion. For Shamrock and Severn, it was the UFC Superfight championship while the other fighters held UFC class championships. Coleman only had one successful title defense as heavyweight champion. Couture and Hughes are the only fighters to have multiple title reigns. Gracie, Liddell, and Hughes are the only fighters on this list I’d claim that changed the game. Liddell is probably the only fighter on the list that has mainstream appeal outside of the UFC, although Randy could join him after a few more movie roles. In other words, this list is all over the place.

My gut instinct without looking at the list is that Brock is not a UFC Hall of Fame fighter. However once I look at the list and break it down I start to think much differently. I was a big fan of Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn’s during the early UFC days but Brock is certainly more Hall of Fame worthy than those two guys. As for Mark Coleman, you may as well get Brock’s plaque ready once you let him in because there is no way that Coleman is more Hall of Fame-worthy than the former UFC champion.

In terms of win/loss, Lesnar went 4-3 in the UFC. Those aren’t Hall of Fame numbers in itself, but you need to look closer at the numbers. Lesnar came into the UFC with one MMA fight under his belt and beat Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Heath Herring, and Shane Carwin. The wins over two former UFC world champions with little experience are huge in my opinion. Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and Tito Ortiz didn’t face the best as Lesnar did in their primes and come out on top as often as Brock. Lesnar had two successful title defenses, one more than Coleman had with the UFC title. But let’s forget about what Brock did inside the octagon, let’s look at the impact he made on the UFC outside of the events.

Let’s talk Royce Gracie for a moment here and I know I am going to open myself up for criticism from Gracie disciples for this one. Why is Royce in the Hall of Fame? For winning favorable matchups in the inaugural UFC tournaments? For being dominated years later by Matt Hughes? No, Royce is in for his contributions to the UFC and helping the UFC get off the ground. How about Brock Lesnar’s contributions? I would argue that Brock’s record of wins in the UFC are a lot more impressive than Royce and I would also argue that Brock did just as much to help grow the UFC if not more than Gracie.

Brock became the biggest draw in MMA history during his prime. He shattered previous numbers and opened the UFC up to new eyes, new markets, and a new audience. Whether it was because people liked him or hated him, Brock put the asses in the seats. Three years later and Brock still holds the record for the biggest UFC buyrate with his headliner at UFC 100. If you want to talk about a game changer, if you want to talk about a fighter that made just as much if not more of an impact outside of the octagon than inside, and if you want to talk about a fighter who became the biggest star in the sport, you have to talk about Brock Lesnar…and the guy did it in just a couple of years.

As the sports biggest draw during that period, Brock brought more fans to the UFC during that time than any other fighter before or after him. The numbers don’t lie and with those numbers came more money for the UFC and any fighter that fought on a Brock card, more exposure to mass sports media that recognized the casual interest in Lesnar, and brought more new fans to the UFC than any other fighter in company history.

Putting Brock into the Hall of Fame would make a lot of MMA fans angry. Unfortunately it isn’t their Hall of Fame. If the only people in the Hall of Fame were Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, and Matt Hughes, than I could see your argument. But you can’t tell me that Brock isn’t just as worthy as all of the other guys, one who with all due respect was not even a UFC fighter.

I think Brock Lesnar gets into the UFC someday. Dana White is a money guy and at the end of the day Brock brought more money to the UFC in a shorter time period than anyone else that has ever stepped into the octagon. Some in the MMA community may not appreciate what he achieved but I think the people in charge are smart enough to reward Brock for his MMA accomplishments in and out of the octagon.

If Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Tito Ortiz belong in the Hall of Fame, than there is no question in my mind that Brock Lesnar deserves the same honor for his contributions.

Brock Lesnar’s autobiography – Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival

WWE – Brock Lesnar – Here Comes the Pain DVD

UFC.com has a fantastic article previewing the UFC 145 showdown between Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans. The UFC rounded up all of the former UFC light heavyweight champions to break down the fight and predict Saturday’s championship showdown.

Before I get into the quotes, there was one thing that immediately came to mind after reading this article. The article is a reminder as to how new the UFC really is as an organization. In the history of the company, there have only been 11 different UFC light heavyweight champions. Call me naïve but if you would have asked me before reading the article as to how many different light heavyweight champions the UFC has had in its history, I probably would have guessed much higher.

It also looks like that out of all of the championship lineages that the UFC has its best relationships with the former light heavyweight champions. I couldn’t imagine the UFC putting something like this together for any other division. I also think it says a lot about the upcoming bout that this is the first time that the UFC went out of their way to put something like this together for a fight.

So let’s take a look at what some of the former champions had to say about Jones vs. Evans.

Frank Shamrock, inaugural champion from Dec. 21 1997 to Nov. 24, 1999

“This fight has a tremendous story behind it, with it having grown out of a friendship that went sour back when these two were teammates. The drama that’s fueling this is incredible. Fans can expect a fight that, stylistically, will be extremely challenging for Jones to overcome, and he’ll have fits with Rashad’s wrestling if he’s able to put Jon on his back. But ultimately, I see Jones being able to inflict more damage and walk away with the belt still in hand. This will be a fight that will not end as easily and devastatingly as Jones’s others have, but rather one of those moments in his career where he’ll have to pull himself up and battle until the final bell. In the end, this fight will help Jon become a better fighter and a better champion, and will endear himself to fans for years to come.”

What I like most about Frank’s comments is that he is one of the few guys interviewed to actually go out on a limb and pick a winner. Most of the other ex-champions give scenarios where each guy can win, but don’t necessarily pick a winner. You never have to worry about Frank Shamrock offering an opinion and backing it.

Randy Couture, two-time champion from Jun 6, 2003 to Jan 31, 2004 and Aug 21, 2004 to Apr 16, 2005

“I think it is going to be very interesting, Rashad has the speed and skills to win. Rashad has to avoid his propensity for standing up and just striking, which he has done in the past. He can’t just strike with Jones; if he does he will lose because Jon has more tools in the toolbox. Rashad has to take Jones down, not just once or twice but every single time he has any opportunity. If Jones is worried about getting taken down, that’s when Rashad can put his hands on him and do some damage. But he has to keep Jon guessing if it is a takedown or a strike that’s coming.

“I think Jones is super-talented and he is clearly getting better in each fight. He could turn into a very special type of champion. He poses some very unique problems in the Octagon – and so far no one has solved too many of them. I think this is a huge fight for the division. “Bones” Jones is very hot right now and with the personalities and the back story, it all hypes this up into a very interesting fight.”

Interesting take from the former UFC champion. I do agree with Couture that Rashad needs to win this fight with takedowns. I did find it interesting that for a guy that is never shy about offering a prediction, he really doesn’t pick a winner here.

Chuck Liddell, champion from Apr 16, 2005 to May 26, 2007

“Everyone is different but, I think, for most fighters getting into the Octagon with someone they don’t like is a great motivation in training. Every time you are tired or holding a little back, you think about losing to this guy you can’t stand and it helps you give 100%. That’s how I was with Tito, I couldn’t stand the idea of losing to him and so I trained harder.

“I’d love to know who really got the best of it when these guys trained together. You get a feeling for someone when you spar with them. That’s why I was so confident against Tito; I’d beat him up standing, wrestling and at BJJ when we trained together years before out fights and I knew I was in his head because of that. Listening to Rashad, it seems from watching the Primetime show that he feels he’s in Jon’s head a little. He sounds very confident and I think that’s based on experiences in the gym. I’m glad he is confident, because that’s something you have to have against Jones. If you don’t go after Jon you are in for a bad night.”

While the Iceman didn’t outright say he was picking Rashad, it sure sounds like it. Liddell also offers a very interesting glimpse into the mental makeup of Evans going into this fight. I think a lot of people are discounting the history that both guys have as training partners. Liddell doesn’t and brings the motivation of beating his old training partner into play. I love it!

Lyoto Machida, champion from May 23, 2009 to May 8, 2010

“Jones vs Evans is a big fight for the fans and a big fight for the division. It is a very interesting fight; Jones is very unorthodox and is strong in all aspects of the game, but Rashad is a great wrestler and has the hand speed to catch Jones.”

Way to go out on a limb Lyoto! I don’t think Machida is breaking any ground here. This quote represents the last couple of years of Machida’s career, a big letdown.

“Rampage” Jackson, champion from May 26, 2007 to Jul 5, 2008

“Rashad has to go for it right from the start, for real. Rashad can’t play on the outside, you can’t fight no Jon Jones on the outside, believe me. Rashad is fast and can surprise you. He surprised me by faking a takedown and hitting me with a right hand which kinda stunned me. I think he can do that to Jon Jones, but he has to do it right away because the more time you give Jones, the harder it is to set him up for a punch. I think Jon Jones will win, but I think Rashad has a chance.”

This is an interesting take from Jackson and you almost get the idea that he is pulling for his biggest rival. He makes a great point here about Evans’ speed. I think a lot of people are not looking hard enough at Evans’ speed and footwork in predicting the fight. Jones is fast but in my opinion, a healthy Rashad is fast enough to catch Jones at any time during the five rounds.

Check out the full article on UFC.com to hear comments from Shogun Rua, Tito Ortiz, and Forrest Griffin.

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans Program

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans Program

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans DVD

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Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

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