God Gave Me Style, God Gave Me Grace

There’s little argument that Jon Jones is the most physically gifted fighter to ever compete in the sport of mixed martial arts. His unparalleled athleticism, functional strength and explosive striking have catapulted him to the elite of the UFC’s roster of fighters. The ease of which he is able to perform jaw dropping manoeuvres against opponents to devastating effect has gained him a reputation as one of the most exciting combat athletes on the planet. Jones’s array of spinning elbows, flashy kicks and lengthy punches combined with his skills to dominate many grapplers in their own field have marked Jones out to many as being the future of the sport, from a technical as well as physical perspective. However it is important to mention the genetic gifts that Jones possesses ( i.e coming from a family of professional athletes, having the arm span of a 7 foot tall man at 84.5 inches etc) that have helped to separate Jones even further from his competition.

A lot of people comment on how fast Jones has risen to the top of the sport, but not many realise just how fast it’s actually been. It took Jones just 4 months from turning professional to get his first win inside the UFC. In only 3 years as a professional fighter he obtained the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, in doing so he became the youngest ever fighter to win a UFC championship at the age of 23. In the process he became the only man to ever knockout MMA legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, as well as the first person to submit NCAA division 1 wrestler Ryan Bader. Adding to this impressive feat is the fact that in all 15 of Jones’s MMA fights he never been in trouble, dominating in every aspect of his fights.

The one Jones has experienced on his record is nothing more than a fluke. Similar to the loss suffered early in the career of the great Fedor Emelianenko, Jones’s careers only blemish comes from being on the wrong side of a ridiculous ruling.

The controversial defeat came against wrestler Matt Hamill in a fight Jones dominated from start to finish. Before the fight began people were curious to see who would have the wrestling advantage, Jones quickly answered these question slamming Hamill to the canvas from a Greco Roman Clinch. From here Jones quickly gained full mount and began raining devastating elbows towards face of Hamill. While alternating the angles from which he was throwing his strikes from, Jones broke a bizarre bi-law in UFC rulebook that disallowed elbows thrown vertically downwards, an angle referred to as 12-to-6. The referee ruled that Jones should be disqualified, therefore handing him his first defeat of his career. The irony of the situation being that Hamill had dislocated his shoulder from Jones’s takedown, had the fight continued to the end of the round meaning Hamill would have been unable to continue fighting thus awarding a TKO victory to Jones. The rule had been made by a member of the Nevada athletic commission who had witnessed a martial arts shows where someone had broke a block of ice with a 12-to-6 elbow and thus decided they were unsafe for competition.

However, the UFC saw the enormous potential in Jones and would put him in the main events for its first two shows on the American network Versus. In the inaugural event on the channel Jones would take on Brandon Vera, a fighter once subjected to the same hype Jones was currently experiencing. Vera also knew firsthand how quickly fan favour can change when he himself failed to live up to his early career hype. Jones once again managed to effortlessly get his opponent to the ground, once there he was caught with an illegal up kick from Vera, causing a pause in the action while Jones was allowed to gather his wits by the referee. Once the fight was restarted Jones landed a devastating elbow to the face of Vera, shattering his eye socket, a few more punches later and the fight stopped with Jones being awarded victory by knockout.

Jones second fight on the network would last less then two minutes as he took experienced veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. Jones would once against effortlessly out grapple an experienced wrestler, getting Matyushenko on his back and quickly assuming side control. From this position Jones transitioned to what is referred to as the Ivan Salaverry position/mounted crucifix, with Jones being able to trap both Matyushenko’s arms. With his opponent unable to defend his head, Jones landed a quick succession of elbows which caused the referee to stop the fight.

Jones rise through the ranks of the light heavyweight division continued as he took on undefeated ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner, Ryan Bader. While Jones was considered the favourite to win, no one was expecting an easy fight, due largely in part to Bader’s wrestling credentials and knockout power.

Although the fight went longer than Jones previous two fights, he was thoroughly in control for the duration of the bout before locking in a modified guillotine choke to win in the second round. Jones was able to exhibit some extremely unorthodox moves that confused Bader, such as a backwards jump over the head of his crouched opponent to take his back. Moves like this showed the uniqueness in Jones approach to MMA but also a confidence in his own natural abilities.

Following the fight Jones would be informed that his then training partner Rashad Evans would be unable to challenge for the title due to an injury he suffered in training. As a result Jones was offered to take the fight against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, which was in less than 6 weeks time. For any other fighter this would be a huge ask on such a short notice, but for Jones this was almost six weeks too long. As Jones showed in the fight against Rua that he already had the ability to beat the world’s top light heavyweight.

In the build up to the fight with Shogun, Jones had been rumoured to have been signing photographs for fans as ‘Jon Jones Champion 2011’. a move which had angered Rua who felt slighted by the lack of respect Jones had been showing him. While Shogun would be coming back from a year long hiatus from the sport, the result of an knee injury he picked up winning the title from Lyoto Machida. It is hard to discredit Jones victory as being a matter of good timing due to the ease he was able to pick apart such a experienced fighter.

Many expected Jones’s to cause Shogun problems with his takedowns, few expected him to give Shogun problems on the feet given Shogun‘s Muay Thai pedigree. Furthermore, no-one expected Jones to land a flying knee to Shoguns jaw seconds in to the fight which rocked the champion. In interviews after the fight Shogun credit’s the knee as being pivotal in the proceedings that followed, stating that he was badly rocked by it and never fully recovered.

In the fight Jones would mix together his arsenal of flashy strikes, Greco roman takedowns and elbows on the ground to devastate the tough Brazilian. Shogun valiantly fought on but the result of the contest was never in too much doubt. After Shogun failed to hook in a leg lock at the beginning of the third round, it was the beginning of the end for his reign as title holder. Jones continued to batter Shogun with strikes from inside his guard. Shogun managed to make it back to his feet but was in a very bad condition, he staggered backwards across the ring with Jones stalking him, smelling blood. Finding Shogun with his back pinned to the cage, Jones landed a hard left hook to the body that buckled Rua, catching him with a knee on his way down. The referee waved off the fight seconds before Shogun himself taped on the floor to signal his resignation from the contest and an acknowledgment that he had been defeated. When the newly crowned king of the light heavyweight division was interviewed post fight, his first words were ‘Jon Jones champion 2011’, a cocky reminder of his prophetic boasts before the fight.

Jones would go on to defend his belt against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in a fight he controlled using his extraordinary reach advantage. Keeping the fight at distance Jones was able to avoid the powerful punches of Rampage on the inside. Jones was also instructed by his coach Greg Jackson to throw kicks to the body every time Jackson looked to throw a hook, with the foot landing underneath Rampage‘s punching arm. As a result, Jones was able to nullify the power of Rampage by punishing him every time he looked to get on the inside. After wearing down the former champion Jones was able to secure a rear naked choke in the 4th round to finish the overmatched Rampage.

With that victory Jones became one of only two men to defend the Light Heavyweight Title since Rampage lost it in the summer of 2008 to Forrest Griffin. The other man is none other than Jones’s next opponent, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida.

The fight this Saturday is intriguing as Machida actually matches up with Jones far better than any of his last opponents. Lyoto possesses great takedown defence as unmatched ability to fight at range. If Jones is unable to take Machida down then he might fight himself getting picked apart by the defensive Brazilian. Also in the fight Jones’s reach may work against him as Machida will be able to cause damage if he can get on the inside. Because of this Jones will prefer to keep the fight on the outside, however this is a risky strategy as Machida is very intelligent at moving in and out of his opponents reach, although it is yet to be seen if he can overcome a  reach a large as Jones.

While striking I fully expect for Jones to utilise kicks to the body similar to Shogun did against Machida. By focusing on the core of Machida rather than his elusive jaw line, Jones will have a higher success rate in landing strikes. Machida prefers to fight on the counter but could be in for a ‘long’ evening (sorry) if Jones can stifle him with singular strikes such as jabs and Muay Thai Teeps.

Both men possess power to end the fight, Jones has a reliance on flashy spin kick and jumping knees but he is most powerful when throwing strikes on the ground. As a result I think his best strategy is to attempt to take Machida down and work from inside his guard. While Machida has great takedown defence and good clinch game, I expect Jones is the better athlete as should be able to get Machida to the ground. If Jones wants to keep the fight at range he will be negating his physical gifts and could see himself in similar situation to Rashad Evans when he fought Machida. Greg Jackson was Evans coach for that fight and he now coaches Jones, surely Jackson would be wise not to make the same mistake again.

Fighters with long reaches don’t respond well to being swarmed on the inside. An notable example of this is six foot eleven world champion K1 fighter Semmy Schilt, who suffered three loses to fellow Dutchman Peter Aerts. These fights were won due to Aerts not being afraid to step through his opponents jab to land his shorter punches on the inside. Jones actually as 1 inch longer reach than Semmy, but doesn’t have the same height and will be easy to hit if he cant establish his range early. Although this gameplan isn’t reminiscent of ones Machida has used in the past it could be used as counter measure should Jones be able to get the better of the fight on the outside should it become a slow paced point fighting contest.

‘And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns’

The quote in the title comes from the ‘Book of Revelations’ in the Bible, an admittedly odd choice to begin a post about Lyoto Machida, an half Brazilian half Japanese MMA fighter. The description was later turned into a series of water colour paintings by the poet William Blake. One painting in particular, ‘The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun’, would in turn be used as the motivation for a fictional serial killer in Thomas Harris novel ‘The Red Dragon’.

The character of Francis Dolarhyde goes on a killing spree in the belief that it will make him more like the dragon in the painting, which he perceives as being as powerful as God. Dolarhyde is very calculating and methodical in his actions, using film from of his victims home videos which acquires through his work as a videotape technician to carefully orchestrate his attacks, he is able to avoid capture by the FBI. While primarily referred to as the ‘tooth fairy’ in the beginning of the novel, he like Machida gives himself the name of ‘The Dragon’.

The link between the two men is perhaps unfair to Machida who seems like generally nice guy, never engaging in trash talking to his opponents and always conducting himself respectfully in victory. However like Dolarhyde the nickname ‘The Dragon’ is best suited not to Machida as person, but perhaps just who he becomes when he is at his most violent. While not considered a power puncher, Machida is responsible for some of the most devastating knockouts in the UFC. From a brutal onslaught of punches used to finish Rashad Evans to capture the UFC Title, or the spectacular flying front kick Lyoto used to retire Randy Couture. A kick that could be seen in the replay sending a tooth flying out of the mouth of Couture, possibly Machida and Dolarhyde could share a another mutual nickname, the ‘tooth fairy’.

However despite these highlight reel finishes Machida is primarily a defensive counter puncher. Fighting from a Southpaw stance, his strongest attribute is highly ability to avoid damage from his opponents. Machida uses a wide variety of feints and misdirection’s to confuse his opposition, landing punches of his own before promptly retreating back to outside his opponents range.

A cautious style that had lead to some fans stating he has a tendency to run from his adversaries during fights. Tito Ortiz could be heard telling his corner in between rounds of his fight that Machida is ‘‘fucking running all the time’’. This reaction was no doubt partly due to the frustration on Ortiz’s behalf as he was being successfully outmanoeuvred and was trailing on points, it gives a good indication to helplessness opponents feel while fighting him. However Stephan Bonnar was more complimentative about Machida‘s style, after suffering a first round TKO loss to Machida early in both men’s careers, he describe the contest being like fighting ‘a ghost’.

Machida is also very unorthodox in the sense that he is reliant on traditional martial arts for his success in mixed martial arts. While he does have the prerequisite of a solid ground game with his BJJ black belt, he is able to use Karate to great success.

The invention of MMA was seen by many as the deathblow for traditional martial arts as they would be shown to be ineffective in an actual fight. However the fighting style titled ‘Machida Karate’ taught by Lyoto’s father Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida was developed for real life combat. While most Karate schools teach with the aim of preparing students for Karate tournaments, with rules like no punching to the head, Machida Karate is altered to have more effect in a MMA contest. Yoshizo Machida’s transition of the martial art is similar in it’s ideology to Helio Gracie’s development of Brazilian Jujitsu from the traditional Japanese form.

Machida is also a great grappler and has terrific takedown defence, this is in part down to Machida’s Sumo training, he even successfully took part in Sumo Competitions, proving that other martial arts can be used successfully in MMA if they are correctly integrated into the existing essentials skills of a MMA fighter. Due to this Machida’s difference in style provides a great contrast to the existing fighter clichés as the wrestler/boxer from America or the Muay Thai/BJJ fighter from Brazil.

Lyoto Machida’s arrival in the UFC was far from awe inspiring, his first three fights were all slow paced unanimous victories in which he used his defensive point fighting style, which he had mastered in years of karate tournaments, to safely guide himself to gaining the judges decision. It wasn’t until he stopped the rapid rise of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the second round of their fight by arm triangle choke that he began to gain recognition in the division. Sokoudjou was fresh of first round knockout victories over highly ranked Brazilians Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona and was making his debut in the UFC. He was seen as a dangerous opponent for Machida, yet it was Lyoto who controlled the pace of the fight, reversing the Cameroonians judo throws with sweeps the second they hit the mat and countering his strikes with brilliantly timed trips.

Machida’s next fight would be against the UFC superstar Tito Ortiz. Machida would be selected to face Ortiz by UFC president Dana White, as it would be the last fight on Tito’s contract and after long running feud between the two men White wanted an opponent that would give Ortiz no chance of a farewell victory. The fight would see Machida expertly control the pace while avoiding takedowns from Ortiz, who was growing frustrated by his inability to connect with punches on Machida. In the third round Lyoto dropped Ortiz with a knee to the body and followed his opponent to ground in an attempt to finish the fight. Ortiz then managed to catch Machida in a deep triangle choke, which Machida somehow managed to escape from before the fight ended, with Machida being awarded an unanimous decision victory.

Machida’s next fight would be against aggressive Brazilian Brawler Thiago Silva, who like Machida sported an undefeated 13-0 record at the time. Silva’s aggressiveness would play perfectly into Machida counter striking style. The performance by Lyoto could be deemed a work of art, as he was able to repeatedly drop Silva with well timed attacks, all the while avoiding the power of his fellow Brazilian. Thiago relentless pushed the pace forward putting himself further and further into danger from Machida’s Counters. With Ten seconds left in the first round both men found themselves pressed against the cage wall, from here Machida was able to trip Thiago before landing a finishing blow to the jaw of his downed opponent, seconds before the bell sounded to end the round. It would be Machida’s first knockout win in the UFC and one that would, due to fortunate fight cancellations, lead him to a shot at the Rashad Evans Light Heavyweight title.

Evans had rose to prominence in the UFC with his two knockouts of fan favourites Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. The latter earned him the title and his first defence was supposed to be against Rampage Jackson at UFC 100. However the fight was traded with Brock Lesnar v Frank Mir to UFC 98 due to a minor injury to Mir. With Rampage being unable to fight on such short notice, Machida was given the opportunity to fight for the title, an opportunity he would capitalise on.

Both Machida and Evans were undefeated going into UFC 98 and it was unclear what type of fight to expect going in. Despite recent success on the feet Evans was primarily a wrestler, would he try to knock out Machida or take him down to ground where he would be unable to employ his effective footwork. Evan’s coach Greg Jackson is seen by many as to being the best strategist in the sport, people felt he would be the man to develop a gameplan to solve the enigma of Machida. Instead it would be one of Jackson’s biggest tactical disasters, as Evans attempted to stay on the outside and try and play Machida’s point fighting against him, with the hopes of landing a big knockout punch. The gameplan resulted in a second round knockout with Evans losing his belt after being repeatedly dropped and then finished with a multitude of punches from the Challenger.

Sadly, Machida’s reign as champion wouldn’t last long either, as he came across his first Challenge to his new belt, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. The first fight at UFC 104 would be subject to vast controversy as Machida was awarded an unanimous decision victory following five rounds of action. While the fight was a lot closer than many people like to remember it, Shogun was able to frequently land heavy kicks to the body and legs of Machida, noticeably slowing down Lyoto in the later rounds. Machida would counter each kick with a straight left to the head of Shogun, who was keeping a tight guard.

Here in lies the controversy in the scoring, with neither man able to get the knockout, what causes more damage a kick to the legs or punch to the face? the judges opted with the punch and awarded the victory to Machida. While shogun clearly took the last two rounds the first three are open to debate, a lot of people only remember the attacks of shogun choosing to look past moments of success for Machida, such as rocking Rua in third. The controversy would also lead to people critiquing the judging criteria for UFC fights, Machida had successfully defended every takedown attempted by Shogun, as a result you would have to say Machida won the ‘effective grappling’ element of the fight, but what importance does that play in a fight that was mainly striking? It certainly shouldn’t be weighted the same.

Shogun would be granted a rematch at UFC 113, the fight was highly anticipated due the controversial scoring of the first fight. The previous encounter was the first time Machida had been made to look mortal, despite this he still the bookie’s favourite to retain his crown as many expected he would make the necessary alterations to his style to be able to defend more successfully against Shogun’s Muay Thai.

The fight saw a much more aggressive Machida attempt to push the pace against Shogun frequently throwing knees and scoring takedowns. However the new aggression saw Machida’s defence compromised, as he was found repeatedly flat footed when Shogun attacked which saw him take more punches to the head then usual. Seconds after landing a hard knee to the body of Shogun, Machida was tricked by a dummy leg kick which attempted to counter with a straight left which left him exposed to an overhand right by Shogun which clipped him on the side of the head, dropping him to the floor. From there Shogun’s killer instinct, the best in the sport, took control as he landed straight into full mount and threw a series of devastating punches to finish the fight.

The aura of Lyoto Machida had been shattered in brutal fashion, what was once proclaimed the ‘Machida Era’ by commentator Joe Rogan had lasted barely two fights. The once unbeatable monster had been usurped violently. The first fight against Shogun had turned public opinion against Machida, and the second had seemed to validate it. The idea Machida being this mighty Dragon who would dominate MMA for years to come had been crushed. Very few people entertain the opinion that Shogun was just a bad match up for Machida. Shogun’s ability to fire powerful kicks to body of Machida, while possessing a strong chin to be able to walk through Lyoto’s counters proved to be deadly combination. Any fighter who is reliant primarily on their kickboxing is going to be prone to suffer the odd knockout defeat, take a look at any successful K1 fighter and they have no doubt been knocked out at some point in their career. There are just too many variables to consider in the stand up department, which is why a more measured approach such as that of Georges St. Pierre leads to more long term success as champion. Anderson Silva has stayed Champion for long time while primarily being a kick boxer but hasn’t fought any fighter as dynamic as Machida or Shogun on the feet.

Machida would attempt to get his career back on track against the heavy hitting Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Machida could be seen to be very timid in the opening rounds, no doubt influenced by his knockout defeat to Shogun. The first two rounds had very little action with both fighters doing enough to take a round a piece. However Lyoto Machida looked more like his old self in the final round, rocking ‘Rampage’ with strikes and then controlling him on the ground. This time however Machida was on the wrong end of a bad judges decision that saw Jackson awarded a split decision victory, no doubt heavily influenced by the caution Machida showed in the first two rounds.

Machida would rebound from these consecutive losses with a vintage performance against an 46 year old Randy Couture. It was already decided by the Couture that he would retire from the sport win or lose after having a long successful career capturing world titles at two different weight classes. Couture had always mentioned in interviews that he wanted to take on Machida to see if his Greco Roman wrestling could be successful against Machida’s defensive counter fighting style. However it would not be the triumphant send off Couture had hoped for as he was unable to use his effective clinch game in the opening round and found himself unable to close the distance against Machida’s elusive footwork. The second round saw Machida bring the fight to a close with a sensational right footed front kick that instantly knocked out Couture.

As fate would have it, once again Machida now finds himself awarded a title shot due to the cancellations of other fights. This time he takes on the current big thing Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, who like Machida previously, is seen by many to be unbeatable. Also Once again Machida fins himself trying to take the title of a Greg Jackson trained fighter, will Jackson repent from his tactical error in their first meeting? Look for a future instalment of this blog where I detail the rise of Jon Jones as well as break down the stylistic elements of the match up between the two.

For your consideration...

At UFC 139 last weekend grizzled veteran Dan Henderson got the better of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, winning an unanimous decision over 5 brutal rounds. Following a frenetic first round that saw both men on the canvas, Henderson took control of the contest battering his opponent with his powerful right hand. The third round was exceptionally decisive for the American Henderson, who nearly claimed a stoppage victory after dropping Rua for the second time, but was unable to land those vital blows to his finish his downed opponent and the fight was allowed to continue by the referee. However, despite being severely beaten and bloodied, it was the Brazilian ‘Shogun’ who came back to claim the 4th round and then go on to dominate Henderson on the ground for the final round of the fight.

While there was some controversy in the media about whether the fight should have been scored a draw, with Rua being awarded a 10-8 score in the 5th round, there was agreement among sportswriters that the bout could be considered among the greatest fights of all time. Now if the greatest boxing match of all time is Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns and the greatest kickboxing fight is Ray Sefo vs. Mark Hunt, it should be just as easy to draw on the same collective answer to what is the best MMA fight in history. However its not that easy, in the 18 year history of mixed martial arts there has been so many exciting fights for different promotions that arriving a definitive answer is very hard to achieve. I have however composed a list of fights that can be in my opinion be considered the greatest MMA fights of all time.

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko Filipovic
2. Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi
3. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
4. Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson 2
5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp
6. Shogun Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
7. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2
8. Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg 2
9. Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Fedor Emelianenko 1
11. Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley
12. Tito Ortiz vs. Frank Shamrock
13. Melvin Manhoef vs. Evangelista Santos
14. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Randy Couture
15. Shogun Rua vs. Forrest Griffin 1
16. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Josh Barnett 1
17. Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell
18. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Fedor Emelianenko 3
19. Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 1
20. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3
21. Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson 1
22. Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson 2
23. Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua (1 and 2)
24. Don Frye vs. Yoshiro Takayama
25. Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez
26. Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo
27. Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn
28. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson
29. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Sergei Kharitonov
30. Mirko Filipovic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
31. Rampage Jackson vs. Dan Henderson
32. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring 1
33. Alexander Emelianenko vs. Sergei Kharitonov
34. Forrest Griffin vs. Rampage Jackson
35. Leonard Garcia vs. Jung Chan-Sung
36. Joachim Hansen vs. Luiz Azeredo
37. Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
38. Takanori Gomi vs. Jens Pulver
39. BJ Penn vs. Matt Hughes 2
40. James Thompson vs. Kazuyuki Yoshida
41. Jon Jones vs. Shogun Rua
42. Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort
43. Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida
44. Ryo Chonan vs. Anderson Silva
45. Mark Coleman vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
46. Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort 1
47. Wanderlei Silva vs. Mirko Filipovic 2
48. Shogun Rua vs. Ricardo Arona
49. Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia 2
50. Rampage Jackson vs. Ricardo Arona

While a definitive list will always be somewhat controversial in its inclusions and omissions it inevitably comes down to a matter of opinion. Are fights that are evenly contested throughout better than fights that feature remarkable comeback victories? Are fights where the underdog pulls off a sensational win better than a champion delivering a career defining performance? It’s is ultimately my belief that a great fight is one where a fight transcends violence and sport and becomes an art form. This can be seen in Nogueira’s submission victory over Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic in the number one spot. The fight will always stand out as the quintessential MMA fight where Nogueira finds himself on the wrong side of a stylistic mismatch, having to be saved by the bell from being finished by ‘CroCop’ at the very end of round one after taking a powerful headkick. Nogueira then at start of Round 2 manages to overcome adversity through sheer will, when he eventually takes the Croatian out of his comfort zone as world class kick boxer and manages to utilise his brilliant Brazilian jiu-jitsu for the armbar victory.

All these fights will be looked at in further instalments of this blog, however at the moment the question remains, where does Henderson vs. Shogun rank among them?

I think the answer is at number 6 just above Shogun similar fight with the Little Nogueira brother in the Pride FC’s 2005 middleweight Grand Prix Quarter Final. A fight it surpasses by delivering even more action. While Shogun gets off the Canvas to knock down his opponent in both fights he was never in as much danger against Nogueira as he was against Henderson, nor was he able to dictate the pace of the fight as frequently as he could against little Nog, recklessly diving into Brazilian’s guard with hard punches. Both fights ended the same way with Shogun outlasting his opponent he was unable to win the judges decision against Henderson who had done enough in the first three rounds. Ironically had the Henderson fight occurred under Pride rules Shogun may have won the decision as the scoring was not based on a round system instead the fight was reviewed as a whole, favouring the fighter that finishes stronger.

The list features some unusual inclusions such as the extremely one sided fights like Anderson Silva v Forrest Griffin or the under-rated Lyoto Machida v Thiago Silva. These fights were added due the brilliance performances delivered by the victors, both showing such a high level of technical skill as they pick apart highly ranked opposition, both fight culminating in stunning knockouts. Likewise upset victories such as Couture vs. Belfort and Gonzaga vs. Filipovic, where the underdogs were able to use effective strategies to turns the tables on their opponents and knock out men who many expected them to get knocked out by.

The list also features many of the same fighters multiple times, I think this is due to certain styles exhibited by the fighters. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for example is known for taking tremendous punishment in fights only to comeback a pull of sensational submission wins from the bring of defeat. Likewise Nick Diaz has the ability to turn every fight into a exciting scrap, where his open defence leaves him prone to getting hit with hard shots, only to outlast his opponent due to his tremendous cardio and effective boxing. His ability to deliver accumulative damage to his opponents with his constant barrage of seemingly light punches can be seen in his fights with power punchers like Britain’s Paul Daley and Japan’s Takanori Gomi. Both men known for their one punch knockout ability and provided an interesting contrast to the stand up approach of Diaz. Despite being dropped twice in the first round against Daley by massive left hooks, Diaz’s exceptional cardio allowed him to recover where as the build up of damage done by Diaz on Daley proved to much as British fighter was overwhelmed with a combination of quick jabs and powerful shots disguised in combinations of light punches. While both fights were very short they were filled with more back on forth action than most fights on the list that went the distance.

Most great fights rely on fighters who have great chins and ability to take punishment way further than physical limits of ordinary fighters. Clay Guida for example features multiple times on the list due to his ability to push a fast pace in fights and his ability to take blows that would finish weaker fighters, such as the head kick he received in the first round against Diego Sanchez. The same is true for Henderson and Rua, people were intrigued in the pre-flight build up as neither have suffered true knockout defeats before, due to their iron chins, while both are known for their knockout power. This sort of clash, no matter how long it last is always a recipe for great action.

Ultimately while most great fights depend of the strength of the match up of the two fighters, both stylistically and physically, it takes that one special moment when the action of the fight defies the belief of possibility to truly become a great fight. Examples of this includes Frankie Edgar’s sensational repeat comebacks against Gary Maynard or Anderson Silva’s Magic against Forrest Griffin. In that regards the press are right in heralding the main event of UFC 139 as one of the best fights ever, due to the unbreakable will to win from both men and the ability to fight back in almost impossible situations.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

I was fortunate enough to attend UFC 138 in person at the Birmingham LG arena. While the card had attracted a lot of criticism due to lack of big named fighters as well as some unfortunate cancellations of exciting match ups in the weeks leading up to it. It nonetheless delivered on the night with an action packed main card, filled with brutal knockdowns and quick submission finishes. The lack of familiar fighters provided an opportunity for new names to emerge in the much maligned British contingent of fighters in the UFC. The arrival of the two lower weight classes in the UFC, Featherweight and Bantamweight, meant that highly touted London born 135 pound Brad Pickett could finally make his mark on the worlds biggest MMA promotion.

The lack of big names was long since forgotten about as the lights went down for Pickett to make his entrance. Pickett had instantly been accepted by the patriotically biased crowd, who now hoped he would go on to achieve the accolade of being the first UFC champion to come from Britain. Pickett entered the ring to a comedy song called ‘Wallop’ by duo Chaz and Dave, a genre of music dubbed ‘rockney’, also wearing dungarees, a white vest and a trilby hat reading a copy of the daily telegraph it was unmistakably London entrance. Despite the event taking place in Birmingham the crowd welcome the distinct eccentric style of the unmistakably British fighter in a sport dominated by violent Brazilians and American wrestlers. The is great importance for the UFC to continue to create popular fighters in Britain, after fighters like Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy failing to make an impact at the very top of their divisions.

His opponent almost seemed like an afterthought, although his opponent Renan Barao was unbeaten in 27 fights their had been claims in the MMA media that his record was severely padded and his only fight in the UFC prior was a dull decision win. If Pickett would pick up a win on home soil he could be immediately be thrown into talk of title contention against current Bantamweight champion, the talented but tame Dominic Cruz.

However, as the UFC had experienced many times in their history as a promotion as well as their history on hosting shows on British soil, that the combat sports are highly unpredictable.  Pickett was impressively defeated inside the first round after being outclassed in every department. The circumstances were similar to Pride Superstar Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic when he pretty much wrote the book on shocking upset defeats at UFC 70 in Manchester. Where his expected cakewalk to a heavyweight title shot was derailed by an irony steeped Gabriel Gonzaga head kick. So true to form, it was Barao who looked sensational out striking Pickett on the feet, keen to let his opponent control the centre of the ring as he moved in and out winning every exchange. A sensational flying knee stunned the durable Pickett before it was quickly followed up by a barrage of punches that sent the British fighter to the ground. The Brazilian instantly leapt on the back of Pickett and after a brief struggle secured a rear naked choke to end the fight.

A week later a similar upset would occur in the UFC’s inaugural debut on American network television. The event titled ‘UFC on Fox’ was to feature on one fight, a clash between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos for the promotions heavyweight title. Velasquez had rose to fame capturing the title from pay per view behemoth Brock Lesnar. Velasquez’s Mexican heritage was seen as a winning ticket for the UFC as along with it game the lucrative Mexican fight market. Now while Dos Santos was seen as a very talented fighter with destructive knockout power, which he had used to stop his first 5 UFC opponents and bludgeon the other two, he wasn’t seen as being able to provide an answer to the wrestling of Cain. Velasquez had also made a name for himself in knocking out opponents, taking out tough opponents such as the legend ‘Minatauro’ Nogueira and Brock Lesnar. Cain was seen to have multiple ways to win, where as Dos Santos was seen as too one dimensional. No one in the UFC had seen the overall game of Dos Santos due to his excellent takedown defence, which was still not seen as being enough to stop the relentless Velasquez.

The event had seen endless promotion in the weeks preceding it and was scheduled for 5 rounds in front of a largely pro Velasquez crowd in California. Once again the viewing public were shown just how unpredictable a sport mixed martial arts is when in just 64 seconds Dos Santos had obliterated the now former champion Velazquez with a devastating right hand and follow up punches. The fundamental mistake made by Velazquez in his boxing had cost him massively, an attempt to counter a Dos Santos’s jab with a lazy left hook left him open to and overhand right to the side of his head from which he was unable to recover. The most basic combination in boxing, the 1-2, had usurped the moniker of ‘baddest man on the planet’, previously owned before Cain by Brock Lesnar. While Velasquez had previously shown good head movement in his offensive punching, the decision to wait for a powerful puncher like Dos Santos to attack was what was responsible for his defeat.

It was the inability to deal with a right hand that had cost former champion Randy Couture his title to Brock Lesnar back in 2008, instead of dipping his head underneath the punch of Lesnar he instead dipped to his right which gave Brock enough time to angle the movement of his punch downwards just enough to catch Couture on the back of his head sending him to canvas in similar fashion to Velasquez. Likewise it had been an overhand right at the beginning of Couture title winning challenge to Tim Sylvia, where the 6 foot 8 Sylvia failed to deal with a right hand that sent him crashing to the floor which set the tone for the rest of the fight. However unlike these to previous fights the title now belonged to a man seen as being less marketable, and therefore less financially viable. UFC president Dana White was left to criticise the decision of Velasquez to try to stand with Dos Santos instead of going for takedowns on the on air broadcast, stating somewhat unprofessionally that Dos Santos is known for getting tired later in fights and this weakness should have been exploited by Velasquez.

Thus is the unfortunate side of fight promotion is that for every two men there is always one more marketable than the other, yet the unfortunately for the promoters the marketability of the two men isn’t what settles the fight.

The UFC has seen countless examples where the more popular fight has experienced a deflating loss or brutal knockout. The career of Chuck Liddell is a prime example, his rematch against Rampage Jackson was huge fight for the UFC. While both men had mainstream potential it was important for the promotion that because of their main demographic of viewers, which were white, that the Light Heavyweight Champion Liddell would win. Instead a quick first round knockout for Rampage rendered him the new champion, in a result that perhaps foreshadowed UFC’s debut of FOX.

The promotion then attempted to rebound their poster boy with a rematch against the notoriously questionable chin of Keith Jardine, who at the time was fresh of the heels of a first round knockout defeat. Surely Liddell’s power would be enough to put him back on winning ways. Needless to say that Jardine put on a great performance using his unorthodox style of kickboxing to frustrate Liddell, at one point scoring a knockdown on his way to a split decision victory. The UFC were so sure of a Liddell win at the time that they even named the event UFC 76: Knockout, such a fate testing event title would end in a show where there where no knockouts at all. The event also featured a surprise upset loss for Pride FC knockout machine Shogun Rua at the hands of Forrest Griffin. Years later a seemingly shot Shogun would be paired against Liddell at UFC 97, for what the UFC presumed would be an easy victory for Liddell over a big named fighter. Shogun was seen as past his prime having spent over a year away from fighting due to multiple knee surgeries and hadn’t look impressive in his comeback win over the then 44 year old Mark Coleman. The fight would be highly entertaining before Shogun rolled back the years and managed to drop Liddell with a lunging left hook which was then followed by brutal hammer fists for a TKO loss for Liddell. Shogun would go on to claim the Light Heavyweight title over two fights with Lyoto Machida, where as Liddell would take a break from fighting to go on ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

In the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns, and perhaps also the words of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, ‘The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men. Gang aft agley’.

‘‘Magic is sometimes very close to nothing at all’’

The quote in the title is taken from the 2006 documentary film ‘Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait’ which follows the French Footballer, first name Zinedine, over the course of a entire match between Spanish teams Real Madrid and Villarreal. The camera stay exclusively on the French legend while the viewer, whether they are a fan of football or not, begins to appreciate the technical skill that the man exhibits in his delicate touch and footwork. However Zidane’s match ends early as he is sent off the pitch following a brawl, what could be seen as an anti climatic ending instead carries great poignancy as it was these occasional lapses in Zidane’s self control that marked his great career. He would later be famously sent off in a World Cup final after be being goaded into attack by the mediocre defender Marco Materazzi. It was to be his last ever professional game, which his country would go on to lose on penalties to the much less deserving Italy. It’s in these cases that we would be shown the ‘nothing at all’, all of Zidane’s ‘Magic’ that he graced us with us with would be temporarily forgotten as we instead saw a hunched, sombre figure forced to exit the football field that he had effortlessly conquered on so many previous occasions.

Although these exhibitions of aggression do little diminish the memory of Zidane’s career as he had triumphed on the world stage before, his brace of goals against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final had won France their first ever Trophy. Zidane’s France would go on to win the European Cup two years later, cementing their status as the best international team in the world. Zidane would also experience great success at club level winning the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002. In the match against German side Bayern Leverkusen, Zidane struck a sensational volley to give Madrid the win. This is perhaps the best example of the Magic of Zidane. In what was a close technical affair, finding himself unmarked inside the German teams penalty area, it took a split second of brilliance by Zidane to win the match. Managing to strike an awkward looping ball from team-mate Roberto Carlos into the top corner of the Leverkusen net, with what was considered his weaker left foot, was a true moment of genius and technical skill by the French Midfielder.

If there is one man in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts capable of producing such moments of magic, his name is Anderson Silva.

The Brazilian Muay Thai specialist experienced sporadic success through out the start of his MMA career. Anderson showed glimpses of his future brilliance in wins against highly ranked Welterweights Hayato Sakurai and Carlos Newton. Sadly these wins were marred by disappointing submission losses to unheralded Japanese fighters Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan in the giant Japanese promotion Pride Fighting Championships.

Silva’s career benefited from move up to middleweight where his technical striking game experienced an increase in power. This increase in offensive ability led to Anderson capturing and defending the Cage Rage title. Perhaps Anderson had found his level as the champion of a B-league British promotion where Anderson could pick off one dimensional brawlers such as Curtis Stout and Jorge Riviera.

Anderson would then attempt to make one last go at the Welterweight weight class in the Hawaiian promotion Rumble on the Rock’s 175 lb Tournament. Despite being considered the favourite to win the entire tournament Anderson would be disqualified for a petulant kick to his opponent Yushin Okami. This would be the last time he would ever fight at welterweight as well as the last fight he would ever be defeated.

Silva would return to Britain to defend his middleweight belt against Tony Fryklund. His opponent was coming into the fight having lost three out of his last four fights, despite the bout being a complete mismatch the mixed martial art world was about to witness for the first time the creative genius of Anderson Silva. Inspired by a move he had seen in the martial art action film Ong-Bak, Anderson would perform a backwards elbow uppercut to the jaw of Fryklund instantly ending the fight. Silva had been instructed by his trainers not to bother practising the move since the world of actual fighting is far removed from the fantasy of action movies. Anderson saw potential in the strike and instead practiced the move in his spare time, by having his with hold a pillow for him to perform endless repetitions until he had perfected the movement.

The stunning knock-out against Fryklund instantly garnered Silva a multi fight contract with the American promotion The Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC had recently become the biggest promotion in the world following the decline of Pride FC. This would be Silva’s second time fighting in a large promotion and once again there was a chance that his flashy technical striking game would be nullified by more well rounded fighters. Silva had been training other areas of his sport in preparation for his return to the big leagues, gaining black belts in both Brazilian Jujitsu and Judo. Neither of these accolades would come into play during his first fight in the UFC.

Anderson would fight the Brawler Chris Leben in his debut at the event Ultimate Fight Night 5. The American Leben was carrying a 5 fight win streak in the promotion and was known for his devastating power and ability to take punishment. However Leben’s aggressive style and inclination to take punches to land his own would play directly into Silva’s Counter striking style. The fight would last a total of forty-nine seconds with Anderson landing 100% of his punches and kicks.

The win would propel Anderson into a immediate title shot against the current UFC middleweight belt holder Rich Franklin at UFC 64. While Franklin had been successful in his career dominating fighters who had basic stand up with his varied southpaw attack, against the left handed Silva he no longer held this advantage. Also Franklin’s kickboxing didn’t operate on the technical level of Silva’s, as Anderson was able to capture the title with his devastating offence of knees in the clinch. For the third successive fight Anderson would defeat his opponent within the first round.

Anderson Silva would defend his newly crowned title as the best middleweight in the world a UFC record of nine times. These included a unification match with pride middleweight champion Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson. A rematch with the stubborn Franklin which once again ended in a stoppage win and a first round destruction of the well rounded Nate Marquardt.

However Anderson’s performances weren’t always exciting. A brief trip to light heavyweight to knockout the highly powerful albeit flawed kick-boxer James Irvin, was followed by two infuriating performances against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. In both fights Anderson seemed distracted and showing no signs of his usual killer instinct. Relying on a freak knee injury to Cote in the third round of their clash, as well as a even less aggressive performance from Leites to win a lopsided judges decision at UFC 97. While still the champion, Anderson was beginning to damage his reputation as Mixed Martial Arts answer to Mike Tyson.

The enigmatic persona of Anderson did little to help the American fans sympathise with the Brazilian. Silva seemed content to play around with his opponents, throwing flashy unorthodox strikes in his fight against Leites such as a ineffectual jab to the thigh and a stylish but tame Cristiano Ronaldo-esque cross footed leg kick. Fans were unhappy with Andersons perceived lack of interest in fighting to the best of his abilities to end the fight for their enjoyment. The main argument against Silva was that if he wants to show how much better he is than his opponent why not take them out quickly, as opposed to dragging the bout on for the duration of five rounds.

Anderson Silva was beginning to fall into the same trap as the brilliant boxer Roy Jones Jr, whom likewise possessed superb technical talent along with speed and head movement. Jones was so much better than his opponents during the prime of his career that he used to toy with them to the extent of taking all the excitement out of the fight. However much like Jones’s ‘hands behind his back’ knockout of Glen Kelly, when Anderson delivers to the best of his abilities, he is spectacular.

UFC President Dana White, much like the fans, was looking for away to both punish Silva for poor pay per view performances as well as finding him an opponent that would force him to fight. He decided on making Silva return to light heavyweight to face the always game former title holder, Forrest Griffin. On paper Forrest would be the bigger, stronger man and would be able to push Silva in all areas of the fight. That was what was expected, however in reality the distance between the two in both speed and technique would result in one of the most sensational knockouts in the history of mixed martial arts.

The performance that Anderson Silva gave at UFC 101 in Philadelphia surpassed every single fight he had prior. In destroying a former champion in less than one round we finally saw the full extent of his brilliance. Anderson started the fight calm like he does in most fights, using the first minute in a similar vein to Floyd Mayweather, letting his opponents give away their game by making them move. Forrest Griffin plays along accordingly, letting Silva get a measure of his range and his timing, from this point Silva has the victory in the bag. Silva begins to come at Griffin more aggressively and with his first significant attack of the fight he lands a right hand that drops Forrest.

Silva allows Forrest back to his feet knowing that he will now try to repay the knockdown. The punch all though not devastating has taken some of the power out Griffins legs, this adds to already monumental gap in speed between the two fighters. It is at this point Anderson begins to relax, he can see every one of his opponents attacks coming from miles away. He is so comfortable that he decides to drops his hand, inviting the already incensed Griffin to throw punches towards his exposed jaw line. Silva begins to dodge these oncoming combinations like they have been choreographed, weaving left and right, in and out, griffin is unable to hit his target. Silva fires back with a short left straight that returns Griffin to the canvas. A third knockdown moments later forces Griffin to raise his hand while lying on cage floor to wave off the fight, as if to say ‘no mas’ akin to Roberto Duran in his defeat to Sugar Ray Leonard. In what was supposed to be one of the biggest tests of his career, Silva had won with remarkable ease.

Once again the pendulum of public perception would swing back in Silva’s favour, and once again he would disappoint. The UFC’s worldwide growth had led them into more diverse international markets, their first show in the middle east was to be held in Abu Dhabi. Who better than the great Anderson Silva to headline this event.

Through a series of surprising results, the middleweight divisions number one contender had become American wrestler Chael Sonnen. However  Sonnen was coming of brutal victory over Nate Marquardt and was deemed to far from 100 percent to mount a challenge to the champion, in stepped Brazilian Jujitsu world champion Demain Maia to take on Silva at UFC 112.

What followed was a public relations disaster for the UFC, as fans were presented with a bizarre stalemate of a fight. A fight in which Silva went from mocking his opponent, to avoiding, to being out fought in the later rounds. While doing enough in the first three rounds to keep hold of his title, Silva had once again alienated all of his fans. UFC president Dana White was so infuriated with Silva that he didn’t even enter the ring to present him with the belt. Anderson’s performances were running hot and cold, occasional ‘magic’ was punctuated by ‘nothing at all’.

Chael Sonnen is a bizarre man. Part hilarious trash talker, part right wing xenophobe, part delusional fantasist, part real life overachiever, he is a man of endless contradictions. Have arrived in the UFC following an equally bizarre win over heavily favoured WEC champion Paulo Filho. In his first fight in the promotion he found himself against the aforementioned Demain Maia, a fight where he was quickly taken down and submitted. He then Began a three fight win streak, beating the then undefeated Dan Miller as well as the perennial number two and three in the division in Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt.

Sonnen’s style relies heavily on his wrestling which he uses to keep his opponents on their back while peppering them with punches on course to winning decision victories. The major downside to this strategy is that it leaves him susceptible to submissions, Maia being his seventh career submission loss and his fifth by way of Triangle (either choke or armbar). However his takedown centric approach would still provide a bad stylistic match up for Anderson,  granting he could avoid all submission attempts that might be thrown at him.

What would be the main event of UFC 117 had received great anticipation from fans and media alike, due in no small part to the constant trash talk by Sonnen about Silva and his native Brazil. Sonnen even went so far to say that Silva’s black belt, which he had received from the highly regarded Nogueira brothers, was like getting ‘a free toy in a happy meal’. Public perception believed that there could be no way Anderson could not want to go 100% percent against a man who had taken every opportunity to insult and discredit him.

While not his greatest performance, Silva’s match against Sonnen would be to this day, his greatest fight.

The fight began quickly with both men’s dislike for one another clear in their body language. Silva was keeping his hands low as to prevent the inevitable takedown that Sonnen was looking for. Anderson managed to catch a kick from Sonnen, which caused the American to turn around and athletically roll out of danger. Suddenly the dynamic of the fight changed, when Silva too concerned about the threat of the takedown from Sonnen, was caught with a hard punch from the challenger. Clearly rocked Silva staggered backwards awhile Sonnen continued his attack. Silva then decides to drops his hands letting Chael land several more strikes to his unprotected jaw. Anderson’s intentions in doing this is unclear and Sonnen immediately senses his opportunity to take Silva to the mat. Once on the ground, Sonnen begins to control Silva and batter him with hard shots from top position. When the action packed round finally draws to a close, it’s clear Sonnen has taken a 10-8 lead on the judges scorecard.

The next two rounds are almost identical with Sonnen continuing his success in getting takedowns and pounding the champion with continued aggression. The fourth begins with Anderson far behind on the scorecards, he can no longer hope of getting a decision in his favour, he is now in a position where he has to finish the fight to retain his championship. We see a brief glimpse of the brilliance of Silva as he connects with a elbow to the jaw of Sonnen which drops him to his knees, but Sonnen continues to press forward and manages to take Silva down to the ground for continued punishment.

Silva begins the fifth round with a sense of urgency, he senses he is about to lose his UFC Middleweight title. He comes out focused on finding that one mistake by the challenger that he can capitalise on, however he walks straight into another Sonnen right hand that rocks him, before once gain finding himself taken to ground. Sonnen is dominating and is now mere minutes away from achieving the massive upset and becoming the first man in the UFC to defeat Silva.

Is this it for the great Anderson Silva? will his stunning reign as the best Middleweight in the world going to come to a crashing end against his most despised rival? Similar to Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final, has he simply ran out of ideas on how to win, leaving him simply to walk away in defeat remembering past glories. Silva’s face is a swollen lump, if Sonnen can hold on then this bout will surely be remembered as the most one sided, sustained beating ever seen in a UFC title fight. All of Sonnen’s talk before the fight will be validated, every racial slur about the Brazilian will go unpunished. Determined mediocrity will win out over true brilliance.

Then it happens, as it inevitably would, Sonnen tires enough for Silva to get his left leg over the American’s right arm. Silva is able to get the triangle choke wrapped tightly around Sonnen’s neck whilst pulling the left arm forward to act as armbar. Sonnen tries desperately to escape by attempting to lift his right leg over Silva but he is unable to get his posture right. With 110 seconds left in the fight, Sonnen taps.

For Silva is was the ‘magical’ comeback which was so close to being ‘nothing at all’ , for Sonnen it was vice versa, a bitter defeat so close to being an amazing upset. Sonnen would later test positive for illegal substances and elevated testosterone levels and receive a year suspension, where as Silva was revealed to have had a broken rib going into the fight, an injury that would have seriously affected his movement.

Anderson Silva went on to defend his title two more times, brutally dispatching top contenders Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami with stylish KO’s. No contender in the UFC has been able to push Silva the way Sonnen was able to. It is ironic that the first UFC fight where Silva was made to appear Human, he also shown to be unbeatable, surviving endless amounts of punishment to pull off a sensational victory.

Combat Sports are littered with performances that were just one moment away from ‘magic’, instead having to be resigned to ‘nothing at all’. An example of this would be David Haye against Wladimir Klitschko. One punch from Haye could have completely changed the fight and the result, instead he subjected to ridicule for not delivering on his pre match boasts.

But I guess the testament to true brilliance is those who can make ‘magic’ out of ‘nothing at all’.

''Dedicated to the Winners and the Losers...''

 On December the 8th 2007 British Boxer Ricky Hatton arrived at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas in an attempt to win the WBC World Welterweight title from American Floyd Mayweather. Hatton, a natural light-welterweight and multiple world champion was the heavy underdog going into the bout, no boxing pundit or Journalist could, hand on heart, say they favoured the Mancunian to emerge with the victory. Despite his hugely vocal support in the arena that had travelled over from England, despite his undefeated record,  despite a lifetime of hard training regimes and hours spent in the gym, despite there being ‘only one Ricky Hatton’ and regardless of the steel fortitude he brings to every bout, Hatton was going to lose this fight and there was nothing he could do to change the outcome.

‘‘Can it be that it was all so simple…’’

Hatton had experienced great success through out his career due to his bull-like determination and aggression, pressuring and bullying his opponent with hard body shots until they inevitably broke or gave in. His boxing was rudimentary from a technical perspective and a vast contrast to that of his opponent, Floyd Mayweather, who had received the nickname ‘pretty boy’ due to his brilliance in defence which meant he left every fight he entered completely unscathed.

As a defensive boxer Mayweather is comparable through out history with the best of the genre. His ability to avoid damage at close range was similar to that of the great Pernell Whitaker, both men had mastered the principle of hitting with out getting hit, a formula that had lead both men to Olympic medals as amateurs. There was however stylistic differences between the two, where as Whitaker used to dodge punches with magnificent head movement Floyd instead nullified his opponents attack with a technical counter attack and clinch game.

While both boxers made the most of their superb reflexes Whitaker didn’t have the mean streak in offence that Floyd Mayweather exhibited. While he will never be considered a power puncher or a knock out artist, there is a stiffness in Mayweather’s punches which becomes apparent over the course of a fight. As his opponents begin to show to ever increasing desperation in their attacks Floyd just sticks to his gameplan, hiding in plain sight, unable to be hurt despite standing inside arms reach of his aggressor, returning brilliantly timed right hands to his opponents jaw.

Then, when the moment presents itself, after his opponent has become fatigued and frustrated in his vain endeavour of hurting the ‘Pretty Boy’, Mayweather can strike with blistering speed. Turning defence into attack, then quick as a flash, reverting back into the defensive routine that he’s been employing through out the entire fight.

This power can be seen in the comparisons with records of other great defensive fighters, Willie Pep fought a staggering two hundred and forty one times only losing in eleven of these, while his 65 KO’s sounds impressive it only accounts for just over 28% of his wins. Likewise out of Pernell Whitaker’s 40 career wins only 43% have come by way of a stoppage. Comparing the records of these defensive greats to that of Floyd Mayweather’s show the potency in his offence, his perfect record of 41 wins show a KO percentage over 60 %. Mayweather has the type of power that while not blatant in its practice, turns unanimous decisions into TKO’s.

While the notion that Hatton was always going to lose this fight can of course be debated, and I don’t want to descend the argument into the realm of fate and freewill. Where as the science of who will win a fight is lost somewhere between physical make up and the mental determination of the two men fighting. The theory of who ‘deserves’ to win a fight is a lot more clear cut, as defined by legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato ‘‘When two men step into the ring, one and only one deserves to win. When you step into the ring, you gotta know you deserve to win. You gotta know destiny owes you victory… cause you trained harder than your opponent. You sparred harder. You ran farther".

While its impossible to tell who trained the hardest during the course of their training camp its obviously apparent who has dedicated themselves the most to the sport of boxing throughout their life. While Hatton greets inactivity from training as an excuse to eat and drink unhealthily, Mayweather maintains his commitment to the core ingredients that made him a champion, he never drinks, never cheats on his diet, never skips a training session. Every indiscretion Hatton made through out his career just put him a step further away from competing with Floyd.

Another factor in the contest was the styles of the two fighters, Hatton’s brawling versus Mayweather’s defence, while not the complete stylistic mismatch of Hatton versus Manny Pacquiao, where the Brawler versus puncher match up resulted in a devastating second round KO against Hatton. Its needless to say the Mayweather holds the advantage here, as coupled with his speed he will present an elusive target for Hatton and will be able to avoid his strengths enough over the course of a fight to win a clear decision. What would happen instead was the result of aggression versus skill, the pin point accuracy of Mayweather mixed with his ability to defensively smother the would be assault of Hatton.

Hatton, to his credit, starts the fight brightly as he begins charging Mayweather down. He successfully catches Mayweather at an indecision, unsure of which way to go whilst against the ropes causes him to stumble backwards, which elicits a large roar from the English support. Mayweather is completely muted in terms on offensive output in the first round, while this can be interpreted as a result of Hatton’s attack, it is instead the first signs of the technical brilliance of Floyd. He deliberately gives the first round away on the judges scorecard, he does this to present his opponent with a blank canvas on which he lets them present their gameplan. Once his opponent has given away their hand, he then adds a few tweaks to his own gameplan and sets about systematically picking them apart over the course of the fight. The ability to adjust mid-fight  can be seen in other great fighters such as Joe Calzaghe, Sugar Ray Leonard and Anderson Silva.

Both men being effective on the inside inevitably leads to a high amount of clinching from Mayweather. This effectively negates Hatton’s ability to go to the body with his punches in an attempt to wear Floyd down, whom is all the while all the while catching Hatton with Jabs and straights as he plunders forward.

During the middle rounds the contest has descended into Mayweather’s ideal fight, the constant pressure from Hatton makes him predictable, every exchange that sees Floyd’s Punches land and Hatton’s miss widens the margin on the judges scorecard and frustrates Ricky. Frustration is the fuel that Mayweather’s style feeds on, the more wild and erratic Hatton becomes the more obvious his attacks are to Mayweather, the easier they are to counter.

By the 8th round the bout hardly resembles the closely contested battle between two undefeated fighters that pay per view broadcasters worldwide had advertised it. Mayweather has begun rocking Hatton’s cranium with devastating punches. Every now and again Mayweather mixes in a quick left hook to Hatton’s jaw as he comes forward, the majority of these go unmentioned by the ringside commentators as they aren’t as flashy as the straight rights Mayweather is landing. Every clean power shot that connects sends a halo of sweat off Hatton’s head, the concussive effect of this punishment is quickly accumulating.

Hatton survives the round and is surprisingly better in the 9th losing a lot less lopsided round. However at this point it is evident Mayweather is biding his time, looking for the coup de grâce. In the 10th it is Hatton’s valiant ability to still press the action that works against him as Mayweather is able to treat the onrushing fighter in a calm matador-like fashion. Floyd lands a short inside left hook that sends Hatton headfirst into the ring turnbuckle and then tumbling to the floor. Hatton is able to bravely return to his feet only to then be quickly dispatched by the lightening fast combinations of Mayweather that cause him once again to collapse to the canvas just as his corner throw in the towel. Mayweather leaps on to the top of ring post in celebration as the floored Hatton is buried beneath the ringside doctors.

Before the fight took place, the ring announcer Michael Buffer had stated rather bluntly that in regards to the match up being between two undefeated fighters, that ‘Someone’s O has got to go’. Was the result of whom ever in question?