Thursday 24 November 2011

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.

Thursday 17 November 2011

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’.