SB Nation User Blog: Annie83

Will BJ Penn Be Stripped of the LW Belt?

Annie83 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:00:46 -0000

I was reading a fan post about BJ's complaint filling and one blogger noted that BJ should be stripped of his belt if he does not defend it within a year. That being said, it appears that BJ turned down a fight on the May UFC card to spend time with his family. However, the last time he defended the LW belt was in fact at UFC 84 against Sean Sherk May 24, 2008. Although we don't hear of many belt strippings, it has happend more than you might think. I've done some research and here is what I have come up with.

The UFC has stripped fighters for a few reasons.

- Contract disputes

- Injuries that would make it impossible for the champ to defend his title in 365 days (1 year)

- Retiring (although I believe that if a fighter retires, the title is vacant as opposed to stripped)

- If the fighter leaves the organisation

- If a fighter moves down in weight permanently (however, i believe this to also work sort of the same as a fighter retiring)

- Positive drug testing on banned substances by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC)

The belt stripping/vacating timeline goes a little something like this, according to www.UFC.Com

January 1998 - Randy Couture loses title via contract dispute

June 1999 - Bas Rutten moves down from HW and vacates the title.

November 1999 - Frank Shamrock retires, leaving the title vacated

March 2002 - Jens Pulver leaves the organisation and looses his title

March 2002 - Randy Couture is defeated by Josh Barnett for the LHW belt. However, Barnett tests positive for steroids and is disqualified.

October 2002 - Maurilo Bustamante leaves the organisation and looses his title

September 2003 - Tim Sylvia tests positive for steroids after defeating Dan McGee for the HW title. He appoligizes and gives up the title, rather than having it stripped, (six of one, half a dozen of the other if you ask me).

February 2004 - BJ Penn looses the WW title upon leaving the organisation. (side note, the fight in which he won the title was coinsidentally held on January 31, 2004)

2005 - Frank Mir is hurt badly in a motorcyle accident and is unable to defend his title in the 1 year timeframe.

December 2007 - Sean Sherk tests positive for Nandrolone-9 and is stripped of the LW title.

What does this all mean? It means that the UFC has taken away titles before, ten times in the last 11 years. If BJ refuses to fight within his one year of capturing the LW belt I would not be surprised if the UFC stripped him. If they didn't give Frank Mir an extension for a crash that should have killed him, there is no valid reason to give one to Penn, even if he does want to spend time with his new baby. A job is a job and if your a professional on the UFC level, you should fight anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Have Florian fight a top contender and give him the title shot he deserves. I'm not a Florian fan but the guy the has been waiting long enough. If BJ does not defend in May he should be stripped as others have been in the past. It is only fair.

GSP vs. Alves

Annie83 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:38:15 -0000

I've been reading alot of comments about the GSP/Alves fight for UFC 100 in July. Im excited. Fighters around the world are excited and I'm sure that fans all around the globe are excited.

Grease-gate is over, and it seems that everyone is saying that Alves has zero chance of winning the WW belt.

I am a GSP fan till the death and i have publicly stated that i will never take another fighter over him, in any fight. Why? He is the p4p best. Where is his weak area? He is exceptionally well rounded and litterally, the complete fighter. On another level that has nothing to do with MMA, he is a fellow french-canadian, and absolutely georgeous. But i'll get on to relevent things.

Alves is the top contender for many reasons. He has excellent muay tai, great jiu-jitsu, great takedown defence, fast striking, good footwork, and he is probably the biggest WW in the UFC. Is there anyone who cuts as much weight as he does?

Another reason i like this matchup is that GSP and Alves have a ton of similarities. They fought similar opponnents in close time frames. Koscheck, Hughes, Fitch and Parisyan. They both go for the finish and rarely go to descision. They are both huge welterweights. They have similar fight records and have each only lost twice in the UFC. Forget the four round dismantiling of BJ Penn. This seriously has the potential to be the best fight of the year.I am picking GSP as my winner, but i can not honestly be convinced that GSP will keep his belt.

They both descisioned Koscheck, They both KOed Hughes, GSP beat Fitch, and they both got the W on Parisyan. GSP fought Karo back in 2004 and Alves fought Fitch back in 2006. That is a little bit scarry.

Alves last lost in the UFC was in 2006, to Fitch. That was 7 fights ago. GSP last lost in the UFC in 2007 to Serra. That was 5 fights ago. The last time Alves lost in the UFC before Fitch, it was Spencer Fisher in 2005. The last time Alves lost in the UFC before Serra, it was Matt Hughes, back in 2004. Alves' record stands at 22-4. He has won 82% of his fights. GSP's record stands at 18-2. He has a win percentage of 89%. That is also a little bit scarry.

Alves has gone to a decision only twice in the UFC. Both times, he got the W. GSP has gone the distance 4 times. All 4 times, he also, got the W. GSP averages a stoppage in round 2, including his title fights, Alves, also, averages a round 2 stoppage.

The stats on these guys is again, very similar. Alves is 25, 5'9, 170. GSP is 27, 5'10 and 170. They both walk around above 185.

At the announcement of the BJ Penn and GSP fight, the same sort of threads came out - BJ has no chance. A week before the fight, it came to be 50-50. Alot of people jumped on a different bandwagon. I'm stating from TODAY that GSP is my man, and he will win. I am not budging on this. What im not saying is that it will be easy, and that he will steamroll through him to the next guy. It will be bloody, it will be a war, it will be fantastic. I cannot wait.

GO GSP!

-A

The Cycle of Grief for BJ Penn Fans

Annie83 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:23:02 -0000

"In case you're left wondering why all the vitriolic accusations are coming about concerning GSP eating a jar of Vaseline before the fight (or whatever silly shenanigans the disillusioned BJ fans are cobbling together), it occured to me that it might be helpful to try to contextualize what's really going on here.

I think BJ fans are experiencing the first stage in the Kubler-Ross model of grief. Usually this only applies to the loss of loved ones or other traumatic events, but I suppose there are exceptions.

Stage 1: Denial. "BJ didn't quit! GSP cheated! It was the Vaseline!"

Stage 2: Anger: "How could this happen? Why, God, why? BJ was supposed to win!"

Stage 3: Bargaining: "Let them fight again. BJ can still do it. Without Vaseline, there's hope. BJ just needs to do more of his rock-hauling cardio training."

Stage 4: Depression: "What's the point? I think I'll start watching football instead."

Stage 5: Acceptance: "They're both great fighters. GSP is the superior fighter at 170, and BJ is the 155 king."

Just a list of what we can expect to see in the forthcoming weeks. "

Saw this on MMAForReal and thought i would share it, as it made me die of laughter.

Fight of the Night: UFN 18 Lauzon vs Stephens

Annie83 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:38:43 -0000

I just came accross the post about the fight bonuses, live gates and the outcomes of all the fights last night. I am always interested to see who won Fight, Submission and KO of the night. This is really the first time i have disagreed with KO of the night.

TAMPA, Fla. - Josh Neer, Mac Danzig, Cain Velasquez and Joe Lauzon each earned $30,000 "fight night" bonuses for their performances at "UFC Fight Night 17: Lauzon vs. Franca."

...

The bonus amounts matched the $30,000 bonuses that were given out at the most recent UFC Fight Night event in December 2008.

Each guy is getting an extra 30K for getting the nod. That's great, i'm all for it. When I think of a KO worthy of the title of FOTN, im thinking the likes of what we saw last weekend in Machida vs Silva.

The nod went to Cain Velasquez. It was a great fight. Very one sided and it apppeared the UFC gave him an easy win. I'm not saying Stojnic is a bad fighter, I just dont think he was well rounded enough to give Velasquez a run for his money.

My biggest peeve with the whole thing, is that he wasn't even knocked out. A KOoTN should be a KO with excitement. It was a TKO that in my mind was premature stoppage. Stojnic looked like he thought he was being stood up. It was not a spectacular finish and both fighters seemed to be a little unhappy. When a guy gets up immediatly after, i can't see it being a KOoTN.

I would have much rather seen the nod go to Anthony Johnson with his TKO of Luigi Fioravanti. Much more dramatic finish, and an all around more exciting fight.

UFC/WEC Merger?

Annie83 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:18:28 -0000

There has been many rumours over the course of the last year or two surrounding the UFC and the WEC to merge into one organization. The UFC is by far, the biggest MMA organisation out there today, with no signs of slowing down. The WEC has been the little brother for quite some time now. It is nowhere near as popular as the UFC but it's starting to get some momentum.

With the recent news/rumour of Carlos Condit making the transition to the UFC, many people are questionning the future path of the WEC. Are they going to eliminate the WW devision to make room for the female 145lb division? Are they going to try and focus solely on 155lb and below? Are they going to try to merge the two organisations so they can make cash hand over fist even more than they already are?

In my opinion, IF the UFC is planning on taking over the WW division, they should try to merge the two organisations. Prior to a merging, they could, take one fight from each division in the WEC that made a submission, knock out or fight of the night and broadcast them. For Free. Right before a UFC on PPV.

It would let the average UFC fan see the WEC. I myself, have never missed a UFC since i began tuning in about four years ago. I have yet to watch a WEC card. I have Youtubed WEC fights and seen them on SportsCentre and they are pretty good. The advertising on WEC flat out sucks. I think they need to get it out to there to the casual fan. When you order PPV there is sometimes a pre-fight show you can watch instead of the screen that reads "Thank you for your purchase. Your PPV will start in X minutes," Make that pre-show the best of WEC. Get it out to as many people as possible. Two or Three WEC fights could go a long way to making it just as main stream as the UFC, and make a potential merger quite seemless.

Well, i've had my say. Now its up to all of you.

Cheers.

Poll

Would you be interested in a few "Best of WEC" fights prior to watching a UFC PPV card?

Yes, Absolutely

31 votes

No preference

10 votes

No

3 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

UFC 93, not worth my $54.99

Annie83 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:35:25 -0000

Last night, I watched UFC 93. I was disappointed to say the least. I have been an avid fan and have not missed a UFC card, free or PPV, since I started watching around UFC 50. It was by far, the worst card I’ve seen and I would kind of like my $54.99 back. (I watch in HD).

From the opening bell, it was a boring card. I was interested in the matchups to see where the fighters would move up in their respected weight divisions. As it turned out, getting the W really did not help anyone.

Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle was exciting, but not exciting enough. Stylistically, it was perfect. It was like they were fighting mirror images of themselves. Some might say that Marcus Davis' comment of 'The fist guy to go to the ground is a pussy' was not right, but from the moment the fight was announced they both said they wanted a stand up war and that they would come out bloody, bruised and it was a battle of the stronger chin. Personally I would have like a few more exchanges and to have seen rounds 4 and 5. If this goes to Davis vs. Lytle 2, I would most definately tune in.

I was excited for Denis Kang's UFC debut. I have heard and read a lot about this guy and it was all positive. For a guy with his level, WHY WHY WHY was he fighting Alan Belcher? I was in attendance at UFC 83, when he got his ass handed to him by Jason Day. Yes, the boy has been 3-1 in his last 4 fights, but to hear of that match up, it seemed as though the UFC was giving Denis Kang an easy go. That being said, Belcher did win, and his guillotine was beautiful, but Kang got sloppy and Belcher got lucky. At best, a few more fights before you fight for the title young man.

Rousimar Palhares in my opinion is not being marketed right by the UFC. The man is an animal on the ground, and in my opinion is one of the best in the UFC, if not the world. Give him a shot with Chris Leben, Michael Bisping, Jason Macdonald, Yushin Okami or Damian Maia. See how he does vs. younger guys who have yet to hold a title. I think they would be hungrier and more explosive. Personally, Maia vs. Palhares would be the next fight both should take. Two of the best BJJ guys in the biz, happen to be in the same weight class and we get Jeremy Horn? I like Horn, but Joe Silva, your work is slipping.

Hathaway vs. Egan was a one sided beating. It made Egan look like he had no business being there. Not a whole lot to say, other than I would enjoy seeing Hathaway again vs. someone we have seen before. When two unknowns step into the octagon, it has the chance to squash any kind of future if you get completely dominated. Who knows if we will see Egan again? Time is on his side as he is the youngest competitor in the UFC, but I think it will be a while.

And now, the co-main events. Shogun vs. Coleman. Both passed their prime. Coleman has no gas tank, and Shogun looked completely lost. Neither one of them looked remotely like they used to. I'm going to disagree with Joe Rogan and say that the stoppage was slightly premature. I fully understand the safety aspect, and the face that you must err on the side of caution, however I think Coleman could have used a few more punches and the chance to recover slightly and at least finish the bout. I was looking foreword to the scorecards. Who do they get next? For Coleman, your guess is as good as mine. For Shogun, it's Chuck. Thank god they put him with a big name like that, because without it, neither one is no longer the big draw they once were.

Franklin vs. Hendo. I wanted Rich to win. I like them both. They are well rounded and all around nice guys with a ton of respect and class. They both looked good and I am excited to see TUF 9 regardless of who was coaching. Obviously, Hendo vs. Bisping will be a good fight, but I have always wanted Franklin vs. Bisping since he dropped to middleweight. What I would like to know is who in their right mind scores a split decision 30-27 for the looser? That's bad judging right there. There is no way Franklin won round 1. I would much rather be looking forward to Franklin vs. Liddell than Shogun.

That concludes my ranting and I feel much better so thanks to all the readers for hearing me vent my frustrations and I sat back and watched $54.99 go to waste. Could have bought a new game for my Wii, a pack of smokes and a 12 pack of Budweiser and had more fun than watching, in my opinion, the worst card I’ve ever seen.

-A