SB Nation User Blog: Dese Nutz

Criticism of Anderson Silva is Ridiculous

Dese Nutz — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:03:28 -0000

Anderson Silva is not to blame for last weekend's terrible main event. UFC matchmaking and marketing are to blame.

I'm tired of reading criticism of Anderson Silva's performance last weekend. I was there and I agree that the fight was not worth the price of admission but the basic truth is that it takes two to tango. Leites brought the fight for the first two rounds and then got tired or discouraged and started flopping to his back in the hopes that the Champ would insert himself into a triangle for the submission finish.

I don't blame Silva for refusing to engage on the ground. I don't even blame Leites for the flopping, I blame the UFC for the matchmaking. Leites is an up and coming middleweight. His biggest win to date (not counting Marquardt) was over Jose Landis-Jons, a stand up Brazilian fighter like Silva. He won the Landis-Jons fight by taking it to the ground and submitting him. Against a solid striker that's Leites' only real hope. Why did the UFC book the fight then knowing that Leites has very little stand up and inadequate wrestling to take Silva down?

I beleive that they booked this fight because Marquardt lost to Leites due to fouls and they either had to admit that it was a BS loss and give Nate the title shot or accept the loss and give it to someone else. Unfortunately, Maia is still pretty green and Bisping/Henderson is locked in TUF pergatory.

If the UFC wants to sell events using Silva then they need to provide him an opponent who will stand and bang. Silva, like many successful strikers, is a counter-striker. He spent most of Saturday night looking for a punch or kick that he could counter. Leites knew that so he refused to provide the opening. A lesser middleweight would have created a more exciting fight (Leben) because they'd be willing to exchange with the champ.

If the UFC is going to demand finishes then they need to be smarter in their matchmaking. They ended up with Leites when he outpointed Marquardt and tried to make lemonade out of those lemons. It failed. We ended up with an uncompetitive title fight. It bored the crowd as well as Anderson. If the UFC want to keep trumpeting him as the best pound for pound then they need to move him up a division or pay/co-promote to get a real challenge - Lawlor, Shields and Diaz all jump to mind.

I know that Silva has said that he won't fight at 205 because that belt is Machida's but what if Machida loses next month and is miles from another title shot? Why not encourage Silva to finish his career with an exciting run at the belt of the UFCs marquee division? Perhaps a mohawk would help his marketability.

UFC 91 = Don King Style MMA

Dese Nutz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:44:05 -0000

In his many media appearance, Dana White likes to talk about the differences between MMA and Boxing. One of the differences that he's most proud of is the fact that UFC cards aren't about a single fight:

"Pretty much every UFC fight is dam exciting. The difference is that we showcase nine fights that night, not just one. Let me tell everybody on this call something and go off on a rant for a second. I always talk about how much trouble boxing is in. Boxing is in trouble for one reason and one reason only...Greed. They are all greedy." (http://sportsbiznews.blogspot.com/2007/05/critics-aside-ufc-is-having-amazing.html)

In the interests of full disclosure I should mention that my fiancee and I will be travelling to Las Vegas for the UFC 91 show. We decided to go for a mini-honeymoon and because I've always wanted to see a UFC live. We'll be watching on the big screens from our seats in the rafters but that's ok because those were the only affordable tickets in the house. Everything about the trip would be great except UFC 91 is a one trick pony. Here's the card (rumours have a *) for UFC 91:

265 lbs.: UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture (16-8) vs. Brock Lesnar (2-1)

155 lbs.: Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson

170 lbs.: Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory
155 lbs.: Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek

155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley

185 lbs.: Matthew Riddle vs. Ryan Thomas

185 lbs.: Demian Maia vs. Nate Quarry*

265 lbs.: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks *

155 lbs.: Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos *

185 lbs.: Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone *

155 lbs.: Mark Bocek vs. Alvin Robinson

While I give all of the fighters respect, I fail to see how this card "showcases 9 fights". The main event is made for PPV sales. There's precedent for getting a title shot after beating up Herring so I won't complain too much or make Kimbo comparisons for Lesnar.

Ken Flo vs. Joe Daddy has some significance for the lightweights but it's the battle of two fighters who've had and lost title shots in recent memory. If Maia vs. Quarry is added it could answer some questions about who takes the next ass kicknig from Anderson Silva but otherwise this card is "stacked" with recent losers, has-beens, never-weres and unknowns. The poster for the event really says it all:

Lonely in there boys?

Couple the weak card with the ridiculous seat prices (as the UFC tries to break another gate record) and you've got the exact same problem as boxing. Add the relatively successful EliteXC show, Affliction, Adreline, WAMMA etc. and you have conflicting organizations with different belts - another boxing problem.

Pot? This is the kettle calling...