SB Nation User Blog: cyph

2008: The Year the MMA World Turned Upside Down

cyph — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:19:53 -0000

Here are my random thoughts for 2008.

1. All we hold dear and sacred should be thrown out the window. Iron chin is now glass chin. Undefeated is now defeated. K-1 caliber striker is now MMA caliber. The two most iron-chinned fighters in MMA, Mark Hunt and Nogueira were both knocked out for the first time in their lives. All three K-1 fighters were beaten at their own game by MMA fighters. Who would have thunk it?

2. It's a sport so don't force things. One, you don't force stars on the public. Two, you don't make matches that you're not sure you have contingency plans for. Exhibit A: Kimbo Slice. Exhibit B: K-1 and EliteXC. If you're going to put your fighters on display and prove how good they are, you better be sure they win. If not, make sure the other fighters are (1) locked up contractually and (2) marketable. Otherwise, you just make your organization look stupid and amateurish, or worse, bankrupt. As for K-1, they just hurt their credibility to have their own fighters beaten at their own game. When one fighter loses, it's a fluke. When both lose, it's a trend. K-1 level striking isn't what it used to be.

3. Freakshow. Bob Sapp VS Cartoon character? What? The Japanese have not evolved much past the good old days of Pride. At this rate, don't be surprised if Zuffa invades Japan in 2009.

4. My fighter of the year? No, it's not Anderson Silva nor is it Brock Lesnar. The fighter of the year has been undefeated in 2008, won the Strikeforce heavyweight belt, demolished Mirko CroCop in a no-contest match that he otherwise would have won anyway, and then destroyed Badr Hari, a K-1 heavyweight champion in a K-1 rules match. He's none other than Alistair Overeem. Overeem has always had the physical talent but has never dedicated himself before, gassing out early and has shown no heart in tough fights. The new demolition man is living up to his namesake by demolishing everyone in his wake. Zuffa, sign this man!

5. This last one is a rant. Why is it that reputable MMA sites pride themselves on objectivity on news reporting but when it comes to ranking, they throw that objectivity right out the window? Ranking should be as objective as possible even if it's highly subjective. Fighters who beat ranked fighters should be moved up. Fighters who beat unranked fighters should not be moved up. Fighters who lose to ranked fighters should not have their stock hurt unless the fighter they lost to is below them. Josh Barnett is a guy who moved up in ranking because the guy above him lost to another ranked fighter. This is a guy who hasn't fought a ranked fighter in two years. The last fighter he lost to (Nogueira) is now ranked below him because that fighter has fought consistently top competition. Does this make sense? This type of ranking encourage fighters to duck top competition. This is just Sherdog's ranking which I think is very respectible and objective. I hestitate to even discuss MMAWeekly's ranking because it is so fanboyish that it shouldn't even be mentioned. CroCop is still ranked #9, above Brock Lesnar of all people, while Randy Couture is ranked 4 slots above him. Overeem is no where to be found on the list while Barnett is ranked #2. I rest my case.

An Ultimate 2008 Retrospective

cyph — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:54:32 -0000

2008 MMA has almost come to a close with one of the better UFC's in a while. As a matter of fact, the most recent UFC's have been extremely entertaining. The unpredictability of MMA and the destructive force of one well placed much is never more apparent than watching the results of UFC 92 unfold.

What can we reflect on this?

1. The modern MMA game has evolved tremendously in the last few years. Real athletes are coming in as evidenced by the great NCAA wrestlers of the current era. People assume that wrestling is a great base for MMA, the reason for why wrestlers are making huge waves in MMA today. However, that is only partly true. It has less to do with wrestling as a great base (but it is that) but more to do with great athletes than anything. Before Lesnar, Evans, and Dollaway are great wrestlers, but they are great athletes first. People wonder what would happen to the MMA game if great athletes choose MMA instead of the other sports. We are seeing the results of that unfold before our very eyes right now.

2. Old superstars are falling by the wayside as new superstars are replacing them at a much faster clip. MMA fans are unable to reconcile the losses of their cherished athletes. Already, many fans are asking for Nogueira to retire because he just doesn't have it any longer. These fans need to wake up and realize that modern MMA has supplanted the MMA of the past era. Can I say for a fact that Nog didn't lose anything since his transition from Pride? No, but that ass kicking of last night was more the result of a better fighter defeating him than of Nogueira losing anything significant. This brings me to the next reflection.

3. Nogueira, who supposedly had an iron chin and is one of the legends of the sport, has never looked good in the UFC. He was taken apart by Sylvia (of all people) in the standup, nearly knocked out by Herring, and then systematically dismantled and KO'ed by Frank Mir for the first time in his life. Did he really lose his ability at 32 or has the MMA game evolved much faster than he has? I choose the latter. I would also suggest that Pride was complicit in creating a facade of supermen by their behind the scene antics, unfair yellow card system, and biased refereeinh. Look no further than Silva, Noguiera, Shogun, CroCop as exhibits A, B, C, and D as fighters unable to cope with the modern era.The Pride defenders will try to bring up Rampage and Anderson Silva to refute this. However, Rampage were disadvantaged by the "the man" but blossomed once the playing field was leveled. Silva was just a blip on the radar back then but he's unquestionably is a different fighter today than before. I'll stop now before I turn this into a tirade against Pride which is not my intention.

4. The myth of the weak heavyweight division should be thrown away and never mentioned again. Many current heavyweight fighters are unfairly left low on the yotem pole because of the notion that old veterans who have ceased to fight legitimate oppositions get to cling on to the high ranking because of their past fights. As we already learn, the quickly evolving MMA game today cannot be compared to the MMA game of 4 years ago. Fedor deserves his #1 spot until he is beaten because he's earned it. However, the rest of the heavyweight ranking needs a serious reshuffle. Unbeatable and iron chin doesn't mean as much today as it used to.

In 2009, we should get rid of our old prejudices and preconceived notions. No fighter is unbeatable. The great legends of tomorrow is already in the making. We should be ready to embrace change because the young fighters of today are already supplanting the legends of yesterday. We should get used to expecting the unexpected and enjoy a great 2009.

Happy New Year everyone!

Phillipe Nover: the most talented fighter lost.

cyph — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:21:54 -0000

Some of you may call question me for stating this non-obvious fact after he got dominated for two rounds last night. But hold your venom and hear me out.

Phillipe Nover will end up as the better fighter in the long run. This is one loss that will help define his career. Nover was clearly the better striker last night and it would take the most ardently anti-Nover guy to say otherwise. Efrain wanted nothing to do with him standing up and opted to take him down every time. Yet, Nover was never in danger of being submitted. He took several vicious shots to the face from his back but never faltered. Instead, he fought and defended well, but mostly from his back.

The third round rubber guard and near omaplata and gogoplata was BJ Penn-esque. The fact that his strongest round was the third after he got worned out by a better wrestler in Efrain the previous two rounds speaks positively of his cardio and heart. Lesser men have faltered from the grind of being in the guard far too long. Rewind to the Johnson-Burns fight, or go further back to the CroCop-Gonzaga fight for a reminder of what a brilliant tactic that is against strikers.

With the praise out of the way, we must still come to the realization that Nover lost--unanimously. His opponent fought a smart but boring fight, forcing Nover out of his element. There is one obvious glaring hole in Nover's game and that is his awful take down defense. Nover needs to call up Thiago Alves and ask him how to defend the takedown. Great strikers need great takedown defense...period.

Nover should switch to a real MMA camp. His camp did not prepare him for the obvious--strike hard where your opponent is weakest. Efrain's strength is his wrestling and the ground game is his domain. Contrast that with Nover's strength which is his striking. Did his camp not that know he is weak in wrestling? Anyone who watched last night fight already knows the obvious. How could his camp miss such details? Did his camp not realize that Efrain would rather take Nover to the ground since he's the superior wrestler? Where was the take down defense? From the ease of Efrain's take down, Nover did not train for that eventuality at all.

Nover came in with no game plan. Efrain executed his to perfection. Was it arrogance or stupidity on Nover's part? Nevertheless, Nover almost managed to derail Efrain's simple gameplan by reversing Efrain many times from the back, got up time and time again after being taken down continuously, and then managed to take the third round. Efrain was clearly slowing down by the third but by then it was too little too late.

Efrain is an absolutely talented fighter and will be one of the premiere MMA fighter in the lightweight division. He has terrific wrestling, killer takedowns, and awesome submissions. No one can argue that he did not win last night. And yet, I can't help but think that the more talented guy lost.

Alves must fight Swick before title shot?

cyph — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:00:43 -0000

That is what the Baltimore Sun reports.

via www.cagetoday.com

Other cool nuggets:

* Diego Sanchez has officially moved down to lightweight.

* Rich Franklin is officially staying at light heavyweight.

* The winner of Franklin vs. Dan Henderson will be the coach for The Ultimate Fighter: Season 9 with Michael Bisping.

* B.J. Penn will not be allowed to move up to middleweight, even if he beats Georges St. Pierre. GSP will be fighting Thiago Alves (if GSP beats Penn) before getting a chance at a superfight with Anderson Silva.

* Mike Swick will probably fight Thiago Alves before Alves is given a title shot at welterweight. That was the rumor making the rounds. It makes sense, only because St. Pierre doesn't fight until January, so it would be awhile before he would be ready to defend his title against Alves (if St. Pierre even wins). Alves deserves a title shot, but don't be surprised to see this fight happen.

Since BJ Penn is set to defend the welterweight belt first if he wins, Florian would need to get another fight before his potential title fight. We all know how well that worked out for Karo Parisyan. Perhaps Florian should call up Thiago and go cry on each other's shoulders. I'm a proponent of Penn VS GSP II, but this sure does throw a wrench in the title picture and is vastly unfair to the two talented fighters. Furthermore, the rest of the welterweights and lightweights just found out that their contender line just got a little bit longer.

Alves gets the winner of GSP-Penn II

cyph — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:27:15 -0000

Cage Potato reports

...that Alves will get the winner of GSP-Penn II.

via www.sportsnet.ca

White said:

"He's next in line for a title shot. If GSP beats B.J. Penn, then (Alves) fights GSP. If B.J. Penn wins, then he fights B.J. And then he'd have to defend that title for a while before I let him move up and try to fight Anderson."

Okay, that's all fine and good but what about Florian? If Penn wins, then will he defend the LW title first followed by the welterweight title? If he defends the welterweight title first, then Florian will be sitting out for an extra 6 months. Florian would truly be the red-headed step child of MMA. What about the conundrum of Penn winning the welterweight belt, loses the lightweight belt to Florian, and then becomes the first champion to defend a belt after he lost his previous fight?

This is more convoluted than a bad time travel paradox.