SB Nation User Blog: szucconi

John Alessio is fighting Dec 5th MFC ... against Paul Daley!!!!!!

szucconi — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:48:06 -0000

John Alessio is fighting Dec 5th MFC ... against Paul Daley!!!!!!

It's Never Too Early to Get Cised for Torres

szucconi — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:21:55 -0000

Is Miguel Torres the best, pound for pound fighter in the world? At the age of 27 he sit atop his much unheralded and under recognized weight class. He has defeated every opponent he has fought and has finished 80% of his fights. He has not gone to a decision in three years. Over his career he has regularly fought much heavier opponents. Opponents weighing as much as 205lbs. His only blemish on an otherwise remarkable record was a decision loss to Ryan Ackerman. A loss that was avenged two years later by finishing Ackerman in the first round by armbar. Sure Torres is great, but is his track record a who’s who of nobodies? Not exactly, but he could use a clearer path to top competition. That’s what the WEC brings to the lighter weights in the states. Torres has been a force to this point, but there is still much to prove. How much further does Torres have to go to be crowned the best? How can someone end his run as a powerhouse bantam? What exactly is a bantam? All this and more, after the jump.

The first Ackerman fight is an example of how, I think, one can manage to beat Torres, but it is still no easy task. Ackerman, put on a display of top control and positional dominance and defended submission after submission. Torres displayed why a guard pulling mentality brought from BJJ class can lead to losses in the MMA ring. Ackerman refused to be submitted and had enough in his gas tank to stay in control and win a close decision (29-28 X3). It may seem like I am harping on a close loss from almost five years ago and not really making my case for Torres, but I think you can learn much more from fighter losses then from any number of wins.

Its important to have a firm grasp on a fighters weakness before calling them the best. One of Torres’ biggest assets is his aggressiveness, but it can lead to sloppiness and loss of position. Watching his more recent fights you can see it still exists, but not to the same extent. The glaring weakness in his competition is also another barrier to calling him the best. Being in the states puts him half a world away from some of the best lower weight class fighters. At 135lbs fighters aren’t exactly headlining and raking in the dough. The water is muddy in the US and JP because there is little incentive to travel for the lower weights because the hype is not there for the fights to happen. There is little excitement as compared to Liddell/Wandy. Torres said in an interview after UFC 90 that he was offered $500 to fight in Japan and that didn’t include a flight for a corner man (see the interview in an earlier BE post). Now with Torres calling the WEC home there is enough infrastructure to make this high level fights happen, but only time will tell. So far so good though, Torres has put away all comers since his WEC coming out party versus Jeff Bedard. Needing less then a round to put away the cardio king and top control master Chase Beebe. Then putting on a dominating performance against Yoshiro Maeda.

Torres is slated to take on Manny Tapia December 5th and I couldn’t be more excited. Tapia was scheduled for a title shot over a year ago, but was sidelined with a knee injury. He renewed his quest for the title with a split decision win over Antonio Banuelos. He brings in an impressive ten wins and one draw record, but has his work cut out for him with Torres.

So if Torres the greatest? Maybe. But his lack of a steady diet of competition raises some questions. I think he has the skills to set himself apart, but that is very different then laying his division to waste and standing unchallenged and undisputed as the best of the best. I think he is on the short list and looking to make the list even shorter with a few more key wins over some more diverse competition. Consistently being matched up with fighters of the same size might put the spotlight on his skill as a fighter.

See Torres in his only lose, five years ago.

Ryan Ackerman vs. Miguel Torres

As I was typing this up Tracy Lee of CombatLifestyle send me a message about her blog. She spent a few days with Torres leading up to UFC 90. Check it

Also a Bantam is a real thing.

From the new Tapout Bedding line. Its over the top. Maybe a padded head and foot board could come...

szucconi — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:54:30 -0000

From the new Tapout Bedding line. Its over the top. Maybe a padded head and foot board could come in handy. I wonder what my girlfriend would say if I had this sucker delivered.

EliteXC and Fixing fights.

szucconi — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:15:41 -0000

Thanks Nick for pulling out the quote. Radio Interview

Monsters : Even though you only had an hour to get ready for this fight against kimbo, what was your strategy fighting against Kimbo, uh, err, uh, were you tryin to uh, submission him out?

Seth Petruzelli: My original plan was to throw a lot of push kicks, called teeps, and try to rush in more, and then shoot in on him, obviously.

M: So you wanted to get him on the ground? There’s no way you wanted to box him standing up?

SP: Not really, but I train with lots of undefeated pro boxers, a couple guys have a belt, and my style kinda throws them off a bit, I have kind of an awkward style. So, I knew I would do alright standing up with him. THE PROMOTERS KINDA HINTED TO ME, AND THEY GAVE ME THE MONEY TO STAND AND TRADE WITH HIM. THEY DIDN’T WANT ME TO TAKE HIM DOWN. LETS JUST PUT IT THAT WAY.

M: Ahhh.. ok.

SP: It was worth my while to try and stand up and punch with him."

This is fixing a fight, make no mistake. Using money to give a fighter an advantage is fixing a fight. Petruzelli maybe didn't get it. This is not a post fight bonus. The UFC gives bonus' for sub, KO, and fight of the night. The sub and KO bonus are win bonus' so they can't be looked at as fixing. Fight of the night is for exciting fights and both fighters involved get it. It gives you no incentive to lose. This type of prefight "hint" with money offered behind it to stand is fixing. Of course I assume they thought Slice had the advantage standing and it didn't work out the way they wanted, but it seems like a clear example of trying to affect the outcome.

The question remains about his contract structure and if he would have made more money if he had lost or less if he won on the ground. Did they bump him up in dollars to take the main event fight or did they have an agreement for him to stand? On the surface, it stinks. It looks like they are fixing fights. It sounds like he was paid to fight a certain way and was not told to lose. That is comparable to point shaving and fixing ATS. Handcuffing a guy and paying him to not take it to the ground changes the fight entirly. We will have to wait to hear more...

Here is a video about Randy Couture's departure from the UFC. The song is sung by BE's very own...

szucconi — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:12:05 -0000

Oh RandyUploaded by rcg916

Here is a video about Randy Couture's departure from the UFC. The song is sung by BE's very own Brett Jones. It was a song for our now debunked MMA talk radio show on fightersmind.com and when everyone still loved Randy.

Brandon Vera has the right idea

szucconi — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:45:06 -0000

It's my one-year goal -- to win both titles. I'll fight anyone UFC wants me to fight. I'm not scared of anyone. I train ridiculously hard for all my fights. I drive myself to the point of exhaustion. In the past, I've collapsed in the gym. When I'm training for a fight, I work out thrice a day from six to eight weeks. Each day, I do 50 minutes of conditioning, including working six six-minute rounds, then 1 1/2 hours of repetition drills and finally, 1 1/2 hours of doing whatever my coaches want, like sparring or banging the bag or hitting the mitts.... After I get the heavyweight belt, I'm going after Rampage (light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson). I've already challenged Rampage. We've agreed that whoever wins will buy a car of his opponent's choice but the plate will show the word `loser.' I wouldn't like to drive a Lamborghini with `loser' on the plate so I don't intend to lose.. I've trained with Rampage and he's tough. But when the title's on the line, it's anything goes in the UFC."

-Brandon Vera. Fighting a guy he has trained with and using the word thrice. How can you not love this guy. Also, he reps Lloyd Irvin.

Props to MMAMania for the quote. I just thought I would share.

Analysis Wrong, The UFC is Successful in 2007

szucconi — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:10:47 -0000

Good response to my "Dana White Blew It" post. Keep writing diaries folks, we love 'em. -- Kid Nate

The UFC is undergoing a huge change. A transition from the record PPV buys being all important to a more stable consistent product. They have moved from one show per quarter to about 20 a year. There are more free shows, which means they are generating more revenue outside PPV buys. They are making less money per event, but having 5 times more events. The biggest monetary clue that this is improving the bottom line is the fight bonuses keep raising and the fighter purses are treading up. Neither of which would happen if the company had credit problems. This is why the analysis downgrade is a poor call. If UFC was a public company it would be a good time to buy.

Now on to your article that basically agrees with the downgrade even though it has nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with questioning the UFCs business model. They eliminated there top competition and got a huge video library of film to both sell and promote fights. There is no question in the minds of fans who the top MMA organization is. How much is that worth? I would say a lot when the sport is growing as fast as it is. Did they screw up and not make sure the fighter contracts would transfer? I would say yes, but it likely wouldn't have been a deal breaker if they were smart. Look at one big example, Fedor. Fedor was number one in the world. His contract didn't transfer and he went elsewhere. Now he can't fight the top competition that mostly resides in the UFC. People are starting to question if he should still be number one. His stock is dropping and the UFC wins in the deal.

Moving on to the pay cable deal. I say that HBO screwed the pooch on this one. They had something so close that could have made them a lot of money and they wanted to take to much control of it. The UFC wanted to keep all control of there product and rightfully so. If HBO did a shitty job in production it would only hurt the UFC. Pay cable would expose the product to many more people for the first time and if it was poorly done then it's a fight up hill to get then back in the door. EliteXC signed a deal so they could just get on TV. We may find out that they signed all there rights away and it could be there downfall. Showtime could start marketing a "bloodsport" like the old days. What do they care? They are just trying to maximize profit.

I believe that the ratings decrease that we have seen for the UFC's reality show TUF is a bad thing, but not bad news for the UFC. There is a lack of talent and contrived drama on the series in its current form. Many fans of the UFC consider the program less relevant then before, but it still serves the purpose of introducing new fans to the UFC and MMA. They might not know that there is a lack of talent and are not tired of the house destruction. The fans that have been there since season 1 are walking away and that is bad news for Spike. The UFC wants to revamp the show to keep Spike happy, but the balls in the UFC's court. They don't depend on the network for success like they did in the beginning. They depend on it for growth. As long as they can keep in on the air then all is well.

Title turnover creates stars. In boxing you have to have a title to be anybody and even then it's hard to stand out. The UFC champs are instant stars and still marketable after they lose the belt a la Ricco Rodriguez. They work there way up and when they beat the man they become the man. Silva's lack of english is a barrier, but he speaks to the fans with knees to Rich Franklins face. The Sherk deal could have been handled differently, but it might not have made any difference. They strip him and he gets cleared or they don't and the CSAC screws up the main event for NJ. What can I say about Rampage, he was born to be a star and knocking out Chuck made him one. I know several casual fans who only ask me who Rampage is fighting next. Cro Cop was a bust, but it's a sport and you never can tell what will happen. He got upset. Maybe he was just over rated. Herring just sucked in his debut. If you can't get up then you don't deserve to win. Maybe it was a dumb match up, but matching him up with Nogueira wasn't. He lost twice before, so you think it's a walk for Nogueira. Herring was like +600 for that match, but it's a sport and crazy things happen. They only want to give Big Nog a title shot because Randy wants it, he is great, and other crazy thing have happened this year. What do you suggest they do with Henderson? Put him against some lower tier guy and if he loses the UFC loses a huge change for the unification. He was the Pride champ, he doesn't need any more hype.

The UFC can't just be USA only forever. They need foreign markets, but they need to target places with money. UK, Canada, and Japan to name a few. I don't know why they went to the UK and not to Canada first. Japan might accept the UFC if they had a TV deal there. They will get one eventually now that Pride is gone, but it may take more time for the fans to accept. The strategy failed for UFC 72, but the logic lives on. When there is a large gap between events, they put on a weaker card, just like 78. 72 was going to be HBO and even Dana admits he screwed up with a live PPV a 2 in the afternoon in the US.

Controlling the product and expanding are keys to success for the UFC. They are lowering the risk by entering new markets. They are a company laying down roots around the world as appose to last year they were a company laying down a foundation in Vegas and Cali.