After a trip to Chicago for Lollopalooza and a trip to Huntington, WV to visit some friends, I finally have time to sit in front of my computer and talk about some MMA. I thought with so many phenomena occurring since my UFC 101 preview the best way to return would be to hit the high notes and then elaborate where need be later. A lot of divisions hit turning points in the last two weeks so there is no shortage of observations to be made, here is the WEC and Strikeforce sections.
Brian Bowles Shocks the World… Kind Of
I don’t really think that the MMA world was as shocked by Brian Bowles victory as was the WEC announce team (especially poor Frank Mir who was a sad sack of man) or the official channels that covered the event. I had picked Bowles after a short conversation with a friend about the fight. Bowles was always a very dangerous opponent in my book, but it wasn’t until Torres’s willingness to run headfirst into range was pointed out to me that I realized there were some crucial holes in game that were almost tailor made for Bowles. I didn’t really comment on it extensively here so whatever, I am not looking for credit. I am just saying there were people who weren’t drinking the Koolaid coming into this fight and didn’t lose their minds when it ended with Torres knocked goofy. Aside from hurting Frank Mir’s feelings, Bowles shook up the 135 lbs division big time. Everyone who took a shot at Torres has got to be thinking about how they can get another. That said, it won’t take Torres more than one fight (presuming he wins) to get a rematch. Bowles vs Torres II could be quite a lucrative fight for the WEC as they had just gotten Torres to the point where he was a pound for pound contender before he got knocked off. I am going to go out on a limb and say this is not the last time we have seen these two fight. Picking the second might actually be a little more difficult for me because I think Torres will learn from this fight, but I hope people stop counting out the new135 lb king come round two.
Cyborg Puts a New Face on Women’s MMA
I don’t really believe that Christina Cyborg is going to be the new face of women’s MMA. She might get more facetime, but Gina Carano is still going to be the “face.” The fight itself was not really too competitive, despite the commentary table’s best efforts (it was a bad month for Franks). Gina landed a few shots that Cyborg walked right threw. Cyborg ended up in precarious positions because of her sloppy throws but her superior ground game put her back in advantageous positions quickly. In the end, Cyborg was just too much for Gina. Cyborg is likely the best female fighter operating in North America today and most of the top fighters on the other side of the world are smaller. This might be the baddest woman on the planet. This win is better for women’s MMA in the LONG term. It prevents MMA from being reigned over by a beauty queen as it emerges into the mainstream, helping quell any stereotypes about women athletes in MMA. Cyborg is no beauty queen but she can fight and no one can deny it. She comes from a brutal camp and it shows in the cage when she fights like one of the boys. In short, she is a better champion right now. She won’t cause the kind of spike in attention that Carano might have garnered but she will lay the credibility foundation for attention on her skills and her skills alone. This also allows us to follow Carano back to a second title shot. We would all love to see the former postergirl determined to work harder and prove herself against the Cyborg. I don’t see it happening though. Finally, Cyborg is also fresher for the mainstream MMA fan. They have likely seen Gina and watched her beat people with relative ease. Then in comes this monster and wrecks her. All the sudden they have something new to watch.
Did Melendez Grease?
I don’t care… next.
The Dreamcatcher Comes To America
What an impressive performance Mousasi put on in his crushing of Babalu. Most people with any sense knew that Mousasi belonged in the cage with Babalu as a top 205er not under Zuffa contract. With Little Nog in the UFC we may have just seen the two best outside it clash. Mousasi will now try to go win the Super-Hulk tournament, which is a joke of a tournament that would really only matter if he won, considering is momentum and that prior to the tournament he was fighting at middleweight. You know Dana White has his eye on this guy. He could be a top shelf addition to either the LHW or MW divisions in the UFC, especially if either of them run out of contenders (quite likely). White and company may take away all his competition but Mousasi doesn’t seem to care about weight classes. I think he will pretty much fight anywhere and everywhere on the weight scale so they are going to have to put the money on the table and its going to have to make professional sense to the young sensation with the dumbest nickname in MMA. Any way you cut it, this was impressive and it proves that Mousasi can hang at 205, hang to say the least.
Werdum Wants Fedor… But Does He Deserve The Fight
Strikeforce is essentially in a position to set up a tournament for the Strikeforce HW title, presuming they can ever get Overeem back in the cage. That is a big presumption though. Lets assume they can. Werdum went a long way towards staking his claim for the first shot at the uncrowned champion, Fedor. The other man in the mix is Bret Rogers, who made short work of Arlovski last time we saw him in the cage. It appears that one of them will fight Fedor (#1 HW in the world) and one of them will fight Overeem (Strikeforce HW Champion). I for one am torn. I want to see them all fight Fedor, and they eventually will, but I can’t decide what order I want to see those fights in. Bret Rogers is red hot and has the big win fresh in everyone’s mind, while Werdum is coming off a largely successful UFC run and a relatively quick win on a big show over a lesser opponent. They present two completely different skill sets, neither of which I fear keeps Fedor up at night. I would like to roll the dice and put Fedor in the cage against Rogers. It might not be the best thing for Rogers but I doubt seriously it would be the worst. Lets say he loses. He is young, fresh, and suppose to lose… no big thing. He could climb back up the ladder if he keeps his head down and works hard. Lets say he wins… holy crap. Werdum on the other hand has been around quite a while. If he wins, the win is somewhat anti-climactic by comparison. If he loses, it might be harder to forgive as it would likely be attributed to him simply not being good enough. In short, MMA fans could easily forgive Rogers for losing to Fedor, easier than they would forgive Werdum. Either way, Strikeforce should push forward with this unofficial tournament. Werdum’s win was there to keep the division relevant.
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