UFC 135 isn’t a matter of why you should watch. I bet you already know why you should watch. Jon Jones (pictured) is the hottest thing going in the sport, everyone’s darling. And you know Rampage Jackson (pictured bottom of the post), right? You know his record, his reputation, his bark and his bite. You know why you should watch but I fear that many fans are coming into this with tunnel vision – just waiting to see Rampage get demolished so we can all rejoice in the growing legend of “Bones” Jones. Well as usual I am here to explain two things, why the dominate narrative of a fight might not be the best way to approach it and to let you know about all the cool under card fights are worth tuning in for.
Spike TV Prelims
Lets start at the bottom, not the bottom bottom but the middle bottom really. I have been waiting for the Tim Boetsch (pictured) vs Nick Ring fight for over thee months now. There are two main reasons for this. 1) Tim Boetsch looked REALLY good in his MW debut. He was known as a powerhouse at LHW and didn’t seem to lose any of that power with the weight cut. This guy literally threw grown men at 205 pounds around (look up his fight with David Heath) and now he is fighting at 185 and the prospects are scary. 2) He is fighting a guy who is introduced as Nick “The Promise” Ring. Self examination time: are you laughing? Are you shaking your head? Do you have a natural dislike for this man growing in your stomach? If you answered no to all of those questions skip to the next fight because we are on completely different pages right now. That really has to be the worst name in all of MMA. Not only am I fundamentally against the concept of promise rings as I think they are pointless, but no professional fighter should choose to be known by such a silly, pun driven nick-name. REALLY!? It’s a promise ring; you’re a pro fighter. I know this criticism bites the hypermasculity of the sport but it rubs me the wrong way. Full disclosure though, Nick Ring is the first openly gay fighter in the UFC so if you are more sensitive to the double meaning than I am go ahead and pull for the Promise in this fight. I tend to think it was a convenient pun that stereotypically effeminizes him at the same time that it really annoys me.
Ok, I promise I won’t spend that much time on all the fights. In all honesty it is a huge test for Ring who shows lots of promise but has been somewhat pampered to this point. I expect Boetch to maul him but Ring has a big chance to prove himself.
Toney Ferguson won the most recent Ultimate Fighter season but like many winners from the past 5-6 seasons, he hasn’t caught anyone’s eye yet. Dana White and company have clearly nixed the honeymoon period for these fighters and started throwing them to the wolves because Aaron Riley is no joke. Riley pushes the pace and has some really dangerous hands. Much like Ring, Ferguson has a great opportunity to prove himself but he has to get through a really tough veteran. This is one of the better pairings they have put on Spike TV recently and there is a really good chance you willsee the winners of these fights in prominent spots very soon.
Main Card.
Some of these fights are really really simple. For example, I can sum the first fight up in one sentence. I would watch Mark Hunt and Ben Rothwell bring their big thick skulls and ham hock fists to a bar and fight. That’s it… that’s all you need to know.
Nate Diaz vs Takanori Gomi (pictured) is a little more complex. Gomi was once the MMA nerds darling. About 5-7 years ago MMA supernerds LOVED Japanese fighters and Gomi was one of the most impressive around. Since then things haven’t gone so well, particularly in America. Gomi has punching power, experience, and a fairly well rounded game. Nate Diaz on the other hand should be more technically sound and able to take the fight on skill alone. Unfortunately, Diaz is anything but consistent; so you never truly know what you are going to get. Gomi will swing for the fences and avoid the ground and Diaz will talk trash, throw punches in punches and try to get the fight to the ground. I don’t expect the fight to be boring in the least and would be somewhat surprised if this one saw the third round.
Is everyone ready to see a borderline assault in the cage? Travis Browne (pictured) is going to knock Rob Broughton into a new kind of unconsciousness. A friend of mine calls Browne The Redneck Dinosaur and it kind of works. That guy does nothing but mindlessly move forward and swing some of the most deadly fists in the division. He can take huge shots and still deliver devastating KOs. In short, he is just a big ol fighter. Broughton, on the other hand, is nothing to get too excited about. He is a submission ace (sort of) but the chances of him getting Brown down similar to the chances of me getting Travis Browne. If you can put money on KO of the night put it on this fight and if you want a preview go check out Browne’s facewrecking of Stephan Struve.
The most hated man in MMA is back and ready to dispose of one of the sport’s icons. Matt Hughes was all set for a very competitive fight with the scrappy Diego Sanchez, a fight that I sort of thought he would ultimately lose. Unfortunately Sanchez got injured and now Hughes faces a much more daunting beast in the form of Josh Koscheck. Kos may be a divisive character but there is no doubt that he has absolutely come into his own over the last 4-5 years. It hasn’t been a perfect rise but he hasn’t had any easy fights either. Hughes is certainly not to be taken lightly, but this is all Kos’ fight to lose. He should be faster, stronger, and more technically sound just about anywhere the fight can go. I see this one ending in the second with fireworks along the way.
A year and a half ago I was talking about Jones as a rising star, already slowly getting off the bandwagon. I have had more or less an inverse relationship with Jones as a fan. I was really high on him after his first two fights in the UFC, thought he would for sure be a future champion. As his popularity grew I started to rethink my fandom. By the time he won the championship I was still confident that he was good (REALLY GOOD) but I had full on removed myself from the preverbal war wagon. There are two reasons for this. 1) Something rubs me the wrong way about this guy the more I see him. He seems like a nice guy and I don’t begrudge him his success but I have never been a fan of superman. You know, some kids like the main hero, the Leonardos (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) of the world. I liked Raphael. I liked Wolverine. I liked Batman. Jones is a prototype and that lacks something to me. It lacks a character flaw, something that I think is fundamental to humanity. Fighters are caricatures to us (fans). As soon as we start investing in them as fellow individuals we lose perspective. It has nothing to do with him as a person. I am sure, and have actually heard from some fairly close sources (his brother played football at SU where I tutored football players – I am not connected or anything) that he is a great dude. But I don’t care for “Jon Jones” the caricature. That caricature is the thing I root for or root against. 2) I started to notice that he seemed to show no flaws. The obvious and boring observation is that this is a sign of greatness. To me it is quite alarming. This sport is not a sport of perfection; but of imperfection. No one is without flaw and when your flaw is not tested, pushed and forced back on you there is no way to sharpen your response. No training is the same as an actual fight. The level of competition at the top of the LHW division is too strong to avoid being exposed forever. Someone is going to find out what Jones isn’t good at and I really wonder if it’s going to shake Jones, who hasn’t been shook yet. Rampage is likely going to see if it’s his jaw. Look for Rampage to utilize his footwork to get inside and work hard body blows on his way to tagging Jones on his chin. If he does that we are going to learn a lot about the champion. There is no doubt that this night is about Jon Jones. This is his fight to lose. He has all the physical tools to be dominant but I am not counting Rampage Jackson out and I wont be one bit surprised if he shocks the world at UFC 135. Rampage is mean, a fighter. It is on him to see if Jones possesses those same qualities.
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