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By Anthony De Franco  March 10, 2010, at 10:35 pm  With Dominick Cruz winning the Bantamweight title, I beleive that the 135 pound division in the WEC has officially entered the transitional period that the light heavyweight division did when Forrest Griffin defeated Rampage Jackson. There are a few guys who are capable of holding the belt, and I’m not sure that any of them can hold it.
However, if there was a gun to my head, I would say that Joseph Benavidez would be the guy to do it.
Let’s take a look at the two fights from last Saturday that contained the four best fighters in the division.
When Dominick Cruz won his belt, he did so by TKO because of Injury. It wasn’t an injury that Cruz cause by doing an immense about of damage in the cage. Hell, it wasn’t even a freak injury like Patrick Cote suffered against Anderson Silva. It was a pre-existing injury that snuck up on Brian Bowles and bit him in the proverbial ass. He broke his hand knocking out Miguel Torres, and took seven months to heal up. Then, he throws and lands one punch on Cruz and breaks it again. So, are we really going to pretend that Cruz’s victory isn’t somewhat tainted? Yes, he was winning the first two rounds, but he was doing so with a jumpy, twitchy style that just screamed “Punch me in face!” Bowles continued to rush Cruz, and just seemed a second late at all times. If Bowles had connected, you might not be reading this right now.
Now, look at Joseph Benavidez’s fight against Miguel Torres. Look at the way that he snuffed out almost all offense from a guy who was at one time considered the best fighters on the planet. He continually moved forward, landed his offense and put Torres is tough positions. Most importantly, he finished the fight. He pushed Torres up against the cage, pounded him, and opened up a cut that I’m pretty sure that he used a samurai sword to create. Once the cut was open and Torres was off-kilter, Benavidez finished the job with a guillotine. Done. Fight over, all doubts alleviated.
Can you say that about Cruz?
Yes, Cruz does have a victory over Benavidez. However, as everyone always says, fighters change from fight to fight. I beleive that Benavidez is a better fighter than he was WEC 42, and with him training at Team Alpha Male with WEC godfather Urijah Faber, There is no doubt that he is. As for Cruz, he showed us jab-leg kick-escape over and over again. The best thing he did was gameplan for a fighter who wasn’t as athletic as he was.
This is a prediction and like all predictions has a chance of going terribly awry. However, if you told me that Cruz and Benavidez’s rematch was tomorrow, I’d take Benavidez every single time.
By Anthony De Franco March 7, 2010, at 6:31 pm Watch Kalib Run has been all over WEC 47 since they are at the event. They brought us these pictures of Miguel Torres’ cut that ended the fight last night. Yes, I know that he was guillotined shortly after, but let’s be honest, he panicked after the cut.
Anyone out there still want to be a fighter? Didn’t Think so.
While a lot of people are worried about Torres’ future, let’s spend some time congratulating Benavidez. That’s just what we did in our stock watch.
By Jason Comack February 19, 2010, at 5:00 pm Thanks to Twitter MMA coverage has been taken to a new level. We actually have, for lack of a better term, MMA beat reporters just like the NFL, MLB and NBA have. And now when rumors start to spread you can ask one of many excellent journalists what exactly is fact and what exactly is fiction.
Two false reports came out today both of which have been debunked.
First Bleacherreport.com (Bloody Elbow’s favorite site!) reported that Mirko suffered a bad cut during training that needed stitches.
Talk about bad luck! Just a day after the UFC announced that Ben Rothwell was forced out of his bout with Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic due to an undisclosed illness, Cro-Cop himself received a nasty cut over his eye that required stitches.
Here’s what Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports said via Twitter:
“I dont think he’s cut. I saw him yesterday and he wasn’t cut and he said he was done working out.”
“He was told by UFC official workout room had moved and he said, No problem, I’m finished. And he DEFINITELY wasn’t cut then”
“Just talked to Marshall Zelaznik of UFC International Cro Cop is fighting and nothing happened to him as far as Zelaznik knows.”
“I dont know. I saw the guy yesterday a.m. and he was fine. I just talked to head of UFC Intl and he didn’t know anything.”
Now logic would also back this report by Iole up. If he saw Cro-Cop yesterday and he was fine there is absolutely no way he’s sparring a day before the fight. That’s just insanity and MMA fighters stop sparring as long as a week before the fight. It’d have to be a freak accident to cut him that badly.
Second rumor comes from that same article. It cites a report from Fightersonly.com that the UFC offered the Cro-Cop fight to both Rampage and Randy Couture.
The UFC allegedly asked Randy Couture and Quinton ‘Ramapge’ Jackson if they would take the fight with Filipovic at short notice but both turned it down flat. Perosh – who has an 0-2 record in the UFC from 2006 – took it on two days notice on the understanding he would get a four-fight contract out of it.
Again, nothing about that paragraph makes any sense. ‘Page is fighting Rashad Evans and Randy just fought. Furthermore why would ‘Page all of a sudden fight at heavyweight? Just makes no sense. I asked Mike Chiappetta who writes for AOL Fanhouse if there was any truth to the report.
“None whatsoever. Not on 1 day’s notice and no chance to market it.”
And there you go. It seems one of the side affect of MMA’s growing popularity is websites trying to make a name for themselves by coming up with fake rumors. Thankfully we have still have credible reporters like Kevin Iole and Mike Chiappetta.
You can follow Kevin at @KevinI and Mike at @MikeChiappetta
By Anthony De Franco February 18, 2010, at 2:21 am There are plenty of careers on the line at UFC 110. That’s part of what makes it the most interesting card we’ve had in months. However, there is some debate in the community about the UFC cutting some of the losers on Sunday morning.
After UFC 109, when the organization cut six fighters, there are worries that the clear-cutting could continue. With legends like Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop, and vets like Keith Jardine on the chopping block, there could be some wholesale changes on the way home from Australia. Let’s take a look at some necks on the line and assume they lose. Should they stay?
- Stephan Bonnar - All these years later, and Bonnar is still living off the good will that he created for himself when he put the UFC on the map with Forrest Griffin. Since that war took place on that magical night in 2005, Bonnar is 5-6 in the UFC. Until UFC 100, you could have made the argument that all his losses had come against top competition, but then he lost to Mark Coleman. Oh yeah, there is also that whole horse steroids thing.Bonnar is fighting a decent opponent in Krzysztof Soszynski, but he still should be out as he loses. However, his saving grace may be Strikeforce. Would Scott Coker want Bonnar if he is cut by the UFC? I think we are going to find out.
In or Out?: Out.
- Wanderlei Silva – The Axe Murderer is an MMA legend. He was the best fighter in the world for most of his tenure in PRIDE. His blinding strikes put down many a fighter for a long winter’s nap. However, that success has not translated to the UFC as he is just 1-3. I personally believe that he won the Rich Franklin fight, but whatever. Now, he makes the drop to 185, which he should have done a long time ago, to fight Michael Bisping.Silva has also just had facial surgery to remove all the scar tissue that 10-plus years of fighting has accumulated on his face. He won’t cut as easy and won’t be as easy to knockout.Silva is a real legend, and his action-filled style always is exciting. He’s safe.
In or Out?: In
- Mirko Cro Cop – No PRIDE star has struggled more than Cro Cop. He claims to have a mental block from fighting in the cage, but I think that it has more to do with lack of steroid testing in Japan and Cro Cop getting up their in years.That’s not mention that his flawed gameplan of relying on head kicks has stopped working as mixed martial artists have become more skilled.If he loses to Rothwell, he’ll be 1-4 in the UFC. At some point, even the most insistent PRIDE fans (Jason) will have to admit it’s over.
In or Out?: Out
- Keith Jardine – Jardine has always been overrated in my opinion. His “unorthodox” (DING!) striking can be neutralized by the fact that he has a tendency to go down VERY early in fights. Of his five UFC losses, three of them have come in the first five minutes. To make it worse, he already trains at Greg Jackson’s. He just doesn’t have what it takes to make it as a contender in the UFC.He simply isn’t all that good, and in a crowded division, there really isn’t any room for him to hang around to be a gatekeeper.
In or Out?: Out
By Jason Comack February 12, 2010, at 3:48 pm Mike Chiapetta reported last night that Anderson Silva will still fight at UFC 112. And he will be fighting as a middleweight.
White gave no indication as to who Silva might face, but said the fight will be in the middleweight division, indicating that “the Spider” will indeed defend his belt. At last Saturday’s UFC 109, Chael Sonnen soundly defeated Nate Marquardt and was promised a title shot after Belfort and Silva squared off. Now, with Belfort out, Sonnen seems the most likely possibility, but no sure thing.
Now the question Zuffa is asking themselves is who.
Chael Sonnen: Already was the number one contender but he can’t spar until March 9th. Considering how bad his cut was it seems unlikely that he would rush back to training.
Damian Maia: Logical choice but his eyelid is cut badly. He’s been medically suspended till August.
Yoshiro Akiyama: Sexy-Yama has been out of action for a while and is available. He’s a force of personality in Japan, not America. His record, 13-1, is worthy of Silva and he’s ranked in or around the top 10 by most MMA sites. The question is will American fans buy it? Will Ed Soraes approve?
Yushin Okami and Alan Belcher: Both are in the same boat. Middleweights in the top 10-15 range, that are coming off a loss. Okami got whooped by Sonnen while Belcher lost a close fight to Akiyama. Not sure the UFC or Ed Soraes are eager to see either of these guys in a title fight.
If Anderson is fighting at Middleweight Akiyama seems to be the only fight that makes sense.
By Anthony De Franco February 10, 2010, at 4:50 pm It’s always kinda sad when we have to write about cuts following losses at UFC events. However, at least one of these was completely justified. From Watch Kalib Run:
According to Heavy.com Phillipe Nover has been cut from the UFC.
Nover recently lost to Rob Emerson at UFC 109 and is now 0-3 in the UFC.
Phillipe was the runner-up on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. During that season, Dana White hyped Nover as the “next Anderson Silva.” Sadly, that fighter, let alone a decent lightweight competitor, never materialized.
It’s sad to see Nover go. I wanted him to succeed very badly because he’s from New York, and being as our state is stupid and hasn’t legalized MMA here, there aren’t very many fighters to root for right now. Nover was compared to GSP and Anderson Silva on The Ultimate Fighter by Dana White, and never quite lived up to the hype. Expect him on a Ring of Combat show soon.
As for Hague, he announced it himself through his Facebook.
Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague was released from the UFC… Time to train harder, beat up some more people and work back to the big show!
Well, you have to respect the positive attitude. Hague will forever be remembered for falling victim to the Todd Duffee powerjab shortly into their fight. I’m not so sure I see a light at the end of the tunnel for him, though. He lost a close decision to Christian Tuscherer, but was cut regardless.
Best of luck, guys.
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