The Greatest MMA News Column 6.30.09: It Should Be a Train Wreck
Posted by Dan Plunkett on 06.30.2009
411's Dan Plunkett discusses Bobby Lashley's future, Yvel possibly going to the UFC, fight announcements, Gracie in Strikeforce, ESPYs, and more! Plus, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Kimo and other videos!
Lashley's Future
His win over Bob Sapp didn't prove anything, but not much went on in the MMA world this week so we'll start off the column with some Lashley talk. Lashley has drawn many comparisons to Brock Lesnar, some of them valid, some of them not. Yes, he does have a strong amateur background, but it's not as decorated as Brock's. Sure, he did go to the WWE, but he was also not as successful as Brock there. Now he just had his fourth MMA fight finishing Bob Sapp with strikes, while Brock finished Randy Couture with strikes in his fourth fight.
Both guys are taking very different paths in their MMA career, but ultimately they have the same goal; which Lesnar has accomplished, while Lashley is far from it. One thing both managed to do very well though is getting people to talk about them. Many are abuzz over Lashley's potential, and what he'll do next. I don't see him going to the UFC anytime soon, but there are other major organizations that would not only benefit Bobby's career, but they would greatly benefit from him.
Outside of ZUFFA owned companies, the two biggest organizations in the U.S. are Strikeforce and Affliction. Strikeforce is growing, with their Showtime and CBS deals, and the best fighters from EliteXC. Affliction on the other hand is looking to survive, and their Trilogy PPV in August could very well be their last, then again – their last two shows were also supposed to be their last. Which of these promotions needs Lashley the most? Which would use him the best? And perhaps most importantly, which promotion would benefit him the most?
Like so many promotions before it, Affliction is reported to be on the brink of failure. There is speculation surrounding all of their events that it could be their last. Somehow, with the help of a certain billionaire and a boxing promotion, Affliction has managed to keep their head above the water for now. For a company that hasn't turned a profit, the potential drawing power of Lashley is enticing. After all, each of the UFC events Brock Lesnar has fought on did more than 600,000 buys on PPV. Bobby Lashley however is no Brock Lesnar, and Affliction is certainly no UFC. While it's fairly obvious that Affliction needs Lashley more, that doesn't mean he's going to come in and buyrates will skyrocket. If they did bring him in, and they marketed him correctly, I would expect more people to buy the show. The problem is getting these viewers to stay. The people that would be buying the show to see Lashley fight would be wrestling fans; very casual MMA fans that have probably never heard of Affliction. These buyers will be the same people that bought Brock Lesnar's fights, and with its popularity exploding you can believe they've heard of the UFC and are predisposed to thing that it's the be all end all of MMA.
Thankfully for Affliction, they aren't running events all the time, so theoretically Lashley could fight on every card they put on. I think this would be too little too late though. As I said before, Lashley wasn't as big a name in wrestling as Lesnar and Affliction doesn't carry the recognition that the UFC does, so they wouldn't be doubling their buys or anything.
Lashley has a bunch of potential, both as a fighter and as a drawing card. Strikeforce has done a good job with the Challengers series on Showtime, which is meant to give fighters a stage to grow and build their name on. Bobby Lashley is different from those fighters though, since he already has an established name.
Affliction hasn't done the best job promoting their events, I have criticized them for it in the past, but the best thing they do in that department is getting their name and their fighters names on other MMA shows. In the past couple Strikeforce shows for instance, the Affliction name had a huge presence on Strikeforce's cage, and during the shows they hyped Afflictions upcoming PPV. Back when EliteXC was still around, Affliction ran an awesome promo of Fedor Emelianenko destroying Tim Sylvia during Elite's last show on CBS. The company has been kind of hit and miss with promoting their events though, and when they do promote it, they always promote the main event and Fedor.
I can't really pick a clear winner here, but Strikeforce does have a CBS deal that they have done nothing with so far. So somehow, that puts them ahead here. Plus, I think Scott Coker knows more about promoting everything and where he's going better than Tom Atencio, who's trying to figure it out as he goes on a trial-on-error basis.
At this point in his career, Lashley is looking to fight very often. In his post fight interview on Saturday, Lashley revealed that he wants to fight two more times this year, which would make six fights in about a year's time. Affliction is running shows months apart from each other and their already full August 1 card will likely be their last of the year. Strikeforce on the other hand has run four events since April, and should keep a similar pace for the rest of the year. Along with this, Strikeforce is building their heavyweight division with champion Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers, and now submission master Roger Gracie on board. I expect them to continue adding names to their heavyweight division.
While it would be nice for Lashley to be featured on a presumably upcoming Strikeforce on CBS card, I think PPV is better suited for him. The reason people will want to see him fight is because they're curious as to how he will perform, much like when Brock Lesnar came to the UFC. If they put Lashley's fight on free TV, they run the risk of the viewers curiosity being satisfied, and after that maybe they won't want to pay to see him fight in the future, at least until he's fighting top level guys.
Yvel to UFC?
After knocking Pedro Rizzo the fuck out at Ultimate Chaos, Gilbert Yvel had this to say:
"From there, I go up to the UFC, up to the champions, because I want that belt. I want the big-ass belt."
That's a risky thing to say for a guy that was looking to get on the next Affliction show. It worked out for him though, since he will be fighting Paul Buentello at Trilogy, and after that I presume his contract is up. If he beats Buentello, the only thing that would keep him away from signing with the UFC would be his past. For those who don't know, fist Yvel was disqualified for biting in 1998. Then he was disqualified for eye gouging against Don Frye, and he pushed the referee during the bout. After that the most notable instance occurred, when he punched a referee in 2004, and kicked the official as he lay on the mat. Not the easiest thing to explain in a job interview, but he was given a license in California for the last Affliction show.
Quite frankly, I don't think Yvel has much of a chance to win the big-ass belt. Standing he's extremely dangerous, but on the ground he's lost. The UFC heavyweight division has guys like Lesnar, Mir, Nogueira, Couture, Velasquez, and Carwin, all of whom are very good on the ground. In Yvel's defense, he did do a good job of getting up from the bottom against Rizzo, but Rizzo is hardly a top heavyweight at this point in his career.
Swick vs. Kampmann
As Mike Swick mentioned in the video above, it looks like he's going to fight Martin Kampmann for a title shot. I don't think either man has much of a chance against St. Pierre or Alves, but with a win both deserve a shot at the belt and anything can happen in this sport. This should be a good fight and it could be on the UFC 103 card. Even if the other supposed planned fights, Carwin vs. Velasquez and Liddell vs. Franklin, don't come through, I don't expect this fight to be the headliner. They'll probably come up with something involving one of those four fighters and/or Wanderlei Silva, who wants to fight that month. Wait a second…if Chuck isn't retiring…and Wanderlei will fight at any division…could we see the rematch? I certainly wouldn't mind it, but I think Wanderlei should just move on and go to middleweight. If he loses to Chuck again I don't know where that leaves him.
In his first and only MMA fight, the late BAM BAM BIGELOW takes on KIMO!
Random News Bits
Roger Gracie to Make Strikeforce Debut on August 15: I'm excited to see Roger's debut. His submissions are incredible, but that is his only dimension. With that said, he can certainly be successful. Look at what Demian Maia has done, it will be great to see another Gracie in the cage
Machida and Anderson Silva Nominated for ESPY: It's good to see MMA guys getting recognition, but I would have rather seen GSP or Fedor nominated instead of Silva. I don't think either of them will win, as they shouldn't. Manny Pacquiao deserves the best fighter ESPY this year and I'd be surprised if he didn't win.
Ricardo Arona Returning: This is long overdue. By the time September rolls around, Arona will have been out of action for 29 months. That's a long time and that time is what should have been the prime of his career.
Frank Lester and Mike Ciesnolevicz Were Released by the UFC: No surprise here. Lester showed a ton of heart on The Ultimate Fighter 9, but he doesn't have the skill to compete in the UFC yet. Mike C. missed weight at was TKO'd at the finale, so that wasn't a big surprise, just adds insult to injury.
Fight Announcements
Maynard vs. Huerta Likely for Fight Night 19: I'm excited for this one. This will be Huerta's last fight as he'll be pursuing an acting career. He could have been a big star, so it's sad to see him go. A win here for Maynard could get him a title shot, but the timeline doesn't work out well so he may have to fight again before getting his shot.
Monson vs. Tony Sylvester to Main Event Rock N Rumble III: Monson likes to stay active, so it's not really a surprise that he's fighting on small shows. I would much rather him fight top competition though, since he has been on a roll lately.
Report: Diaz vs. Riggs 2 Set for August 15: This card should be on CBS. It would be huge. In the first fight, Riggs beat Diaz by decision, and they had in informal rematch that night in the hospital. I think Diaz takes it this time.
Buentello vs. Yvel at Affliction: Trilogy: Should be a good fight on a stacked card. Standing, I'd give Yvel the advantage, on the ground Buentello has the advantage.
That's it for this week. One thing though, I have a twitter now. I haven't put anything on it; it would be pointless since my only follower is some random guy and Csonka. Trust me; if you follow me all of your wildest dreams will come true. It will be fun. Here is a link to it. Thanks for reading.
For you to say that everyone who buys a Lesnar fight is a WWE fan is just arrogant. Don't you think that there were a lot of Couture fans buying that fight? Couture is one of the biggest draws in MMA. Are you saying that it was only Brock's WWE fans that made that fight such a success?
Posted By: King Durin (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 02:08 AM
Strikeforce would be the obvious better choice for Lashley. Not only are they going to be around after this year, they have been relatively smart about their promotion and their fighters.
On Lashley's side, they wouldn't rush him into a fight he's not ready for- where as I could see Barnett sneazing and Affliction pulling him and putting the former WWE Champion against Fedor... just to make a quick buck.
Not to mention- as you said, he'll actually be able to fight 2 more times this year as there's a huge chance Affliction won't be putting out a NYE show.
I was down on Bobby for fighting Guida... but am happy with his win over Sapp. Granted, they're both cans, but Sapp is at least a name that people may know... and if they don't know his fighting ability- all the better. They'll at least see that he's a HUGE guy, over a 300 lbs of solid muscle, and think all the better of Lashley for beating such a monster.
At this point, I'd like to see Bobby against someone like Monson... someone who's a decent fighter and could be scary on the ground- forcing him to stand a little and really show off his strength. Besides, a loss against the Snowman wouldn't hurt him in the long run.
I think it's safe to say (again), that the comparisons between Lashley and Lesnar are done. While they have slightly similar histories, Lashley has never been close to being the natural athlete that Brock is.
Posted By: cyks (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 02:21 AM
bam bam gotpaid 100k to lose against kimo. he said that in his shoot interview.
Posted By: Guest#9186 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 06:13 AM
Now he just had his fourth MMA fight finishing Bob Sapp with strikes, while Brock finished Randy Couture with strikes in his fourth fight.
What you forgot to mention is that Brock lost his UFC debut-Lashley has cremated all 4 of his opponents, most of them within a minute, and he is undefeated. Brock is not-and will prob lose again to the same guy.
WWE is staged, so success there is irrelevant, and neither of the 2 were draws in WWE. We are not talking Rock, Taker, Austin here. Heck, we aren't even talking Randy Orton level, get your facts straiiiiight.
Posted By: Guest#0519 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Plunket,
For you to say that everyone who buys a Lesnar fight is a WWE fan is just arrogant. Don't you think that there were a lot of Couture fans buying that fight? Couture is one of the biggest draws in MMA. Are you saying that it was only Brock's WWE fans that made that fight such a success?
Posted By: King Durin (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 02:08 AM
I meant the people buying the event for Brock Lesnar alone. For example, the 300,000 extra people that had never bought a UFC event before at UFC 81.
Posted By: Plunkett (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 12:16 PM
I wouldn't want Lashley to fight Monson at this point in his career if I was his manager. The only guy that's in the top 15 I would want him to fight would be Rogers, who's ground game we haven't seen and it's in all likelihood not very good.
Posted By: Plunkett (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 12:34 PM
sucks for huerta fighting his last fight with a guy laying on him for 15 minutes. hopefully he wins, VIVA LA RAZA haha
Posted By: Guest#1524 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 03:53 PM
...Monson isn't a top 15, he's more experienced then many who are, and he's respected enough to where even a loss with a good showing, would move him forward.
Rogers still has too many questions about his skills, is also still extremely inexperienced, and a loss to him (even with a good showing) would most likely set him back a ways.
More then likely, someone is going to expose Rogers and show everyone how to beat him easily. After that, he'll continue to loose against any halfway decent fighter while he fades into obscurity.
If Bobby were to fight him and win, he'll just be the first person to beat an overhyped can who can hit hard.... and when Brett loses again after that- it'll diminish Bobby's win.
If Bobby were to fight him and lose, he'd look that much more foolish when someone else exposes Rogers' lack of a ground game.
The only way it could look good for Bobby would be if he stood and banged with Brett, took a good hit, and still pulled out the 'W'.... but I don't see that happening.
LOL, Guest#0519, yes- Brock lost his UFC debut, but it was also against a former HW champ (and the now current interim HW champ). Lashley hasn't fought anyone close to the level of Brock's last 3 opponents.
Posted By: cyks (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 05:27 PM
At this point Bobby's basically a free agent, trying to gain experience and showcase himself for major organizations. An undefeated record to boast is more marketable than a one loss record, no matter who the loss was to, unless it's building toward the rematch.
I never actually said Monson was in the top 15. He isn't in it, but I think he should be, I ranked him 14 last time.
I think Lashley would beat Brett Rogers, and if he doesn't, it's more damaging then a Monson loss, since you can say that was due to inexperience, but it's not too damaging. At this point, I think Monson beats Lashley every time. I don't want to put my guy in there against a guy he's likely going to lose to, just for the outside chance that he beats him.
I think Lashley can expose a weakness in Rogers, and has a better chance of beating him than not. If he beats him, he beat a guy who stopped all but one of his opponents in the first round, and a guy who stopped a top 5 heavyweight in a little more than 20 seconds. Brett doesn't become an overhyped can with one loss.
Then again, the Rogers fight won't happen anyway. Monson would be more likely but I don't see it happening this year.
Posted By: Plunkett (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 09:18 PM
Copyright � 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
