MMA's 3 R's 7.20.09: Brock, Tito, Mir, DREAM, More
Posted by Matt McEwen on 07.20.2009
The 3 R's return, looking at the great press coverage the UFC has gotten on the heels of UFC 100, the possible return of Tito Ortiz, crazy odd makers, a Hawaiian vacation of the Octagon and somehow Brock Lesnar gets in all three categories.
Welcome...
I'm back after a few weeks away, and first off, big thanks to the King of 411, Larry Csonka, for filling in for me last week and covering all the major happenings from UFC 100.
I figured I would miss out on all the 100 fun being away last week, but I think I might have been wrong. An event of unprecedented hype and magnitude seems to have generated an unprecedented amount of things to talk about, so it looks like even 9 days later, I get to have my say on a few topics.
Of course, the MMA world hasn't gone entirely dormant in the aftermath of UFC 100, as Dream makes it return yesterday/today (damn foreign time zones), lots of rumors about comings and goings and future fights abound.
So, without further adieu, I present to you, THE 3 R'S!
The Column Concept:
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the column, here it is. The column will look at events and or happenings in the world of MMA. They will be broken down into the three categories, the Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right will be the good and great fights or positive news items of the week. Perhaps even big fight announcements. The wRong will be bad fights, bad booking decisions and the like. Finally, the Ridiculous are the things that were just the worst of the world of MMA. They get grouped in their categories, and for a show, they will get a score from 1-10, based on the 411 ratings scale.
THE RIGHT:
Mainstream press coverage.
You knew that with the hype around UFC 100, Brock Lesnar in his first title defense and the momentum that just keeps building behind the UFC name that the mainstream press would be all over the event like Lindsey Lohan on a line of coke, but you would have been hard pressed to find someone out there who would have predicted that there would have been such postive coverage. To be honest, it's been easier to find the good stories than the ridiculous ones. So, in contrast to the picture above, I've got to say that the mainstream really DOESN'T suck on this one.
For my fellow Canucks, the Globe & Mail - Canada's largest and most widely read national daily - has some very good coverage. I'm out of the country again, so I don't know how much made the print edition, but the the online coverage has been quite good.
First up, they take a look at where the UFC fits into society as a whole, and just how popular it is in Canada (here's a hint - it's the fastest growing sport in the country). Respected journalist Stephen Brunt goes into detail about why the sport - and ALL combat sports - haven't found a welcome home in Ontario, and why there's no good reason that it should stay that way. The attitude expressed in the article of "if people want to do it, and people want to watch it, and it's safe.....then why not?" in the pages of the country's biggest daily could very well go a long way to finally opening up the Ontario market. And finally, a story on how partnering with the UFC has helped Roger's Sportsnet finds it's niche.
And, thanks to a post over at BloodyElbow.com by a guy named Ozzz, I got turned in the direction of this article. An MMA neophyte goes in with an open mind and a few preconceptions, and comes out a surprised new fan.
And, along the more technical vein, the folks over at Multichannel News have some good coverage leading up to the event, from the slant of cable providers. The print version features congratulatory ads from DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner, and Yahoo. The articles can be found here, here, and here. Considering this is a cable industry insider site, that should let you know how valuable the UFC is to providers.
First Canada....and then the world!
It looks like English-speaking areas of Canada isn't the only new ground the UFC is looking to bust into in the near future.
According to MMA Junkie, Dana White has revealed plans for a BIG show in Hawaii in the near(ish) future. Now that some very pesky tax conditions can be avoided, plans seem to be in the work for an outdoor show at Aloha Stadium which would easily produce the largest crowd in UFC history.
Hawaii has a long MMA history, mostly based around the Penn family They started the Rumble on the Rock promotion in 2002, and put on some very good fights, including Penn vs Takanori Gomi. Aloha Stadium was also the site of Penn's two victory's over the Gracie family members, as he took decisions against both Renzo and Rodrigo. Do you see a common thread here?
If this event comes through, Penn will undoubtedly be in the main event. The question would be against whom? If he wins over Kenny Florian next month, and depending on how quickly the card can be arranged, a lightweight title match against Diego Sanchez would be a strong possibility. That would be a good fight to have outdoors, as attempting to keep that much crazy contained in an arena would certainly be difficult.
A chance to put careers back on the right track
By the time you're reading this, Dream.10 will either be happening or have already happened, so the results of the two fights I'm about to talk about will have already been made available.
But, in the lead up to the event, it's great that two fighters formerly thought to be among the top 2 or 3 in their weight classes will have a chance to get their careers back on the right track. Shinya Aoki will make the move back down to 155lbs after getting KO'd in under 30 seconds at welterweight by Hyato Sakurai and getting trounced by Fedor in a grappling "exhibition." He's still a top lightweight talent, but he has tarnished his reputation a tad with his last few outings.
Even more tarnished is former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filiho. A reported victim of depression and opiate dependency, Filho will make his first return to the ring after his debacle of a fight against Chael Sonnen last year, in which he missed weight, looked awful and got his ass kicked. When he's on his game, Filho can be a dominant fighter, and prior to his WEC run, was considered the only true threat to Anderson Silva at 185lbs. Here's hoping his head is on right, his problems are sorted out and he gets back to doing what he does best.
***Edit - Had a chance to watch both fights, and while neither guy looked exactly like a world beater, they did both win. Filho was able to absorb some huge shots from opponent Melvin Manhoef before scoring a nice takedown, mounting and getting the submission with a nice armbar. Aoki on the other hand, used some good knees and an excellent defensive guard to get the decision win over Vitor 'Shaolin' Riberio.***
Brock Lesnar
I know a lot has been written in the aftermath of Lesnar letting his mouth run (and more will be written in a few minutes by me), but let's not forget that, in only his fifth pro fight, Lesnar went in against a jiu jitsu black belt, former world champion, dictated the pace of the fight and where the fight would happen, stay composed enough to avoid Mir's full guard, and utilized the nastiest half nelson in MMA history. On the heels of dominating Heath Herring and KO'ing Randy Couture, make no doubt about it...Brock Lesnar IS the real deal, he DOES belong in the position he's in and he IS one of the top fighters in the world.
THE wRong
: Tito Ortiz - UFC Return?
I actually would like to see Ortiz back in the UFC, as I think he's still a top 10 or 15 talent in his weight class who belongs running with the big dogs.
The wrong part is that we're hearing about Ortiz and Dana White taking part in the traditional Festivus Airing of Grievances via Twitter. It's like they're a couple of 13 year old girls. Up next, Ortiz will hack White's Myspace account and call him a poopyhead.
Honestly though, Ortiz back in the UFC - possibly as early as UFC 103 and a main event date with Rich Franklin - is good for all involved and should happen sooner rather than later.
What are the oddsmakers smoking?
I am not a betting man. Let's get that out of the way up front. I don't like to bet on fights, I just like to cheer on fighters and good fights. Nothing more annoying than seeing a guy who's a big GSP fan cheering on Thiago Alves because he put $100 down on Alves to win because the odds were so good.
That being said, Vegas odds makers are smoking crack on some of their current lines.
The early line on Fedor/Lesnar is out (as if we'll actually see that fight any time soon), and Fedor is a -240 favourite. Lesnar is +190. If you bet, take these odds now. I'm not saying I'd pick Lesnar to win, but at 2-1, why not? It's a toss up fight at this point, and Lesnar is only going to get better.
Some other interesting odds-
Anderson Silva (-350) vs Forrest Griffin (+250)
Silva is great. He really is. He could KO Forrest with one punch. But, he is going to be outsized and underpowered in this fight against the larger Griffin, who will have the marked advantage of a Couture gameplan in his corner. You don't think Couture has been playing around with 10,000 different ways of dealing with Silva over the past few years? Then you sir, are insane.
Again, I'm not necessarily picking Griffin to win right now, but at 5-2 odds....damn right I'd put money on him to win. If I bet on such things that is.....
Nate Marquardt (-145) vs Damian Maia (+115)
Obviously, these are tight odds. But how the hell is Maia the underdog here? Until I see someone withstand his ridiculous submission game, he's my pick.
Damn...I don't care about betting on this one....I just realized how much I want to see this fight and just how damned awesome it could end up being!
And finally, the oddsmakers love Lyoto Machida, who is a -600 favourite over Shogun Rua, who is at +400.
No, I would not pick Rua to win this fight. I think Machida will have a successful first defense, and go on to defend against Rampage in 2010. But seriously.....a guy with as much talent as Rua at -400 against ANYONE is a bit crazy to me. I'm tempted to break my rule and throw a few bucks on him.
I'd still be cheering on Machida though.... Brock Lesnar
After the fight was over, but before they made the mistake of putting a live mic in front of his face, Lesnar did the one thing guaranteed to make people hate him. After a quick victory lap of the cage, he went over to Mir, got in his battered and swollen face and made sure he knew he beat him. I'm not expert, but I'm pretty sure Mir was aware of that fact. Kudos to Mir who, in the aftermath of an epic ass kicking and Lesnar making an ass out of himself, kept his composure and class intact as he made no excuses for losing and saying he has more to work on, but he'll be back.
THE RIDICULOUS:
"I almost had him..."
No, Frank, you really didn't.
Now I gave kudos to Frank Mir earlier for being classy in defeat, but when you get beat as bad as he did, you do not go out the next day and say you "almost had him." Yes, you landed a nice elbow and a good knee that Lesnar admitted rocked him, but Frank, you got your ass kicked. There's no shame in that, and you are still one my favourite fighters....but the fight is way too fresh in everyone's mind for revisionist history already.
Brock Lesnar
It's been a week with no actual events, so the only thing I can think to put here is Lesnar's post fight interview. It's one thing to be a dick to the guy you just beat the hell out of, it's another thing to complain about the sport's biggest sponsor not putting money in your pocket, but he completely crossed the class line with the comment about "getting on top of his wife." By no means am I a prude, but I really don't watch MMA to hear that.
