MMA's 3R’s 12.10.09: Kimbo’s Debut, Brock’s Illness, Hendo Signs With Strikeforce, More

Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.10.2009

From Kimbo Slice’s first UFC fight and Big Country winning a contract to Dan Henderson signing with Strikeforce and Brock Lesnar still battling illness, 411’s Larry Csonka breaks it all down in the latest edition of the 3R’s of MMA!



* 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.


* And now, the 3R's of…MMA*

THE RIGHT:

BIG COUNTRY IS THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: As many MMA experts and fans predicted, Big Country Roy Nelson walked into the Ultimate Fighter house the favorite, and then walked out of the season the champion. Dana White didn't like Nelson, he had the chance to sign him on several occasions, but didn't like his look. Basically he got a proposal, similar to Kimbo Slice, if you want in the UFC, you'll have to go through the Ultimate Fighter to do so. And Roy did that, he walked through the house rather easily, but Dana rode his ass all the way, and claimed to not be impressed by him. But he walked into the finale, and in the first round knocked out Brendan Schaub to win the contract. I am saying this now, I love Roy Nelson in a totally non-gay way. He is a good fighter, he has a damn good ground game, but it is his personality that is going to keep the guy in the good graces of the fans. The guy loves to eat, reports say that the Sunday before the fight he was 277, and in Chilli's eating burgers, fries and a drinking cokes. He trains mostly by himself, he doesn't care what people think about his appearance, and he played that up at the Finale. Coming out to FAT, rubbing the belly when he won, discussing Burger King after the win, he is the every man. My friends, that like MMA, but don't follow and mainly watch the free shows LOVED this guy. Sure we can debate all day that a slimmer and more in shape Nelson would be a superior fighter, but it make shim what he is, he uses it, he gets it, and it will be fun to watch him in the UFC.

DAN HENDERSON SIGNS WITH STRIKEFORCE: In what is the biggest news of the week, the contract issue with Dan Henderson is over, and he has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. This is a great move for Strikeforce, as Henderson is coming off of the huge win at UFC 100. Henderson adds depth to their middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, which he plans to fight in both divisions. I said this before and I will say this again, the UFC made a mistake by not signing Henderson to a new deal before UFC 100. They had all of the negotiating power there, and a deal needed to be made, but it wasn't. They allowed him before that to coach TUF and build momentum without a new deal. I cannot understand why they did not work harder to get a deal done, but they didn't, Dana was stubborn, and now Strikeforce picks up a good name. I asked before if the UFC could afford to drop a main eventer, especially with all of the recent injuries, and apparently they thought that they could. So the UFC's loss is Strikeforce's gain. I am personally looking forward to him facing Jake Shields, Gegard Mousasi, Frank Shamrock and others. Henderson is a big signing for them, and if he is happy and motivated to fight there, then all the better for us.



KIMBO'S UFC DEBUT: At the end of the day, I think that you have to give Kimbo Slice's official UFC debut a right. First of all, the fight drew over 5-million viewers and helped the finale be the highest ranked finale for the Ultimate Fighter. That's huge considering that the ratings for the show have dropped over the last few seasons. The season average was also up, which some of that is Rashad and Rampage, but I also feel a lot of that has to be attributed to Slice. Secondly, while the fight started slowly, thanks to Alexander, who was trying to be smart, Kimbo showed that he is slowly evolving. He isn't great, but he is patient, and when it went to the ground, I thought he was done. Alexander, who isn't great on the ground, should have handled Slice there, but Kimbo controlled, and hell, he even tried for a submission. I am impressed that he seems to be genuinely working hard to improve. I do have to say this though, and that is that Kimbo will never be a legit contender; but there is a place for him in the sport. There is a place for a man that can draw over 5-million viewers for his fights. People love the story of the guy that went from the streets fighting to legit fighting. They saw him become humble on the Ultimate Fighter, they have seen him slowly progress, and they know at any minute that he can unleash a KO on someone. Unfortunately he is older, his knee is BAD, and if he is in there with someone with serious leg kicks, he is done. I have heard people say that he should fight Jardine, because he likes to stand and bang, and has also been KO'd a few times. But what those people forget is that Jardine throws TONS of leg kicks, and they are GOOD leg kicks. He'll destroy Kimbo's leg, bad match kids. But as I said in Fact or Fiction, "you have to figure that they would protect him. Kimbo is not a title contender, and never will be, but he is a good attraction for ratings, and they know this. I figure they will continue to throw out low level guys that are stand up fighters in order to ride out the Kimbo ratings while they can." And really, there is nothing wrong with that, because while MMA is a sport, Dana and company are also running a business. I don't know if Kimbo can draw on PPV, maybe in an emergency, but he is perfect for the TV shows.

One last thing, this was awesome…

THE WRONG:

BROCK IS STILL SICK: In what is sad news, Brock is still sick and they are not sure when he is coming back. Some have thought he would be back in about six months, but other reports are saying that he may not return in 2010. This sucks on many levels. First of all, I hate to see shit like this happen to anyone. He has a wife and kid, and his career is in jeopardy. Secondly, he has become a huge draw for the UFC, and his absence will hurt the company. Thirdly, it hurts the UFC heavyweight division, which after a long time of shit, was actually looking good. I am not a fan of Interim titles, and if you have read my stuff in the past you know this. But, if it is true that he may not return in 2010, then the UFC has no choice but to put an Interim title into play. Word is that with Carwin rehabbing an injured knee that the Velasquez vs. Big Nog fight will be for the interim strap. I am fine with that, and Carwin will likely get the first shot at that title. Get well Brock, it would be a shame for your career to end so soon.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER TWO HOUR EPISODE: The final episode of The Ultimate Fighter was a two hour episode, and I have to say, that was just too long for the show. I was a big fan of this season's show, and to be honest, it was one of my favorite seasons for various reasons. But again, it was just too long a show. I felt that it was slow, and even with four fights, I found myself losing interest several times. I know that they were afraid of losing viewers on the eve of Thanksgiving, but I really feel that splitting the show and having it air as the usual hour long episode would have been for the best. Sometimes, longer doesn't mean better.

THE RIDICULOUS:

MMA FAN REACTION TO HULK HOGAN APPEARING ON THE TUF 10 FINALE: I always find fan reaction a funny thing around the old 411. Whether it be wrestling, boxing or MMA, the fans are all very passionate about their sport, and when you cross over one into another, or try to debate the merits of one or another, it becomes an all out war. Sometimes there is some great debate, and then sometimes there is all out stupidity. YOUR OPINION IS DIFFERENT THAN MINE SO YOU ARE WRONG. And that brings me to the "MMA Hardcore Fan" reaction to Hulk Hogan appearing on the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale show. Now this of course isn't directed to all MMA fans, but the reaction from some is laughable. They are saying that the sport is laughing stock now because HULK HOGAN appeared for three minutes on the show. Seriously, some people are proclaiming that this is ruining the credibility of the sport. That may be worse than the story of Verne and Greg Gagne inventing MMA. It is quite simple people. SPIKE TV is the reason that the UFC is where it is. SPIKE TV also is the home of TNA. They used their most popular program, the UFC, to cross promote another brand that they are behind, TNA. It didn't disrupt the show, and was no worse than some of the shitty movies that they promote during the events at times. Just relax and be glad that SPIKE TV continues to support the UFC and TNA. Hell, it isn't like Kurt Angle showed up and threw out another MMA challenge.


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KYRA says goodbye…