The MMA 5 & 1 01.04.12: The Leave the Memories Alone Edition
Posted by Stewart Lange on 01.04.2012
Bellator girl Mercedes Terrell is your "& 1" Model of the Week, Randy Couture takes on Royce Gracie in this week's Superfight, a look at Brock Lesnar's retirement, thoughts on the re-hiring of Miguel Torres and more!
Hello and a big 5 & 1 Happy New Year! It's 2012 which means only one thing. There's a record amount of MMA on this year. Actually that and the world is going to end. Well, if it is, we should probably make the most of our time, so let's get on with another week in the MMA 5 & 1! You'll notice this week is a little bit light again and I do apologize, but between family commitments, the holidays, work AND buying my first car, certain things have had to take a back seat. I'll make it up to you, I promise.
It's the Evan Rachel Wood mailbag!!
"While he didn't have a full series of the Ultimate Fighter to prove how un-likeable he is, 2011 was the year that everyone decided they didn't like Chael Sonnen. "
Not sure what you're definition of everyone is, but if you've seen the UFC on Fox press conference or public Q & A's he has done recently, Sonnen seems to get a lot of cheers. Are there plenty of people like you who think he's a douchebag? Yes. But there's just as many people, if not more, that still love the guy. I'm not arguing with you thinking he's a douchebag because I understand that opinion, but don't say everyone decided to hate him this year because that's simply not true.
Posted By: Jimjoebob (Guest) on December 28, 2011 at 01:23 AM
i freaking love chael sonnen
Posted By: wylun (Guest) on December 28, 2011 at 03:17 PM
Chael 'my-future-husband-but-it-probably-won't-last-because-I'm-a-lefty-and-
he's-a-republican-*crying-face*' Sonnen is a douche but you have to admire his ability to piss off several nations in one year
Posted By: bossmew (Guest) on December 28, 2011 at 04:20 PM
"While he didn't have a full series of the Ultimate Fighter to prove how un-likeable he is, 2011 was the year that everyone decided they didn't like Chael Sonnen. "
Wrong. I didn't.
Posted By: Colin (Guest) on December 28, 2011 at 05:42 PM
I like Chael because he is a douchebag, give me this guy over some Tebow(sorry Larry) anyday. He will actually say something of worth not just praising his team, family, fans, his dog, and god.
I don't understand the hate for Jones, I mean the kid really could come out like many other young professional athletes and proclaim himself to be gods gift to the sport but he doesn't. Its not like anybody has proven him wrong on how good he actually is.
Posted By: midz (Guest) on December 29, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Chael Sonnen = douche. We all agree. What we don't agree on is how polarizing this is. I think he's entertaining, but I don't like the guy. I'm sure most of you disagree, but none of you nominated someone else? Interesting......
Georgia Graham looks really hot. But is there a full version of that pick of her from the front page?
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on December 28, 2011 at 01:27 AM
Stewart you forgot to add in the Gaming 5 & 1! I had my first column last week and will have another one tomorrow too. Just letting ya know for the future. Great one as always.
Posted By: Sean Garmer (Registered) on December 28, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Bravo! Always a great read and gives me a taste of MMA goodness!
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on December 28, 2011 at 02:16 PM
My apologies for not posting here and accepting my award last week. I am quite honored to receive one, and you're doing a wonderful job with the 5&1 franchise here in the MMA zone.
Posted By: Robert Winfree (Registered) on December 28, 2011 at 12:46 PM
Thanks to all the staff for their kind words. Sean, the problem has been rectified and was an oversight on my part. Everyone, check out the 5 & 1 Games, as it's really cool and has the best low-fi banners I've ever seen.
Jeff, with regards to Georgia Graham, the lead image on the main site I'm pretty sure is cropped from one of the main Google image results. Enjoy the hunt, my man.
Here we go with the first Grand Prix of 2012! For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, we throw weight and age out the window to see who you think would win a battle for the ages! So without hanging around, let's get to the first fight of the biggest Grand Prix ever!
Missing out this week:
Mike Brown Injured-
Keith Jardine Title Week- I can't believe it's happening, so I'm not covering it
DREAM- I haven't been able to watch the card, so I'm not going to cover it
UFC 141 Round Up
UFC 141 went down this past Friday and it was a great show to close out 2011. While there were no submissions during the event, we did get a couple of thrilling three round fights and three huge first round knockouts. There was nothing huge to report from the preliminary card, Ross Pearson won his featherweight debut in a fairly horrible fight but undoubtedly the big story outside the main event (which I will cover in a moment) was Jonny Hendricks knocking Jon Fitch out of the Welterweight title race with only one MASSIVE punch. I think talk of a title shot are pretty premature, so I think Hendricks next gets the loser of Diaz and Condit, and possibly a showdown with Josh Koscheck before a title fight.
Alexander Gustafsson also won in impressive fashion against tough veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. I clearly cursed the Janitor by suggesting I fancied him to score an early knockout himself. That's what happens when I open my mouth, you see.
In the co-main event of the evening, Donald Cerrone took on hat-knocker-offer Nate Diaz in a hard fought three round contest. When Cerrone charged at Diaz, I feared the worst and had a feeling it was going to go the way it did. I was screaming for Cerrone to throw leg kicks as he was clearly damaging Nate and even scored a couple of knockdowns from sweeps. Nate looked awesome, no taking that away from him, but Cerrone screwed himself here by having no discernible game plan other than run across the cage at his opponent.
Finish Of The Week
May we see this in the 411 KO of the Year list?
Brock Retires
In the main event of 141, Alistair Overeem took on Brock Lesnar in a fight that everyone called correctly in as far that nobody expected Brock to win if he missed the takedown. This is exactly what happened as we saw Overeem batter Brock in his problematic mid-section and once this happened it was only going to last for so long.
While it's a shame that he's decided to call it quits, his health and family obviously have to come first. Lesnar is the sort of competitor that was never going to compete unless he was at the top of the division and it's pretty clear to see that he just wasn't anymore.
Now, we c an queue the countless WWE rumors being battered around the internet, but I reckon it'll take a LOT of money from Brock to have a very limited schedule. Best of luck to him in the future, but realistically, I don't think there is much more that he can start and give up on, since wrestling, the NFL and MMA are out the window. Maybe soccer next?
So, I'm not in this week's podcast, I'm sorry. I was pretty ill on New Years day and wasn't feeling in a very "MMA mood". Patrick Mullin joins Mark, Jeff and Scott for a run down of UFC 141.
Torres Loves Surprises
So, after the whole "rape tweet" scandal a couple of weeks ago, Miguel Torres was reinstated back into the UFC. The whole thing stinks of hypocrisy if you ask me. What is weirdest about it all is that except for the fact Dana White booted him two weeks ago very publicly, but he's also looked like crap in his UFC run.
The surprising phone call Torres got a few days ago is even more surprising to everyone else who watched Miguel fight to a loss against Demetrious Johnson and two lacklustre fights with Antonio Banuelos and Nick Pace inside the UFC. Who demanded him back? Any of you guys? Didn't think so.
Douche Of The Week
You've had a picture of Miguel Torres above already, so instead I'll give you a picture of Salma Hayek. My reasons for rating Torres douche of the week may seem unreasonable, but his whole/hiring firing thing has left me perplexed and seems like an ill-advised WWE angle.
155ers Lose Weight
This week we see more 155lb fighters who have decided to drop a bit of weight for an opportunity to impress in Cole Miller and Denis Siver. Both guys have hit a bit of a hump so if they can make weight healthily, both of them could do pretty well at 145lbs.
It's actually good to see some of the 155lb guys dropping down in weight and filling up the lower weight classes. It'll certainly help raise the profile of these divisions if there are some name fighters plying their trade at a lower weight. 2012 could be the year of the Featherweight, with the likes of Siver dropping down there could be a lot of new challengers for Jose Aldo soon enough- fingers crossed he defeats Chad Mendes, of course.
Got a twitter? Click the above links for up to date news from across the 411 spectrum, plus, be sure to follow me for ongoing fun and shenanigans!
Some People Say I'm.......Sorry????
This past week, Jason Miller came out and apologized for his poor performance against Michael Bisping. This got me thinking, could you have imagined how angry Dana White would have been if a first round gas-out had been accompanied by an all singing, all dancing entrance like the one at DREAM 16? Pretty pissed off, I'd imagine, but either way, White was furious at how one-sided the contest was.
Miller has obviously taken this to heart, as he has apologized for the performance in a bid to no doubt re-sweeten the UFC brass to giving him another shot at the biggest stage in MMA. He's a personality make no mistake and has public recognition due to his MTV show, but if anyone with passing interest watched that as their first MMA fight, then they'll probably not have hung around long enough for the apology either.
Mercedes Terrell currently works for Bellator, coming soon to Viacom! Enjoy!
The Post-Fight Press Conference
That's it for another week here in the 5 & 1, so I hope you enjoyed the column! Please, leave a comment below and be sure to check some of the other amazing work here on the 411.
Well, that brings us to the end of the 5 & 1 for another week, hopefully this week will be much busier news-wise and also I'll have more time to write you some truly good content. Keep an eye on 411 this next couple of weeks for our year-end awards and a few special features and columns too!
Jacare had a submission match against Randy Couture in Los Angeles a few years back. If he wasn't able to submit Couture there is no way Royce would be able to. Since that is the only Royce could win, Randy gets my vote.
Posted By: rubenberendo (Guest) on January 04, 2012 at 01:05 AM
"I don't think there is much more that he can start and give up on, since wrestling, the NFL and MMA are out the window. Maybe soccer next?"
Someone else agrees with me. Sucked in the NFL (lack of experience), quit MMA early because he wasn't winning like he wanted to, and didn't like WWE because of the schedule and wear and tear. When the going gets tough...well Brock quits.
It's not Miguel Torres who should get the Douche of the Week it should be Dana White for firing him in the first place. Then again Dana wins on a regular basis in my book.
Posted By: MadLib (Guest) on January 04, 2012 at 10:43 AM
Gracie
Posted By: Guest#5153 (Guest) on January 04, 2012 at 04:45 PM
There was nothing hypocritical about Torres being reinstated. The incident was embarrassing and humiliating the way it came out. Torres performed his mea culpas and was brought back in. Simple as that.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on January 04, 2012 at 09:34 PM
Stewart we missed you on the show, but you're dead on with the hypocritical nature of the Miguel Torres situation.
Posted By: Patrick Mullen (Registered) on January 04, 2012 at 11:02 PM
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