Thoughts From Across The Pond 01.13.12: More Juiced Up Than Cris Cyborg.

Posted by Alex Watt on 01.13.2012

Thoughts on Cristiane Santos' failed drug test and what it means for Strikeforce and the future of women’s MMA! Plus a look at whether Jose Aldo will retain his title against Chad Mendes and the rest of UFC 142!

I have covered my thoughts on Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine fairly comprehensively in this week's edition of Fact or Fiction, so I felt it best not to rehash them in my column. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't checked out Wednesday's Fact or Fiction in which I went to battle with Mr. Wyatt Beougher, then you can read it here. And vote for me to win it! I need to improve my horrendous 1-5 record in FoF…



Thanks to the fantastic TEK_Designs for my lovely banner.

Readers' Comments

Thanks for the comments last week. UK reader Cuchulain had a question regarding the status of UFC shows in the United Kingdom and which channel will be broadcasting them in 2012.

As far as I am aware the UFC's deal with ESPN in the UK continues until August of this year. That means that the channel should continue to broadcast the numbered Pay per View events until then. After that, the channel will look to renegotiate a deal with the UFC but may have to beat out Sky Sports and FX to retain the rights to the broadcasts.

The Ultimate Fighter will continue to be broadcast on FX in the UK for the foreseeable future.

Things get a little cloudier when we come to the UFC on FOX, FX and FUEL TV events, however. UFC on FOX 2 (headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis and featuring the UK's own Michael Bisping) is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN in the UK, as are the upcoming UFC on FX and UFC on FUEL TV events. Whether this will continue with UFC on FOX 3, UFC on FX 2 and others though is uncertain. After all, with FX in the UK having the rights to The Ultimate Fighter, surely it would make sense for them to also broadcast the FOX based UFC events too? We will have to wait and see what happens on that front.

Cheers for the comment Cuchulain. Hopefully my answer was of some help.

---

UFC 142: Aldo or Mendes?

This Saturday the UFC presents its first event of 2012 and we are being treated to a big title showdown in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to kick off the year.

In the evening's headliner UFC Featherweight Champion and pound for pound stalwart Jose Aldo will place his title on the line in his home country of Brazil against perhaps the toughest challenger to his throne yet, undefeated wrestler Chad Mendes.

"Money" Mendes has been considered the uncrowned No. 1 contender for the UFC 145lbs belt ever since the WEC merged with the UFC but, for one reason or another, he has had to wait for his opportunity to fight for the title. Mendes has continued the dominance he displayed during his WEC stint and has yet to truly be tested in his UFC career, looking impressive against Michihiro Omigawa and Rani Yahya. With his ever improving striking and jiu-jitsu skills, combined with a strong wrestling base, Mendes has a legitimate chance to pull off the upset in Rio.

Jose Aldo, however, is a far different beast to any that Mendes has faced inside the Octagon before. Many critics of Aldo will point to the fact that for a man who once destroyed his opponents in the cage, "Scarface" now has just two finishes in his last five fights. This is a somewhat short sighted view though since in those three decision victories, Aldo has still been stunningly dominant (save for round 5 of the fight against Hominick and round 1 of the fight with Florian); picking his opponents apart using superior striking, jiu-jitsu, wrestling and strategy. Nevertheless, Aldo is not as explosive as he once was. Maybe this is because of the extra muscle mass he has clapped on in the past two years hindering his movement or making the cut to 145lbs more difficult than it once was. Or perhaps he is less willing to take risks now he is on the big stage of the UFC. Whatever the reason, you have to believe that Aldo Jr. will be looking to produce a memorable and dominant performance in his home country and silence his critics.

Whether he has lost some of his explosiveness or not, the fact remains that Jose Aldo is one of the best practitioners of Muay Thai in all of Mixed Martial Arts. His understanding of timing and distance is amongst the most impressive in the entire sport, perhaps second only to Anderson Silva. Aldo's defense always remains tight and he is, by a large margin, the best puncher in the featherweight division. He demonstrated that in his title win over seasoned kickboxer Mark Hominick, dropping the Canadian with well timed counter punches on several occasions.

Aldo is, of course, also devastating with his use of kicks. The champion combines Muay Thai knowledge with his soccer background to deliver some of the fastest and most ferocious leg and body kicks in the sport. This is something which Mendes will have to be particularly wary of. Aldo is also brilliant at using feints to keep his opponents guessing, most notably faking a leg kick before delivering a sharp right hand to the chin of his opponent. Such a tactic has thrown many an opponent off their game and could well do the same to Mendes on Saturday night. Combine all this striking prowess with some of the scariest killer instinct in the division and you could argue that the odds of Aldo hurting and finishing his opponent look fairly good.

Conversely, Mendes' striking remains fairly basic and is primarily based around boxing. Although his hands are ever improving, Mendes has yet to show any real fluid striking or to put combinations together effectively. Rather than threatening with a knockout on the feet, Mendes uses his hands primarily to set up takedowns and move the fight to where he is most comfortable. Such a factor could play right into Aldo's hands, as with him not fearing the striking of an opponent (something he had to be more careful of in his two most recent title defenses) he is more likely to open up and look for the finish.



For Chad Mendes to be successful on Saturday night he will need to rely on his wrestling base. It is primarily through his use of takedowns and ground control that Mendes has been able to remain undefeated in his Mixed Martial Arts career. And, indeed, it is not a stretch to suggest that Mendes is the best wrestler that Aldo has ever faced. High praise when you consider that Aldo has already ploughed through Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, both high level collegiate wrestlers in their own right. Mendes, though, has far more powerful and effective double legs than either of those two aforementioned fighters. After all, we should remember that "Money" was the 2008 Pac-10 wrestler of the year.

In much of the pre-fight hype for this fight, pundits have pointed to wrestling as the one glaring weakness in Aldo's arsenal. Much of this seems to stem from the similarities between Aldo's fighting style and that of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Silva has shown that his kryptonite is a powerful wrestler who can consistently take him down. However, as a more compact fighter Aldo Jr. has actually never really been troubled by wrestlers in MMA. He has fought top wrestlers like Mike Brown and Urijah Faber, plus Kenny Florian who has fantastic takedowns of his own, but in those three fights Aldo was rarely put on his back. On the contrary, it was Aldo who was able to secure top position in each one of those fights and rain down ground and pound on his opponents. In fact, the only times that Aldo has been put on his back in recent memory was in the final round of his UFC 129 clash with Mark Hominick (in which he grabbed hold of a sloppy guillotine and pulled guard rather than truly being taken down by the Canadian) and when he was briefly taken down by Kenny Florian in the first round of their UFC 136 clash.

Therefore, Aldo has demonstrated great takedown defense in his WEC and UFC career and I highly doubt it will be as easy for Mendes to get the champion to the mat as some are claiming. Mendes will also have to be careful to set his takedowns up properly and not just charge in as Aldo is an incredibly fast counter striker and could catch Mendes with an uppercut or knee as he is charging in. Lest we forget that when Cub Swanson telegraphed a takedown on Aldo, he was greeted by a jumping double knee to the face.

By the same notion though, if Mendes waits too long to attack with takedowns then he could find himself in trouble as well. After all, when his Alpha Male team-mate Urijah Faber fought Aldo, "The California Kid's early hesitance in trying to take the Brazilian down cost him as his front leg was ravaged by the brutal leg kicks of the champion. With Aldo in possession of perhaps the hardest leg kicks in all of MMA, Faber found that after just a few kicks to his knee and thigh that all the explosiveness in his shot had been taken away.

If Aldo does opt to use this leg kick based strategy against Mendes he will have to be extremely careful. Having worked closely with Faber in the lead up to this fight, Mendes will be wary of Aldo using this strategy. If Aldo were to get lazy in throwing any of these kicks then Mendes would undoubtedly use such an opening to catch the Brazilian's leg and counter with a takedown.

For Mendes to be successful with the wrestling in this fight he must remain confident in his abilities to take the fight to the mat. A big part of this will be that "Money" will have to fully commit to every takedown and not fear the counter striking of Aldo. As Chael Sonnen demonstrated against Anderson Silva, a willingness to stand in the pocket and trade and charge forward with relentless power doubles can pay dividends against a high level striker.

And therein lies Mendes' best chance of success in this contest. Aldo's takedown defense, although at a high level, has often also been reliant on his opponent's hesitation to move into striking range by initiating a takedown. That is exactly what Mendes must do though; get in close and keep attacking relentlessly with takedown attempts. If he stays on the outside then he is playing Aldo's game but constant double leg tackles could well be the thing to take Aldo out of his rhythm and put the Brazilian on his back, precisely where the challenger wants him.

If and when the fight does hit the floor then the contest becomes very interesting. After all, Aldo Jr. comes from a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu base and is an accomplished black belt. However, Mendes is one of the best at controlling his opponent when a contest hits the ground and he has very good ground and pound skills. Under this sort of attack it will be tough for Aldo to attack with submissions from his back but, it goes without saying that he will always be a threat from that position and Mendes will have to be careful not to get overconfident and allow Aldo to slap on a triangle or armbar from the guard.



Mendes' best option of attack when the fight hits the ground are elbows as they limit the chance of Aldo being able to grab a hold of one of the American's arms for a submission. Plus, they have the potential to inflict a lot of fight ending damage on an opponent because of the force with which the strikes can be delivered. Cutting Aldo would be a huge confidence booster for "Money" too and could be a fight changer.

Let's not forget though that Aldo has phenomenal scrambling ability and Mendes will have to remain wary of being swept and ending up on his back. After all, Aldo was able to gain top position on Brown and Faber, plus he completely dominated Kenny Florian on the floor in the latter rounds of their title contest. If Aldo were able to reverse the challenger at UFC 142 then he would find himself with a good advantage since wrestlers very rarely look comfortable fighting from their backs.

The conditioning of both men could well play a factor in this contest too. Mendes has been to many decisions during his career and so is used to long grinding fights, but he has never been past the fifteen minute mark and experienced the fabled championship rounds. His cardio is at such a high level however, that you would expect him to take rounds 4 and 5 in his stride.

Aldo, on the other hand, has gone the full 25 minutes on three occasions but in his last two outings he has not looked entirely comfortable fighting for that long. Certainly his UFC 129 showing against Hominick in which he faded horribly in the final round, a factor which almost lost him the fight, can be attributed more to illness leading up to the bout. His fight against Kenny Florian saw better conditioning from the champ but still he did not look as explosive in the latter stages of the fight, something which has led many to believe that Aldo could be cutting too much weight to make the featherweight limit. Perhaps then if Mendes can grind on Aldo using his wrestling then he can extend this fight into those championship rounds and truly test that questionable cardio of the Brazilian. If he can take the bout into the latter stages then perhaps the fight will be Mendes' for the taking, particularly if Aldo is too exhausted to defend himself effectively.

So, to conclude, who do I favor in this fight? What is clear is that for Mendes to have any success he needs to take this fight to the mat frequently and use a ground and pound attack on his foe. If he can control Aldo on the floor, which will be easier said than done, then perhaps he can take the champion out of his comfort zone and test the shaky cardio of the Brazilian. However, will Mendes have the confidence to constantly dart into Aldo's striking range for takedowns or will he be too wary of the champion's striking? I have a feeling that the latter will end up being the case, a factor which will allow Aldo to pick Mendes apart from range using his brutal leg kicks and pinpoint striking. On the feet this is a complete mismatch and that, combined with Aldo's high level takedown defense, leads me to believe that this will be another fairly comfortable title defense for "Scarface." Aldo will want to put on a good show in front of the Brazilian fans and will constantly look for the finish but I think a dominant decision win for the champion is a more likely bet.



Make sure you take a look at the full UFC 142 preview on the main page to see the 411 staff's full picks for the event, which includes that mouthwatering co-main event battle between Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson, plus top British prospect Terry Etim going to war with Edson Barboza in what should be a cracker.

---

Video Interlude

MMA Fighters on TV and Film:

Listen to internet radio with Mark Radulich on Blog Talk Radio

---

Cris Cyborg's Failed Drugs Test & What It Means For Women's MMA

"I would like to sincerely apologize to Strikeforce, the Zuffa organization, Hiroko Yamanaka and my fans for my failed drug test.

I am ultimately responsible for everything I put in my body, and at the end of the day, there is no excuse for having a prohibited substance in my system. I do not condone the use of any performance enhancing drugs by myself or any other professional athlete, and willingly accept the penalties and fines that have been handed down to me by the California State Athletic Commission and those of the Strikeforce/Zuffa organization.

While I was preparing myself for my last fight I was having a difficult time cutting weight and used a dietary supplement that I was assured was safe and not prohibited from use in sports competition. It was never my intention to obtain an unfair advantage over Hiroko, mislead Strikeforce, the Commission or my fans. I train harder than any fighter in MMA and do not need drugs to win in the cage, and I have proven this time and time again! My only mistake is not verifying the diet aid with my doctor beforehand, and understanding that it was not approved for use in the ring. Unfortunately in the end I suffer the consequences and must accept the responsibility for my actions.

I will do everything I can to show my fans that I can still compete at the professional level without the use of any prohibited substances, and ask God's forgiveness for my mistake."

On Friday 6th January the news broke that Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos had failed her post-fight drugs test at Strikeforce: Melendez Vs. Masvidal. Cyborg tested positive for anabolic steroids, specifically stanozolol metabolites, following her 17 second mauling of Hiroko Yamanaka in December.

Despite what Cris Cyborg has claimed in her official statement, the substance which she has tested positive for does not correspond with that of "a dietary supplement." In fact, Stanozlol is a form of anabolic steroid which is favored by female bodybuilders. It has also proven to be a common form of performance enhancing drug used by cheating Mixed Martial Artists with Chris Leben, Tim Sylvia, Phil Baroni and Kirill Sidelnikov all testing positive as a result of using this particular steroid.

Many have noted in the past week that it is not exactly a shock that a woman with the physique of Cris Cyborg would be a steroid user, and it is a fair assessment. After all, much of Cyborg's dominance inside the cage has seen her use her imposing strength to overwhelm opponents and the power with which she could hit was a scary sight. Nevertheless, without a positive steroids test in the past there was no way to prove that Cyborg was using performance enhancing drugs and we simply had to assume that her physique and power came from good genetics and hard work.

With this positive steroids test however many of the doubters' assertions have been proven right about Cyborg. It raises the question too of how long she had been using the drug and whether her other performances, such as the dominant wins over Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen and Jan Finney, may also have been supplemented by steroid use.

So where does this leave Strikeforce and women's MMA? Well, for the female 145lbs division, Cyborg's suspension could be devastating. Dana White in the days following the news of Cyborg's failed drugs test, commented;

"We were going to hold that division and just do fights with Cyborg whenever there was a new contender. She's getting stripped of the title. This pretty much kills the division. I don't know. We'll see what happens."

Although Scott Coker has refuted claims that this will mean the end for the featherweight division, it is highly likely that that is exactly what will happen. Gina Carano has essentially retired from active competition in order to pursue a movie career, Ronda Rousey and Marloes Coenen have both dropped to 135lbs and Cyborg has essentially halted any other 145lbs fighters' momentum by laying some brutal beatings on them. So the question now would be; who's left in the women's featherweight division who could realistically make a case for a title run in that division?



The better option now for Scott Coker and Strikeforce would be to place all their momentum behind the women's bantamweight division, in which there are a good number of talented fighters. Plus, with the Miesha Tate Vs. Ronda Rousey title showdown now confirmed for March 3rd the company would do well to place all their money and hype behind that event and place that contest as the main event. Such a move could be a potentially fantastic one for the advancement of women's MMA, due to the marketability of both the ladies involved.

On the surface, the suspension of Cristiane Santos could be catastrophic for the future of Strikeforce and for women's MMA, which is still developing and striving to make an impression in the eyes of the casual MMA fan. Cyborg is a known name and was attracting new viewers as a result of her scary dominance over the division and her status as No. 1 pound for pound female fighter on the planet (after all, just consider for a second how devastating it would be for the UFC and for the sport of MMA at large if the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre or Jon Jones were to fail a drugs test). However, if Strikeforce can make the best out of a bad situation by really getting behind their women's bantamweight division and the March 3rd title fight, plus if they look to add a female flyweight division (a fairly deep weight class in which many talented ladies are currently plying their trade in other companies), then the advancement of women's MMA should not stall. On the contrary, it could flourish.

---

Quotes of the Week

"I'm going to put it like this: The commission, they need to do something with [Winslow]. Let her take a fight or something and give her a bad ref. . . . She said backstage, ‘If I hear ‘Ow' or ‘Ouch' or ‘Ooh,' I'm going to stop the fight. Man, this dude was cussing. I hit him, and he's like, ‘Oh, [expletive].' I was like, ‘Uh, ref?' I looked at her, so I kept on hitting him. I was like, ‘Man, she needs to stop this thing.' I heard people in the crowd yelling, ‘Stop it!' Then she jumps in all late. . . . Let [Winslow] fight ‘Cyborg,' and let's do a late stoppage with her. I watched her almost get Jan Finney killed by ‘Cyborg.' I think maybe the tables need to be turned. Put me in there as a ref, and I'll just do a terrible job like her." – Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal gives his thoughts on referee Kim Winslow's performance at Saturday's Strikeforce event.

"Just heard the news. That's a real shame, but I guess in honesty I'm not surprised. . . . Let's be honest here though – she's by no means the only one. . . . Increased chance of getting caught reduces offending more than tougher penalties. Better testing must come first. . . . I have a policy… I don't speculate about individual fighters until there's evidence. . . . I think it's a particular problem when it happens in WMMA. You may as well have a woman fighting a man. . . . Either test properly, or legalize it so the rest of us can get on it with a clear conscience. Enough with the hypocrisy. . . . Look ‘just working hard in the gym' won't give a woman muscles like that anymore than eating worms and flapping your arms will make you fly." – Rosi Sexton's various twitter posts regarding Cris Cyborg's positive test for anabolic steroids.

"My recent comments have nothing to do with my loss. I know I lost. This has everything to do with the HUGE amount of disrespect he had shown pre fight during the fight and post fight. Not only disrespecting me but the sport as well. To me flipping people off and consistently cussing post fight is disgraceful. It's strange how some actually honor him for that kind of behavior. But oh well. Maybe I'm just old fashioned like that." – The all of a sudden morally righteous BJ Penn explains his reasons behind his verbal attack on Nick Diaz. The same BJ Penn who, a mere three years ago, said this of GSP: "I'm going to try to kill you and I'm not joking about this."

---

Pound for Pound Rankings

#3 ranked Jose Aldo is in action on Saturday. Can he retain his UFC title and his place on the pound for pound list with another dominant win?



1. Anderson Silva (29-4)

2. Georges St. Pierre (22-2)

3. Jose Aldo (20-1)

4. Jon Jones (15-1)

5. Frankie Edgar (14-1-1)

6. Dominick Cruz (19-1)

7. Rashad Evans (16-1-1)

8. Junior Dos Santos (14-1)

9. Nick Diaz (26-7, 1NC)

10. Gilbert Melendez (20-2)

11. Joseph Benavidez (15-2)

12. Dan Henderson (29-8)

13. "Shogun" Rua (20-6)

14. Urijah Faber (26-5)

15. Benson Henderson (15-2)

---

And that'll do it for another week.

I'll be back next week with my thoughts on UFC 142 and a preview of UFC on FX: Guillard Vs. Miller.

If you enjoy the column please do follow me on twitter (@AlexWattMMA).

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or feedback please leave them below or message me on twitter. Cheers.