Locked in the Guillotine News Report 01.20.12: Making the Cut

Posted by Robert Winfree on 01.20.2012

A look at Kenny Florian's possible retirement, the results from UFC 142, King Mo's positive steroid test, a preview of tonight's show on FX and more! Plus a look at the issues of weight cutting in the sport...

Welcome loyal readers, always nice to see you back again. This week we've got UFC 142 to review, UFC on FX to preview, and of course something interesting to look at. In light of Anthony Johnson's weight debacle I've decided to have a little look at weight cutting. So scroll on down and enjoy the column, you're again Locked in the Guillotine.

Feedback

Some good comments last week, so let's jump right into them.
wylun was up first talking about Anthony Johnson and his size. If the guy could make weight reliably he'd be a good fighter, but he's young and tends to make stupid mistakes because of that. Hopefully he learns from this and comes back better.
cegawn agreed with my assessment of the Hunt/Rothwell fight. Glad to know I'm not the only one who felt that way about it.
TimE also agreed about the Hunt/Rothwell fight, but mostly looked at the history of Jose Aldo in the UFC. It's true that going into last week's card Aldo hadn't quite looked like himself, but certainly did at Rio.



The UFC returned to Rio on Saturday with a pretty exciting card. So let's start breaking down the action here.

Good start for Brazilians: Filipe Arantes out performed Antonio Carvalho in two of the three rounds to earn a decision win. This was a fun fight but not too memorable. Carvalho seemed to be the superior grappler, but the second round was contested on the feet where Arantes was superior, and in the third Arantes was on top using effective ground and pound. Good fight to start off the night.

Quicksand with the stoppage:Mike Pyle came out and had a decent first round with Ricardo Funch before catching him with a punch and a follow up knee to get the stoppage. Funch took the fight on short notice when Paulo Thiago had to pull out, and the difference in ability was obvious. Good fight for Pyle, and his post fight stuff to get the crowd more active was fun.

Alcantara makes a statement:Yuri Alcantara came out and totally out classed veteran Michihiro Omigawa for three rounds. His grappling was superior as was his striking, the only questionable moment was during the third when he appeared to gas out, but Omigawa was unable to capitalize on the situation. Great fight for Alcantara, as for Omigawa he could get cut here.

Gonzaga wins:Gabriel Gonzaga submitted Ednaldo Oliveira in the first round. This wasn't a very good fight, as Oliveira did nothing. Gonzaga used his jiujitsu skills in this fight, which was something he'd gotten away from during his last fights to his detriment. Gonzaga won't be successful against any skilled heavyweight, but if he wants to fight again the UFC will probably let him.

Well, that was something:Thiago Tavares edged a very boring decision in his fight with Sam Stout. The fight just wasn't inspiring in any way, and a couple of people scored the fight a draw it was that even and boring.

KO of the Year:Edson Barboza scored a HUGE KO with a wheel kick to the face of Terry Etim in the third round of their fight. Barboza was pretty comfortably winning the fight up to that point, and showed a great instinct by going for the finish even when ahead on the score cards. Barboza landed the spinning wheel kick against Anthony Njokuani previously, but this one landed flush and put Terry Etim completely out. First spinning heel kick KO in UFC history, and quite possibly the KO of the year already.

Well, that was something:Erick Silva came out and blitzed his second opponent in the UFC. The fight lasted just twenty nine seconds, but in the aftermath Erick Silva was disqualified for blows to the back of the head. It's a tough call, as there were clearly a few blows to the back of the head but it's tough to say if that's what caused the stoppage. Silva looked like a beast either way, and Dana White seems to think that the DQ call was incorrect so Silva will fight again for the UFC.

Palhares taps another:Rousimar Palhares again reminded us that he has the nastiest leg locks in the business when he tapped out Mike Massenzio with a heel hook in the first round. Palhares showed some improved standup at first, but he knows where his bread and butter is and Palhares is a dangerous opponent for anyone in the middleweight division.

The Phenom chokes out Rumble:Vitor Belfort choked out Anthony Johnson with a rear naked choke at 4:49 of the first round. Belfort showed his fast hands and displayed his ground game in this fight. Technically Vitor still has only one win in the UFC's middleweight division, that against Akiyama. The big story here was Anthony Johnson missing weight, as he weighed in officially at 197lbs. I want to talk more about that situation further down, so scroll down to get my thoughts on that.

Yes, he's that good:Jose Aldo KO'd Chad Mendes with a knee at 4:59 of the first round. Jose had noticeably lost some mass on his frame, and the results were immediate and obvious. After the stoppage Jose sprinted from the cage and into the crowd and created one of the most memorable post fight celebrations in UFC history. This was an incredible performance for Aldo, he couldn't be taken down and held there by the best wrestler in the featherweight division and capitalized on the smallest opening to stop Mendes. This was the first time I've really seen what Anderson Silva meant when he said he'd retire if Aldo fought at 185.

News

Rumble gets cut: We all pretty much knew this was coming after the weight debacle. When Vitor choked out Johnson his UFC career was pretty much over for the time being. Dana White said he'd be happy to take Rumble back at a later date if he gets his act together. I'm going to talk about weight cutting further down, but I hope Johnson does get his stuff together because he has a big upside if he gets everything under control.

Kenny Florian considering retirement: Apparently Kenny Florian suffered a back injury that is serious enough that he's considering retirement at this point. If he does retire from active competition he's got a job doing commentary with the UFC for as long as he wants it.

King Mo on the juice: Strikeforce light-heavyweight fighter Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal tested positive for a steroid following his fight with Lorenz Larkin. This isn't good news for King Mo, as his vocal dislike of Strikeforce and being there at this point in time combined with failing a drug test could end badly for him.

Munoz injured, Bisping replaces him: Dana White tweeted that Mark Munoz was injured and that taking his place in the UFC on FOX co-main event would be Michael Bisping. The winner will get a shot at Anderson Silva. Now I know I've tried to divorce myself of emotions about specific fighters, but there is one exception to that. I simply cannot stop disliking Michael Bisping. Sonnen should be the favorite and rightfully so, but I'm on the fence simply because if Bisping wins we get to see Anderson Silva re-arrange his face with his knees and I really do want to see that.

Bigfoot will not fight Velasquez: The rumor mill has been spinning with the possibility that former Strikeforce competitor Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva would make his UFC debut against former champion Cain Velasquez. That rumor was finally shot down, most likely to the relief of Bigfoot, his fans, team and family members.



The UFC's first card on FX happens this week. These events are going to replace the old Fight Nights or Versus events, which should work out just fine. Let's take a look at the main card and what's likely to go down.

Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft: Both these guys are likely fighting for their jobs here. Parry was just submitted by Stefan Struve and lost via KO to Cheick Kongo before that. Morecraft is 1-2 with the company and is coming off of a KO loss to Matt Mitrione, so the loser here very likely gets their walking papers. Morecraft seems to have trouble with good strikers, and Barry is a very good striker. Morecraft's best bet is to wrestle Barry to the ground and work from there, but I think Barry takes this one.

Mike Easton vs. Jared Papazian: Mike Easton is a bad man, his only loss in his career coming from an injury. His nick name is "The Hulk" and for good reason, the man is incredibly built for the weight class. This is Papazian's UFC debut, so while anything can happen, this is really Easton's fight to lose.

Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer: These are two long time veterans of the UFC and MMA. Ludwig is a high level striker while Neer is just a hardnosed fighter. Duane Ludwig seems to be getting himself back on track lately, and he should be able to avoid Neer's takedown attempts. Neer's other option is to clinch and try to rough him up from there, but that's dangerous given Ludwig's muy thai background. I think Ludwig takes this one.

Jim Miller vs. Melvin Guillard: Both fighters were on their way to title contention until losses derailed them. Jim Miller's last fight saw him get out grappled and out struck by Ben Henderson, while Guillard was caught by a punch from Joe Lauzon and subsequently choked out. Guillard is an explosive athletic guy with tons of power in his hands and feet, but he's never really seemed to put all the pieces together. He was having a good run until he got caught by Lauzon, so we'll see how he bounces back. Jim Miller is a tough fighter with good wrestling and submissions and seemingly endless cardio. Miller has only lost to three of the best lightweight fighters in the world, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, and Benson Henderson. I have a really tough time seeing Guillard having the same success those men did. Miller is good enough on the feet to avoid getting caught cleanly and his ground game is superb. I think he takes this one.



Alright, I figure it's time I lend my voice to the seemingly endless debate about weight cutting in MMA. Given Anthony Johnson's horribly missed weight it seems like a relevant topic to discuss right now. The reality is that last year Dennis Hallman tried to cut down to 155 and failed pretty miserably, though it was his first trip down to 155 in a long time and he's much better suited for 170. With Johnson, he was moving up in weight and still missed badly. The whole weight cutting issue is one that everyone seems to have an opinion on, everything from same day weigh ins to a maximum weight for fight day after making weight the day before. Weight cutting is part of the fight game, no matter the sport, and most likely always will be. For all the things we as fans come up with whenever this issue comes up, the reality is that the current system is fine if the fighters are smart.


Missing weight makes Dana angry

There are several fighters who handle weight cutting the right way, they don't try to cut twenty pounds the day of the weigh ins. Forest Griffin is a big man, yet he's never had a problem making weight for the light-heavyweight division. This isn't some obscure science that is guarded, it comes down to personal responsibility. A fighter who takes his weight seriously won't have too many problems because he watches his weight for a few weeks leading up to the weigh ins and will cut minimal weight the day of. Kenny Florian spent most of his career fighting at lightweight, but when he decided to try his hand at featherweight he never missed weight. If you watch the countdown shows Kenny talks about what he has to do to keep his weight under control, and most of it is watching his diet. Diet is the largest issue when making weight, and it is also the easiest to control. A fighter committed to making weight knows what to eat and in what portions. Cutting weight sucks, there's no way around it, but at the same time no fighter is forced to make huge cuts. They choose which weight class they want to fight at. When Anthony Johnson was fighting at 170 he was cutting down a huge amount of weight, and totally of his own volition. There was no one putting a gun to his head and saying "You have to fight at 170," he chose to fight there. He also chose to not take cutting to 185 seriously and missed weight badly. I was happy to hear Johnson was fighting at 185 because not cutting so much weight would help his performance, and the middleweight division needs all the talent it can get. Had he taken making 185 as seriously as he'd taken making 170 in the past he would have done it. Instead he waited too long and tried to cut too much weight the day of and was ordered by doctors to rehydrate.

The reality is that it's a fighter's job to make weight, and it's their own choice which weight class they fight in. Before we all start calling for same day weigh ins or re-hydration minimums let's instead focus on criticizing the fighters who don't take their job seriously. That does it for me this week, since same day weigh ins are such a popular notion I'll be taking a look at them next week. For now you've escaped the Guillotine again.