Locked in the Guillotine News Report 01.27.12: Same Day Weigh-Ins

Posted by Robert Winfree on 01.27.2012

What would happen to the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Dan Henderson if the UFC were to institute same-day weigh-ins? 411's Robert Winfree takes a look! Plus a review of the first UFC on FX card, a preview of the upcoming UFC on FOX card and more!

Welcome readers, big week coming up as the UFC makes a second foray onto FOX with Chael Sonnen fighting Michael Bisping, and Rashad Evans taking on Phil Davis. There's also the UFC on FX card to review, and I promised to take a look at same day weigh-ins and what it could mean for the sport if they were implemented.

Feedback

Some interesting comments last week, let's take a look.
douche started things off, saying "It was a heel kick" that Edson Barboza used. This confused me and at least one other person as I'm unaware of a kick that has healing properties. Assuming he meant "Heel" kick, the terminology changes from discipline to discipline in traditional martial arts. When I was doing karate we called it a spinning heel kick, but I believe wheel kick is equally acceptable.
wylun was once again on hand, this time pointing out that Jose Aldo grabbed the fence to avoid being taken down by Chad Mendes in their title fight. Anyone else think the UFC should use plexiglass instead of chain link so fighters wont have anything to grab? While I wont say it wouldn't have made a difference, I think the way Aldo was looking the end result would have been the same. Fighting Aldo was a huge step up in competition for Mendes, he hadn't fought anyone even close to Aldo's level and the loss will be a learning experience for him.
Reality was back talking a bit about Dennis Hallman missing weight versus Anthony Johnson missing weight. True Hallman was going down and only missed by three pounds and won, and the situation was handled differently. Johnson going up in weight and still missing by such a huge margin was inexcusable, while Hallman's situation was different.
Guest#4714 offered consolation to wylun, noting that Mendes could very likely get another title shot in the future.



Nick Denis arrives: Nick Denis made short work of Joseph Sandoval with a series of short elbows from the Thai clinch to the temple. Good debut for Denis but he needs to show more in the octagon for us to really learn what he can do.

Pineda keeps it rolling: Daniel Pineda choked out Pat Schilling in the first round with a rear naked choke. This was the second of quite a few first round finishes on the night, and those are always welcome. Pineda looked good, his striking needs refinement but he used it effectively and looked smooth on the ground, good debut.

Camoes gets the win: Continuing the string of first round finishes, Fabricio Camoes choked out Tommy Hayden in the first. This was a decent fight, but not all that memorable.

The Spaniard beats Ninja: Violently snapping the string of finishes was Charlie Brenneman as he used top control to get a decision victory over Daniel Roberts. Brenneman had some momentum last year, but getting kicked in the head by Anthony Johnson and performances like this have cooled him off. Nothing special to see here.

Russian grappling prevails: UFC newcomer Khabib Nurmagomedov had a successful debut, choking out Kamal Shalorus in the third round of their fight. Nurmagomedov seemed to take a bit of time to find his range, but when he did his striking was more effective than Shalorus's and he proved to be the superior grappler as well. The Russian was able to secure takedowns and showed active passing and good ground and pound. Very good debut for Nurmagomedov over a tough competitor.

Jorge Rivera goes out with a win: Jorge Rivera defeated Eric Schafer by TKO in the second round. Schafer seems to be struggling with his cardio lately, and he's really had a hard time finding his groove while fighting. For Rivera, this was a good way to go out. He persevered on the ground and showed improvement there and used his striking to put Schafer away.

Fat Larry KO's Morecraft: Pat Barry scored a first round KO over Christian Morecraft, and for the first time in a long time managed to look pretty good getting a victory. Barry displayed improvement on the ground as he escaped a pretty tight armbar. Against a better quality of fighter it might not have worked as well, but if Barry can develop his wrestling and submission game he could be a very effective fighter.

Hulk smash decision: Mike Easton got a majority decision victory over UFC newcomer Jared Papazian. This fight demonstrated that while the smaller weight classes will have non-stop action the fighters tend to lack real punching power. Easton and Papazian hit each other a bunch of times, but neither were really rocked. Good action packed fight though, and Papazian is someone to watch.

The Dentist taps Bang: Josh Neer overcame some pretty serious shots to the head and body to lock up a guillotine and submit Duane Ludwig in the first round. Ludwig attacked the body effectively but initiated a scramble and left his neck out for Neer to take. I said before that neither of these guys will be really top level fighters, but both men like to fight and that counts for something.

Welcome back Jim Miller: Jim Miller submitted Melvin Guillard in the first round of their fight. Guillard looked pretty good, but we all knew his striking would be superior to Millers. For some reason Guillard decided throwing a flying knee was a good idea, it wasn't. He was taken down off of it, then Miller took his back during a scramble and choked him out. Miller is one of the best lightweights in the world, as his only losses have come to three of the top five guys in the division. For Guillard, this wasn't nearly as bad a loss as the one to Lauzon, but he still needs work if he's ever going to make a legitimate run for the title.

Commentary: This was the first show with the commentary team of Jon Anik and Kenny Florian, and I'm left a little unsure now that it's over. First of all, and this may just be me, but these two sounded quiet. I don't know if it was a technical issue or what, but I had a hard time hearing them at points. Another issue I had was how similar these two guys sound. Again it might just be me but they sounded very similar and that caused a bit of confusion. That said, both men did a good job being informative and didn't stumble over each other. I don't have a final verdict on these two yet, but I don't have a reason to be very negative just yet.



The UFC takes its second voyage onto network television this week for the first card with their deal with FOX officially in place. This one doesn't have the instant appeal of a heavyweight title fight like last time, and hopefully some of the kinks will be worked out of the broadcast this time around. These FOX shows will be a growing experience for everyone involved, but once everything is down they'll be awesome. This time we've got Rashad Evans taking on Phil Davis in the main event with Evans' title shot on the line. We'll also get Michael Bisping taking on Chael Sonnen for a shot at Anderson Silva and the middleweight championship. Let's take a look at the fights.

Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman: This fight was scheduled after Mark Munoz got injured and had to pull out of his fight with Chael Sonnen. Michael Bisping moved up to fight Sonnen and Weidman took the fight against Maia. Demian Maia hasn't been having an easy run of it lately, as people seemed to have figured out how to deal with his ground game. Maia has improved his standup skills, but his best bet to win any fight remains grappling with his opponent. For Weidman, this is a big step up in competition. Weidman has been touted by Matt Serra and Ray Longo as a big deal at middleweight, and thus far he's proven their talk justified. He was mostly a wrestler when he fought Alessio Sakara, but has shown his grappling acumen by submitting both Jesse Bongfeldt and Tom Lawlor. He should avoid a grappling match with Maia, but he could use his wrestling to control the Brazilian. Weidman has opened as a betting favorite, and that's understandable given how Maia has looked lately. This will be a very interesting fight, and could very easily go either way. If I had to pick one I'd go with Maia based solely on experience.

Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping: As I've mentioned before I'm doing my best to not get emotionally involved with specific fighters one way or another. I mentioned last week that I simply cannot stop disliking Michael Bisping, so he is currently the only fighter who I will consistently dislike. I've been accused of hating Chael Sonnen, which is simply not true. I wasn't a fan of his before trying to not get hooked on specific fighters, but I never really hated him. I'm somewhat torn on this fight, because as much as I want to see Bisping lose I think he'd lose in more devastating fashion if he wins here and fights Anderson Silva. So, looking at the fight analytically, this is really Sonnen's fight to lose. Bisping has shown good takedown defense and good hip escapes from the bottom, but he's never faced a wrestler the caliber of Chael Sonnen before. If Anderson Silva couldn't knock out Sonnen there's no chance Bisping can. Bisping isn't good enough offensively off of his back to threaten with submissions, so his only real chance of victory is striking and moving for the duration of the fight, and I don't see Sonnen letting him do that.

Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans: This is a big step up for Phil Davis, whose biggest win to date is over Lil' Nog. Rashad has long been a top five light-heavyweight fighter with a good mixture of wrestling skill and solid boxing. He's proven to have power both on the feet and on the ground, and is a tough match-up for anyone at 205. Phil Davis is probably the best athlete at 205, but he remains very dependent on his wrestling to be successful. His striking has come along, but he hasn't proved very dangerous on the feet. On the ground he's not a lay and pray wrestler and actively looks for submissions. The big issue here is if Phil Davis can get Rashad Evans down, because if he can't he'll be stuck at a substantial disadvantage fighting on the feet. Davis' success probably wont come from outside doubles or singles, but rather from the clinch where he is the bigger and most likely stronger man. For Evans, he needs to keep this fight standing because I have a hard time seeing him out-wrestling Davis. It will be difficult for Davis to get Evans down, but I really don't see Evans taking down Davis, so Rashad will need to be quick on the feet and score with punches. Davis could win this, there's definitely that possibility, but Evans is the smart pick.

News

Rivera retires: Following his victory over Eric Schafer Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera retired from fighting. Jorge was never a threat to the title, or even really a top fifteen fighter, but he always came to fight. While hardly a marquee name, Rivera was never in a really boring fight.

King Mo listens to Bas Rutten: A few weeks back when I talked about Chris Cyborg's positive steroid test I quoted something Bas Rutten put up on Twitter about how the situation should be handled. He specifically mentioned taking the drink/supplement in question to the commission and telling everyone what it was to help other fighters avoid the same problem. King Mo has done these things, identifying the specific supplement that contained the substance he tested positive for, and isn't contesting the results or the chain of custody. Mo's representatives seem interested in turning this situation into a soap box to discuss the state of supplements, but King Mo has handled the situation very well thus far.

UFC on FX rating is in: I said in a recent Fact of Fiction my estimate for the viewers for the UFC's debut on FX, and I was off. Fortunately not by too much, as the show averaged 1.3 million viewers. This is a pretty good debut, especially considering that the card wouldn't hold too much appeal for casual or possibly new fans. Hopefully the next card will have a broader appeal and that number can go up.

Jim Miller set to fight Nate Diaz: OK, I'll admit I'm already psyched for this one. Miller is one of the best lightweights in the world, and Nate Diaz seems to really have hit his stride now at 155. Both guys always come to fight and I don't think either one has ever been in a boring fight.



I said last week that I'd take a look at same day weigh ins this week. I'm not entirely sure what inspired me to decide to look at that specifically, but I said I would and I am. Before really getting into it let me just say I now know why they wont be implemented. So let's take a look at this notion and see what comes out.

Let me say that first and foremost same day weigh ins would be an absolute logistical nightmare for the UFC. Proponents of the idea mention that most fighters just move up a class or two and then it's back to business as usual. That is a gross oversimplification of the situation. The first thing the UFC would have to do is institute a cruiserweight division. Roughly half of the current crop of light-heavyweight fighters couldn't be competitive having to make 205 on the same day they fight, and it's also not fair to have someone like Rampage Jackson fighting in the same weight class as guys like Travis Browne and Stefan Struve. The size difference is too pronounced to call those fights anything more than freak show fights. So with Jon Jones, Forest Griffin, Shogun Rua, Phil Davis, Rampage Jackson and doubtless others now fighting above 205 you'd have to give them a weight class from 206-225 or so. Then some of the best heavyweight fighters might consider dropping down to fight at cruiserweight, as it's not impossible for Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Big Nog, Cheick Kongo, or Pat Barry to make that cut. That would leave what is already the weakest division in the UFC, if not the entire sport, completely without real talent. I mean really, the thought of Shane Carwin and Frank Mir being the best two guys in a division is sad.

As for the light-heavyweight division, well at least Dan Henderson could finally hold a UFC title since he can probably make 205 and still fight well on the same day. I think Lyoto Machida could do that too because I get the feeling he doesn't cut much weight now. Several of the middleweights would move up, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami spring instantly to mind, though I think Anderson Silva could make 185 step immediately into the octagon and still be the best. The reality is that the middleweight division would lose about half of their fighters give or take, but several talented guys could probably stick around. Middleweight might be the only division positively effected by this as some of the chaff would move up and they'd get quite a few of the welterweights to flesh it out.

Speaking of welterweight, boy that's a tough one. The reality is that GSP could probably stick around at 170 by changing his diet and work out regiment. Several of his trainers have noted that he's an ectomorph, and he could probably adapt his body to walking around at about 170 and still fight competitively there. You'd lose Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, Josh Koscheck, probably Thiago Alves, Matthew Riddle, Rory MacDonald, and several of the wrestlers who compete in the division will have to go up to 185. Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit could probably stick around, Diego Sanchez would still be around, maybe Martin Kampmann, but you'd lose a lot of the fighters who make up the body of the division, or they'd stick around and the fights wouldn't be as good.

At 155 there actually isn't as much loss. Frankie Edgar is still there, as is Jim Miller, probably Ben Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Evan Dunham, and a few others. You'd lose Gray Maynard, Melvin Guillard, Anthony Njokuani, Dennis Hallman, Sean Sherk if he ever fights again, and probably Gleison Tibau. All in all lightweight would be the least hurt if the UFC started doing same day weigh ins.

145 is an interesting proposition, because Jose Aldo might be able to stick around if he keeps the slimmed down physique he displayed when he beat Chad Mendes. Mendes would probably have to go up or lose a fair amount of muscle mass. Mike Brown, Leonard Garcia, Tyson Griffin, Ross Pearson, Manny Gamburyan, and others with that body type probably have to move up. Still 145 wont be hurt too bad as many of the fighters don't cut tons of weight, they just can't cut enough to get to 135 and know they'd be undersized at 155.

135 is too tough to call right now. Several guys would have to move up, but not all of them. Cruz might be able to stick around, and the same goes for Faber. Generally the lower in weight you go the less it matters because fighters aren't cutting as much weight to avoid being at a huge size disadvantage.

So, the UFC would have to institute a whole new division, gut two of their premier divisions and finally admit defeat with the heavyweights because there would be so little real talent there. Is there really a question as to why the UFC hasn't considered this? Now assuming I'm wrong about the fighters moving weight classes, they'd just cut the weight on the same day and the fights wouldn't be as good. The reality is that we'd probably see that instead of guys moving weight classes at first. I'd like to hear from people who support same day weigh ins, assuming any of them read this. Why do you think it's a good idea? What made you think that? I know several people have said that the UFC should do this, I'm curious as to why you feel that way. Please comment below, or contact me directly if you want to. That wraps up this week for me, enjoy the fights on Saturday since you've escaped the Guillotine.