Locked in the Guillotine News Report 02.10.12: Dana White's Advice Edition

Posted by Robert Winfree on 02.10.2012

Analysis of the big fight between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, a rundown of that entire card, a look at Diaz's positive drug test, a quick look at the upcoming Fuel TV card, dissecting some "advice" Dana White gave a while back, and more!

Welcome readers, and boy oh boy what a week we've had. From the fight between Condit and Diaz to Diaz's drug issues it's been a fun filled week for MMA fans. Of course that just means I've got more to write about, which I don't view as a bad thing. You clicked the link, so for now you're Locked in the Guillotine. Let's get started.

Feedback

A few comments last week, though most seemed to revolve around Georges St. Pierre.
lol started us off by talking a bit about Dana White and that maybe the UFC should get someone else to do the media rounds instead of him. There are things I like about Dana White, and things I don't. Honestly I might take a column one of these times and just look at him and the pros and cons.
Guest2201 played editor for a sentence I wrote. I appreciate your opinion, but I know what I typed and I stand by it. Chael Sonnen's act is more stale than John Cena's and it took him substantially less time to get there.
wylun is some kind of a genius as he correctly predicted what Condit would do to win, using leg kicks and staying disciplined with the game plan. Makes me wonder what else you know?
Khwaj closed us out comparing Georges St. Pierre's personality to Jon Fitch's. That does GSP a huge disservice because he's a very intelligent and engaging person.






The UFC started February with a bang, let's take a look at what went down on Saturday.

Wonderboy has wonderful debut: The night started off with a bang when Stephen Thompson scored a beautiful head kick knockout of Dan Stittgen. He showed a lot of diversity in his striking and stayed very calm under pressure. Great way to debut for the undefeated prospect.

Rafael Natal works the grappling: Rafael Natal got a unanimous decision victory over Michael Kuiper. Kuiper had the better striking, but Natal's experience seemed to be the determining factor here. Looking forward to seeing Kuiper again, and this was a good win for Natal. Pretty good fight to keep the night rolling.

Riddle gets the win: Matt Riddle beat Henry Martinez by split decision. Martinez took the fight on short notice and looked very good despite being more of a natural lightweight. Good win for Riddle who had to make some adjustments before becoming successful. Good fight.

Matt Brown smashes Cope: Matt Brown stopped Chris Cope in the second round with strikes. Brown took Cope out of his rhythm and Cope never seemed to recover it. Brown was superior on the feet and Cope never tried a takedown. Good fight for Brown.

Balls of steel: Edwin Figueroa scored a split decision victory over Alex Caceras where the primary issue was two low kicks that caught Figueroa in the groin. Both were very damaging and after the first Caceras was issued a strong warning by Herb Dean, after the second he was deducted two points. I still had the fight scored for Caceras, as did several other people, but Figueroa was essentially rewarded for keeping fighting after two damaging blows to the groin. Really strange fight.

Poirier makes a statement: Dustin Poirier submitted Max Holloway with a nasty triangle armbar from the mounted position. Holloway looked very good for a guy just twenty years old with only four fights to his name. This was just too much too soon for Holloway, and Poirier keeps moving up making a case as a title contender.

Herman keeps on winning: Ed Herman overcame a tough first round to submit Clifford Starks in the second round after eating several straight rights from Starks. Herman continues looking good coming back from injury, and a few more wins and he could be in title contention. Starks looked much improved with his striking in this fight, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. Good way to start the night.

Barao extends his streak: Renan Barao defeated Scott Jorgensen by unanimous decision to extend his unbeaten streak to thirty fights. Barao used a variety of striking techniques to keep Jorgensen off balance and showed off some impressive takedown defense. Barao likely gets the next title shot after this win, depending on how healthy Cruz or Faber is after their title fight. For Jorgensen, he's still one of the best guys in the division, just needs to change things up a little I think.

Two wrestlers fight, apathy follows: Josh Koshceck and Mike Pierce fought to a split decision that went to Koscheck. Koscheck's wrestling made the difference as Pierce couldn't take him down with any consistency. Pierce needs to improve if he wants to keep pace in the division, and Koscheck takes another step towards taking over Jon Fitch's place.

Two heavyweights fight, more apathy follows: Fabricio Werdum returned to the octagon and defeated Roy Nelson by decision in a fight that showed much improved striking from the Brazilian. For Nelson, he dropped more weight for the fight and is rapidly becoming undersized for the division. Good win for Werdum as he looks to get a shot at the UFC heavyweight belt.

The Natural Born Killer!: Carlos Condit defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision to win the UFC interim welterweight title and a showdown with Georges St. Pierre. This wasn't the barn burner many people anticipated it to be, but it was a very interesting fight. As soon as the decision was announced people instantly began claiming Diaz was robbed, but I disagree. And not just because I picked Condit over Diaz. One of the keys to judging a fight is how effective a fighter is. Nick Diaz moved forward a lot, but wasn't effective with that movement. Condit constantly landed leg kicks or a combination before circling away from the cage. Diaz was effective in round two, and probably round five, but outside of that Condit was landing more shots cleanly and being effective while Diaz wasn't. That said I don't fault anyone scoring the fight for Diaz because there were close rounds here. After the fight Diaz apparently retired because the judges recognized that moving forward and doing nothing shouldn't count for points. Honestly if Diaz retires I don't care that much, he can go to boxing, get beat up a few times, then come back. This was a great win for Condit who showed discipline and great conditioning to go along with his diverse striking and the power we all know he has. I'm looking forward to him fighting GSP.


News

Condit vs. Diaz rematch drama

I was honestly a little annoyed when the UFC announced that they were planning a rematch between Condit and Diaz. I didn't think the fight was that close, and it wasn't an action packed classic. A rematch would have likely had the same result with pretty much the same action because Diaz fights the way he fights and Condit already had a winning strategy. Then Cesar Gracie said on twitter that there wouldn't be a rematch and speculation instantly began running rampant about Nick Diaz testing positive for marijuana again. Proving that history does indeed repeat itself if you don't learn from it, the Nevada Stat Athletic Commission confirmed that Nick Diaz tested positive for "marijuana metabolites". This is one of the reasons I don't care if Nick Diaz retires from MMA, because I don't really want to keep discussing him and the constant drama that he cultivates around himself. Let's pretend for a minute that the Diaz fanboys and girls got their way and Nick Diaz had won a decision against Condit, what now? The result would have been changed to a No Contest, he would have subsequently stripped of the interim title, and likely faces disciplinary action. The UFC's big money fight between Diaz and Georges St. Pierre would still be put on hold while his mess gets sorted out. Part of me hopes Diaz does retire from MMA, goes to boxing where boxers recreate the strategy Condit used to beat him.

The Rematch is on

The long speculated on middleweight title rematch between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva is tentatively scheduled for the UFC's next trip to Brazil. I've been criticized in the past for hating Chael Sonnen, which isn't true, but hopefully this match settles things once and for all. This fight will do big numbers in Brazil as Anderson is probably the second most famous fighter there, behind Vitor Belfort, and Sonnen is just exceptionally easy to dislike.

Jones vs. Evans is on

The long awaited light-heavyweight championship fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans is set for UFC 145 in Atlanta Georgia. This card really needs this fight to happen because the rest of it is totally uninspired. This will be a one fight event, and if anything happens to screw up the main event the UFC will be scrambling pretty hard to come up with a suitable replacement.


It's somewhat relevant and this picture makes me smile



The UFC's first card on Fuel TV is next Wednesday, so I have to preview it now, and I'm honestly not too thrilled about it. In this weeks Fact of Fiction (where I was robbed of my hard earned victory) both Steve Cook and I agreed that this could be one of the worst looking cards in UFC history. Now I try to provide full information to my readers, but I really didn't want to go back through every UFC event and compare them to this one. That said, Fuel is a very minor television station not available in many homes so it makes sense not to waste a really interesting fight on them. So, let's take a look at the two main fights.

Diego Sanches vs. Jake Ellenberger: Diego Sanchez returns to the octagon for the first time since his split decision victory over Martin Kampmann almost a year ago. Sanchez has a nonstop motor, very good wrestling, and the ability to switch something inside himself into berserker mode. For Ellenberger he's coming off of the biggest win of his career when he stopped Jake Shields via TKO in the first round in September of last year. Ellenberger brings powerful wrestling, momentum, and an underrated killer instinct. Sanchez has proven vulnerable on the feet where he tends to rely on the same combination of punches and becomes a bit predictable. He also struggles if he is unable to take his opponent down, as when he fought BJ Penn and Martin Kampmann. There seems to be a theme to the welterweight division lately of the old guard getting shoved aside for the younger guys coming up in the sport. I think there's a real chance Ellenberger takes this one and could get a shot at the interim title if Condit wants to fight again before November.

Dave Herman vs. Stefan Struve: Can I be honest? I really don't care about this fight. Not one bit. The only redeeming factor here is that win or lose Stefan Struve tends to do them in spectacular fashion. For Herman he's returning to the octagon for the first time since he stopped John Olav-Einemo in June of last year. Herman seems to be the definition of a middle of the road fighter, but the same could be said of Struve. The way to beat Struve seems to be hit him hard, as all his losses in the UFC have come via T/KO to Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson, and Travis Browne. The real question is if Herman has that kind of power, or if Struve has finally learned how to use his incredible reach to his advantage. My inclination is to pick Struve here, but don't be surprised if he winds up falling over in spectacular fashion again.

Before closing this week I want to talk about something that has been bugging me more and more the more I think about it. It's something said by UFC president Dana White a month or so ago, and for whatever reason I think it's something I should address. Some time ago, after the UFC began airing prelims on Fuel TV, Dana White talked about growing the network and getting it available in more homes. A very admirable goal, and one that the UFC is in a position to do given their fan base. Now I personally have Comcast which does not carry Fuel TV, and I don't think it's too big a logical leap to conclude that many MMA fans don't have Fuel TV given the limited availability. Now I'm assuming there were plenty of calls, e-mails and such to various television providers expressing interest in getting Fuel TV added to their programming. If you didn't and continue to whine shame on you, it's extremely easy to make the request and then you have a solid reason to be upset.

Well Dana White later came out and said that the FOX network likely wont be negotiating contracts for a few years and Fuel TV is likely to stay where it is and that fans should switch their services to someone who provides Fuel TV.

I'd like all of you to take a moment and digest that please. Is it just me or is that a ridiculous thing to suggest? The President of the UFC suggests to his fan base that they cancel their current contracts with a television provider, find one that actually carries the somewhat obscure channel, sign a new contract with that provider, all for one station? Not only that, but a quick search on the internet reveals that Fuel TV has absolutely nothing besides the occasional UFC content that I'd be interested in. Seeing southerners strike it rich or a couple of stoned out skaters traveling the world perpetuating a negative stereotype about American's don't interest me in the least. The UFC's position is apparently that I pay out my current contract, engage in another contract, pay more money, all for a channel that I will watch maybe once a month? Is this really what the UFC expects of us?


Hell yes this is what I expect, I'm the President of the UFC Motherf**ker and I control the product you want to watch so you will do as I say. F*ck.

Sorry but that doesn't work for me. I am not going to expend the money, time, and energy to get one small television station that provides content perhaps once a month I'm interested in. I hope the UFC does grow the channel and it gets added to other stations, I really do. I am going to make sure my current provider knows I want the channel added, but I will not uproot that much of my current life for so little value. For him to suggest that course of action is ridiculous. I've said before that I tend to like Dana White, but he is way off the mark here. I love MMA, but I don't need every little thing you put out, and I certainly don't need to go that far out of my way for it.

And with that semi-rant out of the way, I'm done for the week. Feel free to agree or disagree with my stances in the comment section. You've made it all the way to the bottom, so you've escaped the Guillotine again, maybe I need to work on my technique, you guys get out with surprising regularity. See you all next week.