The Thursday Throwdown 07.27.06: WFA Not Taking Over Just Yet
Posted by Caleb Newby on 07.27.2006
The World Fighting Alliance had their much-anticipated "King of the Streets" show and 411's Jon Hartley has the full analysis! Did the show live up to the hype? Find out in the Throwdown!
After a last minute decision to order the World Fighting Alliance's "King of the Streets" on pay-per-view Saturday night, a lot of questions have been answered and many more have been asked. Leading up to the inaugral WFA event (note: the WFA had a couple of events previously, but this is a new incarnation of the company), there was speculation that the WFA could supplant the UFC, that the WFA's card was better than most UFC cards, etc. Now, the same people who were saying those things are labeling the WFA as a huge disappointment. I suppose it should be noted that many of the naysayers are people who didn't actually even see the event.
The event itself was a solid night of action, as well as an interesting view of the MMA world outside of the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships. Things started out slowly as a highly-anticipated bout between noted kickboxing specialist "Razor" Rob McCullough and Harris Sarmiento went to a rather dull draw. Aside from a disappointing showing for Ryoto Machida against tough veteran Vernon White, though, the rest of the card lived up to the hype. Former UFC Heavyweight Champ Ricco Rodriguez, despite his huge weight gain since his championship days, looked good enough in his domination of former Pride heavyweight and WWE prospect Ron Waterman. Ivan Salaverry's precise standup was impressive in his win over Team Quest fighter Art Santore, and Jason Miller looked good at 205 in dominating The Ultimate Fighter season one veteran Lodune Sincaid.
"King of the Streets" was heavily marketed on its dual main events, though. Did they hold up their end of the bargain? For the most part, yes. Former King of Pancrase and UFC Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten made his return after seven years away from fighting, and that could be deemed as an event in itself. In the end though, that's pretty much all it was. Rutten's original opponent, Kimo Leopoldo (who some of you may remember from the early UFC days) had his second positive drug test in as many fights in the United States and had to drop out, leaving the WFA scrambling for a last-minute replacement. They were able to get Ruben "Warpath" Villareal, whose claim to fame was a recent three round draw against UFC legend Don Frye in King of the Cage. Villareal didn't bring much to the table except the ability to absorb punches, and absorb punches he did, forcing Rutten to go to "Plan B" in the first round. "Plan B" involved, well, kicking the crap out of Villareal's legs until he crumpled to the mat, apparently unable to continue fighting. So, it was a successful return for Rutten, albeit one that didn't really answer any questions about how much Rutten has left in the tank. After the fight, Rutten said he would like to continue, although he sustained several injuries (including an ACL injury that will keep him out awhile before he can take a second fight) in training.
The main event between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt Lindland definitely delivered. For three rounds the action went back and forth, with Lindland putting Rampage into an extremely deep rear naked choke and a couple of guillotine chokes, while Rampage slammed Lindland repeatedly, bloodied him and rocked him while standing in the third round. In the end, Rampage pulled out the razor-thin split decision. Was it the right decision? I think so. After watching the fight once, I thought Lindland might have won it, but after a second viewing I agree with the judges' decision. For those who thought Lindland pulled it out, it may be important to point out that judging in Pride and judging in American events are two different things. In Pride they put a huge amount of emphasis on "effort to finish the fight", which means that submission attempts, even when thwarted, score big with the judges. In America, the emphasis is more on control, aggression and damage. Some have said that Lindland's submission attempts should be scored like a near-knockout. I don't know that I agree with that. A submission is pretty much an all-or-nothing proposition. If you go for a choke and don't get it, what did you accomplish? Many times the person working for the submission exerts as much energy as the person defending it. In fact, whenever Rampage escaped from a submission against Lindland, he transitioned (often with a slam to the ground) into an offensive position for himself.
Besides the fights, the show's production showed just how far competitors have to go to get to the UFC's level. The commentators included Stephen Quadros (former Pride commentator), veteran boxing commentator Barry Tompkins, and of course, former pro wrestler Bill Goldberg. Once the show started, Tompkins became basically invisible, Goldberg openly rooted for certain fighters, and although Quadros was good as usual, there were several long gaps of dead air...something you'd never see on a UFC event. Aside from that, there was hardly any promotion between fights, and post-fight interviews were extremely brief. In a way that was refreshing, as we saw seven fights in under three hours. However, a quick look at MMA forums around the internet afterwards shows that fans buy into production levels, and even with world-class fighters and a good card, many were calling the organization bush league. If supposedly knowledgeable MMA fans were complaining about the production levels, one can only imagine what a new fan would have thought of the promotion. As an MMA fan, I really don't care about production and I thought the event was pretty satisfying, capped off with one of the best fights of the year between Rampage and Lindland.
Quick Thoughts
--I eluded to the UFC's budding rivalry with the WFA last week, which included the WFA's CEO Jeremy Lappen being booted out of his front row seat (given to him by Ken Shamrock, no less) for no apparent reason. This comes on the heels of the International Fight League's court battle with the UFC, in which it was said that UFC president Dana White resorted to threats and intimidation attempts to keep former and current UFC athletes away from the show. After the IFL fiasco, it's hard to believe that Lappen's dismissal wasn't due to some sort of paranoia on the UFC's part, and specifically White's. I've been a fan of White, who is an otherwise hated individual by many MMA fans, because of all the things he's done to promote the sport. While I definitely don't condone White's unprofessional dealings in situations such as this, I also don't agree with the rather ignorant assumption MMA fans make regarding the WFA (and competition in general) being "good" for the UFC.
How would competition be good for the UFC? You're telling me that having another top-flight organization in the US to sign away UFC talent, persuade fans to spend their pay-per-view money elsewhere, and drive up fighter salaries through competition is "good" for the UFC? Come on now. Let's get this straight, I'm not saying that competition isn't good for the fans, because it undoubtedly is. But to say that having a legitimate competitor in the US is good for the UFC is absolutely ridiculous. Would the NFL be better off if a second pro football league began, and suddenly top college players were going there instead of the NFL? The UFC can benefit from smaller, locally-based shows, which provide up-and-coming fighters with experience and help bolster fan interest in the sport on a grassroots level. But a national-level promotion? No way. The UFC is planning on running 20+ events next year, which is an obvious sign that they and they alone want to be the MMA organization in America. Why would they want to share even a small portion of their market with the WFA, the IFL or anyone else?
Reader E-mail
Holy crap, I actually got an e-mail. Let's hope that the number of e-mails grows exponentially with the number of columns I do. This one comes from "Habubu Habubu", and he's got a bone to pick with me on the subject of Tim Sylvia:
I think you're wrong about why Sylvia is discounted as a champ. While his physique does not impress, it has more to do with his fights than with anything else. As a figther he doesn't show anything that would really intimidate (other than his height). He has no ground game (he might, but lets be real here), and he has no speed or athleticism. This is like people who say baseball players aren't real athletes. You can get a guy with no athletic ability who can swing a bat, is he a real athlete?
Sylvia looks flat footed and just generally awkward. If you look at other figthers, even heavyweights, they're at least are active and doing something. Why was the last fight with between Arlovski and Sylvia boring, cause Arlovski didn't push the fight, and Sylvia simply can't. When Sylvia fight's he moves by sliding his feet along the floor and just throws punches till something lands. His fight with Arlovski, he just threw a punch after Arlovski came in. If Sylvia's opponent ever just backed away forcing Sylvia to actually do something faster than move at a slide step, would we even see a punch thrown?
While Sylvia may be the champ, I don't there's anyone out there who believes that if you put his skill set in a 6'3" guy he'd be anything other than a punching bag. And to many people, just being tall doesn't get you respect as a fighter. It gets you an NBA contract, but no MMA respect.
OK, so before I completely disagree with "Habubu", let me say that I do appreciate the e-mail, particularly because it illustrates perfectly many of the common criticisms of Tim Sylvia.
Let's take this piece by piece. Sylvia's not intimidating? I don't know about that. Sylvia is a large, large man and if you meet him in person, you'll understand that better than seeing him on TV. To say that the only thing that makes him intimidating is his height is a cheap shot. I mean, what else is there to make someone intimidating, other than size? Not every fighter is blessed with a Wanderlei Silva staredown. As far as a lack of ground game goes, you couldn't be more wrong. People often assume that someone has "no ground game" just because they hardly ever see them fight on the ground. The fact that Sylvia's fights rarely hit the ground is a testament to his takedown defense, not an indictment of poor ground skills on his part. Sylvia has been submitted twice in 24 fights. That's hardly an indication of a poor ground game. No speed or athleticism? He was fast enough to hit Andrei Arlovski many times, and people say Arlovski is a speedy heavyweight. He may not have speed as far as his movement goes, but his punches have good enough speed and plenty of snap to them. For a man his size, Sylvia's actually very athletic. It's unfair to not give people credit for using their size to their advantage while at the same time using it against them as a basis for criticism. You can't have it both ways.
When you say Sylvia is a very inactive fighter, you make me wonder how many of his fights you've actually watched. This is a guy who's only gone to a decision four times, and has finished 16 fights by way of knockout. To say Sylvia is unafraid to let his hands go is an understatement. His strategy against Arlovski is called counter-punching, and it's quite common. In fact, Chuck Liddell has made a career off of it. Why would you insult Sylvia for having a good game plan? With Arlovski admittedly being the quicker fighter, and Sylvia having a much longer reach, his game plan was perfect. To say that Sylvia isn't a good fighter because he is a counter-puncher is like saying Liddell isn't a good fighter for the same reason. It's like saying Ricardo Arona isn't a good fighter because he always takes fights to the ground. Fighters are supposed to take advantage of their strengths, right?
I'm really befuddled by the idea that Sylvia is only good because of his height. If that was the case, Wes Sims would be heavyweight champ right now. The fact is that besides his height, Sylvia has knockout power in his hands and has worked his ass off to become a top-level fighter. To say he'd be a punching bag if he was 6'3" is ridiculous. If he was 6'3", he'd also likely be quicker and perhaps more athletic. Once again, you're denying him credit for using his physical strengths to his advantage, while holding the weaknesses against him.
The Thursday Throwdown's MMA Top Ten-- July 2006
Each month I'll be putting up my MMA rankings, based on the five most common American weightclasses. For purposes of these rankings, I'll include super heavyweights with the heavyweights, and 145 lb. fighters with the lightweights. After each weight class, I'll include a short explanation regarding some of my choices. As always, debate is encouraged, even requested!
Heavyweight (206 lbs. and up)
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
4. Tim Sylvia
5. Josh Barnett
6. Mark Hunt
7. Fabricio Werdum
8. Brandon Vera
9. Aleksander Emelianenko
10. Andrei Arlovski
Notes: Fedor hasn't had a fight this year, but until he loses the #1 spot, it's his indefinitely. The upcoming final round of the Pride Absolute Grand Prix will sort out the other top Pride heavyweights. Werdum was impressive in going the distance with Nogueira and has a great all-around skill set. Vera has impressed so far in the UFC and Arlovski stays in the top ten based mostly on his pure ability and potential after two mentally draining losses to Tim Sylvia.
Notes:Silva still dominates the division, and aside from a showdown with Liddell he has matchups with Lil' Nog and possibly Arona for a third time in the future. Babalu is on a roll and definitely poses a threat to Liddell in August. Rampage had a strength advantage against Matt Lindland, but holding your own on the ground with an Olympic silver medalist still says a lot about his ever-improving skills. Little was learned about Tito Ortiz in his "fight" with Ken Shamrock, and he stays in the top ten. Jason Lambert has been impressive and continues to move up in the UFC's light heavyweight division. Anti-TUF fans will cry foul at Griffin's inclusion, but he's earned it. His only professional losses: Tito Ortiz (and a suspect one at that), Jeremy Horn and Dan Severn (in Griffin's first pro bout).
Middleweight (171-185 lbs.)
1. Rich Franklin
2. Dan Henderson
3. Jeremy Horn
4. Matt Lindland
5. Paulo Filho
6. Nathan Marquardt
7. Ivan Salaverry
8. Anderson Silva
9. Denis Kang
10. David Loiseau
Notes:Besides possibly lightweight, the most stacked division in MMA. Among those nearly making the list were Joey Villasenor, Mike Swick, Evan Tanner, and David Terrell. Horn could reasonably be champ in any promotion in the world. Lindland I still have ranked at 185, if he fights at 205 again I'll rank him there. Filho has a coveted undefeated record but needs to start finishing more opponents, lest he become the Ricardo Arona of the division. Kang, along with Filho, is riding a great streak and the Pride tournament should sort them out nicely. Anderson Silva is ranked a little lower because of his incomplete ground game. Despite his decisive loss to Franklin, Loiseau is a legitimate top ten middleweight.
Welterweight (156-170 lbs.)
1. Matt Hughes
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. BJ Penn
4. Karo Parisyan
5. Diego Sanchez
6. Jake Shields
7. Jason Black
8. Jon Fitch
9. Josh Burkman
10. Drew Fickett
Notes:The gap between the top few fighters and the rest of the top ten is huge in this division. I think BJ Penn is still head and shoulders above the rest of this weight class, besides Hughes and St. Pierre. Karo has been overrated by most and I have him at #4 mainly because no one else has stepped up and taken that spot yet. He hasn't finished many opponents lately and needs a big win to legitimize himself just as much as Diego Sanchez does. Jason Black is a largely unknown fighter out of Team Miletich that only has one professional loss; a freak injury in a fight against Shonie Carter in King of the Cage. Now that he's slated to appear for the second event in a row in Pride: Bushido, people will learn who he is. Fitch has earned his spot by running up a ten fight winning streak, including recent wins over Burkman and Thiago Alves.
Notes:Gomi holds onto his spot, even with what now looks like a fluke loss to Marcus Aurelio, who subsequently lost himself in the last Pride Bushido event. Apparently Kid Yamamoto is going to focus on freestyle wrestling and make a run at the Olympics? Interesting choice, if he sticks with it. I fully expect Jens Pulver to be at the top of the food chain at 155 in the UFC. Why they'd give Sean Sherk an automatic shot at the vacant title, and not the man who held the title when it was vacated, is beyond me. Sherk isn't ranked as he hasn't fought at 155 yet. Franca is on a roll and will do well in the UFC. He's lost all his fights but one by decision, and has never lost a unanimous decision. Spencer Fisher is definitely a force to be reckoned with, it'll be interesting to see what the UFC does in the future since Fisher and Pulver are teammates.
Random MMA YouTube Moment
This week's YouTube moment is a Kid Yamamoto highlight which is actually pretty good. Hopefully he doesn't give up MMA for wrestling.
As always, keep the e-mails coming and thanks for reading!
