The MMA News Report 4.25.07
Posted by Morgan Marx on 04.25.2007
Thoughts on UFC 70, the futures of Cro Cop, Swick, and St-Pierre, and my plan for changing TUF. No offense, Gabe!
INTRODUCTION
This is only the 4th edition of my fledgling UFC column, and I think we can all agree that I can not pick UFC events. While I figured Gabriel Gonzaga could trouble Mirko Filipovic, I never would have predicted that he would KO the feared striker in such devastating fashion. I think the only person who may have predicted these last three huge upsets correctly is Randy Couture, and even he may have had GSP over Serra.
I hope you guys (and gals, assuming we have any gals reading) enjoyed Saturday night as much as I did. Drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. You may even find yourself in next week's…
MAILBAG
Reader Marin Matekalo shared some good natured ribbing about my description of Mirko Filipovic as "arguably the second best heavyweight in the world." Well, Gabriel Gonzaga's right leg ended that debate for me. However, Marin did share this as well:
"But I will tell you this, enjoy watching a guy like Cro Cop while you can, there will probably be a very long time until we see a HW with his sensational standup skill and the excitement he brings when he walks into the ring/cage. He will most likely retire in a year or two. He's grown a bit tired of all the travelling and Spartan training. As you might have noticed I am a big CC fan, and would just love to see him take the UFC title and fight Fedor once again. This time the fight would end differently though"
Marin was completely right in his opinion, although he probably didn't expect Gonzaga to incite a new wave of "Will Cro Cop retire" talk. We shouldn't take a fighter of Filipovic's caliber for granted, even in the wake of his loss. Check below for more thoughts on Cro Cop's future, both in the UFC and MMA in general.
Thanks for the email Marin. Half the fun of watching MMA is coming up with your own Top 10 ranks.
NEWS
White Comments on Cro Cop's Future, "Milking" Contract
Following the shocking upset of Mirko Filipovic at this past weekend's UFC 70, UFC President Dana White gave an interview with the LA Times about the Croatian's fight and future. A composed White seemed at peace with the loss of a potential moneymaking match between Filipovic and champion Randy Couture. "I actually favored Gonzaga in that fight. I didn't favor him by head kick though…." said White. The most revealing part of the interview featured White's comments on why Cro Cop was fighting Gonzaga, and where the feared striker will go from here. Says White:
"Cro Cop's guys wanted to have a couple fights before they fought Randy Couture. And to be honest with you I think they wanted the fights to milk the contract."
White makes the situation sound like Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's recent request to have another "warm-up" fight before challenging Chuck Liddell. In Rampage's case, the UFC overlooked his wishes and booked him straight into a title fight. Following Cro Cop's loss, this might have been the safer bet. For years, White has been saying how unpredictable MMA is. 2007 has borne witness to that fact over and over again. Wanderlei Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Antonio Rogerio Nogueria, and Tim Sylvia have all lost fights they were expected to win. In doing so, they each blew a chance at a huge match-up everyone thought would happen.
Cro Cop's loss should drive home the fact that no "plan to the title" is definite. If a fighter gets a chance at a title shot, they should take it. Is Rich Franklin risking upset by fighter men like Jason MacDonald and Martin Kampmann? Possibly. Did Cro Cop expect to beat Gonzaga, then Couture and finish his contract as champion? If so, that option died right around the time Gonzaga's shin slammed into Filipovic's temple.
There has been some talk that Filipovic might simply walk away from the fight game after this. Most reports point to his statement that if he had not won Pride's Openweight Grand Prix he would have contemplated retirement. While it wouldn't be a complete shock if a man like Filipovic, who is involved with many things outside fighting, retires young, I would expect him to finish his UFC contract before considering such a move.
In comments made to the Houston Chronicle's Steve Sievert, Mike Swick declared his intention to drop out of the Middleweight division. Following a unanimous loss to Yushin Okami, a fight in which Swick looked overpowered, the TUF1 alum decided to cut down to 170. Even during the Swick v. Okami match, commentator Joe Rogan mentioned the possibility Swick could cut down. Says Swick:
"I've been thinking about it for a while. I keep coming in smaller for each fight. This last fight (against Yushin Okami at UFC 69) was the smallest I've ever been in the ring. I can't keep the weight on that I used to, and I actually lose weight after the weigh-in. I weighed 181 in the actual ring. He was probably back up to at least a 195 - that's a pretty significant difference in weight."
While the move might not be permanent, Swick would become yet another contender in the Welterweight division. While Swick's speed advantage would decrease at the lighter weight, he wouldn't face such weight disadvantages. The move might be good for Swick, although fighters like St-Pierre, Josh Koscheck, and Matt Hughes would still give Swick fits.
In his post-fight press conference, Dana White semi-confirmed the rumored match between Welterweight stars Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck. St-Pierre was expected to face a rematch against Matt Hughes for the Welterweight title at a UFC event to be held in Canada. Matt Serra's upset and the announcement that Serra and Hughes will serve as coaches for the 6th season of The Ultimate Fighter put those plans on ice. Cause, you know, Canada's cold eh.
A St-Pierre v. Koscheck fight would serve as a #1 contender run-off. If St-Pierre bounces back with a dominant victory over Koscheck, the loss to Serra will be written off as a fluke and we can once again pencil in GSP as the dominant Welterweight for the foreseeable future. However, if Koscheck's superior wrestling and, ahem, "game planning" trouble St-Pierre, we might have to rethink Rush's place. Either way, it should make for a thrilling fight.
I'll spare you the play-by-play from UFC 70 and instead offer some quick thoughts on both the "free PPV" and the current edition of The Ultimate Fighter.
UFC 70: Nations Collide
* I think the night's shocking upset will be remembered less as the death of Cro Cop's title chances, and more as the start of Gabriel Gonzaga's title reign. Gonzaga showed well-rounded skills against an elite opponent. Not many UFC heavyweights can say that. Gonzaga came off as an affable, classy fighter both in the promotional material leading to the event, and in his post-fight interview. Randy Couture is much, much better than I am at picking fights, and if he thinks Gonzaga is more of a challenge than Cro Cop, I'll take his word. While Couture v. Gonzaga will lack the hype of a title fight featuring Cro Cop, it may very well be a much more interesting fight.
* Gabriel Gonzaga's high kick saved the UFC from explaining the ridiculous stand-up that preceded it. Gonzaga was controlling things on the ground, had opened a cut on Cro Cop, and seemed to be "working" and yet the fight was restarted on their feet? Thank god we avoided months of message board complaints about how the UFC "wanted Cro Cop to win." Which they obviously did, but now we don't have to talk about it.
* I'm not ready to write off Andrei Arlovski just yet. While his fight with Fabricio Werdum was just torture to watch, I don't place all the blame with Arlovski, nor do I think this hinders Arlovski's title hopes. Arlovski couldn't afford another loss, and it was apparent that he was dominating the fight by counter-punching. Why would he push the pace? I wouldn't be surprised if we see some combination of Arlovski, Cro Cop, and Brandon Vera meeting to determine who's next in line for a title shot. Versus either man, Arlovski would be forced to exchange leather, and would regain the fan support he has grown accustomed to.
* Lyoto Machida, on the other hand, I still don't have a handle on. He fought another boring match against a frustrated opponent that didn't air on the UFC broadcast. He's still undefeated, is potentially in line for a title fight, and we still have no idea how good he really is. David Heath felt so badly about his less than thrilling effort, he wrote an open letter of apology to the fans and sent it to UFCJunkie.com. What's next for Machida? He needs to face someone "real" before earning a title shot. But who's out there? Ortiz, Evans, and Jardine are all tied up.
* Michael Bisping did what was expected of him, tearing through Elvis Sinosic with one minor hic-up (if a tight looking kimura can be considered a hic-up). Now can we see him versus a legitimate threat? Like most UFC fans, I'm a big fan of Bisping's, but I would like to see him notch a win that really maters and affirms his place in the company.
* As a free show, UFC 70 was enjoyable, even with the two snoozefests (Arlovski, and the Silva v. Kongo hugging match). With the main event certain to go down in UFC history, it was great that White chose to air the show free on Spike. Hopefully the numbers back up their decision, and the UFC airs more cards like this in the future.
TUF 5
* I'm a big fan of the TUF series. Like many modern UFC fans, I got caught up during the first season of the reality show and became a true UFC supporter during the epic Griffin v. Bonnar fight. I think the series has proved its worth by making stars out of Sanchez, Stevenson, Grove and the many others who have earned title shots or main event slots since debuting on the show. I have no problem with the likes of Luke Cummo and Josh Haynes appearing on PPV cards; I would rather see an entertaining match between limited TUF veterans than a boring fight between two undefeated unknowns any day. However, I agree with the growing sentiment that the show has run its course. I think we've seen enough "crazy antics" on realty TV to last a lifetime. Is anyone getting a kick out of watching a bunch of over aggressive guys pissing and moaning over "who wrote what on the walls?"
* Another downside to the show is choice for coaches. The UFC did a great job in the first two seasons by choosing coaches who cared about teaching (at least somewhat). Guys like Randy Couture and Rich Franklin (with Jorge Gurgel) seemed to actually help their teams get better as fighters. Tito Ortiz impressed with his abilities as a coach and team leader. The fact that many of his guys on the show have since trained with Team Punishment shows that an actual bond was forged. On the other hand, we had the disaster that was Ken Shamrock, last season's use of a group coach, and this year's BJ Penn fiasco. Not every fighter makes for a great coach. BJ Penn is a genetically gifted athlete who can do things no other MMA fighter can do. How is he supposed to teach that to a guy he could face some day?
* So what can we change? How about we lose the house and discard the notion that these are unknown fighters. Since we've reached the point where actual UFC veterans are competing on the show, why don't we just use real MMA teams. Why don't they take two teams like Team Punishment and Team Quest, have them choose 8 fighters they train with, and set up a tournament with a UFC contract up for grabs. I would be far more interested in watching the real training that goes down in these camps and getting to know the coaches behind them than worrying about "will the TUF guys kill a horse in an attempt to get laid." As fans, we've all heard about how great Greg Jackson's team is and how amazing he is as a coach. A shift in format for TUF would allow us to see why those sentiments are true.
* The UFC has taken a tiny step in this direction by signing up Matt Serra and Matt Hughes as coaches. Each has shown the ability to run a successful camp on the show and each should do a good job building hype to their inevitable title match. Still, I'd rather see a bigger shift.
* Am I watching this season of TUF? Yes, but not as religiously as years past. I'm intrigued by the same fighters as everyone else (Diaz, Maynard, Lauzon) and I'm eagerly anticipating the finale. But I really don't need to see any more enemas in my lifetime, even if Gabe Ruediger is now my 411mania peer.
CONCLUSION
Thanks for checking out the column. I've been pleased by the thoughtful responses I've received so far, so keep sending those emails. Check back next week, I'm sure to talk about more interesting "stuff."
