The MMA News Report 5.30.07

Posted by Morgan Marx on 05.30.2007

News and thoughts from UFC 72. Otherwise known as all Rampage, all the time!

INTRODUCTION

I'm four hours away from yet another Boston to Los Angeles flight, so this will be an ever so brief edition featuring commentary and fallout from UFC 71. I'll try to mix it up a bit, so you're not hearing the same things everyone else has mentioned.


MAILBAG

Coby Preimesberger, the self-proclaimed "#1 sports fan in New Mexico" (and honestly, I can't think of a challenger for that title) checks in with a thought from UFC 71:

Well I guess getting a KO in 48 seconds off the "Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine answers that question, and who knows, in [Houston Alexander's] next match he may be KO'ed just as quick, but to score that quick a KO in you're UFC debut is mighty impressive.

It certainly is Coby. And it's not just the quick KO; any one can land a lucky punch right off the bat and win in 8 seconds. But to come right after Jardine and lay that many hard strikes into him was just breathtaking. They weren't wild strikes either. Much like Matt Serra, Alexander seized on an opportunity to upset a huge favorite and didn't panic in the moment. He could have blown his chance and let Jardine recover, but instead calmly ended the fight. And whether the knee was illegal or not, it didn't matter by that point; the fight was over and things were moot. Moot I say!

Thanks for checking in Coby. I'm glad you enjoyed the fight, and hopefully Alexander will prove to be just as exciting his next time out.


NEWS

Henderson v. Rampage!


Hopefully I didn't just ruin things for the last remaining sap that hadn't heard about Quinton Jackson's upset victory. I'm going to discuss things in roundabout fashion. Before talking about the fight itself, I'll talk about where our new light heavyweight champion is headed next. I think I'm taking a page from the UFC, which decided to announce Dan "Hollywood" Henderson's arrival before the main event rematch. And while I'm excited by the presence of Henderson I have to wonder, was the UFC hedging its bets a bit?

By all accounts, Rampage's victory was the best result the UFC could have hoped for. While Chuck Liddell is by far the most popular fighter in the UFC, he had come dangerously close to clearing out a division lacking contenders. The UFC's answer was signing talent from Pride. While fighters like Rampage, Shogun Rua, and Henderson are all qualified to challenge for the belt, none are well known in the USA. Rampage was booed following his victory not because he's a "heel" fighter, but because he just beat the UFC's goldenboy. And if a charismatic fighter like Rampage had difficulties winning over an American crowd, less flamboyant personalities like Rua and the stoic Henderson would have no chance.

So the rematch was set, and Liddell was the favorite. If Liddell had walked through Rampage, what next? Rua hasn't been built up at all, and comes with no back-story. Wanderlei Silva is on sabbatical. Fringe contenders like the just-upset Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans are not quite ready. So the UFC immediately went into promotion mode, setting the stage for a superfight between the UFC light heavyweight champion and Pride dual champion Henderson.

But what about a rematch? The logical choice would have been to sit back and promote a rematch between Liddell and Rampage. If Chuck had won, even convincingly, Rampage could have pushed for a rubbermatch to break the series. In that scenario, Jackson might have needed a match against an Evans or Machida to build his status again. So maybe Chuck fights Henderson (whom he would be expected to KO), and Jackson fights someone he would be favored against. But Jackson threw a wrench in those plans with a perfect counter hook and some viscous ground and pound.

Instead of booking an immediate rematch between the fallen champ and his conqueror, we have Rampage facing off against Henderson in the UFC ring, a truly unimaginable match just a year ago. Where does that leave Liddell? The Iceman might have been frozen out by the UFC's own faith in his ability to dominate the division. Liddell is a proud man, and his post-fight interview gave the impression that he wants another shot at Rampage. Maybe he doesn't covet the belt like a Tim Sylvia, but Liddell surely doesn't want to concede that he can't beat Rampage. Page won't fight Henderson till later this year, and the winner won't be ready for an additional fight till perhaps early 2008. Who will Liddell fight in the meantime, and what happens if he looses again? A move to heavyweight now seems out of the question (a loss against Cro Cop would be devastating). A battle for the #1 contender spot against Evans or Rua seems likely. If either Rua matches up well, or Evans is for real, Liddell might loose out on a third shot at Jackson.

Just one year ago, the UFC seemed overly reliant on rematches. Couture and Liddell went 3, Sylvia and Arlovski were immediately tossed together again. Now, when a rematch makes the most sense, the UFC seems to have missed the opportunity. Liddell deserves another shot at the belt (and Rampage) without having to prove himself. A third match would garner the UFC a huge amount of coverage by the likes of ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Instead, they have to build a match between a fighter America is just starting to love (Rampage) and a fighter virtually unknown on these shores (Henderson). In the end, this is not a negative scenario for the UFC. But if either Rampage or Liddell slips up, the organization might be ruing a lost chance.


COMMENTARY

Lets look at some brief thoughts from UFC 71, and maybe one or two other stories making the rounds this week.

* Leban v. Starnes The fight went pretty much as expected, right down to Leban's ill-advised post fight comments. Leban's go-ahead style is commendable, but he's simply not talented enough to overwhelm every fighter at 185. While losing to the likes of Silva and MacDonald is nothing to be ashamed at, losing to Kalib Starnes doesn't augur good things for Leban's future, even if he leaves the UFC. There are fighters in the WEC that are much more talented than Starnes. Leban's chance as a potential contender is over.

* Mandy Moore?? I think UFC fans worldwide are officially tired of shots of Kevin James and Michael Clark Duncan in the audience. But Mandy Moore attending a UFC event? Does this officially make her the coolest celeb out there? And with her down to Earth personality, she even comes off as slightly semi-attainable. Thankfully, my girlfriend generally doesn't check in with the MMA column. Nobody tell her about this section.

* Alexander v. Jardine I'm a big fan of Houston Alexander's backstory, and a bigger fan of his convincing KO of Keith Jardine. I think Jardine is being unfairly criticized for his pre-fight comments. There was no upside for him in this fight. If Jardine won, it was just an expected victory over an unheralded foe. If Jardine lost (as he did), we all start making assumptions that he was overrated and unworthy of title contention. What we actually learned from this fight is that both men can take a punch. While Alexander clearly proved that he's got heavy hands, Jardine kept rising after ridiculously huge shots. There's no questioning Jardine's resolve. And while I'm not ready not crown Alexander the next big thing just yet (Drew McFedries had an impressive debut KO and then faded), Alexander's victory wasn't a result of a flask KO, but a deserved and persistent beating. And that uppercut? Just wow.

* Martin v. Salaverry I have no problem with a quick stoppage that the losing fighter doesn't even protest. And while Martin did land at least one shot to the back of the head, I think it was negligible to the outcome of the fight. I like Martin a lot, but he's nowhere near ready for Anderson Silva. It's very difficult to rate a fighter on quick KO's, I'd rather see him dominate an opponent for a full 3 rounds. I'll be the first to float a fight with hard-nosed striker Nate Quarry in Martin's future.

* Parisyan v. Burkman I figured it would be the most entertaining fight of the night, and even without a finish it was. A motivated and Couture-trained Karo is a scary fighter. Josh Burkman is a talented man, but he was outclasses by a wide, wide margin. Karo canceled out all of Burkman's offensive ability, leaving "the People's Warrior" to just wing wild punches from way outside. And the fact the Karo dominated by relying on his stand-up rather than his judo just spells doom for other welterweight contenders. Unfortunately, Karo won't get his title shot for approximately forever. Instead, fans should be treated to more action packed fights against the likes of Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck.

* Thomas v. Stephens I don't get why people were going gaga over Stephen's performance. While his submission defense was commendable, and he throws quick hands, at no point was he close to ending the fight against Din Thomas. Instead, I was wicked impressed by Thomas, who put on a submission clinic. I'd love to see him match-up against Kenny Florian.

* Jackson v. Liddell What's left to say? I think Rampage proved that attempting to analyze a competitor's pre-fight look could be misleading. While Rampage initially looked nervous and reserved, in hindsight he could be described as focused and resolved. This was a man who expected to win, which is not something that can be said of Liddell's previous challengers, even the one's holding a win over the Iceman. I think Rampage will be a great face for the UFC. He's likeable while imposing, thoughtful while original. He appeared on ESPN News yesterday, and held himself perfectly. He could easily be a bigger star than Liddell. And if he's speaking the truth, if he's as motivated and dedicated as he has claimed to be, we might be looking at another fighter capable of stopping his next 7 fights. The only man who poses an immediate threat to Rampage is Rua, and who knows how he'll translate to the octagon.

* Non-UFC The EliteXC/K1 joint promotion is rapidly becoming the disaster people anticipated. Brock Lesnar is on his 2cnd opponent, we still don't know if Sakuraba will be ready to fight, and I'm not getting a sense that people care bout the card. I think more attention should be placed on the WEC's first televised event, which is shaping up better than the IFL and K1 combined. We'll discuss it more next week.


CONCLUSION

That's it, I have to get ready to be striped searched by counter terrorist agents again. Thanks for being understanding. We'll be back next week with coverage from this weekend's events (assuming both actually happen) and more UFC news. Take care, everyone.