411 MMA Smacktalk 06.18.07: Back to Reality
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 06.18.2007
Big news and reactions from last weekends UFC 72 event and more.
Welcome to Smacktalk, the direct source for MMA news and rumors on 411mania.com each Monday. I am Damian Sarcuni and with me as always is Jose Chavez.
With UFC 72 passing by this weekend, nearly all eyes have turned to the UFC once again and the fights that took place in the event. Fans were highly critical of the way several fights went down and the slower styles of some of MMA's top fighters at this event. Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White was on hand as usual to release even more information about the future of UFC, Pride, and thus the immediate future of MMA as a sport. As can be expect, fan reaction to all this news was varied and widespread.
Our weekly format however, is not. They Say is the news item reported on, you say are the comments we collect on each issue from you the fan, and we say is our personal criticisms and comments on these issues (which look so much better here than on message boards).
They say
Rich Franklin walked away with a unanimous decision victory after picking apart a very hesitant Yushin Okami for two rounds, with there being little action besides a takedown/submission attempt by Okami in the 3rd round. Franklin is now the number 1 contender in the UFC middleweight division and will face the winner of Anderson Silva VS Nathan Marquardt.
You say
Okami made it hard for Rich to look good. He didn't engage at all and really didn't do much of anything. Rich played it smart and didn't over commit. - kcp_ko, sherdog.net
The problem was not in Rich standing with Silva. That part, although short-lived, was fairly even with a slight edge to Rich due to more strikes landed. The problem was in Rich underestimating Silva in the clinch, then taking too much damage to truly fight out of it. - Imbout2swang, sherdog.net
We say
Damian: It goes to show that Franklin is feeling his own limits now and is a bit less willing to play his opponent's game. It will be interesting to see how the plays out against A. Silva, who I do think will beat Marquardt. The problem is that Silva has such a reach advantage and as long as things remain standing, Franklin will still be fighting Silva's game. Franklin will have more of a chance this way, but the odds still favor Silva in this rematch.
Jose: Okami definitely stepped it up big time in the third round and if he would've done that for the whole fight he probably would have won. He's a very skilled fighter but way too patient, always moving back whenever someone swings at him and just staying there. It seems to be his forte to turn things up late in the fight. Rich is a real smart fighter and I'm highly anticipating the rematch with Anderson Silva who I think will dispatch Marquardt.
They say
In the co-main event of UFC 72, Forrest Griffin appeared very hesitant to move in for the finish against Hector Ramirez, due to a recent KO loss to Keith Jardine. Although Griffin won the decision, his much loved charisma and aggressive style could be gone for good.
You say
It takes guys a while to come back from a KO. I thought he did GREAT. He wasn't gun shy, he fought smart, he listened to his corner (as if you could ignore Randy). I noticed that he didn't go for the finish...but I think that he will next time. He DID need the win and you can't fault him for it. It's not like he's Arlovskeee here. - rickeepoo, forums.mmanews.com
He came back from a KO, fought a smart fight, mixed up his combinations, took smart risks, and imo, has grown as a fighter. You could say you didn't like the fight, but that was a busy 15 minute fight for Forest, decision or not, I still enjoyed watching it very much. He picked Ramirez apart pretty effortlessly. – wadokai, forums.mmanews.com
We say
Damian: I agree that it does take some time for a fighter to come back from a hard knockout loss, and I'll even add that those who try to counter that fear with aggression wind up suffering an even harder loss. Look at Wanderlei Silva or Ryo Chonan for examples. The problem is that Griffin will carry a tentative stigma around him for quite some time until he either gets a title shot or finishes an opponent. The good news is that Griffin was still entertaining and the fight was well received by fans, so the beloved Forrest's stock hasn't dropped yet.
Jose: Always tough to come from a bad KO loss, I couldn't make an assumption on his style for good based on this one fight. He won, so no reason to write him off at all.
They say
Murilo "Ninja" Rua has failed his physical checkup for the upcoming June 22nd bout against Joey Villasenor at Strikeforce. A rumored replacement for Ninja is Franco Vitale.
You say
He didn't pass the physical?!? As that lame as that is, did they give a reason why they couldn't clear him medically? Hell, if someone as weathered as Sakuraba can pass the physical its strange that a fighter as young and strong as Ninja couldn't. - Ryo Hazuki, sherdog.net
It's very possible that Ninja had a knee or ankle injury or maybe he went in with a concussion (Chute Boxe train hard and apparently they do get KOs in training, also, training bare knuckle once a weak won't help that). I doubt that it's an illness issue, but rather some injury that CSAC wasn't comfortable with letting slide. Maybe they discovered he had a broken hand or a similar type of injury. - soulwound666, sherdgo.net
We say
Damian: Ew. I don't understand Ninja sometimes. His shifting in weight and strategic decisions in recent fights has left me scratching my head. Murilo's last two wins came relatively quickly followed by a decent layoff period so its hard to imagine that anything involved in those fights had anything to do with this physical. My best guess is that Murilo has some sort of infection and the doctors feel that it's worse than he thinks, or won't be cleared up in time for the fight. Either way I'd rather see Ninja pull out of the fight than see him using only half his abilities or making lame excuses upon losing.
Jose: He used to have great cardio, but he seems to have lost that judging by his fight with Weir. The rapid weight changes seem to have done a BJ Penn on his cardio. His career hasn't looked too good in the past few years, not having as many fights as before and losing all high profile fights; badly in the case of the matches of Kang and Filho. I suppose not passing a physical could mean a lot of things, and there were no specifics so I will withhold judgment. It sucks that he won't fight Villasenor now but who knows which Ninja would've showed up for that fight anyway.
They say
In a post fight UFC 72 press conference, Dana White announced that the situation with Pride FC is "a mess" and that promotion is still to be run separately from the UFC, leading to the proposed "superbowl of MMA".
You say
Thats good to know that the interview where Dana said Pride was dead is B.S. IMO the UFC can't have enough shows to showcase all good fighters in both Pride and UFC and that this is truely the best way to handle both orgs – forums.mmanews.com
pride has almost no fighter under contract and dana doesnt wanna make it run. pride is dead, get used to it. - Symphony X, sherdog.net
We say
Damian: By now it should be painfully obvious to everyone that Dana White is NOT the best source to go to for an update on Pride FC. If the plan is indeed to run a separate promotion then Dana should have little or no input on the situation. I fail to see what kind of mess takes this long to clean up, and with all the money the UFC is supposedly making it's also hard to believe they can't put together a decent secondary promotion or give a significant update. For all the talk of finalizations and deal breakers, the UFC cannot claim to own Pride until they actually do something with it, and at this rate another Japanese promotion will pop up and takeover where Pride left off before the UFC can do anything about it.
Jose: It will take a lot of time if anything is to be done with Pride FC but the wait is really killing me and I wonder what it will do for the product. I think a lot of people are already trying to accept the fact that this is the last we've seen of Pride, reinforced by some comments Dana has made which he contradicts with this latest news. It's a big shit sandwich basically.
They say
Dana also mentioned that he tried to put together a rematch between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz for the UFC 72 card, but Ortiz had no interest in fighting before a Northern Irish crowd.
You say
It was obvioulsy the right move for Tito, he got to face a better opponent and the fight has some putt to it where as a Tito/Forrest 2 wouldn't really mean much becasue Tito would destroy him. – TheSundanceKid, forums.mmanews.com
I think Tito would take it, if Tito is healthy he would really lay a beadown on Forrest. Forrest just doesn't have a good style for Tito. I am surprised Tito didn't jump at it because it is so0 much more winnable than a fight with Rashad for him, he beat Forrest (barely) on one leg last time. - EnderinAK, sherdog.net
We say
Jose:I can understand Tito not being interested in fighting Griffin right now, I thought he was supposed to be fighting Rashad. Forest would be a step down, and with Forest coming off a loss, fighting him makes no sense right now. It would prove nothing. As far as not fighting in front of the Irish crowd, what the hell does that mean? I wonder if the story had some of Dana White's flavor to it.
. Damian: The Tito and Dana feud continues, and this will only lead to further complications on the contract negotiation front in the future. There was simply no good reason for White to bring this up at the press conference and it's clear he was just trying to bury Tito with the Irish fans for his own personal gain. As far as the actual fight, I wouldn't count Griffin out at all and I think it's only a matter of time before he gets his revenge (assuming Tito takes the fight further down the road which I think he will). For better or for worse Forrest is gaining valued experience as a fighter and for various reasons he's evolving faster as a fighter than Tito did.
They say
A feud seems to have developed between UFC President Dana White and Bodog Fight owner Calvin Ayre. Dana White has called Ayre a "criminal" while Ayre was heavily critical of the UFC and its President as well.
You say
Good stuff, I posted on it. Bodog is no threat to the UFC. It's like Coke and RC Cola. I love RC, but it's not getting served at McDonalds. Bodog does a great show, and I love free MMA, but the UFC has the mainstream of the sport sewn up. That doesn't mean there's not room for RC Cola, and Dr. Pepper (IFL). I love good soda. – DCBooks, bloodyknux.com
You gotta give the guy credit for having such diplomacy and PR skills. Whether people are interested in BODOG or not, it's still getting tonnes of publicity. - The Rock, sherdog.net
We say
Damian: Bodog did an excellent job of promoting their card in St. Petersburg and the reality is they can do even better in future events. Dana has a good reason to be nervous and I think that's the real reason why he would even bring up Ayre in public. I think this is all just publicity though. White probably doesn't know Ayre personally and I doubt they have any actual disrespect for each other. They're just promoting their products, nothing wrong with that.
Jose: It was bound to happen, hell it was happening with Gary Millen when he had his 15 minutes…no big surprise here. I'm sure Bodog's mad ninja skills at promoting (Fedor VS Lindland posters were EVERYWHERE) got under Dana's skin.
And we're out. As always stay tuned to the 411mania MMA section for the rest of the week for more news including coverage of the upcoming CFFC 5 event. Thanks for taking the time to read us and enjoy the week.
