The MMA News Report 08.15.07
Posted by Morgan Marx on 08.15.2007
Dana White speaks on steroids and Andrei Arlovski (no, not together), Jason MacDonald may be fighting soon, Drew McFedries most certainly will be not, plus a rant about Georges St-Pierre and the criticism he has faced! All that and more in the latest edition of Morgan Marx's MMA News Report!
INTRODUCTION
Hello again. I‘ve got a full edition this week with some interesting news and an interesting situation involving Georges St-Pierre. I'd like to think that my news columns are usually more heavy on the news than on opinion, but this week I felt I had to discuss the current controversy surrounded GSP. I hope you find my commentary thought provoking, and I hope you respond if you think I've missed the point, or if you have a different take on things. Let's get to it.
MAILBAG/RANT TIME
We've got a couple stories that involve rankings today. One involves the UFC's lack of rankings, the other my opinion that a current champion isn't worthy of a top 10 spot. I think you can probably guess which one. So my question to you, the reader, is where a reigning champion deserves to be placed on any divisional top 10 ranking. There are a couple schools of thought here. One is that the current champ should be automatically slotted into the # spot. Now, that may work for organizational rankings. But if you're going to do world rankings that feature more than one champion, you run into problems. The other school of thought is that the belt shouldn't be a factor. That fighters should be ranked based on their record and the strength of competition.
Obviously, the toughest case is that of Matt Serra. Though he currently holds the UFC's welterweight belt, I personally don't believe he ranks in the top 10 welterweights worldwide. In fact, there are at least 8 UFC welterweights I would put ahead of Serra, and maybe 10 if you pressed me. But should Serra get special consideration because he holds the belt? Let me know what you think?
The Reader's Question: Should a reigning champ automatically be considered for the #1 slot in any Top 10 rankings? Should Matt Serra?
NEWS
Dana White: "Steroids Have Been Here Forever, and They're Going to be Here Forever"
Dana White made a series of comments to the Houston Chronicle's Steve Sievert about the current steroid situation in the UFC, and a variety of media members have jumped all over them. Let me pile on! Says White:
It's a hot topic right now. I think it's a bit of a witch hunt (sic). It's a fun thing to talk about for the media. At the end of the day, guys have been taking steroids since the (expletive) 1960s. I think the media is making a lot out of it. Steroids have been here forever, and they're going to be here forever.
Like many other (pseudo) reporters have pointed out, it's not fun to write about steroids and sports. It's boring, predictable, and ultimately disappointing. I'm terrified that one of my favorite athletes will test positive for steroids, completely changing the memories I have of the moments he was involved in (think Red Sox and slugger). Recently, I felt totally taken by the UFC's pre-Stacked hype about Sean Sherk and his subsequent positive test (though I'm hoping he is ultimately exonerated).
I think White also misstates the availability of steroids in the mass marketplace. While steroids have chemically existed since the middle of last century, it's not like teenagers were able to procure them at local gyms or over the Internet. Steroids are more readily available for athletes of every stature in this day and age. While steroids might prove to be a problem for decades on, other sports have effectively eliminated issues with other illegal drugs. Baseball's cocaine crisis has largely diminished since the 1980s. Better drugs may come with more advanced testing, but tougher policies should curb widespread usage.
Sievert also had an update on former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. According to UFC booker Joe Silva, Arlovski is not scheduled for any upcoming fights, let alone the title shot that was rumored to be coming to him. Sievert went on to quote Dana White:
His last showing wasn't very great. That hurts a guy. It sets you back when you have a real bad showing like that, especially when you're in a division that's stacked.
UFCJunkie had an interesting take on the quote, comparing Arlovski's boring fights with Matt Hughes' lackluster victory over Chris Lytle. I think the key difference in that situation is that Arlovski already had a chance to win back his title, where as Hughes hasn't fought for the title since dropping it to GSP.
I think the most interesting thing about the Arlovski situation is that it completely explains why the UFC won't be publishing an official set of rankings anytime soon. Sherdog recently made noise by creating its first set of rankings recently, and we here at 411 are hoping to follow suit. While top ten lists on sites like ours are great for generating discussions, there isn't really an upside for the UFC to develop their own ranking system.
If Arlovski were officially ranked in the UFC's top 5, it would be harder for White to leave him out of the title picture. As it stands now, White has carte blanche to book whomever he wants into the hunt. A devastating striker can leapfrog "boring" competitors due to fan interest.
Personally, I blame Arlovski's in ring trouble on his competition. He's fought the extremely conservative Tim Sylvia, a ground fighter that he KOd in the first round (not exactly boring), and a debuting Fabricio Werdum who definitely didn't bring his A game. Put Arlovski in against a veteran striker not afraid to mix it up, and he'll be right back to his old self. A rumored fight with Brandon Vera would solve that rather effectively, I would think.
MacDonald to fight Okami The Fight Network is reporting that Canadian Jason MacDonald has verbally agreed to take on Japanese middleweight fighter Yushin Okami. Both fighters have recently lost to middleweight title contender Rich Franklin, though MacDonald rebounded with a somewhat shaky victory over Rory Singer. The fight may take place at UFC 77 in Ohio. The victor would jump back up into the title picture, while the loser would slip down and out of contention. It could be a good match, though MacDonald will have to deal with Okami's conservative style and strength. Sources:The Fight Network
McFedries out half a year? MMA on Tap is claiming that MFS Elite fighter Drew McFedries could be sidelined for between 6 and 8 months following surgery due to a staph infection. As reported last week, several MFS fighters (including Spencer Fisher and Tim Sylvia) contracted the infection. McFedries apparently was hit the hardest. You can read the gruesome details after the link. Here's hoping he recovers as quickly as possible. Sources:MMA on Tap
COMMENTARY
Excuses. Other than a positive steroid result, the last thing a fan wants to hear from a fighter is an excuse. An excuse for not making weight. An excuse for not coming into a fight in shape. An excuse for taking an opponent lightly. An excuse for losing. At the end of a fight, we want the combatants to shake hands, praise their opponent, and take responsibility for the result. Tim Sylvia was almost pilloried for talking about a back injury following his stunning upset at the fists of Randy Couture. Travis Lutter has lost numerous fans for his failure to make weight before his gift of a championship shot, and his ambivalence about the situation. Fans were even reluctant to hear out Hermes Franca following his drug suspension, dismissing claims about "having to feed my family," and injury woes.
While we might not want to hear excuses, that doesn't mean fighters aren't affected by external issues. I think, too often, we forget that the men and women who participate in MMA are human. And in a solitary sport, one without the team structure we are preferential to in the USA, issues in a fighter's personal life and with their health greatly affect results in the cage. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was widely expected to walk through Heath Herring in his UFC debut. Instead, he eeks out a unanimous decision after almost succumbing to a viscous high kick. Now, was that result due to Herring's ability as a fighter, or to the fact that Nogueira was adapting to fighting in the US, in a cage, and dealing with his departure from BTT? I think I have to side with the latter.
Now, this commentary isn't about Big Nog, or Tim Sylvia, or steroids (thank god). It's about Georges St-Pierre, the once and future king of the welterweight division, and a man who has come under fire recently, primarily for making excuses. I have been shocked at how quickly St-Pierre has fallen from being the UFC's brightest star to a fighter people love to discount. From the moment 10 to 1 underdog Matt Serra put the champ's lights out, GSP has taken criticism from bloggers, fellow fighters, and the president of the UFC himself. Is the criticism deserved? Will GSP bounce back from his loss? Am I a huge St-Pierre mark? The answer to each of those questions is yes, kind of.
We all know what happened to GSP at UFC 69. After taking the welterweight belt from arguably the greatest champion the sport has ever seen (and I'll argue in Matt Hughes' favor), St-Pierre was completely dominated by a fighter making his "comeback," a fighter who barely cracks the top 10 rankings at welterweight. Following the loss, GSP said the right things, living up to his reputation as one of the sport's classiest ambassadors. And then the wheels came off the bus.
First, GSP made some ill-advised comments on air with a Toronto sports talk radio station. Basically, St-Pierre admitted that he took Serra lightly, and entered the fight at less than 100%. St-Pierre went on to say:
If I was (sic) going to fight Matt Hughes I would never have taken the fight. I told myself, "Oh, its Matt Serra. I can beat this guy easily.
Having been alerted to the comments, Serra was nonplussed (to say the least). Well over a month after the fight, Serra is still talking about St-Pierre's rationalizing, pointing out how disrespectful it is (this coming from a man who will gleefully extend his 15 minutes of fame by riling up Matt Hughes at any opportunity). Was St-Pierre really so wrong? He lost focus, was lax in his training, and picked up a couple of nagging injuries. His physical state, couple with some personal issues we'll get to in a moment, greatly affected his in-ring performance.
A recent article in The Chronicle Journal of Ontario, Canada has addressed St-Pierre's state – both physical and mental – in greater depth. The article can be read at this link. It states that St-Pierre was stressed by the well being of both his father and a cousin. Both were in the hospital with potentially life-threatening illnesses. I think anyone can empathize with how difficult it can be to function when dealing with the potential loss of life. Even the strongest individual can be rendered helpless when faced with sickness. Yet, St-Pierre points to another issue as being his undoing. Says St-Pierre:
I forgot who I was, what was my No. 1 priority. I didn't realize how lucky I was, to have this opportunity to be world champion. Once I lost, I realized all that stuff and it made me regret a lot of things.
It's been speculated that following his championship victory, St-Pierre spent too much time enjoying the limelight and not enough focusing on his next opponent. At a time when MMA is more popular than ever, there are exponentially more distractions for the most popular fighters in the sport. It may have hurt Chuck Liddell before his loss to Quinton Jackson, and it definitely hurt GSP before his fight with Serra.
So now we know what affected St-Pierre before his first title defense. Does that change the way we look at the fighter? Before the fight, St-Pierre was widely considered the future of the weight class. Now, people are speculating that St-Pierre is mentally weak and not cut out for the highest level of competition. His next opponent, Josh Koscheck, has claimed that St-Pierre has a weak chin and can be broken. Sam Caplan, who writes for CBS Sportsline and the always-informing blog 5 Ounces of Pain even posted an article detailing why Koscheck will beat St-Pierre. I love Caplan's work and think he's one of the finest MMA reporters working today. But, in his article, Caplan speculates about St-Pierre's mental state without much evidence to back it up. Caplan supposes that St-Pierre looked flustered after the first round of his match-up with BJ Penn, even going as far to suggest St-Pierre had to be talked out of retiring from the fight.
Now, I have no issue with the first point. You say St-Pierre looked "flustered"? Well, he was just completely outclassed by one of the pound-for-pound best fighters the sport had ever seen. You know who else has looked "flustered" against BJ Penn? Almost everyone he has fought. But to suggest that St-Pierre was looking to quit is pure speculation. St-Pierre rallied to take a controversial split decision in the fight. I am one of those who believe Penn should have won but either way, St-Pierre still should be commended for making the comeback. He easily could have given up, and perhaps those doubts crept into his mind. But he fought back and managed to force a very difficult decision. If that isn't an example of mental toughness, I don't know what is.
The only other hiccup on St-Pierre's ledges is his loss to Matt Hughes. At the time, it was an issue. St-Pierre was nervous fighting an idol and began the match at a huge disadvantage. If a fighter doesn't believe in himself fully, there's no way he can win. When GSP tapped out with only seconds remaining in the round, he was a fighter looking for an out. But GSP exorcised those demons with his complete demolition of Hughes in their rematch. I have never seen a more impressive victory. St-Pierre dominated every aspect of the fight. Should the two meet again, you would have to invent an argument as to how Hughes would win.
Which brings us back to the current state of GSP's mind. We live in a culture that loves to tear down its idols. Whether we're talking about the hottest actors, the best new musicians, or our greatest athletes, there will always be a section of the audience hoping to see them fail. We built GSP up as the next big thing, and now we need to understand how he could lose to a fighter like Serra. Personally, I think he had an off night. He didn't train hard enough, he wasn't mentally prepared, and he overlooked an opponent he should have been able to beat. If the two fought 100 times, I think GSP would win 97. I find nothing wrong with GSP's behavior following his loss. On the night, he gave Serra his due and let him have his moment. But why shouldn't GSP speak his mind about what plagued him? I respect St-Pierre's honesty, and I don't think Serra should take his comments so personally. Serra was a 10-1 underdog for a reason, and he will be against Matt Hughes. Matt Serra is not an elite welterweight. There are 10 men in the UFC alone that I would rank higher than Matt Serra. And if Matt Serra has an issue with that, he can go and beat them in the ring, at which point I'll commend him.
Georges St-Pierre is better than Matt Serra. He has a better record. GSP beat Karo Parisyan and BJ Penn, Serra lost to both. GSP earned his 2cnd title shot by defeating a slew of top welterweight contenders (and the current lightweight champion). Matt Serra out pointed Chris Lytle with foot stomps. Matt Serra was better than GSP on one night in Houston, and St-Pierre admitted as much. But I'm not going to criticize GSP for telling it like it is: Serra got lucky, and should they fight again, GSP will probably walk right through him.
As for GSP, I haven't jumped off the bandwagon. Josh Koscheck may have been the first to defeat Diego Sanchez, but Sanchez had his own excuses for a lackluster performance. Koscheck hasn't really defeated anyone of note. Can he pull off another upset? Sure. But in the end, when St-Pierre dominates the match with his athleticism and in-ring intelligence, and Koscheck is foundering for an excuse as to why he lost via TKO early in the second round, I hope everyone gives GSP his due. He's come back from a crippling loss before, and begged to face his conqueror again. I don't know what more this man has to do to prove his mental toughness. I hope another lengthy string of victories over the top contenders in the world will satisfy his detractors.
CONCLUSION
Thanks for putting up with my extended thoughts on GSP. Next week we'll take a look at the upcoming UFC PPV card and I'll chime in with my spotty predictions. Here's hoping I can break .500 for the year!
