The MMA News Report 07.09.08

Posted by Morgan Marx on 07.09.2008

News on Fedor Emelianenko, which announcers made the cut for Affliction, and which fighters made the cut for WEC 35. Also, three (and a half) thoughts on UFC 86 that don’t center on Forrest Griffin’s leg kicks, Quinton Jackson’s “power strikes,” or terrible judging decisions. All right, maybe there’s a brief mention of the latter, but it’s small, I swear.

INTRODUCTION

After another memorable UFC event, MMA fans had much to talk about across message boards and talk radio airwaves alike. Now, however, the focus begins to turn toward Affliction and the UFC counter program featuring Anderson Silva. So let's wrap-up UFC 86 before we begin looking forward to the next great hope for MMA organizations. Or, as Affliction bills itself, "the greatest MMA show of all-time."


THE READERS QUESTION

I'm staying away from the Quinton Jackson v. Forrest Griffin debate, just briefly mentioning it in the introduction to my UFC 86 wrap-up below. However, I did have one thought on the whole judging debacle. Many opinions have been offered up on how to solve the issue with inconsistent decisions, ranging from a revamp of the 10 points must system, to new selection criteria before someone can become a judge.

The simplest answer that I haven't seen mentioned is to add more judges. I don't think a judging form exists that would eliminate the extreme subjectivity that leads to three judges scoring the same fight in three different ways. If two more judges were added to the group, the greater number of scores might eliminate the chance that one bad judging effort could sway a fight.

In any event, I'm not an expert, and I don't want to see MMA become Olympic figure skating. But it seems that a five judge system would be the simplest, fastest way to increase the precision in judging MMA fights.

I still think the 10-10 round that a judge gave during the Lytle v. Koscheck fight was a bigger head turner than the Griffin decision.

The Reader's Question: Is there a simple way to prevent odd judging decisions (such as Grove v. Tanner, or the judge that gave four rounds to Forrest) from happening? Would additional judges help or hurt?


NEWS LEG KICKS

Fedor to End 2008 with a Bang



(Affliction was nice enough to email me this banner, I'm getting as much out of it as possible. Expect to see it in every column from now till August)

After just four fights in three years, and a six-month layoff since his last appearance, Fedor Emelianenko is planning to close out 2008 with three appearances in less than six months. Vadim Finkelstein, Emelianenko's manager, discussed plans for Fedor's additional fights on the official website of M-1 Mix Fight, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Emelianenko will first participate at the inaugural Affliction event, titled "Banned," where he will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Those fearing that the event will be a "one and done" deal shouldn't worry, at least according to Finkelstein. Said the manager:

Two more fights are planned for Fedor in 2008. The first one in October in the context of the next Affliction show in conjunction with M-1 Global, and the second one at New Year's Eve in Japan.

While Fedor's contract situation remains muddled, to say the best, this is great news for fans hoping to see arguably the World's top heavyweight compete more regularly. Affliction has inked contracts with several of the top heavyweight free agents available. An October fight against the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, or Ben Rothwell is not out of the picture.

Fedor hasn't faced a consensus top 10 heavyweight since a 2005 clash with Mirko Filipovic. To think, he could face two such contenders (or Rothwell) within a three month span.

Sources: MMAWeekly.com

Affliction Confirms Announce Team

Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer, former UFC competitor Frank Trigg, and famed MMA referee John McCarthy will make up the announce team for Affliction: Banned, according to an official press release from the organization.

While initial reports suggested that PRIDE and Elite XC announcer Mauro Ranallo would handle play-by-play calls, the fledgling MMA company has turned to Glazer instead. Glazer is best known for his NFL work, including handling sideline-reporting duties for Fox NFL broadcasts. Additionally, Glazer is a senior writer for FoxSports.com.

However, unlike Elite XC's hiring of announcer Gus Johnson, Affliction has placed a premium on MMA experience. Glazer writes a monthly column for Fight! magazine and handled hosting duties for Fox Sports Net's PRIDE Championship show. Glazer, who trains at Arizona Combat Sports, was recently seen accompanying TUF finalist CB Dollaway to the cage, and sitting next to Chuck Liddell at UFC 86.

McCarthy's duties include both ringside commentary and interviews. It will be interesting to see where McCarthy ranks on the Bill Goldberg/Frank Mir/Ron Kruk awkwardness scale on in-cage interviewing.

Affliction: Banned takes place July 19 in Anaheim, California.

Sources:Affliction: Banned.com

WEC Finalizes August 3 Card



A trio of title fights will headline the WEC's next live card, schedule for August 3 in Las Vegas. Carlos Condit, Jamie Varner, and Brian Stann will each defend their straps, according to the WEC's official site.

Condit, currently enjoying a seven fight win streak, will defend his welterweight belt against Pancrase, DEEP, and K-1 veteran Hiromitsu Miura. Though only 9-4, Miura impressed during a decision loss to middleweight star Jason Miller at WEC 27. Miura bounced back to stop both Blas Avena and Fernando Gonzalez to up his WEC record to 2-1.

Varner recently captured the lightweight belt from feared striker Rob McCullough in February of this year. A stand out wrestler that fights out of Arizona, Varner beat McCullough at his own game, ending the fight with strikes in the third round. His first title defense comes against the unbeaten Marcus Hicks, known for his strong jiu jitsu game. The 32-year-old Hicks will be looking to score his most impressive win to date, and to improve his record to 7-0.

Finally, Stann will defend his light heavyweight strap against Steve Cantwell. Stann and Cantwell met in Stann's second WEC appearance, a fight that ended with Stann's hand held high after a 41-second KO. Cantwell has bounced back, scoring two first round stoppage victories since then. Cantwell will look to not only capture Stann's belt, but to end Stann's unbeaten run as well.

On the undercard, notable names like Damacio Page, Josh Grispi, Micah Miller (brother of recent UFC winner Cole Miller), Brock Larson, and Cub Swanson will also be appearing.

WEC 35 takes place August 3 from The Joint in Las Vegas. The event will air at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST live on the Versus Network.

Sources: WEC.com


COMMENTARY

Three Thoughts from UFC 86

It's no surprise that UFC 86's main event has overshadowed the rest of this past Saturday's card. The light heavyweight title fight received a vast majority of the pre-event hype due to the title on the line, the contestant's personalities, and the TUF related push the fighters received. However, I don't think anyone predicted that the major talking point following Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin's battle would center on judging in MMA and "what needs to be done" to fix things. Instead of rehashing the same arguments populating the entirety of the blogosphere, we'll focus on some of the lesser stories that emerged in Las Vegas. But first, because I'm contractually bound as an Internet MMA writer: yes, I thought the fight was very close, yes, I thought Griffin took round two by a 10-8 margin, no, I don't know how people (including judges) gave the opening round to Griffin, and in the end, I had it scored 48-46 in favor of Forrest. But I can just as easily see the argument made for a draw.

But that's enough of that. Let's take a look at some of the other themes from the evening.

1. Not Joe Silva's finest moment By and large, I find myself to be far more positive about the typical UFC event than many other "fans." But even I can't rate UFC 86 any higher than a B/B-, and the only reason the event evaded the C range is due to the main event. Going into Jackson's title defense I wrote, "This fight has to be a classic to salvage the show." I'm not sure that Jackson v. Griffin was the fight of the year, but it certainly saved the night for the UFC.

Why did the undercard fail to deliver the goods? Part of the responsibility has to fall on the match making choices of Joe Silva. Several fights, particularly on the main card, featured evenly matched opponents that effectively negated one another. In the two most obvious cases, we watched Josh Koscheck and Tyson Griffin, two fighters not known for their finishing ability, taking on two cagey veterans that had never been stopped in their careers (Chris Lytle and Marcus Aurelio respectively).

Both Koscheck and Griffin have faced criticism over their affinity for decision victories throughout their UFC careers. On Saturday night, it wasn't necessarily their fault. Koscheck did everything in his power to finish off Lytle, including opening several large gashes along the former TUF runner-up's brow. A lesser fighter certainly would have buckled under the pressure being applied by Koscheck, and a different referee might have stopped the fight when the blood loss took a visible toll on Lytle. As for Griffin, he fought a good fight against a dangerous opponent. I can't criticize Griffin for failing to finish a fighter that has survived against Takanori Gomi and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

Elsewhere, Patrick Cote and Ricardo Almeida did everything in their power to kill the crowd before the main event. Almeida gassed early in the fight, an almost inexcusable gaffe considering the title ramifications involved, no matter the personal issues in the BJJ expert's life. Cote seemed content to play things safe, a tactic similar to fights in which a title shot is guaranteed to the winner. Compare Cote's effort to that of Jon Fitch, another exciting fighter that dialed it back when the stakes were high.

In the end, not every UFC event can be "the best ever." If that were the case, the truly memorable nights wouldn't shine quite so bright. The UFC generally excels at pairing fighters with an entertaining result in mind. On Saturday, the combination of fighters needing wins to get back on track, fighters looking to score a title shot (and the money that comes with it), and the general talent depth in the organization conspired against fans. Thankfully, Jackson and Griffin made my investment in the night's card worth the $55.

2. What does Josh Koscheck need to due to catch a break? Look, I know why fans dislike Koscheck. His God-given talent gives him an edge of superiority. His early fights inspired the name of 411's Tuesday The Lay and Pray report. His TUF pedigree and antics, his somewhat awkward post-fight interviews, his constant shilling of endeavors like clothing lines, his goofy hair…the list goes on in terms of strike marks against Koscheck.

Still, I'm surprised that fans haven't begun to warm up to arguably the best wrestler within the UFC (now that Matt Hughes has declined). Everything I've ever read about Koscheck stresses his dedication to the sport, how much time he's invested in his MMA learning, and how he helps out fellow AKA trainees. Clearly, he loves to fight (Saturday's victory came during his eleventh UFC appearance in just over three years). Most importantly, Koscheck seems to have taken the criticism to heart and dedicated himself to becoming a more entertaining fighter. His slugfest with Dustin Hazelett showcased a fighter willing to risk defeat in search of a KO victory. And on Saturday, though his superior wrestling and ground control was on display, Koscheck poured on the aggression.

Several other fighters, titleholders in fact, failed to win crowd support even with major UFC marketing. Tim Sylvia and Sean Sherk both battled with public criticism and heckling. Sylvia's desire for adoration was so great that one has to wonder about the psychological make up of a man still seeking recognition and acceptance well into his thirties.

Unlike those two, Koscheck has never failed a drug test. Whether you like him or not, you can't claim that Koscheck has bent the rules of the sport or failed to respect the UFC in general. Koscheck is learning that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, people just aren't going to get behind you. Like other world-class athletes such as Alex Rodriguez, Koscheck may just have to live with being disliked. Hopefully without the infidelity however.

3. Gleison Tibau raises weighty issues I'm not good at judging people's characteristics. I'm not good with ages; generally, I assume everyone is within a few years of myself. Unless you're wrinkled and displaying cataracts, or obviously too young to remember snap bracelets and pogs, I figure you're somewhere between 24-27. I'm also terrible with weights. I couldn't tell you a fighter's walking weight if we were seated next to one another on a six-hour flight.

Perhaps that's the reason I don't get the fascination with Gleison Tibau's fight time weight. Maybe I just can't accurately judge how large he was post-weight in. Maybe that submission loss to Joe Stevenson is clouding the obvious advantage Tibau carried into his fight.

I get how cutting weight benefits certain fighters. Someone like Rich Franklin, a comfortable light heavyweight, must receive some benefit from cutting down to 185. But I'm beginning to think that the advantages of outweighing your opponent are being overblown. The constant refrain during the Tibau fight (and during the Aurelio fight to a lesser extent) focused on how much bigger the Brazilian fighters looked compared to their American counterparts. And still, both Brazilians lost.

Tibau is certainly a large lightweight. His Sherdog portrait could honestly be that of his ATT teammate Thiago Alves (or maybe I'm bad with faces as well). But he's 3-3 within the UFC, having lost to a true welterweight not known for his strength (Nick Diaz) and two mid-sized lightweights (Stevenson and Tyson Griffin). If there's such a big advantage from out-massing your opponent, why hasn't Tibau seen the bulk of the rewards?

Tibau's appearance just happened to happen at the time that many are discussing additional weight classes. I don't see how adding weight classes would prevent fighters from cutting to the absolute limit of their powers. If anything, additional "in between" classes might inspire more fighters to try and squeeze every last drop of water from their bodies in order to gain an indeterminate advantage.

Hopefully, fighters will learn naturally that cutting weight doesn't mean more wins. There will always be cases such as Michael Bisping in which fighters are performing above their natural class. However, there will also be fighters like Tibau, Dan Henderson, and Sean Sherk that didn't exactly set the world on fire with their lighter selves.

Extra Note Though it didn't come as much of a surprise, Gabriel Gonzaga's submission victory over Just McCully was important. Gonzaga needed to put on a clinic (to crib the announcers) in order to show that he has a future as a heavyweight contender. Down the road, if Gonzaga has racked up five more UFC wins and he's once again circling the heavyweight title, we might look back on those losses to Couture and Werdum as instrumental in aiding a young fighter's growth. There's no shame in losing to an all-time great like Couture, and with his win over Brandon Vera, Werdum has reaffirmed his position as a top five heavyweight. There's something about Gonzaga that draws me in, beyond his Massachusetts residency. Hopefully, he's got some more big wins in his future. The heavyweight division needs him.


CONCLUSION

That does it for another edition. We've introduced a slate of new writers her at 411, so peruse the site and see what other columns and reports you might fancy. Take care.