The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 9.02.08

Posted by Scott Kuczkowski on 09.02.2008

How do the DREAM and Strikeforce champions hold up to the Good/Bad/Ugly litmus test? Are there any standouts? Do any of them hold a candle to the champions in other organizations? Does Ken Shamrock have a chance against Kimbo? Will Randy Couture fight again in the UFC? We’ll talk about all this and more…

Greetings and welcome to another installment of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. This week we'll be breaking down the Strikeforce and DREAM Champions.

Before we get started I wanted to thank everyone for taking their time to respond to our columns with their thoughts and questions. We here at 411 enjoy getting your feedback on our work. If you think there is anything we can be doing to make this site better, make sure you let us know.

Well, let's jump right in and get started…

Good/Bad/Ugly

Josh Thomson: "The Punk" is the Strikeforce Lightweight Champion.

The Good: Josh won his title after a 5 round war with Gilbert Melendez in a fight that odds makers didn't give him a shot at winning. Thomson has great hand speed, impressive kicks, dominant wrestling/ground control, and very good jiu-jitsu. Thomson's last defeat came over 2 years ago at the hands of Clay Guida. Thomson is extremely popular and is very well spoken during interviews. Thomson is scheduled for fight a non-title bout at the upcoming event at the Playboy Mansion.

The Bad: This is difficult. There's not much bad to say about Thomason. He's a classy guy and a great fighter. Probably his biggest downfall is the fact that he's rarely mentioned in a conversation about Top 10 lightweight fighters, but continued success will hopefully change that.

The Ugly: None.


Cung Le: Current Strikeforce Middle weight Champion.

The Good: Cung Le burst onto the MMA scene in 2006 and has remained undefeated after 6 professional bouts, with all wins coming by way of KO or TKO. Le had a heralded San Shou career that saw him go 17-0 and dabbled in K-1 Kickboxing where he went 3-0. Le won the Strikeforce Middleweight championship from Frank Shamrock in an epic ballet that saw him break Shamrock's right arm with a series of kicks. Cung Le is currently taking a hiatus while filming the movie Tekken, where he will play Marshall Law.

The Bad: Being on hiatus and filming a movie means his title isn't being defended. Many people will point to the fact that the UFC is doing this with Big Nog, but Big Nog's shooting of TUF 8 will actually set up a title defense. Cung Le's filming of Tekken does nothing other than put the entire division on ice.

The Ugly: Cung Le's ground game is pretty much a mystery. Fans aren't sure it exists or to what extent it would be effective against a superior grappler. This has yet to be exploited during a fight though, so how ugly it actually is remains a mystery.


Bobby Southworth: Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion.

The Good: Southworth has been involved in the fight game since 1999. He has faced a number of talented fighters, most of whom defeated him.

The Bad: Watching Southworth fight is often like watching paint dry. His last fight with Ruiz was an abomination and cost the fans that witched it 25 minutes of their lives that will never be gotten back. I'd dare say that if it wasn't for his involvement in the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, most people wouldn't know who Southworth is. Actually, people probably still don't know who he is. Nor do they care.

The Ugly: I was hoping that Southworth would defend his title against Renato "Babalu" Sobral, in a bout he would most certainly lose, and then fade away into obscurity, but that fight is off due to injury.


Alistair Overeem: "Demolition Man" is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.

The Good: Overeem combines great Muay Thai striking with submission grappling. With 39 fights under his belt, Overeem has fought the who's who of MMA throughout his career. He holds victories over Igor Vovchanchyn, Vitor Belfort, Hark Hunt, and Paul Buentello. A possible future opponent for Overeem is Mirko Cro Cop.

The Bad: Lack of opportunities to defend the Strikeforce title. The list of Strikeforce heavyweight contenders for the belt is anemic itself, so the chance to defend the title is pretty much zero. I'd anticipate Overeem to hold onto the title until he signs with another promotion or Strikeforce goes out of business.

The Ugly: Having a heavyweight champion who has to fight in DREAM in order to find some semblance of competition.


Joachim Hansen: "Hellboy" is the current DREAM Lightweight Champion.

The Good: Hansen possesses outstanding striking with submissions and judo. Hansen's victory in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix was the classic story of an underdog, as he was an alternate for the injured Eddie Alvarez (the man who defeated him in a previous round). Hansen faced a tough Aoki in the final and finished with brutal ground and pound. A rematch against Alvarez is probably in the future.

The Bad: Hansen has had the majority of his fights with either Shooto, Pride, or DREAM, so his popularity in the US is pretty much confined to hardcore MMA fans. This may change though as MMA becomes more mainstream.

The Ugly: None.

Unrelated Musings

Shamrock vs. Kimbo: This seems like one of those instances where an idea sounds too bad to be true, but it's unfortunately not. This fight has train wreck written all over it.

Don't get me wrong; I understand why EliteXC booked this fight and I feel it probably will draw some decent ratings. Truth be told, almost any free MMA will draw somewhat decent ratings, but this fight will involve two names that many people will recognize and tune in for.

I have no idea why Ken Shamrock would ever agree to this fight. Ken Shamrock is 44 years old and has amassed an unimpressive 2-8 record since August 2000. While Shamrock is a legend in MMA and was a pioneer of the sport before anyone even knew what it was, he doesn't need to be fighting anymore. He especially doesn't need to be fighting against a guy known for having knockout power. Ken's last five losses all came via TKO without ever getting out of the first round. I just hope he doesn't get murdered in this bout.

More to the point, other than pure ratings, this fight is meaningless and lose/lose for both participants.

While Ken is a legend, most people understand he is way past his prime. Does a win for Ken (however unlikely) begin a resurgence of his career? It's doubtful at 44. Would he challenge for the EliteXC heavyweight title afterwards? Would EliteXC try to make him the "new" face of EliteXC? A loss just reemphasizes that he is past his prime and shouldn't be fighting anymore. A win puts EliteXC in a pickle as to who their next star should be. You can't try and pull a promotion that is $55M in the hole out of the red by building around a 44 year old fighter (unless his name is Randy Couture).

If (when) Kimbo wins, he's beaten a guy he should have beaten. This doesn't push him up any type of ladder in EliteXC (or elsewhere) nor does it further EliteXC's attempts to portray him as something other than a street fighter. If Kimbo loses, the EliteXC cash cow will have died and their opportunity for more ratings will die with it.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson: In a interview with Fighters Only Magazine, Rampage had the following to say about current Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin, who defeated Rampage on July 5th for the title:

"After the fight, I said ‘I've got to give you a lot of respect, because you hurt my leg and you had a good game plan'," he explains.

"But now, I don't respect him as a man. Because if it was me, I would have said, ‘I have to give him a rematch right away, to remove all doubt'.

"I'm a man and when you fight it's all about honour. I'm not angry at him or anything, don't get me wrong, but I've lost respect for him as a man."

Excuse me? Maybe I read that wrong, but did Rampage say he lost respect for Forrest because Forrest isn't demanding an immediate rematch? Was Rampage so fucked up after their last fight that he didn't hear Forrest say he would fight Rampage again? I heard it, and I think a bunch of other people heard it too, so I'm pretty sure it's been said.

Let's not beleaguer the fact that this criticism is levied by a man who two days after his loss committed a couple of felonies and was arrested at gunpoint. I'll also try to forget that his friends called the cops a few days later because they feared for his safety and wanted him mentally evaluated.

I'm wondering - did Rampage expect Forrest to send a note with Dana White to give to Rampage while he was posting his bail that read: "Let's have a rematch"? Is that what Forrest should have done? Should Forrest have gone to the media and accepted a rematch on the air – immediately preceding footage of Rampage in the back of the patrol car? Should he have gotten into the ring at UFN 14 and said, "Rampage and I are going to fight again – assuming his ass doesn't get sent to jail."? I have no idea what he expected.

Maybe Rampage should consider that Forrest has been silent out of respect for him and because he figures mentioning a rematch would only cast more light on Rampage and his problems.

Maybe the UFC told the fighters not to comment on Rampage or his next fight until they determined how they were going to handle things.

Or maybe...just maybe…Dana White and Joe Silva book the matches and Forrest doesn't get to name his opponents like KJ Noons and BJ Penn do. Maybe that's the answer.

For a man who is speaking about respect, Rampage should be worrying about his fans losing their respect for him.

Gan McGee: "The Giant" recently released a Top 10 list of guys he wants to fight. It includes such names as Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Josh Barnett, Heath Herring, and Fedor Emelianenko.

Now, I think Gan is showing an awful amount of initiative by calling all these guys out, but maybe he should try winning a fight before he starts calling out the remainder of the heavyweight division. I'd even be happy if he held a victory over someone who is remotely relevant to the heavyweight landscape. Heck, I'd be happy if he just had a fight under his belt in the past 4 years.

But hey, that's just me.

Randy Couture: I never thought I'd be writing that Randy Couture may have come to terms with the UFC, but if the rumors are true, it may just happen.

Apparently Couture is in talks with the UFC to either finish out his contracted fights or agree to a mega bout with Fedor Emelianenko to be held in the UFC.

Like many people, I never thought this issue would be settled in time for Randy to have a meaningful fight career left, but it looks like the ball is rolling and progress is being made. There are several possible opponents for Randy floating around, but I just think it's cool that he might be fighting again in the UFC.

The Wrap

Well, that's all for this week.

Eventually I'm going to have to tackle the WEC champions, but I don't know when I'll get to that.

Be sure to hit up the other columns/reports on this site and let the writers know what you think of their work.

That's all I got.