My Take On MMA 9.22.08: Thoughts on UFC Fight Night – Diaz vs. Neer and Elite XC Stripping KJ Noons of the Lightweight Title

Posted by Larry Csonka on 09.22.2008

Or maybe I should call this column, "the victory of the Diaz brothers."



WELCOME~!:
Welcome back to another edition of My Take on MMA! Firstly I apologize for not having this done sooner, it's been a busy time and really, I just didn't have time to sit down and finish this column until Saturday night, and in a way I am glad I did. The bad news is that I am a bit late in discussing the latest fight night, but the good news is that I get to discuss EliteXC stripping KJ Noons of the Lightweight Title. It isn't all-bad I suppose. Thanks for joining me and I hope that you enjoy the column.


Final UFC Fight Night – Diaz vs. Neer (9.17.08) Thoughts:

The Fight: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Houston Alexander (8-3-1nc) vs. Eric Schafer (11-3-2draws):
My Pick: Alexander, STRIKES, RD1
The Result: Eric Schafer via RD1 (4:53) submission
Final Thoughts: The night kicked off with the hometown hero Houston Alexander facing off with Eric Schafer. Alexander usually gets a superstar reaction, due to his crazy style and quick knockouts. But after a first round humbling from Thiago Silva and a lightning fact knockout loss to James Irvin, Alexander was in need of a win and what better place to do it then in his hometown? Schafer was 1-2 in the UFC, and needed the victory to get back on track in the Light Heavyweight Division, an important battle for both men. Alexander came out on fire and got Schafer down early and the crowd was electric, and it appeared as if Alexander was going to get back on the winning track. Unfortunately Schafer survived the early onslaught, and that is when it was over for Alexander. Schafer got him down, kept him down and Alexander had no answer for this. After some fighting by Alexander, Schafer would get the arm triangle and Alexander had no choice but to tap. Schafer has losses to Bonnar and Bisping, and now wins over Alexander and MacDonald in the UFC. He'll have to do a lot of work to climb up the ranks for a title shot, but he is on the right track. The big question now is what to do with Alexander. Alexander falls to 2-3 in the UFC with THREE straight losses. The man has NO answer when he gets talent to the ground and doesn't appear to be evolving either. While they may not let him go right now, due to him signing a new deal not too long ago. But one would have to think that if he loses again, especially in the first round, that he will be the loser that will be leaving town. This was a fun fight to open the show.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.5

The Fight: MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Alan Belcher (12-5) vs. Ed Herman (16-5):
My Pick: Herman, SUB, RD2
The Result: Alan Belcher via split decision (29-28 Belcher, 29-28 Herman, 29-28 Belcher)
Final Thoughts: An interesting note here is that this match was announced in the building as a split decision for Belcher, but after the show the Nebraska commission announced there was a scoring error and the decision was actually unanimous. To say that I disagree is an understatement. While my initial scoring of 30-27 I feel is wrong now, due to me going back to watch the fight again. I do believe that Herman won the fight 29-28. I feel that round one went to Herman, while Belcher had solid striking, in my opinion it was under whelming to say the least. Herman has two late takedowns and was working for submissions and that was enough for me. Upon reflection I would have to say that round two went to Belcher. The work on his feet was much better in this round and I felt that even with the late takedown that Herman just didn't do enough. Round three I will also say was close, and I could see it going to Belcher, but while Herman was tired, he did have the takedowns and I felt that Belcher was like round one, under whelming. The judges apparently saw it differently, but I say this was much closer than most are saying. Ed Herman falls to 14-7 overall with a 3-4 record in the UFC. This loss was devastating to his upward mobility. Belcher got the win, but doesn't leave the fight looking any better than when he went into it. He improved to 4-3 in the UFC, but will need to rack up victories, and impressive ones at that to get noticed as a contender.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 6.5

The Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Mac Danzig (19-4-1draw) vs. Clay Guida (23-6):
My Pick: Mac Danzig, RD3, Sub
The Result: Clay Guida via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Final Thoughts: Clay Guida did his best to drop the gatekeeper mentality many have about him with a big win over Ultimate Fighter winner Mac Danzig. This was a chance for Danzig to get a win over a quality opponent and quickly climb the ranks, but he didn't have the conditioning or sprawl to do so. Guida keeps an insane pace that not many can keep up with, and when he has control and can dictate the bout, no one has an answer for him. The fight was three rounds of Guida controlling the fight as he took Danzig down whenever he wanted too and kept him there. While some complained that this is all Guida did, the fact is that he won the fight and looked good doing so. Danzig drops to 2-1 in the UFC but still has a long future ahead of him if he keeps going the way he is, he just ran into a wild man that he couldn't contain. Guida gets a very important victory here, as he improves to 5-3 in the UFC. Guida needed the victory in a bad way, and he did what was needed to do so. If he can keep the intense pace, the great conditioning and perhaps add some finishing skills to his arsenal, he could start to climb that ladder once again. One thing is for sure, I am never bored when Clay Guida is fighting.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.5

The Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Nate Diaz (9-2) vs. Josh Neer (24-6-1draw):
My Pick: Diaz, SUB, RD2
The Result: Nate Diaz via split decision (29-28 Neer, 29-28 Diaz, 29-28 Diaz)

Final Thoughts: This was a fight that I was looking forward to. While the main event didn't have a ton of star power, I have come to enjoy Nate Diaz much more than his brother. Overall the fight was a damn good one. Round one saw Neer come out and dominate early as I thought he would, but Diaz would gain control with takedowns and that annoying, but effective Diaz striking game. Both displayed good groundwork, but Diaz came out on top in round one. Round two was another good round as this quickly developed into a hell of a fight. Neer got things turned around and even though Diaz looked good when the round ended, it was clearly Neer's round. So we had a very close fight and went to round three, and once again, we got a great round. Neer fought for his life, but Diaz not only controlled but just had an answer for everything that Neer tried. Diaz took round three on my card and ended up with a split decision. A close, yet great fight with a ton of excellent work from both fighters, this was a joy to watch. So now where do we go with young Nate Diaz? With the victory over Neer is now improves to 5-0 in the UFC, and is making a claim to a title shot. With Penn tied up with the GSP bout, they will likely have Diaz fight again, but who will he fight? I wish that Manny Gamburyan had won his last fight, because they had the natural rematch there. Manny was winning their fight the last time until the unfortunate shoulder separation, but I feel that the potential fight there is cold due to him getting KTFO in 12-seconds against Rob Emerson. Hermes Franca was another possible opponent due to him having a win over Diaz back at WEC 24. But with him losing his last fight as well, that fight is also cold. With Ken Flo and Joe Stevenson facing at UFC 91, I am not sure who they will match him against.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.5

The Overall:
Best Fight(s): MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Alan Belcher (12-5) vs. Ed Herman (16-5): 6.5
Worst Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Nate Diaz (9-2) vs. Josh Neer (24-6-1draw): 8.5
Final Thoughts: At the end of the night I thought we got a very good show, especially for free. Like many I would have liked to see some of the prelims, especially since some were short and apparently a ton of fun, but when you have three fights go to decision, that eats away at the time. The show may have lacked "star power" but it was a good event, and the rating was solid. For those interested, I went 1-3 on the main card, and 4-2 on the prelims to give me a pathetic 5-5 effort. I won the Sengoku 4 pick'em title and came in second place for the UFC 88 card. But the picking luck has run dry. Ah well, you can't win them all. Hopefully I do better next time.

Show Score: 8.0

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~My Take On Elite XC Stripping KJ Noons of the Lightweight Title~
I have discussed this many times, and in the end I still feel the same. I have been a fan and supporter of KJ Noons more than anyone on this website. I never thought people gave him enough credit he deserved and I thought he was a good up and coming fighter, despite losing to Charles Bennett. I was so strong in my beliefs that I picked him to beat Diaz and to retain against Yves. I think with continued work he could be a very good MMA fighter for years to come.

Also, let me state that I am NOT the biggest fan of Nick Diaz. I feel that I needed to share that as well. While some love Diaz and all his shit talking, I have just never been that impressed with the guy. Noons tooled Diaz in their first fight, he busted him open to the degree that it needed stopped by the doctor, and I have felt that they NEEDED, yes that they needed to have a rematch. I loved that Noons won, because Elite MADE the division (160lbs) JUST for Diaz and they got screwed in the end. Diaz missed weight against Corbrey, and I thought that it was very unprofessional. When that happened I supported Noons stating that he needed to not only win but also make weight to earn a title shot. Training, making weight and pissing clean is your JOB, Diaz failed at that so I supported Noons. But before the Corbrey fight, Diaz soundly defeated Katsuya Inoue and then most recently took out Thomas Denny LIVE on CBS. Denny is a sound veteran that did well early, but ultimately failed. I feel that it was a very strong win, again for Diaz.

Diaz is 3-0 since the loss to Noons, a loss in where it was decided by a doctor, but a loss nonetheless. I think that more than proves that he deserves the shot. Add onto this that they shot the hot angle in Hawaii and they HAD a MONEY FIGHT on their hands. Elite knew it, Diaz knew it and for some reason KJ has developed sand in the vagina and wants no part of it. Some say that it is fear, others say Noons is trying to re-negotiate his deal because he knows it is money and that he is underpaid. And that's what it seemed to come down too. Noons signed a lowball deal with his boy Gary Shaw. Noons is Gary Shaw's boy and creation, but all he did was complain about the deal, say Diaz was unworthy, and call out Eddie Alvarez as his "real #1 challenge."

I had said that you cannot hand pick opponents and that EliteXC should strip him of the title not only because Diaz deserves a rematch, but also because Noons is pissing away one of their few money matches which is hurting the company as a whole. With rumors of the company's financial woes and the possibility that Showtime will buy the company out from Elite, they made the call on September 20th to strip Noons of that title. According to Elite, "We are stripping KJ of his championship belt for refusing to defend against Diaz. It's a very unfortunate situation but we cannot have belt-holders who refuse to fight the top contenders. We want champions who will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace. That's the mentality all champions should have." And really that's the way it should be. Elite makes a ton of mistakes and has basically wasted millions of dollars, but I feel that they are in the right here.

KJ Noons screwed KJ Noons. I don't mean to get all wrestling on you here, but he did. Sure he had a shitty deal, but he was the champion, he got bonuses, he had sponsors and the fight with Diaz on CBS would have meant money and exposure for him. But he turned it all down and decided that HE would choose who was "deserving" of a title shot. It doesn't work that way, Elite has stripped him of the title and will NOT be releasing him right now. They plan to have him fight the remaining fights on his contract as of today. I say fuck him and put him on ShowXC or better yet some obscure Cage Rage show in Gambia for those fights. Go away and go back to boxing. And on the note of contracts, I am SO SICK and tired of contracts meaning jack and shit these days across the board. A coach sings on to coach a school for 8-years and can get out the next year. A guy signs a deal in the NFL, has ONE good year and all of the sudden he feels he deserves the TOP DOLLAR DEAL right away. I will agree that sometimes contracts need renegotiation and such, but sometimes you have to man up and accept what you signed and just accept that and fulfill your obligations.

So what will we do with this big old shiny belt that they have taken from Noons? One would expect that Diaz is in the picture, and the rumor mill is already running and as of now, there is a frontrunner for the title match. As of today a Nick Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez fight for the vacant EliteXC lightweight title at the upcoming November show, which is scheduled to air on Showtime is the most likely fight. Diaz deserves a shot at the title, and I think that Alvarez is a great person to match him up with. Alvarez is 15-1, with his only loss being to Nick "THE GOAT" Thompson in April of 2007. Since then he has gone 5-0, with wins over Ross Ebanez, Matt Lee, Andre Amade, Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri. I think Diaz vs. Alvarez will be a hell of a fight if it happens. I find it very funny that Alvarez could be fighting for the title, considering that Noons was so intensely stating that he should be in a title match. But now, it won't be with Noons, and the only man he has to blame is the one that looks back at him in the mirror.