UFC 79 Nemesis - Aftermath
GSP Dominates
I guess 110% of Matt Hughes only equals about 65% of Georges St. Pierre.
Hughes will go back and question his career, while GSP will be sitting pretty for a while. Who knows how long it will be until Serra is back and that’s a reasonably marketable match up. However, there is one fighter that continues to loom in the background and is patiently waiting for their shot, and that’s Jon Fitch. If GSP were to beat Serra, and then take out Fitch, he’ll be the supreme ruler of the 170 division. The UFC can only hope this will happen, because GSP could be a very marketable fighter.
Hughes still has some fights left in him. He can face Karo Parysian, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and even Diego Sanchez if he doesn’t decide to drop to the 155 division. There’s also the match against Arch Rival Matt Serra that was marketed for so long. Whether Serra wins or loses, he’d be up for a shot against him, so Hughes shouldn’t consider retiring just yet.
Chuck’s Still Here (In My Face)
I guess when I said the fact that styles make fights didn’t matter here. I was talking out of my ass. Chuck made me look foolish by putting a beatdown on Wanderlei. Silva looked TINY compared to Chuck, and the only time Chuck got hit is when he got into range. Chuck could have played it like Machida and just popped him at distance all three rounds. But, Chuck is Chuck. And he engaged with him multiple times, and almost paid for it, but Wanderlei was too slow to jump on a downed Liddell.
The questions still remain about the Pride guys. Shogun looked small against Forrest, but it could have had something to do with his knee, while Wanderlei looked so small, compared to his Pride days. The steroid questions still loom and with each fight they lose, the questions will get larger.
Chuck can face Shogun and probably land a title shot if he’s able to win. Chuck vs. Shogun would be an intriguing match up and would be a big seller.
Wanderlei could have his rematch with Tito, or go against a powerhouse slugger like Houston Alexander. Thiago Silva would also make a great match. It’s hard to tell if Wanderlei is going to be able to get himself set up for any type of a title shot. He’s got a long road ahead of him, and hopefully he’ll be able to regain some of the dominance that he once had.
Sokoudjou Overrated, or Lyoto Machida Underrated?
It’s a little of both. If you’re going to get in the ring/octagon and stand and trade with someone with as much power as Sokoudjou has, you’re asking for trouble. The guy is so strong, he has the kind of power to knock just about anyone out. He’s still a raw talent and has a much better head on his shoulders than Melvin. He’ll come back strong.
Lyoto is looking like the man to beat in the 205 division right now. Lyoto will get the tasks of fighting the fights nobody wants and that fight is against Keith Jardine. A win against Jardine would cement a shot against the Champion, or at the very least, a fight against Liddell. His path to the belt is almost complete.
Melvin Continues to be a Waste of Talent
Melvin is just not good on the big stage. He needs to go to the WEC and learn how to win again. He needs to check his attitude and ego at the door, get re-centered, and make a comeback. The guy is pure, raw talent, and he’s squandering it at the moment. The good thing for him is that he’s so young; he can lose fights now and still have a good career.
There are murmurings around the net about Rich Clementi’s little crotch chop to Melvin after beating him. Why anyone thinks this was unjustified is beyond me. Melvin got in the ring, walked over and gave him the double middle finger. Melvin is just lucky Rich didn’t hold in the choke and put him unconscious. Melvin brought this all on himself, and now he has to once again get back on the recovery trail.
M-1’s Offer to UFC - Pros and Cons
As being widely reported around the blogosphere, M-1 offered the UFC a chance to cross-promote and bring Randy vs. Fedor to the fans.
“We got an official offer from M-1 to the UFC to do a co-promotion for the Couture-Emelianenko fight, and they (UFC) rejected that offer. Really, the only thing standing in the way for that fight right now is Dana and the UFC. Obviously, M-1 is happy to do a co-promotion like that. It only serves to help them. I think the UFC is looking at it the other way, and it’s like why do we want to help out another organization? The fans want to see that fight. At some point, you have to put that first.”
- Source
So let’s go over the pros and cons of the matter.
PRO
If Randy wins, he successfully KILLS M-1 in the process. The only thing M-1 has going for itself is Fedor. If Randy knocks Fedor off his pedestal, then say goodnight M-1. One of the few reasons why M-1 would offer this chance to the UFC is because they KNEW the UFC would say no, thus making the UFC look bad in the process.
CON
The UFC allows M-1 to enter the casual fans’ scope. Do we really believe that the casual fan is all of a sudden going to jump on the M-1 bandwagon? M-1 has no bandwagon! It’s stalled at the interstate after people dove off when they announced Fedor was going to be fighting Choi Hong Man!
PRO
This is a SUPERFIGHT. This is a dream matchup for a lot of fans, deservedly or not, and people want to see this fight. This is a chance at big money. With lackluster PPV main events lately, the UFC is going to need some kind of punch down the road. Lesnar vs. Mir is not what I call a great main event. The label Superfight has been tossed around lately; the inevitable Pulver vs. Faber fight has been labeled a SUPERFIGHT by some. If no one watches a fight, does it still make a sound?
CON
Randy loses. Randy will not be the Heavyweight title holder at the time. You get that matter settled before you have this fight take place. Although if Nogueira beats Sylvia, Dana White will look doubly as bad about saying Fedor is not a top-5 Heavyweight. Randy losing is not the end of the world. He’ll have gotten the last fight he wanted in his career, and Fedor and M-1 will go back to living in obscurity. The only way M-1 is going to benefit from this is if they some how parlay it into a television deal. It’s doubtful that they’ll be able to accomplish this, with one big fighter and you know… Nothing else.
This fight is most likely going to take place eventually. The UFC may drown Randy in legalities, but eventually he’ll be able to fight again. The UFC maintains control, whether it happens under their banner or not.
Enough With the Nicknames
I don’t mind nicknames that are actually viable to the person. Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, Frank “Twinkletoes” Trigg, etc. But now they’re just playing mad libs with peoples nicknames. This isn’t the WWE, not every fighter needs a nickname, and at the very least the nickname doesn’t need to be stupid.
Here’s some of the new ones that the UFC or whoever, has picked out for some of the TUF guys.
Billy Miles - “The Kid”
Oh.. I get it, Billy the kid. Real fucking original.
Ben Saunders - “Killa B”
Not only did they spell Killer, the gangstah way. They have the nerve to leave out the EE in BEE. It’s a nickname some dumb 12 year old kid would use in Halo 3.
Richie Hightower - “The Dirty Samurai”
I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean. It sounds like a disgusting sex move that Dustin “Screech” Diamond used in his sex tape.
And then just pulling from various parts of the UFC site you have these gems of wisdom.
- Eddie Sanchez - “The Manic Hispanic”
- Marcus Davis “The Irish Hand Grenade”
- Josh Burkman “The People’s Warrior”
- Josh Haynes “Bring The Pain”
I think Mike Goldberg must be coming up with these nicknames, because he has no friends and needs something to do in the downtime. They sound cheesy enough to be something that came out of his mouth.
The moral of the story is… Well… There is no moral. Enough with these stupid ass nicknames, they make the sport look ridiculous. Keep with using nicknames sparingly, instead of lobbing them against a wall and seeing which sticks.
Jens Pulver Knocked out Joe Stevenson. Who knew?
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