MMA News from Pro Fighting Fans

UFC Update

10-26-09

Machida vs. Shogun Fallout:

Message boards and outlets are full of disgust regarding the outcome of Shogun vs. Machida at UFC 104 for the Light Heavyweight Title.  Many believe the judges unanimous 48-47 decision in favor of Machida was just another ridiculous decision in a long line of debatable outcomes.

Do judges truly operate under the premise that to beat a champion the challenger must clearly outpoint him?  Their answer would be no but that is difficult to believe.  Shogun clearly won 3 out of the 5 rounds in a fight that consisted of little action.  Hopefully a rematch will happen and consist of more fireworks.

Following Boxing’s Path

In the past, MMA apologists often point to “boring” boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Jr in an effort to prove their sports superiority.   They  argue that the bouts are methodical with the only goal to outpoint their opponent.  Now what do they say?  Today’s MMA is full of the same type of fights only most happen on the ground.  At UFC 104 it happened on the feet with Shogun and Machida and on the ground with Gleison Tibau and Josh Neer.  Enough has been said about the title bout but the Tibau/Neer fight was incredibly dull with Tibau’s takedowns being the only “aggressive” action taken.  Tibau then laid on Neer for the majority of the time without improving his position.  The goal to outpoint your opponent now closely resembles the boxing matches MMA loyalists despise.

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”- Sir Winston Churchill .  There are plenty of items to learn from boxing’s decrease in popularity.  In my opinion the most critical lesson is title fights which include undeserving opponents for rating purposes only.  With the likes of Don King, Bob Arum and various other unsavory characters boxing lived off exaggerated- over hyped fights.  With that being said, how does Vitor Belfort deserve a title shot against Anderson Silva?  Belfort has only fought one fight in his return to the UFC and it was held at a catch weight of 195.  Belfort defeated Rich Franklin who is no longer a contender in the Middleweight Division.  The division’s top contenders Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson are probably asking the same question.  Factor in the astonishing press coverage of Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter and the sport’s biggest promotion reeks of boxing’s past.

Missing Pride

Seldom did Pride Fighting Championship fans witness bouts that were not entertaining.  The famed yellow card would be thrown anytime the action was brought to a halt whether in the stand up or on the ground.  In addition, Pride officials were much quicker to bring the fight to the center in the ring when a fighter was not trying to improve his position.

I for one am in favor of the yellow card and would like to see it employed on US soil.

UFC 106

According to the official UFC website, www.ufc.com, Brock Lesnar is out of UFC 106 due to an undisclosed illness.  His departure creates a major void for the event now dubbed Ortiz vs. Griffin 2.  UFC 106 will follow a UFC 105 event which also lacks a title bout featuring Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera.  Stay tuned to www.profighting-fans for future updates.

Scott Dryden, Editor-in-Chief

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under MMA General, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.