Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Matt Hughes: The Welterweight Icon

I'm not a hardcore Matt Hughes fan. I don't think he's the best fight in the world at 170 right now (I rank him #3, behind Georges St. Pierre and Shinya Aoki), but there are some things about Hughes that every hardcore fan knows only he has done.

After all, no one else has knocked an opponent out with at 170 pounds.

No one has defended a title (in any weight class) 7 times. (Tito Ortiz is second with 5 defenses, Chuck Liddell has 4)

No one else has destroyed Jiu-jitsu legend the way that Hughes did.

No one else has held the 170 pound title more than once.

He's a living legend, and the fact that he may hold the belt for a 3rd time if he defeats Matt Serra in November.

Matt Hughes will go into his fight with Serra the favorite, because many believe that Serra's win over former champ Georges St. Pierre was a fluke and have a hard time respecting anyone who was on TUF 4.

While many think that the way St. Pierre beat Hughes (demolishing him with a headkick a minute and a half into round 2) has demoralized Hughes, they know that the incredibly strong wrestle from Hillsborough, Illinois is going to have a hard time getting back in the mix. After all, after he was beaten by BJ Penn the first time he lost his title, he was quick to take it back.

While Hughes' wrestling skills are well documented and well known, there is one facet of his game that everyone who "analyzes" the Serra fight seems to forget about. Matt Hughes is very good with submissions.

At Abu Dhabi (the worlds top submission wrestling competition, Hughes holds a record of 2-2, with a win over 185 pound grappling legend Jeremy Horn (Hughes competes at 170 pounds in MMA). His two losses are to former lightheavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz (a 6 time defending UFC champion at 205 pounds) and Jeff Monson (a former heavyweight title competitor in the UFC who weighs about 240 pounds and has held the ADCC Heavyweight and open weight titles).

Matt Hughes is only 1 of 2 fighters to repeat his success in the UFC and take back a belt he has lost. The other is Randy "The Natural" Couture (who has done it 5 times in 2 weight classes). If Hughes beats Serra he will up his number to 3 at 170 pounds.

Hughes has already sealed his place in the UFC hall of fame and will, without a doubt, be remembered for championing the 170 pound division longer and more powerfully than any fighter in the sport so far.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Koscheck Conspiracy

My latest conspiracy in the UFC might seem trivial to alot of people, but if I were Jon Fitch, I'd be fucking pissed.

Joe Silva, Dana White and whoever else is responsible for those sort of decisions at the UFC set up the high profile matchup of former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre (13-2) v Josh Koscheck (9-1), one of the high-profile offspring of the Ultimate Fighter reality show.

While Koscheck recently ended the undefeated run of Diego "The Nightmare" Sanchez (17-1), I don't think that it's fair to give Koscheck his shot at the well recognized #3 man in the UFC Welterweight division (St. Pierre follows behind current Champion Matt Serra and former champion/UFC icon Matt Hughes).

Look at it this way, it wasn't so long ago that Koscheck was tapping out from a rear naked choke applied by Drew Fickett. While he has beaten some very accomplished opponents in Sanchez, Jeff Joslin (5-3), Jonathan Goulet (19-8), Ansar Chalangov (7-3), and former UFC Middleweight champion Dave Menne (39-15-2) since then, he stopped two opponents. Goulet submitted due to strikes and Chalangov due to rear naked choke.

In 5 fights, Koscheck has only finished without the help of the judges twice and has been remarkably boring, but who else deserves the shot at St. Pierre.

What about Jon Fitch?

Jon Fitch (14-2, 1 NC) has won his last 13 fights, 6 of which were in the UFC.

In his 6 UFC appearances, Jon Fitch has not been given any respect. Only recently did the UFC start to hail him as "the best kept secret in the welterweight division." Damn right he is, after all, no one else in the world has won 6 in a row.

Not only has Fitch kept his perfect UFC record of 6-0 unblemished when he beat very dangerous Brazilian Roan "Jucao" Carniero (11-6), submitting Jucao with a rear naked choke in the second round. While Fitch was dominated in the first, he showed resiliance and came back with a groundnpound performance that shocked everyone. No one gets out-wrestled in the first round and then holds their opponent down for that kind of an ass-whupping in the second, right?

Apparently, Jon Fitch does.

Fitch's other victories in the UFC include a submissions of top contenders Josh Burkman (8-4) and Luigi Fiorvanti (9-3) along with a TKO of Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves (11-3).

Not only does it look like Fitch should be fighting St. Pierre on paper, but even stylistically and from a fan's perspective, Fitch deserves that high card fight.

After all, Koscheck is a great wrestler, but he uses a lay and pray attack, which is why he has so many decisions. He is meticulous and slow when he's working, he's not explosive and he's not fun to watch. He also has really only displayed his one-dimensional wrestling.

While Fitch doesn't have the NCAA wrestling pedigree that Koscheck has, he does have a D-1 wrestling backround, and his standing, powerful ground and pound is something that is, honestly, really fun to watch.

Koscheck is a great, technical wrestler, but he doesn't stand over his opponents while hammering them with punches the way that Fitch does. He doesn't have aggressive attack skills, just meticulous and constant ground control.

Koscheck goes to a position than attacks, that's not what Fitch does.

In the eternal style of great ground and pounders like Fedor Emelianenko and Tito Ortiz, Fitch attack from anywhere. He passes guard while throwing strikes. That's his form of ground control.

This is all just me theorizing, but I think that Fitch's credentials and exciting skills make him a much better candidate for a position making shot than Koscheck.

I guess it won't matter, since Georges St. Pierre is going to beat Koscheck anyway.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Randy Couture: The Smartest

Sorry to whoever is readying out there in internet land, I've been gone the last two weeks. I apologize, but I'm back now and here's the new bit:

There are guys who can beat Randy Couture. I have a hard time seeing the current UFC heavyweight champion coming out on top of his upcoming title defense against the Brazillian behemoth of Gabriel Gonzaga.

Personally, I have Couture hanging around the #8 spot of modern MMA heavyweight fighters, but when it comes to knowledge of the sport, Randy Couture is the Alpha and the Omega. As far as I'm concerned, Randy Couture is the prophet of MMA.

There are alot of reasons you can find for Coutures intelligence: Division I education; world class wrestling pedigree and constant exposure to some of the best fighters in the world at Team Quest. He's the oldest title holder in the history of the sport (holding UFC Heavyweight hardware at 43), he has repeated his success in multiple weightclasses (Couture has held heavyweight gold 3 times and the lightheavyweight strap twice) and he has been a constant force in the sport, in and out of the cage, since the 90's, with every performance being a memorable one (everything from his victories over Tito Ortiz, Pedro Rizzo and his first win over Chuck Liddell to his losses to Liddell and Josh Barnett are well remembered by the hardcore fans).

Whateer the causes and the results, one thing remains:

Randy Couture is smart.

Whether he is knocking down a 6'8 striker with an overhand right, outboxing a legendary power-puncher or spanking a top groundnpounder, Couture is a force.

Will he beat Gonzaga?

Will he ever retire?

Will he ever fight a top PRIDE fighter?

I don't know, but I'll be watching.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Greg Jackson: It Must Be His Birthday

I revere Greg Jackson.

When I watch one of his fighters step into the cage I know that it's going to be a fight, because that fighter is going to do something new.

I'm not saying I always bet on Jackson's fighters (I'm betting against Marquardt on Saturday), but I never count them out.

Greg Jackson is one of the guys who watches fighting as an art, looks for new things that he can try, new ways to win and new ways to make the sport interesting. He is always looking to take his fighters to the next level in their conditioning and their intelligence.

When I saw Rashad Evans kick Sean Salmon in the head I was shocked. I was surprised that a short, thick wrestler like Evans would consider using a headkick, but those are the types of things that Greg Jackson teaches his fighters to do.

While Greg Jackson had a slight skid, with Joey Villasenor losing recently and Diego Sanchez falling to Josh Koscheck via decision, I expect him to bounce back this Saturday and I expect his fighters to bring their A-game. Make no mistake, Greg Jackson learns something new with every defeat and every victory.

This saturday must be like Christmas in July for Greg Jackson. He has the opportunity to win a belt when Nate Marquardt squares off against Anderson Silva, but perhaps an even bigger opportunity is for Rashad Evans to defeat former UFC champion and (almost definitely) future hall-of-famer Tito Ortiz. There is no doubt that if Evans beats Ortiz he will be in a position where he could very well be within view of the World Lightheavyweight Title (the unified 205 pound titles of the UFC and PRIDE, which will end up unified when Quinton "Rampage" Jackson fights Dan Henderson at UFC 75).

For me, this Saturday is another event. An exciting event to watch, but still just another card that the UFC has put together. For Greg Jackson, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, the gift that only comes on your Birthday. So good luck to Greg Jackson, and I wish him the best.